A/N: Hello again. I'm pleased to see that no one was too upset by the cliffhanger in the last chapter - I'm glad it was pretty obvious that Ron was merely being a bit paranoid. Anyway, I love you all because you're awesome. These next couple chapters are a bit shorter than average, as we're simply getting a few smaller scenes out of the way in the lead up to Chapters 10 and 11, which are really rather huge and climactic and all that. Hope you enjoy :)

Disclaimer: I am not JK Rowling. Obviously.

"Hermione!" Ron bellowed as he stepped out of the fireplace, holding his wand at the ready. "Hermione!"

"What? What is it?" The petite brunette came scurrying from the direction of the bedroom, a look of alarm upon her face, but Ron couldn't allow himself to relax just yet.

"How did I propose to you?" he asked desperately, clutching his wand tightly.

"What?" Hermione repeated, her worried expression quickly growing more pronounced. "Ron, what's happened?"

"Answer the question!" Ron shot back tersely, gripping his wand still more firmly.

"We were at Hogwarts," Hermione answered shakily. "We were at Hogwarts, and we'd just…for the first time, and then you asked me."

Ron finally let out the breath he'd been holding since encountering Bulstrode five minutes earlier. "Thank Merlin," he breathed, dropping his wand to the ground and stepping forward to wrap Hermione in his arms.

"Ron, you're scaring me," Hermione said in a small voice as she tentatively returned his embrace. Ron only held her tighter and dropped a kiss to the top of her head. "Please tell me what's happened," she added in response to his silence, her voice nearly bursting with unshed tears.

"It's nothing," Ron replied gruffly. "I overreacted."

Hermione pulled back a bit to look at him properly. "Overreacted to what?"

Ron let out a sigh and began to rub her back soothingly. "We've arrested Greengrass and Bulstrode," he began, "and one of them threatened you. Said you weren't safe."

"I'm fine, Ron, I'm fine," Hermione said firmly. "The charms work perfectly, you know that."

"But you'd been out," Ron said desperately. "I just - fuck, Hermione, I was so scared."

"I'm alright," Hermione repeated, bringing her hands up to stroke his arms tenderly. "They were just trying to get under your skin, Ron. I've been home about an hour, and nothing's happened."

Ron took another deep breath. "And you're sure you're you?"

"Positive," Hermione confirmed with a smile, and she went on her tiptoes to give him a quick kiss on the lips. "That help you figure it out?"

"Yeah, that was one of your kisses, alright," Ron smiled, allowing some of the tension to leave his body. "Fucking hell, I s'pose I've got to go back there."

"Don't tell me you just ran out," Hermione scolded, frowning again. "Ron, I was alright the whole -"

"But I didn't know that," Ron cut in sharply. "I had to check, you know I did. You would have done, too."

Hermione sighed in acceptance and nodded. "Of course. But Ron, you really can't let them manipulate you like that. What if the situation hadn't been under control? What if you'd been out on the field?"

"Don't you think I know that?" Ron snapped, causing Hermione's face to crumple a bit. "Oh, shit, I didn't mean to -"

"It's fine, you've had a stressful day," she assured him, squeezing his arms comfortingly. "Go back."

"I don't want to leave you," Ron fretted.

"I've got to go too, Ron," Hermione insisted. "I promised my mum I'd drop by again for a bit."

"You're not leaving!" Ron exclaimed. "After somebody tied with a fucking Death Eater revival contingent's threatened your life? No bloody way!"

"Ron, there's an Auror keeping watch at my parents' house at all times," Hermione retorted, clearly a bit annoyed now. "I'm not going to be able to stay inside forever! I'm going to be alright; you've got to go do your job."

"I can't do my job if you're off risking your life! Didn't we just see them yesterday?" Ron pleaded.

"I'm not risking my life; I'm seeing my parents. And you know why I'm seeing them, don't you? So that they'll show up to our wedding!" Hermione cried indignantly, stepping back from his embrace. "I'm a big girl, Ron! I'll be fine."

Ron blew all the air out of his lungs and grabbed at his hair, closing his eyes so he wouldn't have to look at Hermione's annoyed expression. "Fine," he snapped. "But don't expect-"

"Just go on and do your job, will you?" Hermione asked angrily. "I'll see you when you're done at the office, and not a minute before! I don't care what they say, I'm fine, and I can take care of myself!"

"I said fine!" Ron very nearly bellowed."Send your parents my regards, yeah?"

