A/N: This is important, so I'm pointing it out in case anyone missed it. The book Hermione was reading in the last chapter says there are "effects" associated with soul bonds, including "magical effects." This will include an increase in power, but don't start thinking that it's a simple "soul bond = super witches" situation. Magic is at least partially sentient and creates soul bonds so that a couple can achieve some destiny. But what's the point of being given a task without also being given the tools you need? That would be like knowing that your student is going to have to fight a powerful, skilled Dark Lord but refusing to give them special training. :)

So power grows as the bond develops, but it comes from Magic, not the bond (where else would magical power ultimately come from, anyway?). Being able to properly control and channel the power can be attributed to the emotional and psychological effects of the bond, but not the power itself. And yes, while Jasmine still has the canon prophecy/destiny, there is yet more in store for Jasmine and Hermione as a couple, so they'll definitely need the help. Oh, and "power" isn't only about fighting. Just sayin'...

Recommendation: This chapter's recommended fic is "A Different Halloween" by robst. I doubt there's a single H/Hr fan who isn't already familiar with robst's stories, but I wanted to single this out as one of his best. Lily Potter and Emma Granger run into each other on Halloween, 1981, and Hermione immediately gloms onto Harry, refusing to let go. History is changed and Hermione has never been more adorable.

Chapter 08 - Green Eyed Monster

Thursday, December 17, 1994, Morning.

For the second day in a row, it looked like Jasmine and Hermione were avoiding each other. As on Wednesday, Jasmine walked to breakfast alone while Hermione sat with other girls. During Transfiguration, Hermione partnered with others while ignoring Jasmine, just as she had during Charms and Runes the previous day. By this point, the tension between the two Gryffindors was palpable and obvious to everyone. Professor McGonagall was going to hold them back after class anyway, and when she did so she asked, "Is everything alright between you two? I sense some tension."

"We're fine," Hermione answered quickly. Jasmine just nodded stiffly.

Minerva raised an eyebrow at that, not believing them but also not wanting to probe too deeply into a personal matter. "Very well, if you're sure. I wanted to let you know that I need to make a change in our meeting this weekend. Instead of Sunday afternoon, like before, I'll need to meet you two Sunday morning. Will that be acceptable?"

Both girls agreed and left quickly when they were dismissed. Minerva was at a loss to understand what could have happened between the two — they hadn't been this estranged even last year during the broomstick incident. She could only hope that they found a way to resolve the problem sooner rather than later.

Thursday, December 17, 1994, Afternoon.

Draco Malfoy decided that lunch would be a good time to add his two knuts to the situation. Somewhere along the way he had found out that the girls seemed to be upset with each other, and he thought it would be an excellent idea to fan the flames and hopefully make matters worse.

Calling out to Jasmine as she walked alone into the Great Hall, Malfoy said, "Hey, scarhead! Did you finally see sense and dump that buck-toothed mudblood as a friend? I know you can't do anything to make up for your own deficient blood status, but at least you aren't letting that mudblood drag you down any further."

Sitting not far away at the Slytherin table, Viktor Krum couldn't help but overhear. Contrary to popular opinion, he was not a thick-headed jock. He didn't talk much, but it wasn't due to poor language skills or low intelligence — it was because he'd been taught at an early age that it's better to watch and observe than to speak out and say the wrong thing. It was a perfectly Slytherin attitude but contrasted sharply with the behavior of many actual Slytherins — Draco Malfoy in particular.

Having spent a lot of time over the past month and a half in Hogwarts, watching people and listening to what they had to say, he felt that he had become well informed as to what was going on. He knew that Malfoy was using his standard epithets. He knew that the missing person Malfoy must be referring to was Hermione, the girl he had just asked to the ball the previous day — though he didn't understand why she was missing from Potter's side.

He knew what 'mudblood' meant, too. It was time to stop merely observing and start acting. Even if he didn't already think she was a nice girl who didn't deserve such treatment, this was his date that Malfoy was talking about. If nothing else, he needed to take decisive action in order to preserve his own honor and reputation going forward.

Moving far more quickly and silently than one would expect from someone his size, even for a seeker, Krum was suddenly behind the still-sitting Malfoy and had his large hand wrapped tightly around the back of the smaller boy's neck. His fingers reached most of the way around, though not quite enough to dig into the soft tissue in the front. "What you say about Her-my-own-ninny?"

