Chapter Six: Round Four (The Lightning Round)
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Ron was going to win. He had never felt surer of anything in his life. True, he was losing by ten points at the moment, but he still knew more about Hermione. Maybe he didn't know about her favorite candy or color, but he knew the important things–how dedicated she was to her schoolwork, how little she liked Malfoy, how strongly she felt about house-elves' liberation. He knew her temper and her personality–how else would he be able to irritate her as easily as he did?
His was shaken from these musings by Harry's exceptionally loud voice announcing, "It's time for Round Four! Contestants, please hold your wands at the ready." Viktor and Ron each reached into their robes and pulled out their wands, pointing them at the ceiling.
"Ron," said Ginny, "you shoot up red sparks, if you know the answer. Try it now." Ron shook his wand and red sparks shot up into the air. "Good. Viktor, you shoot up blue sparks, if you know the answer." Shaking his wand in the appropriate manner, Viktor watched as sapphire sparks emerged from the tip, into the air, and showering the ground. "Lovely."
"This round lasts thirty seconds. Each correct answer is worth five points, unless it is stolen from the other contestant, in which case it is ten points. The current scores are: Ron–80 points, Viktor–90 points. However, this round could change everything," informed Harry, looking a little anxious on Ron's behalf. "Fred and George, please start counting when I begin reading this question: We've already established that Hermione has a cat. What is its name?"
Red and blue sparks flew up in the air. "Which was first? Neville?" Ginny demanded.
"R-Red!" answered Neville's voice from the crowd. "Red!"
Ron, realizing "Red," meant him, shouted, "Crookshanks! The cat is Crookshanks!" Harry nodded in response and changed Ron's score to 85. He was now only trailing by five points.
"Next question: What product did Hermione use on her hair for the Yule Ball?"
Viktor shot up azure sparks, shouting, "The Sleekeazy's Hair Potion! Yes?'
"Yes," answered Harry, boosting Viktor's score to 95 points. "Next question: What organization did Hermione start to help house elves?"
Ron knew this one. He knew it probably better than he knew his own name. As he shot up his sparks, however, he saw, with horror, that Viktor had beaten him to it.
"Viktor?"
"It is the...the...the...er..." Viktor trailed off.
"I'm sorry, Viktor," said Ginny. "Ron, the question goes to you, with ten seconds left, and an opportunity to tie!"
Ron, not waiting for Ginny to say anything else, shouted, "Spew! She started spew because she thought house elves were people, too, and they were being treated unfairly. She's always going on about house elf 'slave labor,' and–"
"Ron!" interrupted Ginny. "That's enough. Your score is now–"
"Actually," shouted a voice that Ron recognized as Neville's, "it's S. P. E. W." Neville would know, having been frightened into joining by Hermione. "Spew is not the same as S. P. E. W."
Harry looked doubtful as George and Fred called, "Time's up!"
"He is the judge," said Ginny to Harry quietly.
"But Ron clearly knew that one," responded Harry as he pinched the bridge of his nose.
Ginny countered, "But we're not supposed to let our personal attachment to Ron get in the way of a fair competition."
"I know," Harry said, feeling very guilty. However, he called to the audience, unable to look in Ron's direction, "The judge has decided that 'spew' is not the same as 'S. P. E. W.' and therefore, the winner of the Battle of Dimwits is Dimwit Number Two, Viktor Krum, with 95 points." Few people cheered. The crowd seemed very upset at this decision, and they all seemed to swarm around Neville, yelling insults.
A little depressed, Harry brought his and Ginny's chairs to the ground, followed shortly by Hermione's, and then the contestants' stools. Harry approached Ron, as his stool hit the ground, but Ron refused to look at him or speak to him.
Hermione, noticing Ron's behavior, advanced toward him slowly, and said, "Ron. It's alright that you didn't win, you know." Ron didn't respond. "It was very close, anyway. I'm impressed you knew as much about me as you did."
Ron looked up and growled, "Why don't you go off and congratulate Vicky?"
"Ron," Hermione warned. "Don't blame Viktor. And please don't do something stupid. I am begging you."
"Don't worry," said Ron, clearly upset. "I can take losing like a man."
Warily, Hermione said, "Okay."
At that moment, Viktor appeared at Hermione's shoulder and said, "I von, Herm-own-ninny. Ve can be together."
