Title: Scary
Rating: G
Spoilers: Nothing specific, but through Order of the Phoenix.
Setting: Books, could fit in any time after Goblet of Fire
A/N: I'm dusting off some old stuff on my hard drive and found a few HP fics I wrote probably fifteen years ago. I must have written this sometime not long after Order of the Phoenix was published, if memory serves. Looking back at this now, I'm realizing there are certain echoes in this story of the broken locket scene in Deathly Hallows, though this was written several years before Deathly Hallows was released. A different angle on similar themes. Now I'm not sure whether to be pleased that I was fairly on point with my character interpretations or to hang my head because JKR did it so much better... in any case, hope you enjoy.
xxxxxxx
Harry cast a sidelong glance at his two best friends as the three of them walked down a corridor together on their way back to the Griffyndor common room. He sighed. He needn't have bothered trying to be sly. Ron and Hermione were in the middle of a blazing row, and probably wouldn't have noticed if Peeves dropped a cauldron full of bubotuber pus on their heads.
He considered pretending that he had forgotten something in the Great Hall, but decided that would draw too much attention to him. If they remembered that he was there, they might try to make him take sides in their argument. He knew from experience that if he was smart, he would figure out some way of avoiding that fate. Hmm. Maybe if he just slowed down, they would move on ahead of him and not notice that he was gone. They certainly didn't seem to notice that he was there now.
"Ron, how could you be so insensitive?" Hermione was demanding shrilly.
"I'm telling you, it's no big deal," Ron snapped.
"And I'm telling you, it is!"
"What's it to you if I go out with Eloise Midgen? If her love life's so important to you, why don't you go on a date with her?!"
Hermione exhaled loudly. "That's not the point!"
Ron threw up his hands. "What is the point?"
"It's not that I want you to go on a date with Eloise, I just think you could show some consideration for her feelings."
"Why couldn't she show some consideration for my feelings, eh? I've never been so embarrassed in my life. What was she thinking, asking me to go to Hogsmeade with her in front of half the school?"
"She was probably thinking that you seemed like a nice person she wanted to get to know better before you humiliated her horribly in front of dozens of people!"
"I didn't even say anything!" Ron protested.
"You didn't have to! The look on your face said plenty."
"I don't understand why this is such a big deal. Harry's rejected loads of girls and you've never yelled at him."
Uh oh. Two heads swiveled towards him. He tried to smile innocently, but his effort resulted in kind of a sickly grimace. He opened his mouth to say that he had left something in the Great Hall, but a muffled sound off to the right distracted him.
"Did you hear that?" he asked his friends.
"Hear what?" asked Ron warily.
"It sounds like someone's crying," said Harry, nodding towards a closed door on their right.
"It's probably Eloise Midgen," Hermione said scathingly. "Come on Ron, you can apologize to her." She marched over to the door and gestured brusquely for the two boys to follow her.
Ron heaved a put upon sigh, but followed nonetheless. Harry brought up the rear, but all three of them stopped short when they saw the scene before them.
Ginny Weasley stood before them, looking ghostly pale with a stricken look on her face.
Harry gasped. Opposite her, a tall boy in Slytherin robes pointed a menacing finger at her. Only, this was no ordinary boy. Harry knew this boy, and he wasn't really a boy. He was Tom Riddle, before he had become the infamous Dark wizard, Lord Voldemort. The only question was, how had he come to be here? Harry had destroyed the diary that had preserved the memory of Riddle in his second year. He, Ron, and Hermione all stood gaping as the figure extended a long, slender finger towards Ginny.
"You will kill him, Ginny," Riddle was saying.
Ginny shook her head almost imperceptibly.
"Yes, you will kill him. You know you can't fight me. I can make you like killing, Ginny."
Ginny let out an anguished sob.
That sound shook them back into reality. Harry whipped out his wand. Hermione moved forward and put her arms gently around the sobbing Ginny. At the same time, Ron leapt in front of his sister.
"You leave her alone!" Ron bellowed.
Riddle gave him one last contemptuous glance before...
CRACK!
