A/N: Thank you for being so awesome and supportive! More notes at the end.

Hermione loved her parents, truly, but they sure had a lot of questions. Her first evening of the Christmas holidays was spent recounting nearly every moment of the term over dinner, from her schedule for patrolling the castle to the content of her Defense Against the Dark Arts classes. She knew their hearts were in the right place, as they simply wanted to assure themselves that Hogwarts was safe, but Hermione couldn't help but want to remind them that she was nineteen and more than capable of looking after herself. Had the war not delayed her education, she would likely be living on her own with a full-time job by now. Once she did graduate Hogwarts, they wouldn't be able to monitor every aspect of her life.

And truthfully, since she was a witch and they were Muggles, they couldn't do that now, either. They watched a film together following dinner, and then Hermione stated her intention to turn in early. Her mum and dad decided to do the same, so Hermione busied herself with unpacking her trunk in her bedroom until she was certain that her parents had fallen asleep. Already clad in pajamas, Hermione cast a soundproofing spell on her bedroom to stifle the sound of Disapparition and then turned on the spot, landing deftly on the front porch of Number Twelve, Grimmauld Place. With her wand she made a series of taps on the doorknob to unlock it and stepped into the house. All was quiet as she crept through the front hallway and up the stairs to Ron's room.

He was fast asleep in his bed when she entered the room, his chest rising and falling with deep, even breaths. Hermione stopped in her tracks and studied him. He looked peaceful, content, safe, even with the Wizengamot hearing looming on the horizon. She had always envied this ability of his to rest easily even with the unknown stretched out before them. Lifting the edge of the duvet, she crawled in next to him, relishing the sensation of finally sharing a bed with him again.

Ron groaned and rolled onto his side, instinctively draping an arm around her. "Hi," he muttered, his lips falling onto her forehead moreso by accident than anything else.

"Go back to sleep," she told him. She was, truthfully, exhausted after six hours on the Hogwarts Express and undergoing her parents' constant questioning and all she really wanted was to fall asleep in Ron's arms.

"M'awake now." He placed a kiss on her lips; his were soft and warm from sleep. "And I'm glad you're here."

"I am too."

Ron shifted onto his back again, one arm around her shoulders and the other on her waist as she laid her cheek on his chest. Lying in his arms like this, with the whole night ahead of them, it felt even better than she remembered. He had been right, in a way, about Hogwarts being a step backwards in their progression toward becoming real, actual adults. Their freedom had been drastically reduced and now, for at least the next two weeks, they had it back again.

"Are you ready for tomorrow?" Hermione asked, hooking her leg over his.

"Yeah, reckon so."

"You know what you're going to say?"

"Yeah, I just hope it's enough." Out of habit, Ron lightly stroked her hair with his fingertips. "Even if I don't, y'know, take advantage of it, I still want the bill to pass. I learned more in one year on the run than in six years of Defense Against the Dark Arts classes."

"To be fair, our education in that subject was astonishingly uneven," Hermione pointed out, "but I know what you mean."

"You're still coming over for Christmas Eve, right?"

"Yes, of course." Christmas at the Burrow was something that Hermione had yet to experience for herself, so she was planning to split her time between Ron's family and her own. "And my mum and dad said you're more than welcome to come by on Christmas Day if you'd like."

"What do you usually do that day?"

"Not a whole lot, just open gifts, watch Christmas films, eat. It's a bit of a boring day, really, so you should definitely come over."

"Maybe," he said with a distinct lack of enthusiasm. "I mean, I want to, but… it's the first Christmas since…" He let the words trail off. "So I think I should stay at home."

"Right, of course you should," Hermione agreed quickly. "And my mum and dad will understand."

"They won't think I'm scared of them?"

"Are you scared of them?"

"No!" he exclaimed, indignant. "Maybe your dad, a little, but that's normal."

"Do you think Harry is afraid of your dad?"

"Well, no, but that's completely different." Ron was thoroughly flustered now; Hermione grinned as she watched the flush rise in his cheeks. "I know you say your parents like me-"

"They do-"

"But I'm always a little worried that they wish I'd keep my grubby hands off their daughter."

"You're not grubby, and anyway, I'm nineteen, there's not a whole lot they can do about it."

"And yet you had to sneak out to come here."

"Oh, would you prefer I not sneak out?"

