Love Letters In The Sand

Disc: Nothing belongs to me.  I wish it did. But if wishes were Ferraris, beggars would drive.

I'd like to thank the fourteen people who reviewed 'Daydream Believer.'  I was going to let that be a one piece fic, but so many reviews asked for Ron's reaction that I had to write this one.  Also everyone seemed to think that Harry was a little hasty.  I hope this explains why.  Now, Read on Macduff.

Ron Weasely frowned.  "I don't like it, Herm.  I don't like it one bit.  Look at those too.  If they stood any closer, they'd be on the other side of each other."

            Hermione Granger rolled her eyes.  "Ron, would stop staring at them for a minute and pay some attention to your own date.  I've been sitting at this table for the last hour, waiting for you to ask me to dance, and all you've been doing is griping away about your sister and Harry.  Frankly, if this is your idea of a date, next time remind me to agree to visit the Inquisition first."

            Ron looked at her piteously.  "I'm sorry, Mione.  Let me make it up to you.  Can I get some pumpkin juice or punch or something?"

            Hermione nodded crisply.  "Yes, Ron, get me a Butterbeer, will you?"  Ron obediently rose and weaved his way through the throng of dancers towards the large trestle table where the drinks were lined.  Once he was out of sight, Hermione turned her chair around and unabashedly stared at the couple dancing in the middle of the room.  She had to admit they looked gorgeous together, both tall and slim, Harry's raven crop contrasting admirably with Ginny's glossy auburn waves, their bodies moving in perfect coordination to the soft strains of the Muggle song.  She also had to admit, this time with a slight wince, that they were dancing more intimately than was wont. 

            She felt eyes trained on her and looked across the room.  Her eyes met those of Colin Creevey and Justin Finch-Fletchley and her lips curved in a wicked smile.  When they had approached her originally with the plan, she had been wary, knowing Ron's temper, but the two had been so persuasive that she had agreed to go along.  So far, thank god, nothing had gone wrong.  Her eyes twinkled as she remembered the conversation.

                                                            ************

FLASHBACK:

            "Hermione, can we talk?"

            "Colin, can't it wait?  I've a really important Arithmancy class to get to, and you know how Professor Vector is when you're late.

            "Hermione, you've already given your NEWT's.  You know you'll ace them.  These classes are just to fill up your time.  Come with me now, please?  Please, pretty please with a Cherry and a naked Justin on top.  Oops!"

            Hermione laughed as she looked at the younger boy.  "OK, Colin, you got it.  If it's that important, I'll come."  She followed him to a secluded corner of the common room, and fixed him with an enquiring glance.

            Colin seemed to be a little evasive, scuffing his sneaker against the common Room floor and making small talk.  Hermione tired of this, and gave him a patent McGonagall stare.  "Out with it, Creevey." She snapped.  Colin made a swift gesture and from somewhere, Justin materialized next to him.  "Justin!" said Hermione, her eyebrows shooting up.  "What are you doing in the Gryffindor Common Room?  You know it's out of bounds, and I'd be perfectly justified in taking away points or reporting you."

            Justin gave her a sheepish smile, "Sorry Ma'am.  It won't happen again."  He shot Colin a laughing look, "We have better places to meet, don't we Col?"

            Hermione's face relaxed.  "Spare me the details, boys, and get to the point.  I don't imagine you called me here to chitchat.  What's up?"

            Justin looked a little embarrassed, but bravely forged ahead.  "Well, Herm, fact is we need your help."

            Hermione looked suspicious, "With what?"

            Colin chipped in, "We want you to help us with a little thing we like to call Operation Matchmaker."

            Justin picked up again, "Yes, you see, we were talking to Ginny earlier and you know how she's still in love with Harry, and can't tell him and we know Harry doesn't have a date for the Ball, and well, we wanted to hook them up, and we wanted your help.  You savvy?"

            Hermione said detachedly, "Your English is deplorable, but I get the drift.  What do you want me to do anyway?"

