Muggle World

Chapter Five:

Have To Move On

For two days Hermione had gone nowhere. She'd go to bed extra early—only to wake up extra late. And when she did, she'd just lye there, remembering the escape…the goodbye. Emily had called numerous times, only for Hermione to turn down the invitation by saying, truthfully, that she wasn't up to it.

Emily had sighed the third time she called trying to convince her. "It's Drake, isn't it?" Hermione didn't answer; just bit her bottom lip hard and stared at the refrigerator from where she sat at the kitchen's bar table, phone pressed tightly to her ear. "So it is, huh. What did he do, Herm? C'mon, please just tell me! Oh, did he turn you down? 'Cause girl, if he did I'll send my boy out to kill him for flirting so much—"

"No, no, Em," Hermione had said warily, fiddling with a strand of hair. "It's nothing he did. His father just came back and they had to leave… And I'm just kinda—"

"Kind of depressed," her friend finished. "I'm sorry to hear that, 'Mione. I really am." A pause. "But wont you be able to see him again at school this year? I mean, back in America?"

"But that's just it!" Hermione had cried. "We're not suppose to get along—my best friend is his mortal enemy!"

"Huh? His what? Who?"

Frustrated, she huffed loudly. "It's a long story, Emily; and I'm not in the mood to explain. Maybe we can hang out tomorrow, okay? Byes." She hung up the line quickly before the gossiping girl could protest once more.

And now she lay awake in her bed, watching her alarm clock with dreary eyes; the neon red lights glared 10:47 A.M. Knowing she had better feed her growling stomach, Hermione staggered out of bed, not minding to make it like usual, and walked downstairs to the kitchen still in her PJs. She took out all the necessities needed for a bowl of cereal, then trudged lazily over to the table where a note lay in the spot she all ways sat at. Courious, Hermione picked up the note with her mother's scribbling on it:

Dear Hermione,

I'm afraid I'll have to stay late at work tonight; we've got a rough case here at the office and the boss asked that I stay a little late. Sorry! Hopefully I will be home by 8 o'clock at the latest. Dad wont be home until late as well. Like you know, he's got a bowling game.

If you go anywhere, please leave a note with whom and where.

Be safe and careful.

Love,

Mom

Hermione nodded, placing the leaflet back on the table and proceeded to make her late breakfast. She finished it up by gulping down the Cheerio-flavored milk with a loud smack. The Gryffindor, not knowing what to do, changed into some shorts and a plain white tank top before going back downstairs again and heading into the backyard.

Feeling like crap like yesterday, the teen-aged girl limped slowly to the middle of her yard, passing their small family garden and the baby Dog Wood tree her mother had planted just that spring. When she reached the middle of the freshly mowed lawn, Hermione stared blankly ahead at the old, graying wood of their fence before dropping to her knees. She then carelessly fell flat on her stomach, right cheek pressed against the ground. The lush, cool grass felt good against her tense skin along with the hot summer sun beating against her back, making her relax somewhat.

'What have I gotten into?' she thought, eyes half lidded and looking out across the sea of green. 'What are these feelings? I'm…sad— and for Draco Malfoy, non of the lease!' Crossed emotions washed over her mind, causing Hermione to groan in confusion and stress. Why the heck was she thinking things like this!

After a while thoughts became blurry. Crockshanks, who'd been hanging around smacking jittery grasshoppers since early morning, trotted over to his distressed master and walked straight on her back. The cat's motorous purr vibrated all the way through Hermione's body and his extra weight pushed her further down; she found this as an act of love and comfort—two things she desperately needed right then. Some how cats always knew when their owners needed their care and support.

Without meaning to, the Gryffindor drifted into a soft slumber in her own backyard.

The feel of lost weight woke Hermione and her eyes slowly fluttered open to see she had actually accidentally fallen asleep in her backyard without realizing it. In the distance she heard the phone ringing inside and her cat playing to her left with who knows what—probably just a blade of grass. 'I've gotta get up,' the Gryffindor told herself, her body not wanting to obey. 'It's most likely Mom checking in; I don't want her thinking something went wrong and come back for no reason.' Before her body decided to ignore her will, Hermoine abruptly stood up.

Immediately she felt the blood rush to her head and the painful crook in the side of her neck she had recieved from the awkward position she had been in for who knows how long. Trying to ignore it, Hermione rushed back into the house and picked up to kitchen phone (the closest one available). "Hello?" she answered, her breathing a bit ragged.

