"Ron!" A girl's voice broke into the sleepy silence of Ron Weasley's bedroom, where he soundlessly slept. "Ron! It's time to get up! Your mum says if you aren't downstairs in five minutes' time, there won't be any breakfast for you today!"
Ronald Weasley, a boy of about seventeen, stirred in his bed, all but his head covered by a bright orange bed sheet. But as his hair was an equally vivid red, his head blended in with his covers, making it quite hard to tell where his head ended and the comforter began. The intruder of his dreams shook him awake, and he sat up suddenly. Although his eyes were still a bit gummed together with sleep, he could make out the source of the interruption. A teenage girl with brown bushy hair and deep brown eyes was standing before him, surveying his appearance with a flicker of annoyance, although inside, she found his appearance rather amusing; his hair was all mussed, his blue eyes were squinted together, and in between them was a long nose covered in freckles. As she saw him coming out from his sleepy state, she decided it would be okay to talk to him, and perhaps her words would be listened to.
"Well, I told you in my last letter I would be arriving this morning, and I had rather hoped you would be meeting me. Of course, I suppose I was a bit foolish to get my hopes too high, as I should have realized that the summer holidays would have already caught up with you, and you would be having a bit of a lie-in." Hermione Granger stood there, looking at one of her best friends, and smiled to herself. Annoyed though she was at his forgetfulness, she knew that this quality in him was something that made Ron Weasley himself, and that she would not care to change it.
"Alright, alright, I'm sorry I'm such a lazy prat. Happy? Now let me change into some more suitable clothes, I'll meet you downstairs in a bit." Ron Weasley said the first few words with a bit of sarcasm, but he had meant them; he would have loved to meet Hermione this morning, and he really wouldn't have minded if she didn't leave them room at all, but instead stayed and watched him change. His feelings for his best female friend had taken quite a turn in the past few months. Of course, he had wanted badly to talk with her about this, but there was the chance that she would have none of the same feelings, and it was that thought that kept his emotions inside his mind.
But Hermione Granger had the same battle going on inside her own mind...but Hermione, being less emotionally-challenged than her red-headed friend, had decided to do something about it during her stay at his house.
After breakfast, Hermione went upstairs to unpack her belongings. She was sharing a room with Ginny, Ron's younger sister. Even though there were a few empty bedrooms in the Weasley household that Hermione could have had to herself, she enjoyed Ginny's company. As Hermione became lost in thoughts about multiple things, including Ron, and, of course, the upcoming Head Girl election, Ginny Weasley entered into the room. Ginny's entrance was usually a bouncy, warm, welcoming one, but she seemed to be a bit more subdued and, well, depressed. Her pretty face that usually wore a bright smile was somewhat more daunted and thinner than it had been the last time Hermione had seen her. Hermione had a shrewd suspicion of why her friend was looking thoroughly miserable, but decided this was not the time to talk about it. However, Hermione did not have to be the one to bring the subject up. Ginny, who had apparently been waiting for another female to confide in, engaged Hermione into conversation right away.
"So," Ginny spoke. "Um…when do you suppose Harry will be arriving? Or are you and Ron planning to go and visit him, like I suspected? It's not that I've been pining for him all summer or anything, I'm just trying to keep our friendship together and everything, so I'm just curious…Don't look at me like that, Hermione, I'm over it honestly I couldn't care less."
Hermione pretended to go back to her unpacking so Ginny would not see the doubtfulness in her face. Not been pining for him? Did Ginny really think she was that thick? It was clearly obvious she was trying to ask questions without seeming desperate. But Hermione knew that Ginny was not being pathetic by missing Harry; she knew Ginny had fancied him for ages, so it was only natural for her to feel a longing to know information about him. But Hermione did not want to upset her friend further, so she did not mention any of this.
Ginny chose to ignore Hermione's silence and switched to a different subject, a subject that she did not play a role in. She wanted to ask the bushy-haired girl about the ongoing delay of a relationship between her and Ron.
"So, when are you going to suck up your pride and admit you're in mad love with my brother?"
Hermione kept her silence, yet she made sure Ginny did not notice her red cheeks.