Disclaimer – Obviously not mine or I'd currently be working on Book 7 instead of posting fan fics. ) But special thanks to JK for such colorful characters that seem right at home playing amongst the fields called my imagination.

A/N – I originally began this fic before HBP so it's set in an alternate universe. I put this story aside after being turned down by another site who basically said my story wasn't good enough for them. After reading HBP, I came up with another idea for a fic see Please Remember Me. I was once again turned down by the same site, but was fortunate to find this one. I got such rave reviews for the story, that I decided that I'd pull this one back out, blow the dust off of it and give it a sprucing up after finishing Please Remember Me. Therefore, you'll notice that, although I left this story set in an AU, I have incorporated a few of the details from HBP.

Okay, now after that long winded author's note, here is chapter one of

Chapter 1 – The Queen of Broken Hearts

Hermione Granger sat at the vanity in the room she shared with the other two female sixth year Gryffindors, the exotic Parvati Patil and the gorgeous Lavender Brown. Her elbows were resting on the tabletop and her face was buried in her hands. She had spent the past ten minutes in this position after she had sat down to attempt to tame her hair after pulling on the jumper that her mum had bought her just before the term started at that posh new boutique in London. She looked up at her reflection in the mirror and asked, "What have you gotten yourself into?"

"Sounds like a little fun, deary, not that you would recognize it."

"Argh!" Hermione jumped up in frustration. "I don't need this from you too!" she shouted at the mirror as she turned back toward her four-poster. Talking mirrors were one of the few things that Hermione absolutely loathed about the Wizarding World, especially this one that spent much of its time conversing with the two brainless twits she called dorm-mates.

She threw herself onto her bed and lay staring at the ceiling. She took in a deep breath and let it out slowly. Why was she doing this?

Okay, so she knew exactly why, but she could try and convince herself that it was because she was tired of being looked at as a know-it-all prude or because she was tired of her roommates telling her that she needed to learn how to have fun or even because Seamus had basically dared her to participate in his little Gryffindor group activity.

Merlin knows she could even try to convince herself that it was entirely the mirror's doing. Of course, all of these were partial reasons, but they could have been easily dismissed. There was only one reason why she would be descending the steps to the common room momentarily, and it could be summed up in two words.

Ronald Weasley.

Hermione took another deep breath, but this one was a little more ragged as she felt tears starting to threaten their escape again. The hurt and anger and disappointment were building up in her again, and she couldn't help but think back to this afternoon and how she had come to accept Seamus' invitation.

'----------

It had been an uncharacteristically cold and dreary September day so when Hermione entered the common room just after everyone was returning from dinner, it was already illuminated with candle light and the glow from the fire in the hearth. Researching a project for Advance Arithmancy, she had spent almost the entire gloomy Saturday in the library...alone, a fact that didn't brighten her day any. Since returning to Hogwarts nineteen days ago, she had been spending a lot of her free time alone.

Harry seemed to always be busy with homework or his special "lessons" with Dumbledore, or throwing himself back into Quidditch, since McGonagall had appointed him the Gryffindor team's captain. Ron and Ginny had been gratefully helping Harry out with his Quidditch practicing, especially Ginny who hoped to secure a position on the team in one of the open Chaser positions. When they weren't helping Harry, Ginny spent her free time with Dean Thomas, whom she had been dating since the end of last term, and Ron had spent his time with anyone but Hermione.

About a week or so before leaving the Burrow to return to school, Ron had started acting weird and distant around her, and it had her quite upset because she couldn't place her finger on anything that had happened to cause this reaction from him. He had even passed on several opportunities to have a good row, and this had, puzzlingly, left her feeling rather empty.

As such September days go, it had been an altogether disappointing day. She hadn't been able to find the specific information that she had wanted for the Arithmancy project, not that she had been able to concentrate on it. She had thought that her friends would seek her out to spend time with her today of all days, especially since it was entirely too nasty to be out on the pitch.

She had honestly expected Ron to not take notice of the day, not with the way he had been behaving around her lately, but she really didn't think that it would pass Harry and Ginny by so easily. She had been miserably mistaken.

She knew that at this hour any hope of spending some group time with her friends was out of the question because Harry would be absent due to serving detention with Snape this evening because of a little incident between he and Malfoy in DADA yesterday afternoon. However, climbing through the portrait hole, Hermione had hoped that she would be able to convince, or perhaps bribe, Ron into some time alone this evening, even if it meant playing Wizard's Chess all night.