"Hermione?" came Emily's reply. Hermione mentally kicked herself; she really didn't feel like talking to her right then. Curse. "Where have you been, girl? I've called two times now!"

The Gryffindor looked over at the oven clock and saw it shine 1:43. She groaned out loud. 'How did I manage that?' "You have? Oops. Sorry, Em, I guess I kinda fell asleep out side," Hermione chuckled. "So what do you want?"

"No problem," the muggle answered, "the girls and I were just wondering if you'd like to hang out with us today. I know you have it tough and all at the moment. But…maybe we could talk about it, ya know? Besides, you shouldn't be cooping yourself up like this—its not healthy."

"Emily, I've only been home for two days now," Hermione said, smiling slightly into the phone; it was good to know her friend cared about her well being. "I am not cooping myself up, don't worry. It's just that I need some time alone; everybody does every once and a while. But anyway, I'd need you to come pick me up for me to go anywhere. Where are you guys?"

"Just hanging around the mall strip," came the reply. "And I'm sure that we could come pick you up—Raymond understands your situation and is offering to help at any measures."

Hermione's jaw dropped. "Wait—you told everyone about this? Why! Em, I trusted you to keep it a secret!"

"You never said anything about it being a secret!" Emily cried back. "You never said I couldn't tell anyone!"

The Gryffindor frowned into the mouthpiece. She was right—she never did say anything along those lines… "Well, I was just hoping that you would think that." A muttered sorry came from the other end and Hermione sighed. "No problem—it wasn't your fault, but mine. I shouldn't be complaining."

"So you're not mad?" Emily asked in a weak voice. It was obvious she felt as though she had betrayed her.

"No," she lied. "Besides, they're my friends. They have every right to know, right?"

"Yeah, right!" Emily chirped gleefully. "Well, anyways, back to the topic. If we can give you a ride, you'll come and hang out with us all? Just another shopping day is all—but not as big as the first." They both giggled. "We're also going to the park to chill I think…"

Hermione thought about it for a moment, knowing that she really didn't want to but didn't want to hurt Emily's feelings, let her down. "Urm, sure. When are you gonna come pick me up?"

"So you're going to come!" Emily practically yelled. Hermione laughed when the girl took the phone away from her mouth and shouted to the others, "Hey, guys! Herm's gonna come and hang with us!" Then there were cheers and happy comments that she knew came from the boys and girls of the group. She smiled. Then Emily got back to her and said, "Okay, Raymond and I are gonna come over now. The others will wait at Marlin Arcade so we'll have to hurry. Be ready when we get there, alright?"

"Yeah, okay. See you then, Em. Byes." Hermione hung up, grinning but not wanting to go anywhere, really. She still felt like being a hermit, a specialty of hers. But knowing that she'd better do as told, Hermione stood up from the stool she had settled onto while talking and ran up stairs to the bathroom across from her room. She took a hair brush and scooped her hair into a decent bun, put on a tad of make-up and lotion on her legs and hands then slipped on some blue flip flops decorated with a cute swirling design. Going back to her room, Hermione looked in her full-length mirror to make sure that she looked presentable: good enough.

She then rummaged through a drawer and pulled out a spiral notebook; flipping towards the middle where she found no writing, Hermione tore out a piece of paper and scribbled a note to her parents, explaining where and whom she was with. She then opened up her sock drawer and took out a good bit of the saved money she kept hidden away. Rushing back down stairs, the Gryffindor placed the note on the table next to the one her mother had left, then went outside and sat on her porch. She only waited for about a minute before she saw the beaten van rumble up to her house.

Jogging over to the large hunk of metal, she was once again greeted with the slide-out door fling aside to revel Cecil's grinning face. "Hey, Hermione!" Emily's head turned to face her from the shotgun seat, smiling brightly at her. "Glad you came. Hop in—the others are waiting." Doing as told, Hermione climbed into the back, which she now realized was spacious, now that it was practically empty of crazy teenagers.

Cecil closed the door and took a seat next to Hermione and they were off, the vehicle lurching to a start. Right off the bat Ceil begins to chat—and of course it had to be the topic she currently trying to take off her mind.

"So what's this thing with Drake? Em said he moved. Were to? Was it because of a fight or did something—"

"Look, I kinda don't want to talk about it right now," Hermione sighed, a bit taken aback by Ceil's sudden out burst. "All I want is to have a little fun, ya know?" A moment of silence. And then, "What did you guys do without me yesterday?"

