AN- Wow! I actually updated earlier this time! I'm proud of myself! haha. On with chapter 8!

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or any of its characters.

Recap

Cho looked taken aback, but continued on, "Well, nice to meet you, Hermione," she said, with a strange glint in her eyes, "Good to see you Harry! Maybe we could hang out sometime!" and with that she walked away, and I heard her say something that sounded strangely like, "Harry's mine."

What a psycho. Good thing Harry's completely over her.

I think.

Two Days Later
Morning

"He forgave her!" Ron cried, as he stormed into the tent, "That bloody bloke forgave her!"

"What happened?" I asked curiously, sitting up from the bed, and letting my book fall onto my lap.

Everyone had left early to go to the Quidditch Festival. All of the booths and food stands were set up last night, in preparation for the first match of the Cup. (AN- It might be kinda confusing, but in this story, the Quidditch World Cup is going to have like preliminary matches, and all that until finally leading up to the finals) I stayed behind, though. We still had about one and a half weeks left, and I could go anytime I wanted to.

"It's Harry! He took Cho back!" fumed Ron.

"What do you mean, 'Took her back'?" I questioned.

"He accepted her apology and all that rubbish. And now, apparently, they're 'going out' again!" cried Ron.

I burst out laughing, "HAHAHA! That's hilarious, Ron! Like Harry would ever get back with Cho!"

Ron looked at me as though I was insane, "I don't know how to tell you this…but it's true. Since the breakfast incident two days ago, she's been tailing Harry day and night. Apologizing to him and asking him to get back together, blah, blah, blah."

My mouth dropped open, and when Ron realized I wasn't going to say anything, he began ranting on and on about Cho.

"I had to put up with three weeks of Harry's skulking because of her! When they broke up after fourth year, he was completely crushed. He might as well have not come to the Burrow that summer! All he did was sulk around the house, he didn't play wizards' chess, he didn't play Quidditch, he didn't even help me drop dung bombs on Percy!" cried Ron.

I nodded my head in agreement. I was already annoyed with one day of Harry's depression. I can't begin to imagine having to put up with three weeks of it!

"Why'd they break up in the first place?" I asked. It seemed to be a big mystery.

"Because she was studying abroad, and she didn't want Harry to 'distract' her from her studies! That's what she told Harry at least," Ron scoffed, "But I know for a fact that that's a load of dung. She found out that there were plenty of rich blokes that were attending her school, so she ditched Harry. Just like that!"

"How'd you figure that out?"

"Bill told me! He knows some of the teachers over there and, apparently, the whole school knows that Cho Chang is the school tramp that's been trying to get with almost every single guy at her school!"

I gasped, "That's low. Even for her!" but my surprise quickly morphed into anger, "Why on earth did Harry forgive her?!"

"He doesn't know…" answered Ron quietly, "If I told him that Cho left him for other guys, he'd probably drown himself. I mean, look, Cho didn't even tell him that she doesn't like him anymore. She just said that they couldn't be together cause she needed to focus on school. So Harry always thought that she still had feelings for him, you know? Even so, he was still a walking zombie just cause Cho went away. Imagine what he'd do if he found out that she left him for some rich guys!"

"I thought Harry was loaded! Why would she leave Harry if he's rich?"

"Cause he technically wasn't back then. During fourth year, Sirius, that's Harry godfather by the way," Ron added, "Was still alive, and he wanted to keep Harry's inheritance safe, so he didn't tell Harry about it. It was after he died that Harry found out that he was rich."

I nodded my head, but I still wasn't going to believe that Harry had forgiven that horrible girl, "The last time I saw them, Harry was pretty ticked off at her. Why the sudden change of heart?"

"Well, I told you! Harry always had a small shred of hope that Cho would come back. But over the years, he finally got over it. He actually got kinda mad that she didn't even try to talk to him after she moved. No letters, no phone calls, nothing. But when she came back a few weeks ago-"

"Harry's old feelings came back," I moaned.

"He tried to ignore her! He really did! But he finally gave in…"

"How could he? That stupid idiot…" I muttered angrily, feeling oddly possessive.

"Jealous, now, aren't you?" Ron teased.

"Am not," I growled, and threw a pillow at him.

"Well, hurry up! Get ready!" Ron chirped, changing the conversation.

"Ready for what?" I asked.

