Ron was gorgeous. Not that I would ever admit it to anyone, but it was one-hundred percent true. He probably had no interest in me what so ever, but I just could not help staring some days. His red hair was swept perfectly, showing off his clear face and crystal blue eyes. I felt my eyes scan over his well-muscled arms and legs.

“Err…Hermione, what’re you staring at?” he whispered, following my eyes.

“Oh...um...you just…you have a bug on your leg.”

He gave a strange little yelp and started swatting his legs like a madman. Honestly, I will never understand what goes on in his mind.

*

I am such an idiot. I would have never been able to live with myself if I acted that way in front of Hermione again. I probably looked like some crazed baboon or something. Or maybe I looked like Harry when I told him that his pumpkin juice was really water from the toilet. But that doesn’t matter.

I wish Hermione liked me as much as I liked her. I mean; her curls are perfectly sculpted against her face and her chocolate colored eyes are beautiful, warm, and very hard not to stare into. Her figure is so thin and slender. It isn’t fair the way she looks at me sometimes.

Harry walked up to me as we stepped out of Transfiguration and headed down the moving staircases. He probably wanted to tease me for acting like a demented animal.

“Ron, don’t you see? I’ve been telling you all along! Didn’t you notice the way Hermione was watching you today? She fancies you. I’ve been trying to tell you that for the past four or five years!”

“Harry. There was a bug on my leg. She was probably staring at me because she thinks that I've finally gone mental.”

“Trust me, Ron. Ask her to Hogsmeade next week and see what she says. I dare you.”

I gasped. “You wouldn’t!“

“I would and I am. You are going to ask Hermione to Hogsmeade next week and there's no backing out now.”

“But... but I--Hey! You still haven’t told me who you fancy!”

Harry's cheeks turned red and he started stammering.

“Well… that’s just… I couldn’t explain…,” he muttered.

At that exact moment, Ginny and two of her friends walked out of the library. Ginny waved and Harry inhaled sharply.

Perfect. Horribly, terribly perfect.

"You fancy Ginny? My sister? Why have I not heard this?" I stopped walking, and my jaw dropped as I realized what had just happened. "Well," I said, taking a deep breath, "at least you're better than Dean or Michael. But if you ever hurt her I‘ll--"

"Ron!" Harry interrupted, looking aghast. "Do you think I’m that kind of person?"

I shook my head. "No, I don't, Harry. I'm sorry. What I don't understand is why you didn't tell me in the first place?"

“Ithoughtyou’dmakefunofme,” he muttered.

“Err…What?”

“I thought you’d make fun of me,” he repeated, but at a more human pace.

“Oh I will. Just as revenge for not telling me though. For now though, you have someone to ask to Hogsmeade. Go on then,” I said; pushing him forward. “I dare you.”

“Fine, fine. But you’re going to pay for this.”

“I know. You started these dares in the first place,” I said, walking towards the common room. “Treat others the way you want to be treated. Or something like that.”

“Yeah, yeah. I’ll ask her as soon as you ask Hermione,” he said. He gave the Fat Lady the password and we scrambled into the Common Room.

“Ask me what?” Hermione inquired, coming over to meet us.

“Err-- he lost his History of Magic essay. He wanted to ask if he could copy yours.”

I tried to nod and give her an apologetic look, but I probably just looked like a spaz or something.

*

Ron is so irresponsible. He always expects me to cover for him for everything. I mean, if he handed in his essay two days earlier he wouldn’t have lost it! But it isn’t like I could refuse to do things for him. Oh no; he’s too good for that game. He just gave me those puppy-dog eyes; sent from Heaven. No, no, this is not over yet.

“Fine, Ron. But just this once.” I tried to act icy, but it sounded like I was caving in.

“You’re the best,” he said, walking past me. I stared after him. I’m the best!

In Potions the next day, I sat by Ron because Harry wanted to “talk to Dean about something important”. He’s been acting strange lately. Like yesterday, for instance, when I asked Ron for a quill. Harry gave Ron a sharp kick, and a nudge and then walked off. I wonder what’s gotten into him.

“Psst. Mudblood. Pssssssssssst!” came a voice from behind me. A voice I was positive belonged to a certain obnoxious, blonde, Slytherin.

“What do you want?” I turned around, feeling very annoyed.

“Quit staring at Weasley with those eyes. It’s creeping us all out. ‘Looks like you’re gonna eat him or something.”

I blushed and Ron threw a paper at Malfoy’s fat, ugly, head. I noticed his face and ears were glowing red.

“Shut up, Ferret-boy. Keep talking like that and you might have a little “accident,” Ron threatened.

Malfoy stiffened at the mention of ferrets. “Watch yourself, Weasel. You don’t want to end up in the Hospital Wing next to that piece of trash,” he pointed towards me.

“You’re the real piece of trash, Malfoy. Why don’t you just run back to your rich daddy and act like the spoiled brat we all know you are?" I retorted. " Not that you don't already act like a brat,” I added.

Even if Ron is an annoying brute sometimes, he definitely does NOT deserved to be talked to like that.

All the Gryffindors were tense and looked ready to back Ron and me up. Everyone was watching to see what would happen. Harry gave Malfoy a dark look.

“Ahem,” came a sharp cough from the front of the room. “There is to be no talking in this classroom. And just for those insults, Granger, that will be ten points from Gryffindor. For disrupting the class, all the three of you shall receive detention; tomorrow in my office. And don’t be late.”

I feel myself blush out of anger and embarrassment Me? Detention?

I couldn't believe it. I wanted to move to Switzerland and never come back. I couldn’t tell who I hated more; Snape or Malfoy. It was close tie, but Malfoy would’ve had to win it for insulting Hermione in the first place.

Everyone gave me sympathetic looks when we exited the Potions room. I mean, I just stood up for Hermione and Snape gave me a detention? It was ridiculous.

“Hey Ron,” said Hermione, catching up with me, looking slightly confused and flustered, “How are we supposed to put up with Malfoy tomorrow? I still can’t believe I got a detention!”

“Hermione, this is how the rest of us live. Detentions and blowing off homework. You should get used to it,” I said.

“Ron…” she scolded.

“Seriously, you should have a little fun. I mean, homework’s great and all, if you like that kind of stuff, but you shouldn’t miss out on good experiences,” I started.

“What kind of experiences?” she asked suspiciously.

“Well, I know you would never blow off an assignment for a party or something,” I started shuffling my feet and looked at the ground, “But what if we went to Hogsmeade this weekend? You know, if you want to…” I added, sulking slightly.

“Well… Alright. But this isn’t like a date or anything is it?” she asked, avoiding my eyes.

Harry never said we couldn’t “go as friends”. I wish we could go on a real date though. Still, I’m taking Hermione to Hogsmeade!

“Err… Well if you want to go on a date�”” I felt my ears redden. That habit is such a giveaway.

“No! I mean �”err�” we’re just friends…Right?”

“Oh! Yeah. Yeah, we are.” I tried to smile, but I gave a wimpy grimace instead.

I think Harry was lying about her fancying me.