Harry jumped. Suddenly Hermione was standing in front of Ron, her hands on her hips. But Hermione was also standing next to Harry, making soothing noises to Ginny and smoothing back the younger girl's hair.
Ron stood dumbstruck, staring open-mouthed at the girl in front of him.
Hermione tossed her head and frowned at Ron. "What do you want now?"
Ron made an unintelligible noise in the back of his throat.
Hermione sniffed. "God, I can't believe I ever wasted time being friends with someone as absolutely stupid as you, Ron."
Harry's mouth fell open. What was going on?
"You think you're so clever, but I know the truth. You're just the least of all Weasley's, like everyone's always said," Hermione continued.
Next to Harry, Hermione looked up from her ministrations, and her eyes widened in shock.
Opposite Ron, Hermione said matter-of-factly, "Think you're so wonderful at chess. Ha. I've been letting you beat me for years because I felt sorry for you."
"I mean, who else would take pity on the class idiot? Someone's got to balance out the group, after all. Brilliant Hermione Granger, Heroic Harry Potter, Stupid, shabby Ron Weasley."
The other Hermione made a strangled noise in the back of her throat.
CRACK!
"Ron, I had the most fabulous time in Bulgaria. Viktor bought his family this marvelous house on a lake with all the money he's made playing Quidditch. We went swimming every day. I only had a two-piece, so Viktor had to help me put sun screen on all the places I couldn't reach," Hermione giggled.
CRACK!
Hermione stood before Ron with a jubilant look on her face. She clasped her hands together and said excitedly, "Oh Ron, isn't it the best news? Harry and I are getting married! Aren't you so happy for us?"
Huh? thought Harry.
CRACK!
Hermione looked at Ron coldly. "You're an ugly git, aren't you? And," she added, almost as an afterthought. "I think you're terrible at Quidditch."
CRACK!
Hermione lay on the floor, her eyes closed and her face deathly pale.
Something clicked in Harry's brain.
"It's a boggart!" he shouted as he leapt forward. He waved his arms at the thing and pointed his wand at it.
"Riddikulus!" he cried, hustling a dementor in a lurid pink robe with smiley faces on it towards a closet in the back of the room.
Hermione strode over to Ron, who was staring over her head at the boggart.
She took his face in her hands and said, "Ron, look at me." He complied, his jaw tightening as he looked into her eyes.
"Ron, I would never, ever, think any of those things about you. You know I couldn't beat you at chess if my life depended on it," she said with a grin. "The least of all Weasley's? Never. You're taller than Bill, better at Quidditch than Charlie, smarter than Percy, funnier than both the twins put together, and much more handsome than Ginny."
"I resent that," piped up Ginny, who was finally getting back a bit of her color.
Ron smiled ruefully at that, but continued to gaze at Hermione, who never took her eyes from his face. "And as a matter of fact, I happen to think you balance out our little group very nicely. Brilliant Hermione Granger, Heroic Harry Potter, Wonderful, Strong, Thoughtful, Gentle, Beautiful Ron Weasley."
Ron broke out into a genuine smile then. "I thought I was an insensitive prat," he said, raising an eyebrow at her.
She laughed. "Well, you have your moments."
"Hey!" he said in mock offense.
"Well, really. Thinking I'm scarier than an acromantula? That's pretty insulting, Ron." She narrowed her eyes at him, but a corner of her mouth quirked upwards.
"I guess I'm just a coward at heart, eh?" he said.
Hermione's expression softened. "No, you are not. I'll prove it to you."
She turned abruptly. "Harry, I want you to let that boggart out of the closet."
Harry started. He realized he'd been standing there with kind of a goofy grin on his face watching his two best friends smiling at each other like it had started to rain butterbeer and galleons. He shook his head in confusion. "Er, sorry?"
"Let the boggart out of the closet, Harry," Hermione said firmly.
"Er... all right," Harry said doubtfully.
He opened the door and Ron stepped out.
Harry, Ginny, and Ron's jaws all dropped yet again, but Hermione stood calmly opposite the boggart with her arms folded across her chest.
