Chapter Twenty-Eight – Game Changers

Neville got the message that Hannah had gone into labor late on Thursday morning. He was a nervous wreck, but had ongoing Auror support taking turns being there for him throughout the rest of the day. Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Ginny were all at St. Mungo's after dinner when Alice Longbottom was delivered at seven fifty-one. They didn't go in to see Hannah, but Neville brought Alice out to the waiting room to meet them. She was a healthy eight pounds, four ounces, and Harry and the girls could easily see how much she looked like Hannah, even if Ron couldn't. He hadn't wanted to take a turn holding the baby either, and while Hermione and Ginny fussed over the beautiful baby, he mostly cracked jokes about how terrible Neville's immediate future was going to be, and the fact that he could look forward to having no life at least until Alice went off to Hogwarts.

"Couldn't you have tried congratulating Neville, or offer him even one supportive comment?" Hermione demanded in a fierce whisper after Neville took Alice back into Hannah's room. "You wouldn't even hold the baby, and while you may have thought all of those jokes were funny, this is one of the happiest moments ever for parents, and all you could do was tell all of us how lousy it is to have kids."

"I congratulated him," Ron protested.

"You offered your condolences," Hermione shot back. "Big difference."

"What's the big deal, Hermione? Sure, I was joking, but it's not like anything I said wasn't true. Am I the only one here that listens to the stories Bill and Fleur, Andromeda, or other new parents have about their kids? The stories Mum and Dad have about us could scare anyone."

"We hear those stories just fine," Hermione told him. "The ones about hours spent cuddling with babies, and first hugs and kisses. How about the stories when Victoire learned to say Mommy and Daddy? Or learning to crawl and walk?"

Ron shook his head. "Now you know why I didn't want to hold the baby."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Hermione demanded.

"It means that you've probably caught the baby bug," he answered; seemingly oblivious to the brightly flashing danger signs that were all around Hermione now, and that Harry and Ginny could see clearly. "First, nearly everyone we know is all in a rush to get married, and now they all want to get tied down to a house full of kids. They've all gone mental, and don't even know it."

"I want to get married," Hermione told him in a quiet, serious tone of voice that was filled with hurt and sadness. "I want to have children too." There were tears in her eyes now, and she brushed them away angrily. "Our friends, and your sister and brothers are getting married because they love each other, and want to spend the rest of their lives together. They want to have kids because they're amazing, brilliant miracles. How do you think it makes me feel to know that you think that everyone who wants that is mental?"

"I'd like to think that you'd agree," Ron answered. "Is this what you've been mad at me about all week? Those jokes I made last Saturday at Ginny's party? Why are you mad about that? I've said the same things a hundred times before. When you're not mad at me like you are now, I'm quite happy with things the way they are. Why should we go and totally mess up our lives by rushing out to get married and start a family?"

'I'm an idiot," Hermione said; talking to herself before speaking to Ron again. "You're happy because you get all of the benefits and none of the responsibility or commitments. You think it's okay to go around ogling and flirting with other Witches because you're a bachelor, and apparently think that your girlfriend is blind and stupid. I want a husband, a family, and everything that goes with that, and I really thought it was going to be with you, but maybe I've been wrong about that. I've waited more than three years for you to come around, Ron, but I'm not waiting any longer. Either you love me and want to have a life and family with me, or you don't, and it's time for me to move on and find someone who will love me that much."

She waited for a few long, silent, heartbreakingly painful moments, but all Ron did was stand there; open-mouthed and staring at her blankly. He still hadn't said a word when she turned away from him and rushed out of the room; though not before Harry and Ginny could both see the tears that were now streaming down her face. Ginny turned on her brother once Hermione was out of sight, and her eyes were blazing with hot, unbridled anger.

"You're such an ass!" she spat at him. "The best thing that ever happened to you in your life just walked out that door, and you didn't do a thing to try and stop her!"

"Like I could have," Ron shot back just as hotly. "I don't want to get married yet, or rush out and have kids, but I should just cave in because she's crying?"

"You ought to marry her because you love her, and if you don't, then you really have just been stringing her along," Ginny said angrily. "I'm going to help my friend, since you quite obviously are incapable." She turned and hugged Harry, and there were tears in her eyes too. "You should stay and say goodbye to Neville for us," she told him. "I'll see you later."

"I love you," he whispered; and kissed her softly. "Do you want me to meet you there, or back at home?"

"Better make it back at home," Ginny decided, and Harry nodded his agreement before hugging her again. Ginny headed for the waiting room door, and when she got there, turned around again.

"Oh – I almost forgot, Ron. Mum and I really love Hermione a lot, and we made a promise to each other that if you ever hurt her, we'd have a special message for you." Having said that, she whipped out her wand and blasted her brother off of his feet. He flew back about six feet, and fell hard into one of the chairs behind him. She'd turned and walked out the door without another word, and didn't look back to see the results of her bat-bogey hex.

"Get 'em off me!" Ron yelled at Harry. The bats were coming out of his nose at a furious pace, and were swarming around his head. Harry got his wand out, and somewhat reluctantly countered Ginny's hex; though it did take nearly another full minute before the last bat was out and disappeared.

"I'm gonna blast her!" Ron growled; jumping to his feet and pulling his wand out. He'd taken two steps before coming up short when Harry stepped in to block his way.

"You are not going to do anything of the sort to my wife," he advised Ron.

"She's not getting away with doing that to me, and this is between me and my sister, so stay out of it."

"You've already royally botched things with Hermione, mate. Don't make it worse than it already is."

"That's none of your business either," Ron said angrily; glaring at Harry. "I'll deal with Hermione and Ginny, and I don't need your help, so just get out of my way."

"Hermione's not the idiot – you are," Harry told him bluntly. "You should've asked her to marry you years ago, and you know it. You don't want my help, and want me to stay out of it? Fine. Deal with this on your own – but know that I will be there to help Ginny or Hermione, and I'm quite sure they'll be happy to have me do that. I'd seriously think about that before making your next stupid move."

With that, he restored Ginny's bat-bogey hex with a little added zip to it, and left the room too. Neville, and quite a few other Witches and Wizards had heard the commotion, and were out in the hallway watching the show. Harry ignored the stares from everyone else, and led Neville off to the side so they could speak in private for a moment.

"I'm really sorry, mate," he said quietly, and Neville shook his head.

"Not your fault," he answered. "He was bound to take all of that too far one day. I just hope he comes to his senses before it's too late."

"Me too," Harry agreed. "Congratulations, Neville. Alice is beautiful. Give Hannah hugs for Ginny, Hermione, and I, and we'll stop in to see all of you once you've had a chance to settle in at home. If you need anything, just let us know, and we'll be there."

"What are you going to do about Ron?" Neville asked, and Harry grinned at him.

"He's my best mate and brother-in-law, and I love him, but since he doesn't want my help, and wants me to stay out of it, I will. Ginny's got a pretty ingenious twist to her bat-bogey hex. I'm sure it will be interesting to see how long it takes the Healers here to figure out how to counter it."

"That was nice of her to teach you the counter," Neville said, and he was grinning now too. "I guess she never plans on getting mad enough to use it on you."

Harry laughed. "Actually, she taught me the counter expecting that she would get that mad sometimes, and then feel bad about blasting me later."

"She may have thought that, but I really doubt she'll ever blast you," Neville told him seriously. "I'd better get back in with Hannah and Alice. Thanks for coming, and good luck. I have a feeling that you're not going to have much fun working with Ron for a while; though hopefully it won't be too bad by the time I get back to work next week."

"Check in with Emma about that," Harry suggested. "I could get someone else to help me with the testing for Dennis and Natalie. Maybe you could take the extra time off until we start their training a week from Monday."

Neville shrugged. "I'll see. Hannah may be ready to get me out of our flat at the Inn by then – or at least have me out so Gran won't be there all day, every day."

Harry hugged his friend, and then left the hospital. He'd seen Ron being led to a treatment room by one of the Healers, but had ignored the glare from his friend, though it had been hard to see through the swarming bats. He'd gone home from there, and got to work. He had a feeling that they were going to have company, and got one of the guest bedrooms ready. When he had that done, he went into the kitchen and started baking a little treat for his friend, and some muffins that they could have with breakfast. That effort earned him some hugs, and had Hermione crying again when she, Ginny, and Crookshanks joined him in the kitchen.

"Would this be a good time to remind you that I've had more than my fair share of idiot moments?" he asked as he hugged Hermione. "My research into the matter suggests that it's some kind of genetic flaw that only affects the Wizard half of the population. Nobody seems to know why, and while it seems possible to overcome the condition; even after getting control of the problem, the best of us have still been known to lose control and mess up periodically."

Hermione and Ginny both laughed, and after letting go of Harry, Hermione let Ginny lead her over to the table, where they sat down while Harry served up their bedtime snack and glasses of wine, and Crookshanks was set free to go exploring. He joined them once that was done, and put a comforting hand on Hermione's arm.

"It's going to be okay," he promised, and she smiled sadly at him.

"I know it will be," she agreed. "What I don't know is whether it'll be okay with or without him. He didn't even try to come talk to me when he got back, though he made sure that we heard him stomp up to his flat."

"Yelling loudly all the way," Ginny added with a grin. "What exactly happened at St. Mungo's to have him calling you such nasty names?"

"You told Hermione about your bat-bogey hex?" he asked, and Ginny nodded. "He yelled at me to help him, so I did, but then, when I told him I'd be on your side if he tried to blast you like he wanted to, and that I wasn't going to let him do anything else to Hermione either, he told me this was none of my business, he didn't need my help, and to stay out of it."

Ginny started laughing. "So you put the bat-bogey hex back?" she asked, and Harry nodded.

"It didn't take the Healers as long as I thought it might for them to figure out that little twist you have on that hex, though if he just got home, it did take a couple of hours."

"What twist?" Hermione asked, and Ginny laughed again.

"It doubles if a normal counter-hex is tried," she answered. "Both in quantity and size. Hopefully they didn't try that more than once. It could hurt quite a lot if they got too big."

"He must be furious with all of us then," Hermione said, and shook her head dejectedly. "I hate to do this to you, Harry, but I think it's time for me to find a new place to live. I'm serious about being done waiting for him, and the thought of living right there in the same building with Ron is just impossible."

"Don't worry about how I feel, or about your flat," Harry told her, "but you should at least sleep on it before making that decision. Whatever you want to do, though, we'll be there for you."

Hermione tried to smile, but there were tears in her eyes, and Ginny leaned close to put an arm around her. "I was hoping you'd tell me that Ron would come to his senses by morning and everything would be all better again."

"We all know that he won't come around that easily," Harry said gently. "He really does love you, Hermione, and deep down, he knows he's being an idiot, but I have no idea how long it'll take him to deal with this."

"Hopefully not long, once he finds out that truly being a bachelor can be very, very cold and lonely," Ginny added. "Especially when he finds out that his family and friends are all on your side. I doubt he even wants to think about what Mum will have to say to him. He'll probably try to dodge her if he can."

"Or he'll go find some other Witch and forget all about me," Hermione said tearfully. She wiped at her face, and shook away those thoughts. "I guess there's nothing I can do if that's what he chooses."

Ginny laughed. "Maybe not, but if he does, Mum and I definitely can do something about it, and I'm sure he would not like that at all. Gwenog's taught me her wood lice transfiguration. That might be an option for a month or two, or maybe he'd like to try being a ferret for a while. Draco didn't like it much when Barty Junior did that to him, but maybe Ron would."

