At first, it was difficult for Hermione to explain the reason for her terrible mood to Ginny. Ginny, however, put the blame on the fact that after a very exhausting time spent outside Hogwarts, her friend had lots of problems with returning to the school life. And for someone who had used to be the best, it had to be quite depressing. Especially since Hermione did not have her friends next to her; well, she did have her, Ginny, but Hermione felt much more comfortable with Ron and Harry, so no wonder all of those changes, mixed all together with Snape's detention had to bring the poor girl down.

But the time went on, and so did the school year. Hermione's dramatical break-down soon dispersed into a quiet melancholy. And although the latter had not vanished before the Christmas break, Hermione did seem to look a bit better when she accompanied her to the Burrow. Nevertheless, Ginny hoped for a rather greater change during the break spent in Ron's company. Her friend, though, was still pretty despodent, despite her smiling much more often.

"Perhaps I'm expecting too much," thought Ginny, shaking her head when she glanced at Ron wrapping his arm around Hermione, who in turn did not return the gesture. Actually, she seemed to avoid such intimacy.

At the beginning, Ginny tried to persuade herself to believe Hermione simply wanted to be alone after such a difficult time. Yet at some point it became way too obvious, and by the end of the break, despite a great amount of time Ron had spent with his girlfriend, Ginny understood what the case was.

"If you want to break up with him, do it now," she said seriously.

It was the last evening before their return to Hogwarts. Both of the girls sat in Ginny's bedroom, where Hermione now slept, too. Ginny decided it had taken too long, and being a loving sister, she had to face her friend. Even if it was difficult.

Hermione, sitting on the edge of her bed, tugged at the blanket tassels, refusing to look up at Ron's sister. It was a situation she knew she would finally find herself in, but in which she actually did not want to get.

"Don't pretend you don't know what I'm talking about, 'Mione," continued Ginny, her voice quite harsh. "You know you're like a sister to me, a sister I've never had, mind you, but Ron is my brother, and I'm not going to let even you play with his feelings. He cares about you, but if you don't feel anything for him, you should tell him now, so he has a chance to recover and make things right. You've deceived him long enough."

"It's not that easy, Ginny," suddenly said Hermione, and Ginny frowned.

"What is not easy?" she asked. "You've been lying to him all this time! D'you think it's easy for him, to watch his girlfriend behaving like this? Pushing him away?"

Her face was completely red. Until now, hardly ever had she fought with her best friend, but at that moment she could not believe what she had heard. Hermione claiming that it was difficult? Did she even know what she was saying...?

"Ginny, I beg you!" Hermione stood up. "Don't talk about things you know nothing about, all right?"

And before Ginny had a chance to stop her, she left the room. Nevertheless, even she had to know that Ginny was right, and perhaps that was the main reason why it bothered her to such an extent. Treating Ron like that was unfair, but when they had parted at the beginning of September, it had already been apparent they had no longer been together. Why did he behave as though nothing of that had happened, as though they were still a couple?

Now, she would need to give him the reason for her will to part ways with him. And what was she supposed to say?

Hermione had enough of crying herself to sleep; she was tired of spending sleepless nights because of all the stress connected not to her studies, but to the men surrounding her. After all, that was why she had left Severus Snape back then. He had been right, too: she had broken two hearts with just one decision. Yet it had been her decision, and she was the only one she could ever put the blame on. And since then, even though it had been hard, she had been recovering. By the end of the term, she had been almost sure she could finally move on.

But then, she had met Ron again, and it had turned out that it had not been going to get any easier. Now Ginny made everything even more difficult. And yet, neither Ron, nor Ginny could be blamed for everything that was happening in Hermione's head at that moment.

She stopped on the landing and closed her eyes, her back pressed against the wall. Her body seemed to be trembling. It had been a while since she had last felt like that – and it had been the very night Snape had told her that he had not wanted her to change... that he had loved her... and yet, she had turned away and left his office, knowing what the consequences were: from then on, she had no longer been allowed to meet him again.

Of course, she had met him in the class, but they had managed to pretend nothing had ever happened between the two of them. At the beginning, she had seen the corner of his mouth twitching nervously, and she had received some quite venomous opinions about her potions, but nothing more. It was not something she would not have been able to stand.

"Are you all right, sweetheart?" she heard Mrs Weasley's concerned voice, which caused her to look up.

"Yes, thank you, Mrs Weasley," answered Hermione, forcing a smile, which apparently could not deceive the mother of seven.

"But I can see it's not," said Mrs Weasley as she wrapped her arm around Hermione and led her downstairs. "Come here, come. I'll make you some cocoa, it'll help you sleep. You need to wake up early tomorrow, so you can get back to school."

Hermione found herself being pushed into one of the chairs in the crammed kitchen as Mrs Weasley began preparing the beverage. It was difficult not to think whether the woman did not think of her as of someone who would one day become her daughter-in-law. As soon as such a thought appeared in her mind, she felt her stomach turn a quite unpleasant somersault.

It was easy to remember that moment when Mrs Weasley had got furious at her a couple of years before just because she had thought that Hermione had been dating Viktor Krum. Back then, of course, Mrs Weasley had thought that she had broken Harry's heart, but would it be any better now, if instead of Harry, she would do that to her own son?

"Honestly, I wonder why Ron hasn't decided to go back to school with you," muttered Mrs Weasley under her breath, apparently not thinking that Hermione was listening. And frankly speaking, only at that moment did Hermione really begin to listen. "He's not a dumb person. He could achieve so much. Oh, of course, Kingsley has suggested he'd join the Auror team, but... how is he supposed to do well, not knowing everything he'd be able to learn at school? And without all that training... I'm definitely not convinced that's a good idea."

