Disclaimer: I don't own anything. This is just a figment of my imagination
Chapter two: It's a Girl!"Mum, how much longer should this be in the oven?" Fred peered through the darkened little oven window.
"For about another ten minutes."
"Are you sure? It's sort of turning black." George added.
Mrs. Weasley snapped up and rushed towards the oven, shoving her two sons to the side. A thick column of dark smoke rose from within, slowly filling the entire kitchen.
Ron, who was passing by the kitchen door, doubled back and stared inside.
"What's going on?" he asked nervously. "Is something on fire?"
George grinned. But he moved away quickly again as mrs. Weasley pushed him aside, carrying a blackened leg of lamb towards the sink.
"I just wish Ginny could get herself over all this and help me in the kitchen. You boys only make things worse when you offer to help." She said waspishly.
"Then why don't you ask someone else?" Fred answered back sweetly. "I'm sure Fleur would love-"
"Fleur is busy enough looking after her own children." Mrs. Weasley snapped. "And she would want to do everything her way...As if my cooking isn't good enought the way it is..."
"We love your cooking, mum." Fred said, suddenly sounding very soothing.
Ron stepped into the kitchen and leaned against the doorpost, his arms crossed in front of his chest.
"Talking about food...Do you think you could squeeze in one more person for tomorrow?" he asked slowly.
Mrs. Weasley looked up in surprise. "...A guest? A-are you bringing someone?"
Fred and George wheeled around and faced him with nosy grins.
"You're bringing someone?" one of them asked. "Is it a girl?"
"Anyone we know? You sly dog, you."
Ron rolled his eyes. "It's just Her-"
But he was cut off by his mother.
"Oh Ronnie, of course we have room for a guest!" she said with a smile. "I just hope she doesn't mind a bit of a mess."
Looking around, Ron understood what she meant by that. Ever since Bill and Fleur had started to bring over their children, nothing had been safe anymore. Every single room was a mess. But Hermione would understand, so that wasn't a problem at all. Besides, she had been to the Burrow so many times before that she probably wouldn't even notice.
"Mum, she won't mind. She's been-"
"So it is a girl" the twins shouted triumphantly.
Ron sighed loudly. "Will you two get a grip...I asked Hermione to come. You know? Hermione? A friend of mine? Remember?"
But instead of wiping the smirks of their faces, it only seemed to increase them.
"Hermione, eh." George said. ""Well, I suppose we all saw that coming."
"Mind you, I expected it sooner." Fred added. "You two kept us all waiting quite a while."
'Fine.' Ront thought. If they wanted to think that there was something other than friendship between him and Hermione, then fine. He'd leave them their little daydream.
He turned around with a subtle smile and said nothing as he left the kitchen, knowing they would accept that as a conformation of their suspicions. He only hoped Hermione wouldn't mind he had allowed them to set themselves up for this joke.
- - - - - - - - -
"Tess? Have you seen those notes I left here?" Hermione searched the desk frantically.
Her friend shook her head. "No, I think Hoot's secretary took them. I saw her pass by earlier."
"Shit..."
This was just great. The last day before the christmas holiday started and she had managed to lose Kramer's papers on an infringement case involving the nephew of one of the ministers. Could it get any worse?
"Granger! Where are those files on the Puddifoot case? And I need those notes back I gave you to copy this morning. Did you finish that?"
Hermione closed her eyes and took a deep breath before turning around.
"Well...I've, er, I think mister Hoot has them now, miss Kramer." She said, quickly burrying herself in the file cabinet to dig up the other file before she would find herself the subject of Kramer's rant.
"That miserably old goat..." she heard the woman whisper. "Never lets me do my job...always interfering."
"Here you go, miss Kramer." Hermione said loudly, pushing the Puddifoot files into her hands forcefully.
She couldn't stand it when her two other bosses nagged about mr. Hoot. Mr. Hoot was a friendly old man, a man who made you feel at ease when you talked to him. He reminded her of an old grandfather.
He was the one who had founded this firm together with help from mr. Andersson. Miss Kramer, however, had somehow managed to work her way up in this lawfirm, growing from a secretary into a partner.
'Probably using Andersson as a leg-up.' She thought to herself.
"Hermione, it'almost five thirty. You should get ready." Tess said suddenly.
Hermione looked at the clock. "Oh, you're right."
She turned away from miss Kramer and tried to catch a glance of herself in the window, trying to get her hair to sit a bit more decent. Kramer looked from Hermione to Tess and back again.
"Are you going somewhere? Aren't you staying for our party?"
"She's been invited to a friend's for christmas." Tess said quickly with a cheeky grin. "To Ron Weasley's, am I right?"
