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When Hermione returned to the ball, she couldn't find Neville anywhere. According to Minerva, he'd left half an hour before they'd rejoined the ball and hadn't come back. Hermione's confusion and disappointment at this was only temporary however, and she spent the rest of the ball dancing with Bernard.

When the ball ended and all the teachers were herding the students in the direction of the dormitories, Bernard came up behind her and put his arm round her waist.

"Do you want to come to my room tonight?" he whispered in her ear.

Hermione blushed. She'd like to do that very much, but she'd only just kissed him and she wasn't going to spend the night with him just yet.

"Not tonight," she said. "Maybe tomorrow."

"I look forward to it," he smiled, and went back to the Ravenclaws.

Hermione went to bed happy that night, despite the fact that the Gryffindors were being particularly spiteful and aiming jets of water at Hermione's hair "to see if it would go back to its abnormal size." She was too happy to care though, and just took away some house points instead of putting them in detention like she normally would've done.

As she lay in bed, she thought about Bernard. He was so different to Ron. Ron had always been quite childish and his idea of complimenting her was to joke that she didn't look as bad as she normally did, whereas Bernard was so charming and had complimented her nicely more times than she could count. Well actually she had counted; he'd said she looked nice thirteen times. Also, he hadn't talked about himself all night, unlike Ron who'd always be going on about his family or how he was best friends with Harry Potter, obviously forgetting that she was friends with him too. It was so good to have someone like Bernard; he's practically the perfect man, she thought as she drifted off to sleep.

The next morning, Hermione sat down next to Neville at breakfast.

"Morning Nev," she said cheerfully. "Where did you go last night? I couldn't find you anywhere."

"I went to bed," he replied coldly and got up.

"Where are you going?" she asked. "You haven't finished your breakfast."

He ignored her and walked out.

"Is everything alright?" Bernard asked, sitting down on Neville's chair.

"I don't know. What's wrong with Nev today?" she said.

"Don't let it upset you Hermione," he said, taking her hand under the table. "I hate to see your pretty face look so sad. He'll cheer up."

"I know. He can never stay in a bad mood for long. He's just too nice for that," she laughed.

"That's better, be happy," Bernard smiled. "Do you still want to come round tonight?"

"Of course I do. I'll see you later," she replied. "I'd better go and get ready for first year Gryffindors."

"Don't let them ruin your day. Keep thinking of tonight," he said, giving her hand a squeeze.

Hermione was determined not to let the students bother her, but ten minutes into the lesson, in which she was teaching wingardium leviosa, her desk was charmed into the air by the whole class.

Neville wasn't having a much better time in his lessons. He couldn't stop thinking about Hermione and Bernard. Seeing them together had made him certain that he liked Hermione as more than a friend. He wished he'd found that out earlier; now it was too late. He'd been hoping it was just a one-off thing, but he'd seen the way Bernard looked at her at breakfast; he definitely wanted to pursue it and when Bernard had his sights set on a woman, he nearly always got her. He always seemed to know what to say to them, unlike him, who would just stutter nonsense, or not speak at all and just get more and more embarrassed. It was no wonder Hermione liked Bernard and not him. He'd just have to keep away from both of them until he got used to the idea.

At the end of the lesson, when he remembered there were students in the room and dismissed them, he called a house elf and asked for his meals to be brought to the greenhouse instead of the Great Hall. It might not be the best solution, but it was better than seeing Hermione.

Both Hermione and Neville were glad when lessons were over for the day; Hermione because she got to see Bernard and Neville because it meant he could sit and think without being interrupted by students.

Hermione was having her second wardrobe crisis in as many days. She'd never actually been invited to someone's place for the night. Should she just dress casually or should she make an effort? How long would she actually be wearing her clothes for? She laughed to herself.

Eventually she decided on the same outfit she'd worn when she went out with Neville for the first time and they'd accidentally kissed. Neville had said she looked nice in it so she was sure Bernard would too.

When she was sure that all the Gryffindors were in bed and weren't creeping around the school, Hermione tiptoed out of the tower to go creeping through the corridors herself. She was almost certain she wouldn't get caught; Harry and Ron had forced her to do it a lot when she was a student herself and she'd got pretty good at it.

She looked round the corner, and not seeing anyone, she ran down it and hid behind a suit of armour at the end.

"Hey! Where do you think you're going?" someone called after her. "You should be in bed."

Hermione thought about running, but realised she was a teacher and could probably talk her way out of it. It was too dark for her to see who had stopped her, but she turned in their direction and tried to act casually.

"Sorry," she said. "I was just checking there were no Gryffindors around."

"Hermione?" the voice said.

"Yes?" she replied uncertainly.

The person walked towards her, and turned the lights on with his wand.

"Neville," Hermione said, shocked. "What are you doing here?"

"I'm in charge of patrolling the corridors tonight," he said. "What about you?"

"Like I said, I'm checking for Gryffindors," she lied.

"Dressed like that?" Neville said. "I don't think so. Unless you're going to be looking for them in Bernard's bed."

"What are you talking about?" Hermione asked.

"I saw you two together last night," Neville said angrily.

"So what? Is that why you've been sulking all day today? I don't think it's any of your business," she retorted, walking away.

"It is my business when I think I love you," he called after her, stopping her dead in her tracks.