"Ron'll be all right, Mrs Weasley, I assure you," said Hermione, smiling softly. Of course, Mrs Weasley had to be concerned, being Ron's mother.

"Thank you, my dear, but I'd really wish he would rather get back to school. Only after graduation can one say that he's a well-educated wizard. And he's obviously not, since he's not mature enough to finish his education. It's just one year, for God's sake! It is so childish of him not to get back for that year... or maybe he's afraid he would fail his N.E.W.T.s? If so, then I'm even more concerned about his work for the Ministry."

When Hermione got back to Ginny's room, her friend was already asleep. Not seeing anything better to do, she decided to go to sleep, to. Mrs Weasley was right – she needed to get up early in the morning to head back to school. And something told her that at school her life was not going to be any easier.

It was still way too early when she woke up in the morning; nevertheless, no matter how hard she tried to fall back asleep, she found herself completely unable to do so, therefore finally, she quietly got up and having gathered her clothes, she went to the bathroom.

When half an hour later she walked into the kitchen, she realised that she was not the first one to enter this place. At the table, there was already someone.

"Harry!" she exclaimed, quite surprised.

"Hi, Hermione," he said cheerfully. Since he had decided not to get back to school in autumn, he became much calmer and happier. In his case, apparently, it had been a good choice, even though Hermione could never agree with that; she was still pretty much convinced – not unlike Mrs Weasley – that anyone who wanted to be a fully-educated wizard should have first graduated from Hogwarts.

"You're up early today," she noticed, taking a seat opposite her friend.

"Yeah, I know," answered Harry as she took a cup of coffee, now half-empty. It looked like he had been sitting there for a while already. "But Ron's been such a bother that I couldn't stand sitting in the same room."

"The Burrow can be so full during family reunions," admitted Hermione, and Harry smiled.

"That's... that's not really the reason," he answered. "You see... since you kinda... split up in September, he's been a difficult companion. I mean, I know, all right. I know it's a bit different since all that happened in the summer, but... I reckon he thought all this time that he'd get you back. And now that you're here, he's simply going mad."

Hermione did not answer at first. She could still hear Ginny's voice echoing inside her head, as though it was trying to make it explode. Her hands were trembling, and Harry must have noticed that, because at some point, he simply took them into his.

"Tell me, Hermione. I can see that in your eyes that something's going on, but I don't know what," he said in his usual, caring voice he used when no-one was around. It never meant that he wanted to form any intimate relationship with her, Hermione knew that perfectly well, however, it was reserved only for her own ears.

Harry could understand her like no-one else. While Ginny could help her with many girly things, Harry was actually the one who had known her best, being the one who had known her longer than anyone else – maybe besides Ron, but in fact, Ron could understand hardly anything. That was why lying to him was so difficult. And yet, there still were things that were not meant for his ears, which she would never dare share with him.

"It's nothing, really," she muttered under her breath, shaking her head. "Maybe... maybe you mean that I got into... a fight of sorts. With Ginny, yesterday," she explained, then sighed. "About Ron. She claims I should break up with him, but since I'm not really with him anymore, I don't think... but yes. Perhaps she's right. I should tell him that..."

"If he's such a dumbass that he doesn't realise that, Hermione, he doesn't even deserve you," answered Harry, which positively surprised the girl. "And I mean that. Yes, he is my best friend, but you have already broken up, and now, you've given him so many tips that... that it's no longer possible... honestly, Hermione, that's not something a man in love should do, right? He should only have eyes and ears for you, he should be able to see that with half an eye that you're not interested in him. He's rather in love with the idea of being with you, one of the smartest witches in the world, than with you."

For a couple of seconds, Hermione found herself completely incapable of speaking. Those words were not something she would have ever expected to hear from Harry. But he, too, had changed during those several months they had been apart. Perhaps that was what he had needed: time away from school, away from worries, to clear his mind.

"Don't do that just because Ginny told you so," continued Harry after a moment. "She's only said that because she's Ron's sister, and she will do everything to protect him. But Ron's always been protected. Now's the time for him to face the consequences. If he doesn't, he'll never grow up, and you'll be one of the responsible for this, Hermione. Besides, Ginny wants you as a sister, and if you don't get married to her brother, you won't ever be officially her sister, you know? I think that if she were you, she wouldn't marry Ron, either."

Finally, Hermione mustered all her will to put a smile onto her face. However, it was still a pretty much genuine smile.

"Thanks, Harry," she told him. "But you and Ginny..."

"We're taking a break," he answered. "Not like you and Ron. She wants to focus on her education. And I think that's a good idea. Something you should do, too."

"That's something I'm definitely trying to do."

They both laughed, and Hermione felt as light as she had not felt at least since September. It was an amazing feeling – something she had actually hoped to experience for the whole break, but Ron's presence had made it almost impossible.

When the whole family gathered in the kitchen for breakfast, Ron and Ginny did seem to be slightly sulky, but neither of them seemed to get into any kind of quarrel with Hermione. And by the time she and Ginny got onto the Knight Bus, it would seem that the whole gruffness had already evaporated from the atmosphere, because the younger girl was chattering, really wanting to discuss some article she had read in Witch Weekly.

After a few hours' ride (the bus seemed to be packed with the strangest mixture of different passengers), they at last came to a halt not too far from the beautiful castle. When they reached their Common Room, they found out almost all of their friends had already returned, and that evening a little party was held. It was late at night when both of the girls went to the dormitory; no sooner had they put their heads on the pillows than they fell asleep.

Hermione was utterly oblivious to the fact that all day long she had not spared even one thought for a certain Potions master who was now spending another sleepless night in the dungeons.