I'm back! I was trying to wait a few weeks before I started posting this but I have almost 8 chapters of this fic written in draft already and what I hope is a great sub-plot (we all know Romione's romance is ALWAYS the main plot to my stories) so I got too excited. This is the sequel to All You Had to Do Was Stay. You don't HAVE to read that one first, although it's probably recommended as this follows one directly after it. Updates on this one will be a lot slower as I'm attempting to write more words per chapter and greatly try and increase the content/detail in my chapters. Also work is starting to EXPLODE and I also have about 5 million essays to write too! Woe is me! Anyway, I hope you enjoy. Please leave reviews/feedback and let me know what you think. I LOVE engaging with you all and chatting anything Ron & Hermione! xxx
Hermione Granger woke up extremely happy with herself on the last Sunday of July. The early morning sun was already warming her room and she was grateful she decided to leave the windows open before she went to bed last night. She stretched her petite body out with a yawn, laughing at the disgruntled noise her old, ginger, squash-faced cat made at her.
"Good morning to you too Crookshanks…" She sat up and reached down the bed to scratch his sweet spot just under his left ear. Once the cat was seemingly appeased; she swung her legs out of bed and slipped her feet into her slippers before heading downstairs. She turned her coffee machine on and leaned against the counter; her eyes drifting to the small, colourful bouquet sitting in a vase on her kitchen table. She decided one of her first tasks of the day would be to work out how to magically preserve the flowers; but first, breakfast.
She settled on the small rattan sofa on her patio in the overgrown garden and watched two birds fight over a worm on the lawn briefly. As she sipped her coffee, she thought back on the events of not only last night, but the last couple of years too.
A lot had happened since she helped Harry Potter defeat Voldemort just over two years ago. She'd gone back to school to finish her exams, gaining seven NEWTs in the process. While studying, she had also taken on an extra-curricular project to translate the Tales of Beedle the Bard from the Ancient Runes they were originally written into English in the hope that other wizards and witches would be able to enjoy them as much as she did.
After school, Hermione had spent over half a year with her parents in Australia, studying how they did things in the hope of coming home and implementing some improvements. The British Ministry of Magic was often accused of having old, archaic laws and processes and Hermione was determined to drag them into the 21st Century.
During her time in Australia, she had broken things off with her long-time best friend and boyfriend Ron Weasley; feeling that he would be happier without the pressure of a long distant relationship. She had soon realised this was a mistake and had spent the first half of this year travelling back and forth between both countries, both for work and to try and fix her friendship with Ron.
Last night had been the wedding of the year. Although Harry and Ginny had only been officially together since the end of the war, they had decided not to wait and had tied the knot in a fantastic ceremony. Hermione and Ron had taken the opportunity to talk about their feelings for each other and, although they weren't officially back together, they had agreed to try again.
Hermione let out a happy sigh as she finished her coffee. It had been quite a magical night. She had sat talking to Ron for so long that by the time they had returned to the wedding it was almost over. They had only shared the one chaste kiss, but they had both been happy with that; neither of them had any desire to push things further that night and although they walked back to the marquee hand in hand, they had re-entered the party separately. They were never far away from each other for the rest of the night as they celebrated with their friends and Ron's family and Hermione had finally apparated home, alone, around 1 in the morning.
They hadn't really discussed it, but Hermione felt there had been a mutual understanding that they didn't want anyone else to know that they were trying again. Hermione felt that there would have been immense pressure from Ron's family and their friends if they were to come out with it straight away and right now, they really didn't need that. The thought of having such a happy little secret delighted Hermione, but she made a mental note to check with him when she saw him later that he had the same understanding as her.
Hermione was woken up from her daydream as Crookshanks pounced on the two birds and she turned back to her breakfast. She finished her toast then tilted her face up towards the morning sun. She decided to treat herself to a rare lazy morning before she headed back over to the Burrow for the usual Sunday lunch. This one was going to be a bit more special; not only were they celebrating Harry and Ginny's wedding, but they were throwing them an early birthday party as they'd be on their honeymoon for both of their weddings.
Ron had turned up at the Burrow at his usual mid-morning time, which mean he had been roped in to tidying up after last night. He didn't mind; he quite enjoyed a bit of hard labour and it meant getting some time in with his brothers but by the time everything had been packed away, he'd worked up a good sweat.
He followed his dad and brothers back up to the house. As soon as he entered the kitchen, he cast his eyes around the room. There was no sign of the newly wedded couple or Hermione yet and Ron breathed a sigh of relief. He excused himself and headed up to his old bedroom to grab a quick shower.
Just as he was towelling off, he heard the small pop that alerted the household to someone apparating within their wards. From his vantage point in the top-most room, he watched as Hermione appeared at the bottom of the lane that lead up to the Burrow. His heart leaped as he remembered their conversation last night. It had been hard for him to forgive Hermione for breaking his heart, but she had really tried hard to be there for him; especially when he had been suffering from bad nightmares. He had found himself seeking out Hermione for comfort, instead of his girlfriend and soon the old familiar feelings had surfaced.
