Unofficial Portkey Archive

Well, here's the new chapter. I want to first state that for the record, I retract my "It Wasn't Me" story…I have now (finally) read books 6 and 7…and yes, the woman is a bloody genius! Save the bits about some people getting killed for pointless reasons, some that had died who did not get proper recognition, skimming over some other bits-and finally, the ships of course-the books were amazing. I am actually rereading through the whole series at the moment, which is why it has taken me so long to write. Any time I would have had time to write I was reading so…yeah, haha. However, I am almost done with OotP so not long now, eh? Well, enjoy the chapter!

CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE: Heads We Will; Tails We'll Try Again

Everything changes but beauty remains
Something so tender, I can't explain
Well, I may be dreaming but till I awake
Can't we make this dream last forever
And I'll cherish all the love we share

Could this be the greatest love of all
I wanna know that you will catch me when I fall
So let me tell you this
Some people wait a lifetime for a moment like this

"A Moment Like This" KELLY CLARKSON

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Hermione's mind buzzed as she and Harry walked slowly back to the castle, a light silence between the two. She had so many concerns and questions about what all this meant and whether or not it was even a good idea. Before she knew it, they were standing in front of the Portrait Hole and Harry was gesturing for her to go in before him. She hadn't even remembered making the journey there.

One thing Hermione did know was that somehow, today had been perfect. She also knew her stupid mouth had often ruined such things (as well as Harry's), so just as Harry opened his mouth to speak, Hermione quickly put a finger over his lips.

"Don't say anything." She said quickly, drawing back her hand, her big brown eyes full of mischief.

Harry smiled, "Hermione, today has been brilliantly amazing-" He began.

Hermione cut him off. "Which is why you can't say anything. Neither can I." She continued, half-whispering. "Today was perfect. Let's not ruin it. In fact, I'm going to go to bed-right now, so nothing can be said to ruin such a great day. We'll deal with it later." Hermione spoke earnestly, causing Harry to laugh.

"Right now? It's only eight." He replied, looking at his wristwatch.

Hermione backed away towards the direction of the staircases that led up to the dormitories with a chuckling Harry slowly following her.

"Are you really going to bed?" Harry asked impishly.

Hermione shrugged as she began to edge behind the door leading to the Girls' Staircase.

Harry looked around before quickly closing the distance between the two and joining her in the little foyer leading to the dormitories, away from the crowd of Gryffindors. They silently stared at each other for a few seconds before Harry reached out a hand and eased Hermione from behind the door and closer to him. His hand gently made its way under her chin, caressing it adoringly. Hermione closed her eyes as Harry gradually lowered his lips to hers for a second time that evening. Hermione's hands disappeared somewhere in his hair as his wrapped around her middle, pulling her even closer.

After a few seconds of kissing, Hermione gently pulled away and stepped out of his embrace. "Good night, Harry Potter," she said with an affectionate smile before departing.

Harry's grin widened as he leaned against the stone wall, woozy.

He stood there for several seconds before grabbing his Firebolt that he had left leaning against the wall and headed up to his own empty dormitory.

Once he changed into a pair of sweats and sat down onto his bed, Harry allowed his true excitement to shine through. He had just kissed Hermione. For real. On a date. The smile on his face only broadened. He was too happy to even think about falling asleep. He suddenly stood and grabbed a hoodie before hopping on his broomstick and whizzing out of the window. He made several dives and loops, "Woohoo's" and "Oh yeah's" escaping his lips at high volumes. Exuberance flooded through his body.

After a few minutes more of silly flying stunts, Harry returned to his dorm in high spirits. He put his broom in its case and stared at his bed slyly. After making sure that he was in fact alone, Harry grabbed his guitar from its protective case and hopped carelessly onto his bed and began playing and singing loudly the first song that popped into his head, jumping up and down in rhythm to his song, "Since the moment I spotted you, like walking `round with little wings on my shoes…my stomach's filled with the butterflies…And it's alright, bouncing round from cloud to cloud, I got the feeling like I'm never gonna come down…If I said I didn't like it then you know I'd liieeeddd."

He jumped off his bed onto the floor and continued to play enthusiastically, "Oh…Every time I try to talk to you, I get tongue-tied…..turns out that everything I say to you comes out wrong and never comes out riiighht..So I'll say why don't you and I get together an' take on the world, and be together forever! Heads we will, tails we'll try again…So I say why don't you and I hold each other, fly to the moon and straight on to Heaven…`Cause without you they're never gonna let me in." He sang, dancing around the room before jumping back on his bed and continued to sing, "When's this fever gonna break?...I think I've handled more than any man can take-I'm like a love-sick puppy chasing you around…And it's alright, bouncing round from cloud to cloud, I got the feeling like I'm never gonna come down…if I said I didn't like it then you'd know I'd liieeeddd."

Harry had his back to the door, jumping up and down on his bed and playing his guitar. He didn't see the door silently open or Ron and Draco sneak wordlessly into the room, fighting to stifle their laughter.

"Da da da da… `Cause without you..." Harry half-sang, half-hummed the chorus. "Slowly I begin to realize this is never gonna end…But about the same time you walk by and I say `Oh here we go again, oh.'"

"Um, wow." Was all Draco could say, causing Harry to do half a turn-still jumping-to spot the intruders. Unashamed, he continued to repeat the chorus even louder now with an exciting new vigor. As his song wound down, Harry jumped off his bed happily.

"I didn't know I had an audience." He said, in such high spirits to even be the slightest bit embarrassed over the situation as he gave a dramatic bow.

"Aren't we in a good mood?" Ron said, laughing.

Harry shrugged. "And who wouldn't be in a good mood? The weather is fine, the sun is shining, and flowers are in bloom. Birds are a-singin'." Harry said, completely up-beat.

Draco glanced out the window. "Yeah, except the weather is bastardly cold, the sun hasn't shown in hours; the only flowers that you can find are in the Green Houses; and as far as birds singing…I think that may be in your head…along with other songs, apparently." He finished with a smirk.

"Then it must be in Upendi…in Upendi…da da da in Upendi-woo!" Harry finished, strumming his guitar one final time.

Ron raised a concerned eyebrow. "What is wrong with you?" He asked, in mock disgust.

Draco laughed before inputting the obvious, "He got snogged-he got snogged brilliantly."

Ron chuckled. "You and Hermione snogged?!" He asked in disbelief.

Harry's grin broadened as he continued to sing before putting his guitar up and throwing himself on his bed, using his elbow to prop himself up. "I'm not the sort of bloke to kiss and tell." Harry revealed with an obvious smile.

"Oh fuck off, will you? Details!" Ron demanded, walking over and sitting on the edge of his own bed, while Draco summoned a chair. "Did you do her?" He continued, tactless as ever.

Harry promptly chucked a pillow at his uncouth friend. "Ron, you prat!" He said before sitting up.

"Seriously though, details." Draco repeated.

The smirk on Harry's lips appeared to be imprinted onto his face because it hadn't shifted at all. "Okay. We spent the day in Hogsmeade, yada yada yada. We came back here, went for a ride on my Firebolt, and snogged in midair with a perfect sunset as the backdrop." Harry said dramatically, gesturing his hands in the air.

Draco rolled his eyes. "You know, I just left a girl's company because I couldn't take it anymore, and she would have given me a bj. So if you're not willing to give a bit of head, you're gonna have to stop acting like a chick."

Harry laughed. "I take it she hasn't made it through your trial period yet?" He asked quizzically.

Draco shook his head. "Not every girl gets the joy of getting a full piece of me. Only the lucky few do."

"That's funny because I didn't know the word `few' was in your vocabulary." Ron snorted, referring to his mate's colorful sex life.

"Despite how entertaining Draco's sexual encounters with various members of the female population are..." Harry pointed out sarcastically, "Um, so now what do I do about Hermione?" Harry asked, unsure of the next steps.

