~*I Can See It In Her Eyes*~

xXKourtzXx

Rating: PG13
Genres: Drama, Romance
Relationships: Harry & Hermione
Book: Harry & Hermione, Books 1 - 5
Published: 23/07/2005
Last Updated: 03/10/2005
Status: paused

This is a story about the trio's sixth year. It includes a Harry/Hermione relationship, two unpleasent meetings with Voldemort, and quite a few untrustworthy students. After the deaths of two Hogwarts students, and the injury of another, everyone's worried. Plenty of plot twists and surprises noone would image. But in the end, will Harry truly make the choice, between a life with love, or a life with fear and impending doom. Is there any way to have both?

Chapters

1. Emotionally Confused

2. Cute Couple

3. New Teacher

4. Missing

5. Misunderstandings

6. Unexpected Adventure

1. Emotionally Confused

Chapter 1: Emotionally Confused

It was the first of September. Harry Potter was sitting so quietly in the back of the Hogwarts express, in an empty compartment, absentmindedly staring out of the big glass window. Although his apperence had changed over the summer, he was still the same old Harry. His pale skin had tanned over the summer, from all those long days spent laboring in the sun out in the garden. His hair was still as messy as ever, but it seemed to stand up a bit more today. Those brilliant bottle green eyes were still the same, but with more depth, having seen more then their share, and finally his lightning bolt scar...

"Ah, good old scar!" Harry thought to himself, running his fingertips blindly over his forehead. He was sixteen , but he didn't feel it...

The compartment door opened suddenly, jerking Harry quickly out of his thoughts. He looked up to see none other then...

"Hermione!" He said aloud, standing up and embracing her.

"Hey Harry!" She smiled, slightly shocked at his enthusiasm, kissing him softly on the cheek. But this time something happened that had never happened before.

"Harry's blushing!" She thought, feeling his cheek get hotter under her lips. She quickly pulled away, feeling slightly embarrassed herself.

"So, how are you?" Harry stumbled over the words, looking long and hard into Hermione's deep brown eyes, which shone in the dim-lit compartment. "God, she's beautiful," he thought, sighing deeply.

Hermione began to get worried, but then relaxed, looking at his blazing green eyes.

"What's wrong with me?" Harry suddenly thought, snapping out of a trance. His gaze went from loving to friendly. "Did you have a good summer?" He asked her, not voicing how he really felt.

"I had a wonderful summer, I went to Paris!" She said enthusiastically. "So much history, so much beautiful scenery!" Hermione continued with her story, giving Harry details of just what she did in Paris.

Harry tuned her out slightly, his thoughts running wild. She's your FRIEND Harry! Pull yourself together! But he couldn't, it was too hard! He found himself staring at her every chance he got.

Ron arrived, sliding open the door to a silently worried Hermione and a dazed Harry.

"Hey guys! Sorry I'm late... Ginny blamed me for losing her favorite pair of earrings, how silly is that!?! I don't even wear earrings!” He went on with his story, sitting down next to Harry, who made no sign of recognition towards him.

“I’m talking to a bloody brick wall!” Ron sighed, while tapping Harry’s shoulder quite hard.

“Ouch! What was that for?!” Harry turned to Ron, slightly surprised, for he hadn’t quite noticed him come in.

“Oh, don’t mind me, I’ve only been talking to you for the last TEN minutes!” Ron said, slightly annoyed, as his ears turned a light shade of red.

“Harry, are you okay?” Hermione hummed, looking up at him with her brilliant glassy eyes.

“Yeah, yeah I’m fine...” He trailed off, knowing Hermione wouldn’t believe him, considering how clever she was, and how well she knew him.

But she let it go, and stared out of the window. Her new favorite past-time, apart from looking into Harry’s eyes. “He’s so tall, and handsome.” She thought, smiling to herself. “Wait... What am I thinking?”

The rest of the train ride was uneventful. Ron talked the most, for Harry and Hermione kept getting half way through a sentence, then suddenly going silent. They got off the train at Hogsmeade Station, Ron and Hermione helping Hagrid call the first years.

It was their sixth year at Hogwarts and Harry had a feeling that he wouldn’t have time for anything but quidditch and homework. Harry met up with Ron and Hermione at the carriages.

"Um, I’m going to get a carriage with Seamus and Dean! See you there!” Ron ran off before Harry and Hermione could protest.

“Um, shall we take this one then?” Harry asked her in a very posh accent, offering her his hand to help her up. She giggled and took his hand, hopping up into the carriage.

“So, um, how are you and Krum?” Said Harry, once they were both inside.

“Oh, he's nice but we’re just friends,” her face began to turn scarlet.

“Really?” Harry raised his eyebrow in a sarcastic way, making Hermione giggle again.

“It’s true! We’re friends.”

“Who do you like then?”

She wanted to say "You," so bad, but settled on a different answer. “Um, if I told you, you would laugh!” she gave a relieved sigh.

"Hmmm, can I guess?” Said Harry, not having the faintest clue.

"Sure...” Hermione got slightly worried.

“Okay, what’s the first letter of his name?” Harry was dying to know.

“H,” Hermione tensed... “Was that too much of a give a way?” She asked herself in her head.

“Um, Harold Limmen? Henry Williams? Oh this is hard! What year is he in?” Harry said, not willing to guess every guy with the letter ‘H’ in his name.

“He's in our year," she blushed a deeper red. "In our house."

"A Gryffindor, eh?" Harry smiled as he made Hermione giggle, yet again. "Okay, um...M-m-m-me?" Harry stuttered.

Suddenly the door flung open. They had arrived.

"What did you say Harry?" Said Hermione, looking curiously puzzled.

"Oh nothing, tell you later," Harry couldn't even believe he let himself think, even for a second, that Hermione Granger would like him.

They went up the steps, side by side and through the beautiful, yet heavy, great oak doors. They came into the entrance hall and into another set of doors into the Great Hall.

"I want to see the sorting hat ceremony!" Said Ron popping up behind them, making them jump.

* * *

Harry got up the next morning, not remembering how he had gotten back up to Gryffindor tower after the feast, because he was so sleepy the night before. He yawned, stretched and pulled back the curtains on his four poster bed, the sun pouring through the window and blinding his already poor vision. Harry reached for his glasses, sliding them over his eyes. He immediately turned away from the window, everything coming into clearer focus.

After he dressed, he ran downstairs to find Hermione sitting in an armchair by the dead fire, looking at a small notebook.

"Oh! What's that!?" Said Harry slyly behind her.

Hermione jumped, she hadn't seen Harry coming. "Oh, nothing," she tried closing the book, but he was too quick for her. He grabbed it from her, dangling it over her head in triumph.

"It's a diary!" Harry gasped, now he could find out who she liked! He opened it, turning to a random page. "July the thirty-first, oh, my birthday!"

"Please Harry, don't!" Hermione warned, her face red from embaressment. For she had written about how much she really liked and missed Harry in that entry!

"Hmmm, blah, blah, blah, boring... Oh! Wait, here's something!" Harry read on, having spotted his name, when suddenly Hermione snatched it from him.

"Oh come on! That's not fair!" Harry whined, like a little five-year-old. He gave her a pleading look, one she almost couldn't ignore.

"I'm sorry Harry, but it's personal!" Hermione said, a relieved note in her voice.

Harry narrowed his eyes playfully at her, "I'll read it soon, don't you worry!" He chuckled, poking her in the shoulder softly.

"Oh, I'm not so sure about that!" Hermione laughed nervously, tucking the diary under her arm. "Give me a second, I just have to run this up my room and get my bag." She added, giving him a backwards glance and then jogging up the girl's staircase.

Harry watched her jog up the stairs and smiled stupidly at her. She was so beautiful, and she didn't even know it. Her carefree nature, and her kind ways, were so intriging to Harry.

In no time at all, Hermione was descending the stairs gracefully, watching Harry all the while, "Are you ready to go?"

Harry cleared his throat before he spoke, trying hard to think of something intelligent to say. "Yes, yes I am. Do you want me to carry those for you?" He offered to carry the books that wouldn't fit in her bag, as he slung his own over his shoulder.

"If-if you want," She stuttered, a small smile dancing across her face, "You look like you've got a lot to be carrying yourself, are you sure?" She asked, giving him a questioning look.

"Of course I'm sure!" He said smilingly, "Otherwise, I wouldn't be asking. Here..." He said, outstretching his hand, waiting for her to hand him her books. She did so, and both of them made their way out of the common room, in search for Ron.

* * *

They found Ron a few minutes later, and all of them headed down to their first class of the day, Transfiguration.

Today's lesson was really very appealing to Harry, he was too busy watching Hermione. The stroke of her quill, the way she held it in her hand. The bounce of her soft curls whenever she gracefully flipped them back over her shoulder, if they creeped too close to her line of vision. Oh how Harry longed to be the quill she held in her hand, or the book she was pouring over. He sat there, a dazed expression plastered over her face.

"Mr. Potter, what is the incantation used to change a wooden object into metal?" The question was shot in Harry's direction so fast that his head snapped in Professor McGonagall's direction, and his neck cracked in the process. Harry winced painfully as a dull 'pop' was heard, his hand connecting quickly with the back of his neck. He rubbed the spot soothingly, not losing his eye contact with McGonagall.

"I don't know, Professor," He croaked.

"Five points from Gryffindor for Potter's lack of attention!" But just then, Hermione's hand shot up in the air.