"You didn't forget, did you? Our little Get Luna To Stop Annoying Ron Operation?"

"Oh…right. That," I mumbled. We were supposed to talk to Luna two days ago, but after Cho's appearance, we decided to postpone it.

"Hurry up, then!" Ron said, shooing me into Ginny's tent to get changed, "I came back before everyone else, so that we could get this over with without anyone knowing."

"Fat chance…" I muttered, knowing full well that our little plan was bound to have some complications.

"I think her tent's this way…." I said turning left on the trial.

"You better be right," Ron grumbled, "You already got us lost twice!"

"Those were accidents!" I snapped. It was a big campground, and I wasn't exactly the best at remembering directions.

After about five minutes of brisk walking, we finally arrived at a small, isolated clearing, where two lone tents stood.

"Figures they'd pick a weird spot to camp…" growled Ron, who was in a bad mood already.

I ignored him, "Luna? Are you here?"

We heard some shuffling inside one of the tents, and out popped Luna's head.

"Ron! Hermione!" she called excitedly, and jumped out of her tent, "What a nice surprise!"

"Err..yeah…" I started nervously, "Actually, we wanted to talk to you about something."

"Oh, really? What is it? Is it important?" Luna asked curiously.

"Uhm…Luna? Are you alone? Is your father here?" Ron asked suddenly.

Luna looked confused, but answered the question anyways, "Nope. He's out taking pictures for The Quibbler."

"Oh…Just wondering…" Ron said nervously.

I stared at Ron, trying to figure out why he would ask Luna such a random question.

Luna went to fetch something from her tent, and Ron quickly whispered in my ear, "Her dad's not here! Now if she gets mad, she can murder us, and there will be no witnesses!"

"Don't be stupid, Ron!" I hissed.

"Yeah..whatever. But don't expect me to save your sorry arse when she goes nuts. She's bound to go for you first anyways…"

"So, what'd you want to talk to me about?" Luna said, walking out of her tent.

"Uhmm…Well, you see…" Ron began, then chickened out, "Hermione, you tell her!"

"No, you!" I snapped back.

"I don't wanna! You go!" cried Ron, who seemed to be scared beyond his wits.

"Fine!" I said, annoyed, "Luna…you know Ron and I treasure your friendship dearly, don't you?" She nodded, "So, we wanted you to be the first to know thatRonandIaregoingout!"

"What?" Luna said, confused, "I didn't hear the last bit."

I nudged Ron in the stomach, I started it, so he was going to finish it.

"Hermione and I…" Ron sucked in some breath, "We're dating!"

Luna looked bewildered, "You mean…dating dating?"

"Errr..yeah…" I said, not quite sure what she meant by that.

She didn't speak for about a minute, but to Ron and I, it felt like ages. I could see Ron glancing around the site, searching for a quick escape route.

"Congratulations," she said finally.

"What?!" Ron and I both cried.

"Congratulations! I'm happy for you!" Luna said, although she certainly didn't seem happy.

"Are you okay? Are you sick or anything?" I asked, genuinely concerned. We were expecting Luna to go nuts, not be happy for us.

"Yeah, I'm fine," She said nonchalantly, "I'm gonna go back into my tent now, if you don't mind." And she shuffled back into her tent.

Guilt was tugging at my heart. I can't believe I just did that! Luna's crushed! I know we haven't been the best of friends, but I still care about her. How could I have done this?

"Wow!" cried a flabbergasted Ron, "That went a lot better than I thought it would!"

"Ron!" I snapped angrily, "Couldn't you tell she was heartbroken? She was devastated!"

"Devastated is better than murderous!" Ron countered.

"She's still our friend! Don't you feel the least bit guilty?"

Ron shrugged, and began walking down the trail to lead us back, "Come on! Everyone's probably wondering where we are."

Later That Day

"Mrs. Weasley? Would you mind cooking a little bit more tonight?" inquired Harry, "I invited someone over."

"Sure, Harry, dear!" Mrs. Weasley replied cheerfully, "The more the merrier!"

"Who'd you invite?" I asked Harry.

"Cho," He replied nervously, his cheeks tinted red.

"Oh," was all I managed to say. I was not looking forward to eating with that lying, cheating, no good little monster.

"Mum! Cook more, okay! I invited Luna over too!" Ginny called from her tent.

I spit my pumpkin juice out, all over Harry.

