Brown Eyes

Ch. 3: The Morning After

Hermione's POV

I finally fell asleep after what felt like forever, and woke up much too early for my own good. I didn't want to get up. I didn't want to have to face Ron or anybody, really. It was so peculiar... I had never thought of myself as homophobic, yet since it was me... That I was the...the dyke, I gulped at that thought, I felt like I was bad, somehow. I knew that if someone had come out to me, I would have comforted them and told them it was perfectly normal and everything was alright; that it was not a bad a thing. I would assure them they were still a good person... But since it was me, I felt like it was my fault, that it wasn't normal, and that I was a bad person. Ron's accusations didn't help. I was starting to feel like they were true. I stared up at the ceiling, wishing I could just disappear, just melt into the bed and never have to wake up again.

When I had woken up, I had pushed the curtain open partly to see the clock and not pulled it back. When I looked this time, Lavender and Parvati, fully dressed, were pounding on the anti-penetration seal apparently yelling something. I sighed, sat up, grabbed my wand and undid both charms, deciding that it was unfair to them. They might hate me, but they hadn't done anything wrong. I deserved to be thought of as a pervert, since I was one.

"Hey, Hermione! Finally!" cried an exasperated Lavender.

"S-Sorry," I mumbled, wiping sleep out of my eyes. I looked down at my feet, not sure if I wanted to see either girl's face.

"What's wrong, sleepy-head?" said an overly happy Parvati, "You've never been late for class before!"

"If you're worried about what happened last night...Well, don't be, nobody's going to care. Ron's just..." Lavender grimaced, "being a wanker."

"He faced a great disappointment," Parvati grinned, "he really liked you, you know."

"I know!" I cried, burying my face with my hands again. I was so relieved that they weren't mad at me, even though I'd never really cared what they'd thought of me before.

"Oh, calm down! Don't be such a drama queen!" Lavender's sure one to talk! As we spoke she applied lipstick while a hand mirror floated in front of her.

"Really," Parvati took over, "No one thinks any less of you, they, well, we, were just rather taken back by your abruptness of it all--quite a shock, you know."

"I didn't mean for it to turn out like that!" I cried, suddenly angry again.

Lavender rolled her eyes, dramatically, "We know," she said with her annoyingly superior voice, "Now get up! Up, up, up!" She laughed, "I sound like my mother; 'Get up, dear, or you'll be late, up, up, up now!'" She giggled again, and I rolled out of bed.

Once I was dressed, Parvati and Lavender escorted me downstairs to the dining hall, like bodyguards. I was never so grateful for them. With them giggling and gossiping around me, I felt protected, like no one would dare hurt me with them around. However...

"Hey look, its baby-dyke and her harem!" Malfoy sneered at us. Oh, bloody hell! Malfoy knew! How had it spread that fast? Suddenly, I was afraid. Never before had Malfoy's insults upset me this much; I felt sick to my stomach and I just wanted to die.

"Oh, shut it, Malfoy," Ginny had come up behind us, "I don't even want to know what you do with your two, ahem, 'friends'..." She gave Malfoy a great look of why-do-I-even-bother, and rolled her eyes.

"Hey, Hermione, Parvati, Lav, want to sit with Dean and me? We don't need to deal with that arsehole this early in the morning." She grinned at me, and I attempted to smile back. She led us over to the end of the Gryffindor table, where Dean was. For some reason I had been feeling anger towards Dean lately, I wondered if some of Ron's protectiveness towards Ginny was wearing off on me too. The couple had been practically attached at the hip since we returned to Hogwarts this year, but for some reason I still wasn't comfortable with it.

I sat down next to Ginny with Parvati on my other side, Dean next to Ginny and Parvati on Lavender's other side. The people across the table were younger students who I didn't know, except by sight, but they stopped talking when we sat down, so I guessed they were talking about me.

I didn't feel like eating. Instead I stared up at the ceiling, there was a low haze of clouds, looking like it couldn't decide whether it would rain or not. I continued to look up, not wanting to see the stares and the whispers around me. I wasn't usually this sensitive. Finally, I looked down the table and saw Harry just staring at his breakfast, while Ron sat a few places down, watching Harry. This worried me.

I was staring at them, trying to pick up clues of what had happened. I wondered if Harry had stood up for me and Ron was still mad...but then why would Ron be staring at Harry? Was Harry mad at me, and Ron had forgiven me? But that didn't make sense either.

"Hermione?" Ginny was talking to me. I quickly turned away from the boys and looked at her. "Are you alright?"

"Oh, er, yeah, I think I'll go to class now, um, I have to ask McGonagall a question!" I grabbed my books and tore out of that room, feeling more eyes on me as I left.