No Time for Epilogues
Chapter 31
May 13, 1999
This was the third night in a row Hermione ate dinner at the Burrow. After some affectionate scolding of Ron for his behavior and welcoming Hermione "back into the fold" Molly asked about wedding plans.
Ron looked carefully at Hermione, who answered, "Um...fine?"
Are they really? Ron wondered.
Hermione invited the Weasleys to her football match the coming Saturday morning. Ron and Hermione said their goodbyes and left with slices of cake.Ron wasn't sure where to go next, but all he knew was that he didn't want to her to leave yet. Before, Ron would have suggested they go for drinks, but after the fight he swore off alcohol the rest of his life. Look what good it did me!
"Let's...just go back to your flat," she suggested. "I love how great everyone's been, but I need some peace and quiet."
"Sure, whatever you want," he agreed.
In the flat that she admittedly missed, Hermione noted how empty the bookshelves were and the general lack of color about the flat. She also noted the pillow and blanket on the sofa.
"That's where...I've been sleeping, if you can call it that," he admitted.
"I know what you mean," she said.
They talked about their days at work and about the upcoming football match.
"Today I was visited by a representative of the Wizarding Examination Authority. They congratulated me on my whole month of teaching," she said.
"Sounds like they were buttering you up for something," he said.
"Right in one," she said. "Someone from our year requested to take some NEWTs, and it seems that with Hogwarts NEWTs right around the corner, they need help with administering the Magical Creatures NEWT to this someone. My boss, bless his shriveled heart, assured them that I would be happy to assist."
"Who? Why didn't he take the NEWTs with the rest of us?"
"In answer to both, I don't know, so tomorrow morning I get to administer the Care of Magical Creatures NEWT in conference room two at nine a.m."
"Well, we both had interesting days," he said.
She prompted him to continue. "You'll see it in the Prophet tomorrow. There's a huge fraud investigation at Gringotts that involves the shop account."
He summoned a letter from the nearest bookshelf and let her read it.
"Wow, twenty-two accounts? Did someone actually think they could rip off Gringotts?" she asked.
"We did," he answered.
"Huh? Oh."
"Huh?" he teased. "We only polyjuiced ourselves, confounded a half dozen people to get into Gringotts, got into a super-high-security vault, made out with a cursed cup and literally broke out on the back of a dragon."
She smiled ruefully at the memory. "I haven't told my parents a lot of the juicier parts of our adventure, like breaking into a bank, and what about when the kids learn of it?"
She drifted to uneasy silence, and he wisely chose not to comment on it, instead launching into Ginny's leaving ceremony and her own upcoming football match.
"How's your back?" he asked.
"Soreness is almost completely gone," she said and lifted the back of her shirt. "See? You can barely see the bruise.
He ran his fingers lightly over her skin. He saw the goosebumps appear on her back and the flush of her neck. She bit her bottom lip. Why did I lift my shirt?
"I've missed your touch," she said softly, her back still to him. Why did I say that?
"I've missed touching you," he answered and put her shirt back in place. He didn't know what to think. She's got the quaffle?
"My neck is a little sore, right here," she said, pointing to a spot below her ear. Again, why did I say that? Nothing's wrong with my neck.
"Is it now?" he asked, scooting closer and made a show of examining her neck. "Looks perfect to me, but I need to make sure." He lifted her hair out of the way and placed a gentle kiss on the spot. She shuddered in response.
"Is this where we kiss and make up?" he asked. Could I ask a stupider question?
"Yes, so stop talking and get to it," she casually requested. Hermione, you're such a tart. Lust overtook them and minutes later, he scooped her from the sofa and took her to the bedroom.
"Is this all right?" he asked. Her lips latched to his neck, hungrily nipping and suckling in answer. I'll take that as a yes. He lowered her to the bed and had to adjust the crotch of his jeans. She raised an amused eyebrow.
"A man can't help it when the sexiest woman on Earth is in his bed," he said.
"Ron, really, the sexiest woman on Earth? I hardly think-" she started but was stopped by his index finger on her kips.
"Stop right there. To me, you are the sexiest woman on Earth," he said and slid next to her on the bed.
"Sexy." Kiss to her mouth.
"Smart." Kiss to her temple.
"Beautiful." Kiss to her neck.
"Passionate," he said and drew her closer, making sure she felt the prominent bulge from the front of his pants. "All that put together is how you do this to me, make me feel."
For the next hour, Hermione did feel like the sexiest woman on Earth. Ron made slow, gently love to her as if he were worshiping her body, both rediscovering the joy of being with each other this way. After, she lay in his arms, sleepily running over the light hair on his chest with her fingertips, her leg bent and resting atop his hip. He reached over and got something from the little drawer of the nightstand next to the bed. It was the ring.
"Please say you'll put it back where it belongs," he whispered and kissed the top of her head. "Take me back, forgive me, I'll beg if I have to."
"No," she said and held her hand up, "you put it back, you're forgiven. If you ever pull that shite again, however, you'll have no chance to beg."
