Chapter One: The Bet

Author's Note: This is something fresh and new for me, mostly because I haven't really thought about it before. But it seems like so many of these types of stories are done in a way other than I would consider doing them and I wanted to have a go for those out there who felt similar to me. For the purpose of this, we're going to assume it's an alternate universe, I hate to do that but these characters didn't have much free time in their later years with the war fighting and fending off Death Eaters at every turn. Rated for later chapters...

Disclaimer: Duh, this is not mine. And I didn't make up Slap Bets, they're off How I Met Your Mother.

Ginny stayed behind at Hogwarts this Christmas. Her mother would be angry about all of the detentions Snape had given her and she didn't want to face that. But she also had high hopes for the quietness of the school. Growing up in a house with seven brothers made her very appreciative of any alone time.

The thought of being in the girl's dormitory without another soul around was enough for her to revel in already. Her brother Ron and his best friend Harry would be staying, of course. She didn't think her mother would have let her stay otherwise. But it was nearly impossible for boys to enter the girl's dorms in the tower. Anytime one tried, the steps turned into a slide and let them tumbled right back to the floor.

Dragging herself up from the bed, she awakened to light pouring through the tower window. This was her first day of peace and quiet. The chilled morning air felt heavy and the floor was so cold that it gave it the allusion it was wet. She rushed out of bed and threw on a heavy cloak and thick stockings. If this kept up she would have to sleep in the common room where there was a fire going most of the time.

She started for the door, ready to breeze through the room greeting Harry and Ron on her way down to the Great Hall…

As she opened the door and stepped onto the first riser of the stairs a familiar voice called up to her from the plush sitting chair near the fire. "Morning, Ginny," it was Hermione Granger. What was she doing here?

"Um—morning. Where's Harry and my brother?" Ginny asked. She felt that to say anymore might betray her shock and anger at someone else having stayed.

"Undoubtedly still sleeping, I'm sure," Hermione said. She was sitting with her legs crossed and her back resting deep in the chair. In her hands was a large book that she held up so that it covered her face and only her bushy, brown mane of hair showed around it.

"Oh I see," Ginny said making her way down the steps. "I didn't…expect to see you here," she managed, breaking her words in odd places to hide her anger.

"My parents fault, really," Hermione started. "They assumed I'd go to the Burrow with Ron and you this year, so they skipped out of town a week ago. But with you two staying here I figured that I might as well too—would be odd otherwise," she said.

Ginny couldn't blame her, and she had never minded Hermione before. In fact they had always been good friends, spending much of the day locked away in Ginny's room and talking about various things. "Were you looking forward to it?" asked Ginny.

"I was, but this is fine too—I can catch up on my reading," she said.

A smile crept over Ginny's face. Well this wouldn't be so bad; Hermione would probably spend the entire day out of the dorms with Ron and Harry or reading. She wouldn't be around more than Ginny could stand it, that's for sure.

"I do need to go into Hogsmead, I asked Professor Dumbledore if I could, he said it was fine. Would you like to come with?" she asked.

Ginny nodded. "Yeah, sure. But I'm going to head down and grab something to eat."

"Okay, I'm not really hungry but I'll meet you in the Great Hall and we can leave," Hermione explained.

Ginny trotted out of the room and through the port hole that the picture of the Fat Lady guarded. The walk down to the Great Hall was a long one and when there was no one else in the corridors. As she turned into the corner to head toward the Great Hall she spotted Draco Malfoy accompanied by Professor Snape.

She locked eyes with Draco, best thing to do considering that he seemed to get off on making like people feared him and what little influence he had. The thick smell of potions wafted through the air as she let Snape pass her to go into the Great Hall. His greasy black curtains guarded his face so that she couldn't even see his lips move when he spoke to her.

"Morning, Miss Weasley," his tone was almost taunting. They had spent every night for the last two weeks of term together on account of her talking back.

Despite school not being in session, she knew better than to test Snape this soon. "Morning, Professor."

Draco Malfoy shot her a cold smile.

She followed them into the Great Hall and found that the showing at breakfast was more than pathetic. Draco appeared to be literally the only Slytherin. There was a pair of Hufflepuff girls and one guy, none of which Ginny knew well. Not a single Ravenclaw and her. It was a stark contrast from the huge meals normally held here. The staff and students sat cramped together at one table in the center of the room. Ginny ended up in a chair between Professor McGonagall and Hagrid.

McGonagall simply nodded down at Ginny over her spectacles and gave a curt smile. "Miss Weasley, is this your first time staying behind for the holidays?" she asked.

