Disclaimer: If I owned Harry Potter, I'd be rich… but I'm not… 'nuff said.

Authors Note: Well, I went ahead and started on this one before I even got a first hit on chapter 2. I'm going to complete this story no matter what, and at the moment I have naught but free time. On with the show!

"Talking"

'Thinking'

"Speaking entirely in French"

Narrative

At A Glance

Chapter 3: Realizations at a glance

In order to expedite the process, Hermione got up extra early and headed down to grab breakfast. She had figured that Harry, after his spat with Ron, would not exactly be up to dealing with the rest of the school down in the dining hall. Hell, he'd have to deal with them later anyway, so she might as well prolong the inevitable. It certainly had nothing to do with the fact that she was trying to get him alone to talk to him… right?

"Harry!" Hermione yelled to get his attention as he stepped out from behind the Fat Lady's portrait.

"Oh, hey Hermione." was the solemn reply from Harry, who already looked a bit defeated "You already finished breakfast?"

"Yes, and I brought you some as well." she said as she brought out a miniature plate and her wand "Engorgio!"

After the plate was of a usable size, revealing a decent amount of food, Hermione suggested that the two of them go for a walk rather than head down to the dining hall and deal with the various students who, no doubt, didn't believe him when he said that he didn't put his name in the Goblet of Fire. Much like Hermione had the night before, the duo made their way out to the grounds, where they were sure nobody would be around to overhear the conversation. Luckily, Harry had finished off what little food he actually wanted to eat, so Hermione had shrunk it back down so they didn't have to carry it around anymore.

"Come on Harry!" Hermione said in a somewhat forced tone of happiness after they had done a bit of walking "I'm sure all those prats will realize you're telling the truth."

"'Those prats' includes Ron." Harry muttered darkly "My other best mate doesn't even believe me."

"Oh come on, you and I both know how Ron can be. He's just jealous of you getting all the attention." Hermione stated with a sad grin, only then realizing just what the people who attempted to… 'console' her were feeling when they gave her that same smile.

They had hated to see their friend suffer with their own thoughts.

"Well, that doesn't make it any easier." Harry once again replied with a hint of disdain to his voice "It's not like I wanted the attention..."

'Wow… is this how I've been… more or less?' Hermione wondered absentmindedly as she tried to think of something else to say "Don't worry Harry, Ron'll come around soon enough, and so will everyone else in the school. Everything will get better, I promise."

"Do you believe me?"

"Why wouldn't I? I can't even figure out the enchantment you'd have to use to get the cup to spit another name." Hermione responded with a grin "I believe you without a doubt."

Luckily, this seemed to brighten Harry's mood a bit.

"Thanks Hermione." Harry finally said as a somewhat more normal smile crossed his features "Now what was the other thing you wanted to talk about?"

Hermione's smile dropped at that; she had almost forgotten about her 'problem'.

"Well… I met Fleur last night." Hermione began as her nerves started to kick in.

"Really?" was Harry's response, his eyes going wide with surprise "When did you meet her?"

"…on the grounds… after curfew." Hermione admitted softly, then catching the look Harry was giving her she realized how that might have sounded "I didn't even know she was going to be there, honest!"

"Calm down Hermione, I'm not accusing you of anything here." Harry responded with the hint of a smile "But I'm guessing there was more to it than that."

"Of course…" Hermione replied with a hint of embarrassment "…we got to talking a bit…"

"…yeah… and?" Harry said after Hermione went silent.

"Well… apparently she doesn't much care for Hogwarts…" Hermione continued "…well, except for the people anyway…"

"Okay, I don't see how that's that big a deal." Harry responded with a frown "She seemed a bit stuck up to me when I first saw her."

Hermione found herself a bit irked by that, but that was quickly drowned out by her other emotions.

"Well, I also found out she's a quarter veela."

"That explains a lot." Harry admitted honestly "…but that still doesn't sound like something you'd need to talk to me about."

'…has every one of my friends mastered Legilimancy over the summer?' Hermione found herself wondering as her cheeks flushed a rather vibrant shade of pink 'Or am I just that easy to read?'

"…she… well…" Hermione struggled to find the word, which seemed to be escaping her mental grasp at the moment.

Harry, despite his previous bout of depression, was trying desperately not to laugh at the expression, and actions, of Hermione. He knew he shouldn't be, but he still just couldn't help himself.

"…shekissedme." Hermione finally managed to say, but she couldn't bring herself to not blush and keep walking.

"What was that?" Harry asked curiously, though he had an idea of what Hermione had said "Can you slow that down a bit?"

Hermione had to fight back a lump in her throat as she attempted to explain once more.

"…as she was leaving… she leaned forward… and… she kissed me…" Hermione finally managed in something only barely audible "…on the cheek."

