When Ron Attempts to Set Them Up

Throughout the day, Ron seemed strangely cheerful. He grinned throughout Transfiguration, although he couldn't seem to Transfigure a single inch of his quill into an envelope.

He practically skipped towards Potions, and sat calmly smiling through Snape's speech about Weasleys never being capable of any sort of magical talents.

By the end of the day, Hermione was actually a little glad to get away from Ron. It was unnerving, being next to someone grinning from ear to ear for absolutely no reason at all. It was as though he'd done something he was extremely proud of.

She got to the beech tree by the lake with a few minutes to spare. Looking around, she could see that Harry wasn't there yet. She leaned idly against the tree, pondering what kind of news he could want to tell her.

"Hi," came Harry's voice from behind her. She jumped.

"Oh, hi," she said. "You scared me."

"I'm sorry," he said. "Okay, well, I've got something to tell you. You see, I --"

He stopped as a large school owl swooped down and dropped a letter on Hermione's head.

"Oh," Harry said. "Well, go ahead and see what that is. I can wait."

Hermione, more confused than ever, unfolded the parchment.

Dear Hermione,

I want you to know that I love you. Really. As more than a friend, I mean. Please meet me in the common room after dinner.

Love,

Harry

"Huh?" she said aloud. She looked at Harry, who seemed politely puzzled. She looked back at the letter, with its strange, scrawly handwriting. Handwriting that didn't belong to Harry. She looked back at Harry, who was now frowning.

"What is it?" he asked.

"Um..." she said, trying to find the words. She gave up and simply handed him the note. She watched as he read it, and his frown deepened. "Why would you ask me to meet you twice? And... you love me? Just like that?"

"I didn't write this," Harry said. He was chuckling.

"Huh?" Hermione asked desperately. Why was he laughing? She put a hand to her forehead, feeling like she'd been hit with a very strong Befuddlement Charm.

"Look," Harry said, pointing to the letter. "This is Ron's handwriting."

"What?" she asked. Looking more carefully, she realized it was. "But... why..."

"He was trying to set us up!" Harry exclaimed, laughing more openly now.

"But... but..." she said in reply. "Why... what..."

"Never mind," Harry said, handing her back the letter. "I do have something important to tell you, though."

He took her hand is his own, looking down at it and mumbling slightly. "Er, well, this is sort of hard... I don't want you to be afraid of ruining our friendship by turning me down, but... I was wondering... er... will you go to Hogsmeade with me on Saturday?"

"But Saturday is Valentine's Day," she said, still a little confused.

He looked up at her. "I know."

"Then you mean --"

"That I'm asking you on a date?" Harry supplied. "Er, yes."

Hermione was at a loss for words. She smiled, and opened her mouth to accept, but instead she closed it and nodded 'okay'. Harry was about to say something when --

"IT WORKED!" came a shout. Harry dropped her hand in surprise as they both turned to see Ron, exploding from the nearby bushes and jumping up and down. He ran over to them.

"See?" he said. "It worked. My plan worked! That letter, that was actually from me, and that owl - that was a school owl! And now you guys are going on a date! Am I brilliant or what?" He jumped into the air again.

Harry and Hermione looked at each other. Hermione raised her eyebrows. Do we tell him?

He shook his head. No. It doesn't really matter, anyway. They shared a secret smile.

"Yes," Hermione said, turning to Ron. "Yes, it was a brilliant plan."

"Absolutely terrific," Harry added.

"You're welcome," Ron said happily as they turned and started walked back towards the castle. Harry was in the middle, with Hermione on his left and Ron on his right. He looked over at Hermione, who smiled and, somewhat shyly, took his hand. He looked at Ron, who grinned enthusiastically at him.

And, at that moment, he felt extremely lucky to be Harry Potter.