Heh…hi! I know, I know. I'm horrible. It's been a month since I've updated. But as I warned, I've been horribly busy. So on top of school and after school activities (which take up enough time as it is), my sixteenth birthday is coming up, and needless to say a lot of planning is involved…which takes up a lot of my time, sadly. :-/
I will warn you that it may be even longer until I update again, due to the fact that I've encountered writer's block. I know where I want to go with this story - it's just a matter go getting there. When I'm away from my computer, I have all of these scenes/ideas running through my head. Then I get my hand on pen and paper, or even my laptop, and I can't seem to put it into words. But don't worry! I haven't once abandoned a story due to writer's block. Ever. And I'm determined to finish this one, even more so, if possible, then I'm Not Neurotic!
If you're curious about any updates, please check out my LiveJournal (my username is HMSHarmony). I'm going to try to post about my progress on chapters, and sometimes I might even have some previews. ^_^ However, my LJ is friends only, so you'll need your own LJ to see my updates. Just comment that you read my fics and want to know what's going on and I'll add you.
On that note, I hope you enjoy this chapter. Nothing really happens to move H/Hr together, as I'm still in the set up stage, but I personally think it's a fun chapter all the same (then again, I have the slightest bias, seeing as I wrote it…).
Please read and review!
*****
The Top Ten Reasons Harry and Hermione Need to Get Together
By Ginny Weasley, with useless comments by Ron Weasley
They've been best friends since first year, and you just can't go that long without falling in love with someone. Wait, if they have to fall in love with each other because they're best friends, what about me? I'm best friends with them, too! You already "fell" for Hermione, remember Ron? You were just smart enough to back off after sixth year, because you knew she was better suited for Harry. Oh, right…wow. I'm such a great person!
Harry and Hermione…it just sounds good. What, and Ron and Hermione doesn't?! Ron…we're trying to get them together. Oh…right. Heh. Sorry. Just this pride thing, you know? Believe me, I know…I pity Luna. Yeah, so do- wait a second, what are you talking about? What does Luna have to do with this? …I really pity her.
Same initials, of course. How many people do you know like that? AND they could name their children H names, give them J middle names, and it'd be a family of "HJP." But Hermione's last name is Granger…that doesn't start with a P. Am I the only intelligent one left in our family?
I would get to be the Maid of Honor! I don't have any other really close female friends, except Luna…but I'd find a way to be the Maid of Honor in my brother's wedding, no matter who he married. I don't know…Luna might want someone else to…wait a second! STOP BRINGING LUNA INTO THIS, GINNY!
Did I ever mention how much I adore planning weddings? I do. With all of my heart. It'd be so much fun. Okay, don't you think that you're getting a little ahead of yourself? I mean, how do you know that they'll end up married? Please. I know these things.
Harry clearly cares about her more than anyone else in the world. Neville told everyone about how Harry reacted to Hermione's "almost death" back in fifth year. When that brain suffocated Ron ten minutes later, he could have cared less. That's right! He cares more about her than he could ever care about any of us…how's that a good thing again? Well, it's not a good thing for you, but for those two it is. And for the money I'm going to make, I suppose it's great for me…
They'd have the perfect children. Well, minus the hair. Unless they got Harry's mum's hair. Anyway, they'd have Harry's eyes, Hermione's brains, Harry's courage, Hermione's loyalty, Harry's keenness for adventure, Hermione's sensibility, both their wit… Honestly. Perfect children. Can we please take this off the list? I really don't enjoy the image of Harry and Hermione doing… Doing what? The icky stuff… Sex? GINNY! No! They'll never have sex. Just like our parents. I hate to break this to you, but… I'M NOT READING!
They look good together. I mean alone, they're kind of…not so pretty, but together, they make a rather nice couple. Like McGonagall and Flitwick? …No, that's not the same at all. Where did you come upwith the ludicrous idea that those two were dating, anyway? Luna. Ron, I know you love her/are obsessed with her, but honestly, you listened to her? She had a convincing argument… Oh please, do tell of this "convincing argument." …She said she saw them underneath a circle of empritents, which signifies that two people are dating. Yeah, that's convincing.
I want them together. I get what I want, and if I don't get this, I can assure you, I'll be really upset. Isn't that a bit selfish of you? Ron, I will split the fifty galleons with you. How does that sound? I always thought that selfishness was your best quality…
They're already in love with one another, so it's pointless for them to keep up this pretense.
*****
"Love is like pi - natural, irrational, and very important."
~Lisa Hoffman
*****
"What the hell do you think you're doing?" Ron moaned, turning over in his bed. He had been awoken by… Well, he wasn't exactly sure what it was that had awoken him. He just knew that he was up, and that his body was telling him that it was much too early to be awake, especially on the first day of break.
