"Umbridge is reading your mail. There's no other explanation to it," Hermione announced thoughtfully, sitting with her arms crossed, staring at the croaking frogs around them. Of course, she'd already managed to silence hers, who was sitting dutifully next to her, as though in staunch agreement.

"That's not fair!" Lavender hissed, shaking her head, "I don't think she has the right to do that."

What had once just been the 'Gryffindor Trio' now included the entire Gryffindor class, Seamus mused. Sure, Ron and Hermione still sat closest to Harry, but he surely wasn't alone anymore.

They might not be in Ravenclaw, but they could still all figure out something wasn't right now. Harry was being unfairly accused.

"I think somewhere there's probably an agreement," Dean scratched his head, lunging for his frog as it jumped halfway in the air, cussing slightly, "For reasons in case someone's trying to do something bad. Like poison half the school. Who knows?"

"Okay, but-," Lavender scowled, "This is an abuse of power!"

"Preaching to the choir," Harry muttered, flicking his wand furiously. His frog just croaked louder in response.

"Well, how about ya write in another language?" Seamus suggested, "Gaelic?"

"I don't speak Gaelic, mate," Harry chuckled.

"Oh! What about French?" Lavender piped up, "I've picked up jus un peu because of Louis, and it's not that hard."

"You haven't picked up French," Parvati snickered, "You've picked up how to say ' Baise-moi ', if we're being generous."

Seamus didn't speak French, but from the way Hermione choked on her breath, he could imagine what it meant.

"Parvati!" Hermione hissed, "Wait…how do you know that?" She realized, frowning.

"I tried to learn some French when I learned that Beauxbatons was coming. One of the girls taught me 'all I needed to know', that included." Parvati said simply, "A phrase I'm sure Lavender uses all the time-,"

"Wait, what does that mean?" Ron asked, knitting his eyebrows together.

"We'll tell you when you're older, Ron," Lavender teased.

"Okay, well, Seamus makes a good point. There has to be a spell to mix up letters so they can't be read except by the intended recipient, right?" Hermione mused out loud, "Ron-your frog?" Ron was still scrutinizing Lavender, trying to guess what the phrase meant.

"I think Umbridge is determined enough to try to break through it." Harry said glumly, "Maybe I just need to speak in really unclear code…" He mumbled, wistfully staring at his frog, "What do you think?" He asked it, semi-sarcastically, but only semi, as though if it responded, Harry would take its suggestion under heavy consideration. It seemed he was that desperate.

It croaked loudly in response.

"There has to be a better answer," Hermione pouted. She glanced at the clock on the wall, wincing, "Time's almost up. You all better get your toads silent." She suggested.

Seamus watched her lean back in her chair, picking up one of her books. Seamus caught a glance at the cover.

Step-by-Step Guide to Magical Knitting.

"I didn't know you knit," Seamus said, tilting his head. Hermione blushed bright red for some reason, choking back a sound of surprise.

"Trying to learn."

"Wait…" Seamus blinked, "Didn't I see you with that book, Lav? What, you've read the entire Hogwarts library, so you're moving through your roommate's novels?" He teased.

Hermione shut the book but kept her finger on the page.

"Don't you have a frog to spell?" She asked.

"It is one of mine. And it's the best book I've ever read," Lavender said sincerely. Hermione rolled her eyes.

"Lav, really? Your frog." She said pointedly.

"Err…good on you, Lav?" He asked. He didn't take Lavender as one for knitting either, "Will I ever see the fruits of your knowledge?" He asked, waving a hand toward the cover.

Parvati broke out laughing.

Seamus was sure there was some grand joke he was left out on until he looked at the other boy's faces and realized they were equally as confused.

"No, not anymore, Seamus. But you might see Hermione's work if you ask nicely." Lavender giggled, winking at him.

Hermione was as red as could be now, even more than before, blood rising to her face.

"Do I…" Seamus squinted, frowning, "Could I…will you show me your knitting sometime?" He asked uncertainty. He was sure that question was wrong, but he had no idea in what way, shape, or form.

All three girls burst into quiet giggles, even Hermione, which made Seamus think that he had missed an important piece of information here. He scoured his brain, trying to remember if he'd blacked out. Though, if he had blacked out, he obviously wouldn't remember what it was he was so obviously missing...

"She'd love to, Seamus!" Parvati was laughing so hard she was nearly crying.

"Sorry, oh, Merlin Sea, your face-," Hermione was trying to regain control, "I'm sorry, terribly so. Uhm, sorry-,"

But she couldn't provide him with an answer. It was so bad that she had to hand her frog to McGonagall, excusing herself early.

