First, I want to everyone for their reviews to my fourth chapter. I will always send a personal thank you message when possible and if I manage it in a timely manner, but I'll always have a public thank you as well.

Long AN's are aren't allowed, and no excuse is valid for why it's been so long since the last chapter, so I won't give any. Suffice it to say that a lot of things in my life have changed since you've read my words.

I'm sorry to everyone who didn't like the last chapter. I know it can be a make-or-break thing if you can't believe/get into the extremely crucial 'Ron/Hermione get together scene', and I'm sorry for everyone disappointed in the scene I published. I have considered re-writing it, but I find that bad form, generally speaking. All I can tell you is that this is my first real fan-fiction attempt for Harry Potter, and I'm no TMBlue (who, by the way, wrote a Romione story Sharing Sleep, which, if you haven't read, you really should).

Secondly, as for Hermione being OC in my story, and Ginny, now that I'm on the topic, all I can say is that emotional turmoil can affect people in different ways. Ginny has been drowning in guilt, and Hermione's been on a rollercoaster these past few days. I'm not trying to OC the characters in my story, and I've thought about how they'd be affected. Things will normalize in time, which is all I can say without spoiling anything.

Thirdly, both Ginny and Ron have respective points. I don't believe I need to say that, but some people are mistakenly taking Hermione as gospel in Chapter 2 when it's not like she's non-biased on the issue. Nuance would be an applicable word here, as neither side is 100% in the right.

Lastly, I, of course, do not own these characters. That'd be the most excellent J.K. Rowling.

Chapter Five: Consequences

The door slammed open, and a flash of red hair flew past, quickly followed by a darker figure, and Neville decided it must have been Dean chasing Ginny, though he couldn't begin to fathom why.

"Now that was odd," Luna said in her whimsical voice, as though she was commenting on something as plain as the weather. "Perhaps we should follow. Ginny looked like she was unhappy. Or do you think we should leave it up to Dean?"

Neville was never the decisive type, but he had gotten a bit better since last year, mostly due to Dumbledore's Army and the battle in the Department of Mysteries, and his response was quick.

"Let's go," he said, and started chasing after Dean. Luna was beside him in an instant, and Neville wasn't at all surprised that she was already getting a lead on him.

Actually, this worked out for the better, as Luna's unique hat was extremely easy to keep track of, and as long as there weren't too many corners too quickly, Neville could ease up and go at a slower pace, which helped, considering he already had a stitch in his side.

Corners, stairs, and hidden passageways later, he saw Luna head into a door he thought he recognized, and headed in himself. He would have gasped if he wasn't working on catching his breath. The room was full of suits of armor that lined both walls, and Neville distinctly remembered tripping and knocking over every single suit in his first year while evading Filch.

It's funny, he thought, hands on his knees as he tried to regain his breath, I still sometimes have nightmares of that three-headed dog and getting caught by Filch in this room, and I don't even know it's bloody name.

Looking across the room, he saw Ginny, who was sitting with her knees pulled to her chest, arms around her legs, and head down. Neville had absolutely no idea what to make of this. The Ginny he knew, not that he knew her terribly well, had always been a strong girl who could hold her own. This was one of the reasons he asked to go to the Yule Ball with her after Hermione declined, actually. This Ginny really clashed with his normal image of her.

Looking up, he saw Dean standing awkwardly beside her, obviously unsure of what to do. Luna, for her part, had already knelt down next to Ginny and was patting her on the shoulder, her lion hat on the floor beside her.

"Ginny, I know you don't want to talk, but Dean, Neville and I are here, and we'll be staying here until you feel better and tell us what's wrong," she said simply, and sat down across from her, legs crossed.

Neville walked to Dean and pulled him aside, so neither of the two girls could hear them.

"Dean, do you know what's happening here? Because I haven't the foggiest," Neville whispered, taking a quick glance behind him at Ginny's position against the wall.

Dean looked unhappy as he replied.

"Yeah, I'm pretty sure what's got her worked up, and it's not good, but," Dean paused, also looking past Neville at Ginny before continuing, "I'd prefer, and I'm guessing she would to, if I allowed her to tell you guys on her own, in her own time."

Neville nodded, thinking this sounded a bit ominous, and walked over next to Luna. Deciding he didn't want to sit down just yet, he decided to lean against the wall next to them, and the silence was the only noise in the room. Actually, Neville considering this a good thing, as it meant that Ginny wasn't currently crying, though it did make her current sitting position all the more worrisome.

He leaned, and he waited, wondering what in Merlin's name could be going on.

The hospital wing was silent, and Professor McGonagall looked at Hermione with an expression that Ron couldn't quite place. Not that he was in the right state of mind to do so, though, as he couldn't get the idea that it was Ginny who messed with the Quaffle out of his head.

How the bloody hell could this be true? Yeah, we had an argument, but she said more stuff to hurt me than I did her! I was just giving her advice, and this is what I get!

Anger was building up inside Ron, but he realized that someone was speaking, so he tried to calm himself and listen.

"-that Miss Weasley had an argument with Mr. Weasley just days before the incident on the pitch?"

"Yes, professor," Hermione said, looking a bit shell-shocked herself, though she was keeping herself well-composed, "I wasn't there at the time, but Harry told me about it later."

"Mr. Weasley," McGonagall said, turning back to Ron with a grim expression on her face, "could you please explain the nature of this argument you had with your sister?"

Ron fidgeted uncomfortably, looking everywhere around the room for an out to answering this. He didn't even want to discuss this with Hermione, though knowing her, it wouldn't be avoided for long, and he most certainly didn't want to tell Professor McGonagall anything about it.

"Well, um, I, uh, was walking back from a Quidditch practice with Harry and we ran into my sister doing," Ron paused, trying to find the best way to say this. He had no love for Dean at the moment, but considering the awkwardness of describing the situation, he was hoping he could get away with leaving out the specifics.

