"So, Harry, fancy a game of chess?"

Harry Potter looked up from his History of Magic essay to meet the freckled face of his best friend, Ron Weasley.

"What? Your game with Hermione’s already ended?" he asked surprised, seeing that it was hardly ten minutes since it had started.

Ron grinned. "Pretty much. For a smart girl, Hermione can be extremely stupid sometimes. Left her queen right it the path of my knight. And you know how my knight is, don’t you?"

Hermione Granger, who has still sitting across from Ron, scowled. "I had to!"

"Oh, really?" Ron said and analyzed the board. "Yeah, I guess so. You had to sacrifice your queen, so you could spare your… rook. Your logic’s amazing."

"You know how attached I am to that rook!" she protested.

"Then you should just marry it," Ron retorted. "I’m sure it’s a much better catch than Krum, anyway."

Hermione rolled her eyes. "Why can’t you leave me alone about him?"

"Because he’s a stupid git!"

Harry heard Hermione start to give Ron a nasty reply, but decided to ignore both of them until the argument was over – which would probably take quite a while – and keep on doing his homework instead.

Ron had actually been ok about Viktor Krum in the end of fourth year, he had even asked for an autograph; Harry actually thought things would be all right between them. But good things don’t last, and in the beginning of this year Hermione informed them she and Viktor were officially a couple, and ever since, Harry had to put up with her and Ron’s bickering all over again. Every single week, Ron would go on and on about how Viktor was a git, and how what he was doing was-

"-child molesting, really!" Ron exclaimed, right when Harry decided that it wouldn’t hurt to hear their argument, after all.

Hermione gave Ron and icy glare. "Shut up. You have no idea what you’re talking about."

Ron returned her look. "Oh, don’t I? Would you care to explain me, then?"

"Viktor’s a gentleman, ok? He would never, ever molest me. He’s far from it."

"He’s far, alright," Ron mumbled. "What kind of relationship do you plan on having with someone you can only see once or twice a year, anyway?"

Tap, tap, tap.

They all turned to where the noise was coming from and saw a brown owl tapping the window. Hermione stood up, shrieked, "She answered!" and hurried to the window to let the owl in.

"Who answered?" Harry asked curiously, while sitting down across from Ron, in the seat Hermione had been occupying just seconds before.

"Samira," she answered, while untying the letter from the owl’s leg. "You know, Viktor’s sister, who I became friends with in Bulgaria."

Harry simply answered, "Oh," and then asked Ron, "So, still willing to play chess?"

Ron grinned. "I’m always willing to beat you mercilessly, Harry."

Harry didn’t argue, and instead said, "Well, I guess I’ll play with Hermione’s pieces, I’m too lazy to go and pick up my own."

"Ok, but just for the record, Hermione’s pieces are extremely afraid of mine. The last game was a massacre, wasn’t it, Hermione?" he turned to their bushy-haired friend, who was currently reading Samira’s letter with a concentrated look on her face.

"I don’t think she heard you," Harry said.

"Reckon the letter’s really interesting," Ron answered, and then cracked his knuckles. "Alright, Harry, you’re white, you start."

Harry started to give orders to Hermione’s pieces, who gave him a "Hey, you’re not Hermione" look, but obeyed him nonetheless.

He and Ron had been playing for about five minutes when Ginny approached them and asked, with a concerned look, "Hey, do you know what’s gotten into Hermione?"

Both the boys looked up from the board at Ginny, and them at the couch Hermione was supposed to be - and wasn’t.

"Where is she?" Harry asked.

"Yeah, what happened?" Ron added.

"I have no idea! I was coming into the common room at the same time she was storming out so I bumped into her, I was going to say sorry when I saw that she was already gone. It all happened so fast, I’m not even sure if it was really her; but since she’s not here, it probably was."

"Oh, well," said Ron standing up, "I guess I’ll go see what’s going on with her."

*

Hermione stormed into the girls’ bathroom and leaned on the wall beside the sink, crying softly, and cursing herself mentally for being so sensitive. She felt ashamed of herself for caring about something like that, but at the same time couldn’t help doing so.

