A/N: Here's chapter 3! I don't really have much to say at this point except reviews are welcome. I appreciate the reviews I've already gotten!

"Are you sure she won't hex me, Harry?" asked Ron nervously as he put on his freshly cleaned school robes for the evening and a spray of cologne just for good luck.

"No, I'm not sure," said Harry, grinning. "But that's why you need to be careful with her. Don't accuse of her something unless you're absolutely sure of it. And forgiveness doesn't hurt either."

"Yeah, but forgiving and forgetting are two different things, mate," said Ron with a frown.

"True," said Harry nonchalantly. "But just because you can't forget doesn't mean you can't forgive. Besides, she really hasn't done anything WRONG necessarily. You were really just jealous of Krum."

"Whose side are you on?!" asked Ron, a bit angry at Harry now.

"I'm on your side!" retorted Harry, "but I'm also on both your sides, I guess. Just trying to be realistic."

"Yeah-" said Ron bitterly, who couldn't really argue with that logic. "Yeah. Alright then."

"C'mon, I made sure she saved you a seat in a secluded part of the common room," said Harry.

"Thanks, mate," said Ron, grinning for the first time. "I don't know what I'd do without you."

"Likewise," said Harry impatiently. "Now go!"

Ron made his way down the boy's stairwell into the common room. Sure enough, Hermione was there with a book in her hands. He sighed a heavy sigh, glad that there weren't too many people in the common room tonight. He slowly approached Hermione, afraid of what would happen.

Once he felt he was close enough, he made a loud, obvious coughing noise, to which she turned around and, Ron was relieved to see, was smirking at him.

"Er, can I join you?"

"Yes," said Hermione, "but I was wondering if you wanted to go with me to the library actually?"

Ron furrowed his brow in confusion.

"Just, you know," said Hermione a little quieter, "where we won't be overheard too much?" she said, as if this was the most obvious reason.

"Ahh, right," said Ron. The two went out through the portrait door and out into the massive open staircases on their way to the library. The walk was long and tense between the two of them. Ron hadn't brought any of his school things with him, and Hermione only had her copy of Advanced Potion Making in her hands. There was a deafening silence in the air, only interrupted by the sound of their footsteps and the sound of occasional footsteps from other students walking past them.

In the library, Hermione led the way to find a spot. Unfortunately, the library was pretty crowded with students. However, there was one table at the end of a long row of bookshelves that had one chair at it.

"I can sit on the ground," said Ron. "You can take the chair."

"Actually, hold on, let me get Madam Pince," said Hermione. "She'll give us another chair. You stay here and make sure we don't lose this spot."

"Got it," said Ron, happy they could agree on this tiny logistical issue. Sure enough, Hermione came back with a chair and plopped herself down next to Ron, who was closest to the glass window. She and Ron sat next to each other facing the same bookshelf while Hermione put her book on the table. Ron was hoping she didn't notice how sweaty his hands were becoming from how close they were sitting.

"Is this okay?" asked Hermione sheepishly.

"Er, yeah this works," said Ron, trying to control the hormones raging inside of his 16-year-old body.

"So... Harry said you wanted to talk?" she said. Ron felt like he was on trial, afraid that saying the wrong thing would lead to a great punishment. Her eyes seemed to penetrate his very being.

"Yeah," said Ron. "I wanted to apologize." The words had come out easier than expected but the sweaty hands and his burning ears weren't helping matters.

"I wanted to apologize too," said Hermione, looking downcast. "But—if you want to go first—I mean—I'll go first if you want me to."

"No, I'll go first," he said. Then he sighed. "I shouldn't have given you such a tough time about Krum. I mean—he's a great guy and all. If you want to date him—you should do that. I just figured—you know—"

"Figured what?" said Hermione, her brown eyes big and examining Ron's every detail.

"That—you know—going to Slughorn's party meant something besides what I thought it meant—I guess," said Ron, his ears noticeably turning redder.

"It meant a lot to me," mumbled Hermione. "It means quite a lot to me actually—"

"Does it?" asked Ron.

"Well—yeah," she said. "I really wanted you to go with me."

"Oh—" said Ron, the realization hitting him. "So—I guess my real question is—If Krum was at Hogwarts, would you have asked him to go with you?"

"Oh, Heaven's no!" said Hermione, a little too loudly.

Ron had the most confused look on his face.

"I mean—" she began, the realization of what she was implying slowly setting in. "I only wanted to take someone that I—that I—really cared about."

"Don't you care about Krum too?" asked Ron skeptically.

"Well—yes—but—not in the same way—" she said sheepishly.

"Well—then why did you snog him in fourth year?" he asked, a little bitterness in his voice.

Hermione sighed. "It's not as much as you think it was. It was just a peck on the cheek and then he wanted one on the lips, so—yeah—I kissed him once on the lips, but it wasn't for long and that was that," she finished, blushing slightly.

"So—you—don't like Krum like that then?" asked Ron.

"No, I don't," said Hermione.

"Oh," said Ron. "I—I—didn't know that—"

"Well—" said Hermione with the slightest smirk on her face. "Now you do."

"So, why'd you go to the Yule Ball with him then?" asked Ron.

"Because he asked me, silly," said Hermione. "and, frankly, nobody else had asked me up to that point. Besides, it's not like an automatic date if you take someone to the ball. Neville and Ginny went just as friends, and they had a blast."

"Right, should've thought of that," mumbled Ron. They sat in silence for a moment.

Hermione gave him a calculated look. "What are you thinking about?"

Oh, bloody hell, here we go with those questions again. "Nothing."

"Ron Weasley, you bald-faced liar, you tell me what you're thinking about right now," said Hermione. Ron was relieved to see she wasn't frowning at him like she usually did though.

"Er, just, that I'm sorry for everything. I just didn't really get it. I know you'll probably take someone nice to Slughorn's Party, but, just so you know, I feel honored that you would ask me to such an event, you know, it being such an exclusive group and all."

"Ron," said Hermione, putting her hand on her forehead. "I still want to go with you, silly. It's not an exclusive thing for who gets invited. Just…ugh! Do you still want to go with me or not?"

"I mean—yeah I'd love to go with you," said Ron, his ears turning red.

"Okay," said Hermione biting her lip. "and one more thing?"

"What's that?" he asked.

"No matter what happens between us, we're still gonna go together to that party, okay? I won't back out of it and you won't back out of it. No matter how many arguments we have, okay?"

"Weasley's honor," said Ron, crossing his heart with an x and holding his hand up with his wand drawn in a pompous manner.

Hermione giggled. "Okay, silly. That's good enough for me. Now, that that's taken care of, let's go get some homework done."

Ron rolled his eyes. "Fine—lead the way your Prefect-ness,"

"Speak for yourself, Mr. I-never-though-I'd-be-prefect," said Hermione, who, deep down, had butterflies in her stomach at the realization that now, truly, this time, she really was going to Slughorn's Party with Ron Weasley.