A/N: This chapter is a bit longer and it might explain a few confusions of the previous chapter. *Please R/R*
Chapter 3: Girl Talk
After fleeing the kitchen, I needed to get away. Technically `away' was fifteen minutes down the street but it had to do. Usually if I was having a problem I could always talk to Harry; he was my rock and I knew no matter what, he would always be there for me, and would always help me through. But, seeing as he was the cause of my problems this time, I turned to the next best thing: Luna.
I apparated on her doorstep, and desperately knocked on her door, hoping to Merlin that she would be home. Finally the door opened and I came face to face with Ron, clad only in his boxers. His face was flushed and his red hair was more unruly than the norm. Seconds later, Luna emerged from the hallway looking petrified. When she saw me her face relaxed.
"Oh thank God it's you, Hermione," she said in a relieved voice. "I thought it would be my dad coming to check up on me." It was lucky for her that I wasn't her mother, because her clothes were disheveled as they obviously had been put on in a hurry. Anyone with a pair of eyes could tell what they'd been up to.
"So," she started, "what brings you here this early? You usually aren't up until noon on the weekends."
"I was hoping that I could talk to you about something…but if it's not a good time I can come back later it's no problem," I said, looking at my feet.
"Are you crazy? Come in!" She ushered me inside and told me to sit in the living room while she made some coffee. She left for the kitchen, while Ron headed to Luna's bedroom. Ten minutes later Luna walked into the living room carrying two mugs of coffee. Just as she sat them down on the coffee table, Ron emerged from the bedroom, fully dressed.
"I guess I'll get going now, I don't want to intrude on your `girl talk'," he said smiling.
"Alright, so I'll see you later on tonight then?" Luna asked her boyfriend.
"For sure," he said walking over and giving her a quick peck on the lips. "Bye sweetheart. Bye Mione." And he left.
Luna turned to me. "So, what's up?" She asked me. After a short pause I finally spoke up.
"Harry kissed me," I said flatly.
Luna's smile reached her ears. "I knew it! I knew it was going to happen! When did it happen? Last night? This morning? Oh my God, how was it? I need details!"
I retold her this morning's events. I told her how everything led up to the kiss, and how amazing it was, and how I pulled away.
"You did what?" she exclaimed after I had finished. She was looking at me like I was some kind of madwoman now, and coming from Luna Lovegood, well…you must be really cracked. "Were you feeling alright? Or did you just forget that you've been in love with this guy for the last three years?"
"It's not easy, okay? You know I haven't told him because I'm afraid of what might happen to us if I do. He's my best friend, and if we hook up and things don't work out then what will I do?"
"Listen, Mione, you can't just base your life on `what ifs'. Take a chance once in awhile. If things don't work out between you two then it was just never meant to happen. You'll both eventually get over it and find someone new. We're young and gorgeous and we still have loads of time to find whatever it is we're looking for," she told me. I always hated when she sounded right.
"I'm scared, Luna," I confessed.
"Well Hermione," she sighed, "it's never easy being in love with one of your best friends."
"Oh and you would know that how?"
"Uh, hello…have you been with us these past few weeks?" She looked as if she was worried about my health.
"Oh yeah. Sorry, it just completely slipped my mind I guess." There was a long pause. "Is that a hickey on your neck?" I asked giving her a knowing look.
"Oh, um…yeah," she blushed. Another pause.
"So…is Ron…any good?"
She looked over at me. "Yes. Yes he is," she said with a huge grin on her face.
After that we spent the rest of the day sitting in her living room, talking about anything and everything. In the back of my mind I knew that it wouldn't be easy talking to Harry, but with time I just might work up the nerve to do it.
*~*~*~*~*
I got home late that night because after spending the afternoon with Luna, I went to visit my parents as I had promised to visit them but never got around to it. When I arrived home, I found Harry fast asleep on the couch. On any other day I would wake him up telling him to go in his room or else he'd have a stiff neck in the morning. But today wasn't just any day, so, I simply got a blanket from the hall closet and covered him up and headed up to bed.
*~*~*~*~*
The next morning I had to wake up quite early because of classes. I was training to be a Healer and to be fully qualified, you needed a muggle PHD. The teachers at the university were more demanding and if you were late or made any disruptions in class you got kicked out.
