A/N: Grrr! This posted as HTML nonsense TWICE already. Not sure why. Hopefully third time's the charm.
Your reviews kept me going, wonderful people! I'm so sorry this chapter took ages to post. I had a bout of writer's block and I was tempted to take this four or five different directions, but decided to slow it down and make the Romione conversations more realistic. I'd rather have a "boring" chapter than an action-packed, accelerated one that is lacking the attention it deserves. These two have a lot to work out. This is just the beginning. Enjoy!
The sherry was working its magic. Hermione found herself laughing louder and longer than she had in ages as Arthur proceeded to lose his fourth straight round of Exploding Snap.
"Oh come on now, darling! Next round is yours," Mrs. Weasley cried, gathering up the cards to shuffle again. Being the wonderful sport that he was, Arthur chuckled into his goblet and shook his head good-naturedly.
"Blimey, I don't stand a chance against this one," he quipped, gesturing at Molly. "She's had the upper hand in this game since we played together in the common room." Hermione pretended not to notice the wink Molly sent Arthur, both of them clearly in another place and time. The older witch's hand reached out to take the man's, meeting his kind smile.
The long table had been cleared of the delicious roast Mrs. Weasley had made, though the rich custard was still being ladled out between games. The sun had dipped low on the horizon, cooling the rickety house. Hermione glanced at her watch and realized how late it was getting. She needed to ring her father and see if they were still on for their usual Sunday lunch. It was quite a trek with him living up in Bishop's Stortford at his new practice in Thorley.
"Mr. Weasley, do you happen to have a working muggle telephone?" Hermione asked hesitantly. The older wizard's face lit up but his words seem to contradict.
"I do have many tellyphones, my dear, though none of them are attached to the eckeltricity circus. But we can go into the village and request usage of one!" He was already rising from the table, obviously looking forward to the excursion. Hermione knew she could quickly just apparate back to her flat and call her father in a fraction of the time it would take to venture down to Ottery St Catchpole, but she would never dream of denying Arthur an interaction with muggles.
"Back in a jiffy, Mollywobbles."
"No worry, dear." She rose with a start, flicking her wand at the table and causing the remaining dishes to fly into the sink. "I'll just get some of Ginny's things ready. Hermione, please make yourself at home. Anything you need we have."
"Thank you, Mrs. Weasley," Hermione smiles, still in disbelief that she was back in this house after so long. It felt like a dream.
As she and Arthur were about to head out the door, she heard Molly call her name. Glancing back, she saw the plump witch gazing at her with a wide smile stretched across her face, a pile of blankets in her arms.
"It's so good to have you home, darling."
Harry and Neville flanked him on either side as they rounded the tall gate of a small city park on the grounds of a primary school in St. Luke's. Multiple aurors were lurking in the shadows against the brick homes adjacent, wands at the ready. He had stationed Elliot across the street to keep watch and distract any muggles out strolling or walking their dogs, as it was still only early evening. Ron noticed that the small yards nearby had toys strewn about. There were likely a handful of sleeping children all along this road. The lethifold had consumed a sleeping homeless man just several blocks away before it was tracked to this location. This had gone on for far too long.
"Harry," Ron whispered harshly, noticing a light go out in the home across the road, "we need to get through –"
With a start, Neville dashed up the gravel path and blew the locked gate off its hinges. A blast of light illuminated the gloomy park. A horrific, rippling black mass was floating along the hill, barely visible. Ron felt a fine layer of sweat break out over his face as he followed Neville right into the path of the beast.
"Lumos Maxima!" cried someone from his unit. The creature was gliding in the opposite direction away from the light. The wizards were running to keep up with it. To Ron's horror, he saw Elliot racing towards them, brandishing his wand.
"Fuck! Go back, Elliot!" Ron yelled harshly, fearing that the boy would be more danger to himself than anything else. They simply had to put an end to this creature's reign of terror - it couldn't get away from them again this time.
"No, I can help! I did it earlier, remember? I can!"
Ron growled in irritation. He couldn't have the boy injured on his watch.
Focus. It was easier this time to remember. Letting loose his barricaded memories with her when encountering the dementor at the ministry had prepared him for this. It still stung, but nothing compared to the raw emotion he felt earlier.
"Is this completely mental?" she asked anxiously, standing outside the baggage claim. Ron took one of her small hands in his own to keep from fidgeting, It was an absurdly long journey from Australia. The conversations over the phone once Hermione made contact had been promising, but would they actually trust her enough to show up and hear her explanation?
