Chapter 5: Success (Finally!)

So, I admit it, I gave Ron a bit of a break in this chapter…but I mean after all the things the poor guy has been through doesn't he deserve it? Besides, I always have been a sucker for happy endings…

Ron was just leaving their waitress a tip when a scream issued from the ladies toilettes. He had just been priding himself on paying with muggle money (correctly!) and hopefully impressing Hermione. Hermione was in fact, extremely impressed. What she didn't know was that Ron had sent a desperate plea to Harry the previous week asking him to explain those "silly muggle bills".

"Er—do you suppose the corsage got her?"

Ron asked Hermione worriedly. The corsage was, after all, one of Fred and George's creations. Yup, Ron thought angrily, trust Fred and George to make a corsage that paddles about a toilette or lurks somewhere near the sinks waiting for its next victim.

Assuming the worst, Hermione headed towards the loos while Ron decided it would be best to wait by the door in case they had to make a run for it-er-a quick exit.

Hermione came outside ten minutes later, breathless but triumphant.

"This time I tied its tentacles around itself before I flushed it!" she said proudly

"Will. Kill. Completely Destr--"

"Yes, I know, Ron," Hermione said matter of factly as Ron began on the now familiar vein.

"Thankfully the girl it pounced onto wasn't too-er-clever. I told her it was a-uh- sewer guppy and I think she believed me."

"Wow! That is impressive Hermione! Perhaps your best achievement to date!"

Ron said, calming down enough to lightly ruffle Hermione's hair.

"Ron! Don't anger the beast!" she said playfully, pulling his hand from her curls.

That's when they heard a loud "OH. MY. GOD." resound behind them.

Ron didn't know what hit them. In hindsight he thought he had seen curses hit faster than that. A pack (a pack!) of screaming blurs were surrounding them. The blurs turned out to be a group of girls around their age who apparently knew Hermione.

Ron could have sworn he heard Hermione whisper "oh no!" under her breath.

"Hermione!" said one, who Ron assumed to be their leader,

"We haven't seen you for ages!"

"Yeah, what are you doing?" a rather heavyset girl with a cigarette in her hand said, eyes narrowing slightly in a way that made Ron extremely uncomfortable.

"And who is this?" said another girl with an ugly turned up noise and thin mousey hair, indicating Ron with a lift of her chin.

"Hi- er- I haven't seen you since primary school!"

"Well that's because you hardly ever come into town, and the rest of the time your away at school!" one of the girls, who Ron hadn't noticed before, said.

"Where is it you go?" said another

"To-a- uh- international school up north."

Well, Ron thought, it wasn't a complete lie.

"Really? So I guess now that you go to some fancy school and have a boyfriend you're better than us."

"No, Emily, you know that's not true."

"Of course it's not! Look at you! I bet no one in your class even likes you!"

Hermione stammered a bit and lowered her eyes, looking a bit put out.

Suddenly the group seemed to have shifted their attention to Ron.

"So is Hermione really popular at school?"

"Has she had a lot of boyfriends?"

"Did she pay you to go out with her?"

"Yeah, how did someone like her ever snag someone like you?"

It occurred to Ron that the time had come to lie spectacularly, or in the very least, alter a few facts.

"Oh, Hermione is actually really popular in our school. She's had loads of boyfriends. I couldn't believe my luck when she said yes. Her last boyfriend was an international athlete but I can't exactly tell you his name because it was all really hush-hush…I mean, think if the newspapers ever found out!

"Oh my god, the paparazzi!"

"Er.." Ron had no clue what a 'papa-ratzi' was, but he was saved the trouble of responding when Hermione cut in.

"Yes, there was a close call actually," Hermione said, winking at Ron, and taking up where he left off, "Yeah, this undercover reporter heard him telling me some very private things and she threatened to go to press with it but we were able to blackmail her into keeping quiet."

"I don't believe a single word of this! I thank you are both lying," said the herd's leader.

"I would never!" said Ron, pretending to be aghast

"There's no way any of that could have happened to Hermione." said the girl with the ugly pug nose.

Something about the way she had said Hermione's name, like it was a tropical disease or a type of toe fungus, made Ron extremely angry.

Hermione saw the tips of Ron's ears turn red and knew it was a dangerous sign.

"Er-Ron, perhaps we shou--"

Ron never gave her the chance to finish.

"Well I'll tell you something! I bet that Hermione is better than all of you put together. She's beautiful, intelligent, witty, and, besides, she's a wi--"

"Ron!" Hermione screamed suddenly, stopping Ron from going too far,

"Wonderful person!" Ron finished

The girl with the upturned nose had her eyes opened with shock and the heavyset girl had her mouth hanging so far open that her cigarette fell right out without her even noticing.

"Thanks, Ron; I really think we should leave." Hermione said, barely able to suppress a smile

Ron allowed himself to be steered away from the group of gaping girls.

