Disclaimer: Not mine. JK's.

Author's Note: Okay, this is my first fan fiction. It's not the pairing I usually like, but it's something I wanted to try. Thanks for giving it a shot.

Hermione Granger sat in her last class for the day. Thankfully, she could escape in just five more minutes. Why is this the second hand moving so slowly? she thought to herself. Professor Binns was being long-winded as usual, but generally she could force herself to pay attention for the entire lecture. He wasn't being any more boring than usual, but she just could not pay attention that day. She knew why, but she didn't want to admit it.

Two rows in front of her Ron was sitting with his new girlfriend, Lavender Brown. Professor Binns paid no attention to the fact that they were giggling and flirting rather than listening. Hermione glanced over at them again and rolled her eyes. I don't know what he sees in her. She's so…girly. She's not very intelligent. Lavender only cares about her image, reputation, and boys, Hermione thought with a tinge of bitterness even in the voice in her head. She would never admit it, but she was terribly envious of Lavender. It wasn't for her looks or the fact that boys flocked to her; it was because one boy flocked to her. The one boy she really liked.

Sighing exaggeratedly, she glanced back at the clock. Only one minute had gone by since the last time she checked. How long would this class drag on? She was beginning to become very antsy. Looking back toward the flirty couple, she saw Ron whispering in Lavender's ear with a smirk on his face. Lavender turned red and giggled, swatting Ron's arm softly. Ron kissed Lavender's cheek and linked his hand in hers. Hermione felt her own face turning red, but it was from anger. Really! She thought. They should be paying attention to class, not to each other! Don't they realize that they're missing an important lecture about… She stopped in the middle of her mental tirade when she realized that she had no idea what Professor Binns' lecture was about. Huffing a bit, she tried to focus in for the last few minutes, but her attempts were futile. Every time she looked toward the professor, all she could see was the cozy little couple sitting in front of her.

Class finally was dismissed what was only a few minutes later, but it seemed like a century to Hermione. Hurrying off to the common room, she heard a name calling behind her.

"Hermione!" the voice shouted.

Turning around, she saw the face that matched the voice. Her best friend, Harry Potter was a little red in the face after having to basically run down the halls to catch up with her. "Yes, Harry? Did you need something?" she asked, rather irritated she was stopped on her journey to her room. All she wanted to do is lay down on her bed and read.

"Why were you in such a hurry? It's time for supper. You're not planning on skipping a meal again, are you Hermione? You realize that it's bad for you to skip meals. I'm starting to worry about you. You've been acting really tense lately." Harry looked at her with concern written across his face. She felt badly for avoiding her friends the past week, but Harry and Ron were always together, and Ron was always with Lavender. She really just wanted to escape having to watch the two of them together.

"I'm sorry, Harry," Hermione said, sincere in that aspect, "I've just been extra busy lately." Okay, so that was a lie. She wasn't any busier than she had been before Lavender and Ron started dating. She just didn't want to be around the two of them together. She told herself that it was only because she thought it was weird for anyone to be all over Ron, but somewhere deep down she realized that it was because of her affections toward the ginger-haired boy.

Harry looked a little suspicious as she said it, but he decided not to bother her about it. He was afraid he'd only push her away more if he tried to get anything else out of her. "So, are you coming to dinner with me then, Hermione?"

Hermione nodded, and they walked into the Great Hall together. Her eyes immediately fell upon Lavender and Ron. Lavender was basically on his lap as they smiled affectionately at each other. Hermione felt like leaving, but Harry seemed to feel her tensing up again and took her arm softly, leading her to the table to sit with him.

"Hey mate!" Harry said to Ron as he sat down to his left.

"Hmmmm…Oh! Hi Harry, Hermione," Ron said, not taking his eyes off of Lavender. This aggravated Hermione. He couldn't stop paying attention to Lavender long enough to even greet them properly. Hermione decided not to start anything over it, and muttered a quiet, "Hello," before beginning to eat her meal.

She already knew that supper was not going to go by any more quickly than her last class had.