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"Oh my god!" squealed Lavender making her voice ring through the seventh year girl dormitory.

Hermione pulled her curtains shut once again. It sure was hot with them closed, but with them open, she could hear Lavender and Parvati's conversation. Which was, in any case, never a good one to hear. Aside from the latest gossip scoop, their favorite thing to do was tell stories of past, present, or future relationships. They would often have conversations on their first crush, their first kiss, their first date, and even the loss of their innocence.

Hermione was especially careful to block out those conversations. They tended to be quite descriptive. It was simply amazing how they could remember every detail of everything that happened in those instances, but they couldn't remember the right ingredients to put in a Confuddle potion, which next to the Bluebell-flame, was a specialty of Hermione Granger's.

What was even worse was that they had no real idea of what actual love was. Being in love was more than just kisses in the rain and romantic candlelight dinners. Those things were nice, but that wasn't what love was. You can't buy love with jewelry or persuade it with pleasure. Love is something that must come from two people. It can't be based on clothing, looks, material items, or status in society.

To Hermione, one of the things that got under her skin the most, was when people like Lavender and Parvarti confessed true love. Because each and every time they said it, they meant it less and Hermione could see that soon it would lose all meaning and never again be a true declaration of love between two people, but more just another word, not a feeling, just a word.

Hermione's mother had always told her about knowing when you were truly in love. She had told her that no matter how hard you might try, you can't analyze love. Love makes no sense, it has no rhyme or reason. To quote her mother, Love makes fools of us all. And so this was true. Only fools rush in, but sometimes those fools are the happiest people in the world.

Hermione Granger is one of them.

The particular conversation Lavender and Parvati were having was about the three most deadly words in the universe, the words that could usually make or break a relationship. The words long waited by girls and long dreaded by any self-respecting male.

I. Love. You.

"So," Parvati continued, "I was all like .you know and then we ."

Hermione put her head in her pillow and screamed. It was amazing how their voices could go straight through her thick hangings. Hermione had already tried a sound proof spell, but it didn't work in just the area of her bed. One day, Hermione would have to event a spell that worked in small spaces like these. She owed it to every girl that had been trying to study when two other girls rambled on about their pathetic love lives one bed over.

Another high-pitched giggle penetrated the hangings.

Hermione snapped.

Hermione could stand it no longer. She opened the hangings and stared intently at the two giggling menaces to any person trying to study on the next bed. Hermione took a breath of cool, crisp air. God, it was nice to have a breeze again. However, now she had to deal with the problem at hand.

"Will you please continue this at some other time," Hermione said hotly, "I'm trying to study in case you haven't noticed!"

"Why," Lavender said in an innocent voice, "I was just listening to Parvati's story. Would you like for her to talk louder so that you can hear too?"

"No," Hermione said breathing hard, "all I want is for you to be quiet so that I might be able to study!"

"Poor Hermione," Parvati sighed, "I bet that we're making her uncomfortable. What do you think Lav?"

"I think so," Lavender said, "I think that we might be upsetting her. After all, she doesn't get much romance."

"No I suppose not," Parvati sighed again looking from Lavender to Hermione, "it's not like we all can be so blessed when it comes to love."

"WHAT?!" Hermione said setting down her quill, "I'll have you know that I know a lot more about love than you do."

"Oh, really," Lavender said, interest peeked.

"Yes, really," Hermione spat.

"So," Parvati inquired, "have you ever been told those three wonderful words, Herms? Have you been holding out on us?"

Hermione took a breath in as if to answer, but stopped when she was about to answer. She looked over both Lavender and Parvati. Was she holding out on them? What a ridiculous question. She never told them anything. Just because she asked them once for help with her hair in fourth year did not mean in any way, shape, or form that she was part of their group.

"Parvati, Lavender," Hermione said calmly, "you would not know what real love is if it danced naked in front of you in a House-elves tea-cozy."

Hermione permitted herself a smile. The quote brought back memories.

"Oh," Lavender said, "and you would."

Again, Hermione almost answered, but caught herself and said, "All I want is for you to go to bed and continue this conversation tomorrow, preferably when I am not here."

Hermione paused for a second and said in a small voice, "And if you must know, yes I do know what love is."

Parvati bit her lip and looked at Lavender. Lavender looked back at her and whispered something in her ear. The two girls looked excitedly at one another and turned back to Hermione. Hermione glanced suspiciously at them.

