Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or any of the characters.

Chapter Twenty-Six

Hermione's Birthday

The months that followed were even better than the ones that came before. She didn't know how that was possible, okay she did, but it seemed unbelievable that things could get better every day. It was like everything was starting to work out the way it was always supposed to. In mid-June she was able to meet the Hogwarts Professors and they all assessed how she was doing and made recommendations on how to continue her studies. For the most part she was advised to keep the tutors that she had, but both Professor McGonagall (though she was now Headmistress, McGonagall insisted on being the one to help Hermione) and Professor Flitwick had offered to give her a few private lessons. Harry told her that was because they wanted to teach her the proper way of going about Charms and Transfiguration, and after the first lesson with each of them separately Hermione had to admit he was probably right. She also had more than one lesson where Professor Sprout was present but for the most part Neville continued to handle her lessons with Sprout giving him pointers on how to make his lessons run easier in the future.

The week before both her written (W.O.M.B.A.T) test and the practical (A.P.E) test Hermione was a nervous wreck, studying everything that she could and finding that she learned a lot mor things that she would need for the test. When she got her results, she was pleased that she was able to get O's in all of her subjects. After her exams were finished, Hermione started working full time in the office and she was even able to go to court and help Andromeda prepare for some cases (a full four months before the older witch was planning, but Hermione seemed to be exceeding all of her expectations).

The biggest difference that came out of working full time at the Ministry, besides getting to eat lunch with Ron every day, which she loved, was that it meant that she didn't get to see Harry and Bess as much anymore. She really did miss them, though of course she and Ron still went over to Harry's house every few days (or he would come to their place), but it wasn't the same. She had spent most of the last year at Harry's and she had grown so close to him that she missed just spending time with Harry or reading Bess stories. There were just so many good memories that she had during that time, and she knew that she was going to miss that, but she also knew it was time for her to move on.

However, on a good note, Ginny was doing so much better the last few months that the Healers had agreed to allow her to live outside of the hospital. Though it had taken a few months longer than Harry had hoped, as Ginny had a setback the first time, they had tried to move out of the hospital. It had started when Molly and Harry had a discussion about which one of them Ginny would stay with. Though the conversation hadn't lasted long, and Molly conceded that Ginny belonged with Harry, she just voiced her longing to help her baby. Ginny wasn't sure what it was about the talk, but it made her very nervous and the longer she had tried not to let it bother her, naturally that only made it worse. It took a while, but eventually Molly realized that Ginny was nervous about taking on the responsibilities of being a mother to Bess for the first time in her life. Though no one really expected her to take on too much responsibility, Ginny was expecting it from herself, and she was worried that she wouldn't be up to it. Molly had a heart to heart, letting Ginny know that worrying was part of a mother's daily life but mostly what your child needs is just being there for them.

Though the talk hadn't fixed all of Ginny's problems immediately she had improved and now that she realized what was going on, she was able to talk about it instead of bottling up her emotions. It had been about a week now that Ginny had moved into Grimmauld Place to live with her family and Hermione had never seen any of them happier, and Ron admitted he thought the same thing and he'd known them a lot longer than she did. So, though she missed them, and she knew they missed her in return, it was obvious that it was best for everyone that she was no longer spending all of her time there.

Though she remembered the conversation she had had with Harry the week before as they tried to prepare Grimmauld Place for Ginny to move in. She had been thinking about something for the last three months, but after she got her results back from her magical exams, she knew she needed to tell him.

"You know you really helped me a lot," Hermione said as she casted a spell place the cushoning charm on the wall she was standing next to.

"With what?" Harry asked as he transformed the bed to look just like the one that Ginny had in her hospital wing. Ginny's Healer had suggested that they might want to have a room similar to the one Ginny had been staying in for the last three years just in case she would feel more comfortable in a room like that. Since there were about ten spare rooms in Grimmauld Place, Harry had agreed to prepare the room just in case it was needed. "Er … does this look right?"

"I would have thought you would know what that bed looked like by now," Hermione smirked at him and then nodded her head, "it looks right to me. I think I have the walls down, but you might want to see."

"You want me to bounce off the walls?" Harry gasped and then touched the wall and felt it give. "This feels right."

"Thanks," Hermione smiled at him. "So did you hear me before?"

"Er …" Harry said. "Something about helping you?"

"Yes, I just wanted you to know how much you helped me while I was learning magic," Hermione said.

"I didn't really have to do anything," Harry said rubbing the back of his head, like he always did when he'd done something helpful. "It was all you … I still can't believe how easy most of the stuff came to you."

