FICLET: Girl Problems (Hermione/Katie)
Title: Girl Problems
Pairing: Hermione/Katie, Katie/Alicia
Prompt: not listening to a word
Rating: PG13
Word Count: 943
Summary: Harry seems to be the only one who doesn't think Hermione's miserable behavior is a direct result of menstruation.
Author's Notes: I wanted to do something that wasn't very dialogue heavy, and explored Harry's friendship for Hermione a little. This is the result.
Link to Prompt Table: Prompt Table
Harry noticed Hermione was having trouble focusing on her studies.
First it had been in Potions class, when Snape had called on Hermione to repeat everything he had just said. She looked up at him, and Harry was astonished at the amount of misery in her expression. Snape’s face was a triumphant sneer when he docked one hundred points from Gryffindor for “not listening to a word,” under the collective gasp of disbelief from the class.
Then there was Charms, when they were supposed to do some kind of cloaking spell, turning a bottle of “potion” (they learned it was only dyed water after Neville accidentally ingested it and began to panic) into a book. Hermione flicked her wand around haphazardly, distracted. She first turned the bottle into a pepper, then a mallet, then finally an overexcited newt, which scrambled off the table and out the door.
After that was Divination, which she, of course, had not been present for. He had come across her afterwards, while walking with Ron towards the Dining Hall. She mumbled something about having to go to the library when Ron asked why she was walking in the wrong direction, and he turned to Harry and shrugged, muttering about it being “that time of the month.”
They took seats across the table from Alicia and Katie, with whom Harry hoped he could discuss the upcoming match against Slytherin. Halfway through their conversation, when Alicia had spit out some clever Malfoy-related insult, he saw Katie lean in and kiss her cheek blatantly among the roars of laughter. Ron, again, had thought nothing of this when Harry mentioned it to him later, saying that “girls show affection for each other in weird ways.” Harry did not mention that when he had ducked under the table to retrieve his wand, which he had dropped, he saw them holding hands.
He searched the library for Hermione afterwards but could find her nowhere. Madam Pince shushed him when he asked if she’d been round, saying Hermione had not been in the library for several days. It was only after she said this that she realized what a strange occurrence that was, and asked Harry if she was all right. Harry shrugged and left.
He returned to the Common Room and asked the Fat Lady if she knew of her whereabouts. The Fat Lady shook her head, her second chin jiggling grotesquely back and forth, then paused and mentioned she had overheard Moaning Myrtle whining about how her “personal space was being invaded by someone with girl troubles.” The Fat Lady echoed Ron’s previous assertion that it probably was, in fact, Hermione’s time of the month, then told Harry it was none of his business and if he wasn’t entering she would prefer it very much if he would sod off and leave, thank you. Before Harry even had time to be irritated, the Fat Lady swung open, revealing a frantic Oliver Wood. He caught sight of Harry at once, and informed him that Slytherin had come up with some number of new offensive formations and he had called an emergency practice. The team emerged behind him, looking dejected, and Fred mumbled something about how Wood’s overzealous captaining was ruining a perfectly good Friday evening. Harry fell into step behind the rest of the team. Katie and Alicia, hands this time unmistakably locked together, were both looking flushed and, though Alicia looked annoyed, Katie was giggling and saying something unintelligible about finishing later. Harry’s curiosity was piqued, then subdued when Wood demanded they walk side-by-side to begin pre-practice discussions of how to better grab the Snitch (“It’s been taking you longer and longer to catch it, how d’you reckon we’re going to win if our Seeker can’t outperform theirs?”)
Harry would have been put off by this comment had he not seen Hermione one-tenth of a second before she walked directly into him. Her eyes had been focused behind him, directly where Katie and Alicia were, and after he righted himself he saw Katie look over her shoulder at Hermione for an instant, then turn away.
Hermione moved to push past him, but he got her by the shoulders before she could. He opened his mouth to ask her just what, exactly, was going on and why she had been acting so strange, not listening to a word during class or participating and even messing up a simple charm, when he saw her cheeks were wet with tears. Above them, Moaning Myrtle shot past, telling Hermione, in a gleeful tone, to please “stay out of my room, you’ve got your own space for carrying on over girls who don’t love you.”
Girl problems, as in not the shedding of the uterine lining he had heard so much about, but problems with girls, problems he had and Ron had and Seamus and Dean all had. And Hermione too, apparently.
She looked away from him and said she was stupid for letting it happen, it had been stupid of her because she had known, all along, that Katie had been in love with Alicia, and she was foolish for being so upset because she and Katie had both known what would happen if Alicia ever came around, which, of course, she did. When Hermione began to dissolve into tears, Harry held her to his chest and told her he was sorry, ignoring Wood’s shouts from the other end of the hall, clashing with the echo of Myrtle’s laughter. The team looked on curiously, with the exception of Alicia, who looked sorry for Hermione, and Katie, who looked down at the floor.
