Folk Remedy

Ron didn't know why Hermione even bothered studying in the common room anymore. Fred and George and their friends were creating an uproar as usual. Tonight it resulted from Lee Jordan's placement of a Weasley's Wizard Wheezes advertisement in the school newspaper he edited, but in any case they'd have found an excuse. At least tonight their hijinks hadn't involved any vomiting. Yet.

But there Hermione was, with an even larger pile of textbooks than usual crowding the table where she had settled in. Her occasional cries of frustration kept distracting Ron from his chess game with Dean.

Why doesn't she just go up to the dorm? he wondered as he moved one of his family's loyal old chessmen.

Dean had hand-painted his set himself; it was a match for Ron's as far as faithfulness, but Dean always took longer pondering his moves. As he settled his chin on his hand to think, Ron took a handful of pumpkin-butter popcorn from the bowl they were snacking on and leaned back in his chair.

He was just about to pop it into his mouth when he realised that one of the pieces felt strange, and he looked more closely. A Canary Creme was hidden in the popcorn. "You!!" He picked it out and threw it across the room at whichever of the twins he thought he could hit.

The candy bounced off George's shoulder and went flying. "We almost had you!"

"That's IT! I've HAD IT!" Hermione slammed her book down on the table.

Ron whipped around to look, but as it turned out, she wasn't upset about the noise. "I am going to write to these publishers and complain!!" she declared.

"Why? What's going on?" Ron asked.

"Professor Snape specifically said that 'both' remedies for the Draught of Living Death would be on the test, and none of these books describe more than one!" she ranted. "I found about soaking stingberries and black peppercorns in Dragon Liver Oil for three full moons, but that's all! This one mentions 'the folk remedy' and says it works, but then it doesn't say what it is! It's ridiculous!"

"Well why should they bother saying that? Everybody knows," Ron said.

A moment later he realised his mistake as Hermione locked eyes with him, her glare flashing fire at the suggestion that 'everybody' knew something she couldn't figure out. Fred and George's chorused "Oooh-h-h-h..." served to point out the danger more.

"What do you mean 'everybody knows'?"

"I just thought everybody knew," he said. "How you bring somebody out of a Living Death sleep, I thought Muggles even heard of that..." Her face only darkened as he spoke.

"You're digging yourself in deeper, Ronniekins," Fred warned.

"Why don't you tell her?" George suggested with a mischievous grin.

"Yeah," Lee concurred. "You'll never get a setup like this again!"

Ron felt himself turning red. "Shut up!"

"Are you going to tell me or not!?" Hermione demanded.

He blushed deeper as the twins and their friends and even Dean laughed. "Well, I-- ah--"

"Oh, forget it!" she snapped, slamming another book. "If 'everybody knows,' then I'll just go ask a teacher!" With that she stormed off and out the portrait-hole.

"Hermione, wait!" Ron leapt up so suddenly that he upset the chessboard and dashed after her, getting to the portrait of the Fat Lady just in time to catch it before it closed. He chased Hermione down the hallway and called after her, but only when he caught up enough to grab her shoulder--"Wait a second!"--did she turn around.

"What!?"

"Uh..." Ron stared at her for a long moment; she stared back with hot, questioning eyes. At last he lifted his hand to his face and kissed his fingers, then clapped them lightly onto her cheek.

Her eyes opened wider in bewilderment, then wider still at the realisation: the folktale remedy for that deep sleep, which even Muggles were told about as children... "Ohhh!!"

"Blimey, Ron!!"

The two of them turned around to see Fred and George leaning out the portrait hole, watching them.

"What was that all about??"

"You didn't even have the nerve to really kiss her!?"

"SHUT UP!" he snapped. "You weren't supposed to be--!!"

"Oops, Ronnie, she's getting away!"

Ron whipped around; Hermione was again hurrying down the hall, this time with her hands to her face. "Hermione, wait!" he called, and ran after her.