Everything works out fine, I promise. But I'm having a hard time keeping
Draco Malfoy in character. It always happens to me; he gets out of
character, and adopts my personality. (Which isn't all that different from
his own, or so I hope). It's a curse, a curse, I tell you!
******'
Hermione woke up the next morning with a goofy grin on her face. No matter how she tried, she couldn't stop grinning. She quickly got dressed and walked down to breakfast in the Great Hall, not waiting for Harry or Ron. She didn't wait for Ron for obvious reasons, and Harry would always sleep late on the first day back.
She sat down at the Gryffindor table, ate her breakfast and headed to the Transfiguration classroom, waiting for the lesson to begin. She leaned against the wall and pulled out the letter from Bill to read it again.
"Did your friends forget you, Mudblood, or did they finally realize you're not worth their time?" A voice asked.
She turned her head to see Draco Malfoy stand there, sneering at her. She raised an eyebrow, and looked at him, amused.
"Is that the best you can come up with, Malfoy?" She asked. "Because that was low standard, even for you. Harry and Ron haven't forgotten me, they never will. By the way, where are Twiddledee and Twiddledumb? I thought you three were attached at the hip?"
"That is a horrible mental image, Granger. Don't ever mention it again; I think you've destroyed whatever vestiges of innocence I've still got left. But why are you here without Scarface and Weasel?"
"Because they slept late."
"Really. Who's the letter from?"
Hermione felt forced to raise an eyebrow again; Malfoy was actually making civil conversation with her? Something was very wrong here.
"If you must know, it's from someone named William."
Hey, that wasn't even a lie.
"William? Who's that? Have you got a boyfriend?" Malfoy sneered.
"What if I have? Disappointed you couldn't get any? I'm not at all sorry to disappoint you, Malfoy, but I wouldn't have gone out with you if they so paid me a million Galleons." Hermione snorted.
"EWW! That's disgusting Granger! I'm just asking to get some blackmail fodder; you didn't have to make me sick!" He exclaimed, looking quite green.
"Mr Malfoy, Ms Granger, I would appreciate if you didn't scream so loud." McGonagall came striding down the corridor.
"Sorry, professor." Hermione said.
"Yeah. I'm off to Charms. Break a leg, Granger, and I don't mean it in the ´good luck´ way." Malfoy said, and started down the corridor.
He ran straight into Ron and Harry, who were coming from the Great Hall. Harry glared at him, and gave Hermione a ´good morning´, but Ron just brushed past, glaring at Hermione. Malfoy threw her a puzzle glance, and she stuck out her tongue at him. He shook his head, mouthed ´Do break a leg´ at her, and disappeared down the corridor.
Hermione ignored him and walked into the classroom. If Ron was going to act like this all the time, it was going to be a long day. Hell, it was going to be a long term!
******'
Lunch came, and Ron was still not even looking at her. She only picked at her food, pushing it around on her plate with her fork, not bothering to eat anything. Harry watched her, concerned, and finally leaned forward over the table.
"Hermione, you have to eat. You won't get anywhere with Ron just because you don't eat. Please?" He asked.
"Alright, but I wish he would at least look at me." Hermione whispered, and Ginny, who was sitting next her, put a comforting arm around her shoulder, sending a glare at her brother while doing so.
"Hey, Hermione, that owl you got last night, was it from.?" Ginny asked.
Hermione nodded, blushing, and grinning again.
"Aw, I never knew he could be that sweet!" Ginny exclaimed after Hermione told her what the letter had been about.
"I'm leaving." Ron announced and got to his feet.
The rest of the Gryffindor table looked at him as if he had grown a second head; Ron never left lunch or dinner before it was over. A few of them threw glances over at Harry and Hermione, and were surprised to see them glaring at Ron. At least Harry and Ginny were glaring; Hermione was just staring at her plate.
Seeing the expressions on Harry and Ginny's faces, the Gryffindor's decided they were better off not knowing and went back to their lunches. They knew how dangerous Hermione was when angered, and Harry and Ginny were no less dangerous, and since most of the Gryffindor population of the school liked their limbs where they were, messing with any of the aforementioned three wasn't an option.
******'
The rest of the week went by much like this; Ron getting up and leaving any time she came near, Malfoy teasing her and laughing at her, constantly wanting to know who ´William´ was, and Harry and Ginny staying close to Hermione, trying to cheer her up, something only Bill's letters seemed able to do.
