Sorry...this has actually been ready to post for weeks, and I just haven't found the right moment to post it. So, this is the beginning of my new multi-chapter story. It's all written (but needs final editing), so I hope to be able to post a new chapter every week or every other week. I'm a bit scared to let it go public, as it's a bit different for me, but I really do hope you like it.

Also, I just wanted to let you know that one of my stories 'What's in A Name', has been nominated in the Romione Tumblr awards. I have no idea who nominated me, but thank you so much to whoever that was - totally made my month (and this time of year is always a struggle!) I am honoured to be nominated, even though I doubt I'll win simply because I don't have a following on Tumblr and I'm not one of the more popular writers here. But, if you wanted to go vote for me once the voting opens, I would love you!

Just an FYI, this begins around October 1999. Now, on with the story - I shall shut up - sorry!


Chapter One

"Oh yuck! Seriously?" Harry grumbled, slapping a hand over his eyes as he stumbled the rest of his way into the kitchen. "Do you have to do that before I've even had breakfast? I'll lose my appetite!" He blindly reached out for a chair and sat down in it heavily.

"We were only kissing!" Hermione scowled at him, but backed away from me all the same.

"Open your eyes you daft prat!" I slapped the back of his head. "We're both fully dressed. It was just a kiss!" I caught Hermione's eye over his head and rolled my eyes. She chuckled lightly.

"Yeah, well, I don't need to see that first thing in the morning either." He continued to grumble whilst reaching for the tea pot. "Not after what I had to hear last night as well," he added under his breath.

"What about last night?" I asked, just catching the end of his mutterings.

"Nothing." Harry continued to pour his tea.

"Ron, I need to get going," Hermione called my attention back to her as she picked up the packed lunch she'd just made herself and stuck it in her bag. "Walk me to the floo?" she asked.

I frowned for a moment, the fireplace was not 10 steps away from the kitchen in this small flat Harry and I shared, why did she need me to...oh! I realised as she gave me a smile – she wanted to say goodbye away from the scrutiny of grumpy drawers in there. Holding out her hand to me, pleased that I had understood and we left Harry to his bad mood, Hermione calling goodbye to him as the kitchen door swung closed behind us.

"Yeah, bye!" he muttered.

"So, I'll come by and pick you up after work?" I checked our plans. I actually had the day off today, since Harry and I had been out on raids most of the weekend. "We can get dinner or something?" I suggested.

"Sounds good." She leaned forward and softly kissed my lips.

I smiled. "Great. So, have a good day, love and I'll see you later."

"Six o'clock." She reminded me with what was supposed to be a stern expression, the secret smile on her lips ruined the illusion though. And then, giving a sad little sigh and a softly whispered 'bye', she stepped into the fireplace, waved and in a flash of green flames, she vanished.

After she'd left, I was in two minds over whether to climb back into bed to catch up on some needed sleep or go eat breakfast. My stomach chose that moment to rumble – breakfast it was then! Besides, there was something rather urgent that I wanted to talk to Harry about.

He was sat flicking through the newspaper, munching on some toast and nursing his cup of tea when I joined him with a bowl and the box of cheeriowls. "So," I started, pouring the cereal and then the milk he'd left out on the table into my bowl. "Something really bloody weird happened last night!"

"Eurgh, please," Harry pulled a revolted face at me. "I do not want to know!" He held his hand up in the generalised 'stop' gesture. "I don't want any details whatsoever about any kinky crap you two get up to! The noises are bad enough." He pulled that face again, as though he was about to puke.

"What the bloody hell are….oh, eurgh!" It dawned on me what he was getting at. "As if I'd tell you anything like that, mate!" I scoffed as I scooped up a spoonful of cereal – what went on between Hermione and I in the bedroom was very private. "Listen, I had...hang on, what noises?" I stopped with the spoon inches from my mouth.

Harry looked up, raising both eyebrows as he sighed heavily, like I should know what he meant. "Firstly," he began, folding the newspaper up and setting it aside, "if Hermione is going to be living here too then we need to..."

"She's not living here." I cut him off.

"Really? Because she's here more often than she's not. In the past week, she's slept what, two nights at her parents?" He cocked one eyebrow in question and then shook his head. "Anyway, we're going to need some ground rules. You know I love Hermione as though she were my sister, but there are some things I just don't need to know, okay?"

"Okay, fine," I huffed and shoved the cereal into my mouth. Maybe if I let him get this off his chest he'd finally let me talk.

