Chapter 34

Ron dragged his feet along the pavement. He felt exhausted. More exhausted than training ever left him feeling.

And, if he saw one more house that they didn't like, then he might just scream. They were either too isolated for Hermione's parents to reach or there wasn't enough room to place protective enchantments around it to hide from Muggles. Others were too small, or too big, and nothing seemed like the perfect place for them.

"We'll find something eventually," Hermione kept saying, though after five weeks of visiting places all over Britain and not finding something that suited them, Ron was about to give up. They could stay in their flat for a few more years. It was comfortable for the time being, and it wasn't like they were planning on expanding their family in the next few months. That was still years away — they had apparently just decided it was a conversation they were comfortable having with one another now.

A big decision.

It was turning into a stupid decision, Ron thought bitterly as they stopped out the front of a mid-sized house. They'd Apparated to Nottingham this time, about two-and-a-half hours from London if one was driving. Not that distance mattered to them, but for the benefit of Hermione's parents if they ever decided to visit, they were looking a little closer to where they lived in London.

It didn't look much different to the other one hundred houses they'd looked at, except this one had a space out the front of the house. Ron hadn't yet seen the back, but perhaps this was what they were looking for.

He hoped, anyway. He hoped they didn't have to go and look at the next three Hermione had lined up after this.

There was another couple already waiting out the front, as well as a family of four. The kids looked to be about seven to ten and were eagerly whispering to one another about features of the house.

Both looked to have a hell of a lot more money than he and Hermione did, and he highly doubted that if either of them also wished for the house, then it wasn't going to happen for Ron and Hermione.

"Well, there's enough room for your parents to park a car," Ron whispered to Hermione. "Ten, if they wanted. We need to see the back garden, of course. See if it's suitable for you-know-what."

Hermione gave him a look that said she didn't want to discuss it. Every house that Hermione had mildly liked had been a no from Ron on the principle that there was no way they'd fit a practice Quidditch pitch in there without the Muggles seeing. Every place (wizarding-made) Ron had liked, Hermione had vetoed because her parents weren't able to drive there.

Personally, Ron thought having a Quidditch pitch was far more important, purely because her parents could be Floo'd to wherever they lived.

Apparently basing their decision around whether he could play Quidditch in the garden or not was not how Hermione wanted to choose their house.

"It's not like you are going to try out for any professional team," she had said. "Play it on the ground if you're desperate."

He loved Hermione with all his heart, but she really didn't understand Quidditch.

"It's important, alright!" he said. "I know you don't get it, but I want a place… I just want to be able to have one… for the future." He looked away from her after he said that, but he knew she understood.

She said nothing more on the subject — good or bad — so Ron took that as a win.

Two more couples showed up by the time the agent managing the sale made an appearance. One couple were middle-aged, probably looking to buy a house for just them after the kids had all moved out. The other couple were roughly around Ron and Hermione's age.

"Come on in," the agent, a young-ish woman, said, smiling at them.

Ron and Hermione followed the others down the dirt driveway, which was overgrown with grass and weeds. There was nothing in the front garden apart from mown grass. It would have been perfect for Quidditch if it wasn't for the fact it could be seen from a hundred houses in the area if they so much as got a foot off the ground.

Disappointing.

The house itself had clearly been renovated on the inside. There were fresh coats of paint in the entrance hall and brand new polished floorboards. There were stairs leading to upstairs almost the moment they entered, and then to the left was a hall that led to the back of the house where the kitchen was.

The laundry and a toilet were off to the side, but the first thing Ron noticed upon reaching the kitchen was how spacious it was. It was the largest kitchen they'd come across so far, and while it looked old, it appeared well-kept.

The kitchen overlooked the back garden, so while Hermione looked around, he peered outside. It was long and narrow, with lots of trees growing rather tall.

Suddenly, he felt a sense of joy that he hadn't felt with any other house wash over him. None of the others had excited him this much.

"Ron, come and have a look through here." Hermione indicated a door off from the kitchen and dining area. He followed her, stepping into a large conservatory with glass windows and doors that opened up to outside.

He looked at Hermione, and there was a look between them that said it all.

This was the house. They didn't even need to see the rest of it to know. None of the others had had as much appeal to them as this one. It had what they'd both been looking for and they knew it.

Nottingham.

This was where their future lay. Ron was suddenly certain of it.

They explored the rest of the house, Ron with a happy feeling in his chest. With every room that he entered, he began picturing what it would be like for him and Hermione living there. Sitting on the couch in the living room, curled up while the fire blazed in winter. Hermione poring over a book, or her work notes, or anything really.

In the summers, he could see them having breakfast in the conservatory, overlooking the garden. Maybe with birds there.

