"Send me through the details Hermione," Bill was saying over the speaker, "And I'll take a look. I don't think there'll be a problem. Muriel is as good as her word; the money is being deposited, regular as clockwork."
Hermione made a note in her pad and thanked him.
The family meeting was smaller than usual, even by recent standards. Bill had phoned in from Lyon and Harry, Hermione and Ginny sat around the table. Charlie had declined which was fairly normal. Oddly, Arthur and Molly were also absent; a curt email from Molly said they had something on that day.
Ginny rolled her eyes as they took their seats. "God alone knows what they're up to. They seem to have gotten their second wind after being in bed all winter with flu. Mum was Googling ballroom dancing classes the other day. When I asked her why she just gave me this twee little smile and said 'You never know when you might get the opportunity to dance'. I think they've taken up drinking secretly."
The heat was rising quickly in the conference room and there seemed to be an unspoken agreement that it was best to wrap things up quickly, something Harry was able to do much more effectively now there weren't so many Weasleys wanting their say.
Having given a swift summation of the recent work on the tapestry in the McGonagall chamber, Hermione handed back to Harry who was noting, with some satisfaction, that they had covered everything in less than an hour when the conference door suddenly slapped open. The noise reverberated around the walls, causing everyone at the table to start.
"Guess who's back!"
Simultaneously, George and Fred leaped into the room arm in arm and commenced a little jig.
"Holy shit!" Ginny jumped to her feet.
Next through the door was Percy, looking immaculately groomed and cool despite having just taken an overnight trans-Atlantic flight.
Hermione sat very still, lost for a moment in shock.
Fred and George were still taking up much of the doorway and Percy manoeuvred round them with a good-natured shake of his head. Ginny reached Percy first and pulled him into a hug, which he accepted, slightly surprised.
"You're here!" Ginny exclaimed, releasing him and looking into his face for answers.
"Couldn't keep away!" hollered George. "Did you miss us?"
Finally realising what this meant, what it could mean, Hermione's gaze travelled to the doorway. The rest of the room seemed to blur a little; all the noise and camaraderie and back slaps and hugs. She just stared very hard at the space behind the twins and held her breath.
"Bloody hell, shift yourselves will ya?"
And then, there he was and even after she could see him, she still couldn't draw a breath. He loomed tall behind his elder brothers before stooping slightly to be enveloped in a quick succession of hugs from Ginny and Harry. He had developed more freckles, an indiscriminate smattering over the bridge of his nose and his hair had been trimmed short, probably under protest.
Hermione knew then that she had expected Ron to look worse than when he left; faded and thinner. She realised that she had wanted him to, as though that would mean he had been miserable without her. She wanted it to be obvious. It was a selfish thought and she didn't enjoy thinking it.
The fact was, Ron didn't look worse. His hair had been cut so it lay softly across his forehead, the redness of it bright against his light tan. His eyes were brilliant blue and they sparkled as he was caught up in the happy commotion of his family reuniting. His navy, long-sleeved t shirt was new, she was embarrassed to note, and his jeans… reminded her of what Nicola had said the night of the Christmas party. Filled out in all the right places.
Keen to dampen the flush blossoming in her cheeks, Hermione stood up, clenching her pen in her hand so tightly she feared she'd shatter the plastic. Ron looked up and smiled, his eyes widening as though drinking in the sight of her.
He took a step in her direction but was interrupted by the entrance of his parents.
"Hah! What a good trick we pulled on you!" Molly crowed, grabbing Ginny's arm gleefully.
"You knew?" Ginny exclaimed.
"'Course we did," Molly cried, "We picked them up from the airport ourselves. Couldn't wait to see the look on your faces!"
"What is going on?" Bill yelled from the conference speaker and Molly hustled her family to the table so they could speak to her eldest son. Ron hung back and moved to where Hermione stood leaning against her chair.
"Surprise!" he said, waving his arms like a Jack-in-the-Box.
Hermione licked her lips, unsurprised to find them bone dry.
"Welcome home," she replied, for want of anything better to say.
"Thanks. I'm bloody knackered. I must look like hell." He laughed, looking as far from hell as Hermione thought was humanly possible.
