Chapter 2: The Duel

By the next day the entire plan had been put into place. They had sent owls to both George and Viktor and had received satisfactory replies. They had decided that they would prove it to Ron first, because with his insecurities it might take a bit longer, plus everyone was excited too see how events would unfold, they were sure it would be more interesting between Ron and Viktor than between Hermione and Lavender. So without further ado they sent in Viktor Krum.

Ron awoke to hear a knocking on Hermione's door. He looked down and saw her, beautiful and peaceful, still asleep in his arms. Without waking her, he got up, put on some robes and went to get the door. When he found himself face to face with Viktor Krum, he just calmly shut the door.

As Ron went into the kitchen to make breakfast he heard more banging, louder than before, but he just ignored it. There was no way he was letting bloody Viktor Krum into Hermione's apartment.

Hermione, woken by the knocking, stumbled out of the bedroom wearing only her robe.

"Who's knocking?" she asked.

Ron thought for a minute about lying, but decided that it wasn't a good idea. "Viktor Krum."

"Well, I'm all for keeping him outside, but lets at least shut him up," and with that she walked over to the door and put a silencing charm on it. Immediately Krum's knocking was silenced, and she and Ron sat down to an enjoyable breakfast.

Krum realized after several more minutes of furious knocking that no one was ever going to come to the door. So, he crept around the house to one of the windows and looked in to find them eating breakfast. He thought it was rather cute, Ron had taken a spoon of yogurt from his cup and put it into a fuming Hermione's mouth.

"The nerve of him!" said Hermione angrily, "coming here, when I told him I never wanted to see him again!"

"Don't worry about it," said Ron soothingly, "It's not like he would break in."

Krum thought now was the time to make his appearance, so he unlocked the window using the unlocking spell, silently, and then climbed in. Hermione screamed. Ron, whose back was to the window, turned around in time to shout "Protego!" as Viktor tried, unsuccessfully to hex him.

Hermione then took out her wand, and was about to curse Viktor when Ron said, "Wait! Stop, everybody just stop!" All three people warily put their wands down. Then Ron turned to him and said angrily, "What the hell are you doing, breaking into our house?"

"I vanted," said Krum, indignantly, "to see Her-me-own-ini, but you vould not let me!"

"I didn't want to see you. He told me you were at the door, but I didn't want to see you. So, now that that is all cleared up, you can go." She wasn't sure if she wanted to hex Krum or hit him, both seemed appealing. Ron, who as always could tell what she was feeling, came over and put an arm around her waist, and whispering in her ear, "He's not worth it."

"I challenge you," said Krum, pointing at Ron, "to a duel, for Her-me-own-ini's affections!"

"There isn't any need for that," said Hermione angrily, "Ron already has my affections, so you can just clear out!"

"Maybe, after you see me vin," said Krum, "you vould realize you vould be better off vith me!"

"First of all," said Hermione, looking as though she was ready to duel Krum, "he wouldn't lose, he happens to be a trained auror, who could beat any skilled wizard, so beating you shouldn't be a problem. Second of all, even if, for some reason he lost, I wouldn't ditch him!"

"So," said Krum spitefully, "he iz too scared to fight vith me!"

"Yeah, I'll fight," said Ron, "You. Me. Tomorrow. Here."

"I am looking forward to it, goodbye for now, Her-me-own-ini," and with that Krum apparated out of the house.

With a loud crack Viktor Krum appeared in Harry and Ginny's living room where the four couples, plus George were sitting. He quickly recounted what had happened at the house.

"But Ginny," said Parvarti, looking confused, "you said that they weren't actually going to fight."

"No," corrected Ginny, "I said I hoped that they wouldn't have to fight. I was hoping that seeing Hermione choose him over Viktor would make Ron figure out that he isn't ever going to not be enough for her, but I really didn't expect that to work. Now when they fight, and Ron looses, and she still doesn't ditch him, he'll get it."

"But," said Dean, "what if he doesn't loose?"

"Oh, don't worry," said Ginny, smiling at George, "he'll loose."

"But," said Viktor, "vhat is the purpose of all of this? If you vant to eliminate jealousy from their relationship, just tell Ron that I have married."

"Well," said Harry, "that would work to deal with his jealousy over you, but what happens when another guy comes around who likes Hermione, we want to eliminate the jealousy permanently."

"Now," said Ginny, with a business like tone, "I think we need to iron out the details for tomorrow, don't you?"

It was time. Ron and Hermione were waiting outside on their porch for Viktor to arrive. Ginny and Harry were also there, and they had brought Lavender, because Ron and Hermione had filled them in on all of the events of yesterday (though they didn't know that Harry, Ginny, and Lavender already knew). Hermione was clutching Ron's hand. She wasn't really worried, because she was confident Ron would win, but she still didn't like the idea of him dueling, it brought back unpleasant memories of the Battle at Hogwarts, when she thought he might die at any moment.

Krum apparated onto the porch wearing a business-like expression, and said, "Vell, vhat are ve vaiting for?"

Ron's back was facing the house as the duel started, which suited Ginny just fine. She made sure that Hermione was totally focused on the two duelers before she acted. Ron had been winning, but with help from George Ginny was going to change that. She pulled a small, purple patch, emblazoned with a gold WW out of her pocked and using her wand levitated it onto the back of Ron's neck. The moment it made contact with his skin he froze.

Harry tried desperately to keep a straight face as Hermione turned to him and asked, "What happened to him?"

It was a completely fair question. Ron had just hit Krum with a jelly legs jinx, and Krum had dropped his wand. There was no way that Krum could have cursed him. They had agreed that the duel would end when one person (the loser) was unable to perform any magic, and remained that was for a whole minute. Harry and Ginny had come up with this rule, because the patch only lasted 65 seconds.

After the minute was up, Krum called triumphantly, "There, you see? I have beaten him, and he is helpless!" He ran up to Hermione, and tried to hug her, but she and Ron both cursed him at the exact same time, producing an interesting effect.

Hermione started running towards Ron, who was still looking dejected. She ran into his arms, and he looked obviously confused.

"Wait, you still want me?" he asked incredulously.

"Of course! Don't you get it? I will always want you, just you. Did you really think that I was going to ditch you if you lost? I was just glad you weren't hurt!"

And then it clicked. Hermione was always going to want him. Here was undeniable proof. He had just lost in a humiliating spectacle and she still wanted him, even when there was a better offer right there. And now, thinking back, he realized that she had proven this to him before. After the Yule Ball, after Lavender, after all of the things he had done wrong she still wanted him, and nothing was ever going to change that. He swung her up in the air and kissed her passionately. She kissed back, and for a moment they both forgot the four other people who were outside with them.

"One down," said Ginny, satisfied.

"And one to go," said Harry, then he tapped Lavender and said, "Alright, go for it."