Author's Note: The Harry Potter Series does not belong to me. Believe me, I wish it did. But it doesn't. It was written by the wonderful author J.K. Rowling, just so you know. Eliza and Thomas, however, are mine.
"Are you ready to go back?" asked Ron. Hogwarts had invited all the students
who'd left Hogwarts due to last year's events, and the train was leaving later that day.
"Yeah, I can't wait to see everyone," said Harry.
"I know. I can't believe Hermione spent the entire summer in Italy," added Ron. "We haven't seen her since the beginning of June!"
And you haven't stopped talking about her since then either, added Harry silently. Ron had apparently found the fact that Hermione would not be with them all summer as a travesty, since he had gotten on her good terms last year.
As they were dragging their trunks down the stairs, Ron added, "I wonder if all three of us will be sitting in the same compartment again."
"Why wouldn't we?" said Harry. "We have for every other year."
While they were in the train station, preparing to go to Platform 9 3/4, Ron spoke up yet again. "D'you think she came back as well?"
Harry turned to him again, this time looking like he very much wanted to smack him. "Yes, I'm sure she is. We all talked about it before she left this summer; she can't have changed her mind without telling us."
Ron still looked unconvinced.
"You think she'd stay away from a perfectly good library?" asked Harry, grinning.
Ron returned his grin. "'Course not; forgot about that."
Ron and Harry had just thrown their bags onto the train and were back on the platform saying good-bye to the rest of the Weasleys, which, of course, included embarrassing hugs from Mrs. Weasley, a quick lecture from Percy, and a couple of new pranks from the twins to pull.
And also, though he wasn't exactly saying good-bye to her, it meant a couple of kisses from Ginny for Harry when the rest of her family was looking away, distracted by Ron.
"McGonagall'll kill you if she finds you two at that at school," Ron whispered.
"Think she'll like it any better with you and Hermione doing it?" Harry whispered back.
Suddenly, Ron stopped him, and nudged his head in forward motion. Harry looked.
There was a girl walking- floating, almost- towards them. She had long, straight hair that was slightly curling. It was a blondish-brown color, and the girl was tan and had sparkling brown eyes.
She looked, for better lack of words, perfect.
Harry wondered vaguely if the girl was Veela, or maybe even part, because she had caught the eye of almost every guy in the station, and most girls looked furious.
Ron bumped him, not taking his eyes off the girl, and whispered, "Where's Hermione to tell me to stop looking at her?" He was grinning like mad, and most of his face was pink, all the way to the tips of his ears.
When Harry didn't speak for a while, Ron finally took his eyes off of the girl to look at him. Harry, himself, had gone slightly pink. "Ron, I- I think that is Hermione," he whispered.
Ron's focus snapped back to the girl as she walked past everyone else in the station, and walked straight to them.
"Hi, you guys," she said breathlessly. When they didn't answer for a second, she added, "I can't believe we're actually back."
Silence.
"How was your summer?" she asked. She figured, since it was a question, they'd actually have to speak to her. When all they did was nod, she got angry. "What is wrong with you two?"
Harry blinked rapidly and looked away. "Sorry, nothing, not enough sleep last night," he said, hoping that it would be a good enough lie.
"And, what about you, Ronald?" she asked.
He grinned when she said his name. "I miss you that's all."
She grinned back at him and stood on her tiptoes and kissed him. Harry shrugged. Ron had given her the answer she'd wanted to hear, so it wouldn't have mattered what he said.
They were sitting in the common room a couple weeks later. Ron and Harry were sitting in one corner of the room playing Exploding Snaps, while Hermione, Ginny, and Lavender, all three who'd had great summers, and had quickly risen to the top of the social status, were surrounded by younger girls and all matter of guys.
Hermione just seemed confused by it for the most part. Whenever someone asked for her to have lunch with them, or walk with them, she usually agreed, not knowing what else to say.
So far, she'd only had two guys try to kiss her, but she'd refused to go on a second walk, and they didn't speak to her again for fear of another rejection.
Ginny didn't mind the little girls asking for advice and such, but she did mind the guys. Because, as she was quick to remind all of them, she had a boyfriend, and, pulling out her wand, she mentioned that they were both rather skilled at hexes.
Lavender enjoyed the attention. She loved being center stage. People were offering to do this for her, finish up that, give her this. Not that she really accepted much of it, but it was nice to be offered.
The attraction of all the guys now crowding their friends was a never-ending despair to Ron, Harry, and, surprisingly, Seamus, who had decided last year, that he liked Lavender Brown.
"Will they ever leave?" Seamus asked as he sat down across from the two of them as they played. "It's driving me mad!"
"It's driving you mad?" Ron asked. "Mine's the one who's been going out on 'walks' that asks her to."
