Chapter 22

A/N: Chapters 20 & 21 have been amended to correct a mistake made. Dean is married to Leanne Tinker, and Katie Bell married her boyfriend and fellow 7th year Eddie Carmichael. Therefore, it was Leanne that attended Neville's wedding not Katie. Sorry for the confusion.

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or any of JK Rowling's fabulous characters. I do however own this story, I wrote it and I do NOTgive permission for anyone to post it anywhere else. If you want to share it post a link.

-o0o-

Ron and Eloise had made quite a lot of progress in getting to know each other and building some sort of friendship but up until now it had been completely platonic. Eloise had thought they needed to get to know each other as friends before they tried to be in a romantic relationship. Now though, time was running out and unless they wanted to go directly from just friends to their marriage bed they needed to start dating.

She dropped a couple of hints which Ron was either oblivious to or completely ignored, before asking Hannah for advice.

"I don't think he's deliberately avoiding asking you out. I think it just hasn't occurred to him that getting married might be easier if you're already dating. Even he and Granger hadn't really done the dating thing for all they both thought they were crushing on each other before they tried the ritual. I think you're going to have to be less subtle," Hannah said. "Or I could ask Hermione to ask Harry to encourage him to ask you out. That might be easier than trying to get an idea through his thick head on your own."

Eloise giggled. "That sounds awfully like third year dating," she commented.

"Yeah well, neither of you did actually date in third year. You didn't even go to the Yule Ball," Hannah reminded her.

"Who did Ron go to the ball with?" Eloise asked.

"Padma Patil I think, one of the twins anyway. It wasn't a real date, I think Harry organised it for him because he want with the other twin. It was a pretty horrible date, Ron ignored her all night and refused to dance until she walked off on him and started dancing with her friends and some boys from Beauxbatons according to the rumours. I wasn't paying much attention, we weren't even really friends with the Gryffindors at all until Susan dragged me along to the DA in fifth year," Hannah replied.

Eloise sighed. "So he really hasn't even wanted to date anyone, no wonder he doesn't feel ready to get married," she said dejectedly.

"Look on the bright side, at least he's not still crushing on Granger," Hannah said supportively.

"I suppose that's a good thing, Hermione and I don't have anything in common. She's tiny and petite and gorgeous, if she's the type of girl he goes for…" Eloise said sighing again.

"I think it was more that they were already friends and she was virtually the girl he knew the best so it was easy for him to think he saw her as more than friends, he'll freely admit that he doesn't envy Harry being married to her, they always fought like cats and dogs when Harry wasn't there to try to keep the peace," Hannah said perceptively.

Eloise dropped the subject and asked about one of the questions for her potions essay.

-o0o-

Hannah spoke to Hermione the next day and she agreed to ask Harry to help. Harry was reluctant to but into his friend's relationship but he could see the point of trying to get Ron to at least try to see Eloise as a potential witch worth dating not just the person he had to marry.

Unlike Eloise, Harry made no attempt to be subtle. "You should take Eloise on a date to Hogsmeade this weekend," he said bluntly with absolutely no lead in to the conversation.

"What? Why'd you say that?" Ron asked baffled.

"Because you're friends now, it's time to start trying to be a real couple before the wedding," Harry replied.

"What sort of thing do you think we should do? I'm not going to that bloody Madame Puddifoote's," Ron declared.

"No it doesn't have to be Madame Puddifoote's, just hang out just the two of you instead of meeting up with us or the others, go places you both want to go, don't make fun of the things she wants to do or ignore her, hold her hand, maybe a kiss or two if you can get a carriage to yourselves coming back," Harry suggested.

"You think Eloise will go for it?" Ron asked uncertainly.

"I think she definitely will and it will make her feel better about getting married this summer if you're already dating," Harry said encouragingly.

"But I don't want her to date me because we've got to get married," Ron objected.

"Would you rather date someone else before the wedding?" Harry asked hesitantly. "Because there's no reason you couldn't if you really wanted to. If I were you I'd try to keep it quiet so Eloise doesn't find out and get hurt by it, and it will probably only make you feel worse about getting married but if there's someone you really like…" He trailed off, he knew Hermione would probably hit the roof if she found out he was encouraging Ron to date someone else but he thought it might be better to go on a date and it probably wouldn't work out anyway than to always be left wondering what it might have been like.

"No there isn't anyone else," Ron said dispiritedly. "But…"

"But Eloise isn't turning you on either. But mate, you've never given her a proper chance and she's really shy, you're going to have to encourage her if you want her to kiss you or flirt with you," Harry suggested.

