Hermione opened her eyes, awoken by the faint fluttering feeling on her
stomach. She smiled sleepily and stretched before opening her eyes and
seeing Ron leaning over her, tracing a finger in circles on the small
raised bump her stomach had become.
Ron looked up after she stretched and gave her a sloppy grin that seemed to take up his whole face, as if he were the happiest man alive. And then it hit Hermione. Ron had proposed to her last night . . . they were going to be a real family.
Hermione cupped his face in her hands and led him up her body so that she could kiss him. Her lips lingered on his for a moment before he began to prod at her mouth and electricity shot through her veins. It wasn't the same passion that she felt every time they began to be . . . "intimate" . . . it was more of a sweet, simple 'I love you' kiss, only with so much more emotion. As their lips moved against each other, the feeling of being one took over Hermione, a super natural feeling of pure love that made her hair stand on end and her toes curl.
Ron broke away with one last chaste kiss, then pressed his forehead against her, the grin still plastered on his face.
"Morning," he said, his voice a little cracked with sleep.
"I love you," Hermione replied, wrapping her arms around him and letting him collapse on top of her; she didn't mind his crushing weight, it was almost refreshing.
"You're not so bad yourself," Ron replied.
Hermione laughed and pushed him up. "Wanna see where lines like that will get you?" she teased, putting a hand on his shoulder as if to push him off the bed.
Ron contined to grin at her as he sat up slightly and glanced at the clock. His jaw dropped slightly. "My god, it's nearly nine o'clock!"
"Happy Christmas Eve, then," Hermione said cheerfully, sitting up as well, clutching the bedsheets to her frame and looking around the room for her clothes.
"Nobody woke us up," Ron pointed out. "I'll bet Fred and George have a few things to say to us when we get downstairs."
"Mmmm, and I really hope your mum still has breakfast on the table," Hermione said, looking a bit dreamy. She looked deep in concentration for a moment, then said with a smile: "I think we want waffles with mayo and blueberry syrup."
"What is it with you and mayo? And I repeat, apples were *not* made to be dipped in the crap," Ron said.
"Ron!" Hermione scolded shrilly. "Don't swear around the baby!"
"You really think it can hear us?"
"I don't know what to think, but we'd better be safe, eh? I don't want my child to grow up on yours and Harry's swear words. For that matter, I don't want Fred or George around my baby either."
"Oh, come on, where else can we have it trained to be a prankster? It really should be honored to have Fred and George as uncles."
Hermione pretended to ignore him and changed the subject. "Have you seen my pants? The really soft black ones that I wear when I study."
Ron groaned. "You're not going to start studying again, are you?"
"No," Hermione said slowly, giving this thought. "Never mind then. I need to dress up because we're going to go down there and tell everyone about our engagement!"
Ron grinned at her again and pulled her in for another kiss.
"There'll be plenty of time for that later," Hermione said briskly, pulling away from him to search for her favorite black robes.
"You ready now?"
"Uh-huh," Hermione said after a quick check. "Can we tell Ginny and Harry first?"
"Anything you want, darling," Ron said, a teasing note apparant though he seemed to mean the words honestly. He led Hermione out the door and they began to travel up the stairs when they were stopped suddenly.
"You're up!" Ginny said, coming down the stairs and looking very angry. "Do you know what I went through? All I had was my dressing gown so Fred and George kept offering me their stinkiest, holiest clothes and then getting offended when I declined. And you *know* how they deal with being offended."
Ron winced slightly for his sister. "How many dungbombs and where?"
"Oh, it was okay," Ginny said, grinning slyly. "I kinda was expecting it and planned ahead . . ."
Ron was about to ask why she seemed happy when Harry came down the stairs, his hair standing even more on end and black streaks across his skin and robes.
"What's up, mate? You don't look to happy," Ron observed, hiding a smirk and guessing that Ginny had somehow managed to get Harry in the line of fire.
"Shut it," Harry growled.
"Good news," Hermione interrupted.
"Fabulous, absolutely wonderfully fantastic news," Ron corrected.
Ginny and Harry looked blankly at the two and Hermione couldn't contain herself. "We're getting married!" she broke out, sounding very much like Parvati and Lavender.
