Letters came from The Burrow. Bill, too prosaic a person to have a long romantic engagement and a big white wedding, had set the date: Christmas Day. His fiancee (whom Ron still had to meet) had agreed. So, Mrs. Weasley was going insane, trying to organise a wedding with as many Weasleys as she could invite. She had invited both Harry and Hermione to stay with them for the Christmas holidays, and, with December only a month away, Ron was quite looking forward to spending Christmas with his two best friends at his own house, even if it was amid a wedding (which would no doubt generate more chaos than usual at the Weasley household). He had written to his mother to ask if he could bring an extra guest (Parvati), but he was still waiting for a reply. Meanwhile, he was working as hard as he could to catch up, even though it risked the disapproval of Parvati. But if he succumbed to Parvati's wishes and took her for a walk around the lake or goofed off from homework, then he caught Hermione's disapproval in full blast.

Between Quidditch training and the two girls and their cold war, Ron was quite glad when he had some time alone with Harry for what seemed like the first time in ages. In care of Magical creatures, they had begun to study jarveys- overgrown ferrets which had the ability to imitate human speech in short, and often rude, phrases. They liked to eat garden gnomes, or, as a substitute, caterpillars. So Hagrid had enlisted the help of Ron and Harry to search through the long grass around his cabin for caterpillars.

"Got one," Ron cried triumphantly, holding up the small, green wriggling thing between his thumb and forefinger. He put it in his bucket, already half full of caterpillars. Harry grinned, and held up his own bucket, already nearly full. "Beating you," he said.

"As always," Ron said, smiling sheepishly.

Harry dusted off his dirt stained hands thoughtfully. "I don't think so- you got a girlfriend before me, didn't you?"

Ron shrugged. "We don't compete. That was hardly a contest between us, was it?"

Harry grinned again. "It might be soon- You're turning into a regular Romeo."

"What's a Romeo?"

"Never mind," Harry said, "What I mean is, you're getting a lot of attention from the girls lately."

Ron blinked at him blankly. "What girls?"

Harry raised his eyebrows at him, "Well, face the facts Ron- you've got both Parvati and Hermione vying for your attention every night- they've already had one fight over you, and Hermione's never been so openly rude to Parvati before. You know, ever since you started going out with Parvati…" Harry shook his head, "If I didn't know better I'd say Hermione was jealous."

Ron's mouth dropped open. "What? Hermione? Jealous? Of me?" It was the most ridiculous theory he'd ever heard. "Wha- why? Why would she be jealous of me?"

"What do you mean, why? Because you're going out with Parvati!"

"So?"

"So, suddenly all your attention is focused elsewhere, and it's bothering her!"

Ron blinked even harder. He wasn't sure they were really having this conversation. "What are you tyring to say? That Hermione fancies me or something?"

Harry shrugged uneasily. "I don't know…lately all she seems to talk about is how wrong Parvati is for you. They don't like each other very much, and-"

"Wait a moment- Hermione doesn't think Parvati is right for me?"

Harry shrugged again and studied the ground, "That's just the impression that I'm getting Ron."

"In what way is she "not right for me"? And how would Hermione know?"

"She didn't actually say that!" Harry said, looking a little exasperated.

"Well then, what did she say?"

"I don't know!" Harry said, throwing up his hands, "Lots of stuff! Stuff like…Parvati's just a pretty face, and Parvati's a heartbreaker and she'll end up hurting your feelings, and how, when Parvati does hurt your feelings, don't expect Hermione to comfort you, because you should know that Parvati's nothing more than just a pretty face, and how she didn't think you were so shallow, and-"

"What?" Ron said angrily, "Are you serious?" he threw down his bucket, sending a pile of green caterpillars spilling out over the lawn. "I can't believe this! She hardly knows Parvati! And it's not like my relationship is any of her business, anyway! This is…this is so like her! She thinks she knows everything, and she thinks everyone needs her to function properly! Well I don't! I can do without Hermione Granger's shoulder to cry on, thanks very much, and what makes her think that I'd go to her for comfort anyway? I don't need her!"

Harry looked at Ron with a pained expression on his face. "That's a lie, you know it's a lie. You do need her. Especially now, with all that extra help she's giving you. She's worrying about your homework more than she is her own, these days."

"Well, I didn't ask for her help-"

Harry stared at him. "Yes you did. I was there when you said "Hermione, you've got to help me catch up." Remember?"

Ron scowled. "Okay…but I didn't think she'd take it upon herself to make sure I was the top student in fifth year."

Harry shrugged and smiled. "You know Hermione. She's a perfectionist, and she's got to be the best."

"Yeah, well," said Ron, and couldn't think of anything else to say. "Yeah, well," he repeated, "You know that's just because she's…she's just…such a know it all goody two shoes."

