Title: The Story of How Ron Got a New Television and Hermione Was Stressed.

Rating: G

Genre: Romance

Disclaimer: I do not own the characters in this story, they all belong to J.K. I'm only borrowing them.

Spoilers: Post DH, preEpilogue.

Summary: Does what it says on the tin … in which Ron has a new television and Hermione is stressed. Basically settled life after the war but before the epilogue. Hopefully just nice Ron-and-Hermione-in-a-relationship-ness.

Author's Note: This is by no means my first Harry Potter or R/Hr fic, but the first one I've posted. It's basically just a scenario that occurred to me late one night in which Ron has his own apartment and Hermione lives with Ginny. Please, please, please if you like it tell me so, or even if you have criticism ( constructive is preferable ) or observations to make. And if anyone does like it and would like to read some more R/Hr stuff from me; let me know. I have some in the works. But I'm getting ahead of myself …

Enjoy!

It was Sunday evening.

Ron was flicking through the channels. Not to find anything to watch but for the sheer exhilaration of being able to do it with the remote, the way Hermione showed him. It hadn't been his idea to get the television, why have something so muggle? But Hermione had insisted and Ron had to admit that he liked it. He wasn't very good with "eleckticity" but the moving pictures fascinated him. They didn't talk back of course but most of the "television programmes" were a lot more exciting than the inhabitants of painting that lined the corridors of Hogwarts. During one evening on the couch, as Ron was marvelling at the VCR Hermione had coyly commented that Ron was becoming his father more and more every day. Ron scowled at the time but she did have a point, Mr Weasley's visits to the apartment had increased quite suspiciously over the past few weeks.

Hermione couldn't be there that night though. She was studying for her exam and Harry was at her across-London apartment, the main appeal being that she shared it with Ginny.

So Ron found himself switching from DIY to makeover to reality to chat show, without really registering what any of them were. Hermione's usual programmes of choice were documentaries or the "news" , which Ron would never watch if it were not the entertainment value of peppering Hermione with questions while she was trying to concentrate on something. And since she was not here Ron felt quite bored after 5 minutes of channel flicking, and sighing despondently he pressed the off button on the remote ( Hermione had shown him how to do that too ) and a snatch of noise and flash of Terry Wogan's face switched to black.

With the television off the living room seemed emptier in it's quietness. There was a dull roar of traffic from outside and Ron considered where people would be going this late on a Sunday evening. Out on the town? To friend's houses? But Ron had work tomorrow morning and since there was no-one to go out with or to there was no point. Besides, Hermione was a fixed point in almost everything Ron did and without her to nag or tease or enjoy himself with Ron didn't really know what to do with himself. This realization of this fact irritated him and he felt an urge to apparate into Hermione's apartment and irritate her too, for not being there. But she's studying. Ron sighed audibly into the quiet room.

He looked around. There was so much stuff in here, books, games, photos, a wireless, surely there was something to do. Yet tired as he wasn't all Ron really felt like doing was going to bed; these inconsequential evenings seemed to slip past without him even realising -

Knock! Knock! knock!

Right on cue the door banged from the other side and Ron turned to look at it, and got up to go draw back the latch, instantly forgetting his irritated ponderings.

Ron swung the door open and was pleasantly surprised to see Hermione there; ponytail coming to pieces and carrying several heavy volumes in her arms and a desperately tired expression on her face.

" Hermione! What are you doing here - I thought you were getting ready for your exam?" burst out Ron.

Hermione looked asleep on her feet.

" I was," she said, shaking her head and blinking, " I am. I just - can I study here for a bit?" she asked, looking into Ron's eyes beseechingly.

" Yeah o'course." Ron swung the door backwards to allow Hermione to trudge inwards and watched her head towards the couch bemusedly. " Why?"

Hermione set her books on the table with a loud thunk, and hands free she dropped heavily onto the couch. Leaning her head all the way back she closed her eyes and managed;

" Harry. Ginny. Too much noise to - study. " Hermione murmured faintly.

" Whoa I don't want to hear any more thanks."

Hermione groaned, but instead of staying where she was she reluctantly lifted herself up and grabbed the book off the top of the pile. It fell open to the correct page automatically, seeing as how Hermione had wedged a sheaf of semi-highlighted notes in between pages.

