Disclaimer: This fanfiction is based on characters and situations created and owned by J.K. 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.
After their laughter had quelled, Harry and Ron decided to go back up to the girls' dormitory in order for Ron to make amends with Hermione. While on their way up to Gryffindor Tower, Ron was mulling over his apology to Hermione when Harry spoke out of the blue.
"Hey, I just thought of something." Ron looked over at Harry as he continued, "What did you mean when you said 'you really came through for me' back in the carriage last night?" Harry looked curiously over at Ron and noticed a very embarrassed expression creep up onto his features.
Scratching his head, Ron replied sheepishly, "Well…my frame of thought the moment I opened the carriage door and saw you two hugging was, 'How can he possibly be talking to Hermione about her friendship with me if he's hugging her?!'. So I just kinda branched out from there and sarcastically thanked you for 'coming through for me' with your talk with Hermione." Ron finished with a reluctant glance over at Harry, and then his eyes fell to the floor in front of him. There was a moment of silence before Harry spoke again.
"…My 'talk' with Hermione? You lost me - what talk?" Harry looked perplexedly over at Ron. Ron ran a hand through his hair and stared at the ground in front of him for a moment, then looked up at Harry with his mouth slightly agape.
"Ohhh…that's right! I never actually got to ask you! When I turned back to the table to finish, you had left the common room." Ron's epiphany might have seemed complete in his own mind, but Harry was swimming in a sea of confusion.
"Come again?" said Harry, clearly lost.
"Okay, remember when I started to explain to you what I wanted your help for and I got interrupted by Dean and Seamus?" Harry nodded and the beginnings of contemplation crept onto his face.
"You said that you wanted my help in winning back Hermione," replied Harry carefully. He concentrated on Ron's reaction to his remark. Realization hit Ron as he looked over at Harry.
"And that's when I got cut off! Oh, brother; talk about timing!" Ron threw his hands up and laughed. Forget swimming - Harry was now drowning in confusion.
"What?" Harry managed to say. Ron looked back at Harry, wearing a sympathetic expression.
"I wasn't done explaining yet when I got cut off," explained Ron, "I wasn't asking for your help in winning back Hermione, I was asking for your help in winning back Hermione's friendship! You see, I was preparing to tell you that we had broken up, and that Hermione and I hadn't yet returned back to being friends. So I wanted you to talk to her at Hogsmeade and see how she felt about us going back to the way things used to be." Harry's confused expression lifted and it was replaced with a look of wonderment.
"Ohhh…okay…I get it! Now that makes sense!" laughed Harry. Ron grinned as Harry patted him on the back. "My goodness - I can't believe that that happened!"
"Yeah, Dean and Seamus have impeccable timing," said Ron in a mock flat tone. Harry laughed with Ron at his remark as they climbed the final flight of stairs leading to the Gryffindor portrait hole.
"Hey, Harry? I've got a question for you," said Ron as their laughter subsided.
"Yeah?" replied Harry as they said the password, "Golden Snitch," and climbed through the portrait hole.
"Well, I just wondered…why did you forgive me so quickly? You know, out in the courtyard? I mean, if I were you, I think I'd have had steam coming out of my ears," chuckled Ron.
Harry put a hand on Ron's shoulder and stopped them both from walking towards the girls' dormitories. They were now standing face-to-face in the middle of the empty common room.
"Ron, do you remember the big blowout we had last year because of the Triwizard Tournament?" Ron nodded. "I was absolutely miserable when we were on the outs. You're my best friend; not talking to you is like losing the feeling in my right arm." Ron smiled in response to Harry's remark. Harry smiled back and continued, "Sure I was mad about what you said, and granted, I didn't intend on forgiving you right away - but I was reminded of that awful, sickening feeling of losing our friendship when I met your eyes glaring at me out in the courtyard." Ron smiled in understanding and nodded at Harry's words.
