Interhouse Relations

Disclaimer: The Harry Potter universe and all the characters are property of J.K. Rowling and whomever else has a finger in the huge franchise. I do not. I make no money nor do I claim any ownership of the people, places, and things (unless I make them up as we go). It is only to have some fun do I write this story, in hopes of some entertainment.

Warning: This chapter contains scenes with course language and mature content. Reader discretion is advised.



Hermione sighed. She sighed again, deeply. It was a heavy sigh that weighed down her shoulders almost as much as her book bag did each day. Thoughts swirled in her mind like the churning of a whirlpool that threatened to suck her down a deep chasm. Her thoughts were just as heavy as her sighs, which came again, and made her knees buckle under the weight of it all. The day hadn’t gone very well. It had turned out to be a nucking frightmare, and it was all Draco Malfoy’s fault. As usual.

Running her hand through her hair until her fingers got caught in a tangle and her head was yanked to the side, Hermione had a thought. A different thought. A rather painful thought, she thought, as she rubbed her head ruefully. Maybe Draco wasn’t at fault. Just because he usually was to blame for Harry, Ron, and her troubles, didn’t mean this was one of those times.

The young witch made a face as she sagged in defeat. If it wasn’t Draco, who was it? Who could be so sneaky and underhanded? Who would toy with people’s lives like this? Who could orchestrate such a ploy that would result in Neville Longbottom’s humiliation?

Hermione kicked herself. “Ow,” she gasped and bent down to rub her shin. She was to blame for poor Neville’s humiliation, not anyone else.

Neville had looked so excited when Hermione pulled him from the Great Hall. He was almost bouncing on his feet. Although he wasn’t as round in the middle as he once was, the baby fat he still sported jiggled slightly with his exuberance. It was cute, but just didn’t DO anything for Hermione. He probably expected a repeat of the events of that fateful night. Last night.

“Neville,” she had said as they stepped over to a statue of armour, Sir Williamsworth of Smalley Hall, who had accidentally shrunk his manor to the size of a rather lopsided foot ball. It was a good thing the suit of armour was full size. Hermione wanted to talk to Neville with some privacy. “About last night.”

A large grin broke over Neville’s face. “It was the best night of my life, Hermione.”

“Er. Um. Good.” She cringed a little. She also beamed proudly. It was a little confusing. She had skills, they were just used under duress. “I wanted to discuss that with you, actually.”

“Yeah?” Neville said rather excitedly.

“Well, you see, I wasn’t myself.” Hermione watched as his face fell. It fell hard. It was like someone tied a large boulder with a rope and attached it to his face and dropped it off a cliff. She hurriedly went on. “It’s not you, of course. It’s me.”

“You don’t like me,” the boulder-drop-faced-boy said.

“Of course I like you, Neville,” Hermione said swiftly.

“Just not in that way.” Sadness poured from him. Hermione wanted to cry. “Is there some other bloke?”

“No.”

“Another girl?” For some reason, Neville almost seemed excited by this notion.

“Goodness no!” Hermione exclaimed, dashing his fantasy.

“Then what?”

Taking a deep breath, Hermione blurted, “The thing is Neville, I was under a lust spell.”

Neville stared at Hermione.

Hermione shuffled her feet.

Neville laughed bitterly. “Right then. That explains it. Of course, the Great Hermione Granger couldn’t like me. I’m not Ron Weasley and his smashing jokes. I’m not Harry Potter. You’re just some skeeze who will let a boy lick your pussy and then suck his prick. My Gran was right. Anyone who does this before marriage is a dirty… dirty… dirty bird.”

The outraged wizard spun around to make his dramatic exit when giggling erupted from the suit of armour. Both teens turned to stare, horrified as the ethereal head of Peeves, the Poltergeist popped out of the helmet. The little propeller on top his beanie was spinning furiously, buzzing lightly. Peeves was smiling. He appeared demented in his demonic glee. “Roundbottom likes to lick Bushy’s pussy! Cat!” With his new mantra echoing around the castle, Peeves flew into the Great Hall.

With twin sets of wide eyes, Hermione and Neville turned to each other. Hermione’s mouth opened and closed in mute horror. “I’m so sorry, Hermione. I didn’t mean… that wasn’t… oh bloody Hell!”