"Oh, it was fun," Emily said from the front, quickly adding, "but not as much without you of course." They all laughed. "First we went to this small café at the end of the Street; Sarah's aunt owns it. It's a cute little place—you'll have to come with next time. But what's even better are the free doughnuts!" Again everyone laughed and agreed. "We were there for quite sometime until Sarah's aunt shooed us out 'cause the place was getting too crowded.

"Anyway, then we started wondering around again. Brook had to go back to Rue21 to return some shirt that didn't fit, and—"

"And oh, my God and you'd never believe what a cashier asked!" Cecil shouted so loudly Hermione visibly flinched. "Oh, gosh, it was so sweet! I'm not sure if you knew or not, but this one guy that works there asked where you were when we were checking out, and then about Drake. Being the honest one I am"—everyone snorted at this—"I said that you weren't going out and that he had moved back to America. The boy—whose name is Brandon, by the way—said that he wished to see you again. Oh, oh! And he's gonna be working today as well, I think; we should so go back today and hook you two up!"

As Hermione just sat there dumbfound, Raymond laughed heartily. "Wow, Cecil. Let's just go on and play the "Get Brandon and Hermione Together" game!" Emily now joined in laughing with her boyfriend and Hermione kicked her seat from behind, making her knee throb a little from the hard impact. "Wow, Cecil—just wow."

"Don't I have any say in this!" Hermione cried. "Who ever said I wanted a boyfriend right now anyway?" They just loved taking advantage of her, didn't they? As if she were just their little toy doll.

Emily giggled and answered, "I don't know, Herm; it couldn't possibly be the time last week where you had told me you wanted a boy to hold you."

"So you do wanna boyfriend!" the girl beside her squealed causing Hermione to blush further than she already was. "This is so great. And not to mention that Brandon is a total hottie! I think that you guys would make an adorable couple." She smiled widely at the sick looking girl.

"Can we change the subject, please," Hermione squeaked, her blush growing bigger and brighter by the second. "Like what did you do after Rue21?" She saw Cecil roll her eyes and slump her shoulders in defeat. The girl was a five-year-old at heart.

Emily pondered for a second, trying to retrace their steps. "Well…you know that overly crowded park at Central? We all went up there and the guys joined some public football game with us watching—the talk naturally about you, Drake, and Brandon." Hermione groaned loudly and buried her head in her hands; her muggle best friend chuckled, knowing that was the response she would get. "Then we had to pack up 'cause Raymond's dad called saying the shop needed an extra hand around three-thirty. So it was a short day, but we had fun."

Hermione murmured a, "That's great," without looking up. The ride only lasted a couple more minutes and then they were back out in the huge parking lot they always went to. Hermione, glad to be out of that torturous van, stretched widely. It was a hot day, making loose strands of hair stick to her neck. "Okay, now where?" she asked a bit crankily.

"To the Marlin Arcade!" Cecil declared, skipping ahead and twirling round and round as she went. 'Attention hog,' the Gryffindor thought with a smile. 'She seems to be even more immature than in sixth grade.'

With it being a weekday, the Street Mall was less packed than usual. Mainly teens littered the sidewalk, for adults had work to be done at jobs. Soon Raymond, Hermione, and Emily found themselves jogging to keep up with Cecil's fast pace. "Someone's a bit hyper…" Looking to her side, Hermione grinned at Raymond and asked, "What did you feed this girl?!"

The boy laughed, almost tripping over his girlfriend's feet who was in the lead. "She claimed she hadn't eaten breakfast or lunch so she treated herself to an ice-cream cone, a large mocha, three slices of supreme pizza, and then a big Snickers bar for 'desert'," he explained.

Her eyes grew wide in astonishment. "You're kidding me!" He shook his head, a rueful smile playing on his lips. "She scarfed all that down? Gees!" Giggling, the Gryffindor yelled to the muncher, "Hey, Cecil! Don't your parents ever feed you at home or anything?" The girl glanced back at her with a silly grin, keeping her steady pace with ease. A moment later they arrived in front of an attractive setting of doors, bizarre colors and designs on the glass doors. The sign above read MARLIN ARCADE! in a weird format. Hermione smiled. It seemed like ages since she'd last been to this place.

