Hey everyone - I'm thinking about turning this into an episodic story - each chapter is a stand alone but it all goes together. Hopefully you like the latest addition!

"So this is what you've been sinking your galleons into."

Wiping the sweat from his brow, Ron put down the staining rag in his hand and gave his older brothers, Bill and Charlie, a nod as the stood in the doorway of a soon to be library/den. All he had left to do in this room was to finish staining the last bookcase a dark cherry color, and then with Bill's help, seal the bookcases he'd been meticulously making by hand to the walls. "What do you think?" he asked the two of them.

Charlie gave the room a good once over as he nodded. "I think it's bloody brilliant, little brother."

"We peeked around a little bit before finding you in here," Bill added. "Is this all you have left to finish?"

Ron nodded, wiping his brow again. "I reckon with you two helping, I can get it finished and put together today, I can show it to her tonight, after her and Ginny's graduation party is over." He found the house shortly after Hermione had left for her last year of Hogwarts. Located inside the village of Ottery St. Catchpole, it was a two story brick home, quite ordinary looking on the outside with it's simple rectangular shape and two sided rooftop, but Ron had been doing his best to make it extraordinary once he bought the home with barely a fraction of the money given to him by the ministry for his efforts in last year's war. The amount of money given to himself, Hermione, and Harry by the ministry was deemed 'obscene' by his girlfriend, but after the initial shock of it all, Ron didn't mind the money. He wasn't poor for the first time in his life, and with the money in his vault; his future children's children wouldn't be poor either.

"How many rooms does it have?" Bill asked as he began to admire the already stained bookcases lined up against the wall, waiting to be permanently drilled into the wall due to their floor to ceiling height.

Ron took a seat on top of the desk he bought from an antique dealer several months back and picked up his glass of water, taking a healthy drink before answering. "It had five, counting this room, but now there's four. There's a master bathroom, a full sized bathroom that connects two of the bedrooms, another full bathroom upstairs across from the other bedroom, and then a half bathroom downstairs."

"Blimey," Charlie said under his breath. "Dad wasn't kidding when he said you got one hell of a deal on the house."

"Well, that's because of all the work it required."

"But still," Charlie added. "I mean, it's really brilliant."

Ron's chest puffed up a little bit with pride. "Thanks Charlie. Hey - what are you doing home, anyway?"

Charlie laughed as he ran a hand through his Weasley red hair while Bill pulled out his wand and began to seal the bookcases to the wall. "Mum owled me two weeks ago and said that my baby sister and my sometime in the future sister-in-law would only graduate from Hogwarts once, and therefore if I did not do my duty and show up, she would personally come to Romania and make me regret it."

"She wasn't kidding, either," Bill added. "How does this look?"

Ron took a look at the first sealed bookcase and shrugged. "As long as it won't fall down and crush my girlfriend after she stacks it to the brim with books, it's fine." He finished his glass of water and looked over at Charlie. "And tell Mum to stop calling Hermione your future sister-in-law. I have to get her to say yes to moving in here first, you know." The tips of his ears burned red as he put the glass down on the table. "She might not say yes."

Bill lined up the second bookshelf against the first one, making sure everything matched, before casting his charm. "I'm sure your little bookworm will gladly say yes once you show off this sanctuary you built for her."

"And to anything else you might be thinking about asking," Charlie said with a hint and a glint in his eyes.

"I'm not even close to asking Hermione to marry me," Ron quickly prattled.

Bill looked over at Charlie, who was attempting to make himself comfortable on the desk chair across the room. "Get over her you lazy ass," he shouted at Charlie. Laughing, Charlie changed directions and the two of them moved the third bookcase in line so Bill could cast another spell. "Ron, there's nothing wrong with waiting if you aren't ready. Don't let Mum pressure you into it. I can only imagine what you thought when she and Dad gave you the Weasley ring last summer."

Ron looked down at his feet, slightly embarrassed. "I didn't know anyone knew about it."

"Mum told me, only because she didn't want Fleur's feelings to be hurt when you finally did ask," Bill replied. "And when I told Fleur about it, she said that nobody deserved the Weasley ring more. Fleur has always liked Hermione."