"Please, Professor, I know the answer," She said politely.

"Alright, I will give you a chance to regain your points. What is it?" Professor McGonagall said dully, looking at Hermione intently.

"The incantation used to change an wooden object into medal is, Meta Metolsa! This spell was usually used during a battle in the early eighteen-hundreds, to change a wooden sheild into a metal one strong enough to deflect most spells." Hermione recited as if she was reading it from the book.

"Well done Ms. Granger! Five points to Gryffindor for giving me the incantation, and five more for the background history!" McGonagall caught Hermione's eye and gave her one of those rare smiles before continuing with her lesson.

Harry grinned at Hermione, giving her a look of gratitude. "Thank you!" He mouthed in her direction.

"Your welcome," She mouthed back, turning back to her notes and continuing to take them down.

Once the lesson ended, Harry gathered his things and got up from the desk he shared with Ron. He slung his bag over his back and made his way for the door. Upon leaving the classroom, he felt a hand pull him back slightly by the shoulder. He turned around, and saw Ron standing behind him.

"Hey, Ron." Harry said cheerily, as they made their way down the stairs together.

"Harry?" Ron looked at him curiously, "I have a question..."

"Shoot."

"Do you like Hermione?" He asked.

Harry almost missed the last few steps on the staircase. Had he been that obvious? Was there something written across his forehead?

"Wha-what makes you think that?" He stuttered.

"It's extremely obvious, mate!" Ron said, slapping Harry on the back, "Anyway, you were staring at her pretty hard today, as if she had sprouted another head, or something. It was quite strange actually..." Ron trailed off, furrowing his brow.

"Was I that bad?" Harry looked quite shocked, he thought he had been pretty subtle about what was going on in his head.

"Do you really want me to answer that?" Ron looked at him in slight sympathy.

Harry sighed in frustration, "What am I supposed to do, huh?! How do I tell her, how do I go about all of that? What if she doesn't feel the same?" Harry asked, looking back at Ron, as they made their way to Herbology.

"I don't know... But you've got to find a way to tell her, before it's too late! I heard Terry Boot bragging about how he was going to ask her out by the end of the week!" Ron said, warning in his eyes.

This wasn't good. This wasn't good at all. He had until the end of the week to confess his feelings to her, because he couldn't even begin to imagine her spending the rest of her life - or at least the rest of her time at Hogwarts - with someone like Terry Boot.

* * *

A week passed and still, Hermione was none the wiser about his feelings. She had turned Terry Boot down only a few days before, and because of this, Harry was glad.

The morning was quite uneventful, the trio had double classes of Herbology with the Hufflepuffs and then Potions with the Slytherins. Then of course, the bell rang, and the whole class of Gryffindors scrambled for the Great Hall in a big group.

The trio made their way to the Great Hall, as well, found an empty place along the Gryffindor table and sat down.

“Harry, can I talk to you for a moment, In the library? I need you to help me find a book,” Hermione said suddenly, grinning at her brilliant idea, and winking in Harry’s direction. Harry got the picture, rather quickly.

“Uh, yeah, let's go do that!” He trailed off, getting up suddenly. Hermione followed suit.

“But you guys just sat down! You haven’t had any lunch! I seriously doubt that Harry needs to help you find anything in the library, Hermione! You know the place better then he does! Wait --!” But it was no use, Ron sighed as he saw them walking across the great hall, through the doors and out of sight.

Ron continued eating his lunch, when he heard footsteps and felt a presence behind him. He looked up, his mouth full of food, which he swallowed quickly, feeling suddenly embarrassed. It was Parvati Patil standing behind him. He always kind of had a thing for her, and was too shy to admit it to anyone.

“Hey Ron! How are you?” She pointed to the vacant seat beside him, “Is this seat taken?”

Ron shook his head. “N-n-n-o,” he stuttered as he watched her sit down beside him.

“I was wondering Ron, if you could teach me how to fly? I think your very good and I want to try out for the Gryffindor quidditch team this year...” She trailed off, blushing slightly. Using an excuse like this was stupid, but it was what Padma had said to do. To be honest, her sister did have many guys chasing after her, so Parvati tried to follow her example as best she could.

“Um,” Ron couldn’t quite think of the proper words at that moment. He opened his mouth, his lips forming the words, but no sound came out.

“Huh?” Parvati looked bewildered, trying to lean towards him to possibly hear him better.

“I mean... Hem, hem... I would love to teach you!” He cleared his throat, blushing a deep red.

“Great,” she smiled broadly at his crimson face...

* * *

“Hemi - where?!” Harry was so helplessly lost. He had no idea of why she wanted to go to the library, they hadn’t gotten any homework, and surely she didn’t really want him to look for a book!

Down a row of bookcases, in between two more, down another corridor. The twists and turns blurred in Harry’s mind as Hermione had a firm grip on his hand, leading him through this maze of bookcases. Then finally, they stopped. They were between two dark and forgotten bookcases, on the other end of the library.

"I have him here, now how do I tell him?" She thought, biting down hard on her lip, her back turned to Harry.

This feeling was eating at her insides, and she had to tell him now, before it was too late.

Every time she looked at him, everything about him tempted her to do something about this feeling she had. His messy jet black hair, his glazed eyes. Even his lips were beckoning to her.

“Why did you bring me here, Hermione? What’s going on?” Harry said curiously. He had no idea why they had to be this deep in the library. “We won’t find what your looking for this far out,” Harry added absolutely puzzled. He was becoming quite nervous, being completely alone with her.

“He looks so cute when he's clueless!” She thought, dreamily gazing at him. "Harry, there's something I have to tell you..." she trailed off, not know quite how to put her thoughts into words.

“Okay, tell me.” Harry shrugged, the curious look lingering on his handsome face.

"I don't know if there's any easy way to say this." Hermione gulped. "But - I..."

"Come on, Hermione. You can tell me, spit it out."

"Harry," Hermione paused, taking a deep breath. "I like you."

“I like you too...” Said Harry, trailing off, still looking slightly puzzled. Harry had already known this, this wasn't much of a shock. Of course she liked him as a friend, otherwise, they wouldn't be friends in the first place. This really was diminishing his courage to tell her how he felt. Had she really come all the way down there to tell him that?

“No Harry!” She moaned softly, in slight frustration, turning around and slowly walking towards him. “I really, really like you...” She trailed off, giving him this passionate look. She stared deep into his brilliant green eyes, that seemed to trap the essence of confusion behind their glassy walls.

“Er - Um,” Harry didn’t know what to say. He was completely put on the spot. Hermione was much too close now, he was being backed into the bookcase. She had a kind of hungry glint in her eye.

Harry had never seen her like this. It made him slightly nervous and passionate at the same time. He wanted to reach his hand out and touch her, but at the same time he wanted to stay withdrawn from her. His mind was going absolutely crazy, as his thoughts blended into one, 'Kiss her, damnit!' his head screamed.

Without thinking, he leaned in and did the only thing his body would allow him to do: he kissed, passionately. But she was prepared for this, and instead of pulling back she egged him on, kissing him deeply and letting her tongue explore the inside of his mouth.

Harry was taken aback by her passion. He gave in so completely, so willingly to this feeling. They spent hours there, making out in between two bookcases.

After awhile of tiring themselves out, they began to reminisce.

"Remember the time in third year when you slapped Draco?" he said laughingly, kissing the tip of her nose. "I don't think anyone expected you to do that!"

They were sitting on the ground now, Hermione sitting turned towards Harry, and holding onto him around the waist.

"I didn't really plan to do that myself... It just happened! How can anyone possibly be that infuriating?!" She asked, screwing up her petite face in anger.

Harry chuckled at her, "I don't know, maybe we'll have to ask him sometime!" He joked.

"I must say, out of everything that happened, I will never forget the look of triumph on your face!" Hermione hit him playfully on the arm.

"Remember the scared look on his?" They paused, looking at eachother, then burst into identical fits of laughter.

Was this what it felt like to spend time with a beautiful girl, and not feel awkward? If so, Harry could definately get used to this...

* * *

Harry and Hermione returned to the common room hours later. They looked messy and dazed. Harry had cherry-flavoured lipgloss on his neck, lips and cheeks, and he had mascara near his eye. Hermione had messy hair, ruffled clothes and smelled of Harry's colonge. They came through the portrait hole laughing loudly, for everyone to hear.

"Harry! Stop!" Hermione said through giggles. Harry was tickling her around the middle.

"Hmmm, NO!" Harry said, tickling her faster, making her shriek with laughter, even more.

Harry had a sudden idea, "Do you want to get some dinner?" Harry asked, letting go over her as they sat down on the couch.

"No, unless you really want to?" Hermione gave him a pleading look as if she wanted him to stay with her.

Despite the grumbling of Harry's stomach, he told her he would stay, seeing the the look in her eyes. She smiled up at him, embracing him tightly as if she never wanted to let him go.

Harry sat down in the armchair near the fire, patting his lap as indication for Hermione to sit there. She sat down on his lap, giggling giddily.

"Santa?" She mimicked a toddlers voice, "I wanna pony, and a bike, and, and..." She kissed his forehead.

"How about me instead?" Harry's sly smile spread across his face.

"Oh, and a Harry Potter! I have to have one of those!" She smiled at him, catching onto the joke.

"Hemione, does this mean we're going out now? You know like boyfriend and girlfriend?" He looked up at her, a new light in his eyes.

