Hermione kept to herself for the rest of the day, shaken by her outburst. “When did I get so cynical?” she muttered angrily to herself, kicking the stone steps she sat on.
Someone coughed behind her, and she leapt around. Ron was leaning against the frame of the open doorway. As soon as she looked at him, he opened his mouth as if to speak, but she stood and disappeared around the side of the house before she had even realized she was moving.
Once out of his sight, Hermione peered back around the corner of the house. Ron was still standing in the doorway. Hermione watched as Elodie came up and ran her hands up Ron’s spine. Hermione turned away in disgust, not seeing him pull away from her. But when she glanced back, she saw him sitting alone once more.
Sighing heavily, she turned on her heel, intending to stride off into the house, but she didn’t get much farther than a few steps before she slammed bodily into Fred, who had just Apparated in front of her. He grabbed her shoulders to keep her from falling over. “Finally!” he was saying, “We’ve been looking all over for you!” George Apparated behind him as he was speaking and Ginny padded over from behind the house.
Hermione looked at them warily. “What do you want?” she asked.
Fred craned his neck to peer into the garden. “Ginny,” he said, “Go hang out with Ron”make sure he doesn’t come over here.”
Ginny sighed angrily. “Why don’t I get to hear this brilliant plan of yours?” she sniffed.
George winked at her. “We don’t want to spoil the surprise,” he said roguishly.
“Fine,” Ginny huffed, “I’ll go babysit him. But this had better be good.”
Fred pantomimed being stabbed in the heart. “Dear sister,” he intoned, “What do you take us for?”
“Mere amateurs?” George asked morosely.
“Of course it will be superb.”
“Bloody brilliant.”
“A historical mark-”
“-in the annals of history.”
Ginny shook her head and started off towards Ron. Hermione watched her go for a moment before turning towards Fred and George.
“Okay,” she said, “I’ll bite. What is this plan, exactly?”
***
A few hours later, Ginny found Hermione sitting near the shed where the Weasley’s kept their brooms. “Hey,” Ginny said, nudging Hermione with her foot, “It’s almost time for dinner.”
Hermione sighed and got to her feet. “So,” Ginny asked nonchalantly, “What was their great plan?”
Hermione shook her head, irritated. “Nothing,” she said darkly. “Nothing helpful.”
Ginny reached out to pat her sympathetically on the arm. “Well, you know,” she said consolingly, “Magic can’t be used to solve this kind of thing. That just makes it less real and””
“I know, Ginny,” snapped Hermione, shrugging violently away. “Merlin, I’m not stupid.”
She stormed into the house, leaving a bewildered Ginny in her wake.
Dinner that night was an awkward affair. Mr. and Mrs. Weasley made forced conversation with Charlie, all the while sneaking furtive glances at the rest. Hermione poked angrily at her plate, while Ron stared forlornly into his. Ginny twisted her fork in her potatoes, while Fred and George glanced repeatedly at Hermione. Elodie sat haughtily by Ron, not touching him or looking at him. Down at the other end of the table, Bill and Fleur fed each other pieces of steak and giggled.
Still unspeaking, Hermione stood slightly and reached across Elodie for the jug of pumpkin juice. Her sleeve trailed through Elodie’s untouched meal.
“Watch it!” Elodie snarled, smacking Hermione on the arm. For a moment, Hermione stood completely still, holding the half-full jug. Then, in one fluid motion, she upended it over Elodie’s head.
In the moment of deathly silence that followed, a ghost of a smile flitted across Hermione’s face. “Don’t touch me again,” she said softly.
Elodie leapt to her feet, her voice crescendoing into a shriek. “You bi-” she cried, but her words were covered by the cacophony of sound that spilled from the table. Fred and George choked simultaneously as they fought to cover their laughter. Both gave Hermione covert thumbs-up. Ginny giggled helplessly and the breath Ron had been holding whooshed out. Mr. Weasley bit his lip and tried not to smile, Charlie grinned openly, and Mrs. Weasley stammered. Even Fleur and Bill”who were now sharing a chair”detangled themselves long enough to see what was going on.
“Vy, Elodie,” said Fleur, sounding astonished, “Vat ‘as ‘apeened to you? You are all vet!”
Elodie shrieked again, threw down her napkin, and stormed away.
Hermione lingered at the table for a moment. She caught Fred’s eye and winked. He nudged George, and the two of them grinned broadly.
Hermione shifted her gaze to the rest of the table. “Night all,” she said breezily, before turning to glide up the stairs, leaving the table silent and openmouthed behind her.
Hermione slept fitfully that night. Just before dawn, she woke with the bedclothes twisted around her ankles, and she couldn’t get back to sleep. Sighing softly, careful not to wake Ginny, she slipped to the floor and tiptoed down the stairs.
