Summary: After Harry defeated the Dark Lord in their last year of Hogwarts; the trio went their separate ways leading Hermione to a Muggle University. Yet after dark activity is spotted at her school, Harry and Ron come down to join her once again to solve the case. Unfortunately after Harry finally realizes his feeling for Hermione, he finds himself not only fighting for the wizarding world, but also fighting for the woman he loves.
Disclaimer: All characters belong to J K Rowling and Warner brothers.
College Life
Chapter 5: Karate
As promised, Hermione showed them to their classes. Ron's first class was University 101, which was a basic Muggles study class for college students. This relieved Hermione of some of her stress because this class would give Ron at least some understanding of how true Muggle college life works. She thought to herself, 'The more he knows, the less of an ass he will make of himself.' Since Ron was able to follow a cute girl into his class, he was happy too.
Harry's first class was said to be PEDU 502, and the name alone brought fear to his heart. How should he know about advanced Muggle subject? For the past seven years, he had only been working on how to work magic. In the back of his mind he kept thinking, 'Even when I was taking these regular courses, I was not any good at them. Now I get to make a fool out of myself for the fun of it.'
Harry started to get nauseous again, but he could not tell if it was from first day nerves or if it was from Hermione standing beside him. "Hermione, What kind of course am I taking really?"
Hermione smiled back, and stated confidently, "Oh don't worry so much. I promise you will do great in the class. Now here is your already conjured uniform."
As Hermione was handing Harry his clothes out of her book bag, Harry just looked on puzzled. "Um Hermione, why do I have to wear a uniform here? I thought they did not require that sort of stuff at a university."
"Honestly Harry, have you ever had a Karate class that you didn't have to wear a uniform."
Harry's eyes went wide as he looked at his uniform in front of him. He had always been good at Karate. When he was still underage in the Muggle world, he started taking classes to protect himself, and he continued with his studies to this day. Dumbledore had even started up a self-defenses class in his seventh year at Hogwarts giving him the chance to learn under one of the greatest masters.
After Hermione had shown him the places where he changed and where his class would be located, she separated from him saying that she would see him soon. Harry followed her directions and even got to class a full minute early, which was a big accomplishment for him.
As he looked around, he found that his class was quite small with only 15 students in all. Like himself, all of them had a black belt, but of varying ranks. Other then their belt color, none of his classmates appeared to be the same. There were people of all shapes and colors, and quite a few girls too. Although the girls were in the minority, they seemed in as good as or better shape then the guys in the class. Also, they all had uniforms of different colors. He had on the traditional white outfit, but the other student's uniforms were of all different shades with their Dojo's name sewn into it.
The room that they were placed in was quite large with one wall covered in mirrors allowing them to check their form at all times. All the students were talking among themselves, laughing, and having a good time while Harry stood to the side by himself. He felt a little left out, but yeah he was the new guy.
The Sense' walked into the class and everyone went quiet immediately. Yet, the funny thing was that the Sense' had not even noticed the change in the room. He was too preoccupied talking to the girl that he had walked in with.
The girl that he was talking to had long brown hair pulled back in a ponytail. Harry who was standing at attention just looked on amazed by how smooth and impressive she appeared. She had a black uniform on that matched her high-ranking black belt. When she first came in, Harry thought she must be a teacher, but at a second glance he noticed that she was about the same age as him. He also could not fail to notice how beautiful she was as well.
They finally stopped talking and the Sense' turned to face them while the girl came to stand with the rest of the class. Harry had to take a double take before he realized that the girl was none other then Hermione. He wanted to say something to her. He wanted to tell her how glad he was to know someone. He wanted to ask her why she had not told him that she was in this class with him, but unfortunately, the Sense' started talking just at that time. Harry did not want to make a bad impression on his first day, so he settled for a smile and a quick nod to his friend.
"Students, my name is Sidarth Young. I will be your instructor for this semester. I am here to guild you on your path to self-discovery with marshal arts, but first I need to determine what abilities you all have. Will you please pair up? When I say go, I want you to attack your partner, but do not harm them. This is only practice." Sense' Young clapped his hands and all the students quickly went into action finding a partner.
Harry admittedly turned to Hermione who was still pleased with Harry's surprise response in seeing her. Out of all the things he wanted to say to her, the only thing that came out was, "Want to be my partner?"
