The End of All Things

Chapter Two: What's Love Got To Do With It?

Ron stared in hurt shock at Harry's laughter.

It had been a simple enough question. Ron felt Harry should be grateful that he had even bothered to ask in the first place.

“Do you think Hermione and I would make a good couple?”

Yes, it was a very simple question. And yet Harry was laughing his head off as though Ron had just told an insanely funny joke.

The truth of the matter was that Harry didn't find the question funny, in and of itself. It was just that it had taken Ron voicing the thought aloud for Harry to realize how truly ridiculous the idea was.

When Harry had noticed the signs of a possible romance between his two friends, starting with Hermione asking Ron to Slughorn's party in the greenhouses, his first thought had been worry. Worry for himself, afraid that they would abandon him in favor of each other.

And worry for them. Worry that their friendship couldn't survive a failed relationship. His feelings had turned to confusion as they had started a drama worthy of one of Aunt Petunia's soap operas, confusion which had intensified over the past school year as each development progressed, culminating last night when Hermione said she thought Ron would get together with her if she got her hair cut. And now Ron had bounded down the stairs the morning after Harry's return to the Burrow, and asked that singular question.

“Do you think Hermione and I would make a good couple?”

About a second later, Harry had burst into laughter, thinking of Ron and Hermione's relationship over the years, and laughing harder as each disastrous memory came to mind.

Harry took several gulping breaths, and then turned to Ron, trying not to laugh anew at the look of surprised hurt on his best friend's face.

“Oh sure, anyone can see you're the perfect couple. You insult her knitting, you don't support S.P.E.W. She has to beg you to get your homework done, you insult her every other time you talk to her. The only time you seem to get along is when you're both worried about me, or I happen to need both of you at once. I'd even be willing to bet that you wouldn't even be considering her as a possible girlfriend if she hadn't worn those smashing blue dress robes to the Yule Ball. You lead her on and then turn around and snog Lavender Brown, and don't even notice how badly you hurt her by doing it, and don't bother to apologize when your reason finally seems to catch up with you. For heaven's sake, Ron, you still call her names!”

Harry paused to crack up again, falling into an armchair. “If that's not a match made in heaven, then I don't know what is!” he said, part-sarcastically, part amused.

“That's not true!” Ron shouted over Harry's renewed laughter. Then, at Harry's doubtful expression, he mumbled, somewhat shamefacedly, “I do not call her names.”

“Maybe not to her face, but if she ever heard some of the things I've heard you say about her when she's not around, especially this last school year, she'd hex you into next week, at the least.”

“Well, yeah, but I never meant any of them. Not really,” Ron said defensively.

“What makes you think you'd make a good couple?” Harry asked, interested now.

“Well,” Ron said, warming to the subject. “I admit you're right, I never really saw Hermione as a girl until the Yule Ball, but after then, wow! I mean, she'd already had her teeth shrunk by then, and she was starting to get, you know, more of a girl's body by then. I guess I shouldn't have snogged Lavender, but I thought that if Hermione noticed that I was ready for a relationship, she might be more, well, interested, if you know what I mean.”

“So by snogging Lavender every available second, and not talking to her much in between, you hoped to show Hermione you were mature? Something doesn't fit there, mate.”

“Well, I suppose I did get a little carried away, but that doesn't change the fact that I moaned her name when I was in the hospital wing, now does it?” Ron said smugly.

“Hermione had been speaking right before, and that was probably a time when you were at least semi-conscious. Maybe if you'd heard someone else talking, you'd have moaned their name instead. I wouldn't take it as a sign, Ron,” Harry said reasonably.

“Well, maybe,” Ron admitted. “But she still let me hold her at Dumbledore's funeral, and she hugged me then.”

“She also hugged you when she apologized to you about Scabbers in third year,” Harry reminded him, deciding not to add that Hermione herself had told him last night that the only reason she'd let Ron do that was because he, Harry, had been busy talking to Scrimgeour.

“But that's just it, isn't it? Before that fight, I'd been mad at her for getting your Firebolt confiscated, and if Scabbers hadn't disappeared, then we would've made up then, and she might have hugged me.”

“But, Ron, that's just my point.”

“What is?”

“Remember my Firebolt? That broom was mine, it was confiscated from me. I was ready to forgive and forget a couple of days afterward, but you stayed mad at her for weeks. And it wasn't even your broom.”

“So? I thought I should be mad at her for betraying you. What are friends for, if not to hold your grudges with you? I was just going along with you,” Ron shrugged.

“But then shouldn't you have also gone along with me when it became clear that I wanted to forgive her? Instead of making it impossible for me to even talk to her and explain that I understood why she had done what she did, and that I was more touched than mad at what she had done?” Harry demanded.

