The Common Room Encounter

Harry couldn't sleep. Thinking that he still had a reading assignment to do for Potions and that it may be just what he needed to drift off, he sat up in bed. Harry then remembered that he had left the book in the common room. It was late, but he decided to go down to retrieve it.

Might as well get some work done, he thought as he put on his glasses. He slipped quietly out of his four-poster and crept toward the door, careful not to wake the others. Harry walked silently down the stairs to the common room and then looked around, trying to remember where he had left his Potions work. Harry noticed that the room was empty and then...he heard her before he saw her. There on the couch by the fire was a sobbing, bushy-haired girl.

"Hermione?" Harry said, walking over toward her. She looked up at him, red in the face, her puffy eyes full of sorrow. "What's the matter?"

"Oh!" she cried, covering her face with her hands. Harry sat down next to her on the couch. She seemed to be trying to control herself, but the attempt was unsuccessful. "It's nothing, really."

Harry slipped his arm around her as she began to ramble. "I don't know why it's bothering me, it's not my business who goes out with who...Why should I care anyway? I just can't stand to listen to her go on and on about..." She broke off with another sob and turned to press her face into his chest.

Harry had absolutely no idea what in the world she was talking about. She wasn't being extremely clear, which was rare for Hermione. Come to think of it, her crying was not at all commonplace either. Unsure of what to say to her, he decided to simply let her cry it out until she could explain the problem fully. They sat quietly for a few minutes, Harry patting Hermione on the back while she gradually began to stop crying.

"I'm so sorry, Harry," said Hermione, the sound muffled slightly by his shirt which her face was still pressed against.

"Don't be sorry," he answered. "It's not your fault."

Harry noticed that his arm was still wrapped around her although she had stopped crying and seemed to be lost in thought. He wondered what time it was, but didn't want to disturb her to check the watch on his arm behind her back. He had a nervous flutter in his stomach, which he supposed was due to the fact that he had no idea what to do or say to help the strange situation that he now found himself in. Harry also noticed that it was getting rather warm in his spot by the fire. At that moment, Hermione backed away from him slightly and sat up, looking at him.

It was as though the part of his brain that was responsible for all rational thought suddenly shut off. His mind didn't register that it was Hermione on the couch beside him. He forgot that she was one of his best friends and there are rules and unwritten legislation that go along with that relationship. Maybe it was the way the firelight reflected off her hair or the shining brown eyes staring at him, but suddenly all Harry could think of was how pretty she was and how very close she was sitting to him. He felt all of the blood rush out of his head and he couldn't think.

"Harry," Hermione whispered, looking at him with a question in her eyes.

And then he kissed her. Very softly at first. And just at the moment when he should have recognized exactly what he was doing, Harry realized that Hermione was kissing him back. It was a very sweet kiss and was making him slightly dizzy but in a very wonderful way. Almost as though he was floating around outside of his head, like some kind of spell. Harry thought suddenly that he was pretty inexperienced with these types of situations and he hoped that he was doing it right. But then his free hand found her waist and he felt Hermione's hand pressing on his chest and the thought floated out of his head as quickly as it had come. Harry didn't think he should ever have to stop kissing her, definitely didn't want to, and decided to ignore the nagging little voice in the back of his mind that was trying to break through and be heard. Time seemed to pass quickly, although Harry had no idea how long they had been sitting there, and he didn't care.

And then Harry heard a strangled cough, almost as if someone were choking. Hermione seemed to have heard it also for the spell broke, and they jumped a few inches apart from each other on the couch. Harry and Hermione looked quickly at each other before turning fearfully to see where the sound had come from. Standing by the portrait hole was Ron, a motionless tower, holding his books in one hand and grasping his quill very tightly in the other. His mouth was hanging open, and his face wore a look of complete and total shock. In his eyes, however, Harry saw another emotion that the redheaded boy was fighting desperately to keep hidden. Harry could feel the blood rushing into his face, but glancing at Hermione he noticed that the blood had seemed to drain completely out of hers. The three friends were all staring at each other, Ron still agape; no one had yet spoken a word.

"Ron..." Harry said, before realizing that he had absolutely no idea what he should say.

"Well, I think that I should really be getting off to bed. It is getting quite late," said Hermione, her voice sounding very loud, but calm and steady. "Good night, Harry," she added softly, turning to him and laying a hand gently on his arm before finally standing up. She turned to face Ron, glaring furiously at him as though daring him to say anything.

"Close your mouth, Ron," she snapped as she rounded the couch, and he did as he watched her walk quickly across the room and disappear up the stairs to the girls' dormitory.

It was at this point that Ron rounded on Harry, his face revealing the shock and anger clearly battling inside his head. Harry prayed silently that his friend's temper would not win out. Ron sputtered incoherently a few times, searching for words to questions that Harry was sure he wouldn't have the answers to.

