Ron brought cupcakes as the result of much cogitation. He was temporarily sated with ice cream, flowers were awkward, chocolates seemed too much, a picnic hamper was too fiddly, and alcohol was unwise. A half-blood witch had started a patisserie near the Ministry and did all the fancy little Muggle cakes. Possibly as a way of sticking two fingers up at the world that had sent her to Azkaban.
He had picked an assortment and carried the box in both hands to keep from fidgetting. Ron told himself he would be calm about this. They would sort their problems out, talk like the sober, responsible, respected war heroes they were and then eat cupcakes. Together.
Hermione had chosen the neutral ground of Hyde Park and he had named the day and time. She was there already, rugged up on a bench overlooking Serpentine Lake. Ron hoped the name wasn't an omen. She had already brushed the snow off the bench so he could sit beside her, leaving him with nothing to do other than smile tentatively.
"I brought an assortment. They had your favourite buttercream. Had quite a few posh kinds. Not sure about the one with candied fruit but it looked happy." Ron opened the box to offer the cupcakes to her. Hermione had a basket with a thermos and poured them both hot chocolate. She noticed his wince when she handed him the cup.
"You didn't need the Veritaserum. I would've told you everything." The witch spoke quietly, trying hard to be non-confrontational.
"I shouldn't have done that." Ron admitted, sipping the sweet drink. Made with real chocolate and cream, it reminded him of their first Christmas after the war, when she had come home to the Burrow from Hogwarts. Everyone had been there, except Fred. So nearly perfect. "I didn't want to believe it. I guess I thought it was some curse or prank or something."
"That's what I thought when I found out about my parents. I kept expecting someone to jump out and yell 'April Fools'." She tried one of the jaunty little cakes, licking the rich icing off first.
"Like Fred." He stared at the lake. It was mostly frozen, except for a few patches in the deepest parts. The most dangerous bits, Ron thought absently. Like this conversation.
"Like Fred." Hermione echoed.
"I'm sorry if I pushed you away." Ron had written down those words or words like them repeatedly over a whole scroll of parchment. He wanted to get them right, get them into some sort of rational order so they stopped bouncing around in his head.
"You pushed, but you didn't push me away." She answered carefully. "I still love you, Ron. I think I always will, whatever happens. We've been through too much, we three, for that to ever change."
"But." He heard the cavil and she nodded.
"But now the war is over, and everything's gone back to normal, my normal isn't the same as your normal." Hermione was unsure whether normality was even appropriate in the context of the wizarding world. "Maybe I should use 'ordinary' instead. I can't use average because the Ministry doesn't have any demographics data."
"What's demographics?" Ron asked, going with her on the conversational segue. If they were talking and not shouting then he was fine. For a while, anyway. But if she started to discourse about the Marriage Law, he was going to review Quidditch League stats in his head.
"In this case, essentially it's me looking up the average age of first marriages in the United Kingdom. Which is thirty years old for women. That's my normal, Ron. I'm happy for Harry and Ginny, but getting married at eighteen only happens in romance novels."
"We could be a romance novel." The wizard suggested then shook his head at his red velvet cupcake. "You don't need to say it. I know we aren't. I wanted that fairytale, same as Ginny. But we're not the heroes Harry is."
"I am very happy not to be the Chosen One." Hermione bit her cupcake, imagining it was a Death Eater. Chomp chomp chomp, vanquished! "We still sacrificed our childhoods, though. I don't think we've lived enough life between us to make a whole ordinary one."
"I hate mum's clock." Ron laughed at his nonsensical comment but the feeling was there. "Watching, counting down, ticking away into Mortal Peril. I'd have liked a bit more lying in on a Saturday and a bit less running for my life." Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed her shift uncomfortably. "I came back."
"You did." She agreed. "And that mattered. And it would've been hard coming back to face us. And you saved Harry."
"But." That word was becoming arse quite quickly.
"I wanted to run too, and I didn't. Whenever I see big differences between us, that miserable bloody tent comes back. God, I never want to feel like that again." Hermione blinked and gulped hot chocolate. "I want to forget, and there hasn't been enough time."
"Will there ever be enough time?" Ron asked after a long pause. Her constant putting him off when all he wanted was a firm date, something to work towards, something he could set in his mind as a rock rose like gorge now. He wanted a foundation to build upon.
