Our Ickle Ronniekins

Ships: R/Hr, H/G hinted, and D/Hr hinted.

"Checkmate."

"Well I guess you’ve won again"

Ron had just finished up a nice game of chess with Harry. Ron won once again, and Harry had gotten quite used to him winning all the time. Suddenly, their friend Hermione appeared in the Gryffindor common room, a sack of books slung over her shoulder.

"I guess it’s studying time," said Ron as Hermione put her books on the table and flopped on the couch.

"Yea, well, you would have trouble studying too if your room was full of giggling girls," Hermione said hotly. She didn’t look like she was in the best mood.

"Sorry," retorted Ron, "Just trying to make conversation." He suppressed his need to shout.

"Well you aren’t very good at it!" exclaimed Hermione. She stood up, pointing her finger at Ron. "All you ever do is try to make jokes when people are serious!"

"Don’t you know…"

"… it’s rude to point?" Fred and George Weasley descended the boy’s staircase,

looking as identical as they ever did. "We know you love our Ickle Ronnikins," suggested Fred or George.

"I do not!" Hermione shouted. "Accio soda" was the next thing out of her mouth. A glass of soda came flying into the room. Hermione took a sip, her throat raw from arguing.

Fred and George looked at each other. "She’s in denial," they said in unison. Ron blushed profusely. Fred and George sat on either side of Hermione. Ron, not fancying looking like a fool and just standing there, sat in an armchair.

Harry looked at them all. "I think this is my cue to exit stage left," he said as he finished putting away the chess set. He went up the staircase to his dormitory.

"Hermione you’re quite confusing," Ron said. "You get mad at me for making conversation, but when Harry jokes around you think nothing of it. What’s up with that?"

"Are you out to get him?" said George "Or do you just like him so much you don’t want him to go away, even if it means you have to verbally abuse our little brother?"

"I’m not verbally abusing him!" Hermione responded. Then she stopped shouting, and a feeling of peace washed over her. She suddenly felt quite tired. She fell into a deep sleep, snoring loudly.

"Wow, I didn’t know Madam Pomfrey’s sleeping potion worked in soda!" exclaimed Fred. "So, Ron, how ya doin’?"

"Um… okay… I guess…" His voice trailed off. He looked at Hermione.

"Well then, let’s get down to business," George said. "Do you fancy her?"

"Uh… no?" Ron blushed again. "Why would I tell you? Give me one good reason." His voice came back.

Fred and George looked at each other. "If I didn’t know better I’d think he fancies her," they said at the same time.

"I do not!" Ron shouted.

"Yea whatever. We know you do," Fred said.

"Have you got any proof?" Ron asked. He had only told one, well, thing his feelings about Hermione. His jaw dropped in horror when that thing materialized itself out of George’s pocket.

"Dear Diary," George began, "I saw Hermione again today. I caught her eye in Potions, and she smiled at me. It was wonderful. Then I spilled the mixture Harry and I were working on and that slimy git Snape assigned me extra homework. But it was okay because Hermione helped me on it." George sighed, then snapped the book shut and stuffed it into a pocket of his robe.

"This is a joke!" exclaimed Ron. "A bloody joke! I’ll bet there’s not even sleeping potion in that soda!" He took a swig. Suddenly, he felt very tired. He drifted off into a dreamless sleep.

Fred and George looked at each other. "Time to get to work."

* * * * *

Ron awoke later on that evening. He kept his eyes shut, because he didn’t want to get blinded by the light. ‘I guess it wasn’t a joke, they really did taint Hermione’s soda,’ he thought. He felt like falling back asleep because his bed was so comfortable…

He sat up with a start. "What am I doing in my bed?" he questioned no one in particular. The last thing he remembered was George reading an excerpt from his diary to him about his misadventures in Potions, and getting quite ticked at him and George. He knew he was in the common room last. How the heck did he get in his bed? All of a sudden he felt something pulling him back down. He looked over and saw Hermione grabbing his robe, still fast asleep. ‘Today is not my day,’ he thought. He climbed out of bed, quiet not to wake Hermione, and crept out of his dormitory. In the hall he encountered Fred, George, and Harry.

"What were you thinking?" he shouted at Fred (or George, he couldn’t tell). "What happened?"

"Oh, nothing, nothing at all," Fred said with mock innocence.

"Just a little surprise," said George. Ron was furious.

"Ron, while you were asleep, we had a little fun reading a certain book by a certain author," Harry said.

"You’re in on this, too?" Ron asked Harry. "Today is seriously not my day." He wished he could disappear, which was possible at Hogwarts, even probable, but he knew it wouldn’t happen, not with his luck.

"Ron," Harry began, "do you like Hermione?"

"What?" Ron said. He really didn’t want to answer this question with Fred and George there.

