A/N: Since San Diego Comic Con was this weekend, and I was full of Star Wars glee, I thought finishing this prompt would be fantastic timing.
My thanks to Ladyknightley for the end of this. Hehehe. - DG
Ron plopped down onto the couch with a huge bucket of popcorn. Ever since Hermione introduced it to him at the theatre last year, anytime she asked for movie night, he wanted popcorn.
Harry, on the other hand, wanted sweets. "Rot your teeth, both of you," She'd joke with them.
She received guffaws as answers before turning on the telly. It took so much effort on Arthur's part to get the set to work in Grimmauld Place. But once he had it working, charmed for the house, they would watch on the nights that the four of them were actually home.
"Ron fell asleep the first time I played these movies for him, Harry, but you might have seen it."
The music started. It was bombastic, over the top, and pretty much epic.
Harry didn't move a muscle. "I still don't know which movie this is, Hermione."
"You will, Harry, in a second." Ron kept tucking into his bowl of popcorn.
The opening credits started rolling, bright yellow on a starscape background. "Oh, this one? They never let me watch it growing up. I only remember that Dudley had a strop because Uncle Vernon couldn't get him one of those light swords."
"Would you two knock it off? I'm trying to watch a movie," Ron imitated Hermione oh so well.
He pulled out the lights with the deluminator and the three of them settled into the movie.
"Oh blimey, look at him!" Ron muttered first. "Damn, that's some serious bollocks there. I'd hate to run into him in a dark alley. He'd have me pissing my pants."
Hermione glanced right and saw Harry settled back into the other chair, looking rather pale. "Harry? Alright there?"
He shook himself and saw Hermione's face. "Yeah, just a small flashback. Riddle had that same cold stare when I was in the graveyard."
She cast a spell at the telly to stop it. "If you're having flashbacks, we'll stop the movie."
Harry sat still a moment, wishing to himself that Ginny was snuggled into his side, sharing his sweets. They looked at him with concern on both their faces. "It's OK. I just remember the time in the graveyard when Cedric was killed."
"Oh," two voices replied in unison. Hermione pointed her wand again and the movie shut off.
"Don't," Harry begged. "I'm OK. Let's keep watching the movie."
"You sure mate?" Ron asked first. "Why don't you come sit with us? Not like I'm gonna give you a cuddle or anything but – "
"I'm good over here. I don't want to come between you and that bowl of popcorn."
"Git," Ron cheeked back.
"Yeah, I accept it."
Hermione pointed he wand back at the telly and reversed the charms. The movie picked back up where it stopped.
A young lady in white made her appearance, and disappearance. Two robots came and went, being picked up by the farm boy and changing his life.
"Hey, that reminds me of us chasing after you to go off on some adventure."
Harry laughed and tossed a sweet at Ron, who caught it and popped it into his mouth.
"Look at him! He looks a little like Dumbledore, 'cept without the fashionable robes."
Hermione kept quiet but held hands with Ron on the couch.
No one spoke when the ascetic and his protégé returned to the homestead to find his guardians brutally murdered. Hermione kept watching Harry and saw his face turn stoic.
The movie continued, watching the protagonist and mentor trying to rent a ship from a scruffy looking, blaster wielding scoundrel.
Ron nearly fell off the couch laughing, and Hermione was watching his reactions.
"Dude! That was so close!" Harry blurt out when he saw the ship escape mortal peril. "That reminds me of how we escaped Nagini."
Hermione got still and rather quiet once the movie went into transit towards rescuing the princess. "Problem, love?"
"Just remembering how Harry and I escaped the snake, and how much that hurt."
Ron pulled her even closer, almost inside his own clothes, to give her a comforting hug. "It's another reason why I love you," He whispered into her hair, "and another reason to celebrate why we're all still here."
"And they are just like Harry, and his noble saving people thing." Harry grinned while still glued to the images on the screen.
"I've got a bad feeling about this," the scoundrel complained when he couldn't escape the massive station's tractor beam, pulling them into the space station.
"Why didn't Harry say that on our adventures?"
"Ron, hush!" Hermione sniped at him.
The three watched as the characters escaped catastrophe after catastrophe, including some shirty banter from the princess.
"Blimey, she's just like you: bossy and demanding." Ron looked over and smirked at Hermione.
"And you remind me of that scoundrel, but only in a ginger package."
"At least I'm not a short, specy git like that one over there," Ron cheeked.