Charlie moved over to the other side of the room and began lining up the bookcases while Bill sealed the opposite side. "I figured you'd get that ring," he chimed in. "Not that I'm jealous or anything. I don't ever plan on settling down. I'm not one to believe in all that soul mate bollocks, but my mind could be swayed with you two lovebirds as an example."

Ron rolled his eyes at his brother's exaggeration while Charlie responded with a laugh. He went back to finishing the stain on the final bookcase, rubbing the rag into the carved details of the molding he mounted around the top and bottom of the bookshelf frame. "Harry and Ginny don't make you think of soul mates?"

Bill and Charlie both laughed. "Ginny's been in love with Harry Potter since Mum began telling her those silly stories. Harry loves our little sister because she no longer cares that he's the Harry Potter," Charlie replied.

"Don't get us wrong - we think Harry and Ginny are great together," Bill added. "But when Ginny went out with that one bloke during her fifth year…you know, the tall one -"

"Dean," Ron said.

Charlie went over to help Ron as he noticed him beginning to put the bookcase upright, only to be surprised when he realized his little brother needed no help at all. With barely a grunt, Ron slid the bookcase over in the final empty space on the wall, the walls now completely covered with shelves with the exception of the two French doors that led to an outside balcony facing the backyard. The cherry wood stain complimented the new hardwood floors that went throughout the entire house, with the exception of the bedrooms, and Ron was starting to feel nerves in his stomach. There was nothing much else to do, other than to get Hermione to say yes, and then to let her decorate the place, as it was mostly empty with freshly primed walls ready to be painted with whatever color she chooses.

"Right, Dean. Nice chap from what I remember, but when Ginny and Dean were dating, it's not like anyone was shouting 'Stop! You're meant to be with Harry!' you know? But you and Hermione…I mean, when Ginny told me you were dating Lavender, my first thought was that I should wallop you upside the head with a beater bat."

Ron sighed as he began to clean up the drop clothes from the staining. "You aren't the only one who thought that…about me and Lavender, you know. And I bloody felt bad about all of that, you know, once I realized that Hermione was right pissed at me because she liked me…and I only asked Lavender out because she liked me and I could tell she liked me…and I honestly never thought Hermione would say yes if I told her how I felt."

"You two spent so much effort trying to not act like you two weren't interested in each other…" Charlie said, trailing off as he grabbed a broom and began to sweep up the floor. "I can only imagine how great things are with the two of you now that you can put your efforts into other things."

His cheeks blushing, Ron used his wand and with a flick of his wrists, vanished the rest of the mess to the shed in the backyard. "Not that it's any of your business, but we haven't done anything in the universe of what you're insinuating - outside of snogging, anyway."

"Really?" Charlie asked, genuinely surprised.

"Not even last summer, when she came back? Or when you saw her on breaks?" Bill asked.

Ron shrugged as he scratched at his arm. "We…we had a lot of stuff to sort out last summer, once she came back, and she wasn't really back all that long before she went to Hogwarts, and when we did have breaks…we just spent time together. Besides - we're never really alone anyway. Not even at her parents house."

"Are her parents ok with you two sharing a room like Mum and Dad?"

"They don't mind," Ron replied. "Her parents and I - we talk a lot, even when she was at school. Especially her dad…I really like her dad." This was the truth, as he had managed to grow incredibly close to the Grangers while Hermione was away. Richard and Jean were actually the first people to learn about the house he bought, and her dad was the first person he'd brought to the house once the sale was finalized.

His hands stayed buried in the pockets of his coat as he trailed slightly behind Richard, who was silent as he gave every room in the house a once over, including the outside property. He knew his parents would be delighted about him purchasing his first house regardless of what was on the inside, but Ron felt like he needed Richard's approval. He didn't want to ask Hermione to move into the house with him without her father's approval of where his only daughter would be living.

"It definitely needs some work," Richard finally said as the two stood in the appliance-less kitchen.

"I know, but I want to fix it up - and I can afford to do so," Ron said, his hands still deep in his pockets.

Richard nodded as he looked around the bare kitchen they stood in together. "It's a big house for what I'm assuming will be two people."

Nervously, Ron managed a nod, only slightly relaxing when Richard gave him a smile. "If she wants to, anyway. She could…you know, say no."

Richard laughed. "You really think she could say no?"

"I think," Ron began to say. "That when Hermione is given an option, it could go either way."