That was one of the things he loved most about her: her unabashed honesty. A person knew where he stood with her. She didn't abide idiots, and no one knew that more than he did.
Hermione woke curled into Ron's side. The sun was just coming up and the dawning light appeared in the bedroom, casting light on his peacefully sleeping form. She smiled, softly kissed his chest and carefully slipped from the bed. He sighed in sleep and his stomach could be heard growling. She was hungry too; they had worked up quite an appetite last night. All was right with the world again.
Ron woke to sunshine streaming through the curtains, the smell of coffee and breakfast and Hermione humming from the kitchen. All was right with the world again. He heard her mobile ring.
"Morning mum."
"At Ron's."
"Yes."
"Yes, I'm sure."
"Wow, that much?"
"Sometime after work."
"Okay, I'll let him know, love you, bye."
"Ron, are you awake?" she called.
"Yeah, just taking a quick shower."
"Okay, the food will be waiting, but hurry- it's nearly nine."
He took a quick shower and went to the kitchen. She was already eating and gestured to a plate of food across from her.
"I can't be late today," she said. "I should have found out where the blasted conference room was yesterday."
He knew that she never was and would probably never be a morning person. "Good morning love, you look nice," he said and kissed her cheek before he sat down.
"Sorry, good morning to you too," she said, mentally slapping herself for her bout of morning grumpiness. It wasn't his fault, but the memory of last night would make this day bearable after all.
8:49 a.m., The Ministry of Magic
Hermione disliked greeting people on the run and hoped said people understood that she wasn't snubbing them, but she was running behind. Well, at least it's for a good reason!
"Meet you for lunch, G!" someone called out to her before she dashed into her office and snatched the NEWT examination packet off her desk.
In conference room two, Draco Malfoy drummed his fingers on the table and glanced at the clock. 8:55. Well, mother did say that they weren't going to roll out the red carpet for me. In fact, he was surprised they were even letting him take the tests at all. How long would the name Malfoy be villified? Would his children, if by some miracle some witch would have him, suffer by virtue of a name? He shook is head in disbelief that having the name Malfoy would be a disadvantage, largely the reason he was here today.
He heard the steady clip of heels on the hallway floor and turned his chin toward the door. The heels stopped upon arrival. He saw black 4-inch heels on small feet that turned into shapely, toned, attractive legs. A plum colored cloak fell calf-level, but was open to reveal a just-above-the-knees flared black skirt.
"Hello Malfoy, eyes here," a familiar voice deadpanned. His gaze rose to meet the honey-brown eyes of Hermione Granger. "You're here to take the NEWT?" she asked.
"Is it so hard to believe?"
She dropped the test packet on the front table and sharply turned to face him. I have to spend my morning doing this! "Honestly, yes," she answered. "You must be worth a few million galleons, why would you be here? Have you tired of gazing fondly at your bank balance, or has kicking around house elves that don't bring your tea fast enough lost its appeal?"
"Easy there, Granger. We don't have house elves any more, all right? Would you want to just sit around the rest of your life doing nothing?"
She opened her mouth to respond. "Just hear me out, please?" he asked.
She choked back a hysterical laugh and cleared her throat instead. Did Draco Malfoy just ask 'hear me out please?'
"Believe it or not, I'm grateful to be alive and not rotting in Azkaban, drooling from the loving kiss of a Dementor. I plan to spend my life doing something useful and hopefully bring whatever amount of respectability I can back to the name Malfoy. My heirs deserve that much."
She held up a hand. "Okay, say no more. I get it, the whole valiant struggle for redemption sort of thing, winning our hearts and minds, mingling with the us commoners, so on and so on. Well, I wish you the best of luck."
Draco raised a single eyebrow. "And you wouldn't know anything about mingling with the commoners, would you, Lady Granger?"
Hermione flopped down on the sofa after a thoroughly harrowing day. After spending the morning with Malfoy (albeit unwillingly) and the dreaded monthly departmental meetings, she was ready to tear her hair out. She let her hair down from its bun and untucked her shirt with a sigh. Across the room, she spotted a notebook stuffed between the cushions of Ron's easy chair. She extended her arm and thought "Accio notebook." When it arrived in her hands, she saw that it was Ron's writing and the first page was a list of crossed out reminders and a circled entry labeled Healer McClain, 2:00, May 16. Is he sick?
She flipped the page and her heart skipped a beat when she read the title: What I Love About Hermione. She could literally hear her heart thumping as she read down the list.
She's so smart
She's bloody beautiful
She's a great cook
She wants to be everyone's friend
She's making the world a better place, mine anyway, when others just talk about it
She's the best friend a bloke like me could ask for
She's the best lover a bloke like me could ask for
She's got the best parents in the world besides my own
She can speak another language
She doesn't do anything halfway
She's got a wicked sense of humor
She's
Tears were running down her cheeks and she flipped the pages to see that the list continued for two more! Thoughts of her bad day faded. She sat back in the chair and clutched the notebook to her chest.