Title: A Little Nudge In The Right Direction
Ship: Harry/Hermione
Name/Pen Name: Giovanni/Harry85
Word Count: 2658
Theme #/Theme: #3/ Write yourself in a ficlet/the most OOC
Challenge count: 3/7 finished

Content: PG-13
Spoilers: Books 1-6 I guess…
Warnings: New character, glimpses of Ron/Luna
Summary: A new student comes to Hogwarts, and helps Harry and Hermione to find each other.

Disclaimer: I don’t own HP. I wish I did, but no, it’s not mine, it’s property of JK Rowling.


A Little Nudge In The Right Direction

Everyone in the Great Hall was paying attention to the food in their plates, when the Headmistress, Minerva McGonagall, stood up calling for the students to listen to her.

“Tonight we will receive a guest. He’s going to be your new companion here at the school, as he is a transfer student coming from Italy. He’s already been sorted into Gryffindor” she said while a single figure entered the room. He was already dressed in the school robes, and had black hair and brown eyes. He was not exceedingly handsome, but not ugly too, and confidently walked through the Hall, and stopped near Harry, Hermione and Ron.

“Please welcome Mr. Giovanni Cavina” the Headmistress finished.

The Slytherins glared at him, after all he was a new Gryffindor, Ravenclaws and Hufflepuffs looked at him curiously, while the Gryffindors cheered their new mate.

He smiled at them, and sat across Ginny Weasley, in the only spot left free.

“Hi, guys” he said. “Merlin, I’m famished. The trip was so long” he added, while filling his plate.

Ron already found himself liking the guy. Someone who appreciated food that much couldn’t be bad.

After dinner, Giovanni was the main attraction in the common room. Every seventh year Gryffindor was shaking his hand, and asking him questions.

“So, why have you transferred here?” Hermione politely asked.

“Oh, well, the school I was before closed for lack of students, and since I’ve heard talking so well of Hogwarts, I chose to come here to complete my instruction”

“Well, you couldn’t have chosen better, Hogwarts is famous for its greatness…” she started.

“Don’t mind her, she is a bit obsessed with school, homework and books in general” Ron interjected, earning himself a glare from the girl. “I’m Ron Weasley, anyhow”

“And I’m Hermione Granger” she said, smiling at the new guy but kicking Ron on his leg.

“Oh, I know the two of you. You are Harry Potter’s best friends, right? The three of you have been through so much together, it’s wonderful!” the new arrived said.

Harry was quietly studying the guy from a corner. It was not that he didn’t like him, but he kind of had become suspicious of everyone during the war, and it was strange that a new student arrived at the beginning of November.

However, since he didn’t want to be rude without a reason, he moved, and went to shake the bloke’s hand.

“Hi, I’m Harry Potter” he said with a polite smile. “It’s a pleasure to have you here”

“The pleasure is mine” the other boy replied. Then he proceeded to adjust his things in the boys dorm, and since he was knackered from the trip, he went to bed. In the common room, in the meantime everyone was giving his opinions on him.

“So, what do you think of him?” Harry asked Hermione.

“Well, he seems nice” she tentatively said.

“Don’t you think strange he arrived just now?”

“Well, it may be that his school started later, and only now he has known it was closed” she reasoned.

“I hope he plays Quidditch” Ron said, while in a corner some girls were whispering about the new guy, and giggling.

Next day, the seventh year Gryffindors started with Potions, and Giovanni already had the chance to meet the terrible Professor Snape.

“He’s a real wanker” Ron alerted him. “Do not say a word out of place or you’ll end in detention and losing points to the house”

“Is he really that bad?” Giovanni asked Hermione.

“Worse” Harry replied, sullen.

So they entered the dungeon, and as Harry placed himself with Ron as usual, Giovanni took a place near Hermione. She smiled warmly at him.

“Don’t worry, I’ll help you go through his lesson” she reassured the boy.

“Oh, thanks, but Potions was one of my best subjects back at my school. So I should not have too much trouble” he replied with a grin.

When the lesson finished, Hermione was impressed. The boy had made his potion perfectly, maybe even better than hers. They went to have Piton grade them, and he got a D. He shrugged, while she looked at him sadly. The n it was her turn, and while Giovanni was gathering his things to leave the room, he heard the professor give her a D too.

He hastily turned. “It’s unfair!” he shouted.

“Mr. Cavina, do you question my judgement?”

“Of course I do! It’s ridiculous that you grade a perfect potion with a D, and while I can stand it since I’m new to the school, it’s unfair that you do it with one of the other students!”