Ron sneered at her. "Well, if it isn't the world's most insufferable know-it-all. You're not much for someone who's supposed to be so smart. Some of us don't have to depend on checking up the facts in a book every five seconds. Some of us do pretty well with the brains we were born with, and don't need to lord it over everyone else every minute."
CRACK!
Ron was grinning. He punched Hermione on the arm. "Hey, old buddy. Come have a pint with me and the rest of the guys. That's a good sport, I know you won't act like a girl or anything."
CRACK!
"I can't for the life of me understand what Krum sees in you. Maybe you have to be a stupid, ugly git who can't speak English to be attracted to someone with buck teeth and hair that always looks like it's been through a tornado." Ron eyed Hermione doubtfully. "Myself, I've always thought you're pretty much the only girl in the school uglier than Eloise Midgen."
The real Ron stepped forward, and Harry thought for one surreal moment that Ron was going to punch himself in the face.
CRACK!
Now Ron lay with his eyes closed and the pallor of death cast over his skin.
"Riddikulus!" cried Ginny, before anyone else could do anything. Suddenly Peeves was chasing Tom Riddle around the room throwing canary creams at his head. Riddle looked over his shoulder to glare at the poltergeist, but a faceful of yellow filling rather spoiled the effect.
Peeves cackled. "Aw, is ickle Voldie scared of Peevesie?" He threw another canary cream at Riddle's head, and Riddle, scowling darkly, ran into the closet and locked himself inside, Peeves and the last airborne canary cream disappearing as the bolt slid into place.
Ron didn't hesitate. He strode over to Hermione and caught her up in a huge bear hug. He gently tucked a stray piece of hair behind her ear before cupping her face in his hand and smiling broadly at her. "Hermione, do you have any idea how beautiful you look to me?"
Harry, Ginny, and Hermione all gasped at the same time. Heartfelt confessions were one thing from Hermione, but from Ron?
Ron charged on, ignoring everything but the girl in front of him. "You have... the most beautiful smile I've ever seen. The only trouble with it is that I can never decide whether I liked it better pre-ferret, or post-ferret. And you are a know-it-all, but I figure the most brilliant witch in Hogwarts has the right to let the rest of us idiots know when we're messing things up."
He took another strand of Hermione's hair and twirled it around his finger. "I love your hair. Did you know that sometimes I pick fights with you just so I can lean towards you and breathe in the smell of your hair? It smells like lemons and vanilla."
Hermione looked as though she were struggling to decide whether to feel indignant or flattered. Harry privately thought he would place his bets on flattered.
"Do you know why I never get any work done around you?" Ron asked.
"Because you're a lazy git?" Hermione offered with a smile.
"No, although that's part of it," he said thoughtfully. He traced his thumb over her lower lip. "Another part of it is that I'm amazed at how you commit your whole body, mind, and soul to everything you do, whether it's schoolwork, friendship, saving house elves, or slugging Malfoy. But largely, it's because of your mouth. Do you know that you bite your lower lip when you're concentrating really hard on your work? Since that's pretty much all the time, the only way I ever manage to stop staring at it is if I can distract you."
This was starting to make a lot of sense to Harry, who had noticed that Ron had a habit of staring at Hermione when he thought no one was looking. Then again, he remembered that Hermione had a habit of staring at Ron when she thought no one was looking, so maybe he really shouldn't be surprised by all this.
Ron, meanwhile, still hadn't stopped talking. "Of course, when I do manage to distract you, it's even worse. Because then you look into my eyes and all the thoughts leave my head and I can't tell up from down or left from right, but I know you are the center." He punctuated this statement by tracing his finger along her jaw.
Hermione smiled in a rather dazzled manner and tentatively reached up to run her own finger along Ron's jaw.
Harry was beginning to feel rather uncomfortable. It dawned on him that he had been watching his two best friends share the deepest feelings in their hearts for the past fifteen minutes and he didn't really have a place in the conversation. Although he had put the boggart back in the closet, he reminded himself. And let it out again.
The point was, he was intruding on something very private. And if he wasn't mistaken, by the looks in their eyes, the situation was about to get a lot worse. Or a lot better, depending on your perspective. He just knew it wasn't his perspective that would be getting better.