"Shouldn't you discuss things like that when an Auror isn't in the room?" Harry joked. "I'd have to take steps if I knew that a crime was about to be committed, you know."

"Like you didn't know Ron was about to get hit with that bat-bogey hex," Ginny countered. "Besides, are you absolutely sure that it's against the law to turn brothers into bugs or ferrets? I really don't think that's fair at all if it is, and we should get that law changed."

They sat at the table and talked for nearly an hour, had their snack, and then Ginny spent the next hour or so in the guest room with Hermione before eventually climbing into bed with Harry and snuggling close to him. They shared a few soft, lingering kisses before either of them said anything, and Ginny sighed contentedly when she put her head on her pillow, moving back so they could look at each other.

"Has she gone off to sleep yet?"

Ginny shook her head. "No, but she was talked out, and told me to go to bed. She's got Crookshanks to cuddle with, and I think she'll get a little sleep eventually. I'd so like to go and blast Ron again. She deserves to be as happy as we are, and he's totally blowing it with her. I know he doesn't think he's good enough for her, but what's he going to do? Wait until he does think he's famous enough? He'll never get there, because he's always comparing himself to you, me, and everyone else, and thinking he comes up short."

"That's definitely part of it," Harry agreed. "It's ironic that I'd give nearly anything to not be famous, and he wants it more than nearly anything." He leaned close and kissed Ginny again. "The good news is that I'm nearly positive that he's about to figure out that the one thing he does want more than that is Hermione."

"If he knows what's good for him," Ginny added. "Is that prediction because you've got one of those feelings?"

Harry nodded. "There are some things that are going to happen first, I think, but they're meant to be together."

"Do any of those things include me hexing him a few more times? Maybe George is supposed to test a 'Rat Fink Boyfriend' wheeze on him."

Harry laughed quietly. "I don't know about that, but if it makes you feel better, he is going to be doing some suffering first, even if it's mostly all of his own making. You need to get some sleep, honey. Gwenog isn't going to take it easy on you just because we've been awake half the night."

When Hermione and Ginny met him in the kitchen in the morning, they both looked tired, and Harry hugged Hermione for a long minute; his heart breaking to see her so sad and unhappy. Ginny hugged and kissed him too, but then took care of their friend while Harry finished making breakfast and putting it on the table for them.

"I want you to come back here tonight," Ginny told her. "A quiet night, some Jacuzzi time, a glass or two of wine, and a good night's sleep is exactly what you need to start your weekend off right."

"Thanks Ginny," Hermione said gratefully. "I'd go home for a couple of days until I figure out what I'm going to do, but Mum and Dad might just decide to go to Diagon Alley and pull all of Ron's teeth – without anesthetic – until he sees the light."

Ginny laughed. "Is that an option? It's not like he can't grow them back later. No wonder I like you parents so much."

"No, it's not an option," Hermione answered. "I don't want anyone trying to force Ron to do anything he doesn't want to do. I could just Imperius him myself if that's all I wanted."

Hermione may not have thought that was an option, but an hour and a half later, Harry wasn't so sure they shouldn't let her parents have at Ron. He'd gotten to work first; going to the Ministry with Hermione, and walking her to the House Elf Liason Office before hugging her goodbye and going on to Headquarters. Ron had shown up right on time, as usual, and stomped into his cubicle. He didn't flop into a chair like he normally did; but instead put his hands on the desk and leaned over it to glare at Harry.

"Did you have a good laugh last night?" he demanded. "It took them an hour and a half to counter that hex, and they botched it so badly the first time, that the stupid bats broke my nose coming out, they were so big. I ought to pound you for that."

"Pound yourself, then," Harry said unsympathetically. "You didn't want my help, remember? Don't blame me for doing what you asked."

"Like you were going to be any help anyway," Ron shot back. "I don't think that promising to side with Hermione and Ginny against me is any help at all. Not that it matters. I'm done with her anyway."

"You've gone completely nuts if you are. I guess you didn't really love her at all."

"She didn't come home last night," Ron advised him. "I'd say she's the one who doesn't care about me, since it didn't take her two hours to go find another Wizard to be with."

Harry pulled out his wand and pointed it at Ron; who stepped - leapt - back in dumb shock. "Don't ever, and I mean ever talk to me about Hermione like that or she and Ginny will be the least of your problems. For your information, she stayed at our house last night, not that you deserve to know that after such a ridiculous, moronic comment as that. I can't believe that you'd even think about implying something like that about her." His eyes were flashing with anger, but Ron's back stiffened, and he glared obstinately at Harry.

"Yet you have no problem accusing me of not loving her," he said in a fierce hiss, trying to keep his voice low so they wouldn't be overheard.

"That's not what I said," Harry corrected as he put his wand away. "You told me you were done with her, and I said that if that's true, then you must not have loved her after all. I don't think you're done with her, even if you think you are."

"Quit turning everything back on me, and if you're not going to be my friend and stick by me when I need you, then I don't want to even talk about this with you, and I definitely want you to stay out of it."

"I'll always be your friend, and I'm trying to help you, even if you don't want to see that right now," Harry answered. "If you don't want me involved on your end of things, that's up to you, but Hermione does want Ginny and I helping her, and we will be there for her."

"At least I know whose side you're on," Ron said coldly. "I think I'll work on my own today. If you need any help between now and never, call someone who cares."

With that, he stomped back out of the cubicle, and left Headquarters. Harry sighed, but then picked up his quill, and got back to work. Some things people just needed to learn the hard way, and this was apparently one of those times. He spent the morning at Headquarters, took Hermione out for lunch at a Muggle restaurant so they wouldn't accidentally bump into Ron, and then he worked in the field for the afternoon before picking up some special groceries and going home a bit early so he could make dinner for three – four including Crookshanks, the Kneazle-mooch. Ginny went to the Ministry after work to meet Hermione, and after a stop to get extra clothes, they got to the house just as he had dinner ready for them.

"I've definitely decided to move out," Hermione blurted out suddenly. They'd been sitting down for about twenty minutes, and had been talking about something completely unrelated, and intentionally neutral; so her statement was a bit of a surprise.

"Are you sure?" Ginny asked, and Hermione nodded.

"I haven't been able to stop thinking about it all day – or last night. Staying at my flat just isn't going to be an option. I don't want to fight about this with him anymore, or feel the way I do about being with him like we've done for the last two years." She took a deep, shuddering breath. "I'm going to move on, and he'll either come along, or get left behind. There's no middle road for me anymore."

"Then we'll help you," Ginny promised. "Got any spare houses around, Harry? I think a house would be much nicer than another flat. You could have a garden, though it's a bit too late to start one this year."

"There's Grimmauld Place," Harry suggested with a grin, and the girls laughed. "What? You'd have Kreacher there to help you keep the place up, and if you gave him a hand, in ten or fifteen years you could have the place looking great."

"Um, thanks, but no," Hermione answered, "and a house would be nice, but I'll probably be renting for a long time. It's not like I can put my Ministry of Magic job down on a Muggle mortgage application, and I don't want to deal with Gringotts for something like that."

Harry smiled, held out his hand, and then put the set of keys that were suddenly in it onto the table next to Hermione. "I don't think that'll be a problem," he assured her. "Let's go take a look at another house we have after dinner, and see what you think of it."

"Where is it?" Hermione asked. She tentatively touched the keys, but left them on the table.

"About a mile east of Topsham," he answered.

"That'd only be ten or twelve miles west of the Burrow," Ginny said excitedly.

"And a bit south," Harry agreed. "We do have a few other choices, but why don't we start with that one, and see what you think?"

They'd taken their time finishing dinner, and after cleaning up, Harry side-along apparated with both of them to the house he'd bought over a year ago with Ron and Hermione in mind. The house was on about five acres of land, and he smiled as Hermione and Ginny both looked very pleased with what they saw. There were quite a few trees, including some fruit trees, along with some flower gardens, and one area that had obviously been a vegetable garden, though it hadn't been planted this year. There was a small storage barn that doubled as a garage, and the two-story house was well-cared for. While it was nowhere near being a mansion, it was maybe a third or so larger than Harry and Ginny's house.

"Let's go take a look," Ginny said enthusiastically; taking Hermione's hand and leading her toward the house. "This looks great, Harry. Is it as nice on the inside, or does it need work?"

"I expect that Hermione would want to paint and decorate, but it doesn't need any fixing up." He followed them inside, and enjoyed watching them go from room to room as they explored. Hermione had brought Crookshanks along, and had set him free to wander around too, though he mostly stayed close to her.

"The sitting room and dining room are perfect for any entertaining you need to do for your job," Ginny told her friend. "The kitchen is pretty awesome too, and you'd love that library for your office, though it's not as bright as the one you have in your flat now." She was leading the way up the stairs as she talked, and was again holding hands with Hermione as she pulled her along.

"True, but this is all way more than I need, Ginny, and do you have any idea how much a place this big would go for? A lot more than the Witch in here who's not the Quidditch superstar can afford."

Ginny laughed and squeezed her hand. "Says you, but there's no way Harry would suggest something like this for you if he wasn't sure you'd be happy with whatever deal he has for you." She laughed and smiled brightly at him. "He only sucks at business. Friendship is something he's learned to do pretty well."

"Depends on who you ask today," Harry joked, "and I was thinking along the lines of a rent to own deal," he told Hermione. "If you decide this isn't for you after trying it out for a few years, then we can just look for another place, but I think that you'd love it here."

Hermione definitely loved the four bedrooms and three baths – especially the master bedroom and bath that coincidentally had a magical Jacuzzi just like Ginny's did. After looking around upstairs, they went outside again; where they checked out the barn-garage; and then took a walk around the property before going back toward the house.

"What do you think?" Ginny asked, and Hermione smiled.

"You both know that I love it," she answered, "but I know this isn't some lucky coincidence. How long ago did you get this place with Ron and me in mind?" she asked Harry. "It's beautiful, perfect for raising a family, and conveniently located to future grandma babysitting services."

"I love you," he said evasively, and she laughed.

"Nice try. I'm waiting."

"A year or so ago," he admitted. "I had a feeling about the place."

"I'd say your feelings have gotten out of whack," Hermione suggested.

"This isn't happening like I expected," Harry admitted, "but I still feel like this is where you're supposed to be – and where you're both supposed to be once Ron gets over his bout of temporary insanity."

"What if he doesn't?" Hermione asked.

"Then you'll have one of the coolest bachelorette pads in Wizarding England," Ginny told her; putting an arm around Hermione and hugging her. "Crookshanks looks like he loves this place too."

"He would like being able to run around again," she agreed as they watched him prowl around the yard. "My flat doesn't give him much room to roam." She sighed and held out her hand to Harry. "Okay, what's the deal that I won't refuse? I might as well just concede now and get it over with." Harry laughed; pulled the envelope out of his pocket, and handed it to her while Ginny laughed and hugged her again. Hermione read it over, and looked at Harry again after she was done. "The rent's too low, but at least if I decide to buy it, that price seems fair."

"That's what we paid for it," he explained. "The rent covers the costs, just like your rent on the flat did. Ginny and I won't make money on something like this when it comes to our best friends."

"We have so got to figure out a way to tell him no once in a while," she told Ginny. "Anyone bring a quill?" Harry summoned one, and handed it to her. She signed the agreement, and laughed when Ginny and Harry both had hugs for her.

