The Beauty of First, Er, Second Love

The Beauty of First, Er. Second Love

Ch. 4

Ron plunked down in his seat as Harry and Hermione sat next to him. He drew his very messy homework from his bag and smoothed it out as best he could, then turned to talk to Harry, who was still flipping through his book.

Ron wasn't sure what to think about this pen pal now. All he did know what that he desperately wanted to know who it was. There had to be some way to find out without her knowing he knew...

He drew his attention to the front of the room as Professor Williams called for order.

Professor Williams was something of a wonder to the students. He was exceedingly good at his job, albeit not as good as Remus Lupin had been. He was, however, a Muggleborn wizard, and some of the spells and hexes he knew astounded even the Slytherins, whom were rumoured to know the Darkest of the Dark. He never taught the Darker ones to his classes, just let them know he knew them. It had prevented even Malfoy and his goons from taunting him.

Professor Williams waited until all talking had ceased, then smiled and called, "Good morning! Mr. Weasley, please collect the homework and put it on my desk. The rest of you, take out your wands for today's lesson. Today, we will be learning the Adficio Curse. Now, can anyone tell me..."

The professor's voice went on, but Ron tuned it out as he collected the homework. He made sure to check each girl's handwriting to see if he recognized it. Gryffindor had Defense with the Hufflepuffs, so it was a possibility.

He collected Ernie Macmillan's homework, then moved to Hannah Abbott, who said, "Here you go, Ron!" and smiled at him, her cheeks reddening.

Ron froze, his hand still outstretched for Hannah's paper. No, it couldn't be...

Hannah was watching Ron, a concerned expression on her face. She looked at him carefully, and said, "Ron? Are you quite all right?"

Ron was still frozen, Hannah's voice ringing in his ears. The voice that, strangely, sounded similar to the voice that had recited the poem from his very first letter. A part of it rang in his ears now.

-then let thy heart

From its present pathway part not!

Being everything which now thou art,

Be nothing which thou art not.

Hannah was now standing up, worry etched on her pretty face. She reached out for him, saying, "Ron? Do you need to go to the Hospital Wing? Ron?"

Ron shook himself, stuttering, "N-no. I'm fine, really. Just, um, got a bit hot for a second, is all."

Hannah still looked worried, and asked, "Are you sure? You looked as though you'd almost seen a ghost for a second!"

Ron shook his head, backing away from her. Hannah? Hannah Abbott was his Secret Admirer? It was unfathomable. Yet she matched the criteria, and it had definitely been her voice he had heard reciting the poem.

He looked down at the homework he had received from her. It wasn't the same writing, but so what? It was definitely Hannah! It had been her voice in the poem, and he knew for a fact that she loved anything purple. Plus, he knew that Hufflepuff had Charms with the Slytherins right after lunch on Wednesday, which had been yesterday. Bloody hell.

It took Ron a second to realize that the professor was calling his name.

"Mr. Weasley? Mr. Weasley?! MR.WEASLEY!!"

Ron jerked out of his thoughts to see the rest of the class, Hannah included, staring at him, looking very concerned.

"Professor, I think he needs the Hospital Wing," Hannah was saying. "He took my homework and looked as though he had seen a banshee or something!"

She was trying to steer Ron towards the door, no doubt to take him to the Infirmary, when Hermione got up and moved over to him.

She snapped her fingers in his face, but nothing happened. Sighing in exasperation, she pulled out her wand and muttered something. A small stream of water hit Ron square in the face, and he began spluttering. He reached up a hand and wiped away water, asking Hermione in a furious voice, "What the bloody hell are you doing, trying to drown me?!"

Hermione replied sharply, "No! And watch your language, especially in front of a teacher!"

Ron paled, then began stammering apologies to Professor Williams, who simply shook them off, responding with, "No matter, Mr. Weasley. Are you quite all right? Do you need the Infirmary?"

Ron shook his head and managed to pry Hannah off himself. He looked at the worried faces and said, "No, I'm okay. Just, um, a little hot under the collar for a minute, is all." Nobody looked reassured, so he persisted, "Really, I'm fine. See?"

He made his way to the front of the room and placed the homework on Professor Williams' desk.

The worry was still present in many faces, but when he returned to his desk, seemingly without error, a few relaxed. Hermione, however, looked as though she wasn't quite convinced, and he knew he'd have to tell her what was up after class.

Finally, Williams cleared his throat and said, "Right. Well, I suppose we can move on to today's lesson now."

