Chapter 40

Telling his own parents about being engaged to Hermione had welcomed a completely different — yet more predictable response — than it had with Hermione's.

Where Robert and Jane had been pleased and joyous that their only child was happy and getting married, Molly had all but squealed with delight about how another of her children was engaged, while Arthur had beamed and congratulated them.

They'd been hugged, clapped on the back and told how happy everyone was multiple times in the space of ten minutes.

Molly had then said it was only right to have a small celebration and insisted they come over for dinner the next Saturday with the rest of the family.

Ron had left the Burrow feeling rather pleased with himself.

"Well, they took that well," Hermione had said when they reached their house again, and Ron noticed a hint of relief in her voice.

He'd looked at her. "Were you worried?" he asked.

She'd flushed. "I mean, I wasn't… I've just always gotten the feeling that maybe your mum thinks you could do better than… me…"

"What? Why?" Ron was genuinely surprised by that statement. His mother loved Hermione, and he'd assumed she'd known that.

"Well… I don't know… it's just… I've gotten the feeling… that's all."

Ron knew it wasn't all, but he decided not to press the matter in that moment, instead choosing to assure her that his mum did like her and was genuinely very happy for both of them.

"Wait until she's at the wedding," he'd said. "She'll be sobbing. Trust me."

They hadn't spoken of the matter since, and a week later they were once again at the Burrow with the rest of Ron's family, celebrating his engagement to Hermione.

Ron beamed. For once everyone was there for him.

He'd come into the kitchen from the garden in search of some Butterbeers George had brought over in celebration of — as he had put it — Ron finally getting his act together. He hadn't meant to eavesdrop, but his mother and oldest brother were having a rather loud conversation in the living room, their voices trailing into the kitchen.

"It's just so lovely," Molly was saying to Bill. "This will be our fourth wedding in a matter of years. It's just George and Charlie left and… well… I'm not sure we'll ever be attending a wedding of Charlie's." She sounded disappointed at that, but like she'd come to accept that her son had chosen a life that didn't involve another person.

"I'm just happy for Ron and Hermione," Bill said. "Ron's chosen well, hasn't he?"

"Oh, Hermione is such a lovely, young woman." Molly sighed. "And she makes Ron so happy; it's so good to see. He's just so in love with her and it makes me happy to just see them together. I love it when they come over. Ginny said they used to argue a lot in their school days, but it seems they've gotten over that now and enjoy spending time together. Their house is beautiful, too. Hermione's parents were very generous in helping them."

Ron smiled to himself, picking up two bottles of Butterbeer and making a note to tell Hermione what he'd heard. He joined everyone else in the garden and passed Harry one of the drinks.

"Congratulations again," Harry said, grinning.

"Thanks," Ron replied, returning the smile. "And thanks for not being upset that we kind of stepped on your toes about it all. It's just —"

"Why would I be upset?" Harry asked. "I stepped on your toes initially, didn't I? Jumping in when I knew you were struggling. Maybe I should be thanking you."

Ron laughed at that. He'd first been disappointed and slightly irritated when Harry had told him of his intentions to marry Ginny, but he'd also known it wasn't Harry's fault. Ron had never actually spoken to Harry about it, which he now realised had been a terrible mistake. Maybe if he had, Harry could have pulled him into line sooner and he'd not have waited almost a whole year before asking Hermione — and maybe he'd have gotten to do it in the way he'd originally intended.

But as the week drew on since he'd asked her, and the more times he'd told the story of how exactly he and Hermione had come to be engaged, the more he liked the way it had happened. It was sudden, unplanned, and in its own way, romantic. He'd been left with only one choice before Hermione considered him some liar or gambler or something, and he'd just done it.

People laughed, but not at him. They laughed with him, because the story was funny and much more enjoyable than the classic ways Bill, Percy and Harry had all proposed.

For once, Ron was the one who'd done something different.

"Nah," he eventually said. "You were smart; I was not. Not your fault."

Harry smiled and patted him on the shoulder. "I know it may not seem like it at times, but I'm genuinely happy for both of you. You are my best friends in the whole world, and I'm so glad that in spite of everything we went through, you managed to find each other and fall in love and do all those crazy things that we probably never thought was possible."

