"Just twirl, Hermione. It's simple." Ron was saying, as they both practiced later in Ron's room at Harry and Ginny's house. After Hermione had said goodbye to Rob, she went back into the dance room, but only to get yelled at by Lane to practice more ("You must practice with this wonderful man! He's got rhythm, you do not! You shall learn from him, tonight!").
So Ron and Hermione drove back to Harry and Ginny's. The car ride seemed painful for Ron- he seemed distracted, obviously deep in thought about something. Hermione noticed that this behavior started after Rob had showed up at dance practice, but she tried not to blame his distantness on that incident. Now, a half-hour later, they stood there in Ron's bedroom to dance some more; Hermione hated him for being so gosh darn perfect at it- naturally, being one of the brightest witch's of her age, she hated being beat at something. But his hands were comforting her, enclosing hers. However, they were having a disagreement over Hermione's twirl ability. It wasn't her fault, she thought, that she couldn't.
"I can't!" Hermione said, trying to get a comfortable grip of Ron's hand. "You're squeezing my hand too much; you need to let it go a bit so I can actually do a full twirl!"
"I'm holding your hand quite loosely, Hermione!" Ron said impatiently.
"No, you're not, Ronald!"
"Well maybe if your hair wasn't so everywhere whenever we try to twirl, I could actually see! Maybe it's your fault that you can't twirl!"
"What does seeing have anything to do with twirling?" Hermione asked, confused.
"Nothing, actually. I'm just trying to win this argument." Ron admitted
"You know you can't."
"I think I can!"
"You've never won an argument since, hm, ever!"
"Well you haven't won an argument since...since..." Ron tried to search for a good comeback. Hermione laughed. "It's not funny." Ron muttered.
"You're right, it's not." Hermione said, mocking seriousness but trying to hide her fit of giggles.
"What was that? Did you just say that I'm right?"
"Oh, stop it."
"I think that means I win."
"No, you don't. It wasn't funny- it was cute."
"Kind of like you."
Hermione stopped the twirl she had unknowingly finally accomplished doing when he said this, which led her to standing right in front of Ron. One hand still stayed in the air, in the palm of Ron's loosened hand, while her other hand laid on his chest. She looked up to meet his eyes. He was red, blushing. Hermione found it endearing, just like she used to. She found his eyes endearing, too. His red hair was more endearing than it ever had been before. God, everything's so endearing.
And suddenly, his lips were so...perfect, so inviting, that she found herself coming in close contact with them. They were so close. They were almost there. A few more centimeters seemed such a long distance. And then...
"Hermione, Rob's here to..." Ginny stopped in mid-sentence after she had swung open the bedroom door, when she saw the compromising position Ron and Hermione were in.
Hermione quickly tore herself away from Ron. "Yes, Ginny?"
"Rob's here to pick you up." Ginny said, suddenly sounding disappointed.
"Oh, okay. I have to get going then. We'll practice tomorrow, okay, Ron?" Hermione turned back to Ron, who was glaring at the ground.
"Huh? Oh...yeah, of course." He said.
Hermione smiled and said bye to Ginny, then slipped out of the door.
Ginny watched her go down the stairs, and when she was gone, she turned back to Ron, who was now glaring at her.
"He's uh...got a nice car." Ginny said, nodding. Ron chucked a pillow at her, in which she dodged. She slammed the door shut, and he fell back onto the bed, groaning.
Dementors take me now.
"Ron?" Harry came down to the bottom of the stairs. He saw the figure in front of the lit fireplace turn. The time was close to midnight and Harry was wondering why Ron was up so late.
"Hey, Harry." Ron said, sounding very disgruntled.
"What are you doing down here?"
"I erm...couldn't sleep."
"Ahhh." Harry said to himself, knowingly. "Certain brunette keeping you up?"
"...Maybe." Ron half-admitted.
"I know you've been up late before, thinking about her, but this is later than usual. Did something happen with her today?"
Ron sighed. He sat down on the couch, next to Harry, and looked mindlessly into the fire. "Well...yeah."
"Are you going to tell me?" Harry asked after Ron didn't continue.
"Yeah, I guess. It's driving me crazy, I really need to tell somebody..."
"Okay, so what happened?"
Ron sighed. "We almost kissed, Harry." Ron looked over at Harry to see his reaction but was surprised to see his friend looking quite humble.
"Almost?"
"Almost. We were dancing, and, well, the dancing led to flirting, and the flirting led to...almost kissing. But Ginny walked in on us, right as we were about to. She said that Rob was here to pick up Hermione, so Hermione left, and we never got to...to...well, you know."
"Ahhh." Harry once again said, and Ron glared at him.
"Stop that."
"Stop what?"
"That 'Ahhhh' thing."
"Ah, okay."
"Anyways," Ron ignored Harry's newfound silliness, "I just haven't stopped thinking about it. I mean, obviously."
