A/N: Hello! I'm Riiko Shea, and this is Possibly Sufferable, sequel to Impossibly Insufferable. (Hopefully you can read this without reading the other, though).

So, I'm really not sure what to tell you, expect that this should probably be shorter than Impossibly Insufferable- probably nine or ten chapters. I really hope you enjoy!

Please review!

Onward!

Edit: Thanks to VampiresWizardsCentaursOhmy for pointing out that Hermione wouldn't be happy if Ron just asked her because of a bet.

Possibly Sufferable

Chapter One

Another Bet

Harry yawned as he unlocked the door to the flat he and Ron shared, his arms weighed down with paperwork. Ron looked up from his own papers and smiled.

"Hey. What took you so long to get home?" he asked. Harry sighed gustily and joined Ron at the kitchen table.

"That idiot Hayes was taking for-bloody-ever to find the case files I needed- I mean, they're alphabetized! How hard can it be?" Harry dumped his papers on the table and sank into a chair, rubbing his eyes roughly with the heels of his palms. "I hate this job."

"No you don't," Ron yawned. "You hate the paperwork that comes with this job. Am I right?"

Harry shrugged. "Yeah, guess you're right." He heaved himself to his feet. "Do we have any food?"

"Not really," Ron answered. Harry swore.

"Great. Now I'm going to be hungry and in a bad mood for the rest of the night," he groused. Before he could say anything else, however, a rush of air from the fireplace in the sitting area (separated from the kitchen by a low dividing wall) announced a call. The two men stood and walked to the fire. There, his head outlined in the now-green flames, was Neville. Harry grinned. "Hey, mate. What's up?"

"I have something I want you guys to hear- mind meeting me at the Three Broomsticks? My treat." Neville looked excited, Harry thought. Before he could even open his mouth, Ron was answering.

"If you're buying, I'm there. See you soon, Neville," Ron said. Neville laughed.

"All right, see you soon." His head disappeared from the flames as Harry looked at Ron in mild annoyance.

"Couldn't have waited for my answer?" he asked, walking to the coat rack by the door (a relic from Number 12 Grimmauld Place) and pulling on his coat. Ron did the same and shrugged.

"Would you have refused?"

Harry made a face and Ron smirked before turning and disappearing. Harry rolled his eyes and spun as well, stumbling when he reappeared at the Public Apparition Point in front of the Three Broomsticks.

Harry pushed open the door, allowing the warmth of the room to dull the slight fall chill that had settled into his bones. At a table, Ron was shaking Neville's hand, clapping his shoulder in a manly greeting. Looking up, Neville waved his free hand at Harry.

Harry walked over and mimicked Ron's actions before sitting down. Rosemerta came over and Neville ordered a round of drinks before sitting back and beaming at his friends. Harry lifted an eyebrow.

"All right, Neville, what's going on? You look like you've had one too many Cheering potions," Harry remarked. Next to him, Ron smirked.

"I don't know, Harry, looks more like he got laid," he said, and Neville blushed slightly as Harry and Ron laughed.

"All right, all right," Neville grinned, even through his flush. "No, it's not that. It's... I… I asked Hannah to marry me."

There was a shocked silence, before Harry and Ron whooped. "That's great!" Ron shouted, slapping Neville on the back enthusiastically before freezing. "Wait… she said yes, right?"

Harry laughed and shook Neville's hand. "Congrats, Neville- that's fantastic. You two will be really happy together."

Neville grinned. "You're asking Ginny soon, right? She owled me and said that you've been acting kind of shifty recently."

Harry scowled. "I can never hide anything from her," he muttered. "Yeah, I am… probably this Saturday, actually. We're going out for a romantic dinner."

Suddenly, a familiar voice broke in on the conversation.

"Neville?"

Harry, Ron, and Neville whirled around to see none other than Hannah Abbot standing in the doorway of the pub, followed by several of her friends. Neville blushed. "Hi, Hannah," he murmured. She smiled.

