Another prize fic! This one was written for ~Loleia, who won the Holiday contest at #WeasleyFanClub on dA. This is waaaaay late, but better late than never, right?

Disclaimer: Jo owns the characters, not me!

"Ready to go?" asked Hermione, her voice shaking ever so slightly.

"Ready as I'll ever be," Ron responded. He grabbed ahold of her hand and grasped it tightly as she turned on the spot and Apparated.

A few seconds of discomfort, and suddenly Ron was standing outside of Hermione's house.

Immediately, Ron thought of how much shorter Hermione's house looked than the Burrow. True, the Burrow was tiny, but it rose up several stories high, giving it the appearance of a much roomier house. In contrast, Hermione's house was only one story, and even just the outside of it looked neater than the whole of the Burrow had ever been.

He looked down at Hermione, who was biting her lip. He could almost feel her nervousness radiating from her. It was understandable in the circumstances – it had only been a few months since she had fetched her parents from Australia and recruited help from the Ministry in restoring her parents' memories fully. Even though Hermione knew she was capable of doing it herself, she didn't trust herself; she was far too emotionally compromised after all the events of the past year. So the Ministry was more than happy to step in for her, Hermione being one of the three saviors of the wizarding world. After their memories had been successfully restored, Hermione spent the next three months telling them about what had happened and assuring them that everything was alright.

Ron hadn't seen Hermione at all during those three months. Nor had he seen Harry much: when he wasn't making public appearances at the Ministry, around the country, and around the globe, he was shut up in Number 12 Grimmauld Place.

This was of course fine for Ron, who had his own things to deal with. He spent a good deal of this summer at the Burrow, spending hours and hours with his entire family, still trying to cope with the loss of Fred. It was an extremely difficult time for the lot of them, but especially George. After a month of being very subdued, he announced that he was going back to Weasley Wizarding Wheezes. He said he figured it's what Fred would've wanted him to do.

Once George had left the Burrow, the spirit of the house gradually picked back up. Mr. Weasley and Percy started going into the office more and more, helping them deal with the reorganization of the Ministry; Bill and Charlie joined the team of volunteers helping to restore the damage done to Hogwarts; Ron and Ginny stayed behind with Mrs. Weasley to help her keep the house tidy as everyone started coming and going from the Burrow more frequently.

After a month of this, Mrs. Weasley took Ron aside and told him that she thought he should go check up on George, as she hadn't heard from him in a few days. Ron Apparated over to Weasley Wizarding Wheezes and found George sobbing over a box of Puking Pastilles he had been unpacking. Resolving that George was the one who needed help most of all right now, Ron told Mrs. Weasley he was going to go live with George and help him run the shop and hopefully raise his spirits while he was there.

But now, a month after starting his work with George, Hermione had come to visit Ron. It had been ages since they'd seen each other, yet somehow it only felt like it was a few hours after they had kissed goodbye. Hermione was here to say that she felt she had spent enough time with her parents on her own. She wanted to properly introduce them to Ron, as he was the most important person in her life, and had been for quite some time now.

So she made the arrangements to have Ron over for dinner, and now the night had finally arrived. Hermione picked him up from the Burrow, and now they stood, waiting to go in.

Hermione, looking calm for the first time since they had arrived in front of her house, took out her keys and opened the front door.

As soon as he crossed the threshold, Mrs. Granger bounded up to Ron and gave him one of the tightest and most motherly hugs he had ever received. She was a very petite woman, even shorter than Mrs. Weasley. After she pulled away from him, he saw her smiling face was shiny with tears.

"Ron," she said, wiping a tear from her face, "thank you."

He wasn't expecting this at all. He looked over at Hermione, who was now also crying. Over Mrs. Granger's head, he could see Mr. Granger in the kitchen, smiling at him.

"I cannot express how much I want to thank you for taking care of our Hermione," Mrs. Granger added. She motioned Hermione to come over, and they shared in a large, three person hug.

Mrs. Granger finally pulled away, but Ron kept his arm around Hermione.

"It's really great to finally meet you both," Ron said, waving to Mr. Granger as he said this, who was making his way over from the kitchen. He was nearly as tall as Ron, and his hair was the same color as Hermione's.

"It's great to meet you as well, Ron!" Mr. Granger said heartily, grasping Ron's hand. "Hermione's told us all about you, and if what she says is true, then I'm certainly glad she's kept you around."

"As am I," Ron said, though he looked at Hermione when he said it. She smiled.

Mrs. Granger, who had been watching their interaction, said, "Oh, you two! Come sit down and have something to eat."

They walked out of the foyer and into the kitchen, and Ron's jaw dropped. Their kitchen table resembled a miniature version of the House tables at Hogwarts feast. There were green beans, potatoes, a large tossed salad, vegetable soup, an enormous ham in the middle of the table, and finally, four glasses filled with chocolate mousse were sitting near the edge.

"Hermione's told us how much you love food, and, well," she said, laughing a little bit, "I couldn't just come up with one thing to cook!"

They all sat down at the table, Ron still a little dumbfounded at the amount of food on the table, and began to eat. Ron, even though he wasn't particularly hungry, managed to have second helpings of everything Mrs. Granger had cooked.

An hour later, they were all slumped in their chairs, and Mr. Granger invited them to the sitting room for some after-dinner tea.

"The meal was really fantastic, thanks so much," Ron told Mrs. Granger as she came back in with the tea.

"Oh it's no problem at all! I haven't cooked that much in a long time," she replied, setting the tea down on the table.

"So Ron," Mr. Granger said, "what are you up to now? Hermione's told us that you've been working with your brother?"

"Oh yeah," said Ron, "I've been helping my brother George with his wizarding joke shop in Diagon Alley. I've been thinking about staying there full time. Er, at least until I can find something else to do."

"Well from everything Hermione's told us, Ron," said Mrs. Granger, "a joke shop sounds like exactly what your community needs right now."

As they finished their tea and the conversation wound down, Mr. and Mrs. Granger shook Ron's hand again and made their way upstairs for an early night. Ron looked over at Hermione, still sipping her tea. She had been awfully subdued this evening.

"Are you thinking about going back to Hogwarts?" Ron asked her.

She looked up and Ron could tell that she was thinking hard.

"Maybe," she finally said. "I'd love to graduate from there properly, but honestly, after all we did, what else will they be able to teach me?"

Ron was struck with a sudden idea. "You know, Hermione, you should get in contact with my dad or Percy – they've started completely revamping the Ministry. That sounds like something you'd really like to get in on. And I'm sure they'd love your input about things like house-elf rights.

Hermione smiled broadly. "That's not a bad idea! Would you mind if I came back with you tonight to the Burrow? Maybe I could catch one of them before they turn in tonight."

"Sounds good," Ron said, and he pulled her up off the couch into a tight hug.

"Ready to go, then?" he asked her.

"Absolutely," she said. And they Disapparated.

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~HPLives