. . . Chapter 10

. . . Snoggles and Snogging . . .

After they picked up their robes, Ron and Harry headed by Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes. As they walked through the front door, the typical tidal wave of sound rolled over them. Girls were squealing at the love potions, an Anti Gravity Hat whirred by his head, and Ron noticed a new product poster.

Harry Potter's Glasses: Turn all your friends into this knight in shining armor and give some to your friends so you'll look also like the charmer. COMING SOON!

Ron frowned at the electric red, glittering poster and walked toward the back with Harry following close behind.

"Guess George has a new product, yeah?" Harry asked Ron, quietly with a hint of humor in his voice.

"Looks like it. Tactful," said Ron. It might be in bad taste but Ron was secretly thrilled that George had made the decision to continue with creating new products. He'd have to tell Hermione when they got back to the Burrow.

Lee was helping a few younger girls choose Pygmy Puffs in the corner near the window so Ron ducked under the counter and knocked on the store room door.

"George?"

" 'moment!"

" S'me, Ron and Harry."

They heard a bang from behind the door and then some decidedly foul smelling blue haze started wafting under the door at their feet. George threw the door open, goggles on, hair blackened, and a bubble head charm covering his mouth and nose.

"Hiya Ron, Harry. Need something?"

Ron stared at him. He was being so . . . normal. It was unsettling and reassuring all at once.

"No, inventing something?" He asked, holding his nose shut.

"Oh, yes. Snoggle Bombs. Smell like those Snoggle weeds that Professor Spout showed our class in first year? Second year? Something like that. How bad are they?"

Ron's eyes were watering and Harry had a hand clamped over his mouth.

"Horrible," Harry said through his hand. Ron glanced at him and saw Harry's eyes tearing up as well.

"Ah - Excellent! Come in!"

Ron and Harry walked back into the Store Room, there was an enormous list posted to one of the wood sided walls. Ron recognized some of George's handwriting and some of Freds. Heart leaping at Fred's handwriting, Ron scanned the list. Fred's suggestions were "Harry Potter's Glasses - turns everyone into Harrys, Snoggle Bombs - self explanatory, Fire Jars - light in a jar, Swimmer Sweggals - charm that makes Sweggals swim through the air, Instant Imagination - daydream potion, Acceptus Absorbus - makes anyone feel friendly and social for two hours, Instant Admonishment Mail - punishment for people being naughty chose the person and goes straight to them like a howler but meaner. . . " Ron quit scanning the list when George coughed behind him as he took off the bubble charm.

"Merlin's pants!" George sputtered as he was hit with the smell. "Nailed it!" He said brightly.

Ron turned around to George happily, he'd been worried after he and Harry had talked with Hermione that George wasn't going to be able to move on without some damaging habits but this, Fred's list, was going to be his outlet. He missed Fred so much, this felt like the right thing, really, for him and for George. Ron suddenly remembered what his mum had said -

"Oh, George, Saturday. Would you want to be leaving with us from the Burrow? A few Aurors were going to Apparate with us to the Ministry for the ceremony and ball."

"Hm? No, I'll probably just leave from here. Lee got an invitation too and we'll probably go together, yeah? Alright?" George turned to ask him.

"Yeah, just owl mum and tell her, she'll want to know," he suggested.

"Can do," George said, turning excitedly back to the Snoggle Bombs. Ron and Harry turned to head for the door of the store room.

"Oi, got the Floo back hooked up for the shop to the house, use it! Make sure it works," George called at them, pointing them out the door where the shop's fireplace was.

Ron's thoughts went immediately to the list, had there been anything there about jokes and the Floo network? He'd only scanned for Fred's handwriting. Harry seemed more trusting than Ron felt, striding over to the fireplace and confidently grabbing a handful of Floo Powder. When Harry said "The Burrow" and disappeared without incident, Ron reluctantly copied him and landed on the floor of the living room, holding the bag with his dress robes without incident. He looked at Harry who had his back turned to him and was facing a mirror.