"No. You look great. You got a tan."
Ron looked down at his forearm. "A bit. Weasleys aren't meant to stay in the sun. We crisp."
He took a step towards her. "So," he said, his voice softer and lower, "How have you been?"
"I…"
From behind Ron, Sylvain appeared and looked around the room in astonishment. "Heavens, where did you lot appear from?"
Fred and George started talking at once, before being shushed by Molly who said a celebration was in order and could Sylvain fetch a few bottles of bubbly?
Sylvain didn't need telling twice and made a dash for the door. As an afterthought, he turned and said, "Not that I'm your secretary or anything Hermione, but Professor Archer is here. She's at the front desk."
Hermione lifted her notebook and nodded. To Sylvain, she said, "Thank you."
Then she turned and look up at Ron. "I have to go."
The room felt excruciatingly quiet as she walked past everyone and she hoped it was just her imagination.
As she walked out to the reception, she attempted to readjust her face into a welcoming smile, though her mind was still reeling with questions. Why had they returned early and why without telling anyone?
As she approached Professor Archer and reached for her hand, Hermione pushed everything in her mind downwards forcefully, secreting it in the back of her brain for later examination.
OOO
Ron bounced on his toes, unable to sit still so he had resorted to standing which wasn't much better really. Since Hermione had left the room so abruptly he'd been on edge. Scratch that- he'd been on edge since the plane had left JFK. Her leaving the room had just elevated his anxiety. Around him everyone was chattering excitedly and slopping fizzy wine into tumblers.
As the story emerged of what had happened in New York, he stayed quiet and allowed his brothers to tell it. The outcome was unexpected and Ginny, Harry and Bill reacted in a predictably loud and gregarious fashion.
"We decided to bring them home," Molly was saying, clasping Percy's hand tightly. "We had been talking about it and suddenly it was really obvious how ridiculous it was. We knew then that it didn't matter what Muriel said, or about the money…"
"We had to bring them home," Arthur finished, grinning.
Molly raised her eyebrows mischievously. "So we rang Muriel to discuss it but, of course, by then it was too late…"
And then the noise rose sharply again as everyone tried to speak at once and Ron found himself losing interest again.
Outside, Ottery was wearing all her best Summer colours, which gave him a little comfort. The very soul of him was glad to be back, he could feel the familiarity of the castle seeping back into his bones, as though replacing everything that was leached from him by being away. But it wasn't enough.
"You okay mate?" Ron was surprised to find Harry at his elbow when he turned from the window.
Ron nodded. "Yeah, just a bit shattered. Long flight and the old bod' has no idea what friggin' time it is."
"It's good to have you back," Harry said quietly. "We've missed you." He paused and then added, "Some of us quite a bit more than others I'd say."
"Not that you'd know it," Ron snorted. "Couldn't get out of here quick enough for her meeting."
Something passed across Harry's face.
"What? Tell me."
"Kath Archer is Head Curator for the Royal households. Hermione had to ask me if it was okay for her to cut the family meeting short if it ran on. So she could meet with her. Don't think she wanted to tell me but she sort of felt she had to. They're looking for a Keeper of Collections and she's applied for it. I think this is kind of a preliminary meeting to feel each other out."
Automatically, Ron replied, "She can't leave. She has to finish her contract."
Harry shrugged. "We can't force her to stay. Anyway, she hasn't got the job or anything. She's just…looking. For when the contract runs out."
"So all this doesn't matter then." Ron cast his arm out to encompass the room, the Weasleys still loudly conversing.
"Tell her. See what she says."
OOO
When Hermione looked up at the clock and discovered it was five fifteen she was surprised. On seeing Ron that morning she had anticipated the day would be unbearably difficult to get through. Knowing that he was in the castle somewhere felt like the most distracting thing possible and yet, the working day was almost over, with hardly a thought to his whereabouts.
Katherine Archer had, it seemed, turned out to be more distracting than Ron today and she had given Hermione much to think about.
Her computer shut down with a soft whirr and she sat for a moment staring at the black screen. Once or twice this afternoon she thought she had heard someone outside her office door but no-one knocked. She wondered if it had been Ron.
