Title: 21 Flavors

Rating: G

Genre: Friendship, General

Pairing/Characters: Hermione/Ginny (friendship), Ron/Lavender, Ginny/Dean

Warning: HBP Spoilers

AN: Prequel to She Was Vanilla. I would like to give my newest beta a round of applause for fixing my many mistakes. You are amazing and I appreciate what you did. Thank you Stanzi.

Disclaimer: Harry Potter and anything remotely affiliated to Harry Potter is property of JK. Rowling and Warner Brothers.

The common room was fairly quiet considering the amount of people lying about. It was Saturday night, which usually meant Hogsmeade, but a monumental storm had caused Headmaster Dumbledore to cancel the trip. Hogwarts almost had its first riot. The first years had disappeared shortly after the announcements; they didn't want to be caught in the wrath of the older kids. Most of the second to fourth years had gone to the Great Hall and were currently involved in a very intense game of freeze tag. Dumbledore had declared Game Night, and, with the help of the faculty, had fashioned the Great Hall into a game room. It was a very small consolation, but it kept chaos down to a minimum. The older students were in the library finishing projects, studying for exams, or looking for a secluded place to snog. The rest seemed to be content just laying about their common room.

It was no surprise to anyone that Hogwarts' students had enough energy for two schools, but still the common rooms remained fairly quiet. Most of the noise was caused by the rumbling of the thunder or the barrage of rain hitting the window. The atmosphere was relaxing enough that some of the occupants in the room had fallen asleep, and not even the bright bolts that illuminated the sky with sepia colors or the deafening crash of thunder could cause them to stir. As if invigorated by its own display of power, the storms intensity magnified. The rain began to pound on the windowpanes, distorting the images outside, and the howl of the wind turned into a ferocious roar.

"The storm is getting worse. Hold me,Won-Won," Lavender squealed as a thundering explosion echoed outside. Ron wrapped his arms around his girlfriend with a silly smile on his face. Ginny, who was sitting across from them attempting to fix her essay, scrunched her face in disgust.

"Just let your big strong man protect you," Ron stated as he pounded his chest. Ginny attempted to hide her gagging noise by coughing. It was unsuccessful. As Ron and Lavender continued to make a sick display of affection, Ginny gave up fixing her essay. She wished Harry or Hermione were there, but the former was too busy spying on Malfoy and the latter was hiding from an obsessed Cormac. Ginny looked around the room, and grimaced when she made eye contact with Dean. They had been having a lot of problems lately.

She sighed. She knew that she and Dean had been doomed for failure from the start. She liked Dean, she really did, but there wasn't much between them. Ginny liked to think of herself as Razzle Dazzle Raspberry-- vibrant, strong, and utterly delicious. Like the flavor, she liked to think that she was full of pleasant surprises. She could be tangy or sweet, but she would definitely leave one craving more. Unfortunately, there were only a few flavors which with she was compatible, and Dean’s was not one of them.

Dean was Orient Me Green Tea. It sounded like an exotic flavor, but once you had a taste you were slightly disappointed. It wasn't because Dean was a horrible person; the truth was, he was the opposite. He just wasn't what you were expecting, or, truth be told, what Ginny wanted. He was sweet, but not overtly so; he was spicy, but it was hidden. He was a myriad of hidden flavors, while Ginny hid nothing. They just weren't flavor-compatible.

"What are you thinking about?" Lavender asked as she pried her lips from Ron's.

"Flavors," was Ginny's immediate response.

Ron looked troubled before eloquently asking, "Huh?"

"If you laugh I'll tell Mum where her expensive anniversary chocolate disappeared to last year."

Ron looked frightened for a second before nodding. "I have this theory that most of our personality can be described as a flavor. For example, I'm Razzle Dazzle Raspberry, Harry is Manhandled Mango, and you are Crazy Cookie Dough." While Lavender looked intrigued, Ron had tuned Ginny out and begun to look for his chap stick.

"What's my flavor?" Lavender asked.

Ginny panicked and began to run through flavors in her head. She needed something flattering and shallow.

"Conquering Neapolitan, because you are a beautiful girl worthy of any boy's heart." Ginny sighed at Lavender's pleased look.

"What about Hermione?" Ron's question caused the satisfied look on Lavender's face to vanish. In turn, she scowled and turned to stare at her boyfriend.

"I think Hermione is Bored Vanilla," said Lavender.

Ginny narrowed her eyes in Lavender's declaration. That's a cheap trick, blondie,Ginny thought as she waited for Ron's outraged reaction. It was a good thing Ginny did not hold her breath.

Ron shrugged. "Sounds about right."

Ginny rolled her eyes at her brother. Way to defend your best friend, Ronald.

"You don't look convinced, Gin." [use italics, never bold]

"Well, Lav, that's because I'm not."

"Don't worry, Gin, I'll explain it to you. Hermione Granger is a boring girl. She doesn't have a bone of spontaneity in her body. All she does is read, study, and work. No boy, not even a Ravenclaw, will ever find her exciting. She is the safe, prudish choice, and no fun, adventurous boy will want the safe, prudish choice. She'll most likely end up with a boring husband because only a boring person would choose vanilla over more exotic flavors."

Throughout Lavender's speech Ron had only nodded in agreement. "That sounds just like Hermione, actually. Poor girl will probably end up marrying someone like Percy." Ron shuddered at the thought, and Ginny resisted the urge to throttle her older brother. Instead she fixed the couple with an icy glare and gave them a tongue lashing.

"You might think little of Hermione, but she is more than the two of you combined. She has followed you and Harry on countless adventures and is responsible for saving all our lives countless times. You might think of her as a bland girl, but plenty of boys and men have found her highly desirable, Lav. I'm really vexed at you, Ron, you know full well how amazing Hermione is, you prat!" Ginny stormed out of the common room with a crack. No one was certain if the crack had come from inside or the raging tempest outside. Ron looked appalled before his lips became attached to those of Lavender. Meanwhile, Ginny was stomping away from the tower muttering to herself. A laugh caused her grumbling to cease.

"They say talking to oneself is a sign of insanity," Ginny snorted and turned to see Hermione leaning against the wall, an amused smile on her face. "Did you manage to loose Cormac in the bowels of Hogwarts?"

Hermione winced at the mention of his name and looked about wildly. She relaxed when she failed to spot him. "The boy is daft! He actually believes I'm playing hard to get. I can't get him to understand that I'm not interested." Ginny laughed at Hermione's predicament, and after a while Hermione did too.

"I see you! I'll have you now you little minx!" Came a voice from down the corridor. Hermione's laughter died as her eyes widened in recognition. In a flash Hermione was running away from Ginny and Cormac. "I'll get you yet, Granger!"

Ginny watched them in morbid fascination, and had to let out a hearty laugh as Hermione attacked Cormac with a flock of birds. Hermione was definitely not vanilla. Her best friend had fire, passion, and a bit of a deviant side. She had managed to snatch the heart of "Bulgarian Bon Bon” Viktor Krum and Conceited Cormac. Ginny was also pretty sure one of the twins fancied her along with a couple of the guys from the old D.A. It was a pity that the only guy Hermione had actually shown romantic feelings towards was a daft Weasley with the emotional range of a teaspoon. As Ginny made her way back to the common room, feeling much better, she wondered just who her brainy friend would end up with. There had to be someone persistent enough to pursue Hermione and show her she was worth loving. Hermione needed someone who could bring out her passionate and playful side, but understand and love her shy and prudish part. As she looked at the sofa on her way into the tower, she realized Ron would never be that person. Ginny really hoped Hermione never found out what Ron really thought of her.