Disclaimer: I don't own anything. Don't tell J.K. Rowling I'm doing this, please please please.

A/N: Well, maybe now they can finish up their shopping (finally!). I wouldn't know—I have absolutely no clue what's going to happen in this chapter. At this point, goodness knows how many chapters until the spiked Christmas punch actually comes into the picture, but that'll be fun when it finally happens. For now, we'll just see. Sorry, no review responses in this chapter, I have to get offline in thirty seconds and I don't have time to do it properly. So, thanks so much, everyone who's reviewed so far, hope you'll come back now that I've updated...

Shop 'Till You Drop

There was a bit of an awkward silence as the three friends walked down the main street of Hogsmeade. At last Hermione said briskly, "Well, then, where to now?"

"What?" Harry responded blankly. Where to...? What did she mean?

"Where to?" Hermione repeated impatiently. "You still have to get some stuff, don't you?" With a slightly annoyed air, she snatched the folded and smudged list out of Harry's hands and squinted at it, trying to read his writing. "Hmm...you have all the clothing, right?" She gave him a look that said very clearly that if he didn't have it after all the trouble it had caused them, he was going to die slowly and painfully.

Harry gulped a little. If looks could kill...But no, that was entirely the wrong way to think about the situation. He'd had enough impending death and doom for one day. "Yeah," he said, "I have all the clothing."

"Good," Hermione said sharply. "And I think that you've really been very lucky, considering."

"Considering what?" Ron demanded hotly. "Considering that you put our lives in danger with that stupid 'let's all be friends' spiel? Considering that you've been nothing but trouble since we met you in first year? Considering—" He broke off suddenly as he realized what he was saying, but it was already too late.

Ron had very possibly just spoiled all his chances of dating Hermione for at least the next two years.

With a deep, long-suffering sigh, Hermione turned away and very deliberately began talking to Harry again. "I don't recall asking your friend to comment, do you?" she asked with her best imitation of unconcern. Harry shook his head helplessly, wanting to come to Ron's defense but not daring to say a word.

"All right then, Harry," she said. "What more do we have to get?" She looked down at the list again and nodded in satisfaction and, perhaps, a little relief. "Good. Only the chocolate left."

Ron perked up at this. Harry could almost see the wheels in his head turning as he registered that they were going to Honeyduke's, chocolate would most likely be involved, and he had no money with him. He barely restrained himself from backing away slightly. One never could tell what Ron would do for chocolate.

"Honeyduke's," Ron said reverently. "The wellspring of all joy…" Hermione forgot to ignore his existence long enough to give him an odd look. Ron seemed encouraged by this.

"Hermione, friend…" He pushed Harry out of the way and moved closer to the unfortunate Hermione. "I realize I'm not always the most sensitive person in the world—"

Hermione stopped in her tracks and turned to glare at him. "Ron, you're about the most insensitive person I've ever met!"

Ron wouldn't give up. "Yes!" he cried, taking both her hands in his. "Yes, I'm insensitive! Yes, I have the emotional range of a teaspoon and I've caused you endless misery! But—" He looked deep into her eyes. "But I'm sorry, Hermione. I'm so sorry. Can you ever forgive me?"

With horror, Harry noted the tiniest of sniffles from Hermione. "Oh, Ron," she sighed. "You know I can never stay away for long…"

"Good," Ron said brightly. "Then you'll lend me a few Sickles to get something at Honeyduke's?"

There was a long pause at this incredible display of stupidity. Then, right on cue, Hermione burst into tears and ran past a very shocked Ron, disappearing into the midst of a large group of students heading down the road ahead of them.

Harry looked around frantically, hoping nobody he knew was nearby. "Hermione!" he yelled desperately. Abandoning all dignity, he started to run after her. "Come back—he didn't mean it!"

"It's no use," Ron said morosely. Harry seized him by the arm and tried to drag him along in pursuit of the vanished Hermione, but he wouldn't budge. "Harry, I'm hopeless, aren't I?"

