Ah, such wonderful reviews (and death threats lol)…so here's another chapter for you guys to enjoy! Yes, I know, it's about damn time…what more do you people want?!

Disclaimer: I wish I owned Harry Potter because then I could make Ron and Hermione finally admit their feelings (and shag each other mercilessly), I could make Harry and Draco become friends (or more…heh heh), and I could make Blaise Zabini more than just a background character. I wonder if he's as sexy as his name makes him out to be…

Author's Note: In case you didn't read the previous Author's Notes, this story contains references to SLASH. That means male/male relations (Harry/Draco to be specific). If you do not like to read slash or if you find it offensive in any way, please click the back button conveniently located near the top of your computer screen. You have been warned. All flames will be disregarded and/or used to toast marshmallows. Thank you and have a nice day!

Dedication: Thank you's and hugs to all my faithful reviewers, and of course, MUCH propification goes out to my roomie/beta/potnah-in-crizime (lol) Tygrressatheart. Check out her stories after you're done here. They taste like a #1 jam!

Concentration is Highly Overrated

Chapter Three: Beware the Doppelgangers

After Harry finally quit singing Draco's sexual praises (much to Ron's relief), and the two boys had made their way into the Great Hall and over to their usual table, poor Ron was quite distraught to find that Hermione was nowhere to be seen. Harry noticed the gloomy look on his best mate's face and decided to try his hand at cheering him up.

"Ah well, you know what they say, 'Absence makes the heart grow fonder', right?" said Harry in his very best consolation voice.

"That's a load of bullshite, and whoever came up with that should take a long walk off the short edge of the North Tower," grumbled Ron, stabbing at his dinner with his fork.

Harry chose to ignore the comment and instead raised a perplexed eyebrow at the redhead's moody behavior. "Er…Ron? What did that chicken pot pie ever do to you?"

Ron sighed and laid his assault weapon down before propping his elbow on the table and resting his head on the palm of his hand. "I have decided that I don't belong in Gryffindor because I'm officially the biggest coward in the entire school."

Harry rolled his eyes and assembled what he hoped was a comforting smile on his face. "No, you're not."

"Really?"

"Nah. Biggest coward in the entire country would be a bit more accurate."

"Harry!"

"Just kidding."

Ron snorted. "Some best mate you are!"

"Oh, come on, Ron! This is the last time I'm going through this with you. Just go tell Hermione that you fancy her. Trust me, you probably won't be disappointed," said Harry firmly. More like there's no bloody way in hell he'd be disappointed since Hermione's just as nutters for him as he is for her…he thought, a sly grin creeping across his face.

Harry knew it to be fact that Hermione reciprocated Ron's feelings since she had admitted it to Harry in secret on more than one occasion, but like Ron, she was far too stubborn to confess. The black-haired boy also knew that it wouldn't be right to just drag the two of them into the common room and scream their respective secrets out for all to hear, although some days (especially when they were having a particularly bad row) he felt like doing exactly that. Unfortunately, the chances of Harry seeing the light of day again would be quite slim once Ron got through with him.

"You sure?" asked Ron, doubt evident in his blue eyes.

"You'll be fine, and that's all I'm going to say," Harry promised, giving Ron a pointed look before turning back to his unfinished potato. Being the adorable but oblivious guy that Ron was, he didn't quite catch the meaning of Harry's words. Instead he sat in silence, picking at his battered and abused pot pie and wondering where in creation Hermione had gone to. Man, I wish she was here right now…just sitting there with that perfect smile…those big brown eyes…soft lips…full breasts—AGH! You wanker! Don't think about her in that way! Merlin, I'm such a randy bastard…

Ron shook his head quickly to clear it of all further inappropriate thoughts before standing up and running a hand through his fiery hair. "I'm gonna head out. See you back in the common room?"

"Yeah, I'll be there in a minute," said Harry, just before Draco Malfoy caught his eye over at the Slytherin table. An impish smirk twisted Harry's lips as the blond mouthed something that looked suspiciously like 'Room of Requirement'.

Ron scrunched up his nose. "Or not..."

He gave each boy a look that was halfway between disapproval and amusement before leaving them to their own naughty devices. "Bloody sex pots, the both of them," the redhead muttered as he walked out of the Great Hall, thinking about a certain brown-eyed beauty all the way back to Gryffindor Tower.

At the same time that Ron was fretting in the Great Hall (with Harry trying ever so hard to cheer him up), Hermione was slowly dozing off in the common room despite the voice in her head that was nagging her to resume concentrating on that hideous Potions essay. It also warned her to stop concentrating on Ron, who had been the ongoing subject of her wandering thoughts lately, but of course, no one listens to the responsible voices in their heads, right? For once, Hermione was no exception, so she allowed the quiet roar of the fire to lull her into a dreamy slumber.

Ron had been so absorbed in his thoughts that it took him a minute to realize he was standing in front of the portrait of the Fat Lady. He also realized that she had been asking him repeatedly for the password.

"Password?" she said, a bit harsher than usual.

"Oh, sorry…sciurus malevola."

The Fat Lady sighed with relief. "Well, it's about time!"

"Hey, I said I was sorry!" Ron said with a frown.

The Fat Lady rolled her painted eyes and revealed the hidden portrait hole, through which Ron climbed and made his way into the Gryffindor common room. He looked around the area, surprised to find it mostly empty. Where is everybody? The only ones here besides me are those two first-years playing chess and Hermione sleeping on the couch over by—HERMIONE?!?! Bloody hell, she's been in the common room this whole time?!