He didn't wait for a response from Hermione; he simply turned on his heel and stormed back into the fireplace, grabbing a handful of Floo powder with more ferocity than was necessary and shouting "The Ministry!" quite loudly, as though to make his point. The last thing he saw before the flat disappeared from view was a defeated looking Hermione, but he didn't have time to dwell on it. Within minutes he'd made his way back to the Auror department, where Bryce and Isaac were sitting at their desks waiting for him.

"Your girl alright?" Bryce asked sympathetically, though Ron could tell from his expression that the elder man thought his actions had been rash.

"Fine," Ron answered shortly. "Who's questioning Bulstrode?"

"We already did," Isaac replied coolly. "It was a rather short conversation. She didn't confess outright, but she didn't need to, did she?"

"Nothing new, then?" Ron asked dejectedly.

"'Fraid not," Bryce confirmed. "Anyway, we're charging the three of them for the threats, and they'll be held in Azkaban til trial. Should be a quick one, really, especially once we've got the warrant to do a thorough search of their homes. Still, I can't imagine their sentences will be much longer than a year or so, and that's mostly because they were all violent upon arrest."

"But the meeting," Ron persisted. "It must have been orchestrated by that group; there's no way the three of them got all that information independently. And they haven't got a motive, either; I don't buy for one second that they did it just to mess with us."

"We just don't know," Isaac shook his head sadly. "We can watch that original house, but chances are nothing will come of it. The three of them just aren't talking. We're not done trying, of course, and we can talk to their families, but I wouldn't bet on anything new coming up. And there's not really anyone else to question, is there? The only known Death Eaters left out there are the Malfoys, and I'd put down my next year's salary that they haven't got anything to do with it, especially after what we've heard from the youngest one."

"We're keeping the protection on the victims indefinitely," Bryce continued, "but there's nothing else either of us can think to do for the time being. The search teams are hard at work, and we'll have to investigate what they find as it comes up. Any other ideas?"

"I'm all out, too," Ron sighed in defeat. "Paperwork, then?"

"Shitton of paperwork," Bryce confirmed, tossing a pile of parchment toward Ron. "Shouldn't take more than an hour if you get down to it."

"Fan-fucking-tastic," Ron muttered.

Eighty long minutes later, Ron had finished his share of the paperwork and once again made his way through the corridors of the Ministry. A million thoughts were racing through his head, but he couldn't for the life of him determine which ones were actually important. He couldn't even set his mind on one specific idea; every time he tried, his dull headache would become sharp and focused. His best bet was ignoring the roaring of voices and ideas in his head for the time being, though he realized as he stepped into one of the fireplaces in the atrium that this partial respite would likely be short-lived, given the huff he'd left in earlier. But whatever he expected when he got home, it certainly wasn't what actually awaited him: Hermione was sitting at the kitchen table, head in her hands, clearly crying.

"What's wrong?" Ron asked immediately after stepping out of the fireplace, hurrying over to place a gentle hand on her shoulder. "Did something happen at your parents?"

Hermione didn't look up; she audibly choked back a sob before managing to respond: "I-I'm so sorry!"

Ron's brow furrowed; he certainly hadn't expected to hear that. "What for?"

"I-I'm going to be a terrible wife!" Hermione lamented, her voice muffled due to her refusal to lift her head.

"What are you talking about?" Ron asked, frustrated. "Hermione, whatever they told you-"

"I didn't go to my parents'!" Hermione cried, sniffing and wiping her eyes but still refusing to meet Ron's worried gaze. "You ought to be happy, don't you think?"

Ron let out a heavy sigh. Of course. Thoughts of their earlier row had been pushed to the back of his mind in favor of the case and the paperwork accompanying it, but now, the guilt was creeping steadily into his thoughts. "Hermione, I'm sorry. I really am, I didn't want you to break your plans with your parents, I just-"

"You were stressed, I know!" Hermione said, at last meeting his eyes with her bloodshot ones. Ron was momentarily relieved to see that she had stopped crying. "You were stressed out, and what did I do? I picked a fight when all you were was worried about me!"

"Well, I was a bit out of order, trying to tell you what to do," Ron replied uncomfortably, unsure where she was going with this.

"But you had my best interest at heart! You always do, and here I am fighting you on it at every turn like a controlling bit-"

"Don't call yourself that," Ron cut in sharply. "Hermione, that was hardly even a row!"

"You were already stressed, and I only made it worse," Hermione objected. "I just - I don't know how we're meant to be married if all I'm going to do is make things worse for you!"

