Summary: Join Hermione as she steps onto the Train of Love, or rather the Rollercoaster of Love. How will she handle the twists and turns? Will she be able to hold on as her stomach does a loop to loop or will she fall head over heels?
Disclaimer: I do not own anything except the idea for this story. All else belongs to the wonderful J.K Rowling.
A/N: I don't really like this chapter as I feel that nothing really happens, but I guess it helps for us to see how everyone really feels... or to hear what the author has to say. As that's me, you have to read some random stuff.

Mystification

When the couple started their journey back through the corridors, Hermione decided she needed to freshen up. She told Harry to go on to the common room without her but not to tell anyone what had happened, for fear of Ron killing him. Of course her real reason for going to the bathroom was because she couldn't think around Harry. Even though she had known him for years and had been able to block him out when she needed to think (unlike Ron) she now couldn't help but notice every movement and gesture he made. She needed to be able to sort out the issues that were now gathering in her mind.

When she reached the bathroom she ran to the sink and splashed water on her face. Whether this was to make sure she was awake or to calm the blush that was rising to her cheeks, she wasn't sure. It didn't seem to help much anyway. She then went to sit on the floor with her back against the wall, pulling her knees up to meet her chin. A new feeling swept over her that was a mixture of happiness, guilt, fear, and general confusion. Most of these were new to Hermione and the weird concoction made her head spin. How had everything gone so fast? She was worried about how Harry had affected her and about how the situation would affect her other relationships. At the time she was just blinded by Harry's sweet words and they had flattered her and made her feel good about herself. Could she have mistaken these feelings for something else? She didn't know.

This strangely was not her biggest concern though. She knew that Ron would always be there for her but she wasn't sure how he would react to the situation when it was first presented to him. She had battled with his temper and won many times but she felt that if he fought her on this she would lose more than the prospect of romance with Harry. She also knew that Ron was very over protective of Ginny and although she had given her blessing for the relationship, Hermione felt that she wasn't saying how she felt. Having answered none of her questions she sighed realising that the bathroom floor tiles could not help with her problem. She pulled herself up to her feet and looked at her watch. Dinner had just begun and she could be certain to find her friends at the Great Hall.

When Hermione entered the Great Hall she casually walked over the where her friends were sitting and sat down between Ron and Harry. She gave Harry a questioning look and he nodded indicating that he had done as she asked. She took a small portion of food and began to eat. Dinner was quiet until Ron had finished his third helping.

"So did you guys have fun at the lake?"

Not noticing his friends blush and not waiting for an answer he continued to tell them of what they had missed while they were gone. Neville had tried to throw an Every-Flavour Bean up in the air, entirely missing his mouth and it hit him surprisingly hard on the eye. Of course, only Neville would manage to keep his eye open as the sweet hit him. Ron had witnessed the entire event, and although it had been hard through the laughing he offered to guide the now partially blind boy to Madame Pomfrey. Only now that his friends sat in silence did he realise that something was different.

"Why aren't you laughing?"

Hermione and Harry both snapped out of their own thoughts and tried to think of a good excuse for Ron. Nothing came so they both stared blankly. They expected Ron's explosion any second, but the sound of laughter filled their ears instead.

"Ron, why are you laughing?" Hermione asked after finally regaining control of her voice. Through the hysterics they managed to hear him say,

"Because...you...you...both...looked like...gold...fish!"

Seeing that neither of his friends found this as amusing as he did he stopped laughing and asked them,

"What is wrong with you two?" Hermione looked to Harry for support but he simply nodded.

"Well...Harry and I...we...um...well the thing is..."

"Wow, the great Hermione Granger, smartest girl in all of Hogwarts, is finally lost for words? Where's Colin when you need him?" Again silence.

"So. Are you going to tell me or am I going to have to guess?" Ron looked from Hermione to Harry and then back to Hermione.

"Well...the thing is mate, I asked Hermione to be my girlfriend and she said yes!" Harry couldn't help but have a goofy grin on his face after telling Ron that Hermione was his girlfriend. All Ron could manage to say was "Bloody hell."

Seeing the worried look on his face Hermione began to explain that it wouldn't change anything between them and that they would always be a trio of best friends. She would never want him to feel like a third wheel. Ron simply nodded with a small smile and got up from his seat. They watched him walk out of the hall, wondering why he reacted the way he did. It was so unlike Ron to not fight with Hermione, and this was certainly something he could fight with her about. She couldn't help but wonder if he was secretly disappointed but shook it off. He probably needed time to adjust to the situation and then he would tell her how bad an idea it was. Hermione turned to face Harry seeing that his face did not reflect her own turmoil. In fact he was smiling a goofy grin again and thinking about how wonderful it was that Ron was okay with everything. Not wanting to spoil his happy mood Hermione decided to keep her worries to herself.

