A/N: Oh wow guys! Thanks so much to all the lovely, lovely superstars who reviewed. You guys are awesome!

Countess Katook: I'm so glad you liked it! I'm glad you liked the dedication too. You so deserved it!

Princess Jennifer: hey! Glad you enjoyed it – and yes you were my first reviewer! Thanks so much for all your help, I really could not have done it without you!

J.S. Writer: thanks for reviewing! Yes, thanks also for pointing out the Healer Weasley vs. Granger – see a little bit below for an explanation.

me: yep, I love Ron too! Thanks so much for your review, I'm glad you enjoyed it!

macnon: wow, thanks so much for your enthusiasm! I'm glad you liked it.

Oh yes, and it was pointed out in a review that I accidentally wrote Healer Granger instead of Healer Weasley (thankyou! And please let the record show that if I ever do something stupid, let me know because I need to change it/make amends etc) so we're all going to pretend that Hermione kept her maiden name because she is a modern woman. Thanks! Oh and I also want to say SORRY because I forgot to put in the disclaimer last time, so:

DISCLAIMER: I am not J.K Rowling – I own nothing but the plot and I had help with that too from a very good writer, so don't sue me.

On with the story!

CHAPTER 2 – Welcome Home

When Ron and Hermione had both finished their coffees, they went back to their house in Devon. As the walked up the garden path, Ron drew in a deep breath and exhaled with happiness. As he breathed, he caught an occasional whiff of lilies and roses – their front garden was abloom with colour and fragrance. Hermione was also a keen gardener. They made their way up to the small cottage and underneath a series of tall, leafy trees. As the sunlight poured through, the dappled light alternated green and gold and gave the appearance of being a grotto. In the distance the sea could be heard. The front of the cottage was neatly covered partially by purple wisteria that had made its way up to the roof. Jasmine peeked out from under the windows and the front door, painted sky blue, was adorned with a brass knocker.

As they opened their front door, the familiar cozy feeling of coming home greeted them. They walked into their front hall which had a floor covered by pale wooden floor boards, on top of which was a giant rug donated from Fred and George Weasley. The hall went down to the back of the house, with photos lining the white walls. Rooms led off from the main hall. The door on the first left was the main bathroom, the on the right there was the study (filled with books, of course). Then came the spare room, the living room and joint kitchen and dining room. At the back of the house there was Ron and Hermione's bedroom.

As Hermione passed a particular photo of Ron and her on their wedding day, she smiled fondly at Ron's goofy grin. She had never been so happy. And now, just when she thought everything was settling back into routine, there was this bombshell! She couldn't wait to get started.

Ron, meanwhile, had headed off to the kitchen. Their house was clean, but welcoming and not overly stiff and neat. Piled of books lay stacked up on nearly every available surface and Quidditch magazines had been thrown haphazardly into a pile on the coffee table. The house was themed with wooden floorboards and white walls, and there were plenty of windows that let in the sunshine so the house was always bright and airy. Of course, there were many random pot plants in various places, most of which were Hermione's 'experiments' – which generally turned out quite well, surprisingly.

Ron and Hermione sat down on wooden chairs with bright, embroidered cushions. Hermione immediately got straight to business and began writing a note to Harry and Ginny. She finished and called out, "Trinny!"

A small brown owl flapped out and obediently stuck her leg out. She explained to Ron as she sent the owl to Harry and Ginny, "I just said thanks for the lovely surprise, and please come over ASAP so we can work out the finer details."

"Roger that."

They waited and about ten minutes later, Harry and Ginny apparated into their living room. Hermione shrieked and ran forward to give Ginny a hug, then Harry. Ron grinned broadly and kissed his little sister on the cheek, then did that handshake/whack on back to Harry – the one that all males seem to know instinctively.

Ginny had not changed one bit. She still had the notorious flaming head of hair, and was still feisty and stubborn. But time had softened her and she was gentler than she was. Harry, meanwhile, had changed a lot and had learnt to – instead of bottling up his feelings – let them out constructively. The most dramatic changes began halfway through their sixth year when they Harry and Ginny began going out. Ginny encouraged him to let them know how he was feeling and was a rock of support through his angsty teenage years. He was much calmer now, and laughed a lot. He also had the gift of making people laugh, something that was never seen before when he was so miserable.

After they were all sitting around a pot of tea, Ginny began the story of how they decided on the present.

"Well, we all-"

"That's the rest of the Weasleys, plus Neville and Luna," added Harry.

"Yes – we knew that we definitely wanted to get you something a bit out of the ordinary, you know, not just that standard set of mugs and all that. So we ended up spending...gosh, it would've added up to be about three or four months deciding, wouldn't it, honey?" she asked, turning to Harry.

"Yeah, I reckon," he grumbled. "Every time we got near deciding something, someone changed their mind or whined, but then we finally came up with this idea."

"So – where exactly are we going to go?" asked Ron excitedly, who slightly resembled a 7-year old opening a birthday present.

"Thought you might ask...well, for a change we though we'd let you start all the way over in the Pacific Islands and let you spend a week or so in Tahiti!"

Hermione squealed with delight and Ron exclaimed, "Woah, cool! Then what?"

