Disclaimer Two: This is a one shot scene that didn't find its way into my main story When Ninja and Wizards Collide. Therefore if you haven't read the story, you won't really understand most of what is going on here. Before you read this, I highly HIGHLY recommend you read the actual story. It's found in the Naruto section of and you can get a link to it through my profile. I put enough descriptions in it, I think, to keep any Harry Potter fans from being too lost, but it ended up focusing less on Harry and more on the Naruto group, so that's where I decided to put it.
Disclaimer Three: I put this one in the Harry Potter section for two reasons: One, it takes place at Hogwarts, and two maybe it'll go and pull a few of the Harry Potter readers over to my story. We'll see how things go.
Description: After Ron and Hermione's latest fight over Hermione wanting to try out for Juliet, Hermione is crushed. Kiba comes to her rescue with the idea of a picnic to clear her head. One shot.
The Picnic
Hermione strode through the hallways, walking defiantly past the Great Hall where everyone else had gathered for dinner. She knew Ron would be in there, and she didn't want to talk to him right now. The memory of her latest argument with him still stung, she didn't know why he was so pig headed.
It had started when she, Harry, and Ron had decided to take a break from working on their potions essays. Hermione had, of course, already finished hers, and she was helping out Ron with his, as Harry was almost finished himself. Harry wanted to see if the first Hogsmead weekend had been posted yet, so they walked over to the announcement board…
"Nope, not up. Just a note about the tryouts for Romeo and Juliet," Harry said. "Hey, if the play's up, maybe they'll have tryouts for the Hogwarts Quiddich team soon!"
"Oooh, the tryout date is up? When is it?" Hermione asked, her voice full of glee. She had always loved Romeo and Juliet, in fact when she was younger it had always been one of her dreams to act in the play as Juliet.
"It's October 24th," Harry replied, looking at the board again.
"Why does it matter?" Ron asked with a shrug. "Not like any of us are trying out. I mean, Harry's got quiddich, he'll probably make the Hogwarts team not to mention he's captain for Gryffindor. I'll hopefully have quiddich, and besides, I wouldn't run around in tights if you paid me!"
"I told you at the Welcoming Feast Ron, I'm planning on trying out," Hermione said. Her eyes were narrowed and her voice was cold. Harry immediately backed off and went back to their table in the corner. He could almost sense the argument that was coming, and decided to instead finish up his essay as quickly as possible.
"Why would you want to even bother? Like you'd make a good actress. Remember when you tried to get information from that bloke in Knockturn Alley?" Ron snorted.
"Acting in a play and acting on the spot are two different things, Ron," Hermione replied with a flat tone. "I'd like to see you having done better! Oh, wait. You couldn't have. You can barely fudge an essay, much less be able to wiggle information out of someone."
"Like I could, we're blood traitors, remember? Besides, you still haven't answered my question," Ron yelled.
"And what question was that?" Hermione yelled back.
"Why would you try out? You can't act!" Ron screamed back.
Harry sighed and bent low over his essay, trying to ignore his two fighting friends and work on his essay. Kiba, one of the exchange students from Japan and his dog Akamaru came downstairs from the boy's dorms and sat next to Harry, much to his relief.
"They going at it again?" Kiba asked.
"Yeah. This time over the play," Harry sighed.
"Why do they have to do this all the time?" Kiba asked with a sigh as Naruto came down the stairs and sat with them, taking Ron's seat. Harry couldn't reply, however, as he was interrupted by Hermione.
"You don't know a THING about my acting ability! In fact, you don't know a thing at all! You're just a PIG!" Hermione screamed back.
"Even if I WAS a pig, at least people LIKE me! You're just a big prude know it all!" Ron then changed his expression and started hopping up and down, waving his hand in the air, a cruel but somewhat accurate impression of Hermione in class.
"Pick me Professor! Pick Meeeee! I know the answer! I know everything! I'm just a big, ugly, stuck up, prude bit-"
Ron was cut off as Hermione had enough and jabbed her wand at him. Ron froze for a second in mid jump before turning into a pig. The pig squealed and jumped for another second before figuring out something was wrong.