She slid down the wall and sat down on the floor, just when she heard a noise. Someone was coming in. The door creaked open and she caught a glimpse of the person. Ron.

He peeked slowly, glancing around carefully to make sure no one saw him looking inside a girls’ bathroom. "Hermione? Hermione, are you there?"

Ron looked down and noticed her sitting on the floor, her face buried in her knees. He gave one last glance behind him and entered quickly, closing the door behind him. "Why’d you storm out like-" he stopped short as she looked up with her tear-strained face. "Oh."

Hermione wiped the tears with the sleeve of her robes and stared at him. "Ron, what on earth are you doing here? You’ve never ever followed me when I stormed out crying, so what possessed you to do it?" Her voice was unusually high.

He shrugged and said casually, "I’ve matured."

Hermione sent him an annoyed, skeptical look.

He raised his hands in mock defeat. "Ok, I had no idea you were crying."

"Fine," she said with impatience. "But I am, so get out."

"No," he said simply. Then, probably realizing he couldn’t just say that, he added, "If I had known you were crying, I would never have followed you, because God knows how uncomfortable that makes me. But since I didn’t know it and I did follow you, I can’t leave now. That would make me look like an insensitive prat."

"You are an insensitive prat," she hissed.

But Ron didn’t look offended. If anything, he looked amused. "Hey, hey, what’s with the hostility?" He ran a hand through his fiery hair, something he did very often. "I mean, I know you’re having a hard time and everything, but you don’t need to take it all out on me, I’m pretty sure I still haven’t messed up today."

Hermione turned angrier by the second. She glared at him and said fiercely; pronouncing every syllable slowly, "Go. Away."

"Sorry, Hermione," Ron said, "I know you want me to leave, and I really want to leave, but I can’t. Now I’ve got to perform my duties as a friend."

"You are not the person to do that, call Ginny."

"Oh, no. I am your friend and I’ve got the right to stay here."

"No, you don’t. This is a girls’ bathroom," she retorted.

Ron intently ignored Hermione’s remark, and sat down on the floor next to her. "So, since I’m not leaving, you might want to tell me what’s wrong."

"No, I don’t. It’s stupid," she said.

Ron nodded. "I am absolutely sure it is."

"Oh, thanks a lot," she replied sarcastically.

"Anytime," he answered, intently ignoring her harshness. "Well, you can start to tell me now, because you know I won’t leave you alone ‘til you do."

Hermione looked exasperated. "Honestly, Ron! Can’t you get it through your thick skull that I don’t want to talk about it??"

"Can’t you get it through your thi– er – your skull that I’m not giving up?"

"Damn," said Hermione under her breath.

Ron heard it, since he was sitting just beside her, and gaped mockingly. "Did I hear correctly?? Miss Perfect Granger swearing?" He shook his head. "I’m extremely disappointed! What would McGonagall say if she was here right now?"

Hermione gave him an icy glare. "She would probably say you’ve got a detention for being in a girls’ bathroom."

Ron smiled to himself as he noticed that she wasn’t crying anymore. "Yeah, probably. I guess you’ll have to tell me before she finds me here, then. You wouldn’t want it to be your fault that I got a detention, would you?"

"My fault?? You’re the one who won’t leave me alone!"

Ron rolled his eyes and looked at his watch. "Look, I’m starting to lose my patience here, can we do this soon? You are a very stubborn lady, did you know that?"

"You’re way more stubborn than me."

"I am a strong willed person and proud of it."

"You, a ‘strong willed person’?" Hermione laughed menacing. "Try ‘insufferable git’!"

"Is there a reason why you’re so bitchy?" Ron said as Hermione finally started to get to him.

"Watch your language," Hermione said, in a would-be-casual voice.

Ron, starting to raise his voice, said, "Don’t you dare tell me what to do, you bossy-"

He was cut off by Hermione, who suddenly blurted out, "Viktor broke up with me."

That caused him to drop all of his defenses. "What?"