Harry and Hermione had both stopped moving by this point, and Harry seemed to be processing the information rather slowly. In reality, he was trying not to smile for reasons that only Ginny and he knew about.

"Harry?" Hermione squeaked again, feeling uncomfortable with the silence.

"Oh, sorry Hermione." Harry finally replied "But is it really that big a deal? I thought French girls kissed each other on the cheek as greetings or whatnot?"

"They do… but this was… different." Hermione explained as her blushing maintained it's brilliant ferocity.

"…well, what do you take it for then?" Harry asked after a few moments.

"What do you mean?" Hermione asked, though she clearly understood the question.

"What do you think the kiss was for then, Hermione?" Harry reiterated "If it wasn't a normal greeting or goodbye, then what was it?"

Hermione didn't want to answer. She had a few ideas… but none of the answers were going to make her life any easier. She didn't want to think them… let alone speak them to another living being.

"…I don't know…" was Hermione's only response, but she couldn't even look Harry in the eyes when she said it.

Harry let out a sigh, moving to sit down against the side of Hogwarts, motioning for Hermione to do the same. She did so without question, though she still couldn't look at Harry while amidst her thoughts. Harry had to admit though: Hermione didn't blow up at him like she had to Ginny when she had suggested something. How he knew about that should have been rather obvious.

"…I know this is probably the last thing you want to hear at the moment…" Harry began, which was when the warning bells began to go off in Hermione's mind "…but Fleur asked me about you after the Champions' meeting was over."

Hermione felt herself pale, which was in great contrast to her racing heart.

"…she was asking about me?" Hermione whispered, barely audible to the boy-who-lived.

"It wasn't anything much, just your name and simple stuff like that." Harry explained "All I told her was your name, and that you were my friend."

'She did say 'you are interesting' yesterday… she was talking about me alone…' Hermione's mind put together, much to it's own complex pleasure/displeasure 'Then the kiss… does she… maybe…?'

"I'm confused…" Hermione finally relented aloud as she set her head on the wall behind her, not noticing that it had been slightly painful due to the level up in confusion she had attained "Dear Merlin I'm confused…"

Harry had the sense to not say anything at the moment; there wasn't much he could do anyway without it coming across as him trying to force her into something. Harry, as well as Ginny and a few others, already knew the answer, but Hermione was just now asking the question, it seemed. All he could really do was what she had done for him: reassure her and tell her that it would be okay… or something along those lines.

"Look, Hermione-" Harry began, but he wasn't able to get another word out.

"I need to think about this." Hermione finally said, getting up from her spot against the wall and already heading off in a hurry "Bye Harry."

"…bye Hermione." Harry responded loud enough for her to hear, but then his voice dropped to a low mutter for the rest of the sentence "I hope you figure yourself out both right and soon."

For the Next Month…

Hermione found herself about as close to a psychological trainwreck as it was possible to be without being considered 'broken' or insane. She was so terribly, utterly confused, and it was causing her to struggle in class. She wasn't answering questions, though she still answered some and all were completely accurate. Her homework took longer than normal, and on rare occasions she had to rush to complete it. Her nights were fraught with dreams that confused her more, and sometimes she'd simply stay awake contemplating her confusion and it's causes to no avail. She was utterly, utterly miserable and distraught… to begin with.

Then, after the incident in which she was assaulted 'accidentally' by Malfoy and had her teeth enlarged, she managed to slap some sense into herself and get her head straight. She also managed to get her teeth fixed up properly and better than before, but that's beside the point. Her schoolwork and life in general got more organized as she decided to finally solve this 'problem' once and for all. That wasn't to say she wasn't nervous, confused, or otherwise; she simply found the intrinsic motivation to figure it out and not dwell on it the rest of her life.

The first step to her solution began after the wand-weighing, which is when she and Harry began to frequent the library rather often. It was, more or less, accidental, as she was not actually expecting Viktor Krum, who was frequenting the library as well, to fancy her. It proved useful though, for it gave her the opportunity to see if she could find him interesting as well. Unfortunately for the 'rational' portion of her brain, she didn't find him remotely interesting, despite speaking to him once or twice. Sure he was handsome, famous, and was rather intelligent and kind, but she simply didn't find him interesting. She didn't like where this was leading her… but she didn't let it stop her.

The second step was to see just what Fleur's 'deal' was. During meals, she would observe, though some might have called it 'stare at', Fleur. Once or twice she'd find herself caught gazing into the older girl's blue eyes as she stared back, which normally preceded a suggestive smile or smirk that would send her cheeks ablaze and her heart racing. She'd notice Fleur watching her unabashed, and Harry and Ginny both mentioned that she had been asking about her on several occasions. Obviously, Fleur had some type of interest in her, but Hermione didn't think… well, Hermione hoped it was nothing too… 'deep'.

