- o0O0o - Hermione's POV - o0O0o -

Ginny is most certainly up to something, I thought to myself as we crowded into a compartment on the Hogwarts Express. Ever since that day in Diagon Alley, she had been carrying that ridiculous book around with her. At this point, I was regretting having bought it for her. The funny part was, she rarely ever opened it to read from it! It was more like she was protecting it or something. I don't know what she was thinking, but it was obvious from the look on her face at Fred and George's shop that she was up to something no good, and I was almost certain it had to do with that bloody book.

Ron soon pushed Ginny out of my mind as I attempted to avoid sitting next to him. Honestly, what part about "I didn't want to die before getting my first snog" could he not understand? I no longer had any feelings for him, but the reality of our likely-imminent deaths made me rash, and I snogged him. What eighteen-year-old woman who had never had more than a peck would have done any different were she in my position? Merlin, that boy was getting on my nerves! All summer, he kept trying to get me alone and repeat that ridiculous moment of insanity, and no matter how I tried to explain to him why it couldn't happen, he just never got it through his thick skull.

When Neville and Luna left the compartment to go visit some other friends of theirs, leaving Harry, Ron, Ginny, and I alone in the compartment, I rounded on him. "Ronald Weasley, I swear that if you try to put your arm around my shoulders one more time I'm going to hex you. I've been telling you all summer that that kiss was a mistake, but you wouldn't listen! We are not dating, and I never will date you, so kindly keep your hands to yourself!" And with that, I stalked out of the compartment towards the front of the train to meet with the Head Boy.

I shivered. What McGonagall was thinking when she paired me as Head Girl with Malfoy as Head Boy, I'll never know. Still, I refused to be walked all over; we were going to get along this year if it killed both of us.

Interestingly, the meeting went fairly well. I remained cordial throughout, and Draco didn't talk much. We agreed to attempt civility, and he apologized for his past rudeness and stupidity. I apologized for slapping him in third year. When we were finished with the meeting, neither of us moved.

Looking at me quizzically, Draco said, "You can leave now, Granger."

Huffing, I said, "I don't really want to go back to my compartment." He raised an eyebrow at me, clearly inviting me to explain. "Just before I came here, I sort of…yelled at Ron, and…it's going to be awkward when I go back."

Chuckling, Malfoy said, "What did the weasel-king do now?"

I ignored the nickname. "He seems to be under the impression that one kiss—in the middle of a battle with the likelihood that I would die before I could be properly snogged, mind you—meant a relationship. I've been trying all summer to let him down easily, but today was the straw that broke the camel's back. I snapped at him to keep his hands off, and I didn't stay long enough for anyone to respond." My face was slightly flushed in embarrassment, but I looked at Malfoy while I talked, anyway.

Malfoy snickered and said, "He isn't one for subtlety, is he? Using or interpreting, it seems."

"No, he isn't," I admitted, shaking my head. "And I should have realized that, as we've been friends for so long, but it usually isn't in my nature to be so direct when it comes to talking about my…romantic feelings. I may be a Gryffindor, but I do have some sense of self-preservation." After a moment, a thought occurred to me. "Why aren't you going back to your compartment?"

Draco grimaced and said, "Nobody's talking to me just now, and I prefer to sit in silence instead of sit in the middle of a conversation but be completely ignored."

Drawing my eyebrows down, I said, "Why are they ignoring you?"

Shrugging, Draco said, "I think it's 'cause they all know which side I would have chosen if I'd had the opportunity to choose. We may not be Hufflepuffs, but Slytherins take house loyalty very seriously, and they all know that I hated the Dark Lord. The only person from my own House that ever did anything to help me was Uncle Severus, and I pushed him away because I didn't want to drag him down with me when I failed, as I knew I would." He was practically whispering by the end.

I could feel my blush returning slightly at the mention of the man's name. "'Uncle' Severus?"

"Yeah, Severus is my Godfather. Didn't you know?"

I just shook my head. Maybe if I could become good friends with Draco, I could… NO! I yelled at myself. Hermione Jean Granger, you are supposed to be getting over these ridiculous thoughts and feelings! They will do you no good! Severus would reject you for sure, regardless of how much he got to know you first. Just forget about it!

