A/N; This is a two part ficlet occurring on Easter weekend, 6th year. I also own nothing of the characters, places and such, everything belongs to JKR.
Ron looked around the table at his family, Harry and Hermione. Everybody was chatting happily while eating this amazing meal. His mum had always been a wonderful cook but this time it was heaven. Ron took another bite of turkey looking at his plate. There were slices of tender juicy turkey, potatoes with a touch of spice he couldn't name but that certainly made his taste buds dance with joy, a pile of vegetables cooked to perfection and two slices of home made bread. Reaching for the saucer on the table, he poured thick smooth gravy on his potatoes while his mouth was filling with saliva. He took a bite of that and savored the mixture of delicious tastes in his mouth.
He wanted the meal to last forever and to be done soon as well, unable to decide if he preferred the main course or if the sumptuous desert awaiting them would be just as mouthwatering and tasty. Glancing at the three different sorts of pie on the counter next to him, he thought his mum surely stored fresh cream somewhere and was also pretty sure there would be a cake for the occasion. He realized he had stopped eating so he shoved vegetables and turkey in his mouth and buttered a slice of bread.
The ginger head awoke with a groan running a hand on his face. It was just a dream. Looking at his alarm clock, he saw that it was 8.30am. On a Saturday. Go back to sleep, he told himself, you can sleep today. He rolled to his stomach, burying his head under the pillow. Yet, he knew he wouldn't fall back to sleep. The growl of his stomach was too imperious to ignore. Merlin, I'm hungry, he thought. Ranting against himself for waking up so early on weekend, he sat on his bed and opened the curtains. The blast of sunlight was blinding. Getting up, Ron slipped his long foot on the floor looking blindly with one of them for his slippers. He found one and put it on but the other one was nowhere in sight. He pulled on his bathrobe, bent down to check under the bed and saw it on the other side. Wondering how that happened, he crossed the foot of his four-poster.
He felt something rough against the sensible skin of his bare feet while putting it on. "Not again," he muttered as he was picking it up carefully to look what it was. By now, he was used to his dorm mates stuffing his shoes or slippers with weird things. The slippers were usually preferred; barefoot give a much better reaction, a lot funnier to watch. Fred and George were fond of that too. Shaking his right slipper over his bed, he saw only a simple bit of parchment fall onto the covers. The boys are clearly loosing their touch, he thought. Another growl of his stomach reminded him why he was the only one awake so he went to gather his things and headed for the shower.
Entering the dormitory, freshly cleaned and a little more awake, he paused at the door. Ron was juggling with the idea of waking up Harry as well. He was even fingering his wand, wondering if it would be a good idea to return the Levicorpus favor. After a few seconds, he opted for the more traditional wake up call. So, dropping his belongings on his bed, he grabbed his pillow and crept to Harry's four-poster wondering how his friend could sleep with the curtains open. He raised his pillow over his head then smashed it on Harry's side. Tangled in the covers, hair spiking in every direction, Harry woke up with a start nonetheless.
"Get up! Breakfast time. I'm hungry!" Ron summarized, thinking Harry's not so awake mind would not understand elaborate sentences anyway.
"What else is new?" Harry yawned while reaching haphazardly for his glasses. Once his eyes focused to the room, he glanced at the clock while sitting in his bed.
"8h45? On a Saturday? Are you out of your socks, today?" And with that, he dropped himself on his pillow again, rolled on his side and pulled the comforter to his chin. "You could eat by yourself, for once, Ron," he added, his eyes already closed.
"Fine," Ron replied heading back to his own bed to get dressed.
Once that was done, he left the dormitory without even noticing that Harry was observing him through his not completely shut eyes. As soon as the door was closed, Harry jumped out of bed and rambled through his trunk. Finding what he was looking for, he grabbed his wand and muttered something to the piece of parchment. Somewhere in one of the girl's dormitories, Ginny gasped as she read the words writing themselves on the parchment she was sitting in front of since the early hours of the day. Grasping it, she started to run as silently as she could out of the dormitory. At the same time, Harry's wand was touching another piece of parchment.
