Triangulate

“I can explain,” Hermione said, her voice high-pitched, stepping in between the two who were sizing each other up, fists clenched. “Let me – let me just explain this. There is no need for things to get out of hand.”

            “Nah, I think you’ve done enough,” Cormac snapped, glaring at her with remnants of affection. “Stay out of it.”

            “What are you going to do, McLaggen? Suckerpunch me?” Harry taunted.

            “No, but I bet your best friends are going to love hearing about this,” Cormac said, his face twisting into a shadowy grin. Without another word, he rushed toward the door, Harry and Hermione after him. The Portrait Hole opened, revealing the castle’s corridors, but just before Cormac could jump out, Harry caught up with him and tackled him to the ground.

            “You’re not going anywhere,” Harry growled, pinning him down.

            “What are you going to do, keep me here?” Cormac snapped, looking at Hermione, his head pushed to the floor. “After what you have done, do you really think you have the moral high ground? Huh!?”

            Hermione felt her blood turn to ice. Shame-faced, she looked away.

            “McLaggen, shut up. Like you haven’t cheated on your exes before.”

            “I’m trying to change,” Cormac said, a whine-like quality to his confession, still looking at Hermione despite talking to Harry.

            “Well, consider this your karma,” Harry said. “You and Hermione were only together for two weeks. You cheated on Helena Cleary after six months. Less emotional and temporal investment. You got off easy. It’s not like you can claim any moral high ground here.”

            “Oh, what are you, judge, jury and executioner?” Cormac snapped.

            “I’m just the guy with common sense,” Harry said.

            “You’re being a hypocrite,” Hermione said, stepping over the boys to close the portrait hole manually. “You did this to two of your exes, and one of them nearly quit the team becaue of you. You were proud of it, too. You bragged about it. Forgive me for not taking your whinging too seriously.”

            “So it’s my fault now, is that it?” Cormac asked.

            “What was it that you said to Elena Carol? Sorry, babe. You just couldn’t keep my interest.”

            “Fuck you,” Cormac said.

Harry shoved him. “Watch your mouth.”

“Fuck you too, Potter.”

“McLaggen, are you trying to get beat up?”

Ignoring him, Cormac went on, “Besides, Hermione, I didn’t treat you that way. In fact, made a fucking fool out of myself for you.” His eyes were burning, his voice was horse with rage, with betrayal. Hermione crossed her hands across her chest, trying to steady her breathing. She did not know which foot to stand on. She just knew McLaggen wasn’t going to get in her way. She’d done worse to people threatening to upend her life – like Rita Skeeter.

A student couldn’t be any harder to manage.

“Yeah, you did,” Harry said, laughing.

Cormac glared at him. The tension, the vitriol was nearly palpable in the corridor leading to Hermione’s quarters.

“All the more reason not to tell people you got cheated on,” Hermione said, beginning to pace up and down as she conjured up a plan. “We’ll keep quiet about this until we figure out how to break it to Ginny and Ron. You can say we broke up because it just wasn’t working and save face. Besides,” Hermione added, crouching down to be level with Cormac, “Who would feel sorry for you after all that you’ve done to girls?” Hermione tilted her head, “Do you think people would take your side?”

Harry added, needlessly in Hermione’s opinion, “Or do you think you’d become a laughingstock for being unable to keep your girl?”

“Like you did yours?”

“I traded mine in for a better one,” Harry added, to keep face.

Hermione’s stomach churned; she did not like this side to Harry. She wasn’t familiar with it, but she knew he had the capacity for it.

Cormac’s nostrils flared, his breathing was heavy. Unbridled fury burned in his eyes.

His hypocrisy awoke something in Hermione that caused her to act rash. “Besides… do you really think they’d take your side over the people who saved the wizarding world?”

“You’re a piece of shit, you know that?” Cormac said.

Hermione smiled a smile that didn’t reach her eyes. Shrugging, she said, “Weird thing to say to the one thanks to whom the world got saved, but if you say so.”

Straightening up, Hermione said, “Besides, blame yourself for not picking better. Did you really think I could take you seriously after the way you have behaved in the past?”

Cormac glared at her. “So you were pretending –“

“McLaggen, shut up,” Harry said. “You lost. Take it with grace.”

“Fuck you,” Cormac said, “Fuck you both. Saviors of the wizarding world? Sure. But a right pair of assholes.”

“We haven’t done anything you haven’t done at least twice,” Harry said. “And we were about to have a very nice time before you interrupted us. So I’d say you’re still the bad guy of the night.”

“Yeah, have fun with your two-timing whore,” Cormac said. “You seem to like the sluts like Weasley and Granger, eh?” Harry’s features clouded and Hermione shuddered at the noise of the punch he landed in Cormac’s stomach. He spat blood onto the floor, a solitary cheek glittering in his brown eyes.

Hermione’s façade of coldness fell apart; shock spread across her features.

“You think I’m going to take this lying down?” Cormac said, his eyes darting from one to the other. “My parents work in the Ministry. They will not like hearing about this.”

“Calling Mommy and Daddy to fight your battles? Aren’t you a little old for that?” Hermione said coldly.

Oh, how quickly all love had turned to hate. As it was, Hermione needed to push her emotions to the side and deal with the unfolding problem rationally. There was nothing holding them together anymore: from lover, Cormac had become an enemy. And they were about to make a lot more if the truth of their transgressions got out.

But didn’t they deserve one delicious, forbidden fruit after trying to stay on the straight and narrow their whole life?

Suddenly, Cormac tried to make a run for it, but Harry grabbed him from the back, restraining him. Cormac punched him in the nose, making Harry groan as blood began to flow from it. Hermione was about to restrain him herself, but Cormac was quicker: he’d taken his wand from his pocket and immobilized Hermione before tearing open the portrait hole and jumping outside.