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Twelve minutes later, they burst into Charms, still holding hands. The atmosphere in the room buzzed with excitement at this new development and to Hermione's horror, Pavarti and Lavender brought their heads together and began to giggle madly.
Harry noticed none of the extra attention. He merely chirped hello to Professor Flitwick and led her to their empty chairs next to Ron that were located in the back of the room.
I s the walk to my seat always this long, Hermione thought with dread. It seemed as if the short aisle had turned into a road. A long road filled with suppressed laughter and whispering.
Finally, after hours of torture, they reached their seats and Harry let go of her hand to sit down. She took no time in sitting down and hiding her beet-red face behind her Charms book.
Professor Flitwick, looking slightly irritated, resumed his lesson and the class settled down. She could see that notes were being passed between every girl in the class and all of the boys gaped in Harry's direction.
She looked over to Harry and noticed that, surprisingly, he was taking diligent notes on the charm for today, a nonverbal step-up from a Cheering Charm. He met her gaze and grinned and returned to his notes.
Maybe this spell won't be so bad after all, she mused. At that moment, a piece of parchment landed on her desk from Ron's direction. She turned to him, but he acted horribly inconspicuous to the fact that he had just passed a note. Unrolling it, she found that it read, "Talk to me later. ALONE!"
What a long day this was going to be.
* * *
At the end of the day, Hermione sprinted ahead of Harry. She had to get away from him.
"Hermione, wait! Hold on!"
I can make it! All I need is a bit more space--
Hermione then felt his gentle grip on her arm and he whirled her around.
I almost made it, she thought ruefully.
"Where are you going? I thought we were going to study in the library," he whined.
"We are. We'll just do it later. I have something really important to do right now. Okay?"
Please buy it, please buy it, she thought desperately.
He furrowed his brow and let her arm go. "Alright. Don't take too long, okay?"
"I won't."
He grinned and kissed her on the cheek. He then walked away with his hands in his pockets, humming.
She let out a breath of relief and continued to walk to her destination, the unused third floor girl's lavatory. It had felt wrong lying to Harry, even if he was under a spell. She buried her guilt as she opened the door to find Ron leaning against one of the stalls.
"So, you two are together, now?" he said in a low voice. He leaned forward with his head down.
"Listen, Ron, it's-
He looked at her and grinned. "It's brilliant and about time too! I knew you two would get together! Now I can relax."
"But it's not-
"Wait, how long have you two been dating? You haven't done anything have you? Because if you have then-
"Ron, will you shut your bloody mouth up and listen to me!"
Ron's eyes grew wide and she clapped her hand over her mouth.
"I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to, it was a slip of the tongue!"
Instead of being angry, Ron roared with laughter. "I can't believe you swore," he said while he caught his breath several minutes later. "Me and Harry are such a bad influence on you."
"Very funny. But in all seriousness, I have to tell you something. Harry and I aren't together."
"What? But you came in holding hands and Harry was looking like he got accepted into Puddlemore United as their starting Seeker. There can't be any other explanation, right?"
"He's under a Love Spell. He doesn't know what he's doing; he thinks he's in love with me! All the way down the hall to Transfiguration, he kept counting in tens how much he loved me!"
"But I thought girls liked that sort of thing. You know, being told that they're pretty and how life is meaningless if they aren't around and stuff."
"Where did you hear that last one from?" she asked incredulously.
He blushed and muttered, "I read it in a book once." He cleared his throat and said, "Anyway, what are you going to do?"
"I don't know. I was going to go research the spell in the library later on tonight and take him to see Madame Pomfrey next week."
"So, you don't want to be with Harry?"
"No, I don't. Why?"
His face fell. "No reason, I was just asking."
She turned and peeked out of the door. "Good, he isn't out there. Ron, I'll see you later." She then stealthily walked into the hall and out of sight. She left Ron alone in the lavatory.
"She doesn't love Harry, does she? Not on my watch," he said resolutely. "But I need help. And I know exactly who to ask."
* * *
Hermione looked through So, You Want To Be In Love? , knowing that there had to be an answer in the book. There was no possible way it wasn't.
Harry simply stared at Hermione from across the table. "You're really pretty when you study, Hermione. You look so focused in what you're doing."
She let out a beleaguered sigh. That was the eighteenth compliment he had given her in thirty minutes, spanning from their walk to the library and the twenty minutes in the library itself. "Thank you, Harry."
"You're always welcome. You know, I think your name is cute when it's short. Kind of like Mia, or Herm, or Mione." He straightened up. "Yeah, that's it, `Mione! I'm going to call you that from now on!"
"No, please, don't!" she shouted.
Madam Pince shushed her and gave her a withering look.
"Sorry," she whispered. "But really, Harry, don't call me that."
"I like it, though. I'll only call you `Mione when I really need you." He pouted. "Please?"
"No."
"Pretty please?"
"But-
"Please?"
"Fine. You have to promise to only use it in those situations."
"Done. I love it when you're diplomatic."
"Okay, I think that's enough for the night." She got up from the table, checked out the book, and walked to the door to find Harry waiting for her.
"Hermione, why aren't you talking to me?" he asked as they walked towards the common room. "Is it something I did? If I did do something, I'm sorry."
She looked at him curiously. "I'm not mad at you."
"Are you sure? It's feels that way. I'm really, really sorry. "
She stopped in the hallway. "Don't be. You haven't done anything. I've been a little tired because of yesterday and I didn't get a lot of sleep."
"I'm glad." He frowned. "When you're mad at me, I don't like it. I feel alone, even if I've got Ron to talk to. I feel kinda empty. Let's go, we've been out here too long." He took her hand and resumed walking.
She was speechless. She had never heard him talk about things like this before. Was this how he truly felt about her or was this the spell talking?
Upon entering the common room, most of the girls in the room glowered in their direction. Hermione looked to Ginny for help, but she only shrugged and went back to her conversation with another girl in her year. Ron waved them over to the couch.
"How'd the research go?" he asked.
"We found a book, but we haven't gone through it yet." she answered.
"I still don't know what she's looking for, but I'll help because she needs me."
Ron looked into the fire and Hermione blushed. Where was this coming from?
"So, anyway, I'll see you two tomorrow," she sputtered as she stood up.
"Night, Hermione," Ron replied.
Harry looked horrified. "You're leaving? You can't, stay down here longer!"
"We'll see each other in the morning. It's not as long as it seems."
"Don't worry mate, I'll keep you company," Ron said jovially.
He grinned. "Keeping me company means beating me horribly at wizard's chess."
"You know it."
He laughed, stood up, and kissed Hermione on the cheek. "Good night, `Mione."
"Good night to the both of you," she murmured and walked towards the steps to the dormitories. When she was alone on the steps, she touched her cheek.
He had just kissed her on the cheek in front of everyone. Where was the boy who kept his feelings to himself?
Did she like this Harry?
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