Ron and Harry had set up a table on the Quidditch pitch to hold tryouts for the new team members. He and Harry were the only people remaining as everyone else had graduated.

            "Think we can pull together a good team this year, Harry?" Ron asked.

            "Yeah, Ginny's rumored to be an excellent Chaser. And believe it or not, but the Creevey brothers are supposedly really good Beaters as well," Harry replied.

            "Dennis and Colin," Ron gasped.

            "Yep," Harry said.

            Ginny, of course, did very well. The Creevey brothers were almost guaranteed spots. The surprise of the day was Stella. The first thing Ron noticed, as she approached the table, was the gleaming Firebolt she had in her hand.

            What is she doing here?, Ron wondered. It doesn't seem like her at all. She seems like a reincarnation of Hermione.

            "Hi," Stella said, "I'm here to try out for the Chaser position." She flashed Harry a big smile.

            "Just a quick question," Ron said. "What d'you think of the Tornadoes?"

            "The Tornadoes? They all right, but most people only like them because they've been winning lately. Non one believes me, but I promise you that one day the Chudley Cannons will come back," Stella replied. She pushed off the ground and began her tryout.

            "She's as good as in," whispered Ron.

            I don't care what Hermione says, Ron thought, any friend of the Cannons is a friend of mine.

      Later on, Ron went to post the results on the bulletin board of the common room. While doing so, he noticed the date for the next Hogsmeades Weekend. It was next weekend. Slowly people filed in, after classes were over. One by one students went to the bulletin board to see how they fared. Ginny, Colin, Stella, Dennis, and Seamus had all made the team. Harry and Hermione entered the common room.

      "Hey, I just posted the results," Ron said. "I wrote that practices were Tuesdays and Thursdays."

      "Right," Harry said. "Now comes the hard part. I have to think up strategies."

            "Did you hear what happened in the Trophy Room?" Hermione asked.

            "No, what happened?" Ron said.

            "I was just telling Harry. Someone went in and changed all the names on the trophies to stupid ones, like C. Moore-Butts," Hermione said.

            "Peeves?" Ron asked.

            "Couldn't be, that had to have been done by a wand," Harry said.

            "Who could it be, though?" Ron wondered.

            "Malfoy?" Harry suggested.

            "No, Malfoy doesn't do random acts of stupidity," Hermione said.

            "Right…he makes it a habit," muttered Ron.

            "If you ask me, it was Stella," Hermione said, maliciously.

            "You're not still on about that, are you?" Ron said, disgusted. "You really should get over yourself, Hermione. The only reason you don't like her is because she's better at everything."

            What did I just say? I didn't mean it! I swear…, Ron thought.

            Is that what you think it is?, Hermione said. "I'm jealous of that twit? Fine then, Ron. If you like her so much, why not go be HER best friend?" She walked over to one of the red armchairs to study and ignored them for the rest of the night.

            "Well, you've done it now," Harry said, shaking his head. "What exactly WERE you thinking, if you were thinking at all…"

            "I don't know," Ron said, horrified, "it just jumped out of my mouth."

            "Well the sad thing is that we were all thinking it anyway," Harry said. "I don't know about you, but I'm heading to bed. I'm dead tired."

            "See you," Ron said. He went over to Hermione and tried to talk to her, but she wouldn't even acknowledge his presence.

            Ron went to bed, but after a couple of hours, he couldn't get to sleep, so he went back down to the common room. Hermione was sleeping softly on her books.

            Same old Hermione, Ron thought. Falling asleep in her books. She looks so peaceful and serene. Almost like an angel…WHAT ARE YOU SAYING, RON WEASLEY? This is one of your best friends you're talking about. Snap out of it.

            Ron shook his head, bewildered by his own thoughts. He found a blanket and put it carefully over Hermione. She opened her eyes and blinked a few times. "Go back to sleep," Ron said. She closed her eyes and drifted back into her dreams.

            As Ron trod back up the stairs to his dormitory, he wondered about what he had been thinking before.

            I've never thought about Hermione that way before, Ron thought. I mean, I've always been a little defensive of her…but that was because she's like my sister…right?..right?...I'm not so sure anymore. I've got to talk to Harry.