Hermione smiled cheekily and stated sweetly, "I thought you would never ask."
The Sense' came over at this time and patted Hermione on the shoulder, but addressed Harry. "Oh I see you have chosen Hermione as your partner. I warn you now, she is my star pupil."
Harry smiled back at Hermione and winked. "Oh I think I can handle her."
Sense' Young smiled back at him almost knowingly, "Ok, well good luck my son." He then directed his attention to the whole class and asked them all to bow to their opponent. He clapped his hand once again to signal for the students to begin.
Hermione admittedly fell into a right karate stance with her fists up to protect her body. Harry on the other hand just smiled back and almost looked bored. "Come on, Hermione I don't want to hurt you." He finally got into the ready position, but was hardly able to say another word before a jab cross came aiming to him. It hit him straight in the chest causing him to back up a little.
Hermione smiled back and stated quite nicely, "Oh don't worry, Harry. You won't hurt me."
Harry finally noticed that he better start defending himself. She tried to catch him off guard with a slide up sidekick, but Harry was fast enough to doge her kick. He then aimed a punch at her, but she was able to block it with a side block.
Harry finally kept up his arms as a guard, but he tried to distract her by talking. "So Hermione when did you learn all this?"
Hermione kneeled down and took her right leg and swiped it in a counter clockwise direction at Harry's feet. Harry noticed her attempt to trip him up, and jumped just as her leg came near his.
Hermione finally got up to responded, "Now Harry, You wouldn't think I would spend all this time in the Muggle world without a way to protect myself now would you." She smiled cheekily at him, but he had other plans. He decided to test her reflexes by doing a quick side punch that landed straight to her shoulder.
"Well, you're still not as good as me."
"Oh really," Hermione started to take this personal. "Ok, we will see about that."
By this time all, Sense' had finally came over to observe their fighting skills, yet Harry and Hermione were so wrapped up in each other that they did not notice his presence.
Harry aimed another back fist at her shoulder, but this time Hermione was ready for it. She took his out stretched arm and grabbed it like she was in a dance. She twirled herself into him allowing her back to be pressed into his chest and his arm around her abdomen. Her stray pieces of hair were framing her face beautifully, and Harry was starting to lose his concentration. He was so close he could even smell the coconut shampoo she used that morning. She turned her head to face his and gave a quick wink before twirling back out still with his arm in hand. Hermione lifted her back leg and aimed a shifted left sidekick to his stomach that had more force then any of his hits ever did. Once she let go of his hand, Harry backed up to catch his breath.
He looked back at her and thought to himself, 'My breath was taken away by more then that kick.' But he was not going to be shown up by her in this class. He admittedly got into a side horse stance, and with his left hand out he slowly took his right hand and glided down his left into a punch. (Hint: this was in the matrix J). Once his hand had reached her direction, Harry waved her forward with his out stretched hand. Hermione took the signal, and admittedly reacted with a slide up sidekick. Harry still in his stance just took his hand and pushed Hermione's leg away from him. Once she was back in correct form she directed a spinning sidekick straight as his chest, but all he had to do was take his right hand to sweep it away.
By this time all the rest of the students had stopped what they were doing to watch these two battle it out. It was so clear that they were having fun, but the best part was that they were just so good. They moved as if they could predict each move the other made.
Hermione aimed a jab at his face, but Harry was able to grab it before it got too close. Hermione cocked her head to the side, and stated, "Oh you think you are good don't ya."
Harry twisted her arm to make her back caress his chest. His face was right next to her ear, and he whispered softly, "No, I know I am good." Then he pushed her away from him still with a cocky smile on his face.
Hermione wiped the sweat that was dripping from her forehead off with the back of her hand as Harry prepared for his next move. Harry yelled a "Yea" before aiming a mighty punch to her stomach to nock her down for good; but just as he was headed for her, Hermione kneeled down and caught his punch. Instead of releasing his punch like they had been doing, Hermione took his arm and with the momentum he used to put into his hit flipped him over her shoulder.
He fell on his back with a loud thump, and laid there in shock. Hermione turned on her knees and with a scream, she through a punch straight for his face. Just before it reached its target, she stopped her motion, yet left her fist to linger in the air right above his face. She smiled cheekily down on him, "Do you still think you're good?"
