A/N: Greetings everyone. Due to RL obligations as well as illnesses, I've been writing plenty but publishing less at the moment. Suffice to say, I hope to have some nice things up before the Ides of March, for reader appreciation. So, in light that today is Valentine's Day, have some Romione fluff (with Ginny's commentary) for your pleasure. This is an outtake of a WIP that has been WIP for going on 2 years now. Maybe someday,...

And my Solicitor wanted me to remind everyone I'm not Jo, nor do I have plenty of cheeky comments for my Twitter audience. - DG

Sunlight drifted in through the windows above the great hall. Few students were out of bed this early in the morning, especially after a raucous Saturday on the Quidditch Pitch. Gryffindor celebrated with Hufflepuff, beating Slytherin handily. The Badgers didn't gloat so much as genial celebrations. Why would they? Slytherin house Quidditch team was stacked with fifth years and younger. It was no contest, not really.

So while the Butterbeer flowed and Hermione knew other libations did too, at least in her own house, the other students would still be sleeping at half seven in the morning.

No, she was cursed with having insomnia still, waking at half five regardless of whatever time she laid her head down on her pillow. Not even Ginny's rhythmic breathing, punctuated with the occasional snore could keep her lulled to sleep past half five.

So, instead of wallowing in bed like Ron, she arose, followed her morning routine, and went downstairs to have breakfast. And, as expected, the continental breakfast the Elves made just for her was just what she needed for a meal. The croissants were flaky, the tea and milk was just the right temperature, and the crock butter tasted wonderful.

But this morning was a special treat. The Elves sent up a plate of spinach quiche and it was outstanding. She tucked in for another bite and heard the first hoots of owls from the upper eaves. "Right on schedule," she thought.

"It's too bloody early in the morning."

Hermione looked up and saw Ginny plop down across from her. "And good morning to you too." Hermione smirked while Ginny tapped her wand on the tabletop and a full English cook-up appeared on the rest of the tabletop. "I love this," she muttered while tipping the fried eggs and bangers onto her plate before snatching pieces of buttered toast from the tray.

Hermione watched the owls bring the early post as well as the newspapers and other correspondence. A brown tawny owl dropped her copy of the Daily Prophet with little fanfare and flew away. Inside, she was a little disappointed. She'd hoped that Ron would have sent something to her today.

She looked up and saw Ginny opening a small box before her. "From Harry?"

"Yeah." She tore the parchment paper wrapping and pulled a small book out of the box. "He knows me all too well."

"You, a book?"

Ginny held it up before her. In a faint gold script were the words, "The Rules of Quidditch, three hundred edition."

"I thought you told me that the rules haven't changed for Quidditch in almost a century."

"They haven't," Ginny said smugly.

"But a book that old? It looks a century old."

"It's not that old." Ginny opened it and scanned the publish date. "No, just well used. It's only about 3 years old, really. But if I'm going to go pro, I need to know all the rules." She looked up with a smirk on her face. "I need to know as to how to bend them to my will."

Hermione picked up her tea and took a sip. "You sure you wouldn't have fit better over there, on the other side of the room?"

"I'm just following your lead, dear." Ginny looked over at the plates and newspapers surrounding Hermione. "Didn't that prat of a brother send you anything?"

Hermione put her tea cup down and sighed quietly. "Maybe he forgot what day it was. It's not like he's had a good run for this day last few years."

"The git knows better," Ginny muttered while taking another bite of toast. "If Harry, The Oblivious One, knows to send a gift on Valentine's Day, then my tosspot of a brother should know." Ginny pulled a face, trying to imitate Harry and his occasional lost look. "Maybe Harry should teach Ron a few things."

A loud hoot echoed in the hall and the girls looked up from their discussion. An Eagle Owl, larger than the one Malfoy owned, swooped down and landed next to Hermione. "Are you for me?" she inquired.

The owl hooted again and held his claw out. Wrapped around the leg was a miniscule package, obviously shrunken for the owl's benefit. "Why did he use Aesop?" She tried to lift the box from his leg and had trouble. "Oh for Merlin's sake. No wonder why it took forever."

Ginny handed the owl a full rasher and the owl ate it with gusto.

"What is it?"

"The package looks tiny but it weighs a ton. No wonder why he used Aesop for the trip."

"Ron sent it?" Ginny handed the owl another rasher and watched him soar away, probably to the owlery to rest before returning back to London.

Hermione used her wand to restore the package to regular size and gasped as it continued to grow. Once changed back it was the size of a jumper box, like the ones you'd get from Harrod's. "What did he put in here that he needed this big of a box?" She unwrapped the oversized box and pulled away the chartreuse paper inside.

"What did he get you?"

Hermione looked up and blushed. "Um, well," she stuttered.

Ginny pulled the box towards her and lifted the paper. Inside were a few small parcels of chocolate, roses, a plethora of books and a large envelope. "My prat of a brother sent you all this?"

"I think he went overboard."

"Rubbish," Ginny plucked a chocolate out of the box and bit into it. "Oh, this is good, really good."

"You better hope that it didn't come from the shop."

Ginny shook her head. "It's not. George's chocolates taste a little different. This is like the chocolates Fleur gets from her parents. This is the expensive stuff."

Hermione opened the large envelope and saw a stack of parchment inside. "So what did he say?"

Hermione scanned the first page and blushed harder. She looked up over the top of the letter and Ginny saw Hermione's eyes grow wider.

"On second thought, don't bother. I don't want to know. You can tell me later if you are up for it."

