Operation Humiliation

The common room was all a buzz about the new developments in the growing relationship between Hermione Granger and Draco Malfoy. No one had actually said a word to Hermione on the subject, but it was all there, floating around like some poisonous parasite, ready to pounce on Hermione at any minute at immediately endanger her in embarrassment and suspicion. She sat chatting with Harry by the fire, a tad suspicious of him and his sly thoughts. Ginny had supposedly went to the library, even though she lacked her bookbag containing her books, which were essential to a study. Mindful of their peculiar behavior before, Hermione had full right and reason to be suspicious of her two friends. But Ginny and Harry were not the only suspicious individuals she had in mind.

Ron Weasley had been conspicuous by his absence for quite a while now. What she was told was that Ron was working in the library as well, but since he was without Harry and not bugged by Hermione to be in there, she didn't believe that alibi for her life.

Almost as if on cue, Ron slouched out of the portrait hole and flopped aside Harry, cautious not to make eye contact with the girl he was talking with. Harry froze on the inside, but his brain moved very quickly. He was way to well aware that Ron was teetering on the edge of exploding (again) and was trying to be civil. Pretending that he noticed nothing out of the ordinary, he continued his conversation as cheerfully as he possibly could.

"What do you two say that we go visit Hagrid? We have seen him probably once since the start of term!" he suggested innocently, also fully aware that Hermione was on his case. This seemed to cheer Ron up quite a bit, since he figured that Hagrid giving him something new to worry about would take his mind off killing both Malfoy and Hermione for their behavior. Hermione gave Harry a stern don't-tell-me-you-forgot-that-fast look and opened her mouth to reply but bit her lip instead.

Ron has far as she knew, didn't know anything about her 'date' with Draco and she wanted to keep it that way as long as she could. Harry replied with a mischievous yet I-have-it-covered look that increased her misgivings about Harry and Ginny's whispered conversation. She gave him a sharp look, which Ron, as suspicious about their puzzling glances at each other as Hermione was toward Harry and Ginny, spotted and asked quietly, "What are you two shooting looks at each other for?"

Harry and Hermione both cautiously brought there communicating eyes toward Ron and unanimously muttered, "Nothing," as innocently as they possibly could.

* * *

There she stood, simple and elegant. Her vivid red hair neatly displayed on her shoulder, and her brilliant eyes alight entrancingly and just as sincerely. Draco Malfoy, suddenly taken aback, choked on words. At a complete loss of what to do or say, he stupidly greeted her, "Hello."

She chuckled at his surprised reaction, because inside she was dying. Dying because of the hate and furious passion that had boiled up inside her as she cheerfully-as-she-could trotted to the trophy room. She turned that furious passion to charming passion.

"I'm dreadfully sorry to disappoint you Draco, but Hermione simply cannot make it tonight. She had an urgent engagement to attend to, and knowing you as she does, she just knew you would already be here, as punctual as you are, she thought it would have been a waste of parchment to owl you, but I willingly agreed to pass on the message," Ginny finished sweetly.

Draco knew that under no circumstances was he to be rude, ungrateful, or his normal self towards the beautiful young Weasley, because she was obviously a close friend of Hermione's, and he couldn't anger her by not being polite, courteous and friendly to her comrades. This reminded him bitterly that this went along with the older Weasley, and that wretched Potter.

"Did she say what this, uh, 'urgent engagement' was, Miss Weasley?" Draco inquired gingerly, trying not to be nosy.

"Oh, Ginny please," she corrected pleasantly, pretending to blush at this formal address, but her demeanor changed to a more comfortable and talkative manner and she carried on sociable, "Prefect duties. Her and that bumbling brother of mine had to help Filch mop the dungeons or something completely ridiculous like that." She acted very frustrated and annoyed when she mentioned Ron. "She says she is so desperately sorry, and she feels horrible. I think she could have gotten out of it if she wanted to, but that would consist of speaking about your little rendezvous which would send him howling at the moon. Well, you know Ron," she added, her persuasive voice annoyed and dull, almost as if she was egging Draco on, to coax him into verbally bashing Ron and gossip away, pretending like it was just like what she felt like doing.

Draco smiled reassuringly and inputted his thoughts happily, "Yeah, I know your brother alright," and chuckling reminiscently.

"Over-protective prat," Ginny contributed willingly.

"Temperamental git," Malfoy said just as light-heartedly.

"Over-reactive--"

"Easily offended--"

"Dense--"

"Dim-witted--"

"Embarrassing--"

Ginny had bitterly succeeded at what she had attempted to do. Draco Malfoy was as calm, cool, and comfortable as he was possible to be and rattling his mouth off with out thinking...He was putty in her fierce, menacing, and ruthless hands.

"Irreversibly clumsy--"

"Wait, wait. Here is the cream of the crop, the king of the hill...blinder than a bat!" Ginny roared triumphantly, causing Draco to almost split his side with mirth, as he was almost crying with enjoyment because of all the fun he was having with the adorable redhead.

"I completely agree! A couple of those Quidditch matches were pathetic!" Malfoy accorded cheerfully, slapping his knees uncontrollably.

