Harry sat down on his bed and thought over the last 10 minutes. What had just happened? This definitely wasn't Hermione. Harry knew he had to talk to Hermione, but at the present moment he was too embarrassed to talk to her. Harry sat on his bed for another five minutes, wondering when his friendship was going to be back to normal. His perfect friendship. Then he heard the dorm door open. Harry turned around and was shocked to find Ron, holding all of Harry's books in his hands and giving him a grin that had "I'm sorry" written all over it.
     
       "Look, Harry," Ron started, "I'm sorry about all the trouble I caused you--
      
      " Don't be sorry," Harry said, "It wasn't your fault. I understand why you were mad now. You had every good reason to be mad--"
      
      "But I thought that you were actually involved! I didn't know it was just one of her games! I didn't really think Hermione would ever do that kind of thing..."

      "Neither did I." Harry said chuckling a little. Ron lost his serious face and chuckled too. He put Harry's books down and went to sit on his bed.
      
      "So..." Ron started casually, "What do you think she did it for?" He looked into Harry's eyes, his eyes looking so hopeful. Harry knew that the question really meant something else. Does she like me?

      "I really don't know," Harry answered the unspoken question suddenly feeling like he actually cared, for the first time.

      "Well, it's not like I can ask her..." Ron said disappointedly. Harry stared at him, looking at how he had changed over the past few months and surprised at the change he saw. Ron had indeed grown a few more inches and he had continued to use Dean's hair styling gel on his bangs. Obviously he had grown quite fond of it. Harry thought that he looked a lot older than he did 3 months ago.

      "Well," Harry began, with a little reluctance, "If you want, I can ask her..."

      Ron almost jumped out of his seat, "You WOULD?!" He quickly calmed his composure and sat back down, "I mean, you would? Thanks!" There was a long silence.

      Harry quickly tried to find something to say, "Thanks for bringing my books."

      Ron smiled and then suddenly, as if this reminded him of something, he grew wide eyed, "Harry! We have Charms in," He glanced at the clock, "2 minutes!" Harry's heart froze and he ran for his books and stuffed them in his bag.

      "C'mon then!" He cried. He and Ron rushed out of the dorm and raced for the Charms room. Professor Flitwick had already begun his lecture when the two entered his room. He glared at them, but didn't cease. Harry noticed Hermione give them a curious glare, until she saw Harry looking at her; she quickly slumped in her chair, blushing furiously.

      "Alright, pass up your assignments," Professor Flitwick said. Ron and Harry exchanged panicked glances. Harry dug out his book and opened it to the assignment's page, only to find a piece of parchment, with only a number 1 upon it. Then he saw a small shadow appear over his nearly blank paper on his desk.

      "So, do you have it? Or were you out causing trouble with your friend here?" Harry looked over at Ron who was sulking in his seat. He gave Harry a look of pity.

      "I was with him, I guess sir," Harry mumbled.

      "You two see me after class then," Professor Flitwick growled, "Being late is one thing. Not doing your homework is quite another." Harry and Ron cowered to the little man as he continued onto Hermione, who had managed to do her homework somehow after the incident in the library. Harry wondered how she could do homework when she had so much on her mind, but then he realized he was thinking about Hermione. As soon as their lesson ended, Harry and Ron dragged themselves up to the Professor Flitwick's desk.

      "I'm afraid I am going to have to give you detention, as you have probably guessed," Professor Flitwick said, "You are to report to Mr. Filch's office on Monday at 6:00 PM sharp. Understand?" They nodded. "It's curious. You two have behaved so well in my class for the past couple months. I have to wonder what happened, but I suppose it isn't any of my business. Run along to lunch now." Harry stared down at Professor Flitwick's desk feeling guilty. It was then that he noticed all the stationery on the desk. Harry's heart froze. Had something happened in the Order of Phoenix again? Harry felt his arm being pulled and looked at Professor Flitwick, who was looking at him curiously. He let Ron pull him out of the room, waving to Professor Flitwick with a sheepish grin on his face. Professor Flitwick chortled at the grin just as Ron closed the door.
      
      "So, what made you get that look on your face, Harry?" Ron asked as soon as they exited the room.
      
      "I'll tell you later," Harry promised, "but right now I could use some food. Let's go to lunch."

      Harry and Ron spent an hour in the lunchroom catching up.  Apparently, Ron had spent many hours practicing Quidditch while he and Harry had been fighting.  Harry, of course had noticed that in practice.  Harry was coming to realize Ron was just as good a player as he was, maybe even better.  

