Title: Her reputation, her honour

Title: Her reputation, her honour
Rating: PG13
Disclaimer: Harry Potter is intellectual property of JK Rowling.

"What are you looking at?" Harry inquired, bent over his Transfiguration essay.
Ron didn't answer at first, but just as Harry was about to ask again, he spoke.
"Her."
One word.
Three letters.
Thousands of emotions. Harry looked up, and followed his friend's gaze across the room, to a certain female Gryffindor.
"Ah," he said. "Her."
Ron nodded solemnly.
"Look at her, it's outrageous," he said with contempt.
"What is?" Harry asked. "Everything. Her hair, her clothes…and the boys! Is it even allowed to be surrounded by so many boys?"
Harry couldn't help but chortle as he looked at her. `The boys' were, unlike what Ron's tone implied, not a band of hormone-filled studs, but the gathering of an arithmancy study-group, of which some members just happened to be male.
"Stupid girl," Ron muttered, "thinks nothing of her reputation, she does."
Harry surpressed a laugh. "Excuse me? Her reputation?"
"Yes, her reputation, her honour!"
"And exactly which of those boys are threatening her honour? Ernie MacMillian, Hufflepuff's self-proclaimed genius?"
Ron just gave him a sour look, but Harry continued mocking his friend. "Terry Boot, the Ravenclaw sissyboy? Dean Thomas, the greatest provider of drawn porn in Gryffindor Tower? His good friend and official Hogwarts paparazzi, Colin Creevey? Or Pansy Parkinson's own boytoy, Temper Nott?"
Harry watched Ron's face reddening by the second, before giving the last blow: "Or perhaps our dear Gryffindor keeper and resident commonhole, Seamus Finnegan?"
"Weell…" Ron hesitated. "He doesn't take arithmancy, does he?"
Harry shook his head. "No, not that I know of."
"Aha! I knew it!" Ron said triumphantly, making an arm gesture that threatened to knock over the stack of books that the two of them were forced to read.
"Knew what?"
"That Mr. Seamus Finnegan, is trying to seduce our dear-"Harry started laughing even before Ron had finished the sentence, earning a stern look.
"Oh come on, Ron," he managed to croak out, "you know as well as I that `the flying Irishman' is property of Dean. And besides…'our dear'? I've always been under the impression that she was `your' dear'."
Ron's facial expression softened, and he couldn't help but chuckle too. Harry rolled his eyes.
"Honestly, you're overreacting."
Ron nodded. "I know, it's just that seeing her, I…those guys might think with their di-" he stopped midsentence, and stared at Harry. "You don't…do you?"
"No!" Harry burst out. "Of course not, she's like a sister to me. Besides, if I did…erm…you know…" (he blushed) "you would probably kick my arse."
"Yes, I most certainly would," Ron agreed, before continuing to whine. "Why can't she just study in the dorm, or something?"
Harry chuckled. "So what you're saying is that because she's a girl, she's to be kept locked up in the tower?"
"Well…no…yes."
"You do realise," said Harry, "that she's too stubborn for you to even try that, right?" Ron didn't answer, and Harry continued. "In that way, she's just like you."
But seeing as his friend didn't answer, Harry dropped the subject. He was about halfway through with his essay when Ron let out an indignant splutter, making him look up.
"Hmm?"
Instead of answering, Ron just let out some wheezes, and pointed towards the door.
"What, she's not supposed to leave the library either, now?"
"Not with Malfoy!" Ron hissed.
"Malfoy?" Harry looked again, and like Ron had pointed out, by her side as she left the library, was Draco Malfoy.
"Erm…perhaps it's not like you think. See, Blaise Zabini's with them too, it's probably just some Arithmancy stuff," he said, but wasn't fully convinced himself.
"Sure," Ron grumbled in an unbelieving tone.
Harry sighed. "Oh come on, Ron, she's rational. She wouldn't do anything stupid," he said, before getting back to his essay. Ron's eyes were locked on the entrance for another second, before he too got back to the homework. However, Harry could hear him muttering under his breath, but only once he managed to catch what his friend was saying: "Ginny, rational? Yeah right…"