Chapter 7

By lunchtime, Harry was absolutely miserable. After running out of the Great Hall at breakfast so he didn't run into Hermione, he saw her walking into the hall, seeming perfectly happy. He wondered how she could be so chipper while he was the complete opposite as a result of the same thing. Harry knew that Hermione was always good at hiding her emotions, especially when she was angry or upset, but he thought that this was pushing it a little too far - it was almost like she was doing it on purpose. Harry started to head back up to the dormitory, which was safe, now that he knew Hermione was down at breakfast. He then gave a start: he had received glares this morning, Hermione would likely get worse than that. Pulling his Invisibility Cloak out of his pocket, he put it on, and went over to Hermione's bench to make sure she didn't get hurt. As it turned out, this was an excellent idea, as Malfoy, flanked by Crabbe and Goyle, managed to make an appearance.

"Hello there, you foul litt -" was all Malfoy managed to get out before he was hit by at least two jinxes: a Silencing Charm from Hermione, and a small Stinging Hex from Harry, strategically aimed to confuse Malfoy when he tried to figure out who hexed him. Due to the confusion, Harry wasn't sure whether he was the only one to cast a jinx at Malfoy. Meanwhile, Crabbe and Goyle were both being subjected to the Jelly-Legs Jinx from Harry. The Slytherins managed to make it back to their table relatively quickly, considering their temporary disabilities.

The Gryffindors were congratulating Hermione on such quick spell-work, while she protested. "But I only cast a Silencing Charm…" Hermione sounded like she was about to run off to the library. She had her nose scrunched up in concentration, but her face cleared remarkably fast. "Sorry guys, I have to go…" She got up, and walking right past Harry who was still under the Cloak, left the Hall. Harry followed her.

If Harry expected Hermione to go to the library to figure out how she had 'cast two spells at once,' he was sorely mistaken. As soon as she reached the Entrance Hall, she seemed to hesitate just a little before walking straight outside. In the little amount of time since Harry had been on the grounds, they had changed completely. There were footprints all over the snow, although there were still patches that remained untouched. The Durmstrang ship, predictably, remained in the middle of the Black Lake, although the giant squid seemed rather set on removing it from the scant sunlight that was able to filter down through the lake's icy covering. Hermione walked halfway around the lake rather quickly, which Harry supposed was due to her temper, and then stopped beside a rock; she sat down and looked around. It seemed to Harry almost as if she were waiting for something to appear out of nowhere, and he was suddenly glad that he had taken great care to step only in her footprints. As he watched her eye the clearing, clearly expecting someone to burst in on her, he drew his wand, thinking it never hurt to be prepared. And that was the moment that Hermione chose to say his name.

"Harry?" It was phrased more like a question than a statement, revealing that while she did expect him to be there, she wasn't entirely sure either.

Harry didn't know what to do. Certainly, he wanted to go to her, talk to her, hug her, and above all, just be with her, but he didn't know if that was why she was asking for him. Was she angry at him for looking out for her, even after their - could he call it a fight? - disagreement? Was she even calling for him at all, and not just thinking out loud? Stepping in Hermione's footsteps again, Harry started to make his way over to where she was sitting, looking for all the world like the little girl she was in first year, wanting so desperately to have a friend.

She called to him again. "Harry? Are you here?" Hermione's head swiveled as she tried to catch a glimpse of something, Harry wasn't sure what, before continuing to speak, presumably to thin air. "Well, Harry, I just wanted to thank you for looking after me this morning. That doesn't sound very good, but it's true anyhow... " She paused, and brushed some hair off of her face, and paused to stare off to the lake. When she started talking again, it was so softly that Harry couldn't make out what she was saying. After quite a while, Hermione got up and started to walk slowly out of the clearing, a thoughtful (and invisible) Harry following.

Harry wandered around the grounds for a little while after Hermione entered the castle again - she had given him plenty to think about. He was still rather confused. How could Hermione, for all of her rationality, make a mistake so big as to assume that Harry didn't want to go with her? Harry had thought it had been pretty obvious - he hadn't taken his eyes off her the entire night, and there had been that almost-kiss during the dance… Harry concluded that girls were confusing and resolved, once again, to wait for Sirius' reply before revealing himself to Hermione. In the meantime, he would go up to his four-poster, charm the curtains closed, and have a nap - all those conflicting emotions were tiring. Hermione, however, seemed to have other ideas. As soon as she reached the common room, she took off up the stairs to the boys' dorm. Harry followed, wondering what she was doing. As it turned out, Hermione had sat down on his bed with a look of determination usually reserved for talking to Ron or himself about homework (and their lack of effort in completing it). Resigned to his fate, Harry turned around, and headed back down the staircase, took off the Cloak, and sat down in his favorite chair across from the fireplace, where he settled in to wait for Sirius' reply by working on the Potions essay Snape had assigned for the break: "Describe the Proper Brewing Method of the Paralysis Potion, and it's Ingredients." Harry was nearly on his eleventh inch of parchment when he heard a tapping on the window, and looked up to find Hedwig sitting on the windowsill looking extremely ruffled. After Harry had brought her inside and fed her some orange juice, she flew off to the Owlery. Harry sat down to read what he supposed was Sirius' reply.

Harry,

Glad to hear that you're still OK, especially after that dragon.

As for your other problem, you do know who you're talking to, right? I mean, even back in Hogwarts (and this is before my twelve years away from everyone) I was with a new girl each week. Or so I've been told. So I'm sorry, but I have absolutely no clue. I hope you get this figured out though.

