Hermione Granger and the Order of the Phoenix

Hermione decided to avoid the Valentine's Day incident by simply focusing on other matters. She wanted to help Harry set things right with Cho, she wanted to make sure that Ron got more self-confidence especially about Quidditch, and she needed to study for O.W.L.s. Those were the three things she was going to focus on. Nothing else. Well, of course, not nothing else but if she focused on one particularly sensitive issue, she was going to literally self-combust with anticipation. So those three were going to be her primary focal points instead.

She found an opportunity to rectify Harry's love life less than week later, in the girls' loo of all places. The article in the Quibbler had just been printed and the whole school was talking about it. Hermione had nipped in there before Ancient Runes, and come face to face with Cho Chang and her curly-haired friend that always came to D.A. with a sour look on her face.

Cho had been laughing about something, but the mirth on her pretty face vanished when she recognized Hermione. Luckily, Hermione was saved from any awkward silences by the chatting going on by the other occupants. Three Hufflepuffs had just emerged from their respective cubicles, and stopped dead in their tracks when they spotted Hermione.

"You're Hermione, aren't you?" the one girl gushed. "Harry Potter's friend?"

Oh God, this was not helping matters. Cho had turned back to the mirror with a fierce scowl on her face.

"Yes, I'm a friend of Harry's," Hermione replied loudly, hoping Cho would take the hint. Cho determinedly was ignoring her.

"Is this true?" the second girl dug into her school bag to extract the contraband magazine and wave it in the air. "About You-Know-Who?"

"Yes," Hermione answered, a small smile starting to spread across her face. Thank Merlin that some people were beginning to believe Harry.

"Hey!" The curly-haired Ravenclaw friend of Cho's had whirled around and pointed accusingly at the wrinkled Quibbler. "Those are banned!"

"Oh, shove off, Marietta," the first Hufflepuff scoffed. "Everyone's reading this, haven't you?"

"No, of course not," Marietta replied pompously. "Professor Umbridge told us not to."

"Well, fine," The second Hufflepuff flounced over to the sink and angrily turned the spigot. "Don't find out what really happened to Harry and Cedric."

"WHAT?" Cho exploded, wheeling around on the Hufflepuff. "Cedric?"

"I would have thought you would have read this, Cho," the girl continued. "It is an interview with your boyfriend."

"Harry's not my boyfriend," Cho muttered angrily, darting Hermione a look of pure venom.

"Besides, he's lying," Marietta gestured distastefully to the magazine the one of Hufflepuff was still clutching. "The Ministry states that You-Know-Who is not back, and I believe them."

"I used to," the third Hufflepuff finally spoke up, "but now I don't." She stabbed a finger down at the text of the article. "This story actually explains a lot more than the Ministry's. I mean, what makes more sense: You-Know-Who organizing a prison break or Sirius Black, an escaped convict who is probably in Asia or the Caribbean instead of anywhere close where he could get caught." The other two Hufflepuffs' nodded their assent, much to Hermione's relief. The more people Harry had on his side, the better.

"I believe the Ministry," Marietta continued stubbornly.

"Whatever," the first Hufflepuff rolled her eyes before focusing again on Hermione. "But anyway, Hermione, tell us everything."

"Well," Hermione trailed off as she tried to think where to begin. At the same time, she had to try to capture Cho's attention so she would stay and become convinced that Harry did fancy her and had only left the date early to go meet Rita. "It was my idea for an interview, actually," Hermione raised her voice as Cho tried to slip out of the loo. "I wrote to Rita, and when she finally wrote me back Saturday morning, I asked Harry to go to the Three Broomsticks for the interview, and he agreed."

That got Cho's attention. She wheeled around once again, and gaped at Hermione. "That's where he went on Saturday?"

"Yes," Hermione met Cho's eyes for the first time since walking into the loo. "Harry left your date to go to the interview."

"Oh, no," Cho breathed, leaning against the wall with a hand pressed over her mouth, about to cry. The rest of the girls shifted uncomfortably but no one was surprised in the least; Cho was always crying.

Hermione stepped forward tentatively and reached into her bag. "Here," she said quietly, holding out one of her copies of the Quibbler. "Perhaps you'd like to read this." Cho took the magazine and nodded while Marietta rolled her eyes angrily and dragged her friend out of the loo.