"Thanks, mate," smiled Ron, turning and patting Harry on the back. The boys then began to make their way up the stairway to Hermione's dormitory.
"Of course, your glares have always set me off into a fit of laughter, so that played a factor in it as well," chuckled Harry on a side note as Ron knocked on Hermione's door, chuckling himself.
They heard a mattress creak, then footsteps, and finally the doorknob turned and the door opened slightly. Hermione peaked her head out of the door and saw that it was Harry and Ron. Not knowing what to say, she smiled slightly and opened the door for them to come in. They walked into her dorm room, which was vacant save for Hermione, and closed the door behind them.
Hermione walked over to her bed and sat down, motioning for the boys to do the same. They sat on either side of Hermione and turned in to look at her. Hermione studied the floor, not knowing what to say to either of them. They sat there in silence for a few moments, until Ron finally broke the ice.
"I'm sorry, Hermione," stated Ron. She lifted her head up in response to his apology and met eyes with him. Harry watched the goings on closely. "I've been an arse, a major one at that. I shouldn't have said the things that I said, and I should have stuck up for you when Malfoy was making fun of you in the Great Hall. You definitely don't deserve to be called a 'scarlet woman' - I'm really sorry for that. Can you forgive me?" Ron looked pleadingly into Hermione's eyes, hoping beyond hope that she would give a positive response. Harry watched Hermione intently, waiting for her response as well.
Hermione, her eyes watering, gave a small smile before she nodded her head 'yes.' She moved in and hugged Ron, and Harry could see the tears falling from her eyes as they pulled out of the hug.
"So…does this mean that you guys are friends again?" asked Harry. Hermione and Ron looked over at Harry, then back to each other. They both smiled and nodded as Hermione replied, "Yeah."
"THANK GOODNESS!" exclaimed Harry, letting out a breath of relief. Ron and Hermione laughed at Harry's enthusiam, and Harry grinned widely at them.
"Oh, and to clear one more thing up," started Harry, "that whole thing about me 'coming through for Ron' was about me helping you two to be friends again. It took Ron and I ages to understand that misunderstanding, so I thought that I'd give you the nutshell version." Harry winked at Ron and he laughed. Hermione's eyebrows rose in understanding.
"Ahh, I see," said Hermione, suddenly sporting a mischievous smile. She laughed to herself and stood up to face the two boys, grabbing a pillow off her bed as she stood. "What am I going to do with you two?!" Hermione exclaimed as she threw her pillow - a rather large pillow - at the boys.
Harry managed to dodge it; Ron got the brunt of it, the pillow knocking him backwards onto the mattress. All three of them laughed as Ron sat back up ("Hey, that's not fair!") and threw the pillow at Harry, knocking him into the mattress as well. Harry sat up and threw the pillow at Hermione, who caught it rather expertly. Another round of laughter ensued as Ron reached over for another, smaller pillow to throw at Harry while Hermione went and got more pillows from Lavendar's bed.
Soon after there was raucous laughter filling the room as blurs of big, fluffy pillows were flying through the air without abandon as Harry, Ron, and Hermione had themselves a good old-fashioned, muggle pillow fight.
***
Later that night, the Gryffindor common room was bustling with life. Harry and Hermione were sitting closely on the love seat in the common room, Hermione reading Divining the Divine: How Mind Reading REALLY Works while Harry played with her hair. Ron was playing wizard's chess with Seamus, as Dean watched on in utmost amazement. Ginny was sitting over in the far corner of the common room, absorbed in writing yet again. Upon closer inspection, Harry noticed that she was still writing on the same folded parchment from yesterday. That's odd, thought Harry, we all talked to Ginny after our pillow fight - she knows that everything is settled now. We even told Ron about the letter. Why would she need to write to Hermione when it's all out in the open now?
Harry, his arm on the back of the love seat, reached down and massaged Hermione's shoulder to get her attention. She looked up at him and smiled, taking her bookmark - she had charmed the creases out of and transfigured the four-foot photograph of them animatedly hugging in the pitch to a lovely bookmark size - and marking the page she was on as she closed the book and held it to her chest. She smiled up at him and focused on his eyes.