"Mum! Dad!" Hermione cried, tugging Ron along as she barreled towards the tentative couple, both of them still unsure of they could even trust this girl who claimed to be their daughter. "I-I mean, Monica and Wendell. It's me – Hermione Granger! And this is Ron…the one I told you about." A flash of curiosity across their faces. Hermione's master spell work. The tearful reunion.
"Expecto Patronum!" came a shout to his right, and the glorious stag raced towards the creature.
Again he heard someone call out the spell, then another. To his left he saw a powerful blast of silvery non-corporeal patronus hit the creature, stunning it in its place. "Well done, Elliot!" he heard Harry cry.
Dammit. Focus!
"Are you sure? 'Mione, we don't have to-"
"No, no," she said breathlessly. "I want to. I'm just nervous, is all. This is, erm, the first time…"
"Me too," he replied quickly with an equally nervous grin. With a shaking hand he smoothed back the tendrils that had escaped from her plait. His elbows supported him above her body, careful not to crush her, but she snaked her arms around him to pull him down. They both groaned as his naked chest came to rest over hers. She surprised him as she suddenly kissed him with fervor, keeping her arms tightly around him. Her tongue moved against his with a sort of nervous energy. Ron forced himself to pull back slightly.
"Hey," he said, eyes raking over her perfect face, "what are you thinking?"
"That I wouldn't ever want this with anyone else but you."
Ron didn't remember when the terrier burst forth, and he certainly didn't recall uttering the spell, but suddenly the creature was surrounded by six corporeal patronuses. The silvery guardians leapt and flew at the Living Shroud until the creature rose up into the air, dissolving into thousands of pieces before their very eyes.
Hermione wiped a stray tear from the corner of her eye as she pulled Crookshanks' little bell from her pocket. She missed the ginger cat already. On a normal Saturday evening she would have found herself sitting in her favourite armchair with him curled up in her lap, not alone in the kitchen of her ex-boyfriend's childhood home at such a late hour.
Arthur had had a ball at the muggle petrol station as Hermione placed her call, taking his time examining row after row of candy, crisps, and biscuits. She kept an eye on him as she spoke with her father, who shared that a storm was due to blow through the next day and that he would rather postpone their usual lunch until next week to avoid either of them traveling through heavy rain. She couldn't help but feel a twinge of gladness at not having to leave The Burrow as quickly as she feared the next morning.
As Hermione sowly stirred her tea, she allowed her mind to play back the morning with Ron. The self-preserving side of her again tried to stuff other thoughts into her head, but the image of him digging that little square hole for the pet who irritated him all those years was unrelenting. The kindness in his eyes. The fact that he chose this place. Her stomach flipped.
She jumped as various clocks chimed eleven times in a cacophony of sounds, and she decided to go brush her teeth again before slipping into Ginny's old bed. It dawned on her that it was quite strange to not have to fight seven other Weasleys and Harry Potter for the loo.
As she made her way up the winding staircase, she contemplated sneaking up to the very top. She longed to smell that familiar boyish scent, feel the worn quilt of his bed, touch the fading posters magically stuck to the slanting walls. Would she wake Arthur and Molly? She'd have to pass their room to do so.
Feeling brave and a bit insane, Hermione decided to chance it after changing into her red-headed friend's old nightclothes. Molly had selected an old yet barely used gown for the witch to borrow, Hermione assumed, because it was quite girly. There was lacy detail that Ginny would have likely tossed in the rubbish if it hadn't been gifted to her from her mum. She also pulled a blanket around her shoulders as the cool night had made the house quite drafty.
Walking as quietly as a mouse, Hermione tiptoed up the steps. She somehow remembered to widely step over the one that Ron would always advise her and Harry to skip, as it emitted a frightful whine that promised to wake half the house.
Hermione held her breath as she pushed the door open, expecting anything except Ronald Weasley standing in his underwear, pulling a shirt off his head in the dark.
He had been just as shocked to see her as she clearly was to encounter him.
"Shhh! Hermione!" Ron admonished, taking two strides towards her and covering her mouth with his hand. "It's just me!"
Her scream, however brief, had still roused a disoriented Arthur, who bounded into the room with his wand drawn.