Mission accomplished, Hermione thought with satisfaction as she turned back to the three eagerly waiting Hufflepuffs. "Now, what would you like to know?"

**

With Harry's love life back on track, Hermione decided to move on to Ron's. Well, not that she was going to change Ron's love life; he would have to handle that on his own. What she was going to help him with was confidence and some little hints to push him in the right direction. The problem was subtlety; she couldn't very well just go up to Ron and tell him that he was wonderful and that's why she was head over heels in love with him. If she told a fifteen year old boy that she was in love with him, she'd probably have to chase him down while he tried to drown himself in the lake with the giant squid. But Ron really needed to have a good confidence boost, especially after his performance in the Hufflepuff Quidditch match, so she had to help him somehow.

She finally concocted what she felt was a very suitable plan, and instantly put it into action. Now, she was seated in the common room on the early March morning, eyes on her watch. Ron should have woken up by now, and he should be down any minute. And sure enough, the door to the boys' dormitories opened and Ron emerged. He looked rather surprised to see her, and she smiled in greeting.

"Happy birthday,"

"Thanks," Ron answered with a drowsy and somewhat perplexed expression on his face. Hermione knew instantly why Ron would be confused, so she instantly put his mind at rest.

"Here," she pulled out the parcel from under the table she was sitting at. "This is for you."

A smile broke across his face while he crossed the table to examine his gift. Normally, Hermione would have just sent her gift so it was seated at the edge of his bed when he woke up as usual, but in order for this to work; she had to be there while he opened the gift. She knew that he must have thought for a few minutes that she hadn't given him a present, and that's why he was slightly hurt when he had first descended the stairs. But that had faded while he ripped the wrapping off the box.

"What is all this?" Ron inquired as he frowned down at the assortment of items. Hermione had gotten the idea from Ginny's birthday gift to her to give Ron a variety of gifts. She had thought of several ideas for possible gifts, and hadn't wanted to choose just one. He groaned as he pulled out one of the first hats Hermione had ever knitted.

Hermione giggled. "That's just a joke," she admitted, taking the hat from him. "You don't have to keep it."

Ron didn't protest as she pocketed the misshapen hat since he was already extracting the next item. "New Quidditch gloves!" Ron grinned as he tried on the leather gloves.

"I noticed that your old ones were tearing," Hermione commented.

"They were Charlie's," Ron remarked absently. He wasn't really paying attention since he was admiring the way the gloves fit his hands perfectly.

"I actually improved them a bit," Hermione added, hoping that her voice didn't reveal her nervousness. "I put some charms on them."

"What kind of charms?" Ron was still examining the smooth leather.

"Well, they're self-cleaning," Hermione listed, "and they won't rip or tear, and there's a minor protection charm so you won't jam your fingers, and a confidence charm."

"A what?" Ron finally stopped staring at the gloves.

"Confidence Charm," Hermione explained tentatively, "I thought it might help."

Ron sighed as he peeled off the gloves and tossed them down onto the table. "The only thing that will help if Angelina lets me quit."

"No," Hermione said sternly, "Angelina is a good captain, and she knows a good Quidditch player when she sees one. Quitting isn't going to help matters a bit. Honestly, Ron, you seem to be the only person who doesn't realize how much potential you have."

Ron looked as though he wanted to argue with her, but he did pick up one of the gloves and finger it carefully. Hermione bit back a smile; the plan seemed to be working.

"You still have one more gift," Hermione said quietly. This was the gift that she was most worried about.

"Please tell me this isn't another homework planner." Ron said flatly as he extracted the small notebook.

"No," Hermione found she couldn't look at Ron while explaining her gift. "It's the book you wanted."

"What book?" Ron asked blankly.

"Maybe you don't remember," Hermione had a sudden fascination with her fingernails. She could hear Ron flipping through the book, and she paused to see if he could figure it out on his own.

"When a girl tells you that another boy wants to date her, kiss her, or anything else similar to that while you're one a date with her, she's just testing you. She wants to see if you'll get jealous to prove that you fancy her," Ron read out loud. He peered at the very familiar handwriting. "Did you write this?"

