Chapter 66

Ron smiled, turning the pages of the handmade photo album Hermione had given him before their wedding. She'd been so worked up and stressed over it in the week leading up to gifting it to him, she'd almost broken down in the study when she'd finally handed it over and declared she was not an artistic person and she knew it was terrible.

Despite her insistence that he could throw it away, he'd kept it in the drawer of his bedside table, occasionally taking it out and asking Hermione to add to it. She'd always look at him with raised eyebrows, but there was an underlying smile of pride she tried to hide. He always grinned at that look, watching her as she waved her wand and added more recent photos into it — some from their wedding, some from days out, others she'd apparently forgotten about.

It had grown a lot since the first day, and Ron absolutely loved it. He loved looking at pictures of the two of them together, from their early days as a couple to now, and into the future.

He loved her. It was such a simple thing to say now, but triggered such powerful and strong emotions in him whenever he thought about it. Their relationship had changed in the near six years they'd been together, but it had only ever changed for the better.

He grinned, reaching the final page of the album where there was one large picture of the two of them from their wedding. Photo-Ron placed a kiss on Hermione's temple as they continuously posed for one of the many photographs that had been taken that day. Photo-Ron looked so happy, engulfing the stunning photo-Hermione in his arms.

"You're not looking at that again, are you?" Hermione asked, coming into their bedroom, a bewildered and amused expression gracing her face.

Ron nodded. "It's the best thing you've ever given me," he said. "I like being reminded of all the things we've done together." He looked up at her from where he laid in bed. "Happy Valentine's Day."

Hermione responded by smiling at him. "I didn't know if you would remember."

"Is it like me to forget?" Ron asked. He could hardly remember what they had for dinner last night, but he liked to keep track of all the special occasions in his relationship with Hermione. Not that Valentine's Day was that important. But he liked to at least acknowledge it and had started a tradition of buying her flowers or a small box of chocolates after work each year.

"I suppose not," she said, coming to sit on the edge of the bed. She was dressed in casual clothes, Valentine's Day being a Saturday for once. "Your mum just sent an owl."

"Oh, yeah, what about?" Ron asked.

"She invited us over for dinner tonight."

"Since when does Mum owl us an invite?" Ron questioned, not sure whether he felt amused or put out by the fact that his own mother had written them a letter asking if they wanted to join them at the Burrow for a meal.

Usually, she would drop by or pass a message on via his dad at work, or most of the time they'd just go over with half an hour's warning and she'd be busily making sure she had enough food to feed them all.

Hermione just raised an eyebrow, giving Ron an incredulous look.

"Oh yeah," Ron said, feeling his face redden at the reminder of last month when his mother had stopped by unannounced and found them in a semi compromising position in their living room. Thankfully for everyone involved, it hadn't been too bad, but Molly had not visited them since, and Ron had been unable to look her in the eye for two weeks after the incident.

"That was a really embarrassing moment…" Hermione flushed.

"Yeah, it was. For all of us." There was silence for a moment, then Ron chuckled. "It was kind of funny, though. You have to admit."

"It wasn't," Hermione said. "Oh, I really don't want to go over. I don't think I'm quite ready yet…"

"It's not like Mum would have told anyone," Ron said. "Probably not even Dad. She's probably burnt it from her mind."

"Yes, but facing your mother after…"

Ron looked at her for a moment, then said, "She has seven children. Nothing she hasn't seen before. Besides, it's a reminder that it's our house and she needs to knock or give notice before she just lets herself in. She hasn't done it since, has she?"

That didn't seem to ease Hermione's discomfort in any way, nor did it make Ron feel any less disturbed. He shook his head over what he'd just said and looked back to his wife, this time with a more serious expression. "When do you get to check to see if you're pregnant this month?"

"I can try today," she said. "But it might be too early."

"Do you reckon it worked this time?"

"I don't know," Hermione said. "I…" She frowned.

"What?" Ron asked.

