Authors note: As always, thanks to everyone who left me a review on chapter six. I really enjoy hearing what you think of a chapter. I especially like the reviews where you comment on specific things, and make guesses, or suggestions as to where you think or hope the next chapter will go. It shows you're really into the story, and what writer doesn't love that!
Of course, I also need to thank my wife for all her help. She's a great sounding board as I'm writing, and she gives me her honest opinion, whether I like it or not. But, to be fair, she's is usually right, so I grumble, but I listen. Well, that's about it for now, so …. here you go, chapter seven. Enjoy!
PS I thought I'd be able to end this story with chapter seven, didn't happen, so there will be a chapter eight.
Chapter 7
Ginny Weasley sat on the couch in Fluer's living room, pouting. After the incident last night her mother had suspended all shopping privileges until she could get to the bottom of it. Molly had spoken to Arthur, who was shocked by what had happened to his daughter. He said he would speak to Ron to see if he knew anything, and to be sure that he was alright.
Arthur had just contacted Molly back with news from Ron. Molly finished her conversation with Arthur and turned to her daughter.
"Ginny! What on earth did you do to Hermione Granger?"
"Hermione? I haven't even spoken to Hermione, since like, lunch time Thursday. I haven't done anything to Hermione. Why?"
"Well, it appears that Hermione stabbed you brother with a fork over something she said that you had done to her!" Molly barked, hands on hips.
"Mom I swear, I haven't done ANYTHING to Hermione!"
"Ron seems to think that she was the one looking for you last night."
"Mom, if it was Hermione, I have no idea why."
That's you last word then?"
Ginny nodded.
"That's it, we're going home!" Molly turned and headed for the bedroom to pack.
"NO, there's no reason to go, nothings happened today, I'm fine."
Molly turned on her. "You're fine, you're fine, what about your brother, huh missy? What about your brother being hurt because of you. You need to get your priorities straight young lady, and right this minute! We're going home!"
Ginny was speechless. Her mother had never spoken to her like that before. She was the baby; she'd always gotten her way. She began to seethe, and then she grumbled under her breath, "Granger….you're dead when I get back!"
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Ron sat on his bed stunned. He had just finished speaking with his father. It seemed obvious to Ron that Hermione had gone totally mental. From what his mom had told his dad, someone had tried to 'accio' Ginny from Paris. After what Hermione had screamed at him at breakfast about all her troubles having been caused by Ginny, Ron had no doubt he knew exactly who that someone was.
"But what about Harry?" he thought. "Had she infected him somehow? What if she had Harry under some kind of spell? God knew she was smart enough to come up with something like that," he assured himself. Then he speculated, "The real Harry would never have attacked me, but maybe, a Hermione puppet Harry would. She's always forcing her way in between us. Yeah, that had to be it." Ron reasoned. "How am I gonna fix him? I'm no good with spells. Wait; there was that muggle movie I watched that time on vacation, about getting rid of evil and junk? They did it; maybe I can do it the muggle way too." He sat on his bed with his head in his hands, racking his brain to remember the name of the movie.
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Neville chased his new true love all over the castle, with Lavender trotting behind him smiling from ear to ear. He actually managed to catch Parvati once, and tried to kiss her, but she turned her head just in time, and ended up with his tongue in her ear. Parvati screamed bloody murder! Lavender had saved her that time by putting a body bind on Neville, but once Parvati had run off, she let Neville go.
"What a great day!" Lavender smiled as she skipped after the retreating form of Neville. She had no doubts that he'd find Parvati again, and she'd be there to watch. "Damn that Hermione, she should have given me the rest of that potion for Parvati," she grumbled. Then she stopped and thought about it for a second, "Actually……….this might just be more fun!" she decided and continued on her way.
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A running Harry and Hermione raced through the corridors looking for Neville. They heard a blood curdling scream from somewhere up ahead of them. They stopped running for a second and looked at each other.
"Could have been Parvati?" Harry said.
"Definitely female!" Hermione replied.
"Unless she kicked him!" Harry winced.
"Huh?"
"Never mind," and he grabbed her hand and took off again.
Dean and Seamus were in the hallway up ahead.
"Hey buttons," Dean smirked as they ran by. Harry stopped and turned back towards Dean with a testy look on his face. Dean nodded past him, but Hermione pulled Harry after her.
They continued in the direction of the scream. "Why did he call you 'buttons'?" she asked as they ran.
"I don't know, but…….he wasn't calling me buttons….. he was calling you buttons!"
Hermione stopped dead.
"What? What do you mean ME?" she said horror struck.
She started to go back. Harry stopped her, and made eye contact, "Fixing your little love potion problem?"
She growled and went with him, glaring over her shoulder.