She could see that he wanted her so, just by one glance. It was breath taking, and she almost couldn't reply.

"No." She said simply, trying to keep a straight face.

"No?" Harry's face fell slightly.

"I'm kidding!" She burst into giggles as Harry smiled broadly. She loved everything about him. His jet black hair, his breath taking eyes, his wonderful smile. Hermione Granger sighed, knowing that out of all of the decisions she had made in her life that she was unsure of, this definately was the right one.

* * *

2. Cute Couple

Chapter 2: Cute Couple

Weeks went by, Harry and Hermione were the cutest couple. Harry was so romantic and Hermione grew more relaxed and spontaneous. They would spend most of their lunch and dinner times in the library, doing anything but work. They went there so often, that Harry knew the library almost as well as Hermione, and that was saying something.

* * *

One night, down in the Library...

"Harry, do you ever wonder why noone has figured out where we are all the time?" Hermione kissed him on the cheek and then his upper lip.

"Yeah I do, but maybe people just don't pay any attention. Well at least I hope they don't. I mean, it would be odd, having people trying to spy on us. Don't you think?" Harry asked looking down at her, amused slightly at the thought.

"Yeah I suppose it would..." Hermione trailed off, quieting because she heard a noise nearby.

"Did you giggle, Hermione?"

"No, but I heard one." She looked up at Harry, slightly worried.

"Maybe someone really is spying on us!" Harry said in a sudden whisper. Harry's seriousness made Hermione giggle softly. The noise was made again...

"I'm serious! I'm going to go check it out. You stay here, I'll be back in a second." Whispered Harry, getting up from the floor and pulling his wand out of his pocket.

Hermione got up too, "Okay, don't be long." She said kissing him gently.

"I won't."

He walked out of their row and down the next. It was dark, so he muttered "Lumos!" to his wand, that was pointed out infront of him. It lit automatically, illuminating the row.

"Hello?" Harry whispered. He suddenly held his wand out further away from him and the light from it shone down on a very unusual scene. Parvati and Ron were making out in a corner.

"Parvati must've been the one who giggled," Harry thought.

Parvati suddenly gasped when the light was shone on her and Ron. They backed away from each other, quickly.

"Uh... Harry!" Ron was looking from Harry's surprised face, to Parvati's nervous one.

"Wow, sorry to interrupt your little 'thing' here..." Harry backed away, nearly toppling over a stack of books on the floor, doing a sort of weird move, and catching himself before he hit the ground. But as he did so, he banged into a nearby bookcase. "Ouch!"

"It's o-o-okay," Parvati stammered, she nudged Ron in the ribs with her elbow and he began to mutter, nodding vigorously.

"Right... Bye!" Harry waved, quickly backing out of the row, smartly dodging the books this time. He re-entered the next row and walked over to Hermione, sitting down beside her. "Guess what! Ron is with Parvati in the next row!" Harry was whispering as the giggling noises began again.

"Oh my! Really?" She looked amused, yet truly happy for him.

"So that's why he didn't mind when we went to the library. He was probably with Parvati doing the same thing we do..." Said Harry winking and grinning at Hermione. It was as if he had pieced a verbal word puzzle together suddenly.

"Anyway, where were we?!" Hermione whispered seductively in his ear, kissing him on the neck.

* * *

Hours later Harry and Hermione went up to the common room, doing homework. Well... Trying to do homework. They sat, in the two best armchairs by the fire.

"Grrrr... This is Hard!" Harry groaned, Hermione sitting beside him stroking Crookshanks, already finished her homework. He looked over at her sitting in the armchair, and wished he was over there, kissing her instead. He sighed, trying to concentrate on his homework. It was her fault, she was taunting him. He shook his head, trying to rid himself of the thought.

"Let me help, what is it?" She said soothingly, taking the book off of his lap. They ended up doing homework late into the night.

"So, you see Harry, in 1871 Goblin rebellion was at it's brink... Harry?" She looked over at Harry who was sound asleep.

"I knew he would doze off." She said quietly, sighing to herself. She pulled out her wand and magicked him into the air, thinking for a minute. "Should I take him to his dormitory, or mine?" She asked herself in her head. She decided to bring him to hers, it would take less explaining that way. "What if the boys wake up? Atleast if any of the girls do I can explain it to them without seeming awkward," she thought, shrugging slightly, an bringing him up the girls staircase. When they got into the room, she gently placed him on the bed, putting her wand away. She sat down on the edge of her bed, staring at him intently, watching him sleep. As she did, her love for him grew. She wanted to kiss him deeply and sleep in his arms, but she also wanted to let him rest. As if reading her thoughts he opened his eyes, whispering to her.

"Hermione, where are we?" Harry sat up.

"We're in my dormitory. Don't leave now, you'll wake them up." She whispered, pushing him back down gently. Her finger pointed towards the other sleeping girls. "Will I sleep on the floor?" She added in a whisper, getting up slightly.

"Don't be silly! I would never let you sleep on the floor! If anyone should, it should be me." Harry whispered back firmly.

"Oh, come off it Harry! Neither of us deserve to sleep on the floor," she whispered just as firm, not ready to budge.

Harry sighed, knowing she would never let him sleep on the floor, and nor would he let her... So he made a decision, "Come here then," he said smilingly. "You planned this, didn't you?" He added, chuckling softly in her ear.

"Okay, so maybe I did," she said quietly, leaning into his outstretched arms. She rested her head on his chest. "Oh! I almost forgot..." She paused, taking her wand out and muttering some well chosen words to it.

"What did you do?" Said Harry, amazed, he had never seen a spell like that before.

"Oh, I just made us invisible, while on this bed." Hermione said, as if it was nothing at all.

"Your so clever Hermione... And beautiful, smart, funny, loving and caring. Did I mention beautiful?" Harry grinned his lop-sided grin, yawning deeply.

Hermione smiled, blushing deeply. "Oh I'm sure I'm not all that," she whispered back, but it was like talking to a brick wall, for Harry's breathing patterns were slowing down and becoming rhythmic as sleep washed over him.

"I love you." She whispered to a sleeping Harry, not enough courage serged through her to say it to a concious one.

* * *

A/N : Hey people! The next chapter will be up as soon as I get some replies! Please people, I really want replies! I know it’s a little crappy now, but it gets better, I promise! Oh, and thank you to the people who have already found it in their hearts to say something, you guys ROCK! *grins*

3. New Teacher

* * *

Chapter 3: New Teacher

Hermione moved slightly, stirring from a deep and peaceful sleep. Harry opened his eyes, feeling Hermione's head on his chest. His heart began to melt - he loved feeling the warmth of her body next to his.

"Hermione?" Harry whispered, kissing the top of her head.

"Harry, I don't want to get up -- it's too comfortable!" She groaned as if a little school girl, begging her mom to let her sleep.

"What are you suggesting, exactly?" Harry said slyly, hugging her closer to him.

"Do you want to skip the first class?" Hermione bit her lip, disgusted at her own thought, but then looked up at Harry, playing it cool.

"Wow, Hermione! This is so un-like you! How long have you been thinking this?" Harry looked down at her, slightly surprised.

"Well, I didn't get much sleep last night." She said, biting her lip again, nervousness washing over her facial features. Her chestnut curls covered most of her face from Harry's view, and to Hermione, this was a good thing.

"Why didn't you get any sleep?" Harry asked curiously, giving the top of her head a suspicious look.

"I was sleeping on something hard." She said, almost too quickly, and with a quick, yet subtle wave of her wand, a book appeared underneath her back. She sat up, and picked up the book from under her. "Oh! Aha, see? There's the problem!" She giggled nervously, showing Harry the book. She wouldn't admit it, but she spent most of the night watching Harry sleep.

Harry raised one of his eyebrows at her, and she blushed slightly. "You sure you want to skip the next class?" Harry asked. He waited for her to nod, and proceeded. "What do we have anyway?
"Charms." She answered, in her know-it-all sort of an air, as if she had memorized the timetable. "And Harry, there's a first time for everything!" She added cheerily, a small note of relief in her voice. She was slightly worried that her, watching him sleep, would freak him out a bit.

"How are we supposed to skip the first class, if we don't have a pl -" He was about to finish his sentence, but then he looked down at Hermione's mischievous grin, and remembered that he had probably the cleverest girl in Hogwarts, sitting beside him. "Okay, what's the plan?"

"Well... All you have to do is fake an injury! We'll come out of the common room about twenty minutes before the class is over, and go straight to the hospital wing. I'll tell Madem Promfery that you and I were late getting up and were rushing to class. You fell down a few steps and twisted your arm the wrong way, and I helped you down to the hospital wing! It works..." She said smiling at Harry's disbelieving face and hitting his shoulder playfully. "So, if any the teacher needs an alibi, we've got one!"

"Geez! You have this all thought out, don't you?" Harry said, looking down at her in slight amazement. He was glad to know that she was on his side and not on the enemy's! Hermione looked up at him pleadingly, and he immediately gave in to the cute look on her face. "Alright, but I better only have to fake the injury!" He said, looking down at Hermione, and raising his eyebrow, again.

"Harry, don't worry about it!" She replied, nestling her head deeper into his chest.

* * *

Sometime later, the plan had worked, and the trio were heading down to their next class, Defense Against The Dark Arts.

"Where were you guys until now, huh?" Ron said looking at Harry and Hermione's grinning faces.

