A/N: Yay! I'm so proud of myself as I actually finished & posted up a chappie quicker than I had planned to! Actually I shouldn't even be worrying about this story right now & at this very moment just be studying my arse off for my exams tomorrow & Tuesday, but since I love writing a lot more than I do school…lol. Oh well, cramming's good for the brain every now & then:) Also a big thank you to my reviewers! LLL huggles

Ron and Hermione were already in the Great Hall by the time Harry arrived, their breakfasts in front of them and as usual, a book in Hermione's hands. Harry could see that Ron kept glancing over her book every now and then, but he doubted Ron was interested in what page number she was on. By this time it was completely obvious Ron and Hermione had feelings for each other, and FINALLY after all those years, they were beginning to realize it, too. Whenever they would catch each other's eye (which had been quite often lately), the redhead would flash a secretive grin, while the bushy-haired bookworm (as Harry had known his female companion for the past six years) would giggle and blush. Though Hermione was still as intelligent as ever, she was definitely not the little know-it-all kid she used to be. Now she was the know-it-all in a woman's body. And a rather beautiful one at that, not that Harry ever actually looked or anything, but he couldn't blame Ron for his feelings. Yet sometimes he couldn't help but feel a twinge of jealousy. Sure it was that one time Harry had had that fantasy about Ron, but he never actually FELT real love for him. It was curiosity more than anything.

"Hey guys," Harry greeted, taking a seat next to Ron.

Hermione peaked her head out from her book.

"'Morning, Harry. You sure slept for a while."

"Uh--yeah, I was dreaming," Harry said simply, not wanting to go into detail. Of course Ron smirked.

"Really? About what?" he asked with a wink.

Harry rolled his eyes as he spread marmalade over his toast.

"Nothing you'd be particularly interested in, Ronald."

Truthfully of coarse, he knew he would be interested, but not without Ron thinking his best friend had finally lost it, too. A dream where he was being sexual with Draco Malfoy, the patronizing blonde Slytherin who had given them hell for all those years, the one who was now on the run with a certain greasy-haired hook-nosed git who they had also come to loathe ever since their first encounter. Harry had gone from hating the blonde where he wouldn't mind dealing with him the old-fashioned Muggle way by shooting his overlarge brain out, to having thoughts about doing very naughty things to the young Slytherin Prince--and Harry actually liked it.

Then he heard Hermione mutter more to herself somewhere along the lines of, "What the hell is up with that girl?"

He looked over at her to see where she was gesturing to. "Who?" he inquired curiously.

She pointed to Gryffindor girl sitting on the other end of the table.

"Isn't she the new girl who was sorted in the beginning of the year? She's like--American or something?"

Hermione nodded, her eyes still watching her strange fellow house member. The girl had long black hair, along with pale skin that contrasted greatly, though Harry never caught what color her eyes were. Not that he had paid any mind to her, anyways. In fact, he never really saw anyone talk to her. She'd simply sit there looking indifferent and only did what she had to do. It was like she didn't even want to be there in the first place, like she had only been forced to go, but she wasn't going to give up so easily. Harry was pretty sure she was in her sixth year. He could see why Hermione didn't think much of her; she never was one for people who were just, in laments terms, very different. She had even had a difficult time accepting Loony (OR Luna) Lovegood at first, so obviously this girl wasn't exactly Hermione's type. Especially someone who looked like they were the living dead and acted like it, too, or to use Muggle terminology, Goths (a/n: No I'm not putting down Goths, this is just what Hermione thinks. I don't have a problem with people choosing to be who they want to be).

Pretty soon, Hermione's focus was back on her book. Ron rolled his eyes.

"Christ, Hermione, couldn't you put that book down for one moment and just focus on eating or something that doesn't require much thinking?"

Once again she looked up from her book, looking irritated,

"Ron, I'm only reading for fun, so I don't really have to do much thinking to do it."

Then his annoyed expression was replaced by a rather falselysad look, with his blue eyes staring up at her innocently and his lip pouted.

"But 'Mione, I can't see that beautiful face if you keep hiding behind your book."

She tried looking annoyed as she scowled at him, but she couldn't keep a hint of a smile from playing across her lips. Harry sighed and suddenly felt like heading off to the bathroom for a bit, leaving the two lovesick teenagers to themselves. He thought he would throw up what little he had for breakfast if they started getting mushy with each other right in front of him.

"Er--guys, I'll be right back. I just have to go the bathroom."

