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[sixthhandlion]

It had been a bloody awful idea. Maybe Ron hadn't realized it then, when he'd run into Malfoy and the two of them had proceeded to try and knock the piss out of each other, but now, the full weight of what had happened had sunk in

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[honestlyrubbish]

Back at Hogwarts, Hermione had always taken some amount of pride in the heavy load of books that she carried with her from class to class. By the time sixth year rolled around, she had already perfected the use of an extension charm and could easily have extended her shoulder bag to fit everything and eliminate the weight, but still she carried her texts from class to class, occasionally with her nose in one of the lighter books if she had a longer trek to make. Though it came at the cost of her posture at times, Hermione had done it all as a point of pride

[sixthhandlion]

It'd been mental to think he could hide for too long, but really, he hadn't even had a chance to figure out just how he was going to explain all of it yet. At least he could say he hadn't started it; Malfoy'd thrown the first punch before Ron had even had a chance to decide if he was actually going to punch Malfoy himself.

Though to be honest, he likely would have. Not that he was likely to admit that.

He winced when Hermione rushed over, but managed a worried, yet hopeful expression. Maybe it wouldn't be as bad as he'd thought. If he was lucky.

"It looks worse than it is, I think," Ron replied, his voice half a groan as he sat up straighter in his chair.

[honestlyrubbish]

Perhaps it was the recency of war, dreamt or otherwise, that had Hermione's heart racing as quickly as it did. The closer of a look she got at Ron's injuries, the worse she felt, closing her eyes for a couple of seconds to collect herself before she leaned closer, gingerly coaxing him to turn his head one way, then the other.

"Given how bad it looks, that isn't saying much, Ron," she shook her head, brow heavily knit. "It looks like you've been in a fight. You haven't, have you? I've heard of incidents breaking out on the island before, but if that's the case, you should report this to the Council immediately; we can't have people attacking random passerby without provoca-"

Suddenly, she fell silent, pulling back a touch with a suspicious look. If it really had been someone flying at Ron out of nowhere, Hermione couldn't help thinking that he'd be a great deal more vocal about his poor luck. That was when the thought hit.

"...please don't tell me you got into a fight with Malfoy."

[sixthhandlion]

"Alright then, I won't tell you," Ron replied, his expression a near-wince. He knew that the statement wasn't about to get him off the hook at all, but when it came to stalling, he'd take what he could get.

Though, to be fair, being the great prat he was, Malfoy had hit him first. It wasn't as if Ron could be expected not to fight back at all. Not even Hermione could argue with that.

[honestlyrubbish]

Her eyes grew hard and frustrated, Hermione sitting herself down next to Ron, tempted to cross her arms over her chest. Simply leveling him with a look for a few seconds, Hermione sighed deeply, shaking her head, curls falling around to frame her face. "Ron, what on earth could possess you to get in a fight with Malfoy? He's... goodness, he's not even as much of a bother here as mosquitoes are. No family to lord over everyone's heads, Voldemort isn't here to pressure him into hurting anyone. And you're better than responding to whatever insults he throws your way."

Brows furrowed even more deeply, Hermione turned to better face him. "So what happened?"

[sixthhandlion]

Ron had known he was going to get that look from Hermione after she'd found out. He hated that look.

"He started it," Ron protested, though he left out the bit where he'd accidentally made Luna cry. But he hadn't know about all that until after, and as far as he'd figured, it'd just been Malfoy being Malfoy, angry at him for telling Luna something he didn't want her to hear.

But Hermione'd find out sooner or later, what had caused the entire thing, so it was probably best he came out with it now and got it all over with. "...after I told Luna he's likely only playing some kind of trick on her. What'd you want me ot do though? Just walk off after he'd done that? Not bloody likely."

[honestlyrubbish]

"You told Luna what?" Hermione asked, eyes flying wide open as she turned to look at Ron in disbelief. Closing her eyes and exhaling, she rubbed at her forehead, trying to hold her temper in. There were a great number of things which bothered her about how the relationship between Draco and Luna was being handled- she wished that there was more communication on the subject, more trust, that it wouldn't be treated like something that needed to be hidden away in the shadows. But at the same time, Ron's reaction seemed to prove that there was reason for Luna's hesitation after all.

Expression resigned, Hermione leaned into the table, hand pressed against her temple. "Ron," she said quietly. "What on earth would Malfoy have to gain by tricking Luna in such a way? In a place like this? I don't think him hitting you was right, but perhaps you should have sought Luna out for a talk, and you certainly shouldn't have hit back. That's just stooping to his level."