Title: Brewing Trouble

Rating: PG-13 (for mild language and slightly immature themes)

Summary: Ron decides a love potion is the only way to make Hermione fall for him, and mayhem ensues when the effects of the potion go awry.

Disclaimer: The plot of this story is mine, but everything else belongs to JK Rowling. Thanks so much for all the wonderful feedback, the reviews mean so much to me!

Chapter 6 - The Tussle in the Tower (or Ron's Discovery)

"How thick could I possibly be?" Ron berated himself as he ran through the dimly lit corridors of Hogwarts. To the amazement of everyone in the Common Room, he'd spun on his heel and dashed out through the portrait without a backward glance, much like Ginny had fled the Common Room moments before. Now, he was sneaking into the main hall; he hadn't thought to grab Harry's invisibility cloak, and he knew if he was caught he would be unable to figure out exactly was wrong with Harry and the others until the next evening, and he wasn't sure if he could take another day of Harry's mooning and Hermione's flirting.

Glancing one way and then the other, Ron ducked into the corridor that led to the kitchen. He sprinted down the hall and fell upon the painting, scratching at the pear and twisting it as soon as it turned into a door handle. He stumbled into the kitchen.

"Dobby? Dobby?" Ron called, his gaze traveling over the usually tidy kitchen. It was in a state of disarray from dinner an hour earlier (which he had skipped, his stomach noisily reminded him): dirty pots and pans were piled high and the rubbish bins were towering with scraps of food. House elves darted back and forth across the kitchen, some carrying stacks of plates, others using little brooms to sweep the crumbs on the floor into neat little piles.

"Someone is calling Dobby?" Dobby up to Ron and his ugly face split into a wide grin. "Wheezy, sir! Wheezy is visiting Dobby twice in one week!" Before Dobby could attach himself to Ron's leg, Ron crouched down and seized Dobby by the shoulders.

"Dobby, I want you to tell me exactly - exactly - what you did with that love potion," said Ron seriously.

"Wheezy will be very happy!" Dobby exclaimed, clapping his gnarled hands together and taking a little leap. "Wheezy will be very pleased with Dobby!"

"Try me," Ron said grimly.

"Dobby is about to pour Wheezy's special treat into Miss Hermione's goblet when he thinks: if making Miss Hermione happy pleases Wheezy, Wheezy will be thrilled if Dobby makes everyone happy!" babbled Dobby.

"What exactly did you do?" Ron gritted his teeth, trying not to shout.

"Dobby gets this idea, sir, and Dobby pours all of Wheezy's special treat into the gravy tureen!"

"WHAT?" Ron gripped Dobby very tightly by the neck of his oversized sweater vest. "I'm trying very hard to resist the urge to throttle you, Dobby."

"Wheezy isn't pleased, sir?" Dobby ventured, his eyes growing very wide.

"No, Wheezy isn't pleased! Wheezy is very angry!" Ron cried. "Dobby, you've made a mess of everything - that was a *love potion!* Now Harry is making a fool of himself over Hermione - Hermione! - and she...she fancies Snape," he concluded miserably.

Dobby burst into tears. "Dobby is sorry, he is!" he blubbered, burying his face in Ron's robes. "Dobby isn't meaning to do any harm, Wheezy, Dobby is trying to please Wheezy, sir."

"It doesn't matter that you didn't mean to, Dobby..." Ron trailed off. "Do you realize what we've done? The whole school eats gravy from that tureen! Who knows how many people are bewitched?" He stood up and headed for the door. "I've got to find the antidote, and quickly - before everyone is in as bad a state as Harry is."

And he'd have to do it alone, he realized as he snuck back down the corridor, Dobby's sobs wafting down the hall after him. Harry was the only other one that knew about the potion, and it seemed to have affected him the most. Not only had he fallen for Hermione, it seemed as if that was the only thing he could think about. Ron cringed as he remembered the generous amounts of gravy Harry poured on his potatoes.

First thing's first, he thought as he bounded up the stairs after glancing around the main hall. I'll look up the antidote in the potions book - good thing I kept it - and set about brewing it straightaway tomorrow. He wasn't sure how he'd manage to get everyone that had eaten the gravy to take the potion, but he'd worry about that later, he told himself as he crept down the hall, coming to a stop at the portrait that was the doorway to Gryffendor Tower.

"Billywig!" Ron whispered, and the Fat Lady swung open to reveal complete chaos.

The Common Room was resounding with whoops and cries and crashes. There was a cluster of eager Gryffendor boys in the corner of the room, howling and whistling and stomping their feet. A small knot of girls were in the other corner of the room, whispering and all looking rather alarmed, and many more students were hanging over the ledge looking down upon the fray. In the center of it all was -

"Ginny? Hermione?" Ron exclaimed.

Harry was sitting in an armchair looking very dazed and a little frightened. On one side of him was Ginny, perched lightly on the armrest of the chair. Her arms were folded and her face looked like a thundercloud. On the other side was Hermione, a hand on her hip, an impatient expression on her face as she tapped her foot.

"What's going on?" Ron asked an excited first year, nearly falling over as Parvati Patel pushed past him.

"There's going to be a fight!" The shorter boy crowed. "The redhead says the bushy-haired one is after her boyfriend! Boy, this is just like a daytime show!"

"I've already told you once!" Ginny said, raising her voice to be heard over the din. "Harry is mine!"

"I keep telling you," Hermione raged, "I don't want him! You're welcome to him! He's my friend, Ginny."

