"Good morning, Harry!" Ron said cheerfully, finding a seat next to his best friend and going to butter his toast.
"Morning, Ron," Harry said groggily.
"How did you sleep?" Ron asked, and Harry narrowed his eyes suspiciously at his friend.
"What are you so cheerful about?"
"Oh, nothing," Ron said. "Hey, did you know that if I had gotten together with Hermione in fourth year I would have been an awesome Quidditch player last year, and you never would have gotten banned from the Quidditch team?"
Harry's fist closed too tightly around the hard boiled egg he was holding.
"What?" he said murderously.
"Yep!" was all Ron gave in return, and Harry continued being pissed off.
"Seriously, why are you so happy?"
"Why do you care?" Ron asked, and Harry rolled his eyes.
"It's disconcerting. It's like a natural happiness, not some weird Lavender-induced version."
Ron shrugged, giving Harry a puzzled look.
"Dunno. Maybe I'm just in a good mood, nothing particular."
There was a pause. Then Harry said,
"Where'd you go last night?"
"Er- what?"
"You spent about thirty minutes in our dorm getting dressed for something, then left."
"Oh. I was with Lavender," Ron fibbed.
"No you weren't, though," Harry said, shaking his head.
"How do you know?" Ron asked sharply.
"Because she came looking for you after you had left, or didn't you know?"
Ron swallowed.
"Did she?"
"Yes, she did. And I told her I thought you were with her, which did not make her happy."
"Yeah, you should probably make something up next time."
Harry raised his eyebrow.
"Next time?"
"It's sort of a three-times-a-week thing," Ron said.
"So whenever you're not on prefect duty, you're doing this?"
"Yeah. It's four days a week of prefect duty, and three days of this," Ron told his confused friend.
"Ron, I'll make you a deal. If you tell me what's going on in your weird little evenings, I'll make up an excuse for it. Unless it involves cheating, because if it does I think you should just bloody tell Lavender and make her break up with you-"
"There's no cheating," Ron promised hurriedly. "I mean, not yet."
"So it has to do with Hermione," Harry said automatically, and Ron chuckled.
"Honestly. You'd never have said that if I hadn't told you what my dream was about."
"Does it?" Harry pressed, and Ron nodded. "What are you doing?"
"She's sort of tutoring me in all the subjects I'm failing."
Harry nodded thoughtfully.
"Seems interesting, doesn't it?"
"What seems interesting?" Ginny, who had been passing them, asked. "The fact that you're talking to my asshole of a brother?"
"Yeah, what?" Ron demanded, discarding the second half of Ginny's comment.
Harry directed his words towards the male Weasley while the female one listened on.
"Well, when you're with Lavender, all you do is snog, you never get anything done, and don't even seem to be that happy. But the night after you spend with Hermione, there is no snogging involved, you're studying the whole time, and you seem to be having more fun then you do with Lavender."
"Yeah," Ginny said, smirking. "It seems that Hermione genuinely wants you to succeed, whereas Lavender doesn't care either way. Hmmmm. I wonder who's better to be in a relationship with. Don't you, Harry?"
Harry let out a snort before catching the look on Ron's face. He turned it into a cough, and Ginny walked away, the snide look still on her face. Ron watched as she went to sit next to Hermione. Judging from the expression on Hermione's face, his traitor of a sister was telling the girl he fancied the whole story. Great. Just phenomenal.
"So how long have you been doing it?" Harry asked, and Ron turned red at the phrasing of the question. "Oh, get your mind out of the gutter," Harry snapped, and Ron rolled his eyes.
"Like I can help it. Anyways, last night was the first time."
"So, let me guess. You make puppy dog eyes at her and then sit there watching her as she does your homework."
"No," Ron said simply. "That's not it at all."
"Well then... Ron, she does do your homework for you, right?"
"Nope," Ron said lightly. "She helps me with it, but it's all my own work. I actually learn."
Harry gaped at his friend, and, with a sigh, Ron put down the toast and faced Harry.