"Well, how did you leave it?" Ron asked as he casually stretched out on his bed, tucking a pillow under his elbow.

An adoring smirk found its way onto his lips. "We decided to turn in early before either of us fucked up the perfect day…that ended with a very yummy goodnight snog."

Ron and Draco both laughed and offered high-fives, which Harry begrudgingly took them up on, half-embarrassed and unsure why.

"So what do I do tomorrow?" Harry asked again, knowing they both had more experience than he did.

"Well, you have a few options…most of which will end with you two in a cozy broom closet." Draco began with a smug look.

Harry rolled his eyes. "I forgot I was asking the womanizer extraordinaire and…" He looked over at Ron for help.

"Er…I was going to advise the broom closet as well…" He said guiltily.

"And the womanizer wannabe, apparently."

Not missing a beat, Draco said suavely, "I'm just trying to help a bloke out, is all. It's time to get you shagged."

Harry sighed. "I'm thinking perhaps this may be something that is a little more long-term than a few snogs in a cluttered closet. Instead, I think I'll just wing it and see how things go. Thanks anyway." He replied with a grin.

Draco nodded his head in understanding. "Good idea, mate. We'll let you fuck this up yourself so you can't put the blame on us."

Ron gave a nod of agreement. "This is true. I can already see the day your pansy ass comes crying to us when you mess up something because you didn't know what you should have been doing."

"I think I'll take the chance." Harry replied, though slightly deterred by their words. Would he do something to mess this up? He blew out a puff of air-Merlin help him.

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It was still so very early, but Hermione didn't mind-after all, she had a lot to think about. As she slowly walked to her dormitory, Hermione let her mind drift through all the day's events. It had been absolutely wonderful. She couldn't have asked for a better Valentine's Day-or day in general. Getting ready with the girls had actually been fun. Harry had looked quite handsome when they all met up in the Common Room. There hadn't been any tension or awkwardness. Everyone was getting along quite bloody fantastically. Ginny and Neville had seemed to really hit it off. Ron and Luna looked as if they had had a good time as well. As for her and Harry…well the only fitting word was magical.

Hermione walked into her empty room and dropped unceremoniously onto her bed with a smile. She opened her purse and pulled out the quill she had gotten. After slowly examining the new present, Hermione carefully placed it neatly inside her bedside table drawer and sifted through her purse to find her camera. She lay on her stomach and propped herself up on her elbows before turning her camera on and began to flip through the photos of the day with a small grin. She stopped and lingered on one in particular-`That has to be the most fantastic first real kiss ever in history-' she thought dreamily to herself as an even larger smile crept its way onto her slightly blushing face as she laid back into her pillows and let a few excited giggles escape her.

Yes, everything had been perfect. She casually continued through the day's photos, laughing at the pictures from Madam Puddifoot's. Hermione pulled up the picture of herself and Harry kissing again. She thought of their good night kiss, the blush resuming in her cheeks.

Hermione got up and pulled her pajamas and then returned to her blankets. She lay in bed, lazily wondering what tomorrow would bring. What did this mean? Were her and Harry a couple now? They would make a great couple, she decided suddenly. They got along quite well. His friends were her friends too. He loved Quidditch and she loved watching him play Quidditch. She loved books and studying and…well, he was smart. She didn't think her parents would mind-they liked him enough. Harry's parents…Hermione frowned. How would that work out? They would have to understand that she was important to Harry. They were important in the War, and the closer they were, the better maybe.

Hermione bit her lip. But what if they didn't work out, as most couples their age didn't? Dumbledore had made it sound as if they would eventually have to work alongside each other during the War. That would be difficult to do if there was hostility between the two. Also, she couldn't see Harry's parents ever being on board, despite how important she was to their son. The more she thought about it, the more stress and obstacles Hermione saw. Despite having such a great day, it was beginning to dawn on Hermione-like everything else it seemed-that it had been too good to be true.

There was a good chance it wouldn't work out. Every possible thing that could oppose even their friendship had somehow reared its ugly head thus far. Hermione began to toss and turn as these unsettling thoughts swam though her mind. At last, the cold truth finally sunk in-it would be in their best interests to remain friends, and friends only. Agreeing to go on a real date today with Harry had been a total fluke-just a fun little experiment, Hermione decided dejectedly. She would push away the fact that it had resulted in a perfect day…accompanied by a whole host of confusing, miserable feelings.

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Hermione had gotten to him, simple as that. He used to shrug off these odd feelings and his mates' remarks, but now, there was no fighting it-only admitting (and embracing) it. Yes, he fancied her. Realization had been a long time coming, perhaps because the signs weren't so painfully obvious. Where were the sweating palms? The butterflies? His inability to think around her? The cliché signs had never surfaced, and being a novice in the game of love, he hadn't thought to look deeper. He had always been calm and collected in Hermione's company. She didn't make him nervous-quite the opposite actually. How could he have divined that he had feelings for her out of all this?

He didn't know. All he knew was that he yearned for her company; that her voice made him smile, even it was nagging him to finish his essay before Quidditch. During Christmas he had thought about her more than anything else-had wanted to see her, to talk to her.

Not to mention the kiss they had shared. It had felt so…right, even if it had been for show. He hadn't really thought about it much. Hermione was his friend, and he had helped her out. In all honestly, nothing else had provoked him to kiss her, only to help. But now…helping her was definitely not why he wanted to kiss her.

Once he had compiled all the odd feelings and memorable gestures (he would have never went to the lengths of making a unicorn-drawn sleigh ride for Ron and Draco), and added that up with today's events, he could only come up with one conclusion-he may very well fancy the shit of out of this girl. The more that he thought about it, the more he liked the idea. Apparently Hermione was the girl for him. Harry smiled suddenly-oh what his parents would think!

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Hermione woke up early. She hadn't planned on it, especially on a Sunday. But she couldn't help it. Harry had her mind in shambles-and she wasn't very fond of it. She needed to prove to herself that she was in control. Without the events of yesterday clouding her mind, Hermione realized how foolish she had been the night before. No, they had merely been caught up in the moment. She forced herself to realize there wasn't anything between her and Harry in the first place, and her semi-crestfallen feelings over the whole matter were not only fruitless, but silly. The two of them had gotten swept away yesterday with a fairytale date. It had been perfect. It had been fun. But today was a whole new day, and she could see things in a different, clearer light. It wasn't the time for a fresh start of something new. No, it was a crash landing back into the wonderful world of reality, where she and Harry were best friends-nothing less, nothing more. They just couldn't be.

She would have loved to stay in her dorm all day long-avoid seeing Harry altogether. But she couldn't. No, instead she dressed and headed to the Great Hall for a quick bite before hiding and holing herself up in the Library, her safe haven, where she allowed for herself to be engulfed by her homework and her N.E.W.T.S. Soon, she was so lost to what was going on in her personal life as academically-driven-Hermione took over that all traces of Harry had vanished from her thoughts.

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Harry woke with a smile on his lips. His good mood continued as he got ready for the day, humming cheerfully to himself. As he had become accustomed to, he gave the Common Room a quick scan for a certain brown-haired girl before heading off to the Great Hall for breakfast with a grin plastered on his face. He noticed Hermione wasn't at breakfast either. He grabbed some toast and an apple before heading off to the Library, where he suspected she must be if not still in her dorm.

He spotted her-or rather, the many stacks of books that surrounded her-easily at her usual table. He lightly started toward the poor table, which looked as if it could collapse at any moment. Harry silently sat down across from Hermione, who was too engrossed in her reading to notice. He slowly split apart the two towers of books that concealed her from his view, much like parting the Red Sea. "Boo!" Harry hissed loudly, causing Hermione to jump.

"Harry!" Hermione shrieked in an audible whisper before smiling.

