Hiya there! Yes, I'm still among the living. Did you guys hear the good news? I bet you guys did... I AM SO BLOODY EXCITED!!!!! I can barely wait for July 21!!!
Uhmm, sorry. I wanted to thank you guys for your awesome reviews. I had this chapter a week ago as I promised, but my computer crashed and I had to get a friend to save my files from my hard disk. I'm sorry it took so long!!!
Please, oh please, keep the reviews coming!!! I read every single one of them. I tried to reply to all you guys, but I just couldn't mange with all the chaos from saving the chapter, getting another computer, and then I had to juggle with all the pounds of homework that my professors keep assigning everyday. Sometimes I even feel that they're as bad as Snape. Lol. Oh, well, hopefully you got my point.
On with the story! READ AND REVIEW!!!!!
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Best Friends
Chapter 8
By Rodare
"Do you hear that?" Lavender asked cutting Parvati's muttering off. Parvati stopped and looked around as she strained to hear. Sure enough, they could hear voices coming from the side hall that they had just passed. Lavender frowned as she heard two familiar voices arguing softly. "Isn't that Hermione?"
"Harry!" Hermione complained loudly as they finally turned the bend with Harry pulling on her arm as she tried to fake complaints.
"Why are you two wearing the same thing?" Parvati asked without preamble as they spotted the two best friends. Harry had a wide smile in place and Hermione was glaring softly.
"Good morning to you too, Vati," Hermione answered with a roll of her eyes. Lavender frowned; there was something different about her friend that she couldn't quite place. She blinked as Hermione turned to her. "Morning, Lav."
"Morning, Herms," Lavender said and Hermione flinched at the hated nickname. Lavander turned to Harry and she noticed that his charming lopsided smile was still in place. There was something that wasn't right and she couldn't figure out what it was. "Morning, Harry."
"Morning," Harry said with a grin. Lavender gasped and she covered her mouth with her hands. It couldn't be! No, no, no, no! They wouldn't! Would they? Oh, Merlin, Dumbledore, and Morgana! "Lavender? What's wrong?"
"Lav," Hermione and Parvati said rushing toward the other who had gone pale and was shaking her head in a negative gesture. She turned to look at Hermione with wide eyes, and Hermione felt something cold drop in the pit of her stomach; She knows!
"I…I," Lavender said and in a second her mind was made. She couldn't say anything. Not there, not now. Hermione was one of her best friends and she wasn't going to betray her. Besides, for all she knew, all she was doing was imagining things that didn't even exist. Yes, that was it; she was just letting her over imaginative mind go down the gutter. "It's nothing. I just remembered that I forgot to buy my mother a Christmas present."
"What?" Parvati asked with a frown. Hermione looked at her silently and their eyes met for a second. "But, Christmas is ages from now."
"Oh, you know me," Lavender said dismissively. "I always want to shop ahead of time. You never know what might happen. I could get ill or something and then what would I do?"
"I guess," Parvati said looking at her as if she was mental. She shrugged and turned back to goggle at the other two. "So? You never answered my question?"
"It was an accident," Harry said and Hermione glared at him. Lavender watched and suddenly she knew that she must be imagining things. Those two were always acting more like a married couple than like two best friends. The Hogwarts air must be doing them well. Everyone else woke up feeling chirpier than ever. Even though, they had all being wasted the night before, they all had gotten up early, not as early as the Trio but soon enough, especially on a Saturday.
"Yes and this git didn't want to go up and change," Hermione muttered fighting the grin that wanted to escape her lips.
She had to be careful. People usually took the gorgeous blond as an airhead, but Hermione knew better. You could never trust a book by its cover and Lavender Brown was not the exception. She had seen the questions in her deep, blue eyes, and she had also seen her push those thoughts away quickly. Lavender had become her friend during the war and they were close. Hermione had learned that there was more than her looks to Lavender, much in the way that she had discovered her friendship with Luna. It was more out of loyalty than anything was that had caused her friend to dismiss those thoughts.
"And, why should I?" Harry asked with his killer smile still in place. "You could've changed if you wanted to."
"But, I didn't want to," Hermione answered him. "That was the whole point. You should have changed to act as a gentleman."
"Krum would've changed," Parvati muttered and for the first time in the last minutes Harry's smile disappeared and he stuck his tongue out at Parvati who chuckled. He glared, Hermione and Lavender grinned at each other, both forgetting their earlier thoughts.