*

Today had definitely put a damper on my mood. First, Malfoy was making fun of me for looking at Ron, then we got detention, and now I just had to mention something about “just being friends” and Ron agreed!

Great.

I mean, what are Ron and I even going to do at Hogsmeade? Sometimes I just don’t understand him.

I turned to go into the library, hoping that some educational reading would calm me down, but this seemed to have the opposite effect.

“Hello,” said an icy voice, belonging to a Ravenclaw girl in the year above us. She had long, dark, wavy hair and piercing blue eyes. I vaguely recognized her as a sixth year Quidditch player.

“Err... Hi? Do I know you?” I asked.

She laughed. It was a cold type of merciless giggle. “Oh, you will,” she promised.

*

“Harry Potter!” I roared, storming into the Common Room, “You owe me for a very, very long time!”

Harry looked up from his conversation with Neville, Dean, and Seamus quizzically.

“What’d I do?” he asked.

“I did the dare Harry! I asked her! She just kind of agreed then scampered off…”

I didn’t bother to tell him that we weren’t going on a real date.

“Ron, she was probably nervous,” teased Seamus.

“Yeah, well you try asking out someone that you fancy! It isn’t exactly a walk in the park. Come on then, I dare you,” I said, repeating Harry’s words from yesterday.

“Fine then. I’ll do it and prove I’m a true Gryffindor. Hmm…” he said, glancing around. “Ginny!” he called, “You want to come to Hogsmeade with me this weekend?”

Harry’s teasing smile quickly melted. We whipped our heads around at Seamus. What had I done?

*

The next day, Ron and I set off for the dungeons after dinner. It was quite awkward with our Hogsmeade “date” hanging four days away.

“Did you hear what happened with Ginny?” he blurted, after a few minutes of silence.

I looked up from the book I was studying from. “No, what happened?”

“Seamus asked her to Hogsmeade.” It sounded like he was going to speak again, but he didn’t.

I laughed. “Ron, she fancies Harry. Why would she have agreed in the first place?” I realized I has just revealed Ginny’s huge crush to her overly protective brother. “Oops,” I whispered.

Ron snorted.

“What?”

“Harry fancies her, too.”

I gasped automatically, but it must’ve been quite overdramatic because it really freaked Ron out.

“Don’t do that! I’m going to start thinking that Death Eaters are bursting through the walls!”

“Sorry. It’s just… I knew something like that was going on…” I said. I mean, who hadn’t picked up on Harry’s hints?

“Right. Well, who hadn’t seen Harry’s pathetic attempt to catch her attention?” he asked, amused.

I left this unanswered, and my thoughts wandered back to the mysterious Ravenclaw girl.

***

“Thank you for finally joining us,” sneered Snape.

Ron and I glanced at the clock and saw that we were five minutes early. But Malfoy must’ve been ten, because he was already seated.

“Tonight, you will be cleaning my personal bathroom,” Snape said quietly.

I tried not to laugh as we walked to Snape’s “room” and he directed us to clean the bathroom. With no magic.

Malfoy groaned at these words. “That’s peasant work!” he complained under his breath.

We got to work, scrubbing the sink and the floor, but not even Malfoy would go near the shower.

“Who knows what he’s got bottled up in there!” exclaimed Malfoy, almost insulting his own Head of House.

“Well, it definitely isn’t shampoo…” muttered Ron, and I giggled.

The room was quiet for a while, in which I watched Ron clean. After a period of about forty or so minutes, Malfoy spoke.

“Wow, Weasley. I’m impressed. You haven’t started snogging her yet,” he jeered.

“Wow, Malfoy. I’m impressed. You haven’t stated snogging yourself yet,” retorted Ron, imitating Malfoy’s annoying tone.

Malfoy stood up and pointed his wand at Ron’s chest. “I’ll hear none of that talk from you, Weasel. Or any other blood-traitor, for that matter,” he smirked.

“Leave him alone!” I cried.

Malfoy whipped his head around. “You’re actually talking to me, Miss Mudblood?”

“You shouldn’t have said that,” Ron muttered darkly, as he reached for his wand.

“Ron, no! Don’t�”” But it was too late. The damage was done. Ron’s fast-acting swelling jinx had done the trick.

“Mr. Weasley. May I ask why you and Miss Granger have been hexing Mr. Malfoy? I think you both owe me another week’s worth of detentions for your poor display of behavior. And I expect the rest of my bathroom spotless by tomorrow. Ten points from Gryffindor. You are to take Mr. Malfoy directly to the Hospital Wing. Dismissed.” He pointed towards the door.

Of course, Ron and I had landed ourselves in more detentions.

*

Malfoy is such a prat. I bet he just prances around trying to get people in detention. Yeah, I bet that’s it. But at least now he’s in the Hospital Wing with his lips swelling by the second. Maybe he really can snog himself now.

My “date” with Hermione is only three days away now. What am I going to do? I probably should’ve thought of this before I asked her. I suppose I’ll just make up something the day before. That should be okay, right?

I walked down the hall, to see a slight familiar-looking girl waiting around. She called my name, and we started talking.

*

What’s happening to me? More detentions? Something is definitely wrong here. At least Malfoy finally got what he deserved.

I walked upstairs to head off to bed, but something stopped me in my tracks. I heard Ron’s voice coming from down the hallway, and I snuck along the wall to see what was up.

He was standing in the middle of the fifth floor corridor with her. The mysterious Ravenclaw girl. She was laughing and flipping her hair. She even started touching his arm! Ron blushed, but looked pleased.

He sent a glance my way, and quickly looked away, as if he hadn‘t seen me at all. That Ravenclaw girl is going down!

Oh no. This is bad. No, it’s beyond bad. Hermione just saw me talking with Avril. I think that she got the completely wrong idea! She just flew off when she saw us. I suppose it didn’t help that I ignored her when she looked at me. All Avril was talking about was the Gryffindor versus Ravenclaw Quidditch match last week. I really, really hope that Hermione isn’t mad. I better go find her.

***

“Hey, Harry,” I said, taking a seat next to him on the couch in the Common Room.

“Hi, Ron.”

“Err… You haven’t seen Hermione, have you?” I asked.

“Oh yeah. She was in here a couple minutes ago. She told me not to mention it. I think she’s pretty irked,” replied Harry, looking uncomfortable. I guess he didn’t want to betray Hermione’s secrets to me or something.

“Yeah… I figured that… She saw me talking to that sixth year girl, Avril, in the hallway.”

“Did she cry?” Harry asked, sighing.

“Probably,” I replied.

“Ron, you always mess everything up, mate,” Harry chuckled, patting me on the back.

“Yes, he does,” scowled Hermione, popping up behind us.

Hermione never misses a trick does she?

“Ronald Weasley! You complete arse!” Hermione ranted, her expression furious.

I don't understand why Hermione gets so worked up about little things like this.

Harry gave me a sympathetic look that read “good luck”, and left for somewhere outside the Common Room.

“Sorry, Hermione. I didn’t mean to upset you by talking to Avril or anything,” I apologized solemnly.

“Oh. I didn’t know that that thing had a name,” muttered Hermione, sounding hurt.

