***DISCLAIMER*** I do not own Harry Potter nor anything affiliated with the series; JK Rowling and Warner Bros. do. I am not attempting to make a profit, just have fun doing what I love to do, write.

A/N Straight to you from my somewhere in my brain, the sequel to "How Many Ways." Thank you SO MUCH to those of you who reviewed my last chapter: Hermione-Hogwarts, TallemeraRane, Strawberries and Blueberries, hermionereincarnated, Chocolate Milk, triniroo, angelofboox, Kang (thanks for beta-ing), MioneWeasley1, Twizzlers, Jessie, Tears from the Moon, HPDDRfreak971, lollipop (love you sis), Windswept, Pawprints, ILuvHarry, Felicia8 (my beta, thank you!), tuimoftheeast, Kara, SdRockGirl, and Elizabeth.

I would thank you all individually, but well, that would take up a lot of space. You know how it is.

***NOTE*** I am changing my pen name after I post this chapter. I will no longer be AmericanAngel1, but American Wings. Just wanted to let y'all know. : - )

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All the Days

Chapter 1 ~ Flowers and Ties

By AmericanAngel

Summary: Ron and Hermione are happily engaged, but life has a tendency to throw you curve balls and nothing is ever smooth sailing. Starts in January, one month after "How Many Ways" ends.

If you haven't read "How Many Ways" I highly encourage you to because I will be referring to it throughout the story! For example, in this chapter I refer to an original character named Cassie. You'll probably get the gist; however, if you want to understand how Ron and Hermione got to this point in their relationship (and why Harry, Cassie, and Ginny will be acting the way they are) it would be best to read "How Many Ways" before its sequel. ; - ) Again, just a suggestion.

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Hermione Granger felt as if she was about to kill her wedding planner, "Carly, it's not that I don't want flowers, just not as many as you think we should have."

The strawberry-blonde haired woman sighed, "Are you sure? Wouldn't it be fun to have all kinds of flowers?"

Hermione smiled, "Maybe, but that's not the main theme I'm going for. Ron and I want to have a spring wedding outside, yes, but not with a million flowers."

Carly sighed but yielded, "Alright, so all you know is that you want it to be outside?"

Hermione nodded, "Well, we haven't talked much about it, but we definitely want it to be outside. Possibly in the Weasley's backyard, or by the sea. There's this place in Wales which might be perfect, a little sea-side village."

Carly cocked her eyebrows, "Wales? How many people are you thinking? I mean, there would be transportation and lodging issues."

Hermione looked deep in thought, "Well, quite a lot come to think of it." She had temporarily forgotten that Carly was a Muggle and knew nothing of magic.

Carly laughed, "Well, I suggest you make a list before we go any further. Talk to Ron and to your parents, just figure it out and then give me a call. Here is my business card."

Hermione nodded and stood, "Thank you so much for meeting with me today."

Carly stood as well and shook Hermione's hand, "My pleasure, Hermione. Have a great day."

Hermione smiled and exited the office.

* * *

Ron Weasley sat back in his chair, rubbing his head. He felt as if his brain was about to explode from thinking, analyzing, rethinking, guessing, solving, unsolving, until he could hardly remember what his mission was about. They had looked everywhere, *everywhere*, but still they could not find. . .

"Ron, how is everything going?" asked Josh Malcolm, Ron's boss.

Ron looked up at the blonde man with weary eyes, "Well, wherever they hid, they hid well. Sir, we've looked everywhere. . ."

"We have to find them, and soon. I don't care if they are the stealthiest in the universe, you are an Auror and you need to find these people. You owe it to the wizarding community, and yourself, not to mention that if you do in fact find them, you'd get a hefty raise and a promotion," Malcolm looked right into Ron's eyes as he said this, proving the sincerity of his words.

Ron gulped, "I'm doing the best I can, sir."

Malcolm cracked a smile, "That's what I'm hoping. You're a good man, Ron Weasley. I'm looking forward to your success in this project, in many ways."

Ron grinned, "Well, thank you sir! Like I said, I'm doing my best. And I have personal reasons for finding them as well."

Malcolm nodded, "I know you do, that's why I assigned you to this particular project. Personal motivation always helps. Anyway, I was wondering if you'd like to catch an early dinner with me. I was just about to head over to the Leaky Cauldron."

Ron mentally kicked himself; he had been waiting for a chance to meet with Cooper one on one, but knew that there was no way he could miss that evening, "Sorry, Mr. Malcolm, but. . ."

Malcolm interrupted him, "Please, Ron, call me Josh. I think we know one another well enough by now."

Ron took a breath, "Alright, Josh, like I was saying, I really do want to have some kind of personal meeting with you at some point, but tonight is a special night."

Josh cocked an eyebrow, "Oh?"

