Disclaimer: I don’t know why I’m bothering, seeing as I’ve said I don’t own Harry Potter in my last four stories and in the previous chapter, but oh well. I don’t own Harry Potter.
(*A/N: This chapter picks up right where the other one left off.*)
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Everyone came down a few minutes later. Ron and Hermione ate breakfast in silence, chancing a glance at the other when they thought they could chance it, and blushing furiously when they caught each other’s eyes. Ginny kept shooting smirks at the pair of them. Fred and George ate alarmingly fast and left before anyone else to go into their room. Harry and Hermione left soon afterwards. When it was only Ginny, Ron, Mrs. Weasley, and Tonks left, Ginny asked to go to Diagon Alley with Ron for the day.
“No.”
“But, Mum,” Ginny whined, “Ron and I have to go to Diagon Alley.”
“No,” Mrs. Weasley repeated firmly. “I am not about to let my two youngest children go to Diagon Alley without any protection.”
Tonks, who was sitting next to Ginny sipping her morning tea, said, “I’ll go with them, Molly. I was going to go to Diagon Alley tomorrow anyway.”
“Can we, Mum?” Ginny pleaded. “We’ll be safe with Tonks.”
“Well,” Mrs. Weasley considered. “Oh, all right, but you both better mind Tonks, or you will be severely punished.”
“They’ll be fine, Molly,” Tonks assured her. “Now stop fretting.”
After they had finished breakfast, Tonks, Ron, and Ginny put on their traveling cloaks and grabbed their bags of gold. Then they walked over to the fire.
Ginny threw Floo Powder into the flames and said, “Diagon Alley”. In a whir or green and flames, Ginny vanished.
Tonks went next, her brown, bushy hair (which reminded Ron of Hermione’s) whipping out of sight as flames engulfed her.
Ron emptied the Floo Power from his hands into the flames. He took a deep breath and walked into them. Then he said in a clear voice, “Diagon Alley”. He tucked his elbows in and held his breath as he begun to spin at top speed.
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Ron put his hands out in front of him as he fell forward toward the floor of the Leaky Cauldron. He pushed himself up, looking down at his bleeding hands.
“Here,” said Tonks. “I’ll fix that.” With a wave of her wand, she healed Ron’s wounds.
They went outside and tapped the third brick above the dustbin. The wall parted to reveal Diagon Alley.
As Ron made to go down the main road, Ginny grabbed the back of his robes and said, “We’re going this way, Ron,” pointing down a small, narrow alleyway Ron had never seen, nor noticed, before.
They walked down the path in silence until the reached the end. Ron let out a huge gasp.
Everything from the ground to the shops was a very vivid pink. The air smelled heavily of different type of perfumes. Witches of all shapes and sizes were fighting their way through the crowd to get to their destination. He looked at a sign above him. It read Witches’ Way.
“What the bloody hell is this place?” Ron asked, watching a band of witches bite, kick, and scratch their way up to a counter.
“This is Witches’ Way,” Ginny explained. “A special part of Diagon Alley filled with every witch’s needs. You’ll definitely find something Hermione’ll love here.”
“I don’t see why they need to send blokes to Azkaban,” Ron said, eyeing the pink around him with intent dislike. “They don’t need the dementors to drive them mad, just send them here.”
Tonks laughed; Ginny scowled.
“Anyway, Ginny,” Ron began, “What shop should I look in? There must be at least twenty-five, I have other things to do today.”
“Here,” Ginny said, pointing at the biggest and pinkest building in the Way. “They have the perfect thing for every girl.”
Ron read the sign; it read Perfume Place. Ron withheld a groan with intense difficulty. Whatever this place is, he thought bitterly, I’ll bet it’s nothing good.
“So, what do you do?” Ron asked Tonks.
“Oh, you’ll see,” she said, smiling in an annoying fashion. “I just hope you have enough money, that place is expensive, but it has the best.”
The best? Ron thought eagerly. Then I definitely have to get something for Hermione here. She deserves nothing but the best.
