Disclaimer: I do not own the characters of this work of fiction, and no profit is being made through the writing of this, monetary or otherwise.
A/N: Written for Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry's July Fortnight Two, Going Postal. Section 3: Stickers; Patronus/Animagus. This is a continuation of "Dear Dream Diary" and "Pay Attention to Me" in which Ron is infatuated with Draco because of a dream that he had.
"Expecto Patronum!" Ron shouts and a thin silvery image shimmers at the tip of his wand before it starts to take shape.
And then the ethereal being is off and running, playfully leaping and nipping at the Patronuses of others until it reaches Hermione's otter. It stops, for a moment, appearing to stare, almost dumbfounded at the Patronus, head quirked, tongue lolling before it nips at the otter's ear and takes off at a sprint around the room, the otter fast on its heels.
Ron frowns at the childish display that his and Hermione's Patronuses are making, at the laughter that erupts among the rest of the members of the DA as they all stop to watch, at the way that Hermione's cheeks turn pink and she bites her lip.
He can feel his own ears turning bright red with embarrassment at the way that his Jack Russell Terrier is teasing Hermione's otter. He can almost hear the others making insinuations about his true feelings toward his best girl friend, though not a single one of them is saying anything, they're all just watching the animated frippery, amused looks on their faces.
"Honestly," Hermione mutters, low enough so that only Ron and Harry can hear. "Impish little devil, chasing after my Patronus, how dare he?"
"Hey," Ron says, affronted. "It's not my Patronus's fault. Yours was being standoffish."
Hermione shakes her head and raises an eyebrow at Ron's sputtering defense of his Patronus. With a flick of her wand, she calls her Patronus back to her, putting an end to the chase - Ron's Patronus having disappeared without its playmate - and an end to the delighted laughter of their classmates.
When the eyes of their classmates are averted once more toward working on mastering the Patronus Charm, Hermione leans in close to Ron and whispers, "I'm sure that if Draco had been here, your Patronus would followed his around like a lost puppy instead of picking on mine."
Silently cursing his Weasley constitution because if he hadn't been blushing before, he certainly is now, Ron juts out his chin. "He wasn't picking on your Patronus, and he wouldn't follow Malfoy around like a lost puppy," he says, feeling mulish.
Laughing, Hermione pats him on the arm. "You keep telling yourself that, but you aren't fooling anyone, not even yourself."
With that, Hermione made her way toward the other end of the room to work with some of the members of the group who were struggling with the charm, leaving Ron to glare after her. He's not like a lost little puppy with Malfoy, is he?
"Cheer up, mate," Harry says, slapping him on the shoulder. "It's not like everyone knows that you've got it bad for Malfoy. Some of them think you're in love with me, or Hermione."
Closing his eyes and hanging his head, Ron moans. How did his love life become the talk of the school? He blames Hermione for this. Her and that stupid talking dream diary and the stupid dream that had started it all.