Disclaimer: If I owned Harry Potter, Sirius would still live. LIVE I TELL YOU LIVE!
"You're writing to Vicky, aren't you?" sixteen year old Ronald Weasley accused, pointing to what he found an offensive piece of parchment.
"No," Hermione Granger, smartest witch in the Sixth Year of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry replied mechanically.
"Oh, really?" Ron asked sourly. He lifted up the end of the letter, several feet of which trailed along the ground. "Dear Viktor –" he began to mimic Hermione.
"Give that back, Ronald," Hermione snapped, grabbing it out of his hands. "It's not yours to read."
"You said you weren't writing to Vicky," Ronanld said, his eyes narrowing.
"I'm not," Hermione said as calmly as she could – that is, not calmly at all. "I'm writing to Viktor. His name is Viktor. Shall we try it again?"
"I'm not the one who needs to learn how to pronounce names," Ron sneered. "Has he learnt how to say yours yet, Herm-i-oh-ninny?"
"That is it, Ron Weasley," Hermione shouted, slamming down her letter. "Out of my sight, now."
"You can see me, is it? And there I was thinking that you only had eyes for Vicky," Ron muttered.
Before he could say another word, Hermione's wand was out.
A second later, Ron was in a full body-bind on the floor.
"Goodnight, Ronald Weasley," Hermione said pleasantly, picking up her things and sweeping up to her dorm to finish her letter in peace.
In the corner of the common room, watching the proceedings is a small group.
"I say that they get together the day before Hogsmeade weekend," Seamus Finnigan smirked, placing his money on the table around which he and some friends sat.
"Oh no," Lavender Brown said airily. "They'll get together tonight – in a hot, passionate way – "
The choking of her peers blocked the rest of her sentence out.
"It will happen," Lavender said, voice hard. She placed her own money on the table.
"No it won't," Neville Longbottom said. "They'll get together the day after Hogsmeade weekend."
"Ooooh!" called out Parvati Patil squealed. "I say they won't get together!"
Every person at the table turned to face her, each face staring incredulously at the foolish girl. Almost simultaneously, they burst out laughing.
Parvati, annoyed, slinked away.
"I say that they'll get together at the Halloween Feast," Dean Thomas said quietly, pulling a fistful of coins out of his pocket and letting them fall to the table.
"Well, I think they'll get together at Hogsmeade," Ginevra Wealsey said in a clear voice.
"But that's not possible!" Lavender cried, flustered. "You know how they are when they fight –"
"I agree," Neville backed Lavender up. "They never talk to each other in Hogsmeade – the place is so big that they don't have to see each other."
"…they'll do everything they can to avoid each other," Lavender finished.
"I stand by my belief," Ginny said, pulling out half of he money she had saved for Hogsmeade. She let the coins fall to the table, one by one. She wasn't afraid of losing the money, though – if everything went according to plan, she would have ten times what she had put down.
"Is everything clear?" Dean asked. "Winner takes all the money – and the
losers –" here he gave the gathering a very pointed look, implying that he thought the rest of them would be the losers "-the losers watch them gloat."
"All clear, captain," Lavender smiled.
They signed a form that stated their names and the amount each one of them had bet. It started with the highest bet (Seamus) and ended with the lowest bet (Ginny). Ginny closed the pact with the very same spell Hermione had used on the D.A list – ensuring that what happened within those few stayed within those few.
"All right, guys," Ginny smirked, rubbing her hands togther. "Say goodbye to your money – rain or shine, come Hogsmeade the day after tomorrow, my brother Ron and one of my best friends Hermione will be an official couple."
The night the bets were placed, both Ron and Hermione stayed in their respective rooms, thereby ruling out Lavender's prediction. Though it was much joked about within the group, due to the fact that Lavender considered herself a seer, it only raised the stakes.
The day after that, a Friday, Seamus Finnigan's bet was ruled out. Ron and Hermione spent the entire day ignoring each other; Hermione spent time with Ginny, and Ron spent time with Harry.
The next day was Hogsmeade weekend. Ginny's bet was in focus, but none really believed that it would happen. After all, two people who had ignored each other for the whole of the previous day wouldn't jump to snogging and snuggling the very next day…would they?
Ginny, for one, was nervous. She had to make this happen. Ron and Hermione had been oblivious – well, at least on Ron's part – of each other for the past six years. If Ginny didn't help them out now, she was afraid of the consequences. The fact that she would get the money from the bets would just be an added bonus.
But since Ron and Hermione weren't doing anything to bridge their temporary rift, and since the money was slipping away from Ginny, she decided to take matters into her own hands.
The morning of the Hogsmeade visit, she drafted two letters, using Fred and George's new invention; Copy Creator, a quill that mimicked styles of writing. One, she left on a certain person's bed, the other she sent through a school owl. Both reached the recipients before they set off, and both caused the recipients to feel anger, indignation, a little bit of fear, and a strange flutter at the bottom of their stomachs.
