Author's Note: I appreciate the feedback I'm getting from all of you.
Thanks a lot, you've made my day (for real!).
Disclaimer: I have no kids, and am, unfortunately, a tad too young to pursue a profession as a writer. So THERE! NOT J.K., DON'T SUE!!!!!!!
Ron swallowed as the doorbell rang. Was it her yet? He jumped to his feet. Maybe he had made a mistake in inviting her. Maybe she didn't even want to be here. But he should probably open the door, he figured.
Setting his head straight, he marched to the door. He opened it, getting his best face ready for...
Mrs. Weasley.
"Why, Ron, dear, you look so excited to see me!" Mrs. Weasley was bursting with happiness. "You haven't looked like this in years."
Ron rolled his eyes as she brushed past him. She was, of course, referring to the before Hermione's disappearance time. Boy, was she in for a surprise today. He closed the door behind him.
"Well, dear!" she said, seemingly surprised. "You've done a wonderful job tidying your flat up. You'd think we were expecting a major guest, and not just the family." She giggled.
Ron held his breath before answering. "Well, it's not just the family. Harry's coming, too."
"Oh, don't be ridiculous, dear. Harry's always been one of the family." Mrs. Weasley waved off Ron's comment with a wave of her hand. "And speaking of Harry," she added with a mischevious glint in her eye, "when is he going to work up the courage to do something about his little thing for Ginny?"
Ron's eyes flamed. He hated talking about his best friend's little "thing" for Ginny. "It's no thing, Mum," he muttered under his breath.
"What's that dear?" Mrs. Weasley asked. "I couldn't quite hear you."
"Never mind. Why isn't Dad here?"
"Oh, buisiness at the Ministry, that sort of thing," she said, making her way into the kitchen. "It's not important, though, is it?"
"No," Ron swallowed. "No, not at all."
"I'm going to cook something up with whatever it is you have in this pantry. You can't have the Weasley family all together without at least a few good munchies around."
Ron heard the doorbell ring once more before he could respond. He opened it, prepping his face once more, readying himself for that big moment. But, ah, he was once more let down.
"How ya doin, ickle Ronny?" Fred slapped him on his back, startling Ron a good inch forward and stepping into the flat.
"Good to see ya, little brother," George agreed, following his brother inside.
Great, Ron thought. My brothers are here.
As he came back inside, the twins had already made themselves comfortable on his raggedy old sofa.
"Why do you two always arrive at the same time?" Ron asked, obviously annoyed it was not who he was expecting at the door. "It's not like you live together anymore."
They somehow missed his sardonic tone. They looked at one another and shrugged. "It's a twin thing," they said in unison.
Ron slapped his forehead.
Fred grabbed a handful from the bag of crisps that was lying on the end table and stuffed them into his mouth. "Anyways, what was with that look you gave us when you opened the door?"
"Yeah," George said. "You looked about ready to welcome Prince Charles to our home." The twins burst into laughter.
His mother, who did not see the "apparent" humor, came in with some water and juice and said, "Exactly what I had said to Ron. I know what it is dear." She faced him. "It's because you've not seen us for so long, isn't it? Oh, I understand, dear, but really, Ron. You should visit more often."
"I'll be sure to do that," Ron said in a barely audible voice.
"Did you hear about the new Seeker they have on the Irish team?" Fred and George began to discuss the Quidditch season rapidly, and as much as Ron would have liked to, he was too nervous to join in.
"Are you okay, Ron, dear?" Mrs. Weasley asked gently.
"Oh!" Ron said, suddenly snapping out of it. "Of course. What'd make you think I wasn't?"
"Well, Fred and George were just talking about Quiddtich and you weren't."
"Really?" Ron asked faintly. "Didn't even realize...." The doorbell rang, and Ron sprang to his feet instantly. "I'll get it!"
He readied his face once more, making sure Fred and George were not looking first. Then he swung open the door.
"Hello, Ron," Harry said, giving him the funniest of funny looks. "It's great to see you, but what's with the-"
"Ssssh!" Ron said. He leaned in to whisper in Harry's ear, "It's about Her- Her... It's about her."
Harry nodded understandingly, but another curious voice poked in.
"What?" Ginny Weasley came up the front steps, wondering what Harry and Ron were talking about.