"I don't know. I hope so." She folded the cupcake wrapper and put it in a plastic bag in her basket. "I've been jumping into things too fast. Hogwarts, getting my parents back, the legal challenge. It's like I'm still in war mode and I have to work quickly before someone else dies."
"Training's a bit like that. If I get things wrong, it's bad." He grimaced at 'bad'. There were better words. "Gutting. A complete failure. I see where Harry was at school, taking things so personally. I don't want to be that bloke. I want to be able to do a good job then come home and rest."
"Are you sure you want to be an Auror?" Hermione had not previously voiced her misgivings about Ron embarking on a career that would forever put him in Harry's shadow. Now seemed to be the moment to do it. Laying all her cards on the table, she continued. "It'll never be a job you can leave at work. There will always be more Dark Wizards somewhere."
"Yeah." Ron slouched back and rubbed his left arm, thinking about the Dark Mark and paranoia and turning into Mad-Eye Moody. "Fuck Constant Vigilance."
"That's why I refused when Kingsley offered me a place." She brushed a strand of hair off her face, tucking it into her beanie. Hats were so much easier now she had less hair. They stayed where they were put, for once.
"I want to finish training though." He reached for another cupcake, one with pink frosting then hesitated. "Fuck pink too. I hate that colour." He picked another one with sprinkles. "George could use some help."
"It's a good business." Hermione nodded. "You'd be able to mind the kids and help out at home, and not be at work all the time."
"I want to do that." Ron affirmed, hearing the indirect question. "I know mum runs the Burrow like no one else knows how to use a frying pan but I'd pitch in once I was married. Properly, not just half-arsed like I do at the flat."
"I think half is generous. I've seen your shared bathroom." She smirked then chuckled with him when Ron laughed.
"I've stopped turning on the light when I go in there. Best not to look." He grinned. Harry was in for a shock when he started living with Ginny. For all she left her Quidditch gear everywhere, his sister liked things clean. Floors should not be sticky.
"I want to go to university." Hermione pulled out some pamphlets she had picked up, handing them to him so he could follow what she was contemplating. "I haven't decided where yet. There are so many courses I want to do. Depending on how I can parse my transcript to avoid awkward questions, I may need to do a bridging course somewhere."
"How long will that take?" Ron flicked through the shiny advertisement for clever people and wondered why so many of them were wearing the same white jacket.
"Three to five years, depending on the course. I hope to start in September so I have a little time to get myself organised. I probably won't live on campus." Living in her parents' house was still daunting. Maybe she could rent out both properties and find a little bedsit somewhere before she became too comfortable living in Marcus's flat.
"Three to five years would give me time to finish training, maybe try the job a bit to see if it does follow me home." He mused around his cupcake. "If it does, then I'll talk to George. Might do that anyway, just to keep him going. He still can't look at himself in the mirror. Keeps seeing Fred."
"He needs counselling. There are grief counselling services. He wouldn't have to mention anything about being a wizard. I've looked into a few myself." Hermione shrugged into her coat as the wind picked up. "Seeing a doctor, someone who can treat him without any baggage might help."
"I'll suggest it." Ron turned to face her, all nervousness gone now they were just chatting again. "Do you want to be a bit apart for a while? Live a little? Do you think that'll help us?" He reached for her hand and held it lightly. "I miss you but I'm still pissed at you."
"The same." Hermione squeezed his fingers. "Our timing was all twisted around, like we jumped into the middle of our relationship. We never just dated. I'd like to start afresh, to see if we'll fit together without someone trying to kill us."
"I can do that." He took a deep breath then let it out. Time to be bloody adult about things. "How long do you think the Marriage Law appeal will take?" Ron was not going to mention Flint if he could avoid it.
"Months, but it should be done before I start university. If you can persuade Harry to stand for the Potter seat and your dad to stand for Weasley, then we can rattle a few dovecotes." Hermione was looking forward to that. She was going to stride into the Ministry and hit them over the head with their own legislation. "I'll be standing for the Flint seat."
"I bet he loves that." Ron gritted his teeth. Mature and responsible, remember? "I'll transfer to the Welsh office to finish my training. Won't need to see any of the snakes Slytherin about."
"That's a terrible pun." She groaned.
"I know." He chuckled, unrepentant. "So, fresh start? I meet this pretty college girl at a cafe and see how it goes? No luggage?"
"Baggage, and yes." Hermione turned their clasp into a handshake. "Just you and me, in some cheap student coffee place." She smiled, feeling better than she had in weeks. "You can bring cupcakes again."