"What the bloody hell was that?" Ron asked loudly, shooting the question across the room at Harry as he would a spell from his wand. Harry shook his head and looked down at the floor. He wasn't really sure now what he had been thinking. He really needed to go up to bed and think about this whole situation, work on some damage control. But all Harry could really think about was how he could still feel Hermione's soft lips pressed up against his. He looked up suddenly, an uncontrollable grin beginning to grow on his face, and realized that Ron was still glaring at him and obviously waiting for an answer. Harry saw the anger take over Ron's face, and his grin vanished. Harry felt his own temper begin to rise. He didn't want to deal with this right now. He had a lot on his mind, it was late, and they would both be better off sleeping on it before having this conversation.

"I'm going up to bed," Harry said. "We can talk about this in the morning if you want."

Harry got up and headed toward the stairs to their room. Ron was following right behind him.

"Oh, I think we're going to talk about it right now," Ron said angrily. Harry knew that if Ron didn't lower his voice he was going to have every Gryffindor out of bed, but he also knew that it was not a good idea to point this out. He continued to walk quickly up the stairs. If he could just get up to their tower, at least there would be only three other people woken up. He pushed open the door and let it fall back on Ron as he walked through. Standing near his bed, Harry thought that Ron might have the good sense not to wake up the others. He was, of course, wrong.

"Are you even going to bother explaining yourself?" Ron asked Harry, not bothering to keep his voice low. Harry could do nothing but watch as Neville, Dean, and Seamus muttered and complained as they sat up and looked around. Harry saw Seamus reach for his wand on the bedside table.

"Lumos," Seamus said. The bright light from his wand drenched the room in a warm glow.

"What the bloody hell is going on?" asked Dean, rubbing his eyes with this hand. "What time is it?"

"Ron, it's not really any of your business," Harry said through clenched teeth. Since everyone was now awake, they might as well get this over with. However that did not mean that Harry had to be happy about it.

"Like hell it isn't! I...She's my friend too you know," Ron yelled. "And you were snogging her on the couch!"

Harry saw Neville, Dean, and Seamus glance around at each other in shock and amusement. He was sure that they suddenly were not at all worried about being woken up. In fact by the looks of it, the drama playing out before their eyes was well worth the loss of sleep.

"I wasn't snogging her on the couch...ok, so maybe I was, but I still don't see how it is any of your concern." Six eyes in the room widened at this pronouncement. Ron's icy blue eyes, on the other hand, narrowed so severely they were barely slits. Harry had a sinking feeling that he knew why Ron was taking this so badly, but he still didn't feel Ron had the right to get so angry about it. Harry's temper got the better of him and he shouted, "Really, why do you care anyway? You're going out with Lavender for Merlin's sake! You don't see me freaking out when you kiss her--"

"That's different!"

"It is not!" Harry knew that it was but would not give Ron the pleasure of hearing he was right about something when Harry was so enraged. "And anyway, there were two of us on that couch, but I don't see you flying up to Hermione's room right now" three pairs of eyes opened even wider along with their mouths "and railing at her about her actions! It's not like I was taking advantage of her. She seemed to be enjoying herself to me!"

As soon as it had come out of his mouth, Harry knew that he had gone too far. He made the mistake of blinking, and in that moment Ron had closed the distance between them and swung his fist at Harry's face. There was a loud crack as Harry's glasses broke and fell off his face and onto the floor. Harry swayed backward for a moment. When the stars dancing in front of his eyes cleared, his anger gave everything in the room a reddish look. The audience was now on it's feet. Dean and Seamus were trying unsuccessfully to pull Ron back away from Harry, and Neville was holding Harry rooted to the spot. Out of nowhere, a blast hit Ron and pushed all three boys back across the room where they hit the wall with a loud thud.

All of them looked around to see where the spell had come from. None of them had a wand in their hands. And then Harry realized what had happened.

"You," Ron's voice trembled with anger and a touch of fear as he stood up on the other side of the room, pointing at Harry, "stay- away- from- me." He had figured it out, too.

"Fine," Harry spat as he shook off Neville and strode across the room. He walked past Ron without looking at him, opened the door, and headed down the stairs to the common room. Harry plopped down on the couch, which ironically had been the setting for the beginning of his problems only an hour before.

What a mess he'd made of everything. He'd kissed Hermione, Ron was livid, and to top it all of he'd probably have a black eye in the morning. Harry could feel the pounding in his face and reached up to touch it gingerly.

Why in the world was Ron so angry? Harry thought. But then again, how would he feel if the situation had been reversed? Harry honestly had no idea. He was so confused, and he wished that he had someone that he could talk to about it, like Sirius. But thinking about Sirius only added to Harry's misery. And how had he managed to send Ron, Dean, and Seamus flying across the room? For Harry had figured out quickly that he was the only possible explanation for that little mishap. He lay down on the couch trying to get comfortable. He needed to get at least a few hours sleep. He would have to face Hermione tomorrow. Harry only hoped that it would go better with her than it had with Ron.

Couldn't get much worse, he thought as he drifted off to sleep in front of the fire.