"We'll make a deal," Parvati said.

Hermione folded her arms and said, "All right. What is it?"

"Well," Lavender said, "if you tell us what we want to know, we won't talk about our love lives for one solid week, but you have to answer all of our questions."

Hermione paused for a moment and replied slowly, "OK."

Parvati and Lavender looked at each other. Each of them was smiling broadly. Hermione groaned inwardly. Surely, one week of silence was worth this price. One week of silence would be bliss. It was only a few questions. It couldn't be that bad.

"So Hermione, "Lavender asked, "have you ever been kissed."

That was a stupid question even for Lavender. For a girl that seemed to know all the latest updates in the dating circuit, that was definitely a stupid question. Of course, she had been kissed! Ron and Hermione had been an item for two years now. Hermione was sure that Lavender and Parvati had seen her a few times in empty classrooms. They knew perfectly well that she had indeed been kissed.

"Yes."

"Who was your first kiss?"

Hermione thought for a moment and replied, "Krum was the first person to ever kiss me. It was only on the cheek though."

"Who was your first French kiss from?"

Hermione's neck grew red. She pushed the curtains back some more. The air must not be circulating well because all of a sudden, it became quite hot.

"Ron," Hermione replied simply. Even though she often relieved that moment in her head often, she would never tell anyone about that kiss from Ron. Sure, they had messed that one pretty badly, but it still had been special to her. It was one of the many firsts that she and Ron had shared. Not even for one week of silence from her roommates would make her reveal those details. Not any power on earth.

It was now Parvati's turn.

"So," she said, "are you still .you know .innocent."

Hermione bit her lip. It wasn't like it was a big secret that they had at least thought about it. Hermione and Ron had had a long talk about their relationship before they had made their choice. It had been their decision to make and Hermione thought that they had made the right one. After it was all over, they had talked to Harry and Ginny. Not because they wanted justification, but because it was more their duty as friends. Neither Hermione nor Ron wanted them thinking things that were clearly untrue. Hermione knew that she had talked to Ginny loads that summer about her and Ron relationship, and Hermione was sure that Ron had talked to Harry.

"Yes," Hermione replied firmly.

Parvati's head tilted.

"But I thought that you and Ron would have by now. You even went to his house over the holiday and you mean to say that you didn't."

Hermione smiled to herself and said, "We never really felt that it was right. We've talked about it and we decided that we are in no rush. I told Ron that I wanted to wait .and he told me that it didn't matter if we did or if we didn't, because he would feel the same about our relationship either way."

Lavender let out a small sigh but Parvati narrowed her eyes and continued, "So he has told you that he loves you."

Hermione smiled and again and said, "Yes .but never in words."

Both Lavender and Parvati looked at her, a bit confused.

Hermione continued in a dreamy tone quite unnatural to her usual bossy mannor, "he doesn't need to. He lets me know that he loves me when he holds my hand under the table or walks with me around the lake. He lets me know he loves me when he massages my shoulders when I've been working too hard. He lets me know he love me when he carries my books for me even when I'm carrying extra books that I will probably not need. He lets me know he loves me when he holds me like I'm the only thing that matters to him. He lets me know that he loves me when we fight over the silliest things just because one of us is worried about the other. He lets me know that he loves me when he smiles at me or even when he laughs at my study habits. He lets me know that he loves me when he asks me how I'm doing just to make sure I'm okay. But most of all he lets me know he loves me when he kisses me because the only thing that I know when he kisses me is just that. He loves me and I love him. He never has to tell me because I already know, but if he does, it'll just be one more reason to add to my list."

There was a pregnant pause.

"That was beautiful," Lavender said, dabbing the corners of her eyes.

"It was," Parvati said as she sniffed.

Hermione folded her arm and said in a quite different, and normal, tone far from the one she had a few seconds earlier, "Are we done now?"

Both girls looked at each other and silently and nodded. Hermione pulled her hanging shut partially to let a cool breeze run through and Parvati got up and went to her own bed. Lavender got under the covers of her bed and blew out her candle.

Hermione sighed and lay back, falling asleep to complete and total silence and exceptionally glad that Lavender and Parvati could not see what she could. The room was very dark and pleasantly quiet.

It stayed that way for two weeks.