"She gets that from her mother," Richard replied with a snort. "But I reckon she isn't going to have much to say no to once you fix some things, eh? From what I hear, she likes the area too."

Nodding again, Ron moved a hand to scratch the back of his neck. "It's has a mixed community…muggles and wizards both live here, which is important to her, and it has a port key up the way that leads directly to the Ministry, where she hopes to work after Hogwarts…and it's close to Mum and Dad…who aren't all that keen on us kids being too far away still. Charlie's the only one who gets away with the rule, since he's been gone a bit now."

"Well…I imagine if my wife and I were your parents, we'd feel the same," Richard understandably replied.

"We can connect the fireplace in the dining room to the one in your house though," Ron stated. "It's an alright sort of a trip for you and your wife by car, but if we floo to you, we can bring you back through."

"If it's all the same, unless it's a dire emergency, I think my wife and I will stick to automobiles."

"Has Mr. Granger seen the house now that it's finished?" Bill asked.

Ron nodded. "I brought him by yesterday to take a look. Jean too. They both seemed to be really pleased, but most importantly, they think Hermione will too."

"Well, I think you're crazy, building the biggest bookworm ever a room like this," Charlie said with a grin.

"How so?" Ron asked, a bit offended.

"Because one look in this room and you'll never see her again," Bill chimed in with a laugh.

"Has anyone seen Ron?" Hermione asked as she walked out into the yard of the burrow. George, Percy, Harry, and Arthur were out working on raising the tent while Molly, Ginny, Angelina, Fleur, Audrey, and Jean carried plates and silverware to the long table sitting underneath the wall-less tent. "I thought he was just going to run an errand?"

Molly gave Hermione a reassuring smile. "Ron's with Bill and Charlie - I'm sure they'll be back in plenty of time for the party."

Hermione attempted not to pout, but was unsuccessful by the amused look on her father's face, watching the other men raise the tent with their wands. "There, there, button," he said. "I'm sure he'll be back soon."

Not amused by her father's placating ways, she rolled her eyes and looked over at Harry. He recognized the look, took the hint, and excused himself so that he could follow Hermione as they took a walk down the gravel lane. "I'll be back," he promised, kissing Ginny's cheek before jogging a couple of steps to catch up with his best friend. The two of them walked in silence, and he noticed her arms were crossed tightly against her chest, her eyes narrowed slightly as the beginning of summer breeze blew through her ponytail. "What's wrong?" he asked once they were a good distance away from the house.

She shrugged. "Have you noticed Ron acting peculiar?"

"Not more than usual."

Hermione frowned. "I'm being serious, Harry!"

"Like I needed that sort of clarification," Harry said with a laugh. "I don't think he's being 'peculiar' - why do you ask?"

"Because I've been back from Hogwarts for nearly two days now and he hasn't bothered to spend more than a hour with me," Hermione nearly spat, stopping in her tracks as they reached a large oak tree a few yards off the path. Her arms still hugged to her chest, she changed direction and walked towards the tree, sitting down at the base of the trunk. Harry followed suit, and took a seat next to her. He watched as she brought her knees up to her chest and looked down. "Do you think he's changed his mind?" she timidly asked.

"About you? Not bloody likely," Harry said with a laugh. "All he ever talks about is you. He gets the mickey taken out of him at work daily because he can hardly go five minutes without using your name in a sentence."

Hermione smiled a little bit at that statement, but it disappeared as soon as it came. "He's been acting strange ever since Ginny and I came back."

"Look," Harry said, clapping a hand over her knee. "You worry too much. And I know you don't know how to stop worrying, but you're worrying about nothing. He's just been working on a project lately and -"

"A project?" she asked. "Ron's not mentioned any sort of project to me. What sort of project is it?"

"It's not for me to tell," Harry replied. "I wasn't even supposed to mention it, so if you could do me a favor and forget you heard me say it, that'd be great. And why are you so worried anyway? Is there something else going on?"

Hermione shrugged, and leaned back against the tree. "I asked him last night what he thought about us renting a flat, and he seemed…I don't know. Indifferent I guess…and that's not how I thought he'd react. He'd mentioned a few times in his letters that he was ready to move out of the Burrow, and if you think about it, you know, us renting an apartment each is just a waste of money because we're always going to be together and you can't live in two places at once so I said, 'Maybe should just rent a flat together,' and -"

"You thought he would have jumped at the idea."

