The First Prophet Article

The article continues...

What I will relate next comes not only from my own memory, but also from the recollections of Fred and George Weasley. Soon after Bill and Fleur's wedding, I realized how important those events were. So I asked Fred and George for their memories of it, which have long been stored in my Pen Sieve. My own memories of that evening have been similarly stored, and thus I can make a detailed account of what followed without reliance on my current traitorous memory.

Dear Reader, Fred and George witnessed the beginning of that riotous row to which I have long alluded, and I saw the end of it. I shall tell it here as seamlessly as I can.

Throughout the day and night of the wedding, until they had their argument, Ron ignored Hermione completely. Hermione quickly grew tired and frustrated with Ron's peevishness, so she ignored Ron in turn. Hermione made her way about the reception and spoke amicably with various guests of the wedding. Hermione seemed to just drift through the crowd, but she was, in fact, seeking out Viktor Krum.

It has been related elsewhere, I believe, how Hermione corresponded with Viktor for several years after their brief time of romantic involvement. It is less known, however, that this correspondence was a constant bone of contention between Ron and Hermione due to Ron's jealousy. Hermione had rigidly maintained that her relationship with Viktor was purely platonic after our Fourth Year of school. Despite Ron's protestations to the contrary, I have no reason to doubt Hermione's contention, for reasons that I will now relate.

While this correspondence caused Ron angst for several years, he should not have been worried. Unknown to all of us, Hermione often wrote to Viktor about her feelings for Ron. During our Sixth Year, when Hermione's and Ron's relationship degraded as a result of him dating that blonde girl whose name I cannot recall (Lilac, perhaps? Or Lorrena? Curse my age!), Hermione needed at least one friend to whom she could turn in complete confidence and without fear of detection. She did not feel that I was that friend, because I was friends with both of them and she did not want to catch me up in the middle of that terrible dispute.

Thus, her shoulder to cry on, via Owl Post at least, was Viktor Krum's. And the most ironic thing was that Viktor consistently advised her to be patient, and to keep Ron in her life. If Ron had known that at the time, I think he would have swallowed his tongue.

I see that I am off on another tangent, here, and will try to get back on course. Anyway, at the reception Ron was ignoring Hermione and Hermione was ignoring Ron. Ron had terrible difficulty with being ignored by Hermione, because he was trying to upset her. When she simply went about her business, Ron moved quickly from irritable to furious.

Now Fred and George Weasley, of whom you have undoubtedly heard, had a famous reputation, and a profitable business, based entirely on their propensity for mischief. Unfortunately for their little brother Ron, he was often the object of their most laudable pranks, and the unwitting guinea pig for many of their new products. Thus, when Fred and George saw Ron fuming as well as the chilly atmosphere between him and Hermione, the Twins couldn't pass up the opportunity to have a bit of a laugh.

At the time of Bill and Fleur's wedding, Fred and George were developing an improved version of their wildly popular product known as the Extendable Ears, which were a listening device for eavesdropping. Their original product had a flaw because of its reliance on a long cord that would have to be near to the object of the eavesdropping. This made the Extendable Ears susceptible to being stymied by simple spells such as imperturbable and shield charms.

The improved product had no cord and consisted of two pieces. One piece could be placed on the person to whom you wished to listen, and the other piece could be held to your ear for a listen. The object of your eavesdropping carried the listening device wherever they went, and thus eliminated the difficulty of pushing through imperturbable or shield charms. They called it the "Anyw-ear," at first. The name was changed to "the Bug" after I told them of similar electronic muggle devices. Being that the device did indeed look like a little black centipede, and given that most wizards had no idea what "electronics" or "bugs" meant to muggles (and I am probably losing a few of my readers here), the name turned out to be a huge marketing coup, and the item eventually became their biggest seller.

Early in the evening, Fred and George saw the situation between Ron and Hermione developing, and decided to take advantage. The Twins placed one of the wireless devices on Hermione while pretending to give her an amicable pat on the back. Thus, they became privy to her conversations for the night.

Unfortunately for Ron and Hermione, the product was still only in development. There were a few bugs in "the Bug" as it were, that had not yet been sorted out. These will become important to this story as you will see.

Hermione ultimately found Viktor in the crowd and began to engage him in conversation. Viktor is a bit of a curmudgeon, but he always seemed to put a smile on Hermione's face and vice versa. They soon were talking and laughing and otherwise enjoying themselves and each other's company. Viktor and Hermione eventually ended up on the dance floor, twirling gracefully to one of the more stately dances.

