Hermione closed the book, breathless. Does he really think about me that way? Hermione thought, or is this all just a trick? She had been wondering this all day as she walked to and from double Transfiguration to Potions to Divination. She tried not to let her new knowledge of Ron and his secrets get in the way of her usual bickering, but things began to change between them due to her new secret.
"Hello Hermione!" Ron said cheerfully.
"Oh! Ron! Hello! How are you!" Hermione said, blushing furiously and tucking her hair behind her ear.
Ron looked startled at her outburst of cheeriness due to their recent row.
"Uhm, fine, just tired, we had double potions today" he said, yawning as he slouched down on the Gryffindor Common Room's couchnext to Hermione. She grew stiff. Usually, she wouldn't do anything if he sat next to her, maybe blush a little, but that was it. But today she felt her face turn crimson, her body stiffen, and her heart pound. Damn. Hermione thought. I might as well bloody tell him now with the way I'm acting! Ron turned to Hermione, concerned.
"Hermione? You all right? You seem a little…..not yourself" he said.
"Well, obviously I'm fine. Even if I wasn't, you wouldn't notice." She said as Harry entered the room.
"Well, why is that?" Ron said, surprised.
"Because you have the attention span of a goldfish."
Harry was the first to laugh, it came out as a roar the reflected the hilarity of the situation. Then Hermione cracked a smile, and Ron followed suit. Soon, they were all holding their sides, tears streaming down their face, unaware of the times to come. Unaware of the danger, the tensions, and the love.
"Hem, Hem." A quiet voice said. Wiping their tears, the Trio looked up to see the nervous, fidgeting face of Neville. "Hermione, can I talk to you for a second?" Neville asked. "Oh, well, yes, sure." Hermione replied, and stood up. Looking back as her and Neville walked away, she saw Harry look on, puzzled, and Ron's face, stony and envious.
"Hermione, where's the book? You know he needs it at night." Neville asked.
"oh, yeah, right. It's right here!" Hermione said, patting the pocket on her bag,.
But there was only one problem.
The pocket was empty.
"Oh, merlin no!" Hermione said, dumping out the contents of her bag and searching through them. "You lost it?" Neville nearly shouted. "Hold on, Neville! Neville, hold on." Hermione shouted. She thought back to when she last had it out. Potions. She thought. "Bloody Hell!" Hermione shouted. "It's with Snape!" She jumped up.
And with that, sprinting past a confused looking Ron and an exasperated looking Neville, Hermione made her way, quickly, mind you, to the dungeons.