“Look, Hermione... I’m sorry.”

She didn't reply.

Was she jealous?

*

I hate this whole situation. I hate that Ron doesn't fancy me, just some Ravenclaw girl. I hate the fact that I can’t tell him why I’m mad. I hate that “Avril” is trying to steal him from me.

***

The next day, (three more days until my unofficial date with Ron) everyone took their seats in Charms. Another class with the Slytherins. Great.

Ron chose to sit next to me. I gave him a questioning look.

“What?” he asked, “Can’t two friends sit together?”

“Err… Yeah… I’ll move my books…” I pushed my bag over with unintentional force and it slid off the desk.

“I’ll get it!” Ron said, enthusiastically, causing several heads to turn in our direction.

“Ron, what’s gotten into you?” I hissed.

“’Dunno what you’re talking about,” he replied casually.

I glared at him, and I couldn’t concentrate on the work we were supposed to be doing. I finally got to work on the charm we were supposed to be doing, but Ron appeared to be struggling with making socks appear out of thin air.

“Ron. You’ve been staring at the same page in the book for about ten minutes and you haven’t made a single sock!”

“Oh! Err… Yeah… I got this one�””

“Don’t be ridiculous, Ron. What kind of world would this be if you actually did your own work?” I sighed, and then smiled. I pointed my wand at a spot on Ron’s desk. “Videor Pestela!,” I said, performing the charm for Ron.

“Thanks, Hermione,” he beamed, putting his hands behind his head and leaning back on the chair.

He closed his eyes, satisfied with himself, and I watched him smile at something I couldn’t see.

“Granger’s staring at you, Weaselbee,” smirked Malfoy. “I guess you’d want to seize this opportunity.”

Ron’s eyes flew open, and he toppled over backwards off his chair.

The Slytherins laughed hysterically, while Harry and Neville pulled a red-faced Ron off the ground.

“Calm down, calm down,” squeaked Flitwick. “If all of you are going to make such a ruckus, I’m going to assume that you need more work.”

This comment was greeted by silence from the rest of the room. We all sat quietly, finishing our work until the bell rang. I rushed out of the room to meet Ginny.

***

Ginny and I sat in the library discussing Harry and Ron.

“Ginny, if Ron doesn’t pick up interest or send me a signal soon then I’m giving up.”

She laughed. “Hermione, that’s just Ron. He doesn’t send signals! He acts like a stupid prat until he grabs someone’s attention.”

“I don’t know. Sometimes, I think he really isn’t interested. Why can’t he just ask me out on a real date already?”

“Beats me. But I have to go with Seamus.” She made a face.

“Well if you didn’t want to go with him, why’d you say yes?”

“I don’t know. To make Harry jealous?” she admitted sheepishly.

I laughed. “It’s okay. He probably will be jealous. Especially if Seamus tries anything. I doubt Ron would be too happy about that, though.”

“Just another reason. Maybe Harry will punch Seamus,” she put in hopefully. “Not that I want him hurt, but..."

As soon as Ginny and I started laughing, Avril approached us.

“Keep laughing, Granger,” she said.

Ginny gave her a dark glare. “And who are you?”

“Avril Gâté,” she answered, in an annoying, fake, French accent.

“Um, April, or whatever your name is? Are you a model?” sniggered Ginny.

Avril took this seriously. “Well, actually, I almost got signed by a French company in�””

“Because you’re acting like a real poser!” interrupted Ginny, referring to either her fake accent or her love for Ron.

Avril looked taken aback that someone was actually insulting her, not the other way around.

“Cute.” She gave us a fake smile and walked away.

*

After dinner, Hermione and I walked down to the dungeons for our next detention with Snape.

Before we even entered, we heard his voice issuing our instructions for tonight. We peeked around the doorframe to see him scribbling furiously on a piece or parchment.

“Tonight, you will both be helping Madam Pomfrey in the Hospital Wing.” Without looking up for his paper, a cruel smile crossed his face. “Enjoy yourselves,” he said slowly, as we backed out of the room.

***

In the Hospital wing, Hermione and I were directed to take care of the five patients staying there. Not so bad, right? Wrong.

There were these two blokes in the corner who were joined at the hip and had to be fed a thick, pink potion every hour, which smelled like glue.

There was a second year girl who’s feet were shrunken down to about a third of the size they’re supposed to be, and Hermione and I had to hold her down while Madam Pomfrey performed an enlarging charm.

The last girl seemed to have a sort of magnetizing charm on her, because she attracted everything in the room toward her, and it stuck. We were still looking up a cure for this one.

But the last patient, the worst of all for this situation, was Avril.

She sat there in a bed covered in nasty blisters that looked like they had been jinxed on, just so she could come follow me around to the Hospital. She caught my eye, and winked. When Hermione caught sight of her, they glared at each other.

“Ronnie, can you please come help me?” she batted her eyelashes innocently.

“Err. Maybe Hermione should�””

“No. I insist,” she growled, still with a phony smile on her face.

I threw an apologetic glance at Hermione and I asked Avril what I needed to do.

“Oh. Madam Pomfrey just said that you needed to perform the counter-curse for the jinx,” she said.

“What spell?” I sighed.

“It’s Defluo Immunda�” I mean. Erm. I forget what she said.” She smiled, her eyes gloating at Hermione.

“I s’pose I’ll just have to look it up,” I grimaced.

“Aw, Ronnie, I’m sorry. But at least we get to spend more time together, right?” Avril tried.

I watched as Hermione muttered something under her breath, and rolled her eyes.

“I guess...” I said, not wanting Hermione to be mad at me again.

“Bring the spell book over here, Ron. I’ll help you look for it!” called Hermione, still looking at Avril menacingly.

“Will do,” I said, walking across the room.

Hermione scanned the pages quickly until she found what she was looking for, in the section of the book entitled ‘Burns, Blisters, and Bruises.’

“Here we are, Ron. Right here, it says that the spell is Defluo Immunda. Easy enough.” Hermione pointed her wand viciously at Avril and performed the spell. The blisters evaporated, and Avril was free to go.

Avril got up from the bed, walked up to Hermione, and whispered something in her ear that made her eyes bug out. I wonder what she said. Anyway, I'm glad she's left now. I can't stand her following me around. But, hey, I can't help it that I'm so attractive!

Early, Thursday morning, I woke with I start. I had been having a strange dream where I was being chased by a large, black dragon, with piercing blue eyes that were suspiciously familiar. The dragon then “breathed fire”, but instead of fire, a million tiny Rons’ came out. When the dragon looked at me, I woke with a start.

The only thing that the dream told me is that I hate Avril. With a large, burning passion. Why can’t anyone let me be happy? Is my happiness given to me like medicine? Take in small doses, twice daily? Life is not fair.

On top of my Ron/Avril problems, Ron and I have more detentions until next week. And worse (better?) than that my date with Ron is only two days away.

When I was freshly showered, I changed into clean robes and got my books ready for class. I headed down to breakfast to see that the hall was mostly empty. I must have been up really early, considering that even Ron wasn’t down at breakfast. I helped myself to toast and coffee and waited for more students to come downstairs. After fifteen minutes or so, I felt someone’s gaze piercing into the back of my head. I turned around.

