Title: It's a girl thing

Rating: Pg just to be safe. I actually know nothing about this, but bear with me..

A/n: if anyone cares, I'm supposed to be doing Of High School, Werewolves and Deadly Nightshade, but this just hit me so..peace?

This is set in slightly weird circumstances; don't even bother thinking about Voldemort or whatever. It's a happy fic!

It was the most wonderful time of the year. Well perhaps not the whole year, but it came pretty close anyway. Finals were over and there were two weeks of roaming around the great big castle that was Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry to be done before the summer holidays. There were no threats, Sixth Years, whom our story revolves around, were given leave to go almost wherever, do almost whatever they wanted for as long as they liked. No classes, no School events, not even Quidditch games besides the occasional friendly between bored House teams.

Love was in the air, it seemed. Hermione Granger, one of the Sixth Years in question, was torn in between feeling happy and disgusted as she noticed two of her friends, Lavender Brown and Lee Jordan, walking around the lake hand in hand. Every now and again they would whisper sweet little nothings to each other. The two had been named, by some strange group of girls, the cutest couple to ever hit the school. They called them Lav and Lee. How lifeless, and yet how unbelievably sweet.

Hermione was sitting under a tree on the expansive grounds of the school. Unexpectedly, to her classmates at very least, she was not reading a volume, working on an essay or promoting some well meaning but admittedly ridiculous cause. She was relaxing. To the world around her, excluding her best friends Ron Weasley and Harry Potter, this was completely unlike her. This did not come as a shock to her. She seldom lazed about, because she earnestly believed in hard work.

Hermione took the time to think about herself. She had grown over the years. Sometimes people complimented her. Her hair was still curly beyond help but she had long ago given up on hexing it or trying by any other means to bend it to her will. Instead, to use a Muggle term, she went with the flow. She was able to brush her hair and she usually wore it in a high ponytail because it was the tidiest approach to grooming.

She had to say that there was something indescribably wonderful about doing nothing, sitting on the soft green grass, enjoying the warmth of the oncoming summer, and watching people come and go as the students milled or, in some cases, flew about the gardens.

Just then, something slightly unexpected happened. She was knocked out of her quiet musings by a ball that had hit her. It had hurt minimally, but this did nothing to diminish her surprise. She caught the offending sphere and looked at it quizzically. This was not a Quaffle. It was something she never thought she would see at school; a black and white football.

Dean Thomas, a Housemate of hers, came running up. "Hermione, are you alright?" he asked concerned.

"I'm a little knocked," she said, slightly dazed. "But I'll live. Why are you playing football, Dean?" she asked, curious.

"Why, Hermione!" her friend exclaimed. "Surely you agree that it is the best sport ever?"

"I suppose, but why aren't you playing Quidditch or something?"

"Well I was actually teaching these ignoramuses how to play," he said airily. Dean was Muggle-born, just like Hermione, and he had been raised worshipping West Ham, a football team in the English Premier League. "They're very fast learners, would you like to join us?"

"No thanks, I don't think I'd enjoy the carnage," Hermione said weakly. Nevertheless, she got up to watch Dean play with a bunch of his friends from mixed houses. Dean was one person who never held animosity towards other houses, even Slytherin some cases. He had once dated Pansy Parkinson!

'Football is an interesting sport,' Hermione was thinking.

Soon, Harry and Ron showed up, sweaty and smelly from several hours of Quidditch and in their sports robes.

"Hermione darling!" said Ron, giving her a bear hug. He let everything that had accumulated on his body in the past two hours; sweat, leaves, mud; be wiped on Hermione's immaculate school robes. Harry held back, thinking of the consequences of such an act should his friend be in a bad mood. Hermione squealed and struggled to get out of Ron's strong grip. Boys would be boys.

"Ron!" she managed to choke out between giggling and screaming. "Get---off me you---great----prat!"

He finally let go of her, laughing uncontrollably. She slapped him playfully on the shoulder. "You complete arse!" she said, "That was definitely the most disgusting thing I have ever been through!"