"You told me to," Hermione replied. "You told me to write a book translating all the mad things girls do." Ron's jaw dropped as he gaped openly at her. Hermione shrugged, not taking her eyes off of her hands. There was a long silence as Ron continued to flip through the book before shutting it. He grinned ruefully when he read the title for the very first time.

"So You Want the Emotional Capability of a Tablespoon," he recited. "By Hermione Granger." Ron laid the notebook back into the box, an unusual expression on his face. "Thank you,"

"Happy birthday," Hermione repeated as an answer. She finally looked up from her clenched hands and found Ron's bright blue eyes on her. As much as she wanted to continue to gaze at him all day, she forced herself to drop her eyes before she did something really stupid. She didn't even know if his gaze meant something, but even the hope that it could mean something could be enough to make her do something incredibly idiotic. Honestly, she didn't know what it was about Ron; sometimes it seemed like that Ron brought out her idiotic side. She could never seem to keep her emotions in check whenever Ron was around.

A prime example of the idiocy that occurred whenever she was with Ron was the fact that she had written a book for him. And it wasn't just any book; it was a book that could very well prove to Ron that she fancied him. Ron was many things, but he wasn't stupid. He might be able to read between the lines, and figure out that she had done several of the things she had written about to him. But at times, she didn't care. She just wanted him to know.

"Happy birthday, Ron!" Ginny yawned as she crossed the common room to stand on her tiptoes and ruffle her brother's hair lovingly. Ron swatted her hand away in annoyance and tossed Hermione's gifts back into the box.

"Thanks, Gin," Ron replied. He focused again on Hermione. "I'll just run this up to my room, and then we'll head down to breakfast, ok?"

"Sure," Hermione waited until Ron disappeared up the stairs before sinking her head into her hands. That was much more stressful than she ever thought it would be. He could know now. He could know how she felt. And although she would be glad to have all the secrets be out in the open, there was still the overwhelming fear of rejection consuming her.

"I cannot believe you gave him that book!" Ginny exclaimed.

Hermione lifted her face from her hands. "Were you spying on us?"

"No," Ginny held up an Extendable Ear. "This was spying on you; I was just listening."

"Ginny," Hermione scolded half-heartedly, but she honestly didn't care.

Ginny appraised her friend carefully. Now didn't seem to be the best time to tease Hermione about this. "He's still rather thick, Hermione. He won't figure it out."

"Yeah," Hermione tossed her hair over her shoulder. "But I still have to try."

"I know," Ginny answered. She grinned as she abruptly changed the subject. "And I think we both know there is no such thing as a confidence charm."

A smile flickered across Hermione's face. "Well, he doesn't know that."

"Do you really think it'll work?" Ginny asked skeptically.

"I don't know," Hermione admitted as she rose from the table. "But I had to try something. I couldn't sit by and watch him be miserable, could I?"

Ginny nodded, and remained quite for a moment before meeting Hermione's eyes. "I really hope you get him, Hermione," Ginny said seriously. "No one deserves my brother as much as you do."

Hermione blushed. "Think so?"

"No, I know so," Ginny answered without a trace of modesty. "And who knows?" Ginny lifted one shoulder suggestively. "My prat of a brother is sixteen today; maybe he'll finally grow up."

**

Ron hadn't grown up by the time April arrived, and he hadn't said a word about the book and the gloves. But Hermione did have other things to keep her occupied, and although her life would have been so much better if Ron had finally got a clue and made a move, she had plenty of other problems pressing on her mind. There was Hagrid perhaps getting suspended, Harry had another disturbing vision in which he actually was Voldemort, Harry's Occlumency was not getting any better, the O.W.L.s were coming up, she hadn't knitted a house-elf hat in weeks, , and then the whole thing with Professor Trelawney had happened. Granted, the Divination teacher wasn't her favorite in the professor, but she did seem like a very nice person, and Hermione didn't want her to be chucked out of her home especially by Umbridge. Hermione also didn't think it was physically possible for another worry to fit into her skull.

But of course the instant she had thought that, another problem had come bounding along.

D.A. meetings hadn't been troubling her for ages; everything had been going so well with the lessons. She was actually managing to produce a Patronus, which she had found most difficult to do. Everyone had been improving immensely, and Hermione could see that Harry was reveling in his students' success. D.A. was the only bright point in Harry's life at the moment, and Hermione was so grateful that it was there for him.