Ron didn't have time to respond, for Charlie wandered over, clapping Ron on the back.

"Congratulations, little brother," he said cheerfully. "I was quite astounded when Mum told me that you were engaged that I just had to come and see it for myself."

"I didn't know you were coming!" Ron said, hugging Charlie.

Charlie shrugged when they broke apart. "Like I said, I had to come this time round. Quite the celebration, huh, especially because you could be here mourning the end of your relationship just as easy, so I hear."

"I doubt that would have ended it," Harry said. "Maybe they just wouldn't have spoken for a week or two." He smiled and Charlie laughed.

Ron scowled. "Yeah, alright," he growled. "Have a laugh at my expense."

"It is kind of funny," Charlie reasoned. "And maybe a little romantic."

"What do you know about romance?" Ron asked. "Last time I checked, I've had more girlfriends than you've ever had."

"Yeah, I know, I'm rather the disappointment for Mum, aren't I?" Charlie said, not sounding at all phased by that. "Working a dangerous job with no offspring to survive me if one of the dragons were to end me." He leaned forward despite no one else being around, grinning mischievously. "Don't ever say anything to Mum, but a few months back there was a genuine close call. Landed myself in hospital for three months."

"So that's why you never visited," Ron said.

"Yeah." Charlie shrugged. "They wanted to let Mum and Dad know, but I begged them not to. Mum would have dragged me home in an instant. But what do you expect when working with dragons?" He shrugged again.

"And on the girlfriend front?" Ron asked.

"Much too busy, very little interest," Charlie said. "Happy for you, my brother, but definitely not for me this whole marriage, children… women thing."

"What about men, then?" Ron asked. "I'm sure there's a few fancible ones in Romania."

Charlie laughed. "Can't say there is. I've got the dragons and that keeps me fairly happy… and busy."

Ron smiled, knowing well enough that that would be Charlie's response, but he had thought he'd try anyway.

Charlie bid them farewell, only to be replaced by Hermione and Ginny. Now that they were both engaged, the girls had spent the whole evening talking about wedding things. Apparently, Ron had learnt, no matter how independent and strong-willed they were, the talk of their own weddings had them both gossipping like two school girls over what they wanted.

Ron had to admit that he quite liked this side of Hermione too, despite not seeing it very often.

"You two planned your weddings yet?" he asked.

"Oh, very funny," Hermione said, frowning. "We were just discussing ideas, that's all."

"Already?" Harry asked, sounding rather bewildered.

"There's a lot of planning involved with a wedding," Hermione explained.

Ginny smiled, stepping forward and placing her arm around Harry's waist. "Don't worry, Harry, our wedding will be rather relaxed in comparison, I think."

Ron's eyes widened and he turned back to Hermione questioningly.

Ginny laughed, but Hermione didn't seem to see the humour in it. She looked up at Ron and said plainly, "There's no harm in being organised." Her tone was a bit indignant, which caused Ginny to laugh even louder.

Ron grinned at Hermione, wrapping an arm around her shoulder and kissing her head. "I agree," he assured her. "I want our wedding to be the best one ever, and if that means lots of planning… I can't wait to talk about all the wedding things with you."

Ginny gave him a very sceptical look, but Ron meant what he'd said. Marrying Hermione would be his greatest accomplishment to date — and also the thing that made him the happiest. He wanted to plan a wedding with her and he knew that Hermione wouldn't take something of this magnitude lightly.

"Merlin, the two of you sicken me sometimes," Ginny said, her face disgusted. "I hope you're very happy together."

Everyone laughed at that, and once again the small group disbanded, Ron and Hermione joining in on a conversation with Percy and Audrey and Bill.

They joined right at the end, and Ron knew that it wasn't supposed to be for their ears, but it was out there now.

"Fleur's pregnant again?" Hermione asked, sounding a little alarmed.

Bill turned to her, his face riddled with guilt. "Yes," he said after a moment's hesitation. "Listen… I wasn't going to tell you tonight — anyone, really — because this is your night, but —"

"Don't apologise!" Hermione said. "That's such wonderful news. Even more to celebrate. Oh, how wonderful. A little brother or sister for Victoire."

