I think it's this chapter in particular that reminded me of how my opinion differs on the book and the film. I really enjoy the Half Blood Prince book despite a large part of it being relationship drama, while the film seemed to lean into that more than other avenues to its detriment.

Some dialogue is borrowed from Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince: Chapter 14 – Felix Felicis

The day after Leo had asked Hermione to Professor Slughorn's party, the pair made sure to sit down together and have a long chat about their expectations, agreeing not to rush into anything else beforehand, both noting their friend's failed relationships after rushing things too quickly. That didn't stop them from continuing their evening trips to the library to complete whatever homework they had been given that day away from the distractions of their friends. It also allowed the pair to get to know each other a lot better in a similar vein to when they had been the only kids in Grimmauld Place earlier that summer, with Hermione opening up more about her growing up as a muggle and the difficulties in taking her school life back home with her, while Leo told her all about growing up without knowing who his dad was, but how his Grandfather had stepped up and helped his mum raise him, and the pair ended up comparing the differences of their childhoods regularly in between bouts of silence and the scribbles of quills.

Their regular meetings had not gone unnoticed by Fay, as she so keenly noted during Transfiguration the next week. "She said yes then." She whispered as the rest of the class were still attempting to conjure birds, with only a handful of loud bangs and smoke being accompanied by birds at that point.

"Fay." He warned. "Avis." He stated, waving his wand to no effect.

"Silently please, Mr MacDonald." Professor McGonagall called from across the classroom.

"I can't even do it out loud." Leo grumbled quietly.

Fay smirked. "Too much on your mind?" She asked, a clear attempt to tease him

Shaking his head, Leo tried again, although this time he thought the spell, and yet still nothing happened. "We just aren't shouting about it." He explained. "We're comfortable how we are as friends for now until the party, and then we'll go from there. Too many friendships get ruined by rushing into things." He tried the spell again, although this time a loud bang sounded, though the bird that appeared from his ebony wand wasn't exactly capable of flight, instead just flopping and twitching on the desk. He jabbed his wand at the thing and vanished it quickly. "Think of Anna and Wayne, they were attached at the hip beforehand, and now they can't see one another without screaming."

"Do you honestly think that will happen to you and Hermione?" Fay asked, her eyebrow raised.

"No." Leo shrugged. "But the closest I've been to being in a relationship is taking you to the Yule Ball and I don't think that's close to having an actual girlfriend. My mum's been single pretty much all my life and I can't really remember my Nan other than brief moments, so all I've ever really known is single people. Hermione's only ever been to the Yule Ball with Krum too, so yeah, we're taking it slowly and knowing each other as friends before labelling it as something it isn't yet. And that's working." He insisted, as he looked over at Hermione showing Harry how to wave his wand for the spell. Leo tried again, and this time a tiny little blackbird erupted from his wand with a bang and began flying around the room.

"Well done MacDonald!" Professor McGonagall exclaimed, making her way over to their desk again. "And was that nonverbal, or did you whisper?"

"It was nonverbal, Professor." Leo answered.

Fay nodded up at the bespectacled teacher. "It really was." She backed him up honestly.

"Then do so again if you will." The Professor told him sternly, not moving a muscle. Leo did exactly the same as he did last time around, and once more a small little blackbird erupted from his wand with a bang and some smoke, joining the first one in flying around their desk.

"Excellent, Mr MacDonald. 5 Points to Gryffindor." Professor McGonagall rewarded him. "Miss Dunbar?"

Fay furrowed her brow in concentration and waved her wand, but nothing appeared from it. "Still trying, Professor."

"Well, perhaps Mr MacDonald here can aid you." The Professor said, before raising her voice for the whole class to hear. "This is the fourth session on this topic and next week we shall be moving on to our next spell, so I want all of you to continue to practice so that by our next lesson, every one of you can produce an animate bird!"

The bell rang soon after and the class was dismissed. Leo put his books together quickly and swung his bag over his shoulder. "I'll see you later, I've got to run to History of Magic."

Hermione rushed past at that moment. "Well done today Leo." She smiled over at him brightly.

"Thanks." He grinned back, the smile staying on his face as she walked away, only for Fay to slide into his view with an even bigger grin, causing Leo's to fall off his face. "What?"

"Well done today Leo." Fay teased. Leo rolled his eyes and shoved her out of the way, listening to her cackle with laughter as she caught up with him. "Oh don't be like that. It's cute."