But that was before Dobby had scurried into the room and made a beeline for Harry. Hermione couldn't really make out what he was saying, but she suddenly remembered Malfoy's innuendoes when she had run into him in December. He had implied that he knew about D.A. What if he had discovered their meeting spot? Hermione's eyes quickly scanned the group of students who were all watching Harry and Dobby intently.

That's when she realized that Marietta was missing.

Hermione had never trusted Marietta. She had overheard the Ravenclaw complaining about Cho dragging her along to the meetings in the girls' loo more than once. Of course, Marietta had never revealed what exactly the meetings were, but still didn't like that. She personally never talked about D.A. unless she knew she was in a location where she could not be overheard. Hermione also knew that Marietta never believed Harry despite the article in the Quibbler, and was an ardent Ministry supporter. If Hermione had to have guessed who would be most likely to turn them in a few months ago, she would have bet her copy of Hogwarts: A History that the person would have been Marietta. But if she had squealed, Hermione recalled with grim satisfaction, everyone would know about it. She had researched that jinx to use on the list for ages, and she was certain that she had gotten it right.

But she couldn't revel in that now. Now she had a more urgent problem to contend with. Like the fact that Umbridge or someone just as bad was on their way to find them right now.

"WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR?" Harry bellowed. "RUN!"

Hermione instinctively obeyed and pelted towards the door, but she got lost in the scrum. She could sense Ron behind her, but she didn't know where Harry was. A quick glance to her left revealed that Harry was dealing with Dobby.

"Harry, come on!" shrieked Hermione from the center of the knot of people now fighting to get out.

She fought to keep Harry in her sight but the jostling of the crowd made it quite difficult. She could see that he was speaking urgently to Dobby, but she had to take her eyes off him as she was finally swept along with the panicked tide of students out into the corridor. Before she even realized what was happening, someone seized her by the wrist and yanked her to the right, steering her along so quickly that she was practically being dragged.

Ron pulled her into an empty classroom, panting for breath. "Wait," he gasped.

"Where exactly would I go right now?" Hermione snapped impatiently, "What are we doing?"

"Waiting for Harry," Ron said as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. Hermione smiled despite the shortness of breath and severity of the situation; Ron's loyalty really blew her away at times.

"Well, where is he?" she swallowed hard to steady her breathing and joined Ron at the doorway.

"Dunno," Ron said worriedly.

"AAARGH!"

Harry!

Hermione and Ron both shot out of the classroom at the sound of Harry's yell, and Ron started to round the corner, but Hermione instinctively pulled him back, listening intently.

"Trip Jinx, Potter!" Hermione could practically see his foul sneer on his face as Malfoy spoke, "Hey, Professor--PROFESSOR! I've got one!"

Ron struggled to free himself from Hermione's grip on his robes, but Hermione just yanked even harder when she heard footsteps and dragged him back into the classroom.

"Hermione, what are you doing!" Ron hissed, "We can't just let Harry get caught by Umbridge!"

"Ron, shut up!" Hermione shot over her shoulder as she cautiously poked her head out of the door so she could hear.

"Excellent, Draco, excellent, oh, very good--fifty points to Slytherin! I'll take him from here...Stand up, Potter! You hop along and see if you can round up anymore of them, Draco. Tell the others to look in the library--anybody out of breath--check the bathrooms, Miss Parkinson can do the girls' ones--off you go--and you,"

"Shit!" Hermione swore. She whirled around to look at Ron with wide fearful eyes. "Malfoy's searching for the rest us! He'll be in here in a minute!"

Ron just stared at her in unconcealed shock. "Did you just say shit?"

"Shut up, Ron," Hermione closed the door quickly and locked it with a quick flick of her wand. "That won't hold Malfoy for long, but it gives us a bit of time. What are we going to do?"

"Where did Harry go?" Ron asked worriedly.

Hermione sighed. "Umbridge caught him."

"Son of a bitch!" Ron yelled.

Hermione clapped her hand over his mouth, balancing perilously on her tiptoes to do so. "Ron! Quiet!" Ron hastily slapped her hand away.