Ron's eyes widened at the sight of her and he suddenly found it rather difficult to swallow. Okay, Weasley, this is your big chance…tell her how you feel. Worst that could happen is she doesn't feel the same way and our friendship is ruined forever—NO! Stop thinking like that, I can do this! Better get rid of those two little blokes first though…an audience is the last thing I need right now. With that thought, the redhead casually strolled over to where the first-year boys sat and put on a winning smile.

"Hey guys, how's it going?" said Ron pleasantly.

They looked up and Ron couldn't help noticing how oddly familiar these two boys seemed, but couldn't place where he knew them from. The small boy on his left had untidy black hair, sky blue eyes and glasses. The taller, lanky boy on his right had light auburn hair and emerald green eyes. They both wore confused expressions as they stared up at him.

"Um, aren't you a sixth-year?" the auburn-haired boy said, absentmindedly rubbing at a smudge on his freckled nose.

"Yeah."

"And aren't you a prefect?" asked the raven-haired one, adjusting his glasses.

"Unfortunately."

"Are we in trouble?" they said together.

Ron chuckled heartily. "No, of course not! I just wanted to ask you two a favor. What are your names, anyway?"

"Rick Whitley," answered the auburn-haired boy.

"And I'm Harvey Porter," the boy with glasses replied.

Ron had the weirdest feeling of déjà vu, but shrugged it off. "I'm Ron Weasley."

Rick grinned. "We know."

"So what's the favor?" piped Harvey.

"You see that girl over there?" Ron pointed at Hermione's sleeping form. "Well, I need to talk to her about something important and the common room is the best place to do it, but I can't have you guys here 'cause it's sort of private. Know what I mean?"

Harvey shared a look with his companion before turning back to Ron, all innocence gone from his face. "Yeah, we get it. You want us to leave so you can snog your girlfriend by the fire."

"Ye—wait, what?! No! She's not my girlfriend, she's just a friend!" Ron flushed crimson at the possibility of snogging Hermione by the fire. It was actually quite romantic when one thought about it. "I just need to talk to her, that's all."

"Right, and I'm the Minister of Magic." Rick snorted disbelievingly. "Why should we leave? After all, the common room is for everybody."

"Because it's past your bedtime?" said Ron uncertainly.

Harvey checked his watch and smirked. "It's not even 8:00 yet. Try again, Casanova."

Ron furrowed his brow. "I'll make it worth your while?"

"Keep talking," prompted Rick, glancing at Harvey out of the corner of his eye.

"Let's see…" Ron rummaged in the pocket of his jeans for a moment. "Hey look, I've got two Sickles here! And you can have them if you promise to be my special helpers," he said in a rather condescending manner.

They exchanged glances again before Harvey plastered a fake innocent smile on his face. "Oh boy, Rick, look! Two whole Sickles!"

"Yeah, Harvey, now we can buy the new Firebolt Deluxe models!" Rick said, voice dripping sarcasm.

Ron shifted his gaze back and forth between the two. "Um…"

They dropped the act almost immediately. "Are you serious? Do we look like naïve kindergartners to you?!" Harvey roared indignantly.

"Special helpers?! Who the fuck do you think you are, Barney?!" bellowed Rick, green eyes flashing.

Ron was taken aback by the boys' sudden change in behavior, but decided to try and appease them before they woke up Hermione. He had heard her mumble something in her sleep over on the couch and didn't want anyone (besides himself) to disturb her.

"Okay, okay! Sorry! Just keep it down, will you?" he pleaded, fishing into his pocket again. "By the way, who's Barney?"

Both boys shuddered. "A demonic being in a purple dinosaur suit, but don't worry about him. The point is, you're going to have to come up with a bit more than two bloody Sickles to get us to leave," responded Harvey, still miffed at Ron's insolence.

"All right, how about four then?"

Rick grinned wickedly at his friend. "Make it five."

"Each, that is…" finished Harvey, without missing a beat.

"Each?!" Ron sputtered. "But that's…that's…"

"Extortion? Eh, sort of," Harvey replied nonchalantly.

"Brilliant? Definitely," agreed Rick. "Now hurry up so you can go snog your precious girlfriend."

"For the last time, she is not my…oh, just forget it," Ron sourly handed them the contents of his pockets: ten Sickles, two Chocolate Frogs and a Dungbomb. "Here, you might as well take those too."

"A pleasure doing business with you, mate!" Rick declared, while pocketing his half of the earnings and helping Harvey put away the chess set.

"Yes, indeed. And now, we must be off. Wouldn't want you to keep her waiting, eh?" Harvey said with a cheerful wink. "Oh, and Ron?"

"What now?"

Harvey smirked good-naturedly. "Next time you need a favor, just ask nicely. Despite popular belief, we 'ickle firsties' can be pretty damn clever when necessary, so don't patronize us."

"You'll just end up getting ripped off again, so it's really for your own good," echoed Rick with an identical smirk.

And with that last piece of advice, the two shrewd businessmen disguised as snickering first-years headed for the portrait hole, leaving an open-mouthed and empty-pocketed Ron Weasley in their wake. He just stood there in utter amazement, watching them leave. A slight sigh escaped his throat as he passed his hand over his freckled face and up into his flaming hair. I can NOT believe I just got swindled by eleven-year-olds! If Harry finds out, I'll never hear the end of it…

Whoo-hoo! What's Ron gonna do now that he's finally got Hermione—ahem, I mean the common room (lmao)—all to himself? Heh heh, you'll just have to wait and see, won't you? Not to worry, my loyal readers, another chapter WILL be up soon since I still have three weeks left of winter break. Huzzah!

Reviews make the authoress get off her lazy ass and update faster!!! THANK YOU!!!