Hello everyone!
I'd like to thank all the nice wonderful people who read this work. This is the last instalment of this series and I've enjoyed every minute of it. Long live to Ron's beard!
As usual, I'd like to clarify that this piece has not been beta-ed. So, if you catch a mistake, please let me know so I can fix it and learn. Also, reviews are very welcomed and will be greeted with a complimentary beard.
Again, all characters and the wizarding world belong to J.K. Rowling, including Ron's beard, because my petition has been denied.
In her early seventies and considering her extended adventurous curriculum, Hermione Granger-Weasley bragged herself of being very hard to surprise. But life always has its ways of showing the living that, no matter what, they could always be amazed by it. And so, whilst strolling through Diagon Alley, Hermione found herself scared out of her skin but a sudden squeal coming from her side, just in front of her husband.
'AHHHHH! Excuse me, sir….sir! Are you…. oh, Merlin! Sir, are you - Ohhh - are you Ron Weasley?' A teenage girl with bright red hair was blocking Ron's path, standing right in front of him, a grin wider than her face and her hands wriggling in between her and Ron as if she was tempted to touch him but was refraining herself. Ron was looking befuddled, glancing from the girl to his wife, his mouth agape. Hermione jerked her head to spur him to talk and he nodded, then glanced back at the girl, who looked as if she was about to explode, and responded.
'Ehm...yeah, a-'
'OH MERLIN, KILL ME NOW!' Shrieked the girl, bouncing from one foot to the other, covering her mouth with her hands as if to control herself from further screaming.
Hermione was marvelled watching the scene on display. Ron's face wore a mix of concern, amusement and confusion. Smiling awkwardly whilst frowning and staring at the intruder with wary eyes. The girl, on the other hand, looked like she wouldn't be able to stand still and could spontaneously combust at any moment. After about a minute or so of the most uncomfortable silence, the girl got the courage to speak again.
'Sorry, sir… is just that - oh, I can't believe you're here! - just… ohh' she was so overwhelmed that she had to take a few deep breaths to collect herself. The girl was still pressing her head with her hands just below her ears and when she felt calmed enough, she continued. 'Is just that you are my hero, Mr Weasley. I've admired you since we studied "The Rise and Fall of Tom Riddle" last year at school.'
'Ron, say something' urged Hermione, gave a quick short shove at his husband's arm, 'Ron!'
At the sound of Hermione's voice, the girl turned bright red, looking at her shyly as she held her hand towards Hermione and stammered, 'Oh, my… I… I'm so so sorry Ms Gra- Granger-Weasley, Ohh...my mum will kill me when I tell her how rude I've been to you.'
'Don't worry sweetheart, it's fine,' laughed Hermione whilst kindly returning the handshake with both her hands. When she let go she rested one hand softly on Ron's arm and cheerfully added, 'We are very glad to meet you, aren't we Ron?' At the lack of response, she turned to find her husband still in trance, gaping at the girl. Hermione frowned and put on a smile that came out a bit more strained than she'd liked and called Ron's attention by the corner of her mouth whilst squeezing his arm, 'Ron...Ron! Say something, love….Ron!'
'Sorry… uhm... very glad, yeah,' he mumbled sheepishly, scratching the back of his neck.
'Oh Mr Weasley, would you mind if I ask you a few questions? I don't mean to disturb your… shopping day,' she guessed, looking at the bags in Ron's hands, then she glanced up at him to continue, 'but this is too good of an opportunity to waste it. I mean... wow!... how many times in your life you get the chance to meet your hero!'
She was bouncing on her heels and grinning so widely that her jollity became contagious. Hermione could feel Ron's tensed arm relaxing under her hand as he turned to her with his trademark lopsided grin and she felt herself melt at the sight. He was so happy, he looked like Christmas had come early, and she immediately knew what she had to do.
'We don't mind, do we, love?' asked Hermione, and felt her stomach twist with happiness when she saw Ron's smile get even wider. She loved that smile so much that she'd do anything to see it as much as she could. Ron never got the recognition he deserved, not as her and Harry did, so she wouldn't mind shopping alone if that meant he'd get to be a bit praised.
