Disclaimer: Nope, not mine. Just this arrangement of words. Harry Potter, sadly, belongs to Ms. Rowling, the WB Corporate Juggernaut, and anyone else who has a slice of the proverbial pie. Epilogue - One Good Turn…
Ron Weasley was a happy man. Not only had he enjoyed a thoroughly interesting day with Luna, but also his other endeavours seemed to be succeeding beyond his wildest dreams. The plan had gone off without a hitch, something he'd realised with his keen and penetrating powers of observation, when he and Luna had entered the Three Broomsticks only to be immediately assailed by Seamus Finnigan and Dean Thomas.
"You." Seamus said by manner of greeting, his arms folded across his chest. "You've done this, haven't you?" Ron glanced at Luna, who was simply smiling serenely back at him, before turning back to his dorm mate.
"I…what?" He stammered, scratching the top of his head with his free hand. The other, of course, currently ensconced in the grip of the Ravenclaw at his side.
"You've just lost me ten galleons Weasley." Seamus replied, punctuating each word with a jab of his finger to Ron's chest.
"And me five." Dean growled from beside him, his posture mimicking his friends'.
"What the bloody hell are you two on about?" The redhead asked bemusedly, not quite sure whether to grin, or to pick up the empty butterbeer bottle on the table next to him in defence.
"See for yourself." Dean spat, before he and Seamus parted ways in a slightly choreographed manner (which, he'd reflect later on, it might well have been). Luna squealed in delight.
"Oh good…" she positively gushed. Ron's jaw hit the floor.
It was Harry. And Hermione. Hermione and Harry. Hermy and Harmione doing things that were decidedly un-friendly, that leant much more towards the hormonal end of the spectrum. For all intents and purposes, they looked as if they were desperately struggling to become one singular, amorphorous blob of Harry and Hermione. And doing quite well, at that.
"I am a fucking genius." He said out loud, ignoring the disapproving 'tsk' that came from his date.
"Oh, is that so?" Seamus asked, closing the gap so the view of the couple was blocked. "Mind tellin' us exactly why that is, now?"
"Erm…"
"You know, if it was anyone else," came a familiar voice from behind the two boys in front of him. "They'd be lying in a pool of something foul, belching slugs by now."
"Hermione!" Ron started, a slightly desperate grin plastered across his face. "And how's your day been?" The girl, who'd pushed through Dean and Seamus to stand in front of him, cast her eyes back over her shoulder briefly, a small smile playing across her features as she sighed happily.
"The best…" She said softly, a fond expression on her face. Ron beamed, although the smile quickly fell as her head snapped back to him, her eyes narrowing as she took another step forward. "Now, Ron. Hi Luna…" She said distractedly, noticing the willowy blonde for the first time.
"Hello Hermione. How's Harry?"
"He's great," She replied, grinning. Seamus and Dean exchanged dark, significant looks. "Now…GET BACK HERE RONALD!" She snapped, at the sight of her best friend attempting to slowly sidestep out of whacking range. She closed the distance once more. "I know exactly what you did," she hissed in a voice just low enough for him to hear it. "I know exactly what you read, and I know exactly what today has been all about. I don't know whether to hit you or kiss you, although I suspect we got all the kissing out of our system the other day, didn't we?"
He cringed.
"Now, the way I see it, you owe me big-time, lest you want dear Harry to find out where you've been sticking your nose?" She stated forcefully. Not for the first time in his life, Ron Weasley was rather scared of Hermione Granger.
"Alright, alright. I'm sorry, okay?" He whispered pleadingly, keeping his voice at the same volume as she, thankfully, had.
"No it's not okay Ron. You owe me, and I might not call it in today, tomorrow, or even this year. But it will be called in."
"Right you are." He gulped. She smiled beatifically, before stepping back to stand with Dean and Seamus.
"Alright boys, Ron's very kindly offered to get the round in." A quick, shared glance as the other two men cheered told him that this wasn't anywhere near even.
-=-=-=-*-=-=-=-
Five months later…
Being Head Boy had some very definite benefits, Harry decided. The private suite (which, incidentally, he shared with the Head Girl…a tiring, forced arrangement that they somehow found the courage to struggle through), the ability to roam the halls at night with impunity, and the capability to get away with damn near everything.
And, of course, the responsibility for the decorations every year at major events. Like the Valentine's Ball, for instance.
Alright, so maybe that wasn't a plus, but Harry was determined to find a good side in everything. The last few months had after all, been so full of darkness, so full of bitter struggle. The Horcruxes, that terrifying battle with Nagini, the loss of Grimmauld…
The shining beacon in all of it was Hermione. She was the other half of his soul, the reason he kept pushing forward when everything screamed to go back. She was his essence, his everything. And nothing could take that from him, she was his light in the shadows that surrounded him.
As if catching his thoughts, the object of his musing turned and flashed him one of her rare, secret smiles. The ones she gave him in private, the ones that lit up her whole face, like she'd finally figured out a puzzle she'd been trying to solve for weeks and suddenly had an epiphany over. It made him feel like the centre of the universe.
Which is a lie, of course, she's my centre he thought to himself as he watched his girlfriend levitate another oversized bauble onto the crowded ceiling, the light reflecting dully off of it and casting a golden hue over her face. Mixed in with the reds, the pinks and the deep purples of the other decorations…the Great Hall now looked fit for a king. Or an utterly extravagant blue movie set, he hadn't decided yet.
"Okay?" He heard that familiar, soft voice come from beside him. Somewhere in between looking up at the ceiling and back down again, Hermione had made her way to him, slipping her hand into his as she whispered in his ear. He grinned, and placed a light kiss on her forehead as she leant against him.