"Well, I asked Mum what it was like, but she couldn't really remember. She just said all she could remember was needing to use the bathroom a lot in the very early stages of pregnancy."

"And?" Ron pressed, eager to hear some kind of good news. It wasn't like they'd been waiting forever — really, this was only the second month of trying to have a baby — but he'd been immensely disappointed last month when the test Hermione had performed with her wand had come up white — negative. He hoped this month would be it.

"I haven't had that," she said after another moment. She must have seen Ron's disappointed face, for she added hurriedly, "but that doesn't mean anything. Everyone's different."

"Why don't you test now?" Ron said. "What harm is it going to do?"

Hermione seemed to hesitate a moment before she nodded and pulled out her wand. She sat down on the bed next to him. "Just remember," she said, "it may be too early for the spell to work."

Ron nodded and waited, but felt the wave of disappointment quickly as he watched the white stream of light leave her wand and gradually fade in the air.

"It's only early days," Hermione said.

"Huh. Yeah." Ron wasn't sure what he'd been hoping for, because she had warned him, but it still didn't help the disappointment he continued to feel. He knew he shouldn't feel that, because it really hadn't been that long, but when they factored in Hermione having stopped the contraceptive charms earlier than the beginning of the year, it added a few months, even if Ron hadn't been thinking about it during those months. And even if Hermione had said it took three months for them to stop being effective.

Hermione stowed her wand away, smiling.

"Well!" Ron said brightly, forcing back his disappointment, "with any luck, we'll know in a few day's time for sure. Mum will forget all about what she saw; she'll be thrilled and we can all move on."

Hermione smiled again, shaking her head. "Are you actually ever going to get out of bed, or are you just going to lie there all day? On Valentine's Day?"

"You can join me," Ron said, pulling back the covers and shuffling over to make room for her.

"Really?" Hermione said. "After the conversation we just had?"

Ron pulled the covers back up, scowling. "I'd just wiped it from my memory," he said. "Thanks for ruining it."

She laughed. "Get up. Then we can actually do something."

"Like what?" Ron asked.

"I don't know. I'm sure we'll think of something. How about a movie?"

Ron smiled at her. "Yeah… alright," he said. "That sounds good. Just give me a moment to get up. I'm quite comfy here."

Hermione left him alone, Ron grinning like an idiot as she did. After a moment, he groaned and got out of bed, rubbing his eyes. He stumbled into the bathroom and splashed his face with water, groaning again. He really had been comfortable in bed, staring at old photos of him and Hermione.

Once showered and dressed and having eaten breakfast, they were both ready to leave for Nottingham city — a place neither of them ventured into very often.

Being a Saturday morning on a popular holiday, when they quietly Apparated into a hidden street and stepped out onto the main road, Ron was not surprised to find the streets packed with people.

Some appeared to be doing regular shopping, and families were out and about, but there was a large number of couples walking around hand-in-hand. On one occasion, they even passed a couple so closely entwined that they appeared to be quite literally eating each others' faces.

"Ah, to be young and in love," Ron sighed in mock remembrance. "I remember those days."

Hermione gave him a playful nudge, and he took her hand.

"They're older than us," she said. "By the looks of it, I mean. If we could see their faces."

"Well, maybe that could be us in five years," Ron suggested.

"I like to think we are a lot more sophisticated than that," Hermione replied.

"Mum would disagree."

They both laughed at that despite the embarrassment over the incident still raw for both of them.

The day was cold, but sunny, and they strolled through the city, hand-in-hand, on their way to the cinema. Ron could remember his first visit to one of them, six years ago now, and how intrigued he'd been by it all.

Now — like many other Muggle things he'd become accustomed to — it felt almost natural. He wasn't sure it would ever feel completely normal, but he was semi used to visiting a cinema and seeing large, moving, talking pictures tell him a story. And at home, he had a much smaller screen, but with a lot more options. He enjoyed flicking through the channels when he got bored of one. It drove Hermione mad.

