No sledgehammer of truth needed. Ron's words spelled it all out for Hermione, and she didn't like it one bit. This... this wasn't going to end well.

"Ron... it's not what it looks like. Malfoy's different." It felt like it had with Harry, when she'd told him that Malfoy was trustworthy. Only he'd just come from an excursion to the lake and a near-death count of plus one. At least Ron didn't have that going for him, too.

"Everything's different here. We've been here a year and things have changed."

She looked into his eyes, pleading for him to understand.