Malfoy squeaked in surprise, though he didn't quite drop his haughty demeanor. He had no idea just how much danger he was in at the moment. "What? You mean Granger? Yes, her, she's a mudblood who hangs around with Potter. What of it?"

Krum started to squeeze, saying, "Mudblood. Yes. I not like this word. You stop using. You stop insulting Her-my-own-ninny."

"Stop? Why?" Malfoy's brain still hadn't woken up to the danger. "She is a mudblood. Why shouldn't I say so?"

"And you are small, like bug," Krum said, squeezing hard enough now to elicit a gasp from the boy. Leaning over so he could talk quietly, Krum added, "Why should I not squish?"

Malfoy finally got the message. Suddenly he was convinced that Viktor Krum would squish him and that there was little he could do about it. It was a sobering realization, and for once, he shut up.

Jasmine had simply stopped and stared for the whole exchange. She'd never seen anyone adopt a threatening attitude towards the blonde Slytherin and she wanted to relish every second of it, no matter how much the underlying context confused and upset her. Turning back to the Gryffindor table, her eyes immediately found Hermione and saw what could only be described as happiness, gratitude, and admiration on her face.

That was the absolute last thing she needed to see just then. Spinning around, Jasmine practically ran out of the Great Hall, completely missing the hurt look on Hermione's face when she saw her best friend run away from her.

Over at the Ravenclaw table, French champion Fleur Delacour didn't miss any of the events that had just transpired. Like Krum, she was widely underestimated by those around her. Between being veela and blonde, she tended to be dismissed by most as an airhead. This was an attitude she had cultivated and often used to her advantage. People tended to talk more freely around those they dismissed as being beneath them, so Fleur had become as good as Krum at watching and listening.

Being veela, though, Fleur noticed different things. Even from the first day, when she exchanged a few words with the green-eyed Gryffindor during the feast that welcomed the visiting schools, she could sense a connection between her and the bushy-haired witch who was always by her side. She couldn't understand exactly what it was, but it was there — like a soft whisper on the wind, promising something, but she was unclear as to what.

About a week ago, she noticed that the connection had changed. It had become clearer and more distinct, like a melody on the wind now, but she still couldn't decipher what it meant. If she were a mature veela she might have been able to interpret it by this point, but being so young, her abilities weren't strong enough. She had been hoping, though, that whatever it was would develop enough over the course of the year for her to understand it. She was very curious because she didn't think she'd ever come across anything quite like it.

Now, however, it appeared that the connection was in disarray. It was still there, but it had become disjointed — like parts of a song that were no longer in harmony. She didn't know why this had happened and doubted there was anything she could do to help. All she could do was keep watching and see how matters progressed. Maybe she could write to her maman and grandmere to see what they had to say. This was proving to be a very interesting year, even aside from the tournament.

Friday, December 18, 1994, Morning.

Neville was at a complete loss over what to do. For the past two days, his friends had been refusing to talk to each other — not even during the two dance lessons that they'd held since this problem started. Fortunately he'd already intended to focus his instruction time on Jasmine so there was no worry about trying to put the two together, but still... this just made no sense. He knew Jasmine was jealous of Krum, but he had thought she was going to talk to Hermione and work out any misunderstandings.

Something had happened to mess that plan up, obviously. Unfortunately, Jasmine refused to talk to him about it, and when he pressed she got an angry, hurt look in her eyes and walked away. He only tried that once.

He thought that maybe Ginny would be able to help — after all, she was a girl, right? Girls understand girl problems and girl arguments, don't they? Apparently not — Ginny didn't understand what was going on any better than he did. If it were two blokes, they could just fight, go get healed, and everything would be fine. Were all girls this complicated?

Ginny did give him some things to think about, though. When Jasmine told them all last Saturday about her home life, she had left out quite a bit. According to Ginny, during the summer between second and third years, her brothers had used a flying car to rescue Jasmine from her muggle relatives. While there, they discovered bars on her window, a door sealed with multiple locks, and a flap at floor level for delivering food. It sounded like she was being kept a prisoner.

All of her school stuff had been locked in a cupboard that the twins had to break into, and they apparently found much more than just her trunk. They flat-out refused to tell Ginny what exactly they'd seen, but it had been enough to make the normally ebullient twins very somber and reserved. She had no idea what would cause such a reaction, but it scared her, and that was more than enough to worry Neville. He himself hadn't been treated very well by some relatives growing up, but this sounded far, far worse. He thought it might help explain quite a few things about Jasmine's behavior, if he could just figure out how.

