Harry had no idea how much time he had spent standing in the furthest corner of the Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes, but he had a feeling that his feet would start to grow into the old, trampled floor in a few moments. Patiently waiting for Ron to deal with all his salesman duties, he watched the crowds of customers surrounding him. The Weasleys' business was going quite well and was steadily gaining momentum; the initial handful of customers who had returned to the shop after the Second Wizarding War had now grown considerably, and it felt like people were slowly forgetting about all the evil that had taken over their world just a year before. Everyone needed that. After the dark, sad times, every wizard needed at least a little smile in their life.

"Give me five minutes, Harry. I'll be free in a while," his friend's voice, which was trying to shout through the crowd, snapped him out of his reverie, and it was only at that moment that Harry remembered what he had come here for.

He hadn't seen Ron for a good few months. When their paths parted after graduating from Hogwarts and he returned to London, completely unsure of what to do with himself, Ron devoted himself entirely to working in his brothers' shop. Fred's death broke the other twin, who was now unable to manage on his own the business he had created with his brother, so Ron did not hesitate to offer him his help. Initially, Harry also got involved in the venture, but after only a few weeks he knew he had to try something else. Saying goodbye to the Weasley brothers for a long time, he decided to try his luck at the Ministry of Magic, knowing that he had many years of training ahead of him.

Still, he was glad that SOMETHING in his life had moved forward. He had survived the battle with Voldemort. He had lost many friends that day, but many of them had escaped with their lives as well. He appreciated what he had and knew that the end of the war against the Dark Lord and his loyal followers had only opened the gate to his adult life.

His gaze was drawn to Ron, who, rising suddenly as if from under the ground and standing right in front of his face, smiled broadly at him, resting both hands on his hips.

"I'm sorry, old man, but you see what has been happening here lately. Sometimes I don't even have time to eat, and you know that for me it's the biggest possible punishment," he said cheerfully, although you could hear slight tiredness in his voice. "You look miserable, Harry. Are you that tired at the Ministry?" he added with concern, tilting his head slightly.

"I've been through worse, Ron. Training is a nice change after all that frantic searching for Horcruxes," Harry replied with a smile, finally moving from his seat. "Look, I don't want to take up your time. I just wanted to ask if you've thought about what we talked about earlier."

The young Weasley nodded, then turned his back on his friend, combing the crowd of customers with his eyes; spotting his older brother, at last, he waved his hand at him, whistling at the same time, wanting to get his attention even more effectively.

"I'm going out for a moment," he said rather loudly once George was close enough to them. Greeting Harry, the older brother nodded in response to Ron's words, then almost immediately returned to his duties.

Not even five minutes had passed when they have found themselves outside the shop, surrounded by the silence and stillness of a little-used street. Sitting down on the steps outside the entrance to the townhouse, Ron sighed heavily, leaning his back against the wall behind him.

"I can't do it, Harry," he said after a few minutes of silence, finally answering his friend's question. "I wish I could, but I really can't. This is where I belong, I have to help my brother, my parents. If I move to London, they would be left alone with all this. I hope you understand me."

Harry nodded, fully aware of what his friend was talking about.

"I know how much you wanted this. Maybe when things calm down at the store..."

"Come on, Ron," Harry silenced him gently, shaking his head in response. "I get it. You have a family, it's understandable you can't let them down. Besides, it was just an offer. No big deal."

Ronald straightened his legs, not taking his eyes off Harry.

"What about Hermione?" He asked.

"She agreed. So far, it's just us."

"Do you have a plan yet"

Harry didn't answer. Did he ever look like someone who had any kind of a plan? Even if a thought had already germinated in his head, in the end, things always went their way. Why should it be any different now?

He came up with the idea a few months ago. Their world was safe. The muggle world that he and Hermione had both grown up in, too. So they could at least try to start living a normal life. Become independent. Fighting the dark powers was one thing, and adult life was another thing entirely, after all.

"More or less."

The three of them spent their childhood at Hogwarts. The three of them had faced the greatest evil they could imagine. Therefore, the first thought that popped into Harry's head when he thought of adulthood was to move in together and face whatever adulthood had in store for them together. When it was just the three of them, no obstacle was scary to them. With Hermione and Ron by his side, Harry wouldn't worry as much about what awaited him in a few years or so.

"Probably less than more," Ron seemed slightly frightened by the expression on his friend's face. "I'm sorry, but this doesn't look very convincing at all. I don't want to spoil the party, but..."

"Hermione agreed. There are two of us now, so we can start looking for a house or at least a bigger apartment. We'll live together and then we'll manage the rest together," Harry interrupted him in mid-sentence, trying his hardest to hide the frustration in his voice. "If you want to join us in the future, there's always room for you, Ron."

The redheaded boy nodded, letting him know he understood him perfectly.

"I can't, Harry. But if you could..."

Harry looked at him, raising an eyebrow.

