* * *
It was in the middle of the evening, and Harry was sitting in the common room with Seamus and Dean, (Ron was no where to be found) coming up with different horrible predictions for their Divination homework. They were having a good laugh at it too, and then suddenly Dean glanced across the room.
"Hey guys, check out Neville and Ginny!" Dean said, with an evil grin on his face. Neville and Ginny were sitting in the seats nearest to the fireplace, and from the looks of Ginny's wrist movements, she was helping Neville with his tranfiguration homework. But that wasn't what stood out to Harry. What stood out was the way that Neville was staring at Ginny, with a rapt, enthralled expression. And from the looks of thing, Harry would be willing to bet that Neville wasn't understanding a word Ginny was saying. Dean and Seamus obviously noticed as well.
"Do you think its possible," smirked Seamus," That our Neville has a bit of a crush on Miss Weasley?"
"I think," said Dean, still grinning," That that is entirely possible!" Harry laughed along with them, but it bothered him how much he felt like punching Neville's face in.
* * *
As Hermione pulled away from Ron, he groaned in protest. Teasingly, she stuck a handful of popcorn into his open mouth.
"Humiuny!!!' Ron sputtered as Hermione laughed. Once Ron finished chewing, she kissed him again. Tasting salt, she said," Are you thirsty?"
"I wouldn't say no to a cold pumpkin fizz!" He said with a grin.
"Alright," she said, putting on her bottle-green clock," A pumpkin fizz it is!!!" She kissed him soundly on the lips, and then headed for the door. When she reached the vending machine, she reached into her pocket for a Knut, and pulled out a peice of paper.
"Whats this?" she thought, unfolding it. Upon getting it open, she exclaimed," Oh! The information about my necklace!!" Glancing at the picture, she saw that Ginny was indeed right, it was her necklace. But why would it be in here? She wondered. She read the words:
The necklace of Mal Fait Amour ( Misdeed of Love) is a very old charm. Once put on the wearer's neck, the next person they see the will fall deeply in love with-
Hermione gasped. "Ron..........." she thought, feeling sick. She read on:
However, the wearer will only be in love with that person while they are wearing the necklace. Once the necklace is removed, the charm will have no effect whatsoever. The Mal Fait Amour has caused many problems throughout history, causing many broken hearts and many broken marriages. The charm was so well made that most wearer's confuse it with real love. It has not been sited by anyone in the wizarding world since it broke up the marriage of Girzilda the White and Gondor Thatcher, when Gondor gave her it for a gift and she lost it after marriage. It has not been seen since.
"No." Hermione thought wildly. "It cant be true. It cant, it just cant." But as she stared numbly at the writing, she flashed back to the night of her birthday. Harry giving her the necklace, the odd feeling it gave her, seeing Ron on the stairs, suddenly losing interest in Harry........ And she knew that it was true. Everything she felt for Ron was a lie. A fake. She had never really loved him at all. It was the charm. The necklace. And Ron didn't deserve fake love. He deserved someone that loved him for who he was, not because of some stupid peice of metal. And now Hermione knew that she could never give that to him. And as her hand reached machaniclly for the door knob, she knew what she would have to do.
* * *
Ron was sitting on the couch when he heard the door knob turn. As he heard Hermione slide into the room, he turned and asked, "Did you get the pump-........" He trailed off as he saw her face.
"Hermione, are you OK?" Something was diffenatly wrong. The look on her face was one of shock and anguish, and she was visibly shaking, her pale hand clutching a peice of parchment and an un-spent Knut. "Ron," she choked," There is something I need to tell you."