"Fine, be like that," Harry said, with a small adorable pout. Hermione could feel her lips tingle in need to kiss him, and she quickly averted her gaze before the other two could notice. "I won't take you to anymore balls from now on."
"Git!" Parvati said hitting his arm playfully. Harry grinned cheekily and the other two laughed. He turned to them and raised his eyebrow.
"What?" Lavender asked. "You still have to take me and Herms out. Until then you can't threaten us."
"Yeah," Harry said and Hermione was the only one that noticed the regret in his voice. Hermione smiled and took Lavender's hand before she walked up to him.
"Come on, Potter," she said with a grin as their eyes locked and thousands of words were said with a gaze. "You can escort me and Miss Brown down to breakfast. You can start making amends on us now."
"It'll be my pleasure, Miss Granger," Harry said knowing what her words really meant. She couldn't hold all those years wasted against him, but she knew that he was blaming himself anyway, so, she was allowing him to do it anyways. "Miss Brown."
He grinned and took a girl in each arm. Lavender laughed and he nudged her with his elbow playfully. Hermione chuckled and snuggled almost unconsciously against his side.
"What am I?" Parvati muttered darkly. "Chopped liver?"
"No Bulgarians around here, Par," Harry said glancing back at her with an evil twinkle in his eyes. Hermione pinched his side and he yelped. "Ow!"
"Be nice," Hermione admonished him. He grunted something unintelligible under his breath. "Behave, Harry."
"Well, come on then," he said after a second extending his hand around Lavender's shoulder. He grinned at Parvati as she moved next to Lavender. They both laughed and nudged each other as he settled his arm around both shoulders. He pulled his other arm from Hermione's grasp and he wrapped it around her lovingly. She grinned up at him and he kissed her forehead softly. "I'm going to be the envy of every single bloke around here."
"You're always the envy of every single bloke, Harry," Hermione said matter-of-factly.
"Yeah," Lavender said grinning. "You're famous, rich, handsome, and a hero."
"You're what every guy wants to be," Parvati finished. Harry laughed as he rubbed his palm up and down Hermione's arm unconsciously. Hermione snuggled tighter against his side as she heard his baritone laugh. It sent pleasant shivers down her spine.
"Why you girls are making me blush," he said still chuckling.
They laughed and talked idly as they made their way towards the Great Hall. Hermione moved herself away from the crook of his body unwillingly as they reached the doors. Harry noticed it but he kept his arm around her shoulder. She looked up at him and reassured him with a small nod. He kissed her forehead again, and once again, it went unnoticed by their companions who were intent in their giggling about something.
As soon as they entered the Great Hall, they were met with a wave of memories. It was completely different then the night before. Last night, it had been unrecognizable, much more than during the Yule Ball, but now it looked as if they were back in time. There were people sitting in each of the four resized House tables. They were smaller since only sixth and seventh years from their school years were there along with a few especial guests, but they looked the same.
People looked around and their eyes followed their process. Harry shook his head. Some things never changed. He felt Hermione tense slightly as they heard a couple of whispered mutterings about her wearing his Quidditch jacket. Harry glared toward the offending Hufflepuffs and the muttering stopped.
"Oy, where you two been?" Ron asked in greeting as he noticed the commotion around him. Harry grinned wiggling his eyebrows up and down and cocking his head to each of his side playfully, and Ron met his grin with one of his own. Ron laughed loudly raising his glass of pumpkin juice to Harry, and Hermione rolled his eyes. "You're my hero, mate! You're an inspiration to us all! No less than three, eh?"
"Ugh," Hermione said slapping the back of Ron's head as she sat next to him. "You're mental. Get your mind out of the gutter."
"Oy!" Ron said rubbing the back of his head as he glared at her. "It ain't as if Harry wasn't thinking the same thing, you know."
"I have no idea what he is referring to, Mione," Harry said. He sat in front of her next to Neville who was staring into his teacup as if it held all the secrets of the world. Lavender and Parvati sat on Neville's other side.
"Where's Luna?" Hermione asked as she began to load two plates with food as she always did. Harry meanwhile poured two glasses of pumpkin juice without thinking about it. She settled one of the plates in front of Harry and took the juice he was handing her without even thinking about it. "I thought you went to get her."
