Le Ciel Joli

Le Ciel Joli

Chapter I

The wind gently brushed the hair away from her face. She softly smiled as she watched him walk across the field. She sighed deeply, and looked back at her book, though she couldn't really concentrate on the subject she was reading about.

"Oh, Harry," she whispered. Hermione noticed the stirring in her stomach that she has felt every time she looked at him lately. She knew deep in her heart that she couldn't ever tell him the way she felt. To him, she was just a friend, though she's wanted to be so much more. Slowly she steeled herself to get on task with what she was supposed to be doing.

Several minutes later she felt someone looking at her. She looked up and saw that Harry was looking at her with a curious expression on his face. She smiled at him and felt her heart leap into her throat when he softly smiled back at her. She looked at him one last time before focusing back on her book.

"Ugh, I won't be able to focus if I sit here," she told herself. She got up and looked for Harry before she left, but he had disappeared. She looked around worriedly and she couldn't find him. She was about to turn around when she felt warm arms around her, and she felt hands covering her eyes.

"Guess who?" a coarse whispered voice asked her from behind.

"Harry?" Hermione asked back.

"Right first guess. You're good," Harry said, and softly smiled at her again. "Where were you going off to?"

"I was leaving to study," she told, him trying to steady her voice as not to give away her feelings. She looked into his laughing green eyes and felt her knees grow weak. She sat down and he sat next to her.

"You study too hard, you know that?" Harry told her, and smiled.

"I do not, you don't study enough," she said with false indignation, and almost laughed.

"Oh really?"

"No."

"That's what I thought..."

Oh, why does he have to be so cute? Things would be so much easier if I didn't turn to mush inside every time I look at him. Hermione softened towards him and smiled, laughing slightly.

"What's so funny?" He asked.

"Nothing."

"Oh, well as I was saying, you don't need to study as hard as you do. You're so smart, you don't need it."

"You think I'm smart?"

"Well of course you are," he said and grinned at her. Hermoine felt as though her heart was going to explode. If only I could kiss him...

He sat back and stared at the sky. A stray piece of hair slipped across his forehead. She reached up and pushed it back. As her fingers brushed over his scar, they tingled. It wasn't an unpleasant feeling.

"Oy, Harry! Where are you?" someone yelled from off in the distance.

"Oh, well I have to go." Harry said, and kissed Hermione on the forehead as he left.

"Dammit," Hermione whispered under her breath, as she watched him leave. Slowly she focused back on her book.

* * * * *

The nest day, Hermione was walking out of Potions class with Harry and Ron; they were talking about the last Quidditch game, so she wasn't listening.

"Granger," a slurred voice called after her.

"Oh, sod it all! What does he want?" Ron exclaimed as they turned around and saw Draco standing there. Hermione felt a warm hand on her shoulder; she looked up and saw that Harry was standing beside her, staring at Draco.

"I'll see what he wants," she said, and looked up at Harry.

"We'll be right here," he said, and stared into her eyes. It was very reassuring.

Hermione straightened herself out and walked out to where he was, standing about four feet away.

"What?" she asked.

He stepped closer to her by a step, and as he did, Harry and

Ron stepped forward, too. "I couldn't help but notice that you kept staring at me during potions. Did you like what you saw?"

"Ugh, Draco. You are so egotistical."

"Not that I wouldn't blame you. I am a magnificent creature."

"Creature is right. Draco, I was not staring at you."

"Well, who were you staring at?"

"No one. What makes you think I was staring at anyone?"

"Sure..." he sneered.

"Hermione," she heard from behind, and felt a warm hand on her arm. She turned around and saw Harry glaring at Draco. "Come on, we are going to be late."

As they walked away, Harry's hand loosened on her arm. She looked up at him and said, "Thank you."

"No problem," he replied, "You looked like you were in distress."

"I was. Thank you."

Harry smiled at her and they walked on to where Ron was standing, watching Draco walk away.

