Hogwarts: A History

Hogwarts: A History

The story of teenagers: turning and changing. What happens when J.K.'s innocent Hogwarts children start to grow up.

"Ron, I am so sick of this!" Hermione bellowed from across the common room. This argument had been steadily persisting for the past hour and Harry was now growing very tired of this ridiculous quarreling.

"Sick of what exactly?" Ron yelled back with equal volume. Their faces were red with anger and their hair was messy from all the yelling.

"The way you treat me! If you like me, just say it instead of getting jealous every time I talk to someone other than you. I'm not gonna' wait for you anymore!"

Ron spoke without thinking and instantly regretted it. "Well, just because you won't wait doesn't mean that I'm going to stop liking you!" Looks of pure shock plastered themselves across their faces and they stared at each other. Neither of them could think of anything to say and it seemed to Harry as if they had been looking at each other for hours on end. Harry couldn't bear to see his two best friends in this state so he cautiously walked between them.

"Maybe you two should go to the library and talk?" he half asked. "I don't think it's a good idea to sleep on this one." Hermione and Ron nodded and gradually walked towards the portrait hole. As soon as they disappeared through the small tunnel Harry's shoulders relaxed and he shuffled to a couch in front of the fire and plopped down next to Dean and Seamus, who immediately broke into giggles.

"Glad those two finally said something," Dean chuckled.

"Yeah, they've been on about this for years now." Seamus agreed. Harry sighed heavily, thinking that this little circle of emotion wasn't near over.

"I'm going to bed." He sighed, rose, and began walking towards the dormitories, smiling at the still flabbergasted Ginny as he walked past.

-+*<>*+-

As Hermione and Ron neared the library, the awkward silence that had descended upon them after Ron's explosion of emotion had not expired. They entered the door of the library and sat in the seclusion of a couch behind many bookshelves. At first they sat gauchely, their hands in their laps, ceasing to make eye contact.

"Ron?" Hermione shattered the silence in a matter that startled them both.

"Um...Yes?" Ron asked shyly.

"Do you mean what you said in there?" Hermione had an extremely anxious tone to her voice. "What I mean to say is...um... do you like me?" Ron went bright red and it seemed to be contagious as Hermione's face then proceeded to copy the action. A long pause ensued before Ron replied.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to say that," Ron said nervously. Hermione could feel the tears welling up in her eyes.

"So you don't like me?" she asked with a crack in her voice.

"Well...um...no. I... er...I like you a lot. But you're my best friend. I shouldn't ruin everything like that I...um...it...," but he couldn't think of a thing to say. He raised his head to meet her eyes and he looked deep into them.

"You think that it would ruin everything?" she said.

"Maybe,"

"Well, all this arguing is not helping things between us. Ron, I don't know if I can just be friends with you after something like that."

"I knew it. I knew I'd mess everything up by saying that," Ron said with great sadness.

"No...that's not it. I mean, Ron, I like you too. I don't know if I could look at you again and not want something more than a friendship."

"Hermione I...," but before he could finish his sentence, Hermione leaned in and kissed him lightly on the lips. His eyes shot wide open to see her face so close to his. He was, at first, rigid in the kiss, but he soon surrendered and fell into it, sank into it. He put his arms around her waist and slowly slid them up her back, feeling her shiver under his embrace. She gradually slinked her arms around his neck and pulled herself closer to him. They could feel their body temperature rising and began to loose themselves in each other. They were no longer the little children on the Hogwarts Express, but 15 year olds who could no longer hide the feelings they had toward each other, nor resist putting their tongues in each others mouths.

"Tisk tisk tisk...snogging in the library are we?" The two instantly pulled away from each other and turned to see Draco Malfoy smirking at them. It took the two of them a minute to gather their composure, but they soon matched Draco's glare, and prepared a retort.

"Jealous, Malfoy?" Ron sneered as he and Hermione rose from the couch.

"What would I want with a filthy mudblood?" Draco said quietly.

