HERMIONE'S FAVORITE BOOK

"I tell you, Ron fancies you!" Ginny Weasley declared a matter of factly. Hermione Granger, who was the receiving end of Ginny's potential endless speech, rolled her eyes.

"He does NOT fancy me. Get it in your stubborn head." Ginny just rolled her eyes right back at her friend. She went to Hermione's bed and sat cross-legged. She had sneaked in for a little sleepover full of girl talk.

"He does, too! Everyone knows it Hermione! Everyone in bloody Hogwarts knows that you two fancy, no, LOVE each other!" Ginny giggled girlishly, which was something she hardly did, and so Hermione stared.

"Are you all right? You should really quit doing that. You look like Pansy." Ginny stopped mid-giggle and made a face at her.

"Whatever. You're trying to change the topic again. Admit it Hermione. So you can declare your love for each other and we can all plan the wedding. I bet it would be beautiful! I want to be your bridesmaid; make me your bridesmaid ok! I hope you don't choose pink as the wedding color, because my dress would clash horribly with my hair. You know that, don't you? Oh my, I can just imagine you wearing this pure white gown with a train that's eight feet long and Ron at the altar, smiling as you walk toward him.

Merlin, you'd be beautiful, I bet. And Ron would cry I'm sure." She giggled once more. "I can't wait 'til you get married. I'll have a new sister! And Ron can quit being grumpy all the time! Because then you'd have a baby to coo over! Oh, I can't wait! I hope the baby has green eyes and messy black hair…Oh wait, that's not possible, is it? You have brown hair and Ron has red and you have brown eyes and Ron has…Oh never mind. I hope you get twins! Or triplets!" She sighed dramatically and lied down on the bad, her eyes closed.

Hermione had been reading Hogwarts: A History on her bed, but now she was howling, with tears streaming down her cheeks. "Ginny! I can't believe you! You planned an entire future- that is not going to happen by the way. Oh my gosh, you are mental! MENTAL, I say!" She said all of that in between her laughter, holding her stomach.

Ginny sat up and grinned. "Don't get blame me when it happens. Expect an I-told-you-so, though."

"Oh shut up. That will never happen. You've got one twisted mind, Gin." She shook her head, still laughing quietly.

"Maybe so," she said with a mysterious glint in her eye. "But I heard he wants to kiss you. Just to see, you know. If there is something there."

Hermione stopped her giggling abruptly. She turned to her friend, an uncertain look on her face. "You're kidding, right?"

"Nope," she said, smirking.

"I have to go to the bathroom," Hermione said and rushed to relieve her stomach.

Ginny laughed. Of course, she had been lying. She didn't hear Ron say that, but she knew it was the truth. She was just so tired of seeing the two torture themselves, and she finally came up with a simple plan to just…push them in the right direction. She knew Hogwarts would thank her for her "help". They might even send her flowers. She grinned at that thought.

Ginny heard Hermione making her way back form the bathroom, and quickly put up an innocent face.

"Gin, what am I going to do? Ok, fine, I admit I lo—like Ron. Now can you please give your friend a bit of advice? I'm new to this. I am not used to feeling this---this this whatever this is that I'm feeling. Oh no! I'm not making any sense! What's happening to me?"

Ginny took pity on her and resolved to not laugh at Hermione's un-Hermione behavior. There was plenty of time to do that later.

"Hermione, if he tries to kiss you, kiss him back. That's all there is to it. I know you've kissed Krum. Well, just do that again, only to Ron."

Hermione nodded hesitantly. "Ok. Ok. Thanks." She went to get her book, but found out it was missing. She looked everywhere but couldn't find it.

"Oh no! Gin, that was my first magical book! I got that when I was in first year! FIRST year! I've had it for ages!" she anxiously paced the room. I have to go look for it downstairs…maybe I left it there..." she said distractedly.

Ginny didn't bother to tell her that she had just been reading it a moment ago. "Yeah, it's probably in the common room," she said casually. "Maybe Ron borrowed it," she added, grinning wickedly.

"RON! Ohhh…I think I have to go to the bathroom again…" she said as she ran towards the door. Ginny once again didn't bother to tell her that Ron never read books. She snickered.

Hermione returned and opened the door a crack to see who was in the common room. She wrung her hands nervously. "Ginny, Ron's down there! ALONE! What the hell am I supposed to do?"

Ginny chose to ignore that Hermione just said 'hell', and looked at her as calmly as she could. It was hard, especially since Hermione was acting so absurdly.

"Hermione, all you have to do is ask Ron if he has your favorite book," she said slowly as if talking to a three year old. Hermione nodded tentatively.

"Oh yeah, and if he kisses you, kiss him back," Ginny added offhandedly.

Hermione paled.

