Hi! This chapter is a day early as I am going away for the week. I hope that you like this chapter, it's been one of my favourites to write.
Thank you to my beta, ObssessedRHShipper and all of you who have reviewed so far.
CHAPTER NINE
oOo
Hermione woke up when the sun crept though the pale curtains. She took her medication and got changed. This took a while but she managed it in the end and using her crutch went to the kitchen. Using a spell she learnt yesterday, she waved her wand and the kettle started brewing. Once the tea was done, she took her mug and went and sat in the armchair. As she sat down, she noticed a note on a large red book.
Good morning Hermione.
I left my scrapbook and letters if you wanted to look through them. If I'm not awake by the time you're done, wake me up!
Love, Ron
It was in his scrawl but his thoughtfulness made her smile. She picked up the book and opened it.
The Life of Hermione Granger and I. Beneath it was a post-it note which Ron had stuck down, 'It's Hermione and me, you know.' in what was her handwriting. Ron replied cheekily on the note, 'Yes, Miss Granger.' She flipped the page.
Even though it occurred in the middle of the war, there was a picture of her running towards Ron outside the Room of Requirement. He picked her up and responded enthusiastically before it looped. Magic really was amazing.
The following pages had tickets taped in. There were tickets to an ice rink and a muggle picture of Ron falling over and Hermione laughing behind him. Hermione smiled at the picture and let out a small giggle.
There were train tickets to the South Sea and a picture of Harry, Ginny, Ron and herself eating ice cream. There was another of just her frowning at the camera in her red bikini and sun hat; she deduced it was taken by Ron.
There were VIP tickets to the Weird Sisters concert and a picture of them grinning with the band members.
Beneath that, there were top box tickets to a Chudley Cannons match and a picture of her with orange face paint and an oversized shirt which probably belonged to Ron. Another picture beside it showed Ron slightly disappointed, so she assumed the Cannons lost.
There was another pair for the Commemorative Ball at Hogwarts and a picture of the two dancing. Well, really, it was just the two gazing affectionately into each other's eyes and swaying.
Finally, the last page displayed a pair of tickets to a theme park and a picture of the two on a roller coaster. Ron was madly grinning while she appeared to be screaming. 'That was bloody brilliant' was scribbled beside it.
She looked through the book again, looking at how content they were and wondering whether they could be like that again.
She set the book aside and reached for the box. When she opened it, she found it was full of letters all sorted in chronological order. She opened the first one.
Dear Ron,
How are you? How's your holiday? Is Harry there with you yet?
Anyway, at the end of term we discussed meeting in Diagon Alley when we all go for our school supplies. What day were you all planning on going?
Hermione
Hermione leafed through a couple and picked out one from the summer of 1994.
Ron,
My parents said that I could come over for the Quidditch World Cup and stay until we return to school if that's still alright. Will I be meeting you at Diagon Alley again?
Hermione
She picked up another one that was slightly crumpled.
Ron,
How are you? I feel really bad about leaving Harry in the dark; he's sent me loads of letters. I know Professor Dumbledore told us not to correspond with him but can we not send him one letter, just to tell him that we're okay?
Is your dad still picking me up to come over? I haven't told my parents what happened and I really want to talk about what's going on with someone that will understand so I can't wait to see you and Ginny.
Love, Hermione
Hermione skimmed a few and picked up another one, which was splattered in teardrops.
Ron,
I'm know I can't tell you what I've done but I'll be Apparating over tomorrow at noon to the place just outside the pond. I'll tell you then.
Love, Hermione
Crookshanks came and curled up beside her.
"How are you, Crookshanks? I didn't mean to forget you." She petted the half-kneazle and he purred.
Ron,
I hope you got home okay. Guess who the head boy is? Draco Malfoy. Don't get angry; he's changed, a bit. He's quiet and seems to be avoiding people when he can. We have head duties and share a common room, but I can look after myself so don't fret.
There are less students than normal this year but there are more seventh years. Most of our Gryffindor classmates are back. McGonagall gave a wonderful speech and announced Hestia Jones as the new DADA teacher. The corridors are unusually quiet sometimes but there were a lot of people looking at the commemorative plaque. The castle looks as good as new!
