I apologize if this or any of my one shots/plot bunnies are a little/too open ended. Some of these are just ideas, so if I/anyone wants to use them as a starting point for a fanfic, it's there.

This one happens during fourth year, two weeks before the third task.

If Ron and Hermione's argument seems forced, I apologize for that as well. I can't write arguments all that well, I think.

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Hermione Granger was officially worried.

For the last 36 hours, since the beginning of the previous day, her friend Harry had been oddly quiet. In fact, he seemed withdrawn and pensive. At least, more than usual. As they normally stayed in the common room after classes and hung out with Ron, she had been able to observe him.

The entire time they had been sitting, Harry had remained quiet, with his arms crossed and his eyes staring into space. She would have said that he was either daydreaming or Confunded, but the frown on his face and the many times his eyes would glance at either herself or Ron made her realise that he was thinking of both of them in his ruminations.

His behaviour was the same today as well. Thankfully, it was Thursday so they had a light class schedule, and the trio found themselves side by side on a sofa in front of the fire. Despite the fact that it was already June, some parts of the castle remained oddly chilly, but Hermione just put that off as a side effect of the many magical sources in the castle.

It seemed Ron had also noticed Harry's odd quietness, and he decided to help him. Unfortunately, he also chose to do so in a way that annoyed Hermione.

"Hey, mate!" Ron said with a grin at the young man between him and Hermione. "You've been pretty quiet lately. Something on your mind?"

Harry didn't respond. For all intents and purposes, he didn't even acknowledge Ron. His gaze remained glued to the fire, not giving any indication of hearing the redhead.

"Want to play a game of chess?" Ron asked hopefully.

No response.

"How about flying a bit? Weather's pretty good!"

Still no answer.

"Well, how about-?"

"Enough, Ronald," Hermione scolded. "Harry already has enough on his plate with the third task coming up in two weeks. He needs to practice, not goof off." Ignoring Ron's splutters, she turned to Harry and asked, "You have been studying, right? Just because you don't have exams doesn't mean you should slack off!"

Bewilderingly, he didn't answer Hermione either. It was as if he was completely gone.

"Ah, he doesn't need to worry about that!" Ron crowed. "He's got this in the bag!"

"Ron, don't be so obtuse," Hermione scolded him. "We have no idea what he will face besides Blast-Ended Skrewts."

"And we've already learned how to take care of those," Ron said with a shudder. "What could possibly be worse than those buggers?"

"Many, many things," Hermione reminded him. "Besides, just because you're such a slacker doesn't mean that Harry should be one, especially now."

"Oh, please, Herms," Ron said, waving a hand dismissively, "You're acting like it's the end of the world."

"It doesn't hurt to be prepared, and I've told you time and again to not call me that!" Hermione exclaimed.

"But why?" Ron asked, oblivious.

"Gah!" Hermione yelled, throwing her hands in the air. "You're impossible."

"And you need to learn to relax," Ron said, nodding sagely.

"I'll relax once Harry exits that maze unscathed," Hermione said through gritted teeth. "Although, I don't think I'll be able to even then, what with having to take care of you as if I were your nanny."

Ron's face gained a red hue. "I don't need a nanny!"

"Says the boy that can't even do his homework without copying mine," Hermione said, putting major emphasis on 'boy'.

The redness on Ron's face became more noticeable. "Yeah, well, what else are you useful for? Certainly not for having fun!"

"Oh, so I'm only useful when I'm there for you to copy off me?" Hermione hissed dangerously.

"Hey, if you're already done, why can't you help me?" Ron asked, still rather oblivious to the danger in front of him.

"That's not helping, that's just blatant plagiarism, and it certainly won't help you in the real world. That is, if you ever graduate."

"I'll graduate, no problem!"

"I'd like to see that happen without me being there, so do rethink your words."

"I don't need you to help me graduate!"

"Then you should start doing your homework on your own and stop pestering me!"