“Tonks and I will be in Regal Robes, okay? We’ll meet you at the sign when we’re done,” Ginny said, and set off toward her destination.
Ron ambled to Perfume Place, wondering vaguely what type of perfume to buy for Hermione, knowing full well he was no good at this kind of thing.
As he pushed open the door, a bell tinkled from somewhere in the depths of the shop. He noticed that even though this was the biggest shop in Witches’ Way, it appeared to be empty.
A small, plump witch with wavy gray hair came out from behind some curtains in the back of the shop. She smiled benignly at Ron and said in a kind, sweet voice, “Hello, deary, and welcome to my store. Are you here to buy something for your girlfriend? I have a special scent here; it’s a real bargain, only ten Galleons.”
“Thanks you, ma’am,” Ron said politely, “but she’s not my girlfriend. She’s one of my best friends, but I really like her, and I wanted to get her something special.”
“Ahhh,” she said, smiling, “okay, would you like to make her a perfume specially, or would you rather buy one made?”
“What do you mean, ‘make her a perfume specially’, ma’am?” he asked curiously.
The witch said, “Please, call me Madam Miranda. Ma’am is what my mother goes by. Anyway,” Madam Miranda continued. “If you make her a special perfume, you will have to tell me everything about her, and her description will be turned into her own special scent.”
“I’ll do that,” Ron said at once.
Her smile fading slightly, Madam Miranda said, “It is a bit more expensive than just buying her a ready-made one, you know. The average price is usually twenty-five Galleons, but it depends on how good of a description you give me.”
“That’s okay, she’s worth everything,” Ron said, grinning at the beaming witch.
Her face brightened “May I ask your name, young sir?”
“My name’s Ron Weasley,” Ron said.
“And who is the lucky girl?” Madam Miranda asked.
Ron, blushing slightly, replied, “Her name’s Hermione Granger, and she’s one of my best friends.”
“She must be a very lucky girl,” Madam Miranda said. She bustled around the shop, gathering ingredients and sweeping away dust. She conjured a chair and said, “Here, deary, just let me get the ingredients together.”
After a few minutes, she came back and sat at the counter across from Ron. Then, setting down the cauldron and ingredients in her hands, she said, “Okay, sir, you need to give me an accurate description of her. First, give me a description of her.”
“Um, okay,” Ron said uncertainly. “Well, she has bushy, brown hair that’s really soft and silky. She’s really nice, and always tries to help people who she thinks are being bullied or mistreated. She’s the smartest witch in our year, and always helps me with my homework.”
“Okay, that’s good,” Madam Miranda said, throwing a few ingredients into the cauldron; it hissed and turned a murky, brownish color. “Now, I need a small synopsis of your time at Hogwarts together.”
Ron took a deep breath and began, “I was sitting with my best mate on the Hogwarts Express for our first year at Hogwarts when she came into our compartment. We thought she was really annoying, and she was for a while. Then she heard me insult her and she went to the bathroom and cried. I felt really bad, but then Harry and I learned that a troll was in the bathroom with her. While Harry detracted the troll, I levitated its club and dropped it on the troll’s head. Then we all became friends. Later, Harry, Hermione and I had to go save the Sorcerer’s Stone from You-Know-Who. I got knocked out by a Queen, but Hermione came back for me.”
“Hmm, that all happened in your first year?” Madam Miranda asked. When he nodded she threw some blue berries and red liquid into the cauldron; it fizzed again and turned to a violent green. “Now, please continue.” She didn’t ask him, it was merely a request.
Ron breathed again and said, “In our second year, this really foul little git named Draco Malfoy called her a Mudblood. I was really tired of him insulting Hermione, and then he’d just gone too far. I tried to curse him, and would’ve if my bloody wand wasn’t malfunctioning. Later, Hermione got Petrified by a Basilisk. I was so scared that she was going to die. But she got un-Petrified and was okay in the end.”
