Hello all! So, it's been awhile, though fortunately, not too long. I wish I had an excuse as to why this hasn't been updated, but honestly, I don't! I graduated high school last May and, well, I haven't been doing much since! Blame my boyfriend, haha. Anyway, here is the next little chapter, a nice 18 ish pages for you! I almost feel as if it's pointless and doesn't take the story anywhere, but at the same time, it was kinda fun to write. Hopefully you'll see why. It's supposed to be slightly humorous. I know it's short, but don't fret. Things should be getting pretty crazy REALLY soon in my story, so stay with me!
Well, enjoy!!
Chapter Nineteen: Happy Christmas!
"Hm, perhaps he would like a movie?" Jen offered, picking up the newest Will Smith film. Up a bo
Hermione shrugged disinterestedly. He loved movies but didn't like watching them. Hermione led her cousin over to another aisle that held candles and clocks. Nothing seemed to cater her eye. Possibly a picture frame? No.
Hermione pressed forward to the hygienic section of the store. She could use a new toothbrush, but she always got expensive ones with a large discount from the dentist office where her parents worked.
"So what's this private school like?" Jen asked, picking up a bottle of cologne and taking a sniff. She gave a shrug and presented it to Hermione, who took one whiff and recoiled.
"I dunno. Fascinating describes it well. It's quite large and made of stone, almost like a castle. The students are divided into four separate groups for living quarters and such. The classes are simple enough, though a few are quite challenging as well. There's a lake and a heavily wooded forest with a rather mysterious air." Hermione responded as she picked up an electric shaver.
"Sounds pretty." Jen replied with a smile.
"Oh most definitely. It's brilliant. Very secluded and wonderful scenery." Hermione picked up a second shaver to compare. Perhaps Harry would enjoy having one of these?
Jen laughed. "And are the blokes just as spectacular looking as the scenery? How about this Harry fellow?" She asked coyly, taking the shaving device from her cousin to take a look at the gift idea herself.
Hermione felt her face begin to heat up. She knew Harry was a handsome bloke. She had established that much a long time ago after meeting him before her Apparation test. Since then, she hadn't really paid much attention, seeing as how more important things had been going on. She forced a nonchalant shrug. "I suppose he's handsome enough." She said off-handedly.
Jen rolled her eyes. "So you're basically saying he isn't very attractive at all."
"I didn't say that! I mean, he's my friend. Obviously I don't ogle at him or anything." Hermione half-shrieked defensively while spontaneously making up her mind about the electric shaver and adding it to the cart. It would be an appropriate Christmas gift for her friend.
"Hermione, it's okay. He doesn't have to be a good-looking bloke. I'm not going to think any less of you. Calm down."
"Fine, he's absolutely gorgeous! He has the greenest eyes I've ever seen and that messy, jet-black hair to go along with it. His body is nicely built. And he has these perfect teeth! Imagine, me saying someone has perfect teeth!" Hermione shot back with a playful huff before letting out a slight giggle of embarrassment.
"Aw, my cousin has a crush!" Jen said through laughter.
Hermione blushed even further. "Don't be daft. Of course I don't. That's ridiculous. Just appreciating beauty, that's all. Y-you made me!" Hermione sputtered in response before pushing the cart back towards the main aisle, in search of wrapping paper with her cousin in toe, still taunting and teasing through her snickers.
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A few hours later, Hermione could be found in her room, with all her presents for people wrapped neatly and in a meticulous manner. Her cousin carelessly snooped through her things as she stacked the gifts in the corner of her room. Hermione had already taken the caution of hiding all of her magical things. The family on her mother's side did not know anything about the Wizarding World. Even many Grangers did not know of its existence. There were those that did, but Hermione's mother and father still tried to keep the magical business swept under the rug, not wanting to cause any trouble. No one needed to know that Hermione had decided to take part in the magical world. Hermione was more than okay with their decision. Her grandma was about the only one that knew her secret.
Jen sat down at Hermione's desk and turned on her cousin's laptop, almost bored. Hermione's room had been so plain. Nice, but plain. And she couldn't find any dirt on her cousin to tease her (good-naturedly of course) with. "What do you say we go shopping, Herms?" she asked, as she Googled free online games.
