text version/Dustjacket by Kookie
Title: The Hottie of Hogwarts
Author: Devin
Email: franny122004@gmail.com
Website: http://dancing-through-life.com/
Rating: PG
Category: SR
Keywords: R/Hr
Spoilers: None unless you're absurdly picky
Summary: Amazing the damage a silly little
magazine can do.
Disclaimer: If it looks like HP and it sounds like
Hp it probably is and therefore belongs to JKR.
Author's Note: Big thanks to Hermione Weasley for
the beta!!!!
When Hermione got up that morning there was no way
she could have known what was coming. It seemed to
be a completely normal day. She woke up before
anyone else in her dorm, got ready for the day,
and went down to the common room with a book that
would keep her occupied until Harry and Ron were
ready to go to breakfast.
As she sat waiting a beautiful barn owl swooped in
and deposited a small package in her lap before
flying out again. When she opened it a copy of
'Teen Witch Weekly', Mrs. Weasley had gotten both
her and Ginny subscription for their birthdays,
came falling out.
The fact that it was the magazine didn't surprise
her because the delivery was like clockwork. The
people grinning up at her, or more importantly the
one smiling up at her from the center of the
cover, did.
***
Ron was exhausted. He had stayed up all night
finishing his assignment for Divination and as a
result had slept through breakfast and then had to
run to the Divination tower. When he got there his
class was still standing waiting for the latter to
drop. Parvati and Lavender were the first to
notice him and they immediately began to giggle.
Harry followed their gaze and saw Ron. He gave him
a 'what's with them' look and Ron shrugged, having
no idea himself. He never thought he'd be so happy
to be let into that perfume-clogged classroom.
***
Hermione refused to look up when Harry and Ron sat
down at lunch. This seemed to be the last straw
for Ron. "What is with girls today? Either they
erupt into giggles or they ignore me!"
"You have no idea what's going on?" she asked
stiffly, clearly not believing him. Both Harry and
Ron shook their heads. "Well..."
"So Weasley," Malfoy's annoying drawl rang out
from behind them, "I hear you've been bitten by
the publicity bug. Potter should have told you it
was contagious." Crabbe and Goyle chuckled
stupidly from their usual lackey positions.
The only sign of reaction was when Ron's hands
tightened into fists. "What are you on about?"
The smirk on Malfoy's face grew wider but he
didn't get to respond. Owl after owl swooped down
delivering letters of every size, shape, and color
to Ron. After the barrage stopped he picked up the
one on top of the considerable pile. It was a very
girly pink envelope with hearts drawn all over it.
Inside was a poem that made Ginny's valentine to
Harry look like Shakespeare. When he finishes it
he looked directly at Hermione. "Tell me what's
going on."
"Yes, do share Granger," Malfoy intoned snidely.
A magazine being shoved under his nose was not the
answer Ron had expected but he took it without
question. The headline, as it was most likely
designed to do, stood out clear as day. 'Guy
Mania: The 3 Three Best Guys From the 3 Best
European Schools.' The title it self was not what
shocked him. It sounded like the regular tripe
from any number of a teenage girl's magazine.
"Hermione?" Ron asked tentatively. "Why am I on
the cover?"
Harry, who had been looking at the magazine over
Ron's shoulder, looked back and forth between his
two best friends and cracked up. "It seems you
have been designated the Hogwarts representative
in the hot guy community." Ron was still sitting
shocked but this comment earned a snort of
laughter. Hermione however continued to glare.
"Oh come on Hermione, you can't be angry at me,"
Ron said almost pleadingly, they hadn't gotten
into a major fight all year. "I knew nothing about
this."
They stared at each other and the rest of the
world seemed to fade away. They didn't see Harry's
worried look or hear Malfoy's snide remarks before
he got bored and left. Everything stopped until
Hermione nodded her head, Ron gave her a lopsided
smile, and they both started to breath again.
***
The prefects had all been given their instructions
and had left so that only the Head boy and girl
were left. The silence was awkward and neither
knew quite how to break it.
"Are we really okay or did you just stop because
you didn't want to fight in front of anyone?" Ron
asked.
"Ron," Hermione said with a sigh, "don't you see
what that article stands for?" At his blank look
she continued. "Ever since you became keeper for
Gryffindor girls have been noticing you more and
more. Then you became head boy and it didn't seem
like there was anything that would stop the
exponential growth of your fan club. Now this."
She started pacing back and forth and Ron watched
helplessly as she continued. "And that's not even
the worst thing. Do you know that someone had to
recommend you do get into that bloody magazine?
They had to know enough about you and have a
picture and-" Her voice had raised steadily
throughout her tirade but when she finished she
collapsed into a nearby chair.
As soon as she collapsed Ron knelt in front of
her. "What do you think is going to happen?" he
asked but the look in her eyes told him exactly
what she thought was going to happen. "You do know
I'll never dump you right? You can't get rid of me
that easily.
"So you're saying that whoever this girl is, or
any of these other girls who drool every time you
enter a room, don't interest you?"
This sounded dangerously close to some questions
his dad had warned him about, like 'does this make
me look fat' or 'if I died would you get
remarried', so he quickly answered, "of course
not."
