Harry Potter and Future's Past

Chapter 8

"But Ginny, I'm not interested in Hermione anymore," Ron whined.

"Of course you are Ron," Ginny replied with obvious annoyance in her voice as she drummed her fingers on the side of the couch where she was talking to her brother. The two of them were currently alone in the common room.

"You didn't see the look she had in her eyes. She wanted to kill me."

"Most people who see you eat want the same thing," Ginny thought to herself but let out a deep sigh, "I'm sure you're exaggerating. Could you imagine the person who wants to free house elves killing someone, much less her friend?"

"Well, yeah I see what you mean," Ron answered, "But Lavender, she's been…well staring at me."

"So you're willing to take second best again. You're just going to let Harry steal your girl is that it?" Ginny asked with an edge to her voice. She knew exactly what buttons to push when it came to her brother. "Let him win again? I mean look at it, you put all the work the last few weeks and won the house the Quidditch Cup while Harry was stealing your girl from under your nose? And you're ok with that?" She smiled when she saw the look that her brother got in his eyes. Then she thought about another possibility when Ron threw out Lavender Brown's name. "How about this plan? You see if Lavender will date you AND we get Hermione jealous and in love with you. You can have the satisfaction of knowing she's jealous of you and Lavender. Not only will you have the girl Harry wants after you, but you'll be able to say you're too good for her. Then if you decide Lavender isn't the girl for you, then you can either get with Hermione or at least have her around for a quick snog until you find someone better."

Ron's eyes glazed over at the thought of having a woman on his arm and another pursuing him, "Not just another, but the one Harry wants," desperate for him. He sat up straighter on the sofa before he answered. "Well...what do I need to do?"

"Nothing, wait, you'll probably have to make some kind of apology. It all depends on how I can get the potions to that Bookworm Beaver," Hermione had confessed to Ginny in one of their friendly discussions that that name had been the one she hated the most being called when she was younger. "Now I've got the potions ready to go," Ginny explained. "I had to stick to fairly simple ones because I didn't have the more elaborate ingredients, but all we need is a couple of days. Just to make sure though, I'll double the dosages. So all you need to do is start showing interest in Lavender. That will give a focus to Hermione's jealousy."

"Yeah, I can see if Lavender wants to play chess with me," Ron exclaimed.

"Not the best approach Ron. No start simple," Ginny explained as she secretly agreed with her nemesis that Ron did have the emotional range of a teaspoon and possibly not that much. "Just ask her if you can Owl her this summer. If she says yes, that'll give you something to talk about. Ask her a few simple questions like what she likes to do in the summer…things like that."

"You think that will work?"

"It's a start," Ginny replied. She glanced up the steps toward the boy's dorm. "Was Harry still sleeping?"

"Yeah, the curtains were still drawn around his bed."

At that moment the portrait hole opened and a very happy Harry and Hermione walked in, each with their book bag slung over their shoulders. The drew up sharply as they saw the two Weasley siblings sitting alone in the common room, especially with the startled look they both had on their faces. They quickly recovered as Harry turned to Hermione and said. "Love, all this early morning studying made me very hungry. Shall we drop off our bags and head for breakfast? They are up to something. See those looks?"