Ron faltered. “She…she still had no business ratting you out. She shouldn't have done that!”

“Ron, she did it because she cared about me, she was worried more about my safety than my happiness. And anyway, as long as we're talking about shouldn't haves, I think you shouldn't keep forcing me to choose between the two of you, which is what I think will eventually happen if you become a couple.”

“What do you mean?”

“I'm going to be completely honest with you, Ron, and don't take this the wrong way. But, seriously, think about it. Think about what happened this past year. She asks you to Slughorn's Christmas party, whether because she felt sorry for you or because she wanted a date is beside the point; not long after, you snog Lavender Brown, completely out of the blue by the way, with no thought to how Hermione might feel after asking you out. She tries to get back at you by going out with McClaggen, even though I know for a fact she didn't really want to go out with him in the first place.

“I don't have the breath or the inclination to name everything that happened after that. Suffice it to say it included a great deal of backbiting, sniping, and general nastiness on both sides. Remember when you imitated her jumping up and down in class? She was in tears, Ron. Do you have any idea how many times you've made her cry, this last year alone? Tell me honestly, Ron; you and Hermione can't last by yourselves for five minutes without laying into each other. How long do you honestly think you can last as a couple? How long do you think you can act as people who are supposed to support and care for each other unconditionally, before one or the other says something that is misunderstood, and it erupts into another fight?”

Before Ron could answer, Harry raised a hand to forestall him.

“Don't get me wrong. I think you're both stubborn enough to make it work, if you really wanted to. But I also don't think you'd ever be truly happy, either, knowing that you have to force yourselves to like each other in that way.”

Ron didn't answer.

Harry went on.

“Last night, Ron, I wondered if you and Hermione were officially together. She said she `supposed so.' Obviously, the feeling isn't mutual, because you just asked my opinion on you two ever having a relationship. The thing is Ron, whether you think you are or not, she thinks there's something there. Why else would she cut her hair at your suggestion?”

“I didn't suggest it. Not really. I just told her I thought it would look better shorter, and it would be nice to get a hug from her without being smothered by it,” Ron said quickly.

Doing his level best to keep his voice calm, Harry said,

“But she still did it Ron. If she was willing to change her appearance so drastically at the drop of a hat, because you said you `thought' it would look better another way, then maybe you should realize you have a lot of control over her.

“Think about it, Ron. Malfoy has been laying into her for years about her hair, and as far as we know, she's never once cried about it. I've lost count of the number of times she's cried over thoughtless comments from you, and you've been too thick to notice most of the time, and when you do notice, you can't even muster the decency to apologize! Considering that her happiness is largely in your hands lately, I would think you might have been a bit more careful with it. I've done my share of pigheaded things to her, too--but I'm not the one she asked to a Christmas party.”

Harry turned to leave the room, pausing at the doorway.

“I know I may sound selfish, but I know you two well enough to know that you wouldn't just be able to forget a bad relationship, especially if you're reminded about it daily, just by looking at each other. And if that happens, I know I would eventually have to choose between the two of you, and I don't want to do that.”

He paused, then said, “And I don't think you'd want me to either.”

Ron said nothing for a minute, then, “But what if it does work out? What if I do fall in love with her, and--”

He stopped. Harry was laughing again.

Hermione walked down the hallway toward the stairs that led to the kitchen. Reaching up behind her to run her fingers through her hair, she sighed as she met no resistance. She hadn't wanted to change it, not really. But Ron said it might look better, and if that was what it took, then full steam ahead!

She hadn't counted on Harry's reaction though. He seemed shocked, hadn't been given a chance to answer when she asked what he thought of it, and it seemed to her that he actually missed it. Hermione never thought she would regret her decision to change her hairstyle, but as she remembered Harry's reaction of the night before, she felt a pang of loss.

Reaching the bottom of the stairs, she turned to go into the kitchen when a familiar voice stopped her.

“Do you think Hermione and I would make a good couple?”

Shock jolted her brain. What did Ron mean `would' make a good couple? Weren't they already?

Standing stock still out of sight on the landing, she listened to the ensuing conversation. Reason flashed through her mind as she listened to Harry's unflattering—and truthful--description of her and Ron's supposed relationship.

He's right. He's right. He's right. That was her internal response to every point he made.

She listened intently as Harry summed up.

“I know I may sound selfish, but I know you two well enough to know that you wouldn't just be able to forget a bad relationship, especially if you're reminded about it daily, just by looking at each other. And if that happens, I know I would eventually have to choose between the two of you, and I don't want to do that.”

