More Important Than Any Broomstick [Harmione]

2. Angels and Devils

It also included Malfoy, Crabbe and Goyle at the Slytherin table. They walked up to the table, and Malfoy said loudly, "Hark, the Harry angels sing," causing more laughter all around them. "I know you haven't got a new broom yet scarhead, but you can't use those wings in Quidditch!"

"Shut it, Malfoy!" Harry snarled, wishing he hadn't stored his wand in his now missing pants.

"Maybe it's an allergic reaction to kissing your filthy mudblood," sneered Draco, causing Crabbe, Goyle, and the remaining Slytherins to laugh while the rest of the school went quiet. Before Draco knew what was happening, he felt a sharp pain around his right eye, and he was falling to the floor with a ridiculous-looking Harry on top of him, beating him to a pulp while he muttered threats involving his father.

Hermione pointed her wand at Crabbe and Goyle while she yelled, "Harry, stop it! You'll get detention!"

"Actually," sneered a familiar voice, causing Harry to freeze, "You'll get five detentions, starting now, and you'll lose fifty points from Gryffindor." While Harry was paying attention to Snape hand out his punishment, Malfoy sucker-punched him in the face, giving him a black eye to match his own.

"What about Malfoy!? Sir," said Hermione furious at this incredibly biased teacher.

"Mr. Malfoy was defending himself against this fallen angel," said Snape with a smirk on his face.

"But sir," said Hermione calmly, "he started it by calling me a mudblood."

"Ten points from Gryffindor for the use of that word, Miss Granger," sneered Snape, "and I suggest you go off to the library or wherever you were headed before you end up in detention with your new angelic boyfriend."

Harry said, "Go on Hermione, I'll be..." at that moment there was a loud pop around him, and he was back to normal. "Er, fine."

"Come this way, Potter," sneered Snape. "I've got several jars full of rats' eyes that need to be cleaned. No Quidditch practice for you today."

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Several hours later, after polishing a few thousand rat eyeballs, Harry showed up in the Gryffindor common room looking ill. Hermione, who'd been waiting for him, put her book down and ran up to him, throwing her arms around him. "Are, Are you alright Harry? You look a little, er..."

"...ill?" asked Harry. "I just polished a bunch of rat eyes, so I won't be eating anything for the rest of the day! I hope I don't have nightmares about it. If you know how to obliviate my memory, I'd appreciate it if you would."

"I, I can't do that," said Hermione shyly, "but I can try to take your mind off of, er, things," as she leaned closer to kiss him.

"Hold on, Hermione. I don't know if I'll change again."

"Upon threat of death, the twins swore to me that what they put in your food only makes you change once," said Hermione, looking deadly serious.

"I guess we can try. I know I wouldn't lie to you when you have that look in your eyes! Besides, if I'm gonna change again, I'd rather do it here than in front of Malfoy again."

"That's the truth," said Hermione softly, as she pulled his face down to hers.

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"Can't you two ever stop kissing?" shouted Ginny at them several minutes later. After what you did to Ron, we thought the lesson this morning was enough, but obviously n..."

"What do you mean," asked Hermione panting while panting for air, "what we did to Ron?"

"He told me about how he caught you kissing last Sunday and you hexed him!" hissed Ginny with her hands on her hips. "I couldn't believe it! How could you do that to him?"

"Is that what that prat told you?" asked Harry angrily while his face was turning pink with fury.

"Of course that's what he told me!" said Ginny, looking around the common room to find her brother, seeing him sitting in front of the fireplace looking timid. "Come here, Ron."

"Yes, Ronald," said Hermione, her face also pink, "I think it's time Ginny heard what really happened!"

Ron looked pale as he slowly approached. "It, it happened like, like I said, more or less."

"Less, Ron! How can you lie like that about us? I thought you were our friend!" said Harry.

"The truth Ginny," said Hermione, turning to Ron's now confused sister, "Is that when Ron caught us kissing, he said that I was ugly and Harry was using me! He said no boy would ever want me, and I lost my temper and petrified him for a few minutes while Harry calmed me down. When we released him, we told him that we were going out now, so he'd have to accept it if he wanted to hang out with us. He then stormed off without saying a word."

Ginny looked at her brother, who was now more pale than ever. "Is that what really happened, dear brother?" Ginny could see the answer by the way Ron started backing up toward the boys' staircase. Before he got very far, she'd performed the bat bogey hex on him and he was running up the stairs, trying to escape his own flying boogers. Ginny then turned back to Harry and Hermione. "I'm sorry guys. I'll make sure to tell Fred and George the truth. I shouldn't have believed him. It didn't sound like something you would do, but..."

"But he's your brother," offered Hermione. "It's all right now, you know the truth. Are we friends again?"

"Friends," said the embarrassed redhead.

"Friends," said Harry.

"Now," said Ginny with an evil look in her eyes, "we've got to get revenge on my brother for what happened today!"

Harry smiled at that thought, but said, "Didn't you just get revenge?"

"No, no!" she said with a smirk. "That was for lying to me. It had nothing to do with the prank on you."