Chapter 11- Breakfast and Babysitting

Ron woke up bright and early, for a change, on the 18th of July, leaving Hermione snuggled up and fast asleep. He slipped through to the kitchen, placed the kettle full of water on the stovetop and went to find some bacon. Three years, he thought happily to himself as he placed the bacon in the frying pan and some bread in the toaster. Three years to the day since they had stood in front of all of their friends and family and pledged to love one another for the rest of their lives…

The kettle let out a shrill whistle. Cursing, Ron flung himself across the room, pulled out his wand and whispered "Silencio!". The kettle heeded his warning and fell silent.

"Ron?" a sleepy voice said from the direction of the bedroom. "Is that you? What are you doing?"

Ron hastily poured the water into two mugs, spooned in some instant coffee granules, dished up the bacon and toast and returned to the bedroom, plates balanced precariously on his arms.

"Happy Anniversary!" he yelled, kicking open the door. Hermione was sitting upright in bed with a wide smile on her face.

"Oh! Thank you, sweetie!" she said, giving him a deep kiss.

"Don't mention it," Ron said, handing her a plate and a mug. Hermione took a sip of her coffee, her plate balanced on her rapidly increasing bump. They were taking a trip to Diagon Alley that day, primarily to buy maternity robes. Ron scowled with displeasure- of all the types of shopping, robe shopping was by far his least favourite.

"Don't scowl, sweetheart, you'll get wrinkles!" Hermione said jovially, tapping him on the nose.

"If that's the case, then I'm surprised you aren't covered in them, given the amount of scowling you do at me!" Ron laughed. "By the way, I have a present for you. It's not much," he said, reaching into the bedside cabinet drawer and pulling out a shiny, silver box, "but it's just something, you know, for the day…"

"Oh, Ron!" Hermione exclaimed. "They're gorgeous!" She removed the little gold earrings from their box and put them in. "What do you think?"

"Lovely, as ever," Ron said with a smile, "and the earrings are pretty nice too!".

Hermione blushed, avoiding his eye. "Oh God!" she exclaimed, looking at the clock. "It's almost 10! Why did you let me sleep in so late? You knew we were supposed to be going out!"
"Well… you looked so peaceful- I didn't want to disturb you…" Ron said innocently.

"Peaceful? Yeah, right!" Hermione snorted. "You just didn't want to go shopping! Don't think I don't know your little tricks, Mr Weasley," she said, waggling her finger cheekily. "We're going shopping- unless you want me to wander around in robes that are far too short and tight…?"

"Well…" Ron said, a mischievous grin on his face. "That's not a sight I would mind seeing-"

"Move! Now!" Hermione said, bouncing out of bed. "And wear something smart- we have dinner reservations at Café de l'Amour for this evening, and I'm not having you showing up looking like something the cat's dragged in!"

Ron collapsed onto a bench, flinging Hermione's three million bags down beside him. She was really taking advantage of the whole "pregnant women shouldn't carry heavy objects" idea, he thought angrily. They must have visited every shop in Diagon Alley at least twice. He was absolutely wiped out, but Hermione was still full of beans. She had disappeared into Flourish and Blotts at least twenty minutes ago- what was she doing, trying to read the whole store?

At that moment Hermione and a pretty blonde witch appeared at the shop doorway, giggling cheerfully. Ron vaguely recognised this woman- had they been at school together?

"Ron!" Hermione shouted. "Come over here for a minute!"

Ron stood up wearily and waddled towards his wife- his feet were killing him. "What's up, sweetheart?" he said in a forced cheery voice. "Who's your friend?"

"Ron!" Hermione said, abashed. "This is Tiffany!"

"Tiffany…?" Ron said, confused. He was sure he knew the name- was she a friend of Ginny's or something?

"She works in the office next to yours!" Hermione muttered angrily through gritted teeth. "Sorry about him," she said, smiling sweetly at Tiffany, "he's just a bit tired- doesn't know what he's saying! Anyway," she continued, "we'll be glad to take little Joey for a few hours. I'm sure we'll have so much fun!"

"That's great!" Tiffany said in an equally sickly sweet voice. "I'll drop him off at 5 then. 36 Mullainey Gardens, right?"

Hermione nodded. "I'll see you then!" she said with a wave, before grabbing Ron's arm and dragging him across the road.

"What was that all about?" Ron said, still totally confused.

"We're babysitting next weekend," Hermione said quickly. "Honestly, Ron, do you have no manners at all? Couldn't you have just nodded along instead of asking such a stupid qu-"

"Babysitting?" Ron said. "As in watching her baby? Why?"

"Well, I think it would be nice to get some practice," Hermione said plainly. "After all, we hardly know anything about babies, so we should probably have an attempt before being set loose on a child of our own."

"I know lots about caring for kids! Do I really have to be there?" he whined.

"Yes, Ron. Think of this as… as an anniversary gift!" Hermione said chirpily.

"Fine." Ron sulked. "But I want those earrings back."