The next week, around Thursday afternoon, when it was still snowing heavily and the lake was frozen more than ever, a very loud yelp erupted through the calm Common Room air.
"You WHAT?!?!?!?!?!?"
Ron Weasley, was clutching a letter in his hand, face red, and standing over a squashy armchair by the fire, in which Hermione was sitting calmly, reading -- what else -- . . . -- a book.
"DON'T tell me that this is true, Hermione . . ."
Hermione's cold eyes darted up to him, and back down to her book.
"What if it is."
Another yelp.
"WHY ON EARTH WOULD YOU DO THIS?!?!?!?"
The brown haired girl stood up and bookmarked her book with the roll of the eyes.
"Hmmm, that's a hard one."
Ron mouthed soundlessly, then pointed at the letter in disbelief. "This . . is because of – ME? The way I'VE been acting???"
"Maybe." Came the casual reply, as Hermione shifted a few papers on the table in the corner Harry was sitting at.

Fred trumped into the common room, only glancing once at George and Dean Thomas, who were conversing with each other in the corner. George was still not talking to him - it felt very odd. He wasn't used to his twin being mad at him. Suddenly attracted by the yelling, he looked in Hermione and Ron's direction. Interested, he walked over until he stood behind Hermione's armchair. He cocked an eyebrow at Ron.
"Really, mate," he said sardonically. "You needn't yell, I'm sure she can hear you, as well as the whole rest of the school..."

Ron threw a sarcastic and venomous look at Fred, then turned back to Hermione.
"I don't believe this. And just because I annoyed you a little, and made a few comments – you go and basically call off our friendship?"
Hermione sputtered indignantly, eyes flashing.
"A FEW comments?? Try annoying me, bugging me, teasing me, taunting me,... ANYTHING to get the information your NOSY ears want to hear!!!! Oh!" She threw her hands up in the air with a mirthless snort.
"Let's talk about NOSY. You find something that has my name on it, in red ink, HERMIONE GRANGER, and you go and open it! NOW TELL ME THAT IS NOT RUDE!"

Fred gaped at Ron, lost for words. Even he was shocked by what Hermione claimed of Ron's behavior, and he had lived with the little creature since he was born. Not exactly sure what to do, he stood where he was, looking from one to another, knowing that he was involved - even CAUSING this - and he could probably help one way or another. Or maybe just slug Ron if he got too brash.

Ron chose to ignore this, and covered by waving the letter in her face.
"Well, it was a good thing I read this, so I could persuade you NOT to!!!"
Hermione's eyes narrowed. "The decision has been made. If you can't accept it, then go stick your head in Myrtle's toilet. Because I don't give a," She said something that was very un-Hermioneish. Usually it was Ron who swore.
"It's not like I'm leaving the SCHOOL or anything Ron!!"
"IT'S CLOSE ENOUGH!" Ron bellowed in return.

His attention was most definitely peaked, both by Hermione's uncharacteristic - and quite tasteful - swear and the odd hints being flung around the room. He raised his eyebrows, gazing at Hermione with a bit of anxiousness.
"What...?" he started tentatively. "What's going on?"

Ron cut off Hermione, who was about to speak. "She is switching to sixth year." He stated, gritting his jaw.
Hermione flushed angrily and went back to shuffling papers on the table, knocking many to the floor in the process.

Fred's eyes widened slightly, rather surprised. Yet somehow or another he did not feel the same raging fury that Ron did. He remained in a musing silence as he watched Hermione fussing over her papers, but he was too preoccupied with the thought of her being in his year to think of helping her. Instead he cracked a small grin.
"Really?" he asked, his tone impressed. "Wow, Hermione. Congratulations."

Hermione looked up from her paper shuffling to flash Fred a weak smile, but Ron rolled his eyes.
"Hermione, we are going to have different schedules, so we'll only see each other at lunchtime, you will be loaded up with more homework than you can handle, and then Harry and I will never see you!" He stated with a gritted jaw.
"For the last TIME Ron, the choice is already made, it was a decision to get away from your incessant nagging, I think I can handle it fine, thank you very much, and I would appreciate it if you stopped HOUNDING me!!!"
Ron gave up with an exasperated groan, and turned angrily instead to round on Fred.
"So I suppose you and her will be 'real chummy, won't you? Now that you're both in the same year."