"Well of course I did!" she shrilly exclaimed.

Harry looked over at his best friend and sighed. He knew she was upset, but he wasn't about to spoil everything Ron had been working on from the moment she left for her final year of school. "Look," he said, giving her knee a squeeze before pulling his hand back. "I promise you - that when Ron's ready to tell you what he's been working on - which you aren't allowed to mention that you know that he's working on anything - you'll feel silly about worrying over nothing."

Hermione sighed and leaned her head over, resting it on his shoulder. "Please. You know I never feel silly," she said, doing her best to keep a serious face, but it was wasted effort before the two of them dissolved into laughter. A comfortable bout of silence passed between the two of them, and Hermione hugged his arm with hers. "I missed you too, this year," she said. "It was weird, being at Hogwarts without you both."

Harry nodded. "It was equally weird being without you." He shifted slightly, digging his hand into his pocket and pulled out a small, black velvet-squared box and handed it to Hermione. She looked up at him, wide eyed, and he nodded for her to open it. Inside was a thin, platinum band with a beautiful, round diamond in a six pronged setting. "It's my mother's ring - one of them anyway," he explained. "I'm thinking about asking Ginny to marry me tonight…after dinner."

She was stunned, looking at ring in her hand, then back at Harry. "You're joking."

"Dead serious."

"But…but Harry," she protested. "We're all still so young…and I mean…are you two really ready for this?"

"I love her," Harry said. "I love her more than anything, and all I want is for her to be my wife. I just…do you think she'll say no? We've talked about marriage…and getting married, and I know you think it's too early, but what do you think she'll say?"

Hermione knew exactly what Ginny would say. They were actually talking about marriage of all things on the train ride home. "Ginny?" she asked once the London skyline was almost in sight.

"Hmm," her best friend replied as she flipped a page in her wizarding magazine.

"Ginny…have you and Harry talked about what you'll both be doing now that you're done with school?"

Ginny closed her magazine and sat up on the bench across from Hermione. "I'll probably appease my mother and stay home this summer, but we've talked about me moving into Grimmauld Place. By talked I mean it's happening, but with this past year, we both thought it would be best if I stuck around this summer, and moved once tryouts started. What about you?"

"Me?" Hermione asked with a laugh. "What do you mean, what about me?"

"You and Ron, silly," Ginny replied. "What are you two doing?"

"I honestly don't know," Hermione replied. "We've not really talked about it, with him just finishing his Auror training and helping George on the side. I'm sure we'll probably discuss it at some point. I'm hoping we'll maybe move into a flat together, but like I said, we have to talk about it."

Ginny gave her a peculiar look. "You really haven't talked about any of that?"

Hermione nonchalantly shrugged. "We've had a lot going on, and we both agreed to focus on what we needed to get done, because now that school and training is over, we have all the time in the world to figure the rest of it out. I'm honestly surprised you and Harry have it all planned out."

Putting her magazine into her bag, Ginny walked across the train cabin and sat next to Hermione. "If I tell you something, you swear you won't say a word to anyone - especially Ron?"

Hermione nodded. "Of course."

"You promise?" she asked again. "Because knowing Ron, he'd bloody freak out and do something completely stupid."

"Language," Hermione minded her friend with a laugh. "And yes, I swear. I've never told Ron anything you say when you've asked me not to."

Ginny exhaled a sigh of relief. "Good, because Harry and I have been talking a lot…and I mean a lot, about getting married."

Hermione's eyes went wide; her jaw dropping slightly as the train whistle blew, alerting the students that they were pulling into the station. It took a few moments to collect her thoughts, but as soon as she did, the train stopped at the platform and the sounds of the steam engine decompressing hissed through the air.

"Say something!" Ginny exclaimed.

"Well…" she finally managed to speak. "I mean, if I were wanting to start telling your secrets to Ron - which I would never, ever do, I can promise you that out of all of them, that one would never be repeated. Ever."

Ginny's lightly freckled cheeks blushed as the two stood up and grabbed their things. Hermione slid the strap of her beaded bag across her body and grabbed her jacket, while Ginny slung her purse over her shoulder, grabbed her magazine, and the two of them made their way through the crowd of students to exit the train. Jumping off the last step, Hermione felt Ginny's hand on her shoulder as waves of students enthusiastically passed them.

