Author's Note: Yeah, it's a new chapter! I'm really sorry it took me so long, but real life sucks at the moment and I didn't have the time or the mood to update.
Now I want to thank all of you who left me a review and message of support. I love you guys!
I want to thank me anonymous reviewers: kwood, Sarden, Marina, alexyss, Person With No Name, lubi, RomanceInParis, PirateKing, RoNhEr4EvEr, Valia, shays, Jess89, lunabrown, Malori Torey, Kmac, stephanie birkett, weasleyyy, for their reviews and nice words.
I'm not so sure that I replied to all my signed reviewers so if I forgot to do it, I'm really sorry.
A huge hug and thank you to ObsessedRHShipper for her wonderful help as a beta, despite her busy schedule. She's simply wonderful! :)
Just a warning. It's time for my story to earn the M rating, so things from now on will be more "adult". I doubt I have the slightest talent writing smut, but I hope it's not completely dreadful.
To say that Ron and Hermione were toying with the idea of murdering Fred and George at this very moment would be an understatement. Just when things seemed great and they had admitted their feelings and were getting ready to shag each other's brains to eternity after weeks or years of longing, those two wankers, as Ron called them (and for the first time Hermione didn't scold him for his language) ruined their moment by deciding to pay them a visit in their room, just to see how they were hanging!
Being the twins, they didn't knock first of course, so they caught them in a very active position. Ron was naked from the waist up and he was on top of Hermione. He had his right hand under Hermione's shirt copping a feel of her bra-covered breast, and Hermione had one hand on his back and the other one a little lower grabbing his buttocks, while they kept kissing and moaning.
Hermione couldn't explain the feeling. She had sexual experiences in the past, but what Ron was doing to her body and mind was something she had never felt before. She had no control. Ron owned every inch of her body at that moment. He could do anything to her and she would happily agree. She felt like the whole purpose of her existence was that moment…that moment where Ron would make her his and he would show her the difference between having sex and making love.
And just like that, God decided to pull a prank on them, sending two of his best servants for this particular job. With amusement drawn on their faces, they stood by the door giving her and Ron winks, thumbs up and wolf whistles.
"I won't say it again, tossers! Get the hell out of my room!" Ron shouted in anger.
"Tsk, tsk, tsk, little brother! What kind of language is that?" George said faking a shocked expression on his face.
"Wait til mum hears that, Ronniekins," Fred added.
"Go on and tell her. Just get out!" Ron shouted again standing up from the bed.
Fred and George shared a look and started chuckling. "Easy there, little brother, or from what I'm seeing not so little," Fred sniggered.
"Yeah, relax a bit. Looks like you're going to shoot someone with that gun between your legs," George said pointing with his eyes to Ron's erection.
Hermione's eyes went immediately to Ron's crotch. She had to admit that it did look like Ron was hiding a gun underneath his trousers. Blushing hard, she looked away.
Oh, please, like you weren't feeling it pressed hard against you when he was on top of you, hypocrite, Hermione said to herself.
She kept herself quiet for a few moments waiting for the twins to leave, but after seeing how angry Ron was, and how the twins did not intend to stop their provoking of Ron or of leaving the room, she decided to take matters into her own hands.
"Fred, George, leave now or else I'm going to have a nice talk with your mother. You know very well how she's going to react once I'll tell her that you two entered our room without knocking while I was naked," she said giving them a determined look.
"What are you talking about? You're fully clothed," Fred commented confused and George nodded in agreement.
"That's not going to be my version of the story," Hermione said with a devilish smirk on her face. "Who do you think your mum is going to believe? Me or you two?"
The twins were shocked at this. They would never have expected such sneaky behaviour from proper Hermione Granger, but the look on her face showed them that they should probably do what she asked. They looked at each other for a moment, and they started whispering to each other before turning back to Hermione a minute later.
"Well, look at the time," George said looking at the watch on his wrist.
"Yeah, time to go," Fred agreed and Hermione smiled victoriously.
That will teach them, she thought with great satisfaction.
"We're going to let you two love birds continue where you left off and enjoy your little noon shag. Because big brothers don't cockblock," Fred stated looking at Ron who gave him a murderous look back.
"Exactly that, but please do all of us a favour. Keep your moaning down. There are little kids in this house and the last thing I want my son to hear is how good our little brother can satisfy his lady," George said.
Or not since he can't seem to get a chance to, Hermione thought again sighing. These two are never going to change.
"Get out and close the door behind you… now!" Ron gritted through his teeth in clear anger.
Both Fred and George held their hands up to show that they were leaving and Ron should stop being hostile towards them.
The moment the door closed behind the twins, Ron let out a deep sigh as he sat down on the bed next to her.
"I'm sorry about this, but don't worry. Saturday, when we go to the factory, I'll lock them inside the fireworks warehouse and throw a match inside, so they won't bother us again, alright?" he joked causing Hermione to smile at his words.
"I'll bring my shotgun just in case," Hermione joked back.
They laughed for a while, but then an unwelcome tension joined them. Neither of them knew what there was supposed to do now. Should they continue where they left off before they were interrupted or was the moment gone and they should put things off for a better time.
"Hmmm… so…" Ron began to say something, but he didn't know what.