He paused, then said, “And I don't think you'd want me to either.”

Ron said nothing for a minute, then, “But what if it does work out, what if I do fall in love with her, and—“

Harry's laughter faded into the background as Ron's words echoed around in Hermione's head.

What if I fall in love with her… what if I fall in love with her… what if I fall in love with her…

Choking back a sob, she raced upstairs to the room she shared with Ginny and Gabrielle.

Meanwhile, in the kitchen, neither Harry nor Ron noticed the movement on the stairs. Harry was too busy laughing, and Ron was, for the second time that morning, staring in hurt and bewilderment at the person he called his best friend.

“You mean,”— laughter—“you're not”---more laughter---“already in lo—“guffaws “l-love with her?” bursts of laughter.

“Of course not!” Ron said, doing his best to sound offended. “I just had a bit of a crush on her that's all! You said yourself I could have been nicer to her a lot of the time, but that just proves—shut up laughing!—proves that I don't love her. Not yet. Just a crush mate. What's love got to do with it?”

Harry abruptly stopped laughing.

Ron backed away as Harry looked up. The look in those green eyes was one Harry only used on special occasions. “The Death Glare,” as Ron had come to call it, had in the past only been used against Snape, Malfoy, Voldemort, and Cornelius Fudge once or twice. He had only ever come close to seeing it directed at him on one occasion, two years ago, when Hermione had proposed that Harry teach a Defense club.

“Let me get this straight, Ronald,” Harry grit out from between clenched teeth. Ron winced. His mother and Luna Lovegood were the only ones who ever called him by his first name, and judging from Harry's tone of voice, he was going for Mrs. Weasley's version of a follow up speech.

“You lead Hermione on for almost a year. You drive her to act like a jealous two-year old. You hurt her more than Draco Malfoy, Snape, and the Death Eaters combined. You suggest she cut her hair, and you don't even have the fact that you love her as an excuse? How can you possibly justify what you've done to her without even that reason to hide behind, Ron? What kind of…”

And it was that speechless quality which drove Ron to speak. The fact that Harry found his behavior too appalling for words drove him to try and defend himself in any way possible…in this case, with the first words that popped into his head.

“I just like arguing with her! What's wrong with that?”

Harry didn't answer. Not verbally, anyway. All the same, if looks could kill…

“Ronald Bilius Weasley. You have until dinner tonight to talk to Hermione. You will explain to her what you just told me. That you only like arguing with her, and as you so bluntly put it, that love has nothing to do with it. You will apologize endlessly, repeatedly, and disgustingly, for any pain you have ever caused her, for leading her on, and most of all, and I mean most of all, for making her cut her hair. You will be as rational and reasonable as you can possibly manage. You will continue to both apologize and sincerely beg her forgiveness until she asks you to stop. Then, you will come out to the backyard, and you will bring your wand.

“I don't think Hermione could bring herself to jinx you under these circumstances, so I'll do it for her. You will be allowed the chance to defend yourself, and I promise you, you will regret what you have done to her.” To both of us.

Any inclination Ron might have had to protest quickly died. He knew that even if he tried to run, Harry would certainly find him. Better to end this fiasco with some shred of dignity, than to be cornered without a wand. Especially when facing the only wizard in the world who had a chance of defeating Voldemort.

Unbeknownst to either of the boys, another eavesdropper had been listening in. Ginny straightened up, and then headed slowly up the stairs.

Maybe this wasn't such a good idea…

“You know that black haired boy who was near us in the station? Know who he is?”

“Who?”

“Harry Potter!”

Harry heard the little girl's voice.

“Oh, Mom, can I go on the train and see him, Mom, oh please…”

“You've already seen him Ginny, and the poor boy isn't something you goggle at in a zoo…”

Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, “Journey From platform nine and three-quarters, pg 97, first American edition

“Fred! Business meeting!

George shoved aside a box of fabric samples Fleur and Mrs. Weasley had been looking over. What do they need a canopy for anyway? he thought bemusedly

Fred came down the stairs, followed, surprisingly, by Harry.

“What is it this time?” Fred asked, only partly in exasperation.

“The labels for our new love potions. Ginger wrote back saying they worked to perfection. Jealousy, hot steamy kisses, the whole shebang.”

“Ginger?” Harry repeated as he picked up the potion bottle.

“One of our testers,” Fred explained, taking a seat at the table, still mostly buried beneath wedding samples. “She applied to test one of our extra-strength potions free of charge. We didn't want to sell it yet, because we weren't sure that it was entirely safe.”