"We were in-," Harry blurted out, but Hermione, thinking quickly, nudged him straight into the ribs.

"Hem, hem... We had overslept." Hermione said over Harry's 'Ouch'.

"Yeah, we overslept," Harry chimed in, making their story seem less believable. Hermione looked back at him, rolling her eyes.

"I wonder who we have this year!" Harry said, quickly changing the subject.

"Yeah, me too. Sooner or later someone will have to stop supervising this class." Said Ron, his eyes lingering to Hermione's hand in Harry's.

"Yeah, that's true. I'm kind of tired of Madam Hooch supervising, she's creepy!" Harry trailed off kissing Hermione's neck.

Hermione giggled loudly, surprised by Harry's sudden kiss. Half of the Gryffindors were now watching them. Even with everyone's eyes upon them, Harry didn't stop kissing Hermione's neck and Hermione blushed but never stopped giggling. Ron took one look at them and rolled his eyes in disgust and disbelief. Suddenly the doors were opened and the class was finally let in.

"Hi, my name is Professer Burke! I'll be teaching you Defence Against The Dark Arts this year, and perhaps next your too." She looked around excitedly at her new class, almost immediately spotting the famous Harry Potter amongst the crowd.

"Ahh, but Miss - I mean, Professer Burke, your post is jinxed! Not one of our D.A.D.A teachers has stayed more then one year!" Seamus Finnigan blurted out.

Professor Burke frowned slightly. "Well, hopefully I can break the string of bad luck, then." She said walking up to her desk and beginning to call the roll. She did what every new teacher did, she stopped at Harry's name. "Can I see you after class, Harry?" She said politely, looking up in Harry's direction.

Harry groaned under his breath. "What did I do Professer?" He said with a hint of impatience.

"Nothing Harry, dear, I just need to speak to you, is all." She replied, reassuringly.

Harry looked up from his desk and properly looked at Professer Burke. She had red curly hair down to her shoulders, rosy cheeks, blue eyes and a slender fingure. She was very pretty and quite tall. She was wearing robes of blue and had her hair tied up in a neat pony-tail.

Harry, along with the rest of the class, began to take his books out and put his wand away.

"What are you doing, guys!? I'll be teaching you from the books, but not straight away! I need to see your form, and all the spells you can cast. I'll also be giving a practical exam on some basic spells..." The class erupted into groans and boos when she mentioned this.

All except Harry, who leaned towards Ron's ear and whispered, "I think I'm going to like this teacher! Less book-reading and more wand-work!" He finished, with a nod of approval.

"Now, now come on! It will be easy stuff, besides you should all know it anyway! Dumbledore himself, actually told me about a defense club in this school last year, I don't know who led it, but it was supposed to have been very successful." Professor Burke said to the class, seeming quite impressed.

Harry blushed, for he knew she was talking about Dumbledore's Army, the rebellious club he had formed last year with a few Gryffindors and Ravenclaws. He had taught them spells to defend themselves.

"Oh, that was Harry!" Ron blurted out suddenly. Quite a few of his classmates whirled around in Harry's direction, looks of jealousy and admiration they cast at him. Harry blushed a deeper red, wishing Ron wouldn't have said anything.

The class went on fine after that, Professer Burke splitting them up into pairs and telling them to do a tricky spell that bound your opponent's whole body together.

They had already done this spell in second year, but people were still having some difficulty with it, except the former members of the DA - Hermione and Harry in particular.

They kept hitting the spell at each other, and saying the counter-curse over and over, so that everyone around them began to get annoyed, because they were doing it perfectly. Hermione giggled at Harry, and looked around at the sea of jealous glares. Finally the bell had rang, signaling the class's end.

"Alright class, look over chapter ten in your books. We're practicing the stupefy spell tomorrow, but you MUST remember the counter-curse, so pay extra attention to that! Okay, class dismissed!" With that, everyone put their bags on their shoulders and rushed out of the classroom, in a big mob.

"Harry can I have that talk with you now?"

Harry nodded and walked over to her, waving at Hermione.

"I'll meet you in the Entrance Hall!" She was able to call out to him before the crowd pushed her out of the classroom.

"Harry, I just want to say, that it is an honour teaching you this year," Professor Burke now looked at him with hope-filled eyes.

Her comment snapped Harry out of his trance, and he now pried his eyes away from the door to look at her.

Harry waited for the question she was about to ask, knowing one would come. "Yes, but what did you want me for?" Harry looked straight into her eyes, as if unafraid of what she was going to say.

"Dumbledore has told me, that possibly after you graduate from here, if you get enough points in your NEWTs, you might get a spot in the order. But I have to give you extra practical lessons through the week, for this year, if your ever supposed to be ready to accept your place." She looked at him closely, waiting to hear the groan at more work, or the fake smile, or even a dissatisfied stare with an odd silence, but it never came. A smile now spread across Harry's face.

"Wow! Are you serious? This is great! I really do want to be a part of the order, I've wanted to be an auror for a while!" Harry said excitedly, and he truly meant it.

* * *

A/N : Okay... So I had ONE more chapter corrected *smiles* I hope you enjoyed this one! Lol I guess this solves the mystery of the new Defense teacher! Ah well, anyway, hope to get some replies! And I mean it this time, I’m not posting more until I do! *laughs and sticks out her tongue* (Please note: I can be quite childish sometimes! Lol)

4. Missing

Chapter 4: Missing

Near dinner time, Harry waited for Hermione and Ron in the Entrance Hall.

"Harry!" Hermione said, slightly breathless, running down the last few marble steps.

"Have you seen Ron?" Harry asked her, as she embraced him gently and kissed his cheek. Ron told him he would meet him in the Entrance Hall, but he still wasn't here yet.

"No, I thought he was with you." She answered, pulling away from him and looking at him curiously.

"No, I haven't seen him since our last class, a little while ago." Harry said slowly, looking down at Hermione and mirroring her curious face.

"How many times does Ron show up late for a meal?" Harry thought to himself. He saw Hermione's facial features turn into a worried look, and he froze.

"Ah well, I'm sure he'll catch up!" Harry said, shrugging slightly and taking Hermione's hand as they walked into the Great Hall together.

He didn't want to worry her, or himself for that matter. But the way things were lately, one could never be too careful...

Meanwhile, in the Gryffindor Common room, Parvati's thoughts swam. She sighed, gazing into the crackling fire. What was she to do? She had feelings for two people at the same time! Her mind began to spin, as her thoughts began to eat away at her.

First, there was Ron. Ah yes, Ron. His blue eyes that reflected the firelight, when they spent endless hours, laughing in the common room. His ears, that seemed to turn the colour of his flaming red hair, when he was nervous or angry. His strong arms, that seemed to embrace you when you were feeling sad or alone.

But then, there was Harry. His magnificent smile, that seemed to light up the room. His wonderful laugh, that rang sweetly in her ears. His jet black hair, that never seemed to want to lay flat. His strong, frim body that he had developed from all those years of Quidditch. His kind spirit, and his will to do good.

She was truly torn, as she sat there, thinking of pros and cons for each of them, only to mentally rip them up in her head and start again.

Suddenly, her head leaped up from her hands. She had finally decided who she liked more. She thought she might even love him. Her heart did a little summer-salt in her in her chest, as a grin spread across her face.

She then sighed, feeling slightly depressed. Her shoulders slumped downwards, as she lacked on her effort to keep them up. A pout broke across her face as she began to wonder how she was going to tell him she liked someone else.

"I'll get him to meet me in the library. He has to know..." She muttered solemnly to herself.

She knew what she was doing was wrong. She knew that this would crush Ron, but she had to do it.

She had to be with Harry, at all costs.

* * *
Hermione and Harry finished their dinner and made their way back up to the Common room. Harry made it first, halting in front of the fat lady and saying the password to her. She swung open, letting him and Hermione enter.

"So, where do you think Ron could be?" Hermione asked, with a hint of worry, sitting beside Harry on the couch.

"I'm sure he'll turn up," Harry said, looking around the common room and spotting a peice of parchment on a table nearby. His curiousity got the better of him and he hopped up, walked over to the table, and picked up the parchment. He unfolded it and realized that it was addressed to him, it read:

Hey Harry,

I just have to pop down to the library, I should be back shortly! Don't start your homework without me!

-Ron

"That's odd. Ron left me a note." He said, walking back over to Hermione and sitting down. He gave her the note and watched as her eyes darted across the page.

"Oh, then we have nothing to worry about." She said, folding up the note and leaving it beside her on the couch.

"Yeah, he should be back shortly." Harry said, putting his arm around Hermione...

Ron was at the library waiting for Parvati. "She said it was urgent, that can't be a good!" A little voice in his head spoke up.

"Yeah, but I mean... It can't be anything too bad. You trust Parvati!" Another voice spoke up against his head, his heart. Ron sighed.

"Hey R-r-r-r-on," Parvati stammered. She sat down beside him, watching him nervously.

"Hey Parvati, what's wrong?" He said soothingly.

"Ron, we need to talk." She said more confidently.

"What about?"

"Well, there's no easy way for me to say this..." She paused hesitantly.

"Oh great! Now your for it!" The voice that was his head spoke up yet again.

"Oh give her a CHANCE!" His heart argued.

"Ron, I'm breaking up with you. I like someone else -- It's not you, it's me."

Ron's face turned red in embarrassment, his head began to spin. He wanted to drop dead right there, or at least get rid of the pain that was now engulfing him.