"I don't know what's going on at all," Harry whispered, leaning over.

"Me neither," Seamus agreed. Dean and Neville were horrified into silence.

Ron shuddered.

"Women. Best not to ask any more questions, I think." He said, corralling his frog away from them, "I'll ask Ginny later. I'm sure she knows."

When he asked later, Ginny just laughed in his face.

XXX

"Working on a way to scramble letters?" He asked, coming up behind Hermione in the Gryffindor Common room as she worked diligently adding spells quietly to a parchment.

"Sort of. I mean, no," Hermione said, pausing to turn, "It's for Harry's class."

"Oh? He agreed?"

"I think he has," Hermione said, "Sirius was all for it, and well, he really values his godfather's opinion."

"Naturally."

"So I was just thinking, it might be good to have a record of sign-ups."

"So Umbridge can string us up all at once?" Seamus teased, though only part of him was joking.

"Well, actually the opposite. I need to make sure that no one is going to spoil the party prematurely, right?" Hermione said. Her eyes were gleaming. That same gleam that often made him nervous; the look right before she put Skeeter in a jar or told Ron off for being a right git.

It was a wild sort of beauty, something untapped and untamed. Usually, his fear was more on the 'sexy' side of emotions, as in 'Wow, I'm scared but very attracted to her right now', but something about this look made him pause.

"Sure…" He agreed hesitantly.

"So I'm making a sign-up list." She said.

Seamus was almost afraid to ask, "And what will this list do?"

Hermione grinned, motioning for Seamus to lean in close, "I have no sympathy for betrayers. And I think everyone should know what sort of a friend they are."

Seamus started back, "What are you planning, Hermione?" He asked. His voice was firm and worried.

"A complex charm. If anyone tells on us, they'll have 'SNEAK' written across their face in pimples. If we're going down, we might as well know who to blame." She said hotly.

"Merlin, Hermione, that's-,"

"Brilliant?"

"Deranged!"

Hermione blinked twice, the air escaping from her grin, "What?" She asked, unseated by his response.

"You're bloody joking, aren't yeh?"

"I'm not, Seamus Finnegan," She said, scowling, crossing her arms.

"You need to be."

"I need not be anything, let me remind you," Hermione said icily, "Or at the very least, I need only to be whatever I deem appropriate, not by whatever standards you choose!"

"You're going to ruin someone's entire life over…over an extracurricular club?" He sputtered, "Are you mad?"

"If they betray our trust, they deserve this! And far worse!" Hermione argued in hushed, furious whispers.

"It's a bloody homework class!" Seamus hissed back, "A way to make sure we don't fail our end-of-the-year exams!"

"It's so much more than that, Seamus!" Hermione said, eyes wild.

"Yer acting like it's life or death, like we're all adults and not stupid, hormonal children that sometimes make mistakes or bad choices!" Seamus tried to wrangle the paper away from her, fully intending to light it on fire.

"It is life or death!" Hermione said, snatching it from his fingers, "If you think this is all fun and games, wake up, Seamus!" Hermione said, the most angry he'd ever seen her, "Voldemort is back, he's trying to kill Harry and you think he'll just let us all go? He's a madman! He'll kill us all if he could!" She said, fingers clutching the paper so tightly it was white, tears gathering in her eyes, "So we need to be prepared! When he comes, we need to be ready!"

It wasn't malice that drove her; it was fear.

Still…

"I don't know if any of the others know that," Seamus said.

"What do you think Defense classes are for?" Hermione asked cooly, "Hogwarts Professors know real danger is out there, otherwise, it wouldn't be necessary from first year on."

"Yeah, but-," Seamus bit his lip, "Most students will never face real danger."

"Maybe before," Hermione said, gathering her things with quick, angry movements, "But it's a new era. And I'd rather be ready than not, wouldn't you?" She asked.

Seamus scowled up at her, watching her leave.

He didn't go after her.

XXX

Their argument sent ripples far past just their own lives.

Seamus knew Hermione could hold a grudge, but so could he.

He was very firm in his opinion that this was way over the line and was certainly not going to apologize; not first, anyway.

The next day after, they didn't sit next to each other at breakfast. Lavender noticed immediately at scurried over to sit with Hermione, sending him furious looks.

"We dated, Lav? Do you have no sense of loyalty?" He muttered when Lavender brushed his shoulder angrily as they moved between classes.

