Author's note: Facebook group joined! Already in love with it :) And thank you so much for the support and feedback!! That apostrophe 's comment was quite helpful and much appreciated. Keep them coming, as this chapter I have typed out especially quickly and likely has numerous errors! I will probably come back and polish it up, but I wanted to get it out there in a timely manner. Any suggestions, comments, concerns, ideas, or criticisms are welcome:) Warning- includes a joke or two at Ron's expense, but all in good nature. I'm not much of a Ron-basher. Hope you enjoy this short chapter!
After spending the rest of her afternoon doing a bit of reading out by the lake, Hermione decided to seek out Harry and Ron in the common room. The sun was setting and she craved a bit of warmth. Heading down the lonely corridors, her mind far off, Hermione rounded a corner only to run right into Harry.
"Hermione!" He exclaimed, a warm smile already spreading across his features. It dimmed slightly as he continued, "Luna told me you had to stay after class in McGonagall's..." He looked at her questioningly. "Everything alright?"
"Yes," Hermione said honestly, feeling gratitude swell in her for Harry. He had always been her dearest friend, checking on her when he was worried (he worried far too much), dancing with her when she needed to laugh, and holding her when she needed to cry. She grabbed his hand and pulled him back in the direction of the common room with her.
"If you're sure... Luna said you didn't raise your hand when McGonagall asked a simple question..." Harry continued, clearly not fully assured by "yes." He looked at her sideways as they walked hand in hand, waiting for an explanation. She simply rolled her eyes.
"Honestly Harry, tell me truthfully, is it really that hard to believe that I didn't raise my hand for one question?" Hermione asked, giving her long time friend a dubious look, an eyebrow raised skeptically. She wasn't that much of a know-it-all, was she? Everyone she had spoke to had acted as though hell had frozen over. She considered giving a clear answer as to why she had been zoning out when said question was asked, but no time soon would she be admitting that she had gotten too busy looking at her professor. That confession begged to be read into; it would give people the wrong idea. Really, people might get some strange, ludicrous notion she fancied the woman. As if.
"It is!" Harry affirmed boldly. "It really is, Hermione! Why, I can't remember the last time I saw your hand not shoot into the air as fast as Ron can clear a plate," he continued teasingly. Hermione let out a giggle, her previous frustration dissipated. They laughed merrily and talked lightly until they reached the common room.
They walked in the magical red and gold quarters together to find Ron sitting at the couch, chatting idly with a small group of fifth-years. The crackle of the fire, the steady sound of little conversations here and there, and the dim light surrounding the cushy chairs and couches created a warm atmosphere that gave Hermione a true sense of home. She and Harry made their way over to Ron, the fifth-years heading to their dormitories.
"Well, I'll be in class with you tomorrow," Harry continued as they walked. "Missing class to help Hagrid tame his newest creatures is not a solid enough excuse to miss more that just today, unfortunately. So I'll keep my eye on you tomorrow, Miss Granger," Harry said in his best impression of a stern professor's voice. Harry attempted a disapproving face before the all three of them began to laugh.
"I heard about this slip of yours too, 'Mione," Ron chimed in. "Bloody hell, what possibly stumped you?"
"I was not stumped, Ronald," Hermione snapped back. "I was simply... I just took my time in giving my answer."
"It was a question of what spell is used to bind two things together," Harry added in explanation to Ron, apparently thinking he was being helpful. "Epoximise."
"Blimey, Hermione!" Ron looked at her in disbelieving amusement. "Even I know that one!"
"We don't hear that from you often, do we Ronald?" Hermione replied, eliciting a stifled laugh from Harry and an "uh..." from Ron as he tried to think of a comeback.
They agreed to head off to bed then, and gathered their things. Ron gave Hermione a smile and then stalked off to his dormitory as Harry gave her a quick hug and kiss on the cheek. He sent a warm wink her way and wished her a goodnight. She watched the backs of her boys as they made their way to bed, smiling at the true friendship they'd developed through the years.
However, as soon as they were out of her sight and she made her way to her own bed, her mind began to wander. It wandered to a certain professor whom she would meet tomorrow for tea. It wandered to her teasing smirk- one that Hermione had only the pleasure of seeing once- and then to the rest of her enticingly angled face. It wandered to her low, tantalizing Scottish brogue. It wandered to her deep emerald eyes that Hermione couldn't seem to meet without feeling them boring through her into the depths of her soul, making her knees weak. These eyes appeared every time Hermione's own eyelids closed, closing more lazily and slowly as the night grew darker. As she eventually drifted to sleep, she felt her hand tingle just where her professor had touched it earlier that afternoon.