Ron finally turned to look at her, a bit of indignation on his face. "It's not just about what you think of me, Hermione. I do care what others think of me too. You might not care, but I do. And I've been a bloody idiot this entire week so I'll be sodding lucky if half of them still like me when this is all done. I just punched Ernie in the face and from what most people could see, it was for no bloody reason. It's not the best way to make friends, especially not when we're supposed to be working together."
He sighed. "I know. And if you need to go to the Department of Mysteries then you should do it, but you don't need Ernie to look after you, for Merlin's sake. I've had more training than he has." Ron gave her a look, which may have given away part of the reason he'd gotten so angry back in the the meeting. "The two of us aren't the only ones that will be working on this, though. It's not you, Harry and I against the world anymore, Hermione. We've got the DA to help us and we will need their help on this, especially since they've done plenty already. So don't act like I'm the only one who can help you out because I'm not, but I will be there to protect you, so just make sure you are careful once you get in there, okay?"