If you were to ask Ron Weasley to describe Hermione Granger in one word, it would be…

"Annoying." Ron muttered under his breath as he watched Hermione animatedly talk to Harry.

The three of them were crammed into the compartment on the Hogwarts Express, and Hermione had purposefully wedged herself in-between him and Harry. Ron sighed and gazed down upon Scabbers, who was staring intently at Harry for some reason.

"Hm?" Hermione turned to face Ron, seemingly surprised to see him still sitting with them. "I thought you said you were going to leave?"

"All the other compartments are full." Ron grumbled. "So, it looks like I'm stuck with you. Unfortunately."

Hermione's eyes sparked with anger, and she opened her mouth to snipe back at him when Harry nervously jumped in to ease the tension.

"Hey Ron, weren't you going to show off a spell your brothers taught you?" Harry asked.

Ron blinked. He'd completely forgotten about that.

He pulled his wand out of his robes and chanted, "Sunshine, daisies, butter mellow, turn this stupid, fat rat yellow."

Ron felt the tips of his ears burn as Scabber's fur retained its grayish tint.

Hermione frowned. "That didn't even sound like a spell."

"Er…well…"

Damn, he should've known not to take his brothers at their word. Hermione promptly ignored Ron's hasty attempt at a defense and turned to Harry.

"Anyway, Harry I was wondering if…."

Ron groaned and sank into his seat. He could tell that this year was going to be a headache.

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The next time Ron was forced to interact with Hermione, he found her utterly infuriating.

"Harry, you know that you can't go out after hours!" Hermione shouted. "You'll get in trouble, maybe you'll even get expelled!"

"Hermione if I don't show up for the duel, Draco will never let me live it down!"

Ron groaned and ran a hand down his face. The three of them were in the common room, having been dragged there by Hermione as soon as she had learned about their duel with Malfoy. She'd somehow managed to get even their upperclassmen to clear out. He wasn't sure how she'd managed that, but it was probably because she nagged at them until they couldn't take it anymore.

"Look, I don't know why you think we need your permission to do anything." Ron chimed in. "Harry can make his own decisions, you're not his mum."

Hermione's eyes flashed with anger. "I'm trying to stop him from making a huge mistake, while you seem all too keen to drag him into danger!"

Ron rolled his eyes. Honestly, he wasn't sure how Harry managed put up with her.

"Fine then, we won't go to the duel." Ron grumbled.

Harry blinked. "Wait, we won't?"

Ron flashed a smirk at Harry.

"Yup, we'll just stay in our beds like good little boys." Ron continued. "Is that good enough for you, Mum?"

Hermione rolled her eyes and left the common room in a huff.

"So…" Harry trailed off once Hermione had gotten a good distance away from them. "We're sneaking out, right?"

Ron grinned. "Right!"

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If someone had told Ron that he'd spend a night at Hogwarts trying to avoid getting snacked on by a giant dog, he'd have likely laughed in their face.

'Guess the joke's on me.' Ron thought to himself as a giant, black dog loomed over him and the others. 'I can't believe that I'm going to get mauled by a dog!'

The dog roared as it took another step towards them, before it suddenly stopped. Ron felt a shiver race down his spine as the temperature in the room seemed to drop by a hundred degrees.

'What the hell?'

That was when he noticed Hermione glaring at the dog in sheer contempt. There was a wild, almost manic look in her eyes as she gazed at the dog. Ron wasn't sure if it was just the darkness of the room, or stress, or what, but he was sure that he could see waves of killing intent swirling around her.

"Get. Back." Hermione commanded in a low, threatening tone. "If you take one more step towards Harry…"

She took a threatening step towards the dog, causing it to rear back in fear.

"I'll make sure you'll regret it."

The dog whimpered and scrambled to the furthest corner of the room.

"Wow Hermione." Harry commented as everyone stared at Hermione in awe. "You're really great at handling animals."

'That's what you took away from that!?' Ron wailed in his head as he glanced Hermione. 'Didn't you notice how psychotic she looked?'

Hermione, for her part, turned away from Harry and blushed.

"I—I'm not that great at it." Hermione giggled. "Honestly, I wasn't sure that would work!"

"A-Ah…." Neville chimed in, causing the three of them to turn their attention to him. "How are we going to get back to the dorm? Filch is still out there."

Hermione smirked, sending shivers down Ron's spine. "Don't worry, I'll take care of him. You three should head back before he catches you."

"Oh, and Ron?" Hermione said with a small sigh. "Next time, you might want to try listening to me."

With that she brushed past the three of them and slipped out the door.

"Um…" Neville stuttered. "Is it just me, or is Hermione really scary?"

Ron groaned. "It's just you Neville, let's get out of here."

As the three of them headed back to the dorm, Ron's mood started to worsen as he realized that he now owed Hermione Granger for rescuing them….

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When Ron woke up this morning, he felt his anger towards Hermione spike to an all-new high. Sure, she'd been right when she said that Malfoy wouldn't show up to the duel, and Ron could even admit that without her help they likely would've gotten caught by Filch…

But he still didn't like her.

Ron's mood was so foul that not even the sight of Draco, Crabbe, and Goyle shuffling into Charms wearing only their boxers made him chuckle. His day only got worse once Hermione showed up with Harry in tow, and his boiling anger finally reached a boiling point when Hermione just had to open her big mouth.

"It's pronounced wingardium leviosa, Ron." Hermione corrected him as she effortlessly caused several feathers to float off her desk. Ron gritted his jaw and glared at her as Professor Flitwick heaped tons of praise on her.

"I can't believe her!" Ron fumed as he stormed out of Charms. Harry quickly trailed after him as Ron continued in a shrill obnoxious voice. "It's pronounced 'wingardium leviosa', Ron! Gah, no wonder no one can stand her!"

