Prince Charming, right?

Disclaimer: I don't own Hermione, Ron, Harry or Viktor Krum. I do own Hermione's thoughts, though. JK Rowling actually owns everything. I just goof around with her stuff. It's not like I'm making any money though.

Author's Note: This is just a little thing about Hermione's thoughts after the Yule Ball. Please R/R.

I sat on my four-poster whilst Parvati and Lavender slept. I was still wearing my dress robes. I had thought they were gorgeous in the shop. Periwinkle-blue and floaty material. They made me feel like Cinderella. Me, the bookworm, the know-it-all, dressed up and pretty, going to the ball with a Tri-Wizard Champion.

Granted, he isn't a Hogwarts' Champion but he's a Champion, nonetheless. On top of that he's a star Quidditch seeker, probably the best in the league. He has his own fan club and an entourage of teenage girls that follow him around almost everywhere he goes.

He is, after all, Viktor Krum. Sure he isn't handsome and he can't pronounce my name right, but he has plenty of good qualities. He's a Champion, and a professional Quidditch player. He's famous, and rich. He's nice, and he likes me. He's funny sometimes. He has interesting or intelligent things to saysometimes. He is a good dancer. Why does it seem like I'm trying to convince myself? It doesn't matter. He was the Prince Charming to my Cinderella. Wasn't he?

If Viktor was all I wanted going to the ball, then why don't I feel tingly or flushed at the thought of him? I should, shouldn't I, if he is the guy I'm with. It would only be natural, right? Then why don't I feel like that? Am I missing something?

Why was it that I had felt petty and superficial when Ron had entered the Great Hall without so much as a glance at me? Why had I felt made up and fake but at the same time not pretty at all? Why had his lack of acknowledgment made me feel see through, like everyone could see what I really thought and wanted? Why had it made me feel like a gold-digger or ascarlet woman?

If I really like Viktor, Ron's indifference shouldn't matter. So why does it? I got up and paced the room, trying to keep ahead of my thoughts. Ron's unresponsiveness to my new look mattered to me. Why? I didn't do it for him. I did it for myself and Viktor. I wanted to look pretty for Viktor. It was his big night. The ball was for the Champions. I didn't do my hair and buy new robes for Ron. I didn't put on make up (only a little bit of eyeshadow, some mascara and lip gloss) to make Ron notice me. But then why did him not noticing bother me so much?

Viktor is the one I like. I want Viktor to be my boyfriend. Sure I want Harry to win the Tournament but I want Viktor to win my heart. Don't I?

I stopped walking and stood still, waiting for the things I knew should happen. I waited for the flushed cheeks, the thrills, the quickening heart beat. I waited with baited breath, but that's all I got. Baited breath. None of the usual signs of a girl in love or falling in love. Not even a sign of a girl who was smitten. The thought I had been trying to out run caught up with me.

I didn't love Prince Charming. Nor could I ever love him.

I stood there, stock still, shocked by this revelation. Where do I go from here? My plans were ruined. I was supposed to be happy. Viktor was supposed to be the one. He was Prince Charming, God damn it.

What's wrong with me? Why didn't I fall for Prince Charming?

This epiphany sparked a memory. The time in first year when I realized I didn't, and never could, love Harry. I had planned on it. Go to school, be top of the class, make friends with and fall in love with the great hero, Harry Potter. It was foolproof. Things had been going just fine. We had become friends and I thought we were on the way to falling in love when it stopped. The feelings that had been growing bigger just stopped growing. My love for Harry stopped where the love for a brother would stop. Down in the room with Snape's potion riddle I realized Harry was like family, but he could never really be anything more. I hadn't understood it then. Hadn't he been my heroic ideal?

I stood there in the middle of the dorm thinking. I thought about my time at Hogwarts with Harry and Ron. Phrases, snippets of memories, older and recent, popped into my head.

"You- you're- fraternising with the enemy"

"Neville's right- you are a girl"

"She's a nightmare, honestly.."

"HAVE YOU GONE MAD? ARE YOU A WITCH OR NOT"

"Why have you outlined all Lockhart's lessons in little hearts"

"If Scabbers hadn't just been eaten, he could have had some of these Fudge Flies"

As I thought I realized that all those memories, the phrases that stood out so vividly were Ron's. he had said them all. Why was it that I could remember things with Ron easier that things with Harry?

That's when it hit me. Like a ton of bricks, as they say. I finally understood. It was all clear. I had the answer to every question I had asked myself.

I could still be Cinderella but that was all of the fairy tale I wanted.

I didn't love Prince Charming.

I didn't love the Knight in Shining Armor.

Because I loved the lanky, redheaded Sidekick.

Author's Note 2: Just thought I should reference the quotes she remembers. The first one is on page 367 of GoF. The second is on page 348 of GoF. The third one is on page 127 of Philosopher's Stone. The fourth one is on page 202 of PS. The fifth one is on page 75 of CoS. The sixth and final one is on page 196 of Azkaban. Have fun reviewing.