Post Ball Chat

The common room portrait swung open allowing the young maiden in. The sounds of faint laughter were silenced completely once the portrait had closed behind her. Her fingers gripped tightly onto her dress making sure no bit of lace caught against her shoes as she continued on deeper into the room. As expected the common room was empty as most of the Gryffindors had retired long before her and if not is still down below off doing who knows what. Peering closely she did notice a shadow expand away from the fireplace, turning she saw a familiar figure peering over the fireplace with one hand against the stone.

Curiosity took hold as she inched closer taking in the sight of him. He was dressed in dress robes but everything seemed looser and well comfortable instead of ironed and straight. The hair simply was atrocious and the pair of glasses that reflected the cackling fire had seen better days. "Harry?" her words spoken softly as if to ease him out of what he was doing. He simply shifted his gaze towards her and attempted a smile from his position "Hey…"

"You okay?" her words spoken closer as the distance between them had shortened. It was rare to see Harry like this, alone and zoning out to who knows where. Then again it is quite rare to find him in any other robes than the school issued ones. Her thoughts questioned if he was hurting in any way or maybe sorting out a problem that Dumbledore had given him. She would only guess what those two were up to in their special lessons as McGonagall calls them whenever she asks about it. "Yeah… you know just thinking here, quite proficiently actually I was quite in deep thought until you rudely interrupted me Ms. Granger." He said with a smirk which made her chuckle at the semiserious and simple minded mockery in his voice.

Hermione tapped him in the shoulder and gave him a smirk that rivaled his own "You know thinking is my shtick, we can't let you have all the glory Mr. Potter." A questionable look came upon him until he realized what she was talking at. It was an unspoken truth that each member of the school wide labeled Golden Trio had their own special traits that make the whole trio work better than most. There have been times when the other would wander too close to the other's territory and others would take notice as if it was a clear odd behavior. He shook his head gently, his hair flapping like a mop "No, we can't have that."

"Besides if I'm not the thinking one then I wouldn't be an integral part of the group." She initially meant for that to come off as a joke or a slander at what people really think of her but truth be told it sounded better in her head. "Never." His word made her jump in surprise "Never say that again Mione, you will always be a part of this group… we are nothing without you. If you left we would be two boys with an IQ that matched a broomstick."

She laid her head gently against his shoulder and tapped him on the forehead, 'oh there he goes again, the ever selfless Harry Potter' she thought to herself "You cut yourself quite short there Harry, I see your marks from time to time and you're definitely smarter than a broomstick." His smile grew wider at her words, the light from the fire making his eyes twinkle more than usual. It was an odd game that they seemed to play a lot of the time, where they compliment each other but brush it off as if they're underserving of the praise. But as tiring as the game can be at times, it's still nice to hear those type of words "Thanks, Mione."

A soft tingle filled her body as she heard that name once again, a name that only he calls her. It was a weird sensation that couldn't be explained that came over her every time she heard that name as if speaking directly to her soul. "Harry…?" her voice almost a whisper breaking through the stiff exterior that she was displaying. Cocking his head to the side, he looked at her with comfort "Yep?"

Her words seemed to escape her a couple times making her look like she was gasping for air and rather odd. But when they finally came out they were spoken clearly "Why do you call me Mione?" as if to protect herself from any reaction he might have she buried her face onto his shoulder. To him, he was beginning to wonder if she was ever going to ask him why he called her that. Scratching his head he composed his thoughts as best he could "Well I call you that when I'm not crossed about something… a sort of special nickname I came up with to show you how well we get along. Also it sounds way better than what Ron calls you, Herms… like that sounds quite close to Germs which you are definitely not."

She smiled once again, she raised her head meeting his eyes once again "You're a sweet talker aren't you Harry?" his face lit up from the challenge she had brought forth to him. "Quite, that's what I bring to the group… the notorious playboy wizard who gets all the girls." His hands on his hip and his chin raised as if to mock himself causing Hermione to shake her head backing away from him. Truth be told even though his friends keep telling him he can basically have any girl in the castle, Harry never found the drive to pursue anyone in particular at least not one he spoke of.

"Tosser!" Hermione said jokingly throwing multiple pillows at him, most of them connecting causing him to raise his hands up to protect his face "Okay okay! Kidding! Jeez Mione." The both of them shared a laugh before bending over and picking up the pillows that lay on the floor. "Good to know you're not crossed with me." 'Merlin knows being crossed with Ron is like being crossed with three people at once.' Her thoughts spoke to her as if like a second voice, reminding her that they don't fight they mainly argue or tease. They were far less heated than what she did with Ron in a daily basis "Oh that's quite rare… believe me, hardly ever."