Hermione sighed, not completely believing his
answer. "Maybe we should break-up." She couldn't
look him in the eye but if she had she would have
seen his stricken expression.
"So that's it then?" the quiet rage making his
voice shake. "We've been together since the middle
of 5th year and you want to break-up because of
some bloody article in some buggered magazine."
Normally she would have risen to the bait but for
some reason she didn't. "It's not fair Ron. You
know all those couples that make people sick with
how mushy and lovey dovey they are? We never got
to be that. At first we didn't tell anyone because
Harry was distancing from us as it was, then when
that wasn't an issue anymore we couldn't just say
'by the way we've been dating for a year,
surprise'." She paused for a moment and the
continued sadly. "It was fun for awhile, having
such a big secret, but it's not anymore. Now I'm
just starting to wonder if there's a reason you
don't want to tell anyone."
Ron didn't know which emotion to give into at this
point. "If you want me to write it across Snape's
forehead and put a permanent spell on it I will."
That got a smile out of her so he continued,
feeling encouraged. "I'll figure out a way to let
everyone know about us without it being totally
awkward, I promise."
***
It was almost a month before the chance came. On a
sunny utterly normal morning all seventh years
were talking about the notice that had been posted
in their common rooms. A special meeting was going
to take place after dinner.
Ron and Hermione were at their wits end. They were
both convinced that the next person to come up to
them and ask if they knew anything about it,
because if anyone was going to know what was going
on it was them, would die a slow painful death by
the worse curse they could find. So, suffice it to
say, no one was happier than them when the meeting
came around.
There was a dull hum of chatter throughout the
hall until Dumbledore walked in followed by the
Heads of House and then you could have heard a pin
drop. Dumbledore smiled smiled warmly out at all
of the seventh years.
"I would like to first congratulate all of you on
making it successfully to your seventh year. You
have gone through many trials over the years, not
all of which included figuring out how big you had
to write to fill up your parchments." Several
students let out an appreciative laugh at this
while most of the teachers rolled their eyes.
"Now," he continued, "the fun can begin."
This simple statement caused another wave of
conversation to break out. When the hall was once
again quiet all eyes fixed on the Headmaster.
"This meeting has been called to inform you of the
rest of the years activities. There will of course
be Graduation, you may each have three guests and
are expected to wear your dress robes. There is a
trip to Dublin that, unless you are already of
age, you must get permission from a guardian to
attend." He paused here for dramatic effect and to
make sure that they were absorbing all of this.
"And of course there will be the Final Ball."
Several of the boys turned ashen faced and a
couple girls giggled, whether it was because of
the prospect of a dance or because of the looks on
the boys faces was undetermined.
Harry was looking back and forth between Ron and
Hermione, as were a couple other Gryffindors who
had heard their brawl fourth year, worried about
what this information would do but neither looked
effected by this and continued to listen to
Dumbledore's announcements.
***
Ron didn't have time to tell Hermione about the
plan he had created because Harry woke up before
him and was already waiting with her when he came
down from the dorms. He thought he saw his chance
when Harry was brought aside by one of the Creevey
brothers who just had to tell him something.
"Hermione..." he started but to his great
aggravation he was interrupted.
The offender was a short girl with long blonde
hair and a hesitant smile on her face. He
recognized her as a seventh year Hufflepuff that
he'd had herbology with. "Hey Ron."
"Hi, Elizabeth," he says and looks at her askance.
He had never talked to her before for more than 5
minutes and couldn't think of what they could have
to talk about. He exchanged looks with Hermione,
who looked just as confused, as they waited for
her to continue.
"Look, I wanted to ask you if you um..." she
paused here, took a deep breath, and in a rush
finished with, "would like to go to the ball with
me?"
Ron felt Hermione stiffen next to him and knew
there must have been a stunned look on his face.
The blonde looked more worried than she had when
she had shown up, so he smiled sweetly at her,
trying to allay her fears.
"I'd love to," he heard Hermione's sharp intake of
breath and she started to walk away but he caught
her by the wrist, "but awhile ago I promised
someone I'd ask her first." He smiled warmly at
her again. "But if she turns me down I'm all
yours." He finished this off with a wink and she
left with a grin and a slight blush on her face.
Somehow he had managed to make her feel happy, she
didn't have a date but she hadn't been rejected
either.
When she was gone Ron, not oblivious to the people
passing them to get into the Great Hall, spun
Hermione into him so that she was securely tucked
into his side. "What do you say Hermy?" he asked,
using the nickname he had borrowed from Grawp. "Be
my date?"
She looked up at him a scrutinizing look and
didn't answer right away, much to the annoyance of
those who had stopped to watch with bated breath.
Her answer didn't come in the form anyone expected
including Ron since when she tugged his head down
so that their lips could meet he had to catch his
balance so that they wouldn't end up on the floor.
She pulled away and with the same expression she
said nonchalantly, "sure," and turned to go to
breakfast.
It only took a moment for his head to clear and he
quickly followed her and slipped his hand in hers
when he caught up.
The stunned crowd stood there with their mouths
agape until Harry showed up and said, "I missed
something didn't I?" Several people were willing
to fill him in, each with their own version of
course.
The End