Harry threw another sweet at Ron but was captivated at the action on the screen. It hit him on the shoulder and bounced onto the floor.
"Wow. I thought our escape from the Devil's Snare was hair-raising."
"At least it didn't stink like that would have," Ron added. "Bet Kreacher would have a fit trying to clean that mess."
"It's a trash compactor, Ron. It's not a room to be cleaned." Hermione got up from the couch and returned quickly with two butterbeers and a cup of tea for her.
"Thanks," the other two offered while the four were racing to escape from the infiltration of the space station."
"Ben," the protagonist stopped on the screen stopped. He had been fighting sword to sword with the antagonist. Harry watched while being reminded of the fight between Dumbledore and Riddle in the Ministry the night Sirius died.
Hermione shoved a hand over her mouth while the other two watched the mentor turn off his light sword. The antagonist took action and murdered the mentor.
"No," Harry groaned alongside the character on the screen.
Ron looked over Hermione's hair and saw Harry hiding his hand, from obviously wiping his eye. "Alright there, Harry?"
"Yeah," he whispered back. "Don't turn off the movie."
Hermione shook her head. "We won't."
The trio escaped, along with the walking fuzzball companion pilot and two robots for relative safety. "I bet they got a huge meal when they returned her safely," Ron said to no one in particular.
Hermione scrunched her features and tickled Ron mercilessly. "I take it back, all of it," He howled while trying to stifle his laughter.
"I thought so," she cheeked.
"Maybe we should skip this part," Hermione muttered under her breath. She pointed her wand at the television.
"I swear to Merlin, if you stop this movie again, I'm telling Ron to tickle you until you can't breathe," Harry spoke up.
Hermione put her wand back on the table and instead reached for her tea. "Well, then, ok."
They watched the desert farmer slide into the seat of his fighter after the scoundrel already buggered off. The protagonist and about a hundred were taking on the star ship they'd escaped from, a suicide mission if there ever was one, fighting for their lives, completely not realizing that there was a larger antagonist behind the black masked villain.
"Damn, that bad guy flies better than Harry on a broom."
Harry ignored the comment, enthralled at the action on the screen. He watched as the scoundrel returned, saving the protagonist's life by damaging the antagonist's fighter.
"You're all clear, kid. Now let's blow this thing and go home."
Harry sat up in his seat, on the edge of it. The explosion on the screen brought cheers to the men in the living room.
"Great shot kid, that was one in a million."
"I could say the same for when you put Riddle on his ass that last time."
The men shared smirks while Hermione rolled her eyes.
But even she stopped to watch the end scene with the melodramatic music playing for the rebel gathering.
Hermione sat quietly while the guys were watching the princess, draped in white robes, awarding medals to both of them.
"Oh bloody hell, not them too!" Harry groaned.
"What?"
"Those two gits on the telly. They looked at one another just like you two do."
"Did not!" they retorted in unison.
"See?"
Ron watched after Hermione rewound the tape a minute before restarting it.
"Blimey, I don't look like that git when I'm looking at her."
"Bollocks. You didn't see your face in the Room of Requirement fifth year when she put you on your bum."
"It's not true. Hermione, tell'em it's not true."
She blushed and looked away. "Yeah, it kinda was. I liked how you smiled at me so often."
Ron blushed and kept looking at Hermione.
Harry jumped up from his seat and knocked over his butterbeer. "Damn it," He grunted while working to clean the mess. The other two didn't notice.
"Look, if you're going to give each other goggle eyes, go take it to the other room!"
The spell between them broke and Harry appreciated that they didn't start snogging right there in front of him. Ginny was away tonight for the match tomorrow and not having his person to snog was painful enough.
"I'm starting the next movie." Harry said to the both of them.
"I'll plate us some sandwiches," Hermione added before making her way into their small galley kitchen.
"As long as mine's ham or roast beef."
"Ron, I don't get corned beef for you at all. You know that."
"But this git doesn't."
Harry threw a pillow at Ron and when Hermione returned, feathers were everywhere in their parlor, and the guys were down on the ground laughing too hard.
"Here, tuck in." They did gratefully.
Hermione started the second movie, the sequel to the first one, and the music started up again. "I so like this music."
"You think we should have this music play at our wedding?'
"Of course not!" Hermione chided Ron. "I want traditional music."
"Whoever said you gits were normal much less traditional?"
"You're just jealous I thought of it first."
