Chapter 6: Lunchtime reading

Disclaimer: I own the plot.

Her classes were moving slow today, and as her watch slowly ticked on, it seemed like forever before she was able to head to lunch. As she got to the Great Hall, she bumped into someone and almost went sprawling on her back. At the last second the person grabbed her to keep her steady, and she soon found herself encompassed by strong comforting arms. Looking up into the face of the person she had collided with, Hermione noticed it was George Weasley.

"Need to be more careful Mione. Wouldn't want you to fall."

His smile caught her off guard, and she felt the air leave her lungs. That smile was dazzling, and it a short amount of time, it was gone. He had released her and for a second it felt as if the warmth in the world had disappeared.

"Are you coming?"

She shook her head lightly to clear the thin cloud that surrounded her mind, and followed him into the slowly growing crowd in the great hall. Sitting at the table, George directly across from her, and pulled out the book from the depths of her bag.

"Are you really going to read that here?"

"It's not like anyone can read what I'm reading. Unless if they've already read it."

"Read what?" Ron asked as he sat down next to his brother.

"I'm reading a new book about truth."

"Another one? Didn't you just start one a few days ago?" Ron asked her, looking quizzical at her.

"Oh, so you were listening? No, it's the same one, but now I can't wait to finish it."

This sent a little warning sound off in George's mind. If Ron asked her why, she might spill the secrets of it. He hoped his idiotic little brother would just let the topic drop.

"Why do you want to finish it?"

Of course, he had forgotten about Fred asking though. He sat in his seat, clenching his teeth and trying not to wince when she started to speak.

"No reason, I just do."

For some unfathomable reason she had decided to keep what she had found to herself and George was thankful for it. He now watched as she opened the book and turned to where she had it marked. Before she was allowed to get past the first word Ron piped up again.

"So what chapter are you on?"

"I'm ABOUT to start Chapter 3 if you must know."

"Wow, somebody needs chocolate," Ron stated as he grabbed the sweets bowl next to his left arm.

Passing it towards the bushy haired girl, he made a show of surrender after he had placed it in front of her.

"Sorry for getting short with you Ron, and maybe you're right, I have been craving chocolate a little bit. Must be that ti…"

"WOAH! Hold it there Hermione," was the chorus from the four boys sitting next to her.

This of course cause Ginny to start laughing hysterically, which gave cause for some of the other students to turn and face the Gryffindor table. Hermione quickly hid her head in her book when she saw that Cameron Clark from Ravenclaw was staring straight at her with a bemused grin. It wasn't until now, that she noticed that he watched her a lot.

'Could it possibly be him that left the book for me? Is Cameron really the one I'm meant to be with?' She thought to herself as she tried to imagine her life with him. A lot of quite nights reading in front of fires came to mind, and a small smile crossed her lips.

She hadn't been able to actually start Chapter 3 by the time the bell rang, but she figured if Cameron really was her soul mate, then he wasn't likely to sign his name at the back. As she proceeded from the hall, completely forgetting about the feeling she had when George had held her, she walked towards the Ravenclaw 7th year and put on her best smile.

"Hey, Cameron, I have a question for you."

The tall brunette turned from heading down to the dungeon to look at the much shorter witch. George had heard her call out to the Ravenclaw, and paused at the curve in the stairs, hidden from view but still within earshot of the conversation.

"What's up Hermione? Need help in Arithmacy again?"

"You and I both know that you came to me for help in Professor Vector's class. But that's not what I wanted to ask you."

He looked at her expectantly, his warm brown eyes meeting her chocolate ones.

"Since this weekend is a Hogsmead trip, I was wondering if you wanted to maybe meet up with me?"

He looked at her thoughtfully, pausing a moment before responding.

"Sure, but how about we go together instead of meeting up there?"

"Like a date?" She asked hesitantly.

"Ya. Consider it our first."

"Obviously, since we haven't been on one before now."

"Well we were pretty close during our study sessions."

He started to move closer to her, and she didn't shy away from the sudden intrusion of her space. From where George was sitting he had a clear shot of Cameron's bag. Casting a silent ripping charm, Cameron's books went sprawling across the hallway.

"Oh, I guess I have too many potion books in my bag." He reached down to grab one as he spoke to her.

"I totally understand, Professor Snape can assign a lot of work." She reached down as well to help him collect some of his papers.

Once the two of them had gotten his contents of his backpack back into his arms, Cameron stood up and offered his hand to help her off the floor. The upward momentum was too much for her and she soon found herself in his arms, trying to keep herself from falling. It was in that instant that she realized that it didn't feel quite right, almost as if something was missing.

(A/N: I'll finish upon this in the next chapter, there is just so much I want to add to this and now was the best spot to stop. I swear there should be another book chapter from her book soon, I just have to get through classes to write it. Remember R&R!)