"Yeah," he replied, his brow furrowing in thought. "Although it feels like it's…I dunno, missing something."
"A centrepiece." She concurred, scratching behind her ear as she did so. Harry felt himself lose another hundred "man-points" as Ron called them by remarking inwardly how utterly adorable that simple gesture was. Then again, according to his red-headed best friend, he was so far in the minus figures by now it wasn't even a joke any more. He sighed dramatically, wrapping an arm around Hermione's shoulder as he leaned against one of the tables that hadn't been cleared to the side yet.
"Alas, the show must go on without it." He decreed with mock levity, waiting for a response from her that never came. He spared a quick glance to his side.
She was chewing her lip.
Which meant she was thinking.
Was this good, or bad?
"I have just the thing for it." She announced, smiling in a way that, to Harry, seemed vaguely unsettling. "FRED!" In a heartbeat, one half of the Weasley twins appeared at her side. The brothers were there as official sponsors, their joke shop having, surprisingly, flourished during the war. Harry supposed that even in dangerous times such as these, there was never a lack of demand for dungbombs.
"You rang?" He asked amicably, settling down on the other side of Hermione and throwing an arm over her shoulder, mimicking her boyfriend. "And don't the pair of you look precious."
"Hush," she chided gently. "I need you to get your brother…no not George, Ron for me Fred. We have a job for him." Apparently, Fred hadn't missed the devious, slightly manic gleam in her eyes.
"What's he done to you now?" He asked warily.
"Oh, nothing. He owes me a favour from a while back. I intend for him to make good on it today."
"Hermione," Harry started, "this wouldn't have anything to do with a certain diary, and a certain Hogsmeade visit would it?" The full story of that day had come to light not long ago, with him still being slightly peeved at Ron for reading Hermione's most intimate thoughts. And for trying to play them like cheap violins.
"It might." She answered vaguely. Fred, by this point, had already gone off to retrieve his errant brother. "But, enough questions Mr. Potter. It's Valentine's Day, and since you've cruelly failed to give me a present so far, I require some other form of compensation." She smiled, and moved in towards him when a noise of disdain came from in front of them.
"Oh please, in the Great Hall and everything." Hermione sighed, readjusting herself so she was actually sitting on Harry's lap now.
"Ron." She greeted. "You might recall a certain…service you've promised to render me in exchange for…oh for god's sake Harry, get your mind out of the gutter…my reluctance to speak on certain events that may have occurred last year." Ron shifted uneasily.
"Um, yeah. I might remember that." He replied, shooting Harry a questioning glance that was met with a 'don't-look-at-me, I'm-just-the-boyfriend' shrug of the shoulders.
"Then I've got one word for you." She stated, twirling her wand around her fingers.
"What's that?"
She smiled, the tip of her wand now pointing straight at him.
"Confundus."
-=-=-=-*-=-=-=-
The ball had been a huge success, the band a hit with everyone, and of course, the main attraction had tickled nearly everyone pink.
Nearly everyone, of course.
"Mr. Potter! Miss Granger!" The shrill voice of Professor McGonagall cut through the reverie that Harry and Hermione had shared, twirling gently to the sound of a slow song, wrapped tenderly in an embrace as they danced along with the other couples on the main floor. The Head students looked up abruptly, Hermione having the good grace to blush as the Headmistress approached.
"Professor," she greeted cordially as she gave another flick of her wand. The stylised Cupid floating above them span languorously off in another direction, to the cheers of (but not limited to) the sixth and seventh year Gryffindors watching with amusement below.
"Don't 'Professor' me, Hermione." She snapped waspishly, before arching an eyebrow to the display above. "Is that…is that Mr. Weasley?!"
Harry suppressed a giggle as they followed her line of sight. From behind you couldn't tell, but as Cupid turned into view, the overly large loincloth and plastic fairy wings moving to give clear view of a shock of bright red hair and a dazed, confused face, there really was no mistaking it.
"I believe it might be, Headmistress." Hermione replied coyly, the smile on her face conveying the only slightly apologetic tone to her voice.
"This is…in all my years…" She sputtered, her hands coming to her hips as she stared in disbelief.
"You're right, Professor, there's something missing." Harry replied, and with a wave of his hand, a conjured sign appeared around his friend's neck. More bemused by the situation than by her head boy's casual display of wandless magic, McGonagall's mouth opened and closed several times, before her lips came together in a thin, austere line.
"Hmph." She grunted in indignation before stalking back towards the head of the room. "Well, I hope he's learned his lesson." Harry chuckled as Ron rotated again, the words "BEHOLD THE PERILS OF THE MATCHMAKER" clearly visible in glowing script along the scriptor over his neck.
"Me too," Hermione sighed, placing her head back on her boyfriend's chest as they resumed their slow waltz. "Harry?"
"Hmm?"
"Happy Valentine's Day."
The End.
Author's Note:
And there we have the end of this little fic. A little fic that, surprisingly, has taken a long time to finish. Haha, erm, yeah. Sorry about that ;)
Thank you to all my reviewers, I was surprised at the response to this story…it was only intended as a little bit of fun, but people have seemed to enjoy it, and I'm glad for that. I'm still working on Priori - that's next on the update list, and I currently have a plan in the works for a Post-Voldemort fic that should be hitting PK soonish.
Feel free to leave a review - I hope you liked the epilogue. I went through a number of revisions, but just decided to keep it short and sweet in the end. So yeah, tell me what you thought :)
Until next time…
- Castledown.