Revelations and Romance

4: Hogsmeade

January 8th

Like most of those in the third year and above, Harry, Hermione and Ginny had their breakfast early so that they'd be ready to go into Hogsmeade. Even so, Ron had left before they reached the Great Hall. Harry and Ginny tried to persuade Hermione to eat, but she protested that she wasn't hungry.

'You've got to eat, though,' said Ginny desperately. 'I mean, he's only my brother, nobody special.'

Despite herself, Hermione had to smile at Ginny's comment, and she let them persuade her to have a couple of rashers of bacon.

The three of them strolled along the path to the exit, with its wrought-iron gates and columns surmounted by statues of winged boars, and down the road to Hogsmeade village. Other pupils were also heading for the village, of course, but Ron must have been too far ahead for them to see him.

Once in the village, Ginny saw Raine and Fen just about to enter Honeydukes, and went to join them. Harry said to Hermione, 'When's Ginny's birthday? I still don't know.'

'It's the sixteenth, a week tomorrow.'

'Good. I thought of something she might like.' He pointed to Mullein's toyshop and headed for it.

Hermione followed him. 'She's going to be fifteen, you know!'

'I know. I'll show you what I mean.'

Inside the toyshop, there were shelves full of toys of the sort they'd both only seen in old illustrations and cartoons: wooden toy soldiers, arks with animals in pairs and wooden boats on wheels with a string to pull them along by. Harry ignored all those and went over to a couple of shelves of soft toys. He picked up a toy cat, just the right size to sit on his palm, and showed it to Hermione. The cat sat up and meowed.

'I'm not sure -- do you think she might like that? She likes Crookshanks, doesn't she?'

'Yes, she does. I think she might like it.'

The cat was fifteen Sickles, but Harry asked the assistant to gift-wrap it, which added another two Sickles to the price, making it a whole Galleon. He put the wrapped box in his pocket, and they went out into the street again.

'There you are!' exclaimed Ginny. 'I thought you were coming into Honeydukes.'

'Not yet -- have you seen Ron?' asked Hermione.

'No. I haven't seen Fred or George, either. I don't know if they're together.'

'They might be in the Three Broomsticks,' suggested Harry. 'Or Zonko's.'

'Well, if we go to the Broomsticks, we can get some Butterbeer and warm up,' said Hermione. Although the street had been swept clear of most of the snow that had fallen a week or so earlier, that didn't make the air any warmer, and their cloaks were beginning to let in the cold.

The three of them went to the Three Broomsticks. Hermione was relieved to see Ron there, with Fred and George. Harry, Hermione and Ginny got a Butterbeer each, and went over to join them.

'Oh, no. Stop following me!' said Ron angrily.

'I just want to know what's bothering you,' said Hermione, taking the chair opposite him.

'You've been acting very oddly,' said Ginny.

'Really? Well, maybe this is normal! And you're bothering me!' he shouted, jumping to his feet and storming out of the pub before anyone could stop him.

Harry put a reassuring hand on Hermione's shoulder. 'I'm sure he doesn't mean it.'

Fred and George looked at each other, then back at Ginny, who was looking stunned by Ron's anger, and at Hermione, who was almost crying.

'This has to stop,' said George. 'I knew he was upset about something, but he can't just go ignoring it and not talking to anyone.'

'Should we go after him?' asked Ginny.

'I don't think there's much point,' said Fred. 'He won't be in any better mood if we do. We'll talk to him back at the school.'

The five of them finished their drinks, and then Fred and George left the pub to go to Zonko's. Harry looked at Hermione.

'Do you feel like going anywhere else in Hogsmeade?'

'Not really, but I don't want to stop you two,' she said.

Harry looked at Ginny. 'Did you want to go anywhere else, apart from Honeydukes'?'

'I wanted to look in Dervish and Banges,' she said. 'I don't think I'll get anything, but I'd like to see what they've got.'

Hermione came with them, as she didn't feel like going back to the school by herself. They looked at the wands and books, and Hermione bought a new bottle of ink. The other two found nothing they wanted to buy. After leaving that shop, they looked in the window of Gladrags, which had several dress robes on display.