Hermione hoped that if she could just get him alone, she'd be able to find out what had been bothering him lately. She just really needed to get the whole thing cleared up so she could get her old Ron back and her life could get back to some semblance of normalcy. Needless to say, she was extremely disappointed when the only shock of red hair that appeared to be in the common room belonged to Ginny, whom was sitting in one of the comfortable chairs near the fire. Hermione sighed in disappointment and headed toward the youngest Weasley.

"Hey, Gin," she said as she walked around to sit in the empty chair next to her friend. Just as she was sitting down she noticed that Ginny looked like she was currently fighting a very severe cold. "You look terrible."

Ginny sniffled and said, "Oh, gee, Hermione, thanks." Her voice was very nasally and she sounded quite congested. She smiled slightly at Hermione and continued, "I feel pretty terrible, too. I thought as the day went on I'd get to feeling better, but I think it's only gotten worse."

"Maybe you should go see Madam Pomfrey. I'm sure she can give you something to make you feel better."

"I was just…" Ginny had started but was interrupted by Lavender and Parvati.

"Hey, Hermione, can we… Ginny you look terrible. You know, just because you have a boyfriend now doesn't mean that you should let yourself go. I've got a couple really good Glamour Charms that I could teach you." Ginny just looked at Hermione and rolled her eyes at Lavender's comment.

"Did you two need something?" Hermione asked quite flippedly.

"Oh, yeah. You see, Hermione, Seamus has planned a little game tonight for a few of the fifth and sixth years, and we just wanted to make sure that you weren't…well…we don't want…what I mean is" Parvati started tripping over her words.

"We wanted to make sure that you don't go running off to McGonagall." Lavender finished in a rush.

Hermione's eyes narrowed. "What kind of game are you planning?"

"Oh, you know, just Muggle poker," Lavender answered.

"Lavender, you know gambling is strictly forbidden on school grounds. You aren't planning on playing for money, are you?" Lavender and Parvati both shook their heads no. "Alright then. So why would I go to Professor McGonagall?"

Just then Seamus walked up and caught what he assumed was Hermione agreeing to keep her mouth shut. "Great! See I told you two that Granger knows what fun is."

"Excuse me!" Hermione interjected and glared at her roommates. They were constantly making snide little comments under their breath but loud enough to make sure Hermione heard them that she didn't know how to have fun.

"I think I'm going to see Madam Pomfrey," Ginny whispered just as she slid as inconspicuously as possible from her chair. Hermione knew that her friend knew when to make a speedy exit.

Seamus sat down on the arm of the chair Ginny had just vacated. "These two said that you didn't know how to have fun and that you'd never keep your mouth shut about our little game of strip poker, but I knew better." He winked at Hermione.

"WHAT?" Hermione exclaimed and then lowered her voice and returned her glare at the two girls. "Strip poker?" She growled through clenched teeth. "You just said it was Muggle poker. There is no way I'm going to sit back and…"

"See, Seamus. I told you that our prude little prefect wouldn't keep her mouth shut," Lavender interrupted.

Prude?' Could this day get any worse? Is that what people thought of her? Did they think that she was a prude who didn't know how to have fun? Was this what Ron thought of her? She could feel tears starting to fill her eyes. Normally name-calling didn't affect her, but it had just really been a bad day. She closed her eyes to will the tears away. The last thing she wanted was to let them see her cry. She felt movement in front of her and quickly opened her eyes.

Seamus had gotten down on his knees in front of her and put his hands on each arm of the chair looking up at her.

"Look, Hermione, we know that you just like to follow the rules and there is nothing wrong with that. We just want to have a little fun…good, clean, innocent fun and there's nothing wrong with that either. Everyone who'll be playing will be at least fifth year and we're putting up a modified Disillusionment Charm so that anyone who enters the common room won't see us…it'll just appear that the common room is empty. We're not starting until eleven o'clock so you don't have to worry about the younger students. So, come on, Hermione, just this once can you look the other way?"

Hermione sighed. She couldn't believe that she was even considering agreeing with this. But Seamus did have a point. Everyone who would be playing was old enough to make that decision and it sounded like they were planning on taking the precautions not to make a scene in the common room for everyone to see. Everyone had been so tense since Voldemort's return had been reported that maybe a little harmless fun would surely be alright. After all, if she didn't agree to this, they would inevitably end up playing somewhere else in the castle and be out after curfew. She took another deep breath and sighed again. "I can't believe that I'm saying this, but…okay."

Seamus jumped up and said, "Great!"

"But, Seamus Finnigan, if I find out that anyone under fifth year was involved, I'm turning you all in, got it?"

