Finally updating this story! I was stuck for a while on this chapter but finally found inspiration! The next chapter is probably going to be massive, so it still might be a while between updates as well, but I promise to never stop :)
Thanks to Cheesy mc Cheeserson (cheesyficwriter) for the beta. She is amazing and the cheesiest of all so go check out her fics right meow!
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As Ron and Rose made their way inside the tent together, Harry was walking outside, his body all bundled up, a steaming cuppa in his hand.
"Going to start watch early," he explained. "We need to be extra careful right now," he said, eyeing Rose.
Ron nodded in agreement, studiously avoiding Hermione's questioning eyes. She was standing right at the opening of the tent and he could tell that she was searching his face for knew that if he were to look back at her, then she would immediately know the truth. Hermione wasn't knew what he and Rose had just been talking about, and he also knew that she would inevitably start asking him questions as soon as she got the chance.
He wasn't quite sure what he would tell her when the time own mind was still reeling with what he had just found out and he knew he needed some time to process it all before repeating anything. While a part of him was glad to finally get the truth out of Rose, he also felt like he needed to go somewhere private and vomit because he didn't like the truth of what he had learned. Because even though losing Hermione wasn't something that he had lived through, it was a reality that a future Ron lived every single day, and that fact alone was enough to make him feel sick.
He was fairly certain that he could protect Hermione now that he knew what was going to happen, but would saving her actually change the future for the people from Rose's time? Or would time just branch off into two separate realities where Hermione was alive in one and dead in the other? He had no idea how it all worked, or how things could be altered, and this was what was making him overwhelmingly nervous.
And what about that thing Rose said about the timeline being 'set'? What if it was that Hermione was meant to die at that particular point in time and he would be completely powerless to stop it? Sure, he could prevent her from being killed by that man, but what if she were to just immediately die in another way that he wasn't able to prevent?
Again, he didn't know, but he did know that he would do whatever he had to do in order to make sure that she would be okay. He had never felt more grateful that Hermione was there, that she was safe; at least for the time being. He was glad that he had years to figure it all out; surely he would find answers long before he needed to. He knew that he would do his damndest to make sure that she would be able to live a full life- a full life with him. Yes, he decided that he would focus on that. He could not believe that one day she was going to be his wife. She was going to willingly marry him, love him, have a child with him.
So then, what would happen with their daughter? Obviously getting her back to her time needed to be a priority, but since they were almost at the very end of the war, he figured that Bill and Fleur could keep her safe until after Voldemort was finished. The ending of the war had to come first. With Voldemort alive, no one's future was safe.
Ron suddenly felt a desire to get to know his daughter better while she was there with them. He also wanted to be able to show her just how great her future mum was, and dispel any negative feelings that Rose held towards her. Maybe if they couldn't get Rose back to her own time, they could still learn how to be a proper family. It would surely be difficult at first, because they were so young, and Rose was already eight years old, but she was theirs. She was literally what he and Hermione had created together; or would create. The thought of 'maybe they could do this' unexpectedly made him feel exhilarated and positive; they would learn together.
The feeling only lasted a few seconds though, because he knew that the idea was extremely foolish. They were still right in the middle of a bloody war and it wasn't an option to play mummy and daddy when they were both helping the chosen one on his quest to conquer the darkest wizard of all time.
Ron realized that he had just been standing there, staring off into space for who knows how long now. Hermione was curled up in the chair across from the small sofa with a book in her lap, although instead of reading she was looking at him curiously. When Ron looked down at Rose, he saw that the girl was practically falling asleep on her feet, her eyes glazed over as she stood there next to him, her hand still in his. She kept on yawning as well and Ron figured that she had to be knackered. Apparently she had traveled right after dinner, and now that he thought about how many hours that had passed since she had arrived, he was surprised that she had lasted this long without sleeping any.
Wordlessly, he led her to the couch where they both sat down, and Rose wrapped both of her small arms around his left arm before leaning her head onto him. They only sat there in silence for several minutes before he felt her grip on him loosen, and when he looked down at her he saw that her body was now slumped down, her mouth open, with small snores coming out of it.
Again, not knowing what to do, he looked up at Hermione. She gave him a small smile, holding her finger over her lips as she quietly got up and moved towards them.
"Pick her up and put her in your bed," she whispered.
He nodded. It took a bit of maneuvering, but he managed to pull his arm out from between hers before turning his body to grab hold of her. He gently picked her up and carried her to his bed, setting her down as softly as he could manage. Once she was on the bed, Hermione leaned over and pulled the blankets up and around her. Then together, they both stepped back and studied at her.
"She looks the same way that you look when you are sleeping," Hermione remarked.
Ron couldn't help the grin that spread across his face at her words. He turned to her, his eyebrows raised. "So-you watch me when I sleep, do you Hermione?" he jested.
