A/N: UPDATE! HURRAY! My apologies for taking an eternity and a half to put this chapter up, I cannot begin to tell you how busy finals week has been. Well anyway, here it is, chapter 5. I hope you all like it. I know it's short, but I didn't want to force things, otherwise we'd end up with c**p. Thank yous to everyone who's reviewed, I love you all. And I love my beta as well. = ) See chapter 1 for disclaimer.
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Halfway through their second round of butterbeer, Harry was in the middle of a joke when Ron suddenly sat bolt upright, slamming his bottle down on the table.
"What?" Harry and Hermione said simultaneously, their faces contorted in worry.
Looking at his wristwatch, Ron slapped his hand on his forehead with a loud SMACK! "Harry! I booked an extra training session for today! And it starts in fifteen minutes!"
Harry hastily banged his bottle on the table and checked his watch. "You didn't tell me about any extra sessions!"
"I'm sorry, I meant to tell you yesterday but it completely slipped my mind! I was... busy..." said Ron, coloring slightly.
"Busy?" Hermione inquired.
"Come on, if we go now we'll still make it," Ron quickly countered. They all stood up and hurriedly exited the Three Broomsticks.
"I'm sorry we have to drag you out to the pitch just to watch us play like trolls," Ron apologized as they started up the path back to the castle.
"Trolls... not the way I'd put it," said Hermione, smiling.
"Do you mean that in a good way or a bad way?" asked Harry.
"I don't know, you decide," she chuckled. Upon reaching the castle, the boys ran up to their rooms to get their brooms and robes. Hermione decided she'd just wait for them in the entrance hall. She sat on the stairs and fiddled with the pendant of her silver necklace as she watched the frolicking students beyond the great oak doors. And then she began to think... This staying away from books business seemed to her more and more like a great idea. The headache she felt was coming on this morning was now completely gone. She felt a lot less stressed now that she had inhaled fresh air and not the recycled kind that was circulating in the libr--
Hermione's musings were cut short by the faint sound of what she thought was a snicker. She turned to see whatever or whoever it was that had made the sound but found that she was alone. She furrowed her brow for a moment, and then dismissed it as coming from outside. She turned to resume watching the students.
"HRAAAAAAA!"
"AAAAAAAAH!"
Two heads appeared out of thin air, startling Hermione so badly that she was actually lifted off her seat for a moment. Breathing heavily, her hand over her chest, she stood and threw a deathly glare at Ron and Harry as they emerged from under the invisibility cloak, laughing hysterically.
"Are you dunderheads trying to give me a heart attack?" she yelled. Still laughing, Harry and Ron nodded in affirmation.
"Oh, you're really pleased with yourselves aren't you?" Hermione said in a small, hurt voice. The boys sobered up immediately, realizing that they'd hit a nerve. Pushing their luck any further could pop the bubble. Not knowing what to do to calm her down, Harry walked up and hugged Hermione. She didn't respond though, her arms hung at her sides, refusing to let him off that easily.
"I'm sorry. It was my idea," said Harry soothingly, rubbing her back.
"Just thought it'd be fun to scare me out of my wits huh?" she mumbled against his chest.
"Well... yeah. But we'll quit doing that now. Right, Ron?" Harry looked pointedly at his friend. Ron, who was staring at them with small smile, snapped back to reality. "Huh? Oh, yeah, yeah..."
"Tell you what," said Harry as he held Hermione just a bit more tightly, "as punishment for this heartless act, you can perform one hex on each of us--"
"Each of us? This was your idea, remember?" protested Ron.
A slight frown crossed Harry's face. He can be really annoying when he feels like it.
"Fine," Harry sighed exasperatedly. "You get to do one hex on me this week. So, are we even?" he asked as he looked at Hermione.
She looked up at him. "Do I get to choose which hex to throw at you?"
Harry smiled. "Of course." Oh dear, he thought to himself.
"Ok, we're even," she said simply, and hugged him tightly around the middle. Ron shook his head in a you're-mental-you-know-that way at Harry, who gave him a well-I-had-to-do-something look. Hermione let go of Harry. "Come on you guys, you're going to miss training."
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