All Bets Are On...

In one of the numerous rooms that the polegerist haunted, Peeves sat with an array of gadgets spread out around him. Most of them were simply useful for playing a few "harmless" pranks ( or as Filch was wont to call them, dangerous catastrophes ) but there had to be something that would help with his latest venture.

Peeves picked up a water balloon and juggled it while he searched through his stach. Cattle prod? No, not a good idea-unless he wanted Harry and Hermione to have a love of the eternal sort-besides, it had never worked quite the same since Proffesor McGonagall had thrown it into the Forbidden Forest and that centaur had bitten on it. Now where was that...aha!

Peeves threw the water baloon he had at one of the portraits, an infuriated and indignant gurgle emitting from the now soaked picture.

With his hands now free, he picked up the object with a reverence usually reserved only for the Bloody Baron himself. Peeves cackled as he swung the thing around the small room, sparks issueing forth from the tip of it.

Sure, it was only half a wand, but still, it was better then nothing. There was no way that other ghost would win against him when he had magic and mischief on his side. Not to mention Moaning Myrtle, who would make sure Ron and Hermione got together and Harry stayed "devilishly single" -until he was of legal age for Myrtle to start pulling him into darkened hallway closets, probably.

Peeves evaporated out of the room, the destruction still there as clearly caused by him as if he had signed his name to it. Once glance around the small place and it was apparent why. The walls had gone from being a somber grey to looking as if a toddler had been allowed to run rampant with a set of paints, all thanks to Peeves careless twirling of the wand.

Peeves and a wand were a bad combination. Peeves and a wand when he had never made it past his third year at Hogwarts were just plain lethal.

And so Peeves had a disasterous, humilating , and terror-strewn night. More accurately, he made thirty different people have a disasterous, humilating, and terror strewn night. Peeves's night couldn't have been better..unless he had managed to find Ron and Hermione. But sadly (for him) and thankfully ( for Hermione and Ron ) he didn't. His plans for those two could wait until that afternoon..and then..

Well, then Peeves would be Peeves.

Moaning Myrtle was making similiar plans of her own. So was Nearly Headless Nick. Too bad Peeves didn't know they both had wands as well.

*************

One person did NOT have a grasp of apparition strong enough that she could float through walls as Peeve's had. Ginny ( and most of the other Gryffindors besides ) was seriously starting to wish that particular person did. Hermione Granger stormed into the girl's dormitories with her hair flying every which way, her nose turned up, her eyes narrowed into tiny slits, and face who's expression stated the next person to so much talk to her would get a punch in the nose.

Ginny sincerly hoped best friends were not included in that category. She decided she would wait for Hermione to cool down a bit before she spoke. The last time she tried to talk directly to Hermione after a fight, she ended up with a mouthful of socks when Hermione threw them furiously.

Slamming her stack of books on the table, Hermione fell still dressed back unto her canopy with a huff.

"So what did you and Ron argue about this time?" asked Parvarti casually from her and Parvarti's bunks, ignoring the warning glances coming from all the girls around the room telling her to shut up.

Hermione refused to budge her face from the feather pillow covering it. "How did you know?" came her muffled voice.

" You stamped up two flights of stairs and slammed five doors just to get here," said Parvarti.

Hermione buried her head deeper into her pillow. "Leave me alone."

A few ears persisted in straining in the direction of Hermione and Ginny, but most of the girls not yet asleep just went back to whispering in hushed tones. It wasn't as if Hermione's and Ron's fights were anything new.

Ginny snuggled into her bed adjacent to Hermione's.

"Hard to talk to you when you're burying your head in the pillow like an ostrich."

Hermione sniffled and muttered again for Ginny to leave her alone, but she did turn her face away from the pillow. Her eyes looked red- Ginny had a sneaking suspicion she had been crying again.

"So. What were you and Ron argueing about this time? " Ginny whispered the same question Parvarti had asked a little while ago.

"Nothing-and everything," groaned Hermione.