Hermione rolled her eyes and laughed. "Jen! We just got back from shopping!" She pointed out.
Jenna shrugged. "I know. But that was yucky Christmas shopping. We need to find outfits for Christmas dinner! We don't want to disappoint any boys that might be there!" Jenna replied with a wink, closing her game and jumping up.
Hermione's eyes widened. "Jenna! You do realize this is a family dinner, right? Everyone there will be family!"
Jenna scoffed. "Don't be ridiculous, Herms. You do realize this is a Granger family dinner, right? That means they will be part of your family, not mine."
Hermione rolled her eyes. "Honestly, close enough! And stop calling me that!"
Jenna laughed. "Herms Herms, oh Hermy Herms."
Hermione grabbed her coat in response and headed downstairs, with her cousin in toe, continually saying that annoying nickname in a singsong voice.
Forty minutes later, the two girls were now at a mall, going through the latest trends. Hermione had brought her present from Jenna and her parents that Jenna demanded she open before Christmas, a digital camera. As they tried on funny clothes, the two took ridiculous photos of themselves. Laughing, as they walked from store to store, Hermione realized she hadn't had this much fun in a long time. Sure, being Harry-and now Draco and Ron-was fun, but this was a girly, different kind of fun she wasn't used to at all. And she decided that today, she was going to soak up as much as she could.
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Christmas break was boring. Not even 5 days into it, and Harry was already bored. Everything at his house had been done before. His parents were still working. His video games were still the same. His guitar held no interest. Ron and Draco were both at their own houses. Hermione was home as well. He decided he missed her. He glanced over at her present in the corner of his room and grinned slightly. She would love it. She made too many references to the TV show not to.
He sighed. Was she as bored as he was? Did she miss him? He wouldn't mind taking a walk around the lake with her right now or maybe even playing a game of Wizard's Chess that she claimed to hate, though he knew she secretly loved it. Before he could stop himself or even realize what he was doing, Harry found himself searching for his pre-paid cell phone that he sometimes used when he was home. He dialed information. After giving the city Hermione lived in, he asked for the number for Darrel and Sharon Granger. He quickly scrawled the number down and dialed that one next. After a few rings, a man's voice came on the phone.
"Hello, Grangers' residence."
Harry had to stifle a laugh. Definitely Hermione's father. "Er, hello. Is…may I speak to Hermione, please?" Harry stammered, feeling nervous.
There was a pause for a moment. "Hermione?" Hermione's father asked, almost uncertainly.
Hermione heard what must have Hermione's mother's voice in the back ground, "Who is it dear?"
Harry coughed. "Yes, sir. This is Harry, a friend of hers from school."
"Harry Potter, I presume?" Hermione's father asked, his voice lighter this time.
Harry nodded, then realized he couldn't see him so he quickly spoke, "Yes, sir."
"Well I'm sorry, Harry, but she isn't home right now. She went out about an hour ago. Can I take a message?" Darrel asked.
"Oh." Harry hadn't expected her not to be there. "Um, do you know when she will be home?" Right after he asked, Harry mentally kicked himself. It wasn't any of his business. No reason to be nosey.
He heard a small laugh. "Honestly, I haven't the slightest clue. When her and J get together, there's no telling. Shall I tell her you called? Or, actually, she has her mother's cell phone. Would you like for me to give you the number?" Mr. Granger asked.
Jay? Who was Jay? Was that a guy? Before Harry could stop himself, he quickly took down the cell phone number and politely told Hermione's father goodbye.
He stared at the number. Was she on a date? He would hate to call her while she was in the middle of a date. She must know this Jay character pretty well, especially if her father knows him. Or her. But probably a him. He didn't know any girls with the name Jay. He didn't know any blokes either, but that didn't matter. It was most definitely a guy name. "No, I am not going to call. Surely her father will tell her I called." Harry told himself aloud.
"But, she doesn't have your number." He reasoned with himself.
"Technically I didn't have hers either. She could look me up just as easily." He argued back.
