Author's Notes: Not much to note today…this chapter's slightly longer than the last few, so huzzah for that. I have a seminar today. Not huzzah for that.

Congrats to new fangirl, Lemony Apple! Lemony apple, eh? That's quite the oxymoron. Good times.

Enjoy the chapter, and don't forget to review – reviews lift us up where we belong…where eagles fly…etc.

Monday, 21 August

9:11 a.m.

So I'm not quite sure what just happened, but Ron smiled before he left, so I'm pretty sure everything's all right. I haven't written in here all week because there's really been nothing to write about, until this morning. The truth is, living at the Headquarters of the anti-You-Know-Who resistance is not nearly as exciting as one might think, especially now that we can't risk the Extendables. After nearly two months of being here, the novelty's worn off, and I'm just dying to get outside and get some fresh air, but we're not allowed. I don't see why not, it's not as if we're going to dance in the street wearing our robes and waving our wands about…well, the twins might…

We're all bored stiff (I am so sick of cleaning), but everyone's still in considerably good spirits. Particularly Harry, who's so thrilled to be going back to Hogwarts that he couldn't care less if he has to scrub mould out of cupboards for a few weeks first. Ginny, Ron, and I are happy because Harry's happy, and Mrs. Weasley's happy because we're all happy, and the twins are happy because I think they managed to invent something absolutely disgusting. Fred keeps getting nosebleeds, but he looks absolutely delighted every time he gets one.

So since everyone's so cheerful, it's sort of hard not to notice that Sirius seems less than overjoyed of late. And when Harry mentioned it too, I couldn't help but put my two cents in.

"Have either of you noticed that's Sirius's been…sort of…er, unhappy lately?" Harry put forth tentatively while he, Ron, and I were (surprise, surprise) scrubbing mould out of a cupboard yesterday.

"Yes," I said honestly.

"Well, you can't blame the chap, stuck in the house for the rest of the year while we get to go back to Hog – ugh, I don't think that part's mould, it's moving," said Ron disgustedly, pointing at something pulsing and slimy in the back of the cupboard. I grimaced and threw some Dungclave Powder at it. It vaporized in an explosion of green dust.

You see? This house is driving me up the wall.

"That's just it," said Harry slowly. "I think…I think he's upset that I'm going back to Hogwarts."

"Now don't you go feeling guilty!" I admonished him. "You belong at Hogwarts and Sirius knows it. Personally, I think he's being selfish."

So that may have been a tad harsh. But it's true, and I won't have Harry feeling guilty about not getting expelled. It's ridiculous. And I've been thinking more and more about what Mrs. Weasley said the first night Harry came here, about Sirius getting Harry and his dad confused…

"He'll have company!" I pointed out when Ron tried to rebuke me. "It's Headquarters to the Order of the Phoenix, isn't it? He just got his hopes up that Harry would be coming to live here with him."

"I don't think that's true," said Harry. "He wouldn't give me a straight answer when I asked him if I could."

"He just didn't want to get his own hopes up even more. And he probably felt a bit guilty himself, because I think a part of him was really hoping you'd be expelled," I said logically. "Then you'd both be outcasts together."

"Come off it!" Ron and Harry exclaimed simultaneously.

"Suit yourselves," I said, shrugging. "But I sometimes think Ron's mum's right and Sirius gets confused about whether you're you or your father, Harry."

"So you think he's touched in the head?" Harry asked angrily.

"No," I said simply. "I just think he's been lonely for a long time."

At that point Mrs. Weasley came in, and after Ron made a comment about feeling like a house-elf, I had the most brilliant idea! What if everyone else had to live a house-elf's life for a day? Surely then people would realize how hard they work…that they deserve some decent wages for that kind of labour. There's that old saying about walking a mile in someone else's shoes, and…well, most house-elves don't have shoes, but…that's besides the point…

So I was thinking perhaps we could do a sponsored scrub of the Gryffindor common room, with all proceeds going to S.P.E.W.! It's sort of like when I was younger, and our school did those sponsored walk-a-thon's for kids less fortunate than ourselves, so we would not only raise money, but we'd also get a feel of what it's like to have to walk so many kilometres just to get clean water every day. I remember Matilda Hamilton used to always complain about having to walk ten minutes to school, and she never did after that. Perhaps it will work the same way for house-elf labour – the scrub can raise awareness and funds!

I was all excited after that, and actually felt motivated to do something productive S.P.E.W.-wise for the first time in weeks. But then, of course, Ron had to be a prat.

"Lay off Sirius a bit, will you?" he said as we were heading to bed that night. Harry was still playing Gobstones with Lupin in the kitchen, but Ron and I were dead tired. Maybe it's because we've been here longer. Grimmauld Place slowly brings you down…

"I was just being honest," I replied.

Ron rolled his eyes. "You're just peeved at Sirius because he won't let you free that barmy house-elf."

I stopped climbing the stairs. "He is not barmy!"

Ron stopped walking, too. "Will you just give the whole spew thing a rest?" he asked tersely.

"No, I most certainly will not give it a rest – "

"Well then, can you just shut up about it?" Ron shot back, annoyed.

"Can you just shut up about shutting up about it?" I retorted.

I was really tired.

"That didn't even make sense!" Ron yelled.

"Well, half the time you can't form coherent sentences either!"

"I – what?"

"There! You don't even know what 'coherent' means!"

"I don't even know what we're arguing about!"

"S.P.E.W.!"

"Oh yeah – WELL IF YOU'D JUST GIVE IT A REST – "

"WELL IF YOU'D STOP BEING SO IGNORANT AND PREJUDICED – "

"WHY ARE YOU YELLING?"

"YOU WERE YELLING FIRST!"

"I WAS NOT!"

"You see?" I shouted. "This is what happens when we have to live in the same house together for two months!" I started stomping up the stairs again.

"WE LIVE AT THE SAME SCHOOL ALL YEAR!" Ron called after me. I reached my bedroom, yanked open the door, and slammed it shut with all my might.

Ginny looked up from the book she was reading, grinning.

"What are you smiling at?" I demanded. Ginny just shrugged and, still smiling, returned to her book. I lay down on my bed and fumed for a while, staring at the ceiling with my arms folded across my chest. Then Ginny put out the lights on me, so I was forced to go to sleep.

It's amazing how much better you feel after a good night's sleep, though. I woke up this morning feeling much less irritable and slightly guilty. I had just finished dressing and was, truth be told, considering apologizing to Ron, when there was a knock at the door to my room.

"Hermione? Are you…erm…decent?" came Ron's voice.

"Yes, come in," I answered. Ron walked in and closed the door, staring at the ground. He rubbed the back of his neck. I played with the bracelet Mum gave me for Christmas.

"About – " I began.

"Yeah," Ron muttered.

"I didn't – "

"Me neither – "

"Okay."

"All right." Ron smiled sheepishly and gestured at the door. "Well…breakfast…"

"Be down in a minute," I said. Ron turned and walked out of the room, leaving me with no idea what just happened. But I'm fairly sure everything's okay now. Wow, I think that's the closest either of us have ever come to an apology.

Perhaps there's hope for us after all.

Weekly Goals

1. Write to Hogwarts, demanding booklists.

2. Defense Against the Dark Arts review.

3. Try not to quarrel with Ron. Had outstanding record all summer, until yesterday. Re-establish peace, as arguing with him has thus far not aided in achieving emotional satisfaction.