Seamus put his hands up as if surrendering. "Okay, okay. Got it!" He started to walk away but turned and grinned at Hermione. "You wanna join in on the game, Granger. You know you're dying to see me nekkid!"

Lavender shot Seamus a death glare that didn't go unnoticed by Hermione who laughed and blushed slightly. "No, that's quite okay. Thank you anyway. I'll probably see if Ron wants to play some chess until Harry gets finished with his detention."

Seamus furrowed his brow in confusion. "Er, Ron has detention tonight, too."

"What? When did this happen?" Hermione shook her head and sighed in disbelief. "Oh, what did he do this time?"

Seamus choked back a laugh, but it was Lavender who answered. "Professor McGonagall caught him and that new Hufflepuff fifth year…oh what is her name?"

"Cecily." Parvati chimed in, grinning from ear to ear.

"Yeah, that's it. Ron and Cecily got caught in the empty Tranfiguration classroom, snogging. McGonagall walked right in on them going at it. I heard that Ron had her pinned up against McGonagall's desk so McGonagall gave him detention for not being able to control his teenage hormones. She was furious and was still fuming when she came into the Great Hall." Both of Hermione's roommates burst into fits of giggles.

Hermione felt like she was going to burst into tears and vomit at the same time. Her heart felt like it was being ripped from her chest and her lungs felt like they were constricting making it difficult to breath. It hurt her so much that not only had Ron turned into a typical boy but that he was a typical, hormone-driven boy that obviously wasn't driven toward her. Every false hope Hermione had ever harbored was beginning to eat at her insides. All his awkwardness and distantness now made perfect sense.

Hermione could feel the tears threatening to start to pool in the corners of her eyes. She was not going to fall apart in front of her classmates so she needed to get away quickly. She would not let them see her crumble. She couldn't. They all would know that she had feelings of more than friendship for the red-headed sixth year whom she spent years being simply friends with. She took a deep breath and smiled as she stood up.

"Well, I guess I'll just do some reading then." She picked up her bag and headed toward the stairs back up to her room. She heard Seamus say her name as if questioning if she was alright but kept on walking.

Maybe if you weren't such a prude it would've been you.' Hermione stopped as the thought entered her head, then turned back toward the small group of her peers now occupying the comfortable chairs. "Seamus." Once he looked back toward her, she tucked some stray hair behind her ear and bit her lip a moment while she debated internally. She noticed that he was smiling expectantly at her. Finally she gave up. "Eleven, right?" Hermione saw his face light up as he nodded. "Count me in."

'----------

Hermione sat up on her bed and wiped her eyes. She hated it when she acted all girlish. She didn't know why she continually allowed Ron to break her heart. Perhaps it was because that every time she agreed to let go of her feelings and move on, he would do something that gave her hope that his feelings were more than platonic. Sometimes it would be a sweet gesture and other times it would be his ears turning red when she did something nice for him. She had even caught him on occasion just sitting and staring at her.

Hermione was pulled from her thoughts when the Grand Clock chimed eleven. She stood up, smoothed her jumper and pulled her bushy hair into a high ponytail that allowed a few curls to slip out and frame her face. She then picked up her wand and cast a Glamour charm that Ginny had taught her that summer to take the redness and puffiness out of her eyes.

Because she had no plans of going anywhere but down the stairs into the common room, she decided to leave her wand stowed safely in her bedside table's drawer. She had this gut feeling that if she took it with her someone would get hexed before the night was over. Letting out one last sigh, Hermione knew it was now or never, so she made her way out of her dormitory and toward her night of reckless abandon.

'Yeah, right!'

'----------

Entering the common room, Hermione was glad to see that it appeared to be empty. This meant that Seamus' modified Disillusionment Charm had worked. This allowed her to relax slightly at not only her decision to hold her tongue on the matter of this game but also at deciding to participate.

She made her way toward the far corner that held the largest table in the room where Lavender had told her they would be playing. Her roommate had explained that they had chosen that particular corner, not only because of the spacious table but mostly because it was the corner furthest from the Portrait Hole and the least used area in the common room. This ensured that only those students that knew about the gathering would venture to this particular section of the room.

Hermione was not surprised to see that Lavender and Parvati were sitting next to each other, nor was she unsurprised that Lavender was in the seat next to Seamus. Hermione knew that they had one of those on-again/off-again relationships. She assumed by their close proximity that they were currently "on-again."