"Girl code, Finnigan," Parvati sniffled as Lavender ignored him, looking like she wanted to also gouge his eyes out, "Duh."

They didn't sit together in their classes, nor at lunch, or dinner (though, she was just absent from dinner, and probably all the better.)

By the time dinner had rolled around, the rumors were rampant.

"I heard Krum proposed to her!"

"I heard she found Seamus cheating on her with a 7th year!"

"I heard that they were having sex, and he set her head on fire! See, her hair's just a bit shorter than yesterday-,"

"I'm going to stab my ears out," Seamus groaned, wishing he'd had the foresight to miss dinner like Hermione had.

"On the bright side, they're not gossiping about Harry anymore!"

"How is that 'on the bright side' for me?" Seamus asked, picking his head up to stare at Ron.

"Err…right, guess not. You should thank him, Harry!" Ron nudged his friend, who just looked at Seamus with pity.

"Why do they care so much?" Seamus waved a hand.

"We're rather famous," Ron said, grinning, puffing his chest out, "It's not you, it's her."

"You're really not making a bloke feel better."

"What was the fight about?" Harry asked.

"I…I don't know if I feel comfortable sharing." Seamus said, knitting his eyebrows. Though it was Harry's class if they didn't already know…

"Did something happen while you two…were…you know…" Dean asked, eyes wide, "That's the most believable rumor, of course-,"

"No!" Seamus took his parchment and slapped Dean with it, "Oi! Aren't you meant to be on my side?"

"Hermione might kill me if I do," Dean said, shuddering.

"There are no sides, forget it, it was a joke. It's not that serious." Seamus muttered, standing.

But it sort of was.

Adam cornered him in the Gryffindor Room.

"Heard you and Hermione have broken up-,"

"We have not," Seamus said shortly, "We're just in a row."

"Er, right, sure," Adam seemed unconvinced, "I just want you to know that if you do…you're still Prefects."

"Don't worry, Adam," Seamus sighed, "Really."

"I'm just saying, it's not a very adult look for any of us right now."

"I didn't bloody start the rumors," Seamus muttered darkly.

"I'm not saying you did. But could you perhaps look like you don't want to strangle her whenever you're in a room with her? I gave her the same talk," Adam crossed his arms, "Whatever it's about…find a way to be less explosive. I know that's hard for you-,"

"I'm going to bed," Seamus pushed past Adam "Goodnight," He said curtly.

He went to bed early, tugging the covers over his head.

All he could think was that if this got back to Ma, she'd be thrilled.

Ah-fucking-amazing.

XXX

Ten days into not talking to Hermione, Ron sat across from Seamus in the common room.

"No, no, no," Seamus muttered, grabbing his things. He was sure this would be a 'big brother' talking to, and he just frankly wasn't interested. Sure, he'd gotten closer to Harry since dating Hermione, but he and Ron still did not like each other. The only thing holding them civil was the fact they both didn't want to see Harry dead and happened to be in Gryffindor, a duo of traits shared by nearly 40 others.

"Wait! Hear me out!" Ron said, blocking his path.

Seamus clenched his jaw.

"It's not what you think."

"You have thirty seconds to get my attention," He muttered. He caught Hermione across the common room. His whole body ached not talking to her, but he was a Gryffindor…he couldn't excuse his values for a girl.

Even if it was Hermione Granger.

Hermione saw him across the way and turned around sharply, Lavender and Parvati with her. They both shot him glares. He hadn't talked to Lav since the fight, since she was giving him an up-turned-nosed silent treatment.

He wondered if they even knew the full truth of what this was about.

"Look, you'll only ever hear me say this once. I was wrong."

This did catch Seamus' attention. He snapped his head back, dazed.

"What?" He asked, sure he'd misheard him.

"You really, really, really need to get back with Hermione, Seamus."

Seamus collapsed back in the chair, utterly confused.

"Wait…I thought…" He gesticulated helplessly, "Wouldn't you be throwing a party about us fighting? Whispering in Hermione's ear that I wasn't ever worth it?"

Ron's eyes were wide, "Trust me, mate, I thought I would be. But I am literally begging you."

Seamus crossed his arms, "Why?"

"Look," Ron sighed, rubbing his face, "Hermione's a tetch annoying on a good day-,"

"Hey!" Seamus snapped furiously, "She is not!"

Ron threw his arms out, "See? That! Exactly! You're the only one I know that can put up with her." He said, and then blocked himself, as though expecting an attack, "And I mean it in the nicest of ways."

"Doesn't seem like it," Seamus snarled.