"I really don't like that bull-headed git," Ron said to them.

"Does anyone?" Harry asked contemptuously.

"Come on, you guys. We are going to be late," Hermione said and grabbed their shirtsleeves to get them going.

* * * * *

That night, Hermione tossed and turned in her sleep and finally had to get up. She walked down to the common room and noticed that someone had already gotten the fire going.

"Hello?" she asked, hoping someone would answer. She looked around and didn't see anyone.

"Hello..." someone hoarsely whispered.

Hermione whipped around to see who it was that had spoken to her. She didn't see anyone. She made to turn around when she heard the soft shuff of falling fabric. She turned back and saw a shadow against the firelight.

"Draco! How did you get in here?" she exclaimed.

"That doesn't matter," he said and slowly walked over to where she was. She stepped back, but he grabbed her arm to stop her. He used her arm to move her closer to him. She noticed that he smelled of pepper and smoke. She looked into his eyes and saw no malice there. Instead she saw something she's never seen in anyone's eyes. Something softer, maybe...love? Slowly the tension went out of her body.

"What do you want, Draco?"

"We didn't get to finish our conversation earlier."

"What's to finish? You were badgering me and I didn't want any more of it."

"I wasn't badgering you," he said and ran a finger gently down her cheek.

"Well what would you call it?"

"I was asking you to see if you felt the same way I did..."

"What do you mean?" she asked, her eyes widening. She looked into his silvery eyes and noticed that they weren't hard, they were moving over her features, as if drinking in the very sight of her. His eyes stopped on her mouth. She felt her pulse and breath quicken. He closed his eyes and cupped her chin.

She felt her mouth touch his. He pulled her closer to his body, and she didn't resist. She felt her knees weaken. He held her tighter to keep her standing. She began gasping in breaths as the kiss became more passionate. Yet inside her head she heard a voice.

No, this is wrong... You aren't supposed to be doing this with Draco. Harry. Think about Harry.

And a conflicting voice was saying...

Oh, he loves me...I can tell. I've never felt a love this strong, this passionate. But, could it be, do I love him back?

Her thoughts tumbled over each other as they continued to kiss.

* * * * *

Hermione awoke with a start...

"What the hell was that?" she said, and ran her fingers through her hair. She sat up and swung her legs to the side of the bed. She got up and made her way to the common room. She noticed that the fire was started again, just like in the dream, she thought. Only there was one difference, someone was in a chair near the fire.

Cautiously, she walked over to see who it was. She was relieved to see that it was Harry. He was asleep. She went to stoke the fire up, and then sat across from the sleeping Harry.

He looks so innocent when he sleeps. So untouched by all the hardships he has encountered in his life. He's so pure, so attractive, so Alive. I wish that I could tell him my feelings.

She stood up and went over to where he was sitting. She knelt down in front of him and lightly touched his right hand. She brushed his bangs back and looked at his scar. Even that, though it was given by hate, is clean, crisp, it's part of him.

"Harry," she said quietly. She shook his hands slightly. He slowly opened his eyes and looked at her. The green in them shone brightly through the sleepy haze.

"Hermione?" he asked, half awake.

"Why are you out here?"

"Out here?"

"You're in the common room, asleep on front of the fire. Why?"

"I woke up because my scar was hurting, and I guess I fell asleep down here."

"Your scar hurt? Maybe you should tell Professor Dumbledore about it."

"No, I'm fine now," he said and smiled. "What are you doing down here?"

"I had a bad dream; I wanted to sit up for a while. I don't know why I came down here."

"I'd rather not say, Harry."

"Oh, I understand," he said and smiled at her.

"What time is it?"

"Time for us to go to bed, Hermione," Harry said with mock sternness.

Hermione couldn't help but laugh, "Isn't that my line usually?"

"Yup, but I got to it first," he said and laughed. "Come on."

