Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or any of the characters.
Chapter Seventeen
Meet the Weasleys
The day after the anniversary of the war Hermione realized that she only had a little more than three weeks left before she would take her test, so she made a schedule for herself that she stuck to like clockwork. She cut back her visits to Ginny's to twice a week, though she loved having a girl to confide everything to for the first time in her life, she knew that she couldn't put off her studies that were quickly approaching. In fact, it was a waste of valuable time to spend any days with Ginny, but since she combined her visits with learning more about magic (which had fascinated her so much she couldn't get it out of her mind) she could justify this move to herself. For the other three weekdays she would go to Harry's to study, and she was pleased that she could completely concentrate on her law work. On the weekends she was totally immersed in Ron and loved every moment of that.
However, the week before he exams she had practically locked herself in the room Harry had given her, only coming out to use the bathroom … she even had Kreacher bring her meals. Though she knew that Ron thought she was ridiculous for spending all this time on her studies, saying that she knew everything anyways, she wasn't about to take a chance on missing a question because she didn't study enough. He argued that she might push out information by studying too much, but she didn't listen to that. Of course, when the exam did come, she found that she didn't need all of the extra work she put in, but she wasn't going to tell Ron that.
Ron had met her as soon as the exam was done, ready to take her out to lunch and told her how proud he was of her. She tried to complain that she didn't know how she did, becoming a nervous wreck just like she always was after a major test, but he would have none of that. He just kissed her, telling her she was barmy, and then made her concentrate of the meal instead of the test. She didn't know how he did it, but by the time they were eating she was feeling almost relaxed. Then he had to go and ruin that by mentioning something that got her anxious again … though for a completely different reason.
"I was thinking that you should come over to the Burrow and meet my family on Sunday," Ron said after they had finished their meal.
"Are you crazy?" Hermione exclaimed, just gaping at him. "I can't do that … you haven't given me time to prepare!"
"I didn't bring this up earlier because I didn't want to make you more stressed out before your test, but now that that is behind us … you're going to meet my parents and that's final," Ron said firmly.
"Of course, I want to meet your parents," Hermione said, and that was true, but the idea still filled her with a sense of dread every time she thought of that. She had wondered why Ron hadn't mentioned going to the Burrow before now, but now she realized that he knew how she felt and was trying not to push her. "But does it have to be this Sunday."
"Yes," Ron said leaning over to kiss her lightly. "That way there's less time for you to have to worry about the meeting."
"Fine," Hermione sighed and then leaned into his embrace, she couldn't really argue with his logic.
O
On Sunday morning Hermione was sitting at the table, trying to read the newspaper with her coffee in front of her like it was any other morning. Except this morning wasn't like any other morning, it was the day she was going to meet Ron's family, and she was a nervous wreck.
At first Hermione was merely nervous about this, trying to think of ways to make a good impression on Ron's parents. She felt a little wary about the difference between them since she was a Muggle and wondered how she was supposed to react. She started to think that his parents wouldn't know what to say to her and that would make everything awkward. Soon her worry started to change into anxiety and then turned into panic … and then her stressed out thoughts repeated in her head … Ron's parents aren't going to like me … they won't accept me.
"Relax love," Ron said kissing her head as he noticed that she wasn't drinking her coffee and the paper in her hand was crumpled oddly. "I know they're going to love you."
"What makes you so sure?" Hermione asked, she had never met any of her boyfriends' parents before, so she didn't know what to expect. Still, she knew that listening to him talk would help smooth out her nerves.
"Because you're you," Ron smiled at her, but she didn't seem to find that too comforting at the moment. "Plus, you've already met half my family already and they like you."
"That's true," Hermione said thinking first of Harry and Ginny, but she remembered that she had already met two of his brothers too, and they all seemed to like her. Though it was true that it was really his parents, and his mum in particular, that she was nervous about meeting, this information did help her.
"Hm … It looks like I'm going to have to find another way to relax you," Ron smirked.
"What do you mean?" Hermione said, narrowing her eyes but he was on her in a second cupping her cheeks and kissing her passionately.
