Ron frowned, and scuffed the toes of his already-shoddy trainers in the sand. It was half-past two, and Hermione had agreed to meet him, though she'd warned she had to drop a few things off in her dorm. He picked up a flat stone, and hurled it towards the glassy surface of the water. It sank without a single skip, and he swore under his breath. He picked up another, adding a spin, and this time he counted ten jumps across the water until the Giant Squid plucked it out of the air and hurled it to the other side of the lake.

"Bastard," Ron muttered, giving up and sitting down in the sand. The sun was glinting off the surface of the water in a rather annoying matter, so he closed his eyes and lay back in the sand, crossing his arms behind his head.

The splashing sounds the Squid was making as it attempted to pull nearby trees into the lake were actually rather soothing, and Ron sighed, and began humming the new Weird Sisters tune. He'd gotten as far as the second verse with the wicked guitar riff when he was oh-so-rudely interrupted by someone's book bag being dropped on his head.

"You're terribly off-key," Hermione said as she plopped down next to him, splaying her legs in the sand. "And besides, that riff isn't until after the bridge."

"Well bollocks to the bridge then," Ron muttered, sitting up and rubbing his head. "Why do you still have your bag? I thought you were dropping it off before you came."

Hermione gave him a Look, and pointedly ignored the question. "So, what's this about you being a berk?"

Ron lay back down, throwing an arm across his eyes haphazardly. "'Dunno. Just thought... Well, it's stupid of us to fight."

Hermione looked uncomfortable. "I didn't know we were fighting."

"Well, it's not that we're fighting exactly, it's just... Urgh." He rolled over onto his side, resting his head on his palm and picking at little stones in the sand. He looked back up at Hermione, squinting against the sun. "Things aren't quite right, y'know?"

She nodded, and sighed. "I know."

There was a moment of silence, in which Hermione gazed out over the lake and Ron savaged little tufts of grass that were trying to grow in the sand.

"I'm sorry," Ron finally said, looking up at Hermione.

She gave him a funny look, and cocked her head to the side. "For what?"

"Erm... Well," He started, and blushed. "I just... Everything. And one of us has to be the first, y'know? And well, this way, I'm not even being stubborn, and it's just—"

"I'm sorry, too," Hermione interrupted.

Ron looked up at her, and finding her smiling, grinned back, and blushed properly.