Merry Christmas! Winter break is finally here! So... I know I said I would try to post more often but I didn't take into accound the amount of workload my new schoolyear had waiting for me. This is getting kinda old, saying sorry on every author note for uploading late and I am going to do my best to change that. For now though, enjoy the chapter
DISCLAIMER: I do not own the Harry Potter characters. Also, I did not take into account the events of the new book "Harry Potter and the Cursed Child" in the making of this chapter.
Fact 10: When, during Rose's 7th year, the Triwizard Tournament came back to Hogwarts, Ron finally asked Hermione to the Yule Ball.
"Hey boy" Ron said as he closed the door, leaning down to pet Otter as the cat moved around his legs. "How have you been you fluffy ball? How come you have come to greet me?" He asked in a sweet voice while scratching the cat under his chin. Otter just purred for a while before standing up and meowing as he proceeded to walk away towards the kitchen. Ron followed him and found Hermione standing in front of counter, with a knife and a lettuce on her hands.
"Were you actually baby talking to Otter?" She said, turning around to face him, a small almost undetectable smirk on her lips.
"What?! Of course not! Why would I do that?" Ron answered, trying to cover up his slip. Hermione just laughed and faced Otter, asking him whether Ron had actually been baby talking to him or not. The cat nodded its fluffy white head and sat down, looking at Hermione expectantly. Hermione laughed again and threw him a piece of goat cheese which was swallowed immediately by the cat.
"I can't believe it, you actually trust the cat more than you trust me" Ron said, approaching Hermione and carefully taking the knife out of her hand.
"Well, you have to admit Ron, he always answers truthfully. Not like some other people" She commented, looking pointedly at him and opening her now empty hand "Now give me the knife back, I'm cooking dinner".
"I can see that, but Merlin knows what you can do with a knife, I am taking no chances"
"Ron, I am being serious. I am preparing something new and it has to be perfect. That's the only knife that works so give it back" She ordered. Ron put the knife back in her hand and moved over to stand by her side as he looked at what she was making. There was a white and think dough on the wood plank of the counter and on a bowl was an unfinished salad.
"What are you making then? Can I help?" He asked.
"Pitas. It's salad inside bread. There isn't much you can do now, but you could start peeling some potatoes. I thought we could put them in the oven and make some new sauce I discovered to go with the pitas." Hermione explained, pointing to the potatoes in a bowl with her knife. "Oh, and by the way" She added while Ron started his task "Did you remember to send Rose her outfit for the Yule Ball this year?"
"Of course I did! I wouldn't have forgotten to do so anyway, with your constant nagging" He answered. In fact, not only had he given his Rosie the dress and shoes and all the other, in his opinion, unnecessary stuff, but he had made a trip to Hogwarts to deliver them personally in case their owl messed up. In truth, making that trip had given him more satisfaction than he thought it would because apart from succeeding in delivering his precious daughter her outfit, McGonagall had told him some interesting news. The whole Dumbledore army had been invited to this year's Yule Ball (the first one held in Hogwarts the one on his fourth year) as honour guests. The fact that he was the one who had to communicate the DA about this gave him a great opportunity to surprise Hermione. He only had to wait for Harry's signal and then he would be able to put his plan in motion.
"I don't nag Ron, I am simply worried. You know how excited she is for this." Hermione commented, snapping him out of his thoughts. "Ron… I told you to peel the potatoes, not cut them in half, although you could start doing that too."
"Oh, yeah… I just know the recipe so well I thought I would start with the next step" He said, nervously laughing. Hermione just shook her head and looked at Ron with a slight chuckle. "Yeah right". They continued with their work for a while. Once Hermione was done with the salad, she divided the dough into four different pieces and moulded them in an oval shape before quickly baking them with a swish of her wand. Ron finished cutting and peeling the potatoes, but before he could do anything else, an Owl started tapping on their window.
"I'll get it" Hermione announced as she cleaned her hands and opened the window for the owl to come in. She opened the letter attached to its leg and read it. "It's from Harry. He said I have to come over to the ministry, he is having trouble with his papers again" She told Ron, folding the letter back neatly and reaching for their bowl of owl treats. "I'll be back in a few minutes and we'll finish the cooking" She gave a treat to the owl and headed to the living room, Ron following close behind.
"Alright, but be careful or else he will trick you into organising his whole office" He said, offering Hermione her coat. "And then we wouldn't be able to finish cooking until next week"
"I know Ron, I know" She answered, kissing him chastely on the lips. "I'll see you soon". And with that said she grabbed a bit of floo powder and got into the chimney, which took her directly to Harry's quite disorganized office.
Once he was sure Hermione had arrived at her destination, Ron quickly headed over to the kitchen and finished washing the potatoes. Instead of putting them in the oven though, a machine he still was unable to understand, he took out his wand and cooked them the same way Hermione had done with the pita dough. "She's always saying to not overuse magic and then goes on and makes me use the blasted machine while she gets to use her wand" He muttered as he put the potatoes on a plate and summoned a bowl.