Striding to stand in front of the class, he said, "Right. Now, Mr. Weasley, you might have missed the finer points of the Adficio Curse, so I'll explain it to you. It's a very powerful, very useful curse. It causes the body to weaken greatly, sometimes to the point of becoming sick. The Death Eaters used this curse frequently when You- Know- Who was in power last time. It makes you unable to do anything, and if left on a person long enough, you could quite possibly die. Any questions?"

Ron shook his head as Williams moved to his desk and called on Dean to come help demonstrate the curse. Everyone watched as Williams pointed his wand at Dean and said, "Adficio!"

Dean slowly sank to the floor, his limbs obviously getting harder to move as he sank further. Finally, Dean was on the floor completely and Williams removed the curse. Dean got to his feet, his limbs still not functioning very well. He moved to his desk, seemingly much slower than he usually did.

"Yes, that's another thing. You'll feel a bit weak for a few minutes after the curse has been lifted. Perfectly normal, and quite expected. Only a couple really powerful wizards won't feel quite as weak. Now, anyone else?"

To Ron's surprise, Harry raised his hand. Williams was obviously pleased and he nodded, ushering Harry to the front of the room.

"Adficio!" cried Williams.

Harry began sinking, but unlike Dean, he managed to stay standing a bit longer. He lowered to the floor in what seemed hours, and when he was finally down completely, Williams removed the curse.

Harry climbed to his feet, but nowhere near as slow as Dean had done. In fact, Harry moved rather quickly, which surprised Williams. He was back to his desk in the same amount of time it had taken Dean to begin moving to his desk.

It was apparent in the way Williams stood he hadn't expected anyone to move that quickly afterward.

Clearing his throat, he asked for any other volunteers, and Ron found himself raising his hand. When Williams called on him, he moved to stand with the professor. Bracing himself, he waited for the curse to hit.

Williams pointed his wand and said the curse.

Ron experienced a feeling like one he had never felt before. It was as if he had suddenly turned to Jell-o; his limbs were quivering as though he'd never used them before. He was sinking to the floor the exact way Dean had. He fought furiously, trying to stay on his feet, but it seemed he was accomplishing nothing. He felt absolutely helpless when he continued sliding towards the floor.

Finally, when he was completely down, Williams removed the curse. Ron sluggishly got to his feet; his limbs still feeling a bit foreign to him. He moved a bit hesitantly at first, but got his strength back enough to move quicker than Dean, although not as fast as Harry.

"Excellent, Potter, Thomas, Weasley! Five points to each of you! Now, any Hufflepuff volunteers?"

Ernie, Hannah and Zacharias Smith all had the curse put on them. Ron watched carefully, knowing exactly the helpless feeling they were no doubt experiencing. When Hannah, the last one to be cursed, finally managed to get up and move to her desk, Williams called, "Good, good! Five points to Abbott, Macmillan and Smith as well! Now, for homework, I want each of you to discuss what you saw each person experience. It should be at least a foot in length. Class dismissed!"

Ron quickly collected his books and moved to the door. Unfortunately, Hannah was right in front of him, and upon noticing Ron behind her, asked, "Are you sure you're okay, Ron?"

Ron nodded, a blush spreading across his cheeks. "Yes, I'm fine. Just got a bit warm, is all. I'll be okay."

Hannah nodded, looking relieved, then said, "Good, I was worried. Well, see you later, Ron!" She moved away from Ron, talking to Susan Bones as she went.

Ron looked at Hermione, who he could tell was itching to find out what had happened in Defense, and said, before she could ask, "At lunch, okay? Let's just get to lunch first."

Hermione didn't say anything, just began moving towards the Great Hall. Harry followed, and they talked about the effects of the curse as they went. Harry said he'd felt exactly the same way Ron had, like a helpless pile of Jell-o, nothing more.

"I hate feeling like that, Ron. Hate it," Harry said, clenching his fists.

Ron agreed, saying, "Yeah, I know mate. I tried to fight it, but-"

"It didn't really seem to make much difference, huh?" Harry said quietly, and Ron could see Harry hated admitting a weakness like that.

"Don't worry, mate, wasn't your fault. No one could fight it that hard, but I think Williams reckons you did the best out of any of us," Ron reassured, and Harry gave a slight sound of agreement.

They had reached the Great Hall by then, and moved to sit down. After allowing Ron to pile beef casserole on his plate, Hermione immediately started with, "Okay, Ron, now what was that all about in class just now? And don't say you were just a bit warm, it won't work."

