The class soon let out, and the Gryffindor students gratefully packed up their things and practically dashed the hell out of that classroom. Ron hung behind, waiting for Hermione and Harry.
"So, Herms," he said while the three of them walked out of the classroom together, "how many pages of notes did you take this class period?"
Before she could answer, Harry burst out laughing. "Herms?!" he choked out, over his guffaws. "You call her Herms?!"
Ron's ears turned pink. "So what if I do?" he asked defensively. "She likes it, don't you, Herms?"
Hermione smiled uncertainly. "Um, sure," she replied, but Harry met her eyes and knew that she, too, was on the verge of bursting out laughing.
"ANYway," continued Ron, "what do you reckon of the Mazel Ball, Harry?"
Harry looked quickly at him. "What do you mean?" he asked.
"I mean, are you going to take Parvati again?" Ron sniggered.
Harry rolled his eyes. "Grow up, Ron."
"What, what?" exclaimed Ron, opening his eyes wide in an innocent fashion. "What did I say?"
"Oh, Ron!" snapped Hermione. "Don't be so immature! Harry can go with whoever he wants to the ball! Oh, and," she continued, an evil grin spreading across her face, "if I remember correctly, I seem to recall who you went to the Yule Ball with. Are you- planning to take- her, again?"
Ron's ears had turned a brilliant shade of red. "Come on now Hermione, don't bring that up," he muttered, staring at his shoelaces.
"Oh?" asked Hermione coolly, obviously taking great pleasure at Ron's embarrassment and discomfort. "But it's fine for you to bring up Harry and Parvati?"
"All right, all right, I get your point," muttered Ron, his face now burning as bright a red as his ears.
"He's right, Hermione," Harry agreed. "Don't want to push him over the edge, now do we?"
Hermione grinned at him. "Of course not," she agreed. Then, her tone became brisk. "Now, you two have never passed your yearly exams without my help before in our years at Hogwarts, so-"
"Hang on, hang on," interrupted Ron loudly, who seemed to have recovered from his momentary embarrassment. "You say we've never passed without your help. Well, what about second year? You were Petrified in the hospital wing! We did all the work ourselves, and we still passed!"
Hermione was staring at Ron as if she couldn't quite believe what she was hearing. "Exams- were- canceled- second- year-" she snarled.
"Oh," said Ron, his ears slowly starting to turn pink again, "right."
With a disbelieving glance at Harry and an impatient "tuh", Hermione's brisk tone returned. "So," she went on, "I've written up a study schedule for the both of you. You're to follow it strictly, without any rule-breaking or escaping, hear?"
As if on command, Harry and Ron both saluted sharply, went "Hile, Hermione!", and dissolved into fits of laughter.
Hermione rolled her eyes. "Sometimes, I find it quite hard to believe that you two are my best friends," she said.
Harry grinned at her. "And sometimes, I find it quite hard to believe that you're a girl," he responded.
"What, you want me to spend more time with my hair?" asked Hermione. "My makeup? My clothes? My-" - with a fit of disgust - "-nails?"
Harry and Ron both burst out laughing again. "Oh, my God," choked Harry. "I can just imagine you painting your toenails and curling your hair!!"
"And applying your eyeshadow!!" joined in Ron, also choking on his laughter.
"Well, hey," said Hermione nonchalantly, "how do you know I don't do any of those things?"
Harry and Ron both stared at her. "You're joking, right?" asked Ron. "You're- you're not serious?"
Hermione did look very serious for a few seconds, but then burst out laughing. "Right," she choked, "like I would ever care about such petty things as outside appearances!!"
"Well, Hermione," said Ron quite cheekily, "you certainly looked quite- quite- quite beautiful at the Yule Ball in our fourth year."
Now it was Hermione's turn to blush. "Yeah, well," she responded, getting defensive, "what was I supposed to show up in? Old robes and bushy hair?"
"Well," began Harry, "I can assure you that even if you had, you would've still been exceedingly beautiful."
Hermione met Harry's eyes. For the third time that day, that whooshy feeling flooded through Harry again. He stared into Hermione's eyes for a second, and then-
"Um, guys?"
Ron's voice broke the aura again. Harry and Hermione both blinked and looked away from each other. Harry glanced at Ron, who was looking between him and Hermione.
"What is up with you two today?" demanded Ron. "You're acting so- so weird. What's going on?"
Neither of the two answered. Ron looked between them again and sighed. "Okay, whatever," he said. "I guess you don't want to discuss it right now or some- hey, Hermione! Where're you going?!"
For Hermione had broken away from the other two and started off towards one of the staircases. She turned around at Ron's words.
"Oh..." she faltered, "I was just- going- going to get something I forgot from my room. Yeah... I forgot something."
"Er, okay," replied Ron as Hermione's form went up the stairs and disappeared around one of the hallways. He turned to Harry with a puzzled look on his face. "Er, what- what just happened?"
Harry shrugged, looking away from him. "Dunno," he replied, in what he hoped was a nonchalant tone.