Neville had not been prepared for the new direction his life was taking. He grew up alone and isolated, raised by a stern and distant grandmother who seemed to wish that he had been his father instead of just Neville. In Hogwarts he was usually an outsider, not very highly regarded by many who thought he was barely more than a squib. He had never developed much self-confidence because he had never been forced to — at least, not until this term. Early in November he'd found his courage and announced — against an overwhelming tide of public opinion — that he didn't believe Jasmine had cheated to get into the tournament.

It was the hardest thing he'd ever done, especially since he chose to do it publicly in the Gryffindor common room and in front of many people who did think she cheated, but he had never regretted it. Ever since, he'd been included more and more in Jasmine's activities, becoming an integral member of her very small circle of friends. He'd even been put in charge of teaching something. Him! Neville Longbottom! He'd never been trusted enough to be put in charge of anything before (except Trevor the toad, who kept escaping). Then there were the secrets he'd been entrusted with — explosive secrets that only one other person had been told about.

None of this had prepared Neville to deal with two teen witches who had stopped speaking to each other. To be fair, few boys his age — muggle or magical — would be in any better position. It wasn't his fault that they weren't talking, but he felt responsible for helping them reconcile. He was the only student who knew just how serious this disagreement really was because only he knew what they actually meant to each other. So it was up to him to help them resolve this, because he was the only one who could.

Besides, he thought simply, they're my friends. I can't just do nothing.

Having finally come to a decision, but still not knowing what to do about it, Neville was distracted from further reflection when Headmaster Dumbledore stood up at the head table and started tapping his glass to get everyone's attention. "Students, I apologize for interrupting your breakfast, but I have an important announcement to make. Because of the coming Yule Ball and the students' need to be properly attired, we will be having a Hogsmeade weekend starting tomorrow — both Saturday and Sunday and for extended hours. If you know of anyone who isn't present, please ensure that they are informed. Details will be posted in your common rooms. Thank you."

The volume of conversations increased several-fold as Dumbledore sat down. It seemed that everyone was excited about the prospect of spending more time in Hogsmeade in a couple of days, whether they needed anything for the ball or not.

Albus Dumbledore looked around the Great Hall, taking in the increased excitement of the students over the announcement about the extra Hogsmeade days. Since he no longer had time to teach, he tended to look forward to things like this because they allowed him to once more feel the energy and passion of youth. And this was just an announcement about shopping! The Yule Ball itself was still to come and promised to be even better.

It was also times like this that he wondered if he might be growing out of touch with today's youth. Without regular, daily contact with young people — contact which he tended not to have, given the all-encompassing nature of his many administrative responsibilities — it was easy to lose touch. It had been so long since he'd been a youth himself, and there was so much of those days that he'd rather just forget...

He had no time for regrets, however. There were too many things at home and abroad which required his input and management. There were too many things which he alone knew and could deal with. It was a heavy burden, but he was willing to shoulder it because there simply wasn't anyone else. He did what he must because he was the only one who could.

Looking over at the Gryffindor table, he frowned when he noticed that once again Miss Potter was sitting separately from Miss Granger, just as had been the case recently with the youngest Mr. Weasley. It's bad enough that she's estranged from one close friend, he thought sadly, but now two? This is not good, not good at all. Miss Potter needs her friends. The animosity from some others in the school will hopefully thicken her skin a bit, but going friendless would be tragic. This blasted tournament is causing enough problems in her life, she doesn't need any more.

Dumbledore had hoped that the Yule Ball might actually bring a little light and gaiety into her life. He hoped it would do that for all the students, of course, but he recognized that she needed them far more than most. Now, instead of excited and happy, she looks withdrawn and morose, he lamented, and right now I can't think of a single thing I can do to help.

Sighing, he decided that he wasn't really hungry anymore and stood up from the table. With one last, sad glance at the Girl Who Lived, he made his way back to his office where he hoped that inspiration might come to him.

Friday, December 18, 1994, Late Morning.