"Well, yes. That's true. But I meant an entirely different type of blind," Ginny informed, as if what she meant was totally obvious.

Intrigued, Draco pursued her thoughts with a perplexed expression. Ginny sighed audibly.

"Well, duh! The fact that he is completely infatuated, irreversibly, no-way-out-of, fallen-so-deep-he-could-dig-his-ENTIRE-life-and-never-get-over, head-over-heels in love with his best friend!" Ginny replied in the same obvious tone.

Draco stopped laughing and froze so quickly you would have thought that time itself had stopped. For the second time that night, he choked on his words.

"Your brother is in love with Potter?" Malfoy finally croaked, causing Ginny to roll her charming eyes in annoyance.

"Not Harry. Hermione."

Jealously and anger flooded his veins, while his shocked heart started to beat again, and his steely and malevolent eyes flashed menacingly. Ironically, Draco Malfoy's ferocity matched only Ginny's toward him.

Bingo! Ginny pondered triumphantly, forcing her joy not to be revealed.

"Yeah," she chuckled, and she suddenly changed the subject. "So! What is this little fling going between you and her anyway?" Ginny asked, as sincerely interested as possible.

"Uh-well, um--"

"Do you like her?" Ginny demanded, her face inches from his, causing Draco to recoil fearing her curiosity intensely. Another thing he feared at that moment was how attractive she looked, staring into his eyes so intently and so close to his face that he could smell her breath, and count every single Weasley freckle imprinted on her beautiful face.

* * *

Nervous knocking aroused Hagrid from his musings late that evening. Muddled about the knocker's identity, he slyly peeked through his curtains, excitedly opened his front door, and jovially greeted his long-awaited guests.

"Finally! I was beginnin' to think you three forgot abou' me!" Three exhilarated grins replied.

"C'min, c'min!"

Harry sighed with relief, feeling that that the remainder of the evening was going to be peaceful, relaxed, and easy.

The cheerful chatter that launched immediately seemed to relieve Ron and Hermione immensely. Ron was of course was bottled up with a mixture of tangled emotions: fury at Malfoy which was only natural, an iota of anger aimed at Hermione for her 'irresponsible' actions, a twinge of unspeakable jealously of Hermione being accompanied after class with Malfoy, but most of all, the uncontrollable love he had just realized engulfed his envious heart that consisted of one and only one source, his Hermione. Hermione felt very uneasy, vulnerable and nervous about the fact that Hagrid was inevitably going to mention the strange friendship maturing between herself and the hated Draco Malfoy causing Ron to explode, therefore making her inescapably uncomfortable. She was also fully aware that her delicate shoulder was being lightly brushed by another shoulder, which was much more built and muscular, that belonged to Ron. The constant contact was driving her partitioned heart in two directions: towards the warm comforting safety she felt being near Ron, and leaning in the other way because she was so nervous and scared of her restive and complex feelings for him. Additionally, she didn't have the slightest clue what Harry had hidden up his sleeve to distract, stall, or occupy Draco Malfoy from her absence.

Harry, on the contrary, was pacific, amiable and at ease. He beamed about a fantastic idea that Ginny had conceived, which was oblivious to his fearful and anxious companions, to send an owl ahead to Hagrid warning him about the uneasiness of Ron and Hermione, and advising him to keep as far away from the dreaded subject for his own good and the welfare of their fragile friendship. Another positive addition to his giddy mood was that his blindly-in-love best friends were in such close proximity and reeking with a mass combination of desire and anxiety.

Hagrid eyed Ron and Hermione shrewdly, trying, but failing miserably to hide his joy and mirth in observing the two behaving so oddly because of their constant contact. Hermione being as observant and quick as she is, piped up, "What's so funny, Hagrid?"

"What's up with the two of you? You look so nervous you migh' explode!" he laughed loudly. Ron and Hermione exchanged shocked and embarrassed glances and edged noticeably away from each other, while Harry and Hagrid both stifled snickers.

Pretending to be laughing along, Ron muttered, "Nothing, Hagrid. What makes you think that something's up? We are just sitting here, spending time with you."

Harry was giggling so uncontrollably he shoved one of Hagrid's infamous cooking samples into his mouth.

"You know, I think we should be heading back up to the castle," Ron mumbled uncomfortably, jumping up out of his seat and sprinting toward the door, and naturally his ears redder than tomatoes.

"Hmm...so much for that Gryffindor bravery, huh?" Hagrid teased unnecessarily.

* * *

Draco stared into the breathtaking eyes of Ginny Weasley, forced into answering under the control and watch of the beautiful girl.

"Well, do you?" she requested imperatively.

Regaining his composure, Draco replied coolly, "Why does it matter to you?"

"Don't you dare try to get me off subject. I'm not my brother, you know. Yes or no, that's all I need to know." Ginny had moved increasingly closer to him as she spoke, causing Draco to become more progressively uncomfortable, yet strangely comfortable, in an unexplainable manner.

Malfoy replied with a coy smile and hinted, "I have my eye on a particularly divine and sweet Gryffindor gal," causing Ginny to raise her vividly red eyebrows in curiosity.

