Hermione Granger sat in the library, poring over the book laid on the table in front of her. Her slightly bushy brown hair fell across her face like a curtain, blocking her peripheral vision completely. Suddenly, someone tapped her on the shoulder, making her jump. She looked around wildly, her gaze falling on a nervous-looking Ravenclaw seventh year, her year. She looked at him with a puzzled expression for a second, then straightened her face into a smile.
"What do you need?" she asked him. He looked still more nervous.
"Well, I was wondering…would you like to go with me on the next Hogsmeade weekend?" he said in a rush. Hermione blushed instantly. She was seventeen, and hadn't had a boyfriend since Viktor Krum, in her fourth year. Lavender, she knew, had had three or more boyfriends in the past three months. But Hermione Granger, the bookworm? She hadn't had a single one since Viktor. She considered carefully before answering him with a smile.
"Sure, I'd love to."
"Great, I'll meet you in the Entrance Hall before we leave."
"Alright." Hermione turned back to her book, this time with a smile on her face.
--
Hermione practically ran back to the Gryffindor common room to tell Ginny the good news. She found Ginny sitting lazily in a chair next to the fire. She walked quickly over to her and sat in a chair next to Ginny's.
"Hermione, what's going on? You're flushed," Ginny said, looking at her worriedly.
"I have the most wonderful news, Gin!" Ginny relaxed, then waved her hand so that Hermione would continue. "I've got a date on Saturday!" Ginny squealed.
"Hogsmeade? That's wonderful! We've got to get you ready. I'll talk to Lavender." Hermione shrugged.
"I don't know, Gin. I was just going to wear my jeans and a nice top. I wasn't going to do anything special."
"No, not this time. We're going to go to the library to research beauty spells." Ginny got up and grabbed Hermione's hand, dragging her out the portrait hole, towards the library.
--
An hour later, Hermione and Ginny had made a list of spells to try on Hermione's hair, to reduce the pouf.
"It's a good thing you've finally accepted what we're doing, Hermione."
"Only under duress," Hermione muttered.
"Okay, let's go back to my dormitory to try these." Ginny got up and, once again, dragged Hermione back towards her dormitory.
--
Hermione sat on a chair in the middle of Ginny's dormitory, her arms crossed, hair smooth and straight. After five different spells, they had finally smoothed her hair. It wasn't permanent, so she'd have to repeat the spells every morning if she wanted to keep the smoothness. She turned to Ginny.
"You look beautiful, Hermione." Ginny smiled broadly. "But if I don't see you with smooth hair tomorrow, I swear I'll Crucio you. Don't think I won't." Hermione rolled her eyes. Fact was, she just didn't want to be that high maintenance girl, who spent more time on her hair than it took to eat breakfast in the morning. She just didn't want that. Besides, she reasoned, she needed to focus more on her schoolwork than on her hair. She pulled out her wand.
"Finite Incantatum." Her hair went back to the way that it was, poufy and all. Ginny frowned.
"What did you do that for?"
"Look, Gin. This is a one time deal. I'm only doing this because you threatened me."
"Fine," Ginny huffed. Hermione got up, pocketed her wand, and walked down to the common room, where she settled down with the Potions essay due the following week.
--
The next morning, Hermione woke up and dressed. She then performed the spells on her hair and walked down to the common room to wait for Ginny. While she was waiting, there were many catcalls from the boys as they filed out of the portrait hole. Rolling her eyes, she turned back to the fire.
"Oi, Hermione! What did you do to your hair?" Ron called from the boys' staircase, where he had frozen, Harry behind him, in shock.
"It's…nothing." Ginny came down the girls' staircase just then.
"Don't say that, Hermione!" She turned to Harry and Ron. "Hermione's got a date today with some guy from Ravenclaw." Hermione reddened.
"Thanks a lot, Ginny. Thanks a lot." Hermione turned and climbed out the portrait hole, her face still red. She walked quickly down the corridors, towards the Entrance Hall. She stopped briefly in a girls' lavatory to make sure that her face had gone back to normal, then continued down the marble staircase, looking for the boy from the library. As she turned 'round looking for him, he tapped her on the shoulder. She spun to face him, a broad smile on her face.