She nodded. "I figured since Ron and Harry were sticking around, I might as well keep an eye on them and see what they're up to," Ginny said as she shoveled food onto her plate.

"I figured they'd be here, I had better keep an eye out for trouble," said Professor McGonagall raising one eyebrow.

The rest of breakfast passed without incident except for when out of nowhere, Dumbledore felt it pertinent to stick a spoon to his nose and turn to Professor Snape. As Snape turned to face, his thick black hair flashed in Ginny's direction.

"How lovely, sir," Snape said in a voice that couldn't have seemed less impressed. He quickly and quietly went back to eating his food.

When Ginny left the Great Hall with the small crowd of students, she found Hermione just outside of the doors waiting for her. A smile crept over her face as she approached. "Are you ready to go?" asked Hermione.

"Yeah—you know how I am in the mornings?" Ginny said.

Hermione nodded. "You still looked utterly shattered coming down those stairs this morning." They were headed for the doors of the castle now. "Did you get enough rest last night?" she asked.

Ginny sighed. "Not really, I haven't been sleeping so well—not sure why," she said.

"Not sleeping well?" came Draco's voice from somewhere behind them in the corridor. "And I see we're headed into Hogsmead too. Where's Potter and his boyfriend? They're not invited?" asked Draco.

"It's just us, Malfoy—sorry," Hermione said indignantly.

His sneer became more apparent. "Well, it seems that Gryffindor has a new power couple," he chuckled to himself.

Hermione grabbed Ginny by the upper arm and headed for the door towing the younger girl behind. "Come along, Ginny."

"If you two would like some company, I'll be along later," Draco explained as they headed for the door.

"I'd rather choke and die than have to spend time with Draco Malfoy," Ginny uttered once they were safely out onto the path. "He's been acting like that all morning," she added.

"Ugh, have you seen the way he lays himself all over that pug-faced git Pansy Parkinson?" asked Hermione. "It's absolutely disgusting—it's just…well…"

"Yeah, it's pretty bad—though I'm sure you heard how she got hurt this past summer, I'm shocked Draco would even want to be around her after that embarrassment," Ginny snickered.

Hermione looked at her with a blank face. "I didn't hear about it, I saw her limping around and all…"

"Well," Ginny began to explain as the smile on her face grew, "Luna Lovegood heard Astoria and Daphne Greengrass making jokes about Pansy's injury and how she got it through improper use of a Comet 260 Broomstick…" she snickered.

"Improper use…" Hermione muttered. Her eyes widened as the realization washed over her. "NO! You don't mean…"

"I guess all of the redirecting of the broom must have caused it to think it was time to fly and ended up tossing her and causing a little bruising," Ginny said as they walked along. She turned to face Hermione on the last part. "There's no cushioning charm on that end of the broom…"

A sheepish grin took Hermione's face and her cheeks reddened. "And…Luna repeated this? How did she…well…hear?"

"Oh people say all kinds of things around Luna thinking she's too crazy to understand them or something," Ginny said. "She told me about it and Fred and George heard too…so we kind of just spread the word…"

"That's just evil," Hermione said, despite her smile.

"Well she's the one who was trying to get off on brooms—I guess Draco's not working in some area," even Ginny felt the need to avert her eyes from Hermione's at that point, but she still laughed.

Tomes and Scrolls was the first destination that Hermione had booked for day. It was honestly all she had planned, but as Ginny dragged her and the bags of books out into the street. The cobblestones were covered in white powder and the roofs of the houses and shops sported blankets of white and dangling icicles.

"Ginny, where are you dragging me off to?" asked Hermione as she stumbled along behind her.

With a backward glance and a smirk, Ginny told her. "Three Broom Sticks, I want a few Butterbeers," she said.

"That doesn't sound like a bad idea, actually," Hermione said as she wrenched her wrist free of Ginny's grip. She rubbed at her wrist, grimacing slightly.

"I'm shocked. Hermione Granger actually wanting to take some time off from her reading for something fun."

"I have fun all the time. I'm loads of fun, now," Hermione said.

Ginny plodded through the snow toward the tavern. The sounds of students laughing and chatting that usually wafted through the door were replaced by with the dull thud of Madam Rosmerta's heels on the wooden floor. They pushed their way into the room and the smell of stale Butterbeer and pipe-smoked-tabacco.

Hermione shut out the cold behind them and Ginny muttered. "Merlin be damned," when Hermione looked back, she was pointing across the room at where Draco Malfoy was sitting at a table alone with an old leather bound book.

"What's he doing here?" asked Hermione. "What's he doing reading?"