            Colin looked at her pleadingly, "Well, we were hoping, you could tell Harry to ask her to the dance."

            Hermione stared, "Yes, of course I can see myself doing that.  Hey, Harry, why don't your ask your best friends little sister to the ball?  Harry wouldn't thank me for interfering and Ron would murder me, and bury me beneath the azaleas.  Then, where would your precious plan be?"

            Justin shook his head impatiently.  "Honestly Herm, for the record holder of the most OWL's in a century, you can be really dense sometimes.  I didn't mean you should be as tactless as all that.  Just drop a subtle hint sometime that Ginny doesn't have a date, and she and Harry could go together as just friends.  Then leave the rest to us.  That would be acceptable to Ron, Harry wouldn't think you're interfering and Ginny would be grateful to you till her dying day.  Come on, Herm, do it for the good of society."

            Hermione gave them a stern look, "You are couple of shameless reprobates, and if I had the sense I am pretty sure I was born with, I'd have nothing to do with your utterly disgraceful idea.  But you present a good case, and since it's unlikely anything will happen, I'll do it.  But should this plan of yours fall out in any way, I knew nothing, and have nothing to do with it.  Fair enough?"

            The irrepressible duo nodded eagerly. "You got it, Herm." Said Justin with a grin.  "Shake on it."  Hermione took the proffered hand with an inward twinge.  She suddenly had an intuitive feeling that this hadn't been her smartest decision.

                                                ***************

            She snapped back to the present with a feeling of sudden foreboding.  Around her the entire room had gone absolutely silent.  The music had come to a shuddering halt and the dancers had stopped too.  Her eyes were pulled magnetically to the couple that stood in the middle of the room, and she was hard put not to groan.  Harry's arms were wrapped around Ginny's slim waist, and Ginny's hands were on Harry's shoulders, and they were kissing passionately.  The entire school, including the alumni, was gaping at the couple, excepting only Colin and Justin who were performing a war dance of silent victory at the other end of the room.  Finally it was Snape who broke the silence.  "Professor McGonagall, You owe me twenty five galleons.  I told you it wasn't Miss Granger."

            After that statement breaking the ice, the comments broke out riotously.  The primary tone of the remarks was jealousy, tempered with humor, curiosity and in the case of the Slytherins, pettiness.  The only ones unperturbed by the sudden flow of conversation were the two on question who still stood locked in a fervent embrace.  Hermione gave them an indulgent look, they seemed so happy.  Just then she heard a low growl from somewhere to her right.  She raised her amber eyes slowly to meet a pair of fiery blue ones and a comment escaped involuntarily from her parted lips, "Oh no, What's Ron going to do?"     

                                                ******************

            "I'm going to kill him, that's why I'm going to do.  No wait, first I'll take him into Filch's dungeons.  I'll chain him to the wall with the enchanted manacles, I'll bastinado his feet, I'll tar him, I'll feather him, I'll hang him, I'll draw him, I'll quarter him and once all that's all done, I'll magically heal him and then I'll kill him. Not the Avada Kedavra!  It's too fast.  I'll use the Cruciatus.  I'll make him suffer, the low, despicable little bastard.  He thinks he can play fast and loose with my little sister, does he?  Well, I warned him.  He'll pay.  I have to owl Bill and the twins.  They'll want to be here to help in the disposal of the body.  How dare he?"

            Hermione looked at her boyfriend as he paced up and down the Common Room like a caged tiger.  In a tinny little voice she spoke up, "Ron darling, sit down and think about it rationally."

            He turned round at her, his eyes flashing.  "You, oh don't even make me start with you.  Don't think I've forgotten whose idea it was that Harry should take Ginny to the ball.  You're a woman.  You should understand how dangerous it is for a little girl like Ginny to be with a … a Casanova like Harry."