Ginny gasped. "Oh, Hermione!" she cried, then gave the girl a fierce hug. "We're going to be sister-in-laws!"
"I know!" Hermione squealed and began to cry with emotion.
Harry stared at the two girls, hugging, giggling, and crying. Then he turned back to Ron and arched an eyebrow, as if daring Ron to expect him to act like that. Then Harry broke into a grin and hugged Ron tightly, patting him on the back and pulling away quickly. Ron seemed to get the point though.
They then switched places.
"Ron, you big dope!" Ginny said, laughing and crying at the same time as she let Ron engulf her with his massive frame.
"Congratulations," Harry whispered in Hermione's ear as he held her tightly yet very briefly, as he had Ron.
"Wow, are we the only ones to know so far?" Ginny asked eagerly as they all seperated, calming down. Hermione nodded in answer. "Good. I'm glad you told us first. Now wait a second while I put on some decent clothes because I want to see everyone's reactions."
Ginny started to go into her room, then swun around and gave Ron a teasing look. "By the way, I saw the gifts Fred and George got you. Very thoughtful of them."
Ron turned bright red as Ginny shut the door to her room.
"What gifts?" Hermione asked.
Harry snickered and Ron shot him a glare.
"Well . . . Fred and George thought they might . . . erm . . . well, they gave me a few books that you wouldn't find interesting."
"Books?" Hermione's ears seemed to perk up and she looked very interested all of a sudden. "Have I read them yet? Are they interesting."
"Very," Harry interjected helpfully.
Ron shot Harry another look. "Look, Mione, Fred and George got me a gift. My one track mind twin brothers Fred and George. What do you think they would get their seventeen year old brother?"
Hermione's eyes widened. "Oh," she said slowly, giving the word a few extra syllables.
Ginny came out at that second, her thick mass of hair up in a clip and dressed in ragged jeans and a sweatshirt that came down to her knees.
"Isn't that Harry's shirt?" Ron asked.
Ginny shrugged. "He doesn't seem to use it so I thought I might borrow it."
"I've been with you since last night -- when did you take that?" Harry asked suspiciously.
Ginny laughed and spun around. "Oh, shut it, I'll give it back to you if you want."
"Keep it." Harry pretended to be disgusted. "Now it has your germs on it."
Ginny raised her eyebrows suggestively at him and he reddened.
"Should be going now, right?" Harry suggested, turning to start down the stairs. "I'm sure your mum can't wait to hear the news."
Hermione grinned broadly and pushed Harry out of the way to race down the stairs. Ron broke out after, yelling that she shouldn't be running down stairs in her condition.
Ginny walked up slowly to Harry and put her arms around his waist from behind. "Do you have some problems with my germs now?" she asked, running her hands daringly across his chest.
Harry gulped and felt his knees go weak. Suddenly he was reminded of the night before and he turned in her embrace to capture her lips in a passionate kiss. It had been very much like this the night before. Her hands had traveled to places that made Harry blush; Harry's hands had traveled in places that the Weasleys should never know about if he valued his life.
Harry pushed Ginny against the wall, hiding them from the view of the stairs and their kiss became more involved. A voice inside of Harry's head began to reason with him and he broke away quickly, breathing hard. "Let's go down there. Ron and Hermione are probably wondering what happened."
"We *were* right behind them," Ginny agreed and she took Harry's hand, leading him down the stairs until they reached the kitchen where they found that Hermione and Ron had already spilled the good news. Mrs. Weasley was crying and clutching at Hermione. Fred and George were congratulating Ron on finally working up the nerve to pop the question.
"Thinking of Harry," Fred broke in when he noticed Harry and Ginny enter. "I have a bone to pick with you, Ron."
"What?"
"Just because your hormonal needs have to be met by Hermione doesn't mean that our dear sister Ginny should be sleeping in a room with a boy. Alone. In only her nightdress no less!"
Ron rolled his eyes. "Harry's as much her brother as you and I are. Now be quiet so we can celebrate."