"Yell at her! Don't let her get away with this, you GIT!" His head roared.

"Calm down, this was bound to happen sooner or later..." His heart yet again disagreed. Ron settled on his own answer.

"How could you?" He said calmly, but with so much passion. This unnerved Parvati. "I loved you Parvati, I loved you... There, I said it!" Ron got up and walked away, completely washing his hands of the current situation.

"What was I thinking?" Parvati whispered quietly to herself. "Ron wait!" She called after him, but it was no use, he was gone...

* * *

Later that night, Harry and Hermione were still sitting in the common room, waiting for Ron.

"We better get some sleep, Herm. I'm sure Ron will turn up later," Harry whispered, kissing her head, as a few second year boys walked passed, chuckling and whispering at Hermione curled up beside Harry on the couch. Harry caught sight of them and stuck his tongue out in their direction, that shut them up as they scurried away.

"Harry," she looked up at him dazedly, "Tomorrow is Saturday..."

"Oh yeah! I must be day-dreaming a little too much," Harry sighed, chuckling slightly into Hermione's chestnut curls.

"Have you seen Ron at all since our last class today?" Hermione asked, worry building up in the pit of her stomach.

"No, it's weird, he's never missed a meal," he answered, looking slightly curious, "But I'm sure there's a reasonable explanation." Harry shrugged.

"True," Hermione agreed, shrugging slighty, as well. "Don't you have Quidditch practice tomorrow?" She asked, putting her head back on his shoulder.

"Yeah, our first one this year! Stupid weather conditions," Harry scoffed, for Quidditch had been canceled, due to heavy rain and wind storms. He had never imagined that Hogwarts would stop Quidditch for a rainstorm, but he had to admit, it was worse then the rainstorm that raged on during one of their other Quidditch matches in third year. Harry sighed, It was the first week of November already, time had flown by so fast, and they were nearly finished their first term.

"Just a little over one more month, and we're free! Well atleast for the Christmas holidays..." Harry chuckled softly. "Herm, are you staying for Christmas?" He added enthusiastically.

"Of course! My parents are going on a holiday without me!" She said, pretending to be offended "They're going skiing in Ontario, they're going to rent a cabin. I don't want to go, it's freezing in Canada!" Hermione added, shivering slightly. She was making up excuses, but she knew that deep down, she just didn't want to leave Harry.

"Yeah, I suppose your right." Harry sighed, his mind now thinking of all of the fun he, Ron and Hermione were going to have over the up-coming holiday.

* * *

Early the next morning Harry woke up, realizing he was again in Hermione's bed. He sat up and saw her on the edge of the bed, staring intently at him. Her lips broke into a sweet smile when she saw him sit up.

"Did I sleep on the armchair again?" Harry sighed, blushing slightly.

"Maybe." Said Hermione, in a tone that automattically gave the answer away.

"Were you watching me sleep?" He raised his eyebrow sarcastically.

"No!" Hermione tried to hold back the look of guilt, that so badly wanted to burst onto her face, and the laughter that wanted to errupt from her lips, but she couldn't even if she tried. She burst into giggles looking down at his 'oh-don't-lie-to-me-Hermione' face.

Harry blushed a deeper red. "Why were you watching me?"

"Because," said Hermione, knowing that what she was about to say next, was going to mortify him. "You look so CUTE when you sleep!" She put an emphisis on the word 'cute', which made Harry cringe.

"I'm not cute! I'm rugged and manly!" He said, puffing out his chest.

Hermione giggled even louder, falling to the floor and rolling around.

"Okay, okay... You can get up now! You don't have to make it THAT obvious that I was exaggerating!" Harry sighed, slumping his shoulders, as he watched her roll around in fits of giggles.

She got back up, still chuckling softly, as he laid back down. She laid down beside him, resting her head on the same spot on his chest. "What are we going to do today?"

"I don't know, but I've been wondering, I haven't seen much of Ron lately, where is he?"

* * *

Ron woke up in a cold, dreary room, with bars on the windows and door. Strips of light poured through them, blinding his vision. As he sat up, he slowly recalled the events of last night.

He was hoping that whatever foul creatures were in the forest would finish him off. He just kept walking deeper into the heart of the forest, despite his conscience practically screaming at him to go back.

And, that was when he felt a spell hit him from behind. He had fallen to the ground, was knocked into unconsciousness, and now he was here - wherever 'here' was.

He stood up, dusting himself off and taking in his surroundings. The room was unusually cold and damp. The stone walls reeked with mildew, as spiders and other insects crawled along the floor in packs. The only light was the blinding sun, which shone into the room in bars from the window.

"Damnit!" Ron said aloud to himself in frustration. His voice echoed through the stone chamber, as he stood by the wall and gave it an almighty kick with his foot. A searing pain burst through his foot, ran up his leg, and he gasped in pain a second later, stumbling slightly. He was louder then he had intended to be, for now a dark cloaked figure was walking his way.

"He wants to see you." The mysterious person said in a cold whisper.

"Who are you? What do you want with me!? Who's 'He'?!" Ron yelled, getting scared as the person unlocked the barred cell with his wand. He grabbed Ron's arm and dragged him out of the room, continuing to drag him around the corner and down the hall.

* * *A/N: Hey everyone! I hope you are all enjoying the story so far! Anyway, I would really like it of you all would review! The more you review, the faster I post! Please people, I really want your input! It’s very important to me! Anyway, hopefully I’ll be updating very soon!

5. Misunderstandings

Chapter 5: Misunderstandings

Harry went through the rest of the day. He had Quidditch practice, and soon after, Hermione met him in the stadium and they went for a stroll around the Hogwarts grounds.

The leaves had already had fallen off of the trees. Harry snuck up behind Hermione and dropped a pile of leaves on her head. She chased him around the grassy clearing, in which they resided in at that moment, Harry well ahead of her.

He then slowed down slightly. But obviously too much, for she sped up and gained on him, taking one big running jump, and leaping onto his back. She brought him down to the ground and he laid there in the leaves, as she was sitting on top of him, giggling uncontrollably.

"What was that for!?" Harry said laughing with her, slightly winded.

"Hey! You started it Mister! You threw leaves at me!" She stuck her tongue out at him, as if she was a little five year old, it felt good to act like a kid again.

"Aww, c'mon! Get up! Herm, I can't move!" He said, seeing the mischievous grin now spreading across her face.

"Precisely!" She said through more giggles.

"So what am I supposed to do? I know..." Harry said, putting a finger to his chin, now imitating one of Hermione's thinking poses. "I'll do... THIS!" Harry added, suddenly lifting his hands up and tickling her around the middle. She gasped in surprise, and began laughing loudly.

"Stop - it - Harry!!" She managed to say through all of the giggles.

"Get up then, and I'll stop!" Harry said, tickling her faster. He was going to get her off of him no matter what.

"No! Harry... HARRY!" She wailed, giggling even louder, but noone could hear, they were too far away from the castle. She tried to catch his hands with her's but was having trouble, for he was using those great reflexes of his. Suddenly he grabbed her and lifted her up, he then rolled over and sat back down this time on top of her, not putting all of his weight on her.

"Aha!" This time he was the one to stick his tongue out at her.

"Not fair! Hmph!" Hermione tried to put on a pouty face, but Harry looked at her smilingly, and she quickly smiled back not being able to help it. "Damn it! His smile is contagious!" Hermione thought, half cursing the idea, half loving it.

Harry, without warning, leaned in towards her face and kissed her softly. He blushed but continued to kiss her, feeling like he was now glued to her lips. She kissed him back, again not being able to help herself. But when he was off of his gaurd she quickly rolled over just as he did and sat back on top of him.

"Okay, okay! You win!" Harry sighed. She got up off of him raising her fist up in triumph.

"Yay! I beat Harry Po -." she yelled, she was about to finished her sentence, but Harry had leaned in and kissed her again. She kissed back, wrapping her arms around him. They broke away and she smiled broadly up at him.

Her mind suddenly went into deep thought, as she stared up into his beautiful green eyes. "Say it, Hermione, say it! You know it's true, and what's the worst that could happen?"

Harry stared down at Hermione longingly, thinking deeply about what he was going to do. "C'mon! Say what your feeling, it's true, and girls love it when you confess your feelings!" His head said, in a persuading voice.

"Hermione, I --"

"Harry, I --"

"No, you first, Herm,"

"No, you first..."

"I -- I love you," they both stuttered at the same time, both blushing a deep red, and both trying to hide their face from view.

"What did you say?" Harry asked intently, not quite hearing her over himself.

"I love you, Harry," Hermione smiled, saying this in no more then a whisper. Her face was very close to his, her warm breath grazed his neck softly.

"Really? That's what I said! Well, minus the 'Harry'." He chuckled nervously, trying to hide the feeling he felt. He just wanted to grab her and taste her lips once more, for she was much too close now and her warm breath on his neck, was teasing him.

Hermione grinned. Without thinking, she grabbed the back of his neck, pushing his lips into hers. They kissed passionately, first it was polite, and soft. Then it became deeper, much deeper. Harry had trouble pulling away this time, for he was egged on by the hunger he now felt, wanting desperately to continue tasting her lips which tasted like honey.

"Hermione, I love you." He said for a second time, pleased with the way it sounded.

Hermione just smiled, loving how his lips formed the words. Something inside of her knew that he was the only person on this earth that she wanted to hear this from. He was the only person she was supposed to hear it from, it just sounded so right issuing from his lips, and his lips alone. "I love you, too, Harry."