"You're annoying. And you're taking it way too seriously." Leo laughed. "Just, be cool."

Fay nodded, pretending to zip up her mouth, lock it, and throw the key away. Leo relaxed slightly as he started his route to the third floor, only to tense up again as he heard Fay whispering. "Leo and Hermione sitting in a tree… K-I-S-S-I-N-G…"

Even Professor Binns droning on about the abolishment of the Wizards Council in 1707 couldn't distract Leo from the song that Fay had been singing earlier, and he was completely distracted while in the library with Hermione later that evening as they got on with that day's homework, with Hermione making the most of Harry, Ron and Ginny having Quidditch practice, the first with Dean Thomas who had been brought in as the replacement chaser after Katie Bell's attack. As a result Leo had barely had a productive evening by the time they were being hurried out before curfew hit, and as they made their way back to the Common Room via the secret passageway leading to the 7th floor corridor behind George von Rheticus' portrait, coming towards the exit of the passageway they paused slightly, raised voices sounding from the corridor outside, noticing the extremely familiar tones of the only two Weasley's left at the school.

"And Hermione's snogged Viktor Krum, and probably even Leo MacDonald! It's only you who acts like it's something disgusting, Ron, and that's because you've got as much experience as a twelve-year-old!" Ginny was screaming.

"Merlin's beard." Leo whispered, looking to Hermione who had gone ghostly white as her brown eyes were plastered to the back of the portrait in front of them. They stayed completely still until it had been quiet for a couple of minutes when Hermione finally gripped Leo's hand tightly and turned to face him, her eyes widened in a panic.

"What she said… about Viktor…" She began. "I never… we never… we only danced at the Yule Ball and then spent time together learning about our different cultures. He was too old…"

Leo would never admit the feeling of relief that flooded through him at that moment, but at the look of her utter panic he somehow managed to keep his cool and insisted. "You don't need to explain anything to me, Hermione." He told her, squeezing her hand back.

"I feel like I do though." She responded. "I know we aren't… officially together in that way, and I'm still not saying we change our decision before the party, but being honest with each other is important. I don't know why Ginny said all that…"

Shrugging, Leo made to move before realising that he and Hermione were still holding hands. They both stared at their hands before quickly dropping them to their sides. Leo cleared his throat, which seemed to snap Hermione out of it as she threw her hands in the air. "Honestly, what is it about relationships that makes things so difficult?" She exclaimed. "It's like Harry and Ginny. They don't label themselves but it's obvious they have a bond together and can share parts of themselves with one another that they can't with others…" Her mouth once again formed a perfect O as she came to a realisation. "Oh… Ron found out."

Leo, meanwhile was completely confused. "What?"

"Ron found out that Harry and Ginny were growing closer and blew up at them. Honestly, that boy…" She shook her head. "And Ginny has been the little sister all her life and is sick of being babied, if Ron tried to tell her off for kissing someone she wouldn't take that lightly."

"Do you reckon he knew they were growing closer?" Leo asked, starting to walk again now that the path was clear.

Hermione shook her head. "Ron's been preoccupied understandably, but he's always been a bit dense when it comes to noticing that side of things… no, that's not fair." She sighed, internally retracting that statement. "I think he's just feeling a lot after Mr Weasley… and he needs constants in his life. Realising that Harry and Ginny are, whatever they are, it's probably just more change that he isn't used to."

They both arrived in the Common Room and noticed that both Ron and Ginny were nowhere to be seen. Harry meanwhile was sat by the fireplace poking the logs with the poker looking relatively sheepish. Leo was in the mindset to just leave him to it, but Hermione marched over and dropped into an armchair beside him. "Quidditch Practice seemed like it ended well." She commented dryly. Harry looked over at her questioningly. "We heard the end of Ginny's tirade as we were coming back from the library."

"Ah." Harry muttered. "Yeah, practice was terrible." He then explained a bit more on how Ron had injured Demelza Robins before getting to the bit of the argument. "So Ginny and I left together and when we got to the shortcut…" He trailed off, seemingly not sure on how to describe it.

Hermione, thankfully, wasn't shy about it. "Ron caught you two kissing." At his alarmed face she tutted. "Honestly Harry, you aren't as subtle as you believe, we've known something was going on between you for weeks."

"You have?" Harry asked, looking between the pair of them in surprise.

Leo nodded. "We didn't say anything because it's nothing to do with us, but it's been clear that you've both been helping each other get through last year… in your own way."

