Chapter 24

Lavender stirred slightly before snuggling closer to Ron's warm body. She used to find his naturally hairless chest and stomach borderline unnerving, much more used to men with a more than generous helping of body hair. But she quickly grew to love it; the bareness was much more comfortable against her sensitive skin and afforded her a much better view of his toned muscles. She only barely registered the kiss dropped in her shoulder before falling back to sleep.

Ron held her close waiting for the tell-tale deep breathing that would indicate she'd fallen back into a deep sleep. Then he carefully disentangled their limbs and slipped out of bed. Quietly maneuvering around the clothes haphazardly strewn over the floor, he located his boxers and pulled them on. After a quick stop in the bathroom to freshen up, he stalked into the kitchen and began to pull out ingredients to make breakfast. He had no misconceptions about his cooking abilities, or lack thereof, but prided himself in always paying close enough attention to figure out the likes and dislikes of a date and how to make the dishes they favored most. Before beginning he started a pot of coffee, knowing the smell would help rouse Lavender.

An insistent ringing and soft hum pulled Hermione from her much needed rest. Confused, she gazed bleary eyed around the room as her mind slowly awakened. Finally her gaze landed on the dresser and she figured out the source of the offending noise. Still not fully awake, she dragged her body from the soft, warm bed and padded over to the wand to remove the alarm charm. Yawning and stretching, her mind finally began producing coherent thoughts, reminding her why she'd set the alarm in the first place.

Excitement serving to finally fully awaken her, she grinned and darted from the room to the bathroom to get cleaned up. On her way back she accioed a pair of jeans, a tee-shirt, a sweat-shirt, socks and her tennis shoes from her room. Minutes later she was dressed with her hair pulled back into a pony-tail and ready to do some heavy lifting. She eyed the clock trying to decide if nine-thirty was too early to run over to Lavender's. With a shrug she grabbed a book, figuring she could fix breakfast and read if they were… occupied when she arrived.

Ron was putting the finishing touches on a Western Omelet and some toast when a prickle at the back of his neck sent shivers down his spine. Not paying it any mind at first, he finished up and carefully placed it on a breakfast tray. He lifted it and turned just in time to see Hermione enter the kitchen, obviously not expecting to see him. Their eyes connected for a split second before they registered one another. Obviously startled, Hermione jumped and silently gasped; Ron audibly yelped and dropped the tray. It had barely fallen below his knees when it halted, reflexively caught by Hermione, and skillfully levitated back to Ron's hands without dropping a single thing.

"Sorry about that," she smiled lightly. "I was just coming to see if I could lend a hand. Don't let me interrupt." As if to illustrate her point, she sat at the table and pulled out her book while the coffee poured itself into a cup and began to fix itself.

"Um…" Ron was at a loss of what to do, not realizing at first what she was talking about. Finally catching on that Lavender must have spoken to her about last night beforehand, he replaced the tray on the counter.

"An extra set of hands would be great," he belatedly confirmed as he poured another cup of coffee. "Have you eaten yet?"

"No," her sheepish tone saying she'd obviously forgotten in her excitement.

"Scrambled eggs and fruit?" He offered already anticipating the answer.

"Naturally," she grinned. It wasn't necessarily her favorite breakfast, but it was her usual request if for no other reason but its safe simplicity. She resumed her book when he exited the room, knowing he was bringing the coffee to Lavender to wake her up, and get dressed. Deciding to be productive, she quickly set the table with the prepared breakfast for two and began to cook her own meal. It wasn't long before the couple returned, also dressed for heavy lifting. Both Lavender and Hermione rolled their eyes affectionately when Ron grabbed his omelet and gentle pushed Hermione away from the stove to finish making her food while eating his own.

As they ate they planned out what things would be moved in and what would be placed into storage. The first decision reached was that Harry and Ron would move everything while the women arranged and organized it all.

Bill stretched in bed and glanced at his bedside clock. "Bloody fucker," he glared at it irritably seeing that today he'd managed to wake up well over an hour before the useless bugger went off. He remained frozen like that for a moment or two, contemplating all the different ways he could destroy the offending object before deciding he didn't feel like wasting money on a new one. Instead, he opted to take out his primal frustration in an early morning exercise.

He was already in the habit of keeping a rigorous fitness regime, thanks to his former position, but today he overdid it by a lot. Masochistically, he'd decided against taking any preemptive measures against the impending muscle pain, knowing on some level he was going to need it, but consciously deciding against it. To a degree, he was aware that the over the top work out was due to last night's mishap, and somewhere in his twisted mind he figured that letting himself wallow in pain would be the perfect way to distract himself from it while still punishing himself.

