The angry little lions were subdued by a cat.
Angelina, who had harbored a sliver of hope, returned dejectedly to her dormitory. The crowd dispersed in twos and threes, until no one remained in the common room apart from Su Er and Hermione, who had been watching the drama, and Harry and Ginny.
The common room fell quiet, leaving only the faint crackling and popping of the fire.
After a stretch of silence.
"Ginny, have you seen Ron?" Harry's voice was frighteningly hoarse, as though he had been crying.
"Ron? No." Ginny shook her head. "I haven't seen him since the match ended."
Speak of the devil.
Ron clambered through the Fat Lady's portrait hole, bringing a chill with him, snowflakes on his head. Then he saw Harry and Ginny in the common room, along with Hermione sitting in the corner, and froze.
"Where have you been?" Harry asked first.
"Er... clearing my head."
Ron was still wearing his scarlet-and-gold Quidditch robes, mumbling without getting a complete sentence out.
"Come and warm yourself up, Ron. You look frozen. Oh, where's Lavender?" Ginny said.
"I told her to come back first." Ron edged toward Harry one step at a time, then slumped into the chair farthest from him.
"I'm sorry," he said.
"If you mean Quidditch, there's no need to apologize, Ron. We won in the end." Harry's calm voice had a dry rasp to it. "Besides, I'm afraid I won't be able to play alongside you anymore this school year."
"What?" Ron stared blankly at Harry.
"I've been banned for life," Harry said.
"So have Fred and George," Ginny added.
"What?!" This "what" was considerably louder than the previous one.
With Ginny and Harry filling him in, Ron finally learned what had happened while he was wandering outside the Castle.