Harry looked confused. "No she isn't. She's just being herself."

Ron kicked his bucket, sending more caterpillars spraying over the lawn. "Well…I can do without her help. I can do perfectly fine on my own, you know. I don't need her to get an A in Transfiguration."

"If you say so," said Harry, bending down to pick up a wriggling caterpillar.

"Exactly!" ranted Ron, "just because Hermione's got control of her own life, she thinks she can control everyone else's!"

"You really think so?" Harry questioned. "You really think she's got perfect control of her own life?"

"Well she certainly acts like it!" snapped Ron. "I don't see why she's got to boss me around all the time. She's always nagging and prying and she never leaves me alone!"

Harry stood up, an incredulous expression on his face. "What are you talking about?" he said. "Ron- Hermione's your friend. Why shouldn't she hang around?"

Ron paused before answering. "Some friend!" he said finally, with a fresh burst of anger, "If she was any kind of friend, she'd leave me alone and let me get on with my work- I mean, just because she wants to be perfect doesn't mean I have to be!"

Harry stared for a moment or two, incredulous bewilderment on his face, looking at Ron as though he'd never seen anything like him before. Harry opened his mouth, and tried to find words but couldn't- he just gaped for a bit. Finally, he took a deep breath and let it out as a sigh. "You're mad."

"I'm not," Ron snapped.

"You are- you're being stupid. Hermione's only trying to help and you're throwing her good nature back in her face."

"Good nature? Ron repeated, "She doesn't have any good nature! Well not for me, anyway. She's mean and bossy and self centred, Harry, and I'm sick of her!"

"Look, are you going to make a habit of missing the point?" Harry snapped, his temper flaring for the first time, "because you seem to be doing it and awful lot lately and I can't help thinking it's not Hermione's fault- it's yours."

"What's my fault?" Ron snapped back.

"The fighting- you two, you're always constantly bickering and biting each other's heads off- and it doesn't roll off her back the way it rolls off yours, you know. She's still a person with feelings Ron, but you never seem to notice. Maybe you should actually pay some attention to her and then you'll find out that your opinion of her is completely wrong- even though you've been friends with her for the past four years!" Harry stopped suddenly, as though realising what he was saying. The two boys stared at each other for a moment, Harry angrily; Ron shocked- until Harry sighed and hefted the bucket of caterpillars. "This is bullshit," he said. "I'm…I'm going. I'll see you back up at the castle."

And he walked up to Hagrid's cabin, leaving Ron alone with his very confused thoughts.

*

It was clear to Hermione by the next evening that Ron was mad at her. Why, she didn't know, and made no effort to find out. Ron just got in moods sometimes, and she usually caught the full blast of his disapproval on these occasions. But this time, it wasn't just her copping the worst of Ron's bad mood- it was Harry too. Ron ignored both herself and Harry during classes all day, instead directing conversation to Parvati. In the common room he didn't take his usual seat at their table- instead he sat in an armchair by the fire with Parvati, shotting glares at Hermione and Harry across the common room from time to time. Unfortunately, to Ron's consternation, Parvati would often get up and stroll around the common room over to Harry, to have a bit of a chat with him. Hermione wondered at the nature of Ron's hostility- surely he and Harry weren't fighting again? And she certainly hadn't done anything to make him mad. This was one bad mood Hermione just couldn't fathom.

But, whatever the matter was, it was Ron's business, and Hermione certainly wasn't about to go crawling to him, asking what the matter was. Instead, she asked Harry.

"Are you two angry with each other?" she asked, as Harry was flicking through A History of Magic.

Harry looked up. "What?" he said, frowning, "Angry with who?"

"You and Ron," Hermione said, nodding to where Ron was glaring into the fire. "Did you have another fight?"

Harry scratched his head and looked back down at his book before answering. "Nope. I don't know. He's just mad. It's not my problem."

But Hermione was too clever to fall for that. Something in Harry's answer was unconvincing- perhaps it was the way he didn't meet her eye. "Well he's not exactly talking to me, either, you know."

Harry snorted. "What else is new? He doesn't talk to anyone any more. Except Parvati."

Hermione sat back in her chair and regarded Harry for a moment. He raised his eyebrows at her and then returned to his book.

"Why are you lying to me?" she said finally.

"I'm not," Harry muttered.

"There you go again. Tell me what's wrong."

"Nothing's wrong."

"Maybe I can help. I can go and talk to him."

"I told you nothing's wrong!"

"I'm only trying to be useful-"

"Hermione!" Harry said in exasperation. Hermione smiled and returned to her homework, while Harry ran a hand through his already-on-end hair in irritation. "What's the matter with you, anyway? You've hardly started on that Transfigs essay."

