Disclaimer: Bah.

A/N: Hullo, all. WOW I'm getting this one out fast:D:D:D:D I also expect to work on another of my stories this weekend as well, if not more than one. I have absolutely nothing to do all day tomorrow lol. Enjoy fourth year!

SNAPSHOTS – FOURTH YEAR

"Just send her one already, mate! It's obvious you like her, and she's not really going out with Diggory."

"Are you mad? No!" Harry protested. "I can't just –"

"Sure you can. Go on, then, I'll help you write it."

Ron grabbed a loose piece of parchment and smoothed it out on the table, being careful not to get any of his breakfast on it. He looked through his bag and produced a quill, thrusting it at Harry as he shoveled heart-shaped poached eggs into his mouth with his other hand. Harry took the quill reluctantly but didn't move to write anything down.

"Well, start off with 'Dear Cho,' or something. Write it down already!" Ron urged, and Harry slowly wrote Cho's name at the top of the parchment. "Okay, all you need is three more words. Happy Valentine's Day. And you're done! Right, tie it up in a roll, I've got a pink bow here –"

Harry, wincing all the while, wrote down Happy Valentine's Day, and lifted the quill. "Oh my god, I can't send this. I can't send it. What if she recognizes my writing?" he asked, looking and feeling terrified. Ron laughed.

"She's never seen your writing before, mate, just tie it up and send it, go on. Oh, here," he said impatiently, and took the parchment from him. He rolled it into a tight cylinder, tied it up with the pink bow, and handed it back to Harry. "Just give it to an owl that comes nearby."

"Where'd you get a pink bow anyway?" Harry asked, staring blankly at the parchment in his hands.

"Filched it from Ginny. She was writing all kinds of Valentines and I relieved her of one ribbon. Now send it! I went to all that trouble, you might as well just do it."

Harry bit his lip and looked extremely nervous. "But what if she –"

"She won't. If you don't send it, I will. Okay that's it, give it here!"

Ron was quite impatient to get the thing sent. Rather too impatient, in Harry's opinion. He looked suspiciously at his friend and held the Valentine out of his reach. "Why are you so eager to get me to send this, eh? There something I should know?"

"What are you talking about? Just send the –"

Harry grinned slightly. "Are you trying to get me out of the way for someone? Go on, who is it?"

Ron turned a deep scarlet colour, redder than his hair (which was definitely saying something). "Dunno what you're talking about," he muttered. Suddenly, he lunged forward and tried to grab the parchment. Harry anticipated it, however, and leaned back so that Ron couldn't get at it. He laughed at the embarrassed look on his friend's face as he tried to climb across Harry.

"You are trying to get me out of the way! You're encouraging me about Cho so that I won't see whoever it is! Who d'you fancy, go on, tell me."

"Nobody!" Ron exclaimed in a slightly strangled voice, and gave up trying to reach the parchment, sitting back on the bench. He glared at Harry for a few seconds, while the black-haired boy grinned back at him. Finally Ron blinked and looked away. "Really. It's nobody."

"Okay, but I'm not sending this until you tell me."

"Good morning!"

Both boys looked up at Hermione as she sat down on Ron's other side and grabbed a slice of toast cut into a heart shape and started spreading it with jam. "Happy Valentine's Day, both of you! Harry, are you feeling any better?"

"About what?" he asked.

"The second task," she answered casually, taking a bite of toast. Harry choked.

"Thanks. I had almost forgotten about it. Oh, god ... I'm not feeling any better now ..."

"Well done," Ron chided, and flicked a piece of pink confetti at Hermione. She retaliated by flicking some back at him, and soon enough, there was a cloud of the stuff in the air for about three metres around. Harry rolled his eyes and poked his fork into his heart-shaped omelette. They were always fighting over something, and it got annoying. They should be thinking about how they could help him figure out the bloody second task, instead of throwing tiny pink hearts at each other like fools.

"Oh!"

Harry looked up at Hermione's quiet exclamation, and his gaze fell upon an owl that had just landed in front of her. It held out its leg, to which was tied a red roll of parchment. Both he and Ron watched closely as she opened it and read the contents. Her cheeks had flushed a light pink by the time she'd finished, and she quickly folded it up and put it away. Ron raised an eyebrow at her.

"Who's THAT from?"

"No one," Hermione said quickly, but her eyes flicked to the Slytherin table briefly. Harry caught the look but didn't say anything. Ron saw nothing, of course, but that didn't stop him from guessing.

"Was it from Vicky? It was, wasn't it? Bloody hell, Hermione, he's just using you to get closer t–"

"RON! Will you stop going on and on about Viktor? It's absolutely none of your business whatsoever, stop sticking your nose where it doesn't belong!" Hermione cried, blushing more deeply and standing up, fists clenched. The Valentine she'd received was crumpled in her hand. Ron looked slightly shocked at the outburst, but stayed firm.

"I'm just telling you that he's not the best guy to be dating!" he persisted angrily. Hermione opened her mouth to snap out some fiery retort, changed her mind, and glared darkly at him before whirling on her heel and stalking furiously out of the Great Hall. Ron gaped after her, mouth opening and closing soundlessly. He turned back to stare incredulously at Harry. "She's gone bloody mad, she has!"

Harry shrugged. "She's just ticked off because you keep ratting on Krum. He didn't actually seem like that horrible of a –"

"You, too?" Ron interrupted, looking disgusted. "Whatever. Are you gonna finish that?" he asked, pointing at Harry's plate.

Harry, not having heard his friend, turned and asked, "Where'd your Valentine spirit go, mate?"

"What's that supposed to mean?" Ron asked defensively, looking perturbed. "I just want to know if you want your omelette."

"...Oh. Nevermind, you can have it," Harry sighed, shaking his head and getting to his feet. "I think I'm going to go have a nap."

"Harry, classes start in half an hour."

"I don't feel very well."

"You going to send that anyway?" Ron asked, pointing at the parchment in Harry's hand. Harry looked down at it; he'd forgotten about it until now. He shook his head.

"Nah. She'd just think it was stupid," Harry said, and walked out of the Great Hall. Ron watched him go for a second or two, then shrugged, slid Harry's untouched omelette onto his own plate and started eating.