They were near the cold lake, Hermione on a tree stump, Harry leaning against another tree. Hermione had been fairly quiet after the Hogsmeade walk. They both listened to the silence. Hermione; consumed by her thoughts and emotions of hurt, Harry; consumed by his mounting guilt. He loved her, but it felt hard to lie to her, after all, he knew about things Draco and Hermione didn't know. Regret was beginning to give him a headache. He wished he could tell her, but it would only make matters worse.

" Harry? " Hermione finally said.

" Hmm?" Harry said seeing Hermione stand up and approach him.

" Am I beautiful? " she asked.

Harry was silent as he stared at her. What should he tell her? Hell, yeah, you are! No…too eager…well of course? Too…biased…? You always are…Nah, you make it sound like she's a child!

Harry nodded. " Of course. "

Hermione looked down at her Mary Janes, and looked back into his eyes again. " Then…will you kiss me? "

" Excuse me? " Harry's eyes widened. Was it luck? He couldn't believe it! Here he was, pining for one girl he thought would never notice him…and now she was asking him to kiss her!

Hermione looked at him, with pain in her hazel colored eyes. And Harry felt the urge to kiss her even more, but…something was holding him back.

" You're- your heart belongs to Draco, " he finally said. How stupid! I am so stupid! What the feck's wrong with me! I passed on that! I'm going to kill myself later-

" I see, " she finally said. " Does it, really? "

Harry reached out for her shoulder. " Please understand Hermione…" he took a deep breath. " I would love to kiss you and all, seeing that you're my- " he stopped. How would he say it?

" Hermione, I've been- " he stopped again.

She blinked. " What? "

" Nothing, " he said in a defeated voice. " I won't pretend I wasn't upset…" he chose his words carefully. " Hearing about you and Draco…proved quite a shock, it's best to keep this from Ron for now…he might go after Draco and personally set his arse on fire- "

" I'm sorry, " Hermione said truthfully. " I know how angry you've been the past few days- did you know then? "

He shook his head. He didn't. Pansy told him everything. At least that wasn't a lie. " No, I didn't. Would you have told me? "

" Maybe…" she said in a small voice. " You are my best friend after all. "

Harry felt like he had been hit with a boulder to the chest. Best friend…best friend…that was it! Best friend, nothing more. At that moment, he decided not to tell her anymore. He would be a martyr. A bloody saint!

" Hermione, " he began. " Do you- do you love him? "

Hermione looked at the lake for awhile, as if taking her minutes to understand his question. Then she nodded. " I didn't think I would- " she said. " But I did. I have. "

" Then you were happy with him? "

She nodded. " Yes. "

" Would it have been different if I- " he stopped and laughed. " This is amazing, you know. A link between two houses, enemy houses at that- "

He was hurting himself. Stupid. Stupid.

" I suppose you find it romantic? Much like Romeo and Juliet? "

" No, not really- maybe. Ha, I don't know, " Harry said lamely.

" Will you tell Ron? "

" Not anytime soon. There'll be blood on the walls- it's too early. " And Harry wished that what he had felt for Hermione would just disappear in a flash, so that he wouldn't hurt, agonize over the fact that Hermione would never look at him the same way he did to her.

" You should have seen it- " she began tiredly, finally mentioning the scene. " They were locked to each other- " her voice cracked.

" Stop, " Harry said. " You're only going to hurt yourself more- "

Hermione's hands trembled, and she felt a fresh wave of pain engulf her. " Harry…do you honestly think he loved me? "

Harry blinked. How he wanted to be unfair! Tell her Draco Malfoy just played around with her! He shrugged. " I don't know- " he began. " I haven't really seen his 'true' behavior around you…"

" But do you think? " she pressed on.

Harry sighed. He had never heard Hermione insecure before. Damned Malfoy git! He sighed again. " Why shouldn't he? " he finally said. " You're Hermione…"

Hermione smiled sadly.

Harry summoned up his courage. This was it. " Hermione- it's going to be hard…but I need to tell you something- "

Hermione looked up at him. " What? "

" Hermione- " he took a deep breath. Then his anxious look turned angry. Hermione spun around.

Draco.

" Ah, Potter, " he said acidly.

Harry didn't say anything.

Hermione stepped away from Draco, and held Harry's arm, out of an involuntary action for safety and assurance.

" Stay away, " Harry warned, looking at Hermione's eyes. " I know everything. "

" You do? " Draco mocked. " Entertain me, Potter. Or did Pansy twist you up too? "

" You son of a – " Harry began, taking a step forward.

" Oh, I'm bloody scared to my arsehole, " Draco said. His eyes looked softer as he turned to Hermione. " Hermione- please- it was Pansy- she sat the whole thing up- perhaps even Potter joined in the fun- "

Harry's eyes widened. " Excuse me? Cavort with a Slytherin? I'm not surprised to see Hermione cry, as usual, because of you and your wicked; self-absorbed- "

" Suck it in, Potty. You're just bloody jealous- "

" Jealous of what! " Harry shot back.

" Of me and Hermione- " he said each word heavily.

Hermione's eyes glared at Draco's, despite it brimming with tears. He was using that now! Of all the low-lives in the world to use that!

" Why should I be? " Harry could feel his heart pounding, his ears burning, his palms sweating. He felt Hermione's hand let go of his arm.

" Because you're bloody in love with her, " he sneered.

Harry gave a dry laugh. " Right… another one of your silly tactics to blind Hermione even more with your audacity and over inflated ego? "

Draco was silent as he walked for Hermione. " Please, believe me, I didn't know that Pansy was going to be there- "

" I don't- I think I'm getting a bad headache, " she murmured, stepping away from both of them.

" Stay away- "

" Hermione, " Draco said.

" She said stay away! " Harry bellowed.

" And what does that make you? Her lover! " Draco spat out. " He's been talking to Pansy- I know it! How else could he have known that you'd be there at Hogsmeade? They planned this to destroy us! "

" Us? " Harry began. He rolled his eyes and stepped forward. " You've broken her heart already, you don't need to break it again! "

" Best fucking friend to the rescue! " Draco snapped.

" Stop it! " Hermione said. " Don't you dare say that about Harry- "

" You're sticking up for him! " Draco asked angrily now. " Perhaps it's because you've been bloody friends for six years- but I loved you! Until now! Don't get carried away by all of this bullshit! "

" Both of you! " Hermione yelled. " Both of you are bullshit! "

Harry started for her. " Hermione, wait- Draco's been- "

" Stay away! Both of you! I don't know who to believe! " she cried. " Stay away! "

And Hermione ran at breakneck speed, leaving both of them standing, dumbfounded.

A/N: it's the battle of two of Hogwart's cutest erm- guys! hahaha! well? Review! Come on now! don't be shy! Almost there, almost done! suggestions? comments?