By the time the holidays roll around, Hermione seems to be getting back to her old self. When we get back to Hogwarts after the holidays, she's definitely back to normal. She's creating guides for studying for finals even though we still have several months left. We take N.E.W.T.s this year, though, and she wants to be prepared.

So Malfoy, Hermione, and I spend many evenings together studying. When he isn't with us, I find myself opening up more. I tell Hermione about my parents, my gran, and how tough it was being the son of the Aurors who were tortured to insanity. I've never told anyone about that before, but she's a good listener.

She tells me about her parents, how difficult it was for them having a child who was different, and how frustrating it was knowing she was different. We also talk about our years at Hogwarts. I tell her how grateful I am that she always helped me and stuck up for me; she tells me how grateful she is that I was always there for her, especially during those times when Ron and Harry weren't speaking to her. Our conversations flow so easily. We never run out of things to talk about.

One day we're joking about the admirers I still have hanging around before we separate to go to our classes. She tells me that Parvati likes me, but I brush it off. Nobody is serious about me like that.

"Hi, Neville," Parvati says when I walk into Care of Magical Creatures.

I'm momentarily surprised; we talk sometimes at dinner and she had been part of DA, but I don't know her that well. "Hey," I reply.

"Are you doing anything this Sunday?"

"Ummm...not really. Probably going to Hogsmeade."

She ducks her head, looking shy. "Do you want to go together?"

"Uh sure."

"Awesome!" She walks away and starts whispering frantically with Lavender.

"That was so weird," I say to Dean, who's standing next to me.

"You do realize what Sunday is, right?" he replies.

I look blankly back at him. "No..."

"Valentine's Day."

Bugger. I had completely forgotten. Dean's laughing. "Why did you say yes if you didn't want to go out?"

"I didn't want to be mean."

"You may as well go. Who knows, it could be fun. I mean, she is good looking."

I hesitate. "She is, but I always go to Hogsmeade with Hermione."

"She's going with Malfoy," he replies. "I overheard him ask her the other day."

What?! Malfoy! Why him? "She likes him?"

Dean shrugs. "How would I know? She's your best friend."

So I bring it up casually while we're studying. "I heard you're going out with Malfoy for Valentine's Day."

She doesn't react. "Yeah, he asked me the other day."

I swallow hard. "Do you, you know, like him like that?"

"He's attractive and intelligent. I haven't really given it much thought."

That doesn't make me feel better. "So why are you going with him then?"

She shrugs. "Why not? Neither of us are dating anybody right now."

"Parvati and I are going out for Valentine's Day," I blurt out.

She finally looks up at me, surprise clear on her face. "Really?"

"Yes."

"She's liked you for a while now. Since last term, I think."

That's news to me. "Really?"

She nods. "You like her?"

"She's good looking. I don't know her all that well, though. I guess we can change that."

Hermione goes back to her book, bright red spots appearing on her cheeks. "Well I hope you have fun."

We work in silence, the quietest it's been all term. I don't like it.

Parvati is extra flirty towards me in the days leading up to Valentine's Day. It's really hard not to reciprocate; I've never been in this situation before. She's touchy feely too, constantly grabbing my hand or hugging me, reminding me unpleasantly of Ron and Lavender. They're dating again, according to Parvati. He and Hermione had dated briefly over the summer, but Ron said Hermione was "too rigid." The thought of them kissing, let alone anything else, makes me sick to my stomach.

Speaking of Hermione, I haven't seen her outside of classes since our conversation the day Parvati asked me out. She's not in the library, which is weird. I don't see her in the Common Room either. I tell myself she's just found a quiet place to do schoolwork alone, but Malfoy's missing too. My mind races with thoughts of them together, but I bang my hand against my head. "No. Stop."

But it doesn't stop them from haunting my dreams. I'm happy when I can finally go into Hogsmeade. Parvati holds my hand the entire time, chattering away in my ear. I respond when I can, but it's a lot of her telling me how brave and wonderful I am. We get a table at Madam Puddifoot's Tea Shop, her choice. It's the place to go for Valentine's Day: pink walls, frilly decorations, lace napkins, china sugar bowls, and golden cherubs that occasionally throw pink confetti on the couples beneath them. It makes me nauseous, but Parvati seems to love it.

Then I notice Hermione and Malfoy sitting a few tables away, their heads bent close, their hands intertwined. My chest closes up and I feel a full throbbing start. Bloody hell that hurts. I try to focus back on Parvati, who's talking about how adorable the cherubs are. I agree mindlessly, forcing myself not to look in Hermione's direction.

She asks me dozens of questions about the Battle at Hogwarts and whether I was scared and goes on once again about how brave I am. We talk about classes, about our post-Hogwarts plans. I can't stop glancing over at Hermione.

Parvati finally notices. "You really like her, don't you?"

"Yes," I say without thinking. Then I snap to attention, realizing my mistake. "Parvati, I'm sorry."

Instead of being upset, she sort of smiles. "I have a confession to make. The main reason I asked you here today was to make Seamus jealous."

I'm dumbfounded. I don't even know what to say to that.

She takes my lack of response poorly. "I'm sorry! I just figured since you're head over heels for Hermione Granger and she hasn't noticed it yet, maybe you would be able to make her jealous while I'm making Seamus jealous!"

