A/N: Chapter 5- up as promised! Would've updated sooner, but I had a MONSTROUS exam yesterday. Nearly killed me it did. Be that as it may, I hope you enjoy- and the plot thickens…
"Wha- but, why!?"
"I think we'd hurt a lot of people…"
"Yeah, me!"
"No, I mean like Ron and Ginny."
"What about Ron……and Ginny?" Hermione added in an undulating tone, lids immediately drooping at the thought.
"We cheated on them, Hermione. I feel terrible inside. I can't believe we did that-"
"I didn't cheat on anybody!" she cried, eyes ablaze with fear and fury as she paced the patterned tiles.
"You can deny it all you want, but it still happened."
"The only thing I'm denying is being repeatedly affiliated with Ronald Weasley," Hermione shot with a scrunch of her nose, his name rolling off her tongue with a hint of distaste, "I thought we cleared this up last week, Harry- I. DON'T. LIKE. RON."
"But Ginny said-"
"Ugh, yes- Ginny. Why are you even with her, Harry? She's been with three or four other blokes this semester, Ron says you can't ever find the girl, and when she is around you all she does is molest your outer clothing," she snapped.
Harry's cheeks were almost as flushed as Hermione's, a stony wall of tension surrounding the pair as they avoided each other's gaze. An uncomfortable silence ensued, apprehension settling in as neither party dared to speak.
"She likes me," Harry said quietly, startling the grievant witch behind him, "She's fancied me for years, Ron's told me. I know what it's like…" he trailed off, eyes fixated on the black square beneath his feet.
A wave of forgotten jealousy crashed down on Hermione, drowning her features in anger and pain as she glared into nothingness, a black hole of emotions swallowing her entire body.
Cho.
"That's why you're with Ginny? So you can spare her the feelings you endured when you pined after Chang? Harry, that's awf-"
"No, that's not the only reason," he lifted his gaze, leaning onto the sculpted ceramic as he stared into the looking glass, "She likes me for me. She's with me for who I am- not what I am."
Blackened emeralds stared at the striking mark above his eyes, mere inches from the mirror yet a thousand miles away.
"You think I don't?" Hermione asked softly, the words escaping her lips like the breath of a wilting flower. She timidly stepped behind Harry in the mirror, locking her eyes on the distant green. Orbs of misty brown seared into the polished glass, a haunting gaze of question filled with unrequited sorrow.
"But, I thought you were with Ron…"
"FOR THE LOVE OF GOD, HARRY, THIS IS THE LAST TIME I'M GOING TO TELL YOU- I DO NOT LIKE RONALD FUCKING WEASLEY," Hermione fumed, enfuriated with the recurring accusation. Her jaw clenched with astonishing force, fingers coiled in fists of seething rage, "What the hell has Ginny been telling you?"
Harry was slightly taken aback, whipping around to face the boiling witch behind him. Frames glinting in the sunlight as he turned, he ogled at the glistening floor, still wet from the products of mutual attraction.
"It's been more than a week or so, but she said she- erm…caught…you in the stairwell, you know…"
"Yes, talking," Hermione spat, toxins oozing from the word as it slid from her throat, "Well, you were there- what, were you too embarrassed to poke your head around the corner? Didn't think we could 'handle all of you either?'" she taunted, stamping a foot with her back to him now.
"What are you talking abo-"
"Don't give me that rubbish, Harry- that was one of the worst Wednesdays of my entire existence-"
"Wednesday? What Wednesday?" Harry interjected with the risk of his well being, cocking a brow as he snapped his head toward Hermione.
"Ugh, are you daft? The Wednesday you lot were running around like the stars of some pornographic fabrication- shagging in bloody broom cupboards and abandoned stairwe-"
"We've never done tha-"
"HA," Hermione scoffed, jerking her nose in the air, "That's not what you lead people to believe."
"I don't care what other people believe, I care about what you think, but we're not even talking about that. I want to make sure this happened on a Wednesday. Are you absolutely positive?" he asked with unblinking eyes, gazing intently on Hermione's bothered brown ones.
