Disclaimer: As I've said before, I sadly do not own any of the characters used in this fanfic…but it would be really cool if I did, right?

Author's Note: wow…I would again like to thank those people who read chapter two and said that it did not suck. Thanks so much! I'm so glad that people are reading this fic. I thought no one was gonna read it; but I was wrong, obviously. Hopefully, more people will read this. Maybe some of you can spread the word or something? Oh well…anyhow, here's the third chapter of Curiosity. Don't forget to review – let me know what you thought of it, good or bad. Well, enjoy!

Chapter Three: An Interesting Conversation

Hermione sat on her four poster, reading Ron's battered History of Magic book. She has been reading for two and a half hours and, with a quick glance at her watch, knew that dinner will be ready in twenty minutes. She took her quill, dipped it in ink, and was about to mark something on the page when she remembered that the book belonged to someone else. But I'm sure Ron wouldn't mind. After all, this book is already in poor condition. Wait…all the more reason not to write on it, I suppose. After a few minutes of debating, Hermione finally decided to grab a spare piece of parchment. As she got off her bed, she accidentally knocked Ron's book to the floor, making her jump.

"Oh Goodness! Sorry about that!" said Hermione, quickly (but carefully) picking up Ron's practically torn book. "Wait, who am I apologizing to?" She looked around the dormitory, checking to see if anyone heard her apologizing to a book, and gave a dry laugh. She was shaken off her silliness, however, when she noticed a piece of wrinkly parchment, folded in half, sticking out of Ron's book.

"Hey, what's this?" Hermione wondered, pulling out the spare parchment and recognizing Ron's messy but miraculously legible handwriting. She gave a small giggle after reading the first three sentences: I'd rather be in divination than this class! Atleast in Trelawney's, we only predict our deaths. This guy is an actual cause of it!

Hermione smiled lightly and looked at the piece of parchment with amusement. This must be Ron and Harry's conversation during Professor Binns' class, she thought. For a few minutes, Hermione debated whether to read the content of the parchment or not. Normally, she would never poke her nose into her best friends' business; but this time, she was just too curious as to why the two weren't paying attention in class. In the end, her curiosity got the best of her and she decided to read on.

H: I'd rather have neither, if you ask me

R: I suppose you're right. So, what's up with you Harry?

H: Me? Nothing. Why do you ask?

R: Just wondering. You were acting a bit odd earlier

H: Was I? Just tired, I suppose

R: Right then. So, got any ideas who you'll be asking to the ball?

H: blank

R: Did you forget how to read? Who are you planning to ask?

H: Ginny.

Hermione giggled. Earlier that morning, Ron gave a loud WHAT?! During Professor Binns' lecture. He got mixed reactions of annoyance (from Professor Binns and Hermione), amusement (from his fellow Gryffindors), and anxiety (from Harry), which he received with a sheepish grin. Ron can be so adorable when he's being protective of Ginny, thought Hermione with admiration, not realizing that she described her best friend as adorable.

H: That is, if you don't mind

R: Harry, you prat! You could have told me you liked her!

H: So it's alright then?

R: of course it is! I'm sure she'd say yes anyway

H: What about you then?

R: What about me?

H: Who are you planning to ask?

R: Binns is yapping on about faeries and such; shouldn't you be listening?

H: Faeries? He's talking about trolls! And I though I wasn't paying attention. Now then, who are you planning to ask?

R: blank

H: Don't weasel out of this one, Weasley. Now say it!

R: What, out loud?

H: No, you git! Write it down.

R: Fine. I was planning to ask YOU, Harry Potter, to the ball next week

H: No wonder you were disappointed when I mentioned asking Ginny

R: Yup. I was so sure you would want to go with me!

H: Too bad we both don't swing that way, eh? Now tell me, who will you be asking?

R: Persistent. Alright. I will be asking the one person I should've ask first to the Yule Ball last year:

(a/n: sorry if I put H and R on there. I didn't want anyone to get confused…)

But who this girl was, Hermione never found out. The bell probably rang before he had the chance to write name down. She couldn't help but giggle at Ron's determination not to divulge the girl's name, and this made her even more eager to find out who exactly Ron was planning to ask. "It's alright. I'm sure Harry knows who it is by now," Hermione assured herself. "I'll just coax him into telling me her name." And with that said, she placed the parchment inside her robe pockets and walked out of the dormitory.

~~*~~~*~~

Hermione scanned the crowded Gryffindor common room for a sign of her two best friends. This, however, was an impossible task since practically every single Gryffindor (except Harry and Ron) were present in the room. Finally giving up, Hermione plopped down on one of the many squashy armchairs and waited for the two boys. After five minutes of waiting, she was ready to give up until a petite redhead caught her attention with a very cheerful wave.

"Hi Hermione!" greeted Ginny, walking towards the prefect. "Want to come down to dinner with me?"

"Sure. But have you seen either Ron or Harry? I'm sure those two are hungry by now; they would definitely want to come down to dinner with us."

"Actually, Hermione, they left fifteen minutes ago. They both got tired of playing chess. Ron asked me to tell you that they'll be waiting for you at the table," explained Ginny. "Shall we go then? I'm sure they've saved some seats for us."

~~*~~~*~~

"What took you two so long?" said Ron, mocking Hermione's impatient greeting earlier that day. "I was worried the two of you wouldn't be here for the potatoes!"

"Oh shut up, Ron!" Hermione giggled, sitting next to the redhead and lightly hitting his arm. "The food isn't even here yet! Hello Harr—goodness, are you alright? You really don't look so well."

Hermione looked at her friend with worry. Harry was awfully quiet, hid hair messier than usual – as though he kept running his hand through it a dozen times in hopes of taming the mess. To add to that, his face was as red as a tomato and he kept shooting nervous glances at Ron. "I'm alright. Just cold, I suppose," Harry replied with a squeak.

"Are you sure you're fine, Harry?" asked Ginny, her voice filled with concern.

"Er…yes…yeah…yeah…"

Dinner passed by rather quietly after Harry's squeaky reply. For forty minutes, none of the four talked much – each was too busy shoveling food into their mouths. Well, everyone except Harry. He kept poking at his food, as though inspecting whether or not it was properly cooked. For the whole forty minutes, all he did was poke at his food and shoot nervous glances at Ron.

"Well, that was a great dinner!" said Ron, patting his full stomach and giving a hearty burp. "Harry! You haven't eaten anything! You've been poking at those potatoes for forty minutes! Now why don't you just stay put and eat once your appetite returns? Ginny – you stay with Harry."

"Alright…" she said, a mixture of concern and confusion on her face. "But why me? Why can't you two stay with Harry?"

"Er—that's because…er…Hermione and I are…going to take a walk out by the lake." Ron quickly replied, taking a hold of Hermione's wrist.

"We are?"

"Yes we are. Not let's go so Harry can eat in peace," Ron answered, giving Harry a wink and dragging Hermione off her seat and out the Great Hall.

~~**~~~~~**~~

Hmm…I wonder what's going to happen during their walk? Well, I know, but you guys don't. The answer will be revealed in chapter 4. So again, if you guys want to read that chapter, please review. I'll post chapter 4 once I get Atleast 5 reviews for this chapter. Well, thank you for reading this chapter!!

~~:azaleafaye:~~