Written as a thank you for a lovely gift, thanks HM. Yen was sweet enough to look over this. Enjoy!
A Duo to a Trio
Plates in hand, Ron, Harry, and Hermione slipped up the stairs to the boys' dormitory. Harry made sure that the door was closed behind them while Ron made sure that no-one else was in the room. This was a conversation that none of them wanted to be heard. They had no wish for McGonagall, Quirrell, and especially Snape to hear of it. Not after their near miss in the girl's toilet just moments ago.
Hermione's plate shook in her hands so she set it on a night stand. "I … I lied. I lied to a professor."
Brown eyes stared at the floor before wildly looking about, skating over the room of the other two occupants. "I lied. I don't lie to profesors. It isn't done. It is against the rules. I … I can't believe. How did I do it? How did they believe it?"
Ron shrugged and grinned. "You were brilliant at it."
"They believed it because it was you, Hermione." Harry flashed a reassuring grin as those shocked brown eyes settled on him. "It was amazing to see how fast you succeeded in stringing the tale together."
"Why were you there?" Hermione searched his face before looking at Ron's. "You don't like me. I am a nightmare; you said it yourself!"
"Quirrell came into the Great Hall and announced that there was a troll in the dungeon. Parvati said you were in the toilets because " Harry nodded towards Ron, "he was a prat earlier."
Ron gave a rueful shrug. "We couldn't leave you to face a troll without knowing. So, we went to look for you."
Hermione pushed her hair back over one shoulder and started fiddling with the end of the locks that hung over the other. "But I am a know-it-all. A nightmare."
Ron snorted. "So is Percy, but that doesn't mean that I would leave him to face a troll."
Harry nudged Ron and gave him a meaningful look as Hermione's shoulders drooped.
"If you ask Percy, he would tell you that it is okay to be a know-it-all." Another nudge prompted Ron to continue. "I was mad in Charms, and I grumbled. My family is like that. Percy takes it fine – we all picked on him for becoming a prefect. I didn't mean to hurt your feelings."
Hermione stopped twiddling with her hair, and gave them both a searching look. "Why do you think that something like that wouldn't hurt?"
"Don't you have siblings that pick on you?" Ron dropped onto his bed, looked at his plate mournfully, wishing he could dig in already but the others hadn't. Perhaps he could start with the roll.
"No, I am an only child." Hermione sat on the edge of Harry's bed as Harry settled onto the floor between them, his plate set in front of him.
"Oh." Ron shrugged. "Sorry, I forget that people don't have families as large as mine sometimes. We pick on each other all the time. I guess an outsider would think we were being mean, but ... it is just how we are."
Eating another bite of his roll, he grinned over at the brunnette. "You were brilliant though. Being a know-it-all helped us out there. You were able to craft a tale real fast, and you used your reputation to your advantage. I wouldn't have been able to do that."
A small smile curled the edge of Hermione's lips as she picked up her own roll and began tearing it apart. "You were able to cast the Levitation Charm really well. Next time in class you should be able to lift a feather just fine after that club."
A blush crawled over Ron's cheeks. "I did listen to you, I just didn't want to."
Harry pulled out his wand and checked it for troll bogies. "Do you think the bogies made my wand more magic resistant? Like trolls?"
Ron snorted a laugh. "I hope not, mate. It would be hard to cast spells with a wand that resisted magic."
Hermione chuckled as Harry flicked the wand, trying to get it to cast something, anything. Sparks shot out the end. "Looks like it still works. Why did you jump on the troll?"
Harry shrugged. "I needed to keep it from getting to Ron. It worked."
Scooting his plate closer, he dug into the feast, and the other two joined him. They continued talking about the events that night, making sure that they had their story straight, just in case.
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The next morning dawned with both Ron and Harry rolling out of their beds. Harry was a bit stiff from being flung about the night before, but a warm shower helped to loosen up the muscles. Entering the Great Hall, they spotted Hermione at the Gryffindor table with a book as her only companion. Nodding to each other, they crossed the Hall and sat across from her.
"Morning, Hermione." Harry grinned as her head shot up and her eyes widened at the sight of them.
"You are still going to talk to me?"
Ron chuckled. "Hermione, one cannot face a mountain troll together and then ignore each other afterwards."
Narrowing her eyes, she looked from Ron to Harry back to Ron. "You want me to help you with your homework, right? It is because I am a know-it-all."
"Of course it is because we want your help with our homework." The sarcasm that laced Harry's tone disappeared as he continued. "Honestly, Hermione, if that is what we wanted, we would have asked you earlier. We just want to be friends."
"If you want to help us with our homework, that is your choice," added Ron as he loaded up his plate.
Nodding slightly, Hermione returned to her book and breakfast.
When they headed into Potions, Ron and Harry sat with Hermione. She cast them an uncertain look, but let them stay.
Ô.Ô & Õ.Õ & Ö.Ö
"Homework. I know you have practice, Harry, but we have Charms and Potions homework to finish." Hermione watched both boys, hoping that they would not walk away. Friends – that is what they said they wanted to be. If that was true, they wouldn't leave.
Ron rolled his eyes, but sat down on the hearth rug. "You are a bossy one."
Her lips thinned. "Yes, I am. If you don't want to be my friend ..."
"Didn't say that, Hermione." Harry settled onto the sofa and pulled out his books.
With a sheepish grin, Ron chimed in. "Yeah, we want to be friends, but you are going to have to accept me teasing you. It is a habit, one that I can't break."
"Oh. I can do that … as long as you don't really get mad about me being bossy and a know-it-all."
Harry and Ron grinned at her as they answered. "We can do that."
With an emphatic nod, Hermione flipped open her Charms book. "Let's start with Charms."
Playful sighs sounded before Harry and Ron grinned. "Yes, ma'am."
Ô.Ô & Õ.Õ & Ö.Ö
Hermione paused outside the girls' toilet. Her pulse was racing, her eyes wide, and her breathing was speeding up. She was afraid. She also knew that there was no reason to be afraid. The troll was long gone – McGonagall, Snape, and Quirrell would have seen to that. At the very least, Filch would have fussed long enough to have it removed. Even knowing that, she turned away and went to the loo on the ground level. She couldn't quite walk into that one yet. Not yet.
As she exited the ground floor toilet, she was surprised to see Harry and Ron waiting for her, leaning against the wall talking about their last class.
"What are you two doing here?"
"Waiting for you. Shall we go into dinner now?" Harry pushed off the wall and smiled towards her. "Why did you come to this lavatory anyway? It seems more crowded than the one on the first floor."
Ron nudged Harry and shook his head. "She was attacked in that one. Of course she is going to be a bit spooked about it for a while."
"Oh, sorry Hermione." Harry dipped his head slightly before heading towards the Great Hall.
Ron and Hermione caught up with him.
"It is okay, Harry." Hermione patted his shoulder. "I will be brave enough to see it next week. The memory is still too fresh."
Ron grinned. "Next week? Shall we escort you?"
"Ronald Weasley! Of all the things to say!"
Hermione huffed and walked faster, entering the Great Hall before the two boys.
Laughing in his embarrassment, Ron rushed to catch up with Harry not far behind. "Not like that, Hermione! Just to the door, and only the first time."
Hermione didn't look at them until they sat down. Looking between the embarrassed face of Ron and mirth-filled expression of Harry, she grinned. "To the door on Wednesday."
"We'll be there."