Her eyes widened and her cheeks pinkened as she realized what she had just said. "Well, I mean- we do live in a tent together Ronald! Obviously we have to see each other sleeping at some point."
Ron chuckled at her save. He had spent so many years wondering if she could ever fancy him, and now he knew that she did (well, at least in some capacity at this point in their lives). He still couldn't quite believe that she would one day really be his. He wondered, at what point they would make their feelings known to each other? At what point would they cross that invisible line from friends into something more? What qualities of his would make her fall for him if she hadn't already? How long would they be together before he proposed? How would he propose? Would he make it romantic? He made a mental note to ask Rose a bunch of little details like that.
He stared at Hermione as she studied Rose. If he had thought that it had been hard to control himself around her before, it was nothing to how he felt now. He wanted to kiss her so bloody bad...hell he wanted to do so much more than just kiss her. He briefly wondered when they would start shagging. Just the thought of it made him feel incredibly warm and he had to hastily avert his thoughts before his body betrayed him and outwardly showed evidence of just what he was thinking about. That would be embarrassing to have to explain.
Suddenly, Hermione turned and took off towards the kitchen, motioning for him to follow her. She got to the end of the table before turning around, her gaze determined.
"So," she started. "What were you talking to Rose about earlier?" she pressed. Her tone was light, but he knew exactly what she was playing at.
He didn't want to talk about the fact that he had learned that she was going to be killed, he only wanted to focus on the good things that he had learned. Although, he wasn't even sure that he wanted to tell her those things either. What if it made things awkward between them? Or what if it made her feel that she didn't have a choice in the matter, like she had to be with him now. Would knowing this make her feel trapped? He certainly didn't want to scare her away from the idea. He wasn't even completely sure how deep her feelings for him were at this point and didn't want to mess things up before they had even started.
"Well," he started. "She told me a bit about her mum," he said slowly as he tried to gauge her reaction, deciding to follow that in order to know what to say next.
"Oh!" She looked surprised, and she instantly turned to start folding the clean rags that were on the table, presumably so she would be facing away from him. "That's nice," she said in a curt tone that made it extremely hard for Ron not to laugh. She almost sounded jealous. Definitely a good sign.
"Yeah, apparently I love her very much," he went on. "Completely smitten."
Hermione still didn't look at him, but from the side, he saw her brows furrow in confusion. "Why would she say that she didn't have a mum then? And then, when I was speaking to her, she said that you had raised her alone. Where is her mum then?"
Ron paused. "Well-uh- she's away for work a lot," he lied, rubbing the back of his neck, frustrated with the hole that he had just dug for himself.
Hermione gave him an odd look as if she didn't believe him before shaking her head. "I know that you learned more about what happened to me as well, Ron. I saw the way that you looked at me whenever I peeked outside earlier. And when you two walked back into the tent- you couldn't even look at me properly."
Ron said nothing.
"Do I not have a right to know?" she said sadly. "Tell me Ron, please."
"Should I?" he asked, the panicky feeling that he had earlier instantly coming back. "Would it help anything for you to know? I mean- hell Hermione, it was hard enough just hearing about it, I don't want to have to say it as well."
"So my suspicion was correct then? I'm not alive? In Rose's time, I mean."
He shook his head no, unable to look at her anymore.
"I presume I die in the war?" she asked quietly, but he could hear the trepidation in her voice.
"I know how it happens, Hermione. I know, so you will be fine," he said determinedly. "I'm not going to let anything happen to you, so there's no point in you even worrying about it."
She sighed. "Do you think that it's even possible to save me though? Rose said something about the timeline being 'set' and I have a feeling that it's not as easy as you make it out to be. What if I die in another manner because it's just my time to do so?"
Ron gulped as she voiced the very same idea that he had thought about earlier.
"I-I don't know. Rose did say that it was pretty...complicated. Apparently, future me was traveling back in time trying to...trying to save you," he finally admitted.
He saw her eyes widen and could practically see the gears turning in her head. "How exactly do I die Ron?" she asked.
"You survive the war Hermione." He turned around, starting to pace a bit, cracking his knuckles in frustration. "It's just-just so fucking stupid," he said in an irritated manner.
"What do you mean?" she asked. "How does it happen?"
"Some psychotic fuck escapes from Mungo's, and you being yourself try to help him. And then he kills you. Just like that-and you're gone Hermione!"
He ran his hands through his hair, incensed at the thought. "How could you survive you-know-who, just to be killed by someone who escapes from a fucking hospital!" He was yelling now, anger coursing through him, and unfortunately Hermione was now taking the brunt of it.
"Don't yell at me Ron!" Hermione said shrilly. "Especially for something that I have yet to do! Obviously I made a mistake, but I'm not going to apologize for being compassionate and trying to help someone who I thought needed help."
"Oh of course not. Perfect Hermione. Trying to fucking save everyone," he spat out.
She looked as if he had slapped her. "How dare you Ron. At least I care!"