"Doing something I didn't like," he finished lamely.

"'Something you didn't like'," McGonagall repeated, her face deadpan. "Would you care to be a bit more detailed, Mr. Weasley?"

"She was snogging someone, if it's that important. The guy left, we got in an argument. We said some stuff to each other, and that was it."

He hoped his quick expansion, void of names and details of the argument, would be good enough for McGonagall, though he wouldn't bet any Galleons on it. However, he was surprised when Professor McGonagall just sighed and slightly shook her head.

"Mr. Weasley, this is not the first time I've had to deal with sibling disputes of this nature, and I'll just save you the embarrassment from giving me actual specifics. Just answer this. Do you think it could have been your sister to Charm the Quaffle yesterday? Was she angry enough with you to do so?"

Ron lay silently for a moment, considering this. All I did was try to warn her that people would talk about her if she went about snogging people throughout the castle. Yeah, Ginny can have a temper, but would she really have done this? Actually, messing with the Quaffle like this sounds like something Fred and George would have done. They never would have hurt me, though!

McGonagall was watching Ron intently while waiting for his reply, and Ron decided that he'd hold in his anger for now.

"Dunno, I reckon it does sound like the sort of prank my brothers would have pulled," Ron began, wanting to phrase this correctly, "and I guess Ginny could have done it, but I don't think she wanted me to fall. Fred and George did stuff like this all the time, and they never meant to hurt anyone. I doubt she did either."

She sighed and stood up, surveying the two. Ron noticed her eyes flicker to their entwined hands, and wondered what exactly was going through her mind at this moment in regards to them.

"I'll question her about these allegations. Remember, Mr. Weasley, Madam Pomfrey will be in to check on you soon."

Professor McGonagall turned towards the door and left, leaving behind a perfectly awkward silence in the hospital wing, broken only by the sounds of Madam Pomfrey bustling about in her office.

Hermione sat still in her chair, and worryingly looked at Ron, and expression of shock apparent on her face, but also one of timid warning.

"Ron," she started, and he figured she knew at least part of what was going on inside his mind, "like you said, Ginny didn't mean to hurt you, so-"

"How the hell could she do it," he exploded, jolting her to silence. Ron didn't like to see her looking as she was, but he was beyond really caring at this point. He let go of her hand and clenched his own, hitting the bed as he accentuated his point.

"I was just giving her advice, and she goes and does this sh-"

"Ron, not to defend her or anything," Hermione began, obviously trying to calm him down, "but Ginny did say you were acting as though she was, well, a... whore."

She had whispered this last word, blushing while saying it, and it shocked Ron out of his anger. There were many things you didn't expect in this world. You-Know-Who to win the Order of Merlin, First Class due to saving a Muggle family. Severus Snape to smile and give out an Exceeds Expectations grade to Neville. Easily near the top of this list for Ron was 'Hermione Granger saying the word whore'.

"Well, she did say that's what you were implying, Ron," Hermione continued, looking grimly at him as she tried to get her blushing under control. "I don't know exactly what you said, but that's how Ginny took it. Can't you see how that'd make her a bit angry?"

"All I said," Ron began angrily, "was that if Ginny went around snogging people throughout the castle, people were going to start talking about her. Am I wrong?"

"Ron, there is such a thing as being tactless," Hermione answered, and Ron could tell she really wanted him to understand this, "and that was tactless. You're her older brother, so of course you don't want to see or know what she gets up to with guys, but she's fifteen, Ron, she's going to do stuff like this."

"Did you do stuff like this when-," Ron started to retort, but recalling that Hermione had been fifteen during their fourth year, Ron figured he already had an answer to this question.

Hermione looked away guiltily, and Ron shut himself up. They sat in silence for a few seconds, then Ron sighed.

"Fine, I guess there's nothing I can do to stop her, but people will talk if she, well..."

"Ron, Ginny's been at Hogwarts for a little over four years now, and she's only dated two people. There's no precedent for any rumors of the sort you're suggesting."

"That doesn't stop people from talking," Ron insisted, and then he closed his eyes and rested on the bed. Hermione looked alarmed for a second, and was about to go to get Madam Pomfrey when he spoke up again.

"There's nothing I can really do about this, is there, Hermione," he asked, eyes still closed.

"No, Ron, there really isn't," Hermione said softly, trying to figure out exactly what was going through Ron's mind at the moment. "She has every right to date who she wants, and she'd probably like it if her brothers didn't always get on her case about who she chooses."

Ron was still for a moment, and then it looked like a ripple rolled across his face.

"Hermione, part of this is because I'm her older brother, of course," he started quietly, "but that's not all. You and Harry, you've both been in relationships, and fine, I'm just slow compared to you two. But my younger sister got to snogging, what, a year before I did? Hell, Ginny's snogged two people, and I've never even kissed until today. Do you know how it makes me feel when I compare myself to everyone else?"

Hermione sighed, and moved from her chair to sit alongside Ron on the bed. Ron's eyes shot open, but he shifted to the side a bit more so she could have more room without comment.

"Ron, you don't need to compare yourself to other people," she said, sadly looking down at him. "I like you for who you are. What you have and haven't done is irrelevant. You are a great person regardless."

She lowered herself so she was eye level with Ron, and nestled against him. She felt Ron clumsily put his arm around her, and she knew that this was a feeling she could get use to extremely quickly.

"Ron, what do you need me to do to make you see that you're not second-best to anyone," she asked quietly, enjoying the warmth she was feeling inside from being so close to him.

Ron didn't answer, and they lay together in silence.

Ginny looked out the window of Professor McGonagall's office, waiting for her to return. She'd been collected by a very stern McGonagall in the Gryffindor Common Room around thirty minutes after telling everything to Luna and Neville.

