And so they weren't speaking. Most people were quite used to this, but it was different this time. There was chilliness to their hostility that was nothing to do with the winter months creeping closer. This time they weren't just trying to prove a point by bickering- there was some conviction behind the hard-eyed stares, the never-ending silence.
Harry felt guilty. That much was obvious in the way he actually approached the subject with Ron rather than ignoring the fact that they were fighting- which he usually did.
"Look, Ron…" Harry said uncomfortably one afternoon as they walked down to Hagrid's cabin together- they had both been invited to afternoon tea at the half-giant's house- "Ron," he said again. "I'm…not sure you should…get so…angry, I mean…she might not have meant it. It was late, and we were just talking while we did our homework, and she was angry about something. She might not have meant it," he repeated, a bit desperately. "Can't you go and…talk to her about it, or something? I didn't mean to cause a fight…I wasn't…I just…"
"Harry," said Ron sharply through Harry's stuttering, "It's nothing to worry about. And none of your business, may I add." Ron thought he saw something hurtful flicker in his friend's eyes. "All right," he amended, "Harry- it is something to worry about. It's worrying that you're worrying about something that really isn't an issue."
"It is an issue though," Harry persisted. "And it's all my fault. I should never have-"
"I'm not mad at you, if that's what you're worried about," Ron reassured him.
"No, I just feel bad that I brought up all this bad stuff between you and Hermione, and-"
"Hi Hagrid!" Ron said loudly, as they approached the cabin, signalling an end to the conversation.
But Harry was right- it was an issue. Ron felt bad- terrible- in fact about some of the things he'd said to her. But surely that wasn't right. She was in the wrong here. Not him. It's not my fault for once, he had to remind himself several times, as Hermione was forced to work with Neville during class.
And his grades began to drop again. Without Hermione to give him a hand with homework, and Harry sitting with her in the evenings, there was nothing to distract him from Parvati- nothing to stop him wandering off with her at night, for walks around the lake. Which were actually…becoming a tad boring. Quite boring. Incredibly boring. In fact, he began to dread the evenings, when Parvati would come up and slide her arms around his neck and persuade him to leave the warm common room to walk around that cold lake while listening to her talk. And she did talk. But not just about herself- about Harry. Lots of questions about Harry. Now that Ron thought about it- she'd always brought up Harry a lot in their conversations. What was his favourite colour? What was his favourite food? Did he like winter or summer? What was his cousin like? Just things like that. And Ron didn't even know the answer to most of her questions- he would have liked Harry whether his favourite colour was red or pink. It didn't really matter that much, did it?
And a new topic of conversation seemed to crop up now and again- Hermione. Parvati despised her, and Ron did too. Okay, not despised- hated her at least. Disliked her. Well, not quite that far.
But he was very angry with her.
"I don't think Harry should be hanging around with her so much, do you?" Parvati said nastily as they walked around the lake one night, "she'll turn him into a square- just like her."
"Yeah," Ron agreed half-heartedly. He was freezing cold- they'd been out at the lake for at leats an hour and he desperately wanted to go back inside. Thankfully they'd already circled the lake three times, so their walk seemed to be drawing to an end.
"I mean, what does he see in her anyway?" Parvati demanded steering him up towards the steps of the entrance hall. "She's so boring and mousey."
Mousey? What did that mean?
"Sure, yeah," Ron said again.
"I don't even know why he talks to her. It must be out of pity."
"Must be."
"Because she's so boring, isn't she? You would know, having her hanging around for so many years. She's boring, isn't she?"
"Yeah." Boring? Hermione? Firey, interesting, opinionated, bossy, moody…boring? Hah.
"She's not coming to your brother Barry's wedding is she?"
"Bill."
"What?"
"My brother," said Ron, looking at her. "His name is Bill."
"Oh, right. Whatever. Bill's wedding, then."
"I don't know," Ron said, sighing as they reached the warmth of the entrance hall, lit by a few flaming torches in brackets on the walls. Hermione had been invited not just as Ron's guest, but as his mother's. He knew that Mrs Weasley was very fond of Hermione and if she didn't turn up with them on the Hogwarts express, then she would ask why and then get angry with him for fighting with her and then his father would be brought into and then Percy would lecture him and the twins would tease and Bill would give him that look. The I-thought-you-were-a-better-person-than-that-Ron look that always served to make Ron's stomach tighten. Bill was so much of a better person than he, in so many ways. He always made Ron feel about two inches tall. I just want him to be proud of me Ron thought to himself as Parvati nattered away in his ear as they walked up the many corridors and stair leading to the common room. Is that so much to ask?