"Okay, dear!" answered Mrs. Weasley.

"You okay, Herman?" Harry asked, patting my back, although obviously disgusted by the pumpkin juice that was all over his shirt.

"Yeah…I choked. Sorry 'bout that!" I said meekly.

"It's alright," He smiled, "I'm gonna go change now."

Once he was gone, I stormed into Ginny's tent, "How could you invite Luna!?!"

Ginny looked up from her Witch Weekly, "What do you mean, how? Her father's busy and I didn't want her to be alone!"

I groaned, knowing that inviting her over was the right thing to do, but I was still angry.

"You have no idea what happened this morning!" I cried, flinging myself onto Ginny's bed, "It's a really long story, but she kinda thinks Ron and I are going out."

Ginny looked at me flabbergasted, but decided not to ask, "I don't wanna know…But what do you want me to do about it? I can't leave her all by herself! There are some really weird maniacs out here!"

"I know, I know!" I said hastily, "I just need you to try and keep the conversation away from Ron and I, okay?"

"Sure..but why? It's not like anyone would really care…" Ginny trailed off, "Unless you're talking about Harry!"

"I'm not!" I quickly said, "I just don't want your Mum, and your brothers getting the wrong idea!"

Ginny scoffed, "Yeah, right! You don't want Harry to get the wrong idea!"

"I don't care about Harry!" I snapped, "Besides…he's gonna be too caught up in Cho to notice anything!"

"Is little Hermione jealous?" teased Ginny, who burst out laughing.

I ignored her and said, "Just help me, okay? She knows about the whole Herman/Hermione thing too, and I don't want her to get mad and accidentally blurt it out."

"Don't worry! Nothing's gonna go wrong!" Ginny exclaimed.

I glanced at her, raising my eyebrows.

"I hope."

Few Hours Later

Dinner was taking place in Mr. and Mrs. Weasleys' tent, since it was the largest. Harry was already seated, fidgeting with the tablecloth.

"Calm down, Harry!" I cried, "You look like you're about to face off against Voldemort!"

"Haha. Hilarious," Harry said sarcastically, "Cho's going to be here any minute now, and nobody's even ready yet! Bill and Charlie wandered off somewhere, I don't even wanna know what Fred and George are doing. And Ginny's went to go fetch Luna-"

"By herself?" I said shocked, "If you haven't realized it yet, it's dark out! She could get attacked by maniacs!"

"What maniacs?" Harry retorted, "It's perfectly safe here!"

I scoffed, "Well, what about erklings? Blast-Ended Skrewts? Streelers?"

"Even if they were here, they'd be in the forest. Not near the campground!" reasoned Harry.

"Luna's campsite is right next to the forest, you prat!"

Harry gaped at me, "Oh…."

Just that moment, everyone stormed into the tent. Ron, George, Fred, Bill, Charlie, and, thank goodness, Ginny and Luna.

I scowled at Harry, "You're lucky they didn't get eaten!"

He grinned sheepishly, and was about to say something until a shrill voice called into the tent.

"Hello? Anybody here?"

"Of course there's people here, idiot!" I mumbled under my breath.

Harry rushed out of his seat to greet Cho while everyone else took a seat at the table. Mr. Weasley sat at the head of the table, with Mrs. Weasley at his right. I stayed in my seat next to Harry, with Ron on my left. Oh, and just my luck, Luna was sitting across from me.

"Wow, what a nice meal, Mrs. Weasley!" gushed Cho, "You must be a wonderful cook!"

"Suck up," I distinctly heard Ginny mutter.

Mrs. Weasley smiled politely, although I had a feeling she didn't like Cho either. Maybe she knew about her relationship with Harry. I wouldn't be surprised. Mrs. Weasley knows everything.

"Dig in, everyone!" exclaimed Mrs. Weasley, and everyone began tackling the dishes and conversation started.

"How's your father, Luna, dear?" asked Mrs. Weasley.

"Oh, he's fine. Just busy with the newspaper's all."

"You must get quite lonely…What'd you do all day?"

I gulped. Please don't say anything about…

"Actually, I had a little outing with Hermione and Ron today!" she grinned, mischievously.

"Oh, really, now? No wonder Ronald left early…Why didn't you tell us you were meeting Hermione? You should have invited her to come to dinner!" exclaimed Mrs. Weasley to Ron.

