Chapter 4

Harry was heading back from the Quidditch pitch after a particularly good practice. He finally understood why Wood was so tyrannical during his time as Quidditch Captain, though he believed that he was different than his former captain. When Harry looked at his team, he saw all the potential that they had and wanted them to be as good as they thought they could be. He also understandably wanted to maintain his team's status as the best Quidditch team and reigning champions for the rest of the year. Okay, admittedly, he wasn't much different from Wood.

When he exited the locker room, he saw Ron and Hermione ahead of him, apparently in a heated conversation, despite the coziness that they still put off due to their arms being linked together. He decided that he wasn't going to try and catch up to them and enter the conversation. Since returning back to school after the winter break, Hermione and Ron both tried to include him in more, which he was grateful for, but he decided that the two of them deserved some alone time, despite the fact that it appeared that they were having a disagreement. It was their relationship and Harry couldn't be the buffer between them anymore, he wouldn't be around all the time so they needed to resolve things themselves.

Though he was glad that he had his tow best friends back in his life, and made a point to spend more time with Hermione, almost as much as he did with Ron. He knew that his place was that of a best friend, and decided that if that was all that Hermione saw in him, then he would be happy.

At least that's what he told himself. He had still yet to get over or come to terms with his feelings with Hermione, but damn did he try. He simply couldn't help the fact that he greatly anticipated any time he spent alone with her, nor could he control the way that his heart felt warm due to the explosion of affection he felt every time he saw her.

As he thought of his friends, he wasn't paying attention to where he was going, and accidently walked into a small body. Instinctively, he wrapped his arms around the person's waist to steady the two of them. When he lifted his eyes, he was met by the sight of silver-hair and pale eyes.

"Oh. Hello Harry!"

Luna was another enigma that Harry was trying to decipher. Though he knew that his feelings for Hermione currently sat above how one normally feels for a friend, his feelings towards Luna were almost as confusing. He knew that he liked her more than he did most people he knew, especially any girls he knew, but did that mean that he liked her like he did Hermione. Obviously, his feelings for Hermione were greater due in part to him knowing her longer, but the same eventually happen with Luna? He couldn't say for sure.

A soft clearing of her throat, drew Harry's attention back to the fact that he had yet to relinquish his hold on her. He quickly disengaged himself from her waist, blushing profusely and apologized nearly as quickly.

"It's alright Harry. I understand your need to make sure your friends are safe. You just wanted to make sure that the Nargles didn't cause me to fall any further."

Harry chuckled at the eccentric blonde, and motioned for her to follow as he made his way back into the castle. They walked slowly through the seemingly endless corridors of the castle, talking about nothing in particular. This had been a regular occurrence since when Harry had attempted to distance himself from Ron and Hermione, and he was thankful that they had managed to keep doing this since his attempt had been thwarted. Even though his relationship with his friends was repaired, he was glad that he still maintained the new closeness that he felt with the younger Ravenclaw.

"I'm curious as to why you were walking by yourself instead of with Ron and Hermione. It's understandable though, they do seem to be attracting Wrackspurts lately."

Despite not understanding what Luna actually said, he felt that the sentiment was on the right track. Part of the reason that he elected to let the two of them solve their problems themselves was because it seemed that they were back to their old ways of fighting all the time.

"It seems that they're back to fighting like they used to. It's their relationship, so it's not my place to help them sort this stuff out."

"I suppose so."

The pair continued in this manner until they came to the Grand Staircase, where they usually parted to continue to their respective Common Rooms. Harry watched her retreating form for a few moments before he shook his shook his head, a small smile on his face, and resume his trek back to his dormitory.

As soon as he entered the Common Room, the sounds of an argument could be heard billowing from the room.

"All I asked was that we spend at least a little time on our studies, Ronald. We can't neglect our school work!"

As Harry neared he could see that Hermione was on a roll, her hands firmly placed on her hips as she glared daggers at Ron, who had yet to even rise from his sitting position, apparently not finding this conversation as serious as his girlfriend.

"Come on Hermione, we have all the time in the world to work on school stuff, we can afford to spend a little more time together," he looked at her pleadingly. He clearly still couldn't fathom the fact that she actually enjoyed being studious. "Besides, N.E.W.T.s aren't until next year, and we did just fine during our O.W.L.S."

