When You're Good, You're Good

When You're Good, You're Good.

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Harry Potter and Ron Weasley were worried and confused. They had both been through a lot in the past year, but what they were worried about at the moment was a more recent development. One would expect the Boy-Who-Lived to be worrying about the ever present danger of Voldemort, or perhaps that he would lay awake at night feeling depressed over the death of his godfather. With Ron, you could imagine him reliving the memory of his father's own near death, or being scared of the arrival of his OWL results. In truth, what the two sixteen year olds were worried about was none of these things, at least not at the moment. No, this was a worry greater than anything they had ever faced: girls.

"Harry! Hey, what are you doing up?" asked a tousle haired Ron.

"Hey, Ron. I couldn't sleep. I've just been sitting here, thinking. What about you?" Harry handed Ron a butterbeer from the larder and sat down opposite him.

"Same thing, I guess. Harry, could I ask you something? Something personal?"

"Sure, what is it?"

"How do you know when a girl is interested in you? Not just as a friend but as, like, a girlfriend."

Harry chuckled. "How should I know? You saw what a pig's dinner I made of things with Cho last year. I've been wondering the same thing myself, really."

Ron's face lit up. "About who?"

Harry blushed. "You tell me first."

Ron's face fell. "You'll laugh at me."

"No I won't."

"Yes you will."

"I didn't laugh when you told me you were trying out for the Quidditch team, did I? And you succeeded in that, so what's the problem now?"

"Ok, I'll tell you, but you have to tell me about the girl you think is after you. Oh, and you can't tell anyone else, all right?"

"I swear, I will not tell a soul."

"All right, it's Fleur."

Harry nearly spat his butterbeer right into Ron's reddening face. "Fleur Delacour! The girl going out with your brother? Are you mental?"

"Keep it down! Yes, the girl who was dating my brother."

"What do you mean, 'was dating'?"

"I mean they broke up. Bill says she told him she had feelings for someone else but didn't tell him who."

"What makes you think it's you?"

"Well, that's the thing. You know how I've been working at the joke shop, right? Guess who shows up everyday and wants to talk to me all the time."

"Fleur?"

"Got it in one."

"So what? She's a friend of yours, a friend of all of us for that matter. What makes you think she fancies you?"

"Because, when we talk we usually end up back at her place."

"Oh my god! Have you two..."

"No! Of course not. Do you think I'd sleep with her and not tell you? Please! I'd put up a banner! No, she's completely different when you get her one on one. She's really opening up to me, and I feel really comfortable with her. She's even invited me to spend Christmas with her and her family in Cannes."

"Yeah, I guess that could lead you to believe she may have something for you. What are you going to do? She's your brother's ex-fiancée, won't that be awkward? It'll be hard eating Christmas dinner with no teeth."

"I know, I know. I haven't said anything to him yet, that's one of the reasons I can't sleep. Anyway, enough about me, who's the girl giving you the eye?"

Harry shifted uncomfortably in his chair. He wasn't sure how Ron would react to what he had to say. "I'll tell you, but you have to promise me you won't get mad, ok?"

Ron smiled. "It's Ginny, isn't it?"

"What, no, of course it's not Ginny."

"Why the hell not? What's wrong with my sister?"

"Nothing! There's nothing at all wrong with your sister. The girl I'm talking about is Hermione."

"HERMIONE!"

Harry ran to shut the kitchen door. "Shut it, will you! You promised you wouldn't get mad!"

"No I didn't! I asked if it was Ginny. I never promised I wouldn't get mad. What do you mean about Hermione?"

"This is why I didn't want to tell you, Ron. I knew you still had feelings for her."

"Who said I had feelings for her?"

"Oh come on, perfume for Christmas?"

Ron blushed. "Well, ok, maybe I did. I mean do. I don't know. Ever since this stuff started up with Fleur, I haven't really thought about Hermione in that way. We're getting off track though, what makes you think Hermione is so keen on you?"

"Well, there was that kiss she gave me on the cheek at the end of fourth year, and then there was that whole thing with Cho this past year. At the time, I thought Hermione asking me to meet her on Valentine's Day was just a coincidence, but now I'm not so sure. She's been acting funny around me this summer as well."

"What do you mean, 'funny'?"

"Little things here and there. She always grabs my arm when she talks to me, and she gets this look in her eye when I'm talking about another girl. And then, yesterday, she invited me to spend Christmas with her family in Barcelona."

Ron sat in silence while he processed everything that Harry had told him. He hated to admit it, but Hermione did seem to grab onto Harry a lot more than seemed necessary. Plus, Hermione had never asked him about going to Barcelona for Christmas, not that he could since he would be going to Cannes with Fleur. Wait, was he going? He shook his head in an effort to clear his head.

"Harry, what we need is to talk to someone with some experience with women."

Harry nodded. "You're right, Ron. But who could we ask?"

At that very moment, the door to the kitchen opened and Albus Dumbledore strolled in.

"Ah, hello Mr. Weasley, Mr. Potter, I see that I am not the only person suffering from insomnia this evening. Is there any tea?"

Harry walked over to the cabinets and pulled out a jumbo box of Typhoo. Dumbledore's eyes widened.