            This was so ludicrous that despite the tension Hermione burst out laughing.  "Ron, you know as well as I do that Harry is not a Casanova.  He may have dated several women, but he has never behaved like anything but a gentleman with them, and Ginny is no exception.  For Christ sake, Ron, he kissed her, he didn't have wild animal sex with her."

            Ron stared wildly. "Are you implying that they've had sex?  That little pimp is dead.  I'll tear him to pieces and eat his heart in the marketplace."  With this surprisingly Shakespearean ending, Ron stormed out, and Hermione buried her face in her hands, sorely tempted for the first time in her life to burst into strong hysterics.

            Just then Colin Creevey poked his head around the portrait.  "Hermione, can Justin and I see you for a minute.  We're afraid we have a slight problem."

            Hermione glared ferociously at them.  "You two degenerates have a genius for understatement.  Ron just left threatening to eat Harry's heart.  We have a major problem."

            The two entered looking slightly guilty.  "I'm afraid, Herm, the problem is a little more serious than that." Said Justin remorsefully.

            Hermione eyes widened in horror.  "What did you do now?"

            "Well," said Colin reluctantly, "You see, Ginny was really nervous about this date.  She was fretting about it all day, and we were afraid that she'd mess it up.  So Justin here whipped up a little potion to make it easier for her."

            Hermione looked from one to the other pleadingly, "Please, please tell me, you didn't make a love potion.  Don't you miscreants know that those are illegal?"

            Justin looked offended, "Of course, I didn't make a love potion.  All I did was make a potion to loosen her inhibitions.  Then I slipped it into her punch."

            Colin interrupted, "All that would have been fine, if Harry hadn't drunk the punch by accident."

            "That, and I put in a bit of Faun hair instead of Faerie hair by mistake."

            Hermione took a deep breath, and with forced patience asked, "Justin, do you know what Faun hair does?"

            Now Justin looked really contrite.  "Yes, Hermione, it increases the …libido."

            Hermione couldn't help it.  She lay back in her chair and laughed till her sides ached, while the other two gazed at her anxiously, afraid that she had finally lost it.  When she finished, she wiped her eyes, and looked up at them.  "Do you two have any idea what's going to happen now?  Ron and Harry are going to have a major fight and then Ginny and Ron are going to quarrel because she objects to being treated like a child.  Then tomorrow Harry will feel guilty about his behavior because he's a bloody gentleman, and will distance himself from Ginny.  Ginny will be miserable because both Harry and Ron will be avoiding her.  Ron will be furious because he'll feel that Harry has used his sister and Ginny has let herself be used.  Harry will be depressed because he let down his best friend, and he misbehaved with Ginny.  And I will be caught in the crossfire.  And all this because a couple of idiots don't know when to leave well alone!  And if either of you dare to tell me that I'm babbling, I will kill you!  Right now, I'm perfectly entitled to babble.  Oh Lord, what a mess!"

            The other two let Hermione wind up, and then Justin rather reasonably asked, "So, what do we do now?"

            Hermione raised a brow, "We?  Who said anything about we?  You are going to fix this.  First, Justin, you will go to Snape and ask for an antidote to your mess up.  Colin, I don't care how you do it, keep Ron distracted while Justin brews the potion.  I'll keep Harry and Ginny company so that nothing untoward happens between them.  Once the antidote is applied, we will all go to bed.  Tomorrow morning, under Veritaserum, in front of the whole school you will explain what really happened, and you will apologize to all parties concerned.  One by one!  Hopefully that should do it.  Oh and 50 points from both Hufflepuff and Gryffindor for acting like total gits."

            Cowed by this the pair crept out, looking suitably abashed.  Hermione gave herself an austere pat on the back, and then only paused to collect something, before following them out.  She stood in the corridor for a minute considering her actions.  Where would she go in a similar situation?  Then she guiltily remembered where she had gone the last time she and Ron had made out.  She just hoped devoutly Ron didn't remember.  Twisting around she ran up the stairs to the astronomy tower.  She stood in front of the door and collected herself before pushing the door open.  Her guess had been accurate.  They sat there, Ginny perched on Harry's lap, Harry's lips running down Ginny's throat in a startlingly seductive manner.  The two were completely oblivious to her presence, and even her embarrassed cough wasn't enough.  Finally in a voice that would have put a sailor to shame, she bellowed, "Will you two stop it?"