"Nothing more than I'd want with a snobby pug-faced twit, like the one who follows you about," Ron said. Hermione smiled soundly and Draco shot Ron a look that could have turned gold to stone. With that he strode out of the library in a huff.

"Ooohh, burned!" chimed Hermione, as she walked to his side and clasped his hand. They imitated Draco's path and began to near the exit.

-+*<>*+-

As Draco trudged out of the library he hissed and spat at the thought of catching those two in a completely embarrassing position and being made fun of himself. His pace was quickening until he was almost jogging down the halls, eager to just get back to his common room and be alone. He sharply rounded a corner and ran full blast into a figure. He let out a small noise, gained his balance, and looked down at the floor at the person he had collided with. He could tell immediately by the smoldering red hair that it was Ginny, but just as he was about to lay a rude, sarcastic remark on her, his ears caught the sound of a whimper and he hesitated. She had her hands over her eyes and her body was rising and falling awkwardly, the way someone crying usually breaths.

"Umm...are you okay?" Draco's words astounded even him, but she simply attempted to bottle her emotions, wipe the tears from her eyes and meet his gaze.

"Sorry...I didn't mean to...," but she couldn't finish the sentence as a new wave of tears afflicted her eyes. Draco bent down and sat on the floor next to her. He was not a caring person but no one could see her like this and not feel pity, or at least that was his excuse.

"Look, don't worry about it. No harm done. Are you hurt?" He hadn't the slightest idea what to say but his voice was dripping with worry and even a sense of shyness (Draco? Never!).

"No. No, it's not that. I just...oh you don't care. No body cares." her voice cracked mercilessly and she had a look of utter depression ridden across her face.

"No, I do care. Why would I ask if I didn't care? Please tell me." Though he was trying to be sincere he couldn't help avoid his usual sarcasm and his voice was a mixture of stern and gentle. There was a moment of silence where their eyes locked and they searched each others souls, looking for reasoning.

"It's just that...I'll never be anything. No matter what I do no one notices me and I'm never going to fit in. I try my hardest but it's not good enough for anyone." With that she broke into a new sting of sobs and desperately tried to gain composure, though it only augmented her crying.

"For what its worth, your good enough for me. You deserve a lot more than you give yourself credit for. You deserve to be as happy as you are beautiful." Both of them were thoroughly surprised by Draco's words. Draco wasn't even this nice to his mother, let alone a Gryffindor Weasley. Ginny's tears continued to flow but a smile fought its way across her face and she looked deeply at Draco.

"Thank you. But you have to say that because I'm a girl."

"Actually, I shouldn't be saying that because you're a girl." Their faces were very close now, and there looks unreadable. Ginny had no idea how to react to this. It was Draco. Draco Malfoy. Something about him was different from what she used to remember. He was no longer the scrawny second year who teased her the moment her saw her. He was a teenager. A teenager who, at this moment, was unbelievably attractive.

"Why are you being so nice to me? I thought you hated me." Draco didn't want to answer the question for he didn't even know himself. So he reacted the way he usually does when he's not sure what to do.

"Don't flatter yourself, Weasley. I'm only even talking to you because I find it entertaining to watch a pathetic Gryffindor cry." Draco normally felt satisfaction after uttering a remark like that but he instantly wished he hadn't said it. The look on her face was horrible. He'd never felt as despicable as he did now. Tears streamed down her face like waterfalls and her skin was contorted and red, as if she was fighting the urge to scream in agony.

"Oh," she cracked quietly. She slowly rose to her feet and Draco followed. Ginny wouldn't raise her eyes to meet his and she wiped, harder then necessary, the tears from her cheeks. Draco wanted nothing more than to apologize but he couldn't bring him self to do it. His face was riddled with regret, and had Ginny raised her face, she would have seen it. "Sorry," she whimpered as she turned and ran down the hall. Draco stared after her. After several minutes of contemplating what happened, he turned in the opposite direction and sauntered down to the dungeons.