"She left with Gin a few minutes ago," Ron said between bites making Hermione grimace at the sight. She rolled her eyes and settled his napkin on his lap with a wave of her hand. Harry grinned as she did the same for him without breaking stride. She placed her own on her lap carefully before Ron could manage another bite. "They were going to say 'hi' to some of their fiends. They'll be back in a few."
"Do you two even notice that you do that?" Colin asked unexpectedly and the Trio turned toward him. He was sitting a couple of seats away from them. He looked at Hermione and then at Harry pointedly. He waved his hands a bit as if to explain better. "Fix each other breakfast and stuff."
"Oh," Hermione said looking surprised. "We've been doing it for nine years, Colin. It's a bit of a habit now. We no longer notice it."
"I think it's pretty awesome," Dennis piped in and Colin laughed. Hermione smiled as the two brothers turned back to their own friends.
"Why are you two wearing the same thing, anyhow?" Ron asked and Hermione sighed as Harry explained.
"Herms?" Lavender called from Neville's side. She turned to her as Harry and Ron began reminiscing about Quidditch. Lavender pushed a piece of paper toward her and Hermione saw a wax seal with the Malfoy Family coat of arms. "Malfoy went to look for you last night. He was pretty insistent but Ginevra didn't want to bother you for his sake. He left that for you. He told us to give it to you before breakfast but we forgot. Sorry."
"What the bloody hell does that git want with you?" Ron asked roughly, as Hermione took the note and thanked Lavender. The others turned to her and waited in silence for her to open it. "Is he trying something funny with you?"
"What is your problem, Ronald?" Hermione asked coolly as she raised her eyebrow slightly at him.
Neville broke out of his reverie and decided to stay as still as possible hoping that Hermione would not notice him. Harry did the same and held his breath even though he wanted the same answer that Ron was looking for. He knew even better than Neville, that she was a dangerous person to cross when she was in a good mood, but it was just suicide when she had that glint in her eyes. Sadly, Ron was one of the few people who dared push their luck with her.
"My problem?" Ron asked incredulously and pointed his fork at her. "I have no bloody problem. The only problem is Malfoy. I don't like him all over you."
"It's only my business whom I want all over me, Ronald," Hermione cut him off. She hated it when he attempted to control her life. "Whether it's Malfoy or not does not…"
"So, you do want him all over you?" Harry asked despite himself. There was bitterness in his voice, which the others interpreted as brotherly concern, but Hermione knew better. Hermione turned sharply to him and their eyes met. "Is that it, Hermione?"
"Harry, that's not what I meant," Hermione began but he shrugged and looked down at his plate. She bit her lip slightly in frustration. She wanted to explain that he had misunderstood, but she couldn't very well claim her love for him in front of everyone else. Not until he had broken up with Ginny. By Merlin, did she want to. "Harry…"
"Aren't you going to open it?" he asked looking up at her. She saw hurt, anger, and jealousy in his hypnotic green eyes, but there was also a glint of a challenge in them, as if daring her to do different. She glared at him for a second longer and she could feel the eyes of all of their friends focused on them.
"That's rather obvious, isn't it?" she said in a dangerously sweet voice that made even Ron raise his eyebrows at them. "How else would I find out what Draco wants?"
"You're not the smartest witch of the age for nothing," Harry answered scarily calmly. He managed a cool, false smile that didn't even get near to reaching his eyes.
"Uhmm," Hermione said with a cold smile of her own. Lavender, Parvati, Neville, and Ron shuddered. She looked vicious when she smiled like that. The fact that they knew exactly what she was capable of doing did not exactly help matters. She opened the seal carefully and straightened the piece of paper.
Morning Gorgeous,
I hope you had pleasant dreams. I wish you would grace me with your company this morning for breakfast at the Slytherin table. There are things I wish to discuss with you in private. Things that only concern you and me.
Draco Malfoy,
Lord of the Honorable House of Malfoy.
Hermione bit her lip and glanced at the Slytherin table. Draco was not there and she frowned wondering why he was late. He was a morning person and was usually one of the first to rise for breakfast. Unless, his habits had changed in a year, there was no reason for him not to be there yet.
"Well?" Ron asked unable to be patient. Harry was glad for having been saved the trouble. Hermione turned to him and handed him the note. Ron took it and his ears began turning red. He turned and glared at Hermione as he thrust the letter at Harry. "Bloody git."
