𝐈𝐓𝐄𝐑𝐀𝐓𝐈𝐎𝐍𝐒 - Harry Potter x Fem!Reader¹

12.. GRYFFINDOR VERSUS RAVENCLAW

It looked like the end of Ron and Hermione's friendship. Each was so angry with the other that Y/N couldn't see how they'd ever make up.

Ron was enraged that Hermione had never taken Crookshanks's attempts to eat Scabbers seriously, hadn't bothered to keep a close enough watch on him, and was still trying to pretend that Crookshanks was innocent by suggesting that Ron look for Scabbers under all the boys' beds. Hermione, meanwhile, maintained fiercely that Ron had no proof that Crookshanks had eaten Scabbers, that the ginger hairs might have been there since Christmas, and that Ron had been prejudiced against her cat ever since Crookshanks had landed on Harry's head in the Magical Menagerie.

Personally, Y/N highly doubted that Crookshanks had eaten Scabbers. For one thing, Crookshanks seemed too clever to leave such obvious evidence lying around. Plus, if he really wanted to munch on an old, aging rat, Y/N suspected he wouldn't be so obvious about it. And quite frankly, she didn't think that the loss of an old rat was big enough of an issue to break a friendship up.

Ron had taken the loss of his rat very hard indeed.

"Come on, Ron, you were always saying how boring Scabbers was," said Fred bracingly. "And he's been off-color for ages, he was wasting away. It was probably better for him to snuff it quickly — one swallow — he probably didn't feel a thing."

"Fred!" said Ginny indignantly.

"All he did was eat and sleep, Ron, you said it yourself," said George.

"He bit that bully on the playground for us once!" Ron said miserably. "Remember, Harry? When we were younger?"

"Yeah, that's... true," said Harry.

"His finest hour," said Fred, unable to keep a straight face. "Let the scar on some sixteen year old kid's finger stand as a lasting tribute to his memory. Oh, come on, Ron, get yourself down to Hogsmeade and buy a new rat, what's the point of moaning?"

Ron had pulled Y/N aside more than once, venting about how irresponsible Hermione was, trying to get her to agree that Crookshanks had eaten Scabbers. Hermione, meanwhile, would corner Y/N in the library, sighing about how unfair Ron was being, as if she expected Y/N to tell Ron herself that he was overreacting. Each time, Y/N would listen, give an obviously strained smile, and steer the conversation away

Spending more time with Hermione had come naturally — they were both girls, after all. But she noticed Hermione's workload only increased along with the tension, leaving her even more stressed. Y/N seemed to be one of the few things helping Hermione stay afloat, even though Y/N herself felt stretched thin by the feud.

In the end, though, she spent most of her time with Harry. He didn't try to pull her into the dispute, and he did the same in trying to avoid it. Even though Harry sat with Ron during meals while Y/N sat on the other end of the table with Hermione, they'd share exhausted looks from across the table whenever Hermione and Ron couldn't seem to be able to last two minutes without glaring at the back of each other's heads.

Quite frankly, Y/N was sure that their friendship would've all gone to hopeless shreds if she and Harry hadn't made up.

And because she did know how much Scabbers meant to Ron, Y/N persuaded Ron to come along to the Gryffindor team's final practice before the Ravenclaw match in an attempt to cheer him up. She managed to get him hooked when she offered him a ride on the Firebolt after they'd finished. This did seem to take Ron's mind off Scabbers for a moment ("Great! Can I try and shoot a few goals on it?") so they set off for the Quidditch field together.

Madam Hooch, who was still overseeing Gryffindor practices to keep an eye on Y/N, was just as impressed with the Firebolt as everyone else had been. She took it in her hands before takeoff and gave them the benefit of her professional opinion.