Rising out of her chair and exiting her room, she walked along the corridor, heading towards the general office at the end. Harry was locking the door when she arrived.
He didn't exactly smile on seeing her but gave more an aloof nod.
"Good meeting?"
Hermione had been disappointed when she realised Professor Archer's visit was going to butt against a family meeting; she hadn't intended on making it public knowledge and it had been hard to have to explain it to Harry.
"It was… enlightening."
Harry tossed the keys between his hands for a moment before saying, "Ron's upstairs unpacking."
When she didn't move, he added, "He has a lot I think you'll want to hear."
Ron's bedroom door stood open and as she walked towards it, Hermione could see Ron pulling clothes from his suitcase and dropping them into piles on the floor. All these weeks and months she had wondered how it would feel to have him back in the castle where she felt he belonged. Would her feelings have changed? Would his?
With monumental effort, she lightly tapped the door and his head turned sharply.
"Welcome back."
He smiled a little warily. "You already said that."
He dropped the sweater he'd been examining onto the bed and held an arm out.
"So, are you gonna hug me or what?"
His embrace was warm and the brittleness in her body gently melted the longer they stood.
"It's nice to be home," he murmured before inhaling and Hermione wondered if he was smelling her hair.
She pulled away reluctantly and sat on the bed.
"You came back early." It was a pointless thing to say and she immediately felt stupid. Why was she struggling to speak to him normally? Being in the room alone with him now, the previous months felt like years.
He sighed. "Yeah. There's a bit of a story to that actually."
"Does it have a happy ending?"
His mouth twitched. "For some of us. Maybe not all of us."
When she didn't answer he said, "Are you leaving then?"
Bloody Harry. She'd kill him.
"It was only a meeting. It wasn't even an interview. Anyway, I have to leave at some point. You said it yourself, there's no money once this contract runs out."
Ron started sorting his clothes again.
"Aside from the money," he said, "Ignoring that for a moment…"
"Pretty hard to ignore, Ron."
"Just do it anyway," he persisted, rifling through the pockets of a pair of shorts. "Did this Archer woman seem interested? Is it a good offer?"
It was Hermione's turn to sigh and she wondered how honest to be.
"Yes and no, I suppose."
Ron didn't look up. "More yes than no?"
She felt herself smile, despite the seriousness of his tone.
"About even I'd say. The job would be amazing, I mean, to actually be the Royal Keeper of Collections. It would be massive. A life changing opportunity. Assuming I would even have a shot at it which is something else altogether."
"Of course you'd have a shot at it. You're brilliant."
Ron spoke so softly it made the breath catch in Hermione's throat and it took her a few seconds to regain the ability to carry on.
"Well… thank you. That's the plus side of it anyway."
He raised an eyebrow as if to say 'And?'
"Of course on the downside, I'd have to leave Ottery. It's not the end of the world… I mean we always knew I'd probably have to go at some point but…"
The last word suspended itself in the air between them and neither of them spoke.
Hermione tried to anticipate what Ron would say next. It was a terrible habit of an overactive, sometimes nervy mind. She was always looking to foresee what was around the bend, so she could prepare for it.
That being said, there was nothing she could have done to prepare herself for Ron's next words.
"Percy's getting married."
Hermione blinked. "What? Percy?"
Ron grinned. "Yep. Audrey Acton-Basley. The third. Or maybe fourth. Father owns… oh, fuck knows. Everything. Shopping centres, luxury goods brands, publishing houses. He was an early investor in Bit Coin I think. Worth a friggin' fortune."
Hermione put a hand to her temple in her difficulty to register this new information.
"They met in America?"
"Second week we were there," Ron replied, suddenly sounding a lot more cheerful.
"And they're getting married?" Hermione was incredulous.
"I know! Came as a bit of a shock to all of us, including Percy I think. He's never been the romantic type. But there you have it."
Hermione sat wordlessly on the bed for a moment, staring up at Ron. She wasn't sure what question to ask next. In the end, she plumped for the most obvious, if the most irrelevant.
"What's she like? Audrey?"
Ron scrunched his nose as he thought.