Surprisingly, Dean sat in the chair next to Seamus. It wasn't necessarily the seat choice that was surprising. Dean and Seamus were best mates so it was a given that they would be perched together. Hermione was actually surprised to see Dean actually in attendance since he was dating Ginny and Ginny was obviously in bed sick, if Madam Pomfrey had even allowed her to return to her dormitory at all. Of course, though, Hermione knew that Dean wasn't so insensitive that he would be playing strip poker if his girlfriend was in the hospital wing. They had apparently already come to an agreement about tonight's little "group fun."

On the other side of the table sat Neville, Colin Creevey and two fifth year girls that Hermione only knew by their first names, Sarah and Elizabeth, whom were sitting directly to the left of Parvati. There were two empty seats: one between Dean and Colin and one between Elisabeth and Neville. Hermione made to sit next to Neville when Seamus interjected.

Standing and holding out the chair that he had just emptied, he said, "Here, Granger, you can sit next to me. Budge over Dean." Seamus gave Dean a slight nudge on the shoulder to move him along. When Seamus returned his attention back to Hermione, he waggled his eyebrows slightly before saying, "You know, to keep me in line. Don't want me to get too wild on everyone and end up with you having to punish me." He emphasized the word punish and smiled suggestively at Hermione.

Hermione, who could feel herself blushing furiously, was trying to figure out what alternate universe she had entered when she breached the Disillusionment. 'Is Seamus flirting with me?'

She was just about to politely refuse with an excuse about never having a chance to talk with Neville anymore, when she noticed the stabbing glare that Lavender was shooting at her. Apparently her roommate's relationship with the host of this evening's events wasn't so "on" after all. An evil thought ran through Hermione's head as she made to sit in the chair that Seamus offered her.

Hmm, maybe this will be fun after all.'

Once he had pushed Hermione's chair in, Seamus smiled like the cat who got the cream and plopped down in the chair that had previously been occupied by Dean. "Now, Granger, you just be sure to keep those pretty little hands to yourself, especially if you lot manage to get me naked."

Once again Hermione was blushing. She really couldn't believe what she was about to do, but she had decided in that moment that maybe tonight was a good time to develop a new social personality. She leaned slightly toward Seamus, gently placed her hand ever so lightly onto his forearm and in a soft and amazingly seductive voice said, "You really needn't worry about my hands doing anything improper, so I trust that I can expect the same from you as well. You know, so that I don't have to, as you said, punish you." She ended her perfectly executed attempt at flirting with a quick wink.

Hermione heard Lavender gasp at the scene that had just taken place. 'Yes. That's right, Lav. Hermione Granger, bookworm extraordinaire, knows how to flirt.' Of course she did. A person couldn't room with Lavender and Parvati for going on six years and not learn a thing or two. It also helped being best friends with two of the best looking sixth year boys and witnessing many unsuccessful attempts by the Hogwarts female population to flirt with said friends.

Even though she knew what she was doing, it felt really weird to be acting so openly girly, and at first, she thought maybe it had been a mistake to choose Seamus as her first attempt at flirting. However, when he leaned close to her ear and whispered, "And if my hands are only partially improper," Hermione had known that her attempt was not only successful, but apparently welcomed, as well.

Hermione giggled. Yes, she giggled, and smacked him playfully on the arm. "Honestly!"

Seamus leaned back into his own space and said, "So, can I offer you some of Finnigan's Famous Punch?"

"Yeah, like she'd drink it," Lavender said almost under her breath.

"I probably don't want to know what makes it so famous, do I?

"Probably not," Seamus answered not very enthusiastically. He must have assumed that he had crossed the line with offering her a drink that she knew very well contained alcohol. Hermione knew that he was probably expecting her to order him to dispose of the liquor.

"Well I guess I won't." Seamus started to frown; however, Hermione simply reached over past him to grab an empty goblet and said, "So let's see just how famous it is."

'----------

Thirty minutes later, Hermione looked down at her fifth hand of the night and smiled broadly. She couldn't help herself, she just felt so giddy and couldn't hide her satisfaction with the three-of-a-kind that she was holding. She knew that part of what she was feeling was the effect of that Famous punch, and she knew very well that it was alcohol that made it famous. She really shouldn't be drinking it. She knew it! It was a very un-Hermione-like thing to do, but maybe she was tired of being Hermione-like.

'Let the transformation of Hermione Granger begin!'

Around the table, most of the players, including herself, had simply lost their shoes and socks, except for Lavender and Sarah who had both lost their jumpers as well, but still had on the T-shirts that they had worn underneath. Hermione had a feeling that both girls were simply trying to see who could get naked first and ultimately have the attention of all the boys at the table. Currently, everyone except Hermione and Colin had folded, and they were waiting for Seamus to decide whether he was staying in or folding.