This was the point at which Ron began to look murderous. He also looked like he was about to walk over and punch Viktor in the nose.

I saw Ron at this stage as well, because this stately dance was one in which Ginny was escorted onto the dance floor by a Delacour boy of about my age. The prat had no business being that good looking, and I decided my presence at the reception was no longer required. Then did I slip away to begin my morose stroll through the gardens, and I mentally wished Ron good luck as I left. The remainder of this part of the story will therefore come largely from Fred and George's memory.

As Hermione and Viktor danced, their conversation turned from the pleasantries and banter they had been enjoying to more serious topics. Hermione apparently began to show the strain that her current situation with Ron was causing.

"Hermowninny, you look so sad. Is it that Veasley boy again?" asked Viktor.

"He is not a boy, Viktor," said Hermione sternly. Her voice turned soft, however, as she said, "But yes. It is him."

"I don't know vy you fill so many letters to me about him if you will not even go talk to him. Are you sure off how you feel?"

"I am sure. He just needs more time, I think; like you said."

"But vy wait for him to come to you, Hermowninny? It seems like such a vaste off time. Just go tell him how you feel und let things fall vair they vill."

Hermione's voice got very soft and a bit despairing. "It is complicated, Viktor, but I want Ron to come to me on his own. I want him to do something."

At this point, Fred and George looked at each other. "All fun and games aside..." said George.

"...Ron needs to hear this," finished Fred.

The Twins quickly pressed through the crowd to Ron and explained what they had planted on Hermione. Ron looked torn for a moment between being indignant that the Twins had tested their device on Hermione, and ecstatic to be able to hear her talking to the detested Krum. After a moment of indecision, he placed the listening device to his ear.

Ron quickly pulled the ear piece away, however, and rubbed his finger in his ear with a pained expression. "Ow1" he exclaimed. "What are you playing at? That nearly burst my eardrum."

"It gets like that," said Fred, looking a bit peeved.

"Haven't worked out all the kinks, yet," said George, nodding.

"It keeps getting louder until you stop listening," said Fred.

"It stops being loud the moment you stop paying attention," said George with a shrug.

Fred shrugged as well in imitation of his twin. "It has something to do with the charm on the planted piece, but we can't figure it out."

"Just hold it out from your ear a bit," said George, looking impatient.

Ron complied and the earpiece was now loud enough for all three of them to hear Hermione and Viktor speaking if they huddled close together. Unfortunately, since Ron had not heard the beginning of the conversation, he took the next bit completely out of context.

"Vat do you mean, Hermowninny?" Viktor was saying.

"I mean that Ron is not like you, Viktor," said Hermione in a lecturing tone. "He wears his heart on his sleeve, so I can tell how he feels. He is also not as comfortable with himself, so he does not have your self-confidence."

"I still think that you must go and..."

The twins and Ron never heard what was said next, because Ron threw the earpiece on the floor in disgust. The Twins looked at each other apprehensively as Ron went from red to mauve with rage. "Wait, Ron..." they said together.

It was too late, however, as Ron was storming across the large dance floor towards Viktor and Hermione. Ron was moving as fast as he could, but he had a large dance floor to cover and a lot of people to push through. Every inch of his figure presaged a battle was about to begin.

"Should we tell him?" said George.

"Maybe we should..." began Fred uncertainly.

"I bet this one will be bad, though," said George. "Classic."

"And this is why we brought this thing, anyway," said Fred, picking the earpiece up off the floor. He looked at his brother and they shared a slow smile.

"We just need a patsy to keep listening and it should work," said George.

"Ginny. Ginny!" called Fred, waving as he had noticed her coming off the dance floor in their direction.

"Perfect!" whispered George as she approached

"What did you two do to Ron?" accused Ginny. "I just saw him turf a five-year-old as he rushed by."

"You don't want to miss this!" said Fred and George in unison. Fred handed the earpiece to Ginny.

"What is...Is that Hermione?" asked Ginny looking at the earpiece suspiciously.

"Shhhh!" ordered the twins as they jammed their ears next to hers, trying to catch what was about to be a classic row between Ron and Hermione. They did not have to strain for long, as the defect in the earpiece increased its volume.

"This is going to be sooooo good!" said Fred gleefully.

"Shhh..." said Ginny.

To Be Continued