Hey another one shot from me. Once again the setting is the Burrow. Don't know why but I tend to love settings either at the Burrow or Grimmauld Place. Hope you like!
The Basement
"Ronald!"
Pig flew around Ron's room as Mrs. Weasley's voice bellowed up the flights of stairs. He threw his magazine down and huffed as he swung open his bedroom door.
"What?"
"Can you come down here and help with the preparations we need a few chairs taking outside for the wedding?"
"Yeah, I'll be right there".
As Ron emerged into the living room the whole house seemed to be chaotic. Fred and George were making Mrs. Delacours wig hover above her, and then when she felt a slight breeze, plopped it back down on her head. When she looked around to see the culprit, they were busy tidying up. She scowled and continued to sip her tea.
"Ah, Ron, right, there's 50 chairs so far outside, were going to need a lot more than that. Harry and Bill are outside lining them up, so if you and Hermione could go down to the basement and fetch a few more that would be so helpful, make sure you get the white one's mind, we don't want one green chair in the middle of the service- Fred Weasley what in the name of Merlin's beard do you think you are doing!"
Ron turned to see Fred's hand raised in the air as Mrs. Delacours wig hovered above her once more. He lowered his arm quickly and joined his twin in escaping from the room briskly. Ron could have sworn he saw a hint of a smile etched upon her features, but it must have been a trick of the light.
"Well, what are you waiting for- go, the wedding is in under 24 hours, hop to it!"
Ron didn't need telling twice. He found Hermione leaning on the door frame leading to the garden, not surprisingly, with her head in a book. He took a moment to observe her unnoticed. Her curly hair was up in a bun, wispy bits falling out here and there. She was tapping her fingers on the edge of the books as she concentrated. Something about her had always fascinated Ron. He smiled in awe as he surveyed her He could never quite put his finger on it, until one day he hit the answer head on. He heard a small noise coming from the living room to see him Mum with her feather duster dusting over a few vases and flower pots. She smiled knowingly at him, and Ron had the sudden urge to run from the building from embarrassment. Oh well, if she didn't know she does now.
"Hey"
Hermione jumped and her heart skipped a beat and she turned and faced him.
"Ron, you gave me a fright"
Ron blushed and grinned. "Sorry, Mum asked is it okay if you help me take more chairs out to the garden, hope you don't mind". He looked at her hopefully. His mother, of course didn't, as he politely put it, ask for help, she demanded it, but she didn't need to know that.
"Of course not, where are they kept?"
"In the basement, we'll have to go round back to get in there's no way to get in through the house."
"Sure, lead the way" she smiled. Ron's heart skipped a beat as he looked at that familiar smile. The same smile she always wears when she's looking at me...No, don't be daft. He chuckled to himself at the absurdity of his thoughts, and Hermione looked over at him in question. He mumbled something about how worried everyone was getting over a wedding. They jumped over the fence that held the chickens in in order to get to the back of the house, Ron going first and holding out a hand to help Hermione over. Hermione blushed at the contact, but relished in the thought of his hand on hers. Her feet met the ground and their hands were touching for a second too long. A second was all it took to notice, and he smiled as she released his grasp. They continued to walk in a comfortable silence and they soon found themselves facing a trap door attached to the back of the house. Ron reached forward and pulled open the doors which fell back with an almighty bang. Hermione then noticed steps going down underneath the house, and followed Ron as he proceeded forwards. It was not as deep as she expected it to be. In fact, murmuring of conversation could be heard above them.. Hermione followed Ron to the back of the basement, where there were stacks of garden chairs. Ron leant over and switched on the light on a nearby wall.
"How many are we going to have to take up?"
"Well, Mum said there is 50 out at the moment, so were going to need a whole lot more than that"
"Well, there are going to be around 200 guests, so I would think so, yes" she chuckled. Ron grinned and his neck flushed red as he reflected on his own foolish statement. However, it seemed to make her laugh, so maybe it wasn't that bad.
"Right" Ron coughed and raised his wand. "Wingardium Leviosa"
A whole stack of chairs rose in unison and Ron directed them towards the door. Hermione raised her wand and copied, and soon enough, a lot more chairs were outside of the trap door waiting to be taken to be aligned.
