A/N:Back by popular demand, I decided to tack on more to this story, and this one was one of my favorite ones that I did for the QLFC. I don't know how often I'll be able to update due to my schedule, but I'll try and make more time for it if I keep getting reviews to keep going with it. Thanks for your support!

Chapter 2: Awkward

Saturday morning was a busy time at St. Mungo's Hospital. Lots of patients, particularly the more long-term ones, had their visitors arrive on weekends for socializing and encouragement. One particular patient, however, had quite a number of unwanted visitors. They all managed to find his room number despite his best efforts to keep it a secret.

"How iz it zey always find me?" said the Bulgarian seeker weakly from his hospital bed. Victor Krum had 15 visitors already this morning and it was only 9:00. Most of them wanted his autograph, but his handwriting had become sloppy from the potions they had given him, making him feel woozy and sick again.

"Sometimes…I could zust use ze quiet life…" he sighed as he held his hand up to his head from the headache he was now getting.

"Mr. Krum, sir?" said his healer from the doorway tentatively. "There's another visitor here to see you."

"Tell zem I am not looking or feeling very vell and don't vant visitors right now," said Krum.

"Er, they told me to tell you this visitor is actually from Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. A miss—Hermione Granger?"

"Hermioninny?!" said Krum, wide-eyed. He sat up in bed. "Bring her in quickly, and do not tell er what I zaid about me not looking good."

"Will do, Mr. Krum," said the healer brightly, and within 15 seconds, Hermione Granger herself entered into his room.

"Hermioninny!" said Krum with positive delight.

Hermione beamed at him. "Oh, Victor! Thank God you're alright!" she said, pulling him into an all-embracing hug that made Victor's heart soar with elation. "How are you feeling?" she said with a worried look on her face as she let him go.

"Not as bad now that I'm at ze St. Mungo's," said Krum with a grin. "Ze healers here have taken great care of me. Ze last dose of potion vas pretty strong," said Krum, holding back a burp. "But how are you doing? I'm so, so glad you ver able to come."

"Oh, I'm still the same," said Hermione with a little nervous giggle. "Just school and all."

"And still zust as beautiful as ever," said Krum who took Hermione's hand and kissed it. Hermione blushed furiously at this gesture. No man had ever kissed her hand except him.

"Thank you," she said bashfully.

"What about 'arry Potter?" asked Krum coolly. "How is he doing?"

"Oh, he wanted to come, he really did, Victor," said Hermione with sincerity. "But he's a Quidditch Captain now, and he had a lot to take care of today in addition to homework and everything else. He was just too busy to come. He said he might drop by next weekend though if you're still here because he shouldn't be as busy then."

"Good, good," said Krum nodding. "I am glad to know he es still keeping up his Quidditch playing."

"Yeah," said Hermione. There were a few things that were being left unsaid by both people, and Hermione wondered if Krum was thinking the same thing.

"What are your plans for ze holidays this winter?" asked Krum. Hermione knew where he was going with this.

"Well—I don't exactly know yet," said Hermione sheepishly. Krum asking this question made her think of Ron which made her heart ache inside. She had assumed that perhaps she'd be able to go to the Burrow for the holidays, but now that seemed impossible after the fight they had had.

"How vould you like to come visit me in Bulgaria?" suggested Krum with a hopeful look. "Ve could go to Sofia or fly dragons across ze Black Sea or you could come and meet my family and we have a nice picnic together with stuffed peppers and baklava—"

Hermione bit her lip. "Ooo that does sound like fun—"she began hesitantly. She knew however, that this was Krum's way of taking their relationship to the next level.

"You don't have to decide now—"said Krum, noticing the look on Hermione's face. "I know it's a big decision—"

"Yeah—er—I'll think about it," said Hermione. So many thoughts were running through her head: thoughts of excitement but thoughts of Ron as well. "So—are you going to go back to Bulgaria soon then?"

"In probably 10 days or so, yes," said Krum.

The conversation continued for quite some time. Hermione really enjoyed the visit and was glad to see that Victor seemed to be doing okay. Victor, on the other hand, was madly in love and determined to woo the woman he took to the Yule Ball two years ago.

"You should come back when Harry visits me, no?" said Krum as Hermione was about to bid him farewell.

"Yeah, I'll think about it," said Hermione, who truthfully didn't know how much time she would have next weekend. She also didn't want to seem too interested in him, romantically, although now she was feeling like she had already done too much.

"Mmm please do think about it," said Krum with a grin. "I'll be right here when you return."

Hermione didn't know what to say. "Well, it was so good to see you, Victor. I hope the healers treat you well, and don't forget to write!"

"Oh, I won't," said Krum. "I never do. Let me know what your Christmas plans are, yes?"