Glad to be out of there, he exited the Great Hall and walked down the hall absentmindedly, not giving much thought to where he was going. Suddenly, he collided roughly with someone and fell onto the floor, hearing the other person do the same. He could tell she was female from her high gasp, which made Harry feel even worse as he didn't like hurting girls.

"Oh my God, I'm so sorry," Harry gasped, quickly jumping to his feet and offering his hand to the girl.

Strands of raven hair were in her face, and Harry instantly recognized her as the girl Hermione had been annoyed with moments before. She swung her head a little to get the stray wisps of hair out of her eyes so she could see who had caused her to be on the ground in the first place. Harry couldn't help but let out a tiny gasp when she looked up at him. He had never seen her up close before, only sitting down at the other end of the Gryffindor table or sometimes in the halls, but her back was usually turned to him. Her face was the same creamy color as the rest of her body, and her lips were the color of a freshly-ripe cherry, but it was her eyes that caught his attention. They were large pools of crystal blue, while her eyelids were adorned with long dark eyelashes. He didn't think he had ever seen a girl who was more beautiful.

She accepted Harry's hand as he helped her to her feet. He watched as she dusted off her robes, her face flustered. Her head came up to a little below Harry's shoulders and she had a slender body, along with some rather nice curves. Not wanting her to think he was checking her out or anything, his eyes quickly moved back to her face, into those light blue orbs.

"I'm so sorry," he repeated, trying to get his mind back to Earth again. "I really should've watched where I was going."

"No, I wasn't exactly paying much attention, either," she admitted. "My mind was sort of on other things."

She had an American accent, and her voice was quiet but quite pretty all the same.

"Don't worry about it. I just wanted to make sure I didn't hurt you."

Then he suddenly felt the urge to start a small conversation with her, just to get to know her a little better.

"Hey, aren't you the new girl from the United States, if I'm not mistaken?"

Something flickered in her eyes and her lips formed a small smile.

"Yeah, I'm Hayley Andrews. I lived in Pennsylvania before my mom decided to move here. Something about how she grew up here and it felt like something was missing by living all the way in the U.S. or something"

She let out a small sigh as if she really hadn't wanted to move.

Harry nodded to show he understood.

"Was the school you used to go to much different from Hogwarts?"

She shrugged. "Well, it wasn't a castle, and it wasn't exactly this big, either. The dorm room I used to stay in was prettyawesome, though. It was underwater, so all you could see through the windows was blue and fish swimming everywhere."

"That sounds cool," Harry agreed.

Then she suddenly froze and her eyes traveled to Harry's forehead. Of course by now he was used to this, but it still made him kind of uncomfortable.

"Hey, you're Harry Potter, aren't you?"

He nodded and grinned slightly, trying to act indifferent about being recognized so easily and having so many people knowing about his history even before he knew who he really was. To him, he was just some normal teenager, minus the fact that he didn't have a family and how knowing every time he woke up in the morning that anything could go wrong.

But the girl, or Hayley, didn't say anything. She just stared intently at him, suddenly looking uneasy. Sure he was famous and all, but it wasn't as if he was an all-powerful wizard or anything that could suddenly make her becomeintimidated.

"Are you okay?" he asked uncertainly, looking puzzled.

Finally it looked like she had snapped back to reality, though she still looked hesitant.

"Oh, yeah," she replied quickly, "It was just--I never thought I'd actually see you, especially like this--face to face. I mean, I'd hear about you and all, but--"

She stopped as if not knowing what else to say, and they just stared at each other awkwardly for a few more moments. Harry had the distinct feeling she was hiding something from him but he didn't want to press her any further, as they barely knew each other and it probably wasn't any of his damn business.

"Well, I better go now," Hayley said finally. "Classes will be starting soon, anyways. Nice to meet you, Harry," she added before hurrying off.

"You, too," he called after her.

He then realized he had forgotten why he was even in the hallway in the first place, when the thought of picturing Ron and Hermione snogging while he was trying to finish his breakfast promptly caused his memory to return again. Harry decided to return to the Great Hall as classes would be starting soon (and he also never really had to go to the bathroom, anyways). As he walked, Hayley was still on his mind and how he realized he wanted to get to know her, more than he ever had before.

'Nother Note: I'm not sure if I should name my chappies or not. I'm very lazy so I haven't so far, but, what do you guys think? Also reviews give me more motivation to keep writing, so keep 'em coming.lol