"An unbreakable vow, are you sure?" Hermione had been a little disappointed when Harry dragged her out of Slughorn's party, but she quickly forgave him after hearing what he'd overheard.

"That's what I heard. Malfoy said he was 'chosen' for something. What do you think that means?"

"I don't know, Harry," she whispered, crossing her arms as they walked back to the common room. It was late, almost past curfew. Most of the students would have been in bed. "But an unbreakable vow is… we need to tell Ron. Maybe Arthur will know something about it. I'd trust him with something like that, especially since the Order may want to know, too."

"I'll tell them over break. Are you coming to the Burrow for Christmas?"

"No, my parents and I are going to visit family."

Harry nodded, uttering the password to the Fat Lady and letting Hermione enter first. "I'll put in a good word for you, too," he smirked.

Hermione blushed softly. "Well, I saw you and Ginny were having a good time. I just… kept seeing Cormac giving me these weird looks, and I just-"

"I get it. It's okay. You were my date, Hermione, so there's no reason we wouldn't be able to dance together. I'm sorry we didn't get to. You do look beautiful, by the way. Anyone who went with you would have been lucky."

"Harry, stop it," she begged through a grin, her cheeks reddening further.

"Ron will come around, you know. I think he's just… enjoying the attention from Lavender. It's not what he wants, really. It won't last."

Hermione just rolled her eyes playfully, but offered Harry a coy smile. "Goodnight, Harry. See you in the morning," she said before disappearing up the stairs.

Harry watched her leave before sliding his outermost robe off and heading to his own bed.

"Had fun, did you?" Ron was still up, evidently.

"Yeah, I did, actually. I need to tell you something, though." He glanced around the room. "But not tonight. It's about Snape."

Ron raised an eyebrow, sitting up a little more. "Snape? What happened?" he asked with a renewed interest as Harry began to change out of his robes and get ready for bed.

"He, uh… did something that may be important to our… efforts. Like I said, I'll tell you later. On the train, where we can have some privacy."

"Right. So, um… how was Hermione? Did she have a good time?"

Harry waited a beat before answering. On one hand, he wanted to tell Ron how beautiful she looked and that he'd missed out, but he didn't want Ron to get the wrong idea. Or did he? It would get too complicated. They'd passed their month cutoff, but with neither side showing any sway, they'd decided to drag it out for a little longer in fear of embarrassing themselves if they admitted feelings too early.

"Yeah, she did. Though," he chuckled, "she ran into Cormac and he didn't believe she'd come with me. It was quite entertaining watching him get shot down, honestly."

Even Ron cracked a smile. "I'm sure. I'm sorry I was such a git to her about it, though. I didn't really want to go, but still. I feel like I keep messing up."

"Maybe you should tell her, then," Harry answered with a shrug as he slid under the covers. "She's all right. I mean, if you feel bad, she'd appreciate an apology, but she's not upset."

"Of course she's not. She got to go with you."

Harry frowned. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"Well, you heard her say there were loads of girls wanting to ask you and she's the one who got to go with you. So of course she's not upset I didn't want to go."

"It's not like that, Ron," Harry promised. "We just went as friends."

"And she knows that?"

"Of course she knows that."

There was a slight pause. "Okay."

Harry didn't know what to think anymore. He didn't understand why Ron was so reluctant to just tell Hermione that he liked her. Maybe he didn't think she felt the same way and he didn't want to look like an idiot. But they'd been friends for this long - Harry didn't think she'd see Ron any differently or decide to stop being his friend because of a crush. Of course, he knew how she felt. But Ron needed to figure it out for himself. Otherwise, he didn't deserve her. Now that he thought about it, few people did.

Hermione hadn't written either Harry or Ron over the break, not that they'd expected her to, so she was a flurry of chatter as soon as she caught their eye in Platform 9 ¾ , hugging them each tightly. "I hope you both had a happy Christmas. I wish I could have been there, but we had a lot of fun, too. It was… actually really nice to just be… normal for a little while. Take a break from it all." She gave them a small, sad smile as she sat down next to Harry in their car, with Ron closing the door behind them. "So what did you find out?"

