HRG - Hogwarts Romance 40

Chapter 40 - Mischief

“I have to stay here for a week,” Ron said sadly. Ginny looked over at Harry with a frown but quickly turned to her brother. “Don’t worry! I’m sure you’ll be fine by tomorrow right? Can you at least play Quidditch?”

Hermione was rolling her eyes. She never understood why Quidditch was more important than health. Ron shrugged his shoulders, “I feel alright but I need to take this nasty tasting potion at least once a day.”

Madam Pomfrey came into view with some pillows for Ron. She smiled at his guests, “he should be healthy in about a week.” Harry turned to look at her and gathered up the courage to ask her, “Would Ron be strong enough just to play Quidditch tomorrow?”

“Oh,” the nurse gasped. She tilted her head as she thought about Harry’s question. “If he gets lots of rest today and tries his best not to over do anything then yes. Well, wait, when is the game?”

“Afternoon,” Ginny answered.

“Well then yes, he needs to sleep and rest during the day. He won’t be able to practice tonight,” she told them.

“Alright,” Harry said, “thank you. We should let you rest Ron.” Ron nodded his head and laid his head down on the pillow. The three of them walked out of the room and headed straight to the common room. “This is going to be a great Saturday,” Ginny grumbled. “Do you have detention tonight?”

“Yes,” Harry groaned, “I hate Snape so much. He has me doing such non-sense.”

Hermione kept her mouth shut. Deep down inside she believed that Harry deserved it for what he did. On the other hand, she thought that Snape was being a hypocrite. She sighed as they walked over to the common room. To make her mind race more, Lavender was sitting on the couch with Romilda.

“We heard about Ron,” Lavender told them. “I think Romilda would like to say something for what she did.”

Romilda looked at them but didn’t seem remorseful. “I’m sorry for that, I guess it was out of line.”

Hermione eyed the girl as if she were looking into her soul. She doesn’t even mean that, she thought. “Where’s Ron?” Lavender asked.

“Because of Romilda’s potion we had to take him to Slughorn and well, he took something by accident that poisoned him and now he’s in the hospital wing,” Hermione told them. Romilda’s face didn’t change but Lavender groaned. She turned to her friend with a fire in her eyes. “See what you did?” she snapped.

Romilda said nothing and simply walked away. Lavender turned her head and looked not at Harry, but Hermione. “I’m sorry,” she told her. She turned around and walked away to the back of the room where Parvati was.

Ginny looked at the strange exchange of glances and started to feel utterly jealous. There was something that Hermione wasn’t telling her. Lavender was being far too nice and it seemed that it was only geared towards Hermione. “I’m tired,” Ginny said suddenly, “I’m going to take a nap.”

Hermione tried to say something, but Ginny didn’t listen to her as she walked off. She turned to Harry who had one raised eyebrow. “Why is that ever since Lavender has been singing a different tune she’s been only paying attention to you?” he asked.

Hermione pulled Harry by his wrist outside into the hallway. She didn’t want anyone to listen. “Don’t use that spell,” she told him. He knew what she was talking about so he respected her. “I know I don’t want people to listen in but anything from that book isn’t going to make me tell you anything.”

“Right,” Harry nodded. “So? What is it?”

“Don’t tell Ginny,” was the first phrase out of her mouth. Harry nodded his head and urged her to tell him. “Lavender, well, you know that day that you lot came back from practice and I was there with her alone?”

Harry’s eyes widen and he merely nodded. “No, it’s not like that,” she told him as if she were reading his mind, “well, not on my side anyway.” Harry was still looking at her on edge. “She really likes me for some reason but just didn’t know how to tell me so she tried all of these things to make me jealous. I guess she’s a bit like Ron in that aspect. Funny way to tell someone you like them, anyway, that’s not the point. She expressed this to me and started to cry to me.”

The portrait hole opened up and some 2nd year students were coming out. They took one look at Harry and Hermione and started to run down the hallway. She sighed and looked at him, “after that she told me that she wasn’t going to be mean. She also admitted to spying on me and Ginny.”