"Honestly, Hermione, you really should pay a little more attention to your surroundings." Harry teased good-naturedly, shaking his head in mock dismay. "How long have you been here?" He asked, absently grabbing a book and thumbing through it.

Hermione's behavior suddenly shifted, and Harry watched her physically stiffen. She gave a nonchalant shrug. "A few hours, I suppose." She replied, returning to her book.

Harry reached over to shut her book. "Well it looks like you're in need of a break-" He began but stopped when Hermione snatched the book from his reach in an annoyed fashion.

"No, Harry. I don't need a break. Some people actually care about their marks, you know." Hermione remarked with a pointed look.

Harry laughed. "Hermione, you're so ahead, if you go any further, you'll be making the lesson plans yourself." He said, hoping for at least a smile.

Hermione didn't look amused at all, and all he earned was a nasty look from his friend before she retorted, "Don't you have Quidditch or something? Your asinine comments aren't exactly helping me prepare for my N.E.W.T.'s."

Feeling more confused than ever and even slightly taken aback by her foul mood and poor attitude towards him, Harry abruptly stood and replied uneasily, "I guess I do; sorry for being such a bother. I just thought-"

Without looking up, Hermione interrupted him rudely, "Well I guess you thought wrong."

Harry shoved his hands in his pockets and shuffled his feet awkwardly, unsure of how to handle this very different side of Hermione. "Um…so I guess I'm going to go find Ron and Draco then…" He said, still shuffling around.

Still keeping her head down, Hermione sneered, "Honestly, Harry, I don't need a bloody play-by-play."

Feeling hurt at this point, he apologized, "Er, sorry. Just in case you want to take a break…I guess you'll know where to find me?" He asked uncertainly.

Hermione's eyes once again didn't leave the page and she showed no sign of hearing him, nor caring for what he had to say. Getting outright angry now, Harry gave a huff and half-stormed out of the Library, receiving a very disapproving look from the vulture-looking Madam Pince.

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I can't escape this hell
So many times I've tried
But I'm still caged inside
Somebody get me through this nightmare
I can't control myself

So what if you can see the darkest side of me
No one will ever change this animal I have become
Help me believe it's not the real me
Somebody help me tame this animal
This animal, this animal

"Animal I Have Become" THREE DAYS GRACE

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`What's her problem?' Harry wondered as he stomped around the castle. Was she acting like this because of what had happened yesterday? Was it that time of the month for her? There could be countless reasons. Harry didn't know why she was acting this way, but he figured he'd better leave her alone and let her anger blow over before she said something she might regret-or was that him? The day in the Library came to mind when he had asked if her she had been okay after getting beaten up. No, he definitely didn't want a replay of that all because of their mutual short tempers.

He considered seeking out Ron and Draco, but decided against it. What would they know? Plus he was half-embarrassed. He suddenly felt very foolish after his-with hindsight-silly behavior the night before.

In the midst of his brooding, Harry found himself in the Astronomy Tower. With a heavy sigh, Harry sat against the wall and stared disinterestedly out of the window, lost in thought. Harry sat there for what felt like several hours, unmoving, before drifting off into an uncomfortable sleep.

Harry was awaken by a waterfall plummeting down on him from a very large bucket that was floating just above his head. He jumped up quickly out of reflex and whirled around to find the culprit, who was none other than his godfather. Sirius stood there, chortling as a sopping-wet Harry glared.

"Rise and shine, Valentine." He sang in a sing-song voice.

"What'd you do that for?" Harry asked, irritated.

Sirius smirked. "I thought that was rather obvious." He conjured up a towel and threw it to his godson.

Harry wiped himself off before plopping back down to the floor; Sirius doing the same.

"How'd you know I was here?" Harry asked dryly, hoping Sirius would take the hint that he didn't want company.

Sirius scoffed. "And what makes your inflated ego think I was searching for you?! Perhaps I just fancied a stroll in the Astronomy Tower. Or I might be meeting a girl here. Minerva was looking quite enchanting last night."

Harry wasn't in the mood and ignored his banter. Instead, he leaned his head back on the wall and closed his eyes…only to feel another cascade of water rain down on him.

Fuming, Harry rounded on his smirking godfather. "Would you stop doing that!? It's getting really fucking old! Goddamnit, Sirius." Harry said heatedly, standing and toweling himself off again.

Though slightly alarmed by Harry's reaction, Sirius couldn't stop himself, "And it sounds like someone has a dirty mouth…scourgify." He said, laughing as pink bubbles appeared on Harry's tongue and burst from his mouth.

Almost gagging, Harry sputtered and used the towel to wipe his mouth clean. "Oh grow up, will you?!" He shouted at his godfather.

Sirius's laughing stopped short. He furrowed his brow. "And who pissed in your pumpkin juice, Potter?" He asked, taking a step back to give Harry a wide berth.

Feeling as annoyed as ever, Harry spat a few times before replying, "Nothing, just leave me alone, okay?" He replied shortly, throwing the towel down to the ground.

Knowing how emotionally-driven his godson was, and seeing that he was genuinely right-pissed off, Sirius knew it was not a good idea to just leave the ticking time bomb be-though prodding the angry lion didn't seem like the wisest of options either. Treading carefully, Sirius slowly asked, "Do you want to talk about it?"

Feeling in an even fouler mood than before now that he tasted soap and was still dripping wet in a very cold room, with the cause of this standing here in front of him, "There's nothing to talk about," was all he could sneer.

"I can tell." Sirius nodded.

"I'm serious-"

"No, I believe I'm Sirius. You're Hairy…and a bit smelly too, to be honest." Sirius cut in, wrinkling his nose and hoping for a laugh. He received an eye roll-close enough, certainly better than a sneer. Encouraged, he continued, "Harry, you're alone in a dark tower, in a right foul mood-Dripping wet at that!-and you mean to tell me that nothing is bothering you?" He asked with deliberate slowness.

"I'm in a foul mood because some wanker dumped water on me-twice!" was Harry's rebuttal.

"I'll see about that wanker later. But in his defense…I think I can correctly state that you were in foul mood before. Plus, I think he may have only done that because he thought you might have been on fire…twice." Sirius replied rather guiltily.

Ignoring Sirius's attempt to cheer him up, Harry responded evenly, "I'm fine."

Sirius sighed. "Don't make me hex it out of you, son." He said sternly.

A small smile finally broke across Harry's lips at his antics and he gave up. "Promise you won't tell my parents?" He asked begrudgingly.

The older man smirked wickedly. "I like it already."

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Hermione was still in the Library, focusing all of her concentration on her school work. Her mind strayed to Harry only a handful of times, briefly wondering if she had been too harsh and speculating his whereabouts. Just how far away had she driven him? She didn't know exactly what she was trying to accomplish, being so mean. She didn't know what else to do or how to handle the whole situation, so she just decided to build a wall. If she didn't give him a chance to talk about it, then she wouldn't have to deal with anything. She wouldn't have to tell him that it was impossible. However, she did feel bad about being so harsh.

Before she could give any further thought to the matter, Veronica, Dennis, and another First Year named Simon came over to her, books in hand and confused, furrowed brows on their faces. Hermione smiled and moved all her books to make room for the younger students at her table.

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"She was acting as cold as she had when we weren't even friends. But now, the sting is so much worse because I care for her a great deal, obviously." Harry finished, picking at a loose stone in the wall.

Sirius tried but failed to hide his smile.

"What?" Harry asked, lost to what was so funny, but Sirius only shook his head. Harry let out an annoyed huff. "Well I'm glad you find this all so bloody comical."

Sirius laughed. "I just never thought I'd see the day when my godson would be so taken by a girl." He wiped away a fake tear. "I'm so proud."

With a dramatic eye roll, Harry replied, "Yeah, yeah. Ha-ha. Now what do I do?" He asked, growing serious.

Sirius sighed. "It's obvious you care about that girl, and even better that you're admitting it. And by the sound of it, she feels the same. So I'd say…it looks like you're talking to the wrong person." He advised.