“Not to mention, it does have some rather -er—controversial side effects that, while they are supposed to happen, could have serious ramifications. So--”

“So,” Fred took over again from George, “we wanted to get a better idea of the magnitude of those ramifications before we marketed the potion. Just to be on the safer side.”

“`Serious ramifications?'” Harry repeated, setting the bottle down. “Like what?”

George cleared his throat and removed a sheet of paper from a folder on the table.

“Here. This is one of our proposed labels. We're just trying to make it a little less wordy.”

“Why don't we just attach a little card to the bottle with a ribbon or something?” Fred interjected, “Then we could…”

The rest of Fred's words were blocked out from Harry's mind as he read the paper.

Attention Girls!

Tired of watching your true love mooning after another girl? Noticed another guy mooning after the other girl?

There is an answer!

Weasley's Wizarding Wheezes extra-strength Long-Lasting, Gradually Building Love Potions are here!

The instructions are simple.

First, wear the charm bracelet included in the starter box. Whenever you are close to this boy, your presence will seem like the most natural thing in the world to him, so much so that when you're apart, he'll feel strange without you.

Next, use the bottle of Preparation Perfume included in our starter kit. The boy in question will get a whiff of this and it will gradually establish itself as the one scent the boy loves the most. When you catch him `sniffing' around you, it's time for the third step!

The Intermediate Inciter! This love potion, if drunk by you, will immediately react with the boy affected by the perfume, and he will find his dreams filled with thoughts of you; naughty or not depends on the boy's imagination!

The Fourth step is optional, depending on your circumstances. If you have a boyfriend already (obviously not a very good one, if you're following these directions) be sure to snog him where this dream guy can see you. Another effect of the Inciter is to create feelings of supreme jealousy over you.

What about the other girl in your dream guy's life, you ask? No Problem! Remember the guy chasing her? Rub a strand of her admirer's hair with a few drops of the perfume, then put the hair somewhere the girl will smell it often. The secondary effect of the Perfume will activate, causing feelings of jealousy over this admirer to ignite in the girl's heart. Her better judgment will surely go out the window, and she will chase after this other guy like no tomorrow, which he will no doubt appreciate.

As for your dream guy, he will undoubtedly lust after you until he can no longer stand it. He will surely go against his own nature and profess his love for you in a shockingly romantic fashion! Whether by snogging, or other means, is unspecified for legal reasons.

Enjoy your dream guy!

Best wishes,

Messrs. Fred and George Weasley

Side effects may include irrational behavior in all parties concerned. WWW Nat. will not be held responsible for methods of revenge, jealousy or backbiting by any parties concerned. All potion ingestion, spraying, or other use is undertaken at user's own risk.

Harry looked up in surprise. He could understand perfectly why Fred and George had been cautious. Ramifications, huh? Legal ones, at the least.

“So, what do you think?” the twins asked in unison.

“You want my honest opinion?”

Fred and George nodded.

“I think all love potions should have been outlawed when they were invented.”

Harry himself was mildly surprised when he heard the words come out of his mouth.

Fred and George, for their part, looked stunned.

“Why do you say that?” Fred asked.

“Yeah mate. That sounds pretty harsh to me,” George added.

Harry turned. Ron had come down the stairs, with Ginny, Gabrielle, and Hermione following.

Harry sighed. “If love potions had been outlawed, then Lord Voldemort wouldn't exist.”

A stunned silence followed the usual winces that circulated when Voldemort's name was mentioned.

“What do you mean?” Ginny asked, sharply.

“Dumbledore told me that Voldemort's mother used a love potion to seduce his father,” Harry explained. “She became pregnant, and decided to stop giving him the potion. I don't know if she thought he would really be in love with her by then, or if she thought he would stay with her for the baby. All anyone knows is that he abandoned her after the potion wore off, and she died giving birth to Voldemort.”

Ignoring the two separate rounds of hisses at Voldemort's name being repeated, Harry continued.

“Even if love potions weren't responsible for Voldemort's existence, I still don't think they're right.”

“Why not?” The query came from Hermione this time.

“Think about it. If you need a love potion to get someone to love you, then do you really think they'd still love you without being under its influence? How would you feel, having given someone a love potion, knowing that the love they give you is false? I don't think real love needs potions to help. If it's real in the first place, isn't it strong enough on its own?”

The stillness that followed the end of this speech was broken by a squeak.

Everyone turned to stare at Ginny, who had tears running down her cheeks.

Half an hour later, the Weasleys (minus Bill, who was out with Fleur) Hermione, and Gabrielle sat in the living room.

Ginny had refused to tell them why she was so upset until the whole family was gathered to hear her. Mrs. Weasley had pointed out that Bill was unlikely to be there for the rest of the day, and that it was probably best for Ginny to explain what was wrong sooner.

