Author's Note: Here's chapter nine. I have some news for you. I am going to be gone for about a month to go to my dad's. So, I'm leaving on the 25th of this month and coming back the 16th of July(which is, by the way, the day Harry Potter and The Half-Blood Prince does indeed come out). Now, my dad doesn't have internet, so that means I can't update. Sorry guys. But I will try and get as many chapters as I can up before I leave. I have about 12 days, actually, I think I can finish this by then. AND, to let you know, there WILL be a sequel to this... but I'm not going to tell you any more. There is going to be much more of this!
Also, thanks for all the wonderful reviews guys. I know I say this a lot, but I truely, truely appreciate it.

Needless to say, this whole ordeal brought Ron and Harry back together. That brought a little comfort back to Ron, but just barely. Now Malfoy and Hermione were a little more open in public. And now whenever Ron saw them walk down the hall together, hand in hand, he'd pinch himself hard. But every time he felt it, and every time a sick feeling would crawl back into his stomach.

One day when Malfoy and Hermione swept down the hall, laughing, Ron pinched himself so hard that Harry slapped him on the arm.

"Ron, give it up. It's real. No matter how many times you pinch yourself, they'll still be together," Harry stated, giving him a concerned look, yet there was a hint of bitterness in his voice.

"I just don't get it..." Ron sighed, looking after them. Most people had gotten used to the odd pairing within the past week or so, but most of the Gryffindors just thought it was disturbing. They could tell the Slytherins weren't so pleased that their blonde prince was going around with some half-blood Gryffindor girl either. Basically the whole school was gossiping about them. The pair was getting even more attention than Harry would get sometimes, which was a load off his shoulders. The people that still would talk and gossip about Harry, or the people that were just crazed fans, were now entangled into the whole Draco/Hermione story. Leaving Harry ignored.

"Ah, I'm actually starting to like this," Harry stated lazily one Wednesday night in the common room, putting his feet on top of the table in front of his chair.

"Easy for you to say..." Ron growled.

"Mate, look at it this way. I'm not getting unneeded attention that I hate, Hermione is happier than I've seen her in ages, and Malfoy isn't being a little evil snot anymore. I'd call that paradise for the time being," Harry said.

"What about my happiness and my feelings?" Ron objected. Harry gazed at him for a moment.

"You want Hermione to be happy, right?"

"Well, yeah, but-,"

"Okay, then let her live the life she want to live. In order for her to be happy, you might just have to suffer some pain. Then you just have to get over it," Harry said wisely. "Hell, I'm single, and I'm happy."

"That's only because you don't want to go through another weird-fest like you did with Cho," Ron snorted. Harry threw him a dirty look. "See?"

"Shut up," Harry snapped back. They stared at each other for a few seconds. "How much do you want her?"

"More than anything, you know that."

"Will you do anything to get her?"

"Yes."

"Then good luck with that," Harry said, looking away from Ron. Ron punched Harry on the shoulder.

"I'm being serious here!" He yelled, causing a few people to look their way.

"Okay, okay," Harry replied, keeping his voice low. He sat up straight, bringing his feet back to the ground. He then pointed to something on the notice bulletin board. Ron looked at him questioningly. "I have one word for you, Hogsmeade."

"Hogsmeade?" Ron repeated blankly. Harry smiled, nodded, and then pointed his thumb at Parvati, whom was petting someone's cat nearby. "Parvati?" Ron said dumbly. Harry waited for the gears to turn in Ron's head. But they were obviously taking a break today.

"There is a Hogsmeade trip this weekend. Take some girl on a "date", I bet you anything Malfoy and Hermione will be there. And if Hermione feels anything for you like that, it'll be obvious... she'll get jealous," He explained.

"But... Harry... who am I going to take?" Ron asked. Harry rolled his eyes.

"Parvati."

"What if she says no?"

"Trust me, she'll be thrilled... or she'll use it as a chance to make Seamus jealous and ask her out or something. Trust me, she'll do it. And she's smart enough to catch on, since she knows how much you like Hermione."

"Oh... you sure?"

"Positive. Just go ask her," Harry said impatiently, pushing Ron out of his chair. Ron swallowed and stood up. He walked over to where Parvati was currently seated and poked her gently on the shoulder.