"No, no," Ron was quick to reply, "please do." He pulled her in close for a kiss, humming softly against her lips. Suddenly Hermione no longer felt tired; on the contrary, every nerve in her body seemed to light up at his touch. She turned onto her back, pulling him on top of her by the shirt collar. They had all night to be together, Hermione realized as Ron worked on the buttons holding her pajama top together. There was no need to rush - though, as time alone at Hogwarts was still tricky to come by, they were bound to end up rushing a bit - and Hermione found herself smiling against his lips.

His shirt was first to go, followed by hers, and soon Hermione was left just in her bra and knickers and Ron just in his pants. He was kissing down her neck now, his hips settled between hers, the solid length of him teasing her, reminding her with every movement of their bodies just how good it felt when he was filling her up. Pushing down the strap of her bra, he moved his lips over the soft curve of her breast and shifted the thin lace out of the way, swirling his tongue around her nipple and-

There came a forceful pounding on the door. "Ron?" called Harry's voice. "You awake?"

Ron cringed and moved Hermione's bra back into place. "Go away," he yelled back over his shoulder.

"No, open up."

Hermione dove under the covers as Ron dragged himself away from her and stomped to the door, opening it just the slightest crack.

"Yes?" he said tersely, brows raised, making it quite clear how much he did not appreciate the interruption. "What can I do for you?"

"Oh, sorry," Harry said perfunctorily, plainly not sorry at all. "We've just gotten an owl, they moved the hearing up to eight tomorrow morning. Thought you might like to know."

"And you couldn't have told me this in the morning?"

"Well, I didn't know - anyway, we should leave at half past seven tomorrow."

"Okay, great," Ron said dismissively. "See you tomorrow." And, deeming the conversation complete, he shut the door and rejoined Hermione in bed. "If I had a Sickle for every time he interrupted us… now, where were we?"

Try as she might to remind himself that they weren't at Hogwarts, that there was no need to rush, Ron simply felt too brilliant for Hermione to want to take things slow and easy. Her body was downright hungry for his, every motion of his hips thrusting into her making her sigh and whimper and moan out his name. By the end they were sweaty and sticky and shaking from the effort of their exertions, and Ron was still on top of her, panting into her neck, when she spoke.

"I wonder why they rescheduled it?" she thought aloud.

Appalled, Ron pulled his hips away from hers and fell onto his back. "Why would you be thinking that now? Do thoughts of the Wizengamot turn you on, because if so-"

"No, no, I wasn't thinking about it when we were - but it's strange, isn't it? To change it at midnight the night before?"

"Yeah, I s'pose." He turned onto his side and placed his hand on her stomach, rubbing his palm over her skin.

"I think they must be trying to catch you off-guard, to see how you react when the circumstances change," Hermione mused.

"If they are, it isn't working." Ron skimmed his hand over her breast, playing with her nipple and sending an aftershock of pleasure through her body.

"Ron," Hermione sighed as he kissed her neck, "we should go to sleep now that you've got to be up so early." She hated to say it, but she knew they couldn't spend half the night tangled up together with something so important happening the next day.

"Yeah, you're right," he conceded, giving her one more quick kiss. "Wow, I bet they never realized their little schedule change would mess with me quite like this."

•••

Hermione stopped home early that morning to give the appearance that she had slept the entire night there and to shower, change clothes and let her parents know where she was going. She and Ginny planned to accompany Ron and Harry to the hearing for moral support even if they wouldn't be allowed inside the courtroom. She had the sense that Ron, understandably, would be rather anxious about speaking to the Wizengamot and she hoped that her presence would demonstrate just how much faith she had in him.

Ron was in the shower when Hermione returned to Grimmauld Place, so she made her way to the basement kitchen, where Harry was munching on toast.

"Where's Ginny?" asked Hermione, joining Harry at the table and helping herself to a slice.

"She should be here any minute, she's going to Floo over." Harry pulled a jar of jam toward him and scooped out a liberal amount. "Sorry about last night," he said with his eyes trained on the slice of toast he was slathering in marmalade. "I didn't know you were here."

"It's okay, we're used to it by now."

"I don't mean to do it," Harry added. "Get in the way of you two all the time. I really am glad you're together."

"So am I."

"But could you consider using a silencing charm next time you stay over?"

Hermione quickly found herself unable to make eye contact with Harry. "Right, sorry," she blushed. "We just got a little distracted-"

"I don't need details," Harry interjected, and thankfully right at that moment, the Floo roared to life and Ginny appeared within the acid-green flames, causing the topic to be dropped.

As Ginny walked over to kiss Harry and steal his toast, water ceased rushing through the pipes in the house, signaling the end of Ron's shower. He appeared in the kitchen a few minutes later, wearing his nicest robes, smelling strongly of soap. His hands shook as he attempted to pour himself a cup of tea; Hermione stood and approached him.

