A/N So heres a story I've been working on for awhile. I hope you guys enjoy! Disclaimer: I don't own the characters or the setting of this story...J.K Rowling does!

Chapter 1: Hermione's Morning

Hermione groggily ate her breakfast at the Gryffindor table, alone. Scenes from last night flashed through her mind as she spread butter on her toast. Her heart skipped a beat as she remembered Ron snogging Lavender after the Quidditch match the day before. It wasn't any surprise to Hermione that she felt like crying anytime she saw those two together. She couldn't deny the fact that she had a crush on Ronald Weasley. She sighed as she tried to rid herself of that memory. She remembered how Harry had found her all alone in that room. She was upset, heartbroken, and angry all at the same time yet he handled it nicely in Hermione's opinion. Though they didn't speak much, Hermione found happiness in the thought that he had tried to cheer her up before she had stormed out of the room. The way he had pretended not to notice Ron and Lavender, the way he had complimented her on her spells, the way he had tried to stop her from leaving, they all reflected what a good heart Harry had. As Hermione relived the moment, just the simple act of joining her in that empty classroom had helped her mood greatly. If it wasn't for Ron interrupting she maybe could have had a better night.

The bottom line was that Ron and Lavender were now an 'item' so to speak. Hermione glanced down the table to see the two engaged in a discussion. Lavender fed Ron a grape and Hermione gagged at the sight. Her mind wandered to Harry though. Where was he? If he wasn't with her or Ron that meant he probably wasn't at breakfast. Just in case she had missed him Hermione carefully scanned the Great Hall in search for her best friend, but he wasn't anywhere to be found.

Realizing this, Hermione stuffed the last bit toast in her mouth and left the Great Hall. Her feet carried her to the common room where she found him. Sitting on a chair writing on a parchment. "There you are Harry." She said relieved.

Harry looked up at her and smiled. Hermione blushed at this though she didn't know why. "Hey Hermione."

"Why weren't you at breakfast?" She asked concerned.

"I already ate." He said. "Here take a seat." He said gesturing to the chair that sat across from him.

Hermione obliged and sat across from him. "Is that Potions homework?" She asked.

Harry nodded, "I figured I have nothing else to do. Why not?"

Hermione felt a swelling sensation of pride for Harry, "That's wonderful Harry." She gushed.

He smiled at that remark and continued to write. "How have you been doing?" He asked thoughtfully.

Hermione knew he was questioning what had happened after she left but she pretended she didn't know and responded, "I've been good." She belied. "What about you Harry?"

Harry stopped writing immediately and his eyes shot up at her, "Hermione," he started. "That's not what I meant."

Hermione sighed, "Fine. I'm doing a lot better than last night, that's for sure."

"And?"

"Ron and I still haven't talked since the incident last night." Hermione quickly sputtered.

Harry rolled his eyes, "Talk to him Hermione, this will never be resolved unless you tell him how you feel."

Hermione was alarmed at this statement. Harry had basically revealed that he knew she fancied Ron. "It's not like that Harry." She lied once again.

"I know." He said, though his tone was unconvincing. "You need to tell him that, not me."

"How long did the party last?" Hermione asked quietly.

Harry shrugged, "I have no idea, I left for bed shorty after you did."

"Why?"

He sighed, "I don't know. There wasn't much to do."

Hermione nodded, "I understand."

Harry looked up from his homework again and frowned, "Hermione can I ask you something?"

"Yeah sure anything." Hermione replied. Her thoughts went wild as she tried to guess what he would ask.

He paused for a second trying to tie his words together and then asked, "Do you think Ron will still hang out with us if he's with Lavender?" Hermione's eyes widened at the thought. She never had really considered whether or not he would hang around them. Her thoughts had been more directed at the fact that Ron was dating another girl. "Sorry." He said looking at Hermione's paled face. "I shouldn't have asked that. It didn't make matters any better."

Hermione watched as guilt filled his eyes and desperately tried to comfort him, "No no no!" She protested, "I just never really thought about that situation. I'm sure he'll hang around you a lot. You're his best mate." She said the words and knew she didn't believe them. Ron was a great friend but she knew how he behaved around girls and he wasn't going to pick his best mate over a girl anytime soon.

"You're his best friend too, Hermione." Harry pointed out.

Hermione gave a fake smile, "Yes, but he has a prettier girl to boss him around so he won't have use for me."

Harry frowned. "Hermione, you don't need to compare yourself to anyone else."

"I'm not!" Hermione argued. "I was just pointing out Ron's logic! He probably believes-"

"Hermione," Harry interrupted, "that's not even true though."

