Chapter 5

It was a stroke of luck that the weather had decided to clear up today in time for Quidditch. The weather had been nothing but dreadful all week, leaving Harry to try and prepare his team for the match against Ravenclaw in the worst conditions.

He looked down the table to see a downtrodden looking Ron and Hermione sitting next to him trying to cheer him up. His occasional scathing glare directed towards one particular Fourth year Gryffindor made it apparent to everyone why he was so down lately. Word had spread around the school quickly about what had happened two weeks prior.

On Valentine's Day, Harry had decided to spend much of the day alone to allow Ron and Hermione to spend it as a couple spent much of the day alone despite their repeated invitations to join them and his own complicated feelings. During the owl post that day, he had received a box of chocolates from one Romilda Vane, but figuring that they may have been laced with a love potion, he threw them in his trunk and forgot about them.

It wasn't until a week later that Harry was reminded that he still had the offending sweets. Unfortunately, it was after Ron decided to eat them when Harry tossed them out of his trunk when he was looking for the Marauder's Map. Ron ate quite a few before Harry finally noticed what had happened, but by that time, Ron was proclaiming his undying love to Vane. Having the wherewithal to try and get his friend cured, Harry quickly ushered him out into the Common Room.

Harry initially planned to take Ron to Professor Slughorn to get cured, in part so that he would have another opportunity to get the man alone, but thankfully the pair had run into Hermione there and had convinced Harry to take Ron to the Hospital Wing instead of to the Potions Master. She accompanied the pair to the infirmary where Madam Pomfrey was still awake and Ron could get treatment. Unfortunately, the potion wasn't brewed correctly and because Harry let it sit in his trunk for a week, the potion was significantly more potent for normal. Ron felt the effects of the potion for several days, and because Madam Pomfrey wasn't sure how if it would have any lasting effects, forbid him from playing in the Quidditch game later that week.

The last-minute change in personnel meant that Harry was forced to put Cormac McLaggen, which everyone on the team, especially Harry and Ron were not excited for. Harry because McLaggen kept acting like he was the captain of the team and would constantly argue with Harry, while Ron was annoyed because not only was Ron forced to watch from the stands while Cormac practiced with the team, but it seemed that Cormac liked to spout off about how the team was better now that he was on the team while Ron was in ear shot.

Deciding that he had enough of just sitting there in his own head, Harry stood up from the table and announced that he was going to head to the locker rooms early so that he could finally get ready for the match. He gave a sorry smile to Ron and Hermione and patted his friend's shoulder reassuringly before heading towards the exit.

As soon as he passed McLaggen, the 7th year stood up and followed him, giving his unwanted advice on what the team should do in the match along the way.

"I know how much you like the Weasley and Thomas on the team Potter, but I think that I know 2 people who could-"

"That's great McLaggen, but I would appreciate it if you didn't bother me right before an important match, alright?"

McLaggen stiffened slightly, before moving to pass Harry and head down to the Quidditch pitch. As he passed, Harry managed to catch bits of mumbled words such as "Glory hogging prat", and "doesn't deserve to be captain". Normally Harry would lash back, but decided against it when he remembered that Ron would be back on the team soon after this game, and let the whole thing slide.

Deciding that it was best that he detoured from the locker rooms momentarily, partly so that he wouldn't be alone with McLaggen and partly so that he couldn't maintain the ruse that he needed time to himself, he decided that a trip to visit Hagrid might be in order. He almost exited the Great Hall when he was stopped by a voice behind him calling his name.

"Harry!"

He turned to see Luna skipping towards him, her lion outfit conspicuously absent, but he figured that was because he was playing against her own house this time. Still, he couldn't stop himself from grinning, the serene happiness on the girl's face as infectious as it normally was.

"Hello Luna."

She stood before him for a brief moment before she seemingly remembered the reason why she was there.

"Even though House loyalty prevents me from supporting you, I still wanted to wish you good luck today."

"Thanks Luna."

Hermione watched Harry deflect Cormac's attempts at Quidditch planning and couldn't help but chuckle as the older boy stalked off, clearly unhappy about whatever Harry had said to him. A brief glance to her left informed her that Ron had seen the interaction as well, his initial glare directed at the boy slowly turned into a small smile as he too witnessed Harry rebuff Cormac's advice.

Hermione was glad that something was able to bring a smile to Ron's face. Ever since he found out that he was barred from playing in this match, his mood had been sour at best. He was even more confrontational lately, seemingly finding any reason to argue with her and Harry, and if it wasn't for the fact that his two friends were as understanding as they had been, the damage his foul mood could've caused would be more severe.

Still though, it was times like this where Hermione began to notice more issues in her relationship with Ron. Mentally, she knew why Ron was being so argumentative, but she couldn't help some of the thoughts that entered her mind unbidden.

'Were the things they would argue about born out his current frustration or were they there the whole time?'

Prior to their relationship, Hermione had decided that she was done trying to change Ron and instead did her best to understand his position on things. Yes, she still did hound him about being more studious but that was completely for his benefit, not to try to change his whole way of living.

Early on it seemed that he had attempted to do the same, and that was part of the reason that their relationship went without a hitch for so long. Recently though, he seemed to have reverted back to his previous stance on life, and repeatedly tried to explain to her why the wizarding way of thinking, his way of thinking, was better than hers and quite frankly, she was tiring of it.

Her thoughts were interrupted by the sight of Luna approaching Harry. Hermione's brows furrowed slightly at the sight, and it hadn't escaped her notice that this was becoming more frequent as of late. It seemed that Hermione was plagued with feelings that she couldn't quite place every time she saw the two of them interact. The scene in front of her reminded her how Ron acted around Fleur the past summer.

'Wait a minute', she briefly thought, 'Am I jealous?'