All through the last day of classes for that term, people kept staring at Hermione Granger. Both in the halls and during class, students — mostly female students — would look at her then start whispering to each other. Neville eventually concluded that the "secret" of whom Viktor Krum had asked to the ball wasn't a secret anymore. After Krum's actions in the Great Hall the day before, that was probably to be expected.

When he looked at Hermione herself, he guessed that she had realized what was happening much sooner than he had. He wouldn't say that she looked like she enjoyed all the stares and whispers, but she didn't look very upset, either. It seemed that, at the very least, she was pleased that something good was happening to her — something good in a normal sense, that is.

As Neville thought about it, he realized that most girls might like to be taken to a formal ball by a dashing, handsome young man. Hermione Granger may not have been an especially "girly" girl, gossiping all the time and worrying about things like clothes or makeup, but that didn't make her immune from such fantasies — especially when it was dropped right in her lap like that. Neville didn't claim to know much about girls, but he thought he'd be pretty flattered if, say, Fleur Delacour had asked him to the ball (at least for the two seconds or so before he completely panicked and passed out), so it didn't seem like too much of a stretch to think that this was what Hermione was feeling.

The next puzzle was Jasmine. Her jealousy was much easier to understand — he had that figured out even before Jasmine herself. If he liked Hermione the way Jasmine did, he'd probably feel a bit murderous after learning that Krum had asked her to the ball, too. But why wasn't Jasmine trying to talk to Hermione? And why hadn't Jasmine been able to understand Hermione the way Neville had? Unless he was wrong in what he thought was going on with Hermione?

Neville sighed and tried to force his thoughts back to Flitwick's lecture. Why were girls so complicated?

Friday, December 18, 1994, Evening.

Neville Longbottom was so glad the day was over. He was certain that he'd never had to endure a longer Friday in his entire life. On top of everything else, the day had ended with double Potions. Hermione had been avoiding partnering with Jasmine in their other classes almost all week, but that was never going to work with Snape. He didn't tolerate such changes, and the knowledge that the once-close girls were having problems only made him happier to force them to work together.

It would have been a disaster no matter what they tried to brew, but Snape had chosen today of all days to teach them how to brew poison antidotes — and to force the students to test out their own antidotes. Jasmine and Hermione were both expected to live, but... no, he really didn't want to think about it again. He'd already submitted a signed statement for the investigation and that was the end of it, as far as he was concerned. He was just happy he, at least, still had all his hair. Others hadn't been so lucky.

When he entered the Gryffindor common room, he saw a catatonic Ron sitting the by the fireplace while his sister Ginny kept snapping her fingers in front of his face. "C'mon Ron, snap out of it."

"What's going on? What's wrong with Ron? Is this about the, er...?" Neville didn't want to say it out loud. If he didn't say it, he could pretend that it hadn't really happened, right?

"No, worse," Ginny answered. "After he was released, he saw Fleur Delacour near the castle front doors and for some reason got the bright idea to ask her out to the ball."

"What?" Neville hadn't seen this coming. "Did he really ask her out?"

"Not exactly," said Ginny with a grimace. "He more... shouted it at her. Well, he shouted something. It sounded like 'You. Ball. Me.' I guess it was an invitation to the ball. Then he just ran. I followed to make sure he was alright, so I don't know how she reacted."

Neville tried not to laugh, he really did. He had a lot of sympathy for a bloke who wanted to ask out a pretty bird but was scared. Still, it was a funny situation. Neville was positive that even he couldn't make such a hash of asking someone out.

Neville gave the ginger Gryffindor boy an appraising look, then asked, "Assuming her answer is 'no,' Ron, what are you going to do now? Who's next on your list of potential dates?"

"Assuming?" Ron croaked out, showing signs of consciousness for the first time.

"Sure, you didn't stick around for her answer, so even if she was going to say yes, she might not do so now. But you don't know for sure, do you? She might be impressed that you had the stones to ask at all — impressed enough to even forgive you for running off. Maybe you should go back and check?"

A goofy grin started to spread across Ron's face. "Yeah, I should. Maybe she was impressed by me. Maybe she's out looking for me right now. I better go find her before she decides to give up and go with someone else!" With that, Ron jumped out of his chair and ran for the common room entrance.

"Neville!" shouted Ginny, half in exasperation and half in amusement. "I know I should probably laugh, but he is my brother." She sighed and finally said, "I should follow him and make sure he doesn't hurt himself. At least, not too badly."

