Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter, The Wedding Date, or any related characters.

A/N: Happy almost-Wednesday everyone! It's been a hectic week over here, but hope you enjoy this next post. This was a fun chapter to write with lots of character interactions :)

Thank you as always to the lovely accio-broom for beta-ing!

The Wedding Date

Chapter Three

Hermione

Smack.

"OW! Bloody fuck, what the-" Ron's exclamations woke Hermione from her slumber, and her eyes grew wide as she witnessed Ron now cradling his head on the floor. He had a pillow on top of him, and he was glaring daggers up at Hermione. Uh oh.

"Ron! What are you doing down there?"

"What am I doing? You chucked the pillow at me in your sleep and made me roll over onto the floor," he muttered back angrily.

Hermione couldn't recall what she was dreaming about, but she wasn't used to having a man take up space in her bed. Hermione identified herself as a "bed hogger" and liked to spread out across the mattress when sleeping.

"Do you usually assault the people who share your bed?"

"Only the ones who complain about it," she shot back. Ron blinked at her for a moment and then let out a hearty chuckle.

"Fair enough, Granger." Ron lifted an eyebrow as his eyes focused just below her face. Hermione glanced down and was mortified to find that her thin pyjama top had shifted low enough in her sleep that she was showing him a fair amount of cleavage. She clenched the blankets between her fists and dragged them up to cover her chest area completely.

Ron cleared his throat and changed the subject. "So, what is on the agenda for today?"

"We'll be expected to attend the picnic in the park this afternoon. Stags and hens tonight, as well. You'll be joining Seamus' group. Fair warning - nothing is really off-limits for him."

Ron harrumphed. "I suppose McLaggen will be there, as well?"

Hermione heard the irritation in his voice. "Cormac will be there, yes."

Ron grunted and stood up from his spot on the floor. "I think I'll go get washed up."

Hermione nodded and brushed a curl behind her ear as she averted her gaze whilst Ron stood up and stretched, revealing a large patch of skin between his pyjama shirt and bottoms.

Ron left the door to the loo open a crack, but the gap was just large enough for Hermione to have a decent view of his backside. She gulped as he dropped his boxers and revealed his firm, round arse. There were so many freckles littering his bum, and it made her wanna…

She was so wrapped up in her thoughts that it took her a moment to find Ron peering back at her through the crack, now concealing his naked form behind the door.

"Er...you think you could hand me a towel?"

Hermione's cheeks burned. She hastily made her way across the room to the stack of folded towels and exchanged one through the door.

"Brilliant, thanks," he grinned at her and resumed his task. Hermione was acutely aware of the fact that he didn't bother closing the door again, even after he caught her staring. Did that mean he enjoyed that I was ogling him like the daily special?

Ron

Ron wished that he had brought his sunblock along with him to the park, positive that his pale skin would bake in the scorching heat.

They had arrived just as a generous spread of sandwiches, crisps, and fruit platters were displayed across several large picnic tables in the area. Ron's eyes lit up as he swiftly moved his legs forward to join the line of guests and was handed a plate by Mr. Granger, who was standing in front of him, which he took graciously. He loaded up his own plate with two sandwiches, a hefty amount of crisps, and a double serving of fruit. As he was licking the salt from the crisps off of his thumb, he found that Hermione was staring at him with judgmental eyes, her own plate still empty.

"What? I'm hungry," he defended himself, only earning an exasperated sigh back. Ron observed Hermione as she added half of a sandwich and a measly amount of fruit to her plate, skipping the crisps entirely.

She gestured for him to follow her, and they migrated over to an empty table. Ron noticed that she pointedly ignored her parents, who tried to wave them over to where they were sitting. He smiled courteously back at them but followed Hermione's lead and sat across from her at the table she chose. Ron surveyed the wedding party and realised that Seamus and Lavender had yet to arrive.

"Hiya, you two!" Harry nudged Hermione as he came to sit next to her at the table, his own plate almost as full as Ron's. I knew I liked that bloke.

"Harry!" Hermione placed a relieved hand on his shoulder. "Have I told you yet just how happy I am that you're here?"