"Um...well, we though it'd be a nice surprise if we didn't tell you until you had to go there. We found this really cool organisation that does surprise trips and they helped us sort a few things out. We booked you a sort of guide person, who pops up every now and then and checks on how you're doing. And don't worry, it won't be in the middle of the night or anything. You get given a beeper thing and the guide has the other one so when he's coming, he'll let it beep a few times. At the end of the week in Tahiti, your guide will come along and tell you where next. And just so you didn't figure out where you're going, we made the destinations rather random so you'll be flying off everywhere. No specific patterns."

"Wow..." Hermione breathed, "This is so cool!"

After sorting out a few more details, they chatted and caught up some more. They found out that the company had already worked out a passport for Ron (Hermione already had one, being Muggle-born), they just needed a photo and then it'd all be set. Other than that, there was just packing and work arrangements etc. to be done – it seemed that the company had taken care of everything! By the time they finished, it was nearing nightfall.

"Well, we better go," said Ginny. "It's getting kind of late, and Mum wanted me to drop off some plates I borrowed from her ages and ages ago. She said she'd start charging rent if I didn't bring them back by the end of the week."

"Give our love to everyone," said Hermione.

"Will do,"

"Bye," said Ron. They walked them to the door and waved from the window, and then Ron flopped down on the couch in the living room.

"Well." he said.

"Well indeed," replied Hermione.

"What do you think?"

"Of what?"

"The honeymoon, duh!"

"Oh right! Of course...well, I am so excited I can't believe it! I think I'm still in shock. I thought that we were only going on a little trip around England and maybe over to France and Italy but this...it's just a dream come true. You?"

"I have to say, ditto."

They pottered around a bit more as Hermione made more lists of things to be done. Ron read his Quidditch magazine.

Much later again, Ron looked up and said, "Oh, it's really late now. Do you want me to make dinner?"

Hermione smiled, "That would be lovely."

Ron was actually a very good cook – as soon as Fred and George found out about the engagement they enrolled him in a cooking class, so as to give Hermione a break at least some of the time. What they had not banked on was the fact the Ron was really good at whipping up dishes and actually quite enjoyed it.

Ten minutes later, Ron shuffled into the dining room, oven mitts on and a steaming dish of food in each hand. He was wearing a frilly pink apron that read KISS THE COOK, another gift from Fred and George. Hermione walked in, folding her papers neatly into a pile and straightening her green Healer robes that she hadn't changed out of. She tucked her hair behind her ears and breathed in deeply.

"Mmm...delicious," she grinned as caught a whiff of the grilled lamb and roast potatoes Ron had brought out. She looked him up and down and said cheekily, "Don't mind if I do," and leant over kissed him on the lips. It had become a sort of tradition, every time Ron wore that apron Hermione gave him a kiss.

Soon they were seated and munching away. They talked about what to pack and argued over how much was needed etc.

"Tomorrow we'll go over to London and buy new luggage, then we'll get the passport photo for you. After that I'll have to drop into work and let them know what's happening. Shouldn't you go and let your boss know too?"

"Yeah, I spose..." Ron sighed. In truth, he was really glad to get away from work for a while. Damien, his boss, was driving him up the wall – he was so picky about everything.

When they finished dinner, Hermione cleared the table and put the plates in the sink. Their kitchen was fairly small but Hermione's keen eye had rearranged a few things and had put everything in the right cupboards, so stuff was mostly easy to get to. Again there were polished wooden floors and stainless steel benches. The wide windows were adorned with small, colourful pot plants and on the night breeze came the smell of salt, from the sea.

When everything was neatly put away, Hermione said tiredly, "I'm going to go and have a shower, then I'm off to bed. I am so tired!"

"Me too. Be quick in the shower, I'll hop in straight after you. Then I'll go to bed too, I reckon."

"Ok."

Hermione headed back to the main bathroom. In her and Ron's bedroom there was a small ensuite but that just contained a toilet, sink and medicine cabinet. She shut the door, undressed and put her clothes neatly in the hamper by the door. She hopped into the shower and sang softly to herself as she scrubbed and rinsed her hair – something she did only when she was happy. She got out, dried off and changed into the pajamas Ron got her for her last birthday – a pale blue cotton T-shirt and matching pants with purple stripes. She padded out softly to her room and called out to Ron, "Shower's free!"

He bolted for the shower and undressed, flinging his clothes untidily in the middle of the floor. As he washed, he hummed loudly and out of tune. He got out and changed into the pajamas Hermione had gotten HIM for his last birthday – a bright orange T-shirt and luridly fluoro boxer shorts. He noticed the clothes scattered ungraciously across the bathroom and hurriedly shoved them in the hamper – something which was of course Hermione's idea.

He went back down to his bedroom where he found Hermione reading quietly with her bedside lamp on. He jumped into bed and Hermione put her book away. Their bedroom had white walls (the only colour they could agree on) but was saved from being boring by the bright cushions and blankets piled on their bed. Hermione had objected to the amount of orange at first, but then told herself marriage was all about compromise. She got her own back by the hamper in the bathroom and other various "neatness inducing" devices.

She lay back contented onto the white sheets and pillows (she had at least managed to argue her way into confining the orange to throws and decorative cushions). Ron leant on one elbow and kissed her gently on the forehead. She smiled and kissed him back.

"Night-night."

"Night-night."

"Love you."

"Love you too."

As they slept peacefully beside one another through the night, they felt, through their dreams, that all was right with the world.

A/N: Ooh, I hope you liked it! Hope it wasn't too awfully soppy but I wanted to convey Ron and Hermione's feelings for each other accurately – or at least how I imagined them. Again I hope you liked it! Please leave a review if you can! They make me so happy! 