Description
"Oh my god!" squealed Lavender making her voice ring through the seventh year girl dormitory.

Hermione pulled her curtains shut once again. It sure was hot with them closed, but with them open, she could hear Lavender and Parvati's conversation. Which was, in any case, never a good one to hear. Aside from the latest gossip scoop, their favorite thing to do was tell stories of past, present, or future relationships. They would often have conversations on their first crush, their first kiss, their first date, and even the loss of their innocence.

Hermione was especially careful to block out those conversations. They tended to be quite descriptive. It was simply amazing how they could remember every detail of everything that happened in those instances, but they couldn't remember the right ingredients to put in a Confuddle potion, which next to the Bluebell-flame, was a specialty of Hermione Granger's.

What was even worse was that they had no real idea of what actual love was. Being in love was more than just kisses in the rain and romantic candlelight dinners. Those things were nice, but that wasn't what love was. You can't buy love with jewelry or persuade it with pleasure. Love is something that must come from two people. It can't be based on clothing, looks, material items, or status in society.

To Hermione, one of the things that got under her skin the most, was when people like Lavender and Parvarti confessed true love. Because each and every time they said it, they meant it less and Hermione could see that soon it would lose all meaning and never again be a true declaration of love between two people, but more just another word, not a feeling, just a word.

Hermione's mother had always told her about knowing when you were truly in love. She had told her that no matter how hard you might try, you can't analyze love. Love makes no sense, it has no rhyme or reason. To quote her mother, Love makes fools of us all. And so this was true. Only fools rush in, but sometimes those fools are the happiest people in the world.

Hermione Granger is one of them.

The particular conversation Lavender and Parvati were having was about the three most deadly words in the universe, the words that could usually make or break a relationship. The words long waited by girls and long dreaded by any self-respecting male.

I. Love. You.

"So," Parvati continued, "I was all like .you know and then we ."

Hermione put her head in her pillow and screamed. It was amazing how their voices could go straight through her thick hangings. Hermione had already tried a sound proof spell, but it didn't work in just the area of her bed. One day, Hermione would have to event a spell that worked in small spaces like these. She owed it to every girl that had been trying to study when two other girls rambled on about their pathetic love lives one bed over.

Another high-pitched giggle penetrated the hangings.

Hermione snapped.

Hermione could stand it no longer. She opened the hangings and stared intently at the two giggling menaces to any person trying to study on the next bed. Hermione took a breath of cool, crisp air. God, it was nice to have a breeze again. However, now she had to deal with the problem at hand.

"Will you please continue this at some other time," Hermione said hotly, "I'm trying to study in case you haven't noticed!"

"Why," Lavender said in an innocent voice, "I was just listening to Parvati's story. Would you like for her to talk louder so that you can hear too?"

"No," Hermione said breathing hard, "all I want is for you to be quiet so that I might be able to study!"

"Poor Hermione," Parvati sighed, "I bet that we're making her uncomfortable. What do you think Lav?"

"I think so," Lavender said, "I think that we might be upsetting her. After all, she doesn't get much romance."

"No I suppose not," Parvati sighed again looking from Lavender to Hermione, "it's not like we all can be so blessed when it comes to love."

"WHAT?!" Hermione said setting down her quill, "I'll have you know that I know a lot more about love than you do."

"Oh, really," Lavender said, interest peeked.

"Yes, really," Hermione spat.

"So," Parvati inquired, "have you ever been told those three wonderful words, Herms? Have you been holding out on us?"

Hermione took a breath in as if to answer, but stopped when she was about to answer. She looked over both Lavender and Parvati. Was she holding out on them? What a ridiculous question. She never told them anything. Just because she asked them once for help with her hair in fourth year did not mean in any way, shape, or form that she was part of their group.

"Parvati, Lavender," Hermione said calmly, "you would not know what real love is if it danced naked in front of you in a House-elves tea-cozy."

Hermione permitted herself a smile. The quote brought back memories.

"Oh," Lavender said, "and you would."

Again, Hermione almost answered, but caught herself and said, "All I want is for you to go to bed and continue this conversation tomorrow, preferably when I am not here."

Hermione paused for a second and said in a small voice, "And if you must know, yes I do know what love is."

Parvati bit her lip and looked at Lavender. Lavender looked back at her and whispered something in her ear. The two girls looked excitedly at one another and turned back to Hermione. Hermione glanced suspiciously at them.

