Hermione clambered through the portrait as quietly as she could. She was surprised to find a small fire still burning in the common room. At such a late hour most students were in bed. But the scratch of a quill could be heard and Hermione smiled when she saw whom it was.
"Ron," she called out softly.
The redhead glanced over his shoulder at her and grinned. He was sitting at a parchment-strewn table; his Charms book lay open before him. There was also a plate of sandwiches near his arm.
"Hullo Hermione, how're your hands?"
"Better I think," Hermione lifted them so that he could examine them in the firelight. "Hungry?" She asked nodding her head at the plate.
"Those are for you, since you didn't come to lunch or supper. Harry and I figured that you might be hungry if you ever came out of the library." Ron turned back to his homework and sighed glumly.
Hermione settled herself in the chair next to him and started to pick through the stack of sandwiches, searching.
"The cheese sandwiches are on the left side, I told Harry that you only liked cheese, but Fred and George convinced him that you had a secret love of tuna and pickles. Honestly, I wonder about Harry sometimes, he's so gullible."
"Thanks Ron," Hermione exclaimed gratefully as she set down yet another tuna and pickle sandwich and found a nice safe cheese one. "I hadn't meant to miss dinner, just got distracted."
Ron looked back at his Charms book like it had suddenly become the most interesting piece of literature ever written. "Malfoy again?" He asked quietly without glancing at her.
Hermione stopped chewing and looked at Ron hard, he had gone remarkably still and was trying very hard to sound casual. "No, just some schoolwork, the project for Arithmancy."
"Look Hermione," Ron started but Hermione interrupted.
"Ron, I don't want to fight, please I'm tired."
"Do you think that's all I want to do is fight?" Ron looked at her now and his eyes flashed furiously for a moment. He took a deep breath and continued, "I just wanted to say that, well that..." He stopped again and looked back down at his book, "Harry and I, we don't understand what you see in that ruddy git but well..." Ron swallowed hard, "Bill says that girls do very silly things and that we shouldn't worry too much about it."
Hermione found herself trying to decide whether she should be mad or irate. She stood up and set the rest of her sandwich down.
"Now Hermione, don't take it like that!" Ron stood up and caught her arm, pulling her back. "Look, you know I'm not good at this, I should have kept Ginny up so that she could explain for me."
Hermione sat back down and crossed her arms, glaring at him.
"I just meant that, well, we might not understand what you see in that," Ron paused when Hermione's glare darkened, "in Malfoy, but we're still your friends. It's important that you know that. Through thick and thin, right?" He studied her face for a minute, unsure of what she was thinking.
Hermione sat stunned for a moment while Ron watched her fearfully. She stood up slowly and Ron stepped backwards, almost afraid that she might throw something at him. He was quite right in that thought, of course, as Hermione threw her arms around him and burst into tears.
"Hermione?" Ron asked anxiously as she pressed her wet face into his chest.
"You and Harry," she said in a shaky voice, "are my best friends in the world. I love you two so much." Her voice cracked and she sniffed.
