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"Ah no!" said Ron, staring horror-struck at the parchment. "Don't say I'll have to write the whole thing out again!" "It's okay, we can fix it," said Hermione, pulling the essay toward her and taking out her wand.
"I love you, Hermione," said Ron, sinking back in his chair, rubbing his eyes wearily.
Hermione turned faintly pink, but merely said, "Don't let Lavender hear you saying that." "1 won't," said Ron into his hands. "Or maybe I will, then she'll ditch me." "Why don't you ditch her if you want to finish it." asked Harry.
"You haven't ever chucked anyone, have you." said Ron. "You and Cho just —" "Sort of fell apart, yeah," said Harry.
"Wish that would happen with me and Lavender," said Ron gloomily, watching Hermione silently tapping each of his misspelled words with the end of her wand, so that they corrected themselves on the page. "But the more I hint I want to finish it, the tighter she holds on. It's like going out with the giant squid." "There," said Hermione, some twenty minutes later, handing back Ron's essay.
"Thanks a million," said Ron. "Can I borrow your quill for the conclusion." Harry, who had found nothing useful in the Half-Blood Prince's notes so far, looked around; the three of them were now the only ones left in the common room, Seamus having just gone up to bed cursing Snape and his essay. The only sounds were the crackling of the
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