Harry nodded, serious all of a sudden. "You're wondering what it would've been like...aren't you?"
Ron scoffed and nodded. "Damn right I am."
"It would've been amazing, you're thinking."
"It would've been."
"You two would've been in there for a while."
"We probably would've been."
"Until you two would remember that she's engaged."
Ron looked up and sighed. "Yeah, that would be the only fault in that kiss." He slouched down on the couch. "There's something not right about him, Harry."
"Look, Ron, I know he might not have been the friendliest bloke ever earlier, but he wasn't like, death eater material. I personally think that you don't like the guy because he's...you know, marrying Hermione."
"Yeah, you're probably right. But let me ask you this, Harry..." Ron said.
"Alright, shoot." Harry said, and he stood up and walked to the staircase.
"You know how Hermione was like a sister to you, right?" Ron asked. Harry turned around to face Ron, and nodded. "Well, you used to like to judge the guys she was seeing at the time. Do you still do that?"
Harry shrugged. "I've only just caught up with her, Ron, and she's a woman now."
"Trust me, I've realized that." Ron muttered. She's not fourteen anymore. I think she can make responsible choices without me having to question them."
"But let's pretend you still did...How do you feel about her marrying Rob?"
"Ron, I can't answer that. I don't know the guy, it's not fair."
"Don't pretend you haven't judged before." Ron cut in. "From meeting him today, from your first impression of him, do you approve of him for Hermione?"
Harry thought serious about it for a second. He shook his head. "No."
"Why not?"
Harry grinned lopsidedly. "Because he's not you, mate."
Eventually, Ron fell into a deep sleep on the couch. Harry had told Ginny to let him sleep until whenever he wanted to wake up. Ginny was reluctant about listening to her husband because of the busy day they were supposed to have, once again; The Weasley's were coming to dinner, and Ginny always liked to impress her family (especially her mum) with how clean of a house she had, or how great of a cook she was. But the one thing that she really wanted to wow everybody about was that she had Hermione Granger coming for dinner.
Her family had been equally disappointed as Harry and Ginny were (maybe not quite as much as Ron), when they found out Hermione was gone and wasn't going to come back. Think how thrilled they'll be, to find out that Hermione was actually in Ginny and Harry's house, eating dinner at their table!
"Do you want to get Hermione over here to help cleaning?" Harry asked.
Ginny gaped at him. "And why would we do that? She's going to be our guest, Harry, and guests do not clean. Did mum teach you nothing when you stayed at the burrow in the summers and Christmas?"
"Actually," Harry said, "I offered to clean and she was always insistent that I didn't. So she showed me a few charms that are simple cleaning charms. I'm pretty sure she taught you them too."
Ginny rolled her eyes. "That's not the point. I mean, sure, Hermione could be of great help right about now but I'm not going to call her and actually ask her to come over here and dust with us!"
"Who said anything about dusting? I don't see any dust."
"Dust is sneaky, it can be everywhere and anywhere, and TODAY we are going EVERYWHERE to be sure that we get rid of every dust mite in the house. I'm not just talking about visible areas, either. I'm talking about places that are rarely ever seen by the eye, but still need to be cleaned. You remember the last time Mum was over here, don't you? She found a piece of dust in a little corner that I missed, and I was mad at myself the whole night- she had to get a duster, don't you remember? And then she cleaned, cleaned my house, when was a guest. But that's not going to happen tonight- tonight, this house will be cleaned until you can see your reflection on the tabletops!"
Clapping came from the doorway of the kitchen. "That was a great speech, Ginny, how long did you work on it?" Hermione said, standing there in her coat. Her hair was pulled back nicely and she had natural-looking makeup on. Harry thought she was just stopping by for a few minutes, before going to a special occasion.
"Hermione, what are you doing here? You're not supposed to be here for another," Ginny checked the clock, "seven hours!"
"Oh, sorry, I just...I wanted to come and help if I could, with anything, getting ready for tonight's dinner that I am SO excited about! Not that this place needs help with cooking, or cleaning. Ginny, you have this place pretty clean as it is, and Harry, you're a wonderful cook." Hermione said, bouncing around the kitchen from cabinet to cabinet. "Where're your latex cleaning gloves?"
Harry grew a smirk on his face and looked to Ginny. "Two cabinets to the right." He said cockily.
Ginny sulked but then heaved a giant sigh. "Alright, I guess we could use your help around here. I'm going to go wake up Ron, so we can put him to work too."
"He's already awake," Hermione said, while looking for rags, "I woke him up when I saw him in the living room. He's in a rather good mood."
"Wonder why." Harry muttered under his breath. Of course Ron would be happy everyday, if Hermione woke him up.
"What was that, Harry?" Hermione asked, for she seriously did not hear him.
