Could it be...?

It was a typical Friday evening in the Gryffindor fifth-year girls'
dormitory. Eloise Midgen was in the Hospital wing and Jade Dobbs (Emma Dobbs'
older sister) was kindly helping her little sister with her homework.
Hermione, unfortunately, was trapped in the dorm with Lavender Brown
and Parvati Patil.

Parvati and Lavender were conducting their evening ritual, which was
basically doing their nails and gossipping. About boys, essentially,
with Lav and Parv it was the only way to go.

"You know, I think Dean Thomas likes you, " giggled Lavender.

"Yeah! But he's got such a dumb haircut," squealed Parvati.

They shrieked with laughter and Hermione wondered for the umpteenth
time why her roomates had to be so... GIRLY. It was so damn
boring listening to them twittering on. Besides, they both had
Transfiguration homework three weeks overdue. It was so irritating.

Lavender saw Hermione roll her eyes. She cast a meaningful glance
at Parvati. The thing that peeved them off about Hermione was that
she didn't have the slightest bit of admiration for either of them.
But they both suddenly had the same idea...

"Hermione, you know who I think has a crush on YOU?" Lavender said
mysteriously.

Hermione raised her eyebrows, but her curiousity got the better of her.
"Who?" she said, carefully looking at her book and speaking in a
couldn't-care-less sort of voice.

"Er-" said Parvati, looking at Lavender.

"Um-" said Lavender, looking at Parvati.

The thing was, they hadn't actually expected Hermione to come right
out and ask. Girls were s'posed to be coy and mysterious. So they said
the first name that came into their heads-

"Ron Weasley," they said together.

If they'd expected Hermione to be impressed by this, they were sadly
mistaken. Hermione let out a whoop of laughter and promptly went into
hysterics.

"RON?" she managed to choke out.

"Yes, Ron," said Lavender waspishly.

"You know, Ron. Tall, red hair, blue eyes?" said Parvati.

Hermione was crying with mirth, but she managed to splutter, "D'you-
d'you mean to say that you think RON, RON WEASLEY, one of the boys I've
been friends with since first year, has a crush on ME? W-What evidence
do you have of that?"

They launched straight in. "Well, he was looking at you in Herbology,
wasn't he?" said Lavender.

"He was my partner, Lavender. Of course he was looking at me!"
Hermione was amazed that anyone could be so dense.

"But Ron's always so much nicer to you than to any of the other girls,"
said Parvati.

This explanation brought on a fresh wave of laughter. "RON? NICE?
We ARE talking about the same Ron, aren't we?"

"But you're always together-" Lavender began, but Hermione interrupted
her.

"I'm always with lots of boys besides Ron. Harry, Neville, the Weasley twins,
Dean, Seamus- how come you've never acted this way about any of them?"

Neither Lavender nor Parvati could think of an argument. They began
sulkily painting their nails. But they were far from deterred. Ron and
Hermione were perfect for each other.

Hermione picked up a letter her mum had sent her, still smirking.

'Dear Hermione' it read, 'How is school? Dad and I are missing you...'
There followed a 'funny'story about a screaming toddler who'd refused,
point-blank, to have a tooth pulled. It ended, 'Give my best to
Crookshanks, and to those funny little boy friends of yours, Mum.'

Mrs Granger always refered to Ron and Harry as Hermione's 'boy friends'.
Hermione sometimes got a bit miffed about this, but suddenly remembered
her disscussion with Lav and Parv.

What the heck, she thought as she began her letter back. You only live
once.

'Dear Mum,' she wrote. 'My boy friend, Ron, is fine. Harry has the flu,
he's in the hospital wing...' Hermione suddenly felt very tired. With a
yawn, she put the letter on her dresser. Perhaps she would finish it
tommorrow...

Lavender and Parvati warched shrewdly as Hermione retreated under her
covers and dozed off. As soon as they were sure she was asleep, they
hopped off Lavender's bed and snatched up the letter from Hermione
to her mother.

Delightedly, they pointed at the first line. That proved it, they
thought. If Hermione refered to Ron as her 'boy friend' at home, then
they had to be destined for each other.

"They should be going steady," hissed Lavender, as they put the letter
back and slid into their own beds.

"Definetely," whispered Parvati. She giggled. "It's so romantic. Could
it be...?"

"What?" breathed Lavender.

"Love?" said Parvati.

***

Well, that wasn't too bad, was it? If you hated it, and you're an
R/H shipper, as I am, don't be mean about it. Romance is just not
my thing. I'm a comedy writer. If I get good reviews, I might continue
the story. If. Check ya!