Follow-up for (Wo)Manhunt Thanks for all your support and I'm sorry this is sooooo short

Hermione flopped down on the grass beside a moody Harry. He had been (though he denied it vehemently) skulking about since Cho had "rejected" him in favor of Cedric.

He had asked her, stuttering and stumbling over his own words, if she "Wangoballwime" and Cho had asked him to say it again, in which he did, quite properly.

She had, blushingly, told Harry that Cedric had already asked her a few hours prior

And now he was lying under their beech tree, moping around, again

"Harry, are you alright?" She asked, eyes inquisitive "You've been-er, brooding, for a lack of better term, for 2 days!"

Harry sighed, running a hand through his hair before he laid down on the grass, hands behind his head "I'm fine"

Hermione raised an eyebrow, feeling slightly annoyed "Is "I'm fine" your universal answer to everything, Harry?"

Harry ignored her. "Hey" Hermione said worriedly "I'm sorry it didn't work out, alright? I'm sure there are dozens of other girls out there who would be honored to go to the ball with "The Boy-Who-Lived""

"Exactly" Harry replied moodily "I don't want to go with someone who thinks of me as "The Boy-Who-Lived".

"Why don't you ask Ginny?" Hermione inquired, and continued when she saw Harry's disbelieving look "She has been a bit, chatty to you recently"

Harry snorted "Right. If the definition of chatty is "A person that cannot say more than five words a day before blushing and running away",then yes, she has been chatty"

"At this rate, the only people you can ask is me and Professor McGonagall" She said jokingly "Should I ask McGonagall for you, then?"

She had been joking when she said that,but Harry had looked up at her, as though he'd never seen someone like this before "Hermione, you love me, right?" And her gave her a disarming smile, which curiously made her feel like a pile of goo

"Yes,Harry?" She managed to mutter, but she wasn't quite meeting his eyes

He took a deep breath "Would you like to go to the ball with me?" At her rather shocked face he hastily carried on "As friends, I mean. Because I know you wouldn't take advantage of me like that-you know"

He had put on his "puppy-dog eyes" "Please?"

"Harry, I- oh, alright" She sighed wearily after seeing his face "I'll go with you"

Harry grinned rakishly "And you said "the face" doesn't work on you"

"It doesn't." Hermione says, cheeks tinted with red "You looked so pathetic I just had to say yes"

"Right" he drawled, sounding a bit like Malfoy "It has nothing to do with the fact that you are completely in love with me, though you are denying it,but instead because you felt sorry for me,right?"

Hermione flashed him a grin as she took his hand, pulling him up, and trying to ignore the warm feeling now creeping through her body

"Definitely"