Unofficial Portkey Archive

Here's the next chapter! Sorry for the wait. I hope you'll like it. I had a lot of fun writing it. Yes, this is the long awaited Hermione/Terry date chapter...enjoy. ^_^

October 18

Then there was his reaction to finding out that I was on a date with Terry in Hogsmeade…dear Merlin, I thought he was going to kill someone…

*****

Maintaining my punctuality, I headed out of my room and into the common room, where I found Harry, about to leave.

"Hey, stranger," I greeted him, smiling.

"Hey," he replied, rumpling his hair, looking distracted.

"Where are you headed?" I asked, tucking a strand of my own messy hair behind my ear as I grabbed my cloak that I had precariously tossed on the coat hook the night before. I secured it under my chin.

"Date," Harry replied, "with Parvati." I felt myself tense up.

"That's nice," I said, not catching his eye, and forcing myself to smile. "Hogsmeade?"

"Where else?" Harry laughed. I laughed as well. Then Harry, being the astute man he was, noticed that I appeared to be heading out as well. "What about you? Where are you going?"

I hesitated. "Nowhere," I told him finally. I didn't know why I didn't just tell him I had a date. There was nothing wrong with it. Maybe I was simply worried about how he'd react. After all, when was the last time I had been on a real date? And the two boys were surprisingly protective of me, due to the fact that I was a girl, despite the fact that I could clearly take care of myself. But, old stereotypes die hard, and I could just imagine Harry killing Terry the second he found out.

But isn't that what you want? I asked myself. A reaction? Unexpectedly, I realized the answer to that was no. I wasn't going to make Harry jealous. That would just be stooping too low, especially for someone like me. I liked to think that I was above such petty behavior.

Well, most of the time.

"Nowhere, huh?" Harry asked, raising an eyebrow. "A little dressed up for nowhere."

"All I'm wearing is a blouse, jeans, and loafers," I replied, annoyed, pulling my cape tightly around me. "I'm just going to go for a walk on the grounds."

"I know you, Hermione," Harry replied. "You don't go walking on the grounds dressed like that. I know it may not be so for other girls, but for you this is dressed up."

"I'm telling you," I snapped, a bit flustered by all of this, "I'm just going to enjoy an October's day." Well, half of that's true… I thought to myself.

"Why aren't you going to Hogsmeade?" Harry questioned.

"Because I don't want to!" I cried out. "Enough with the interrogations already!"

Harry ignored my outburst. "You're not going with Ron?" he asked curiously, staring at me oddly.

"Ron?" I asked, thinking automatically to all the people who assumed I had feelings for him. "Ron? Why on Earth would I go to Hogsmeade with Ron?"

"Because he's your friend," Harry said slowly, as if I was the slowest person to ever walk foot on this earth, which I was feeling I was at that moment.

"Right," I said. "Forgot about that." I laughed lamely. "No, I just want a day to myself. That's all." I felt my stomach clench. I was really laying it on thick… When was the last time I lied to Harry? Never. I had never lied to Harry, yet here I was, doing just that.

It's either that or looking as if you're trying to make him jealous, I thought to myself. I'll take this.

It was then that I noticed that I was supposed to meet Terry in five minutes. But how to get down without Harry noticing?

"Why don't you go on ahead, Harry," I urged. "They're going to leave soon, and you should meet up with Parvati."

"Right," Harry said, running his fingers through his hair again. Did he always do that when he was nervous? Why had I never noticed? "I'll catch you later, then." He headed out the door and left me standing there.

My heart hammering with the idea of being late, I endured two minutes of standing still before I walked out of the door myself, containing the urge to run. I finally got outside, and to my relief, Harry was nowhere in sight. I spotted Terry standing near the gates, just as we planned.

"Hi, Terry," I said, running up to him. "Sorry I'm late."

"By about thirty seconds," he laughed. "Don't worry about it." We stood there for a minute, painfully awkward. Finally he said. "You look nice."

"Thanks," I smiled. I motioned my head towards the group of third years and above. "Shall we go?"

"Right!" Terry said, looking mortified for just standing there. "Let's." We joined the crowd and were quiet for a bit, and then Terry began talking.

"How do you feel about the upcoming NEWTs?"

"Oh, gosh," I began, not sure where to start. "Well, nervous of course. I mean, it could be the beginning or end to all my plans! Not that I have any at the moment. Right now, I'm not sure what I want to be…maybe an auror… That's what Harry wants to do," I added as a side note. "It'd be nice to go into a career with someone I know."

I noticed that there was a rather pained expression on Terry's face.

