"Honestly Ron, you're not making any sense."
As it was usually the case at that time of the day, the library was packed. Even more so now that it had to serve a considerable amount of foreign students as well. Hermione didn't want to have this argument here, of all places, but she knew it was long overdue.
Without slowing her pace, she skimmed the third shelf to her right and swiftly found the book spine she had been looking for. After shaking the dust off from the book's cover, Hermione put it on top of the other two she had and then, with a small effort, she picked them all up. Of course, she found Ron's frown waiting for her as she turned around.
"Neither of you is," she clarified.
Hasty steps took her in the opposite direction, as she made her best to avoid the argument. She knew Ron wasn't about to give up though. Not even close.
"What's that supposed to mean?" the boy asked, as he followed.
Hermione rolled her eyes before letting the books down with a thud on the first empty desk she found, "What it means..." she said, turning to her friend. A young boy from Hufflepuff rushed by their side, Hermione waited until he was out of earshot before staring directly into Ron's eyes, "It means that all of this is beyond idiotic. You miss him and he could certainly use your help right now. But instead, you're stubbornly ignoring each other. All because of some stupid sense of pride."
For a moment, Ron's frown faded. Although, when it came back, it did so with a grunt, "He's the one being a prat! If he just told me how he did it, things would be done with. I wouldn't mind."
"If he just told you what exactly?"
"How he put his name in," Ron said, looking down to his trainers.
"Oh, please! You don't really believe that."
"'Course I do!"
It was Hermione's turn to frown as she stared at Ron harshly. "Are you going to stand there and tell me that you actually believe Harry put his name in the Goblet of Fire? For real? Because, if that's so, you better not look away when you do it."
That took Ron aback for a tic. Hermione held his look, daring him to lie to her face.
"I, er..."
His hesitation was all that Hermione needed. "Thought so," she said as she took a seat and opened the first book. Ron sighed and sat across from her in defeat, letting his shoulders down. Ten seconds later, unable to focus on her work, Hermione raised her eyes, "Just tell me one thing, Ron. Did you ever believe it? Or were you mad about something else?"
"Something else? Like what?"
That was the question, wasn't it? No matter what Ron said, it always felt like an absurdity that he actually believed Harry put his name in the goblet. It would require an impressive amount of magic to bypass Dumbledore's protections, a level of magic Ron was properly aware Harry did not possess. Then there was no motive, quite the opposite. Unlike some of the other boys who daydreamed about quick glory, Harry had never expressed a serious desire to be part of that blasted tournament. And, if by some barmy chance Harry had had the means and motive to do so, he would have totally told Ron about it beforehand. She was positive about it. Maybe Harry could have feared telling her, especially considering the firebolt incident from last year, but Ron was his eternal partner in crime.
Ron knew all that by heart. As clearly as he knew the Cannons' lineup.
Then why had he reacted as he did? Why had he put a strain on his friendship with Harry if deep down he knew Harry hadn't lied? Was he just being irrational? There was some of it for sure, but that wasn't the sole reason. Hermione, who knew Ron as well as she knew Harry, had a solid idea of what the problem might be.
