The Chalice and the Wand, Chapter 3
This is a work of fiction using the characters created by J.K. Rowling. They are not used with her permission. All actions follow the events of book six of the series. Any similarity between any person living or dead is purely coincidental and unintentional. If you happen to find your life reflected in this piece I’ll be impressed.
The Chalice and the Wand
Heather O’Malley
Story ideas by Heather and Wintermoon3
Beta by Redpiratemel
Chapter Three
Rhonda shifted uneasily in her seat. The chairs at St. Mungo’s were not the most comfortable. People kept staring at her because there was nothing obviously wrong with her. With all the people smoking, bubbling, heads stuck in tea kettles, vanished limbs and the like, she stood out quite easily. She fidgeted some more. How long was it going to take Neville to get down here?
Hermione sat next to Rhonda, busy reading more of her notes, trying to see if there was anything of Chinese transformation techniques. She had that little furrow between her eyebrows that showed that she was really concentrating. Ron…Rhonda’s fidgeting was bothering her, so she hissed, “Ron, please stop. I can’t concentrate.”
Rhonda went white and scanned the crowd. No one seemed to have heard what Hermione had said. Rhonda asked quietly, “Uhm…’mione…remember my name?”
She huffed and turned to look at him, “Of course, it is…”
At that point her brain caught up with what she was saying. Her cheeks went a little red and she looked down at her feet. “Sorry, Rhonda.”
Rhonda put an arm around her and hugged her. Hermione tensed up but Rhonda didn’t notice, as a man with swollen eyeballs was looking at them. Rhonda couldn’t tell if he was staring at the two of them or just merely looking their way. She just couldn’t figure out what was bothering Hermione. She had never gotten nervous or tense about public displays of affection before. Was it something she had done or had forgotten to do? Rhonda really didn’t know.
A nurse came up to the waiting area and called for them. Rhonda and Hermione followed her into an examination room. There were all manner of magical analyzing tools lying about the room, each in their place. Rhonda took a seat up on the examination table and Hermione took a seat close by.
Rhonda swallowed hard. “Hermione, I’m really getting nervous about all of this. Do you really think that Neville will be able to fix this? I mean, if you can’t, how can he?”
“Ron, Healers have access to more tools and know a large number of countercurses and are able to correct problems from both spell and potion mishaps. I am sure Neville will be able to take care of this.” Hermione fidgeted a little and really found it difficult to look at Ron…Rhonda when she was talking.
“But what if I’m stuck like this? What will I do?” Rhonda was sounding whiny. The sound of Rhonda’s higher pitch voice made it even more grating to her ears than normal.
“Ronald Weasley, just relax and wait for Neville. Honestly.”
There was a knock at the door and in walked Neville. He was leaning on his cane, which was carved like a Norwegian Ridgeback. He favored his right leg as he hobbled in. He had a plain eye patch over one eye. He looked dashing, especially since he had finally grown into his body and turned out to be quite handsome after the war. But his physical scars remained. He smiled at Rhonda and Hermione. “Hello. What seems to be the problem? You really didn’t tell me much in your owl, Hermione.”
Hermione bit her bottom lip and looked over at Rhonda. Rhonda shrugged, and then Hermione spoke up. “Well, Neville. Ron here got turned into a girl and I can’t seem to turn him back.”
Neville looked surprised at that. He looked at Ron intently with his one good eye, trying to ascertain the truth. “Ron?”
Rhonda blushed a little and found that she couldn’t look Neville in the eyes. “Yeah it’s me.”
Neville goggled at the transformed boy that he had known back in school. “So…Ron, are you…uhm…female…everywhere?”
Rhonda blushed. “Bloody hell, Neville, why do you think we’re here?”
Neville laughed. “Yeah, that’s Ron. Okay, let’s see what’s going on and if we can do anything about it.”
Hermione smiled and Rhonda fumed at Neville’s teasing. Neville turned and busied himself with pulling out a number of magical devices used for reading and analyzing magical energies. Hermione watched happily, as she loved some of these devices, though she wasn’t able to afford several of them.
Neville set the devices to working on Ron and watched the readings. He frowned at things and cocked his head in confusion. He fine tuned the devices and tried to get better readings. After a while he stopped the tools and put them away. His brows were furrowed in thought.
“Well?” asked Hermione, apparently more desperate for information than Rhonda was.
“Ron doesn’t seem to be cursed in the usual manner. There are at least two magical forces working on him. One seems to be a low level wish granting type of charm that has gone awry and the other is an odd, highly powerful source which I am having trouble nailing down. It seems to be old magic and very concentrated. That source seems to be why Ron is stuck like this. Unless I know what the two sources are then there is little I can do.” Neville looked sheepish at this.
Hermione did not look pleased at this. Rhonda bowed her head. Hermione turned to Neville. “The minor charm was an enspelled fortune cookie that misinterpreted something Ron had said. I have no idea what the other could be.”
“Oh, those. We’ve gotten a number of patients in due to faulty fortune cookie charms. I am not sure why, as the Ministry looked into the matter and found nothing awry there, except for some bad batches of fortune paper. That really shouldn’t be able to do anything that wasn’t correctable by a simple countercharm.” Neville sat back, feeling a bit more comfortable with things after he had gotten an answer that made sense to him. “Wish I knew what the other one could be.”
Rhonda’s eyes went wide as she realized what the other source could be, and with that realization he groaned. There was no way that this could be fixed, was there?
Neville and Hermione turned and looked at Ron, their faces clearly asking for an explanation. Rhonda ran a hand through her short red hair. “Is this room secure?”
Neville nodded. Rhonda continued. “My job in the Ministry is studying various things in the Department of Mysteries. I have been working with two items that used to be Horcruxes: The Chalice of Helga Hufflepuff and the Wand of Rowena Ravenclaw. They hadn’t been destroyed when the spell was broken, but they have been a bit…leaky. I have been working with them for a while, trying to figure out what had and hadn’t been broken about them and tried to do some repair work. Would that fit the other part of things?”
Neville, wide eyed, nodded at this. “Yes, that would be enough energy to shift things and explain some of these readings. Maybe this will fade after a while, but I’m not sure. I would avoid any transformational magic on yourself for a while, at least until their magics have faded from you. Other than that, I can give you a note that will explain things to your bosses. That will take care of work.”
Hermione handed over the slip of paper that had been the fortune. “Can this help break the spell?”
Neville nodded and examined it. “Yes. With this I would have been easily able to break this spell and return Ron to normal, if it weren’t for the influence of those items. Sorry mate, but there isn’t anything I can do at the moment. The residual magic that is all over you might fade in a few months or a few years. Sorry.”
Rhonda felt herself beginning to tear up, as if she was going to cry. She tried to suppress that urge. It was a close battle. “Thanks for trying, Neville.”