“Enough! You’ll serve detention with me tonight, and you just lost twenty points to Gryffindor!”

Hermione had to clamp an hand on his mouth, or the boy would have kept questioning the professor making his situation worse. They dragged him out of the room.

“Told you” Ron said, while they were walking to Transfiguration.

“I’m sorry guys. I’ll earn back those twenty points somehow” Giovanni said, shaking his head. “But that man is totally unfair! Malfoy did a far worse potion and he graded it with the top mark!”

“Ah, well, but Malfoy is his pet…” Harry disdainfully said.

Hermione said nothing, she was quite flattered that Giovanni had blown up that way to defend her. It was something she usually saw Harry do, and it had always been endearing to her when the raven haired boy did that.

The rest of the day passed quietly, and finally the time of going to serve detention came. As he moved to leave the common room, Giovanni was reached by Harry.

“Wait, I’m coming too”

“What? You don’t have detention!” Giovanni said.

“No, but…er…” he stammered, blushing.

“I get it, you have to meet a girl, right?” the other boy said, winking.

Harry just nodded.

Hermione shot her friend a deluded look, and Giovanni noticed that, but said nothing. He had his own problems, and detention with Snape was not going to be fun.

In fact, he came back three hours later, knackered and crashed on his bed, still clothed.

Next day, the gossip of Harry and Hanna Abbott dating was everywhere in the school, and the raven haired wizard was in a foul mood for that.

“Can’t a guy have a private life?” he muttered, while Ron kept teasing him. Giovanni said nothing, just like Hermione.

If the first day had been rocky, the second was instead totally plain. Giovanni attended lessons with his new friends, and studied afterwards. Ron invited him to have a flight with him and Harry, but he refused.

Hermione was holed up into the library, so he was alone in the common room. That gave him time to consider some things he had noticed since his arrive, and a smile formed on his lips, while a plan was shaped into his head.

“Yeah, this will be brilliant” he chuckled to himself, before resuming to write an Herbology essay that was due for two days later.

As the Hogsmeade weekend grew nearer, Harry was seen with may different girls, and in the end it came out he asked Susan Bones to go with him. She eagerly accepted, and for days walked into the school like she owned the place.

Hermione continuously berated her for that, but Giovanni knew there was more to it. Anyhow, that day he, Hermione and Ron enjoyed a nice trip to the village, it started to get cold, but not freezing. The sky was clear, and his two companions showed him around.

“This is Honeydukes” Ron said. “I could pass all day in there”

“I don’t doubt that, Ron. You eat more than anyone else at the Gryffindor table” Giovanni teased him, ma king Hermione laugh and Ron redden.

Then they showed him some of the other shops, till they ended sitting at the Three Broomsticks. Fate wanted that Harry was there too, with his date, but he never noticed them.

Hermione’s mood suddenly clouded, and even Ron noticed. “What, you jealous?” he said, chuckling.

She blushed, and shook her head. “Of course not, why would I be jealous?” she said, but Giovanni knew she really was.

They ate quietly, and then left to have another trip around the village before walking back to the castle. Hermione was quiet, but the two boys didn’t really notice as they were engrossed in Quidditch conversation.

As the days passed, Giovanni felt himself more and more integrated, and hanging around with Harry, Hermione and Ron was fun. He had played some impromptu Quidditch matches with them, and they had to admit he was a good Chaser. Too bad the team was already full, or he could have tried for a spot.

Hermione felt herself liking him more and more, as he often reminded her of Harry. She had been in love with the boy for two years at least, and it was just natural she would like someone who reminded her of him. Plus, the object of her love was not showing signs of loving her back, and she was thinking about maybe moving on.

So, it didn’t really came as a surprise to herself when she accepted Giovanni’s invite to Hogsmeade, at the beginning of December. After all, Harry already had a date, as it had become usual lately. It was strange though, he didn’t normally act like that.

Anyhow, now she needed to focus. Her date was probably already waiting for her as she was late, and still hadn’t found a thing she liked to wear.

When she emerged from the Head Girl room, fifteen minutes later, she found Giovanni waiting for her with a grin.

“Sorry for the delay, I’m not really used to this and lost time choosing what to wear” she said with a slight blush.

“No problem. And if my opinion means something, I think you’re absolutely gorgeous” he said with a wink. She blushed and smiled back.

“You’re not so bad yourself”

“I know” he joked, earning himself a swat on the arm.

“Prat. Are you always this self-confident?”