Ron launched into an explanation of what had happened when he had reached Hannah, and Hermione looked a bit skeptical. Harry looked thoughtful, but before he could say anything, Hermione remarked, "But that doesn't mean it's her for sure. Let's go over the list of stuff your Admirer likes."

She pulled the list out of her bag and quickly checked it over. "Okay, she has Charms after lunch on Wednesdays, likes purple and blue, also reading, Astronomy, dragons, unicorns and mermaids. Oh, and she's a half blood. Now, how much of that is true for Hannah?"

"Well, she loves purple. And she does have Charms Wednesdays after lunch. I've seen her in the library reading all the time. Plus, I know she's a half blood. So maybe it is Hannah..."

Hermione looked sideways at Ron, asking "So? Do you like Hannah? Would you reject her?"

Ron looked thoughtful for a second, finally answering, "I like Hannah, and I'd try to be nice, but I don't know if there could be a relationship there..."
"Well, I think you should give it a chance, maybe. Who knows, it might turn out to be the best thing for both of you."

Ron looked at Harry, shocked that he thought so. Harry, on his part, looked back at Ron calmly, pulling a dish of treacle towards his plate.

Ron considered for a few minutes. Hannah was very pretty, and a very smart witch. She'd quit wearing her hair in pigtails just that year as well. Ron didn't really know her, but maybe...

He sighed. "Okay, okay, I'll give it a shot. Let me just get Luna to give her a note." Ron drew parchment from his bag and scrawled a note which said:

Pen pal,

I think I know who you are now. I only realized it today in Defense Against the Dark Arts. It just kind of hit me; I recognized your voice on the poem that was in the first letter. I was very surprised let me tell you. You were the last person I would have suspected. But don't think I don't like you; I've really never talked to you. If you'd like, we could meet...?

Ron

Ron sealed the letter and got to his feet. He made his way to the Ravenclaw Table and deposited the note beside Luna's plate. She turned to look at him, eyes wide.

"I've figured it out, Luna. It's Hannah Abbott, isn't it? It wasn't too obvious, but I realized I recognized her voice in Defense Against the Dark Arts today. She was reciting the poem, wasn't she?"

Luna's mouth was opening and closing, but no sound was forthcoming.

Ron held up a hand, saying, "No, never mind, it's okay. Just tell her I know now, and that I will meet her if she wants to."

Without giving Luna a chance to respond, he made his way back to the Gryffindor Table. Picking up his bag, he said, "Guys, we have to go. Care of Magical Creatures now."

"Okay," said Hermione, swinging her own bag over her shoulder. "Are you okay, Ron?"

"Hmmm? Oh, yes, I'm fine, I'm just surprised it's Hannah, is all. I mean, wow! She's one of the prettiest witches, you know. Not that that's the only reason I'm meeting her," he rushed on, seeing Hermione's expression, "I just don't really know her, so I told her we could meet up if she likes."

Hermione nodded, and the Trio made their way to Hagrid's Hut. When they got there, lots of students were already there. The Slytherins were bringing up the rear several feet behind the three. Hagrid, seeing this, called, "Alrigh' hurry up there! Got a nice surprise fer yeh today!"

The last of the Slytherins finally arrived, and Hagrid said, "Good! Now, let's go to the lake!"

The students moved toward the lake cautiously; they were wary of any creature Hagrid said was a 'nice surprise.'

When they reached the lake, Hagrid moved towards the water, stopping when he was in up to his calves. He began splashing on the surface, making a strange cooing noise at the same time. He did this repeatedly.

Hermione suddenly gripped Ron's arm tightly. He tried to shake her off, but she whispered, "It's the Giant Squid! Hagrid's calling the Squid!"

Ron turned sharply at the lake, and indeed, a large tentacle was waving in the air as though greeting the students hello.

Ron gasped. Hagrid was still cooing and splashing, seemingly drawing the Squid closer.

"Righ'! If you'll just get a bit closer, then... this here's Midas! Been here at Hogwarts since I was a student me self, and a fair bit before tha'. He don't bite," Hagrid added, seeing as none of the students had come any closer.

Harry moved up, and Ron, being the friend he was, followed close behind. A hand clutched his arm, and he realized Hermione was moving closer as well.