It was only luck that no one really understood what the poltergeist was raving about. It didn’t stop the students talking about it for the whole day however. Even the teachers were curious. Hermione felt like her face was on fire whenever anyone mentioned the strange ramblings of the ghost. Her heart stopped when, walking between Arithmancy and Charms, Peeves crossed her path. The poltergeist laughed to kill himself at the sight of her. Hermione wished Peeves could die again so she could kill him.

Thankfully, the day was almost over. Everyone was heading for their house common rooms before curfew, and Peeves was last seen in the West Tower near the Ravenclaw offices. Hermione was sure to stay away from that part of the castle. She let Ernie McMillan go that way. He mentioned something about saying goodnight to Lisa Turpin. Hermione had raised her eyebrow at that. She thought the petite Ravenclaw was going steady with a Slytherin.

So, it was just Hermione and her thoughts. Normally that was fine, but there were exceptions to every rule. On this night, she was in turmoil.

Whenever the young Gryffindor witch felt conflicted and depressed, there was one place that could take her mind off her troubles. There was one place that could cheer her up. Her feet knew the way. Hermione was only happy to follow them to the library.

The doors to the library opened as Hermione neared, and out came Ginny Weasley and Luna Lovegood, who drifted along beside the red haired girl dreamily. It was amazing the blonde witch didn’t bump into anything as she walked with The Quibbler held up in front of her face, upside down, of course. Hermione watched in fascination as Luna glided around a bust of Queen Maeve, a medieval witch who trained young sorcerers in Ireland before the establishment of Hogwarts, without even taking her eyes from the paper.

“Hi Ginny! Hi Luna!” Hermione called out brightly. She hurried over to the two girls. Having a chat with them should certainly keep her mind from a swirling, whirling mess. Luna usually had something interesting to say, at any rate. Interesting, but unusual.

“Hello Hermione,” Luna said distractedly, lowering The Quibbler. Her wand was tucked behind her ear, again. It was a common sight. Hermione smiled. Luna’s protuberant eyes were bright and friendly.

Ginny, on the other hand, didn’t smile. She didn’t say anything either. Instead, the younger girl kept walking, ignoring Hermione altogether. Hermione’s mouth fell open. Luna arched her eyebrow curiously at Hermione, who shrugged in confusion. Luna turned back towards Ginny and bumped into a suit of armour which, very slowly, toppled over. A tinny “Uh-oh,” echoed from the helmet. Hermione desperately lunged forward to save the armour from falling. Her hands grabbed the arm and for a brief moment all seemed well. With a pop, the arm snapped off the suit of armour and the rest seemed to jump sideways. The racket of the fall echoed throughout the castle. The wizards and witches in the paintings all began complaining at once. Hermione was very glad that the ringing in her ears was louder. The paintings looked angry. What they were saying was probably not very nice.

“What the He… What is the meaning of all this racket?” Madam Pince exclaimed, bursting from the library with her wand at the ready.

“Nothing at all,” Hermione told the librarian quickly. The ringing in her ears had quieted enough for her to hear the old witch, albeit in a muffled, kind of hollow way. “We just had a slight accident. Let me fix it. Reparo!” The suit of armour flew back onto its feet, a gleam shining off the metal. A soft sigh came from within. Hermione looked at the suit askance, then shook her head. The clatter was still playing tricks with her hearing.

“Ms. Lovegood,” Madam Pince sighed. “Not again. You really must stop reading while walking.”

“Yes, ma’am,” Luna agreed offhandedly.

“Hey, that’s not fair!” Ginny cried out. “Luna’s fine IF she’s reading. She bumps into things when she watches where she’s going.” The logic of that statement made the young girl blush. It just sounded absurd, truth or no.

“Not always,” Luna replied. She smiled up at the old witch and then at Ginny. Finally she turned to Hermione.

The bushy haired Gryffindor realized that it was her turn to speak. “Actually, it was my fault. I distracted Luna. I’m terribly sorry if I startled you.”

Madam Pince sniffed the air reproachfully. “Well, just see that you three behave and cause no more trouble. This is the library… or at least, it’s close to the library and I expect peace and quiet. Having said that, it is rather late and getting on to curfew.”

“Yes, ma’am,” Hermione agreed. “I was just finishing my rounds.”

“And we were heading to Ravenclaw Tower,” Ginny declared.

Madam Pince nodded, but seemed to disapprove of something as she sniffed again. She shook her head and retreated back into the silence of the library.

“You’re going to Ravenclaw Tower, Ginny?” Hermione asked.

