Chapter 13; The big fight
When he realized just what he was doing, Harry pulled away. He looked at Hermione's puzzled expression and waited for her to hex him, slap him, or yell at him. He waited to see any sign of anger in her face, but it never came; she didn't seem to be angry at all.
The seconds that he spent looking at her seemed like hours and then she did something he least expected.
"I'm…" Harry said in whisper, ready to apologize before Hermione's lips crushed his. He was quite taken aback but recovered quickly. Harry couldn't believe what was happening. Hermione, his best friend, was kissing him back instead of being mad at him and it was wonderful. His body burned from the inside out, spreading like a wildfire from where their lips were connected. He had never felt anything more exquisite in his life and he never wanted it to end. He slipped one of his hands around her waist, bringing her closer, while the other hand was on her cheek, slowly making its way into her hair.
They were so captivated by each other that they didn't see a certain red headed boy entering the room at that moment. They didn't see his stunned face, didn't see how his cheeks turned into the color of his hair and they didn't see the pain in his eyes.
"It didn't take too long for you to recover, did it?" Ron asked as he stood in the doorway. Both Harry and Hermione jumped apart at his unexpected appearance. "How could you do this to me, Harry?" he said before he left.
"Ron," Hermione whispered as she kept her eyes on the portrait hole.
"Ron, wait," Harry called out and rushed over to Ron, leaving Hermione in the now empty room.
Harry caught up to Ron and grabbed his arm to spin him around.
"Ron, I'm sorry. I shouldn't…we shouldn't have…" Harry started.
Ron, who was furious, turned around and looked coldly at Harry. "How could you do this to me Harry? he asked again.
"I'm sorry. It just…it just happened."
"It just happened? What are you going to tell me that you slipped onto her lips?" he asked furiously.
"No, it just. We didn't think…"
"You didn't think? I thought we were friends and now you do this to me?"
"Do what Ron?" Harry demanded.
"Take my girlfriend away from me."
"She's not your girlfriend anymore," Harry said protectively
"For about a day and you just had to go and take her away from me."
"I'm not an item Ron, you didn't own me," Hermione said and both boys turned around to look at the girl.
"It's always you. You always have something that I don't have," Ron continued, ignoring Hermione. "You have everything I've ever wanted, money and fame, you're the best at Quidditch, you're Head Boy and Quidditch captain. The only reason I became prefect was because Dumbledore's first choice, you, couldn't do it," Ron continued angrily while Harry and Hermione simply stared at him. "And for once in my life I have something that you don't have. I have a girlfriend and you, you have to go and ruin everything; you had to take her away from me as if there aren't enough single girls around for you."
"I'm not thing that everyone can take and leave at any given time. You don't own me, Ron, so stop making a scene!" Hermione screamed at him. By that time, their yelling had attracted people in the corridor but none of them noticed.
"Stop making a scene?" Ron repeated as if he didn't believe what Hermione had just said. "I'm not," He said innocently and Hermione rolled her eyes.
"Oh right and I'm the one who's making that big deal over a kiss?" Hermione asked.
"It wasn't just a kiss, it was you and Harry, KISSING after you broke up with me," Ron snapped back and looked at Harry while the other students around them started to whisper among themselves. "Well done, mate. Now you have everything, even Hermione," Ron yelled at them and turned on his heels to leave.
"You two kissed?" asked a shaky voice that belonged to Ginny, who had followed the screams just like everyone else.
"Not now Ginny," Harry said tiredly and started stalking Ron, closely followed by Hermione then Ginny and all the other students who were eager to hear more.
"You know better than anyone that I don't want to be famous, Ron. I didn't choose to be who I am. Why are you so jealous about it? For once in your life why can't you be happy for me?"
"Happy for you?" Ron repeated in frustration as he turned to look at Harry again.
"You two kissed?" Ginny asked again as she stepped between Ron and Harry. "What about me, Harry?" she asked looking at him with teary eyes.
"Ginny, not NOW," Harry said once again and gently pushed her away.
"Happy for you because you stole my girlfriend?"
"Ron stop being such a prat," Hermione interrupted.
"And you Hermione, how could you do this to me?" Ron asked as if he finally understood or noticed her presence. "I thought you cared about me."
"Believe it or not, I still do."
"Yes you do. You care so much that you run right into Harry's arms the moment we break up. I bet you were waiting for her with your arms wide open, right, mate," Ron asked as he turned to Harry again.
But Hermione had heard enough. Everything had its limits and Ron had just crossed one. Instead of thinking or waiting, she quickly closed the distance between herself and Ron and slapped him across the face.
"I don't have to listen to this any longer," she said in frustration while the other students stood with their mouths wide open.
As soon as she slapped Ron, Ginny had pulled out her wand and was now pointing it at Hermione.
"No one threatens my brother like that," he said warningly.
"What are you going to do now, Ginny? Hex a defenseless witch behind her back?" Hermione asked in annoyance as she then turned to Harry. "Come on, let's go," she said and Harry nodded, but kept his eyes on Ron and Ginny.
"Yea you go on. Go on and dest…"
"Silencio!" bellowed a voice from the other side of the corridor. Everyone turned to the voice and saw Professor McGonagall hurrying up to the four of them.