      "Now can you tell me what was upsetting you in Professor Flitwick's classroom?" Ron asked inquisitively.

      "Maybe some day, Ron, but I kind of promised not to tell," Harry said reluctantly.  He really wanted to tell Ron, but he had promised Dumbledore.  Ron raised an eyebrow in intrigue.

      "What DID you do while we weren't talking, Harry?" Ron asked inquisitively again.  Harry thought clearly if he should tell him everything.  Should he tell him that he about his changed feelings for Ginny?  Or about the meeting with Lupin, or the dream?  Harry decided maybe he should just leave that stuff out.

      "Um, not much I suppose," Harry lied, "I just worked on school work, practiced Quidditch, hung around with Hermione..."  At the mention of Hermione's name, Ron looked up and had a look of sadness upon his face.  Harry realized he may have said the wrong thing.  He gave Ron a weak smile and played with his peas.

      "Harry, do you think you can still ask Hermione if she--er--i mean, if she--" Ron hesitated.

      "I will soon, Ron, promise," Harry answered.  Ron slumped in his chair.

      "All right," he said.

      The two friends left the Great Hall only minutes later to go to their Quidditch practice.  "It's great we can finally walk to Quidditch together!" Harry exclaimed.

      "Tell me about it.  I was this close to getting in trouble for enchanting the suits of armor into dancing the tango, since I was always walking with Fred and George!" Ron said, holding up his fingers and spreading them an inch apart.  Harry laughed happily.  His best friend was finally back.

      Katie was busy straightening up brooms when the boys arrived for the practice.  She was very stressed out due to the fact that the next Quidditch match against Ravenclaw was taking place in a week and a half.  Alicia, who had recovered from her fall well, was consoling her by helping her with the brooms.  Ron and Harry walked into the stadium and hopped on their brooms.  They swooped around happily together until they realized that practice was starting without them.  They zoomed down and hopped off their brooms snickering, Katie glaring at them disapprovingly.

      "We all should be aware that the match against Ravenclaw is soon!  There should be no misbehaving, just practice, practice, practice!  So let's get a move on!"  They hopped on their brooms and Harry was about to take off when Katie took him by the arm.  "I just wanted you to focus on your dives, Harry.  Apparently, you're not the only one who has been working on it.  The Ravenclaw seeker, Cho Chang is it?  According to a faithful spy of ours, she has been working on it in secret and she is quite good. So PLEASE work on it!" Katie looked quite stressed.  Harry stifled laughter at the seriousness, even though he realized that he did need to work on the dives.  He hadn't been practicing as much as he should have been.

      "Alright,"  Harry agreed.  The two hopped on their brooms and joined the rest in practice.  Harry didn't fail to notice that Ron only missed three Quaffles from making the goal.  He sighed deeply, wondering why he hadn't practiced more.  How could his best friend be beating him in Quidditch?

      Harry's dives were getting faster and more accurate.  He was relieved.  He hadn't forgotten that Cho Chang was an expert at dives, yet he wondered who had been spying for the team.  

      After about 3 exhausting hours, the teams started to trudge out of the stadium.  Harry and Ron passed Hagrid's house and Harry realized it had been a while since he had been to see Hagrid besides during lessons.  He peered through the trees and saw that Hermione was walking out of the cottage talking to Hagrid and holding a ruffled Crookshanks.  

      "I wonder what Hermione is up to, Harry," Ron wondered aloud.

      "Let's go talk to Hagrid.  It's been a while, and maybe we can figure out what's going on," Harry said.  They trudged up the hill towards the cottage, Hagrid noticing them before they even reached the house.

      "Ron?  Harry?  So good to see you two back to normal 'n all!  C'mon in!"  Hagrid cheered.

      "Hagrid!  Sorry it's been a while," Harry apologized.

      "I understand the O.W.L.S are probably taking up yer time," Hagrid consoled, "Hermione was just down here and told me that she had just finished her homework!  Poor dear," Hagrid peered at the two boys, with a 'what's up with Hermione?' look on his face.  Ron ignored it.

      "What was she doing over here?" he asked

      "She came to pick up Crookshanks.  I think he about did it with my rat problem, bless his soul.  And I think the kittens won't be needin' the father any more," Hagrid picked up one of the kneazle kittens and caressed the purring creature gently.  Harry and Ron were just about to comment on how cute it was when they heard a noise behind them.  A large rat was scurrying towards a hole in the wall.