Ron, joining her on the couch, looked at Hermione in amazement.

" Bloody hell Hermione! What's the point of writing notes if you're going to write an essay?!" cried Ron at the sight of her work.

" Oh god.. " Hermione moaned. " It's too long isn't it? I knew it was too long, I knew it! I need to be more concise I know but I keep worrying that I'll have left something out and now I'm never going to be able to remember it all for the exam and I'll fail - " she cried out and sunk her head in hands dramatically.

" Whoa, hold on - where did this come from? I thought you were feeling good about this exam." Ron asked with alarm.

" I was!" Hermione shrilled, shooting up, eyes already red and beginning to pool again. " But now I'm so just stressed all the time! And I keep worrying so much about failing I can't work, which means I won't be ready … I just spent so much time choosing what I wanted to do and then I did and now it feels like I've spent hardly any time preparing at all, I was just wasting time "weighing my options". And now it's all horrible, I'm going to fail I know it."

Hermione sunk forward and Ron watched, astounded. Sure he had seen Hermione stressed before, no more so than during their third year when Hermione was yoked to her time turner, but this was more worrying on several levels. Hermione never completely lost it; she was always too organised, too well prepared. Seeing her this broken down and panicky was strange and new to Ron and in turn made him panicky too. What was he supposed to do with this different Hermione? However these feelings that recalled back to his nervous, unsure school boy days were nothing compared to the concern that was coursing through him. Hermione was slumped forward with her head in her hands making helpless gulping and sniffling noises, her brown head quivering every time she did so.

There was no need to formulate a protocol for such a situation. Ron knew what to do and instinctively he shifted across and pulled Hermione to him; and so not awkwardly but with some difficulty he had her leaning against his chest with her head in the crook of his neck, his arm, a comforting blanket around her shoulders.

Instead of soothing her this gesture seemed to worsen Hermione's condition, her sniffles broke out into fully fledged sobs and Ron felt the first wet traces of tears soak through his cotton t-shirt. But he knew this was just Hermione. When she needed to cry it would take a small offering of comfort to break the dam, but once she had run dry she would be grateful to have him there to help her.

Pushing his own worries about her to the back of his mind Ron brought his other hand up to stroke Hermione's hair, and bracing her against him he made sshh-ing noises; the kind his Mum used to make when he was ill or upset. It seemed to work for after a minute or so Hermione stopped shaking and sobbing, but remained where she was; sniffing and pressing her face into Ron's clean t-shirt. It smelled like lemon detergent. It was the kind he always used. Or the kind that she always bought for him; he wasn't very good at household charms and neither was he very good at shopping for muggle items.

Following this train of thought distracted and calmed Hermione, and she spoke, though still quietly and without much inflection;

" Sorry. I didn't mean to do that. "

" No problem. You're allowed to do that. Harry mind you - " Ron said.

A small un-anticipated hiccup of laughter escaped Hermione. Ron smiled at the thought that he caused it. Hermione spoke again, still facing Ron's chest, but with more placement.

" I'm just worried about the exam. It's not as bad as I made it sound, I was over-reacting, but I am worried. " Hermione said gravely.

"Hermione," Ron's voice was soothing and sincere. " You're going to pass this exam. "

Hermione looked up and faced Ron. Her slight indignation bringing colour to her cheeks.

"You say that like it's easy!" she exclaimed.

"No I say it like it's you and it's what you're going to do. " he stressed calmly.

"But I haven't been acting like me! I've changed! Got sloppy and - " she cried before breaking off.

Hermione had pushed herself up with her hands on Ron's chest, but as she stopped talking she bit her lip then cast her head down un-certainly. Ron wanted her to keep looking at him so she would believe what he was saying, but bending down would cause her to flinch or move away; so his head remained where it was and he spoke reasonably, hoping that if he sounded reasonable that his words would penetrate underneath the bushy head he was faced with.

"And that's just the stress speaking. So what you're going to do now is do another half hour of revision the go to bed and get a well rounded night's sleep. That way you can get up in the morning, and do all your revision before 5. You can even stay here, if Harry and Ginny are still making too much noise through, in my mind, playing a particularly competitive game of Scrabble. "

Hermione didn't look up but Ron could have sworn she smiled. Encouraged he carried on, not really knowing what he was saying till he said it. He was surprised to hear how good and calming his voice sounded;

"And then afterwards when I get back from work we don't even have to go out, you can stay in and teach me how to do the VD or something. " he

This time Hermione laughed properly, a real snort and she looked up at Ron with amusement creased over her face. He stared at her in bemusement;

"What?" Ron asked.

