The Three Brothers: The Cure

Trolled

31st October 1991

"She's mental, that girl. No wonder she hasn't got any friends— she drives them all away!" Ron remarked to Harry, as they were exiting the Charms classroom.

Harry was about to tell Ron that she wasn't that bad when he was suddenly bumped on his shoulder by a hurrying figure. The tell-tale brown bushy hair that turned around the corner meant only one thing—Hermione had overheard Ron. A loud groan escaped Harry's mouth; one mirrored at that exact instant by Mark from behind him.

"Come on mate," said Mark. "Why did you have to be so rude?"

A slight guilty look appeared on Ron's face. He turned towards Harry.

"You think she heard me?"

"Yeah, I think she heard you," scoffed Harry.

"She's probably been hearing that all her life," added Mark, stuffing the books in his hand inside his bag. "It doesn't hurt to be nice."

Ron looked sufficiently embarrassed at this but still tried to defend himself.

"Well it doesn't hurt her to stay out of my nose, does it?" he said, "Why does she always have to show off how smart she is. You're smart too, but you don't rub it in our faces."

Mark just gave an audible sigh and walked off towards the Great Hall, silently shaking his head in disappointment. Somehow this had more effect on Ron than any words could have. Realising what he should do, Harry turned to Ron.

"I think you should apologize to her," he said. At the look of growing horror on Ron's face, he continued more firmly. "No, look—it is your fault. She was just trying to be nice—just trying to help. What if it had been you trying to help her? With flying or something?"

At this Ron's face dropped. "Alright, Fine. I'll apologise to her in the next class. You're right, I was being a git."

Satisfied, Harry gave him a nod and started walking towards their next class. As much as Ron was prone to being thick at times, Harry couldn't exactly blame him in this situation. Of course, Ron had been rude, and Harry did agree to the point that Mark had made earlier. But if he was being honest, then Hermione had practically called the situation upon herself. It had only been a matter of time.

Ever since the incident with the three-headed dog, the girl had kept an annoyingly close eye on the two of them, trying to ask about their whereabouts and plans every time they stepped out of the common room. Every. Single. Time.

If that wasn't enough, she deliberately tried to pair herself with one of them—more often Ron than Harry—hovering over their attempts and giving repeated suggestions and unwanted advice. It had all culminated in today's Charms class, where they were supposed to be learning to perform the Levitation Charm.

Ron, supposedly mispronouncing his spell, was unable to get his feather to float in the air. And Hermione had not been able to help herself.

"You're saying it incorrectly. Its Wing-gar­-ium Levi-o-sa, so make the 'gar' nice and long," she said, in a voice loud and clear for the whole class to hear. Ron, sufficiently embarrassed and irritated asked her to demonstrate if she was so confident. And so, she did, with a puffed chest and triumphant smile on her face.

Ron may have been rude, but he wasn't exactly wrong.

As they entered the Transfiguration classroom, Harry was surprised to see Hermione missing. The girl was usually the earliest to arrive. Harry nudged Ron to go and sit on an empty seat—allowing Hermione to join him later so he could apologise. With a small groan, Ron grudgingly nodded and did so.