Hermione may have been the brightest witch ever to have graced the halls of Hogwarts but she had yet to realize that she was the object of affection of several boys, three of whom were brothers.

The boys all knew about their own feelings. They just didn't quite realize about each others. So did everyone else it seemed. Everyone except Hermione, apparently.

As she sat in the Great Hall she became aware that she was being watched. But the moment she looked around the heads that had been turned in her direction whipped away quickly.

Ginny sitting opposite looked on as, the moment she had focused her eyes on her thick book, fork dropping her bacon in her lap, a number of boys turned back to stare at her.

Ginny giggled quietly. She wasn't at all surprised they were staring at her. They had barely been back at school a week and already the male population of the school had noticed the change in the quiet bookworm who had recently bloomed into a fair rose.

Mind you, she mused, it was a rather radical change, for which she took most of the credit. You see, over the summer she had taken Hermione shopping and taught her how to apply makeup properly. But she had to admit that the one thing she hadn't instilled in her friend was that to carry off any outfit what you needed wasn't the perfect makeup, it was confidence. Bookworm Hermione didn't have much confidence. The Hermione that had emerged from her summer holiday had bundles of it.

Hermione was never ugly, she had always been pretty, but too shy to be really appealing. Now she exuded confidence and although she was still studying a thick book and eating in a rather absent-minded fashion, as she always did when she ate while reading, she was wearing makeup and smiling. Ginny also noticed that her shirt was unbuttoned fairly low, revealing a hint of a red bra.

She wore enough makeup for it to be noticeable and to highlight her pretty features, but not so much as to make her look trashy. Her hair had long since lost its bushy quality and now hung in loose curls with half of it tied up loosely and a few strands hanging by her face. She had grown a few inches over the summer and held herself differently as she moved. She was more graceful and didn't look like the cares of the world rested on her shoulders.

Ginny also thought she could detect a whiff of perfume. Leaning forward under the pretence of examining the bacon dish she smelt a sweet scent that hinted of lavender and fresh spring roses. She stopped herself before she too became completely enraptured…whoops…too late.

Ginny laughed as she saw Ron's elbow slip as he leant on it to stare at her. Harry seemed to be fighting the urge to look at her, without much success it has to be said; he kept sneaking glances at her before shaking his head and forcing his head back down to focus on his plate of rapidly cooling scrambled eggs. The twins, two seats down from him, were sporting equally awed expressions as they heaved a sigh at exactly the same time. Most surprisingly was that Oliver Wood was also glued to her. A few other students, mostly younger boys were also busy looking at her.

Ginny giggled again and then realized that she herself had just spent ten minutes staring at her too. Oh bugger.

The bell went for the start of lessons and Hermione was first out of her seat. As she walked down between the tables several people, girls included, leant out to stare at her.

Oh yes something had changed. She had changed and by the looks of things she had created a stirring in the hearts (and other places) of the youth in Hogwarts.

Good for her, Ginny thought, it's about time they took some notice of her.

Hermione didn't seem to have noticed how gentlemanly the boys had become. She had undertaken to tutor Ron for his exams, mostly out of pity for him…but also because she couldn't take his begging any longer.

Ginny happened to be in the library during one of these sessions and what she saw amused her excessively.

When she came in, he had set out the things they would need and he pulled out her chair for her and pushed it back when she sat down.

Ginny wasn't the only one spying on them. Not that she meant to spy on them but she felt compelled to keep an eye on her brother in case he did anything stupid. Well, you never know when you might need to blackmail one of your stupid brothers.

"Where's Harry today then?" Hermione asked, studying her book.

"They're having an extra practice for their game against Ravenclaw on Saturday."

Oh really? Ginny thought as she caught sight of a red head behind a shelf, and then another identical one behind the next along. Then she noticed Oliver Wood also peering from behind a bookcase.

The shelf next to her wobbled and a book almost fell off. Ginny moved to grab it and would have done if Harry hadn't caught it first. She shot him a quizzical look before suppressing a giggle. It came out in little snorts and she did do her best to stifle it.

Harry glared at her before motioning her to be quiet or else. She took his arm and led him to the furthest corner of the library from Hermione and Ron.

"So, what's this all about?"

"What do you mean?" he shot her a very confused look.

In answer she pointed to where the other boys were hiding. He looked a bit angry at first, presumably because he realized just how much competition he would have to contend with, then his face also broke into a grin when he realized just how ridiculous the whole situation was…especially when he saw the twins bumping into the shelves as they tried to move closer to get a better view.

And then they noticed each other and their eyes went around the room taking note of the other boys who were in the library occupying the same occupation they were, i.e. spying on Hermione. Then all of the boys seemed to see everyone else and a few amused grins shot around between them.

One of them chuckled and Hermione's head whipped up. At once the heads disappeared and there was no evidence of them being there except the rattle of the bookshelves.

Hermione shrugged and turned to Ron, who was slumped over the table with his shoulders shaking. You see, his eyes had been a bit quicker than hers and he had seen the whole thing. His eyes met Harry's for a moment and he smirked and winked at him, before pulling a face at him making poor Harry try to suppress the laughter that was threatening to blow his cover. Ginny saw his efforts and clamped her hand over his mouth so that no sound could escape.

His response was to bite her hand.

Making her slap him round the face rather hard.

A collective gasp ran round the library as the boys knew what had happened, or at least they guessed it.

If you looked around at their faces you would see identical winces.

Hermione also heard it but she shrugged it off and flipped her hair over her shoulder before attempting to get Ron to concentrate again.

Unfortunately he was too mesmerized by her hair flipping to be able to concentrate on the work at hand so she gave up and ordered him to pack up their things before she walked out of the library. Ginny thought that she must have gone to charm school over the holidays because she walked like a model on the catwalk. Ginny had to laugh when she saw all the heads pop out and stare at her behind as it wiggled out of the dusty library.

What fun she would have with these boys now that she knew she could manipulate them! Ginny decided that if she could make the most of this then she could keep herself amused.

Ron noticed her and noticed the look in his sister's eye. Oh dear lord! They were all in trouble now!