Here's more of the story. I really hope that this makes it easier for all you people out there to read it, and plus it gives me time to screw around with my HTML skills! (or lack there of, but that's beside the point.)

HP so doesn't belong to me. It belongs to the genius JK Rowling and WB and whoever else is in on it. I'm just a poor student with no claim to it whatsoever.

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Only Talking:

Chapter Two

By: pottergal
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A few weeks passed and Harry found himself marveling at how different things had become after his talk with Hermione. He couldn't quite explain the feeling of relief that had floated about him after his talk with her; it felt like every single thing that had been pressing down upon him had been wiped away, leaving a clean slate. He could finally look at Cho without flinching, and deep down he was pleased to see that she couldn't do the same for him. He caught up on all, well, most of his assignments and classes didn't seem to be as difficult as they had been. But that also had to do with Ron and Hermione. Maybe she had talked to Ron, but the both of them seemed to take a more active interest in his well being. Classes became more like they had been back before the two of them had gotten together, and though he tried, Harry couldn't keep himself from feeling happy.

December came with its biting cold and Quidditch practice became true murder. Harry would return to the warmth of the common room with relief, and nine times out of ten, Hermione or Ron would bound towards him and drag him into a game of some sort. Mostly, it was Hermione.

That was another thing Harry couldn't quiet explain. Ever since their talk, Hermione had become . . . closer, maybe? She seemed to be making a point to talk to him alone and ask him if everything was all right. Though she always did it once a day, it never got old or exasperating. In fact, it made him happy to give her a warm smile and say, no, but thanks for caring every single time she asked. She also seemed to be making sure they'd have conversations, long conversations, between just the two of them. She'd hunt him down in the library, or something, but she'd always pop up and the two of them would talk for hours about anything that came to mind. Sometimes Hermione would get Ron to join them, but the conversations they had then weren't quite as fun. All that seemed to happen then was a little argument between the two of them.

He'd finally asked her if Ron minded these conversations. She wasn't spending time with him, wouldn't he be angry or something? Hermione had rolled her eyes at that, and Harry had frowned slightly.

"I don't want him thinking that . . . well . . ." He trailed off uncomfortably and Hermione gave him one of her beautiful smiles.

"That you're what? Stealing me away?" She shook her head slightly as he nodded in embarrassment. "Come off it, Harry. I come down here to do my homework, and Ron knows that. As if we'd start making out in the library or something." Harry had to laugh at that. "No, he trusts me, and he trusts you. I told him that occasionally I'll go to talk to you, and he understands. I think he feels bad because he never realized you'd broken up with Cho."

"Ah." He'd said in response, and that had been the end of that particular conversation. Harry tried his hardest not to feel guilty any longer when Hermione came to talk to him, but he couldn't help it. He really enjoyed their conversations, and he couldn't help but feel that he was taking Hermione away. One day he'd found himself wishing that Hermione wasn't going out with Ron, but he'd stomped it down quickly. The last thing he needed was to make things ten times more complicated then they already were.

"Harry, hey Harry!" He looked up from his Transfiguration homework and smiled as he saw Hermione walking towards him, her bag swinging slightly from the lack of dead weight. She smiled in return and he realized she was holding something else besides books. It looked like a small package of some sort.

"No studying today?" He teased lightly as she sat down beside him and held out the package, her eyes laughing.

"It's from Colin. Remember the first snow last weekend?" Harry nodded with a smile. "Well, he took a bunch of photos without us knowing, and here's the whole developed role. He gave it to us as a present." Harry opened the package curiously to find photograph after photograph of Seamus, Dean, Ron, Hermione, and himself all playing in the snow.

"I don't believe it." He said softly as he watched Ron chuck snowballs at Dean and Seamus, who couldn't seem to keep up with him. The snowball fights with his older brothers had paid off; Ron couldn't be matched when it came to making and throwing the balls of snow in record time. "I remember this. Ouch, Seamus just got pegged in the face." He winced as Hermione laughed.

