Disclaimer: Harry Potter and all other characters belong to J.K.Rowling and the song belongs to Andy Williams

A/N: Bloody long chapter this one is. I'll apologise in advance for the duel scene and further explanation and apologies and *gasp* replies to reviews can be found below. Enjoy.

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Previously on 'One bad boy': Harry asked Hermione on a date, she turned him down. Harry enlisted Ron's help to win Hermione over. Harry prepared to duel Draco and the author buggered off for a few months due to evil teachers

'Three, two, one, begin' McGonagall cried, and the duel was underway at last.

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'Prepare to die' Draco yelled in what would have been an extremely threatening manner, if it wasn't for the fact that he was firstly a Slytherin and secondly a nancy git who must have used a baby elephant's weight in gel on his hair that morning

'Let's just get this over with' Harry said rolling his eyes at Draco as he concerned himself with trying to spot his friends in the crowd. So far he'd seen Dean and Seamus waving at him with a large banner held between them that proclaimed 'He's mean, he's lean, he's Gryffindor's bad ass fighting machine' and heard Ron yelling that he was Harry's best friend as he pushed his way to the front of the crowd

'Expelliarmus' Draco yelled while Harry continued peering round the large crowd searching for his female best friend. However Harry was fast enough to simply sidestep Draco's first attack much to the disappointment of the few Slytherins in the crowd

'Confundo' Draco tried again and Harry this time stepped the other way as the curses shot past him and hit the protective (but invisible) walls that Dumbledore had placed around the duelling area.

'Diffindo' Draco shouted at the same moment Harry finally spotted Hermione in the crowd watching him with apprehension from near the back. Harry decided to pay more attention to Draco and leapt over the oncoming curse, really wanting to finish with a forward-somersault but having the feeling that he would instead break his neck and so he landed on his feet

'Trying out for the circus Potter?' Draco inquired with a sneer

'That would explain why there's a big stupid ape in front of me' Harry replied with a charming smile that had his fan club in the front row snapping wildly on their cameras. He did quickly ponder as to how Draco seemed to be so knowledgeable about muggle pastimes such as ballet and the circus but decided he'd save such mocking for later

'Serpentosia' Draco shouted the first spell that came into his head in annoyance at Harry's quick retort that had inspired much laughter around the room

'Bravo, well thought out there Malfoy. Send a snake at somebody who can talk to snakes, that's bound to frighten him into surrendering. Oh no, wait, it just makes you seem stupid' Harry said with an extremely slow mock clap as he told the snake to wait over near the Slytherin supporters, who he was glad to see seemed rather worried as the snake headed towards them

'Ricumsumptra' Draco shot out the tickling spell that was never going to have any serious effect

'Here have that one back, you're going to need it far more than me' Harry smiled lazily as he deflected the charm back to Draco who dodged just in time

'Avis' Draco said slightly out of breath as he prayed to God that big black killer birds of prey would fly out of his wand and eat Harry alive. However judging from the hilarious laughter filling the hall, it seemed that the black birds of prey were in fact yellow canaries

'Ooo pretty, being practicing that one to charm Parkinson have you?' Harry couldn't stop his laughter as one of the birds tried to perch on Draco's shoulder

'Engorgio'

'I've no need for that thanks, I think everyone would agree that I'm big enough already' Harry grinned as he dodged and winked at Hermione who merely raised an eyebrow in response, while Draco turned whiter than ever in fury

'Obliviate'

'What the hell are you playing at?' Harry yelled in anger as he waved his wand just in time to raise a protective wall that absorbed the curse

'It's in the rules, it wasn't a unforgivable' Draco replied coolly, supported by Slytherin cheers. He personally blamed Dumbledore, if the old crackpot hadn't told him specifically not to use it, then why should he be held responsible for its actions?

'Well it damn well should be' Harry snapped almost looking visibly flustered as he recovered from the shock that Draco wasn't going to play nicely, he wasn't sure why he'd ever expected that he would. He saw Ron out of the corner of his eye being restrained by Dean and Seamus as he attempted to reach Draco to kill him and realised that he should end the duel soon. Or just as soon as he'd shown Malfoy up a bit more

'What's wrong Pothead getting scared?' Draco sneered, pleased to have finally scared Harry. But Snape watching the duel with an air of superiority and disinterest from the back realised that this was the end of Draco's battle, annoying a person who was clearly magically stronger than you was not the way to win a duel and Snape knew that, even if Draco's pride prevented him from seeing it

'Give me something to be scared of then I'll let you know' Harry shot back while coolly deflecting another curse back to Draco

'You can't run forever' Draco said through gritted teeth as he saw yet another one of his curses returned to him and immediately sent another one

