A/N: Wow, I really didn't expect this many reviews for my story. I mean, I'm not in the hundreds (did you know there was a story that had 1000 reviews?!), but I thought I'd only get 1. Maybe 2. So, thank you very much! I love reading the reviews almost as much as I enjoy playing this story out in my mind.

Disclaimer: same story. Nothing here is mine. Never was, never will be.

~***~

Just as the last notes of the song echoed throughout the club, he brought his face down to her and kissed her gently on the lips.

Hermione saw it coming. How could she not? What surprised her was her instinctive reaction to lift her face slightly to meet the kiss and slowly lower her eyelids.

And it came.

It was her first kiss ever.

It was nice.

It wasn't what she expected.

But then she never really imagined kisses like Lavender and Parvati did. They were always practicing, on the back of their hands, the pillow, even their mirrors. Needless to say, the mirrors weren't too impressed, except Lavender's. But that's because her mirror was a male. Hermione was always using that time to study.

It was getting very warm.

In the midst of nowhere, a little part of her mind suddenly woke up.

This isn't right. This isn't right.

Hermione's eyes flew open and all she saw was Viktor's ear. She pulled back suddenly and saw Viktor's eyes widen and narrow in confusion and hurt.

"I…I'm sorry Viktor. I can't do this"

"Herm-own-ninny"

She watched his forehead make little crinkles as he looked at her in astonishment, and then his expression started to close up.

"I'm sorry Hermy-own-ninny…"

Waves of guilt washed over her as he was saying this. She leaned over and put a hand on his forearm.

"No, don't be. Don't be sorry. There's nothing to be sorry for. The kiss was nice, but…"

Viktor glanced at her and looked away to what must have been an interesting sight by the blank wall since he refused to look away.

"I know. You are in love vith Harry Potter"

Whatever Hermione was expecting, that certainly wasn't it. She stood in her spot speechless for a second with her mouth wide open in an exquisite expression of being flabbergasted. And then she couldn't hold it any longer. Peals and peals of laughter came out until she had a stitch in her side.

Unfortunately, Viktor was paying too much attention at the wall that he didn't realise she was surprised by his statement. There was a silence, which he assumed she was confirming his statement. And then…laughter? He immediately stiffened up at the thought of her laughing at him because he tried to compete with the great Harry Potter.

Luckily, Hermione was a little more observant than he was, and she noticed his reaction. She wiped the few stray tears from her eyes.

"I'm not in love with Harry. Didn't he tell you that when you saw the maze the first time on the Quidditch field?"

He turned to her slowly.

"Then vhy…?"

"Why didn't I kiss you back? I don't know Viktor. Maybe I'm just not ready for this." She paused, and said a little more quietly, "I'm sorry".

The look in his eyes softened just a bit. He nodded a little gruffly but at the same time in, was it, understanding? Hermione hoped so. Although, she didn't understand how it could be since she didn't really understand it herself.

"Vhy don't ve go home? You haff a plane to catch tomorrow."

She nodded and helped him hail a taxi to his home.

~***~

She said goodnight to Viktor and hastily stepped in her room to be by herself. The cab ride was a little tense. Not really by him she knew, but because of her. She needed to think, and she needed to be alone to do that.

She closed the door with a sigh and leaned against it. Crookshanks was nowhere in sight.

Probably out for his nighttime prowl. Oh well, let him prowl. He'll be stuck in a box for a few hours when we're on the plane anyway.

She slowly moved to her chair and sank into it. She lowered her head into her arms that were lying on the desk in front of her.

What just happened?

She stayed like that for a few minutes before raising her head and looked out the window. She silently watched the nightly ritual of the moonlight dancing with the shadows of trees.

It just didn't make any sense. This morning everything was wonderful. She was happier than she had been in a long time. And then the kiss came and she started to panic.

No, she corrected herself, it wasn't panic. Not really. It was just…wrong. Maybe not even that. Maybe a better description was that it wasn't right.

But what does that mean?

She yawned, stood up, and got dressed for bed. Her last thought before drifting off to sleep was, "Maybe it's a good thing I'm going back home tomorrow."

~***~

She forgot that night that she had to face Harry and Ron when she got back to London.

~***~

~***~

A/N: Okay, that's it for now. I'll post soon. But I want reviews! Me greedy, but I don't care! :-)

HermioneM: Ron will be there in some shape or form in the next chapter!