"I may have realized in these last few days she's like a sister to me. Honest. And I would absolutely say that about Ginny, yeah? The shit about her being annoying?" Ron said, which, well, did make it a bit better, "I'm sure she thinks that about me too!"

He wasn't wrong...again?

When did Ronald Weasley start being right about things? This whole breakup was really changing the status quo, Seamus thought.

"So what? She's become so 'annoying' that you need her interests elsewhere?" Seamus asked dubiously.

"Sort of, yeah," Ron rubbed the back of his neck, shuddering, "Bloody nightmare these last few days, Finnigan. But it's because she misses you."

Seamus felt his stomach flop, but couldn't speak. Ron just kept talking.

"She was so much happier with you, I see it now. I just couldn't get my head out of my arse. And you're never allowed to repeat this to her, but yeah, maybe I did fancy thinking of myself with her. But now that I theoretically could-,"

"We're not broken up," Seamus interjected hotly.

"Whatever. I could. I think," Ron scratched his head, "I'm 100% uninterested. I guess I was just…I dunno," He rubbed his sneaker into the fraying carpets, "And I wouldn't be what you are for her. No one here would, I think. Just you. So please, put me and Harry out of our misery and make up with her."

"Harry agrees?" Seamus asked, now catching Harry lurking nearby.

"Oh, totally. He just doesn't think we should be getting in the middle of it. But I figured if I talked to you-,"

"I'd know it was serious." Seamus chuckled. If it hadn't come from Ron's lips, he wouldn't have believed it. It had, and somehow Seamus was sure it was still a trap.

"Exactly."

"So if we do get back together, you'll never have a bad word about us again?" Seamus asked suspiciously.

"Well, on occasion, but purely joking," Ron said, "Mate, you make Hermione go back to normal, and I will be both the best man and maid of honor on your wedding day."

"I think we're a bit far from that," Seamus chuckled, his ears turning red at the thought.

"Whatever, you get what I mean."

Seamus rolled the request around in his mind, "Hermione's stubborn. I could apologize and I'm not sure she'd take me, even so."

"You haven't seen her. She's staying away, because if she got too close to you…" Harry broke in, coming to stand next to Ron, "She might forget the whole fight. Is it that serious?"

"I don't know."

He didn't know if it was worth losing Hermione over, honestly. Until now, he wasn't sure he'd considered breaking up a true possibility.

"Let's start again, right?" Ron offered, holding out his hand, "Hi. I'm Ron. We've shared a dorm for five years and I'm bloody thrilled you're dating Hermione. Match made by the Gods. Couple of the Year!"

Seamus grabbed his bookbag, rolling his eyes. He needed a quiet place to think

"Too much?" Seamus heard Ron ask Harry as he departed.

"Maybe. But I'm proud of you, Ron." Harry clapped his back.

"Think they'll get back together?"

"Merlin," Harry groaned, "I sure hope so."

XXX

The rock skipped seven times, making perfect arcs and geometric ripples on the water's edge, before sinking to the bottom of the lake.

Seamus dug his hands near the bank, searching for another one. His fingers grasped a stone, and he ran the pads of his fingers around it, measuring its quality.

As he threw it, he could almost hear the laughter from a very young Seamus nearly ten years ago, begging Nathair to teach him how to throw rocks.

Back before his other brother became the biggest prick alive, he was almost…kind.

And then those snakes got their fangs in him, Seamus was sure of it.

He recalled, in dusty memories, how Nathair had crouched down to an over-eager Seamus while they were visiting his grandparents, who moved out by the water and helped Seamus find a handful of perfect rocks to skip.

"No magic?" Seamus had begged, tired of being unable to do something because he was too little to use this wild thing everyone else could do.

"No magic," Nathair assured, "Just practice and aim."

Of course, none of Seamus' rocks had made any skips, at the age of five, but he'd watched Nathair do it all hols long.

And when he'd skipped his first rock at the age of seven, he'd been so excited to write Nathair. He'd been even more excited when his older brother had written him back.

That was just about the last time he recalled Nathair being friendly toward him.

Anyway…

He threw the rock with as much gusto as he could and counted fourteen skips before the giant squid rose out of the water, and Seamus was almost sure it was glaring at him.

The rock skipped back to his feet.

"That was a good one."

Seamus turned to see Hermione coming down the grass towards him, a sweater hanging off her shoulders.

"I think I've been told off by a sea creature, so," Seamus said, picking up the stone and throwing it up, catching it in his palm. He wasn't sure how to talk to her. Were they meant to be civil? Furious? Sad?

