The Beauty of First, Er, Second Love

The Beauty of First, Er, Second Love

Ch. 5

As soon as Ron had retrieved his wand, he hurried to Gryffindor Tower, anxious to tell Hermione and Harry his news about his Admirer having blonde hair. He wracked his brains, trying to think who else had been on the list. Daphne Greengrass was, and she did have blonde hair. But so did Sally- Anne Perks, Natalie McDonald, Mandy Brocklehurst and- gulp! - Pansy Parkinson. That was five girls on the new list; he eliminated the others, as they all had either brown or red hair.

I've never really talked to any of them- well, except Daphne, but that was the once yesterday, and she only said how well I'd done on the Squid. Hmmm...

When Ron entered the Common Room, he made his way over to Hermione and Harry, who were sitting by the fire and talking softly to each other. He plopped into the chair beside Harry, saying, "I found my Admirer."

Hermione sat straight up, responding, "You did? Who is it?"

Ron sighed and replied, "Well, I don't know, exactly. I only know she has blonde hair." He recounted everything that had happened after he left them.

"Okay," said Hermione, pulling out the list. "In that case, we can mark off several names now." When she was done, the list looked like this:

Gryffindor Slytherin Ravenclaw Hufflepuff

Parvati Patil Pansy Parkinson Luna Lovegood Hannah Abbott

Lavender Brown Millicent Bulstrode Orla Quirke Susan Bones

Emma Dobbs Daphne Greengrass Padma Patil Sally- Anne Perks

Natalie McDonald Tracey Davis Mandy Brocklehurst Laura Madley

"Ok, well, we've managed to narrow it down a bit, so let's see if we can't find more clues to this girl's identity."

"Well, I'm not sure about anything else; her voice was too low for me to hear anything, really. All I know is she has blonde hair." Ron appeared deep in thought.

"Well, I guess let's just keep our eyes and ears open for any other clues," said Hermione. She folded up the list and put it back in her bag.

Harry wasn't really saying anything, which Ron thought rather strange. Leaning over, he poked Harry in the knee, saying, "Oi, mate! What's the matter with you?"

Hermione began giggling, which confused Ron even more. Her giggling caused Harry to turn a very unattractive shade of red.

"Ok, what is the matter with you two?" Ron questioned, throwing up his hands in exasperation.

"Oh, Ron... I can't believe you weren't here... I would have told you, only you were telling me the new stuff on this Admirer... anyway, you know how Parvati and Lavender keep following us around?" When Ron nodded, she continued, "Well, it's because... well... Parvati has a crush on Harry!" she finished, exploding into more giggles.

Harry turned redder, muttering under his breath.

Once Hermione had managed to stem her laughter, she patted Harry's knee and said, "Oh, come on, Harry. It isn't all that bad. She's really quite attractive, you know, and I think you two would make quite a cute couple."

Harry looked incredulous, while Ron merely looked amused.

"But Hermione! You're the one who says she and Lavender are a bunch of airheads!"

"Erm, no mate, that's me," said Ron, chuckling. "So, how did it come about?"

"Well, we came in, and she and Lavender were over by the corner, and not talking very quietly. Parvati was just saying when we came in, 'so what if I like Harry? There's nothing wrong with him!' I think they'd been arguing over who is a good catch in Gryffindor."

Ron's eyes goggled. "Are you serious?"

Hermione nodded, looking preoccupied. "But if Parvati has a crush on Harry... then why does Lavender come with her?"

"Probably because she has a crush on Seamus," Harry and Ron said simultaneously.

Hermione looked surprised, then nodded to herself. "Yes, that makes sense now. She was going on about someone's 'adorably cute hair and voice.' So then Parvati must go with her when Lavender wants to spy on Seamus, kind of like a tradeoff," Hermione mused.

She shook herself, then said, "Harry, maybe you should give Parvati a chance. Ask her to have a butterbeer in the Three Broomsticks Saturday. Ron and I will go find this Admirer of his a gift."

Harry looked slightly alarmed and stammered, "But Hermione, um, I don't think it's such a good idea. She might say no, and..."

Hermione laughed. "No she won't. Come on, Harry, at least I'm not saying you should do homework. Although," she added, "if you really don't want to go with Parvati, you do have that essay due for Defense Against the Dark Arts..."

Harry blanched. "Ok, ok, I'll ask Parvati to go with me," Harry said resignedly.

Hermione smirked. "I thought you might see it my way. And speaking of Parvati..."

Said girl was at that second coming down the stairs from the girls' dorms, Lavender in tow. When she saw Harry, she colored red, and hurried to the portrait hole.

Hermione gave Harry a sharp prod, and he lurched to his feet and moved toward her, calling, "Parvati! Wait a second, please!"

Parvati turned around, the blush deepening on her face. Harry stopped in front of her, mumbling and scuffing his toe around. Finally he raised his eyes, and asked, "W- would you like to, um, have a butterbeer in the Three Broomsticks with me on Saturday?"