"Typhoo! My favorite! Well, what are we discussing at this late hour?"

Harry and Ron looked at one another. They both agreed that Dumbledore was a genius in most matters, but this wasn't anything to do with magic. Harry spoke up first.

"It's nothing, just stupid stuff. Well, I'm off to bed. Goodnight!"

Ron stretched and made to follow Harry out the door when Dumbledore spoke again.

"If you've got lady problems I feel bad for you son, I got ninety nine problems but a witch aint one."

The two boys stopped dead in their tracks. What had Dumbledore just said?

"Sorry?" asked Ron.

Dumbledore smiled. "I may be an old man, but I still know some things about the fairer sex. Come, sit down. I may be able to help you."

Harry and Ron sat back down at the kitchen table, still not sure what was going on.

"How did you know what we were talking about, Sir?" asked Harry.

"Well, two sixteen year old boys are hardly going to talk about ice cream in the middle of the night, are they? Mind you, I often lay awake at night thinking about ice cream. Why, just the other night I dreamt that I was naked in a cauldron full of spumoni. I remember I had to pick bits of pistachio out of my..."

"Um, professor, you were talking about helping us with women?" Harry could not bear hearing about where the pistachios were ending up.

"What, oh, yes. Well, there's also the fact that Miss Granger is currently awake in the drawing room upstairs. Putting one and two together, I would assume that you are all three thinking of the same thing. I also assume that Miss Delacour is also awake in her apartment at this very moment."

"How do you know about her?" Ron asked completely astonished.

"Because, my dear boy, I knew you were fated for one another quite a long time ago. Just as I also knew Harry and Hermione would be together. I know a great many things as a matter of fact. Elvis is still alive, did you know that? I did."

"What do you mean; you knew we'd end up with them?" Ron asked still trying to comprehend what Dumbledore was telling them.

"Don't you remember the people I chose to be rescued during the second task in the TriWizard tournament?" Dumbledore asked.

"How could I forget?" Harry said. "Ron was my hostage, Cho was Cedric's, Gabrielle was Fleur's, and Hermione was Viktor's. What does that matter?"

"Wrong on all counts, Mr. Potter."

Harry was even more lost than before. Looking at Ron, he knew that his friend was in much the same condition. What was Dumbledore going on about? What was he wrong about?

"Professor," Harry asked, "what do you mean, 'wrong on all counts'?"

"I mean you are wrong in your partnerships. I never said who the pairings were, did I?"

"Huh?" both boys said in unison.

"Harry," Dumbledore smiled, "what was the gender makeup of the Champions?"

"Three boys and one girl."

"And what was the gander makeup of the hostages?"

"Three girls and one...boy."

"And that means?"

It was as if a light bulb had clicked on over Harry's head. "It means that, all total, there were three boys and three girls."

Dumbledore beamed. "Exactly, Harry, exactly."

Ron was a bit slower on the draw, but was able to pick it up a few seconds later.

"Oh! So, I wasn't really Harry's hostage after all!"

Dumbledore beamed at him. "Precisely, Ron. Can you guess who the pairings really were that I had in mind?"

"Well," Harry started, "I'd guess that mine was Hermione, Ron was Fleur's, but I still don't understand the other half."

Dumbledore chuckled. "Would it help if I told you that Miss Chang and Mr. Krum are dating?"

Harry's mouth dropped open. "You've got to be kidding!"

"I assure you I am not, Mr. Potter. Mr. Krum was recently traded to the Hanoi Hornets of the Global Quidditch League and Miss Chang is in their developmental program."

Harry still couldn't grasp what he was hearing. "Cho and Viktor? Wow, she got over me quick enough didn't she?"

Ron rolled his eyes. "Please, after everything that scar museum put you through? You're much better off seeing the back of that one, believe me. Besides, you've got Hermione now, apparently."

Harry still had some things he didn't understand. "Sir, what about Cedric?"

Dumbledore's smile faded quickly. "Cedric was fated to be with Gabrielle when she got old enough. Sadly, this will now be impossible. Still, she is very young, so she will have many more options for her future happiness. So, what are you boys going to do now?"

Harry and Ron looked at one another; they still had no idea what to do. They both stared pleadingly at Dumbledore, hoping that he would tell them what to do. The smile reappeared on their headmaster's face.

"Harry, I would suggest you stop by the drawing room on your way back to bed. I think you'll find Miss Granger pretending to be reading a book. Since you are no stranger to talking about your emotions with her, I believe the two of you will have a great many things to talk about. Ron, I understand that you are accomplished at the use of floo powder, so I would suggest that you utilize some to go and see Fleur. You will not be waking her, and I know that she will be glad to see you. You have proven to have a great capacity for listening, so I would urge you to hear what she has to say. I believe that you will be pleased with what she tells you."

It didn't take the boys long to heed his advice. Ron quickly ran into the front room and was quickly swirling in the vortex of green flame in the fireplace, on his way to see Fleur. For his part, Harry took the stairs two at a time in an effort to 'inadvertently' stop by the drawing room. Left alone in the kitchen, Dumbledore gave himself a pat on the back. Heading back to his own room, he couldn't help but stop and look at his reflection in the hall mirror.

"You know," he said to his reflection, "when you're good, you're good."