"Sorry, mate," a voice, which Ron recognized as that of Dean Thomas, apologized. "I forgot to pack last night, and, well, here I am."
Ron opened his eyes and pushed himself up into a sitting position. Indeed, Dean was in the midst of throwing random articles of clothing into an already overflowing trunk.
"You're heading home for the holidays again?" Ron yawned as he stretched his arms.
"Yep," Dean replied. "Look, I have a question for you…" He went over to his dresser and took out two shirts. "I'm being dragged to this New Year's party, and I was wondering, which shirt do you think looks better?" Dean placed in front of himself one shirt, which was a dark blue button up, and then switched it for the same shirt, only a forest green.
"Well, I think the first one brings out your eyes, while the other compliments your complexion…" Ron commented sarcastically.
"Really?" Dean looked as if he was considering which was more important to him as he stepped in front of the mirror and traded the two shirts on and off once more.
"How should I know?" Ron demanded. "I'm a guy for Merlin's sake! But then again, I thought that you were one as well…"
"It's not that difficult a question…" Dean muttered, stuffing both shirts into the trunk, deciding that he would choose later.
"Sorry. I'm just tired in the mornings." As if to prove his point, Ron yawned. "So, about this party? You're going against your will?"
"That's about it," Dean sighed sadly. "But hopefully it won't be too bad. I hear that the Grangers go there every year, so at least, I hope, Hermione will be there to keep me company."
There was a look in Dean's eyes that did not make Ron at all comfortable. A look that Ron was fairly certain he himself had worn back in fourth year.
"You…you'd be a bit happy if Hermione was there, huh?" he asked slowly, swinging his legs over the side of his four-poster bed.
"Well, yeah…" Dean smiled; again, not the type of reaction that Ron was looking for.
"As in…our Hermione…Hermione Granger?"
"It's not that common a name, is it?" Dean eyed Ron, wondering if his schoolmate was mental.
Ron nodded noncommittally, and then jumped out of bed and raced downstairs where, to his relief, he found Ginny, who was flirting shamelessly with one of the sixth year boys.
"Ginny!" Ron barked.
Ginny closed her eyes and groaned. "Don't you dare get on my case about this, Ron," she instructed him. "I can do whatever I please, whether it's flirting, dating, shagging…" The eyes of the boy to whom she was talking suddenly lit up, and Ginny looked at him with a disgusted expression on her face. "Oh please, as if I'd ever do any of those things with you." Offended, the sixth year stood up and stomped out of the common room.
"For once in my life, I don't care what you're doing with some guy!" Ron told her. "We have a much more pressing issue!"
Ginny spun around in her seat. "Like what? What's wrong?" she asked urgently, making room for her brother on the couch.
"It's Dean." Ron's words came out rushed and breathless.
"Dean?" Ginny looked confused at the mention of her ex-boyfriend. "What are you talking about?"
"He's going to the party! The New Year's Eve party."
"As in the one Harry and Hermione are going to?" Ginny clarified.
"Exactly!"
"I don't get what the problem is…"
"I'm pretty certain that Dean thinks of Hermione in a way that can mess absolutely everything up!"
Ginny's eyes widened. "You're joking!" she breathed in absolute disbelief.
"Do I look like I'm joking?"
Ginny bit her lip. "Let me handle this," she said finally, and then stalked up to the seventh year boy's dorm.
Ron stood there for a moment, unsure of what to do. He settled on sitting on a chair in front of the fire, swinging his legs to and fro. He finally realized that this was a rather boring activity, and went upstairs to try and help his sister. He arrived just in time to hear his sister demand of Dean, "You promise, right?"
"I promise, Ginny," Dean rolled his eyes. "I think this is absolutely ridiculous, and I don't see why you're telling me what to do. I mean, if they wanted to be together, they'd do it on their own, and it wouldn't matter whether or not I asked her out."
"Promise me," Ginny growled. Ron would never admit it, but sometimes Ginny scared the Hell out of him. Actually, he reasoned, she always scared the Hell out of him.
"All right! I don't understand why I'm doing something for my ex-girlfriend, but all right. I'll do it."
"I always knew I liked you the most out of all of my exes," Ginny grinned, patting him on the shoulder.
"Er, thanks…" Dean replied, not looking thankful at all, but rather insulted. He picked up his wand and leviosa-ed his trunk. "Well, I better be going. I'm late as it is for catching the train…happy holidays."
"Happy holidays!" Ginny called after him. She raised her hands around her mouth and yelled, "Don't forget our promise!" Dean responded by making a rather obscene gesture with his hands, and then walked out of sight.
"Well, that was a bit rude of him." Ginny glared after the seventh year that used to be her boyfriend.
