As Ron stepped carefully out of the Gryffindor Portrait with Hermione slung over his right shoulder, she screamed and growled furiously. Her wavy brown hair was hanging over her face and she was extremely worried that passers-by might get a glance up her skirt. As she tried to reach back and hold it down, Harry and Neville jumped out after them, laughing riotously.
“Set me down!” Hermione screamed, glaring at Harry and Neville through her mussed curls of hair.
“Ron’s earning your forgiveness,” Harry called after her. “I really shouldn’t interfere!”
Students stopped and stared throughout the hallway has Ron passed them, his smile reaching ear to ear. Hermione had given up and was now hanging limply over his shoulder, glad that her messy mane of hair covered her blushing face.
“You’re a real animal, Weasley!” called Victoria, a cute Hufflepuff with cropped brown hair. When Neville caught sight of her, he ran up and pulled her aside.
Suddenly Hermione’s eyes flashed and she began squirming again, trying to fish her wand from her pocket.
“Oi! Stop moving about, will you?” Ron shouted, tightening his grip around her legs. “I nearly dropped you on your head!”
Finally Hermione withdrew her wand with a smile. Being slung over Ron’s shoulder had one advantage; she had a perfect view of his arse. She pointed her wand, grinning devilishly.
"Incendio!"
Ron yelped as a burst of flame erupted from the back of his trousers, causing Hermione to slide backwards off his shoulder. She hit the floor laughing, however, as Ron was stomping about in a small circle trying to pat down his rear. A small crowd gathered, laughing and coughing as smoke filled the hallway.
Hermione stood up and grabbed Stephanie Begg by the shoulder, one of the female Quidditch players. She had shaggy brown hair and was quite the tomboy. Hermione spoke hurriedly into her ear and Stephanie stepped forward with a grin.
“I’ll help you,” Stephanie said encouragingly, pointing her wand at Ron’s blackened pants.
“Aguamenti!"
Ron screamed with an unusually high pitch as her wand sprayed a blast of cold water all over his trousers.
“Begg, not you too!”
“Er… See you at practice!” she called out, trying not to laugh as she ran off down the hall.
Hermione sauntered up to Ron, who was dripping with water and reaching back to cover his back end.
Ron was livid. “I can’t sweep you off your feet if you’re setting fire to my bum!” He reached down and began wringing out his pockets.
As they continued to argue, Neville had pulled Victoria aside to talk.
“It’s almost dinner,” Neville muttered nervously, “…and I’m going to meet Kate to borrow her notes… I was wondering if, uh…”
“Are you worried you won’t know what to talk about?” Victoria asked, tilting her head. Neville nodded.
“Don’t worry, Longbottom. She already thinks you’re a decent fellow. Don’t give yourself an ulcer!”
•
By the time they reached the Great Hall, Hermione had already performed a mending charm on Ron’s pants, which he was still quite sullen about. Ginny was already there when they took their seats, in deep conversation with Luna Lovegood.
Harry took his spot next to Ginny at the table, cringing a little. Luna had a pad and pen out, which reminded him of the irritable Rita Skeeter. Around her wrist was a charm bracelet with no charms, but a dozen bobby-pins dangling from the chain. Luna looked quite perplexed.
"Maybe you can help her out," Ginny said as she turned to Harry. "Luna wants some suggestions on clever Truths and Dares for the game tonight."
Harry scratched his head, knocking his glasses slightly askew. Oddly, Luna was wearing only one of her bumblebee earrings.
"What happened to your, erm… other earring?" Harry said delicately, gesturing toward Luna's left ear.
"Flew off," she said glumly. Meanwhile, the bumblebee hanging from her right ear was buzzing in tiny, fervent circles.
"Well, to answer your question, a dare is something you'd never willingly do…"
Luna took out a Sugar Quill and began scribbling, her tongue sticking out the side of her mouth.
"…and a truth," Harry continued, "is a question you'd never willingly answer."
Luna finished scribbling and stood up. "Later, then. I've got lots of brainstorming to do." She tucked her notepad into her robes pocket and stuck her Sugar Quill in her mouth.
"Blueberry," she said thoughtfully as she turned and walked away.
Meanwhile, Ron and Hermione were being notably quiet. Ginny, who was about to put a forkful of peas in her mouth, looked up at them with suspicious eyes. Hermione was blushing a deep shade of pink, looking penetratingly into her roasted ham.