"That's just great," an indignant Hermione began. "I'm never speaking to Neville again!"
"Come on Hermione, Neville? He wouldn't do that to us."
"Then where the hell did 'buttons' come from?" she asked, gesturing back towards where Dean had been.
Harry smiled and shrugged, but Hermione was just ramping up.
"Oh sure, It's no big deal, what do you care, you're 'The Boy who Lived', 'The Chosen One', but me, I'm gonna be stuck with 'Buttons Granger' for the rest of my life!"
Harry turned his head away from her and swallowed a laugh.
"Yeah, yeah, very funny, 'Buttons Granger' ha-ha, go ahead and laugh you plonker!"
With that, Harry lost it. She angrily pulled her hand from his.
Then he offered, with as straight a face as he could manage.
"Well…..maybe he meant you're as cute as a button?"
"You shut up!"
Harry lost it again.
Hermione began to stalk off back the way they had come.
Harry ran around her and cut her off. "Wait, wait Hermione, I'm sorry. How bout I hit them both with a really strong memory charm, huh?" he said as he lifted her chin.
She looked skeptical, "yeah?"
"Yeah, for you, sure…..when I'm done with them, they won't even remember what the hell a button is, okay?"
She still wasn't too sure, but she managed a low, "okay," and she let him take her hand again.
"Please Harry," she begged as they ran. "I don't want to be known as 'Buttons Granger'. Do you have any idea what it would be like if Ron ever heard that? It would never stop," she finished sounding totally defeated.
"Don't worry….. I promise you, I'll take care of it."
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Molly dropped Ginny off in Hogsmeade and shooed her off to the castle. Ginny was very put out; she had not had a very good weekend. It had started to suck Friday afternoon, and went straight down hill from there. First there was Lavender and Parvati, and all that Harry drooling over Hermione crap. Then there was that nearly being sucked through a vortex thing. Now, her mom was pissed at her, for like the first time ever, and worst of all, she hadn't really gotten to shop, in Paris!
"Son of a bitch!" she groused.
And……
Ginny thought, "Who had caused all her troubles? Why Hermione Grangers, that's who! She'd undoubtedly done something to bewitch Harry, that was obvious. She had tried to 'accio' me for no reason at all, she stabbed my brother, which pissed off my mom, and all of that lead to me not getting to shop!"
She grumbled and seethed as she walked.
"I'm gonna 'bat bogey' the bloody hell out of her the second I see that frizzy haired, man stealer!" she venomously spit. "I don't know why she's chosen to ruin my life, but payback's gonna be a bitch."
And she smiled.
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Ron was busy rummaging through his trunk looking for things he could use. Then he looked around quickly. "Shit! If I'm saving Harry…. then I'm going through his stuff too!" He had remembered the name of the movie he had seen about destroying evil, and was attempting to gather up supplies, but….he wasn't having the kind of luck he had hoped for. The guy in the movie had cool stuff; Ron was not going to have anything as good to work with.
"How am I gonna make a………?" he trailed off as he dug deeper through Harry's trunk looking for something he could use to fashion what he needed. He rose out of Harry's trunk empty handed. He scratched his head and looked around the room. "Guess I'll have to go with that then?" He frowned slightly and then shrugged as if to say, oh well, and then set about making what he needed from what he had.
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Parvati Patil was horrified. If she hadn't turned her head Neville's tongue would have gone halfway down her throat. It was bad enough that it had gone into her ear, which was totally disgusting. The inside of her ear was still wet, and she made a face as she wiped at her ear with her hand. "Thank God for Lavender! If she hadn't come along and stopped Neville," she shuttered at the thought. "I need to get as far away from him as possible. I need to find someplace where I'll be safe. Damn it, I knew we shouldn't have ratted out Ginny, this is some kind of sick payback," she thought as she hurried down the hallway. She turned and her eyes went wide as she saw Neville heading in her direction. "NO!" she screamed, and she took off. "How? How did he get loose? Lavender had him!" she whimpered as she ran.
"Wait my darling. Come back! I love you…..Your ear tastes like chocolate!"
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Ron had finished crafting what he needed. He stepped back to assess his handiwork, "Well……could be worse….. I guess." Then he shrugged. "Don't really have much choice now do I, so it's just gonna have to do," he decided.
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Parvati reached the first floor. She spied the early dinner crowd heading into the great hall, so she decided to head that way. "Safety in numbers," she reasoned as she ran past a confused looking group of first years. "Move it," she hissed at them and the scared group instantly scattered.
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Ginny Weasley violently kicked open the front door of the castle. It flew open so hard and fast that when the metal door handle hit the ancient stone wall, it caused a spark to fly up. "I'm back," she said under her breath ominously. "Where are you Granger, its payback time," she growled. "You started this, and I'm gonna finish it!"
