“You ok?” Theo said after a moment to Hermione.

She nodded, rubbing a hand over her arm soothingly.

“Did he do anything?” Blaise asked with a nod to the groaning boy on the ground.

This time she shook her head. “Not really, just held me too close, ran his hands all over me and breathed on me.”

Calmly, Theo gave Krum a swift kick in the stomach.

“We’ll handle it, Mione, don’t you worry about a thing,” Theo said, turning to give her a dazzling smile.

“Where are Pansy and Daphne?” Hermione said after a moment, surprised Pansy wasn’t leading the charge on Krum.

Blaise let out a very uncharacteristic snort while he knelt over Krum to assess the damage.

“Pansy almost hexed Krum from across the room, so Daphne had to take her out to cool down.”

“Speaking of which, you better get going before Drake comes back in here.” Theo nodded his head towards the crowd.

Hermione hesitated for a moment before throwing her arms around first Blaise, then Theo.

“Thank you,” she said as she stepped back.

Blaise’s cheeks darkened as he said seriously, “We take care of our own, Granger. Now get going.”

Our own. Those words peeled away all the discomfort of the last few hours as she drifted back through the crowd towards the wide double doors. The atmosphere had taken on a much less stiff air with a band taking a small stage with what looked like muggle rock instruments. The formal dance floor had morphed into one amalgamous blob of dancing students – and what she thought was a crowd surfing Professor Flitwick.

There must have been a sound containment charm over the hall, since the moment she stepped across the threshold of the double doors the night swallowed all sound. She breathed a sigh of relief, taking a moment to smooth back her hair and look around for Draco.

“Oi! Hermione!” Ron’s voice crashed into the silence like a bludger.

She turned to see Harry and Ron stepping from the hall, the former looking exhausted while the latter looked incredibly put out.

“Oh hello, did you have a nice time?” Hermione asked absently, trying not to look around too much.

“Did we have a nice time ?” Ron sneered. “Of course not!”

That shocked Hermione. The last time she’d seen them they’d been chatting with the Patil twins, though both boys had looked a little glum.

“Oh… I’m sorry, Ron. I can’t say I –” She was about to say that she couldn’t say she had a particularly nice time either when Ron cut across her.

“You should be ashamed of yourself, Hermione.” The tips of Ron’s ears started to turn pink which was always a sign to duck and cover from his temper.

Ron’s words hit her like a slap across the face. It was worse than any slur or bullying she’d ever experienced before. She felt the hot prick of tears in her eyes and immediately took a step back.

“You’re… you’re…” Ron seemed to cast around for the right combination of words to hurt Hermione most. “ Fraternizing with the enemy!”

Her jaw dropped open. Had they seen her with Draco? With the other Slytherins? Had she been found out?

But then Harry removed his glasses and rubbed his eyes in a way that reminded her very much of her father after a long day at work.

“I don’t mind that Hermione went with Krum to the ball, Ron,” Harry said softly – too softly in Hermione’s opinion for how worked up Ron was.

But Hermione couldn’t deny the relief she felt in realizing Ron was upset over Krum. She was so relieved she would have smiled if Ron hadn’t been doing his best impression of a hot tea kettle.

“He’s competing against Harry!” Ron bellowed.

“Ron…” Hermione said as calmly as she could. “This whole tournament is supposed to be about international magical cooperation. It’s about making friends and getting to know magical people from other schools.”

“No it’s not! It’s about WINNING!”

Harry shot Hermione an apologetic look that though she appreciated, she would have much more appreciated Harry sticking up for her a bit more.

“I’m sorry you feel that way, Ron,” Hermione replied, which only seemed to fan the flames of his anger.

“The only reason why Krum even asked you was probably to get to Harry!” When Hermione didn’t respond due to the fact that she realized this was probably true, Ron continued. “He probably just wants help with his egg! There’s no way he’d actually be interested in you .”

Ron said it so vehemently that it caused Hermione’s hair to stand on end, she could feel magic crackling through her veins. It was probably true, after all, but it still didn’t mean it hurt. The translation of Ron’s words was clear: your only worth is that you’re smart and are friends with Harry Potter. And though she understood that so much of Ron’s own pain had to do with the fact that his only worth was also his association with Harry, it didn’t stop the tears that overflowed.

“You’re right, Ron,” she said in a broken whisper.

Ron blinked at her, all the ire leaving him with those three simple words. Harry’s mouth opened in surprise, his bright green eyes filling with sympathy as he watched the tears track steadily down her cheeks.

“Hermione…” Harry said quietly, stepping forward with his hands outstretched.

She stepped back from him, hastily wiping her face.

“I’m nothing but Harry Potter’s brainiac friend – brightest witch of her age ,” she spat the last words like a curse. “That was the only reason he wanted to be my date. Are you happy now?”

Slowly the pink tinge of Ron’s ears spread to his cheeks and neck. He spluttered; his mortification obvious in the way he gaped like a fish for a few moments before audibly clicking his jaw shut.

“ Are you happy now, Ron?! ” Hermione couldn’t help but yell as she threw her hands up in the air.

“Hermione… I’m…” Harry tried – and failed – again.

“Enough,” she snapped. “Get to bed, now. ”

The boys looked at her for another long moment before trudging up the stairs to head back to the common room.

Hermione let out a long breath, gazing up towards the high ceiling to try to will the tears back into her eyes. They continued to boil over, burning her cheeks and dripping on to the fine fabric of her dress.

“Shhh, love.” Cool thumbs swiped beneath her eyes and she sighed, falling into Draco’s embrace.

Without another word he guided her from the entrance hall and through a side door out into the moonlit grounds.