Harry nodded in understanding. "I just wanted to let her-and me too I guess-cool off some. But I suppose I'll go and try to tame the dragon. I imagine she's still in the Library. She'd probably sleep on a cot in there if they let her."

"Good idea. I'll walk you…to my office, anyway." Sirius replied, standing.

Harry had been correct, Hermione was still in the same spot he had left her, only instead of being surrounded by a fortress of books, it was three First Years. He took a deep breath before heading over to the table and pulling up a seat to her left. Hermione gave him a nod of acknowledgment before returning to Dennis. After waiting there quietly for a few minutes, Harry grabbed her pencil and reached over to write on the empty notebook page in front of Hermione.

`Hi.' He wrote, looking up at her expectantly. He watched her look intently at his greeting for a few contemplating seconds before finally giving in and reaching for a writing utensil of her own.

`Hey.' She replied in her own neat handwriting.

He scribbled quickly, `Are you angry with me?' Hermione stared once again at his writing. He certainly didn't waste time. Always got to the point.

`No.'

Harry bit his lip. `What's wrong? I thought you were going to bite my head off this morning.' He wrote back, hoping she wouldn't get upset.

Hermione stared at his words and noticed her vision start to grow fuzzy because of the tears that tried to escape. She felt absolutely awful. `I'm sorry' was all she could write back, he handwriting a little less tidy as before.

`What's wrong? Is it about yesterday?' Harry scrawled hastily, almost bouncing up and down with anticipation while waiting for a reply, which didn't take long.

`Yes.' She responded guiltily.

Slightly put off by her short answers, he quickly asked, `Do you regret it?' He wasn't sure if he really wanted a reply to that one.

Hermione pulled the notebook closer and mulled over his question and began to write `yes' before scribbling it out and slowly writing something else, `Yes. No. It just can't happen again.'

As Harry read her words, he didn't know what to think. "Why not?" He asked aloud, forgetting the discretion of their conversation.

"Harry, not now." Hermione said, casting a meaningful look over to the busy First Years, who were scribbling away on their homework.

Impatient, Harry stood and grabbed Hermione's hand and pulled her along. "She'll be right back." He called back to the younger students as he dragged her from the Library, ignoring Madam Pince's glare at his noisiness.

"Harry!" Hermione whispered fiercely, half-heartedly pulling away.

Once Harry opened the nearest door in the corridor, which turned out to be a broom closet, he pushed her in and followed.

"Lumos." He said without thinking before repeating his earlier question: "Why not?"

Hermione tried to move away from him, but space was limited and Harry's body blocked the door. She scrunched her eyes, trying to avert the bright, luminous tip of Harry's wand.

"Well?" He asked impatiently.

Hermione refused to meet his eyes. "Harry, let me out. This is silly."

In response, Harry only crossed his arms across his chest, unmoving.

Hermione sighed. "Harry, you're being ridiculous. Move!" Hermione demanded and made an effort to push past him.

Careful not to be rough, Harry gave her a small shove backwards. "No. We're sorting this out."

Hermione was getting impatient and tried once again to head for the door. Harry stood his ground and wasn't going to let her out.

"What do you want me to say, Harry?" Hermione asked, throwing her hands up in the air in surrender.

"I don't know. That you liked yesterday? Why it can't happen again? Why you're being mean to me? The truth?! Pick one!" Harry answered, his voice loud in the confined space.

Hermione shook her head, furious. She felt the tears coming on. She brought her hands to her face and wiped her eyes. "Harry." She spoke softly. "Look at us. Look at our relationship up to this point. Nothing has been easy. Everyone has freaked out. You lost your best mates for awhile. You've wrecked things with your parents. Your popularity status with the students plummeted…and that's just what you've suffered on my account. Harry, to take this further is just asking for trouble, and it won't work out.

"And besides all those complications," She began to speak more matter-of-factly and at a faster pace, "What if we didn't work out? We have to work together to against Voldemort. We can't jeopardize that over a stupid crush that will pass."

"All that we've suffered? Being friends has been well-worth it, in my book, Hermione. Nothing has been dramatic enough to actually matter. Ron and Draco came round. My parents are on the verge. All the other students, well, most don't really think much of it anymore-and even if they did, who gives a damn? I care a hell of a lot more about you than them." Harry fired back passionately without missing a beat.

"And Voldemort?"

Harry scoffed. "I'm not going to have my life revolve round a War that might or might not happen."

Hermione could see that Harry would have a rebuttal for every point she would make. He loved to argue just as much as she did. "Harry, it can't happen." She finally said simply.

Harry could feel his temper rise as she continued to be difficult. "What are you so afraid of?" He insisted.

Hermione looked away with no response.

Harry gave up and opened the door. "Fine. Whatever. Run away, again. That seems to be your trademark when things get rough anyway." He spat as Hermione rushed past him.

She stopped dead in her tracks at his words. "What did you just say?" She asked, turning around to face him.

"It's the truth. Every time things get difficult, you take off. You push me away. So go ahead. Do what you do best." He bucked coldly.

Hermione felt all her blood rush to her face. "You don't know anything about difficult. I do not run away." She battled defensively.

Harry let out a bitter laugh and rolled his eyes. "Keep telling yourself that. You run. You keep shit from me. You constantly push me away and build up walls around you to keep me out. If that's not running away, then I don't fucking know what is." was all he said before turning around and walking away.

"You're being ridiculous!" Hermione hollered after him; however, he ignored her words and kept walking. Hermione stood there in the now-empty corridor, torn between being dumbfounded and utterly pissed off. How dare he? She didn't always run away. After all this time, she had thought that he finally understood…but no, he didn't. Not at all, obviously. Furious, Hermione walked into the Library, politely excused herself from the First Years and angrily stomped her way to the Gryffindor Common Room and into her dormitory, ready to sulk the day away. For good measure, Hermione flicked her wand to board up and lock her windows in case Harry got any ideas trying to sweet talk her. No, today she would be mad as he had done a very thorough job in pissing her off.

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Harry had never actually been pissed off with Hermione before. Sure, she had annoyed him a bit from time to time, but never had he been officially angry the way he was now. The way she had treated him all day was forcing him to rethink their entire relationship up to this point.

Brooding, Harry laid on his back in his bed with his hands tucked comfortably behind his head. He glared up at the ceiling, lost in his own fury.

The sound of someone trying to open the door suddenly filled the room. Harry ignored it. He had used a powerful Locking Charm that he doubted any of his dorm mates would be able to break.

Pounding on the door, followed by, "Hey, open up!" told him it was Jeremy trying to come in. "Oy! Who's shagging it up in here? At least hang a tie on the door, Malfoy!" He called.

Harry ignored the door, though he couldn't resist a small smirk that tugged at the corners of his lips.

Eventually, Jeremy gave up and left, leaving Harry in peace, though not for long. Soon, there was more pounding on the door, this time it was Ron and Draco.

"Harry, we know you're in there. And we know you aren't shagging anyone so unlock the door." Draco yelled through the door.

"Fuck off!" Harry called back, wanting to be left alone. He could hear his mates arguing about what to do, as well as them trying various failed charms. They wouldn't figure it out, he knew. After all, it was a very old charm Hermione had shown him that wasn't used much anymore.

"Harry, open the bloody door already!" Ron demanded. "Don't make us go find Hermione." He threatened.

`Go find Hermione, Harry thought to himself. `See if I care.'

"Harry, please open the door."

`Well, because you said please…not.' Harry thought, amused.

Ron's voice sounded annoyed at this point. "Stop being a fucking tosser!"

"Leave me alone!" Demanded Harry through gritted teeth.

He heard Draco snicker. "Real fucking mature, mate."

Fed up, Harry unlocked the door with a swish of his wand, before a second flick sent a blasting charm towards the door, effectively opening the door as requested, and singing Ron's eyebrows off in the process.

