Ginny and Harry had stood for a few moments, watching Hermione and Ron celebrate their newfound lack of restaint.
Very quickly however,the kissing couple had progressed from a slight peck on the lips, and both sets of eyes under the invisibilty cloak widened in disgust.
"It is frankly disturbing," Harry whispered, "That Hermione should know how to kiss like that."
"You think that's weird?" Ginny cringed, "Try watching your own brother eating someone else's face."
They turned silently, leaving Ron and Hermione to their activities, which luckily provided such a distraction that even as Harry slammed into the Weasley's kitchen door, neither the frizzy, nor ginger head looked up to see what was wrong. Unfortunately, they weren't the only people Harry and Ginny should have been wary of.
In her carelessness, Ginny pulled off the cloak on entering the kitchen, so they were fully visible when they suddenly found themselves facing Fred and George. Suprise lasted only briefly on George's face, before it cracked into a wide grin. "Why, justlook who we have here Fred!"
"Surely you two haven't been spying?" Fred gasped in exaggerated shock, "Why, what would Hermione and Ron say if they knew you'd heard the whole of their conversation?"
Harry's stomach lurched. Both would hate him, he knew it.After everything he'd done this really would be the last straw. The image of Ron casting a spell on the Howlers to give both Ginny and himself infinate papercuts made Harry gulp loudly, and he turned to Ginny in desperation. Her face however was calm.
"How do you know we were listening? Harry and I were just taking a walk." She said simply, pulling off her shoes and placing them neatly by the door. It was then she noticed in horror that she'd stood on one of the silent Howlers, which had inconviently stuck to the bottom of her left shoe.
This hadn't escaped Fred and George.
"Gin, we're reasonable, and let's face it, fairly fantastic brothers, so we'll strike a deal with you and Harry. You do one favour for us, and we'll never tell Ron or Hermione you were there."
"You were watching too!" Harry said furiously, knowing that any favour for the twins could lead to little good.
"Ah," Fred replied slyly, "Watching- yes. Helping the process a little... maybe. Yet we never heard the professions of undying love and such..." Harry winced.
"How is it," Ginny hissed angrily at the twins, "you manage to find a way out of everything?"
"A mixture of genius and charm, dear sister." George smirked, "Now- the favour. Our little brother entering into romantic bliss is great and all, but we might be able to squeeze one final shred of entertainment from the situation- with your help of course."
Harry's hopes that the favour would be a small one were quickly fading. He almost fearfully questioned, "Why do you need us?"
"Harry, Harry, Harry." Fred sighed, "Picture the scene- you've just found out the person you've fancied for years returns your affection, and all is joyful. But wait! What will your best friend say when he knows you're dating his OTHER best friend?"
Harry smiled triumphantly, "Sorry- that won't work. Ron knows I'm fine with it."
Fred continued unabashed, "How does he know you haven't changed your mind? The thought of them being glued together all the time in your presence must be a little sickening, and you could drastically oppose the idea now..."
"Surely you've put them- and us- through enough?" Ginny pleaded.
"You did hex us quite briskly, Ginny- it's going to take time to get over that."George said woefully, "We need compensation. So... we're agreed? You have to make them believe you hate the idea- for a little while." He shook hands with Harry quickly.
"It's been a pleasure doing buisness with you both." And with that the twins strolled up the stairs to bed.
Ginny and Harry stared hopelessly at each other.
"Fantastic." Harry muttered to her bitterly, "and there was I thinking we might be able to enjoy the rest of our time here."
Tap. Ouch. That hurt. Tap. Stop that. Tap. STOP!
Harry had finally woken enough to realise he was being prodded forcefully in the back of his head. He was about to swipe his hand back to prevent the pain from being renewed, when he heard a familiar whisper:
"Ron! Don't wake him deliberately, we've got no idea what we're going to say yet!"
"What's there to say? 'Harry, I spent last night snogging our best friend.' Then you say the exact same thing. He'll understand soon enough."
Harry heard a playful slap being issued behind him, "Ron, we can't blurt out about us- well, you know-"
"Snogging? You're going to have to say it sooner or later Hermione..."
"kissing, then." She stated firmly. "Harry's going to think it strange enough that I'm your girlfriend-"
"Still can't get over that..." Ron sounded alarmingly giddy. It was with a squirm of despair Harry recalled what he'd been asked to do. He was slightly less distraught however when Ron abandoned all subtle methods and kicked Harry firmly in the back.