"I think there's a few more, then that should be it"
"Okay" replied Hermione nodding. Ron thought how bad she must be feeling at the moment, having only just gotten rid of her parent's memories and left them for God knows how long. However, she didn't seem to show it, getting on with planning and acting as though life was just normal. And that was what scared Ron the most. She didn't seem to grieve or show any emotion on the topic at all, as though it were as normal as any other day.
Hermione followed Ron back in and was about to raise her wand, when a huge bang made them both jump a foot in the air. Instantly Ron stood in front of Hermione and raised his wand threateningly.
"Who's there?"
Silence.
"Show yourself!"
He could feel Hermione trembling beside him, and he reassured her. He walked forwards, against Hermione's protests. His heart beat increased dramatically, but when he reached the bottom of the steps, found nothing.
Apart from the trap doors closed tight.
"There's no one here Hermione, it was just the doors."
He heard Hermione sigh in relief and they continued to levitate the chairs forwards, chuckling at how scared they had been. Well, they had a reason to, Ron thought. It could easily have been a death eater. He shuddered at the thought.
They placed the chairs down at the bottom of the stairs, and Ron walked forward to push the doors open. But they wouldn't budge. He took a step back and pressed as hard as he could against it, even trying Alohamora, but there was no denying it. They were trapped.
"What do you mean were stuck?"
"Calm down, it's not my fault the door won't open!"
"Have you even tried Aloh-"
"Yes I've tried it, I'm not that thick." Ron snapped
"I never said you were..."
"I know you didn't, sorry"
The sat in silence on the steps, as the light flickered momentarily.
"I'm sure they will come looking for us soon, I mean, your Mum was pretty stressed about the wedding, as soon as she notices the chairs gone, she'll come looking" Hermione reassured him. "In the meantime, we might as well start planning about finding these dreadful Horcruxes whilst we've got a minute of peace".
Ron grinned at her. "Sorry about that. I think if she thinks she can keep us apart, it will stop us from doing whatever we're going off to do".
"Yes, well, she means well, but in the time we've been spending re- making beds and feeding chickens we could have been preparing and doing a plan of where were going to go first". Hermione reached forwards and pulled off two chairs from the nearest stack at the bottom of the stairs. She sat on one and stretched out her legs onto the other. Ron stayed on the steps and tried not to stare at the bare legs that were before him. His eyes scanned her, past her summer dress, and up to her face, which thankfully was not looking back. Ron didn't think he could deal with the humiliation of being caught.
"So" began Hermione "what's in all these boxes, I thought your dad kept all his muggle artifacts in the shed?"
"Yeah, he does, but down here is the stuff no one wants Mum to see. It's either illegal, been tampered with, old and scruffy but they refuse to throw it away, and then other stuff is just things from when we were younger I suppose, collected up over the years."
"Oh".
Hermione heard footsteps clearly above her as two sets of feet sat directly above them.
"So" began what was clearly Mrs. Delacour in a strong French accent. "All of your children are growing up, scary isn't it? A tear comes to my eye every time i think this time tomorrow Fleur and Bill will be starting their lives together.
"Mum" Ron yelled. "Mum, were stuck down here!"
"Mrs. Weasley" Hermione shouted.
Silence.
"Yes", said Mrs. Weasley. "Fleur is an. interesting girl, very beautiful, I'm sure they will have a long and happy marriage".
"Oh bloody hell, we can hear then, why can't they hear us?" Ron barked in frustration.
"Magic on the house, probably".
Ron huffed and leant against the steps behind him.
"And, are any of you other children involved at the moment?"
"Well, Charlie goes through girls like wildfire, which , funnily enough, is what he's dealing with most of the time, he's works with dragons in Romania," she explained proudly "Fred and George, well I don't think there both seeing anyone at the moment, though I do remember seeing a photograph of a pretty girl playing Quidditch on Georges bedside table, maybe, who knows? Though there both ambitious boys and spend a lot of time working at their business enterprise, it would be a surprise to me to know they have any free time at all. Perc- Ginny is seeing Harry at the moment, as far as I know. They make a wonderful couple and Ginny has been besoted with him for years. A mother knows these things" she chuckled "plus the fact she would put her elbow in butter and turn the color of maroon every time he walked in the room". Mrs. Delacour and Molly laughed lightly.