Harry laughed, “I had a feeling but I wasn’t sure.”

“You had a feeling?” she asked him. He nodded his head. “She would look at you kind of in the way I would look at Cho last year.”

Hermione cracked a smile, “you should have told me something.”

Harry shook his head, “I wasn’t sure. It’s not a big deal anyway, you have Ginny and she loads more fun.”

Hermione nodded with a broad smile, “she is, isn’t she?”

Harry nodded, “I need to go talk to Ron. I know he needs rest but I want to make sure he’s ok. I’ll talk to you later. You really should talk to Ginny.”

Hermione nodded and walked into the common room as Harry walked down the hallway towards the hospital wing.

Hermione could feel Lavender’s heavy stare on her but she tried to ignore it as she walked into the girl’s dorm. She saw Ginny face down in her bed, but she wasn’t asleep. She was wide awake and looking at the wall with a sad look on her face.

“Gin?” Hermione uttered. Ginny didn’t move her head, “what is it?”

“Why are you upset at me?” Hermione asked. She came into the room a bit more and leaned against a wall. She was standing with her arms crossed over her chest as she looked at the younger girl.

“What happened with you and Lavender? She only looks at you and I’ve caught her giving me dirty looks,” Ginny said, “even after she claims she would be nicer. So why is it she’s only really nice to you?”

Hermione gulped. Why am I even hiding this, she thought, because I promised Lavender? She looked down at the younger girl’s body following her curves. She had to fight a sudden urge to jump on the bed and hold that body close to her. “Nothing happened between us if that’s what you think,” she told her. Ginny lifted her head and looked up at her, “then explain why she’s being like this?”

“She admitted to me that she has a crush on me,” Hermione admitted, “but I really don’t like her at all in that way. She is most likely jealous of you because you have me.”

Ginny rolled over on her side looking up at the older girl, “can I believe you?”

“Yes,” Hermione hung her head low, “I’m sorry I didn’t tell you. It’s just that Lavender didn’t want anyone to know about her feelings. She doesn’t want it to spread. You would think someone brave would, but I guess we all have fears.”

Ginny got up from her bed and stood near Hermione. “Prove to me that you love me and no one else,” she told her. Hermione was slightly confused but before she could say anything she was dragged off into the common room. Confused students looked at them until they got to portrait hole. They disappeared behind it and Ginny continued to drag the stunned brunette with her.

“Where are we going?” Hermione asked as she felt the urgency in her partner’s grip. “You’ll see,” Ginny told her, “just keep cool.”

They ended up near some tapestries near the Room of Requirement. “We can’t use it but how would it feel just fooling around behind this?” Ginny’s eyes twinkled with excitement as she pulled Hermione underneath the tapestry. “Ginny you know this completely unsafe seeing as how-“

She was cut off by Ginny’s lips pressing hard into hers. Hermione was shocked but closed her eyes and surrendered to the kiss. The younger girl wrapped her arms tightly around the older girl holding her close. Ginny’s hand was making its way under her robes as she caressed Hermione’s back gently. They were in heaven until they heard something break outside. They broke their kiss to look into one another’s eyes completely confused.

Ginny threw back the tapestry to see a first year student picking up pieces to something. She ducked behind the tapestry to whisper, “There’s a first year girl outside. Don’t you find that odd?”

Hermione peeked outside and saw the girl running towards the Room of Requirement. “That is odd,” she said, “why would a first year girl be anywhere near the Room of Requirement?” They stood in silence listening for any other sounds, finally, there was the sound of another girl saying, “Be more careful! You want to draw attention to us?”

“No,” said the smaller girl, “I just made a mistake with this. I’m going to get my head chewed off!”

Hermione cocked an eyebrow as they listened in. “Come on,” said the taller girl, “We can’t just stand here; someone is going to see us!”

Her brown eyes watched them run off closer to the room and then disappear. She ducked back under the tapestry with Ginny. “Are you thinking what I am?” she asked her. The red head nodded her head, “I think so. Let’s find Harry.”

