Chapter 4

Hermione didn't want to admit it to herself at first. It was silly. It couldn't be true after all. Harry was just Harry, her best friend. But she recalled his pleased, yet bashful expression when Professor McGonagall praised his essay and she felt her cheeks heat up. She couldn't lie to herself after that.

She liked Harry.

There. She said it.

Harry was humble and hardworking and kind. He didn't always listen to her, true; he could be very stubborn. And he did have a tendency to stick with Ron and mimic his atrocious homework habits (though thankfully, not the eating habits). But recently he had been trying harder with his schoolwork. Even the professors noticed it. Sure he'd been acting kind of strange lately, but he was still the same old noble Harry. He offered to carry her books for her yesterday after seeing her yawn so huge she could have swallowed Mrs. Norris. Then he told her she should take care of herself more because her brain needed rest to continue fuelling her blinding brilliance.

It was quite the compliment and if he hadn't hurried ahead of her to the classroom he would have seen the bright red blush staining her cheeks.

Of course unbeknownst to her the words had just slipped out of his mouth and when his brain caught up with what he said he had to get away from her before he made an even bigger fool of himself. Or so he thought anyway.

She shook herself out of her thoughts as she found a seat at the Gryffindor table for dinner. She was slightly embarrassed at being caught staring by Ron of all people. Good thing he was so slow on the uptake or she would have felt even more embarrassed. She was sure nobody figured out her feelings, least of all Harry. After all, Harry may have loved her as a best friend but she was sure he saw her more like a sister than anything. Besides, he had Cho, though he hadn't mentioned her in a while. It was as if their date on Valentine's was so disastrous that he didn't want to bring her up again. Maybe he realised they weren't compatible and that's why he was acting so weird. Heartbreak could change people after all.

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Draco noticed Granger sitting by herself at the Gryffindor table. He craned his neck, trying to see if Potter and Weasley would follow suit. Sure enough, a few minutes later they both arrived and searched the table for their friend's bushy head. They looked friendly again. He scowled. He didn't know why but the past two days when Potter and Weasley weren't speaking were the happiest of the term so far for him. He took every opportunity he got to taunt Ronmato.

Weasley looked far too happy now, with his arm slung around Potter's shoulders as they plopped down next to Granger. That just wouldn't do.

He abandoned his food in favour of sidling over to the Gryffindor table.

"I see you've decided to show your face again Ronmato," he commented, trying and failing to look casual.

Weasley frowned, "Oh sod off Malfoy! Nobody likes you."

Potter nodded at that.

Malfoy felt oddly hurt.

"Well Ronmato," he spat, "You're one to talk. You don't belong anywhere! With your red hair and blotchy face. Nobody likes you either! Even as a fruit! Your tomato butt would get kicked out of a fruit salad so fast! Enjoy being a loser, loser."

He marched off, fuming, leaving the Gryffindor table oddly silent, as their mouths were hanging open from shock. He wasn't even in the mood to enjoy his particularly clever fruit insult.

It was normal of course, for the trio and Malfoy to be at odds with each other. But usually by this time Malfoy would be taking points left right and centre. It was strange to see him stomp off without his usual arrogance. It was also strange that he had come to taunt the trio without his usual posse to back him up. Usually he'd at least finish his dinner. This time he left the great hall altogether. Though he was red and angry, his demeanour was different. It almost seemed like he was genuinely upset.

But nah that couldn't be, they collectively decided. Malfoy was Malfoy. He was just trying to mess with them as usual.

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"What was that all about?" Hermione asked, breaking the silence that had descended on the table. Everyone started muttering after that, discussing what just happened with each other. She noticed Harry was staring at his plate, looking quite upset.

"I don't know," he mumbled, feeling guilty. It was his fault after all, that Malfoy could insult Ron that way. Of course Malfoy usually insulted Ron anyway but Harry was Harry so feel guilty he would.

Ron snorted, "Forget about him guys. Honestly I'm over it. That was so over the top I can't even take it seriously."

His friends stared at him.

"What?" he questioned, at their incredulous looks.

"Who are you and what have you done with my brother?" Ginny commented from a few seats down.

Ron was confused as to why everyone else was confused. "Why are you all looking at me like that?"

"Oh, no reason, just eat Ron you look hungry," Ginny replied.

Ron needed no further encouragement; he dug into his food enthusiastically.

"Ron's growing up," Ginny whispered to Dean, wiping a faux tear from her eye. Usually Ron would never be so calm in the face of an insult. Especially when coming from Malfoy.

"Anyway," Ron said, through a mouthful of food, "No wonder you keep having nightmares of him Harry. The bloke's mental."

Harry twitched. "How do you know I'm having nightmares of Malfoy?" he said hoarsely. The past few nights his pleasant dreams had been interrupted several times by an overly affectionate and borderline cringy Malfoy. He would hate for the others to know what those nightmares entailed. They'd tease him to no end. Especially those rotten twins! They would know why he was having them in the first place, since it was their fault!

"Well I mean, you keep muttering about Malfoy in your sleep. Like the other night you mumbled something about Hermione Malfoy! That would really be a nightmare, I mean, I can't imagine you dreaming of Hermione marrying Malfoy and not being horrified by it," Ron said, "And of course last night you were groaning about Malfoy and some kiss."

Harry's heart nearly stopped. Ron couldn't know about The Incident could he? It was a good thing that he was talking and eating at the same time, because Harry would hate for anyone else to overhear that. He didn't even bother to correct Ron about his assumption that he was dreaming of Hermione marrying Malfoy, which by the way, was a horrific notion. He hoped he didn't have nightmares about that now. She was way too good for a prat like Malfoy. And Harry didn't know why but his stomach churned uneasily at the thought of Hermione marrying someone.

Hermione had been quietly eating her meal, letting the rest of her house mates discuss Malfoy. She was more interested in the various expressions that made themselves at home on Harry's face after that little episode. He looked upset and she also noticed how pale he had become. He wasn't saying much and usually, he would be the one telling Ron to forget about Malfoy. She was starting to realise why Harry was acting so weird lately. He didn't seem to talk about Cho anymore, but he also wasn't talking about Malfoy. And now if Ron was right he was having nightmares about Malfoy marrying her and dreaming about Malfoy and kisses. Oh she thought. Her stomach clenched tightly.

Harry liked Malfoy.