They rounded a corner of the castle and saw Ron busily engaged with building a snowman with Dean and Seamus. As they drew closer, they saw that it wasn't really a snowman. The boys were attempting to build a snowwoman, but even with the snowbreasts, the figure looked rather androgynous.
"It's more of a snowperson, isn't it?" Hermione murmured.
Harry laughed. "I was just thinking that." His gaze slid over to her. He just looked at her face for a moment before looking down at their joined hands. Hmmm, strange that he hadn't let go of her hand yet. Strange that *she* hadn't let go of his hand yet. Strange, but nice. Very nice. He glanced back up to her face to see her looking at him with a twinkle in her eye. "It's comfortable, isn't it?" she said softly. "Like they fit together."
Once again, he just nodded. Holding hands with her was becoming more and more natural by the second. Harry wondered why he hadn't thought of this before.
"Oi, Harry! Come help me with this!" Ron called out. Harry snapped his gaze away from Hermione over to Ron. Ron was looking at him with an appraising expression on his face. "We need some help and Hermione will probably just criticize us on our work of art."
"Ah, that explains it. It's 'art'. I should have known," Hermione whispered.
Harry chuckled. "I suppose I should go help them," he said, oddly reluctant to let go of her hand. He felt like taking her off to some secluded spot and…he mentally shook himself. What the bloody hell was wrong with him? A few snowballs and wiggles on the ground and all of the sudden he was having these goofy feelings about Hermione. He quickly let go of her hand and jerked his head in the direction of Ron. "I'm going to go help them."
Hermione looked a little surprised at his sudden dismissal but nodded her head. "Alright. I'll stay here making my own snowcreature."
Harry raised his eyebrows. "Snowcreature?"
She just smiled sweetly at him. "Go help Ron and the Amazing Androgynous Snowperson."
Harry shook his head and moved off to assist the boys in their efforts to make…whatever it was they were trying to make. Harry asked them what they were trying to make and they all claimed it was a snowwoman, but clearly the boys had either no idea what the female body looked like (not that Harry was exactly an expert on the form, of course) or could not pack and carve snow to save their lives. It didn't help that every five minutes or so, the boys would suddenly decide that it was time to smash snow into each others faces. All in all, it was a very haphazard operation at best, so they really shouldn't have been surprised when they looked over at Hermione's work and saw nothing short of a masterpiece.
Hermione was frowning in concentration as she held up her wand and delicately etched some lines into the sculpture she was working on. It was a magnificent lion, nearly as tall as Hermione herself. Harry suddenly felt very inadequate standing next to the Asexual Wonder, as the he had taken to calling it.
"Well, don't we look stupid?" Seamus muttered. "Hey, Hermione! You're making us look bad!" he yelled.
Hermione hardly spared them a glance as she continued to work on the lion, but Harry saw the faintest of smiles appear on her face. "Perhaps you should try applying yourselves to the task at hand," she called back.
"Applying ourselves?" Ron asked in mock outrage. He quickly pulled out his wand. "I'll show her 'applying ourselves'." Harry moved away nervously. He looked over at Hermione, calculating how quickly he could get to her before Ron finished his spell. Ron began to mumble something unintelligible and made vague motions with his wand toward the lion. Harry began to run toward Hermione as the lion abruptly yawned and Hermione stepped back in surprise. Dean and Seamus began to laugh. Oh, this was just lovely. Harry reached Hermione just as the lion turned its head to sniff at them curiously. He grabbed her hand and hauled her toward the school. "We need to get out of here."
"Harry! Let go of me! Who knows what that lion is going to do?"
"Ron can deal with it," Harry replied tersely. He heard the lion roar behind them and then three distinct yells of terror. He looked back. The lion had decided to chase after Ron, Dean and Seamus and they were currently running for their lives. Hermione started to laugh. He allowed himself a small smile. Harry had to admit, it really was a funny sight to see three boys running from a snow lion.
"I wonder if they'll figure out how to get rid of it?" Hermione mused from beside him.
Harry grinned down at her. "Well, hopefully they'll remember that snow melts. If not," he shrugged, "how much damage could it do?"
Hermione looked at him seriously. "That lion was very realistic. Except for the size of course. It could do some damage."
"Hermione, it's snow," Harry said exasperatedly. "It's not going to hurt them."
"You didn't seem so sure when you dragged me away," Hermione replied impishly. "In fact, you seem downright terrified."
"I was not terrified," Harry growled. He hadn't been, honestly! Just…concerned. Concerned for her safety. Yes, that was all. And that could hardly be wrong, could it? He was simply anxious for her safety. Right. He just had keep telling himself that. He nodded slightly and looked at Hermione. She was gazing at him with a mischievous glint in her eye. Well. That glint was…perplexing yet a little exciting at the same time. Indeed. Hmph. "You have caused enough trouble today, young lady," Harry said, waving a finger under her nose. "I'm taking you back inside before something else happens." With that, he dragged her into the castle, back toward the common room, completely aware of one fact.
He still hadn't let go of her hand.