Harry's mouth twitched. "Shouldn't you be saying that to your date?"

Hermione's mouth fell open, and her eyes darted between Ron and Harry. "No, that's not what I-"

She was interrupted by the two men as they erupted into a fit of laughter. Hermione glared at both of them, and Ron knew that she was entirely confused by the whole exchange. "Now, just what do you think-"

"Oh, I'm just taking the mickey, Hermione," Harry patted her back while he grinned. "Look, I'm happy you're here, too. You don't know what it has been like; Lavender calling me way too early in the morning to ask about table settings. How the fuck am I supposed to know?"

"Oh, is Harry whining again about having to help out with bridesmaid duties?" Lavender snickered as she draped an arm around Harry's shoulder. He winced, not having heard her come up from behind them.

Hermione raised her eyebrows when Harry looked at her pleadingly. "I can't save you here, Potter. Should've thought twice before ganging up on me with Ron." She threw a dirty look over at Ron, and he couldn't help but laugh.

"Ron, do you play cricket?" Lavender questioned, her eyes hopeful.

"I've played some, yeah," he shrugged back coolly through a mouthful of crisps. Hermione shook her head at him, and he knew she was displeased with his lack of table manners.

"Brilliant," Lavender beamed. "Well, I need to go mingle with the rest of our guests. Match will begin soon after lunch!" She skipped off without another word.

"She's like a fleeting ship in the night, that one," Harry surmised, and all three at the table chuckled.

Their laughter quieted down when they spied Cormac heading straight their way, not stopping until he was standing at the edge of the table closest to Hermione. Ron noticed the way she straightened in her seat.

He leaned against the table, awkwardly close to Hermione, but didn't acknowledge her directly. "Potter, Weasley, shall I expect to see you both on the field today?"

"Wouldn't miss it," Harry threw back quickly.

"I'll be playing, too," Hermione piped in, arms crossed, clearly offended by Cormac's blatant disregard for her.

"I thought you didn't care for sport?" Cormac scrunched up his face.

"I don't care for cricket," Hermione retorted briefly before standing abruptly, dusting the crisps from her fingertips, and walking off with her empty plate. Ron was impressed by her confidence. He only shrugged at Cormac, who glumly watched Hermione walk away before Ron followed after her.

After the picnic, the entire wedding party split into two teams of batters and bowlers. Cormac and Seamus took the lead on the bowler side, with Cormac haughtily insisting that he take the reins on bowling the balls to the batsman. Seamus happily retreated to the field, close to the wicket-keeper, and clapped his hands to signal the match was about to start.

Lavender took to the pitch as the first striker and grabbed the flat cricket bat, angling it appropriately towards the open field. Harry stood at the other end of the pitch as the second batter.

Cormac grinned wickedly at Lavender as he bounced the round, red leather ball around in his hands. He made an exaggerated gesture of blowing on the ball for "good luck" and rolled the ball between his fingers before getting into position.

"Good luck, Ms. Brown," Cormac taunted flirtatiously, and Ron cringed at the expression. Lavender appeared uncomfortable by Cormac's advances, but she quickly masked the emotion with a smile.

"You're on!"

Cormac bowled the ball, and it bounced up towards the batting stick. Lavender hit the ball, and it flew out to the corner of the field, bopping along the grass as it went. Seamus darted towards the ball as Lavender started to run from one end of the pitch to the other, Harry joining her in the opposite direction.

"Run, you bloody tart, run!" Cormac shouted to Seamus. "Come on, throw it now! Go!"

Lavender squealed as she kept running barefoot, holding her heels in her hands. She reached her bat out to land behind the crease just before Seamus arrived at the pitch with the ball.

Lavender, Hermione, Ron, and Harry all celebrated together for the run completed. Cormac, Ron observed out of the corner of his eyes, was kicking the dirt at the ground in frustration.

"Congratulations, darling! Well played!" Seamus enthusiastically kissed his fiance, leaving Cormac to glare over at him.

Harry was up next as the first batsman, and he stepped behind the batting crease. "Need a refresher on the rules, Potter?"