“It’s how I am” he said, while they were walking out of the school and toward the carriages. They took one and since they were the last to leave the school, they were alone in it.

He attempted making small talk, and that put Hermione more at ease. She would laugh at his jokes, and the tension of being on a date magically vanished.

As they walked through the village, he dared to hold her hand and while she was surprised, she let him do it. After lunch, he led her to the Shrieking Shack.

“What are doing here?” she asked, confused.

“We need to talk, and away from prying eyes” he started, his back to her. Then he turned, with a sad smile.

“I’m not a stupid, Hermione”

“What do you mean?” she said, confused.

“I know you could never love me, because you are deeply in love with Harry” he continued.

She looked at him speechless.

“This is why I asked you out. I wanted to make him jealous, and realize his feelings for you” he kept explaining.

She snorted. “Counting the girls he’s been going out with, I’d say he has no feelings for me whatsoever” she spitefully said.

“So you admit you love him, right?” Giovanni grinned. He had tricked her in admitting it.

She looked at him shocked that he had tricked her so easily, but then smiled. “Yes, I do. Since fifth year, to say the truth”

He nodded. “And he does too, I can assure you. I’ll talk with him tonight and try understand if he got jealous over the two of us going out together, or not. If he denies it, well, I’ve got a reserve plan” he said with a wink.

“So today it’s just a game to you?” she said, now a bit hurt. She thought he really liked her, and she did fancy him a bit after all.

He moved near her, and tilted her head up so that she was looking in his eyes. “No, Hermione. It’s not a game to me, but I know how to pick my battles. I can’t possibly win this one, so I retired. I just ask you for a kiss” he said softly, locking his eyes with her.

She felt drawn to him, and pressed her lips softly to the boy’s ones. Their tongues met, and it was brief, but Giovanni savoured every moment of it, as he would never have a chance to experience it again, not from her.

With a contented smile, he pulled away. “I promise I’ll make Harry come to his senses” he said, and walked her back to the village, and then to the castle.

That night, he confronted Harry, as he had promised to Hermione.

“So you’re not jealous that I and Hermione are dating?” Giovanni said.

“No, I am not. I don’t fancy her” Harry said, scowling.

“Ok, so you have no problems if I ask her to come to the Yule Ball with me, right?” Giovanni continued.

“N-no” Harry stammered, and Giovanni inwardly grinned.

“Very well, I’ll go ask her right now then” the boy said, leaving the hero of the Wizarding World to himself, thinking about the words that they exchanged.

“Maybe I really am in love with her” he thought, focusing on how he had felt when the other boy had suggested asking her for the Ball. “No, it can’t be. She’s just my best friend, and I care lots for her, this is the truth”

But he wasn’t really convinced.

So, when the night of the Ball came, Harry Potter was an unhappy young man. Ron was dancing with Luna, his new girlfriend, Hermione was dancing with Giovanni and laughing softly at something he was saying her.

She was breathtaking, in her silver dress robes that clung to her body perfectly. The back was almost bare, while on the front they had a deep v-neck that exalted her cleavage. She ahd been hesitant in wearing them, but Giovanni had insisted Harry would surely appreciate them, and he was right. Every guy would, after all.

Her hair was smooth, and few tendrils adorned her face. Suddenly Harry felt the need to cut in.

“May I have this dance?” he asked, a bit more roughly than he intended to.

“Harry, I think this is impolite. I’m dancing with Giovanni right now…” she protested.

“No problem, mate. Go ahead” the other boy said smiling, and leaving her with him. Sitting back at the table, he enjoyed the show now. He had done what he had to, now it was up to Harry finish the job.

As the music stopped, and another slow song started, Ron and Luna joined him at the table.

When Harry’s lips met hers, Ron clapped Giovanni on the back.

“I’m sorry mate” he said.

“No problem, Ron. This is what I wanted to accomplish, to tell the truth”

“What? You have been playing matchmaker all this time?” Ron said, bewildered.

“Well, I thought they needed a little nudge, let’s put it this way” the other boy said, grinning.

“They look so good together” Luna airily commented.

“They really do” both the boys agreed.

In the meantime, Hermione and Harry were still kissing, and both felt incredible sensations when their tongues met for the first time. He pulled her closer, and kept assaulting her mouth fiercely, while she did the same. It was like they were trying to make up for the time lost toeing around each other.

As they finally parted, they locked eyes and you could clearly feel that there was no need of words between them, they both knew they loved each other and always will. And while their mouths met again, both couldn’t help mentally thank Giovanni for having made them open their eyes.