A/N: Preview chapter time! Head over to my new story, Harry Potter and the Tri-Wizard Tournament, which begins posting today! Story ID: 9643440.
Harry nodded. "Okay. Let's meet in the library tomorrow, an hour before dinner. For now, let's get back to our dormitories."
Hermione quickly packed her bag, and the four students stepped out of Moaning Myrtle's bathroom. Tracey and Draco began walking toward Slytherin, but Harry hesitated. It would be no problem for Tracey and Draco to make it back to Slytherin before curfew, but there was no way that Hermione could get all the way across the castle to Gryffindor Tower in time.
"I'm going to walk Hermione back to Gryffindor," Harry said. "If we run into a prefect, we'll use the invisibility cloak." Part of Harry was actually hoping that they would run into a prefect; he wouldn't mind a few minutes with Hermione under the invisibility cloak.
Draco shrugged and turned away. "Whatever."
Tracey waved and smiled. "See you in a few minutes!"
As Harry and Hermione set off for Gryffindor tower, Harry removed the Marauder's Map from his cloak and activated it. He and Hermione were alone, and there weren't any prefects or teachers between them and Gryffindor tower. Harry would have plenty of time to get his invisibility cloak if somebody approached. It was going to be an easy walk.
As Harry and Hermione walked along the corridor, Harry was struck by his friend's silence. Hermione wasn't a chatterbox like Pansy, but she usually had something to say. Combined with the strange sound of her voice in the bathroom, and her complete lack of reaction to Harry's story, Harry was completely befuddled. Nevertheless, Harry was content to stay quiet—the chiming of distant clocks told him that curfew had finally passed. There was no need to draw attention to themselves, and voices sometimes did strange things in the halls of Hogwarts.
As Hermione and Harry walked up a staircase, automatically hopping over the disappearing trick step, Harry glanced over and saw that Hermione was clearly struggling to keep… some sort of expression off her face. Hermione was screwing her mouth back and forth, as if her closed lips were literally holding back words. Her eyes stared straight ahead, rejecting possible distractions. Her attention was turned completely inward. Hermione was definitely thinking about something.
Harry always found Hermione was attractive when she was using her intelligence to logically work through some sort of problem, and tonight was no exception. As Hermione absentmindedly moved her mouth, her nose wiggled slightly, a fact that Harry found exceedingly cute. When she finally set her jaw in place, her face was thrown into sharp relief. Her eyes flashed with intensity. Even her unruly hair could not hide the fact that she was an attractive young witch. Not that Harry would ever say such a thing out loud, of course. Especially not to Draco, and especially not to Hermione.
That being said, Harry was finding it difficult not to stare. He settled for glancing at Hermione, then looking ahead, then glancing back.
Harry and Hermione reached Gryffindor Tower without incident. No prefect or teacher would patrol this close to the common room, either; only a truly unusual situation would catch their attention. Hermione stepped forward to give the Fat Lady her password, but hesitated. She turned to Harry, an uncertain expression on her face.
Harry finally spoke, quietly. "You know, this reminds me of the last time I walked you back to Gryffindor Tower," Harry said. "Remember, after you snuck into my common room-"
Hermione grabbed Harry by the front of his cloak and pushed him backwards. Harry stumbled a little, then caught his balance when his back struck the wall. Hermione moved close, and as Harry glanced around he realized that she had concealed the two of them behind a suit of armor.
Harry wasn't sure what was happening, but in part of his mind it sounded as if bells were ringing. It was like he had just won a prize. Harry had heard that girls in Gryffindor were a bit more… aggressive… than girls from other houses, but he hadn't exactly been sure what that would mean. He had a feeling he was about to find out—apparently, Hermione had been more impressed by his stories than she had let on. Harry wondered how quickly he could get them both under his invisibility cloak, and how close the nearest secret passage was.
Hermione pulled down on Harry's cloak, drawing him forward until their faces were almost touching. She looked directly into Harry's eyes and slowly parted her lips. Harry closed his eyes slightly. This was it.
A/N: Want to know what chapter this is in? Chapter 10! Hahaha!