Harry decided to grind Ron a little. "She's absolutely correct," he began, mimicking Hermione's shrill tone. Ron tried to scowl at him without laughing. "I cannot believe you would do such a thing to our dear 'Mione!"

To his surprise, Hermione whirled on him, finger ready. "You!" she trilled. "Don't even try, just be glad that you are safely abstaining from getting all your disgusting male glop all over my robes!"

"What, like this?" said Harry, repeating precisely what his red-haired friend had done earlier, now that he was sure she would not curse him.

"Harold James Potter you let go of me this instant!" Hermione shrieked. "I demand that both of you take at least a shower before laying your grimy limbs on me again!"

Somehow, Harry caught Ron's eye, a difficult task as his friend was doubled over and holding a stitch in his side, and with the synchronization and coordination that can only come with the best of friendship for six years, the two boys each lifted took one of their best friend's arms and lifted her off her feet. Together they maneuvered her and began carrying the protesting girl into the castle. Her screams could be heard from several long distances.

"How dare you! Put me down right now, or I swear I'll curse you into next week. Don't believe me? Ooh you just wait, Harry Potter, I'm going to get you for this one. No! Ron!.."

Such was the nature of their friendship. The three had been inseparable ever since an incident in their first year, when Ron and Harry had saved Hermione's life. They each had other friends, sure, but nobody had ever penetrated that group. They told each other everything, shared opinions and secrets, did nearly everything together and occasionally saved the world. They never showered together or anything like that, but they were closer than a lot of groups of friends and twice as strong.

What they did not know was that somebody had been watching Hermione be lifted away with a twinkle in his eye and a smile on his face.

It happened at dinner that night. Hermione, Ron and Harry had planned to play an almost harmless practical joke on the entire school. It had taken a lot of hard work plus the intervention of Virginia, Ron's younger sister. Ron came from a very large family of which he was the sixth son and the second last child, the youngest being Virginia, or Ginny as everyone called her. Two of his older brother, a pair of twins named Fred and George had been infamous at Hogwarts SWW for their jokes, pranks and charming senses of humor, and they had, surprisingly, left Ginny at school as their legacy to Hogwarts.

Her group of friends had become known as the new generation of Marauders to the school, and they were constantly in detentions or causing mischief. This summer, though, most of them had gone home early.

Ron was extremely protective of Ginny, and because of this she tended to stray away from him. She did not spend all her time with her brother and his friends, having her own clique to bother about, unless it was on the 'business' of a very big prank or 'Operation' as she liked to call her dastardly deeds. This was one such operation.

The four young wizards and witches had arrived in the Great Hall just before dinner and had their heads bent down over a piece of parchment known as the Marauder's Map. The Map showed the whereabouts of everybody at Hogwarts as well as everything.

"Alright," said Ginny in a hushed tone. "Harry, you will take station here." She jabbed her wand at a spot on the paper. "Hermione?"

"Here," said Hermione. Her usual attitude towards rules and regulations were actually extremely relaxed at this particular period of time. Completely unsuitable, of course, seeing as she had been the Head Prefect for the year and had a very good shot at becoming Head Girl next year. Her (and Harry's and Ron's) reasoning was that it was the last chance she would ever get while still at school to have real, undiluted fun, and she was not going to waste it.

Just as Ginny was about to delegate Hermione a position in the big prank, her wand beeped. "There's somebody approaching," she murmured, wiping the Map. "Try to look innocent!"

Everybody looked up at the person coming along. He was still several meters away. "Great job, everyone. Real inconspicuous," Ginny muttered sarcastically. She too, had changed over the years. She was no longer obsessed with Harry Potter, on the contrary was the primary target of several male Fifth Years, something that bothered Ron indefinitely. She would never commit, though, preferring to stay on top of everything and concentrate on her studies and her pranks.

It was a Ravenclaw boy that Hermione recognized from Double Charms. She did not know his name, although she remembered seeing him try to play football earlier that day. He had sandy brown hair, chiseled features, the works. Hermione and Ginny stared.