"Keep going, it gets better." He gave her a quizzical look, but began to go through the set. There were several more photos of the snowball fight, and then it shifted over to Hermione. She was slightly behind Ron and was stealthily making a few snowballs. Just as she picked up one to throw it at her boyfriend, Harry saw his photo self sneak up behind her and shove a snowball down her shirt.

"He actually got a picture of that?" He asked, astounded. The next photo was of Hermione jumping up and down, squealing her head off. The snowball fight had stopped as the three boys stared at her. Harry's photo self had a hand clamped over his mouth as he shook with laughter.

"Keep going. It gets even better." Harry flipped through a few more of Hermione struggling to get the snow out from down her shirt and then he came to the ones where she got her revenge. Hermione had wheeled around and was positively spitting with rage. Harry watched the photo as she got her wand out and done something to the snow so that clumps of it would form into compact balls and hurl themselves at Harry. His photo self was now running for dear life, the snow around him rising up steadily. Ron and the others were dying of laughter.

"Leave it to Colin to get a photo like this." He said with a small shake of his head. "I never thought I'd look this funny running from your enchanted snowballs." Hermione laughed.

"Wasn't that a great day though? You finally looked like you were having some fun." She beamed at him. "I'm glad you've gotten over Cho. You needed to move on, Harry."

"Yeah, well, I have you to thank for that." He said as he put the photographs back into their package. "If you hadn't stepped in when you did, who knows what might've happened to me." He gave her a broad smile. "I would've been lost . . . among other things." Hermione looked away quickly and Harry noticed a pink tinge to her cheeks.

"So . . . um . . . have you . . ." She coughed slightly. "Have you heard from Sirius?" She said, finally finding a subject. "I hope he's all right. It doesn't seem like you've had much news from him lately."

"I haven't. What with the things that are going on, I'm not all that surprised. It takes several weeks for Hedwig just to get to him." Hermione nodded silently and opened her mouth to ask something, but Harry already knew what it was going to be. "And yes, I did tell him about Cho. I have yet to receive an answer."

"I hope he's all right." She said and Harry nodded in silent agreement. "So what are you working on now?" She peered down at his homework before cocking an eyebrow. "Transfiguration already? Even I haven't done that one yet."

"I have Quidditch practice in a little while and I wanted to get a bit of a head start. That way I won't feel so overwhelmed, you know?" Hermione gave him a look of surprise.

"Who would've thought. Harry Potter thinking ahead for once." Her mouth quirked in a small smile as he threw her a look. "You know I'm kidding. I think it's a wonderful thing that you're starting to take your work seriously."

"Well, it was either that or get in some serious trouble with McGonagall." He said as he picked up his quill. "She told me if I didn't get my act together, she was going to have to take action. And from the things she was . . . ah, alluding to, I didn't want to give her the chance." Hermione smiled and his insides gave an involuntary flutter. He looked down at his parchment quickly to hide the sudden unease he felt.

"Harry? Is something wrong?" She touched his arm lightly and he looked up at her without thinking. That was a mistake, as he was about to realize.

Brilliant emerald met intense cinnamon brown and locked in a deep stare. Harry could see thousands of emotions swirling around in her eyes and was entranced. Never before, he felt, had he seen such an interesting shade of brown. It captivated him, swallowed him, made him gape in wonder at the sheer depth of them. He felt for certain that he could've spent eternity staring into the vastness of her eyes.

"Har . . . Harry?" Her voice, trembling slightly, broke him from his thoughts. He didn't stop looking at her, however, but he suddenly was conscious of how nervous his stare was making her. "Wha . . . what is it?" He reached up slightly and he heard her draw a sharp breath.

"Hold still. You've got something in your hair." He said softly and plucked an imaginary piece of lint from her golden brown locks, slightly amazed by himself. He . . . he couldn't be, could he? He wasn't . . . falling for her, was he? One of his best friends . . .

