The Houses Competition

Round 7 - Drabble

House: Hufflepuff

Class: Transfiguration

Prompts: [Emotion] Eagerness

Word Count: 936 (Google Docs)

Unexpected

"Where are we?" Ron asked impatiently, desperately trying to peek from the handkerchief that was tied around his eyes.

Hermione's laughter filled his ears as her hand took his. "You'll see! Walk with me for a bit. Don't worry, I'll guide you."

She'd just used side-along apparition to take Ron to some unknown location. He was eager to see where she'd taken them, even while one of his senses was compromised. His experience as an Auror always kept him alert.

"But if we're here, I don't see why I can't take this thing off!" he complained.

"If you take it off now, you'll ruin the surprise. I want you to have the full effect of the reveal once we're there." He noted excitement in her voice.

"But—"

"Ron! Please don't ruin the surprise."

He sighed loudly for dramatic effect with a resounding, "Fine," and resolved to keep his eyes covered.

"I promise it will be worth it!"

Ron allowed Hermione to lead him to their final destination, wondering all the while what she had planned. Usually, he had a good idea of what to expect when it came to his wife, given how long they'd known each other, but she had him good and stumped this time. All he knew was that she'd woken up early and had barely been able to sit still all morning in her eager anticipation.

"About five more steps now," Hermione said, interrupting his thoughts.

One, two, three, four, five, Ron thought in his head before he stopped.

"Okay, now you stay here and give me a couple minutes, and then I'll let you see where we are," she continued.

Ron could practically hear the grin in her voice, which brought a smile to his lips, and his previous annoyance over the blindfold melted away. He strained his ears for any other hints that might give away their location. There was nearby rustling, which Ron assumed was Hermione, and as he listened even more closely, he heard laughter and shouting from children nearby. Are we at a park? he wondered as he began bouncing on his heels to exert his excess energy.

"Okay," she said, untying the handkerchief from the back of his head, "you can look now!"

Ron opened his eyes slowly to adjust to the brightness of the sunlight. The view in front of him was familiar. They were in the middle of a park in Guildford near their home. There was a small pond in front of them, and he noticed that Hermione had laid out a picnic blanket under the shade of a large willow tree. It was one of their favorite spots to come for a walk after a long day at work.

"A surprise afternoon picnic?" Ron asked before kissing her cheek.

He interlaced his fingers with hers as they walked the remainder of the way to the blanket. They sat down and Ron watched as Hermione reached over to the basket to pull out what was inside. It looked like a bottle of champagne chilling in a charmed bucket, two glasses, and two cupcakes. Ron peered up at Hermione from the spot where he lay propped up on his elbow. His curiosity was piqued again, a sense of anticipation brewing in his gut.

He smiled, "Are those what I think they are?"

"Marble cake with strawberry cannoli filling and vanilla buttercream?" she supplied with a knowing look crossing her face.

"But it's not our anniversary! Don't we normally save our wedding cake flavors for that?" Ron asked as he was triple checking the date in his mind.

Nope, definitely not our anniversary. It's not even the right season! The cool fall breeze acted as a gentle reminder.

"I know, but there's something else I wanted us to celebrate."

Ron furrowed his brow as he thought through anything he could have possibly missed. He was so focused on his own thoughts that he didn't see Hermione pull the bottle out of the bucket to open, and began pouring the liquid into the glasses. She handed him one and held her own up to clink it.

"Cheers," she said.

"Cheers," Ron returned before muttering, "even though I still don't know why…"

He took a sip of the bubbly liquid. Something didn't taste right. He'd had champagne before to know what it tasted like, and this wasn't it. It was sweeter, and...was it non-alcoholic?

"Is this that sparkle—sparkling? Spark juice? No, that's not it…" Ron trailed off, unable to remember the Muggle name for it.

"Sparkling grape juice? Yes, it is."

"But why?"

"Isn't it obvious?" she raised her eyebrow, eager for him to catch on.

Ron stared at her, then at the glasses, and then at the cake. What is she getting at? His eagerness turned to worry as he felt like he was missing something, until a movement caught his eye. Hermione had placed a hand on her stomach. His eyes widened in immediate understanding.

"Hermione, are you…?"

"Yes!"

He watched her eyes fill with tears of joy as her grin returned, even wider than before. Ron wasted no time as he lunged toward her, closing the distance between them as he drew her into a passionate kiss. He may or may not have knocked over the glasses of sparkling juice in his efforts to embrace her. Not that he cared.

Enthusiasm washed over him. They'd been waiting for so long for this moment. He was going to be a father, and he couldn't wait.

When they finally broke apart, his gaze met hers. "We're having a baby?"

"We're having a baby," she confirmed.