Written for round 2 of Smeagolia's Battle Ships competition. I used the prompts 'kiss and miss' separately, batting for team RonHermion.
Written for HP Slash Luv's OT3 Boot Camp using the prompt 'home'
Gold Letters
"Oh, come on, Ron. Why not? That was years ago now."
"Yeah, easy for you to say. I suppose you're planning on inviting Krum and McLaggen as well?"
"Actually, I was planning on inviting Viktor. He's –"
"You don't invite exes to weddings!" Ron sat on the couch of their newly-bought home, and looked stubbornly up at Hermione. "She's not coming."
"But Seamus is your friend, and if we invite him, we have to invite Lavender as well," Hermione argued, resisting the desire to shake him. He'd been nothing but stubborn throughout the whole process of planning their wedding, and seemed to hate every idea she bothered to suggest. She was half-tempted to pass everything off to him and tell him to do it how he wanted it done, and get it over with. But then she thought that perhaps they'd never get married if she did that.
"Well, he's the one with the invitation, not her," Ron said. "She's not coming."
"Why not? For heaven's sake, Ron, she and Seamus are married."
"And it was the most uncomfortable thing attending their wedding," Ron answered.
"I actually thought it was quite beautiful… Ron, why do you care so much whether or not she comes? Do you still have feelings for her, or something?"
"What? No. No, of course I don't, Hermione. Is that what you think?" Ron was on his feet now, and Hermione bit back a laugh. He'd reacted just as she had hoped.
"Well… I see no other reason…."
"Fine, fine. Invite her." Ron waved a hand in the direction of the invitations sitting on the coffee table before slumping back onto the couch. "Include her in the invitation. I don't care. I don't still have feelings for her. Of course I don't."
"You told me a while back that you never did in the first place." Hermione folded her arms across her chest, feigning irritation. Sometimes he was just so easy to get worked up.
"I didn't! I swear, I never did. She was just there and…."
Hermione nodded, unable to keep herself from laughing any longer. Ron froze. "What?" he demanded.
"Ron, I know you don't still have feelings for her," she said. "And, I may be wrong, but I suspect she no longer is obsessing over you either. She seems to be quite happy with Seamus, and I think they'd be offended if we didn't invite them to our wedding. After all, they're our friends."
"Yeah, but isn't it weird?" Ron said, more calmly than before. "You know… we dated these people, and now they're coming to our wedding? Isn't it weird?"
"Not really," Hermione said. "It happened an awfully long time ago when we were young and hormonal and jealous. We've moved on, and so have they. No one's going to be there throwing things at us for getting married."
"You don't know that."
"I do, Ron. I do know that. And anyway, would it matter if someone was against us getting married?"
Ron frowned, obviously confused by her question. "You think someone might be?"
"No. But would it matter if… let's say your mother, didn't want us to get married? Would that make you not want to marry me? Or wouldn't it make a difference?"
Ron didn't answer her for a very long time. He just sat there and watched her as if trying to work out whether or not she was joking. When he seemed to realise it was a serious question, he shook his head. "No, I don't think so," he said solemnly. "I just want to be happy… and you make me happy."
Hermione smiled slightly. "See?"
He nodded. "Yeah, okay. I get it. I mean, Mum would never say that anyway – she loves you – but if she ever did disagree with us getting married, I don't think I'd care all that much. Because she's not the one marrying you."
Hermione's smile widened, and she joined him on the couch. "So, if you don't care what your mother says, why would you care what an ex-girlfriend you had when you were sixteen, who is now happily married, has to say or think?"
"I don't."
"Then why is it a big deal that we invite her to our wedding?"
"Because it feels weird… that's all. Just like it'll feel weird having Krum there. I dunno… maybe I'll feel bad, or something."
"Feel bad? About what?"
"Marrying you." Ron shook his head. "It doesn't make sense, I know, but I guess I'll feel bad about having them there, because I was once with Lavender, and you were once with Krum, and maybe they won't like it." He looked to Hermione who seemed about to burst out laughing. "What?" he wanted to know.
"You feel bad for them?" she said.
"It sounds stupid, I know. But it's how I feel," Ron defended. "But they can come… they should come. You're right – they're our friends."
"Don't feel bad for them, Ron. Do you think Lavender felt bad for you when she was marrying Seamus? You need to let go of what was many years ago now, because if I remember correctly, you asked me to marry you, and I'd like to think there was a reason for that."
Ron smiled slightly, and then nodded. "Yeah, there was a reason," he said. "A very good reason."
Hermione returned his smile and planted a kiss on his cheek. "And, if by some odd chance either of them does get upset, who cares? That's their problem, not ours. Whether you like it or not, we will be getting married in two months, and I'm not going to let anyone stop us." Sliding closer to him, she put her arm across his shoulders and picked up the blank invitation from the coffee table. "So, Lavender's name is going on the invitation?"
Ron nodded. "Put them both on it," he said. "Because, there's not a chance in hell that I'm going to let them miss this."
Hermione waved her wand and Seamus and Lavender's names appeared on the invitation in gold lettering. "Two more months," she said, and she kissed his temple with a smile.
I really just get a kick out of writing Romione like this. It makes me happy to write it.