Hermione looked uncomfortable and turned away from both of them. This whole situation was becoming far too real and she wasn’t sure what she wanted to do about it.
* * * * * *
Luna awoke from a very passionate dream involving her, Ginny and Rhonda. She shook herself awake and got herself ready for the day. Rhonda’s mysterious cursing was something she enjoyed looking into. Maybe she could take that story on, since she had finished her Nargle story. It would definitely be interesting. And best of all it gave her an excuse to see Rhonda.
First thing would to check in to see if there were any odd fortune cookie accidents. That could lead into the situation. That and see if anyone was actually doing anything about it. She guessed she had to go into the office and see if there was anything in the wind. That would certainly help her get back into the mind set of a reporter, and if she found things that could help Rhonda then it would be a good trip.
After she had a quick breakfast, Luna apparated into the Quibbler offices. She waved to her father as she headed towards Wanda Figg, who kept up with all the letters send in by owl. If there had been anything sent in about such a story she would be the source to ask.
Wanda was at her desk, going through several letters. The woman’s frizzy grey hair seemed to be exploding everywhere and the bright blue eye shadow made her eyelids look droopy. Luna smiled at her. “Morning, Wanda.”
“Morning, Luna dear. How are you today?”
“Quite well, actually. I slept nicely,” she replied with a private smile. “Have we gotten any letters about fortune cookies cursing anyone?”
Wanda’s eyes grew wide. “Fortune cookie cursing? How horrible.”
“I thought so too,” said Luna. “Have we gotten anything like that?”
“Let me look,” replied Wanda.
While the other woman turned to the files Luna twirled her hair around her wand. She wanted to get to work, to help Rhonda. Of course, being able to see Rhonda again was a high point in that equation. It made her a bit slick just thinking about the redhead. There was just something about Ron as a girl that did it for her in a way that Ginny never had.
But Rhonda was with Hermione; after all basically they had true love, with no way for her to get between them. And she didn’t want to. Those two had gone through so much and still managed to be happy. After Dumbledore had died, things had gotten very dark. Luna shuddered. She really didn’t want to think about that. The memories were too horrible.
She headed over to the desk that her father had given her when she had returned from the States. It gave her room to spread out her stuff when she was working. She sat and decided that she needed a drink. “Accio Butterbeer,” Luna chanted.
A bottle of Butterbeer flew toward her ad she caught it easily. She popped the top of it and poured in into her mug. The mug had kittens chasing after butterflies on it, their animated forms moving about. It was cute - a gift from Meli. She cherished the mug; it was a great goodness in her opinion.
Wanda bustled over her way, with a few scrolls in hand. She set them down on the table. “Here you go, Luna dear. I hope that this works out for you. I know it won’t be as interesting as your Nargle article but it might prove fascinating. Makes me want to swear off Chinese takeaway.”
Luna smiled. “I wouldn’t worry about it Wanda. I might find out that it was nothing but a Weasley prank. You know what wonderful gags the two of them make.”
“That I do. Poor Harold will never look at toffee the same.” The woman walked off and Luna opened the scrolls. She took in the information, turning it over in her head until she was sure she had something concrete. All of these people had eaten at the same restaurant, the same one that Rhonda had mentioned. Maybe she needed to head down there and ask some questions. It couldn’t really hurt and, after all, Rhonda was counting on her.
* * * * *
Hermione had taken off for some more research. Rhonda paced back and forth about their place. That she had done this to herself was bad enough, but to find out that her work had only made things worse was another thing entirely.
She loved her work, loved working on the various projects in the Department of Mysteries. She would never be the wizard that Hermione was, but she had certainly improved since she had started there. Rhonda needed to get back to work. She felt so useless staying around their house. She sent an owl off to the ministry, explaining things and asking if she should come in.
She sat back on the couch and flipped through one of the photobooks of Colin Creevy. The kid seemed to be quite good at photography, and his pictures of the holy sites of Europe were really good. Hermione and she had been talking about going to see a few of the sites, including trying to find where the four great founders of Hogwarts had lived. Rhonda was sure the trip would be a lot of fun and well worth the time spent. ‘Mione was always so much more fun when they were on vacation and she couldn’t hide in her books. Just one reason to look forward to the honeymoon.
It had been nice to see Luna the other day. Rhonda had gotten over the whole mysterious, flighty air she had about her after their fight in the Department of Mysteries. Luna had certainly shown what sort of friend she was several times, especially during the war. She stood fast with them as the battle with Voldemort drew nearer. He had even gotten over the whole fling Luna and Ginny had. It took a while but once he had managed to come to terms with Ginny being a lesbian he was better able to forgive Luna.
Rhonda shook herself and rose from the couch. She really should stop moping and get back to work. If the Chalice and the Wand were responsible for this, then the solution could be with them as well. Maybe she would be able to get some answers at work.
She dressed in work robes and grabbed her wand. If she was at work she might be able to get her mind off of the whole gender thing. Besides, they had better sensors there.
Rhonda apparated to the Ministry and headed through the gates. She really hoped that her father had managed to set things in order, the guard was nice and all but she didn’t want to answer too many questions.
The line was moving along fairly briskly. But then she saw it, the shock of white hair. “Bloody hell, Malfoy,” she mumbled.
Rhonda looked about for a way out but really couldn’t find one, however the commotion managed to attract Draco’s attention. He heard the slight sneer, “Afternoon,Weasley.”
She turned and was face-to-face with Draco. The look was priceless. “I…uhm…I’m sorry miss, you looked just like a school mate of mine. My apologies.”
Rhonda smirked as Draco walked away. The mangy git was a hero of the war, sort of, and thus was not in Azkaban. He should be for what he did to Dumbledore. Well, almost did. Rhonda just wished she had managed to curse him before the last battle had been over. It would have at least given her a sense of closure over the whole thing.
The white-haired wizard turned and smiled back at Rhonda. As he turned away she remembered something she had heard back at Hogwarts, that when a girl is watching you walk away it means that she likes you. That meant Draco thought…
“Bloody hell.” muttered Rhonda as she moved forward in line.
Thankfully the weighing of her wand was brief and she headed towards the lift. She just wanted to get to her office and get back to work. The lift kept going down, stopping at various floors and letting various wizards and witches on and off, as well as a number of the paper airplane message carriers. She was the last one off the lift and she breathed a sigh of relief.
She walked down the long hall and thought about the fact that her father had nearly died in this hall and if it hadn’t been for Harry he would have. She shuddered. Losing her father would have destroyed her whole family. Everyone depended on him so much.
Rhonda got to the door and stepped into the Department of Mysteries. When she got to the rotating door she took the correct door that led to her area of the Department, Analysis of Magical Artifacts. She worked with a small team working to figure out the mysteries of older magical items, items that no one remembered how to construct. Rhonda really had learned a great deal since she’d been hired there.
