Happy Accidents

Moonlight shone through the parted blinds, as I stared out the window counting stars in an attempt to fall asleep. It was late in the evening and the room was silent other than the gentle breath of the person lying beside me. It was hard to believe how much had changed between the two of us in such a short time. Had you told me then that this would happen, I would have laughed. It was too farfetched, too illogical, too contradictory...too perfect, as I now realized. Thinking back, I really didn't know how I didn't see it all along. I didn't know when the feelings truly began, but I knew exactly what had brought them to the surface: the bet.

It was all Hermione's doing really. Okay, perhaps it was mine. After all, it was me who had let it slip to Ron that she had been harboring a crush on him for the past year. I thought I was helping, really. Better to get those feelings in the open and see if Ron felt the same than to just keep admiring him from afar. And then there was the fact that keeping the secret was slowly eating away at me. But whatever my reasoning was, Hermione was not pleased. Livid, would be a better word. I still felt a chill when I recalled her boring a whole through me with her narrowed eyes, swearing that she'd make me pay for it. I'd known then that I was in big trouble, I just didn't know exactly when the trouble would arrive.

But it came a few days later in Care of Magical Creatures class. Hagrid had been late that day, urgent business with Professor Dumbledore as we later found out, so we were left to amuse ourselves for a while. All was well until Draco came over, irritating as ever, taunting me about saving the day...again.

"Well, look. If it isn't the famous Harry Potter. Come to save us all have you? Oh, whatever would we do without you?"

I mostly just ignored him, but Draco has never been easily detered. He just went on, calling me a do-gooder and a suckup, saying that I was nothing special and he could easily have done the same thing I had done, had he wanted to. Of course, I laughed at him, which only infuriated him more. And then he challenged me. Name a task, and he'd do it better than me.

Hermione beamed.

"I know of a task for you two. Though...I suppose it may be too difficult for you to handle."

Too difficult for me? Not a chance I thought. And like fools, Draco and I readily agreed to the challenge.

"Alright then. Here are the terms. I give you a challenge that you both must complete. If you fail, you must admit that the other is your superior. If you back out, I'll tell Dumbledore that you're the one that tried to set fire to the Whomping Willow."

Neither one of us had been the one who had done it, and Hermione knew it. That was the trick of the deal. It was either go through with the wager, or risk expulsion for something we didn't do. So, we again agreed to the terms. And then Hermione dropped the bomb.

"You have to convince the whole school that you're a couple."

"What?!" Our jaws dropped in horror, and protests came spewing out immediately. "It'll ruin our reputation!" "Are you mad?" "You expect me to snuggle with him?"

But we were stuck. As of that point, we were the newest pair of lovebirds at Hogwarts.