* * *

Harry went to bed after dinner, tired because he stayed up so late the night before. He dozed off into a deep sleep and didn't wake until 9 o'clock the next morning, which was late for him because he usually woke up when it was still dark.

He got out of bed, got dressed and went to go wait in the common room for Hermione. He was hoping that she would be her punctual self and wake up early, but after all, today was Sunday.

As he came down the stairs he saw Parvati Patil, on the couch on the other side of the room. He sat down by the dead fire in an armchair and gave a nod of recognition to Parvati across the room. He hadn't really ever talked to her over the years and felt no need to break the ice now. Of course Harry and her would exchange a casual 'Hi,' in the corridors but that was it.

Parvati's heart began to race, "God, he's gorgeous," she thought, gazing at him lovingly. Something of what she was thinking must have shown on her face because, Harry was now giving her a rather odd stare. "Oh great you big dope! He thinks your a weirdo! You were too enthusiastic!" A voice in her head said. "I've got to get closer!" She thought. She slowly got up and moved in Harry's direction, scanning the floor closely, pretending to have lost something important.

"Okay, she's scaring me... Better ask what she wants, she's coming this way," Harry thought, not taking his gaze off of her. "Parvati, are you okay?" He said very slowly, with a hint of kindness, incase maybe she had lost her mind - probably not, but he wanted some explaination for her strange behavior, and this is the only one that fit -.

"Ohhh," she answered stupidly, looking up at Harry, comfirming his thoughts. "I'm looking for my quill," she straightened up, getting a hold of herself, "I can't see it anywhere." She added in somewhat of a 'damsel in destress' tone.

"Oh, I see... Let me help, what does it look like? It must be under the furniture because it would be too big to miss on the floor." Harry said matter-of-factly. He winced slightly, knowing he must have sounded stupid.

"It's a white one." She said softly, getting down on her knees to look under the armchair Harry was sitting on.

Harry got down on the floor and began to help Parvati look for the supposed 'lost' quill.

Ginny came quietly down the stairs, in fear of waking someone up that might have been sleeping in the common room from the night before. But a sight met her eyes and she stopped dead in her tracks.

Harry and Parvati were on their hands and knees on the floor, looking around for something. Ginny decided to shrink in the shadows, un-noticed and watch how this would turn out.

"I don't see it anywhere." Harry said in a defeated tone, getting ready to get back up, but he saw the look on Parvati's face and stayed where he was.

"That was my favorite quill!" She sighed frustratedly. She trailed off, looking over at him and into his eyes. "Harry, we're friends right?"

"Yeah, I guess we are friends," Harry replied awkwardly, not knowing exactly what to tell Parvati. He sighed, but then realised she was much too close and he backed away slowly, putting a further distance between them.

"Harry... Have you ever loved someone you never thought you would?" She inched closer, leaning towards him.

"Yeah, sure... I used to like Cho Chang, but she seems all wrong for me, now that I think about it." Harry said, giving his comment some real thought.

"Yeah well, I'm in that sort of a situation right now, as we speak..." She trailed off yet again, and leaning in, she kissed Harry, taking him by surprise, for he was deep in thought when she leaned in and couldn't have possibly dodged her.

Automatically he started to back away, trying to pull her off of him. "Gerrrofff!" His voice was muffled and couldn't be heard. Suddenly a quivering voice spoke.

"H-H-H-arry?" Hermione was at the bottom of the girl's staircase, and let a single teardrop escape from her now pain-filled eyes. She ran off, weaving through all of the chairs and couches and out of the portrait hole.

"HERMIONE!" Harry yelled after her when he managed to break away from Parvati. But it was too late...

Noone still yet realised Ginny was there. That may have been the case, but she didn't bother making her presence known, for she was frozen to the spot, drowning in devistation, just as Harry and Parvati were.

"WHAT WERE YOU PLAYING AT?!" Harry yelled, suddenly enraged. He stared at Parvati, anger boiling inside of him, he clenched his fists but knew he would never touch her. "HERMIONE IS MY GIRLFRIEND! AND RON IS YOUR BOYFRIEND! I CAN'T BELIEVE YOU! JUST... STAY AWAY!" And with that he stormed off, in search of Hermione. He threw Parvati a backwards glance, as she was still rooted to the spot. And with that, Harry crawled out of the portrait hole in search for Hermione.

* * *

Harry ran around the castle looking for Hermione.

On the way, he trod on someone's foot, ran through Nearly headless Nick and just missed one of Peeves's water balloons, but he didn't care, he had to find Hermione.

He finally spotted her on the edge of the lake, after looking for about twently minutes around the grounds. He walked over to her and immediately tried to explain.

"Hermione I'm sor-" Harry paused as Hermione held up a hand to silence him.

"Harry - I - don't - want - to - hear - it..." She managed to say through surpressed sobs.

"Hermione! Hear me out, please!" Harry said desperately.

"You know what Harry?" Hermione got up, her face was blotchy from tear stains but she stared him straight in the eye. "If your going to tell me only what I want to hear... Then I don't want to hear one word from you at all..." She walked off, letting the coldness of her words hit him like indiviual frozen snowflakes in a blizzard.

As she walked away, she began to sob silently, for those words took her all the strength she could muster to be said. She never wanted to hurt Harry, but she was too angry and upset to care too much about it.

She began to drag her feet back up to Gryffindor tower, upon reaching the portrait hole, she said the password and went in. She plunked down on a couch, grabbing a cushion and squeezing it tight, wishing it was Harry instead.

She stayed like that for as long as she could, she didn't know how much time had passed by, but she just stayed there as if glued to the very spot. She stared absentmindly at the place in which she saw Harry and Parvati, as if not being able to fully take in what had happened there moments before.

* * *

The next morning was unbearable. Harry felt so guilty, he knew he should've caught on to what Parvati was doing from the start when she was too close to him. But of course, being the easy going, laid back, clueless guy that he was, he hadn't given a single thought to what Parvati was really trying to do.

Then there was that lingering question that constantly stayed in his mind... Where was Ron? No word had come that he was missing, so maybe he was back a the borrow because of a family emergency perhaps. Harry pushed the worried thought into the back of his mind, but with great difficulty...

Hermione sat in Charms that afternoon, drowning in saddness. She hadn't even taken any notes in that class and almost didn't answer Professer Flitwick when he asked her a question.

The bell had finally rang and everyone got up to leave, all except Hermione who had seemed to be in a world of her own. She just sat there at the desk staring in Professer Flitwick's direction but not actually seeing him. He waved his tiny hand in front of her face and called her name several times before she actually noticed that the class was empty.

She absentmindedly picked up her books and put them in her bag, she then slung her bag over her shoulder and was about to leave when Flitwick, perched on his pile of books, called her name, again.

"Miss Granger, are you okay dear?" He said loud and clear, knowing that she wouldn't have heard him otherwise.

"Oh yes... Fine." She trailed off, knowing that this was the farthest from the truth. She felt miserable. Unwanted, unloved, and miserable. As if in a trance, she left the classroom by herself.

Several days of this went on, and soon a handful of her teachers began to seriously worry about her. But it was like she had no idea that anyone else was there but her, she was quiet and shy, she lacked her normal bossy, miss-know-it-all air.

* * *

One day in the common room, Hermione was bent over a book, reading what she had missed in class.

She sat there, doing her homework in the corner of the common room, when Ginny came over to her looking concerned.

"Herm," she said quietly and kindly. "Are you okay? I have to tell you something important." she added in somewhat of an undertone, sitting down beside her.

"I'm kind of busy Ginny." She said in meek tone, as if the volume in her voicebox was being turned down slowly.

"Hermione, it's about Harry!" She said urgently. "Please Herm, just listen to me!" Her voice got slightly higher in pitch, as she spoke, desperation oozing out of every word. Hermione's head snapped up and she stared at Ginny intently.

"Fine! What is so important, hmm?" She snapped, coldly, a little bit too cold she thought, but she no longer seemed to care anymore.

"Hermione! I don't usually like to get in the middle of things like these." Ginny said, shrugging slightly. "But, damnit! Harry was framed! Parvati was the one who kissed him... I was there! I saw the whole thing! She gave him some stupid story about losing her quill, so he got down and helped her. Then BAM! She kissed him!" Ginny clenched her fist and punched it into her other hand when she said 'bam', looking fierce and angry.

"Are you serious?" Hermione felt better and stupid at the same time. "Oh no..." She sighed, more to herself then to Ginny. "I got really mad at him Ginny! What if he doesn't want to talk to me anymore!?" She looked worried, putting her head into her hands.

"Oh please!" She said, as if this was unheard of, "Harry has been acting the same way you have, ever since you guys broke it off. He is just in peices!" She took Hermione's hand into hers and squeezed it reassuringly.

"I really did make him feel bad, didn't I?" Hermione looked up at Ginny, biting her lip, she squeezed her hand back. "God, I feel awful!" Hermione's eyes became blurry with unfallen tears, she wrapped her arms around Ginny and gave her a friendly hug, crying into her shoulder. All of the tears that were supposed to be cried over the last few days finally came out, unexpectedly.

