Hermione followed Ron out of the bookstore, which she found out was called
Hermione's Book Emporium. She smiled. He glanced back at her. "So how do
you like the name?" he asked, a nervous grin on his face.
"Oh, Ron I can't believe you named it after me. I mean I'm flattered, but me?" she said, hardly even trying to hide the excitement in her voice.
"Well it's fitting isn't it? I mean you're my best friend, and you like books so I just couldn't think of a more fitting name," Ron said, leading her down the road.
"Well, thanks Ron. Where are we going?" she asked, seeing that he was leading her away from Diagon Alley.
"Oh well, if you want to go back to Harry's and Ginny's, we can. I just thought that we could sit and talk, I know this little coffee shop down the street," Ron said, a hopeful look on his face.
"Sure, I'd love to hear about..everything," Hermione said quickly, taking his hand.
There was this little flutter of excitement that went through both of them. They had gone out briefly in fifth year, and hadn't officially broken up; but they had gotten a little to busy later in the year defeating Voldemort, and hadn't had much time to do couple stuff.
It seamed, however that the spark was still there. Hermione shivered, just holding Ron's hand brought memories flooding back to her. She hadn't really forgotten about them not breaking up, but she had been too afraid to bring it up. She feared that she would look stupid if she remembered, and he didn't. So that's how it went. After defeating Voldemort in seventh year, they took an exam, and it showed that they were ready for full wizard- hood. She had gotten the job in Canada, and had moved away.
What Hermione didn't know was that Ron had remembered. He had wanted to tell her, but then she told him about her job. He always wanted her to feel that she was supported in whatever she did. He knew how it felt, not being supported it had always been a big part in his life. His family had thought that the bookstore idea was really bad.
When he was younger he had been impressionable, but he had grown out of that. He had opened the bookstore, and now it was bigger than Flourish and Blots. Every time his parents asked about how it was doing, he had this urge to shout out, "Ha, ha!"
They reached Nile's, (the coffee shop). Ron opened the door for her, and quickly showed her to a table in the back. "Thanks," she said, as she sat down.
"So Herm, how's life been treating you?" Ron asked after they had ordered tea.
"Um..not that good really. I got fired from my job," Hermione replied truthfully.
"WHAT? The blubbering git of a Headmaster fired YOU!" Ron exclaimed, spuing hot tea all over the table.
"Well the school wasn't doing so well, and I didn't except come-ons as a pay-check, so I got laid off," Hermione said, starting to clean off the table with napkins, and blushing at the same time.
"Well are you going to report him, you know that's against the law," Ron asked her, wiping the table as well.
"No, I'm just going to try to forget about it," Hermione said quietly. "Oh my, look at the time. Your family is going to wonder where we are," she said, quickly changing the subject.
"Okay, we'll go. I don't see why you want to go to this big family dinner, but we'll go," Ron said, looking skeptically at her.
"Good, I want to see your family. I guess we'll just apparate from here?" she asked.
"Actually I thought we could just go back to Diagon Ally and floo," Ron half asked, half told Hermione.
"Oh, okay, whatever you say Mr. Bookstore owner man," she laughed, playfully punching him.
"Right back at you, you teaching person.. you," Ron said, not quite knowing what he was supposed to do.
"Ron, what do you think went wrong with us?" Hermione blurted out.
"Well, you moved away," Ron answered simply, blushing down to the roots of his flaming hair.
"Is that all that went wrong?" she asked, gazing at him.
"I think so, well maybe not, but I'm pretty sure we would have worked things out if you hadn't gone to Canada," Ron said, trying desperately to hide the pain from his voice.
"If you knew that, why did you tell me to go?" Hermione asked, stopping abruptly and piercing him with her gaze.
"I didn't want to limit you, I knew you needed and wanted to do this," he said, looking away from her.
"All I wanted to do was to hear that you would miss me and wanted me to stay," Hermione said, throwing caution to the wind.
"I didn't know, I just wanted you to be happy," Ron grabbed Hermione's hands, pulling them up to his face.
"I need you to be happy," Hermione said. "I love y-," Hermione's words were cut short as Ron leaned down and started kissing her. They didn't even notice the rain that started beating down on them.
They soon fell onto the muddy ground. They must have looked like crap but as all in love will tell you, it doesn't matter how you look. They rolled around and.well..made..love.
