Hey everyone. This story is written for both The Holmes Mystery Challenge and The Fortnightly Challenge Thread's Snape Appreciation Challenge. The prompt for the Holmes Mystery Challenge was the dialogue "Why would you do that?". The prompt I used for the Snape Appreciation Challenge was Shelf 5 20. Calming Draught - write about doing something to relax. I can totally see Hermione planning her baby's nursery to relax after a long day of work. I hope you all enjoy What Are You Doing Ron?
"Why would you do that?" Hermione asked in a voice that sounded more like a shriek than anything else. "Are you both crazy? Or are you trying to get me upset?"
Both Harry and I looked up as though guilty of something. I had only been trying to prepare for the child that Hermione was expecting. Harry had suggested yesterday that we paint the nursery. He said that it would make Hermione happy. So we had gone down to a hardware store and bought some paint. Of course it was the colors of my favorite Quidditch team the Cannons. We were halfway through painting when Hermione burst in on us.
"I'm painting the nursery, Mione," I told her. "I thought it would make you happy."
She anything but happy. She glared around the room at the bright orange paint on the walls. I didn't think she'd be this mad about something so stupid and pointless as paint. But here we were.
"What exact color is this?" she said sounding disgusted at the color.
"It's orange for the Cannons. My favorite quidditch team. Maybe it'll turn out that the baby likes the Cannons..."
"We're having a girl, Ron."
"So?" both Harry and I asked at the same time.
Girls could like Quidditch just as much as boys could. Angelina Johnson, Alicia Spinnet, and Katie Bell could atest to that. But I don't think that argument would help me out with Hermione. At least not now anyway.
"Why can't you pick out a normal color?" she sighed in defeat. "One that's not so God awful bright?"
"Well what color would you pick out then?" I asked her. "Harry and I did the best we could..."
"Let's make a deal then. You can paint your home office Cannon's orange if you want that and we, the two of us, can go and pick out a color for the babies nursery. Is it a deal?" She held out her for me to shake to seal the deal.
I shook her hand. I turned to Harry who shrugged. "Can you come back later and help me paint my home office then?" I asked him.
"Sure," Harry replied and then left to go home to more than likely tell Ginny about everything that was happening over here.
Hermione grabbed her purse and a very large book and motioned me to follow her out to our family's car. As right now Hermione was the only one allowed to drive it. I didn't really understand why Muggles needed to have a piece of paper that said they could drive but they did. And I was close to getting one for myself too. Hopefully before the baby was born.
"What's in your book Hermione?" I asked her.
"It's themes for the nursery, Ron," she told me.
"Theme's?"
"Yes. Themes, Ronald. I think I have one in here that you'd like. It's sort of a Quidditch theme. Ginny showed it to me one day while we flipping through some magzines for mother's to be."
"Let's do that one then. Maybe she'll grow up to be the first Minister of Magic who also plays Quidditch?"
Hermione laughed as she raised an eyebrow. "Maybe."
We pulled up to the front of the store that Harry and I had left not to earlier ago. Picking up the book before Hermione could I got out of the car and raced around to the other side to open her door for. This brought a smile to Hermione's face.
"You do know you could have just taken the page? Not the whole book. Right?"
I sighed as I placed the book in the backseat of the car grabbing the Quidditch themed page out of the book. I had to agree that this was a far better idea than my orange idea. Far more pleasing to the eye.
Entering the store I watched as Hermione, who seemed in her element and quite relaxed, found her way to the paint section and pulled out some blues, brass colors, a few whites, and greens. She walked over to me.
"Here," she said holding the paint selections out to me, "you can pick between the colors here in each of these?"
Looking through I quickly decided what color I would pick for each. I point them all out to Hermione.
"I think the Blue Skies for the blues," I told her. "this bronzey one for the brass type for the goalposts. Cotton white for the clouds and Green Eggs and Ham for the grass."
She studied my choices carefully as though I would make the same mistake of picking the wrong color twice.
"I think I agree with you," she told me thoughtfully. "Let's go see if they can mix these colors and then we can go and get some dinner."
I nodded as we walked over the guy behind the paint counter. He must have remembered me because he gave me a knowing smile as he went about getting the new paint for the job.
"Hermione, you seem so relaxed doing this?" I told her. "Isn't this just more work for you?"
"No," she told me. "It's actually quite relaxing. Ginny and I have each been designing the babies nurserys since we both found out we were pregnant."
"Oh," I said thoughtfully as the man came out with the paint cans and gave them to me, "I didn't think about it like that."
"I know," Hermione laughed as got into the car and drove off towards her favorite restaurant.
I was going to have long day tomorrow priming and painting my daughter's new Quidditch themed nursery. And I was looking forward to each and every minute of it.
I hope you all enjoyed What Are You Doing Ron? It's a sweet little bit of fluff that I can totally see happening. Especially Ron choosing a bright garish color at first.