O
"Wow!" Hermione said, she was now outside looking up at a house that was so magical she couldn't help the excitement that came over her. "And you were planning on bringing me over here on your birthday … without telling me about magic."
"Yep," Ron chuckled shaking his head. "I know, it wasn't until I looked at the house that day that I realized that was a terrible idea. Though, Dad was planning on enchanting the house, so it didn't look this obvious."
"What was he going to do about the five chimneys?" Hermione asked.
"That one is easy, a simple disillusion charm should work on them," Ron shrugged. "I think the fact that it looks like it's held up by magic would have been the really hard one to hide."
"Yes, there is that," Hermione smiled and then looked at the surrounding some more. "How much of the land is your family's?"
"A fair bit of it actually," Ron said smiling at the fact that she honestly liked his childhood home. "I'll take you for a walk after I introduced you to the family."
"Right," Hermione gulped and then grabbed his hand for support as they made their way to the front door.
"Hello," Ron said, just walking into the house with a very nervous Hermione following behind him.
"Ronnie!" Molly said as soon as she heard her son. She was in the kitchen getting ready to start the feast she was going to be serving in a few hours. Molly ran to him and gave him one of her bone-crushing hugs before she pulled away and looked at Hermione.
"Mum this is my girlfriend, Hermione," Ron introduced, he was a little nervous too, but mostly he was excited Hermione was finally here.
"It's nice to finally meet you, Hermione," Molly said giving the nervous girl a quick hug.
"You too Mrs. Weasley," Hermione said a little formally, caught off guard by the hug, and fell back on her manners reflexively.
"No, you could call me Molly," she said, not sure if she actually wanted the girl to call her that yet, but her youngest son was always more observant than most would think and definitely the most sensitive of her children. He would know what this greeting meant, and he would have been upset if she hadn't said that. Indeed, she saw her son relax considerably after their greeting.
"You have a lovely home," Hermione said sincerely as her eyes went wide trying to take in all the magic that was around this place, her eyes resting on the clock with fascination.
"I made that clock years ago to help keep track of our children," said a balding man, though the hair that he did have was as red as his children's. He was smiling at her and then turned to greet his son. "It's good to see you, Ron."
"Dad," Ron said smiling, giving him a quick hug. "I would like you to meet my girlfriend, Hermione."
"It's a pleasure," Arthur said with sincerity; he had been waiting to talk to his son's Muggle girlfriend since he first heard about her half a year ago, and he hugged her briefly.
"You too, Mr. Weasley," Hermione said, she couldn't help but relax with the warm smile he was giving her.
"Please, call me Arthur," he said still smiling.
"Arthur," Hermione repeated, not feeling odd calling him that at all (though she knew she would still be awkward calling Ron's mum by name). "How does this clock work? I think I could figure it out, but it's really brilliant if I'm right," she said excitedly, and Arthur's smile grew.
"It lets us know where our children are and what kind of trouble they are up too," Arthur said. "Molly was constantly worrying about Bill when he first started his job in Egypt that I thought she might relax a little if she knew that he was all right. While I was at it, I figured I could add more than just his physical wellbeing but also places and things of that nature … then it only made sense that I should add everyone's hand to it."
"How did you get it to work for places though? I thought it was impossible to set up long term tracing charms on people," Hermione asked raising her eyebrow.
"You're right of course, I can't do that, I had … wait how did you know that?" Arthur started to explain and then remembered she was a Muggle.
"I read about it," Hermione said. "I've been reading as much as I can about this world since Ron told me magic existed. I think I found something about this in Underage Wizards and …."
"Are you going to talk about all the books you read or are you going to listen?" Ron teased and Hermione stuck her tongue out at him.
Arthur smiled at the interaction between the couple, being reminded of how he used to be with Molly, and then went on, "I had to honed in on the feeling they get when they were at home or work … and then added that to the general atmosphere that was around them …"
"So, you're saying that it knows they're home because of the way they feel," Hermione said eyeing the clock and noticing that Ron's hand was pointing at home at the moment.
"Yes," Arthur said noticing where she was looking at. "I'm pleased to say that all my children still view the Burrow as home, even Bill, who has a home and family of his own."