Fred - whose temper had already been frayed lately due to George's silent treatment - rounded on Ron with a snarl. He wasn't accustomed to being truly angry at his brother, but ever since the day at Hogsmeade he had been truly unbearable.
"Don't you look to vent your temper on ME," he snapped. "You made your own bed Ron, now SLEEP in it! If you treated Hermione half-decent she wouldn't BE switching now, would she?"

Ron's eyes narrowed.
"Yes, but I suppose my older brother will most definitely be there to finish up what I messed up, eh? If –I– didn't treat her half decent, YOU will, hmm?"
Hermione stopped shuffling papers and was watching Ron with an angry yet worried expression.

The Weasley twin easily matched his brother's narrow-eyed look, though years more practice made him much better at it. He glanced at Hermione before replying.
"Yes, I will," Fred he said in a low tone. "And why not, eh? Just because you choose to treat your friends like traitors because their whole world does not revolve around YOU doesn't mean that I have to!"

Ron gave a sarcastic laugh, that didn't sound like a laugh at all. More like a malicious snicker.
"So, like I said before. There IS some fancying going on around here . . ."
And it happened in a flash of a second.
As soon as Ron made the comment, Hermione had slapped Ron across the cheek with a sharp and resounding crack, which echoed throughout the common room and left a ringing in some people's ears.
Lee Jordan stopped talking and looked up, trying to find the whip that had made the sound.
The whole common room was silent.
It was a standoff to rival any other that Ron and Hermione had ever had.
Ron was standing quite still, with his hand over his cheek where Hermione had smacked it, and an indescribable look of shock on his face. Eyes wide, his cheek was smarting from the blow, and even turning a little red, he was stunned.
Hermione was breathing a little heavier than usual, glaring at Ron with angry yet wide eyes.
No one moved a muscle for at least twelve seconds.

Fred gaped at Hermione, shocked beyond the use of words, and impressed. Given a bit more time he would have done something worse than slap Ron, but this surely seemed to have gotten the point across. He looked nervously between his brother and Hermione, and suppressed the urge to take a step back. He waited for the storm to break.
Suddenly he thought of Percy, and wondered whether something similar was about to happen between Hermione and Ron that had happened between Percy and his father in the Burrow.

There was a long pause for at least two minutes, as the whole common room was at a standoff.
Then Ron, with his hand still on his cheek, took a few steps backwards; wide eyes still locked on Hermione as if she had dug a dagger into his heart. She, in turn, glared after him sharply, but her eyes seemed to soften in the slightest ways as he walked silently backwards.
When he reached the foot of the boy's dormitories, without a sound, he turned and very slowly walked up them, hand not moving from it's stunned position on his cheek.

Fred watched his brother leave, and immediately felt some rarely-used emotion - guilt. He heaved a sigh. Sure, Ron didn't have any right to be acting like such an idiot, but - though he had tried to convince himself otherwise for years - he was, in fact, his brother.
Now he was torn, between staying and talking to Hermione or following Ron and attempting something between an apology or - he shuddered at the thought - some brotherly act of kindness.

Hermione sighed quickly and closed her eyes, before turning to the table where the shocked Harry was sitting at, and sat down quietly.
Lee Jordan blinked.
"H-Hermione?" Harry asked weakly, staring from her, to the stairs, and back.
"W-What, just –"
"Lets... not, Harry." Hermione said, cutting him off and instead moving some papers aside on the table to rest her arms on it folded, and then her head in them.

Fred hesitated, and then cautiously took a step towards Hermione, casting furtive looks over him at the stairs. George was looking at him through slightly narrowed eyes, but he chose to ignore him - obviously he too was thinking of the incident involving Percy. This made him completely off character, but he saw nothing else for it. He sighed, and then dropped down to kneel next to Hermione, looking at her carefully.
"Would you like me to go talk to him?" he asked in a defeated tone - if she wanted him to talk to Ron, then he would. Obviously things were not working the way they were going thus far.