I've got to finish up the prefect rotation so I'll finish this letter. I miss you already even though it's only been ten hours, Hogwarts feels strange without you and Harry. I'll let you know when the next Hogsmeade visit is as soon as I can.
I love you,
Hermione
Ron,
Thank you for all my birthday presents! I love them and the bracelet is beautiful. The quill is very elegant and I really like the colour. Thank you for sending another shirt; I assume you realised I pinched a few because they smell of you.
The first Hogsmeade visit is on Halloween; make sure you tell George to give you the day off!
I've got to finish my Charms essay but I'll see you soon. I love you,
Hermione
Ron,
We've just spent the whole Christmas holiday together but I already miss you. Thank you for the presents, especially the new diary; how did you know I needed a new one?
I hope you like your new shirts; I think the colours will compliment your hair well. Why did you put your maroon jumper in my trunk? I have my own now! I'm still ecstatic about it! I know you think there's nothing special about them but it makes me feel accepted, that and they're extremely comfy. Maybe I should ask your mum to teach me how to knit the next time I visit.
I better get to sleep. I love you,
Hermione
Hermione read a few more until she found one on bright orange parchment.
RON!
HAPPY BIRTHDAY, LOVE! I couldn't wait until the Hogsmeade visit to give you your presents, so I've sent part of it here.
Read the rest of this letter before you open it. I just want to tell you that I love you and I really miss you. I know I've said it before but it really is weird here without you and Harry. You'll get the rest of your present next weekend. See you then.
Love, Hermione.
P.S Do you like the bright orange paper? I thought it would catch your eye and make you open it first.
Hermione read all the ones after this, imagining his replies. She came to the last one.
Ron,
This is probably the last letter I'll send to you from Hogwarts. While that seems depressing, I'll have you in my arms by tomorrow!
We're having a party in the common room to celebrate the end of the year and the Quidditch Cup. Unfortunately we didn't win the House Cup; that went to Ravenclaw.
The graduation ceremony starts at 11 so make sure you're not late! Ginny and I will be waiting for you and Harry by the entrance to the Great Hall at quarter to before we go out and take our seats. Your mother told me that our parents are coming together; that shall be interesting.
I can't believe I'm leaving Hogwarts again! It feels like leaving home. That reminds me, I haven't decided where I'm going to stay. Your mother has invited me to stay at the Burrow but my mum has asked me to go home, which will be slightly inconvenient.
I haven't decided but I'll probably spend some time at both before I make my mind up. Oh, a first year is crying in the common room, so I've got to go.
Love, Hermione
That was the last letter and it was nearly nine. She returned the letters to the box, feeling even closer to Ron. As she got up, Crookshanks jumped off her and went to sit in his bed.
She knocked on the door of the guest room and there was no answer so she slowly opened it. She found Ron topless on his front, his arm and leg dangling off of the small bed. Hermione moved closer and noticed that his back was peppered with pale freckles. She softly said, "Ron, wake up." He snored and turned his head to face her. He was covered in light ginger stubble and his hair was all tousled. Hermione's cheeks warmed; she had been denying it for the last week but she had to admit that she was attracted to him. She repeated it, more firmly this time, but he still didn't wake. She reached out to brush his ginger hair from his eyes; she found it incredibly soft and stroked the rest of his hair.
"Her-mi-oh-nee..." he groaned. Hermione realised he wouldn't wake easily. She looked around and found what she was looking for.
"Ow!" Ron sat up. "What did you do that for?" He rubbed his eyes and stretched.
"You wouldn't wake up," she replied innocently as she returned the pillow, "and you did tell me how to wake you up once I finished reading."
"You're right, but you didn't have to be so violent." He smirked, which let her know he was teasing; his hand ran through his hair.
She grinned back. He was very good-looking, Quidditch and Auror training must have helped define those muscles, she thought.