Just then the object of her ire came into view. She spied Hermione as she jumped down the last three steps of the lower staircase, and then took off towards the great hall behind Neville, who had just gone in. And…. adding insult to injury, the frizzy headed witch, was holding hands with Harry! Ginny pulled out her wand, readied herself, and marched off towards a great hall showdown.
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Harry and Hermione burst through the doors of the great hall. They stopped just inside and surveyed the room before them. There were no professors yet as it was only 4:45, and dinner didn't even begin to be served until 5:05 at the earliest. There were about thirty students or so, but it was loud already. Then they saw why. Neville was standing on one side of the Gryffindor table, and Parvati was around the other side. She was pointing at him.
"You stay away from me Neville, I'm warning you!" As she said this she reached up, and making a face of pure disgust, wiped what she hoped was the last of his saliva from her ear. She ran to her left, and Neville ran right, trying to get to her, all the while he pleaded with her.
"My love, you are the light of my life, I dwell in darkness without you. Please my love, run away with me, and be mine forever!"
Harry and Hermione were momentarily frozen by the absurdity of the scene before them. They were quickly startled out of their stupor when Parvati screamed, "YOU," and pointed at Hermione with fury in her eyes as she jockeyed back and forth to make sure the table stayed between herself and Neville.. "This is all your fault!"
"It is not! I was just trying to fix things. Ginny started it all." Hermione yelled back.
"Hello stupid! You want to fix something, fix him!" Parvati shrieked while gesturing toward Neville.
Hermione turned to Harry, "Did she just call me stupid!"
Before Harry could answer, a reply came from behind him.
"Yes she did you stupid cow, and now you're mine, frizz ball!"
Hermione and Harry turned.
"YOU!" they bellowed in unison as they both stared daggers at Ginny and snarled.
The first hex from Ginny's wand flew high and wide of Hermione.
Harry wasn't worrying about hexes, he ran right at Ginny. She saw him coming, screeched in panic at the look on his face, and ran around the Gryffindor table, ending up at Parvati's side.
"Harry?" Ginny pleaded, "What did I do?"
"Does a LOVE POTION ring a bell, Gin?" He snarled at her. "You totally ruined what happened between Hermione and me, and so help me, if I can't fix it….!"
"Just what the hell did happen between you and her, Harry, huh? I leave here for one weekend and what; you're cheating on me with my brothers' girlfriend?"
Both Harry and Hermione were stunned by what Ginny had said, and everyone in the great hall had their eyes trained on Harry, waiting for his reply. Even Neville had momentarily stopped his lustful pursuit of Parvati.
They were all startled when Hermione screamed, "I am NOT your brothers GIRLFRIEND!"
Ginny spat back at Hermione. "You shut up, SLAG; I'm talking to my boyfriend!"
Hermione flinched as if she'd been slapped.
Harry's eyes went wide. "What did you just call Hermione? And…. I am not now, and never have been your boyfriend!"
Hermione looked around at the stunned faces near her.
"Did she…Did she just called me….. a slag?"
They nodded.
Hermione angrily headed for the redhead, drawing her wand as she advanced, and warning all. "So help me, if one more person calls me names…."
Ron Weasley burst into the great hall loudly, and drew the immediate attention of most of the students present.
"Hermione," he bellowed. Ron was holding something in his hand. It looked to be a cross like thing. On closer inspection, it actually appeared to be his wand and a bread stick tied together to make a 'T' shape. All who saw it were confused, and then he bellowed as he held it up facing Hermione. "You… EVIL TEMPTRESS." But before he was able to finish his sentence, his words were frozen, as was the rest of him, by the 'patrificus totalus' spell whipped from Hermione's wand that hit him right between the eyes. Ron dropped like an anvil.
"Bloody IDIOT," Hermione angrily hissed.
Ginny, looking to take advantage while Hermione was distracted, fired a 'bat bogey' at her, but unfortunately for Ginny, it was blocked by Harry.
Both Hermione and Ginny looked over at Harry.
Then a dumbstruck Hermione turned back toward Ginny, mouth agape, disbelieving what the young redhead had just done.
"You tried to bat bogey me?"
"You froze my brother!" Ginny accused.
"Fine!" Hermione nodded. "It's now open season on Weasley's." With that, Hermione fired a spell at the cups of pumpkin juice on the table right in front of Ginny. The cups exploded, and pumpkin juice flew everywhere, but mainly, it flew all over Ginny.
Ginny stared down at her outfit, which was now freckled with a billion tiny orange spots, to go along with the three or four huge stains now decorating it.
Hermione smiled with satisfaction.
"Oh, now you're dead Granger!"