"And then there's Ron..."
"Oh yes?" Mrs. Delacour said eagerly.
"Oh bloody hell" Ron mumbled. Hermione and Ron had, of course sat up a bit straighter as Mrs. Weasley had begun to gossip, but now he regretted even coming down to the basement. He looked over at Hermione who had frozen in her place. They both waited for Mrs. Weasley to continue.
"Sometimes, I don't even know where my Ronnie's head is. I had high hopes for him and his date, one of the Patil sisters, a few years ago during the Yule Ball, but Ginny reported- I mean, told me that he didn't even ask her to dance, I mean can you believe it ! I felt so annoyed at him, a beautiful girl accompanying him to a formal dance and he can't even have one Waltz across the dance floor. Madness I tell you." He heard Mrs. Delacour tut sympathetically. He glanced at Hermione who was grinning like a Cheshire cat, struggling not to laugh. "Though I never brought it up with him, it would knock his confidence to bits; he gets really down on these sorts of things. I don't even have to ask him. I can just tell. A mother's instinct tells all..."
"I completely agree. When Fleur came home in the summer after the Triwizard Tournament you could tell something was different, something had changed in her, and after seeing her writing regular letters, to who I now know was your son, I knew straight away that this person was important to her."
"I see that in Ron all the time. He pretends its nothing, but in fact it's everything to him. He did have a girlfriend last year, I recall the twins giving me a vivid description of what it was Ron and Lavender were up to all year" she tutted and Ron looked at Hermione who has sunk back in her chair and her expression blank. "But that didn't last long. I could always tell, as nice as this young girl may have been, she just wasn't right for my Ronnie. Last Christmas she sent him this foolish necklace that he destroyed the first chance he got. And yet, his homework planner sits right on his bedside table, something that he too, wouldn't use. You'd think it was his Holy Bible the way he looks after it"
Ron groaned. He looked at Hermione whose expression was now curious. "For God's sake … MUM!" he yelled. Surely they weren't going to have to sit through their entire conversation. His stomach lurched in fear as he realized what road this topic could take. He stood up and held his wand out at the door.
"Bombarda!" The doors shook but nothing happened. Silence was all they could hear for a few seconds.
"What was that Molly?"
"I wouldn't worry I'll be its Fred and George's doing, Arthurs out there, he'll sort them out".
"Oh… okay, what were you saying?"
"Ah yes, well, Ron hasn't always been the one to share feelings and such. The only time I've heard him say the L word is when he's referring to me and the Chudley Cannons. I have no doubt that love wasn't on the agenda between him and Miss Brown. However sometimes, I'll catch him doing something that surprises me right down to the core".
"Whatever do you mean?"
"Hermione".
"Herm- oh the pretty brunette?" Mrs. Delacour chuckled.
"Indeed, I often wandered what sort of relationship occurred between those two. Ron has always mostly had male friends, only hanging with Ginny when he had no choice. A proper boy's boy Ronald is, tree houses, climbing, riding bikes, and distancing himself from anything girly of the sort. So, you can see how surprised how I would be when he invites a girl to stay over the summer. It was quite out of the ordinary, especially when I catch him giving her one of those looks, this morning for example the way he looked at her reminded me of myself 30 years ago when I was smitten with Arthur. However surrounded by so many people, Hermione may not have noticed, or chose to ignore it"
"Yes" Mrs. Delacour agreed. "She must feel the odd one out amongst all those big strong boys".
"Well, she has Ginny, and they've grown quite a friendship in the last couple of years. Ginny told me not to say anything, but I'm sure I have your confidence?"
"Yes, of course, my utmost!" Said Mrs. Delacour eagerly.
"Well, Hermione hasn't directly said this, but she did seem a little off when my Ron started to date Lavender. One couldn't help but wonder if….?"
