Triangle

PART TWO

Ron clocked out and met Marissa in the hallway outside her office.

"Ready to go?"

"Sure, where are we going?"

"Oh, I thought we could go to Wandy's for a burger then, maybe the Muggle cinema?"

"Sounds fun."

Ron took Marissa's hand in his and the two of them headed out into the street.

SCENE CHANGE

Hermione came home from the hospital to find Harry watching the telly, switching channels with his wand.

"Hi, what are you doing?" she asked.

"Watching TV. Fascinating stuff, this," he motioned to the screen where a budgie was water-skiing. "I swear to you, I've seen this story before..."

"Is Ron not back yet?"

"No."

"Oh, all right, well, I'm going to bed."

"Good night."

Hermione grabbed an apple from the kitchen and went into her bedroom.

SCENE CHANGE

Hermione awoke early the next morning and padded into the kitchen for some breakfast. As she walked down the hallway, she passed the living room, and to her surprise, saw Harry asleep on the couch.

"Harry?"

"Hmm?" he said sleepily.

"What the bloody hell are you doing here?"

"Ron kicked me out of the room last night. He brought home his date."

A pause followed. "Oh."

"Well, what do you want for breakfast?"

"Cereal is fine."

Harry stood and followed Hermione into the kitchen. The sight that greeted them was not pleasant. Ron was sitting in his usual chair with a short, thin, strawberry blonde-haired girl in his lap, and she was wearing his Chudley Cannons boxers and one of his large gray T-shirts. She was laughing and feeding him from a bowl of cereal. He was laughing as well, though this was an odd sound, considering that he had a mouth full of Raisin Bran.

"Oh, hello," Hermione said, sounding startled. She recovered quickly, put on her 'we have company' smile, and said, "You must be Marissa." She held out her hand and begrudgingly shook Marissa's.

"Yes. And you are...?"

"Hermione Granger. Ron's roommate."

"Oh, Ron never mentioned he lived with a girl." Marissa turned to Ron, who shrugged. "Well," she said, turning to Harry, "no need to ask who you are."

"Harry Potter," Harry said and shook her hand as well.

"Oh, well, I guess I need to get home and get ready for work. I'll see you later," she stood and kissed Ron on the lips quickly.

"Bye," he smiled.

She took a few steps away from him. "It was nice to meet you," she said to Harry and Hermione. "Oh, and Ron, I'll bring you your clothes to work. Bye." She Disapparated.

"Ah, nothing like the Disapparation of Shame at 7:30 in the morning," Harry joked.

"Shut up, Harry."

"Hey, I slept on the couch last night so you could get laid. I deserve nicer talk than, 'Shut up, Harry,' don't I?"

"Right. Sorry."

"No problem. I've slept in worse places."

"Well," Hermione said loudly. "I guess Ron had a nice night."

"Yeah," he smiled.

"You gonna see her again?"

"I dunno. She's all right. I just...don't see it going anywhere."

"What? You slept together!"

"So? You don't have to like each other or anything to have sex."

Hermione stared at him, agape. "So, you slept with her, but you're not going to see her again?"

"Probably not."

"Ronald, that is the most sexist, disgusting, vile, chauvinistic, degrading..."

Ron interrupted her by holding up a hand. "Hermione, we've only been living together for six months. You don't have the authority yet to tell me who I can sleep with."

"I'm not telling you who, I'm telling you the circumstances!"

"You don't have the authority to tell me that, either!"

"Hey, hey, break it up, you two," Harry said. "Hermione, it's Ron's business if he wants to go shagging his secretary..."

"She's not my secretary!"

"Whatever, his coworker, it's his business. And Ron, Hermione's just trying to help."

"Well," Ron said, sounding angry, "I think I can handle this by myself thanks."

"You certainly handled it last night!"

"I'll see you tonight, Harry," Ron snapped and with a loud crack, he Disapparated.

"Herm..." Harry began.

"You just shut the bloody hell up, too."

"Okay then..." Harry turned down the hall to his and Ron's bedroom to get dressed.

Hermione almost stamped her foot, but quickly thought better of it, deciding that it would be too immature. She settled for Disapparating angrily to work.

SCENE CHANGE

Hermione came home from work early and found that she was the first one home for once. She threw her cloak down on the couch and headed for the laundry room. It was, after all, her turn to do the washing.

She grabbed the basket of dirty clothes and began to sort them into four piles: whites, darks, lights, and delicates (which was really just a polite name for "Hermione's underwear" since she was the only one who contributed anything to this pile). Grey T-shirt, lights; towel, whites; jeans, darks, red satin bra, delicates...wait a minute. Red satin bra? Hermione didn't own a red satin bra! The only satin bra she owned was black. She held it up and stared at it.

"Marissa..."

It was bad enough that this girl was sleeping with Ron, bad enough that she had stayed the night in Hermione's apartment, but now this girl was infiltrating their laundry? Hermione threw the offending garment down and stomped on it, grinding it into the floor.

She threw the clothes into the washing machine and pushed the appropriate buttons. Thank God she was born Muggle.

She went into the living room and flopped down on the couch sadly, then grabbed the remote control and turned on the news.

"Today there was a fire in Bristol. Two houses were burnt down. One person is dead and the other has been taken to a medical facility to treat second-degree burns. In other news, the Prime Minister has announced that the President of the United States shall be visiting him for a meeting of the minds."