"The usual reasons then. Viktor, right? "

"Yeah. Honestly, I don't see why Ron gets so worked up over him. I mean, Viktor is at Hogwarts now. It's not like I can just turn invisible every time I see him coming down the halls," Hermione said angrily.

"Ron does know you don't like Viktor, doesn't he?"

"Of course! Sort of." Ginny raised an eyebrow. "If his brains didn't turn to butterbeer every time Viktor was brought up, he wouldn't have had any trouble understanding me the first twenty times I told him."

"Maybe you were too subtle? "

Hermione grinned wryly. "I don't think so. Not unless you consider screaming in his ear from a few inches away subtle."

"Maybe Ron has his reasons," Ginny pointed out quietly. "You did go with Viktor to the ball last year.."

"Only because no one else asked me first."

"You mean because Ron or Harry didn't ask you first," said Ginny keenly.

Hermione continued on as if she hadn't heard Ginny. "At least Viktor noticed I was a girl right off. It took five hours of me getting slathered in makeup and torturing my hair for the thought to even hit Harry-and until he knew some guy was actually going with me, Ron was just as clueless."

Ron may have been clueless before that the ball, but afterwards he certainly wasn't. It was Ginny's opinion Ron was, in fact, only clueless about the fact there was nothing between Hermione and Viktor.

Hermione continued her rant. "Honestly, Ron's such a-"

"-brainless git," finished Ginny.

Did you know what I caught him doing today? Watching me and Viktor with a pair of binoculars! He's so-"

"Incorrigible," Ginny cut in again.

"Ooh, he just makes me want to-"

"Hit him over the head with a broomstick." Ginny tried to keep from smiling. "You know, it's the same every time."

"No it isn't. Last time you both fought, I seem to remember you throwing a crystal vase," remarked a voice thoughtfully.

Hermione glared in the direction of Lavender."Butt out of it. Go listen in on someone else's conversation."

"EXCUSE me. I wasn't listening-I just overheard. Hard not to when you are only one bed away," Lavender said huffily before turning over on her one side to chat with Parvarti.

She directed one last comment at Hermione over her shoulder. "You know, why don't you just use a megaphone when you yell at Ron?That way he'll go deaf and won't be able to hear every time you talk to Viktor."

"Oh, fat chance that would help" snapped Hermione. "He already acts as if he has cotton stuffed in both ears every time I bring up Viktor-the last thing I need for him to do is go deaf. I rather I go deaf so I don't have to hear every time Ron yells insults at me."

Lavender merely shook her head and went back to chatting with Parvarti.

Hermione "hmphhed" and put her pillow back over her head again, probably because her eyes were beginning to look a bit watery.

Ginny stared at the ceiling. All this fighting between Ron and Hermione was nonsensical. The either needed to be best friends or they needed to start dating. One or the other. Right now, they were halfway between both and it wasn't getting them anywhere.

***********

In the boy's dormitory, Ron was in quite a similiar position to Hermione-except that instead of covering his face with his pillow, he was punching it with venemence.

"You know, if you punch that thing one more time, feathers will explode everywhere?" said Harry by way of conversation.

Ron sighed. "Bugger, Harry, you broke my concentration. I was trying to imagine Krum's face."

George voice echoed from the other side of the room. "First the dismembered figurine, then the autograph which you tore up into little pieces and ate. Now the disturbing mental images..If I didn't know you better, I would almost think you didn't like Krum."

"Oh, I'm sure they are really quite chummy." Fred sarcastically rolled his eyes towards the ceiling. "Why, they'll be walking down the halls arm in arm any day now."

"Talk about disturbing mental image," said George.

Ron was fairly seething. "Not like Krum?That,that,that..."

"Words fail to express his vileness?" asked Harry.

Ron grinned rather nastily. "No, there's too many to choose from."

"What you need is a dartboard with a big picture of Krum dead center," suggested Fred.