Ron turned red but Harry wasn't sure if it was in embarrassment at the idea of flirting with his future wife or anger at Harry's interference so he let the matter drop and invited his friend out for a friendly pick up game of quidditch before training.

-o0o-

To say the date didn't go well would've been understatement. All the ease they'd built up in each other's company deserted them and they both felt as awkward as any first daters could be. They seemed to forget all the things they had in common or enjoyed talking about and sat in the carriage in complete silence both sneaking glances at the other wondering what they were thinking. Ron grabbed her hand but in his nervousness he squeezed too tightly and Eloise winced making Ron drop her hand like a hot potato. Eloise looked down unsure how to tell him that she wanted him to hold her hand but just not so tight.

"Shall we start with Honeydukes," she said after awkwardly standing about, choosing a shop she knew they both wanted to visit.

"Yeah," Ron agreed striding off.

Eloise hurried to catch up with him and grabbed his arm, bending it so she could tuck hers through.

Ron looked at her in astonishment.

"You're too strong, you grip too tightly without meaning to," she tried to explain.

"Oh! Um… Sorry," Ron said flushing.

"It's okay," Eloise said awkwardly.

Ron forgot his awkwardness in favour of cramming his basket with as many sweets as he could afford in the shop before he realised that if this was a date he had to offer to pay for Eloise's sweets as well, and started sorting through his collection reluctantly putting back the things he thought he could live without. Then he realised that he would need the rest of his money to pay for lunch for them both and whatever else she wanted to do for the afternoon. 'No wonder girls liked dating so much more than guys did, it didn't cost them half their allowance each time,' he thought grumpily.

Eloise knew the Weasleys weren't a wealthy family, even though their father as a ministry department head should have been earning a decent wage, but she hadn't really thought about what that might mean to Ron until she saw him trying to slip items back out of his shopping basket without her noticing. She could tell from his expression that he was unhappy with the idea of having to pay for her purchases and it did seem unfair when she was sure she had more pocket money than he did. She just wasn't sure what to do, would Ron be offended if she offered to pay for her own purchases? Or if he did pay would he then expect her to share them with her this afternoon? She knew enough about his appetite that if she offered to share the sweets she wouldn't have any to take back with her at the end of the day, and she wanted some of them for late night snacks while she was studying. She thought it might be better if she offered to pay here and let him purchase lunch, but she also didn't want to have to give him a monetary limit which she thought she might have to do if she offered to pay for his sweets after seeing how much he'd originally put in his basket. If Ron noticed her dithering he didn't say anything but she felt embarrassed for having spent so much time ignoring him as she tried to work out what was best to do. In the end she waited until they were out of the sweet shop and slipped a galleon into his hand. "It isn't fair that you need to pay for me all day," she said quietly.

Ron was embarrassed that she must have noticed that he was short on sickles, but he wasn't too embarrassed to take the money, he just wished she could have given it to him before they left Honeydukes.

"Shall we have an early lunch, Harry says if we get there early enough there are some quietish corner tables at 'The Three Broomsticks'," Ron suggested.

Eloise looked discretely at her watch. "I think we have time for one more stop first, it's only quarter to eleven," she suggested timidly. She wasn't at all hungry for lunch yet.

So they went to the quill shop because Eloise needed new quills, so did Ron actually though he never thought about it normally and he didn't notice that Harry or Hermione always deliberately bought extra so they'd have one to lend him when he ran out. Then Eloise wanted to stop at the beauty parlour to purchase some new hair ribbons having lost a few lately, and some new lip balm and face powder. Ron almost balked at going in there, Hermione had never made him visit the beauty parlour with her when he'd gone to Hogsmeade with her. Eloise noticing his discomfort rushed through her purchases as quickly as she could then let her talk him into going to lunch even though it was still barely twenty past eleven. They got a table in the corner near the kitchen which was great as far as Ron was concerned and better than near the passageway to the bathrooms and Eloise took a seat while Ron went to order their drinks. Seamus was sitting at the bar with Dean, and gave him a thumbs up as he went past. Ron wanted to join them but remembering Harry's words just said a quick hello and returned to his date.

