A challenge brought over to Portkey.org, a wonderful H/Hr website (along with L/J and D/G).

Ron has a potions accident which makes him act like one big, mood ring. Now he's changing different colours!

RULES:

1. He must be back to normal by the end.
2. Green is jealousy.
3. Red is anger.
4. Pink is for embarresment.
5. Blue is for sadness.
6. Any other emotion colors are your choice. Be creative. But don't use the same color for differant emotions.

***

Moods Can Do Funny Things

When the concoction turned a weird shade of purple, Ron knew that he had did something wrong. He turned his head to take a look at Hermione's brew, which was simmering softly, being the rightful hue of yellow. Now what exactly did he do wrong? He remembered following Snape's orders with exact precision because he wanted to avoid any criticism from the sinister Potions master, but how come his was purple while hers was yellow?

He was about to question her before Snape had a chance to see his wrongfully brewed potion when his cauldron gave an unusual shudder. Since when did cauldron's shudder? Ron peered intently into his cauldron, close enough to see that the potion was slowly beginning to boil. Then to his horror, with each passing second, the boiling soon got out of hand and the potion was simply overflowing.

Despite his strong wishes of Snape not witnessing any of this, an oily voice was soon heard. "Weasley, what did you do wrong now?" Ron looked up, seeing the billowing robes of Snape come nearer. Unfortunately that was his last sight before the cauldron gave another large shudder and the mixture blew up, covering him in the stuff.

"Aw, bloody hell!" he sputtered before collapsing into a dead faint. The Slytherins were roaring with laughter, while the Gryffindors peered over at the slimy, tonic covered body of Ron concernedly. Snape's mouth twitched.

"Finnigan, take Weasley to the infirmary," he said swishing his wand to conjure up an invisible stretcher for Ron. Nodding curtly, Seamus disappeared, Ron's body trailing behind him. "Show's over! Five points from Gryffindor...now return to brewing your Emotion Potion." Snape cringed at the rhyming name.

"Omigosh...I hope he's alright!" Hermione said, still staring at the doors, worry gleaming in her eyes. Harry patted her back soothingly.

"I'm sure he is. Let's go visit him after class," he said. Hermione nodded and they returned to their respective cauldrons.

***

With a groan, Ron stirred in the bed. He opened up his eyes and stared blearily up towards the ceiling of the hospital wing. Perfect...he just had Emotion Potion blow up in his face...or whatever it was. Apparently, he didn't prepare the thing properly. Ron felt his face and the rest of his body, inspecting for some unwanted side effects like a third ear or a nasty boil. Everything seemed perfectly fine...

"Ah, Mr. Weasley, I see your up! Now drink this!" Madam Pomfrey came bustling in and force-fed him a foul substance that tasted like rotting cabbages. "Now lie down...you need your rest."

"I'm fine!" Ron managed to grunt out, sitting back up. Madam Pomfrey immediately pushed him back down.

"Oh no you don't! You're going to stay here until I see fit that you leave!" Ron's patience was running short.

"Look...I'm fine, just please, LET ME GO!" He lightly wrestled with Madam Pomfrey, attempting to get out, when he noticed that she stopped and was looking at him with incredibly round eyes.

"Mr. Weasley! You're...you're red!" she said. Ron humphed, peeved off at her for making such a stupid remark.

"What are you talking about? Besides my hair, I'm nothing but r—" She held up a mirror in front of his face, and sure enough he was a blinding scarlet colour. His face drooped as that slowly turned into a bright purple.

"Oh dear, I feared this..." Madam Pomfrey said. Ron was still looking at his reflection, dumbstruck at his purple appearance. He snapped up at her comment, however.

"Feared this? You mean you were expecting this? What the hell is wrong with me!" he shouted.

"Now, now, Mr. Weasley, no need for profanity—you'll make yourself red again." Sure enough, his face switched to crimson, adding to his boiling temper. "Look, this is the side-effect of an Emotion Potion, unproperly brewed, being blown up in one's face. For the next few days, your skin is going to be changing into different colours, depending on your mood—"

"A few days?! Exactly how long is this few days?"

"More or less than a week..."

"A week?!" The redness darkened considerably. "Isn't there some sort of cure for this?" Ron yelled, gesturing towards the racks of medicines and remedies occupying the hospital's shelves. Madam Pomfrey shook her head.

"There isn't any that is available within the school's vicinity. You'll just have to let is pass. Now, just stay in bed!" She left him alone to sulk. Just then, two figures approached his bedside. It was Harry and Hermione.

"Oh, Ron, are you alright?" Hermione asked, throwing her arms around him. Embarassed, Ron looked down at his hands...and noticed that he was turning into a light pink. Hermione apparently noticed this too because she pulled back.

"Uh...Ron?" she asked. Ron's pink tinge became brighter.

"It's um...the effects...the colour reflects my emotion. And I'm guessing pink represents embarassment." His friends stared at him dumbfoundedly. "So far, red is anger and purple is confusion..."