Ron's ears turned slightly pink, "Well, today is January seventh, and I asked my fiancée if she would marry me exactly a month ago."

Josh smiled, "Ah, I see. Taking her out to dinner? My wife and I will be celebrating our twentieth anniversary pretty soon here, March."

Ron semi-nodded, "Well, we're going to dinner and she doesn't know it, but yes, I'm paying for her dinner."

Josh nodded, "Well, tell her I said hello and bring her around sometime. I'd love to meet her. What's her name?"

Ron looked dreamy for a moment, and then regained his composure, "Hermione Granger."

Josh Malcolm gave his young employee another smile before continuing, "Well, Ron, I hope you and Hermione have a great night. See you bright and early tomorrow."

Ron nodded and stood, extending his hand to shake Josh's, "The same to you, sir, er, Josh."

Josh laughed and exited the room, allowing Ron to breathe a sigh of relief and begin packing his bag to take home. He paused for a second to look at Hermione's smiling face in a picture frame on his desk, as she was blowing kisses and winking at him. He smiled and laughed at the same time before Apparating back to his apartment to get ready.

* * *

Harry was sitting in his room trying to figure out if he wanted to go to dinner with Cassie or not. He spent a lot of time with her over the Christmas holidays, but he felt strange around her. She seemed to really like him, yes, and he thought she was nice, but, well. . .

"Harry, shouldn't you been getting ready for dinner with Cassie?" Ron called from his room, where Harry had heard mumblings of, "under, in, over, what?" a moment before.

Harry called back, "I should be, yes. But I'm thinking I might cancel."

Ron stuck his head out of his bedroom door while adjusting his tie. He and Hermione were planning on going to a nice, unfortunately Muggle, restaurant. She had given him pointers on what he should wear and he found it was similar to what he was supposed to wear to the wedding, which was also going to take place in Muggle attire. Not all of the Grangers friends knew that Hermione was a witch, so steps had to be taken to avoid confusion. Hermione had taken Ron to buy what she had called a tuxedo at a Muggle shop near her parents' house. She bought him a couple suits as well and so here he was putting one on for their dinner. She had also suggested that they spend more time in Muggle areas just so that he could get used to it before the wedding. Ron, of course, didn't care where they were going to be, as long as he was with her.

Harry laughed, "Ron, you've got the tie on backwards. Try it again or just take it to Hermione's and let her do it for you."

Ron looked down and sighed, "I've been trying for the past fifteen minutes, mate. Yeah, I'll let Hermione do it. Anyway, you should go to dinner with Cassie. You haven't been spending too much time with the poor girl, what are you growing tired of her or something?"

Harry shrugged, "I don't know, maybe."

Ron raised his eyebrows, "Maybe? Are you saying that you might be growing tired of her but you aren't sure? That's not too convincing, mate."

Harry heaved a deep sigh, "I don't know, I mean, she's a lot younger than me."

Ron shrugged, "I don't see the issue."

Harry laughed, "Alright, I guess that doesn't matter too much. I think the real issue is that I'm not really in love with her; it was a real spontaneous thing and we're good friends, maybe she loves me, but I don't think I love her."

Ron leaned against the doorframe and folded his arms, "Well, if you're going to cancel on her, you better let her know soon. You realize you've canceled every date since Christmas with her."

Harry nodded, "I know, I think maybe I'll take her out next week or the week after and just end it."

Ron looked at his best friend and tried to read his thoughts, "Are you sure about this one, mate? I mean, that's awfully harsh of you. Have you really given it a chance?"

Harry pondered this, and then nodded, "Yes, I've given it a chance. She's just not my type of girl, I guess, not what I'm looking for in a girlfriend."

Ron laughed, "And what is that, Harry? You're not searching for someone who's perfect, are you? Because you aren't ever going to find a perfect girl."

Harry stared at the wall in silence, conflicting emotions crossing his face. He knew that Cassie wasn't the girl for him, but how was he to explain that to his best friend, to anyone? He shrugged, "I'm not looking for a perfect girl, Ron. I know that that would never happen, but I just don't think Cassie is right for me. Like, it doesn't feel right. There just isn't a lot of chemistry, you know?"

Ron nodded, "Yeah, I had a couple of girlfriends like that too. But, when you meet the right girl, you know, mate, you know."

Harry nodded in silence and returned to his room, thinking, *Yup, I know more than you think I do.*

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Hermione heard Ron's knock at the door, smiled as the butterflies danced in her stomach, and went to open it, giving him a grin which seemed to make his heart melt.

"Good evening, Mione," he said to her, stepping close so that she had to look up to be able to see his face.

She blushed and felt a tingle in her spine as he placed his hands on her hips and looked down straight into her eyes for her response, "Hmm, and how are you this evening, Ron Weasley?"

