A/N – I would like to thank everyone for reading and reviewing this story, and I am pleased you are all liking this version of Ron. This is now part two of the story, and we jump forward five years to the return of Harry and Ginny. I hope you continue to enjoy the story. Thanks.
Part Two.
Five Years Later.
The oppressive silence of Twelve Grimmauld Place was shattered by the twin pops of apparition in the front hallway, followed the muffled shouts of the old portrait of Walburga Black, which had long since been covered by a thick velvet curtain. However, the two people who had just arrived at Grimmauld Place ignored the cries of Walburga as they headed towards the kitchen.
"This is going to take a bit of work to get this place liveable," Harry remarked, grimacing at the dust that had gathered in the five years he'd been out of the country.
"It won't take that long to get a few rooms sorted," Ginny replied. "If we focus on the kitchen and a bedroom for now, we can sort the rest over the next few days."
Harry didn't reply, but as he looked around the kitchen, he doubted the wisdom of them returning to Grimmauld Place. When he and Ginny had decided to come home they hadn't just wanted to land on Molly and Arthur's doorstep, so they'd decided to make use of the house Harry owned. Although part of the reason they'd chosen to make Grimmauld Place their base was because it gave them time to get things sorted before they revealed their return to the rest of the family. They wanted to announce their return with a bang, and already have their lives sorted, rather than turning up looking as though they had no idea what their future held.
"We are going to need some supplies though," Ginny remarked as she wandered around the room, opening cupboards and checking if there was anything inside. "Both cleaning and food supplies."
"I would suggest heading to Diagon Alley, but someone is bound to spot us," Harry said. "Unless we just change plans and head to The Burrow and tell your parents that we're back."
"We talked about this, Harry," Ginny said sharply. "If we just turn up at The Burrow, Mum and Dad will be all over us, asking our plans for the future. This way, we're giving ourselves time to sort out our future. All we need is a week or so. By then, you'll have a job, I'll have this place liveable, and we'll be able to share our good news."
Their good news was that Ginny was in the early stages of pregnancy, which had actually been what had prompted their return. Neither of them had any desire to raise a child while travelling the world. They wanted their child to have a stable home, and more importantly they wanted them to have their family around. Plus, Ginny was keen to be around her mother, so she could help after the baby had been born.
"So how are we going to get the things we need without been seen?" Harry asked.
"We go in disguise," Ginny announced with a grin.
"Disguise?" Harry queried, not sure that disguising themselves was going to work.
With a chuckle, Ginny whipped out her wand and started to show Harry how easy it would be to disguise themselves. During their travels, Ginny had cut her hair into a short pixie cut, which had been much cooler in the heat. A quick charm changed her distinctive red hair to dark brown and a pair of oversized sunglasses hid most of her face. As for Harry, his hair was actually longer than it had been before they'd gone travelling, so Ginny used a glamour to hide his scar and rearranged his hair to cover his forehead, so no-one would spot the glimmer of the glamour charm. She then tinted his hair to dark blonde and handed him his new prescription sunglasses. During their travels, Harry's old glasses had broken and when he'd gotten a new pair, in a totally different style, he'd also gotten some sunglasses.
"Ta da," she cried once she was finished. "No-one is going to recognise us now."
Harry was still sceptical, not about Ginny as he could see how different she looked, but himself as he doubted he could hide given how well know he was in their world. However, when Ginny handed him a compact mirror from her handbag, he admitted she'd done a good job and unless they ran into someone they knew well, he should slip under the radar.
"Come on, let's get going," Ginny said, once Harry had confirmed he was happy with their disguise.
Heading off to Diagon Alley was a surreal experience for both Harry and Ginny. Not only were there several changes around the street, and several new shops had opened, but no-one even gave them a second look, let alone recognised them. By the time they'd grabbed everything they needed, Harry was amused to find that they hadn't been spotted once. It was actually nice and refreshing, and the first time he'd ever been to Diagon Alley without someone recognising him or staring at him as though he was an exhibit in a museum.
