Chapter 4

After Hermione was given the tour of the house, which didn't take long, they headed to Harry's room so they could talk.

"Four feet on the floor!" Sirius yelled down the hall from his office. Both teens blushed at the order. They knew what he meant, after all it wasn't like they were first-years. However, neither of them had that on their mind.

Once situated in Harry's room, Hermione on a beanbag and Harry in a modern office chair, they began to talk.

"So what did you want to talk about, Hermione? I assure you Sirius will start etiquette lessons soon. I promise." Harry couldn't help but think this must be about the extra lessons Sirius planned to give the two.

"It's not about that." She started nervously, "it's about something else." Hermione turned her head to the window to avoid Harry's eyes.

"You can tell me anything, Hermione. We went back in time together, remember? That's a pretty big secret to keep." Harry laughed.

"I like you." Hermione said the three words so quickly that Harry almost didn't catch it.

"Well I sure hope so! We're best friends!" Harry thought that was rather obvious.

"No, you nitwit, I like-like you."

"Oh." Harry blushed deeply. He had never experienced a situation like this before. Sure, Ginny was infatuated with him but he figured it would go away once she got more mature. He had never actually had a girl confess something like this to him before.

Harry began to think. He thought about the past three years and what had occurred. Hermione always believed in him. First the stone, she knew he would be a great wizard someday, then the chamber, where she knew he could solve the riddle, and finally with Sirius, she trusted Harry enough to go back in time and save his godfather. He liked her too. More than a friend.

"This was a stupid idea, I have to go. I'm sorry." Hermione began to get up. Her eyes were watering.

"No, no, Hermione. I like you too! More than a friend." Harry didn't want Hermione to leave. Especially if she thought that he didn't have the same feelings.

"You do? You're not just saying that to make me feel better?" Hermione turned to him with a skeptical look on her face.

"I do. I really do. You've supported me through everything these past three years. You've always looked out for me and wanted what's best for me….and you're the prettiest girl in school, Hermione." Harry rushed to get everything out. He didn't want to lose Hermione, as a friend or otherwise.

Hermione blushed. "That's not true and you know it, but thank you."

The teens just smiled at each other for what seemed like forever but was really just a moment in time.

"So, does this make us, you know, boyfriend and girlfriend?" Harry asked shyly, he wasn't sure what his next move was supposed to be.

"Only if you want to be." Hermione then leaned in and offered a kiss. Which, Harry gladly did. Nothing more than a peck on the lips, there'd be plenty of time for more later, but for now, both teens were happy with the decision.

"So…do we tell Ron?" Harry asked. He knew that Ron had some self-esteem issues and could get jealous easily, he'd rather get this out of the way first.

"Well, I heard from Lavender, who heard from Parvati, who heard from Susan that Hannah Abbott has a crush on Ron!" Hermione started to laugh, finding it rather amusing that anyone would have a crush on their red-headed friend.

"Hmm, that's good to know. Maybe we can convince Ron to start writing to Hannah over the summer? That way he doesn't feel left out?" Harry had already started thinking of ways to get Ron to not be jealous.

"I think that's an excellent idea. Why don't we try to get over there this week or next and we can talk then?" Hermione suggested.

"Brilliant idea. You're so smart, Hermione."

The bushy haired teen couldn't help but blush as her brand new boyfriend complimented her once again.

It turned out that Ron was free that Friday and thus the three teens found themselves sitting outside underneath a rather large tree, preferring to sit in the shade.

"So has your summer been so far, Harry? Hermione?" Ron started off the conversation.

Both Harry and Hermione started to answer at the same time but stopped and blushed.

"It's been good, Ron, there's something we want to tell you actually. About something that happened recently. You see Hermione and I…" Harry was interrupted by Hermione rather abruptly.

"Found out that Hannah Abbott has a crush on you!" Hermione quickly stopped Harry. She wanted to give Ron good news first so that he didn't get jealous and storm off like he was prone too. She wished that they came with a plan.

"What? No way! Wait, which one's Hannah?" Ron was ecstatic, if not confused on who exactly his new admirer was.

"Hannah, you know, Hufflepuff, best friends with Susan Bones? Blonde hair." Hermione started to describe Hannah in a rather annoyed tone.

"Oh! Her! She's cute. Okay yeah, that's awesome." Ron now had a big grin on his face.