"Come on Hermione, cheer up! Please, your making me want to cry." Ginny swallowed hard, pushing the lump in her throat. "I'm not going to cry!" She told herself in her head. She truly felt bad for Hermione, she knew the last few days were rough on her. Then she thought of all of the moping Harry had done, on the corridors, around the Hogwarts grounds. She thought that the least she could do would be to get them to sit down and talk about it the next day. So she formulated a plan in her head as Hermione continued to cry on her shoulder.

* * *

Harry walked down the sloping lawns on the Hogwarts grounds once again, feeling nowhere bound, heading in the direction of the lake, absentmindedly. On the way to the lake he walked through the clearing where Hermione and himself had the leaf fight only a few days ago and he sighed sadly. He remembered that day perfectly. He remember exactly how Hermione looked as if she was etched in time, he remembered everything she had said and did, as if he was replying a movie in his mind. Memories began flooding through his head and weakening his once cheerful mood even more.

Meanwhile in the common room...

"Hermione? C'mon, calm down..." Ginny said to Hermione, she needed to find a way to get her to stop crying. "Hey, Hermione? Do you want to go for a walk? We can go by the lake or something," Ginny looked down at Hermione to see if she would respond.

"Okay, I need some fresh air anyway." Hermione said, wiping her now puffy red eyes and lifting her head up off of Ginny's shoulder.

They got up and began to walk toward the portrait hole, when Neville came through looking pleased to see them.

"Hermione! Just the person I was looking for! Dumbledore wants to talk to you in his office." Neville pointed behind him towards the portrait hole.

Hermione looked beside her, at Ginny. She gave her an apologetic look. Ginny nodded and gestured for Hermione to go. "We'll talk later!" She called, waving to Hermione.

Hermione left the portrait hole and began to head to Dumbledore's office. She came down the last flight of stairs onto the floor in which his office was on, she spotted Harry walking in the opposite direction. She looked down at her feet, not quite being able to look him in the eye after what she had said.

Harry's heart stopped and then skipped a beat. He looked at Hermione as if he had never seen her before and immediately his feelings for her swelled like a balloon and burst in his gut, all in one second.

They both turned and faced the stone gargoyles that gaurded the headmaster's office and Hermione began guessing at the password.

"Fizzing Whizzbees? Ummm...." She paused, briefly looking at Harry for help. As if turning a switch on he snapped out of his trance and began guessing as well.

"Chocolate Frog? Pepper Imps? Uhhh, Bertie Botts Every Flavoured Beans?" At his last guess the gargoyles sprang to life immediately, making Hermione jump and back into Harry. Her hair brushed across his cheek and her elbow grazed his side.

Harry felt a warm tingly feeling when she brushed across him.

"Sorry Harry..." She muttered awkwardly. She stepped up onto the spiral staircase and felt a small thud as Harry had joined her.

"What am I going to do!? I'm going to be with Hermione, I want to apologize, but she'll get angry at me again!" Harry thought to himself. But little did he know, much worse could happen all in one day.

They stepped inside of Dumbledore's office and sat down in the chairs that he pointed to. Albus gave them one of his very rare grave stares. They knew that anything he had to say after that was going to be bad. He took a breath and planned out what he was going to tell the teenagers.

"Miss Granger, Mr. Potter... I have just gotten some news from the Order." Dumbledore sighed, trying to break this to them gently.

"Yes sir?" Harry said, while Hermione urged him to continue with her stares.

"Well, what have you heard about Mr. Weasley's absence?" Dumbledore decided to phrase it a different way.

"Well, I thought that maybe he had a family emergency or something... I've given it a lot of thought though." Harry sighed as well, his heart sinking even lower then before.

"The thing is... His family is fine, it is quite frankly him that is not. We have gotten word this morning that he has been taken by Voldemort... But we don't know exactly where he is at this point and time." He paused, taking a breath, knowing that this was going to take a while.

"He's... He's..." Hermione choked, she swallowed back the lump in her throat to stop herself from bursting into tears. "He's been taken?! Harry what are we going to do?!" She looked at Harry as if he had the answer in his eyes.

Harry swallowed hard as well. He looked longingly at Hermione. He wanted everything to be alright with them, and then they could just go and rescue Ron and everything would be fine. But he knew things had changed and that the chances of this happening were slim-to-none.

His head began to spin as the realization of Ron missing finally hit him, smack dab in the face. He began to get pale and looked at Hermione still, her returned gaze was the only thing keeping him from collapsing into a world of unconsciousness.

* * *

A/N: Hey people! Sorry this took so long to put up! I know what you’re all thinking, it’s a really crappy, and rushed chapter. But honestly, I had to do it. Anyway. So, now they both know the truth! The next chapter’s better, because it just... Is! Lol

Anyway, I hope you guys atleast enjoyed this chapter SOMEWHAT! *laughs* Well, anyway, please review! Remember, the quicker you review, the quicker I update! *grins* Anyway, thank you to all the people who reviewed!

P.S. I would like to dedicate this chapter to my motivation: Amy (Aka Emma Riddle)... She motivated me to get this chapter up as soon as I did! AND she replied to all four of my chapters.. So cheers for that, Amy!

6. Unexpected Adventure

Chapter 6: Unexpected Adventure

They left the office half hour later, after listening to many warnings not to go looking for Ron. But of course, being the courageous people they were, Harry and Hermione didn't intend on obeying. As they went down the spiral staircase they gave each other that look of determination, that look that they always used to give one another before they went on an adventure.

In the face of adventure Harry and Hermione seemed like they were before, good old friends, as if nothing had happened between them. And instead of heading back up to the common room like they were informed to, they headed for the library.

They arrived there and Hermione said a quick 'Hello' to Madame Pince. They went to a random row and started looking at books. Hermione went over to the bookshelves and began running her index finger of over the spine of various books, reading the titles. She was in one of her thinking positions, slightly squinting to see the names of the dusty volumes.

Harry, without noticing it, began to try and catch glimpses of her out of the corner of his eye. It took quite some time for Hermione to notice, but when she did, she turned to face Harry, confronting him.

"Harry, what are you doing?" She caught his dreamy gaze and blushed deeply.

"Uh... Nothing..." Harry stuttered, looking at his feet and anywhere else except into her chocolate eyes. He blushed slightly. He wasn't acting stupid before when he liked Hermione, he knew that, but he sure as heck was acting stupid now!

She doesn't like me anymore... God why am I staring at her like an idiot!?

She came closer to him, going on tip-toe and whispering in his ear, "Harry, look at Malfoy over there!" She was so close to him that he could feel her breath on the exposed skin of his neck.

Harry turned around and saw Malfoy sitting at a table scowling at a book, not daring to open it. Harry sniggered quietly, remembering the four page essay Madame Hooch had given Malfoy for talking out of turn to her.

Hermione was still much too close to him. Once her turned his attention back to her, she looked up into his bottle green eyes, as if seeing something in them that she hadn't seen in a long time.

"What? Do I have something on my nose?" Harry said, now rubbing his nose with his thumb lamely.

"No... No." She whispered, a smile breaking across her face. Harry looked down at her, dumbfounded, as she gently took his hand off of his nose.

"What is it?" He whispered back in an uncertain tone.

"Nothing," Hermione, now dreamily gazed into those blazing green eyes of his and thought she would never look away. Without thinking things through, yet again, she stood on tip-toe and kissed him softly on the lips.

Harry couldn't believe what she was doing. One minute Hermione was looking up at him and the next, she had her lips pressed against his in a soft kiss. He didn't know what to think anymore, about how Hermione felt towards him. It was driving him crazy!

He broke away from her, red as a beet root, and completely confused. "Hermione, what are you doing!?" Harry asked her carefully, backing away.

"I don't know anymore, Harry..." She sighed, sitting down at one of the tables. She frowned slightly, a troublesome glint in her eyes. She seemed as if she was going through torment. As if she wasn't sure who to trust, or believe in anymore.

"I know this is the last thing you want to talk about, but can you please just hear me out about this whole Parvati thing? There is something you should know, and I can't stand this distance between us." Harry rambled carefully. The only thing stopping him from going any further with his list of reasons, was the growing curiousity etched on Hermione's face. She sat there, waiting for him to continue.

"Hermione..." He paused. "All I have to say is that I'm sorry for what I did okay? And if I could take it back I would. I really wish that everything could go back to the way it was." Harry sighed, finally giving in to the fact she would never believe him if he kept telling her it was Parvati's fault, even though it was the truth.

Even as annoyed at the prospect of taking the blame, as Harry was, he knew he was stepping on dangerous grounds if he didn't.

"Harry, you don't have to blame yourself for my sake, you know." Hermione never broke her gaze with him. "Ginny told me everything a little while ago. Parvati is the one who kissed you. Ginny went as far as telling me, that you even pushed her away during the kiss." Hermione's feelings for him burst into bloom again, she thought he was so kind for taking all of the blame for something he didn't even do.

"She told you everything?" Harry felt his heart raise in his chest. He had never felt so relieved in his life.

"Yes... And Harry, I'm sorry I exploded like that. I just, I... I love you Harry, and it hurt me when I saw her kiss you." Hermione blushed at her own confession.

"Yeah, I know. That's why I kind of let you have your space I suppose." Harry grinned, knowing that there was some hope of salvaging what was left of their relationship, after all. He sat down beside her.

"Herm, I'm sorry," He said, looking at her carefully. A high level of sincerity blazed in his eyes, and Hermione couldn't help but believe him.

"No, Harry. I'm sorry," she smiled. Everything was going to be alright. She leaned in and embraced him, never wanting to let him go.

