A/N: Well, this is one of my shorter chapters, but it was necessary, and I didn't want to squash anything else in there with it. I want to thank everyone who had reviewed so far. You guys are the best!!!

Disclaimer: If I owned the Harry Potter franchise, I would not currently be dredging through pre-law, now would I?

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"Why do you have so many cars?" Ron asked, eyeing the four cars parked in the garage.

Hermione shrugged. "I don't know. I guess my parents just like having options." She pointed to a yellow Mustang on the end. "That one's mine."

Harry and Ron were both surprised that she had her own car, as she never talked of it. But then again, they'd learned quite a bit about Hermione that they didn't previously know during the course of this holiday.

"I didn't know you had a car," Harry said, walking with Ron over to the car in question to study it.

Hermione nodded and followed them. "Yeah, my parents bought it for me last year because they found a really good deal on it."

"Can you drive it?" Ron asked, raising an eyebrow at her as he peered through the window.

"Well, not legally," Hermione said obviously. "I'm not old enough. But I learned how to drive when I was thirteen."

Harry, who was usually forbidden to even ride in a car and had certainly never driven one, was rather impressed. Ron, however, shrugged indifferently.

"I know how to fly one of these things," he said with a superior smirk.

Hermione just looked at Ron. Harry almost choked on snorted laughter.

"Um, excuse me?" he said, desperately trying to sound serious. "Can I comment on that?"

Ron shot Harry the most offended of looks, and Hermione instantly started to snicker. Harry just shrugged at Ron and said, "Sorry, mate, but I speak the truth when I say your car flying skills pretty much suck."

Ron had just opened his mouth to respond with no doubt a snide remark when they were interrupted.

"Hermione Granger!"

All three friends looked up to see two girls standing at the end of Hermione's driveway; they were obviously on an afternoon stroll. Harry distinctly heard Hermione groan, but she instantly put on a smile.

"Hey!" she shouted back in what was a much more cheerful voice than the one she normally used. It was clearly quite fake.

The two girls returned the same sort of sickeningly sweet smile and started toward the garage where Ron, Harry, and Hermione were standing.

"What are you doing here?" asked one, a short girl with curly blonde hair.

Hermione shrugged. "You know, Christmas holiday."

Both girls nodded. Then the other one, a slightly taller girl with long black hair and shockingly bright blue eyes, said, "Your hair looks great, Hermione!"

Harry saw Hermione blush slightly as she smiled and said, "Thanks. Yours is getting so long!"

The raven-haired girl nodded. "I know! I've been growing it out since last winter."

"Who are your friends, Hermione?" the blonde one asked, clearly eyeing both boys appreciatively.

Hermione glanced from one to the other and said, "Oh! These are my best friends. Harry and Ron." She motioned to each of them as she spoke their names. And then, turning to the boys in question, she said, "This is Celeste," she pointed to the dark-haired girl, "and this is Gia," she then motioned to the blonde. "I went to primary school with them."

Harry glanced at the girls and was instantly struck with the thought that they were very pretty; glancing at Ron, it seemed he agreed.

Hermione was looking rather anxious.

Gia grinned at them both. "Do you go to St. Mary's, too?"

For a split second, Harry was rather confused. Catching on quickly, he nodded. "Oh, yeah."

"Do you like it?" Celeste had directed the question at Ron.

Ron stuttered just a bit over his response. "Uh, yeah. It's... great."

"So, what are you guys doing?" Gia asked brightly.

Hermione answered. "We were just going to go for a walk."

"Oh, well, we're going to the cinema," Gia said smiling. "Do you guys want to come?"

"Yes!" Ron answered quickly. "I'm dying to see a film!"

Gia and Celeste both looked at him a little oddly but smiled despite themselves. Harry glanced at Hermione and noticed that she was looking at Ron as though she was trying to decide the best Unforgivable Curse to bestow upon him.

He tried not to laugh.

"Great!" Celeste said enthusiastically. "The film starts in twenty minutes. We were just on our way there."

Hermione forced a smile upon her lips and nodded. "Okay. Give us a second to go upstairs and get our money."

Celeste and Gia both nodded, and Harry and Ron followed Hermione back through the garage and into the house. As soon as the door was shut, Hermione rounded on Ron.

"What are you doing?!"

Ron jumped back a bit at her sudden outburst. "What are you talking about?"

"I don't want to go to the cinema with them!" Hermione exclaimed, her brown eyes dancing dangerously. "I don't even like them!"

Ron raised his eyebrows. "Well, it looked like you were all good friends."

"We're not!" Hermione insisted. "They hated me when I was younger! Celeste used to sit behind me when I was eight years old, and every day she used to pull my hair and tie it in knots! Like it wasn't already a horror to brush out anyway!"

Harry and Ron both stifled snickers.

"And once when I was in kindergarten, Gia put a beetle in my milk carton, and I almost drank it!"

They didn't even attempt to stifle their snickers at that.

Hermione glared at them. "I can't believe I have to go watch a film with them!"

Ron tried very hard to stop his snickering. "Well, I'm sorry. I didn't know." He grinned at her. "Besides, I'm sure they've grown up a lot. And I've never even been to the cinema!"

"Neither have I," Harry volunteered.

Hermione huffed up and rolled her eyes. "Fine. But don't agree to do anything else with them."

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Fifteen minutes later, Harry found himself staring around a semi-full theatre and trying to find a spot with five empty seats. Celeste pointed to an empty spot in the middle of the theatre, and the five teenagers made their way to the center of the row and seated themselves.

For some reason, the seating arrangement ended up being Celeste, Ron, Hermione, Harry, Gia. Harry couldn't quite work out how Celeste and Gia had ended up on opposite ends of each other, but he did find it a bit amusing that Hermione had strategically placed herself so that she didn't have to sit next to either of her childhood bullies.