"Right, number one. Always, always, always, and I can not stress that enough! But, for Merlin's sake, put a bloody silencing charm on your room when you're...in there together!" he muttered the last few words.

"We always do." I replied through my mouthful of food.

"Didn't last night, you git!" Harry peered at me over the frame of his glasses.

"Oh." I felt my ears burn. "Shit. Yeah, right...silencing charms - agreed. Anything else?"

"Number two." He was counting this off on his fingers. "No snogging in the kitchen at breakfast. Please, let a man wake up first!" He rolled his eyes,

"Are you just pissed because Ginny has been away at that Quidditch training camp for the last week and isn't due home for another couple of days?" That could explain his bad mood this morning.

"If I said yes, would you be thrilled I was frustrated because I missed your sister?" he asked, a teasing smirk on his face.

"Erm...no." I quickly realised as I stirred the food in my bowl.

"Right then. Number three," he held up three fingers now. "I don't enjoy finding your underwear or Hermione's...delicates all over the bloody flat, all right? If you can't undress in private, like normal people, at least pick up after yourselves!"

"Yeah, sorry. We got a bit carried away last night." I knew my ears had to have turned a lovely shade of red by the way I felt them burning.

"I don't want to know anything. Just, keep it to your room, right? Number four..."

"How many of these are there? Because there is something I really want to talk to you about."

"A few!" he snapped back.

Damn...he was in such a sour mood – he probably did need to get laid. Oh great, now I was thinking of him with my sister damn it! Shit! Quick! Think of something else. Anything else...erm...bacon sandwiches, yum. The Cannons game this weekend.

"Number four," he disturbed the ludicrous image of the Cannons team playing the game whilst eating bacon butties that had been filling my head. "The shower is a one person shower only. We do not have a current drought so we don't need to conserve water and I'm sure she can manage alone. Would you want to take a shower after me if I had taken my girlfriend in there with me?"

"Your girlfriend is my bloody sister mate, watch it!" I pointed my spoon at him, threateningly.

"Just proving a point." He smiled wickedly at me – he seemed to be enjoying this far too much. Sometimes I honestly wondered why I was his best mate. "Number five. If Hermione is staying over, get some extra food in – don't eat everything and then forget to replace it. Do you know how many times I have found empty milk bottles in the cold storage?"

"All right, fine. Though I am curious whether these 'rules'," I used to my fingers to draw quotes in the air, "apply to both of us here? Because you know Ginny eats far more when she's here than Hermione ever does!"

"They're house rules. For all of us, so we can live together in harmony."

"Good." I nodded. "So, I apologise for not replacing food occasionally, but it's not always me! Is that it?"

"I think that's it for now. Just, please, never ever forget number one again. I think I'm scarred for life!" he shuddered.

"Believe me, I regret that more than you do! I suppose we were a little distracted last night since we hadn't seen each other for a few days. But I'll make sure in future. And I'll agree to all those other rules so long as you stick to them too! Now, will you shut up so I can I tell you something?" I finally asked, impatiently.

"Fine, so long as it's nothing private." He folded his arms.

I rolled my eyes. "Mate, I am never, ever going to tell you anything private about us, get it? Never!"

"That's a relief," Harry muttered to himself.

I chose to ignore him as I spooned more cereal into my mouth. "So, anyway last night I had this weird bloody dream…"

"Really?" He raised one eyebrow incredulously. "Even with all the noise you two were making last night, you actually found time to fall asleep and dream?" He shook his head.

"Ha ha!" I mocked, throwing a tea towel at him across the table – it hit him in the face. "Aren't you hilarious? Now, shut up and listen. So, this dream was just...really bloody weird. I mean, there was this horrid sense of foreboding, and..."

"Ron," Harry interrupted, whilst trying hard not to laugh, "you have weird dreams all the time you prat! Don't you remember last weekend when you told me you dreamt a giant cake was chasing you through the halls of Hogwarts trying to eat you? Or...how about the other week after Hermione had dragged you to that Muggle department store, you had dreams about the mannequins coming to life and forcing you to perform in a Christmas pantomime whilst wearing a tutu! Barmy your dreams are!" He was openly chuckling about it now.

"Yeah, but this dream was different." I insisted loudly to get his attention again. "This one actually scared me!" I admitted.

"Scared you? Are the nightmares back?" he asked, the laughter stopped and he actually sounding concerned. We all knew the horrors we'd experienced during the war still haunted us from time to time.