"That's because you have such a charming home," Hermione smiled and Arthur laughed.
"We do indeed," Arthur smiled. "But if you don't mind … well I have some questions I would like to ask you."
"Okay," Hermione said tensing a little by that but Ron squeezed her hand with a knowing smile.
"What is the purpose of a rubber duck?" Arthur asked with a straight face and Ron rolled his eyes shaking his head smiling. Hermione let out a sigh of relief, she had been warned by Ron, Ginny and Harry (all separately) about Arthur's Muggle obsession and she took this to mean he liked her. Ron, feeling secured that his girlfriend would be fine, excused himself to the kitchen in hopes he could get something to eat (and to escape the boring Muggle talk).
Hermione explained the best she could about the use of a rubber duck and Arthur looked impressed, confessing that he only asked that question to see how Muggles would take it and answer the question. After her answer he decided to ask her about something that had eluded him for years, but he desperately wanted to know. How do airplanes stay up in the air? Obviously, Hermione didn't know this, never having taken avionics in school, but soon discovered that Arthur had bought several books on the matter. She quickly skimmed through the books (on the chapter that dealt with what she wanted to know) and told him everything that she could understand about this, which seemed to work pretty well, and she promised to read more about it.
"You don't have to do that, you've already explained a lot," Arthur said beaming, impressed by the information she had already given him.
"Don't worry about it," Hermione said smiling, her voice sincere. "I hate leaving a question half answered. I'll read more about this and get back to you with what I've learned."
In the kitchen Molly had just hit Ron's hand (which was trying to take some food) for the fourth time. "Ow … Mum, come on, I'm hungry," Ron pouted.
"You know the rules, no eating before lunch," Molly reprimanded her son fondly, he had changed and grown so much this year alone, but he will always be her little Ronnie. "Now make yourself useful and go set the table outside," she added.
"Bill is supposed to do that this week," Ron groaned playfully, just trying to get to his mum.
"I've raised nothing but lazy … ungrateful boys," Molly sighed back, knowing what her son was doing.
"Harry said that he was going to bring Ginny over today," Ron said coming back into the kitchen after setting up the tables so it would accommodate the whole family plus the Lupins (who always come over on Sundays too because Teddy loves playing with Victoire and Bess). Ginny didn't often come to normal Sunday brunches (this would be a first actually), but she has been doing a lot better since Hermione started seeing her. Oh, he knew the real reason why his sister (and best mate for that matter) was feeling better, but he didn't like to think about that if he could help it.
"Really!" Molly smiled excitedly, loving that her daughter had been a lot more like her old self lately. "But do you think that's such a good idea? You know how your sister is meeting strangers."
"What do you …?" Ron said furrowing his eyebrows. "You mean Mione? Mum, Ginny met Mione more than a month ago … she's fine with her."
"Oh," Molly said and there was something about the way she slumped her shoulders that made Ron frown, but before he could say anything to his mum they were interrupted. Harry, Ginny and Bess were coming into the door and the commotion that brought had drove the thought out of Ron's mind. Molly of course rushed over to hug her granddaughter, daughter, and son … which is how she always thought of Harry, though it wasn't technically true, yet. She still had hoped that someday that would be true … now more than ever.
After Molly had released Bess from her hug the little girl ran to the living room, where she found her grandpa, who had scooped up the toddler for his hug.
"Myknee," Bess yelled when she saw Hermione smiling at them. "Myknee no longer in cave!"
"What?" Hermione asked confused, but she noticed that Harry had stopped as soon as his daughter started to speak.
"Daddy said you in cave last week," Bess said innocently as Hermione glared at Harry.
"Did he?" Hermione said stiffly and then turned back to the girl. "No, I don't think I'll have to go into a cave for a while now."
"Good," Bess said hugging her too and then rushed back to the kitchen (to sneak food like her uncle Ron).
"In a cave, was I?" Hermione said to Harry as she hugged him.
"I had to tell her something, didn't I?" Harry shrugged, trying to be nonchalant but not quite managing it. "She really wanted to go to your room. It's the best I could come up with."