"You know she won't do that. Why would she? With the situation at hand."
"True. Very true. Good point."
"Of course you could just wait it out. Maybe call back tonight." He told himself, pacing now.
"Like that won't look stalkerish."
"But calling her mother's phone could be just as stalkerish. Especially if she is on a date."
"But her father gave you permission and all but begged you to call her on that phone. Maybe he doesn't like this Jay character very much."
"Okay, if we're going to have this conversation, we may as well be honest. Begging was the last thing he did."
"True...wait…we? Am I seriously talking to myself…out loud? And even more, as two separate people?"
He heard a laugh behind him and whirled around. Standing in the doorway was his father as well as Sirius and Remus. Harry quickly blushed.
"Why yes, Harry, you are talking to yourself. Now I'm just hoping a physical fight breaks out between the two of you. Perhaps you can even give Fletcher Reede a run for his money." Sirius said with a scoff.
Laughing, his father pulled a funny face, "I'm kicking my ass…do you mind?!"
Embarrassed, Harry tried to play it off. "What are you guys doing here? Ever heard of knocking?"
Remus chuckled. "Not our fault the door was open."
"So, who are you talking about, my schizophrenic son? I heard a few "hers" and maybe one or two
"shes" in there." Harry's father demanded jokingly, walking further into the room.
Harry shrugged. "No one. It's nothing. So seriously, what's up? Going somewhere?" Harry replied, trying to change the subject.
"You don't expect us to let you off that easily, now do you?" His father asked with a grin. "You won't get anywhere with this attitude. Make that call. Break up the date. Let her know J can't hold a candle to you."
Harry rolled his eyes. "It's not like that. At all. I was just…nothing." Harry responded emotionlessly, now in almost a depressed mood.
Seeing he wasn't going to get anywhere with his son, James gave up. "Well, we figured since your mother won't be home for awhile and we got off early, the four of us could go have a blokes' night. We're thinking something along the lines of pizza and paintballing. Maybe cause some mischief. Now, are you coming with us, or are you going to mope around over a girl you don't have the guts to fight for and have a fight between your split personalities?" James teased his son.
Harry forced a laugh. "Sounds good to me." He glanced down at the piece of paper in his hands that held the number where he could reach Hermione. Probably on her date. With Jay. He unceremoniously pocketed the paper as well as his phone before following the three men downstairs.
"Quick question, Harry. Now, when one part of you gets drunk and needs to toss your cookies while the other personality needs to piss like a race horse, which gets dibs on the toilet? Do you take turns or is it all just a bloody right mess?" Remus asked in a mock serious tone. Harry rolled his eyes and gave his friend a playful punch.
The four men laughed and, still caught in his Liar Liar phase, James bursts out dramatically, "The pen is blue…the pen is blue…the god-damn pen is BLUUEEE!"
Everyone laughed and Sirius replied, "Give it a rest, ol' Prongs. You don't want to throw out your hip getting overexcited."
Harry and Remus snickered as James chased Sirius down the stairs and out of the house.
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While hanging out with his youth-filled father and friends, Harry found it difficult to shake thoughts of his friends and her company. He wanted to call her, but eventually decided it was too late. She could be home by now, so which phone would he call? If he called the cell phone, he would be chancing the possibility of looking stupid because his father advised him to go ahead and call her on it a few hours ago. And he didn't. If he called the house phone, and if she still wasn't home, her father may ask why he was calling again when already gave her the number she could be reached at. The situation had become much too complicated at this point..
So instead, he spent his evening trying to think of other things. Thinking of other things wasn't the hard part. The difficult task was ensuring thoughts of her didn't pop up while he was thinking of other, completely unrelated subjects.
By the time he retired to his room, it was around 9 pm. He continually paced his room at this point. Should he call? It wasn't too late, was it? Why did he even need to call? Instead, maybe he could call Ron or Draco? But he didn't want to talk to them. Harry quickly pulled out his phone and dialed Hermione's house number. She should be home by now. He allowed for his thumb to hover over the SEND button for a few seconds before suddenly hitting END instead. He dialed again. Before he could push SEND this time, he changed his mind once again and hit OPTIONS and SAVE NUMBER. He saved it under Hermione. After getting his phone back to the main screen, he went under contacts and made her one of his speed dials. There. Number five.