“Would you like to try my Cauldron Cake, Hermione?” Ron said casually, holding a forkful of the delicious dessert up to her face.
“What, are you feeding her now?!” Ginny exclaimed, still holding her own fork in the air.
Ron ignored his sister, tilting his head to catch Hermione’s eyes. She seemed very interested in her dinner plate.
“No thank you, Ronald,” Hermione mumbled. Her face reddened even more and she let her hair fall into her face. Ron shrugged his shoulders and stuffed the bit of cake in his mouth.
Harry and Neville stared at the two with utter puzzlement, while Ginny tore off a bit of her own piece of Cauldron Cake.
“Here you are, Harry,” Ginny said airily as she held the piece of cake in the air. “Let’s have a bite!” Harry turned to face her, and with one quick motion, dropped a handful of peas down her shirt. She squealed madly and began trying to shove the bit of cake in Harry’s mouth. Ron ignored them further and began fumbling through his robes pocket.
Over at the Ravenclaw table, a 5th year named Starla elbowed her boyfriend sharply in the ribs. He turned to see the odd sight of Harry Potter with his hand down Ginny Weasley’s collar.
“You never feed me cake, Brian, or anything romantic like that!” Starla whined. Brian ran a hand through his shaggy brown hair and began picking at his plate.
“D’you like ham, sweetie?” Brian stuttered, trying to keep a straight smile. Starla nodded. Brian held up a bit of ham on his fork and she leaned over dramatically to take a bite. Meanwhile, a girl named Alex was crossing her eyes and making gagging sounds.
“You’re just mad you haven’t got a boyfriend, freckle-face!” Starla hissed.
Luna picked up her mug of pumpkin juice and raised it up to shoulder level. Her charm bracelet, which was decorated with assorted bobby-pins, tinkled against the glass.
“Would you care for a sip, Frankie?” Luna said softly, seemingly to the left pocket of her robes. She tilted the glass a little so that whatever was in her pocket could have a better look. No one dared to comment.
•
“Oh, I almost forgot,” Ron said nonchalantly as he pulled his closed fist out of his pocket. Hermione looked up curiously, trying not to appear too interested. Ron opened his hand to reveal his S.P.E.W button. Hermione’s jaw dropped as he pinned it to the front of his robes and began eating his dinner again, as though nothing unusual had occurred.
“You still have that?” Hermione gasped. Ron nodded.
“You know, I’ve taken up knitting,” Ron added casually. “For the house-elves, you know.”
“It’s true,” Harry added with a smirk. “He stayed up all last night trying to finish that sock.”
“That was a scarf!” Ron snapped, crossing his arms.
“If word gets out that you’ve started a knitting circle, you’ll have to transfer schools!”
Hermione pursed her lips, her brown eyes widening. “Ron, what are you on about? You don’t care about S.P.E.W!”
Ron tilted his head back as though he was deep in thought and wrapped his arm around Hermione’s shoulder.
“You know, 'Mione, I care about what you care about.” At this point, Ron was stroking his chin with his free hand.
“Because,” Ron continued, “I am just the sort of fellow who deserves your forgiveness and admiration!”
“Don Ron DeMarco,” Harry chuckled to himself.
Hermione stood up, her fists clenched. “It’s all a joke to you, isn’t it?” she hissed, picking up her book-bag. “I’m going to the dormitory. Goodnight!” She turned on her heel, but Ron leapt from his seat and grabbed her book-bag out of her hands.
“Let me carry that for you!” He announced a little too loudly, swinging the bag over his shoulder.
“Give it back!” Hermione tried to rip the bag off him, becoming ever more conscious of the stares they were getting.
“Just like my parents,” a girl named Nina mumbled into her mug.
Just then, amidst their tug of war, the bag split open. Giant books with yellowed pages landed with a resounding thud; notebooks slapped against the floor sending bits of parchment sprawling all around their feet.
“Now look what you’ve done!” Hermione spat. Nearly the entire Great Hall was staring at the two.
Ron looked confounded for a moment while Hermione ducked behind the Gryffindor table and started scrambling to pick up her things.
“Nothing to see here,” Ron announced to his fellow students with a wave of his hand. “I dropped some books, is all. It certainly wasn’t Hermione! She’s far too clever, and coordinated and such… and a magnificent dancer!”