"Plus, Harry decided to come here early to make sure you would be more comfortable," Ginny said, she was hugging her dad before she went to hug Hermione, too. "So, don't be too angry with him."
It wasn't long after that that George came, he enthusiastically hugged Hermione even though he had barely known her but was trying to put her at ease. After the greeting Hermione kept a close eye on him seeing as Ginny had warned her that Geroge will start pulling pranks on her as soon as he was comfortable with her being there. Then at exactly eleven o'clock, the time that Molly had set long ago as being the time to get there (Ron and Hermione got there an hour early, something that Ron has never done before), the one brother she hadn't met, Percy, Apparated there.
Percy was an interesting case, seeing that he was completely different than the other Weasleys siblings. He was well dressed, though she couldn't really judge that seeing as he was wearing robes, he still looked more tailored and put together than his brothers. He seemed a little tense and oddly formal, but she could see that he was just as happy to be here as the others were.
"Hey Perce," Ron said greeting his brother with a handshake … even though Ron had greeted his other family members with a hug, it seemed that Percy preferred the handshake (as that was how he greeted the rest of the Weasley, besides Molly and Ginny). "I'd like you to meet my girlfriend, Hermione Granger."
"Percival Weasley," Percy responded very formally as he held out his hand to her. She could see that when he looked at her his ears turned red just like Ron's did and she couldn't help but think that Percy was just the kind of guy her mum would have approved of. "Ron has told us a lot of things about you. It's a pleasure to finally meet you."
"The pleasure is mine, Ron has said a lot about you too," Hermione smiled. Percy raised a skeptical eyebrow at the comment, as if to say that he was sure that Ron had told her nothing good. "He said that he was a lot like you in some ways and he's come to appreciate you more now …."
"Oi woman … you're not to be telling my secrets!" Ron huffed, blushing a little but laughing too, and leaving them to talk.
"He really said that didn't he," Percy said watching his little brother's back as he walked away, he had a surprised smile on his face. "He never likes to talk about things like that, but he's always been there for me … for all of us without even needing to ask him. He was the one that stood by George the first year and got him to reopen the shop. I tried … we all tried, but it was Ron that was able to get to him. It's nice to hear that he thinks we share some qualities."
She continued to talk to Percy for the next thirty minutes, he seemed to be very impressed by her and all the things that she brought up and asked him about. She really seemed to have learned a lot about magic in the month she had known it existed. However, when Bill and his family came, she was whisked away by Ron to go meet them.
"I hope Percy wasn't too long winded," Ron said before they reached Bill, who was holding a little girl (that had to be the same age as Bess), who had strawberry blonde hair, and beautiful blue eyes (the same color as her dad and Ron).
"No, actually it was interesting talking to him," Hermione protested honestly.
"Well, you're still new to all this … give him time to get on your nerves," Ron chuckled.
"Ronald! That's not very nice!" Hermione reprimanded but he just laughed harder.
"Ah … now how is my little Vicky doing?" Ron said ignoring her as he took the girl from her father and hugging her.
"Uncle Won!" Vicky cheered, hugging him and then pulling back and saying, "Hippogriff!"
"Er … in a minute," Ron said turning slightly red, it was a game he did with his nieces when he was around them both. "I want you to meet my friend Hermione … er … Mione."
"You Myknee?" Vicky gasped a little, Bess had told her a lot about Hermione.
"Hi," Hermione said not sure what to do, but at that moment Bess ran into Ron's knees, which caused him to bend down and pick the other girl up too. Both girls were laughing, and Ron shot her an apologetic glance, before he was off bouncing the girls around.
"Well, that wasn't nice of him," Bill smiled as he watched his brother, daughter and niece laughing as they played. "He's not a very attentive boyfriend."
"I don't mind," Hermione said smiling as she too was watching the trio. "He's really good with them, isn't he?"
"Yeah, it's no wonder he's their favorite," Bill chuckled and then he turned his full attention on her and gave her a friendly hug. "It's good to see you again. Ron said that you have just taken your last law exam. He seems to think you've done well."
"It's not a sure thing … it's a difficult … I'm still worried," Hermione answered nervously.