At that moment Seamus and Dean walked in followed by Luna and Ginny. Fred and George came after them with Angelina and Katie laughing loudly. A few seconds behind them, Draco walked in dressed in black slacks and a button down blood red shirt. He was accompanied by none other than Viktor Krum, behind them where a bunch of girls about Ginny's and Luna's age, giggling and blushing madly. Draco looked as if he wanted nothing but curse them, but he merely ignored them.
The Gryffindors, and Luna, made their way toward them cheerily. Draco looked directly at Hermione and as their eyes met, he gave her a slight nod. She nodded and he began to make his way toward her. He felt Krum beside him, follow, and he glared a bit. Harry felt his jaw clench and he crushed Malfoy's letter in his hand. Harry glared at Hermione but she looked away from him as she saw Ginny walking up to him. Harry glanced up at the red head as she took a seat beside him
"Hey, darling," Ginny said a bit awkwardly as she kissed his cheek. Harry managed a smile, but he stole a quick glance at the brunette in front of him, Hermione was greeting Luna and she was intent in not looking at him. Ginny noticed this but said nothing.
"Look, Gred," George told his twin as they stood behind Hermione who looked up them. "Harry and Hermione want to be like us!"
"Hermione is a very hot impression of you, brother," Fred answered with a smirk and Hermione rolled her eyes as she turned back to mutter Ginny a greeting.
The red head nodded and smiled slightly, but Harry noticed there was a strain to her posture and he wondered what she had thought of seeing them asleep together. He sighed knowing he would have to talk to her soon and tell her that he couldn't keep their relationship going anymore. He had to tell her that he was in love with Hermione.
"I think she is you, Gred," George said with a slight shake of his head. "Harry is obviously portraying the stronger, heroic brother."
"Indeed," Fred agreed with a smirk, "which means he is me, Forge."
"It was an accident," Hermione cut in curtly. The twins raised their eyebrows at Harry behind Hermione's back mouthing What?, and Harry shrugged.
"Hermione?" Viktor Krum called to her and she turned to face the two newcomers. She gave a frustrated yell in her own mind. Morgana, she was not made for this. Draco smirked at her as if he could read her thoughts, so, she ignored him.
"Good morning, Viktor," she said managing a smile. She felt Fred and George place their hands softly in her shoulders and she felt the urge to shrug them off but stopped herself. They were letting their Weasley genes get to them, but since these two, were the only ones that only protected her while not disrupting her life or attempting to order her around, she let it go.
"Are you alright?" Draco asked before the Bulgarian could respond. Harry, Ron, and Krum glared.
"I'm fine," Hermione answered and she fought back the blush that was threatening to show. She could feel Harry's green gaze on her as if his eyes could see into her soul and she wasn't even looking at him. She licked her lips unconsciously and looked up to meet Draco's cool, grey eyes.
"You received my letter, I presume?" Draco asked in that drawl of his. Hermione nodded and before she could speak, he smiled at her. "Well?"
"Alright," she said after hesitating for a second. Draco smirked a bit but moved back as she stood up.
"Where are you going?" Harry asked and everyone blinked as he unconsciously grabbed her by the elbow before she could move away from his reach. Hermione turned back to him with wide surprised eyes as she felt the restraint of his touch. Her eyes met his and she was astounded to see barely contained anger in them.
"Mate?" Ron asked nervously. Harry didn't even look at him, and everyone seemed to feel the tension in the air.
"What it is it to you, Potter?" Draco asked with his smirk still in place as he grabbed Hermione's free arm gently. "Hermione is an unchained woman, you know? Your girlfriend is the one sitting next to you."
"You bloody bastard," Harry growled as he stood up. Before anyone saw him move, he was up and he had his wand pointed at Draco. Malfoy straightened his neck but did not back down.
"Harry!" Hermione, Ron, Ginny, and Luna said at the same time as Draco smirked, right back at Harry.
"Careful, Harry," Draco continued calmly as he fixed the lapels of his shirt. He looked up from his task and he looked from Harry's face toward Ginny, as everyone held his or her breath. "One would think that I hit a sore point."
"Stop it!" Hermione said and Ron cursed under his breath. She drew her own wand and pointed it at Harry, moving as blindingly fast as Harry had moments before. "Lower your wand, Harry."