Hermione smiled at him and opened her mouth to say something, but since she didn't know what to say, no words escaped her lips either.
Surely, I can't just tell him, "the twats are gone - now shag me!"
She thought for a moment about what Ron would say if he knew that she swore inside her head.
Maybe I shouldn't say anything. I could just grab him, pull him on top of me, then take his hand and put it on my breast where it was before the twins came in. There is no chance he wouldn't get the message of what I want us to do right now.
She was ready to do it, but Ron beat her. In a matter of seconds, Hermione found herself once again under Ron's warm body, feeling the taste of his lips against hers. She responded just as urgently as she pushed her tongue into his mouth.
This time Ron didn't ask permission to put his hand under her shirt like he did the first time and Hermione was more than glad because she didn't want to wait a single second before she could feel his touch on her body.
She moaned softly as she ran her nails gently along Ron's naked back, never pulling her mouth off his as she was unable to get enough of his taste. The sensation was like nothing she had ever felt before and the ache that had begun to build in her center was almost unbearable.
She felt Ron struggling a little with his hand under her shirt. "Take it off, Ron," she practically begged him.
Ron didn't waste any time and pulled her shirt off leaving her with just a black lace bra on. It wasn't the first time that Ron had seen her in just her bra, but he had definitely never seen her this way underneath him.
It felt so good to feel his hand on her breasts, but her hard nipples were screaming now that it was time to set them free so they can enjoy not only Ron's touch, but his warm tongue as well that she was sure Ron would use. It was this thought that sent shivers all over her body as she moaned in excitement.
She moved her body a little so she could stand in the bed. Ron looked at her puzzled until she moved her hands behind her back to unhook her bra. She stopped for a few seconds though.
Despite her boldness, Hermione knew it was the moment of truth for her. She was never confident in showing her naked body. She knew that her small breasts were never something that could attract males or that would make a guy gape at the sight, and now Ron was going to see them for the first time. His reaction was one of her biggest worries.
What if Ron doesn't like them? What if he realises that I'm not that attractive or that I don't have curves like Lavender? What if I disappoint him?
The fear from all these questions was huge, but when their eyes met and Ron smiled at her, with that one special smile that was always for her and only her, all those fears vanished. She knew that she wasn't the most beautiful girl in the world, but Ron stood in front of her with eyes full of love and lust. She realised that she shouldn't be afraid, because Ron loved her and desired her exactly as she was.
She removed the bra and threw it on the floor waiting for Ron's response to the sight of her naked breasts. Ron was staring at them for a long time with an intense look on his face and she had no idea if that was a good sign or not.
"You are so fucking beautiful, Hermione," Ron confessed looking at her eyes now and Hermione saw the honesty in his eyes as she sighed in relief inwardly.
She wasn't going to scold him about his language. How could she anyway when he said it that way?
"Are you sure you're not just saying that because you're going to get laid?" she teased him with a newfound confidence.
"It helps; I'm not gonna lie," Ron said earning a smack on the head from Hermione. "Hey, I'm just kidding!"
"You better!" she warned him trying unsuccessfully to hide the grin on her face.
"Now, where were we?" Ron asked before his lips found hers again.
"If I remember right… you were telling me how beautiful I am… and how you can't live without me… and how much you love me," Hermione was teasing him between kisses.
"Oh, I said all that? Well, don't mind me. I say a lot of nonsense when I'm trying to get into a girl's knickers," Ron joked earning another smack in the head from Hermione. "Again, I'm just kidding!"
"Well, maybe it's time to stop the jokes and suck my tits!" Hermione commanded and Ron gaped at her.
A huge grin formed slowly on his face, while Hermione went scarlet in embarrassment. She had no idea where those words came from, but judging from Ron's reaction, he probably enjoyed her dirty slip.
"As you wish, beautiful," he said and his mouth started to travel down to her neck, then her collarbone, and slowly reached her breasts. He started kissing and sucking her left nipple, while he lightly cupped her right breast, gently rolling her nipple in between his nimble fingers.
Hermione's loud moans were a clear sign that she was enjoying what Ron was doing to her. Soon Ron started sucking with more intensity and squeezing a little harder and Hermione wrapped her legs around his waist. She still had her jeans on, but she had no trouble feeling Ron in all his glory through his trousers. When Ron bit one of her nipples gently, she was sure she was going to come right there and then.
But apparently luck wasn't on their side as they both realised when another knock on the door was heard.
"Are you fucking kidding me?" Ron snapped, staring angrily at the door, looking as if he was ready to murder whoever interrupted them.
"Hermione, can I come in? I need to show you something," Ginny shouted from outside of the door.
Ginny, I'm going to kill you! Hermione thought in frustration. The same thought seemed to be crossing Ron's mind too.
"Sister or not, I'm going to kill her!" Ron whispered to Hermione and she giggled, putting a hand over her mouth to keep quiet.
"Don't come in here! Hermione is in the bathroom at the moment and I'm in the buff," Ron lied, thinking it was a good excuse to keep Ginny away from the room.
"Okay, eww. Please put some clothes on and tell Hermione I want her to come to my room next door when she's out, alright? I'll wait for her," Ginny shouted again.