Their breathing a bit ragged, the four of them entered the arcade; beeping and change slot machine sounds filled the air, their nostrils with the wonderful smell of pizza and pretzels. The place was mainly dark except the glow of game lights. Emily grabbed Raymond's hand and then Hermione's, who snatched Cecil's so they made quite a chain. "I bet I know where they are…" And then they were being dragged along, dodging game after game and kid after kid. Finally they arrived at the Dance Dance Revolution set—and there was Mary and Tyler hopping away, the others cheering them on from the sides.

They slipped right in, watching as the two danced on the pad, battling for a WINNER! sign to blare on their screen and a LOSER! on the other's. Mary, with her slim, athletic body, seemed to be having an easier time with the fast beat than Tyler—it was fun, watching him try to keep up with the confusing jumble of steps. Not to anyone's surprise, but defiantly to their delight, Mary won. The pretty girl laughed and hugged her boyfriend who was still staring at the screen with a goofily and baffled look. They shared a light kiss and then turned towards the group.

"You finally came!" a happy Brook exclaimed. She practically tackled Hermione to the ground in a huge bear hug. Laughing, Hermoine hugged her friend back. Why did she ever think she needed time away from these guys? They always made her laugh - and forget. "It was so lonely without you here yesterday! How are you? Everything okay?"

All anxious eyes were on her, making the brown head feel uncomfortable and shift her weight slightly. "Yeah, I'm fine," she managed out. "I just needed to think was all." Hugs and the regular 'Welcome Back' routine came next - and then the problem on what to do. Grinning, Hermione looked at the Dance Dance Revolution. "Can I have a try?" she asked. Everyone turned towards her. "Who wants to play me?"

"I will!" George stepped forward, a foolish grinning plastered on his face (A/N: all the boys in this group are retarded—haven't you noticed?! lmao). They climbed up to the pad and pushed the start button. "It was my turn to go, anyway." Being the winner of the last round, Mary got to choose the song. It started out slow but gradually got faster. With it being her first time, Hermione felt a little like a robot, moving like she did to press down when the light flashed by. But with the yells and commands telling her to loosen up, she complied and boy! was it easier. It didn't seem to matter though—because George was just using this as an excuse to act stupid. When Hermione finally had enough confidence to look over at his screen, the boy was stomping around madly, 'MISS'es and 'BAD's flying all over his screen. The entire group was laughing uncontrollably at his crazy moves, calling him stupid and reckless.

Of course Hermione ended up winning that round—scoring over triple than him. Thus became the Dance Dance Revolution challenge; they spent a good hour or so on it, calling 'duels' on one another. It turned out that Hermione was pretty good at this new game. Of course, she couldn't possibly beat the queen, Mary—no one could so far. Even a passerby who challenged her! The girl was a pro.

After a while the teens became tired and plopped down at a table near the concession stand; everyone ordered a bite to eat; except for Cecil who was, by then, feeling like crap. Hermione ordered a pretzel, nibbling on it as she looked around the noisy arcade. This is what she loved, hanging around her friends with nothing to worry about. Thoughts turned to Ron and Harry, making them the inseparable Golden Trio. Their friendship always had a glitch in it, usually it being a dark force like Voldemort. But still they hung on through the hardships, not letting it break their friendship. Hermione sighed; she wanted to be around those two right now, just enjoying their silly companionship.

Without her realizing it, Hermione still had half her pretzel while the others had long ago finished theirs and had started talking about how long it would be until school began again. Hermione was shoving a large mouthful of pretzel in her mouth when Emily spoke to her. "What about you, Herm? When do you go back to America?" The Gryffindor held up a finger and then swallowed as quickly as she could.

Taking a deep breath, Hermione said, "Well, technically school starts in about two months. But usually I go to my friend's house before that. The thing is I still haven't been Owled—urm, I mean contacted about when I'll be going yet. It could be anytime now."

"Aw!" All gloomy faces turned to her. "You're leaving before the end of summer? That is so unfair. How long do you think you're gonna be here?"

Hermione shrugged, looking down at the rest of her meal, tearing it to little bits; she ate a small amount at a time, not wanting to choke again. "I don't know. It could be a day, a week—even a month." Nods. "Of course I want to go see my school friends. But…I've had a lot of fun here this summer." She looked up to meet every teen's gaze, smiling sadly. "Its so much easier here than over there." Hermione shook her head bitterly, saying the discussion was over and then busied herself with her food once more.

