Apologies for the extremely corny title. Nothing but pure, tooth-rotting, sappy sweetness here. No real plot. Just sugary fluff.

Prompt: Winning a Teddy for the Other

It was without a doubt the largest teddy bear Hermione had ever seen.

Perhaps what she'd been told about Texas was true after all. Things really were "bigger and better" here. Well, bigger, anyway.

Ron didn't even seem to notice the bear, but Hermione's eyes kept being drawn back to it.

Maybe it was fresh on her mind because there had been a rather large spider in their hotel bathtub earlier. Definitely Texas big, but certainly not better in Ron's mind. He could take on the darkest of dark wizards (which was actually what had brought them to Texas in the first place, tracking one who'd escaped from the Aurors), but spiders still induced terror.

He'd told her the story of his childhood teddy bear, transfigured into a gigantic spider. He'd never been able to cling to that bear for comfort again.

And sure, now he was a grown man and didn't need a teddy bear anymore.

But for some reason, Hermione really, really wanted to win that huge bear. For him.

A few minutes of observation was all it took to ascertain that the games were all rigged. It was easy enough to win a small prize, but the big ones, the ones people really wanted (like that massive teddy bear)-those had been made almost impossible.

Well, almost impossible for most people. Hermione was going to beat the system.

She told Ron she wanted to crowd-watch and sent him off to the rides. She found herself a good out-of-way spot and settled in to observe those trying to win the bear. It was a simple enough game on the surface; all one had to do was hit a target. It got progressively more difficult for the larger prizes. Some hopefuls actually showed promise at the lower levels; Hermione paid particular attention to what they were doing, how they were aiming. But no one succeeded at the last level. Ever.

Eyes narrowed, Hermione sat back to analyze the data she'd collected thus far. Ron would be back soon, and she wanted to be able to hand him that bear. She needed to figure out how the game was rigged so she could work around it.

The next carnival attendee provided her with the last piece of the puzzle. The targets leading up to the grand prize skewed to the left a little. But the last 3 targets didn't. Two of them were dead on.

The last one seemed to skew right. Not a lot-not as much as the earlier targets had skewed left-but enough to make one miss it.

Hermione was not going to miss.

She approached the booth. "Hey, little lady!" the vendor boomed in stereotypical Texas drawl. "You wanna give it a go?"

"Yes, I do. I want the bear."

The man chuckled. "Darlin', everyone wants that bear. But good luck to ya."

She quickly made her way through the lower levels, just as she'd seen so many do before her. She slowed down for the next two but handily hit the targets there as well.

It was time for the final one. Hermione paused, remembering all the data she'd collected as she studied the target. If she'd analyzed correctly, she needed to aim right...about...there. She fired.

Perfect shot.

The booth erupted in flashing lights and clanging bells. The crowd around her cheered, while the vendor's jaw dropped. But though he grumbled a bit, he handed her the massive bear and congratulated her on her win.

Ron arrived, having ridden every ride the carnival had. "Hermione? What on earth is that?"

She beamed at him. "It's for you."

"For me? What for? Did I miss an anniversary or something?"

"No, you daft man. Just because I love you. And I wanted you to have a teddy bear. One without any bad memories attached to it."

Ron's entire face flushed. "Aw, Hermione. That was ages ago. I was just a kid!"

"I know. And I know you don't need it. But I wanted you to have it anyway."

His gaze softened. "Thank you. It really does mean a lot." He took the bear from her. "How're we ever going to get this thing home?"

"Uh...good question." She lowered her voice. "We may have to transfigure it into something smaller so it will fit in our luggage."

Ron laughed. "As long as it's not a spider!"