Call him sentimental, but Ron had long ago established that, with Hermione, he liked the romance. He liked thinking about those things with her. He wanted it all.

Upstairs, there were three bedrooms and a bathroom. A fireplace was even in the master bedroom, which Ron liked. I could just get up for work, hop in and go.

But, of course, the part that appealed to him the most out of everything was the garden. Along with the trees that obscured it from the neighbours, there was even a shed in which he could store all of the Quidditch stuff so it wasn't in the house.

The only downside to it — and it was one he'd assured Hermione that it didn't bother him, though it did a little — was that it was in a Muggle neighbourhood. On the houses either side, lived Muggles. The whole street was Muggle.

He'd known — he'd virtually accepted the fact — that this was where they'd end up. The wizarding places they looked at were just not compatible with the lifestyle Hermione wished to live. And she had every right to want to see her parents and want to have them visit. It was far easier to live somewhere where they could put up protective enchantments than to get Muggles to trek out to a place with very little access apart from Apparition, which was where most wizarding families chose to live.

He loved the Burrow, and growing up, he'd assumed that he'd live in something like that — building level on top of level, and being surrounded by open fields, maybe some chickens, and de-gnoming the garden every so often.

But that was all he had known back then.

Now, he knew a whole lot more. He had a clear future, which involved Hermione. Where they lived was a trivial matter in the scheme of things.

He just wanted to be with her.

He turned at the sound of footsteps on the crooked paved area directly outside. He'd been standing there for some time, taking it all in, that when he looked up and saw Hermione standing beside him, he discovered that they were the only ones left.

Everyone else had been through the house and left already. It was just the two of them and the agent now, who was still somewhere inside.

"What do you think?" Hermione asked, though by her tone, she seemed to know what he was thinking. "Do you think it's a good start for us?"

Ron returned his gaze to the long, grassed area before them. "Start?"

"It doesn't have to be our only home. It can just be a —"

"I can see us living here forever," Ron said.

There was silence. He glanced sideways to see that Hermione was now also staring ahead, a thoughtful expression on her face.

"It has everything we've been searching for," Ron continued. "It has the space inside, a long driveway at the front with plenty of space for a car or two if your parents come to visit. There is a living room with a fireplace for winter, and a conservatory for the summers. And this garden — it runs deep, with lots of trees. There's a lot of… protection here, which would make it easier for us to add our own touches to."

"It's a fair way from London, though," Hermione said. She was trying to reason logically, to think of all the pros and cons of this place; though Ron could tell her heart wasn't fully in picking it apart. She liked this place too. It suited them.

"Only a few seconds for us," Ron said, and he lowered his voice just in case the agent decided to come and find them. "We could easily connect the fireplace to the Ministry for work purposes. We could even connect to Grimmauld Place to visit Harry and Ginny. The Burrow, your parents..." He turned back to Hermione and smiled.

"And you're okay with it being in a… Muggle area?" she asked.

Ron shrugged. "I'll adapt alright, I think. And it will be magical on the inside anyway. It'll just be keeping up appearances. Wizards have been living amongst Muggles for centuries."

Hermione smiled. "I really like this place."

"Me too. I love it. And I can see us living here for a long time. Even, you know, having children here."

There was a long pause from Hermione, and Ron wondered if he'd said the wrong thing. It had always been a topic that he'd felt nervous about, but one that was becoming increasingly important to him.

He waited for her to say something, but when she didn't, he added, "Obviously I don't mean now, but I can see this as a home… for us."

Hermione smiled, seeming to come back to reality from wherever her mind had gone to. She looked up at him. "I know what you mean," she said. "And it's perfect for all of that."

"Yeah, it is."

"How would you feel about getting a car, too?"

"A — what?" He wasn't asking what a car was, obviously, because he knew that, but… just how many things did Hermione expect them to buy?

"It was just a thought," Hermione said, shrugging.

"Do you know how to drive one?" Ron asked. Because he sure didn't. Not on the road. A flying one… sure.

"Well, no," Hermione said truthfully. "I don't. I never got around to learning, being away at school and all. And then a war… but I'd like to. And having a car in the driveway wouldn't draw attention to ourselves. Everyone has one."

"Do they?" Ron hadn't paid that close attention to know whether that was the case or not, but a lot of Muggles seemed to have cars. It was one of the fastest modes of transport when they couldn't Apparate.

"Yes."

Ron swallowed. He'd avoided asking this question until now, but he thought it needed to be said. He had been to their vault in Gringotts on many occasions these past few months and he was almost certain that there wasn't enough in there for them to buy a house, let alone a car on top of it (and a ring on top of that). "Can I ask you something?"

"Of course," Hermione said, her smile faltering a little. "Do you have a problem with getting a car?"