She'd only felt a small bit of relief after admitting what she'd done to Dean a few hours ago, which annoyed her. You were suppose to feel better after talking about stuff like this, but she hardly felt better at all. Dean, being her boyfriend, had tried to be nominally supportive of her, but she could tell that he greatly disapproved of what she did. He'd been more distant with her during breakfast, and while Ginny couldn't blame him, it didn't really help her feel any better about this.

He wasn't trying to make you 'feel better', she thought, wondering when McGonagall would get back, he was trying to come to come to grips with my actions. Besides, how can I sit here worrying about my feelings when Ron's still in the bloody hospital wing because of me?

Ginny had no answer, good or bad, to this question, so she just sat quietly on the stiff, wooden chair Professor McGonagall had conjured up before she left. While she knew she deserved whatever was about to happen to her, Ginny wasn't particularly looking forward to it. McGonagall could be extremely harsh when it was warranted, and Ginny glumly figured this was one of those times.

It was all the more annoying due to the fact that she had actually started to feel better after telling Neville and Luna about what she did. Luna's assessment of, "Well, that wasn't a very nice thing to do" somehow made Ginny feel better than Dean's weak, repeated argument, "You didn't mean to hurt him."

She liked Dean, but if there was ever a time for someone to get angry and stop defending her, this was one of those times. She hadn't meant to hurt Ron, but that was beside the point. She had, and she craved some form of spoken rebuke from a peer. Dean, bless him, seemed to think it was never right to criticize Ginny directly, and this was one of those times where Dean's courtesy and seeming submissiveness to Ginny just drove her insane.

She was driven away from these thoughts by Professor McGonagall walking into her office, closing the door behind her. Taking a quick glance at Ginny, she sat at her desk and looked across at her.

"Miss Weasley, I've been informed that-"

"Professor McGonagall," Ginny said, and she saw her nose flare and mouth grow thin, "I'm really sorry for interrupting you, but I don't want this to take longer than it has to. Yeah, I cursed the Quaffle Ron used to practice yesterday. I didn't mean for him to get hurt, but I did do it."

Professor McGonagall sat still, looking at her Gryffindor student morosely.

"So you're admitting to be the cause of Mr. Weasley's incident on the Quidditch pitch yesterday?"

"Yes," Ginny replied, trying to keep her voice steady. She'd cried too much recently as it was, which was so unlike her. She refused to do it again. "Like I said, I didn't mean for him to get hurt at all, and I regretted doing to even before I heard he'd gotten injured."

Professor McGonagall just stared at her.

"Miss Weasley, this is a serious offence. While it's good of you to say that no harm was intended, Mr. Weasley nonetheless ended up in the hospital wing. He could have been grievously injured, and as it is, he has scars now that will only fade in time."

"I understand, Professor McGonagall," Ginny said slowly, looking straight into her stern face, a tactic she'd learned while dealing with her mother, "what I did was wrong. We had gotten into an argument, I was angry, I lashed out when I had the opportunity. I hurt him. Accidentally, but I hurt him, and I'm sorry."

Professor McGonagall sighed, and Ginny looked down at her feet, wondering what exactly her punishment would be. She wasn't expecting outright expulsion; she figured she'd have meant to harm Ron for that to be the case, or just outright murder him, and Ginny couldn't imagine her actions would earn such a harsh punishment.

Suspension seemed more likely, but it was her O.W.L. year, and she knew it would be extremely bad if she got behind on her work due to a suspension. In fact, she wasn't quite sure how a suspension from Hogwarts would even work. Fred and George never got that far up the punishment chain, which was amazing considering the amount of stunts they pulled while here.

She knew almost certainly lesser punishments would be coming. A loss of House points would be almost impossible to avoid, more likely than not some detentions, perhaps even removal from the Quidditch team. Actually, considering why she was sitting here in the first place, this could very well be the case, and Ginny slightly paled at the thought. She had been good at Quidditch, she played well with the team, and it gave her something else to think about besides Harry, Dean, and schoolwork.

"Miss Weasley," Professor McGonagall began quietly, and Ginny, slightly shocked by her non-angry tone of voice, looked up at her, "what exactly was the cause of the dispute between you and Mr. Weasley? When I asked him, he barely answered with any specifics except that he caught you snogging someone."

Ginny blushed, not quite happy to discover that McGonagall knew this bit of information. She wondered how much she wanted to reveal about that argument. Of course, she'd bring up what Ron implied, and perhaps, just maybe, McGonagall's punishment would be lighter, considering McGonagall was once a young girl and possibly had some personal experience of things like this during her school years.

About the things that Ginny had said to Ron, however, she thought she'd just leave that out. That was irrelevant, wasn't it? It doesn't matter what I said to him, he's not the one in trouble for doing anything.

"I was with Dean," she said quietly, not knowing any way around revealing to her who she'd been with, especially considering that McGonagall was not an unintelligent witch. "Ron and Harry walked in on us while snogging, and we got into an argument after Dean left. He said... well, more implied that if I kept this up, people would start calling me a, well..."

"There's no need to finish that sentence, Miss Weasley," McGonagall said, looking at her with a bit more sympathy, or so Ginny thought, "anyone who has been around students your age knows how that sentence was going to be finished. I must say, though, that I very much doubt you had nothing to say back to him after that."

"I-well," Ginny stumbled, not wanting to go into what Ginny saw as one of Ron's most embarrassing character flaws, "yeah, I might have said some harsh stuff to him, but... Well, what I said to him isn't the issue, is it?"

McGonagall just stared at her, but Ginny refuse to buckle on the issue. Finally, after what seemed like hours to Ginny, McGonagall just shook her head and sighed.

"I don't know what it is you said to him, but I guess I'm not going to know unless I really press the issue, which I won't," she said, and she looked sternly at Ginny. "Due to your actions, a student is in the hospital wing. You tampered with school property, and someone got injured because of it. I do believe you when you say that you had no intention of hurting your brother, so here's what I'm going to do."