Ginny sighed and pushed her out the room. "Go on. It's not so hard."

When Hermione left, Ginny crossed her fingers on both hands. Then she crossed her toes, too, just to make sure.

FLASHBACK

"Ron, why are you so nervous?" Ginny asked her brother during breakfast that morning.

"I am not nervous," he answered nervously.

"Yes you are," she grinned at him as he shoved pancakes in his already full mouth.

"Is it because of Hermiiioneeee?" she asked, teasing her brother as she always did. It was her favorite pastime, you see.

"W-why wo..would I be nervous about Hermione?" he said, stuffing his mouth once more. His face was starting to redden. Ginny loved tormenting him; it was so much fun.

"Oh, I dunno…maybe coz you looooove her?" she said in a singsong voice she knew he hated.

"I do NOT love her," he said heatedly. "She is my FRIEND. Just a friend." The whole of Gryffindor turned to him and said "riiiight."

He blushed. It was a good thing Hermione was late for breakfast, having studied late last night.

Ginny grinned widely. She had a plan.

"Brother dearest, I know you love her, and so does the whole school. So I suggest you gather up your courage and snog her silly." Ron turned an even brighter red at that.

"Sooner than later, hopefully. Like…perhaps…tonight?" she said, hinting not so subtly.

Ron didn't notice hints. However subtle they are or not. That is just against his Ron-ness. Ginny sighed and decided being frank would work best when it comes to her brother.

"Tonight's the night big bro. I heard she loves you, too. She's waiting for you to make your move. So make it. TONIGHT," she said. "Before we do it for you," she muttered under her breath. He stood up in a daze and walked out of the Great Hall.

Someone pulled her up abruptly from her chair, and she saw that it was Harry. He had a stern look on his face and she suddenly felt afraid. He must have been standing behind them the whole time.

"Gin, were any of those things you said true? Did Hermione really tell you that?

"Uh...no..." she whispered. She had the decency to look ashamed, but when she looked up at Harry, he was grinning from ear to ear. He pulled her into a hug and swung her around.

"You are bloody BRILLIANT," he said, as her put her back on the ground. "Come on, I think I have something that would be of use to you. You might want to watch the little show tonight," he said, pulling her out of the Hall.

END OF FLASHBACK

Ron was indeed in the common room when Hermione went down. He was sitting by the fire, staring at it with a thoughtful look on his face. He sighed. Yawning, he stretched, about to stand up to go to bed.

Hermione watched him quietly. He still didn't notice her was there, so she cleared her throat to get his attention. And boy did she get it.

"OH GOD HERMIONE! What are you doing here? I thought you were asleep! You usually sleep at nine thirty, you know. Well, except for last night when you slept at around two thirty finishing some essay or something of that sort. It's weird seeing you here at this time. It's already ten, you know. You should be asleep by now. Last night was weird, too, coz I saw that you fell asleep on the couch when I went down to check--I m—mean… when I went to get some water…you know, coz I was th-iiirsty…anyway, you should be upstairs, you know. It's getting cold, and the fire doesn't help much at this hour. I had to put my extra blanket on you, you know. I m—mean…since you're my friend, I was CONCERNED….so, I—uh… went down and saw you sleeping and you were cold, so I got you a blanket…I should stop talking now," he said., a little shocked at what he just said.

Hermione was speechless. She colored and fidgeted, but asked him what she had been meaning to ask nonetheless.

"Uhm…well, I came to ask if you lov--." She stopped suddenly, and blushed scarlet. "I.ii.if... Y-yyou had my book. You know, Hogwarts: A History? My favorite one?"

"Oh. Of course I know that book. You carry it around everywhere. You don't think anyone sees you, but I do. It's old and tattered, but you love it still," he grinned.

"Oh. Well, yes. I love it still. It may not look its best, but I love it to bits. It gets shadowed by my other newer books, but I love it to pieces. It may be overlooked my others, but I try my best to let it know that it's still my favorite," she said, and grinned back at him.

She missed the meaning of their words, and it was quite shocking, considering Hermione was supposedly the cleverest witch in the entire school. But surprisingly, Ron didn't, and it was just as shocking, considering he was the densest. He realized her meaning before she did, and he leaned in for their first of many kisses.

Ron always loved it when know-it-all Hermione went all speechless- which isn't often, mind you. But then he decided he quite liked this kind of speechless a teeny bit better.

Under Harry's Invisibility cloak, high up in the air above the two, Ginny Weasley sat on her broom and congratulated herself. Her eyes twinkled mischievously and she sighed, smiling contentedly.

If only Hermione wasn't so nervous about kissing Ron, she would've noticed that her favorite book was just upstairs on her bedside table. Just waiting for her to notice it's worth, loyal to the end.