"Don't worry, Ginny. Hermione is going to come really soon," Ron said grinning at Hermione who went scarlet at his comment and felt more aroused that ever.
Ron attacked her body once again, kissing her neck and Hermione couldn't help but moan loudly when he found her sensitive spot just below her collar. "Ron… Ginny said… come…," she unsuccessfully tried to compose a sentence.
"I didn't hear anything," Ron kept her from talking by kissing her again.
The sensation was wonderful, but Hermione knew she had to see what Ginny wanted. "Ron, let me just see what she wants and then I'll be right back alright?"
"Don't worry, Hermione. Ginny can wait; she's a tough girl," he said, as he started trailing kisses on her belly and around her navel.
Despite the pleasure, Hermione had to stop Ron. "Well, I don't feel very comfortable thinking that your sister is in earshot," she said.
That seemed to work, because Ron stopped with a groan. The thought that his own sister could hear them or that she was in the next room wasn't really apparent to him and he realised at that moment how weird the situation was.
"Whatever she wants, make sure it's fast," he said as he rolled over the bed, making room for Hermione to get up and get dressed.
"I promise I won't be late," she said kissing him one last time before hurrying to Ginny's room.
She walked inside Ginny's room and she saw her lying down on her bed and the dress that she was supposed to wear tonight in the nightclub was hanging in the open closet.
"Hey, Ginny. I'm here," she made her presence known to the ginger girl and Ginny turned to face her with a smile.
"Hermione, I brought your dress and shoes for tonight, but I didn't want to let Ron see them. I want you to blow his mind the minute he sees you wearing this," Ginny said enthusiastically as she got out of the bed and walked over to Hermione to give her a quick hug. "After seeing you in this, he's going to be yours, I'm telling you."
Hermione bit her lip at this, to hide the grin on her face and Ginny noticed that.
"What's that smile on your face?" she asked her curiously.
Hermione couldn't hold it inside her anymore. She wanted to shout to the world that she and Ron were together, and she owed it to Ginny for her to be the first one to learn the news.
"I told Ron everything, Ginny. I told him that I'm in love with him and he said he feels the same way. We are together now!"
Both girls screamed and hugged each other, in pure joy.
"I'm so happy for you, Hermione. For both of you," Ginny said with a mix of excitement and happiness. "See, I told you to not be afraid and that my prat of a brother loves you too, now didn't I?"
Hermione chuckled and hugged her once again. Breaking the hug, Ginny pulled her down on the bed and she sat next to her.
"Okay, I need you to tell me everything. How it happened, when it happened…everything. Just skip the parts where there was touching and tongues. This is my brother we are talking about."
Despite her desire to share everything with Ginny, Hermione knew it wasn't the right time. There was a half-naked Ron in their room and right now that was all she could think about.
"Ginny, I'd love to, but now is not a very good time. Actually this is the worst possible time to have this talk, because right now Ron is waiting for me to go back to where we stopped before you interrupted us," she said awkwardly, blushing hard.
"Blimey, Hermione, I'm so sorry!" Ginny cried in apology.
"It's okay, Ginny. You didn't know," Hermione reassured her with a smile.
"What are you still doing here? Go to him, girl. And remember always be safe," Ginny teased with a wink.
"Ginny!" she cried, but without hiding the grin on her face.
Walking back to their room, she stood outside the door for a moment. It was the second time that someone interrupted them and slowly their first time was beginning to seem more like torture. The idea of telling Ron to postpone their first time for a better time with less people in the house or to wait until they were going back to their flat was in her head, but she wasn't sure how Ron would react.
Not that she was happy with that idea, nor was she so sure she could wait until then; actually she was sure she couldn't, but she felt like it was the right thing to do.
She prepared to fight her urges and ignore the ache between her legs. She had to be strong. Taking a deep breath, she opened the door.
Once she opened the door to their bedroom, Ron grabbed her and pulled her inside closing the door behind him, as they both fell into a passionate embrace, savoring each other's lips. All the thoughts of bad timing and waiting that were in her head a few seconds earlier were long gone. Her mind just wasn't as strong as her body. And her body needed Ron. Instinctively she wrapped her legs around his waist as Ron carried her to the bed.
For the first time, it was Hermione on top of Ron, straddling him. She buried her head in the crook of his neck and started kissing her way down to his naked torso, as Ron was grabbing her buttocks. Being on top of him, she felt even better as their hips were rubbing together in sync.
She couldn't help the soft moans that were coming out of her mouth. Whatever Ron was hiding under those trousers, she wanted it. She wanted to feel it, to touch it, to kiss it, to lick it, and to suck it, but more than anything she wanted it inside her.
She started lowering her head down to Ron's trousers trying to pull them off. She looked at Ron for a moment who was staring at her with an expression of shock, but also full of excitement. She pulled Ron's trousers down leaving only his boxers on.
She was ready to pull them down too, when for the third time in a few minutes someone knocked on the door.
"NOOOOOOOOOO!" Ron cried! "Whoever it is, go away or else I'm gonna bloody kill you!" he screamed staring angrily at the door.
"Ronald Weasley!" Molly's voice was heard and Ron's eyes widened. "Open the door right now!"
God, everyone in the Weasley family has the worst timing! It's like they are doing it on purpose, Hermione thought in frustration.