“Oh. It’s you,” I said, rolling my eyes and turning back around.

Avril grabbed my arm and pulled me back around. “Wait,” she said.

“What?” I asked icily.

“Why do you like Ron �”Oh come off it, we all know you do�” But honestly, I’m curious,” she inquired, as I tried to turn around again.

“Who said I liked him?” I muttered.

“Are you deaf? I just told you that everyone knows!”

“Mind your own business,” I said curtly.

“Well, I s’pose if you don’t like him, I’ll have to take him for myself. Later.” She turned away and walked toward the Ravenclaw table.

I went over the conversation in my head, and realized that Avril was trying to steal Ron. No, not trying. She was going to steal Ron.

*

I walked down to breakfast with Harry and we began discussing Avril and Hermione.

“Ron, they obviously both fancy you. You need to do something about it.”

“About what? Tell them to shake hands and call a truce? I don’t know a lot about girls, Harry, but I don’t think it works that way.”

“No, Ron! I meant that you need to tell one of them off. Make a choice,” said Harry.

“Some choice,” I muttered, knowing exactly who I’d pick. “But what about your dare, Harry? You never asked Ginny! There’s only two days left!” I exclaimed.

“Erm, Ron? Did you forget? Thanks to you now she’s going with Seamus.”

“Oh! Don’t try to turn this one around on me! You started these dares in the first place!”

“Ron, that doesn’t matter. She still wouldn’t go out with me anyway.”

“Look, mate. If it was a choice between you and Seamus, even Malfoy would pick you.”

Harry and I both burst into hysterics, and couldn’t stop laughing until we took our seats at the table. We noticed that Hermione looked like she was long finished eating.

“’Morning, Hermione,” I said.

She looked up from her book, gave us a vague nod, and looked downward again.

“Erm. What’re you reading?” I asked, peering over her shoulder to get a glimpse of what was written on the pages.

“Ron! I can’t concentrate with you breathing in my ear! Could you move over?”

“A please would be nice,” I said, helping myself to breakfast.

“’Bit touchy today, isn’t she?” Harry whispered.

“’Probably has an Arithmancy test. Professor Vector just might fail her on this one,” I whispered back.

Harry spit out whatever ever he was drinking, due to his sudden snort.

Hermione slammed her book and stood up. “Just for your information, I don’t have a test today. Maybe I like to read in peace every once in awhile. And if you’re going to talk about me, you might as well learn to speak quietly, seeing as our whole table heard you!” She stormed off to the grounds for our next class, hair swinging behind her.

*

I can’t believe Ron. He’s so obnoxious sometimes! I just get so frustrated with him. Especially on these “Avril days”. Sometimes, I’m madly in love with him, and the next second, he tries to pick a fight with me!

***

“Alright class, we’re going to be breaking into pairs and attempt to get the seeds out of this plant. Does anyone know what it’s called?” said Professor Sprout, referring to the pile of rather ugly, shriveled vines in front of her. “Yes, Mr. Longbottom?”

“The Horned Vigne…” answered Neville automatically.

“Excellent. Five points to Gryffindor. Now, all of you, pick a partner and get to work,” Professor Sprout commanded.

I saw Harry dash quickly from Ron’s side and pair up with Neville. Ron looked around but most of the Gryffindors and Hufflepuffs were already paired up. Except Ron and I.

“C’mon Hermione, we’re the only two left,” he said, pulling me over to get our instruction packet.

Ron held both ends of the long, prickly vine while it wriggled and tried to lash out at him, and I pulled the thorns out to collect the seeds.

Ron and I burst into fits of laughter when Justin Fitch-Fletchey tried holding down the plant for Ernie, and it whipped up and smacked him in the face. Overall, it was a pretty good class, especially since our small fight this morning was completely forgotten.

*

I made it through class without having a row with Hermione! This has got to be a record. If only she’d help me with my homework…

“�”Err, so, Ginny,” said Harry, throwing me a meaningful glance while walking into the Common Room, “Do you… Have plans this weekend?”

Ginny gave him a confused look. “Yeah…remember? I’m going to Hogsmeade with Seamus… Didn’t you hear?”

“Oh! Yeah, yeah! That’s brilliant. Excellent, really. That was quite a stupid question to ask.” He smacked his forehead theatrically. “But I had another question. Would you… If you weren’t busy… Sometime…Eventually�”” Harry paused to wipe sweat off his forehead.

“Ginny, what he’s trying to say is that he fancies a trip to Hogsmeade with you,” I interrupted.

A suddenly embarrassed Harry muttered something unintelligible that sounded like, “Mehp”.

“…Is that true?”

“Yeah,” smiled Harry, sheepishly.

Ginny blushed and looked down. “Well, I’d love to go with you Harry, but when I tell Seamus�””

“Tell me what, Ginny?” asked Seamus, walking down from the dorms.

“Perfect timing,” I scoffed.

---

After Ancient Runes, I entered the Common Room to a scene of complete and utter chaos.

Harry and Seamus were in the middle of a shouting match, with a crowd surrounding them, chanting “Fight, fight!” over and over.

Ginny looked sort of frightened, and was trying to break it up by pushing the boys away from each other. Neville ran for the dormitories. Harry and Seamus must have inspired some younger students, because first and second years were standing on furniture, throwing random objects at each other, and screaming. Ron seemed to be encouraging them. Several cats and toads scampered across the floor, trying to escape the mess.

“What is going on in here?” exclaimed Professor McGonagall, in horror and bewilderment, as she burst through the door.

The whole suddenly silent room exchanged glances while they stood in their frozen positions.

“Well? Where did this come from?” spluttered McGonagall.

“Well,” piped a small, First-year boy, “It all started about fifteen years ago when my parents got married and�””

“Not that!” exclaimed McGonagall, “All this fighting?”

“Look, Professor, this was just a big misunderstanding between me and Harry. Right, Harry?” input Seamus.

“Yeah, Professor, that’s all.

“Why were they,” McGonagall pointed to the first and second year group, “Demolishing the furniture and wailing like Banshees?”

“We aren’t sure, really… ‘Must’ve gotten over-excited or something…”

“This madness is going to stop. Immediately,” commanded McGonagall, sternly. “I do not want to hear another peep from this Common Room for the rest of the evening. Understand?” she asked, glaring. We all nodded.

“Potter, Finnigan, and Mr. and Miss Weasley, in my office. At once.”

McGonagall took a seat and glared at us for a good five minutes. During this time, I thought about how we were missing dinner, and about how beautiful Hermione looked today.

“I am extremely ashamed of all of you. I have never seen my House displayed in such a despicable and disappointing way,” she started, her hard expression unchanging.

“Erm, Professor? Could I just say that�”” I interjected.

“No, Mr. Weasley! The only thing you need to say is how you are a bad role model and a disgraceful Prefect. Now, you four, I want to know why you all couldn’t work out your problems calmly, instead of resorting to violence.”

“Well, you see, Professor, I tried pleading with Potter,” Seamus said, innocently, “but he just resorted to fighting straight away.”

