Harry wasn't sure which aftereffect of a Hermione kiss was his favorite: The unfamiliar, warm, almost not there wetness on his lips, the pleasant lightheadedness, or the sense that his heart was racing faster than the Hogwarts Express. He'd quite like to experience all of them again, but the sound of footsteps on the staircase below deprived him of the opportunity.

Hermione reached down, snatched the Firebolt by the handle, and shoved it back into his hands.

"Get out!" she hissed.

Harry gave her one more small peck, hopped on, and zoomed out the open window. He heard a voice in the background ask, "Why's the window open?"

"Oh, I was just sending an owl," Hermione lied.

Harry grinned, and his exuberance led him to perform a series of loop de loops.

"That was a brilliant kiss," he thought, recycling the one word that seemed to capture most of his recent thoughts about his friend. "Absolu-"

CRACK!

As he was paying no attention as to where he was flying, Harry exited his loop and smashed right into the corner of the roof, nearly falling off his broom in the process. He took a much more direct, celebration free route back to his own room after that.

After he was done changing out of his wet clothes, Ron came back into the room.

"Finally got that damn paper done," he bragged. "Now I don't have to worry about goblins and their stupid wars for a good chunk of time." He frowned when he noticed the sopping wet clothes on the ground. "What've you been up to, mate?"

"Went for a fly around the Quidditch pitch. I hadn't flown in forever. It was nice."

"That's cool," Ron answered quietly. The altercation from earlier in the week was still poisoning the silence. "Look, Harry, I'm sorry I was so stupid about the Yule Ball earlier. It…you couldn't have known I was thinking about asking Hermione, you were right. I was just worried I'd end up being the only one to not get a date. So…I guess we'll try to make the night as fun as possible, then?" he asked, rocking on his heels.

"Yeah, definitely," Harry agreed. An easy grin slid across Ron's face.

"Alright, sounds good. I feel like I owe Hermione more of an apology, too. Where is she, anyway? I'm surprised I didn't see her when I was in the library. Even on breaks, she still loves to go there," he laughed.

"She's in her room."

"That didn't come out too quickly or anything." Harry began backtracking. "I think she's there, at least. I mean, she told me she was going there to do…something, something with her house elf thing, maybe."

Ron rolled his eyes. "The house elf freedom fight lives on. She just doesn't get it, does she? Most of them like their lives how they are and Dobby's…well…"

"A nutter?"

"Yeah!" Ron nodded. "You get those weird types in all sorts of families. Charlie knows this bloke who swore off magic once he married a Muggle. Said life like that was much simpler. But not every wizard who fancies a Muggle wants to do that, know what I mean?"

"Exactly." Harry grimaced at the thought of trying to convince Hermione to see things from their viewpoint. She was incredibly stubborn.

"I mean, yeah, wizards could probably treat them better, but when it comes to the whole being paid, working like a normal person thing, they really don't like the idea of it," Ron continued. His stomach rumbled. "Speaking of house elves, think they'd mind if we paid them a visit, got something to tide ourselves over before dinner?"

"Nope, I don't think they'd mind at all." Harry followed his friend out of the dormitory and ran smack into Hermione.

"Oh, hello." She and Harry gained a sudden interest in looking at the moving portraits in the common room.

Ron fired off his apology rapidly. "Listen, Hermione. I wanted to really apologize for being such a git lately. I was just stupid, thinking that no one else would ask you to the ball, and then the whole rushing to find a date thing just set me off. So, yeah. Sorry."

She smiled. "Well, thank you, Ronald. I appreciate it."

He met her smile with one of his own. "So, where are you going?"

"Down to the kitchen."

"Same here. You feeling peckish, too?" Ron asked.

"No, I'm going to talk to the house elves about S.P.E.W." She had a few small leaflets tucked under her arm. "They deserve better rights. Think about everything they do for us-"

Ron groaned. "Hermione, will you please give it up? House elves like working! It's just how they are."

She shot him a look. "They only like it because the wizarding world has brainwashed them for its own convenience. Harry, you agree with me, right?"

His thoughts were somewhere else, focused on something that had happened three staircases above where they were now… "Err…sorry, what?"

She sighed. "House elves should have equal rights, shouldn't they?"

"Well…I dunno." He scratched his head. "I guess if they want them…but they always seem so happy, like Ron said." Her eyes narrowed. Parroting Ron had been a bad choice. "Wizards should start treating them better, though," he added, making an effort to placate Hermione. It didn't work.

"Well, I'm surprised you think that way, Harry, considering you practically were a house elf yourself before you came to Hogwarts. Doing all the chores, being treated like rubbish. Guess I was wrong to assume you'd have a bit of sympathy for them." She stalked ahead of the two males.

Ron whispered out the side of his mouth, "Geez, she's in a state."

"Yeah. Looks like it's my turn to apologize."

They arrived at the hidden kitchen door well after the speed walking Hermione. She was at Winky's side. The house elf was still distraught over being fired by Mr. Crouch. The pillowcase she wore as a shirt was a wrinkled, stained mess. The pristine white cloth had faded to gray, like snow that lives on the side of the road for too long.

"Winky, you can't worry about Mr. Crouch. He's doing fine without you-and think how he treated you," Hermione patted the creature on the shoulder. "You'll come to love Hogwarts, I'm sure."

"Nooo…Mr. Crouch needs his Winky!" she moaned, jerking away from the girl. "The Winky family has served…only him…only the Crouch family for so long."

"Yes, but…" Winky turned away. Hermione gave a look at the boys, who were enjoying a bit of treacle tart. "Help me!" she hissed.

Harry walked over and pointed his wand at Winky's clothes. "Scourgify." The stains vanished. He also grabbed a glass from near the sink, filled it with water, and gave it to the house elf. "Here, drink this, Winky. You'll feel better." He offered her the glass. She gulped it down as quickly as possible, then moved to another bench, away from the pair. Dobby came over to them, shaking his head.

"Dobby thanks Harry Potter and his friend…" He looked up politely with those wide eyes, waiting for a name.

"Hermione," she answered, smiling at his manners.

"Dobby thanks Harry Potter and Hermione for coming to visit. But Winky is not doing so well," he fretted, hanging his head. "Still wanting her old master is Winky. She does not understand that she is free to help others. Dobby worries about her."

"It's too bad the rest of the house elves don't have your attitude, Dobby," Hermione said in a hushed tone. Indeed, everyone else seemed to shun Winky.

"House elves are supposed to work. A house elf who does not work is not respected, miss Hermione. That is the way. Dobby does not follow it, but most of his kind do."

The elves had sensed Hermione's hostility, and soon she, Ron, and Harry found themselves escorted out to the tune of "Must work more" and "Please leave."

"Goodbye," Dobby waved miserably.

"Well…like I said, they just want to work, don't they?" Ron shrugged, taking a bite out of a brownie. "Not much we can do about it, as far as I can tell."

Hermione rolled her eyes, but took advantage of Ron's intense focus on his sweets to slip her hand into Harry's. "Thank you for helping," she mouthed.

"No problem," he whispered. They slid away from one another as Ron suffered a coughing fit, but the tiny bit of added warmth in their hands reminded both Harry and Hermione that in just a few nights, they'd need no excuse to be pressed close together.