Next, she took one of Fred and George's latest inventions, the ones they had paid her to test. It was a risky job testing them, and she had spent more than her fair share of time in the hospital wing because of them.
After that, she set off with Hermione.
"I just don't understand your brother," Hermione muttered angrily, flapping a letter she had received.
Ginny, using her long-practiced face of utmost innocence turned to Hermione. "Because of the letter he sent you asking you to meet him at the Shrieking Shack?"
"Yes…Well, no…But it's more…" Hermione fought to regain her control of the English language. "It isn't just the letter," she said finally. "He's just so confusing -" She turned suddenly to face Ginny, who was walking slightly behind her. "Do you think he wrote the letter to humiliate me by not showing up?"
Ginny smiled thinly, slightly offended that Hermione would think that of her brother. "If he did, I'll make him pay," she offered, clapping her on the shoulder.
"Hmmm…" Hermione murmured off-handedly, her mind elsewhere.
Hopefully she's thinking of Ron, Ginny thought weakly.
Hermione was literally running to the Shrieking Shack, for when Hermione was tense, she did things quickly. She talked quickly, she walked quickly, and Ginny was even sure that she thought even quicker than usual.
The letters had stated that each was invited to meet the other at twelve o'clock outside the Shrieking Shack. The rest of the day the letter-writer had wanted to use showing off her handiwork and collecting her money.
"Where's Ron?" Hermione asked, rocking back and forth on her heels and folding her arms across her chest impatiently. "He had better turn up…"
"He'll show up," Ginny reassured her.
"And why would I want to show up?" Ron's voice said coldly from behind them.
"Ron!" Hermione said angrily, spinning around to face the boy in question. "First you have the cheek to write a letter to me, inviting me here without even apologizing! Next, you don't even have the courtesy to even be here on time!"
"I call you here?" Ron spluttered. He took a few of his long strides and stood before Hermione. "You're the one who called me!"
"I most certainly did not!" Hermione cried out indignantly.
"But who else could have –" Ron began, before both turned to face Ginny, faces mutinous.
"Surprise?" she asked.
The two looked ready to pounce at any moment, and for her plan to work she had to have them close together.
"You'll thank me later, guys," she said modestly, before whipping a small, round box out of her pocket. Before the two could move or speak, she threw the box at their feet.
Green vapours hissed out of the box, and just as Ron screeched out her name, the small box snapped open, become a larger box. A large, green, semi-transparent, jelly-like box in which Ron and Hermione were trapped.
The two children stared out the walls of the box they were in.
"Ginevra Molly Weasley!" Ron shouted, pounding his fists against the wall of the box. "Let us out now!"
What they didn't realize was that while they could see outside the box, Ginny couldn't see inside.
Ginny noted that everything George had said would happen with the box had happened. Just then, a set of heavy footsteps sounded behind her, and she turned to face Harry Potter, the Boy Who Lived.
"'lo, Harry," she smiled. What people just didn't realize was that she had long gotten over her crush on Harry, and thought of him as simply another person. Albeit one of the most powerful persons in the world.
"Hi," Harry mumbled. He looked up and saw the green blob of a box. "Who or what is in that?" he asked interestedly.
"Ron and Hermione," Ginny smirked.
Harry looked at her like she was mad. Then he began to laugh.
"I'm not joking," Ginny said seriously.
The boy with the scar ran forward, pounding at the green substance.
"That's right, Harry, get us out!" Ron cheered.
"Yes, Harry, I've got a letter to mail and I must mail it before I forget," Hermione said, anxiously gazing at her watch.
"A letter to who?" Ron asked sharply, turning to face her.
"Viktor," Hermione said defiantly, sticking her chin up and gazing straight at him.
"What do you see in Vicky anyway?" Ron spat.
"Viktor!" Hermione ground out from between her teeth.
"You and your visits to Bulgaria…" Ron began.
"I didn't go to Bulgaria," Hermione said quietly.
"It isn't safe for you to go to Bulgaria, anyway... Especially not if you spend time with an eighteen year old…" Ron continued.
"I did not go to Bulgaria," Hermione repeated, a little louder this time.
"What do you see in him anyway?" Ron questioned. "He's as butt ugly as a troll…"
"I-did-not-go-to-Bulgaria," Hermione shouted.
"Hang on, he's as stupid as a troll too…" Ron frowned.
"RONALD BILIUS WEASLEY!" Hermione shouted at the top of her lungs. Ron turned around to stare at her, eyes big and round, though with a mad glint in them yet. "YOU WILL LISTEN TO ME RIGHT NOW, AND NOT SAY A WORD," she shouted once more. Ron nodded, although she could tell that he really wanted to open his mouth and berate her too.
Hermione took a deep breath. "I did not, and I never plan to spend my holidays with Viktor Krum."