He took her hand lightly and walked with her to the staircase to her room. He kissed her cheek and softly said "Good night" into her ear. Just the feeling of his lips on her skin sent fire through her body.

"Good night, Harry. Sleep well."

"You, too."

Oh, Harry. Just kiss me, please?

* * * * *

The next day, Hermione couldn't help but occasionally glance at Draco, trying to find some flaw in him, to still the quivering in her belly that she felt when she looked at him... She couldn't. He was almost the opposite of Harry. He was just as attractive, Why am I noticing this now? she thought. Harry's features were athletic, where Draco's were defined, cultured. Harry was dark and tan, Draco was pale and light. Draco could have probably been more attractive that Harry.

Stop it, Hermione, she sternly told herself, and focused on her work. It was just a dream and nothing more. Draco's not really like that. He's a heartless bastard, and nothing more. For some reason, scolding herself in such a fashion worked. She didn't stare at anyone, except the teachers, for the rest of the day.

It wasn't until dinner that she thought of her dream. Harry and Ron were too busy talking with other students to pay attention to her, so when Ginny asked her a question, she was willing to answer.

"What's wrong with you?" Ginny asked.

"Why?" Hermione asked back.

"You look different. Maybe upset. I was just curious."

"Can you keep a secret?"

"Sure," Ginny said and rearranged herself to see Hermione better.

"I had a dream last night. A really weird one."

"What was it about," Ginny asked, with a smile toying with the edges of her mouth.

"Draco," Hermione said, hanging her head slightly.

"What about him?" Ginny asked with obvious interest.

"He had gotten into the common room somehow and I was there and we started kissing."

"Oh," Ginny said wisely, "Those kind of dreams."

"What?"

"Everyone has those kind of dreams."

"But with Draco?"

Ginny slyly arched one of her eyebrows, "Especially with Draco."

"Ginny!" Hermione exclaimed.

Ginny burst into gales of laughter. "Can you blame me," she said.

"I guess not. He is sexy, for a heartless bastard."

They both erupted into fits of laughter. Harry and Ron gave them weird looks, and then looked at each other and shrugged, then continued their conversation.

When they had finished laughing, they regained their composure and Ginny spoke first.

"Don't worry about it Hermione," she said, "Only about half of the girls in school dream about Draco."

"Really?"

"Yeah, you're looking at two of them," she said and pointed to the ordinary looking girl sitting beside her. "He's very good-looking."

"But still, I'd rather not think about him, let alone dream about it."

"It's probably a phase. It'll be gone in no time. Don't worry," Ginny said wisely.

But Hermione wasn't placated. She didn't like the feelings she got when she looked at him. It was unnerving.

* * * * *

That night, she dreamed of Draco again, only there was more to it...

* * * * *

The maze of a garden had high walls of green foliage. The night was clear and seemed to go on forever. The stars looked like pinpricks in the black sky. The starry look had descended onto the walls, where there were soft lights randomly placed among the leaves.

Hermione slowly turned around and took in the beautiful scene. Eventually her gaze moved onto herself. She was shocked to see the slinky, sexy, red dress she was wearing. She softly touched her hair and noticed that it was elegantly up with soft, curly tendrils falling around her face and neck. She turned and started to walk down the alley formed by the foliage walls.

She came to a clearing with tall walls around. There was a dim, fire-like light that infiltrated the entire area. She sat down on the bench in the center. She softly smiled and looked around.

From another opening in the wall there was a rustling. She stood and looked to see what it was. Her heart skipped a beat and her stomach knotted when she saw that it was Draco. He was wearing a well-tailored tuxedo and was holding a single red rose.

"Hello, Hermione," he said. He handed her the rose. He slowly walked around her as she lifted the rose to her nose. He kissed her neck, and she felt the electricity usually reserved for Harry.

