'Hermione, you need to eat.'
Ron's freckled face looms at me from across the breakfast table. I'm shocked, somehow, to see that he's still there.
'I am eating.'
I gesture towards the toast in front of me that I just spent five minutes covering in margarine and marmite.
'I know, but... I never see you at breakfast anymore.'
I frown.
'We're at breakfast right now, Ron.'
'For the first time in weeks.'
My patience is waning.
'I'm fine, alright?'
I start to tear the toast into little pieces that I eat, one at a time. They're bland and unappealing. This whole thing just leaves me bored.
'Alright, but- just make sure to eat enough, ok? The last thing that Harry needs is his best friend starving to death.'
The last thing that Harry needs.
Harry.
'Ok. I'm fine.'
I try for a smile.
'Don't worry.'
When was the last time that Harry even looked at us? He's so caught up in saving the world and fighting the good fight.. but-
What about us?
Where do I fit in?
'Merlin, Granger. Have they been starving you?'
I turn round to stare at him.
'I don't know what you're talking about.'
We're in the library, and I've got my arms full of books. I need an excuse to avoid the great hall at dinner.
'Of course you do. You're beginning to look more like Pansy every day.'
I don't know what he's doing here.
'Really?'
I make a show of looking at my hair as if to check that the brown, bushy tresses haven't become straight and blonde overnight.
'Very funny. I suppose Potter hasn't even noticed?'
'There's nothing to notice, and he's very busy.'
His mouth twists in the ghost of a smirk.
'Right, fighting the war against evil. What about you, Granger, still trying to save the world?'
I shrug.
'I suppose. Are you still trying to destroy it?'
His face, pale and washed out, flashes a real smile for several seconds. His shrug mocks my own.
'I suppose.'