"You mean Vicky," stated George. He watched as Ron's eyes turned murderously in his direction...along with his his aim. A pillow hit George square in the face minutes later. Breaking at last, feathers descended lightly all around George's bed. George began gathering them all and dumping them on his dresser, not so much to clean up, Harry figured, as to save them to put in the new, improved canary creams the twins were inventing.

"Shut up George."

"That proves my point. He DOES throw things every time Viktor's mentioned," said George to Fred.

"GOOD NIGHT." Ron closed the drapes around his bed.

It was only after a few minutes had passed, that Harry dared to voice his question, not even sure if Ron would hear it or if he had already fallen asleep.

"Ron? Do you like Hermione?"

He could hear a great intake of breath from Ron's bed. Harry crossed his fingers underneath the blankets. Ron and Harry had had their trying moments in their friendship-just like Ron and Hermione were currently having-but both of them liking Hermione would be the end of all of them being friends. Unless one of them never admitted to liking her. Harry felt quite as miserable as Ron. Either give up her..or give up his best friend. Have two best friends while he was miserable or have one girlfriend while Ron was miserable. He shouldn't have to choose. But he did.

"Don't be silly. You would have to be completely mental to like her..."

Not at all, thought Harry, his spirits rising. Though he was angry Ron was still so dismissive of Hermione, at least now Harry had a shot at her. Maybe he wouldn't have to chose!

"..She sometimes acts like know-it-all, is bossy, sarcastic, has bushy hair, and likes someone else. Any guy would be stark mad to think they had a chance.." Ron's voice dropped so low Harry could barely hear it. "Yeah, I like her."

Harry's optimistic thinking went right back down the road to pesismism. He WOULD have to chose-and it was by no means going to be easy.

Harry didn't trust himself to say anything, so he simply pretended to be asleep and hoped Ron thought he was.

"Okay, enough of this buried emotion stuff. This is coming to an end once and for all," said a sleepy voice. Apparently, George and Fred hadn't gone to bed yet either. Footsteps could be heard on the stone floor before there was the sound of drapes being ripped open.

Harry opened his own drapes to see what was going on. George was pulling Ron by one arm and Fred was pushing him from behind. Seeing Harry, Fred spoke. "You coming, Harry?"

Harry wasn's sure what the twins were planning, but he had a pretty good idea. Visions of Ron and Hermione kissing danced through his head. "Sure."

I don't know what you plan on doing, but may I suggest dumping him in the prefects bath?Because he's just begging for it," said Fred as they dragged a protesting Ron behind them. It was taking all of Fred's, George's, and Harry's efforts just to make Ron budge an inch.

George spoke through gritted teeth as he pulled harder on Ron's nightgown sleeve. "We're going to the girl's dormitories- Lil'ronniekins and Hermione are going to either declare their love for each other or break every last peice of furniture in the room trying to kill each other. Either way, they are both going to apologize for all this bloody stupid fighting."

"Sorry about all this, Ron-but if I were you, I'd go for a bit of both," said Harry as he redoubled his efforts to push Ron further in the direction of the girl's dormitories (Ron, having heard George, was now being more difficult than ever.)

Ron didn't pause to think about the strange meaning behind Harry's words, too busy struggling-and it was just as well he didn't. George and Fred however, did.

**********

Hermione half woke to the noises of someone protesting loudly as he was dragged down the hall just outside the dormitories. The next noise that followed; the sound of a good deal of the Gryffindor girls screaming, woke Hermione all the way.

Stepping out of her bed to see what all the commotion was about, she found herself staring at the entrance to the dormitories, where Fred, George, Harry, and Ron all stood-red faced but resolute.

"What are you doing here?" hissed Hermione furiously when all of the shrieking had died down.

George and Fred roughly pushed Ron forward. "Ask him."

Hermione looked towards Ron. His ears shining red and a furious expression on his face, he didn't say a word. The girls (now almost all awake except for Lavender, who slept with a pair of purple earmuffs so she didn't have to hear Parvarti snore) were watching the scene unfolding intently.

"Ron needs to tell you a few things and being the stubborn git that he is, he would rather be moping in his bed about it," put in George helpfully.