            Two pairs of dazed eyes met hers, and she realized with a shock that Harry wasn't the only one who had drunk the potion.  "Ginny," she said sternly, "Did you and Harry share a punch?"

            Ginny's only response was a most un-Ginny like giggle.  Harry gave a lazy nod.  "Yeah, Herm.  We weren't too thirsty so we drank only one glass between us.  Now can we get some privacy?"

            Hermione marched in and pushing the two away from each other, seated herself in the middle.  Harry looked at her with considerable surprise and was about to push her away, when she turned on him like an angry cat, "Harry Potter, touch me, and I will hex you so hard that your ass will be flapping in the air till next week."  Since Hermione didn't use bad language too often, Harry drew back swiftly.  She continued, "Now I'm going to sit here until the two of you come to your common or garden senses."

            Time inched by for the trip as they sat there silently.  Harry and Ginny were brooding over their lack of privacy, and Hermione was praying desperately for a miracle, or Justin, whichever came sooner.  Just when Hermione had decided that she had to say something or scream, Colin came bursting in through the tower door.

            "What are you doing here?" Hermione snarled.

            Desperately trying to catch his breath, Colin gasped, "I couldn't stall him.  He figured out that they'd be here, and he's on his way."  Hermione's heart sank.  Ron remembered.

            Acting swiftly she pulled Harry's invisibility cloak, which she had thankfully remembered, over the pair.  Then she pulled Colin down next to her, and started talking rapidly.  When Ron entered, he found a perfectly innocuous scene.  Hermione was earnestly explaining the theory of Memory charms to Colin who was listening with an expression of deep concentration.  Later, in the Memory charm test, Professor Flitwick found that Colin was blissfully ignorant about even the basics.

            "Where are they?" Ron burst out wrathfully.

            Hermione raised a deceptively innocent face.  "Where are who, Ron?"

            "You know perfectly well who.  My sister and my ex-best friend, that's who.  Where are they?

            Colin shrugged.  "Not here, Ron.  That's for sure.  Maybe you should look in the Moaning Myrtle's toilet.  They tell me that's a really good place for couples."  Hermione kicked Colin surreptitiously, but the bait seemed to have worked.  A livid Ron stormed out, pausing only to shoot Hermione a suspicious look.

              Hermione heaved a sigh of relief.  "Well, that's seen to him for a while.  Now to hope that Justin's succeeded in getting the antidote out of Snape." She pulled the cloak off the other two, to find them in clasped in each others arms.  "Oh no, can't you two keep your arms off each other?"  She efficiently yanked them apart.  "Now Colin, hang on to Harry, and I'll keep an eye on Ginny.  Oh Justin, what's taking you this long?"  The room sank back into the earlier, stifling silence.

                                                *****************

            Justin Finch-Fletchley was usually a genius at potions, and despite his muggle birth, rather a favorite with Professor Snape.  Despite this, he was shaking as he went to the dungeon.  He knew his mistake was a foolish one, and that the Professor would be furious with him.  He knocked on the door, and slipped in softly.  Thankfully Snape was alone.  "Umm, Professor, may I have a word?" It came out tremulously, not the way eh wanted it at all.

            Snape looked down at him, the dark eyes narrowing.  "Finch-Fletchley, tell me that this doesn't have something to do with today's incident at the ball." Damn Snape, he was lot too sharp for his own good.

            Justin hung his head foolishly.  "Well, it's related."

            To his surprise, Snape smiled.  "In that case, Finch Fletchley, I suppose I owe you one.  You won me 25 galleons and Minerva's everlasting respect concerning matters of the heart. The Graduation Ball was my last chance.  I said it would happen before Harry left school.  So, what was it?  A love potion?"