Once alone, Neville rocked back and forth a couple of times on the balls of his feet. "Hmmm..." he said softly to himself, "pranks aren't so bad after all."

Ginny didn't show up that evening for dance practice. Maybe she's still trying to find Ron, who's trying to find Fleur, who's probably in hiding, thought Neville.

Jasmine and Hermione weren't there either, probably because they were still... Better not to think about it, Neville stopped himself with a shudder. He considered just dancing by himself, but even to him that sounded a bit pathetic. He could afford to skip practice for one evening.

Saturday, December 19, 1994, Afternoon.

Jasmine and Hermione didn't return to the Gryffindor common room until after lunch on Saturday. By this point everyone in the castle had heard about what had happened in Potions the previous day, and absolutely no one wanted to ask the two witches about it. Some traumas just weren't meant to be shared.

Surprisingly, the two moved immediately to join Ron, Ginny, and Neville who were all sitting together at a table in the back of the common room. They didn't sit next to each other like they once would have, but the fact that they sat at the same table — and voluntarily — was remarkable. Of course, maybe it was merely because they were distracted by the events of the previous day.

The two fourth-year witches indeed looked very subdued. Neville was looking curious while Ginny was looking amused at her brother, who was still looking a bit anxious and panicked. He hadn't found Fleur after all and wisely decided to give up on the idea of asking her again. Suddenly, Ron had an epiphany — never a good sign for his immediate future.

"Say, Jasmine, you're a girl, aren't you?" Ron asked. Said witch, who was indeed a girl, turned very slowly and fixed her on-again, off-again friend with a hard glare, as if daring him to insert his foot just a little bit further.

Never one to turn down a dare, Ron continued, "I know you don't have a date to the ball. I mean, even Herms here has one — and with Krum, too!"

If it were possible to set someone on fire just by looking at them, Ron Weasley would have been reduced to a pile of ashes in short order. Everyone else recognized just how badly he was handling this — even Hermione looked horrified, though that may have been in part due to the use of "Herms" — but Ron marched gamely on.

"So, will you go with me to the ball? You have to have a date, right? If you keep waiting, there'll be no one left, and then what'll you do? Go with Snape?" Neville was certain that he could hear growling — actual growling — coming from somewhere deep in Jasmine's chest, and he was desperately trying to think of a way to defuse the situation in a way that let Ron keep all his bits intact.

"I'll have you know, Ronald Bilius Weasley, that I do have a date," Jasmine managed to get out through gritted teeth. "In fact, I was asked the very evening that the ball was announced. I've even said as much, more than once, and I think you were around to hear it."

"Pfft, you were just winding Malfoy up all those times you told him you had a date. You didn't mean it, I could tell. And who do you know well enough besides me that you'd accept a date with them that fast? I think you're just trying to cover up the fact that no one has asked you yet. No need to feel embarrassed about it, though, since I'm asking you now. I've solved all your problems."

These statements were accompanied by a broad, self-satisfied grin on the ginger Gryffindor's face, indicating that he didn't have the slightest idea of just how he sounded to the witch he was talking to — or indeed, to any witch in hearing distance. The group was starting to attract attention from the few Gryffindors who hadn't gone to Hogsmeade that day. Not everyone could hear the words being spoken, but most could easily recognize the signs of impending doom and started slowly moving away.

"You... you... you..." Jasmine could not come up with words that adequately expressed just how infuriated she was. "I can't believe how fucking inconsiderate people in this castle are. First Hermione and now you. Just... just..." Jasmine looked like she was about to spontaneously combust — not an entirely implausible scenario, as most reports of so-called spontaneous combustion are actually violent incidents of accidental magic. The fact that some of Jasmine's auburn hair seemed to start undulating and moving despite the absence of any wind didn't improve the image she was projecting. "Gah!" she finally shouted, reduced by Ron's words to little more than incoherent vocalizations.

At that she stormed off and left the common room, everyone watching after her wondering what to do. Ginny had had enough and decided to set her brother straight before he did something that resulted in serious, lasting harm to himself. Grabbing him by the ear, she said, "Come, dear brother of mine. First I'm going to explain a few things to you about how not to treat witches. Then I'm going to tell you where you can get a date — but only if you actually listen and learn during the first bit. Got it?" Ron was torn between pain from his ear, embarrassment from being called out in public like that, and excitement at the prospect of finally getting a date. Then he came back around to embarrassment again because if he did get a date, it looked like it would only be because of his little sister.