"Now fight fair," said Harry, who would much rather think of them fighting than the none to appealing alternative. "Stand at least five feet apart."

"No punching or throwing glass vases-," said Fred.

"-at us," added George.

Both twins backed up into a corner away from both Hermione and Ron, who were, Hermione noted uncomfortably, the main center of the attention of at least thirty pairs of eyes. Ginny glared at the twins. "Some referees the two of you are."

"Hey, we have our dashing good looks to protect," said George. Ginny rolled her eyes. "And I suppose inventing a more explosive type of dungbomb is doing just that?"

"How did she find out about our invention?That was supposed to be top-secret!" muttered Fred to George.

Meanwhile, Hermione and Ron were just staring at each other. They had just fought and things were awkward between them to begin with-all the people spectator to their awkwardness just served to make them both even more awkward.

"I've got nothing to say to you.."

"Neither do I."

"That explains why you are talking to each other, then," said George impatiently. Fred and George were doing more to get the two to apologize then Harry was, thought Harry with a feeling of guilt. It wasn't that he didn't want his two best friends to be on good terms again, he reminded himself-he just was afraid of what they would do once they were on good terms. Asking each other out was one thing that came to mind..

"Sorry," said Hermione, looking at her unshod feet.

"Yeah," said Ron,rubbing the back of his neck and refusing to look Hermione directly in the eye as much as she was refusing to do the same. He abruptly wheeled around and grabbed his twin brothers's arms. "Okay, we're out of here."

Hermione just stood gaping after them as they turned around and made for the door. "You came all the way up here to just utter one word?"

Ron still didn't look at her. "Pretty much- but then you wouldn't care, would you?Too busy thinking about Vicky to care about some stupid arguement we had, right?"

"No, that's not right at all. Ron..."

But Ron was gone, leaving a Fred, George, and Harry behind.

"If both of your apologies were as long as your arguements, we wouldn't have this problem," said Fred knowingly. Hermione turned towards Harry with a soft look in her eyes that didn't have much of an effect on him-unlike the unexpected effect it had on George, who suddenly felt a bit funny.

"Guess I should say sorry to you too. It can't be fun always being stuck in the middle of our spats."

"Oh, it's not, but it provides the highest quality entertainment short of Snape parading around in his boxers." George grinned.

"Do you mind? I was apologizing to Harry." Hermione glared.

"Apology excepted. Just do me a favor and don't mention Viktor around Ron again-ever."

Harry hadn't meant for his words to come out so clipped, but he couldn't help it. He was mad at Hermione. It wasn't her fault her liked her-or that Ron was too blind to see that she didn't like Viktor, but Harry couldn't help being mad all the same. Why couldn't things go back to the relative uncomplicated way they had been during their first year? When none of them liked anybody-much less each other.

What's with him? thought Hermione. Great. Just what she needed. Harry AND Ron mad at her. The way this is going, I might as well start dying my nails bright pink and start hanging with Lavender and Parvarti-doesn't look like I'll have any other best friends besides Ginny.

George sighed. "Come on Harry, we better hurry and find Ron before he does something stupid."

"Like finally unhinge the door to the Gryffindor Common room?" asked Fred as they left the girl's dormitories.

After the boys were out of earshot, Ginny asked Hermione a question of her own as they each got back into their respective beds.

"Do you..ermm..like my brother?"

Hermione gave a small smile. "Percy? Afraid he's already taken by Mr. Crouch."

"You know who I'm talking about," said Ginny.

"Like Ron??!! Please don't ask me that. At this moment, I positively abhor his very guts!" said Hermione, temporarily forgetting Ginny was Ron's sister.

"Hopefully not in the same way as Malfoy?"

"No-Malfoy's different. I hate him all the time-whereas, I only hate Ron some of the time."

The moment Hermione hit the pillow, she drifted off into a complete and sound sleep.

Ginny reflected on what Hermione had said. It wasn't a direct yes. But it wasn't a direct no either. Ginny would have to think on it.