Just as Hermione was about to mention to him that "now is not the time," Ron launched himself on Viktor, swinging his fists at anything and everything he could hit. Surprised, Viktor did not fight back. That is, until he became aware of the fact that, not only was he being attacked by a gangly red-head, but also that many people were watching him, Viktor Krum, lose. That seemed to settle it for him, and he began pummeling Ron.
As this happened, Harry and Ginny stared, along with the entire audience, which had been, seconds before, preoccupied with yelling at Neville. Hermione, however, was completely white, with saucers for eyes, and her mouth hung open a bit as if she were about to scream.
Viktor and Ron continued rolling around the floor, kicking and hitting one another, also managing to knock over chairs. It was hard to tell who was winning, exactly, or if anyone was winning. But both were definitely in pain.
Finally, George Weasley rushed over to break up the fight, while his twin began shaking Hermione's shoulder, concerned. "Are you alright?" Fred wanted to know.
"Fine," Hermione replied, not taking her eyes off of Viktor and Ron, who were at that moment being held apart by George.
"Okay," said Fred, not really convinced, and he went over to Harry and Ginny, to make sure they were also okay.
Hermione hurried to Ron and Viktor. "What are you two doing? Have you gone completely mad?" she screeched at them, not sure if she was more angry than concerned, or the other way around. With surprise, she caught sight of a bruise beginning to form around Ron's left eye. "Ron, are you okay?" Ron nodded, still glaring at Viktor. Hermione wasn't satisfied, though, and she grabbed Ron by the robes, forcing him to look at her. "Ronald Weasley, do not nod at me. I am taking you to Madame Pomfrey." She glanced at Viktor. "Are you okay?" The Bulgarian nodded and, after looking him up and down, Hermione was satisfied.
"I don't need to go to the hospital wing," insisted Ron. "I'm fine."
"Well, Ron, you're going to the hospital wing anyway. Viktor is larger than you and stronger than you, and there's no telling what sort of damage or injury he could have caused."
Ron wanted to protest this, but before he had the chance, Hermione had pulled him through the portrait of the fat lady and down the stairs, in the direction of the hospital wing.
"Ron," she was saying. "I'm not sure what your problem with Viktor is, but I never expected you to try and fight him. I thought you were a little smarter than that. Oh, I guess I should be grateful you didn't duel or something of the sort. Viktor could have hurt you far worse that he did now, if that was the case. But my point is that we did this whole ridiculous, idiotic, moronic competition to prevent this sort of thing from happening. I agreed to it so that neither of you would get hurt. I guess I was attempting to prevent the inevitable takeover of testosterone. Ugh! Boys!" She continued on like this all the way to the hospital wing. Ron never gathered the courage to tell her to shut up.
Madame Pomfrey greeted them with a, "What's wrong with him?"
"I'm fine," said Ron. "Really, I am."
Madame Pomfrey approached and looked him over. "A fight?" she asked. Neither Hermione nor Ron responded. "Well, you'll be fine." She sifted through her bottles of potions. "Here," she said, handing it to Hermione. "Have him take this once a day for the next three days."
"What does it do?"
"It will help reduce the appearance of bruises, and it should help to reduce the pain."
Hermione tucked the bottle into her robes, and said, as she led Ron away, "Thank you."
"I told you I was alright," Ron said, with a sour look.
"Oh, for Pete's sake. I was just trying to make sure you weren't hurt. You don't have to get defensive on me. I already know you're a big, strong, man, etc. etc., and you can take care of yourself," she said.
"Well," said Ron. "I'm glad you understand." Hermione rolled her eyes, and they continued on in silence.
Just outside the portrait of the fat lady, just before Ron was about to say the password, Hermione said, "Wait. Before we go in, can we talk for a second?"
"Fine," Ron sighed.
"Look, I just want you to promise me that from now on you will be civil with Viktor." Ron looked skeptical. "You don't have to be best mates. The thing is, I don't want either of you to get hurt. Again."
"Hermione, I'd like to promise that," said Ron. "But I simply can't guarantee anything."
Frustrated, Hermione yelled, "Why not?" In her normal voice, she said, "What is your problem with him? What has he done to offend you so much?"
Ron, struggling for an answer, said, "Well, it's just that he...and he...is always so..." He trailed off, not really sure why he did hate Viktor so much. "I just..." Ron looked Hermione in the eye and answered in the only way he knew how, an idea that seemed ludicrous, but was the only one he could come up with–he kissed her.
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A/N: Oooooh....cliffhanger. So, what do you think??? Again, thank you for all of the great reviews that have helped this to become my most-reviewed story. Keep it up!
