Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter!
AN: Many thanks to my beta Vinyaya for making the story better and coming up with the title!
Hermione had always said that there was too much orange in their home. Ron's office was filled with it, his closet was filed with it, and his shed was filled with it. They had orange curtains in the guest room (Ron's choice), orange dishes that clashed horribly with her beautiful blue kitchen (Ron's choice), and worst of all an orange Muggle gnome sitting on their front step (a wedding gag gift from George, but Ron had chosen its location). Yes Hermione was not adding one more blasted orange thing to the Weasley-Granger household!
And yet that glorious spring day on her way home from the Ministry, on a high she had never experienced before, Hermione found herself standing before Quality Quidditch Supplies, peering through the glass at the team clothing in the windows. The Cannons display was much smaller than the other teams (it was no surprise seeing as the Cannons were once again dead last in the league), but Hermione was drawn only to it. She entered the shop, grabbed the bright orange shirt with Cannons written on it in black script off the shelf, paid, and quickly exited the shop. After all it was quite a rarity to find Hermione Granger-Weasley in a Quidditch shop, and she didn't want to raise suspicions. But as she made her way home she couldn't stop fingering the orange cloth in her purse.
Once home, she wrapped up the shirt, placed it on the kitchen table, and got to work on dinner.
Half an hour later, she heard the familiar Pop and quickly turned towards the stove.
"Hello Gorgeous." Ron said, planting a kiss on the messy hair that he loved. He turned towards the table, intent on taking off his boots, when he saw the box sitting at his place.
"What's this?" he asked, picking up the parcel.
"Just a present for my favorite husband." Hermione smiled to herself and turned towards him.
"Really?" Ron looked surprised.
"Yes prat! Now open it!" Hermione rolled her eyes at him.
She watched as he ripped off the wrapping (Ron had never been one to save the paper) and threw the top onto the table.
There was a moment of dead silence as he lifted out the newborn-sized shirt.
"Hermione….." Ron's voice cracked on the last syllable.
Hermione came towards him then, her smile the brightest it had ever been.
"I went to the Healer this morning…it appears the newest Weasley will be here sometime in early December. I figured if he or she was going to live in this house, they need some Cannons gear. I know the little one's father is intending to pass on his love of Quidditch and the Cannons after all. Seemed only right. And the two of you can be matching now when you go to…ummmmmm."
For Ron had decided he needed to show his appreciation to the mother of his future child.
And as they stood there in the kitchen, Hermione realized she was now destined to a permanently orange life. There'd be orange clothes at every stage of life, orange bedrooms, orange Halloweens costumes, orange tree houses, orange cats, orange icing, and most importantly orange hair for as long as she was living.
But as Ron kept kissing her, she found she didn't really care.
After all, hadn't she decided orange was a very attractive color long ago? Hadn't she already had an orange cat—the best cat in the world in her not-so-biased opinion? Hadn't she discovered by the time she was 14 that she was attracted to orange hair—particularly Ron's orange hair? Wasn't she secretly hoping for a red-haired baby?
Yes, orange really was a lovely color…
but that didn't mean she'd ever be wearing it!