"Imagine, your ex not wanting to be ordered around by you…" Ron commented mockingly. A glare immediately awarded Ginny with a quickly mumbled, "Sorry," by her brother.
&&&&&
"In here!" Hermione motioned to an empty compartment, and Harry followed her in, shutting the door behind them.
"Even during the break it's hard to find an empty one," Hermione sighed, picking up her trunk and attempting to place it on the shelf overhead.
"I got it," Harry told her, taking the luggage from her.
Hermione rolled her eyes. "I'm perfectly capable of stowing my luggage, Harry. I've done it for six years."
Harry shrugged. "You looked tired. And it doesn't hurt me to be chivalrous every now and again. It's good training for when I'm tied down."
Hermione arched an eyebrow. "Tied down?" She covered her mouth as she failed to suppress a laugh. "Oh how I pity the woman who ends up tied down with you."
"Thanks a lot," Harry muttered, sitting across from Hermione, who was grinning mischievously at him. "And what if that woman ends up being you, huh?" He had no idea what prompted him to say such a thing. But he had, and now he was faced with the consequences - a rather shocked Hermione.
Hermione's eyes widened as she froze. "What?" she squeaked, her voice approximately 20 decibels higher than normal.
"Nothing!" Harry insisted, his voice catching. "I didn't say anything! I…er…" He trailed off, unable to come up with a proper explanation.
"A joke, right?" Hermione laughed awkwardly, her voice slowly returning to normal.
"Yes," Harry answered, relieved. Why hadn't he thought of that? After all, that was what it had been. "A joke."
"Heh…" Hermione tried to smile, but instead it came off as if she was trying to convince someone that the fifty-ton rock on her leg didn't really hurt.
Needless to say, it was silent for a bit. Harry looked aimlessly out the window, watching the rather repetitive scenery pass by, while Hermione reread the same passage from Hogwarts: A History approximately 22 times. Many minutes had passed (along with seamlessly similar scenery) before Harry, not able to take a moment longer of quiet, broke out, "Want to play exploding snap?"
Hermione jumped in her seat, surprised by the sudden noise. "Pardon?" She closed her book and curiously tilted her head to the side.
"I asked if you want to play a game of exploding snap," Harry reiterated, taking out a pack of cards as a visual aide.
"I don't know, Harry…" Hermione bit her lip, clutching her fingers around the top edge of her book. "I've never played before…"
"I'll teach you!" Harry volunteered, and he proceeded to do just that. Ten minutes later, after Hermione had comprehended how to properly play, they began a game. It was an hour later before Hermione, having lost for the twelfth time in a row and now covered head to toe in soot, flung down her cards and pronounced the game an absolute waste of time.
"Just imagine how much you'd enjoy it if you were actually winning…" Harry sighed sadly.
"That's not it, and you know it!" Hermione protested angrily, although she herself knew that certainly was the reason why she despised the game. "It isn't challenging whatsoever!" She glared at the cards with contempt, and, after cleaning herself off with a quick spell, picked up Hogwarts: A History, and began to reread the passage from over an hour ago.
Harry had half the mind to counter, "If it isn't challenging, then why aren't you winning?" but realized that it would be in bad taste to provoke Hermione. It wasn't her fault that she didn't enjoy being bad at something…well, not completely her fault.
An hour later the two arrived at King's Cross Station, where an overjoyed Mrs. Granger and a not-so-overjoyed Mr. Granger greeted them.
"Hermione!" Mrs. Granger exclaimed, running over to Hermione as she stepped off the train, embracing her daughter tightly. "I've missed you!"
"You're going to kill me, mum," Hermione laughed lightly, patting her mother on the back.
Mrs. Granger frowned and let Hermione out of the hug, still holding her at an arm's length. "Is that all you have to say to the mother you haven't seen since summer?" She gave her daughter an accusing stare.
Hermione rolled her eyes. "Of course not. Don't be so overdramatic. I've missed you terribly, as well."
"That's better," Mrs. Granger grinned happily. Her grin fell slightly as she looked around. "Where's Harry?" Before Hermione could answer, Mrs. Granger exclaimed, "Don't tell me you just left him at Hogwarts!"
"Mother, honestly," Hermione admonished. Sometimes she could hardly believe that her mother wasn't the child in the family. "He's just bringing out the luggage. He insisted," Hermione added, as if trying to insure that no one thought that she was the type of girl that just let the guy do all of the work. And indeed, a second later, Harry had stepped onto the platform, two trunks flying in the air behind him.
"Is that the boy who's going to take advantage of our daughter," growled Mr. Granger. His wife hit him slightly.
"Don't call him a boy, John," she instructed. "He has a name you know."