No sooner had the thought crossed his mind than Ron bent his head down and kissed Hermione softly, but firmly on the lips.
Harry stifled a groan. Now he was watching his best mate snog his other best mate. To top things off, she was snogging him back! Rather enthusiastically, if the truth be told. Vaguely he wondered if he was perverted in some way for watching all of this happen. For the second time that day, he thought desperately of escaping the company of his two best friends.
Damn. They were between him and the door. Moving past them would definitely call attention to his presence. On the other hand, they seemed pretty oblivious. Maybe if he were really quiet...
"All right, break it up," said a cheerful voice beside him. Ginny grinned. "Poor Harry looks like he'd rather climb into the closet with the boggart than stay in the room with you two another minute."
Ron and Hermione broke apart and laughed. Ron's ears were quite red, but he took a deep breath and put an arm around Hermione's shoulders. Hermione beamed up at him and he stood up a bit straighter. "Sorry, mate. Won't let it happen again."
"I don't mind, so long as it happens somewhere I don't have to watch it," Harry said dryly.
Ginny laughed and both Ron and Hermione blushed deep shades of scarlet. "Fair enough," Ron muttered. He looked up with a grin and cocked his head towards Hermione. "Harry, can you imagine? Hermione thinking I'm scarier than McGonagall?"
Harry let out a breath he didn't know he'd been holding. This was going to be ok. Not horribly, painfully awkward. After all, if they were going to snog people, they might as well snog each other, he thought philosophically. Maybe then they wouldn't yell at each other so much. It might be a little awkward at times, but not horribly and painfully so.
"Damn right I can imagine. I was pretty scared of you just then when I thought Lockhart had taken possession of your body. Only way I knew it couldn't really be him was that he was complimenting Hermione's hair rather than his own!"
"Cheeky prat," Ron mumbled into the top of Hermione's head.
He decided to ignore Harry and turned his attention back to Hermione. "Do you really think Krum is a stupid, ugly git?" he asked hopefully.
Hermione smacked him on the arm. "Of course not! Viktor is a very nice person. I really think you think he's a stupid, ugly git– who happens to know a lot about...sun screen."
Ron scowled. He brightened a bit, however, when Hermione murmured, "But I am glad you didn't want to date Eloise Midgen, even if you did handle it terribly."
The four of them walked out into the corridor.
Ron had Hermione's arm tucked into his. He looked over at Harry. "Listen, mate... you aren't going to feel... left out, or anything, are you?"
Harry smiled. "Naw. Besides, what makes you think I'm going to be the one who's left out?" He took Hermione's other arm and tucked it into his own. He leaned over and gave her a peck on the cheek. Hermione looked rather pleased. He looked over at Ron and said seriously, "I'll promise you one thing, mate. You don't have to be happy if Hermione and I ever decide to get married." Hermione blushed and grinned while Ron looked torn over whether to laugh or look mad.
Harry reached out and grabbed Ginny. He took her arm with his free one so the four of them were all linked. "Also, I have Ginny to protect me from you two being too obnoxious."
They all glanced at Ginny, who looked extremely happy to be included in the chain.
"Yeah, I'm keeping her nearby from now on," announced Harry. "Protecting me from friend and foe alike. What you did to that boggart was absolutely wicked! Do you think we can convince Peeves to come with me and pelt Voldemort with canary creams next time I have to fight the Dark Lord?"
"When has Peeves ever done anything cooperative?" Ginny demanded. "No, I think we have a better chance of distracting Voldemort with a dementor wearing a pink robe with smiley faces," she said with a wicked grin.
"Fat chance of getting a dementor to cooperate with you any more than Peeves," Hermione said.
"I know!" exclaimed Ron. "We'll just get Malfoy into the pink robe! Everyone knows he loves impersonating dementors!" he grinned delightedly at this idea. "Ickle Voldie will be laughing so hard he won't know what hit him!"
"It's settled then," said Harry. "That's our new plan to defeat Voldemort. With Peeves as a backup plan." The four friends continued down the hall arm-in-arm, laughing together.