"THERE! NOW YOUR BODY MATCHES YOUR PERSONALITY!" Hermione yelled. Tears were running down her face when she raced up to her dormitory and flopped onto her bed. She didn't know what was wrong with him, but she'd had a crush on him for so long, and was hoping so much that he would notice and accept her, but he never did. And this year, the one year he gives her attention as something other than the third member of the Golden Trio, he has done nothing but belittle her and make her miserable. Needless to say, the crush that she'd held in her heart for so long was shattered, and she didn't know how to pick up the pieces. Lavender and Parvati came in soon after, but what made her stop crying was Kiba's dog, Akamaru, whom she'd taken a liking to. More specifically, the notes he'd carried from Harry (which was apologetic and encouraging) and Kiba, who invited her to a picnic instead of dinner, and to a party afterwards. She sent her reply back via Akamaru accepting…
…and now here she was. Lavender and Parvati had taken the note from her and read it, and therefore had put themselves in charge of her wardrobe for both the picnic and the party later that night.
Hermione waved to Dean, who looked like he was waiting for Seamus, and carrying her bowl of chicken meat for Akamaru's dinner. She pushed the doors open, and happily walked down the path over to the lake. Kiba's note said to meet him by the big tree, so that was where Hermione waited, sitting on a rock and staring out over the lake. She wasn't kept waiting long. There was a bark behind her, and she turned to see the cute face of Akamaru bounding towards her. He had the usual affect on her; she smiled and couldn't help but to coo over the cute dog. When Akamaru got to her she started petting him, and looked up past him to see Kiba coming towards her, still in his school robes, lugging a basket and a blanket.
Kiba didn't waste any time. As soon as he got Hermione's reply (and after he was done with his victory yell and matching dance) he sped down to the kitchens to get a picnic put together for them. Luckily Ron had shown him the way just yesterday; otherwise he would have been completely lost. Once there, he put in an order for the elves to put together a basket for him that included hot roast beef, gravy, mashed potatoes, buttered corn, dinner rolls, butter, salt and pepper, and two slices of chocolate cherry cake for desert. While they did that, he ran up to the library and took out a book before coming back down to the kitchens.
One set of dishes, some napkins, a big red blanket, and a flagon of iced pumpkin juice later, he was on his way out the door and over to the lake. He was excited and nervous all at the same time. He didn't know why Ron kept picking at Hermione the way he did, but what he did know was that she didn't deserve it. The two of them had started talking on the night he'd arrived at Hogwarts, and they've just hit it off ever since. She helped him with school work, they traded amusing stories, and even got into some philosophical talks about subjects Kiba never thought he'd get into.
Akamaru barked and ran ahead, and Kiba looked up to see Hermione sitting on a rock, staring off into the lake. His breath caught for a second, she was gorgeous. She was wearing a loose pair of black pants and a periwinkle sweater that was just tight enough to emphasize her body, but not tight enough to leave nothing to the imagination. Her hair was pulled back in a ponytail, with a few curled pieces surrounding her face. Her eyes lit up with joy when they saw Akamaru, and that meant more to Kiba than anyone would know. Akamaru wasn't just a pet to him, Akamaru was his partner, and meant more to him than anyone or anything in the entire world, including himself.
"I was glad to see you accepted," he said as he finally caught up. Hermione smiled and put a bowl of raw chicken pieces down for Akamaru, who immediately dug in to his dinner.
"I was glad to accept. You were right, this is much better than being in the hall…especially with HIM," Hermione replied, snarling a bit on that last word.
"He's stupid Hermione, don't think about him. Lets get this blanket spread out. Do you like roast beef?" Kiba asked. He put down the basket and spread the blanket over the grass. Hermione waved her wand over the area before sitting down.
"Cushioning charm," she replied with a smile. "And roast beef sounds absolutely lovely."
"I don't know if it'll still be warm," Kiba warned.
"Did you get it from the house elves?" Hermione asked. Kiba nodded. "Then they will have put it in spelled containers, so everything stays warm or cold."
"Wow! We usually don't do that in Japan," Kiba said, eyes wide. He sat down on the now comfortable ground and started pulling their meal out, except for the desert. He poured them both a glass of pumpkin juice, and waited for Hermione to serve herself first before he took some for himself.
"Kiba? Why did you ask me to the picnic?" Hermione asked.
"Because you're a nice person, and a great witch," Kiba answered truthfully. "And well, you seemed upset. I don't know why Ron's acting like such an arse, but you really don't deserve it."
"That means a lot to me, Kiba," Hermione said quietly, a small smile playing across her face.
"Well, eat up. Somehow I think the food will get cold once it's out of their containers," Kiba said.
