A/N: Sorry about the delay, I've just been busy! I promise to update sooner next time!
I hope you enjoy!
Chapter 2 - Irresistible
Harry flashed one last grin at Hermione and had just enough time to see her roll her eyes before he had turned around. She was beautiful when she looked annoyed.
Harry stepped out of the train with a smirk and a swagger, knowing all the girls were checking him out and all the younger boys were watching him with admiration. Ah...school.
Harry was the king at school. His fellow students loved him. The professors loved him. Everyone loved him...well, everyone but Hermione, Draco Malfoy, and some of the Slytherins. Most Slytherins were alright, but some of them were real nutcases about the purity of blood.
A person getting of the train bumped into him, almost knocking him to the ground. Harry didn't even have to turn around to know who it was. "You better watch out, Potter," a cold, superior voice said. "Father wouldn't like it if he knew you were assaulting me."
Harry laughed as a circle began gathering around them...his and Malfoy's fights were always worth watching. "Pathetic," Harry said. "Seventeen years old and you still go running to daddy to fight your fights."
"Why...you," sputtered out Malfoy, whose face was growing redder by the second.
"I know," said Harry triumphantly, the smirk on his face growing wider. He spotted Hermione stepping off the train, her face buried in a book. She still had ears though. "It's because you don't have any brains. I mean, look at you, you can't even come up with a good comeback properly let alone get in a fight without your father's assistance."
Hermione just shook her head as she continued reading while weaving through the crowd. Harry found, even while he was verbally sparring with Malfoy, that he was impressed by her multi-tasking skills. He was suddenly propelled off his feet, flying back a few yards before landing on the ground. Seems like he should've paid attention to Malfoy after all. But it was worth taking a spell in the chest to look at Hermione.
A hand entered his field of vision, and he grinned as he took it. "Come on, mate. What were you looking at, Malfoy was right in front of you! You got that look on your face like you were eating the most delicious pumpkin pie..." Ron trailed off as his brain made the connection. "Granger?" he asked simply, already knowing the answer.
A goofy grin was on Harry's face. "Yeah," he said dreamily.
Ron shook his head as he led Harry into a carriage that would take them up to the school. "Harry, Harry. When are you going to learn that Granger is a lost cause? She just doesn't like you. I thought you would've grown up and noticed that now that you're seventeen."
"Ron," said Harry disbelievingly. "I won't give up my quest for Hermione's heart until she gets married to another. I'm telling you, man, she's the one for me."
Ron slapped his face with his palm, trying to calm his urge to yell at Harry while shaking him back and forth. That just didn't seem to be very effective when trying to make someone see sense, no matter how appealing it seemed to him. He should've known better than to have tried to make Harry see what everyone else saw. Instead, he said, "Don't get all sappy on me, Harry. There's no way I'm going to go through another year listening to the love poetry you were going to serenade Granger with."
"I'm done with that," said Harry, waving a hand at his best friend. "It was a bad idea from the get-go. I don't think she'd like something that cheesy...maybe some secret admirer letters this year?"
Ron's hands were itching to slap Harry across the face. "Just as cheesy," he managed to choke out, still wanting to help his friend despite the topic. As Harry's eyebrows furrowed, Ron decided to quickly change the subject. He and Harry had once talked about Harry's feelings for Hermione...let's just say that Ron never wanted to repeat that experience ever again. "Did you see I got a Firebolt-K?"
Harry's ears perked up at the mention of something Quidditch related. He would just have to figure out this Hermione thing later. "The Firebolt just for Keepers?" he asked. Ron nodded his head with a grin on his face. The change of subject had gone perfectly. "Did your dad get it for you?"
"Back-to-school gift," said Ron disinterestedly. "I asked for a spare so I could use one for practice and one for the game, but he said, 'wouldn't want you to become spoiled now, would we son?'"
Harry chuckled. "Too late for that."
"Hey!" said Ron indignantly as the carriage arrived at the school.
As they got off the carriage, Lavender came up to Ron and tried to shove her tongue down his throat. Ron kissed her back just as passionately, starting a full-blown game of tonsil hockey. Harry made gagging sounds, and Ron broke the kiss so he could punch Harry's arm. Lavender did the same to the other. "What?" he asked, holding his hands up in front of him. "All I want is for you two to get a room or something. I've watched you two eat each other's faces enough to last several lifetimes."