"It's about Ginny," Ron continued. "She's staying with us at the Burrow and even though she keeps saying she feels comfortable there, I can see that's not the case at all. She should be growing, she should be doing something. We don't want her to waste her talent, you know Quidditch is her love. If you would be willing to take her in my place, I would be grateful," he spoke faster and faster, and in his voice, you could hear the clear concern for his younger sister's fate. "You are the only ones I can trust. You know your way around this world, so you will make sure that nothing bad happens to her, right?"

Harry nodded, listening to him in silence. So Ron was sacrificing himself by staying home to look after the family business while still caring for his sister's plight. He had a heart of gold and actions like this only proved it.

"Harry. Harry! Harry!"

He was snapped out of his reverie by Ron's voice, who was now waving his hand right in front of his nose. Harry looked at him questioningly, raising one eyebrow.

"I asked if you were alright. You do look miserable."

Without saying a word, Harry once again nodded. Had he spoken so few words during this meeting? He grunted quietly, batting his eyelids, and then forced a weak smile that he thought would reassure his friend.

"It's okay. I didn't get too much sleep last night."

They didn't have time to talk any longer; George's head poking out from around the corner interrupted their shared reverie, forcing Ron to rise quickly.

"You know you can tell me anything, right?" He asked even before his and Harry's paths parted. Harry lifted his hand and patted his friend on the shoulder, this time sending him a more believable half-smile.

"I know. I remember, Ron."

When he came home late in the evening, Hermione greeted him at the threshold; hearing the rasp of the key in the lock and the quiet slamming of the door, she quickly got up from the couch standing in the middle of the living room and, pressing a thick volume of a book to her chest, she threw him a curious look, at the same time leaning with her shoulder against the doorframe.

"How was it? Did you talk to him? Did he agree?" She asked, getting straight to the point, watching her friend's expression carefully. "I'm sure he's looking forward to it. Think how great it will be to live with the three of us again, just like the good old days. Not to mention that Mr. and Mrs. Weasley are probably in seventh heaven knowing that Ron will finally be moving out..."

"He disagreed."

Harry's short answer immediately made the girl go silent. Looking at him in astonishment, she put the book down on the table near the entrance, not caring what noise the thick book falling on the glass made. What does it mean he "disagreed"? She was sure Ron would give anything just to move to London with them.

"But you talked to him, right? What did he say? Did you tell him that we were counting on him a lot?" She watched as Harry shrugged his shoulders and slowly headed towards the kitchen, dragging his feet hard. "I made some tea, do you want some? You can tell me all about it."

"Yeah, I did. He said he wanted to stay with his brother and help him run their shop. I don't blame him a bit, because looking at what's going on there, and George's current state, it could use someone with a healthy approach to things there to help out a bit," the boy nodded in response to Hermione's question while reaching for a cup from the cabinet by the entrance. "He said he couldn't, but he had a request for us in return."

Hermione took a few steps forward and stood beside him; handing him the box of tea she was still silent, encouraging him to continue.

"He wants us to take Ginny in his place. He explained that he doesn't want her to stay alone at the Burrow and get wasted there. She should grow and take care of her future. Those were his words," he explained, pouring boiling water into a cup. Hermione furrowed her eyebrows, listening to his words, in which, willy-nilly, there was some sense.

"Did you agree?"

"I guess I had no other choice. He's my friend, I couldn't say no to him."

"But you don't sound too happy about the idea," the girl studied his every move and every word he said carefully. Harry shook his head negatively, letting out a quiet sigh. "What is it, Harry?"

"I just thought the three of us would get along, me, you, and Ron, but instead we'll have to look out for each other and additionally his little sister," the boy replied, setting the kettle back down.

"I thought you liked Ginny. You two got along well at Hogwarts."

"Because it's true. And we still are," Harry nodded, reaching out for the sugar bowl. Gripping a small silver spoon in his hand, he continued to speak. "Don't get me wrong, I like Ginny, but that girl has never had to deal with a world like this; our world. You know it's going to be hard for her here, and instead of focusing on our work, we're going to have to keep an eye on her all the time."

"She'll be fine. She's smarter than you think. She'll get used to it. And you make it sound like Ron is going to do better than her, which we both know he wouldn't. Between the two, I think I'd rather babysit Ginny than him and Scabbers," Hermione replied cheerfully, and her words made a small smile appear on Harry's face as well. Maybe his friend was right and maybe really the idea of taking Ron's sister under their roof wouldn't be so bad? It was true that he liked Ginny and she liked him; they had become good friends while still at Hogwarts, so this would represent a good start. And knowing this girl's abilities, it was possible she'd find her place here quite quickly.

"You know Ron will kill us if anything bad happens to her here, right?" He asked, turning his face towards Hermione; she was now standing a few steps away from him, holding her cup of tea in her hands. She was still smiling, and at the sound of his words, she nodded quickly.

"We can do this. You'll see, it'll be fun. And I'll have female company."

"And I'll have... Also female company?" Harry replied, hesitating for a moment. "Gosh, am I supposed to live with two girls? After all, I'm going to go crazy."

"You'll be fine, don't panic. You'll love living with the two of us and you'll still beg us never to move out," Hermione laughed out loud seeing her friend's desperate face. "Now come on, let's have some tea and you can tell me what else you found out in the Weasleys' shop."