"Hmm. I don't know." He leaned toward Hermione. "What do you have there, Granger? You sure are looking quite smug."

Hermione quickly pressed her cards to her chest and said, "I don't think so, Finnigan. You'll have to be willing to pay to see these cards, but if I were you, I'd fold. But, you know, since I'm not. Stay in. You're looking a little overdressed."

He reached over and tickled Hermione's side playfully and said, "Ah, you're quite the saucy one, aren't you. Come on, Granger, show me yours and I'll show you mine!" then he winked at her.

Hermione just smiled and shook her head while continuing to hold her cards close. She distinctively heard Lavender make a noise that sounded remarkably like a snarl and this caused Hermione to laugh, but everyone assumed she was still laughing at Seamus, whom had spent the last thirty minutes flirting mercilessly with Hermione.

Of course, she had spent much of the same time reciprocating. She wasn't sure which pleased her more: the fact that a boy was finally paying "that" kind of attention to her or the fact that his flirting was seriously hacking Lavender off. She had a feeling that it was quite a bit of both. Hermione found herself wondering why she hadn't taken up this flirting thing long ago. It was almost as satisfying as a heated row with Ron. Almost.

Ultimately, Seamus had decided that Hermione was bluffing and decided to stay in. When cards were shown, Colin had a pair of Kings and a pair of eights and Seamus had three tens, but it was Hermione's three Aces that won the hand, causing both Colin and Seamus to shed another article of clothing.

Colin had just pulled his jumper off and discarded it to the floor, and Seamus was about to remove his T-shirt since he had chosen not to wear a jumper, when two Gryffindors breached the barrier of disillusionment capturing everyone's attention.

"Potter. Weasley. Good to see you survived detention! Come to have some fun?" Seamus inquired, but before they could answer, Hermione interrupted.

"Harry!" she squealed and jumped to her feet. She ran toward them and threw herself at Harry wrapping her arms around his neck and her legs around his waist much like one would expect a little girl to throw herself at someone she hadn't seen in some time. Harry stumbled back a bit looking wide-eyed at his female best mate. His hands went instinctively to her arse to maintain equilibrium, which earned him a death glare from his other best mate.

"I missed you so much! What did that slimy git make you do this time?" She giggled uncontrollably as she hugged Harry tightly and buried her face into the crook of his neck. However, through her giggles she was able to catch Ron muttering an obscenity under his breath.

Harry quickly leaned forward to force Hermione to release her grip on him and place her feet on the ground. He then put his hands on Hermione's shoulders and pushed her out to arms length. "Hermione, are you drunk?" When she just continued smiling and giggling uncontrollably, Harry sighed, shook his head displeasingly and looked around Hermione toward Seamus, "What has she been drinking?"

"Just some of Finnigan's Famous."

"Dammit, Seamus, what the bloody hell were you thinking giving her that shite to drink?" Ron snarled.

"Honestly, Ronald! I'm a big girl now and can make my own drink choices. You're acting like he poured it down my throat. Well for your information…"

"Hermione, love," Harry interrupted speaking softly as one would to a small child successfully directing Hermione's attention back to him. "You did realize there was alcohol in his punch, didn't you?"

"Well, yeah! Just thought I'd have a little fun tonight. You know celebrate. Life. My life." Hermione was speaking to Harry but was looking pointedly at Ron.

Harry looked at her for a moment and then sighed once again. "Alright, then." Harry leaned forward and kissed her temple and told her to be careful and not to drink too much. Hermione turned and smiled at him.

"You always take care of me, Harry." Hermione placed her left hand on his right cheek. "You never hurt me, you know that. Not like some people." Hermione was still smiling at Harry but he had looked in his peripheral vision at Ron whom he knew Hermione had been referring. His focus quickly snapped back to Hermione when she leaned forward and kissed him on his left cheek and then hugged him again. Hermione was vaguely aware of the snickering and whispering coming from Lavender and Parvati's direction.

"You two want dealt in? The nights still young and we've only been at it for a couple hands." Seamus' words brought Hermione's focus back to the game at hand. She pulled back and took a step back from Harry.

Harry was quick to answer, "No, thanks. Snape had me cleaning the Owlery without magic and even after using the Cleansing charm, all I want is a shower and then bed."

"Alright. Can't blame you there, mate! Weasley?"

Ron was just about to say something when Hermione made her way back over toward her seat, grabbed hold of Seamus by his upper arm, and pulled him up.

"Hermione?" Ron questioned just as Seamus had said "Granger?"