"And now Malfoy's looking for us?" It appeared that Ron was just catching on to the horrible situation they were currently in.

"And if he finds us in here, we'll get sent straight to Umbridge," Hermione added. Her stomach felt as if thousands of golden Snitches were zooming around in it; she couldn't get expelled from Hogwarts, she just couldn't. She loved Hogwarts so much, she couldn't go back to being a Muggle, she couldn't leave her life behind, she couldn't leave Ron and Harry behind, she had to stay here, undiscovered, but how? She knew that Malfoy would carefully check every possible escape route students could have taken in hopes of catching more students, especially her and Ron. And now that she was stuck in here, and there was no way out, she had to think up of a plausible reason for her and Ron to be in here, alone, out of breath, in the middle of the night...

Oh, God, Hermione thought, her stomach twisting even more as an idea popped into her head. No way can I do this, no way.

"Maybe I could summon my broom from the Tower," Ron suggested frantically, opening the window of the classroom, "We could fly out onto the grounds."

For one brief second, Hermione's heart leaped with hope. That was it! But then just as quickly, she deflated. "No, we can't risk it," she said, still desperately trying to steady her labored breathing. "The broom could come through the hallway instead of out the window; I think Malfoy would be a little suspicious if your broom shot past him while he searched for us."

"Then what are we going to do?" Ron demanded, ears red with frustration. "You're supposed to be the clever one, remember. You think of something then!"

Oh, God, I can't believe I'm about to suggest this. Hermione gulped. "Well, I did think of something that may work."

"What? What is it?" Ron pressed eagerly.

"Well," Hermione said reluctantly, "you remember the one time we went patrolling and we walked in on Fred and Angelina?"

"Yeah, what about..." Ron turned even paler as he realized what Hermione was suggesting. "Oh, Hermione, no," he protested, ears now a vivid maroon. "We can't, not like this!"

Hermione could hear footsteps outside the room and she clapped both hands over her mouth to stifle her squeal. "We haven't got time to argue about it, Ron, it's the only thing to do!"

Ron still looked extremely uncertain as he just stood there while Hermione pulled out her wand and somehow managed to light all the candles in the room at once with one swish of her wand. She then transfigured some quills that were sitting on the desk in the front of the room into roses before tearing off her robes and pulling off her jumper. "Hermione, what are you doing?" Ron almost wailed as he turned around, blushing.

"Come on, Ron, we have to make this look convincing!" Hermione whispered while undoing her tie and unbuttoning her shirt partway. She strode over to him and roughly unclasped his robes and ripped them off. "Take off your jumper, hurry!" Ron clumsily obeyed. They were both avoiding each other's eyes as much as they could. Hermione really hoped he couldn't tell how terrified she was to do what she knew what she needed to do to avoid expulsion. Her heart was hammering so quickly that she thought it might explode out of her chest and land in a wildly beating heap on the floor. She dropped to her knees on the floor and despite her trembling hands, managed to quickly arrange the robes into a makeshift bed onto the floor. She shook her head from side to side to make her frizzy hair even more tousled as if she had been lying on the floor for quite some time while positioning herself on top of the robes. Ron was still standing over her, mouth wide open as he tried to comprehend what she was really suggest that they do. "Ron, come on, you know that people all ready think that we do this all the time!" she hissed, about to lose her patience. Honestly, why was he acting like this? "We have to do this; it's not like you have anything to lose." Hermione winced slightly; bad choice of words. Ron swallowed hard and jumped when the doorknob rattled. "We're out of time!"

Ron's flushed complexion had rapidly turned into a sweaty ashen, and he finally nodded and hastily knelt down on the ground next to her. He met her eyes nervously, and she knew that she was going to have to take the first move; he had just silently told her that he had no idea what to do since he had never done this before. And as much as she hated to admit it, she had.

Hermione grabbed Ron's tie, yanked him towards her, and firmly planted her lips onto his.

Oh God, Oh God, Oh God!

His lips were as soft as she imagined!