"She didn't know I was here. It's just me," Ron reassured his drowsy father as he turned on a light. Though he had clearly just woken up, the older wizard still requested a quick recap of what happened with the lethifold before heading back to bed.
"It was brilliant, Dad. The thing just…just broke up into bits and pieces with all the patronus charms coming at it. I've never seen anything like it. Still had to go in and make a full report, all of us did, before closing the case. Obliviators had the most work tonight, to be honest. Bet half the muggle neighborhood wondered what the bloody hell was going on."
"Proud of you, son. " Arthur smiled. "You look like you could use a good night's sleep. Goodnight, both of you." Arthur winked before turning to leave, closing the creaking door behind him.
A tense moment passed before Ron chanced a glance at the witch. She was standing stiffly with her arms crossed tightly, looking frightfully pale. Her eyes were glued to her feet and his favorite green blanket draped around her shoulders.
She cleared her through before looking up at him. They both stared at each other for a second before she spoke. "I'm sure you're exhausted. I should let you-"
"D'youwannacupofhotchocolate?"
"Excuse me?"
"Hot chocolate. Do you, you know, want to have some?"
A long pause hung in the air before she answered him again.
"With…with you?"
"Blimey, yes, with me."
Hermione smirked, glancing down for a fraction of a second. "Well, perhaps if you weren't so scantily clad-"
"Oi! Watch that cheek, woman," Ron teased before digging through his dresser and pulling his pajamas on. "Besides, it's nothing you haven't seen before."
"Hey!" Hermione cried, not expecting his retort. "At least I came dressed for the occasion to run into someone."
Ron turned and took in her appearance, allowing his eyes to travel up and over the girl he had studied for years.
"You look nice, but those are one hundred percent Ginny's."
"How'd you know?" Hermione couldn't help but whisper as they made their way back downstairs to the kitchen, padding lightly past his parents' room.
Ron turned on the bottom step to look up at her, catching her off guard. She nearly tripped right into him.
"Cause you wear sensible stuff to bed. Pretty, but not all lacy like that."
"…oh."
He knew he had made her flustered, and he felt a little guilty about it. Grabbing the kettle, he tried to make it up to her by fixing the richest, best hot chocolate he had ever made. The days of trying to impress Hermione Granger might be back.
He looked positively knackered. Dark half-circles rimmed his eyes, and stubborn as he was, couldn't seem to fight the series of yawns.
They spoke quiet carefully, not breaching any subject other than what happened with the lethifold. With steaming mugs in hand, they sat opposite at a comfortable distance from one another on the long sofa. Hermione peppered him with questions that he patiently answered, giving most of the credit to his unit.
Another long silence hung in the air before Hermione summoned an ounce of bravery.
"Thank you, again. For what you did with Crookshanks," she started, placing her now-empty mug on the coffee table. "You really didn't have to-"
"I know I didn't."
Hermione exhaled quickly, not wanting to ruin the nice conversation they had been having. She decided to start over.
"He was with me for so long. It's going to be weird coming home to an empty flat."
Ron had a curious look on his face. "Doesn't mean you can't get a new one. Maybe less psychotic this time," he teased.
Hermione looked him dead in the eyes, feeling hers light up with indignation. "It's not that easy. Some things can't just be replaced." To her horror, a few hot, angry tears leaked from her eyes.
Before she knew it he had inched much closer, placing a warm hand on her bare knee. His thumb pressed gently, urging her to look up at him.
"Hey, I'm sorry. I didn't mean it that way."
His eyes were blazing. The blue was striking, even in the dimly lit living room. They swam with concern.
"Didn't you, though?"
He clearly didn't expect her response. He sighed deeply through his nose, removing his hand from her knee to run it through his hair. Neither of them spoke for some time, until Ron nervously cleared his throat.
"Dunno what it's been like for you since we, uh, split up, but…it's been hell for me."
Hermione wanted to smack him. Split up?! They had torn each other apart. She had said the cruelest things imaginable to him, suffered weeks and months of reliving that awful last fight on replay. Still felt like a part of her soul was missing.
"You make it sound so casual." His eyes snapped to hers. She thought carefully about what to say next. "Hell, I believe, would have been preferable."
A/N: I'm already halfway done with the next chapter! Please review and let me know what you think.
Also, I just started a new story called Anapneo with these two characters (and a little more Harry than my other fics). It's going to be quite intense, and I hope you'll follow along with it.