"Well, I mean, you know Hermione, it's not anything like that," said Harry.
"Like you have any real issues with Gin," said Ron. "She's the one who told all the guys that between you and her, they'd be hexed into next year if they tried anything on her since she's got a boyfriend."
"Really?" Harry, who had not been aware of this, said. He looked like a mix of happy and proud.
"Fortunately, no one's tested her, since I don't think she told them that they'd be going against her and Harry Potter," said Seamus.
They laughed.
Only a month into school, someone had decided to have a ball. They'd even gone so far as to get permission from McGonagall, who was now reinstated at her place as Headmistress.
The news that there was to be, not even a formal dance, but actually a ball, traveled through the school rather quickly.
The assistant to McGonagall told all of her friends, who passed it on to their friends, and so on, and so on, until every girl knew. They then went to their boyfriends and told them, hoping to lock in their date for the ball quickly. The guys, complaining about it left and right, got the news spread to everyone else.
Hermione ran into the room, excited and out of breath. Her hair which was slowly losing its blonde color from not spending all hours of the day out in the Italian sun, but seemed to looked better as it grew darker, was coming undone out of the bun she'd put it in, and was infuriating Ron with how lovely it looked.
"There's a-" She paused to catch a breath.
"Ball, we know," said Harry.
"How'd you find out?" she asked. "I've only just found out from Gin, who was told by someone who'd heard it from someone who was friends with the person who started it all."
Ron's eyebrows went up a bit, and Harry tried to smile at the long trail that news went through with girls.
"We just heard it from Seamus," Harry said. "He's going to try and ask out Lavender."
Her eyes lit up. "She'll love that! She's been talking about him all year; practically all summer, too, when we were in Italy," she said.
"Lavender went to Italy, too?" asked Ron.
The two boys had known that Ginny had gone with Hermione and her parents to Italy, but they didn't know Lavender had gone as well.
"Yes, I suppose her parents took her as well," said Hermione.
"What on earth is in the water in Italy?" whispered Harry.
Ron grinned and nodded.
"Harry, you're asking Gin, right?" she said excitedly.
Harry nodded, relieved. If Hermione was practically telling him to ask out Ginny, it meant that she knew Ginny still liked him, since Ginny told Hermione practically everything, and Hermione did likewise. "Course, I will," he said. Harry recalled the memory of the three guys who'd asked her out so far and had been sent to Madame Pomfrey with Jelly-Legs that had lasted for hours.
Hermione looked to Ron, next, waiting expectantly, and said, "Ron, who're you going to ask?"
There was a long pause as Harry waited to be asked to leave so that Ron and Hermione could have some time alone.
Instead, he heard Ron say, "Dunno; Harry, wanna go play some Quidditch?"
Hermione had not spoken to them much since that day. She spoke to Harry, in passing, and was always polite, but, whenever she saw Ron, he saw her face color and her eyes get watery. "Um, I'm sorry, Harry, I have to go…to the library…" she'd say each time, sniffling a bit.
Harry would nod, as she quickly scampered away, dodging some small group of guys who wanted to ask her to the ball.
She still spoke to Ginny, though, and Ginny still spoke to Harry, so one night, he asked Ginny, "What's the matter with Hermione?"
Ginny looked up at him sharply. "The problem is my idiot of a brother," she replied. "She gave him a perfectly good chance to ask her out; even better, she practically asked him, and he completely blew her off."
Even Harry had to admit it was pretty low. "So, is she going with anyone else?"
"Why?" Ginny asked slyly. "Should I be jealous?" She was smiling.
"I just want to know; Hermione's like my sister. I'll hex anyone who's tried to hit on her," he said.
"I thought that was just my thing," Ginny said, with a mock pout.
"You and her both. It's reserved for girlfriends and like-sisters," he replied.
"You'd better get started, then; she's had to fend off almost everyone from the fifth years to your year. A first year even asked her," added Ginny, smiling. "She just smiled and kissed him on the cheek."
Harry grinned. "Then what'd he do?" he asked.
"He started tripping backwards towards his table and fell onto the turkey," recalled Ginny.
Harry laughed.
Ron and Harry were playing chess one night when Harry finally brought it up.
"Why don't you ask out Hermione to the ball?" he said.
"She won't even let me near her again," Ron replied, not looking up from the board.
"That's 'cause you completely blew her off when she told you about it," said Harry.
"Tha- That's completely beside the point," started Ron.
"Ginny told me that she's been fending off every guy who'd asked her," said Harry. "I heard she even made a first year fall into a turkey."
Ron looked up and grinned. "Yeah, I did catch that one. He actually also made a few of the chicken legs fly across the room onto Hagrid's plate. He didn't even notice; just picked 'em up and ate 'em."
