A/N: Here you go! Sorry it's late, but my laptop went kaput and it took forever to get fixed! Expect regular updates now that they are possible!
I promise that a Hermione POV Chapter will be coming soon! It might only be one, though, because I want pretty much all of this to be Harry (except for the one chap).
Enjoy!
Chapter 4 - Shut Down
Harry was finishing up his after-school detention, his back growing more and more sore by the second. He and Aurora were tasked with the duty of cleaning the Great Hall for two hours, which was a pig sty from Lunch. Both he and his sister hadn't said a word to each other the whole time-all they had exchanged were glares.
Harry put the finishing touches on the end of Ravenclaw Table as Aurora finished Slytherin just as the clock bell gave five rings, signaling the end of their punishment. They both looked to Professor Lupin, who looked up from his book and said, "Off you go, then."
The siblings left the Great Hall in silence, both of them refusing to look at one another. Based on the amount of tension there had been in the room, Harry knew that it officially meant war with his sister.
Harry split off and went to the Heads' common room, intent on finishing his Homework before patrol that night. Hermione wasn't in the common room when Harry arrived, which meant that she was probably doing her homework in her room. Harry sighed and grabbed his bag from his room before plopping down on the comfy armchair.
He worked hard for two hours and was so focused on homework he would've kept on working through dinner if it wasn't for Hermione leaving her room. She didn't hesitate this time though, she walked as fast as she possibly could without running. By the time Harry put his stuff in his room and exited the common room, Hermione was nowhere in sight despite how long the hallway was. Harry stood outside of the common room door, debating whether or not to grab the Marauders' Map. In the end he chose not to, considering the fact that by the time he had grabbed it and caught up with her she would already be in the Great Hall.
When he did get down to dinner it was to find-who else but-Aurora at Hermione's side, both girls talking excitedly about something.
Probably some extra credit project, Harry mused. He wouldn't put it past either of them to purposely make their work-load heavier this early in the school year.
He walked past them with his head held high to show that he didn't mind that it was his sister sitting next to Hermione and not him. But out of the corner of his eye he saw both girls glance at him, look back at each other, and grin. Great...now he had two of the smartest girls in the school plotting to humiliate him.
By the time he had taken his seat across from Ron, his imagination had come up with some pretty horrible things that could possibly happen to him at the hands of those two. Needless to say he was in a bit of a bad mood at the prospect, especially at the fact that it was his own sister helping his true love plot dastardly acts against him!
"How's it goin' with Granger, Harry?" Ron asked, mouth full and a grin on his face.
"It's only been eleven hours, you twit," said Harry, a bit of annoyance creeping into his voice. "This is actually going to take more than one day."
"Oh no!" said Ron in mock surprise. "Harry not getting his way in less than a day? It's the end of the world!"
"Bugger off," grumbled Harry before shoving a big bite of mashed potatoes in his mouth, ending the conversation.
"Settle down, please," came the voice of Dumbledore from the staff table. "Settle down. I have an announcement I would like to make."
A few whispers were exchanged between the students, each trying to guess what it would be before Dumbledore would say it in a second. "I would like to announce that Hogwarts will be holding a Winter Ball in the Great Hall on Christmas night. Fourth years and above only unless invited by an upperclassmen. Formal attire is required."
Excited chattering broke out immediately following the end of Dumbledore's last word and Harry's mood immediately soared. This was the perfect opportunity to finally claim Granger as his own. Nothing says romantic like dancing to slow music in a Great Hall filled with Christmas Decorations. Except for maybe dancing under a full moon...now that is a good idea, Harry thought to himself. And then Hermione would tell him how romantic she found it, and how she loved him, then they would kiss and live happily ever after.
"Harry?" said the dream-Hermione in a voice that sounded an awful lot like Ron's. That couldn't be right. "Harry?" she asked again, this time grabbing him by the shoulder and shaking him, which ended up pulling him out of the dream. Ron was grinning at him with Lavender laughing at his side.
"What's so funny?" Harry snapped, mad that Ron ended his dream.
"Nothing, mate," laughed Ron. "You just got that look on your face again." He made what was probably an accurate imitation of what Harry looked like only seconds ago. "You know...that one."
"Yeah, yeah," he said, rolling his eyes. Nevertheless, he really did need to stop doing that in public. He grinned at Ron and Lavender. "Now watch the master at work."
Harry took his fork and transfigured it into a beautiful crimson rose before checking how his breath smelled with the old 'cup-the-hand-in-front-of-the-face' trick. Smelled like potatoes...oh well, good enough. He hopped up and sauntered over to where Hermione was sitting, making sure to look as cool as he possibly could. He was coming from Aurora's back, which meant that she couldn't see him coming. But Hermione definitely could...and she definitely did, for her eyes widened a bit upon seeing him...then she rolled them. Not a good sign, but Harry wasn't one to give up easily...or pay any attention to body language whatsoever. "So, Granger..." said Harry, casually tossing the rose on her plate. Then he shot her his most disarming and heart-melting grin. Why he thought it would work on her this time instead of the past 500 times, only he could know. "Would a beautiful young lady such as yourself accompany a dashing young man-namely me-to the winter ball?" he asked, arching a single eyebrow. Every girl within earshot was listening intently.
Hermione snorted. "Why even bother asking when you already know what I'm going to say?" she asked coldly.