"It wasn't easy," Hermione made a face as she thought of the last few weeks where she really had to put every ounce of herself into her studies. "Especially the last week."

"Don't remind me," Harry cringed. "Reviewing with you that week was a nightmare, I liked it a lot better when you took your written exam, and you left me out of it."

"It wasn't that bad," Hermione rolled her eyes, though she did remember demanding him to give her a more difficult test so she would learn more things. "But that wasn't really what I wanted to talk to you about."

"Oh, so you have something you actually want to say," Harry raised an eyebrow at him. "You're not just thanking me."

"Of course, I'm really grateful for all you've done for me, but what I wanted to let you know was that you are an excellent teacher, Harry," Hermione said looking him in his eyes. "The way you described things made it a lot easier for me to understand."

"Hermione, you could understand the most difficult of textbooks like it was nothing," Harry reminded her but she shook her head.

"Trust me Harry, I've had a lot of professors, and they are not all the same," Hermione said. "There are a lot of different types of professors, some that are knowledgeable but don't know how to get their message across easily, some that are enthusiastic but don't know how to give the information correctly. You have a good balance on how you impart the information you have. Obviously, you were better at teaching Defense, since you are more comfortable, and therefore more confident, in that subject, but I was really impressed on how you handled Transfiguration and Charms."

"Hermione, we both know that I wasn't that good in helping you in those subjects, that's why Flitwick …" Harry started.

"Flitwick and McGonagall wanted to help me because as seasoned professors they had learned how best to help someone in their subject," Hermione rolled her eyes. "They both mentioned that they were surprised that I hadn't picked up any bad habits in my wandwork and I'm pretty sure that had a lot to do with what you taught me. Besides you never tried to teach me something that you didn't know how to do. Do you know how much damage could be done when someone tries to do something beyond them?"

"I have somewhat of an idea," Harry said thinking about Professor Lockheart's first lesson with the pixies. "Though I'm still not sure why you're telling me this."

"You should think about being a professor," Hermione said.

"I can't see that happening," Harry shook his head, though he had figured this was what she was trying to say. "You know I'm just now getting my life on track, and I have a lot to handle with Ginny coming home."

"Yes, I do know that," Hermione said kindly. "And I wasn't talking about you pursuing this any time soon. However, I think that the way that you taught Defense was enlightening. I've read the textbook and even other material about Defense against the Dark Arts but none of that came close to listening to you talk about it. You really know the subject and that is shown in every lesson. I think there is a lot you can do if you were to teach that subject."

"I can think about it," Harry said in a way that made it clear he wasn't serious.

"What I was really thinking about was maybe in seven years you would want to consider this job," Hermione said pointedly.

"I see," Harry actually chuckled this time. "I'm sure Bess would just love that."

"Just think about it," Hermione shrugged, and Harry nodded, and she knew that he still wasn't convinced, but her last suggestion definitely made him take it more seriously. That's all Hermione was hoping for, that someday Harry would take her advice, or find something to do with his life more than just stay at home.

Her relationship with her parents was still a little rocky, though she was glad that when they had shown up at the Grangers the following week that Manchester United had won and her dad and Ron had bonded over the victory. She was also glad that her parents never shied away from magic, though that didn't help get rid of her bitterness yet but did help her include her parents in her life more readily. She didn't have to hide part of herself from them because they were now accepting of everything. That was never more evident than when Ron took her and her parents to a Cannon game, telling John that he needed to see the game played to get any understanding about it. Hermione had hated how awed and excepting her dad was that whole day, and how he had spent the rest of the day questioning Ron about the sport enthusiastically. Even though they would go to the Grangers every few weeks or so, Hermione had started sending owls and just like when she was a child her dad would end their conversation with a philosophical question (or the continuation of their last discussion).

In a way Ron's life was the same as it had been since the end of the war. He still worked as an Auror, contently doing his job protecting his community, trying to make the world a safer place for his family. He still hated it when he had nothing to do but busy work, it still gave him too much time to think about everything that he lost, but it didn't hurt as much anymore. He still came over to visit Harry as much as he could, which seemed to make his day a little better like it always had. And of course he would still go to the Burrow every Sunday to visit his family.

However, every one of those aspects had improved after he had met Hermione. His work seemed to have even more importance now that his girlfriend was a Muggle-born, not that it didn't matter before it just was more personal now. Spending time with Harry was more like it had been when they were kids, and they were able to actually laugh and enjoy their time together. Not to mention Ginny was now there (though she had only been there the last two times they visited) and she definitely changed the dynamics in the house for the better. And that was nothing to how Sundays at the Burrow, which seemed to be bubbling over with emotions everyone was in good spirits lately.

