a/n: Hey guys! I'll be putting two chapters up tonight then some more on sunday cuz I won't be able to update for a while I'm going on vacation.
But I wanted to ask a question. Someone pointed out to me that they didn't like the idea of a story about the daughter I respect their opinion and I wanted to know if anyone else felt that way.
So on with the chapter...oh and I made a mistake this is the Hogsmede chapter before the birthday chapter:)
-Kylie
One and Only
Chapter Thirty-four
The next morning Ron woke up first, for a change. He got up and slid out of bed, careful not to disturb Hermione and went to sit on one of the armchairs. He crossed his legs and rested and elbow on the arm of the chair. He glanced at the article that Ernie wrote that Hermione hung on the wall. He no longer felt bad that he turned down the job. He did it for a good reason and everyone supported him. The only thing that he regretted is that he would be unable to work for a newspaper but he figured that he would make the best out of this year with the Herald. He decided that on Monday he would talk to Professor McGonagall about going into the Ministry of Magic in the Department of Magical Games and Sports. Now he was just going to enjoy his birthday weekend with Hermione.
Hermione rolled over to lay in Ron's arms but she discovered that Ron wasn't there. She looked up and saw him in an armchair. She worried that he was back in his mood but when he heard her wake he turned to look at her.
"Hey." Ron said.
"Hi." Hermione answered, rising from the bed. "Are you ok?"
"Yeah, I was just thinking about taking Ginny's advice and letting it go for the weekend, you know and enjoy my birthday. I could talk to McGonagall and figure out what I'm going to do." Ron said. Hermione smiled and kissed him. She was excited for him to get his birthday present. They decided to change after talking about his birthday a bit longer. Hermione changed into a pair of jean capris and two tank tops layered, light green and white, with a white zip-up sweater over it. Ron changed into a pair of jeans and a blue t-shirt. He had his arm around Hermione as they walked down to the Great Hall. On the way, more people talked to Ron about what he did and he was sure that it was a smart thing to do.
xxx
In Hogsmede Ron and Hermione walked around for a little bit, lingering in front of the Quidditch Shop where Ron pointed out a Chudley Cannons Quaffle that was signed by the players, trying not to make it too obvious that that was what he wanted for his birthday. Hermione kept that in mind but also she had one more thing to go with his new paper. After, they met Harry and Ginny at the Three Broomsticks and Fred and George found them. Hermione, Harry, Fred, and George finished their butterbeers before Ron and Ginny barely had theirs started but that was the plan.
"Well since you two aren't done yet, we'll meet you at the joke shop in about an hour or so." Fred said.
"Yeah you two can take your time. No rush." George said. Ron looked confused but then it hit him.
"Oh right." Ron chuckled. "Yeah we'll meet you back at the joke shop." He said. Hermione smiled and gave him a kiss before following Fred, George, and Harry out of the Three Broomsticks. They walked on a bit before Fred and George stopped by Hermione.
"Where are we going?" Hermione asked. "Do we even know what place we're buying?" Fred and George stopped.
"Well we've been thinking about it since yesterday and this morning as we were walking to the joke shop we saw that the Quidditch Memorabilia Shop is for sale." Fred said.
"So we went in to check it out and apparently the wizard who owned it, came into some money so he's selling it and moving to Paris." George said.
"The Ministry's got control of it now." Fred said.
"It's pretty big in there. It's even got a second floor with a couple rooms." George said.
"Before we go we should probably see how much money we have." Harry suggested, pulling out four envelopes, one from McGonagall, one from Dumbledore who added some when he heard about it, one from the Herald contributors, and one from him and Ginny. Hermione pulled hers out of her purse and Fred and George pulled several envelopes out of their pocket.
"Who are all those from?" Hermione asked.
"One from Bill and Fleur." Fred said.
"One from Charlie and Alison." George said.
"One from Percy and Penelope." Fred said.
"One from Fred and Angelina." George said.
"And one from George and Alicia." Fred said.
"We told them about it yesterday and they all wanted to help. We just didn't tell mum and dad yet. We figure Ron should tell them." George said. Hermione added up the money and in the end they had a more than generous offer.
"Let's get going." Harry said. The four of them walked down the street to get the shop. It turned out that it wasn't too far from the bookshop either. They walked in just as a man in a pinstripe business suit was clearing away some Quidditch memorabilia. When he turned Hermione was happy to see that it was Marty Hayes. Fred and George seemed to know him too.
"Hey Marty." Fred said.
"These are the people we told you about who wanted to buy the shop." George said. Marty smiled when he saw Hermione.
"Hermione Granger." He walked over and shook her hand. "What's a matter is the Old Quill shop not working for you?"
"No, actually we're going to turn this into an office. It's for Ron." Hermione said.
"Ah." Marty said with a nod. He turned to look at Harry. "And Harry Potter!" He shook Harry's hand vigorously. "It's a pleasure Mr. Potter. I read that article in the Prophet but let me tell you that I did not believe a word of it. I've always thought that the Prophet was full of lies."
"That's actually why we're here." Harry said. He explained about the Prophet and Ron turning down the job and their idea to turn this into an office.
"Well let me show you around." Marty said. He showed them around the downstairs where there were two other rooms. Then he led them upstairs where it was full of rooms. Apparently each of the rooms had been dedicated to a special Quidditch player. But Hermione thought that they would be perfect for each department of the paper. Hermione was sold even before she started looking but the hopes were even higher that this store could be transformed into an office. "So what do you think?" Marty asked.
"I love it!" Hermione said, glancing around again. "It'll be perfect!"