Harry was silent for a moment as he digested that before nodding. "I knew we shouldn't have kept it a secret from Ron, but Ginny just knew that something like this would happen." He sighed. "We're not even… we haven't really spoken about what it is really. I just need her and she needs me. We get one another in a way that nobody else does. Sorry Hermione." He added quickly.

"No, it's fine." She smiled softly. "I completely understand what you mean. Some of the things the pair of you have been through are really traumatic, I'm really glad you can help each other get through it."

"What do I do about Ron though?" Harry asked. "4th year was bad enough; I don't think I can go through that again with everything else going on."

Leo began to feel like he shouldn't be there when Hermione moved to hug Harry. "He'll come around when he realises that if he's honest with himself there is nobody he would trust dating his sister more. No don't give me that look, you two are dating even if you haven't labelled it yet." She scolded. "Just… give him time."

Harry nodded, looking like he had perked up a bit after the talk. "Thanks Hermione. And listen… about what Ginny said…"

"She knows full well I didn't actually kiss Viktor." Hermione rolled her eyes. "She was just trying to wind Ron up and it clearly worked."

Harry didn't even try to hide the fact that he didn't believe her, but as Leo was already feeling fairly jealous about the world famous Quidditch star he was thankful Harry didn't say anything else about it. Deciding that now was the right time to leave, Leo cleared his throat and said. "I'm going to head up to bed. I'll see you both tomorrow."

"Night Leo." Harry nodded.

"Good night." Hermione also said, and Leo just smiled at the pair of them before he walked over to the dormitory stairs.

When he got to the 6th year's room he immediately noticed that Ron's drapes were shut haphazardly. Thanking Merlin for not needing to have another extremely awkward conversation, Leo quickly got himself changed and into bed, hoping that the next day would be drama free.

Of course however in truly normal Hogwarts standards, Leo's hopes were unfounded and the night's sleep had done nothing to cool the temper of Ron Weasley, who had stormed down to breakfast alone and was very careful to stick with Seamus and Dean at the other end of the Gryffindor Table. Grimacing at the fact that neither Anna nor Fay were down in the Great Hall, Leo had joined Hermione and Harry that morning and he could instantly tell that the silent treatment was affecting Harry. Not used to the awkward silence and not being able to find Fay and Anna, Leo quickly rushed his meal and excused himself, leaving Hermione grumbling something about boys being idiots.

They didn't see Ginny until the Weasley girl caught up with them on their way out of the Great Hall after lunch that same day when Leo was walking Hermione to Potions before making his own way to the library to complete his Magical Law homework during his free period. Ginny started by pulling the pair to one side of the corridor and saying quietly. "Harry told me that you overheard last night… I just wanted to say sorry."

"It's fine." Hermione shrugged. "Ron was being a prat, I know."

"He was, but I shouldn't have named the pair of you when I was trying to make a point. I was angry and I just wanted to hurt him." Ginny sighed. "He's my brother and I love him, but ever since Dad died he's been treating me even more like I'm a child and I just blew up when I shouldn't have."

Hermione hugged her friend. "I understand Ginny. He was just shocked to see you and Harry together I'm sure, he'll get over it soon I'm sure."

Ginny nodded, appreciating the embrace as she leant into the embrace. "It's just so frustrating." She said into Hermione's shoulder. "Harry came to me today and started to talk about not wanting to cause a rift and how he had decided to call whatever we are off before we've even started."

Hermione groaned audibly. "The noble idiot." She shook her head. "He doesn't realise how important having you to talk to is."

"That's what I told him when I said he needed to stop talking before I hexed him." Ginny chuckled. "Yesterday was the first time we had actually kissed. Until now we've just been the others shoulder to lean on and that's been nice."

"He'll come around." Leo said, hoping he wasn't sticking his nose in unwanted. "So will Ron. Change always takes time to get used to." He thought himself on still not completely being used to having a Father in his life.

"I hope so." Ginny sighed, bringing Leo back into the conversation and away from his thoughts when the bell began to ring to indicate the end of lunch. "Anyway, I have to get to Transfiguration. I'll see you both later." She waved them goodbye before running towards Professor McGonagall's classroom as Leo and Hermione continued their walk to the dungeons.

That Potions lesson had apparently turned out to be just as dramatic as the previous night however, as an angry Hermione came charging into the library after her afternoon lessons and threw her bag down on the table in front of him. Leo had to quickly move his ink pot out of the way as she began ferociously throwing her books and writing equipment on their shared table, and he was actually nervous to ask what was wrong in case of a rant being started when he only had a little more left on his essay.