"And what's more," he said, turning around briefly to look at the astonished girls, "I don't think her company befits the likes of you. For one thing, you probably wouldn't understand a word she says!"

"Wow! Ron, I mean, thank you…that was fantastic. Those girls have always bothered me since primary school, and you really shut them up!" Hermione said, giving Ron's hand a squeeze as they walked further down the street.

Ron was still amazed and couldn't quite manage to speak.

After a few minutes, Hermione became concerned,

"Ron? Are you okay?"

Suddenly Ron snapped out of it.

"Sorry, I just never thought I'd meet the female versions of Crabbe and Goyle."

That gave them both quite a laugh and after a few seconds Hermione looked at Ron, the laughter still in her eyes.

"Hey, Ron, my parents went out for dinner as well. We could take a taxi back to my house if you'd like."

"Yeah. Definitely."

Having survived an unprecedented interrogative attack by teenage muggle girls Ron was just as ready as Hermione to get out of town and back to the relative safety of the Granger home.

Ron behaved himself expertly in the taxicab ride. Aside from clapping when a taxi stopped at the sight of Hermione's outstretched hand and smiling stupidly throughout the entire ride, it seemed he had mastered his astonishment at muggle life. Hermione showed him how to buckle his seat belt just as the taxi went over a bump in the road and she fell against his chest.

"Ooops. Sorry, Ron."

But neither of them, in their own private way, were the least bit sorry it had happened.

When they arrived back on the Granger's street, Hermione and Ron entered the house (without having to search for it this time!) and they went straight to Hermione's room. He took in her familiar scent as they entered and spent a bit more time looking around at Hermione's photo frames and the titles of some of the books on her bookshelves.

Ron was just fiddling with a funny contraption called a 'bright bulb', or something like that, when he turned around to find Hermione standing behind him. Holding up the glass bulb, he said,

"Hermione this runs off of ekeltr--"

She never gave him the chance to finish. Hermione had kissed Ron full on the lips. She pulled back and said,

"Forget about the light bulb, Ron."

He didn't need telling twice. There was the tinkle of broken glass and then Ron's hands were resting on Hermione's waist. They leaned forward again. This time Hermione deepened the kiss a bit. Ron stepped forward and…

"Ouch! Ron!

"Oh, sorry, have I-uh-done something wrong?"

Ron's mind was going crazy. He was a horrible kisser. Hermione would never speak to him again and-

"That's my foot."

"Oh," Ron had the insane urge to laugh, in his eagerness to respond to Hermione's kiss he had trod on her foot. He wasn't a bad kisser- he was just a clumsy oaf. Thank the lord!

"Right, sorry."

"That's okay." Hermione whispered, their faces were just inches apart and it seemed that there was no one in the world besides them…

Except-

"RONALD WEAAAAAAAAAAAASLEEEEEEEEY!"

They ran to the window to see Mrs. Weasley standing in the street shouting at the top of her formidable lungs.

"Coming, Mum!" Ron yelled from the second story of the Granger's home, before, running down the stairs and out the door, with Hermione at his side. They met Mrs. Weasley in the Granger's drive.

"Ronnie," Ron winced and Hermione tried her best not to smile,

"You gave me the greatest shock. I didn't know which house you had gone into."

"Well, here I am now mum." Ron said a bit gloomily, he wished his date with Hermione didn't have to end. They had had so much fun- for the most part, I mean, all attacking corsages and strange muggle girls aside.

"Bye, Hermione," Ron said.

"Say hello from me to your parents, dear." Mrs. Weasley said, with misty eyes,

"I do hope you two had a good time."

At this point they both received large hugs from her before they had to say goodbye.

"I'll owl you as soon as possible, Hermione."

"I had a wonderful time, Ron."

Hermione said, raising herself onto her toes to give him a quick kiss on the cheek.

Ron smiled, and with another loud sniff from Mrs. Weasley, Cherry Lane disintegrated and Ron found himself back in the kitchen of the Burrow. Mrs. Weasley disappeared almost immediately, presumable to cry in some hidden corner of the house while cleaning something.

Ron sat down at the kitchen table and stared off into space for several minutes, reliving the night, in its entirety. He still had a stupid smile on his face when he suddenly remembered something.

"Fred! George!" he bellowed, standing up, "Get down here this instant!"

Yes, he had had a wonderful time with Hermione.

But for the moment, Ronald Weasley could havebeen found, in the Burrow, on the outskirts of the village of Ottery St. Catchpole, chasing his older brothers around and threatening them bodily harm if he ever didcatch them. He reallywas a charming young man.

Another chapter, as promised! I hoped you like the conclusion of my little fic. Now it's finished, hogwartsgirl52, ; ) Thanks to all of the people who reviewed for every chapter, it was great to have some feedback.

xxx-Bexie1217