“That’s right. I’ve been given permission by Professor McGonagall and Professor Flitwick. We’re working on a project, not that it’s any of your business.”

“Ginny, what’s wrong?” Hermione asked softly. “Why are you acting this way towards me?”

Luna turned to look at Ginny, a curious smile on her lips.

“If you don’t know, I’m not going to tell you,” Ginny retorted.

Luna turned back to Hermione.

“Ginny, that’s a response we, as girls, give to boys. What have I done to make you so angry? We haven’t spoken all day.”

“Aha! You admit it then,” Ginny declared triumphantly.

“Admit what?”

“You could have helped me out at breakfast.”

“Whatever to you mean, Ginevra Weasley?”

“Ron and Harry told me I was too young to join in your conversation and when I said I was almost as old as you and helped in the Department of Mysteries you just waved me away and I thought you were my friend but you acted like I didn’t exist just like Ron.” Ginny gasped and took a deep breath.

Luna blinked. Slowly she turned to Hermione and arched her eyebrow again. It was really beginning to annoy Hermione. The bushy haired girl turned to Ginny and sighed wearily. “Young people,” she thought with a roll of her eyes. “Ginny, you know how I get when I’m trying to solve a problem. I wasn’t paying attention. I’m sorry I ignored you.”

Ginny looked down contritely. “I know. But Ron gets me SO mad.” She stomped her foot for emphasis.

Putting her hand on the younger girl’s arm, Hermione pulled her into a warm embrace. “You do realize, though, that I am almost two years older than you?”

“What?”

“I turned seventeen in September.”

Ginny looked horror struck. “You’re so OLD!”

Hermione gasped a laugh. “Oh thank you very much. You two better run along then. It’s past your bedtime and I don’t fancy changing your nappies.”

“Well, I do feel rather knackered,” Luna said thoughtfully. The two Gryffindor girls giggled. The blonde witch snatched Ginny’s hand and said over her shoulder, “It was a pleasure chatting with you, Hermione.” As she turned back around, the Ravenclaw witch found herself entangled within a large tapestry that covered her from head to toe. “Not again!” she cried.

“Luna,” Ginny laughed, “Read your paper again.”

Hermione watched the two girls disappear down the corridor, Luna stepping surely around another suit of armour and dodging Nearly Headless Nick as he floated along with another ghost, all the while The Quibbler was held in front of her face. Upside down. Luna sure was strange.

The bushy haired girl straightened. Well, mission accomplished. Her mind was sufficiently distracted. A pleased grin spread over her face, softening her features. Her dark brown eyes shone. With a quick glance at her watch, a proper one that actually showed the time and not some silly little message like, “It’s time to sleep”, or “You’re late. Hurry!”. Hermione decided it was time to be getting back to the Gryffindor common room. If anyone was still out and about now, let Filch catch them. As long as it wasn’t Harry. She didn’t want him to get detention.

Hermione pursed her lips. She wondered if Harry would have gone to meet Draco Malfoy yet. A mischievous smile curled her lips. The kitchens were close to the stairs that led to the Gryffindor Tower. It wouldn’t be too big of a detour to see if her best friend was at his ‘Closet of Love’.

The beating of her heart picked up, the thrumming shaking her body the closer she moved to the tiny cupboard. Thanks to Harry’s description, Hermione knew exactly where it was. The dark halls gave her a little shiver as the thrill of what she planned to do sunk in. she felt naughty and dangerous.

Her toes tapped lightly on the stairs as she descended, and she looked over her shoulder. Hermione almost giggled out loud. All went quiet as her hand closed over the door knob to the supply cupboard. “Harry?” the bushy haired teen called out softly as she opened the door. It was dark inside and very, very quiet. “Harry, are you in there?”

Silence answered back. And darkness too, so Hermione magically lit her wand and peered into the cluttered space. The cramped closet was messy, with dust regrouping in the enclosed area, preparing for war on the rest of the castle. It was quite apparent this was a cupboard the house elves didn’t clean very often. Hermione wrinkled her nose. Dust attacked her. She sneezed in defence. Three more sneezes wracked the young witch. “This is horrible,” she muttered, after controlling her angry nose. “How could Harry stand to be in here?”