'We're not going to need dress robes this year anyway, are we? Besides, mine still fit me,' said Hermione.

The three of them wandered along to Honeydukes, and wandered around inside, looking at all the sweets. Harry bought some Chocoballs and a bag of Every Flavour Beans, while Hermione bought some fudge, Jelly Slugs, Pepper Imps and Toothflossing Stringmints. Ginny resisted the temptation to buy any more than she'd already got.

After leaving Honeydukes, Harry looked up the path toward the cave where Sirius had been hiding the year before. 'There's not much point in going up there now,' he said.

'Why? What used to be up there?' asked Ginny.

'Oh. I don't suppose it matters now -- Sirius Black was hiding out in that cave last year.'

'That close? How did you find out?'

'He told us. We already knew he was innocent, you see.'

'Oh. Just about everything happens to you, doesn't it?'

'I think Harry's getting fed up with that,' said Hermione. Harry nodded. 'Should we get back to the school now?' she asked. The other two agreed, and they strolled back to the castle.

*

At lunch, Ron again sat with Fred and George, who were talking to him about something, and looking toward Harry and Hermione occasionally. Ron wasn't looking at either of his friends.

After lunch, Ron, Fred and George went up to the common room. Harry, Hermione and Ginny waited for a while to give the twins more time to talk to Ron, and went up half an hour later.

Once in the common room, Harry, Hermione and Ginny saw that Ron was sitting with the twins again. They sat down in their usual chairs and waited to see what would happen. Ginny got her bags of sweets out of her pocket and put them on the table, so that she could look through them while they were waiting. Ron seemed to be increasingly agitated, although they couldn't hear what he was saying. He kept glancing over at Harry and Hermione, and eventually jumped up, shouted something at the twins, and stormed off up the stairs to his dorm. Hermione sighed, and Harry looked at her in concern. When he looked back, the twins were just following Ron up the stairs.

'It looks as though they're going to talk to him in our dorm,' said Harry. 'They must think they're getting somewhere, then.'

'Fred's coming back already ... oh, look!' said Ginny, half laughing. Fred was indeed coming back down the stairs, with George a few paces behind. Between them, carried like a stretcher, was Ron, looking understandably furious.

'Now they're getting somewhere with him,' grinned Harry.

Hermione was frowning. 'I don't think this is going to make him want to talk to us. Everybody's looking at him.'

The procession reached them. 'Special delivery parcel,' said Fred with a grin. 'Can you move chairs, Hermione?'

Hermione moved to the chair next to Ginny, leaving three seats in a row free. The twins put Ron into the middle one, and sat on either side of him, gripping his arms so that he'd have to stay.

'Talk to them!' urged George.

'Why are you avoiding us?' asked Harry.

'It's obvious!' snapped Ron.

'No, it isn't,' said Hermione. 'You even yelled at Ginny this morning.'

'Yeah, sorry Ginny. I didn't mean to shout at you, it was Hermione I was shouting at.'

'That's not much better!' protested Ginny.

'What is wrong with you, Ron?' asked Fred.

'Nothing's wrong with me,' he said.

'Right. You just aren't talking to Harry or Hermione because everything's perfectly normal,' said Fred.

'Look, it's embarrassing. I don't want to say it with both of you here. I'd rather Ginny didn't hear, either.'

'Tough,' said George. 'You could have talked to them yesterday without us listening, but you didn't.'

'We're not letting go until you've told them what's wrong,' said Fred.

Ron looked down at the table. 'OK.' He seemed to be searching for words. 'It's everything. Yesterday you were talking about those name tapes. I didn't even know what you meant, but you both did. You both spent two-thirds of your life thinking you were Muggles, and you still talk about Muggle things -- and I never understand what you mean, and I feel left out.'

'We don't do it deliberately,' said Hermione. 'I didn't understand everything you were talking about when we started being friends, but I've learnt what most of it is.'

'It isn't just that. You're both Prefects, too. And then there was yesterday's Dark Arts lesson -- McCardle was giving most of us advice on how to block curses better, but not you two. No, she just watched you two duelling, and told you she didn't expect fifth-years to be so good at it. And you got all those points each.'

Hermione just frowned at him.