Ron still loved to tease Hermione that she was some sort of permanent cheering charm for his family (and even his friends) and she had made everyone happier just by being around them. Of course, he knew that he was simplifying the matter, and for the most part what she had done was offer a different perspective to things as well as offering her friendship and willingness to help them. With his dad it was immediate, just dating a Muggle had made him happy, whereas it had taken his mum a long time to let Hermione in, but as soon as she had, Molly too seemed to be more energetic and genuinely happy. With Bill it was actually her memory of Charlie that had made a difference for him, as he was able to find some closure after seeing that. Percy was pretty much the same as he always was, though that had more to do with the fact that he had resolved a lot of his issues with the family when he had become a spy for the order.

This was especially true with George, after his talk with her that first day, he had taken her advice, had stopped trying so hard to prove that he was okay. He allowed himself to be grumpy or even angry while he was at the Burrow, and he was surprised how quickly his family had started treating him more normally and not giving him sad looks all the time. Which, in turn made him react more naturally. It was about a month after Hermione's first visit that he started bringing over his friend and Quidditch teammate Angelina Johnson to brunch, and he had gotten a lot of questions about whether or not they were dating (or his mum would say bluntly that they should be dating). He pointedly ignored his mum's questions, even after it was clear that the two had gotten together.

Ron shook his head as he looked back to how he had felt even just a year ago. He had thought that he pulled himself through the aftermath of the war relatively unscathed, and now he realized how wrong he was. Sure, he wasn't as bad as harry had been, or most of his family for that matter, but he had lost a lot during the war. It was mostly due to the fact that his family had been so broken at that time that everywhere he looked he was met with a sad face. Of course, he knew that not everyone's problems had been solved, there were still a lot of things that they had lost, but it just looked so much better these days and all that had started with meeting Hermione.

He looked at her, it was her twenty-fourth birthday and they had almost known each other for a year now (just seven more days before that). She was a vision to be sure, lying there in their bed in nothing but his favorite T-shirt (or at least he said it was his favorite after he saw her in it), still asleep. He stood there watching her, his heart hammering in his chest thinking that he should change his mind and just do it now, but no, everything was set, and it would be better to wait. He was so lost in his thought that he didn't notice that Hermione had been woken up, likely from the delicious smell of the food he made for her (as it was their tradition to make breakfast in bed for special occasions).

"Ron?" Hermione said frowning a little; she loved it when she woke up in his arms, but when she saw him standing in the doorway she smiled. "Good morning love," she added smiling now at his startled expression.

"Mione," Ron said looking a little nervous and smiled. "I made breakfast," he added and as he walked towards her the tray with food on it floated into the room and he quickly made his way to her giving her a kiss. "Happy birthday, love!"

"Thanks," Hermione blushed, and then looked at the tray with pancakes he made for the both of them, he had noticed how much she loved maple syrup, but she usually didn't have it. She had a lot more self-control than he had when it came to food.

They had spent most of the morning in bed (having taking the day off since it was Friday and they could have the long weekend) just talking about things; this really was their favorite time of the day (morning, or any other time) … they just liked being together. There were a few times that they were about to get into an argument, Ron could see all the warning signs, and though he liked getting into playful arguments with her, he didn't want that today. She narrowed her eyes when he let her win, but otherwise let it go, she knew tomorrow he wouldn't let her get away with anything.

At six, they went to the Burrow, where all of the Weasleys, Harry, the Lupins (and Andromeda), some of her friends from work, Luna Lovegood and their Gryffindor friends (which she now considered her friends after going to many Thursday nights out together), and her parents were there waiting for them. Hermione felt awkward, she had never had a party like this in her honor, usually she just celebrated her birthday with her parents, but she found that she really enjoyed this too. Still, she was happy when she was able to Apparated herself back to their flat (having just gotten her license a weeks ago).

"You know, I really wish you didn't learn how to do that," Ron said with a dramatic sigh after he popped into the flat.

"Yes, I do know that you've mentioned it since I've been certified," Hermione said, "something about not getting to hold me tightly anymore."

Ron made a face at her as she walked over to him, taking his hands and leading them back to their room.

"I knew you couldn't wait to get me back to your lair to do all sorts of wicked things to me," Ron said smirking.

"You wish," Hermione said, but she had indeed been thinking along those lines all night. There was something about seeing him in that blue shirt he was wearing now, and the look he had when he was talking to his friends, so happy and animated, that made her want to be alone with him. She took off her shoes and got into some more comfortable clothes, as did Ron. She could feel his eyes on her and she loved it. She patted the side of their bed and said, "that was really a lovely party … you were right about my parents."