"I will," said Hermione who waved goodbye to him and shut the door behind her. With a sigh of relief that she was gone, she left St. Mungo's and took the portkey back to Hogwarts.

(Meanwhile)

Ron and Harry were playing wizard's chess in the corner after catching up on homework for a couple of hours. They had Quidditch practice soon but were stalling to head out because the weather was rather gloomy and wet. Both of them needed a break, and although Harry didn't usually play chess with Ron anymore, he figured it would do Ron some good if he could smash him in chess. Perhaps it would lighten his mood, which had not improved any in the previous week due to his fight with Hermione.

"Knight to E5," said Ron. His knight promptly took out Harry's queen.

"How did I not see that?!" asked Harry as his queen was swept off the board. Ron laughed at him. Harry smirked but continued thinking of his next move.

"If only I was this good at Quidditch," said Ron with a sigh. "Too bad they don't have wizard's chess competitions here. I'd smoke whoever was on the Slytherin team every time."

"Yeah, you would," said Harry beaming at him.

A moment of silence passed.

"So, d'you really think Hermione would get with someone like Krum?" asked Ron.

Harry heaved a sigh. "You know, for someone who said they were never going to speak to Hermione again, you sure have been talking an awful lot about her the last few days."

Ron almost retorted but held his tongue. He looked back down at the chessboard. "You're right. Sorry, mate. We both know her pretty well so I figured it'd be something to talk about, you know?"

"Did you and Hermione talk about Cho Chang a lot when I was not around?" asked Harry skeptically.

"Well—no—now that you mention it," said Ron. "I mean—a little bit I guess—but—"

"Before the fight, was Hermione your best friend, or was she not?" asked Harry.

Ron thought about it. "Well, you're my best mate, o'course," he said. "But—I mean—yeah I guess so. It was always different with her, but yeah, I considered her my best friend."

"Well—I can tell you—between you and me, she considered you to be her best friend."

"Really?" said Ron skeptically. "I sometimes wondered if she felt the same way about me—"

"Of course she did!" said Harry resolutely. "You were her best friend! Just like I am! Look mate, she needs you. Without you, she's sometimes—not as pleasant to be around. She can be a stick in the mud. Don't get me wrong, she's still brilliant, but you're always the one who can lighten her up when she gets too serious. I can't seem to do anything to her to lighten her mood."

Ron felt a little pride at this statement. "Preciate it," he said. "Hermione won't ever talk to me again though. She hates me, mate. And, frankly, sometimes I can't stand her either."

"Then—" began Harry, "why do you like her so much?"

Ron's ears turned pink. "What'd you mean?"

"You know what I mean," said Harry, raising his eyebrows. "You like her, don't you?"

Ron turned to look around, making sure no one was eavesdropping on their conversation. "Yeah—I guess so," he said, trying not to betray his full-fledged affection for her. "Is it that obvious?"

"To me it is," said Harry. "But I've never said anything because I was afraid that this exact thing would happen: either you and Hermione would start dating and maybe you would break up with her and it would be awkward between the three of us. OR you two would get into a fight so bad that you would not want to speak to each other ever again, just like in third-year.

Ron hesitated. "So—you think that if we dated, it would be inevitable that we would eventually break up?"

"It's not inevitable, but it's likely," said Harry reasonably. "You two do fight quite a lot. It's a rather unusual relationship."

"So—you think she's better off with someone like Krum, then?" said Ron, trying to hide his jealousy of Krum from Harry.

"Not necessarily," said Harry. "I think she likes you more than she likes Krum, but he was so nice to her when not many other people were, so she feels a sort of loyalty to him, I guess. Gryffindor spirit and all that, I suppose."

"Yeah," said Ron. "Figured she'd never go with me to the Yule Ball. I was kinda rude about that whole ordeal. Ahh but never mind that," he said. Harry turned around to look at why Ron had stopped talking. Hermione had walked through the portrait door, and, as Harry had suspected, turned and went up the girls' stairwell once she saw that Ron was with him.

"Looks like she's holding up her end of the 'not speaking to you ever again' deal too," said Ron.

"I'll talk to her," said Harry. "C'mon, we have Quidditch practice."

The rest of the afternoon was busy for Harry and Ron. Due to their various duties, neither one of them had run into Hermione. She was nowhere to be seen, and Harry wouldn't have been the least bit shocked to find out she had been in her room studying all day instead of going to the library like they sometimes did together.

Dinner time came, and Harry and Ron were eating together in the Great Hall. Although later than usual, Hermione eventually showed up, looking awkward as she walked up. She wanted to sit by Harry but not have to talk to Ron. She was about to go find a spot by some fourth-year Gryffindor girls that she didn't know that well when Ron spoke up.

"You can have my spot," said Ron to Hermione. "I was just about to leave anyway."