She walked into the kitchen, rubbing her eyes blearily and yawning. She stopped mid-yawn as she noticed who was sitting at the table. Her mouth snapped shut and her eyes hardened as Ron looked at her solemnly.
“Couldn’t sleep?” he asked.
She pursed her lips and hesitated for a moment before deciding his question was harmless.
“No.”
“Me neither,” Ron sighed, “I’ve been thinking a lot and-”
“Really,” said Hermione caustically. “I didn’t know you knew how.”
Ron sighed again. “Hermione,” he said, “don’t be like that.”
But she had already turned and marched outside. The sky was glowing golden as the sun began to stretch over the horizon. She watched for a moment, but then a hand on her shoulder made her jump and turn around. Ron was standing behind her, a look of concern on his face.
She wanted to slap him.
“Ron just…leave me alone, okay? Haven’t I made it obvious enough that I don’t want to talk to you?”
“Yeah,” he said quietly, and turned away. Then he whirled around to face her, his pleasant, understanding mask slipping away. “And why the hell don’t you?” he growled.
Hermione was taken aback. “She’s got you pretty well trained, doesn’t she?” she goaded. “You’re Elodie’s little pet”her perfect, sensitive gentleman. I don’t know you anymore!”
Ron stepped back like she really had slapped him. His ears were starting to turn red, which she hadn’t seen happen since the last time they fought. “I came out here,” he said, not quite shouting, but not speaking softly either, “to tell you that I missed you. You’re my best friend, Hermione, and I didn’t want anyone to get in the way of that!”
“Don’t you think it’s a little late for that?” she shouted shrilly, her voice rising. “Scabbers. Quidditch. Harry’s Firebolt. Lavender. Elodie. You’ve pretty much let the world come between us, Ron. What’re you saying has changed?”
“Oh, like you were such a saint yourself,” snarled Ron, his face now as red as his ears. “Krum. McLaggen.” He stopped, sneering. “Benji.”
Hermione threw her hands in the air.
“Oh, grow up, Ron!” she cried. “Do you honestly think I’d have any interest in Cormac McLaggen? And Viktor is just a friend! I had absolutely no-” she paused “-very little romantic interest in him. And the only reason Benji liked me was because your girlfriend slipped him a love potion because she thought I was competition!” she sniffed, not giving him time to recover. “As if. Anyway,” her voice rose in volume, and she could feel her face flushing, “I don’t see why you’re trying to be my overprotective brother now. People were bound to notice I was a girl eventually. All you ever cared about was how much of your homework I could do for you.” She spat the words at him, trembling.
Ron took one giant step towards her and grabbed her by the upper arms, yanking her forward. She stumbled and her hands flattened against his chest as she tried to keep from falling.
“You don’t get it, do you?” he shouted into her face, “For someone so smart, I can’t believe you haven’t seen this. You’re not just a…commodity. You’re important to me because you’re the one who’s stayed awake with me night after night while we worried about Harry and You-Know-Who and the whole damn world! Because you’re the one who’s always known exactly what’s wrong with me and how to fix it! Because you care so much. Because you’re brilliant, logical, you can always get me out of trouble, because I feel safe with you. Because-” he stopped, his chest heaving. Hermione could feel his heart pounding against her hand. She looked up at him, and suddenly he pulled her forward, closing the remaining inches between them, and pressed his lips to hers.
***
Ginny woke roughly, batting away Fred as he shook her urgently. “What do you want?” she groaned into her pillow. “And what time is it?”
“Hermione and Ron,” said Fred grimly. “They’re having a bloody huge row in the yard.”
Ginny say up instantly. “Oh, no,” she breathed. They hurried down to Fred and George’s room. Ginny strained her ears, and she could hear faint sounds of shouting. Suddenly, as the flung open the door to Fred and George’s room, the yelling stopped.
Ginny and Fred exchanged glances. “Oh, lord,” muttered Ginny, “What if they murdered each other?”
George, who had been standing by the window, turned to face his siblings, a broad grin spreading across his face. “Ginny,” he said, “if this is your idea of murder then hire me up a serial killer!”
Ginny dashed to the window, closely followed by Fred. “Yes!” she cried, throwing her arms around Fred’s neck and smiling.
Fred, whose wicked grin matched his twin’s, turned to look at George.
“George,” he said, “I think it’s time to wake up Elodie.”
***
Hermione was more than startled as Ron kissed her. In a heartbeat, a thousand thoughts raced through her mind, and she tensed. The hands she rested on his chest flexed, and she pushed him back. “What the hell do you think you’re doing?” she asked him, her voice dangerously low.
“I’m sorry,” he said, but his eyes smoldered, and she knew he was lying.
Her knees weakened as she looked at him. “What about Elodie?” she asked, her voice raw and barely above a whisper.
He shook his head. “I found out about the love potions,” he said, “Ginny told me last night. But,” he paused, looking at her earnestly, “Even with all her spells, I never loved Elodie. I know…I know I said I did. I lied. I had to lie, because I was too scared to tell you that, somewhere in the past six years, I fell in love with you.”
