Ron looked at Harry with confusion. This was the third time he'd caught his best friend reading Hogwarts, A History in as many days and he was starting to wonder if he'd gone barmy.
"Hey Harry." Ron called out and watched as his best friend finished the sentence he was reading before placing a bookmark on the page and closing the book.
"Yeah?"
"Why are you reading that book? It's just a bunch of boring old facts about the castle and staff." Ron asked and watched as Harry's cheeks colored slightly.
"It's uh… easier if I show you. C'mon, follow me." Harry stood and made his way to the other side of the common room where his girlfriend and Ron's other best friend Hermione was seated at a table, parchment, ink, and quills spread out in front of her.
"Hey, Hermione?" Harry asked, and Hermione huffed in response, clearly frustrated with the interruption to her homework time.
"Yes?"
"I keep seeing sources stating that Barnaby the Benevolent was an incredible headmaster, but the truth of the matter is he was more biased towards blood status than any of the supposed worse headmasters before him. I believe this is caused by centuries of whitewashing performed by purebloods to make those sympathetic to their cause look better. What do you think?"
Hermione's eyes snapped up and immediately she started putting her things away. She stood quickly and began to speak hurriedly. "Give me two minutes and we can go discuss this somewhere privately." she said over her shoulder while rushing towards the dormitories.
Ron looked at Harry confused. "So, you're learning about it to discuss with Hermione?"
Harry smiled and his eyes took on a faraway expression. "At first, yeah. But it turns out Hermione really likes that book, and likes when I talk about it, so we don't wind up talking for long."
"What do you— Oh!" Ron said and he could feel a blush heating its way onto his cheeks.
"Yeah." Agreed Harry, his smile broadening. "Oh."
Just then Hermione sprinted back down the steps and grabbed Harry by the hand, pulling him towards the exit without so much as a goodbye. Ron could hear her speak quietly as she pulled Harry away. "You're going to tell me all about why Barnaby the Benevolent is the worst headmaster of the 14th century and you're going to do so in excruciating detail." She said as she disappeared behind the portrait of the fat lady.
Ron swallowed thickly and looked towards Lavender who was seated on the couch. He quickly picked up a discarded issue of Witch Weekly and began to flip through it, taking in the words greedily. If it worked for Harry, surely it could work for him too.