Ron was delighted with the massive hexagonal blocks of basalt. They were like nothing he'd ever seen before. As he and Hermione scrambled over the rocks, enjoying the water and the green hills in the distance, he finally felt some of the relaxation he'd been seeking. As noon approached, they were tired and hungry, so they walked down the main road to a Muggle pub Hermione remembered eating at with her parents. The day was beautiful with thin, high clouds in a dazzlingly blue sky, but Hermione was quiet as they walked.

"I'm famished," Ron said, trying to nudge her into conversation. "Is the food good at this place?"

She shrugged. "I don't remember, so it's probably average pub food. Fish and chips and pies and the like. We ate in a lot of pubs in Ireland during that trip. None of them particularly stand out in my memory."

"Doesn't matter. As long as it's edible I'm good."

She smiled at him. "I don't exactly worry about your appetite."

"What do you worry about?"

"What do you mean?"

"You've been quiet all day. Is something bothering you?"

"Not really. I just wish we had more time. This hasn't been as relaxing as I'd hoped."

"That's because it's not a proper holiday, is it? You came out here for work, and just like always, work took over."

She stopped and faced him. "What's that supposed to mean?"

He frowned at her. "It means trying to squeeze a holiday into a work trip was never really going to work, was it?"

"You didn't have to come," she said, scowling.

"I wanted to come, because a little bit of fun is better than nothing."

"We have fun."

He relented, not intending to hurt her. "Of course, at home, with friends and family, and that's good and all, but it's not a holiday. We deserve a proper holiday, a week or two someplace warm and sunny with fruity drinks like we had in Australia."

She arched an eyebrow at him. "Sunny?"

"I know how to do a sunblock charm." He stepped toward her, circling her waist with his hands. "And I quite like you with a nice dark tan."

"Do you?" she said, with a slight smile, her cheeks coloring.

"Very much," he said, nuzzling her neck.

She relaxed in his arms and kissed him softly on the lips. "You might be right. We haven't really been anywhere since Australia."

Ron leaned away from her. "Which wasn't a holiday. It was a mission to recover your parents' memories."

She winced. "True. I'm not very good at this, am I?"

He laughed and took her hand. "Maybe you're just hungry."

"I am hungry," she said and followed him to the pub.

When they settled at a table inside and placed their order, Ron drank his water but Hermione just turned her glass between her palms. "Where were you thinking?" she asked.

Ron shrugged. "Dunno. I haven't really been anywhere but Egypt and Australia. You know loads more places than me. What do you think?"

"I think vacations are expensive."

Ron cocked his head at her. "You're worried about money? Isn't that my role?"

"I'm not worried. I'm just stating a fact." She took a sip of water.

"Since when do you worry about money?"

"I don't. I'm not."

He narrowed his eyes at her. "What's going on?"

"Nothing. You're right. We have the money."

"We both have good jobs," Ron said.

"I know."

"The shop is doing really well."

"I know," Hermione repeated.

"Then why did you bring it up?" Ron asked. All through school she'd bought whatever she liked when they went into town. Not that she was an outrageous spender, just a casual one. She never agonized over a purchase the way he did. The only time he'd ever seen her concerned about money was when they were on the run.

"I don't know. I just—"

"Spent a year watching every little Knut and it got to be a habit?"

She shrugged. "I guess, but it's also the time away from work."

The waitress came over with their lunch: seafood chowder for Hermione and fish pie for Ron. He cut into the pie with a spoon to vent some of the heat. "Work will always be there. Breaks are important. Even Harry takes breaks."

"You're right." She ate a spoonful of chowder. "This is delicious." She smiled at him. "All right, when we get back, we'll look at the calendar and plan a proper holiday. I promise."

Ron nodded. "Good. Then let's go home after lunch."

"That sounds good. I'm ready to sleep in my own bed anyway."

Ron nodded and said, "me too," around a mouthful of pie.

They hadn't been home but a few minutes when the fireplace glowed green and Harry's face appeared. "Oh good, you're home. I've got news." His head disappeared.

"Bloody hell," Ron groused. "We haven't even unpacked yet."

Harry stepped out of the fireplace, dusting Floo powder from his shoulders. "Good news," he said.

"What?" Ron said, clearly surprised it wasn't bad news.

"We caught the murderer?"

"Really?" Hermione said, taking a seat on one of the sofas.

"Yeah, I didn't even have to go back to Ireland. Shacklebolt asked me to go with him to interview the family and we'd barely asked them anything when his cousin broke down and confessed to killing him."

Ron's mouth dropped open. "His cousin?"

"Yeah, apparently, he went to Ireland to hang out with his cousin John for a few days and they ended up having an argument over some witch they'd both dated, which is really stupid because neither one was currently dating her. Anyway, things escalated and he grabbed the knife and stabbed him. Thing is, he was completely broken up about it."

"I can't believe he did that. To kill family. Bloody hell." Ron shook his head. "Who would do such a thing?"

"It happens," Hermione said.

"Muggles might do that, but we don't," Ron said.

Hermione frowned at him.

"It's really rare for a witch or wizard to kill a member of their own family," Ron said firmly.

"That's true," Harry said. "We had to learn those statistics in training."

Hermione shrugged. "Okay."

"It's not okay," Ron said, taking a seat. "It's horrible."

Harry flopped on the sofa opposite Ron. "Honestly, I'm surprised he didn't come in and confess. You should've seen the state of him. I don't think he's slept or eaten since it happened. I think the family had been arguing about what to do. They seemed almost relieved when we showed up."

"I bet," Ron said. "I mean, I don't spend that much time with cousins, but I can't imagine killing one and if I did…well…" He shook his head. "It'd tear the whole family apart."

"So it's Azkaban then," Hermione said. "At least he'll have family there."

Harry chuckled. "True. There's more than one Burke in Azkaban."

"Yeah, but he killed one of them," Ron said. "How are they going to handle that?"

"You think he'll be in danger?" Hermione asked.

"Maybe," Ron said.

"That's for the Wizengamot to decide," Harry said, standing. "I'm beat and I know you guys just got back, so I'm going to head out."

"So that's it then?" Ron said.

Harry shrugged. "Yeah."

"Huh," Ron said. "I guess I expected…"

"What?" Harry asked when Ron didn't finish the sentence.

Ron looked at Hermione. "I don't know. I just thought—"

"That we'd end up having to go back to Ireland or get stuck here tracking down Burke's friends and family or researching Leprechaun gold."

"Right," Ron said. "That."

Harry cocked his head at them and smiled. "Not this time."

"Good," Ron said. "It's just, usually when you show up unexpected—"

"Things get complicated," Hermione finished.

"Or worse," Ron added.

"I know," Harry said. "But I'm trying not to do that anymore. You know, the destiny, save the world stuff. I'm just doing the regular Auror thing now. Much less complicated."

"Excellent," Hermione said.

"Absolutely," Ron said. "I'm all for less complicated."

"All right then," Harry said. He tossed a handful of Floo powder into the fireplace and stepped into the swirling green flame.

Hermione looked at Ron. "Is it possible our life is getting less crazy?"

"Don't say that! You'll jinx it."

Hermione laughed. "Come on, let's get this stuff put away."

Ron picked up their luggage and followed up her upstairs.