Harry felt warm inside when she hugged him, he was so happy that things were normal again, but then he realized that Ron was still missing. "Hermione, uh... I think we should look for something to find Ron now, don't you think?" Harry whispered in her ear letting her go.

"Uh, yeah, we should really get to that," she let go of him too, feeling slightly embarrassed. And with that, she got up and began looking for a book. She pulled random ones out and began skimming through them, racing through the pages.

After an hour, or so, of looking Hermione's head suddenly popped up from behind her massive book.

"Harry! I think I've found something!" She walked over to Harry who was sitting beside a pile of books on the floor.

"What?" He looked up at her carefully, curiousity spreading across his face in an instant.

"Yes, look!" She sat beside him, handing him the book. She pointed to the paragraph containing the information about a tracking spell.

Harry read out, "Swish and point your wand at one of the person's personal objects and simply say 'Compass en Vasa!'..."Harry trailed off, finishing off the paragraph in his head.

"So all we have to do is get one of his things and point our wand at it, saying this spell, and it should work?" Harry asked, looking over at Hermione slightly puzzled.

"Well, I'm hoping so. It's very advanced magic. The spell is more complicated, then simply just saying the given incantation, and pointing your wand at the person's belonging. You have to have some sort of strong connection with the person in question." She said with a weak smile.

Harry scratched the back of his neck. "And what does it do exactly?"

"It gives you a sort of mental picture as to where the person is. A sort of unknown knowledge, you know exactly where the person is, but can't explain how you know. Understand?" She said knowingly, looking at Harry's puzzled expression.

"Kind... of." Harry paused, still looking confused. "Maybe you should do the spell." He added.

"But there's a catch." Hermione said, as she continued reading down the page. "This spell has to be used at midnight." Hermione sighed, knowing something like this would happen.

"Well, let's do the spell tonight!" Said Harry, his courage building up in the pit of his stomach.

"Harry, as much as I would like to, we're not ready! We have to prepare. I mean, Voldemort is at his strongest right now! We have to practice some spells." Hermione said firmly, looking at Harry fiercely, as if waiting for him to argue with her.

"Actually, maybe you're right. It's Saturday tomorrow. If we practice spells tonight, and then maybe some tomorrow we could do the spell at midnight tomorrow night." Harry said, trying to reason with her.

"Right," she smiled nervously at him, knowing that what laid ahead was going to be difficult. But she was ready for whatever came her way, for Ron was one of her best friends and she wasn't going to give him up without a fight.

* * *"Hurry up Harry. Hurry up!" Hermione said to herself, looking down at her watch nervously. It was five to twelve on Saturday night.

She saw Harry race down the boys staircase, taking two at a time. "Thank God, Harry! It's nearly midnight! What did you get?" Hermione looked at him as he came down the last two steps.

"I got his Chudley Cannons jersey," Harry replied, waving it in front of her playfully. Any silliness distracted Harry from the lingering thoughts of Ron somewhere, dead.

"Gimme that!" She giggled, snatching it from Harry's outstretched hand. "Okay." She trailed off, walking out to the middle of the common room and placing the jersey on the floor.

"So, what do I do?" Harry said, standing there, sliding his hands into his pockets.

"Come here. You have to hold my hand, so that the picture can be passed on, from me to you." Hermione put her hand out in front of her. This was the first time she was going to hold his hand since they had broken up and become a couple again.

Harry took her hand and stood beside her, fidgeting slightly. Hermione pointed her wand at the jersey and cleared her throat slightly. A glint of concentration trapped itself within her chocolate-coloured eyes, and began to glaze them over carefully, as she unblinkingly looked down at the jersey.

"Compass en Vasa!" She cried, doing a tricky movement with her wand.

She pointed it down at the jersey once more. A purple beam of light shot out of her wand and hit the jersey. As if the jersey was responding, it sent back a blue beam of light, through her wand and up her arm, traveling through her body into Harry's. Hermione fell back onto the floor with the force of the spell being sent back to her, bringing Harry down with her. A hazy picture now formed in her mind and began to get clearer and clearer.

"Ron..." She murmured. As quickly as the picture had came, it was gone. She sat up and saw Harry kneeling beside her, watching her nervously.

"Are you okay?" Worry spread across Harry's face.

"Yes, yes I'm fine." Said Hermione, taking Harry's hand and getting up. "Anyway, Harry, what did you see?"

"Azkaban. I'm a hundred percent sure that it's Azkaban."

"Yes, I feel it too."Hermione paused. "But... It's an Azkaban with no Dementors." Hermione said, curiousity oozing from her lips.

"What is that supposed to mean?" Harry said, looking at her with a puzzled expression. "I mean, how could they have escaped?"

"Harry! Don't you get it? Our fears have been confirmed! They haven't escaped, Voldemort has rounded up the Dementors too!" Hermione's voice became shakey. It cracked under fear, as she stared into Harry's eyes carefully.

"Yes, but... What do we do now?" Harry was very confused.

"I know! I've seen Dumbledore do it before... I might be able to try. Mind you, it's illegal."

"What's your plan, Hermione?" Harry asked, determined to get it out of her.

She didn't speak. Instead, she grabbed a cushion from the armchair nearby and placed it on the floor. She raised her wand, high above her head. And then, without warning she let it come swishing down, "Portus!" She cried.

A ray of light escaped from her wand and hit the cushion. The ray suddenly stopped but the cushion now gave off an eerie glow.

"What did you do?" Harry said looking from the glowing cushion to Hermione.

"That, if I'm not mistaken, is a portkey to Azkaban... But I don't know for sure." Hermione bit her lip and broke her gaze from the cushion, now looking at Harry.

"H-how are we supposed to know for sure?" Harry stuttered, knowing what was coming next.

"We'll have to just try it out ourselves. Don't you trust me?" Hermione said.

"Yes...But-!"

"Well then let's try it!" She moved gingerly towards the cushion, gesturing for Harry to do the same.

"On the count of three...” Hermione looked over at Harry.

“One.” Hermione said in a voice just above a whisper, she reached for the cushion, but didn't grasp it, not yet.

“Two.” Harry continued, following suit.

“Three!” They called together, both of them grabbing hold of the cushion.

The colourful room began to swirl and blur around them as the ground was taken from under them. Their hands were both glued to the cushion. As soon as the room had blurred it stopped. They fell flat on the cold stone floor, Hermione landing on top of Harry.

“Sorry...” She whispered.

“It’s okay, just get up so I can move.” Harry chuckled.

“Oh... Right.” Hermione rolled over off of him and continued to stay on the floor, slightly dazed.

Harry got up and looked at his surroundings. Hermione followed suit but her legs were still too numb to carry her, and just as she got up she swayed and fell back down. But thanks to Harry’s great reflexes he managed to catch her before she hit the ground. He stared down at her in amusement.

“Be careful.” He whispered, biting back laughter.

“Thanks Harry.” She smiled at him as he helped her to her feet.

“Your welcome.” He murmured, blushing slightly. Hermione always seemed to have that affect on him. Every time he touched her or she looked deep in his eyes he would just lose his hard exterior, go slightly weak at the knees and blush.

“Let’s go.” Hermione whispered, breaking Harry’s thoughts. But she might as well of yelled this last comment for all the good it did at keeping quiet, for her voice bounced off of the stone walls and rang, echoing in their ears.

They tip-toed along the dark passageways, lined with barred cells. They then came across a narrow corridor with stone walls. Down halls, around corners, it seemed like a never ending maze. What seemed like at least a half hour later they were still at it, they kept going in the dark, not lighting their wands incase they met anyone.

They saw dim light. Finally, an opening. They stumbled through it, into a small room. Harry figured it was safe to light his wand, and he did so. He illuminated the room, his wand held far out in front of him. He noticed a figure in the corner casting shadows on the walls as he advanced towards it with caution.

"Hello?" Harry whispered, inching toward, what now recognized to be a body.

Not a word came from the person lying on the ground. Just as Harry was going to back away he saw a gleam of red in the wand light.

"Ron!" He yelled. His voice bounced off the walls loudly, and a couple seconds later they could still hear it echoing in down the halls, but he didn't care. He hurried over to the body, getting down on his knees beside his best friend, Ron.

"Ron.. Ron... Come on.. Wake up!" Harry said urgently, giving Ron's now fragile body a violent shake.

"Harry! We don't have time to wake him up! Just come on!" Hermione said, pulling a small little cushion out of her pocket and bringing it back to normal size with a simple spell, and dropping it on the ground. She was about to grab hold of it, but she turned sharply around, hearing footsteps in the distance.

"Come on! I hear someone, grab the portkey!" She called, taking one of Ron’s limp hands. Harry took the other and they all grabbed on together. Just before the room swirled, Harry could hear deafening yells and a flash of green light.

* * *

A/N : Hey everyone! I am SO sorry! Really, and truly, I am. School as been so chaotic! It’s crazy! I have a very busy year, this year. So, I’m going to try my hardest to update as soon as I can, whenever I can. So please, I urge you all to review, I really want your opinions! Oh, and might I let you all know, I know this writing of mine is very immature, compared to the other 2 stories I have, that of course, is because this story was written a year or two ago, when I was about 12 going on 13. But, you can tell which of the story has been written recently, the tone is abit more mature. Anyway, for this, I’m sorry! *laughs* But anyway, please, PLEASE review! I don’t know what I’m doing wrong, if you don’t review!