As she was heading to her work area one of her supervisors walked by and nodded. “Weasley.”
Rhonda stopped in her tracks. She turned and watched as he walked away. How? What? Why?
She entered her work area and set down her purse. She wanted to get some more work done and it had already been too long since she had fiddled with the items. But then again, maybe the items were why this whole thing was happening. She shrugged on her protective robes, meant to protect against a lot of magical spillage and headed into the room with the two artifacts.
The fact that he was able to hold something that Helga Hufflepuff and Rowena Ravenclaw had once used was really an awesome feeling. She could feel their power and a sense of their antiquity. It was a humbling experience.
She went over and looked over her notes. She had finally managed to figure out the Chalice had been broken by the Horcrux. If she could just figure out how to fix the gap, the Chalice would be whole again. She ran over the list of spells she had tried. It was long and very thorough. She stared at the Chalice thoughtfully.
Maybe the problem was the fact that the Chalice had been warped like she had been. Maybe some of the spells Hermione had used might do the trick. She nodded as she rolled the problem over in her thoughts and took some notes. She could get that list tonight after she went home.
Once the Chalice was whole she might be able to figure out how its magic had been able to affect her like this. It was really one of her only hopes. And if her solution worked for the Chalice then maybe it would work on the Wand. She had to fix these things if she wanted anything resembling an answer. She nodded and got back to work.
A few hours later there was a polite knock at her work room door. Rhonda put away the Chalice and stepped out of the heavily shielded room. There was one of her co-workers waiting for him, a witch by the name of Ethileen Fordham. She looked at the woman quizzically. The woman was returning the same look. “Yes, Ethileen?”
“I’d heard about your curse. Would it be possible to run a few tests on you…to get a better idea of what happened? After all, we wouldn’t want this to happen to anyone else.” Rhonda nodded. It did make sense.
“So, any idea how this happened?” asked Ethileen.
“Actually, yes, I do. I went to St. Mungos earlier and they ran a full series of tests on me there. What seems to have happened is that the energy that has been leaking out of the Chalice and the Wand had affected me somehow. When a fairly simple Fortune Cookie wish happened to go a bit awry, the magic from the artifacts kind of supercharged the spell,” explained Rhonda as they headed towards Ethileen’s Department.
“Really? Kind of makes you glad to have not been hit by a jelly-legs hex,” Ethileen laughed, as Rhonda froze in her tracks. She had never thought about that aspect of things. She would have been stuck like that until they had been able to find a way to deal with the magics. Rhonda swallowed heavily.
Ethileen had noticed that Rhonda had stopped. “Is there a problem?”
“I just realized how lucky I was. If I had been hit with something like that I never would have been able to be countercursed. I would have been stuck like that. Bloody Hell.” Rhonda nearly fainted but Ethileen moved up and supported her.
“It’ll be okay dear. Let’s get you to my office and I can take a look at you,” said Ethileen as she supported Rhonda.
She pulled free her wand and lifted Rhonda from the ground. Rhonda preceded her, as she was floating through the air, her head still spinning. Maybe she should call it an early day?
* * * * * *
Hermione sat in the library, staring glumly at the pile of books in front of her. She knew the answer had to be out there, but where? If it was the magic of the two Artifacts that Voldemort had used as Horcruxes then Ron was the only one who could find that out. She wanted her fiancé back. She missed being able to be held in his arms, missed lying against him and watching the fire. This…woman had replaced him.
One part of her was aware of the fact that Rhonda was really Ron, but it was so difficult to remember that whenever she saw him. It was like being in bed with Ginny. She was also running out of things to say to Rhonda to keep from kissing her. Hermione shuddered at the idea of kissing another girl. It was unnatural.
She struggled to keep from crying. Maybe she and Ron needed to be separated while they worked this out. She didn’t want to divorce Ron, but she couldn’t stand Rhonda. Hearing things Ron used to say with a woman’s voice gave her the creeps. Maybe she could find a decent way to make this happen without all the emotional trauma that was sure to happen.
What was she going to do? She really didn’t have anyone to talk to who really was impartial. Ginny didn’t see a problem with the situation. Of course she wouldn’t. Ginny had slept with Luna and then ended up in bed with Tonks. She wouldn’t see anything wrong with two girls sleeping together.
She wanted her Ron back, her infuriating, clumsy Ron. She was so in love with him that it only made this situation worse. Because of how hopeless this all seemed she was starting to feel like Ron had died and this other person had taken his place. And what kind of name was Rhonda? Honestly, who was he fooling?
She looked over her pile of books and sighed. She was still looking for information on the basic features of a Fortune Cookie Wish spell. That would help her narrow down her research, so she had a better chance of saving Ron and ending this horrible charade.
Hermione rubbed the back of her neck. The strain of sitting hunched over these books was starting to tighten her neck up way too much. She didn’t want to stop; she needed to help Ron, for both of their sakes. This whole situation was making her crazy and she had no idea what to do about it. Hermione had the good sense to realize that she wasn’t going to manage to do anymore work today, at least none of any quality. She stood up and leaned backwards, stretching her back out. Maybe there was no solution to this whole thing? Maybe Ron, her beloved Ronald, was stuck as a girl? Hermione didn’t want to accept that. She wouldn’t have gotten as far as she had in both school and work if she simply gave up as the first sign of trouble..
She wiped tears from her eyes. This hurt far too much. Her perfect life was falling apart. This whole thing hurt worse than when Ron was flirting around with other girls at Hogwarts. This hurt worse than some of the deaths from the War. Being with a girl was repulsive and yet she was now stuck married to a woman. True, it was Ron, but she only knew that intellectually, it didn’t reach into her gut. Her gut only knew that there was a woman in her bed, sharing her life and she didn’t want that.
Hermione sighed and headed out of the Library, waving bye to the staff. It was easy to tell that she was lost in her thoughts. She apparated to the Leaky Cauldron. She desperately needed a drink.
She managed to find a table in the corner. Tom had seen her and headed over. “Mrs. Granger, how can I help you tonight?”
“Can I get a Butterbeer please?” Hermione almost asked for Leprechaun Lager, but it was a bit strong for her, since she was a total lightweight. Tom nodded his head and headed back to the bar.
Hermione really wanted to talk this out with someone who wasn’t a Weasley. She wanted to work out her feelings without them getting too emotionally involved. She tried to think of anyone she could get a hold of to talk to.
There was always Harry. He would probably say nothing to Ron about the whole thing if she asked. He would understand the need. She really couldn’t think of anyone else. Maybe she could drop in at his place. If he wasn’t home, the odds were that he was up at Hogwarts seeing Snape.