"Yes?" she asked her friend, somewhat surprised that she wasn't running in search of Harry.

Biting her lips together, Ginny tucked her red locks back behind her ear. "You're my best friend, so I need to know what you honestly think, you know, about what I just said."

Hermione took a step closer to her friend. "About marriage?" she said, her voice in a whisper towards the end.

Ginny nodded. "When I told you, you almost looked like you didn't approve."

"No!" Hermione exclaimed. "I was just surprised…I mean, we're not that old, you know."

"I know," Ginny replied. "But wizards tend to marry young, and Harry and I love each other and I just…if you think it's a bad idea, just tell me. You're both of our best friends. Your opinion matters."

"Ginny…" Hermione said, unsure of even how to have this conversation in the crowd of reuniting students and parents. "It's not that I think it's a bad idea. You said so yourself - wizards marry young. Muggles don't. Not usually anyway. My parents didn't - they're as old as yours and they only had me. It's just a different way of thinking. The only people that have to be happy about it are the two of you."

"But you don't think it's a bad idea," Ginny implored.

"I'm not you. I can't make that decision."

"If you were me then," Ginny countered. "If you were me, then what would you do?"

She swallowed a groan. All she wanted to do was to hug Ron and see her parents and Ginny was delaying her with a conversation that could easily be had at the Burrow. "If I were you I wouldn't get married young," Hermione honestly replied. "But again, I'm not you."

Ginny thought about this for a moment. "So…what you're saying is that you wouldn't get married young if you were me, but you aren't me so therefore you're ok with it."

"Ginny!" Hermione screeched. "Honestly! Can we please have this conversation later!"

Ginny huffed, blowing some stray locks away from her face. "Oh alright."

"Well?" Harry asked. "Do you think she'll say yes?"

Hermione closed the box and handed it back to Harry and gave him a smile. "I'd definitely say the odds are in your favor."

Harry smirked as he popped the box back into his pocket. "Excellent."

"What are those two doing?" Ron asked. He'd just apparated back to the Burrow with Bill and Charlie, everything in his house now finished, and spotted Harry and Hermione sitting underneath the big oak tree towards the end of the lane.

Ginny looked up and over where her brother was pointing and shrugged. "Hermione was in a state earlier, and so she and Harry went on a walk, and that's apparently where they landed."

"In a state? What's wrong?"

"You, dummy," Ginny bluntly replied. "You've hardly paid any attention to her since we got home from school, and I don't think she appreciates it."

Groaning, he dropped his shoulders and rolled his head around, his eyes rolling as well. "Bloody hell," he muttered. "I wasn't trying to ignore her - I just had to finish this one thing and I needed Bill and Charlie's help." Scratching the back of his head, he figured it was best to leave the two of them alone, though he didn't want to. "I need a shower."

Ginny eyed her brother suspiciously. "You aren't still bothered by the two of them, are you?"

"No," he replied, a bit quickly.

"She loves you, for reasons I can hardly understand some days," Ginny added. "They're just friends - and be glad for that - because you know she's never nearly as mad at you once she talks to Harry."

Ron nodded. His sister definitely had a point there. "I still need a shower."

"Then go," Ginny said. "I'm sure they'll be back by the time you're finished up."

He nodded once more and headed inside the house, managing to walk through fairly unnoticed as he made his way upstairs. Ron hopped into the shower, pulling the curtain around the porcelain clawed tub. He always thought the tub was getting smaller, but his mother always pointed out that it was him that continued to get taller. He vigorously scrubbed shampoo into his hair, mentally kicking himself for upsetting Hermione. That was hardly his intent - he just found himself at George's shop a bit more than he'd planned this past week during his spare time. With the anniversary of Fred's death happening tomorrow, George had been a little down. He, Angelina, and his best friend, Verity, had been doing their best to keep his spirits up this week - Ron even let George use him as a guinea pig for a few of his latest inventions. The look of pure glee on George's face when his latest created made Ron's nose and ears 'disappear' for a period of time was worth the moments of sheer horror that his nose and ears actually appeared to be missing - until George gave him the antidote.