"Can anyone tell me what is going on in here? Miss Granger?" she asked as she finally reached them and took off the silencing charm. "I thought you were smarter than that," Professor McGonagall said and heard snickering from the other students. She looked around at all the students who were there, watching them. "Back to your common rooms," she ordered but no one moved; everyone wanted to stay and see what would happen next. "To your common rooms, now," she repeated rather angrily and everyone started making their way in all directions.
"And you four, in my office.," she demanded and started to walk away. Harry and Hermione were the last ones who started walking; they were behind Ginny and Ron and walked up to Professor McGonagall's office hand in hand.
"Now can anyone tell me what happened back there?" Professor McGonagall asked as she took a seat behind her desk. Instead of answering, everyone looked guiltily down at their feet. "Very well, if you don't want to talk, then you have to listen," she said.
"I don't think I have to say how seriously disappointed I am with the four of you. There is no excuse for what happened back there. It is far and beyond the worse thing any of you could have done. You almost revealed the secret that you are so determined to keep," she said and looked at Ron.
"What secret?" Ginny asked quietly from Ron, who looked puzzled. Ginny hoped her question would go unnoticed by the Headmistress, but she was wrong.
"I am sorry Miss Weasley, but this is something that does not concern you," the Headmistress said as she turned to Ginny, who was ashamed of asking the question and mad at her friends for having kept something from her. "What were the three of you thinking? Fighting like that in front of the school? And you Miss Weasley, how do you explain yourself? Threatening your friend? Using violence against one another is highly forbidden in Hogwarts, you should know that by now," she said and rose up. "As for your punishment," she started and they all looked up with fear in their eyes. "Fifty points from each of you," she said and all four let out a sigh. "That's not all," she continued. "You three," she said pointing at Ginny, Harry and Ron. "You better find replacements since you are banned from Quidditch until after Halloween," she added.
"What?" said Ginny and Ron together while Harry said nothing. He had once been banned and it wasn't anything new to him. Yes he would miss playing Quidditch, but at least he didn't get a lifetime ban like he had in his fifth year.
"And all four of you are removed from schoolwork for two weeks," she said shortly. "This will give you time to learn how to get along with one another again," she added.
"That's not fair," said Ginny.
"It's fair enough Miss Weasley. You should be glad that I didn't expel you as I should have for making such a ridiculous scene," she said in a determined voice. "Go and pack your things, you're going home for two weeks tomorrow after breakfast," she said. "Oh and Mr. Potter, Miss Granger and Mr. Weasley I need to talk to you," she demanded and waited for Ginny to leave the office.
"I don't know what happened out there, but do you know how serious this is? Mr. Weasley almost revealed information about the horcruxes to none other than the entire student body. And you know better than I do that there are students who would betray us all with that knowledge," she said and all three of them knew she was talking about Malfoy. "So you better work this out before you return to school," she lectured and rose from her seat.
"Harry," she called out. "I didn't expect to see you in my office again, at least not tonight. But since you're here now, I might as well give this to you," she said and took the Gryffindor sword that was next to the sorting hat."
"I don't think it's a good idea," one of the portraits commented.
"I don't recall asking your opinion," the Headmistress replied before shrinking the sword and handing it to Harry. "I think you should know the value of this better than anyone else; don't fail me," she said. "Hide it well, use it wisely."
"Thank you Professor," Harry answered and put the shrunken sword inside his robes.
"I hate to do this, but I spoke Albus and I now know that this is the only thing I can do," she said and took a quill from the table and wrote something down. "This is the address where you can find the wizard you're looking for," she said and handed the piece of paper to Harry who could tell how unwillingly she gave him the information. "Just promise you won't do anything stupid."
"I promise, thank you Professor," Harry said and smiled as he turned to Ron, almost forgetting their fight. As soon as he looked at him and saw his puzzled face, he remembered that they never got the chance of tell Ron anything. Harry remembered the fight with him when he turned back to the Headmistress and saw that she was once again looking through the papers that lay before her and he took it as a sign that it was time for them to leave.
Harry and Hermione finally made their way to their private rooms and Hermione couldn't keep her happiness inside any longer.
"I told you. I told you she would help us," she said smiling brightly as she sat down on a chair. "This is too good to be true and what a perfect plan."
"What plan?" Harry asked, not so cheerfully. The fight with Ron was still fresh in his mind. It killed him inside that they hadn't spoken a word to each other when they left from Headmistress' office.
"Removing us from our schoolwork. This is just so perfect. Why didn't I think of it first? By removing us from schoolwork, it gives us the chance to leave school without making anyone suspicious."
"Ginny was suspended from school for two weeks too though," Harry said.
"Of course she was but it is a little unfair with her because she won't come with us."
"Ron won't come either," Harry mumbled.
"But what else could she do? Suspend the three of us and leave Ginny at school? Wouldn't that be suspicious?" Hermione asked, but Harry didn't answer. "And everyone knows how dreadful this particular punishment it is to me, but since you would be more than delighted with it, she banned you from Quidditch. She had planned this all along, ever since we talked about the locket. She just waited the perfect opportunity to set her plan into action."
"That's great 'Mione," Harry muttered. "I'm going to bed now," he added.
"And I am going to pack," Hermione said and jumped up from the seat. She and Harry met in the doorway that led them to their dorms and she rose on her tiptoes to give him quick kiss goodnight before running up to her room. That kiss reminded Harry about the good part of his evening and with a smile on his face, he made his way to his own room.
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