She drank her Butterbeer in silence. There was also Neville, but she hadn’t connected to him as much as she had with Harry. She really didn’t have too many girlfriends she could talk to. Maybe Cho, even though the girl worked for her now. It might make work difficult, but she wanted a sounding board for her thoughts.
As she finished her Butterbeer she realized that Harry was really the only one she could talk to. He knew Ron as well as she did. She left the Leaky Cauldron and apparated to Harry’s apartment.
There was a light on in one of the windows, so he was probably home. She walked to his front door and knocked. She hoped that he actually was home.
She was surprised when a shirtless Harry opened the door. She could see the faint web of scars he had gotten during the war. His hair was as unruly as ever. He did seem a bit surprised to see her. “Hermione? What’s up?”
“I need to talk to you about Ron.”
“About the whole ‘he’s a girl’ thing?” asked Harry, motioning her to enter.
“Yes. Harry, you know how I feel about this. Seeing Ron as a girl everyday is making me miserable. I can’t fix this, either. I feel useless and all confused.” Hermione sat heavily on one of Harry’s couches. She really hoped the she could get the advice she needed from Harry.
Harry had gone into the kitchen, pulling on a dressing gown. Hermione could hear him making tea. “So what is it really that is messing you up - the girl thing or the fixing thing?”
“Both actually. I mean honestly Harry, in effect Ron managed to do this to himself. His work combined with a fortune cookie spell did this. What can I do?” Hermione looked up, pleading with Harry to help make things all right.
“Alright. With the fixing thing…Hermione, you were the one who managed to find out everything I needed to know about Horcruxes so I could beat Voldemort. You are the best at finding solutions to problems. I know that if you keep working at it you will find a solution. It might take time, but you definitely can do it.” Harry brought out two cups of tea. He had made hers just the way she liked it. She smiled in thanks as she took the cup.
“I’m not so sure. Harry, I’ve been going through the Library, looking for anything that might give me a clue and I‘ve found nothing. I don’t even know what to look for, a spell, countercurse, potion, and it’s making me batty.” Hermione took a sip of her tea. “I mean, honestly Harry, I’m at a loss at how to proceed.”
Harry sat and thought a bit, sipping his tea as he tried to work things. He nodded and then looked up. “Okay. What if you try to figure out how to do each? They each have their strengths and weaknesses. If you already tried the countercurses then maybe that isn’t how to go about it. Maybe you need to look at either potions or some sort of spell to change things back?”
Hermione thought about that. “Maybe I do. It could also be a combination, which would be frustrating. Maybe a potion to change one thing and a spell to change the other?”
Harry smiled at her. “See, now you’re thinking like the Hermione I know. Remus always said you were the smartest witch of your generation. I think you got the highest scores in your OWLs since Lord Voldemort. I…I actually looked it up.”
His broad grin made Hermione smile as well. “Thank you Harry. I do feel better about this. I think I can do this, it just requires more research, and I’m good at that.”
Harry shifted forward, hold his tea cup in both hands. “Now…about the other thing…the whole Ron/Rhonda thing. What’s the problem?”
Hermione shifted uneasily. She was growing embarrassed. “Uhm…I…I can’t stand this Harry. I know it’s Ron in my head but when I look at him all I see is a girl and that’s wrong.”
Harry’s eyes narrowed some. “It’s wrong?”
Hermione blushed. She hadn’t meant it to come out like that, even though it was the truth. “I mean, I just can’t kiss Ron now, or hug him or anything. It’s wrong.”
“Why? Because you might look like you’re a lesbian?” replied Harry to her statement. “What’s wrong with that? It is Ron you’ll be kissing and such.”
“But Harry, the whole idea makes my skin crawl. I don’t think I can do it.” Hermione looked down, unable to meet Harry’s eyes.
“Are you saying that homosexuals make your skin crawl?” Harry asked quietly, his voice contained and tight.
Hermione realized that things were not going well. Maybe she said too much about her feelings? She really hadn’t wanted to piss off Harry. “I…I mean…Harry…I…”
Harry looked down at the floor and sighed. “What is it about us that does that?”
“Well, I’ve always believed that real love was between a man and a woman and everything else is an abomination.” She said this quietly, ashamed to be admitting it. She loved Harry, and Ginny and Tonks as friends and the fact that their preferences in partners made her queasy was one of her biggest shames.
Harry sat back, shocked. It was clear he had never expected one of his best friends was a bigot. “Why? It’s just love Hermione. No one can really tell you who to love. Your heart does and you can either follow your head and miss out or follow your heart and find happiness. Do you think I had planned on falling in love with Severus?”
“I guess not. I mean it was all Ron’s fault.” Hermione was quite flustered. This was not going at all like she had hoped it would.
“Ron’s mistake was one of the best things that had ever happened to me. There was a reason for Severus to be acting the way he did to me and it wasn’t just that my father had treated him like crap. He had had a crush on my father and had been spurned. Then when I showed up I brought those feelings back and he actually learned that he loved me more.” explained Harry, hoping to get some sense through to Hermione.
“But Severus killed Dumbledore!” Hermione tried to emphasize that point. She had never truly trusted Snape after that despite what Harry said.
“Yes, he did. He was acting under orders. You know that. We aren’t talking about that. We are talking about you and your bias against homosexuals.” Harry was calm, almost too calm. Hermione recognized he was holding in his anger. How had this gone wrong?
Hermione protested. “I don’t have a problem with homosexuals. I treat them like I do everyone else.”
Harry sighed and shook his head. “You may treat them the same but you believe them to be…tainted. So you are afraid to touch Ron, your fiancé, all because a spell fucked up and made him a girl. I thought you loved Ron?”
“I do love Ron!” Hermione was getting angry and her voice grew more strident.
“Then what’s the fucking problem? It’s still Ron. Ron, the stupid git that tried to curse Malfoy when he called you a mudblood. Ron, who has loved you for pretty much ever. Ron, who asked you to marry him and has made you happy. That Ron. Who cares if he looks like a girl?” stated Harry, trying to pound sense into her.
“I do!” screamed Hermione. She was starting to cry. “I wanted to marry a guy and not a girl. I just get all…all twitchy when I get close to Ron. I mean, honestly Harry, he’s going by Rhonda now.”
“What are you going to do Hermione, leave Ron, the love of your life, if you can’t fix this? Desert him in his time of need? He needs his fiancé, the woman he loves. Fucking cope.” Harry was almost ready to blow. He couldn’t figure out what was wrong with her.
Hermione was weeping, sobbing. She fumbled for her purse and rose shakily to her feet. She couldn’t take it any more. She pulled out her wand and apparated before Harry was able to do anything to stop her. He screamed in frustration and tried to figure out where she could have gone. He needed to check on Ron and maybe the two of them could find her. They had done it before.
