Just Good Friends

When Harry and Hermione walked into the common room, they were greeted with stares and the distinct silence that you only get after walking into a room where you have been the main topic of discussion. They noticed that Lavender was in the center of the room, while the four Weasleys were off to the side trying not to laugh. Ginny was a little bit closer to the center than her brothers and Hermione guessed that she had been providing a bit of sarcastic "inside information".

Fred was the first one of the crowd to speak. "What took the two of you so long?" It was a simple question, but for those who believed the rumors, a loaded one.

"Meeting with McGonagall and Dumbledore," Harry said nonchalantly, as if it were perfectly normal to come strolling into the common room a good hour after the first night's feast was over because of a meeting with the headmaster and his head of house.

"What was the meeting about?" There was no mistaking what Lavender thought. But Hermione was growing sick of this, and decided to put an end to it right there.

"Who knew you weren't supposed to shag on the Hogwarts Express?" She shrugged and walked across the room to where Ginny and her brothers were laughing hysterically. Harry blushed fiercely for a moment, and this was all the proof Lavender needed.

"See, I told you those two were together!"

Now it was Harry's turn for sarcasm. "Yes, and in every sense of the word. We've been going at it like rabbits. I'm surprised McGonagall didn't catch on to us before now."

"Oh, she knew," George offered, "but she didn't want to mess with Hogwarts' cutest couple."

"But now that Hermione's pregnant..." Ginny started.

"And with twins no less!" Ron continued.

"Well, she just had to say something," Fred finished. The look of shock on the faces of all those in the common room was more than our little pranksters could take. They burst out laughing, leaning on walls to support themselves. At this, some people began to catch on and chuckle nervously, while others were still firm in their belief.

"I honestly," Hermione gasped, "can not...believe...that you all thought I was really pregnant!"

"And I," Harry choked out "was the father! No offense, Mione."

"None taken." The two looked at each other and started laughing again.

"But...all that stuff you told me?" Lavender looked confused and a bit upset.

"We were joking. We didn't honestly think that you'd believe any of it." Hermione said apologetically.

It seemed like the entire common room breathed a sigh of relief. A few students headed on up to their dorms, but others stayed downstairs to talk for a bit. Harry leaned against the wall and looked at Hermione. He knew that she'd changed, but this was the most evident it had ever been. He didn't mean the curves he had noticed over the summer (which were visible even under her heavy robes), but her attitude. Hermione had definitely grown more confident in herself, and as her confidence grew so did her attractiveness. The way she was so easy with jokes about things like sex and pregnancy, when a few months ago the mere mention of the subject would have made her leave the room, was amazing. She was closer to Harry and Ron than ever, and seemed to have an inner glow. Life was easier now than it had been for a bit, and she was enjoying the calm, relative normalcy of life. Harry noticed the way her hair (a good deal less bushy) whipped over her shoulder as she turned to say something to Neville, how her whole face lit up when she laughed, the way the firelight danced off her figure. She was gorgeous. Just then, she looked his way. Their eyes met, as they had so many times before, but there was something different about this time. Something that couldn't quite be placed. Harry smiled at her, then turned away as Seamus Finnigan came up to ask him something. **What was that?** he silently wondered. **I shouldn't be looking at Hermione like that, she's my best friend. But she is also a beautiful girl...NO, stop! She would never think of you like that, so don't think of her like that** But somewhere deep inside, he couldn't help but wonder what Hermione saw when she looked at him.

Hermione tried to concentrate on her conversation with Neville and ignore the urge to study Harry from across the room. He had changed so much. Not just physically (she had seen for herself the muscles that lay under those robes), but in other ways. He was quicker to laugh, and seemed to enjoy being with his friends more. The events of the last four years had taught him that life was short, and Harry seemed to be living it to the fullest. He was also more comfortable with showing affection. Before, he wasn't one for touching, but he had no problem hugging and/or tackling Hermione during the past summer (depending on what the situation called for). And while he was still seen blushing tomato-red at some things, he was so much more comfortable with others. He was comfortable in his own skin, and that was very cool.

Hermione looked up to see who else was still in the room, and her eyes met Harry's intense green ones. Her breath caught in her throat. He smiled at her, then turned to answer a question from Seamus. Hermione turned back to Neville, trying to maintain composure. **What the hell was that?** she thought. The way she felt when his eyes met hers, she had never felt like that before. **It was almost like...** but she couldn't finish the thought, it was too tough to think about, and way too unlikely. Neville left for his dormitory, so Hermione talked to Ginny for a while before she too headed up to bed. Hermione looked up to see that the common room was empty except for a rather tired looking Harry talking to Ron. She was going over there to do her whole motherly act ("You both look tired, it's time for you to go to bed!"), but Ron saw her coming, and with a good-night, excused himself to his dorm.

"You look exhausted, Harry. It's way past your bedtime."

"Thank you, mother." Harry's voice was a mixture of sarcasm and affection. Although he complained, he loved the way she fussed over him sometimes. It was nice having someone who cared.

Hermione wrapped an arm around his waist and he put one around her shoulders. They walked to the spot where they thought the door to their common room should be, and sure enough, there it was, hidden behind a rather thick and heavy tapestry. They strolled into the common room, said good-night, and walked wearily up to their own bedrooms.

As tired as Hermione was, she was still amazed when she saw her room. The carpet was a rich golden color and the curtains covering the bay window on the right wall were golden as well. The walls were cream colored and were bare except for a bookshelf that ran from the right wall to the doorframe. The king-sized bed directly across from the door had a thick, fluffy gold down comforter and red satin sheets, and half of the pillows were gold, the others red. To the left of the bed was a vanity with a stool, and in the corner to the right of the bed was a large desk with an overstuffed armchair covered in a pale gold colored fabric. The room wasn't incredibly large, but it was cozy and homey, and that was exactly what Hermione wanted.

Hermione ran over to her window and climbed up into the window-seat (which had a gold cushion and was full of red throw pillows and had a gold and crimson throw with Hermione's name at one edge) and looked out. She could see most of the Hogwarts grounds from there, right up to the edge of the Forbidden Forest. She smiled to herself at how wonderful prefect life was (probably to make up for the fact that prefects were rarely very popular. The other students were afraid of them taking away House points) and yawned. The day had been long and eventful, and she really did need to get her sleep. She and Harry had planned to go down to breakfast early so they would have time to finish in case any first years needed help finding their classes. She walked over to her trunk and found her pajamas. After changing she climbed into her wonderfully comfy bed and tried to sleep. Key word: "tried". As soon as her eyes closed, all Hermione could see were brilliant green eyes looking into her own.