"Well, I find it a bit hard to concentrate when someone's glaring at me across the room," Hermione replied, looking up at Ron again just in time to catch him sending her a wrathful glare. Harry looked at Ron too. Ron rolled his eyes at the two of them and pointedly turned his attention back to Parvati.

"What's he trying to prove?" Harry muttered, and the tone of his voice was a mixture of disdain and downright anger. "Honestly, sometimes he's so…"

Hermione got to her feet, shutting her book with a snap. Harry looked up at her. "What're you doing?"

"I'm going to talk to him," Hermione said decidedly. "I can't concentrate with him acting like such a prat, and I do need to get some homework done."

Harry stared at her for a moment and then shrugged, "Suit yourself." He closed his book and replaced his quill to its holder.

"What are you doing?" she asked as she got up out of her seat.

"I'm going to watch," said Harry raising his eyebrows at her. "Go on, then."

Hermione rolled her eyes at him and strode determinedly over to where Ron and Parvati were sitting. Parvati raised her eyebrows as Hermione approached. "What do you want?" she said snobbily.

Hermione ignored her and directed her address at Ron. "I need to talk to you."

Parvati smirked. "Well, he doesn't want to talk to you, so-"

But Ron, as if he hadn't even heard Parvati, said, "That's good, because I need to talk to you."

Parvati opened her mouth in pure shock, which quickly tuned to anger. She set her mouth in a hard, unattractive line. "I'm going for a walk," she said frostily to Ron, and stalked off, grabbing Lavender and pulling her out of the portrait hole on her way.

Ron didn't appear to notice. He was focusing on Hermione, and he looked pissed off about something. "What's your problem, anyway?" he said before Hermione could get a word in.

She opened her mouth, closed it again, and then shot an angry response. "I could ask you the same thing! What do you mean, my problem?"

"If you've got a problem with me dating Parvati, why don't you tell me instead of bitching about it behind my back?" Ron demanded.

Hermione blinked in surprise. "I…" she said, and found herself lost for words. "I…what on earth are you talking about?"

"Harry told me all about it," Ron snapped. Hermione whirled around to look at Harry, who had hidden his face behind a book, which he was holding upside down. Hermione turned back to Ron's angry face, her mouth still open in surprise.

"Well?" he said, in a sort of dangerously quiet voice. "Are you going to deny it?"

"What?" was all Hermione managed to say.

"You've been talking about me behind my back!" Ron said loudly, to the interest of a few nearby Gryffindors. "It's no skin off my nose if you want to fight with Parvati- well, actually, it is- but you could at least come to me and talk about it instead of complaining to Harry!"

"Oh, sure, and have you kick up a fuss just because you don't happen to agree with my opinion!" Hermione snapped, finding her voice at last.

"And what is your opinion, Hermione?" Ron demanded, getting to his feet. "Why do you care so much about who I date?"

"As a matter of fact, I don't-" Hermione started to say furiously, but Ron cut off her sentence.

"Why is it any of your business?" he shouted, now red in the face. "If I wanted your opinion, I'd ask for it! Parvati and I get along just fine! I can't help it if you don't like her!"

"Well, I-"

"Just because you want to pick a fight with my girlfriend doesn't mean you have the right to go around judging someone you hardly know! It's none of your business, or Harry's business for that matter, what we do or what our relationship's like!" While he took a breath, Hermione managed to get a word in- a furious word.

"You prat!" she snapped, 'I suppose this is the thanks I get for helping you out so much! And I may hardly know her, but what's to say you know her that well either? You're just too shallow to realise that she's going to hurt your feelings because that's the type of self centred person she is, and when you've found that out you're-"

"Stop insulting her!" Ron roared furiously. "For the last time, it's none of your business! Just leave us alone, Hermione, because we can do without your stupid opinion! So just- just shut up, okay? You hardly know her, you seem to have dramatically misjudged me, and the last thing I'll ever do is come crying to you when I'm in trouble! You're not and never have been a good friend to me so just leave-me-alone."

He drew back, breathing in hard. It took a while for the ringing in Hermione's ears to stop and for her to realise that the common room had gone silent. Everyone was staring at the two of them, red-faced, breathing hard. But this time she couldn't even think of the Hogwarts rumour mill- she felt like she'd been slapped in the face.

She took in a long shaky breath through her nose. Ron seemed to draw back further, as through readying himself for her response.

But for once, she didn't have one.

"Fine," she said shakily. "That's fine, Ron."

And she turned on her heel and walked up to the dorms, feeling strangely light headed. There was a buzzing in her ears that she took a few moments to identify as whispers running through the common room. She ignored Harry's stunned expression, ignored the perplexed stares from the Weasley twins, ignored the terrified, anxious look on Ginny's face- she ignored them all, walked right past them with her head held high, up to her room.