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Ron was going to win. He had never felt surer of anything in his life. True, he was losing by ten points at the moment, but he still knew more about Hermione. Maybe he didn't know about her favorite candy or color, but he knew the important things–how dedicated she was to her schoolwork, how little she liked Malfoy, how strongly she felt about house-elves' liberation. He knew her temper and her personality–how else would he be able to irritate her as easily as he did?
His was shaken from these musings by Harry's exceptionally loud voice announcing, "It's time for Round Four! Contestants, please hold your wands at the ready." Viktor and Ron each reached into their robes and pulled out their wands, pointing them at the ceiling.
"Ron," said Ginny, "you shoot up red sparks, if you know the answer. Try it now." Ron shook his wand and red sparks shot up into the air. "Good. Viktor, you shoot up blue sparks, if you know the answer." Shaking his wand in the appropriate manner, Viktor watched as sapphire sparks emerged from the tip, into the air, and showering the ground. "Lovely."
"This round lasts thirty seconds. Each correct answer is worth five points, unless it is stolen from the other contestant, in which case it is ten points. The current scores are: Ron–80 points, Viktor–90 points. However, this round could change everything," informed Harry, looking a little anxious on Ron's behalf. "Fred and George, please start counting when I begin reading this question: We've already established that Hermione has a cat. What is its name?"
Red and blue sparks flew up in the air. "Which was first? Neville?" Ginny demanded.
"R-Red!" answered Neville's voice from the crowd. "Red!"
Ron, realizing "Red," meant him, shouted, "Crookshanks! The cat is Crookshanks!" Harry nodded in response and changed Ron's score to 85. He was now only trailing by five points.
"Next question: What product did Hermione use on her hair for the Yule Ball?"
Viktor shot up azure sparks, shouting, "The Sleekeazy's Hair Potion! Yes?'
"Yes," answered Harry, boosting Viktor's score to 95 points. "Next question: What organization did Hermione start to help house elves?"
Ron knew this one. He knew it probably better than he knew his own name. As he shot up his sparks, however, he saw, with horror, that Viktor had beaten him to it.
"Viktor?"
"It is the...the...the...er..." Viktor trailed off.
"I'm sorry, Viktor," said Ginny. "Ron, the question goes to you, with ten seconds left, and an opportunity to tie!"
Ron, not waiting for Ginny to say anything else, shouted, "Spew! She started spew because she thought house elves were people, too, and they were being treated unfairly. She's always going on about house elf 'slave labor,' and–"
"Ron!" interrupted Ginny. "That's enough. Your score is now–"
"Actually," shouted a voice that Ron recognized as Neville's, "it's S. P. E. W." Neville would know, having been frightened into joining by Hermione. "Spew is not the same as S. P. E. W."
Harry looked doubtful as George and Fred called, "Time's up!"
"He is the judge," said Ginny to Harry quietly.
"But Ron clearly knew that one," responded Harry as he pinched the bridge of his nose.
Ginny countered, "But we're not supposed to let our personal attachment to Ron get in the way of a fair competition."
"I know," Harry said, feeling very guilty. However, he called to the audience, unable to look in Ron's direction, "The judge has decided that 'spew' is not the same as 'S. P. E. W.' and therefore, the winner of the Battle of Dimwits is Dimwit Number Two, Viktor Krum, with 95 points." Few people cheered. The crowd seemed very upset at this decision, and they all seemed to swarm around Neville, yelling insults.
A little depressed, Harry brought his and Ginny's chairs to the ground, followed shortly by Hermione's, and then the contestants' stools. Harry approached Ron, as his stool hit the ground, but Ron refused to look at him or speak to him.
Hermione, noticing Ron's behavior, advanced toward him slowly, and said, "Ron. It's alright that you didn't win, you know." Ron didn't respond. "It was very close, anyway. I'm impressed you knew as much about me as you did."
Ron looked up and growled, "Why don't you go off and congratulate Vicky?"
"Ron," Hermione warned. "Don't blame Viktor. And please don't do something stupid. I am begging you."
"Don't worry," said Ron, clearly upset. "I can take losing like a man."
Warily, Hermione said, "Okay."
At that moment, Viktor appeared at Hermione's shoulder and said, "I von, Herm-own-ninny. Ve can be together."
