The Perfect Plan

The three-foot waves crashed relentlessly into the boat. The small two-seater tipped from side to side, allowing water to slosh in and threaten to capsize the craft. A low voice suddenly cut through the deep mist.

"Harry," it whispered to him.

"Harry." It was getting louder. The voice crept toward his ear, repeating his name as the boat continued to rock ferociously.

"Harry!"

Harry opened his eyes to the sight of his best friend bouncing up and down next to him on his bed.

"I've been trying to wake you up forever!" Ron exclaimed. "Come on, mate. We can't be late for breakfast."

Harry glanced at his friend and grumbled to himself as he sat up. He climbed out of bed, grabbed his clothes and went off to the bathroom. Something is up, he thought. Ron was not known as an early riser - in fact, he usually needed to be dragged from bed. Harry headed back to the bedroom, grabbed his books and headed out the door, meeting up with his roommates in the common room.

"Alright, Ron. Spill it."

"Sorry?" The redhead looked at his friend, a puzzled expression on his face.

"Why are you so happy this morning? You are never the first one awake."

Ron's eyes widened slightly and he looked away, moving toward the portrait hole. "No reason. Let's go. I'm hungry."

The group left the common room for the Great Hall, arriving a few minutes later. Harry and Ron sat down across from Dean, Seamus, and Neville and they filled their plates. Dean and Seamus began to shovel food in their mouths like they had been starved for days. Neville and Harry ate at a slower, but still fast pace. The exception today was Ron, who would take a few bites and then search the room with his eyes.

Seamus and Dean started to argue the merits of bacon versus sausage, drawing the attention of most of the students at their end of the table. This gave Harry the opportunity to study Ron more closely. He saw that the redhead's attention was clearly focused on...the Slytherin table? Something was definitely off.

Ron appeared to be oblivious to the scrutiny Harry had him under. He was eating automatically, staring across the Great Hall. Harry had been watching Ron out of the corner of his eye since they entered the hall and was surprised as his friend's eyes followed a group of girls as they entered the room and sat down at the Slytherin table. Looking over at that group of sixth years, Harry didn't see anything out of the ordinary. Still, Ron seemed to have his eyes glued to them.

Fiona had started her day like any other. She ignored the curious glances of her roommates, who were in agony with the desire to know what had happened the night before. She had expertly dodged the questions to this point. Sitting in her usual spot at the table, she was able to watch Draco as she ate her breakfast and wondered when she could meet him again.

The Great Hall filled with noise as the post arrived. Owls flew around, searching for their targets. Fiona was surprised when a school owl landed in front of her with a package and note. The note was short and simple.

Please meet me in the Entrance Hall after classes. I can't wait to see you again.

Grinning wildly, Fiona pulled on the string to open the package. As the string fell away, the box opened and a beautiful bouquet of flowers emerged. Pink roses, fragile heather, and delicate lily-of-the-valley were artfully arranged in a crystal vase.

"Oh, how lovely!"

The girls of the table crowded closer to smell the fragrance. Fiona's smile widened further. She leaned back to allow Grace room to sniff and as she did, she looked down toward the head of the table. Draco was staring at the flowers and as she watched, his gaze moved to her. He nodded slightly and returned his attention to his breakfast.

How sweet, Fiona thought. He is acting shy!

She decided to take the bouquet to her room rather than carry it to her classes, as much as she would like to do so. She grabbed the vase and her bag and left the Hall. A moment later, she heard a voice behind her calling her name. She turned to find a redhead, a Gryffindor, a Weasley running to catch her.

"Fiona!" He was out of breath from the running and gasped out her name.

"Yes?"

"How are you?"

"Is there something you wanted, Weasley? I've got to get this back to my room."

Ron looked shocked by the cool tone she was using. "I wanted to give you this," he said, pulling a perfect pink rose from his bag.

"Did you get knocked over the head, Weasley? I don't need your flower. I have plenty right here." She gestured toward the bouquet. "And only one flower? Hope you didn't have to sell anything too important to buy that."

Ron stood in front of her with his mouth open. After Fiona finished speaking, it took a moment for him to respond.

"But, Fiona..."

She cut him off. "Great try, Weasley. But you need to work on your timing." She turned toward the staircase with a little wave and walked away.

Ron stood motionless as she left. He didn't understand what had just happened. Were there too many people around? Did she want to meet in secret? Hopefully she would explain everything when they met after class.

Classes seemed to fly by and in no time Fiona found herself in the Entrance Hall. Maybe she should have taken Dara's advice and been fashionably late, but Fiona was too excited. She was the first out of History of Magic and had raced down the corridors. She stood off to the side, watching as other students wandered through on their way to enjoy the late autumn day.

"Fiona!" She heard a voice behind her and turned in anticipation only to find...

"Weasley. What do you want now?"

"Sorry I'm late. Would you like to take a walk by the lake?" Ron asked.

"What do you mean, you are late? Did you actually think I was here to meet you? You really don't know when to give up, do you? And that's twice today I've seen you without that know it all friend of yours. Are you looking to upgrade?"

They heard a laugh from the staircase and saw Draco watching them as he approached. He caught Fiona's eye and gestured for her to follow him out the door. She smiled and turned back to Ron.

