***DISCLAIMER*** They aren't mine, and I'm not trying to make a profit.

Fredngeorgegirl ~ The answer to your question is in chapter 3 at the very beginning (literally).

Sakeena, Christy, giggle725, CherrySodaChocolateMilk, Felicia ~ Here is an update! Enjoy!

Lolipop ~ Haha, yay! My sister loves me. Although she was evil this morning and stole my earrings . . . don't you hate it when little sisters do that? ;-) Love ya sweetie! Heh, why am I writing you in here when you are sitting two feet away from me?

Tears from the Moon ~ Hehe, sorry. It was late, and I didn't want to end the chapter with Hermione just falling asleep. *yawn* That's boring. . . there was another scene I wanted to add, which is the beginning of this chapter, but again, it was late and I didn't want to write it. Hope you enjoy this one!

A/N sorry to leave ya'll hanging there, but I really wanted to get to bed! Here is another chapter, enjoy! There isn't much R/H in this chapter, but it's integral to the story! I promise you'll get to see more of what Ron is planning soon!

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How Many Ways

Chapter 6 ~ Welcome Home

By Americanangel

Summary in first chapter.

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Hermione looked up, "Ron! How did you get in here?"

Ron laughed, "Easy. You haven't placed any Apparating charms on this place. Anyone could just come in. Did you like the roses?"

Hermione smiled, "They were beautiful; thank you. How was your day? What did you do?"

Ron came and sat at the end of her bed, "It was a long day; I Apparated here as soon as I could. We were interrogating some Death Eaters that we caught recently as to the whereabouts of Avery and McNair. We tried reason, but they just wouldn't talk. Finally, we used a truth potion, and that did the trick; although, a lot of information was hidden from them by Voldemort. No single Death Eater knew everything, unfortunately. Makes my job a lot harder. Anyway, did your presentation go well?"

Hermione nodded, "Yes, quite well. Your father said it was impressive. Have you been home at all recently?"

Ron looked at her strangely, "Not in the past few days, why?"

Hermione wanted to tell Ron everything about Ginny, but she knew it would be best to let him discover on his own, "Oh, nothing much. Your father just gave me some interesting news today that I thought you might like to hear from him too. I'd go there tonight, if I were you."

Ron grinned wickedly, "What, and miss my evening with you? Not a chance in the world!"

"Oh, shush. They're your parents! Besides, it's already late. You shouldn't be here this late, the neighbors might get worried," Hermione replied nervously.

Ron sighed, "Alright, Hermione. But I am going to see you first thing tomorrow morning! Bright and early."

Hermione giggled, "Yes, of course, all Aurors must get up bright and early. See you then. Good night."

"Good night, Mione," Ron said softly, blowing her a small kiss before Disapparating. Hermione settled under the warm covers and fell into a deep slumber, dreaming once again of one Ronald Weasley.

* * *

Ron Apparated to the door of the Burrow and knocked once before entering, so as not to alarm his parents, "Mum, Dad? Where are you?"

He heard his mother bustling down the stairs, and then saw her standing in her night clothes, "Ron? What in the name of Merlin are you doing here at this time of night?"

Ron laughed, "Well, I was told by a little bird that I should come home before I went to bed. She said that there was something I had to know."

Mrs. Weasley came down the stairs and gave him a hug, "It's nice to see you, dear. And yes, there is something. Ginny is home."

Ron's jaw dropped, "Sh - she's home?! When did she get here? WHY DIDN'T YOU TELL ME SHE WAS COMING HOME?" His face displayed a mix of anger, yet excitement. He loved his little sister so much, and he hadn't heard from her in about a month.

"Calm down, Ron. She just told us three days ago, and she got home last night. Hermione had lunch with us today and they went shopping in Diagon Alley afterwards. Hermione invited Ginny to be her roommate, isn't that wonderful! Ginny is going to be here for a while working at St. Mungo's," Mrs. Weasley told Ron as he followed her into the kitchen.

Ron stared at her, "Well, where is she, Mum?"

Mrs. Weasley smiled, "Upstairs in her room packing. Hermione is coming over tomorrow to help her move, after work that is." She was about to say something else, but Ron dashed up the stairs, slowing down before getting to Ginny's room. He heard her inside and pushed the door open as quietly as he could. Her back was to the door and she was focused so much on what she was doing that she didn't hear it opening, to Ron's delight. He tiptoed softly over to where she was packing and lifted her up into a big hug.