He pulled on his work robe. It made it easier to find people if he had all of the tools he used as an Auror. He stopped and looked back at where they had been sitting. Her glass of tea had gotten knocked over in her hasty departure. He sighed. He could clean that later. Now he had to deal with helping Ron and Hermione.
The Chalice and the Wand
Heather O’Malley
Story ideas by Heather and Wintermoon3
Beta by Redpiratemel
Chapter Three
Rhonda shifted uneasily in her seat. The chairs at St. Mungo’s were not the most comfortable. People kept staring at her because there was nothing obviously wrong with her. With all the people smoking, bubbling, heads stuck in tea kettles, vanished limbs and the like, she stood out quite easily. She fidgeted some more. How long was it going to take Neville to get down here?
Hermione sat next to Rhonda, busy reading more of her notes, trying to see if there was anything of Chinese transformation techniques. She had that little furrow between her eyebrows that showed that she was really concentrating. Ron…Rhonda’s fidgeting was bothering her, so she hissed, “Ron, please stop. I can’t concentrate.”
Rhonda went white and scanned the crowd. No one seemed to have heard what Hermione had said. Rhonda asked quietly, “Uhm…’mione…remember my name?”
She huffed and turned to look at him, “Of course, it is…”
At that point her brain caught up with what she was saying. Her cheeks went a little red and she looked down at her feet. “Sorry, Rhonda.”
Rhonda put an arm around her and hugged her. Hermione tensed up but Rhonda didn’t notice, as a man with swollen eyeballs was looking at them. Rhonda couldn’t tell if he was staring at the two of them or just merely looking their way. She just couldn’t figure out what was bothering Hermione. She had never gotten nervous or tense about public displays of affection before. Was it something she had done or had forgotten to do? Rhonda really didn’t know.
A nurse came up to the waiting area and called for them. Rhonda and Hermione followed her into an examination room. There were all manner of magical analyzing tools lying about the room, each in their place. Rhonda took a seat up on the examination table and Hermione took a seat close by.
Rhonda swallowed hard. “Hermione, I’m really getting nervous about all of this. Do you really think that Neville will be able to fix this? I mean, if you can’t, how can he?”
“Ron, Healers have access to more tools and know a large number of countercurses and are able to correct problems from both spell and potion mishaps. I am sure Neville will be able to take care of this.” Hermione fidgeted a little and really found it difficult to look at Ron…Rhonda when she was talking.
“But what if I’m stuck like this? What will I do?” Rhonda was sounding whiny. The sound of Rhonda’s higher pitch voice made it even more grating to her ears than normal.
“Ronald Weasley, just relax and wait for Neville. Honestly.”
There was a knock at the door and in walked Neville. He was leaning on his cane, which was carved like a Norwegian Ridgeback. He favored his right leg as he hobbled in. He had a plain eye patch over one eye. He looked dashing, especially since he had finally grown into his body and turned out to be quite handsome after the war. But his physical scars remained. He smiled at Rhonda and Hermione. “Hello. What seems to be the problem? You really didn’t tell me much in your owl, Hermione.”
Hermione bit her bottom lip and looked over at Rhonda. Rhonda shrugged, and then Hermione spoke up. “Well, Neville. Ron here got turned into a girl and I can’t seem to turn him back.”
Neville looked surprised at that. He looked at Ron intently with his one good eye, trying to ascertain the truth. “Ron?”
Rhonda blushed a little and found that she couldn’t look Neville in the eyes. “Yeah it’s me.”
Neville goggled at the transformed boy that he had known back in school. “So…Ron, are you…uhm…female…everywhere?”
Rhonda blushed. “Bloody hell, Neville, why do you think we’re here?”
Neville laughed. “Yeah, that’s Ron. Okay, let’s see what’s going on and if we can do anything about it.”
Hermione smiled and Rhonda fumed at Neville’s teasing. Neville turned and busied himself with pulling out a number of magical devices used for reading and analyzing magical energies. Hermione watched happily, as she loved some of these devices, though she wasn’t able to afford several of them.
Neville set the devices to working on Ron and watched the readings. He frowned at things and cocked his head in confusion. He fine tuned the devices and tried to get better readings. After a while he stopped the tools and put them away. His brows were furrowed in thought.
“Well?” asked Hermione, apparently more desperate for information than Rhonda was.
“Ron doesn’t seem to be cursed in the usual manner. There are at least two magical forces working on him. One seems to be a low level wish granting type of charm that has gone awry and the other is an odd, highly powerful source which I am having trouble nailing down. It seems to be old magic and very concentrated. That source seems to be why Ron is stuck like this. Unless I know what the two sources are then there is little I can do.” Neville looked sheepish at this.
Hermione did not look pleased at this. Rhonda bowed her head. Hermione turned to Neville. “The minor charm was an enspelled fortune cookie that misinterpreted something Ron had said. I have no idea what the other could be.”
“Oh, those. We’ve gotten a number of patients in due to faulty fortune cookie charms. I am not sure why, as the Ministry looked into the matter and found nothing awry there, except for some bad batches of fortune paper. That really shouldn’t be able to do anything that wasn’t correctable by a simple countercharm.” Neville sat back, feeling a bit more comfortable with things after he had gotten an answer that made sense to him. “Wish I knew what the other one could be.”
Rhonda’s eyes went wide as she realized what the other source could be, and with that realization he groaned. There was no way that this could be fixed, was there?
Neville and Hermione turned and looked at Ron, their faces clearly asking for an explanation. Rhonda ran a hand through her short red hair. “Is this room secure?”
Neville nodded. Rhonda continued. “My job in the Ministry is studying various things in the Department of Mysteries. I have been working with two items that used to be Horcruxes: The Chalice of Helga Hufflepuff and the Wand of Rowena Ravenclaw. They hadn’t been destroyed when the spell was broken, but they have been a bit…leaky. I have been working with them for a while, trying to figure out what had and hadn’t been broken about them and tried to do some repair work. Would that fit the other part of things?”
Neville, wide eyed, nodded at this. “Yes, that would be enough energy to shift things and explain some of these readings. Maybe this will fade after a while, but I’m not sure. I would avoid any transformational magic on yourself for a while, at least until their magics have faded from you. Other than that, I can give you a note that will explain things to your bosses. That will take care of work.”
Hermione handed over the slip of paper that had been the fortune. “Can this help break the spell?”
Neville nodded and examined it. “Yes. With this I would have been easily able to break this spell and return Ron to normal, if it weren’t for the influence of those items. Sorry mate, but there isn’t anything I can do at the moment. The residual magic that is all over you might fade in a few months or a few years. Sorry.”
Rhonda felt herself beginning to tear up, as if she was going to cry. She tried to suppress that urge. It was a close battle. “Thanks for trying, Neville.”
Hermione looked uncomfortable and turned away from both of them. This whole situation was becoming far too real and she wasn’t sure what she wanted to do about it.