"Look, can we talk?" Hermione asked, standing on the balls of her feet, rocking back and forth gently. Seamus snorted.

"Ron get to you too?"

Her expression changed, "What do you mean? Oh, Merlin, what has he said now?" She groaned, "I will kill him-,"

"No, no, it's, erm, forget it," Seamus waved a hand away, wincing hard. It would be pretty bad if he started this new friendship with Ron by getting him murdered, "Just…well, you were looking for me?" He asked, scratching the back of his head.

"I've been thinking about what you've said," Hermione began hesitantly, sitting down on the grass. She patted next to her.

"For eleven days?"

"I know that sounds barmy, but truly," Hermione frowned, "I tend to ignore other people's opinions. But I do hold yours highly. Even if I disagree."

"Oh," Seamus deflated, "So you're still…"

"I'm not sure," Hermione began, which settled Seamus' worried stomach, "Is this the right thing, Seamus?"

"I think you know my opinion on it."

"Not really. I know that you dislike my methods for security but on the class as a whole…" She swallowed, "Perhaps I'm having doubts."

"Oh?"

"Harry got the approval from his godfather, which is pretty much as good as being kissed by the Queen to him. But I'm worried that Sirius has been caged for so long he's eager for action. Living through us, wanting to go back to the old days of the first Order. You made a good point…we are just kids. And if we do this, we'll be breaking at least fifty school rules, and I'm sure Umbridge will make more to nab us, and it's a lot to risk. And I was eager too, and you saw where that brought me... So…should I try to talk Harry out of this club?"

"I think…" Seamus frowned, "I think the inception if it isn't bad. But somewhere, your lines have gotten crossed."

"How so?"

"Well, we need practice if we're going to survive O.W.L.s. But we're not talking about a war. There's a difference in teaching between those two. If you don't get a spell right for the first, well, maybe you just won't score high marks. But if you mess up and it's the latter…you'd die, right?" Seamus explained, "And I imagine that that would take a toll differently on who is teaching. If Harry sees us all as people he can't save…what will that do to him, too?"

"He wants us to be prepared," Hermione whispered quietly.

"Okay, fine, sure," Seamus said, "Let's imagine for a second we are. But if people get injured during class, what then? And are you putting an age minimum on it? What happens if a first-year just wants to learn some fun new charms and walks into a lecture where he's told he might die if he doesn't get his wandwork right?"

"You make a fair point."

"And Lav, though she might be on our side for a lot, isn't thinking of war. She and Parvati are thinking of Flitwick's class tomorrow- and sure, you might say 'well, they should be thinking of war', but they just aren't. And if they spend all their time and none of these things make a difference on their OWLS, when they could have been studying? That's not fair to them."

Hermione was silent.

"Maybe war breaks out. Maybe it doesn't. But most of us worry about homework this weekend. I know all the shit Harry went through, and I can't wrap my head around it sometimes. Or what it would feel like to have to use a defensive spell to protect myself. I guess…you need to be clear about what this club is. Is it a practice aid or is it a militia forming?"

"We'd never force anyone to fight that didn't want to," Hermione whispered quietly, "They could just...bow out. I wouldn't blame them. Merlin knows Harry wouldn't."

Seamus tapped his wand against his leg, "Ah."

"It's just…hard. To separate the two. Knowing what I know." Hermione admitted, "For Ron and Harry too. So you don't think we should?"

"I'm not saying that. I think you need to realize where other priorities are. It sounds like it's different for you three, but we're not there."

Hermione was quiet, "If the result was…good scores, but along the way, we also…taught you all how to better protect yourself…"

"Well, bob's your uncle, I guess," Seamus said.

Hermione gave a long, tired sigh.

"No 'Sneak' papers?"

"Certainly not," Seamus said, the idea still leaving a bitter lingering taste on his tongue, "We'll figure something else out. Something that doesn't permanently damage someone. I get we have to keep it secret, that's not lost on me."

"We?" Hermione asked hopefully.

"Well, sure. Unless we're just…going our separate ways."

Merlin, he hoped not.

"Is that what you want?"

He gave a bark of laughter. He'd been here before; luckily he was smarter than Yule-Ball-Seamus.

"Absolutely not. I'm dying without ya, Hermione."

"Good. Well, no, not good, but…" Hermione leaned in, pushing his chin to the side so she could kiss him, "I miss you too. And I don't want to break up either."