"You're just jealous because you can't do the same with Granger," said Lavender knowingly.
"Yeah, Harry," said Ron, putting an arm around Lavender's shoulders. "Stop being such a prude."
The three walked into the Great Hall like that, Harry feeling like a third wheel. He felt out of place with most of his friends now, with them all having girlfriends. Except for Luna. He always felt like he belonged when he was hanging out with Luna. He had taken her under his wing in fifth year when he had found her being heckled and made fun of by some older boys. Now she was almost as popular as he was, most of the school population believing her random, weird comments were nuggets of wisdom when scrutinized at the right angle. Luna was also the only one of Harry's friends who didn't make fun of him for liking Hermione. She actually supported him one hundred percent, even going so far as trying to get Hermione to see Harry in a different light the previous year...to no avail, of course.
They sat down at Gryffindor table, Malfoy glaring daggers at Harry from the Hufflepuff table. The Malfoys had been in Hufflepuff for generations, and Draco was happy to carry on the tradition. Too bad he didn't have any support amongst his dorm- and classmates. His frustration came from the fact that Harry was the king of the school. The rest of the Hufflepuffs' admiration for Harry came from the fact that he was the king of the school. He was Mr. Popular. That was true of quite a few condescending yet likeable tossers.
Too bad it didn't work on Hermione.
Speaking of Hermione, she was coming right at Harry. "Potter, meeting in Dumbledore's office after the feast," she said flatly, obviously not wanting to talk to Harry.
Harry grinned his usual grin, the grin that melted all girls but one to a puddle, at Hermione. "Thanks, sweetheart. Care to sit next to me?"
"Ugh," was all Hermione said, looking at Harry like she would a piece of trash before turning around and going far down the table to sit next to Aurora. Wait, thought Harry, Aurora?
His sister was friends with the woman of his dreams and she hadn't managed to convince her to go out with him yet? Then again, it was probably even worse for Harry that she was friends with Hermione. Harry constantly pranked her at the house and annoyed her, thus she was probably telling Hermione all bad things about him.
It was okay, though. Hermione would see in the end what Harry could already see.
The feast came and went without a hitch, and soon after that Harry found himself walking to Professor Dumbledore's office. He pulled out the Marauders' Map along the way, hoping to spot Hermione's dot close by. She was only two hallways ahead of him. Harry picked up his pace, and before they were even halfway to the office he had caught up to her.
"So, Granger," he said when he was right behind her, causing her to shriek and spin around.
"Oh, Potter," she said, clutching her chest. "I should have guessed it was you."
"And why is that?" Harry asked, cocking an eyebrow at her.
"First of all, if you had a few brain cells, you would realize we are the only two heading to the same place," said Hermione condescendingly. She was the only person in the school who was allowed to insult him and get away with it. Even Snape got pranked whenever he tried to make a fool out of Harry in class. "Secondly, I could hear your giant ego scraping along the walls as it tried to fit in this tiny hallway."
"Hey, I may have a big ego, but I can put my money where my mouth is," said Harry. "You can't deny that."
"Oh, Merlin," said Hermione. "Why do boys think they're so cool just because stupid teenagers happen to like them?" she asked rhetorically. "You do realize that nobody will think you're cool once you graduate from Hogwarts? Cool in the adult world means making money and having a respectable job, not being good at...at...being able to...do Wonky Faints," she said, finally coming up with something. "Or being able to smirk and walk at the same time."
"First of all," said Harry. "It's a Wronski Feint. And second, in case you didn't realize, I have the fourth-best marks in our year. I have a multitude of jobs waiting for me. Lastly, Quidditch players make a crap-load of money. Definitely more than enough to raise a little batch of Potters, don't you think?"
Hermione sighed. "Really, Potter. Why can't you just give me ten minutes' rest from your never-ending come-ons? They're never going to work."
"I don't-"
Harry was cut off by Hermione speaking the password for the Gargoyle, which sprang to life, moving aside.
It looked like they would have to finish this chat later.
A/N: Okay, I know that was kinda short and didn't advance the story much (or really at all), but I wanted to give you all some background information and show you the changes in this universe.
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