"She's sweet. I mean, she's grown up so bloody rich, only child of a wealthy dad, boarding school, the works. She's had pretty much the exact upbringing of Clemmie Noth and you couldn't get further from that nasty piece of work. She plays an orchestra of bloody instruments and she's really into music. Actually got a look at her Spotify playlist and there was some pretty interesting stuff on there. Told her about your techno obsession and she approved. Likes a bit of noise herself."
He shrugged. "I dunno. She just seems… nice. And crazy about Percy, my God. I mean I like Percy as much as the next guy but Audrey thinks he's the bees' knees."
"Where did Percy meet her?"
"Some tennis match or other. Sat next to her apparently and they started talking and that was that. Percy didn't want to do anything else other than hang out with Audrey."
Ron looked bemused. "Anyway, last week he told us he was going to ask her to marry him and you could have knocked me down with half a friggin' feather. I thought he was joking, to wind Muriel up. But nope. He was serious. Mum rang literally two days later, preparing to have it out with Muriel. Instead, Muriel's happy as a pig in shit and only too delighted to send us home ahead of her. She's going to stay with one of her coven in America for the rest of the trip so they can rub their hands together and plan how to lord it over everyone that Percy landed Audrey."
The mention of Muriel brought Hermione back to earth. "What did she say? Muriel."
Ron rolled his eyes and replied, "Almost wet herself. Audrey is apparently a very eligible young woman. That was all you got out of her, honestly." He raised his voice to a high, raspy pitch, "It doesn't matter that she has a face like a donkey Ronald. She's a very eligible young woman."
Hermione felt a little shiver roam erratically down her back. After a beat she said quietly, "And there were a lot of these eligible young women around?"
"Oh, tonnes of them," he replied breezily, not picking up on the loaded nature of the question. "Muriel is well connected. Imagine America being full of Muriels; rich old bags with nothing better to do than match make for their kids and their grandkids and the kids of their friends… That's what it's like. She took tea every day with one rich bag after another and they all had eligible young women to meet."
"Was Percy the only one who met someone?"
Ron lifted a shoe, sniffed it and then threw it behind him before answering.
"You mean Fred and George? They had a field day. Muriel was bigging them up, talking about the business like they were running parties for bloody celebrities. Introduced them to a few people who might be very good for their business, going forward. They loved it of course, went to everything Muriel sent them to, but I don't think there was anyone special."
"I meant you. Actually."
She hadn't meant to say it, not quite like that, and she regretted it the second she had because Ron didn't respond straight away which felt acutely painful. Hermione did not consider herself to be a heart-on-sleeve type of woman and every act, no matter how minute, that opened her up also made her vulnerable. Not a sensation she enjoyed.
Ron's forehead creased, as though he didn't really comprehend what she was trying to say. Infuriating, because she felt she couldn't be any plainer.
Tell me. If it's bad news, just tell me.
Finally, he simply said, "Me?" and she continued to hold his gaze, though she could feel her bottom lip tremble.
Not knowing how to answer, she shrugged.
Ron threw the t-shirt he was holding back into the suitcase and pushed it across to the other side of the bed. Then he sat down next to her and said softly, "If only you knew how impossible what you just said was."
He paused.
"You should know. I told you. Before I went away. I told you I was coming back. To you."
"Things change. We agreed…"
"Nope, you agreed," he interrupted, not unkindly. "I agreed to nothing. It was you that wanted us not to speak while I was away and you that said we had to put things on ice and not tell anyone what was going on between us."
Hermione cleared her throat. "I thought it was best."
"Best for who? Not best for me. Was it best for you?"
He turned his head and looked at her. His big hands cupped his knee caps and she noticed his knuckles were white.
"Sometimes. It felt best." He nodded slowly. "And then sometimes no. It felt horrible."
He nodded again. "Good. 'Cos it felt horrible for me all the time. I didn't go away to find a wife, Hermione. I went so we could save the castle."
Horrifyingly, Hermione felt a tear spring at the corner of her eye. She longed to wipe it away but daren't draw attention to it. It rolled down the side of her face- thankfully the cheek furthest from Ron- and she let it.
