Hermione raced from the quidditch pitch (where she had earlier witnessed the synchronized acrobatics), to the Gryffindor common room, not finding either of the boys. Hermione abandoned her search for comfort and seated herself among the crowd of girls already in the room. It was then that she noticed there were some non-Gryffindor girls in the room, but she didn't question it, as everything just seemed to be strange recently. Hannah Abbott waved her over and Hermione smiled weakly as she took a seat. She took a moment to catch her breath while Hannah settled next to her with the intent of trying to clear things up for her.

"It was Lavender's idea," Hannah explained to the confused girl. "I believe she has asked for McGonagall's permission, but you can't be sure with Lavender now can you?"

Lavender was in the middle of showing off her necklace that one of her many admirers gave her. "Isn't it absolutely darling?" she gushed, while the other girls nodded in agreement. Lavender wrinkled her nose as she fingered the delicate silver chain. "Poor boy, he would've won me over, but he forgot one thing…"

"What Lavender?" asked Susan Bones.

"Why the matching earrings, of course." Lavender giggled and tossed the necklace unto a side table, while Hermione shook her head in disgust.

"Can you imagine, that this is our last year? I mean, who knows what will become of us. Marriage for instance!" Parvati howled, casting teasing glances at Hermione.

"Many a new day will come before I do…" mumbled Hermione absentmindedly. The girls giggled and rallied around her.

Lavender jumped out in agreement. "I enjoy this part of my life far too much! I can't imagine not having this much attention with the lavish gifts-"

Parvati interrupted, "And for the ladies who intend to do something other than be a pretty face, we should have time to become what we could. I for one, would love to see the world."

"I want to write plays," mumbled Hannah to Hermione softly. Something which surprised Hermione, but she smiled reassuringly.

"Well we will all have to adjust to life under the strict rule of Hermione, Mistress of Magic." Padma smiled at Hermione and the girls laughed, and for that moment, Hermione forgot the feeling of Malfoy's nails digging into her skin, and she laughed so hard until she sobbed with laughter.

While Hermione and the girls giggled at the prospect of the future, several young men where having a discussion of their own. In a corner of the library, away from the careful eye of Madame Pince, Daniel and several others were deep in conversation. Well, Daniel was trying to convince Ron of his intentions for Ginny, while Seamus, Dean and others held the redhead back.

"I swear Ron! I can't marry her! I swear I'll break it off! I can't handle the pressure!"

"You break her heart and I'll break you! You bloody coward!" Ron howled, trying to fly across the table to strangle the boy, while Anthony Goldstein and others pulled him back.

"QUIET!" hissed Madame Pince, sending the boys back to their seats.

"It is true, Lavender keeps implying she wants something more," Seamus whispered across the table to Ron. "I spent every last penny on that girl, and she still wants more. I don't know why I bother."

"Maybe because she's the hottest girl in the class," Dean howled. Madame Pince glared at him and he held up his hands in defeat. "I mean, after the twins of course. At least Padma is happy with the way things are." There was a pause as Dean thought about his relationship with Padma. He frowned and then scrunched up his face. "I think."

"I swear these girls are getting ridiculous," Daniel chimed, only prompted glares from Madame Pince and Ron.

"The way some of them behave, it's a scandal!" shouted Seamus as he slammed his fist on the table.

"It's an outrage!" agreed Daniel. Madame Pince flew out of her desk and grabbed the two boys by their ears and dragged them out of the library. Dean began to laugh hysterically. Madame Pince immediately flew back to the table and continued to remove each seventh year boy from the table. The boys eventually scattered, and returned to their own common rooms.

As the Gryffindor boys began to invade the common room, the girls from the other houses quickly dispersed leaving a few boys completely confused. Ron and Dean looked around the room at the chaotic scene and tried to ignore the strange situation. Lavender and Parvati snuck up to their dorm, gossiping amiably about the girls' meeting just moments ago. After a few flicks of her wand, Hermione had the room in a somewhat tolerable state, considering the mess the girls had left it in. When she had turned back around she noticed that she was alone with Ron. He shuffled his feet nervously for a moment before regaining his courage momentarily. He took a step towards Hermione and grinned. The two stood silently for a moment trying to decide who would make the first move. Hermione thought to ask Ron about Quidditch remembering the aerial stunts the boys had pulled, but was interrupted by Ron.

"So Hermione, who are you taking to the Yule Ball?" Ron asked suddenly.

Hermione blushed. As soon as her face filled with red, it just as quickly vanished, as she thought quickly of McGonagall and sighed. "I do have a date, if that's what you want to know," she replied trying to make it sound like she was teasing him, though the identity of her date wasn't much of a joke in her opinion. At least it wasn't an amusing one; it was more like a cruel prank one played on their sibling after they tormented them for days on end.

"Well, I know Macmillian is taking Morag MacDougal, so you're not taking the Head Boy. Did Harry ask you?" he asked with a tinge of jealousy in his voice. Hermione couldn't stop herself from smiling at his concern (albeit selfish concern), but shook her head no. Ron wrinkled his brow as he thought of names of seventh year males without dates. Before he could name someone, Hermione interrupted his thoughts with a quiet, "I'm going with Malfoy."

Ron took a step back, unsure of what she had just said. "Did you say Malfoy?"

Hermione nodded uneasily. Ron's eyes widened in disbelief. He was about to ask if she was joking when Hermione began to explain her situation reluctantly. "I don't want to. He's pure evil. It was McGonagall's idea-" she broke before Ron could silence her. He clapped his hand over her mouth, and smiled reassuringly. She pried his hand away from her and spun on her heel.

Ron reached out and grabbed Hermione's hand as she turned to go upstairs. He entwined his fingers with hers, an act that caught her off-guard, as Ron never seemed brave enough to do something of the sort. Hermione stopped walked and looked at Ron from the first step. At that height she was almost eye-level with the lanky redhead, and she found herself being held close to him. Hermione gasped suddenly. Ron looked down at her and tucked a loose strand of her hair behind her ear and smiled at her.

"Hermione don't look at me that way," he whispered softly.

"What?" she asked

"People will say we're in love," he replied.

Don't they already think that? she wondered. They stood like that for a moment before

"Goodnight," he smiled as he turned towards the stairs to the boys' dormitories.

Hermione smiled to herself as she retired to her room, glancing back to see the retreating form of her favorite redhead. She tried not to let her problems regarding the Yule Ball dishearten her as she preferred to think only of what happened in the past few moments.

While most of the students slumbered cozily in their beds, Ron Weasley had decided to confront his fears. As usual Ron needed the help of a friend and that friend's invisibility cloak.