They'd eaten enough meals together for Eloise not to be surprised by his appetite or his table manners, or lack thereof, but she was embarrassed as the waitress' eyes boggled when he ordered two full three course meals for himself and the few patrons of the pub not scared off by the school crowd and the Ravenclaws gave him glances of disapproval as he talked loudly with his mouth still full. For someone who had had so little to say while they silently waited for their food, he was surprisingly verbose while eating and Eloise was horrified to realise that he was worse without Hermione there to remind him to close his mouth while chewing and swallow his food before speaking. She didn't want to be the type of girlfriend or wife that was constantly nagging him. On the plus side she'd dropped almost a whole dress size due to the effect sitting near him at mealtimes had on her appetite. Her mother may not be pleased at having to take her wedding gown in, particularly as she was going to have to wait until the last minute because Eloise had a sinking suspicion that she'd gain weight once they left school and she was away from Ron while she was eating.

They lingered in the pub unsure of where to go to next, until Ron started eyeing the menu again and Eloise decided she couldn't bear to sit there and watch him eat another meal. She had several things she would have done if she were with her female friends or on her own but she didn't want to drag Ron clothes or shoe shopping if she didn't need to, she also would have spent some time browsing in the bookshop if Hermione hadn't warned her how much Ron whined and complained when she did that while they were out together. They went to the quidditch shop but however much she enjoyed the games and flying she just did not see the point in spending an hour drooling over broomsticks she was never going to purchase.

By the time they decided to take one of the carriages back to Hogwarts there was a queue and no chance of getting a carriage to themselves. It might have been a good thing because Eloise was in no mood for receiving her first kiss and Ron was too oblivious to realise that she was irritated with him. She pleaded a headache as soon as they arrived at the castle and fled to the Hufflepuff dorms where Ron could not follow her. Ron frowned and didn't want to go up to Gryffindor where his mates would surely want to hear about or tease him about his first Hogsmeade date with Eloise. He ducked into an unused classroom and counted his money before deciding he still had enough of his own coins left to be worth a second trip to Honeydukes and ran up to the one eye'd witch and down the secret tunnel to Honeydukes to get there and make his purchases before the last of the carriages left Hogsmeade.

-o0o-

Elsie Longbottom arrived the week before the OWLs were to begin for the fifth years and after a quick discussion, she and Neville were set up in married quarters not far from Harry and Hermione. Neville was keen to share a room and Professor McGonagall thought it was a good idea since they didn't know what year level she'd be placed in yet. If she'd looked nervous when she arrived, Hermione noticed that she looked almost terrified walking into the great hall with Neville at her side.

"Nev, Elsie, over here," Harry said standing and waving them over.

Neville smiled gratefully and led her over to the empty seats next to Hermione, reintroducing her to Harry, Hermione, Seamus and Parvati and introducing her to Lavender.

"Hello Elsie, how are you finding Hogwarts?" Hermione said.

"It's so big. I had no idea that there were so many students," Elsie said.

"It is a bit overwhelming at first but it will soon seem like a second home," Harry said reassuringly. "At least you have a bit of time to get acclimatised before your OWLs," Hermione said smiling.

"Professor McGonagall has organised me to meet all the professors for a review before deciding whether I'm ready to sit OWLs or exams with another year level," Elsie explained.

"That's a great idea, no need to go through the stress of OWL examinations if you're not ready," Harry said supportively, though he now understood her stress level if she thought she was going to be assessed for how far behind her age group she was. He remembered Neville saying that he'd been excluded from her lessons and hadn't seen her use magic.

"Yes, if you need another month or two you could sit them at the ministry in July with the home schooled students, or if you're ready for sixth year exams you could sit them with us and your OWLs over the summer so you can be in our classes next year," Parvati said. She was trying to be helpful but Elsie looked more nervous with every word that the Indian girl said.

"Don't worry, you're welcome to hang out with us no matter what year level you end up taking classes in," Lavender said perceptively.

"Ron's fiancé will be a sixth year next year, and his sister will too, you'll meet them in the library later, he's eating dinner with her and her friends tonight. We didn't know you were coming today," Hermione said. "They're getting married over the summer, I expect we will see you there."

"Why would they invite me, they don't even know me?" Elsie stammered.

"They will invite us as a couple, Ron's one of my dorm mates, well the only one until today, since Dean, Seamus and Harry all moved into married accommodation," Neville said quietly.

"Where are Dean and Leanne, didn't they want to sit with us?" Elsie asked anxiously.

"Sitting with Leanne's best friend, Katie. It was her turn to sit with her yearmates," Seamus replied.

"They're trying to finish of their Ancient Rune's project before NEWTs," Hermione corrected Seamus.