"No idea," Ginny said. "But we're not leaving on account of him."

"I have half a mind to find out what slime like him reads in his spare time," Hermione crossed the room and Ginny followed. As she passed Draco, she glanced down at the pages. "I should have known, Quidditch—I didn't think you could read anything with substance," she said.

Draco never looked up at her. "Oh its the Mud-blood, sorry I don't tend to take advice from people who've slapped me in the face in the past," he said.

"And I don't tend to get men and their obsession with sports, it seems to have even infected those Wizards that think they're better than everyone else," Hermione said.

Ginny leaned out from behind Hermione. "It's not just boys, I mean I love Quidditch too—its more than just some game," she said.

Hermione took Ginny by the arm. "I think you've been in a house with too many men too long," she said sympathetically.

"No...I just like Quidditch," said Ginny with a slight growl in her voice.

Draco sighed forcefully to call their attention back to them. "Well put little Weasley. See the problem that we have here is that Granger doesn't understand things that take actual skill. If she can't read how to do it in a book and do it better than everyone else, she considers it below her."

"I understand just fine," Hermione said.

"Then prove it, you can fly a broom. Why not put your skills to the test against someone else?" Draco said.

Ginny stepped between them. "You think we'd let her go up against you in any sort of contest? You'd just rig it in your favor!" she said

"I wasn't talking about me, I meant you and her. You play Keeper and let her take four penalty shots...she can see how hard just that is," Draco said.

"This is a waste of our time, come on Ginny."

Draco piped up again. "If you make just one of those shots, I will let you slap me in the face in front of anyone and everyone three times," he held up three fingers as if to indicate the number.

"And I have a one in four chance?" Hermione asked. "How long do I have to practice?"

"None, we go to the Pitch right now," Draco said.

"And what do you get if you win?" Hermione asked.

Draco smiled. "You know that Potions Essay that's due the start of term? You write mine, Crabbe's and Goyle's," he said.

"I don't know about this," Ginny said.

"There's no catch—I'll even write up a contract real quick," Draco said.

Hermione nodded. "I want to see it before I make any kind of deals—I'm sure this will be magically binding so you can't weasel your way out of it," said Hermione.

"Of course," said Draco.

Hermione grabbed Ginny by the arm. "Then I'm going to borrow Harry's broom and we'll meet you out on the Pitch in...whatever the gear is you wear for this rubbish."

The Quidditch Ptich was indiscernible against the snowy backdrop of the forest. Hermione borrowed Harry's Quidditch robes and scarf and Ron's goggles, though she was still shocked at how well they fit her given their origins. Clad in the gold and scarlet uniform and with Harry's Firebolt under arm, she made her way out to the field with Ron and Harry. The two of them were shocked she was even going through with it.

"When have you ever been on a broom?" asked Harry. "I don't think I've even seen you on a broom..."

"I can fly a broom just fine, thank you very much," said Hermione.

Ron's scarf had blown back in his face and was muffling his speech. "Why did you have to go and bet Malfoy, though?" he asked.

"What? You don't want to watch me slap Malfoy's face in front of the whole school with his permission?" Hermione said.

"Good point," Ron replied.

Ginny was waiting around near the far end of the field and Malfoy was at the very front of the stands leaned back against the benches with his arms outstretched over the row of seats above him for support. "I didn't think you'd be showing up Granger!" Malfoy said.

Hermione climbed the stairs into the stands with Harry and Ron at her back. "Yeah, but I'm not shaking on anything till I see the contract," she said holding out her hand.

Draco pulled out a small roll of parchment. "And see it you shall, I made some minor adjustments, I think you'll like them," he said.

She took the paper and was shocked at the verbosity of what Draco had written. "This is really...extensive but wait..."

"I figured that this would make the contest a little more balanced, this way you and Weasley don't conspire to watch me be embarrassed, you can never trust a Mud-blood," he said.

Ron went to step in but Harry and Hermione stopped him.

"This won't do..." Hermione said. "Ginny, come up here!"

When she reached their spot on the bleachers Hermione held out the contract. "Look what he did..." Hermione said.

Ginny took the contract to read it:

I. Miss Hermione Granger and Ginny Weasley are hence forth entered into an agreement that Hermione Granger must score one penalty shot against Ginny Weasley's guard. If the shot is made, Hermione Granger may slap Ginny three times. If she fails, then Ginny is to slap her three times. If Hermione manages to get all four, she may slap Draco Malfoy once.