Smiling she stepped up close to Seamus and in a low, husky voice she didn't even know she possessed said, "You know it just occurred to me…" she began then grasped the bottom of his T-shirt and started to lift it. "I believe you owe me this."

Seamus chuckled then leaned forward and placed a tiny, quick kiss on the tip of her nose. "Indeed, I do." Hermione didn't need to turn around to know that Ron was red with fury. Seamus removed his shirt and handed it to Hermione who slowly drug it up across his chest eliciting a hissed breath out of Seamus. She then dropped it over his shoulder to the floor with a smirk on her face as she turned to glare at Ron.

'Take that Mr. I-Can-Go-Around-Snogging-Everyone-But Hermione!'

Just as she was thinking about saying something to the same extent out loud, Seamus stepped up behind her, wrapped one arm around her waist pulling her close to him and leaned in so that she could feel his breath on her ear and his bulge pressed against her buttocks.

"Why don't you sit that pretty little arse of yours back down so I can get you out of your shirt." He just barely kissed her earlobe before returning to his seat. Hermione suddenly became aroused in a way that she never quite expected. Between the arousal and the alcohol, it was all she could do to remain standing from the light-headedness that she suddenly felt. However, she was brought back into focus when she once again heard Lavender snarl and was pretty sure that she had heard the same sound coming from Ron.

"So, Weasley, you in?" Seamus asked as he returned to his seat and picked up the deck of cards to shuffle.

Hermione locked eyes with Ron. There was a look on his face that was almost predatory. He turned his glare toward Seamus and practically threw himself into the chair next to Neville.

"Yeah, I'm in."

'----------

About a quarter 'til one in the morning, the game was down to Ron, Hermione and Seamus. Dean had went to bed just after midnight stating that he promised Ginny that he wouldn't stay up too late, and Colin had moved to one of the sofa's in the opposite corner of the common room with the fifth year Gryffindor girls and was currently attempting to settle a petty argument between the two girls as to whom was the better kisser.

'Who would've thought that Creevey could be such a Casanova?'

Neville, poor, poor Neville, was currently passed out in his chair with his head resting on the table. He had nervously started drinking large amounts of punch after the first girl, Lavender (not that there's any surprise there), lost her T-shirt to be clad in only her bra. He had continued drinking large amounts until finally about thirty minutes earlier when he said out of the blue, "I wish the two of you would just shag and get it over with. I can't take two more years with all the bickering and being awakened in the middle of the night to her name being moaned. It's just insane," and then his head hit the table with a loud thud.

Everyone sitting at the table just looked around at each other, completely puzzled, then burst out laughing. Had she had more of her wits about her, Hermione would have been inclined to attempt to wake Neville and ask him which of his roommates he was referring to.

It was probably fortunate for Neville that he had passed out when he did because just about ten minutes later Lavender had lost her bra in a hand to Hermione. Lavender, of course, had been more than happy to oblige. But when she had removed her bra and sat waiting for the reactions from Colin, Ron and Seamus, she was brought to tears when the only acknowledgement she got was from Colin, who muttered something about it being about time.

However, it was probably the reaction of Seamus that started the waterworks. As Lavender dropped her bra to the floor, Seamus leaned on the table and looked around Hermione at a part of his ex-girlfriend's anatomy that he had certainly seen before, then he reached over and slipped his finger inside Hermione's bra strap and said, "How 'bout givin' us a looksie too, Granger?"

Of course, Lavender covered herself quickly with her arms, burst into tears and ran up the stairs to the girl's dormitories. Parvati, being the good best friend that she was, ran after her. Shortly after the incident, Colin and the two fifth-year girls had embarked on their little experiment.

Now after two more goblets of that wonderful punch, Hermione seemed to care little that she was sitting at a table in the common room clad in only her bra and knickers, both of which were white cotton with little red hearts. She was also unaffected by the fact that she was sitting in this state with a half-naked Ronald Weasley and a nearly naked Seamus Finnigan.

Ron had apparently had what Dean referred to as beginner's luck because he was still wearing his socks, his jeans and whatever he had on under them. Seamus on the other hand, had suffered more losses with the more punch he drank and would be down to his boxer shorts as soon as he finished removing his jeans that he has just lost to Hermione.

Seamus and Hermione had continued their flirting, and for once in…well it was probably since her first train ride to Hogwarts years ago, she was completely unenamored with Ronald Weasley. There was a boy, a rather handsome boy, who was acting completely smitten with her. Hermione felt like her face was going to burst from the smile that had been on it all evening and she felt like her skin was going to melt at every spot where he would reach over and touch her.