It was a little over a month since his break up with Cho, and certainly that wasn't long enough before he could start liking someone. And even then, it couldn't be Hermione. It just couldn't be. But here he sat, his eyes locked on her face, speedily taking in features he'd never bothered to notice before. The way her hair curled gently, her eyes staring deeply into his own, her lips poised to voice an unsounded word, her quiet breathing, her slender hands, her composure, her presence, even her faint smell of some flower . . . all was distinctly her and no one else. And he found part of himself wanting it.

"Harry?" Her voice was calmer this time, though perhaps she was forcing it to be such. "Did you get it off?" He blinked and finally tore his gaze from her face, breaking the spell that had them locked to eachother. He slowly lowered his hand and pretended to flick something away.

"There you go."

"Thanks." She said with a smile, though he could still feel the slightly rigid atmosphere he had caused. After a moment, she reached down and got out a book from her bag. "I'll leave you to your homework, all right?" She opened her book, but before she could begin reading, there was a rather quiet thud from one of the rows hidden in shadow before them. Both of their heads snapped to where it had emitted from and Hermione tensed, her hands tightening around the book.

"What was that?" Harry asked as he stood slowly, his brow furrowed in a small frown. Hermione shook her head, her eyes still focused on the place where the noise had come from.

"I have no idea." The tremor was back in her voice, but Harry didn't stop to ask her about it. Acting on instinct, he pulled out his wand and started for the darkened row.

"Lumos." He muttered and a tiny light emitted from the end of his wand, illuminating the row. Harry frowned at the sight that met him. Several dozen books had been knocked off their shelves and were sitting in a rather large heap on the floor. He shook his head slightly.

"What is it? Is someone there?" Hermione called.

"No. But someone did knock a bunch of books over." He pointed his wand at the pile. "Mobilarbus!" He said and promptly the books flew back to their places. He looked around for any sign of the person who had knocked them over in the first place, but it was clear they'd made themselves scarce. A nasty sinking feeling filled Harry then; what if who ever it was had seen them? He didn't want to think about the rumors that would start, or how angry Ron would be . . .

"Harry?" He turned to face Hermione and he grimaced slightly.

"I think we should head up to the common room. I get the feeling that someone was spying on us." He watched her cheek give a nervous little twitch and she stood.

"Why should we leave? We weren't doing anything wrong. We were only talking." She said, her voice sounding slightly unnatural, as though she was trying to convince herself. "There's nothing wrong with talking. I don't see what the fuss is for. We were only talking."

Only talking? Harry wondered as he moved to pick up his things. It certainly seemed to him that perhaps there'd been a little bit more than just talking going on, if staring at eachother counted for anything. That lead him down a different train of thought, like what had caused him to be so captivated with her in the first place, or if her nervousness truly stemmed from the idea of being spied on . . . perhaps, perhaps she'd felt it too, that strange sensation, drawing him to her . . .

"I ruined it, didn't I." He said after a moment as he slung his bag over his shoulder and picked up the rest of his books. He could sense Hermione's confusion as she looked at him. "Just when we were starting to become better friends, I made it . . . awkward." Her eyes searched him silently and after a long pause, she shook her head.

"Things are no different than they were before, Harry." She said, and Harry thought he heard a trace of bitterness to her voice. "Now come on. You're the one who wanted to go back up to the common room, so we might as well do just that."

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Hermione walked beside Harry quietly as they headed up the many staircases back to the common room. He seemed to be lost in his thoughts, and Hermione felt it best not to pester him with the multitude of questions she felt like asking. For one, who did he think was spying on them? And did he really think it could be that bad? All they'd done is talk a little. They hadn't hugged, they hadn't kissed, nothing. But there had been that . . . that . . . whatever it was. He'd looked up at her and suddenly . . . suddenly she'd been drowning in emerald green. Pure deep emerald green that sparkled up at her and had drawn her steadily in.

I . . . I couldn't move. She'd wanted to remain forever, just looking into his eyes, but the one part of her that was mightily alarmed had taken over and had forced her back to earth. Harry was her friend. One just didn't go staring into the eyes of their friend, especially when they had a significant other.