'I don't intend to' Harry said as he jumped out of the way of the latest curse

'Come on, fight me, or are you scared you'll lose?' Draco challenged getting very frustrated and knowing that his face was covered with sweat from over-exertion, while Harry's only exertion so far was waving to a cheering Colin Creevy

'Just trying to stretch it out a bit, let's face it, once I curse you, it'll all be over in seconds' Harry smiled serenely with confidence

'You're bluffing Potter, you know I'm going to win' Draco said also with confidence, only quite why Draco was confident was a mystery to everyone there

'Don't be an idiot all your life Malfoy' Harry sighed rolling his eyes at the delusional state that Draco was still caught in

'First I'll kill Weasley, then I'll torture the mudblood to death in front of you and then I'll finish you off. You just see if I don't' Draco laughed cruelly attempting to get some sort of reaction from Harry

'Still living in your own little universe are you? I suppose it's the only place you fit in' Harry smirked with amusement as he dodged another series of curses that Draco sent his way

'Just wait. I've told you before Potter, you chose the wrong side, you're going to die' Draco laughed excitedly as though he spent his entire live waiting for Harry to die

'Maybe, but you'll never win' Harry said with a nonchalant shrug. He knew that life insurance for himself would be ridiculously high but to him death wasn't the worst thing that could happen, just so long as he did some good before he went.

'What you and those little detective friends of yours will figure out the secret code just in time to save the day? Think again, this isn't a game anymore, I'm going to beat you, starting with this duel' Draco said manically, his eyes shining with the prospective power and riches that would be his when Voldemort ruled the world. Harry glimpsed Hermione looking anxiously at him and saw that her hands were tightly clenched by her side from anger at Malfoy and fear for him. And shaking thoughts of simply strangling Draco to death out of his head, he decided that he had to finish this now before somebody got seriously injured

'Be quiet and understand this, you will never beat me. Wherever you go, whatever you do, I'll always be right there to knock you back into that slime pit you came from' Harry's voice rose to a menacing whisper as he strode straight towards Draco with his robes billowing and wand raised

'I really don't think…' Draco began to say with as a look of fear flittered across his face and those words were a trigger for Harry, he finally knew how he wanted to end the duel

'Petrificus totalus' Harry said calmly as the curse left his wand and flew straight into the stunned Malfoy who fell to the ground with a resounding thud as Harry stood over his now still form with a smirk playing on his lips. 'I've warned you before about saying that. You should really learn to listen to me; it might just save your life. Because you'll never be able to compete with me, you're just not in my league'

'Mr Potter wins' McGonagall announced to the hall, which broke out in jubilant cheers as everyone was glad to see Draco Malfoy so badly beaten and the sweetest victory of all was the knowledge that Draco could see and hear everything that was going on and could do nothing to stop it

'There was never any doubt' Harry scoffed as he left the duelling ring 'accidentally' stepping heavily on Draco's leg on the way. Draco's place in history was now secure; he would be forever remembered as the boy beaten by a single curse that even the first years knew. While was victor was the irrepressible boy-who-lived and the boy who would now concentrate on rather more pleasant tasks, such as convincing his best friend to date him…….after he'd had a victory party or three

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'Mobililibro' Harry shouted for the fifth time in frustration, but once again nothing happened. 'Stupid spell doesn't work' he muttered crossly.

'Don't be silly, you're saying it wrong' Hermione said, looking up from her book with a slight smile on her face as the quill in front of Harry didn't even move

'I am not' Harry said as indignantly as if Hermione had just claimed that the moon was made of cheese

'Yes you are' Hermione insisted, 'you need to roll the r'

'Well if you're such an expert, why don't you do it?' Harry offered standing aside so that Hermione could see the quill that was causing him so much aggravation

'If you insist' Hermione said with a shrug ignoring that sarcasm in Harry's comment and pulling her wand out 'mobililibro'

'Damn it, I hate when my sarcastic comments backfire on me' Harry muttered as the quill moved the entire length of the table before mockingly resting on the table right in front of Harry

'Don't worry we still like you, even though you suck at chess and Hermione's smarter than you' Ron grinned infuriatingly as he laughed at Harry's misfortune, to him life was good at the moment, his friends were been nice to him, the food was excellent and Lavender had bent down right in front of him only moments earlier

'Don't you have to annoy Dean or something?' Harry snapped still sulking

'Oh yeah, Ginny looked upset this morning. He's going to pay if he's done something to her' Ron jumped up completely unmoved by the fact that his best friend had just glared at him and sped off to find Dean, the sooner Dean was a mere memory, the sooner Ron's life became completely perfect

'I'm sure you'll be able to do the spell soon' Hermione said attempting to sooth Harry's battered pride, but the smirk lurking on the corner of her lips didn't really help the situation.