However, in the back of her drunken mind, Hermione still wished that it was Ron who was showing her this kind of attention. Maybe if she had started this flirting thing years ago, it would have been him. But as it was, she wasn't about to turn down the affections of this Gryffindor, even if he was known for being quite the lady's man.

When Seamus sat back down from removing his trousers, he sat obscenely close to Hermione and so that he was facing her side with one of his legs behind her chair and the other in front of her with their knees touching. She would've had to be blind not to see his obvious arousal tenting his boxer shorts. He leaned forward and brushed some of the stray curls behind her ear, and she was just about to turn her face toward his when he gently started running his fingers up and down the inside of her thigh just above her knee, he whispered very close to her ear, "You are absolutely gorgeous, love." His other hand had slipped behind her and came to rest on the small of her back.

Hermione's eyes fell shut and her mouth fell slightly open at the sensation from both his fingers and his words. She felt her body responding to the newfound sensations as her breath was becoming shallow, her stomach felt like it did a flip-flop and, had she been sober she would have been horrified, her nipples hardened and were pushing again the cotton of her exposed bra.

Oh, Merlin, she had never felt like this before. She had heard other girls talk about desire but she had no idea it was so consuming. On top of everything else, no one had ever called her gorgeous, especially not a boy. Viktor, of course, had told her she was very pretty but not gorgeous. And did he just call me love?

Hermione was jolted out of her ecstasy by Ron slamming down the deck of cards in front of Seamus. Ron looked pointedly at Hermione and said, "I think it's time to call it a night."

Hermione simply said, "G'Night then," before she turned her attention back to Seamus. Part of her knew that the comment was directed toward her, so when out of the corner of her eye she saw Ron stand, she couldn't believe that he was just going to leave her there without an argument.

'He really doesn't care for me. There is no way he missed Seamus' "condition," and he has to know what Seamus is thinking of doing with me. Oh, Merlin, is he leaning toward me…for a kiss? Does Ron have any idea what I'm thinking about doing with Seamus?' Then she felt a hand wrap around her upper arm and pull her to her feet.

"Hermione, I think it's time you call it a night."

Hermione jerked her arm out of his grasp. Even though she had been hurt just moments before thinking that he didn't care enough to look out for her, she was now thoroughly hacked off because he wanted to make decisions for her. "Maybe I don't want to call it a night, yet. Ronald!"

Ron grabbed her forearm this time and attempted to pull her away from Seamus. "Maybe I don't want you to do anything else stupid tonight."

"Stupid! You're calling me stupid, Ronald? Isn't that like the kettle calling the pot black? At least, I'm not stupid enough to get caught snogging in an empty classroom. By the way, how was detention? Surely nowhere near as much fun as what you were doing to get that detention."

Hermione had managed to wrench her arm free from Ron, who seemed to be stunned by the fact that she obviously knew about his little escapade. She stood swaying, with her hands on her hips, glaring at him. She was beginning to think that maybe having so much of Seamus' punch wasn't such a good idea. Not only was she feeling light-headed and slightly nauseous, her emotions were finally starting to get the best of her and she could feel her eyes starting to fill with tears.

"Tell me, Ron," she tried desperately to bite back the tears, "had McGonagall not caught you, would you have taken the little slag right there on the Professor's desk?" She needed to do or say something quick to turn the tables and make him feel as hurt as she was feeling right then. "Maybe that you could've gotten right the first time, but I hardly doubt it."

By this point Seamus was laughing and making his way out of his chair and toward Hermione.

"I think you've said enough, Hermione. I also think you need to sober up." Ron drew his wand from his pants pocket.

"What exactly do you plan on doing about it? Are you going to hex me? You think you've got a spell that you can get right on the first try that'll give you the upper hand here."

Ron just stood there, his hands now on his hips in a mocking fashion, smirking at her for a moment. She turned around and noticed that Seamus had stopped moving toward her and was looking back and forth between her and Ron wide-eyed. It took her another moment to piece everything together, then she realized that Ron had spoken while she was rambling on and that after the words 'you think' she had heard the words in her head but not out loud.

Suddenly her mouth was moving and she could hear herself screaming at him even if no one else around her could.

Bastard! You hit me with a Silencing Charm. You have no right. None at all! You are an absolutely infuriating prat! You just wait until I get my wand. I am going to put more hexes on you than you can count. Exactly what do you plan on proving by doing this? I'm not going to just stand here and let you get away with this. You are so going to pay.'

Hermione knew she must be a sight with her mouth running like a mad woman and arms flailing. She just didn't know what else to do. She had never been so livid before in her life. She was infuriated further when Ron decided to comment on the situation.