Hermione merely looked at him as though he had forgotten they weren't supposed to be speaking. However, she politely said, "Er—thanks," and took Ron's spot where he left to sit next to Harry, who was almost finished eating himself.

"How are you?" he asked nonchalantly as she sat down. "How is Krum doing?"

"Oh, he's great," said Hermione, reaching for some of the delicious pot roast and carrots that were in front of her for dinner. "Well, not great, but he's doing better," she said, noticing the skeptical look on Harry's face. "He says he'll be another 10 days in the hospital before he can leave."

"Anything else?" he asked.

"Yeah—" said Hermione sheepishly. "He—wants me to come with him to Bulgaria for Christmas."

"Ooo—" said Harry in mock enthusiasm, grinning at her. "and what did you say to that invitation?"

"That I'd think about it," said Hermione, playing with her food and not really eating it. "I didn't want to say no, but—ooh I feel so bad. I mean—he's a Quidditch superstar. Shouldn't he be able to find girls that he likes relatively easily?"

"You'd think—" said Harry, still grinning. "But don't feel bad for him, Hermione. He'll find someone. If you don't like him, you shouldn't lead him on."

"You're right, Harry—" she said quietly. There was a pause in the conversation. Hermione couldn't help but wonder if Harry was thinking the same thing she was.

"You know—there's someone else we know who feels the same way," said Harry, who wasn't smiling anymore.

"I know—" said Hermione with a sigh. "Well—I think I know. But—you have to admit he's been rather immature about the whole thing hasn't he?"

"Well—why do you like him then?" asked Harry.

Hermione blushed a little. "Are—are we talking about the same person?"

"I think so," said Harry. "Who are you talking about?"

"The same person as you are, I think?" said Hermione.

"Who is that?" said Harry.

Hermione frowned at him but looked embarrassed. "Ron," she mumbled quietly.

"Oh, yeah, him," said Harry grinning.

"Well—he was being stu—I mean, he was being ridiculous about this. I just wanted him to go with me to Slughorn's party, and then he blows up on me about Krum out of nowhere, and it really caught me off guard," said Hermione, trying to not appear to upset about it in front of Harry.

Harry thought for a moment. "What was it that he seemed particularly upset by about you and Krum?"

Hermione looked sad for the first time. She sighed again. "He somehow found out that Victor and I had kissed in fourth year, which, I don't know how he could've found that out. I know for a fact I didn't tell him."

"Hmm—" thought Harry out loud. "Well—suppose Ron had kissed Padma at the Yule Ball. How would that make you feel?"

Hermione's eyes went wide, making sure no one was listening in around them to their conversation. "I mean, yes, I'd feel a little something, but I mean all I did was give Victor a quick peck on the cheek at the end of our evening, and he wanted one kiss on the lips and so that's what it was. Nothing more."

"Well—Ron obviously must've thought it was a lot more than that," said Harry. "I mean, considering how he acted."

"I guess so," said Hermione. "Still—there was no need for him to blow up like that. I couldn't help myself. I let my anger get the best of me, and it was wrong."

"So…do you want to go Slughorn's Party with him, still?" asked Harry slowly with a smirk.

"Yeah, and Malfoy will transfer to Hufflepuff," said Hermione sarcastically. Harry laughed. "I mean, I still want to go with Ron, but I want to go with the Ron who isn't mad at me. I had no idea he'd still be so upset about what happened at the Yule Ball."

"We'll figure this out. There's still enough time for you to set things right with him, I hope," said Harry.

Hermione furrowed her brow. "Who are you taking to Slughorn's Party?"

"I don't know yet," said Harry nonchalantly, wishing it could be Ginny but knowing that'd never happen as long as she was dating Dean.

Harry and Hermione continued dinner together as old friends, just as they always did.

Finally, after a long evening of homework in which Harry and Hermione studied together in the Gryffindor Common Room, Harry wished her goodnight and went up the boy's staircase into the sixth year's dorm room.

"You sure are being a loner," said Harry to Ron who was surprisingly reading his Advanced Potion Making book. Either that, or Ron had tried to make it appear like he had been reading when Harry returned.

"Just reading," said Ron. "Tons of homework, you know?"

"I've got you set up to go with Hermione to Slughorn's Party," said Harry.

"WHAT?" said Ron a little too loudly.

"Under one condition," said Harry. "You two need to make up and learn to communicate better."

"So—so she's not mad at me?"

"Mmmm…more like she's mad but doesn't want to be mad, if that makes sense."

"Oh, bloody hell," said Ron.

"You'll be fine," said Harry. "Well, maybe. But the important thing is to be honest."

"Yeah, true," mumbled Ron.

"I was afraid of losing you two as my best friends, but now, I feel it's more important that you talk it out at this point."

Ron blew a lot of air out of his mouth as a long sigh. "Whew, okay then. Well-wish me luck."