"Oh...Ron," Harry said. Ron nodded.

"Yes, I know...it sucks. I have to go through this for a week...and there's no cure." Ron then turned into a light blue colour. He sighed. "I guess blue means sadness, because this is a sad, sad situation."

Hermione then stood up, an all too familiar glint in her eyes. "Don't worry, Ron. I'll find you a cure!" she declared. Harry and Ron just looked at her.

"Uh...Hermione, with all do respect, how do you expect to find a cure when not even Madam Pomfrey has one," Harry pointed out.

"Harry, I would think you of all people wouldn't underestimate me. I remember reading about something like this in the library. It's very possible that we can find a cure from studying that situation!" She grabbed her rucksack and rushed to the door. Before leaving, she turned towards Ron and said, "Trust me," and disappeared.

"Wow...what a girl," Ron said, looking at the door where she was standing before in wonder.

Harry strongly agreed...though to himself.

~*~

Ron was green with envy...literally.

During today's visit from Harry and Hermione, Ron learned that Honeydukes was having a free giveaway day of all their sweets for that weekend's Hogsmeade visit. And it was just his luck that he wouldn't be going, because of this stupid, damned curse!

Although Harry and Hermione had reassured him that they would bring him tons of stuff from the free giveaway, he learned later on that Madam Pomfrey wouldn't allow sweets for her patients who just had potion blown up all over them...and he wasn't too keen on eating week-old candy, waiting until he was better.

So here he was, dreaming of Fizzing Whizzbees, Ice Mice and the good flavours of Bertie Botts, his skin the lightest hint of green because of his mild jealousy.

Just then, the hospital wing door opened wide then shut on its own. Ron picked his head up and looked at the empty space. There wasn't anyone here...then who could it b—

"What the--!" To his utter delight, it began raining sweets. His skin immediately turned yellow, for happiness he supposed. Then, the source of the candy appeared. It was Harry, who had managed to sneak in with his Invisibility Cloak.

"Thank you, Harry!" Ron exclaimed, immediately diving into the candy. The two talked, told jokes and laughed while they shared the sweets. It wasn't until Ron was thoughtfully chewing on some of Honeydukes' best chocolate that Harry brought something up:

"Ron...what do you think of Hermione?" he asked, trying to sound as if this were an everyday question, when Ron knew damn well that it wasn't.

"She's my friend..." Ron said slowly, as if speaking to a mentally challenged person. "You should know that. We're all friends! We all think of each other as brother and sister!"

The silence that followed that statement brought out the inevitable. As Harry sat there, pondering, he softly said, "Not necessarily."

Ron nearly choked on his chocolate. "You mean to say...that you fancy Hermione? And I thought you were all hung up on Cho!"

"That was third year till sixth year, Ron! We're in seventh year now. I kind of figured that things weren't going to work out with Cho when she graduated and we hardly talked since the...incident. But I think I already knew that a long time ago..."

Ron stayed quiet, biting into a chocolate frog now and then.

"I mean...Cho was just a crush. And there have been a few other girls, but none of them ever stuck! But with Hermione...it's different..."

Ron rolled his eyes. "You keep this up and you're going to sound like a romance story written by a fifteen-year-old girl!" (A/N: *ahem*).

"But I'm serious, Ron! Hermione is really special...and it's taken me a while to see that." Harry looked at him, a faint smile on his face. "But the thing is, I think she fancies you..."

Ron was totally distracted from looking at his latest Wizarding card when Harry mentioned that. His skin, which had been a light yellow, turned to pink in an instant. "You what?"

"I think she likes you, though. I mean, look at her! Working like a mad woman trying to find a cure just for you!" Harry said. "It's obvious!"

Ron shook his head, the pinkness fading. "It's obvious that she'd do this for either one of us!"

"Well then...that just proves that she doesn't see me in a different way than she sees you," Harry said, sulking.

"Don't be thick, Harry. If anything, she'd probably be working twice as hard if it were you." Ron turned the slightest tint of green. "Lucky bastard," he muttered. Harry didn't hear.

"Sure, Ron." He gathered up his cloak and made to leave, but not before Ron called out to him.

"Don't let the chance pass if it comes, Harry...you'll regret it if it does!"

"Goodnight, Ron." Harry left. Ron sighed.

He had one daft friend, that's for sure.

***

Hermione flipped through pages of dozens of books at an alarming speed. Harry, who had been helping her to help Ron, stared at her in amazement as she set down her umpteenth book and picked up another.

"Wow, Hermione. You read really fast," he commented. Hermione smiled as she ruffled through the pages of the current book.

"Well, it's best to work at a fast pace. I'm doing this for Ron, and I don't want to keep him in distress for so long," she explained. Harry nodded, a leaden feeling at the pit of his stomach. Unable to control himself, he blurted out the first thing that came into his head.