* * * * * *
Luna awoke from a very passionate dream involving her, Ginny and Rhonda. She shook herself awake and got herself ready for the day. Rhonda’s mysterious cursing was something she enjoyed looking into. Maybe she could take that story on, since she had finished her Nargle story. It would definitely be interesting. And best of all it gave her an excuse to see Rhonda.
First thing would to check in to see if there were any odd fortune cookie accidents. That could lead into the situation. That and see if anyone was actually doing anything about it. She guessed she had to go into the office and see if there was anything in the wind. That would certainly help her get back into the mind set of a reporter, and if she found things that could help Rhonda then it would be a good trip.
After she had a quick breakfast, Luna apparated into the Quibbler offices. She waved to her father as she headed towards Wanda Figg, who kept up with all the letters send in by owl. If there had been anything sent in about such a story she would be the source to ask.
Wanda was at her desk, going through several letters. The woman’s frizzy grey hair seemed to be exploding everywhere and the bright blue eye shadow made her eyelids look droopy. Luna smiled at her. “Morning, Wanda.”
“Morning, Luna dear. How are you today?”
“Quite well, actually. I slept nicely,” she replied with a private smile. “Have we gotten any letters about fortune cookies cursing anyone?”
Wanda’s eyes grew wide. “Fortune cookie cursing? How horrible.”
“I thought so too,” said Luna. “Have we gotten anything like that?”
“Let me look,” replied Wanda.
While the other woman turned to the files Luna twirled her hair around her wand. She wanted to get to work, to help Rhonda. Of course, being able to see Rhonda again was a high point in that equation. It made her a bit slick just thinking about the redhead. There was just something about Ron as a girl that did it for her in a way that Ginny never had.
But Rhonda was with Hermione; after all basically they had true love, with no way for her to get between them. And she didn’t want to. Those two had gone through so much and still managed to be happy. After Dumbledore had died, things had gotten very dark. Luna shuddered. She really didn’t want to think about that. The memories were too horrible.
She headed over to the desk that her father had given her when she had returned from the States. It gave her room to spread out her stuff when she was working. She sat and decided that she needed a drink. “Accio Butterbeer,” Luna chanted.
A bottle of Butterbeer flew toward her ad she caught it easily. She popped the top of it and poured in into her mug. The mug had kittens chasing after butterflies on it, their animated forms moving about. It was cute - a gift from Meli. She cherished the mug; it was a great goodness in her opinion.
Wanda bustled over her way, with a few scrolls in hand. She set them down on the table. “Here you go, Luna dear. I hope that this works out for you. I know it won’t be as interesting as your Nargle article but it might prove fascinating. Makes me want to swear off Chinese takeaway.”
Luna smiled. “I wouldn’t worry about it Wanda. I might find out that it was nothing but a Weasley prank. You know what wonderful gags the two of them make.”
“That I do. Poor Harold will never look at toffee the same.” The woman walked off and Luna opened the scrolls. She took in the information, turning it over in her head until she was sure she had something concrete. All of these people had eaten at the same restaurant, the same one that Rhonda had mentioned. Maybe she needed to head down there and ask some questions. It couldn’t really hurt and, after all, Rhonda was counting on her.
* * * * *
Hermione had taken off for some more research. Rhonda paced back and forth about their place. That she had done this to herself was bad enough, but to find out that her work had only made things worse was another thing entirely.
She loved her work, loved working on the various projects in the Department of Mysteries. She would never be the wizard that Hermione was, but she had certainly improved since she had started there. Rhonda needed to get back to work. She felt so useless staying around their house. She sent an owl off to the ministry, explaining things and asking if she should come in.
She sat back on the couch and flipped through one of the photobooks of Colin Creevy. The kid seemed to be quite good at photography, and his pictures of the holy sites of Europe were really good. Hermione and she had been talking about going to see a few of the sites, including trying to find where the four great founders of Hogwarts had lived. Rhonda was sure the trip would be a lot of fun and well worth the time spent. ‘Mione was always so much more fun when they were on vacation and she couldn’t hide in her books. Just one reason to look forward to the honeymoon.
It had been nice to see Luna the other day. Rhonda had gotten over the whole mysterious, flighty air she had about her after their fight in the Department of Mysteries. Luna had certainly shown what sort of friend she was several times, especially during the war. She stood fast with them as the battle with Voldemort drew nearer. He had even gotten over the whole fling Luna and Ginny had. It took a while but once he had managed to come to terms with Ginny being a lesbian he was better able to forgive Luna.
Rhonda shook herself and rose from the couch. She really should stop moping and get back to work. If the Chalice and the Wand were responsible for this, then the solution could be with them as well. Maybe she would be able to get some answers at work.
She dressed in work robes and grabbed her wand. If she was at work she might be able to get her mind off of the whole gender thing. Besides, they had better sensors there.
Rhonda apparated to the Ministry and headed through the gates. She really hoped that her father had managed to set things in order, the guard was nice and all but she didn’t want to answer too many questions.
The line was moving along fairly briskly. But then she saw it, the shock of white hair. “Bloody hell, Malfoy,” she mumbled.
Rhonda looked about for a way out but really couldn’t find one, however the commotion managed to attract Draco’s attention. He heard the slight sneer, “Afternoon,Weasley.”
She turned and was face-to-face with Draco. The look was priceless. “I…uhm…I’m sorry miss, you looked just like a school mate of mine. My apologies.”
Rhonda smirked as Draco walked away. The mangy git was a hero of the war, sort of, and thus was not in Azkaban. He should be for what he did to Dumbledore. Well, almost did. Rhonda just wished she had managed to curse him before the last battle had been over. It would have at least given her a sense of closure over the whole thing.
The white-haired wizard turned and smiled back at Rhonda. As he turned away she remembered something she had heard back at Hogwarts, that when a girl is watching you walk away it means that she likes you. That meant Draco thought…
“Bloody hell.” muttered Rhonda as she moved forward in line.
Thankfully the weighing of her wand was brief and she headed towards the lift. She just wanted to get to her office and get back to work. The lift kept going down, stopping at various floors and letting various wizards and witches on and off, as well as a number of the paper airplane message carriers. She was the last one off the lift and she breathed a sigh of relief.
She walked down the long hall and thought about the fact that her father had nearly died in this hall and if it hadn’t been for Harry he would have. She shuddered. Losing her father would have destroyed her whole family. Everyone depended on him so much.
Rhonda got to the door and stepped into the Department of Mysteries. When she got to the rotating door she took the correct door that led to her area of the Department, Analysis of Magical Artifacts. She worked with a small team working to figure out the mysteries of older magical items, items that no one remembered how to construct. Rhonda really had learned a great deal since she’d been hired there.
As she was heading to her work area one of her supervisors walked by and nodded. “Weasley.”
