F-R-I-E-N-D-S

"Next time there's a ball, ask me before someone else does, and not as a last resort!"

Oh. No. I did not just say that. I didn't. I completely deny it. Oh Merlin, I said it, didn't I? Why? I like Victor. Not Ron. I don't like Ron as anything more than a friend. No. I don't care what Ginny says; he doesn't like me. Not that it matters to me or anything of that sort, because it doesn't. Ron's feelings towards me are nothing more than companionable friendship. We are close friends, but nothing more. We are not romantically linked, and we never will be. Even though he was insanely rude about my crush on Professor Lockhart, but that's only because Lockhart was a brainless git! Ron's dislike towards Viktor is rather intense, but he's competing against Harry, and everyone knows that Harry is Ron's best mate. Even so...no. Ron and I are friends. F-R-I-E-N-D-S. Heh. Ron probably can't even spell 'friends'. No, that's terrible, of course he can! He's a fourth year; he can't be that thick. Boys can be such prats sometimes. Even Viktor. No matter what I told Ron, this little voice inside my head tells me that Viktor is jealous of Harry's relationship with me. I am not fraternizing with the enemy! I don't care what that dim-witted boy, who of course shall remain nameless, says. Why, oh why, are boys such suspicious creatures?

Hmm...boys. I guess I never really thought about them like that. I was never very popular at the Muggle school I attended, and then once I arrived at Hogwarts, I've spent almost all of my time with Harry and Ron. I've never been much of a "girl", so to speak, and I never take part in Parvati and Lavender's late-night conversations about makeup, fashion, hair, and boys they like. The fact that Ron and Harry are males occurred to me, of course, but I never imagined I'd be attracted to one of them. Which I'm not, of course.

Some people could interpret our fights as proof of how much we like each other, showing how much passion there is between us. No. Definitely not. I will NEVER have more than platonic feelings for Ron Weasley or Harry Potter. I can't believe that everyone thinks Harry and I are a couple, just because that cow Rita Skeeter wrote about it. I just don't get it. We have almost nothing in common except for the fact that we're close friends! Even Ron and I have better chemistry than that. No, stop thinking about that certain redhead.

Oh goodness! I still have my Arithmancy essay to complete. I forgot all about it with all this excitement. Would you look at me? Me, Hermione Granger, forgetting about homework, all because of boys! Hmm...boys. Ron's a boy. A very good-looking one, at that. Viktor's good-looking, but I like Ron much better than Viktor. No! Shut up brain, shut up! Stop thinking about males, especially that certain redheaded one, and concentrate on Arithmancy!