"Yes," Harry panted, still tugging at his arm. "Yes, you are, now will you please come on?" He gritted his teeth and pulled harder. "Come on, Ron!"

After a few seconds, Harry gave up in disgust and waited for Ron to regain his sanity, or at least his composure. After all, it wasn't as if scenes like this were unusual…

As it turned out, Ron recovered fairly quickly. "Harry!" Harry jumped a little.

"What is it, Ron?" he asked, putting a comforting hand on his friend's shoulder. He had never been too good at being sensitive himself, but he was working on it and this would be the perfect opportunity to practice his empathy skills.

"Let's go to Honeyduke's now," Ron said cheerfully. Harry gave him a sidelong glance, shook his head, and sighed. Honestly, how was he supposed to improve his understanding of others' emotions with someone like Ron around?

Once inside Honeyduke's, Ron hauled Harry over to the chocolate counter. "Harry, mate, you'll help me out, won't you?" he asked plaintively. He made a show of turning out his pockets and looked back up at Harry, giving him his best puppy-dog pout. "Pleeeease?" he begged.

Harry rolled his eyes. Reaching past Ron, he snagged the huge box of Chocolate Frogs McGonagall had insisted on. "There," he said firmly. "Now we can go."

"No." Ron planted his feet and crossed his arms. "I want chocolate, Harry." Harry noted with some concern that Ron was staring at the box of Chocolate Frogs. Hastily, he moved toward the checkout counter to pay.

Not fast enough. "Say, Harry," Ron said, in the tone of voice that usually indicated that he had just had an amazingly brilliant idea. "Snape doesn't need chocolate, does he? I mean, can you picture him eating chocolate?" He took a step closer, eyes still fixed on the box.

"Get a grip, Ron," Harry warned. "You know McGonagall will kill you if you take these." He didn't add that she would kill him as well, but the thought was impossible to avoid.

Ron heaved a tremendous sigh. "I think I'm going into withdrawal," he complained. "I can only go so long without chocolate, you know." Harry gave him a long, long look, a look that spoke of torture and dismemberment.

"I just remembered," Ron said suddenly. "Christmas is in a week. And I'll probably get chocolate for Christmas, right?"

"Absolutely. Huge quantities of chocolate," Harry told him. "Enough chocolate to make you sick. So you really, really, really don't need any now." Ron nodded in slightly disappointed agreement and fell into a brooding silence.

Harry reached the checkout counter. He paid for the Chocolate Frogs, put the box in a large paper bag, and exited the store without incident. Ron followed, lingering in the doorway to give the chocolate display one last longing look.

The two boys walked in silence for about a minute, enjoying the weather. At last Ron looked around him with a puzzled expression and asked, "Where's Hermione gone to?"

Harry stared. He had known Ron sometimes suffered from short-term memory loss, but this was a little extreme.

"Oh. Right." Ron continued walking, seeming more dejected than before. He kicked at small pebbles and clumps of snow as if each one were Draco Malfoy's head. Harry watched, concerned for his friend's safety. With his world-renowned clumsiness, he was all too likely to break a leg on one of the larger pebbles…

An idea struck Harry right between the eyes. A brilliant idea. "Ron!" he said excitedly. "I've got an idea!"

Ron snorted. "Like what? Just shooting me now to end the misery? Sorry, already had that one." He shoved his hands deep into his pockets and kicked at the ground more savagely than ever.

"No, listen to me! I have this brilliant, excellent way for you to make up with Hermione!"

Harry definitely had Ron's attention now. "Yeeesss?" Ron asked slowly. "What is it?" He stared at Harry in anticipation.

Motioning Ron to come closer, Harry stood on tiptoe to whisper into his ear. "You can actually study for the Transfiguration test on Thursday," he whispered, proud of his own genius. "That'll impress her for sure!"

Ron didn't seem especially impressed by Harry's plan. "But I'll fail it anyway," he pointed out. "Nothing I do is going to make a difference."