"Yes, but that was only because I only just managed to convince you and Harry to take those exams seriously right before they happened." The fact of the matter was, was that that statement was only partially true. It had been easy to convince Harry that their O.W.L.s were important and get him studying, whereas Ron acted exactly as Hermione described. Harry almost felt indignant at her words, but understood that if Ron felt she was singling him out, their row would only increase in intensity. "These exams could potentially affect the rest of our lives, and you're completely willing to squander it away."

Ron simply waved her off, and called over to Seamus to have a game of chess, since Hermione seemed hellbent on studying. This was the worst thing that Ron could do, leaving and exasperated Hermione to stalk towards the exit, muttering angrily as she walked. Harry tried to grab her attention, but she didn't seem to notice him as the portrait hole slammed shut behind her.

He sighed heavily, debating in his mind whether he should go after her or not. Yes, he still felt it was their issues to resolve, but he couldn't help but notice the longing he felt inside to go after her.

He let out another sigh, this one sounding more defeated than the previous one, and decided to take off after her.

Hermione exited the Common Room in a huff, the faint voice of her boyfriend yelling after her, until the sound of the portrait hole closing off the rest of his cries. She needed some time to herself, fresh air and the opportunity to clear her head, something that had been rare for her in the past few months.

That in and of itself, was the crux of the problem. Since beginning her relationship with Ron, Hermione found that she rarely had some time to herself anymore. She had enjoyed the closeness and connectedness that the two of them shared early in their relationship, but the honeymoon period was over and though she had managed to get some alone time after a discussion with Ron, she still felt that she was being smothered.

She was already aware of her boyfriend's aversion to studying and diligence in their school work, but she had thought that Ron would be more understanding of her opinions since they got together. Instead, he believed that she studied too much and tried to avoid it during their time together.

Her mind continued to retread the same thoughts repeatedly, until she realized that she was walking without thinking of where she was going when she realized that she had ended up in the 7th floor corridor near the Room of Requirement instead of outside as she had intended.

"Hermione! Wait up!"

She turned around to see Harry sprinting after her. She couldn't help but smile at the worried look that she could see on his face, even from several meters away. She had noticed his attempts to stay out of her and Ron's disagreements, but she understood his reasoning. This wasn't an attempt to try and leave them again but letting them sort out their one problems themselves.

"There you are. You were moving so fast that I could hardly follow you on the map." Her eyes cast down to his back-right pocket, where she saw a piece of parchment sticking out that surely was the map in question. Even though it was useful now in helping him find her, she knew that he kept in on him so that he could repeatedly spy on Malfoy, something that she had chastised him for plenty of times, though he had yet to listen.

Realizing that her mind was going off track, she glanced back up to his face and was once again overcome with emotion at the absolutely caring expression on his face. He was always worried about her, and the sentiment touched her deeply.

'If only Ron was more like him.'

The thought had manifested unbiddenly, and she was surprised not only by the fact that it existed, but also by the fact that it was completely true.

"I heard you and Ron fighting. Are you okay?"

All the confusing emotions were starting to get to be too much, her eyes began to water despite her attempts to stop them. She attempted to placate him with a watery smile, but it was obviously forced.

"I'm fine Harry," at his disbelieving look, she quickly amended her statement, "Alright fine. I'm not, but I will be. It's just that I thought Ron and I were beyond all the constant bickering that the two of us would change for the better, and even though I've done my best to try and accept many things about him, it's like he hasn't even tried to do so."

Harry opened his mouth as if to say something, but she watched as his jaws snapped shut and shook his head lightly. Instead, he wrapped her in a soft hug, which surprised her because she couldn't remember a time that it was Harry who initiated a hug between them, and reassured her that everything was okay. Despite her earlier anger and other negative emotions, she couldn't help but agree because it was Harry that was saying it.

Their moment was interrupted when they heard three sets of footsteps coming from around a nearby corridor, one that led directly to the Room of Requirement. Their voices were getting louder as they approached, and even though they couldn't make out the words that were being said, they could tell by the sound of them that they were the voices of Malfoy, Crabbe, and Goyle.