Look over at Ginny, thought Harry, wanting to silently communicate with Hermione. He saw that she had indeed heard his thought, as she leaned forward and quickly glanced at Ginny. She leaned back into the love seat and gave Harry a questionative look.
She told me that she was glad that the letter writing was over; that everything was settled now. Why is she still writing then? Hermione and Harry both looked back over to where Ginny was sitting. They silently decided to go over and see what Ginny was up to.
Ginny was now holding her letter up and reading it to herself silently when Harry and Hermione approached her. She was so absorbed in it that she didn't even notice Harry and Hermione's presence until Harry cleared his throat. Ginny jerked her head up with a look of shock and swiftly folded the letter and stuffed it into her carryall.
"Hey, guys! W-what's up?" said Ginny nervously. She gave them a lopsided grin as she put her elbows on the table and cupped her chin in her hands. Harry and Hermione tried to stifle their giggles, causing Ginny's grin to slowly fall. She followed the focus of their eyes to her arms, and she turned her head down to see what they were seeing.
"Oh, Merlin! NOT AGAIN!" protested Ginny as her face turned a bright shade of red.
For the second time this weekend, Ginny had black ink stains all over her arms.
"Excuse me, you guys, I gotta get this off!" said Ginny embarrassedly, as she grabbed her carryall - stuffing the letter deeper into it - and making her way up to her dormitory.
Harry and Hermione shared a quizzical look as they watched Ginny zip up the stairs and disappear into her dorm room.
"Okay, now that was very odd," remarked Hermione slowly, looking over at Harry. "What did she mean - again?"
"Oh," chuckled Harry, "she did the same thing yesterday in the library. She ran into the loo and scrubbed her arms clean, and I swear that her face was as red as her hair." Hermione giggled an 'oh' at Harry's remark and they looked around the common room, realizing that it was quickly emptying. Harry looked down at his watch and looked back up to Hermione, raising his eyebrows.
"It's dinnertime! Can I escort you to the dining hall, milady?" asked Harry suavely, grinning as he offered his arm for Hermione to take hold of.
"Why, yes, you may," replied Hermione in a very royal tone, "but first-" Hermione paused, gazing intently into Harry's eyes. Kiss me.
Gladly, responded Harry, smiling.
They closed their eyes as he slowly lowered his head down to hers. Their lips brushed against each other's softly at first, starting the kiss off lightly. As their kiss grew more intense, Hermione brought her arms up around Harry's neck, and Harry wrapped his arms around Hermione's waist. Harry could feel Hermione's lips curve underneath his in a smile, and they slowly pulled out of the kiss, slightly out of breath.
You take orders well, Mr. Potter, thought Hermione, smiling brightly.
Only your orders, Miss Granger, Harry smiled suggestively as she giggled, taking his arm.
They laughed together as they made their way out of the common room to the Great Hall.
***
The Great Hall was bustling with chatter as dinner was just about to be served when Harry and Hermione arrived, still arm and arm. As they entered, a lull of quietness came over the hall. It seemed as if everyone's eyes were magnetically attracted to the couple making their way to their seats. Harry and Hermione looked around at everyone watching them and turned and looked awkwardly at each other.
All of the sudden, a single clap resounded in the hall, followed by another clap. Everyone's eyes peeled away from the couple to the source of the clapping.
It was none other than Malfoy.
He snickered as he stopped his sarcastic applause and stood up, now holding the attention of all the students. Just then, unbeknowst to Draco, the teachers had just entered the Great Hall from behind their table. Crabbe and Goyle reached up and tugged on either side of Malfoy's robes, trying to alert him to the teachers' presence.
