iii: A nice thought
Turning her key in the door of her flat, Hermione tried to work out why she could smell burning. Surely she was imagining it. Her home was well protected against the risk of fire: in her usual sort of way, Hermione was sure to switch off the few electrical appliances she owned before going to work. So why, as she closed the door behind her and walked down the corridor, was the smell getting stronger?
Hermione reached the end of the hall, opened the kitchen door and, to her horror, was enveloped in a cloud of acrid smoke. Coughing, she drew her wand hastily and cast a non-verbal spell to disperse the smoke, until it all disappeared, revealing a figure in its midst.
"Ron!" Hermione exclaimed, nearly jumping out of her skin. "What are you doing here?"
Instead of saying anything, Ron opened the oven - a fresh cloud of smoke billowed out, revealing whatever was inside. It was unrecognisable; it had literally burnt to a crisp.
"I, er, cooked you dinner," he said, gesturing towards it unnecessarily.
Hermione fought the urge to laugh. It was a lovely thought, but Ron should really have just admitted defeat when it came to cooking. "But... why?" she asked, puzzled. Ron opened his mouth to speak, looking offended, so Hermione added, "Don't get me wrong, it was very... thoughtful of you, but why would you do that for me? And how did you get into my house?" she demanded, as the thought suddenly occurred to her.
"Well, I just haven't seen you much lately, and you seemed really stressed with work and stuff, so I thought I'd surprise you to try and cheer you up," Ron mumbled, his ears turning red. "Didn't turn out brilliantly though, did it?"
Hermione couldn't help snorting, and Ron chuckled. "Don't worry, I'll order a takeaway," she said, smiling. "Thanks, though. It was a lovely idea. But you still haven't answered my second question."
Ron looked at her like she was missing something blatantly obvious. "Hermione, I may not exactly be a culinary god, but I am still a wizard. I don't need a key."
"Oh," Hermione said stupidly. Her brain tended not to work properly when she was around Ron sometimes. "I knew that."
Now it was Ron's turn to snort, and they caught each other's eyes and burst out laughing. "I love you, Hermione."
"I love you too," Hermione grinned, wiping tears of laughter from her eyes. "And you always cheer me up. But now I'm hungry. I'll go and order that food."
"No, let me do it," Ron protested, catching Hermione's arm and pulling her back as he walked over to the phone. She looked at him, confused. "I want some more practice," he explained. "I think I'm getting good at using that felly-tone..."
A/N: OH MY GOD, I WROTE SOMETHING HAPPY. What is this madness? ;) I enjoyed myself, though.
This is for the OTP Boot Camp Challenge for prompt one, which is 'acrid'.