"Seduction" by Desslok
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Chapter 2: The Bet
----Flashback: Before the Final Battle----
The three friends sat in their hide-out in Godric's Hollow, gathered close together in the dim light of a lantern. The remnants of Ron's birthday 'feast' lay spread out on the ground around them. If any of them regretted the necessity of celebrating in such a fashion, they did not speak of it. Instead, they passed around a bottle of old firewhiskey that they had found in the cellar under the ruins of the old manor house.
"What do you reckon will be the first thing you do when this is all over, Hermione?" Ron asked, glancing through the flickering shadows at his girlfriend. Even in the gloom, he could sense her discomfort.
"You know I dunlike to think about anythin beyond… the end…" Hermione replied slowly, slurring her words just a bit. Their initial festive mood had evolved into warm camaraderie and introspection with the help of the darkness and the firewhiskey.
Ron sighed and leaned back, hiccoughing softly. "We're going to win and we're going to have to do something when it's all over and I think it's nice to think about that sometimes. Besides, it's my birthday; you have to do what I say." He glanced over in time to see her eyebrow rise at that last comment.
"I do, do I?" she asked in a dangerous tone, her mind clearing quickly. Ron suspected that he had just set a precedent that he would come to regret, especially every September.
"Very well," she went on with a sigh, "I suppose that the very first thing I do will be to wrap my arms around the great prat that I've fallen in love with and hug and kiss him till he collapses in a heap."
A sudden burst of liquid sprayed the lantern as Harry sputtered and tried to breathe again. Ron laughed at his friend's predicament even as he reached out to take his girlfriend's hand in his own. Sometimes, it still felt odd to him, being together finally with his best friend, sharing such deep emotions for each other. At times like this, though, he couldn't imagine his life any other way or picture himself with anyone but her.
"If you're trying to encourage me for the last fight, I'm not sure that's the way to do it," Harry groaned, rolling his eyes as Ron and Hermione shared a quick kiss. He took another shot from the bottle and passed it to Ron. "And I certainly don't need to see that. At least wait till we turn out the lantern!"
"Well, at least you'll have some material for your next letter, Harry," Hermione replied primly, settling herself back in her place. "We know that you tell her everything that goes on with us."
Ron, having a bit more sympathy for his friend and recalling how he had felt watching Harry and Ginny snog all over the place during his last year at Hogwarts, decided to change the subject. "Ok, Harry. Your turn. Same question. What are you going to do when it's all over?"
"What about you, Ron?" Harry asked, trying to head off the question.
Hermione smiled in a way Harry found quite disturbing. "I think I've established what Ron will be doing, Harry," she replied on behalf of her blushing boyfriend.
"Yeah, right," Harry muttered, trying to think. Truthfully, he never had thought about what he'd do right afterwards. He had let himself dream, at times, of what his life might be like when it was all over. However, those dreams tended to focus on events much later on and generally involved lots of small children with unruly red hair. Right now, his head felt a bit fuzzy and he found it hard to focus.
"Come on then, mate," Ron encouraged. "Hermione always says we have to 'visualize success.' Let's give it a go."
Harry sighed in resignation. "Ok, well, I suppose the first thing I'd do would be to wake up in the infirmary and put my glasses on." He grinned innocently, but his friends did not seem amused. "What? Isn't that what always happens?"
Hermione and Ron exchanged looks that clearly said that he had a good point. "Okay then, how about first thing after you leave the infirmary?" Ron said.
"I guess I'd go back to the Burrow for the party with your family and all our friends," Harry answered after some consideration.
"Back to my sister's room in the Burrow for your own private 'party' is more like it," Ron laughed. "The way I see it, we'll probably have to peel her off of your hospital bed with a crowbar just to get you out of there in the first place!"
"Ron!" Hermione admonished. He looked at her expectantly while the wheels turned in her head. "Well… I suppose that is rather plausible," she reluctantly admitted.
Harry looked back and forth between the two of them, trying to decide whether or not he should be offended and if so, on whose behalf, his or Ginny's.