"That was rather unnecessary." Ron said slowly, brushing charred debris from his shoulder. Draco stepped in the room and pulled a chair up to face Harry, who was still facing the ceiling.

He gave a sigh. "Now I'm no mediwizard, but I think it may be time to analyze your symptoms: you're moody; you go from extreme euphoria to extreme depression; you're irritable and go off on people who are only trying to help you. Um…do you notice that your breasts are tender? Possible weight gain? Miss your period? Because I think you might be pregnant, mate." Draco confessed with a straight face.

Despite his positively awful, foul mood, Harry cracked a grin and chucked a pillow at his friend.

"It's a very unbecoming look for you. You're high, you're low. You're up, you're down. You're in love with Hermione; then you don't give a shit. What gives, mate?" Ron piped up, pulling up a chair for himself.

"We just had a big fight." Harry said, trying to keep his tone even to sound indifferent. "When I saw her this morning…well, let's just say things weren't as peachy keen as last night. In fact, you could say she was downright…mean. I didn't understand because yesterday had been brilliant."

Draco raised an eyebrow. "Okay, so then why the Ice Queen act?"

"If you'll let me finish…After she all but demanded that I leave, I went to the Astronomy Tower. Sirius found me somehow. We talked for a bit and he advised I talk to her." He sighed. "So I went back to the library. She was with a few First Years, so we wrote back and forth to be discrete. And well…," Harry ran a hand through his hair and gave details to what their conversation had entailed.

Surprised, "She rejected you?" Ron asked.

"Then I may have done something drastic-" Harry said guiltily, causing his friends to raise their eyebrows in response, coaxing Harry to continue.

"You barricaded her in a broom closet?!" Draco asked incredulously as more dirty details were revealed.

Ron shook his head. "Mate, I'm no expert, but even I know girls don't like that. I mean, I know we said something about a cozy broom closet encounter…but that's a bit extreme, don't you think? That's not cozy…that's mental."

Defensive of his previous actions, Harry tried to explain. "No, you blokes don't get it. She would have avoided me, because that's what she does. She runs and ignores the problem; then, she pushes you away so she won't have to deal with it." Harry responded heatedly before plowing forward. "I'm sick of it. I bend over backwards for her, and what does she do? Act like a cold, heartless b-"

"Do you really want to finish that sentence?" Draco asked cautiously. "Don't say something you'll regret." He advised.

"…Butthead." Harry finished lamely.

His friends nodded in understanding. "We know. We've seen you go all out for her…but don't you think she's done stuff for you too?" Ron asked weakly.

Harry couldn't disagree with the idea that Hermione had done her part as well. He nodded slowly. "Absolutely. There's no denying she hasn't pulled her weight in this relationship. She helps me study. Cracks terrible jokes. Listens to me bitch. She goes to quite a few of my Quidditch practices-all my games. No, she has definitely been amazing. And I'm not going to let our relationship go to hell or anything." He assured his fellow Gryffindors, feeling better now that he had talked things out with someone.

His friends listened. Ron asked, "So what are you going to do?"

Harry sat up and shrugged. "I don't know quite yet. I mean, I like her. A lot. And I know she likes me too. I reckon I did go a bit overboard, but it was only because she was pissing me off," he pointed out.

"So, is it like…`be with me…or forget about me' kind of thing?" Draco asked.

Harry laughed. "Not at all. But don't you get it? This is what she does. She runs. I…well, I don't really think I'll be giving up because I think…yes...I think she might just need more time maybe? Yes." Harry thought aloud, trying to convince himself more than anyone else. "I have no problem with that. Earlier…like I said, I went a wee bit overboard. But I'm calm now and if she wants to hold off, then I'll wait." Harry concluded.

Draco stood, "So you're going to go talk to her then?"

Harry considered his question for a moment. Should he go to her and apologize? Try to mend their bruised relationship? Had he been that much of an arse?

He shook his head and sat up, throwing his legs over the side of his bed. "I was a little dramatic. I'll admit it. I was pushing somewhat more than I should have. But I wasn't mean. I wasn't-acting bitchy. She was outright very spiteful towards me. I think it is her turn to fix us, especially when I feel like she's the one who screwed up, not me. I just wanted answers. You mates know when I'm wrong, I'll say I'm wrong. Right now…well, I'm going to wait for her to come to me and apologize. I always go find her and say `I'm sorry.'" He finished. Harry paused for a moment before nodding, as if making up his mind about the situation.

Ron yawned. "Sounds fair. So…how about a game of Quidditch?"

Harry grinned. "You blokes do always know how to put a guy in a good mood. Sounds good to me. It's about time to start extending practices anyway. We want to make sure we are top notch for our last game. We haven't lost the Quidditch House Cup in all our years here-I don't plan on starting this year." The two boys agreed before the trio began to bundle up.

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=--=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

Hermione was in a right terrible mood. She couldn't believe Harry's attitude. How dare he accuse her of being so weak? She most certainly was not running away. No, he was just being a total and complete jerk.

Still fuming in her room, she decided to take a warm bath to calm down.

An hour later, Hermione emerged back into her dorm from the bathroom, feeling refreshed, and no longer angry-or at least, less so than she had been. She had gone over the scenario over and over in her head to the point where she had become completely bored with the whole thing. He was just angry, she convinced herself. He would be sorry. Knowing him, Harry would probably make some grand gesture to show his apologies and tell her she was in fact the bravest person he knew, and that he had just been talking out of his arse earlier. It comforted her to know that he was most likely every bit as miserable as she was.

Hermione sat down and pondered what she should say the next morning when he apologized. Should she forgive him right away? Maybe make him wait a bit because what he had said had been really hurtful.

She sighed. She would just wait and see. Despite being begrudgingly ready to forgive him, she didn't want to go through the play-by-play at the moment.

00000

Classes came bright and early the next morning. Feeling slightly relieved that she and Harry were going to make amends soon, Hermione hurried down the stairs and went off to the Great Hall, where her three friends were already sitting down. She hadn't expected them to all be in here before her. She adopted a cold demeanor and walked straight passed the trio and sat down next to Ginny. She noticed Harry had looked up at her before returning to his conversation. Hermione ignored him and tried to engage Ginny in a conversation as she averted her eyes from the direction of three certain Gryffindors-one in particular.

Harry had to resist rolling his eyes at Hermione's behavior. She wanted to make her presence known to him-that much was obvious. He looked her way, to let her know he had in fact seen her before easily dismissing his friend. She was going to come to him.

Classes began like always. After halfway through the day, Hermione was beginning to get irritated. Harry looked very much like he had before they had become friends. He wasn't angry or brooding. Instead, he and Ron and Draco joked around and laughed, disrupting class. She knew he was going to apologize for being a total prat to her, but she wished he would just make his point already. The longer he took, the angrier she became. The worst of it was that he wasn't ignoring her, per se. No, he still sat nearby and even caught her eye on several occasions. He wasn't being friendly nor unfriendly. Instead, he was being purely indifferent.

"He's acting like a jerk." Hermione complained to Ginny while they sat together at dinner with Neville.

"Maybe you should try talking to him?" Neville put in off-handedly.

Ginny scoffed. "And why should she go begging back to that arsehole?! After what he said to her?" She asked incredulously.

Neville shrugged. "I dunno, it seems like Hermione is the bothered one while Harry…" He trailed off, casting a glance in the raven-haired Gryffindor's direction. Harry, along with a group of boys, was currently participating in some sort of eating contest. Loud, obnoxious sounds were coming from their general direction. It was obvious Neville would much rather join them than sit here and listen to Hermione's complaints.

Ginny rolled her eyes. "Oh go on then!" She said, releasing Neville. Apparently they had had a nice date the day before, and even though Neville and Ginny were still just friends, it was obvious something was brewing.