"Not now," he said aside to them. "Well, well; Potty and his Mudblood have decided to grace us with their presence," spoke Draco rather loudly. "How lovely. Oh, how did you two like my congratulations present? You know, the four-foot photograph I charmed of you two?" Malfoy frowned confusedly as he watched most of the hall - including Harry and Hermione - stifle their giggles as they looked up at the head tables. Draco turned his gaze to the teachers' tables. His jaw dropped.
"DRACO MALFOY!" bellowed Professor McGonagall, coming up to the head table and pressing her hands on it. "Come here this INSTANT!"
Draco looked down at Crabbe and Goyle disgustedly. "Bollocks! Why didn't you two idiots say anything?!" said Draco menacingly.
"We tried to…," whispered Goyle.
"…T-tugged on your robes…," stuttered Crabbe.
"NOW!" rang Professor McGonagall. Draco shoved Crabbe and Goyle out of his path as he made his way up to the head table. The whole hall went silent, waiting for Professor McGonagall to speak.
As Draco approached the table, Professor McGonagall motioned to Professor Flitwick. Everyone's attention turned to Professor Flitwick as he held his wand up and pointed it to the professor's lounge. A student, decidedly male, floated out of the lounge and was set on his feet.
It was Colin Creevey.
His feet were magically bound so that he couldn't walk, and his camera hung around his neck, the lens clearly cracked. Colin furrowed his eyebrows at Draco.
Professor McGonagall looked from Colin back to Draco, then back to Professor Flitwick. "That will be all, you can unbind him now," commanded Professor McGonagall, turning her eyes back to Malfoy. Professor Flitwick charmed Colin's feet free and performed the repairing charm on his camera lens. Colin smiled and thanked Professor Flitwick animatedly for fixing his camera.
"My student tells me that you were the one to bind his legs and break his camera. He also stated that you were the one to steal the photograph from him," said Professor McGonagall sternly, "And since I just heard your confession to the whole of the hall that it was your 'congratulations gift,' I'm assuming that you were indeed the one to vandalize Mr. Creevey as well."
"I was only joking, Professor. You see-" but Draco was interrupted by Goyle, who stood up and pulled Crabbe up with him, clearing his throat loudly.
"Professor, Malfoy did do it - w-we were with him…we're guilty, too," spoke Goyle with conviction, looking over at Crabbe. Crabbe looked to Professor McGonagall and nodded his head with a frown.
Wide-eyed and tongue-tied, Malfoy tried to object, only to mutter incoherent words about his father. He looked wordlessly at Crabbe and Goyle, then back to Professor McGonagall.
"Well, thank you for your honesty in confessing, Crabbe, Goyle. Your punishment will not be as severe. As for you, young man," bristled Professor McGonagall, "you're coming with me." Professor McGonagall motioned for Malfoy to follow her and Professor Snape to her office. Draco gave one last, desolate look out to the hall and turned his back to follow the professors.
The whole hall - save for the Slytherins - burst out with cheers as Malfoy and the two professors disappeared. Harry and Hermione shared a surprised look, then smiled at each other. The cheers subsided and the hall resumed staring at Harry and Hermione.
Once again, a single clap resounded in the hall, followed by another clap. Everyone tore their eyes away from Harry and Hermione to search for the source of the clapping this time.
It was Ron.
He was smiling widely as he continued to clap, standing up out of his seat. Lavendar and Parvati stood up and began to clap with Ron, and Ron looked over and smiled at them. Next came Seamus and Dean, then Fred and George. Soon the whole of Gryffindor was standing, clapping their hands. Harry and Hermione smiled at each other, then at Ron as students from Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw stood and joined in. Harry and Hermione looked around the hall as more and more students stood up and began clapping.
Soon the whole hall - even a select few Slytherins - were standing up applauding for Harry and Hermione. Harry and Hermione were smiling widely as they looked around at everyone. Hermione's eyes began to water as she hugged Harry's arm tighter to her.
Harry, isn't this amazing?! Hermione looked back over at Harry through her tears, and he nodded in response.