"Errr…" Ron mumbled. Ron certainly wasn't going to be able to get out of this one. So I did the only thing I could do. Get Ginny to help.

I cleared my throat loudly, enough to get Ginny's attention.

"She couldn't make it," Ginny quickly lied, "I talked to her about it and she said she was busy."

Mrs. Weasley nodded, but I knew Luna wasn't quite done yet.

"That's too bad. I would've been good for Hermione to come tonight. It would give her a chance to bond with her boyfriend's family!" she exclaimed loudly.

And just like that, all my guilt washed away. Note to self: Remember to kill Luna.

Everyone looked at her, confused. Everyone except for Ron, Ginny, and myself, of course.

"What on earth are you talking about?" asked Mrs. Weasley kindly, but curiously.

Luna said, surprised, "You mean you didn't tell them yet, Ron?"

Ron gulped loudly, and looked at me for help. I shrugged my shoulders helplessly. There's nothing we can do now.

"You see, Hermione and Ron are dating!" announced Luna loudly.

Forks and spoons clanged onto the plates as everyone gasped in surprise.

"Really?!" exclaimed Cho, who seemed positively delighted.

Luna nodded, and this brought everyone out of their trance.

"Congrats, Ron!" laughed Fred and George, "Finally managed to snag yourself a girl!"

Luna smiled triumphantly, and the smirk she directed at Ron and I was worthy of Malfoy.

Now, everyone was talking enthusiastically, discussing Ron and I. Everyone but Harry, that is. He was deathly quiet, and didn't even respond to Cho.

Gah! I'm so stupid! I should've told Harry! Now he thinks Ron and I are dating! Harry thinking that Ron and I were involved made me strangely depressed. Maybe cause we're best friends…Yeah. That must be why.

"That's wonderful!" cried Cho, who was downright ecstatic, "We should double date sometime! Harry and I, and Ron and Hermione!"

"What a great idea, Cho!" agreed Luna. Note To Self: Never ever talk to Luna again.

"Uhmm..I don't think that's such a great idea," I said, trying to change their minds.

"Why not?" Luna mocked, "If I'm not mistaken, you don't even know Hermione!"

I hate you Luna. I really do. How on earth did I ever get along with this woman!? I shrunk back into my seat, knowing full well that if I said anything more, Luna was sure to reveal my secret.

"So it's set then!" Cho said excitedly, "How about tomorrow? The Chudley Cannons/ Tutshill Tornadoes match begins at six o' clock tomorrow. We wouldn't want to miss that, now would we? So why don't we meet here at around two thirtyish?"

"Errr…" Ron and Harry both grumbled. They didn't look the least bit interested in going.

"You should go, Ron, Harry!" urged Mrs. Weasley happily, "Besides, you have no plans for tomorrow."

Ron couldn't object to his Mum, so he agreed to go, as did Harry after much persuading.

"I'll go tell Hermione later then," grumbled Ron, and gave me a knowing glance, "What are we going to do tomorrow, anyways?"

Cho shrugged, and looked to Harry for ideas. But much to my pleasure, he ignored her.

"How about a picnic?" suggested Mrs. Weasley.

Ron nodded enthusiastically at this idea, and forgot his previous problems.

"I'll prepare the food then," Mrs. Weasley squealed, "This is going to be wonderful! My little Ronniekins going out on a date!"

"Mum!" groaned Ron, who immediately received sniggers from his brothers.

The rest of dinner went by without a hitch, and after Cho left, everyone felt slightly more relaxed. Finally it was time for Luna to go home as well. Charlie and Bill volunteered to guide her home, and they were waiting for her in front of the tent as she bid farewell to the rest of the family.

"I hate you, you know that right?" I growled as she came over to me.

"Yes. I do," Luna said smugly, "I might have gone a little over the top, but you can't blame me, can you? I mean, you're a girl too-" Luna paused, "You're not one right now, but that's beside the point. Anyways, you can't have expected me to not to feel the least bit hurt, now did you?"

I shrugged my shoulders stubbornly, and she continued on.

"Well, we're even now, okay? Don't worry…I'm not gonna tell anyone else about your Herman/Hermione plans. Making you go on a double date with Ron, Harry, and Cho is punishment enough for stealing Ron from me," Luna said logically.