Seamus wished they weren't in such a public place, because he would have grasped her waist and pulled her on top of him. As it was, Hermione hummed into his lips, clearly having similar ideas.

He pulled back.

"Hey, answer me one thing…" He said, scratching his neck, "What's the whole deal about knitting?"

Hermione's cheeks flushed red, all the way up to the tips of her ears.

"Don't…don't laugh…"

Seamus frowned, "Why would I laugh at you? Have I ever?"

"True, but…" Hermione swallowed, "If you laugh at all, we are breaking up permanently, Seamus!"

"Okay, clear as day. I will choke back any laughter that might appear," He said, entirely serious, hands out. Hermione narrowed her eyes, trying to decide if she believed it.

"It's…" She winced, closing her eyes in preparation for humiliation, "Wizarding books…"

"Books about knitting?"

"No…not exactly. It's, uhm…" Hermione dug in her bag, thrusting the book toward him, "Here. It's easier for you to just…read."

Seamus humored her, opening the first page to find it a chapter book, not what he was expecting. He opened it to where Hermione had carefully bookmarked, read three lines, and then slammed it shut.

Now it was his turn to turn bright red; there had been language that he had been wholly unprepared to encounter. Language that his mother would entirely have an issue with. Language that even he, as a teenage boy, blushed at.

He looked at Hermione, confused, sure she handed him the wrong book. But at her level gaze, he decided that she knew exactly what it was, and ventured back in. Perhaps he'd read it wrong.

He had not.

He wasn't amused, per se, but very confused.

"You're reading…Wizard adult romance books…in plain sight? Well, hidden, I guess," He said, seeing the sparkle of an enchantment on the cover as he turned it.

"Yes."

"Oh." He wasn't sure what to say, "No wonder there was such a fuss about it," He added, "With your friends."

"I was curious," Hermione said, taking it back, "Of course, not up to my usual par of literature-,"

"Of course not," He teased.

"But still…educational nonetheless."

"Educational?"

Hermione floundered, "I know you'd tell me to go off feelings, but I'm not built like that Seamus. So I have to research. And Merlin knows a lot of this is exaggerated, but it gives me a better idea than any clinical book could…so-,"

"Wait, you're doing this…because you're…in our relationship…you…" Seamus felt his mouth go dry.

"I mean, they're not unenjoyable outside of that purpose, but for ease of explanation, yes."

Seamus screwed his eyes shut. He tried to think of the worst things he could; his older brother kissing someone, his grandma at the beach last summer, the Weasley product that made people puke…

"What are you doing?"

"Trying very hard not to seem inappropriate right now," Seamus groaned. At Hermione's confused face, he chuckled, "Luv, the idea of you reading that and thinking of me, even for a second…well, you might as well have just stripped naked in front of me."

"I didn't mean to."

"Don't be embarrassed. If we were more alone, well…" He swallowed, "I guess just keep anything that jumps out to you in that book on hand, and while I'm not as suave as the heroes in those pages, I'm sure we could figure it out." He added with a wink.

Hermione hit him with the book good-naturedly.

"I thought for sure you'd laugh at me."

"You?" Seamus echoed earnestly, "Never, ever. Not about things that matter to you." And he meant it.

"So we're okay?" Hermione asked, tentatively.

"We never weren't."

XXX

In the Common Room, when they returned holding hands, Dean let out a sigh of relief. Neville clapped his hands.

"Finally!" Eloise said, "Bloody nightmare these last two weeks when they were fighting..."

Lavender and Parvati looked up and squealed, immediately trying to pull Hermione away to ask questions. Harry looked up and nudged Ron, who looked up for a moment from his chess game.

He saw Hermione's fingers interlaced in Seamus. All he did was blink, not in surprise or disgust, but just in acceptance, and went back to his game.

This confused Hermione, who was still not privy to the previous conversation. Seamus saw her work through it, sure it must be some way he was messing with her.

Seamus was still unconvinced he was serious too.

She turned, grasping Seamus' cheeks and pulling him into such a heated kiss that Adam came over, scolding them both for such public displays.

And still…nothing?

"Not a comment to be found, Ron?" Hermione asked curiously.

Ron looked up, a bit put out to be distracted "No, none."

"Seriously?" She asked, exasperated, "You've been horrible about us for months, and now you're just…done?" She sputtered.

"Yeah."

"I call bullshit, Ronald Weasley," Hermione said, crossing her arms and narrowing her eyes.

Ron made a move against Harry, not even bothering to spare her another glance, and shrugged casually, "Believe what you want, 'Mione, but I like to think I've simply…matured."