"Of course, I was," Ron said smugly and she wrinkled her nose at him.

"Hmph," Hermione huffed, not liking to admit that but went on with her original train of thought, "it just wouldn't have felt right if they weren't there. They've celebrated all of my birthdays with me."

"You still didn't look happy when you first saw them," Ron chuckled.

"At least I was better than the time when they showed up at the Cannon pitch," Hermione said and Ron laughed louder, and Hermione joined him.

"But I figured that you would have appreciated that they were there for your birthday," Ron went back to what they were talking about.

"Thank you," Hermione said kissing his cheek sweetly, "for knowing me better than I know myself sometimes."

Ron looked at her and his breath caught in his throat. She was looking at him with such love and affection that everything that he carefully planned for the last two weeks flew out the window. "Hermione Granger, you've ruined everything," he muttered shaking his head.

"What does that mean?" Hermione furrowed her eyebrows together, looking a little hurt.

"It means I had plans and now it's all ruined because I can't wait any longer," Ron said, tilting his head to the side and smiling at her with her favorite grin.

Hermione looked into his eyes, her heart starting to beat fast, she knew this was going to be big and she couldn't wait to hear what he had to say to her.

"Before I met you," Ron started, his voice nervous as he tried to remember what he had come up with the other night when Harry and he had discussed this, "I was stuck in a grey life. I was happy enough, but there was nothing special about it. And then I met you in that coffee shop and everything was different. I think I fell in love with you that first day …" at this point Hermione's eyes started to fill with tears and she tried to interrupt but he wouldn't let her. "The first day you met Harry and Bess, I knew that my life would never be the same. I was already making plans for our future together."

"What?" Ron was sure she said, but it came out oddly because his finger was keeping her mouth closed.

"The first time I saw you reading to Bess my head was filled with visions of you reading to our own children," Ron admitted, blushing as red as his roots at the confession but he forced himself to continue, "I knew it was too soon to be thinking that, but I still wanted it.

"I knew that I could never live without you when I had tried to," Ron's voice and eyes became grave as he mentioned their separation, but he felt it was an important moment in their relationship. "I never could have just let you go like that. Luckily for me, you realized the same thing."

"Ron," Hermione said, tears streaming down her face, but again he wouldn't let her interrupt him.

"I knew that all my dreams would come true the night we first made love," Ron smiled fondly at the memory. "When you accepted me for being different than you … well at least that's what we thought at the time … for being a wizard. I feared you wouldn't have been able to … a fear that weighted on my consciousness all those months I didn't tell you. You have no idea how good it felt for me when you said it didn't matter. That you loved me no matter what I am."

Hermione's expression changed and he knew exactly what she was thinking, I might have an idea about that.

"I supposed you do have an idea, but still, it was the best day of my life … up to that point," Ron smiled. "And today, you gave me the last thing I've been waiting for since I've met you."

"What?" Hermione questioned.

"For you to admit that I'm right," Ron smirked at her.

"Prat," Hermione said slapping his shoulder as he chuckled.

"You made it impossible for me to wait a second longer with this," Ron said, his eyes going serious as he looked at her with all the love and determination he had. He then got up and went to his drawer, took off a charm that was hiding something very special and turning back to her more nervous than he had ever been in his whole life.

Hermione gasped, and she covered her mouth with her hand she could see exactly where this was going, she had thought this was coming, but it didn't shock her any less seeing him like this.

"Your dad told me this is what Muggles do," Ron muttered as he knelt before her, and then looked straight into her eyes, opening the box in his hand and said, "Hermione Jean Granger, will you marry me?"

Hermione didn't say anything; she just lunged at him, tears still streaming down her face as she kissed him as hard as she could.

O

"You know you still haven't answered my question," Ron said chuckling, they were on their bedroom floor with the comforter over them. "I mean, you did say yes a hell of a lot … but I'm not sure …."

"You are such a prat," Hermione said giggling.

"But am I your prat?" Ron asked.

"Yes, Ronald Bilius Weasley, I'll marry you," Hermione said formally as she smiled at him.

Ron's heart beat faster as he reached over to where he noticed the box with a ring in it had landed when Hermione had tackled him and picked it up. He placed the ring on her finger, it was magically sized so it would fit her no matter what and smiled proudly. Hermione's own heart was beating almost as fast as she smiled bemusedly at him while he did this. This man was going to be mine forever, she thought.