Rinsing the remaining soapsuds from his hair and body, Ron shut off the shower and summoned a towel from the cabinet over to him, securely wrapping it around his hips. Grabbing a smaller towel on his way out of the bathroom, he began to rub his hair dry as he walked across the hall, where he found Hermione sitting on his bed, flipping through one of his quidditch magazines. "Pretending to be interested?" he teased.

She looked up at Ron and let out a yelp. "I'm…I'm sorry," she stammered, her cheeks flushing bright red. "I didn't realize, I mean, I thought you'd be dressed, but of course you wouldn't be because you're clothes are obviously here in your room and -" Hermione couldn't finish her rambling, because before she realized it, her lips were being occupied by his.

As he pulled away, she looked up at him and his smug grin. "Hermione," he said to her in a very calm voice. "I hardly mind if you see me in a towel."

She bit her lip. "Al-alright." The two of them hadn't done much outside of some heavy snogging, and while Hermione was well aware that she'd seen Ron in a swimsuit before, she was pretty sure seeing him in nothing but towel was different. She welcomed the second kiss he gave her before watching him retreat over to his dresser, grabbing a pair of boxers from the top drawer and left the room, returning a few moments later without a towel, but in boxers. Hermione couldn't help but watch him as he moved about as he searched and found his favorite pair of khaki cargo shorts, slipping into them before he grabbed a green and yellow striped t-shirt from his dresser and pulled it over his head. "Where have you been all day?" she nonchalantly inquired as she mindlessly leafed through the magazine.

Ron took a seat next to her on his bed and pulled the magazine out of her hands, tossing it onto the floor. "I'm sorry I upset you," he said, looking right at her. "Because I upset you, right? That's why I saw you over by the tree with Harry."

She gave him a small nod, keeping her eyes down. "I just…we've been a part for what felt like forever and now I'm back and you were gone before I even woke up this morning - and you know I'm always the one that wakes up early. And I mentioned renting a flat together last night and you didn't even react to it and I just...I thought you would have liked the idea."

He had every intention of waiting until after dinner to show her what had been occupying his spare time while she was away, but had a change of heart as he could see her unnecessary disappointment. "Can I show you something?" he asked, nudging her chin up slightly so that he could look at her.

Hermione nodded. "What is it?"

"Just…something I've been working on." Ron vaguely replied. He stood up from the bed and held his hands out to her.

She gave him her hands and with that, a reluctant look.

"Just trust me," Ron said, squeezing her hands. "Please?"

"Alright," she promised. "I trust you."

With that affirmation, Ron pulled her close, and in a snap, the two of the apparated from the Burrow to a sidewalk in a quaint and quirky neighborhood. Collecting her bearings, Hermione looked around at the neighborhood, at the two story, brick house in front of them, then over at Ron. "What's this? Where are we?"

"Ottery St. Catchpole," he said, keeping a hold of one of her hands. "When you left for school, I was really depressed for the first week. I thought I'd made the wrong choice, and that I should have gone to school with you instead of staying behind. Then one day, when I was running some errands for Mum, I came across this house, and it was definitely in an awful state. But I took a look at it anyway, then I brought my dad to see it, then your dad, and decided that it would be a good project to keep me busy while you were away."

He pulled her along, and Hermione followed, walking up the two stone steps to the other sidewalk that led directly to the front porch. With a flick of his wand, he unlocked the door, but bent down and moved a small stone elf, picking up the muggle house key and handing it to Hermione. "I saw this at one of the Saturday fairs," he said, referring to the statue. "I reckoned he reminded me of Dobby a bit, and then I remembered that your parents have that big stone frog that they hide a key underneath at their house…so I decided it would be a perfect thing to use here."

"A perfect thing to use?"

"You know, to hide a key."

"A key to this house."

"We aren't standing in front of another house."

Hermione quickly shook her head and held her hands up. "Hold on a second," she said, trying to wrap her mind around everything that was happening. "This is your house?"

"Well I reckon I didn't pour a bunch of blood, sweat, and tears into it so that it could be someone else's house," Ron teased. "And it's not my house. It's our house…you know…if you want to live in it…with me." Opening the front door, he pushed it aside and waited for a still shocked Hermione to walk inside. It took her a few seconds, but eventually she moved, looking around at the completely renovated, albeit empty house. The floors were hardwood and refinished, matching the banister and wooden staircase that led to the upstairs. He shut the door behind him and watched as Hermione began peeking her head into every room.

