A/N: Yay! Hello, and welcome to my second story! Tonight (or this morning, or this afternoon, or whatever time you are reading thing) you'll hear a story that can only happen once upon a fairy tale… I know, isn't it exciting? (I just ruined the emotional setting of the story, didn't I?) Well, I've always loved fairy tales and of course, Harry Potter, so I've decided to combine the two, like those vanilla/chocolate swirl ice cream thing. Whoo hoo! So, anyway, read, review, and most importantly, enjoy!

Disclaimer: Not mine, shocker, I know.

Once Upon a Fairy Tale

Chapter 1: That Look You Give Me

Once upon a time, in a land far, far away…

"Hermioneeeeeeeeeee! I don't want to read the stupid book. That's suppose to be your job!" the red haired, freckle covered Ron Weasley whined as he stretched out on the scarlet sofa in the somewhat spacious Gryffindor common room.

"Please, they're actually really short. You could finish them all in one sitting," the rather frustrated Hermione Granger pleaded as she tried to hand him a thin, leather bound book. "I want to make sure that they're easy enough for Muggle children to understand."

"Oh, so now I'm a child," Ron retorted in disgust as he thrust the book out of his face.

"I didn't mean it like that, but if you keep acting that way I might just use that as a description of you from now on," Hermione replied getting angrier with ever passing second.

Ginny and Harry watched the sickeningly obvious verbal banter between the two as if it were the finals of a major ping pong match. After about 20 minutes, they began to wonder if they should interrupt Ron and Hermione's little quarrel because they feared everyone would go deaf from all the yelling. Ginny looked over at Harry who gave her a "he's your brother plus, I'm a guy and don't know how to deal with this sort of thing" look. Ginny just rolled her eyes and opened her mouth to settle their argument, but at the same moment, the two stormed off to opposite ends of the quickly clearing common room.

Harry turned away, thinking he could escape his usually pathetic attempt to make Ron and Hermione like or at least be civil to each other again, but he was caught by the collar before he could make his great escape. He looked over his shoulder at Ginny who was giving him a "he may be my brother, but they're your best friends, now help me fix this" look. He sighed in defeat and slumped over to talk to Hermione, who was all alone in the corner next to the fire reading a thin book with a hint of a smile lingering on her lips.

"Sooo… whatcha reading?" Harry asked slowly as he sat down in the squishy chair next to Hermione.

Hermione made it clear that she knew he was only there because Ginny forced him to try and get Ron and her to be friends again. "Tell Ginny, I never plan to talk to with her childish brother ever again," Hermione said not even looking up from her book, but the expression on her face was no longer peaceful or whimsical.

"Umm… look Hermione, I know I'm not really that great with emotional things, especially when there's crying involved, but I think I know how you feel."

Hermione snorted, but her naturally sparkling brown eyes stopped scanning the yellowing page that she was reading. She merely stared motionlessly at the page as if asking Harry to continue.

"It's kind of like a distant memory. You can picture everything perfectly, but it's like the person you're describing it to doesn't quite understand and you spend ages trying to get them to, but you end up just getting frustrated and angry and then you just feel like screaming or hitting something or… well, crying too, I suppose," Harry looked up at Hermione who was still staring at her book. "I guess not," Harry added as he began to walk away, slightly sadder than when he had gotten there.

Hermione looked up from her book and sighed. Harry did seem to be trying and so what if his little speech didn't make much sense, well, actually, it didn't make any sense at all, the point was he had tried and Hermione respected that. "I'm reading a book of fairy tales. My cousins are coming to my house over the summer and I want to make sure that the stories are entertaining enough for them and I thought Ron would know if the stories were interesting," Hermione's voice began to quicken, "but he took it the wrong way and… and… I didn't mean to, Harry. I didn't mean to make him mad," Hermione finished with tears beginning to form in her eyes.

"You never know, he could be feeling a bit like you too," Harry added uneasily, feeling a bit uncomfortable with a teary Hermione.