Ron shook his head. 'You don't get it, do you? I've realised. You two are perfect together, and you were just using me as practice; you probably wish we'd never even done anything! That's why you didn't say "yes" when I proposed, isn't it?'

Fred and George both stared at Ron, surprised by this latest revelation. Ron didn't notice, as he was looking at Hermione, who was just staring at him in amazement.

'What did you do?' asked Ginny.

'That's just ridiculous,' said Harry. 'Hermione's not in love with me. She's been really upset since you stopped talking to her.'

'Yes, we're both Prefects, but that was McGonagall's decision,' said Hermione after gathering her thoughts. 'And yes, we didn't grow up in the wizarding world, but we didn't choose that. Harry certainly didn't choose the Dursleys!'

'And of course Hermione is good at Dark Arts,' said Harry. 'She's good at everything, remember? I can't keep up with her in our other subjects, and it's only the Tournament last year which meant I can keep up with her there.'

'Yeah. I suppose that's true. But you still ... get on so well together.'

'You're jealous?' asked Hermione incredulously. 'But you forgot one other thing we've got in common. We're both only children.'

'Dudley definitely wasn't like a brother,' said Harry.

'You've got brothers and a sister,' Hermione continued. 'We haven't. Harry's almost like the brother I never had.'

'Yes, I feel the same about Hermione.'

'I am not the brother you never had!' said Hermione, mock-frowning at Harry.

'So, yes, we're close. You and Ginny are close, but you aren't in love with Ginny. I'm not in love with Hermione, and she's in love with you, not with me. It's obvious to everyone except you, Lavender and Parvati,' said Harry.

'Now you have been insulted,' said Ginny, grinning at her brother. She took a handful of Every Flavour Beans, and started nibbling at them.

Ron sighed. 'I suppose ... I should at least have talked to you about this yesterday.'

'I want to know what you mean about when you proposed to Hermione!' said George.

'Oh, good, I wasn't the last to know then,' said Ginny happily. 'I still want to know what she doesn't wish she'd never done. I think.' She stopped to think about what she'd just asked.

'I'll put it on the noticeboard, shall I?' asked Ron. 'Look, last Sunday I proposed to Hermione and she said it was too early, and we should wait until we've left Hogwarts and know where we're going with our lives. So we're not engaged, just in love. OK?'

'OK,' said George. 'Though what do you mean by jumping the queue like that?' He realised he was still gripping Ron's arm, and let go.

'What? I've only just stopped worrying about Harry, and now you're saying you're in love with her?'

'No! But you're the youngest boy, and you've already proposed to a girl. Even Percy didn't start proposing until he'd left Hogwarts.'

Fred let go of Ron's arm too, and Ron started rubbing them, as the twins had been gripping quite hard.

Ginny giggled. 'Do you two know about Percy's proposals?'

'No,' said Harry. 'I thought he might still be with that Prefect, Penelope, but he hasn't mentioned her the last two times I stayed at the Burrow. Or before, I suppose.'

'He's proposed to her,' nodded Fred.

'And she's accepted several times,' said George.

'Several times?' asked Hermione.

'She keeps breaking off the engagement,' explained Ginny.

'Percy says some really stupid things to upset her,' added Fred.

'You three are making me dizzy,' said Harry. 'So, it's always her that he proposes to? And she says yes, he says something stupid, she breaks it off, and he proposes again?'

The four Weasleys nodded.

'How many times have they done that?' asked Hermione.

The Weasleys looked at each other with blank expressions. 'I've lost count,' said Ginny. 'The first time he proposed was when he got his job at the Ministry.'

'I think he said he sent her a proposal when he sent a Christmas card last month,' said George. 'But I don't know if she accepted. Even if she did, they've had time to break it again.'

'It isn't really funny,' said Ginny, trying to suppress a giggle.

'We believe you,' said Hermione.

'You're not going to follow Percy's example, are you?' asked Harry.

'Well ... Hermione hasn't said "yes" yet ... and I've already said something stupid, apparently,' said Ron ruefully.

'Anyway, if you're talking to each other now, our task is done!' declared Fred. He and George went back over to where they usually sat.