"Bugger, bugger, bugger!" Ron cursed under his breath as he got out of the bed pulling his trousers on and reached for his shirt to put on.
"Just a minute, mum," he shouted. He gave Hermione an apologetic smile, telling her in that way that he was sorry for the constant interruptions and she gave him a smile that clearly said that she understood it wasn't his fault.
Hermione dressed quickly too and looked in the mirror trying to not look so flustered. When she saw that she looked okay, she walked to the door to open it, but Ron grabbed her hand to stop her.
"Wait a minute," he said awkwardly looking at the floor.
She looked at him confused, until she noticed that he was mumbling, "Aunt Muriel in a bathing suit" under his breath. She chuckled at his effort to "relax" himself and looked away trying not to make him feel uncomfortable. She was secretly thrilled that she was the reason for his situation, and she grinned at the thought.
"Okay, you can open the door now," he said after a minute and Hermione gave him a quick kiss on the cheek before going to open the door.
Taking a deep breath, Ron braced himself for the wrath of Molly Weasley. Hermione opened the door hesitantly and Molly practically stormed inside the room and toward him.
"I'm sorry, mum. I thought it…," he started apologizing immediately, but Molly, of course, had no intention of letting him do it.
"I don't want to hear your excuse. You know the rules in this house very well. This is the last time I hear those kinds of words in this house, understood?"
"Yes, mum."
"Now go down to give your car keys to your dad. He needs to go to town and his car is having some issues lately."
"The car is having some issues lately? Mum, that car is 30-years old. He needs to throw it in the garbage where it belongs and buy a real one!" Ron exclaimed, thinking that his father was so stubborn to drive that old Ford Anglia, while refusing to buy a new one.
"Go help your father, Ron," Molly said with a stern look, showing Ron that it was not the time for wise remarks. "And don't come back here for a while. I need to talk with Hermione about something that involves her parents."
Ron and Hermione shared a look of confusion, but reluctantly Ron walked away from the room, grabbing his car keys from his jacket.
The door closed and Molly turned to look at Hermione smiling. Then she looked around the room and grimaced. "Hermione dear, are you sure you're fine staying in this room? We have so many empty rooms with much better furniture and more comfortable beds. I'm surprised how you two can sleep in such a tight bed."
Hermione went scarlet thinking of what she and Ron were doing a few minutes ago. "Don't worry, Molly. We make it work," she said, unable to keep the huge grin off of her face.
Molly walked to Ron's trophy collection, grabbed one of his trophies and sighed in pride and something else that Hermione couldn't place.
"There are so many good memories from this room. Tomorrow, I'm going to show you Ron's photo album. You can't escape me showing you that," Molly joked and Hermione smiled.
"Oh, I can't wait!" she said enthusiastically. "Please tell me you have naked baby pictures of him. I need something to blackmail him whenever it's necessary," Hermione joked back.
"No worries; we have plenty of them," Molly reassured her with a smile, before taking a more tender expression on her face.
"Between you and me, Ron was my favourite baby. He was so cute with his baby blue eyes and his laugh was like the sweetest music to my ears. You know, he walked and talked faster than any of his brothers, like he was trying to prove a point," Molly said and for the first time, and Hermione noticed sadness in Molly's eyes.
"Can we talk now, Hermione? It's really important and it's not about your parents. I just said that to Ron," Molly asked her and Hermione nodded although she was still confused as to why Molly needed to lie to Ron.
"Of course, Molly, have a seat," Hermione said motioning for her to sit on the bed next to her.
"Let me take it from the beginning. I promise it won't take long," Molly said earning a smile from Hermione.
"I don't know how much Ron has told you about us, but Arthur and I married very young. We had to work really hard all our lives and we made so many sacrifices, but we managed to make a good life. We raise our children with dignity and we taught them to have the right values. That's what I want to believe anyways."
"I know that, Molly, and you and Arthur should be proud of yourselves. You have a wonderful family," Hermione said and she truly believed that.
Molly smiled. "I am proud, Hermione. You have no idea how much."
"Back in my time, there weren't a lot of options for teenage married girls with a baby other than being a housewife. I told myself that I would wait for Bill to grow up a little and then I would find a job to help Arthur who was working overtime to provide us the necessities," she said with a guilty voice and Hermione thought that she probably blamed herself for Arthur working so hard, while she was at home.
Although that seemed absurd to Hermione, because raising a baby was probably a lot more difficult than any office job that Arthur was doing.
Molly went on. "But shortly after Bill, I got pregnant again with Charlie and then again with Percy and you know the rest," she said sighing.
"I don't regret my decision to marry Arthur or to have a family with him, but sometimes I think that we made our lives harder than we should have. We shouldn't have had such a big family with one wage. We should have used our heads a lot sooner," she said giving Hermione a look that said, 'Trust me. I know what I'm talking about'.
"We actually had a talk after the twins were born about whether we should use some sort of medical solution to stop ourselves from having more babies. I thank the Lord we didn't. I can't stand the thought that I might not have had Ron or Ginny."
Hermione praised the Lord too at that moment inside her head for not letting Molly act on her words. Just the thought that if Molly and Arthur would have agreed to stop having more children, there would be no Ron, was too scary for her.