      "Blast these rats!  I thought they be gone," Hagrid stood up quickly, scaring the kitten off his lap, " I may need Crookshanks back here.  I'll have to talk to Hermione about it."

      "We'll do that for you, Hagrid.  Right Ron?" Harry knew this was the perfect opportunity to talk to Hermione and thought Ron might agree.  But Ron was staring at the rat, looking rather confused, "Is something wrong, Ron?"

      "Nope, nothing's wrong.  It's just--umm," he hesistated and he shuddered slightly, "I don't like rats much after that little incident a couple years back, umm... that's all."

      "Understood, o'course!" Hagrid said, "Don' we all feel the same way."

      Harry was looking at Ron suspiciously.  The boys stayed for a late tea so Hagrid could tell them all about how the kittens had been growing.  They tried to look interested, but after an hour, they had to give in, "Well, Hagrid, we better be getting back to the common rooms.  We still have some homework."

      "Righ' then, I understand,"  Hagrid said.  He showed them to the doors and they said their goodbyes.  

      "What was that all about Ron?" Harry cried.

      "What are you talking about?" Ron interrogated.

      "Oh, never mind," Harry sighed.  They walked in silence until they reached the entrance.  

      "Harry, about talking to Hermione," Ron began nervously.

      "Ron.  If you promise to stay out of the way, and if she happens to be in the common room when we get back, I promise I will ask her why she kissed me and--other questions," Harry slowly said.  He was very reluctant to, but he wanted to know just as much as Ron did.  Anyways, he wanted to see if his theory was right.  Was Hermione as much in love with him as Ron was with her?  Somehow he knew he had to figure it out once and for all, to settle things straight.

      Harry felt like his feet were full of lead as he and Ron silently entered the Fat Lady's portrait (She wasn't pleased when they both took over a minute to say "Fish Livers", due to both of them being nervous).  He scanned the thinning crowd and found Hermione in her usual corner, caressing Crookshanks on her lap and staring at the floor, in deep thought.  She didn't see them enter.  Harry looked at Ron, who was staring open-mouthed at Hermione.  Harry rolled his eyes, disgusted by the romance, and pushed the mesmerized Ron out of his trance.  Ron staggered his balance and grinned apologetically at Harry.  He briskly walked to Fred and George, leaving Harry with a look that meant 'Good Luck'.  Harry took a deep breath and trudged towards Hermione, who was still unaware of his presence.

      "Hermione?" Harry voice squeaked slightly and he blushed as Hermione looked up in surprise.  

      "Oh, Harry!  I didn't see you there..." She fidgeted and shifted in her seat.

      "Are you mad at me Hermione," Harry asked and bit his lip.  Hermione gave him a look of surprise and shook her head.

      "I thought you were mad at me!" she cried

      "No, I am just a little shocked I guess,"

      "You have every right to be at least," She blushed furiously and sighed sadly, "I'm really sorry, Harry.  I don't know what else to say."

      Harry didn't know how to respond.  He was getting off track, anyway, "Why'd you do it? Why'd you," he paused and smiled uncomfortably, "er--kiss me."  He blushed also and shuffled his feet.  Crookshanks growled all of a sudden and hopped off of Hermione's lap during the long pause.  Finally Hermione spoke up.

      "I don't know, really." She lied.  Her gaze became obvious as she stared at Ron, who was over with Fred and George, glancing periodically nervously at them.  Harry understood Hermione's real answer immediately.

      "Do you miss Ron?"  Harry asked her as he sat down next to her on the couch.  Hermione scooted over slightly so that he could have more room and nodded, without any eye contact, "Why don't you forgive him, then?"  Harry suddenly remembered the whole reason for this fight, although the Valentine's Day ball seemed so long ago.  All of a sudden, Hermione pounded her fists in anger on the couch and held back obvious tears.  

      "Why should I forgive him after what he did to me, Harry?" She said as she stared into Harry's eyes suddenly.  Harry hadn't seen Hermione cry in so long.  He gave her a look of confusion.  What had Ron done that night that was so bad?  He still didn't know, yet he wanted and needed to know.  Hermione stood up and walked over to the now empty corner nearby, with her arms crossed and tears trickling down her face, "He tried to kiss me, Harry.  On the bench outside the ballroom.  KISS ME!  HIS FRIEND!"  

