Third Time's the Charm: The Epic Love Story of Harry Potter and Hermione Granger
A/N: Hey, everybody! Here's what I've been working on since Do You Believe in Magic? This tale has been long in the making. I hope you enjoy reading it!
WARNING: This story shows the good and bad in all major characters; so don't get on my case about their personalities!
Please review if you do or do not like, I want people's opinions!
Merry Christmas to all,
Little_Katie_Bug09
P.S. I reply to all reviews!
Chapter 1:
The second week of August was proving to be the perfect week for a wedding. The trees were lush with their thick green foliage, the weather was warm and slightly breezy, and the very air around the Burrow was electrified with excitement, mystery, and love. Yes, Bill and Fleur's wedding was going without a hitch so far, but all was not perfection in the Weasley household. Little did Mrs. Weasley and Mrs. Delacour know that, as they prepared the finishing touches on the decorations for the morrow's celebration, a storm was brewing in their midst.
A major catfight, the likes of which the Burrow had never seen, was occurring in an upstairs bedroom between two girls, similar in will power but different in every other way. The girl on the left side of the room was clearly a fighter, her flaming red hair matching her feisty and fiery disposition. Clearly a Weasley, she was playing by her terms and taking advantage of her home field favor. Although she was red from screaming, one could immediately realize that she was beautiful in an exotic way, despite the fact that her face was contorted in fury. She had a pixie-like figure that made her appear fragile, though the volume of her voice proved to all that she could watch out for herself.
The second girl appeared to be the equal opposite of the first; she was everything the first was not and was immediately lacking by first comparisons. Her voice was louder than the first's, though. She wasn't loud by nature, but when facing her enemy, she went into hyper force. She was of the girl-next-door types, plain but pretty in her own special way. She had an air of all knowing about her, but her sparkling brown eyes betrayed her carefully concealed fear and self-consciousness. She subconsciously fiddled with her bushy brown hair as she yelled, revealing her nerves.
"Just get over him, Hermione!" the first girl yelled. "He's mine, and I'm not about to give him up to you!"
"Why?" Hermione yelled. "Ginny, you could have any guy your little heart desires, but you just had to take him after all I told you! I placed my trust in you and you betrayed me!"
"It's not my fault you didn't take him when you had the chance! You had the perfect opportunity, but you refused!"
"I didn't have a chance to refuse!" Hermione screamed. "Not that I would have! You took him before I had the opportunity to tell him the truth! You lied to him… Oh, don't even give me that look, Ginny Weasley, because you are far from innocent!"
"But, I…"
"I should go up there right now and tell him exactly what you were doing with that snake in the Astronomy Tower!"
"H-How did you…?"
"Oh, I know, Ginny, and judging by the moans and squeals of pleasure I heard, you two definitely weren't playing Parcheesi."
Ginny stared at her for a moment before giving a Cheshire Cat grin.
"Go ahead, tell him. I know you're too scared to actually do it."
"I'm not scared of you."
"Oh, I know that. But you're too scared of yourself, too scared you'll say something wrong, too scared that he won't believe you over me and you'll lose him forever…"
Her voice lingered in the air and Hermione's face fell, angry at the fact that Ginny had practically read her thoughts. Ginny laughed.
"Exactly. Just crawl back to my brother and leave us in peace. Who knows? Maybe he'll forget all about Looney Lovegood in the presence of his first love. I'd much rather have you as a sister-in-law than a rival."
Hermione's hand shook with anger and she stopped playing with the tendril of hair. "You know better than anybody why I did something so idiotic as go with Ron! He deserves Luna after all I did; they're perfect for each other! I would never stoop to your level and break them up for no good reason!"
"Didn't you, er, `stoop to my level' when you went out with him in the first place?"
"I'm not proud of it, but I've changed since then, and you haven't."
"Really? You still look like the same old know-it-all, plain faced M.B. you've always been."
Hermione reached into her robe and pulled out her wand. "Take that back."
"I don't think I will."
Hermione swished her wand and screamed a hex. Ginny flew against the wall, knocking a picture frame down with a crash of glass and wood. Hermione spun her wand around and pushed it in her pocket as the door flew open behind her. There, at the door, stood Harry, staring at Hermione and Ginny in amazement. Hermione wanted to speak, wanted to swear it was an accident, but her voice caught in her throat. Harry looked at her with a strange look, his deep eyes peering into her soul. For a moment, it seemed he was remembering past events, but he looked away quickly and focused his gaze on the waking Ginny. He bent beside her and put his hand on hers, checking her to make sure she was all right. The sight of the two of them together made Hermione feel ill, and she turned around abruptly and ran out the door.
As she ran, hot, angry tears flooded her eyes. It was so unfair, Harry and Ginny together, after all that had happened. Harry was hers, well, he had been hers anyways. But then stupid, ugly, horrible Ginny had come, and…
You know you're the one mainly to blame, Granger.
She shook her head, wishing to dispel that thought. She needed to find a quiet place where she could sit and cry herself out, a place where no one could see her heartache. She softly went out through the kitchen door and ran to the lily pond near the Burrow. It was a long way away and was sheltered by a grove of weeping willow trees. She brushed back the branches and softly padded through the soft carpet of moss. She leaned up against the wide tree trunk, pulled her head to her knees, and began to cry.
Hermione didn't know how long she had cried, forever it seemed. Finally, after a time, her tears ended, leaving her numb and empty. The wind grazed her skin, chilling her, and she pulled her robe closer to her. She rubbed her eyes to take the sting of tears away and jumped when a loud popping noise sounded beside her. She jumped in surprise but settled down when she realized that it was just Tonks. She had apparated under the tree with Hermione and her long blue hair was in a mess. She concentrated for a moment before changing her hair to a short, spiky purple hairdo. Hermione just looked at her and put her head back on her arms.
"Go away."
"No, my dear. I'm sorry, I am here to help you."
"Don't lie. You're here to get onto me for trying to hex Ginny in oblivion."
"So you were the creator behind that excellent hex?"
Hermione nodded and Tonks smiled. "Well, it was a very well done hex, even if you shouldn't have done it." She sat down beside Hermione and looked at her with concern filled eyes. "What's wrong, Hermione?"
"Nothing."
"Must be a whole lot of nothing to cause you to hex your friend into a wall."
"Ginny's not my friend. I thought she was at one time, but…"
"Sounds like a story that you need to get off your chest."
"It's really a long story. I'm sure you wouldn't want to hear it." Hermione looked down, hoping Tonks wasn't noticing her puffy eyelids.
"If it will help you, Hermione, I'm have all the time in the world. You're like a little sister to me, and I care about you and want to know why you've been acting so strangely these past few times I've seen you."
Hermione gave a deep sigh. "Okay, I'll tell you, but you have to promise me something."
"Cross my heart and hope to die."
"Promise that you won't think of me any differently after hearing this."
"Promise."
"Okay." She gave another little sigh, composing herself for what she was about to do. "Before I begin, I will just say that a lot of the things I did were downright stupid. I know it's my fault, but I like to blame a lot of the things for the fact that I am a female, and females are devious, sneaky, nosy, cruel, and heartless. That's the only excuse I can find for my actions.
"I don't really know where to start, but I suppose I'll start at the beginning. Technically, it's not the beginning, but it's the beginning for me, the source of everything. Everything began and ended with our fourth year at Hogwarts."
A/N: Okay! So that's a starter! I think this is a suitable breaking point, despite the small length. Forgive me! lol we'll hear the beginning of the whole story next chapter! I would work on the update, but despite my love for writing, it's Christmas time, and I'm spending all my time with my parents! Merry Christmas to all!
Katie
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