Harry was finally back in the common room looking for signs of Hermione. When he saw her enter the room, he walked up to her. “I need to go to detention, but I wanted to tell you that I bumped into Luna on my way here,” he told her, “I think I might go to the party with her. What do you think?”

Hermione was taken aback. She remembered the conversation she had with Luna in the girl’s room when Ginny had upset her. “That’s great Harry,” Hermione told him. Her younger half peeked over her shoulder, “We have to tell you something though.”

Harry looked at Ginny with a smile, “alright, what is it?”

“Well, me and Hermione were in the hall,” she stopped when she noticed other Gryffindors looking at her. She pushed Hermione gently in the direction of the roaring fire. In turn, she pushed Harry in that direction. They sat down on the couch and Ginny finally felt she had some privacy.

“Anyway, like I was saying,” she whispered to him. “Me and Hermione were, well, you know, kissing in the hallway near the Room, and well, we saw something strange.”

Hermione cleared her throat, “two first year girls near the room. One was carrying something and she dropped it on the floor. So we heard the noise. Ginny was the first to notice and she stuck her head out to see the girl.”

“It was one at first,” Ginny butted in, “then there was another one that was completely telling the other one off for breaking whatever it was.”

Hermione looked at her girlfriend with a frown then turned back to her friend, “the point is, I was thinking that perhaps Draco has Crabbe and Goyle doing some things. You know, perhaps it has to do with that thing he wants fixed. That might be why they are in there. I have a feeling that whatever it is, Draco is fixing it.”

“Hang on,” Harry said as he dashed into the boy’s dorms. He came back a while later with the Marauder’s Map in his hand. “I solemnly swear that I am up to no good,” he whispered as he tapped it with his wand. The map opened up and revealed everyone in the building. Hermione’s eyes traced over and pointed to the room of requirement. “Right there,” she whispered, “I knew it.”

The footsteps of Crabbe and Goyle were in front of the room. Harry’s eyes traced the map, “I don’t see Draco.”

“He’s just not here,” Ginny uttered, “How is that possible?”

“I was using the map earlier in the year to look for him,” Harry told them, “I couldn’t find him on the map. So, I tried to break into the room, but it wouldn’t open. This was before you discovered what you did.” Harry took a breath before continuing. “I fell to the floor and Tonks was on her way to see Dumbledore. She looked down to me and told me that I needed to see him as well to start these lessons on Voldermort. She was wondering what I was doing so I told her on the way. She told me not to let my guard down and to never trust them.”

“Them?” Ginny asked, “Slytherins?”

“Exactly,” Harry nodded.

“We won’t,” Hermione told him, “Too bad I didn’t get to see Tonks. Did she look well to you Harry?”

He shook his head no. “She looked sad.”

“She looked that way this summer,” Ginny noted, “do you think, well, it’s because of Sirius?”

Harry’s heart ached, but he didn’t let it show. “Snape told her something about her patronus when she brought me back to school,” he explained, “he said that hers changed into a ‘mutt’.”

“Do you think she was in love with Sirius?” Hermione asked.

Ginny made a disgusted look, “doubtful. Mutt…” She let it roll in her head, “I can’t think of anything else at the moment though.”

Hermione sighed, “We’ll have to ask her when we see her. I want to know why she’s so sad.”

Harry nodded, “About Draco, what do we do?”

“We have to wait for him to appear on the map I guess,” Hermione said, “other than that, the most we can do now is keep our eye on him.” Harry and Ginny nodded. “Mischief managed,” he said as he tapped his wand on the map. He folded it up and put it into his pocket. With that, he got up. "I need to go to detention," he said, "we'll talk about this tomorrow." He started to walk to the door and Ginny's head moved from him to Hermione.

"I need to do potions work," she stated. Hermione nodded, "I have homework as well." They both got up to get their bags and Ginny sighed. "I guess we can't do anything until tomorrow. I'm beginning to wish we didn't have a game tomorrow."