How could Dumbledore say that he and Bill were alike, anyway? His headmaster's comment had been puzzling him ever since their meeting, and Ron had yet to figure it out.
I wish I had Hermione to help me on this one, he thought ruefully before he could stop himself. Then immediately dismissed it. wait a moment, what am I saying? I don't NEED her help.
"Armadillo," he said, shaking his head as they reached the portrait hole. The portrait of the Fat Lady swung open, and Parvati extricated her arm from Ron's as she climbed through, still talking. It was fairly late and there weren't very many people left in the common room- a few sleepy first years struggling to finish off homework, a seventh year sitting by the fire, lost in thought, and two third year girls tying a letter to an owl's leg by the window- and of course, Harry and Hermione in their usual corner.
Ron's eyes instinctively fell on Hermione as he waked into the warm, cheery room- but there was nothing warm about the glare Hermione shot him.
"Hi, Harry!" Parvati called out cheerfully. Harry looked up from whatever he as doing and gave Parvati a smile, then immediately turned back to his work. Parvati, not to be deterred, went right over, sat on the arm of Harry's chair, and started talking to him, oblivious to the frosty glare Hermione was shooting her or the pained expression that appeared on Harry's face. Hermione looked over her shoulder at Ron again, those usually warm brown eyes devoid of any affection or friendliness they usually held. Ron stifled a sigh and plonked himself down in an armchair by the fire. He suddenly found himself wishing for a bit of normality- where Hermione was talking to him and Harry was still his best friend. But it was normal for he and Hermione to be fighting, wasn't it? That was the big joke about he and Hermione Granger. "You only fight with the people you most care about," people had often cooed at him. And he would always snap back, "yeah, well, that's a load of bull. I don't give a stuff about her."
But that was a load of bull too.
He looked over at Hermione again, who gave him one last icy look, glared pointedly at Parvati, and stalked off up the stairs. Ron dropped his head into his hands and groaned aloud. What a mess, he thought, What a horrible, rotten mess.
*
Hermione couldn't deny the chilly, spiteful sort of satisfaction she got from seeing Ron squirm a bit. He'd hurt her feelings- really hurt them, and now, he deserved to feel some sort of pain as well.
I won't talk to him at all until he apologises, she thought stubbornly, climbing the staircase to the girls' dorms. But she wished it could have been some other way.
She reached the girls dorms, threw her books down on her bed, and went into the adjoining bathroom to wash the ink stains off her hands, still thinking about Ron.
She knew that her fight with Ron had driven a bit of a wedge between him and Harry, as Harry felt guilty- as though it were somehow his fault that Ron had told her in front of the whole common room that she was a bad friend. And she couldn't deny that she was angry with Harry for telling Ron what she'd said about him and Parvati. Though you shouldn't have said it in the first place, her reasonable voice said, as she ran hot water over hands and scrubbed hard at them with a brush. You should have at least pretended to be happy for him.
Why should I be dishonest? challenged the more volatile side of her brain. I just wanted to let him know he had a problem!
Hermione slowly turned off the water, looking at her face in the spotted bathroom mirror.
"I'm the one with the problem here," she said aloud, softly. Without warning, tears pricked the back of her eyes as she thought of the very brief, hurt look that was hiding in Ron's eyes when she glared at him. Did he really care? Sometimes, it seemed like Ron was the only person who cared about her in the world. Harry was so caught up in his own problems- with good reason- and she'd never made any really close girl friends. Except maybe Ginny. But she could never tell Ginny all her thoughts, especially since a lot of them lately were devoted to Ginny's brother.
Just as tears dangerously threatened to spill out over her eyes, she heard voices outside the door. Quickly, she flew into a stall and locked the door behind her. She couldn't let anyone know she'd been crying.
As the bathroom door swung open Hermione sat down on the toilet seat and drew her knees up to her chin. The voices were easily identifiable as Parvati and Lavender.
"…but I suppose he's not that bad," Parvati was saying, "although those freckles- ugh!"
"Have you ever seen his elder brother, though?" Lavender giggled, "Not the twins- the eldest one, Bob, or Bill, or something…"
"Barry," said Parvati. "What about him?"
"Well, I saw him last year when he and Ron's mum came to watch Harry in he third task of the tournament. And he was ever so dishy! I mean, even with red hair and loads of freckles."
"Really?" Parvati said, sounding mildly impressed, "Did you go up and introduce yourself?"
"Of course not!" Lavender squealed, "I could never do that!"