Soon they were back outside; it had been decided—since the teens couldn't agree—that they'd split up in groups and meet back there at three o'clock (it was already 1:00). Being boys, George, Tyler and Raymond wanted to go to some sports shop while Mary, Cecil and Sarah wanted to get their nails done (A/N: idk what girly-girls do out on the free roads! Lol I'm totally helpless when it comes to that type of thing, seeing as I am not into those things XD). That left Brook, Emily, and Hermione waving the other two groups goodbye as they went their ways.

"So…" Brook leaned against the brick building, looking at the two girls. "What do ya guys wanna do?" They both shrugged, doing the same as her and leaning against the wall. "Well, I don't know either. Any ideas?" Silence and then, "Oh, I know!" Hermione and Emily looked over at Brook who was, all of a sudden, very excited. "Brandon!" Hermione's eyes grew huge while Emily tried to suppress a giggle, nudging her old friend. "Come on!" she cried, grabbing one of each's hands and dragging them to the shop.

So tra-la-la-la-la, the three of them skipped along the sidewalk, arms linked, singing, "Weeeeeeee're off to see Brandon! The wonderful Brandon of Rue21!" (A/N: LMAO! I'm just kidding! KIDDING! Lol sorry—I just had to put that in )

After a minute of being dragged around and not knowing quite which direction they were heading, the Gryffindor saw themselves aproaching the story Rue21.

Hermione stopped dead in her tracks when they reached the store's doors. Emily smiled foolishly at her terrified face. Why were they there! She didn't want anything to do with this guy named Brandon! She had no clue what he was like—weren't you suppose to know the boy before you even thought about dating him! "I don't want to go in there," she squeaked, trying to take a step back but Emily grabbed her arm.

"Its okay, Herm," she chided. "Hey, what about this: Brook will go in and ask for him to take a quick break while we wait here. That way you can gather some nerves, ya know?"

Hermione shook her head hard. Why didn't they just understand she didn't want anything to do with this or him? Brook on the other hand squealed in delight and practically ran into the store. "Why is this happening to me?" Hermione moaned, falling to the ground.

Emily sighed heavily and pulled her back up. "Aw, c'mon, Hermione! It can't be that bad. Besides, it's not like we're forcing you guys to get together or anything."

She gave her a sideways glance. "Yeah, sure. You only dragged me over here despite my own free will and now making me confront him even though I totally don't want to." They both laughed lightly and then a comfortable silence. "But, Em…" Her eyes glazed over in nervousness again. "This just doesn't feel right… I mean, it's not like a can start a relationship right now. I could be leaving any day now!"

"Who ever said you had to start a relationship?" Emily grabbed her old friend's hand, making Hermione look at her. "You're still upset about Draco, aren't you?"

Hermione quickly hung her head once more. "Its not like we were going out anyways," she muttered. "We're mortal enemies, Emily—you've got to realize that." A pause. "If Ron or Harry ever found out, living hell would break out upon us. I was foolish, letting stupid teenage hormones get to me like this. I mean, it's not like I actually liked him—it was just a fling, you know? But I feel so stupid about it… I am stupid…"

"Don't you ever speak like that again," Emily snapped suddenly, causing Hermione to flinch slightly. "Look up at me, Herm—it was not your fault in the slightest bit. All it was was your feminine side kicking in for once." She laughed. "Draco is a total hottie—and you've got to admit that. It was natural, having such feeling for a cute guy like him!"

"Yeah…"

"Look, Herm, it's total natural, and you know it. Soon you'll have to completely admit that to yourself. And I think that you should keep that feminine side all the time. Didn't you say that you're tired of being the bookworm and Miss Goody-too-shoes? Give that up a little and go with instincts for once, okay? This is your first test—look, Brook's coming out. Just give Brandon a chance—please! He's really sweet; you'll just have to see for yourself. You have to move on from Draco some time or another."

Brook happily pranced out of the store and did a quick spin before facing them, a huge grin spread wide across her face. "His break is in five minutes!" she cried, causing two-thirds of the girls to cheer; the brown head fell to the sidewalk again. "Ah, c'mon! He said for us to meet him in the back corner." So they dragged a fighting Hermione in. After waiting a nervous couple minutes, a smiling, handsome boy around their age came walking towards them. He wore some plain baggy blue jeans and a striped blue-and-green Polo shirt. Tussled brown hair made his bright blue eyes stick out beautifully—and they immediately rested on Hermione's chocolate brown ones.