"Let's pop over and see if Mum and Dad want to come see your new place," Ginny suggested, and then hugged Hermione again. "Don't worry. They're going to love having you so close, and Mum will love helping us decorate the place."

"You've got a game to get ready for," Hermione protested. "I don't want you spending what little time you have when you're not working helping me, and your Mum is already busy taking care of Victoire during the week."

"I can do both," Ginny assured her, "and you're at work too when Mum's babysitting. We could have your bedroom ready by the end of the weekend, and the rest of the house done in a week – two at most."

"You're as bad as he is," Hermione accused, and Ginny laughed and hugged her again.

"We do both like to get to it and finish a job once it's started. Let's go over to the Burrow. We'll get Mum to help us with decorating ideas, and then we can start tomorrow out with a bit of shopping for paint and whatever else we need."

"Do your parents even know what's going on?" Hermione asked worriedly; and Ginny shook her head.

"I don't think so, but we'll be there for you, and once they do know, so will they. Ron's the one who needs to worry about what Mum and Dad will say, not you."

"That really doesn't make me feel better. I don't want to cause any problems between Ron and your parents and brothers."

"You're not, and to be honest, we expected that you'd lay it on the line for him long before now. You have way more patience than Mum or I would have had with our Wizards. I didn't have any patience. Harry just was smart enough to take the easy way when I gave him his choice."

"And I'm glad that I did – especially after seeing that hex of yours on Ron. Did I mention that it took the Healers an hour and a half to counter it?" He skipped over telling them about the bats breaking Ron's nose, though the look Ginny shot his way had him sure that she guessed there'd been more to the story.

Hermione was crying within about two seconds of being wrapped up in one of Molly's hugs, and was laughing too when the first thing she'd wanted to know was whether Ginny had hexed her brother yet. Arthur had a big hug for her too, and then they got drinks and sat down at the table to hear the whole story.

"You did exactly the right thing," Molly told Hermione after she'd finished telling them everything. "That boy of ours is way overdue for a swift kick of reality. So you're getting a new place over by Topsham?"

"Harry and Ginny made me an offer I couldn't refuse – again," Hermione agreed with a nod. "Ginny and I were hoping you'd help with decorating ideas."

"I'd love to help," Molly assured her. "Did you want to go over there now and get started on that?"

"No need to ask where you get it from," Hermione told Ginny. "We'd love to do that. Thank you."

Molly got up from the table and hugged her before starting to clear the glasses, wash them, and put them away. "You're quite welcome. I'd think that the last place you want to be right now is in your flat with things as they are with Ron."

"A little distance between you will be good for him too," Arthur told her. "He's got a stubborn streak in him a mile wide, but I give him a month – two at the outside – before he figures out that he really can't live without the girl he loves."

"I really hope you're right," Hermione said fervently. "If not, I don't see another Wizard sharing that house with me – I see me, Crookshanks, and a house full of new kneazle buddies for him to hang out with."

"If he doesn't come around, I'll get you a kneazle cat named Ron," Molly said pointedly; which had everyone else laughing.

They went over to Hermione's new house then, and after doing the tour, Harry went outside with his father-in-law to wander around while the girls talked decorating. Arthur was interested in the barn, gardens, and fruit trees, and the two Wizards talked about what they each liked about the place while they did the tour. Arthur didn't say anything about Ron until they were out along the back boundary of the yard; and he looked a bit grim when he did finally ask Harry about him.

"I take it that things aren't good between you and Ron either," he began, and Harry nodded his agreement.

"No, but he doesn't need a friend to pat him on the back and tell him everything will be okay this time."

"Maybe, but I'm not sure he'll get this figured out on his own either," Arthur said, and Harry nodded again.

"Probably not, but he's not alone. I expect he's hanging out with George right now, and he'll hear a lot about this from us, and from his friends. He's not going to like hearing what we all have to say, and I think you're right that it'll take him a month or two to get there, but once he does, everything will work out."

"I don't know if hanging out with George will help or not," Arthur pointed out. "Ron's used George and the other boys as an excuse for why he shouldn't rush out and get married, even though they're all different, and there was a war going on that got in the way of such things – at least for Bill, Charlie, and Percy. George just hasn't found the right girl, and isn't ready to move on yet."

Harry smiled; sure that George had found the right girl, even though neither of them were ready to deal with that yet. "George's situation is totally different than with Ron and Hermione. They're meant to be together, and he's apparently going to find that out the hard way. I think that George will give it to him straight why he's not able to get serious about any girls yet, and Ron is not going to like what George tells him any more than he liked hearing what Hermione, Ginny, and I had to say."

Arthur smiled too. "If Ron thinks that's bad, he really won't like what Molly will have to say to him whenever she does get her hands on him next. As far as she's concerned, Hermione is as much her daughter-in-law as you're our son."

"And we both know how protective she is of her little girls," Harry added with a laugh.

They continued to chat as they headed back toward the house, but moved on from talking about Ron to work at the Ministry, and Harpies Quidditch. When the three Witches were finished their decorating chat for the night, they had a round of goodbye hugs and kisses, and then Harry went home with Ginny, Hermione, and Crookshanks, while their parents went back to the Burrow after working out their plan to meet up again in the morning for a shopping trip.

The girls had decided that the game plan would be to get the master bedroom and bath, and the kitchen ready over the weekend, and then they'd get the rest of the house, except for the three guest bedrooms, decorated and furnished by the end of the month. Hermione had Ginny or Molly with her for most of the weekend, including the shopping trip on Saturday morning; afternoon and evening painting and decorating sessions at the house; and dinner with her parents. Arthur and Harry joined the girls for that; mostly to give Hermione support while she told her mother and father about what was going on with her and Ron.

Ginny made some time to study on Saturday too, and on Sunday, she spent the morning studying and having a Seeker duel with Harry while their parents, and Hermione's, helped her at the house. Hermione had stayed with them on Saturday night too, though they'd worked at the house until late, and hadn't gotten a lot of sleep. After spending the morning studying and playing Quidditch, Harry and Ginny met Hermione and their parents for lunch at the Leaky, and then went on to her flat together to pack and move her bedroom and kitchen furniture, and pack up and move everything else she'd need to at least be able to stay at her new house. Harry sent everything there as they had each piece of furniture or box ready to go, and when they had everything Hermione wanted to get for the day, they apparated back to the house again.

"What do you think?" Ginny asked Hermione. They were in the master bedroom, and had just finished making one more change to how the furniture was laid out.

"It's perfect," Hermione answered. "We've even given Crookshanks a great little spot to do his bird watching from." The kneazle was in that spot, bathed in warm sunlight, and twitching his tail as he watched the birds flying around among the trees in the back yard.

"We should go have dinner," Molly told them. "It's already getting on, and you've all got work in the morning."

"So do you," Arthur reminded her. "Keeping up with Victoire is a full-time job and then some."

"Compared to our kids, she's easy to care for, and the best part is that I get to play with her all day, and then send her home with Bill and Fleur. Maybe we should have skipped having kids, and gone straight to the grandchildren stage."

"I'm fairly glad you didn't," Harry joked.

"Me too," Ginny agreed. "Where should we go for dinner? I'm fairly sure that none of us are interested in cooking and cleaning tonight."

Hermione's parents suggested a Muggle restaurant that was one of their favorites; and they headed there after Hermione did one last check to make sure she didn't need anything else that she could get while in the city. They had dinner, did a round of goodbyes, and then Harry and Ginny went back to Hermione's house with her, while their parents headed for their own homes.

"Are you going to be okay here tonight?" Ginny asked worriedly when she and Harry were getting ready to go home too after spending nearly another hour with Hermione. "I could stay if you need me to, or you're welcome to stay with us longer if you want."

"I'll be fine," Hermione assured her, and smiled at Ginny's look of disbelief. "Really, Ginny. Crookshanks is here for me, and while I'm sure that there will be more crying and the rest, I really do feel like I'm going to be okay. You've all told me that this will be good for Ron, and I hope it will be, but it's going to be good for me too. Do you realize that I've never really been on my own before? My Mum and Dad have always been there, and after that, I had that year with Harry and Ron, and for the last two years, Ron's been there, and it's been more like we've just had one, two-level flat. A little independence could be just what I need."

"Maybe I should've thought about that instead of insisting that Harry and I get married right away," Ginny suggested; grinning at Harry.

"Or not," he disagreed. "If you feel the urge for a little girls-only time, try a weekend getaway instead."

"You got to spend nearly a year out on your own," Hermione pointed out. "That doesn't seem fair."

"It wasn't," Harry agreed. "Having Ginny away at school for most of that time was awful, and I never want to feel like that again." He laughed at the look on Hermione's face. "That's actually one of the reasons I'm so sure that Ron will come around. He had Mum and Dad there for him the whole time you were at school, so it wasn't quite the same for him back then. This is going to be very different, and that flat of his is going to be very lonely."

They'd talked for a few more minutes, and then Harry and Ginny went home, where she studied for an hour or so, and then they'd ended their weekend by making some very happy memories together. On Monday, Harry stopped in to see Hermione in her office after seeing Ginny off to work and cleaning up from their breakfast. He wasn't surprised that she was in early, and he hugged her before handing her the bag with the two pastries in it that he'd brought along.

"Just in case your breakfast for one was a bit on the light side," he explained. "How are you, other than not getting much sleep?"

"That obvious?" Hermione countered, and Harry nodded.

"You look beautiful, as always," he answered, "but I can tell. Did you even get two hours of sleep?"

Hermione shrugged and sat down at her desk again. "About that," she agreed. "I'm dealing with a lot of doubts right now. I wasn't surprised that we didn't see Ron all weekend, but even though I do think that I'm doing what's right for me, I feel really helpless and out of control too."

"The good news there being that at least this time, you're not feeling that way while being chased down by a Dark Lord and his Death Eater buddies," Harry told her. "I'd better get going. I've got trainee testing starting this morning, so I should be on time for that. Would you like to do dinner with us tonight?"

Hermione shook her head. "I've already been booked for dinner at the Burrow tonight, with Mum and Dad tomorrow night, and with you and Ginny on Wednesday," she advised him. "At the rate you're all going, I'll have to learn to cook all over again by the next time I have to cook for myself."

"Get used to it," he advised her. "Your family and friends are going to be here for you. Have a good day, and I'll see you sometime after dinner for tonight's decorating party at your place."

He still had time to get a little work done before his new trainees arrived, and there'd been a note on his desk from Emma to advise him that Nathan would do the testing with him instead of Neville. He didn't see Ron at all, and expected that he'd decided to work in the field again, but didn't have time to worry about that at all once Dennis and Natalie got to Headquarters. This was his first time doing the testing, and he was happy to have Nathan to do that with, since the whole process likely went much more smoothly than it would have if he and Neville had been doing it on their own.

Josh had taken his three trainees through the process once so they'd know what it was like, but it was a bit different administering the test, and for some parts of it, evaluating the candidate's responses and abilities in a non-biased manner. They spent the morning in one of the conference rooms, took Dennis and Natalie out for lunch, and then worked in a training room all afternoon. He was back in his cubicle, wrapping up for the day after sending Dennis and Natalie home, when Ron stormed in.

"Where is she?" he demanded loudly. Harry immediately put up a shield around his cubicle, since Ron was obviously on the verge of losing it. He looked at his watch and shrugged.

"Right now? Probably at the Burrow having dinner with Mum and Dad. Why? Have you decided to stop being a jerk and make things right with her?"