I shook my head. "No, not really. It..." I sighed, wondering how best to explain it. "All I could really sense was that Hermione wasn't safe...that someone was out to get her," I frowned, knowing that sounded stupid. "And whatever is was, was causing problems between us, making us fight more and..."

Harry snorted. "You don't need anything to make the pair of you fight, you've been at it since you were 11 years old. I've known you have a full blazing row for two hours straight over the way you breathe through your mouth!" he rolled his eyes.

"I'm being serious here, Harry!" I scowled at him. "Look, in this dream everything felt...off somehow. It was as though someone or something was just trying to get rid of her – she seemed to be in danger all the time but we didn't know what from and..." I shook my head, "it was just too bloody weird."

"Just sounds like another of your rather bizarre dreams to me. Though, I can see why it would shake you up." Harry shrugged, setting his tea cup down.

"It did. I woke up in a right panic, thinking it was real. The relief I felt when I realised she was actually sleeping safely beside me was palpable and..."

"Palpable?" he frowned. "Is that a Hermione word? I think you're spending too much time with her, you know," he shook his head sadly.

"Shut it!" I glared, giving him the finger.

"Look, I'm sure it was just one of your weird dreams. I mean, after the lack of sleep this weekend with the raids and not seeing Hermione so much, I'm sure that's all it was." Harry shrugged, unperturbed.

I flicked a stray cheeriowl off the table at him. "Well, I don't!" I huffed. "I think someone is out to cause problems for us, and they're going to try...something. It felt too real, all right!" I tossed my spoon back into my now empty bowl.

"Still think you're reading far too much into it. I agree it sounds like a horrid dream, but, I really don't think it's anything to worry about. We have enough crap to stress us out without adding your dreams to it. You just need to catch up on some sleep."

"Perhaps," I agreed with a slight shrug. "But, I'm still going to be keeping my eyes open for anything weird going on." I vowed, getting up to dump my bowl in the sink. "Though, now that you mention sleep, I'm going to grab a couple more hours." I told him, already heading back to my bedroom, and the bed that smelt entirely of my girlfriend.


'Ello? Please, I 'elp you?" A young witch stopped me from heading straight through to Hermione's desk at the Magical Creature Department in the Ministry where she had been working for the past four months.

"Erm, what?" I stopped and glanced up, only to find a welcome witch sat at her own reception desk just outside the department. Well, that was new! But then the entire Ministry was still being revolutionised and security measures constantly improved since the end of the war.

"I can 'elp?" She asked me again.

I realised she was still waiting for my reply. "Oh, no, I'm just, I'm here to..."

"Oh, but you ees Ron Weasley, non?" She asked, looking much more interested now as a big smile grew on her face.

"Erm, yeah," I nodded and rubbed the back of my neck awkwardly. Over 18 months after the war and I still wasn't used to the recognition or the near hero worship we all received. I sometimes felt like a member of the Weird Sisters when I was out in public and people stopped me to talk or asked me to sign something! I hadn't a clue why I had ever envied Harry for his fame back in school – I could certainly do without it now.

"I 'ave of course seen your photo een zhe magazine." She flicked her long hair back as she stepped from behind her desk towards me. "But, zey 'ave not show you...'ow you say, 'andsome you are." She smiled, her eyes looking me up and down.

"Erm, right...thanks," I muttered, feeling myself blush as I took a step back.

"Zey said you est courageux...what you did in zhe war." She finally met my eyes as she gazed at me in awe.

I shrugged. "Yeah, but I didn't do it all alone, you know. A lot of people fought in the war."

"But, you est 'ero, non?" She sidled even closer.

"I suppose that's what they say," I sighed. I had at first been excited by the attention and being called a hero, now it just annoyed me. I was no more of a hero than Fred had been, or Tonks, Bill, Colin, Mum or the countless others who had also fought. "Obviously, you didn't go to Hogwarts, did you?" I asked, realising she only looked a couple of years older than me and that I didn't recognise her.

"Oh, non," she giggled. "I am from Frans. I went to Beauxbaxtons of course," she added, with that superior air that students from that school seemed to have. "I came here to Eengland to emprove my eengleesh."

"I see," I nodded. How had I missed her accent before? Of course she was French. "My sister-in-law, Fleur, she's French too." I nodded and checked my watch – I was going to be late in picking Hermione up at this rate!

"Fleur?" she queried.