"Hi," they said simultaneously. Hermione smiled, blushed, and looked at the floor.
"Well, shall we?" the boy asked, gesturing her towards the door. She nodded and started walking outdoors, then stopped and waited for him to catch up to her. They walked side by side towards the village.
"So…I still don't know your name," she said awkwardly.
"Oh, I'm sorry…It's Brian. Brian Matthews." She nodded.
"I'm…"
"…Hermione Granger," he finished for her.
"Yeah," she said, lamely.
"Well, fancy a walk through Honeydukes?" Brian asked her.
"Sure. Why not?" They walked slowly into the sweet shop, both browsing the shelves. Hermione smiled. She thought that the date would be alright after all.
--
They came slowly to a stop in front of the portrait hole. They had lagged behind the rest of the students, not wanting their date to end. They had walked hand-in-hand back to the castle, where Brian walked Hermione back to the Gryffindor common room.
"I had a really good time, Brian," Hermione said shyly. He smiled.
"I did, too."
"Good night, Brian."
"Good night, Hermione." Before she could turn to climb into the portrait hole, he leaned in and kissed her on the cheek. He smiled and waved at her as he made his way back to the Ravenclaw dormitories. She gave the Fat Lady the password (she was looking rather smug, Hermione thought), and climbed into the common room. She took the enchantments off of her hair, then walked over to where Ginny was leaning against the couch, while Ron and Harry sat across from her.
"So, how was it?" Ginny asked excitedly.
"Yeah, how was your date with Wonder Boy?" Ron glared at her as he questioned her scathingly.
"Don't call him that, Ronald! What's wrong with you?" She sent a scathing glare towards him. His ears were reddening; that wasn't a good sign.
"Never mind him, Hermione. So? Where did you go? How was it?" Hermione settled down next to Ginny and began to tell her of the date.
"Well, first we went to Honeydukes. Brian is so sweet! He bought me a chocolate rose while we were there; it actually bloomed!"
"Oh, that's so sweet!" Ron exclaimed mockingly. Hermione just glared at him.
"Well, it was sweet. Then we went to dinner at the Three Broomsticks and…"
"How original!" Hermione shot Ron a glare.
"Nobody's asking you to listen, Ronald Weasley. If you don't want to hear this, nobody's tying you down. Anyway, we just sat and talked. After that we just kind of walked around the village until we came back." Ginny smiled widely.
"Did he kiss you goodnight?" she asked. Hermione flushed a deep scarlet. "I'll take that as a yes."
"That's it." Hermione swiveled her gaze to Ron, who had just stood up.
"What's it?" she asked, the tone in her voice letting him know that he was on thin ice.
"Do you even know anything about this guy? I mean, other than his name." Hermione stood up to face him.
"I happen to know quite a bit about him. I know that he's a handsome Ravenclaw boy. He's very smart, top marks in everything. He wants to be a Healer at St. Mungo's when he finishes school. He likes cherries on his ice cream. He…"
"Handsome? I'd hardly call him handsome," Ron's ears turned redder, if possible.
"What would you call him, then?" Hermione's voice rose slightly. This should have been enough to make Ron stop his arguments, but he didn't pay attention to the change in tone and just plowed on.
"I'd call him a sneak, for asking out my girl!"
"Your girl, Ronald? Since when have I ever been your girl? I don't belong to anyone! How dare you? I come back from my date, and you can see that I'm happy. It must have been obvious. And you go and mess everything up! What is your problem?"
"Brian Matthews is my problem, Hermione!" She took a step forward and put her face dangerously close to Ron's.
"If you have a problem with Brian, you have a problem with me." She turned and started to storm towards her dormitory when she heard Ron say,
"Hermione, come on! You know he's not the One, you know it! I don't know why you even went out with him at all. It's not like he's the best choice in the world! Besides, I don't know why he'd even pick someone like you to go out with." She stopped, turned on her heel and stalked back towards him, a dangerous expression on her face.
"Someone like me, Ron? Whatever do you mean?"
