"See ya, Hermione." Ron said as he put on his cloak to leave.
"Oh, you know what tomorrow is, right?" Hermione said, clearing her desk.
"Friday." Ron said.
"Yes," Hermione said, and grabbed her cloak of the hanger. "But more importantly, Valentine's day."
"Oh, thanks for reminding me! Now I can go pick up an imaginary bouquet of flowers to give to my imaginary girlfriend!" He said sarcastically.
"Hey, don't laugh." Hermione said, "People take Valentine's Day very seriously in this office. Everyone exchanges cards and such. Frankly, it's because half these people won't get cards from anybody else." Ron laughed, and Hermione added, "So if you want to make a good impression, you'd come to work tomorrow with a little something for everyone."
"Good to know." Ron nodded.
Valentine's Day, Ron thought to himself. What was the point, really? Just a day for Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes to make money on Love Potion, couples to publisize themselves, and singles to feel worse about themselves. But, there was a silver lining. He could give Hermione a present, and it wouldn't look out of the ordinary!
Ron went to the store and picked out a card for each one of his co-workers, even Dirk, although he bought him a Howler. For everyone else, he basically picked out the first fifteen cards he saw, except for Hermione's, which he spent a good half hour looking for before feeling satisfied, and then spent another half hour figuring out what to write in it.
Ron walked into the office the next day, and had to take a moment to drink in the scene. It seemed that Hermione was right about the office taking Valentine's Day seriously. Everyone was wearing a red or pink shirt. Magical confetti was slowly drifting from the ceiling, and magical hearts were floating around. Hermione, being the perfectionist that she was, was taking out all of her Bertie Bott's Every Flavored Beans from her candy dish unless they were red, pink, or white as he walked in.
"Happy Valentine's day." Ron said, taking a red bean, which turned out to be cinnomen.
"And Happy Valentine's Day to you too." Hermione said cheerfully. "I see you do have some spirit." She said, noting his marroon hand-knited sweater with a big R on it.
"This?" Ron said. "Oh, yeah, I guess it is red. Well, when do we hand out our cards?"
"Any time you want. It's not a big deal or anything, just a nice gesture." She explained. "I usually give my cards out a little before we leave."
"I want to give them out now." Ron announced.
"Knock yourself out." Hermione said vaguely.
Ron started handing random cards to all his co-workers (he had only labeled two of them, the one for Dirk, and, of course, the one for Hermione, which he would give personally). He hadn't labeled any of them and he hadn't read any of them (who could blame him, he hated Valentine's Day and could care less about any of these people) so he hoped the cards sounded alright.
"Happy Valentine's Day, Dirk." Ron said, handing him his card.
"What's this?" He said, examining it.
"A Valentine's Card." Ron replied.
"Well that's stupid." Dirk scoffed. " Because I didn't get you anything, or any of the office. Valentine's Day is for suckers."
"Well, you're the sucker, because now everybody is going to be mad at you for not giving cards." Ron said smoothly.
"Who cares." Dirk said. "I didn't come to work to make friends." He then proceded to open the card, which started to sizzle. Ron started to snicker, and Hermione leaned over the edge of her desk to see what was happening. The card took a shape of a Howler, and sang in a roaring voice for the whole office to hear,
Roses are red,
Violets are blue,
Scott likes me better,
and I'm the top salesmen too!
To most people, it would be embarrassing just because the card didn't say anything nice and it was loud enough for everyone to hear, but the thing that cut Dirk to the core was the idea that he was not his boss's favorite or that he wasn't the top salesmen in the department.
"Ah, Ron," Scott said, trying to hide his smile. "Can I see you in my office?"
"Hear that, prat?" Dirk smirked. "Someone's in trouble."
"He probably just wants to give me a raise because of my great sales record." Ron smiled. Hermione watched as he walked in. It disappointed her a little that Ron hadn't given her a card. She was, afterall, his best friend in the office, right? He didn't laugh and joke with her at her desk for nothing, right? It did mean something to him too, right? Hermione went to the break room to get a pumpkin juice to get her mind off things.
As she filled her flask with Pumpkin juice, the door swung open. "The best thing just happened to me!" Someone squealed. Hermione turned around, and was facing fellow co-worker Alice Finkle. Hermione didn't think much about it. Alice was 21, with blonde hair and a bright smile. She was an entergetic person who was everyone's friend, and was always kind. She was happy-go-lucky and found the best in everything and everyone, so it wasn't unusal for her to say, 'The best thing just happened to me!' and then finish with something pointless like, 'I found a Sickle on the ground!'
"What?" Hermione replied vaguely.
"Ron Weasley, you know, the new guy?" She said, smiling.
"Yes, of course I know Ron. Who doesn't?" Hermione said.
"A lot of people, apparently. But, anway, he's in love with me!" She shrieked happily.
"What?" Hermione yelled, a bit too loud.
"Oh, yes, yes, yes! I mean, you should see the Valentine's card he gave me!" She said excitedly.
"He gave everyone a card." She snapped. Except for her.
"He gave everyone a card, but not like this!" Alice exclaimed, waving it around, and began to read, "You're like my Golden Snitch, that thing I'm always after, that thing that catches my eye, that thing that will make me feel triumphant once I finally hold it."
In Hermione's opion, it was cheesy and badly written, but still, the message was the same. Ron liked Alice.
"What do you think? She said. "I mean, I never thought about Ron in that way before, I hardly realized he was there, but, maybe he was always there, waiting for me..." Hermione wanted to cast a silence charm on her, but Alice went on. "I suppose he's cute, and likable, funny, as I've heard from the laughter that goes around his desk, and oh, I really want a boyfriend, and I want ever so much to get rid of the name Finkle..." Alice was already thinking about marriage more than Hermione, and Hermione was engaged! While Alice talked herself into liking Ron and though of his good qualities, (Hermione could think of so many more than she could), Hermione decided she needed to confront Ron on his new crush.
She stormed out of the break room, Alice still in mid-sentence, and darted straight to Ron's desk. Hermione was still figuring out why it bothered her so much. Ron was a friend, and was free to date whoever he liked. Maybe it was that she felt that all the talking and laughing they did around her desk was for nothing, because he only wanted Alice. Hermione should be happy for him. Alice was one of the kindest people Hermione knew, but there was something she didn't like about it.
"So, Alice." She said, trying to keep the conversation light but could not hide her bitterness.
"Alice Finkle?" Ron said, dazed. "What about her?"
"Oh, rubbish, you know all about her, Ronald, so tell me!" Hermione screamed.
"Hermione, what in the name of Merlin are you talking about?"
"'You're like my Golden Snitch, that thing I'm always after...'"Hermione quoted. "I can't believe you liked her and never told me!"
"What? I don't like Alice." Ron yelped.
"Oh, yes, it says so on your card." She said sarcastically.
"That's why?" Ron laughed. "Look, Hermione, I chose all those cards randomly just to be nice. I didn't look at them, or open them, I don't give a rat's fart about Valentine's Day! The only people I made cards special for was Dirk and-" He stopped in midsentence, for fear of embarrassment.
"So, you don't like Alice?" Hermione said slowly.
"No! I didn't mean to give her that card."
"Excellent." Hermione said, feeling satisfied.
"Ron!" Alice called happily as she came out of the break room.
"Merlin, we've got to stop this!" Ron whispered to Hermione.
"You're fault." Hermione shrugged.
"Hermione, please." He said.
"Oh, alright." Hermione sighed. "But only because I'm the only one capable of doing, Ronald. I mean, your cold of heart and dim-wittedness got you in this mess in the first place." She then added, "And because you're my friend." Ron smiled.