"I take it you're here for the same reason as I am, then?" she asked. Neville nodded and Hannah turned to her friends. "All right then, here's the big secret- Neville asked me to marry him!" She was instantly buried in a pile of squealing girls. The three men rolled their eyes and Neville motioned to Rosemerta, ordering a round of drinks for the girls.

Soon, everyone was more than a little tipsy, and Ron was getting nervous. All this talk about marriage was making his pocket burn uncomfortably. As he glanced down to make sure it wasn't on fire, Neville's slurring, more-than-slightly-drunk voice realized his worse fear.

"So Ron, when're you an' Hermione plannin' on tyin' th' knot?"

Everyone fell silent at this question and turned to Ron, who stared firmly into his butterbeer. He knew that, if he was too intoxicated, he might let anything slip.

"Um, I haven't actually…. Uh, planned, yet… I'm not sure-"

"Ron? Harry? Oh, and Neville too!"

Harry turned and grinned. "Hi, Hermione!"

Ron's stomach dropped to his feet. His girlfriend of six years (with a little break between year three and four due to a ridiculous fight) was standing with Ginny in the doorway of the pub. Thinking back, he remembered Hermione mentioning that she and Ginny were going out for a girls' night out. Oh, come on! Why here?

Hermione pulled up a chair and sat next to him, as Ginny plopped herself into Harry's lap. "What's the celebration?" Hermione asked, looking around at the slightly inebriated faces around her. Neville beamed.

"I asked Hannah to marry me!" he answered. Ginny and Hermione squealed, leaping up from their respective seats to hug Neville and then Hannah. Luckily for Ron, they soon got distracted with Hannah's friends, already beginning to plan.

Ron grabbed Harry's shoulder. "Listen, mate, please… don't mentioned me asking Hermione, 'kay?"

Harry's slightly cloudy eyes focused and his lips pursed. "Fine… are you gonna tell me why?"

"Not now," Ron breathed as Hermione and Ginny passed behind them to get drinks from the now crowded bar. "At home, later." Harry nodded and smiled up at Ginny as she returned, wrapping his arms around her and pulling her back onto his lap.

Hermione sat down too and looked at Ron. "Ron? Is something wrong?" Ron looked up and shook his head.

"No! No, of course not." He smiled slightly at her continued look of concern and took her left hand in his right, rubbing his thumb over the top lightly. "I'm fine, love, really."

Hermione sighed and leaned over, resting her head on his shoulder. Ron bit his lip and inhaled the clean scent of her hair before releasing her hand and wrapping his arm around her waist. Between them, his pocket seemed to burn even hotter.

Eventually, the party wound down and people began filtering out, laughing and stumbling towards the Apparition Point (though a few of the more intoxicated members of the group had to Side-Along with someone else). Hannah and Neville were still in the pub, talking quietly. Harry and Ginny kissed in the shadows outside before parting and Dissaparating to their respective dwellings, Harry with an impatient, "Come on!" to Ron.

Ron and Hermione stood outside for a moment, listening to the last of Hannah's friends disappearing. Finally, Ron turned to Hermione, who was looking thoughtfully at the couple in the pub. He smiled slightly and leaned down, blowing in her ear. She jumped and flushed.

"Sorry," Hermione said. "Just thinking."

"There's a surprise," Ron grinned. Hermione gently swatted his arm and glanced at her watch. She groaned.

"I've got to get going, Ron… I have to get to work early tomorrow," she sighed, looking regretful. Ron frowned, but didn't argue. Instead he leaned down and gently kissed her.

"'Night," he murmured when they broke apart. Hermione smiled gently.

"'Night, Ron," she replied, and walked quickly to the Apparition Point.

A moment later, she had disappeared. Ron sighed and mimicked her actions, appearing the flat he shared with Harry once more. Harry was sitting on the couch, drinking something out of an unmarked, green bottle. Ron joined him and Harry passed him the bottle silently.

