Ch 60 Valen-timing

Valentine's evening, Hermione, Hugo and Ron met Mrs. Rupesmith at the care home with four bags full of cards, pictures and other goodies for the seniors who lived there. Hugo went with his favorite teacher down one corridor while Ron and Hermione went down the other. Ron had only ever been in a care home once before, and that was just after the funeral the prior January. Hermione could sense his discomfort with the environment, so she slipped her hand in his and set off into the first room.

"Knock, Knock. Hello," Hermione said as she walked through the threshold. "We've brought you a Valentine's card from some local school children."

This scene repeated in each room as the worked their way down the hall. Some of the residents smiled at them, some were confused, but many slept through the visit. As they approached the last room on the corridor, Ron was not sad to see the finish line to their project. It had been a good thing to do as a family, but it was quite sad to see these elderly muggles alone in their rooms with little semblance of life about them.

"Knock, Knock. Hello," said Hermione as she opened the door. "We've brought you a Valentine's card from some local school children."

"Oh! How lovely!" said the small, elderly woman from the bed. "Please come over so I can see you properly. It's been quite a while since I had a visitor. I want to be able to see your faces!"

"Alright, my name is Ron," he said as he walked closer to where her wheelchair had been parked next to the window, "and this is Hermione."

"My name is Edwina Carrington, and I am ever so pleased to meet you."

"Well we are just as pleased to meet you, Mrs. Carrington. Have you had a good day today?"

"Well I have now, haven't I? You're here now."

"Oh, that is so kind of you. I hope you like this card. The children at the local primary school wanted everyone here to have a homemade card for Valentine's Day."

They visited for a little while, and then Mrs. Carrington was clearly getting tired, so Hermione said they needed to head out and find Hugo.

"Thank you so much for coming to visit me. I do hope you will come again."

"Is your family not able to come often?" asked Ron.

"I don't have any family," she said sadly. "I married my first love, Charlie, and we had a little boy. But my Charlie died in WWII – see his picture is just there. My son, Aldren - I called him Aldie, was my delight for many years. But, well, he had the curse of addiction, and it finally killed him just about a year ago. His only real love was with the bottle, so he never married or gave me any grandchildren. So now it is just me."

"Your Charlie was quite handsome," said Hermione. "I am so sorry about your son. But I am glad we were able to visit with you today."

"Not as glad as I am," she said quietly. "Seeing such a loving couple, well, it does an old lady's heart good. So many young people don't stay married anymore like you two. But you are clearly in love and involved with your childrens' school. It's just lovely. Thank you for coming."

"Oh, well, we-" Ron started, but Hermione cut him off.

"We are so delighted to have come. We do have to go find our Hugo and his teacher. But I do hope we will meet again. Take care, Mrs. Carrington."

"Bye bye, dears."

As they left Mrs. Carrington's room, Ron slipped his arm around Hermione's waist and hugged her in the hallway.

"You ok?"

"Just grateful to have you. That's all," said Ron quietly.

"How sad for her to be here with no family at all. She must be so lonely."

"I think we should visit her again some time."

Hermione went up on her tiptoes to kiss Ron on the cheek. "You are a sweet man, Ronald Weasley."

"Well, you are incredible. You just knew how to talk to all of these people. How did you know what to say?"

"My grandmother was in a care home for many years, so we used to visit her often. I guess you just absorb how to do it when you are little."

"I can remember a few Valentines when I was at Hogwarts. And it was all about who was taking who to some horrid tea shop or some such nonsense. But today – being here with you trying to help isolated people feel remembered, I dunno. Just feels like what it's supposed to be about."

"Well said. I knew I liked you," she laughed as she kissed him again. "And I do think you're right. We should try to visit Mrs. Carrington. She must be near a hundred. How sad to lose your one true love when you are so young."

"Yeah. And sounds like her son was a real tosser."

"Well, we'll have to bring Hugo back sometime to meet her."

Hermione had been looking forward to the upcoming weekend and the chance to have Ron to herself. Ron had said he had some errands to run that morning and that he would take Hugo with him and then drop him at the Potters, but would meet her back at the house midafternoon. She was more tired that morning but pushed through the things she needed to do in time to meet her mum for lunch.

"Hugo just raved about the experience of taking those cards to the care home this week. He is such a nice boy. Janie would have just been tickled about the whole thing."

"He really is amazing. He just knows how to see through things and find a way to express things in creative ways and connect to people. It's really fun to watch."

"He said you and Ron went too. Not exactly a romantic Valentines, huh?"