Parvati's mouth dropped open, but she finally managed to stammer, "Y- yes, sure, Harry! That would be nice."

Harry looked a tiny bit surprised, but nodded. "Ok, then, um, I guess I'll meet you in the Three Broomsticks on Saturday, then, yeah?"

Parvati nodded. "Yeah, ok!" She smiled, turned, and went out the portrait with Lavender, and when it closed, Harry could hear a distinct shriek.

Shaking his head, he went back to Ron and Hermione, a smile on his face.

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

Saturday dawned clear and sunny. Harry, Ron and Hermione were eating breakfast together, waiting until they could leave for Hogsmeade. Ron was a bit nervous about the trip, however. He really didn't want to buy his Admirer a gift because he didn't have a clue as to what to get her. He was figuring on grabbing the first thing he saw and bolting. Hermione, however, appeared to suspect his thoughts, because she said, "Ron, I think it would be good if we just looked around for a while first. After a bit, we should find something."

Ron gulped and nodded, while Harry appeared to have almost swallowed his spoon, he snorted and inhaled so quickly.

Throwing him a sharp look, Ron scowled and replied, "Yeah, ok, fine. But can we get a move on? I really don't want to waste the entire day just trying to find a present."

"Ron! You should really be more considerate! This girl gave you a very expensive book- you should be ashamed! And, she's afraid you won't like her, which is ridiculous, not to mention that..." Hermione was off on one of her rants again.

Ron sighed, knowing it was hopeless to argue. "Hermione! You can shut up now, ok? I get it!"

Hermione looked deeply offended. She opened her mouth to tell him off, but before she could get a word in, Seamus and Dean slid in next to them.

Grabbing up a slice of toast, Dean said, "So, Harry mate, hear you're meeting Parvati, huh? So it's a date, yeah?"

Harry blushed, and stuttered, "Yeah, well, you know..." He made a shrugging motion, as if to say that he couldn't help it.

Seamus cackled loudly and said, "Harry and Parvati! Who'd have thought it?"

A voice came from behind Ron, saying, "Harry and Parvati? Really?"

They all turned at the sound; a girl they'd never seen before was behind them. She blushed when she realized they were all studying her and shifted nervously from foot to foot.

"Who're you?" Ron asked. He couldn't remember this girl's name, only her face.

"Um, Sally-Anne Perks. I'm from Hufflepuff," she added unnecessarily, her eyes straying to Ron.

Ron's eyes widened; one of his suspects! Clearly thinking quickly, he replied, "Hufflepuff? Wicked. How come you're over here?"

Sally-Anne got even redder at Ron's gaze and stammered, "Um, well, I was coming to see Ginny... but she isn't here..." her voice trailed off.

"Well, you can sit with us if you like," Hermione offered. She seemed to be thinking the same thing Ron was.

Sally-Anne looked a little timid, but at Hermione's warm smile, she nodded and sat. Harry leaned across Hermione and said, "Hi, Sally-Anne. I'm Harry, as you probably already know. This is Ron, Hermione, Seamus and Dean," he said, pointing to each person as he named them. Sally-Anne nodded to each person, saying "Hello," as Harry went.

Ron studied her carefully. She was quite pretty. Sally-Anne had honey coloured blonde hair, green eyes, and was slender. She had a very soft voice and blushed quite a bit. Thinking back to that night he had overheard his Admirer and Luna, he remembered the girl's hair was similar to Sally-Anne's, although he remembered a slightly deeper voice. But then again, the voice had been so low it was hard to tell...

Ron was brought out of his thoughts by the arrival of mail. He wasn't surprised when a letter landed in his plate. Picking it up, he looked out of the corner of his eye to see if it had any impact on Sally- Anne. She seemed interested, but supremely unconcerned.

Ron slit open the envelope and pulled out a single parchment. He read the contents.

Dear Ron,

How are you? It's Saturday, whee! No classes! I bet that makes you happy, huh? It sure makes me happy!

Look, I'm sorry about that night in the corridor. Really. But I'm just not ready to reveal myself yet. Please don't take it personally. But now I think I'm ready to reveal a bit more about myself.

Firstly, you know I'm a halfblood. Well, my dad's a wizard and my mum is Muggle. I have a brother and a sister that are older than me. They graduated from Hogwart's a couple of years before I came. Their names are Alexia and Michael. They work over in the States- Michael is with the American Ministry and Alexia is a Healer. It puts a bit of pressure on me to be something just as great, you know? And I think I'll actually go into writing or something. I'd really like to be a columnist for the Daily Prophet.

Also, I guess you could say my family is well off. We aren't as rich as Draco Malfoy's family, but we have enough. We travel a lot during the summer hols. Last summer we went to New Zealand and Dad says this year he'd like to go to Iceland. And did you know it isn't actually covered in ice? It's really green and has lots of plant life. Greenland is the icy country. Ironic, yeah?