"Yes," Harry said, "but it's the principle of the thing. Hermione will feel gratified that you've seen the full importance of excellence in schoolwork, right? And then she'll be proud of you for doing your best, right? And then—"

"And then she'll feel like we have a lot in common!" Ron interrupted jubilantly. "And from there it's only a matter of time till she starts speaking to me again!" He grinned and slapped Harry on the back. "Thanks, mate," he said fervently. "I guess we better get back to the castle now, right?"

"So you can study," Harry agreed with a grin of his own. Everything was working out after all.

That night in the common room, Harry and Ron hurried to take seats at the same study table with Hermione, who was reading as usual. Harry, who had delivered the gifts to McGonagall for wrapping on arrival back at Hogwarts, produced a roll of parchment for his Defense Against the Dark Arts essay. Ron ostentatiously rooted around in his bag and pulled out a copy of The Art and History of Human Transfiguration by Circe Williams.

"Wow, Ron," Harry said in a stage whisper. "That for the Transfiguration test?" He darted a glance across the table at Hermione. She was still reading.

"Yeah, I'm really gonna study hard this time," Ron answered, somehow managing to sound vaguely happy and excited at the prospect. "After all, I want to do well so I can get a decent career after I get out of school." He also glanced over at Hermione.

Harry made a small motion with his hand to indicate that he thought they'd said enough. Hermione wasn't stupid, and there was no use hamming it up unreasonably. Ron nodded, and both boys went to work, waiting for something to happen.

After ten minutes, Harry looked up from his essay and saw Hermione watching Ron intently. Ron was doing his part admirably, actually taking notes as he paged through the huge book, occasionally going to the table of contents or the index to find something. He was sparing no expense to show off his study skills for Hermione's benefit, and it was apparently paying off.

"Ron." Ron looked up with every appearance of being a little annoyed at the interruption. Hermione looked at the book, then at him, and asked, "What are you doing?"

"Studying," Ron said as though it were the most ordinary thing in the world. "Why, are you surprised? You know how much my education means to me." Harry nodded in support of his friend.

Hermione looked flustered. "Well, no, of course I'm not surprised, I just—well…I didn't think you would be working this hard this close to Christmas." She looked pointedly around the rest of the common room, which was filled with people excitedly talking about their plans for the holiday.

"Oh, but this is my future on the line, Hermione," Ron said earnestly. "I wouldn't be able to sleep at all if I didn't start preparing early for this test. After the O.W.L.s last year, I've realized how crucial it is that I do well in school." He smiled brightly.

Harry had to work hard to keep from snorting. He had never heard Ron use the word "crucial" in his life, and wasn't at all sure that he could spell it, but he wasn't going to bring that up when Ron was making so much progress. Hermione was talking to him again, which was a definite improvement.

"Oh," Hermione said after a short pause. "Yes. Of course, yes, it's very important. Do you…do you need any help studying? I've come up with some great mnemonic devices for some of the lists of dates and events," she added.

Ron, who had a real future in acting, showed no indication that he had no clue what a mnemonic device was. "Well, if you're not too busy," he conceded, "I guess it would be all right. It never hurts to have a study partner, right, Harry?"

"Right," Harry agreed, taking his cue and getting up quickly. "I think I'll go work on this upstairs for a while—getting a little too noisy down here for me. You know how easily I get distracted." He grinned at Ron surreptitiously as Hermione moved over to the seat he had occupied. It didn't seem likely that they would be distracted by anything short of nuclear missiles.

"Well, see you later, then," Hermione said to him, obviously barely registering his presence. "Hope you get a lot of work done."

"Oh, I will," Harry lied. He gave Ron one last encouraging look and headed for the staircase. "Mission accomplished," he muttered to himself as he climbed the stairs to the dormitory. Tomorrow he would tackle the far more dangerous mission of playing Santa, and he needed a good night's sleep. In his opinion, he had more than earned it.

A/N: No way has it been a year since I updated this. No way. Please tell me someone's still reading this…that would be nice…I promise I'll try to update again soon, but since I have like 10 days of summer left that may not happen. I'll be doing my required reading for school, since I still have three books left. But I'll do my best. So, optimistically, Coming Soon: Chapter Five!