"I've heard this film is really good," Gia whispered excitedly, once they'd all situated themselves comfortably. The movie hadn't started yet.

Harry turned to her and tried to make polite conversation. "Really?"

She nodded. "Yeah, my friend Angie said it's the best she's seen all year. Have you heard anything about it?"

Harry had never even heard of it, but he didn't say this. "I haven't heard too much about it."

Gia smiled. Harry noticed that her green eyes were a sort of softer shade than his own- not really emerald but more of a sea green color. "So, where are you from?"

"Surrey." Harry returned the smile- out of courteous, he supposed.

"I have an uncle there!" she said brightly. "Do you know any Martins?"

Harry shook his head. "Sorry. No."

She shrugged and then changed topics. "How old are you?"

"Fifteen," he answered.

She nodded. "Me, too. Have you known Hermione long?"

"Um, since I was eleven."

"I've known her since kindergarten. We sat at the same lunch table."

Harry forcibly choked down the laughter that was threatening to overtake him. "Really?"

She nodded, glancing across Harry at Hermione who was looking much like a fifth wheel, as Celeste had Ron deeply engaged in conversation as well. Obviously satisfied that Hermione seemed much more interested in what Celeste and Ron were saying than what she and Harry were saying, she leaned in closer to Harry and whispered, "But she was a bit strange back then. Weird things always happened around her for some reason."

"Really?" Harry raised his eyebrows. "What sort of things?"

Gia shrugged. "Well, like someone would be picking on her, and all of a sudden something across the room would just topple over out of nowhere. Or if she ever got angry at someone over something, they'd suddenly find their lunch all down their front." She bit her lip a little in remembrance. "It was just very strange."

Harry tried his best to look bewildered. "That is strange."

Gia nodded. "Yes, but she seems much different now. I guess St. Mary's changed her or something."

Harry glanced over his shoulder at Hermione who was, indeed, staring very determinedly at Ron and Celeste. He turned back to Gia. "She's the smartest person in our year."

Gia rolled her eyes. "Well, that doesn't surprise me one bit. If she ever got below a ninety-eight percent, she would completely freak out. It was like she had the course books memorized."

Harry laughed. "Yeah, that's Hermione. She hasn't changed that much."

Gia looked from Hermione to Harry. "She's not your girlfriend, is she?"

Harry shook his head quickly. "No, we're just friends."

Gia smiled, and Harry noted again what a nice smile it was. "That's good."

Harry was glad for the rapidly dimming lights and the suddenly lit up screen signaling the start of the movie because he could feel himself blush slightly. He sent Gia a half-smile, which she returned, and they both turned to watch the film.

It was interesting. Harry had seen a few movies, of course, but he'd never actually seen one in the cinema because the Dursleys had never deigned to take him along on their own trips to the movies. The film was actually pretty good; it seemed that Angie had been right.

About thirty minutes into the film, Harry glanced at Hermione who seemed a bit upset about something and didn't appear to be enjoying the film as much as she should have. She didn't turn to meet his eye, so he looked past her at Ron who seemed absolutely enthralled by the whole experience. Harry couldn't help but smile when Ron sensed his staring and turned to him. The two boys grinned at each other briefly before turning back to the movie.

Minutes later, Hermione suddenly sat up. "I'm going to get a bottle of water," she whispered. "Do you want anything?"

"Will you get me a soda?" Harry asked. He slipped her some money, and she nodded and turned to Ron, obviously asking him the same question. He gave her some money, too, and asked her if she needed any help. She shook her head rather forcibly and stood up to exit the theatre.

Ron leaned across her empty seat to speak with Harry. "This is cool, isn't it?"

Harry nodded. "Yeah, but Hermione seems pissed about something."

Ron shrugged. "She's probably still mad that she had to come in the first place."

Harry shrugged, too. "I guess so."

They straightened back up, and Harry felt Gia lean into his ear. "I think Celeste likes your friend," she whispered, giggling afterwards.

Harry turned to her. "Really?"

She nodded, a tiny grin covering her lips. "Does he have a girlfriend?"

"Uh," Harry paused for half a second. "No."

Gia's eyes grew a bit wider. "So, Hermione just has two really cute best friends that are both single, and she's not dating either of them? Is she completely mental?"

Harry felt the blush creeping into his cheeks again and wasn't at all sure what to say. Gia just grinned even more and said, "When are you guys going back to school?"

Harry was thankful for a question he knew the answer to. "On January 6th."

"Maybe we can hang out some more before you all have to leave."

Harry nodded, knowing Hermione would never go for it but thinking that it wouldn't be so bad. "Maybe."

At that moment, Hermione returned, balancing two sodas and a bottle of water carefully in her arms. She handed one soda each to Harry and Ron and reseated herself between them.

"Did I miss anything?" she asked, though it appeared she wasn't all that concerned honestly.

Harry, who had not even seen one second of the movie since she'd been gone, shook his head and whispered, "No."

He put the straw in his soda and took a quick sip of it before holding it out to Gia. "Do you want some?"

She smiled and nodded, taking it from him. "Thanks." She took a drink and sat it in the cup holder between them. Then after a moment of watching the movie, she giggled quietly. "I'm completely lost as to what's happening," she admitted.

Harry laughed a little. "Me, too," he whispered.

And then he quite suddenly found Gia's hand in his own.

He looked up at her curiously, but she just grinned and shrugged one shoulder before turning back to the film. She didn't remove her hand.

And Harry didn't remove his own.

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I know this is one of my shorter chapters, but I had to set the scene up for this. Now, before everyone starts whining about Mary Sues, I want to make it clear that Gia will play a very important part in what I know you ALL want to see happen. So, just trust me on this, okay?

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