"Well I think Ron believes so." Hermione said trying to hold back the hot tears that clouded her vision. It was bad enough to think but saying it to Harry only made it worse. This wasn't a conversation she should even be having with her best friend. He won't understand her anyways.

Harry rolled his eyes, "Hermione you're beautiful, don't let anyone else tell you otherwise. Especially Ron." He said grabbing Hermione's hand. Hermione's heart was pounding wildly against her chest at Harry's touch. She stared into his eyes trying to find a glint of lying. She was breathing heavily as she realized there wasn't even a trace. "Hermione?"

"Hmmm?" Hermione hummed still trying to wrap her mind around what happened. She was wrong, maybe she was okay talking to Harry about anything. He had lightened her mood in such a short span of time.

"The Amortiena potion, what is the significance of it?" Harry asked flipping his quill around his fingers. His hand was nowhere near her's but she still remembered how it felt.

Hermione snapped back into reality, "Oh-Umm...well the Amortiena potion has a unique smell to each person."

"I get that, but what makes it so significant?" Harry asked once more. Hermione's eyes drifted to his hands which were playing with the tips of the parchment.

"It's supposed to smell of your favorite smell in the world." Hermione stated.

"So hypothetically it could smell like a person." Harry concluded.

Hermione nodded, "I suppose so."

"I guess we'll find out next month when Slughorn lets us actually make the potion." Harry said casually.

"Yeah, that should be interesting." Hermione mused thinking of the unexplainable feeling she got when Harry touched her hand. "I'm going to get my homework too." She said finally after a long pause. Truthfully, Hermione needed to escape from Harry just to recap what had happened, because it didn't make sense to her. She had once fancied Harry, but one day she realized she needed to wake up and not be stuck in a childish crush. 'Harry's like my brother now. You don't fancy your brother do you?' She told herself. After a small debate in her head, Hermione shrugged it off and told herself she was just trying to make Ron jealous. After all, clear up until this point she never had doubts about who she liked. It had always been Ron.

Hermione returned to Harry with textbooks paper in hand. He smiled at her return and she returned it. "I'm not sure I'll be very productive with you around." Harry said at the sight of her.

Hermione laughed a little, "Usually I have the exact opposite affect. I must be losing my touch." She joked.

Harry smiled, "No, you're just really distracting Hermione. That's all."

"Distracting?" Hermione questioned. She would describe Ron as distracting. The way he complained and made jokes made it hard for her to focus. He always wanted to do everything BUT homework. How on Earth could she be distracting?

"Yeah." Harry said nodding. "I just feel like talking with you. Not doing homework together."

"Funny." She said lightly.

"What?" He asked staring confusedly at her.

Hermione gave a small smile, "Usually that's never an issue."

Harry frowned and set down his quill. He propped his head up and said, "Well maybe that's because our distracting friend is gone."

"Harry," Hermione scolded, "There's plenty of time to talk with each other. Especially now that Ron has preoccupied himself."

Harry shook his head, "But I just feel like talking to you right now. I don't really want to anything else but chat. You're an interesting person to talk with and you understand me more than a lot of people do."

'Most of them.' Hermione corrected in her head. 'I understand you better than ninety-five percent of the population.' She said to herself. In her mind she wondered how Harry would respond to something like that. Would he think she was right? Hermione gathered her thoughts and finally said, "Harry I promise you, after we work on homework for a bit we can talk until you're content. Got it?" Hermione instructed. Sometimes she seemed like Harry's mother at times but it was just because he was her best friend and she wanted him to succeed.

"I guess your right." Harry sighed. "It just feels weird to be doing homework that's not due for another week."

Hermione smiled, "It should feel relieving."

Harry shrugged, "I don't know if that's how I would describe it." Hermione shot him a smile and then dove into her Charms homework. The two of them silently sat at the back table scribbling on their parchment when Harry piped up. "Can you believe November is almost over?"

"Well I'm glad it's almost over." Hermione shared. "That means its Christmas time."

Harry grinned, "Yeah, that will be nice. Are you coming to the Burrow this year?"

Hermione shook her head. "I can't. I have my aunt and uncle flying in from New York this year. I promised my parents I would stay and visit with them."

Harry's face dropped and he looked sadly down at his hands, "Couldn't you come for a day or so?"

Hermione sighed, "I don't know Harry. It's a long time to decide ahead of time. I don't know when my aunt and uncle are leaving and whether Ron will want to see me at his house or not. Maybe when it gets closer I'll consider it."

Harry nodded a little, "Yeah I guess so."

"Now, stop distracting me Harry." Hermione scolded. "I was in a groove until you reminded me of Christmas." Harry didn't have a reply to this. He just flashed her his award winning smile and Hermione immediately forgave him.