Chapter 49

"It's kind of crazy, isn't it?"

Ron turned his gaze away from the star-filled sky and directed it towards Hermione — his wife, he thought gleefully. They'd just finished a previous conversation about the wedding, reliving it once more — as they had done every other night they'd been on their honeymoon.

"You mean, getting married?" he asked her. "Yeah, it's kind of crazy." But so good.

"I mean everything," Hermione said, and her eyes were still staring upwards. This was where they had spent every night of their honeymoon, lying amongst the grass with a blanket and enjoying the cool night air. They'd cast warming charms around themselves, as it was just so beautiful out there in the middle of nowhere.

Ron had wanted to spend his honeymoon somewhere exotic, but he was now glad he'd let Hermione convince him to come to this place — a small cottage amongst the mountains where no one else could find them.

The three nights they'd spent there had been heavenly and very, very peaceful.

"But I mostly mean how easily things changed for us. How easily we switched into this mode after spending seven years, nearly eight, of just being friends."

Ron smirked. "You were never just a friend, Hermione. At least, not for a very long time."

She finally turned her head, too, smiling at him. It had taken her a good day and a bit to relax after getting there. Apparently she wasn't accustomed to doing absolutely nothing and fussed over everything for no other reason than it was something to do.

Eventually, after much coaxing, she'd relaxed and accepted that she had the right to just lie about for the whole day and not worry about anything. They deserved it after all the wedding planning.

"You know what I mean," she said. "It felt… right, didn't it?"

"Yes. More than right. Like 'why didn't we do this way earlier?' kind of right."

She fell silent for a moment, her face taking on a look of concentration under the starlight. Ron watched her.

"When did you figure it out?" she asked after a moment.

Ron didn't need to ask what she meant. It was something he often thought about, trying to pinpoint the precise moment his feelings for her had changed. But he never could answer that question. She'd never asked before, and he'd never asked her. It seemed irrelevant.

"It all just blends in together," he said. "It's like you were always something more, but obviously at eleven years old, those feelings were not love. They were just… different." He thought for another moment. "Though, the moment I realised I was very much in love with you was when I thought I was going to lose you. You know… at Malfoy Manor. It really hit me how truly devastating that would have been. Losing you. Even as my best friend. What about you?"

Hermione's smile broadened. "When I realised I couldn't be with you."

"You could always have been with me," Ron said. "From about fifth year, I wouldn't have said no."

"Even when you were with someone else?"

Ron paused, looking away from her. The truth was — and he was ashamed to admit it, even now — he probably would have found the will to break up with Lavender had Hermione promised him a relationship. Very, very quickly.

"I would have ended things first," he assured her. "But yes."

"I made a mistake then," Hermione said. "I misjudged the situation. I wish I'd gone about things differently. Made my feelings for you more obvious, even told you outright..." She sighed.

"I don't," Ron said. "I like things how they are now. The war changed me. I grew up. So did you. I don't know if we could have made it work being together and also fighting a war. I would have worried about you far too much if we were, and you would have hated that."

Hermione closed her eyes, the smile still on her lips. She rolled back onto her back. "This kind of reminds you about those nights, doesn't it? Being out in the open, seeing the sky…"

"Only this time, I feel happy," Ron said.

"Me too."

They were silent again for a little while, watching the night sky from the ground. It was Hermione who spoke again, keeping her voice soft despite there being no one else around.

"I really love you, Ron. I hope you know that."

"I do," Ron said. "And I really love you, too."

"You're really good at letting me know that. I know I'm not the best at it. I know I can get sidetracked…"

"The fact that you come home every day, that you don't run away somewhere else is enough," Ron assured her. "I wouldn't have married you if it wasn't. Besides, someone between us has to do the hard work, and you know that's not going to be me."

"You work hard," Hermione said.

Ron laughed, and the sound travelled across the empty mountains. "Not as hard as you, and you know it."

"You got through three years of Auror training with a really good mark — higher than most others. That training is said to be some of the toughest there is."

"And yet, had I been forced to do my NEWTs to get there, I wouldn't have achieved a high enough mark to even be considered."

"Well, luckily Kingsley realised experience counts for more than exam results."

Ron turned back to her. "Did you really just say that? Hermione Granger, the one who believes top marks are everything."

"I don't believe that." She laughed. "Well, I don't anymore, at least."

"You still stressed over receiving your marks. Do you remember that?"

"There are some habits that take longer to break. And I wanted to really feel like I earned my place in the Ministry — not because I got offered it for what I did in the war."

"If you ask me, playing a part in the downfall of a really Dark wizard makes you earn it a lot more than some marks on a piece of parchment," Ron said. "But I know you and I see things differently on that front, so I'm not going to argue with you about it."

"I think you're right, actually," Hermione said. "I mean, look at Neville. He's doing great, isn't he?"

"He's the best," Ron said fondly. "I mean, maybe not the best, but… you know what I mean." He sat up.