"Listen. If she does my homework for me, there's less interaction, and it doesn't take so long. The more idiotic I am, the better. I get the spend more time with her this way, on good terms. I mean, she's sort of a lunatic when it comes to her adoration for studies, but she's a pretty patient teacher, and, let's face it, I get to surreptitiously sniff her hair, which smells so bloody-"
"Oh, okay, too much information!" Harry said quickly, holding a hand up in the universal stop or I'll hurt youposition. "So which do you have tonight?"
"Studying. And then tomorrow is prefect stuff again."
"So, basically, you're spending every single night of the week peacefully coexisting with a girl who can't stand the sight of your face right now."
"Basically, yes," Ron said. "But since when has anything about me and Hermione ever been basic?"
"Point taken."
"Hermione! Hey, Hermione!"
Hermione whirled around to see her boyfriend running towards her at full force. He was probably late again. He was constantly being late for Quidditch practice, and forever running around everywhere before it to get things done. It was getting to the point that he was tired even before he got to practice, so by the time Ron got in, he would fall asleep with his head in Hermione's lap nearly every night. She'd glance helplessly over at Harry, who always laughed at the situation.
"It serves you right, Hermione," he would say, "For going out with Ron." Hermione would shoot him an ugly grimace.
"Shut up, Harry. I don't mind that he's using me as a pillow, I just don't want to wake him!" And she'd sigh and settle in with a book until Ron would wake up around two AM, sometimes to find Hermione wide awake, sometimes to find her sleeping. It didn't matter, anyways, because the beam on Ron's face whenever he woke up beside her was worth being exhausted in class the next day.
"Listen, about tonight-" "Yes, happy Valentine's Day, by the way," Hermione said, her voice a bit cold. She attempted to soften it, knowing that it all wasn't Ron's fault. "Sorry. I'm just disappointed." "I get that. I'm sorry too. But I'm going to make it up to you." Hermione looked intrigued.
"Really." "Really. Meet me in front of the Room of Requirement at seven. Wear something nice." "Seven... if we stay too long, we'll get caught out-of-bounds." "Harry's going to lend me the cloak," Ron said, grinning at Harry as he came up next to them. "Won't you Harry?" "Er- sure. What did I just agree to?" "Giving me the cloak later."
"Ron!" Harry said, aghast. "Bye Harry!" Hermione said, waving. She pecked Ron on the lips before reversing her direction.
"Now where're you going?" Ron asked her, and Hermione smiled.
"Well, I was going to spend the day in the library, but since you said to wear something nice, I think I'll have to go into Hogsmeade."
Harry jabbed Ron on the arm.
"Ron, you should have told her ages ago! Then she could have sent for clothes like your mum did for you." "Right. That would have been smarter," Ron said, thinking about the white button down shirt and black pants that were folded on top of his trunk for easy access.
***
Hermione, however calm she'd seemed when talking to Ron, burst into Ginny's room ten minutes later in a state of high alarm.
"GINNY!" she shouted, causing all the other girls in Ginny's dorm to jump. "I need help!"
Ginny emerged from the bathroom, her hair half-dry, looking confused.
"With what?" Hermione considered this. Then she said,
"Being girly." Ginny smirked.
"Hermione, I'm not exactly the best candidate. Go to Lavender or Parvati." "I can't," Hermione said miserably. "They're in Hogsmeade. And you're better than I am. Come on! Come into Hogsmeade with me and find me a dress!"
"For what?" Ginny asked.
"Ron has just told me we're doing something for Valentine's Day now, for the love of god. And he said to wear something nice." "You just might be screwed," Ginny responded.
"Pleasant, Ginny," Hermione replied. "Okay, listen... I can't go into Hogsmeade with you, because I promised Michael I'd go with him, and I'm not canceling. It's Valentine's Day. However, I can lend you something from my friend Cammie's closet. You two are pretty much the same size, and mum taught me how to do minor alterations. Is that alright, Cammie?" Ginny asked, shooting a glance in her friend's direction. The girl, who Hermione recognized to be the daughter of the Minister of Magic's little sister, nodded, smiling.
