Hermione beamed. She was she realised, for the first time since the war ended, happy. Genuinely happy, and it was stunning.
She was sitting on the cracked leather sofa in her boyfriend's flat; the place Ron and Harry were living in while they completed their auror training and Hermione and Ginny finished their last year of school. All four had spent some hours arguing over these decisions, Hermione had been furious with the boys for not wanting to finish their educations, Ron had thought Hermione daft to want to go back to school when there was a job in the ministry waiting for her. Ginny and Harry had been a complete reverse; Harry had to almost push Ginny back to Hogwarts for her last year, and had taken some persuading from his girlfriend to consider the auror training being offered to him.
Still, eventually all their fights had been settled and they came to the comftable routine they were in now, the two girls were spending most weekends over in what was affectionately referred to as 'the man flat', having obtained special permission from Headmistress McGonagall, who had declared that the school and the world owed them far more than mere trips home every weekend.
They'd ordered take-out, and all four had flopped around to watch a film on the completely un-magical TV. Harry had been insistent on a few muggle comforts and Ron was loathe to complain, having recently fallen in love with the odd device, Hermione should have expected it really, he had his father's fascination with muggle artifacts.
They all had their special places to sit, Harry in the armchair, Ginny in his lap, Hermione always stretched out on the sofa (usually with a book on her knees), and Ron would sit on the floor, sometimes resting his head on her stomach.
'Hermy's dreeeaming.' Ginny cooed from her place on Harry's lap. She giggled, 'Thinking about my horrible brother?'
Hermione blushed slightly, 'I am not.' She mumbled, and grabbed a slice of pizza to cover her embarrassment. It didn't really help, as she bit into the food a string of cheese stretched unattractively from her mouth to the slice. She blushed harder as Harry and Ginny giggled.
Ron, however, smiled, and before she could object, he bit the string off and nibbled his way to her lips, pecking them briefly before muttering, 'You're so gorgeous.'
'Eurgh.' Harry commented. 'I know you like your food Ron but…'
Ron grinned. 'I like food and Hermione, so that was just the best thing ever. And stop with that face, I've seen you and Ginny do loads worse, and it's twice as bad for me because she's my baby sister.'
This time Hermione laughed, here was the reason why she was so happy, Ron thought she was gorgeous even when she felt her most disgusting. As far as he was concerned he was the luckiest guy in the world simply to be in the same room as her.
Harry broke the silence, sighing and giving an exaggerated yawn that Hermione knew was all show and no substance. 'Well, I think I'm going to turn in.' he said softly as he rose to his feet and left for his room.
Hermione knew what was coming next; she timed five minutes before Ginny silently rose to her feet and crept out while Ron was distracted by an explosion on the screen. Those two had got their act down to a fine art, of course Ron had to be aware that his sister and best friend were at the very least sharing a bed, but they were careful not to rub his face in it.
'You all right Hermy?
She jumped slightly, 'Hm? Yes…' she paused, then smiled and nodded, ruffling his hair with one hand. 'I'm just… really happy.' She sighed, sitting up a little, 'You know you could sit up here with me, right?' she patted the cracked leather. 'Plenty of room.'
Ron shook his head. 'No… that's your spot.' His ears went slightly pink. 'I only sit there when you're at school.'
Hermione blinked. 'What? Why?' She reached and stroked one thumb across the back of his ear, knowing it would make him shudder, she was one of the few people who knew about the sensitivity of his ears, for obvious reasons.
He shivered at the touch, then mumbled, 'Because if you've been sitting there all weekend, it smells like you and feels like you and… it's like sitting with you when you're at school.'
She felt a smile creep across her face from the very middle of herself, and slid herself from the sofa onto the floor by Ron, resting her head on his shoulder and whispering, 'If you like, I'll spray my perfume on your pillow, so it's like sleeping with me.'
The words were out of her mouth before she could stop them, the dreaded subject of their not yet sleeping together was one that didn't need approaching.
Ron smirked, 'Oh, I imagine sleeping with you will be loads better than your perfume.'
Then suddenly they were both laughing.