Ginny held her breath, and silently urged Professor McGonagall to lay out her punishment quickly.

"100 points shall be taken from Gryffindor, you shall serve detention with me three times a week until the Christmas holidays, and I'll be writing to your parents about this incident."

Ginny's face turned as pale as snow at this last part, and while she was breathing again, it might almost more aptly be called gasping. The first two things McGonagall said she could live with, and she wasn't going to complain about them, but Professor McGonagall writing to her mother could lead to no good. However, she knew that she'd gotten off pretty lightly considering the results of her actions, and she supposed this was meant to off-set that. She also saw no real way she could fight back against it, and she silently warned herself to look out for any Howlers over the next few days.

There was something that was missing from McGonagall's listed punishments, so she decided to ask about that.

"Professor McGonagall," she started slowly, hoping that this wouldn't just remind her of another way to punish her, "you didn't mention anything about my position on the Gryffindor Quidditch team..."

"I could, if I so desired, remove you from the team," Professor McGonagall said simply, "but I've decided to leave that decision up to the team Captain, Mr. Potter. Once he wakes up, I shall be informing him of your recent actions, and let him make his choice."

"But, Professor," Ginny said nervously, "if it wasn't for me, Harry wouldn't be in the hospital wing right now! Cormac would never have replaced Ron, and Harry would be fine-"

"Miss Weasley," McGonagall interrupted, "you had no control over the actions of Mr. McLaggen, which I can assure you will be looked at with the utmost scrutiny. While you feeling guilty over your brother is reasonable, feeling guilty about Mr. Potter is an over-extension of your guilt that is unnecessary. I am leaving him in charge of whether or not you'll continue on with the team, though I will tell you, Miss Weasley, that I'll advise him to replace you."

Ginny expected this much, knowing any leeway left to Harry in regards to the Quidditch team would be tempered. She continued to sit glumly, wondering if this was all Professor McGonagall had for her. She noticed her Hogsmeade trips were left alone, but considering they'd been canceled until the next term anyway, maybe that was on purpose.

"That is all, Miss Weasley," Professor McGonagall said as she got up to open the door. "Hopefully you realize the seriousness of your actions, and I'd hope you don't attempt a stunt like this again. While it is always difficult to get to the underlying causes of sibling disputes, at Hogwarts there can be no answering such things with violence, period. I'll be devising your detention schedule later tonight, and will get it to you after your next Transfiguration class. Your parents shall be informed of the events of the past couple of days tonight."

Ginny nodded slowly, and walked out the door, which was quickly closed behind her. Shutting her eyes, she leaned against the wall for a moment and groaned. Mum will kill me, she thought, trying hard not to imagine how that conversation with her parents would go. Granted, Ginny could tell them what Ron said to precipitate it, and might not have any choice anyway, since she doubted her mother would be content with her not explaining things. That could drag Ron into it, but if that happened, her parents could easily force a family sit-down between the two, and that was not a conversation she would want to have in front of her parents, and doubted Ron would as well, come to think of it.

Oh well, not every Christmas can be looked forward to, she thought despondently. Sighing, she pushed herself off the wall and opened her eyes again. The first thing she saw was Dean, against the wall across from the door, though he was slouched over, and it looked like he was asleep.

Ginny stopped for a second and wondered what to do. She was dating him. She should go over, wake him up, and talk about what just happened. That's what she should do. However, she wasn't much in the mood to talk to Dean at the moment. What she really wanted to do was apologize to those who she wronged, though she was also going to get some sort of agreement with Ron to get him to stop acting like he had any say in her dating life, which really was the root of this issue, as far as she was concerned.

The problem was Hermione, though. She accused Ginny of betraying her trust by telling Ron about her and Krum, but Hermione had to have know she didn't mean it like that. She was angry, and she knew what would Ron would be most sensitive to, so she used it. That is how arguments between siblings went, after all. I mean, Ginny tried to rationalize, Hermione is an only child. I doubt she realizes how much of a prat we can be to each other when we want. And there's still the fact of what Ron was saying! Hermione is a girl, she can't just ignore that!

Ginny didn't figure Hermione would much care for these explanations though, considering it seems like Ron and her have finally gotten together and was bound to be a bit protective over him, but she had no idea what else to say.

Ron was her brother. It was inconceivable that they wouldn't get back to normal in time. Granted, this was a bit more of a heated row than they usually had, but with as much as a prat Ron had been getting about her relationships lately, she knew it'd eventually bubble up. And, well, okay, there was Percy, but that was completely a different case, as he'd always been a prat about everything anyway. Hermione was right, though. Angry as Ginny was, she had sworn to never tell anyone about her rendezvous' with Viktor.

She remembered clearly the night Hermione finally told her. It had been near the end of the school year, and Hermione had been in the library a lot without Ron and Harry, using some excuse of a secret project she didn't want help working on. It was probably unfair to call it an excuse, considering that Ginny had no doubt Hermione was doing something more than snogging Krum there. However, it seemed that's where most of her stories involving Krum started and stopped, in the library.

After swearing Ginny to complete silence, Hermione told her all about it, her face as red as Ginny's hair while doing so. She had seemed a combination of pleased, proud, and embarrassed about it, but she also seemed nervous while telling her. She once again told her that she was to tell no one, especially Ron. This was before Ginny had connected the dots between the two, so she'd always found it odd that Hermione would single him out as the one not to tell.

Well, she had connected the dots in time, and while she still fully believed that everything she said to Ron was true, she knew it must have hurt him badly. She could apologize to him, she figured. It'd be awkward, but she could do it, and would hopefully get one from him in return, though he might not be as inclined considering his current position. Looking at Dean, her course of action decided, she slowly walked down the hall away from him, wondering what could she possibly say to Ron, let alone Hermione.