"No matter what happens," she said, softly so that Harry and Ginny couldn't hear, "and no matter what you choose… I think you're amazing. And I love you."

Ron cracked a smile and touched his lips to her forehead. "I love you too."

"And I know you'll be brilliant."

"Ahh, no, don't say that," Ron lamented. "Then I feel like if I mess up, I'm letting you down."

"No, you could never," Hermione told him fervently. Barring some serious betrayal, she could not possibly imagine looking at him and feeling disappointment. "I don't want you to think you constantly have to prove yourself to me."

Ron looked like he wanted to reply, but then closed his mouth and kissed her forehead again. "Okay," he said simply.

He was clearly not convinced, so Hermione used the sides of his robes to pull him closer, angling her face up to kiss him, but Harry's voice broke through before she could make contact.

"It's time to go," Harry was saying, fetching his wand from the kitchen work surface behind them.

"I'm telling you," Ron muttered to Hermione, "if I had a Sickle…"

•••

The door to the courtroom slammed shut with a heavy finality, leaving Hermione and Ginny alone in the hallway, staring at one another. The full reality of the situation seemed to sink in for both of them. They weren't sure how long the hearing would last, it could be one hour or it could be three, but they knew that their lives could be drastically different by the end of it.

"Here," Ginny whispered, digging through her robes and tossing a flesh-colored length of string to Hermione: Extendable Ears. "I can't sit out here and not know what's going on."

"Good idea."

Seating themselves on the floor, they unraveled the strings and fed them just under the gap below the door. Kingsley Shacklebolt's voice rang through loud and clear in Hermione's ear, but he appeared to be introducing a rather mundane bill about cauldron-bottom thickness.

"Percy'll be thrilled," Ginny chuckled, making herself comfortable. "Why are they doing these stupid ones first? Why make them wait?"

"They're testing them again," Hermione stated. "I think they're trying to see if they can rattle them."

"I don't think anything rattles Harry anymore," Ginny remarked. "Except, I really don't know what's going to happen if this bill doesn't pass, he's going to be so upset, he's really counting on it."

"Yeah," Hermione nodded, at a bit of a loss as to how to respond. She couldn't exactly say that Ron was counting on the bill passing, because he wasn't, but she didn't want to convey to Ginny that Ron had walked into the courtroom entirely conflicted. That would help no one. "Ooh, okay," she piped up suddenly as the sound of a gavel pounded through the Extendable Ear. "They passed the cauldron thickness regulation!"

"Well, thank Merlin for that," Ginny quipped. "I'll finally be able to sleep at night."

"Shush," Hermione snapped back. "It means they're up next."

Briefly she wondered how it might look to a casual passerby stumbling upon two teenagers eavesdropping on a courtroom proceeding, but then Kingsley began to introduce the bill and Hermione's attention snapped back to the hearing. She had only been inside one of these courtrooms once, when she was disguised as a Ministry employee and attempting to steal a Horcrux from Dolores Umbridge, and it had been a horrible, gloomy, foreboding sort of place. Of course, circumstances were quite different - there would be no dementors or accusations of stolen magic - but Hermione still didn't expect that it would be a picnic in the park.

"As Minister of Magic," Kingsley intoned in his deep, commanding voice, "I call before the Wizengamot Mr. Ronald Bilius Weasley."

There was a calm, and Hermione could almost picture Ron stepping to the middle of the courtroom. Was he nervous? Did he have that vaguely green complexion he always took on before important Quidditch matches?

"My name is Ron Weasley," he began, voice steady, "and I'm currently in the middle of completing my final year at Hogwarts. I'm a year behind, as are several of my friends, because I spent what would have been my seventh year on the run with Harry Potter." He paused. "I don't think I need to reiterate Harry's accomplishments to you. Everyone knows what happened at Hogwarts in May, but what you don't know is everything that happened before that. We fought Death Eaters and we escaped Snatchers and we spent months learning how to protect and defend ourselves because we had no other choice.

"Minister Shacklebolt wrote this bill, and wants to see it passed, because he's an Auror himself, and a rather accomplished one at that. He knows what the job is like, and he knows, like I do and like Harry does, that there are plenty of things you can't learn from books. Some things you can only get from experience, and we've already got that. Everyone who fought at Hogwarts in May, they've already got more experience fighting dark wizards than I would wish on anybody. Let them do something useful with it, let it mean something. To ask someone like Harry to return to a classroom after what he's accomplished… it almost discredits him, in a way. It's saying that it was a fluke, what he did, when that is the furthest thing from the truth."