"I didn't steal Ron from you," I snapped, which was the only thing I could come up with, without blurting out the fact that Ron and I were just acting.

Luna rolled her eyes, "You'll know I feel. Watching the love of your life with some other girl."

"Who? Harry?" I snorted, "He is not the love of my life!"

"Yeah…whatever you say!" Luna said sarcastically, "I'll bet you'd have gotten into a fight with Cho by tomorrow night!"

"Good night, Luna!" I said, ending the conversation.

"Have fun tomorrow, Herman!" teased Luna, and ran up to get Bill and Charlie.

I swear. I have no idea how Ginny puts up with her!

The Next Day
2:30 pm

"All set?" asked Cho, enthusiastically.

The three of us grumbled in response, and we set off, with Ron carrying the humongous picnic basket Mrs. Weasley had prepared.

"Where should we go then?" I asked, not sure where we were going to have our little picnic.

Cho grinned, "I know the perfect place!" And she took the lead, with Harry, Ron and I tagging along.

At first, we were following a trial, but soon, Cho cut into the forest and the path disappeared.

"Are you sure you know where we're going?" I asked nervously. It was trees and bushes around us…I don't think there's anyways you could find your way through.

"Of course I do!" snapped Cho, and she continued walking at a brisk pace for another fifteen minutes.

Cho was basically the only that was talking. Harry was strangely quiet, although occasionally giving Ron death glares. I was relieved when Cho finally said, "We're here!" and Ron dropped the basket with a loud 'thump.'

Even though it pains me to say this, Cho really did pick the perfect spot. I would've never guessed that in the middle of the forest, there would be a pond, and now there was a huge lake in front of us.

"Wow…" I whispered in awe, "How'd you find this place?"

"I flew over it one time, so I come once in awhile to enjoy the view. I don't think anyone knows about it..I've never seen anyone else here," Cho explained.

I stood there, admiring the glistening lake, while I heard Ron opening the basket and laying out all the food, not even giving the view a second glance. I walked over to Ron, and saw that Mrs. Weasley had packed a feast in the little picnic basket. She must have jinxed it, because there's no way that much food could've fit inside that little basket!

Ron didn't even wait for us to sit down. He immediately began digging in, stuffing everything within reach into his mouth.

"That's disgusting, Ron," I noted, and, as usually, he ignored me.

Once again, Cho took control of the conversation, and began telling us her life story. Harry and I tuned her out, and since Ron was busying stuffing his face, Cho was basically talking to herself, but she didn't mind.

I kept on sneaking glances at Harry, seeing if he was going to say anything, but he never did. He seemed to be deep in thought.

Finally, at ten till five, Ron declared that he was full. Not that any of us cared. We were finished about an hour ago.

"Now what?" I asked, looking around and seeing nothing to do.

"I was thinking about returning early…The Chudley Cannons are playing, and I want to get a good seat," said Ron nervously. That's just like him. Eating, then leaving.

"Oh..okay, then" said Cho, agreeing with Ron, "I want to go back too. Wouldn't want to miss the Tutstill Tornadoes!"

Ron glared at her, "You support the Tornadoes?"

"Of course!" snapped Cho, "Have you seen their seeker? He's much better than that Krum fellow!"

"He is not!" snarled Ron, who was the Chudley Cannons number one fan, "The Cannons are gonna squash the Tornadoes!"

"Well, come on then!" cried Cho, "Let's get going!"

"I wanna stay for a bit," Harry said quietly.

We all stared at him. He had barely said anything the whole day.

"Why, Harry? Don't you want to go back and watch the match?" asked Cho, trying to persuade Harry to go. She certainly didn't want to miss the match.

"You guys can go ahead," replied Harry, "I know the way back."

"Are you sure, Harry?" asked Cho, although I was sure, whatever his answer would be, she would leave anyway.

Harry nodded his head, and Cho simply shrugged her shoulders.

"Let's go then!" Cho exclaimed, and began making her way out the clearing.

"Do you want me to stay, Harry?" asked Ron, genuinely concerned.

"No, I'll stay," I cut in, "Go watch the game, Ron. I don't really care about the match anyways."

Ron smiled, relieved, and followed Cho. She glared at me, but didn't object. Big surprise. There's no way she was gonna miss this match.