Harry put his grin into maximum overdrive and Hermione rolled her eyes again as several of the listening girls squealed. "So I'll be waiting in our common room for you?" he asked cheekily, hoping his confidence would win a few points with her.
"You're not really that daft, are you?" demanded Hermione, arching an eyebrow in return. "There's no way I would ever go to any social event with you, especially a dance. And besides-since I know you weren't listening in Dumbledore's office last night-we're going to be decorating the Great Hall pretty much all day, so you won't be waiting for anybody anywhere but here."
"So is that a maybe?" Harry asked, hoping to charm her even if only a tiny bit.
"No maybe," said Hermione exasperatedly. "I. Am. Not. Going. With. You. Period."
"Very well, then," said Harry graciously, the rejection not phasing him in the slightest. "When you realize I'm the one for you, I'll be there."
"Oh Merlin, Potter," said Hermione disbelievingly. "You really are that daft."
She got up and brushed past Harry on her way to Ravenclaw table. Harry caught a scent of vanilla. Hermione stopped within earshot of Harry next to Terry Boot and asked, "Terry, will you go to the ball with me?"
Harry glared at the poor Ravenclaw, who looked like a deer caught in headlights. The whole school knew of Harry's campaign to claim Hermione's heart. Thus, she was strictly off-limits. The last boy to try to make a move on Hermione found his underwear on his head in the middle of lunch. "Erm...uhh..." said Terry as a majority of the student population listened in.
"I promise you that Potter nor his friends will lay a finger on you," Hermione said kindly.
"And how can you promise that?" asked Harry, his temper rising.
"I can promise you that, Terry, because if he does I will hate him for the rest of our lives," she said. "At least it's still only at dislike and disdain for now. Does that suffice?"
Terry swallowed hard, his Adam's Apple visibly moving. He glanced at Harry, who looked at him with that one look that said 'don't do it or you're dead', then glanced at Hermione, who was smiling hopefully at him. "Er...okay," he finally managed to squeeze out. "I-I'll go with you. Thank you."
"Great," said Hermione, leaning down and giving Terry a peck on the cheek. "Meet me at the entrance to the Great Hall at six."
Well, so much for the romantic ball, Harry thought to himself as he stomped back to his spot across from Ron, who was pounding the table as he laughed.
"Watch the master at work, he said!" Ron choked out between laughs and table-pounds.
But Harry wasn't paying attention to him. He couldn't believe that Hermione not only denied him but asked out someone else right in front of his face! Now that was playing dirty.
"Well, Potter," said an arrogant voice from behind Harry, snapping him out of his thoughts.
"What the hell do you want, Malfoy?" snapped Harry, really not in the mood to deal with him right now.
"Looks like even slags won't go out with someone as pathetic as you," said Malfoy icily, a sneer on his face.
The pudding exploded from behind Harry, hitting everyone but Harry himself. Most of it flew right into Malfoy's face. Luckily, after Harry's previous incident, the student population had resumed its normal level of cacophony and the teachers took no notice. He was just about to stand up and pummel Malfoy until he was but a stain on the floor of the Great Hall when a hand grabbed his and pulled him away towards the Entrance Hall. He glared at Malfoy until he was out of sight.
Once in the Entrance Hall, Harry took a big, calming breath of air.
"Harry, you really shouldn't lose control like that. You could seriously injure someone," said the person who had dragged him away from Malfoy.
"I know, Luna, but I was just so angry," said Harry, clenching his hands into fists. "He called her a slag."
"Come on, Harry," said Luna skeptically. "You and I both know he's said much worse than that. You weren't really mad at him."
"Maybe not," said Harry angrily, "but he sure makes a good target for my anger." He finally calmed down with one last deep breath. "I can't believe I really lost control. That hasn't happened to me since first year."
"It's alright to be angry at Hermione," said Luna simply. "She wronged you. It was fine for her to reject you, but asking Terry to the ball right in front of you was a step too far."
Harry chuckled. "We both know I've already forgiven her, though."
"That's true," said Luna. "I was just making sure you knew it was alright to be angry at her."
Harry sighed and said, "I know. And I was. Despite everything I say about her, I know she's not perfect. I don't expect her to be perfect."
Luna nodded in satisfaction. "Good. Now, who are you going to take to the dance?"
Harry closed his eyes and thought about it for a second before saying, "Do you want to go as friends?"
Luna smiled sadly at him. "I'm afraid not. But thanks for thinking of me, though."
"Neville?" asked Harry, even though he already knew the answer. Luna was in a somewhat similar situation, except for the fact that Luna and Neville were friends...and Luna still didn't know whether Neville returned her feelings.
Luna nodded.
Harry sighed and ran a hand through his hair. Maybe it was just better to..."I'm not going with anybody," he said. "It's too much hassle to ask a girl out and pretend to be interested in her when all I'm really interested in is Hermione."
"Good choice," said Luna. "Maybe it'll also show her the extent of your feelings for her."
"Hopefully," grumbled Harry.
"Now, you ready to go back to dinner?" asked Luna.
"Yep," said Harry, forcing his trademark smirk on his face. He didn't look anywhere near Hermione when he got in the Great Hall.
That night in bed Harry couldn't help but think that was quite a long and interesting first day back.
It looked like it was going to be a long and interesting year.
A/N: Don't worry, this isn't going to be your classic, cliched, fall in love at the ball story. I have something much more...interesting planned.
Please Review!