February the 14th arrived.

Harry woke up not wanting to get out of bed, and when he finally did (due to Ron's instance that they get to Hogsmeade early so that he could watch Krum arrive) he ended up putting his socks on his hands and didn't realize they were there until Lavender Brown told him at breakfast.

Hermione came down 15 minutes after they did looking prettier then usual, Harry noticed. Her hair was very neatly combed she didn't have what Ron called the mountain (her normally huge backpack) on her back.

"Morning!"

Ron looked up and smirked at her appearance. "Getting all dressed up are we?"

Hermione frowned at him. "You, Ronald, are just jealous that I never dress up nice for you."

Ron smirked again, looking at his plate. Then he muttered, "At least I can speak English correctly. Old Yoda can't find a coherent sentence with two hands a flashlight and his Quidditch abilities!"

Only Harry could hear him, and he managed a small smile.

Hermione began dishing herself eggs, looking happier than usual. "Are you going to come with me into Hogsmeade?"

"Come into Hogsmeade we won't. Stay here we will." Ron quipped.

"Ron!" Both Harry and Hermione were getting annoyed now.

"So sorry I am." Ron murmured, grinning wickedly.

"Honestly Ron, I'm almost glad you're not coming because you'd end up doing that stupid talk in front of Krum and insult him."

"So what…? He couldn't do anything to me.' Ron puffed out his chest impressively.

"Yeah, but the two beaters on his Quidditch team can. I hear their clubs are made of solid cedar wood. You'll have to let me know." She grinned affectionately at him.

That shut Ron up very quickly.

They finished eating breakfast and Hermione smoothed her hair. "How do I look?"

Harry smiled. "Amazing."

She smiled nervously at him, and then looked at Ron. "Well, aren't you going to say something? Wait...no...don't…."

Ron threw his arm casually around her, grinned and quipped, "Wish you good luck do I.!"

She snorted. "That's awful Ron. Really awful."

Harry looked at his watch. "Hermione…aren't you going a bit early?"

Hermione shook her head. "No, I'm going to go early so I can read some of the new books from the bookstore while I'm waiting for him. I hope he's on time. If he's not, I'm leaving.

Harry and Ron looked at each other. Ron was choking on the idea of reading while waiting for a date, but he swallowed his sarcastic remark.

"Ok, well, here I go. I'll tell you how everything goes, ok? Wish me luck!"

She hugged them both and ran off to join the others going to Hogsmeade for Valentines Day.

The minute she was out of sight, Harry and Ron threw the invisibility cloak over themselves and followed her.

When they arrived in Hogsmeade, they followed Hermione to the Hogs Head. She went inside, found a seat by the window and settled in to read a stack of 8 books she'd brought.

Ron gaped. "Bloody Hell, how late does she think he's going to be? That's 5 weeks worth of reading that is…"

Harry grabbed his arm and dragged him off towards an alley on the side of the pub. "We need to get Hermione away from the Hogs Head and to the Three Broomsticks, on time so she can be there to get her little surprise from Madame Rosmerta!."

Ron shook his head. "We can't both do that without telling her that we're the ones who wrote the letter, it just won't work…."

Harry slumped against the wall on the side of the pub. "So, how do we do it?"

"Physic readings?" Ron suggested with a mock grin.

"Ron, get real."

"We could go all the way back to the Three Broomsticks, and you could use the summoning charm to summon Hermione!"

"And have the entirety of Hogsmeade see Hermione flying through the air at 70 km per hour floating on wand sparks? They'd think we're trying to kidnap her for ransom from Krum. I'd love to try explaining that to the Dementors." Harry shook his head.

"What we need is a reason for her to go to the Three Broomsticks instead. Then, she'd see Krum there and forget the reason she came in the first place!"

Ron stared at him. "What if she doesn't forget?"

"I dunno."

Ron snapped his fingers, suddenly pushing himself off the wall. "I've got it! You run back to the Hogs Head and get Hermione. Tell her that Krum had…um…just written her a letter that we just got at the castle and um…that she needs to go to the three broomsticks instead! Then…"

"…she'll go to the three broomsticks with me and she'll think the surprise there was from him!" Harry finished gloomily.

"What? Isn't that a good plan?" Ron asked, looking at the glum look on Harry's face.

"Oh yeah, it's really good actually but…."

"But what?"

"It's just that….well…"

Ron suddenly got a look a dawning apprehension on his face. "You set up the surprise with the flowers and you don't want Krum to get the credit for doing it and Hermione to love him even more because she thinks he did it right?"

"Yeah." Harry said, surprised Ron figured it all out exactly as it really was.

"You DO love Hermione!" Ron said with a grin. "C'mon now you can admit it. You've given it away already anyhow.

Harry shook his head. "She loves Krum. I'm not going to get involved in that. I don't want a love triangle or any trouble. I just want Hermione to be happy."

Ron smirked. "Yeah, you want her to be happy…with you."

"No! Please, Ron, we've already gotten this far. Let's just go through with this as though it's still the same as it always was. You go to the Three Broomsticks and make sure Krum doesn't leave. I'll get Hermione and get her down there in time for the surprise. Ok?"

Ron nodded, a little disappointed that Harry hadn't agreed with gusto to go running into the Hogs Head, confess his undying love for Hermione and then steal her away from Krum.

Ron turned and trotted off towards the three Broomsticks with the invisibility cloak under one arm. Harry went over to the back of the alley and ran in place for 4 minutes until he felt good and worn. Then he ran into the Hogs Head, trying to look as though he'd just ran all the way form Hogwarts to get to her in time.

"Harry! What on earth…?"

"Hermione….you've got to go…got to go to the Three Broomsticks!"

Hermione looked up from the top book, very confused. "Why?"

Harry slowly crossed his fingers under his robes. He hated lying to Hermione. Normally it was about Homework, and normally after every lie he'd told to her, he'd gotten a reprimand.

"Ron and I just received this letter that was sent to you from Krum and he uh…wants to meet at the Three Broomsticks instead."

"Why?" Hermione asked again, starting to pack up her books.

"I dunno…..maybe he has something planned."

That was stupid, he thought angrily to himself. Now Hermione would know something fishy was up.

Hermione however, took what he said without question, loading all her books into her bag and setting them in the corner. "I'll leave these here and come back to get them later after I meet Viktor."

Harry nodded and then held the door open for her.

"So what did the letter say?"

"The letter? Oh! The letter! Yeah, well, he wanted to know if you could meet him and the Three Broomsticks instead of the hogshead. He said you'd find out later why."

Hermione smiled. "Thanks for coming out here to get me. That was really nice of you…."

Harry nodded curtly. He led her all the way to the Three Broomsticks not looking her in the eye. She seemed keen on talking with him, but he just answered in short curt sentences and didn't try to add to the conversation.

When they got outside the Three Broomsticks Hermione turned to him.

"Come in with me?"