He smiled and leaned down towards her as he pulled her closer to himself, "Me? Well, I'm splendid," and dipped his head to catch her lips in his own. She giggled into his mouth and he stepped back, "Well, what do you think of me?"

She blushed again and replied, "Well, the suit seems to have been assembled correctly, however, I do believe you are missing your tie."

He grinned and pulled it out of his pocket, handing it to her, "I tried, I failed, and will you do the honors?"

She laughed and grabbed his hand playfully, "Sure, come inside." He followed her into the living room of the small flat and looked about the room before they came to a stop. He could feel the warmth radiating from the fireplace (despite the fact that it WAS a fake fire) and felt the coziness of the room decorated in warm, wintry colors and pictures of friends and family.

Hermione had him face her and placed the tie around his neck, "Alright, Ron, watch me now. It's over, under, in, and out. Remember? Over, under, in, and out." She modeled this for him and within seconds had tied it perfectly. He frowned and looked down at it.

"I just can't seem to get it right, sweetie," he said in return. To his chagrin, she promptly undid the tie.

"Your turn," she replied with a wink.

He sighed and placed the tie around his neck, mumbling again to himself as his hands awkwardly made the motions, "Alright, over, in, no under then in, and out. Is this right, Hermione?"

She smiled and nodded slowly, "It's right, but a little loose and lopsided. Try it again," then undid the tie once more and placed it in his hands.

Ron tried it a couple more times and finally had tied a straight and tight tie, "Is this right?"

Hermione beamed at her fiancée, "Perfect, Ron. Good job!"

He grinned and placed his hand gently on her neck while rubbing her cheek with his thumb, "Thanks for teaching me."

She leaned into his touch and took his other hand, caressing it with her own, "Anytime, my dear."

He laughed and kissed her hand before commenting on her own attire, "You, my Mione, look ravishing this evening. To what do I owe the pleasure of gazing at your beautiful visage?"

She blushed and laughed at the same time, "Ron, what has gotten into you?"

He grinned, "I've been using big words more often."

She smiled, "Well, I like you the way you are, so stop!"

Ron laughed again, "Alright, Mione, anything for you."

Ron watched her blush again and look down before bringing her honey brown eyes up to meet his own. He caught her gaze and looked her over, bringing a smile to his handsome, freckled face. She had her bushy chestnut brown hair pulled half up and half down so that it brushed past her neck and halfway down her back, yet it was not obstructing Ron's view of her face or her ears. She was wearing black pants which accentuated her slender, long legs and a cranberry colored shirt with a straight yet wide neckline and short sleeves with decorative tied bows on the ends which were simple and tasteful, as opposed to large and flashy. He gave a slight laugh to himself and Hermione saw the love he had for her reflected in his eyes.

"Do I look good tonight, Ron?" she asked him with a hidden smile.

"Amazing," he replied, "Absolutely amazing."

* * *

Ron had acquired a taste for red wine over the past few times Hermione had taken him to Muggle restaurants. He was eagerly cutting into his sirloin steak and drinking the wine when Hermione ventured to ask him about their wedding.

"I went to meet Carly O'Neil today," she said between bites of marinated chicken, rice, and vegetables.

Ron looked confused, "Carly O'Neil?"

Hermione nodded, "Our wedding planner."

Ron's eyes grew wide, "Oh! That Carly O'Neil."

Hermione grinned and laughed at Ron's antics, "Well, we went through a couple of simple ideas for the wedding but the outcome was always the same - we need a guest list."

Ron looked thoughtful for a moment before continuing, "So we should probably get our parents together and formulate this list before we proceed."

She nodded, "Yes, and we have to decide where we want to get married and a sort of overall theme."

Ron sighed, "How much is this wedding planner going to cost?"

Hermione shrugged, "I don't know, it was my mother's idea."

Ron nodded, "It sounded like a Muggle thing."

Hermione laughed, "Ron, don't talk about that here."

He jumped inwardly, but no one around them seemed to notice, "Right, sorry. I'll get it eventually. Well, I'll talk to my Mum and I'm sure she'll want to have your parents over for tea sometime this week so we can sort this all out. Does that sound good to you?"

Hermione nodded, "Great idea, alright, let's finish our meal."

Ron smiled at his fiancée, marveling at her organization and ability to keep collected no matter what the situation. Although he did not know what the future held for the two of them, he knew he would be able to face it without fear.

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Alright. : - ) There's chapter 1 for your reading pleasure. I hope it met your expectations, and if not, well, please continue reading!!! There is much much more to come!!!

Characteristic of me, I won't give anything away, but do tell me your theories of what you think may happen. : - ) I'd love to hear what you think!!!

Have a wonderful week!!! Remember, I'm changing my pen name for the posting of the next chapter!!! It WILL be American Wings.

~American Angel