"Are you ready to head home?" he asked Ginny as they finished in their final shop.
"Hmm," Ginny replied, her mind clearly elsewhere as she gazed across the street to where her brother's shop stood.
Following her gaze, Harry sighed sympathetically as he took hold of Ginny's hand. "We can go and say hello if you want."
"No, let's stick to the plan," Ginny said. "But just give me a minute before we leave. We might get lucky and see George."
As if Ginny had summoned one of her brothers, the door to the joke shop suddenly swung open and a red-headed wizard stepped into the street, carrying a box of supplies. However, it wasn't George who had appeared. It was Ron, and Harry and Ginny watched as he started to fill up the display rack that was standing outside of the shop.
Sharing a look, they were just about to comment on the fact that Ron seemed to have flunked out of Auror training, when they heard a familiar voice call Ron's name, and they turned their heads to see Hermione approaching. However, when they spotted Hermione was the proud owner of a sizeable baby bump, their mouths dropped open in shock.
"I leave you for two minutes, and you start working," they heard Hermione say as she reached Ron.
"You know what a slave driver George is," Ron laughed. "But I'm done now. Give me a minute to let George know I'm off."
Harry and Ginny watched in silence as Ron disappeared back into the joke shop, while Hermione straightened the display he'd just been filling up. Within a minute Ron was back, and he scolded Hermione for tidying up after him.
"I just can't help myself," Hermione admitted with a sheepish laugh. "So are we going?"
"Yeah, although what I am going to get is a mystery," Ron replied with a sigh. "What do you buy the witch who has everything?"
"Everything?" Hermione challenged with an arched eyebrow.
"Well, me," Ron answered with a smirk. "And what more could a witch want than me."
"You know who you sound like, don't you?" Hermione laughed.
"I do not," Ron gasped in outrage, clearly knowing who Hermione was referring to, even if Harry and Ginny had no idea.
"You do," Hermione said, still laughing merrily. "You've been spending too much time together."
Still laughing and bickering like an old married couple, Ron and Hermione turned and headed down Diagon Alley, never even glancing in Harry and Ginny's direction. Harry and Ginny watched until the pair headed into a jewellers that was a new addition to the street, before heading home themselves.
"I never expected that," Harry muttered as they dumped their bags onto the dusty kitchen table.
"Which part, Ron working for George, or him and Hermione being married and expecting a baby?" Ginny asked.
"Married? Who said Hermione and Ron were married?" Harry questioned with a frown.
"Firstly, Mum would not stand for them having a child before they were married. I can guarantee you, the first thing she'll say when we tell her I'm pregnant, is to ask when we're getting married. And secondly, Hermione was wearing a wedding ring."
"I never noticed that," Harry admitted. "Although I am shocked they've ended up together. I thought their little foray into romance had been a bit of a disaster and showed they were only meant to be friends."
"Things change," Ginny remarked with a shrug. "Maybe they've both matured and realised they belong together. Or maybe the fact we'd gone, pushed them together and romance developed. I don't suppose it matters how it happened, they certainly looked happy enough together."
"They did," Harry agreed, recalling the easy camaraderie he'd seen between his two best friends, something which he'd never noticed before he'd left.
"Although what is not shocking, is Ron flunking out of Auror training," Ginny remarked cattily.
"He obviously didn't manage his Potions exam," Harry said with a sad shake of his head.
"I'm sure it was more than that," Ginny snorted. "He only ever got accepted for training, because of his close friendship with you. Without you to hold his hand, he stood no chance of becoming an Auror."
Harry felt as though he should stick up for Ron, as he wasn't sure his best friend was as useless as his sister was suggesting. However, there was no denying what they had seen. Ron clearly now worked for George at the joke shop, meaning Auror training had not worked out for him.