"You know, I had sort of thought the same thing. But then it turned out to be lovely. Ron and I went and gave the cards out at one end, while Hugo and his art teacher went off the other way. At the end we met this really sweet woman who was so lonely, and so lovely. She told us about how she had lost her husband more than seventy years ago and then her son was an alcoholic and died last year, so she was all alone now. Anyway, sort of put things in perspective for both Ron and me."

"Sweet. Well, and if I put the pieces together from what Hugo said you'll get to make up the romantic part tonight, huh?"

"Mum! I am not answering that!"

"Oh, I just love to tease. So, what else is going on? Didn't you say Ron's birthday is coming up?"

"Yeah. It is. I am not quite sure what to do for it. Last year he forgot his birthday altogether, so that was absurd. And then he went so over the top for mine with the bracelet and the trip. Well, I want to make it nice. But, he's Ron. He doesn't really like stuff, per se, which sounds great, but makes it really hard to shop for gifts!"

"Hmm. I can see that. It's not like you can get him fancy electronics, which is what most men seem to go insane for. And he wouldn't exactly be too excited about books. I've been lucky with your father, he is always happy with golf or fishing things. Do you know enough about magical, well – stuff, I suppose – to be able to pick out a broom or whatever it is people get?"

"Not really," Hermione confessed. "I suppose I could ask Harry and Ginny or George for help. But, doesn't seem very personal."

"What does he spend his time on?"

"His friends and family. And that quidditch team that always loses."

"So get him that."

"A losing team?"

"No. His friends and family. Could you pull off a surprise party?"

"Huh. That's not a bad idea, actually. I mean, I know his mum will make a Sunday dinner that weekend at The Burrow, so we wouldn't need to invite ALL of his brothers and everything. But, we could see if we could surprise him with Harry, Ginny, maybe Neville and his wife – you know, maybe we could even get Rose to come home if Neville came!"

"Oh," said Jean smoothly. "I hadn't even thought of that! What a wonderful idea!"

"How would we get him out of the house, I wonder?"

"Well, you could take him to dinner – maybe just the two of you. And I could keep Hugo. We could do it at my house or yours – and then when you come home thinking the night is over, we can do cake and a little party."

"Wow, Mum. That could actually work. I wonder if it would be ok to do that kind of party on his actual birthday since it's a Thursday."

"Maybe you could talk to that friend at the school – what was his name? The one who helps with Rose?"

"Neville. Yes – I should see him Monday when I am up there. So I can ask him myself. It would be wonderful if he would be able to bring Rose for the evening."

"Well – it sounds like it's all settled then. You talk to Neville to finalize the day, and then you and I will put together a surprise party."

"I love it. But I still need to get him something, don't you think?"

"Well, of course the answer is no. But if I were you I know I would get him something anyway. You'll figure it out. See how far we got in just a few minutes?"

"You're right. I think I'll give Ginny a call and see what she thinks. Maybe she can think of something quidditchy he would like."

Ron and Hugo had indeed left that morning to run an errand, but Hermione could not have guessed what the two wizards were up to. The tall red head and the young boy walked up Diagon Alley on the Saturday morning.

"Where are we going, Ron?"

"You'll see," Ron smiled.

"Can we stop at your brother's shop? I could take a few things to show Lilly later."

"Not today, buddy. We have a very special thing to get today."

"Sweets?"

"No," laughed Ron. "Not sweets."

Hugo shrugged and continued to keep pace with Ron's long legs as they continued up the road. Finally, they turned into an old shabby doorway. Hugo's eyes were wide taking in the musty, small space inside the threshold. He didn't say anything but did scoot closer to Ron in the unsure place.

"Mr. Waslingham?" Ron called. "Hello!"

There was a sound of an older man slowly coming down the hall, and as he rounded the corner he said, "Mr. Weasley! So good to see you!"

"Good morning, Mr. Walsingham. Good to see you as well, sir. I'd like to introduce you to Hugo."

"Pleased to meet you, sir," said Hugo formally.

"Wonderful to meet you as well. Come in, come in. I have what you need back here. Soon the older man had ducked behind a counter and came back with a small velvet box. He placed it up on the counter, and Ron lifted Hugo up to sit on the counter so he could see better.

As Mr. Walsingham opened the box, Hugo gasped. "Is that what I think it is?"

Ron grinned. "Yes it is, little man. Yes it is."

Ron was astounded at the ring. It looked too pretty to even touch. The old man sensed his nervousness, but said, "Go ahead, Mr. Weasley. Take it out of the box and make sure it is exactly what you want. I can make any changes you may need, so don't hesitate to tell me if anything isn't 100% correct."