Hermione stiffened at the realization; the last thing she wanted to do was have a confrontation with Malfoy in her current emotional state. She wasn't sure that she would be able to prevent herself from hexing him if he said the wrong thing. Ig that were to happen, Malfoy could easily run to Professor Snape and spin a story that put her in the wrong and she could potentially lose her status as a Prefect.

She was about to grab Harry's hand to lead him away from the approaching Slytherins, but Harry beat her to it, pulling her to a nearby broom closet, before shoving her and himself inside. As the door closed behind them, Hermione stumbled over some of the cleaning supplies lining the floor of the room and lost her balance.

She immediately reached out to grab onto something to stabilize herself and managed to find Harry's arm. She pulled which righted her stance, but also pulled Harry closer causing him to bump into her, knocking the both of them off balance, causing them to wrap their arms around each other to remain upright.

Hermione was glad that the room was plunged in darkness, so that Harry couldn't notice the blush that graced her face. She was about to apologize for the awkward situation but the voices of Malfoy and his cronies made her temporarily forget about their proximity.

"How much longer 'til it's done Malfoy?"

The footsteps slowed right outside the door. Fear gripped Hermione's heart, she hoped that he had little reason to believe that someone was eavesdropping from the nearby broom closet. Thankfully, he continued the conversation, which allowed her to relax a bit.

"It shouldn't be too much longer Crabbe. It's taking a little bit longer to fix than I had anticipated, but it's coming along nicely. Soon, his plan will be put into effect and he'll praise me for my actions."

The conversation continued as the voices began to drift away once again. She was finally able to fully relax but noticed that Harry was leaning closer to the door in an attempt to hear more of their conversation, but had yet to relinquish his hold on her.

Though she still felt weird being trapped in his embrace, she couldn't deny the fact that for reason's unknown to her, she felt warm and secure there, she was reluctant to leave the comfort of his embrace. Stills he felt that she had to draw his attention back to their semi-compromising position.

"Harry?" She cursed her voice for coming out in a whisper, sounding weak which went against her usual demeanor. Her call did catch his attention, and in the darkened closet she was still able to see him turn his head towards the sound of her voice. A few moments later she felt him stiffen as he realized how they were standing, yet even more surprisingly, he didn't release his hold on her.

He stared at her face, an emotion present that Hermione couldn't place, though she wasn't any better. She couldn't help but stare into his green eyes. How had she not noticed how captivating the green irises were. She found herself unable to look away. She would've been content to just stare into his eyes for hours, but the thought was shaken away when she noticed that his face was coming closer. More startling was that fact that she was the one whose face was moving forward, her own shock at her movement that the fact that Harry was also inching his face closer was lost on her. She knew that she should feel ashamed for doing this, but she couldn't find the power to pull herself out of this intimate moment.

The space between them continued to vanish both of them seemingly captivated and unable to prevent what was happening. As the last of the distance between them was nearly swallowed, Hermione's legs buckled, causing her to bump into the collection of sweeping brooms behind her, scattering them to the floor with a crash.

The sound was enough to jolt them from their trance, they both jumped apart, putting as much distance as they could. The look on Harry's face was unreadable as he opened the broom closet and inspected the corridor to make sure that the coast was clear. He then exited without saying a word leaving Hermione standing there as she tried to come to grips with what just happened.

The events of the last few moments left her deeply confused, but nothing confused her more than the fact that she had wanted to kiss Harry. She had never felt that urge before, and even more prevalent was the feeling of guilt as her mind turned to her boyfriend Ron. Before she could travel down that rabbit hole any further, she followed Harry back out into the corridor to find him already making his way back towards Gryffindor Tower.

"Harry, wait! What happened in there-"

"Forget it Hermione. It was a mistake. Let's just forget it ever happened."

Hermione could of sworn that she saw something that looked close to sadness cross Harry's face as he said this, before turning and heading back to the Common Room, leaving Hermione to sort out her confusing thoughts and feelings.

AN: We finally got to the point where Harry and Hermione are making progress. I hope that I didn't cram too much into this chapter by having Ron and Hermione fight, as well as have Hermione start questioning their relationship but I think it will be alright. They are still ways away from getting together, probably another 5 or 6 chapters before we completely get to there.

As always, thanks for reading!