Ginny stood in the center of the living room, facing everyone seated on the couch. Harry had ended up in between Hermione and Gabrielle, with Ron on the floor at Hermione's feet. Mr. and Mrs. Weasley were seated in their armchairs, and Fred and George had conjured wooden stools to sit on.

Ginny took a deep breath, and began to tell them.

“Last August I volunteered to be one of Fred and George's testers. I used a false name, Ginger, because after their reaction when I discovered their Wonder Witch products in their store, I knew they'd never let me buy anything like this if they knew who I was.

“I offered to test any love potion that Fred and George came up with. They wrote back asking what I wanted to happen. I explained that there was a boy I liked, but there was another girl very close to him, who I thought might have had a different boy hounding after her.

“They sent back a bracelet for me to wear and two potions, one for me, and one for the other girl.

“I drank the first myself. I used the second on Hermione.”

Hermione gasped and tried to say something. Harry caught her hand in his to stop her from interrupting. He was looking intently at Ginny.

“I've had a crush on Harry for years. I was so tired of trying to get him to notice me. I realize now that what I did was wrong, but please let me explain before you punish me.

“I was jealous of the friendship Harry and Hermione had. I was sure I could never become Harry's girlfriend as long as she was around. I used the second potion to make her think she was in love with Ron. I thought that if she thought that, she would spend less time with Harry, leaving my way to him clear.

“What I didn't think about was Ron's stupidity. I thought that having Hermione chasing after him would make him see sense, but instead he falls in with Lavender Brown. Hermione, however, had become very snappish with Harry and they seemed to be moving apart, so I wasn't bothered too much by it.”

“When Harry kissed me in the common room, I thought I had finally succeeded. He seemed happy with me, and like…” she paused. “… Voldemort's mother, I grew confident. I told myself that I no longer needed the potion, that Harry would have ended up with me sooner or later all on his own. So I stopped using it, the day before Professor Dumbledore died.”

“But then, at Dumbledore's funeral, when I though he needed me most, he broke up with me. He said he didn't want me to get hurt, and I agreed.”

“I went to bed that night telling myself it meant nothing. That deep down, he still loved me, even without the potion, that he just wanted to keep me safe.”

“But then, when he came back here, I watched him for any sign that he still loved me. Any indication at all, that he was suffering without me, and would change his mind. But he didn't. He didn't. And then a while ago, when he told us that a love potion was responsible for...” her voice broke, and she looked down at her feet.

When she raised her eyes, they were once more swimming with tears.

“I realized then what I had done. Hermione and Ron fought worse than ever last year, and Harry and…”

She looked directly at Harry and Hermione now, and whispered, “I'm so sorry, both of you. You were the best of friends, and I—“

She trailed off, but Harry was no longer listening to her. He was remembering.

The beast that seemed to rise in his chest when he saw Ginny with Dean….will undoubtedly ignite with lust for you…the smell of the Amortentia…will gradually replace itself as the scent the guy loves most…the seeming suddenness of his attraction for Ginny….all of it made sense now.

“So,” he said, doing his utmost to keep his voice even. Everyone turned to stare at him except Ginny, who flinched as he continued.

“You used a love potion on me. You thought I loved you. I thought I loved you. You stopped giving me the potion. I broke up with you. Guess that means it wasn't meant to be, doesn't it?”

Letting go of Hermione's hand, he stormed off upstairs. They all heard a door slam.

Hermione slowly stood up as well. Walking to Ginny, who was shaking as though expecting Hermione to hit her. Hermione put a hand under Ginny's chin, raising the girl's head until they were eye to eye.

“Why?”

Ginny felt the tears pouring down her face now. “I told you, I had a crush…”

Hermione interrupted. “No. I meant, why did you try to `get me out of the way'?”

Ginny was sobbing now.

“Because you two were always so close that anyone who saw you might have thought you were a couple and I thought Ron was in love with you and…”

She stopped trying to explain when Hermione let go and ran past her out the door and into the garden. Ginny shook her head and ran upstairs to her own room.

A few minutes later the living room was deserted. Mrs. Weasley had followed Ginny, Mr. Weasley had gone after Harry, Gabrielle had gone to find Hermione, Ron was sitting dumbstruck, for the second time that day, on the carpet in front of the couch, and Fred and George had Apparated to Diagon Alley, to destroy their remaining love potions, and re-evaluate their Wonder Witch products.

A/N- I know the theory that a love potion is behind Harry/Ginny in book 6 is not original, and I was toying with the plot of a post HBP story that doesn't use that storyline. Anyway, the love potion works for this story.