"What is it! Are we - " Ron asked, scrambling to get a view of himself in the mirror. He and Harry were wearing a delightful palette of full makeup - rogue, stuff on their eyes, lipstick. Harry was grinning at his reflection and Ron let out a stream of words he wasn't proud of just as his mum and Ginny came into the room. Ron and Harry turned around, Harry smirking but blushing in front of Ginny and Ron fuming. Ginny let out a guttural laugh that shook the living room.

"Mum! We just came from the shop and - "

"You look lovely Ronald, Harry!" Ginny guffawed.

Mum had a hand on her heart like she was looking at two five year olds that got into her makeup and she'd never seen anything sweeter in her whole life - she'd gone mental.

"George had prank Floo Powder!" Ron finished, yelling.

Then mum's weird, maternal look connected. Ron realized that George hadn't pranked anyone in the last two weeks until now. George was coming back, slowly.

Then from beside him, Harry started chuckling and Ron, pissed off as he was, let himself smile. He turned to go upstairs and mum started laughing as well. Fred would always be with them somehow. Ron walked up to the bathroom, dropping his new robes in his room as he went, and as he washed his face, Ron decided he'd have to memorize that list of Fred and George's.

That night, the mood at dinner felt immensely lighter than any meal had yet at the Burrow. Mum and dad were in better sprits. Hermione informed the table that she had received permission from Kingsley, who would speak with McGonagall in the next day or two, to take her NEWTS and get lessons by owl and begin working with the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures which Ron had been pleased was toasted excitedly by his dad. Ron and Harry had told his parents about their decision to accept Kingsley's offer to become Aurors, bypassing their completion of Hogwarts and dad had toasted again. Ginny had looked a bit sullen at that bit of news but smiled when she caught Ron's eye.

He knew Harry and Ginny were pleasant again, talking at least. He knew she was still a bit sore about being left out of the whole of last year but she'd come around - she was just proving a point, Ron thought.

After dinner, Ron had challenged Harry to a game of Exploding Snap and Hermione had watched and laughed with them instead of going off to find a book or something more 'intellectual'. For a little while, he felt like they were all normal, eighteen year olds who just played Exploding Snap and had calm, enjoyable summer nights.

Ron was playing quidditch over the orchard in the backyard against Harry. Ginny was on Ron's team. He and Ginny had just scored against Harry - a feat in and of itself when he heard what sounded distinctly like an eight hundred pound cat was purring under them. He looked down and saw a huge, blue-furred creature galloping through the orchard below them. It had enormous yellow horns. Ron flew up a little higher to get away from it and then Luna suddenly appeared on his broom behind him.

"Oh that's the Crumple-Horned Snorkack! They're usually not found so far west!"

Ron was startled by Luna's voice and was falling off his broom, plummeting toward the ground below -

He jumped so hard that he shook himself awake. The sun was peaking over the tree outside his window. Ron groaned and turned back over in his bed.

After a few minutes of trying to go back to sleep, a light tap-tap of a fingernail sounded at his door.

"Ronald?" Hermione's voice.

"Yeah? S'unlocked," he whispered back to her.

Hermione's face appeared as she gently swung Ron's door open, cringing when the hinges complained loudly about being used. She looked at Harry who was still sleeping and walked over to Ron's bed. He scooted over for her to sit beside him and propped himself up on his side. When she got closer, Ron noticed that she looked shaken up a bit.

"Alright?" he whispered. His voice shook a bit, betraying his worry.

She turned to face him better and brought one of her legs up onto the bed.

"Yeah, just. . .I don't sleep really well every night anymore. . ."

"Waking up a lot?" he asked, thinking that that probably wasn't the case, it hadn't been the case at Bill and Fleur's.

"No," she smiled a little, "I wish. Nightmares about. . . well some about the battle but mostly about what happened at the manor or about Greyback. It's just. . . It's like it's following me around, you know?"