"As you can understand, my life became very simple after I got married, Hermione. I stayed home to raise my children 24/7. This was my job and when it comes to Ron, I'm afraid I didn't such a good job," Molly said sadly, surprising Hermione with her words.
"You see, Hermione, Ron was always in the shadow of his brothers and Ginny. He never said it to me out loud, but I know he feels that way. I suppose I helped a lot with that too. I was never really supportive of his choices. I never had bad intentions, but I know I made some mistakes in the past when it came to Ron," Molly admitted sadly.
"As a mother I always wanted the best for my children and always tried to be supportive. I always supported my older sons. Bill and Percy went to college in another country and I was so proud of them. Charlie was always a free spirit, but he always knew what he wanted; that's why I never had any fears about his future. Then Fred and George came and I knew since they were little kids, that their future would hold great things for them. They are brilliant at what they do, but let me tell you that it was a really tiring job to be their mother. They always required a lot of my time. I was always behind them trying to make sure they wouldn't set the house on fire," she joked and Hermione smiled, silently agreeing that it must have been really exhausting to raise the twins.
"I also showed a lot of favoritism towards Ginny. She's my only daughter. I don't love her more than my other children, but I suppose after so many boys, her birth was like a breath of fresh air. I was afraid that being an only girl with so many brothers she would turn into a tomboy, so I paid much more attention to her, trying to show her the difference between boys and girls."
Hermione couldn't argue with that logic. Molly's fear that Ginny might turned into a tomboy was more than reasonable.
"Ron got lost somewhere in between. He had the misfortunate to be born between the twins and Ginny. I tried so hard, but I never had enough time for him. That's why Ron is closer with his father. Arthur always had time for Ron. Since he was a little boy, he took Ron with him to the garage and taught him everything about cars and he didn't need me anymore."
Hermione saw Molly become very emotional and she noticed a single tear rolling down her cheek. She reached into her purse, pulled out a pack of tissues, and gave one to Molly who took it and wiped the tears from her eyes.
"That's my biggest regret. I think I did my best to be a good mother to Ron, but sometimes I keep thinking that maybe it wasn't enough," Molly sniffed in a sad voice and Hermione felt the need to hug her.
"Molly, Ron loves you and he loves all his family," Hermione said softly placing her hand on Molly's hand and giving a gentle squeeze. "You are a great mother and he knows that."
"Oh, dear, you are such a nice girl," Molly said hugging Hermione in a motherly way. "I knew from the moment Ron brought you home that first time for Ginny's birthday, that you two were meant for each other."
Hermione was surprised at Molly's words. She wondered what she meant by that. "We weren't together then."
"Hermione, very often people ignore the obvious because they are not ready to accept it or deal with it, but that doesn't mean that these things are not there or that they go unnoticed by others," Molly said wisely, making Hermione think how true those words were.
"Do you want to know what happened that day at Ginny's birthday party and how I knew you were the one for my son?" Molly asked her.
Hermione nodded in curiosity, although she knew that whatever Molly was going to tell her, wasn't going to show what Molly thought to be true. She wasn't in love with Ron back then. At least she never thought she was.
"We were all in the living room except Ron and Arthur. If you remember, Arthur's car had broken down while he was coming home and Ron went to pick him up with his car."
"Yes, I remember that," Hermione nodded.
"You were talking and laughing with Ginny and Harry about something and then Ron and Arthur arrived. I had my ears and eyes on you, trying to get to know more about you. I'll never forget your face when you saw my son walking into the living room."
Hermione thought back to that day and she was surprised when she could remember in detail the moment that Ron came back with his father. She remembered that he was wearing the white shirt that she had given him as a present for his birthday, and that he had a shaving cut on his neck that she had caused by mistake when she opened the bathroom door that morning without knocking, startling him.
"Ginny was talking to you, but you had stopped paying any attention. Your eyes were glued to Ron and your whole face lit up the moment he looked back at you and smiled. You both kept staring at each other for a few seconds and then Ron walked over and sat next to you, you rested your head on his shoulder, and he kissed your forehead."
Hermione smiled at the memory. She did remember. What she realised at that moment, though, was something else. That after so many years she still remembered how Ron smelled that day.
"I'm sure that to both of you, this was just another act of friendship, but I knew after that moment, that you were the one. Your eyes told me everything and there was no need for questions anymore. All that was left was for you two to realise it for yourselves."
Hermione thought really hard. No, moments like these weren't the exact definition of romance or attraction, but still she couldn't argue with Molly that it was moments like these when she knew that she couldn't live without Ron.
"I would have preferred it to happen sooner, but I'm not complaining," Molly finished joking.
"I would have preferred it to happen sooner too," Hermione whispered in agreement with a smile.
"But that's not the reason I wanted us to talk. I wanted to ask you for a favour," Molly said and Hermione looked at her with a mix of curiosity and confusion, putting aside her thoughts for a while.
"After Ron's game on Saturday, we are all going to visit the factory as you know. That day, Fred and George are going to propose officially to Ron to be the new chairman of the board! He's going to be the head of the Weasley's fireworks company!" she announced enthusiastically.
Hermione had no idea how she was supposed to react to that.