Don't think about that now, Hermione screamed to herself, you have a job to do! However, Hermione couldn't help marveling that for someone who had never kissed a girl before, Ron was putting on a fairly bang-up performance. It started off awkwardly, as most first kisses do, bumping noses and teeth. But Ron Weasley always trusted his instincts, so when his hormones took over, all his doubts faded, giving him the confidence to kiss her back. Whoa, Hermione thought, her heart lurching, he's kissing me back? She dropped one of her hands from the tie to first guide one of Ron's hand onto her side to give the illusion that he was touching her in some intimate place while she began to unbutton his shirt since it was still buttoned straight to the collar. Her other hand remained on his tie, working the knot loose while she continued to keep her lips touching his and finally tugging it free of his collar and tossing it over her shoulder. Ron's free hand went straight to her cheek, his fingers slipping back to tangle themselves into her hair. The hand that had been at her side traveled slowly upwards, causing little sparks to explode within her skin wherever the pads of his fingers touched. His other hand finally joined the other on her face and he pulled her closer. At this point, Hermione had finished removing his tie, so she tossed it over her shoulder, leaving her arm free to wrap around Ron's neck, and the force of that movement caused them to tumble backwards onto the robes. Their lips had yet to stop touching, and she had to admit that she let her tongue poke itself into Ron's more than once by this point. But what was really causing her body to tingle in a very, very pleasant way was the fact that Ron's tongue had ventured out of his mouth too.

"For Merlin's sake, Weasel," Draco Malfoy shouted in contempt, "Keep it in your robes!"

For a dizzying, disoriented, blissful second, Hermione had completely forgotten that they were putting on an act for an audience. But with Malfoy's cold voice bringing her back to reality, she knew she had to now start putting on a charade. They broke apart instantly, much to Hermione's disappointment; she didn't know when they were ever going to do that again. She quickly released her hold on Ron while he pushed himself off the ground and knelt back, actually sitting back onto Hermione's leg by accident. Hermione blinked slightly; Ron had been halfway straddling her?

"Clear off, Malfoy!" Ron snapped, breathing heavily. Hermione didn't think she was ready to sit up yet so she just rolled over partway onto her stomach to give Malfoy one of her famous glares. He glared right back, wand lowered by his side. She couldn't help snorting slightly with laughter as she saw Ron's tie draped over his shoulder; she must have thrown it right on him.

"Oh, I don't know, Weasley," Malfoy drawled, "I'm rather enjoying the view at the moment." Hermione felt extremely violated when she realized with a start that Malfoy's eyes were locked on her. Or rather, her chest. Hermione glanced down and her arms flew up to shield herself, facing flaming at the realization that she had shown Malfoy more than she ever wanted him to see. Somehow, during the few seconds of snogging, her shirt had become completely unbuttoned.

The pressure on her leg vanished as Ron leapt to his feet. "Ron, don't!" she begged, stumbling to her feet as well and trying to keep one arm hiding her chest. Her legs were still shaky from the shock and joy of what had just occurred and fortunately Ron paused to steady her, so she could dig her fingernails into his arms while she straightened up. "Just leave it alone, Ron."

"How sweet, Weasley, you brought the Mudblood flowers," Malfoy mocked. He had crossed the center of the room and was now perched on the edge of the teachers' desk, twirling one of the roses Hermione had Transfigured in his bony fingers. "Do you feel the need to compensate for something?" His eyes maliciously traveled down to Ron's pelvic area.

Hermione scowled; she didn't like anyone looking there, regardless of gender. She had to set her heels into the ground in order to hold Ron back. "What are you doing here, Malfoy?" she demanded, squeezing Ron's wrist painfully. He winced, but he got the message: they had a job to do. He glanced down at her, and frowned. He tried to squirm out of Hermione's hold, but she refused, and he rolled his eyes in acceptance. He allowed her to continue to tightly hold his wrists but he did steer her along so now his back was to Malfoy, and he was between her and Malfoy. Hermione blinked in confusion but then she understood; avoiding her eyes, he began to button up her shirt and block Malfoy's view of her at the same time. She had to suppress the terrific urge to lean her forehead against his chest. Ron was just so sweet sometimes.

Malfoy's smirk faded as he remembered why he had burst into the classroom in the first place. He rose from the desk, eyes taking in the scene she and Ron had set. "So, how long have you two been at it?"

"What's it to you," Ron snapped over his shoulder. She could feel him tensing up again, and she knew that he was ready to exploding again. Hermione squeezed his wrists again, but in a much gentler manner. He had finished buttoning her shirt so he felt able to look into her eyes.

