"I can't believe it."

"Can't believe what?" mumbled Harry, his chin pressed firmly into his hands as he studied the chessboard in front of him.

Ron tugged at Harry's sleeve. "Look," he said, pointing to Hermione's favorite table in the corner of the Gryffindor common room.

Hermione was holding a mirror in front of her face, trying to use it to see into the mirror that was hovering behind her head.

"She's been on about that ever since we...er, went back...to Hagrid's hut," Harry said, with a glance around the not-so-empty common room and several pointedly significant looks at Ron.

"With the Time Turner," said Ron. "What does that have to do with...?"

Harry sighed and returned his attention to the chessboard. "She's trying to see what her hair looks like from the back," he said.

Ron's jaw dropped. He stared stupidly across the common room at Hermione, who didn't seem to be too encouraged by what she saw in the mirrors. Just then, Hermione looked up and met Ron's incredulous gaze. She blushed, bustled the mirrors into her book bag, and buried her face in a heavy textbook.

Ron leaned back in his chair, so stunned that he lost all interest in the chess game. Harry defeated him roundly, saw that it would be of no use to offer a rematch, and began to clear up the pieces.

"What's happened to her?" Ron asked, as if continuing a conversation. "Since when does she care about her hair?"

"I dunno," said Harry. "She is a girl, you know."

Ron waved such petty considerations aside impatiently. "Hermione's always cared more about her grades than about her looks."

"Maybe girls can care about both," suggested Harry, who had really no greater insights into the mystery of the minds of girls than Ron did. He picked up the chess set. "I'm going to put this away before dinner."

Ron nodded. He needed a bit of time to process this shocking new development. Hermione...turning into a girl. True, she had always been more emotional than him or Harry. She was quicker to cry, quicker to hug, quicker to grab his arm...anyone's arm, really. He shook his head. But she was one of them. It was Ron, Harry, and Hermione, and the only difference her being a girl ever really made is that she couldn't sit around with them in their dormitory, talking and laughing and being ridiculous until Percy hammered on the door and told them to quiet down for the night. No, he wouldn't let Hermione turn into a girl on him. It would ruin everything.

Harry came back down the stairs. "Ready to go to down to the Great Hall?" he asked.

"I'm ready if you guys are," said Ron.

"Not all of us are 'guys,' Ron," said Hermione as she put her book down and stood up.

Must she keep rubbing it in?

As they made their way down the corridors to the Great Hall, Ron caught Hermione trying to sneak a glimpse of the back of her head in a highly polished suit of armor.

"Would you leave off?" he said in an irritated tone.

"Leave off what?" said Hermione.

Ron threw his hands in the air. "It's fine! Your hair is just fine! So stop looking at yourself in every reflective surface you pass! It's driving me nutters!"

"I do not look at myself in every reflective surface I pass!" said Hermione.

"Well, you didn't used to, anyway," said Ron darkly.

Hermione opened her mouth to say something, but snapped it shut. She stalked down the hall a few paces ahead of Ron, fuming.

"It looks just fine, is all I'm saying," Ron called up to her. "It's perfect."

Hermione swung around. "It is not. It is completely out of control."

"Which makes it the only thing about you that's out of control on a regular basis," said Harry.

Hermione shot him a "you stay out of this" look.

"Anyway," said Ron, "I like it."

Hermione's glare faltered. Ron panicked. Boys didn't say they liked each other's hair.

"This way, I can always pick you out in a crowd," he rushed on before Hermione could respond to his last comment. "I'd never be able to do that if you had normal hair."

Hermione tossed her head and resumed walking a few paces in front of them. Ron looked at Harry, who shrugged. Then he looked ahead at Hermione.

Her hair really did look different from the back.

He had never noticed before.