Ron was a troublemaker. Hermione was logical. And Harry was sort of in-between. It was to wonder they had all ever become friends. Harry was usually on the side-lines. Ron was constantly getting in trouble, Hermione was constantly telling him 'I told you so' and Harry always tried not to get involved.
"You always take her side," Ron would growl behind Hermione's back.
"You should back me up more, Harry," Hermione would similarly say when Ron wasn't around.
Whatever was Harry to do? Staying on the side-lines was never an option. They'd always drag him into it, and he'd be forced to take a side, or else they'd both be angry with him.
"No." He told them one day, plainly. "No. I don't want to get involved. It's your fight, not mine. So… have at it, then." Harry walked away, leaving a stunned Hermione and a baffled Ron.
Hermione and Ron, both driven by the same curiosity, followed Harry around for the rest of the day. Harry spent time in the Library, on the Quidditch Pitch, and talking to his other friends.
Other friends? Harry had other friends? But what about Ron and Hermione? Had he abandoned them?!
"But he can't!" Hermione wailed. "He simply mustn't!"
Ron, in an oddly compassionate mood at the moment, put a comforting hand on Hermione's shoulder. "We'll get him back. But first, we need to find out what he's up to."
Hermione and Ron stole a pair of Extendable Ears from the twins. They spent days following Harry and listening to his conversations with professors, prefects, students and even when he was talking to himself. They didn't let him alone for even a second. They took turns sleeping every night so one could be sitting up listening while he talked in his sleep.
And one morning, they even listened in while Harry was singing in the shower. They needed something, anything to give them a clue why Harry had suddenly begun ignoring them.
Harry shrieked when he stepped out of the shower, grabbing a towel and covering himself, running away like mad.
"We've upset him terribly!" Hermione fretted.
"We'll get him back," was all Ron said in reply.
They spent the next month stalking him, horrified to catch him several times snogging someone in the halls. Once it was Ginny Weasley (much to Ron's disgust) once it was Lavender Brown, once it was Padma and Parvati Patil (at the same time) and once, it was Draco Malfoy.
They just couldn't seem to find any clues as to why their Harry had left them. And Harry only seemed to become more and more cold towards them.
One day, on the last day of the year, Harry went up to them and grinned.
Stunned, they could only smile back.
"Are you friends now? You know I'm not the only thing you have in common."
"No, Harry, but we both definitely love you to bits." Hermione choked back a sob and rushed forward to hug her friend.