"Bugger off, McLaggen," Harry sneered back. It was Hermione's turn as the second batter, and Ron grinned at her face of uncertainty as she blinked in the sunlight.

"Remember to just start running towards Harry if he starts running towards you," Ron offered his advice as he stood next to her supportively.

"Brilliant…" Hermione acknowledged, clearly still feeling quite unsure of herself.

When Harry hit the ball, it darted off in a direction similar to Lavender's.

"Go now!" Ron shouted to Hermione, and she started running, as quick as her feet would allow her to, towards the opposite end of the pitch. She high-fived Harry as they passed each other. They were able to score another run before the fielder returned to the pitch.

It was Hermione's turn next as the first batter, but when he glanced over at her, she wasn't paying any attention to the setup. Instead, Hermione took her water bottle and not-so-subtlety poured a small amount of water down her lip, and it dripped messily onto the front of her white blouse. Merlin's beard. What is she trying to do? He saw her give Cormac a flirtatious wave, which he returned, of course. Ron snorted loudly, which earned him a scowl from Hermione.

"Come on, Hermione. You're up." Ron couldn't release the tension in his voice as he called out to her through gritted teeth. She was too busy eying Cormac, who was chatting with Seamus, to notice.

"Hermione!"

"Wh-what? Oh... yeah…" Hermione fumbled as she stepped behind the crease. Ron remained on the other end of the pitch to spot her as the second batter.

Hermione pushed her bum out a little farther than necessary, providing Ron with a pleasant view that restricted the feeling in the lower half of his body.

Hermione seductively held out the batting stick, "Go easy on me, Cormac." What the fucking hell is she doing?

Cormac bowled the ball, and Hermione swung towards it, but the ball flew straight into Seamus' hand, and he caught it before the ball hit the ground.

"OUT!" Cormac bellowed and proceeded to chest bump Seamus. Hermione's shoulders slumped over, but she received encouraging pats on the back from her teammates.

Ron was next up, and Hermione leaned close to whisper, "I think you should try to lose the match," just before giving his hair a tussle and backing away. Yeah fucking right.

Ron sized up the competition. Cormac narrowed his eyes at him and folded into a bowler stance that Cormac likely thought would be perceived as intimidating. The bloody git had no idea Ron spent many years playing cricket on the open field behind his childhood home, affectionately known as "The Burrow."

In one strong swing, Ron struck the ball with his bat, and the ball flew straight out of bounds without bouncing on the ground. An automatic six runs. His team shouted joyously, and Ron took great pride in the seething look on Cormac's face. Hermione herself appeared impressed.

"Come on, Hermione, give your man a good snog!" Lavender instigated.

Hermione laughed nervously and drew her bottom lip between her teeth. Ron gazed wistfully over at her, her hair blowing lightly in the wind that had picked up throughout the breezy afternoon. In an attempt to show his approval and perhaps stick it to Cormac a bit, Ron reached out his hands and gestured her over. "C'mere."

Hermione's eyes went round, and her cheeks grew pink. Nevertheless, she stumbled over to Ron, and he reached his arms out to steady her at the elbows. He gave her a quick wink and cupped her face in his hands. Careful not to wait too long, and not stir up any suspicion with the several sets of eyes that were watching them closely, he dipped his head low and kissed her full on the mouth. Blimey, her lips were soft. They roamed slowly together at first and then Ron opened his mouth a bit wider to deepen the kiss. A low groan bubbled at the back of his throat, and his senses heightened. On impulse, he lowered his hands to grip her bum and hoisted her so that he was holding her up as her legs wrapped around his waist. They continued snogging enthusiastically, barely registering the cheers and whistles around them.

"Oi! Save some of that for private time, alright?" Harry eventually shouted, causing them to break apart. Ron held Hermione's gaze fiercely, both sets of eyes burning with an indescribable lust that neither really quite expected. He loosened his grip on her bum, and her legs slowly slid down to the ground.

"Well, I don't think you can say there isn't passion between those two!" Jean Granger commented loudly.

Ron couldn't help but agree with Hermione's mum as one of the many thoughts that rapidly moved through his mind. I am in trouble now.