"Now, Ron, I mean, Ethan, what would you like us to call you?" Mrs. Weasley asked.
"Ethan's fine, thank you." He said.
"I'll have to get used to that." She sighed. "What would you like me to make you for dinner? You always liked roast beef-
"Actually, I really like pizza." Ron informed her. "Or hamburgers." Typical American food, Hermione thought.
"Then pizza it is!" Mrs. Weasley said happily. "And tomorrow night it's hamburgers!"
"Awesome." Ron said.
Hermione noticed it was not only Ron's name and personality that had changed. As she had just witnessed, his taste buds must have changed too over the time he had spent in America, and his speech. Although he still had his British accent, Hermione was hearing more American terms such as 'Awesome!' and 'Sweet!' instead of his classic British ones he usually used like 'Wicked!' and 'Brilliant!' And instead of calling people 'mate', he used the word 'dude.'
Dinner was a fun affair. Everyone was so happy and lighthearted at Ron's return. George didn't even hurl one insult at Hermione. Ron had so many stories to tell about the muggle world. They didn't interest Hermione or Harry very much, but the Weasleys 'oohed and 'ahhhed'. What did interest her were the stories of Ethan and his friends. She couldn't help feeling jealous every time she heard Maggie's name.
George told Ron a hilarious joke which made them rolling on the ground laughing. "Oh, that's rich!" Ron shouted. "Wait, what's your number? We've got to keep in contact!"
"Number?" George asked, still in a laughing frenzy.
"Yeah. Number. Digits. Whatever you want to call them." Ron said . When George still looked confused, he said slowly, "You're cell phone number."
"Oh." George said, mildly surprised. "Wizards don't have phones!"
"Seriously?" Ron exclaimed. "Well if I take part in magical studies, I'm not separating with my phone! This phone is my life." Ron took his phone out of his pocket and showed George.
"Obscure…" He said.
"Oh, Wow! I got a lot of new messages! Mostly from Jim and Maggie, of course." Ron scrolled through them quickly. Oh, hey Jenny, I mean, Ginny, smile." He commanded, holding his phone up to her.
"What?" Ginny said nervously as if the phone was a weapon.
"Don't worry; I'm just taking a picture. Say cheese!" Ron explained. Ginny let out a sigh of relief before she smiled for the camera.
"What was that about?" She asked after the picture was captured.
"Oh, for my friend Jim." Ron replied simply. He opened picture mail and tagged the picture of Ginny, now writing a caption under it, 'Her name's Ginny. She's hot. Too bad she's my sister lol. She's all yours. I'll put in a good word, if you want.'
George looked over at what Ron was writing. "She's hot! Too bad she's my sister?!" He yelled in disbelief. "Okay, A, Ginny's not hot, and B, that's gross!"
"Ron, er, Ethan! I'm going to have to delete that picture! That's disgusting! I'm sorry but like it or not we're related!" Ginny said, appalled. Instead of being jealous, Harry was rolling on the floor, laughing. Hermione, on the other hand, had crossed her arms and was staring deliberately at her pizza.
"Don't worry, it's not for me. It's for my buddy Jim. He wants to meet with you."
"I already have a boyfriend." Ginny told him flatly.
"Oh. Okay. Who?" Ron asked.
"Me." Harry giggled, getting up from the floor.
Ron looked at each of them and then said, "Okay, I've never had brothers and sisters until now, but I think that Ron might have been a little mad and creped out that his best friend was dating his little sister, am I right?"
"You got used to it." Harry said, putting his arm around Ginny.
"Yeah, and it's not like you were jealous or anything because she's your SISTER." George said, and everyone laughed.
"You found Hermione quite appealing." Ginny said, and Ron checked Hermione out as if to find what he saw in her while she blushed furiously.
The Weasley family spent the weekend with Ron, but after that they went back to business as usual. The only difference was Hermione was shorting her work days as to spend time with Ron. It wasn't so much that he wanted to spend time with her (though she could safely say that she was the one he felt most comfortable around) it was more her wanting to hang out with him.
"Okay, Hermione, I've asked everyone in the family and Harry (Hermione was glad to finally learn he knew his name) their personalities, interests, our relationship, meaning how we get along, etc. and I've got some pretty good notes. While I'm here, I want to act as much like Ron Weasley as possible. But, I want to know things that they won't tell me. I dunno, something like 'Don't cross Percy on a Monday' or 'Bill likes it best when you talk about…' you get it?"
"Yes. I'd be happy to help." Hermione said.
"Oh, and I need to know about you. Now, I also asked George about you. He said you were selfish, rude, obnoxious, egotistical, pompous, an insufferable know-it-all and quote, 'Oh yeah, she's really ugly too. But you already knew that, I'm hoping.'
Ron looked at Hermione for a reaction. She was speechless. "Boy, he must really not like you for some reason. I don't know why… Well, that didn't sound like you to me, so I asked Harry. He said you were kind, smart, brave, and slightly obnoxious at times. But he said you're a really great and loyal friend."
"That's so sweet. About Harry, that is, not George." Ron laughed. Hermione also found it sweet that Ron did not believe George so he went to Harry for answers.
"Okay, but first I want to know about you." He said. " Well, I like books, I'm smart, I like doing schoolwork and papers, I work and the Ministry of Magic, my best friends are you and Harry,-
"Okay, I've got that down." Ron interrupted. "Now how is our relationship?" Hermione sat up and smiled wide. "I mean, like do we both like the same things, do we fight, how often are we together?"
"Oh." Hermione said, slightly crestfallen. "Hogwarts is a boarding school, so we hung out everyday there. Over the summer, you would invite me to your house. The little time we had together once we were out of school for good, you got a job at Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes."
"What's that?" Ron asked curiously.
"Fred and George made a joke shop. After Fred died in the Battle of Hogwarts, you went to Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes as George's new partner."
"Cool!" Ron yelled. " I mean, about the joke shop, not Fred…"
"Well, I stayed at Hogwarts to get my N.E.W.T.S.," Ron looked confused and Hermione explained them. "Nastily Exhausting Wizarding Tests. We corresponded through letters. I had just left school when we decided to go…out and you were attacked."
"Interesting. So I'll just write 'everyday'. Ron said, scribbling it on his notebook. "And our relationship?"
Hermione thought about this for a moment. "You're my best friend in the world. We fight sometimes. More than me and Harry and you and Harry combined. Probably because you say something insulting to me. But it really hurt me because it was coming from you. You see, after hanging out with you so much, I realized I really liked you. In a different way than I liked Harry. And it helped that you treated me in a more caring and compassionate way than Harry did. I had the idea that you liked me. We started dating in our seventh year, right after the Battle of Hogwarts. I had waited so many years for it to happen, and yet when we went on our first date you were kidnapped. The truth is, we're best friends, we sometimes fight, and…we're in love."
Ron stared at her. "Love's a strong word, Hermione." He said slowly.
"And it can definitely be used for our relationship. I realized after you were gone…I couldn't be with anyone else." She confessed, and immediately thought of what George said.
There was an awkward silence for a moment. Ron was gawking at Hermione, his mouth hanging open. Hermione was staring intensely at Ron, fighting back the urge to kiss him. How could he be right in front of her, and yet not feel the heat between them?
"Well," Said Ron suddenly, "If there's one thing that will be different, it will be the fact that we've not in love." He said harshly. "Sorry, but I have a girlfriend. Anyway, wanna tell me more about my family?"
Hermione had to fight back the tears and put her game face on. Like it or not, Maggie Marriott, but Hermione Granger was going to steal her boyfriend. Or try, at least.