"He is…" Hermione began, flicking through the pages of her potions book at speed. "The world's… biggest… prat."

"Do you want to talk about it?" Leo asked, hoping that he could finish the last inch on the International Ban on Dueling for Magical Law before he needed to focus his attention on her.

Hermione just shook her head and began scribbling furiously, leaving Leo to take a breath and continue his own work, making it all of 5 words before she inevitably spoke up. "He completely snapped at me in Potions, and for what? All I tried to do was help him ensure that his Everlasting Elixir was the right shade of blue and he just flies off the handle talking about Slughorn's party of all things! He shoved past Harry on our way to Herbology too, muttering about betrayals. Harry is dreading Quidditch practice on Friday in case he flies off the handle again."

Leo didn't blame him. "He'll calm down." Was all he could say, his thought process on the Ministry for Magic's foreign policy dwindling. "If he doesn't, then I can't imagine Harry will be careful around him for long."

And after Ron continued on his tirade of being horrible to Harry, Hermione and Leo over the course of the following two days, Leo's library prediction turned out to be exactly the case that Friday when the Quidditch practice ended and the team filtered back into the Common Room slowly. Dean Thomas was the first in, rushing straight up to the dormitory and out of sight before Demelza Robins, Ritchie Coote and Jimmy Peakes stormed in with faces like thunder, to which Leo distinctly heard Ron's name being mentioned aggressively by one of the two beaters.

It was twenty minutes afterwards when Harry, Ginny and Ron walked in. The latter looked like he did when he had received the Howler in their second year and went up to bed early, while Harry and Ginny sat down on a nearby sofa. Harry immediately closed his eyes and let out a big sigh.

"Everything alright?" Hermione asked.

Ginny scoffed. "Ron was an absolute arse tonight." She muttered darkly.

"He made Demelza cry." Harry explained. "And he tried to punch me when I went to talk to him afterwards."

"He did what?" Hermione exclaimed, horrified as she bolted upright in her seat.

Ginny nodded. "It wasn't pretty. We finished early then and I'd had enough, so I dragged the pair of them by the ears and sat them down to set the record straight."

"Do you think he listened?" Harry asked, and Leo could clearly see the wave of hope that rose in his face.

"You kissed and made up, didn't you?" Ginny raised an eyebrow, laughing at Harry's wide-eyed reaction. "He'll sulk tonight and then feel guilty by the morning, it will be fine." She leaned over to kiss Harry on the cheek. "I better get some sleep, if he plays like he did tonight then I'll need to be well rested to score more than Slytherin do." She bid the rest of them good night before departing.

Hermione ended up moving to take Ginny's vacant seat. "Do you really think you've made up?" She asked hopefully.

Harry shrugged. "He apologised for blowing up at us and being an arse in Potions the other day, Ginny apologised for mocking him. I apologised for not talking to him about Ginny and I earlier. I think he's cool with us now, but he did make a point of saying he doesn't want to see us… getting intimate." Harry told them, making quotation marks with his fingers at the last two words.

"He's such a child." Hermione scoffed, lowering her voice as Lavender and Parvati passed them to sit down at a different table. "He won't be turning his nose up at the idea of two people snogging when it happens to him."

"If he keeps acting like this it won't happen to him." Harry sighed. "He's cut up about you two hanging out a lot for some reason, as well as being the only one left out of Slughorn's party now that Ginny is going with me. He seems to think we're all keeping secrets from him and he's being pushed out."

Leo shook his head. "That's not what's going on…" He tried to begin, but Hermione wasn't quite as diplomatic about it.

"Nothing's going on." Hermione huffed as she threw her hands up in exasperation. "Leo and I enjoy doing our homework in peace without me having to worry about finishing off two other sets of the same work. That's not a crime, I'm allowed other friends and I don't deserve to be snapped at for doing so."

Harry held his hands up in surrender. "I'm not saying anything, Hermione."

She nodded, leaning back with her eyes closed while she pinched the bridge of her nose in a way to calm herself down. "I know, I'm sorry Harry. I just hate being treated like dirt when I've done nothing wrong."

They fell into a brief moment of silence before Harry put his foot in it. "Could you not invite him to the party?" Harry asked. "Just… bring him as a friend or something, so he doesn't feel left out."