Fred didn't say anything back to Ron, but turned his eyes to Harry's and Ginny's hands, which neither had bothered to drop after they'd gotten down the stairs. He shot a warning look at Harry as Ginny quickly let go of Harry's hand.
Fred shot George a look and George cleared his throat, indicating for his mother to shush for just a moment.
"Let's go to The Three Broomsticks for drinks, my extremely talented brother Fred and I have been working on a speech for the engagement since we found out Hermione was pregnant."
"It's very good indeed," Fred added. "And I'd like to thank my equally talented brother George for the help in our speech. I'm sure you'll all find it--"
"Interesting," George finished.
"I'm sure we will," Ron grumbled. "Come on, then, let's go."
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Author's Notes: Okay, I know it took me awhile, but Laura was over all weekend and though she doesn't mind if I type, I can't concentrate on writing when I could be laughing with my best friend. Thank you *so* much for all of the reviews! I can't even describe my shock at how many I recieved. And also, in this chapter, I know it wasn't much, but at least it's the normal size of my fics. *Hermione will not have a drink at The Three Broomsticks, she will have water*
Guess what! Okay, remember that essay contest? Well, out of the whole seventh grade at our very *large* school, I am in the top four so far. They will now narrow it down to one of those four. So I'm at the $50 level right now and if I get chosen I'll be at the $100 level. Then they'll compare the top seventh, sixth, and eighth grade winners and the top of that will win $200. I'm extremely happy about it because the teacher really doesn't like me, but various people came up to me during the day and told me that Ms. R had told them that my reading was at 12th grade level (according to my annual ISTEP testing scores, which are just to see at what level all of the kids are at) and that I have a very high vocabularly. I now am considering calling her my favorite teacher.
~Haley
P.S. Ari Potter~thanks for the email. I was going to just email you back but I figured hey, why not add you to my author's notes? I'm glad you like this fic so far.
And, I know you thought I forgot, but can I have 340 reviews? I know it's a lot, but you guys are obviously capable, and if you don't get to 340 within a few days (which I doubt), you know I'll still post the chapter. But every time I give you guys a number, I get payed in full. Besides, sometimes I have to give you a big number so that then it takes you a few days to finally get that amount. That way I can spend those few days not worrying about writing the next chapter.
~Love again,
Haley
Ron looked up after she stretched and gave her a sloppy grin that seemed to take up his whole face, as if he were the happiest man alive. And then it hit Hermione. Ron had proposed to her last night . . . they were going to be a real family.
Hermione cupped his face in her hands and led him up her body so that she could kiss him. Her lips lingered on his for a moment before he began to prod at her mouth and electricity shot through her veins. It wasn't the same passion that she felt every time they began to be . . . "intimate" . . . it was more of a sweet, simple 'I love you' kiss, only with so much more emotion. As their lips moved against each other, the feeling of being one took over Hermione, a super natural feeling of pure love that made her hair stand on end and her toes curl.
Ron broke away with one last chaste kiss, then pressed his forehead against her, the grin still plastered on his face.
"Morning," he said, his voice a little cracked with sleep.
"I love you," Hermione replied, wrapping her arms around him and letting him collapse on top of her; she didn't mind his crushing weight, it was almost refreshing.
"You're not so bad yourself," Ron replied.
Hermione laughed and pushed him up. "Wanna see where lines like that will get you?" she teased, putting a hand on his shoulder as if to push him off the bed.
Ron contined to grin at her as he sat up slightly and glanced at the clock. His jaw dropped slightly. "My god, it's nearly nine o'clock!"
"Happy Christmas Eve, then," Hermione said cheerfully, sitting up as well, clutching the bedsheets to her frame and looking around the room for her clothes.
"Nobody woke us up," Ron pointed out. "I'll bet Fred and George have a few things to say to us when we get downstairs."
"Mmmm, and I really hope your mum still has breakfast on the table," Hermione said, looking a bit dreamy. She looked deep in concentration for a moment, then said with a smile: "I think we want waffles with mayo and blueberry syrup."
"What is it with you and mayo? And I repeat, apples were *not* made to be dipped in the crap," Ron said.
"Ron!" Hermione scolded shrilly. "Don't swear around the baby!"
"You really think it can hear us?"