Her eyebrows raised, and she stared him, trying to convey some meaning across. Ron get the feeling she was waiting for him to realise his mistake. He tried to think back; he hadn't said anything wrong had he? Hermione eventually rolled her eyes at Ron being so nonplussed.

"DVD Ron. "

"Oh. What'd I say?" said Ron, a little perplexed.

Hermione took a look at Ron's confused expression and couldn't help the smile that broke over her face. Damn him for being so adorable. And then a instant later Hermione internally reprimanded herself for swearing.

"What?"

Hermione leant up and pecked Ron on the lips. Drawing back she smiled into his eyes.

"Never mind. " she said.

"Ok, well, I'm gonna go make you a cup of tea. Be back in a bit. "

Ron stood up and left Hermione with a touch to her shoulder.

She heard him walk away but didn't move, she just sat for a minute, having no real momentum to do anything but sit, and listen to the sounds of Ron in the kitchen. The gasp of running water and the steady boil of the kettle, whilst Ron clanked and banged cupboards and mugs in the background. Her mind eventually turned to what she should be doing, and she glanced down to the open book she had thrown to her side. It was still there, and so was the revision that had to be done. Sighing heavily and grabbing a pen she lifted the notes and book into her lap and began underlining, to start with, all the points she would need for the exam. Not ones she might need.

Being Hermione by the time Ron returned with tea she was engrossed with this task and didn't notice him sitting next to her, or placing her mug on the table. Naturally this didn't particularly bother Ron, he sat and watched her working happily; glad to see that his Hermione had returned. Of course after Ron by the time Ron had finished his tea he had been sitting for quite some time, and glancing at Hermione's un-touched mug he started to worry that her tea ( that he had so graciously made) would be cold. So he gave a small cough and nudged the mug across the surface of the glass coffee table towards Hermione.

" What?" asked Hermione distractedly.

Hermione looked up to see what caused the disturbance. Frowning she turned to stare at Ron questioningly and he flashed her his best Aren't-I-Cute smile.

He was very pleased to see it worked; Hermione's face melted from a tense frown into a knowing grin and she let Ron lean forward and hand her, her tea. All the while her eyes didn't leave Ron's face, she was transfixed by a small feeling of wonder and a larger one of gratitude.

Ron however was slightly un-nerved.

" What? Have I got dirt on my nose or something?"

Hermione laughed at this inadvertent reference to their first meeting.

" No, but that was quite a way to make an impression Ronald. "

Ron's memory clicked too and he smiled sheepishly.

" No, it's just, " Hermione shifted round to face Ron, propping herself up on the side of the couch with her elbow so she was facing him fully, " I like this side of you. "

Instead of taking this as a compliment, Ron leant back with an offended expression.

"Oi! What's wrong with my other sides?"

"Nothing. I like them too." said Hermione, laughing at him.

Appeased Ron leant back into her, but with a dubious expression.

"Even when I'm being pigheaded? " he questioned.

Hermione pulled a face and put her head to the side, pretending to consider the question.

"Mmm, well that balances out times like these." She said, then leant in with a more serious expression. " Though it is ok to tip the scales more strongly in this direction. "

And to punctuate the sentence, at that exact moment Hermione stretched upwards and closed the distance between them in another kiss.

Breaking apart Ron grinned down at her, and Hermione, anticipating something cheeky, rolled her eyes and turned away. Ron's smile fell.

"What's that look for? "

Hermione turned to glance at Ron in such a way that said she couldn't decide whether to be amused or irritated at him. Instead she pointed out the obvious.

"You're such a guy. " Hermione said, as if it was a bad thing. Ron didn't interpret it as such but chuckled and replied;

"Good. I'd be a bit worried if I wasn't. For you too. "

Hermione laughed, shaking her head. Ron however, now with serious intention, brought his hand up to her cheek and turned her head to look at him.

"Hey, I wasn't going to be sleazy. I was just going to say that I'm glad you came here. " Ron said quite seriously.