“Professor! You can’t listen to that! He’s... He’s...” stuttered Harry.

“Lucky for everyone, I know how to deal with this kind of situation. We are all going to tell each of our sides to this story. Mr. Finnigan, you may start,” McGonagall said, peering over her spectacles.

“It all started when I was strolling down from the dormitories. There I was, all smiles and whistles, and out of the blue, Potter’s on the floor; Ginny basically in his lap, asking her to Hogsmeade. She was already going with me, so when I heard, I was pretty furious. I shouted at Potter to get away from my date, and he came at me�””

Harry turned an angry red color and opened his mouth to interrupt. McGonagall looked skeptically toward Seamus.

“Mr. Finnigan, I do not believe that Mr. Potter would be so violent. Even so, he was still involved. Let’s hear his side of the story.” McGonagall turned to Harry, and Seamus looked outraged.

“Alright, well let me see…” he pretended, “Oh, yeah. I’ve only fancied Ginny for about the whole year�””

Ginny positively beamed and gave Harry a sloppy, lovesick look that I hoped I would never see on her face again.

“Continue!” commanded McGonagall.

“Right. Err, well, I wanted to go with Ginny and I was angry that Seamus was going with her, all because of some dare Ron made and I just… I just asked her… Then Seamus came down, and you could just about feel the rage coming off his face, and he had a go at me. Ginny tried breaking it up, but we got out of hand,” he finished lamely. He shot a death glare towards Seamus.

“This still seems exaggerated. Miss Weasley, how did you see the situation?” McGonagall looked at Ginny expectantly.

“Well, I had met Harry after Care of Magical Creatures when he came out of Herbology, and we started talking. When we got into the Common Room, he asked me to the village, and I�” Well I’ve liked him for… Anyway, I only agreed to Seamus because I wanted to make Harry jealous,” she admitted sheepishly. “But then Seamus got mad when he heard, and I was going to tell him what was going on, when Harry had to get a big head,” she laughed a little, “and bragged to Seamus. Seamus took a go at Harry and they started shouting. Everyone wanted a fight, and Ron sort of roused up the other students. Then you got everything under control, and here we are,” she finished, drawing breath.

“That seems reasonable. Mr. Weasley, you will receive a detention for “rousing up the other students”, and will have ten points taken away from Gryffindor.” It seemed to pain her to say this, but she continued. “Miss Weasley, you will be getting off with a strict warning because you were not directly involved in the situation. Potter and Finnigan, you will have twenty points taken from Gryffindor. Each. You have also lost your privileges to visit the village this coming Saturday, seeing as you do not seem to have the ability to work out your problems on your own. You four are dismissed.”

“Professor!” gasped Harry. “Fifty points?”

“I don’t want this anymore than you do, Potter. Maybe now you’ll learn to control your thoughts and actions.” Her lips became a tight line and she exited the room.

Harry and Seamus looked crestfallen, and Ginny looked outraged. This can’t be good.

*

I paced around the deserted Common Room for what seemed like hours. I tried to concentrate on my Runes essay, but I reread it and realized that it didn’t even make sense. Plus, I doodled all over the paper.

After about thirty prolonged minutes, Harry and Seamus entered and trudged upstairs to the dorms, keeping eye contact minimum, while Ginny huffed and stomped up to the girls’ dormitory. Ron took a seat on the couch next to me. I quickly crumpled my essay and stuffed it behind a pillow.

“You don’t happen to have any food, do you? I’m starving.”

“Never mind that! What happened? Are you in trouble? Did McGonagall�””

“Slow down, Hermione,” he smiled. He averted his eyes from mine and said, “You… You look kind of pretty when you’re anxious.”

I wasn’t prepared for this one. I recoiled in surprise. “Thank you, Ron!” I grinned. I could feel my face begin to redden.

“Yeah… Well we lost about fifty points and Harry and Seamus are both banned from the Hogsmeade trip, which kind of screws things up for Ginny. She got off with a warning, and I've got another detention. We still have Snape’s detentions till next week!” he groaned, as his stomach rumbled..

“Oh my�” Ron, you’re right! What time is it?”

He glanced at his watch. “Err. Seven-thirty?”

“Ron! We have to go!” Trying to get to detention on time, and not give Snape another reason to dock more points from Gryffindor, I pulled Ron all the way down to the dungeons, by the wrist, not even bothering to be embarrassed by this contact.

*

Snape glared at us when we rushed into his office, red-faced and out of breath. Hermione realized she was still holding my wrist and dropped it, blushing.

“Seeing as you two can’t seem to control your emotions,” he glanced at our wrists, now at our sides, “You will be placed in separate detentions tonight. Weasley, you will be in the library, helping Madam Pince sort books. Granger, you will be helping Mr. Filch in his office. Go.” He pointed towards the door.

Snape’s got to have a list of goals. Ahem. I am Snape, the Potions master. My life’s ambition is to make sure Ron Weasley has the worst life possible. He should never get his happy ending with Hermione Granger. I’m going to give him detention until he’s ninety.

Nice impression, hmm?

---

“Great. Different detentions.”

I cursed, before guiltily glancing at Hermione’s disapproving look.

“I know. I mean, you in a library?” she giggled at the thought.

“Ha ha,” I laughed sarcastically, “Will you meet me after your detention? I don’t know if I can stand Madam Pince and all those books for that long…”

“Sure, Ron.”

I waved, and then headed to meet my doom.

***

My detention wasn’t so bad… But I’m not sure how Ron’s doing. I need to go track him down, anyways.

I took the few flights of stairs from Filch’s office on the way to my daily route towards the library. I stepped lightly through the doorway looking for a glimpse of Ron, or maybe Madam Pince. They were nowhere in sight.

I sauntered toward the back of the library and through a few isles. What I saw made me drop my bag. I forgot why I was there, and what I was doing. I almost forgot my own name.

Ron was pushed up against the wall. Snogging Avril.

I ran out of the library as fast as possible, but I could still hear shouts of “Hermione! Wait! Hermione!” coming from a voice that sounded exactly like Ron’s. My heart was pounding, and I couldn't even look back at Ron. All I wanted to do was get as far away from him as I could.

I’m such a bloody git. No, wait. Avril is such a bloody git. Every time Hermione comes around, Avril attaches herself onto me. And this time, I mean that literally.

She called me over so she could show me this book on Quidditch techniques, and when I saw Hermione looking around, I was about to call out, but Avril just tossed the book down and started snogging me.

She is attractive, don’t get me wrong, but she’s definitely no Hermione. In the meantime, I need to explain what happened to Hermione. I know she got the wrong idea, and I’m really hoping she doesn’t freak out.

*

I will never, ever forgive Ron. I can’t believe him! I was just about to tell him how happy I was that I got off easy on detention, and he’s shoved himself in a corner snogging Avril! What does he even see in her? Honestly, what level of low self-esteem do you have to have?

I actually feel sort of pathetic right now. Ginny and I are in her dorm talking about how men are such prats. Well, I am, anyway. Ginny’s being sort of a drag, considering she’s all happy-peppy about Harry.

