The next evening, Harry's group, and especially Harry, had bigger things to worry about than Hermione, if only momentarily. Harry had been increasingly considered for the English Quidditch squad that would travel to that summer's World Cup in Japan, and so he had been named to England's U-21 squad to face Germany at Hogwarts.
On top of Harry being called up, it was something of a homecoming for some of the English players as to the delight of Harry and the rest of Gryffindor House, England was also featuring 3 of Harry's teammates on the squad that won the school Quidditch Cup in 1994—Oliver Wood, Angelina Johnson, and Katie Bell.
Maybe that was why the English looked so much like a well-oiled machine. It even got to the point that Harry didn't have to beat the German Seeker to the Snitch to win it, but he tossed in a move that would be known around Hogwarts as the Potter Feint—instead of feigning seeing the Snitch and making a dive (the Wronski Feint) Harry made his fake right through a bunch of Chasers, Bludgers, and Beaters—before catching it.
Euphoria thus reigned in the Gryffindor common room that night with Harry, Wood, Angelina, and Katie being surrounded by Dean, Seamus, and a slew of Gryffindors.
"So that's how you won it all with your own squad, eh?" Angelina said. Gryffindor had reclaimed the Quidditch Cup that final year, and Harry was telling her, Wood, and Katie the story of that season.
Looking around, Ron spotted Hermione off to one side, smiling slightly at Harry but looking anxious. Ron found himself thinking, Did what Lavender, Parvarti, and Ginny do to her actually work?
After a few minutes, she approached him.
"Um, Harry…" She said, timidly.
Harry did not move, but he fell silent. Ron could only bring himself to think one thought: Uh-oh.
"I just wanted to tell you…" She continued, still almost petrified.
Harry turned his head to look at her. His look was simply one intense drilling stare of sorrow and fury—so drilling, in fact, that tears were already welling up in Hermione's eyes. Ron could feel himself shudder.
"Now you know how I felt." He said in a dangerous voice.
Hermione nodded. She tried to run for the safety of her dorm, but she didn't make it two steps before collapsing in a heap on the floor, crying and unable to contain loud sobs. The room suddenly got so quiet that were it not for Hermione, you could have heard a pin drop onto one of the tables. Everybody in the room but Harry, from Ron to Angelina, looked shocked.
She remained down for about the longest 15 to 20 seconds before she managed to drag herself up, still wailing at full blast. The eyes of the other Gryffindors followed her as she rushed up the stairs to the girls' dormitories only to fall before getting up and running up again.
Ron was the first to recover his voice. "Harry, I think you overdid it." He said cautiously and nervously.
"I overdid it? You're the one who overdid it after her cat was harassing your rat!" Harry shouted.
All Ron could do was look from the stairs to the girls' dorms and back at Harry with his mouth open in an expression of mingled shock and fear.
The next morning, Ron met with Dean and Seamus to tell them what had happened. Dean was so rattled by what he saw after Ron allowed him to peek into his mind and see it via Legilimency that he staggered back and almost lost his footing.

"Oh, God." Dean said weakly. Tilting his head back up so that he was looking at Ron, he added, "I tell you, he was looking at her so hard that he could have burned a hole through her shirt!"
"I know!" Seamus said, looking just as shocked.
Dean also looked just as jolted. "There goes a friend." He said morosely.
"That's not what scares me the most." Ron said earnestly.
"What are you talking about?" Seamus asked curiously.
"Dean, Seamus, I'm scared that if Harry doesn't bury the hatchet soon, he'll lose not only a good friend, but his special lass as well." Ron answered.

Dean and Seamus both started.
"Is this why you asked Lavender, Parvarti, and Ginny if they were going to blast Hermione?" Dean asked.
"Yes!" Ron said. "Harry and Hermione fancy each other!"
Dean and Seamus went off.
"I can't believe it!" Dean shouted.
"Where's the proof of that?" Seamus demanded.
"I've never told anyone else this, but Hermione kissed Harry on Platform 9 ¾ at the end of our 4th year—and gave him a loving look, too!" Ron said, grinning momentarily as he no doubt imagined their surprise.
"Amazing!" Dean yelled.
"Holy Mother of God." Seamus said very weakly.
Ron wasn't done yet. He continued to present his evidence enthusiastically. "And that's not all! It was Harry's idea to save Hermione from that troll in our first year! Also, I cannot recall Harry saying something bad about Hermione even when she wasn't being her nicest, and that's saying at lot! And all those times she tried to stop Harry from doing dangerous things—what if it was just because she didn't want Harry to get hurt?"
"Yeah, what if?" Dean said. "That would be unbelievable!"
"Won't Harry make up with Hermione on his own or vice versa, though?" Seamus asked."
"I hate to say this, but I don't think so because Harry probably still thinks that Hermione's still acting stuck-up. I watched them shortly in Charms this morning, and Harry was still giving Hermione hard looks while Hermione was keeping her head up. I think it's because she's trying to maintain that strong Head Girl image to the end, but I'm scared that Harry's going to interpret it as her being unrepentant about what she said." Ron replied, looking more grave than ever.
"Now that you mention it, I remember seeing that this morning when I saw you heading out of the room." Dean said.
The three of them just stood there for a few seconds trying to fathom the long odds against Harry and Hermione getting back together.
"Not good. Definitely not good." Ron said, knowing he was making the biggest understatement possible.