"I want to know where she's been! She didn't spend the night at your place."

"How would you know that?" Harry asked, and then smiled at the guilty look on Ron's face. "She wasn't staying with us because she went home."

"No she didn't!" Ron shouted. "I knew there was…"

"Hermione has a new place," Harry interrupted, "and you know nothing – especially if you think I'll let you get away with making another accusation like that again. How far are you personally able to apparate? If you can't make it from the North Pole to here, then don't go down that road." His eyes were flashing dangerously again, and Ron took a step back.

"Whadya mean she's got a new place?" he demanded hotly. "Where?"

"I mean what I said," Harry told him. "She didn't want to stay in her flat with things the way they are with you, so we spent the weekend getting her set up in a new place. When I see her next, I'll ask her if she wants you to know where, or maybe you'd like to pop over to the Burrow and just talk to her about it yourself. I'm sure that Mum would love to see you."

"If she doesn't want to be around me, that's just fine with me," Ron growled, "and I don't need to know, or give a rat, where she's living."

Harry shook his head. "That's not what I said, so stop trying to make yourself feel better by doing that, Ron. She loves you, and wants to spend the rest of her life with you; and you're breaking her heart. All she's told you is that she is not going to settle for anything less than that. Now it's up to you. Either you want that bonded for life kind of love with her, or you don't."

"If she really loved me, she'd accept me the way I am. I was happy the way things were, and if she doesn't want that anymore, then so be it – and you can tell her I said that."

Ron spun on his heel and left, while Harry just watched him go for a moment before going back to work again. That last comment had been so much like things that he, Ron, and Hermione had all said to each other when they were kids and having their mostly childish little fights that it had been hard not to laugh. If his friend was already down to that level, Harry was sure that he was fighting a losing battle – even though that fight was with himself.

After work, he and Ginny had dinner together, and then went over to Hermione's house to work for a couple of hours with the small crew that Molly had recruited. They'd done a short Seeker duel after that, near dusk, and then Ginny had studied in bed until after eleven. For Harry, nearly everything that had happened on Monday was repeated every day through Friday, including at least one Ron Weasley visit and venting session, and nightly decorating and Quidditch sessions.

Hermione made them take Friday and Saturday off from helping her, though she did have help there on Friday evening, and on Saturday morning before going out for lunch and to the game with Harry, Molly, Arthur, and some of the guests they had going with them to the last game of the summer holidays.

"You're done the decorating already?" Harry asked, and Hermione nodded. They were at the Leaky, and had just ordered their food. Harry had been the last to get there, after running a bit behind with getting Teddy. He'd been busy all morning getting caught up on the work around the house and yard that had been put off while helping Hermione.

"All we have left to do is move the rest of my things there, so we're going to do that tomorrow. We didn't do the guest bedrooms, but that'll give me something to putter away at when I'm bored and need something to keep busy with."

"Dennis will be happy to hear that," Harry told her. "He'll be able to move in sooner than he expected if he wants."

"You've rented it to Dennis Creevey?" she asked in surprise, and Harry nodded.

"It worked out rather well. He was just starting to look for his own place, but had wanted to wait until he passed his Auror testing, and your place was going to be available." He leaned closer to Hermione so only she'd hear his next comment. "I'm sure his neighbor will find having Dennis there very helpful – especially if Natalie is over visiting him a lot. They're a really cute couple, don't you think?"

Hermione laughed and hugged him. "That is so devious," she whispered back. "I love it."

They had a fairly quick lunch together, and then headed over to the Ellis Moor stadium in time to pick up drinks, snacks, and a couple of souvenirs, and then find their seats and meet up with the rest of their group. That had included the Campbells again, so Harry and Teddy had Dawn and Jonathan on one side of them for this game too. Hermione looked sad to not have Ron sitting next to her, but Fleur and Molly had her sitting with them in the row behind Harry, and were doing their best to make sure that she still had fun while they watched the game.

"Could you imagine if we had those brooms at Hogwarts this year?" Dawn asked Jonathan as they watched the game.

"I can imagine me spending time in the Hospital Wing after trying," he joked. "Maybe you'd be ready for one, but I'm fairly sure that I'm not, and I'm quite happy with my Nimbus, though Laura did tell me that she might be able to lend me her Firebolt whenever her team finally gets their Firestorms."

"That'd be really cool too," Dawn said excitedly, "though not so much for me when we play against each other in November."

Harry smiled; knowing that Ginny planned on stopping in and lending Dawn her Firebolt to use at school, but didn't say anything that would spoil the surprise she'd have later at the going away party that Bryce and Christine were having at their house for the kids. The game was fun, if you were a Harpies fan, but it wasn't close, which was very strange; since Meghan McCormack was arguably the best Keeper in the league. That didn't matter going up against three Chasers on brooms that were so much faster than she'd ever faced before. Angelina in particular had a lot of success, scoring twenty-one of the thirty-seven goals the Harpies put past Meghan before Ginny outraced Erin Connelly to the snitch at the two hour and forty-seven minute mark to give them a five-twenty to forty win.

Harry and Teddy went back to the Campbell's house with everyone who was going to that party from the game, and they both mostly played with the other kids in the back yard while the grown-ups sat around talking, or helped Bryce and Christine out with keeping drinks and snacks supplied, and making dinner for everyone. There was quite a difference in ages among the children that were there, with Dawn and Jonathan the oldest at fifteen, through to the two youngest, Reggie and Maria's six-month old daughter, Daniella, and Dan and Jennifer's three-month old baby, Jensen.

"Are you having fun?" Ginny asked as she knelt down next to Harry so she could hug him.

"Yes we are," he agreed before leaning close to kiss her; which had the girls who were playing with him and Teddy giggling. "Our Harpies team isn't doing quite as well as yours did this afternoon, though."

"They might do better if the dragons didn't keep flying off with them," she suggested. "How come the Wasps players aren't having dragon troubles?"

"Dragons like chasing girls better," Teddy advised her. "Dawn says it's because the Wasps stink," he added with a laugh.

Ginny hugged him next, and ruffled his hair. "I'd say she was just trying to get Jeremy riled up by saying that. The Wasps have a pretty good team, even though they are in a rebuilding phase this year, and have a few rookies."

Ryan Bradley, one of Dawn's Chaser partners on the Ravenclaw team, was one of those rookies, and was a decent player, but Ginny thought that the Wasps might find out that it had been Dawn's playmaking that had been what made the Ravenclaw Chasers look so good during the last couple of Hogwarts seasons. Demelza and Laura had definitely been the two best Chaser recruits; and the Harpies would have tried to get both Witches if they'd had room on the team.

"Every team is going to have a tough season this year against the Harpies," Dawn told her as she and Jonathan joined them. "Until they all get Firestorms too, they're not going to have much of a chance against you."

"We'll see," Ginny answered with a shrug. "The other teams will start trying to find a way to stop us anyway – or at least slow us down. Speaking of being slowed down, Harry and I were thinking about picking up a Nimbus for Jeremy, since he's got a good shot at making your team this season, but I seem to have a spare broom around that I was thinking you might like to borrow, and then Jeremy could use your Nimbus instead. Would that work for you?"

"I think that's a yes," Harry joked as Dawn hugged Ginny, and had happy tears in her eyes.

"It's fairly special to me, Dawn, so I will want it back eventually, but you're welcome to use it until you make the pros and get your own Firestorm."

"Thank you!" Dawn said excitedly, and hugged Ginny again.

"I left it in the front hall," Ginny advised her. "Take good care of it for me, and hopefully it'll help you win a Quidditch Cup or two too."

She and Harry both watched Dawn rush off, with Jonathan following her, and then she had him wrap up his play time so they could go and mingle with the other guests while Teddy stayed to play with the kids. They stayed at the party until nearly dark, and had a lot of fun, but when Teddy ran out of steam, they took him back to Andromeda's, and then went home and to bed early so they'd be ready to help Hermione with the last part of her move on Sunday.

"Your upstairs neighbor seems a bit upset today," Ginny said drily as she and Hermione worked on packing everything in her office. There had been a fair bit of noise coming from Ron's flat, including a lot of stomping around, a couple of fairly noisy crashes, and yelling that was loud, but not quite intelligible from Hermione's flat. "Hopefully his new neighbor won't mind all of that racket."

"I'm sure it'll get a bit quieter once I've gone," Hermione said sadly.

Ginny shrugged. "We'll see. If that's how he was going to act if you'd stayed here, though, I'm really glad that you're not. Five minutes of listening to that while I was trying to sleep, and I'd have been taking steps to put an end to it."

"Which is exactly why I didn't think I could come back here again," Hermione agreed. "One of us would end up doing something we could never take back no matter what."

"Could you give me an example or two of that?" Ginny asked in a way that had Hermione laughing. "Just for entertainment purposes, of course. I wouldn't dream of trying any of them out on my brother."

Ron had made a lot of noise the entire time they were there, and Hermione and her busy little work crew ignored him. It really didn't take all that long to pack everything, and then they moved all of the furniture and boxes to her new house. Harry was sure that one of the reasons Ron had been upstairs was because George had taken a couple of hours off from work to help Hermione at her flat before getting back to his store; so he'd known exactly when they'd be there. Both sets of parents had helped too, and after joining them for lunch, Bill and Fleur gave them a hand at Hermione's house for a few hours in the afternoon.

"Funny, I don't remember those recliners in the sitting room of my flat," Hermione said when she walked into the sitting room to find that her furniture had multiplied while she'd been in the office getting everything set up and put away in there. 'It wasn't so large a room that you'd think I would have missed them."

Harry, Arthur, Bill, and her father were all grinning at her. "We thought that a little extra seating for your new sitting room would be nice," Arthur explained. "Do you like them?"

Hermione smiled too and went over to hug each of them, and then hug Molly, Fleur, Ginny, and her mother too. "I love them, and I love all of you. Thank-you – for everything."

"You're welcome, sweetie," Molly assured her. "It looks like the boys are done in here. Let's all go back to the Burrow for dinner, and then we'll let you have a night off from company so that you and Crookshanks can have a break."

Molly's suggestion had been unanimously approved, and after spending another couple of hours together with everyone at the Burrow, Harry and Ginny went home, and spent the rest of the evening playing and enjoying a little quality alone time before they'd both be getting back to work in the morning. They were awake early on Monday, did the usual breakfast routine, and then they were both off to work early – Harry so he could be ready for the first full day of training with Neville and their Auror-trainees. He'd been at work for twenty minutes when Ron walked into his cubicle and threw himself into one of the chairs.

"Nice place you got her," he said without preamble. "I'm sure she'll be very happy there."

"You didn't have to search my records," Harry answered. "Hermione was fine with you knowing where she'd moved, and like I told her, I'd bought that place with both of you in mind. I'm glad you like it too."

"What are you talking about?" Ron demanded, sitting up and glaring at him angrily.

Harry shrugged. "Check that record again," he suggested. "I bought it over a year ago, and I know how much you hate them, but I bought it because I had one of those feelings. Since you don't even want to marry Hermione, though, you probably really don't want to hear about why the place seemed so perfect to me. That would require telling you about babies and grandma daycare and all sorts of scary things."

"What I really hate is having my family and friends turn on me, and then start making up lies about what they see in my future in some lame attempt to trap me into doing something I don't want to do," Ron told him angrily. Harry held up his hand and smiled.