"Lavenderrrr…" Parvati sighed exasperatedly. "You're never going to get a boyfriend if you don't start introducing yourself to people that you like."
"I know, I know! I wish I were as brave as you! I mean, I can't believe you just went right up and asked Ron out!"
"But then again, I don't really like him." Parvati said. Her voice sounded slightly defected, as though she were applying lip gloss or something in the mirror. Hermione shifted uncomfortably on the seat, sure she'd heard wrong.
"You're so smart Pav," Lavender said, sounding envious and admiring at the same time, "I mean, I never would have thought of doing something like this to snag a boy."
"It was pretty smart," Parvati agreed, "I didn't think it would work so well. But since I started going out with Ron, I really think Harry's noticed me a lot more! It's all going perfectly! And Ron's told me practically everything about Harry."
"Oooh!" Lavender squealed, "this is so great! It's like you're all set to go out with him!"
"I know!" Parvati said triumphantly, "all I've got to do is dump Ron, go to Harry looking sad about it, and then the rest is up to fate!"
"Do you think this is what professor Trelawney meant when she said that there would be romance with a famous young man for you in the future?"
"I see nothing wring with giving fate a hand," Parvati giggled. "I mean, sure, I had to ask Ron Weasley out to get Harry to notice me. But imagine what it will be like when I'm Harry Potter's girlfriend!" then both of them let out excited squeals, and ran out of the bathroom, giggling.
She could hear their giggles fading into the distance as they ran back down the stairs to the common room.
Hermione had been holding her breath, without realising. She exhaled stale air and got unsteadily to her feet. She wasn't sure if she'd just heard what she thought she hard. It was like some sort of scene from that muggle soap opera that her mother liked so much- Passions, or something equally distasteful. If she had heard right- if she wasn't mistaking the implications behind the conversation she'd just heard- then Parvati asking Ron out had all been a scam. A scam to get Harry to notice her! Parvati didn't really have any feelings for Ron at all, she was just using him to get to Harry!
Hermione felt sick. This wasn't the sort of thing she wanted her best friend to be subjected to. And even as she tried not to think about it, it all made sense. Things she'd subconsciously registered surfaced and all fit together, like some sort of terrible melodramatic puzzle. Whenever Parvati was around Harry, she'd flirt- and completely ignore Ron. She'd overheard Ron say once to Harry that Parvati was always asking after him. In fact, Parvati's entire proposal had come completely out the blue, unfoundedly and without preamble. Why hadn't she seen this before?
Ron was about to get his heart broken by a girl he believed he liked, and she was then going to move on his best friend. He was going to get hurt by Parvati, in the very worst kind of way.
And this meant, of course, that Hermione had been right all along.
*
"Ron…Ron! Wake up!"
"Hnnn?" Someone was shaking Ron's shoulder, hissing in his ear. "Whatsamatter?"
"Ron! Wake up! I need to talk to you!"
"What?" Ron didn't quite know what was going on. He turned over to see who was forcing him awake, and found himself looking right into Hermione's deep brown eyes. "What?" he said again, a bit louder. He sat up quickly in his surprise. "What's going on? Hermione!"
"Shhhh!" she hissed. She was kneeling by her bed in her dressing gown and pyjamas, an anxious expression on her face.
"You're not supposed to be in here," Ron whispered blankly. He blinked even harder. "What are you doing in here?"
"I need to talk to you," she repeated in a whisper.
"At one am?" Ron cried, catching sight of his wristwatch, which Hermione had enchanted long ago to make the hands glow in the dark.
"Shhhh! It's important."
"Jesus Christ, it can't be that important, seeing as we aren't speaking," Ron said pointedly, feeling utterly bewildered.
A pained expression passed across her face. "Ron, please, not now…"
"Well, go on then, what could be so important?"
"All right. I'll tell you. But don't get angry and start jumping to conclusions." She took a deep breath, "It's about you and Parvati."
Ron felt a surge of irritation, and not just because he'd been rudely awoken to find himself in a totally bizarre situation. "I think you've talked enough about Parvati, don't you-" he started angrily, but she cut him off.
"See, I knew, it, I knew you wouldn't listen to me!"
Ron fought to control his temper for a good five seconds. "Okay," he said finally, "What about me and Parvati?"
"Well…" Hermione suddenly looked uncomfortable. "I happened to…overhear…a conversation between Parvati and Lavender."
'So?"
"About you."
"So?"
"Try to keep your voice down!" she hissed. Seamus Finnigan, two beds over from Ron, grunted in his sleep and turned over. Ron, having seen Seamus fly into a rage after being rudely awoken once before and having no wish to see it again, lowered his voice. He leaned closer to Hermione so that he could hear. "Go on, then."
