Today was the Gryffindor vs. Ravenclaw match, and although Harry was upset at the fact that he wouldn't be playing, he was happy for Ron, so he decided to be in the stands to support him.
"I imagine Cho is rather upset at you for sitting here in the stands routing against her." Hermione said to Harry who was sitting next to him.
"Honestly, we're at a rough spot right now and I don't see things working out between us." Harry said, still rather annoyed at what had happened. Especially since ever since that argument with Cho on Valentine's day, he truly had started to consider that maybe she was right.
Hermione had a million questions for him-- Why hadn't he brought this up earlier? What exactly happened between them? When did this happen?-- Though, she was interrupted by Hagrid, who had just appeared behind them.
"Yeh two, come with me." he said "I got somethin' in the forest yeh 'oughta see."
* * * *
It was a rather long walk to the forest from the quidditch pitch. Not to mention, the fact that Harry nor Hermione knew what was in store for them had only made it seem longer.
Though, when they had finally gotten there, the couple were surprised to see a large 30 foot giant standing over them.
"Hagrid, what do you have here?" Harry said, trying to sound as calm as possible, after all, with his sort of luck, he was used to being unpleasantly surprised now and again.
"Meh half brother, I think." he said "His name is Grawp."
"Your half brother?!" Harry repeated in shock and then turned to Hermione for advice on how to handle the situation, though luckily for him, she was already one step ahead of him (like usual).
"So, um, I suppose you brought us here to introduce ourselves?" Hermione said, and was about to do so when Harry grabbed her hand and pulled her back.
"I'm Harry, and this Hermione." he said nodding towards her and then taking a step in front of her in a protective manner.
The giant made a grunting sound, but it did seem like he actually knew what they were saying. Though, he just didn't know how to properly respond.
"Tha's why I brought the two o' yeh down 'ere." Hagrid said, as if reading their minds. "With Professor Umbridge takin' over for Dumbledore, I'm 'fraid I may loose meh title here at Hogwarts. An' if I do, I would like it if the two o' yehs teach him some English for me."
Harry nodded. "We will." he said "Though I'm sure Hermione will be more of a help than me."
Hermione looked over and smiled at him. "Harry, have you already forgotten all of your work with the D.A this year?" she said "You're succeeding in teaching hundreds of Hogwarts students how to perform a patronous. Do you know how hard that is?"
Harry shrugged. "I suppose." he said "Anyways we should probably head back to the castle if we want to make it back before the celebration in the common room."
Hermione laughed. "A bit cocky, are we?" she said
"Always." he said, with his famous lopsided grin.
* * * *
When the pair had returned to the Gryffindor common room, they were surprised to find it empty.
"Looks like we're the first ones back." Hermione said, and then turned her attention from the rest of the room to Harry, who was standing in front of her. "Listen, out there in the Dark Forest with Grawp...well, it reminded me of our first year. When you came to save me from the troll."
"Well, he seems a bit more friendly...and I would hope so since Hagrid tasked us with teaching him English." Harry said, trying to lighten the mood a little bit.
"Yeah..." Hermione laughed "But I wanted to make sure that you knew that I still really appreciate you coming after me in our first year. Even though I hadn't made the best first impression, you still remembered me when no one else did. And even more than that, you were willing to save me...which says a lot about who you are Harry."
He tried to brush it off like it was nothing, but the way Hermione was looking at him made his stomach tie itself into knots like it does before he gets on the field for a big quidditch game.
"It was the best decision in my life, going back for you." Harry finally managed to say and then suddenly, without warning, Hermione started to lean it slightly. Or maybe it was him? Or maybe he was just imagining things? No, they were less then an inch apart, he definitely wasn't imagining this...