Luckily Harry got over his annoyance pretty darn quickly as a new plan sprang into his mind

'You could teach me, couldn't you?' he asked

'Well, yes' Hermione agreed

'Cos you're top of Charms aren't you?' Harry inquired looking interested

'Yes' she answered

'And you're a prefect, right?'

'Yes' Hermione said slowly, extremely suspicious as to where Harry was heading

'And you're going to go on a date with me?' Harry asked not even changing his tone

'Wrong, we just established that I'm not stupid, so I'm not going to fall for that' Hermione informed Harry, grateful that she had quickly registered the question before simply answering yes again

'I know you're not stupid, you're incredibly smart and incredibly sexy' Harry said sincerely and with an extremely sleazy grin on his face, which convinced Hermione that she didn't ever want to know what he was thinking

'And you're a perverted teenager' she replied

'And proud of it' Harry grinned; Hermione simply shook her head at him in disgust causing Harry to defend himself. 'Aww come on Hermione, a girl with your brains has to realise that dating me or Ron is inevitable'

'I see no reason why' Hermione said rather huffily

'It's the way the world works, you're a female with two male best friends and sooner or later one will develop further than that, even if it's only a one night stand, it's inevitable' Harry said extremely confidently as though this was one of the ten commandments written in stone, never to be broken

'What is this, the rules of Harry's world?'

'Alright, let's try it. Can you swear to me that in six years of friendship you have only ever thought of Ron and I in a purely platonic way?' Harry asked extremely innocently knowing what the answer was

'That's besides the point' Hermione said quickly feeling her cheeks begin to warm

'That's exactly the point and that's a no' Harry grinned 'It was me right? You still fancy me'

'I'm off to the library' Hermione said standing up quickly realising that she should get away from Harry while she still had the chance. Obviously she couldn't say she'd never had any feelings beyond platonic ones for Harry or Ron; the entire bloody school knew she fancied Harry, she just wasn't very keen on the idea of making Harry's big head any bigger

'Admit it, it was me' Harry said smugly. He could tell that Hermione's feelings for him hadn't changed at all since the lie detector test

'Maybe' she admitted muttering as she left the common room and an ecstatic Harry behind her

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As was usual in winter at Hogwarts, it had snowed, and as all people do when they see snow they go out and play in it. Which explained why Harry, Ron and Hermione seemed intent on freezing to death by walking outside. Hermione was going very carefully, making sure that nothing got in her way, in contrast Ron and Harry were running around like nutters throwing snowballs and play fighting, it had to be said that snow really brought out the 4 year old in them.

'Do be careful out here Hermione, its really very slippy' Ron said very seriously as he finally stopped running circles round her

'Honestly Ron what would I slip on?' she sighed in exasperation still carefully watching every step she took

'That rock' Ron said gesturing with his wand just in front of where she was walking

'Huh?' Hermione turned in surprise to look at Ron who was now walking away from them grinning over his shoulder. And then suddenly she stubbed her toe on something and was flying through the air before quickly descending and landing on something soft, which moved under her

'Why hello Hermione, enjoy your trip?' the soft thing under her spoke revealing it to be a grinning Harry

'Umppfff' Hermione was still too stunned and winded from her sudden fall to respond properly

'Precisely. You do realise this is one of those horribly clichéd positions where we kiss' Harry asked trying to sound innocent but instead sounding delighted. Hermione suddenly froze and realised that she was lying in the freezing snow with Harry, which would look extremely compromising to anyone who saw them, added to the fact that she didn't want to kiss him, well not too much

'Yes, which is why you're going to stand up right now' she said frowning and trying to sound as stern as possible

'Well I would do, but you're on top of me' Harry smirked and Hermione blushed

'Oh right' she muttered a bit sheepishly as she quickly scrambled up

'What about my kiss?' Harry asked in disappointment as he jumped up brushing snow off his robes

'Where's that rock?' Hermione was looking around in surprise trying to see what had caused her to fall when she was been so careful

'What rock?' Harry asked looking puzzled

'The one I fell over.' Hermione suddenly grew suspicious, she hadn't seen a rock and there wasn't one there now, Ron had mysteriously disappeared and Harry had been ten metres away the last she had seen, that was a bit too far just to trip.

