Hermione had gotten out of the shower, clean and refreshed. Now where did I put that hairbrush? She thought to herself. After finding it on a shelf, she looked for a place to brush her hair. On the bed? The rocking chair? In front of the mirror? As Hermione decided on sitting in front of the mirror, she frowned at the tangles in her hair. She had forgotten to get shampoo recently so her hair ended up being more tangled than normal, forcing her to brush slowly.

Thinking about what the day might hold in store, she found herself smiling for no apparent reason. Maybe it was just going to be a nice day. As she brushed, a pair of eyes became apparent that they were staring at her in the mirror. Managing not to show surprise, and some horror, she could see that behind the door were two blue gems that were clearly aimed at her, towel and all.

What the---? Which one? Realizing that those same eyes could notice her staring back, Hermione tried to look as if she weren't paying attention. She began her analysis. He's tall and lanky so not the twins or Charlie… No horn-rimmed glasses or ponytail… That only leaves one… Ron. This took a bit to sink in. Ronald Weasley is staring at ME in a TOWEL!!!

She wanted to freak out, desperately. She wanted to jump out of the chair and yell, "Why in the world are you staring at me?!?!" She wanted to collapse, faint from astonishment, sing for joy, hide from embarrassment, pump her fist in triumph, or vigorously shake him, asking him why he was such an idiot. In other words, she had no idea how to react, which can be a good thing when you don't want the other person to notice you. She did nothing.

Hermione kept brushing, he kept staring, and she kept looking back; it was working out pretty well, this symbiotic relationship. His stare unnerved her a bit. This was the kind of look she wanted from him but, as clever as she was, she could not figure out for sure whether it was her or the fact that she had nothing but a towel on that kept his interest. Feeling giddy, she felt the urge to flirt back, show him she liked the attention, but of course that wasn't her style. So many things could go wrong. She did not want anything to go wrong between them.

Hermione figured that most of the tangles were out by now. Nonetheless, she continued to brush her hair, not wanting to get up and do something else. As time went on, she had become oblivious to the fact that she hadn't dressed yet. She looked at those eyes again; he was still staring but she could tell that his mind was elsewhere. What I would give to know what he's thinking… Hermione saw his eyes blink conspicuously for a moment, as if snapping out of his dream world, and flick them up and down from her head, down her torso, to her feet, and back up again. Her eyes widened. He's checking me out! She felt a warmth spread throughout her body, as if she had been sitting in front of the fireplace, coming in from a snowy blizzard.

She peeked at the clock. It had been twenty-five minutes. It felt like hours. Twenty-five minutes of this strange exchange in which both appeared to enjoy. She felt that it was almost time to break it. She was still without proper clothing on and he did probably have better things to do. How would she intervene? Thinking of a way to confront him, she heard Mrs. Weasley call, to her relief. Her towel was slipping and she only just noticed.

Ron dashed away, but not without her noticing his guilty look flit across his face. I guess he wanted to stay… Hermione continued to smile with a buoyant heart. After that, this has GOT to be a good day.