"Ron, I think we have to go to Harry and Ginny's house now. They probably think we're dead or something," Hermione said, tossing her mud-soaked hair out of her face.
"I guess you're right. Mum always jumps to conclusions," Ron sighed dejectedly.
"Okay let's go. By the way Ron, I don't mean to intrude, but I don't have any place to sta-," Ron cut Hermione off by putting his finger on her lips.
"You'll stay at my house, I won't take no for an answer," Ron said, leading her toward Diagon Alley.
They walked up to the Leaky Cauldron grate and Ron kissed Hermione on the cheek and set her off into the flame. He followed close behind and fell out of the grate at Harry and Ginny's. When he looked up he saw his family starring at him and Hermione. They were both sprawled on the ground covered with mud. Suddenly Ron started laughing. It started with a little chuckle then gradually turned into a role-on-the-floor belly laugh. Hermione gave him a look then started laughing as well. Pretty soon they were both rolling on the ground.
"Ron, what did you and Hermione do to get so dirty?" Mrs. Weasley asked looking at them with her eyebrows arched.
"Well, um, we just got..caught in the rain," Ron answered smiling up at his mother. All the Weasley men gave him a look of congratulations while all the women gave him a skeptical look.
"Yes, we got caught in the rain," Hermione said smiling at Ron.
"Well you must be freezing. Go up stairs both of you and I'm sure you can help yourself to Harry and Ginny's things. I'll go ask," Mrs. Weasley said in a motherly voice. She bustled out of the room and returned promptly with a nod. Hermione and Ron went up stairs. They walked quickly to the steps and the minute they stepped to the first, they erupted with laughter.
"That was classic!" Ron said through chuckles.
"Yeah, that was great. I'm going to get some of Ginny's cloths and take a short shower. By the way Ron, do you mean it when you kissed me? I mean, do you want to date..eachother?" Hermione asked.
"Of course I meant it! I wouldn't have it any other way, we will date..eachother," Ron exclaimed vehemently. They parted, Hermione into the bathroom and Ron into a closet. Hermione took a short shower and got into a knee-length pink and white sundress. Ron just through on a pair of kakis and a T-shirt. They then walked down stairs together.
"So, Hermione, how did you like Ron's book shop?" Mr. Weasley said with a note of pride in his voice.
"It was great! I don't think I've seen so many books in my life. The weird thing is that I never knew Ron liked books so much," Hermione answered.
"Yeah, tell me about it. None of us knew either," Fred laughed.
Ron smiled. He loved his life. It was now wonderfully complete. He would date Hermione for a few months then pop the question. Hermione would work in his bookshop since it was making more then enough for a family and growing. They would have two children, a boy, William, then a girl, Hannah.
"So, why did you come back from Canada Hermione?" Percy questioned.
"Well, my boss and I had a, erm, "run in", I had nothing to keep me there," she answered, squirming uncomfortably on the couch.
"What kind of "run in" do you mean Hermione," Percy pushed.
"It's nothing, they had to many teachers and not enough money, her boss was a jerk and he laid her off," Ron answered seeing Hermione's discomfort.
"Oh," Percy answered, though it was apparent that the answer didn't satisfy him. "I could get you a job in my office if you like," he said.
"I don't know, I don't care much for politics but thank you anyway Percy. Actually, I was wondering if you needed any help in your book shop Ron," she said looking at Ron hopefully.
"I do need help, I was just about to ask you actually," Ron answered his grin getting bigger by the second.
Then Ginny called from the kitchen that dinner was ready. Harry came out and gave Ron a look. They ate a very pleasant meal, chit chatting about various things as they ate. Hermione found out that Fred and Angelina were engaged and George and Katie had gotten married the month before. Percy and Penny were expecting their second child, Charlie had a fiancé in Romania and Bill and his wife were adopting a little girl from Russia.
At about ten Ginny and Harry's kids were in bed and everybody was getting tired. You know how it is with family gatherings; you never want to be the one to leave first. In this case Mr. and Mrs. Weasley, (the original), took the initiative. "We better get going. I've got work tomorrow and Molly's going to tea with someone," Mr. Weasley said getting up from his chair.
"We better go too," Percy said getting up. Everybody else followed except Hermione and Ron. They wanted to talk to Harry and Ginny a little bit longer. "So, how's life been?" Hermione asked in a vain attempt to make small talk.