      Harry finally understood it all.  Yet he was having a hard time believing it.  Hadn't Hermione just done the same thing to him?  He tried to push aside the arguments, realizing that his friend needed him now.  He did the mature thing and joined his friend in the corner, putting his arm around her shoulder.  She burst into tears.  There was silence, yet Harry couldn't wait any longer to ask the question that was burning inside.

      "Why didn't you let him?"  Harry winced, expecting angry remarks from her, but nothing was happening.  He opened one eye and saw that she had stopped crying, yet her face still had sadness and confusion all over. She gazed at nothing and then she turned to Harry, finally looking into his eyes.

      "I was scared."

      He gaped back at her for a long time in complete shock.  This was the last thing he had expected to hear and a sudden feeling of sympathy came over him.  Harry took her around the shoulder and walked her to the couch, where they both sat down again.

      "Can I ask you why you kissed me then, Hermione?" He questioned.

      "I really don't know," she said, "I guess maybe I liked you or something."  Harry wasn't angered by this, like he would have been ten minutes ago.  Instead he just chuckled and put one hand on each of Hermione's shoulders.  He looked at how she had changed and remembered the bushy haired, big-toothed Hermione he was friends with in 1st year.  Now she was so much prettier, just as pretty as Cho.  If things worked out, Ron would be lucky to have such a beautiful girlfriend.  
What was he thinking?  These were his best friends he was thinking about.  He thought about his friendship with them throughout the past five years and it suddenly hit him that he had been missing something this whole time that now seemed quite obvious and surprisingly acceptable.  He sighed deeply and looked  deeply into Hermione's eyes.

      "Hermione. You don't like me," He hesitated at his next response, "You love Ron.  You two--you two were meant for each other."  Immediately, Harry knew he wasn't only telling this to Hermione, but he was also telling it to himself.  He looked at Hermione's scared, red eyes for a long time, wondering what was going on in her mind.  Finally, Hermione breathed in deeply.

      "Harry, if you don't mind, could you leave me alone for the night.  I'll see you in the morning." She sighed.

      "Alright, I understand."  Harry trudged up to the stairway that led to the dorm and glanced behind him at Ron.  Ron was staring at Hermione in anticipation, Hermione glanced at Ron for a minute and noticed that he was staring at her.  She sighed and trudged to her dorm and was out of sight.  Harry turned around and entered the dorm.

      When Harry walked out into the common room the next morning, Ron and Hermione were sitting at a table by themselves, laughing.  Harry stopped dead in his tracks and stared.  Did he miss something?  Were they officially a "couple"?  He walked quickly up to them and Ron smiled broadly as he approached.

      "Hey you two!  What's going on?" Harry said nervously.

      "We were just laughing over the absurdity of our fight," Hermione chimed.  She giggled a little more and gave Ron a blithe look.  

      "Oh, ok," Harry trailed off, giving the two searching looks, "So, what's going on?" He repeated his question, and then Hermione looked at him and understood what he really meant.

      "We decided to be friends again," she said, emphasizing the word friends.  Harry noticed she looked at her shoes while she said this.  Ron, who was behind Hermione, was looking reluctantly at her.  Harry breathed a quiet sigh of relief, but then felt regret, which greatly surprised him.  

      "Well that's great," Harry said, trying to sound enthusiastic.  A long silence followed.

      "Ron, do you know where Fred and George are?" A familiar voice asked timidly.  Harry turned around and looked into Ginny's eyes, who had been looking at him, not Ron.  Harry hadn't dreamt about the red-haired beauty for so long and had missed her mahogany eyes.  He could help but gawk when he saw them.  He felt his heart tug and his cheeks go hot, but quickly took his eyes off of Ginny, not wanting to share his secret with his friends.  It was too late.  Ron was looking at Harry in great surprise, his jaw dropped.  Hermione was fiddling with a quill, oblivious of what was going on.  Ginny was looking from Ron to Harry in confusion.  "Mum sent them some stuff, I need to find them..." she said, trying to break the tension.  Ron shuddered a little and looked away from Harry, closing his jaw and forcing a smile to Ginny.

      "They went out with Angelina to practice Quidditch." Ron said.  Harry shuffled his feet nervously and nodded in agreement as he looked over at Ginny.  Ginny smiled slightly at Harry's glance.  Harry felt his cheeks grow hot even more, but managed to refrain from smiling.  He immediately regretted this since Ginny's smile faded.  She had obviously expected a smile back from him, but Harry knew if he had he would have lost his secret, which he knew he wasn't ready to reveal.  But regret still managed to loom as Ginny trudged out of the common room.  He did his best to hide it as Ron gave him a look.

