Chapter 8- Dean and Hermione (Harry's POV)

When I walked into the Potions room, Dean nearly knocked me over trying to get to Hermione's desk. I wasn't going to try and sit there anyway. Hermione probably would have just moved, and then where would I be? Publicly humiliated like that was not what I was going for. I watched Hermione for a moment, noticing her not notice me. It was heart breaking. We finally figure out our feelings for each other, and I had to go and botch it. Though, I doubted she liked me anymore at that point. I copied down the ingredients, and began mixing things together with Neville and Ron. We added lacewings and heartstring, and were letting them simmer. They needed to simmer for 15 minutes, so I let my attention wander around the room. Ron was busy talking to Lavender, Parvati was talking to Seamus, and Neville was warily watching the clock, daring the 15 minutes to catch him off guard. I turned my attention to Hermione. She was talking gaily with Dean. But what shocked me the most was her behavior.

Hermione was actually FLIRTING with DEAN! She had never done that before! With anyone!

My mouth dropped in horror. I hated being right sometimes. It's really a pain in the arse. A loud guffaw brought me out of my shocked state, and I looked up in time to see Hermione laughing so hard her sides hurt. Doubling over in laughter, Hermione leaning against Dean. He put his arm around her to keep her steady, but when she finally regained her balance; Dean never moved his arm. In fact, it looked like Hermione was glad to have it there.

That was depressing. While Ron and I had been agonizing over how to get her to be pleasant to us again, she was flirting with Dean, probably not missing us at all!

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ (Back to normal POV)

Hermione could feel Harry's eyes boring holes in the back of her head, and she knew he was jealous. But she knew that Harry obviously hadn't remembered the night before. How hurt she had been when they didn't recognize her.

But Hermione didn't care. Hermione still missed them, yes. In fact, she was still hurting under her layers of tough. But Hermione was not going to forgive them until the apologized to her face. Until they realized everything they had done wrong, and there was quite a list. It might take all year. It might take the rest of their lives. Hermione could move on, just as they could. Just as they should. Just as she desperately hoped they wouldn't.

"Hey Hermione, can I ask you a serious question?" Dean looked at her nervously.

"Of course Dean. Ask away."

He began stirring their cauldron, and avoided looking at her eyes at all costs. "Well, erm, I was erm, wondering if you would, you know come, with me, to Hogsmeade on the next trip."

Hermione smiled broadly. "Of course I'll go!"

Dean looked up, surprised but happy at the same time. "Thanks Hermione! You won't regret it!"

Then he kissed her on the cheek, while Hermione blushed.

Harry of course was watching the exchange with mixed feelings. First, he was insanely jealous of Dean. HE wanted to be the one Hermione went with to Hogsmeade. But he was also happy for Hermione for being happy. The mixed messages were causing all sorts of confusion within Harry's poor skull.

Unable to decide, Harry grimly faced his cauldron, making sure Neville didn't screw up this ingredient.

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

As the Gryffindors headed out to the greenhouses for Herbology, Dean tucked his hand inside of hers, and immediately began to walk slower. They were about 20 feet behind everyone else when he started to talk.

"Hermione, I don't know whether to be happy or sad about the situation with you, Ron, and Harry. On the one hand, I'd like you guys to all be friends again, like it used to be. With Harry and Ron joining in on our late night dorm talks, instead of mulling over how to solve the problem. But on the other hand, if you guys hadn't been fighting so long, we never would have happened. But I didn't bring this up to talk about my confusion. I just wanted to tell you, that Ron and Harry really do miss you. They aren't just acting, and from what I hear, didn't just send those letters for fun. They've been asking everyone what they knew, even a couple of first years, who had no clue."

Hermione tightened her grip on Dean's hand. "Dean, I know they miss me. But they did something terrible, and it's not easy to forgive. They hurt me deep down, and it's hard to fix that low. I'm willing to forgive them, if they would go about it right. All this time, they've been writing letters, and asking people what they did so that I won't talk to them. But there's one person who would tell them if they would just ask, and so far, they haven't asked her. Please don't tell them I said that, though. I want them to figure it out on their own."

Dean nodded, as they entered greenhouse 4. "But will you tell me who that is?"

"As long as you don't tell them." Dean nodded. "Me."

End Chapter 8

You know what's sad? I finished writing this chapter on May 20. The way things are going, I won't have it posted until May 24, if then. I've been uploading only one chapter per day, because I want to keep at least SOME suspense, even though its all incredibly obvious. Ah well….

Keep those reviews coming!! They really brighten my day!

~Herbie