Hermione sat up too, grass bits sticking to her hair.

Ron grinned and reached forward to pick them out. "Every night," he said. "It's like you like me having to get them all out for you."

"Maybe I do," Hermione replied. "Maybe that's why I keep doing it."

Ron couldn't help the stupid grin that stayed on his face as he ran his fingers through her hair, finding all the large pieces of grass that had got caught up in it. He didn't mind either.

"I almost don't want to go back," Hermione sighed, once again directing her attention to the sky.

"You mean you could just sit up here all day, every day, with nothing to do and like it?" Ron asked her, finding the last pieces and letting them fall to the ground.

"I said almost."

"By the end of this week, you'll have gone mad," Ron assured her. "If it's not me that does it, it'll be the lack of contact with society, or the fact that you've allowed your workload to build up. I expect not to see you for all of next week because you'll be catching up on it all."

"I promised you I wouldn't do that," Hermione said, getting to her feet and pulling Ron up with her.

"And I've told you that it doesn't bother me like it once did. We find ways to see each other anyway."

"Still… it's not something I want to get back into the habit of doing." She smiled up at him, her whole face alight under the moon. They had been so lucky here, having three nights of clear skies so that they could enjoy their time out together.

"Should we go back inside?" Ron asked after a moment of taking her in, once again reflecting on the fact that he could now think of her as his wife.

She offered her hand to him and he took it. Together, they slowly made their way back to the cottage — they'd trekked a fair way out this time, almost to the edge of the mountain.

The cottage was a tiny one room place that felt as if it had existed for a thousand years. It was old, yet it was maintained constantly by magic, being a popular honeymoon destination for witches and wizards. Hermione had heard about it through someone in the Magical Creatures department, whose brother or cousin or someone had gone there. They had spoken very highly of it and Hermione had been intrigued.

The only downside was it required very careful Apparition as it was in a very awkward spot. And the mountain seemed to be as old as time itself, with loose rocks and boulders all over the place.

But it was still the best place Ron had ever been and he really could spend the rest of his life up there — as long as Hermione was with him.

The lamps they'd left burning upon leaving were still going when they returned, albeit most of the candles had reached their end. The fireplace was still going strong, though, emanating a warmth throughout the whole cottage.

On one side of the room was a large bed that Ron found to be extremely comfortable and very spacious. Not that he needed a lot of room. He much preferred to sleep curled up against Hermione. Though, he did wake up most mornings on the other side of the bed, which made him think Hermione didn't appreciate it as much as he did. That happened at home too, and he'd never bothered to ask her. She seemed content enough with falling asleep against him and he wasn't aware of what happened afterwards.

The clock on the wall told him it was just after midnight, an early night for them compared to the others. He had no idea what time it was, but time was not of importance up on the mountain. They had a whole week of this place to themselves with very little concept of time, that they found themselves up until the early hours of the morning and then waking closer to midday. It didn't matter to them, because they had nowhere to be, nothing to do.

"Hey, we didn't talk enough tonight," he said, pointing to the clock.

"I wasn't aware that talking was the highlight of this trip for you," Hermione replied.

"You're my favourite person to talk to!" Ron told her keenly. "We always have something to talk about, and it's always so interesting. I like just talking to you. It makes the long days pleasant."

She smiled, almost laughed. He liked that he could bring that reaction out of her. She looked at him in a very affectionate way, like she couldn't quite believe he'd said what he'd said, but she enjoyed it anyway.

"You're my favourite person to talk to, too," she said, placing her arms around his neck and drawing him into a kiss.

He kissed her back, arms around her waist, pulling her into him. He liked kissing her, too. Maybe even more than talking.

When he pulled away, he wrapped his arms tightly around her and held her close to him. Her head rested against his chest, and for a long, long time, they stayed like that.

Happy. Content. In love.

Ron didn't want his time here to end. He wanted this to be his life. Always. He felt so happy.

"I'm feeling tired," Hermione said against him.

"And here I was just thinking about how there are things I like to do with you more than talking," he said.

He felt her smile. "I'm being serious."

"So am I."

She untangled herself from him and looked at him with so much love in her eyes that he felt himself melt just a little. He had a feeling she'd looked at him like that before — back before they were together — but he hadn't understood what it had meant.

Now he did.

"This is forever, isn't it?" he said.

She nodded, still smiling. "Yes."

Ron drew her towards him again, holding her tighter than before.

It had taken them a long time to get to this moment, but now that they were there, it felt near unbreakable. It felt like they could be thrown anything and what they had together couldn't be touched.

He didn't know if that was true, but he liked to think that it was.

He wanted to spend forever with her.

Erm... so very much a baseless fluff chapter. But where better to put it than in the honeymoon chapter?

Also, I'm glad the wedding chapter didn't disappoint! Thank you everyone once again for your continued support. And to insertcleverandwittytitlehere (Autumn) for your continued betaing, even when you're busy!