In Your Eyes II

Hermione's heart was still fluttering when she rode the elevator to her floor. Once inside, she let herself topple over onto the bed and shut her eyes. She could still see that beautiful blue gaze. Bill. He had made her feel real again, like she could live. Somehow, he had taken away the awkwardness and replaced it with the comfort of home. A memory came to her, and for the first time it was bittersweet rather than painful.

She was lying with her head in Ron's lap watching the stars above them. Their honeymoon had been postponed and they had moved in with Ron's parents for the moment. The only peace they found on some days was when they crept out to the yard to watch the night sky. "Are you happy?" Ron asked.

"More than I ever dreamed I would be. Are you?" She nuzzled his hand as he gently caressed her cheek.

"How could I not be? There's nothing in the world I could want more than what I have now." He moved his hand to her wild curls. Suddenly, he looked very serious. "I want you to stay here, Hermione. The wards on the Burrow are strong."

"What are you saying?"

"I don't want you working for the Order anymore. I've been talking to Dad and maybe it's best if we tell Dumbledore and Harry. They wouldn't want you in danger anymore than I do." Ron stared at the sky fully expecting an argument—not the first by any stretch of the imagination.

Hermione gently laid a hand on her slightly curved middle. "I think you're right."

"Now, Hermione, I know you're upset…excuse me? Did you just say I'm right?" Ron asked in disbelief.

She nodded, and sat up to kiss his freckled cheek. Those freckles made him look forever sixteen, and for that she loved them so. "I wouldn't expect to hear it too often."

He laughed. "Wouldn't dream of it, but it is nice to hear."

"Well, someone in our little pack has to do the thinking and I can't rely on you or Harry."

"'Course not. And Hermione, there's something else."

"Really Ron, I'm not discussing names with you again. We are not calling him Ron Jr!"

He shook his head. "Nothing like that. I just want you to promise me something. If I die…" he said raising a hand to silence her complaints. "If I die, I want you to be happy again, Hermione. I want you laugh and love and never cry. I also want you let my family take care of you. They all love and God knows my mum will never let you go. Promise me that you'll not let my death change you."

Tears brimmed in her eyes. "I love you, but I can't promise that. Ron, I don't know if I can go on without you. If I lost you, I wouldn't have anything to laugh about or anyone to love."

"Yes, you would. Here," he said placing a hand on her stomach and then he looked to the glowing lights of his parents home. "And there. These are pieces of me. You can always find me if you look hard enough. I just want to make sure that you are safe and happy forever, Hermione. Promise me."

"I promise, but I'm not going to lose you. I won't allow. I love you too much."

"I love you, too. You have no idea how happy you've just made me," he told her as his mouth descended on hers. Together, they completed something so perfect that looking back they wondered how it had taken so long.

Hermione brushed away the mist of tears in her eyes. She had not kept that promise until tonight. She wasn't sure, but something inside her told her that Ron would approve of her date with Bill. He would never have wanted her to go on the way she had.

She opened a drawer and pulled out the picture of their wedding day. She stared at his smiling face. "I'm going to love you forever, Ronald Weasley."

Tossing her hair back in a ponytail and sliding into some more comfortable clothes, she decided to go tell Draco about her day. Chances were that he was aching to tell her about something or other that was driving him nutty—Chantay to be precise.