Harry blushed scarlet as he mumbled, "Nothing," and Ginny almost immediately joined in.
Oh, isn't this wonderful?, Ron thought. He rolled his eyes as he let both through the door. They were greeted with a warm response from the rest of the family.
"Gin!" George exclaimed. "Harry! Good to see you both!"
"Ginny, darling!" Mrs. Weasley ran to wrap her arms around her only daughter. "Harry, dear!" she cried. She hugged him and gave him what Ron could only describe as a knowing smile.
The two made themselves comfortable on the other, unoccupied sofa, and Ron was glad to see a good distance between them.
"So, the gang's all here, eh?" Fred said loudly.
"Uhhhh," Ron looked around. "Yeah, I guess."
"Where's Percy?" Ginny asked.
"Who cares?" George said, tipping his glass down his throat slightly farther.
"George!" Mrs. Weasley exclaimed.
"What?" he asked with a sheepish grin.
"I think he had an important meeting with a very important Ministry official from China or something," Ron said, relaxing, and barely recalling the brief phone conversation with his brother. "He only had time to talk to me for, like, two seconds."
"Let me guess," Fred said. "He said something to the effect of, 'No, I have a meeting that day, highly important and it's horribly unprofessional of me to reschedule. Minister official from China, you know, don't bother me again unless it's important, I am working, you realize, and have fun at your little whatever.'" Fred had caused the group to erupt into laughter at his quite accurate imitation of Percy.
"We should not be laughing at your brother," Mrs. Weasley said, suddenly serious. "He works very hard, you know."
"Yes, Mum, we see that," George said. "But there is a difference between working and overworking." He raised his eyebrows, and Mrs. Weasley suddenly had nothing more to say.
"What about Bill and Charlie?" Harry suggested. "Where're they at, Ron?"
"Hmmmm," Ron thought on this. He was distracted all right, every thought of his seemed to come back down to Hermione. Where was she anyway? Belgium! "Belgium," he said aloud. "I know Charlie's in Belgium."
"Oh, yes, that's right," their mother agreed, hurriedly buttering a piece of toast. "Last I heard he was doing some extensive research there. Our Charlie." She sighed. "I'm so proud."
"So then where's Bill?" Ginny posed another question.
"I suppose he's around here, isn't he? I just spoke to him two days ago. Didn't you call him, Ron?"
Ron quickly racked his brain. He had called Bill, hadn't he? Oh, God, had he remembered to do that? No. Oh, shit. He shook his head. "Must-must have slipped my head," he cracked.
"Oh, well that's just terrible!" Ginny said standing up. Harry looked a little flushed, but Ron chose to ignore this little fact. "I'm going to call him over right now, it's Saturday, he should be off, shouldn't he Mum?"
Mrs. Weasley nodded before turning to Ron. "Forgetting your own brother, we raised you better, Ron!"
Ron blushed. It had been an honest mishap.
Ginny, who was now quite accustomed to using a telephone (pretty much all the Weasleys were) was now speaking with Bill.
"Yes, will you be here soon? Forty five minutes maybe? All right, that's excellent. And we're sorry Ron FORGOT you, Bill." She glared at Ron.
"Ah, Bill was always your favorite, Gin," Fred said with a nonchalant wave of his hand.
"Was not," Ginny replied with a slight grin. Ron noticed how she sat just a tad closer to Harry. A lot closer than before, definitely. Oh, this was just turning out to be such a wonderful day, wasn't it?
It was about twenty minutes later that Ron heard the faint ringing of the doorbell amidst all the talk. Figuring it was Bill, he hurled himself up and decided to just answer the door. He wasn't about to ready his face. Oh, no, they wouldn't get him this time.
"Hello, Bill, you can just-"
"Ron?" Ron looked up and saw a very nervous looking Hermione. He grinned.
"Hello, Hermione." He dropped his voice to a near whisper. "They don't know about you, none of it. Please be cool, all right?"
She swallowed nervously and nodded.
"Sorry," he apologized quickly. "I know you're nervous already, but it's just my family. It's no big deal." He smiled reassuringly at her until she smiled back. "Okay, here we go."
He let her in the door, letting her stand behind him as he cleared his throat. "Everyone," he said, getting the family's attention. "We have a special guest."
