Hermione's POV

By the time lunch rolled around, we were ravenous.

We had sat through six continuous lessons and it had been hard work to say the least. We were all making our way over to the Great Hall for lunch, Ron laughing away with Vanessa and Abby. They were walking a little way behind us, talking about who knows what. Once I could have sworn I saw Vanessa trying to get a hold of Ron's hand.

I did my best to ignore their chatter but it did not work out too well. Harry, Ginny and I sat down on the Gryffindor table and Harry started piling food on his plate. Ron arrived just then, Abby and Vanessa by his side. The three of them casually plopped down opposite is and started to eat without a word of acknowledgement. After about five minutes though, Abby pipped up.

"Hey Hermione, why don't you talk that much anymore?" she asked through a mouthful of food. I was shocked. Had she really just asked that? I was about to answer but Vanessa added,

"Yeah, when we got here, you used to talk a lot. You spouted random facts that no one cared about, but you don't anymore, and your bossy, stubborn attitude has dwindled too."

Just as I was about to tell her exactly what I thought of them, Ron interjected,"If you ask me, it is a very refreshing change. Now we don't have to hear her blab on and on about homework and exams. The nightmare is over."

Rage boiled inside me. My heart rate accelerated. I had always helped by doing that. if it weren't for me, he would never have studied! I could tell I had gone beet red from the expressions of the others. I locked my gaze with Ron, anger burning behind my lids.

"How can you say that?" I asked him incredulously. By now, hot tears had welled up in my eyes and all the courage I had had a minute ago slipped away. It was all replaced by hurt and grief.

"Yeah, Ron, what's gotten into you?" Harry spat, anger showing all over his face.

"There is nothing wrong with me!" Ron retorted. "I just suggested that Hermione's change of attitude was a good change."

"Has it crossed your mind why I'm acting this way, Ronald?" I almost yelled, causing several heads to turn in our direction. I had gone from angry to hurt to fuming in less than a minute.

"How am I supposed to know that?" Ron asked, but before he could continue, I got up from the table. I had had enough of Ron. If he wanted to be that way, I would fight back.

I left with a final glare at Ron and said icily,"Please stay away from me then, Ron. I can tell when I'm not wanted. Goodbye."

At the same time, Harry said, "We need to talk, Ron. Now." But I didn't stick around to hear more. My throat had become tight and all I wanted was to get as far away from Ron as possible.

I could hear pounding footsteps behind me as I ran. I went to the first place that popped in my head. The lake.

The cold air whipped me in the face and the icy cold dug into my skin. I could see the water of the lake was now a layer of translucent ice.. The grass under me was covered by a sheet of snow and not a single bird was chirping. My body was shivering but I didn't care at the moment. I buried my face in my hands and cried. That complete cow! She was a Death Eater and clearly Ron did not care. She was everything I was not. I cried harder, feeling a little guilty inside for crying over what someone like Vanessa had done.

A small voice in my head told me she wasn't worth it. But I couldn't help but cry at how easily she had managed to sway Ron into insulting me. The whole Gryffindor table had probably heard the conversation.

I felt a small hand rest on my shoulder and I looked up through glazed eyes to see Ginny standing there. She crouched down next to me and took my hand.

"Hermione, come on," she said softly."They're not worth it." I knew this was true but the tears continued to leak out of my eyes.

"Look, she clearly has Ron under a spell to make him say all that. You and Harry mean a lot to him and he would never say anything this mean to you knowingly." she reasoned.

"The only spell that can cause that is the imperious curse and when someone is under that curse, their eyes are glazed over and their facial expressions are different. But Ron seems to know perfectly well what he's doing." My voice came out hard and dry. My throat was dry due to all the crying.

"Right," she sighed heavily. "Wrong thing to say, especially since you know every spell and are a genius."

"Is that all I am, Ginny?" I snapped at her.

"No, of-course not!" she backed up."You plenty of other things too."

"No one seems to care," I said more to myself. Ginny pulled me into a hug and patted my back comfortingly while I cried on her shoulder.

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( if anyone hates it when there are two people's POVs in one chapter, I'm sorry guys but there was no other option)

Harry's POV

Hermione was making her way out of the Great Hall, while everyone at the table stared after her and at us. Ginny got up and ran after Hermione and I knew she'd try to soothe her. A different emotion was running through my mind. One that I had never felt in my life. It was hard to explain. Love for Hermione and anger at Ron. I now realised that Hermione was the closest person to a sister for me. She was my best friend and I felt as if I was supposed to look out for her as a big brother would. I wanted to hurt anyone who hurt her. She had always been there for me so now it was time I was there for her. I now understood what Ron had felt for Ginny back in our sixth year. He had been angry at Dean because he knew he.would hurt his little sister. He was protective of her. Now I wanted to protect Hermione like that. I loved her like my sister. It was hard to explain really. I had never felt this way about anyone before.

"Ron," I said in what I hoped to be a normal tone and not an angry one. "We need to talk alone right now."

"Why?" he asked, not moving an inch.

"It's not something I'd like to talk about at a lunch table," I told him."Come outside with me."

As Ron got up, Abby and Vanessa made to come too but I glared at them."This is sort of private and I don't want you two to hear it." I was not in the mood to play nice right now.

"That's not a very nice thing to say, Harry," Abby chided.

"Yeah, it isn't ,mate," Ron agreed. I did not reply and led Ron over to a secluded corridor where I was sure no one would spot us.

"What did you want to say?" Ron asked.

"Well, to start with, why the bloody hell are you letting Abby and Vanessa take over you?" I began.

"What do you mean?" Ron asked, raising his eyebrows.

"You do what they tell you to do, especially Vanessa." I stated."It's like she owns you or something."

Ron's ears went red with anger and embarrassment." She does not own me. I want to do what she tells me to do." So he admitted it!

"Ron, she's trying to control your mind. She only wants to see you turn on us." I said.

"Why would she want to do that?" Ron retorted."She is a very good person."

"She's a deatheater!" I shot at him.

Ron's muscles convulsed and his face twisted in rage."How dare you accuse her of that, Harry! She did nothing to you!"

"Yeah, well she did lots of things to Hermione," I yelled at him. This was all too much now. If Ron wanted to stay with Abby and Vanessa, he could, but that did not mean he could just defend them every time. What Ron said next did not help my temper.

"So? Who cares about Hermione!? She's a filthy mudblood after all!" Something had to be wrong here. He did not just call Hermione that. Of all the things he could have said.

"Ron, this is not you," I told him.

"Quit bossing me around Harry! I'm sick of this, okay? If you're just going to throw away our friendship for scum like that mudblood, fine! Go to her!"

"Hermione is your friend too! More..."

"What makes you think that? Why would I even talk to that girl when Vanessa is here! Vanessa is a pureblood and that girl is a mudblood, so I think it's pretty obvious who I should hang out with."

I whipped out my wand. He had asked for it now. Anger was roaring inside me like a lion ready to attack its prey. I aimed it at Ron's nose. He smirked maliciously and it was something I had never seen on his face. This was definitely not the Ron I knew.

"So the Chosen One is going to curse me, eh? Wow. And I thought we were best mates." Before I could say anything, he bumped my shoulder painfully and whispered,"Just stay away from us, Potter," Then he left, heading in the direction of the Great Hall where he would no doubt meet Vanessa and Abby.

A/N

Soo who hates Ron right now? Haha. Anyways, thanks for reading this guys and please vote and comment! Tell me what you thought of this chapter! But be nice! :))