Hermione still hadn't said anything about Ron's behaviour, since she knew Bill would be upset, and that he was probably going to blow up and fight with his brother. And while Ron was one of the best fist fighters in Hogwarts, Bill was far ahead of him, being older and taller than his little brother.
Hermione's birthday was approaching quickly, and her fellow Gryffindor's started asking her what she wanted for presents, and she couldn't help but smile; seven years with the same people either end in disaster or life-long friendship, and it seemed like it was the latter. Ron however, didn't quite see it that way; he insulted anyone talking about Hermione and kept more and more to himself, if he wasn't trying to tell anyone of how horrible Hermione actually was.
The rumour-spreading was the worst, at least in her opinion, and one day, she decided she had had enough of it, and was going to talk to Ron about it, whether he liked it or not. Setting down her Charms book on the table, she got up and walked over to him, where he was sitting beside the fireplace, morosely staring at the chessboard in front of him.
She sat down in the chair in front of him, and leaned forward, fixing him with a stern gaze. He noticed she was there, and jumped up, about to head off again, leaving her behind, but he hadn't gotten more than a few steps when Hermione's voice stopped him.
"You're not gong anywhere, Ronald Weasley; you are going to come back here, you are going to sit down, and the two of us are going to talk." She said, in her best She-who-must-be-obeyed tone.
Ron turned and glared at her, but did as she said. He plopped down in the chair, and crossed his arms over his chest, and looked at her sullenly.
"What do you want?" He asked, sounding angry.
"I want you to understand."
"Understand what? That I'm stupid for believing you'd ever even look twice at me?" He asked, voice rising.
"No, and keep your voice down, Ron! I want you to understand, that I love you, but as a brother. In fourth year, even fifth year, I would have wanted nothing more than for you to tell me you liked me. I was too shy to tell you I liked you, and that flame soon burned out. I'm an only child Ron and you and Harry has acted as my brothers for six years; therefore, that is what you have become. Even if you did admit you liked me in fifth year, it wouldn't have lasted."
"Why the hell not? Am I not good enough for you?" Ron demanded.
"Of course you are good enough for me! Don't you even dare think otherwise!" She snapped, "But Ron, I don't love you. Not that way, and I never will. I love him, more than you can ever understand. I love him so much, that every day I don't see him, I feel like crying. Please understand that, Ron. If we ever got together, we would be at each others throat's and would have hurt each other in a matter of days. It just would not work, Ron." She said, somewhat sadly.
Ron looked at her, a little dazed at her declaration of love for his older brother, but eventually nodded. He looked a little sad, but understanding. He heaved a sigh, and stared at his hands.
"You're right, Hermione. We would never work out, would we? I would have liked to see how it turned out though." He sounded almost wistful, "But I guess it'll never happen. I'm sorry I blew up on you and didn't talk to you. It was just such a shock, coming through the door and seeing you two there." He apologized. "Please don't be mad at me."
"I'm not Ron, I am disappointed that you didn't let us tell you, but I'm not mad at you. Friends?" She asked, holding out her hand.
"Friends." Ron agreed, and shook her hand.
They were interrupted by the sound of clapping hands, and turned around to see Harry and Ginny standing there, applauding them, smiles on their faces. Ron grinned a bit, and Hermione smiled back. Life was back to normal.
******'
The morning of her birthday dawned, a steady drizzling rain pouring down the window, and the sky grey as lead. Not anyone's idea of a perfect day, but to Hermione it was worthy of a large goofy grin, which was exactly what her expression was when she woke up to an owl tugging at her hair.
She sat up and relieved it of the package it was carrying. Excitedly, she tore it open and found a small blue box and a letter. She unrolled the letter and started reading, chewing on a nail.
Dear Hermione.
You're nineteen today. How do you feel? Older? Younger? The same? The latter, I would think. I know I did. Either way, you're still Hermione, and that's what matters. I said I'd send you a present, so I did. It's in the box, and that is probably the stupidest thing I've ever said, with no exceptions. You knew it'd be in the box, and see, once again I am ranting.
Charlie and the twins, Mum and Dad and Percy sends their congratulations, by the way. Mum has finally gotten over me ´leaving Fleur´, or so she calls it. Now she's complaining I don't pay enough attention to you. Is she right?
Hope not; I wish I could see you every day, but alas, I can't. You know, I woke up the other day, and was really happy, but then I realized you weren't there, so I felt disappointed, and snapped at everyone until your letter arrived, and then I was happy again. Charlie swears that I've got mood-swings. The worst part is I don't know if he's right or not.