II. In this bet, acting as commissioner in case there might be some discrepancy is Draco Malfoy.

III. Slaps must avoid the the lips, ears and noses at all costs.

IV. No gloves or rings should be worn.

V. A slap's hardness is to be delivered at the discretion of the slapper.

Ginny smiled. "So we can slap one another as hard...or soft as we want?" she asked tapping her wand to the paper in case there was any hidden text.

Draco examined the contract. "I guess so, I didn't realized I had worded it like that. Bugger," Draco said.

"Well no one is slapping my baby sister!" Ron said.

"Ron, let me decide this for myself," said Ginny. "I mean watching Hermione embarrass Draco might be worth getting hit..." she turned to smile at Hermione. "And she doesn't have to hit me hard."

Hermione smiled. "Looks like we're taking you up on the bet." She offered her fist out and Draco covered it with his. Ginny joined in to and Draco uttered something. A silvery thread bound its way around their fists, sealing the deal and they broke apart.

Ginny and Hermione took to the skies as Harry pitched the Quaffle up for them. Hermione missed the first toss and had to swoop down slowly to take it from Harry's hands. Her broom flight was rocky and it seemed she really hadn't spent much time on them. In all honesty she hadn't seen the need for fancy maneuvering on brooms.

She gripped the ball tight and circled around to head back for the rings. She figured the only way that she would hit get past the rings would be to speed at them and fling the ball as hard as she could. With a chance to slap Malfoy, she didn't expect Ginny to try and stop her attempts.

The Firebolt zipped down the field, Hermione couldn't believe how fast the broom could move and found herself slowing before she reached the goal post area. Ginny covered the far left ring so she banked hard right and threw the ball. It clattered off the bottom of the right hoop and barely passed through.

Ginny moved back to the center ring and Hermione swooped down to retrieve the ball. The landing was hard and hurt her knees but a feeling of exhilaration had come over her. Maybe I do have some talent for this?

Her next pass was much the same, Ginny actually was in the way this time but she went for it and scored. It looked like she would definitely be hitting someone, though she didn't feel the need to make it any harder than a little tap for Ginny.

Shot three was hard, the wind picked up and the broom rocked. Hermione hung on tight as she passed the goal and slammed the ball through it. She spun to a stop on the other side and turned to pick up the ball and go out for her last attempt. She watched the stands, looking at Draco to see the expression on his face. The fear his eyes held might drive her forward and even she had to admit this hadn't gone how she expected. Racing down the field with the Quaffle held high she whipped around the goal posts, dodging Ginny and put the ball in one final time.

Ron and Harry erupted into a boisterous applause from the stands. Draco sat with his head resting against his head. He didn't seem scared as Hermione passed, in fact he seemed to be smiling. Ginny raced past and dropped to the ground near the entrance to the stands. Ron and Harry were charging down to meet them. Draco lagged behind.

"Blimey Hermione," Ron said. "Maybe you should tryout next year!"

"I never really knew you had it in you," Harry said rubbing the back of his neck.

Draco clapped slowly as he approached them. "Didn't expect that, impressive show Granger," he said.

"I guess I had better get to lightly patting Ginny's face," Hermione giggled.

A distressed look overtook Draco's face. "Slapping? You must have misread the parchment," he said as he handed the scroll over again.

Hermione looked down at the paper and within seconds had noticed changes. The first of which was hers and Ginny's signatures at the bottom from when the bet had been made. The rest of the text read as follows:

I. Miss Hermione Granger and Ginny Weasley are hence forth entered into an agreement that Hermione Granger must score one penalty shot against Ginny Weasley's guard. If the shot is made, Hermione Granger must kiss Ginny three times. If she fails, then Ginny is to kiss her three times.

II. In this bet, acting as commissioner in case there might be some discrepancy is Draco Malfoy.

III. Kisses must be on the lips

IV. No barriers are to block the lips

V. Kisses are to be delivered open mouth.

"Draco Malfoy you smarmy bastard!" Hermione lunged toward him with her wand drawn up in anger.

"Miss Granger—I never thought I'd hear such brash language from you," came Snape's voice from the entrance to the field. "That's going to be twenty points from Gryffindor..." he said. He seemed to have appeared out of nowhere and he was already on his way away from them.

Hermione's eyes shifted from Ginny, to Harry and then to Ron. Draco had tricked them both, even that act about the slaps not having to be that hard. He turned to follow Snape back to the school. "You really ought to read your contracts better, Granger," he waved to her back over his shoulder. "And remember, I have to see those kisses," he added.

"Kisses?" asked Ginny.

"What's Malfoy talking about?" asked Ron.