"I don't know what to think, but we'd better be safe, eh? I don't want my child to grow up on yours and Harry's swear words. For that matter, I don't want Fred or George around my baby either."
"Oh, come on, where else can we have it trained to be a prankster? It really should be honored to have Fred and George as uncles."
Hermione pretended to ignore him and changed the subject. "Have you seen my pants? The really soft black ones that I wear when I study."
Ron groaned. "You're not going to start studying again, are you?"
"No," Hermione said slowly, giving this thought. "Never mind then. I need to dress up because we're going to go down there and tell everyone about our engagement!"
Ron grinned at her again and pulled her in for another kiss.
"There'll be plenty of time for that later," Hermione said briskly, pulling away from him to search for her favorite black robes.
"You ready now?"
"Uh-huh," Hermione said after a quick check. "Can we tell Ginny and Harry first?"
"Anything you want, darling," Ron said, a teasing note apparant though he seemed to mean the words honestly. He led Hermione out the door and they began to travel up the stairs when they were stopped suddenly.
"You're up!" Ginny said, coming down the stairs and looking very angry. "Do you know what I went through? All I had was my dressing gown so Fred and George kept offering me their stinkiest, holiest clothes and then getting offended when I declined. And you *know* how they deal with being offended."
Ron winced slightly for his sister. "How many dungbombs and where?"
"Oh, it was okay," Ginny said, grinning slyly. "I kinda was expecting it and planned ahead . . ."
Ron was about to ask why she seemed happy when Harry came down the stairs, his hair standing even more on end and black streaks across his skin and robes.
"What's up, mate? You don't look to happy," Ron observed, hiding a smirk and guessing that Ginny had somehow managed to get Harry in the line of fire.
"Shut it," Harry growled.
"Good news," Hermione interrupted.
"Fabulous, absolutely wonderfully fantastic news," Ron corrected.
Ginny and Harry looked blankly at the two and Hermione couldn't contain herself. "We're getting married!" she broke out, sounding very much like Parvati and Lavender.
Ginny gasped. "Oh, Hermione!" she cried, then gave the girl a fierce hug. "We're going to be sister-in-laws!"
"I know!" Hermione squealed and began to cry with emotion.
Harry stared at the two girls, hugging, giggling, and crying. Then he turned back to Ron and arched an eyebrow, as if daring Ron to expect him to act like that. Then Harry broke into a grin and hugged Ron tightly, patting him on the back and pulling away quickly. Ron seemed to get the point though.
They then switched places.
"Ron, you big dope!" Ginny said, laughing and crying at the same time as she let Ron engulf her with his massive frame.
"Congratulations," Harry whispered in Hermione's ear as he held her tightly yet very briefly, as he had Ron.
"Wow, are we the only ones to know so far?" Ginny asked eagerly as they all seperated, calming down. Hermione nodded in answer. "Good. I'm glad you told us first. Now wait a second while I put on some decent clothes because I want to see everyone's reactions."
Ginny started to go into her room, then swun around and gave Ron a teasing look. "By the way, I saw the gifts Fred and George got you. Very thoughtful of them."
Ron turned bright red as Ginny shut the door to her room.
"What gifts?" Hermione asked.
Harry snickered and Ron shot him a glare.
"Well . . . Fred and George thought they might . . . erm . . . well, they gave me a few books that you wouldn't find interesting."
"Books?" Hermione's ears seemed to perk up and she looked very interested all of a sudden. "Have I read them yet? Are they interesting."
"Very," Harry interjected helpfully.
Ron shot Harry another look. "Look, Mione, Fred and George got me a gift. My one track mind twin brothers Fred and George. What do you think they would get their seventeen year old brother?"
Hermione's eyes widened. "Oh," she said slowly, giving the word a few extra syllables.
Ginny came out at that second, her thick mass of hair up in a clip and dressed in ragged jeans and a sweatshirt that came down to her knees.
"Isn't that Harry's shirt?" Ron asked.
Ginny shrugged. "He doesn't seem to use it so I thought I might borrow it."
"I've been with you since last night -- when did you take that?" Harry asked suspiciously.