"Oh, that's right. Their big exciting project that's so thrilling that they can't talk about anything else and is complete gobbledygook to us normal non-brainiac folks," Seamus said rolling his eyes, making Parvati, Neville, Lavender and Harry laugh.

Hermione looked ready to correct him again but Harry squeezed her hand and she let it go. She didn't know what to talk about. She didn't want to bring up the examinations or schoolwork to Elsie but she didn't know what else they might have in common. The boys had no hesitation in questioning her on what Quidditch team she supported, and whether she'd been listening on the wizarding radio to the most recent games.

"I'm afraid I don't follow quidditch. I've never seen a game and it doesn't make much sense," Elsie admitted.

The three boys expressed their shock and Seamus spoke up in favour of his quidditch team the Kenmare Kestrals, spiking a debate among the three of them that totally baffled Elsie.

"Pity you weren't here last week to see Harry win the Quidditch Cup for Gryffindor," Seamus said.

"Will you be sorted into a house next year?" Lavender asked. "Which house do you think you'll be in."

"I don't know," Elsie stammered. "I'm not clever or brave or cunning and sly, and I'm not particularly hardworking. Do I have to be sorted?"

"Well you're an honourary Gryffindor because you're married to Neville. I don't know if they'd want to sort you separately as well but you're one of us regardless of what the hat says," Harry said.

Elsie looked like she didn't know what to think about that, she was glad they were being welcoming but she didn't think she wanted to just be known as Neville's wife. She was glad that Neville's friends were all friendly to her, but she wanted to make friends of her own. She'd never had any before, and she was sure these people would all side with Neville if they fought about something and she'd find herself out in the cold, alone among so many strangers.

-o0o-

"Who's that sitting with the Gryffindors?" Hannah asked.

Ron looked over, she came in with Neville so it's probably his wife, he said she'd be coming soon to prep for her OWLs," he said.

"OWLs she doesn't look that young?" Susan said.

"Why didn't she sit OWLs at her own school?" Meghan asked.

Elsie sighed, sitting with Hannah's friends was great but they were always so curious.

"She's been home-schooled but Neville wants her to come to Hogwarts next year so they need to work out what classes she fits in," Ron said casually.

"That would be horrible, having to prove that you belong with your age group," Meghan said.

"She's probably going to be all over the place, seventh year level in somethings and fifth or sixth in others, depending on what her tutors were strongest at," Susan speculated.

"That's going to be really hard for her, having to make friends in several different year levels," Eloise said.

"And probably several different houses to get her schedule to work," Hannah said.

"I wonder why her parents didn't send her to Hogwarts?" Meghan said.

"Don't know, Hermione said they were super overprotective and kept her isolated. Apparently she didn't even recognise Harry," Ron said.

"He would have loved that," Susan said grinning.

"He did, until the Seamus, Dean and Parvati used it to take the mickey," Ron replied.

Hannah laughed. "She seems to have got over her awe at meeting him," she said gesturing to where the unknown girl was talking to harry the same as she answered questions from the rest of the Gryffindors with no extra awkwardness at all.

-o0o-

Neville and Elsie joined the others in the library where Hermione was helping Eloise prepare for her OWLs and the others were all completing the last of their homework and studying for their own end of year exams. Neville introduced her to Eloise and encouraged her to join in the OWL prep study. She was glad of the help but the more she heard the less confident she grew and unfortunately Eloise was also shy and Hermione was having a difficult time trying to get a conversation going between the two younger girls. When the library closed Elsie declined the girls' offer to continue studying in the common room but accompanied Neville back to their quarters and sat down to study on her own. Neville offered to help quiz her but she ignored him until he gave up and went to bed on his own. He was asleep before Elsie joined him and she leapt out of bed before he was more than half awake the next morning, too nervous to sleep any longer.

Neville tried to reassure himself that it was just the stress of the upcoming assessments upsetting her and not a desire to get away from him as much as possible but he couldn't help being disheartened by it. He consoled himself with the idea that they just needed to get to know each other better, if he thought of Elsie as a stranger she almost definitely saw him as one too and she was here in his school where everything was new to her.

A/N2: Thank you to all those who reviewed followed or favourited this story for your support.

Stay safe everyone.

A/N3: To any one who followed my attempts to help readers avoid plagurists in "Hermione's Plan was Written by.." I apologise for my neglect in keeping it up to date recently and I am sad to announce that it was removed by the administrators for being a list instead of a story.