"I've been cured of my youthful tendency to lie, remember? Then again I wasn't lying back then, I'm not lying to you now, and I told you that you wouldn't want to hear about what I see. Just keep telling yourself that I failed Divination, and maybe that'll help."

Ron snorted. "Thanks for reminding me that you failed at something besides being my friend." He stood up and nodded. "I've got a meeting with Emma to get to. You've got your new trainee, and three's a crowd, so I'm requesting a new partner."

"That's your choice too," Harry said pointedly, "but we make a great team, and I wish you wouldn't."

"And I wish I could still count on you to have my back, but I can't," Ron retorted. He turned and walked out, and Harry let him leave without saying anything more. His friend didn't need to know that Emma had already talked with him last week, and that he knew Ron's request would be granted. He and Neville would be temporary partners while Josh paired up with Ron for however long it took for him to come around. He and Neville would be starting their first training session soon, so he got back to work and got focused on that again.

There were currently six Auror-trainees. Susan and Terry were starting their third year, Derek Summers and Alison Chambers had been the two successful candidates in two thousand, and now they had Dennis and Natalie. They would be using the same training manuals as the other trainees, but Harry and Neville were also working ahead, and completely overhauling the program too. Now that the Wizarding World wasn't in constant danger from Dark Lords and bands of Dark Wizards and Witches, they could actually focus on proper training instead of learning on the fly while trying to stay alive.

Harry thought that eventually they should have ongoing training and education for all of the Aurors, and the Witches and Wizards in the Hit Squad too, but at least they were getting a chance to make changes with the trainee program, and the rest of the changes he'd like to see would come eventually. One of the first things that he and Neville had agreed on was that they needed both a physical and magical exercise regime for their trainees, and that's what they started with on Monday morning.

"We've taken the physical fitness part of our new program straight from the Harpies training regime," Harry advised Dennis and Natalie as they got ready to start. They'd all changed into workout clothes that Ginny had helped him pick out and buy several sets of for each of them. "We'll probably adapt it as we go along, and if you have any comments or ideas on how we can make it better, Neville and I would love to hear them. Are you ready?"

"Probably not," Dennis answered with a smile, "but let's give it a go and see what happens."

The next hour of work proved to Harry that there was a very good reason for having a physical exercise program. He'd played and trained for Quidditch, but Neville, Dennis, and Natalie all found the exercises quite difficult. They'd stopped to take regular breaks that Harry hadn't needed; though he was sure that eventually, they wouldn't need the short rests either.

"Okay, I get it now," Neville told him, expressing exactly what Harry had been thinking. "No wonder the Harpies are all in such good shape."

"And that's just a small part of their daily training," Harry added with a nod. "Let's take fifteen, and then we'll start with the magical exercises."

Those exercises were very different from anything else that had been done before in Auror training too, but unlike the physical exercises, all four of them loved the routine Harry and Neville had put together. That had included everything from levitating increasingly heavy objects to dodging and countering multiple objects or simulated spells. Each task was designed to make them stronger and faster, and even after just one session, Dennis and Natalie did feel like they'd done both.

Neville was going to have lunch with Hannah and Alice every day that he could now, and Dennis and Natalie were doing their own thing too, so Harry took Hermione out for lunch again, mostly so he could talk with her about the fact that Ron now knew where her place was, and that she should probably be on the lookout for him prowling around. When he got back to Headquarters, he and Neville spent the afternoon working with their trainees on the first lesson from the Introduction to Concealment manual, though they had some minor changes to that lesson too, just as they did for most of the lessons they'd reviewed so far.

By the end of the day, Harry had been sent a note from Emma advising him officially about his change in partner, and that he and Neville would continue with the work that he and Ron had been doing. Ron and Josh would be working the case that Josh and Neville had been on. He'd seen Ron two other times since his little morning visit, but Ron had kept far enough away each time that they couldn't talk, and hadn't stayed around long the one time they'd both been at their cubicles.

He had a bit of business to take care of after work. It didn't take him long to set up getting Hermione's old flat cleaned on Tuesday so Dennis could move in any time he wanted to after that, though he wasn't officially taking the place until September first. Ginny was already home when he got there, and he joined her to make dinner while they talked about their respective days.

"I know it's the Cannons that we're playing a week from Saturday, but they've got that new rookie Seeker from Spain, Ricardo Santini, and we don't know very much at all about him."

Harry grinned at her. "Do you want me to run a background check on him?" he joked, and she laughed.

"Somehow I have a feeling that Emma would have a problem with using Auror resources to do player research for the Harpies."

"Then she'd really hate it if she knew that Ron had been digging into our files," he countered after laughing too. "Apparently he really did want to know where Hermione's new place was, but didn't think he could ask me again after telling me he didn't care where she lived."

"That's pretty low," Ginny said; frowning slightly. "I don't think I like him doing that any more than I liked finding out that he'd been watching our house. Has he gone completely mad now?"

"Possibly," Harry agreed. "I wonder how many of our properties he had to check out over the weekend before finding Hermione's place? I really hope he didn't have to work on that night and day,' he added insincerely. He laughed again suddenly; and then grinned at Ginny. "He really has lost it. If he'd thought about it for a minute, and wanted to find Hermione; he could've just used his deluminator."

"That's hilarious. Maybe he was afraid it wouldn't work – or worse; that it would," Ginny suggested with a laugh. Did you let Hermione know?" Harry nodded.

"I told her at lunch," he confirmed with a laugh. "If he tries spying on her there, I'm fairly sure he'll be in for a nasty surprise."

Ginny laughed again too. "A single Witch living on her own like that can't be blamed for protecting herself. I do hope she reports any attempted intrusions to the Aurors."

"That would be funny, but I'll guess that whatever she comes up with will be more than enough to convince Ron not to stalk her if he runs into one of her traps – I mean defenses."

Harry had to work fairly hard not to laugh; and he definitely thought it was funny when Ron walked into his cubicle on Wednesday morning. He was sporting a fairly pronounced limp, and looked both a bit haggard and very uncomfortable. He sat down in one of the chairs, though he did that quite gingerly too, and Harry had to wonder just what Hermione had set up to protect her home.

"I told all of you that this was all her fault, but everyone sided with little Miss brightest of our time," he said angrily. "She hates me, and when I went over there last night to try and talk with her, she chased me off with a pack of dogs."

"You went over there to talk things out with her?" Harry asked suspiciously; and Ron nodded, though he wouldn't meet Harry's eyes. "What time did you go there? Did you try using your mirror, or send a Patronus to let her know you were coming?"

"I've never had to do that before, and I don't remember what time it was," Ron said evasively.

"Hermione wasn't living out on her own before now," Harry pointed out. "Did it actually not occur to you that it would be prudent for her to protect herself?"

"Go ahead, defend what she did to me," Ron shot back; not answering the question. "I get attacked and my leg half chewed off, and as far as you're concerned, she's done nothing wrong."

Harry shrugged. "Easy enough for you to prove your point mate." He pulled a small vial out of his desk and set it in front of Ron. "I'll go get the pensieve, you pull the memory of what happened last night, and we'll get to the bottom of this. The only thing that I don't understand is why, if you wanted to work things out with Hermione, you didn't just go to her office yesterday and ask to talk with her. She's here at the Ministry all day, every day of the work week."

Ron glared at him angrily and stood up quickly; though he winced at the pain doing that caused him. "I said I went there to talk with her, not work things out, and I have no idea why I even bothered with her or with you," he muttered. Limping away, he went over to his own cubicle, and Harry smiled as he put the vial away again.

The rest of the week went pretty well for Harry and Ginny. He and Neville were both enjoying working with Dennis and Natalie, and after work, he and Ginny spent their evenings playing Quidditch, or snuggled on a sofa or in bed while she studied for her game. Ron only took time for a few passing glares on Thursday, and on Friday he'd stopped in long enough to confirm that he was getting a new neighbor, and that Dennis would be moving in on the weekend.

Saturday was September first, and while they didn't have to worry about kids going back to school, they did stop in on Friday evening for a quick visit with Dawn, Jeremy, and Kate to wish them luck. It was also the first weekend in over a month when they didn't have anything major on the go, so they'd picked Teddy up on the way to the Campbell's house, and then kept him overnight. Ginny did have to spend some time working on the weekend, and they had a couple of long Seeker duels, but they spent the rest of the time playing and taking advantage of the opportunity to rest up for a couple of days before they'd be right back into another busy, action-packed month. That action had mostly been work-related for Harry and Ginny during the first week of September, so by Saturday afternoon, Harry was ready for a break; and watching the Harpies-Cannons game was just the kind of entertainment reprieve he needed.

"I half expected him to be here with another Witch," Hermione told Harry quietly as they both watched Ron and George. They were in the season's ticket section for the Cannons, which was, to be very generous, about a tenth of the size of the section they were in for the Harpies. Harry smiled and put a comforting arm around her.

"Ron may be half-mad right now, but he'd have to be certifiable to do that with our Mum here."

Hermione laughed. "I suppose, but I'll wager he did think about it."

Harry laughed too. "I wouldn't dream of taking that bet."

Ron and George both waved and were looking their way; and it took Harry a moment to realize that they were waving back at Teddy. He was sitting between Matthew and Franklin Cresswell, though he was now standing in his seat, waving enthusiastically at his Uncle George and Uncle Ron. Lenore and Molly had both reached past the other two boys to hook fingers into his shirt so he wouldn't fall; and Harry and Molly smiled at each other.

"At least he'll still wave to Teddy," Hermione said in a near-whisper. "All I've gotten is nasty glares and dark scowls."

"If he's not muttering curses under his breath anymore, that's an improvement," Harry suggested, and Hermione shook her head.

"I don't think there's any improvement, Harry. If anything, it seems like things are just getting worse. It's been more than three weeks now, and I'm beginning to think that what you saw for us was a mirror of Erised reflection instead of reality."

"If it was a reflection from the mirror, do you think it was your fondest wish I saw – or his?" Harry countered with a grin that made Hermione laugh again. She leaned close to hug him, and kissed his cheek.

"Thank you. I needed that laugh a lot." She looked over at Ron and George again, and frowned. "Now what's his problem?"

"I'll guess the hug and kiss," Harry answered, and Hermione turned back to stare at him. "Look at the bright side. If he wasn't completely and totally in love with you, he wouldn't care about that – especially since he knows there's nothing for him to worry about between you and me."

Ron had more to scowl about than Hermione and Harry. His Cannons got absolutely pounded by his sister and the Harpies. They scored thirty-four goals on the Cannons in just two hours and six minutes, and Trish didn't allow a single score. Ginny sealed Trish's shutout by catching the snitch pretty much unopposed as she left the Cannons' new Seeker in the dust and looking a bit dazed and confunded about what had just happened.

Harry and Hermione took Lenore and the three boys out for ice cream after the game, since it had been so short, and Molly had brought Arthur along so he could have an afternoon treat with the other kids too. After doing that, and taking Teddy back to Andromeda's, Hermione went home with Harry, and was going to have dinner with him and Ginny. The Harpies had two games coming up in the next three weeks, so while Ginny did take a break on Saturday night, on Sunday she was back to work getting ready for the Catapults and Kestrels games; and she had Harry help her with doing that. The Seeker duels were part of it, but having him there to take care of things like meals, and especially the bedtime routines that kept her healthy and very, very happy were what really made the difference, and kept her playing at her very best every day.