He changed his mind and changed her to number four. No. Number eight. There. Replace his uncle.
No. Seventeen. Her favorite number.
No. Took too long to dial. He went all the way up to number 2. He erased his father's spot and replaced it with Hermione. There. Easy to get to.
Almost too easy.
No, it was going to stay.
He hit the number two and saw her name on the screen. END again.
"That's it, I'm doing it. Just…hit SEND dammit." He reprimanded himself. "Great, I'm talking to myself again."
Clearing his mind, he slowly dialed the number once again, ignoring the fact he now had her on speed dial and this time, hit SEND. The phone rang three times and he quickly hit END. They must be asleep. He was stupid to be calling so late. Perhaps in the morning or afternoon he could-
RING!
The phone vibrated in his hand. He looked down and saw Hermione's name pop up on the screen.
RING! The phone shrieked a second time, and once again, it was accompanied by vibration. Caller ID.
He interrupted the third ring by finding hitting SEND. "Er…hello?" he asked weakly.
"Hello." A voice answered. Mr. Granger again. "I noticed you just called. May I ask who this is?"
`Lie!' a voice commanded in his head. `Say you got the wrong number. Ask if they deliver pizza. Ask for the specials. JUST SAY SOMETHING! He didn't recognize the number! LIE!' "This is Harry Potter again, sir. I…I was just calling to see if Hermione made it back."
There was a silence on the other end of the phone.
Finally, he was met with the response, "Do you have problems, boy?"
Harry was unsure what to say. "Er…sorry sir, but…pardon?"
"I'm not sure how to take you. You called earlier. I gave you a number to call her at, which you must not have called. Then you call here. And hang up. Do you have issues of some kind?" Mr. Granger asked, in a polite, yet stern voice.
"I'm sorry sir. I didn't call the cell phone because I didn't want to interrupt her time with…her friend. I'm sorry if I called too late. If you want, you can just tell her I called and-"
Mr. Granger interrupted his rambling. "I'm going to put you on hold. Just a moment please."
And with that, the other line went silent. Did he honestly just get put on hold. Harry waited for about a minute and a half before the line came back to life.
"Harry?" a voice asked, half surprised, half amused.
Embarrassed at this point, Harry didn't know what to say back. Finally, he mustered a "Hi Hermione."
"Are you okay? My father said something about you being slightly mad…everything alright?" She asked, and Harry could hear the smile in her voice he knew she must be wearing.
"Um, how about we just say I'm having a few technical difficulties in the communication department and leave it at that?" Harry asked, lying down on his bed on his stomach.
Hermione laughed. "Okay, sounds fair. So…how are you? To what do I owe this pleasure?" she asked.
How could he respond? Say that he missed her and had been thinking about her, and wanted to hear her voice?
He could tell her the truth. Shouldn't be too hard. He took a semi-deep breath.
"I'm dying."
"What?!" Hermione almost shouted into the phone.
Okay, wrong move.
"Um, just kidding. I…er…Hedwig is sick and I was wondering if you knew what could help her."
"Honestly, Harry, don't scare me like that! So…Hedwig is sick? What's wrong with her?" Hermione asked.
He drew a blank for a few seconds and said the first thing that came into his mind. "I think she's pregnant."
"Oh." Hermione replied, mildly surprised. "What makes you say that?"
"She…has been eating a lot?" Harry said weakly.
Hermione laughed. "There's nothing wrong with Hedwig at all, is there?" she asked.
Harry could hear the mirth in her voice. Finally, he decided to come clean.
"Okay, fine. I'm not dying and Hedwig isn't pregnant. What's going on is a lot more serious."
"Which is…?" Hermione coaxed.
"They're beating me, Hermione!" Harry whined. "And won't let me have food!"
Hermione giggled at his whiney voice. "You're impossible, you know that right?"
Harry laughed, "I know. So how are you?" He wanted to ask who Jay was, but didn't.
