Chapter 41 :

Harry and Theo were once again eating snacks in a random corner of the castle.

"Now that I think about it, I had a question for you !" Suddenly remembered the Gryffindor. "Ron said that your smile under a cheering charm killed a girl in first year -I think he called it the Cheering Charm Incident-, is it true ?"

"Hm..." Pondered the Slytherin, wondering what this was about. "Do you mean Sally-Anne ?"

"Yeah...?"

Nott nodded to himself, he now understood what Harry was asking. He had to hold back a sigh in aggravation though : Hogwart's students really had nothing better to do than gossip, uh...

"It is Truth that the charm made my grin a little too enthusiastic for the poor girl." He answered. "She did downright faint just from seeing it. But she didn't die, she was just taken out of the school because her parents were a little overprotective."

"That's all ?" Cried out Harry in surprise. "Wow, rumors sure grow in unexpected ways..."

"I think the fact the whole the study group -including the upper years- also fainted after seeing my rictus did more to my Legend than her so called death. If I remember correctly, Anisa -Slytherin's official Scribe- named this incident « The First Hecatomb » in her version of my biography. "

In truth, the students who saw his smile from the periphery stayed catatonic for three weeks. And Sally-Anne, who took the full brunt of it, spent two months in coma, left the Wizarding world and was still going through therapy even now. But Harry didn't need to know that, right...?

"A biography, really ?" Deadpanned the green eyed boy.

"A Slytherin thing." Snorted the young Nott. "We are drama queens to a fault."

Later in the Gryffindor Common Roon, Harry was lazying in front of the fireplace with Ron. Beside them, Hermione was fiddling with a book, turning the pages without reading them.

"What's wrong, 'Mione ?" Asked the young Potter. "You're being weird."

Blushing at being caught, the girl let out a flustered chuckle.

"Actually..." She started shyly. "I was asked out to the Yule Ball by a boy..."

"Congratulations, Hermione !" Exclaimed the green eyed boy genuinely happy for his best friend.

A bright smile answered him.

"I don't know what to do, though." Admitted said best friend before asking timidly. "Do you think I should accept ?"

"I don't know... ? It depends on how you feel around the guy ? What do you think, Ron ?"

The sudden question rebooting his brain, Ronald left his stupor.

"Holy. Shit. Hermione's a girl !" He whispered as he realized it for the first time in his life.

"Ron !" Exclaimed Hermione, aghast when she heard his mutter. "How dare you insinuate that I could be anything other than a girl !?"

"It's not that ! It's just- ! You're my best mate, 'Mione ! Like a sister !" He pleaded, trying to make her understand.

"Well I am both a sister and a girl ! What's wrong with that ?" She harrumphed.

"Impossible !" Vehemently denied the young Weasley. "Sisters aren't girls, Hermione. They're sisters."

"I. AM. A. GIRL !" Insisted the Gryffindor girl, starting to get mad for real.

"YOU CAN'T !" Strongly refused the red headed boy.

There was a strange panic and urgency in his voice. Harry -who had enough survival instinct to stay away from this disaster in the making- knew at once that there was more to this dispute than what was said, that Ron had some worries he couldn't properly express. But Hermione was too deep in her anger to notice anything. She hit him.

SLAP !

"You jerk ! I knew you had the emotional range of a teaspoon, but you're going too far !" She cried out. "I'm a girl ! I have boobs ! And since you're too childish to admit that you can have friends of my gender, I'll go to the ball with someone who can !"

She then stomped away, the other Gryffindors parting like the sea in front of her fury. Harry winced. Things would be dicey for a while between his two friends. He didn't want to choose a side but... even if Ron was looking at him with the most heart breaking puppy-eyes he had ever seen...

"You deserved it." He deapanned to his best friend.

"I know..."

The green eyed boy shook his head in resignation.

"Think about what you've done, Ron." He said, leaving his brother in all but blood to his reflection. "And apologize to Hermione once she has calmed down."

Ron was therefore left alone in the Common Room, frustrated and scared. He knew, theoretically, that Hermione was a girl. He understood but... it was still a big problem.

He had recently discovered that girls were nice, you see. And he liked Hermione, as a friend. She was smart and pretty and funny and had the cutest Hair he had ever seen. He loved how she mumbled under her breath when concentrating, the way she could read and comprehend books at the speed of light, the way she couldn't help but laugh when Harry and he were being silly... the way she smiled, and pouted, and scowled, and wasn't afraid to punch even Malfoy... He was terribly fond of her, you know, as a friend.

But if she was a girl... If she was really a girl, wouldn't that mean that he had... a crush on her... ? Merlin, he hoped not ! It would make things way too weird ! Had you seen Harry with his crush ? It was awkward just being in the vicinity ! How he swooned and blushed and flailed and sighed like a goddamn sap... Ron couldn't be that. He didn't want to be that !

He sighed anxiously.

Let's give up and go to bed : if a crush was anything like a cold, it should go away after a good night of sleep.

AN : Wait, if the rumors about Sally-Anne were false from the beginning... What happened to Pucey...?

Also, you don't need boobs to be a girl. Hermione is just really proud of hers.