Just as Hermione was about to mention to him that "now is not the time," Ron launched himself on Viktor, swinging his fists at anything and everything he could hit. Surprised, Viktor did not fight back. That is, until he became aware of the fact that, not only was he being attacked by a gangly red-head, but also that many people were watching him, Viktor Krum, lose. That seemed to settle it for him, and he began pummeling Ron.
As this happened, Harry and Ginny stared, along with the entire audience, which had been, seconds before, preoccupied with yelling at Neville. Hermione, however, was completely white, with saucers for eyes, and her mouth hung open a bit as if she were about to scream.
Viktor and Ron continued rolling around the floor, kicking and hitting one another, also managing to knock over chairs. It was hard to tell who was winning, exactly, or if anyone was winning. But both were definitely in pain.
Finally, George Weasley rushed over to break up the fight, while his twin began shaking Hermione's shoulder, concerned. "Are you alright?" Fred wanted to know.
"Fine," Hermione replied, not taking her eyes off of Viktor and Ron, who were at that moment being held apart by George.
"Okay," said Fred, not really convinced, and he went over to Harry and Ginny, to make sure they were also okay.
Hermione hurried to Ron and Viktor. "What are you two doing? Have you gone completely mad?" she screeched at them, not sure if she was more angry than concerned, or the other way around. With surprise, she caught sight of a bruise beginning to form around Ron's left eye. "Ron, are you okay?" Ron nodded, still glaring at Viktor. Hermione wasn't satisfied, though, and she grabbed Ron by the robes, forcing him to look at her. "Ronald Weasley, do not nod at me. I am taking you to Madame Pomfrey." She glanced at Viktor. "Are you okay?" The Bulgarian nodded and, after looking him up and down, Hermione was satisfied.
"I don't need to go to the hospital wing," insisted Ron. "I'm fine."
"Well, Ron, you're going to the hospital wing anyway. Viktor is larger than you and stronger than you, and there's no telling what sort of damage or injury he could have caused."
Ron wanted to protest this, but before he had the chance, Hermione had pulled him through the portrait of the fat lady and down the stairs, in the direction of the hospital wing.
"Ron," she was saying. "I'm not sure what your problem with Viktor is, but I never expected you to try and fight him. I thought you were a little smarter than that. Oh, I guess I should be grateful you didn't duel or something of the sort. Viktor could have hurt you far worse that he did now, if that was the case. But my point is that we did this whole ridiculous, idiotic, moronic competition to prevent this sort of thing from happening. I agreed to it so that neither of you would get hurt. I guess I was attempting to prevent the inevitable takeover of testosterone. Ugh! Boys!" She continued on like this all the way to the hospital wing. Ron never gathered the courage to tell her to shut up.
Madame Pomfrey greeted them with a, "What's wrong with him?"
"I'm fine," said Ron. "Really, I am."
Madame Pomfrey approached and looked him over. "A fight?" she asked. Neither Hermione nor Ron responded. "Well, you'll be fine." She sifted through her bottles of potions. "Here," she said, handing it to Hermione. "Have him take this once a day for the next three days."
"What does it do?"
"It will help reduce the appearance of bruises, and it should help to reduce the pain."
Hermione tucked the bottle into her robes, and said, as she led Ron away, "Thank you."
"I told you I was alright," Ron said, with a sour look.
"Oh, for Pete's sake. I was just trying to make sure you weren't hurt. You don't have to get defensive on me. I already know you're a big, strong, man, etc. etc., and you can take care of yourself," she said.
"Well," said Ron. "I'm glad you understand." Hermione rolled her eyes, and they continued on in silence.
Just outside the portrait of the fat lady, just before Ron was about to say the password, Hermione said, "Wait. Before we go in, can we talk for a second?"
"Fine," Ron sighed.
"Look, I just want you to promise me that from now on you will be civil with Viktor." Ron looked skeptical. "You don't have to be best mates. The thing is, I don't want either of you to get hurt. Again."
"Hermione, I'd like to promise that," said Ron. "But I simply can't guarantee anything."
Frustrated, Hermione yelled, "Why not?" In her normal voice, she said, "What is your problem with him? What has he done to offend you so much?"
Ron, struggling for an answer, said, "Well, it's just that he...and he...is always so..." He trailed off, not really sure why he did hate Viktor so much. "I just..." Ron looked Hermione in the eye and answered in the only way he knew how, an idea that seemed ludicrous, but was the only one he could come up with–he kissed her.
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A/N: Oooooh....cliffhanger. So, what do you think??? Again, thank you for all of the great reviews that have helped this to become my most-reviewed story. Keep it up!