"It was something that needed done. Some of it was nice, sure. It was nice spending time with my brothers actually. Hadn't really expected that. Without the castle bullshit hanging over our heads, we were just able to chill. That was cool. We were able to talk."
"What did you talk about?"
Hermione cursed herself as she asked yet another futile question.
When was she going to generate the courage to ask the relevant ones?
He sighed. "The business mainly, of course. Mum and Dad, what we're going to do when they start really needing us. And you, a bit."
"Me?" It wasn't lost on her that she sounded just as surprised as Ron had done moments earlier saying the same thing.
Ron smiled ruefully. "Told you we weren't going to be able to pull the wool over the family's eyes. They've been on to us from the very beginning."
Hermione didn't know how to feel about this statement. "From when? When did they know?" she finally asked.
"Cider press probably or before. Fred says you used to blush when you saw me."
"I did not!" Even now, she felt herself colour.
Ron laughed. "He said I was worse, if it's any consolation. Said I used to follow you around, looking for excuses to hang out with you. George said if they couldn't find me in the castle they'd just find you and I'd be there." He shook his head. "I sound pathetic, when you hear it like that."
"You aren't pathetic," she countered immediately. "You…"
Are gorgeous and kind and wonderful.
"…aren't pathetic."
He grinned. "Thanks. Anyway, they were all wondering why we hadn't said anything and what I was even doing there and I told them what we had agreed- what you had agreed- and your mad ideas."
"And did they think they were 'mad ideas'?"
"No, they understood your reasoning better than me, I think, and they appreciated the fact that you were understanding about me coming. It was good to tell them actually because then they knew they were on their own. That if anyone was going to meet someone, it wasn't going to be me."
"No?"
"Absolutely not," he replied firmly. "They wouldn't have let me anyway, even if I'd wanted to. They like you too much. But I didn't want to. Not when I got there, not after three months. There wasn't anyone there… even close."
He studied her face for a moment before speaking again. "What I don't understand is why you would think there would have been."
Hermione could feel a lump building in her throat, which was maddening. What the hell was she crying about? She never cried.
"I don't know," she replied quietly, trying to talk around the lump. "We weren't seeing each other that long before you left…"
"But I told you!" Ron exclaimed, snatching her hand from her lap. "I told you I was coming back and we would be together. Stare decisis, remember? To stand by things decided."
"How did I know what would happen when you went to New York?" Hermione answered, sharper than she had intended.
"You could have trusted me."
"And you?" she fired back, "Did you trust me? Were you completely certain things wouldn't have changed for me?"
He tapped the back of her hand lightly with his fist. "Okay, I'll admit I was slightly worried that prick that bought my Spider might have been lurking about." He held up his other hand. "Fair point."
Hermione sniffed. "So imagine how I felt. You disappearing off to swan about for months on end at parties and posh events. Having women stuffed under your nose every five minutes…"
Ron's eyebrows raised. "That's graphic."
"You know what I mean," she grumbled. "It was easier for you. You knew I was just here, working away. There's no-one here to distract me." Absently she added, "Except Harry I suppose," as an afterthought.
Ron yanked her hand. "I don't think so Miss Curator."
The use of her nickname brought a smile to her face, an echo of their old, easy back-and-forth.
"Why not?" Hermione said airily. "Harry's cute."
"There's no way Harry Potter is stealing my girl!" Ron laughed. He pulled her under his arm and she let him. "Sorry Granger, if you're gonna stay then it's me or nothing.
After a beat, he said, "You're going to stay, aren't you?"
He couldn't see her face and he wondered what she was thinking.
Eventually she responded, lifting her head. "I don't know. I mean, there's the money to think about…"
"Don't worry about the money," he cut in quickly. "Percy's getting hitched to an Acton-Whatnot. Her dad's dying about the castle apparently- you know bloody Americans and castles. He's giving Percy a big chunk of cash as a wedding present. We'll be able to fix the place up, just the way we want it. And pay you of course. Things round here will be so much better."
Hermione considered this. Earning her wage had always been the primary sticking point when it came to staying at Ottery and, she had thought, the only one. Now, though, it seemed she felt a little differently.
"What? What is it?"
She pulled away from him and stood up. "It's going to sound weird."