Hermione rolled her eyes and turned the TV off just as Harry entered.

"Hello," he said.

"Hi. How was your day?"

"Difficult. God, I HATE Potions."

"You're the one who wanted to be an Auror."

"I know. How was your day?"

"Horrible. I felt guilty about this morning."

"Are you going to apologize?"

"No. I don't feel guilty anymore."

"Why not?"

"Because, I was going through the laundry a while ago and Little Miss Slut-Face left her red satin bra here. A bloody red satin bra! She knew she was going to sleep with him when she got dressed that morning!"

"So? Why do you care about Ron's sex life?"

"I...I...don't. Not really, just..."

"Hermione?" Harry raised a brow.

"Shut up, Harry," she growled and stood up.

"Herm, if you do, it's okay..."

"Harry, I don't like him! I'm just...concerned for his well-being. He could get an STD, you know."

"Hermione, he knows all the same spells and charms that you and I do."

"Sometimes they don't work!"

"Hermione..."

"All right! FINE! I like him, okay? I can't help it! I'm sick!"

"No, you're not. You're just..."

Hermione sighed.

"How long?"

"Since 4th year," she whispered.

"So, do you want to like, date him, or what?"

"I guess."

"I can help you."

"No, that's all right..."

"Hermione? Since when have you been a pro at wooing members of the male persuasion?"

"All right, fine! Help me!"

"Okay, first thing, you've got to learn to quit being such a prude."

"I'm not a prude."

"Hermione, you blushed when we saw you in your flannel long-sleeve pajamas!"

"That's because you kept talking about getting semis at breakfast!"

"Herm, it was a joke! Look, If you want to get Ron, you're going to have to entice him."

"And how do I do that?"

Harry held up a hand and disappeared into his bedroom. When he came back he was carrying on of Ron's T-shirts. It was similar to the one that Marissa had worn that morning, but it was white and slightly longer.

"Do you have a pair of those knickers that are kind of like boxers?"

"Oh, you mean those tight short-shorts?"

"Yeah."

"Yeah...why?"

"Put those on under this."

He handed her the shirt and shooed her into her bedroom. A minute later, she emerged wearing the outfit. The shirt came just above the mid part of her thigh, barely covering the short-shorts.

"Hermione," Harry shook his head, "you've got to take off your bra."

"Why?" she asked and covered her chest.

"Because you're wearing a pink lacy bra under a white shirt. I can see right through the shirt to the bra."

"But if I take off the bra, then you could see my..."

"That's the general idea."

"Oh," she blushed. "Is that really necessary?"

"Yes."

She reached around behind her and unhooked her bra. She then plunged one arm back down the armhole into her shirt and a moment later, pulled the bra out of the opposite sleeve. She tossed it back into her room and it landed on the bed.

"There," she blushed.

"Good. Now, go in the living room and sit down on the couch."

She did. As she sat, she crossed her legs, lady-like.

"Stop that."

"What?"

"You can't cross your legs. Look, when it comes to sex, guys don't want a lady, they want a whore."

"What! That's not true!"

"Hermione, who are you going to trust?"

"Fine," she uncrossed her legs.

Now that she was sitting down, the shirt had moved up a little bit and the bottom of the shorts could be seen peeking out from under the shirt.

Harry studied her for a moment.

"Spread your legs a little bit wider."

"What!"

"Just trust me."

Hermione did so. This caused the shirt to move up a little bit more and more of the shorts could be seen.

"Perfect. Now, when Ron comes home, make sure he gets a good look at you."

"Do I look good?" she bit her lip.

"Hermione, I'm seriously getting a semi looking at you."

"Really? Or are you just saying that?"

"No, really."

"Aw, thanks," she blushed.

"I'll go make dinner," Harry smiled.

She smiled back and turned on the telly to keep her occupied.

Half an hour later, dinner was getting cold, Hermione's ass was hurting from sitting still for so long, and Harry had joined her in the living room.

"Where the bloody hell is he?" she shouted.

"I don't know. Maybe he'll be home soon."

At that moment, Ron entered, laughing loudly, with Marissa.

"Oh, hey guys!" he smiled.

"Where have you been?" Harry asked. "Dinner's been ready for awhile now."

"Oh, no thanks, Mar-Mar here and I have already ate dinner. We'll just be..." he pointed towards his and Harry's bedroom.

"Nice to see you both!" Marissa said just as Ron swept her off to the bedroom and shut the door with a loud thunk.

"He didn't even notice me," Hermione whispered quietly.

"I...I'm so sorry. He...he's an idiot."

"I'm not pretty enough, am I? I'm never good enough!"

"Hermione, you...you're perfectly good enough." Harry put his arm around her shoulders. "You're great. And you're positively one of the sexiest girls I've ever seen."

"Then why doesn't he like me?"

"He just doesn't get it."

Harry leaned over to kiss her forehead, but at that moment, she moved her head and their lips connected for the briefest of moments.

"Oh," Hermione breathed.

Slowly she put her hand on the back of Harry's head and pulled the stunned boy into a timid kiss. The longer it went on, the more passionate it became and it wasn't long before his tongue was in her mouth. She pulled away and looked him in the eye.

"I think we should...take this...to uh, my room."

Harry nodded slowly and the two of them got up and walked to Hermione's room, their now cold dinner forgotten on the table.