A/N: Thanks for all the responses to the last chapter! In reply to one question, NO THIS IS NOT GOING TO TURN INTO A HARRY/HERMIONE STORY!!!! LOL, I would never, EVER write anything where Harry and Hermione were together like that! The thought of them romantically involved makes me physically ill. Ick!

Disclaimer: A genie came and granted me three wishes. After bigger boobs and world peace, I wished to own the Harry Potter franchise. So, now I do... If you believe that, seek professional help.

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Harry sat in History of Magic only half-listening to Professor Binns. Okay, half-listening was an exaggeration. He was probably more like a quarter listening. He was pretty sure that the topic was the fourteenth Minister of Magic, but he couldn't be quite sure. He glanced around at his classmates and was not surprised in the least by the view. In the front of the class, Parvati was clearly holding a tiny mirror under the table and checking her make-up. Dean Thomas was doodling something on a piece of loose parchment, and Harry could strain his eyes and head just enough to see that it was quite obviously a picture of two surprisingly well-drawn, though not exactly nicely, Professors, Snape and McGonagall clearly, in a tight and rather gut-wrenching embrace. He snickered loudly, and Dean, obviously having heard him, turned around and grinned wickedly before poking a lightly snoring Seamus and showing off his masterpiece. Seamus luckily turned his laughter into a cough before Professor Binns could get suspicious. Harry turned to look at his own best friends and was not surprised by that view, either. Ron had one elbow perched on the table and was leaning his forehead into its hand, cleverly shielding his very closed eyes from the teacher. And Hermione, of course, was sitting up intently, the only person in the class taking notes on the lecture.

He glanced down at her notes and nodded, satisfied with himself that he had at least gotten the topic of the lecture correct. It was, in fact, the fourteenth Minister of Magic.

She obviously felt his gaze and momentarily turned her attention away from Binns to look at him curiously. She glanced down at his own empty parchment and then back up at him, shaking her head disappointedly. Harry shrugged and jerked his head in the direction of Ron who was on the other side of Hermione. This caused her to look at their redheaded best friend and sigh rather loudly. Harry had to fight down a laugh when an exasperated Hermione used her own elbow to knock the one of Ron's that was perched on the table. This, of course, caused his head to hit the desk at full-force. He jerked back up, now fully awake, and stared around him in a moment of "just awaken confusion." It didn't take him long to figure out exactly what had happened, though, and he glared at Hermione dangerously.

She smirked superiorly at him in response.

Ron glared for only a second more before a smile of his own covered his face. With a quick movement, he reached for her three pages of notes and jerked them out from her, holding them on his other side so that she couldn't reach them without actually getting up from her chair.

"Give them back," she hissed in a dangerously-toned whisper.

Ron just continued to smirk and shook his head.

Hermione looked around for only a second before deciding her course of action. With the air of someone who was not about to be lowered to a petty argument, she raised deftly raised her hand into the air.

"What? You're going to tattle on me?" Ron rolled his eyes.

Hermione feigned deafness and continued to wait patiently for her hand to be noticed.

Ron let out a disgusted sound and slumped into his chair, crossing his arms over his chest. Still, though, not returning the notes.

It took several more moments for Professor Binns to recognize the fact that someone was waiting to ask him a question, as it was a very rare occurrence in his classes.

"Yes, Miss Gladstone?"

Hermione put her hand down. "Granger, sir."

Professor Binns nodded. "Yes, Miss Granger?"

"I was just wondering if you wouldn't mind repeating the last chapter. My notes seem to have disappeared."

The effects of her words suddenly jerked the attention of every single student in the classroom. They all rounded on her and shot her looks more deathly than any Harry could remember getting from Voldemort. Harry made a personal note to kill Ron as soon as they were out of view of the teachers.

He leaned around Hermione to let his best friend know his intentions. "You are so dead," he warned through clenched teeth.

