"Get away from her!" Ron snarled, failing to realize that Hermione had moved closer to Snape of her own volition. "Ron, calm down," Hermione said soothingly.

"How can I calm down when that son of a bitch is harassing you? Get away from him! I won't let him hurt you anymore!" A vein was popping unattractively from Ron's forehead. The furious red blush was climbing quickly up his neck.

"Ron, Severus and I are..together," Hermione sighed. Ron looked even more furious now. "How did you do it, Snape? Did you really need to force someone like her to tell you that she loved you? Hermione, stop this right now!"

"GODDAMIT RON!" Hermione bellowed. "I am dead serious, and you will shut up and listen to me before you say another word." Even Snape looked mildly cowed by Hermione's outburst, and Ron was sufficiently subdued for the moment, at least.

"Ron, I wanted to tell you so badly about this. I wanted to tell you how happy I am.." She paused to look at Severus. "How happy we are. You know why I didn't? Do you know why I hid from you when I would trust you with anything else? Because I knew you would react this way-like a child. I am in love with Severus, and if you can't accept that I am happy this way, you are not much of a friend." Hermione was truly furious at this point, but Ron had recovered from the initial shock of the Hermione death glare.

"You disgust me, Hermione. I come back this year to find that my best friend is the whore of Slytherin! Tell me, how can you bear to touch him? Does he really love you? That soulless, disgusting excuse for a human being? You've slept with him, haven't you? You let that disgusting creature defile you! Are you fooling around with Malfoy, too, then? You are not my friend, and I am ashamed that I ever called you one. I'm not mentioning this to Harry, or anyone else, because I'd rather not think, much less speak, of how much you disgust me." At that, Ron furiously shoved the invisibility cloak under his arm and stalked off, not even bothering to put it on.

Hermione turned to Severus, and sought sanctuary in the comfort of his arms.

Harry jerked awake in front of the fire when Ron stormed in, throwing his invisibility cloak at him with shocking violence. "Ron, what were you doing with this?" asked Harry, gesturing to the cloak.

"Harry, if you had any idea what I saw tonight in the dungeons." Harry felt his stomach flip. So that's why Ron was so upset..He could only imagine what had just happened, and how Ron had reacted.

"You saw Hermione and Professor Snape," he whispered. Ron whirled on him. "YOU KNEW!" he pointed an accusing finger. "You knew and you didn't tell me. You probably approve of this, don't you? You know how I feel about Hermione! And you let her become his whore!" Ron was hissing now, and Harry was worried that they were attracting attention from the other Gryffindors. He silently willed them to remain asleep.

"Ron, please, just calm down and we'll talk about this in the morning," Harry tried to reach out to his friend but Ron slapped his hand away. "I WILL NOT CALM DOWN!" he roared, and Harry lost his patience.

"Did you expect Hermione to fall in love with you by acting that way, Ron? She never indicated that she was interested in you that way at all, and I have warned you about it time and again. Hermione has found someone who makes her happy, and it is your duty as a friend to accept that. Then again, you're not much of a friend are you? And then you come and jump all over me, who you also consider a friend? I can only imagine what a git you were down there tonight, and I don't even want to know what horrible things you said to Hermione. All I can tell you now is this: You had better keep your mouth shut about her relationship, and accept it, or you won't have any friends left to turn to. I have no desire to see your face again tonight. I'm going to bed, and I don't want to hear another word from you until you're ready to behave with some amount of decency." Red in the face and out of breath, Harry stormed out, leaving Ron alone in the common room. He plopped down in one of the chairs and buried his head in his hands.

Hermione returned to her own room much later, and was extremely thankful that the Head Girl got a room to herself. Severus had been so comforting, but he couldn't fix her friendship with Ron. Would he ever speak to her again? She wasn't sure if she should feel angry or guilty, and ended up feeling both. For the first time in weeks, she called for Crookshanks, who was more than ready to be forgiven.

"Crookshanks, you're still my friend aren't you?" she cried into the ball of orange fluff that submitted itself to her suffocating embrace. [Hermione, you know I will always be your friend. I am truly sorry for hurting you before. I just thought it was the only way.. I didn't expect the results to be that..extreme. Am I forgiven?] Hermione nodded into his fur, and he thought he heard a muffled "yes." He started to purr, knowing that the steady vibrations of his body would soothe her. Soon Hermione was asleep, her face still buried in Crookshanks's fur.

Severus Snape spent his evening worrying about Hermione. He had wanted so badly to comfort her, but due to the situation, he probably wasn't the right person for her to turn to. He wasn't fond of the Weasley boy, and as much as he wanted to punish the little prick to kingdom come he knew that wasn't the right course of action. Snape closed his eyes and hoped Hermione was not ashamed to be with him. Forcing those thoughts out of his head, Severus tried not to let his own insecurities worsen the situation. What she had said to Weasley tonight should rid him of his doubts, anyway. There was nothing to do about the situation except mix himself a dreamless sleep potion and hope that things sorted themselves out within the Gryffindor trio.

**a/n** Vicious enough tantrum for you? Hope you're all having fun! Keep the reviews coming-they never fail to make my day!