Hermione was resting peacefully next to Ron. She hadn't been sleeping, and she had a feeling Ron hadn't been either, but she didn't really have any desire to remove herself from Ron's arm or break the silence to make sure. He had never answered her question, and Hermione had spent the last twenty minutes trying to figure out exactly how to help Ron see himself in a better light.

An annoying thing about Ron she'd noticed for awhile now was that if you complimented him, he'd either just brush it off as nothing important or get flustered and embarrassed that it was even brought up as a positive on his part. Hermione was figuring he might take this a bit better now that they were together, but they'd only with each other officially, what, four hours? It'd take her longer than that to get accustomed to the fact, and she figured it was the same for Ron.

She had at least one idea, though she didn't want to try it out until they were back in the common room, or more precisely in one of the nooks that allowed for a bit of privacy, since she wanted to ask questions that might be construed as embarrassing, especially by an easily flustered Ron.

She sighed, and nestled herself closer to Ron. This is a feeling I could very, very easily get use to, she thought as she tried to bite back a grin. She hadn't expected this to be so easy. There was a past between them that should have made this harder. He was much like the people she knew in Muggle schools at first, uninterested in learning new things (whatever else was a school for, she thought back then), caring more about making friends and using her to help with his homework. Yet he sacrificed himself on the giant chess board, a bravery Hermione had never quite been witness to before, and he helped Harry save her from the troll. In their second year, he defended her from Malfoy's attacks on her, and braved a basilisk to save his sister. There was obviously more to him then met the eye.

Then third year came along, and Hermione was still sometimes surprised they got through that at all with their friendship intact. His outright contempt at her just trying to keep Harry safe from Sirius was appalling, even though in the end her turning the Firebolt in turned out to not be needed. That hadn't been too bad, though. She knew she was in the right, and knew her friends would come back around to her when they realized it. With her work schedule that year, she had to admit it might even have been helpful at first.

The issue with Scabbers, though, was quite a different matter. He was so venomous about Scabbers that she could swear he'd never say a nice thing to her again, and with the thought that she'd hurt Ron's feelings like that, lost him a pet, and the added workload that grew over time, she just couldn't take it anymore. She didn't like to think back to her nights, her doing the best she could to keep from sobbing, wondering if she'd ever have friends again, wondering if she'd ever make up with him. Her long conversation with Hagrid at his hut after the incident on Hallowe'en, knowing she was probably saying too much, but just sick with her lack of contact with her friends, especially Ron, was also not a memory she liked to recall.

That multi-month row was the worst they'd ever had, thankfully, and while his actions about Viktor were generally unpleasant, he'd calmed himself down enough to not go overboard. At least, not since that night...

She turned away from Ron slightly, blushing. Ron would never know, unless he asked directly, but her first kiss with Viktor was a direct result of his obvious bitterness at her being with someone else. It was absurd, Ron's accusations, suggesting all Viktor wanted was to get information on Harry, or to have help figuring out the egg, as if Hermione would ever help him cheat like that. She was more infuriated than she'd almost ever been with him, especially when she knew that, deep in her heart (and some recent dreams at that point), she'd have gone to the Yule with Ron, if only he'd asked! No, it couldn't be because someone was interested in her for herself, it was her friends, or her brains, how could be possibly be her?

Her anger at Ron at that moment caused her, the second she found Viktor again, to drag him to a corner and reciprocate the small advances he'd been making that night. It had been her first kiss, and she amazed herself more knowing she'd initiated it, but she knew even then, as the kiss was breaking apart, that she'd been thinking of Ron more than Viktor during it, and had to turn away from him. She would have blushed anyway, of course, but she was terrified that something on her face would give away her thoughts. No doubt that knowledge added to her anger for the row they had that night.

Luckily, they never did talk about it afterwards, though she knew that would have to change soon, and while Ron would make snide remarks about Viktor, he did seem to try his best to reign in his thoughts, which Hermione appreciated. Their fifth year, they were too busy trying to help Harry with his problems that they never really had a huge row, which was a nice change of pace, but they sniped back and forth so often that Harry himself got tired of them sometimes.

All these ruminations on the past made her a bit sad. It should have been obvious from the beginning that she cared about Ron in a special way she didn't about anyone else, why else would she have remained friends with him at the beginning, such an uncouth, sometimes vulgar, dismissive, and insensitive boy? And yet she cared for him, and always had, yet it was only now she could talk to him about it. Granted, he might not have been mature enough about it even last year, but...

Hermione sighed again, shaking her head to stop the memories, looked down at her watch, and saw it was now noon. She didn't get dinner last night, and felt too nervous to get anything more than a light breakfast this morning, so she knew she'd have to go soon. She also knew they would have a lot of homework to do tomorrow. It's good all of this got dealt with on a Saturday and not during the week, she thought, smiling a bit, wondering how the next study session would go considering both their newly acquired good moods. She looked over to Ron and saw that she might very well have been mistaken, as he did look quite asleep. Her smile widened, wondering if this would be the first of many times she'd be laying next to a sleeping red head, but she decided she'd save thoughts like that for later.

She nudged herself up to a sitting position, being careful to move Ron's arm off her slowly, and glanced over at Harry. As horrible as it was to think, she was happy Ron's Quidditch injury wasn't as bad as Harry's. She had no doubt that an aimed Bludger to your face was worse than a Charmed Quaffle that only hit you by accident.

Well, okay, Ron did get hit in the head by the Quaffle, so I might be a bit off on that. Still, Harry is going to be okay, and Ron's certainly not too worse for wear, so as Quidditch injuries go, it's amazing, but I think we got off light here.

She still hadn't taken time to really think about what Ginny had done. While McGonagall hadn't confirmed it yet, Ron completely believed it, and it made sense to Hermione. Well, as much as something like this could make sense. She didn't quite know how it changed her feelings about Ginny. She accepted Ron's idea that Ginny had never meant him to be injured, but it was such a careless action. On top of humiliating Ron and breaking her promise to Hermione, this didn't help her feelings towards the youngest Weasley at all, which would most certainly complicate things.