After they left, Harry and I just lay there, on our backs, at the edge of the lake, staring into the cloudless sky. And this wasn't even an awkward silence. It was a comfortable silence, which I savored. I haven't been able to just sit and relax for a long time.

After about twenty minutes, Harry finally broke the silence, "So…you and Ron…"

I let out a sigh, knowing that Harry was going to ask sooner of later, "Harry…" I began softly, "I don't know how to tell you this…But it's all an act."

Harry immediately sat up, and leaned over me, staring at me with his mesmerizing green eyes; Trying to see what I was getting at.

I blushed, and looked away. "It was all a joke, Harry. A plan, a set up..whatever you want to call it. Ron just wanted to get Luna off his back, you know? So he came up with this plan that we were dating so Luna wouldn't bother him anymore."

Harry looked skeptical, "If it was all an act, then why didn't you guys tell me?"

"Because…" I stammered, not sure what to say, "I'm not sure if you know this or not, but you're a terrible liar. And telling you wouldn't have been the brightest move, now would it?"

"Still…" Harry said stubbornly, "You could've told me. You won't believe how nervous I was! I kept on thinking that my two best friends were going to leave me behind!"

"Well, you know now," I replied curtly, "But if it makes you feel better, I swear that I will never, ever, lie to you again, okay?"

"Yes. That does make me feel better!" chuckled Harry, and my guilt of lying to Harry was immediately relieved.

We both lay down again on the grass, staring at the clear blue sky. Then I decided it was my turn to speak up.

"How about you and Cho?" I asked casually. I could feel his eyes on me, but I ignored it, and waited patiently for his answer.

"I've been thinking…" he began, "I don't think it's gonna work out. I mean, you can tell, she's completely self absorbed! Not to mention obnoxious and annoying and clingy and rude and-"

My heart soared at those words, and it took all my self control not to jump up and start cheering. "Oh, really? I would've never guessed. She seems like an angel!" I said sarcastically.

Harry raised his eyebrows, but continued on, "I think I'm going to breakup with her…tonight," he said nonchalantly, "But for good."

"Are you sure, Harry?" I asked sympathetically, although I really hoped he wasn't going to change his mind.

"Yeah," Harry replied, "I'm sure."

And we lay there for another twenty minutes, not talking. I closed my eyes and basked in the sunlight, feeling genuinely happy. All my problems and worries were gone.

"Should we go now, then?" inquired Harry, breaking the silence.

I nodded, and Harry got up, and lent me his hand. I grabbed it and he pulled me up. We brushed ourselves off before we began our trek back to the campsite.

"Why can't we just apparate back?" asked Harry, who wasn't looking forward to the long journey back.

"It's like Hogwarts," I explained, "Since the Cup's such a big event, they don't want to risk any dangerous wizards to apparate here and wreck havoc and what not."

"That blows…" Harry replied, and we began walking back.

oooooooooooooo

"Harry, the match is going to start in ten minutes!" I exclaimed.

"Okay, let's hurry then!" Harry said briskly, cutting through the forest.

"You do know where you're going, right?"

"Of course I do!"

"Then how come we passed the same tree two times?"

"Wha-What are you talking about?"

"We passed the same tree twice, Harry! I remember there was a big gash along the trunk!"

"No we didn't."

"Yes, we did!"

"No, we didn't!"

"Yes, we did!"

"Okay…Maybe we did."

I groaned in frustration, "We're not lost, are we?"

"Of course not!" said Harry offended, and began walking even faster.

After half an hour I cried, "We're lost aren't we?"

This time, Harry didn't even bother to object, "Yes. We are."

"HARRY!" I yelled, "We could get eaten! There are creatures in here, you know? Erklings and Blast-Ended Skrewts and Streelers!"

"Strange…" Harry muttered, "That's exactly what Herman said!"

I gulped loudly. I gotta be more careful. "Now what?" I cried, exasperated.

"Don't worry! Let's just walk around…I'm sure I'll see something familiar, that will jog my memory. Then we'll be back in no time. There's no use in hurrying anyways. The match's already started…and I don't really fancy the Cannons or the Tornadoes."

"Whatever you say…" I sighed, and continued tailing Harry.

oooooooooooooooooo

One and a half hours later

"If we're not back in ten minutes, I swear I'm going to drop dead!" I yelled to Harry.

Harry turned around and grinned sheepishly at me, "Don't get mad, okay, Hermione?"

