Here's another chapter for you guys!

Reviews are love!

It was a boring afternoon they had spent in the graveyard, as Hermione and Harry had taken turns noting down the names of the dead in chronological order, and waving their wands over the headstones with a simple spell to check if any one of the graves had any traces of the spirits.

However, Harry said it wasn't foolproof, and the trace would have to be very recent for the spell to pick it up.

"Our only chance is to see if we can come across anything to do with these names in the family history," said Harry.

"To the library it is, then," said Hermione, and shot a look at Harry. She was rewarded with a small chuckle at the reference to the library.

Hermione's heart jumped at the sound of his laughter.

Then they had gone back to the castle for tea, which was always awkward. Harry always seemed to be more attentive and talkative to Hermione when Lady Grey was around. Hermione didn't like this, but she couldn't very well protest to him when they were alone. Lady Grey was very much upset at their seeming friendship. She was afraid Harry would convince Hermione to side with the board.

And Lady Grey was sharp enough to pick up on all the flirty comments Harry made to Hermione. She was appalled that Harry would do so, who couldn't care less. And Hermione made matters worse when she blushed or did anything of that sort, leading the Lady to believe she was starting to get attracted to Harry.

Which is the understatement of the year, thought Hermione. She couldn't quite control her reactions when Harry fake-flirted with her in front of the Lady. For one, she thought the aloof Harry was quite hot. And for the other, her body was starting to respond to Harry in ways she was finding hard to hide. And thirdly, she knew she childishly hoped that the real Harry was somewhere behind this facade, enjoying flirting with her.

They had been eating silently for about five minutes now, and Harry was seated across from her. He was dressed in a green shirt that brought out his eyes, and tailored brown pants. Hermione and the Lady were both in flowing dresses that ended just below their knees. However, the lady's was grander than Hermione's.

Suddenly there was a clatter as Lady Grey dropped her fork and knife. Harry said, in a voice that seemed to be hiding amusement, "Sorry, Lady Grey, I think I kicked you by mistake. I was just stretching my legs. Got a cramp, I think, from walking across the rocks. I apologise."

Vera's gaze relaxed, and they resumed eating.

Harry asked Hermione, "How are your feet? Would you like me to maybe give them a massage later?"

Hermione blushed at the notion, and stuttered that her feet were fine, thank you.

Suddenly, there was another clatter, as Hermione dropped her fork. She'd felt something touch her foot.

She tried to hold in a gasp, as she realised it was Harry!

She shot him a glare, then immediately wiped her face clean of emotion, seeing that Vera was looking at her. However, it was too late. Vera had noticed. She looked suspiciously at Harry, then at Hermione.

Harry had his eyes on his plate, cutting his chicken. Hermione jumped slightly in her chair, feeling Harry's foot trail up her ankle, up to her calf.

"Are you okay, dear?" asked Vera.

"Fine, Vera," said Hermione, in a slight squeak.

Harry pretended not to notice this deviation from the topic of conversation, and continued.

Harry declared, "Sore feet is a small price to pay for the fresh air. Exercise is the best thing for idle feet. Nothing better!"

If Harry hadn't kicked Vera in the ankles by mistake, she would have never guessed. But she realised that Harry was playing footsie with Hermione!

Vera choked on her wine as this struck her, and she turned red, both from anger at the pure nerve of Potter, and the embarrassment of having to watch both their reactions.

Hermione could barely eat. Who would have ever thought footsie would be so sexual?

And heat was shooting up her leg, right to her abdomen, at the touch of Harry's skin on hers. She tried to control her reaction, knowing that Vera knew what was going on.

But her face was turning red, and she had goosebumps. Her heart was beating fast at the thought of what she was doing. She wasn't even concentrating on Harry's one sided conversation anymore.

Then suddenly, his foot was gone. She sighed, in relief or disappointment, she did not know.

Suddenly, she gave another gasp, knocking her empty glass over. Harry had merely switched feet.

Vera did not even glance up at her exclamation, instead content to just shoot Harry a deathly glare. He had looked politely miffed.

The moment tea was over, Vera informed that she had work to take care of, and she retired to her wing of the castle.

As soon as she was out of earshot, Hermione turned furiously to Harry, her face red.

"I can't believe you did that!"

"Did what?" asked Harry, all innocent.

"You did it on purpose, didn't you? Pretended to kick Vera by mistake, so she'd pick up at once that you were footsie-ing me."

Harry gave a comical mock-gasp. "She knew?"

Hermione snorted. "Don't pretend! How am I ever going to live this down with her? She was watching me the whole time!" and Hermione gave an exclamation of frustration.

Harry gave a chuckle, then another, then collapsed into laughter. However, Hermione did not join in.

"I hate this, you know."

"Hate what?" asked Harry, still chuckling.

"The way you keep flirting with me, whenever she'd around?"

Harry's laughter had stopped. He said, "Would you like it if I did it when she isn't around?"

Hermione's stern look slipped into one of surprise. She went slightly red, and without answering the question, stalked off into the corridors.

Behind her, she heard Harry say, in a low voice, "Very well."

That was to give you guys a taste of what's to come...

How was it?

Review!