Sighing, Hermione watched as Harry had a good time without her. He was off having fun, and she was sitting here, sulking.

Seething, Hermione excused herself and went to her lonely dormitory as she awaited her Occlumency lesson that evening.

Harry felt Hermione's eyes on him all day. She was upset. He wasn't exactly sure why, however. Was it because he hadn't come crawling back? Was she expecting him to?

Either way, he didn't care much at the moment. He wasn't going to ignore her-that would be immature. He wasn't going to act mean either. After all, she was the girl for him. She would realize the error in her ways, he was sure of it. It wasn't his job to magically fix everything all the time. In the mean time, he would catch up on some much-needed "guy time."

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

"Miss Granger, this is quite possibly the worst performance you have ever given." Snape sneered with a curling lip.

Hermione picked herself up off the ground for the umpteenth time that evening.

"You are clearly unfocused."

"I'm trying." Hermione said through gritted teeth.

Snape sighed and walked behind his desk to take a seat. "Return to your dormitory." He ordered, not glancing up.

Incredulous, Hermione strode forward. "What?!" She asked.

"You are obviously unfocused and you're just wasting my time tonight. There is no point in continuing this evening's lesson. Return to your quarters." He repeated.

Angry, Hermione snatched up her wand and stalked out of the Dungeons, her temper nearing a boiling point.

She couldn't blame Snape-her performance had indeed been poor. No, she blamed Harry for getting inside her head and causing her to have difficulty focusing. From now on, she wouldn't allow it.

Stomping through the Castle, Hermione furiously made her way to the Common Room, when she saw Harry and his mates in the middle of the room, chuckling. Her focus was suffering, and here he was, carelessly sitting on the back of the couch, having the time of his life. Narrowing her brown eyes, Hermione strode over to him. He stopped laughing when he saw her.

"Hello Hermione." He said calmly.

She could almost feel the steam blow out of her ears-perhaps there was.

Livid, she pushed him off the back of the couch and sent him toppling backwards. "Fuck you, Harry Potter." She spat before heading to the stairs, a smile crossing her face for the first time that day as a dumbfounded Harry just sat there, dazed from his tumble to the floor.

Ron offered Harry a hand to help him to his feet as the silent Common Room had their eyes on Harry.

"What was that?!" Draco asked with a scoff, glancing after Hermione, who had already disappeared from the room.

"That, mate, is Hermione's way of showing me she cares." Harry replied smoothly.

Ron snickered. "And how do you figure? That wasn't exactly what I would call a love tap." He pointed out.

Harry shrugged. "You've got to learn to read between the lines. She's a rather odd girl."

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

I see ya blowin' me a kiss
It doesn't take a scientist
To understand what's going on baby
If you see something in my eye
Let's not over analyze
Don't go too deep with it baby

It's just a little crush (crush)
Not like I faint every time we touch
It's just some little thing (crush)
Not like everything I do depends on you
Sha-la-la-la, Sha-la-la-la

"Crush" JENNIFER PAIGE

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

After the little mini fiasco in the Common Room, Hermione felt a lot better. She found that it cleared her head and she was able to concentrate on what was important-her schoolwork and the N.E.W.T.S. that were quickly approaching-which meant she was free to ignore Harry and his idiocy.

The incident had also given Harry even more faith. He had obviously gotten to her; he could tell. He just had to be stronger than her and wait it out. He was not going to be the one to fix this. He felt immature, but at the same time, his general principles were at stake.

Two weeks of Hermione's stubbornness had passed now. Harry had had to remind himself a few times that he would not go crawling back. The game for the Quidditch Cup was coming up in just a few months, so he doubled practices. Slytherin was in the lead, and they both had one last game. With Quidditch practice and all the extra homework due to their upcoming N.E.W.T.S., the time seemed to fly by as the beginning of March approached.

Hermione had her N.E.W.T.S. to keep her busy, and had barely given Harry a second thought.

That was a lie. Hermione thought about him quite often. Even the impending tests could not rid her mind of him.

She had thought of him in a friendly way. In a romantic way. Hell, even in a jealous way. She had seen a Ravenclaw Sixth Year try flirting with him-it had taken Madam Pomfrey a week to sort her eyebrows out.

Hermione sighed as she shut her book, Occlumency For The Advanced. Her lessons had taken a turn for the better. She could almost always stop Snape's advances into her mind in less than fifteen seconds.

She was proud of her progress to an extent-as she was slightly unhappy that it had taken so long for her to reach even this point. She still couldn't block him from her mind entirely. Feeling optimistic about her about her last lesson for the week, Hermione picked up her wand and headed out of her dormitory.

She walked swiftly through the Common Room, only stopping briefly to have a quick word with Ginny. As she was about to open the Portrait Hole, she was slightly startled when it opened before she could touch it and Harry stepped though, almost running into her. Both paused as they stood face-to-face.

"Hello, Hermione." Harry greeted with a half-smirk, Firebolt in hand and completely soaked from head to toe, due to the raging storm outside.

"Potter." She responded stiffly, stepping past him as she resisted the urge to lecture him about being drenched in the freezing weather.

Shaking off the surprise of meeting him at the Portrait Hole, Hermione easily checked her emotions and headed for the familiar Dungeons. She gave her usual quick, businesslike knock on the closed door, ready to begin her lesson. The door opened, revealing the Potions Master.

"Good evening, sir." Hermione greeted, stepping inside before coming to an abrupt stop. "Professor Dumbledore." She greeted again, surprised but nodding her head in acknowledgement of the tall wizard sitting comfortably in a chair Hermione was sure she had never seen in the Dungeons before.

"Miss Granger." He replied, standing and tilting his head to her.

Hermione gave an anxious laugh. "Should I come back?" She asked, casting a glance between the two professors.

A low rumble of laughter escaped the Headmaster. "Then we would be waiting longer. No, I am here to sit in on your lesson. I would just like to see where you stand thus far." He explained, settling himself once again in his large comfy chair that stuck out drastically from the rest of the dungeon décor, or lack thereof.

Hermione gave a nod of understanding as she felt nervousness overtake her. She wasn't able to completely block out Professor Snape's advances! And here was the Headmaster, trying to judge her progress.

Hermione tried to not show her uneasiness as she simply pushed up the sleeves of her hoodie and prepared herself for the inevitable attack on her mind.

"Let's get started, then, shall we?" Severus said, taking his place in front of her.

Hermione gave a nod to confirm her readiness as she masked her emotions.

"One-two-three-Legilimens!" Snape spoke, launching their lesson, but not before Hermione's mind went completely blank-and not in the way that was intended.

Her mind was immersed in flashes of memories before she could get a grip of the situation. It was as if everything she had learned thus far escaped her. She couldn't make heads-or-tails of anything as images-mostly recent ones of herself and Harry-jogged through her mind.

Unable to stop it, Hermione ended up like she had for the better part of their beginning lessons-crashing to her knees.

"I wasn't aware the unicorns in the Forbidden Forest were for student use, Miss Granger." Snape said with half a sneer.

Hermione's face was bright red from humiliation. She couldn't bear to look at the Headmaster, who chimed in happily, "Unicorns? Sounds delightful!"

"Again." Hermione gritted through her teeth, clutching her wand tightly.

She easily laced her fingers with his so their palms met. She looked up at his deep, green eyes. Such beautiful eyes. She smiled. She saw no pain there. "I promise." She whispered softly, squeezing his hand to reinforce her decision.

Harry leaned forward and cupped her face with one of his hands. After several seconds, he began to slowly lean even more into her until his lips were just above hers.

Harry and Hermione silently stared at each other for a few seconds before Harry reached out a hand and eased Hermione from behind the door and closer to him. His hand gently made its way under her chin, caressing it adoringly. Hermione closed her eyes as Harry gradually lowered his lips to hers for a second time that evening. Hermione's hands disappeared somewhere in his hair as his wrapped around her middle, pulling her even closer.

