Chapter 3:

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Hermione looked at him meekly to see if what he said was truly from his heart or if he was being sardonic. She knew it definitely wasn't the latter. She looked up and watched him as he started to move closer. As if drawn by an invisible force, she instantly got up and went towards him. She gazed in his baby blue, shining eyes but she didn't find what she was looking for. She stared at him horrified as he started to laugh, at first silently but eventually he was rolling on the floor, clutching his stomach and banging his fist on the table. "You…should've…seen the look…on…your face!" With that he dissolved into another fit of giggles. Hermione understood his little plan and consequently folded her arms and waited impatiently for him to stop laughing. He finally did and Hermione shot him a deadly look. "You'll be sorry for that! I promise you…one day…you're really going to regret that you ever did that to me!" Having said that, for the second time that day, she turned on her heel and went to her room and slammed the door behind her!

Normally, she would've examined all of the ancient artifacts that lay in her room, but she was too busy reprimanding herself for being such an idiot. "Hermione Granger! I hope you're pleased with yourself! You lost a best friend, lowered yourself in McGonagoll's eyes, and almost ended up kissing DRACO MALFOY! Well, ALMOST!" She shook her head and thought back to the events that had just occurred a few minutes ago. "I thought he understood…the asshole…some things never change!" She sighed and flopped down on her feather mattress. She noticed a certain tapping noise coming from the opposite direction, so she turned around to face a large window which was draped in rich, scarlet, velvet curtains embroidered with golden lace. She recognized two owls, one was the snowy white female, Hedwig and the other was a handsome tawny owl. She untied Hedwig's note first which read:

Dear Mione,

1 How are you? I'm sorry that I didn't get to greet you properly after the summer, because of the fiasco at the Platform and then the Great Hall. I'm terribly sorry I wasn't there for you today. I'm sure Ron didn't mean everything he said. Well, this note is going to be as long as YOUR Potions essay, if I don't end it here. I have something really important I want to say to you, so please meet me in the deserted Astronomy Tower, day after tomorrow. Oh and don't mention anything to Ron, all right? I suppose I'll see you tomorrow.

Love,

Harry

P.S. Wish me luck! I'm the new Quidditch Captain. Tryouts are tomorrow. Congratulations on being a Prefect!

Hermione smiled at Harry's note, but wasn't completely satisfied. She knew that the only reason Harry didn't follow her was because of Ron. She wanted to be kind, but decided that a little guilt factor couldn't hurt either. She decided to write a note back to him:

Dear Harry,

I'm greatly consoled knowing that you care about me as well as Ron. I, as well truly hope that Ron didn't mean everything he said. Congratulations on your achievement of getting the honor of being selected Quidditch Captain. I'm sure that your father would be very proud of you right now. Thank you for your recognition of me being a Prefect. I hope I can handle all the responsibilities. The other Prefect is Draco. I'm not that depressed right now thanks to him. He really helped me forget about the incident. I will meet you the day after tomorrow and I won't discuss it with you until then. See you tomorrow!

Love,

Mione

Hermione thought it was perfect, since it wasn't exactly lying. She had forgotten about the event after entering the Prefects' chamber. She had no clue what Harry wanted to discuss with her, but she decided to wait to find out. She tied the note to Hedwig and proceeded to open the note from the tawny owl which, was waiting patiently for Hermione to finish. It was a terse note from Dumbledore:

Dear Ms.Granger,

I understand that Mr.Malfoy has already shown you your living quarters for the rest of the year. I trust that the two of you are getting along well. I forgot to announce a significant notice today at the Sorting Ceremony, but I hope that you can inform everyone else. The Astronomy Tower is out of bounds for anybody!!! Please take that into account and spread the word. Good night and Welcome back!

Sincerely,

Professor Dumbledore

Hermione finished reading the letter and cursed out loud, "SHIT!"

Back in the boys' Dormitory in the Gryffindor tower, Harry lay in his bed reading Hermione's note. She didn't sound angry at all. Then he read the next part and sighed. "Only Hermione could think of such a sweet thing to say about his parents. She's absolutely wonderful!" He thought about how she looked today. She had changed over the summer. At Platform 9 ¾, she had worn a light blue V-neck tee shirt which, darkened in color at the bottom. She wore a short black skirt which, reached up to her knee. He remembered catching a glance of a silver colored watch on her hand. It had jewels all around it and the centerpiece was black. She had let her hair down and it cascaded down to her shoulders and spread apart. "I wonder how she got her hair to be so smooth and shiny? Probably some charm, knowing her!" He proceeded to read the rest of the note, and his sweet thoughts turned to anger as he read on. "Malfoy comforted her? Did she just call Malfoy, Draco? Damn, do we have something to talk about!" He finished reading the note and paused to stare at the words, "Love, Mione." He knew that at this moment in time, she didn't mean those words, the way he did. "But, I hope all that will change soon!" It had taken Harry a long time to muster the courage to write that note to her. He couldn't stand it anymore and finally decided to confess her feelings. He had practiced numerous ways to tell her in his mind, but none of them sounded sweet and perfect, like her. He had seemed distracted and preoccupied to everybody around him, but he had indeed been too busy to notice. He still didn't know how to tell her, but he did know that he loved her, very much! That was of enough condolence to his mind. He went to bed, thinking of nothing but the sweetest girl in the whole wide world, Hermione.

A/n: There you see? It isn't D/H after all…itz H/H…k? Keep reviewing!