***
Hermione stretched out her arms in her bed, smiling. It's so good to sleep late, for once, she thought. Running a hand through Crookshanks' messy hair, she looked again at the alarm clock. 8h00 AM. It's been a long time since she's been in bed that late but it was Easter vacation and she could allow herself this treat today. The amount of stress was impressive lately with the exams coming, prefects duties, all those deaths in the news. She was even considering taking the morning off. Take a long bath, a relaxing breakfast and maybe even watch the Quidditch practice at 11h00. Smiling at Crookshanks, she said to him "That's a plan."
She sat her towel and soap on the floor of the prefects' bathroom and turned on the tap of her favorite bubblebaths. The room was immediately filled with soft aromas. Hermione ran her hand under one of the taps, making sure the water temperature was ok. She liked her bath water hot. So hot that her skin would turn a little bit red. Slipping out of her bathrobe, she stepped into the water and turned off the taps. She made her way to one of the corners to sit and setting herself comfortably, she closed her eyes pleasurably. The heat was dissolving her stress and relaxing her tensed muscles. The sent and the thick mousse of bubbles took her to another world. One that was calming and soothing. Secure. Safe. Like Ron's eyes. Can't you stop thinking about him? she asked herself with a slight frown. This is your morning off. That means no worries, questioning, lingering, etc. Go back to your happy place, now! This didn't change much since her happy place seemed to resemble strangely to the Burrow as she saw it last summer. A bit before nine, she decided that it was time for breakfast.
Starting to feel hungry, Hermione opened the door to her dormitory only to be run into by Ginny.
"Ow!"
"Sorry! Didn't see you."
"What are you doing here? Looking for me?"
"Yes!" Ginny answered a little too fast. "I wanted to see if we could have breakfast together," she added.
"Well, give me five minutes to get dressed. I'll meet you in the common room."
"Perfect," she said, darting downstairs.
***
"Got it! It was a close call though."
"I was worried when I saw her go upstairs. What's the plan now?"
"I'm going to breakfast with her in five minutes. Is everything ok with your part?"
"Yes. He's not going to miss it this time."
"I still need to go back up there to place the parchment. I'll manage, some way. Let me know when Ron leaves so I can go meet you in your dormitory."
"Sure." Ginny and Harry both put aside their piece of parchment and went on with their task.
***
The two girls sat across from Ron to eat their breakfast. The Great Hall was quiet, there was much less chaos than usual. Students were talking and laughing in small groups. At the Gryffindor table, Ron was eating as if he had been starved for a whole week. He barely stopped with his fork in mid-air to say hello to the girls. But even with the smell of eggs, bacon and toast, Ron's nose picked up a scent he already smelled somewhere. He thought it was one of Slughorn's potions but didn't fuss too much about it. There was still so much food in front of him begging to be eaten. After a sip of juice, he picked up his fork with renewed energy. Upon hearing the girls laughing, he looked up. The both of them were giggling and Ginny even started to imitate someone eating feverously with both hands looking at her brother.
"What? I'm growing!" he exclaimed trying to justify his behavior. Nonetheless, his ears turned slightly red seeing Hermione smiling at him.
He then resumed eating, a bit slower this time. He was even able to chat a bit with his friend and his sister. Once he was done, he said goodbye to the girls and headed to the dormitory. 9h30 and no Harry. This time, it's Levicorpus! he thought happily.
In the Great Hall, Ginny started to twinge in her seat after Ron’s departure.
"Are you ok?" asked Hermione.
"Hum? Yes. I think I'm done. Do you mind if I leave? I have something to finish before Quidditch."
"No problem. See you later, Ginny."
"Thank you."