This might be going to bad places. I think this is the angriest I’ve ever been at Ron. I’m not even sure that I fancy him anymore. I mean, what if we were together, and he was strutting around, snogging girls at his will?

“Hermione, get up. You’ve been whining for almost an hour now.” Ginny stood up and pulled me off the floor. “Let’s go.”

“Where are you taking me?” I groaned.

“Nowhere tonight. But tomorrow, I’m taking you to find another man and get over Ron. Well, alright, we all know that’s not going to happen but we’re going to use my strategy. We’re going to make him jealous.”

I knew that her words were true, especially the part about not getting over Ron. I can’t lie to myself, I still love him. Just deep down. Very deep down.

*

“Harry?”

“Yeah, Ron?” Harry sighed, turning away from Ginny, who was sitting very close to him.

“Why do girls have to be so complicated?” I sighed.

Ginny rolled her eyes.

“I dunno. But what about you and Avril?” Harry raised an eyebrow skeptically.

“There’s nothing between me and Avril!” I roared furiously, “For the hundredth time, Harry! I already told you! I was just standing there in detention when bloody Avril skips over and tries to spark a conversation with me. And then, while I tried to yell for Hermione, she just shoved me against the wall so I couldn’t get away and started snogging me!”

"Ginny and I were about to do a bit of snogging ourselves until you had to burst in here complaining," said Harry, a bit annoyed.

“Harry!” I moaned in frustration, “Pay attention! And, bloody hell; please don’t have “fantasies” about my sister.”

Ginny huffed and crossed her arms defensively. “Ron, Harry can do whatever he wants.”

Harry laughed a bit and said, “Right. So Hermione wants to pan your head in. Ron, not that this isn’t interesting, but this isn’t really anything new.”

“Look Harry, I know that me and Hermione have a row about every other day, but I called her back! And she just kept running! I don’t think this is like before. I can’t lose her, Harry. I was half in love with her by the time we met. That's the thing about girls. Every time they do something pretty, even if they're not much to look at, or even if they're sort of stupid, you fall half in love with them, and then you never know where the hell you are,” I frowned.

“Well then, we’ll just have to arrange a little apology…” he trailed off, a plan forming behind his eyes.

“Ugh,” I moaned. I wanted Hermione back, but apologizing is definitely not my forté.

*

On Friday, Ginny had Michael Corner introduce me to Terry Boot. I had never really known him well, but he seemed interested. We did end up telling them the whole story about Avril and Ron, but they decided to go along with our “make Ron jealous” plan.

Terry and I strolled through the castle holding hands, subconsciously looking for Ron. At one point, I saw Avril in the hall, and when she saw us, she turned to her “henchmen” Lydia Kingswood and Helen Chambers and squealed excitedly. She ran off, probably looking for Ron. This isn’t going according to plan…

When we were up on the ninth floor, coming off the staircase, I spotted Ron. He grinned and looked like he was about to say something, but then he caught sight of Terry and me. This really isn’t going according to plan.

*

Well look where this has landed me. Avril snogs me, and Hermione goes and sets herself up with Terry Boot? I was just about to apologize, and they prance up holding hands and giggling! I’m going to kill Harry.

***

“Harry! You are the worst advice-giver anyone will ever meet!” I stormed into the Common Room.

“What did I do now, Ron?” sighed Harry. He must’ve seen the angry-meets-startled look on my face, seeing as he removed his arm from behind Ginny. He awkwardly slid over a few seats on the couch.

“Oh, don’t act all bored and lazy! You just think everything’s dandy, don’t you? Just because everything comes naturally to you, “The Chosen One”, doesn’t mean the rest of have perfect lives�””

“Ron, stop being such a prat,” said Ginny, “What’re you so miffed about, anyway?”

“Well, I took your brilliant advice, Harry, and went to go apologize to Hermione, and I found her holding hands with Terry Boot! I didn’t even know she knew him… I really think I love her, Harry.”

Ginny snorted, and tried to cover it up as a cough. Harry said, “I’ll talk to her. In the meantime, you go down to the changing rooms. Just because we’ve had a tough week doesn’t mean we can forget about Quidditch. I’ll bring Hermione down to practice.”

*

I said goodbye to Terry and started walking toward the Common Room. I thought about the situation with Ron. I know I shouldn’t, but I feel bad for some reason. Even if he was coming to give me some lame excuse as to why he was snogging Avril, I still feel kind of guilty for using Terry to make him jealous.

I was so absorbed in my own thoughts, that I didn’t notice where I was going. I bumped straight into Harry.

“Oh. Hey, Harry,” I said glumly.

“Let’s go.” Harry pulled me downstairs towards the grounds, with a determined look on his face.

“Where are we going?” I asked, breathless and surprised.

“Quidditch practice. You’re going to watch Ron practice.”

I stopped. “No. I don’t really want to be anywhere near him right now. I might feel bad, but not that bad.”

“Fine. Then you’re going to watch me practice.”

“Fine,” I said defensively, raising an eyebrow, “But you owe me.”

*

In the changing rooms, I was just pulling my Quidditch robes on when I heard a voice behind me.

“Ron, Hermione’s here.”

I felt my face turn scarlet and started spluttering. I got tangled in my robe.

“Ron, mate, calm down, I was only kidding. She’s in the stands.”

“I’m really am going to kill you someday, Harry.”

***

Practice started out well. Harry, Fred, George, Angelina, Katie, Alicia and I all kicked off and flew into the air; bludgers, the Quaffle, and the Snitch soaring. I was making some good progress, and made some great saves. I glanced over to the stands a few times to see a pink-faced Hermione shivering under her coat; I puffed out my chest and did all sorts of fancy flips and turns, but I never met Hermione’s eyes.

Fred and George were goofing off in the air, hitting bludgers wherever they pleased, but it got out of hand. Time seemed to move in slow motion as a bludger sped toward my head. The last things I heard were several gasps and a sickening crack.

***

“�”just say Hermione in his sleep?”

“What’s he muttering about?”

“What’s an Avril?”

I zoned in and out of consciousness and caught a few bits of what people were saying.

But finally, after what could’ve been one minute or five days, I opened my eyes slowly, and I saw two hazy figures in front of me. Harry and Hermione.

“Someone finally got up,” teased Harry.

Hermione just gave me a worried look.

“W-Where is everyone?” I croaked.

“Dinner… It’s about six-thirty.”

“Why?”

“Well, see when it’s this time of day, and people are hungry�”” started Harry.

“I meant why I’m here, Harry.”

“Oh. Well, you took a bludger to the head at practice. Madam Pomfrey said it was nothing serious, and nothing she couldn’t fix. She said you can leave at nine when you’re fully recovered.”

“Ugh,” I muttered, patting my empty stomach sadly. “No dinner.”

*

Harry and I left the Hospital about half an hour later, and I could still tell that my mouth was open in shock.

“Hermione, calm down. Nothing happened, he’s okay.”

“I know, I know.”

“What is it?” he asked slowly, noticing I was holding back on something.

“It’s all my fault.”

Harry looked at me strangely.

“…How was it your fault?”