Ron looked at him, sighed angrily, and finally shoved the papers back at Hermione.

Professor Binns was just starting to tell about the birth of the aforementioned Minister when Hermione raised her hand again.

"Yes, Miss Green?"

Ignoring the mistake, Hermione smiled respectively. "I've just found my notes. But thank you for offering." She flashed him another "teacher's pet" smile.

Luckily, the bell rang only three minutes later.

Harry stood up with the rest of his classmates, several of whom were still shooting Hermione death-glares for the simple suggestion that Professor Binns repeat a lesson, and gathered his books. He walked around Hermione, who always took longer than him to pack up, and stood beside Ron. "You were thisclose to getting killed."

Ron rolled his eyes and stood up, swiping his bag over the table and, probably not-so-accidentally, knocking Hermione's box of quills off the table. She shot him a glare which he feigned blindness to as he turned his back and walked out of the room.

Harry was momentarily torn between joining Ron and waiting for Hermione to finish packing up. He thought it would be rude to leave her, but in all honesty, he'd rather spend his time with Ron if the two of them were going to launch into another silent treatment episode.

Which it definitely looked like could be the case.

Hermione looked up at him and as if she could read his mind, she said, "Go on with Ron," with a roll of her eyes.

Harry looked at her, wondering if he should stay anyway, but when Hermione shooed him away with her hands, he gave her a small grin and hurried out of the room after Ron. The redhead in question hadn't gotten too far and was currently talking with Seamus, Dean, and Neville. Harry joined them and found that they were talking about Ron's new position on the Quidditch team.

"When's the first match?" Seamus asked the question to Harry. It was clear that he had already posed the question, and none of the others knew the answer.

Harry thought for a minute. "Um... The third weekend of October. It's against Slytherin. I think Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw have a match the week before that."

The other four boys nodded as they made their way up to the Great Hall for lunch. As they seated themselves at the table, Harry glanced around and saw Hermione lagging through the door. She walked over and sat herself in her normal seat across from Harry and beside Ron, though she didn't speak to either of them.

She helped herself to some of the spaghetti noodles in front of her, though she skipped the meat sauce, and two pieces of garlic bread. Ron and Harry stared at her, as though waiting for her to say something nasty about having to pick up the box of spilled quills. She didn't, though. She just ate her meal silently, seemingly ignoring everyone around her.

Harry and Ron took to eating, too, but finally Ron put his fork down and turned to her. "What? You're not going to chew me out?"

Hermione looked at him for a second before turning back to her lunch and saying, "No," in a very calmed voice.

Ron continued to stare at the side of her face until she finally turned to look at him again. "Why are you staring at me?"

Ron didn't stop staring. Instead, he just cocked his head to one side and said, "I'm trying to remember everything about this moment. It's the first time you've ever willingly passed up a chance to bless me out."

Hermione rolled her eyes. "Trust me. It is not the first time I've passed up the chance; it's probably just the first time you've noticed."

Harry gave a quick laugh but quieted quickly when Ron sent him a warning glare.

"Excuse me, then," he said sarcastically, turning back to his own plate of food.

Hermione sighed softly and shook her head. It was clear that she thought Ron had been punished enough by nearly having to listen to a repeat of Professor Binns' lesson. Harry, personally, couldn't think of too many worse punishments. Well, anything having to do with Snape might be considered worse, but...

"Your attention please!" A loud voice echoed through the Great Hall, and Harry looked up to see Professor Dumbledore standing at the head table, obviously ready to make an announcement.

When the hall quieted, he continued, "With the success of the Yule Ball from last year, the staff and I have decided to arrange another ball." An excited murmur went through the hall. Harry felt himself get nervous at the mere thought of another ball; the last one had been disastrous. "As you all know, Halloween is a very important time to us here at Hogwarts, so this year, we will hold a ball here, in the Great Hall, following the Halloween feast. More information will be made available to you at a later time, but I hope that you will all get excited for what is sure to be a lovely time for us all." He sat back down, and the Great Hall immediately filled with excitement.

