"Well, that was fun," Hermione said, after Harry and Ron walked away.
Dean stared at their retreating backs. "I could go hit him for you," he offered. "Or get him with a tripping jinx, at the least."
"It's fine," Hermione said, waving it away. "Not exactly what I expected, but I suppose I should have." She turned to Draco. "Laughing may not have been the best response," she added.
He shrugged. "It was funny." He met her eyes, lips curving just slightly. "You have to admit it was at least a little funny."
"I don't have to admit anything of the sort," she said, crossing her arms.
Draco glanced at Dean, who snorted, causing Hermione's head to snap around. "You, too, huh?" she said, staring down the other boy, who broke out laughing as well, setting Draco off again.
"He's right," Dean said, when he could catch his breath. "It was a little bit funny."
"What was that?" Ginny demanded, rounding on Harry as soon as they'd gotten a good distance away.
Harry stared at her. "What was what?" he responded, voice rising as well. "I didn't do anything."
"You never do anything!" she shouted. "That's the problem. Ron acts like a complete prat, and you just stand by and let him, even though Hermione was every bit as much your friend as he was."
"I'm supposed to defend her when she's dating Draco Malfoy?" Harry shouted.
"You were supposed to have been there for her when Ron broke her heart," Ginny snapped. "You were supposed to have been a good friend. And you certainly don't have any right to act betrayed now, when you made it perfectly clear you didn't give a damn about her," Ginny continued.
"I never-"
"Never what? Never tried to comfort her? Never told Ron he was out of line? Never bothered to even worry if she was ok?"
"I worried if she was ok." Harry responded. "But if I'd known she was off with Malfoy-"
"You what?" Ginny nearly screamed. "Wouldn't have worried?" she demanded, voice dropping. "Nice. Ron can shag everything that moves while they're still together, and you'll stand by him without hesitation. But Hermione dates someone you don't like-"
"It's not 'someone I don't like.' It's Draco bloody Malfoy. How many times did he call her a mudblood? Bloody hell, Ginny. He was a Death Eater. And now she's walking around holding hands with him."
"From what I can see," Ginny said, through clenched teeth, "he's treated her a hell of a lot better than Ron ever did." She shoved away from him. "And I don't even like the git," she called over her shoulder as she stomped away.
A/N Shortest update ever. I know. It's actually more to commit me to update soon than anything else. I have at least two or three more chapters written. I've just got to edit them and post them . . . and then write a bit more. So if I don't have at least one of them up within 24 hours, you have my permission to lay the smackdown. PS Sorry if you got excited there was an update and then all you got was this. But, BONUS, I'm not actually convinced you people have read all the chapters. I often post several chapters at a time. And when I checked out my legacy story stats a minute ago, there were lots of weird valleys and peaks. Almost as if some of you jump in on the last chapter and don't realize I've posted two before it. Anyway . . . I could also just be reading those wrong. I don't play close enough attention to them to know what the usual deal is.