Draught29/07/2006 21:46:00

Hermione was exhausted. She was busy as ever this year. She had Head Girl duties, NEWTS to fret over, piles upon piles of homework, Animagus studies and all the horcrux research she was doing for Harry. She felt selfish that Ron and Harry had given up Qudditch to work on the search, and she just HAD to be Head Girl. "We wouldn't not let you take it," Ron had said when she had been chosen, " You're the best choice and we know you want it." The thought of Ron made her groan. Her feelings for him were as mixed up as ever. At that moment, he and Harry entered the common room. Hermione didn't even ask where they had been at this time of night.

" 'Mione," said Ron, "head up to bed, it's nearly 1:00 and you need your sleep."

"Since when have you been interested in my sleep habits, Ronald?" snapped Hermione. She didn't mean to be rude, she was just frustrated and stressed; she hadn't been this busy since third year.

" Sorry! Am I not allowed to be concerned for a friend's wellbeing? Maybe if you got some more sleep you wouldn't throw a fit and explode at us-particularly me- all the time for no reason!" Ron said as he sat down and pulled out his Potions book.

"Ugh! I can't deal with this right now Ron!" she stood to storm off but was stopped by a hand grabbing her wrist.

"No, don't leave 'Mione. I'm sorry; I know you're stressed, we all are," Ron said, an apologetic look on his face.

Harry and Hermione exchanged looks. Since when was Ron sympathetic and sensitive? And mildly schizophrenic? Hermione couldn't find anything to say and did her best to ignore the tingling feeling that spread where Ron was still holding her hand. She simply sat down on the loveseat next to him. She pulled out an incredibly thick and old book and began reading. They had gotten a fantastic supply of books from the Room of Requirement on horcruxes, the founders and anything else that might help.

RHrRHrRHrRHr

Harry awoke suddenly. He was surrounded in darkness and definitely not in his own bed. He realized he must have fallen asleep while he was working. He grabbed his wand, whispered Lumos and had to shove his fist into his mouth to stop himself from bursting into laughter at what he saw. There was Hermione and Ron, asleep, and completely intertwined in one another. How they ended up in that position, he wished he knew.

Ron's arm was wrapped around Hermione's waist and her head was snuggled into the crook of his neck. Books were still open on Hermione's lap and she was curled in a little ball. Harry seriously considered running up to him room and getting a camera and wished he could share this moment with Ginny.

Not wanting to wake them up himself, he knocked a nearby book off the table, which created a resounding crash. Hermione woke first. When she realized where she was, her eyes widened and she jumped away from Ron so quickly that she fell right off the sofa. It didn't matter that it was dark; Harry saw her entire face turn bright red. Ron awoke after Hermione's sudden jerk away from him and he too turned as red as his hair. Harry couldn't stop smirking at his two best friends, whose priceless expressions of confusion, horror and anger were ones he'd never forget. But, Harry was sure that there was a part of them that wasn't horrified at all but enjoyed their "snuggle".

"Drop it, Harry," growled Ron. But, both Ron and Hermione knew that Harry would not drop it for ages.