Early-Morning News

Done for the Valentine's Day OTP Challenge
from FictionAlley & TheRogue.net They have an OTP(One True Pairing) generator; those who wished to participate in the challenge (it wasn't not a contest exactly, mind, more of just a nice little writing excercise) got to use the generator up to three times, then pick one pairing sentence to work from. If I understand correctly, the fic does *not* have to be about Valentine's Day, the couple in question did not have to get romantically involved, and other pairings could be included. One could also chose to do art instead; my muses opted to do *both* (they were *fighting* over it, actually). Although I can't say I spent a tremendous amount of time on the art, LOL, just kind of went at it, rather than doing it slowly and carefully in a bunch of layers. Anyway, my sentence was:

"The Grey Lady hooked up in Hogsmeade with Rufus Scrimgeour"

I actually had to do a little research for this one -- I couldn't for the life of me think of who the Grey Lady was. Turns out she's hardly mentioned at all in the series, but Rowling said in an interview that the ghost had never known true love when she was alive. Interesting that I should get her as half of an OTP. Anyway, there's no proof exactly, but strong conjecture that she's Ravenclaw's house ghost -- possibly even Rowena Ravenclaw herself. I opted to run with that theory.

The fic was meant to be funny, but as I was doing this kind of freestyle, from the moment I sat down to actually *write* it, it went in an interesting -- and rather unexpected -- direction. Of course it ended up being a Ron/Hermione (and Harry/Ginny) fluff-piece; I've never written a Harry Potter fic that *wasn't* significantly Ron/Hermione. (Maer, my writing muse, insists on it as a prerequisite: no Ron/Hermione, no fic.) Problem is, it's turned into a plot-bunny that's begging to be schnoogled (turned into a novel-length fic) as a post-HBP, "wht I think will happen" piece. I haven't even finished my post-OotP Schnoogle -- I can't go starting another one!! Arrrrgh!

"Little Miss Can't-Be-Wrong" is a song by The Spin Doctors.

Click on the thumbnail to open the deviantART gallery page the image is housed at (the page will open in a new window). The story is on that page as well, so if you have a DA account, you can leave a review! :)

Hermione was scanning The Daily Prophet when Ron spewed orange juice against the backside of the paper. She scowled at him from around the edge while he laughed so hard his face was turning only a few shades shy of the grape jelly on his toast. She was about to reprimand him when Mrs. Weasley beat her to the punch.

"Ronald Weasley! I do not allow hyenas to eat at my table!"

"Well it's a good thing I'm not one then!" he shot back after catching his breath.

Her eyes narrowed, and she held her wand up menacingly. "If you keep it up, you will be, young man! Now clean up this mess!" After watching Ron use the cleansing charm to make the table and Hermione's paper good as new, she went back to fixing breakfast for the rest of the family. With so many relatives Flooing in for Bill and Fleur's wedding, they had to eat in shifts; there simply wasn't enough room for everyone. Molly was a veritable tornado of activity -- a very cranky tornado.

"What was so funny, anyway?" Harry asked as Ron turned his attention back to his toast. They didn’t have much to laugh about these days, so anything that could affect his friend that much had to be good.

"Oh, it's Skeeter's new column in The Quibbler," he explained, holding the magazine up.

On the cover was a scandalous image of a ghostly woman throwing her arms around -- or rather, through --a familiar read-bearded man; with a start, Harry realised the man was Rufus Scrimgeour!

Ron flipped the magazine open to the proper page and began to read aloud:

"No one who was there that day will ever forget when Hogwarts' own Grey Lady, ghostly mentor of house Ravenclaw, hooked up in Hogsmeade with none other than the current Minister of Magic himself, Rufus Scrimgeour! " Ron paused, trying to hold back another laugh. Ginny grinned devilishly, while Harry wore a look that hovered between incredulity and mirth himself.

Hermione rolled her eyes. "Oh please, like you can believe a word that woman says!"

"Well that's just the point, isn't it?" Ron asked with a smirk. "Some people believe the stuff printed in here whether it's true or not; it's why you had Rita write that piece on Harry for them, isn’t it? Which was a brilliant idea, by the way..." he added offhandedly, glancing at her out of the corner of his eye.

After publishing an interview with Harry in the tabloid-ish magazine, Rita Skeeter had been invited by Luna's father to stay on as a columnist. Of course the column wasn't actually called a gossip column, but that's exactly what it was.

Hermione was stuck between being irritated that Ron was right and pleased at the compliment. She settled for returning his wry smile. "Hush and eat your bacon already before I give it to Crookshanks," she mock-threatened.

Harry and Ginny shared a grin over the pair's lighthearted sparring, but the moment quickly grew awkward. They'd been happy to see Ron and Hermione grow closer over the summer, but at the same time it reminded them of their own reluctant break-up, and the somber reason behind it.

"Read the rest!" Ginny demanded. Anything to distract them; they needed to get in a good mood for Bill and Fleur's sake.

Ron nodded and continued. "Though the identity of the Grey Lady in life remains a mystery, we do know that the poor woman died a spinster. Even in the ghosting community, she has been notorious for shirking the advances of male company.

"'She's colder than the average ghost,' admits the Bloody Baron, Slytherin's ghost.

"'When I first died, she threatened to remove my head completely if I so much as asked her the time of day," adds Gryffindor ghost Sir Nicholas de Mimsy-Porpington. "When I pointed out that I wished very much that she could, she let out such a shriek that the Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher at the time was convinced there was a banshee in the castle! I swear that my ears still ring sometimes because of that incident!' he insists.

"So the question on everyone's lips now is 'Why Scrimgeour?' What does he have that no man alive in her day had -- nor, apparently, any man who's ever been disincarnate?

