Reference – just after the Charms exam.
Wingardium Leviosa - TOOTP
"Well, it wasn't too bad, was it?" asked Hermione anxiously, still clutching the Charms exam paper. "I'm not sure I did myself justice on Cheering Charms, I just ran out of time. Did you put in the counter-charm for hiccoughs? Is wasn't sure whether I ought to, it felt like too much- and on question twenty-three-"
"Hermione," said Ron sternly, "we've been through this before… we're not going through every exam afterwards, its bad enough doing them once."
Hermione went slightly pink but did stop talking. Ron was just grinning at Harry in triumph when he noticed Hermione had buried her head in the paper and was reading through it frantically, biting on her bottom lip so hard it went white. Ron's grin turned into an eye roll as Hermione started to wander away, lost in the Charms questions.
Ron looked at Harry, exasperated, but the latter, knowing full well what Ron was planning, shook his head vigorously. "You're on your own," he said, "I'm going to lunch."
And with that he went back into the Great Hall with most of the fifth- and seventh-years to have something to eat before the rest of the school descended on them –something that Ron would have very much liked to do. But right at that moment, he had one of his best friends to sort out.
The said best friend was now stumbling up the marble staircase – stumbling because she was so engrossed by the exam paper she was holding about four inches away from her nose. Ron ran up the stairs after her and was at her side in about three seconds.
"Aren't you coming to lunch?" He asked. Hermione looked up at him, startled. "What?" She asked, sounding it too. "Oh – um, maybe in a minute." She said, going back to reading the paper. Ron resisted the urge to shake her as she started back up the steps. She'd just spent two hours writing continuously – why didn't she need to eat like a normal person?
Ron went up the steps after her. "You need to eat, Hermione – we've got an exam this afternoon as well." He said, walking along next to her, as she hadn't stopped this time. "Remember how you always make Harry eat before a Quidditch match…?"
Hermione kept walking, but Ron distinctly saw her roll her eyes, and knew that a drastic measure was needed. So, knowing that this would result in her hating him for at least three days, Ron grabbed the exam paper out of her hands.
As predicted, Hermione was not too pleased.
"Ron!" She yelled, "give that back right now!" She tried to grab it back off of him, but Ron was holding it high above her head, and she gave up quickly. "Give it back." She hissed.
Ron shook his head. "Not until you agree to come to lunch." He said. Hermione frowned, and looked like she was about to explode. Ron changed tact with the speed of light. "If you come to lunch I promise I'll give you back the paper afterwards AND let you talk about the exam for five minutes while we eat."
Hermione looked at him in disbelief. "Exactly how is that a good deal?" She asked.
Ron grinned. "Well, it's five minutes more than I'd usually give you." He said.
Hermione tutted and folded her arms but Ron clearly saw her mouth twitch. He grinned, sensing a victory. "Come on." He said, going down a couple of steps.
Hermione looked undecided. "I need to revise." She said fretfully. Ron waved the paper at her and put on the voice that all the Weasley children perfect before they are four years old- Mrs Weasley. "You need to eat my dear." He said.
Hermione rolled her eyes once more, but Ron saw her mouth twitch again. He waited for her to start walking, but she stayed stubbornly where she was.
"Look, the least you can do is come and have lunch, after ruining my Charms exam." Ron said, playing his last card and hoping that it would work.
Hermione looked at him in disbelief. "How on Earth did I ruin your exam?" She asked indignantly. Ron grinned. "What was the first question?" He asked, starting to walk down the stairs.
Hermione stayed where she was. "I don't remember." She said. "Let me see the paper."
Ron stopped and looked at her sternly. "I'm not that thick." He said. Hermione looked annoyed that her plot hadn't worked, and when Ron started to walk again, she followed him.
"Give the incantation and describe the wand movement required to make objects fly." Hermione said as she walked down the steps behind him. "Don't tell me you got that wrong- you can't have possibly forgotten about-"
"'Course not." Ron interrupted, looking round at her again. "Thing is, for the rest of the exam all I could hear in my head was this annoying little voice saying," –he put on a high voice- "it's WinGARdium LeviOSa, make the 'gar' nice and-"
"Oh shut up!" Hermione said, trying to sound fierce but failing because her smile was too wide. Ron grinned back. "Long." He finished.
Ron continued down the stairs with Hermione a step behind her, triumphant in his success. "You know," Hermione said seriously, "you had it easy. What I had stuck in my head because of that question was the memory of how I'd felt after that Charms lesson."
Ron stopped and looked at her, no longer grinning, as Hermione stepped down onto the same step. "Hermione…" Ron said, trying to think of something to say and wondering whether he should apologise. Hermione shrugged forlornly and, before Ron could move or even think, she reached out and snatched the exam paper back off of him.
It took a couple of seconds for Ron to realise that Hermione was running up the stairs with the paper, laughing at his gullibility. "Hey!" He cried, running after her immediately. It didn't take him long to catch up- even with her head-start- and by the time she got up to the first floor Ron was right behind her.
Hermione turned round to face him, holding up her hands in a surrender. "Alright! Alright!" She said. "I'll come to lunch. Just let me keep the paper."
Ron's eyes narrowed. "What? So you can be anti-social and read it while you pretend to eat?" He said. Hermione shook her head. "I won't, I swear." She said. Ron wasn't convinced, and Hermione could tell. "I swear." She repeated.
Ron grinned. "Really? I knew it!" He said, making Hermione roll her eyes at the stupidity of his joke. She started to walk down the marble staircase again, and this time Ron followed her instead. Suddenly, Hermione gasped and stopped, looking stricken.
"What?" Ron asked anxiously.
"We were running!" She said, sounding scandalised. "We could have our badges taken away for running in the corridors!" She added in a hiss.
Ron stared at her in disbelief. "Oh come on Hermione. We wouldn't lose our badges for running."
Hermione still looked panicked. Ron struggled not to laugh. "Quick," he said urgently, "we'd better get into lunch before anyone accuses us of talking."
Hermione glared at him. "You're not funny you know." She said darkly.
"Yes I am." Ron said mischieviously.
"No you're n- oh, stop it!" Hermione shook her head to try and hide the smile on her face.
"Come on, let's go to lunch."