Hermione wasn’t looking at him. "You heard me."

"But he - why?" Ron looked dumbstruck.

She shrugged. "Apparently he fell in love with some girl."

They were silent for a second, neither of them really knowing what to say until Ron spoke, "Hermione – er – I didn’t mean to yell at you."

She smiled slightly. "It’s ok."

"And also…" he continued uncertainly. "Well, I guess I’m not the best person to tell you this, because I hate the bloke’s guts and under different circumstances I would be the first one to throw a party to celebrate him out of our lives, but I… I don’t know, for some odd reason I understand what you’re feeling."

"And why’s that?" Hermione asked interested. "Were you hurt when Lavender dumped you?"

"Not really," he said nonchalantly, and then winced when he remembered the day Lavender broke up with him in the middle of the Great Hall. "My pride was, though."

"Were you ever depressed about a girl at all?"

"Er… No. Not really. Maybe I don’t really understand what you’re feeling, after all," Ron said.

Hermione started playing with a lock of her hair and said softly, "No, no. You do understand, because I’m not crying about the break up."

Ron gave her an extremely confused look. "You’re not?"

She shook her head. "I received the letter from Viktor telling me about the girl and breaking up with me three days ago."

"Three days?" He stared at her in indignation. "Three days and you didn’t even mention it to us?"

Hermione stared back at him and Ron saw that, though she wasn’t crying anymore, her eyes were still bloodshot. "Ron, please, not now. You can yell at me later."

"Ok, it’s just that I thought-"

"I know," she interrupted, "I’m sorry I didn’t tell you sooner."

Ron nodded. "So what is it you’re crying about, then?"

"I received an owl from Samira today." Hermione sighed and looked down. "She asked me if Viktor had told me about the girl - Ingrid, I think that’s her name. Anyway, Samira said she was the one who introduced Ingrid to Viktor, and about two weeks ago she caught both of them – you know – kissing, and then forced him to owl me and tell me everything. Viktor hadn’t mentioned that part of the story to me in his letter."

Ron grabbed her arm to force her to look his way. "Wait a second there, Hermione. You mean the bastard was cheating on you?"

"Pretty much," she answered in a small voice.

"The son of a bitch!" Ron’s face flushed with rage and his grip on Hermione’s arm tightened.

Hermione grimaced. "Ouch! Ron, my arm-"

He didn’t seem to hear her, even though he let go of her arm and stood up, pacing around the room. "Oh, now I have to go over there and beat the crap out of him." His voice was lower, but the anger seemed to be rising.

Hermione noticed that his fists were clenching and she too stood up, following Ron with her eyes. "Ron…"

"No, really, I’m going to kick his stupid Bulgarian arse so hard that he won’t be able to ride that damn broom of his ever again!"

His reaction was starting to scare Hermione. "Ron, calm down, I’m-"

"Calm down?? CALM DOWN??" he shouted.

"Ron! The noise - they’re going to find you here-"

He stopped and turned towards her. "Hermione, the jerk thinks he can go around groping some bimbo while he’s committed to you! I mean, how much of an asshole can he be??" Ron ran his fingers through his hair. "The fucking git can just go to hell, because no one’s willing to put up with his bullshit anymore." He sighed and fell silent.

Hermione, realizing he would finally let her talk, approached him cautiously and said softly, "Look, I appreciate you concern, and for once I won’t give you a lecture about the absurd amount of swear words you were able to pronounce in a minute, but, to me, the fact that he was kissing her is more disturbing than the fact that he was cheating on me."

Ron’s look of anger was replaced by one of confusion. "Aren’t kissing her and cheating on you the same thing?"

"Yes, but-" Hermione suddenly looked extremely self-aware. She shifted her weight from a foot to the other nervously, and then mumbled, "He’s never kissed me."

Ron gaped. "What?"

“I don’t know why on earth I’m telling you that,” she mumbled.

But he didn’t pay attention, since he was still too busy being stunned. "But I thought - I mean – he was - you were dating!"