"What?" Hermione said.

"I'm not the last resort Hermione. I'm the first and I'm always here. Except when I'm at work. But even then you can come over if you want to. "

Ron was now holding onto Hermione's hand and staring intently at her. Hermione found it quite hard to break away from his gaze, and didn't, shaking her head without looking away.

"But, I can't apparate here. Not with the security measures Harry and you put up. " said Hermione, trying to apprehend Ron's point.

And Ron considered this, he hadn't really realised till now that he wanted Hermione to be able to come round whenever she wanted, and now that he had the perfect solution came to him.

"Well then you should have a key or something. "

"What? " Hermione's eyebrows shot up and she even pulled back a little bit. Ron on the other hand was treating the matter decidedly casually, as if discussing the weather for a picnic.

"Yeah, I've got a spare one in the kitchen. " Ron continued enthusiastically, pointing behind to the kitchen. "I'm not using it."

Hermione looked like she was suspicious of Ron playing a trick, so pushed harder with her words, staring Ron in the eye, really trying to find out if he was being serious or not.

"You really want me to be able to come into your apartment at any time I want? Day or night? "

"You spend enough time here already Hermione. " Ron pointed out reasonably.

Hermione was still dubious. And still leaning away from Ron slightly.

"And you're sure you're ok with that? "

Ron looked searchingly around the room.

"Why wouldn't I be? " he asked of Hermione.

Hermione, shy in the face of this new committed Ron, pressed her lips together and met Ron's eyes. She really did want to believe him.

" Well, if you say so." she submitted.

"Well, ok then. "

Ron smiled, amused at her, and pulled her in closer to him.

Hermione grinned back, suddenly he was in one of those moments where you couldn't stop even if someone was threatening to perform a Body Binding Curse on you, and it was without surprise and quite willingly she found herself being pulled towards Ron's lips. Slowly and sensuously they met, and sticking together for longer than last time Hermione brought a hand up to rest around Ron's neck. They stayed entwined like that for several minutes, and all that happened was that Ron brought his arms tighter around Hermione, happy thoughts coursing through his head. But a problem was forming in Hermione's.

She pulled back first, their lips smacking apart, though she didn't remove her arms from around Ron. She looked up, already forming her words, but was momentarily distracted by the way the tops of Ron's ears had gone bright pink She couldn't help but smile. After all this time.

" What?" Ron asked. Hermione looked away but Ron had noticed. " Oh the ears again?" Self-consciously he rubbed them.

Hermione reached up and brought Ron's hands down, resting hers on top of his, both upon his chest. She looked him in the eye.

" No that wasn't it. Ron, look, I know you probably want to - "

Ron however was one step ahead of her. He shook his head and smiled at her consolingly. He understood and was keen to make her realise he didn't want to pressure her.

"Hermione it's ok. You need to sleep, we don't have to if you don't want to. "

"No I do want to - " said Hermione glancing down.

" - but - " She looked back up at Ron again. "- you are right. I really need to sleep. I feel like an insomniac. "

Ron pulled her closer so her head was rested in his neck.

" Cool. You can sleep in my bed."

There was a moment's comfortable silence then -

" What's an insomniac?"

Hermione grinned.

It was monday morning.

Hermione was lain in Ron's bed, her hair just as mussed up as the sheets.

In the apartment somewhere a thoroughly non-magical beeping started up. Slowly, Hermione blinked, once, twice, and on the third recognising both her surroundings and the noise. It was her digital watch she had left on the kitchen counter last night.

Groaning she stretched out all 4 limbs, luxuriating in the feel of the soft sheets, and was surprised to find her left arm and leg didn't come in contact with something warm and fleshy. She rolled her head over to see Ron was gone.

She was about to get up and investigate when something else to her left drew her attention. It was a note tacked to Ron's bedside lamp. Shifting herself up Hermione leant to across to read Ron's scrawling handwriting, so different from her neat joined-up.

Hermione -

I've already left - but that's probably pretty obvious.

Here's the key. Congratulations. Now can you earn it and pick up a pint of milk today? Semi skinned. Pretty please?

Cheers, Ron.

P.s. Get revising. It's not often I get to nag you for something is it?

Hermione grinned.

I apologise if there are any typos. Let me know.

And please review!