"I don't expect Ron to be very happy about it considering how passionately he has rejected even discussing the possibility of coming to work in the factory in the past, but this is the chairman's position we are talking about, Hermione. I know Ron, and I know he will be brilliant in this job. All I need from you is your support."
Hermione kept staring at Molly with a blank expression, unable to utter a sentence. What was she supposed to do? Act like she shared her enthusiasm for the prospect or tell her what she truly believed? And what she believed was that Ron wouldn't be happy if he had to resign from football and the last thing she wanted was to see him unhappy.
Thinking really hard, she decided that she had told enough lies to this woman and maybe it was time to start using honesty. In any case, she preferred to disappoint Molly than Ron.
"Ron is a goalkeeper. That is his job. I know you have the best of intentions for him and you only want the best for him, but you are wrong about this, Molly," she finally said.
Molly gave her a perplexed look, as if she was surprised by her reaction. "I know that Ron loves playing football, Hermione, but it's just a game."
"No, it's not!" Hermione reacted passionately. "Playing football makes Ron happy. It's his dream job and he's working really hard for this. It's not just a game."
"Hermione, I think-," Molly started saying, but Hermione interrupted her.
"Please let me finish, Molly."
Molly was taken aback by this, but she let Hermione speak her mind.
"I have known Ron almost six years now, and whenever the conversation goes around to his job and you, he always has a sad expression on his face. He knows very well that you don't approve of his job, and I know that he acts like the lack of support by you is not hurting him, but it does. Before coming here, I thought he was exaggerating about this whole thing, but it turns out he was right," Hermione said softly, feeling very sad for Ron suddenly.
"What future can he have in football, Hermione? He's going to play for what? Ten years more? What happens after?"
"I suppose that's something he's going to figure out when the time comes," Hermione answered.
"And what would happen if he has an offer from a team that's not in London? What if he has an offer to go play in another country? What are you going to do?"
That thought hadn't crossed Hermione's mind before, mainly because Ron was always on the bench, but now he wasn't anymore. He was playing regularly and he was playing well. The possibility of an offer from another team was quite large now.
What if he does have an offer to go play in Spain or Greece or I don't know where? What's going to happen to us? I can't leave with him and I can't make him stay because of me.
"I guess that's another thing we'll figure out if and when the time comes," Hermione almost stammered in fear.
"Why are you doing this, Hermione? Don't you want Ron to have a nice secure job, without worrying about things like that?" Molly asked her.
"I don't think it works like that, Molly. I don't blame you, though, for thinking that way and wanting the best for your son. Like you said, that's what mothers do and if I ever have a child, I'll probably do the same," Hermione said truthfully.
"But for me, the most important thing is for Ron to be happy and he won't be if you take football away from him. I'm sorry, Molly, but I'm not going to support you in this. You can make your offer to Ron, but I'll support whatever choice he makes. If he accepts it, then I'm with him. If he rejects it, then I'm still with him," she said looking Molly straight in the eyes.
Molly didn't say anything. She just gave a sad smile and kissed Hermione's forehead, before she sat up in silence walking to the door, ready to leave the room. When she turned the doorknob, she stopped and turned around to face Hermione.
"I may not agree with his decision about his career, but he did a fantastic job at finding the best girl for him," she said and with that she walked away closing the door behind her.
After giving his father the car keys, Ron went to the playroom, waiting for Hermione to end her discussion with his mother, and there he found Charlie and Percy playing on the pool table. They were having a heated discussion about what was the right way of raising a child.
"You don't get it, Percy. Teaching my son about rock climbing or rafting and all the stuff I love doing, is the right way of parenting. I'm going to teach them what I love, and that's what parents should do," Charlie said.
"So, you basically want to teach your son how to risk his life on a daily basis?" Percy replied sarcastically.
"It's better than teaching him what inflation or interest rates are," Charlie snapped in the same sarcastic tone as his brother had.
"Sorry, that I want my son to be prepared for the real world and I don't want him to jump off cliffs and bridges," Percy yelled angrily.
"It's called bungee jumping," Charlie exclaimed and Percy shrugged.
"Whatever. That's not the point. You really want to risk the life of your kid just for a little adventure in the wild?"
"Of course, I'll protect my kid from any harm, you idiot. But just like you raise Daniel in the way you think is best, I want to raise my son with the way I think is best."
"And putting your son in danger is your brilliant way to raise him?"
"No, you got it all wrong," Charlie groaned in frustration.
At that point, Ron had stopped paying any attention to the conversation and all he could think about was how eager Charlie was with the prospect of being a father.
Charlie was always the adventurous guy, but picturing him as a dad wasn't that difficult for Ron. He always treated his nephews and nieces with great affection and the kids loved him too, because he had the best stories to tell. Charlie has so many adventures and crazy stories about his life that sometimes Ron felt jealous of him and he knew he wasn't the only one feeling like that about Charlie.
Of course, most of his stories were before he met Sofia. After they got together, Charlie changed for the better. He kept his adventurous style and free spirit, but it had become apparent to anyone who knew him, that he now cared about someone other than himself. Or better yet, now he cared about someone more than he cared about himself.
Ron still remembered with a chuckle how his mother fainted when Charlie told her that he was getting married. She had previously lost any hope that Charlie would ever take life seriously and make a family and considering how he never mentioned he was dating someone, the news of his engagement came as a shock to Molly and everyone in the family.