Hermione clenched her jaw tightly. "I'm not inviting him out of pity when he's been mardy with me all week. Besides, I'm already going with Leo. He asked me a couple of weeks ago when the party was first announced."

Harry's eyebrow raised as he looked between the two of them and despite wanting the floor to swallow him up to avoid the gaze Harry was giving him, he stood firm. "I did." He nodded.

"So… was Ginny right?" Harry asked, still staring at Leo with an odd expression. "Are you two… you know?"

Leo looked into the fireplace with a brief thought on how much it would hurt to jump into it instead of answering that question, but he heard Hermione slap Harry round the back of the head with some parchment before exclaiming. "Is that really all you boys think about? No, it's not like that at all, we are friends. I wasn't actually going to say anything at all and only told you now because I don't want to lie to you again like I did with the Yule Ball. Leo and I enjoy one another's company and have become good friends this year which is more than I can say about how I feel about Ronald at the moment. These parties Professor Slughorn has been hosting are actually fun, Harry, and I want to enjoy myself without worrying if my guest is going to start having a go at me for something that didn't even happen."

"Ok, ok." Harry nodded, grimacing as he rubbed the back of his head. "I'm sorry, I just…" He trailed off as he stared into the fire with a rare grin on his face. "When I came to Hogwarts this year I expected to be worrying about Voldemort, about being stuck here not being able to do anything while he's out there. I didn't expect to be worrying about who is seeing who this year with everything that's going on. It's almost nice to have normal worries for the time being, like a new relationship or questioning how to stop Ron thinking he is rubbish at Quidditch."

Hermione chuckled at the thought. "It is a nice change of pace I suppose."

"But one that won't last." Harry sighed, the weight of the world completely on his shoulders. "I better head up to bed too. Maybe if I can get lucky and catch the snitch early…" He trailed off again, his eyes wide in some kind of realisation. "Night!" He said quickly, jumping to his feet.

Another round of good nights followed, and very soon the common room was practically empty. Hermione stretched out on the sofa and sighed loudly. "I'm sorry about that." She said quietly. "I just… I had to tell him it was platonic to stop whatever was going to be said next. I love Harry but considering the last time I went on a platonic date with somebody…" She stopped there, turning onto her side to look directly at him, her brown eyes seemingly pouring into his soul. "I just know what will happen, he'll try and be ok with it but will feel protective, Ron will be Ron and I'll never hear the end of it. I meant what I said when you asked me, Leo. I'm very happy with how we are at the moment, but I'd love to go as your date."

Leo smiled widely. "I'm glad." He said softly. "And I'm happy too. I enjoy your company, whatever form that takes. I've seen with Anna what rushing into a relationship can do and I don't want that."

Hermione smiled as she closed her eyes for a moment to get a final moment of relaxation in before bed. "I agree." She nodded, before pushing herself upright. "I think I'm going to go to bed too. I think I'll need to be well rested for tomorrow in case Ron is still going to be a prat." She rose to her feet, squeezing Leo's shoulder as she passed him to get her bag. "See you in the morning."

"Good night, Hermione." Leo said as she walked away. When she had gone he turned to the fire and took a deep breath. Harry's glare was still etched in his mind, but the thought of turning this enjoyable friendship with Hermione into something more was starting to become more real, and Leo couldn't decide if that was brilliant or just a downright scary prospect.

Review:

AZW330: I'm glad you said that because largely that's my intention with this story. Leo is involved of course but he's had 5 years almost of being on the peripheral, a part of a group that Harry barely noticed until he was thrown in at the deep end, but that doesn't mean he will completely ignore the last 5 years because now he's considered almost part of the gang.

SkepticPrinceArthur: The note was the Dumbledore one yes. It is a slow burn I guess, but I don't want to rush it and have this come off as a writers fantasy type deal. Leo's involvement has subtly shifted things, especially with Hermione and Harry, and my intention was to try and ensure a natural progression for Hermione, someone that she has an outlet away from Harry who's going through a lot. That line from Fay is one of my favourites too, they have a really nice backstory that I'm actually delving into a fair bit outside of this story… whether that ends up as a short series of one shots, or even some form of memory event in my version of the Deathly Hallow's I'm not sure, but I love their platonic relationship so much.

Lightningscar: Oh no I'm really sorry to hear that! Thank you for your review in any case, that line is definitely a highlight of the chapter for me too. Things are definitely beginning to heat up in the relationship sense for sure!