The castle was buzzing with rumors and back talk. Where people weren't talking about quaffles and hoops, any more, they were talking about 'him'. No less than three hours ago, 'he' had single-handedly strangled all hopes of Gryffindor winning the match against Ravenclaw. Harry Potter had brutalized their hopes; he had smothered their dreams and bashed their wildest fantasies to tiny little bits that fizzled as you tried to keep hold of them. Yet somehow, there he was, suppressing the urge to smile. Suppressing the urge to jump up and pull the redhead near him closer. Harry Potter, Gryffindor seeker, captain of the quidditch team, was nowhere near glum. He was ecstatic. Hermione had been unable to suppress her critique about Harry's use of the Sectumsempra spell, and had subsequently received a full dose of Ginny's wrath. They had rowed openly, something both girls had never done before and Harry felt it was like a dream!

Hermione was sitting with her back to the table, her arms folded together and her eyes welling with tears and rage. She was staring at some random point in oblivion, barely able to control herself. She appeared to be both angered and hurt at the same time. Ginny was as close to a 'best girl friend to Hermione' as any girl had yet managed to become. The two were inseparable during the long vacations at the Burrow, where they shared a bedroom (and thus, undoubtedly many secrets). The only time Ginny and Hermione did not spend together was during showers and quidditch (Hermione was, after all, a terrible flier and not even Ginny volunteered to be with her).

Now, nothing of that closeness seemed to exist. Hermione was doing her best in out-staring the bricks in the common room wall, while Ginny was muttering under her breath. Looking at the redhead made Harry thank god she wasn't as cross with him as she was with Hermione. Her face was as red as her ruby hair, her squinting eyes darting around the room, trying to find an innocent bystander that would look back at her in a wrong way. Fortunately, everyone in the room had enough sense not to do that. Harry noticed her looking at him when Hermione turned around to grab a book, though she looked different when she did. Almost empathically.
Could she still fancy me?

Bollocks Hermione, Ron thought nervously, Why could you not let it rest till tomorrow? Why did you have to do the 'I-told-you-so' routine again? You always do these things. Can't you just leave it at peace until the next day? Harry has had enough to endure for one day.
Ron had buried himself the first book he could find. He had not bothered reading it, and if he had, he would probably not have continued holding it upside-down. Instead, Ron was actively trying to avoid his sister's eyes, and trying to see what Hermione was doing. Harry was sitting next to her, making it nearly impossible for him to see Hermione's face.

Why are you always so stubborn? Can't you just leave it behind? Sure, you'll never hear me say I don't think you're cute when you're angry, but you've got to think about the others too. Harry has been through enough today. He knows what he did was wrong. You should have left him in peace.

Ginny was still squinting out everyone in the common room. It was widely known that a squinting Ginny was best left unprovoked. She had once hexed second-year Michael Powler for 'looking at her oddly'. Poor Michael had been hexed so badly that madam Pomfrey had been busy with him for more than an hour. Ginny had received a detention. For a second, Ron was sure she was going to explode. Colin had looked oddly in her direction, but he quickly turned around, averting Ginny's baleful stare.

Hermione turned around. She grabbed one of her books and, just before she turned back around, she looked into Ron's eyes. Their eyes lingered upon each other for a moment and Ron noticed a tear running down Hermione's cheek. He smiled at her in an assuring way, which hopefully made Hermione feel a little better. She returned a rather poor attempt at a smile and returned to her former position.

Ron noticed Lavender was sitting at the other side of the room, looking at them in mild interest. She noticed a gossip when she saw one. Ron knew she had been dying to bad-mouth Hermione ever since they had broken up. She had been on the "look-at-the-nerd"-routine for weeks now, since Hermione wasn't giving her much else to insult about. Ron had come to ignore her childish behaviour.

Why couldn't she have just left him in peace? That know-it-all. She shouldn't have pressed him so hard. If she'd found the book, she'd have used the prince's spells too. Little miss goody-two-shoes! It's not like anybody really needs her to tell them off, or give them advice. She's just still jealous about Harry being better at potions than her.
Ginny was still muttering under her breath. Hermione's "I-told-you-so" routine had really pissed her off, and it had really pressed a wedge between them. She wasn't going to back off, not today. She felt that Hermione had been unfair to Harry, telling him off for something he was sorry for already.
She needs to get her priorities straight. I mean, Hermione is great and all, but she needs to relax more! How are you ever supposed to try out new jinxes or curses if you don't know what they do until you do them?

Her eyes shot through the Gryffindor common room.
If someone so much as looks at me in the wrong way, Ginny thought, I'll make sure they'll regret it!
Her eyes wheeled passed everyone in the common room. For a second, she thought Colin Creevy was giving her a sour look, but he was merely expressing his displeasure of loosing to his brother in Wizard's chess. Lavender Brown was eyeing them with interest.
Just watch it, Lavender Boring, or I'll make you regret it!

Ginny was starting to feel more than anger and irritation. Hermione was her best friend. She loved to be with her, and discuss things Ginny didn't even tell her mother about (heavens forbid!). It had been Hermione who had taught her the monthly Immaculatus charm and it had been Hermione who had told her about boys. Ginny had always considered Hermione to be her big sister and she was her best friend. And now, she was sitting away from her, glaring in the opposite direction.
I hate rowing with Hermione.