That is some of the strangest logic I've ever heard. Finally I speak up. "Parvati, it's fine, I promise. Did it work?"

She grins. "I think so."

Well at least that worked out. When we get back to Hogwarts, I head towards the Common Room. Just as I turn the corner, I see Malfoy lean in to kiss Hermione. The wave of nausea that hits me is overwhelming, so I rush to the toilets. Nothing comes up, though. Of all the people she could fall for, it has to be the one I can't compete with.

"So how was your date?" Dean asks me the next morning while we're dressing.

I groan-I got next to no sleep last night-but I fill him in. He looks as confused as I felt. "I will never understand women."

"I don't mind," Seamus says, rolling out of bed. "I'm getting some tonight."

Fantastic. We walk out into the Common Room together and I grimace as he pulls Parvati in for a long, sloppy snog. Gross. Dean laughs, whacking him on the back of his head. "Get a room, mate."

"That's later," he replies, briefly coming up for air.

"So what else happened?" Dean asks as we walk down to breakfast. "You were thrashing about in your sleep last night. Knocked my clock onto my head."

"Sorry," I reply, then quietly tell him about Hermione and Malfoy.

He stares at me in obvious disbelief when I'm finished. "There's no way that's getting serious. No bloody way."

"I hope not." I don't know if it's lack of sleep or something else, but I feel like crying.

I ignore the disgusting display of Seamus and Parvati-they're forced to calm down when Ginny threatens to hex both of them-and try to eat as much as I can. I have DADA first and Hermione is my partner for practicing spells. Hopefully I'll be able to look at her without seeing her snogging Malfoy.

I can't. We're practicing nonverbal Disarming spells again, something all of us, except Hermione of course, have loads of trouble with. She gets me every time, but all I manage to do is set my robes on fire, knock Hermione's books off the desk, and Disarm myself. How I managed the last one still baffles me. I'm happy when class is over.

I rush out of the classroom to find a spot to enjoy my free period. Some days I hate that we rotate class times every day, other days I love it. Today I love it.

But Hermione catches up with me. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing," I say, trying not to look her in the eye. "Shouldn't you be with Malfoy?"

I hear her sigh and feel her take my arm, forcibly pushing me out of the castle. "Come on. Let's go to the tree."

We make our way to the beech tree overlooking the Black Lake. Hermione likes doing her homework out here when it's warm, and today is unseasonably warm for February.

"Is this about Parvati?" she asks when we sit down. "I heard what happened yesterday."

I start to argue, but it's easier to just let her think that. "Yeah, kinda. I don't like her like that, but being used like that kinda hurts."

"I know. I said something to her about it. She told me she apologized."

"She did. And I'm fine. Seamus kept me up talking in his sleep."

Hermione nods, but I'm not sure she believes me.

"I don't think Malfoy is the right guy for you," I say without thinking.

She actually looks slightly amused. "Oh really? Who said I'm dating Draco?"

"I saw you at Madam Puddifoot's yesterday. And snogging." Merlin, that hurt to say.

"Ah. That. Did you also overhear Draco and me decide that kissing each other felt weird and we should just be friends?"

Hope surges up. "Really?"

She nods again. "It just felt...wrong. I can't explain why."

That makes me feel significantly better. Before I can respond, Hermione suggests practicing what we learned in DADA today. So we do, and I manage to Disarm her twice before our next class. Finally.

And things go back to normal once again. I had worried that things would be awkward between Malfoy and Hermione while we're all studying for our N.E.W.T.s, but it's not. You would have never known they attempted to date.

We talk about our future plans during one of our breaks, and Malfoy admits that he has no idea what to do. "I mean, who would want to hire a former Death Eater?"

He has a point, though I don't know how many people know he was a Death Eater. When the Aurors were rounding up the Death Eaters escaping from the Battle of Hogwarts, the Malfoys hadn't been arrested because they switched allegiance at the last minute. I still firmly believe Lucius should have gone to Azkaban. So does his son, surprisingly.

Hermione and I have the same aspirations: going through Auror training and eventually getting jobs at Hogwarts. She wants to teach Transfiguration or Charms; I want to teach Herbology. Kingsley Shacklebolt really wants Hermione to start Auror training as soon as possible. She's what he calls "a rare catch." I should feel jealous, but I don't. She deserves it.

Hermione is frantic about the end of the term, something I dealt with in our O.W.L. year. Malfoy is new to this, though, and not quite sure how to calm her down. Watching the trial and error is funnier than it should be. We have to laugh. Otherwise we would be crying from stress.

Hermione squeezes both our hands on the morning when the exams start. "Good luck."

Once I get through my first exam, I'm so happy I only have four total. I don't know how Hermione is going to get through seven. Most of us are too tired to eat, let alone talk, by the end of the day, but Hermione does her usual paranoid let-me-go-over-every-question-I-wasn't-sure-of-and-worry-about-it. After twenty minutes, Ginny finally tells her to shut up and calm down.

We celebrate the end of exams by drinking smuggled in Firewhiskey and partying in our Common Room. Hermione doesn't drink, but I try a couple sips, which I immediately regret. It's disgusting. Not as disgusting as Seamus and Parvati, though, who are actually making Ron and Lavender's escapades look tame. So gross. I'll be happy to have my own room and privacy again.