"Yeah, she went to your school too. Came to work at Gringotts to, erm...well get better in English too. That's where she met my brother and they're married now." I finished, wondering why I was telling my family story to a complete stranger. She had got me rather flummoxed though.

"I see. Zhat is good, oui?" I could've sworn she batted her eyelashes up at me.

"Yeah, she's great." I flicked away the comment with a wave of my hand. "Anyway, I was actually only here to pick up...oh, here she is!" I grinned, seeing Hermione coming through the double doors that led to the offices and desks within. "Hey, love," I greeted her with a kiss on the cheek.

"Hi," she replied, "I was beginning to think you had forgotten."

"Course not, I actually got here a few minutes ago, but got waylaid talking to erm, sorry...I didn't catch your name?"

"Céleste." She replied, returning to her desk now and shuffling some papers around.

"I was talking with Céleste. She's from France." I explained, helping Hermione with her cloak.

"Oh, yes, we met earlier. Bonjour." Hermione smiled politely.

Céleste gave her a very brief smile before turning her attention back to tidying her desk and ignoring the pair of us.

"Right, well shall we get going?" I smiled at Hermione.

"Yes. I'm ready." She looped her bag over her arm and took my hand.

"Bye Céleste," I called as we headed out together.

She looked up and smiled. "Eet was nice to meet you Ron. Most enjoyable. Per'aps I will see you again? Oui?"

"Er, yeah...maybe." I replied.

"She was flirting with you!" Hermione hissed a few seconds later as we waited for the elevator.

I wrinkled my nose. "Don't be daft! She was just being friendly. I was telling her about Fleur."

"Hmm," she sighed, disbelieving.

I grinned to myself. "Jealous?" I whispered against her ear.

Hermione rolled her eyes. "Absolutely not!" she looked insulted. "I just thought she was a bit rude." she folded her arms across her chest. "Did you not notice her complete dismissal of me when I spoke to her?"

"Yeah, right," I laughed to myself, not believing her for a moment, but then quickly shut up when she elbowed me in the gut just as the lift arrived.

We travelled down in the crowded lift in silence and then spilled out into the busy atrium bustling with rush hour as most people left work for the night. I took Hermione's hand again, giving her a smile as we headed for the floo.

"So...you coming back to mine tonight or are you going home after dinner?" I wondered, hoping she'd be coming back with me.

She sighed. "I suppose I should show my face at home eventually, prove to my parents that I haven't actually moved out, no matter what they think." She rolled her eyes. Her parents thought we were far too young to be moving in together and would only permit her to move out if she were moving to a place of her own or with a friend – stressing the fact that that did not include a boyfriend. Since she considered it a waste of money to get her own place, she juggled her time between her parents house and the flat, trying to keep everyone happy.

I nodded. "Might be for the best actually. Harry has busied himself all day with drawing up some new house rules."

"House rules?" She frowned. "What for? Why?"

"For us apparently." I shrugged. "Seems we forgot to put the silencing charm on our room last night, and he claims he's now scarred for life or something. Stupid prat! Bloody worse for me to hear him with my sister, eurgh!" I stuck my tongue out, miming being sick at the very idea of them together. I so didn't need that image in my head.

"Oh dear," Hermione gasped, her hand to her mouth.

"Exactly!" I nodded. "So, now he's on some rampage to ruin all our fun and freedom at the flat just because he's pissed off Ginny is away training so much."

"I'm sure that's not the only reason. I mean, you two do share the flat and it's only reasonable you should be considerate around one another."

"Really? Because you might be interested to know he's also putting a ban on anyone sharing the shower or showing affection in the kitchen in the morning." I told her, one eyebrow raised as I waited for her expected reaction.

"Idiot!" she hissed just as it was our turn to step into the floo and head over to the Leaky Cauldron.

"See!" I told her, as though our conversation hadn't been paused whilst we'd hurtled through fireplaces in a cloak of green flames. "So, anyway, just a quick dinner tonight and then I have to lose you?" I pouted at the thought.

"I'm afraid so." She smiled and kissed my pouty lips, chuckling at me. "It will only be for a couple of nights Ron, to keep my parents happy. Beside, I'll see you at work, we can meet up for lunch?"

"I know," I sighed, realising it was the best I was going to get for now. "Come on, let's go eat." I took her hand and led her from the floo located in a back room and into the main bar to order our meal.


Hoped you liked - would really appreciate it you could take a couple of moments to leave me a review. Thank you.