Hagrid beamed, calling, "Righ', Harry, Ron, Hermione! Just a bit closer, tha's good. Yeh migh' wan' to take off yer shoes an' socks. Wouldn' hurt to roll up yer pants and take off yer robes, either. Yeh migh' have to get in the water a bit. Bu' it's safe, don' worry," he added, seeing them halt quickly.

The three removed the garments and the boys rolled up their pants. They slowly waded into the water, all three thanking Merlin that it was April, and therefore not quite as cold.

The Squid seemed to sense their presence and was very carefully making its way

a fraction of an inch closer to the three at a time.

"Okay, righ' then, one at the time or he'll get spooked. So who'll go first?"

Ron volunteered by falling into the water with an unceremonious splash. Harry and Hermione quietly chuckled as Hagrid said, "Good on you, Ron! Jus' move a little bit at a time out in the water an' he'll come to you. That's it, that's it, " he said, as Ron slowly moved out further.

The Squid suddenly seemed to realize Ron wasn't a threat; he moved closer quickly and reached a tentacle out. Ron froze, and the Squid touched the tentacle to his head, almost as if petting his hair. It moved downward to his shoulder, where it gave what was unmistakably a squeeze. Ron relaxed slightly, and the tentacle moved to wrap gently around his waist. Ron stiffened, and suddenly his eyes popped wide as the Squid jerked him out of the water and dangled him over the water in a deeper part.

Ron yelped as a huge, reddish- pink mass rose out of the lake. It took him a couple minutes to realize he was looking at the Squids head and body, if you could call it that.

It was massive. Two small, beady black eyes sat on top of it as the arms waved lazily in the air.

Ron's eyes widened as the Squid began waving him slowly in the air. It almost felt like he was on one of those Muggle contraptions, a swing. Or perhaps under a Floating spell.

He felt the Squid unwrap its tentacle from his waist and he fell. Before he could hit the lake, the Squid had wrapped him in another tentacle and began waving him around again. This repeated a couple times before Ron realized the Squid was playing with him.

He began laughing, the sound carrying over to the students on the edge of the lake.

"Hagrid!" he called. "Hagrid, it's almost like those rolling toasters Hermione told me about once!"

"That's roller coaster, Ron!" came Hermione's voice.

"Well, whatever it is, it's great!" Ron hollered back. "Whoooohoooo!"

The Squid was now throwing him up a few feet and catching him again. It was one of the most fun things he'd ever done, and he was sorry it had to end when Hagrid called, "Ron, class is almost over! We gotta go now!"

Midas seemed to understand what Hagrid meant, because he moved his arm out to the rest of the students and set Ron down very carefully. He moved the arm to his shoulder, squeezed once more, then made his way out to the middle of the lake and sank underwater.

"Wow, Hagrid! That was wicked! Can we do it again sometime?" Ron appealed, his face flushed from yelling so much.

Hagrid chuckled. "Well, we'll see, Ron. Got lots more stuff fer yeh to learn first! But if there's a spare second, we'll see."

Ron nodded and grinned as his classmates rushed up to cheer for him. Harry claped him on the back, saying, "Wow, Ron! That was great! Good on you!"

Seamus, Dean and Neville congratulated him as well. Hermione told him he was fantastic, and then Malfoy shoved up to him and sneered, "Well, well, Weasel. Seems filthy creatures take a liking to you- but after living in the hovel you do, it's no surprise."

Harry quickly restrained Ron, saying, "Malfoy, you never owled me. Did you not want to snog anymore, then?"

Malfoy turned pink and hissed, "Fuck off, Potter. You and your filthy little Weasel." He turned and swaggered off, his face still a little pink.

Suddenly, a girl he had never seen before made her way over to him and said, "Wow, that was amazing! I've never seen anything like that before!"

"Erm, thanks. Do I know you?" Ron couldn't recall her name.

"It's Daphne Greengrass. We've never actually spoken before."

"Oh, right! I've seen you, but I wasn't sure of your name. You're in Slytherin?"

"Yes," she said, flushing.

"Ron, come on! We're going to the Common Room for a bit now!" Hermione was calling him from the lake. Harry was waving him over as well, so he turned to Daphne and said, "Well, um, I should go now."

She nodded, and he moved towards Harry and Hermione.

"Who is that?" Hermione questioned. "I've never really noticed her before."

"Daphne Greengrass. A Slytherin, of all things. She might be okay if it weren't for that."

Hermione shot Ron a very disapproving look, but didn't say anything.

They had almost reached the common room when Ron began cursing under his breath. He stopped in the corridor and turned to Harry and Hermione.