Rhonda stopped in her tracks. She turned and watched as he walked away. How? What? Why?
She entered her work area and set down her purse. She wanted to get some more work done and it had already been too long since she had fiddled with the items. But then again, maybe the items were why this whole thing was happening. She shrugged on her protective robes, meant to protect against a lot of magical spillage and headed into the room with the two artifacts.
The fact that he was able to hold something that Helga Hufflepuff and Rowena Ravenclaw had once used was really an awesome feeling. She could feel their power and a sense of their antiquity. It was a humbling experience.
She went over and looked over her notes. She had finally managed to figure out the Chalice had been broken by the Horcrux. If she could just figure out how to fix the gap, the Chalice would be whole again. She ran over the list of spells she had tried. It was long and very thorough. She stared at the Chalice thoughtfully.
Maybe the problem was the fact that the Chalice had been warped like she had been. Maybe some of the spells Hermione had used might do the trick. She nodded as she rolled the problem over in her thoughts and took some notes. She could get that list tonight after she went home.
Once the Chalice was whole she might be able to figure out how its magic had been able to affect her like this. It was really one of her only hopes. And if her solution worked for the Chalice then maybe it would work on the Wand. She had to fix these things if she wanted anything resembling an answer. She nodded and got back to work.
A few hours later there was a polite knock at her work room door. Rhonda put away the Chalice and stepped out of the heavily shielded room. There was one of her co-workers waiting for him, a witch by the name of Ethileen Fordham. She looked at the woman quizzically. The woman was returning the same look. “Yes, Ethileen?”
“I’d heard about your curse. Would it be possible to run a few tests on you…to get a better idea of what happened? After all, we wouldn’t want this to happen to anyone else.” Rhonda nodded. It did make sense.
“So, any idea how this happened?” asked Ethileen.
“Actually, yes, I do. I went to St. Mungos earlier and they ran a full series of tests on me there. What seems to have happened is that the energy that has been leaking out of the Chalice and the Wand had affected me somehow. When a fairly simple Fortune Cookie wish happened to go a bit awry, the magic from the artifacts kind of supercharged the spell,” explained Rhonda as they headed towards Ethileen’s Department.
“Really? Kind of makes you glad to have not been hit by a jelly-legs hex,” Ethileen laughed, as Rhonda froze in her tracks. She had never thought about that aspect of things. She would have been stuck like that until they had been able to find a way to deal with the magics. Rhonda swallowed heavily.
Ethileen had noticed that Rhonda had stopped. “Is there a problem?”
“I just realized how lucky I was. If I had been hit with something like that I never would have been able to be countercursed. I would have been stuck like that. Bloody Hell.” Rhonda nearly fainted but Ethileen moved up and supported her.
“It’ll be okay dear. Let’s get you to my office and I can take a look at you,” said Ethileen as she supported Rhonda.
She pulled free her wand and lifted Rhonda from the ground. Rhonda preceded her, as she was floating through the air, her head still spinning. Maybe she should call it an early day?
* * * * * *
Hermione sat in the library, staring glumly at the pile of books in front of her. She knew the answer had to be out there, but where? If it was the magic of the two Artifacts that Voldemort had used as Horcruxes then Ron was the only one who could find that out. She wanted her fiancé back. She missed being able to be held in his arms, missed lying against him and watching the fire. This…woman had replaced him.
One part of her was aware of the fact that Rhonda was really Ron, but it was so difficult to remember that whenever she saw him. It was like being in bed with Ginny. She was also running out of things to say to Rhonda to keep from kissing her. Hermione shuddered at the idea of kissing another girl. It was unnatural.
She struggled to keep from crying. Maybe she and Ron needed to be separated while they worked this out. She didn’t want to divorce Ron, but she couldn’t stand Rhonda. Hearing things Ron used to say with a woman’s voice gave her the creeps. Maybe she could find a decent way to make this happen without all the emotional trauma that was sure to happen.
What was she going to do? She really didn’t have anyone to talk to who really was impartial. Ginny didn’t see a problem with the situation. Of course she wouldn’t. Ginny had slept with Luna and then ended up in bed with Tonks. She wouldn’t see anything wrong with two girls sleeping together.
She wanted her Ron back, her infuriating, clumsy Ron. She was so in love with him that it only made this situation worse. Because of how hopeless this all seemed she was starting to feel like Ron had died and this other person had taken his place. And what kind of name was Rhonda? Honestly, who was he fooling?
She looked over her pile of books and sighed. She was still looking for information on the basic features of a Fortune Cookie Wish spell. That would help her narrow down her research, so she had a better chance of saving Ron and ending this horrible charade.
Hermione rubbed the back of her neck. The strain of sitting hunched over these books was starting to tighten her neck up way too much. She didn’t want to stop; she needed to help Ron, for both of their sakes. This whole situation was making her crazy and she had no idea what to do about it. Hermione had the good sense to realize that she wasn’t going to manage to do anymore work today, at least none of any quality. She stood up and leaned backwards, stretching her back out. Maybe there was no solution to this whole thing? Maybe Ron, her beloved Ronald, was stuck as a girl? Hermione didn’t want to accept that. She wouldn’t have gotten as far as she had in both school and work if she simply gave up as the first sign of trouble..
She wiped tears from her eyes. This hurt far too much. Her perfect life was falling apart. This whole thing hurt worse than when Ron was flirting around with other girls at Hogwarts. This hurt worse than some of the deaths from the War. Being with a girl was repulsive and yet she was now stuck married to a woman. True, it was Ron, but she only knew that intellectually, it didn’t reach into her gut. Her gut only knew that there was a woman in her bed, sharing her life and she didn’t want that.
Hermione sighed and headed out of the Library, waving bye to the staff. It was easy to tell that she was lost in her thoughts. She apparated to the Leaky Cauldron. She desperately needed a drink.
She managed to find a table in the corner. Tom had seen her and headed over. “Mrs. Granger, how can I help you tonight?”
“Can I get a Butterbeer please?” Hermione almost asked for Leprechaun Lager, but it was a bit strong for her, since she was a total lightweight. Tom nodded his head and headed back to the bar.
Hermione really wanted to talk this out with someone who wasn’t a Weasley. She wanted to work out her feelings without them getting too emotionally involved. She tried to think of anyone she could get a hold of to talk to.
There was always Harry. He would probably say nothing to Ron about the whole thing if she asked. He would understand the need. She really couldn’t think of anyone else. Maybe she could drop in at his place. If he wasn’t home, the odds were that he was up at Hogwarts seeing Snape.
She drank her Butterbeer in silence. There was also Neville, but she hadn’t connected to him as much as she had with Harry. She really didn’t have too many girlfriends she could talk to. Maybe Cho, even though the girl worked for her now. It might make work difficult, but she wanted a sounding board for her thoughts.