"I'm doing quite well. My cousin is visiting. We've been hanging out basically. Going to the mall and such. It's been fun." Hermione replied cheerfully.
Cousin. Jay must be her cousin. Harry suddenly felt like a jackass. "Jay, I'm assuming?" He asked, to make sure.
"Well, her name is Jenna. How did you know?" Hermione asked quizzically.
"Your father said something about it when I called earlier."
"Oh. So…apart from the abuse, how are you?"
Harry gave a shrug. "I'm okay. I miss Hogwarts. I'm bored. I may even miss you a bit." Harry said, which seemed to be the understatement of the century at the moment.
"Well, I'm sorry you're bored. I'm impressed you miss Hogwarts though. I actually have been enjoying the break. We've been working so hard, especially with our N.E.W.T.S coming up."
"Yeah, I suppose. This could be a bad thing though. With our brains unstimulated for such a lengthy time period. Hopefully it doesn't cause any lasting effects. That could be disastrous. Maybe we should go back early. Especially before I get brain damage or something." Harry responded in a mock serious tone.
Hermione scoffed. "You're such a goofball. If it's that bad then-" Hermione's voice paused and Harry could hear a voice in the background. A girl. Probably her cousin. "Sorry about that. I should probably get off here. Jenna is back from the shower. Um, maybe if you want, you can call me again sometime if you get bored?" Hermione asked awkwardly.
Harry's mood, which had been lifted since their conversation started, darkened slightly. "Okay. When is she going home? It's getting late so you should probably call me on my cell phone so I don't wake your parents. I think your father thinks I have problems."
Hermione laughed. "What gives you that idea?"
"Because he asked me if I have problems."
"Hm, I see where you could get that idea then. Anyway, she's actually staying here. She's been here for the last few days."
Harry frowned but recovered quickly. "Okay, well I guess I'll go back to starving and being beaten…"
Hermione rolled her eyes. His antics were so silly. "How about I call you before I go to bed? Will you be up for awhile?"
"Yeah. Just give me a call. Or not. Whatever you want to do. But I'll probably be awake…not waiting by the phone kind of awake but you know…Ron might come over…who knows?" Harry replied, trying to act nonchalant.
"At this hour?" Hermione asked skeptically.
"I think I'm going to get off here now before I make an ass out of myself any more than I already have." Harry said.
"Haha, okay. Maybe I'll call you later to make sure you are still alive?"
"Sounds like a plan. Goodbye Hermione." Harry said.
"Bye." Hermione responded before hanging up.
Harry laid there in his bed, mulling over the conversation in his head. He was a jackass.
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Hermione waited for her cousin to fall asleep-after ending teasing about Harry, before she slowly got out of bed and dug through one of her drawers. She pulled out an almost-new Sudoku book she had. After quickly jotting down a small note, she sent it off with Miguel with a smile on her face before grabbing the cordless phone and heading to the sitting room.
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The next few days past by rather uneventfully. Hermione and Harry talked on the phone for at least a few minutes every day as Christmas drew nearer. Hermione told him all about the big Granger dinner they would be having in a small dining hall in town. Harry told her about everything he had been up to with his parents and Ron and Draco. He had also thanked her for the puzzle book and informed her he appreciated the gift for those who "need a resourceful outlet to stimulate their brain because they are creatively challenged." Slightly insulted, but appreciative nonetheless. Now that the first few initial days of break had past, Ron and Draco came over and hung out some, which helped makes the days go faster for Harry. On Christmas Eve, as Harry pondered when to send out Hermione's gift, he made the decision to instead pop away from his own Christmas brunch and deliver it to her in person. Hermione had told him that she and her cousin were going to some sort of frozen yogurt place that held a small party-like celebration for a few hours every Christmas before closing for the holiday. He figured he could just show up after brunch and surprise her.
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Hermione and Jenna laughed as they ran through the street. The snow had fallen quite heavily for awhile, but had reduced to small snowflakes now, floating angelically in the air. It was Hermione's favorite kind of snow. They were almost to the frozen yogurt restaurant. They were holding a special sale as well as celebration for Christmas. She would come every year with her parents, however, this year, her parents were busy with the Christmas dinner. They shooed the two girls off and said they could handle the whole thing and told them to enjoy the frozen yogurt.