Ron watched them go. 'They've been coming up with more ideas for Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes. It's interesting, just listening to them.'

'Why did you say that Harry and Hermione were both Prefects, when you were telling us what was bothering you?' asked Ginny. 'Why does that matter?'

'Oh. it's just something I noticed about the Prefects in our year. You mentioned those two Hufflepuffs, Hannah and Ernie. They're both Prefects.'

'So you think that business with the mistletoe means they're in love, and not just friends?'

'I don't really know,' he admitted. 'But Malfoy and Pansy Parkinson are Prefects too, and they seem to be dating. Who's the other Ravenclaw Prefect? I can only remember Lisa, because Hermione mentioned she was a Prefect last week.'

'Terry Boot,' said Harry. 'I don't know if he and Lisa are more than friends.'

'So you think it's a rule that Prefects have to be couples?' asked Ginny with a grin. 'So the Heads of house deliberately pick couples?'

'No. Don't say it like that, it sounds silly when you do,' said Ron.

'It is silly,' she said positively. 'I know Percy and Penelope were both Prefects, but they weren't in the same year or the same house.'

Ron couldn't think of an answer to that.

'What did you mean when you said Hermione was just using you as practice, anyway?' asked Ginny. 'Does that have anything to do with wishing you hadn't done anything?'

Ron looked at Hermione, who was still sitting next to Ginny. His face was turning red.

Hermione went back to her usual chair, next to Ron, and took his hand. 'Kissing, hugging, holding hands in class -- all that sort of thing.'

'Yes, that sort of thing,' agreed Ron.

'You need practice to hold hands?' Ginny asked in disbelief.

'Well ... yeah, if we want to be good at it,' he joked.

They were suddenly distracted by Crookshanks, who was meowing unhappily. Smoke was coming from his mouth.

'Oh, Crookshanks!" said Ginny, half-laughing and half-annoyed. 'He's found my Pepper Imps!'

'Oh, come here, Crookshanks,' said Hermione, picking him up and trying to get him to open his mouth to get the sweet out. After a couple of moments, he meowed again, and the Imp fell onto the floor. Hermione stroked him. 'You won't be as interested in sweets now, will you?'

'Poor old Crookshanks,' said Ginny, picking up the bags of sweets she'd left on the table, and putting them into a pocket of her robes. She held one of the beans she'd tried out to Hermione. 'Would he like a tuna flavour bean? I don't want it.'

'Let's try. You like tuna, don't you, Crookshanks?'

Crookshanks sniffed at the bean, and then happily ate it.

'Is that nicer than a Pepper Imp? Oh, you like that, don't you?' said Ginny.

'You two are paying more attention to him than to me!' complained Ron.

'Well, that's your fault for not talking to Harry and Hermione for a whole day!' said Ginny. 'Crookshanks didn't stop talking to them, so I'm going to talk to him.'

*

Sunday morning was more relaxed, after the Hogsmeade day and Ron and Hermione making up again. The two of them were sitting beside each other, their arms partly around each other and leaning together so that Hermione's head was on Ron's shoulder. Ron had Bagshot's History on his lap, and was reading it to see what it said about Weasleys. It was obviously the most enjoyable time he'd ever had reading a history book. Harry was rereading Quidditch through the Ages, in preparation for the coming Quidditch trials, in case he was asked his opinion on the other positions, which he wasn't familiar with. Ginny was playing with the Tarot deck and wondering how comfortable Ron and Hermione were, with the chair arms between them like that.

At lunch, the four of them sat together, and Harry was amused to see Ron and Hermione offering each other occasional forkfuls of the food on their plates.

'You don't think you're overdoing the romantic stuff, do you?' he asked them. They both pulled the same face at him, and he gave up commenting.

After lunch, they carried on as before. Hermione seemed content to read Ron's book, with her head back on his shoulder.

Ginny was picking cards from the deck at random, and checking each against its description in Unfogging the Future. Every few cards, she looked at her watch.

'Why do you keep checking the time?' asked Ron.

'When we were in Hogsmeade, Fen and I arranged to meet Raine this afternoon, away from the Great Hall, so that she won't be glared at by the other Slytherins.'

'Oh. Secret friendships with Slytherins.'

