Hogwarts was dark and gloomy-looking
Glowing Brambles

Hogwarts was dark and gloomy-looking. The night covered up the small, dim light coming from the Gryffindor commons.

Hermione was hunched over a palmistry textbook, trying desperately to figure out what the vocabulary words meant. Ron was sitting across from her, his eyelids drooping.

"Hermione. I know you're a genius and everything- but really, it's nearly midnight."

"So?" she demanded. She almost hit him on the nose as she pointed with her pen. "You and Harry have stayed up past two."

Ron groaned. "That was during Christmas Break! We have classes in the morning."

"You mean today," she said timidly.

 Ron stared at her.

"Yeah, it's midnight now. But hold on, please, Ron? Padma won't let me turn on the lights in our room-"

"I don't blame her," Ron mumbled sleepily.

"-and I was too overloaded with work to finish this earlier. Do you know what an oraculus curve is?" she whimpered.

"I have no idea." Ron sighed. "Fine, I'll stay. You'll have to do me a favor, though."

Hermoine tapped her paper impatiently. "A favor? It better be reasonable." Ron gave her puppy dog eyes and she caved. "What is it, then?"

Ron was uncertain. "Promise you won't tell anyone."

Hermione rolled her eyes and scribbled in an answer on her paper. "Fine. Just tell me."

"Allright… it's about Harry, you know…" Ron turned a funny sort of green color and cracked his knuckles.

"I'm waiting, Ron."

"Allright! Geez. Well, you saw all the commotion yesterday when he got a 98 on the Potions test? The one class I'm managing to do well in this year… If I had gotten a 98, nobody would have given it a second thought. But the whole class clapped when Harry got the test back. They clapped, Hermione."

Hermione was already frowning. "And what did you do now?"

"That dead frog from Science that was in his bed… and … um… and the horse manure that magically appeared in his sink, and … uh…" he pulled at his shirt collar. "the tape of Moaning Myrtle's songs that was playing on his nighttable…"

"Oh, Ron! You did all of that?"

He hated that she was disappointed in him. There shouldn't be a frown on her face, he thought. Then he realized just what he was dealing with here and his anger returned. "Wait a minute. Yeah, I did do all of it. I guess I finally snapped, you know? I can see how you're okay with his being in the spotlight; you're great at everything you do. When the spotlight's shining on him, the focus is never completely off of you, with your grades and your achievements. I'm tired of this crap."

Ron had gradually gotten much louder than he should have been at 12:06 in the morning. Hermione was slightly surprised but she was sill herself. "Shh! You'll wake Peeves, and then you'll really be in trouble."

She grabbed his sleeve. "Come on, let's go to the Garden. Come on," she added impatiently when he hesitated. She quietly led him outside into the frigid morning air. There was the brand new garden Dumbledore had started, a humongous patch of land outside Hagrid's house that was home to thousands of leprechauns, tiny fairies, and several Sugar Daisies. Dumbledore grew tomatoes there, mostly; and he let some first and second years plant things, too.

"Hermione," Ron hissed. "What if he sees us here after midnight? And on the day of the exam? AND we're fifth years; we don't even have an excuse."

"Oh, shut up, Ron," Hermione whispered and sat down on an enchanted bench in the garden. Really, it was enchanted- fairies hovered around it and it was entwined with glowing-white branches. Both momentarily thought how romantic it was out here; both immediately wiped the thought away.

Ron looked reluctant to sit down, and Hermione patted the spot next to her on the bench. "Err," he said. "I don't want to talk about it. Sorry I brought it up."

Hermione watched his face.

Ron blushed. "Honestly, sorry I told you. I think I need to go to bed, okay?"

She sighed. "Sure. I'm practically finished anyway. Thanks for staying up."

"Welcome," Ron mumbled. Without another word, they turned in opposite directions and headed sleepily back to their dorms.

It was Friday morning. Ron's face was practically in his breakfast plate and he was snoring lightly. Harry Potter sat beside him. His hair was a mess as usual, and he was poking Ron and grinning.

"Hello? Anybody there?"

"Oh for God sake, leave him alone, Harry."

"Geez, Hermione. You're a bit cranky."

Hermione gritted her teeth. "Yes, yes I am. I was in the commons till one this morning, and when I was finally going to bed, Peeves dunked rotten milk on me. Then I got to my room and Padma was grinding her teeth in her sleep again. I must've stayed up until three, just reading and studying and trying to drown it out! And I can't even remember half of what I read." She glared at Harry, daring him to say something.

"So that's why you smell," he observed after a second. "The milk."

Hermione made an aggrivated noise and left the table. She just couldn't handle the stress of the exams, sharing a dorm room with the princess of fashion, and dealing with Ron's problems, not to mention her own. She wouldn't admit to herself what her problem was, but she knew it and she felt it whenever Ron smiled at her or offered her an answer to a hard problem; even if the answer was wrong.

She opened the door to her room to find clothes flung over all the furniture. She sighed, picked up her books, and yelled, "I'm leaving for class!"

"Uh huh," came a muffled voice from the closet.

The Potions exam was too easy. Hermione's hand flew across the paper wildly as she filled in the blanks.

Mythical Music was harder. Out of the corner of his eye, Ron saw his two best friends, Harry chewing on his pencil and Hermione tapping hers against her paper. He wished he could tell Harry how he felt but that would be stupid. The three of them had been best friends for years, and Hermione wasn't a… a dating prospect; she was simply their friend Hermione. Harry would either look at Ron like he was crazy or tease him until he died of embarrassment.

Then again, why on earth should he even tell Harry a secret like that? Harry was THE Harry Potter, after all. Ron was just Ron. Harry was special, he had been born special, he had come to Hogwarts destined to be adored by almost everyone in the school at any given time.

Well, not me, Ron thought bitterly. He was so tired of being shoved onto the sidelines. Just once, the school should praise him and clap for him, and Hermione would clap the hardest and even Harry would shake his hand and they'd throw a huge assembly for him in the Great Hall, with balloons, like they did for Harry when he won the spelling bee. Ron could spell too! It wasn't fair.

He put down his pencil.

The branches surrounding the bench in the garden gave off a beautiful light. It changed from white to yellow to neon blue. A lone fairy climbed up the side of  a white rose and waited for something. For someone…

A/N- thanks for reading this far yallz :0) Writer's block. R&R!