Hermione sat down on the corner of her bed and sighed. Lavender and Parvati exchanged a frustrated look and walked over to her.
"What's the mater Hermione?" Parvati asked, looking as if she already knew the answer.
Hermione looked puzzled, "what do you mean?"
Lavender then sat on the corner of her bed and said, "you seem upset. What is it that's bothering you, as if we don't already know?"
Hermione looked at the two of them, before saying, "I don't know what you are talking about."
Parvati smirked, and said, "the ball is coming soon, and almost everyone has an escort, and he still hasn't asked you yet, has he?"
Hermione looked down, and sighed, "no, he hasn't."
Lavender then asked, "why don't you just ask him already?"
"I think everyone in the school knows you want to go with him, with the possible exception of, well, him," Parvati observed.
Hermione the said quietly, "I hugged him today."
Parvati then sat down as well, "you did? What happened?"
"He was on the way to Quidditch practice, and I did it. Nothing happened."
They both looked disappointed at this.
Lavender then gently asked, "well, maybe you took him by surprise. Is that the first time you did something like that."
"No, not really. I hugged him when he won his last match. I hugged him when he got an O in defense against the dark arts. Heck, I even hugged him when he didn't get a T in potions."
Parvati giggled a bit as she said, "jeez, how dense is he?"
Hermione quickly replied, "he's not. He is one of the smartest, not to mention bravest, people I have ever known."
Before they could badmouth him any more Hermione got up, and said, "excuse me, I have to go."
She then walked down to the common room where she saw the team returning from another practice. She saw the sweat shine on his face as he wiped his glasses, and her knees became weak.
Calm down, she reminded herself, as she walked over to him. When he finally spotted her approaching him, he shot her that grin that made her heart leap. That grin should be illegal, she thought as she walked over to him.
"How was practice?" she asked, for a want of anything better to say.
Harry's face shined, as it always did when the subject of his team came around.
"Great. We are really improving. This might be our best team yet, without a doubt. I think we have this Quidditch Cup in the bag. I am going to love rubbing this in Oliver's face. You don't think that would be cruel or anything, do you?"
As she stared into his eyes, all she heard was I, love, and you, but she shook that off.
The rest of the team went up to shower before dinner, but as Harry went to follow, Hermione called him back.
"Yes, Hermione?"
She gave him another hug, and as she took in the odor of Harry's sweat, she didn't want to let go of him. Then, for some reason that she couldn't explain, she kissed him on the cheek.
"What was that for?"
"I am happy that the team is doing well, and anyway, do you have a date for the dance yet?"
"Yes."
"You do?" she said, trying to hide her obvious disappointment.
Harry grinned again, and said, "if you say yes that is."
She beamed, and gave a bigger hug this time, and after giving him another kiss, she whispered into his ear, "yes, I would love to."
Harry coughed, and said, "I probably should go up and take a shower, and since I doubt that you plan on joining me…"
She finally realized that she still hadn't let go of him yet, and after sneaking another kiss, she let go of him, and watched as he disappeared up the stairs.
She then turned to go the portrait hole. She wanted to go to the owlery, since there was an important letter that she wanted to send.
As she passed the stairwell to the girls dormitory she saw Parvati and Lavender, and they looked stunned. She couldn't tell if this was because they were surprised by what just happened, or if they were disappointed, but that made no difference to her now.
As she left, she gave them the biggest smile she could muster. She walked around for days with that smile glued to her face and most people looked at her as if she was quite mad, but she didn't care.