Chapter 3: Awkward Avoidance (Avoiding Snape)

It didn't take much to persuade Harry and Ron to start sitting at the back of the dungeons for professor Snape's classes, after all it was Hermione that had persuaded them to sit and the front in the first place.

Ever since the incident during detention he had been keen to keep away from her too, and had avoided making eye contact or calling on her to answer questions. She in turn had kept quiet at the back of the classroom.

She still felt as confused and distracted within his presence as ever and the pull that she now felt towards him left a lingering ache when she was no longer in his presence. She had tried to speak to Cassandra about it but the unicorn had brushed her off with some nonsense about unicorn magic.

Once again, before she realised, she was tucked up in bed before she'd noticed that Cassandra had failed to answer any of her questions. The unicorn simply kept repeating that she had a choice to make between 'what she wanted and what she needed'. It made no sense! It didn't explain any of her new found feelings.

As Slughorn's annual christmas party approached Hermione found herself dealing with the dilemma of who to go with. She had been asked to go by Mclaggan no less than six times and that boy was not taking no for an answer.

Hermione knew that she want to go to Ron, which would avoid the awkwardness of dealing with Mclaggen, and the feelings she had towards Ron only compounded this. She was afraid however of how he would react to her asking him. She couldn't risk their friendship, not least in the midst of a war, not when Harry needed both of their friendships.

Ginny was full of advice. Too much advice to be honest. She kept coming up with more and more ingenious and romantic ways to ask him out. It was all a bit too much.

Hermione decided to tackle the Christmas Party situation head on during Herbology class. McLaggen was still harassing her to go and she needed to get him to back off. She needed was a suitable alternative that wouldn't be trying to grope her every five minutes.

She had spent the first twenty minutes of the lesson summoning up the courage to ask Ron to accompany her. She'd had a crush on him since first year but she didn't want to scare him off by coming on too strong, or worse still ruin their friendship by making him feel awkward.

"Anyway," said Hermione, "Slughorn's going to have a Christmas party, Harry, and there's no way you'll be able to wriggle out of this one because he actually asked me to check your free evenings, so he could be sure to have it on a night you can come."

Harry groaned. Meanwhile, Ron, who was attempting to burst a pod in the bowl by putting both hands on it, standing up, and squashing it as hard as he could, said angrily, "And this is another party just for Slughorn's favorites, is it?"

"Just for the Slug Club, yes," said Hermione.

The pod flew out from under Ron's fingers and hit the green house glass, rebounding onto the back of Professor Sprout's head and knocking off her old, patched hat. Harry went to retrieve the pod.

"What kind of name is Slug Club" said Ron.

"Look, I didn't make up the name 'Slug Club' -"

"'Slug Club,'" repeated Ron with a sneer worthy of Malfoy. "It's pathetic. Well, I hope you enjoy your party. Why don't you try hooking up with McLaggen, then Slughorn can make you King and Queen Slug -"

"We're allowed to bring guests," said Hermione, turning bright, boiling scarlet, "and I was going to ask you to come, but if you think it's that stupid then I won't bother!"

"You were going to ask me?" asked Ron, in a completely different voice.

"Yes," said Hermione angrily. "But obviously if you'd rather I hooked up with McLaggen..."

There was a pause.

"No, I wouldn't," said Ron, in a very quiet voice.

For the next few days she spent time with Ron and felt happy in his presence.

What she didn't know was that a fight between siblings was about to ruin all that for her.

Ginny POV

Ron had been moaning and moaning about her and Dean and finally she'd had enough.

"Harry's snogged Cho Chang!" shouted Ginny, who sounded close to tears now. "And Hermione snogged Viktor Krum, it's only you who acts like it's something disgusting, Ron, and that's because you've got about as much experience as a twelve-year-old!"

Hermione POV

When she returned to the common room Ginny and Ron were sitting awkwardly across from each other with Ron glaring at Ginny. As he spotted Hermione enter the room he got up and stomped off to the boys dormitories, confusing Hermione.

"What's up with Ron?" asked Hermione as she sat down next to Ginny.

"Oh Hermione, I'm sorry, he was whining about me and Dean and I let slip that you kissed Viktor. I thought he knew."

"Oh," said Hermione. She still didn't understand why this bothered Ron.