It seemed many other couples had the same idea as them. When they reached the building, the queue was long, winding out the door and part way down the street.

"Very unique idea, Hermione," he said mockingly.

"I never said it would be unique," Hermione replied. "Do you want to do something else?"

"No," Ron said, throwing his arm across her shoulders. "We'll just wait." It felt like a nice distraction for him — from the disappointment of the baby stuff, and from his continued misery about his job. A movie was good for letting him escape reality for a few hours — and enjoy his wife's company.

"You know, I did see a movie once," he said as they stood in line. "It was a movie about people seeing a movie, and the people in it didn't watch the movie at all. They just made out at the back."

"Oh, Ron." Hermione sounded both appalled and amused at the same time.

"I thought —"

"They were probably teenagers."

Ron shrugged. "I don't remember. Why didn't you tell me that was something people did here?"

"Because it's not appropriate!"

"What if we were teenagers?"

"We're not."

"But if we were, would you consider it? I mean… remind me again why we didn't do anything like this when we were sixteen?"

Hermione turned to face him. "Because…" she began, "we weren't even together then."

"Yeah, but we should have been."

Hermione smiled affectionately up at him, her hand reaching for the zip on his jacket. "Well, when you figure out how to make a Time Turner go back that far, maybe you can change things."

Ron grinned. "Maybe I will," he said. "Maybe that'll be my new job."

The line moved relatively quickly, some already having purchased tickets and just waiting to get in. When Ron and Hermione reached the counter, Ron withdrew his arm from Hermione and said quietly, "Let me have a go."

Every day, he became better accustomed to using Muggle money. Hermione would always make sure they had a stash somewhere for occasions like this, having converted it at Gringotts. Ron was too afraid to do that, not trusting himself to work out whether the goblins were ripping him off or not, but actually handing over the right amount to Muggles had become easier for him.

The tickets were seven pounds each, and Ron gleefully handed over the correct amount of money. It was going well until the boy giving them the tickets looked slightly bewildered at Ron's excitement with handing over their hard-earned money.

"Next time, just don't look so excited," Hermione laughed as Ron passed her one of the two tickets.

Ron grinned also, realising his mistake. If he'd been using wizarding currency, he wouldn't have been as thrilled at saying goodbye to it. He supposed that's how Muggles felt with their own money. Though, the only Muggles he really knew were Hermione's parents and they never seemed upset about spending money.

"How about I try again?" he said after a moment, nodding towards the candy bar area.

Hermione passed him more of the money and Ron ordered popcorn and drinks, this time ensuring he kept a placid face the whole time. When he reached Hermione in the line for the theatre, arms full with sweets, he grinned. "I did it!"

She smiled. "I'm very proud of you, Ron."

He couldn't tell if she was mocking him or being serious, but she did look rather pleased.

The doors to the cinema opened a short while later and they both followed the line in. There were two options showing and they'd picked the most popular one, apparently.

50 First Dates.

Ron wondered how you were supposed to have fifty first dates, but he had learnt over the years that the film would probably explain it to him by the end.

"I wish I could relive our first date fifty times with you," he said casually, taking two seats in the middle of the theatre.

"Wasn't our first date seeing a movie?" Hermione questioned.

"Yeah, and then you dragged me into an alley and snogged me senseless. I think about that moment still. I liked that." He turned to her, thoughtful. "Can we do that again. After?"

For a long while, Hermione didn't respond — as if she was contemplating his suggestion. Then she said, "We were young and in love back then," and turned to look back at the screen with a deadpan expression.

"Hey!" Ron said, "we're still young and in love."

"But we are both Ministry employees with a reputation to uphold."

"No one here knows that," Ron reasoned, but he turned back to the front, smiling to himself. He'd never actually expected her to agree to his suggestion. In fact, he wasn't sure he'd actually want to, even if she'd agreed. As much as he still loved kissing her, he really did feel slightly too old to be making out with her in a dark alley in the city. Those days seemed long past. He'd much rather do that with her in the comfort of his own house (with the Floo Network cancelled).