'If what'! Thought Ron. What the bloody hell did you wander? He glanced back at Hermione once more and noticed that her legs were no longer perched upon the chair next to her, bit were placed down on the floor, as if frozen in place, her expression slightly fearful and panicked, all the blood drained from it. However, Ron's face was the complete opposite. He was sure if they turned the dim light off that his face would easily be able to light up the room.
"Yes?" Mrs. Delacour.
"Well, the way Hermione acts around Ron is definitely not the way she is around Harry, and I'm sure she considers them both her best friends to the same right" she said.
Bugger. Hermione thought. Mrs. Weasley sure did hit the nail head on.
"I'm sure they will work it out" said Mrs. Delacour "if they are meant to be together like Bill and Fleur, then the fates will make sure of it. We're holding a wedding during an intense war, people are starting families and carrying on with their lives as best as they can. I'm sure Ron and Hermione are no different".
"Yes, I hope so. I don't want to see my Ron married to some floozy, when he can do as well as Hermione. I mean look at the girl. She stunning to the eye, three times as clever as I was at her age, and definitely got a good future ahead of her. If this war doesn't scupper those chances-"
"No, you mustn't think like that Molly, were all going to be fine, you'll see. These are dark times, but doesn't the sun always come out at the end of a storm? I, personally cannot wait to be a grandmother, imagine, us too grandmothers to a little child. It will be amazing, and over my dead body will I see my children's lives torn apart by this. I shall not allow it. Now, let's stop with this nonsense and go and see how the tent is coming along- yes?"
"Yes, your right, this wedding is going to be the talk of the town!"
"That's the spirit, now I was wandering where I and my husband are going to be seated during the reception…."
The ladies got up and the footsteps faded as they made their way out of the room above Ron and Hermione.
Ron grimaced and chanced a glance at Hermione. She was looking back at him still frozen to her chair.
"Well…. that was…"
"Interesting" Hermione finished.
Ron gulped and stood up and stretched. He tried again to push the door, slamming it with his fists but still it wouldn't budge. He huffed and took the empty chair that has previously seated Hermione's feet. The tension was almost unbearable until-
"Do you really keep that homework planner by you bed?"
"Well, I mean, in case I need to, you know, see what homework I've got. Quite useful really" he mumbled feeling this situation couldn't get any worse.
"Ron. You don't do homework. That's what I'm here for"
"I do, most of the time! And you're not here just for homework and planning, your part of our team Hermione wouldn't have got this far without you. We'd be in a grave six foot under with a tomb stone saying the words "Killed by an ugly mountain troll"
She grinned, and looked at Ron. They knew what needed to be said. They were just terrified of saying it. "I suppose your Mom's right in a way"
"Huh?"
"Well, Lavender never really was good for you, and what necklace is she talking about, I've never seen a necklace fitting that description". She looked at his neck, as though expecting it to be placed there this current moment.
"Oh, just a stupid present, never liked it, daft really"
"Oh"
…
"You seemed off when I was going out with Lavender?" Ron mumbled looking at the floor. Hermione turned sideways and swung her legs over the arm of the chair.
"Well of course I did. She was taking you away from us, me and Harry. We never got to spend any time with you now you were playing tonsil tennis with the big breasted bimbo-"
"I never really liked her you know"
"Oh?"
"She was just sort of there, you know?"
"No, I don't know Ronald"
"I mean I know we'd said about Slughorns party, but, I was just caught up in the moment. I'm a teenage boy for Christ's sake-
"Ronald!"
"Sorry, for Merlin's sake. What was I supposed to do, push her away in front of 50 people? Even you're not that cruel Hermione. I mean, she liked me, she actually liked me!" He sounded shocked by his own words even now, even after months of being apart; it still seemed to stun him that someone had took an interest. "My Mum doesn't know what she's on about, thinking she knows everything…"
"Most of the time she does" Hermione remarked.
"Don't tell her that, it'll go to her head".
"Does she know this time?"
"Well you are clever, probably three times as my Mum when she was our age".
"Right…"
"And I suppose you and Ginny have become good friends…"
"Mmm"
"And I suppose 'pretty brunette is an accurate description" Ron mumbled and turned away, facing the trap doors that were there separation between freedom and doom. He heard Hermione sniffle and he turned to face her. She was sitting with a small smile on her face, looking at him somewhat proudly.