"I'm sure you'll be fine," Bill smiled confidently and then a beautiful woman holding the newest Weasley came in. "Ah … I would like you to meet my wife Fleur and our son Louis."
"He's adorable," Hermione said as she watched the little baby boy resting his head against his mum's chest. And then she started talking to Fleur in French, knowing where the other girl had come from. Hermione had taken both French and German in school (she thought this would be best seeing as her family often went to these places on their vacations) and had learn to speak both of them fluently. So, they talked for a while, seeing as Fleur wasn't used to being able to talk to anyone in her native tongue.
After that the Lupins all came, the little boy with spiky turquoise hair came running up to her and proudly announced that he was Teddy before he ran off to find the two girls that were running around the place. Hermione didn't even have time to say her own name before he was gone.
"Sorry about him, he gets a little overexcited when he comes here," a man said that looked a little shabby and tired but other than that had very kind eyes. "I'm Remus Lupin by the way," he added holding out his hand.
"Hermione Granger," Hermione smiled, shaking his hand. "Ron and Harry have said a lot about you."
"I hope it wasn't anything too dreadful," Lupin smiled, and she could see how much younger that made him seem.
"No, just something about you being the mastermind behind a group of miscreants" Hermione smiled.
"He wasn't the mastermind, just the brains of the operation," a woman said, she had shocking pink hair.
"Hello, you must be Tonks," Hermione said smiling at the woman that wasn't that much older than her.
"That's right and you must be Ron's girlfriend, Hermione right!" Tonks said brightly. "It looks like your parents were as nice about naming you as mine were. Actually, yours is better but it's close … but that's not important. Ron told us you know about magic now, so if you have any questions you want to ask you can come to me. My dad was a Muggle-born and I'd understand a bit more about your world and how to integrate them both together."
"Hm … that sounds nice, I'd really like that," Hermione smiled broadly. "Ron has explained a lot of things, but he really doesn't understand the Muggle world that much. Of course, I've also talked to Harry and that's helped a lot. Still, he was raised by Muggles and he's still learning things about the wizarding world. You probably were raised knowing both cultures … er … right?"
"Yes, I was," Tonks smiled. "My dad was proud of his Muggle heritage and would tell me all about it and of course I would see my family on my dad's side all the time. So, I'm very comfortable in the Muggle world. I actually knew Dad's family way more than Mum's seeing as her family disowned her for marrying my dad."
Hermione gasped and then she recalled what Ron had told her. "That's right, your mum is Sirius's cousin, so she was a Black too."
"That's right, and Black is the best name for those …" Tonks started to say.
"Hello," an older woman interrupted, and Hermione could tell she was related to Tonks, despite the fact that younger woman had spiky pink hair.
"Mum, I'd like you to meet my friend, Hermione," Tonks said trying to be jubilant, and moving away from what she was just talking about. "Hermione, this is my mum Andromeda Tonks and she's been dying to meet you."
"That's enough Nymphadora," Andromeda said frowning at her daughter, but Hermione could see that she was amused. "But she's right Hermione, I have been meaning to talk to you for a while."
"Really?" Hermione furrowed her eyebrows, she could tell that this wasn't the idle talk that she has been doing with the Weasleys, but she had no idea what the older woman would want to talk about.
"Yes," Andromeda smiled kindly. "That's why, when Molly told me you were coming today, I knew I finally had a chance to have a word with you."
"What do you want to talk about?" Hermione asked, trying to be formal, she was starting to feel very nervous, and she wasn't quite sure why. Her nerves this time had nothing to do with what she was feeling all day, it was more like how she felt before an exam.
"Do you mind if I borrow you for a moment, it's a rather lengthy and private conversation?" Andromeda asked.
"I believe I have time now," Hermione said looking around and seeing that she had already met everyone. She followed Andromeda to the back yard, which was luckily not crowded and stopped by one of the apple trees. Looking at the tree she could imagine a younger Ron picking apples.