'You must be imagining things, you've been studying too hard' Harry said looking concerned for her as she stared intently at him, only he then spoilt the effect by giving a snort of laughter that he tried unsuccessfully to turn into a cough

'This is a set-up isn't it? I thought Ron was acting suspiciously and this is why, you two were planning this pathetic little cop a feel plan' Hermione cried in outrage jabbing her finger at Harry's chest in her anger

'What an outrageous accusation to make, why would I want to do anything like that?' Harry said looking bemused and slightly alarmed, Hermione immediately looked downcast and blushed again feeling stupid

'Of course, I'm sorry, I don't know what I was thinking. I mean Cho or Parvati I might understand but me? You're right that's outrageous'. She didn't notice Harry stare incredulously at her as she muttered an apology, she didn't consider herself beautiful or sexy and still hadn't realised that Harry did. He thought quickly and then decided that he would much rather she knew the truth and hated him than she went on for one more second demeaning herself

'Hermione stop that this instant, I was joking, of course I was trying to cop a feel, what straight male wouldn't and yes I am making implications about Malfoy in that statement' Harry said firmly with a rather cheeky grin hiding his nervousness that she might hate him. As it happened she could do nothing but stare at him in shock and for reasons unknown to both of them she lent up to kiss him on the cheek before running off to recover. Harry was left staring after her with one hand pressed to his cheek in delight, then such a silly grin spread over his face that any clown would be proud as he realised that Hermione was finally starting to warm to him,

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Cho Chang having just lost the argument with her friends about which one of them should go and get the book they needed to finish their homework from the library was walking the short distance down the corridor from the Ravenclaw common room when she saw an extraordinary sight. Harry Potter in crouching position with his back pressed to the wall was skulking along the corridor stopping every now and then and listening intently before carrying on

'Harry what are you doing?' Cho asked undecided as to whether she should be amused or worried for Harry's sanity

'This might sound crazy but I think somebody's following me' Harry whispered, glancing both ways before he spoke as though something dangerous was after him

'You're right' Cho nodded gravely as she whispered in a similar tone to Harry's

'Really?' Harry asked jumping up in alarm and forgetting to whisper as he thought of all the different killers who might be after him this time

'Yeah, you're crazy' Cho said with a slight giggle

'Not funny, somebody is definitely following me' Harry scowled at Cho in annoyance

'Why do you think that?' she asked trying to be helpful, and trying even harder not to explode with laughter at how funny he looked

'I heard this weird giggling noise behind me outside and got suspicious, so I came inside and I've just walked around in a circle twice and it's still there' Harry explained

'I can't hear anything, are you sure you didn't imagine it?' Cho asked sceptically

'I'm not crazy. Look, walk back outside with me and I'll prove it' Harry said grabbing Cho's arm and giving her little choice in the decision

'Fine but this better not take long' Cho allowed herself to be dragged along behind Harry as she decided it would at least be more fun than homework to discover if Harry was crazy

*

After about ten minutes wandering around outside Cho was ready to give up but Harry was still listening intently to every sound he heard, suddenly a high pitched giggle broke out followed by a few hurried whispers to be quiet

'There see, did you hear it?' Harry exclaimed in delight trying to be as quiet as possible, which created some weird hoarse sound rather like he was choking

'It could just be some kids behind us' Cho said doubtfully, the younger years all seemed very immature to her

'Only one way to find out. When we turn this corner, follow me' Harry murmured under his breath

'Why?' Cho questioned, not wanting to be pulled into any of Harry's hair-brained schemes, she'd heard all about his adventures in the lower years and had no desire to be part of one

'Just do it. Now. Hide' Harry said as loud as he dared as he turned the corner, grabbed Cho's arm and leapt behind the nearest rose-bush

'What the hell is wrong with you?' Cho asked in an angry whisper as Harry pulled them right inside the bush, luckily it had been charmed as it wasn't prickly, but it was still messing up her clothes and hair

'Shhh' Harry said as he peered out of the branches, and despite herself Cho found she was doing the same thing

'Where did he go?' a girl's voice suddenly asked in confusion

'I thought it was this way' another girl's voice joined her

'Well I can't see him' yet another voice chimed in and all three owners of the voices now came into view as they stopped right in front of the rosebush looking extremely confused, all that Cho could tell about them is that they were from Hufflepuff and looked to be in their second or third year

'Me neither, we better go and tell the others we've lost him' the first voice spoke again with as sigh of disappointment, Harry looked alarmed at just how many more there might be

'But still, did you see that shirt he was wearing, gorgeous' one of the other girls said extremely appreciatively as the girls voices faded out of hearing range

'Aww you've got yourself a few little fans' Cho looked round at Harry and giggled at the shocked look on his face

'Well how do I get rid of them?' he asked. He'd been prepared to deal with deatheaters, even Voldemort, but not a bunch of schoolgirls

'Give it a few months, it's just a schoolgirl crush' Cho said with a shrug

'Months? You must be joking' he asked desperately, looking as though this was the worst news he'd ever heard