'You could come too -- Raine was happy to meet you the other day.'

'She was happy to meet Harry, you mean,' said Ron.

'There's not much else happening,' said Harry. 'We could go, if you two haven't got glued together.'

Shortly before two that afternoon, Harry, Ron, Hermione, Ginny and Fen went to a disused classroom near the Charms classroom. Ron and Hermione lagged behind the others, talking softly to each other as they walked. Raine was already there, and a big smile spread across her face when she saw Harry.

The six of them talked for a while about various subjects, and then Raine said with a grin, 'Did you know that Malfoy's got in trouble with Snape?'

'No,' said Ron, eagerly. 'What happened?'

'Gryffindor suddenly got a lot of points on Friday, and Malfoy was looking at those big hourglasses and grumbling. I heard later that he decided to even things up by taking points from some Gryffindors he happened to see.'

'Oh,' said Hermione. 'I heard that two first years, Christine Mason and Heather Kelly, were almost in tears on Friday afternoon. That must have been why.'

'Well, Snape came into our common room and yelled at him. Apparently, Dumbledore didn't think much of Malfoy's reasons -- wearing red and gold ties, or something. Now he's got detentions next week, and Snape threatened to take his Prefect badge away.'

'Oh, please, please, please,' said Ron fervently. Harry laughed at him.

'The other thing he's been doing is going round "offering" the older girls a "chance" to sleep with him. Can you believe him?'

'Seriously?' asked Hermione. 'He thinks he's some sort of great gift to women?'

Raine nodded. 'I think he was really surprised when we all said no. Some of us just hit him.'

'Oh, I would have paid to see that,' said Ron dreamily. 'I wonder if he'll do it again?'

'Shall I ask Snape if we can sell tickets?' asked Raine. 'Right at the moment, he'd probably agree.'

'I wonder why we got so many points?' said Fen.

'I know where some of those points came from,' said Ron. 'McCardle gave them to Harry and Hermione for duelling so well. We were only supposed to be blocking a Tickling Curse, but these two got bored with it.'

'What did you use instead?' asked Fen.

'Oh, they were using Stunning Spells, Jelly-Legs Jinxes, Impediment Jinxes, and other things Harry learnt for the Tournament.'

'Reducto,' added Harry without thinking.

Raine stared at him. 'You used Reducto on another person?'

Ron looked alarmed. 'Are you serious?'

Harry and Hermione both nodded.

'What's Reducto?' asked Ginny. Fen shrugged.

'It's what you use if there's a solid wall in your way, and you don't want to go round it! It just smashes through things!' said Raine. 'I can't believe you'd use it in a duel!'

'You could have killed each other!' exclaimed Ron in disbelief. 'I thought McCardle was joking when she asked if you wanted to keep trying to kill each other!'

'Don't exaggerate,' said Hermione irritably. 'None of our curses got past each other's blocks, remember?'

'No wonder you got so many points,' said Raine, who still looked as if she couldn't believe what she'd just heard.

'You can't keep doing that! You've got to stop!' said Ron.

Hermione frowned at him. 'It's all right for the rest of us to play with Tickling Curses. Have you forgotten what happened last year after the third task? You-Know-Who used two of the Unforgivable Curses on Harry, and duelled with him -- and it's only because of something about Harry's wand that he didn't know about that Harry's still alive! What do you really think Harry's chances are of getting to the end of this school year without being attacked by You-Know-Who again?'

'Not good,' said Raine.

'I wouldn't bet on it,' admitted Ron.

'Poor Harry,' said Ginny.

'He needs to practice duels, and it's no good expecting You-Know-Who to throw Tickling Curses at him,' said Hermione.

'I didn't realise that's why you were doing that,' said Harry to her.

'I thought you'd probably guessed ... and I didn't want to tell you if you hadn't.'

'Ron's right though. We could have been really hurt. We can't duel like that any more.'

'Harry, do you want the practice against a friend, with a teacher present, and a hospital wing nearby, or do you just want to wait until a Death Eater attacks you? Don't forget, you were worrying about me, too, in case You-Know-Who believes the rumours I'm your girlfriend and attacks me. I might need this practice just as much as you.'

