Chapter 6 : Good Ol' Times
"Tried apparating yet?" Hannah asked as Harry was trying to apparate.
Harry was sweating because of trying too hard. "I can't and I don't know why. It's like this place has a force field or something." Harry replied.
"I wish that we can get out of here as soon as possible. We've missed a lot of lessons." Hermione complained as the others laughed. "What? I hate missing lessons."
"You always hate missing lessons. But you have to relax for a bit. You don't have to always stress yourself." Parvati comforted her.
"But…. But… my record!" Hermione squealed.
"Hermione, look at me, relax." Harry shook Hermione as she calmed down.
"Okay. I'm relaxed. But…" Hermione said as Hannah glared at her. "Okay. No buts..."
"Ugh! I hate being stuck here. My outfits are all used up." Lavender complained.
"How about we wash your clothes in the stream? That could be fun." Hannah suggested.
"What? We have to do servant stuff? Are you crazy, Fairlings?" Draco grumbled.
"Look, Malfoy. We'll be stuck here until either the Professors or the Aurors will find us so we might as well do some work." Hannah reprimanded him. "Because unlike you, I can do stuff on my own."
"Looks like Malfoy just got served." Ron chuckled as Draco glared at him.
"Shut it, Weasley. Fine. I'll do it. But if I don't do it the right way then I'll give up, is that clear?" Draco replied stiffly.
"Whatever Malfoy. As long as you help." Parvati said.
*~*
"Well, that was hard." Malfoy whined.
"Come on, Malfoy. You seriously had fun when you pushed Ron in the spring." Hannah laughed as Ron moaned.
"Yeah. Talk about being soaked. And I'm hungry." Ron grumbled.
"While we were washing our clothes, Harry and Hermione took off the lake and tried their luck on fishing." Ginny informed the group.
"How can they fish without fishing poles or bait?" Lavender asked.
"Magic, Lav! Look, there they are..." Parvati pointed.
Harry and Hermione did catch something. They were carrying bunches of fishes tied in string which made Ron even hungrier.
"We better start a fire to cook those fish or Ron might eat us." Lavender joked.
"Oh yeah, you better, because I can eat you all." Ron laughed.
"How about Cho? Is she still mad?" Hannah asked.
"Oh yeah, she still doesn't speak to anyone. She's still flaming mad." Ginny replied.
Hannah sighed. "That's our Cho but I'm afraid of what she might do."
Parvati arched an eyebrow up. "What do you mean?"
"You know Cho, she's ready to do anything just to get whatever she wants and that's what scares me." Hannah replied.
"Let's just help Hermione help Harry get over Cho and I know that you'll agree to help her." Ginny assured Hannah.
"Of course I'll help her. She's a great friend to be and I'll return the favor." Hannah smiled as she started rubbing the two sticks together to make a fire (I know that she can make a fire using her wand but she like doing stuff without magic).
"How about your tiny crush on Harry? You're ready to give that up?" Lavender asked.
Hannah broke the sticks in her shock as she quickly looked at Lavender. "Shush! Nobody must know about that and yes, I'm ready to give that up for Hermione. I wouldn't want to be selfish."
"Hannah, are you an angel or what? We're really fortunate to have you." Ginny smiled as she took over the job in making a fire using her wand.
Hannah sighed as she saw that Ginny used magic to produce a fire. "Ginny, you can't live without magic can you?" Hannah sighed.
"Of course I can't! I absolutely love magic." Ginny grinned.
"Oi! The fire's ready! Where's the fish to cook?" Ron shouted.
"Here's the fish, Ron. Just a few minutes and it will be fully cooked." Hermione said.
After a few minutes of waiting, the fish was fully cooked and served. As usual, Ron was the first one to get food. They stuffed their mouths with the fish. When they were finished, they left Harry and Hermione to clean up.
"Well, they certainly left us the mess." Hermione groaned as Harry laughed. "What's so funny about cleaning?"
"It's that you look funny when you're mad. Especially when you blow strands of your hair that is covering your face." Harry remarked as Hermione blushed. "And when you're blushing, you look so cute."
"Harry, are you trying to get out of cleaning because it's working." Hermione said.
"Hey, is it a crime to compliment you?" Harry asked.
"Yes. Because nobody compliments me, okay?" Hermione replied.
"But you deserve compliments like everybody else."
"Aiya! I told you that I don't want anybody to compliment me." Hermione smiled.
"But why are you smiling?" Harry intrigued.
"Shut up!" Hermione giggled.
While they were cleaning, they talked about their school life and personal life which freshened Harry up. He felt happy to confide in somebody other than Hannah.
"Well, I've never had a boyfriend before and I never dated. Nobody will date a bookworm like me. I hope that me being part of your group won't affect my grades that is, if I'm still part of the group when we get back to Hogwarts." Hermione narrated.
Harry smiled because he knew that Hermione is feeling comfortable around him now. "Of course you'll still be part of the group. You have the permission of the leaders now. And are you sure that you never dated or had a boyfriend before. It seems like you're lying."
"I'm not lying. I've never dated anyone before but I guess that you dated millions of girls already and I suppose that Hannah's one of them." Hermione remarked.