Harry didn't feel excited at all.

He remembered how humiliating it had been trying to get a date the previous year. Memories of spending an awkward evening with Parvati Patil filled his mind, and he knew that he could just as well have dealt fine if balls were forever banned at Hogwarts. He glanced across the table at Ron who looked just as sick as he felt.

"This is great," the redhead moaned sarcastically. "This one will probably be even worse than last year!"

Harry was inclined to agree with him, and he was just about to say so when Hermione rolled her eyes and spoke up. "If you two hadn't been so picky last year, you might have had a better time."

"Spare the lecture, Hermione," Ron said sharply. "I forgot that you have nothing but lovely memories of that blessed event." Sarcasm flowed from his lips like water from a faucet.

But Hermione just looked at him and flipped her hair. "I did have a nice time; thank you. It's not my fault that the two of you chose to spend the evening moping. You caused yourselves to have lousy experiences."

Harry reckoned that she was right, but there was no way in hell he was about to admit to this. Instead, he agreed with Ron and said, "Really, Hermione. For real- spare the lecture."

Hermione looked at him, obviously a bit shocked at his forthrightness. He had always been rather polite to her, never really speaking out against her like that, and it was clear that it surprised her. "I am only stating the truth."

It was clear that Ron was about to say something else, but he was cut short by the appearance of a fourth year Ravenclaw that Harry knew by sight but had never spoken to. They all looked up at her questioningly,

She smiled at them and focused her attention on Harry. "Hi, Harry," she said sweetly. She was very pretty with blonde hair that was pulled into two low plaits and rather large blue eyes.

He looked up at her, not quite sure what to do. Awkwardly, he said, "Hi..."

"I'm Emily Mayfield. I'm in Ravenclaw." She smiled again.

Harry managed a weak smile back and said, "Uh... I'm Harry Potter. I'm in Gryffindor..."

She laughed loudly and took the opportunity to seat herself in the empty spot beside him. "I know!" Still grinning, she continued. "I was just wondering if you had a date to the ball yet."

Harry heard Ron snicker from across the table and felt himself blushing slightly. "Um, it was only announced two minutes ago..."

Obviously taking this as a no, she said, "Well, good!" Flipping one of the braids behind her shoulder, she continued, "I don't have a date either."

And then she sat there staring at him, smiling, and acting as though this was supposed to mean something to him. He eyed her and said, "Okay..."

"So, if you wanted to ask me, I'll probably still be available for the next few days." She grinned once more, and Harry took in two rows of perfect teeth.

Harry didn't know what to say. So, he just stuck with, "Okay..."

She flashed him one more quick smile before getting up and returning to the Ravenclaw table.

Harry instantly heard Ron burst into a fit of laughter, and he turned to survey his best friends. It was clear that Ron found the whole thing quite amusing, and even Hermione looked to be entertained by the show. She was resting her elbows on the table and had both hands covering her mouth as she quite obviously tried her best to stifle laughter.

"It isn't funny," he hissed at them, the blush still burning in his cheeks.

"Oh, yes, my friend, it is very funny," Ron said, still laughing.

Hermione removed her hands and took a deep breath; it was clear that she was trying to rid herself of the pent up laughter. "She was very pretty, Harry," she finally managed to say, though it was obvious that she was fighting down giggles the entire time.

Harry looked past them at the Ravenclaw table. He saw Emily Mayfield staring at him, still smiling, and he quickly looked away embarrassed. His gaze then fell a few seats away on a very pretty dark-haired girl.

Cho Chang.

She was the seeker for the Ravenclaw Quidditch team, and she'd been the object of his affection for three years now, but she'd never done more than smile at him in a friendly manner. But what did he expect? She was older than him, very beautiful, and quite popular. Of course, she didn't look at him the same way that he looked at her. When he had finally swallowed his pride long enough to ask her to the ball last year, she'd told him she already had a date.