Fen and Raine both blushed.

'We'll talk to Lavender, ask her to stop spreading rumours about you two,' said Raine.

'Thanks,' said Ron. 'Convince her Hermione's my girlfriend, not Harry's.'

'I suppose you're right, Hermione. We might both need the practice -- and it is safer with a teacher present,' admitted Harry.

'I can't believe McCardle let you do that in class,' said Raine.

'We ... didn't actually tell her the first time,' admitted Harry. 'We thought as long as we kept blocking everything, she wouldn't notice. We got that wrong.'

'She told us she would probably not have allowed it if we had asked. She let us do it in the second lesson, though, because she'd seen us doing it safely before,' said Hermione.

'I'm still surprised,' said Raine.

'Do you think she guessed why you were doing it? Because of Harry being in danger, I mean?' asked Ginny.

'I hadn't thought of that,' said Harry. 'Maybe she did, and that's why she allowed it.'

The conversation drifted onto other subjects after that, and then they went back to their respective common rooms. Ron went up to their dormitory, and Hermione looked out of the window behind their chairs; Crookshanks was sitting on the windowsill, and she was trying to see what he was looking at.

'What's the big attraction?' asked Harry.

'I don't know. He just does this sometimes. Mum says he's trying to start a crowd.' She suddenly turned, as though someone had tapped her shoulder, then grinned. 'I'm as bad as Crookshanks.' She stretched. 'I'm going to get some fresh clothes, and have a nice bath.' She went up to her dorm, returned carrying a bag, and went out of the portrait hole.

'That was a quick bath,' commented Ginny. 'Where's she gone?'

'There's a really good Prefects' bathroom -- much better than the showers in the dorms.' He suddenly realised why Ron had gone up to their dorm, and why he hadn't seen him return.

'Just one?' asked Ginny archly.

'OK, two. A boys' one and a girls' one.'

'Just as well,' she said. 'It could get really embarrassing if a girl was in there, and a boy walked in.'

'There's a password, and you can't get in anyway if someone else is already in.'

'Oh. That's a good idea.' She shuffled her Tarot cards and went back to looking up the descriptions for the cards she drew.

'You seem very interested in that,' he commented.

'It's compulsory,' she said absently.

'Compulsory? How is it compulsory?'

'Oh -- well, you know I'm a seventh child. There's this cliche of seventh children being Seers.'

'I thought that was the seventh son of a seventh son?'

'No, it can be girls too. And there's two versions -- one just says seventh child once.'

'OK. So, do you feel like a True Seer?'

'I don't know. I like the idea of it, though, so I took Divination. Why did you take it?'

'So I could copy Ron's homework if I got stuck,' he admitted with a grin.

Ginny laughed. 'That's a silly reason!' She carried on picking cards and reading about them, while Harry read more about Chasers and Beaters. After a while, the portrait hole opened, and Hermione came back in, and sat down.

'I didn't know there were special bathrooms for Prefects,' Ginny commented, still working through the card deck.

'Oh, did Harry tell you about them?'

'Yes. Are they really that good?'

'You can swim in the bathtub, that's how big it is. There's even a diving board! It's all marble and gold, and there's lots of taps with different types of bubble bath -- it's incredible,' said Hermione enthusiastically.

Ron came down the stairs and sat down beside Hermione. He yawned, covering his mouth almost in time. 'Did I miss anything?'

'Have you been asleep up there all this time?' asked Ginny severely.

'It's tiring, yelling at everyone and not talking to Hermione!' he replied.

'Oh, so you weren't reading any of my books, or anything like that?' asked Harry innocently.

'No. Why?'

'Well, it's just that next time you want to borrow something of mine, it'd be nice if you did ask first.'

'Yeah. Sorry.'

'But Ron just said he didn't,' said Ginny, puzzled.

'He meant earlier,' said Ron quickly. 'I knew what he meant. I'll ask next time, Harry.'

'OK,' said Harry.

'Anybody'd think he borrowed something really important like your Firebolt,' said Ginny. 'Not just a library book or whatever.'

Their conversation drifted onto other subjects until dinner, after which they talked about the next day's Chaser trials, and whether Slytherin would be spying on them.