"Now if you will excuse me, I have important people to meet with. Why don't you run along and find your friends? I'm certain that they are having trouble functioning without you." With that, she walked out after Draco.

Ron was certain that he looked like an idiot as Fiona left him standing alone. After everything she had said last night, there was no way he could have misinterpreted her intentions. The only conclusion was that this was part of some elaborate joke and shortly it would be all over the school how a Slytherin had made him chase after her.

However, that didn't begin to express the depth of feeling he was currently experiencing. He barely knew her, yet at this point she was consuming his thoughts. He was tempted to say he was in love, but Ron did not believe in love at first sight so he refused to label what he was feeling as love.

With his shoulders slumped over, Ron walked slowly back to Gryffindor Tower, collapsed on his bed and fell asleep.

Harry had watched the scene silently and undetected with a mixture of dread and curiosity. His best friend was practically throwing himself at a Slytherin? He was happy that his friend was showing such tremendous interest in someone after his short, yet tumultuous relationship with Hermione and he was glad that Ron was taking the initiative in approaching her. On the other hand, Harry was tempted to drag Ron up to the Hospital Wing and have him committed. Why her when so many other girls had shown interest in the Gryffindor Keeper?

Draco had waited for Fiona outside the door and the pair walked down to the shore of the lake.

"Austin."

"Malfoy. Something I can help you with?" Somehow in all of the anger she felt towards the Gryffindor she had forgotten that she was speaking to Draco Malfoy of all people and her shyness was not present. So this is what it feels like, she thought to herself.

"Just wanted to congratulate you for what you said to the Weasel back there. I could not have said it better myself." He sat down beside her, so close that she could smell the cologne he was wearing, reminding her of pine forests and flying. She closed her eyes and breathed deeply.

"Why, thank you." The two sat in silence for a few moments, watching the sun slowly set across the lake. Fiona did not want to break the mood by mentioning the night before, so she decided to let Draco make the first move. Apparently he felt as comfortable with the quiet as she did and neither spoke. Just as the sun lost its struggle to remain in the sky, Draco stood up and held out his hand to help Fiona to her feet.

"Must be time for dinner. Shall we go?"

"Thank you." She allowed him to pull her up and they walked together toward the castle.

Just as they reached the steps, Draco grabbed Fiona's arm and stopped her. "Fiona, next weekend is a Hogsmeade weekend. We should go together. Then we could think up more insults for the Weasel over a Butterbeer or two. What do you say?"

Fiona could only nod her response, afraid if she opened her mouth to speak she would stutter over the words. They entered the castle and made their way to the Great Hall for dinner, both of them smiling. One with a star-struck smile and the other with a malicious grin.

The following two weeks brought few changes to Hogwarts, except in one crucial area. After seeing her receive the flowers and stand up to Weasley in the Entrance Hall, Draco had realized that Fiona existed. He walked with her to meals in the Great Hall (even though they sat with their own friends) and waited for her between classes if his class was nearby. They sat together in the common room working on their homework. Fiona was in heaven.

Ron spent the same two weeks in a state of depression. He refused to eat much and snapped at Hermione more than usual when she showed concern. He began to answer Harry's questions with grunts and single phrases and even declined to play Exploding Snap with his roommates. When Harry found him vomiting in the bathroom one morning, he finally had enough. He sat down on the edge of his bed and waited to confront Ron.

Ron stumbled out of the bathroom and collapsed on his bed groaning and holding his stomach. Harry locked the door to the dormitory and walked to his friend's side. He sat on the end of the bed and began to question his friend.

"Ron, what is wrong?"

"Go away." Ron's voice was muffled by his pillow.

"I'm not leaving until we talk. And neither are you."

Ron raised his head and glared at Harry. "Who turned you into my mother?"

"Well, if that's what it takes to get you to talk to me - that's the most you've said to me in a week. You are not eating, barely sleeping, and now this," he said gesturing to the bathroom. "Tell me what is going on. Have you seen Madam Pomfrey?"

The redhead sighed and rolled over to his back. "I don't know what is wrong. I feel like a troll has hit me. I ache all over but especially here," he stated pointing at his chest.

This alarmed Harry. He remembered an advertisement he had seen on the television during the past summer that listed the symptoms of a heart attack. He jumped up and began to mutter under his breath about heart attacks, stretchers and the Hospital Wing. Ron reached over and grabbed his arm as he paced back and forth.

"No, Harry. That's not what I mean."

"Then explain it to me before I get McGonagall up here and get you to the Hospital Wing." Harry took a deep breath and willed himself not to panic.

"I feel like my heart has been ripped out, stomped on, and put back in."

Harry stopped pacing and stared at his best friend in astonishment. "This is about HER? You've been acting like this for weeks and it is all about a bloody Slytherin? You've got to be joking. You are not acting like yourself at all."

"I know it's stupid, Harry. But I can't explain it any other way."

"And now are you making yourself sick over it? Are you sure nothing else is going on?"

"I don't know anymore. Will it make you feel better if I go to the Hospital Wing after classes?" Ron pleaded with Harry to drop the subject.

"I think it would make all of us feel better. Hermione is worrying herself sick over you."

Ron looked at his friend and nodded. He knew that his friends had been worried and if getting checked out would ease their minds it was the least he could do. He would go to the Hospital Wing straight after classes were over.