Right, I reprimanded myself. Note to self: do not talk about a guy your date was brainwashed to think you just dated. This is a big no.

"Or maybe a teacher," I rushed on. "Return to Hogwarts…it is like my home. But, yes, I'm just concentrating now on studying as much as I can."

"Same," Terry nodded. "I'm going to start up a study schedule after the holidays. I think five months will be enough time. I'm hoping." He gave a laugh.

We continued talking about school and NEWTs, which lasted us the entire walk to Hogsmeade.

"So," Terry said, clapping his hands together uncertainly once we reached our destination. "What should we do?"

"Well…" I trailed off. "We could always go to Honeydukes, or the Owlery, or the Three Broomsticks."

"Or we could just walk," Terry suggested with a shrug. I was uneasy about this idea. Just walk? Did we really have enough in common to just walk around Hogsmeade? However, I decided to give it a go.

"All right, then," I replied. "Let's walk around." We exchanged grins and started up conversation once more.

"If there was anything you could convince all of Hogwarts to do," Terry asked, "what would it be?"

"Easy," I replied immediately. "I'd have everyone read Hogwarts: A History." Terry stared at me for a while, and then began to laugh. "Hey!" I replied, laughing as well. "I'm absolutely serious!"

Terry looked at me. "Are you really?"

"Yes!" I exclaimed, pretending to be indignant. "You wouldn't believe how many times I've had to remind people that you can't apparate in or out of Hogwarts! It's simply ridiculous, not to mention annoying."

"You can't apparate in or out of Hogwarts?" Terry asked with wide eyes.

I stared at him for a moment, gave a sigh, and closed my eyes in exasperation. "No, you can't." I opened my eyes once more to see Terry grinning broadly. "Hey!" I exclaimed, giving him a little slap on the arm. "That is not funny. That's the one thing that really gets to me!"

"Is it really?" Terry asked.

"All right, no," I replied with a small laugh. "There are a lot of things that get to me: the fact that Harry and Ron never do their homework, although sometimes it's rather cute how helpless they are; the never ending bickering that occurs between Ron and me. I mean, honestly, when will it end? The fact that no one seems to be able to answer questions in class. The cruel abuse that house-elves undergo."

"So a lot of things," Terry finished off.

"Just about," I replied. "What about you? What gets under your -"

"Hermione!" I heard a familiar voice call angrily from behind me. I swallowed. The voice was too familiar. Turning around, I placed a nervous smile on my face.

"Hello there, Harry," I said, giving a small wave. "Parvati." Parvati was staring up, quite as anxious as myself, at a seething Harry. To my right, Terry was giving me a look that plainly said, "You never went out, huh?"

"What are you doing here?" Harry asked through gritted teeth.

I turned to Terry. "Give me a second," I told him, smiling apologetically at him. I marched over to Harry, gave Parvati the smile as well, and dragged him over to the side.

"Calm down," I told him, immediately.

"Calm down?" Harry asked. "Calm down? You lied to me, Hermione! You never lie to me!"

"Well I'm sorry!" I said huffily. I notice that my tone of voice wasn't going down well with Harry. "Really, I am," I told him, sincerely. "It's just, well…the thing is…" I grasped for the words. "I've never been on a date before," I finally said. "Not really. That thing with Krum…it was quick. It wasn't really dating. It was the Yule Ball, a snog once or twice…"

"You snogged Viktor Krum?" Harry asked me, wide eyed. Apparently this had been the wrong thing to say.

"Well…I mean…what I meant to say…that is…" I scrambled, my words in complete disarray. "Yes, I did!" I said finally. "What does it matter?"

"Nothing," Harry said, taken aback by my forwardness. "I just wish you had told me."

"Oh, yes," I replied scathingly. "Because all 14-year-old girls tell their best guy friend who they snogged."

"Right," Harry said, uncertainly.

I took a deep breath, the continued with the speech I began earlier on. "My point is, I wasn't sure how you'd react…how either of you would react," I corrected myself, "I mean, face it Harry, the three of us have an odd relationship. Two guys and a girl? Who are close?"

"Obviously not that close," Harry said under his breath. I chose to ignore his statement.

"We were bound to run into something like this sooner or later," I continued. "Face it: you two are beyond protective of me. You don't even let me fight my own battles! I can't argue with Draco Malfoy without you two threatening to hex him into obliviation, and you both know perfectly well that my hexes are absolutely adequate for such a job. And me? On a date?" I gave a laugh and shook my head. "You two would probably attack Terry if I told you we were dating."

"We would not!" Harry protested.