"Do you like it?" Ron asked when he caught her eye, he had gone with Harry and Ginny a few days ago, he had waited until Ginny could go with him because he was sure that both Harry and he would be totally useless at picking out a ring.

Hermione looked at it, honestly, she would have been just as happy if it was a plastic ring, but when she saw the small and subtle diamond that wasn't overpowering but still beautiful and elegant, her smile broadened. "It's perfect," she beamed at him, and then kissed him again.

"You said that my dad told you to kneel …" Hermione said sometime later, Ron was now absentmindedly playing with her hair.

"Yeah," Ron smiled. "You know the last time we visited them, well the reason why I wanted to go so badly was to ask …."

"It better not have been his permission," Hermione interrupted hotly.

"No, I would never have asked for that after everything," Ron assured her with a smile (though that was mostly because he loved how she looked with she was annoyed).

"Oh, that's good, I would have had to punish you if you had said differently," Hermione said offhandedly.

Ron's smile became mischievous and longing, but he just went back to his story, "I asked if there was a certain ring passed down in your family," and seeing that Hermione was furrowing her eyebrows added, "our family does. I think that's why Mum wanted a girl so much. Her ring had been passed down from mother to daughter for seven … well Ginny would be the seventh generation. Anyways, I wanted to make sure that there wasn't anything like that for your family."

"That's sweet," Hermione smiled as she rested her head on his chest.

"Thanks," Ron chuckled. "So that's when he told me about the kneeling thing and some other stuff."

"Like what?" Hermione asked, but Ron just shrugged. "So, other than my parents and Harry and Ginny … who else knows about this?"

"Well, first off, your mum doesn't know," Ron said. "Your dad said something like she wouldn't have been able to keep the glee off her face …."

"She really wouldn't have," Hermione chuckled. "I would have known in a second that something was up. I assume you didn't tell your mum yet either … I'm sure she would have had the same problem."

"Obviously," Ron laughed. "Actually, my dad was the only other person that I've told. I kind of figured this all out when I was talking to him about a month ago."

"Really?" Hermione questioned.

"Yeah," Ron sighed. "Somehow, we got to talking about you … don't ask me how, but Dad always has a way of getting things out of me without me even realizing it. So, I told him of some of my plans with you and he asked me really calmly, 'so what are you waiting for?' It wasn't demanding like the way Mum would have asked and I don't know. He just made it seem like I didn't have to wait any longer to have everything I wanted."

"So, what were you waiting for?" Hermione smiled at him.

"That conversation obviously," Ron chuckled. "I just thought that it would be rushing things … I mean Mione, we've only known each other a year."

"Not even," Hermione corrected.

"No, but if you didn't ruin everything by being perfect and all, it would have been a year when I asked you," Ron huffed.

"Sorry," Hermione chuckled. "You wanted to ask me on our anniversary?"

"Yeah, I figured that would have been the most romantic," Ron shrugged. "I know how much you like all that crap."

"I'm not a romantic …" Hermione said rolling her eyes.

"Yes, you are, you're always reading those romance novels, and crying over those movies, and you love any and all of the romantic gestures that I've done," Ron said smirking at her indignant expression. "And believe me love, it would have been very romantic."

"Well, I'm glad you couldn't wait," Hermione said, snuggling closer to him. "As romantic as you may think I am, I would much rather be your fiancée longer than just about anything you could have done."

"Hm, so you mean you would have liked it better if I'd asked you this morning … I really wanted to," Ron sighed.

"Er … I'm not sure about that," Hermione said thinking about going to the party after that. Everyone would have found out in a second and both of their mums would have been all over them.

"I supposed everything worked out fine this way," Ron smiled and she started breathing heavily, he could tell that she was nearly about to drop off. "Mione."

"Hmm …" Hermione mumbled.

"I love you," Ron said kissing the top of her head.

"I love you," Hermione replied with a smile. "Forever."

A/N: Okay there you have it. The end of the fic. I hope you all enjoyed it. I had enjoyed rewriting this story and adding more parts to it.

If you enjoyed this fic, you might want to check out my other pen name jlmill9, and I have a few Ron and Hermione centric fics there though they are all older stories (from 2009-2011). Also, I do have a few stories floating in my head that I'm thinking about writing, and I'll hope to get to them soon. However, these fics have been floating in my head since 2012 so who knows if that will work.

I would like to thank all those that have reviewed this fic. I really appreciated it.

Ronnie11, OH MIA MYA, merendinoemilliano, guest, TheaMama, oihdsfx, Amanda Pall, starlite22, nintschibintschi, Briar Potter, and Romione Stans