Hermione turned to him silently, her face indescribably blank.
"No." She said sternly, but not mean. "Ron can go cry all he wants to. What he said was rude, foolish, and out of place and he had no right to hold anything against me. I don't . . ." There was a pause as she struggled for the right word, as if this were a hard decision. "Care."

Fred hesitated, letting her words sink in. Then he nodded, glancing uneasily towards the stairs to the boy's dormitories. He sighed, and ran a hand through his hair, using every ounce of his willpower not to look at George.
"Alright," he said, smiling wanly. Then he tried to fish around for something to say, and as his eyes rested on the letter that started the whole argument, he commented, "It - it really is cool, Hermione. You going into Sixth Year, I mean... I don't remember anyone skipping years before."
It was his attempt to make her feel better. Perhaps not a very good attempt, but for the Weasley twin, it was an enormous effort.

Hermione smiled wryly.
"Yeah . . . so, that means I will be able to see you more too!" Though by the tone of her voice, as new and surprised as it was like she had just realized it, did not entirely sound convincing as though she had not thought this before.
Her eyes darted from Fred's face, to the boys dormitories stairs, and back.

"Yeah," Fred said with a grin of his own, but her glance was not lost on him. He frowned, wondering why girls - well, particularly Hermione - seemed so difficult to read! "Listen... don't let him bother you," he said gruffly, stuffing his hands into the pockets of his robes and gazing at her evenly. "I know you've been friends for - well, a long time, but I've known him since he was the size of Crookshanks and wobbling around with his teddy-bear," he smirked. "He's just - going through a growth spurt or something. He'll snap out of it. Once, he didn't speak to anyone in our family for a whole month..."
He paused, considering, and then sighed.
"But that's because we hexed him. Mum didn't find out for the longest time - she just thought he was being stubborn. But, well, the point is, he's always a bit funny."

Hermione grinned at Fred while he was telling the story, eyes twinkling slightly, but when the part came about the 'always a bit funny', the smile disappeared and she sighed heavily.
"I just wish he would stop being so . . . protective. I mean, I know he's -- well, Ron... but he needs to get a grip. Let go -- and realize that I have a life. One that I would like to have control of... not -him- . . thank you very much."
Harry uneasily moved a book aside to reach for a quill, trying to be casual about it, but the worried look on his face was not easily hidden.
"And I think that he deserved what he got. . ." Hermione added abruptly.
"He had no right to crack those comments... "

Fred nodded.
"He's a control freak of a git," he agreed. "This - separation will be the best thing for him."
Somehow the words struck him funny, for it sounded almost as if Hermione and Ron were about to go through a divorce. The corner of his mouth twitched upwards in a smile.
"Besides," he said, turning to Harry with a grin. "He's still got you, mate. It's not like you're leaving him high and dry and without a friend in the world."

"I admire you, Harry... " Hermione muttered as she shuffled some more papers while sitting down.
Harry grinned to Fred at his words. "Why, Hermione?" He asked her quizzically.
"For being able to stand Ron for that long every day." She replied briskly.
Harry chuckled slightly. "I stick by him, that's for sure."

Fred smiled. Not having anything better to do, he pulled up a chair as well, sitting between Harry and Hermione. He glanced at where his bag had been left over by the fire - bulging, to be sure, not with books but with "merchandise" he and George were trying to pawn off lately. No doubt there was more than enough homework to contend with, but he didn't really care. He looked curiously at Harry and Hermione, and he sighed, only now thinking how odd it would be now seeing the group split up.
'Well, it was his own fault,' he told himself firmly.
"You know, he'll probably be begging for you to forgive him soon," he commented. "Give him a few days away from you and he'll be all apologies..."

Hermione snorted, and when she spoke, sounded completely unconvinced.
"Sure. . . Ron do that. Right. Well --" She sighed and brushed off a small brown book entitled 'Quidditch Through the Ages'. "-- Let's hope."