Hermione stuffed the letter back in the envelope and put the lid back on the box. "I'll take this back upstairs."

"Yeah, that's probably a good idea. You don't want Luna oversharing with the whole hall."

Hermione picked up her satchel and the box. "I'll see you upstairs once you're finished eating."

"Yeah, and I'll knock first before coming into our room."

"That might be a wise idea." Hermione scuttled out of the Hall and left Ginny chuckling into her tea cup.

"You'd think she'd know how to react to a pervy letter by now."

Hermione sat on her bed in their shared room and lifted the lid on the box again. The roses were already in a vase on the bureau on the far wall, and the chocolates would keep for special occasions, unless Ginny ate them all.

The three books were ones she mentioned in passing over Christmas holidays. Ron spent quite a few galleons procuring them, on Elf rights, theories on Wizarding heritage in England, and a third regarding the travels of a Wizard in Renaissance England.

Ron had gone overboard, considering everything he'd procured. He was frugal with his money when it came to spending it on himself, but generous to a fault when it came to spending on her. Her gifts to him, a case of Chocolate Frogs as well as self-inking quills, seemed wholly inadequate after receiving this bounty of gifts from him.

She didn't dare tell Ginny that inside the envelope were risque images, all somehow from Ron's mind. They weren't that detailed, really, just charcoal on parchment. But they were obviously her, and obviously from the times they'd made love since getting together.

She could place the first one. It was from Boxing Day morning, spent together without interruption. They weren't due at her parent's residence until one in the afternoon so they spent the morning in bed, making love and talking about everything. The ribbon on her wrist gave away that morning.

The fireplace in their suite flared and Ron's voice boomed into the room. "Hermione, are you there?"

"Ron?" She turned and saw his face in the green flames. "What on earth are you doing calling this early in the morning? Is everything alright? What's wrong?"

"The only thing wrong is that I can't be there with you today, shagging you rotten in your bed."

"I know," She said forlornly. "But you've got work and on duty tonight."

"Yeah, working last night buggered things up. I'd have rather been there with you this morning instead of getting ready to go on shift at the Ministry." Hermione saw Ron rub his head through the flames. "Did you get my package I sent 2 days ago?"

"I got it this morning. You really didn't have to do so much, Ron. The books would have been more than enough."

"George said you'd say that. That's why he dragged me out into Muggle London on Tuesday to get the roses and Chocolates. He said if I'd only gotten you the books and the items in the envelope you'd hex my bollocks off."

Hermione looked at the sheet of parchment in her hands and held it up, blank side towards him, to show she'd received such an intimate gift. "Please tell me you didn't tell him about what was in the envelope."

"Are you mad? Hell no. Harry didn't even know about this idea. Brilliant, innit?"

Hermione pulled the letter out of the envelope and brought out the other pieces of parchment. She held each one up in front of the fire so Ron could see them. "Who did you get to draw these for you? Please tell me it wasn't anyone we know."

"Ah, no. Actually there's this woman who works for the Ministry, in MLS. Anyway, she has a special gift. She knows Occulumancy, and helps victims identify their attackers. She's been dead useful in helping us track down rogue Death Eaters. She uses magic to see what happened with the victim, then sketches what she saw in their mind."

Hermione sat back on her heels, completely gobsmacked.

"I asked her right after you left for the next term, and paid her some galleons. She agreed, and over the last month, when she has time, did these simple sketches for me. She's bonded to confidentiality, where she can't talk about the victims – or her clients."

Hermione looked at the fourth one and gasped. "You remembered this?"

"Of course I do, love. How could I forget? It was the best and worst day of my life."

Hermione held it up and saw the curving lines of the outline of her hair along with the slight swell of her breasts. "But I looked horrid that day."

"Bollocks. You're fucking beautiful to me."

Hermione finished rifling through the last of the sketches and stopped at the last one. "Ron, this one," she turned it around to show him, "it's beautiful."

"It's my favorite, really, moreso than the others. You came back to me."

Hermione looked at it and knew what day it was without asking. She awoke that day to bright blue eyes looking at her with so much love and relief and tenderness.

"I wanted you to know how much you mean to me. And since I can't draw worth shite, I thought this would suffice." She knew he was blushing by the way he wouldn't look at her. "Please tell me you like it."

Hermione looked into the flames and ignored the tears dripping down her cheeks. "It's gorgeous. I love it as much as the letter you sent with them."

A claxon rattled through the flames. "Shite. Gotta go, love. I'm on duty in an hour."

"Have a good day and don't work too hard."

"Same goes for you, love."

"Three weeks," she said quietly.

"Three weeks," he replies. "I love you."

"Love you too," she said back.

His head disappeared and the flames winked out.

Hermione sat on the floor for a moment before motion behind her alerted her. She whirled with her wand in her hand before dropping it immediately.

Ginny's Cheshire smile greeted her.

"Don't pick on him, please."

"Oh I'm not, at least not today," she cheeked back.

Hermione put the other drawings back in the envelope along with the rather pervy letter he'd written her. "You're as bad as the rest of them, you are."

Ginny went to her desk and put the Quidditch rules book prominently on top. "Yeah, and that's why you love me too."

Hermione chuckled. "Bint."

Ginny turned around and leaned against the desk. "Look who's talking."

The girls giggled.

"So what did he get you?"

Hermione handed over the last image from the stack while obscuring the rest. She'd have to charm them today so no one else could see how Ron saw her.

"Blimey, this is gorgeous."

"Yeah, I know, now."