Torn- Chapter 2

I just sighed and plastered a fake smile on my face. “Hello, Viktor.” I nodded, pretending to be happy to see him. I had only met him a week or so ago, but he seemed to really like me.

            “Hullo Hermninny.” He failed, once again, at pronouncing my name. He always had a different way of saying my name too.  I sighed and he seemed oblivious, as usual.

            “What have you been up to?” I tried to make small talk. I didn’t want to be rude, but I really wanted nothing to do with him.  I hoped that he really didn’t know which direction the Gryffindor common room was, because I was obviously walking in the opposite direction of it.

            “Just exploring…” He looked as if he was admiring the school, but it was only an act. He really had nothing going on in his head, but he wanted to impress me, so I just nodded, wanting to get out of here has fast as I could.

            “Shouldn’t you be in bed? Curfew’s past!” I pretended to look worried, when normally I would be, but I was too tired to care. I’d probably just go back to my common room with hopes that Fred was distracted by first years instead of paying attention to who was coming in the door.

“I can’t sleep.” He grunted. He seemed to sense how uncomfortable I was. “Vhy aren’t vou in bed?” He raised an eyebrow at me skeptically. I hadn’t thought about that.

“Well… I just needed to clear my head. So much has happened so quickly…” I nodded, figuring this was a good excuse. “But I had better be off before Filch finds me…” I quickly scanned the halls. I hadn’t even thought of Filch or Mrs. Norris before I left the safety of the common room.

He nodded, staring at me as I squirmed. He was very intimidating; broad shoulders, tall, very muscular… He was a typical muggle stereotype jock, which I was used to. But he wasn’t muggle. He was magical and he could break me like a tooth pick and stupefy me… Or use any spell on me for that matter.  “Good night, Herminine.” And he turned and was on his way.

I sighed at his failure of saying my name and nodded. “Good night…” I turned on my heels and began to walk back to the common room. That didn’t help me at all. In fact, Viktor had made it worse if anything. I didn’t like Viktor. He grunted and wasn’t one for conversation. That was the longest and most detailed conversation I have had with him yet.  As I kept walking, I began to wish that he were here again. He took my mind off of my teenage girl problems. Teenage problems were new to me, being as I was a new teenager, and I never exactly had hung out with girls who created drama and was never ever really the type to date.  I was overwhelmed with all of this. I just needed someone to talk to, and I knew that Harry and Ron would just roll their eyes at me. I could talk to Fred, but he’s part of the problem! George would tell Fred…

            I felt like screaming as I trudged into the common room, nobody noticing that I had walked in. I didn’t really notice anyone else anyways. I just collapsed on the first empty chair I could find.  I put my face in my hands and I tried to get my thoughts straight. It wasn’t working. Facts and numbers and dates and everything like that were so easy compared to this. I felt a hand rubbing my back gently. I looked up to see Fred Weasley smiling softly at me.

“What’s wrong, Granger?” He kneeled down next to me so we were face to face.

“Just stressed…” I mumbled. I wasn’t just about to admit that I had boy troubles. Much less that he was one of my troubles.

            “Granger? Stressed? Is that possible?” He looked shocked. His eyes widened jokingly and his jaw dropped.

            “I know, surprising, huh?” I smiled slightly. If I was stressed, it was about schoolwork or about how the boys weren’t doing their schoolwork.

            “I don’t think that this is about Professor Flitwick’s latest project. Am I wrong?” Fred smiled knowingly.

            I sighed. “You’re not wrong.” I bit my lip. What do I do? I was cornered now. I suppose I just wouldn’t use his name.  I’d try so hard not to let him think that it was he. I had never done this before.

            “Girl problems? Friend problems?” He nodded at a bickering Ron and Harry. “Boy troubles?” He waggled his eyebrows teasingly at the last one and I giggled. He always knew how to make me laugh.

            “The last two.” I tried to sound confident, but it failed when I couldn’t look him in the eye. I cursed myself out in my head.

            “Oooooh! Hermione likes someone!” He practically squealed, almost losing his balance. He laughed and I covered his mouth with my hand.

            “Not so loud you weirdo!” I whisper yelled at him, but took my hand away quickly when I felt it suddenly become damp. “YOU LICKED ME!” I exclaimed, wiping his slobber on my skirt, disgusted, as he laughed and grinned. It was as if he was proud of this.

            “What? You don’t want the whole world to know of your first crush?” He winked and laughed at my disgusted facial expressions.

            “I’ve had crushes, thank you very much!” I defended my self and my love life’s dignity.

            “Like who?” Fred challenged me, raising his eyebrows. He seemed very unsure of me.

            “I can’t tell you. You’d laugh.” I went a bit pink and bit my lip. I had a small crush on Ron in second year cause he was so brave the year before, but that was squished quickly.

            “Cause you didn’t have one!” He teased me, smiling widely. I knew he was teasing too, so it was fine.

            “Well, whether or not I’ve had one before, I have one now.” I nodded, confident with myself.

            “And who is this lucky fellow?” Fred looked intrigued. I couldn’t tell if he wanted to know so he could tease me, or if he actually wanted to know. Fred was funny that way.

            “I can’t say, but he’d never like me…”I trailed off, tucking a piece of hair behind my ear, looking at my lap.

            “If you’re talking about Krum, he’d love to get you.” Fred raised his eyebrows, being serious.

            “Ew! No! All he does is mumble and grunt! I can’t have a decent conversation with him. Plus he can’t even pronounce my name right!” I huffed and Fred laughed.

            “I apologize for insulting you like that.” He said with a grin.  “Why wouldn’t he want you?” Fred turned serious again.

            “We’re kind of in different leagues… And years… And he would never date a girl like me. Just trust me on this, okay?” I kind of wanted him to change the subject, but I knew that he wasn’t going to change it in the near future.

            “Then you need to find a guy that will like you for you and not judge on leagues or age.” He nodded, patting me on my back.

            “I know you’re right… I’ll get over it. I just probably need to get some sleep. Maybe my head will be clear in the morning…” I could only hope that I was right. I hated hormones. I either wanted to be younger or older. Right now. I just wanted to get out of the teenage stage now.

            “Probably the best idea, Granger.” He stood up, smiling crookedly. “It’s getting late for you anyways.” He teased and laughed.

            I stood up and raised my eyebrows. “That’s what you think.” I smiled and then he hugged me sweetly. I suppose he meant it to be like he was hugging a sister, but I liked it. I hugged him back until he let go and patted me on the head.

            “Go to bed, munchkin.” He winked and walked over to George, who seemed to be working on their next prank.

            I smiled to my self and walked up the stairs to the girl’s dormitory and got ready for bed and sat on my bed for a few minutes, thinking to myself. I looked around the dormitory to see that the few people that were in here were asleep. I sighed, not that any of them wanted to listen to me go on about my troubles. None of them were crazy fond of me anyways. I got under my covers and fell asleep, just as confused as before.