"What, who is that? Ron! Oh, Ron! It's so wonderful to see you!" Ginny said as Ron twirled her around in a circle, before setting her back down on the floor.

"It's great to see you too, Ginny. How've you been? I suppose Hermione told you all about us, huh," Ron said as he sat down on her bed.

Ginny grinned at him, "Oh, yes. She told me everything. You better not hurt her, Ron, or I'll hurt YOU!"

Ron's eyes widened, "Hey! You're supposed to be on my side; you're MY sister! Wait, did she tell you about the challenge too?"

Ginny nodded, "Yup. She did, did she tell you why she gave you the challenge?"

Ron looked puzzled, "'Cause she doesn't think I love her?"

Ginny sighed, "Yeah, that's the gist of it." She realized that Hermione hadn't wanted to tell Ron about Ian and Melanie just yet, and decided to respect Hermione's wishes. "Any ideas yet as to what you are going to do?"

Ron smiled, "I thought you'd never ask." She sat down beside him and they stayed up late into the night while he told her what he had in mind and helped her finish packing. He decided to spend the night at the Burrow, rather than Apparate all the way home, and said good night to Ginny around 2 AM before he collapsed into his old bed.

* * *

Hermione woke early and went to the office to see if Mr. Cummings had returned. He had, and he called her into his office around 10:00. She walked slowly, unsure of herself and of what he was going to say, arriving at his door after what seemed like an eternity and knocked.

"Come in," a deep voice called from inside. Hermione opened the door and stepped into the room to see a tall, stocky, and jolly man sitting behind his desk writing on a parchment. He looked up and smiled at her, "Sit down, Ms. Granger. That was a good report you presented yesterday and I am very impressed. Therefore, I have decided to promote you to the position we discussed. You will be working as an assistant for an ambassador who is overseas; basically, doing what he or she would do if they were at the Ministry of Magic. Since you did the report on the Middle East, it is only fitting that you be the assistant to the ambassador who is going there, a man by the name of Percival Weasley."

Hermione's eyes widened and she blushed, "Percy? He's my boyfriend's older brother."

Mr. Cummings smiled, "Good, then you already know him. You'll be taking over his tasks here while he is overseas. There is a substantial salary raise, but we'll talk that over later. I haven't told Mr. Weasley yet about his promotion, but I'm going to call him in later this afternoon. Both you and he deserve these promotions after all the work you have done for this department, and this is my way of thanking you."

Hermione nodded, "Of course, Mr. Cummings. We won't let you down."

"Have a good day, Ms. Granger."

"And you as well."

* * *

Ron had the day off, however, he went into the office anyway to look at the evidence he and his partners had gathered. Each Death Eater told them something new, but it all had to be pieced together if they were to find the others. The fall of Voldemort four years before had been sudden; no one had expected it to happen as fast as it had, especially his followers. They had scattered, all to different places. Ron couldn't figure out whether they had been prearranged places or if they had happened to go to a place by chance. The Death Eaters they had just found, Goyle and Flint, had been hiding together in a cave in Wales. They had been stealing from a town nearby until finally the townspeople had told the Ministry, alerting them to the presence of possible Death Eaters. Ron had led the team into the area and they found them within two weeks, taking them back to Azkaban. Ron hated the place, but it was the only place he could interrogate prisoners without fear of them escaping.

Around noon, he got an owl from his mother.

Ron,

We are going to have the family over for dinner tonight, as well as Harry and Hermione. Ginny is going to tell us about what she has been doing, and introduce us to one of her friends. Hoping you can come, send a message back with Cordina (A/N thanks, Alyx) as soon as you get this.

Love,

Mum

Ron looked at the medium-sized brown and black owl that his parents had bought two years previously, deciding that Errol need to retire. He didn't deliver letters anymore, but he still flew around the house occasionally. Cordina was the main mail carrier now, and she had formed something of a friendship with Hedwig, however, both of them disliked Pig's antics and looked disapprovingly at him whenever he got excited. Cordina clucked at Ron impatiently and he took out a parchment and quickly wrote a reply.

Mum,

I'll be there, and I'll tell Hermione.

Love,

Ron

After attaching the letter to Cordina's leg, Ron knew exactly where he had to go.

