Doesn't belong to me... Thought of another little tid-bit :)
Ron did end up going to Hogsmeade with Hermione that weekend, just not in the way he wanted to. They just went as friends.
Oh, how I despise that word...friends... Ron thought as he spent another day gazing at his friend.
It had been a few weeks since then. Ron was forcing the gears in his head to work so he could think of another way to ask Hermione out. Also on the back-burner of his mind was the thought to get George and Fred back for they're prank.
Harry had thought it was hilarious; Fred taking the polyjuice potion to look like Hermione and agreeing to go on a date with George.
His musings cut short with a soft gasp as he watched Hermione stretch her arms above her head. Blimey, she's gorgeous...
"Goodness, Ron!" Harry hissed next to him.
Ron tore his eyes away from Hermione across the Gryffindor Common room and looked at Harry. "What?"
"Will you stop mooning over her and ask her out? I'm sick of all your sighing and moaning," Harry looked back to his essay work.
"You're one to talk," Ron said moodily. "I don't see Cho hanging off your arm."
Harry's face turned scarlet and mumbled something intelligible.
Behind Harry and Ron's seats, the Weasley twins had just sat down looking forwards to a night of making fun of their little brother's crush. They couldn't believe their luck when the younger boys began their own plot.
Ron looked back to Hermione and saw her just going up the girls' staircase. He collapsed back into his chair dramatically and sighed again. "I don't know what to do!"
Harry looked up from his work again and glared at his best mate. "Well obviously I can't help you, seeing I don't have a girl 'hanging off my arm.'"
"Harry, I didn't mean it." He sat up and ran his fingers through his hair. "I need to something to wow her or something."
Harry looked up thoughtfully and smiled when an idea reached him. "I got it!"
"What?!"
"What does Hermione like more than anything?"
Ron snorted, "Books."
"Exactly! Just read up on something and surprise her with how much you know about something."
Deciding not to be offended by Harry's comment, a grin spread across Ron's face. "Yeah, something advanced so she'll be amazed!"
Fred and George chuckled quietly and whispered, "It wouldn't take much for her to be amazed!"
"I have the perfect plan," Fred whispered.
"Do share," George grinned.
"We make sure Ron reads up on something, but because of us, nothing he says will make sense."
"Brilliant. Let's get to work."
The next day, Ron was in a place nobody thought he would be: the library. He was scouring the many isles for something Hermione would approve of that he could learn quickly, but still be advanced enough to impress Hermione. But as his luck would have it, he couldn't find anything that he liked. He was about to give up when he heard voiced towards the back of the library.
"Give it up, Fred; you're never going to get it." Ron immediately recognized George's voice.
"I don't see you getting it right either!" Fred grunted.
"I don't know how Snape expected us to understand this! It's too advanced."
"Maybe we should ask someone to help us?"
"Great idea," George said sarcastically, "except nobody in our year even understands this!"
It was silent for a second before Fred said, "What about Hermione? She knows everything."
"No! How bad would that look? The Weasley twins asking a fifth-year for help."
"Yeah, you're right." Another silence consumed the library again before Fred sighed and said, "Forget this; Potions isn't that important anyways."
Ron stayed where he was for a few moments as he heard his brothers get up and leave (when they actually just moved behind another bookshelf to spy on Ron). Ron moved towards the table the twins were occupying just moments ago and saw two potions books lying open. He'd never heard of the potion before: Good Fortune.
He read through the instructions and smirked. This is easy! Fred and George are amateurs. Ron pulled out some parchment and quickly copied everything about the potion. Now all he had to do was memorize all the information.
After Ron had left, Fred and George went back to their table and with a flick of their wands, turned their books back to normal. "I can't believe he bought that."
"I wish I could be in his Potions class."
George thought for a moment, "We still have some polyjuice potion left. We can just switch spots with some of the classmates."
"Good idea. Maybe we can do something to Malfoy while we're at it. You know, hit two birds with one stone."
Professor Snape swooped into the Potions dungeon in his familiar billowing robes. "Today you'll brew a potion of your choice. It must be one we haven't brewed before. Also write three feet about the characteristics, history, the procedure, and use of the potion. Begin."
Hermione turned to Ron with a wide grin. "This is so exciting! I don't even know which one we should pick!"
Ron couldn't believe his luck! He had been racking his brain on how he could show Hermione how much he knew about the potion, and Snape assigns this to them! "I have an idea," Ron said.
Hermione frowned. "Really Ron, it has to be a real potion."
"I'm serious! I was looking for something and I ran across it!"
"Oh really, what is it?"
"Good Fortune."
Hermione's eyes brightened. "Oh, really? That's one of the ones I wanted to brew! You go get the ingredients and I'll start the essay."
Ron quickly moved back to the supply cupboard and met Harry there. "Hey, what're you and Neville doing?"
"Some bravery potion. Are you doing that potion you found in Fred and George's potion book?"
"Yeah, Hermione's excited about it."
"So you're going to ask her to Hogsmeade after class?"
"Yeah." Ron returned his focus on the supplies in front of him. Lacewings, newt, yada-yada... Ron got most of the ingredients before moving to the more bizarre items. Troll snot, rat saliva... Some of them even Ron found them quite disgusting.
After Ron got everything, he went to leave but Harry stopped him. "What on earth do you have those things for?" He motioned to the snot and saliva.
"For my potion." Ron said simply as he shifted the many jars.
Harry moved his glasses to sit on his nose better. "Uh, Ron? I don't think those are supposed to be in your potion."
"I thought it was a little strange too, but that's what the book said." Ron shrugged and went back to the table where Hermione was already halfway through their essay.
Harry laughed as he grabbed the rest of his ingredients. He should have guessed anything Fred and George owned couldn't be trusted.
Ron sorted out the ingredients and set up the caldron while Hermione finished her train of thought. She set the essay aside and looked to the group of ingredients and halted. "Ron?"
"Yeah?"
"What are these?"
Ron turned to her. "Uh, you told me to get the ingredients."
Hermione planted her fists on her hips. "Ronald, these aren't the ingredients for Good Fortune. What book did you see these in?"
Ron felt his face flame. "I—uh—Forge and Gred—I mean Gred and Forge—"
"A book from Fred and George?" she asked.
"Yeah. I can't believe I fell for that," Ron ducked his head and hoped nobody had overheard their conversation.
Hermione giggled. "No problem, I'll just go get the right ones." She collected the ingredients and moved back to the supply cupboard.
"Hey Weasley, looks like you really need that Good Fortune potion," Malfoy smirked from the next table. "Although why you'd want to soil yourself on a Mudblood is beyond me."
"Shove off, Malfoy," Ron grimaced. He sat down at his desk and began... Plan C? How was he going to ask Hermione to Hogsmeade?
Just to note, Fred and george didn't really go to his class... :)
Hope all is well! :)