"Have you eaten?" Hermione gave a negative response. "Okay, let me change and I'll get breakfast ready, unless you want to stay." He added with his famous lopsided grin. Hermione gave him a smile but left the room. Ron grabbed her arm, making her turn around.
"Sorry, too soon. I didn't mean to make you feel uncomfortable." Ron blushed. He's adorable, she thought.
"It's fine," she smiled again, pushing his hair out of his eyes again and leaving the room to find her cat.
She found him running around in circles following Pigwidgeon who was flapping around trying to get away from the 'bloody beast.'
"Crookshanks, calm down. Pig, come here please." Crookshanks ignored her but Pig came to a hover in front of her. She took the note and led Pig to his cage where she fed him a treat. She petted Pig and he hooted.
The letter was addressed to 'Mr. Weasley' in emerald ink.
"Is that mine?" Ron walked in doing up the last buttons on his blue-checkered shirt. He took the letter from her and waved his wand, ingredients starting flying out of the fridge and cupboards.
He eagerly opened the letter, and handed it back to her.
"Read it out loud," he said, as he started cracking eggs into a bowl.
"Mr. Weasley, I received an owl from your mother asking whether you could visit Hogwarts with Ms. Granger. You two are welcome at any point; the fireplace in my office has been opened and will remain open to you for the rest of the day. I am aware of the situation and I offer my services; if you need anything else please do not hesitate to ask. When you visit, I only require you follow one simple guideline: do not disturb the students. I hope Ms. Granger makes a swift recovery. Yours sincerely, Minerva McGonagall."
"Shall we go after breakfast then?" he asked, leading them to the dining table.
"Yes, if you don't mind."
"Why would I mind?"
Hermione shrugged as they sat down. They ate their breakfast silently and quickly. Hermione frequently felt Ron's eyes gazing at her, but when she looked up he diverted his gaze, though she did catch him as she finished her toast.
"Why do you keep watching me?"
Ron shrugged."Habit, I suppose. That and you're beautiful." He smiled as his ears turned scarlet and she blushed; he quickly excused himself to the kitchen, taking their plates.
They both got ready to go and after half an hour, they flooed directly into Professor McGonagall's office. She wasn't there but she left a note.
Mr. Weasley and Miss. Granger,
I'm afraid I cannot give you a tour as I am teaching, but I'm sure you'll manage fine on your own. Remember, help is always available. The password to get back in here is 'Animagus.'
Minerva McGonagall
"Well let's get started." Ron rubbed his hands and led her down the spiral staircase. "Where to first, Miss Granger?"
"Could we see the common room?"
"We don't know the password, but we could ask the Fat Lady."
They made their way to the Gryffindor Tower, with Ron carrying Hermione over the crazy stairs.
"Hello, you two are back! Where's Harry Potter?"
"It's just us two. We don't have the password but we were wondering whether you could let us in."
"I'm afraid not, unless you have the password." she replied sadly.
Ron played the hero card. "Do we really need a password to get in? We're two parts of the Golden Trio. Oh well, if you insist, I'll carry Hermione all the way back to the Headmistress' office to ask for the password."
The Fat Lady pursed her lips, "Oh, go on then. Just this once, mind you." She swung open to reveal the passage.
Ron motioned for her to go first, carefully hobbling over the step and into the common room. She walked around admiring the decor. It was magnificent, even better than how it appeared in the Pensieve; portraits of wizards and witches hung on the scarlet and gold walls.
"Wow, it's really impressive." They left and went to visit the Trophy Room, the kitchens, and the library and then they went to visit Hagrid, who was absolutely delighted to see them. They explored the grounds with Ron levitating Hermione over the uneven terrain. Ron told her stories of their adventures in Hogwarts as she rediscovered her old school.
"Let's have a picnic." Ron unexpectedly exclaimed, clapping his hands together.
"We're not quite prepared for one.
Ron raised an eyebrow, smirked and took a small box out of his coat pocket before enlarging it. Ron lifted the picnic mat and laid it on the floor. They sat down and started eating the biscuits and pasta he prepared earlier.
"This is delicious."