Despite their efforts though, he and Sofia hadn't had a child yet. The doctors said they were both physically fine and that eventually it would happen, and five years later, that moment finally came. The news of Sofia's pregnancy almost four months ago, brought happiness to the Weasley family and Charlie was like the happiest man alive.
Although Ron was the only Weasley besides Charlie that had no child, he couldn't really relate to what Charlie was feeling. He had other priorities in his life than having a family. Although he didn't want kids right now, the idea of having a couple of ginger kids calling him daddy in the future wasn't a horrible thought, especially when that picture was completed with Hermione as the mommy.
He smiled at the thought, but simultaneously that thought was way too scary. It was too soon to think stuff like that. Hell, he'd been a couple with Hermione for only two bloody hours! And if the thought of having babies or a family together so soon scared him, he was sure it would freak her out!
"You thinking about the game on Saturday?" he suddenly heard Harry's voice as Harry sat down next to him.
"Yeah, what else would I be thinking about?" Ron lied.
"What's with them?" Harry asked pointing at Charlie and Percy as they kept shouting at each other.
"They are discussing which of them is a better father."
"Isn't it a little soon for Charlie? Did Sofia gave birth and I missed it?"
"No, but Charlie is sure he's going to do a better job than Percy, hence the shouting match."
"Oh, I see," Harry said nodding. "Come on, let's play a game," he added as he turned on the Playstation.
Ron took one controller and prepared once again to beat Harry easily in PRO Evolution Soccer. It was about ten minutes later when Ron scored his fourth goal and Harry groaned in frustration.
"How come I can never beat you? You are a goalkeeper. You're not supposed to know how to score goals," Harry complained and Ron chuckled.
"Yeah laugh, but you know what they say, "whoever wins in Playstation, loses in love," right?" Harry joked.
"No, that's not accurate since I win in both ways," Ron said grinning. He leaned towards Harry and whispered in his ear. "Hermione and I are together now, for real."
"WHAT?" Harry screamed earning everyone's attention in the room. Realising that everyone was looking at him, waiting for an explanation about his reaction, he made up a quick lie to cover it up.
"No, Ron, Messi is better than Cristiano Ronaldo. How could you possibly say that he's not?"
Percy and Charlie snorted at this and went back to their pool game, while Harry sat down again. "Congrats, brother! I told you she was feeling the same way about you and you didn't want to believe me. Now say I was right. Say it," he demanded, in a quiet voice, almost whispering so that the others couldn't hear him.
"You were right," Ron agreed.
"That's right I was," Harry said jubilantly. "Tell me how it happened. How did you tell her?"
"Oh come on, Harry. That is girl's talk and we are guys. Do you really think I'm going to start gloating about my love life?" Ron snorted shaking his head.
"Yes, you will."
"Yeah, I know I will, but now is not a good time. I'll tell you all the details later tonight, alright?" Ron said and Harry agreed patting him on the arm, before going back to their game.
A few games later, Ron decided to go back to his room. He was sure that his mother would be gone by then. He wasn't quite sure, though, what he was supposed to do now. Even though the idea of sleeping with Hermione was painfully tempting, he was tired and wanted to get some rest, knowing that later that night he would have to go to the nightclub.
Plus, with all the interruptions, he felt like the moment was ruined and they should wait for a better time, preferably with less people around.
When he walked into the room, he noticed that Hermione had a very thoughtful expression on her face, like she was trying to solve a difficult riddle.
"Did mum give you a headache with marriage talk?" he asked her, startling her.
"No, there was something else she wanted to talk to me about," she said awkwardly, smiling at him.
When Ron gave her a confused look, she replied with a lie, "She wants to buy a belated present for my parents for Christmas, but she didn't know what they would want and she asked for my help."
She couldn't really say to Ron what exactly his mother wanted her for. Not only was it supposed to be a secret until Saturday, but she was sure that Ron wouldn't have liked the idea of his mother planning his future without asking him.
Ron bought it, since he had no reasons not to believe that excuse. He gave her a nervous glance and sat down next to her on the bed, without touching her. He knew that the simple touch could detonate a series of emotions and urges and he wasn't up for it at the moment. He was too tired physically and mentally.
The same thoughts apparently were crossing through Hermione's mind to his luck or dismay.
"I don't know about you, but I think it was for our own good that they interrupted us, Ron. We both need to get some rest, especially you after all the training and the driving. Don't forget we are going to the nightclub later," Hermione said hesitantly, a part of her secretly wishing for Ron to shut her up with his mouth and make her his, right on the spot.
"Yeah, remind me to thank them all for their thoughtful interruptions," Ron replied sarcastically.
"There is also something else, Ron," she said nervously. While she was waiting for Ron to come back to their room, she had the time to think hard about what had occurred in the last hours. Although she felt like the happiest woman on earth, she wasn't so sure if they were handling the new status of their relationship in the right way.
"I don't think we should rush our relationship. I mean we practically… shagged, minutes after we shared our feelings. I don't think it should happen like that. I want to experience the whole thing, Ron," she said softly looking deeply into his blue eyes.