Hermione stifled a laugh. It would figure that her mother could care less whether or not she was "taken advantage of."
"Now, Hermione, would you be a dear and…" Before her mother could finish, Hermione gave a quick nod and placed herself between her parents and Harry.
Before speaking, Hermione gave Harry a quick glance, her expression clearly saying, "If you mock me for this later, I will kill you."
"Mum, Dad, I would like to present Mr. Harry Potter, one of my oldest friends, and an amazingly talented wizard."
Harry's eyes widened as he felt a blush creep onto his face. Not only did he feel that this was completely unnecessary (after all, he had met the Grangers before), but he wasn't quite so fond of how formal all of this was.
Hermione's slight grimace, gone unnoticed by both her parents, let Harry know that she hated this just as much as he.
"It's such a pleasure to meet you, Harry," Mrs. Granger beamed. Mr. Granger, on the other hand, stared angrily at Harry and muttered a, "Nice to meet you," at Harry.
"Oh for Merlin's sake, Dad." Hermione walked over to her father as Harry replied, "Nice to meet you as well." "This is Harry, as in my best friend. I can assure you, he's the one who'll make sure that no boy in Hogwarts `takes advantage of me.' You have nothing to worry about."
"Oh don't even bother with your father, Hermione," Mrs. Granger said briskly as she indicated to her husband to take the trunks from Harry. "You know he'll never trust another man so long as he lives. When he's supposed to walk you down the aisle, he'll be dragging you out the door. Now, let's get home and have a cup of tea, shall we?"
&&&&&
"I don't think your father's too fond of me," Harry whispered into Hermione's ear as they sped away from Islington and towards Mayfair. Hermione's father was constantly glaring at Harry through the rearview mirror. Hermione's mother had to stab him in the side every few minutes to prevent Mr. Granger from steering the car off the road or, worst, into another car.
"Of course he isn't," Hermione answered matter-of-factly. Harry blinked, wondering if he had heard correctly.
"Thanks a lot," he mumbled, thankful that her parents couldn't hear their conversation over the car's motor.
"Oh come off it, Harry," Hermione replied. "He thinks of you as the enemy." Hermione received another blank stare from Harry. She sighed and added, "All fathers are like that."
"Mr. Weasley isn't," Harry pointed out, gripping onto his seat as the car swerved. Mr. Granger had just avoided hitting a car, and Mrs. Granger was now trying to convince him to let her drive. Harry didn't know what scared him more - a car wreck, or Mr. Granger having the opportunity to give him the evil eye for Merlin knows how long.
"Yes, well, Ginny has gone through her share of boyfriends since you were her one and only for approximately two weeks," Hermione explained to Harry. "It's safe to assume that he worries more about Ginny taking advantaged of the next poor bloke who lays their eyes on her. I, on the other hand, have yet to be in any serious relationship - or really any relationship whatsoever."
"But Krum…" Harry trailed off uncertainly.
"I wouldn't call staring at me while I study a relationship," Hermione said, shaking her head and laughing slightly. "I do wish, thought, that my father would realize that I'm eighteen, and legally an adult in both worlds. It seems I'll always be an eleven-year-old in his mind."
Harry was about to respond when the car came to an abrupt halt.
"Lizzie, this isn't necessary!" Mr. Granger protested.
"This is a Rolls Royce, John," Mrs. Granger said through clenched teeth. "I am not letting you wreck it. Now get to the other side before I make you move." Mr. Granger mumbled, but got out of the seat and moved over to the left side.
Harry bit the inside of his lip in order not to smile. Maybe this wouldn't be so different as staying with the Weasleys after all.
"Now you can stare threateningly at Harry without endangering our lives," Mrs. Granger told him, starting up the car. Harry gulped and glanced anxiously at Hermione.
"Don't worry," Hermione consoled him, taking out two books and handing him one. "It's only…" She looked out the window, taking in the heavy traffic. "…about twenty minutes, with this backup, until we get home. In the mean time, you can catch up on some history."
Harry glanced down at the book in his hands.
"Hogwarts: A History," he groaned, glancing over at Hermione's book that was almost as worn as Hogwarts: A History. "Hey!" he exclaimed. "That's not fair! You're reading a real book."
Hermione contained the urge to hit him, and instead said, "Somehow I can't envision that The Scarlet Letter will entice you more than A History. And this way, I won't have to remind you time and time again that you can't apparate in to or out of Hogwarts." Harry gave her the evil eye. "It's your choice," Hermione shrugged. "You can watch my father glare at you, or finally know something about the school you've attended for the past seven years." Hermione opened her own book and began to read.
"That isn't much of a choice…" Harry grumbled, cracking open the book. As he began to read, Hermione couldn't help but smile. Perhaps he wasn't a lost cause after all.
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