Charlie is still here, but he's dying to get back to his precious dragons. If it wasn't for that girlfriend of his girlfriend in sixth year, I'd have sworn he was a little strange, if you catch my drift. There's still hope for him though.
I talked to Mum about your friend staying over Christmas, and Mum was delighted, and needless to say, so was Dad. Now he's got a Muggle to torture for more information; he's practically ecstatic. She's welcome.
I'm glad you solved your problems with Ron; it's not nice to have your little brother mad at you. I wish you well, and hope I see you soon.
I love you
Bill.
She smiled and folded the letter again. She picked up the book and lifted off the lid. Inside was yet another note, which she took out and read before looking inside again.
Dear Hermione.
I was pulling out my hair, trying to come up with something to give you, when Gringotts decided to call me into their office.
It turns out that I'm (we, rather) am entitled to a part of the treasure they found in the chest in Rome, one of the more worthless parts, that is. I got this, and immediately thought of you. I don't know why, but then again I think of you all the time, so maybe it isn't that strange. Hope you like it.
Love,
Bill.
Intrigued, she pulled out the little cloth-wrapped bundle inside the box and started unfolding it. Out fell something made of silver and what looked to be rubies. She picked it up gently and looked at it, and gasped.
In her hands was a necklace, a silver chain with a pendant shaped like a phoenix. The phoenix was cut out of what looked like one singly ruby, and lined with silver. It must be invaluable. If this was one of the more worthless parts of the treasure, she fully understood the use of the Borealis Curse on it.
She could only stare at the beautiful pendant, not moving an inch. She couldn't believe Bill would give something like this to her. That was how her friends found her an hour later.
******'
"Oh, Hermione? Where are you? I want to wish you a happy birthday, and how can I do that when I can't find you?" Ginny called, as she opened the door to the seventh year girls' dorms.
She saw her friend sitting on her bed, staring at something in her hands. She hadn't moved an inch when she spoke. She didn't even react when Ginny sat down on the bed beside her.
"Hermione what's wrong? Did Bill forget to send you a present?" Ginny asked worriedly.
"No." Hermione managed to get out, and gestured to her hand.
Ginny gasped; it was the most beautiful necklace she had ever seen, and where Bill had found the money to purchase it, she'd never know.
"Oh, my god Hermione; where did he get it?" She breathed.
"He said he got it from the treasure chest in Rome." Hermione replied faintly.
"Well, now we know he's a keeper." Ginny giggled.
"Ginny! I don't judge him by what he buys for me! I love him anyway!" Hermione exclaimed, punching Ginny on the shoulder.
"I know! I know! I'm just joking, now put that thing on and let's go and meet up with Harry and my fool of a brother." Ginny ordered.
"Alright, give me a minute." Hermione stood up and started going through her drawers.
Ginny chuckled and got up from the bed and out of the room, leaving Hermione alone get dressed for her birthday.
******'
Hermione put the necklace on, and admired it in the mirror for a few minutes before going down to the Common Room to meet her friends. They greeted her with hugs and cheers, and Dean had drawn a picture of her and the Gryffindor lion on a banner which read ´Happy Birthday Hermione´, which had been hung over the fireplace.
"Happy Birthday, Hermione!" They chorused.
"Thank you, everyone!" She laughed, and hugged them all in turn.
Her only regret now was that she couldn't hug Bill. Or kiss him senseless, for that matter. But that didn't matter much right now; today she was going to enjoy her birthday, and anything else could be damned.
Her necklace was seen and duly shrieked at by the female members of the house, and they went down to breakfast. On the way, they ran into Draco Malfoy. He stared at Hermione' necklace, and then shot her a smirk.
"Seems this ´William´ has got quite a lot of money then, Granger. Too bad he's stupid enough to choose you." He drawled.
"William? Does he know, Hermione?" Ginny wanted to know.
"Not really." Hermione shrugged. "But Malfoy, ´William´ has enough money to get by, and that's not really your business anyway. As for where he got the necklace, that is also none of your business. There is an impressive amount of things that are none of your business in fact, so if you'd just let us pass, I'd be happy to leave you alone." She smiled at him.
They left him standing in the corridor, gaping in astonishment that she had actually dared to talk back to him. This was going to be a great day, all things considered.