But I couldn't forget. I had been trying all summer, but I had learned a valuable lesson. When you are attempting to forget something, that thing will inevitably be on your mind almost constantly. Even attempting to distract myself with studying, hanging with the boys, or spending girl-time with Ginny didn't help. Every book I read made me wonder if Severus had read it, liked it, agreed with it. Whenever I was near Ron, I thought about how much more worthy of my affections Severus was than Ron. And time alone with Ginny was the worst, because she was the only one with whom I could discuss my feelings out loud. I felt like an awful friend, monopolizing her time all summer that way, but I had really needed someone, and she'd been there for me the whole time. I really needed to do something nice for her.

After I found out what she was up to, that is.

I left the compartment soon after, telling Draco that I had better keep exercising my Gryffindor courage or I'd lose it. He had laughed at that, and I enjoyed the sound. Maybe spending the year working alongside the Slytherin wouldn't be so bad after all.

- o0O0o - Harry's POV - o0O0o -

The two most important women in my life were up to something.

I had started noticing it over the summer. Hermione, Ron, and I would be hanging out, and then Hermione would suddenly get the urge to find Ginny for "girl-time." Or I'd be lounging around with Ginny, Hermione would appear in the door way, and Ginny would apologize to me before kissing me and scampering off after my best friend.

I thought at first that it might have had something to do with the fact that nothing real had happened between Hermione and Ron since their kiss. Then I noticed that Hermione would pull away whenever Ron got too friendly with her, and I changed my mind.

But my suspicions didn't let up. And then Hermione had yelled at Ron before scampering out of the compartment. I turned immediately to Ginny. "Alright, Gin, what on earth is going on with Hermione? And don't give me 'it's nothing, Harry,' because that was not 'nothing.' You are up to something. Tell me."

Ginny frowned at me. "It's not my place to tell. If Hermione hasn't shared it with you, you'll just have to ask her about it. I've given her my word that I wouldn't tell a soul."

Ron, face red from both anger and embarrassment, said, "It's a bloke, isn't it?"

Usually, Ginny had a pretty good poker face. She'd needed one in the house she'd grown up in. But when Ron had an unexpected moment of pure insight, it was difficult for anyone to keep their surprise in check, even a master like my girlfriend.

Groaning, Ron said, "I already lost her and I haven't even really got her yet!" Rounding on his sister, he said, "Who is it?"

This Ginny had obviously expected. She rolled her eyes and explained, "I've just told you that I won't utter a word, Ron. You caught me off guard when you guessed if there was a guy, but any idiot's next question would have been 'who.' Besides, this isn't something you'd be able to read from my face even if I hadn't been expecting you to ask."

"So we don't know him, then?" I asked, knowing I wouldn't really get an answer but unable to resist regardless.

"Didn't say that."

"So we do know him!" Ron practically shouted.

Rolling her eyes again, Ginny responded, "I didn't say that either."

Now getting into the teasing, I said, "So we know of him, but we don't really know him, then."

I was surprised to see Ginny look at me with slightly incredulous eyes before her mask dropped again. "I won't tell, so you might as well stop asking."

Not about to push it any further (at least, not at the moment) because of the stern look on Ginny's face, I turned to Ron and started up a Quidditch conversation. Ginny didn't relax once until Hermione returned to the compartment some time later.

- o0O0o - Ginny's POV - o0O0o -

I was freaking out. Harry is just too bloody smart for his own good! And the man can read me like yesterday's Daily Prophet. He was pretty on the mark with the "we know him but don't know him" comment, and I'm sure that he could figure it out eventually.

Not that he wouldn't have done if I didn't give anything away. Harry is much more perceptive than Ron, and he and Hermione have always been like brother and sister. I'm sure if he observed her during school over the next few weeks, he'd be able to pick up on in. He'll just figure it out much more quickly now since he knows that it's a bloke and that it's someone we don't hang out with. As much as I hate to—I really don't want to end up on the receiving end of a hex, or worse—I think I'll have to tell Hermione that I slipped.

It's not really my fault, though! The boys were the ones who noticed that she's been acting oddly, and Ron guessed that it was about a guy. I didn't do anything wrong…. Well, not really, anyway. She'll forgive me….