"You and Hermione looked cozy at the game," Ron told Harry as he walked into his cubicle and sat down on Monday morning. "Even if nobody else sees it, things are looking much clearer to me now. What's the matter? Isn't one Witch enough for the most powerful Wizard in the world? Nice setup you've got going, though I'm a bit surprised that Ginny would stand for it. Maybe I'll sit down with her and ask why she doesn't mind sharing her husband with one of her best friends."

Harry stared at him in amazement for a moment, and then just started to laugh. Ron glared daggers at him; and that just made Harry laugh harder. It took a few moments, but when he settled down, he leaned forward and made sure that he had Ron's full attention.

"You're exhausted, upset, and in a really bad place right now, so I'll take those comments for their entertainment value and let it go at that," he said earnestly. "We both know just how ludicrous your accusations are, and I think that it's way past time for you to stop trying to come up with these wild and impossible scenarios to hide behind what you know is the real problem."

"Right; and I'm sure you're going to tell me exactly what that real problem is, aren't you?" Ron stated angrily. Harry nodded, but Ron wasn't looking at him anymore.

"I can do that, though you already know what it is," he agreed. "You love Hermione."

"That's my problem?" Ron said sarcastically; and Harry nodded again.

"That's what it boils down to. You love her, have been miserable without her, and can't imagine spending the rest of your life feeling the way you do now, or spending it without her. There's probably more than a bit of guilt on the side too, since you know how much you've hurt Hermione over this."

Ron snorted and stood up. "Good thing you've got this day job to fall back on, Doctor Potter."

Harry watched him stalk off, and smiled. His father-in-law may have been off by a bit, but he didn't think it would be much more than a month before Ron came around, and he was sure his best friend wouldn't last two months without Hermione. Since part of the reason why he thought that was because he was starting to get one of those feelings again, that conversation actually put him in a really good mood to get the work week started.

The physical and magical training that Harry and Neville were doing with Dennis and Natalie was going to be a daily workout at least until they were all at a certain fitness level, and then they planned on experimenting to find out what would work best to keep them in shape longer term, while not getting too much in the way of their actual jobs too. That cut back on the amount of time they could spend on their real work, but Emma had agreed that it was important, and that if their case did get hot, she could always get them help from other teams.

Dennis and Natalie had been going together since Ginny's last year at Hogwarts, and one thing that the Aurors rarely had was a boyfriend-girlfriend, or husband-wife team. When Harry and Ron had their trainees disguise themselves and play a happy couple for a test assignment, they both saw some real potential for the pair after watching them work.

"I doubt even Nathan and Christine could pull that off so well," Neville said quietly so he wasn't overheard. They were disguised too, and sitting at a table across the room from where their trainees were, and keeping a close eye on them to make sure they were safe.

"Probably not," Harry agreed. "They look so sweet and innocent too."

Neville nodded. "A perfect set of criminal magnets if ever I saw one." He grinned at Harry. "Well, nearly perfect. Add a cute little doggie, and then they'd have the whole package."

Harry laughed. "That's an idea. Maybe we'll work on that sometime and see how it goes."

They didn't try to add that into their training, but that was mostly due to the fact that when they got back to the Ministry of Magic late on Tuesday, the Atrium was a madhouse of activity, with Witches and Wizards rushing around in a state of panic. The scene they walked into in Auror Headquarters was better, but still one of only barely controlled chaos.

"Potter! Longbottom! Over here, please," Emma called to them from her cubicle. They all hurried over, and she waved them in. Nathan and Christine were with her, so Dennis and Natalie stood at the cubicle entrance instead of trying to all crowd in.

"We're just getting word that there have been attacks in Muggle New York and Washington," Emma told them. "The Ministry is on high alert, and Minister Shacklebolt wants our help in finding out whether there are any Dark Witches or Wizards involved. He's promised the Muggle Prime Minister an answer as soon as we can get it for him."

"What kind of attack?" Neville asked, knowing from the grim looks of the others that it must be bad.

"In New York, buildings known as the World Trade Center were attacked, and in Washington, the military headquarters for the United States, the Pentagon, was hit. We still don't know much yet, but it appears that very large airplanes were hijacked and flown into each of the buildings. Reports suggest anywhere from hundreds to tens of thousands of Muggles have been killed. We have nothing on whether any Witches or Wizards could have been in those buildings, but the odds are high that there would be at least a few."

"What do you want us to do?" Neville asked next.

"Right now, I want everyone to clear their plates, and don't go anywhere. We're just getting organized, and we'll be deciding how to proceed. What the Minister needs right now is information, and if this is the start of some new Dark Wizard attacks, we need to know about it." She looked at Dennis and Natalie, and nodded. "You will not be in the field for this," she advised them, "but expect to be working late doing research for us here, and running errands if needed. We'll need everyone until we find out what's really going on over there."

They were dismissed then, but Harry waved Neville to go on ahead with their trainees, and he stayed behind; waiting until they were gone, and then putting up a privacy shield. "I'd like to go there," he told Emma, Nathan, and Christine.

"We're considering sending a team," Emma told him, but Harry shook his head.

"I mean right now," he explained. "I can apparate there, find out everything that I can, and get back here before you'd get a quarter way through the red tape to send an official team."

They stared at him open-mouthed, and Christine was the first to comment. "Not much point in explaining to him that apparating thousands of miles would be a fairly impossible feat for pretty much everyone else," she told them. "He's got a point, though, Emma. I think we should let him."

"I don't like the idea of him doing that at all, let alone going into an unknown situation alone," Nathan disagreed, and Harry smiled at him, though it was a determined, grim look.

"I won't be alone," he advised him.

"You're going to side-along apparate to New York or Washington from here?" Emma asked incredulously. "Who'd be crazy enough to…" she looked past Harry to where Josh and Ron were about five steps away from joining them. "Never mind. Your mission proposal is approved."

"What mission?" Ron asked her, scowling at Harry.

"Come on, and I'll tell you on the way," Harry answered. "You've just been drafted."

Harry stepped out of the cubicle, having already dropped his privacy shield before Emma's last comment; and waved for Ron to follow him. Ron hadn't looked at all happy, but after getting a curt nod from Emma, he went along. They left Auror Headquarters together, and he was getting frustrated after Harry wouldn't tell him what they were doing until they'd left the Ministry, and had gone a fair distance away.

"Enough!" Ron said angrily; stopping and refusing to go any further. "What are we doing? In case you hadn't noticed, things were a bit crazy back there, and Josh might need his partner to help him. Why are you dragging me off instead of working with your new partner?"

"Because my new partner has a wife and new baby, and isn't as crazy as you and me," Harry answered. "We're going to New York, and then probably Washington after that. Ready to go? Kingsley needs to get to the bottom of what's happening; and we're just the Wizards to do that for him."

"Did you happen to hear that we're on high alert?" Ron said with a scornful shake of his head. "How were you planning on going? Portkeys are shut down until further notice."

"We'll just apparate instead," Harry answered. "Is that crazy enough for you?"

Ron gaped at him. "You want me to side-along apparate with you to New York?" he asked incredulously. "Are you completely mad?"

"You're the only one crazy enough to trust me to do it," Harry pointed out. "Come on. You can't tell me that you don't want to be in the thick of things, and I need you there to watch my back."

Ron just stared at him for a long moment, and then shook his head. "I've gone bonkers too," he muttered. "If you splinch me to death, I'm coming back to haunt you."

Harry took a firm grip of Ron's upper arm, and made what was an incredibly uncomfortable jump to New York. They were both breathing hard when they arrived, and looked around to make sure they weren't being observed. They'd never been to New York, or anywhere in America, so Harry had picked a place that he'd at least seen pictures of as their destination.

"Merlin!" Ron breathed in awe as he looked across the water to the city. "How do you expect us to find out anything? It's like a war zone over there."

"We do have a few options," Harry reminded him as he got his invisibility cloak out. "Let's start by checking out whatever command center they have on the ground here, and start working our way up the chain until we get some answers."

Ron had agreed, and after catching their breath, they popped over to the city, and got to work. Other than getting some of the details about the two planes; when exactly the North and South towers had collapsed, and some fairly wild reports on casualties that were almost all speculation, they didn't get any useful information about who had carried out the attacks. It wasn't until they did a little eavesdropping in Washington that they started to get some leads, and found out which direction the American Muggle government and military were looking for suspects.

"I think we've learned all we're going to for now," Harry decided; after giving Ron the latest bits of news he'd picked up after sitting in on an intelligence briefing. "Let's go give Emma what we've got, and then I thought that you might like to go with me for a little visit to Afghanistan."

"You're scaring me," Ron told him, and then steeled himself for what was sure to be another unpleasant apparition. "Get it over with," he said between clenched teeth. "I'm as ready as I'll never be."

They gave Emma their report, and she approved their next trip to find out whether the Americans were on to something, and if they were, whether any Wizards or Witches were behind this Osama bin Laden and his 'al-Qaeda' group. It was already late afternoon on Wednesday by the time they started searching for answers there among the Taliban government, and early evening before Harry spent an hour watching Osama bin Laden, and the group of Muggles with him, watch news reports of the attacks, and gloat over their triumph in a way that was far too much like what Tom Riddle and his Death Eater buddies had been like when he'd faced them. What he did find out for sure, though, was that nobody from the Wizarding World was involved. There were no Wizards or Witches there, and Harry had been able to easily confirm that none had been Confunded or Imperiused in any way. With that confirmed; he left the room, met up with Ron again, and they apparated back to Headquarters; getting there late in the afternoon.

"So it's definitely a Muggle problem?" Kingsley asked when Harry and Ron finished their report. Emma had taken them straight to see him after they'd returned, and she, Kingsley, and Percy were the only others in the Minister's office.

"Yes sir," Harry agreed. "If the Prime Minister would like us to, I'm sure Ron and I could capture the group's leader, but there are definitely no Wizards or Witches involved."

"I'm not sure that's something we want to get involved in," Kingsley told him. "If we start down that road, the Muggle governments would soon be asking us to do a lot more, and we could eventually end up fighting Witches and Wizards in other countries. The last thing we want to do is bring Muggle wars into our Wizarding World. You've both done an excellent job. Thank you."

They only talked for a few more minutes, and then Kingsley needed to go and set up an emergency meeting with the Prime Minister. Emma sent Harry and Ron home to get some sleep, but after leaving Headquarters, Harry met up with Hermione first, and she went home with him to have dinner with Ginny, and hear all about what he'd been doing for the past day or so.

"I'm so glad you're safe," Ginny told him as she hugged and kissed him for a long minute after he and Hermione walked into the house. "Is Ron okay too?"

"He's fine, though he told me that he never, ever wants to do international apparitions with me again. They're not exactly a lot of fun, so I can't blame him for that."

"Well, at least you cut through all of the red tape, and found out what we needed to know," Hermione said. "I still can't believe that people – Muggles or Wizards – are out there who would do such things. We certainly have had our fair share of problems in the Wizarding World, but the horrors Muggles inflict on each other seem even worse. I wish we could do something about that, but the problem's so big, I don't see how we could."

"The Minister isn't going to offer to help," Harry advised them. "I'd like to help, but he does have a valid point that if we did, the Muggle governments would demand and expect our help to deal with other problems. Like you said, we've got enough problems, and Kingsley has no intention of getting the Wizarding World drawn into Muggle battles, hard as that choice is to make."