Ron let out a deep breath he hadn't realized he was holding, and Hugo gave him a sympathetic and encouraging pat on the back. Ron reached for the ring and pulled it out of its velvet bed. The ring was perfectly stunning. He ran his fingers over the stones and the carving, amazed that he was holding a ring that would hopefully soon belong to his wife.

"What kind of stones are those, Mr. Walsingham?" asked Hugo. "I like the greens, but they seem slightly different."

"You have a good eye for color, young man. Let me tell you about this ring, if I may. From what you have told me about Hermione, I thought a clean, Art Deco style would be best for her. The center stone is a beautiful 2 carat emerald cut diamond, and there are four baguette stones surrounding it, an emerald and a peridot on each side. The emerald is the brighter green there," said the older man, "and the peridot is the slightly lighter, more olive colored stone. Do you know why I chose those two stones?"

Hugo shook his head no.

"Well, I believe you were born in August, am I right?" Hugo nodded. "And Rose was born May, correct?"

Hugo nodded again.

"Good. Well, emerald is the birthstone for May, and peridot is the birthstone for August. And since you are all coming together as a family, I thought it made sense to place those on the ring as well."

"What are all these carvings on the side?"

"From what I've been told of Hermione, she is a very complex lady. If you look at this ring from one angle, you will see a crisp, professional, sleek style. But if you change the way you look at it, then you see a soft, romantic, curious, magical side. These carvings are ancient runes. Roughly translated, it says, 'never let the fact that it took me so long to find you lead you to believe that my heart hasn't always been destined for yours.'"

"Smart to put it in runes," Hugo nodded. "It wouldn't look as fancy if you'd put it in regular words."

"Thanks," laughed Mr. Walsingham. "Mr. Weasley, is it close to what you had in mind?"

Ron was staring at the ring, and found himself shaking his head. "No, I could never in all my life have imagined anything this perfect."

"Are you sure? Is there anything else you might want to add or change?"

"Oh, I am absolutely sure. It is beautiful. I don't know how you manage to make things simple and complex at the same time, but it is both, which is just like her. I love the birthstones for the kids and the ancient runes. Of course I can't read them, but knowing her she probably can."

"Oh, I'm sure of that," agreed Hugo.

"Well, if you are sure, then I have the rough design of the wedding rings as well, but I would want you to each tell me what to engrave on the inside of the bands."

"Well, yeah, and she hasn't said yes yet," said Ron.

"Oh Ron, she'll say yes."

"Still planning for March 1st, Mr. Weasley?"

Hugo nodded at the jeweler, "And I'm helping him not screw up. I'm the wingman."

"Well you seem to be doing an excellent job," said Mr. Walsingham. "And trust me, I see a lot of hopeful grooms who could use a good wingman."

Ron smiled. "I am lucky to have such an excellent wingman. And, yes, March 1st is the plan. I have her mum taking her out to lunch right now plotting how to surprise me with cake at the house that night which will hopefully be a little engagement party. Unless she says no, and then it will be awful, but awful with good food and friends."

Ron settled up the bill with the elder jeweler, and then he and Hugo headed off. They had time for a quick bite before he was due at the Potters.

"Does it feel weird carrying that around, Ron?" Hugo asked as he munched on his chips.

"Honestly? Yeah. It does," admitted Ron as he took a sip of his drink. "Partly it feels really, really real. Partly I am terrified I will lose it or do something else to muck it up. And partly I don't know how I will manage to wait another two weeks. So, yes. Definitely weird."

"Good thing you have a good wingman then," nodded Hugo seriously.

"Yes. Yes it is. For so many reasons, actually. You know, if you hadn't asked Mr. Walsingham such good questions I would never have thought to do so myself. So, if not for your wingman work, I would never have known the reason for the green stones or what the runes meant."

Hugo beamed at Ron's words, which made Ron smile as well.

"So, now you need to help me keep it a secret, alright?"

"Of course. But if you keep feeling your pocket that much, Hermione will know something is up. You need to put it somewhere safe where you won't lose it and she won't find it."

"Huh. You're right. Maybe up on the bookcase in our room?"

"Noooo. Are you mad? Hermione looks at bookcases all of the time. You should put it somewhere she'll never bother looking."

"Like where?"

"Um, maybe in with your quidditch stuff? Or in with Daddy's old tools out in the garage. Or you know what would be really funny? You should put it in her own drawers to hide it but in with something she won't use at all in the next few weeks like her bathing suit or something."

Ron laughed at his lunch partner. "You crack me up, Hugo."