"Shall we?" he asked and took her into his arms. They slowly circled around the space, around the bench. Hermione was enraptured by Draco's eyes. The silver glimmered in the light, and she couldn't tear her eyes away from his. She managed to stop looking at him and put her head on his shoulder. Her hair tickled her neck. Draco softly brushed the hair away and kissed her shoulder. She looked up at him and kissed him. He was surprised at first, but he kissed her back.

"Oh, Hermione, you've never done that before," Draco said.

"Done what before?" she asked lovingly.

"Kissed me first."

"Well, I thought I'd try something new," she said, and pulled his face down to kiss him again.

He slowly ran his hands down her back. He pressed her closer to his body and she melted into him. Suddenly, they were ripped apart and a fist smashed into Draco's face.

Hermione gasped. "Harry!" she exclaimed.

She winced when Draco punched him back. They fought back and forth until Harry forcibly threw Draco out of the clearing.

"Harry," she exclaimed again.

"Hermione," he said the word like a caress on her face. "Why did you let him do that to you?"

"I don't know," she said.

"Well, he's gone now."

"Yeah," she said. He pulled her close to his body and held her. She wrapped her arms around him a nestled her head into the crook of his neck. She inhaled deeply and enjoyed the smell of him. It made her dizzy. He lightly separated her from him and lifted her chin. He softly brushed her lips with his. This small touch sent waves of feeling through her entire body. She shuddered from the withdraw of it. He softly kissed her and she was almost paralyzed. He separated from her and whirled her around. He slowly danced around with her, gracefully twirling her dress in the air with the spins.

Quit toying with me and just kiss me, she thought. As if he had heard her, he stopped dancing and covered her mouth with his. Hermione's head started spinning, her knees turned to jelly. Their mouths opened and Harry's tongue gently brushed hers. Her head suddenly was filled with white light.

Oh, god, she thought, nothing's ever been like this before.

* * * * *

Hermione opened her eyes. After a few seconds her vision came to her and she sat up.

"Damn it," she said. "Damn, damn, damn, damn, damn!"

"Hermione," someone sleepily called, "We are trying to sleep."

"Sorry."

Oh, that dream was wonderful. I wish that I could go back.

Later that day, Hermione and Ginny were walking around the fields, talking.

"So, you practically whited out?" Ginny asked.

"Yeah, but I still felt it," Hermione sighed.

"But, that was with Draco, right?" Ginny asked.

"No, it was with...someone else."

"Come on, you can tell me," Ginny said playfully, nudging Hermione's side with her elbow.

"All right. It was with Harry."

"Harry?!" Ginny exclaimed.

"Yeah," Hermione said, somewhat defiantly.

"Harry?"
"Yes."

"Okay. I guess he's cute."

"You guess?"

"Yeah, well, he does have a nice body. I should know."

"How?!" Hermione asked, shocked.

"One day, when Harry was staying with us at the Burrow, I accidentally walked in on him changing. He had on the cutest boxers."

Hermione laughed, "What did they look like?"

"They were black with little golden snitches all over."

They both stopped and giggled for a long time. After a while, Ginny poked Hermione, then pointed across the field at Harry who was trying to teach some other guys how to play American muggle football. One of the guys threw the ball and Harry raced to catch it, right in line to run the girls over. They jumped out of the way a Harry caught the ball.

"Hey!" he called back, "No charms on the ball."

Hermione's heart skipped a beat as she watched Harry heave the ball back towards the group of guys. She noticed the movements of his muscles, the graceful athleticism in his motions. Uh oh, she though, and looked away.

"Hey, Hermione," he said and grinned.

"Hi, Harry," she said back, and smiled.

"Hi, Harry!" Ginny piped in.

"Oh, hey Ginny, didn't see you there."

Suddenly a ball slammed into the back of Harry's head. "Ow," he said, and turned around," I said no magic!" he turned around and started running after them.

"Bye, Harry!" Hermione and Ginny called after him.

"Bye!" He said.

