Harry, Hermione and Oliver were standing in front of a recently painted Burrow. The new paint didn't really help, because family members got to choose the color outside their room. This resulted in a hodgepodge of brilliant green, shocking red, sparkling blue, dull grey, and a light periwinkle. The confusing colors brought a smile to the dinner guests' faces as the three wove through the bushes towards the front door.
Hermione's stomach was currently doing back flips, but she refused to let her discomfort be seen. Both Harry and Oliver knew a little of her break with Ron, but neither understood the impact it still had on her.
And so, holding Oliver's hand and catching Harry's smile, Hermione was about to face her inner demon.
"Harry! Hermione! Oliver! It's been too long! Harry, you look like a stick. Hurry up inside you three. I've got dinner on the stove and the rest of the family can't wait to see you."
Molly Weasley welcomed her guest in a whirlwind, giving strong hugs to them all and winking at Hermione. Opening the door a little wider, she bustled the three into the living room where Fred, George, Ginny and Arthur sat.
Hermione gave Harry a small smile. She knew that his breakup with Ginny had been years ago and that the two were still friends, but she knew the confusion he felt when he saw her. And when she noticed Ron's absence, her smile grew even wider and more self-assured.
Fred and George rose from the couch as one. Immediately the two grabbed Oliver's shoulders and began to talk Quiddich.
"Blimey! Did you see Puddlemere United flattens the Wasps? Bet that made you miss the old days."
"Tell us, what is Hailey Radford like?" This question, asked by George, was whispered with raised eyebrows and both he and Fred wore expressions of expectation.
Meanwhile, Hermione, Harry and Mr. Weasley were discussing Hermione's choice to live like a muggle, while Ginny skirted the outside of the conversation, trying to add points here and there.
"Now tell me. This 'bus' that you ride, how does it know when you need to be picked up?"
"Well isn't it just like the Night Bus?" asked Ginny.
Harry answered for Hermione, "Well yes and no. It looks a lot like the Night Bus, but you have to be standing at the right place at the right time. It has certain places it stops and you have to be there when it is, otherwise it leaves without you."
Hermione was grateful that Harry was fielding the questions. She loved talking with Mr. Weasley but sometimes she felt a little uncomfortable around Ginny.
When Harry and Ginny were first starting their relationship, the other dorm mates joked that Hermione was being replaced. Hermione laughed with the rest of them, but she was terrified that she would be replaced by Ginny. From that moment on she couldn't be as supportive of their relationship and everyone else. When the two decided to break up, she was secretly pleased to have her old place back. Leaving them in their conversation, Hermione slipped into the kitchen to help Molly with dinner.
"Hi Molly. Need any help?"
"Oh hello dear. As a matter of fact I could use an extra hand with this soup. Won't stay at the right temperature!"
Hermione grabbed the apron from the closet and got to work.
When she and Ron still spoke, they would go to his house and bake. Or more specifically, she would bake while he ate the batter and made the utensils dance. Molly often said that there was never a better time than when she came downstairs to a freshly baked batch of muffins.
"Hermione, where are you?" Oliver's voice traveled into the kitchen.
"I'll be right back Mrs. Weasley. I think the soup should be fine if you leave the lid on."
"Thank you dear. Don't worry about coming back. I'm almost done in here. Could you send the twins in to set the table?"
"Sure thing." Hermione walked back into the living room where Oliver was standing next to Mr. Weasley, seemingly still carrying on the muggle life discussion.
"Fred and George, your mum wants you to help set the table," reported Hermione.
"Well I suppose we must. Come on Freddy, mustn't upset the warden." The two walked out of the room, leaving Harry and Ginny alone on the couch. Hermione glanced disapprovingly but went and stood next to Oliver who put his arm around her.
"So how are you two doing?" asked Mr. Weasley.
"Really well. Oliver just got a promotion to lead MediWizard, which is a really big deal," bragged Hermione.
"Yeah, it's not that important," Oliver tried to play down the focus on him.
"Well that is just great. You two are living together still, right?"
Hermione laughed, "Yep, 6 years in the next few weeks. Time really flies."
