Ginny climbed through the portrait hole, just in time to catch another Ron/Hermione row, this time, apparently about studying, or rather, her brother's lack thereof.
"Ron, how can you expect to pass your OWL's if you never study?" Hermione was saying, crossly.
"I do study. Just because I'm not obsessed with schoolwork, like you, doesn't mean I'm going to fail my OWL's," Ron didn't bother looking up from the Exploding Snap Card Tower he was building. It was shaking violently, and would blow up any minute.
"I am not obsessed with schoolwork," Hermione said through gritted teeth.
"Well, you do enough for the both of us."
"What are you going to do, then, when the OWL's come, and you don't know anything? You can't just bull your way through them, like you and Harry do Divination…even though it is a load of rubbish," she muttered.
Ron's cards disintegrated in a ball of flames, singeing his eyebrows. His distraction now gone, he committed himself to the argument. The banter continued back and forth for a good ten minutes, before Hermione threw her hands up in frustration.
"Fine! If you want to ruin your future that's just fine with me! I wash my hands of it," and with that, stormed off to her dormitory.
Ron collapsed on the couch by the fire, where Harry was also sitting, and ran his fingers through his red hair. He had always been tall and lanky, but since becoming the Keeper of the Gryffindor Quidditch team, he had filled out in his shade-under-six-foot frame. His shoulders had broadened; his skin more tanned, and was overall, quite handsome. "Even if he is my prat-of-a-brother." Ginny thought to herself.
This fact had not gone unnoticed by the female Gryffindor population. However, everyone also knew that he and Hermione would, one day, realise their feelings for one another, and get together. It was really only a matter of time.
Harry, too, had not been ignored for his looks, and though not as tall as Ron, he was lean and toned from playing Quidditch from first year onwards. If possible, his emerald eyes had become greener, and his messy black hair, more unruly. It was little wonder that Ginny had a crush on him.
Done with her mental evaluation of her brother and his best friend, Ginny walked over to the couch were they were sitting. Reaching out, she firmly smacked Ron around the head.
"Ah, geez. Ginny!" Ron yelled, turning in his seat. "What was that for?"
"For upsetting Hermione again. Can't you find a more pleasant way of showing you love her? Flowers are much more traditional, and they smell good too." Ginny waggled her eyebrows, taunting her brother, as he spluttered his denial.
"I don't love Hermione! She's my best friend."
"Then how do you explain that you've remained 'best friends' for five and a half years, yet have a fight every other week?" Ginny asked. Leaving Ron to think about that, Ginny climbed the stairs to Hermione's dorm room.
She tapped lightly on the door.
"Go away, Ron!"
Ginny pushed the door open, "Close," she said, "Wrong Weasley though,"
"Oh, hey Gin', " Hermione looked up from the book she was reading ('Hogwarts: A History' again).
"Want to talk about it?" Ginny offered, meaning Hermione and Ron's fight. She closed the door and walked over to sit on the end of Hermione's four-poster.
"Not especially," she smiled, ruefully. "What did Professor McGonagall want to see you about?" she asked, affectively changing the subject.
"Oh, nothing much." Ginny replied, flippantly. "Except I might be allowed to skip sixth year and go into seventh with you guys next year," she added, her grin widening, at Hermione's gasp.
"Ginny, that's wonderful!" Hermione hugged her tightly.
"It's still an 'if'. But, I did hear something interesting while I was there," Ginny replied, when the older girl had released her. "Hermione, why didn't you take the TOAD's?"
Hermione looked at Ginny sharply, "Who told you that?"
"McGonagall said it was someone in Gryffindor and a friend of mine. You're the only one smart enough, that I know."
"I did take them."
"Oh…didn't you pass them then?" Ginny's smile faded. "If Hermione hadn't passed them, what chance do I have?" she thought to herself.
"Yes, I did. I just didn't go up the year." Hermione said, not quite meeting Ginny's eye.
"Why not?"
"Because I didn't want to, that's all."
"Hermione, surely you can come up with a better answer than that,"
Hermione's eyes darted, almost unnoticeably to a photograph that was sitting on the chest of drawers, next to her bed. Ginny sprang up and grabbed it, before Hermione could hide it.
"What have we here?" Ginny looked at the magically moving photo of Hermione and Ron hugging after Gryffindor had won the Quidditch Cup, the year before. Understanding spread over Ginny's face.
"Because of Ron? You stayed back, when you could have skipped an entire school year, because you wanted to stay with Ron?" Her eyebrows lifted on her forehead.
Hermione glanced around, as if looking for an escape route, before crumbling.
"ALRIGHT! I confess! I love you git-brother. I, Hermione Granger, love Ronald Weasley, and have done so since first year…I just didn't realise it at the time. There I've admitted it. You are now free to go tell the world."
Ginny grinned broadly. "I knew it!" she crowed.
"You knew? How?"
"Hermione, it's not half obvious. I've seen how he looks at you when he thinks no one is watching. I've noticed how you hold your breath when he sits close to you. Hell, I saw your toes curl when he kissed you under the mistletoe, on the cheek, the other day," Hermione blushed, and looked down at her bare feet, in surprise.
"How many people know this?" Hermione asked, quietly.
"Well, if count all of the people in the Common room, and all of the people in their dorms, and about half of the rest of the school, then subtract Ron, you'd be getting pretty close."
"Oh,"
Hermione sat there, taking all of this information in, while Ginny sat across from her practically bouncing with glee. Neither noticed the redheaded boy slowly retreating from the room, and closing the door.