***
Slowly opening the door of the dormitory not wanting to wake Harry up, Ron was deceived to see his bed empty. In fact the whole room was empty. He was so looking forward to see his friend dangling upside down that he sighed from deception and made his way to his bed. He was so focused on breakfast before that he didn't even put his pj's and shower stuff back in his trunk. Gathering everything in one big ball, he dropped it in his open trunk and closed it with his feet. With that done, another thing caught his eyes on his comforter. It was the piece of parchment that was in his slipper. Only this time, it was flashing different colors. Blue, green, yellow, purple, yellow again, pink, red, green… Looking at it curiously, he noticed for the first time that it was neatly folded, not the messy ball like the boys would have done if they simply wanted to annoy him and his feet. He reached and quickly tapped one finger on it as if to see if it was hot. Nothing happened, so he grabbed it and unfolded the parchment. At once, the colors stopped. Something was written.
Embark on this journey if you want to find what you heart desire. Five steps will lead you to your reward. This is the first one.
In this room full of knowledge
Find the one in the many
Telling you how to brew me
I need a hair or a toenail to be complete
Then you may be whoever you please
Ron looked puzzled. A journey to find what my heart wants? A reward? What's this rubbish? Reading the clue again; Brew me... That's obviously a potion. Be whoever you please… The Polyjuice potion, of course. I need a book telling me how to brew it, and that's at the library. Maybe Hermione is behind all this. Trick me to study or something. Although, she usually tell us or give us a study schedule. Maybe she noticed that it doesn't work and wants to try something new. I'll go ask her. With a last look at the clue, he left the room.
"Finally," Harry muttered under his invisibility cloak. "I thought he would never leave." Tapping his wand to the piece of parchment, he whispered; "He's on his way to the library. Come meet me up here when you're done with her," and watched the words scribe themselves on the sheet.
***
Ten minutes after Ginny left, Hermione was also done eating. She was wondering what she would do with her free time before Quidditch practice. Mechanically, and completely out of habit, her foot took her to the Fat Lady. Entering the common room, she saw Ginny sitting by the fireplace. Plopping herself in an armchair facing the entrance, she asked Ginny what she was doing.
"Finishing a potion essay," she responded. I need her to go to her dormitory, she thought, looking at her parchment. While Ginny was thinking, Hermione was surprised to see Ron exit the common room without even saying "Hi" to them; in fact, it was as if he didn't see them at all. He seemed to be reading something.
"Say, Hermione. Do you still have your old “1000 Magical Herbs and Fungi”? I need it for a reference and I can't find mine."
"Yes, I do. I'll go get it for you."
She knew perfectly well where it would be. In a pile of books on her bedside table. She still used it from time to time as a reference herself. Once in front of it, she was surprised to find a piece of parchment neatly folded on the top. It looked perfectly normal and had her name on written on it. She opened it curiously and read:
Embark on this journey to find what your heart desire. Five steps will lead you to your reward. This is the first one.
Delicious apples, grapes and pears
But those ones, you can't eat
They are hiding a secret
Guardians to the ones you too want to protect
"A treasure hunt!" she squealed. I love that. Dad prepared so many for me over the years. But who would do that here? she asked herself inwardly. Oh well, it's worth a try, she concluded but still making sure she had her wand at close reach, just in case. Fruits you can't eat… Plastic fruits? Who do I want to protect? Harry? Ron? Ginny? My family? The house elves? The house elves! The painting leading to the kitchen has fruits on it. That's it! That was an easy one.
She made a move to leave but quickly stopped, grabbed the book Ginny wanted from the pile and left hurriedly. She rapidly stepped down the stairs, and said to her friend that she was going for a walk while handing her the book. Hermione left without adding anything. As soon as the portrait hole shut, Ginny gathered her things and went up to the boys' dormitory. Opening the door, the youngest Weasley saw Harry sitting on his bed.
"She left," she said excitedly, walking toward him.
"I know," he replied pointing at the Marauders' Map in front of him. "Ron is in the library."
"Let me see," she said while setting herself on his bed.
A/N; This is part one everybody! Part two is already written and will be submitted as soon as this is accepted. Tell me what you think ( Are the clues too hard/easy, and such) so I can change things if that doesn't work out the way it is suppose to be.