"'When Rufus was in my house, he was a very studious boy," confided the Ravenclaw Head of House, Professor Flitwick. 'He--'"

"Wait, Scrimgeour was in Ravenclaw?" Harry interrupted, rather floored by the revelation. Somehow, perhaps because of the Minister's red, lion-like head of hair, Harry had always assumed Scrimgeour had been in Gryffindor when he'd been at Hogwarts. Once The Boy Who Lived got over his initial shock, though, he decided he was quite happy to hear he'd been wrong, as he didn’t particularly like the man.

Ginny was nodding. "Terry Boot said something about it, now that I think on it. I'd stopped by the Ravenclaw table on the first day of school last year to say hi to Luna, and he was all excited, telling his housemates about how the new Minister was once a student in their house. Apparently the man had slept in the very bed Terry has now, so of course Terry was bragging about it."

"Of course ..." Ron concurred. He'd never liked Terry very much -- particularly since the boy was rather vocal in his admiration of a certain bushy-haired bookworm.... He went back to reading Flitwick's quote in the Quibbler to them. "He never seemed to have time for dating and such. Spent most of his time in the library, so far as I saw.'" Ron stopped and gave Hermione a pointed look. He went on before she could chide him. "'He was often seen in the company of the Grey Lady, as I recall,' Flitwick remembers. 'I think she used to help him with his homework.'

"How tragic, gentle readers, that the Grey Lady did not find her true love until centuries after her death! Witnesses to the couple's tryst at The Three Broomsticks say that she tried to leap into her love's embrace, only to float right through him. Young Colin Creevey caught the image on film, as you can see by The Quibbler's cover this month," Ron finished.

Hermione peered at the cover. "Funny, she looks more like she wants throttle him, to me."

Ginny nodded her agreement.

"Oh your not reading that rubbish, are you?" asked Madame Rosmerta as she walked into the kitchen. "I tell you, this wedding is a saving grace for me: it's getting me away from all the gossip-mongers for a bit. Hopefully by the time I get back, everyone will have forgotten all about it."

"Yeah, we didn’t figure it was too accurate, just good for a laugh," Harry admitted. "I have to admit that the idea of Rufus being involved with a scandal does make me smile." His face was proof of his words.

"Oh, aye, he's a right prat," Rosemerta agreed. "The Grey Lady and I were friends of sorts when I was a student at Hogwarts; she comes to visit me now and again. Rufus knew that; he came in to ambush her that day."

The young friends exchanged astonished glances, their levity quickly becoming concern.

"Ambush her over what?" Hermione asked.

Rosemerta shrugged. "She wouldn't tell me. I couldn’t really hear what they were talking about, they spoke so quietly, but they both seemed angry. The Lady was howling when she rushed at Rufus -- I think she forgot for a moment that she was dead, she was so upset! She flew off without another word, and I haven’t seen her since. I hope she doesn’t think I had anything to do with him being there," she added, sounding rather upset herself. She shook her head. "At any rate, Creevey had been taking a photo of his brother and father when it happened, so he captured it in the background of the shot. Skeeter was there and offered Creevey's dad money for the picture on the spot. I tried to stop him, but she Stupefied me, then Apparated away in the confusion. I swear, if that woman comes anywhere near my place again, I'll hex her into the next century!" she vowed. She noticed Mrs. Weasley carrying some things out into the garden. "Oy, Molly, let me help with that!" And she left before the kids could ask her anything more.

Ron's eyes followed her out the door, his expression glazed. Noting his stare, Hermione kicked him savagely under the table.

"Owwww! What'd you do that for?" Rom demanded, rubbing his shin.

"You know why," she answered petulantly. "You shouldn’t ogle women like that; it's rude!"

"Who was ogling?" he protested. "I was thinking!"

Hermione snorted in disbelief. "Sure you were -- and we all know which part of your anatomy your brain is in..."

Ron's mouth worked wordlessly, his face burning. Harry hid a smile behind his glass.

Ginny began coughing, having choked a little on her oatmeal, "Hermione!" she finally rasped.

"For your information, Little-Miss-Can’t-Be-Wrong," Ron growled, leaning forward and speaking lowly, "I was thinking that maybe the Grey Lady might know what Rowena Ravenclaw's artifact was! You know, the one You-Know-Who might have used, or thought of using, as a Horcrux?"

Harry, Ginny, and Hermione wore identical slack-jawed expressions.

"Ron, that's ... that's brilliant," Hermione whispered, awed.

Ron scowled. "Whaa-aat? Merlin, do you all really think me that much of an idiot that I can't ever come up with a good idea?" he asked, indignant.

"No one's saying that, Ron" Ginny said, rolling her eyes.

"No, but you were all thinking it," he muttered, leaning back and crossing his arms. He promptly fell backwards, hitting the floor.

"Ron!" Hermione squeaked, quickly jumping to her feet and rushing over to help him up.

"Gee, maybe it's because you keep doing things like that, Big Brother," Ginny quipped, popping the last of her bacon into her mouth.

Harry, knowing full well that his friend hadn’t hurt anything but his pride, just watched them, bemused.

When Ron was on his feet and his chair righted, Hermione brushed imaginary dust off his shoulders, by way of apology. "You know, considering how the Grey Lady's dressed, it could very well be that the she's even Rowena herself!" she conjectured aloud.

Ron looked over his shoulders at her, eyes wide. "Blimey! If she is, and she knew Salazar Slytherin, then--"

"--she might know something that can help us fight his heir," Harry finished, nodding thoughtfully. "I reckon we'll be going back to Hogwarts after all, 'ey?"