A plan formed in her clever head. “Harry shouldn’t have to wallow in this filth, and I’ll help the house elves at the same time.” With a lavish flick of her wrist and a muttered, “Scourgify,” the dust was defeated. At least, for a little while. It never seemed to be conquered. She smiled at her accomplishment. It was amazing what one determined woman could do. Not only was the dust and soot gone, but boxes were stacked neatly, cleaning supplies were set on the shelves properly, and brooms and mops and buckets were lined up like soldiers ready to go into battle against the next invasion of the evil dust and debris. The cramped cupboard still wasn’t a place she would go for a tryst, but it was loads better than before. Anything to help her Harry.

Hermione thought about transfiguring some of the boxes into a bed and the cleaning supplies into candles to make the closet more romantic and accessible. Then she realized it was Draco that Harry was going to meet here. Romance didn’t seem appropriate. A visit to a psychiatrist was more fitting. The teenager sighed.

She gasped.

The door rattled as someone tried to open the door. He cursed when he couldn’t get in straight away. Hermione recognized Draco’s voice. It always had something nasty to say. He was one bloke she definitely didn’t want to see. Or be seen by. If he was drugging Harry, there would be Heck to pay.

Hermione doused her light and jumped behind some boxes in a corner. The young woman was going to make sure the little ferret wasn’t going to hurt her Harry.

“Potter?” Draco questioned into the darkness. His voice was unsure and nervous. When he wasn’t answered, the blonde wizard entered and closed the door quickly. He stepped to the back of the closet and leaned against the wall. Hermione held her breath. Draco was standing right next to her. All he had to do was glance to his right and he would see her.

His leg began to bounce and he clenched his jaw in annoyance. Patience had never been one of Draco’s ‘redeeming’ qualities. He was always about instant gratification, fulfilling his desires quickly and completely. It just seemed like he never fulfilled them. He always wanted more. Draco thrummed his fingers on his arm as his leg bounced even more. Finally, he couldn’t take anymore and moved toward the door.

Hermione couldn’t let him go. Harry would feel so rejected. So what if it was Draco, it would still eat at the Boy Who Lived. He would think that he wasn’t good enough, not attractive enough. Hermione couldn’t comprehend why Harry would think that though. Almost every girl at the school drooled over him. Apparently, some of the boys as well. Gathering her courage, Hermione gripped her wand tightly and slowly, silently rose to her full height. She raised her wand and opened her mouth to hex the Slytherin.

with a gasp, she ducked down again.

The door opened. Harry walked in. his green eyes flashed briefly from the light in the hall. Hermione gulped in wonderment.


Review Responses:

Dragboy - i\'m glad you like all the pairings so far. it\'s been a fun story to write so far, but if you have read any of my other stories you know i like plot twists. things might not go as you expect. hope that won\'t detract from your enjoyment of this story though. as for your nitpick, i can understand your thoughts, but susan wasn\'t really complaining about neville in the way you think. it was more like she isn\'t attracted to him so didn\'t want to be partnered with him. and since you nitpicked at me, i\'m going to nitpick at you. susan\'s last name is bones, not brown. brown is lavender\'s last name, just so you know. don\'t expect to see any first years getting into this. it might be just me, but i think eleven is just a tad too young.

xgreayexdesiresx - tell your friend thanks from me. i\'m glad you took the chance and i\'m very pleased to know you like it so much. what about the story makes it something you wouldn\'t normally read? as for writing more, well i\'m already a good way into the next chapter. with any luck it will be out next week. although, if you know my track record, i\'m not all that reliable with posting times.

Dr. Huff-Puff - i know how work can get in the way of productive fan fiction reading time. don\'t they know how important this is? lol. i\'m glad you are still out there though. makes my rubbery heart swell. as for that ron and his big mouth, well it\'s always good for some laughs. you never know what will come out. and really, does ron have any right to be jealous of hermione and neville? he is after all shagging two other girls, at the same time! and it looks like i\'ve finally got draco and harry in that closet again. hope you stick around to find out what happens next.

sbkar - well, you know what has happened so far with hermione and neville. you\'ll have to read more to find out what happens with harry and draco. and of course, more things will happen with ron, hannah and susan. but you have to wonder, will anything happen with anyone else?

Bean - you know, i always seem to forget about the prefects bath. maybe now that you mention it, i\'ll remember and use it. thanks for the tip. i can understand you wanting to skip the slash, but don\'t totally dismiss the chapters. if you must just skim the sex lol. there might be some interesting development hidden around the sex.