Harry gave Ron a rude sign and tucked into his sandwich and crisps. "So good, Hermione."
"Thanks," she replied.
The three settled into watching the sequel, with her watching their reactions.
"But sir, your tauntaun will freeze before you reach the first marker."
"Then I'll see you in Hell!"
"Didn't I do that for you, Harry?"
"A fair bit, and I think I returned the favor a few times."
Hermione grinned because she knew that it was painfully true for both of the best friends in their life. They'd go rescue the other without batting an eye.
The scene shifted, with the protagonist going to fight the incoming landing army.
"Go on and take off. I'll get her out on the Falcon."
"See? He returned and did his part to help, not leaving her stranded awaiting capture."
"I'm quite well aware of that, Ron."
Harry threw another sweet at the couple. "Hush. I'm trying to watch the movie."
"Hey, ya worship. I'm just trying to help."
Hermione gave Ron a dirty look. "See?"
"You could be a little nicer, though."
"He's right, you know." Ron cheeked back.
"Occasionally, maybe, when you're not acting like a scoundrel."
"I am nice to you." Hermione added.
"Scoundrel? I like the sound of that."
Ron looked at Hermione and grinned.
"Would you two knock it off? I'm trying to watch a movie!" Harry reached for his wand and turned the sound up.
Ron pulled a cheeky face.
"Stop. My hands are dirty."
"My hands are dirty too. What are you afraid of?"
Harry looked over and saw Hermione snuggled into Ron's side, whispering in his ear.
"Oy! Still here!"
"I happen to like nice men."
Ron leaned over and turned her face. "You like me as a scoundrel," he muttered before kissing her.
Harry turned his chair a bit so he wouldn't have to see his two best friends snogging on the couch along with the two gits on the screen mimicking them.
"Sir, Sir. I isolated the power coupling."
"Yeah, you've done that a fair bit too, I reckon," Ron cheeked. Hermione was tucked into his neck, hiding her face from Harry.
"Naff off, wanker." Harry got up and went hunting for a packet of biscuits.
"They're in the bottom cabinet, behind the weetabix, Harry. I put them there just for you."
He opened the door and heard Ron complaining about hiding biscuits from him. "They're shortbreads and you hate shortbread biscuits," Harry heard Hermione explaining.
"You got that prat shortbreads? What did you get me?"
Hermione pointed her wand at the kitchen and spoke clearly, Accio Jammy Dodgers.
"Watch where you point that thing, Hermione! You just missed my nose!" Ron's biscuits came flying out and he caught them in his outstretched hand.
"Sorry," She replied contritely but Harry was still smiling. "Here, ya git." Harry handed over a butterbeer to Ron. "Figure that'll do 'til we get to sleep."
"Sleep? I thought we'd stay up all night, watch all the movies, then go to the match and get pissed."
"No, ya git. I said I'd watch two then crash. I've been up since 4pm yesterday. I'm knackered."
"And whose fault was that?" Ron gave Harry a very dirty look. "I told you about tonight a fortnight ago."
"Get mad at Ginny with her pre-match rituals." Harry refused to explain further.
"I don't want to know," Ron groaned.
They'd missed much of the whining from the protagonist while learning from a new mentor, and only caught the moments in the space cave.
"This is no cave!" They watched as the other group jetted out, barely escaping the space slug.
"Oh now that was just creepy."
"Space slugs? What gives? Sounds like someone got lost in the story."
"Says you, miss bookworm, who thought the Hallows were a myth."
"Don't make me silence you both," Harry growled while watching the protégé fail his mentor, in attitude and action.
"And that is why you fail."
"I'd hate to have him as a teacher. Bet he's as bad as Snape but only crazier."
Hermione rolled her eyes again. "There's more to him than what you see here."
"If you say so," Ron added.
"Just watch," she bit back. "The answers are in the last film, and we can watch that tomorrow night."
"But I'm on duty tomorrow night."
"And you can watch it with Ginny when we're not here."
The three of them settled back into the couch, with Harry watching intently while Ron dozed off in the middle of the Cloud City sequences.
"Hermione?"
"Yeah Harry?"
"I was serious. That scene in the last movie reminded me painfully of the two of you during DADA training."
She smiled softly. "I was scared, of losing his friendship, then. I thought I was acting so forward, kissing him on the cheek in front of everyone, but he blew it off." She sighed while watching the robot get blasted in the electronics closet. "And it got me nothing but heartache the next year when he took something said and let his anxiety and anger twist it into something corrupt, and hurt me in the process."
