Just Good Friends

They arrived at the castle and made their way to the Great Hall as usual. When the first years had been sorted, there were 9 new Gryffindors, 4 boys and 5 girls. As the first years took their seats and the feast began, so did the rumors. Harry and Hermione could hear their names being spoken in whispers all throughout the room, and it was all they could do to keep from laughing. George Weasley started to say something, but Harry caught his eye and shook his head. He and Hermione would deal with the rumors in their own time, in their own way. Besides, if no one had the guts to ask them about it outright, then they would just act like they didn't know what was going on. The whole pregnancy thing was a joke, and they were going to treat it like one.

Harry and Hermione left the Great Hall first, taking the first years to their dormitories. If they saw the stares they were getting from other people, they ignored them. Hermione giggled, and Harry shot her a questioning glance. She nodded back at the students following them, who were whispering amongst themselves and giving Harry looks of awe. Hermione leaned closer to him and whispered, "Forget Lavender and her rumors, they're still amazed that they're following the great Harry Potter." She rolled her eyes and stepped away.

They got to the portrait hole and gave the first years the password (pigglewig). Harry led the boys up to their dorm and Hermione led the girls to theirs. As Harry was about to leave, one boy, a small child with light brown hair and blue eyes spoke up. "Excuse me."

"Yes," Harry said, turning around.

"We were just wondering...is it true that you're really the Harry Potter?"

Harry leaned back against the doorway and laughed. "Yes, I am. Anymore questions?" The boy blushed and shook his head and Harry made his was down the stairs to the common room where he was surprised to see Hermione standing next to Professor McGonagall.

"Mr. Potter, Professor Dumbledore needs to speak to you and Miss Granger." McGonagall seemed to be a bit crisper than usual, and Harry thought that he could detect a bit of disappointment in her voice. He and Hermione followed her to Dumbledore's office (where the password is now 'Bubble Yum') giving each other worried looks all the way. It was possible this was just a prefect meeting, but McGonagall seemed a bit too upset for that. They had a hunch about what this was about, and were racking their brains trying to figure out what to say to the headmaster.

"Thank you, Minerva." Professor Dumbledore didn't have his usual smile. Instead he looked rather grave. "Mr. Potter, Miss Granger, please sit down." Harry and Hermione sat down in front of Dumbledore's desk and took a quick glance around the room. Even Fawkes was looking rather disappointed, Harry noted. He would have laughed if the situation had not been so serious.

"I've heard some rumors concerning the two of you," Dumbledore began. "Now usually, I don't put much stock in rumors, but when I hear the kinds of things I've been hearing, it is my duty to speak to the students involved and find out if any of it is true."

"And what kind of rumors have you been hearing, sir?" Harry was surprised at how calmly Hermione asked this. But then he saw what she was doing. The whole thing was a joke, and it would blow over quickest if they treated it like one. On all levels. From the shyest first year to the headmaster himself.

"I've heard that you are pregnant, Miss Granger." Dumbledore got right to the point. "And you, Mr. Potter, are the father."

Hermione chuckled, and Harry looked at his lap to hide his red face and muffle a snort.

"I fail to see what is so funny about the situation, Miss Granger." For the first time, Professor McGonagall spoke, and she seemed more stern than usual, although there was hope in her voice.

"I'm sorry to both of you for laughing, but the idea is so funny. You see, it started as a joke."

Harry jumped in. "Lavender Brown came into our compartment, and she thought that we were together. She seemed determined to start a rumor, so we gave her one. We didn't think that she'd actually believe it. After all, we couldn't even hold it together for a whole minute without laughing."

"But apparently Lavender did believe you and spread it around the school." Dumbledore seemed greatly relieved and relaxed for the first time in the meeting. "You had to hear people talking about it, why didn't you say anything?"

Hermione straightened in her chair. "Because no one had the nerve to ask us outright, and neither one of us felt like defending ourselves to people who didn't seem ready to hear the truth."

"That's the whole reason we started the joke, to be honest," Harry continued. "It looked like everyone was ready for a rumor, we decided to give them one so preposterous they could hardly believe it."

"But it is rather believable." There was no mistaking the relief in Professor McGonangall's voice. "The two of you are rather close, and people are quick to perceive your friendship as something more. No doubt you'll have something to straighten out when you return to your friends. But now, I must show you to your quarters." Both Harry and Hermione perked up. In the excitement of the day, they had forgotten that prefects got their own private rooms and common rooms. With a 'good-night' to Dumbledore, they followed McGonagall through the corridors. They passed by the portrait hole to the Gryffindor common room and walked behind a tapestry to a small hall with only one door leading off of it. The door was locked.

"What do you want your password to be?" the professor asked.

"I think 'rumors' would do quite nicely. After all, we've started enough of them today." Hermione looked at Harry and he nodded in agreement.

"Very well then," said the door in a deep voice. It swung open and both Harry and Hermione gasped. The common room wasn't incredibly large, but it was more than big enough for the two of them. The carpet was crimson and gold and wonderfully thick. There was a fireplace in the far wall, and above the mantle was a portrait of Godric Gryffindor, who nodded at them as they walked in. There were two big scarlet loveseats facing across from each other, and there was a small wooden coffee table between them with two books on it. There were two overstuffed champagne colored armchairs with ottomans facing the fire at an angle. In the far right corner of the room there was a rocking chair, and in the far left corner was a table and two sturdy straight back chairs. Both the right and left hand walls were covered in bookshelves. Two doors on each wall provided the only break from the shelves. One of the doors on the right said 'common room' and led (obviously) to the Gryffindor common room. One of the doors on the left led to the bathroom. The two doors closest to the main entrance to the common room led to Harry and Hermione's rooms. There were brass plates on the doors with their names on them. The doors also had portraits of them looking quite studious. Or at least they had been looking studious when they walked in. But now portrait-Harry was shining his broomstick and portrait-Hermione was engaged in a spirited discussion with Godric Gryffindor.

Professor McGonagall spoke. "As you can probably tell, those doors lead to your rooms, that door leads to the bathroom, and that door leads to the Gryffindor common room. Any questions?"

Harry and Hermione shook their heads and walked into the room. Hermione went straight for the bookshelf, while Harry crashed onto a loveseat. He took a closer look at the books on the coffee table and laughed. "Mione, come take a look at this!" She walked over to the coffee table and laughed with him. The books on the table were Hogwarts: A History and Qudditch Through the Ages. "They know us well."

"Yes they do," Hermione agreed. She looked toward the door that led to the Gryffindor common room. "We should probably go in there. I get the feeling that they're waiting for us."

Harry picked himself off the couch. "Yeah, but we should probably go through the normal way. Reminding them that we have our own rooms will only make the rumors worse."

"True." They walked out the door and down the corridor to the portrait hole. Hermione brushed off her robes, ran her fingers through her hair, and stood up straighter. It appeared to Harry that she was about to go off to war. "Shall we?"

He looked down at her and nodded. "Let's go and get this over with." And with that, they spoke the password and walked through the portrait hole.