"Mrs. Delacour said that"
"Still…"
"Ron…you and Harry are my best friends . My best friends. Before I'd met you two I'd never said those two words in my life".
Ron's heart sank for two reasons. The remorse and guilt over Hermione's obvious turmoil before she came to meet them both, but now, it seemed 'best friend' was going to be his label indefinitely. He tried to hold it together, and cursed his mother, Mrs. Delacour and this blasted wedding for putting them in this position. If only he could have put something against the trap doors, they would be out placing them on the lawn by now, talking about Fred and George's prank on Fleur's mother, about what cake there would be at the wedding, and forgetting their troubles if only for a few short hours. But instead, they were in this musty cobweb covered room, his heart being crushed into more than a million pieces, and facing the harsh reality that she has never, and will never want to call him her own.
"But…I suppose, yet again, your mother is…..correct" she whispered the last word and placed her hands over her face and turned away.
"What?" Ron said bemused.
Hermione put on an almost spot on imitation of Mrs. Weasley's voice and began. "Well, the way Hermione acts around Ron is definitely not the way she is around Harry, and I'm sure she considers them both her best friends to the same right. When I'm with Harry, I'm just Hermione. I'm relaxed, satisfied, contented. But when I'm with you, well what can I say, I'm the complete opposite."
"Oh, well I'm sorry I make you feel that way" Ron said.
"No Ron you don't understand".
"I understand perfectly Hermione, what's the opposite of all those words? Uncomfortable, disappointed and unhappy?" he snapped.
"Ron, for just once in your life, use your head and shut up, okay? I'm not relaxed because you're in the room. Whenever you're there I have to be watching every single thing I do, to make sure I don't mess it up, or make myself look stupid in front of you. I'm always on my guard, ready for anything to happen, to lose you, or to watch you walk away. I'm not satisfied because-"her cheeks turned red "well, I can never get enough of you. I need you near me all the time. When I'm with Harry, I'm not content, because he's not you". Her face was still in her hands.
Ron leant over from his place in the chair next to her and took her hands in his. He saw a tear threatening to escape the corner of her eye. He reached up and brushed it away as it slid down her cheek, and whispered to her.
"It seems my Mum's right about a lot of things today"
She chuckled and grasped his hands back. They shared a smile and the light flickered in the corner of the room once more, before finally giving out.
"And for the record, I'd never walk away"
They sat in complete darkness, still holding hands, taking in Ron's words. Before Hermione knew what was happening, she felt warm breath on her cheek, and then a pair of lips delicately touching the tip of her nose
"Ron?"
"Yes?"
"You missed"
He chuckled and she felt a hand slide up her cheek, twirling a strand of hair around his finger.
"No, actually, I didn't. I just think whatever happens between us shouldn't happen in a damp cobweb covered room whilst were sitting on plastic wedding chairs"
Hermione's heart nearly burst, but savored the promise in his words. She tightened his grasp on the hands that wasn't playing with her hair, enjoying every second, and then they heard a sudden click of chains and nails as sunlight broke through the basement. Ron smiled at her once more before standing back up and greeting his father and Harry as Arthur apologized for the charm placed on the trap doors preventing 'burgliars' as he called them from snatching any of their possessions. Hermione refrained herself from pointing out that muggles wouldn't see The Burrow anyway, so there really was no need. However, as Ron and Hermione walked raising their wands and bringing the remaining chairs with them, Ron bravely made his second promise of the day.
"Hey, we'll have to convince my Mum I'm not off to marry a floozy tonight?"
"Oh and how do you plan on doing that?"
"Well you've never seen me dance have you? I'm quite the Fred Astaire. Willing to be my dance partner?" he asked cheekily as the sun shone down on them.
"Are you more a Ginger Rodgers" Hermione laughed
"Oi" Ron said earning Hermione a light shove. "You will see, tonight. Me. You. One dance, It's a promise"
"I don't forget promises Ronald Weasley" bumping him back with her hip.
"Good, I don't expect you to Hermione Granger" he grinned.
Xoxoxoxoxooxoxox
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