Hermione gave him a glare. "I know that." She sighed loudly, grabbed him by the arm and started to push him out the door. "Actually, you are not helping, ok? You’re just making me feel even more like a freak. Now get out and forget I ever told you this."

That remark was enough to make Ron recover from his surprise. He released himself from Hermione’s grip and said in an assuring manner, "You are not a freak, ok? If anyone’s a freak, it’s Krum."

She leaned against the wall and rubbed her temples. "I want to believe you so badly, Ron, but I just can’t. For one thing, Viktor has no problem at all with kissing girls. Ingrid’s there to prove it. He kissed her the second time they met; I dated him for six months and he didn’t even try." She looked like she was about to start crying again. "And also, how on earth can I believe you when you didn’t even acknowledge me as a girl until last year?"

Ron looked helplessly at her. "That’s because I’m a thick-headed moron! And Krum’s another one."

Hermione started shaking her head slowly as tears started to run down her cheeks once more.

Ron was completely clueless and extremely uncomfortable. "Don’t cry, Hermione, please. Maybe he never had the opportunity to do it?"

"Oh, please, there’s no such thing. You can create your opportunity, if you really want to," she managed to say, and angrily wiped the tears away.

"Maybe he cared too much about you?" he said tentatively and then grimaced, not believing what he had just said.

"Fat lot he cares. Dumping me for someone he only knows for a little more than a week, and shamelessly cheating on me in front of his sister. Yeah, you can just feel the love in the air," she said bitterly. "I've already analyzed this to death, Ron. The only explanation is something I’ve been trying to deny all my life: there’s something wrong with me."

By that point Ron was desperate. "Come on, Hermione, that’s ridiculous. Of course there isn’t anything-"

"I knew you were going to say that. I think I’m ridiculous too." The tears were now sliding freely down her face, and she seemed to have given up on trying to wipe them. "I’m not supposed to care about stuff like that. I mean, I am Hermione Granger, the bookworm, the know-it-all, right? I don’t even think about those things, no, I’m too busy studying for the O.W.L.'s or something. That’s who I am, isn’t it? But you know what? I’m sick of it! I’m smart, of course, but that’s not all I am! I’m also a teenager, and most of all, I am a girl. Why doesn’t anybody see that?"

Ron didn’t know what to answer, so he just stared worriedly at her.

Hermione looked sadly at him. "Yeah, that’s what I thought." There was an uncomfortable pause. "I just wanted to know what makes me so unkissable."

"You are not unkissable!!" he protested.

"Yeah, right." Hermione answered skeptically, her voice cracking.

Ron walked to her, grabbed her by the shoulders, and looked into her eyes as a way of assuring her of the veracity of his words. "Hermione, you are not unkissable, ok? In fact, you are extremely kissable. If bloody Krum can’t see it, screw him. It’s not like he matters."

Hermione was avoiding his eyes, and Ron could see that she wasn’t believing him. He sighed, and said softly, "What do I have to say to make you change your mind about this rubbish?"

"Nothing you say will change my mind, Ron."

Ron hesitated for a moment, and then, making up his mind, wiped her tears away with his thumb and said hoarsely, "All right, you asked for it."

And then he kissed her.

Hermione opened her eyes wide with shock, forgetting for a moment what she was crying about, forgetting for a moment about everything. Then she relaxed, closed her eyes softly and started to slowly kiss him back.

Ron put his hands around her waist, pulling her closer to him and kissing her harder, as Hermione started to unconsciously stroke his hair.

They could have gone on like that for a long time if Ron hadn’t suddenly tensed as though he had finally realized what he was doing and let go of Hermione abruptly.

"I – er – have to go," he mumbled, avoiding her gaze. "I’m inside a – you know – girls’ bathroom, and I’m – hum – not one." Then he turned to the door and left, shaking his head.

Hermione slid down the wall until she was sitting on the floor and stared at the door Ron had just gone through. She took a deep breath and brought a finger to her lips, trying (and failing) to deal not only with the fact that her best friend had just snogged her inside a girls’ bathroom, but, worst of all, she had enjoyed it.