Hermione picked herself up off the floor for a second time. "Again." She demanded.

"Miss Granger-"

"Again!" She cried, tears welling up.

Hermione sneered, "Honestly, Harry, I don't need a bloody play-by-play."

Harry gave up and opened the door. "Fine. Whatever. Run away, again. That seems to be your trademark when things get rough anyway." He spat as Hermione rushed past him.

"You don't know anything about difficult. I do not run away." She battled defensively.

Harry let out a bitter laugh and rolled his eyes. "Keep telling yourself that. You run. You keep shit from me. You constantly push me away and build up walls around you to keep me out. If that's not running away, then I don't fucking know what is." Was all he said before turning around and walking away.

"You're being ridiculous!" Hermione hollered after him; however, he ignored her words and kept walking.

"GEEETTT OOUUUTTT!!!" Hermione screamed, tears burning her eyes as she regained control of her mind. She knelt there on the floor for several seconds before looking up to see both of the adults staring at her, surprised. She noticed the Potions Master was nursing his right elbow.

"I-I…" Hermione was at a loss for words before she slumped to the floor, ashamed. She felt the sudden urge to flee from the dungeon. "I'm sorry professor. I dunno what's come over me. I've been doing so well."

Dumbledore walked over to her and held out a hand to aid her in standing. Hermione gingerly took his help and stood, crossing her arms protectively across her chest, almost as if it would make her appear invisible. It took all she could not to run from the room.

"I do not doubt that. Perhaps you are nervous. Maybe we can try this another time. You look like you need some rest." Dumbledore replied gently, peering at her under his half-mooned spectacles.

Embarrassed and dispirited, Hermione did her best to nod in response, though it came out more as a half-hearted shrug.

"I have complete faith in you, Hermione," the headmaster assured her as his light blue eyes twinkled. "Well, I have some things that need attending to. Severus," He acknowledged, dipping his head, "And Miss Granger. I must bid you adieu. Excellent work and I appreciate the extra effort you both are putting into this." With that, the older man swept himself from their company, leaving Hermione alone with Snape.

Not wanting to linger, Hermione made quick work of fixing her messy ponytail before pocketing her wand. "Good night," Hermione said before making a beeline for the door.

Snape gave a cough. "How about you stay for a nightcap and humor me, Miss Granger?" Severus propositioned, inclining his head in the direction of his desk. "Do you prefer butterbeer served hot or cold?"

Without turning around, Hermione stammered slightly, "I think I should just get to bed. It's been a long, dreadful day." She insisted.

"You drive a hard bargain. I'll let you sit in the comfortable chair." He shot back, amusement playing in his dark eyes.

Hermione had to stifle a giggle. She knew it must have been hard for the man to banter like that. The Gryffindor turned slowly and made her way over to Dumbledore's vacant chair.

"Hot." She answered, conjuring up two steaming tankards of the amber liquid and sent one floating in his direction.

"I prefer it cold, actually." Snape said and Hermione watched as he gripped the levitating tankard and it glazed over with ice and the steam vanished at once. "Here's to progress." Snape said, raising his tankard and draining half of it before Hermione could lift her own.

"Progress." She repeated, taking a sip. "Which, I know, was not shown tonight." She said, readying herself for an earful. She must have made him look bad.

"I don't want to talk about tonight." He responded, surprising her. With almost a disgusted sigh, he continued, "I don't claim to be Claire Rayner -"

Hermione almost choked on her butterbeer. "You watch Claire Rayner?!" She asked skeptically, disbelief etched all over her face.

"I would not consider myself a fan-no. However, over the summer holidays, I have caught a glimpse here and there. Believe it or not, I do indulge in a few Muggle luxuries in my house on Spinner's End." Snape replied smoothly before taking another swig of his butterbeer, which Hermione noticed had refilled itself. "Anyway, as I was saying, I don't claim to be an overpaid agony aunt of any sorts, but it doesn't take a genius-not that I am insinuating that Rayner is a genius because I am not-to see that something is going on. Also, I won't lie-I'm not overly concerned. However, as a teacher, I am obligated to offer some sort of…solace." He finished, talking slowly.

Hermione raised an eyebrow in interest. "`Obligated to offer solace?'" She repeated incredulously. "Is that the sophisticated way Claire Rayner calls `being nosy?'" She snickered before she could stop herself.

Snape did not even try to hide his smirk. "Don't make me deduct points from Gryffindor for you cheek, Miss Granger."

Hermione rolled her eyes at his empty threat. "If I remember right, you are the one who called this late chat. I think I'm in the clear, no matter what I say." She shot right back daringly.

"Anyway," Snape continued, ignoring her remark, "as I am obligated to offer some sort of solace, if there is anything you need to talk about-I'm very busy and have things that need tended to so get on with it." He replied in a bored drawl.

Hermione looked affronted. "I don't even know what you want to talk about!"

"I know something is going on. Don't forget-I can see into your mind. It doesn't exactly take a Muggle scientist to get the gist of what is going on." He added lazily.

Hermione thought embarrassment ought to be flooding through her, but as she remembered the last time she had had a heart-to-heart with the Potions Master-or as much of a heart-to-heart a student (A Gryffindor no less!) could have with the miserable bloke-he had been forced to share his own humiliating past. However, Hermione did feel slightly uncomfortable. Pushing past her uneasiness, she gave a small shrug, "If you have such insight to my mind, then why are you asking me?" She asked warily.

"I told you I have things to do, if you are going to be difficult, then perhaps you should return to your dormitory." Snape advised, opening the drawer of his desk, as if to pull out his work that needed done.

With narrowed eyes, Hermione watched him shuffle though the drawer. "Harry and I had a row." She blurted out, not sure why she wanted to suddenly share this piece of information with the Potions Master. She was forced to remind herself of Snape's trust in her and their conversation about his grudge against Harry and his father, his unrequited love for Lily, and his past involving Voldemort. Their talk had seemed-on the surface at least-to make him feel better. Maybe, if he was willing to listen, this would make her feel better.

Snape did not look surprised. "One could have gathered this much. It has been easy to notice…slight differences in behavior, I'm afraid. Perhaps it is for the best." He replied without looking up and scribbling an angry note on a piece of homework he was looking over and scrawling a spiky D in the top right corner.

Hermione snorted. "Maybe. We…um…things…wow, this is actually weirder than I thought." She confessed, feeling her face burn.

Her professor, too, seemed to start to regret calling for this chat. "I know. There is no need to go into details. Unfortunately, I've had to witness it on more than one occasion-your rather disgusting displays of…affection." He finished with his voice low, slow, and full of repulsion.

For a moment, Hermione was at a loss for words. "Well, despite our attraction, I told him it wouldn't work out." She replied, wringing her hands in her lap nervously.

Snape tossed the finished homework into a new pile and pulled the next one to him. In a bored voice, he responded tonelessly, "Good for you. Couldn't agree more."

That was it? That was his solace? Deciding to continue despite her professor's obvious lack of interest concerning her love life, she went on, "Er…he doesn't agree and we both said some things that turned into a rather nasty row. Now, we haven't spoken in weeks." Hermione finished somewhat depressingly, choosing not to include details of what was said between the two.

"You are better off for it, trust me." Snape said unsurprisingly. "Even an insufferable know-it-all like you can do better than the likes of Potter. Just like Lily-lowering your standards for a Quidditch star fool." He recalled with evident bitterness that he couldn't mask in his voice. It was clear romantic advice was not his forte.

Her single encounter with Harry's mother came to mind and she unconsciously gave a shiver. "Nothing against Harry's mum, but I really don't think there is anything we have in common." She laughed.

Professor Snape finally looked up from his grading for the first time since their awkward conversation started, his black eyes studying her as if she had at last said something decently interesting. "You'd be surprise." He said with a raised eyebrow. "Let's just hope you don't make the same dismal mistakes concerning your company."