*****'
Ending Notes; I can't write Ron as a prat for too long without losing my patience with him, so here it is; the make up. I wonder what will happen in the next chapter...
******'
Hermione woke up the next morning with a goofy grin on her face. No matter how she tried, she couldn't stop grinning. She quickly got dressed and walked down to breakfast in the Great Hall, not waiting for Harry or Ron. She didn't wait for Ron for obvious reasons, and Harry would always sleep late on the first day back.
She sat down at the Gryffindor table, ate her breakfast and headed to the Transfiguration classroom, waiting for the lesson to begin. She leaned against the wall and pulled out the letter from Bill to read it again.
"Did your friends forget you, Mudblood, or did they finally realize you're not worth their time?" A voice asked.
She turned her head to see Draco Malfoy stand there, sneering at her. She raised an eyebrow, and looked at him, amused.
"Is that the best you can come up with, Malfoy?" She asked. "Because that was low standard, even for you. Harry and Ron haven't forgotten me, they never will. By the way, where are Twiddledee and Twiddledumb? I thought you three were attached at the hip?"
"That is a horrible mental image, Granger. Don't ever mention it again; I think you've destroyed whatever vestiges of innocence I've still got left. But why are you here without Scarface and Weasel?"
"Because they slept late."
"Really. Who's the letter from?"
Hermione felt forced to raise an eyebrow again; Malfoy was actually making civil conversation with her? Something was very wrong here.
"If you must know, it's from someone named William."
Hey, that wasn't even a lie.
"William? Who's that? Have you got a boyfriend?" Malfoy sneered.
"What if I have? Disappointed you couldn't get any? I'm not at all sorry to disappoint you, Malfoy, but I wouldn't have gone out with you if they so paid me a million Galleons." Hermione snorted.
"EWW! That's disgusting Granger! I'm just asking to get some blackmail fodder; you didn't have to make me sick!" He exclaimed, looking quite green.
"Mr Malfoy, Ms Granger, I would appreciate if you didn't scream so loud." McGonagall came striding down the corridor.
"Sorry, professor." Hermione said.
"Yeah. I'm off to Charms. Break a leg, Granger, and I don't mean it in the ´good luck´ way." Malfoy said, and started down the corridor.
He ran straight into Ron and Harry, who were coming from the Great Hall. Harry glared at him, and gave Hermione a ´good morning´, but Ron just brushed past, glaring at Hermione. Malfoy threw her a puzzle glance, and she stuck out her tongue at him. He shook his head, mouthed ´Do break a leg´ at her, and disappeared down the corridor.
Hermione ignored him and walked into the classroom. If Ron was going to act like this all the time, it was going to be a long day. Hell, it was going to be a long term!
******'
Lunch came, and Ron was still not even looking at her. She only picked at her food, pushing it around on her plate with her fork, not bothering to eat anything. Harry watched her, concerned, and finally leaned forward over the table.
"Hermione, you have to eat. You won't get anywhere with Ron just because you don't eat. Please?" He asked.
"Alright, but I wish he would at least look at me." Hermione whispered, and Ginny, who was sitting next her, put a comforting arm around her shoulder, sending a glare at her brother while doing so.
"Hey, Hermione, that owl you got last night, was it from.?" Ginny asked.
Hermione nodded, blushing, and grinning again.
"Aw, I never knew he could be that sweet!" Ginny exclaimed after Hermione told her what the letter had been about.
"I'm leaving." Ron announced and got to his feet.
The rest of the Gryffindor table looked at him as if he had grown a second head; Ron never left lunch or dinner before it was over. A few of them threw glances over at Harry and Hermione, and were surprised to see them glaring at Ron. At least Harry and Ginny were glaring; Hermione was just staring at her plate.
Seeing the expressions on Harry and Ginny's faces, the Gryffindor's decided they were better off not knowing and went back to their lunches. They knew how dangerous Hermione was when angered, and Harry and Ginny were no less dangerous, and since most of the Gryffindor population of the school liked their limbs where they were, messing with any of the aforementioned three wasn't an option.
******'
The rest of the week went by much like this; Ron getting up and leaving any time she came near, Malfoy teasing her and laughing at her, constantly wanting to know who ´William´ was, and Harry and Ginny staying close to Hermione, trying to cheer her up, something only Bill's letters seemed able to do.
Hermione still hadn't said anything about Ron's behaviour, since she knew Bill would be upset, and that he was probably going to blow up and fight with his brother. And while Ron was one of the best fist fighters in Hogwarts, Bill was far ahead of him, being older and taller than his little brother.