If Draco was sexy, Harry's to die for, Hermione thought as she watched him run away. His shirt rode up slightly and she noticed a small bit of his underwear. They were black with little golden snitches on them. She giggled and turned to Ginny to talk again.

* * * * *

The weather started to get colder and the Christmas season grew closer. Hermione signed to stay at Hogwarts; her parents were vacationing for their anniversary. She was fine with staying at school; she could still hang out with Harry, Ron, and Ginny. Mostly Ginny because she was still having those weird dreams...

* * * * *

The chains clanked heavily as she sighed deeply. The bare scraps of clothing did little to ward off the chill form the surrounding stones. The meager food supply had given her a very gaunt look. She tried to wrap her arms around herself to relieve the chill she felt, but the chain didn't give her enough leeway. She coughed viscously and didn't hear someone come down the stairs. She did hear the door open. She stood up straight and set her jaw to look defiantly into the eyes of whoever was walking through the door.

She saw a pale hand with thin, sophisticated fingers grip the edge of the door. Then she saw a small tuft of pale blond hair show from behind the door. Her gaze flickered only once then hardened again. Draco's body was framed by the doorjamb and light from the outside, though it hurt her eyes, made his silhouette look divine.

"Hello," he said, and slunk elegantly in the room. He was wearing a medieval-type outfit. His soft supple leather calf-high boots folded over at the top. Tucked into them were loosely formfitting trousers that did little to conceal his body. He had on a baggy white shirt that was open, and tucked into his trousers. His body glistened with sweat and Hermione felt a tinge of jealousy. He's so hot he's sweating and I'm freezing my ass off here, she thought to herself. What made her the angriest was what was in his hand. He lifted the last bit of the crispy apple tart to his lips and said, "Did you want some?" Her stomach cramped with hunger but she still looked away.

"Okay," he said and ate the last bite. "So how are you," he said nonchalantly.

Hermione kept her mouth clamped shut. He walked over to where she was chained to the wall, emanating power and grace, and slapped her across the face.

"I asked you a question, dear Hermione."

Still she kept her mouth shut.

"I do have ways of making you talk, you know," he said. His silvery eyes glinted with madness and malice.

Still she wouldn't talk, she couldn't.

"Okay," he said and walked right up to her. He placed his hand on her cheek and tilted her face up to his. She tightly closed her eyed as he moved forwards.

As soon as his lips touched hers, she felt something. It wasn't good. But, as he opened his mouth and forced his tongue into her mouth, waves of pain flowed down her body. He pressed his body next to hers and the pain worsened. It was almost unbearable. The last thing she remembered before blacking out was the feeling of the clothes being ripped off of her body and Draco's cruel, drawling voice whispering in her ear.

"Good, I like them better unconscious."

* * * * *

Hermione awoke in a cold sweat. She sat up and felt her whole body shudder. She could still feel the remnants of the pain in her extremities. So real, yet it was only a dream, she thought. She felt like crying. She went downstairs to the common room and sat in one of the overstuffed armchairs near the center. All she was thinking about were the last words of her dream, 'good I like them better unconscious.' She shivered, but not from the cold and felt a single tear escape down her cheek. She made no motion to wipe it away. She heard footsteps in the stairs and turned to see who it was.

"Hermione? Down here again?"

"Oh Harry," she sighed.

"What?" he asked and knelt next to the chair she was sitting on. "Why are you crying, Hermione?"

She didn't remember the tears until he mentioned it to her. She was drawn with the feelings inside of her having him this close. He reached up and brushed the tears gently off of her face. He smiled gently at her, reassuring her.

"Oh, Harry!" she cried, and threw her arms around him, sobbing. He wrapped his arms around her midsection and gently pulled her so she was sitting in his lap on the ground. He held her close while she cried onto his shoulder. After a few minutes she had realized where she was.

"Oh, I'm sorry," she apologized and got off his lap. She sat a few inches away from him though, on the floor.

