A/N: I don't own Harry Potter or any of the other characters!!! Super long chapter for you!! I had to split this and the pageant chapter in two because this ended up being so long. So, there will be an extra chapter from what I said in my last author's note.
It was officially Pageant Week. Everyone was shocked that the pageant was such a big deal at the school; every available inch of the castle had been decorated with twinkling lights that actually turned out to be live fairies. Hermione was a wreck. She still hadn't found a charm for the charms competition, and she needed time to practice it. "I've got to find one!" she said to Ron as they walked out of Defense Against the Dark Arts on Monday. "I might not be any help, but I could come to the library with you after dinner and help you look," he said, opening the door to the Great Hall and letting her walk in front of him. It was lunch time, but Hermione wasn't hungry. "I think I'm going to go to the library for a little bit now. I'll see you later," she said, looking up at him. "Are you sure?" Ron asked, looking concerned. "I'm sure. I'm too anxious to eat right now anyways," she said, her face looking a bit pale, Ron noticed. "Alright," Ron sighed, concern showing on his face, "I'll catch up with you after class and maybe I can help you." "Thanks," she said, touching his arm as she turned to walk out of the Great Hall. Despite the sick feeling she had in her stomach, Hermione smiled, thinking of Ron. She had never seen him be so nice to her, and she was really starting to enjoy it. 'Maybe someday, he might actually want me to be his girlfriend,' the optimistic side of her brain said. 'Let's not get ahead of ourselves,' the other part of her brain said as she opened the door to the library.
As she turned page after page, Hermione's eyes filled with tears. She was never going to find a charm that would be perfect! She heard the chime that ended lunch, so she quickly placed the book back on the shelf and headed out the door to her Arithmancy class. 'I have to find something tonight, or I'm doomed,' she said, her heart pounding. Her face felt hot and she was sure that she was flushed when she walked into her Arithmancy classroom and slipped into a desk near the middle of the room.
Her classes and dinner flew by in an anxious rush. As she picked at her food she heard Ron say to Ginny, "I won't be there tonight, I've got some rubbish potions assignment to finish before tomorrow. I'm sure that nothing earth shattering will happen if I'm not there. I usually don't do much at practice anyways." Hermione looked up at him, catching his eye. He was skipping practice to help her. Who was this person and where had he taken Ron Weasley? Across the table, he looked at her and brought his finger to his lips, indicating that she shouldn't tell anyone that he was really skipping practice to help her. Tears glistened in her eyes as she looked back down, feeling a tiny bit better.
"You ready?" Ron said to Hermione as they stood in the common room after coming back to ditch their robes. Hermione's uniform shirt was un-tucked almost giving the illusion that she didn't have her skirt on and her tie hung loosely around her neck. Ron had taken off his tie altogether and was in the process of rolling up his shirt sleeves. The climbed out of the portrait hole and walked slowly down the corridor. "Did you really skip practice for me?" Hermione said, looking up at him. Taking her bag off her shoulder and putting it on his own, Ron said, "You needed help, and I really didn't need to be at practice anyway. This was more important." The tears came again, threatening to spill as she croaked, "Thank you." Noticing her impending outburst, Ron said, "Hey, it's okay! We're going to find a wicked charm for you to do!" Smiling and wiping her eyes, Hermione said, "I hope so."
Barely an hour had passed when Ron pulled a book off the shelf at random. The cover was worn and was anything but spectacular. "Emotional charms…" he whispered, frowning in thought. He flipped open the book, sitting down at a desk nearby. Turning the page, he found a charm entitled "Sensus Ostendo." It was a charm that classified seven emotions by color. If the charm was placed on a person, his emotion would glow in a halo around his head. 'Hmm, sounds alright to me,' Ron thought, bookmarking the page and getting up to find Hermione. He located her in a corner near the general charms books. Her hair was a mess and it looked like she had been crying again, so he patted her back before sitting down next to her. "I think I found something," he whispered, handing her the book. As she read through the description, tears filled her eyes again and spilled down onto the parchment where she had been taking notes. "So I'll take that as a no," he whispered. She shook her head, her hair swishing back and forth. "I could kiss you," she whispered, squeezing his hand tightly, "It's brilliant. It's perfect. Let's check this book out and get out of here. We still have enough time to practice this before bed time."