"Ah yes." The voice was back, piping along quietly and slowly filling her with doubt and dread. "But you never felt that with Ron, did you? You've never really felt much for him, besides cordial friendship, have you?" She frowned and tried her best to ignore the nagging suspicions that were suddenly popping up within her. "Admit it already! You've felt something rather deep for Harry since the moment you met him."

"All right already!" She hissed and quickly plastered a smile on her face as Harry gave her a questioning look. "Sorry, I didn't mean to say that out loud. It sort of slipped." An endearing smile quirked the edges of his lips and he shook his head slightly.

"Sometimes I wonder for your sanity, Hermione. Having conversations with yourself?" He said as they drew near the portrait of the Fat Lady and she gave him a mock scowl.

"Ha, ha." She said and turned to the portrait. "Castle Andromeda." It swung open and the two walked into the common room. Hermione spotted Ron sitting at one of the tables, and he smiled warmly as he saw them. She drew a deep breath of relief. Perhaps it had all been her imagination, the person running straight to Ron and telling him all sorts of untrue things about what went on between her and Harry . . .

"There you two are. Harry, did Hermione show you the pictures?" Ron asked as the two of them took seats at the table as well, Harry sitting across from Ron and Hermione sitting on the end. "I especially love the one where her snowballs are chasing after you. The expression on your face is priceless." Ron reached over and took her hand, giving her another warm smile. "That'll teach him to mess with you, won't it." He squeezed her hand gently and she smiled in return.

"Here you are, I figured you'd want them back." Harry said, and Ron let go of her hand to take the package from him. "They're pretty funny. The ones of your fight with Seamus and Dean are amusing. You'd think they'd have the advantage; after all, they did have two people." Ron smirked slightly as he opened the package and began to flip through them.

"Obviously they haven't been in many Weasley snow fights. They'd learn to defend themselves pretty quick then, wouldn't they." Ron and Harry laughed and Hermione smiled. Yes, that's it. She'd been imagining things; nothing had changed. Ron was still the same person, and seeing as he wasn't breathing fire in anger, no one had told him anything.

"What have you got there, Ron?" Neville had popped up beside them and he was looking down at the photos curiously. "Oh wow, let me guess. Colin took these, didn't he." Ron nodded as Neville began to look through the ones Ron had put aside. "Ouch, remind me never to get in a snow ball fight with you. You've clobbered Seamus and Dean." Ron grinned in a pleased sort of way and Hermione shook her head inwardly. Of course he'd be happy about that.

"I see Colin showed you the photos." They looked up as Dean and Seamus appeared on either side of Neville. "They're neat, aren't they? Though I doubt Seamus likes to have a record of his trouncing. And here he thought he was a decent fighter." Seamus scowled darkly at Dean, who was grinning. "What'd you think of them, Hermione? There seem to be several rather unflattering pictures of you dancing around like a maniac."

"I'd like to see your reaction if I dumped snow down your shirt." She quipped with a wry twist to her mouth. "You'd probably squeal even more loudly than I did." Everyone laughed but Dean, who rolled his eyes. Ron gave her hand another friendly little pat.

"I see you two have made up." Seamus said, his eyes flicking from Ron to Hermione.

"Oh, come on, Seamus. You know they barely stay mad at eachother for long. It doesn't take but a few hours before one breaks down and apologizes." Dean said, his eyes locked on Hermione. She frowned inwardly at his stare, managing to keep a small smile plastered on her face. As the light banter continued, she watched Dean continue to look at her and she shifted uncomfortably. Had he been the one . . .?

After a while she looked back at him, and sure enough, he was still looking. She finally did frown at him, and his gaze flicked to Harry, who was grinning with Ron and the others about something or another. It then flicked back to Hermione, giving her a small start of fear. What was he . . .?

"Lavender! Lavender, where are you?" Abruptly, the portrait to the common room burst open, and Parvati Patil came rushing in, her cheeks flushed and her breathing heavy. "Oh Lavender, you won't believe what I've just heard!" She yelled as the portrait shut slowly behind her.