Hermione looked beautiful, as always. She had left her hair styled in the loose waves she'd had for the wedding, but she was wearing jean shorts and a t-shirt. As he watched her walk, he willed her to look up at his room, but she had already started to talk to someone just out of Ron's line of sight. He pouted to himself as she disappeared out of view and he cast a quick cleaning charm on the clothes he had been wearing earlier. He dressed quickly before hurrying downstairs.
He got to the kitchen just in time to watch Hermione take her usual seat at the table, followed closely by Harry and Ginny. Despite the summer heat, his mum had still cooked them a full roast dinner and as Molly called everyone else to the table, Ron hurried to nab the seat next to Hermione before anyone else could.
"Hey…" Ron slid into the seat, deliberately brushing his shoulder against hers. He smiled as she turned to look at him.
"Hey yourself.." Hermione met his eyes, her smile widening. "Why is your hair wet?" She started to reach out to brush his fringe off his forehead but Harry and Ginny chose that opportunity to plonk themselves down opposite them and she quickly withdrew her hand.
"No – Dad just put us all to work this morning tidying up the last of the wedding stuff. I've only just got out of the shower…"
"I would have come over earlier if I'd known there was still tidying up to do…" Hermione's smiled returned.
Ron started to respond, but he was interrupted by the delicious feast feat appearing in front of them.
Lunch was its usual rambunctious affair and there wasn't a quiet moment. At some point in the meal, Hermione had leaned over Ron to get seconds; deliberately pressing her hip tight against his as she did. He had almost choked on a roast potato as he felt her, causing Molly to tell him off for eating too quickly.
Despite his telling off, Ron still finished off his meal with his usual gusto. He waited patiently for everyone else to finish eating before clearing his throat.
"So… uhm… you might have noticed last night, but Lavender and I have broken up…"
He felt Hermione pick up his hand under the table and squeeze it slightly. He steeled himself for his family's teasing, but before anyone else could pipe up; Molly gave everyone a warning glance and immediately started fussing over Ron. Given how the family, including his mother, had treated Lavender while they were together, he was surprised by Molly's reaction but he wasn't going to argue or protest it. He was also buoyed by Hermione's support.
Hermione let go of Ron's hand as everyone started to get up to leave the table. She stayed behind with Ginny so they could start cleaning up; a role the two of them had been persistent on taking on to help Molly and Arthur. Feeding the 5,000 was tiresome enough and it always gave the girls chance to catch-up. Hermione was delighted to get the opportunity to quiz the new Mrs. Potter on her wedding night and the pair speculated on where Harry might be taking them on their honeymoon tomorrow.
By the time they finally joined the family, all the more comfortable spots have been taken so Hermione folded herself into a small spot on the floor opposite Ron. She tried her hardest to focus and join in on the conversation, but she often found her eyes drifting towards Ron. She smiled as she watched him with his family and was relieved that nobody gave him hassle about breaking things off with Lavender.
It was early evening before the gathering started to break up. Hermione picked herself up off the floor, shaking off the pins and needles in her foot and started to say goodbye to everyone. She spotted Ron doing the same and she briefly wondered if it looked suspicious that they were trying to leave at the same time.
"I'll walk down the lane with you Hermione…" Ron finished with his goodbyes and escorted Hermione out of the house, being careful not to touch her. He wasn't sure if he was being paranoid, but he was positive they had a full set of Weasley/Potter eyes on them as they made their way to the apparition point.
Hermione eventually broke the silence, being careful to keep her voice low as she walked. "Do you have five minutes to pop over to mine?"
Ron grinned to himself, trying his hardest to resist sliding an arm around her waist. "Yeah… I'll see you there…"
"See you there…" Hermione risked a brief glance up at him, her smile wide before apparating to Primrose Cottage. She didn't have to wait long for Ron to appear in her living room.
"Hey again…" Hermione took a step towards him.
"Hey yourself…" Ron chuckled softly as he copied how she had greeted him earlier.
Hermione copied his laugh, reaching out to pick up his hand. She linked their fingers together loosely. "I just wanted to check you were okay after telling your family about you and Lavender…"
Ron ran his spare hand through his hair but nodded. "Yeah, it had to be done. I thought it was best to get everything out in the open…"
"Well almost everything… I know we didn't discuss it last night, but I think we should probably keep us quiet for now. Until we decide what "us" is?"
He tightened his grip on her hand, rubbing his thumb against the back of her hand. "I think so… are you okay with everything else we discussed last night? About taking it slow?"
"I'm more than okay… I'm really happy about it. I'm so lucky to be getting a second chance…"
"Good!" Ron lifted their hands and kissed the back of hers. "I better get home; I'm pretty sure everyone watched us leave the house just now and I wouldn't put it past mum or Ginny to floo me to see if I actually went home…" He reluctantly let go of her hand. "I'll see you in work this week though?"
"I hope so…" She leaned forward and kissed his cheek before watching Ron apparate. She let out a happy sigh. It was tough seeing Ron leave when they had been practically living together when she wasn't in school. She only hoped they could sort out what they were quick enough so she could have him back in her life permanently.