'Nope, just look on the bright side, at least they aren't trying to kill you' Cho pulled a flustered looking Harry out of the bush with her and proceeded to brush leaves off her robes

'Mr Potter, Miss Chang, would you care to explain exactly why you were both in that rose bush?' Professor McGonagall's voice sounded from behind them and they both turned in horror realising that there was no way she would ever believe them; and just to make matters even worse the bunch of small girls, (numbering about 8 in total) came to the end of the path and stared in amazement, jumped to conclusions about what was going on, burst into excited giggles and ran off

'It'll be all over school by dinner' Cho muttered with an annoyed groan, and Harry knew she was right but was far too preoccupied with getting rid of his little fan-group to care

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Running for his life as fast as he could down the corridor, trying to escape the fiend that was chasing him and yelling wildly, he slipped suddenly and crashed into a suit of armour, scrambling to his feet as the monster gained rapidly on him Harry ran up the stairs three at a time and dove through the portrait hole yelling the password to the Fat Lady as he went. Parvati, by now extremely out of breath clambered through seconds after him and looked round eagerly but spotting Harry with Hermione her resolve wavered and she instead opted for a girly giggle about the boy she had being chasing with Lavender

'Moved onto Parvati now? What's Cho done wrong?' Hermione asked dryly while turning a page in her book, she had heard all about the Harry, Cho and the rose bush scene from a hysterical fourth year earlier on and had been less than amused by it

'Huh?' Harry asked looking confused as to what Parvati and now Hermione had been giving him these weird looks for. 'You think Cho and I…' he trailed off in bemusement. 'Oh' suddenly realisation hit Harry. 'That's what this is all about' he snatched Hermione's book away

'Hey I was reading that' Hermione protested trying to snatch the book back but Harry held it firm and just grinned infuriatingly

'You can have it back when we've done, but you and me need to talk about this' Harry said seriously

'Maybe later, Ron's heading this way' Hermione said leaping to a chance to avoid such a conversation as she waved Ron over to them

'Hi' Ron said cheerfully

'Hey' Harry replied just as Parvati and Lavender burst into high-pitched giggles startling the redhead

'What's up with them?' Ron asked, jerking his head towards the two sixth-years who were now discussing the million-galleon question of whether Harry wore boxers or briefs

'They heard that Ernie Macmillan was thinking about stealing Ginny away from Dean' Harry said smoothly without even pausing

'But he's scum. I'll sort this out' Ron said storming out of the common room, as much as he disliked Dean, Ernie would be a hundred times worse.

Hermione gave Harry a very dirty look.

'What?' Harry protested, 'You hate Macmillan just as much as I do'

'I don't hate him' Hermione said and Harry raised an eyebrow, 'I just intensely dislike him'

'Whatever, now it's just me and you, so we can have that talk'

'Knock yourself out' Hermione offered very dryly

'There was never anything between Cho and I' Harry said and it was Hermione's turn to raise an eyebrow questioningly but she lowered it quickly and felt her anger and doubts disappear when Harry said softly 'I wouldn't lie to you, I'd never lie to you'

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Rather unusually on her way to the library the next day, she found herself unavoidably detained. She had been passing one of the many cupboards that Hogwarts held, when the door swung open, an arm shot out and Hermione had found herself been dragged into the cupboard, where the flickering light from a candle showed a grinning Harry

'Oh look, this is just me and you all alone in a small enclosed cupboard' Harry looked around in amusement as though he often met his friends in cupboards and he leaned back against a shelve waiting for Hermione to either kiss him or curse him, he preferred the former but expected the latter

'Another cliché I presume?' Hermione asked very dryly not sounding as thrilled by the situation as most other girls in Hogwarts would have been, indeed not as thrilled as she herself might have been a few weeks ago

'Exactly, I knew there was a reason you were the smart one. So shall we get started?' Harry asked extremely enthusiastically

'Get what started?' Hermione asked. She was slowly backing towards the door, only to find that it had been magically locked when she found the handle

'Our snogfest of course, although if you'd like to move a step further then I'm up for that as well' Harry grinned and raised his eyebrows so suggestively that Hermione blushed

'Why you little…' she gasped in shock. Just when she thought she had him figured out, he turned into some kind of sex fiend

'There's nothing little about me' Harry said indignantly, thinking that perhaps this plan wasn't the right one to woo a girl like Hermione

'Alhohrarma' Hermione had had enough and whipped her wand out and blasted the door open. She wasn't theoretically against the idea of been alone in a cupboard with Harry, but there was no way she was going to date him while he treated her like some kind of cheap prostitute. She wasn't going to give in to terrible clichés and she wasn't going to give in to a big-headed egotistical guy, no matter how good looking he was

