Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter, The Georgia Nicolson series or any other works that might be referenced.

Bound By More Than Rope

Chapter 1

I sat at the Gryffindor table listening to Dumbledore's speech as Harry dabbed blood away from his nose, trying to ignore the feeling of Ron's shoulder brushing against mine, as he looked up at the staff table. "Merlin, Hermione!" I thought, straining to avoid a blush spreading across my cheeks. "Get over it already; it's never going to happen!"

I wasn't sure when I started liking Ron; maybe third year? All I knew was that in the weeks leading up to the Yule Ball, I found myself wishing he would ask me, hoping he would wake up and realise I was a girl who would be willing to go to the ball with him. I realised that my feelings for him were stronger than the sibling-like affection Harry and I shared. By the time Viktor asked me, I had practically given up hope that Ron would ever notice me. However, even now, two years later, the little flame of hope in my heart refused to fade…

I was brought back to reality by Dumbledore, whose tone of voice had taken on a slightly lighter note;

"-And finally, a rather special announcement; relating only to our sixth years, however it is necessary that the whole school knows what is going to occur. Sixth years; I noticed at the end of last year that inter and, in some cases, inner, house dislike between the four houses of your cohort reached an, ah, undesirable, level. Therefore, in co-operation with the heads of house, I conceived a plan; one of my more brilliant plans. The plan is as follows; each student will be magically bound with a piece of special rope, by the ankle, to another student of the same gender, either of the same or of another house, for the entire year."

There was a pause as all eyes swivelled to their owners nearest sixth year, to see how they were taking this information.

I managed to keep my composure throughout the rest of Dumbledore's explanation of his "brilliant" plan. Inside I was boiling. First Umbridge, now this?! How would this affect my marks?! But what weighed on my mind the most was; who would I be bound to? Anyone but Lavender, I hoped. We never had gotten along; she was worse than Parkinson, and thicker, if that was possible, and judging by the eyes she was making at Ron, if we were put together; one of us wouldn't make it to the end of the year.

A meeting was called after the meal to give out further instructions, as well as assign us our partners. We would be allowed two hours of separation time a day, and some Hogsmeade weekends apart. Quidditch players would be separated from their partners in order to play their matches, and it had been scheduled that all training sessions fell in the two hour separation time. A special common room had been set up on the ground floor, with dormitories attached, for all sixth years, to make getting to and from meals easier. Finally, names were called and people were told to stand by their partners for the binding.

"Harry Potter and Zacharias Smith." Professor Dumbledore called cheerfully. Harry groaned softly from beside me, and went to stand by Zacharias. Dumbledore pointed his wand at Harry's right and Zacharias's left ankle and a thick brown coil of rope shot from it, binding them together in a similar style to a three legged race.

"Hermione Granger and Lavender Brown." Dumbledore called beaming, several parings later. I stifled a sigh as Lavender came over to me, looking nothing less than disgusted, and we were bound. Instantly, I felt as though my patience was being tested, especially as Lavender winked at Ron, whose ears turned pink as he smiled back.

Finally, it was down to two, and Ron was looking like he would rather put his head in a bucket of whelks than hear the next words fall from the now-practically-hopping-up-and-down-with-excitement Dumbledore's lips.

"Ron Weasley and Draco Malfoy."

Malfoy strode over to Ron, looking revolted, Ron matching his expression. It was clear what was running through everyone's minds as the final pair were bound;

"This is going to be one interesting, and decidedly mental, year."

A/N: Please review! :)