"It's been good," Harry answered quietly.
"Great, I think Hermione and I will go back to the flat. Goodbye Harry, Ginny," Ron said sensing the tension in the room. He gave Harry a quick manly hug and pecked Ginny on the cheek.
"Yeah, I think I'll go too," Hermione said meekly kissing both Ginny and Harry on the cheek. She was exhausted and was looking forward to a nice warm bed. "I'll get these cloths back to you as soon as I can Ginny," she put in as she walked over to the fireplace.
"Yeah, Harry, don't expect these cloths back any time soon," Ron said following Hermione. They waved goodbye and flooed to Ron's flat. Apparently Ron was doing quite well for himself. It was a spacious flat with nice leather furniture and all wood floors and tables. His kitchen looked very sleek with all stainless steal appliances. Hermione looked around keenly taking everything in. Ron stood there following her eyes with her suitcase in hand.
"So, how do you like it?" Ron asked sheepishly.
"It's great, you must be doing really well for yourself. I can just make a bed right here on the couch," she answered.
"No, you don't have to sleep on the couch, I've got a guest bedroom. You can have it. If you want to start work tomorrow the bookshop opens at 10:00 a.m.," Ron said taking her suitcase toward a solid oak door.
Hermione found the guest bedroom quite nice. It had a black mettle frame and white and sage bedspread. The walls were a light sage color and the accents were black. There was a nice TV in the room along with a walk-in closet a dresser and vanity. The sliding glass door led out to the patio where a landscaped pool made it's home.
"Feel free to take a swim," Ron chuckled. "Now, if you don't mind, I think I'll leave you to this and a go to bed. The bathroom is right beside your room. If you need anything, my bedroom is the one next to the kitchen.
Hermione went to sleep right after her head found the pillow. When she woke up the sun was just coming up. A smell of breakfast wafted in through the door enticing her to get up off her bum. She stretched and grabbed her robe and slippers.
Ron stood at the stove in long boxers and nothing else. She had to say that he looked very good with just his boxers on. His red hair was tossed every witch way. He was humming a song that couldn't be deciphered. Ron obviously didn't know Hermione was behind him for he just kept on cooking and humming. "HERMIONE, BREAKFA- Oh, you're right there.
A/N Okay, that's where we end for now. You can review me, I like that.
"Oh, Ron I can't believe you named it after me. I mean I'm flattered, but me?" she said, hardly even trying to hide the excitement in her voice.
"Well it's fitting isn't it? I mean you're my best friend, and you like books so I just couldn't think of a more fitting name," Ron said, leading her down the road.
"Well, thanks Ron. Where are we going?" she asked, seeing that he was leading her away from Diagon Alley.
"Oh well, if you want to go back to Harry's and Ginny's, we can. I just thought that we could sit and talk, I know this little coffee shop down the street," Ron said, a hopeful look on his face.
"Sure, I'd love to hear about..everything," Hermione said quickly, taking his hand.
There was this little flutter of excitement that went through both of them. They had gone out briefly in fifth year, and hadn't officially broken up; but they had gotten a little to busy later in the year defeating Voldemort, and hadn't had much time to do couple stuff.
It seamed, however that the spark was still there. Hermione shivered, just holding Ron's hand brought memories flooding back to her. She hadn't really forgotten about them not breaking up, but she had been too afraid to bring it up. She feared that she would look stupid if she remembered, and he didn't. So that's how it went. After defeating Voldemort in seventh year, they took an exam, and it showed that they were ready for full wizard- hood. She had gotten the job in Canada, and had moved away.
What Hermione didn't know was that Ron had remembered. He had wanted to tell her, but then she told him about her job. He always wanted her to feel that she was supported in whatever she did. He knew how it felt, not being supported it had always been a big part in his life. His family had thought that the bookstore idea was really bad.
When he was younger he had been impressionable, but he had grown out of that. He had opened the bookstore, and now it was bigger than Flourish and Blots. Every time his parents asked about how it was doing, he had this urge to shout out, "Ha, ha!"
They reached Nile's, (the coffee shop). Ron opened the door for her, and quickly showed her to a table in the back. "Thanks," she said, as she sat down.
"So Herm, how's life been treating you?" Ron asked after they had ordered tea.
"Um..not that good really. I got fired from my job," Hermione replied truthfully.