"Can we practice in your room? I don't want anyone to see me," Hermione said as they walked briskly from the library. "Sure," Ron said, his heart pounding in his ears a bit. 'Hermione Granger in my room. Alone. With me,' he thought, his hands becoming sweaty. Grateful that he had cleaned his room just two days earlier, Ron opened the door and let Hermione go ahead of him. "Coloportus," she said, sealing the door. "Okay, the wand motion looks a bit complex, but the incantation is simple, Sensio," Hermione said, plopping down on Ron's bed to read the book. "Who are you going to try it on?" Ron asked, getting a bit nervous. "Why you, of course!" Hermione said, laughing, "Why, feeling something you don't want anyone to know?" Ron cleared his throat nervously and said, "Uh, no." Hermione quickly practiced the wand motion once more and said, "Ready? Here it comes. Sensio." They heard "pop", like a bottle being opened, and then a halo appeared around Ron's head. It was violet. "It says in the book that red is angry, orange is lonely, yellow is anxious, green is confused, blue is happy, indigo is content, and violet is love," Hermione said, looking up at Ron for the first time. Her eyes widened and she had to stop herself from falling off the bed. "What color is it?" Ron said, trying to look up. "Finite Incantatum," she said before he could see it. It disappeared with another pop. "What color was it?" Ron asked again, walking toward her. "It was indigo," she lied.
They practiced the charm each night after dinner, and each night, Ron produced the same result. Violet. Hermione always made it disappear before he could see it, telling him a different color each night. As the pageant closed in, Hermione spent more time in her room with Ginny, Parvati, and Lavender, practicing make up and hair for the night of the pageant. The four vowed to get dressed together on Saturday morning before the pageant. "My brother is going to go mad when he sees you," Ginny whispered to Hermione as she stood in front of the mirror in her beaded pink robes. Ginny's mum had made her robes out of satiny silver material that shimmered in the light as she walked. "Oh Ginny, you look beautiful!" Parvati said, slipping into her own deep blue robes.
Friday arrived quickly, and an emergency Hogsmede trip had been scheduled for that night. All students were allowed to go, but the trip would only last for a few hours. Hermione decided that it would be a good time to relax, but Ginny, Parvati, and Lavender wanted to go to the beauty store the majority of the time. "I think maybe I should get some new eye shadow," Lavender said, anxiously examining herself in the mirror. "Well, I think I'd better stay out of the beauty store," Hermione said, pulling on her hooded sweatshirt from her favorite muggle university. Glancing out the window and seeing fat snowflakes, Hermione grabbed her cloak, scarf, and gloves before walking down to the common room. "Harry's stuck in Dumbledore's office. Something about an interview for the Daily Prophet or some rubbish. So it looks like it's just me, you and Ginny," Ron said, pulling on his gloves. "Ginny's going with Parvati and Lavender," Hermione said, struggling to pull her cloak on with her gloved hands. Ron pulled it up onto her shoulders, allowing her to slip her arms all the way in. "Thanks," she said, once again wondering where the real Ron had gone. "So I guess it's just us," he said, shrugging his shoulders. "I guess so," Hermione replied, the butterflies in her stomach dancing happily.
"Are you nervous about tomorrow?" Ron asked as they walked to the village, each with their hands in their pockets. Hermione shrugged, "A bit. I'm sure I'll be quite a bit more nervous tomorrow, though." Snow fell softly, landing on Hermione's hair and cloak. "Ugh, I've already got snow all in my hair," she said, trying to brush it out. "Don't," Ron said, pulling her hand away from her head, "I like it. It's pretty." She looked up at him, amazed, and stopped dead in her tracks. "What's the matter?" he said, stopping a few steps ahead of her. "Who are you, and what have you done with Ron Weasley?" she said, hands on her hips. "Can't a bloke be nice to a lady?" he said, sticking his hands back in his pockets, "Do you want me to stop?" He looked at her, a bit hurt, and she could tell. "No, no," she said softly, beginning to walk again, "You're just being so nice, and I'm not sure why." He was silent for a moment and then said, "Maybe you should think about it for a bit, I'm sure you'll figure it out."
Hogsmede was decorated for Christmas, and the twinkling lights looked even more festive covered with snow. Ron and Hermione spent most of their time in Honeydukes, feeding each other candy and laughing hysterically. "Here, this is one of my favorites," Ron said, holding his hand up to Hermione's mouth. She stuck her tongue out and he shoved the squishy candy in her mouth before she could see it. With a squeak, she turned from a mouse to a turtle to a bird and back to herself again. She was laughing hysterically, bending over to catch her breath. "Here, try this one," she said, trying to catch her breath as she shoved an orange candy into Ron's mouth. He tried to ask her what it was, but all that came out was a loud roar. Hermione laughed even harder, causing herself to cough as she continued to laugh. "Are you okay?" Ron said, laughing as the spell wore off. "I haven't laughed like this in a long time," she said, her hand on his arm as she tried to hold herself up.