"So, you must be wondering why I brought you here," Andromeda started, and Hermione nodded. "I'm not sure if Ron brought this up or not but I'm, in Muggle terms, a barrister. I work at the Ministry of Magic in the Magical Law Enforcement Department and I'm the head of the Upkeep of Muggle Law and the International Statutes of Wizarding Secrecy. Basically, we are in charge of handling Muggle interaction with magic, mostly making sure that they don't find out about the wizarding world, but we also represent the Muggles in the Wizengamot if there is a case of Muggle-baiting. We also handle a fair few case that evolve Muggle-borns, seeing as they are used to a different system of law from their childhood and feel more comfortable seeking legal advice.
"Now that brings me to why I would like to talk to you today," Andromeda said. "You see, most Muggle-borns like to have representatives that understand the world that they come from and can identify with them, especially if their parents are involved. The Muggle parents are usually lost in our world and don't understand what is going on."
"Are you offering me a job?" Hermione asked starting to realize what the older woman was saying.
"Yes, I am," Andromeda smiled at her. "When I heard about you a few months ago I decided to look into your education background, I hope you don't mind."
"I don't mind," Hermione said still shocked about what was going on here.
"Good," Andromeda went on, "because I must say I was pleasantly surprised to see that you were the top of all your classes and your professors had nothing but wonderful things to say about you. I realized that you probably have a lot of options to pursue your career in law. I know you have already been excepted to LPC program at Oxford and that will be starting in a few months, but I thought I would give you another option, just so you can think this over.
"Now what I'm offering you isn't as prestigious as going to Oxford, not to mention you probably won't make as much money, especially in the long run. However, I was hoping that you would be enticed by the whole magical aspect of the job I'm offering you," Andromeda said smiling as she could see she hit her mark.
"What do you mean by magical aspect?" Hermione asked thoughtfully, if she was right about her growing suspicion, this sounded like the perfect job for her.
"For starters, I'd like to make clear that the job I'm offering you is an entry level job, so you would only be making minimum wage, which is about 175 Galleons a month," Andromeda said in a business-like fashion. "Which is roughly 875 pounds in Muggle terms. That would be for the first year, and during that time you will be learning about the magical world, and I'll probably have you studying magical law and doing research in older cases so you can become familiar with the workings of our system. Usually, new employes to my division would use this time to study the Muggle law system, so I don't see why it can't work the other way around. After that, you will become fully qualified and depending on how good you do you can work your way up in the department. I must warn you though … there is no glory or fame in what I'm offering you and you won't ever make a fortune, though with each advancement you would notice a substantial salary increase."
"I'm not really looking for glory," Hermione said, as she had always been studying law for more practical and not monetary reasons. "You just gave me a lot to think about. Though it almost feels like I'll be wasting all those years I spent becoming …."
"Not at all. It will all be highly useful," Andromeda said. "There are also a few cases a year that must go to Muggle court and I'm sure to have you there. In my office I'm the only one that has bothered going through the hassle of getting real credentials, and I know it helped my clients."
"And now you're making it even more tempting," Hermione admitted with a laugh. "You're right about the whole magic aspect, it sounds like a dream to actually get paid to find out more about the wizarding world."
"Is that a yes?" Andromeda asked, smiling brightly at the girl.
"Let me think about it," Hermione said, this really was a big decision … a life changing one.
"Well, that went better that I thought," Andromeda said, her smile not faltering at all. "Thank you for your time, Miss Granger and I hope I'll be seeing you soon," she added and held out her hand to Hermione, who shook it. "Which I'm sure I will, whether you take the job or not."
Andromeda then walked away, leaving Hermione alone to think. It really did seem like the perfect job for her at the moment, what with her insatiable thirst to learn more about the new community that was before her. However, she couldn't just throw away her opportunity to go to Oxford. Her parents would kill her if she did that. Of course, that thought made her all too familiar anxiety to flare and she felt a knot form in her stomach. She didn't have time to deal with it, because she noticed someone was sitting not too far from where she was.
"George," Hermione said when she got closer and realized who she was looking at.
"Oh … hello," George said his face was white and he looked a lot more depressed than she's ever seen him.
"What are …?" Hermione started to ask but then she noticed the two tombstones that were there, though she was pretty sure that he was only staring intently at one of them. "I'm sorry, I should go."