"You don't make things worse!" Ron cried exasperatedly. "We were both on edge, it's fine, you're being mental-"

"And now we're rowing about whether or not it was a row!" Hermione continued, apparently not hearing him. "This is how marriages fall apart, Ron, it's fights like these! And if I'm going to be instigating conflict like an insolent shrew when all you're trying to do is protect me-"

Ron didn't know what else to do, how else to make her see sense, so instead, he leaned in and kissed her hard on the mouth. "Nobody insults you," he nearly growled when he pulled back. "Nobody insults you, not even you, understand?"

"But-" Hermione whimpered, but Ron wasn't having it.

"I love you," he said in a low, firm voice, and then he leaned in and kissed her again, softer than the last but equally as passionate.

After only seconds, Hermione let out a moan and began to tug his shirt out of his trousers as she stood. He stepped back for a moment, and she took the opportunity to unclasp his robe and let it drop to the floor. They stared at each other for barely the amount of time it took to blink, and then they were in each other's arms again, and his lips were on Hermione's neck, and the things her hands were doing…he began to maneuver them back toward the bedroom, smashing into the walls on either side of the narrow hallway no less than three times on their way, until finally, they were in their bed, clothes forgotten, their thoughts focused on nothing but each other.

She lay sprawled across his chest afterward; his arms were wrapped around her waist, and one of her hands was absentmindedly stroking his hair and rubbing his scalp in a way that felt almost too amazing to be allowed. Their comfortable silence was only broken when Hermione spoke, softly but matter-of-factly: "We haven't got a clue what we're doing, have we?"

Ron tightened his grip around her waist in response. "I don't know. I like to think we've got some clue."

"We've literally just tried to shag our problems away," Hermione replied doubtfully.

Ron adjusted so he could look at her properly. "Tried?" he smirked.

"You know what I mean," Hermione scowled. "Ron, we've just had a row!"

"We didn't, really," Ron reasoned. "It was more of a scuffle."

"Please take this seriously," Hermione sighed.

"You're overreacting, love," Ron replied. "As far as our rows go, that was pretty tame."

"But it's the fact that we're rowing at all!" Hermione protested. "We can't be on each other's cases like that when we're already stressed; it'll only make things worse!"

"I don't think we can help it," Ron pointed out. "It's the rest of our lives we're talking about, you know; it's not like we're never going to fight again."

"Well, of course not, but over something stupid like that?" Hermione insisted.

"I like our stupid fights," Ron replied dismissively, leaning down and kissing her on the forehead.

"I don't," Hermione retorted with a slight frown.

Ron sighed heavily and shifted again so that they were now lying on their sides, facing one another. It was difficult to have a serious conversation when he had a naked Hermione on top of him - not that it was easy to have a conversation with a naked Hermione next to him, mind, but at least this way her breasts wouldn't be pressed up against his chest in that way that always made him want another go.

"Please tell me what you're on about," Ron requested in the most pleasant tone he could muster. "I'm not going to know unless you tell me."

Hermione was quiet then; her eyes darted around the room before settling back on his eyes. She took a deep breath before saying, in a very small voice: "What if my parents are right?"

Ron could feel his heart sinking, but he forced himself to ask for clarification: "What do you mean?"

"It's just - sometimes it feels like we haven't got a clue what we're getting ourselves into."

"But we've talked about this sort of thing a thousand times, Hermione, and we're figuring it out together," Ron argued, determinedly ignoring the bile that was rising in his throat.

Hermione must have detected something in the tone of his voice, because her own tone softened as she quickly replied: "Of course we are. I'm not questioning that it's you I'm meant to be with, Ron."

"Then what are you questioning?" Ron prompted, his brow furrowing again.

Hermione sighed heavily."I just - I don't want us to wind up resenting each other twenty years from now."

"Not possible," Ron responded immediately. "Otherwise it would've happened a long time ago."

"I'm being serious, Ron," Hermione protested.

"And so am I," he insisted. "But it's like I said, we've talked about this stuff before, haven't we? What's this really about?"

"Okay, fine! I'm scared," Hermione admitted shrilly. "It's completely stupid, but I'm terrified! I can try to write it off as the good kind of nerves all I want, but that doesn't change the fact that there's a part of me that's scared stiff in the worst kind of way!"

"What exactly are you scared of, though?" Ron pressed, more confused now than ever, hoping his mounting frustration wasn't completely obvious.

"I don't know!" Hermione cried.

"That's helpful, thanks," Ron couldn't help but retort. "I mean…fuck, Hermione, what are you saying? 'Cause it sounds a hell of a lot like you're rethinking things, and if that's it…well, I need to know now, don't I?" He felt a swooshing in his stomach, but he forced himself to look her in the eyes as he asked her.

"Oh no, I want to get married," Hermione said hastily, placing a hand against his chest. "Ron, you know I love you."