"I'm glad you think so." He gave her a lop-sided grin and Hermione's heart tugged. After exploring everything Hogwarts had to offer, they took a carriage down to Hogsmeade.
They walked past Madam Puddifoots and into Honeydukes. Ron couldn't throw the strange feeling of being watched, but assumed he was being paranoid. He purchased some Fizzing Whizzbees and a couple of chocolate frogs and placed them into his miniature picnic basket. They left the shop and made their way to the Three Broomsticks. Suddenly a tall man pulled out his wand and turned to face the pair. Ron shoved Hermione behind him, whipping out his wand immediately.
"Protego!" Ron yelled just in time. Onlookers fled, apparating away from the scene.
"Stupefy."
"Protego."
"Sectumsempra." The hooded figure had his wand trained on the two and a bright flash of light emerged.
Ron pushed Hermione to the ground and out of harm's way and cast a non-verbal shield around the two of them. The Sectumsempra curse rebounded off of it. The figure started casting a disarming spell.
Ron used another shield and sent an offensive spell back. This went on for a minute, spells being cast back and forth. Hermione had extracted her wand and thinking of which spells she knew, she used a Stunning Spell which was aimed perfectly towards their target. Lyons, who was one of the Aurors watching them, also cast a Stunning Spell and the power of those knocked the target out.
Ron followed up with a Full Body-Bind Curse and took the wand from his hand.
He cast Incarcerous and ropes started binding up the unknown figure. Ron turned his attention back to Hermione while Lyons went to see who was beneath the mask.
"You alright?" His voice was full of concern. He offered her a hand and hoisted her up. Ron surveyed the surrounding area.
"I'm fine, slightly shocked is all." She dusted off her hands.
"Okay. I'll send a message to the Aurors and we'll go as soon as they arrive." Ron summoned his Patronus and sent messages to Kingsley and Harry.
A few moments later, Harry appeared with Kingsley.
"Ron, Hermione, are you both okay?"
"We're fine. Get the nasty bugger into Azkaban."
"Do you recognise him?" Kingsley asked in his loud voice.
Ron and Harry both shook their heads.
"We'll take him in and get him into a holding cell. He might be under a Polyjuice potion or in a disguise so we'll wait for any charms or potions to fade and then interrogate him in the morning. I'll need a full statement, but I'm sure it can wait til tomorrow."
"Do you think he's working alone?"
"There's no way he knew we were coming today; it was probably an unplanned attack. As for if he's working alone, probably not." Ron answered. Kingsley who was looking around nodded.
"Do you want me to take him in?" Harry asked.
Kingsley replied, "Yes. I'll see you both tomorrow." He gave a parting wave before apparating away.
"Right, I'll see you tomorrow, Harry. I'm on this case whether you like it or not. I want the notes on the case too."
"But you're supposed to be on personal leave!"
"I don't care; I'm working tomorrow." Harry gave Hermione a questioning look, almost a plead to help.
"Ron," she touched his arm, "I thought that we were going to invite my parents over? Besides, I'm sure Harry and the Auror officers are more than capable."
With his jaw clenched, he replied, "We'll see. Let's go home now." Ron offered his hand which Hermione took in her small one. Harry waved back, but before Hermione could return it, Ron apparated them home.
They fell back onto the sofa and Ron moved back a bit.
"How's your leg? is it okay?" he asked, lifting it onto his lap, making her lay down on the sofa.
"Yes, it's fine. I'm fine." She repositioned a cushion behind her head.
"So your parents are coming tomorrow?"
"Maybe... Well, no, but I want them to."
"Do you want to call them and tell them about today?"
After a second, Hermione answered, "No." Ron raised his eyebrow. "It would only make my mum worry more and she would want me to go home."
"Don't you want to go home?"
"Not really," Hermione blushed. "I don't see a problem with staying here." Ron smiled.
"You still like Hawaiian pizza right?" Hermione nodded. Ron flicked his wand. "I'm sure your mum will ring later. Mind watching TV while we wait for the pizza?" Hermione shook her head.
Ron switched the TV on and settled on a football match. Ron had a small interest in it, often watching matches with Mr. Granger.