He scoffed. "Oh and I don't? Hermione! The thought of you dead is making me-making me feel deranged." Still pacing, his fists clenched and unclenched at his sides. He suddenly stopped and stared at her, shaking his head back and forth. "Hermione you don't understand! I just- I can't lose you!" His heart was thumping wildly, his breaths coming out short and fast as he watched her stare back at him with an astonished look on her face.
Her eyes were wide and her lips were parted as she breathed heavily. He had never thought she looked more beautiful than she did at that very moment.
"Ron-"
"Fuck," he growled. In two quick strides he was in front of her, grasping her face in his hands and kissing her hard, his large frame pushing her small one roughly back into the table, making it loudly scoot several inches across the floor.
He could tell that he had taken her completely by surprise, as at first she did not respond except to let out a noise of surprise, but then she was kissing him back, jumping up to sit on the edge of the table as she wrapped her legs around him and pulled him even closer to her. His hands were running up and down her back as her hands tangled in his hair, the feeling of them absolutely incredible.
Something that he could hardly control was taking over him, and he needed more. His fingers went all the way to her lower back before creeping up under her jumper as they made their way back up under it, his rough hands running over her soft skin. Still heavily snogging, one of his hands held her tightly against him between her shoulder blades while the other crept to her front, touching her smooth belly before going higher. He quickly realized that she wasn't wearing a bra and he groaned when he took one of her small but perfect tits and kneaded it in his large hand, reassured that this was okay by the whimpers that she was emitting.
He was grinding himself right in between her legs, needing friction and desperately wishing that there were zero layers of fabric between them. She moaned as he shoved his tongue in her mouth and she reciprocated. She tasted delicious. His fingers lightly pinched and rolled one of her nipples and she gasped and pushed herself harder into him, driving him almost to the point of losing his goddamn mind.
He moved down and started kissing and sucking on her neck as he reached down with both hands, quickly undoing her jeans button and zipper.
"Ron," she murmured softly, his name a breathless whisper.
Taking her saying his name like that as encouragement, his hands grasped the front of her jeans and tried to yank them down but since she was still sitting on top of the table, they didn't budge at all. He wasn't even thinking of what they were currently doing would lead to, he was only thinking of her, of how she would feel. He had already had such a small sample, and he wanted more.
Frustrated, he continued to try and pull her jeans down past her hips.
"Ron," she said louder, her hand now pushing back on his chest.
He immediately stilled, his head dropping against her shoulder as he breathed heavily on her collarbone.
"Ron, we can't..." she said gently.
She rubbed his shoulders as he stepped away, still breathless. "Holy shite Hermione! I'm so sorry, I-"
She jumped up and grabbed the sides of his face. "No. Don't apologize! It's not like I wanted to stop-" he could see the faint blush creeping up her cheeks. "It's just that-your daughter is sleeping just right over th-"
"Our daughter," he cut her off as she stared at him with a bewildered look on her face. "She's ours Hermione. She told me earlier."
"What?" she asked, as she looked as if she had just been hit over the head with a bludger. "But-but she acts like she hates me..."
"She doesn't hate you. She's just jealous, and she blames you for me, well, future me, for being sad all of the time. She's not a bad kid Hermione, she just- she doesn't understand."
"Why didn't you tell me?"
"I wasn't quite sure how you felt about me. I also don't think Rose wants you to know either."
Hermione nodded her head as she glanced towards the side of the tent where Rose was sleeping before looking back at him.
"So," she smiled up at him. "You and me?"
"Yeah." He gave her a sad grin. "At least for a little while." He sighed. "Future me better fucking figure this out Hermione. I really don't know how I'll...I can't imagine living in that life that Rose described to me earlier."
She leaned forward into him, her arms wrapping around his waist as his went around her back, pulling her body closer. "I trust you, Ron. If anyone can figure it out, it's you."
He chuckled. "I think you're thinking of yourself actually. You're the smart one."
She shook her head. "But you're the strong one, Ron. You're the one who will fight to fix it. You won't give up."
He leaned back to stare at her. "No. I won't."
They walked over to the couch and sat down next to each other, way closer than they would have dared before, their bodies pressed tightly together, their hands clasped. Whatever had been keeping them apart before their kiss was completely gone now, and they talked quietly among themselves, smiling and kissing each other softly in between sentences, giving each other reassuring touches, learning each other in this new and exciting way. They both knew that they couldn't do anything more than that; at least for now. Honestly, Ron was just happy to be with her like this, and if Hermione's smiles at him were any indication, then she was just as happy.
He wondered if he should tell her that he was already in love with her and had been for a long time now, but again, he didn't want to come on too strong; even though he had a strong suspicion that she felt the same was as he did.
"I'm sorry I left you," he said quietly, the familiar guilt creeping over him.
"I know you are," she said softly.
"It will never happen again."
She leaned forwards and kissed him again, he had already lost count of how many that was now. "I know."