Suddenly, Hermione reached her hand up and yanked Ron down to the floor.
“Shut up!”
Hermione stormed off immediately, her arms full of books and papers. Ron snatched up a notebook she’d missed and chased after her. As soon as the door to the Great Hall closed behind them, everyone burst into unabashed laughter.
•
Hermione ran as fast as she could down the halls, her arms wrapped tightly around her textbooks. Bits of notes were falling out of her grip left and right, but she kept going. As she glanced back, she saw Ron sprinting down the hallway after her, snatching up her dropped papers.
“I’m considerate! Sensitive!” He shouted, stuffing the papers under his arm. “I’m bloody charming! Isn’t this what you wanted?”
Hermione ran all the way to the Gryffindor tower, dashing madly towards the portrait.
“Hunkydory!” She screeched, running at the portrait like a speeding train.
“Correct!” The Fat Lady shouted, diving frantically out of frame. The portrait slid open; Hermione was almost free. Suddenly, however, she felt arms wrap around her as she slammed to the floor.
“Ronald Weasley, did you just tackle me?” she gasped, staring up at him furiously. Ron jumped to his feet and held his hand out to help her up. She hesitated a moment before taking his hand.
“That wasn’t a tackle, really,” he pleaded, pulling her to her feet. “It was, erm, an overanxious embrace!” He began dusting off her robes, but she smacked his hands away.
Hermione sighed, shaking her head. “If I forgive you, will you leave me alone?”
Ron frowned, his brow furrowed. “But you would’t really mean it!” Suddenly, he held out his wand.
“Orchideous!”
As a myriad of different types of flowers sprouted from the tip of his wand, he dropped to his knees among the growing pile of daisies, tulips, hibiscus, and more.
“Hermione Granger, will you go to Hogsmeade with me this weekend?”
“Oh, we go together every weekend!” She exclaimed, blushing profusely.
“Just you and I!” He stuttered, giving his wand a shake. Eventually the pour of flowers ceased. “It’ll be special. Like… like a…”
“A date?” She finished, biting her lip.
Ron smiled, his ears turning bright red.
•
Meanwhile, in the Great Hall, students were still finishing the last meal of the day. Harry turned to Neville, nudging his arm.
“Five Sickles says he’s gone and asked her on a date.”
“Who?” Neville stammered. His mind leapt with ideas of some other, more charming lad putting the moves on sweet Kate.
“Ron. And Hermione.”
Neville’s face began to regain its colouring. “Oh, right… a date? Cheers, then!”
Harry turned to face Ginny, giving her a smile. "You joining us again for Truth or Dare tonight?" He asked quietly. "Everyone's coming..."
Ginny mashed her helpless peas violently into her potatoes with a fork. “When are you taking me on a date, Harry?”
“What?” He said, fixing his glasses on his face. “Erm, this weekend! Hogsmeade! I meant to ask you…”
“Alright,” she said coolly, twirling her fork in her fingers.
A moment later, Neville stood up suddenly from his seat. He somehow had a look of resolute determination and simpering fear in his face.
“Finally going to talk to Kate, then?” Ginny asked.
“Who’s Kate?” Harry said, nearly dropping his mug.
“Neville practically worships her. He’s supposed to be meeting her at the Hufflepuff table to borrow her notes.”
Neville’s face went utterly pale. “D-did Hermione t-tell you?”
Ginny waved her hand. “You’re running out of time! Now go ask her out, or I’ll hex you!” She began to pick peas off her plate and tossed them at Neville, who blocked his face with his hands.
“I’m going! I’m going!”
Neville jogged off toward the Hufflepuff table, while Ginny continued to pelt him with her remaining peas.
“Did I mention I hate peas?” she said aloud, flicking one just over Neville’s shoulder.
•
At the Slytherin table, Goyle was furrowing his unusually Neanderthalic brow in thought.
“Don’t hurt yourself,” Draco sneered.
“I can’t do it,” Goyle said sullenly as he stared at his plate. “I can’t cast an Unforgivable in the Great Hall, right in front of the whole school… even if it is a dare!”
Draco leaned his head back, growling. Suddenly, a ravishing girl with straight black hair leaned forward.
“There are alternatives, you know,” she said with a smirk.
“Educate me, Ashleigh,” Malfoy said airily, leaning forward. “And it had better be interesting…”