Chapter 3
The rest of the holidays passed peacefully at Hermione's place. The Weasleys came back just two days before the reopening of Hogwarts. Harry and Hermione met him at King Cross' Station on the first of September. Their journey back to Hogwarts was uneventful, as were the first couple of months. Harry had been appointed the captain of the Gryffindor quidditch team. His first task of course was to select new chasers and beaters. After a grueling session conducted by him and Ron, they chose Ginny, Dean and Lavender as the chasers, and Seamus and Colin as beaters. He was happy with the composition of the side. Their first match was against Hufflepuff. It turned out to be a mismatch as Gryffindor won by a record margin.
After the match Harry was in the changing rooms while Hermione was waiting for him outside. Ron had rushed of without saying anything. As Hermione looked up she saw Cho Chang, Harry's ex-girlfriend standing near her. Obviously she was waiting for Harry and didn't even look towards Hermione.
`Hi Cho', said Hermione. Cho didn't respond. Hermione got irritated. Surely she was over with what happened last year.
`Listen, I wasn't responsible for yours and Harry's break up. It was you who got him irritated with your incessant tears', she said in a stern voice.
`Don't talk rubbish! You were the only reason he broke up with me. I know you've fancied each other for ages. I've got eyes you know. Ever since the start of term I know how much time you have been spending with other. I've come to win him back. I don't understand how someone as smart and handsome as Harry could go out with an ugly hag like you. Well you'll just see how he comes running to me', she shouted leaving Hermione on the verge of tears.
`Yes I've been meeting Hermione a lot, and it is none of your business if I spend time with my best friend', said a voice which echoed extreme anger.
Cho stuttered. `I…I…I…didn't see you Harry', she blurted out.
`How dare you insult Hermione? She's worth ten of you any day. For you I'm just a prize which has to be won. If you didn't feel I was handsome would you have even looked at me? Hermione however is a constant. She would treat me exactly the same way without caring about smart or not, fat or thin, intelligent or dumb etc. Now if you don't have anything to say would you kindly move out or do I have to give you detention for intruding into the Gryffindor changing room? And yes I don't want to hear anything about last year. I don't have time for crybabies like you', he added angrily.
Cho looked stunned. A few drops of tears appeared in her eyes before she stormed off.
Tears were now freely flowing from Hermione's eyes. She had been deeply hurt by Cho's comments about her but more than that she was overwhelmed by the way Harry had stood up for her. Harry came up to her and put a friendly arm around her for comfort. She buried her face into his chest as tears continued to fall.
`Don't worry Hermione. Don't take her seriously. As I said you are worth ten of her. I'm sure most people would agree with me', he said as he held her in a hug.
Finally Hermione looked up. Unable to speak much she sobbed, `Thanks Harry, for always being there for me'
`Of course I'll always be there for you. What are friends meant for? Weren't you there for me during the holidays?' said Harry. Hermione continued to sob. To avoid the others seeing her in this state he suggested that they go for a walk by the lake. Hermione nodded in agreement. During the walk Harry continued to comfort her as much as he could. When she seemed to have calmed down a little they went back to the common room.
One of the reasons why Harry and Hermione were spending so much time together was because Ron seemed to be preoccupied with other things. Unable to control his curiosity Harry asked him about him. Before answering Ron made him swear that he would not tell anyone except maybe Hermione. Harry nodded. Ron told him that he had been meeting Luna Lovegood secretly. The two of them had become quite close over time. Now he was planning to ask her out.
And he did. She accepted happily. This left Harry and Hermione alone for their first trip visit to Hogsmede. They spent a cheerful time there doing some shopping, eating and visiting Fred and George, who had their own joke shop, `Weasley's Wizarding Wheezes'. At the end of the day Harry thought it was time to tell Hermione the truth about the prophecy. He quietly took her away from the crowd.
`Hermione I've got to tell you something. You remember the prophecy at the Department of Mystries. It was made by Trelawney shortly before my birth. Dumbledore knows what it had. It basically said that I had to kill Voldemort and neither of us could survive while the other did. If he kills me he becomes invincible. He had some idea about this, so he tried to kill me when I was one. Apparently the prophecy also states that I have powers which he does not know about', he said without stopping.
He'd expected Hermione to start crying hysterically but she didn't. She kept quiet for a while without saying anything. Then she gently held Harry's hand.
`Harry, I know what you're up against. I've full confidence that you'll emerge victorious. You'll always have my support. I'll be your shadow and follow you to the battlefield if necessary', she said.
`I can't let you do that Hermione. I wouldn't be able to forgive myself if something happened to you. I'm already responsible for two deaths. I don't think I could stand another, especially if it's you', he replied.
They went back to Hogwarts holding each others hands. They didn't speak much. Harry felt a huge load had lifted off his shoulder now that he had told about the prophecy to somebody. Later that night he also told about it too Ron. He was stunned but expressed his total support.
Christmas was approaching. This year many people were staying back at Hogwarts. Ron was of course staying to spend
more time with Luna. Harry couldn't help feeling that Hermione was staying to give him company. He was very
grateful to her for this. Now that Hermione was his best friend, he spent a lot of time in the library studying with
her. His grades had gone up because of this. For the first time in his life he was enjoying what he studied. Like
Harry, Hermione had decided to take up Auror training after Hogwarts. So in their free time they spoke a lot about what
the future held.
-->