Chapter 3: Success! (Sort of)

Yay! The date actually begins! Enjoy!

Ron was afraid to look up.

He wasn't quite sure but he strongly suspected that muggles didn't take kindly to having their mail pilfered. He was considering running for it once again when the sound of his own name caused him to look up.

"Ron!" Hermione exclaimed.

"I'm so glad you found the house okay. I was getting worried that you didn't understand my directions!"

Ron looked up to see Hermione. She looked absolutely lovely. Her hair was as bushy as ever, and was pulled back in front with a clip. She was slightly tanner than usual from her recent trip, but otherwise looked just as he remembered. Her bright brown eyes beamed at him and he thought she had never looked more beautiful.

He smiled.

Ron thought it was rather a shame that Hermione had found him like this as he would have preferred to ring her muggle knob (A/N: no innuendo intended, although by all means, go ahead, Ron, you could ring my muggle knob anytime!) as he had had so much practice that he had gotten quite good at it.

"Er-Hi Hermione. It's-um-it's great to see you," Ron decided that it would be best if he didn't mention his near-death experience with the angry motorist, the fiasco with the ice cream muggle, the young girl yelling for her mother because he had said a dirty word, and almost stealing her mail.

"Oh, you were getting our mail. Thanks, Ron, You didn't have to do that."

He handed her the post and saw her looking expectantly from him to the bouquet in his hand. He finally got the hint.

"Oh-er-these are for you."

'They're lovel---oh--" Hermione stopped short. "Are these…onions!"

"Oh, um, yeah, Fred and George told me it was some sort of muggle tradition."

"Oh," Hermione said, not yet taking the bouquet that Ron had extended to her.

"Oh, Ron!" and before Ron knew what was happening Hermione had wrapped herself around him in a giant hug. It felt wonderful, drinking in the smell of her hair and feeling her soft, warm body pressed up against his firmer one.

When they broke apart Ron was aghast to see Hermione was crying.

"Hermione! What's wrong? Are these wrong?" Ron said, looking at her with concern.

"No, no, I'm fine," Hermione insisted as she accepted the highly unusual bouquet from Ron and invited him inside.

"It's just that when we hugged the bouquet was in my face."

Ron's cheeks turned red but Hermione just smiled at him from behind her tears.

"Ron, that was so sweet of you."

"Er-yeah." Ron said, cheering up, but making a mental note not to ever bring a bouquet again. It made girls act all funny.

"So this is my house," Hermione stated, bringing Ron out of the foyer and into the living room.

Ron immediately saw that it was extremely neat, and very white.

And very much unlike anythinghe had ever seen before.

Hermione took Ron's hand and lead him towards the back of the house and into the kitchen.

"Mum, Dad, this is my-er-my boyfriend Ron," Hermione said

Ron smiled weakly; he was feeling all out of sorts. Hermione was holding his hand loosely in her own and he thought that she had just referred to him as her boyfriend.

Ron remembered just in time to shake hands with Mr. Granger and to compliment Mrs. Granger on her fine home.

"And you brought a bouquet! How lovely," Mrs. Granger said, eyeing the bundle in Hermione's hand.

"Oh, uh-mum…" Hermione began

"Are those onions?" Mr. Granger asked peering over his reading glasses to get a better look.

Ron opened his mouth to speak but Hermione began before he had the chance.

"Um-well, yes they are actually," she said matter of factly.

"Well, why don't I, er, take those and put them in a vase, shall I?" Mrs. Granger said, having caught a sharp look of warning from her daughter.

They stood in the kitchen talking for several minutes before Hermione offered to show Ron the rest of the house.

Extremely relived, Ron was directed out of the room by Hermione.

"What a nice young man," Mrs. Granger said, just as soon as the two were out of earshot

"Nice healthy teeth."

"Perhaps," Mr. Granger reflected, "slightly misinformed though," as he stared at the vase in the middle of the dining room table that now housed Ron's onion bouquet.

Ron was lead through the other room's of the modest Granger household but didn't listen to very much of what Hermione was saying as she was holding onto his hand again, and he found that this action was accompanied by a sudden lack of intelligent thought on his part.

He only just remembered to nod and say "Uh-huh," a bunch of times as Hermione showed him pictures (not moving) of their recent vacation and it took Ron a second to realize that he was being led upstairs.

"And this is my room," Hermione said, opening a door at the end of the hallway (white).

Ron suddenly snapped back to attention as she had let go of his hand to open the doorknob.

"What do think?"

Ron saw that Hermione's room was extremely neat. It was white like the rest of the house and had bookshelves along one wall housing all of Hermione's spell books and many others as well.

His eyes traveled all around the room and finally rested on the bed, which was made up with light blue jersey sheets.

"I think it's the neatest place I've ever seen," he said.

Hermione beamed.

"Well, dad offered to drive us to town so we should really go now."

"You mean we can't floo there or something?"

"Of course not, Ron. Most muggle restaurants don't even have fireplaces, and I don't think that muggle chefs would take kindly to the two of us suddenly appearing on their stovetop."

"Oh, right" Ron couldn't really imagine what a muggle restaurant looked like.

He was slightly reluctant to leave Hermione's room as it smelled so…so like her…like fresh sheets and shampoo.

The way out of the Granger's home was one white blur until they got into the Granger's car. The car-ride to the center of town was uneventful except for Ron shouting and pointing at the strangest things.

He stared at a petrol station, pointed and shouted, "Did you see that!" loudly into Hermione's ear as they passed a parking meter, and finally, laughed himself silly at the sight of a traffic light, asking if they had bewitched the light to do that, or something.

Truthfully, Hermione was quite glad to get out of the car, by the end of the ride. Ron had just made them drive extra slowly past a police car so that he could get a good look.

"C'mon, Ron," she said, exasperatedly, as Ron was struggling with his seatbelt which felt to him as though it would rather kill him than release from its catch.

She finally took pity on him and unbuckled the thing and it snapped duly back into its slot looking as innocent as ever. Ron was still rubbing his neck and throwing the seatbelt a dirty glance as they waved goodbye to a concerned-looking Mr. Granger and walked towards a restaurant.

And that is where Ron's troubles really began.

Okay, so now comes the really good part. Oh, for any R/Hr shippers, you might like my other fic. It's a one shot called "I Never!" aaand…well…Let's just say stuff happens. ; )

Please review as always and tell me what you liked (or what you didn't!)

xxx-Bexie1217