Author*s Note: Hehehehe! We*re not leaving for our camping trip till tomorrow! Happiness! Now I can update again!

Man, I*m getting a wee bit obsessive here. Annywho, thanks to everyone who has reviewed so far: lilycrazy13, *, Lady Lightning, Hermione 512, Hermione Potter, apie, Rachel A. Prongs, BluLightning, ForeverPotterFan, HrryPttrFreak87, Facade and qwert. Gosh I like you people. Go on, have some of those really yummy cookies with MMs in them.

I hope you like this chapter; its got a lot more dialouge than the first three did and it*s way more light hearted. I am a hopeless romantic, after all :-)

Chapter Four

Emotions

Hermione stared down at her cup of hot chocolate. Ginny sat across from her, watching her friend anxiously. She took a sip of her own beverage, slammed it down on the table and said, *Hermione, when are you going to admit it?*

Hermione looked up. *Admit what?*

Ginny rolled her eyes. *Come on, you know what I*m talking about.*

Hermione shook her head sadly. *It was too fast,* she said, more to herself than to Ginny. *And we had no right to, not at . . .*

Hermione didn*t finish her sentence. She cast a worried glance at Ginny, but Ginny didn*t seem affected at all. *At Ron*s funeral,* Ginny said. *It*s okay, you can say it.*

Hermione was surprised, to say the least. Ginny must have sensed how shocked Hermione was, for she stated in a very matter-of-fact tone of voice, *Hermione, I knew him even better than you, and I know that he would want you to be happy. And Harry makes you happy.* She paused and then continued, in a quieter voice, *I loved Ron and so did you. You know he wouldn*t want you to be alone.*

Hermione sighed. She looked at her watch and stood up. *Well, thanks for inviting me over,* she said. She put on her coat which she had hung on the back of her chair. *See you at work tomorrow?*

*Yeah. Take care.*

***

A tiny golden ball flew past Harry*s left ear.

*Harry!* Oliver shouted, pulling up beside him. *You could have gotten that one!*

*Sorry,* Harry said. Oliver shook his head and speed off on his Firebolt360. Harry flew up several feet higher and continued to circle slowly around the arena, but his mind was on other matters.

When practice was over and Harry was changing in the locker room, Wood approached him.

*What*s with you?* he asked. *You had tons of opportunities to get the snitch and you missed it almost every time!*

*I know,* Harry said, closing his locker door. *I*m sorry, I just could*t concentrate today.*

*Is this about Ron?* Wood asked, his voice softening. *You know, if you need some more time off or something-*

*I*m fine,* Harry interrupted.

*No, you*re not,* Wood said. *I scheduled another practice for Friday. Why don*t you just skip it?*

Harry stared at him. *Really?*

*Yeah.*

Harry was silent for a moment. Then he said, *Yeah. Yeah, I think I will.*

Wood smiled and clapped Harry on the shoulder. *Well, I*m off. Take it easy.*

*You too.*

***

Hermione made her way through the crowd of people to where Ginny was dancing. She tapped her on the shoulder and shouted in her ear, *I*m going home now.*

*What?*

Hermione grabbed Ginny*s arm and pulled her away from the blaring speakers. Then she said again, *I*m going home.*

*Why?*

*I*m tired.*

Ginny wasn*t buying it. She looked over her shoulder at the clock. *Hermione, it*s not even ten yet!*

*So?*

*So stay for a while. Come one, live a little!*

*I*m really tired, Ginny.*

A boy with blonde hair walked over to Ginny and tugged at her arm. *Hey, Ginny, come dance with me!* he yelled.