While Harry was still trying to get up off the ground, the whole class clapped at Hermione's success. The Sense' clapped two times causing the class to come to attention. "Very nice, very nice. I see you all have been practicing over the summer…"
Hermione stretched out her hand to help him up. As Harry was getting up, he whispered to her. "Next time, remind me not to get you mad."
Hermione just smiled back at this, but kept her face toward the professor. "Oh don't worry. I think you will remember just fine on your own."
*
"So the Great Harry Potter was defeated by a girl." The class had just ended and both Harry and Hermione were heading out of the gym. David was propped against one of the outside columns with a water bottle in one hand.
Hermione, who was laughing when she came out of the building started to get nervous, "Were did you hear that from?"
David came over to Hermione put his arm around her sufficiently moving her from Harry's side. David smiled down on her. "Oh you know me, I have friends everywhere."
Harry growled back. "Don't you mean spies?"
Hermione shoot Harry a look that clearly stated, "behave yourself". David patted Hermione on her arm at this. "Oh don't worry about it sweetie, I did not come to see him any way. I came to see you. I need to talk to you. Do you mind coming with me for a bit?"
Hermione looked from Harry to David, and then Harry again. "I don't know. I was going to show Harry where his next class was located."
David looked at Harry, and gave him a wink. "Ah, don't worry about Potter, he's a big boy now. He can make it to his classes by himself."
"I know, but…" Hermione tried to persist, but David was too persistent.
"Good, then we agree. Ok Harry, I will see you later." David swiftly guided Hermione in the opposite direction.
Hermione looked back again to Harry's sad face. "I will see you in a little bit Harry. This want take long." She gave a fake smile back at him as she was dragged away.
David then pulled out the water bottle he was carrying. "I brought you your water bottle. I knew you would be thirsty after your class."
Hermione gave quick thanks, as she accepted her drink. She took a quick sip and then looked back for the last time on Harry who was still watching them leave.
*
The little while lasted longer then Harry had expected. He got through his last two classes without any incident, but he felt lost without Hermione being there with him. She had said, she would come back to him, but she hadn't. When it was time for lunch, he even went back to her dorm, but she was nowhere to be seen. He wanted to go eat with Ron, but he had already found someone new to sit with. Harry was about to put his tray on the table when Ron gave him "the look" that told him that he and his new girl needed to be alone. Harry had to admit that the girl he was sitting with was cute, but he could not get his mind on someone else he knew.
He sat by himself in the corner of the lunchroom watching all the people go bye wishing that one of them would be her. Every person that seemed to get in a 10-foot radius of his table grabbed his attention yet; lunch came and went without a sign of her.
Harry went to his last class a little depressed and worried. 'Why did she not come' he kept wondering to himself. The day pasted quickly until it was time to eat again, yet for some reason, he was not hungry.
Ron looked at his friend worried. "Hay Mate, is something bothering you? It's not like you to not want to eat."
Harry just rolled over on his bed so that he could see Ron. He propped his head up on his hand before answering. "No, I am fine. I just don't want to eat. Go ahead and go without me, I will be ok. Plus, I bet Sarah will be down there again."
"Sarah, oh yeah, I remember her. There are just so many it's hard to keep track of." Ron started cheeseing. He then rubbed his fingernails against his shirt. "You know these Muggle girls go wild for the British accent. Just one word and they are eating out of my hands. You know if you ask me nicely, I might even be able to teach you a thing or two about catching girls."
Harry rolled his eyes at Ron and let his body fall back on his bed. He closed his eyes, and let his head rest against his pillow. "I don't need your help, thank you very much."
"Oh, so I guess the talk with Hermione went well."
"Oh that went really well." Harry said sarcastically. "The only problem was that I was not able to see her the whole day, so I did not have time to talk to her."
Ron walked over to his chair and sat backward in it. "I thought Hermione walked you to your classes…and.. and didn't she eat lunch with you?"
Harry took off his glasses, and started to rub his eyes. "Nope, after karate class, David showed up, and I have not seen her since."
Ron got back up out of his chair and grabbed his wallet. "Bad luck mate."
Harry let his arm drop to his side. "Ron do you really think she could like this guy."
