The King and The Witch.

A glittering fire gleamed and sparked, sending a hot glow throughout the empty Gryffindor Common Room. Slumped in his usual relaxed fashion, feet up, arms resting behind his back, eyes shut, lay Ronald Weasley. A tall, freckled boy with carrot red hair and a long nose. Although shut, his eyes seemed to be moving rapidly, as if they would whilst watching a tennis match. He let out small, sleepy murmurs of a name. A girl's name. Not just any girl's name, however. The name of his best friend. Hermione Jean Granger. A frizzy haired, muggleborn witch, who's intelligence was beyond compare.

"Herm....Hermione..." Ron adjusted himself so he lay on his side, one hand rested under his cheek, the other resting on his chest. His breathing became staggered, as if struck by a huge wave of fear. "HERMIONE, NO!" Ron's eyes flashed open, his breath catching, sweat dripping from his forehead. "Blimey," he whispered to himself,  "it was just a dream". He sat up and rubbed his eyes, cautiously searching the room for others. He scratched his head, leaving a tuft of ginger hair sticking out awkwardly. He removed his feet from the sofa, leant down beside himself and grabbed a pair of tatty, black shoes, pulling them on with little effort, he stood up and sighed.

                                  ***

Moments later, the booming voice of the Fat Lady came intruding through the walls.

"Password."

"Lemon... Lem- Oh for goodness sake! Just let me in! You know perfectly well I belong to this house." said an angry, female voice.

"No need to shout." The Fat Lady said, smirking slightly. The portrait swung open, revealing the Common Room to the flustered female. "Thank you." She snarled, picked up a large pile of books before entering.

                                  ***

"Hermione?" Ron said, with a slight tone of surprise.  "Is that you?"

"Yes, Ronald. It's me." Hermione came in through the stone passage, huffing and puffing.

"What's up? You sound a bit pissed off."

"That's because I am, Ronald. I waited for you in the library for two hours! And what were you doing? Sleeping! Sleeping!" Hermione stared at him, disappointment running through her. "We were meant to be studying together for the big test, tomorrow. This is the third time next week, and you know what? I'm sick of you." She snapped, her eyes welling up slightly.

Ron's face flushed, both with embarrassment and self disgust.

"Look, I'm sorry, Hermione. I've been so busy with Quid-"

"Oh, don't give me that! 'Busy with quidditch'?! It's all you and Harry seem to care about nowadays. It's as if you've forgotten how much you mean to-...," She stopped, afraid of letting out something she shouldn't. She clenched her fists. "You're an arse, Ronald Weasley. You've let me down again. If you fail another test, it won't be my job to bring your marks back up, anymore." Hermione, now weeping, slammed the pile of books on the table.

"Hermione, c'mon! Gimme another chance." His face flushed yet again, looking at her filled with sorrow and despair. "Please? We're best mates, and besides, Harry's gone to some fancy meeting, anyway. The least we could do is get along again. It's just a bloody bit of paper, it doesn't mean anything!"

Hermione glared at him, wiping her eyes with her sleeves, sniffing quietly.

"One more chance, Ron. One more and that's it," She let out a loud sigh, before beginning to speak again. "Honestly, the things I do for you! You should be bloody grateful!"

"I am, you know I am. Without you, I'd be repeating sixth year, right now. And bloody hell, that was torture." He shuddered slightly, in an attempt to make her laugh, without fail, Hermione let out a small giggle and the two smirked at each other.

                                  ***

The mood changing quickly, Hermione set out the books neatly from the pile and placed them one by one, spread out on the table, conveniently placed in front of a large sofa.

"Right, I'm going to go clean myself up and get a spare quill. Don't move." She smirked at Ron, making her way up the stone steps to the dormitories.

                                  ***

Ron sat down again with a huge sigh, talking to himself in a hushed tone, afraid Hermione may be listening.

"C'mon, mate. Pull yourself together. She's your best mate. Just tell her." He rubbed the back of his neck with his long fingers.

Within a few moments, Hermione came down back into the Common Room. Her face washed and hair tied up, she walked over to Ron, sitting herself next to him, placing a spare quill and three rolls of parchment onto the table in front of them.

Hermione smiled at her friend and cleared her throat.

"Right, let's begin with...." Hermione examined all the books closely, "potions."

"Sounds great, 'Mione... There's something I need to tell you first." Ron's face flushed slightly, his body becoming tense and rock like.

Hermione smirked, an eyebrow raised, "What is it, Ron?"

"I... Uh, well," he rubbed the back of his neck nervously, "I.. I think I'm in..." He stopped mid sentence, gulping. "Nothing. C'mon, let's get on with studying." He half smiled at her, knowing his attempt to change the subject failed miserably.

"No. Ron, tell me." She rested her hands on top of his in his lap. "You can tell me anything." She looked at him, her eyes lighting up.

"Nah.. It's alright. Really." He smiled at her.

"...Ronald. Tell me. You can't do that. It's not fair."

He let out a huge sigh, opening his mouth slightly, as if to speak though gritted teeth.

Hermione tightened her grip on his hands, before moving one to touch his cheek, lifting his head up and looking into his eyes.

"Please." She smiled hopefully.

"I said no, Hermione. It doesn't matter." He stood up, annoyed with himself, flinging her hands off of his and storming up to the dormitories, leaving Hermione sitting there alone.

                                   ***