'Damn it, I don't suppose you're free for a trip to the astronomy tower later?' Harry called after her retreating figure, shockingly she didn't look round but instead raised the middle finger of her left hand at him. 'Can I take that as a maybe?' he asked been the optimist he always was

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By the next day, and after another series of slaps, rejections and general anger and with the Christmas holidays looming just a week away, Harry had decided that this was it. Time to pull out all the stops, try every single seduction technique he'd ever heard of and spare no expense in the process. Because Hermione was only human, surely she couldn't resist the Harry charm offensive if it lasted for an entire day

*

'Voulez-vous choucher avec moi, ce soir' Harry whispered seductively in Hermione's ear as he took a seat next to her in the common room

'You have 5 seconds to run before I curse you' Hermione said calmly, resisting the strong urge she had to slap him

'Hmm, so the romantic French words didn't work' Harry pondered aloud in confusion. Ron who had ten minutes earlier taught Harry the words that Fred had taught him had assured him that they meant something extremely romantic

'Romantic? That was proof that romance is dead' Hermione snorted, wondering whatever Harry could come up with to top that debacle of a date invitation

*

'Hermione I have something for you' Harry said with an enormous grin on his face, which matched the enormous present of what was quite possibly the largest bunch of roses in the world that he was holding out to Hermione

If those soaps that Aunt Petunia loved were anything to go by, Hermione should be jumping into his arms proclaiming her undying love at any moment now. Worryingly the look on Hermione's face wasn't one of pure joy, but rather annoyance; Harry wondered if perhaps Hermione wasn't a massive fan of Eastenders.

'Flowers? 0 points for originality' she drawled taking them from him and simply putting them on the table

'But all girls love flowers and this was the biggest bunch in the shop' Harry spluttered, looking lost and confused. Girls loved flowers, it was a well-known fact, only it was one that somebody had obviously forgotten to tell Hermione

'Did nobody ever tell you that size isn't everything?' Hermione asked with a smirk as she left a confused Harry alone, to try and figure out just what exactly he'd done wrong this time

*

'Why is it dark in here?' Hermione asked Ron who she had just walked into the common room with as she encountered complete darkness

'You're just too good to be true, can't take my eyes off of you' a voice sounded and a spotlight suddenly highlighted Harry with a muggle microphone walking down the dormitory stairs singing

'Harry what are you doing?' Hermione asked in complete bemusement as he reached the bottom of the stairs and walked to towards her

'You'd be like heaven to touch, I want to hold you so much' Harry continued with the song that Dean and Ron had reassured him all girls would love, he's been curious as to Ron's extent of muggle music but had decided it was best not to question it

'Oh God' Hermione groaned as she stepped backwards out of the common room and as Harry dropping his microphone eagerly tried to follow her she pushed him firmly back and said with annoyance in her voice, 'Harry take the hint, I don't want to date you'

It was more than a hint, it was like an unforgivable curse, it completely knocked the stuffing out of him. He'd never allowed for the possibility that she might not give in to him, but he saw it now in her eyes as she walked away from him, she wasn't joking, she wasn't playing hard to get, she was serious. Hermione had no intention of giving in to Harry Potter.

*

The next day the entire school knew what had happened and Hermione was receiving some very dirty looks from many other girls and quite a few boys as well, Draco for once stayed quiet, the memory of his defeat still stung. Harry was pretty much in a daze, Ron tried to pull him out of it, had even apologised for supplying a terrible French chat up line but had received little response, except for a shrug and a mutter that it didn't matter. Harry spent the day in his own world, merely going through the motions, wondering why he felt this terrible, by the evening Harry was wondering the corridors alone having shaken off Ron's company, Hermione was no-where to be seen.

And perhaps in years to come it would be a turning point in his life, where he could look back and confidently say that that had been the moment when his path in life had been altered. But right at that moment all he could think was how he really did feel hurt; he'd heard people say that love could be a killer, but he'd never believed it could hurt like this. It was as though she'd told him he could never play Quidditch again, in fact it was worse than it and with his thoughts still spinning he did the only thing that occurred to him at the moment he passed the main entrance, he walked out into the torrential rain that had arrived to replace the snow.