"BUT YOU HAVE FEELINGS FOR HIM!" Ron shouted back.
"Ron that was two years ago!" Hermione screeched.
"BUT YOU STILL WRITE TO HIM!" Ron said blocking out the rest of what she had been about to say.
"I write to a lot of people, Ron," Hermione said, her voice dangerously low.
"YOU WENT TO THE YULE BALL WITH HIM!"
Hermione glared. "Do you want to know why I went to the Yule Ball with him? Because nobody else asked me."
Ron was sure that there were tears glistening in her eyes, but that wouldn't stop him from finishing what they had started. "I asked you."
"As a last resort," Hermione spat vehemently. "It took you four years to realize that I was a girl."
"I realized that you were a girl long before that, Hermione," Ron said, his voice bordering on dangerous. "But did you ever notice that I was a boy?"
"Notice that you were a boy?" Hermione asked, slightly hysterically. "Of course I noticed that you were a boy -"
"Then why didn't you ask me to the ball?"
"Because I'm a girl," Hermione stated, flustered. "We can't ask out boys…."
"Harry was asked out by a couple of girls," Ron pointed out.
"And look at what he did to them!" Hermione shouted. "Plus, you wanted someone perfect!"
"Of course I wanted someone perfect!" Ron said softly. "I found that person too."
"Who?" Hermione hissed. "Someone whose nose wasn't off center?"
"No," Ron said quietly. "Someone with bushy hair, too much intelligence, and a fancy for ugly Quidditch players."
"Who would that -" Hermione froze. "What are you saying, Ronald?"
"For someone as smart as you, you sure are slow on the uptake," Ron mused.
"Are you…talking about me?" Hermione asked.
"No, I'm talking about the other Hermione I know," he said sarcastically.
He lowered his lips, ready to kiss her…
Thwap!
The sound of Hermione's hand making direct contact with Ron's cheek reverberated through the room.
"How dare you do this to me!" Hermione shouted.
"What in Merlin's name are you talking about?" Ron shot back, his hand grasping his now swollen, hand-marked cheek. "What are you playing at?"
"For six years you don't notice I'm a girl, and then you try to kiss me?"
"I did notice you were a girl," Ron protested. "More times than you'd approve of."
"Then why didn't you ever tell me?" Hermione asked.
"Because I was afraid of this," Ron roared. "Happy? I was afraid of rejection. And with good reason, too…"
"This isn't rejection," Hermione persisted.
"Sure seemed like it to me," Ron snapped.
"Ron, this isn't rejection," she said, quieter this time.
Ron looked up, surprised. "You mean, you could, you know," he pointed to himself and her.
"Yes Ron," Hermione said dryly. "I don't suppose it would be that bad."
"Why?"
"Why?" Hermione asked, flustered. "Why does the earth revolve around the sun? Why do wizards have wands? Why do I want to be with you? I don't know. But I do know that if the earth didn't revolve around the sun we'd always be in the dark. I do know that wizards have wands for doing magic. I do or I think I do know that we'd be…good together."
"Are you being serious?" Ron asked pensively. "But how would we ever work? We just keep fighting…"
"Passion," Hermione shrugged.
"We can't agree…"
"Opposites attract," Hermione said worriedly.
"…But I guess we'd kiss really well…"
Hermione squeaked. "I don't…know about that…"
"You know what they say," Ron said softly. "You never know unless you try…"
He took a step forward, and Hermione took a step back. She was now leaning against the wall. He bent down, about to brush his lips against hers…
"Wait," he stopped, pulling up. "You won't slap me again, will you?"
"I will if you don't kiss me," Hermione said seriously.
The green walls fell down, retracting into the small box again.
Ginny cleared her throat. "Excuse me, minors in the room," she catcalled.
Ron and Hermione, previously attached at the mouth, sprang as far apart as humanly possible.
She held her hands out, smirking at the people sitting around the table.
"Pay up, guys," Ginny gloated, showing the group a picture she had taken – a picture of Ron and Hermione kissing.
She stuffed the coins into her pockets and smiled at the grouchy group.
"C'mon, Gin, what did you do? You had to have done something – and we never allowed it…" Dean pleaded.
"You never disallowed it," Ginny pointed out.
"That's not fair," Lavender protested.
"It's love," Ginny smiled. "All's fair."
Author's note: This story is dedicated to Kerichi, who finally got me to get off my arse and update. HAVEN'T READ HER STORIES? SHAME ON YOU SCOUNDREL!
Her "A Tale of Two Matchmakers" has the most adorable characters - and a Draco Malfoy to die for. And her "Simply Irresistable" has THE epitome of OCs and an amazing portrayal of Severus Snape. And "The Things We Do For Love" is a story that all Ron/Hermione fans MUST check out! http: - Kerichi, I know this one isn't my best, but I wrote it as soon as I read your mail - and I wrote it in about twenty minutes. I'll write one soon - promise!