"Dad's going to see what he can find out about the unbreakable vow," Ron answered. "He doesn't know much more than we do about the effectiveness or… rules or anything surrounding them, but it's definitely something the Order needs to know."

"Lupin thinks Snape's trying to figure out Malfoy's plan, though," Harry interjected. "He doesn't think Snape's working for Voldemort. At least… not just him."

"You mean he's double-crossing?"

"Yes. But… I don't believe that. At least, not for good reason. If Snape's working for anyone, it's himself. When he and Malfoy were talking, whatever Malfoy was chosen for, Snape has to do if Malfoy can't. Maybe that was the vow: that Snape would take over."

For a few seconds, the only sound in the carriage was the soft, rhythmic thumping of the track underneath them.

"I don't think we should trust him," Hermione concluded, "obviously. But… Lupin's known Snape for a lot longer than we have, Harry. I don't think we should ignore his input."

Harry scoffed, turning to her. "But Hermione, Snape's been terrible to us for years. I don't trust him. He's not a good man."

"I never said he was. I'm just saying I don't think he's black and white. You said it yourself: Dumbledore trusts Snape with his life. And we trust Dumbledore. He trusts you. I don't think he'd misread any of this, Harry."

Harry leaned his head against the back of the seat. "I know, but Dumbledore's been wrong before. Something just seems off and I can't put my finger on it. But I can't just ask Dumbledore about it. He'd probably just shrug it off. He wouldn't believe me. And especially after the attack on Christmas, I just… feel like we're running out of time."

Hermione's hand found its way to Harry's, squeezing it gently before pulling it back.

"I think Hermione's right," Ron chimed in, which earned him a grin. "I don't think Snape's working entirely for You-Know-Who. He's in the Order, remember?"

"He used to be a Death Eater, though. Even if he says he's not anymore and that he's loyal, I just… don't know if anyone can trust him."

"Maybe that's what makes him such a good spy."

"What else did they say?" Hermione asked.

"If Dumbledore's traveling, it's news to the Ministry. But what about this? Arthur said that night at Borgin and Burke's, Malfoy was looking at a vanishing cabinet."

"What would Draco want with a vanishing cabinet?"

"I dunno. You tell me."

Hermione frowned. "He's looking different these days. Have you noticed? Almost ill."

"I feel like he looks about the same, to be honest. He's always looked like he's up to something."

The rest of the ride to Hogwarts was either spent in silence or Hermione telling the boys about her trip.

"My little cousin Simon was having a birthday and he's decided that he's really into magic," she chuckled. "It was so hard to watch him struggle with his little kit he got trying to make cotton balls disappear into cups."

"Do you think he's a wizard?" Harry asked.

"I don't know, honestly. It didn't seem like it, though, because he wasn't very good." Hermione grinned. "I guess we'll see in a few years. It would be nice, though, having a wizard in the family."

"At least he'd have you to look up to."

Hermione blushed a little, and Ron cleared his throat. "Sometimes I forget that most of your family is Muggles, Hermione," he started. "Since you fit in so well."

"I've barely spent any time around Muggles in the past six years. It's actually more natural to be with you two than with my own parents sometimes."

"Well, that's great for us, then, isn't it? Considering."

Hermione's eyes flicked to Harry before moving back to Ron. "Yeah, I guess it is."

They'd barely gotten off the train before Lavender attached herself to Ron's side, and even though he pretended to be excited to see her, Harry caught a pleading look thrown his way, but it was a little too late. As soon as he was out of earshot, Harry couldn't help but laugh. "Are you sure we're wanting to draw this out, Hermione?"

"Hmm?" She looked back at him, having pretended to be suddenly very interested in something in a tree.

"You really think he's enjoying that?"

"He's not stopping it. But… let's just… stick with the plan, okay? I mean, you were with Ginny the whole time. Did she… you know… seem like she's picking things up? I meant to talk to her more at the party, but I was pulled away suddenly," she teased.