*

Harry sat down at the base of a tree throwing stones into the lake while the rain beat heavily down around him

'You'll catch pneumonia out here' a voice said, Harry glanced up and saw Cho standing above him. He merely grunted in response before turning back to throwing stones 'catching a serious illness won't solve your problems' Cho spoke again, Harry was surprised as he assumed she'd have long since gone back to the school but didn't show it and even if he had Cho wouldn't have been able to see through the heavy drops of rain

'Worth a try' Harry said sullenly

'It won't work, believe me' Cho said far too cheerfully. Harry merely stared at her as the rain continued to pour, Cho looked up at the sky blinking rapidly as the rain splashed all over her face, 'It should stop soon' she half-muttered

'The rain never stops' Harry said scornfully as he returned his eyes to his own hands

'I didn't mean the rain, I meant the pain, it'll pass with time' Cho said philosophically with her lips curved in a half smile, even in his current state of mind Harry knew better than to question how Cho knew pain but it wouldn't stop him from disputing the claim

'Who said I was pain?' Harry scoffed

'You did. Why else would you be out here?' Cho asked, and Harry for once had no sharp reply ready, no quick comeback because he didn't really know why he was out here. 'Tell me what the problem is, I might be able to help you' Cho offered sincerely as she sat down next to him not even commenting on the fact that the ground was possibly even colder and wetter than been stood up

'I think I've done something really stupid' Harry said with a sigh after he realised that Cho wasn't going to be going anywhere until he talked

'It can't be that bad' Cho said, she had a pretty good idea what he was upset about having heard the rumours about his bust-up with Hermione

'I fell in love with my best friend, I didn't mean to, it just sort of happened' Harry explained, wanting to laugh at how pathetic he sounded

'What's so terrible about that?' Cho patted his shoulder sympathetically

'She doesn't believe me, she thinks I'm just playing some kind of game with her. And maybe to begin with I was just playing, I fancied her, but I didn't love her, but now I do and it's too late I messed it all up' Harry sounded to be drowning in his despair, he hadn't realised he'd loved Hermione until the second she rejected him, and when he'd felt his heart break, that was when he'd known

'I realise that I don't know Hermione that well but from everything I've seen of her, she seems like the kind of girl who'll forgive her best friends anything and never stop trying to help her'

'But she doesn't love me' Harry said again

'I've heard about what you've done and you can't blame her for been suspicious, it was hardly the most romantic plan of the century. But just put that behind you and tell her how you feel' Cho said, she wanted to help Harry, wanted to help him be happy but at the end of the day, her advice would do Harry no good if he ignored her, which she had a strong suspicion he was doing

'I did' Harry said sullenly

'Tell her and mean it. Don't joke around, don't dress it up with presents, just tell her simply and honestly how you feel. I think you might be surprised just how deeply she cares for you' Cho said sincerely, making one last effort to get through to him and at last it worked. Harry paused, cocked his head to one side and thought for a moment

'You're right, I will tell her' he said determinedly with a slight smile on his face

'Good' Cho smiled with relief

'Hey the rain's stopped' Harry said with a laugh of delighted surprise as he jumped up eager not to waste another second

'It always does' Cho said with a knowing smile that had a glimmer of sadness to it as Harry sped back to Hogwarts in search of Hermione

*

The one person who Harry didn't want to see at the moment when he had finally figured out why Hermione wouldn't date him was Malfoy, and so that explained why he was now stood blocking Harry's way down to the library flanked by his two goons

'Potter I hear you have girl problems' Draco drawled looking extremely pleased with himself, despite the fact that Harry had wiped the floor with him without breaking a sweat when they had duelled.

Harry remembering that Hermione was much more important than Malfoy would ever be glared ferociously at the Slytherins

'Malfoy I hear you are a girl' he retorted sharply leaving no time for any reply as he pushed passed, missing the look of complete and utter confusion that passed over Draco's face, as he tried to come up with any kind of reply, and failed

*

'Harry where have you been? You're soaking through' Hermione asked in amazement as Harry burst into the library, she hadn't spoken to him for almost a day and had missed him more than she had thought possible

'No time to explain, I have to talk to you' Harry panted, out of breath from his run

'You are doing'

'Just come with me' Harry pleaded, pulling her arm in frustration

'Ok, ok' Hermione said as she followed Harry into a nearby deserted corridor

'I'd like to ask you on a date with me' Harry began in earnest

'Harry…' Hermione tried to interrupt looking terrified as to what stunt he might be about to try

'Please let me finish. I know I've changed a lot over this last year and I know not all the changes have been for the best, but for as long as I draw breath I swear that I'll love you. It doesn't matter if I wear glasses or I don't, if I'm in the muggle world or the wizarding one, if I win duels or lose them; I'll keep on loving you. You can reject me right now and I'll still love you, you're everything to me, I don't want to imagine a future without you by my side. I won't promise you that dating me will be easy, but please give me the chance to try and make us both happy'

'I didn't expect that' Hermione admitted looking torn, she had seen how much Harry had meant what he said