"You know, maybe I should have thought to do that years ago. Would've saved the Gryffindor's a lot of headache's from listening to us row all the time." He chuckled softly.

Quickly Hermione made the decision that since she couldn't get her point across by words and she didn't' have her wand, she had to resort to physical violence. She stomped his socked left foot with the heel of her bare right foot and pushed hard against his chest.

"Ow, Hermione!" Ron exclaimed but barely faltered then he chuckled lightly. "Not only are you a randy drunk, you're a mean one as well. Time to get sober, young lady."

Hermione was just about to push him again for those comments, but before she could react, Ron quickly stooped down and quite easily picked her up and threw her over his left shoulder. He grasped her around her thighs with his left hand and tucked his wand back into his jeans pocket with his right. Of course, Hermione tried desperately to kick but his hold was too strong, so she resulted to pounding her fists on his back.

"What the hell are you doing, Weasley? It looked like Granger was perfectly happy with where she was and what she was doing."

Ron turned to face Seamus and said, "She is not yours to use, Finnigan. Especially not after you get her drunk. If I ever catch you doing this with her again, you'll regret it."

"Well, you know, Weasley, she's not yours either. You always do this. You always think you have to step up and be the knight in bloody shining armor rescuing the bloody damsel in distress. But maybe you're the one that causes her the most distress, Weasley. Maybe you should just back off and give a bloke a chance. It was obvious that she was enjoying herself tonight with me on her own accord for that matter. Maybe she realized that I'd be willing to give her something that you aren't willing to give her."

Hermione, who was still slung over Ron's shoulder and struggling, felt Ron's body lunge forward quickly, heard a sound between a pop and a crack and then a thud against the floor. When Ron turned to head towards the stairs to the boy's dormitories, Hermione saw Seamus sprawled out on the floor, unconscious with blood flowing from his nose.

Hermione continued her attempts to break free from Ron. She was so mad that she was actually seeing red. Okay, so that was the back of Ron's head, but still she was furious. She couldn't believe that he had hit another student. Well, of course, Ron and Malfoy had quite a few goes at it, but she couldn't believe that Ron would attack a housemate. And just where the hell did he think he was taking her?

"For Merlin's sake, Mione, stop struggling! You want me to drop you?"

Hermione opened her mouth to retort but knew that it was futile; she simply smacked the back of his head. She was starting to feel dizzy and like she was going to vomit and she knew that her actions were getting her nowhere but worn out so she just let her body go limp.

She was very surprised when Ron stopped at the landing to the second year's dorms, but was even more surprised when he entered the lavatory and locked them in before sealing and silencing the room. He muttered the incantation to light the room and was moving further into its depths. Hermione, who was still looking at where they had been rather than where they were going, had no idea exactly where he was taking her and therefore, couldn't fathom a thought as to what he was planning on doing to her.

Suddenly Hermione heard metal on metal scrapping and assumed it was the sound of a shower curtain being pulled back that was if the boy's showers were set up the same as the girls. She heard Ron mutter another incantation and then heard water running. Before she knew what hit her, Hermione was thrown forward into the stream of a freezing cold shower. Screaming at what would've been the top of her lungs had she not be silenced, she tried desperately to get out of the line of fire, so to say, but in the process she ended up slipping on the wet tile and landed on her bum. She quickly scooted back to cower in the corner of the shower stall. It was at this point that the dam broke causing the tears she had been trying so hard to hold back to flow freely.

Suddenly she heard Ron hiss under his breath, "Dammit," then something she couldn't make out before the shower was filled with the sound of her sobbing. She quickly pulled her knees to her chest and buried her face in her hands. Her body was numb both from the alcohol as well as the uncontrollable sobs, so she was completely thrown off guard when Ron was suddenly on the floor next to her and pulling her onto his lap and into a hug. She buried her face in his chest and cried for everything that had broken her heart that day. She cried for not being the girl that Ron was kissing; she cried for the remarks made by her roommates both this afternoon and during the poker game; she cried for the numbness and nausea that she was feeling because of that damned punch; but most of all she cried because she was seventeen years old and this had been the worst birthday yet.

'----------

Reviews encouraged!

A/N – Well there you have it. Chapter 1 of Deuces Wild. I'm planning on this being a three chapter fic, with Chapter 2 recounting Ron's POV of the same day leading up to the same scene in the lavatory. Chapter 3 will then carry on from there and I'm assuming will be from both characters POV at times.

If you liked this fic and haven't already read it, look up Please Remember Me here on this site.