He kept his hands buried in his pockets as he followed her into the kitchen, outfitted with brand new muggle appliances that Richard helped him pick out one day and when they were installed, he gave Ron a very thorough tutorial on all of them, including what to look out for and when to know to replace them.

"Ron…" she said, running a hand over the dark granite mounted to the kitchen island. "It's beautiful."

"You've only seen like, three rooms," Ron argued with a laugh. "There's a whole upstairs to investigate - and a garage with a working remote. Your dad helped with that, because we figured you'd want a car eventually."

She looked at him, completely bewildered. "And you did all of this?"

"I hired out what I couldn't do…like the rewiring, and the guys who came in and renovated the floors," he confessed. "But I definitely paid for it, and fixed the rest. I only completely renovated one room by hand, and it was actually the room that I was finishing this morning - with Bill and Charlie's help. It's actually your graduation present - the room, that is. I couldn't really think of what to get you but then I had this brilliant idea…" he stopped talking and nodded with his head for Hermione to follow. "It's better explained when you see it," he said with a twinkle in his eye.

He lead her through from the kitchen through the dining room, then through another living/family room area, showing her how the downstairs was a big loop as they found themselves back at the stairs. Walking up them, Hermione dragged her free hand lightly against the smooth, polished banister, and marveled at the woodwork on the lower half of the walls, everything bright white - primed and ready to be painted. The hardwood floors continued until the reached the bedrooms, which were large and carpeted.

"Your dad said it's called berber carpeting," Ron said. "And that it's easy to keep clean and has the best lifespan."

Hermione nodded as they looked into one, two, three bedrooms before they got to the obscenely large master bedroom. Hermione was shocked at how deep the closet was, and amazed at the beautiful tile work that had been done in the bathroom, with the large glass cased shower and adjacent jacuzzi tub. "I can't," she said. "I don't even know…what to say."

"I've rendered Hermione Granger speechless. Merlin's beard! It's a miracle!" Ron mocked.

She mockingly scowled at him, but it barely lasted a second. "Ron…all of it is just stunning. Honestly. How did you learn how to…you know…any of this?"

Ron shrugged, his hands back in his pockets. "Surprisingly enough," he confessed. "I took a page out of your book and, you know, started to read books. And then I asked your dad loads and loads of questions, and he was a huge help, and your mum taught me how to use this white goopy stuff called grut I think -"

"Grout."

"Grout - that's it," Ron said with a snap of his fingers. "So she showed me how to put it between the tiles because I didn't understand some of the muggle terms and explanations, and once I started reading how to do things, I reckon actually doing the stuff I was reading about wasn't all that hard."

Hermione giggled, clapping a hand over her heart. "I can't believe you actually read books, and enjoyed it, and learned something too!"

"Well it was actually useful stuff!" Ron defensively exclaimed, a grin tugging at the corners of his lips. "I didn't need any bloody Divination knowledge to put this house together, you know. Or Ancient Runes, and I definitely didn't use any bloody Potions."

Sauntering over to him, she wrapped her arms around his waist and pecked his lips with hers. "I'm just teasing," she whispered.

"Are you ready to see the best room?" he asked.

Hermione nodded. "Lead the way."

He grabbed her hand once more and pulled her out of the bathroom, and opened another door in their bedroom, which led directly into the library he'd spent so many painstaking hours creating. There was a door that also connected back to the hallway, and with the exception of the two inside doors, the French doors leading to the balcony, the walls were covered from the floor to the ceiling with bookcases. He knew he'd done a good then when he heard her gasp, and then saw her eyes water. "Happy tears?" he mumbled into her ear.

She couldn't help but admire the beautiful molding, and how the bookcases looked as if they just came with the room. Everything was seamless and perfect, with a rolling ladder system mounted around the perimeter of the room so she could reach the highest shelves without magic. "Ron!" she finally gasped, noticing the elegant desk and matching chair sitting near the back of the room. "You did all of this?"

"I built the bookcases, and had Charlie and Bill help me seal them to the walls with magic," Ron quietly replied. "I thought you'd like a proper office once you get a job at the Ministry."

Hermione looked over at Ron. "But what if the Ministry doesn't hire me?"

"How could they not hire a bloody war heroine and the Brightest Witch of our Age?" Ron asked.