This left Neville and Hermione alone at the table. At Jasmine's outburst, Hermione had jerked as if she had been slapped, and now she looked about ready to get up and leave. Neville put his hand on his arm to stop her and said, "No, Hermione, don't walk away yet. We need to talk, and I haven't been able to get you alone recently."

"I'm sorry, Neville, but I wouldn't be very good company right now. I already wasn't feeling all that great, but now after what Jasmine just said... does she really think that of me? And why? What's the matter with her? I'm feeling kind of ill right now — I really should be going..."

"That's what I want to talk about, as a matter of fact. I think I have some idea of what's going on with her." Hermione looked hopeful at that, but Neville continued, "However, I'd like to talk about you first."

"Me, what about me?" asked Hermione with a puzzled look on her face.

"Well, can you answer a simple question for me?" Neville asked. "Here it is: what exactly have you been doing for the past few days since Krum asked you to the ball? You see, I know that you'd like to go to the ball with a certain someone, but can't. Once Krum asked you, though, it seemed like you forgot entirely about that first preference of yours — it was all about Krum. I can understand being excited about being asked to go, especially by an international star like him, but I'm not sure I understand forgetting about everyone and everything else. You haven't exactly been acting like you are only going to the ball with Krum as friends — not even when only around the three of us."

Hermione turned pale as realization dawned. "Oh, no! I got so excited about someone asking me out that I forgot about everything else!"

Neville tried to smile in a reassuring manner. "I doubt that you're the first to do that. Now, let's talk about Jasmine. I've been thinking — she didn't have the greatest home life, did she? I noticed we skipped over the details about her home when writing out problems in her life, but I remember some odd comments she's made over the years. I've also noticed that her muggle clothing has always looked rather bad," Neville continued. "I'm guessing she was never given much by her relatives?"

"That's one way to put it," Hermione answered, trying to figure out where he was going with this.

"And having someone who really cares about her is kind of new for her, isn't it?"

"Again, that's putting it mildly," Hermione said, the wheels still turning in her head.

"So if she's never had much of anything that was important to her, and now she's got this one person in her life who suddenly means everything... don't you think she might be afraid of losing that?" Neville asked gently.

Hermione looked up in surprise. "She's jealous? But Viktor and I aren't... I mean, I never said..." Suddenly she remembered just what she had said, and done, ever since Viktor had asked her to the ball, and how that must have looked to Jasmine. "But... but why didn't she talk to me about it? I would have told her that Viktor and I are just friends — not even that, really, because I barely know him!" she added, bewildered.

"She said she was going to the other night after dancing," Neville replied. "Did something happen?"

Hermione paused, trying to remember. "I was already in bed by the time she got to the dorm — maybe she thought I was asleep. And the next morning... oh, Merlin, that was when Lavender and Parvati were gushing about Viktor, and Jasmine just blew up." Abruptly she stopped and frowned at Neville. "Wait, she already talked to you about this? When she hadn't even talked to me yet?"

Neville shrugged. "I could see something was bothering her, so I asked her about it. She seemed to have a hard time even making sense of what she was feeling. I guess if you've never had much to lose, you might not recognize jealousy if it hit you, or be very good at dealing with it when it did." He paused, then added pointedly, "It did seem to help her to have someone to talk to."

Hermione groaned at his unspoken criticism and put her face in her hands. "You're right, I'm sorry. Oh, Neville, what have I done?"

"That doesn't matter so much as what you're going to do," he said firmly. Inside, Neville was doing a happy dance that after several days of thinking about little else, he had gotten close enough to the truth that Hermione could agree with him. Now he just needed to get her to act on those insights.

"What?" Hermione asked, suddenly looking up.

"I'm pretty sure that she's gone to your training room," Neville explained. "What you need to do is to go there, spend time with her, and talk this out. You've both made mistakes — understandable mistakes. You can get past them, but first you need to start talking. You need to remember what you feel for each other and what you still have with each other. Yes, you still have it — you just need to remind each other of that."

Tears shone in Hermione's eyes as she listened to him. "When did you get to be so wise, Neville?"

He just grinned. "Hey, I can't keep spending so much time with such smart witches and remain a dunderhead forever, can I?"