Hermione's birthday was approaching quickly, and her fellow Gryffindor's started asking her what she wanted for presents, and she couldn't help but smile; seven years with the same people either end in disaster or life-long friendship, and it seemed like it was the latter. Ron however, didn't quite see it that way; he insulted anyone talking about Hermione and kept more and more to himself, if he wasn't trying to tell anyone of how horrible Hermione actually was.
The rumour-spreading was the worst, at least in her opinion, and one day, she decided she had had enough of it, and was going to talk to Ron about it, whether he liked it or not. Setting down her Charms book on the table, she got up and walked over to him, where he was sitting beside the fireplace, morosely staring at the chessboard in front of him.
She sat down in the chair in front of him, and leaned forward, fixing him with a stern gaze. He noticed she was there, and jumped up, about to head off again, leaving her behind, but he hadn't gotten more than a few steps when Hermione's voice stopped him.
"You're not gong anywhere, Ronald Weasley; you are going to come back here, you are going to sit down, and the two of us are going to talk." She said, in her best She-who-must-be-obeyed tone.
Ron turned and glared at her, but did as she said. He plopped down in the chair, and crossed his arms over his chest, and looked at her sullenly.
"What do you want?" He asked, sounding angry.
"I want you to understand."
"Understand what? That I'm stupid for believing you'd ever even look twice at me?" He asked, voice rising.
"No, and keep your voice down, Ron! I want you to understand, that I love you, but as a brother. In fourth year, even fifth year, I would have wanted nothing more than for you to tell me you liked me. I was too shy to tell you I liked you, and that flame soon burned out. I'm an only child Ron and you and Harry has acted as my brothers for six years; therefore, that is what you have become. Even if you did admit you liked me in fifth year, it wouldn't have lasted."
"Why the hell not? Am I not good enough for you?" Ron demanded.
"Of course you are good enough for me! Don't you even dare think otherwise!" She snapped, "But Ron, I don't love you. Not that way, and I never will. I love him, more than you can ever understand. I love him so much, that every day I don't see him, I feel like crying. Please understand that, Ron. If we ever got together, we would be at each others throat's and would have hurt each other in a matter of days. It just would not work, Ron." She said, somewhat sadly.
Ron looked at her, a little dazed at her declaration of love for his older brother, but eventually nodded. He looked a little sad, but understanding. He heaved a sigh, and stared at his hands.
"You're right, Hermione. We would never work out, would we? I would have liked to see how it turned out though." He sounded almost wistful, "But I guess it'll never happen. I'm sorry I blew up on you and didn't talk to you. It was just such a shock, coming through the door and seeing you two there." He apologized. "Please don't be mad at me."
"I'm not Ron, I am disappointed that you didn't let us tell you, but I'm not mad at you. Friends?" She asked, holding out her hand.
"Friends." Ron agreed, and shook her hand.
They were interrupted by the sound of clapping hands, and turned around to see Harry and Ginny standing there, applauding them, smiles on their faces. Ron grinned a bit, and Hermione smiled back. Life was back to normal.
******'
The morning of her birthday dawned, a steady drizzling rain pouring down the window, and the sky grey as lead. Not anyone's idea of a perfect day, but to Hermione it was worthy of a large goofy grin, which was exactly what her expression was when she woke up to an owl tugging at her hair.
She sat up and relieved it of the package it was carrying. Excitedly, she tore it open and found a small blue box and a letter. She unrolled the letter and started reading, chewing on a nail.
Dear Hermione.
You're nineteen today. How do you feel? Older? Younger? The same? The latter, I would think. I know I did. Either way, you're still Hermione, and that's what matters. I said I'd send you a present, so I did. It's in the box, and that is probably the stupidest thing I've ever said, with no exceptions. You knew it'd be in the box, and see, once again I am ranting.
Charlie and the twins, Mum and Dad and Percy sends their congratulations, by the way. Mum has finally gotten over me ´leaving Fleur´, or so she calls it. Now she's complaining I don't pay enough attention to you. Is she right?
Hope not; I wish I could see you every day, but alas, I can't. You know, I woke up the other day, and was really happy, but then I realized you weren't there, so I felt disappointed, and snapped at everyone until your letter arrived, and then I was happy again. Charlie swears that I've got mood-swings. The worst part is I don't know if he's right or not.