"What is it? Why are you shouting?" Lavender Brown stood from one of the arm chairs and frowned deeply at Parvati, who was bent over slightly, her hands resting on her thighs.

"I just heard from a fourth year that - " She stopped abruptly as her gaze met Hermione's. She obviously hadn't realized they'd been there, because she gulped awkwardly, some of the color fading from her face. "Um . . . I'll tell you later, okay? It's . . .it's really nothing important." Lavender gave her an odd look, but didn't press the issue.

"Go on, Parvati. You've got all of us curious now." Seamus spoke up, startling Hermione. "You can't just barge in here with some really interesting news and then not tell anyone. That's cruel." Parvati's mouth opened and closed wordlessly as all faces in the common room turned to hers inquiringly.

"Well . . . this, this fourth year had just come from the library, you see, and . . . ah . . ." She trailed off, clearly trying to think quickly. Her gaze met Hermione's again, and she felt as though her heart had stopped. She clamped her hands together in her lap to keep them from shaking too badly. "As, as she was going to get a book, she saw . . . she saw . . ."

"What'd she see?" Ron asked, his face genuinely interested. Hermione didn't dare look at Harry as she struggled to keep her face as blank as possible. She could feel Dean's eyes though, which weren't helping the massive amount of anxiety that she was feeling. "Come on, Parvati, what'd the fourth year see? I think all of us are old enough to handle it." He said with a smirk, though no one laughed with him.

"Ron! Ron!" The portrait burst open for a second time, and Ginny Weasley flew towards her brother. "Ron, is it true?!" She asked breathlessly and Hermione frowned at her. "People are saying that you've broken up with Hermione!" Everyone stared; Hermione felt her mouth fall open.

"What's this?" He asked after a moment, his eyes wide in shock. "This is the first I've ever heard of it." Hermione met his gaze as it flicked to her, and she stared back, just as surprised.

"So you're still going out then?" Ginny asked in disbelief and her eyes turned on Hermione.

"As far as I know," Hermione said, tearing her gaze from Ron, "we are still a couple. Nothing has happened, Ginny." His little sister frowned slightly in thought. "What would make you think that?" Her cheek twitched slightly, but she remained silent.

"Ginny?" Ron asked, his voice full of suspicion. There was something else in it as well that made Hermione uneasy . . . anger, perhaps? "Ginny, who told you that Hermione and I were no longer going out?"

"I heard this . . . this rumor, you know, and . . ." She trailed off and bit her lip in concentration. "I . . . I assumed that . . . that if it were true, then you . . . you and Hermione weren't still a couple."

"What'd you hear, Ginny?" Harry said gently, finally joining the conversation. Ginny's eyes turned to him and she gulped. After a moment, she drew a deep breath and looked at the floor.

"I heard that you and Hermione had been making out in the library." She whispered and shock jolted through every single person present. Hermione finally looked at Harry, who wore the exact same expression of horror and genuine surprise as she did. Her gaze then shifted to Ron, whose mouth hung open and his face had paled. She looked at him pleadingly and shook her head slightly. That wasn't true, she tried to say. Please don't believe it, that wasn't true. It would never be true.

"How . . . how . . ." Ron finally looked at her, stared her directly in the eye. It's not true, she tried saying. I'd never do that, I'd never hurt you like this. "That's impossible, Ginny." He said, finally looking away. "Hermione and Harry wouldn't do something like that." But there was a note in his voice . . .

"I know." Ginny said. "But with the amount of fights the two of you had been getting into lately, I couldn't help but wonder." Hermione glanced over at Parvati as Ginny continued to talk and she knew in an instant that this was the rumor Parvati had been dying to tell Lavender. It was common knowledge between Lavender, Parvati, and herself that Lavender had a bit of a crush on Ron, though she'd never even hint about it around him. The other Gryffindors would tease her to death if it got out from the three of them.