"Why would I be mad?" I asked suspiciously.

"Because I have absolutely no idea where we are."

I stopped dead in my tracks. For the past hour, Harry's been reassuring me with little 'We'll be there soon' and 'Oh, I recognize this! We should be close!'

"Harry, you prat!" I exploded, "It's getting dark, if you haven't noticed! And that's when they come out! The erklings, skrewts, streelers…and werewolves! And trolls! And dragons!"

"Calm down, Hermione!" cried Harry, who grabbed me by the shoulders, "you're getting paranoid! There aren't any werewolves, or trolls, or dragons here! You, of all people, should know that!"

I thought for awhile…and what Harry said was true. Werewolves, trolls, and dragons don't live in forests! Maybe I am getting paranoid….

"The worst would be blast-ended skrewts!" Harry concluded.

"That makes me feel loads better. Thanks, Harry," I said sarcastically.

He smiled cheekily, and we, once again, began wandering the forest. At this point, we already had our wands out, and they were the only things lighting our way through the dark.

"Isn't there a spell you know that could get us out of here?" whined Harry, who was also beginning to tire.

I racked my brains for spells that could help us…but for once, I couldn't think of anything. The 'point me' incantation would only tell us where North is, and right now, we have no idea where anything is. I suppose we could shoot sparks into the air…but I doubt anyone would take notice of it. They'd probably think it was some fans celebrating.

"I've got nothing…" I replied, disappointed.

Harry moaned in frustration, "It must be at least 8:30 or 9, right? Do you Ron will come looking for us?"

I shrugged my shoulders, "I have no idea. I'm too tired to think," I complained.

"We can rest if you want," suggested Harry, and agreed enthusiastically.

We found a relatively comfy spot, which we cleared and cleaned with some spells. We even used a cushioning charm to make it more comfortable to lay on, and soon, Harry already started a fire with a simple spell.

"I'm wiped!" I cried, exhausted, and lay down. Harry and I had both extinguished our wands, so the fire was our only source of light. And the fire was relatively small too, as to not attract anything that might be lurking in the forest.

Harry lay down beside me, and soon, we were huddled against each other, trying to conserve heat.

"You know this is all your fault, right?" I said quietly, half asleep.

"Yeah…" murmured Harry, who seemed even more tired than I was.

And then…we feel asleep.

Then all of a sudden, I heard a sharp 'crack' of a stick being stepped on, not too close to us, but not too far, and my eyes shot open.

At this point, Harry's arms were wrapped around me protectively, and I didn't want to ruin the moment, but I was scared out of my wits.

"Harry," I whispered urgently into his ear, "Did you hear that?"

"Mhh-hmm…" muttered Harry, who was still deep in sleep.

"Wake up!" I hissed, and lightly pushed him.

"Okay, okay!" Harry snapped, opening his eyes, "What is it?"

"Did you hear that?" I repeated.

"Hear what?"

"Hear a twig snap."

"Could've been a bird," he answered logically.

"Go check!" I said, scared.

"Why me?" whined Harry, who began to close his eyes again.

"Just go!" I retorted, and he groaned, unwrapping his arms from me. The instance Harry released his embrace, I instantly regretted waking him up. Maybe it's because he was shielding me from the cold….yeah. That's it.

Harry retrieved his wand from his back pocket, and quietly began walking towards the area where I had heard the noise.

Whew…there's chapter 8. I had to revise this chapter a lot! My original chapter 8 is completely different! But I hope I change it for the better! lol. Anyways, I hope this chapter isn't too confusing.

So…next chapter. Hermione starts to realized feelings about Harry. Since she's been thinking of excuses this whole chapter..she'll finalyl give in...I think. haha. You'll have to wait and see. Also, you'll find out what…or who…Hermione heard in the forest and ultimately how Harry and Hermione get out. And also, the Harry/Cho breakup! I'm looking forward to writing that…haha. Maybe that'll motivate me to update earlier.

Once again, comment please! Ideas, suggestions, mistakes I made, anything will be good!

Till chapter 9! Byee!

Thanks very very much to the people who commented: HeartAngel. pinkbaguette. Silbemetato. Lily and James 4 ever. Gurlonthemove. Hotkat144. SavageGardenFan. Harry's My Boy. The Celtic Amazon. Nymoue. The Gryffindor Drummer.

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