The Parent Trap
Chapter Eight
-dutchtulips-
It was now just past dusk the same day, and in his black dress robes, Ron stepped smoothly out of the lift, his hands casually in his pockets. He stood on the outskirts of the bar, one foot propped up against the back of the wall as he stood with Amy, who was wearing dress robes of pale pink.
"Oh, come on, Ames, tell me. I've had enough surprises today," he said to her, turning around to watch the lift.
Amy shook her head, smiling. "Sorry, Dad. You're just going to have to wait and see," she replied.
At that moment, the lift's door opened, and out stepped Hermione and Holly. Holly was in dress robes like her sister and father; hers were of deep purple. But on the other hand, Hermione had chosen to wear something else instead, which, of course, was the dazzling red velvet Muggle gown that Harry had suggested she bring.
Amy smiled as her family approached, but Ron was on a whole different level altogether. His blue eyes were wide, gazing at Hermione as if she were the most gorgeous woman on earth.
"Hello, there," she said pleasantly.
He blinked. "H-hi."
Amy and Holly rejoined each other, leaving their parents together. As Hermione slowly stepped closer to Ron, he said nervously, "You look. .beautiful, 'Mione."
She beamed, and then breathed, "Thank you." Her voice dropped lower. "Please tell me you know where we're going."
Ron shook his head. "No idea."
Holly approached them then her sister close behind. Holding out an old bottle. "All right, everyone, touch the Portkey!"
Ron and Hermione looked at each other for a moment, and then hesitantly reached out to touch the bottle with their daughters.
* * *
"Here we are!" Amy said brightly after everyone's feet had hit the ground again. "Just up the street, c'mon, let's go!"
Ron, regaining his composure, leaned to one side to give Hermione a shoulder to steady herself on. She obliged and, after they exchanged brief smiles, Ron looked over at his daughters and asked, "Where are we?"
Amy pointed up the street. "See up there? Maybe that will jog your memory, Dad."
He followed her finger, spotting a familiar red awning flanking the entrance to grand old tavern. Gently brushing Hermione, he said, "We're in Hogsmeade. It's the Three Broomsticks up there."
With Amy and Holly leading the way, Ron whispered to Hermione, "You realize what they're doing, don't you?"
She nodded, an amused smile growing on her face. "I'm beginning to, yes. It's where we announced our engagement."
Holly looked over her shoulder at her parents as they stepped through the door to the Three Broomsticks. "We've got reservations for dinner and everything!"
"So," the redhead said to his daughter as they entered the tavern. "How exactly are we paying for this?"
"Well. . .Grandpa had a hand in planning this out," Amy admitted sheepishly.
It was pleasing to Hermione to see that the inn was only half full as the four of them slipped between tables, making their way towards the back. Finally the girls stopped, standing in front of a candlelit table prettily set.
Ron stared at the table. "Only two places?"
Amy and Holly giggled between them and looked back at their parents. "Surprise number two. We're not joining you," the latter said.
Hermione eyebrows drew up. "Aren't you? I see."
"Which will give you two some quality time together," Amy grinned. "So just sit down, relax. . .and sail through time. . ." With that, the girls disappeared.
Ron and Hermione slowly lowered themselves into their chairs at the table, neither of them saying anything for a few moments. Suddenly the curly-haired witch felt a poke in her side and turned around, half-surprised to see that it was Ginny, sitting at the next table with Harry.
"You do get all of this, don't you?" She asked, smiling.
"We did some time ago," Ron assured her with a wink, as Hermione nodded her head.
As the pair turned back to each other, a young witch in the corner of the bar began to delicately strum her lute, creating a more romantic atmosphere and Hermione heart to start beating a bit faster. She looked over at the musician, and saw nearby, Amy and Holly with smiles on their faces, spying on their parents.
"Oh. . !" She groaned slightly, turning back around to face Ron. He moaned as well, sharing her sentiments.
He rolled his eyes. "Next time I'm going to think twice about pressing my face up against the glass at Quality Quidditch Supplies."
Hermione laughed, feeling warm inside. "Well, I'd hope you wouldn't be doing that anymore."
Ron grinned, pausing for a moment. There was a break in the conversation as a wizard came by, placing two goblets of white wine on the table. He picked his up as the young man left, taking a drink from it before continuing their talk. "You know, maybe, sometime. . .when we can sit down together alone," he emphasized, "we can talk about what. . .happened, between you and me. Sometimes I almost feel like I can't remember."