Harry and Hermione's eyes met, and then Harry raised his wand toward Ginny, but Hermione put up her hand, "Its okay Harry, I've got this," and she smiled.
A furious Ginny growled, and began firing 'bat bogeys' hexes in every direction hoping to hit Hermione with at least one.
Hermione on the other hand, kept exploding cup after cup of pumpkin juice all over an increasingly angry Ginny.
Neville Longbottom had used the Ginny distraction to ease his way towards Parvati, who had momentarily stopped paying attention to him. That is of course until it was too late. He grabbed her and Parvati shrieked in surprise. "Kiss me, my love." Then Neville silenced her scream by slipping his tongue deep into her mouth.
From behind everyone, back near the doors of the hall, a strangled cry rang out.
Luna Lovegood stepped over the prone and petrified Ron Weasley and in a sniffled sob wailed, "How could you Neville. You said I was your true love in the broom cupboard just yesterday," as tears streamed down her face.
That, little bit of news got everyone's attention, as mouths throughout the hall dropped open in shock.
Nobody…..saw that coming.
Right after Luna, a skipping Lavender entered the hall. On seeing the predicament Parvati was currently tangled in, she covered her mouth with both hands to stifle her laughter.
Luna's outburst had momentarily gotten Neville's attention. This gave Parvati an opportunity to push him far enough away so that Harry was able to hit Neville with a body bind.
Parvati angrily turned toward Lavender. "You think that's funny? Huh? I've been running for my life from Neville, who somehow managed to get loose from you, and now you're laughing about it!"
"Don't blame me. Hermione started all this," Lavender shouted back.
Hermione, who's patronus was now flying around the room deflecting Ginny's hexes as the students in the area ducked and cowered under the tables, looked over at Lavender seriously affronted at the accusation. She climbed up onto the table and shouted at Lavender.
"I didn't start this, SHE did." And she pointed at Ginny.
"Hey, I wasn't even here, so don't go blaming this on me!" Ginny bellowed back at Hermione.
"You did too cause this mess." Harry snapped.
Ginny, startled by Harry, threw at 'bat bogey' in his direction before she realized who had spoken.
Harry deflected the hex easily, and then stared at Ginny in shock. Ginny's eyes went wide.
"Harry, I'm SO SORRY, I didn't realize it was you," she pleaded, and then screaming her head off she ran toward the main door as Harry ran after her.
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Minerva McGonagall entered the great hall and was struck speechless by the chaos she saw before her. A petrified Ron Weasley lay at her feet holding what looked like a breadstick cross. A wailing, crying, Luna Lovegood stood ten feet in, saying over and over again through her tears, "You said you loved me!" Lavender Brown and Parvati Patil stood hands on hips, and nose to nose, screaming at each other. Miss Granger was standing on top of a table, wand at the ready. Neville Longbottom seemed to be in some kind of a body bind and he kept shouting over the din, "Parvati, I love you," as he hopped in her direction. The remaining thirty or so students could be seen cowering under the orange spotted dinner tables. And…… Ginny Weasley, covered, from head to toe, in what looked to be pumpkin juice, was running toward the head mistress repeatedly screaming, "I'm sorry," over her shoulder as a very angry looking Harry Potter chased after her.
"SILENCE!" The head mistress shouted, and then she waved her wand and froze every person in the room. They could all hear her, but they could not move a muscle.
"This is UNACCEPTABLE behavior!" she shouted. "When I release you, I will see, Mr. Potter, Ms. Granger, Mr. Longbottom, Misses Patil, Lovegood, Brown and Weasley, in my office!"
She then turned to leave, and semi tripped over the still petrified Ron. "Whoever did this to Mr. Weasley will please UNDO it immediately? Do I make myself clear?" As she reached the great hall doors, she flourished her wand over her shoulder and everyone was released.
Hermione climbed down off of the table she was on. The students that McGonagall had called began making their way to the doors to follow the head mistress to her office. Ginny stayed very close to McGonagall, and kept peaking over her shoulder to see where Harry was. Harry glared at Ginny for a moment, and then stopped to wait for Hermione, who had just un-petrified Ron. Hermione then also released Neville with an "I'm sorry about all this." Neville, who was no longer showing the affects of the love potion, nodded to her. Either the head mistress had released him from the potions grip, or, it had finally worn off. Luna slowly sobbed her way from the hall, and Parvati and Lavender bickered quietly and elbowed each other as they walked.
Hermione whispered to Harry, "I'm so dead. I made the love potion Neville drank. I'm gonna get in so much trouble."
Harry reached out and took her hand, and gave it a gentle squeeze.
"Maybe you won't, but…. if you do, I'm pretty sure you're not gonna be the only one."