Hermione crept out from behind him. Ron heard gasps and saw jaws drop.
"Hermione?" "Is it really you?" "I thought you were dead!" "Where have you been all these years?" were just some of the exclamations that could be heard as the family got up and crowded around her.
Ron, however, would not let her leave his side. He seemed to feel better when she was near him, almost like he could protect her from anything, even though he was well aware he could not. And he was quite pleased when she did not leave.
They took a seat on the sofa, side by side, as Hermione told the story once more to nearly the whole Weasley clan. She seemed to get weaker with every word, and by the end, she had collapsed into sobs. Ron put a comforting hand on her back, but she was quickly swept into the motherly embrace of Mrs. Weasley.
"You poor dear," she said. "You were nothing but a scared child. It's dreadful, children having to face what you three did. But you should have come to us for help. We would have been there for you."
"I'm sorry," Hermione whispered.
"Don't worry, Hermione," Fred joked. "I seriously don't think You-Know-Who looked all that great dead, so you didn't miss much."
This produced a half laugh, half sob from Hermione, and nervous laughs all around her.
"Really, Hermione," Harry said. "You're back now, that's all that matters."
It was just then they all heard a door close. Everyone turned to find Bill standing in the doorway, clutching a hat. After looking at everyone's faces, he asked, "Did I miss something?" He then walked over to what everyone was crowding around and exclaimed, "Whoa, Hermione?"
She nodded.
"But- We thought- We heard-" Ron stopped him with a hand.
"Hold off the questions for now, I'll call you and explain everything later."
Bill nodded, understandingly, and slowly, the pattern fell as it always had been when the Weasleys were together : lots of talking, laughing, and eating.
With a renewed addition: Hermione. ****************************
So, how do you like? I know this wasn't really forth moving in the plot, but it was important that all the Weasleys knew. Next up, we're going to have a pretty romantic chapter, Ron and Hermione alone in his apartment. I won't give away more than that, BUT PLEASE REVIEW!!!!!!! YOU KNOW MY THREATS, WON'T BOTHER TO STATE 'EM!!!!!!! LOVE YOU!!!!!!!
Disclaimer: I have no kids, and am, unfortunately, a tad too young to pursue a profession as a writer. So THERE! NOT J.K., DON'T SUE!!!!!!!
Ron swallowed as the doorbell rang. Was it her yet? He jumped to his feet. Maybe he had made a mistake in inviting her. Maybe she didn't even want to be here. But he should probably open the door, he figured.
Setting his head straight, he marched to the door. He opened it, getting his best face ready for...
Mrs. Weasley.
"Why, Ron, dear, you look so excited to see me!" Mrs. Weasley was bursting with happiness. "You haven't looked like this in years."
Ron rolled his eyes as she brushed past him. She was, of course, referring to the before Hermione's disappearance time. Boy, was she in for a surprise today. He closed the door behind him.
"Well, dear!" she said, seemingly surprised. "You've done a wonderful job tidying your flat up. You'd think we were expecting a major guest, and not just the family." She giggled.
Ron held his breath before answering. "Well, it's not just the family. Harry's coming, too."
"Oh, don't be ridiculous, dear. Harry's always been one of the family." Mrs. Weasley waved off Ron's comment with a wave of her hand. "And speaking of Harry," she added with a mischevious glint in her eye, "when is he going to work up the courage to do something about his little thing for Ginny?"
Ron's eyes flamed. He hated talking about his best friend's little "thing" for Ginny. "It's no thing, Mum," he muttered under his breath.
"What's that dear?" Mrs. Weasley asked. "I couldn't quite hear you."
"Never mind. Why isn't Dad here?"
"Oh, buisiness at the Ministry, that sort of thing," she said, making her way into the kitchen. "It's not important, though, is it?"
"No," Ron swallowed. "No, not at all."
"I'm going to cook something up with whatever it is you have in this pantry. You can't have the Weasley family all together without at least a few good munchies around."
Ron heard the doorbell ring once more before he could respond. He opened it, prepping his face once more, readying himself for that big moment. But, ah, he was once more let down.
"How ya doin, ickle Ronny?" Fred slapped him on his back, startling Ron a good inch forward and stepping into the flat.
