A Fairy Tale

"If you can't see how important this is to me--"

"What's that supposed to mean, Hermione? That I'm insensitive?"

"No, of course not, you great prat! But I have got to study!"

"Because nothing's more important than studying, is it?"

"At the moment, no! I have to get back to work, or I'll fail my N.E.W.T. tests! I know you don't care about tests, but I do!"

"Are you saying I'm lazy?"

"No, Ron, I'm not saying you're lazy! I'm just saying could you please leave me alone!"

"Fine! I just thought you might like to see the first snow of winter, but obviously I was mistaken!"

"No, Ron--"

It was too late. Ron stomped out of the common room, leaving a suddenly depressed Hermione behind. She sighed. Weasley vs. Granger, round three million.

Why did it always have to be like this? She got along fine with Harry, they hardly ever fought. Same thing with Ginny. Why did she and Ron row all the time?

Putting the thoughts out of her mind, Hermione reached for her Transfiguration essay. Pulling it to her, she picked up a quill and dipped it in her inkpot. Holding the loaded quill over her paper, she waited for the words to come, like they always did.

Instead, her mind filled with pictures of Ron. More specifically, with images of her and Ron fighting. During class, during mealtimes, during free time. All the time. More memorably, after the Yule Ball in fourth year. At the beginning of fifth year, one of the only times she had heard Harry yell.

Hermione sighed, unable to concentrate on homework. She got up and moved to a chair by the fire.

"You look down," Ginny observed, sitting in a chair opposite Hermione.

"You heard what just happened," Hermione said dully.

Ginny shrugged. "You and Ron fought. You do it all the time, why is it bothering you?"

"I don't know," Hermione answered. "I just sometimes think how much easier it would be if Ron and I didn't fight. It's like we have a grudge against each other, or something. We fight all the time. Argue about stupid things. Like Harry and Malfoy, except we don't hate each other."

Ginny smiled. "Have you ever heard of the saying, 'There's a fine line between love and hate'?"

"That makes no sense," Hermione said. "I love lots of people, but I don't go around fighting with everyone."

"But you don't love them the way you love Ron," Ginny observed.

Hermione sighed again. Why did Ginny, of all people, have to bring this up now?

"For the last time, Ginny, I don't love Ron like that," Hermione said.

"You're lying," Ginny said.

Hermione groaned. "Yes! I'm lying, okay! I fancy the pants off of Ron! Feel better, now?"

"Much," Ginny said, with a satisfied grin. "The pants off him, eh?"

"Shut up, Ginny," Hermione said.

"Why do you fight with him, if you love him?" Ginny asked.

"I don't know," Hermione said. "It feels...comfortable. Safe. Do you know what I mean?"

"Yeah, I think so," Ginny said. "So tell him."

"Tell whom what?"

"Tell Ron that you fancy the pants off of him!" Ginny cried.

"Shh!" Hermione said, looking around quickly. "Not so loud!"

Ginny rolled her eyes. "Honestly, Hermione, it's not like everyone doesn't know already."

"What do you mean?" Hermione asked.

"Never mind," Ginny said quickly. "Tell him."

"No."

"Why not?" Ginny whined. "You two are driving the rest of us crazy."

"Because he may not feel the same way," Hermione replied.

"You really are thicker than you look, Hermione," Ginny said. "He's head over heels in love with you!"

"Maybe so," Hermione said, a blush starting to creep up on her cheeks. "But it's not sensible."

"What?"

"Think about it," Hermione said. "What are the odds of Ron and I staying together? Who's to say that Ron even wants to stay together? We're both way too young, and this isn't a perfect world! What if something happens to one of us? Voldemort-" Ginny flinched at the name "-is quite capable of hurting anyone close to Harry. We really shouldn't risk it."

"But you love each other!" Ginny protested.

"Yeah, and if life was perfect, I'd run out there in the snow and snog him senseless," Hermione said. "But life's not perfect."

"What if it was?" Ginny asked. "Then what?"

"What do you mean?"

"Hermione, do you believe in fairy tales?" Ginny asked.

"No," Hermione said. "That's nothing like the real world."