After what seemed like an eternity, the people in the common room assumed their previous activities and Ginny headed back to wherever she had been before she'd rushed off to ask Ron. Parvati and Lavender vanished up the staircase to the girl's dormitories and things grew rather quiet. Hermione finally managed to get her hands to stop shaking and she turned her attention back to the conversation that was springing up again at her table. It seemed, however, somewhat forced, and the laughter didn't flow as easily as it used to. Hermione glanced at Dean and wasn't at all surprised to find him looking at her.

"So tell us. What do you do in the library then, if you're not kissing?" Dean finally asked and everyone at the table instantly fell silent. Neville and Seamus looked between Harry and Hermione with a mixture of curiosity and anxiety, while Ron sort of glared. The pile of Colin's pictures lay forgotten on the table infront of him.

"We talk." Hermione said simply and Dean raised his eyebrows. A flash of indignation raced through her then. "Don't give me that look. Honestly, people assume the worst when two friends meet alone." She glared at everyone save Ron and Harry. "I would think you'd have a little more faith in us at least. I'm not about to go cheating on Ron and Harry's not about to try anything." She said firmly and looked at Ron, who gave her a wane little smile.

"You do believe us, Ron?" Harry said, his eyes focused on his friend. "Don't you?" He then shifted his gaze to Hermione, who met it steadily. "She's your girlfriend. Why would I even think about doing anything that would jeopardize that? Your happiness means more than the world to me." Hermione felt a little jolt go through her; Harry hadn't taken his eyes off of her for a moment, and they seemed to have darkened slightly to a more forest green with . . . sorrow? Bitterness? Perhaps it was a mixture of both . . .

"Ron?" She said, tearing her gaze from Harry. "Ron, you do believe what we've said?" He was looking at the table now, pushing the pictures around aimlessly. It seemed she'd been right, the note in his voice, the way he'd spoken to Ginny . . . He didn't fully believe them.

"I . . ." Suddenly he blinked and stopped shifting the photos around. Hermione watched his eyes widen as he picked up a picture and frowned as his expression darkened. He looked up at them, his eyes holding restrained anger, and he slowly shook his head. Hermione's gut plummeted. "Look at this." He said quietly, clearly struggling to hold himself back. He flicked the photo across the table and Hermione's jaw dropped when she saw it.

"You . . . you can't be serious . . ." It was a picture of her and Harry, though it certainly was much less worse than she'd been expecting. It was from the snowball fight, right after she'd stopped jinxing snow to smack him. He'd sat down on one of the benches and begged for her mercy, which she'd granted with a small giggle. Then they'd sat beside eachother and watched Ron proceed to cream Dean and Seamus. At least, that's what they'd done for real. In the photo, Hermione had her head on Harry's shoulder, and both of them were blushing slightly.

"How can I believe that you haven't been making out in the library after I see something like that?" Hermione looked up at Ron, whose face had gone from white to a vivid red and he glowered at her. She opened her mouth to say something, but she couldn't think of anything to say. She'd been rendered speechless by the shock. "I can't believe it. It's disgusting, you know? Here I am, and I thought I could trust you. You told me, 'Oh, don't worry so much Ron! Harry is our friend. We wouldn't dream of doing anything.' And like a great moron, I believed you." He shook his head, his angry gaze not leaving Hermione. "I believed you!"

"And you should continue to do so! Not once have I wavered, even with all the fights and rough spots we've had. Even after I caught you ogling all those girls in Diagon Alley! I'm sure you wouldn't have let me off so easily if you'd caught me staring at a group of guys!" The block hindering her speech vanished in the face of the rage she now felt. "How dare you accuse me of something like this, how dare you!"

"Hermione's right, Ron. She's been faithful to you, even when you really haven't." Ron turned his glower to Harry, who met his fury head on.

"Stay out of this, Harry. We can discuss this later." Harry shook his head.

"Supposedly I'm as much a part of this as she is, aren't I? If you accuse her of cheating, then you accuse me of trying to steal her away." He said firmly and Hermione had to be amazed at how he well was keeping his cool. "Ron, you should know better. You know both of us well enough to realize we would never do something like that."