The final step involved a lot of looking around to see just who it was that caught her fancy, as well as a lot of introspection. She slowly realized that she was not as 'innocent' in most of her actions as she had once assumed, such as staring 'out of the window' in one of her classes that just happened to be on the other side of the rather beautiful Lavender. For weeks she found no guy that remotely caught her interest… and was subsequently shocked to realize just how much she noticed about the female students around her, with Fleur being at the forefront of her 'observations'. Looking back on as much of her life as she could remember, as well as taking recent feelings and actions into account, she could see a similar pattern in her life starting even before she joined Hogwarts. It was rather frightening for Hermione; she wasn't quite sure what to do aside from fretting about it, especially when she finally came to a series of conclusions that were… not what she was expecting.

'Maybe… I need to talk to someone again…' Hermione rationalized after quite some time, though it was moments before Harry himself came to ask her for help.

Later…

"Accio Firebolt!" Harry shouted into the sky, his hand extended outwards as his trusty broomstick flew into his hands from some distance away "Excellent!"

Hermione forced herself to smile happily at his success, though she wished silently that it was a bit less lighter than 'pitch black' at the moment.

"Wonderful job Harry. You should have no problem with the dragons tomorrow." she said with somewhat of a happy tone.

"I hope so… otherwise you'll need a couple spells to find all the ashes…" Harry said in a joking manner, though his concern was evident.

"You'll do fine Harry." Hermione reassured "You just have to keep focused and maintain-"

"Constant vigilance?" Harry finished with a smile "Thanks for the advice 'Professor Moody'."

It made Hermione feel a bit better to laugh a bit, but she was still nervous about what she was about to ask.

"Well, we should probably be turning in; I need to rest up for tomorrow, er… later today." Harry announced moments after letting a long yawn escape him.

"Actually, can we hang around here for a little longer?" Hermione asked softly "I… need to talk to you again."

"…of course Hermione." Harry said with the same sad-yet-pleasant smile she'd seen too often for her tastes.

Like their last talk, Hermione and Harry found a place against the wall to sit, but this time it was Hermione who began to speak first.

"I've been thinking… quite a bit actually." Hermione began "Since we talked almost a month ago about my encounter with Fleur."

"I gathered that." Harry said with a grin "You didn't exactly hide it you know."

"I know, and I don't think I need to tell you what I've been thinking about."

"That was also obvious. Well, to me anyway." Harry replied, though he conveniently left a couple of names out for sheer courtesy.

"Well… Harry… I think I might have almost 'solved the problem'… but I'm kind of…" Hermione seemed more hesitant to say the last part "…scared."

"…I know…" Harry responded softly after a moment "…you can talk to me you know. I can't promise I can commiserate, but I might be able to help still."

"I know… that's why I'm talking to you; you helped me before… quite a bit actually." Hermione admitted "…I'm not sure where to start though…"

Silence reigned for a bit, several minutes actually, as the duo sat against the castle wall in the cold November air. Finally, Hermione seemed to find courage down deep within her, and she finally spoke again.

"Harry?"

"Yes Hermione?"

"…you know those rumors? The ones about me, um… 'playing for a different team'?"

"Of course."

"…" is what it sounded like, as Hermione's face paled significantly.

"…I'm sorry Hermione, but I couldn't hear you." Harry asked, knowing that it would be painful for Hermione to have to say it again, but also knowing that she needed to say it.

"…they… they aren't…" Hermione managed, though the lump in her throat and the tears in her eyes threatened to stop her from finishing "…I don't think… they're… rumors… anymore."

"I think… I… fancy… girls." Hermione explained as the tears began to roll and her voice began to crack "I… think I… fancy Fleur."

Harry simply smiled sadly as Hermione began to lose what little composure she had left.

"I don't know what to do..." was Hermione's last strained sentence before she finally broke down into a sobbing mess, clinging to Harry a moment later like a frightened child would cling to her mother, muttering fragments of 'I don't know', 'help me', and 'I'm scared' all the while.

"It's alright Hermione..." Harry whispered to the crying girl that was now held in his arms "Everything's gonna be alright..."

They wouldn't be back to the tower that evening/morning, and Harry was very glad that he'd gotten Ginny and Neville to cover for them.

Authors Note: Done… and...wow... 21 reviews at the time of this posting... I am honored, especially with how... positive ALL my reviews are. I thank you ALL for such good praises, and I promise that, though this chapter is probably the 'worst' chapter so far, all other chapters will be better than this. Reviews are greatly appreciated, as you might have already figured, as are suggestions and constructive criticisms. Given the nature of this chapter, I will wait for reviews before beginning the next chapter, so that I can address any issues that arise or whatnot.