"Is my name Hermione Granger?" she shot with a purse of her lips, brows raised in expectancy.
Harry's eyes flicked to the ceiling before he continued, "Hermione, I meet with Dumbledore on Wednesdays."
It took a while for the words to register, locks of twisted brown slowly swiveling to the foreground as Hermione faced her companion.
"I suppose you do…"
At that moment the door nearly swung off its hinges as Ron came bumbling through, traipsing his way across the modeled squares as he fumbled for the sinks. Harry and Hermione froze on the spot, both half naked and eyes round with terror. Jaws slamming to the tiles, they watched in horror as the third party began washing his face in the creamy basin on their left.
"Don't mind me, just doing my business," he announced casually. "D'you know Neville's been wearing my knickers all year? Not just the one time? Yeah, I was pretty shocked, too. Madame Pomfrey gave me some sort of potion to relax, cos apparently I nearly killed him. So, I don't really care about my knickers anymore," Ron rambled with a peculiar smile, his eyes slightly out of focus.
Hermione merely stared with a look of bewilderment, mouth still agape at the strangely modified Ron, while Harry cleared his throat, "Er- you know you're in the girls' loo, Ron- yeah?" he said with shifty eyes, giving Hermione a pertinent glance.
"Is that right? Wondered why ole 'mione was in here. Thanks, Harry!" and Ron turned around simply beaming, meandering out of the lavatory as he hummed the school song. Backwards.
"Yeah, I guess you wouldn't want to tap that," Harry mused, watching Ron tickle the doorknob.
Hermione shot him a disapproving look before softening her gaze, her lips pulling into a smirk as the door snapped to a close.
"Do you really care about what I think, Harry?"
He turned his gaze toward the inquiring witch, leisurely blinking as he captured her eyes with his own, "Hermione, I've always cared what you thought. You know me better than anybody- you're my best friend."
Pallid cheeks turning rose, she batted her lashes and turned away, looking back up at him to say, "Then why can't we be together, Harry? Why haven't you ever asked me to Hogsmeade? I've liked you for ages-"
"You have?" he sputtered, forest green bulging in incredulity, "But…you and Ron, you were always arguing and flirting-"
"I'd hardly call that flirting!" Hermione said heatedly, her forehead so hot you could fry an egg, "What do you think flirting is? Yelling at the top of one's lungs and not speaking for days, insulting the other and berating their very existence, eye rolls and snide remarks mixed with a pinch of general unpleasentness?"
"Well…I s'pose you have a point…"
"Harry," she said gently, taking a small step toward him, "It's you. It's always been you…" she laid a hand on his arm, peeking around his shoulder to try and catch his eye.
His gaze found hers as he pivoted to face her, studying the melting chocolate in the ring of toffee brown. He released the breath he held within, filled with heavy decision and pangs of regret. He encompassed her arms in his hands, applying a firm pressure to her slender biceps, feeling the beat of her heart beneath his own.
She waited with baited breath for a response, losing herself in jewels of shimmering jade.
"Hermione, I can't…" Harry croaked, heart bleeding into his chest as the words escaped his lips.
A single teardrop slid down her cheek, beads of sorrow clinging to her eyelashes. Her bottom lip trembled, eyes brimming with a stinging turmoil she could no longer contain.
"Harry, why…" she breathed, eyes wide and frantic, searching his face for an answer.
"I like you, Hermione, more than a friend- I do. It's just not fair to Ginny- it would kill her."
"I feel like I'm already dead."
Hermione whipped around without a word, waterfalls rushing down her dappled features as she dashed across the palatial room. Matted curls of dampened chestnut lashed behind her poignant form, footsteps echoing off the extravagant walls. Harry stood a solemn ground, completely motionless as he gazed in to the distance, watching her go- his heart leaving with her.
A/N: I know, (snuffles) bring out the Kleenex boxes : ( Don't hate me!! A little drama now gets a lot of humor later <3 I promise promise promise this will get better someday… please stay tuned to find out!!