'Well, then, I'll leave you two to talk whilst I go to Flourish and Blotts. Love, why don't you go to Florean Fortescue's and talk over some ice cream? You could settle there and I'll go find you when I'm ready.'
Ron and the girl nodded eagerly at her suggestion and began to walk towards the ice cream parlour, but Ron stopped mid-step and rushed back to kiss her on the cheek and muttered a "thank you, love" before turning around and jerking his head at the girl to follow him. Hermione stood for a while to look at the pair, listening to their conversation as it faded in the distance. "Oh, Mr Weasley, this is a dream! I'm Olivia, by the way..." "Well, hey there, Olivia, you can call me Ron..."
It took almost half an hour for Hermione to get all the books on her list and some others she didn't need, but needed. She was relieved by Olivia's appearance because it was the perfect excuse for her to take as much time as she could enjoying the smell of new books and ramble around the store checking for new possibilities to add to her collection. She loved Ron with her life but as much as he tried to be supportive he couldn't stand to be at Flourish and Blotts for too long.
Hermione took her time to walk to Florean Fortescue's, wondering if Ron and Olivia would be still talking or if she'd find her husband using the time alone to run himself into a diabetic coma. She pondered if sending Ron to the ice cream parlour unsupervised had been the right decision. But what was done, was done. So, she'd had to deal with the consequences of a hyperactive Ron later. After all, she'd already come up with a few things to do with the excess of energy.
As she got closer, Hermione took sight of Ron and Olivia sitting on the terrace. He was so enthralled in conversation that his ice cream lay melted on the table, apparently long forgotten. The girl was beaming at Ron with so much admiration that Hermione felt a wave of affection for this stranger. In all these years of knowing each other, Hermione had never found another person who could see Ron the way she did. Someone who could appreciate him as the amazing man he was. Someone who could see beyond the prejudice of the sidekick and value him for his steadfast loyalty, his passion, or that strong and selfish heart that would move him to protect his loved ones to the point of neglecting himself, which was a feature that would both amaze and infuriate her at times.
She'd always believed that there were so many attributes of Ron Weasley to admire that it was beyond Hermione's abilities to understand how the wizarding world could've been so ungrateful to him for so many years. But she was thrilled to see that there was at least one other person that, like her, thought that Ron was the ultimate best person in the world. Hermione knew that throughout the years there had been some groups of people that fancied Ron because of his looks, thanks mostly to Witch Weekly and his Auror success. But admiring someone was a different thing. It made her wonder if there could be more Olivias around the wizarding world, she hoped there was. He deserved it.
Seeing Ron talking to Olivia so self-assured but at the same time so kind and comprehensive, made Hermione's heart swell. She had seen him in class when he took a teaching position for the Auror Training Program, but working with adults was so different than trying to get into the mind of forming teenagers, and he was doing so well. Olivia seemed to be taking in everything he was saying, nodding and writing down a few notes every once in a while.
Hermione was watching attentively at every movement and expression from her husband, his stance, his demeanour, the entire composition of the conversation gave Ron a different air but Hermione couldn't quite find out what it was. It bothered her not being able to name it. But she decided to let go of the thought for a while and take advantage of the time to ogle him. He may not be as young and fit as before but Hermione wasn't one to miss a chance to drink in her husband's appearance.
Many people had told them that within the years the attraction would fade, but she couldn't disagree more. It wasn't like that at all, not for them. If something, all these years had added more layers and complexity to their physical relation. When she looked at his hair, she couldn't deny she missed the fiery red. But, if she closed her eyes, when she ran her hand through his head she could feel his hair was just as soft and messy as before, and when she opened her eyes she'd see the proof of their life together in each one of the white locks peeking out in between her fingers. Thinking about all their history, all the love, all the passion, making each other grow and becoming a family...it was endearing and it made the butterflies go wild in her stomach, just as wild as they'd been so many years ago when they shared their first kiss in the middle of a war.