"When the hell did I become such a basket case anyway?" His thoughts once again sounded like his brother. "Because one Charlie wasn't enough," he rolled his eyes at himself, "I just had to make myself an inner Charlie too." He chuckled to himself at the thought, warning himself to never tell the real one that his mini-me was running around in his big brother's head. Suddenly he began to laugh quite openly, the thought stuck in his head as he imagined it. "I've officially gone insane," he finally recovered; glad no one had witnessed the episode.

It was his new found joviality that led him to decide to pay a surprise visit to Grimbles and Rosenwyn, choosing to ignore the rudeness of unannounced visits in favor of seeking some sane company. Besides, he wanted to make sure the goblin was feeling better after yesterday.

When Grimbles first began working the night shift at Gringotts it had been bittersweet. He was finally living home, where he belonged, but still rarely got to spend time with Rosenwyn because of conflicting schedules. Fortunately they learned to make up for lost time on the weekends. Somehow Grimbles always managed to reverse his sleep patterns so he was up during the day and still could fall back into schedule during the week.

Because their time was so limited, the couple always took the week to ensure every errand was completed and any visiting with family or friends was done so they could just focus on each other. And in return, their family and friends were always conscientious of not cutting into their time together. Sometimes too conscientious, forcing the couple to go extra lengths to invite them over and assure them that they were in fact sure they wanted company. Naturally, it was their best of friends, the few people they were closest to, who they were the worst offenders.

The morning had been a pretty typical one so far, with Grimbles giving a detailed account of the day before over breakfast. They were clearing the table idly discussing what to do with the rest of their day when Bill strolled in behind them and sat at the table natural as can be. He silently eavesdropped on the mundane conversation as he ever so slowly levitated a loaf of Rosenwyn's homemade banana bread to himself, taking care to not get caught stealing the delicious treat.

"I wonder what made her decide to work at Gringotts," Rosenwyn said after a moment of silence, confusing Bill with the sudden change of subject. "I thought for sure she'd go into the Ministry… maybe become an Auror, though I doubt there's much more training they could provide."

"I was surprised at first too," Grimbles had no trouble following his wife's thought process, "but after yesterday I understand a little better. I don't know how to describe it, but she has this sort of quality about her…" he trailed off with a shrug. Bill realized they were talking about Hermione. The irony that the place he'd come to avoid thinking about her was filled with conversation about her wasn't lost on him.

"What's she like?" Rosenwyn couldn't resist asking as she finished the dishes and began putting away the ones Grimbles dried. "I wish I could meet her." The pretty dwarf's voice was filled with longing.

"Who said you couldn't?" Bill spoke up, always a sucker for that wishful tone. He could never resist an opportunity to make her smile at him. Belatedly he realized that announcing his presence before the dishes were done was not the best of ideas. He quickly caught the plates before the dropped. The couple jumped slightly when he levitated the dishes to the cabinet, having not realized they had dropped them or that he'd caught them.

"Bill!" Rosenwyn finally squealed excitedly as she dashed forward to hug him hello. Behind her Grimbles began laughing, though Bill couldn't figure out why until she pulled back asking if he wanted some brunch. At first he was confused by the hinting tone before realizing he'd forgotten about the half eaten loaf of bread still in his hand. Laughing, he pointed out he already had his brunch and bit off a large chunk, exaggerating his enjoyment of it.

"Sorry for dropping in like this," he insincerely apologized, letting himself be lead into the living room. "How are you feeling?"

"Fine. Just fine, thank you," Grimbles dismissively replied.

"Don't be silly, we couldn't be happier you did," Rosenwyn brushed off his apology at the same time.

"Whoever said you couldn't meet Hermione," Bill repeated his earlier question after they settled into their seats.

"No one had to tell me," Rosenwyn answered, "she's a busy, important woman. I couldn't disturb her with something so trivial."

Bill fixed the couple with a hard stare, obviously disapproving of the self-deprecating statement. "Trust me, she wouldn't see it that way," he voice was low and sure, attracting curious looks. "I'll introduce you," he promised.

The figure carefully stepped through the threshold, holding its breath as it waited to see if any booby-traps had been set off. When none were forthcoming, it stepped further in, taking in the modern but homely atmosphere. The figure slinked from room to room, peeking around corners on high alert for traps. Confirming the residence was empty, a devious smirk formed as the figure settled in to await the arrival of its target.

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