ᵇᵃⁿᵏⁱⁿᵍ ᵒⁿ ʰᵉʳ ; ʰᵃʳᵐⁱᵒⁿᵉ

𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐓𝐰𝐨

Chapter 2

Hermione was waiting on Harry to go down to breakfast and mentally arguing with herself at the same time. Their research had Harry focusing on an item called a pensieve, a device that allowed you to store memories. That these items were exceedingly rare and therefore probably prohibitavly expensive didn't dent his enthusiasm.

Hermione herself had come up with a foolproof way to stop the ministry wiping his memories, she just hadn't been able to summon the courage to tell him about it. They had undoubtedly become closer this year but Hermione didn't know if he was anywhere near ready to take the step required to safeguard his memories. It almost felt as if she was trapping him, something she could never be part of. For the last two days every spare moment had been spent trying to find another way but time was running out. Her letter home had borne fruit and she really was going to have to come clean with him today. There was only four more days until they boarded the Hogwarts express to take them down to London.

Harry offering a penny for her thoughts saw her almost jump out her skin, she hooked arms with him and they set off for breakfast. They were stopped en route by a clearly worried Neville.

"Eh, guys, you might want to give the Great Hall a miss this morning."

This comment was met by two "Why's?"

"Well Rita Skeeter has been up to her tricks again."

"Neville, I don't know what more she could say about me, and I don't really care."

"It's not you Harry, this time it's Hermione. There's a really bad article in the Witch Weekly that everyone's reading."

"Well I have no intention of letting that woman ruin my breakfast, c'mon Harry."

Hermione still had him by the arm as they entered the great hall, Neville following on close behind. They had barely sat down when Lavender passed them over the offending article. The title alone was enough to make Harry livid but he understood that was exactly Rita's intentions and he was not about to give her that satisfaction.

Harry Potter's Heartache

Deprived of love since his parents deaths, Harry Potter thought he'd found solace in the arms of his steady girlfriend, Muggle Born Hermione Granger. Little did he know that the plain but ambitious Miss Granger appears to have developed a taste for famous wizards. The Bulgarian International Seeker, and fellow Tri-Wizard champion, Victor Krum also found himself placed under this wicked witch's spell. She had led this poor foreigner on to the point where he asked her to the Yule Ball, to be held at Hogwarts as part of the tournament, only to find himself publicly rejected.

However it might not be the somewhat doubtful natural charm Miss Granger possesses that sees her attracting all this famous male attention.

"She's really ugly," says Miss Parkinson, a pretty and vivacious fourth year student. "She's quite brainy though, well capable of making a love potion. I think that's how she's doing it."

Love potions are of course illegal and we can only hope Albus Dumbledore will take swift action to see justice done. It is also our hope here at Witch Weekly that next time Mr Potter will entrust his heart to a worthier cause.

Hermione was putting on a brave face as she ate her breakfast but Harry could see the hurt behind the facade. He really wanted to hit something, preferably with a hammer.

The nasal whine coming from behind him gave Harry his target, he was just going to use a different type of hammer to pound the ponce.

"Being cheated on by a mudblood, could you get any lower Potter?"