"We'll make a deal," Parvati said.

Hermione folded her arms and said, "All right. What is it?"

"Well," Lavender said, "if you tell us what we want to know, we won't talk about our love lives for one solid week, but you have to answer all of our questions."

Hermione paused for a moment and replied slowly, "OK."

Parvati and Lavender looked at each other. Each of them was smiling broadly. Hermione groaned inwardly. Surely, one week of silence was worth this price. One week of silence would be bliss. It was only a few questions. It couldn't be that bad.

"So Hermione, "Lavender asked, "have you ever been kissed."

That was a stupid question even for Lavender. For a girl that seemed to know all the latest updates in the dating circuit, that was definitely a stupid question. Of course, she had been kissed! Ron and Hermione had been an item for two years now. Hermione was sure that Lavender and Parvati had seen her a few times in empty classrooms. They knew perfectly well that she had indeed been kissed.

"Yes."

"Who was your first kiss?"

Hermione thought for a moment and replied, "Krum was the first person to ever kiss me. It was only on the cheek though."

"Who was your first French kiss from?"

Hermione's neck grew red. She pushed the curtains back some more. The air must not be circulating well because all of a sudden, it became quite hot.

"Ron," Hermione replied simply. Even though she often relieved that moment in her head often, she would never tell anyone about that kiss from Ron. Sure, they had messed that one pretty badly, but it still had been special to her. It was one of the many firsts that she and Ron had shared. Not even for one week of silence from her roommates would make her reveal those details. Not any power on earth.

It was now Parvati's turn.

"So," she said, "are you still .you know .innocent."

Hermione bit her lip. It wasn't like it was a big secret that they had at least thought about it. Hermione and Ron had had a long talk about their relationship before they had made their choice. It had been their decision to make and Hermione thought that they had made the right one. After it was all over, they had talked to Harry and Ginny. Not because they wanted justification, but because it was more their duty as friends. Neither Hermione nor Ron wanted them thinking things that were clearly untrue. Hermione knew that she had talked to Ginny loads that summer about her and Ron relationship, and Hermione was sure that Ron had talked to Harry.

"Yes," Hermione replied firmly.

Parvati's head tilted.

"But I thought that you and Ron would have by now. You even went to his house over the holiday and you mean to say that you didn't."

Hermione smiled to herself and said, "We never really felt that it was right. We've talked about it and we decided that we are in no rush. I told Ron that I wanted to wait .and he told me that it didn't matter if we did or if we didn't, because he would feel the same about our relationship either way."

Lavender let out a small sigh but Parvati narrowed her eyes and continued, "So he has told you that he loves you."

Hermione smiled and again and said, "Yes .but never in words."

Both Lavender and Parvati looked at her, a bit confused.

Hermione continued in a dreamy tone quite unnatural to her usual bossy mannor, "he doesn't need to. He lets me know that he loves me when he holds my hand under the table or walks with me around the lake. He lets me know he loves me when he massages my shoulders when I've been working too hard. He lets me know he love me when he carries my books for me even when I'm carrying extra books that I will probably not need. He lets me know he loves me when he holds me like I'm the only thing that matters to him. He lets me know that he loves me when we fight over the silliest things just because one of us is worried about the other. He lets me know that he loves me when he smiles at me or even when he laughs at my study habits. He lets me know that he loves me when he asks me how I'm doing just to make sure I'm okay. But most of all he lets me know he loves me when he kisses me because the only thing that I know when he kisses me is just that. He loves me and I love him. He never has to tell me because I already know, but if he does, it'll just be one more reason to add to my list."

There was a pregnant pause.

"That was beautiful," Lavender said, dabbing the corners of her eyes.

"It was," Parvati said as she sniffed.

Hermione folded her arm and said in a quite different, and normal, tone far from the one she had a few seconds earlier, "Are we done now?"

Both girls looked at each other and silently and nodded. Hermione pulled her hanging shut partially to let a cool breeze run through and Parvati got up and went to her own bed. Lavender got under the covers of her bed and blew out her candle.

Hermione sighed and lay back, falling asleep to complete and total silence and exceptionally glad that Lavender and Parvati could not see what she could. The room was very dark and pleasantly quiet.

It stayed that way for two weeks.