"Ha," I replied. "Harry, what was the first thing that came into your mind when you saw Terry and me walking? I bet you your Firebolt it wasn't, `What is Hermione doing here when she said she wasn't going to Hogsmeade?'" I raised an eyebrow at Harry while he remained silent. "Well?" I prompted.

"Fine," Harry responded stubbornly. "Yes, my first thought was how I wanted to kill him, but…"

"Exactly," I replied, happy to be proven right. "And Ron would probably have turned him into a toad. Thank Merlin you have more discipline than he does," I sighed. "Like I said, I was…I was nervous about your reaction." I played with the hem of my cloak. "I mean, honestly, Harry, it's hard enough being the only female in the group without the two of you breathing down my neck about the guys I date." I looked up to meet Harry's eyes.

"Right," he said finally. "Look, I'm sorry that you thought I'd explode, I promise I won't."

"I sense a but," I said dismally.

"But," Harry continued, "I'm not going to stop who I am."

"What does that mean?" I demanded.

"You said it yourself in fifth year," Harry shrugged. "I have a `saving-people thing'."

"Wh-what does that have to do with this?" I sputtered. "Voldemort hasn't set me up with Terry, you know, Harry."

"What I mean," Harry said, "is that if he does anything wrong, anything to hurt you, I swear I will kill him."

"What do you identify as wrong?" I asked Harry, leaning up against the outside wall of a shop, my arms crossed across my chest, frowning.

"Touching you in anyway whatsoever," Harry replied lightly.

"My God Harry!" I exclaimed, absolutely annoyed. "I can take care of myself. You don't see any of Parvati's friends telling her that they will kill you if you so much as touch her, do you?"

"Well, I mean…"

"Do you think so little of me?" I demanded, straightening up. "Do you honestly think I am unable to protect myself from crazy, hormonal guys? I'm seventeen Harry, not six."

"You're taking what I said completely…"

"I can have a boyfriend without you looking out for me," I cut him off. "You don't see me jumping on your back about Parvati, do you?" Only because you have self-control, you reminded yourself. Oh, do shut up, demanded another voice.

"Stop it!" Harry said firmly. He looked peeved now as well. "I know fully well that you can look out for yourself," he replied. "How could I not after being around you for seven years?"

"Well, if you think you need to -"

"I have a saving people thing, Hermione," Harry repeated. "You said it yourself. And it's true. That includes a protecting people thing. I automatically do it. Is it so bad that I care enough about you that I want to protect you?"

"From my date?" I asked incredulously, although at the same time I did find it sweet that he felt that strongly. "You want to protect me from my date?"

"Hermione, you have no idea how…" Harry fished for a word, "…how…insane guys can be. They do some stupid things."

"Like sneak in on a girl while she showers?" I asked, unable to contain a smirk as Harry blanched.

"Yeah," he said weakly. "Like that." He took a deep breath. "I just want to make sure that he doesn't go insane with you. I don't want you to do anything you'd regret," Harry finished resolutely.

I couldn't help but laugh. "I had this talk with my mother when I was 14, Harry," I told him, giving him a pat on the arm. "I honestly hope you don't believe that I'd be stupid enough to have sex during my NEWT year."

"Well, he's a guy," Harry shrugged. "I know what guys think."

"Oh," I said, playfully mocking Harry, happy that we could discuss a subject with such ease. "Is that's what's on your brain 24/7? Should I be protecting myself from you?"

"Ha, ha," Harry said. "Very cute." I couldn't help but smile. It was then that I heard a loud and decisive cough.

I turned around and saw that Parvati and Terry, both looking extremely bored, were staring at us.

"Oh, Merlin!" I exclaimed, looking at my watch. "We're horrible dates…we've been ignoring them for ten minutes."

"Damn," Harry replied. There went his fingers into his hair. "I'll see you later then?" he asked.

"Yes," I replied, as we went to rejoin our dates. "Patrols." Harry left with Parvati, who was glaring at him, and I was left with Terry.

"I'm so sorry!" I began in a rush. "Harry was just being a bit over protective before, me being the girl in the group - you know how Harry and Ron are - so I had to put him in his place, and then we lost track of time…"

Terry closed his eyes and sighed.

"I'm really sorry!" I said again, clasping my hands together as if I was begging.

"It's okay," Terry replied, smiling. "How about we head over to the Three Broomsticks?" And so we did.

*****

So other than that little catastrophe, the date went okay. I surprisingly didn't run out of things to say with Terry, which is a good sign, right? Ginny says it is.

That can't possibly be a good sign, can it?

Good luck with that on my part.

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