"Hermione isn't that bad Ron." Harry weakly defended. "She's just—"

"Why are you defending her?" Ron asked. "Shouldn't you be annoyed about just how much she babies you?"

When Harry refused to answer, Ron groaned.

"Don't tell me that you seriously don't think she's annoying?" Ron said. "Or at least a little bit clingy?"

Harry sighed. "True, Hermione can be a bit annoying and clingy sometimes-"

Harry didn't get to finish what he was about to say, as Hermione brushed past the two of them and raced down the hall.

"Oh no…" Harry muttered, his face turning pale as he watched her go. "I didn't realize that she was behind us!"

He started to go after her, but Ron grabbed his arm and stopped him in place.

"Just let her get it out of her system." Ron grunted. "You can apologize later, plus I feel like she had to hear that."

"But-"

"Didn't you just say that she was clingy, why do you want to chase after her?"

Harry frowned. "Hermione's clingy, but she's one of the few people who actually cares about me."

"I'm actually really grateful for her help." Harry continued. "That's why I'm going to-"

"Anyway, let's head down to the Great Hall!" Ron interrupted as he dragged Harry away. "I've heard that serve some of the best food during Halloween!"

There was a small vindictive part of Ron that didn't feel particularly guilty about what had happened. Not even when he heard from some of the other girls talked about how Hermione was crying in the bathroom.

That all changed when Professor Quirrell came racing into the Great Hall, shouting, "There's a troll in the dungeons!"

Harry immediately took off, leaving Ron behind as he headed for his friend.

Ron groaned and followed him.

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…. That brought them to now, where the two of them were standing in front of the door that led to the girl's lavatory.

Hermione's shrill screech prompted the two of them to burst open the door to see the gargantuan figure of a hulking, gray creature looming over Hermione.

"Hermione, we're here to help!" Harry shouted.

The sudden commotion caused the troll to slowly turn around to face the two of them. Ron froze on the spot as he got a good look at the troll's-stained razor-sharp teeth. A wave of ice flowed through his veins, and he broke into a cold sweat.

'Maybe we should've gotten one of the professors to come with us.' Ron thought to himself

In direct contrast to himself, Harry looked completely unphased as he darted further into the lavatory. The troll, moving with an unnatural speed, swung its club in a clear arc that was directed at Harry.

"Harry, watch out!" Ron cried out a moment too late. There was a sickening crack as Harry was hit and sent flying into the wall before he crumbled to the floor with an unceremonious thud.

What happened next was something Ron would take with him to his grave.

Hermione, upon seeing Harry's crumpled form, let out a loud shriek that sent shivers down his spine. The young girl grabbed the gigantic club off the ground and dashed towards the troll. The troll, annoyed by the loud and tiny human's screams, swung its fist down to crush her.

"Hermione, watch out!" Ron cried out and stretched his arm out to her in vain.

He shouldn't have been too concerned though as Hermione leapt several feet into the air, narrowly dodging the troll's fist that left a crater in the floor. While the troll struggled to get its arm out of the hole, Hermione landed on its shoulder and swung the club at its face with full force.

The troll's head twisted to the side with a sickening crack, and it stumbled backwards into the wall before slumping onto the floor. Hermione leapt off the troll and proceeded to hold the club high over her head before she brought it down on the troll's face repeatedly.

"How!"

Thud

"Dare!"

Thud

"You!"

Thud

"Hurt Harry!"

Ron winced as he watched Hermione ruthlessly beat the troll within an inch of its life. He was almost starting to feel bad for it. Eventually, Hermione dropped the club and raced over to Harry's side. She put two fingers to his neck for a few minutes before she let out a sigh of relief.

"Good, he still has a pulse." Hermione said. She gently slid one hand underneath Harry's back and the other underneath his head before she lifted him off the ground with ease. She turned to face Ron, causing him to flinch and take a step back.

"Ron, can you help me get Harry to the hospital?" Hermione asked.

Ron blinked. "Are you sure you need my help? You look like you've got this covered."

"It would make me feel better if there was someone else was around to keep an eye out for any other surprises." Hermione said. She then sheepishly looked away for Ron. "Also, it's only fair to let you come with me and Harry. You're his friend after all."

"Huh, I wasn't expecting to hear you call me Harry's friend." Ron said.

Hermione bit her hip. "I suppose I've been a bit too clingy; I didn't realize that I was making Harry unhappy."

Ron winced. He'd forgotten that she hadn't stuck around to hear the rest of the conversation.

"Harry said that he didn't mind that you were being clingy." Ron said quickly, causing Hermione to perk up.

"Really?"

Ron nodded.

"He said that you're one of the few people who actually care about him, and that he's grateful for your help." Ron continued. "Just…ease up a bit on the overprotectiveness, alright?"

"Thanks Ron." Hermione said. "I'm sorry for treating you so bad for the past few months."

"Eh, it's water under the bridge." Ron said with a small shrug of his shoulders. "I'm sorry for insulting you earlier today."

"It's okay, I already got over it before the troll showed up."

"Anyway," Ron said as he grabbed Harry's wand off the floor. "We should probably get out of here before the professors show up."

"Before we go…." Hermione walked up to Ron and smiled. "If you even think about telling Harry about what happened here…"

She leaned in close to his ear. "I'll make sure you regret it. Are we clear?"

Ron gulped nervously. "C-crystal!"

Hermione leaned back and smiled. "Good, let's go!"

Ron let out a shaky breath as he followed Hermione out of the lavatory.

He certainly didn't think that Hermione Granger was annoying anymore. No….

Hermione Granger was absolutely terrifying.