Ron took a swig and swallowed. As soon as the liquid hit his throat his eyebrows shot into his hairline. "What is this?" he asked, gasping. Harry grinned.

"Not sure- some strong Muggle drink that George sent me a few months back for my birthday." He took the bottle back from Ron and took another drink, shuddering slightly. "I'm going to have the bloody mother of all headaches tomorrow," he announced after swallowed.

Ron nodded. "I'm surprised you're not slurring."

Harry shrugged. "Took a Sobering potion before I started drinking this," he said. Then he put the bottle down and turned to face his friend. "Now. We need to talk."

Ron flinched and looked away. Harry sighed. "Ron. Talk to me. Why aren't you asking Hermione to marry you?"

"I… I don't know," Ron whispered. "I want to, Harry, I really do. But do you know what marriage means? It means worrying about her even more than I do now, and all the logistics like looking for houses and stuff like that, not to mention just trying to get along every single day… living in the same house… Harry, she wants kids. I'm not cut out to be a father!" Some time during this speech, Ron's hands had firmly gripped his hair, and now he looked at Harry with wide, panicked eyes.

Harry considered the slightly insane looking Weasley next to him. After a moment's silence he stated drily, "You're scared to ask her."

Ron looked down sheepishly. "Well… yeah. That too."

Harry laughed. "I can imagine… to tell the truth, I'm scared to death to ask Ginny."

Ron shrugged. "You shouldn't be. I mean, Ginny's always loved you, and you've never done anything stupid to totally ruin your relationship… except for that one time you broke up with her, but since it was to save the world she forgave you."

Harry looked thoughtful and then picked up the green bottle, taking another drink. "All right, how about this… let's make a bet."

Ron groaned loudly. "Another bet? Come on, Harry."

Harry looked at him. "Really, Ron? The last one worked out very well for you. I'd think you'd be interested in another."

Ron huffed and then grabbed the bottle from Harry, taking a loud gulp. After fortifying himself in this way, he looked at Harry. "Fine. Fine. What's the bet?"

Harry steepled his fingers. "All right, how about this? Today's Sunday. I'm asking Ginny on Saturday. You have until Saturday to ask Hermione to marry you. If I ask Ginny before you ask her… you have to wear a dress to Neville and Hannah's wedding."

Ron sputtered incoherently before saying, "Listen, Harry, I know you're trying to push me into asking Hermione, and I appreciate it, I really do... but if she finds out I only asked her because of a bet, she'll be furious."

Harry nodded slowly. "True... but listen, you love her, right?"

"Well, yeah."

"And even if you lose the bet, you'll still ask her, right?"

"Of course."

"So if it's going to happen anyways, I may as well push you to get it done sooner, right?"

When faced with that logic, Ron didn't really see any point in fighting it. He sighed. "What time are you asking Ginny?"

"Sometime around seven."

"Fine. If I ask her before seven on Saturday, you're wearing the dress."

"It's a bet." The two shook hands and took a few more drinks in contemplative silence before Ron broke it.

"Why are you so desperate for me and Hermione to get married anyways?"

Harry shifted. "Well, I've been talking to her a little about asking Ginny, and she always got… quiet and thoughtful, you know?"

Ron stiffened. "She did the same thing when Hannah and Neville were talking together in the pub," he said, looking horrified.

Harry nodded. "I think she's feeling kind of left out, Ron. Maybe she thinks you don't love her or whatever. I just know you need to get going and ask her."

Ron took a deep breath. "I know."

When Harry went to his room a few hours later, Ron also stumbled to his bedroom, taking off his clothes in a drunken haze. However, he was still very careful with his trousers, emptying his pockets and dumping the contents of the right one in his night stand before falling into bed.

It would be, he realized, a long week.

A/N: And there we have the first chapter! I hope eveyone liked it- please leave a review!

Note- the other bet Harry's referring to is covered in "Impossibly Insufferable".

))Riiko Shea((