Hermione was stunned for a moment

Hermione was stunned for a moment. Not that she wasn't thrilled, but the words 'I Love You' can take toll on the number of sentences that a person can muster. He said it...she thought, smiling. Harry didn't notice Hermione's inner battle with herself, he was to busy looking at the emerald sheets of his bed.

She sighed, causing Harry's head to shoot up, "Funny..." she began. Harry was confused with her lack of response when he just basically poured his heart out to her. But, before he could ask what the heck she meant, her voice broke his train of thought. "Because I know that I am in love with you."

Harry took a few seconds to comprehend what she said. She loves me too... he thought, while moving into her and capturing her lips with his. She was quick to respond by kissing him back with such love and passion, it was a wonder why he hadn't fallen off the bed. As the kiss deepened, Hermione pulled away;

"Wait..." she said, regaining her composure. She received a confused look by Harry, as he tilted his head to the side a little, she smiled and explained her actions. "I think we should talk about it first."

"Yeah...you're probably right." Harry stated. He ruffled his hair nervously and stared at her, at a loss of words again.

"First...what about Ron?" Hermione asked.

"What about him?" Harry dumbly replied. Hermione, in response, sighed and looked at the carpet. "Oh..."

"Yeah..."

"Well, I sure don't want to hurt him in any way." Harry stated, feeling the guilt sweep through him.

"Right..." Hermione said, "but how do we do this without hurting Ron?"

Harry thought for a moment, and then his head shot up and he responded, "We could not tell him..."

"You mean...lie." Hermione said.

"You say it like it's a bad thing...'Mione you've lied loads of times." Harry replied with a smirk. Hermione turned her head down in defeat, earning another smirk from Harry.

"I don't know Harry..."

"Come on 'Mione, it'll be the one thing that only you and I only know." Harry stated, putting a hand on her shoulder. Hermione's shoulder tingled, and made her shiver slightly.

"It'll be hard." Hermione stated, daring to look into his emerald pools.

"I never it said it wouldn't be." Harry replied, also staring intently into her eyes.

"If I agree to this..." Hermione drifted off.

"What...is that a yes?" Harry asked.

Hermione nodded slightly, "Yes...it is a yes."

"Are you sure...I am still trying to convince myself..."

"If you are sure...then so am I." she stated with a smile.

"Okay...from this moment on, we are...uh..."

"Secretly dating?" Hermione suggested.

"Yeah, that's the word...'secretly dating'"

Hermione smiled and kissed him lightly on the lips, leaving him wanting more, "Now if you don't mind, I have to go unpack the rest of my things." She left without another word. I'll never know why she has that effect on me. Harry thought to himself, also getting up to unpack.

The next morning, Hermione woke up to the sound of the birds chirping outside of her window. She got out of her bed with a humongous grin plastered on her face. It took her a moment to figure out why...Harry. She was dating Harry well, 'secretly dating' anyways.

She made her way into the adjoining bathroom and knock to see if Harry was in there. She didn't want a repeat of last week's events. When she got no answer, Hermione turned the knob and entered the bathroom. She took a quick shower, brushed her teeth, and dried her hair with a charm. She got dressed as soon as soon as she entered her room, and went downstairs when she was finished to catch up on some light reading.

Harry, also, woke up with a grin on his face, but it took him a lesser amount of time to realize why. He went downstairs, properly dressed and showered to find Hermione already awake, reading on the couch. He smiled to himself and quietly snuck up on her.

"Hello Harry." Hermione said, startling him a mere three inches from her seat on the couch.

"How'd you know I was here?" Harry asked, clearly baffled.

Hermione shrugged, looked up from her book and met her eyes with Harry's, "Good morning to you to." she smugley commented.

Harry smiled and replied, "Good morning." he swiftly kissed her on the lips and sat down beside her. "We should get going then?" he asked.

"Yeah, that'd be a good idea." Hermione replied, marking her page in her book and getting off the couch. Harry was soon to follow, and followed her out of the door. As soon as they stepped out from behind the portrait, Harry intertwined his fingers with Hermione's, causing her to blush.

When they entered the Great Hall, Harry dropped Hermione's hand, causing them both to miss the contact. Ron was already at the table and currently digging into his food. Hermione and Harry shared a glance and quickly made their way to the table. They sat opposite of Ron and were joined by Ginny a few moments later.

"'Morning you two." Ginny said.

"Good morning Gin." Hermione said.

"Hermione...are you okay?"

"Yeah, why?" Hermione asked, furrowing her eyebrows.

"You just look...different today." Ginny observed.

Hermione shrugged and added some hash brows to her plate. Ginny also looked at Harry, glaring at him. He remained unresponsive as well and left Ginny wondering in her own thoughts.

Ron was too busy eating to notice Harry and Hermione sneaking secret glances at each other. Throughout the whole meal, Harry and Hermione were holding hands under the table. Ginny noticed the looks, but not the hands.

Mcgonagle passed out the timetables and caused Hermione to drop Harry's hand and pick hers up. She got all of the normal classes, despite the fact that they were all at N.E.W.T level.

"What classes did you get Harry?" Ron asked, glancing from his own schedule.

"Herbology, Potions, Transfiguration, and Defiance Against the Dark Arts." Harry replied.

"Same." Hermione said, giving Harry a smile.

"Oh, me too." Ron looked utterly excited.

Hermione and Harry exchanged a smirk and continued with their breakfast.

Transfiguration passed with the usual speech about how hard it was going to be and they were assigned a four foot essay on what they had learned over the past seven years. Herbology was the same, just reviewing, potions was no different. Harry, Hermione, and Ron had a thirdly minute break and decided to start on their Potions essay.

Hermione was currently reading her notes that she'd conjured and felt a pair of eyes watching her. She looked up from her notes and saw Harry's emerald orbs boring into her. She then saw that he was cleverly trying to pass her a note. She took it from his grip and slowly unfolded it, beginning their note-passing.

Hi
Hi

I love you
I love you too

Did I ever mention how much I hate essays?
No...

Well...I hate essays
How could you hate essays, what did they ever do to you?

Made my hand cramp
Very funny.

I know
Being cocky are we?

No, of course not...what would ever give yo that idea?
Remind me why I love you

My looks, charm, wit, cleverness...the list goes on
Again with the cockiness

I am not cocky
I wouldn't be so sure of that if I was you

...
Anyways, shouldn't you be writing your essay...you have 3 1/2 more feet to go

Cramps
You are impossible

I know

Hermione and Harry abruptly stopped when they heard the warning bell ring. All three of them headed to the Defense Against The Dark Arts classroom and waited for the teacher to arrive. It was then that they realized that they didn't know who the new teacher was. Mcgonagle had ceased to reveal that information to the school.

"I wonder who it could be." Hermione said, taking her seat in-between Harry and Ron.

"I don't know...could be anyone." Harry said.

"Anyone is better then half the cooky lot they usually send in." Ron said.

The class was filled with conversation until the doors opened, ceasing the noise. When Harry, Hermione, and Ron turned, they gasped. They were met with a mess of bubble-gum pink hair and bright blue robes.