"No," George said, and his voice was hollow, but it looked like he was trying to gather himself. "You should meet Ron's other brothers, too."
Hermione bit her lip not knowing what else to do, but decided to accept his invitation, she just couldn't leave him alone like this … not after she interrupted him. She went to stand next to him and he started telling her about his brothers, mostly sticking to Charlie, though she knew that it was his twin Fred who was the real reason why he had been sitting out here in the first place.
"Do you want me to leave you alone?" Hermione asked after a long silence where they just looked at the graves.
"No, I don't mind you being here," George said giving her a weak smile, and she raised an eyebrow at that comment. "Except when you read into my motives too much," he muttered looking uncomfortable now and then looking off into space and added, "it's just so damn hard to keep things up in front of them … to keep smiling and acting like everything's normal all the damn time. And they still look at me like it couldn't possibly be true that I'm happy … I don't know how much harder I can try."
"Hmph … that reminds me of Ginny," Hermione said thoughtfully as she smiled sadly at him.
"Did you just compare me to my crazy sister?" George said, his tone amused, but his eyes were still distant.
"She's not crazy," Hermione said rolling her eyes. "And I just meant the way that your family … and probably all your friends … look at you. It must be difficult to have them look at you differently after everything that happened … probably with pity. Though, it's likely you'll have a harder time trying to change their opinion than Ginny does …."
"So, you're now saying I'm worse than my crazy sister," George commented and then laughed at the face she made.
"She's not crazy!" Hermione huffed again. "And I was talking about the way people look at her. I'm sure you've all noticed by now that she's getting better, everyone has fewer reasons to look at her with pity and concern. I imagine that will help her get better faster."
"That's good," George gave a genuinely warm smile, he, like everyone else was thrilled about Ginny's recent improvement. "But now I'm the lowly depressed one that they'll all pity now."
"You're impossible," Hermione laughed. "You know if you don't try so hard … things might get better."
"Thanks, Mione," George said getting up after a few minutes. "I think I get what you're trying to tell me."
"Anytime," Hermione said. "And I'm here for you whenever you need some non-pitying eyes."
"Hm … from what I understand you have every minute of the day scheduled already," George laughed.
"I can figure a way to fit you in somewhere," Hermione shrugged.
"Yeah, I can take up some of your time with Ronniekins … you don't want to spend time with that git," George laughed and Hermione rolled her eyes at him.
"I've been looking all over for you!" Ron exclaimed as he came into view looking a little panicked, but now that he got closer, he was starting to relax.
"I didn't know you cared Ronnie … I'm touched," George said messing up Ron's hair and Ron just glared at him as he continued to walk to Hermione and wrapped his arms around her.
"I just had a talk with Andromeda, she offered me a job!" Hermione said, smiling at Ron.
"Did she? And what did you say?" Ron asked and she could see how excited he was by that news, it would definitely be easier for their relationship if she took the magical job, but she knew that he wasn't going to pressure her into it … he would let her choose and she loved him for that.
"That I'll think about it," Hermione answered, but she didn't really want to talk about that right now. "And then I saw your brother …."
"Brothers," George corrected. "I introduced her to Charlie and … Fred … I hope you don't mind."
"No … that's okay," Ron said giving his brother an odd look, George never liked having anyone near him when he was with Fred. George just made a face at him and then turned to walk away. So, Ron turned to Hermione and asked. "Do you mind if I take you for that walk?"
"That would be lovely," Hermione said and interlocked their hands together so they could walk around the garden. He showed her their makeshift Quidditch pitch as he tried once again to explain the game to her and promising he'll get his brothers … including Harry to play a game after lunch. He then took her to a little pond that was shaded by a tree, that he pulled her behind as soon as they got there and kissed her deeply.
"Are you feeling better now, Mione?" Ron asked a while later and he was now sitting with his back to the tree as Hermione sat between his legs wrapped in his arms.
"Much," Hermione sighed contently, she would always feel better while in his arms.
"I was talking about meeting my family," Ron smirked and kissed the top of her head. "I told you; you had nothing to worry about. They all love you, especially Dad. I think you're his favorite right now."