"You're not exactly gorgeous, and he could have done much better, you know!" A slapping sound rang out through the air, and Ron drew back, rubbing his face where Hermione had slapped him.
"Don't you ever," Hermione said, tears streaming down her face now, "ever insult me or Brian like that again, or I will not rest until your life is a living Hell. Do you hear me?" She ran off towards her dormitory, sobbing freely now. She ran up the stairs and slammed her door behind it, locking it with several locking charms.
"Why do you have to be such a git, Ron?" Ginny asked him as she ran after Hermione.
--
Ginny had held Hermione as she cried, until Hermione had fallen asleep. Ginny had then gently laid Hermione down and tucked her in before leaving and locking the door behind her. She headed down to the common room, where Ron was sitting next to Harry. Ginny sat down next to Harry, and picked up her book.
"How is she?" Harry asked her.
"Really broken up. She's so tired, and I don't think that those will be the last tears she'll cry, either." Harry just looked at Ron.
"Well done, mate. Well done." Harry strolled up the stairs to Hermione's dormitory (using the spell that Fred and George had taught him) and knocked cautiously on her door.
"Ron, there's nothing that you could say to make this better. Go away," Hermione said tearfully through the door.
"It's not Ron," Harry said. There was a scuffling and Hermione threw open the door and wrapped her arms around his neck. He guided her into her dormitory and sat her down on the bed as he held her, her tiny form heaving against his chest from her sobbing.
"He's such a git," Hermione said through her tears. Harry rubbed her back and whispered,
"I know. I know he is. But I don't think he meant it. It's not true."
"Yes, it is," Hermione said, turning away. "I don't even know why Brian chose me. I mean, he's so perfect and I'm so…not."
"Don't say that! Do you want to know why he chose you?" Hermione looked at him with red-rimmed eyes. "He chose you because you're smart, and you're beautiful, and you're not afraid to throw a punch once in a while. He chose you because you have more courage that any of the girls I know and the smarts to back it up. He chose you because you're a catch. And any of the guys in Hogwarts and beyond would do well to know that." She let a tear slide down her cheek.
"You're just saying that to make me feel better."
"No, I'm saying it because it's the truth." He tipped her chin up to force her to look at him. She smiled in spite of her tears.
"Thanks, Harry," she said as she hugged him again. He released her slightly to look down at her face.
"Want to come back down to the common room?" She regarded him closely.
"I don't know, maybe. Give me a few minutes." Harry nodded and hugged her again before leaving and locking the door behind him.
"If that's what Ron thinks, so be it. I'm not going to mope around because of him." She put her shoes back on, grabbed her wand, and strolled out of the room. Walking back down to the common room, she walked over to Harry and leaned over next to him.
"Can I borrow the Marauder's Map and the Invisibility Cloak?" she asked him.
"Yeah, sure. They're in my trunk." She walked up the stairs, collected both, then walked back to the common room.
"I'll be back later, Gin." She threw the Invisibility Cloak over her, activated the Marauder's Map, then climbed out the portrait hole and made her way towards the Ravenclaw dormitory.
--
Fifteen minutes later, Hermione was pacing in front of the Ravenclaw common room's entrance, waiting for a Ravenclaw to come by and give the password. Luckily, she didn't have to wait too long. A first year came around the corner and opened the entrance. While he walked in, she tailed him closely and entered the room. A quick glance around the common room showed Brian sitting in a chair in front of the fire, reading a book. She revealed her face as she tapped his shoulder, motioned for him to follow her, and led him out of the common room and to the Room of Requirement, where she paced a couple of times and ushered him in the room before she took off the Invisibility Cloak. Seeing her face, his suddenly appeared concerned as he said,
"Hermione…what's wrong?" And just like that, she found herself spilling the whole story. What Ron had said about her, and what Harry had said afterwards. He held her as she cried all over again, and then spoke softly after the tears had abated.
"Harry was right, you know. Everything he said, he was right," Brian said softly. Hermione looked up at him with a tearstained face.
"Really? You mean that?" He nodded.