"Please don't," she whispered almost inaudibly so Malfoy wouldn't overhear. Ron stared back as his fingers unconsciously remained lightly rested on her shoulders. The intensity of the gaze scared her so much that she was almost relieved when Malfoy interrupted the moment.

"If you two don't mind," Malfoy swept towards the door, "I have a job to do." He turned back, smirk back on his face. "And by the way, while you two have been shagging, Potter's been expelled." Hermione reacted how she hoped she would have if she had just heard the news. "Not that I blame you, Weasley," Malfoy's leer swept over to Hermione once again. "I hear that once you go Mudblood, you never go back."

"Ron!" Hermione shrieked as he twisted out of her grasp and threw himself at Malfoy. She paused as Ron's fist thudded into Malfoy's jaw; it felt rather satisfying to watch that. But her prefect responsibilities kicked in, and instead of trying to pull Ron out off of Malfoy, she dropped back down to her knees and fumbled with the pile of clothes on the ground, trying to find her wand. By the time she found it, Malfoy had regained control of the situation and landed a few blows on Ron. Luckily, Ron was reeling away from Malfoy when Hermione leapt back up to her feet so she had a clear shot at Malfoy.

"Obliviate!"

Malfoy stood stock still, a faraway, glassy look in his usually cold gray eyes.

Ron straightened up, panting. Hermione smiled, relieved that the situation was over.

Or so she thought.

Ron whirled around at her, fury written all over his flushed face.

"What the hell was that!?"

"A Memory Charm," Hermione said briskly, "He won't remember a thing so he can't report you for fighting him."

"He started it," Run defended himself.

"I don't care," Hermione retorted, "You shouldn't have hit him."

Ron kicked at the ground in frustration. "Why couldn't you just have Memory charmed him when he first came in?"

Oops.

Hermione blushed in embarrassment. She had a fairly good idea why her mind had instantly gone to the snogging idea, but she'd rather have Draco Malfoy see her stark naked than admit that to Ron while he was in such a foul mood.

"Well, I'm sorry, Ron!" Hermione apologized in a waspish tone to cover her embarrassment. "I was under a bit of pressure at the time, and you certainly weren't any help! This was the same room we found Fred and Angelina in, it's natural that my mind immediately went to that..."

"Oh, great, I snogged a girl in the same room as my brother," Ron moaned. "Thanks a lot, Hermione!"

Hermione's throat was starting to burn with disappointment. He didn't like it; he didn't like kissing her at all. Even though they were putting on an act, she had hoped that on some level he had enjoyed it. She certainly had. Even if it had been a charade, she had never kissed a boy like that in her life. Kissing Viktor had been awkward, and although it was evident that Viktor had kissed several girls in his day and knew what he was doing, Hermione had often found herself working out Arithmancy problems in her head while they had been going at it. Snogging Ron for a minute had been more passionate and intense then her entire time with Viktor had ever been. It had been so thrilling that she could barely stand afterwards, for heaven's sake, and Ron had felt nothing?

Don't cry, you can cry when you're back in the dormitory.

Hermione sniffed once and raised her head high, praying that Ron didn't notice that she was blinking much more rapidly than normal. "Well, I'm sorry," she repeated in a calmer voice, "I was only trying to keep us from getting expelled. Next time I won't bother!" She stooped down to snatch up her clothes and she jammed her jumper back over her head.

"Hermione," Ron began, but Hermione wouldn't let him finish. She couldn't let him finish; she couldn't hear him say one more awful thing about what had just happened because if he did, she would lose it right here and now, and probably end up admitting everything to him.

"Look, let's just forget this ever happened, all right?" she said curtly, "We're the only two who knows, and let's keep it that way." Her hands shook as she fumbled to clasp her robes in place.

Ron stammered incoherently for a few seconds, tripping over his feet as he gathered up his own clothing. "Fine with me," he eventually snapped. Ron looked like he wanted to say something else, but after opening his mouth, he quickly shut it, and stalked out his room, and Hermione silently followed him. He didn't look behind him during the entire walk back, leaving Hermione free hang her head and shield her shaking shoulders and red eyes.

What had she done?