"I believe in them," Ginny said. "I believe that there is a Prince that comes and sweeps you off of your feet, and you live happily ever after!"

"That's silly, Ginny," Hermione said.

"You are so damn logical!" Ginny said vehemently. "You think that there's no such thing as happily ever after, you weigh the statistics and make a conscious choice not to believe. You don't have hope. You don't think that kind of thing can happen. But it can, Hermione!"

"Where's the proof?" Hermione insisted.

"It's right here," Ginny said, placing her hand across her heart. "I believe it in here. I hope for it. Everyone has a fairy tale."

Hermione rolled her eyes. "No, everyone does not have a fairy tale. I don't have one."

"Yes, you do," Ginny contradicted. "You have a 'what if?' scenario. What if everything goes perfectly? Then what will happen? What do you want for your life?"

"It's really stupid, I know," Hermione began. "But--"

"See, there you go again!" Ginny cried. "Being logical! Forget the 'it's stupid' moment. If you could have anything, what would your life be like?"

"It's silly," Hermione said.

Ginny rolled her eyes. "Here, I'll go first."

"You have a fairy tale?" Hermione asked.

"Of course," Ginny replied. "In my fairy tale, Harry defeats You-Know-Who. He comes back, and we're great friends, along with you and Ron. Someday, not too soon but not too far off, Harry realizes that he's madly in love with me. We get married, and he becomes an Auror. I work with dragons on the Swedish Short-Snout reserve. We buy a house, and everyone comes over all the time. We have six children and live happily ever after, with much laughter and love."

Hermione sat, stunned, watching her now dreamy-eyed friend. As she stared, Ron and Harry came tramping through the portrait hole, covered in snow. Hermione glanced at Ron, and he met her eyes briefly before looking away. She could tell he had practically forgotten their argument. Such was the way with them.

"Say something," Ginny pleaded.

"I...well..."

"It's a fairy tale," Ginny said. "It's what would happen if life was perfect. Logically, I know it won't happen, but in my heart I hope desperately that it will."

"I thought you didn't like Harry anymore," Hermione said.

Ginny smiled serenely. "I don't like him like that, anymore," she said. "Not like I have a crush on him. It's different than that. Deeper. Right now, I'm mostly content just to be his friend."

"Mostly?" Hermione echoed, eyebrows raised.

"Well, there is those sudden urges to snog the daylights out of him," Ginny said with a grin. "But I know that, if I kiss him now, and we go out, we'll just break up. This is the fate of teenagers. But, later on, when we're older, I know we can make it."

Hermione stared in wonder at this sixteen year old girl, the one who had her life all mapped out. A girl who, though younger than Hermione herself, already knew what she wanted from life, and was determined not to let anything get in her way.

"Your turn," Ginny said. "What's your fairy tale?"

Hermione closed her eyes, picturing her life in her mind. "It starts out much the same as yours. Harry defeats Voldemort. Ron and I, of course, stand beside him as he does so, along with you. We're his best friends, that's our job. In the immediate aftermath, while Harry is away being informed about something or another, Ron and I are alone. Suddenly, I realize that this is it. This is the time to move forward. So we do. We kiss. And it's perfect. Later on, we get married. Ron is a Quidditch player, or whatever else he happens to want to do. I take a job in the Ministry, under the new Minister of Magic, Albus Dumbledore. We have lots of kids and live happily ever after, with much fighting and making up."

She opened her eyes to find Ginny staring at her, enraptured. "That was beautiful, Hermione," Ginny whispered. "I told you that you had a fairy tale."

"I do," Hermione said. She glanced over to where Ron and Harry were playing chess. "Don't we all?"

Ginny sighed. "I wonder if they'll ever come true."

Just then, Ron glanced up and saw Hermione and Ginny looking at him and Harry. Laughing, he said something in a low voice to Harry. As Harry turned, Ron dropped Hermione a wink.

Harry flashed Ginny a smile, and she smiled back. Then the boys turned back to their game of chess, and the girls to their conversation.

"I don't know, Ginny," Hermione said. "But we have to keep hoping."