Madam Miranda threw a few more ingredients in; the potion frothed and turned a deep purple. When she noticed him watching her, she smiled and said, “I’m not stopping you, go on, please.”
Ron grinned and said, “In third year, our potions teacher, Snape, was a real prat to Hermione. I stood up for her, but I got a detention.”
She threw just one small seed into the potion; it did not change or do anything.
Ron drew breath and continued, “In fourth year, Harry and I had fight, so Hermione had to spend time with both of us. She was really nice about it, she comforted me. Then we had a Yule Ball, and I wanted to ask her so bad. Then just as I’m about to ask her, she ends up going with that stupid Bulgarian git, Viktor Krum. After Harry came out of the maze with Cedric, I had to comfort Hermione because she was really scared that Harry was going to die, too.”
Madam Miranda beamed at him and poured in a few more drops of a greenish substance.
“This is the last year, I promise,” Ron said, and she laughed. “We had to stay together at”er, my house. It was kind of fun, being there alone with her, no Harry to interrupt us. When Harry came he was livid because we were her and he was at his aunt and uncle’s. I tried out for Keeper on the Gryffindor Quidditch team, and I got the position, but I was really nervous. Before our first game, she kissed me on the cheek. And, well, uh, that’s it.” he finished lamely.
Madam Miranda had a slight frown as she added the last of the ingredients. Ron saw his perfume for Hermione had turned a murky black. He gingerly sniffed the air and quickly breathed out the putrid fumes. "Um," Ron began slowly, "is there something wrong with the perfume?"
“Huh? Oh, no, nothing to worry about, deary, I was just thinking. Most people only give me a teaspoon of love to work with. You gave me a cauldron full.” Madam Miranda said.
“Is that bad?” Ron asked tentatively.
“No, but it usually means it costs more,” Madam Miranda said. "And it means it looks and smells something terrible."
“How much will it cost?” Ron asked.
“Hm,” she said vaguely, counting all the ingredients and checking the cauldron. “Fifty Galleons,” she said.
Ron gasped; Fifty Galleons? He thought incredulously. That’s all the money Fred and George gave me. He thought of all the things he could have bought if he didn’t spend it all on Hermione. Then he thought of her, and how much she meant to him. I love Hermione, he thought in a final sort of tone, and she’s worth everything I have.
“I can always throw this out and you can redo it, you know,” Madam Miranda said.
“No,” Ron said firmly. “I’ll buy it.”
Madam Miranda seemed taken aback by the finality in his voice, but nevertheless poured the perfume into a bottle and tapped it with her wand. Ron watched as ribbons spun around the bottle and tied themselves in a neat little bow. She handed him the bottle and he handed her his sack of gold.
“Thank you, Mr. Weasley. I just know Hermione will love it,” Madam Miranda said, and waved to him as he exited the store.
“God, Ron, it took you long enough!” Ginny said, annoyed.
“Wotcher, Ron,” Tonks said. “Now that we’ve got everything we wanted, where to you want to go?”
“That’s okay, I really just want to go home,” Ron said.
“Are you sure?” Ginny asked incredulously.
“Yeah,” Ron said, stifling a yawn.
They left Diagon Alley through the fire, Tonks going first. Before she stepped into the fire, Ginny whispered, “How much did you spend on her?”
Ron blushed and muttered “Fifty Galleons.”
Ginny almost dropped her new robes. “What?” she said incredulously. “It was fifty Galleons? All the money that Fred and George gave you?" When he nodded, she pulled him into a backbreaking hug. “Oh, Ron! I just know Hermione will love it!” She sniffed the bottle. "Oh, erm, well, Hermione will still love it," but Ron caught a hint of uncertainty in her voice.
She smiled encouragingly at him, and disappeared in the fire. As Ron grabbed a bit of Floo Power, he wondered nervously what would happen if Hermione didn’t like it at all.
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(A/N: I know that was a little long, but please bear with me and review! I promise to have the last chapter up soon!)