"Yea?" He asked
"Um, Ron wants to uh—"
"Tell Lavender I'm no longer friends with Harry and Hermione." Ron whispered
"But why would—"
"Just do it, alright?" He snapped
Neville still seemed a bit confused on what exactly he was supposed to do, so Ginny stepped up.
"Don't worry." She said "I'll take care of it."
She was then heading to where she last saw Lavender, sitting with the Patil twins at a table in the corner. Sure enough she was still there.
"Ooh, Ginny!" Lavender called "I've been looking for your brother-Ron, of course-and I was wondering where he was. Do you know?"
"That is so strange." Ginny said sarcastically "I just went up to Harry and Hermione and they have no clue where he went either. They said that Ron was talking with them, but left." She said, and then looked back at where Harry and Hermione had been standing. "Oh, looks like he returned."
When Lavender caught his eye she squealed with excitement. "Won-won!!" She yelled jumping up and down frantically
Ron covered his irritated expression with a fake smile. "Lav-lav, I missed you. Where have you been?" He said walking towards her and Hermione started to laugh.
"What's so funny?" Harry asked
"Everything." She said "He was literally hiding from his date, and then pretended he wasn't when she found him."
"Well you can't blame him." Harry said letting out a sigh "She's mental."
They both laughed, and went on to find Neville and Ginny. They would dance occasionally, but it never really seemed to interest either of them.
When they were dancing, all eyes were on them. It made them feel uncomfortable. Though for Harry he didn't want Hermione to feel like she was in the public eye. That she would be judged by Rita Skeeter just by going to the ball with him. So he suggested talking alone at a table, and that's how they spent the rest of the night.
"C'mon Harry we should get going" Hermione said "it's almost midnight and we have school tomorrow."
"Alright" He said nervously
They were at the bottom of the steps, and Hermione was just about to go on to her dormitory when she noticed how anxious Harry was.
"Harry is everything alright?" She asked "You seem tense."
"Huh? Oh...yeah I'm alright." He said "But I wanted you to know that whatever Rita writes in the Prophet, isn't true...knowing her she'll completely twist the truth, and I won't you to know now that whatever mean thing she says...isn't true."
She started to tear up. How was She this lucky to have him as a best friend? Hermione took a deep breath and hugged him. That had sort have became their thing. Over the years they had shared so many hugs, but nothing compared to this one. There had been something powerful about it.
When they pulled apart, they gazed into each other's eyes. However instead of seeing the young boy on the train, she saw a brave young man, who had been through so much the years she'd known him, and even before then. And Harry hadn't seen the bushy-haired know-it-all that everyone thinks of her, but a powerful witch that saved his life on multiple accounts and punched Malfoy in the face in their third year.
There was something about this-something Harry nor Hermione could quite recognize. Harry just reacted on impulse and kissed her.
He didn't know what it was, was it just some spur of the moment thing? Or was it because she had looked happy and stunning throughout the night? He didn't know, however Harry knew that he had started to fancy her a while back, so maybe this wasn't done impulsively.
Hermione was just as shocked as could be expected. Her best friend kissed her. Then she thought about it again. She thought about all she'd been through with Harry, and how close she was with him. Before she thought it was because he was always nice to her, but Ron had been to. Sure they got off to a rough start but he was still nice to her nonetheless.
"Harry!" Ron yelled running up to where the pair stood. "We have to go. Now."
"W-What? Why?" Harry stuttered
"She's coming!" He yelled and grabbed his wrist dragging him up the steps.
As Hermione stood there watching a frightened Ron and a confused Harry run up the steps, she couldn't help but smile.
This is the best night of my life. She thought to herself.
***
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A/N:
I love this chapter sooo much. Partly bc of how it really happened in the book was just so unfair, it was supposed to be Hermione's night. So I made this scene how I felt like it should've gone.
Thanks for reading!
-Liv
Chapter 4
Start from the beginning