"I don't believe that for a minute!" Ginny shouted, standing up. "You're in love with him! You've always been in love with him! And I'm prepared to fight you for him!"

"Ron?" Harry said mildly from his seat in the center of the storm. "A little help?"

But before Ron could move a muscle, Ginny - the usually calm, sweet Ginny - leapt on Hermione, and the room exploded. Ginny yanked Hermione hair; Hermione, in turn, swiftly kicked Ginny in the ankles. Ginny slipped and fell but not before seizing Hermione's skirt, which ripped as Ginny landed hard on her backside. Before Hermione could get away from her, Ginny kicked her, sending Hermione sprawling to the floor beside her.

Ron, watching open-mouthed in horror, simply stood there. Honestly, he was a little afraid to get involved. He'd seen both Ginny and Hermione when they were mad, and this potion-intensified anger was very intimidating. As George ran by, Ron snagged his sleeve.

"Help me break them up!" said Ron, but George shook his head.

"Are you kidding? I've got a galleon on Hermione winning!" George exclaimed. "We could make a bloody fortune."

"You're betting on the fight?" Ron said incredulously. "Wait - you didn't even bet on our sister?"

"I know Ginny's got the whole redhead-temper bit," said George, "But Hermione's got a wicked backhand." With that, he darted off.

Meanwhile, Ginny was twisting Hermione's arm behind her back as Hermione pinched Ginny's nose. Ron was steeling himself to enter the fray when the portrait swung open and in burst -

"Malfoy?" Ron said. "What - how - what?" He glanced past Malfoy to see Parvati Patel and Bole, a Slytherin he recognized from Quidditch, hand in hand and smiling smugly.

"Get away from her, mudblood!" Malfoy cried, whipping out his wand and aiming it at Hermione. "Stup-"

"NO!" Harry suddenly came alive, sensing that the object of his affection was in danger. He dove at Malfoy, sending him sprawling backwards onto the floor.

"Eeeeek!" Ron turned back to the original fight to see that Hermione had gained the upper hand. She had Ginny in a headlock, much like the one she herself had been put in by Millicent Bulstrode in their second year, and Ginny's face was rapidly turning the color of her hair.

"Hermione - Hermione, she's my sister, don't kill her," Ron pleaded. "Just...let her go, okay?"

"She said Professor Snape is an oily snake!" Hermione panted, her face purple with rage.

"She didn't mean it!" Ron cried vainly. Ginny, sensing Hermione was distracted, broke free and ran for the stairs. Ron grabbed Hermione's arm as his sister fled. She soon appeared at the balcony, her cheeks pink.

"I meant every word of it!" she shrieked triumphantly, sticking her tongue out. With a scream, Hermione ripped her arm away from Ron and stampeded up the stairs. Ginny's eyes widened as Hermione came barreling towards her and dove out of the way just in time. Unable to stop, Hermione skidded into the wall and fell to the floor again. Ginny whooped and turned back to the crowd in the Common Room, her arms held gleefully over her head.

"Weasley!" shouted one of the Slytherins that had slipped in with Malfoy. "Show us your bludgers like you did in the library!"

Ron spun around, a look of horror on his face. "That's my sister!" he bellowed.

"You watch your filthy mouth!" howled Malfoy, who had, for the moment, broken free from Harry.

"WHAT IS GOING ON?"

Everything fell silent when Professor McGonagall stepped into the Common Room, her eyes widening as she took in Harry's bloody nose, Malfoy's black eye and torn vest, Ginny's disheveled appearance, and the complete disarray of the room. Hermione, her hand on her head, appeared at the balcony and looked ready to fall upon Ginny again until she saw McGonagall standing below.

"Hello, Professor!" she called weakly.

"Who would like to tell me why, at ten o'clock at night, Peeves reported to me about a tussle in my house's dormitory? I can see now," she continued, her voice trembling, "That he severely understated the matter. Mr. Malfoy, you and the rest of the Slytherins will return to your house at once - twenty points will be taken from your house for each member that is out of bed after hours." The Slytherins turned and shuffled out of the Tower, Malfoy bringing up the rear. Just before he left, he blew a kiss to Ginny, who scowled.

"I will deal with the rest of you in the morning, when I've had time to think about what has happened here tonight," McGonagall said. "Let me just say that I am extremely disappointed in everyone that was involved in this...this brawl. You will be dealt with most severely at the proper time. Until then, everyone will go to bed immediately."

Like magic, the Common Room cleared in less than a minute. Ron and Harry were the last to go upstairs, and Harry turned to Ron as they walked up the stairs.

"D'you think this is the aggressive behavior you mentioned before?" Harry asked placidly. Ron stopped in his tracks.

"You remember that?" he asked. He hadn't even told Harry about the whole gravy incident.

"Ron, I'm in love, not completely out of my mind," Harry said wryly. "I know I've been in a bit of a fog today."

"That's an understatement!" Ron exclaimed as the two boys walked into their dormitory. Ron shut the door and walked over to where Harry was changing into his pajamas. "So, you remember making the potion?"

"Clearly," Harry said. "I'm just glad I haven't been affected."

" You're..." Ron trailed off. "You're glad you haven't been affected," he repeated, sighing deeply.

"I haven't quite figured out how everyone else got a dose of our potion," said Harry, "but I'm just really happy that I haven't lost my head."

"You don't think it's a bit strange that you're in love with Hermione all of a sudden?" Ron asked sharply.

"All of a sudden?" Harry repeated, button up his pajama top. "I've been in love with Hermione since first year."

A/N: Nothing seems to be going right for poor Ron! Things are bound to improve eventually, right?