"Not a car, no," Ron said. "But how are we going to actually pay for all of it? I don't know how much money Muggle houses cost, but I would bet that we can't afford it. And a car as well…"

At this, Hermione went faintly pink and she turned away from him. Ron felt a wave of panic wash over him.

"What?" he asked.

Hermione shook her head. "It's nothing…'

"Hermione…"

She cast her eyes back up at him, and there was guilt. A lot of guilt.

"You haven't been stealing money, have you?" he asked, only half joking. She seemed to think they had enough to do this.

"Ron!"

"Well, I just can't see —"

"Mum and Dad are helping, alright."

Ron fell silent. Oh.

"I didn't ask them, if that's what you're wondering," Hermione continued. "I have a Muggle bank account set up for both of us to make the house loan a lot easier — just in case we did choose a Muggle place. I told Mum that I wanted us to start saving for one, and, well, she offered to contribute."

"So… they'll basically own the house then?" Ron asked, unsure on what to think. On one hand, he liked that they were willing to help. On the other, it confirmed with him that they really couldn't afford this on their own.

"No, it's a gift, Ron," Hermione said. "They offered it to us. Fifty thousand pounds."

Ron didn't know how much that really was, but it sounded like a lot.

"You could have told me, you know?" Ron said after another pause.

"I know." Hermione sighed. "I just wasn't sure how you'd feel about having people give you money. I know… I know it's a tricky topic with you. And I know how badly you want to be able to do things on your own, buy things with your own money. And you've been even more worried about it lately. More than usual."

"Yeah, but I'm not going to say no to someone offering money," Ron said, and he almost laughed. "I'd be mad to. Merlin, we can't afford a bloody house on our own, anyway. But I want this one."

Hermione smiled, seeming relieved that he wasn't upset with her. If he was being honest, he was relieved, too. At least some of the money wasn't coming from them. And he knew her parents had a fair amount of it. Fifty thousand pounds was probably nothing to them.

"How much is fifty thousand… pounds?" he asked. "In wizard money?"

Hermione flushed. "Around sixteen and a half thousand Galleons."

Ron's mouth hung open for a very long time. And her parents just had that to give away?

He watched her for a moment. She almost seemed embarrassed. "What kind of life did you lead growing up? What are you doing with me?"

"Ron, that's a terrible thing to say!" she admonished.

"Well, it's true," Ron said.

"It's not. I lived a mostly normal life. You already know that when you quizzed my parents about my childhood, remember?"

Ron grinned. "I was just curious what it was like to grow up without magic."

"It was normal."

"It's weird." He stared at her for a moment. "Well, tell your parents thank you, and we accept their gift. I want this place. It's our home. But anywhere with you is home."

Hermione beamed. "I feel like it is, too. I feel like this is our place already."

"Should we Confund anyone else wanting to buy it?" Ron asked.

"Ron!"

"What?"

Hermione shook her head, smiling. She offered her hand to him, which he accepted. "Come on," she said. "Let's make an offer right now. That way, we'll hopefully get a head start on everyone else."

Turning to go back inside, Ron couldn't help but smile to himself. A sense of peace washed over him as Hermione led him back into the house that he hoped would be theirs very soon.

Ten years ago, he would not have known that this would be his life, and that he would like it. At twelve years old, he'd seen himself as one day becoming an Auror (he was almost there), living in a dingy little place on his own, and he thought he'd be relatively happy. He'd not spared a single thought for this other part of life that made him even happier.

Being in love, and the feel of that person's hand in his, dragging him through a house that they wanted to live in together. Finding happiness in the smallest of things — like wondering if they should get a car because they were going to be living amongst Muggles, or knowing he had an engagement ring and soon he was going to ask Hermione to marry him, or them talking about having children one day and wondering if the garden was big enough for them to play Quidditch in.

At twelve, those ideas hadn't even been a factor, and he sure as hell knew that even if the thought had crossed his mind, Hermione wouldn't have been the one he thought he'd be doing it all with.

But, she just made him so happy, and having faced near death on more than one occasion, he couldn't help but feel grateful that he even got a chance to do something so normal.

This place was it. He knew it.

Nottingham.

It was going to be where he lived out his days with Hermione.

And nothing made him happier.

This chapter also makes me reflect on the fact that in high school, I did the bare minimal study to get by, but I searched for hours for ACTUAL houses in Nottingham until I found one that was good enough for Romione to live in lol. Yes, this house description is based off one that was for sale about a year ago lol.

Also, I'm very sorry to any people who live in England and the way real estate works is different to how it's described. I have based it off my knowledge of Australian real estate and my amazing friend/beta, insertcleverandwittytitlehere is American.

I hope you all enjoyed!