Hermione felt the last of her resolve leave her. With her legs threatening to give out underneath her, she flung herself forward into his arms and kissed him back. He slid an arm around her waist, pulling her tightly against him, and she wove her fingers through his hair.
A sudden, shrill shriek caused them to break apart. Elodie had just come outside and was standing by the open door of the house, staring out at them, her mouth open.
Ron swallowed visibly as she stepped towards them, her eyes blazing. And then she was running forwards, her black hair streaming behind her, and even with recent events, Hermione felt a pang of jealously as she looked at the achingly lovely girl before her.
Ron backed away as Elodie approached, but to his surprise, she ran right past him, down towards the Muggle village where two people were walking towards the house. George strolled casually up the hill, towing a bewildered Benji behind him.
Elodie ran past George, straight at an open-mouthed Benji, and threw herself into his arms. He picked her up and twirled her around as she laughed and ran a hand over his face.
“Okay,” said Ron from next to Hermione. “Anyone want to explain what just happened?”
Hermione smirked. “Well,” she said, “It was Fred and George’s idea, really.”
“Oh, Hermione, you give us too much credit,” said George from behind her.
“Yes, you carried it out excellently,” called Fred, who was emerging from the house with Ginny.
“Thanks,” said Hermione dryly. “But anyway, they gave me a potion that they’d invented. It’s not a love potion, exactly; both people have to have it, and then nothing happens until they see each other. When they do, they don’t fall in love. They potion just magnifies all their good qualities and then makes them a little bolder. It’s better then a love potion because it’s natural: they attraction they feel isn’t simulated, just enhanced. It should wear off in a few days, but by then, they should be so crazy about each other that it doesn’t matter. I mean, it will work well for them, because they’re both shallow and attractive.”
Ron nodded slowly. “Wow,” he said.
Ginny was interested. “So how’d you get it to Benji? Or to Elodie, for that matter?”
Hermione’s grin was as wicked as the twins’. “The potion didn’t need to be ingested”it only needs skin-to-skin contact. I put it in the pumpkin juice before I dumped it on Elodie. Then this morning, George Apparated down to the village to get Benji and put the potion on him. And, well, here we are.”
They looked over at Benji and Elodie. “Whoah,” said Hermione.
Fred covered Ginny’s eyes. “Oh please, Fred,” she groaned, shrugging him off. Then “Oh. Um, ew.”
“Well,” said Ron briskly, “I think we should leave them alone.” The others nodded fervently.
Hermione looked up at Ron and grinned. “Come here,” she said, grabbing the neck of his shirt and pulling him towards her.
Ginny stepped in between them, her arms crossed. “Excuse me,” she said, mock-haughtily. “Just because I’ve given you my permission doesn’t mean-”
“Very funny, Ginny,” said Ron, stepping around her and pulling Hermione into his arms.
Ginny laughed. “Oh, get a room,” she said, and winked.
A smile tugged at the corners of Ron’s mouth, and Hermione could feel an answering smile spread across her face. “You know,” she whispered, “I love you, too.”
He didn’t speak, just kissed her again.
***
A few days later, Hermione and Ron sat in the front yard beneath an oak tree. Ron’s arms were around Hermione, her head resting on his shoulder.
Elodie wasn’t around much”she spent most of her time with Benji. And with the wedding approaching quickly, she was often busy preening and prancing around in her bridesmaid dress, as Fleur had added her last-minute to the wedding party. Ginny was less than thrilled, but Elodie had lost some of her venom since her break-up with Ron.
Ron and Hermione were inseparable as well. Fred and George often wondered aloud what they had been thinking when they conspired to get Ron and Hermione together. “We’ve turned them into complete drones!” George frequently grumbled.
Now, Hermione and Ron were too absorbed in each other’s company to notice the skinny, black-haired boy walking up to the house.
Harry looked at the two of them, laughing silently to himself. It’s about time, he thought as he knocked on the door.
Inside, Ginny heard the knock and ran to the door. Exuberantly, she swung it open. When she saw who it was, she skidded to a stop, her long red hair pooling around her shoulders.
“Oh,” she said, “Um, hi, Harry.”
“Hi,” he said, looking awkwardly at the ground, wishing longingly that he could hold her. “So,” he said as casually as possible, gesturing to Ron and Hermione, “It took them long enough. I guess they’ve been insanely in love for the past few weeks?”
Ginny laughed. Stepping outside, she looped her arm through his and said “I have a story to tell you.”
Enchanted by Willow Rosenberg
Chapter Notes: Well, here it is. The last chapter. Thanks for sticking with me this long, people! Hope you enjoy it.
PS even though it's done, reviews still make me happy. and photoshop. coughcough.
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Chapter Six