Unexpected Thoughts

Chapter 6

The week had gone by rather quickly, and there weren't any mentions of the first night back. There were few awkward moments between Harry and Hermione... but there was a noticeable one involving Ron. Yes, Ron had finally gotten up the nerve to ask Luna Lovegood on Wednesday after the weekend had been announced as a Hogsmeade weekend. Her response was a vague, dreamy, "Certainly I will go with you, Ronald," leaving Ron very, very red.

Consequently, Harry and Hermione were going to be going to Hogsmeade together that weekend for a while. They told Ron they'd meet up with him around noon, but they had until then by themselves.

«.:.:.:.»

'Calm down, man, it's not a date, it's not a date, it's just Hermione, for Merlin's sake,' Harry thought to himself, standing outside, waiting in the common room while Hermione got ready. He sat down on the couch and waited. Who knew that Hermione was one of those girls who took forever to get ready?

When Hermione finally walked downstairs, Harry's breath caught in his throat. 'Wow.'

To say that Hermione is beautiful can be a true or a false statement, depending on who you're talking to. If you were to ask, say, Lavender, or Pavarti, they would say it wasn't true. There are those who can't get past the few shortcomings that Hermione possessed physically. She was only 5'2", with wide hips, a small chest, a long torso, and short legs to compensate.

But ask anyone who know her personally, and they will tell you yes without any hesitation. They can get past the wide hips and the frizzy hair, and look not only at the beautiful face, with the greenish-blue eyes, freckles, and soft lips, but inside, to see the love that she holds for the ones that she holds close, the caring for the environment, the understanding, the knowledge, and the loyalty. This is what Harry saw when Hermione rushed down the stairs looking frustrated.

"Oh, these blasted jeans, they're always too long, and I have to roll them up, and that makes me look stupid, because who rolls up their jeans, and I just can't figure out the-"She was cut off by Harry who, grinning, waved his wand and said, "Curto." Her jeans immediately shortened to the right length and left Hermione staring at him, mouth agape.

"How did you..." she asked, drifting off.

Harry blushed at this. "Well, I had to shorten Dudley's jeans somehow, right?"

"Oh, right," Hermione said, nodding. "Okay. Ready to go, then, Harry?"

"Yeah, hold on, I have to go upstairs and get my money," Harry said, running upstairs, grabbing his bag, and then taking a deep breath and walking back downstairs. 'Not a date, Potter,' he thought to himself.

He came downstairs, and together they walked down to Hogsmeade.

«.:.:.:.»

Author's Note: Some of you may have complaints about how I describe Hermione. Well... before you start flaming me about it, let me tell you why I did it. People describe her as "gorgeous" or "beautiful" or "stunning" or "every guy wants her" or whatever, but I don't think that's what Hermione is about. She doesn't look perfect. She's not out to win beauty contests or anything. The whole idea here is that she's not an absolute gorgeous beauty... she's just Hermione. Most people don't realize how pretty she really is, on the inside. They get caught up with her physical shortcomings and chalk her up as ugly.

Also, I based Hermione on myself... I don't have frizzy hair, though. :) And I'm sorry that this is so short! I didn't have time to write the Hogsmeade bit, and I promised myself that I would update on Friday.

Umm... anything else...? Let's see. I bought The Postal Service's CD, Give Up, the other day, and it's EXCELLENT.

One last thing... I'm so sorry that I used the "Ron-is-dating-Luna-and-now-Harry-and-Hermione-are-together-without-him-at-Hogsmeade" cliché. I didn't know what else to do.

REVIEW.

Oh, all reviewers (4 THIS TIME!) get toy surprises. –flings them-

Fluffy White Cat: Normally, you're right, Hermione wouldn't have a problem with sitting next to Neville... but that's book Hermione. My Hermione is slightly OOC. There was a warning about that in the description.