The Reason Why (Harmione)

Chapter 10

When Hermione woke, the first thing she saw was Harry's face. She immediately wished she could wake up this way every day. But slowly, the peaceful mood faded as Hermione remembered how she got there.

She sat up, covering herself with the blanket. She knew she should, but she couldn't bring herself to feel guilty. She smiled slightly. I'm an awful person, she thought to herself. But then again, she looked over her shoulder at Harry, smiling more, so is he.

She sighed and rested her forehead on her hand. This is going to blow up in my face, she thought. But she couldn't stop smiling.

When Harry opened his eyes, he saw Hermione. She was sitting up and he could see the scar on the left side of her bare back. Last night slowly came back to him, and he immediately wished he could go back to it. He knew that today he would have to face the consequences. But looking at Hermione, that didn't matter to him. All that mattered to him was that he was finally with her.

Hermione looked over her shoulder at him when she felt him stirring. He sat up next to her. She smiled. "Morning, Harry."

He smiled back. "Morning, Hermione." He paused. "Last night..." he trailed off. He didn't know how to finish the sentence.

"I know," Hermione said. She knew what Harry meant even thought he didn't even know himself. "And I know I shouldn't but..." she paused and sighed. "Harry, I feel really right about this."

"I do, too," Harry replied.

Hermione looked down and shook her head. "I just wish it wasn't so wrong," she sighed. "I mean, lasting was great. It was wonderful," she smiled for a moment, then shook her head again. "But we can't just ignore the fact that you cheated on Ginny last night."

Harry nodded. "I know. I'm going to talk to her today." He continued when he saw that Hermione was looking at him, biting her lip nervously. "I'm going to break up with her."

Hermione smiled. "We're really going to pay the price for this, aren't we?"

Harry grinned. "Yeah." He raised Hermione's chin. "But it will be worth it." He kissed her. "I love you, Hermione."

"I love you, Harry."

Harry wrapped an arm around Hermione's shoulders and she leaned her head on his shoulder. He kissed her forehead, then rested his head on top of hers. For a moment, they stayed that way in silence. Then Harry murmured, "We should get ready."

Hermione sighed, then reluctantly got up. Harry put on clean clothes while Hermione put on yesterday's clothes before returning to her room to put on clean clothes. Harry waited outside the door for her.

When they reached the Great hall, Harry was briefly confused when he saw Ginny smiling at him. He had forgotten that at that moment, they were still a couple. Seeing her smile at him like that made him feel guilty for what he did last night - and for what he was planning to do later that day. But when he looked at Hermione, any doubt about it vanished.

He sat down next to Ginny and kissed her so half-heartedly he thought she must have been able to tell. But if she could, she didn't show it. Harry looked at Hermione apologetically and she smiled reassuringly.

Harry suddenly felt a hundred times better.

                                 ~ooo~

The entire day, all Harry thought about was Ginny. Every free period they had, he would try to get up the courage to talk to her, and Hermione would raise her eyebrows expectantly, but every time he ended  up shuffling his feet awkwardly and walking away.

After dinner, Harry sat in the Common Room with his nose in his Defense Against the Dark Arts textbook. Suddenly, he heard Hermione clear her throat loudly. When he looked up at her, she gestured toward a spot behind Harry. He turned around to see that Ginny had just walked into the Common Room. Hermione raised her eyebrows. "Go on, Harry," she whispered.

Harry nodded and took a second to prepare himself, at which point Hermione pushed him out of his chair. "Alright, alright!" he whispered back.

Taking on more deep breath, he approached Ginny before he could talk himself out of it.

Ginny smiled when she looked up and saw Harry there. "Hi, Harry."

"Hi, Ginny." Harry glanced over to where Hermione was sitting. She was pretending to read her book, but he could tell that she was watching him out of the corner of her eye. "Erm... Ginny, c-could we go up to your room? I need to talk to you privately," he said nervously.

Ginny furrowed her brow. "Sure, Harry. Is everything alright?"

Harry half-nodded and said,"Let's go," allowing Ginny to lead the way to her room.

When they got to her room, Ginny sat down on the bed, but Harry remained standing. Ginny really started to worry now. "What's the matter, Harry?"

"Ginny... There's something I need to tell you..."

"Alright then, spit it out!" Ginny said angrily, which only made Harry more nervous.

"I cheated on you," he blurted out quickly and somewhat loudly.

Ginny looked taken aback and was silent for a second. "What?"

"I cheated on you," Harry repeated, much quieter this time.

Ginny stood up and started pacing back and forth in front of him. "Well?" She said sharply after a moment of silence, stopping in her tracks to glare at Harry. "What about it?"

"What... What do you mean?" Harry asked tentatively.

"I mean," Ginny said, beginning to pace again, her voice getting more dangerous by the second. "Why? Did it mean anything?"

"Y-yes," Harry whispered.

Ginny stopped pacing again. "Who was it?"

Harry just stared at the floor.

"Harry Potter, tell me who it was!" Ginny shouted.

"H-Hermione," Harry whispered so quietly she almost didn't hear him.

Ginny's eyes glowed with anger at his words, then she sat down on the bed again. "Get out," she muttered.

"Ginny-"

"I said, get out!" Ginny shouted.

She didn't need to tell him again. Harry got out of there as fast as he could without running.

When he got back to the Common Room, Hermione looked up from her book. Seeing that it was him, she stood up and made her way toward him. They met in the middle of the room. They were alone.

"Well? How did it go?"

Harry shook his head. "Not well."

Hermione sighed. "Well," she said sadly. "I don't really know what I was expecting." She sighed again, then shook her head. "Come on, Harry," she said, wrapping an arm around his shoulders. "I think we could both do with some rest."

Harry nodded, feeling better in Hermione's embrace. But as they made their way up the stairs to their bedrooms, Harry's only thought was, I'm in for a rough day tomorrow.

                                 ~ooo~

Ginny sat on her bed, in the same place she'd been in when Harry left nearly and hour ago.

She hadn't been this angry in a long time. How could he do this to her? And with, all of people, Hermione!

As she laid back on her bed, she was thinking about revenge. He had done this with one of her best friends. Of course, she couldn't use his best friend to get back at him. But maybe she was going in the complete wrong direction. She could get her revenge with his worst enemy.

Immediately, she thought of Draco Malfoy. But she dismissed the thought almost as quickly as she had found it. She was a blood traitor. Draco would never go out with her.

But then, she went back to her original thought. Harry's best friend was her brother. Her brother...

Ginny grinned as her plan fell into place in her head.