People aren't supposed to fall in love with their best friend. It just isn't done. Yet me, being the great bloody prat I am, have gone and done it. Me! In love! Obviously, this is not Harry we're talking about. No, it's Hermione. Bossy, know-it-all, too-smart-for her-own good Hermione.

It's so...wierd. Like, one minute, she was just my other best friend, and the next she was this...girl. A great girl, at that. The things that made me hate her are all the things I like so much now. She's smart, that Hermione. I never knew anyone as smart as she is, not even Percy, or Bill. Anytime I need to know something, I can ask her. Yeah, she's too smart for her own good. That thing with Rita Skeeter- how'd Hermione figure that out, huh? And the Basilisk, back in second year. She's the one who knew what it was. Yeah, she spends a lot of time in the library, and reads too much. But she's a ruddy genius!

She's got a lot of guts too. Man. She can even put Malfoy in his place. That time she slapped him...whoa! That was great. "Twitchy little ferret, aren't you Malfoy?" That was even better. And marching out on Trelawny? Even more impressive. But Malfoy...every time her calls her "Mud"- no, I won't even think it. I want to knock his brains out. That bastard.

I know the guys would think I'm nuts. They'd ask why I don't like a "pretty" girl, like Parvati, or Lavendar, or Cho. But Hermione, she's pretty too. She's the prettiest when she's mad, when her cheeks are flushed and her eyes are sparkling, and her hair is coming loose out of that knot she wears it in all the time.

What am I supposed to do about it, huh? Nothing. Not a damn thing. I can't TELL her. SHe'd probabaly just run away, and then I'd lose even her friendship. I wouldn't know how to say it, either.

But sometimes...like now. She's over there in that armchair, all curled up with her book, looking...like Hermione. Beautiful. And I know if I ask, she'll come over and help me with this homework for Snape that I should have finished last week. And if she comes over, she'll pull her chair up right by mine, and our arms will brush, and my ears'll go red. Then she'll get right down to business, checking my answers, and our sleeves will be brushing up against each other. She's very serious about the work, never once looking up my way, which is for the best. If she did...well. I'd have to turn away. Because if I
looked into her eyes...right. I'm getting all girly now. But...well... I think I'd kiss her. 'Cause she's Hermione. But I can't kiss her, just because she's Hermione. 'Cause she's my best friend, and people don't do that with their best friends.