"Absolutely." She wrapped her arms around his waist and held him more tightly. They sat there for a few minutes, wrapped up in each other. Finally, Hermione slowly let go, dried her face, then said,
"I'm sorry to drag you out like this." Brian looked at her, then hugged her again.
"That's what I'm here for."
"Thank you," Hermione said slowly, "but I'd better go before someone goes looking for me."
"Me, too," Brian said.
"Thank you again," Hermione said.
"No problem." She turned to walk away, but he caught her and kissed her full on the lips.
"Goodnight, Hermione."
"Goodnight." She slipped the Invisibility Cloak back on and made her way back to Gryffindor Tower.
--
"Where did you go?" Ginny asked her the second she rematerialized. Hermione shrugged. "You went to see him, didn't you? Brian?" Hermione nodded. "What did he say?"
"He said that Harry was right."
"Wait, what did Harry say?" Hermione had forgotten that she hadn't told Ginny what Harry had said yet. She sat Ginny down and told her. "Harry is right, then. And I'm glad that Brian realizes that."
"Thanks, Gin," Hermione said with a yawn. "I think I'll go to bed…I've got a really bad headache." She hugged her friend and headed upstairs to bed.
--
The next morning, Hermione got up and, after dressing, went downstairs to the Great Hall for breakfast. She walked into the Hall, sat down next to Ginny, and piled her plate full of food. She munched the food slowly and looked at the Ravenclaw table, where Brian was watching her. She smiled at him and he winked back. Ginny elbowed her and smiled.
"So, Hermione," Ginny said, trying to break the silence, "what are you doing today?"
"I don't know, probably sitting around. Why?"
"Just wondering," Ginny said. "I didn't know what you'd be doing after…"
"…after last night," Hermione finished.
"Yeah."
"I don't know, I was thinking that maybe I'd sit in the common room with a book, or maybe go to the library." Ginny scoffed.
"How much time are you going to spend in the library?" Hermione shrugged.
"It's the only place I can guarantee quiet. It's the only place that I can guarantee that I won't be interrupted. It's the only place that I can guarantee that Harry and Ron won't go when I'm frustrated with them." Ginny chuckled.
"Gotcha." Hermione stood up.
"Maybe I'll go there now. I could use some alone time, I think." Ginny nodded.
"See you," she said as Hermione left. Hermione waved to her and walked out of the Hall.
--
Fifteen minutes later, Hermione was sitting in the library, cuddled up in a chair with a good novel. She sighed. This truly was the place she felt most comfortable. She snuggled further into the chair, propping the book up in her lap. She had just re-immersed herself in her book when she felt a tap on her shoulder. She looked up at Brian.
"Now, what's a lovely girl like you doing sitting here all alone?" he said coyly. She shrugged.
"I don't know. I just needed some peace and quiet."
"Take a walk with me, then. We can get some peace and quiet together." Hermione shook her head.
"No offense, Brian, but I'd kind of just like to get back to my book," Hermione said cautiously.
"None taken. Always the bookworm, that's my Hermione." Brian smiled and kissed her on the top of the head before leaving. Hermione smiled and went back to her book as he left.
--
Hermione finished up in the library and went about her business as usual the following week during her classes. Well, almost, at least. She wasn't nearly as attentive as she should have been. Her mind kept drifting back to a certain Ravenclaw boy; his hair, his eyes, how he smelled, the list went on and on. She was unsure that she would make it to their next date that Friday. She knew that she could see him any time, but the time she hadn't spent in class was devoted to catching up on her homework and trying desperately to pay attention to the essays she was supposed to be working on.
"Come on, Hermione," Ginny said to her after two weeks of this new and disturbing pattern. "You need to concentrate. Your grades are slipping. You don't take notes in class anymore; you don't even pay attention in class anymore. You don't feed Crookshanks anymore. I have had to do that so that you didn't kill him. You don't even yell at Harry and Ron when they don't do their homework. I know that Brian is great, but you've got to concentrate. For your sake, for Crookshanks's sake, for all our sakes." Hermione sighed.
"I know…I just can't. It's impossible to get him off my mind."