"It's okay," he said and softly smiled. "Do you want to tell me about it?"

"It's silly."

"Probably not," he said and smiled.

"I had a bad dream," she said and smiled ruefully.

"That's normal. What happened?"

"I was chained to a wall and being tortured."

"Wow, I'd cry too if I had a dream like that," he said and softly laughed. She laughed with him.

She wrapped her arms around herself. Harry noticed and said, "Wow, you must be cold."

"No, I'm fine," she replied.

"Yeah right," he said and stripped of his shirt, handing it to her.

"Uh...thank you," she said and put it on. I've never seen him without his shirt on, he's hot... she thought to herself.

Harry stood up and said, "Come on," and grabbed her hands. He wrapped her arms around his neck, and then he wrapped his arms around her in a tight hug. She inhaled deeply, she didn't get dizzy, but she did notice the smell that he had. It was faint aftershave and winter air. It was very pleasant. He bent over and picked her up, then carried her up to the stairs.

"I hope you sleep better now," he said.

"Thanks."

He kissed the corner of her mouth then said, "Goodnight, Hermione."

"Goodnight," she said as he slowly walked down the stairs.

* * * * *

The next day, Harry came over and sat next to Hermione during potions. Just feeling his body close to her made her head swim. She occasionally glanced over to see the profile of his face. Once she looked over and saw him looking at her. He grinned and turned back to his paper, but before he moved, when their eyes met, though it was only for several seconds, it seemed to extend for several minutes. She stared deep into his bright green eyes and felt the electricity she had always felt around him. The seconds ended and he turned back to his work. When he removed his eyes from hers, she felt like she had lost something, something that belonged with her. Reluctantly, she returned to her work.

"Potter, Granger," Snape snapped.

"Yes, Professor?" they both asked.

"If you interrupt your work one more time by staring at each other, you will get detention and 5 point each will be taken away from Gryffindor."

"Yes Sir," they said.

About ten minutes later, Harry and Hermione just hardly glanced at each other, and they heard Snape's angry voice say their names and give the aforementioned detention and points. They both sighed deeply and blushed then got back to work.

* * * * *

The next day, Harry and Hermione dressed warmly and walked out to the quad where they saw Filch with two snow shovels.

"Here," he said, "shovel the sidewalks."

"Yes, sir," Harry said, and grabbed the shovels from his hand.

"Have fun," he sneered and chuckled under his breath.

"Well, we'd better get started," Harry said and grinned.

Hermione smiled softly and got to work. Occasionally, she'd stop and watch Harry shovel the snow off to the side. The remembered seeing him teaching the guys how to play football and noticing the way his muscles moved. She couldn't see his body under his leather jacket, but she could imagine how they looked. She realized that she wasn't working, so she got back to shoveling.

When the sidewalks were almost done Hermione got an idea. Harry was just shoving the last bit of snow out of the way when he felt the paff and chill of a snowball hitting the side of his head.

"Hey!" he exclaimed and turned around to get whomever had hit him back, but he didn't see anyone. He felt another paff on his arm and turned in time to see Hermione's smiling face duck behind a tree. He gathered a snowball of his own and threw it at her. It smashed into the tree, and she took that opportunity to throw another one at him. He ducked under that ball and ran after her.

She ran off through the snow. He ducked down long enough to grab a snowball and throw it at her. It hit her in the back and her silvery laughter pealed through the cold air as she continued to run off.

He caught up with her and wrapped his arms around her body. She laughed, then squealed when they fell to the ground in each other's arms. They laughed together and looked into each other's faces. She could smell the masculine scent of his leather jacket as the remnants of their laughter echoed off the walls.

Her eyes were locked to his as the lay there together. He blushed slightly with thoughts she wished she could hear. His eyes softened and she felt his pulse and breathing quicken, they were so close. He slightly moved his head closer to hers, and her heart rate and breathing sped up. Their breaths made white clouds in the air.