“If I hadn’t been mad at him for snogging who he wanted to snog, then I wouldn’t have tried to make him jealous, then I never would’ve gone to the practice. Then he wouldn’t be showing off, and he wouldn’t have gotten hurt.”

“Hermione. It wasn’t your fault at all. Ron’s been trying to apologize to you! He wasn’t snogging Avril. She just came onto him. Hermione,” he sighed, “He told me… He loves you, Hermione.”

I definitely wasn’t expecting that one.

I sat at dinner, the same Friday night, anxiously drumming my fingers on the table, waiting for Harry. He said he was going to talk to Hermione, but what’s taking him so long? And what am I supposed to do at Hogsmeade tomorrow with Hermione if she won’t talk to me, she’s with Terry, and Harry isn’t there to fix my problems for me?

I still can’t believe Avril. What’s her deal? She’s in the year above me and has some kind of bizarre obsession with me.

“Ron!” Harry grinned, jogging to the table.

“What’d you tell her, Harry? Because if she�””

“I told her you love her,” he said, excited.

“WHAT?” I cried, causing several heads to turn in our direction.

Harry’s smile faltered. “Erm. I guess I wasn’t supposed to do that…”

*

Ron loves me. Ron loves me. Not Avril. Me! I can’t even process this… What am I going to say to him? How could I not have noticed? I mean I’d noticed, but I never really…noticed. What if Harry just lied to get me to like him again?

“�”Always screw everything up, you can’t do one thing right, what kind of friend are you�””

“Err. Hi, Ron,” I blushed, interrupting his shouting match with Harry. I crossed my legs uncomfortably.

“I’ll leave you two alone,” Harry smiled, nudging Ron.

Ron scowled.

“Do you�” Do you want to talk?” I asked, moving over on the couch so he could sit down.

He took the seat next to me. “I… I guess so,” he said, causing an awkward silence.

“So. Err. Harry told me something.”

“What?” Ron said quickly, his ears reddening. “Uh. I mean. What was it?”

I looked away from Ron’s strangely knowledgeable gaze. “He said,” I took a deep breath, “He said that you loved me.”

“Oh. Right.”

Ron flushed, but looked me straight in the eye.

“Well? I mean �”err�” do you?” I gazed into his crystal-blue eyes and couldn’t look away.

“Hermione,” he sighed, “I loved you since we met, that day on the train,” his tone grew quieter. “I never liked Avril. I never snogged her. I only have eyes for you.”

His moved his face closer. I had been waiting for this moment for about five years. I could hear his sharp breath, just millimeters from my face, when�”

Someone wolf-whistled. I closed my eyes and clenched my fists before whipping my head around, to see a group of third-year boys gawking at us. One boy was thick enough to take notes.

Ron’s face reddened and he threw a pillow in their general direction. This action was met by shouts and screams and all the boys ran for their dormitories.

By this time, both of our faces were bright red and there was a long awkward silence.

“So, what do you want to do at Hogsmeade? There’s no Harry to mess things up this weekend…” Ron said happily.

*

At about eleven-thirty at night, after talking with Hermione and another horrible detention with Snape, we snuck up to my dorm. I switched on the brightest lamp in the room to wake up a snoring Harry.

“Wuzzgoinon?” he asked, jolting awake.

I gave him a happy blow to the head, which left him grasping for his glasses.

“Ron, don’t hit him,” Hermione said reproachfully.

“What do you want?” Harry groaned, shoving his glasses onto his face.

“Just to say thanks,” I said, shrugging.

“For what?” he mumbed, turning over on his pillow.

“Getting us together. This,” I raised our interlaced fingers into the air, “This never would’ve happened if you hadn’t told Hermione I loved her. So, thanks.”

This was greeted by a large snore.

“Well, see you tomorrow, Hermione,” I beamed.

“Goodnight, Ron,” she smiled. “’Night Harry.”

*

I was too anxious and excited to sleep. I wandered down to the library. Even though it was about midnight, I found Avril and her friend Lydia whispering and keeping to themselves.

“Hi, girls. Sorry to interrupt,” I started, not sorry at all. “I just wanted to tell you that Ron is now officially ‘off the market’. Maybe next time you should make a better plan,” I shrugged.

Avril’s expression was of pure loathing and disbelief. And, as all mean girls do when their plans are foiled, she stomped her foot and shrieked.

Madam Pince glared at her and pointedly put up the closed sign on the door.

I smiled cheekily and danced out the door.

***

I was on my way back to the Common Room when I heard a small sound. I walked backwards for a few paces down a fifth-floor corridor and glimpsed down the hallway I’d just passed. A small, pitiful crying sound seemed to be emitting from behind a tapestry.

“Ginny?” I said cautiously, pulling back the tapestry.

“Go away,” she sniffed, wiping her eyes on her sleeve.

“What’s wrong?” I asked, sitting down next to her in the small space. She seemed to be mortified that I caught her crying.

“It’s…It’s just…Never mind, you wouldn’t understand.”

“No really, I want to know.”

“Fine. It’s going to sound pathetic, and I can’t believe I’m actually crying about this. It’s just that you and Ron have everything perfect, being together and all, and that got me thinking. I mean, first I was just put-down and angry that Harry couldn’t go to Hogsmeade tomorrow…Well, today really…But it’s so much more than that, Hermione.” she took a shaky, shuddering breath and continued, “He might not survive, Hermione. The whole wizarding world is depending on him to save us. What if this war doesn’t�” doesn’t end the right way?”

Finally. I’d been going mental over this day since the beginning of this week. I really hope things have finally settled down. I mean, Hermione and I are together, I haven’t heard from Avril, and I’m going on a date with Hermione!

On our way downstairs, we passed a glum-looking Ginny who gave Hermione a little wave. She responded with an understanding smile, and told her she should try to find Harry. Ginny looked a bit happier at this and skipped off. Girls are weird sometimes.

Hermione looked… Well, she looked stunning. I couldn’t say that out loud, just thinking about that made my face turn red, but she truly did.

Her usually bushy hair was smoothed into shiny ringlets, and her cheeks were pink from the cold air. She wore a light blue scarf tucked into her brown coat. Her long eyelashes brushed against her face softly.

I suddenly felt pathetic, as I hadn’t dressed nicely for the occasion at all.

We strolled out of the Entrance Hall together, and I couldn’t keep my eyes off of her face.

“So, where are we going?” Hermione asked, taking my hand.

“Erm. I was just thinking the usual. You know, like The Three Broomsticks and Honeydukes,” I finished, trailing off lamely.

“Sounds perfect.” She smiled.

*

This is turning out better than I expected. Ron decided that we should go places comfortable and familiar, and I haven’t embarrassed myself yet.

Ron pulled me into The Three Broomsticks for a butterbeer. We sat up at the bar, and for the first time in years, Ron didn’t drool over Madam Rosmerta while he paid for the drinks. He looked at me with a smile on his face for quite awhile, though.

“What?” I asked, my face breaking into a small smile.

His ears turned the same color as his Gryffindor scarf. “It’s just… We’re together. And… I just feel so lucky to have you, Hermione.”

