"Don't you dare Ronald Weasley!" Hermione was glaring at him as if he had just killed her cat.
"What?" Ron asked innocently, knowing exactly what he had done wrong, or at least was about to do wrong.
"You are not leaving me to schmooze with a bunch of ministry baboons while you sneak off with Harry and listen to the game on the wireless!" He winced guiltily at himself in the mirror and turned around to face her.
"Hermione, please? It's a big game! Cannons versus the Tornados! Do you know how long I've waited for this?!" He tried to be charming and smiley, but she wasn't buying it. She heaved a great sigh and stormed from the bathroom back to their bedroom.
"If you make me go to this boring ministry function by myself, you're sleeping on the couch for a week!" Her muffled response told him that she was putting her dress on and he took her distraction as an opportunity to sneak downstairs. Picking up his tie from the coffee table, he wandered into the kitchen shaking his head.
As much as he loved his job at the ministry, he didn't want to go to their annual Halloween party. He would much rather be at home, or with Harry at the Leaky Cauldron, or, hell, even at Nick's death-day party. Anywhere but there, really.
He sighed and moved to the refrigerator, knowing that there would only be finger sandwiches at the party. He took out a sandwich and was biting into it when Harry flooed into the living room.
From the look on his face and the half knotted tie around his neck, Ron could tell that Ginny was making him go to the party, too. Pushing the other half of the sandwich toward Harry, Ron grumbled through his full mouth.
"They're more trouble than they're worth, really. Always making us do things, never letting us do what we want." Harry swallowed and shook his head, a painful expression on his face.
"Maybe they'll play the game again later." He sadly took another bite and Ron scoffed.
"By then every bloke in the country'll know the score. We'll hear it from someone." He finished his sandwich and put the plate in the sink. "Damn! That was going to be a really good game!"
"Then I guess you'll just have to wait until they play each other again." Hermione's know-it-all voice made his eyes narrow and his nostrils flair. She really was obnoxious sometimes.
He turned around to tell her exactly how obnoxious she was, but the words died on his lips and his eyes bugged out of his head. She looked marvelous.
He couldn't tell what sort of material the dress was made of, but it was black and clingy and cut just low enough, with a slit up the side just high enough. Her eyes were smoky and her mouth pouty and her hair was pulled into a messy bun that he wanted to slide his fingers through and make it even messier.
He looked over and saw that Harry was staring, too. Ron smacked him loudly on the back of the head.
"You look really good, Hermione." Harry said, ducking out of Ron's reach again and turning back to his sandwich. Hermione blushed a bit.
"Well thank you, Harry." She raised her brow at Ron, who was still goggling. "Will you help me with this necklace?" She handed it to him and turned around, giving him access to her neck. Ron's eyes popped further out of his head and he made a choking sound at the back of his throat.
"Are you trying to kill me? Give me a heart attack? Make me knock out every man at the party?!" Hermione looked over her shoulder at him, raising an eyebrow. The movement emphasized her graceful neck and drew more attention to her back , which was completely bare down to her last vertebrae.
The material swooped gracefully to a point just before the dimpled indentations at the small of her back.
"I don't know what your talking about." Ron looked to Harry for support, but instead found his best friend ogling his girlfriend, again. Hitting him harder, Ron raised his eyebrows at Hermione.
"That's what I'm talking about! Everyone in the room will be…looking at you!" Hermione gave a soft laugh, turning fully around to face him.
"Is that so bad, Ronald? For me to be pretty once in a while?"
"You're pretty all the time! That doesn't mean that you have to actually show people that you are!" Hermione blinked.
"So you're saying that people only notice me when I dress up? When I put on a pretty dress?"
"No! I'm saying that people notice you for different reasons than your face!"
"So I don't have a good face?!" Her tone was getting shriek-y and there was a flush on her cheeks. Neither of them noticed Harry back out of the room, running from the fight before he got mixed in.
"I didn't say that! You're….You're just…secretly pretty, or something!"
Hermione shook her head sharply, furrowing her eyebrows further. "Ronald! That makes no sense! What are you saying?!" Her feet were firmly planted and her hands were glued to her hips. She was bending slightly close to him, an intimidating pose for most, but he had seen it too many times and was immune.
Ron shook his head slowly, calming himself down. "You look really beautiful tonight."
Hermione's eyes narrowed and her head tilted to one side.
"Thank you." She said slowly, "I need my necklace." She turned back around and he paused admiring her back. Stepping forward, he reached around to put the chain around her neck.
"I guess I mean that…you're kind of like this amazing hidden treasure. You don't really look like much at first, but then you open your mouth and blow people away. I've seen you curse a man into oblivion with a blind shot and a broken wrist. You're incredible and…if too many people notice…you won't really be my secret anymore. I'll have to share you."
He ran his fingers lightly down her spine and she turned around to look at him, her eyes softer. "Thank you." She said quietly. Ron nodded, suddenly shy, and turned to pick up his tie from the table.
He handed it to her silently, avoiding her eyes. She wrapped it around his neck and tied it swiftly, keeping her arms wrapped around him after she was done. He finally looked down at her.
She tilted her head and their lips met for a brief kiss. She pulled away.
"You're still not getting out of this thing for Quidditch." Ron sighed heavily.
"I know, I know." He shook his head, leading her into the living room and grabbing a handful of floo powder. "At least I get to take that dress off you later…" She hit him lightly on the arm before stepping into the fireplace, but didn't deny it. The evening began to look up for Ron.