"Okay… the sauce. Remember Ron, what sauce were we supposed to be preparing? Did she even say what sauce it was? Oh bloody hell… she did not." Ron wondered while pacing around the kitchen "Think. What sauce would Hermione eat with potatoes… pumpkin sauce? No, definitely not. Gravy? That could work… But she said it was new! Bloody damn sauce!" Throwing his hands in the air in exasperation he decided to do something else and hope an idea would come to mind, and in the worst case scenario, the sauce wasn't really that important…right? He got his wand out again and put some new tablecloths on the living room table, got some glasses and tableware and set it on top of the tablecloth. Now that the table was set all that was left to do was figure out how he was supposed to prepare a sauce. He looked around the kitchen hoping to find something that could give him a clue as to what sauce he was supposed to make, but the only thing he found was Otter.
"Do you know what sauce I have to cook?" He asked the cat, desperate for an answer. Otter meowed and looked at him with a blank stare. "Of course you wouldn't. I wish mum was here…" Suddenly his brain clicked, and an idea started to formulate in his mind. Rapidly, as to not lose any more time, he rushed to the living room and got some floo power, stepped inside the Chimney and threw the powder to the floor while saying "The Burrow!"
After a few dizzying seconds he landed on the fireplace of his old home. He got the soot out of his shoulders and looked right and left but his mom wasn't there. Instead he found his dad, sitting on an armchair and looking at him with an edition of the Daily Prophet on his lap.
"Well hello there son, I wasn't expecting to see you today" He stated while reaching for the cup of coffee on a nearby table and taking a sip. "What brings you around?"
"Erm… do you know where mum is?" Ron said. He stepped out of the chimney and got closer to his dad. "I need to ask her a question. It's urgent" He added.
"Oh, I see. She's in the kitchen, I am sure you still remember where that is" Mr. Weasley responded, motioning to the door with his free hand anyway. Ron immediately headed there, not caring to answer his dad. "Nice to see you too Ron!" Arthur said with a chuckle.
His mother was, indeed, in the kitchen, preparing what looked like a pudding. She was waving her wand around as the sugar started pouring itself into a bowl. Once she was finished she turned around and faced Ron. She made a small jump and squeak in surprise but quickly recovered.
"Oh Ron, why didn't you warn me you were here!" She asked, putting a hand over her heart "You almost gave me a heart attack. Oh and why didn't you say you were coming beforehand! I would have prepared something. Is Hermione with you dear, I could make something small for you now if you want? Tea?" She had already summoned the kettle and was starting to pour some water in it.
"Mum! No, I don't want tea! Just stop!" Ron said. He was starting to get nervous. Time was running out and he needed to get home soon. Harry could only keep Hermione occupied for so long, plus they had not agreed on how much time was needed so Hermione could actually arrive at any minute. And if she saw that he wasn't home the surprise would be ruined. "I just need advice on something"
"Oh sorry dear. What is it?"
"Well, I wanted to prepare supper for Hermione today, and she said she wanted to eat potatoes with some sort of sauce, but I have no idea what sauce I should cook. And I also don't know when she's going to get home. Mum please you have to tell me which sauce she wants." He pleaded.
"Ronnie dear, I can't read Hermione's mind, she's too good at occlumency, so I don't know what she wants." She answered calmly. Before Ron could interrupt though, she continued "But, if you're looking for a sauce to go with potatoes I would say you could use the onion sauce. It's quite easy to prepare, even for you." She said while she resumed working on the pudding.
"That's it? That simple? Onion sauce?" Ron asked incredulous. How on Merlin's beard had he not thought of that? "Thanks mom" He added. Satisfied with the answer, albeit a bit annoyed, he started to head to the living room when his mother stopped him.
"Wait Ron! Would you like to take a bit of pudding with you? I am sure Hermione will like it" Mrs. Weasley had already cut a piece of the pudding and put it in a small box which she was offering to Ron. He grabbed it and with a quick thanks and goodbye he flooed home.
"Okay, that's all" Ron muttered as he looked at the table. It was neatly set, with two different platters on the middle, one with the potatoes (and a heating charm) and another with the four pitas. He had also added two bowls, the bigger one contained a salad as well as a small wooden spoon and the smaller one had the onion sauce which Ron had managed to make in a decently short amount of time. Everything was perfectly set. Now the only thing left to do was wait for Hermione to arrive.
As if on cue, a sound was heard in the chimney and Hermione stepped out, hair a little wild and soot all over it. Not noticing what Ron had prepared, she shook the soot out of her shoulders and tried to fix her hair a bit. Once she was sure everything was perfect, she started taking off her coat and put her gaze on where Ron was standing.
"Surprise!" He said, waving his wand slightly so that a few silver lights appeared around the table. "I thought maybe it would be best if I finished supper while you were away so that we could start eating earlier. Do you like it?"