I giggled a little, partly because I was so giddy, and partly because that line was so cheesy, but so classic Ron.

“No!” groaned Ron, pulling me under the nearest table.

“What?” I asked, alarmed.

“It’s her.”

I knew who he spoke of immediately. And like a curtain falling over the stage and the theme song turning off, the mood was gone. We tried to grab our drinks and make a run for it, but Avril was always a step ahead.

“Ronnie!” she squealed, ignoring me and hugging him tightly.

Something inside me exploded, considering that she knew that we were dating, and she still chose to use her old ways.

Ron pushed her off, disgusted, much to my delight.

“Flick off, Gâté.”

She looked angry and shocked. “Excuse me?” She blinked.

“You heard me. I’m with Hermione now. Find someone else.”

And with that, he pushed past a frozen and open-mouthed Avril, and lead me back out into the chilly weather.

“A right prat, she is,” he muttered.

“I already told her we were together and she still comes on to you.” I shook my head in disbelief.

He sighed. “Let’s go into Honeydukes.”

We laughed as we tried a variety of different candies, picking some out for Ginny and Harry.

*

“What about these?” I asked, pointing to the Pepper Imps. “I bet Harry’s ears wouldn’t stop steaming for days…”

Hermione and I picked out a good amount of candy for us and Harry and Ginny, but the best part was seeing her face when I told her to try an exploding bonbon. Just as we were heading to pay, two people bounded out from behind us.

“Boo!” yelled Ginny, pulling the Invisibility Cloak off of Harry and herself. “Fancy seeing you lot here,” she winked.

“Ginny! If someone spots Harry�” if you’re seen�””

“Relax, Hermione, I’ve been in worse trouble.” Harry grinned, straightening his crooked glasses.

“Just be careful,” she said reproachfully.

We handed over the sweets we planned to buy for them, and waved goodbye as we headed our separate ways.

“Be careful with her, Harry!” I yelled after them. “And don’t hurt her! And no snogging! Oi! Do you hear me? I said no snogging!”

Harry waved a hand in recognition without turning around.

*

Ron and I quickly browsed through Zonko’s, picking out ridiculous things that would be Fred-and-George-approved. We checked in some other shops, including an exotic looking one that claimed to sell remedies to an unsteady mind. We laughed a bit at this one, joking that we should recommend it to Avril, but we decided to visit the Shrieking Shack for old time’s sake.

“Well, well, well,” sneered a voice from behind us. “Look who we have here. A Mudblood and a Weasel.”

I wheeled around, and absolutely howled with laughter at the sight.

“Avril? And Malfoy? Together?

For once, Ron was at a loss for words. He opened and closed his mouth like a fish several times, but no sound escaped his lips.

“Ron told me to find someone else, and I did.” Avril said, holding her head high, a good accompaniment to Malfoy’s smirk. “And I can’t believe I actually liked you.” Her eyes scanned Ron quickly before turning back to Malfoy and giggling. They rubbed noses. Ron looked a bit sick.

Malfoy whispered something in her ear, and they scampered off. Ron swore he heard Avril giggle, “Draco, you dirty devil!”

It had been a bizarre day overall.

After talking in front of the Shrieking Shack for awhile, Ron gave me one of those expectant looks of his.

I watched his eyes trace my face silently.

Ron leaned in slowly, closing his eyes. He put one arm around my neck, while tucking a piece of my hair behind my ear. My heart fluttered. I knew what was coming. I leaned closer and closer, inhaling his familiar scent.

And he kissed my nose.

I blinked and then laughed.

Ron laughed, too. “Erm, let me try that again.”

This time, he studied the exact location of my lips before making a move. He linked both his arms behind my back this time, and before I could think anything else, his warm lips met mine.

And so I finally got that kiss.

The rain pattered noisily against the glass windows of the small cottage.

The twenty-five year old woman called her husband into the room, and beckoned him toward the rocking chair she now occupied near the fire.

“What is it?” he asked, half excited, half concerned.

“It’s kicking,” she whispered excitedly, taking his hand and pressing it onto her abdomen.

She watched anxiously as her husband’s face slowly spread into a grin.

“Oh, Ron,” she whispered. Tears filled her eyes.

“I’m going to be a father,” he said, taking her hand.

“And I’m going to be a mother. I really must read more of those parenting books, I’m not sure if�””

“Hermione, you’re going to be the best mother any child ever had. And this child, he’ll be the most�””

“What makes you think it’s going to be a boy?” Hermione asked defensively.

“Well�” I just thought that if�” Maybe�”” Ron’s ears glowed red in embarrassment.

“I think it’s going to be a girl.” she said, slightly pompously.

“But we don’t have any names picked out for a girl… And, besides, there’s barely any girl Weasleys, so that’s a fat chance�””

“Ronald!” she said, scolding him, “Haven’t we always been ones for beating the odds?” she said, reminiscing.

He smiled. “What names do you like, if somehow we do end up with a girl?”

Hermione glanced around the room sheepishly. “Well, I hadn’t really thought about it much…” She squinted out the window, through the rain, thinking, and her eyes focused on their small garden. On one plant in particular.

“Rose,” she whispered softly.

“We can’t have a daughter named Rose!” Ron wrinkled his nose in obvious disgust.

“What’s wrong with the name Rose?” Hermione demanded, crossing her arms with slight difficulty.

“Well first off, no daughter of mine is going to be a softy with a name like Rose… And we definitely aren’t naming her after a plant you saw in the garden!” he fumed.

“Oh, so now you’re sure we’re having a girl?” she teased.

“Don’t change the subject,” he muttered.

“Well, what’re going to name our baby if it’s a boy?”

“I was thinking Hugo, after my great-great�””

“Hugo? I can’t have a baby with a- a- circus performer name!” Hermione spluttered angrily.

Ron’s tone changed and soothed her almost immediately. “Relax, Hermione, we still have three or four months to think about this.” He secretly pondered what a circus performer was, but didn’t ask Hermione out loud.

It was silent for a moment. “What House do you think they’ll be in?” asked Hermione.

“They better be in Gryffindor. . .” said Ron tonelessly.

Hermione laughed, “Ron, it’s okay to have a child in a different House than we were in.”

“So you’re saying you’d still love this child even if they were in Slytherin?”

Hermione smacked Ron with the back of her copy of Mothering in the Magical Community.

After a moment’s pause, there was a small knock on the door.

“Come in!” Hermione called.

A witch who looked much beyond her years entered the room. There was something familiar about the body that now dripped water onto the carpet.

Hermione looked into the now dull blue eyes. She silently studied her now chin-length haircut. She was just as tall as she was in her school days.

“Hello, my name is Avril Malfoy, and today I’ve been sent here from the Ministry of Magic to promote the�””

For a second, the long-forgotten face was quiet, as she realized who’s doorway she currently occupied.

“Hi, Avril. Would you like to stay for tea?” said Hermione, with hard eyes, purposely trying to puff out her stomach.

Avril slowly back out the door, disbelievingly gazing at the couple with a hasty “Sorry to bother you”. Ron and Hermione blinked in shock, and once she was gone, they burst into laughter.