"Well, that's because it all happened so quickly," Hermione replied.
"The marriage, you mean."
She merely nodded, not knowing how else to reply. A few moments of silence passed between them, and a witch came by to give them the first course of their meal, which was steak-and-kidney pudding. They ate for a couple of minutes, before Ron spoke up again.
Resting his wrists on the lacy-white tabletop, the redhead said, "Well, look at you, 'Mione, you're doing pretty good for yourself. I mean, back at Hogwarts you were studying Arithmancy up the walls. . .now, you're an architect for the Ministry."
Hermione smiled again. "You as well. When we were younger, you couldn't get enough of Quidditch, and then you finally made it on Britain's team."
"Yeah, I love every minute of it," he replied, scooping up a forkful of pudding. And then as an afterthought, "We, er, we both actually got we wanted, didn't we?"
She fell silent again, at a loss for words to respond. Deciding to change the subject, Hermione said, "So, what are we going to do about the girls? We can't very well keep them apart anymore."
Ron shrugged lightly. "Maybe. . .we can each take them both for all of the vacations, or just let them switch like they did. . .no, wait, if I could. . ."
She rubbed the nape of her neck. "I know, it's hard to figure out, isn't it?" Pause. "I reckon that's why we came up with the arrangement we have."
"Oh?" He questioned, though it didn't really sound like it all. "I thought it was because you didn't want to see me again."
Hermione averted her eyes, staring at the flame on one of the levitating candles. "Well, maybe that was because I was still feeling vehement over all of the problems we were going through. . .or maybe my memory's just blocking it out now. . ."
"You don't remember the day you moved out?" Ron inquired.
"No, no, I remember that too well, unfortunately," she replied sheepishly, and then finally looked back up at him. "When I, uh, when I threw that. . .what was it. . .that French dictionary at you. . ."
He grinned. "No, you didn't hurt me. You missed, actually."
With a smirk, Hermione peered amusedly up at him from her dish and murmured, "Liar."
It was momentarily silent again as they both ate their steak-and-kidney pudding, both feeling better than they had for a long time indeed. After taking a drink of his white wine glass, again Ron was the one to break the quiet.
"I might. . ." He paused, waiting for Hermione to look at him, and when she did, he continued. "We might never get another moment alone again, so. . .I, I want to ask you something."
She nodded slightly, waiting for him to go on.
"The day. . .that you left? Why'd you go?"
As Hermione stared at him, contemplating her answer, she was almost sure there had been a pleading tone in Ron's voice. He was looking at her intently, wanting very much to hear her answer, so she cleared her throat quietly and replied, "We were. . .young, Ron. Only eighteen years old. We were still kids, and we still had our arguments, said things we didn't really mean. . .so I just packed up my trunk, got passage across the Thames, and. . .you didn't come after me."
His blue eyes bore into her brown ones. "I. . .I didn't know that you wanted me to."
She reached for her white wine. "Well, I guess there's no reason to dwell on it all now, you know. . .so, let's just put a good face on for Amy and Holly, and. . .tie up the loose ends."
Ron picked up his goblet as well, murmuring thoughtfully into it as he glanced at Hermione, "Yeah. . .we've got to tie up the loose ends. . ."
Over at the next table, listening in on the conversation, Harry and Ginny smiled knowingly at each other.
* * *
The next morning, Hermione was standing at the bar at the Leaky Cauldron, pulling some gold galleons out of her handbag to pay Tom for their rooms.
"I trust that you had a good stay, Miss Granger," he said pleasantly, wiping the counter as he waited for her.
"Yes, yes. We did, it was nice. Thank you, Tom." She handed over the money and then turned to Harry, whom had just appeared next to her with the Portkey and their luggage.
"Are we all ready to go?" Hermione asked him, tucking a stray lock of her chestnut hair behind her ear.
"Yeah. I just finished getting our things together, and Holly said she would be downstairs in a moment," he replied. As Harry walked away, he stepped to the other side of bar, flanking Ron's left side.
As they chatted quietly together, Hermione quickly scrawled her signature on a roll of parchment Tom slid over to her, and then she turned to her two old friends, saying to Ron, "So, you'll be having Holly with you on the Easter holidays?"
He quickly swung his glance to her, and replied, "Uh, yeah. And Amy can go with Holly over the Chrimbo hols. We can switch up on next year's summer hols, if that's all right."
She nodded, gripping the handle of her handbag. "I'll send you an owl."