Ginny laughed and spun around. "Oh, shut it, I'll give it back to you if you want."
"Keep it." Harry pretended to be disgusted. "Now it has your germs on it."
Ginny raised her eyebrows suggestively at him and he reddened.
"Should be going now, right?" Harry suggested, turning to start down the stairs. "I'm sure your mum can't wait to hear the news."
Hermione grinned broadly and pushed Harry out of the way to race down the stairs. Ron broke out after, yelling that she shouldn't be running down stairs in her condition.
Ginny walked up slowly to Harry and put her arms around his waist from behind. "Do you have some problems with my germs now?" she asked, running her hands daringly across his chest.
Harry gulped and felt his knees go weak. Suddenly he was reminded of the night before and he turned in her embrace to capture her lips in a passionate kiss. It had been very much like this the night before. Her hands had traveled to places that made Harry blush; Harry's hands had traveled in places that the Weasleys should never know about if he valued his life.
Harry pushed Ginny against the wall, hiding them from the view of the stairs and their kiss became more involved. A voice inside of Harry's head began to reason with him and he broke away quickly, breathing hard. "Let's go down there. Ron and Hermione are probably wondering what happened."
"We *were* right behind them," Ginny agreed and she took Harry's hand, leading him down the stairs until they reached the kitchen where they found that Hermione and Ron had already spilled the good news. Mrs. Weasley was crying and clutching at Hermione. Fred and George were congratulating Ron on finally working up the nerve to pop the question.
"Thinking of Harry," Fred broke in when he noticed Harry and Ginny enter. "I have a bone to pick with you, Ron."
"What?"
"Just because your hormonal needs have to be met by Hermione doesn't mean that our dear sister Ginny should be sleeping in a room with a boy. Alone. In only her nightdress no less!"
Ron rolled his eyes. "Harry's as much her brother as you and I are. Now be quiet so we can celebrate."
Fred didn't say anything back to Ron, but turned his eyes to Harry's and Ginny's hands, which neither had bothered to drop after they'd gotten down the stairs. He shot a warning look at Harry as Ginny quickly let go of Harry's hand.
Fred shot George a look and George cleared his throat, indicating for his mother to shush for just a moment.
"Let's go to The Three Broomsticks for drinks, my extremely talented brother Fred and I have been working on a speech for the engagement since we found out Hermione was pregnant."
"It's very good indeed," Fred added. "And I'd like to thank my equally talented brother George for the help in our speech. I'm sure you'll all find it--"
"Interesting," George finished.
"I'm sure we will," Ron grumbled. "Come on, then, let's go."
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Author's Notes: Okay, I know it took me awhile, but Laura was over all weekend and though she doesn't mind if I type, I can't concentrate on writing when I could be laughing with my best friend. Thank you *so* much for all of the reviews! I can't even describe my shock at how many I recieved. And also, in this chapter, I know it wasn't much, but at least it's the normal size of my fics. *Hermione will not have a drink at The Three Broomsticks, she will have water*
Guess what! Okay, remember that essay contest? Well, out of the whole seventh grade at our very *large* school, I am in the top four so far. They will now narrow it down to one of those four. So I'm at the $50 level right now and if I get chosen I'll be at the $100 level. Then they'll compare the top seventh, sixth, and eighth grade winners and the top of that will win $200. I'm extremely happy about it because the teacher really doesn't like me, but various people came up to me during the day and told me that Ms. R had told them that my reading was at 12th grade level (according to my annual ISTEP testing scores, which are just to see at what level all of the kids are at) and that I have a very high vocabularly. I now am considering calling her my favorite teacher.
~Haley
P.S. Ari Potter~thanks for the email. I was going to just email you back but I figured hey, why not add you to my author's notes? I'm glad you like this fic so far.
And, I know you thought I forgot, but can I have 340 reviews? I know it's a lot, but you guys are obviously capable, and if you don't get to 340 within a few days (which I doubt), you know I'll still post the chapter. But every time I give you guys a number, I get payed in full. Besides, sometimes I have to give you a big number so that then it takes you a few days to finally get that amount. That way I can spend those few days not worrying about writing the next chapter.
~Love again,
Haley