Hermione's hands are tiny and covered with mittens, and she recites the uses of dragon's blood while Ron stares at her hands and tries to think about what she's saying. He's never quite understood why Hermione pushes so hard for him to study while Harry gets to play in the snow with Hedwig.
"And then, of course," Hermione says in a bossy you-should-be-able-to-finish-what-I'm-saying tone as she looks up, "there's-- Ron, are you even listening to me?"
"Yeah, listening," says Ron, but he doesn't finish her sentence. "How come Harry never studies with you like this?"
"Because Harry," Hermione says importantly, but she stops as she looks at him and frowns. She pats Ron's knee with one of her mittens and nods her head toward the cloister. Draco Malfoy's standing there, entranced by Harry and the owl.
Ron takes his wand and stands up, growling, "Dirty rotten Slytherin, I'll show him, spying on--"
"No," Hermione snaps, reaching up to hold Ron's scarf and pull him back down. "He's not doing anything."
"Not yet," Ron mutters, looking at Hermione's hands holding his scarf as he sits down again.
---
When the post comes the next morning, Hedwig doesn't arrive, and Harry looks around in a panic, not quite believing it.
Hermione, who takes the Daily Prophet and is immediately involved in reading the business section quite thoroughly, offers him the sports pages as some sort of solace. Harry doesn't take them, and keeps looking up, as if Hedwig may just have been delayed.
Ron glares over at the Slytherin table.
"I've got to go," Harry says, and stands up to rush off.
---
Hermione's mittens are lying beside her books when they're in the library, and Ron's got Flying With the Cannons tucked inside his Astronomy text. She thinks that the position of Uranus relative to Mars in the fifth month is that interesting to him. Hermione isn't often wrong.
They both notice when Harry storms in and drags Malfoy out of the library by his scarf. Hermione frowns, and they both get up to follow them.
It isn't until they reach the staircase that Ron realises he left his Cannons book in the library, and he swears so hard that Hermione hisses, "Ron!" and clasps a tiny hand over his mouth.
---
One of Hermione's hands clasps the doorknob of the owlery door, which is shaped like a screech owl and occasionally preens its feathers. She's short enough that Ron can see over her head without difficulty, and he tries not to breathe as they watch what's happening.
They are talking, although Ron can't hear what they're saying. He wants to rush in there and curse Malfoy three ways from Tuesday, for how downcast Harry's looking, but Hermione keeps her other hand on Ron's leg, and that's both calming and distracting. Malfoy laughs, but Harry doesn't, and Ron hears him say 'Mudblood' in the midst of the hooting of the owls, and he's lucky they make more noise than him when he growls and points his wand past Hermione's ear.
"Ron, don't," she whispers, watching them still. She pushes the door open slightly more as Harry walks out of their view, and they can both see Harry putting Malfoy's scarf down beside two owls - Hedwig and another, and Ron frowns, confused.
Hermione gently tugs the door shut and looks up at Ron, her eyes bright.
"What the--"
"Oh, Ron," she says, smiling. "It's just love, really, isn't it?"