Ron slowly exhaled all the air from his lungs to stop himself from snapping. "You aren't making any sense," he told her as calmly as he could. "Are you…are you scared we're going to row too much? We haven't had a bad fight in ages, love, and not since we got together."

"I know, I do. And that's only part of it," Hermione replied honestly. "I-I just don't know. I haven't been able to talk to anybody about this, and how could I? I've been trying to convince everyone that it's perfect because if it's not, then I'm wrong."

"Well, you can tell me anything you want to," Ron said uncertainly, but when her face softened he realized that it had been the right thing to say.

"It's just…everyone's been telling us that marriage is something you have to be willing to work at," Hermione said slowly.

"Yeah," Ron acknowledged. "We know that."

"Yes, I know, and we're good at working through things together," Hermione continued. "We're better at it now than we ever have been."

"So what is it that's bothering you?" Ron prompted.

"It just worries me when we snipe at each other like we did earlier," Hermione said honestly. "I mean…this is the first real relationship for both of us, and we are quite young. Sometimes I just wonder whether they're right, and whether we really don't know what's coming. And it's just…we can say we'll face it all together, and we can mean it, but it scares me a bit when we row over things that don't matter."

"So we'll talk things out," Ron reasoned, moving his arm around her so that he could rub the small of her back. "Like we're doing now, see? I mean, Hermione, we both say stupid things all the time, but the difference now is that we can swallow our pride and apologize."

"I know," Hermione replied, taking a deep breath. "I've got no doubt that we can do it, really."

"Nor do I," Ron affirmed, drawing her closer and pressing a kiss to her forehead. "So why the breakdown, then, if you don't mind my asking?"

Hermione bit her lip thoughtfully and hesitated for a moment. "I…I don't know. I think everyone gets a bit nervous before getting married, of course, but I just…it's like I can't tell anybody about it."

"Why not?" Ron asked.

"Because I've spent the last six months trying to convince everybody else that we know exactly what we're doing," Hermione explained. "I don't want anybody trying to tell me that being nervous is a sign that we're making a mistake, because I don't think it is."

"I don't think so either," Ron said automatically. "We're getting married; it's sort of a big deal. Obviously we're going to be a little nervous about it all."

"So I'm told," Hermione agreed with a slight laugh. "Listen, about today…what we have together, Ron…you make me so happy, and we're so incredibly right. I don't ever want us to lose sight of that."

"And we won't," Ron said immediately, "because I, Ronald Bilius Weasley, promise you, Hermione Jean Granger, that I will always listen to you and put up with you and love you, even when you're being bloody mental."

Hermione smirked and rolled her eyes, but she responded: "And I, Hermione Jean Granger, promise you, Ronald Bilius Weasley, that I will always listen to you and put up with you and love you, even when you're being an insufferable prat."

"Good, we've got the vows written, then," Ron quipped, and Hermione giggled and poked him in the sides. Letting out a mock howl of pain, Ron wrapped his arms tightly around her. "Seriously - we're okay, yeah?" he murmured into her ear.

"We were never not okay," Hermione affirmed, returning his embrace in kind. "I'm sorry. Look, I know it feels like we're beating a dead thestral here, it's just that…what with everything we've been dealing with these last few months…I guess it all just gets to be a bit much sometimes. I just want everything to be perfect, and I've never really been good under stress; I know I haven't, but I can't take it out on you, and I'm sorry."

"I'm sorry, too. I've been known to snap under pressure myself, but that's why we've got each other, yeah?" Ron replied. "And you're gonna be the best fucking wife in the world, you know that, right?"

Hermione snorted. "I sincerely doubt that."

"Well, I'm the only one that's got to think so," Ron pointed out, and Hermione laughed again.

"You'll be the best husband, too," she said quietly.

"I'll try my damnedest," Ron replied solemnly.

"Sorry again for being mental," Hermione murmured, kissing him softly once more before snuggling further into his arms.

"Nah, it's just who you are," Ron teased gently. "And it's you and me for good, love. You aren't getting rid of me that easily."

"Wouldn't dream of it," Hermione murmured. "You and me."

And they didn't need to say anything more that night, because really, even in the complicated mess their lives might become, it was just as simple as that.

A/N: I've always been a little unsure about this chapter, but I knew a conversation like this needed to happen. Hermione has been a bit preoccupied with perfection thus far in the story, and I think it's important she was open about her anxieties with Ron - and of course, he needed to do his best to calm her down. Another fairly short chapter to come soon (probably around Tuesday), then we hit the big stuff! Thanks for reading. :)