She couldn't dismiss the feeling entirely, but determined that it must be because Harry was spending more time with the Ravenclaw girl, meaning less time with her and Ron. Despite this deflection, she also realized that her jealousy had increased in frequency ever since the events that took place between her and Harry in that broom closet, whatever that scene was.

Ever since that event, Hermione had tried to wrap her head around what happened, but she couldn't figure out what had happened. Did Harry want to kiss her? Did she want to kiss him? Seeing how Harry didn't act any differently in the days following the event, despite her attempts to talk about it, she figured that it was a moment of weakness on both of their parts and she decided it best to let the matter go.

At least that's what she told herself. Though she chose to not let it affect their friendship, Hermione couldn't stop the logical and analytical parts of her brain from observing and overthinking every action between the two of them.

She watched as Harry seemed to thank Luna for whatever encouragement that she had given him, before Luna stood up on her toes and aimed a kiss towards Harry's cheek, landing on the very corner of his mouth, before skipping off towards the pitch. Hermione felt her stomach involuntarily clench at the bemused look on Harry's face as he stared after the girl for a few seconds before leaving the Great Hall himself.

Hermione couldn't shake the turmoil inside of her, her body moving on auto-pilot, and before she knew it, she was seated in the stands, the players beginning to make their way out onto the pitch. As they all filed into a circle around Madam Hooch, Hermione heard a familiar ethereal sounding voice echo throughout the arena. Her eyes locked onto to Harry as he shot of in search of the Snitch, hoping as she did during every game that he made it out in one piece.

The first sensation that Harry could discern through the darkness was a throbbing pain in his head. He bit back a groan as his other senses began to take in his surroundings. He noticed that he didn't have his glasses on and the combination of the eerie quiet, the feeling of soft linen surrounding him, and the familiar sterile smell of flowers told Harry that he was currently in the Hospital Wing.

When he attempted to open his eyes, they were bombarded by the lights of the room, which sent his head dizzying, forcing him to close his eyes or get nauseous from the sensory overload, but still having the unfortunate side effect of causing the throbbing in his head to worsen. He fought through the fog that still lingered as he wracked his brain for information on how he ended up here. He remembered making his way down to the pitch, once again deflecting how McLaggen tried to challenge his leadership. Next was the match itself where he recalled being amused by Luna's commentary, following with McLaggen taking one of the beater's bats and then…nothing.

It didn't take a genius to figure out what happened from there. Deciding that he had spent enough time in bed, he cracked his eyes slightly, fought against his upsetting stomach, and attempt to roll himself closer to the edge of the bed. No sooner had he started to move, did the pain in his head swell again, except this time, he was unable to bite back the groan before it could escape his mouth.

"Harry!"

Once he had realized that he wasn't going anywhere, he decided to acclimate to his surroundings until he saw the shape he assumed was Hermione reach towards the bedside table and hand him his glasses. By the looks of her, she hadn't slept since he was admitted here, which startled him a little bit because his initial assumption was that it was only hours since the match. Still the sight of Hermione sitting by him worriedly warmed his heart a little.

"How are you feeling?"

"Like I'm game hex McLaggen within an inch of his life," his words earning a small laugh from Hermione.

"I would think so. Everyone was furious after what happened in the game. He shouldn't have taken Coot's bat and then to for him to knock you off your broom and send you falling to the ground…Ron and I were so worried."

He saw that Hermione's eyes were beginning to water so he reached out as far as he could towards her nearby hand, which she gratefully placed within his own, rewarding him with a small smile.

"Come now Hermione, I've survived worse. This was nothing compared to my fall three years ago." He paused for a second when he saw that she didn't appreciate his dark humor. Attempting to change the conversation, he quickly asked, "So how long have I been here for?"

Hermione hesitated for a few seconds before replying a small, "two days."

"Two days!" he shouted, earning a shush from Madam Pomfrey for his outburst as he tried to wrap his head around this fact. Suddenly everything made sense. Hermione and Ron had to wait for two days for him to wake up, which explained why she looked so sleep deprived. Still, Harry felt as though he was missing something.

"Both Ron and I were here for the rest of the day following the match. Since then, Ron has stopped by right around meal time to see how you were doing." Harry directed a questioning gaze towards her, her lack of mentioning herself didn't escape his notice.

"And you?"

Hermione face lit up with a blush. "When I haven't been in class or sleeping, I've been here."

"Why?"

"I told you I was worried Harry," she hesitated again as he watched as she visibly debated whether to speak further, "besides, you were here for me during Second Year, why wouldn't I return the favor."

It was Harry's turn to blush as he tried to formulate a response, but unable to. Instead he gave her hand a squeeze, which he hadn't realized that they had yet to relinquish, hoping it conveyed his sincere gratitude.

The moment might've went on further, if the sound of the infirmary doors opening didn't break the comfortable silence, revealing Ron as he walked in the door. When he glanced towards his other best friend, Harry caught the tail end of what looked like a glare aimed in the direction of his and Hermione's clasped hands. Releasing her hand, Harry greeted Ron, who had suppressed his momentary unhappiness and began chatting with the other two normally. Though, Harry was thankful that he had his two best friends to keep him company, Harry couldn't keep his mind of off the moment between himself and Hermione, and when he finally did, the mental image of the look on Ron's face would enter his mind instead, perplexing him to no end.

AN – Sorry for the wait on this update. With college ramping up this time of the semester, my updates for all my stories might be more staggered from here until the summer, but have no fear, I'm abandoning any of my stories.

I hope this chapter suffices. I'm trying to not drag the story out, yet at the same time not have everything happen in like five chapters like I've seen some stories do. The next few chapters should contain more development for Harry and Hermione's relationship so look forward to that.

As always, thanks for reading!