There was still about two months left at Hogwarts, two months of homework and classes, but she was not in the mood for dealing with Ginny right now. To be fair, perhaps her feelings of anger and betrayal will die down in the meantime, but she was the one friend she thought she could talk to about, well, girl stuff in general. She wasn't nearly close enough to Parvati to just talk to her, and as for Lavender Brown...

She scoffed to herself, though quietly, as not to disturb Ron's slumber. She wasn't completely sure what Lavender had been up to since the year started back up. Her laughing at Ron's jokes and urging him on before the Quidditch trials did bother her a bit, admittedly, but she mostly tried to ignore it, even when Ron did pay more attention to Lavender than he use to in the past. Hermione wasn't positive, since this really wasn't her field of expertise, but she could swear Lavender had been flirting with him.

Oh well, she'll see Ron and I together and start ignoring him again, Hermione figured, though that did bring more worries. It's not like we're going to announce we're dating to the common room or anything. I went with Viktor to the Yule Ball, sure, but besides that we never did anything publicly. Ginny is pretty close with Dean right now, but they also do... things in private that I'm sure I'm not ready for.

She brightly blushed, thinking of some of the stories Ginny told about a couple of her snogging sessions, but she tried to push those away and deal with the actual issue at hand. She wasn't quite sure what she wanted to happen with Ginny. If I'm going to end up in a long-term relationship with Ron, she thought, looking down at the boy she'd been dreaming of for years now, then I'm going to eventually cobble up some kind of relationship with Ginny, even if it's just basic politeness.

Hermione sighed. She hated this. Ginny was like a younger sister to her, which was admittedly a bit odd, considering her very un-sisterly feelings towards Ron, and she liked that she had a girl she could just talk to. It had always been a bit hard, true, as Hermione never did talk openly about her feelings regarding Ron for fear Ginny would reveal them somehow to another member of her family, but it seems that had been a lost cause all along, if Ginny was truthful when mentioning Fred and George's ongoing bet.

Figuring she'd cross that bridge once she got to the stream, she sat ruminating about what exactly to do about all of this. She was startled as the door to the hospital wing started to open, and she felt paralyzed. She hadn't drawn the curtains around the bed before cuddling with Ron, a mistake in hindsight, and Pomfrey hadn't been out of her office yet, and as such, didn't move them either.

Wondering about how best to explain her current position to whoever was coming in, she was a bit relieved to see it was Ginny. Not relieved due to the fact that they'd actually have to talk before Hermione figured out exactly how to approach it, but at least she wouldn't have to explain why she was in a bed with Ron.

Ginny looked over at Harry for a moment, and Hermione wondered how much Dean would dislike the look on Ginny's face at this moment, as there was no way it could be construed as just a look from one friend to another. Hermione had told Ginny that Harry liked her now, though she wasn't quite sure how she'd use the information yet.

If she'd been a bit closer to Dean, she'd feel pretty badly for him, but she knew that it was probably her advice in the first place that led Ginny to getting with Dean. She'd advised that Ginny start seeing other people, to relax around Harry, and then Harry would notice her. It might have helped a bit, but it seems all Harry really needed was a shock to the system like seeing Ginny snog someone else.

Thinking about it this way, he was a bit like Ron. While Ron hadn't said when in their fourth year he'd started noticing his feelings, Hermione would have almost bet her life that it was when he saw her with Viktor at the Yule Ball. Some people can be real idiots when it takes jealousy to make them realize they actually like someone, she thought, though I guess it's better than never realizing at all.

"Hermione," Ginny said quietly, breaking Hermione away from her thoughts, and she saw that Ginny had walked over and sat down on the chair vacated by Hermione so she could get in a much more comfortable position, "you wanted to talk earlier. Well, I guess we can talk now, if you wanted. Is Ron awake?"

Hermione glanced down at Ron, and she noticed no changes to indicate he was faking his slumber, so she turned to face Ginny and confirmed he was asleep.

Ginny nodded, and silently looked at the two on the bed, then looked away.

"I'm sorry, you know," she started, looking at the wall behind Hermione as though it was an interesting novel, "I didn't mean to break my promise to you. I was angry and it just slipped out."

"Ginny, you told me you said that to make a point to Ron," Hermione said, matching Ginny's quiet tone, "that doesn't sound like it just slipped out to me."

"Look, I knew it would be the thing to most hurt him, so I said it. I didn't think about my promise to you at that point. The fact that I swore to never bring it up was beside the point right then. You know how rows can be, you've had them with Ron before. It's double that when it's your older brother."

"I got Ron's side of the story earlier, Ginny," Hermione replied, trying hard to keep her aggravation out of her voice, "and I told him that what he said to you was tactless. That doesn't give you the right to break your promises, or curse Quaffles-"

"Hermione," Ginny said, affronted, though she had to have known it was going to come up at some point, "you have to know I didn't mean for him to get hurt, right? It was a stupid thing to do, and I'll be in detention for two months, but I didn't mean for this to happen to him!"

"I understand that," Hermione said, looking away from Ginny, "but you didn't see him crumpled up on the pitch... the blood..."

Her voice hitched, but she'd cried way too much this past week, and she wasn't going to give into the images that she knew would stay with her in dreams for a while. Closing her eyes to gain her composure, Ginny spoke up.

"I know, and I'm sorry you had to see that. Hell, I'm sorry it happened, and not just because I'll be getting a Howler from Mum later. He's my brother. I told you. We get into arguments all the time, but he's still my brother, and I still love him. I didn't mean to hurt him."

"Physically, you mean," Hermione said, opening her eyes and looking at the disheveled Ginny. "You've already said you meant to hurt him when you told him about Viktor and I."

"I... well...," Ginny stuttered, obviously having no comeback for this, "that's not... I mean... it's different."