Harry held Hermione tighter.
Pairing: Hermione/Katie, Katie/Alicia
Prompt: not listening to a word
Rating: PG13
Word Count: 943
Summary: Harry seems to be the only one who doesn't think Hermione's miserable behavior is a direct result of menstruation.
Author's Notes: I wanted to do something that wasn't very dialogue heavy, and explored Harry's friendship for Hermione a little. This is the result.
Link to Prompt Table: Prompt Table
Harry noticed Hermione was having trouble focusing on her studies.
First it had been in Potions class, when Snape had called on Hermione to repeat everything he had just said. She looked up at him, and Harry was astonished at the amount of misery in her expression. Snape’s face was a triumphant sneer when he docked one hundred points from Gryffindor for “not listening to a word,” under the collective gasp of disbelief from the class.
Then there was Charms, when they were supposed to do some kind of cloaking spell, turning a bottle of “potion” (they learned it was only dyed water after Neville accidentally ingested it and began to panic) into a book. Hermione flicked her wand around haphazardly, distracted. She first turned the bottle into a pepper, then a mallet, then finally an overexcited newt, which scrambled off the table and out the door.
After that was Divination, which she, of course, had not been present for. He had come across her afterwards, while walking with Ron towards the Dining Hall. She mumbled something about having to go to the library when Ron asked why she was walking in the wrong direction, and he turned to Harry and shrugged, muttering about it being “that time of the month.”
They took seats across the table from Alicia and Katie, with whom Harry hoped he could discuss the upcoming match against Slytherin. Halfway through their conversation, when Alicia had spit out some clever Malfoy-related insult, he saw Katie lean in and kiss her cheek blatantly among the roars of laughter. Ron, again, had thought nothing of this when Harry mentioned it to him later, saying that “girls show affection for each other in weird ways.” Harry did not mention that when he had ducked under the table to retrieve his wand, which he had dropped, he saw them holding hands.
He searched the library for Hermione afterwards but could find her nowhere. Madam Pince shushed him when he asked if she’d been round, saying Hermione had not been in the library for several days. It was only after she said this that she realized what a strange occurrence that was, and asked Harry if she was all right. Harry shrugged and left.
He returned to the Common Room and asked the Fat Lady if she knew of her whereabouts. The Fat Lady shook her head, her second chin jiggling grotesquely back and forth, then paused and mentioned she had overheard Moaning Myrtle whining about how her “personal space was being invaded by someone with girl troubles.” The Fat Lady echoed Ron’s previous assertion that it probably was, in fact, Hermione’s time of the month, then told Harry it was none of his business and if he wasn’t entering she would prefer it very much if he would sod off and leave, thank you. Before Harry even had time to be irritated, the Fat Lady swung open, revealing a frantic Oliver Wood. He caught sight of Harry at once, and informed him that Slytherin had come up with some number of new offensive formations and he had called an emergency practice. The team emerged behind him, looking dejected, and Fred mumbled something about how Wood’s overzealous captaining was ruining a perfectly good Friday evening. Harry fell into step behind the rest of the team. Katie and Alicia, hands this time unmistakably locked together, were both looking flushed and, though Alicia looked annoyed, Katie was giggling and saying something unintelligible about finishing later. Harry’s curiosity was piqued, then subdued when Wood demanded they walk side-by-side to begin pre-practice discussions of how to better grab the Snitch (“It’s been taking you longer and longer to catch it, how d’you reckon we’re going to win if our Seeker can’t outperform theirs?”)
Harry would have been put off by this comment had he not seen Hermione one-tenth of a second before she walked directly into him. Her eyes had been focused behind him, directly where Katie and Alicia were, and after he righted himself he saw Katie look over her shoulder at Hermione for an instant, then turn away.
Hermione moved to push past him, but he got her by the shoulders before she could. He opened his mouth to ask her just what, exactly, was going on and why she had been acting so strange, not listening to a word during class or participating and even messing up a simple charm, when he saw her cheeks were wet with tears. Above them, Moaning Myrtle shot past, telling Hermione, in a gleeful tone, to please “stay out of my room, you’ve got your own space for carrying on over girls who don’t love you.”
Girl problems, as in not the shedding of the uterine lining he had heard so much about, but problems with girls, problems he had and Ron had and Seamus and Dean all had. And Hermione too, apparently.
She looked away from him and said she was stupid for letting it happen, it had been stupid of her because she had known, all along, that Katie had been in love with Alicia, and she was foolish for being so upset because she and Katie had both known what would happen if Alicia ever came around, which, of course, she did. When Hermione began to dissolve into tears, Harry held her to his chest and told her he was sorry, ignoring Wood’s shouts from the other end of the hall, clashing with the echo of Myrtle’s laughter. The team looked on curiously, with the exception of Alicia, who looked sorry for Hermione, and Katie, who looked down at the floor.
Harry held Hermione tighter.