Hermione turned around again. "Oh, don't you start as well. We had quite enough of that at school, thank you."
"...Weasley, you said?" Vivian Kramer said surprised.
Hermione stopped in the middle iof the proces of wrapping her scarf around her neck and looked up. "...Yeah. Do you know him?"
"Oh...vaguely...Well, I suppose I could let you go a few minutes early. It's christmas after all."
Vivian Kramer suddenly looked a lot friendlier.
"Oh, no need." Hermione said slowly. "Ron's picking me up here."
She buttoned up her jacket and gathered the rest of her things into her bag.
"Is it alright if I take the Emmerdale files with me? I think I can copy this out for you during the holidays, no problem."
Vivian nodded slowly and walked towards the doors.
"That's fine...you know...I remember you saying you needed a courtcase to write a report about for class, right? Copy those files twice and keep one pair for your research. It's a good subject."
Hermione raised her eyebrow at this kindness. "Thank you..."
"Oh, no problem at all." Vivian said loftily, "Now, if you could just bring in another round of coffee before you go..."
Hermione nodded and waited till Vivian had left the room before sighing heavily. "See what I mean? I bring coffee and I owl mail. That's pretty much all I do around here."
"And what was all that sudden niceness about?" Tess asked.
Hermione shrugged. "I don't know, but it scared me. I think I even prefer it when they order me around. Though I'd love to assist them, or something like that. I'm not here to become a barmaid."
"That sounds like the Hermione I know." Said a cheerful voice from the opening of the office doors.
She broke into a smile and threw her arms around his neck.
"Ron! You're early! You're not...ill, are you?" she asked him in mock-suspicion.
He laughed loudly and then she released him from the hug. "Ron, this is Tess. We work together. Tess, this is Ron. I'll be right back after I delivered their coffee."
"You might want to hurry up, too." Tess said quietly. "That cow is looking at us through the blinds."
Hermione and Ron turned around and immediately the blinds snapped shut. Ron looked at Hermione questioningly, but Hermione shrugged her shoulders.
"She's never this weird...I'd better get her her coffee."
She excused herself and grabbed the tray. When Hermione was out of earshot Tess clucked her tongue.
"So you're the infamous Ronald Weasley. I've heard quite a lot about you from Hermione. It's nice to finally see a face to go with the name."
She extended her hand and Ron shook it.
"Nice to meet you too. I'm glad Hermione has at least one friendly collegue to work with. She wasn't too happy with her bosses, but now I see why."
Tess laughed. "Yeah, superiors can be a real pain, but I'm sure you've got to put up with the same thing. Or don't you work at an office?"
"Nope, I train the Tornado's youth team...Quidditch is pretty much the only thing I'm good at." He said appologetically.
"Hey, that sounds really cool." Tess said excitedly. "Sportsplayers are always cool, but training the youthteam makes them extra cute."
Ron's ears turned crimson as Tess gave him a wink. Sensing he was starting to feel uncomfortable, she changed the subject.
"Say Ron...does the name Vivian Kramer ring a bell?"
"...Can't say it does..." Ron said, sounding relieved that they were talking about something else now. "Vivian Kramer...Hmm, well vaguely, perhaps. But I can't say for sure."
"Hmm...she knew your name vaguely too. She was so surprised when she heard it."
"Perhaps she went to school with me. Or more likely with one of my brothers."
The door behind them opened and closed as hermione came back with an empty tray. She threw it aside and picked up her bag.
"Well, let's go!" she said brightly.
"You sure you've got everything?" Ron asked, offering her his arm. "Ready to go?"
She giggled and took it. "You bet. It's so wonderful to know I'm going to the Burrow again. I've missed everyone."
They waved goodbye to Tess, who gave Ron another wink just as he was turning away again, causing his ears to go crimson all over again. Then they left the office and made their way down Diagon Alley.
Once they had reached the Leaky Cauldron, Ron halted.
"Before we apparate..." he said hesitantly. "They might act a bit...funny back home."
Hermione looked at him curiously. "Is Ginny still that mad at me then?"
"No! No, it's not that at all...it's just that, you see, they think that you and I...because I invited you, you know?"
Hermione let out a soft chuckle. "Do they really? Haven't they learned over the years?"
"And because they wouldn't listen to me I just let them think what they wanted to think. I hope you don't mind."
"Mind? Not at all. I think It's a good joke. But how will we end it?"
"We'll think about that later." Ron said, laughing. "We're already a bit late and you know my mum..."
She nodded. "Right, let's go then. Let's give your brothers something to talk about."
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