professor? ( ✓ )

chapter fourteen

"Hold on, you can't be serious. You're dating him?" Ron sat in disbelief on the couch, staring at his younger sister and her boyfriend with an annoyingly smart look on his face. He had long, black hair, and light eyes. "I thought you liked Cho Chang. You were with Cho Chang!"

"At Hogwarts, yes. Cho and I have parted ways, Weasley... erm, Ron." Michael Corner claimed, lacing his fingers with the ginger who sat beside him. Ron glared at the boy, and then widened his eyes towards Harry, who watched silently.

"Hey, what're you looking at me for? Ginny and I are over. We've been over. Isn't that right, Gin?" Harry asked, swallowing awkwardly as he then glanced sideways at Hermione for help.

"What's so wrong with these two, Ronald?" Hermione asked her boyfriend. Supper was to be starting soon, and so everyone sat around, lounging on the couches as they waited for Molly to announce mealtime.

"What's wrong with them? Hermione, Michael's... Michael. He's a Ravenclaw, and he's-"

"A good man who happens to be sitting across from you, so I'd watch yourself, Weasley." Michael interjected, and Ron's ears tinted pink.

"Ginny, he's a smug bastard! And just because he was a Ravenclaw, do you really think he's smart, and could get you anywhere in life?" Ron asked honestly, glaring at Michael, who continued to smirk at him.

"Ron, it's Christmas. I'm happy. Can't you be happy for me?" Ginny asked, voice cracking slightly at her brother's harshness.

"Exactly. Christmas. A time in which one should be spending with family."

"For all you know, Weasley, in a few years, I could be family."

"Boys, enough! Merlin, you're so childish. Ronald, your sister is dating Michael. Get over it. If he wants to be here, he can be. You know your parents would welcome anyone into their home - except maybe Malfoy, of course." Hermione claimed, rolling her eyes towards the end of her rant.

"Why he'd want to come here anyways, I don't know." Ron muttered, seemingly abandoning Michael as Hermione and him shared a smile. Harry, however, was not smiling.

He was doing fine, he really was. He'd almost made it a whole two hours without thinking of the blond wizard, but now, his mind was ruined once more. Malfoy, bloody Malfoy. The same Malfoy that had been kissing two days previous, and was then heartbroken when informed it meant nothing by. He grit his teeth, and clenched his fists, pressing his knuckles harshly into his thighs to mask the conflicts he'd been feeling.

But sadly, Harry had never been much of a good actor.

When Hermione and Ron had finished having their little lover's staring contest, the brilliant witch's brown, curly-haired head shifted Harry's way. What Harry thought had been an inconspicuous smile, had actually been a painful grimace.

"Harry, are you alright?" She asked, a frown falling on her face as she saw her best friend emotionally torturing himself. He nodded his head, wishing that everyone else hadn't turned to face him, and nodded again, placing a fake smile on his face.

"Just peachy, Hermione. Are you alright?" He asked, turning the attention to her, but her eyebrows only furrowed.

She went to say more, but suddenly, Molly was calling everybody to the table. The feast was ready. Everyone stood up, and as they walked to the table, Hermione glanced back at her longtime best friend, sending him a stare that he knew too well: 'we will talk about this later.'

~△⃒⃘~

Supper went over very well. Almost all of the Weasley's had gathered in the Burrow for the holidays, apart from Charlie, who still had work to do in Romania, and Fred, for obvious reasons.