"Oh come on, mate," Ron said, "we know why you 'broke up' with her, but we all know you love her and she loves you and about ten seconds after Voldy bites it, the two of you will be attached at the lips worse than…"
"Worse than you and Lavender used to be?" Harry asked sardonically, glancing over quickly at Hermione. He thought it a very good sign that, instead of being upset, she laughed loudly, patted her flustered boyfriend on the knee, and said, "Oh, it's okay, 'My Sweetheart'."
Ron turned as red as the flames flickering in the lantern. "Nice one, Potter," he admitted, "but you're still dodging the question."
During the tumult, Harry had found time to consider his response. "I just think that I'd like to take things slowly. If there is anyone who deserves a long courtship and lots of attention, it is certainly Ginny." Harry shook his head sadly. "I can't believe it took me all those years to figure out what was right in front of me all along."
"Take things slowly?" Ron asked. "Oh, I get it. You'll wait an hour or two before snogging her senseless then."
"I can wait longer than an hour!" Harry replied indignantly. "Unlike some of us here, I can exhibit some self-control."
Ron snorted in laughter. "Ok, mate, I'll tell you what, why don't we make it interesting." Ron's sudden similarity to his twin brothers sent a sharp shock through Harry. "I bet you that you'll be snogging my sister within… within…" Ron paused to consider what a fair length of time would be. "The two of you will be all over each other within a day. Twenty four hours, my friend."
"I have no intention of jumping all over Ginny like some hormone-addled… Weasley boy… right after!" Harry insisted. "I'm going to take my time and do things right."
"Harry, I don't really think you'll make it twenty-four minutes, but I'm willing to bet on twenty-four hours. If you're so sure, then you'll be willing to put a little something on the line." Ron gave Harry a nasty smile. "Something like your Firebolt, maybe?"
Harry's eyes widened. He had no intention of backing down, but his Firebolt? "S-Sirius gave that me," Harry replied quietly. The room fell quiet. Finally, Ron broke the silence.
"Well, not forever, how about you just lend it to me for six months?" he suggested.
"Six months without my Firebolt?" Harry replied.
"Yep, and no buying a fancier one either. You get to use one from the broomshed!" Ron laughed.
"And what happens when I win? What do I get?" His eyes narrowed as he tried to think of something equivalent he could ask from Ron. Suddenly, it came to him. Something Ron loved, that could be replaced, but only with some 'difficulty.' Harry chuckled to himself imagining the conversation where Ron would ask Hermione to help him get another…
"Your autographed picture of Victor Krum," Harry announced. Hermione snickered, understanding immediately the depth of Harry's deviousness. Ron startled for a moment, but quickly covered up.
"Doesn't matter really, since there's no way I'm losing this bet," Ron replied. He deliberately kept his eyes away from Hermione. "You'll see. No way will you be able to keep your hands off of her after all this time."
"I think I can control myself for one day," Harry scoffed. Inwardly, though, he began to have some doubts. He knew that if Ginny walked in the door right now, it would take every ounce of willpower to stop himself from leaping into her arms. Still, he did want to take things slowly. He didn't think it would be very gentlemanly to jump her after being away from her for so long, at his own insistence no less. Harry was certain that Ginny understood the need for them to be apart, to put their relationship on hold, but he also knew that she was not thrilled with the situation. Truthfully, neither was he.
"If you two are done drowning in your whiskey and you testosterone, we should probably get some sleep. It's nice to think about what will happen when we win, but we still have a lot of work to do between now and then," Hermione reminded them. She firmly took the bottle from Ron's hands and replaced the cork.
"Yes, Miss Granger," Ron and Harry replied in unison, as they always did when she took that tone with them.
Hermione rolled her eyes skyward in the way that women have for all eternity when confronted with the idiocy of the male of the species. "Good night, and happy birthday, Ron," she said, tucking herself into her cot.
As Ron reached forward to extinguish the lantern, he heard Harry whisper, "We are going to win, aren't we Ron?"
"It's my birthday, mate," Ron replied gently, "and what I say goes. No way we can lose, especially now that I've got that Firebolt waiting for me on the other side."
Harry laughed, reassured as always by his friend. "Thanks, mate. Happy birthday."
Ron smiled to himself and shut out the light.