      "What are you staring at Ron?" Harry asked as he chuckled nervously.

      "You guys know that we better get some breakfast before ten.  We don't want to miss the Hogsmeade trip today, do we?" Hermione asked, obviously not aware of what was going on.

      "Of course not, let's go," Ron said, shuddering his suspicions away in a heartbeat.  Harry breathed a sigh of relief before he caught up with his friends.

      Before they made it to the Great Hall, an enthusiastic Collin Creevey caught up with them.

      "Harry!  Harry!  Are you going to Hogsmeade?" he questioned in great excitement.  Not long after his tiny brother Dennis caught up with him and stared at Harry's scar with his mouse-like eyes.  Harry instinctively smoothed his bangs down.

      "Yeah, I'm going," He answered politely.  He glanced at Ron and Hermione.  Ron was rolling his eyes and Hermione was stifling laughter.  The two Creevey brothers smiled in glee.

      "Well, will you guys sit with us and our friends at lunch?" Collin pleaded.

      "Umm maybe," Harry hesitated and gave the boys a weak smile.  They grew so excited that Harry had to back away in hopes of surviving with no injury.  To his dismay, the boys continued to walk with he, Ron, and Hermione until they made it to the Great Hall.  When they made it, Nearly Headless Nick was just walking out of it.  Harry smiled, glad to see an old friend.

      "Nick!" Hermione called out to catch him.  He turned around and smiled happily.

      "It has been some time!  So glad to see you three kind souls," he greeted them gladly.

      "Where have you been?" Harry asked.

      "Oh, I've been busy with many preparations, shall we say," He said proudly, staring at the Creevey brothers and smiling warmly.  Collin and Dennis were hiding in Ron's tall shadow.  Ron was stifling laughter, but Harry had grown too intrigued with this tidbit of news to notice.

      "What kind of preparations?" He asked.

      "Top secret.  I've been rather busy.  I kind of regret not being around the school to socialize with old friends like you three," He said, "But they've given me a special break!" He smiled proudly.

      "What for?" Hermione asked.

      "I am substituting as your Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher," Nick said puffing out his transparent chest in pride.

      "Really?" Ron asked in a new sense of intrigue, "But what about--"

      "Well, I must be off," Nick interrupted quickly, "See you on Tuesday."  He floated off, waving enthusiastically.

      "Why would we need a substitute?" Hermione asked out loud.

      "I don't know, but he sure was scary on Thursday," Collin said, stepping out of Ron's shadow, Dennis closely behind.

      "You've already had him?" Harry asked.

      "Yes, and so have I," Dennis said something for the first time all day in his squeaky voice, "He knows a lot of creepy stories.  And he couldn't stop showing us his head tricks." The little boy shuddered.

      "So where is Professor Fletcher?" Harry asked.

      "Some mission, according to Professor Headless," Collin said casually, "He left Thursday morning I guess."

      "Professor Headless?" Hermione asked, stifling laughter.

      "He said he wanted to be called that," Dennis said.  Harry, Ron, and Hermione all guffawed, remembering the event of their second year in understanding.   Nick had always had a great desire to be completely headless instead of nearly.  Harry quickly settled down as he realized there must be something going on.  Dennis and Collin were giving them strange looks.

      "Hey guys, what are you doing?" Neville came up to the group after the laughter had subsided.

      "Going to breakfast, why?" Ron asked.

      "Well," Neville said, "Because it's ten o'clock.  We have to go to the entry way to get ready for the Hogsmeade trip!" Harry, Hermione, Ron, Collin, and Dennis all looked longingly at the empty plates in the Great Hall, ready to be filled, and followed Neville to the entry way to get ready for their trip to Hogsmeade.  Harry, Hermione, and Ron managed to slip away from the other three and whisper about their new find.

      "What do you think this means," Hermione asked.

      Harry couldn't help but smile, despite the seriousness of the situation.  He was so happy to have his two best friends back, to have the team back together.  "It means something's going on, and we need to find out."

      
(To be continued! Please come back when I update!!)


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Disclaimer- The characters, setting, etc. belong to the most talented writer in the world (JK Rowling), yet the plot was developed, with inspiration from the greatest writer in the world, by yours truly ;o)