Hermione just looked at her, and had to stop herself before scoffing at such a weak explanation.

"Yes, Ginny, it is different," she said sadly, turning to look at the sleeping Ron beside her, "some kind pain does more damage over time, and isn't obvious at first glance."

Ginny quietly watched as Hermione looked at Ron, and Hermione wondered how Ginny and Ron's family would deal with the news of their relationship if it had happened in a normal way, not instigated by such thoughtless actions on both Ginny's part and Ron's.

"Hermione, do you have any ideas to help him with his... issues," Ginny asked awkwardly, and Hermione figured that Ginny had never given Ron's feelings a moment of thought until after their row yesterday.

"I have some," Hermione said evasively, not wanting to hex her idea by speaking it out loud. That was just silly superstition, of course, but she had grown up believing magic was only real in fairy tales, so she didn't feel she could discount things like this so quickly anymore. Unless it was one of Luna's impossible creatures, that was.

"Well, I hope you can do something that'll work," Ginny said sadly. "I may have lied to you about not thinking you liked Ron, but I honestly had no idea how he saw himself, if you're on the mark. I was hoping he'd be awake, so I could apologize for everything and, well, maybe get an agreement about how he should lay off on my dating habits."

"I think he's slowly coming around on that," Hermione said shortly, "but he is worried about what people might start saying. I know it's unfair, but he's not completely wrong that people could start saying things about you. I told him it was ridiculous, that'd you've only dated two guys in over four years, but he's still worried. He is your older brother; nothing is going to stop him from worrying about it, even if it isn't the right way to go about expressing it."

Ginny sat silently, and Hermione hoped she was considering some way she could be a bit more discreet while still dating who she wanted. Hermione turned a bit as Ron started to shift around, but she saw he was still asleep, or at least not quite awake. She was surprised when his newly scarred hand grabbed one of hers, though. He settled down, and didn't move again.

"You didn't say yesterday," Ginny said, looking at the expression on Hermione's face as she smiled down at Ron, "you don't just have a crush on him or anything, you like him a lot more than that, don't you?"

"Yes," she said simply, watching the slow movement of Ron's chest as it was rising and falling, the way his nose sometimes flared as he slept, "I do."

"Well," Ginny started, getting up from her chair slowly as to not make any noises that would disturb Ron, "I may not have been in a good mood earlier, but I do truly hope you guys are able to make this last. And I hope-"

She stopped herself, and Hermione put her examination of Ron's multiple freckles on hold while she looked up at the younger Weasley.

"What, Ginny?"

"I hope you'll forgive me at some point," Ginny said, looking Hermione straight in the eyes, "that someday we'll be friends again, like before all this. You know my Mum's going to wonder what's up if we're still not talking next time you come around to the Burrow, right?"

"Yes," Hermione sighed, frowning slightly, "I know that. I'm not sure, Ginny. I was really hurt by what you told Ron, when I specifically said not to. I'll have to think about this awhile. Thanks for coming down, though. I know you wanted to talk to Ron, but... this has been helpful too, I think."

"Yeah, it has," Ginny agreed, a sad smile on her face. "I'll talk to Ron later today, once he's discharged. I want to go think for a little, maybe talk to Luna or get lunch."

Hermione nodded, her own stomach grumbling at the word, and Ginny quietly crossed the room, opened the door, and left, though not without a long glance at Harry.

"Mr. Thomas, what are you doing here," a shrill voice asked, disturbing Dean from his slumber. Raising his head, he realized his was in slight pain, probably due to the fact he'd fallen asleep while hunched over and sitting on a stone floor. Above him he saw the stern face of Professor McGonagall looking down on him.

"Sorry, Professor," he said, standing up quickly, and reached behind him to rub his aching neck, "I was waiting for Ginny to come out of your office, and I guess I fell asleep."

"Mr. Thomas," she said, looking up at him (he'd had what he hoped would be his final growth spurt this last summer), "Miss Weasley left my office half an hour ago. Surely you noticed this?"

"Oh, uh," Dean stumbled, wondering why Ginny hadn't woken him when she left, if for no other reason than because he didn't want to be having this conversation with McGonagall, "I must have missed her, and she must have been in a hurry or something."

Professor McGonagall just shook her head slightly, staring up at him.

"Well, I'd suggest you go about finding her, Mr. Thomas. Perhaps she went to the hospital wing to check on her brother, or headed to lunch, since it is that time," she opined, and she headed down the hallway to the main staircase. However, she seemed to remember something, then turned around.

"It's come to my attention through my discussions with those involved that this dispute started due to Mr. Weasley catching you 'snogging' Miss Weasley."

"I, uh," he stuttered, having absolutely no idea what to say to this, nor what she was trying to say or imply herself.

"Mr. Thomas, this school contains over a thousand students, a third of them fourteen and older. We'd be more likely to discover a cure for death itself than to stop instances of this happening. However, if you insist on taking such... actions, please have the wherewithal to do so where you won't be disturbed."

Dean just goggled at her as she walked away, and he could have sworn he heard her muttering about talking to Dumbledore about setting up a sexual education class for the school.

He stood still for a second, and then started to head for the hospital wing, since that was one place where Professor McGonagall had suggested she might be. He went slowly, though, as he was still a bit confused as to why Ginny didn't wake him up once she left her office.

It's not like she didn't see me, he thought, pushing aside a tapestry hiding a hidden passageway leading to the fourth floor. I don't exactly blend into a grey, stone wall, after all. Why'd she just walk past me? I did my best to be supportive of her, I didn't tell her exactly what I thought of her actions.

Dean stopped halfway down the hidden staircase, a thought coming to his mind. Maybe that's the problem. Maybe she wanted someone to point out what she had done was wrong, and I didn't. Why didn't I?

