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As the days went by, Veronica was slowly coming to terms with the fact that Harry had kissed another girl. She realised that she was never his girlfriend and so didn't have the right to be angry at him, nor sad that it had happened.
Also, after witnessing the awful mood that Harry has been in since Christmas that was only made worse due to his regular private Occlumency lessons with Snape, she believed that all that Harry needed right now was a friend. So that's what she'll be.
One morning, Veronica was sitting with the Trio in the Great Hall quietly discussing with them how they were going to get more students to believe Harry. Hermione had suggested doing an interview but Veronica reminded her that no paper would publish it, and would probably twist Harry's words to make him seem worse than he already does.
This gave Hermione an idea and before they knew it she had taken off, running out of the Great Hall with a sparkle in her eye. Veronica didn't know where the girl was going, but whatever it was she knew it would be a brilliant idea.
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The news broke later on that month that there was a mass Azkaban breakout. This was something that the Ministry couldn't hide from the public, but instead of mentioning why ten highly dangerous Death Eaters had managed to escape they decided to blame Sirius Black.
Veronica was only slightly taken aback by the news because she'd had a dream the night before, which included the sounds of chilling laughter, and the image of broken brick walls surrounded by Dementors.
The thing that she was taken aback by was the fact that this breakout had done little to nothing to the opinions of the students against Harry, who still firmly believed in the Daily Prophet and the Ministry, even though a mass breakout happened right under their noses.
This was what sparked Veronica to go and ask Hermione about her 'genius' plan to get Harry an interview with a paper and publish it without facing the backlash from the Ministry or the people who supported it.
She had to admit that she was sceptical when Hermione mentioned Rita Skeeter, the memories of everything that ghastly woman had written last year that ruined so much flooding into Veronica's mind. After addressing her concerns to Hermione, the Gryffindor had assured her that she had something over Skeeter that meant the woman would do whatever Hermione told her to do.
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They had planned to meet with Skeeter the next Hogsmeade trip in mid-afternoon, giving Veronica a little time beforehand to wander the village with Ernie and Hannah. She had apologised to Hannah for her abrupt and messy absence just before Christmas but the girl had quickly forgiven her, telling her that she understood completely even though Veronica knew she could never fully understand.
As they were perusing the shops, buying things occasionally, Ernie had noticed something while looking into the window of Madame Puddifoots, a very pink and bright cafe for loved-up couples to visit that was quite busy considering it was Valentine's day.
He tapped Hannah on the shoulder discreetly and tried to subtly gesture towards what he'd seen and she quickly discovered what had him so freaked out.
There, sitting in a small booth drinking tea and eating small confectionaries was Harry Potter and opposite him was Cho Chang.
They didn't know what to do as they saw how much Veronica was affected the last time she saw the couple together. The two Hufflepuffs had tried their hardest to divert their friend's attention away from the diner but she caught on to what they were doing and glanced back behind her, ignoring their warnings.
Once she saw the two sitting there, she'd gone slightly numb. She wasn't completely shocked that she'd seen them together again as you don't usually kiss someone and not date them. If anything the view just confirmed it officially for the girl that she had lost Harry, and Cho had got to him.
Her irrational mind was so caught up in these slightly angsty thoughts that she didn't pay close attention to the couple and had missed the awkward exchange of conversations happening between Harry and Cho inside.
Cho had started crying again and Harry was shuffling uncomfortably in his seat, as he had been since entering the overly pink cafe, it having too close of a resemblance to Umbridge's office for his liking.
Before they were seen by either of the two inside, Ernie and Hannah decided to drag Veronica away from the window. If they had stayed for a little longer they would've seen Cho snap at Harry jealously as he informs her he would have to cut their date short to meet with Veronica and Hermione.
Cho seemed angry as she quizzed Harry on his relationship with Veronica and once she'd noticed the happier look in his eyes when he talked about the Hufflepuff, she stormed out of the tea shop, leaving him to sit there puzzled.
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Harry had arrived at the Three Broomsticks alone, thankfully thought Veronica as she sat with Hermione, Luna and Rita Skeeter. It was quite an odd combination of people, but the interview went quite successfully, Skeeter only trailing off topic a few times, trying to get gossip from the boy.
The interview was published in The Quibbler a few days later, a less popular magazine run by Luna's father, but was an immediate triumph for Harry.
Umbridge had tried to ban the Quibbler at Hogwarts, claiming anyone seen reading it would receive a harsh punishment, but this only fuelled everyone's curiosity. By the end of the day, everyone had read the article and it had lightened their view on Harry significantly. Luna had even informed them that it was the best-selling edition of the tabloid ever sold.
Harry received praise from everyone around the school, even the teachers had been indirectly rewarding him house points in class for doing simple tasks, and he had even started to receive fan mail from outside of Hogwarts that suggested people were starting to believe what he had to say.
Everyone was pleased, except for Umbridge who quickly stripped Harry of his rights to visit Hogsmeade and gave him another week of detentions. Veronica didn't think Harry minded much though, as he had finally managed to get the truth out and now people were taking the boy seriously.
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ČTEŠ
Undistinguished (H.P.)
Fanfikce[adjective] lacking distinction; unexceptional. Veronica Green is a simple and average half-blood. Hidden in plain sight and blending into the background are what she does best. Until her fourth year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, wh...