Hermione turned around. For a moment, Ginny thought she was going to tell her she was sorry, but all she did was reach for a book. She exchanged a glance with Ron, who was desperately trying to soothe her. He smiled at her. She returned it rather unenthusiastically. Through the bitterness and anger Ginny was feeling, she felt a short stab of happiness. Ron and Hermione were perfect for each other, and Hermione would make a great addition to the Weasley family tree. It was going to be a blast having her as a real sister.
Oh wait, I'm still angry at her...
Ginny resumed her irritated mood.

Hermione was having trouble hiding her tears by now. Ginny was her best girlfriend. Ginny, whom had told her how to best apply make-up. Ginny, who she had confided about her crush on Ron to first. Hermione was staring at the wall of the common room, but she hadn't really been looking at it. It felt more like she was focusing her eyes on the wall, but not really taking in the picture. The tears in her eyes were certainly not helping her focus.

The cloudy thoughts obscuring her mind were working overtime. Hermione kept trying to calm down, but for some reason, her fight with Ginny was really getting to her. Was their friendship so easily dismissed? Did Ginny not feel the same about their relationship? Tears started to well up again. No matter how much Hermione tried to think happy thoughts, she couldn't keep herself from thinking about her fight with Ginny.

Maybe I can keep myself from thinking about all this by reading a book, Hermione thought, If it doesn't work, at least it will hide my face.
She turned around and reached for the first book she saw. When she did, she noticed Ron was looking at her intently, trying to get into contact with her. She glanced up into his eyes. Ron was always such a gentleman. He could be crude, he could be irritating, but when push came to shove, Ron was always there for her. He smiled at her in a consolidating way, which made Hermione feel marginally better. She loved him. And she loved his family too. Even Ginny.

Hermione buried herself behind her books. Reading was easy, but constantly having to re-read a line because you only registered half of it makes it annoying. Hermione spent the rest of the evening reading the first three pages of the preface to Magical Mayhem: A Guide for Wyrd Sisters.

Colin kept looking passed his brother to the table where Harry and his friends were seated. He had been there when professor McGonagall had told him off. She had spared no mercy on him. They had been fifteen unpleasant minutes, even for him. Still, Harry sat there, looking cheerful for some unknown reason. He had the look of a man who had just been mugged, but had found out being poor wasn't as bad as he'd imagined. He was looking around himself in a cheerful sort of way, which reminded Colin of Harry right after exiting the water at the second task of the Tri-Wizards tournament. He hadn't done what was expected of him, yet somehow it seemed to have been the right thing to do.

In front of Harry were nerdy Hermione Granger and hot Ginny Weasley, both remarkably interesting friends. For some obscure reason, Hermione and Ginny were sitting away from each other, both of them glaring and angry.
"Ha," Dennis said suddenly, "pawn to C4! There goes your queen and your chances of winning!"
Colin sighed, and moved his knight in the correct position. He hadn't been thinking about the match for a while now, and to his utter dismay, Dennis had set up the board in two positions from mate.
"Well done." Colin said politely.

When he looked back at the table, he saw Ginny squinting around the common room. Her eyes darted from face to face, until they stopped at his. He quickly pretended to clean up his chess-pieces. Ginny's eyes shot off further to the left, leaving Colin thanking god she hadn't exploded.

"What do you think they're rowing about?"
"I don't know. Quidditch?"
"Nah, Nerdy doesn't like quidditch. Perhaps miss perfect prefect insulted Weasley."
"I don't think so," Parvati said, "They're really close."
Lavender bit her lip. What could possibly make those two so angry with each other? Was something going on that she wasn't in on?
"Maybe she'd insulted his sister."
"Hah, are you still talking about Hermione Granger? Miss politely innocent? Maybe Ginny's insulted her lover."
Merlin, Lavender thought, I hate it when I don't know what's going on.
I swear I'll find out if those two are together, even if it's the last thing I'll do.

Harry was the first to get up. He picked up his belongings and after saying an unanswered 'Goodnight' left for the dormitories. Ron was left, hoping that Ginny would leave soon. He wanted to soothe Hermione, tell her it was going to be fine tomorrow, like al his rows with Ginny had ended. After sitting in front of the two girls alone for an hour, reading an uninteresting book, he too called it a night. The common room was nearly empty by now, save for the two girls in front of him and Lavender, who was leaving the common room that moment. He looked at both girls, walked passed Hermione and opened his hands. Then, he walked upstairs, to get some sleep.

Hermione saw the small parchment float gently down from his hand onto her lap. It was crumpled and stained, but once smoothed, clearly readable.

"Dear Hermione,

I'm sorry that you and Ginny are rowing, love. Don't worry, she'll have forgotten all about it in the morning.

- Ron"

Hermione smiled weakly. She turned around and looked at Ginny.
"I'm sorry if I was too rough on Harry, but what he did was just plain stupid. I just want to forget about it, and be best friends again."
She'd said 'best friends' before she'd even realized it. Was Ginny going to laugh at her now?

Ginny turned around too. Her face was still as red as before, but her eyes were looking at Hermione in a completely different way.
"I never stopped being your best friend Hermione," Ginny said, "And I don't intend on stopping any time soon."

That night, Hermione couldn't sleep. Not out of the pre-game tension of Gryffindor vs. Ravenclaw. Not out of excitement. Hermione kept repeating the words Ginny had said just before their hug over and over again in her mind.