"Of course. I recognize a crisis when I see one." "Thank you!" Hermione said, breathing a sigh of relief. "But- oh! What about jewelry?" she added desperately, and Ginny rolled her eyes.
"Go by yourself and pick it out! You know what you like!" "But I'm so bad at matching things," Hermione complained. At this, Ginny smiled.
"Ah, Miss Granger. I think it's time to introduce you to an old friend."
She reached into one of the mahogany wardrobes and searched until she found something. Then she pulled it out and showed it to Hermione.
"Hermione. Meet little black dress."
Hermione spent the day in Hogsmeade until she found a pair of heart shaped earrings she liked and bought them. She would have bought a necklace, too, but around one o'clock in the afternoon, Ginny found her and demanded that she buy nice undergarments for the occasion.
"Um, why?" Hermione asked, her brows knitting together. "It's not like he's going to be seeing them." "Two reasons," Ginny said, taking her hand and leading her over to a store that Hermione had never been into. "First of all, he could accidentally see them. Like if you happen to be sitting criss-cross-applesauce in the dress, for example, or if the dress moves downward and shows your bra. It's been
"The second reason?" Hermione asked, glancing over at a see-through bra and blushing at the idea of herself in it. Ginny snapped her gaze away.
"Okay, we're not going for that!" she said, rolling her eyes. "C'mon, Hermione, you're still sixteen." Hermione opened her mouth indignantly, about to say that she didn't actually want the thing at all, but Ginny cut her off.
"The second reason," she said, "Is that a girl is always more confident when she wears a nice bra and underwear set. It's almost like an awesome secret that guides you through the day like a patronus." "Okay, now you're just talking crazy," Hermione said, rolling her eyes. "Honestly, Ginny, for a fourteen year old you can be a bit sketchy sometimes." "I'm not crazy!" Ginny pronounced. "You'll see what I mean later." In the end, Hermione ended up buying a couple of sets just to appease Ginny, leaving her with no money for shoes, a bracelet, or a necklace. Glaring at Ginny as she left the store, Hermione asked something she'd forgotten to earlier.
"What'd you do with Michael?" "Oh, I just took a quick break from him. I'm meeting him at Madam Puddyfoot's in five minutes, actually. So, got to run!"
Around five o'clock, Ginny appeared in Hermione's room, brandishing Cammie's little black dress.
"What's that for?" Lavender asked as Ginny came into the room.
"Hermione's got a hot date with Ron," Ginny said, keeping her smirks down to a minimum, to her credit.
"Oooh! Can we help?" Parvati asked longingly. Hermione and Ginny exchanged alarmed glances, but in the end agreed. Lavender and Parvati scrambled up, calling the parts of Hermione they wanted to work on. "I call make up!" said Lavender. "I want her hair!" Parvati cried out.
"Really?" Hermione said, wrinkling her nose.
"You can have it." Lavender agreed, and Parvati nodded smugly.
"Okay, I'll do her nails," Ginny said willingly.
Hermione decided to close her eyes and just let them turn her into a barbie doll. Her one command was that Lavender go lightly on the make up, which the girl grudgingly complied to. After voting on which pair of undergarments Hermione was to wear, she was pushed into the bathroom to change into the pink and black set and her dress. When she came out, the girls made the appropriate alterations, then made their finishing touches on her hair, nails, and make up. It was then that Lavender said,
"Where're her shoes?"
Hermione opened her eyes to see Ginny look guilty.
"We used up all her money on the bras."
Hermione closed her eyes again as she felt Ginny pushing the heart-shaped earrings into her ears.
"Try these!" came Lavender's voice, and then Hermione felt her feet being shoved into a pair of shoes.
"How's the fit?" Ginny asked.
"Pinchy." Hermione responded.
"Well, you have to suffer to be beautiful," Ginny shrugged. "At least we didn't force you into a corset." "Although I have one in my closet if you'd... oh, that was sarcastic," Lavender said, and although Hermione couldn't see her, she had a feeling Lavender was blushing.