Ginny put her arm around him. "That's why he gets paid the big bucks. You've been up for more than a day and a half, though, so my next decision is easy. Come and eat, and then you're going to bed." She laughed at the grin on his face. "You're going to bed – and to sleep. I'm going to have a nice visit with Hermione, and then get back to my studies."

They'd had dinner together, and Harry had told the girls everything that had happened since going to New York. By the time he had a shower and went to bed, he was out of steam, and slept through until morning. By Thursday, things were settling down around the Ministry, and he and Neville got back to training Dennis and Natalie, though he'd needed to fill out the full report for the trips he and Ron had made on Thursday morning after they finished their exercise routine. After work on Thursday, he and Ginny had dinner at the Burrow, mostly to assure their Mum in person that Harry was okay, and then Ginny had him do a Seeker duel after they got home again before ending the day with a study and cuddle session, followed by a little play time when they went to bed for the night.

Ron stopped by for another of his daily rants with Harry on Friday, though it hadn't really been a rant at all on Thursday; and it seemed that the events of the last few days had really affected him deeply. When he flopped into a chair in Harry's cubicle just as Harry was getting ready to leave for the day, he looked terrible. He was trying to look grumpy, but instead looked dejected and haunted. The dark circles around his eyes suggested that he hadn't slept much, and Harry thought that he looked noticeably thinner every time he saw him.

"All set for another fun weekend?" Ron asked; his tone of voice shooting for contempt, but coming off more like wistful. "Another couple of happy, fun days in your perfect life?"

"Hopefully we'll have a little fun," Harry agreed. "Ginny's got to get ready for the game next Wednesday, so she'll be working, but we've got to do a little birthday present shopping for Hermione's birthday, along with the usual grocery and supply run. Ginny can't go to the Leaky with us for Hermione's birthday dinner, but she's going to try her best to get a win over the Catapults for a birthday bonus."

"Figures you'd remember her birthday. What are you getting her this year? A car?"

Harry pretended to consider the suggestion. "That's a pretty great idea," he said enthusiastically. "Maybe we'll do that some other year, but I'm pretty sure that Ginny wants to go with something for the house. There are three guest bedrooms that haven't been done yet, and while she's got her kitchen table and chairs, she hasn't done anything with the dining room yet."

Ron grunted. "I'm sure that you and my family will make sure that she has a perfect, happy birthday."

Harry smiled at him. "If I could make that happen for her, then you'd have to be there and back together with her, mate. That pretty much means that giving her a best birthday ever kind of day isn't up to me, Ginny, or anyone else in our family – it's up to you."

"Sure it is," Ron scoffed. "How exactly do you see that working out; oh great, all-knowing, delusional one?"

"That's good," Harry complimented him with a laugh. "If you remember correctly, in my own case, it went something like: Ginny, I've been an idiot. I should have never broken up with you last year. Please forgive me, and take me back." He laughed again, and Ron looked like he was trying hard not to smirk. "There was an 'I love you' in there somewhere too, but that was pretty much it, which I am absolutely sure was a lot easier than it would have been if I'd done things the hard way with your sister."

"That's not the same as this at all," Ron told him with a shake of his head.

"I'd say the only real difference is that you took the hard way with Hermione," Harry disagreed. "What do you think Ginny would have done to me if I hadn't asked her to marry me right after she got done school? I seriously doubt that she'd have waited more than three years for me to do that before blasting me, and I doubt that I'd like what you and your brothers would have done to me if I'd been going on with Ginny like you've been with Hermione. I would have been cursed into oblivion, and then fed to a dragon."

"You'd have…" Ron began before trailing off and turning a bit red.

"Deserved it," Harry finished for him. "You've got a bigger job fixing the mess with Hermione, since you have royally botched things, mate; but all it'd really take to make it right with her again would be to apologize, tell her you love her, and ask her to marry you."

"And completely cave in," Ron snapped; though there wasn't any forcefulness in his retort.

"I'd call it coming to your senses and admitting that you're not ever going to be happy without her; not caving in, mate." He shook his head. "Maybe it's because I do get those feelings that I really can't understand why you've got a problem with what seems so simple to me."

"Whadya mean?" Ron asked suspiciously; and Harry shrugged.

"What I sense for you and Hermione is just so great, the same way that I know things will be like that for me and Ginny too, that I honestly don't get why you seem to be willing to risk losing it, or why you're afraid of making that forever commitment to her. That doesn't even take into consideration what I feel if I try to think about you without her."

"At least I'd be my own Wizard, instead of some Witch's lapdog," Ron countered half-heartedly. Harry laughed loudly at that, and Ron even grinned a bit when he clued in to why Harry had thought that was so funny.

"Seriously, Ron, do you really think that your Dad, Bill, or I aren't? Putting our wives first makes us more, not less, and don't forget that they do the same." He shook his head and held up his hand at the look on Ron's face. "Don't go there, mate. She's been giving you everything for years – even for years before you started going out. Can you honestly say that you've done the same for her? She deserves more than you've been willing to give up until now, and you know she won't settle for less anymore. That brings us right back around to the fact that it's all up to you now. After everything that you and I saw in New York and Washington this week, I'd think that would put all of this in a whole new light for you too." He stood up, and grabbed his cloak.

"I've got to get home and make dinner for Ginny. Try to get some rest, mate. You look like you could use a day or two of it, and a few decent meals too."

"Sure. No problem. I'll get right to that," Ron answered. He stood too, and then he flinched noticeably when Harry put a hand on his shoulder as they both stepped out of the cubicle.

"We really are all here and pulling for you, Ron," Harry said quietly. "If you need to talk over the weekend, just let me know."

"I've got plans all weekend, and have nothing I'll be needing to talk about," Ron answered gruffly. There seemed to be something stuck in his throat. He left Harry, went to his cubicle, and sat down, apparently wanting to make sure there was no chance that they'd end up sharing a lift to the Atrium level.

Harry had gone on home, and while he had meant what he'd told Ron about being there for him if he wanted to talk, he didn't expect him to take him up on the offer. It was much more likely that his plans for the weekend would have him helping George at the store, and his brother would spend a lot of the next two days being his sounding board; just as he'd been doing for a lot of the last four weeks. Dinner was nearly ready by the time Ginny got home, and it must have shown on his face that he was still thinking about Ron and Hermione when she hugged and kissed him in welcome.

"How'd your daily therapy session with Ron go?" she asked, and Harry laughed.

"That's a nice way to put it. I'd say things are coming to a head with him. The best he could come up with today was a remark about my life being perfect, grousing about me remembering that Hermione's birthday is next Wednesday, and a few half-hearted retorts during our little chat."

"Sounds promising," Ginny said as she started setting the table. "Do you think he'll come around by then?"

"I don't know," Harry admitted; but then grinned at her. "I did pick up an extra ticket for the game, but it's in the cheap seats. What do you think that might mean?"

Ginny laughed and leaned close to kiss him again. "I think it means that there's a better than fifty-fifty chance that you'll be watching the game in the nosebleed section, and probably in disguise, since Ron would lose it if he found out that you'd been that sure he'd be back together with Hermione by then."

"If I was sure, we'd have kept one of the season's tickets for him," Harry countered. "How was your day?"

Ginny was happy to tell him about everything that had happened at work while they had dinner, and after cleaning up, they spent the evening playing together; first out above the Quidditch pitch, and later, after they'd turned in for the night. On Saturday, they spent the morning shopping, and that included picking up a beautiful dining room set for Hermione's birthday. They had lunch in Diagon Alley, and then Ginny studied for a couple of hours while Harry worked in the yard. They followed that up with another Seeker Duel, and then had another quiet, but fun dinner and evening in for two.

On Sunday, they had a morning Seeker duel, and then Ginny spent most of the day studying. Harry picked Teddy up and spent a few hours with him while she worked, wandering around Diagon Alley for an hour or so, bringing treats home for an afternoon snack break with Ginny, and then playing in the yard until it was time for Teddy to go home again. They were having George and Hermione over for dinner, and George was helping them with a Quidditch practice after that, so Harry was back home again in time to cook dinner for four. Hermione was there by the time he got home, and had been chatting with Ginny, so when he started cooking, she gave him a hand, while Ginny moved to the kitchen from the sitting room so she could still study and chat with them.

"It's been a month, or just over, as of today," Hermione told them. "I guess your Dad was wrong about how long it'd be before Ron would come around. He still hasn't even said one word to me the whole time."

"Dad did say 'or two at the most'," Ginny reminded her. "Ron may not be talking to you yet, but he has certainly been talking to nearly everyone else – except me and Mum."

"That's probably just because he's figured out that the three of you have more than tough words for him," Harry suggested. "I wonder what your Mum did to him when she finally got her hands on him?"

"I wouldn't be surprised to find out that we really wouldn't want to know," Ginny countered. "Whatever it was, my bat-bogey hex and Hermione's doggie defense were probably mild by comparison."

"Probably," Hermione agreed, and then sighed forlornly. "I'll give it more time, since I've got no other choice anyway, but if nothing happens by Christmas, I'm going to get started on my kneazle collection."

Ginny grinned at her. "Okay. I'll let Mum know, so she'll be ready to get your first new buddy for Crookshanks. I'm sure that Emma would appreciate the heads up too."

Hermione laughed. "You guys are not going to turn Ron into a kneazle – no matter how funny that would be."

They moved on to talk about other things, like how work was going for Hermione. Since her first spurt of hires in ninety-nine, she'd only hired two more people, but since they were still really just getting started with helping House Elves, she hadn't needed more help yet. Her biggest battles were with Amos Diggory and others in the Ministry who fought her at every step as she worked hard to get new rules and regulations in place that improved conditions for the elves, protected them from being abused, and gave them more rights.

"No wonder you're at the Ministry, and I'm in Quidditch," Ginny told Hermione after she'd finished telling them about her most recent battle with Amos. "I'd have smacked him up the side of the head with a bludger after about two minutes of that rubbish."

"He's a good man," Hermione reminded them. "It's just really hard for him to see that what he's believed all of his life isn't right. I probably went a bit too far by suggesting that he imagine how he'd feel if he was a house elf and had to watch his children being beaten and tortured by Wizards and Witches, and often not for any reason at all other than their masters needed someone to vent their anger on."

"Maybe that's exactly what he needed to hear," Harry disagreed. "That's something he'd be able to relate to better than most Wizards and Witches, even if he doesn't want to admit that there's no difference at all between what's senselessly done to elves and what happened to Cedric."

Hermione nodded. "Maybe, but I wish it hadn't been me telling him that, and now Ron's not the only Wizard not talking to me. If he didn't know that the Minister would back me, I think he would have fired me over it."

"I doubt that," Ginny said; shaking her head emphatically. "Gwenog's got a lot of connections everywhere, and from what she passes along to me, I'd say that Amos is actually very proud of you, even if he never admits it to you."

Dinner was ready by the time George joined them, and after the usual round of hugs, they sat down to eat, and have him entertain them with all of the latest stories from Weasley's Wizard Wheezes. The students might be back at Hogwarts, but that still left all of the junior, under-eleven jokesters, and busloads of adults who were now dedicated wheezes fans and customers. His mail order business had nearly doubled every year, and he was expecting even bigger things for his stores in the coming year.

"How's Ron?" Hermione finally worked up the courage to ask him quietly and earnestly.