"WHAT? The blubbering git of a Headmaster fired YOU!" Ron exclaimed, spuing hot tea all over the table.
"Well the school wasn't doing so well, and I didn't except come-ons as a pay-check, so I got laid off," Hermione said, starting to clean off the table with napkins, and blushing at the same time.
"Well are you going to report him, you know that's against the law," Ron asked her, wiping the table as well.
"No, I'm just going to try to forget about it," Hermione said quietly. "Oh my, look at the time. Your family is going to wonder where we are," she said, quickly changing the subject.
"Okay, we'll go. I don't see why you want to go to this big family dinner, but we'll go," Ron said, looking skeptically at her.
"Good, I want to see your family. I guess we'll just apparate from here?" she asked.
"Actually I thought we could just go back to Diagon Ally and floo," Ron half asked, half told Hermione.
"Oh, okay, whatever you say Mr. Bookstore owner man," she laughed, playfully punching him.
"Right back at you, you teaching person.. you," Ron said, not quite knowing what he was supposed to do.
"Ron, what do you think went wrong with us?" Hermione blurted out.
"Well, you moved away," Ron answered simply, blushing down to the roots of his flaming hair.
"Is that all that went wrong?" she asked, gazing at him.
"I think so, well maybe not, but I'm pretty sure we would have worked things out if you hadn't gone to Canada," Ron said, trying desperately to hide the pain from his voice.
"If you knew that, why did you tell me to go?" Hermione asked, stopping abruptly and piercing him with her gaze.
"I didn't want to limit you, I knew you needed and wanted to do this," he said, looking away from her.
"All I wanted to do was to hear that you would miss me and wanted me to stay," Hermione said, throwing caution to the wind.
"I didn't know, I just wanted you to be happy," Ron grabbed Hermione's hands, pulling them up to his face.
"I need you to be happy," Hermione said. "I love y-," Hermione's words were cut short as Ron leaned down and started kissing her. They didn't even notice the rain that started beating down on them.
They soon fell onto the muddy ground. They must have looked like crap but as all in love will tell you, it doesn't matter how you look. They rolled around and.well..made..love.
"Ron, I think we have to go to Harry and Ginny's house now. They probably think we're dead or something," Hermione said, tossing her mud-soaked hair out of her face.
"I guess you're right. Mum always jumps to conclusions," Ron sighed dejectedly.
"Okay let's go. By the way Ron, I don't mean to intrude, but I don't have any place to sta-," Ron cut Hermione off by putting his finger on her lips.
"You'll stay at my house, I won't take no for an answer," Ron said, leading her toward Diagon Alley.
They walked up to the Leaky Cauldron grate and Ron kissed Hermione on the cheek and set her off into the flame. He followed close behind and fell out of the grate at Harry and Ginny's. When he looked up he saw his family starring at him and Hermione. They were both sprawled on the ground covered with mud. Suddenly Ron started laughing. It started with a little chuckle then gradually turned into a role-on-the-floor belly laugh. Hermione gave him a look then started laughing as well. Pretty soon they were both rolling on the ground.
"Ron, what did you and Hermione do to get so dirty?" Mrs. Weasley asked looking at them with her eyebrows arched.
"Well, um, we just got..caught in the rain," Ron answered smiling up at his mother. All the Weasley men gave him a look of congratulations while all the women gave him a skeptical look.
"Yes, we got caught in the rain," Hermione said smiling at Ron.
"Well you must be freezing. Go up stairs both of you and I'm sure you can help yourself to Harry and Ginny's things. I'll go ask," Mrs. Weasley said in a motherly voice. She bustled out of the room and returned promptly with a nod. Hermione and Ron went up stairs. They walked quickly to the steps and the minute they stepped to the first, they erupted with laughter.
"That was classic!" Ron said through chuckles.
"Yeah, that was great. I'm going to get some of Ginny's cloths and take a short shower. By the way Ron, do you mean it when you kissed me? I mean, do you want to date..eachother?" Hermione asked.
"Of course I meant it! I wouldn't have it any other way, we will date..eachother," Ron exclaimed vehemently. They parted, Hermione into the bathroom and Ron into a closet. Hermione took a short shower and got into a knee-length pink and white sundress. Ron just through on a pair of kakis and a T-shirt. They then walked down stairs together.
"So, Hermione, how did you like Ron's book shop?" Mr. Weasley said with a note of pride in his voice.
