When Hermione came home, there was nobody. Not even a note.
She wondered where Ron was, he was supposed to be home. It wasn't Quidditch season, so he couldn't be practicing or at work. If he'd gone somewhere, he should have left a note, Hermione thought angrily, putting down her stuff.
She took out her wand and began making dinner, slamming everything down because she was very angry and disappointed.
She set the table and put the food on the plates. Then she cleaned up the mess she had made, dropping almost everything in her anger.
She waited. And waited. And waited. Until finally she was so hungry that she ate. She decided that Ron could eat by himself.
But Ron didn't come. She began working on papers for the Department.
When Ron finally did come home, it was about 4 am and Hermione was sitting on her chair, with her arms crossed and a very angry expression on her face. She had already finished her work for the next 3 days.
One sniff told her everything. Ron was drunk.
"Hullllllllllo Hermyyyyyyyyyyyyyy!" he slurred, swinging his arms.
Hermione squinted at him, looking remarkably like Mrs. Weasley.
"Ron. You're drunk." She said in a cold voice.
Ron glanced at her, and winked. Then he vomited on the floor.
Then he swayed to another spot and promptly fell down, and started snoring.
Hermione, pinching her nose, went over to him and started dragging him to his room.
They had separate rooms, but most of the time they slept in the same bed.
She put him on the bed, disgusted, and slammed his door behind her. Then she forced herself to start cleaning up the vomit.
After that horrible job, she went in the shower, put on her nightdress and stumbled to her bed. No way she was going to sleep next to Ron tonight.
She fell asleep immediately.
~~~~~~~~
Ron woke up with a terrible headache.
He sat up, wondering what had happened.
He remembered Harry and Ginny coming, then going, and then he had ordered a Firewhiskey, and then another, and then another…8 or so.
"Bloody hell." Said Ron, and he stood up.
This was the first hangover he had ever had. No, wait, he had had one after Graduation. Okay, it was the second hangover he had ever had. He wasn't really much of a drinker, but this time he hadn't been able to stop himself.
He dressed and brushed his teeth, then went to the kitchen.
There was no note, no Hermione, and no breakfast or coffee waiting for me. The only thing there was a mop and a bucket.
Ron knew at once that he had thrown up and that Hermione had been there.
He dashed to her room, still with that terrible headache.
She was sleeping peacefully, looking exhausted. He glanced at his watch. 9 o'clock. She had overslept.
Suddenly a bird chirped rather loudly outside and Hermione woke with a start.
"Whaaaat?" she yawned, then she glanced at her bedside table alarm clock.
"Oh no! I overslept!" she said frantically, scrambling out of bed, ignoring Ron.
She quickly got dressed and brushed her teeth, also putting on a little touch of make-up.
Ron, meanwhile, set the table.
When Hermione came in, the table was set and Ron was reading the newspaper.
She glared at him, then took a muffin out of the box and picked up her briefcase.
Then she went out of the door.
Ron looked after her, then dashed after her. He caught her down the hall, about to go down the stairs.
"Hermione? Look, I'm really sorry. I won't ever do that again." He said.
Hermione glared at him. "I hope not, because I can tell you, I did not have fun cleaning up your puke this morning at 4."
Ron flushed. "I'm really sorry. Can I do anything to make it up to you?"
"You know what I want, Ron. Don't pretend you don't." Hermione answered.
"I could buy you a nice necklace…"
Hermione stared disbelievingly at him, wrenched her arm out of his grip and practically ran down the stairs.
"Damn you, Ronald Weasley." Ron heard her saying in a tear-choked voice as she rushed past him.
~~~~~~~~~~
"He said he'd buy you a necklace?" repeated Delia disbelievingly, passing a flyer to a passerby.
"Yes." Answered Hermione, smiling at another passerby while giving the person a flyer.
"That bastard, that fu…"
"Delia! We're working here!" hissed Hermione, smiling again at the people around her.
Delia rolled her eyes. "Fine, we'll talk about it at lunch."
Hermione nodded and passed out another flyer.
Then she started to give another flyer to another person, when a man came up to her.
"Excuse me?" he said.
"Yes?" asked Hermione, turning around.
The man looked strangely familiar, but Hermione did not know where she would have seen him before. He was handsome, and was smiling his white-toothed smile at her.
"I would like to know some more information about this." Explained the man, showing her the flyer she had given to him earlier.
"Yes. Of course." Said Hermione.
"Euh…You want to come over to my house? I live here nearby, we could have lunch and discuss these poor house-elves and your plans. I'm very interested." Said the man, still smiling at her.
Hermione hesitated for a moment. Lavender's words suddenly came back to her.
Rubbish, she thought to herself, and she answered the man.
"Yes, that would be okay. Let me tell my co-worker here."
She went to Delia.
"I'm going with that man to explain some of our plans. He says he's interested." She said.
Delia eyed him suspiciously. "Interested in you or our plans?" she asked.
"In our plans, Delia. Why would he be interested in me? Come on."
Delia rolled her eyes, one of her habits, but nodded. "Okay. But if something is wrong, don't forget our Communicating bracelets."
Hermione nodded and smiled at her. "See you."
And with that she followed the man.
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