"Nothing." He smirked again. Hermione gave Ginny a questioning look that clearly said, 'What is wrong with your husband?'... Ginny shrugged.
Ron came down the stairs while Harry, Ginny, and Hermione were eating lunch. "Morning, everybody!" He said cheerfully.
"Good morning, Ron!" Hermione said, just as bright as he had.
Harry and Ginny exchanged glances that were a mix between confused and amused. "Sleep well, mate?" Harry asked him.
"Oh yeah, real well." Ron said, waving his wand to make himself a sandwich. "I would've slept the whole day if Hermione hadn't woken me up." He smiled.
"It's a good thing she did, too." Ginny said. "We've got company coming at around seven, Ron, and you need to help Hermione and I clean."
"Oh do I have to?" Ron groaned, the feeling of a great new day started, already gone.
"It's part of the deal of living here. Harry and I are not your maids, we're not going to clean up your bedroom for you, and since you now live with us, you help with the cleaning too." Ginny said.
"Yes, Mum." Ron said sarcastically. Ginny threw him a glare that startlingly could've really been their Mum's, and so he shut up.
"She's going to be here tonight, along with Dad, Percy, George, and maybe Bill and Fleur but I'm not so sure about the last pair. They've been really busy with Dominique."
"There's another person, too, that might be coming." Hermione said.
"Who else?" Ron asked.
"Well, actually, I hope its okay but I...I invited Rob. He wanted to get a chance to talk with you again, Harry, and he didn't get the chance to say much to you, either, Ginny." Hermione said, nervously looking at them all.
Ginny was definitely not okay with the fact that the git named Rob was coming to dinner, but being as polite as she was, she said, "Yeah, that's fine." And she ignored the intruding anger on Ron's face.
Ron was sulking on the couch when Mrs. Weasley and Mr. Weasley arrived. After Ginny and Harry greeted them, and Ginny took their coats, Mrs. Weasley bustled up to Ron and hugged him tight. "Oh, my dear boy, my poor dear boy," She squeezed him and let him go, holding him out in front of her with a sympathetic look on her face. "I'm sorry you had to put up with that insane woman for the past few years. I'm sorry you have to go through the divorce with her. Just know that if you ever need to talk, you can always pop into the burrow's fireplace, and I'll make you some nice pound cake, how does that sound? If you ever feel sad, just think about those you love and you can cheer right up, can't you? Remember the ones who love you, Ron, don't let them get away. Lavender wasn't well, really, if you think about it, and she wasn't right for you, you can do so much better than her. I remember, back in Hogwarts, when I lost one of my boyfriends, he said he wanted to break up, and I was heartbroken for weeks, but then I remembered that I had your father, and I started depending on your father, and now, so many, many years later, I'm happily bound to him for life, even through his craziest times when I want to strangle him so bad but I can't do that, because then I would be sent to Azkaban and somebody needs to watch out for him, make sure he doesn't get into any trouble with the ministry, and nobody but I can make sure of that, and-,"
"Mum, I'm not sad because of Lavender. I already have somebody else, I think." Ron muttered. Mrs. Weasley gave him a confused look. She opened her mouth to ask something but then-
"Ron, I put your shirt in the dirty clothes, thanks for letting me borrow it." Hermione said from the foot of the stairs. Mrs. Weasley squinted at her.
"Don't I know you from somewhere?" She asked Hermione, scanning her over.
"Mrs. Weasley, it's me- Hermione."
Mrs. Weasley looked stunned. She glanced from Ron to Hermione, back to Ron, then again to Hermione. "Is it...really...her, Ron?" Mrs. Weasley asked Ron as if Hermione wasn't there.
"It's really her, mum. Thanks, Hermione, for taking care of the shirt." Ron said appreciatively.
"WAIT A SECOND!" Mrs. Weasley shouted. "You said you've found somebody else, Ronald, but I didn't expect it to be our dear Hermione! I mean, I used to, but after she left, I never expected to see her again! But I did! She's here! She's here and she's almost my daughter-in-law, oh, this is wonderful!" She beamed and walked up to Hermione. The older lady hugged the younger girl tightly, laughing and crying.
"Erm...Mum..." Ron started, turning red with embarrassment.
Hermione looked embarrassed, as well, but she still laughed with Mrs. Weasley. Mrs. Weasley took Hermione's hands and when she saw the big engagement ring on her hand, Mrs. Weasley stopped laughing. She gasped. "What's this?" She asked. "Is this what I think it is? A ring on your ring finger? Does this mean- are you two really- you two are already- but RON, you JUST got out of a MARRIAGE!" She yelled, vividly angry all of a sudden.
"MUM, I'M NOT EVEN DATING HERMIONE!" Ron shouted ridiculously.
"Oh." Mrs. Weasley said quietly, blinking. She turned to Hermione. "Well then..." She cleared her throat. "Hermione, dear, how have you been?"
