"Look at them," Lavender sighed to Neville, "you'd think they'd be together by now."
"It's getting annoying," Ginny commented.
"It is annoying!" Harry agreed, rolling his eyes. "Those two are crazy about each other but for some reason, they just can't get together! We have to do something!"
They nodded in agreement as they continued to observe Ron and Hermione. On a squashy sofa in the corner of the common room they sat beside each other, both trying to complete a different homework assignment. Their situation was sad, really. It was so glaringly obvious that they liked each other, but neither of them would admit it. Ginny shook her head as she watched Hermione look lovingly over at Ron, who was completely oblivious to her affection.
"You're right," Neville said to Harry. "We have to do something to get them together."
"But what though?" Harry wondered. "What could we possibly do to make this work?"
Suddenly, a grin spread across Ginny's face. "I think I have an idea."
Malfoy strutted through the hallways, thinking to himself. So someone was desperately in love with him...well, there were plenty of people who were desperately in love with him, but someone actually had the guts to send him a note about it. Naturally they would have sent a note; he was just so amazingly attractive that whoever it was probably felt afraid to confront him in person. Who could it be though...
"Hey Goyle," he said. "Who d'ya think would send me a love note?"
"Uhh...some girl?"
Malfoy groaned. He really needed to buy at lest one intelligent friend. With this in mind he marched into the library, hoping to find someone there who might possibly know where the note had come from. There weren't too many other students in the room at the time. A group of first year Hufflepuffs were seated at a table on the left (they wouldn't be of any help), two seventh year Ravenclaws were fighting over a particularly old book in front of him (they seemed a bit busy), and to his right, flipping through a book, was Seamus Finnegan (it was worth a shot).
"Hey," Malfoy called to him. "I need to ask you something!"
"What do you want?" Seamus said in reply, curious as to why Malfoy would willingly talk to him.
"D'you know anything about this?" He handed Seamus the note.
"Hey, I recognize this, I think," Seamus laughed without reading it. "Ron and I took it from Harry last night! I can tell from the way it's folded!"
Malfoy's stomach lurched. No... "Y'mean...it's Harry's?"
"Yep!"
He could feel himself turning green. Harry...Harry Potter...Harry Potter...his arch nemesis...fancied him?
"No, no, no!" Lavender tutted. "That looks nothing like Hermione's handwriting!"
"Well yours doesn't look like Ron's handwriting!" Harry snapped defensively. "Yours looks like...looks like...not Ron!"
"Guys, please!" Ginny interceeded. "Harry, why don't you write the one from Ron, and Lavender can write the one from Hermione!"
Ginny, Harry, Lavender, and Neville were all situated in a corner of the common room, trying to look as inconspicuous as possible. They were in the process of carrying out Ginny's foolproof plan, which seemed like it was going to work wonderfully.
"Is this all right?" Lavender asked, showing her note to Ginny.
"It's perfect."
Ginny grinned almost deviously as she read the note that Lavender had written in Hermione's handwriting. Ron, I've always thought of you as more than just a friend. You are so much more... If she didn't know better, she would've thought Hermione had written the note!
"Should I sign it?"
Ginny paused for a moment. "No, not this one."
"And what about mine?" Harry asked, shoving his note in Ginny's face.
She almost laughed; it looked exactly like Ron's handwriting. Hermione, I've always thought of you as more than just a friend. You are so much more... She was sure to think it was from him!
"It's perfect!"
"So when are you going to give them to Ron and Hermione?" Neville inquired.
"During dinner," she replied. "I'm sure they'll be distracted."
"Why?" Harry wondered, looking at her curiously.
Ginny shuddered. "You'll see."
Hermione could not help but smile as she entered the Great Hall that evening for dinner. The room was buzzing with the voices of excited students and the sweet aroma of food filled the air. On this particular evening, the ceiling was illuminated with the rich colors of a sunset, giving everything a bit of an orange tinge. Everything seemed so perfect.
This should have been the first indicator that something was going to happen. Things were never perfect.
Blissfully unaware of the commotion that was about to break out, Hermione took a seat at the Gryffindor table between Ron and Neville. Immediately she began to help herself to the masses of food that sat in front of her, eager to get started. She had just poured herself a glass of water when she realized that something was different.
"Where's Ginny?" she thought aloud. Ginny was almost always at the table before she was.
"I have absolutely no idea!" Harry instantly responded. "I mean, why would I know?"
Hermione gave him a look. So did Ron.
"Hey mate," Ron began dangerously. "I've been thinking about you and my sister..."
The color drained from Harry's face. "Umm...you see..."
"Is she the one you've been talking about? Is she the one you sent that note to?" Ron demanded.
"I...I..."
"My sister... my sister ..."
"Ron c'mon she's..."
"We are going to get some things straight right now!" Ron exclaimed, pounding his fist on the table so hard that Neville actually jumped. "First of all, you are going to treat my sister with respect at all times! If I hear anything otherwise, I swear, I'll see to it that you are fed to the giant squid!"
"Ron you don't have to..."
" Second of all if I hear from her or anyone else that she is unhappy in any way because of you, I'll see to it that you are fed to the giant squid!"
"C'mon mate why..."
" Third of all you are to inform me of any dates or stuff like that, so I can approve of them! If you two go somewhere without letting me know I'll..."
"I know, I know," Harry interrupted, a bit annoyed. "You'll see to it that I'm fed to the giant squid."
"Right!"
Harry could tell that Ron was going to keep yelling and braced himself for another verbal attack. He couldn't complain - a verbal attack was better than a physical one. However, before Ron could begin again, someone tapped him on the shoulder. Harry turned around.