"Yes? No?" Harry answered. "I'm not even sure she knows what she wants, it seems. Like there was a moment where we were sitting on the couch and she fed me? And she tied my shoe once. But then… nothing the rest of the time I was there. It was like nothing happened."

Hermione fought a laugh, but furrowed her brow. "That is strange, even for Ginny. I mean, she's still technically with Dean, right? So she can't really make a move."

"But why? They don't enjoy being together. She told me she wasn't excited to see him, so why doesn't she just break up with him?"

"That's the question, isn't it?" Hermione sighed. "Honestly, I don't even know why we're bothering with relationships at all, Harry. It doesn't seem like the people we fancy are of any sensible mind to make the right decision, you know?" She laughed, throwing an arm around his shoulders as they neared the castle.

"I suppose not. At least we both know the right answer," he smirked.

"And that's why you're my best friend."

In the coming days, Hermione found herself making a conscious effort to either plan ahead with Harry so they'd be in the common room near each other in order to sneak glances occasionally or settle down on the couch together closer than they normally would. When he noticed Ron coming, he'd utter a quick, "Hermione, look at this," and rest a hand on her knee to show her something. It surprised Hermione every time just because she wasn't used to being touched so much, but she couldn't help but smile and pretend to be interested, even laughing most of the time because he'd have pointed to a strange picture or a blank spot on the page. One time, he'd even made a little stick figure drawing of them in the border of his notes to switch things up a bit. But even though Ron hadn't said anything to Harry and Ginny hadn't said much to Hermione about it, their newfound closeness hadn't gone unnoticed.

"Okay, what's going on between you and Harry?" Parvati sat down at the table across from her one evening during Quidditch practice, where she knew Harry, Ron, and Ginny would be away for a while.

Hermione barely even looked up at her. "I don't know what you're talking about."

"Rubbish, Granger. I see that smile."

Had she been smiling?

She finally took a deep breath and looked up at her. "It's… complicated." If everyone knew about their plan, it would be pointless.

"Because you don't want to mess up your friendship?"

"No, nothing like that."

"Well, if you're waiting for him to take the lead, it's probably not going to happen. I'm sure you know his track record with dates."

Hermione couldn't help but giggle. "That's mean."

"But it's true! Right? I had to force him to dance with me, then don't even get me started on Cho's side of the story from last year. And now… look, I'm not saying he's not boyfriend material. It just seems like he may need a little help."

Hermione's face turned the color of the couch. She couldn't believe she was actually having this conversation. "I think he just gets nervous, you know? Not that he had the best example at home, but look at us. I think he gets in over his head when it comes to who he likes. That's the bigger problem."

"But you're right in his league?"

"I… I'd like to think so. I mean, if not a little out of it," she smirked. She'd never really thought of analyzing Harry's past "relationship" fails, but Parvati was right - he had horrible credentials. Not that she was any better, but Harry had a few more failures than her. He also had more attempts.

Parvati laughed. "You're right. That's the way to think of it. Not that it's any of my business, but I think you'd be good for him."

Hermione cocked her head. "What do you mean?"

"Well, you've always been close, and I think… with everything going on, I'd think if he was going to be with anyone, it would be someone he trusts completely, you know? Someone who would stay with him until the end, and I know you would, whatever it took."

Hermione's heart suddenly felt heavy. The end. She didn't even want to think about what that would mean for them. They had no idea how close either side was to an all-out war, but with everything Harry had overheard and Snape doing whatever it was that he'd planned, it wasn't entirely out of speculation that a war wasn't too far away. It was almost a matter of when at this point, not if.

She pushed a strand of hair out of her face. "Thank you, Parvati. That means a lot."

Parvati reached over the table and placed a comforting hand over Hermione's. "Plus, you're bloody brilliant, Hermione. He'd be lucky to have someone like you by his side through… whatever's coming."

"I don't think not being by his side would even be an option."