Harry's smile faded. "Not actually, Hannah's never dated anyone before. In our group, she's the most innocent that's why we're overly protective of her. I've dated quite a few girls… Parvati, Cho, Ginny, Padma and I've tried Susan Bones too. There are a lot of girls that I've dated but none lasted. Good thing that me, Parvati and Ginny stayed friends. But seems like Cho didn't take the break-up alright."
"Yeah. She's flaming mad at you. If I were her, I would just take the break up fine and move on with my life like everyone else does." Hermione replied. "But sadly, I'm not her so you need to get through this on your own."
"Ahem."
"Cho!" Harry shouted.
"Do you mind leaving us alone for a while, Hermione?" Cho asked.
"Sure, I'll see you later, Harry." Hermione bided.
When Hermione was quite far, Cho approached Harry but Harry backed away.
"What do you want Cho?" he quickly asked.
"I want you to come back to me." Cho replied.
"That is not going to happen Cho." Harry replied stiffly.
"Why not Harry? I know that you still love me." Cho asked.
"I don't anymore. I love somebody else and no, she's not anyone you know."
"Is it really a she or a they?" Cho asked.
Harry shot a confused look at Cho. "What are you talking about? You're crazy."
Cho rolled her eyes and scoffed. "You know that you have feelings for both Hannah and Hermione now. You are so busted. The moment you laid your eyes on Hermione after the makeover and the way you always stare at Hannah is pretty much obvious."
Harry closed his eyes and ruffled his raven-black hair. "They're just my friends and nothing more. I'm not that selfish to like two girls at once. And if you're thinking that it's that hard replacing you then you're wrong. I'll find comfort in my friends."
"In your friends or in your girls?" Cho asked stiffly.
"Cho, please go away. We're never going back together. Nothing can ever change my decision." Harry requested.
"I won't give up on you Harry Potter, so I won't leave." Cho stubbornly replied.
Harry stood up. "Fine. Then I'll go."
"Mark my words, Harry Potter, I'll get you back." Cho shouted which made Harry shiver.
*~*
"What was that about, Harry?" Hermione asked as soon as Harry approached her.
Harry blinked and saw Hermione's curly brown hair. "Were you saying something?"
"I said 'What was that about'?" Hermione repeated.
"Oh that? With Cho?" Harry asked as Hermione nodded, "That was nothing; she just wants me back, probably because it will be bad for her image for the school to know that she got dumped." Harry replied.
"What if she really wants you back? I mean not only for her image but for her feelings?" Hermione asked as Harry chuckled. "Why are you chuckling?"
"Because Cho will never love someone as low as me. Not after Cedric." Harry replied.
"Oh Cedric. I've heard about him. It's such a tragedy seeing someone get murdered by Voldemort." Hermione remarked as Harry stared at her in shock. "What? Is there a bug on my hair? Get it out! Get it out!" Hermione shouted as Harry laughed. "What?!?"
Harry continued laughing and stared at Hermione. "It's just that, nobody but me, Hannah, Professor Dumbledore and Professor Lupin were the only ones who dare to speak Voldemort by his name."
"Fear of the name only increases the fear of the thing itself." Hermione replied.
"That's quite a shocker actually." Harry remarked. "I guess that you started saying his name since.."
"Since 2nd year. I had the knack for it when I said it in front of Hannah." Hermione proudly said.
"Really? I suppose that your hatred towards him grew when his basilisk petrified you." Harry asked.
"Oh yes, I hated him twice as much. I heard that you and Hannah visited me alongside with Ron." Hermione replied.
"Hannah dragged me into it. She wanted to see you so much. I don't know why, but I was shocked when I saw you petrified." Harry said.
Hermione raised an eyebrow and blushed." What do you mean by that?"
Harry realizing what he said blushed too. "Well, it's like seeing an old friend getting petrified. It was a mixture of fear and shock. I held your hand actually."
Hermione blushed more. "You held my hand? Why?"
"I don't know. When I saw you petrified, I always visited you then. Good thing I held your hand or I will never discover the piece of parchment that helped me with the basilisk. I don't know why I 'avoided' you after that year." Harry said.
"Are you sure that's the year when you avoided me?" Hermione asked. "Because based on what I remember, I helped you rescue Sirius Black by letting helping you with the time turner. And in fourth year, I helped you with that summoning charm you used in the first task." Hermione narrated. "It was in fifth year you avoided me."
"Yeah, when I started dating Cho Chang." Harry remembered. "I was such an idiot! After all that you've been through to help me, with just a girl, I avoided you."
"It wasn't your fault Harry. Our statuses changed. You became a popular and I'm still the geeky bookworm that you've known." Hermione comforted him. "We weren't meant to be friends."
"But you still went through those things. It's still unfair to me and to you."
"Harry, come on. At least now, you can make it up to me." Hermione winked.
"I know, and I'll do my best to make it happen." Harry whispered.
"Were you saying something?" Hermione asked.
"No, I'm just saying that I'll do my best to make it up to you."
"Well you better or I'll hex you into oblivion!" Hermione threatened.