It was humiliating.

And perhaps that was why she looked so sad at the moment. The date that she had was Cedric Diggory, the person who, of course, had fallen to Voldemort at the end of the last year. Cho had liked Cedric very much, and it had been awful for her when he died. Thinking of another ball probably brought back up memories for her that she didn't want to relive.

Harry wasn't going to bother asking her this year.

He knew that seeing him would only make Cho think of Cedric, as he'd been, inadvertently, the cause of Cedric's death. Seeing Cho would only serve to remind Harry of Cedric and the horrible events they'd gone through together.

He wasn't going to subject either of them to that torture.

"Are you going to ask her?" Ron's question jerked Harry out of his momentary reverie, and he quickly turned his attention away from the Ravenclaw table and back to the Gryffindor one.

"Huh?"

"Miss Emily Mayfield," Ron said, grinning. "Are you going to ask her to the ball?"

"I don't even know her," Harry said with a look of confusion.

Ron shrugged. "Well, better to get a date early; that way..."

He was cut off by Hermione finishing for him. "You won't get stuck with a troll." The bitterness in her voice told Harry that she hadn't quite gotten past the events leading up to last year's ball, either. In all honesty, he and Ron had been rather rude and inconsiderate of her feelings the year before, going on about how they would rather go alone than with an ugly girl and then treating her as if she was on reserve for them when they were both dateless so close to the ball.

Ron looked down at the table, and it was clear to Harry that he felt bad about the way they had treated her. He knew, however, that Ron had never apologized to Hermione about anything, and he was sure that he wasn't about to start then.

As if the goddess of awkward moments was smiling down on them, a flurry of owls overhead alerted all of their attention as the afternoon post arrived. Harry looked around hopefully for Hedwig. She'd taken a letter to Sirius for him a few nights ago, and he was eagerly awaiting the response. And yes! He spotted the white owl, and a wave of relief washed over him.

But Hedwig was carrying a rather long, thin box. She dropped parcel in front of Harry and perched on the back of his seat. Confused, Harry stroked the bird affectionately and absently held a piece of bread up for her to nibble as he took the letter from atop the package and read it.

'Dear Harry,

Don't worry, I'm fine. You can tell Remus to quit his worrying, too. I'm glad to hear that you're doing well. It had been awhile since I'd heard from you, and I was having trouble tracking down a bird to carry a letter for me. Write me if you have any problems, or if anything out of the ordinary happens. Though I may not be able to write you directly, I can always send a response if you send Hedwig. Hope you're having a good year so far.

-Sirius

PS- This package is for Ron. It's to make up for the broken leg I gave him... Tell him congratulations on making the team, too.'

Harry looked up curiously at his freckled best friend. "Sirius said the package is for you."

"Me?" Ron wrinkled his brow in confusion, but Harry just shrugged.

"He said it's to make up for the broken leg."

Ron looked at him puzzled for a moment more before taking the paper off of the package and sliding the top of the box off. Inside was a shiny new Firebolt, identical to Harry's minus the scratches his had received with wear. The widening of his own eyes was nothing compared to the expression on Ron's face. His eyes were huge with shock, and he was staring at the broomstick as though he'd just been treated to a Divine vision.

"Holy shit," he breathed, reaching out to run a hand down the wood of the broomstick lightly, as though afraid to touch it. He didn't seem to be able to form any other coherent thoughts, so he just sat there speechless.

Harry finally managed to form something of coherence himself and said, "Oh yeah... He said congratulations on making the team..."

Hermione was smiling wildly, though. "Ron, you're going to be great on this!" She grinned from Ron to Harry and then back again. "You two are going to be brilliant together!"

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So? A little short, but I've got the next couple of bits already written. My favorite chapter ever is coming up pretty soon, so I'd love some feedback!!!!! (