They turned around together, to greet their daughters whom were both stepping out of the lift. Both parents' mouths dropped upon seeing that Amy and Holly had dressed exactly alike, in pairs of light blue robes, from the identical braids hanging down their backs, to the same color of stockings on their feet.
Hermione sighed. "Amy, Holly, what are you two doing? Holly, we've got our Portkey ready to go!"
The girl on the right (because right now neither Ron nor Hermione could tell their daughters apart) immediately started in. "Well, here's the thing, Mum. We thought it over upstairs, and we decided we're being completely thrown for a loop."
The other twin spoke next. "Dad promised that we'd be going to the Quidditch picnic, and we want to go. We want all four of us to go."
"The four of us?" Hermione asked incredulously.
"Yes," said the twin on the left. "And if you really want to know who's Amy and who's Holly, you're just going to have to accept our proposal."
"Or maybe I'll just take one of you back to Bristol with me whether you're Holly or not," their mother said.
"But," the girl on the right started, "you wouldn't want to go through all of the trouble of sending the wrong one of us with you to have to get everything together again and come back, would you?"
Ron and Hermione, exasperated to the bone, looked at each other and sighed.
* * *
Ron's silvery Ford sat out in front of the Weasley house, the redhead himself out there in front of it, washing it up. Using his wand, he'd conjured buckets full of suds from nowhere, along with some wash rags that he'd magicked to scrub down the car.
Parvati was standing up on the porch behind Ron, her arms crossed and a steely look on her face. "What am I supposed to do overnight while you're gone on the picnic? Get out your Firebolt and sweep up the floor?"
Ron turned around, reaching for the folded canvas tent that was sitting on the front step. "Dear, we're kind of in a tight spot, here. . .not much we can do about it."
She dropped her arms. "What's that supposed to mean? Sure you can do something about it! Plenty you can do something about it!"
Just then, Hermione came strolling out of the front door, clad in emerald green robes. Parvati suddenly stopped talking to stare at her old schoolmate. Stepping close to Ron, she whispered, "Ronnie, what is she doing here?"
His moved away, opening the trunk of the car to put in the tent. Looking back at his bride-to-be, he said, "That's, er, that sort of the thing. The, uh, the four of us are supposed to go to the picnic. . .together."
Parvati's brow arched. "Excuse me? Ron, this is ridiculous, just call it off," she snapped.
"Hello!" Hermione said brightly, stepping up next to the other woman. "All right, there?"
She crossed her arms again. "No, actually, I'm not," she said tightly. "I can't really say I'm supportive of this little excursion that Ron and the girls are going on if you are going with them."
"You know what? I think you're right." Hermione put on a faux smile. "Perhaps the idea of a woman spending overnight with her ex-husband is a little mad."
Ron stared at her, daggers in his eyes. " 'Mione, what are you doing?" He said between clenched teeth.
She didn't reply to him, but continued talking to Parvati. "That's way I think you should come with us. I insist."
"Oh, no, no." She shook her head. "I'm not the outdoorsy type, trust me."
"Why not?" Hermione turned to Ron. "I've been a burden on your whole weekend, it's the least I can do, Ron."
* * *
Amy and Holly were just climbing into the backseat of Ron's Ford when Amy saw her mum and Parvati walking out the front door of the house. She immediately frowned and, looking over at Ron, who was already in the driver's seat, she said, "Dad! What's Parvati doing here?"
"Your mum asked her along," he said, glancing at the two of them. "Now, be nice, okay?"
Amy and Holly made a face at each other, and then slid inside the car and closed the door, just as Parvati was climbing in the passenger side. And then Hermione approached, gripping the windowsill on Ron's side, said merrily, "Okay, have fun everyone!"
His eyebrow furrowed and he turned his blue eyes at her. " 'Mione, what are you doing?"
"Oh, you'll have much more fun without me," she replied.
Holly stared at her mother. "Come on, Mum, that's not the plan!"
Parvati jumped in then. "Wait, wait a moment. If you're not going, Hermione, then surely I don't have to go -"
"But surely you and Ron want some time alone before the big day!" She said reasonably. "Not to mention time with the girls. After the wedding next week, they'll be yours too, Parvati."
Ron put on an amused smile, not really knowing what to say. He started up the car and let it idle for a moment, and then pressed a button on the dash, and the silvery Ford rose into the air, where he guided up into the sky, Hermione waving goodbye behind them all.
Suddenly Ginny and Harry appeared next to her, waving as well. The three of them caught each other's eye, and then erupted in a round of laughter.
* * *
To Be Continued