Disclaimer: Found at the beginning of this story.

Harry, Ron, Seamus, Dean, Neville, and now the twins as well, made their way up to the Gryffindor boys' dormitory. Harry was sniggering slightly at Ron's grumbling; he complained that the twins would leave something in his bed, like they used to at home. Fred said, when he saw the sixth and seventh beds, "Never misses a trick, Dumbledore."

They all got into pajamas and George was forced into telling the story of how he and Fred were back at school again when Neville had asked why. Fred had gone out to "absorb the atmosphere again." Suddenly, there had been several clunks, a yell, and a thud. They all ran outside, finding Colin Creevey taking pictures of Fred, who was sprawled on the floor. He had apparently tried to get to the girls' dormitory.

"I thought you knew about that!" Ron said, remembering his fifth year.

"I forgot," said Fred crossly, after Ron had helped him up.

"I'll say," Seamus muttered to Dean. "What were you going up for anyway?"

"Hermione," Fred mumbled.

"Hermione?" Harry asked, feeling that something was going on. "Why?"

"Nosey for a hero, aren't you? Anyway, well… I need some help with the N.E.W.T.s, okay? Happy? So I went to ask her," Fred answered, sounding very exasperated.

"Couldn't you have waited until morning?" Neville inquired, shrugging.

"Well… yeah—I could've… ah, forget it… 'Night!"

Harry, as well as Ron, noted this entire situation with great curiosity.

The next morning, which was Tuesday, after Fred had whispered something to George (and George sniggered and cried, "Brilliant!"), he went down and sat, Ron noticed, with Hermione. They were having quite a conversation. This sort of bothered Ron. Later, at Potions, Snape was scolding Hermione and Fred for talking in class. At Herbology, Fred and Hermione readily partnered up for their experimental crossbreeding project. Even at Charms, they sat together and practiced. George didn't seem to mind this; he kept pairing with Neville or Dean. And come lunch, Fred and Hermione were excitedly discussing their next lessons. They became inseparable.

Now, this didn't bother Ron at all; it annoyed him to pieces.

Harry kept asking him what was the matter. "Nothing," he kept protesting. He didn't like seeing Fred with Hermione ("It's not natural!" he had said continually to Harry), and it bothered him even more that he had this notion at all. "I mean, if I can't know what's going on," he complained to Ginny, who was giggling at his problem when she heard, "it should at least stop." "Even you would get it by now," Ginny retorted, sounding very matter-of-factly. "Won't you tell me?" Ron said hopefully. "If you don't know," Ginny said, getting up and looking haughtily at her brother, "then I'm not going to tell you." She walked away. "Girls," Ron muttered as he left lunch for Care of Magical Creatures.

It seemed that everything about girls annoyed Ron these days. Harry noticed this. He even watched Fred and Hermione, always laughing, always together. It wasn't 'unnatural' as Ron had said, but it certainly was unusual of Fred. Harry asked George about this one day, but he had just said, "There's nothing between them. It's just for N.E.W.T.s, is all." He did not believe Ron's brother for one minute.

Harry even noticed that Ron was paying attention in class like the rest of them, taking down notes every so often, and picking up his grades. He supposed Ron was trying to live up to Hermione's standards without having her around. Ron also managed to stay awake during History of Magic… even Hermione never achieved this. He even carried around that ridiculous planner that Hermione had given him years ago; Harry didn't even have to look because he would always hear silly things like, "Do it now and you won't strain, homework first, you thick pea-brain!" It was really getting a bit sickening. Ron seemed to be trying to finally outdo Fred and George.

Even at Quidditch, Ron was getting better. Harry, who had returned as Seeker, thought it was because he didn't care about making mistakes anymore; Ginny, one of the Chasers, thought he was motivated by the twins' return; but Fred and George, back as Beaters, said—and were quite sure—he was just angry.

And Ron himself wasn't exactly happy about everyone changing. Ginny was ignoring him, Harry was being very quiet, the twins were being extra-annoying, and Hermione talked only half as much to him (a great feat!). It drove him crazy. He spent more time at the Quidditch pitch than all the House teams put together, just throwing the Quaffle, racing it, and then hitting it across the field. This showed how irritated he was. Often, the twins watched him, baiting him all the way. Of course, they did this until one day when George was found to have a black eye after returning from the pitch.

This was Ron's worst year at Hogwarts, despite his better marks.

"I'd blame teenage angst," said Seamus to him one day, "except we're becoming of age." Now even his Irish roommate, as well as everyone else, infuriated him.

Hermione was having the time of her life. Fred was being serious about his studies yet amusing and witty at the same time, and she finally found the side of him that she liked. But she felt guilty about ignoring Ron lately. She really had to start balancing her time, especially now at the coming of age and graduation.

"Think, Hermione, think!"

A/N: This chapter sucks. It's short and it's not as nice as the first. I hate it. Waaaaaaaaaaa… review, please…