Ron reached out and grabbed her unscarred arm and pulled her closer to him so that she had to reposition and lay down. They were laying on their sides, facing each other.

He put his hand on her waist over her dark green Holyhead Harpies shirt - Ginny's - and pulled her a bit nearer. He lifted the orange blanket and pulled her closer still and spread the blanket so that she was under it with him. His feet were sticking out now but he didn't dare kick them around or move too much.

He leaned in and kissed her forehead softly, she smelled perfect. The contact and her smell made his pulse race uncomfortably. He dropped his head onto the pillow and wrapped his arms around her tightly, bringing her face against his chest. There was nothing he could say about Greyback that would comfort her but he knew after they had spent a couple nights in this very position in Shell Cottage that she would feel safe enough with him to be able to go back to sleep.

After a few minutes, Ron could feel her deeper breathing against his shirt. Ron tried to force himself to go back to sleep but he couldn't concentrate with the way Hermione was pressed against him. They were chest to chest, hip to hip. He swallowed hard and tried not to concentrate on the fact that he couldn't feel the presence of a bra. The front of her feet rested against his shins, one of her hands was under her face, and her other arm was over his side so that the tips of her small fingers barely brushed against his back. His Hermione, breathing peacefully in his arms.

When the sun had risen and was shining into his room, highlighting Hermione's cheek and eyelashes, Ron heard Harry turn over on his cot. Ron shifted so he could unwrap his arms from around Hermione - best not to have his mum walk in to wake them up for their meeting with the Reviewers and find them snuggled up in his bed like they'd been that way all night, which they pretty much had.

Ron gently got up and left Hermione on his pillow and headed downstairs to find Ginny already up in the kitchen.

"You're up early. Have a good morning, have you?" Ginny smirked at him.

Right, she'd woken up and Hermione was gone. He tried to keep his ears from reddening - a losing battle - so he walked over and grabbed a cup and poured himself some of the tea she'd made.

"I'm just taking the mickey out of you," Ginny said smiling, "I think it's great. It's about time. Thought you'd mess it up forever with your fooling around in fifth year - oh, your sixth, I suppose. Fancy a look at the Prophet? You said they were going after Avery?"

Ron nodded at her and she slid him the Daily Prophet across the table.

The headline read "DEATH EATERS AVERY AND SCALENS CAPTURED, TAKEN TO AZKABAN" Ron scanned the article quickly and recognized the names of a few people - Parnell, and his heart dropped, Alicia Spinnet whose Muggle mother had been killed by Avery sometime during the last year.

"Well that's two more at least, then," he said, looking back up at Ginny who was nodding solemnly. They sat together in silence for a few minutes, sipping their tea.

"Oh! Sorry, forgot - owl brought this half an hour ago for the three of you," Ron noticed a twinge in her voice as she said 'three' and looked up to see her handing him a letter with a Ministry seal.

Good Morning,

Parnell is busy with paperwork on last night's raid. Today's meeting is cancelled. We'll resume tomorrow at nine am.

Lenora

"Meeting is cancelled for today," Ron said, relieved. They'd hardly had a break since the final battle and looked forward to spending the day doing nothing.

"Are you aware that Hermione is in your bed?" Harry asked, appearing at the landing above the kitchen. Half of his hair was standing straight up and his eyes were still swollen from sleep and he had lines on his face where the sheet had been crumpled under his head.

"Are you aware that you look like a complete git?" snipped Ron, glancing around in fear that his mum had heard Harry's bloody announcement.

Harry just smiled at him and took the seat beside Ginny. After a moment, Ron could tell Harry and Ginny were eyeing each other and with the way they were sitting they were probably holding hands. He felt unquestionably out of place so he stood up and headed back to his room and the brunette in his bed.

When he got back to his room, Hermione had wrapped her arms around his pillow and he smiled down at her, cracking the door behind him.

