AN: Just a little scene inspired by a line prompt. The line it had to include is: "tell me you did not just throw a snowball at me! I swear to god!"
"Tell me you did not just throw a snowball at me! I swear to god!"
Hermione rounded on the other two thirds of the Golden Trio with fury etched into her wide cinnamon eyes. Harry, for his part, managed to look contrite as Ron snickered and packed together another wad of snow. He missed the waves of anger in the girl's voice and when he finally looked up to lug another snowball in her direction, he came nose to tip with Hermione's wand.
"You daft sod! What is wrong with you? Good lord, that was all ice, you bloody prat! I ought to hex you into next week for that, Ronald."
Ron looked over to Harry for moral support but found none. Harry was pointedly staring anywhere but at his two friends. "I, uh, oh come on, 'Mione! I didn't really mean anything by it. Just a little fun, see?" Ron tossed the snowball he'd made in Harry's direction and laughed half-heartedly as the fluffy snow fell from his coat sleeve on impact.
"Fun, yeah? So much fun, that, being hit in the face with ice. Since it's so fun, I suppose you wouldn't be opposed to a fairer fight, then." Hermione sniffed and then grinned like the Cheshire Cat. With a wave of her wand and a whispered incantation, a dozen snowballs rapidly formed and soared through the air. Ron shrieked and tried to run, but the frozen balls peppered him from head to toe as he stumbled and slipped on a patch of ice. Harry was in hysterics, bent over himself cackling at Ron's failed attempts to end the assault.
"Okay, okay! I get it," he squealed as another round of snowballs sailed towards him. "It's no fun when your back is turned and you're not ready for it. Let me up, Hermione!"
"I think he's got it, Hermione," Harry chimed in, quickly ducking when one of the snowballs redirected and tried to connect with his head. "Hey! I didn't do anything!"
"Exactly right, Harry. You didn't do anything when this lout decided to throw ice at my face! What is wrong with you two?" For all her anger, Hermione did halt her assault on the boys, giving Ron time to regain his feet and begin pouting.
"We were just playing around, you know. I didn't think you'd fly off the handle like a mad wo—"
"Ron, mate, stop talking, seriously. Hermione, we're sorry. Really. I didn't realize Ron was going to hit you that hard or I would've stopped him. It was just a joke, but it wasn't a funny one, obviously." Harry held his hands out as one would to pacify a frightened puppy, hoping that would assuage his friend's wrath.
Hermione took a deep, calming breath, the air from her lungs puffing out like steam from a dragon's mouth. She looked at Harry then over at Ron, before sighing and shaking her head. "You're both idiots. You know that, right?"
"If you say so," Harry grinned cheekily.
Ron cautiously walked over to Hermione and threw his arm over her shoulders. "Yeah, if you say so, I reckon we kind of are." He smiled when Hermione laughed and stepped away towards the castle.
"Well, I've got some homework I need to do," she said as she looked over her friends. "You do too, as a matter of fact. Why don't we go to the kitchens and grab something to warm us up before we go the library?"
Ron wanted to groan at the mention of homework and books, but Harry's elbow to the ribs cut it off. "Sounds like a plan, 'Mione," he said instead. And with that, all was forgiven, and the Golden Trio made their way through the warm halls of Hogwarts, arm in arm.