chapter nine

                                    

                                          
─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───
Clara's explanation of Ron and Hermione's interactions barely reached the outer corners of Harry's brain.
"I just don't understand how exactly they're attracted to each other." He popped a blackberry into his mouth and chewed it before continuing, "I mean they hated each other, and now they're friends but they still hate each other sometimes, where does romance fit into that?"
Clara sighed and looked at Harry before responding. "I think it's the same way we used to hate each other. There's only tension between them because neither of them knows how to express their feelings."
Harry stretched his arm over her shoulder creating a place for Clara to lean her head on. The couple sat together on a picnic blanket by the Black Lake. It was another early morning date, and soon Harry would be leaving for quidditch at the same time Clara needed to start studying. Snow lay peacefully on every surface, and Clara was almost certain that in a week people would be skating on the lake.
"Well, we worked it out all right, didn't we?"
"Yes. I think we did." 
Harry kissed Clara softly with his thumb and index finger holding her chin. He pulled away, smiling, before getting up and offering Clara his hand.
"Think Ron and Hermione will work it out too?"
"I have absolutely no clue."
Later that morning, Clara's hopes for her favorite Hogwarts 'couple' were going downhill. Hermione seemed quite displeased with Ron, although she was certainly trying to hide it.
"He's at perfect liberty to kiss whomever he likes," said Hermione, while the librarian, Madam Pince, prowled the shelves behind them. "I really couldn't care less." She raised her quill and dotted an i so ferociously that she punctured a hole in her parchment. Clara said nothing. She thought her voice might soon vanish from lack of use. She bent a little lower over Advanced Potion-Making and continued to make notes on Everlasting Elixirs.
Soon Harry came over to the girls and studied alongside them. Although Clara would usually scold Harry about his use of his specialized potions book, she had more important things to batter him with. After a few moments Clara decided to pull Harry inside. She went into an empty corner of the library and waited a few moments before Harry was beside her.
"Hey! What's up?"
"You need to be careful."
"For the last time," said Harry, speaking in a slightly hoarse whisper after a moment of silence, "I am not giving back this book, I've learned more from the Half-BloodPrince than Snape or Slughorn have taught me in —" 
"I'm not talking about your stupid so-called Prince," said Clara, giving his book a nasty look as though it had been rude to her. "I'm talking about earlier. I went into the girls' bathroom just before I came in here and there were about a dozen girls in there, including that Romilda Vane, trying to decide how to slip you a love potion. They're all hoping they're going to get you to take them to Slughorn's party, and they all seem to have bought Fred and George's love potions, which I'm afraid to say probably work —" 
"Why didn't you confiscate them then?" demanded Harry. 
"They didn't have the potions with them in the bathroom," said Clara scornfully. "They were just discussing tactics. As I doubt whether even the Half-Blood Prince" — she gave the book another nasty look — "could dream up an antidote for a dozen different love potions at once, I'd just invite someone to go with you, that'll stop all the others thinking they've still got a chance. It's tomorrow night, they're getting desperate."