"Hope somebody felt that way about me tonight." From her tone it didn't take a knowledgeable bloke to know whom she was referring to. He's known for years having been around them for that long wondering whatever would happen between them if ever possible with their constant bickering. It truly sucks to be the middle man most days but seeing them get along is always a treat in itself. "You're talking about Ron aren't you? Don't worry about Hermione that was a train wreck waiting to happen especially with his colorful dress robes."

Suppressing the laughter that escaped her deemed to be a failure as Harry turned the tone comical so quickly. She nodded with her lips clinging to her cheeks "They were colorful indeed." Even though he got her to laugh he could tell she was reserved about him, their red headed friend who always seems to lose battles to his emotions "Yeah don't worry about him, he had a bad night… most of us have those from time to time, it'll pass. I'm thinking he was jealous of Krum because he had fun while he didn't."

Fun wasn't a word she would use to describe the look she saw him giving sitting at a table with his date who would be quickly taken by another student. But then again she remembered somebody else with him that sure wasn't having a pleasant experience as well. Her feelings towards her two friends were always complicated ever since she began to develop any feelings of the romantic kind. Her mother said it was inevitable because they spent so much time together and got along most of the time that something was going to turn up. Her intentions to Ron might be more obvious than any thought that grazed Harry. Testing the waters she softly spoke "Was he the only one?"

"Come to think of it there was this one other bloke who also felt a bit jealous of Krum." As his words dawned on her she grew more and more curious "Just a bit?" she added trying to pry for more details. Trying to get him to implore anything that might take her fancy that would take her mind of Ron. She inched ever so closer to him as if motioning him to pry on "Me? You're saying I was jealous of Krum? Far from it? I was more delighted to not be any of the girls in that ball room tonight."

That wasn't quite the answer she was expecting if at all, her heart dropped for a second at his words. Her skin tingled scrunching her eyebrows as she asked "And why is that Harry?" voice extenuating her change of tone. A small smirk appeared on his face "Well for starters, I planned for weeks to get the right tie and vest combination because I'm a Triwizard champion and all so I had to look my best."

"And you did Harry, you looked really good today." She quickly affirmed him still unsure what he was getting at with his choice of words. His eyes raced about the room as pacing mentally instead of physically instead "But like I said I had weeks to get it right and tonight you didn't even make it fair!" A soft giggle escaped her in reaction to his ridiculous outburst. What made it ridiculous was the prospect of him comparing a set of men's dress robes to her female attire. The only closest similarity was when he tried to argue that pumpkin pie was better than apple tart. That debate still remained ongoing but with that aside she hid her smile from him "I'll take that as a compliment, I think."

"And you deserve all the compliments of the world after how beautiful you looked in that dress." And with that Harry Potter kicked himself again mentally for delivering such a cheesy line to her, if he had done it in reality the bruise would take months to heal. His cheeks burned a bit embarrassed at his previous words and quickly spoke to try and evade any more further awkwardness "Question, where did it come from anyway? The closest thing of that quality is back at Diagon Alley and unless you know of a portkey out of Hogwarts that has escaped my knowledge I don't know how you did it."

Her cheeks burned a bright pink as she nervously plucked at her skirt "I… um… made it." Like nails to a coffin those were the last words Harry wanted to hear. The feeling of anguish filled him Harry flailed his arms up high "Okay! That's it! I'm officially dead, goodbye cruel world!" he said crashing onto the couch comically. The young witch could not hold back a roll of her eyes at the antics of the boy of who lived, who was now at the current moment the boy who kept her awake past reasonably passable "Your such a goofball… it's late Harry, I'm heading up to my dormitory. I suggest you do so as well."

She tapped him on the side as if to motion him to get up, but instead he covered his face and groaned begrudged at her "No Mione, there's no hope for me now. Just let me lay here and simmer in my defeat to you once again." His voice trailing as he too finally felt the effects of the day wash over him like an invisible blanket. Hermione stood watching him carefully with her eyes, 'Harry never change' her thoughts echoed in her head as she leaned closer to him "Whatever you say…" her voice came to him softly as she kisses his forehead tenderly before retreating to her dormitory. Before closing her door to him she heard him snore similar to a bear in hibernation during the winter months, 'how appropriate, Goodnight Harry' she thought and then with a "click!" her door was shut for the night.

A/N: I came back to this after awhile and finished it so if there's any inconsistencies I apologize but other than that I hope you guys enjoyed.