Chapter 3

Annoyance

Hermione sped off after Herbology with Harry who still had his head in that stupid cheat book of the Half Blood Princes. She was tugging him along down towards the dungeons. The only good thing about going down there now was that there was no Snape waiting for you.

Hermione was looking forward to Potions because, 1) she was good at it, even though Harry may have the upper hand at this stage, 2) there was no Lavender to sit as close to Ron as possible without sitting on top of him and 3) Ernie was in this class AND he already sat with her, Harry and Ron. Could it get any better?

Her and Harry were some of the first ones in class, apart from some disturbing looking Slytherins, including Malfoy.

"Oh look its Scarhead and the Mudblood. Looking all cosy, don't you both?" he sniggered, while Pansy Parkinson howled with laughter. "Oh, I bet you love the Mudblood, Potter. Does she remind you of your mum? She was a filthy Mudblood as well…"

Suddenly, a voice from the door started to speak. It was calm however very cold and menacing. "Don't you dare call Hermione a Mudblood again. And leave Harry alone. They haven't done anything to you. Apart from give you a bit of a nose job, if I remember correctly."

Malfoy grunted under his breath and started talking about Harry and Hermione in hushed voices once he was back at the Slytherin table. Both Harry and Hermione whirled around to see who had made Malfoy back off. They were both surprised to see who stood before them. It was Ernie.

Hermione hurried over to him and jumped into his arms, close to tears. Harry made his way over to their shared table and pulled out chairs for everyone. Hermione leaned back in Ernie's arms to admire his face and thank him.

"Thank you so much. That really meant a lot." He smiled and was about to reply but she leant forward and gave him a chaste kiss on the cheek. Nothing more seeing as they were about to have a class. As she did this however, she was a tuft of red hair float through the door way and knew it could only be Ron. She grabbed Ernie's hand and they made their way over to their shared table, closely tailing Ron.

They sat down in their usual spots which was Hermione next to Ron on one side, facing Harry and Ernie on the other. Figuring this was not the way she wanted to sit considering her and Ernie were kind of a 'couple' she quickly decided to straighten this out. Before she could however, Harry had begun a discussion.

"Thanks for that, mate. Don't know what I would have done if you didn't come in. He just gets on my nerves a lot lately. Thanks again." Harry took Ernie's hand and gave it a firm shake. Harry then got up and gestured to Hermione to sway, which they eagerly did. Ron watched Hermione get up and make her way around the other side of the table, a wistful expression on his face.

"That's no problem, Harry. I just wanted to make sure that he wasn't bothering either of you. I've kind of been wanting to say something for a while, just didn't want to arouse any suspicion", Ernie replied, with a wink in Hermione's direction.

"What exactly are we all thanking you for?" asked a suddenly curious Ron.

"Oh," Hermione looked at Ernie like he was a hero and continued, "Ernie stood up for Harry and I when he was insulting me and Harry's mum. He was using the 'M' word… He was really quite brilliant."

Ron was about to retort when Professor Slughorn entered the room and asked them to take out their books. Ron was positively fuming.

How come Ernie just marches in and becomes the hero? I've been defending Hermione since second year with that word and Harry even earlier! Do they just forget about me now that there is a great looking Hufflepuff over here? Do they even know how much I do for them? And how much time I spend with them?

Ron thought about these questions though and realized he was Ron. They always thanked him for what he did, even if it didn't seem very heartfelt. He also knew that as of late, he hadn't been spending much time with them because of his squid of a 'girlfriend' who would not stop snogging him. He could feel his face and ears start to heat up with anger but he couldn't help it.

"Ron, are you alright? You look a bit flushed…" inquired Hermione, genuinely sincere.

Ron grunted a response and Hermione looked a little hurt. She was only trying to help after all. So instead, she turned back to Ernie and he let his hand drop onto her thigh, making circles around it with his finger. Hermione gave a slight shudder that someone would only noticed if they had known Hermione for a long time, or had been studying her intently. Both of which, Ron had.

He didn't feel anger anymore. Even when he saw Hermione kiss Ernie on the cheek it wasn't anger. There wasn't any room for anger amongst what he was feeling. He realized what was finally consuming him from the inside. It was a mixture of sadness and hurt. He felt a stab of sadness as he realized that he could be the one sitting next to Hermione and giving her kisses on the cheek. Hell, he could even be her boyfriend if he hadn't been so hell bent on getting back at her for Krum. He didn't even like Lavender but didn't want to dump her, especially after seeing Hermione so happy with Ernie.

Ron felt like a great surge of ice had grown up inside and stabbed its way into his heart. In situations like these, he had to think of the good in the situation. Hermione had been happy for him with Lavender, so he should be happy with her and Ernie. He still had her as a best friend and could see her in the Gryffindor common room whereas Ernie couldn't. But then again, he wouldn't get much time to see her seeing as he was within Lavender's clutches all the time. He continued to think all of this over and didn't notice a pair of eyes on him the whole time.

Harry had grown up with only two people he had ever loved in his life. Hermione and Ron. Now, it happened that his two best friends were in fact in love. He had been watching Ron look at Hermione throughout all of Potions. Harry knew he must be really upset. Even Harry, who was completely rubbish at all of this could see how much the two fancied each other. As Harry watched his ginger friend, he could see the sadness clearly depicted on his face. Sometimes, his best friends were both too stubborn for their own good. Harry knew that tonight, whenever he could get Ron alone, he was going to have a long conversation with him. Even though he may be rubbish, he should at least try to help his best friend with this one thing. He had to start repaying the debt he owed to both of them.

AN: What is Harry going to say to Ron? A bit long winded, I'm sorry! It's also taken me a while to update, what with Christmas and New Years and I know that's not an excuse but I'm still sorry! Please let me know what you think of this chapter! Reviews are always welcome and often help me update quicker on my stories! Thank you so much! Hope you are enjoying and maybe you could check out my one shot called "The Kiss that Led to the Win"? Thanks again!

Read on!