Ron opened the door to leave. "Well Harry there is only one way to find out… Ask her. See ya later"
With that last look, Ron closed the door behind him. Harry got up off his bed with his conversation still ringing in his ear. 'Ask her' Harry thought. 'Easier said then done. Plus, were would I find her. Where would I find Hermione on any other day?' He sat there wondering where he should look when it came to him in a flash of lighting. "The Library"
Harry grabbed his book bag and rushed out of the room. He had to go see her. He had to let her know everything before it was too late. Before David would come between them.
Harry almost jogged over to the Library. He finally reached the entrance, and he came to a stop right in front. He looked around at the row on row of books thinking. 'This is going to take a while.' Yet just as he thought that, a vision of her came to him. He could still remember the way she would tuck her hair behind her ears when she was concentrating hard. He remembered finding her on countless occasions in the Hogwart's library looking up some deep dark spell for him. She would always sit at this one table in the total back of the library where no one would bother her. She loved the solitude that books gave her, and then it hit him. 'Look in the total back.'
Harry quickly jogged through the row after row checking end for her presence. Just as he anticipated, she was their in back right corner poring over some old dusty book.
Harry smiled to himself. This was his typical Hermione, always going the extra mile. He walked up to her softly not wanting to disturb her studying, but he could not resist surprising her. Her back was to him allowing him to see her without her noticing. Harry creped up behind her and looked over her shoulder. The book she was reading looked like an old copy of some transfiguration book he once had, but this did not bother him. He quickly covered her eyes, and whispered into her ear. "I will give you one guess before you are attacked."
Hermione instantly broke out in a big grin. "Oh, David, I thought I was to meet you later, but I knew you could not stay away from me so long. I missed y…" Just then Hermione turned to see the accomplice and her face fell. "Oh, sorry. Hi Harry, I did not expect to see you here."
Harry's excitement faded with her comment. "Yeah, well I'm here…"
For the first time in their long friendship, an awkward silence set in right in the middle of their conversation. Harry fidgeted a little, and just stood by her side. "Umm. Well…what are you looking up?"
Hermione quickly closed the book that she was reading and placed it in her book bag. "Oh nothing just something I am working on." Yet just as she was putting it away, Harry got a glimpse of its cover. "The Unknown, Unforgivable." Harry could not help but wonder why she would be reading a book like that. Hermione was a good kid….Or was she.
Hermione could see he was still curious about her work so she quickly changed the topic. "So what brings you here?"
Harry looked a little worried. "Why, you of course? I was worried about you. I thought we were going to meet for lunch or dinner or something, but I have not seen you since this morning."
Hermione picked her bag off the ground and place in on her table. "Yeah, I have been meaning to call you, but I have just been so busy with David and work."
Harry finally seeing his chance to hear the story on David asked. "So how is everything with you and David?"
Hermione whole face lit up at the mention of his name. Harry could have even sworn that he heard her giggle. Harry thought to himself, 'Giggle… Hermione does not giggle.'
Hermione started to play with one of her straps of her book bag, yet she could not hide her smile. "David and I are great. I don't believe our relationship could get any better. He is just the most kind, smart, sweet, and sexy guy I know." Hermione had stopped playing with her strap in her speech and even started staring into the distance.
Her words hit home for Harry though. He felt as if every word she said in his favor was another punch to his stomach, yet she did not stop there.
"What can I say about a man that is perfect? He is just so good to me, and I don't know what I would do without him… You know once, I thought I was in love, but now I realized that I have never known love until David came to my life."
Yet, with that comment, Harry could even see Hermione stabbing him in the heart. She had her long butcher knife in hand standing over him letting the blade sink in.
"You know Harry," She smiled to herself again and giggled, "I love him."
Just as the blade slid in, she twisted it. In his mind, Harry was laying dead on the ground with blood spewing from his heart with a vengeful Hermione standing over him. Harry gulped to get the lump out of his throat. "Umm… That's great Hermione… I'm…I'm..veery happy…for you."
Hermione turned to him and looked him directly into the eyes. "Thank you. Well I better go. I was to meet him for dinner, and he hates it when people are late. Bye"
With that Hermione swung her book bag over her shoulder, and left him their. Yet all he could think about were her eyes. They were not her eyes. Hermione's eyes were usually jovial and lively. These eyes were dull and glazed. She appeared to not focus on anything. Harry watched as she left the little corner of the library once again alone, but this time he worried about her more then ever.
*
Thanks for the Reviews,
Monday