"It was great! I don't think I've seen so many books in my life. The weird thing is that I never knew Ron liked books so much," Hermione answered.
"Yeah, tell me about it. None of us knew either," Fred laughed.
Ron smiled. He loved his life. It was now wonderfully complete. He would date Hermione for a few months then pop the question. Hermione would work in his bookshop since it was making more then enough for a family and growing. They would have two children, a boy, William, then a girl, Hannah.
"So, why did you come back from Canada Hermione?" Percy questioned.
"Well, my boss and I had a, erm, "run in", I had nothing to keep me there," she answered, squirming uncomfortably on the couch.
"What kind of "run in" do you mean Hermione," Percy pushed.
"It's nothing, they had to many teachers and not enough money, her boss was a jerk and he laid her off," Ron answered seeing Hermione's discomfort.
"Oh," Percy answered, though it was apparent that the answer didn't satisfy him. "I could get you a job in my office if you like," he said.
"I don't know, I don't care much for politics but thank you anyway Percy. Actually, I was wondering if you needed any help in your book shop Ron," she said looking at Ron hopefully.
"I do need help, I was just about to ask you actually," Ron answered his grin getting bigger by the second.
Then Ginny called from the kitchen that dinner was ready. Harry came out and gave Ron a look. They ate a very pleasant meal, chit chatting about various things as they ate. Hermione found out that Fred and Angelina were engaged and George and Katie had gotten married the month before. Percy and Penny were expecting their second child, Charlie had a fiancé in Romania and Bill and his wife were adopting a little girl from Russia.
At about ten Ginny and Harry's kids were in bed and everybody was getting tired. You know how it is with family gatherings; you never want to be the one to leave first. In this case Mr. and Mrs. Weasley, (the original), took the initiative. "We better get going. I've got work tomorrow and Molly's going to tea with someone," Mr. Weasley said getting up from his chair.
"We better go too," Percy said getting up. Everybody else followed except Hermione and Ron. They wanted to talk to Harry and Ginny a little bit longer. "So, how's life been?" Hermione asked in a vain attempt to make small talk.
"It's been good," Harry answered quietly.
"Great, I think Hermione and I will go back to the flat. Goodbye Harry, Ginny," Ron said sensing the tension in the room. He gave Harry a quick manly hug and pecked Ginny on the cheek.
"Yeah, I think I'll go too," Hermione said meekly kissing both Ginny and Harry on the cheek. She was exhausted and was looking forward to a nice warm bed. "I'll get these cloths back to you as soon as I can Ginny," she put in as she walked over to the fireplace.
"Yeah, Harry, don't expect these cloths back any time soon," Ron said following Hermione. They waved goodbye and flooed to Ron's flat. Apparently Ron was doing quite well for himself. It was a spacious flat with nice leather furniture and all wood floors and tables. His kitchen looked very sleek with all stainless steal appliances. Hermione looked around keenly taking everything in. Ron stood there following her eyes with her suitcase in hand.
"So, how do you like it?" Ron asked sheepishly.
"It's great, you must be doing really well for yourself. I can just make a bed right here on the couch," she answered.
"No, you don't have to sleep on the couch, I've got a guest bedroom. You can have it. If you want to start work tomorrow the bookshop opens at 10:00 a.m.," Ron said taking her suitcase toward a solid oak door.
Hermione found the guest bedroom quite nice. It had a black mettle frame and white and sage bedspread. The walls were a light sage color and the accents were black. There was a nice TV in the room along with a walk-in closet a dresser and vanity. The sliding glass door led out to the patio where a landscaped pool made it's home.
"Feel free to take a swim," Ron chuckled. "Now, if you don't mind, I think I'll leave you to this and a go to bed. The bathroom is right beside your room. If you need anything, my bedroom is the one next to the kitchen.
Hermione went to sleep right after her head found the pillow. When she woke up the sun was just coming up. A smell of breakfast wafted in through the door enticing her to get up off her bum. She stretched and grabbed her robe and slippers.
Ron stood at the stove in long boxers and nothing else. She had to say that he looked very good with just his boxers on. His red hair was tossed every witch way. He was humming a song that couldn't be deciphered. Ron obviously didn't know Hermione was behind him for he just kept on cooking and humming. "HERMIONE, BREAKFA- Oh, you're right there.
A/N Okay, that's where we end for now. You can review me, I like that.