"You didn't have to wait on me," Hermione replied, eyes wide.
"Well, yeah. The lady breaks bread first," Kiba explained.
Hermione looked at him wide eyed. No one ever took that type of consideration with her. Her mind immediately contrasted Kiba to Ron, who would have grabbed all the food he could fit on his plate and immediately started shoveling it into his mouth. Even Harry, who would've waited for her to serve herself at least, wouldn't have taken the time to sit back and wait for her to eat first. She blushed before holding up a roll and breaking it before putting some butter on it and eating it. As soon as the food was in Hermione's mouth, Kiba started to eat.
They passed the dinner by amiably enough, chatting about Herbology, and with Kiba asking questions about hippogriffs, which was what they were studying in Care of Magical Creatures. Hermione was just finishing telling him about the one time she'd ridden Buckbeak (carefully editing out anything illegal such as the time turner and Sirius Black) when Kiba took out the desert with a small flourish.
"Oh!" Hermione gasped. "Chocolate cherry cake! That's my favorite! My mother would make it all the time for the family on special occasions, in fact, that's what she always makes for my birthday."
"When is your birthday?" Kiba asked, curiously.
"September 17th," Hermione replied.
"And you'll be seventeen?"
"Yup. And of age." Kiba put all of the information she had just revealed in the back of his mind, as it could come to be useful later.
"Chocolate cherry is one of my favorites too," Kiba confessed. "It's not a standard thing in Japan though, so finding someplace that has it is always great. Especially if they're as good of cooks as the house elves are."
"I always feel bad eating from them though. I don't like slavery," Hermione confessed.
"It seems to make them happy though," Kiba replied thoughtfully. "I know you want to give them freedom Hermione, but maybe you should start a little smaller. Like, instead of giving them money and clothes, instead you should work towards having legislation passed to give them better working conditions, have there be legal repercussions for abusing them, and give the elves the option to leave an abusive family if they choose. Most of it affects the elves directly, but doesn't change the way they go about life, except to improve it."
"But elves should be free!" Hermione replied venomously.
"Think of it like this cake," Kiba replied quickly, hoping to defuse the situation before she got angry. "What would happen if you tried to eat an entire cake at once?"
"I'd get sick," Hermione replied, puzzled. "That's why you eat cake by the piece."
"Right. Well, freedom is like a cake. If you give them the entire cake at once, they'll be confused, sick, and basically not know what to do with it. But if you go slowly, a little bit at a time, eventually they'll have the entire cake, but they'll digest it better and be happier with it."
Hermione was clearly thinking about this for a while as they ate their cake before smiling up at Kiba.
"No one ever put it like that before. You're right. Maybe the first slice is preventing abuse and putting up a standardized set of working conditions. Then a later piece of cake would be stuff like vacation time and wages. Plus they'll be happier with it this way, and I'll be happier because I'm helping them out." Kiba took their plates and goblets, put them all in the basket, and pulled something out as Hermione waved her wand to fold up the blanket they'd been sitting on. The pair walked back to Gryffindor tower, stopping in the kitchens first to drop the basket and blanket back off. While there, Hermione apologized profusely to the house elves, and explained that she never meant to offend them by leaving clothes out for them and trying to free them. She promised not to do it again, and suddenly the elves were just as friendly to her as they had been in the past.
When they got to the portrait enterance, Kiba stopped Hermione for a second and pulled out a book from behind his back.
"I picked this up for you. I figured there'd be a huge rush for it soon, and I thought you'd like a copy from the library before they were all gone."
Hermione stopped and looked at the book in his hand. There was one of the few copies of Romeo and Juliet that the school possessed. Her eyes watered up, and she stared at it, speechless.
"Um…I just thought you might want to practice, now that you know when try outs are," Kiba stammered, confused and kind of upset that he made her cry.
"This…this…this is the nicest thing anyone has ever done for me," Hermione whispered before throwing her arms around the startled Japanese boy and crying into his shoulder. Kiba was happy (but still confused) as he wrapped his arms around her in a hug and, striking up some courage, planted a light kiss on the top of her head. They stood like that for some time until Hermione's tears dried, then they entered the tower together.
"I'll meet you down here, and we can walk to the party together?" Kiba asked her. Hermione's cheeks were still pink, but she nodded and gave him a dazzling smile before walking up the girls' stairs and up to her room.
All and all, Kiba thought as he went up to get ready for the party, things went rather well.