Eventually.

If my plan works out and I can shove her and Snape together and get him to fall for her as hard as she's fallen for him. It shouldn't be too difficult for a man to fall in love with Hermione. After all, she's very intelligent, incredibly funny, kind, compassionate, and spunky, and now that her hair has calmed down a bit, she's really very attractive.

Okay, I'm going to stop there before I make you think that I am in love with her.

Which I'm not, just so you know. I don't swing that way.

Not that there's anything wrong with that. It's just not me.

Okay, I'm going to shut up now and let Hermione tell you about the rest of the train ride.

- o0O0o - Hermione's POV - o0O0o -

Ginny seemed tense when I slid the compartment door open, but she visibly relaxed when she noticed it was me. Great, I thought, what situation have I walked into this time?

But the boys were just having a typical conversation, one in which I had no interest whatsoever. After about five minutes of sitting and staring out the window, Gin said, "Herms, let's go find Neville and Luna, yeah?"

Ready to do anything but sit there and continue listening to the Quidditch talk, I nodded and followed Ginny out of the compartment. Once outside, she led me in the direction of the loos. "You know for sure that Neville and Luna are in the loo?" I asked skeptically.

Sighing, Ginny said, "No, I just needed to get out of there with you so that I could talk to you. It's important."

She pulled me into an unoccupied loo and locked the door. It was very cramped, but that was the least of my worries. Ginny had a look on her face that said clearly, 'We have a serious problem.'

"What is it, Gin?"

She wouldn't look at me while she told me what the boys had deduced from their very short conversation after I had left. I was stunned at how much the pair had managed to guess correctly so quickly…. And then I was worried about how soon they would figure out just which man they didn't know was the one I was mooning after….

"Bollocks."

Ginny huffed and said, "My thoughts exactly."

Taking a deep breath and letting it out slowly, I said, "Well, I'll just have to be extra-careful about hiding my feelings, that's all."

The redhead seemed to steal her courage before saying, very quickly, "I-think-you-should-tell-them."

I blinked. And then I blinked again. "What's the punch-line?"

Rolling her eyes at me, Ginny said, "No punch-line, Hermione. I think you should tell the boys who you're in love with before they figure it out on their own. They'll be much more accepting of it if you trust them enough to tell them instead of waiting for them to find out and get angry with you. Believe me, it's in your best interests to be the one to tell them about the whole thing."

I closed my eyes and sighed. I knew Ginny was right, that the boys would figure out anyway and that it would be best if they heard it from me directly. Still…. "Why do they have to find out at all?"

Now Ginny looked aggravated. "Hermione Jean Granger, if you and Snape start dating, don't you think your best friends should know?"

I couldn't help it; I started cracking up. "Right! Because it's absolutely going to happen, so I should tell them now so that they won't kill Severus when I bring him home to his first Weasley dinner. Good one, Ginny!"

"Hermione!" I stopped laughing at once when she shouted at me. The look on her face was so Molly-esque that I almost did a double-take. "I know that you don't have a lot of confidence in something working out here, and I get that. But if I've learned one thing over the years, it's that you should never rule anything out. I'm being completely serious. Recall that I said 'if,' not 'when.' If you and Snape ever got into a relationship, don't you think your two best friends would like to be able to say that they knew about your feelings before anything came of them? I think they would both appreciate—in the future, at least—having known ahead of time. If nothing else, it will make news of a relationship less of a shock."

I contemplated Ginny's words. While I desperately wanted something to happen between Severus and I, I also knew what a long-shot that outcome would be. I didn't want to get my hopes up, but…Ginny was right that Harry and Ron would probably (eventually) appreciate that I had confided in them early, regardless of whether my feelings were returned or my heart got broken. Either way, I'd want them to be there for me. I took in a deep breath, letting it out with a sigh, before saying, "You're right, Gin. I'll talk to them tonight, after the feast. Help me keep them up late so we can have the common room to ourselves? And you'll stay with me while I tell them, right?"

My best girl friend smiled warmly at me and said, "Yes on both counts. This is going to be one interesting evening!"

As we left the loo, I muttered, "Understatement of the century," under my breath.