"And are there wedding bells on the horizon?" Mr. Weasley asked a little to enthusiastically.
Hermione and Oliver looked at each other. Oliver decided to answer first. "Well you never know. Things are looking pretty good right now, so we'll see."
"You know, you two are just great. This whole thing is terrific," Mr. Weasley said.
"Dinner!"
As the gathering sat, who should burst through the fireplace but the one person Hermione didn't want to see: Ron. He had cut his hair very short, a sight that secretly disappointed Hermione and made her laugh since now he looked like a rather frightening convict.
"Sorry I'm late, just had to calm down the animals before I could get home. A bunch of kids were messing with the griffins."
Ron worked part time at the wizarding zoo, just outside of Diagon Alley. He had played on the Appleby Arrows as a backup keeper the first 3 years out of school. After injuring himself and finding he had no real skills, he decided to pursue a career in cooking.
Unfortunately, he found himself short on experience. He took the first restaurant that hired him and took the zoo job as an extra moneymaker. 3 years later he still worked at the zoo even though his cooking career was moving up.
He claimed to do it for the children, but everyone suspected it was for the attractive blond who took care of the unicorns.
"Harry! How are you doing man? Not working too hard I hope," laughed Ron.
"Nope, just being lazy like always."
"What are you doing tonight? Fancy a quiddich game?"
"I'm not sure about tonight, but I would love to play any time this weekend."
"Fair enough. Oliver! I didn't even see you! How about you? Fancy a game?"
"Name the place and I'll be there. I'll even give you the home advantage and play catcher."
"Ok boys," interrupted Mrs. Weasley, "You can catch up later but for now your dinner is getting cold.
"Ok mum. Sorry," apologized Ron.
Everyone sat down and dinner began, full of polite conversation and passionate explanations of the twins' new shop coming up.
"It will be called, 'The Witch's Waking,'" explained Fred.
"We want to make a new line of products specifically targeted towards witches," said George.
"Yeah, those witches will buy anything that promises love or beauty or something silly like that."
"It's a goldmine! I don't know why we didn't think of it before."
Hermione smiled and tried to join in their enthusiasm. But her dinner wasn't as smooth as it appeared.
When Ron walked out of the fireplace, it was all she could do to sit still. One part of her wanted to run to him and give him the biggest hug. After all, she had missed him. Another part wanted to leave the room as quickly as possible. A small part wanted to hex him immediately. And the final part wanted to snog Oliver as thoroughly as possible to make Ron jealous. Failing all of these, Hermione sat and smiled invitingly at Ron, hoping he would say hello or even acknowledge her.
He did neither.
At the other end of the table, Harry and Mr. Weasley were holding a very quiet conversation.
"Isn't it great that Hermione and Ron are sitting next to each other?" asked Mr. Weasley.
Harry noticed Hermione's awkward attitude and opted for a neutral reply. "Well it's great to see Ron. We haven't seen him for a while."
"Too true. You know, wouldn't it be great if the two finally got together? Just like everyone always thought."
Harry looked at Mr. Weasley in surprise. He had expected this out of Mrs. Weasley but never from her husband. Looking down, Harry saw an empty scotch glass that Mr. Weasley had refilled at least 3 times. Harry sighed, thankful that this subject was obviously not something a sober Mr. Weasley would breach.
"Hermione and Oliver have a really good thing going. And I thought Ron had a girlfriend," answered Harry, now realizing that their conversation wasn't in private.
"Well, yes but…" Mr. Weasley trailed off but Harry understood. Ron's parents had always believed that Hermione would be their daughter. Since Ron had started dating other girls, they all fit into the same category: not Hermione. Lavender was too ditsy; Anna couldn't be charming; Rachel wore clothing that left little to the imagination, etc. Hermione was their dream daughter-in-law and they still couldn't see why the two weren't married.
Mr. Weasley, Harry noticed, had now moved on to a rousing discussion with his wife on the importance of a lawn mower in the muggle society. Seeing his chance, Harry excused himself from the table, deciding to forget the conversation he had just had with Mr. Weasley.