Charlie is still here, but he's dying to get back to his precious dragons. If it wasn't for that girlfriend of his girlfriend in sixth year, I'd have sworn he was a little strange, if you catch my drift. There's still hope for him though.
I talked to Mum about your friend staying over Christmas, and Mum was delighted, and needless to say, so was Dad. Now he's got a Muggle to torture for more information; he's practically ecstatic. She's welcome.
I'm glad you solved your problems with Ron; it's not nice to have your little brother mad at you. I wish you well, and hope I see you soon.
I love you
Bill.
She smiled and folded the letter again. She picked up the book and lifted off the lid. Inside was yet another note, which she took out and read before looking inside again.
Dear Hermione.
I was pulling out my hair, trying to come up with something to give you, when Gringotts decided to call me into their office.
It turns out that I'm (we, rather) am entitled to a part of the treasure they found in the chest in Rome, one of the more worthless parts, that is. I got this, and immediately thought of you. I don't know why, but then again I think of you all the time, so maybe it isn't that strange. Hope you like it.
Love,
Bill.
Intrigued, she pulled out the little cloth-wrapped bundle inside the box and started unfolding it. Out fell something made of silver and what looked to be rubies. She picked it up gently and looked at it, and gasped.
In her hands was a necklace, a silver chain with a pendant shaped like a phoenix. The phoenix was cut out of what looked like one singly ruby, and lined with silver. It must be invaluable. If this was one of the more worthless parts of the treasure, she fully understood the use of the Borealis Curse on it.
She could only stare at the beautiful pendant, not moving an inch. She couldn't believe Bill would give something like this to her. That was how her friends found her an hour later.
******'
"Oh, Hermione? Where are you? I want to wish you a happy birthday, and how can I do that when I can't find you?" Ginny called, as she opened the door to the seventh year girls' dorms.
She saw her friend sitting on her bed, staring at something in her hands. She hadn't moved an inch when she spoke. She didn't even react when Ginny sat down on the bed beside her.
"Hermione what's wrong? Did Bill forget to send you a present?" Ginny asked worriedly.
"No." Hermione managed to get out, and gestured to her hand.
Ginny gasped; it was the most beautiful necklace she had ever seen, and where Bill had found the money to purchase it, she'd never know.
"Oh, my god Hermione; where did he get it?" She breathed.
"He said he got it from the treasure chest in Rome." Hermione replied faintly.
"Well, now we know he's a keeper." Ginny giggled.
"Ginny! I don't judge him by what he buys for me! I love him anyway!" Hermione exclaimed, punching Ginny on the shoulder.
"I know! I know! I'm just joking, now put that thing on and let's go and meet up with Harry and my fool of a brother." Ginny ordered.
"Alright, give me a minute." Hermione stood up and started going through her drawers.
Ginny chuckled and got up from the bed and out of the room, leaving Hermione alone get dressed for her birthday.
******'
Hermione put the necklace on, and admired it in the mirror for a few minutes before going down to the Common Room to meet her friends. They greeted her with hugs and cheers, and Dean had drawn a picture of her and the Gryffindor lion on a banner which read ´Happy Birthday Hermione´, which had been hung over the fireplace.
"Happy Birthday, Hermione!" They chorused.
"Thank you, everyone!" She laughed, and hugged them all in turn.
Her only regret now was that she couldn't hug Bill. Or kiss him senseless, for that matter. But that didn't matter much right now; today she was going to enjoy her birthday, and anything else could be damned.
Her necklace was seen and duly shrieked at by the female members of the house, and they went down to breakfast. On the way, they ran into Draco Malfoy. He stared at Hermione' necklace, and then shot her a smirk.
"Seems this ´William´ has got quite a lot of money then, Granger. Too bad he's stupid enough to choose you." He drawled.
"William? Does he know, Hermione?" Ginny wanted to know.
"Not really." Hermione shrugged. "But Malfoy, ´William´ has enough money to get by, and that's not really your business anyway. As for where he got the necklace, that is also none of your business. There is an impressive amount of things that are none of your business in fact, so if you'd just let us pass, I'd be happy to leave you alone." She smiled at him.
They left him standing in the corridor, gaping in astonishment that she had actually dared to talk back to him. This was going to be a great day, all things considered.
*****'
Ending Notes; I can't write Ron as a prat for too long without losing my patience with him, so here it is; the make up. I wonder what will happen in the next chapter...