"You heard me. Do. You. Like. Hermione?"

"Why would I like her?" Ron said involuntarily. "I mean, she’s stubborn, she studies in her spare time, she’s annoying, we always argue… Yea, I like her."

Suddenly they heard a scream in Harry and Ron’s dormitory. "Strange," said Fred. "That sounded quite like Hermione." The twins and Harry burst out laughing. "What did ya do, leave her in there?"

"Uh… well don’t you think she would get the wrong idea if I woke her up?" Ron said.

"Ron, I think she’s already got the wrong idea," George said.

Hermione jumped out of bed and stomped her way down the hallway. "WHAT IN GOD’S NAME HAVE YOU DONE THIS TIME RON?!?!" She didn’t look quite happy.

Ron was taken aback, though he knew he should have expected her to suspect he was to blame. Nevertheless, "I didn’t do it!" was all he could manage at the moment.

Fred came to the rescue, so to speak. Fred walked up to Ron and started searching in his collar. "I know it’s in here somewhere," Fred said.

"What do you think you’re doing?" Ron asked.

"Aha! I found it!" Fred exclaimed. He held something is his hand which was no more that a centimeter wide. He said something, and the something in his hand grew to full size.

"It’s a tape recorder," George said to Hermione as if she didn’t know what it was. "We bewitched it so it would work at Hogwarts." Fred pressed rewind, then after a few seconds pressed play.

"Ron, do you like Hermione?"

"What?"

"You heard me. Do. You. Like. Hermione?"

"Why would I like her? I mean, she’s stubborn, she studies in her spare time, she’s annoying, we always argue… Yea, I like her."

Fred pressed stop on the recorder. "I think we should leave you two alone," he said. Fred, George, and Harry walked down the hall, laughing all the way.

* * * * *

"Ron, what kind of joke is this?" Hermione questioned. "I know that Fred and George did their thing, putting us to sleep and, well, you know. But do you think I’m that tricked that easily? Do you think I would actually believe you? Even if you told me to my face that you liked me I wouldn’t believe you."

"Hermione…" Ron approached her.

"Don’t you dare ‘Hermione’ me!" Hermione was livid.

"Hermione… I- it’s not a joke," he stammered. Then he blushed. ‘Curse my pale skin!’ he thought as he felt he blood in his face. He was a couple feet away.

"Oh and now you deny the fact it’s a joke! Don’t you think you’re carrying it on a little far?"

"I told you it’s not a joke!" Their noses were an inch away. He put his arms around her.

"Get your hands off me!" she exclaimed.

 

"Hermione… if you would just shut up and let me explain."

"Ron you slimy little –"

She was cut off as he kissed her. He looked at her. "Hermione, if you don’t believe me now I’ll walk away and just forget about this. If you do, though, would you at least tell me?"

Hermione was quite surprised, but she knew it was all good. She put her arms around him and kissed him back. "I believe you, Ron."

* * * * *

Harry got out of his armchair, tired of waiting for Ron and Hermione. He could hear her shouting before, but he couldn’t hear Ron. Now he heard nothing, so he decided to investigate. "C’mon Fred, George, let’s go." The trio crept up the stairs, trying to keep quiet so they wouldn’t interrupt whatever was going on. What they saw shocked and amazed them. Hermione and Ron… kissing? Harry cleaned off his glasses to make sure he was seeing this right. He was. He looked at Fred and George, whose faces were scarlet trying to hold in their laughter. They didn’t succeed. Their laughter came out quite loud. Ron, knowing he was spotted, blushed again, but he didn’t let go.

Fred cleared his throat. "Sorry," he said. "We didn’t mean to ruin the moment." He walked up to Ron and slapped his back. "Awww, our ickle Ronnikins, he’s growing up into such a big boy! I remember when you were just a little bugger, and when you ate Mum’s shopping list and blamed it on Ginny."

"Those were the days," George said.

"I never ate Mum’s shopping list!" Ron exclaimed. "And quit calling me that, whatever it means."

"You’re right," Fred said. "You didn’t. But it was still funny." He sighed. "Well this is all great fun, but I feel we really must dash. Ciao." The twins and Harry left the new couple in the hall.

"Hermione," Ron said, "What was the Potion’s essay from this morning?"

"Um… we were to write about the various Upside- Down Potions and how they were useful during the Renaissance."

"I should probably do that, shouldn’t I?" Ron said.

"Oh my gosh, I totally forgot!" Hermione suddenly shouted. "I didn’t finish studying! What if your brother’s did something to my textbooks? Oh, I could murder them sometimes!" She swept out of the room, leaving Ron, surprised, in the corridor.

He started after her. "Some things never change," he said to himself. When he reached the common room, he saw a small brown book on the armchair, which he pocketed.