He stood motionless for a moment, thinking about this. He knew what she did was wrong, and surely she knew as well. If this was the case, why not point this out? Did he care so much about his continuing relationship with her that he refused to point out that when she made a mistake? Thinking about it in this light, he had to admit that had been the case, which didn't make him feel good at all.

He continued down the stairs, and also through his train of thoughts.

If he had to describe himself, one word that'd always come up would be 'nice'. He considered himself a nice person, a good person, but this sometimes led to conflicts for him which he didn't know how to solve. Which was the nice thing to do: point out her flaws and risk being considered unkind, or try to be supportive and risk making it look like he didn't care about what she did?

He knew which action he took, but considering that Ginny just walked past him, perhaps this was the wrong action. It was a shock when she told him this morning, sure, but he'd thought he'd handled it correctly, only to have her distancing herself from him since then. It didn't help that Harry got hit by that prat McLaggen. She was close to Harry, he knew, being the best mate of her brother and all, and she took his injury rather hard.

Dean figured this was mostly because she slightly blamed herself for it. If she hadn't cursed the Quaffle and accidentally injured Ron, they wouldn't have needed to get McLaggen as the replacement Keeper, and the team would probably be in the middle of a celebration in the Gryffindor common room right about now. Of course, she had no way of knowing what McLaggen would do, but that was beside the point to her, it seemed.

He'd been awkward with her this morning after she confided in him, but she did confide in him, which was a good sign. True, her ignoring him after leaving McGonagall's office wasn't, but he'd ask her about that once he found her. Which hopefully would be now, as he was in front of the hospital wing doors.

Opening them, his eyes darting around the room, he saw no sign of his girlfriend, but did see Hermione standing next to Ron's bed, looking a bit downcast, but otherwise better than she'd looked yesterday, certainly. He decided to head that way; maybe Ginny had been here and Hermione saw her. Also, he admitted to himself, I can't help but want to make sure I heard correctly earlier. I was more than a bit distracted...

"Hello there, Dean," Hermione said in an almost chipper voice, and it didn't take two seconds to see that, one, Ron was awake, and two, was holding Hermione's hand. Happy to see you finally realized it, mate.

"Cheers," he started, glancing from Hermione to Ron, trying to keep his smile up in spite of the somewhat stony glare he was getting back from him. Of course he's not in a good mood right now, I'd be bitter too if my own sister put me in the hospital wing.

"Mate, I'm sorry about what happened. We really could have used you at the match today, it was a mess with McLaggen," he said, glancing behind him to Harry, who was currently being attended to by Madam Pomfrey, "and sorry about what Ginny did. Speaking of-"

"Speaking of Ginny," Ron cut in abruptly, "when did you learn about what she did? You seemed awful fast to race after her when she ran from the room earlier."

"Ron, we can talk about this later," Hermione started, but Dean just shook his head.

"It's fine, Hermione, I get why Ron would be upset about this. Look, Ginny told me this morning, but you have to understand, she didn't mean for you to get hurt. She didn't sleep well last night, and-"

"How the ruddy hell do you know how she slept," Ron interjected in a much too loud voice, and tried to push himself off from the bed, causing Madam Pomfrey to quit her examinations of Harry to attend to the eruption.

"Mr. Weasley," she said sternly, looking down on him, "I will not hear such words from you again, or you will not be receiving visitors until I discharge you, is that clear?"

Ron, extremely red in the face, gave a quick glance to Hermione and acquiesced, though granted he muttered his apology.

"Sorry about the language, it won't happen again, Madam Pomfrey."

"Quite right it won't, and you, Mr. Thomas," she said, turning on Dean suddenly and making him take a step back in surprise, "You will not antagonize my patients while they are in my care, or I shall ask you to leave. Understood?"

"Yes, Madam Pomfrey," Dean said earnestly, waiting for her to leave before turning back to Ron and frantically trying to explain the misconception, "I just meant that when I woke up this morning, Ginny was down in the Common Room, and it looked like she'd been crying. I wasn't... Ron, I haven't-"

"It's quite alright, Dean," Hermione spoke up, moving her hand from his to his shoulder, looking like she was trying to keep him from getting up. "Your relationship with Ginny is your business, not any of Ron's."

"But," Ron started to sputter, but stopped with a withering glance from Hermione. Ron sighed and stopped talking, though he crossed his arms and looked rather annoyed at the whole deal.

"So, Ginny told you this morning," Hermione started to ask, and Dean was wondering if he imagined the slight coolness in her voice, "was this after the Quidditch match, or before?"

"Oh, um, before the match," he muttered, but quickly hurried on as he saw Hermione's eyes flashing, "but I was going to speak up after the game, it's just I didn't get time before Professor McGonagall started to question you two."

"Well, okay," Hermione responded, her voice defrosted from what it was previously, "I do get it'd be a difficult situation, her being your girlfriend and all, but-"

"Since you bring that up," Dean interrupted, though as softly as he could, and turned to look at Ron, "I meant to tell you when I visited you last night, but you were still out. I get that you'd be unhappy seeing me with Ginny, being her brother and all, so I'm sorry you ran into us, and I'll try to keep it more private from now on."

Ron was muttering darkly, and Hermione looked over at him and gave an exasperated sigh and rolled her eyes.

"Thank you, Dean, though it really isn't any of our business, like I said before," she reiterated, seemingly trying to keep herself from frowning at Ron's stubbornness. "Anyway, I was about to head down to lunch before you came in, and Ginny said that she was going down when I last saw her, so maybe you'll have better luck finding her there?"

Dean could have laughed, wondering how obvious for how long it'd been to her, the actual reason he was here in the first place.

"Might as well try there," he said, and looked to Ron again, "I'll see you later, mate, just try to feel better soon."

Ron grunted some response and heard Hermione fiercely whisper to Ron as he turned around and took another look at Harry, who still seemed out, and headed for the door, hoping to have better luck in the Great Hall.