'You don't have to answer now; you can have as much time as you need to think about it. I don't expect you to jump into bed with me, I don't expect you to kiss you, I don't even expect you to hug me, I'm just asking for one date' Harry interrupted her thoughts looking so sweet and innocent that she knew she only had one option

'All you ever had to do was ask' Hermione said with a slight smile of apprehension that this could yet turn out to be a joke or a dream

'Is that a yes?' Harry asked barely daring to hope, not even mentioning that he was fairly sure he had asked, and on more than one occasion as well

'Yes it's a yes' Hermione answered

'We can take things slow, I'm going to do things right, we can date at restaurants, I'll treat you with the respect you deserve, I'm going to love you more than you ever thought was possible, I'll prove my love to you' Harry said determinedly, all his good intentions pilling out at once, as he looked rather elated but scared that she had finally said yes

'Harry?' Hermione's voice interrupted him

'Yeah' he asked

'Stop rambling and kiss me' Hermione said quietly with a sly grin on her face as she waited for Harry's reaction

'Huh?' Harry stuttered looking so bemused and terrified, that it was hard to believe that only a month ago this same young man had being drinking illegal potions, threatening the dark lord and pushing everyone around

'I've waited far too long, I'm not waiting another moment' Hermione said simply, as she reached up to Harry's disbelieving face and paused for only a fraction of a second before pressing her lip to his. There was no first kiss nerves, no hesitation or regrets, no thoughts of anything expect for the person in front of them; for in that moment for perhaps the first and only time of either of their lives, they had finally found a moment in time when they felt nothing except pure joy.

*
*
*

Tyranny – As I hope this chapter shows, I don't hate Cho. I do love H/H, but that doesn't mean that Cho should be portrayed as some sort of evil boyfriend-stealing slut as she is in so many stories (erm, if you ever read any stories of mine where she's like this, that's a completely different matter *nervous laughter*)

lol - Thank you for the many reviews

Sara Minks - The world is my oyster? Hmm interesting, possibly a problem that I'm allergic to seafood, do you think that means the world will kill me?

Mogliecat – See, happy H/H, hope you liked it

Stoneheart – I expect the duel wasn't everything you hoped for and you have my apologies. As always thanks for your comments, they're always very much appreciated

PonoKyunin – I think I probably annoyed a few people with my shameless begging for reviews. And I honestly do write because I enjoy it and I also know a lot of the spelling is wrong, I hope it doesn't spoil the story too much, I should probably get a beta-reader for this story, I just never got round to it. Thanks for the review

Xirleb70 – Cheers

Sailorstargirl13 – Thank you very much, your review was lovely. I hope you enjoyed this chapter

Emely – I agree with everything you said, Harry wasn't showing Hermione enough respect or appreciation, I tried to remedy that somewhat in this chapter

Oddballjd – Interesting idea, but I wanted to get all the different ways Harry tries to get Hermione to date him into the chapter so I couldn't really incorporate it

Sunny – Thank you for your reviews. I got the feeling that this story isn't playing out exactly the way you'd like. But I couldn't keep Harry as he was forever, it just wasn't possible. But Harry most definitely isn't going after Cho, she's just there to be a friend to Harry in a position where I felt Ron wouldn't know what to say and obviously he couldn't ask Hermione. Anyway, I hope you liked this chapter and I hope you keep reading

Big thanks to all my other lovely reviewers, I wish I could reply individually to you all, but I have revision and coursework to do as well, but thank you very much to Nicole, Fatima, GoddessMoonLady, HrryPttrfreak87, Leah, Daine, Sugar Quill, All Mighty Terrestrial, Liedariddle, Silver Dragon Princess, Becca the crazo, sil


A/N: I get the feeling that that chapter, which was originally going to be the last for this story wasn't quite what you might have expected.

I apologise for the duel scene which I played up for a number of chapters and then ended rather quickly, there is in fact another completely different version of that duel featuring a much eviler Harry that if anyone would like to read, I'll gladly e-mail to them. But I just felt that for Harry to turn really bad again (even if it was in a duel) would undermine the previous chapters work in trying to make him more peaceful and balanced, maybe I was mistaken, but that was the theory behind it.

Well hopefully that chapter might keep you going for a while, it wasn't the last chapter but I think it's getting pretty close, Harry and Hermione are together now, Harry is gradually becoming more and more like the cannon version. I do have a few possibilities in my head for further chapters prominently involving Sirius, Pettigrew and Voldemort but give my feedback on whether you think I should just do one big happy final chapter (probably Christmassy) and finish it or persevere with new avenues of plot (while still involving the trio, H/H and all that)

PLEASE REVIEW