He sat on the bed beside her and put his hand on the hip of her pajama shorts .

"Hm?" she yawned and stretched, slowly opening her eyes to him in the lit room. She turned so that she was on her back.

"Oh, sorry. . .I was just, erm. . . " he realized he didn't know where he was headed with that sentence so he just looked at her sleepy, smiling face.

"Oh, thanks for this morning," she said, sitting up in bed. "That makes twice this week so that's an improvement." She finished with a laugh but Ron could tell she was bothered by it.

"Well, if it makes you feel any better, I had a dream about the Crumple-Horned Snorkack. Luna was riding a broom with me," he flicked his eyes over her face as he spoke. Her face relaxed.

She laughed and looked at him. "Loads better."

She leaned closer to him and his stomach fluttered as she closed her eyes and kissed him, harder than he had expected. He responded by taking the weight off of his arm and grabbing her shoulder, pulling her closer to himself. After a minute or more he deepened the kiss and leaned into her, gently laying Hermione back on the mattress and tilting so that his torso was above hers. All his nerves were on fire as she gave his tongue entry into her mouth for the first time. Hermione groaned lightly against his mouth and Ron moved the hand without his weight on it and grazed her side until he reached her waist, pulling her up against his chest. Her arms wrapped around his back and Ron's thoughts ran wild for the next few minutes. Hermione. Hermione. Hermione in his bed. Hermione snogging him senseless. Hermione that he could lean back and lay on top of - a pop sounded from outside and he broke away from the kiss.

Hermione was breathing heavily, looking up at him as if in a daze. Ron noticed her lips were slightly red and swollen. It made him prouder than it should have.

"Why'd you . . ." she started to ask him.

"Somebody just got here. Sound outside," he was surprised at how calm that whisper sounded when he spoke, every inch of him was tingling.

She sat up quickly and made to put her feet on the floor but before she stood she leaned to him and gave him a quick kiss. When she pulled away from him her eyes were still shut. "I love you, Ron Weasley."

He grinned at her even though she couldn't see it. "I love you, Hermione Granger."

It had been Mr. Weasley that had Apparated in from a raid. After they had a very late breakfast, Hermione motioned for Ron to follow her in the living room and he noticed she had her beaded bag in hand. Harry and Ginny were sharing a seat. Ron eyed them warily and started to wonder if he should say something but Hermione put a hand on his arm. He looked at her.

"I wondered if you would want to look through some of my thing I brought from my parents' house?" she asked them, looking around the room. "I have a few old pictures of us that are pretty funny but I also wanted to look through some of their files and. . . you know. . .everything else."

She sat in the middle of the floor of the room and as Ron, Harry, and Ginny all agreed that they wanted to go through her things with her. She opened the beaded bag and used her wand to draw out an enormous book - light green with her initials, HJG, sewed onto the front. Ron wondered if she had sewn that. Did Hermione know how to sew? Probably, he decided.

"Before school and everything got so difficult, I used to save everything in this book. Since about fourth year, I've thrown things into the back so it's a little disorganized as of late."

They spent the rest of the morning laughing at old pictures of Hermione and themselves and comforting Hermione when she would flip to a page with her parents. She didn't cry about it but did tear up a few times. Ron knew she was holding it in, being strong for them. . .

When they read her parent's will and last wishes, Hermione wasn't surprised about the will- they had left her everything - but was taken aback that they had very exact last wishes down to what songs would be sung in the church funeral and what readings they wanted read. Before Ron could blink, Hermione had slammed the file closed and gone upstairs in a hurry and Ron heard the shower turn on a minute later. She'd gone to cry, alone. He wondered how many times she'd done that since the manor.

When she reemerged from upstairs Ron and Harry suggested going to look at houses and she'd smiled brightly at them. Ron had known that it would take time for Hermione, his family, and himself to heal but he was anxious for that nagging, cold feeling to quit dragging them back down into despair from the happy spot they had so recently reached.