The Most Terrifying Season

Harry Potter and the Dreadful Application Process

Hermione: "Okay, I've created schedules for you both based upon the schools you've said you want to apply to. As you can see, all the deadlines are listed, as well as checkpoints to keep you on track"

Collected groans from Harry and Ron

Ron: "'Mione, it's only May. We have until November at the earliest for most of these!"

Harry: "Why do you always have to use pastel colors for all your schedules?"

Hermione: "It's only six months away! That's almost no time at all! I can't believe that I didn't start earlier. All I've done so far is write a rough draft for each of the seven UC prompts."

Harry's eyes widen, and Ron looks slightly horrified

Harry: "Are you serious? All of them?"

Ron: "I thought we only needed to answer 4 of them!"

Hermione: "You do, but I don't know which ones will be my best essays. Oh, and I still need to edit my Harvard and Stanford applications by next week..."

Harry: "We appreciate your help, but I think you should maybe calm down a bit."

Hermione: "Calm down? Harry, this is our future you're talking about! How do two you think you'll get to be a special agent for the FBI if you don't get into a good university to major in Criminal Justice first?

She looks at Ron now

Hermione: "Criminology? Or Forensic Science? Or whatever it is you want to major in this week?"

Ron: "That's a low blow."

Harry: "We know it's important, Hermione. But we've also got finals coming up, and we have the whole summer to work on it. I promise we'll use your schedules."

Ron: "I submitted my Cal State application at like 11:57 last night."

Harry: "Nice, I submitted mine a few days ago."

Hermione: "Ron! If you had missed that deadline you'd be missing half your choice of schools!"

Ron: "But I made it! You can't blame me, the UC application was due the day before."

Hermione: "That's why you were supposed to finish that two weeks ago! Like in the schedule I made you!"

Ron: "Relax, I submitted them both. It's fine."

Hermione: "Oh my gosh! I'm not going to get into any UCs! I think I translated a word wrong on my Latin exam, and if I get a B in the class, then I have to report it and I'm going to get rejected!"

Harry: "Are you kidding me? You're going to be the Valedictorian."

Ron: "I don't want to hear about it from you. I don't want to think about decisions at all."

Acceptance Szn:

Malfoy: "Hey, Potter. Did you hear? I just got accepted to Yale early action."

Harry: "And did your father tell you that before or after paying for a new library?"

Malfoy: "Where do you plan on going? Oh wait, you haven't been accepted anywhere."

Hermione: "Ignore him. At least some of us know we can get in through our own merit, rather than the size of our father's wallet."

Harry: "UCLA is out!"

Hermione: "Oh no! I can't look!"

Harry: "I didn't make it."

Ron: "Sorry, mate. But you still got UC San Diego."

Hermione: "I was waitlisted."

Harry and Ron: "What?"

Harry: "There's no way, you should have gotten in!"

Hermione: "It's here! I can't look at it!"

Ron: "What is?"

Hermione: "HARVARD! I can't breathe."

Harry: "Well, go check your decision! What are you waiting for?"

Hermione: "No, I can't do it. One of you open it."

Hermione buries face in hands and Ron takes her phone. He clicks on the decision.

Ron: "We are very sorry to inform you that we are unable to offer you a place this year."

Hermione: "I knew it! Let me see."

Hermione takes the phone back, and reads it.

Hermione: "RONALD WEASLEY! HOW DARE YOU!"

She smacks him

Ron: "Congrats, 'Mione!"

Harry: "That's amazing! We knew you could do it!"

Harry: "Georgetown just updated. I got in."

Hermione: "Oh my gosh! Congratulations!"

Harry: "And I got a half scholarship."

Ron: "Bloody hell, that's brilliant!"

Hermione: "I don't know which school to go to! And decisions are due in two days!"

Neville: "Is there one you're leaning more towards?"

Hermione: "Well, I was almost sure about Harvard, but then I started thinking about Columbia's program, but then Berkeley is a hub for political science, and-"

Ron: "Oh poor you. 'I have so many good options I don't know what to do!'"

Hermione: "I know! It's just that, each of these universities will lead to such different opportunities, and there's no way of knowing which path will be the best."

Harry: "Look, you got into Harvard, Brown, Columbia, Berkeley, and Vanderbilt. I don't think that you can choose wrong."

Ron: "Yeah, some of us don't have that luxury. I'm down to Cal State LA, UC Davis, University of Iowa, and Missouri State. Unless I get off the waitlist at UCI."

Harry: "I already SIR-ed to Georgetown."

Neville: "I'm going to Davis for botany. It's one of the top in the nation. I already emailed Professor Sprout and I might be able to do research as a freshman!"

Hermione: "Excellent! I'm so happy for you!"

Ron: "What about you, Luna?"

Luna: "I'm going to the University of Melbourne for Zoology."

Ginny: "Oh no, I have to go through all of this next year now."

Hermione: "Don't worry, I can make you a schedule!"

A/N: Anndddd that's it. You can make your own assumptions about where Hermione and Ron end up. It isn't very fleshed out, it was just a little situation I imagined happening, little bits of conversation here and there. I'll be updating this one infrequently as the ideas pop into my head. I'm not sure how many of you have gone through or are going through similar times, and I'm sincerely sorry if you are. You can do it!