* * *

Hermione was sitting at her desk working on the arrangements for Percy's departure to the Middle East when Ron appeared at her doorway.

"Mione," he said softly, and she looked up.

"Whatever happened to bright and early, Weasley? Did you see Ginny last night?" Hermione said as a grin spread over her face.

"Right, sorry Mione. Yes, I did, I actually ended up spending the night at the Burrow which is why I didn't come to see you 'bright and early'. I hope you'll forgive me. I helped her pack up for today. When is she moving her things over to your apartment?"

Hermione smiled, "This afternoon, around three. And yes, I forgive you. Your mother owled me about dinner tonight, you going to be there?"

Ron nodded, "Yes, that's what I came to talk to you about, but it seems you already know. Well, are you going to be there?"

"Of course!" Hermione responded, "I want to hear what Ginny has been up to just as much as everyone else."

Ron grinned, "Great! Can I come over to your house around six and escort you?"

Hermione blushed, "Alright, Weasley. Since I did forgive you I suppose you can be my date for tonight, but be careful; don't want the whole world thinking we're in love or anything."

Ron laughed at her teasing and blew her a kiss, "I'll see you then. Have a good afternoon."

"You too, Ron," Hermione responded just before he Disapparated.

* * *

Hermione and Ginny had no problem moving her things over to Hermione's apartment, and Fred had come to help them as well. When they got everything set up Ginny Apparated back to the Burrow to help her mother while Hermione got ready for the dinner. She decided to wear a medium length denim skirt and sky blue capped sleeve t-shirt. Ron was there at six on the dot and they Apparated together to the Burrow.

* * *

Mrs. Weasley and Ginny had set up dinner in the garden for fifteen: Mr. and Mrs. Weasley, the seven Weasley children, Fleur, Hermione, Harry, Bill and Fleur's children, and Ginny's friend Marc, who was in training to be a Healer. He was British, but his parents had moved to the United States when he was born to keep him and his siblings away from Voldemort. He went to a wizarding school in Boston and he had graduated in the same year as Fred and George, and then undergone the two years of medical school training at St. Mungo's. He had been sent to work on the battlefield a year before Ginny and met her about one month after she had arrived, five months previously to the dinner.

Ginny asked Marc to explain all about his past during the dinner, and then told that they had met while she was helping with a surgery. He had thanked her afterwards and asked her what her name was, which led to a friendship, and later . . .

"We've been dating for about a month now," Ginny said in conclusion to her story. Ron dropped his fork and looked up at her in surprise, while Mrs. Weasley gave Marc a smile.

"Really, dear? That's fantastic!"

The rest of the Weasleys all congratulated Marc on his excellent taste while he blushed and thanked them, holding Ginny's hand under the table. Ron was still trying to get over the shock that his younger sister had a boyfriend.

"Boyfriend? Gin, don't you think you are a bit young for a boyfriend?"

Ginny rolled her eyes, "Ron, you started dating Hermione when you were sixteen and she was seventeen. I'm twenty-one. Besides, I had boyfriends at Hogwarts!"

He looked at Marc, "Oh, right then. Alright. Just as long as *you* don't do anything to my sister."

Marc nodded, "Don't worry, Ron. I have no intention of hurting your sister. She's safe, and hey, if she ever does get hurt I can heal her quickly."

They all laughed and settled into other conversation. Marc had a great sense of humor and he fit into the atmosphere of the family very well. Bill and Fleur left with their children, a three-year-old set of twins named Kevin and Kristy, around 8:00 so they could put them to bed. Charlie left around the same time to Apparate back to Romania, but the others stayed much longer into the night and, like at Ron's graduation party, all were filled with good spirits and enjoyed the evening. Ginny smiled; she was glad to be home again.

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Review! You don't realize how happy it makes me when people review!

Hope you liked this chapter! This is the last of my "introductions" chapters. Now ya'll pretty much know where most of the main characters are in terms of the story, except for a few whose locations I will disclose later along the way. Since these chapters are over with, we can get into the juicy parts! Let me know what you think, and I'll try to update again soon! Thanks again!

~Americanangel

PS for those who were wondering, the SAT wasn't that bad! We'll see what I get though . . . *shudders*

Amusing quote of the day (from my sister, she got it in an email):

If we didn't have electricity, we would watch television by candlelight.