They both had a good laugh at that one.
Then, finally, Harry spoke again, "So, you're not going to ask her, then?"
There was a long pause before Ron finally answered him. "I heard her, earlier," he said. "She was telling someone who'd just asked her: 'I have a boyfriend. I'm sorry; I can't.'" He looked to Harry for a response.
"So?" said Harry.
"So? I don't want to get shown up by Victor Krum again!" Ron was turning red, as he usually did while talking about Victor, or Hermione, or, particularly, both.
Harry didn't mention his next thought to Ron for fear that he might get loud enough for Hermione, who was sitting across the room with Ginny, would hear.
The ball was later that night.
Harry was going with Ginny, and was going to meet up at the staircase at seven. Seamus had prevailed in asking Lavender to the ball, as Hermione had predicted, and would meet her there as well.
Ron had found a rather pretty seventh year, Eliza, who'd said that he didn't have to dance with her much at all, just once or twice; she just wanted to go to make another guy jealous. Ron, flattered by the thought of being used to make someone else jealous, agreed. He also told his date that he thought he might want to end up dancing with someone else, should she let him, and she said that was fine, as she hoped to be with the guy she liked early on in the ball.
Harry, Ron, and Seamus had gotten ready together, looking splendid in new dressrobes.
Harry found Ginny right away, wearing something purple and flowery. Lavender was wearing pink, and, blushing, Seamus found her, and she took his arm. Ron found Eliza standing near the bottom of the stairwell, in green. He smiled politely as he met up with her.
They were all happy to see that some of their other friends had shown up.
Dean was there, towering over Luna, who had traded in her traditional raddish earrings for swirling icicles. Neville had gone with Hannah Abbot, and Ernie McMillian had gone and asked out Susan Bones. Terry Boot and Anthony Goldstein were there with the Patil twins: Terry with Padma, and Anthony with Pavarti.
They all entered the Great Hall, which was decorated to look like a forest during winter, though never had Harry seen a forest this beautiful.
Right before the music started up, Hermione entered. She was in a big blue number with a huge skirt, and a diamond at her throat. Her hair, which still held its blond tinge, was done up with only a few locks loose, making her look like Cinderella, though very few people in the Wizarding world really knew who that was.
Ron looked at her and flushed a little. Eliza turned to him, and smiled a little. "I don't think you'll have too tough of a time getting her to dance with you," she said.
The music started, and so did the dancing.
Hermione had come alone, but someone had come along and asked her for the first dance. She shared a couple others with some younger boys, some first and second and third years, who came relatively alone, and they all walked away afterwards, dazed and grinning.
Harry, Neville, and Dean had treated her to one dance, as the girls took turns sitting down and chatting excitedly.
Just as Ernie was starting up a dance with Hermione, Ron whispered to Eliza, "Don't you want to go meet your guy?"
"I'll wait 'til you get Hermione to dance with you," she replied.
"How do you know who she is?" he asked.
"She's one of my friends," she replied. "She told me she wasn't coming with anyone, and now I know why."
"Because she's enjoying dancing with everyone else?" Ron offered.
"No, she said she already had a boy-"
"A boyfriend, yeah I know," Ron said bitterly.
Eliza looked at him, smiling and shaking her head a bit. "You know, she was right about you. You are hard to get through to."
He looked up to make some sharp retort, but she stopped him. "You're the boyfriend, you idiot," she said, smiling at him.
Suddenly, it had made sense to Ron. He got up quickly and started walking over to Hermione, who'd just finished dancing with Ernie, and was now sitting down with Luna and Lavender, as they watched Seamus spin Ginny around, and Neville lift up Pavarti. He turned back to Eliza and said, "Thanks, Eliza! I owe you!"
"Just go!" she shouted back at him, making encouraging shoo-ing motions with her hands.
Ron walked up to Hermione. "Would you- um- do you wanna dance?"
Hermione stopped for a second, then a wide smile appeared on her face. "Sure, Ron," she said. "I'll dance with you."
The whole table, which now included Dean, Luna, Hannah, Neville, Padma, Terry, Pavarti, and Anthony, cheered, and were soon joined in applause by Harry, Ginny, Lavender, Seamus, Susan, and Ernie, who were walking over to the table.
Ron swept Hermione off her feet and picked her up and kissed her, and many of the people in the Great Hall started clapping for them.
Ron looked towards Eliza, who was now in the arms of Thomas, the guy she'd wanted to make jealous, who was looking at the two of them and grinning.
They kissed again, and no teachers made any attempt to stop them. Filch, who had stepped forward to pull the couple apart, had his foot stepped on by a teary Hagrid, and, when he made a second attempt, was stopped by McGonagall herself, who said, "Filch, let them have their fun."
THE END