Umm... well, that's all I can think of for now. Why don't you tell me a bit about you? I really have to go; my dorm mates are yelling for me to get going!

Write me back, please!

Your Pen pal

Ron quickly tallied this new information up. Turning to Hermione, he saw she already had the parchment out and was copying it down. Turning to Sally- Anne, he saw a strange expression on her face.

"Sally- Anne? Are you ok?" Ron asked, curiosity bubbling.

"Hmm? Oh, yes, I'm fine. But I really need to go now; Hannah asked me to meet her at Honeyduke's, so..." Trailing off, Sally- Anne got to her feet and hurried to the Hufflepuff table.

Ron watched her, wondering if she was his Admirer and had gotten scared off. Before he could say anything, however, Harry had pulled Ron to his feet and was telling him it was time to go.

Ron got up and waved to Seamus and Dean, who were waiting for Neville, then he, Harry and Hermione went out of the Hall and made their way to Hogsmeade.

Harry made his way to the Three Broomsticks, telling the others he'd meet them later that day, and so Ron and Hermione were left to their own devices.

Hermione quickly got down to business, dragging Ron from one shop to another. Each time he would point something out, Hermione would quickly shoot him down with, "No, Ron! This is your Secret Admirer! It needs to be more meaningful!" Or a variation of said rejection.

Ron had almost given up hope of ever finding a gift until he and Hermione stopped in a little out of the way shop that sold all kinds of knick-knacks.

Ron aimlessly wandered around the store, until something caught his eye. It was a small statue that had a carving of a unicorn and a mermaid together. The unicorn was lying by a pool of water, and a mermaid was leaning out of the water on her elbows, seemingly observing the unicorn. The unicorn was white and the mermaid had blonde hair and deep blue eyes. Her fin, which was poking out of the water behind her a bit, was turquoise.

Ron's breath caught. The first note he had received from his Admirer came back to him: I also like unicorns, dragons and mermaids. Not the ones here, of course, I mean the ones in tropical areas. They are so lovely!

This was it. This was the perfect gift for his Admirer, he just knew it!

Hermione had just walked up holding a book of some kind, Typical, Ron thought, and was saying, "I found something, Ron! It's a ..." But her voice trailed off as Ron pointed out the statue.

"Oh, Ron! It's lovely! The detail on it is just... wow! I mean... wow!" Hermione was almost speechless.

"This is the one, Hermione. I remembered she said she likes unicorns and mermaids. This is the one I'll get."

Hermione nodded, still at a loss for words a Ron picked up the statue and paid for it.

They made their way out of the store and to the Three Broomsticks. Opening the door, they saw Harry wasn't there, so they ordered butterbeers and grabbed a table. Ron had just opened his mouth to ask Hermione a question when at the table behind them, they heard a voice say, "... Just sent it today. I mean, he only got it at breakfast."

Then Luna answered, "Has he written you back yet? Usually he has a letter for you by lunch or dinner at the latest."

Ron's eyes widened; it was his Secret Admirer! Being as quiet as possible, he listened as the mystery person said, "Yes, but I asked him to tell me a little about himself. I told him about Michael and Alexia and how I want to write for the Prophet when we graduate."

Hermione seemed to be on the edge of her seat as she tried to twist around and look at the girl without being seen. Suddenly, she edged her napkin off the table and bent down to grab it. She looked quickly at the girl in the booth behind her. Her eyes widened and she almost did a double take. Straightening, she whipped around and faced Ron, a look of utter shock on her face.

"Well?" Ron asked. "Who is it? Did you see her?"

Hermione nodded slowly, avoiding Ron's gaze.

"Well? Who is it? Come on, Hermione!" Ron was trying to yell at her in a whisper and wasn't succeeding very well.

Hermione looked uncertain for a moment. "I... I'm not sure I should tell you, Ron." She sad, twisting the napkin in her lap. "You won't, um, like it."

"Why? Is it Eloise Midgen? Or Pansy Parkinson?" he joked. "Don't worry, I can handle it! Now tell me!"

Hermione shook her head and motioned Ron to lean toward her. In a whisper she said, "Not here. Outside. I don't want her to know you know."

Ron nodded, got up and followed Hermione out of the Three Broomsticks. He longed to turn around on his way out and see who it was, but dare not risk it.

Finally, they were outside. Ron immediately turned on Hermione, demanding again, "Tel me, Hermione! Who is it?"

Hermione took a deep breath and let it out. Opening her mouth, she managed to get out, "It... Ron, you won't like it... but it's... um... it's Daphne Greengrass."

Ron's eyes widened in disbelief. Greengrass? His Admirer was Daphne Greengrass?!

And Ron, eloquent as always, could only manage a weak, "Bloody hell."