-1Hermione could scarcely believe her eyes.
"Harry likes me?" she wondered.
It couldn't be; but where had that dreadful Skeeter woman gotten that idea? She read the article again:

HARRY POTTER'S
SECRET HEARTTHROB
The indomitable Harry
Potter has once again surprised
Readers nationwide by revealing
The identity of the one true love
Of his life; in an interview with
The lovely Rita Skeeter,
Mr Potter spoke freely.
"I've always thought Hermione
Was beautiful." he said. "That
Gorgeous brown hair of hers
Is absolutely breathtaking. And
She's so smart! She's had my
Heart from day one. The first
Day I saw her on the train to
Hogwarts, I knew she was the
Girl for me."

Hermione was in awe. Of course Rita was lying, she had to be. Didn't she? Hermione shrugged it off.
"At least if she is lying, I can put her back in a jar for a while." Hermione thought with a smile, remembering fourth year and giggling to herself.

"What's so funny?"

Hermione jumped; Harry had materialized right next to her, and she hadn't even noticed. How long had he been there? She didn't know.

"Uh, uh, n-nothing. Just remembering something I heard in the girls' restroom earlier. See ya Harry." she stammered.

Harry was puzzled. He'd never seen her act so strange.

"She's probably just nervous about exams." he thought. All of a sudden, he noticed a piece of paper lying on the floor. When he picked it up, he was shocked by what he read. "Oh no." he thought.

He wanted to go find Hermione and explain things to her, but he knew that she was probably in Ancient Runes by now. So, instead of chasing after her, he decided to go for a walk out on the grounds. He trudged through the freshly fallen snow, and felt the gentle brush of each snowflake against his face. He didn't know what to tell her.

"If I tell her it's not true, I'd be a liar. Just about every word is true. I just never told any of it to Rita Skeeter."

When lunch was over, Harry returned to the castle and made his way to the dungeons for potions. He remembered all to well the terrible class times he'd spent down here with Severus Snape, and it took everything in his power to keep from blowing something up. He would never forgive Severus Snape for what he'd done to Professor Dumbledore. Every time he looked out a window and caught sight of the white tomb, he vowed that he would get revenge.

When he entered the room, there she was, standing next to her cauldron, waiting for him, looking stunning as usual. But to his utter horror, Ron was standing right next to her. Ron and Hermione had experienced a falling out the previous summer. They had once been very much in love, but Hermione had grown tired of Ron's childish demeanor, and Ron had grown tired of Hermione's perfectionism.

Harry walked quietly to his cauldron, and tried the best he could to keep his eyes off of her. He swore to himself that he would not say anything to her in front of Ron. Falling out or not, Hermione had still been Ron's girl first, and he refused to hurt his best friend. As Slughorn pranced around up front giving out instructions, Harry observed Hermione out of the corner of his eye. He was shocked to discover that she was doing the same thing. When both had realized that they were being watched, their eyes shifted immediately back to their cauldrons. They spent the rest of the class in utter silence, and not even Ron said a word.

When the class was over, Harry hurriedly shoved his things in his bag and rushed out of the room. When he got to the entrance hall, he stopped next to the grand staircase and waited. When Hermione emerged from the dungeons, he stopped her.

"Hermione, I need to talk to you." he said.

Hermione flushed. "I-I can't talk now Harry, I have a class to get to."

"Hermione," Harry replied, "I read the article Rita wrote. Please let me explain."

If possible, Hermione's face grew even redder.

"It's ok Harry, you don't have to, I understand." Hermione interjected. "I know none of it's true. Rita's just a big fat liar. I promise I'll find her and punish her for it." she kept her head low and turned to climb the stairs. Before her foot even touched the third step, Harry's voice stopped her.

"You're wrong, Hermione." he said.

She froze in place. Very slowly, Hermione turned and looked Harry square in the eye

"What?" she whispered.

"Hermione," Harry paused, "I love you."