"Ugiohoff-OUCH!" Harry yelled, rolling over to escape Ron's hefty foot.
"Oh! Awake, are you Harry?" Hermione said nervously, biting the nail of her thumb.
"Apparently so." He replied shortly, rubbing his back in pain.
Now that Harry was awake, Ron's confidence seemed to have failed him. He sat on the bed, grinning awkwardly and casting the odd glimpse at Hermione for reassurance. She smiled encouragingly, and so finally he began-
"Harry, mate-"
"Breakfast!" Harry annouced quickly, hating himself for prolonging their uncomfort. He leapt up and ran down the stairs, glaring at Fred and George as he passed them, who were holding extendable ears above the kitchen steps and giving him 'thumbs-up' signs. Ginny greeted them all blearly-eyed, it appeared she'd had little sleep trying to think of ways to get around the plan, yet to no avail.
Breakfast passed in polite silence, with the occasional confused look passing between Hermione and Ron. As Ginny nibbled on her final piece of toast, Hermione turned to her, casually suggesting-"I think we should go for a walk."
"Why?" Ginny said quickly.
"To... appreciate the day." Hermione replied,obviously using the first excuse that came to her, seeing as it was pouring with rain outside.
Ginny declined at least five times, but in the end, with an apologetic glance at Harry,she was dragged from the room to "examine the wonderful structure of the barn."
There was silence in the kitchen. Ron chuckled nervously, then started to talk once more. Loathing himself, Harry interrupted yet again:
"You know, don't be too disappointed that things didn't work out with Hermione. You aren't speaking again, I noticed it just now, but to be honest Ron-" Harry had to force the rest of the words from his own mouth, "- I don't think it was such a smart idea in the first place. I mean, it'd be disgusting, the thought of you two together. You wouldn't...mix."
Ron's face fell immediately,and it was awhile before he could splutter- "Seriously?"
His tone of voice was enough to make Harry want to confess everything, but he was prevented from doing so by the abrupt arrival of Hermione slamming the kitchen door. Her hair was glued to her face as a result of the rain, yet her eyes were blazing.
"Well!" She fumed, before running up the stairs. Ron hastily stood up, and with a final downcast look at Harry, followed her.
Ginny appeared shortly afterwards in the doorway,conveying the essence of misery. "I- told her it would be really strange for me if my brother went out with a friend of mine..."
They stared at each other despondantly as Fred and George bounced down the stairs, looking thrilled-
"Do try and cheer up, you two- the fun bit starts now-" George said lightly, patting Ginny on the head.
"And which part," Harry snarled, "could that be?"
"Making them painfully uncomfortable, ofcourse."
Over the next few days Harry, by direction of Fred and George,stuck to his best friends like glue. By Wednesday he'd found them twice in a cupboard, five times hiding behind the pile of pigs in the barn and even once on the roof of the Burrow, which they'd reached through Ron's broom-despite Hermione's hatred of flying. They'd been so desperate for privacy she'd had no choice.
Each time Fred and George would be watching, doubled over in silent laughter, especially as Ron tried to make up excuses-
"Oh, Hermione was so sure one of the flying pigs had swallowed her Ancient Runes textbook, she needed someone to...erm...check. You know- a real man."
Hermione's snort in response to this did not reassure Harry it was a genuine story. This was nothing however compared to when Harry opened the barn door one time to hear a strangled yell, see a blinding flash of light, and a clearly fake scream issue from Hermione.
"Oh, I'm so glad it's you Harry- someone's Stunned Ron!" She exclaimed theatrically, "I was just walking, and I found him lying there!".
When Ron came round he seemed more annoyed than alarmed he'd been Stunned. The fact Hermione's wand was lying next to him on the floor gave Harry a shrewd suspicion as to why this was.
The situation was getting ridiculous, and by the time Ron had stuttered his seventh- "Harry! This isn't what you think...Ginny must have jinxed our lips to stick together or something- isn't that disgusting, Hermione? For us- friends- to even contemplate...well, it makes me feel sick... right Hermione? I'll kill Ginny for this... yeah." Harry was all but fed up, and was ready to confess to everything just so he wouldn't find the pair kissing 'secretly' in his wardrobe when he went to fetch some socks.
Thankfully, with a contented grin, Fred informed Harry they'd stored enough memories of Ron in embarassing situations to last until he was fifty, and that he could stop whenever he wanted, "-that is ofcourse unless you want to keep going... Ron does such stupid things that he could make even a Goblin roar with laughter."