"Now since it's for a good cause I could cut you a deal…"Marty started. He then went on to give them a deal because of Hermione getting rid of Death Eaters and Harry getting rid of Voldemort. By the time Hermione signed all of the papers and the key and the deed to the store was handed over they still had ¾ of the money in their pockets. Marty told them the same things he told Ron and Ginny and then left them taking the For Sale sign out of the window.
"What do we do with the rest?" Harry asked.
"We could give it to him and tell him that it's for buying supplies and desks and furniture for the office." Hermione suggested. "We'll get a card and sign it from everyone who helped out then he can use the leftovers to get the business up." Hermione smiled. She took another look around the store, soon to be an office. "Harry this was a brilliant idea." She gave him a hug.
"It wasn't just me Hermione. You, me, and Ginny did. I wouldn't have even thought about it if it weren't for you two." Harry said. Hermione smiled; glad to hear that she was in part responsible for Ron's future happiness.
"And thank you two too. You two were really great and helping Ron. I don't know what I would have done to help him if it weren't for you." Hermione gave each Fred and George a hug. She looked around once more. "He's going to love this!"
"Why don't we go find something to get Ron besides this and we can surprise him with it at the end?" Harry suggested. He was smiling because he too thought that this was perfect. They all agreed and walked out. Hermione locked up, smiling to herself as she walked down the street. First they stopped at the Quidditch store where Hermione got Ron the Quaffle signed by all the players of the Chudley Cannons as well as edible Quidditch pieces (chocolate that was in the shape of different Quidditch pieces.) Harry got Ron a book on Keeper tricks and tips written by the Chudley Cannons Keeper and a Chudley Cannons T-shirt. Fred and George were planning on giving Ron a box of their newest joke shop material. Lastly Hermione stopped off at Gold and Silver Treasures where she had Ron Weasley Editor, printed onto a gold plaque so he could hang that on his door at the new office. They met Ron and Ginny at the joke shop a couple minutes later. They all went in to find that most of the boxes were gone and it was getting close to opening.
"You know Dean was saying that the Quidditch Memorabilia Shop went up for sale today and then someone bought it. He didn't know who bought it though. When he passed it again the For Sale sign was gone." Ron said. "We should go check it out and see what they're going to do with it." Everyone exchanged anxious glance that thankfully Ron didn't notice.
"We should stay here and help Fred and George finish up." Hermione said.
"But it's just a bit down, I'm sure its no big deal if we stop there for a minute." Ron said, confused. They all looked at Hermione wanting her to do something. She did the only thing that came to mind to really distract him. She threw her arms around his neck and kissed him. Fred, George, Harry, and Ginny chuckled silently, turning away. "What was that for?" Ron asked.
"Why don't we go back up to the castle?" Hermione whispered in his ear. Ron smiled mischievously, forgetting about the Quidditch Memorabilia Shop and nodding. "We're gunna…uh…head back up to the castle and…uh do some homework." Hermione said lamely, no doubt everyone knew what they were really going to do.
"Yeah homework." Ron agreed.
Ron and Hermione hurried back up to the castle, Hermione left her presents for Ron with Harry and Ginny.
Even before Ron was in the common room Hermione pulled him in by his shirt collar, into the common room and started kissing him. Ron was surprised by her forcefulness but he liked it nonetheless.
A while later Ron and Hermione walked out of the common room. Ron had a slight grin on his face while Hermione was pulling her hair into a ponytail and she had a smile on too. They were on their way to dinner and they were a tad late. As they were walking down Ron turned to Hermione.
"What was that for?" Ron asked. Hermione took his hand.
"Just part one of your birthday present." Hermione said with a devilish grin. Ron smiled even more and they walked down to dinner. At dinner they took the seats across from Harry and Ginny.
"Hi." Ron said.
"Hello." Harry responded with a chuckle. Ginny looked at Hermione.
"How'd homework go?" Ginny asked. Hermione smirked sarcastically at her.
"Wouldn't you like to know?" She answered.
"Well from the look on Ron's face it looks as if you got a lot of homework done." Ginny said with an eyebrow raised.
"Alright, we're eating here!" Harry interrupted. "We all know that they were not doing homework and it's over." He looked back down at his food, deciding whether he had the appetite to finish. Ron did too with a slightly pink face but he still had that goofy smile on. Hermione and Ginny looked at each other before laughing and going back to eating.
After dinner they all went up to the Head Common Room to talk. Harry and Ron were engrossed in a conversation about Quidditch so Hermione and Ginny decided to talk about Ron's birthday.
"I was thinking that we give him the regular presents first and then I could give him the plaque. He'll have no idea what it is and the three of us could give him the key and the deed along with the money." Hermione said.
"Sounds good." Ginny said. "What time should Harry and I be here tomorrow?"
"Around seven." Hermione said. "I can't wait to see his face." Hermione looked over at Ron who was talking passionately about Quidditch. She smiled.
"Yeah, I know what you mean." Ginny said. "He keeps talking about working for the Ministry but you could see it in his eyes that he really doesn't want to."
"I'm glad he's not out of it anymore. That was bad." Hermione said. "What exactly did Fred and George say?" Ginny explained from when she brought Fred and George up to when they left.
"I never expected them to actually care like that." Ginny said. "I thought they lived to take the mickey out of us."
"I know but I'm sure glad they did." Hermione said, she looked at Ron and smiled. He smiled back at her and winked. She was excited for tomorrow and she couldn't wait to see the look on his face when he found out about it.
a/n: Well what did you think? There's still another one after...
Kylie