"Why? Do you need more time to hang out with Vicky?" Ron said in a disgusted tone.

"I don't see how that's any of your business, and it's Viktor," Hermione ground out.

"Psh, whatever."

"You're just jealous because he's a much better man than you are."

"I am not!"

"Right…"

"Grr… Come on, Harry, let's get out of here. The company's getting on my nerves."

"I'm sure Harry can make his own decisions without your input, Ronald."

"I don't see why he'd want to hang out with you."

"Oh, is that so?"

"You'd probably make him memorize the library for fun!"

"At least I'd be helping him survive, instead of doing nothing productive!"

"Quidditch is productive!"

"Not in this instance!"

"And knowing how many hairs Dumbledore has is?"

"And what exactly were you doing to help him survive at the beginning of the year? Oh, right, nothing, because you abandoned Harry!"

"I… er… I came back though! And Harry's already forgiven me!"

"Has he? I never heard him say it!"

"Are you just jealous that he's having fun for once?!"

"That's ENOUGH!"

Ron and Hermione sprung apart, literally. They had stood up during their argument, and they were pushed apart by what appeared to be a wave of magic. Each fell onto a chair that was luckily behind them, but when they looked up, the angry and annoyed visage of Harry was staring back at them.

"Harry, mate…" Ron began, but was immediately silenced by a glare from Harry. The fourteen-year-old Boy-Who-Lived looked back and forth between his two friends, frowning all the while, before his thoughts coalesced into words.

"I'm only going to go through this once. I. Am. Done. I'm tired of hearing the both of you argue constantly. I'm tired of listening to you fighting over the pettiest of things. I'm tired. Done. Finished. So, with that in mind, I'm going to set the both of you straight, starting with you, Ron."

"Me?! What did I do?!" Ron exclaimed.

"It's not what you do, it's what you don't. Actually, it's both! Ron, you have absolutely no sense of tact! You're acting like this is still first year! We're not nine, ten, or eleven years old anymore! You can't get away with insulting people and goofing off and expect people to just take it in stride. Too much of something is bad, even if it's looked at as a good thing! Having fun is fine, but goddamn, it's not the only thing in the world! We're in school! We're supposed to be studying, in order to become successful adults, something that you need to grasp now instead of a week before seventh year ends!"

By this point, the entire Common Room was watching the spectacle with shocked eyes (some people had actually come down from their dorm rooms to see what all the yelling was about). Harry turned his eyes next to Hermione, who was leaning back and looking up at him in fear.

"And now, you, Hermione! In all honesty, you're the complete opposite to Ron. Just like goofing off twenty-four-seven is bad, so is focusing only and absolutely on reading, studying, and everything in between! I'm not asking you to change completely, that wouldn't make you Hermione anymore, but for the sake of Morgana's saggy tits, lighten up! Life isn't all books and spells. There's so many other things to see, explore, and experience that don't come from written words!"

Looking directly at the fire (and thus at the space between the two), Harry addressed his third point. "Finally, the two of you are seriously going to have to figure your shite out, because I refuse to continue to be a mediator between you two! Almost every time we're together, you find something to argue about, and it's pissing me off! We're not a 'Golden Trio'. We're more of a 'Golden Angle', because I'm the only point connecting you two, and the line connecting you is like a bloody flickering lightbulb that refuses to die, yet no one changes it! Well, I'm done." Glaring at the two of them again, he said, "I need someone to help me live, not just survive, but those two things go hand in hand. The way things are going, neither of you are going to manage that. I'm not asking you to drop everything for me, but until you two manage to get your respective shites together and either learn to be friends or simply stop being friends indefinitely, I'm going to stay away from both of you. I already have enough stress as it is."

With a simple Accio, Harry summoned his Firebolt, the Marauder's Map, and his Invisibility Cloak, then left the Common Room in a huff, leaving behind a completely shocked Gryffindor Tower.