"Or what?" Harry asked dangerously. Hermione didn't even flinch but everyone else was as confused as ever. No one but the two of them knew the meaning behind Harry's sudden anger. "You'll hex me?"
"Don't try me," Hermione answered menacingly.
Ron gulped but he had no idea what the bloody hell was going on. Sure, he didn't like the idea of Draco, but Harry couldn't act like that. Harry had a girlfriend to respond to, unless… He looked at both of his best friends as sudden realization hit him like a punch in the gut. He sat down heavily and he glanced up at the bright, blue-eyed gaze of his girlfriend. Luna gave a small nod, and he paled. Oh, Merlin, what on earth was he going to do?
He had suspected that his best friends felt something for each other even before he and Hermione had tried to be more than friends, but he had pushed it to the back of his mind. He had been in denial back then, but when Harry had started to date Ginny, he had dismissed the thought completely. Oh, Merlin, Ginny… He looked up at his sister and saw her staring down at her hands. She was clutching a napkin and her knuckles were white, and he knew with painful certainty that she knew too, or at least she was starting to understand.
He wanted to be angry, but he couldn't. If there was someone in the world who deserved to search for true love, then it was Harry. As much as he loved his sister he knew deep down that she had never been in love with Harry, she was in love with the idea of him. He looked up at his other best friend who had grown up to be gorgeous, and he knew that he had at one time felt the same exact thing for her, as her sister felt for Harry. Those two made one believe in things that no one else could, and by being greater than life, they made it impossible not to desire to have a little of what they were.
"Let her go, mate," Ron said reaching up to grab Harry's extended wand-arm. Harry glanced down at him, and for a second Ron thought that he would jerk away. Harry sighed and with a clenched jaw, he stuffed his wand back into the front pocket of his sweatshirt.
Ron looked up at Hermione as Harry sat back down stiffly and stabbed his eggs angrily with his fork. Hermione was watching him with conflicting emotions ready to burst out of her. Ron reached up to touch her hand as Harry was refusing to look up at anyone. Hermione jumped a bit, but only he noticed since everyone was now pretending that their plates of food contained all the secrets of the world. Go, he mouthed to her. She bit her lip a bit, and with a grateful look at Ron, she turned and left with the awaiting Slytherin.
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"Hermione?" Draco asked. They had been sitting for almost ten minutes in silence. She was staring at Harry's back with so much concentration that he wondered how he hadn't gotten a bloody hole by now. She blinked and he could almost see her pulling herself out of the deep confines of her mind.
"Yes?" she asked sounding distant.
"We came to talk, remember?" he said with a bit of annoyance. She looked at him for a second before she nodded and he wondered what she seemed to be searching for in his eyes. "What?"
"You don't- you have no personal…interest in me," she said watching him closely. "Do you, Draco?"
"You mean, you're wondering whether I fancy you?" he asked fighting back his automatic grin. She nodded and he grinned. "Sure I fancy you. There is no guy here who doesn't. You're bloody hot for a bookworm."
"But…" she said as she went pale. He pouted a bit, that was not the reaction he got from girls. They usually blushed and flustered, but they never looked as if Voldy had shown up from the netherworld for the fucking fiftieth time.
"I said you're hot," Draco said again and a Ravenclaw that was going past them widened her eyes and glanced at Hermione with unconstrained curiosity. Perhaps, Hermione had not heard him the first time.
"I heard you," Hermione answered with a shrug. He pouted more and sighed. "I just don't get what in Morgana's name you're doing."
"That's why I wanted to talk to you," he answered. "I- I'm in l-love."
"What?" Hermione asked in automatic panic. Harry and Ron turned toward her instantly as if they were ready to run to her rescue. She managed a small forced smile. Ron looked at her as if she was barmy and Harry frowned at her. Then Harry turned sharply around as if he had just remembered that he was mad at her. She sighed a bit then she turned her attention back at Draco. "What do you mean you're in love? You couldn't even stand me a year ago, now you're in love with me? Are you insane?"
"Hermione, I said you were hot and I sure would not mind shagging you senseless one of these days," Draco said in his irritatingly calm drawl. Hermione blushed and looked down at her glass juice, before she looked up at him again to wait for the rest of his speech. "But, I'm not in love with you."