            Justin rather feebly explained, and after staring at him incredulously for a minute, Snape burst out laughing.  "Honestly, Finch-Fletchley, I know you're a Hufflepuff, but how could you?  Faun hair instead of Faerie hair!  It's a mistake I'd have expected from Longbottom, not you.  The Creevey boy must be getting to you."  

            Justin flushed a deep scarlet, and Snape continued, "Well, I can give you the Veritaserum now.  Use only two drops each.  The antidote is a little complicated, so I hope you've got time." 

Justin nodded weakly, thinking to himself, "Hermione is going to kill me."

                                                            *************

            Years later, when someone asked Hermione what had been the most stressful hour of her life, she answered quite honestly, "The night of the Graduation ball."  She was petrified that Ron was going to burst in any minute, it was all she could do to keep Harry and Ginny apart, and she kept worrying about what this was going to do to their friendship.  She was so on edge that when the door finally swung open, she almost jumped out of her skin.  Fortunately, it was only Justin, carrying two vials, one, a bright blue, labeled antidote; the other, a clear one, labeled Veritaserum. 

            She snatched the antidote from Justin's hand, and squirted some down the throat of her two friends, and was desperately relieved to see the dazed expression fade from their eyes.  Harry recovered first.  "Herm, what the hell are we doing here?  And what…?"  That was when he remembered and a most becoming blush colored his natural tan, from throat to temple.  Ginny too gasped with horror, and knowing Justin and Colin better than Harry, turned on them at once.  "You two!  You have something to do with it, and I demand to know what it is."

            In control of herself once more, Hermione Granger was more than equipped to handle the situation.  "Now we are all going to go to bed.  Tomorrow, we'll discuss this like civilized adults."  She masterfully led the way, the others trailing weakly behind.

                                                ****************

            The Great Hall had just filled up for breakfast when Professor Snape whispered something to Professor Dumbledore, and with a twinkle in his eye Dumbledore clapped his hands.  The room turned to look at him, and he said in his carrying voice, "I believe Mr. Colin Creevey and Mr. Justin Finch-Fletchley have something to tell us."  The two scalawags made their way to the table where another look from Dumbledore silenced the babble. 

            Justin began.  He held up the vial, and gasps went up as people recognized it as Veritaserum.  He drank it, and passed it to Colin who followed his boyfriend's example.  In the monotone that Veritaserum induced, he spoke, "I am Justin Finch-Fletchley.  Yesterday, Colin and I did something very foolish.  We put a de-inhibiting potion in Harry Potter's and Virginia Weasely's punch.  Unfortunately due to an even more foolish mistake, I put Faun hair into it, instead of Faerie hair.  This led to incidents which can be wrongly interpreted and I would like to say that they are in no way to blame."  Here he stopped speaking, but by that time no one was listening to him, all of them being too busy discussing the event among themselves. 

For the same reason no one heard Colin's comment, "However the potion is not a love potion.  It cannot induce emotions.  The reason it was so successful is because there was an unvoiced attraction there to begin with." 

Dumbledore leant over and muttered to them, "Come to my office after breakfast.  There's a little matter of your detentions to be discussed."

                                                *************

Hermione heaved a sigh of relief.  "Thank god, that's all over.  Harry and Ron are friends again.  Ron's forgiven me, though you two should stay away from him for a while to come, and there isn't too much awkwardness between Harry and Ginny.  Everything's back to normal." 

  Colin and Justin said "Amen" in most heartfelt tones, and the three rounded the corner of the corridor where they stopped short, their jaws open a mile. 

Hermione was the first to speak, "What did you guys do now?"

"Nothing, I swear it wasn't us this time." Said Colin hoarsely as he watched Harry and Ginny melt into a deep kiss.

"We shouldn't be watching this." Said Justin starting to turn away. 

Hermione was about to follow him, when she heard a familiar growl from the other end of the corridor.

"Oh no!" said the three in unison, "Here we go again