"Don't swear," she minded, albeit half-heartedly. She sat down on the new carpet in the middle of her own personal library, and continued to look around the room in awe, already mentally making notes as to how she could organize and arrange her books.

Ron sat down in front of her, crisscrossing his long legs just as she did and looked at her. "So what do you think? About the house."

Hermione beamed brightly at her boyfriend. "I think it's wonderful, Ron. You've done a brilliant job."

"Am I sensing a but?"

"Not a but," Hermione said. "It's just…it's a big house for just the two of us. Granted, I'm excited that you've planned all of this because we really hadn't talked a lot about what we were going to live after school and after last night I thought you didn't want together…and I love this room…but this house is gigantic!"

He inched closer to her, their folded knees touching. "You're right. It's big. Probably bigger than will ever be necessary. But Hermione, when I saw the house, I just knew in my gut that this was going to be our house. Ottery St. Catchpole has both muggles and wizards - and you always said that if and when you had kids you wanted them to be surrounded by both - and it's close but not too close to Mum and Dad - your parents will never have any trouble being in this town, or getting to it, and look," he paused, taking in a deep breath as he looked her right in the eye. "I know Harry's going to propose to Ginny tonight. He told me about it last night."

"He told you!" she exclaimed. "I can't believe he told you. I can't believe you didn't kill him!"

"He did, and I didn't kill him, surprisingly, but I think they're completely mental to get married this young," Ron said, somewhat defeated. "But it's their choice, I reckon, and if that's what they want to do then ok…but it's not how I want to do things. I know you're going to want to get your career settled, and I'm going to want to do my very best to become a good, dependable auror now that training is done."

Hermione nodded in agreement.

"And I know money isn't ever going to be an issue, because we have more of it than we know what to do with thanks to the Ministry," Ron added, "But I want to be a provider, you know? I want to know that my job can take care of us, and that we can take care of each other." He reached over and grabbed her hand. "Remember when you came back from Australia, and you asked me if I really wanted a future with you?"

"Of course," Hermione replied, squeezing his hand.

"And you said that it's all you ever wanted."

"Yes," Hermione breathlessly answered. "And I meant it. Every word of it."

"Well, I want to marry you, and I have every intention of asking you in a few years, when we're both exactly where we want to be with our careers, because I know how important that is to you," Ron definitively. "But just because I'm not going to ask you to marry me right away doesn't mean we can't live in this house and start our life together. Of course, I fixed it, and left everything white so it's up to you to pick out paint and decorate it because you know I'm rubbish at that sort of stuff, and if you left it up to me the entire place would be orange and I'd hang Chudley Cannons posters everywhere."

Giggling, Hermione moved up onto her knees and crawled over so that she was in his lap, wrapping her arms around his neck. Nuzzling her nose against his, she gave him a sweet kiss as she ran a hand through his shaggy red hair. "You are absolutely amazing when you choose to be, Ronald Weasley," she confessed.

"Am I?" he asked, hugging his arms around her waist.

"You are," Hermione said. "And I love this house, and I love you for putting so much thought into it, and I'm sorry I got upset about you not being around today, because I would love nothing more than to live in this gigantic house with you forever. I love you."

Grinning, Ron hugged her tight, eliciting a squeal from Hermione as he laughed. "I'm so glad you love it, and I love you too."

"I love all of it," she promised. "And I don't want to leave it…but it doesn't have furniture, and there is a graduation dinner waiting for us at your parents house."

"And if we don't get back soon people will definitely notice we're gone," Ron added.

Reluctantly, Hermione crawled out of his lap and smoothed out her blouse as Ron followed suit, standing upright in the middle of Hermione's library. "This room really did turn out quite well," Ron remarked, his chest puffing out with just a little bit of pride.

Hermione agreed. "It's amazing. I can't wait to put all of my books on the shelves."

"When do you want to start?" Ron asked.

"Tomorrow," Hermione said with a nod. "And then we can spend this weekend picking out paint and furniture and…"

Usually when Hermione went into list making and task designating mode, Ron would find the nearest exit and move before she assigned him to do something. But there was something about listening to her talk about all the things they could do to their house that made his heart swell - and he knew then it didn't matter what Hermione asked him to do - because he knew he would do it without complaint and enjoy every minute of it.