"Tell me. Whatever it is, we'll work it out."
Hermione bit her lip. "Things are different around here now. With you all being gone, we've got into a different sort of routine. I've been attending the family meetings and helping Harry with the running of the place and it's been fun."
Ron frowned. "So?"
"So now you're back and everything changes again."
He looked uncertain. "It sounds like you didn't want me to come back."
Hermione shook her head quickly. "No, that's not it at all. Of course I wanted you to come back."
She stepped towards him and took his hand again, realising that she wasn't explaining herself very well and that he was starting to feel hurt.
"I missed you so much. Much more than I thought I would."
Ron looked a little mollified.
"But I enjoyed having a bit more of a say in the business and making decisions. I even got a walkie-talkie!"
She gestured to the radio on her belt.
"I saw that," Ron grinned.
"That was why I applied for the job with Professor Archer. I knew I probably wouldn't be able to stay here and the Keeper of Collections would be a huge responsibility. And I like that. I'm better when I'm making decisions and in charge."
"So all this comes down to the fact that you want to attend the Weasley family meetings?"
Hermione made a face. "Amongst other things. I like attending them."
Ron rolled his eyes. "Jesus, you must be the only one. Wait 'til Harry hears. He'll be thrilled someone actually wants to go."
He steepled their fingers and pulled her closer to him, so his knees butted against her thighs.
"So that's it then is it? You want to go to the family meetings and have an equal say?"
"Not an equal say! That wouldn't be right, I'm not family."
"You're as good as."
Ron slid to the edge of the bed, placing one foot either side of Hermione's, capturing her body within his legs. She wasn't a particularly small woman but she was small compared to him and he liked that. Propped against the bed, their faces were almost the same height.
Reaching up, he smoothed her hair from either side of her face where it had escaped from her ponytail.
"Done."
She looked surprised. "Seriously? Just like that?"
"Just like that," he shrugged. "Easiest decision I ever made."
"Don't you have to ask the family?"
Ron slid a little closer; he could feel the heat radiating from her body and he badly wanted to be near it. In it.
"The family will agree. They all love you and your ideas and your work ethic. They aren't going to fight me on this."
Hermione was still unsure. "I'd prefer that they signed off on it."
Ron clicked his tongue impatiently and unclipped the radio from her belt.
"Harry, are you there?"
After a blast of staticky dead air, Harry came back. "Yep, what's up?"
"Who's there with you?"
"Uh, Gin, your mum and dad, Fred and George and Percy. We're in the bar celebrating the good news. Are you coming down?
Hermione raised her eyebrows questioningly and Ron shook his head faintly.
"In a bit. Tell the family I want to make Hermione a voting member at the meetings full-time. She deserves to have an equal say if she's going to stay. Ask them if anyone has any objections."
There was a pause and Hermione thought she heard a muffled squeal in the background. Eventually Harry replied, "Hold on."
The silent seconds that passed seemed enormous. Hermione nipped at her bottom lip furiously, while Ron looked completely unconcerned. He could feel the tension tracking through her body and he closed his thighs tight around hers. Her hand felt cold in his- at odds with the warmth of the rest of her- and he brought it to his mouth and kissed it.
Hermione swallowed.
Suddenly the radio squawked back to life. "No objections mate!"
Hermione felt her heart leap. "Don't you have to ask everyone? Charlie and Bill too?"
"It's a majority vote. Even if they said no it wouldn't matter. Which they wouldn't." Ron grinned. "Hermione Granger, you're official."
The sweet happiness on her face made Ron feel a little woozy. Being with her now reminded him how much he had missed seeing her smile. And laugh and scowl and be bossy and tell him off. Finally, he felt like he was really home.
"Do I get to kiss you now?" he murmured softly, hand already entangling itself in her curls.
Her smile softened and she moved forward a few inches. Gently she took the radio from his hand and clipped it back onto her belt.
"Oh, you want to keep the walkie-talkie as well now do you?" Ron chuckled. "We never agreed to that. We'll need to have another vote…"
She kissed him then, partly to stop him talking but mostly because she couldn't help herself. He wrapped a strong arm round her and pulled her onto the bed with him and they lost themselves to each other.