Faery Heroes

Chapter 46: Vile Valentine's

Disclaimer: With the exception of Merope Gaunt's affair with Tom Riddle, were love potions – or as I like to call them, magical date-rape drugs – treated as a joke throughout the series, starting all the way back in book 2? If so, I don't own the Harry Potter franchise; it belongs to J.K. Rowling, Scholastic Press, Warner Bros., and whomever else she sold the rights to.

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Harry snorted with restrained laughter as Luna skipped ahead and spun in a picture-perfect pirouette. "You've been waiting all month for this, haven't you?"

"Yep." Lowering her raised foot back to the stone floor, the blonde nodded seriously, the motion completely at odds with the self-satisfied expression on her face. She looked like Crookshanks always did just before they stumbled upon his latest 'present'. "Don't you remember what we agreed on last Valentine's Day? You said we were going to have a baking contest, you and I, and I am beyond sure that I'll win."

"You know, using recipes out of a faery cookbook given to you by Santa Claus himself might be just a little outside the rules."

"Oh, pish posh. You're just upset because you know that you're going to lose," the blonde replied with a tiny chortle.

"Whatever," he muttered, not having a decent retort for the girl's quite accurate assessment. From her giggle, she knew it, too. "Of course, when we agreed to this competition, we didn't exactly plan on having to throw the house-elves out of the kitchens beforehand."

She shrugged. "So we wait till this evening, no big loss." Spinning again, she pointed down the corridor ahead of them. "Onward! Our girlfriend awaits!"

Knowing her, she's probably enjoying some peace and quiet, Harry thought with a mental grin. Rolling his eyes at the blonde's childishness, he barely had enough time to stop before he bowled her over as she suddenly stopped in her tracks. "What now?"

Luna did not seem to hear him, too preoccupied with staring down the intersecting hallway. "What the bloody buggering hell?"

He blinked in surprise and turned his head to look down the corridor as well. What he saw caused his jaw to drop. It was Hermione, giggling and hanging on to another guy. A future him, he would have understood; maybe even Neville, who could be convinced that it was merely a joke at his and Luna's expense.

There was no reason for her to be draped over Ron's arm.

"Mione, what's going on?" he called in a strangled voice, just loud enough to gain the pair's attention.

The brunette cheerfully dragged the boy over. "Oh, Ron and I were just going to grab some breakfast. Do you and Luna want to join us? We could—"

"Hermy, I'm sure they want some alone time," Ron cut in. Then the redhead leaned over and kissed his lover.

Harry felt like his heart had frozen and shattered into a million pieces when rather than push the redhead away, Hermione responded eagerly.

"Mione, what the hell are you doing?!" Luna screeched. "You love us, me and Harry!"

Hermione pulled away from Ron and gave the blonde a disgusted look. "You really are Loony. Isn't it obvious? I love Ron. I always have."