*In a minute,* Ginny called back to him. She turned to Hermione again and said, *Are you just going to Apparate?*

*Too many Muggles in my building, I don*t want to risk it.*

*Do you want the keys to my car then?*

*No, I*ll just walk home. It*s not far.*

*You sure?*

*Yeah.*

Ginny looked doubtful, but she shrugged and said, *Okay, if you say so. I*ll call you tomorrow.*

*Alright. Bye.*

*See ya.*

Ginny went off in pursuit of the blonde boy, and Hermione thanked the hostess of the party and started off towards her apartment. The night air was warm, and Hermione strolled slowly, her jacket over her arm, enjoying the beauty of the evening.

Hermione took the elevator up to the third floor and walked down the long hallway. She was going to open the door to her apartment, but someone was sitting in front of it.

It was Harry.

Hermione said the first thing that popped into her head: *How did you find out where I live?*

*Ginny.*

*Oh,* Hermione said, though in her head she was thinking, *I*m going to kill her.*

Harry stood up. *Is it- I mean, should I come back some other time.*

*Uh, no, now is- fine,* Hermione said slowly. *How long have you been waiting for me?*

*I dunno. An hour, maybe.*

*An hour?*

*Yeah.*

*Oh,* Hermione said again. She shifted her jacket from one arm to the other. She felt stupid talking to him in the hallway. *Do you- do you want to come in? For a soda, I mean.*

*Yeah, sure. For a soda.*

They went into Hermione*s apartment. Hermione turned the lights on and suddenly wished that she had picked up a little before she left. She opened her mini refrigerator and got out two Cokes and handed one of them to Harry. They sat on Hermione*s bed and drank the sodas in silence.

Finally Harry asked, *Did you go out somewhere tonight?*

*Yeah, one of my co-workers was throwing a party,* Hermione said. *Ginny*s still there, actually.*

*So Ministry work is going well?*

*Yeah. How*s Quidditch?*

*Good.*

Hermione drank a big gulp of soda. She had been looking at the wall in front of her, but now she turned to Harry and said, *Why*d you really come here, Harry?*

Harry sighed. He set his soda on the coffee table and said, *Hermione, at Ron*s funeral-*

*Don*t, Harry, please,* Hermione begged.

*Why not?*

*Just- don*t,* Hermione pleaded.

*I want to. Hermione, at Ron*s funeral I said I loved you, and I meant it. That wasn*t some stunt to get you back. I*ve changed.*

Hermione bit her lip and looked down at her hands. *Harry,* she said, *even if you*ve changed, how do you know that will make everything better? I*ve changed, too. I*m not the girl you dated back at Hogwarts.*

*I know,* he said, touching her hands which were clenched tightly in her lap. *I want to get to know you all over again.*

Hermione felt her eyes welling up. *No,* she said firmly. *I can*t. We*re better off this way.*

Harry laughed softly. *Better off? We*re both miserable.*

*I wasn*t. I was doing just fine.*

*Were you happy?*

*What?* She looked up at him.

*I said were you happy.*

Hermione was taken aback. *I was doing fine,* she said again.

Harry smiled. *You don*t always have to be so brave, you know.*

And then he kissed her.

When it was over, Hermione shuddered. Harry arms were around her and she didn*t want him to pull away. But he did.

*Hermione, I-* Harry stopped. His face was flushed. *Could you at least give me another chance?*

Hermione didn*t say anything. Then, in a voice that was almost a whisper, she said, *Okay.*

Harry*s face brightened. *Do you want to go out tomorrow night?*

Hermione suddenly remembered an old saying, that there was *safety in numbers.*

*Ginny*s going out with her boyfriend,* Hermione said. *Maybe we could double date?*

*Sure.*

*Okay. I*ll call Ginny.*

Harry nodded. He stood up. *Well, I*ll see you then, I guess.*

Hermione thought he might kiss her again, she wanted him to, but he just started walking towards the door. Hermione rose and cried, *Harry!*

Harry*s hand was on the door knob. He looked back at her and said, *What?*

Hermione just stared at him, unsure of what to say. *I*m pathetic, absolutely pathetic,* she thought to herself. In a slightly high-pitched voice she said, *Good night.*

Harry grinned. *Good night, Hermione.*