YOU'RE amazing, thought Harry, looking down and taking her hand in his. She widened her grin as a lone tear fell from her eye. She looked down at their hands, squeezed his hand, and then looked back up at him. He smiled at her and squeezed back.
"Congratulations, you guys!" exclaimed Ron, grinning. Everyone in the hall followed suit and said their congratulations to Harry and Hermione. ("Congrats!" "It's about time!" "Saw it coming!") Harry and Hermione laughed and bowed their heads in appreciation to the students as the clapping dribbled off. They then walked the rest of the way to their seats at the Gryffindor table and sat down. Just then the food magically appeared on the tables in front of them and dinner had officially begun.
It was then that Ginny appeared in the doorway to the Great Hall, still hugging her carryall close to her. She hurriedly walked up to the Gryffindor table and took her seat next to Ron and began making herself a plate of food and pouring herself some pumpkin juice. Harry and Hermione noted that her arms were slightly red due to the scrubbing she had obviously done to get the remnants of the ink off. They turned to smile at each other and then resumed eating. Ron looked over at his sister and his eyes dropped to her carryall.
"You'd think that that thing was a bloody security blanket; every time I see you, that bag is on you!" exclaimed Ron with a laugh. Ginny laughed nervously as she set her carryall next to her on the bench. The handles fell to the sides of the bag, opening it up. She smiled lopsidedly at Ron before she picked up her fork and began to eat.
"Well, you missed the show," remarked Ron, shoving a heap of shephard's pie into his mouth.
"What show?" asked Ginny curiously, lifting her goblet to her mouth.
"Well," started Ron, a contented look washing over his face, "Malfoy confessed to charming that photograph in the hall earlier and Professor McGonagall caught the whole thing-"
"Oh, bollocks!" exclaimed Ginny, barely downing her swig of pumpkin juice and slamming her goblet down on the table. Harry, Ron, and Hermione jumped at her sudden outburst, looking oddly at Ginny, and she waved her hands dismissively as she blushed, "Nevermind me…I-I'll be right back…save my food for me!" Ginny grabbed her carryall while getting up and scurried out of the Great Hall.
Harry, Ron, and Hermione looked after her, simply flabbergasted. They shared quizzical glances for a moment, and then Harry and Hermione resumed eating. Ron turned his eyes downward to Ginny's plate of food.
"If she thinks I'm going to save her any of this, she's lost her marbles," said Ron seriously as Harry and Hermione laughed.
But just then, something underneath the table caught Ron's eye. He bent over and retrieved it. Harry and Hermione noticed Ron fetching it, and curiously looked on as he brought it up to the table.
"What's this - an envelope?" said Ron slowly. He turned it over in his hands and saw that there was a name written on it. He recognized the handwriting to be Ginny's, and he recognized the name as well….
"WHAT?!" bellowed Ron. Harry and Hermione jumped slightly in their seats as Ron shocked them with his reaction.
"What's the matter, Ron? What is it?" questioned Hermione. Harry watched Ron's face turn purple as he sputtered his response.
"W-w-what's she doing writing HIM!" boiled Ron. He turned the envelope in his hands and revealed what was written on the envelope. Harry's jaw dropped, and Hermione choked back her bite of shephard's pie.
Ron turned the envelope back around and read the name again. Sure enough, it still read the same name: DRACO.
A/N - WAHOO!!! This is the final chapter of Misconceptions, my FIRST fanfic ever! ^_^ Thank you all so very much for reading and reviewing; you warmed my heart and kept my writing spirit alive! ^^
Now, I've got a bit of a surprise for you all; I'm planning a spin-off fic! The new spin-off fic, titled Unforeseen, will be a Ginny/Draco fic that is based off of two plot lines in Misconceptions - Ginny's letter to Draco and Draco's punishment for his wrongdoings. Look for the first chapter to Unforeseen sometime before the week is out!
Once again, thank you all from the bottom of my heart for reading and reviewing! HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!