Ron nodded hesitantly, but he wasn't sure what exactly she meant by that. "What does that mean?" he asked her.
"I want us to go on a date first," she said after taking a deep breath.
Ron let out a chuckle. "That's it?"
"I know it's something small, but I want us to have one date before we… move to the next level," Hermione said, her face burning hotly thinking about it.
"You know, technically, last night was a date," Ron tried to make a point.
"No, it wasn't. It was a tour of the town between friends."
"What about tonight? Going to the nightclub can be our first date," Ron said, trying to please her.
"A first date with twelve more people? How romantic," Hermione replied sarcastically.
Ron sighed and ran a hand through his hair. "Well, what do you want me to do, Hermione? Our schedule here is a little tight. Unless you want to wait until we're back to London and have our first date."
It was Hermione's turn to sigh deeply. "Then I suppose that's what we must do."
"And until then, we are not supposed to get into any kind of intimacy, right?" Ron said sadly.
'Right…," Hermione said in the same sad tone.
It was the first time that Hermione saw the flaw in her plan. Yes, a romantic first date was vital to her, but how could she keep herself away from Ron until they were back in London? She wasn't that strong; she knew that. Fortunately for her, Ron reminded her that sex wasn't the only way to be close to each other.
"Snogging is excluded?" Ron asked hopefully.
"Oh, yes, we can definitely snog as much as we want," Hermione nodded passionately, thanking Ron in her head for finding some exceptions.
"Are hands off the table?" he asked her raising an eyebrow.
"I don't see any harm with some… touching," Hermione said blushing. "But only when we are alone!" she warned him.
"So, I must not grab your tits at dinner, right?" Ron joked. He regretted saying this though, because images of what they were doing earlier flooded his mind and he desperately tried to remove the feel of her breasts from his hands and the taste of her nipples from his mouth.
"No, you must definitely not… at dinner," Hermione said, still blushing but with a mischievous smile on her face.
Ron grinned back and for a moment he thought that this was a message from her to do something about it. Yes, he was bloody tired and his sore body wanted rest desperately, but he couldn't help it. He moved a little closer to her bringing his face inches from hers.
"So…. Hmmm… sleep?" Hermione suggested stammering.
It felt like someone had just thrown a bucket of cold water on him, but he couldn't show that to Hermione.
"Yeah, that's a good idea. I'm a little… sleepy," Ron said getting up from the bed, so he could change into something more comfortable for sleeping, meaning taking off his trousers and leaving just his boxers on.
While he was pulling his trousers down, Hermione was clenching her fists, trying to keep herself from attacking him. She was almost certain that he was doing it just to torture her.
Ron on the other hand wasn't sure if he should be grateful to Hermione for suggesting sleep, or be disappointed that once again they would fall into bed next to each other, doing nothing more than sleeping. He gave a quick glance at Hermione and saw her staring intensely at his boxers.
"Enjoying the striptease, you naughty girl?" he teased her doing a little sexy wiggle with his hips, when he noticed that her gaze was fixed on him a lot lower than where his eyes were.
She was ready to deny it, like always, but she reminded herself that now she and Ron were together, so there was nothing she should be afraid of. "Maybe I am," she teased back.
Then to tease him even more, she started taking off her clothes too, in a very slow and seductive way. She had to control herself not to burst into laughter when she saw Ron's pupils widen at the sight.
When she removed her jeans too, she stood for a few seconds with just her knickers and bra in front of Ron who gulped. It was the second time he saw her only in her underwear, after that disasterous night that ended with her vomiting on him and once again the poor bloke couldn't do anything about it.
She kept enjoying giving her show and her big finish was when she bent over to take her clothes from the floor and put them in the closet. Then she walked slowly to the bed and got under the covers waiting for Ron to join her.
Ron was still at the same spot, like a statue, with his eyes and mouth wide open. It was as if he was trying to believe if what he saw was real and he didn't imagine it.
"Are you trying to sleep standing?" she heard Hermione asking him. Walking with difficulty to the bed, he lay down next to Hermione facing her.
"Don't do that again, unless it's after our first date, understood?" he begged her.
"What did I do?" Hermione asked with an innocent voice. "Did my panties cause you discomfort? I'm sorry, but I think it's more comfortable sleeping like this, don't you agree?"
She knew she was torturing him, but he started it.
"Hermione, you said we need to sleep. So, I'm begging you, stop talking and stop being sexy. Please!" he begged her again. It was too much for him.
She chuckled softly and placed her hand on his cheek, caressing it. "I'll try, handsome. Now let's get some sleep."
She didn't hesitate to rest her head on his chest and Ron wrapped his arms around her. It felt so right to sleep that way; she had no idea how she spent so many years of her life without this. She snuggled more closely to him and Ron held her more tightly. For Hermione, this was heaven.
"I love you, Ron. Tell me you love me too," she whispered to him. There was no reply and she moved her head to watch Ron's sleeping face.
She smiled and moved her head to rest back on his chest. "It's okay. You don't have to say it. I know it now," she said softly, before closing her eyes and falling sleep, the smile on her face still there.
Author's Note: I hope it was good enough. I'm going to post the new chapter sooner than this.
Now, if you want to leave a review, I won't bite you. Unless you want to... haha :D