"Good to see ya, little brother," George agreed, following his brother inside.
Great, Ron thought. My brothers are here.
As he came back inside, the twins had already made themselves comfortable on his raggedy old sofa.
"Why do you two always arrive at the same time?" Ron asked, obviously annoyed it was not who he was expecting at the door. "It's not like you live together anymore."
They somehow missed his sardonic tone. They looked at one another and shrugged. "It's a twin thing," they said in unison.
Ron slapped his forehead.
Fred grabbed a handful from the bag of crisps that was lying on the end table and stuffed them into his mouth. "Anyways, what was with that look you gave us when you opened the door?"
"Yeah," George said. "You looked about ready to welcome Prince Charles to our home." The twins burst into laughter.
His mother, who did not see the "apparent" humor, came in with some water and juice and said, "Exactly what I had said to Ron. I know what it is dear." She faced him. "It's because you've not seen us for so long, isn't it? Oh, I understand, dear, but really, Ron. You should visit more often."
"I'll be sure to do that," Ron said in a barely audible voice.
"Did you hear about the new Seeker they have on the Irish team?" Fred and George began to discuss the Quidditch season rapidly, and as much as Ron would have liked to, he was too nervous to join in.
"Are you okay, Ron, dear?" Mrs. Weasley asked gently.
"Oh!" Ron said, suddenly snapping out of it. "Of course. What'd make you think I wasn't?"
"Well, Fred and George were just talking about Quiddtich and you weren't."
"Really?" Ron asked faintly. "Didn't even realize...." The doorbell rang, and Ron sprang to his feet instantly. "I'll get it!"
He readied his face once more, making sure Fred and George were not looking first. Then he swung open the door.
"Hello, Ron," Harry said, giving him the funniest of funny looks. "It's great to see you, but what's with the-"
"Ssssh!" Ron said. He leaned in to whisper in Harry's ear, "It's about Her- Her... It's about her."
Harry nodded understandingly, but another curious voice poked in.
"What?" Ginny Weasley came up the front steps, wondering what Harry and Ron were talking about.
Harry blushed scarlet as he mumbled, "Nothing," and Ginny almost immediately joined in.
Oh, isn't this wonderful?, Ron thought. He rolled his eyes as he let both through the door. They were greeted with a warm response from the rest of the family.
"Gin!" George exclaimed. "Harry! Good to see you both!"
"Ginny, darling!" Mrs. Weasley ran to wrap her arms around her only daughter. "Harry, dear!" she cried. She hugged him and gave him what Ron could only describe as a knowing smile.
The two made themselves comfortable on the other, unoccupied sofa, and Ron was glad to see a good distance between them.
"So, the gang's all here, eh?" Fred said loudly.
"Uhhhh," Ron looked around. "Yeah, I guess."
"Where's Percy?" Ginny asked.
"Who cares?" George said, tipping his glass down his throat slightly farther.
"George!" Mrs. Weasley exclaimed.
"What?" he asked with a sheepish grin.
"I think he had an important meeting with a very important Ministry official from China or something," Ron said, relaxing, and barely recalling the brief phone conversation with his brother. "He only had time to talk to me for, like, two seconds."
"Let me guess," Fred said. "He said something to the effect of, 'No, I have a meeting that day, highly important and it's horribly unprofessional of me to reschedule. Minister official from China, you know, don't bother me again unless it's important, I am working, you realize, and have fun at your little whatever.'" Fred had caused the group to erupt into laughter at his quite accurate imitation of Percy.
"We should not be laughing at your brother," Mrs. Weasley said, suddenly serious. "He works very hard, you know."
"Yes, Mum, we see that," George said. "But there is a difference between working and overworking." He raised his eyebrows, and Mrs. Weasley suddenly had nothing more to say.
"What about Bill and Charlie?" Harry suggested. "Where're they at, Ron?"
"Hmmmm," Ron thought on this. He was distracted all right, every thought of his seemed to come back down to Hermione. Where was she anyway? Belgium! "Belgium," he said aloud. "I know Charlie's in Belgium."
"Oh, yes, that's right," their mother agreed, hurriedly buttering a piece of toast. "Last I heard he was doing some extensive research there. Our Charlie." She sighed. "I'm so proud."