"Any hints to whom this poor--oh, sorry-- lucky girl might be?" Ginny teased as Draco frowned in mock-annoyance. She laughed triumphantly, which made a lock of hair fall from its perfectly placed position behind her slightly-reddening ear.

Almost as if he did it every day, and had a perfect right to, Draco slowly reached his nervously trembling hand up to her amiable face (which wasn't far keeping in mind that they weren't far apart) and gently replaced the wisp of hair. Now it was Ginny's turn to freeze in amazement, her shock unshielded, which put her in a very vulnerable spot concerning being in such close proximity with a flirty, open-minded, and aggressive Draco Malfoy.

* * *

The return to Hogwarts castle was awkward, uncomfortable and silent save the familiar crunch of leaves beneath a greatly amused Harry, an fairly embarrassed Ron and a very dreamy-eyed Hermione, who purposely made sure to stand on the opposite side of Harry where Ron was trailing. She wasn't sure whether it was her imagination or not, but she thought that during their short visit to Hagrid, Ron had been glancing at her unusually often and was strangely shaky and tremulous which, she uncertainly gathered seemed to be because he was sitting next to her.

After what felt like hours to both Ron and Hermione, the trio finally reached the thankfully empty common room. Ron and Hermione bid each other a rather inconsiderate-and-almost-rude and cavalier good night, yet they were both too occupied in their own thoughts to notice. Harry hastily followed Ron up the stairs, who had began to race towards his dormitory without even stopping for a second, and smiled hopefully at the thought that his friends might be starting to see the light.

Hermione leaped on to her four-poster exhaustedly, blessing the fact that it was so homely, cozy, and comforting. She nestled under the snug bed covers relieved after her day of stress and worry, and was just about to well-deserved and deeply deserved sleep when she heard the soft creak of her door open and the sounds of someone sneaking cautiously towards his bed, knowing that she should have suspected this, but was quite delighted just the same.

"How did it go, Ginny?" Her freckled face, cheery, excited, and proud, appeared through the minor openings of the four-poster coverings. Judging by her triumphant demeanor, Hermione pleasantly concluded that her encounter with Malfoy had been successful, as much as she was against this and how much she disapproved of it, but since Ron was in their presence at the time, she was trapped into keeping her mouth shut and letting Ginny meddle foolishly and daringly with Malfoy rather than witness another eruption from Volcano Ron.

"Fantastic! I mean, I was completely shocked at how well it went! We'll have him right where we want him in no time!" she smugly, so much you could say that Draco's own arrogance probably could have rubbed off on her. "So. How was Hagrid's?" Her provocative manner immensely suggested that she hoped that something causing discomfort and embarrassment to Ron and herself had occurred, and that she and undoubtedly Harry were in on it. Upon deducing this, Hermione glared reproachfully at the inducing redhead, which Ginny replied even more tantalizing and confident then before.

"Nothing, we all chatted casually about Quidditch, we touched on the Order, Dumbledore, classes, you know, the normal stuff. Nothing unusual happened. Nothing at all!" Hermione was getting annoyed at Ginny, because by her superior expressions Hermione knew that Ginny didn't believe a word that she said. "I'm serious, Ginny," Hermione emphasized.

"Oh, I believe you. Completely," Ginny comforted with the same silly grin and excitement in her eyes as before. "Listen, Hermione," Ginny affirmed seriously, her teasing and arrogant mien gone in a flash, "Do you remember the other day, when we were talking at breakfast about, well--"

"Me and Ron," Hermione reluctantly admitted.

"Um, well, yeah. I don't know where you get this idea, especially since you are absolutely brilliant and all, but, Ron is in no way to good for you, if I have even analyzed our conversations and your puzzling expressions correctly," Ginny confessed earnestly, yet slightly cautious. Knowing that there was no point in denying all of this, and she was too tired to do so anyway, she sighed defeatedly and looked Ginny right in the eye as the assuring girl continued.

"He sees you as much more than a friend I can guarantee, Hermione. I have seen the way he looks at you, and I have also seen the way you look at him," Ginny implored strongly and truthfully. "I probably know my brother better than I know you, and he must have some crackpot excuse, like you, for keeping this quiet. You have to tell him, Hermione! Because if you don't someone is going to get hurt, and bad. I, and I probably can include Harry in this as well, care about you and Ron too much to see either of you get hurt because of stupidity, pride, or whatever the invalid reason might be."

"Wh--"

"No. Don't do anything yet. Just think about it for now," Ginny suggested as she exited through the four-poster coverings, "Good night, kiddo."

Hermione sighed vaguely, "Good night, Ginny."

* * *

Long after Ginny had departed and left Hermione alone and confused in her brilliant yet perplexed mind, Hermione was still awake, mentally debating viciously about the events at Hagrid's cabin, and her involuntary and strange reaction to Hagrid's tantalizing question, or far-fetched suggestion, or Ginny's random advice.

I guess that there is no point in denying this any longer though...I have fallen in love with Ronald Weasley.

* * *