Years didn't pass in vain and, even when he was still slim and tall, Hermione noticed most of his sharp edges had gone round and soft. He had a bit of a tummy and his back was slightly crooked, although he remained strong and quite athletic. It amazed Hermione how active he was, she knew wizards had a longer life expectancy than muggles, but Ron had a vitality and energy that was beyond wizarding standards. She'd always suspected that keeping active with the Aurors trained his body to endure life in a way other people couldn't. After all, being a consultant meant that he found himself called for especially complex missions. It reminded her of Dumbledore and how, as a kid, she'd always thought he was too agile for his age.
And then, it hit her. Ron reminded her of Dumbledore. She studied the scene in front of her and confirmed her recent epiphany. Ron was softly explaining something to Olivia with his usual laid-back posture and joyful expressions, but he also had a wise demeanour that Hermione hadn't noticed before. The more she thought about it, the more she saw it. He was this kind gentle old man full of wisdom that moved faster than his age should allow him. He was just like Dumbledore, only a bit more cheerful and, thank Merlin, minus the beard. She would never tell him but Hermione was thrilled that Ron never decided to go full wizard and grow a long beard, for her, his short greyish-white one was perfect and sexy.
Hermione saw Oliva getting up and collecting her things and took it as her cue to go find her husband. She was almost at his table when he noticed her coming and gave her a smile so bright and warm that she completely melted. It amazed her to no end that he still had that power over her and that, alongside her previous realisation of how much they've grown together, was enough to make Hermione feel that she was about to explode from all the love she felt for Ron.
'I love you!' She blurted out, he opened his mouth to retort but Hermione put her finger on his lips to shush him. She rested her body on the table and leaned forward, so, when they were at the same eye level, she locked her gaze with his and resumed her speech, 'I love you so much, Ronald Weasley, so much that is utterly ridiculous! It is! - don't laugh!- Because, you see, it makes no sense that someone could be so in love with another human being, and yet here I am. You are the only man I've ever wanted and the only one I want to be with, I want you to be the first thing I see every morning and the last I see every night. And I hope heaven grants me the wish of, when the time comes, be the one going first because Merlin knows I don't know how to live without you… not...not know, and not ever - no, let me finish, please - You are the light that brightens my life... and... and I've just realised today that we've gone through so much, we've grown so much, lived so much! And we still have so much to give, you know how I know? Because after all our history and after all these years, you still make me feel butterflies in the stomach… and make my knees go weak... just with one smile. Now... now I'm finished. Sorry love, I don't know wha-' but Ron had shushed her with a kiss. As their lips danced in synchrony, Hermione felt her cheeks getting moist with tears that weren't hers. When they came up for air, Ron stood up and held out one hand to his wife, the other one wiping his face.
'Okay, love, I hope you're finished with all your shopping now because we're going home.'
'Why, now? But, Ron, I still have some things I need to get before I'm done.' He gave her a mischievous grin.
'Oh, that's a shame! You should've thought of that before you said all those amazing things to me, then. Because you and I are going home, love.' Hermione began to protest but Ron pulled her into a hug and bent down enough to whisper in her ear, 'You've made me feel too many things, love, but you know I'm not good with words, so why don't you let me show you?'
Hermione felt the warmth spread across her entire body and marvelled that he still could make her feel like that. She hoped he always could. She decided that whatever she had to do wasn't more important than this, nothing was more important than quality time with Ron. She pulled away enough to look at him and playfully raised her eyebrows whilst licking her lips the way she knew drove him mad. He growled and leaned in for another kiss, but it was shorter than expected, interrupted by Ron chuckling and backing away. He turned around to leave the parlour and, still lightly laughing, he quipped, "Judging by your face, I'd better warn you to lower your expectations, love. I can't promise much more than an eager attempt for a senile display of lust'.
She laughed too and, as they walked towards the Leaky to take the floo home, hand in hand and stealing glances at each other like teenagers on a first date, Hermione made a mental note to ask one of the kids to check on the internet if there was some online group or something for people like Olivia that could use Ron's advice as she had. After all, wizards were very involved in social media those days and perhaps there already was some group of people dying to get to know the one and only Ronald Bilius Weasley.