They were sitting in the common room working on their various assignments, essays, letters and such. Hermione and Harry were at the table working while Ron sat back in a chair, balancing on two legs, tossing a quaffle up and catching it as it bounced off the wall, in other words, being his usual annoying self. He stopped suddenly and got a greenish look on his face, and everyone could hear gurgling, followed by a wet sounding bit of flatulence. "Unnngh" Ron got greener and the chair fell away as he jumped up and tried to make it to the stairs, up to the Dorm WC. More wet and sloppy sound and he stumbled up the stairs as the smell wafted across the room. The smell was almost visible,, and as each person in the common was exposed, they also turned green and jumped up, fleeing the biochhemical assault. The room empties quickly, and the couple used common sense and set up a bubblehead charm, but not before being exposed to the smell. Hermione set about using air freshening charms while Harry went along the path Ron had trod, cleaning up the yellowish brown trail. Harry came back a few minutes later. Hermione had opened the windows and the Scottish fall air wafted through, erasing the last traces of Ron. "He's in the shower washing up, I scourgified everything twice..I have to sleep in the same room as the git.."

"Dobby?" "Yes Master Harry sir?"

"Hello Dobby, how are you today?" "Okey dokey Master Harry sir, not enough work to do, but things are looking up, I smell a mess."

"Indeed you do, Dobby, Ron had an accident, or maybe he ate something rotten, It doesn't matter.. Would you pop up to Madam Pomfrey and get Ron an Anti-diahrea potion, and then can you sanitise the area where he was, I did a scourgify, because it was an emergency, but I would appreciate your skill, Dobby"

The Elf stood proudly, that his master had recognised his abilities..

"Right away Master Harry, Sir.."! and popped away.

You shouldn't encourage him to call you master Harry, you know.."

"You know I would never abuse Dobby or any other elf, Hermione.. It makes him happy, so what's the harm in that?"

Hermione sighed. She had been informed, rather severely that the elves needed to serve, so she had changed her attitude a bit, instead of fighting for freeing the elves, then at least demanding that they be treated properly, and not abused..

Harry sat hard on the couch where Hermione had perched on the arm. He pulled her down and into his lap. "I remembered something." She raised an eyebrow in question.

"You know they say smell can be a memory trigger?" She nodded.

"The smell of Ron just now..I was nine years was playing Donkey Kong on his Atari, and wouldn't stop for anything." Harry shifted his girl closer, tucking her head under his chin.

"He had the flu or something and Petunia was indulging him as usual.. He was sitting there squirming and fidgiting and instead of pausing the game, he ended up messing himself..and it smelled like that..

Petunia smelled it and was about to blame me, when she realized it was her precious Duddykins sitting there in a pool of shite, playing his game..She tried to get his attention, but he kept on playing, she finally got mad, actually mad and pushed the off button on the game."

he smirked.

"Duddykins protested and yelled at her for losing his high score, she took the thing away from him and grabbed his arm and marched him upstairs to the bath and yelled at me to clean up the mass.. Where he was sitting was a...mess." "Petunia gave her precious Duddykins a bath, and I was cleaning up his mess.. the TV was still on, and the channel was one of those public access ones, where they did local public service and news.."

Hermione nodded in understanding, wondering where this was going.

"I was scrubbing and disinfecting the area and the show on the TV was a competition, with participants from the UK, and America, and India, and they were down to the finals.."

he looked at her and she was starting to get red.

"The finalists were at their podium waiting for the host to ask the question." He put a finger under her chin and looked deeply into her eyes..

"And that's the first time I ever saw the woman I would marry" he kissed her nose.

"Of course I didn't know it at the time"

"The American was a bushy headed fellow named Charlie Epps, and the Indian Fellow was named Chandra something.."

"Chandrasegarampillai" Hermione inserted the name..

"Yeah, what you said..anyway, there I was, on my knees , scrubbing the floor in front of the TV, wishing I could be anywhere but there, and I guess the fates heard me, because here I am.." He shifted her around to face him.

So how did you do, I wasn't able to see the end of the programme, I got to go and wash Duddykin's clothes.." he had an ill look on his face..

"Well, Charlie got the next answer, but Chandra got the final one.. I was sure I knew, but I wasn't sure enough to speak up first.. in any event, I got the bronze medal, it's on my bedroom wall at home."

"What was the question"
"From 50 whole numbers, 1 to 50 inclusive, choose the X and Y that will make the largest fraction:"

X + Y -
X - Y

"That's easy, it would be:
50 + 49 -
50 - 49

which is:

99 -
1

"I knew the answer, but Chandra hit the buzzer faster than me, Charlie and I were tied for points and it worked out, I just needed to be a bit more agressive.."

I still write both Charlie and Chandra occasionally.. Charlie has gotten his PHD this year at Princeton and Chandra is now an instructor in computer science at the University of Illinois "
"And the brilliant Hermione Granger, soon to be Potter"
"Well, First, I am Matriculating from the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, and then I am taking a two year course as a healer, followed by a Medical degree from Cambridge..I was offered a scholarship to St Swithins, but I decided that Cambridge was the better choice.."

"And you will do well there, and anywhere you go.." They kissed and snuggled

"I'm very impressed, Mathlympics at the age of ten, why have you never mentioned it?"

"Because Ron would see it as bragging, and I didn't think you would care.."

""I wouldn't care?, I want to know everything about you, every trip you have taken, every award you have won, I want to be able to brag that I am married to the smartest woman that ever was, I want to yell to the world how you are smarter, better, stronger..." he was silenced by a full body snog...

Ron came down the stairs, his color somewhat better. no one was in the room, books and parchment scattered everywhere, a cold breeze coming from the open windows. He shivered, and pulled the sash shut. He turned, hearing the muffled giggling from the couch in front of the fire. Seeing two pairs of feet sticking out the end of the couch, he shook his head and left throught the portrait hole, heading down to the Great Hall for lunch, thinking that maybe, just maybe he shouldn't have eaten that old sandwich he had found in his cloak pocket..