"Hey girls, stop drooling!" quipped Ron.

The boy walked over easily and sat himself down. "Hello," he said casually.

"Hello," said Ginny in a voice that had been known to make men melt. This upset Ron and Harry rolled his eyes.

"May we help you?" asked Harry sweetly, slightly suspicious. Hermione was still gaping.

"Well as a matter of fact, no," said the boy in a silky, easy drawl that reminded Harry of Draco Malfoy, a student in Slytherin House who hated Harry and was met with reciprocation from the entire group. "But she can," he continued, nodding towards Hermione. "Will you join me for a short walk, Miss Granger?"

Ginny gawked. Hermione did not seem to register the invitation; she was still staring at his good looks. Seeing this, Harry poked her.

"Ow!"

"He wants to take a walk with you," he said, trying not to laugh.

Hermione flushed. "O-of course. Forgive me," she said bashfully.

"Excellent, shall I meet you outside in a few seconds?"

"O-okay," she said dreamily.

The boy excused himself most politely and walked out of the Great Hall.

"Merlin!" breathed Ginny. Ron's feathers were still ruffled. "Blimey," he said. "Who's that fairy?"

Hermione was too giddy to retort to Ron's insult.

"Holy Merlin, Herm, you've become a stuttering schoolgirl!" noted Ginny approvingly.

"I can't help it," said Hermione excitedly. "Did you see that guy?"

Harry and Ron scoffed. "What?" she asked. "Even you have to admit he's gorgeous."

The boys snorted again.

"Well I support you," said Ginny decisively. "By the way, bugger off already! A charming young Ravenclaw is waiting for you!"

Still dizzy, she excused herself.

Fifteen minutes later, Hermione reentered the Great Hall.

It was already full of students, and Ginny was already seated with her friends.

Hermmione walked over to where her two best friends were sitting.. Once it had been established that the 'fairy' had no interest in Ginny whatsoever, Ron was perfectly amiable again. Harry never really took pains in these affairs. Cans of worms. The Operation had been rescheduled, by Ginny's firm command and to the boys' dismay.

She was glowing, and her best friends said so, also demanding to know what had happened. "Well," she told them conspiratorially, "I can't exactly tell you now, not with everybody here. Can you come to my dorm later, about twelve?"

She glanced somewhere else and smiled a small happy smile. Ron and Harry looked; she had been smiling at the boy, over at the Ravenclaw table.

This piqued their curiosity and they agreed to meet in Hermione's private dormitory (being Head Prefect had it's good points) at midnight for a little slumber party.

"Great," she said, a little breathless. "I have a Prefect's meeting I'm late for. Don't forget to bring some food, I'm going to be starving!"

And with that she ran off.

"What d'you think he did to her out there?" Ron said incredulously, watching her leave.

"I dunno," said Harry. He was not so surprised that she had run off. "What do you think we should bring?"

"I wouldn't worry about it, let the elves take care of that," said Ron. He noticed that Harry was not watching Hermione anymore, and he looked automatically at the Ravenclaw table. Cho Chang, the Head Girl that year and somebody whom Harry had for some time been extremely infatuated with, was not there. But that was not where Harry was gazing; he was looking across the Gryffindor table.

'Strange,' thought Ron. 'The only girls there are the Marauders, and oh..'

He stuck out his arm and slapped Harry once upside the head. "You staring at Gin?" he asked.

Harry's cheeks turned slightly pink as he snapped his head to look somewhere else. "Oh Merlin," said Ron.

"What?" asked Harry, trying to look innocent.

"Ah, finish your dinner," said Ron, shaking his head in an amused way.

That's it for now, it's almost three in the freaking morning! I know some things don't quite add up but in this ficlet I don't really want to focus on that. Again, there's no Voldie threat or anything, its just a thing about friendship and stuff. Kinda soapy in a way , but I'll try to avoid it. And all original characters.

Review! I'd love feedback and perhaps some ideas?