"He's a total mess," he answered with a grin. "When I told him I was going out to dinner with you tonight after work, he punched me." He laughed at the look on Hermione's face. "In hindsight, I probably should have told him that we were having dinner here, but after he hit me, I didn't feel like giving him that bit of information. He stormed out of the store shortly after I asked him what the problem was, since you and I are both currently single, and you are, after all, brilliant and beautiful." Hermione had her hand covering her mouth by then, and was staring at George with wide eyes. Harry and Ginny were both laughing too.

"You don't look the worse for wear," Ginny told him, and George nodded.

"I used the bruise remover paste right away, and I've improved it quite a bit, or I would have a pretty good shiner right now." He turned back to Hermione and smiled. "Don't worry about this. He's just lashing out. I love you like a sister, would never do something like that to one of my brothers even if I did like you that way instead, and he knows that. I'm fairly sure that he's accused every guy he knows, except Dad, Bill, and Percy, of being after you. Hopefully Rita Skeeter won't hear those rumors and write a book about you too, though to hear Ron talk, it'd probably be a real page-turner."

Hermione grimaced. "Don't even joke about that. She'd jump at the chance to do a trash story about me. Did you read her latest best-seller?"

"No, but I did use the copy that was given to me to paper the pygmy puff pens," George answered. "A few customers thanked me for giving them such a good idea for what to do with their copies."

"I'm sure that Kingsley would agree," Ginny said with a laugh. "Rita probably doesn't even see the irony in calling him the King of Lies; and then filling the book with them."

"What always amazes me is that there are still idiots out there believing every word she writes," Hermione told them. "Maybe you should make up a wheeze for her like you did to make fun of Voldemort during the war, George."

"That's not a bad idea," he answered. "Maybe I'll see what I can come up with sometime."

That set them off on discussing possible Rita Skeeter wheezes, and kept them busy until they were finished dinner. They all helped out with the clean-up, and then went outside, where Hermione had fun watching Harry and Ginny chase the snitch around for an hour or so while George batted bludgers at them. When they'd had enough Quidditch fun, they went back inside to have drinks, and then George and Hermione both went home, and Harry and Ginny ended their weekend with some more memory-making bedtime fun.

"I'm sure you'll be happy to know that George is just fine," Harry told Ron when he stumped into his cubicle on Monday morning and dropped heavily into a chair. "Did you forget what he does most Sunday nights before Ginny has a mid-week game? Belting him over having dinner with me, Ginny, and Hermione seems a bit extreme."

"He all but said right out that he was going after her," Ron shot back, and Harry nodded.

"Sure, after you sucker-punched him, but you know he didn't mean it, and would never do that to you."

"I don't know that at all, and it doesn't make any difference that they were having dinner together at your house," Ron told him, though he didn't sound like he believed it at all.

"Hey Ron," Neville said as he stopped by. "Hannah asked me to tell you that you need to get back to eating at the Leaky more often. Apparently there has been a noticeable drop in business recently." He exchanged grins with Harry. "Everything is set up for Hermione's dinner party on Wednesday, but Hannah would like a final number by tomorrow if there are any changes."

"I don't think there will be, but I'll let her know if there are," Harry promised.

"Thanks," Neville said with a nod. "I've got a few things to take care of before we start training, but if I'm a bit late, go ahead and start without me."

"I've got to get to work too," Ron told them as he stood up. "See you around."

That was the last time Harry talked to Ron, and he only saw him twice over the next three days. Monday and Tuesday had been pretty average work days, without much exciting going on, but on Wednesday morning, he and Ginny started their day out by taking their breakfast show on the road to Hermione's house, mostly because Ginny wouldn't be able to have dinner with her, and their present would be a bit inconvenient to have her unwrap at the Leaky.

"Very cute Ginny," Hermione said as she looked down at her plate. The number twenty-two had been made out of her food, along with a smiley face.

"I thought about doing candles, but when I tried them at home, I couldn't get them to stay upright in the eggs. She put a muffin in front of Hermione next, and there was a single candle in it. "We wouldn't want you to miss out on your birthday wish, though, so hopefully this will work."

"I really hope so too," Hermione said fervently before closing her eyes, making her wish, and then blowing out the candle.

Other than that unspoken reference to him, they stayed away from talking about Ron at all, and Hermione did her best to try and be happy. They'd had breakfast; Harry excused himself to do a little furniture delivery; and then he cleaned up from breakfast while Ginny and Hermione admired her new dining room suite and discussed decorating ideas that would go along with the table, chairs, buffet, and hutch. There'd been a lot of hugs, kisses, and tears, and when it was time to go to work, Harry and Hermione said goodbye to Ginny, and went on to the Ministry of Magic together.

Instead of going out for lunch, Harry had it delivered to Hermione's office, and then after work, he went home to shower and change before going to pick up Teddy and get to the Leaky in time for the dinner party. Hermione was already there with her parents, Molly, Arthur, Bill, Fleur, and Victoire, and the rest of their guests were quickly arriving too, including all of Hermione's staff, most of their friends, and George, Percy, and Audrey. They were all sitting down, and had just ordered drinks when Harry, and several others, saw Ron walk in, and he came straight over to their tables.

"Happy Birthday," he told Hermione shortly; putting a small gift on the table in front of her. She stared up at him open-mouthed, and he shifted uncomfortably from foot-to-foot. "Well, aren't you going to open it?" he finally asked. "I haven't got all day."

Hermione searched his face for another moment, but then picked up the gift and quickly unwrapped it. Her hands started to tremble slightly when she found the little velvet-covered box inside the cardboard box he'd hidden it in, and her eyes filled with tears and opened very wide when she saw the sparkling diamond ring inside. She stood up, and moved to hug him, but he stepped back, grabbed her hand, and pulled her away from the table. When they had some space, he leaned close to her so only she'd hear what he was going to say.

"If you try to make me grovel, I'm out of here and will go be a hermit somewhere," he began in a fierce whisper. "I'm sorry; I love you; and I want to spend the rest of my life with you. Will you marry me?"

"Ron Weasley, that is quite possibly the worst proposal in the history of the Wizarding World," she told him; and then quickly put a hand on his cheek when he stiffened, and his eyes flashed with hurt and anger. "Fortunately for you, it's coming from the only Wizard I want to hear a proposal from. I love you too, Ron, and yes, I'll marry you." She put her arms around his neck and hugged him for a long minute. "Thank-you for making my birthday wish come true." Leaning back, she smiled tearfully at him. "You'd have made a lousy hermit, but I think you'll be a brilliant husband."

They shared a soft, tender kiss, and then she held the ring box out to him. His hands were shaking too as he slipped the ring onto her finger, and then she kissed him again before taking his hand, and leading him back to the table. An extra chair had already been added, everyone was smiling, and there were more than a few tears, including from both Ron and Hermione's mothers; who got up to meet them with hugs and kisses.

The newly-engaged couple was on the receiving end of a lot of hugs, kisses, and congratulations, and somewhere in there, they managed to order meals, and eventually sit down to eat. Ron's unexpected birthday surprise for Hermione was the main dinner conversation topic, though they did also have to move things along so they'd have time for the birthday cake and for Hermione to open her presents. She was just finishing doing that when Harry slid a ticket over to Ron.

"What's this?" Ron asked suspiciously.

"Hermione's going to the game, and the good news is that you can have my ticket," he answered, and then grinned at them. "You'll have to watch Teddy for me, and get him home to Andromeda after the game, but I'm sure he'll be just as happy to hang out with Uncle Ron and Aunt Hermione; won't you, buddy?"

"Uh-huh," Teddy agreed.

"We'll all help out with Teddy," Molly told him, "and Arthur and I will make sure he gets home."

"Thanks mate," Ron said, and needed to clear his throat as he picked up the ticket and tucked it into a pocket.

Harry was suddenly the unofficial host seeing everyone off to the game, or on their way home, and once they'd all left, he settled the dinner bill with Hannah, and then he left the Leaky, disguised himself, and headed over to the Bodmin stadium. The disguise was as much to avoid being recognized by the Witches and Wizards around him as it was to keep Ron from knowing that he'd guessed that he might need an extra ticket. The seat he had really wasn't very good – especially since he was behind the Harpies goals, and there wasn't much action happening at that end of the pitch.

The Catapults had one new player that he wanted to keep an eye on. Ritchie Cootes had graduated from Hogwarts, and had been recruited by the Catapults. Demelza had told them that Ritchie and Jimmy had probably been the best Beater duo at school last year, so he thought that playing against Gwenog and Lysa would be a good test for his former teammate.

If there was one good thing about being away from his family and friends for the game, it was that he was able to appreciate just how much having them with him for the matches made the whole experience more fun. He also missed not having any eye contact with Ginny before or after the game; though he did love seeing how her smile brightened when she saw Ron and Hermione together, and just how much more fired up she was by the time the game started.

As far as the game went, if Ritchie Cootes and the rest of the Catapults were looking at the game as a test, they all failed miserably. The Harpies scored twenty-two goals, and Ginny put the game away in just fifty-three minutes to give the Harpies a three hundred and seventy to thirty win. Since the game was over so quickly, Harry went home and spent a bit of time getting a special victory celebration for two ready.

"Are we celebrating the game or the engagement?"

"Did you have a mirror chat with Hermione?" he asked, and Ginny laughed.

"No, but I didn't need to do that to know. The smile on her face at the game was enough. When did that happen? At the Leaky?" She hugged and kissed him before giving him a chance to answer.

"Yes, just after we'd ordered drinks and sat down. He pretty much stomped over to our tables, dropped a present in front of her, and told her to hurry up and open it, 'cause he didn't have all day to wait around for her to do that. The ring was beautiful, but he pulled Hermione away from the table for what was apparently the proposal. You'll have to ask her about that, since I'm sure that what she told us about that afterward was definitely missing something."

"Knowing Ron, that wouldn't surprise me, but even if he totally botched it, as long as there was a 'Will you marry me?' in there; that would be enough for Hermione."

Harry nodded. "There was that, and an 'I love you and want to spend the rest of my life with you' too."

"Good for him, and them," she said happily. "I guess we'll have another wedding to plan for. One more brother down; and now we only have George left to go."

"Hopefully they'll plan their wedding around Quidditch for you, or that might be tough for us," Harry suggested. "If you and the Harpies keep playing like you are, they'll have to work around the Quidditch World Cup schedule next summer too."

"Wouldn't that be brilliant if we did get some players on the National team?" Ginny said excitedly. "I'd love to find out how we'd do against the best players in the world!"

Harry smiled. "You already play against some of the best players in the game," he pointed out. "We do have one of the premier Leagues in the Wizarding World."

"True, but I'd still like to find out how I'd do against Viktor Krum, and some of the other top Seekers."

"Funny you should mention Viktor Krum today," Harry said with a laugh. "Should I be worried? He is famous, handsome, and probably rich."

Ginny put her arms around his neck and kissed him for a long minute. "Let's take this little snack you've made upstairs with us, and I'll spend some time convincing you that there's nothing for you to worry about from Viktor Krum or any other Wizard."

Harry hadn't been worried at all, but was quite happy to follow Ginny's lead, and they both enjoyed a rather brilliant end to a very special day. By the time they drifted off to sleep, Ron and Hermione were well on their way toward making up and all was well in the Weasley clan again. The Harpies were five and oh, in first place in the League, and looking all but unstoppable, though that would change as the other players began getting their Firestorms too. The next big event in the Wizarding World was Hallowe'en. Quidditch and work would continue to be what kept Harry and Ginny busy most of the time, but now that their best friends were back together, they were also looking forward to the fun that always came with Hallowe'en, and getting to share that with their family and friends.