"Er, Parvati? May I have a word with you?" He asked nervously. Wait, why was he so nervous? Because he didn't know if it'd work. Besides, he felt like he was cheating on Hermione, even if they weren't going steady or anything.

Parvati turned around, a semi-surprised expression on her face. "Sure." She got up and he led her to a deserted corner. "What is it?" She asked.

"Well... as you probably know... this weekend is a Hogsmeade trip... would you wanna... er, go with me?" Ron stuttered, looking down at his rather large feet, ears once again burning. When he peeked a look at her, he saw her flashing a look across the room at Seamus.

"Sure!" She said brightly. "See you then!" She touched his hand quickly and then raced off to where she had been sitting. Ron sighed with relief. He looked back at Harry and gave him a thumbs up. Harry just grinned and mouthed, "Perfect."

Thursday went by fast enough, but Friday was just about unbearable. Ron found himself wriggling in his chair in just about every lesson. It made it even worse when Parvati and Lavender would pass by him in between lessons, giggling like mad.

"Blimey, I'm glad Hermione doesn't do that whole giggle thing. It'd drive me straight to an asylum," Ron complained to Harry on their way to their next class. Which happened to be Potions. "At least I got my essay for Snape done. Pretty decent, actually, should scrape up a good grade."

"I'm so proud of you," Harry replied, turning a corner to the dungeons.

"Enough with the sarcasm. And cut me a little slack. I have to go on a date tomorrow just to get Hermione."

"Well, hate to disappoint you, but you'll be going on a lot more dates if you do get Hermione." Ron glared at him.

"You know what I mean!"

"Actually, I'm beginning to think I don't anymore," Harry replied. "Besides, I'm not exactly in the best mood. We have Potions. For out last class. On a Friday. Longest Class EVER! And he always keeps us after the bell."

"Shut up, or you'll get me thinking about it," Ron said, then he spotted Malfoy and Hermione walking into the Potions classroom together. "To late..." He muttered miserably.

The two slipped into a desk at the back. Ron scanned the room and saw that Hermione and Malfoy had sat in the very front. They were the only people that were sitting with people from the other house. But it didn't seem like they took much notice of people staring at them.

The classroom door slammed open, making just about everyone jump in their seats. Snape stormed down the middle aisle and spun around when he reached the front of the room. He seemed to be in a worse mood than normal. The room suddenly fell deadly silent at Snape's appearance. His cold black eyes flickered around the room, they landed on Hermione and Malfoy and lingered. The sight made him wrinkle his nose and he turned to his desk. He took attendance quickly, not looking up at anyone as they said they were present.

"Today..." He began stiffly, "We will be brewing the Animala Potion... can anyone tell me what this mixture's effects are?" Two hands quickly shot into the air, Hermione's and Malfoy's. Everyone else gave each other puzzled looks. Once Malfoy saw that Hermione's hand was up, he quickly let his drop back to his side. Snape wasn't expecting this. "Malf-... no one? No one knows?" He looked around, that same twisted sneer playing at his lips. Malfoy cleared his throat.

"I believe Hermione knows, Professor," He spoke out. Snape looked down at him with distaste, but sniffed and looked down at Hermione grudgingly instead.

"Granger, what is the effects of the Animala Potion?" He spat out through clenched teeth.

"The Animala Potion is known for being the temporary, unauthorized form of being an Animangus. It can change you into any animal you wish, as long as you have a piece of DNA from that certain animal. And all you need to obtain that DNA is a piece of it's hair. The effect only lasts for a maximum of three hours. It is similar to the Polyjuice Potion, only this is made especially for animal transformations," Hermione said quickly, as if she was reading out of a textbook someone had just laid in front of her. Malfoy gave her what appeared to be a proud look. Snape just looked away.

"Precisely," Snape said, and walked over to the black board. With a wave of his wand, instructions appeared on the board. "This is a complicated spell, so, please... pay attention to what you're doing." The way he said it didn't seem like a warning, more like an order or a threat. "You will be provided with animal hairs as soon as you need them. This potion will take three class periods to make, and if you read the instructions, you will understand why. So, once you get done with today's portion, I expect you to work on the assignment I am assigning... which is also on the board. Questions? Get to work." He then swept over to his desk, watching them work like a hawk.

"He doesn't seem to be in the mood to talk today, does he?" Ron said through the corner of his mouth as he took out his supplies.

"Guess not... but I think that's an improvement," Harry replied quietly.

"True."