He's doing this for Harry, Hermione thought with a great surge of amazement for her boyfriend. He's not here for himself, he's here for Harry.

"It isn't that I don't think the NEWT exams are important, because of course they are," Ron continued, his voice never wavering.

"He knows you're listening," Ginny whispered with a smirk.

"Be quiet!" Hermione hissed, eager to hear Ron's conclusion.

"But exams aren't everything. They don't make you into the person you are, it's your life experiences that do that, and the Battle of Hogwarts certainly shaped everyone who was there that day. So, with that in mind… I would like to respectfully ask that you pass this bill. Thank you for your time."

"Thank you, Mr. Weasley," said Kingsley. "I'd now like to call before the Wizengamot Mr. Harry James Potter…"

Hermione slumped against the wall, her eyes closed in relief and awe. Ron had been brilliant. He'd said what they had all been thinking this whole time, that the best way to learn how to fight dark wizards was to actually fight dark wizards, but he'd done so eloquently and calmly and with such sincerity that nobody would dare question him. He had meant it, every word, and he had said it all so that Harry could have a hope of pursuing his dream career just a little sooner than planned.

And he was her boyfriend, she marveled as Harry's voice floated through her brain without really registering. Someone that loyal and selfless and brave had chosen her to love, and she couldn't have felt luckier for it.

"Thank you, Mr. Potter," said Kingsley when Harry was done speaking. "Those in favor of passing the bill, please raise your hands." A tense lull as votes were counted ensued. "And those opposed?" Another lull. Hermione's heart was hammering in her ears; she could only imagine how Ron and Harry felt. "Very well. The bill is hereby passed into law. Those wishing to be considered for extraordinary circumstances must submit an application before the fourth of January…"

Ginny had jumped to her feet, her face alight with excitement, and Hermione scrambled up as well, if only to avoid being trampled by the stream of people about to emerge from the courtroom.

They had really, truly done it. Harry didn't need Hogwarts anymore, and Ron certainly didn't either. He wasn't going to go back with her. He could stay here, in London, and begin training at the Ministry, or help George reopen the shop in Diagon Alley, and actually move forward in his life. He wouldn't be Gryffindor's Keeper anymore and he wouldn't kiss her goodnight in the common room or try to coax her into skiving off classes. They wouldn't partner up in Potions class and he wouldn't pester her to check his homework because no matter what he had said, she was his only reason for staying at Hogwarts and she wouldn't stand for that. He was moving on, even if it meant leaving her behind.

Ron was the last person to leave the courtroom, and Hermione immediately flung her arms around his neck in a bone-crushing embrace.

"I'm so proud of you," she whispered fiercely, feeling her throat tighten.

"Thanks, love," he replied, leaning back to look at her and crinkling his brows at the sight of her watery eyes. "What's the matter?"

"Nothing," she insisted. "Nothing at all."

"We ought to celebrate," Harry suggested with an arm slung over Ginny's shoulders. He looked younger, lighter, than he had in ages. "Let's go to the Leaky or something."

"It's nine in the morning," Ron pointed out.

"Yeah, well, it's Christmas and we just passed a new law, we can do what we want. Come on, let's go!"

Within ten minutes, thanks to the convenience of Apparition, the four of them had settled into a back booth of the Leaky Cauldron. Tom Abbott, the proprietor, was wholly unfazed by the early hour of their patronage, and Harry and Ginny went up to the bar together to fetch the butterbeers. Left alone, Hermione inched closer to Ron and planted a kiss on his lips.

"Can I stay with you tonight?" she asked, clasping her hands around one of his. Leaving. He was leaving. She had to capitalize on the time they had left together.

"Yeah, you never have to ask," he responded. "In fact, most of the time you don't ask, you just show up - and I'm not complaining-" He shifted in his seat to face her more fully "-are you sure you're okay?"

"I'm fine," she nodded, giving him another kiss as though that would prove it.

And she was fine, really. She was not the sort of girl who lost her head at the thought of a bit of separation from her boyfriend. Their relationship would survive it, and likely come out stronger at the end. That didn't worry her. But this was Hogwarts, and Ron had always been there, even when he was just the annoying boy with dirt on his nose. They were a team, always, and now they were headed on two completely different paths.

Thanks for reading! Please review :) And I'd also like to say that I'm planning on expanding a bit on the latter portion of this story, so updates may not come as quickly as they usually do. But I'll never abandon it, I just ask for a little patience. Thanks again!