"Thank, Merlin," she said sounding awfully grateful of the fact. She saw Draco pout and she smiled at him a bit. She reached for his hand and he grinned at her as they squeezed each other's hand for a second, knowing full well that this was very uncharacteristic of him. "You know I didn't mean it like that. I would have been honored. I'm feeling rather upset and disillusioned at the moment. Are you rather sure it isn't I, you are endlessly in love with?"
"I am very sorry," Draco said without losing his smirk. Hermione rolled her eyes at him and he chuckled. She chuckled gently back letting go of his hand as she took another sip from her drink.
"Prat," she said and he only grinned more. She raised an eyebrow and moved her glass toward him in a signal to continue. "So? When are you going to tell me who's the lucky girl? Oh, and I also wan to know how I play in all of this."
"I …look, I don't know how it happen, but…" he sighed as he smoothed his white-blond hair back even when it didn't need smoothing. The gesture reminded her of a less controlled reaction of nervousness from a black-haired man that usually just messed up his hair more instead of attempting to make it faultless. "Okay, I do know when. It was during the last battle. I …well you know exactly how everyone felt that I was going to turn my back on Po-Harry again, and to tell you the truth I began to doubt myself when everyone else did. Then when I saw the way you refused to leave Harry's side even when you were hurt, well…I -I realized that I wanted to feel what that would feel like. I wanted to know what it felt to actually have someone love you so deeply. I wanted to know how it felt to have someone trust you for once. In that moment something inside of me broke, a wall that had stood there just collapsed, and then…There was one person who fought by my side when the rest shunned me, one person who even if only slightly believed in me."
"Ginevra," Hermione whispered as if saying it too loudly would break the charm that was making the blond talk. "She offered to be your partner during the battle, after Harry said that I could come along only if I stayed by his side. No one else trusted you."
"Yes," Draco said with a sigh that was uncharacteristic of him and yet felt more real than any of his smirks. "I thought that she was doing it to make Harry and the others mad after she got replaced by you, but she told me I was wrong. She said she knew that everything depended in Harry and you, and that she really did not find me as annoying as before. She said I couldn't be all-bad. I was still trying to figure out whether or not I was going to risk my life, when she ran out into the battlefield. I followed her blindly, and we saved each other's lives more than once. Since then I couldn't ignore her anymore. There are parts of the dark that appeal to Ginevra, power and control, for one. Yet, she is not consumed by it and I found myself attracted to that. For a year, now I been falling in love with someone who doesn't even know I'm there. For a year now, I've been coveting Potter's girl.
"I'm not a self-less person, Hermione, you know that," he continued as she digested his words. "I can't take it anymore. I've watched Harry and I've watched you, and I know that the stupid git is as much in love with you as you are with him. So, I'm going to help you make him realize it because only than can I try something with Ginevra."
"Her relationship with Harry kept you from it?" she asked and he laughed softly.
"I don't fight battles that are lost before they began, Hermione," he answered. "If I tried anything before either of the three of you were ready to realize the truth then I would have destroyed my chances. There are times in life when there is nothing you can do, but wait. Well, I'm done with waiting and by your lack of outrage at my words than I know that you are ready. So, what do you think?"
"I think you are insane," Hermione answered half-heartedly. He chuckled but waited and she looked up into his grey eyes. "I've never allowed myself to hope for Harry to love me romantically. I knew he loved me, but last night I realized that a part of me did wait for him to…realize that I'm not his…sister. Nine years, Draco, don't you think I'm done waiting too?"
"That's the answer I was hoping for," Draco said with a smirk. He opened his mouth to explain his plan but she raised her hand to keep him from speaking.
"I-uhmm, well, the things is…Harry already knows how I feel," she said with a bit of difficulty for words that was very uncharacteristic of hers. Draco stared at her dumbfounded, and she took a sip of her drink before she continued. "We-uhmm, we kissed this morning."
"Bloody hell," Draco said with a wide smirk. Hermione was glad that she wasn't eased into openhearted talks as Draco thought she was. She couldn't imagine the width of his smirk if he found out exactly what had happened between Harry and her. "Who would have thought? So, is he going to break up with Ginevra?"
"I…" Hermione began but she looked up as no other than the man in question came up behind Draco with a scowl in his handsome face. "Harry, is anything wrong?"