Sirius

Harry sighed. He knew that Sirius had had quite a reputation as a ladies' man, and that it was well deserved, but he hadn't accounted for the time that his godfather had spent in Azkaban. In hindsight, it really wasn't smart to ask him at all. Harry put down the letter. In a situation like this (not that he could have gotten himself into this one before now), he would normally have gone to Hermione - and that was the problem, wasn't it, thought Harry, walking to the window. So lost in thought, Harry didn't notice a certain girl walking up to him, calling his name. When she finally put her hand on his shoulder, he jumped, turning around and pulling out his wand. Then Harry saw who it was that had jerked him from his reverie. Hermione stood in front of him, looking slightly afraid. Harry looked down, abashed. "Sorry, I was thinking."

Hermione shuffled her feet. "That's probably my fault, huh?" She then proceeded dragged Harry out of the common room and down the corridor a ways before launching herself at him, crying. "Oh, Harry, I'm so sorry!"

Harry was slightly confused, and just returned Hermione's hug. As far as he knew, she was still mad at him. "Hermione?" He looked down at her, where she was still holding on to him. "Aren't you supposed to be mad at me, and not the other way around? I mean, I don't know what I've done, but… Well, I'm sorry." This, of course, only made Hermione hold on to him tighter. Harry, who was starting to suffer from lack of oxygen, was just about to suggest that Hermione loosen her grip (he wasn't about to ask her to let go) when she loosened her grip, and looked up at him.

Hermione shook her head. "Don't you go apologizing. Seeing as you haven't done anything wrong, I can't very well go being angry at you…" She looked at him, her eyes pleading. "Do you want to go for a walk? It's a lovely evening," Hermione added, looking hopeful.

Harry shook his head. "Hermione, maybe you didn't register this last night, but I didn't say anything about Voldemort." He looked down. "Nor did I mention for one second that I didn't want to be there with you. Personally, I think I'd like to get this sorted out before we spend more time walking around the lake."

At this, Hermione's face turned down. She started to walk back to the common room, and Harry followed, figuring that this discussion could take a while, and the comfortable chairs in the Gryffindor common room were infinitely preferable to the cold walls of the corridor. Hermione gave the Fat Lady the password ("Wattlebird"), and stepped into the common room, with Harry following closely. Luckily for Harry, he observed that the common room was relatively empty, and that the chairs in front of the fire were unoccupied. Hermione sat down on one of the chairs, leaving Harry the other one. After a few minutes of silence, Harry figured that he might as well get the conversation started - he had never had any trouble talking to Hermione before, although he had been angry at her a couple of times. This, however, was not one of those. No, Harry was just confused. He looked over at Hermione. "Hermione, what did I do?" Hermione's gaze snapped off the fire and landed on him. "I mean, you don't usually run off in the middle of a sentence, unless you've realized something and have to go check it in the library," Harry chuckled softly. This, to Harry's relief, got a smile out of Hermione, but it was only temporary.

Hermione sighed. "You know, Harry, I was really excited that you asked me to the ball. And then, oh, we danced most of the night, and you were really nice. There was also the last dance before we went outside," here she blushed, "and I thought that I'd have you all to myself for at least another half an hour before you came to your senses and tried to get rid of me. Then, we walked around the lake, and sat down at that tree, and you started to talk, and you sounded really nervous. I, of course, thought that you were going to say that you didn't like me at all, and that you'd like it if we just forgot about it. I thought that's what you were getting at, and I really didn't want to hear it, so I just ran inside. And then I didn't see you at all today," Hermione looked up at him, "although someone helped me take care of Malfoy." Hermione paused, and took a rather large breath. "So I thought that maybe I was right, and you really didn't want to see me." Here, Harry smirked, and Hermione frowned, as if to say that this was not the time to be making wisecracks. Harry had to agree. Hermione sighed, and continued. "Then I thought that I had probably confused you by running off - after all, I don't know what you would have said - and since you were thinking, you would want to be by yourself for the day. So I decided to wait for you in your dorm, figuring that you would eventually have to come up to bed… Except you didn't. You stayed down here, so when I came down, all ready to go find you however long it took, there you were at the window. I'm sorry if I frightened you, Harry, but I needed to talk to you, and here we are." Hermione sat in her chair, looking at Harry, who was trying to catch up with her rather fast speech.

Harry sat up straighter, and looked at his friend. "Well, Hermione, I guess I owe you an explanation as well. You see, just before our walk, Victor Krum came up to me, and demanded that I leave you with him, and I refused." Harry went on to tell Hermione all about the encounter. "So I thought that you'd like to know about it," Harry finished. He got up, and walked back to the window, where he looked out on the grounds again, and was just going to walk out of the room when he felt a hand on his shoulder. He turned around slowly, and Hermione reached up with her other hand. Then, suddenly, she was hugging him, tightly. He could feel her crying again. This time, though, he didn't ask why, though he was curious, he just buried his face in her brown curls and held her tighter.

Hermione loosened her grip, and took a step back. "Harry, I know this isn't enough, but I'm so sorry." She looked down at her shoes, and her hair covered her face for a moment. When she looked back up, Harry saw that his friend had tears in her eyes. "Really, I am. But -" she sniffled, "but, I d-don't want to los-se you," she finished in a very small voice.

Harry took a step toward Hermione, and opened his arms. Hermione moved so fast that if Harry hadn't known better, he would have said that he had Summoned her. As it was, he thought, he was still happy in the knowledge that she still cared for him. He wasn't overjoyed, of course - and this was going to be tough for him - since she had walked away from him, but he was glad she hadn't walked away completely like so many had done before. As he held her, he asked, "Hermione, can I tell you something?" When she nodded her head, he continued in a whisper. "You're never going to lose me. I could never replace you, Hermione. One of my first friends is worth too much."

Hermione smiled.