Hermione's joking demeanor came to an abrupt end. "I was only kidding but you sound…serious." She replied uncertainly. "She and I are nothing alike."

He gave her another calculating look. "There are notable similarities. Both Muggle-Born. Both exceptionally annoying know-it-alls. Gryffindors. Kind-hearted. Not an ounce of athleticism…lovely emerald eyes…beautiful…"He trailed off, his voice barely above a whisper with his glazed over eyes staring somewhere above Hermione's head.

Hermione wasn't sure what to say. It was obvious the bloke in front of her was reminiscing about his school crush, or love rather. She certainly didn't have green eyes nor did she think he found her particularly beautiful. It was weird to think of him falling for a woman like her. From what she knew of each of them, they were polar opposites. The only commonality between the two seemed to be their skills at potions (as Harry had told him his mother was fierce at potion-making). However, listening to him talk about her, Hermione could see that he truly did love this woman.

Snape suddenly stopped as he realized what he had been saying. "Not to mention," his voice taking on a hardened, cold tone, "Ensnared by the likes of James Potter-and his clone of a son. The Great Harry Potter, or so to those few who do know of his past." He gave a sarcastic snort of disbelief. "However, those who do know him can obviously see there is nothing extraordinary about his at all." He said all this with his lip curling in utter dislike.

An internal battle waged inside of Hermione, as she wasn't sure if she wanted to defend Harry or incline to agree that he was in fact a total prat. Talking with Ginny about how much of an idiot Harry was was one thing as they both still had a decent liking for the bloke and they half-knew their words were somewhat empty. Their anger was just fueling a (hopefully) temporary situation. Snape, however, was completely genuine concerning his hatred for the boy, and Hermione felt almost wrong to agree with him as she certainly didn't loath Harry at all. Yes, she was a little more frustrated at the moment than usual, as she partially blamed him for her dismal performance in front of the headmaster. She tried to convince herself she had messed up so because of Harry's behavior. Deep down, however, she knew it wasn't his fault at all-it was just much easier to blame him rather than her own shortcomings.

Finally, Hermione felt that her loyalty to Harry outweighed her anger with him. "As compelling as your argument against him is, that isn't exactly why we aren't…er…on speaking terms with each other at the moment. In reality, he is actually a top notch bloke." She confessed with a small note of bitterness in her voice.

Her professor made some sort of scoffing sound somewhere in his throat.

Hermione was beginning to reevaluate exactly why she had wanted to talk to him in the first place. She should have known he would be of no help; after all, the Potions Master had nothing but contempt for Harry and never missed a chance to prove it. Also, this little chat wasn't making her feel even the least bit better.

She sat there for a full minute of near silence; the only sound was Snape's quill scratching vehemently against the parchment of homework. After a few more beats of not speaking, Hermione decided continuing this conversation was completely pointless, and she certainly had some studying she could do that would be a better use of her time. She stood and cleared her throat loudly, "Well, I suppose I better head off-homework to do." She said uncomfortably.

Snape only looked up and acknowledged her briefly before returning to his essay.

"Er…good-bye then." She said, and then hurried from the room, feeling her evening had perhaps been wasted.

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"Potter! Weasley! Malfoy! See me after class." Professor McGonagall's sharp voice snapped, as her beady eyes half-glared at them through her squared spectacles.

The three Gryffindor boys looked up, two of them at least trying to appear innocent and not as if the three of them had been having a serious tournament of rock-paper-scissors, complete with score keeping. Ron, however, had the incapability of passing up an opportunity of being a complete arse whenever said opportunity presented itself. "Sorry, professor, did you want in on this?" He asked, feigning a look of concern. Draco did not even try to hide smacking Ron in the back of the head.

Harry never realized just how much his Transfiguration professor could resemble a dragon when her nostrils flared like the way they were now. He would not have been surprised to see flames shooting from them.

As the rest of the class made their way to lunch, looking slightly put out and vaguely wondering how long they would be spending in detention for their class disruption and Ron's cheek, the Gryffindors trooped up to their Head's desk, readying themselves for the inevitable punishment that would be dished their way.

"Sorry, Professor." They mumbled apologetically, trying their best to look sincere.

The Transfiguration professor's eyes narrowed dangerously. "I cannot force the three of you to take your N.E.W.T.S. seriously, but I implore you to see the significance of your upcoming exams as they are the key to the guidance of your futures. I cannot impress upon you enough the degree of their importance." She stood silent for a moment, surveying her pupils, before giving them a wary look. "However, that is not why I have called you back here. Professor Dumbledore wishes to have an evening of entertainment of sorts, as the time of exams is drawing nearer." As she said this, she looked as if she did not think much of the headmaster's plans. "He has wished for me to extend an invitation for you to play a few appropriate musical numbers in the Great Hall." She finished, her mouth a thin line.

Hardly daring to believe their luck, the three boys all tried to answer her at once.

"Of course!"

"Sounds bloody brilliant."

"Hell yes!"

Everyone turned to look at Ron, whose eyebrows shot up. "Er…professor." He quickly added.

Professor McGonagall glared reprovingly at the red-head.

"Sorry, professor. Er…it's just an expression. It's actually how the American wizards say `of course' in a very polite manner. Just trying to bring a bit of culture." Ron hastily tried to explain; though, it was plain the Transfiguration professor did not believe a single word.

She straightened her square spectacles. "Well, Mr. Weasley, I would prefer if you would keep your foreign exploits to yourself, and must discourage you from bringing anymore of your colorful culture to Hogwarts." She advised.

Ron nodded. "Of course, professor. I understand-not everyone is ready for that sort of change. Personally, I see no shame in those rutted in the Stone Age. I think it shows wisdom, meself." He added with a charming smile.

Harry may have been wrong, but he could have sworn he saw the smallest hint of a smile grace her lips-of her mouth looked less thing, anyhow. "The headmaster would like to hold the event in a few weeks. I will inform you of the details later. You may go." She told them dismissively.

As they made a beeline for the door, their professor called after them, "You won't allow this to interfere with your Quidditch practice, I expect, Potter?" She asked sternly.

Harry grinned. He knew the upcoming match was just as important to her as it was to him. "Of course not, professor-nor with my studying for my N.E.W.T.S." He assured her.

"Naturally." She responded, though it was evident the exams certainly weren't on her mind, for once.

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"I swear, Weasley, you're the only one who can give cheek, swear at, then insult McGonagall and not get a detention." Draco scoffed, half-disgusted, half-impressed.

"I believe the expression is animal magnetism." Ron replied fondly, taking a rather large bite of his steak-and-kidney pie.

"More like being groomed by Fred and George. I was sure we were going to get a month's worth of detentions." Draco continued, shaking his head and looking over at Harry, who was unusually quiet.

Harry, however, was lost to the entire conversation. Hermione had just stalked past. There was no more denying it. He missed her very much and it was becoming increasingly difficult to continue this battle of wills with her. He was beginning to think the whole thing was stupid, and really, in the end, would it really matter who came groveling back to whom?

Draco followed Harry's gaze and had to suppress a bored eye roll. "Anyway," He said loudly, capturing some of Harry's attention, "How about this gig coming up, eh? Should be fun."

Harry finally tore his eyes away from Hermione, who, he had a sneaking suspicion, knew he had been watching her. "Should be." He replied, tucking into his own lunch feeling more depressed than he thought he ought to be.

Can we pretend that airplanes
In the night sky
Are like shooting stars
I could really use a wish right now

Wish right now, wish right now

"AIRPLANES" B.O.B.

Please review! Tell me what you think!!!!!!!!!!

P.S.-> The song Harry sings is "Why Don't You And I" By Santana and Chad Kroger. I obviously do not own anything about it. Also, him singing-ish "Upendi" is a song from The Lion King 2. Great song, haha.

Brooke

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