When they reached the common room Hermione decided that her two friends needed to talk so she made an excuse to go to her room, much to Harry's disappointment.

"But we've only just got together and we haven't got to spend any time together." Harry whined.

"Tomorrow is Sunday and I'm sure you have lots of things for me to help you with so we'll spend loads of time then, ok?" She reached up and gave him a peck on the cheek before walking over to Ron and giving him a hug. She watched as the two boys both sat down on the couch in front of the fire; neither knowing what to say. She sighed and turned to walk up the stairs, hoping that they would be able to find something to talk about, even it is was only Quidditch.

Hermione sat down at her desk and took out a purple suede notebook and her favourite self-inking quill. She turned to the last entry in her book and proceeded to write down the events of the day, hoping it would sort out what was going through her head. It didn't. After just sitting for an hour staring out the window watching the clouds pass over the moon she headed to her bed and studied her ceiling. She had never really noticed all the intricate patterns that if you stared at for long enough you could start to pick out pictures. Her thoughts were disturbed when the other girls in her dorm came in, so she closed the hangings around her bed and pretended to be asleep. Before long her morning alarm went off and she sprang out of bed as she had accidentally put the alarm under her pillow. As she was now wide-awake she took out a new set of robes from her wardrobe and went to the bathroom to get ready for the day.

Hermione was glad that the Great Hall was empty apart from a group of third year Hufflepuff girls. She had a splitting headache from a restless night of sleep. She sat in her usual place, eating a piece of toast. Before long the hall was full and she had been joined by her Gryffindor friends. Harry and Ron sat on either side of her and Ginny sat in front of them.

"So did you boys find something to talk about last night?" Both boys looked up from their breakfast and nodded. They had decided that it didn't matter who ended up with Hermione, just as long as she was happy. Harry was pleased with their decision and Ron just about managed to stay in control by mumbling comments under his breath.

"Oh good. That means you boys can accompany me to the library today."

Ron groaned, "Why would we need to go to the library? It's the last week of term and there's no way that I'm doing any work!"

As usual Hermione was working a lot further ahead and had already begun to look through books in the library that would help her with the exams next year. She knew that her friends were not thinking beyond summer so she excused herself and walked towards the library, with Harry trailing behind her. When he finally caught up with her all he could manage to say was "Yo."

"Yo?" Hermione questioned.

"Sorry, would "hi" suit better?"

"No, just for you to say anything is enough I guess."

"Aww how nice, in that case, yo again" Harry said with a grin. Hermione just giggled at the comment and turned the corner to head to the library. Harry grabbed her arm turning her around to face him.

"Do you really want to spend your last week of term in there?" He queried.

"I just want to get on top of all the work for the upcoming exams." Hermione replied. Harry shook his head. "If you were any more on top of the work you would be teaching us for the exams." Hermione smiled at this comment.

"I guess one afternoon off won't matter."

So she let herself be led outside by her handsome boyfriend.

They spend most of their final week outside sitting by the lake. They laughed about old times and discussed summer plans and Harry even let Hermione talk about schoolwork. Their classes went by quickly with most of the teachers trying to convince their students to get a head start on their next year's course; apart from Professor Snape who spent the entire week trying to make their lives a misery. And suddenly their wardrobes were empty again and their trunks packed. They boarded the Hogwarts Express heading back to their final summer holiday knowing that next year would be the last. When they arrived at platform 9 and ¾ Harry brought Hermione over to the side to say goodbye in private.

"Thanks for the great week. I'll try and owl you but you know what they are like. Thankfully they still think I'm going to hex them if they step out of line so hopefully they'll leave me alone." Hermione just nodded nervously. "Dumbledore said that it would be okay for me to leave after a month and Ron still wants us to stay at the Burrow so I'll see you in a month anyway..." Again Hermione just nodded. She was worried about where Harry was leading and if he was going to try and kiss her. It looked like he was so she quickly reached up and kissed him on the cheek and ran over to her parents, whilst shouting back,

"I'll see you in August then!"

Ok, so nothing really happened in this chapter even though it's really long...hmm. Ah well, now it's summer and things finally start to fall into place in Hermione's mind. What conclusions will she come to?

To my very first reviewer ever- Oliver's Quidditch Crazy- thanks so much! You really are too sweet. Just because of your review I had to update. I couldn't let you down! (I really must stop smiling!)

To another of my beloved reviewers -SharkGardian- I would also like to give a big thank you. You guys really are great!