Ron had left the mission a few days early, not wanting to see or face any of the other Aurors who had all seen what had happened between him and Lavender at the bar. Well, only the last part, which could easily be misunderstood. However he couldn't go back to his and Hermione's flat. What would she say about him coming home early? She worked at the Ministry, too, she would find out that the mission was canceled if he told her it was. But what would his excuse be if quit? He'd spent a few days just relaxing at a Muggle hotel, eating and laughing at the idiotic stuff Muggles did on the "television."

When he arrived home late Sunday night, he found Hermione listening to some music on the radio. He shut the door quietly as he came in. Hermione was fiddling the dials, so immersed in her work that she didn't hear Ron come up behind her.

"Hey." He whispered quietly.

She jumped about a foot in the air. "RON!" She clutched her heart frantically. "Don't do that to me!"

He laughed and plopped down on the couch next to her. "That never gets old."

She smacked his arm, scowling and crossing her arms across her chest. He looked at her with his eyebrows raised and his lip out until she smiled. "How was the mission?"

"It was…successful. And…eventful."

She looked concerned. "What does that mean?"

"Oh, nothing, it was good."

"Ok…" She didn't look convinced, but he could see she was going to leave it be for the time being.

"What did you do while I was gone?"

Hermione's eyes lit up. "Ginny and I went to St. Mungo's!"

He sat straight up. "Yeah? What'd they say?"

She smiled. "They said I'm fine, baby's fine, I'm three months now,and they gave me the option of finding out whether it's going to be a girl or a boy."

"Well? What is it?" He demanded.

"I chose not to find out. I want it to be a surprise." She saw his face. "Wait, did you want to find out?"

"No, no, it's fine! He or she will be our little surprise."

She smiled. "Yeah, definitely." She absentmindedly ran her hand over her belly. The small bump was getting a bit bigger, and the waistband of her pants was feeling a bit tighter. It was an awkward, uncomfortable feeling.

She stretched and yawned. "Have you eaten yet?" she asked Ron.

Ron suddenly realized his hunger when his stomach gave a large growl. "Er, no." He replied.

"Well, there's some bread and butter on the table, I'm going to bed okay?" She gave him a kiss and then walked down the hallway to their bedroom.

Ron shoved down a few pieces of bread before following Hermione. He opened the door slowly. The lights were off, and the only way he knew where Hermione was was the lump in the blankets. He took his pajamas out in the dark and pulled off his denims. As he struggled to pull his sweats on, hopping on one foot, he tripped over a pile dirty robes and fell backwards onto the bed, right on Hermione's side.

Hermione let out a cry of pain as she was knocked awake. She bit her lip, drawing blood. "DAMMIT, Ron!"

He rolled off her, grunting. "Sorry, 'Mione."

She shook herself, sitting up and clutching her rib. He propped himself up next to her. "What hurts?"

She pointed silently at her ribcage, squeezing her eyes to hold back light tears of pain. Ron wrapped her in a hug, gently massaging where he had bruised her. She winced. "No, Ron, don't touch it! Uch, do you have to be so clumsy all the time?"

He pulled away, holding his hands up by his head. "Hey, sorry, calm down."

"Calm down? Ron, I should be able to get enough sleep, especially when I need to be healthy, and not only for me, without your shenanigans!" She lay back down.

That was mean…" She thought. Urgh, it was SO hard to control her emotions these days, especially with so little sleep. She rolled over.

"I'm sorry, Ron, that was uncalled for." She pouted.

He smiled, hugging her. "It's ok. Just calm down a little, ok?"

"Ok, deal."

They both fell asleep within the next ten minutes, Hermione still holding her ribs.

When Hermione woke up, it wasn't because of the bright rays of sunlight streaming through the window, or the smell of bacon, but the crash of metal that came from the kitchen, and Ron's loud swearing. Blinking rapidly, she opened her eyes. More swearing ensued from down the hall. With a groan, she slid out of bed and made her way down the hall. "Ron? What's going on?"

"Oh, shoot!" Ron inserted some more foul language at this point. "I'm sorry; I didn't mean to wake you up!"

Hermione spotted the pile of pots and pans on the floor, no doubt the crashing noise. "How did that happen?"

"I pointed at the wrong thing with my wand. I'm really sorry, Hermione!"

She yawned. "Oh, it's fine, I guess. What's for breakfast?"

"Bacon."

"Mmmm." She smiled in anticipation.

Their morning was rather quiet. Hermione was in the middle of going over some grocery lists when Ron burst into the bedroom. "Hermione, c'mon, you've gotta come now!"

She knitted her eyebrows in confusion. "What? Why?"

He grabbed her hand. "Just, please, come on!" They Disapparated.

When they reappeared, Hermione had no idea where they were. "Ron, where is this?" She looked around. The city street was lined with nicely sized houses, all with trimmed hedges and a small fountain in the yard.

"You don't recognize this? We're still in London. I just bought us this new house!" He beamed, pointing at the stone mansion in front of them.

Hermione gaped. "What? Ron, I—"

"BEFORE you complain," He cut her off, "It's a perfect house, you can decorate it, it's gorgeous, it's spacious, and we could easily afford it."

"I wasn't going to complain! Ron, it's gorgeous! I just can't believe you did this for us!" She threw her arms around Ron. "How did you manage to pull this off without me noticing?"

"You'd be surprised how distracted you can get when you're busy, Hermione. And Ginny helped me, I guess I can't take all the credit." He smiled embarrassedly.

Hermione smiled. "Can I look inside?"

A/N: Soooo….this chapter sucks…very slow, very boring, it's sort of just a filler chapter. With a bit of a cliffhanger at the end…I guess…Well, I'm not going to lie, I just wanted to update so I could get more reviews…Yeah, pathetic I know, but you have NOOOO idea how exhilarating it is to receive a new review, it really makes my day 10000000 times better! :D So, even if you didn't like this chapter, or just have an idea of ANYTHING (ABSOLUTELY ANYTHING!) you want to happen, just leave a review and tell me! I LOVE hearing your ideas for the story! Like really! So if you're still here and reading this pathetically long Author's Note, I love you

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Sparkshine