"Yeah, congratulations," Ron said, clapping his brother on the back. "I'm happy for you — and Victoire. I bet she's excited." He looked over to where Victoire was giggling loudly at something Arthur had just shown her.

"She doesn't know yet," Bill said. "A bit too young to understand, but I'm not convinced, truthfully. She gets upset if Fleur even looks at our cat. And it's the end of the world if Fleur picks Séraphina up. I don't know how she will go with a whole other human who takes the attention away from her."

"The wonders of having children, huh?" Ron said.

"They're delightful for the most part," Bill assured them.

Ron grinned. "Can't wait."

The conversation moved on to other things after that, and everyone moved around, engaging in conversations with one person or another.

It was the most active Ron had ever seen his family since the war — even more so than when they'd been here just a few weeks back, celebrating Harry and Ginny.

It was wearing late into the evening, the only source of light being the lanterns Molly had lit around the table, when his mother approached him. She had a warm smile on her face and without saying a word, drew both him and Hermione into a tight hug.

She held them for some time before letting them go and Ron noticed a look of slight bewilderment on Hermione's face. He remembered then that he hadn't yet told her of the earlier conversation he'd overheard — about how thrilled his mother was about them getting married.

He supposed Molly could tell Hermione herself now.

"This really is such wonderful news," she said cheerfully. "Every day gets just that little bit easier when I know that all of my other children are happy and creating successful and wonderful lives for themselves."

Despite himself, Ron felt pride swell in his chest. He was creating a successful life for himself. He was an Auror — or would be soon — and he was now engaged to marry an even more successful and incredibly motivated woman whom he was super proud of and very much in love with.

"I just want you to know that this news has brought me so much happiness — but I'm sure not as happy as the two of you are feeling right now. I just know you will have a long and happy life together."

"Thanks, Mum," Ron said.

"And, Hermione?" Molly turned to Hermione, who seemed to bristle ever so slightly. "You've been part of this family for a very long time, but now it's official." She gave Hermione another hug, kissing her cheek. "Welcome, dear. I'm so happy you're marrying my son."

"Thank you, Molly," Hermione said, rather exasperated, as they broke apart. "Thank you. That means a lot."

Molly gave them both another affectionate smile and left them standing by the dinner table. When she was out of earshot, Ron turned to Hermione, smirking. "Still think Mum doesn't like you?"

Hermione flushed. "I never said…" She seemed resistant to smiling

"Yeah, you did," Ron said. "You said you thought Mum didn't like you. But she does. She loves you. Maybe not as much as I do, but she still loves you."

His words seemed to crack her, her mouth finally curling up at the corners. "I suppose I was just still thinking of that time she came into your room and completely lost it because we were together."

"What?" Ron said, staring at her. "That was why you thought… Hermione, you know why Mum was upset by that, and it had nothing to do with you. She told me afterwards that she thought you were lovely."

"I know." Hermione turned to face him. "I know. I suppose I just… I don't know."

Ron gathered her into his arms. "You're part of this family whether you like it or not. And whether they like it or not." He kissed the top of her head, breathing in the scent of her shampoo. "You're my family and the best damn thing to ever happen to me. Even if Mum didn't like you, she would just have to deal with it because you're here to stay… unless, of course, you ever want out."

Hermione chuckled against him and then murmured, "I don't want that."

"Good." Ron held her tighter against him, resting his chin on top of her head. He looked ahead of him into the fading light, where the edge of the Burrow disappeared into the trees and beyond. "I'm so glad we're finally here at this moment. Even if it took us a while… I'm glad we got here. I love you and I just want to spend every single day of my life from here on in with you."

There was silence for a long time.

Then, "I can't wait for the rest of our lives. I have never been happier."

Ron smiled. And they both stood there, together.

Thank you once again for your investment in this. I've had a bad two weeks - lockdown and being sick - and have felt a little unmotivated, but your lovely reviews and encouragement has brightened me days!

Also, another plug if you missed that last one - there's a link on my profile to a book Discord server with exchanges, read alongs, book discussions. It's all happening at the start of September!