Meanwhile…

"Ron, you are such a moron!" Ginny began as she stormed up to her pouting brother and whacked him square on the head.

"OW! What did I do now?" Ron said looking up from his lap. "If it's about that thing in your…" Ron began.

"Ron, just look at Hermione," Ginny said as she physically turned Ron's head to Hermione, who was reading to herself now that Harry had slunk away to who knows where. She decided to forget about what Ron was going to say, for the sake of Ron and Hermione's friendship. She'd find out what it was later anyway.

"What am I suppose to see?" Ron said rather exasperated, after a minute of staring at Hermione.

"Just look at her!" Ginny said a little louder, hoping louder truly was better. Ron just looked at her with a blank stare. Sighing, Ginny figured that she should clarify things for her very unobservant brother. "Don't you feel bad that she's sitting there, sitting there all alone?" Ron said nothing, so Ginny continued, "You couldn't have just read those stupid stories, could you? It would have made her happy. It would have made everyone happy. Don't you think that we get tired of your constant bickering and bickering and bickering and…"

"Alright, Ginny, I GET IT!" Ron said throwing his hands in the air. "But what do you want me to do about it? I had a hard day at Qudditch practice, I had detention with Snape, I had to do that Herbology homework, no, wait, I still haven't done that, but I had to…"

"RON!"

"OW! Ginny, don't scream in my ear. You sound like a bloody banshee."

"Well, then stop thinking about yourself and start thinking about Hermione," Ginny hissed as she began to hit him repeatedly over the head with her green spiral notebook until he agreed to apologize to Hermione.

Ron grumbled and reluctantly got up to talk to Hermione. Secretly, he knew Ginny was right. He knew he shouldn't have argued with her and just read those stupid stories. He knew he had to talk to Hermione eventually, and there's no time like the present.

"Erm… Hermione?" Ron asked preparing for her worst, but Hermione didn't answer. She continued to read her book. Ron sighed and began apologizing. "Look Hermione, I'm sorry. I'm really, really sorry. I know that probably doesn't mean that much to you, but I truly am. I know I should have just read your stories, but I was having a bad day. I guess that's no excuse, but I am really sorry, I really am. I'll read the…"

"Ginny put you up to this didn't she?" Hermione asked sharply as she looked up at a rather pathetic looking Ron.

"Well," Ron began, not willing to admit Ginny's persuasion, "I'm not lying. I really am sorry."

"Do you really want to read the book or are you just saying that so I won't be mad at you?" Hermione asked as her interrogation of Ron continued.

"Honestly, fairy tales aren't really my idea of a good time," Ron answered as he sat down. He looked over at Hermione, who was averting his eyes. "But you know, I'm always willing to try new things," Ron added with a huge and clearly fake smile.

"Well, I appreciate your honesty," Hermione said with a sigh. "And I'd really like you to read them. I mean, it's always good to research these kinds of things and…"

"Hermione? You're babbling," Ron interrupted quietly, not feeling up to a Hermione style babble lecture.

"Oh, sorry, but I'd really like it if you read the stories. You shouldn't really obligated to read them, but…"

"It's alright, Hermione," Ron sighed, "I don't feel like I need to read the stories. I want to."

"Thank you!" Hermione cried as she hugged a slightly flustered Ron.

"Hey, that's what friends are for," Ron said as he walked up the stairs and into his room pink filling his cheeks, leaving Hermione alone by the fire as she finished reading the last story in the book. Before Ron disappeared into the darkness of the hallway, he added, "Well, have fun reading Hermione, I'll see you in the morning."

Harry and Ginny watched the two from the furthest end of the common room. Ginny gave Harry an "awww… how cute" look, while Harry responded with a look that read "and it's all thanks to me." Ginny hit him on the head with her notebook and made her way to the girl's dorm leaving Harry, who was trying to figure out what he had done wrong.

A/N: So, what do y'all think? It's different and I bet someone's used this idea before, but I still think it's rather cute. With that said, I'm always looking for reviews, constructive criticism, praise, or any other randomness.