As she finished her Butterbeer she realized that Harry was really the only one she could talk to. He knew Ron as well as she did. She left the Leaky Cauldron and apparated to Harry’s apartment.
There was a light on in one of the windows, so he was probably home. She walked to his front door and knocked. She hoped that he actually was home.
She was surprised when a shirtless Harry opened the door. She could see the faint web of scars he had gotten during the war. His hair was as unruly as ever. He did seem a bit surprised to see her. “Hermione? What’s up?”
“I need to talk to you about Ron.”
“About the whole ‘he’s a girl’ thing?” asked Harry, motioning her to enter.
“Yes. Harry, you know how I feel about this. Seeing Ron as a girl everyday is making me miserable. I can’t fix this, either. I feel useless and all confused.” Hermione sat heavily on one of Harry’s couches. She really hoped the she could get the advice she needed from Harry.
Harry had gone into the kitchen, pulling on a dressing gown. Hermione could hear him making tea. “So what is it really that is messing you up - the girl thing or the fixing thing?”
“Both actually. I mean honestly Harry, in effect Ron managed to do this to himself. His work combined with a fortune cookie spell did this. What can I do?” Hermione looked up, pleading with Harry to help make things all right.
“Alright. With the fixing thing…Hermione, you were the one who managed to find out everything I needed to know about Horcruxes so I could beat Voldemort. You are the best at finding solutions to problems. I know that if you keep working at it you will find a solution. It might take time, but you definitely can do it.” Harry brought out two cups of tea. He had made hers just the way she liked it. She smiled in thanks as she took the cup.
“I’m not so sure. Harry, I’ve been going through the Library, looking for anything that might give me a clue and I‘ve found nothing. I don’t even know what to look for, a spell, countercurse, potion, and it’s making me batty.” Hermione took a sip of her tea. “I mean, honestly Harry, I’m at a loss at how to proceed.”
Harry sat and thought a bit, sipping his tea as he tried to work things. He nodded and then looked up. “Okay. What if you try to figure out how to do each? They each have their strengths and weaknesses. If you already tried the countercurses then maybe that isn’t how to go about it. Maybe you need to look at either potions or some sort of spell to change things back?”
Hermione thought about that. “Maybe I do. It could also be a combination, which would be frustrating. Maybe a potion to change one thing and a spell to change the other?”
Harry smiled at her. “See, now you’re thinking like the Hermione I know. Remus always said you were the smartest witch of your generation. I think you got the highest scores in your OWLs since Lord Voldemort. I…I actually looked it up.”
His broad grin made Hermione smile as well. “Thank you Harry. I do feel better about this. I think I can do this, it just requires more research, and I’m good at that.”
Harry shifted forward, hold his tea cup in both hands. “Now…about the other thing…the whole Ron/Rhonda thing. What’s the problem?”
Hermione shifted uneasily. She was growing embarrassed. “Uhm…I…I can’t stand this Harry. I know it’s Ron in my head but when I look at him all I see is a girl and that’s wrong.”
Harry’s eyes narrowed some. “It’s wrong?”
Hermione blushed. She hadn’t meant it to come out like that, even though it was the truth. “I mean, I just can’t kiss Ron now, or hug him or anything. It’s wrong.”
“Why? Because you might look like you’re a lesbian?” replied Harry to her statement. “What’s wrong with that? It is Ron you’ll be kissing and such.”
“But Harry, the whole idea makes my skin crawl. I don’t think I can do it.” Hermione looked down, unable to meet Harry’s eyes.
“Are you saying that homosexuals make your skin crawl?” Harry asked quietly, his voice contained and tight.
Hermione realized that things were not going well. Maybe she said too much about her feelings? She really hadn’t wanted to piss off Harry. “I…I mean…Harry…I…”
Harry looked down at the floor and sighed. “What is it about us that does that?”
“Well, I’ve always believed that real love was between a man and a woman and everything else is an abomination.” She said this quietly, ashamed to be admitting it. She loved Harry, and Ginny and Tonks as friends and the fact that their preferences in partners made her queasy was one of her biggest shames.
Harry sat back, shocked. It was clear he had never expected one of his best friends was a bigot. “Why? It’s just love Hermione. No one can really tell you who to love. Your heart does and you can either follow your head and miss out or follow your heart and find happiness. Do you think I had planned on falling in love with Severus?”
“I guess not. I mean it was all Ron’s fault.” Hermione was quite flustered. This was not going at all like she had hoped it would.
“Ron’s mistake was one of the best things that had ever happened to me. There was a reason for Severus to be acting the way he did to me and it wasn’t just that my father had treated him like crap. He had had a crush on my father and had been spurned. Then when I showed up I brought those feelings back and he actually learned that he loved me more.” explained Harry, hoping to get some sense through to Hermione.
“But Severus killed Dumbledore!” Hermione tried to emphasize that point. She had never truly trusted Snape after that despite what Harry said.
“Yes, he did. He was acting under orders. You know that. We aren’t talking about that. We are talking about you and your bias against homosexuals.” Harry was calm, almost too calm. Hermione recognized he was holding in his anger. How had this gone wrong?
Hermione protested. “I don’t have a problem with homosexuals. I treat them like I do everyone else.”
Harry sighed and shook his head. “You may treat them the same but you believe them to be…tainted. So you are afraid to touch Ron, your fiancé, all because a spell fucked up and made him a girl. I thought you loved Ron?”
“I do love Ron!” Hermione was getting angry and her voice grew more strident.
“Then what’s the fucking problem? It’s still Ron. Ron, the stupid git that tried to curse Malfoy when he called you a mudblood. Ron, who has loved you for pretty much ever. Ron, who asked you to marry him and has made you happy. That Ron. Who cares if he looks like a girl?” stated Harry, trying to pound sense into her.
“I do!” screamed Hermione. She was starting to cry. “I wanted to marry a guy and not a girl. I just get all…all twitchy when I get close to Ron. I mean, honestly Harry, he’s going by Rhonda now.”
“What are you going to do Hermione, leave Ron, the love of your life, if you can’t fix this? Desert him in his time of need? He needs his fiancé, the woman he loves. Fucking cope.” Harry was almost ready to blow. He couldn’t figure out what was wrong with her.
Hermione was weeping, sobbing. She fumbled for her purse and rose shakily to her feet. She couldn’t take it any more. She pulled out her wand and apparated before Harry was able to do anything to stop her. He screamed in frustration and tried to figure out where she could have gone. He needed to check on Ron and maybe the two of them could find her. They had done it before.
He pulled on his work robe. It made it easier to find people if he had all of the tools he used as an Auror. He stopped and looked back at where they had been sitting. Her glass of tea had gotten knocked over in her hasty departure. He sighed. He could clean that later. Now he had to deal with helping Ron and Hermione.