"I love you," he said quietly, reaching for her hand as the lights dimmed. She gripped his back tightly and leaned her head against his shoulder. Ron nestled into her as best he could and fixed his eyes once more on the screen.

As the reel began, he couldn't help but wonder if this would be the last time they came here together being just the two of them. Maybe in a few day's time they'd be finding out that Hermione was pregnant and their lives would change forever.

…

"Well," Ron said as they left the cinema nearly two hours later, "that was the stupidest thing I've ever seen in my life. As if that would work."

"I don't think its purpose was to be believable," Hermione reasoned.

"Don't tell me you liked it?" Ron admonished, taking her hand as they walked back down the street.

"Well… it was okay," Hermione said. "For what it was."

Ron laughed. "Ah, well, maybe if it was our world, it could work. I'd do it for you, you know?"

"Do what?" Hermione asked, smiling.

"What that bloke in the movie did. Whatever his name was. Henry. Get you to remember me every day if I had to… I guess he was kind of relatable. I understand him on that level."

At that, Hermione burst out laughing and turned to face him in the middle of the street.

"I was being serious," Ron said, a little put out. "I would do it."

Again, Hermione laughed. "I know you would," she said. "I just… it really was kind of a ridiculous movie, wasn't it?"

"Oh, so when I say I would do the same thing for you, you suddenly decide it's a ridiculous movie?" Ron huffed.

In response, Hermione reached up and kissed him. In public.

"I love you," she said, pulling back and smiling up at him. "Today was nice. I don't really think we've bothered to go out together in a while. Not like this."

Ron engulfed her in his arms. "That's because it's been winter, and that's my favourite time to snuggle up with you," he said.

He felt her relax against him, and for a while, they just stood there. People walked by, paying them no mind, used to seeing people stop in the street to hug or kiss one another. Ron had to admit — one thing he liked about being in Muggle parts of cities was the anonymity. No one knew who they were or asked them if they could meet Harry or Ginny, or — much to Ron's amusement and bewilderment — ask them a question. Here, they were just two ordinary people out to see a movie together on Valentine's Day.

Ron liked that more than he ever thought he would.

After a moment, he let go and looked at her, smiling. "Do you feel like doing something really adventurous?" he asked her.

"That worries me," Hermione said.

Ron grinned mischievously, taking her hand and pulling her in the direction they had just come from. "It's midday," he said.

"So?" Hermione asked.

"So," Ron said, still pulling her along, "when have either of us ever gotten drunk at midday before?"

"Ron!"

He stopped, dropping her hand. "Well, we don't have to, but I thought it would be fun." He shrugged.

Hermione contemplated his question for a moment, her eyes darting around the busy city. "You're not supposed to drink if you're pregnant," she said quietly.

"Oh, right," Ron said. "But you said you weren't sure."

"So, I'd rather be cautious."

Ron couldn't find a reason to argue with that, so he nodded. "So, what do you want to do then? You don't want to make out with me in an alley, you can't get drunk… what else is there to do that's fun?"

Hermione kissed him again, this time allowing her lips to linger against his. When she stepped back, she smiled up at him.

"Well…" Ron began slowly, her kiss reminiscent of many other times she'd kissed him like that and he'd been unable to resist anything else that followed. Except he had to for now, because they were in public. "I suppose we could always go home…"

"Exactly what I was thinking," Hermione replied.

Ron grinned. "I like the way your mind works, Hermione." He grabbed her hand and began leading her back to the one Apparition point in the city. All that was on his mind now was how Hermione's lips would feel against his, and wondering if she'd kiss him like that again.

Fun fact: on February 14, 2004 (the day this chapter takes place) 50 First Dates was actually released in cinemas! It's one of my favourite romcoms, so I was pleased about that!

I hope you all liked this chapter. It's more of a filler than anything else, so I hope it wasn't too dull.