"Thanks, Neville. I'll probably be gone for a while," Hermione said as she rose from the table.

"Good," he replied. "I'd be worried if you weren't. Be sure to give her a smack on the back of the head for me, yeah?" Hermione probably didn't hear the last bit, as she was already moving at high speed for the common room door.

Once she was gone, Neville sagged in relief. He knew he'd sounded far more confident than he really felt. Merlin, he thought, I hope I was right about all of that...

Although she wanted to run all the way to their training room, Hermione quickly realized that she needed a bit of time to organize her thoughts and think of what she was going to say, then what Jasmine would likely say, and how she would respond. She mentally reviewed what she could remember of how she behaved over the past few days, especially when Krum was around or was mentioned.

She grimaced at this, realizing for the first time just how much of a simpering fangirl she must have looked like. I acted almost as bad as I did with Lockhart! Even worse, I don't even like Quidditch unless Jasmine is playing! As she thought of it, she started to realize that this might be a disturbing pattern in her life. When I first met Jasmine on the train, I immediately tried to impress her. When we were taught by Lockhart, I practically fawned over him all year. Then, as soon as Krum asked me out... yikes!

Fortunately, she knew that she wasn't actually a fangirl. She wasn't even attracted to Krum, really. She did respect his skills, though, and she had indeed insisted that she'd only go with him if they were going as friends. What easily looked like fangirl behavior on the outside was simply her reveling in the fact that someone thought highly enough of her to ask her out to a ball.

Krum asking me to the dance wasn't the same as Jasmine asking me out, she mused. Krum doesn't know me like Jasmine does, he's hardly ever spoken to me. All he knows about me is what I look like and that I spend a lot of time in the library... and he still asked me to the Yule Ball. Me! And it's Viktor Krum, an international Quidditch star who could probably go out with just about anyone he wanted.

It was hard not to swoon a little at that.

But apparently I swooned a little too much, and Jasmine noticed, Hermione lamented. Noticed and was hurt by it. So she lashed out, and I took it personally, refusing to speak to her after that.

She sighed. Like Neville said, we both made mistakes, but if I'm going to be brutally honest I have to admit that the primary fault lies with me. It was an accident, but the responsibility is mine. So the responsibility for apologizing first is mine, too.

I just need Jasmine to sit still and calm down long enough for me to explain, she thought. I can make this right. I just need to find the right combination of words that will soothe and heal.

Hermione was good with words. She could do this.

Finding herself standing in front of the training room door, Hermione took a couple of deep breaths to steady herself while she reviewed the best phrasings she'd been able to think of. Moving quickly in order to not lose courage, she opened the door, slammed it shut, tossed up her privacy and silencing spells, then turned to face her objective.

Jasmine Potter stood there looking quite pitiful. Her hair was a mess — well, more of a mess than usual — and her eyes were puffy from crying. She was breathing heavily and had a look of desperation on her tear-streaked face.

Hermione just stared at her, all thoughts of soothing words and clever phrasing gone. Jasmine stared back, all her rage having left her. As they looked at each other — for the first time in days, really looked at each other — both realized that words weren't needed at all.

Neither was conscious of having moved, but when they met in the middle of the room, they reminded each other of what they still had together by the simplest means possible. Their kiss lasted much, much longer than any previously had, and this time, the two glowing balls of light that started in each of their chests grew larger, with distinct tendrils becoming easily visible. This time, because the girls' bodies were pressed so tightly together, the blue and green tendrils didn't have far to stretch and so managed to make contact, beginning to intertwine just before the witches pulled back and the glow disappeared.

They eventually did get around to talking out their problems. Hermione apologized for acting like a besotted groupie, explaining that regardless of what it had looked like, she was indeed only going with Viktor as friends. As it turned out, that's what he'd wanted, too.

Jasmine apologized for her outbursts and bad behavior. They talked about why she had acted that way, and while Hermione understood, she also said that they would need to work on it together because they couldn't be in a long-term relationship if she had to worry about Jasmine's fear and jealousy getting out of control all the time.

Jasmine didn't hear much else after that because she was nearly giddy that Hermione was thinking about having "a long-term relationship" with her.

However, it took a while before they got to the part of the conversation that used words — first, the two witches held a much more basic conversation. It still involved lips and tongues, but it was a more primal way of expressing emotions. It was also the conversation that, in their minds, was the most important.