When Ron arrived back at the house from dropping Hugo off with Harry, he didn't see Hermione so decided to hide the ring quickly before he buggered the whole plan and asked her today. He snuck out to the garage as Hugo had suggested and tucked the black velvet box down into Dennis' old muggle tool box. Gently closing the lid, he placed a slight disillusionment charm over it just in case, and then placed an old paint can on top of it to make it even less inviting to open. Quietly sneaking back into the house, he was relieved that he hadn't been caught. But, now he was excited for their evening together, but wasn't quite sure where she was. He wandered upstairs and found her up on their bed curled up with a book and a hot water bottle on her stomach. She looked up and gave him a warm smile when he walked into their room.

"Hugo all set?"

"Oh yes. He and Lilly had some elaborate plan to stage a puppet show for Harry and Ginny tonight, you know – once they make the puppets, write the play and build a puppet theatre. The fantastically normal Hugo stuff. Did you and your mum have a nice morning?"

Hermione nodded, placing her bookmark in her book before closing it and placing it on the nightstand. "It was nice. Life has been so busy I haven't had many chances to just have her to myself in a while."

"Good. Are you feeling ok? I don't usually find you reading up here in the daytime."

"Well, actually there is good and bad news on that question, depending on how you look at it."

Ron gave her a confused look. "If you're not feeling well we don't have to go out this evening."

"No, it's not that." Hermione gave an awkward laugh. "Well, we haven't had to talk about this too much, or at all really. Anyway- usually my, uh, cycle had always been really regular and very predictable. But, well, I am getting older now, and my body's predictable monthly cycles are seemingly becoming less and less predictable. I guess what I am trying to say is when I got home from lunch I realized I had gotten my period most unexpectedly. Which is really annoying actually because I was planning to do all kinds of things to you tonight. And now none of that seems like a fun plan anymore."

"But do you still feel up to going out this evening or do you just want to stay in? I am fine with either. Just want to be with you is all," he said quietly as he reached for her hand.

"See. Back to Mr. Too Good to Be True, aren't you?" she sighed.

Ron laughed and gave her hand a squeeze.

"Actually, I am feeling fine now. I had a bit of a rest reading up here, so I am good to go. Just not so much up for the sexy end to the evening unfortunately."

"That's ok. We can still have a great date. What would you like to do?"

"Actually," Hermione giggled uncharacteristically, "I had an idea if you are up for a muggle adventure I am guessing you haven't had before."

"Oh absolutely," Ron grinned.

Within a few hours, Ron found himself at what Hermione had called the "Best American Bowling Alley in London." She had explained the game of bowling to Ron, and told him how the British muggles had bowling alleys too, but that this particular bowling alley was where many American expats hung out in London. She had discovered it as a young teenager when she was strangely homesick for America. They served peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, giant fizzy drinks, and the menu had food described in American terms, like chips for crisps and cookies for biscuits. Ron laughed at the entire scene, as well as the classic muggle rock music playing from the overhead speakers. She led him through the process of getting the special shoes.

"These have got to be, without a doubt, the barmiest, ugliest, most bizarre shoes I have ever seen," he laughed as he tied on the hideously ugly muggle shoes over his giant feet.

"They're slippery on the bottom so you can throw the ball better," she said matter-of-factly as she primly tied her blue, red and ivory bowling shoes with neat bows in the laces.

"Right. Don't you think it's maybe so we all feel silly and have fun?"

"Possibly," she conceded. "Or it's just that they are so ugly no one would want to steal them."

Armed with ugly shoes, heavy bowling balls, a tub of questionable nachos and two large muggle fizzy drinks, the two settled in at their lane. Hermione tried bravely to talk him through the process of punching their names into the machine that would display their scores on the screen overhead, but the retro muggle atmosphere had not improved Ron's ability to adapt to muggle technology, and she quickly found herself laughing uncontrollably at his attempts and eventually took pity on him and set up the machine.

As Hermione was finishing the set up, Ron watched other people trickle in to the establishment. And, as Hermione had promised, most of the people seemed to have American accents of some kind. He wasn't sure what he had expected, but it was definitely not the group of four couples that came in and set up in the lanes next to them. Each person had brought their own bowling ball, their own special shoes that weren't nearly as ugly as Ron's shoes and they all seemed to have been close friends for many, many years.

"Hermione- why are those older muggles wearing those funny shirts?" he asked quietly.

She looked up and smiled. "Looks like they are in a regular league or something. Their shirts just show who is on which team. See – those four have the same back, and then a nickname sewn onto the front."