"Yes, I am feeling more relaxed, but I'm still a little worried. I haven't had a chance to really talk to your mum yet," Hermione said, she got the impression the older woman was avoiding her … no not avoiding, but she could tell Ron's mum was wary of her and Hermione didn't like that.
"Yeah, she's been busy cooking, I'm sure you can talk to her at lunch," Ron said, after his mum's reaction about Ginny he was a little wary too, but he wasn't going to let Hermione know that. His solution to deal with her nerves was of course to turn her head so he could kiss her again.
"We really should get back," Hermione said, she could tell where this kiss was leading and soon, she wouldn't be able to stop it.
"That's not really making me want to leave," Ron smirked, giving her his piercing look.
"Please … I don't want to disrespect your mum," Hermione said closing her eyes so she couldn't see him and there was a note of panic in her voice.
"All right love," Ron smiled at her, but he didn't like the tone in her voice. He started to get up, but he leaned in for one more lingering kiss before he did.
"Ron dear, it's … oh," Molly said looking at the couple a little shocked.
"Mum … er …" Ron said his ears turning bright red. "I …."
"Lunch is ready," Molly said and then quickly turned away to go back to the house.
"Well, I guess we don't have to worry about that now," Ron said still looking flushed. "We might as well pick up where we left off … she already things we're up to something now."
Hermione didn't say anything, but she did twitch uncontrollably at his words.
"Mione?" Ron said looking panicked and wrapping his arms around her securely. "What's the matter? I was just joking."
"I … know," Hermione said in a shaky voice. "It's just … I want … I want her to like me."
"Mione," Ron said smiling at her. "She's not going to judge … er … this won't make her not like you."
Hermione opened her mouth, but nothing came out. She couldn't explain what was happening to her, but she knew that it had something to do with her need to impress Molly, and knowing she was failing at that.
"Mione," Ron said making her look into his eyes. "Believe me; everything is going to be fine. You just have to relax love."
"Right," Hermione sighed, trying hard to push this fear aside but knew that was impossible now. So, she just took Ron's hand again, making the two of them get up, and then leaned into him. "I doubt arriving late to lunch is going to help me."
"Okay," Ron sighed, holding her tightly, knowing that she needed him at the moment.
Lunch was just as chaotic as it always was at the Burrow, so much so that Hermione was able to forget most of her worries about Molly, though she noticed the older woman wasn't really talking to her much and the glances she was getting from her were uncomfortable. Still, it was a wonderful meal and she loved how everyone related to each other, it was obvious to see the love they all had for each other.
At the end of the meal Ron levitated the dessert over to them with a flick of his wand.
"You know I've wanted to hold a wand for a while now," Hermione said, eyeing his wand as she bit her lip. It was true, there was something she had been thinking about since she learned about magic, but she had been putting it to the back of her mind while she studied for her exams (and then worried about meeting Ron's family). This was the first time she was free to think about her growing theory and she spoke before she could think.
"Sure love, but you know you can't make anything happen with it," Ron smiled at her as he held out the wand to her.
Hermione didn't say anything as she tried to gather her nerves, as she focused fully on the wand she was reaching for. She wrapped her hand around it, noticing it felt warm and friendly to her touch. "Abracadabra," she said as she waved the wand.
Everyone gasped and then there was complete silence as everyone stared open mouth at the gold sparks that came out of the wand.
"What the hell!" Ron's voice broke the silence as he turned her towards him, "Hermione you're a witch!"
A/N: Once again this was a very close copy of my original chapter (I guess I enjoyed the way I wrote the Weasleys), however there was a major difference at the end. When I had first wrote this story, I was wavering between making Hermione know she was a witch and having her be surprised too. The first time I had her know, so this time I'm making her surprised that she could do magic.
As a side note that no one probably cares about, I found it hard to try to figure out the exchange rate for Muggle pounds to Wizard Galleons and then what minium wage would be. I read that it was about 5 pounds to one Galleon so that was the system I used. I then read an article that said that Auror make about 1600-2000 Galleons a year and that was about 50000 (pounds or us dollars I'm not sure which) and I couldn't make sense of how that worked until I realized that they were making the Galleon worth 25 pounds.