Who to Choose? (Finished)

Chapter Twenty-Three: Informations

When class was over, Me, Harry and Ron rushed out of the room as quick as possible.

"Blimey! I should have supported Harry! I might have ended up having detention too!" Ron exclaimed.

Harry and I looked at him with puzzled expression which Ron responded with raising both of his hands in the air and saying "What?! I wanted the three of us together!" Then I saw the boys exchanged glances before Ron said "On second thought, I'm glad I didn't do anything.."

We laughed all the way to our next class: Ancient Runes. But as we were walking, Cedric suddenly grabbed my arm and dragged me away. Harry and Ron looked at each other and walked away silently.

I pulled my arm and exclaimed "What are you doing Diggory?"

"You just got out of the hospital wing and now you're doing detention?! To make matters worse, With Potter?!"

"What's your problem? At least he stood up for me! What about you? You did nothing!" I snapped

"I knew better than to answer." He muttered.

"Then what are you trying to say? That I planned all this? Do you think I would like to serve detention?"

"I don't know?! Maybe you DID plan all this to spend time with Potter!"

I struggled to break free from his grip "Get off me Cedric! You're NOT my boyfriend yet but you already act so clingy! Let go of me!"

He slowly loosened his hold and said "Hermione, I'm sorry. I-I didn't mean to-"

I faced him and said "Just.. Just give me space, will you?" Then I spun on my heel to chase after my friends.

~~~~~~~~~~""""""""""""~~~~~~~~~~~~

That night, Harry and I were at Professor Snape's office, dusting old books. I can feel he was still pretty shaken up about what happened earlier. I felt guilty so I decided to strike up a conversation.

"Hey Harry?' I asked.

"Hmm?" He answered while dusting a book and placing it back to the shelf.

"Nothing.." I answered lamely.

Again, another silence ensued. I felt the need to break it, but I didn't know what to say so I said what first came into my mind.

"Harry? What is brighter than a star?" 

"Huh??"

"Two stars!" I exclaimed.

Harry didn't laugh or even smile. I swear I can hear crickets at that moment. Most of all I felt dumb.

"Geez, I really need to work on my joking skills." I muttered.

That's when he burst out laughing. He was practically rolling on the floor while tears came streaming down his face. Harry was holding his stomach and laughing without a sound. For a moment, I thought he'll have a heart attack.

"That. Was. Superb!!" Harry said in between laughs.

I hit him with a feather duster on the head playfully "That's not very nice!"

He sat on the floor while wiping his tears away "Merlin's most baggy pants! Hermione, you gave me a stomachache!!"

"You know I've never been good at cracking jokes!" I said, a bit embarrassed.

"Then you definitely need a few lessons from the Twins!!" Harry told me, still laughing. "Professor Binns could probably come up with a funny joke than you!"

"Oh! Speaking of Professor Binns, Harry" I said, turning serious. "He told me about the next task"

"He did?" Harry asked, finally standing up and brushing himself.

"Yeah. The next task would be a Maze. An enchanted maze to be exact. It seems easy at first but he told me it will be full of traps and dangerous creatures. We gotta study tons of defensive spells. That’s what you need." I explained.

"You'll help me won't you?" 

"Of course I will!" 

"Good. Then I'm completely safe." He said, smiling.

I shook my head, grinning a bit, while I pulled out another book from the shelf. I started flipping it open and I found out it wasn't a book. It was Snape's diary. I glanced at Harry who was busy with his own work. What surprised me even more was the entries AND the photos.

"Harry. Harry come over here, quick." I called.

When he was beside me, looking over my shoulder to see what I was so interested about. I showed him a photograph. "This is your Mum and Dad right?"

He took the photo from me and nodded. "Y-yes.."

"Look what it says.." then I read the entry aloud

1976, 31th of October 

That swine! He took everything from me! Just because he's famous and star quidditch player doesn't mean he's above others! Ooh! How much I loathe that James Potter.. He's the cause of the drift between my friendship with lily! I hate him!! Why Lily? Why him? Why not me instead of that arrogant-toe rag!! Me who has been here for you all the time. Me who introduced you to the world of magic. Me who has been your best friend since the beginning. Why him, Lily? Why?!

"Harry.." I said, looking at him..

He just stood there, stunned about what he just heard. "Snape.." He muttered.

I was quite surprised myself.. I never knew... I never could've imagined..

Before one of us can move, Professor Snape came storming in. "What are you doing? I do expect you're not....Prying on private things.."

Then he spotted me holding the diary. With one swift move, it was in his hands. "What have you seen?" He asked. When no one of us answered, he pointed to the door "Out." 

Harry just stood there, rooted on the floor. I tugged at his arm and whispered "Harry, let's go." but he doesn't move an inch, like he was hit by a petrifying curse.

"O-Out! Both of you! Out n-now!" Professor shouted, though his voice's a bit shaking.

Scared of what might happen, I dragged Harry out of the room and the moment we stepped on the hall, he sighed deeply and grabbed my hand, making a wild dash to the Gryffindor common room.