After waiting in line for a rather long while, Hermione and Jenna finally managed to find a small table outside in the falling snow. As they sat there, enjoying their cold treat, Hermione heard a familiar voice behind her and felt the cold sting of a snowball hitting her cheek.
"Oh, you're right, Chloe, the faces of freaks do make good, easy targets." Becky said in a fake, surprised voice.
Hermione's head whipped around to meet the eyes of about five or six girls. She recognized them all as old classmates. Her mind suddenly went back to that painful day at Girls' Club. Becky, Sabrina, Chole. They were all there. She should have known they couldn't part for even a few minutes, let alone Christmas vacation.
Jenna scoffed. "What do you think you're doing?!"
The girls ignored her, however. They all closed in on Hermione.
Hermione had been caught off guard and didn't know what to do. Usually, she had a witty retort on the tip of her tongue. But no. This was the last thing she has expected to encounter today. Insults and hateful names were flying her way. All she could do was glare. Glare and stumble back. Jenna was so shocked she didn't know what to do either. Their attack was too surprising.
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Harry walked towards the lot that crowded around the yogurt restaurant. Children were having snowball fights and many adults were sharing laughs. It looked like a nice, cheerful place. He smiled. He had shrunk Hermione's present and had it in his pocket. As he neared the crowd, he began his search for Hermione. Inside was too crowded so he decided to look outside first.
His eyes fell on a group of a few girls saying some rather rude and nasty things. He rolled his eyes then suddenly stopped when he heard Hermione's voice respond to their rude words. She was telling to leave her alone. He rushed a few feet forward and stopped dead. He saw two girls, Hermione and who he assumed was Jenna, surrounded by five or six girls. They were taunting her. The scene of Hermione and Cho came to mind. But here, Hermione was totally different. She wasn't fighting back the way she always had before. No, she was almost cowering. Turning the other cheek. Anger boiled inside of him.
They were calling her ugly now. He could see Hermione getting angrier by the second. Her face was red. One suddenly accused her of being a lesbian with Jenna because she knew there was no way she could every get a bloke. That was the last straw. Harry suddenly shouted Hermione's name and sprinted the last few yards to greet her. She looked up to meet his eyes and they widened in surprise.
"Harry?" she called. Everyone was looking him now. He did the only thing he could think of. He rushed to her and swept her up in his arms and spun them around.
"Oh Merlin baby, I've missed you so much! These last few days have been Hell! Happy Christmas!" Wanting to leave no room for disbelief, he pulled her head down and rushed his lips to hers. He kissed her for several seconds before finally pulling away. Hermione's cheeks were flushed. Everyone stared.
"I've missed you so much!" Harry repeated, kissing her again then throwing her over his shoulder, laughing and spinning around. Finally, he sat her down and acknowledged the girls surrounding them, jaws dropped.
"If you will excuse us, ladies, I need to give my gorgeous girlfriend here her private Christmas present so, if you don't mind me stealing her away…" He gave a wink and grabbed her hand and led her from the crowd.
Jenna laughed. She looked back at the girls and spit before saying, "Bitches. She's shagging the hottest bloke around," before gleefully going after the happy couple.
And there you go! I hope everyone enjoyed it. Please, please review!!! I didn't get much of a response last time, so that kind of sucks. I realize there are a lot fewer readers in general on Portkey, but still! When I get a lot of reviews, it makes me actually want to write. Honestly, I had to force this chapter almost, haha. I had nothing to do today so I did this as a last resort! :P Anyway, like I said, I hope you like it and please let me know what you thought. I don't think it took a big step forward, but you have to have some filler chapters every once in awhile I guess.
So, as a graduation/later birthday present me…REVIEW!!!
Also, I've written a new story, My Own Prison. It's something short and almost controversial on here, lol. If you check it out, keep an open mind. Anyway, thanks for reading!
Until next time…
*~Archie~*
P.S. I know I haven't replied to all the reviews from last chapter yet, but I will sometime this week!!! Probably tomorrow!
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