"Goodnight, Hermione," Ron whispered as they parted ways on the stairs. She reached out to hug him, and whispered, "Thanks for taking my mind off things." "You're welcome," he said, kissing her lightly on the head. She reluctantly slid out of his arms and continued up the stairs to her dormitory, amazed at the things she had done that night. 'Maybe schoolwork isn't everything…' she thought as she opened the door to see Parvati and Lavender already asleep, 'Well, it is… but other things are nice too." She slipped into her warm covers and was asleep immediately.
The pageant would begin at 1 pm, so the girls woke at 9 am to begin getting dressed. Ginny slipped in around 9:30, her hair still wet from the shower. "You should see the boys out there," she said, setting her bag down on Hermione's bed, "they're already dressed and they're all playing one big game of exploding snap. Most of them say they're coming to the pageant, with the exception of a few firsties that still think girls are 'icky.'" Hermione tried to smile, but before she knew it, she was running to the bathroom to throw up. "Hermione! Are you alright?" Parvati called through the door. "I don't know," Hermione croaked, tears in her eyes as she leaned against the wall of the stall from her position on the ground. "It'll be okay, I'll be right back," Ginny said, and Hermione could hear her footsteps as she left the room.
Ron and Harry were playing exploding snap with Fred and George, who had come with the rest of the Weasley family to see Hermione and Ginny participate in the pageant. They were shocked when Ginny appeared at the balcony whispering, "Ron!" Ron looked up at his sister, who was motioning him up the stairs. He shrugged and sat his cards down, walking up the stairs to his sister. "What's the matter?" he asked, looking at her in her bathrobe. "Hermione's sick," she said, pulling on his arm. "Nerves?" he asked. Ginny nodded as she opened the door to the seventh year girls' dormitory. Parvati and Lavender were still standing at the bathroom door, trying to coax Hermione out into the bedroom. They seemed surprised to see Ron walking in with Ginny, but Parvati smiled knowingly, stepping aside so he could talk to Hermione through the door. He heard the water running; Hermione was getting a drink from the sink. "Hermione?" he asked softly. "Ron!" she croaked, "What are you doing here? You're not supposed to be here!" He could tell that she was crying so he said, "Just let me in, I want to talk to you." She sniffled and then said, "I look horrible." With his hand on the door knob, Ron said, "No you don't. I'm coming in now." He turned the knob, letting himself into the bathroom and shutting the door behind him. "Where are you?" he said, rounding the corner. "Right here," she said miserably. He looked down to find her at his feet, leaning against the wall.
"What's wrong?" he asked softly, sitting down beside her on the floor. "I don't know. I've never been nervous like this before," she said, tears filling her eyes again. Completely out of character, she climbed up into Ron's lap and laid her head against his chest. Instinctually, his arms went around her and he pulled her close to him, stroking her hair as she cried. "It's going to be okay! You are going to do fine! You're brilliant, you're charming, and you're beautiful," Ron whispered to her, his lips on her forehead. "Really? You think I'm beautiful?" she whispered, looking up at him. "Yes, I really do," he said, holding her close to him, "Now, are you ready to show everyone how awesome you are?" He really didn't want to let her go; he would have been content to stay with her in the bathroom all day, but he knew that she needed to start getting dressed. 'I'm in a bathroom, with Hermione Granger on my lap,' Ron thought, amazed at how some situations work out.
In a few hours, Hermione and the rest of the girls were ready to head down to the Great Hall for pictures and mingling. Ginny left the room first, since she was the least nervous of the four. "Come on girls, there are only a few people in the common room," Ginny called from the stairs. Hermione forced herself to walk out of the room and down the stairs, concentrating on walking in her high heeled shoes. She held her wand at her side tightly, thinking over the wand motions for her charm as she walked into the common room. She heard a familiar voice curse and she looked up, seeing Ron leaning against the wall, staring at her. A goofy smile spread across her lips before she could stop herself as Ron walked up to her. "You look gorgeous," he whispered, afraid to touch her. "Hug me," she demanded in a whisper, smiling at him. He wrapped his arms around her waist, pulling her close to him, his head magnetically drawn to the crook of her neck. Before he could stop himself, he had kissed her on the neck. She pulled back, looking at him slyly. "Who are you, and what have you done with Ron Weasley?" she whispered, her arms still around his neck. "Sorry, I couldn't help my self! You just look so… irresistible," he whispered in her ear, his hot breath making her shiver. "I've got to go. Walk me down?" she said, once again reluctantly slipping out of his arms.
To be continued…