"You seem to want to do a lot for him," he said quietly. Hermione heard this and stopped rifling through the book for a second. She looked at him quizzically, and tilted her head to the side.

"You know I would do the same for you," she said. Harry nodded slowly, but she didn't see because she proceeded with her research. Harry wanted to do the same, but he felt as if this conversation wasn't done yet.

"So would I," he said. Hermione looked up and eyed him uncertainly.

"Well...I'm glad you would. Actually, I'd hope you would, considering all I've done these past few years," she said, lightly teasing him. Harry's expression was dead serious though.

"You're right. You've done a lot for me...a-and Ron, that is," he added quickly. Hermione smiled, still wary about Harry's unusual behaviour. He wanted to smack himself in the forehead, but he decided that he'd appear more saner if he explained everything to her. He took a deep breath, ready to confess everything and—

"I already know, Harry," Hermione said, grinning into the book. Harry froze. What?

"Er...what do you know exactly?" he asked. Hermione, with the grin still on her face, looked him in the eye.

"I really like you too," she said. Nobody said anything.

After a few, long minutes, Hermione leaned over and gave him a peck on the cheek. Dazedly, Harry put a hand up to the cheek she just kissed...he noticed it was the same cheek she kissed that time in fourth year.

"H-how..."

"Ron," was all she said.

"Ron!" Harry exclaimed, with a mixed amount of irritation and thankfulness.

"Oh, lighten up," Hermione said and kissed him on the lips.

Of course, Harry could do nothing but oblige, as he accepted the warm sensation of having Hermione kiss you.

He really had to thank Ron for this one.

~*~

Ron ignored the snickers that followed him down the hall. He knew that he must be a surprising tone of pink, but being trapped in the hospital wing for the past three days was driving him mad. He had to get out...who cares if anyone saw him? He'd be surprised if someone didn't know about his state anyway, what with the speed news travelled in this bloody school.

He decided to go the library, hoping to meet Harry and Hermione there. Might as well help them, seeing as they were looking for a cure for him after all. He ventured in, Madam Pince scrutinizing his appearance and even more sniggers coming from the tables. Oh well, he was used to it by now. He rounded a bookshelf and nearly crashed into it from the sight that greeted him.

Hermione...the good girl that always snapped at he and Harry whenever they put a toe out of line was snogging in the library!

Oh, and with Harry, your other best friend his brain chimed in.

After getting over his initial shock (Ron wondered what colour he was now...he was horrified, shocked and a little happy at the same time), he cleared his throat loudly. Harry and Hermione sprang apart, as if the other was suddenly poisonous. They looked guiltily up at Ron. Ron just tutted, a smirk on his face (looking at his hand, his skin was a turquoise...odd...).

"I'm so glad you two are so caught up in looking for a cure for me," he said sarcastically. Hermioned chuckled while Harry blushed a little. "Hey, Harry, I hope I'm not contagious...because you're awfully pink!"

Harry's blush deepened, but he managed to look Ron in the eye and say, "Thanks, mate."

Ron shrugged. "No problem." And his skin turned a nice yellow, just to show how happy he was for his friends.

***

"I'm really happy at all this help I'm getting to find a cure!" Ron said, not even bothering to look up from the book he was reading because he knew that he'd see Harry and Hermione exchanging meaningful glances and the occasional kiss. When he got no answer, he didn't need Madam Pince's outraged yell to tell him that his best friends were getting carried away.

"Now really, I'm sure you two can do that in a more appropriate place!" she scolded. Ron peeked over at Harry and Hermione, and they looked around five at the way they were staring at the floor guiltily. He smirked at the lecture Madam Pince was giving them. "I think it'd be better if you left the library for the rest of the day!"

"Yes, Madam Pince," Harry and Hermione said in gloomy unision. They started gathering their things when Ron felt someone boring their eyes into his neck.

"What?" he asked, swivelling around to see Madam Pince giving him a stern glare.

"That's you as well," she said.

"What?!" Ron exclaimed, already knowing that his skin was turning red.

"You. You're going to leave too."

"But why? Unless your glasses are too old, I wasn't snogging with them! That takes two people and—"

Ron never got his say, because all three of them were kicked out.

"We're really sorry, Ron..." Harry began to say, but Ron cut him off.

"Forget about it...Pince is just an overstuffed bat. So I have to walk around changing every damn colour of the rainbow for a few more days, it's no big deal." He shrugged. And all three of them walked down the corridor towards the Gryffindor Common Room.

This author is pleased to report that Ron did turn back to normal by the end of the week.

***

Author's Note: Thank you for reading this. I also posted this on the HMS Pumpkin Pie Ficlet Thread at FAP and at the Harry/Hermione Challenges thread at Portkey.org. I wanted Ron to be liked in this ficlet, thus it's sad how a lot of H/Hr shippers have a reputation for bashing Ron, which is far from the truth, because I love him to bits! Please leave a review of what you think.