"Oh, take her side! You always do!" Ron shouted and got to his feet quickly, knocking his chair over with a loud bang. "And fine then! I tell you that you're a dirty thief, who has nothing better to do all day then hit on my girlfriend! Guess you were jealous, weren't you? Couldn't have your friends' relationship last ten times longer than your own!" He'd clearly hit a nerve; Hermione watched Harry's steady gaze darken even more. She'd rarely seen this expression on him; it was one he wore when he was truly angry, and it scared her.

"Ron, how could you?" She said, trying to take some of the heat off Harry. She wasn't quite sure what might happen.

"Don't give me that, you know it's true! And you're just as bad!" He rounded on her. "Rita Skeeter was right, you are a two timing - " He called her something that made everyone draw a sharp intake of breath and made Hermione shoot to her feet. "I should've known better to ask you out, especially after reading about how you'd played Krum for all he was worth! Relationships mean absolutely nothing to you, do they?" Anger kept welling and welling inside Hermione, growing to far greater heights than it had ever done during any of their previous fights. "Fine then, I know what you want! Let's just break up, end it here and now! You clearly don't need me anymore, especially when you've gotten an even more famous fiddle to play!" He gestured to Harry and there was a long pause filled with stunned silence.

Hermione looked up at Ron, at his flushed, furious face, and glared. Then she slapped him, as hard as she possibly could.

"How dare you." Hermione growled, enunciating every word and ignoring the open-mouthed stares she was getting. "How dare you!" She said more loudly and raised her other hand. "HOW DARE YOU!" She practically shrieked, but before she could slap him a second time, a pair of hands restrained her. She struggled against them, but to no avail. She wasn't quite sure what she would've done had she gotten free; her mind was so stunned at the sheer outrage, she couldn't even think up a proper insult.

"Hermione, stop!" It was Neville and Seamus who had restrained her, both of whom looked pale and shocked. "Calm down, Hermione!" It was then she realized what was happening. Every glass in the room had shattered, including the windows, several chairs had been destroyed, and the other students in the room had backed up against the wall, their eyes wide with fear. Hermione drew several deep breaths before jerking out of their grip.

"Are you all right now, Hermione?" Neville asked timidly and she nodded slowly before daring to address Ron.

"Now you listen to me. I don't ever want to catch you near me again, you understand? This is the final straw, we are through." Her voice was quiet, but she could see that it was making him shiver slightly. "Good-bye, Ron Weasley, and good riddance." And with that, she turned on her heel and marched up to her room.

Once she was gone, Harry stood slowly and taking out his wand, preceded to fix everything in the room. Soon Seamus and Dean were helping him silently, while Neville went about straightening things. The other students who had taken refuge against the wall ventured forth into the room cautiously, but none resumed their work. When the clean up job was complete, Harry put his wand away and gathered all his things. His gaze finally met Ron's, who was muttering something he couldn't quite hear.

"I hope you're happy." Harry said and Ron glowered.

"Are you going to start in on me too? Careful, I don't think this room can stand being destroyed a second time." He said with a small sneer. "And I won't clean up after you either."

"Oh shut up, Ron." He blinked at Dean, who was shaking his head. "You know how much of an ass you made yourself today? Frankly, I'm appalled. You know Hermione and Harry are nothing like what you said."

"Yeah. What's with the over-reacting?" Seamus added. "And Hermione would never cheat on you with anyone. She's just too dedicated like that." Dean and Seamus then gathered their things and brushed past Ron to head up to their dorm. Ron glanced at Neville, who was shaking his head.

"Hermione's nothing like that, Ron. How could you be so mean? How could you upset her like that?" Neville then followed Dean and Seamus, leaving just Harry and Ron, who looked like he'd been hit by a ton of bricks. Their gazes met, but Harry didn't let him say anything to justify what he had done. He brushed past him without so much as another glance and went to get ready for Quidditch practice.

*~*~*

Yey! Next part is done. Don't ya love it, I know I do! well, read and review, and so forth, and I hope splitting it up makes it easier for people to read! Thanks! -pottergal