"So we were thinking, maybe you should send her an owl. Start talking her up, and then once we're back at Hogwarts….who knows." Harry figured he had to be rather blunt and up front with Ron about what his next steps should be.

"That's brilliant, mate! Once you guys leave, I'll send Pig." Pig was the owl that Sirius gave to Ron as a semi-apology for the whole biting his leg incident.

"Great to hear, Ron. Good stuff. Now there's something else we want to tell you." Harry began.

"Harry and I are dating." Hermione blurted it out. Much like ripping the bandage off of a scab.

"You what?" Ron seemed to still be in his own world thinking about somebody having a crush on him.

"Ron, mate, Hermione and I are dating. We're boyfriend and girlfriend….I'm the boyfriend just so we're clear." Harry tried to insert some humor into the situation.

Ron snorted. "Of course you're the boyfriend Harry, I'm glad you're clear on that, mate." Ron then got a bit more serious. "I'm glad you two finally figured it out. I knew it back during McGonagall's chess game in first-year."

"What?" the couple asked, slightly confused.

"Yeah, it was clear as day the two of you should be together. Wait, were you lying about Hannah to soften the blow?"

Harry was a bit shocked, was it that obvious? How could anyone know before even he knew it.

"No, Ron, I really did hear that Hannah has a crush on you. We just decided to tell you that first. Thank you, Ronald. For understanding and accepting our new relationship." Hermione was so glad that Ron took this better than either she or Harry had thought he would.

"Oh good, because now that you two are going to be snogging in the common room, I'll have to find something else to do." Ron joked. "Someone's gonna have to tell Ginny though, and I am not doing that."

Harry knew this might be a problem. He wondered what he could do about this particular pickle he found himself in.

"Could we ask your mum to talk to her?" Hermione came up with yet another brilliant idea.

"Sure, I guess. That might work better. Ginny was talking about Harry all week again. It was like the summer after our first-year all over again. Brave Harry, Smart Harry, Cute Harry! GAG!" Ron seemed to be more than a little annoyed at his little sister's antics.

The trio headed into the burrow to go find the one and only Molly Weasley.

She knew that her daughter had a huge crush on Harry Potter. Ever since she was little, she talked about meeting and one day marrying him. That day at Platform 9 ¾, when poor Harry was so so lost, Ginny couldn't stop talking about it for two weeks!

She also knew that Harry and Hermione were meant to be. It had been quite clear from Ron's letters, and Fred and George's bet taking, that the two were going to start dating soon. This talk with Ginny was bound to happen.

Molly knocked on her only daughter's door. "Ginny, can I come in?" Her daughter was getting to the age that she couldn't just barge into her room.

"Yes, mum!" Ginny was organizing her closet, clothes that didn't fit her in one pile, and clothes that did in the other. The non-fitting pile would be going to be sold rather than tossed. Since Ginny was the only girl, she tended to get more new clothes than the younger boys.

"Ginny, we need to talk." The youngest redhead very rarely heard this tone of voice from her mother. It usually meant something serious.

"Okay, mum. What's going on?"

Molly cast a subtle calming charm on her daughter, unfortunately the fiery red hair came with a fiery temper as well.

"Honey, I'm not sure how to make this easy on you so I'm just going to come out and say it. Harry and Hermione are dating." Molly stared intently at her daughter. Waiting for any sign of Ginny erupting.

"NO! No, no, no. He is NOT. He is MINE." Ginny started having, quite literally, a temper tantrum.

"Ginevra! You are not three, sit back down!" Ginny obeyed her mother, knowing what would happen if she didn't. She had seen Fred and George out de-gnoming the garden for hours on end before, she did not want to do that.

"Ginny, honey, you had to have known that this was at least a possibility. I know you've had a crush on him for the longest time but you had to have known that he may not have picked you." Molly pulled her into a tight hug.

"I know mum but" Ginny started crying at this point and held onto her mother. They stayed like this for most of the evening. She hated seeing her daughter's first heartbreak but at least she was here to help her through it and it wasn't while she was away at Hogwarts. She was grateful for that at least.

A/N: Next chapter will be lessons! I feel like I'm finally hitting my groove on this story, too. Thank you for all the positive comments and follows. As always, let me know what you think!