"I've got to go back to Hagrid's. My wand was in one of my pockets, but I think it fell out. I don't have it with me."

"Okay," Harry replied. "We'll just be in the common room waiting for you then."

Ron nodded gloomily, then began making his way back down towards Hagrid's. He was just turning a corner when someone smacked into him. He was just opening his mouth to tell the person off, when he realized it was Hannah.

"Oh, Ron, I'm sorry! I was just coming from Divination and I didn't see you. Are you all right?"

"Oh, yeah, I'm fine. Sorry about that, I wasn't watching where I was going..." Ron babbled.

Hannah gave a small laugh. "Don't worry about it, it's fine."

"Did you, um... get my letter?"

"Hmm? What letter?" Hannah looked confused.

"You know, the one I told Luna to give you?" Ron clarified, thinking she was just pretending to avoid being discovered.

"Luna? She never gave me a letter from you. What was it about?"

"You know... the pen pal, Secret Admirer stuff?"

"Oh..." Hannah's voice trailed off and a red color came into her cheeks. She looked down at her shoes, mumbling.

"Hannah? I'm not upset it was you. I was surprised. It's not actually a bad thing, you know..." Ron trailed off as Hannah shook her head.

"No, it's just that I didn't write those letters. I only read the poem, see? Luna didn't tell me what it was for, she only asked me to recite it. I had no idea it was for a love letter."

"So you... don't know who it's from?" Ron questioned.

Hannah shook her head again, blonde hair flying. "I really, truly don't, Ron. I'm sorry. I wish I could help you. Luna only said that I had the exact voice she wanted to recite a certain poem."

"Oh." Ron frowned. "Well, um, that's okay. Really. You, erm, did a good job reading it."

"Thanks," Hannah said, a little red still in her cheeks. "Um, I really need to go to the library. I'll see you, Ron."

"Yeah, ok. See you," Ron replied, confusion in his mind. Hannah had only read the poem? That explained why her handwriting hadn't been familiar. It wasn't Hannah after all.

In truth, Ron felt a little relieved. Hannah was a nice, sweet girl and all, but Ernie Macmillan had been caught giving her the once over a few times, and he really didn't want to be in the middle of it, if and when they dated.

Still musing, he went on his way again. He was just about to the Entrance Hall when he heard voices distinctly mention his name. Frowning, he crept closer to hear the discussion.

"...Don't think he knows yet." A voice was saying. "I mean, he only knows what you like. That's not really enough to go on, is it?"

A voice that was so low it was impossible to tell who's it was responded, "He knows one of my classes. But that's all, except for the things I said I like. Oh, and that I'm half blood."

"He thought you were Hannah Abbott," the other person said. "He recognized she was the one that read the poem, and he assumed it was her. I only had her read it do he'd be thrown a bit." The first person giggled.

Ron's eyes widened. It was Luna and his Secret Admirer! If he could only get a bit closer...

He began easing his way towards the two girls, careful not to make a sound.

"... think he really would like you," said Luna. "I mean, you're sweet, funny, pretty... if he didn't, it would just mean he wasn't worth the time."

The other voice responded with, "Yes, but there's always the fact that-"

Ron never found out what the other fact was, because at that moment his foot clanked into a suit of armor he'd been trying to avoid. He silently cursed, and knowing it might be his only chance, burst around the corner in time to see a head of blonde hair whip out of site. Luna stood by herself, simply looking at him.

"Damn!" he cursed aloud. "I almost had her."

Luna still said nothing. Finally, she opened her mouth and said, "You really thought it was Hannah Abbott?" and dissolved into giggles.

"Yeah, well, I knew it was her saying the poem, so I assumed..." Ron shrugged.

"You really shouldn't assume, Ron. Especially in this case," Luna said suggestively. It almost sounded as if...

"Hey, are you warning me? About who it might be?" Ron asked, but Luna said nothing. She simply smiled and turned in the direction of Ravenclaw Tower, throwing over her shoulder, "Maybe. Maybe not. When you find out who it is, we'll see how prepared you really are."

Ron watched Luna turn the corner, then gave a growl of frustration. It seemed this mysterious Admirer really was afraid he wouldn't like her. Well, he thought, at least I know she has blonde hair now...

He resolved to talk to Hermione the second he got back into Gryffindor Tower. At least now they could mark a couple names off.

Sighing, Ron turned and made his way out of the castle and to Hagrid's to retrieve his wand.