"Oh Ron… thank you" Hermione said. She put her coat on the sofa and approached Ron. "Who knew you were able of doing such a thing?" She added before hugging him.
"Oy! I am capable of doing this, I just don't usually do it so it'll be a surprise every time" He said, smirking. After a few more seconds they ended the hug and sat on their respective seats. They started eating in silence, there was no need to talk. Hermione was amazed when she saw how well cooked the potatoes were and even more so when she realised the sauce she was eating was onion sauce, exactly the one she had been planning on making.
"Hey Ron, how did you manage to cook these potatoes so perfectly" Hermione asked once she had finished eating. She had been thinking about it for a while and had come to the conclusion that either he had been very lucky or the potatoes were just cooked using magic.
"Well. You see… I didn't have much time and I have no idea how to use that oven thingy… so I kind of cooked them with my wand?" He said trying to use the same face Hugo put whenever he was in trouble. When Hermione saw that though, she just started laughing. Which caused Ron to laugh as well.
"Oh Ron… only you would do that" Hermione said in between laughs.
"But that's why you love me" Ron added with a smile. "Oh! I almost forgot!" He exclaimed suddenly. He got up and headed towards the kitchen. When he came back a moment later he was holding a plate with two small slices of pudding on them. "I went to mom's earlier and she insisted we try the pudding she was making" He explained as he put the plate on the middle of the table.
"Are you sure she had to insist? Or were you just really eager to accept?" Hermione said as she took a small piece of her slice and ate it. "Remind me to thank your mom later". Halfway through the pudding, Ron decided it was time to bring up his desired topic of conversation.
"You know, when I went to Hogwarts to give Rosie her outfit" He ingored Hermione's exclamation of 'you went to Hogwarts?!' and continued talking "I was able to see the planning for the Yule Ball of this year. It is quite incredible, I am sure the kids will enjoy themselves. The decorations for the Great Hall are incredibly ingenious and they even hired some workers from George's shop to come and spice the night up a bit"
"Well, if it is as incredible as you put it we won't have to worry about Rose, just Hugo. Merlin knows what mischief he'll get himself into." Hermione was already imagining the letter form headmistress McGonagall informing her of her son's suspension for Merlin knows how long. Ron though, wanted to steer the conversation through a different path.
"I would be more worried about who Rosie's partner will be. I bet it will be Scorpius. I know he's different from his father but he's a boy, and you can never trust those, especially at a Yule Ball." He commented, glad with himself that he had managed to find a way to introduce the exact topic he wanted to talk about without it sounding too suspicious.
"Oh come on Ron! You know Scorpius is a nice kid. At least he is more decent than you were back in the day" She said jokingly, remembering how Ron didn't even have the courage to ask her out as his date for the exact same event.
"Hey! If I had the chance to do it all over again I would do it right this time!" Ron exclaimed smiling. He had her right where he wanted, all he needed was that smart sounding 'Oh really?' that was sure to come out of her mouth and he would have a free path towards his destination. In a few seconds these same words were uttered and Ron immediately answered.
"Yes. In fact, I want to ask you something" He got up and neared her seat. Just for the sake of it, he knelt down on one knee and took her hand.
"Blimey Hermione! Your hand is cold!" He exclaimed, making her laugh "Anyway. When I went to Hogwarts today I also got the chance to speak with McGonagall. And yes, I did warn her about Hugo. Apart from that she told me something that I still have to tell the whole of Dumbledore's Army. We are invited to this year's Yule Ball as special guests." Hermione couldn't help but smile at this, anticipating what was about to come "And seeing as, as you so greatly said a few moments ago, I was kind of a dickhead back in the day and didn't have the guts to do what I should have done, I thought I would take this golden second chance to ask you a question" He stopped for a dramatic pause and then continued "Hermione, will you go to the Yule Ball with me?" He asked, kissing her hand for a comic effect. Hermione did indeed laugh at that and did so even more when he exclaimed, for the second time, how cold her hands were.
"Of course I will Ron" Hermione answered smiling. She leaned down and kissed him. "So, we can finally establish that it has taken you 21 years to gather enough courage to ask me out?" She said teasingly.
"Hey! I will have you remember that I have asked you out several times before and all of them required a tremendously big amount of courage" Ron remarked, getting up and leading her to the sofa. "Besides, I had to wait for the perfect moment" He added while cleaning the table with a flick of his wand.
They sat on the sofa for the remaining of the night, talking about Yule Balls and Christmas and what presents they could get the kids this year. Eventually Otter jumped up the sofa and settled in between them, happily accepting the gentle caresses that Ron offered while Hermione was distracted with a book. They both fell asleep thinking of how, finally, they could transform a saddening memory into a more pleasant one. Unfortunately for them, they hadn't taken Hugo into account.
So... yeah, that's it. I hope you had a good time reading it. I want to apoogise for any gramatical or spelling mistakes as well as the "OOCness" of the two characters. Anyway, Happy Christmas! (Again). I wish you the greatests of holidays and hope the best for you and all your friends and family.
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