"Okay…" Hermione said looking more uncomfortable and anxious than ever, "okay." She stood up, walking around shaking out her arms and hands for a while, took a few deep breaths, then came and knelt by Ron's bed again. "Okay, um…" she cleared her throat. "This is a bit difficult Ron, but…but it's the truth, all right? I'm telling the truth." She blew out air and then took another deep breath. "Okay. All right. Listen, Ron…" She turned and looked him right in the eyes. "Parvati…doesn't like you. At all."
The words hit hard before Ron had any time to collect himself. "'What?"
"She asked you out as a way to get Harry to notice her. She's planning to dump you and then go after Harry. She thinks that going out with you has made her seem more attractive to her. I'm sorry," she put in quickly. "I'm really sorry, Ron. The entire relationship has been a farce. A lie. She's using you. I'm so sorry."
She said it so quickly, yet Ron felt like someone was shoving a hot poker through his stomach. There was a momentary flash of pain, and a doubt that embedded itself in his mind, before the anger surged up.
Hermione was looking at him anxiously, wringing her hands. "Ron?" she whispered. "Say something. Are you angry? What are you-"
"I can't believe you," Ron said, and his voice was shaking. "I can't…I don't know how on earth you got the nerve to do this to me, but…you're just unbelievable, Hermione."
"What? Ron, I'm telling the truth-"
"NO YOU'RE NOT!" he roared, and Hermione jumped back. Seamus gave a yelp and there was a thump as Dean Thomas fell out of his bed.
"What's going on?" came a sleepy voice from Neville's bed. Ron's heart was thumping like a hammer against his ribs. "How DARE you?" he shouted. "How BLOODY DARE YOU?"
"Ron!" Hermione exclaimed, putting a hand to her heart, "Don't-"
"HOW CAN YOU COME INTO MY ROOM, LOOK ME IN THE EYE AND TELL ME A LIE LIKE THAT?!" He was screaming now, the words ripped up his throat, renting the silence that had been settled over Gryffindor tower.
"What the hell is going on?" Seamus yelled from his bed.
"Ron? Is that you?" Neville said. "What's the matter? Ron!"
"Oh my god…you picked a really great time to pick a fight, Hermione," Dean Thomas snapped at them, surveying the scene from the floor where he was still lying, rubbing his elbow.
"I'm not lying!" Hermione cried angrily. "Why don't you believe me?"
"Maybe because this is the LAST STRAW!" Ron roared. "I'm SO SICK OF YOU BAD-MOUTHING PARVATI! Why don't you just leave me AND her the HELL ALONE?" he drew back a bit, and he was breathing hard. "This is low. This is so low, Hermione. I didn't think even you could go so far. You're so…Just…get the hell away from me. I can't even look at you anymore."
Hermione was staring at him, eyes and mouth both wide open in shock.
Ron suddenly felt a hand squeezing his shoulder and he looked to see who it was- Harry, tousle-haired and rubbing his eyes. Ron suddenly felt terribly awful about the fuss he had just kicked up. Harry had enough on his plate without being woken up in the middle of the night to find his two best friends arguing.
"Harry…" Ron said hoarsely. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to wake you up, I just…"
Harry nodded. "Shhh," he said softly. He walked up to Hermione and said something very quietly in her ear. There were tears in her eyes.
"I'm telling the truth" she whispered tearfully to Harry. "I just wanted to help."
"It's all right," Harry said gently. "You'd better go now, herm. It's all right."
"But Ron-" Hermione said turning back to him. Ron looked away. He really couldn't look at her, knowing that she had gone so low as to lie to him to try and break him and Parvati up. It was sleazy and tacky- and she'd brought Harry into it this time. It was so unlike her.
Why had she done it?
"Ron's fine," Harry said softly, putting his arm around her and giving her a gentle push towards the door. "Everything's okay." He gave her a quick squeeze and then closed the door behind her. Then he turned back to Ron. The look in his eyes was that look- that look that Bill gave him.
Ron stared right back. It wasn't him that was in the wrong, this time. Definitely not. He turned round to look at the rest of the dorm- Dean, lying on the ground; Neville, struggling to extricate himself from the tangle of blankets that surrounded him as he tried to stand up; Seamus, sitting up in bed holding his pillow like a teddy bear. They all had the same expression of shock on their face.
Seamus finally broke the silence.
"Jasus!" he exclaimed. "Can't you two just ever give it a rest?"