"Malfoy?" he said, a bit surprised to see that Malfoy could actually get within three feet of the Gryffindor table without becoming ill. "What do you want?"
It was obvious from the look on Malfoy's face that something was very, very wrong. He looked a bit ill and kept rocking back and forth nervously. For a moment he hesitated, apparently reluctant to give Harry an answer. Finally, he took a deep breath.
"Potter, let's get this straight," Malfoy began, as dignified as possible. "I hate you. You hate me. That little...thing you sent me? It never happened."
Harry stared at him blankly.
"Normally I'd love to tell the whole school that you're..." He paused, searching for a word. "That your door swings both ways, but since my name would get thrown into it, I'll cut you a break."
Harry blinked.
"It's not going to work out."
Harry blinked again.
"Well, aren't you going to say something?"
"Malfoy," Harry said. "I haven't a clue what you're talking about."
"Oh come off it, I know the love note was from you!"
Ron snapped his head around to look at them. "Wait a minute," he said. "Harry...you sent Malfoy a love note?"
Harry's eyes bulged "What? NO!"
"My sister's boyfriend is...is..."
Hermione rolled her eyes and left the table, unwilling to hear the rest of this conversation. Things were going to get ugly. Well...uglier.
Even after Harry spent an hour trying to convince Ron that he had no feelings for Malfoy, Ron was still suspicious. It was his job to be suspicious, he thought to himself, in order to protect his sister. Still scowling he burst into his dorm, thinking up various ways to torture Harry if he upset Ginny in any way. However, his thoughts were interrupted when he noticed a note on his pillow.
Hermione, I've always thought of you as more than just a friend. You are so much more...
Hermione? Why would someone put a love note to Hermione on his bed? Maybe someone in his dorm had written it and dropped it...but how could they have dropped it right on top of his pillow? It definitely looked as if it had been placed there intentionally. It wasn't as if whoever had written it could've gotten the wrong room. Only an idiot would leave a note for a girl in the boys dormitories. Maybe whoever it was wanted Ron to deliver the note to her...
Of course he wouldn't...not that he cared or anything. What was it to him if someone else liked Hermione? Curious, Ron began to study the handwriting that the note was written it, hoping he would be able to determine who it came from. However, the more he looked at it, the more he realized that the handwriting looked like his own.
Suddenly the door opened. Ron immediately stuffed the note back into his pocket.
"Hello Harry," he said awkwardly. "How're you?"
"I'm fine," Harry replied slowly. "Is something wrong? Are you going to have to feed me to the giant squid?"
"N-no," he stammered. "I think I'll be going now."
As Ron stumbled uneasily out of the room, a grin spread across Harry's face. He had gotten his note from "Hermione." Their plan was working perfectly.
Ron, I've always thought of you as more than just a friend. You are so much more...
What? This didn't make any sense, Hermione thought to herself as she re-read the note once more. She had found it sitting on her pillow, obviously placed there intentionally. But...why was it addressed to Ron? And why did the handwriting look so much like hers?
Maybe Ron could give her some answers.
As she gingerly put the note in her pocket, Hermione walked out of her dorm and down the stairs. When entered into the common room she immediately located Ron sitting in an armchair and staring out into space, looking a bit frazzled. Slowly, and a bit nervously as well, she moved over to him.
"Hey," she said.
"Hello."
"Something a bit odd just happened," she explained to him, deciding to get right to the point. "I found this on my pillow."
She reached into her pocket, pulled out the note, and handed it to him.
"That's weird," he replied, reaching into his pocket as well. "I got one too."
He handed her the one he had recieved.
"Do you know who sent it?" she asked curiously.
"No idea."
"Well it seems like the same person did this," she went on, "because they both say the same thing but with a different name."
"But why would someone want to send me a note addressed to you?" Ron wondered. "That doesn't make any sense."
"I know," she agreed. "I have a feeling something's going on."
Brushing her hair behind her shoulders, Hermione began to piece things together. Someone had written two notes, one for her and one for Ron. Maybe...maybe the person wanted her to send the note to Ron. But the same person wouldn't want Ron to send a note to her...Or possibly, the person had wanted to send her a note and make her think it was from Ron...
Hermione heard the portrait hole swing open.
"...definitely get them together..." she heard Harry's voice say.
"They've probably already found them," Ginny's voice replied.
Both voices stopped.
"Oh, hello Hermione," Ginny squeaked. "How're you?"
"Wonderful," she replied with a smile. Suddenly everything seemed so clear to her.
"So you think," Ron said to Hermione after the others had left the common room, "that my sister and Harry were trying to get us together?"
"I think so," she replied. "I think that they wanted to send you a note and make you think it was from me, and send me a note and make me think it was from you. They must've mixed up the notes."
"I see now," Ron said with a nod. He would've never thought of that.
"It all makes sense when you think about it."
It did, he agreed. Harry was always telling him to "confess his love to Hermione" and Ginny was always complaining that "if he didn't tell her eventually, he'd go mad." Not that he was saying he did like her or anything...
"I say we have a little fun with this," Hermione suggested, gazing into the fire. "They probably think that we both got the right notes. I think I have an idea."
"What?"
She turned her head to look at him, only to find her face dangerously close to his. Soon they were closer...and closer...
A/N: What is this plan? You'll just have to wait and see! Of course, as always, please review and check out my other stories if you haven't already. Also I have banners for some of my stories up on my author page, in case you'd like to see them. Thanks for reading!