"He apologized, right?" Harry asked.
"Yes, he did, eventually, at Shell cottage."
"Good," Harry whispered back.
The scene shifted to where the protagonist was descending into the wood cave on the swamp planet.
"Sometimes, he'll say something, and it hurts, but he makes up for it once I tell him what he said bothered me." Hermione kept her eyes on the screen. "It's easier, now, sometimes, but it doesn't stop the hurt, just that we work through it together."
She watched the protagonist confront the masked figure, eventually killing his arch rival. "We talk more, and share more. It took so much to get us here. It's a miracle that we both can sit here on a Friday night, laughing at the movie with our best friend, when we could have easily thrown it aside in hateful words spoken in anger."
The gathering in Cloud City was captured, in an ambush, by the antagonist. They hauled them off, separating the scoundrel from the rest of them. Harry watched it stoically, shutting down when the scoundrel was screaming under the torture behind closed doors.
"I heard Ron screaming like this when I was with Bellatrix. He's the reason I'm still here with you."
Harry kept quiet but saw Ron was awake and listening too.
"Between his screaming, keeping me tethered to life, and knowing I had to protect you at all costs, even if that meant my life, I did it. It hurt, so much."
Harry saw Ron motioning quietly to get her to keep talking.
"And they didn't even ask me any questions."
"I had to lie to her, Harry. My life was forfeit when it came to protecting you. I promised myself that when you saved my life from the troll first year, you and Ron both. That's why I stayed."
The protagonist took off from the swamp planet to rescue his friends from the ambush. He quit his training because his friends were more important.
Ron and Harry shared a silent look and refused to interrupt Hermione making her confession.
"Just like them, Harry, I wasn't going to stand by and give up on you, or Ron. I could have, but I stayed, as much it tore my soul out and shattered my heart. But I needed that determination, so when I was confronted by that evil witch, I could face it with courage born of surviving worse things."
"What's going on, old pal?" Venom dripped off the scoundrel's voice at his betrayer.
"You're being put into carbonite freeze."
The men sat in silence, taking in Hermione's thoughts laid bare and raw before them, watching the scoundrel face his potential demise. And yet, in the face of mortality, the scoundrel took the kiss from the Princess before being ripped from her lips.
Hermione twisted in her seat, facing Ron. "I love you," Hermione whispered in unison with the Princess, looking at her lover fiercely.
"I know," Ron answered back before kissing her with so much passion. They fell back against the armrest away from Harry.
"I give up," Harry groaned and turned up the volume. "Not like they'll pay attention for the rest of the movie, I reckon."
He watched the protagonist fighting the masked antagonist, hearing the truth of his heritage and falling away in emotional agony.
His best friends were lost in their own little world.
Harry thought back to the memories given to him, in desperate hours given by a desperate man to finish the war. And yet, while the protagonist, given the futility of the situation, took his leave and escape, Harry had done the same in that graveyard so far away.
He looked over at the two on the couch, intertwined where you couldn't really tell where one began and the other ended. They went through enough to get to this point. They gave up so much for him, sharing Ron's home, Ron's family, and Hermione's love and focus for the future. It wasn't a wonder that they were still mental for one another.
They'd fight the world, and fight each other. They'd stand at his side and fight against all odds, even if he'd never asked them. They were his family, almost as much as Ginny was. They'd take him in at his worst, and welcome him with open arms. Ron was the brother he needed, one he could fight with and fight against everything else.
Hermione was his sister, born of another but still his sister in all but blood.
Those gits, much like the ones on the screen, were the reason he was who he was today.
Harry watched the ending, where the farm boy and the Princess watched the stars and probably were planning on how to rescue the scoundrel. But then didn't they both do that for Ron, after he left, and returned, saving his life, and hers?
Didn't they both owe their life to Ron, too?
The music started up, with the credits rolling, and the other couple was still in their own fantasy, making noises he didn't want to hear.
Harry silently disposed of the rubbish, and took the dishes to the kitchen to wash. Like the two gits on the screen, with their banter and push/pull, the two on the couch were chalk and cheese, and better for it.
"Goodnight," He whispered before closing the door to his bedroom. He locked and silenced it because he didn't want to hear anything else. He already knew enough that he loved them both, but like a long-lost brother.