Thankfully, Harry didn't have auror training scheduled that day so he could sleep in and there would be no awkwardness. I showered, dressed and did my hair and makeup before finally making my way down to the kitchen. Just to my horror, sitting there at the kitchen table was a fully clothed (and I thank Merlin for that) Harry, sipping his coffee while reading the Prophet. He looked up from the paper and gave me a small smile.
"There's pancakes on the stove that are done if you want some," he said in a quiet voice. Judging by the sound of his voice, and the way his whole body tensed up when he noticed my presence in the room, he had not forgotten about yesterday morning.
"Oh, okay, thanks." I didn't know what to say to him. I grabbed a stack of pancakes and ate in silence. I gave him the occasional glance, sometimes finding him looking at me with the same blank expression as yesterday. He was like a wall, if he didn't want you to know how he was feeling, he would have no problem covering it up. At that moment I wanted to knock that barrier down, just to know what he was thinking about, if he was thinking about yesterday, or how I left, or if he was even thinking of me at all. When I finished eating I got up and put my plate in the dishwasher.
"Thanks for the breakfast Harry, it was great," I said, "I have to get going now so I'll see you later." When I left the kitchen I hear him murmur a quiet `bye'. Maybe yesterday wasn't just a `spur of the moment' type thing for him…
*~*~*~*~*
Classes that day were long and extremely boring. I never heard a thing the teachers were saying because I had thoughts of Harry standing in the kitchen with only his towel on, and what he might look like without the towel…God my hormones had been running high lately. I wanted so badly to feel his lips on mine again. I had to get a hold of myself. By the end of the day I was so worked up I barely checked to see if anyone was looking when I apparated back home to take a cold shower. Even when he wasn't around me he drove me mad. Not the angry type mad but type where…well…let's just forget about that.
When Harry arrived home from Merlin knows where, I told him I was ordering a pizza and asked him what kind he wanted.
"Actually…I have a date tonight," he said. I felt my stomach squirm, and my blood started to boil. Jealousy.
"Oh, is it a girl from training?" I asked him.
"No actually it's a girl that I met today when I went out for lunch."
"Oh. Well, have fun then." I said, trying to keep my cool on the outside while I was seething on the inside.
"Yeah. I'll see you later, or tomorrow morning."
"Bye."
I didn't feel like eating on my own so I called Luna and Ron and invited them over. Ron couldn't make it because he was on the road for the week, on tour with the Chudley Cannons (last year he got the position of full time Keeper) so it was just Luna and I.
After both Luna, and the pizza arrived, we sat in the living room eating our pizza.
"So where's Harry tonight?" She asked me.
"He has a date," I told her rolling my eyes.
Luna giggled. "I see what he's trying to do. He's such a woman"
"What do you mean?" I asked her.
"Don't you see?" After realizing that I didn't understand what she was trying to tell me, she continued. "Well, seeing as you pretty much rejected him yesterday, he's found a random girl to make you jealous. Usually it's the girl that does that type of thing so he's acting like a woman."
"Do you really think so?" I asked her. I really didn't know what to think at this point.
"Of course. Have I ever been wrong?" She asked me.
"Well…" I started to say, but she cut me off.
"Maybe just once or twice. But, most of the time I'm right." She looked quite proud of herself, but that was nothing new.
"So," she continued, "We are going clubbing on Friday night."
"What? Why?" I knew she was planning something, I could see the wheels turning in her head.
"If you want him you can't just sit around and mope, because he's going to see right through that. So, on Friday, we'll go to a club and you'll pick any guy you want because really, it's not going to matter who you pick and you'll take him back here. Oh, and when you and this guy are walking upstairs, it would be best to make a lot of noise." Luna was always good at giving advice, but sometimes her ideas were a little bizarre.
"Um…okay…why?"
"If he's sleeping, you want him to know that you have someone with you and if he's not then you still want him to know," she explained.
"I don't want him thinking I'm a slut. I mean it's alright for him `cause he's a guy, but I don't want him to think less of me."
"Oh trust me, he won't. He'll be too jealous to take note of that," She said with an air of confidence in her voice.
"You scare me sometimes, do you know that?" I said.
"Yes. But do you want this guy or not?"
"Yeah."
"Well then I suggest you listen to what I'm telling you."
"Alright," I said, defeated. I knew I probably would be lost without her, so for the rest of the night, we talked about all the things I could do to make Harry jealous. I only hoped that they would work.
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