He placed a hand on her chin and tilted her face towards his. His eyes closed and he softly pressed his lips to hers. She felt a welling of emotion inside of her. Her heart seemed full. As Harry became more confident, he opened his mouth slightly. She felt his hand move down her face and her neck to her arms. Their tongues met and she felt her body tingling. He pulled her closer towards his body, her curves fitting perfectly next to him. Though it was cold around her body, she felt like she was steaming. As they passionately kissed, Hermione's mind was completely consumed with Harry. She noticed that he was just a consumed with her.

They separated, panting in deep gulps of air and leaving heavy white clouds of air with their exhales. They stared intently into each other's eyes and the electric current between them was powerful.

"Wow," she panted.

He smiled at her and softly kissed her again.

* * * * *

Hermione woke up the next day with a smile on her face. She sat on the edge of her bed and stretched out with a yawn. She walked over to a chair near her bed; she rummaged underneath the pile of folded clothes for a certain shirt. She found it and took it over to her bed where she sat down. She lifted the shirt to her face and inhaled deeply. Harry's shirt still had some of his smell on it. She sighed with remembrance of the night before.

She sighed deeply then walked over to the laundry chute and put the shirt in. she sighed again, lighter this time, and got dressed for breakfast.

She got there before Ron, Harry, and Ginny, so she sat by herself and pulled open her homework, to check it one last time. She felt someone sit next to her and brush the hair lightly away from her face and lightly kiss her cheek. She looked up, surprised, and softly smiled at who was sitting next to her. It was Harry. He smiled back and she turned to look at him and was about to say 'good morning' when Harry kissed her again. It was a shy, sweet short kiss, but she felt tingly all over after they finished.

"Good morning, Harry," she said, slyly.

"Great morning, Hermione," he said and lightly took the quill out of her hand. He then took her hand between both of his and gently kissed the pads of her fingertips. Hermione looked at his face as he kissed her hand; brow soft, eyes closed, unruly hair sticking up all over; and felt excitement grow in her body. He kissed the palm of her hand then put it back on the table. He smiled at her, a big goofy grin- Hermione couldn't help but softly laugh, - then grabbed an orange out of the bowl in the center of the table. He quickly peeled the orange then said, "Do you want some, Hermione?"

"No thanks, Harry," she said.

"Don't starve yourself. It's not good for you. I don't want you to get sick."

Harry leaned in to kiss her again; she could smell the oranges on his breath. She imagined how it would taste, oranges mixed with the excitement to kissing him, when Ginny raced in and sat next to Hermione.

"Hermione," she exclaimed.

Hermione groaned slightly and said, "Yes, Ginny?"

"You'll never believe what I heard about you two," she said, looking excitedly at Hermione, then at Harry, then back to Hermione. Hermione heard Harry whisper underneath his breath, "I bet I could."

"What was that, Harry?" Ginny asked.

"What was what?" he responded.

"Oh, nevermind. Well I heard that someone caught you two snogging in the snow last night."

"Who said that?" Hermione asked.

"My friend, you met her," Ginny said.

Hermione felt Harry squeeze her hand. She looked at him and saw his eyes dance with playfulness. She softly laughed and signaled him to do it. He nodded and said, "Wasn't us. She must be wrong."

"No, she couldn't be..."

"It wasn't us." Harry said.

"Yeah, did she see Harry's scar? How could she tell from the distance she was at? I think you need to question your informant," Hermione said.

Ginny stood up and called out her friend's name and started walking to where she was sitting. Harry and Hermione burst out laughing as they watched her leave. Harry put his hand on hers and squeezed it lightly. He smiled as he looked into her eyes. They both seemed to think the same thing. They laughed again and finished their breakfast.

After classes, Hermione was walking down a corridor towards the Gryffindor tower when someone came from behind and wrapped an arm around her body and her mouth. She let out a small yelp as she was pulled into a different corridor.

* * * * *