Reflections on Something Corporate

To Something Corporate Songs

She lay on her bed gazing at her ceiling, the music from her discman pounding in her ears. The words from Something Corporate reverberated in her skull, their meaning being imprinted on her brain. The tears were streaming down her cheeks as she thought of how much she wanted him care for her. "She wants to hear she's beautiful, she wants to hear she's beautiful." The lyrics had so much meaning for her. She longed for either of them, any one actually, to tell her she was beautiful. "She needs someone to see her." If only one of them would look at her with something more than a look of pure friendship.

She thought she had something with Viktor, but no, that was nothing more than some young man's flighty interest. It had ended as suddenly as it started. His owls stopped despite her multiple attempts to reach him. Last she had heard of him, he was dating some girl on his Quidditch team. By now she had given up on him; she was looking for something closer to home now anyway.

Her thoughts flew back to her best friends. She wiped away her tears as the next song started. She loved this CD, the transitions between songs was so smooth. The two boys didn't pay as much attention to her anymore. At least last year they had included her in their plans and filled her in on the gossip that they had heard. Now it was just talk about girls, and she was never that girl. She bit her lip to stop herself from crying.

A line from the song reminded her of Harry. "Your face is on a billboard, you're everywhere, you don't care much for interviews." Silly boy, he had no idea what he was getting himself into. After the larger part of the magical world had accepted the return of You-Know-Who, he had become an even larger celebrity than before. His face was constantly on the front page of the Daily Prophet and he continually seemed embarrassed by it. Hermione had tried to reason with him, saying that by answering the constant owls of reporters, he was just getting himself more and more entrenched in his fame. He didn't listen to her much anymore unless it had to do with classes.

And Ron, she thought, that boy has caused me more pain and trouble than I care to admit. Her mind replayed the last fight that they'd had. It was over lunch about something stupid. He had been complaining about the lack of parties that the Gryffindors threw. Look at all the parties the Ravenclaws and Slytherins have, he moaned. Why can't we be more like them? Why can't you girls be more loose, like Pansy? At that comment Hermione had exploded. She berated him for wanting to party while there was studying to do. She yelled at him for wishing that the girls were loose. She was shocked that he could even think that. She told him he would only regret it, just like the boy in the song. "Kissed a drunk girl on the lips, I let my guard down, How could I have been so dumb?" She hated arguing with him.

She thought of how desirable the two boys had become. Harry with his toned and muscular body from Quidditch. His bright green eyes framed by his adorable glasses and his raven black hair that framed his tanned face. And his cute pillow lips. How she just wanted to fall asleep on his lips. She mentally shook herself; however, no sooner had she gotten Harry out of her mind but Ron replaced him. He was still as tall as ever, and just as freckly, but his bright red hair had darkened somewhat to become more of a brownish red. He too was well built from Quidditch. He had dark eyelashes that framed his mocha eyes making them irresistible. She longed for the days when the boys had hugged her for her help in their adventures. She longed, actually, just to be held.

The CD had ended and started again. The lyrics to her favorite most depressing song started again. She gave into them and felt her cheeks wet with tears again. "She's feeling worthless." Her breath was coming in gasps as she cried. "She prays for days the boys mean she's protected." She wanted the boys to come and take care of her like they used to. Where had the days gone when they would protect her against the outbursts of Malfoy?

She heard the door creak open, but she knew there was no way she could stop the tears now. She closed her eyes and pretended to be asleep hoping whichever roommate it was would leave soon. As soon as she thought it was safe, she opened her eyes and gasped. Standing above her were Ron and Harry with worried looks on their faces. They noticed her tears and the sympathy in their faces seemed to become more pronounced. Harry reached down and wiped the tears off her face. Ron took the earphones off her head and told her that he was sorry about their argument and that he and Harry had been worried about her when they hadn't seen her. Harry agreed and sat down on the bed and put his arm around her. She sighed and rested her head against his shoulder. Ron came around to the other side of the bed and did the same thing. Hermione couldn't think of when she'd been more comforted. The three of them lay back on Hermione's bed and she felt surrounded by the love of her best friends. They apologized for they way they'd been treating her lately and she forgave them immediately. They informed her of an outing that they had been planning with the invisibility cloak that night and they told her she had better get ready to face some cold weather in the shrieking shack. She grinned at them and snuggled closer into their arms. How could she have ever doubted their love? At that moment on her bed, she realized that these boys cared about her just as much as she cared about them, they just showed it differently.