She blushed shyly and looked at the floor. 'I didn't know he was this cute…wow…'

"Hey." His voice was deep and gentle, and just the sound of it made Hermione's heart flutter with butterflies. "I'm Brandon." He reached a hand out to her, which Hermione nervously took, managing to squeak out a 'Hey'. His hand was so warm… "And from what I've heard, you're name is Hermione, no?"

"Um, yeah," she said, finally finding the courage to look into his ocean-blue eyes; they took her breath away. "It's nice to meet you, Brandon—really."

Again with his perfect-toothed smile. "Same here." He greeted Emily and Brook, saying, "It's great to see you guys again."

"So…" It was Emily. "I'm guessing that you two want to be left alone… Well, we'll be across the store then. We will come back in thirty minutes, okay? Byes!" She then pulled Brook away from them and started walking off.

Hermione's eyes widened as they left. Why the bloody hell did she leave her at a moment like this! And with a boy she didn't even know! Oh, God… Brandon cleared his throat and she quickly looked back up at him (he was a good half a head taller than she). "Look, Hermione… I really am glad that we meet—well, you know, other than when I gave you back your change and receipt."

They both laughed at his good humor—and that was when Hermione said the stupidest thing she could have: "Yeah, but even then it wasn't technically to me: you gave it to Draco." Of course she had meant it as a joke, but then she realized her mistake. There was an uncomfortable silence.

"I've been wondering about that guy…" he muttered shyly. "He didn't like me that much, ya know. I'm not trying to be mean of course, especially since he might be your boy friend and all—"

"What!" she cried, almost laughing. "Oh, no—he's not my boyfriend! He's just a friend from school is all."

"Oh…" He looked away from her. "Well, not what I heard from him."

She blinked questionably at him. "Huh? Great… What did he say this time?" 'God, why is that stupid Malfoy such a jackass to me!' she thought bitterly.

"Urm…He kinda said that you were his… But then yesterday your friends came by and said differently, so I'm kind of confused…"

This time Hermione really did laugh. "Oh, my God! I am so sorry about that," she said, shaking her head in disbelief. Okay, was it just her or was she finding it easier than she thought for herself to talk to him? "Like I said before, we go to school together in America"—this gave him a shock—"and we're pretty close." Wow, that's a huge lie… "But we're only close as in friends, of course. I've never thought of him as anything else." Yet another lying point for Hermione! Keep it up girl—you're getting pretty good at this game! "He was probably just afraid for my own good, you know? In our group of friends we're really protective of one another." Okay, well, that part was true… Damn it, and I was getting into it, too!

"Ah." Brandon smiled, obviously relieved by her answer. This got a smile from Hermione as well. "Well, that's good, 'cause…" He blushed, causing Hermione to do the same. Was it just her or did he become really nervous all of a sudden? "Urm, you see…I know this is kinda rushed and all but… You're really cute and… Yeah…" He looked into her eyes with a shy smile. "I think you get my point."

Hermione didn't answer, just looked at her feet. "Thanks," she muttered. Then she remembered the situation. "But, Brandon…I—I don't think it could work out."

"Huh? Why?" he asked, becoming a bit anxious.

"Well, you see…" Where to start? Problems, problems. "For one, you know I go to school in America," she said. "So I really don't want to get into a cross continent relationship." He nodded, thinking about it for the first time. "Second, I have no clue when I'll be leaving—you see, I go over to my friend's place before the school year starts." A frown creased his handsome face, making Hermione want to fix it but knowing she couldn't. "And third…third…" She couldn't remember the third but she was positive there was one… 'Damn it…' "Sorry, but I can't remember it for some reason," she laughed. "But…I really hope you understand…"

He smiled again, causing her heart to skip a beat. "Of course I understand," he said, scratching the back of his head innocently. "But, I don't want that to get in my way of getting to know you better… Please?"

She smiled at him. "I wouldn't have it any other way. I want to get to know you as well." They shared a smile, gazing into each other's eyes—but of course Brook and Emily had to come ruin their moment. "Man…were we really talking that long?" They both chuckled sadly and Hermione looked over at her two friends. "Well, it looks like I've got to be going now."

So they swapped phone numbers and e-mail addresses before Hermione had to go back with those stupid-good-moment-breakers. Grr, you could just rip their heads off!