"So then where's Bill?" Ginny posed another question.
"I suppose he's around here, isn't he? I just spoke to him two days ago. Didn't you call him, Ron?"
Ron quickly racked his brain. He had called Bill, hadn't he? Oh, God, had he remembered to do that? No. Oh, shit. He shook his head. "Must-must have slipped my head," he cracked.
"Oh, well that's just terrible!" Ginny said standing up. Harry looked a little flushed, but Ron chose to ignore this little fact. "I'm going to call him over right now, it's Saturday, he should be off, shouldn't he Mum?"
Mrs. Weasley nodded before turning to Ron. "Forgetting your own brother, we raised you better, Ron!"
Ron blushed. It had been an honest mishap.
Ginny, who was now quite accustomed to using a telephone (pretty much all the Weasleys were) was now speaking with Bill.
"Yes, will you be here soon? Forty five minutes maybe? All right, that's excellent. And we're sorry Ron FORGOT you, Bill." She glared at Ron.
"Ah, Bill was always your favorite, Gin," Fred said with a nonchalant wave of his hand.
"Was not," Ginny replied with a slight grin. Ron noticed how she sat just a tad closer to Harry. A lot closer than before, definitely. Oh, this was just turning out to be such a wonderful day, wasn't it?
It was about twenty minutes later that Ron heard the faint ringing of the doorbell amidst all the talk. Figuring it was Bill, he hurled himself up and decided to just answer the door. He wasn't about to ready his face. Oh, no, they wouldn't get him this time.
"Hello, Bill, you can just-"
"Ron?" Ron looked up and saw a very nervous looking Hermione. He grinned.
"Hello, Hermione." He dropped his voice to a near whisper. "They don't know about you, none of it. Please be cool, all right?"
She swallowed nervously and nodded.
"Sorry," he apologized quickly. "I know you're nervous already, but it's just my family. It's no big deal." He smiled reassuringly at her until she smiled back. "Okay, here we go."
He let her in the door, letting her stand behind him as he cleared his throat. "Everyone," he said, getting the family's attention. "We have a special guest."
Hermione crept out from behind him. Ron heard gasps and saw jaws drop.
"Hermione?" "Is it really you?" "I thought you were dead!" "Where have you been all these years?" were just some of the exclamations that could be heard as the family got up and crowded around her.
Ron, however, would not let her leave his side. He seemed to feel better when she was near him, almost like he could protect her from anything, even though he was well aware he could not. And he was quite pleased when she did not leave.
They took a seat on the sofa, side by side, as Hermione told the story once more to nearly the whole Weasley clan. She seemed to get weaker with every word, and by the end, she had collapsed into sobs. Ron put a comforting hand on her back, but she was quickly swept into the motherly embrace of Mrs. Weasley.
"You poor dear," she said. "You were nothing but a scared child. It's dreadful, children having to face what you three did. But you should have come to us for help. We would have been there for you."
"I'm sorry," Hermione whispered.
"Don't worry, Hermione," Fred joked. "I seriously don't think You-Know-Who looked all that great dead, so you didn't miss much."
This produced a half laugh, half sob from Hermione, and nervous laughs all around her.
"Really, Hermione," Harry said. "You're back now, that's all that matters."
It was just then they all heard a door close. Everyone turned to find Bill standing in the doorway, clutching a hat. After looking at everyone's faces, he asked, "Did I miss something?" He then walked over to what everyone was crowding around and exclaimed, "Whoa, Hermione?"
She nodded.
"But- We thought- We heard-" Ron stopped him with a hand.
"Hold off the questions for now, I'll call you and explain everything later."
Bill nodded, understandingly, and slowly, the pattern fell as it always had been when the Weasleys were together : lots of talking, laughing, and eating.
With a renewed addition: Hermione. ****************************
So, how do you like? I know this wasn't really forth moving in the plot, but it was important that all the Weasleys knew. Next up, we're going to have a pretty romantic chapter, Ron and Hermione alone in his apartment. I won't give away more than that, BUT PLEASE REVIEW!!!!!!! YOU KNOW MY THREATS, WON'T BOTHER TO STATE 'EM!!!!!!! LOVE YOU!!!!!!!