"Oh, I get it. They are really into it, huh?"

"Looks like it. The one older lady even has a special wrist brace to help her. They must do this all of the time."

"Why do you think old American muggles who like bowling are living in London?"

"Well," Hermione pondered as she sipped her drink, "I would assume they moved here a long time ago and consider this their home, but need a little bit of Americana to still feel connected to the land where they grew up."

"Alright then," Ron said, pushing up the sleeves of his jumper. "Are you ready to be thoroughly embarrassed by your date?"

"Well, if you try to throw the ball with two hands like that, I will just beat you quickly."

"You don't use two hands? These things are heavy."

"Hence the woman's wrist brace."

"And no magic, right?"

"Absolutely none," she nodded quickly. "Here let me show you how to do this. You put your thumb here, and these two fingers here." Then she showed him how to line up with the pins and how to throw it down the lane.

She went first and knocked down 9 pins on the first ball. Ron was distracted from her happy dance by the machine that spat the heavy ball back up near their seats.

"We have got to bring my dad here. He would think he had died and gone to heaven," muttered Ron.

Hermione smiled knowingly, took her ball and quickly knocked over the one remaining pin, declaring it a "spare." Ron nodded and went up to give it a shot on his own. He held the ball as she'd shown him, and soon had thrown two balls into the gutter. Two of the older gentleman in matching shirts had been watching Ron fail miserably and took pity on him.

"Come on mate, that is no way to impress your young lady friend there. You clearly need some help."

"Clearly," Ron agreed. "But I may have missed my window of opportunity to learn this specific skill."

"Nonsense. My name is Eddie and this is my dear friend Johnny. I taught Johnny to play, and he is almost decent after only- what is it Johnny? Twenty, thirty years?"

"You're an arse, Eddie. He got my name part right, anyway. I'm Johnny," said the shorter man extending his hand.

"Hi Johnny, I'm Ron, and this is my girlfriend Hermione. Clearly, she has played before, and I have not."

"Yes I had managed to pick up that much," laughed Eddie.

Soon Ron was being mentored in bowling by the two Americans in their mid-seventies. Their wives had drifted over and were now sitting with Hermione, and all three ladies were teasing their respective men. As the evening went on, the entire party had adopted Ron and Hermione into their fold. They were instructing Ron on his bowling techniques and fussing at Hermione for offering to go purchase more drinks ("Honey, you have to start training him now or he'll be insufferable later!" one had declared.) When Ron finally threw a strike, you would have thought he'd won the Quidditch World Cup for England. The entire group erupted in cheers, and their new friends declared that he and Hermione should join their regular bowling night.

"You can get team shirts!" said Eddie.

"You know, so we could mentor you a bit more," offered Johnny.

"Or so you could bring down the average age of our friends by a good thirty years," chimed in Beatrice, Johnny's wife.

Following the bowling, they had joined the group at a nearby pub before heading home.

"You can't be the first to leave," protested Eddie. "You guys are the young ones here!"

"Exactly," teased Eddie's wife, "they still more to look forward to at home in the next chapter of the evening. Oh to be young and full of stamina."

Her friends smacked her with a napkin and the whole group laughed again. As they finally took their leave of the raucous seniors, they promised to connect again for a future night of bowling fun, and maybe even bring Hugo and the Potters as well. Apparating back into their kitchen, the two were still giggling about their new friends when they landed.

"That was the most fun and most unexpected time I have had in – well, I couldn't tell you how long," Ron declared.

"I thought we'd have a lot of fun, but I didn't know it would be that fun. And is it terrible to describe our new friends as cute? Those ladies were cracking me up with their gossiping back and forth."

Ron looked at her and smiled, imaging he and Hermione out for a night of fun in their seventies. She caught his expression and gave him a quizzical look.

"You ok?" she said.

"Oh, yeah," he said as he felt his ears flush.

"Out with it," she said. "Don't tell me I suddenly have to compete with Gladys for your affection. I saw the way she kept idling up to you."

Ron laughed, still blushing. "Yeah – I noticed that too. Apparently we need to cut Gladys off after half a glass of white wine spritzer," he joked. Then he looked at Hermione quietly, reached for her face and tenderly ran his thumb across her cheek and said, "But no, I wasn't thinking of Gladys. Honestly, I was picturing us at that age – just thinking of how beautiful and amazing you will be even then."

This time it was her turn to blush. She snaked her arms around his neck and kissed him chastely on the lips. "You really are too good to be true, you know."

(A/N: What do you think of the ring? Let me know...carrytheotter)