"Best of friends since we were twelve," Hermione confesses with a small smile. "There were three of us, actually — Ron, myself, and our friend Harry. The boys were a little closer to one another in earlier years, I think, but the three of us were practically inseparable as we grew up. Ron and I didn't start dating until we were seventeen, though. It's... hard, trying to navigate a relationship with someone you've grown up knowing, who has been your friend for ages. You're afraid of ruining something that's already good."

Hermione remembers what it had been like, leaving the Chamber, and knowing all of a sudden that there was no point in trying to dodge the matter. She glances over in Ron's direction with a soft smile.

"But at a certain point, you force yourself to stop being in denial."