-+*<>*+-

Harry lay in his four-poster, staring up at the ceiling, his hands cradling his head. He heard the door open and shut and he knew Ron had come in, from the sound of his footsteps.

"Harry! Are you asleep?" he heard Ron whisper through the curtains drawn over his bed.

"No. What happened?" Ron pulled back the curtains, sat on the end of the bed, and drew the curtains back once more so that him and Harry could speak in 'private'.

"It turns out that she likes me too. She even kissed me!"

"I told ya' she liked you. How did you get kissed before me?" Harry laughed. He was very relieved that he wouldn't have to put up with them hiding their feelings anymore, though it would be weird having his two best friends going out. It seemed as though Ron had read these thoughts.

"Don't worry though, Harry. Things won't change between the three of us. We're all still friends." Harry didn't believe that things were not going to change. He knew things would never be the same but he wasn't sad about this. He liked the change, accepted it. He only wanted his friends to be happy and he hoped with this new development, he could be happy too.

-+*<>*+-

As Harry shuffled down the stairs into the common room he searched for Hermione and Ron. The moment he saw them he immediately wished that he hadn't. They were sitting together in a chair in the corner of the room, kissing. Hermione was straddling Ron on the overstuffed chair, and he had his hands wrapped around her lower back. Uggh, Harry thought. That's different. He'd never seen his two best friends like this before, but he figured he would have to get used to it fast.

"Umm...guys?" he questioned awkwardly. "Maybe we should head down to breakfast." Hermione and Ron parted and began blushing wildly. Hermione stood and attempted to smooth out her robes. Ron followed shortly after and winked at Harry while her back was turned.

"Oh, can we stop at the Library on the way down? I need to just check on something for extra credit."

"Right," Ron said. "I'm really hungry though." And with that they headed towards the portrait hole. Although this whole couple thing was a new development, nothing had changed about the two of them personality wise.

-+*<>*+-

As Draco walked into the Great Hall towards the Slytherin table, he glanced over at the Gryffindor table to see if Ginny was present. Something about her shocked him. She was different from everyone else; he didn't like hurting her. He wanted to know her; care for her. He'd never had thoughts like this before and they scared him; made him uneasy. He knew that love was a weakness, and he's never felt more vulnerable than he did now.

Since she was no where to be seen he sat casually next to Crabbe and Goyle, and tried to think nothing more on the situation. However, just then he glanced over to the doorway and saw her enter. Her eyes were red and she looked as if she had just seen a dead body. She didn't even glace over at him but sat in the most secluded area of the bench. She looked utterly miserable, and it made Draco's heart wrench. He couldn't help but stare at her. Even though he had continuously teased the Weasleys for their red hair, he couldn't help but feel light headed when looking at it. It was so bright and vivid, he couldn't believe nature was capable of manufacturing such a color.

Her head tilted up slightly to meet his gaze and he felt as though he had been stabbed by her eyes. Tears began to bead in the corner of her lids and she looked back down to her plate as fast as she could. Draco couldn't stand seeing her like this so he vowed to himself to talk to her as soon as an opportunity seemed rational.

-+*<>*+-

Food suddenly appeared on Harry's plate and he began prodding it with his fork. Hermione and Ron were deep in conversation across the table, about something to do with bathing suits. A topic Harry had no desire to discuss. A directed his eyes to other areas of the Great Hall, searching for something interesting. He noted Ginny entering and sitting in the end portion of the large table. She seemed very upset and Harry saw that she was looking at someone. Draco Malfoy. It seemed to Harry that the two were communicating mentally, as Ginny began crying and Draco's face was contorted with worry, as if he were going to be sick.

"What's going on with those two?" Harry pondered to himself. Draco hardly ever looked worried about anything other than himself, but he seemed to care immensely for Ginny. Harry concluded that Ginny had some incriminating information about Draco that he didn't want shared. Never the less, he decided to look into the matter and keep an eye on Draco more than usual. For Draco was not to be trusted, and if he was taking an interest in Ginny, it was probably because he meant to hurt her.

-+*<>*+-