After Harry informed Ginny of their freedom, the pair bounded down to breakfast the next day ready to express their glee that Ron had found a girlfriend he actually liked. As they descended the steps however they were met with a mass of redheads- Mr and Mrs.Weasley, Fred and George, and even Bill (looking very tanned and freckly) sat in silence staring expectantly at Ron, who was standing infront of them all.
"Oh heck." Ginny mumbled.
"Er-what's going on?" Harry asked tentatively, pushing in between the twins.
"Ron's got an, erm, announcement to make- he wanted to wait for you two to get here first though" George said loudly, his voice wavering with repressed laughter.
Ron, appearing extremely awkward, coughed slightly, then stated formally, "Everyone, me and Hermione have some news-"
"We really should just say we agree with the whole thing before he makes a long, rambling speech to everyone-" Ginny whispered frantically.
"We've known each other for a, erm, long while, and we think that we- well. I think I-"
He paused. It was evident he'd been practicing this-
"Love her." He let out a huge breath of relief, as if he'd been winded by a bludger.This statement caused Hermione to come nervously out from behind the Weasley's cooker, and grip Ron's hand tightly. Both looked directly at Harry, as if they dared him to disapprove.
Mrs.Weasley, who had been sitting rather confused, now jumped up in excitement, "Oh Ronnie- another wedding! I can scarce believe..." and she ran up to a suprised Hermione and smothered her in a colossal hug.
Ron frowned in confusion for a moment, then with a gasp of horror realised what she meant- "MUM! NO! We're only seventeen! How could you-I mean we- this was just to say we're going out!" He emphasised, sweating profusely. Mrs.Weasley looked decidedly put out.
"Oh- well, yes dear we all know that..." She trailed off, shaking her head in disappointment.
"You- you do?" Hermione whispered, her cheeks flaming red. Mr.Weasley supressed a chuckle, and patted a very embarassed Ron proudly on the back,before departing for work. Harry finally decided to answer Hermione's question-
"Yeah...and we're ok with it, don't worry- although I would advise against Stunning Ron every time you're discovered by anyone..." It was now impossible to tell where Hermione's red face ended and Ron's hair began.
Finally there was peace at the Burrow- to a certain extent. Ron and Hermione acted fairly normally around Harry, allowing only the occasional difference:
"Honestly, it's not as if I only think of her." Ron would assure him, before gazing solidly at Hermione for half an hour whilst Harry tried to make the slightest bit of conversation.
"You'll hardly notice anything's changed," Hermione commented, yet as this was declared whilst she was playing idly with Ron's hair, Ginny cast a disbelieving look at her.
It was on discovering the two couples lying peacefully on the grass one evening, that the twins leaned over, George clapping his hands together-
"Well Fred, what's the next project?"
"I'd say a good rest is needed first, after all the work we've put in George, although I'm not sure how they'll cope without our guidance-"
Ginny scoffed loudly in response.
"-Then how about we work on this Wedding Mum's so keen to have..."
George gazed thoughtfully at Ron, whose ears had twinged pink, as he gave a fleeting, nervous grin at Hermione. She intertwined her fingers with his in response, smiling shyly.
"Ugh! We'll have our work cut out for us on that one,Fred- Ron'll need at least fourty five butterbeers before he'll even contemplate muttering the word 'engagement'..."
"Give it a few years at least- for my sake!" Ginny pleaded, lifting herself from leaning on Harry's stomach- "I barely coped with Bill's wedding mayhem- can you imagine Ron's?"
Okay fine folk of the fanfiction realm! sorry it -
a.) took so long to update (I blame essays, my inability to focus formore than five minutes, andtroubled friends who have just split with their boyfriends- gah!)
b.) is a bit of a mish-mash ending ( I briefly contemplated this whole dating/ "lets go after the Horcruxes" story to be attached to this- but blimey- how do you make destructionof Volde's soul fit under the Humour/Romance section... imagines Voldemort getting dosed with love potion for Mr.Filch, as they tapdanced merrily amongst Pygmy Puffs- I think you get the point... :S!)
I thankyou soooooooooomuchfor reading this (if you've made it this far, I offer you...erm. Applause!) - it makes the fact it's two O'clock in the morningand I have a stinky essay to do still less annoying!
Thanks again!
Cinnamonturkey x