Hermione soon grew bored of the match. Her eyes darted around the room, looking around the place she helped decorate- the place she once called home.
" What interests you most about muggles?"
Ron turned the match off and diverted his attention. "It's got to be their technology. Especially the aeroplanes. I still don't see how they stay up. Though their fairy tales are funny."
"Is my copy of The Tales of Beedle the Bard here?" The pizza was ready and floated in on trays. They began eating the pizza.
"I expect it's on one of yourbookshelves, though it's written in Ancient Runes."
"Oh." Hermione said disappointed. As he took a bite of his pizza, he noticed her deflated look.
"I'm guessing you wanted to read them?" Hermione nodded. "I could tell you them after we've eaten. I was told them when I was younger." Hermione's face lit up. Her eyes rested on the red-haired man beside her. His hair was messy but short and his stubble made him look older.
"So you support the Chudley Cannons, even though they are the underdogs. What football team do you support?"
"West Ham, like your father. He took me to one of their matches once; it was brilliant."
"But you prefer Quidditch." she said knowingly.
"Of course," he smiled.
"Do you prefer the morning or night?"
"Definitely night, I'm not a morning person," he chuckled.
"Why do you check on me during the night?"
"I - Well I- I didn't -" Ron was unable to form coherent sentences, so Hermione interjected.
"I know because you leave the door open and you have dark circles under your eyes, which shows you're not sleeping well."
Ron cleared his throat. "I'm just used to sleeping with you." Ron blushed at the possible interpretation of his words. "I mean, sleep. It's weird not having you beside me."
"It's fine. Have we... you and I - were we intimate?" Hermione blushed, but this was one of the things Ginny couldn't tell her and she wanted to know.
"Yes." Ron's cheeks turned scarlet. As if he was reading her mind, he added, "I was your first; you were my first. A month after you moved in."
"Okay, I just needed to know." Hermione smiled and changed to a lighter topic. "What's your favourite pizza?"
"Pepperoni, but I don't mind Hawaiian."
"I'm sure you don't mind anything, from what your brothers told me," she grinned.
After they finished their pizza, Ron retold the tale of Babbity Rabbity and her Cackling Stump, which was his favourite. They were briefly interrupted by a call from Mrs. Granger who was coming over the next day.
"Should we hit the hay?" Hermione murmured her agreement as her eyelids began to fall. Ron carefully lifted her to her bed and cast cleaning charms.
"Goodnight, Hermione." He brushed her hair from her face and kissed her forehead, the only place he felt comfortable kissing.
He was about to leave the room when she muttered, "Stay."
"What?" Ron turned around and snapped.
"Please stay," she patted the bed before turning away from him. Ron didn't know what to do. Was she saying it just because he mentioned he missed it or because she wanted him to?
Ron changed into his pyjamas and slipped in beside her, resisting the urge to wrap his arms around her in case it wasn't what she wanted.
oOo
By morning, Hermione was entangled in his arms, her head leaning on his chest. He must have agreed with her last request.
She looked up to see he was still sleeping and tried to recall her peculiar dream that seemed almost like a vision. Skipping stones?
"Ron?" she asked softly, lifting her head from his chest.
"Mmm, Hermione," he murmured sleepily.
"I need to ask you something, wake up!"
"Can't it wait?" he groaned.
"No, it's quite important." she replied, getting frustrated.
"Okay, two seconds."
"One, two." He opened his eyes.
"I'm awake. You have my undivided attention."
"Have we ever been skipping stones before?"
After a long second of thought, "Yeah, when we were on the hunt. Why?" He released his tight hold so he could see her face.
"I had this dream where we were skipping stones. You were teaching me how. Except didn't feel like a dream...no, I don't think so. It was so real."
"This is brilliant, I can't believe it! You're brilliant, Hermione." His eyes shone with happiness. "Do you remember anything else?"
Hermione blushed, "No."
"Don't worry, love, I know it will all come back to you. Now tell me what you saw?"
She's remembered something! Anyway, review and I'll give you a virtual cookie! Still looking for fanfic recs too.