"Uhmm, I hate to interrupt, but Ron and the others are starting a Quidditch game, and they wanted to see if you guys wanted to join us," Harry said in a cool voice devoid of emotion. He looked away from Draco's smirk and his eyes finally met Hermione's waiting gaze, and he sighed so softly that no one that wasn't looking for a sign of weakness would ever have noticed. "I packed your broom in my stuff, Mione. You want to go up and get it? You can finally show Ron that you can fly."
"Uhmm," Hermione said standing up quickly without letting her gaze stray away from Harry's. "Can I go with you then?"
"Yeah," Harry said and he managed to erase the scowl away from his face. He couldn't stop the smile that escaped his lips as Hermione smiled up at him a bit. "Come on."
"I got to change," Draco said with a grin. Things couldn't possibly be better in his favor, and that made him awfully happy. "Then we can see if you still got it, Harry."
"I always beat you, Draco," Harry said as Hermione came around the table to take his hand. "You know better."
"We'll see," Draco said with a leer. He knew that what Harry was talking about had nothing to do with Quidditch, since Harry seemed to freeze as Draco glanced at Hermione slightly. "See you guys down at the pitch in twenty minutes."
"Alright," Harry said as he pulled Hermione after him. Draco mouthed 'Good luck!' at her. Hermione stuck her tongue out at him before she turned and followed Harry out of the almost empty Great Hall. Apparently, everyone was getting ready for the game. Official or not a Quidditch game at Hogwarts always drew a crowd. "It was Krum's idea."
"Huh?" Hermione asked as they climbed the stairs that led up to Gryffindor Tower.
"The game," Harry explained. Hermione nodded and then she glanced down at their intertwined fingers. Harry noticed and he brought her fingers up to his lips as they entered through a hidden corridor that led straight up to the tower. She followed his movements with her eyes an bit her lip nervously.
"Are you mad at me?" she finally asked before he could ask her what was wrong.
"I was," Harry said with a shrug. Hermione cocked her head to the side as she looked at him.
"Past tense?" she asked again and he nodded as he avoided her eyes. "What made you change your mind?"
"Your smile," he answered sincerely. Hermione blushed and looked down at her feet, but a second later, she hugged him tightly in one of her bear hugs. He laughed gently and hugged her tightly back. He sobered up as she kissed his chest before letting her head rest against him as they walked. "I'm sorry I was a git back there. I had no right to be jealous, especially since I can't lay a claim on you until I break it up with Ginny."
"You had no reason, Harry," she answered softly, "but you had the right. You claimed my heart years ago."
"I…really?" he asked with an almost child-like hint of hopefulness. She stopped walking so she could meet his eyes properly, before nodding. He grinned feeling his insides swell in a happiness that he had never felt before, or even thought he could ever feel. "Mione?"
"Yes, Harry?" she asked. He seemed to gulp before he passed his hands through his hair in that adorable way of his. He reached down and took her hands, which she realized with surprise that they were cold and clammy, in an almost vice-like grip as he locked his hypnotic green eyes on her own. Hermione couldn't have looked away even if she wanted to, and his actions made her dread what he was going to say next. "Harry?"
"I love you," he said. She never expected that and she stared at him as her brain tried to grasp his words. Her heart seemed to be doing somersaults but her brain had fried. Tears welled up in her chocolate eyes and Harry felt panic overwhelm his anxiety. He threw his arms around her pulling her tightly against his chest as she sobbed silently. "Oh, Mione! Don't cry. I'm sorry. I'm so sorry."
"Sorry?" she managed as her brain kicked in after hearing her name on his lips. She pushed against his chest, looked up at him and she wiped her tears away in slight irritation. Since when was she such a bloody girl? "What do you mean you're sorry? You can't tell someone that you love them and the try to take it back!"
"But, I'm not taking it back!" he said in confusion. She looked deep into his eyes as she cupped his face with her hands.
"Are you sure?" she asked him as he unconsciously wrapped his arms around her body. He nodded and she smiled as a single tear escaped her eyes. They moved in closer to each other without thinking about it. Their bodies were pressed tight and their lips were so close that their breath mingled together, but they never let each others' eyes stray away from each others' gaze. "You'd better be, Harry James Potter, because I love you, too."
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What do you guys think? R&R. Next chappie: The Quidditch match and a big surprise!
Any errors or comments just tell me, k? I'm here to serve. Thanx again!