"Is this going to change your plans?" Ginny asked as she began to unpack the cleaning supplies.
"How would it change my plans?" Harry asked, starting to unpack the food shopping, only to be stopped by Ginny, who informed them they needed to clean first.
"Well, with Ron not passing his Auror training, you'll be alone when you qualify," Ginny said.
"If I qualify," Harry reminded his girlfriend. "Kingsley might not even take me back."
"He'll be foolish not to," Ginny tutted. "But maybe you should have a back-up just in case. How about contacting Professor McGonagall? It'll be September in just over a month, and she'll be needing a new Defence Professor, and we both know you can do that job standing on your head. After all, who better to teach Defence than the wizard who defeated Voldemort."
"How can you be so sure McGonagall will need a new Defence Professor?" Harry questioned. "Maybe the curse Voldemort placed on the job, ended when he was dead."
"Even if she does have someone in the position, she could move them to another position," Ginny said with a careless shrug. "As I said, she won't find anyone better qualified than you. She'd be a fool to turn you down. Just make sure you remind her that when you speak to her."
"If I speak to her," Harry corrected. "Let me talk to Kingsley first. But I'll sort that tomorrow. For now, we need to get this place sorted so we can eat and sleep tonight. If we can't get it sorted, we'll have to go to a hotel and I'm not sure our disguises will work on a long-term basis."
While Ginny focused on the kitchen, Harry headed off to sort a bedroom, and together the pair got the old place clean enough for them to spend the night. It would take much more work to make the house habitable in the long term, but for now it was all they had, and they were determined to make the best of the situation. Hopefully they would sort a new house before the baby was born, but for now Grimmauld Place was to be their home.
Unaware of how close they'd come to seeing Harry and Ginny, Hermione and Ron were busy shopping for an engagement present for Ron to give to Pansy. Ron had proposed to Pansy the previous month, and once she'd said yes, he'd decided to get her something special to mark the occasion. Sadly, he didn't know what to get her, so Hermione had offered to help. Not that things were going very well and Hermione was quickly reaching the end of her patience with her best friend.
"If we don't find something in here, I think we need to look elsewhere," she said as they entered the jewellers. They'd actually passed the jewellers once as Ron didn't want to buy Pansy another piece of jewellery since he'd already given her a ring, but as Hermione pointed out, their options were running out.
"Probably," Ron agreed. "But where would we look?"
"I don't know. Maybe the muggle world," Hermione suggested, wandering over to a display of watches. Her husband had a liking for watches, and she'd been toying with the idea of getting him something from their son for when she gave birth.
As Hermione admired the watches, Ron wandered around the shop, dismissing almost all the jewellery on display. Just as he was about to give up and call it a day, he spotted a cabinet at the back of the shop displaying crystal animals. The animals were enchanted to change colour when the light shone on them.
"Hermione, I think I've found it," he called, bending over to get a closer look at the small animals on display.
Wandering over to where Ron was, Hermione admired the delicate little animals. "Which one do you like?" she asked, spotting a snake lurking at the back of the display.
"The hedgehog," Ron replied instantly, pointing out the spiky little creature.
"Why the hedgehog?" Hermione asked.
"Because it reminds me of Pansy," Ron said with a smile. "Sharp and prickly on the outside, but tender and vulnerable underneath."
"I guess it's also a present that you can add to on special occasions," Hermione said, smiling at the way Ron had described his fiancée. "Pansy can start a collection."
"Perfect, I may have just saved myself years of torturous gift shopping," Ron joked. "Now all I have to do is come here and buy a new animal."
"Just not for every occasion," Hermione cautioned her best friend.
"Don't worry, even I'm not that stupid," Ron assured Hermione as he summoned the sales assistant and purchased the crystal hedgehog.
With the gift in his possession, Ron escorted Hermione home, before heading home to get ready for dinner with Pansy, during which he would present her with the hedgehog and hopefully start a tradition that would last them a lifetime.