Disclaimer: This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by JK Rowling, various publishers including but not limited to: Bloomsbury Books, Scholastic Books and Raincoast Books, and Warner Bros., Inc. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended.
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A question was posed awhile back on the H.M.S. Pumpkin Pie on FAP as to how Harry would deal with a slightly tipsy Hermione. This fic is my answer to that question. First off, I'd like to quote from someone who has been very influential to me in regards to understanding Drama:
"There is only one reason why anyone drinks in a play: to release inhibitions, to be able to say and do things
he was normally afraid to do, too repressed to do, too considerate or cowardly to say, too polite or fearful to risk.
Have a few drinks and all this can come pouring out, once the blocks are down and the dam has broken.
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Actors tend to use drinking negatively. It's important to find the positive: allow drinking to heighten the
emotional needs, to free you to express deeply-buried feelings. Not to escape from relationship, but to pursue it. Not
to become vague and fuzzy about the world and whoever is in it with you, but to seek confrontation, to fight for what
you want in ways normally denied you. Not to withdraw from your scene partner, but to seek in a richer, more needful
way, warmth, camaraderie, love."
Michael Shurtleff, Audition: Everything an Actor Needs to Know to Get the Part, (Bantam: New York,) 1979, p. 159.
….
Rating: PG-13
Chapter One: Ron's Plan
Hallowe'en 1997.
It was a cold and blustery Friday night. The chinks in the castle walls could not keep the cold wind out.
Harry was putting his books away and trying to get ready for the feast when he saw Ron quietly pour a bottle of alcohol into a leather boda bag and tuck it under his cloak. Harry was a little surprised that Ron being a Prefect was willing to break the school rules against alcohol, but didn't say anything to his friend.
"I'm gonna do it tonight, Harry," Ron said with confidence.
"What are you gonna do?"
"Make my move with Hermione. It's now or never," he said checking his look in the mirror.
"You think she likes you that way?" asked Harry.
"I don't know. I just can't take it any longer. If she doesn't like me, then I need to move on and find someone else," said Ron.
"So how are you planning on approaching her?"
"I've got a plan," Ron said smiling and nonchalantly readjusting the leather bag under his cloak.
Harry and Ron had never talked about Hermione in that way before, but it came as no surprise that Ron liked her. What surprised Harry was that Ron didn't ask him how he felt about the idea of the two of them getting together romantically. It was as if Harry's opinion didn't matter. He tried to shake the uneasy feeling that was growing in the pit of his stomach as he followed his friend down to the Great Hall to join the feast already in progress.
Harry had noticed Ron taking his mug of hot cocoa and placing it under the table so that he could add some of the alcohol to it. As the party progressed Ron began to tell jokes just a little louder than normal and was becoming a bit bolder when it came to reaching for food on the common table.
As the feast began to wind down, Ron insisted that Harry help him bring back loads of leftover desserts back to Gryffindor Tower. Ron had wanted to continue celebrating long after the party was officially over.
Ron had set up a table near the fireplace in the common room with all of the goodies and had insisted that Hermione forget her studies for one evening and join him and Harry in celebrating the anniversary of the Trio's friendship that happened on another Hallowe'en evening six years before.
"Come on, Hermione, loosen up a little," he said as he handed her a cup of cocoa.
"All right," she said smiling at him. "Hmmm, this tastes different than the stuff I had before."
"It's a special blend," he replied. "Wanna play a game of chess?"
"Nah, why don't you and Harry play," she said taking another sip. "I'll just sit here and watch."
Harry's chess game had steadily improved over the years and their game took over an hour before Ron eventually won. Harry noticed that Hermione's cheeks began to become flushed and she began to look uncomfortable.
"Is it getting hot in here?" she asked as she loosened her tie.
"The wind has died down a bit," said Ron. "If you're hot why don't you take off your sweater?"
Her eyes started to droop and she nodded. She removed her tie and then slowly and with a little difficulty pulled her sweater over her head. Harry noticed Ron staring at Hermione's chest as the sweater was being lifted over her bustline.
"That's better," as she threw her sweater on the couch.
"Hermione, your hair," Harry said pointing at it. "It is all wild."
She giggled and then touched his nose with her index finger giving him a shock of static electricity.
"Gotcha!" she shrieked. "Just think if we had kids, they'd have bushy wild hair with cowlicks!" Hermione then laughed as she tried unsuccessfully to smooth her hair down.
The other students who had been in the common room looked at them with strange glances and then one by one went upstairs to their dormitories. It was once again, just the Trio in the room.
"Harry, you gotta try this stuff. It's really good," said Hermione as she handed him a mug full of cocoa.
Harry took a small sip and tasted peppermint in the chocolate. It gave him a slight burning feeling as it went down his throat. His suspicion that Ron had spiked the pitcher of cocoa was confirmed. The earlier uneasy feeling in his stomach all of a sudden grew into concern. Just what exactly was in Ron's plan, Harry wondered.
They moved to the floor and sat before the blazing fire. Ron started to reminisce about their first train ride on the Hogwarts Express and how neither he nor Harry could stand Hermione after their first meeting. Hermione was howling with laughter and leaned against the couch and then started to slip and found her head resting against Harry's shoulder.
"Hey, you're Harry Potter!" she said in a singsong voice. "I think I've heard of you."
Her breath was now filled with a minty alcohol smell to it and Harry knew that she was drunk.
"I could go to sleep right here," she said pointing to the ground.
Ron then leaned over and whispered in Harry's other ear.
"Harry, go to bed. Or else I'll never get the courage to do this."
Harry couldn't believe that Ron still wanted to approach her romantically when she was clearly not in her right mind. He looked at Ron and saw a fierce determination in his bloodshot eyes.
Harry gently lifted Hermione's head off his shoulder and moved her against the couch.
"I think I need to go to bed," he said quietly.
"Bed, yeah, I'll join you," she said giggling with her eyes shut.
Harry left the room, but couldn't force himself to go up to the boys' dormitory. Instead he found himself standing on the third stair just out of sight and listening for any sounds from his friends. He had to know how Hermione would react. He was afraid that Ron might go too far and take advantage of her, but he didn't want to argue with him either. The whole situation had his stomach in knots.
"Why don't you come up here and sit next to me, Hermione?" Ron said gently.
Shortly afterward Harry heard what was unmistakably the sound of kissing. Harry began to feel sick, it reminded him of one night passing by his Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon's bedroom on his way to the bathroom and hearing them in the throes of passion. Harry shook his head willing himself to erase the mental image of his aunt and uncle in bed together from his brain when he heard a different sound. He heard Hermione's muffled voice and then --
Clunk!
"Harry! Help me!" cried Hermione desperately.
To be continued.
Author's Notes:
Yes, I know it is a cruel place to leave you hanging, but even with short fics I adore cliffhangers! This ending is almost exactly in the middle of the whole short story, so I had to include a cliffie since it presented itself to me. Stay tuned and you'll see how it ends.
I had said when I finished my novel length story, "Secrets, Lies and the Daily Prophet" that I didn't have any intention on writing any more HP fanfics. That was because I wanted to spend my energy focused on writing original stuff that I could get paid for. I didn't expect that my muse would give with a few short plot bunnies in the HP realm again, but because she did I am sharing those with you.
I hope you enjoy them. (Taking a small break from other writing projects to post this…)