"I'm sorry your brother's team lost but it was a wicked match." Though Ron had a hard time following the rules of the game, he still enjoyed himself. Christine's brother was shorter than him but built like a brick wall. And Ron couldn't deny he was intimidated and a bit nervous about meeting him.
"Well, Geoffrey will not be pleased but once he gets a pint in him, he'll be ok." She smiled at Ron as they walked hand in hand to the pub.
"Does he know he's meeting me?" Ron asked.
"He knows I'm bringing the bloke I've been seeing but not much else."
"I hope we get to the pub before the team so I can buy the first round." Ron was grateful Harry reminded him to exchange his galleons for Muggle money.
Christine beamed up at him, "That's very nice, Ron. And will go a long way with grumpy Geoffrey."
He smiled, a bit nervously and she laughed, "You are adorable, Ron!" And she kissed him on the cheek. "We're here." And she guided him in to the Muggle pub.
"You're a good bloke, Ron." Geoffrey said a few hours and a few pints later. "And you have a younger sister so you know it's bloody tough for me to admit that."
"Oh, trust me, I get that. My little sister married my best mate!"
"Holy shite," Geoffrey laughed, "You're a better man than me."
Ron laughed and even Christine joined in.
"When do I get to meet this famous little sister of yours Ron? I think she and I could bond over our protective brothers!"
"I'm sure she'd like to have someone to commiserate with." He said has he took a drink from his pint glass. "We'll definitely plan that soon." Christine smiled and patted his thigh.
"Ok, ok. I said I liked Ron that doesn't mean you have to touch each other in front of me."
Christine rolled her eyes but Ron laughed, "Fair enough." And they clinked their glasses.
About an hour later, Ron and Christine were strolling back to her flat, hand in hand, along the Thames. "I really do want to meet Ginny and Harry, you talk about them so much but if that's a step too soon, too fast, we can wait."
Ron appreciated her offer because he was nervous about him meeting anyone in the family, for obvious reasons. But on the other hand, he really liked Christine. She could help him forget the messier parts of his life in the Wizarding World and he really liked that.
"I know you're just getting out of a relationship," she continued when he didn't reply, "And I understand if it's too soon,"
He stopped their stroll and turned to her; she really was a beauty. "Thanks for understanding but I want you to meet them. I'm meant to see them tomorrow so I'll get some dates from them. Sound good?"
She slowly leaned in and kissed him lightly, "Sounds great." She kissed him again and this time he deepened it. Suddenly a wolf whistle from a passerby pulled them apart. She giggled but Ron got the strangest feeling of deja vu.
"You alright, Ron?" Christine asked.
He shook off the feeling, "Of course, love." He grabbed her hand and kept walking.
"Good, because I thought we could continue that kiss at my place."
He smirked, "I think that can be arranged." He kissed her again and they headed off to her flat.
The next afternoon, the Burrow was bursting at the seams for a Weasley family dinner. With so many different schedules, Molly did not always get all her children over every Sunday but this week she did. Even Charlie. She looked around the table and was so happy.
"Arthur, everyone together, what a blessing." She whispered to her darling husband. He took her hand and kissed her palm.
"Yes, we're lucky to have everyone with us today." Then Molly caught a glimpse of Ron having a spirited conversation with Harry and she gasped.
"What is it, Molly?" Her husband asked.
"How could I have forgotten already?" She looked stricken.
"Forgotten what?"
"Hermione! I'm here talking about how blessed we are to all be together when we aren't! You know, Ginny said this was one of Hermione's biggest fears. If she loses Ron, she'd lose all of us. And now, I've forgotten her."
"Oh Molly, don't beat yourself up. It's ok to be happy."
She nodded but didn't really feel better.
"Maybe I'll swing by her parent's house next week and bring her some food. I'm sure she isn't eating well."
Arthur kissed her hand again, "That's a lovely idea; she'll appreciate that." They smiled at each other and glanced again at their family. "We're so lucky, love. Despite everything, we are very lucky. Let's not forget that."
She nodded and smiled at her husband. They were lucky.
Ron was helping Ginny with the clean up later in the evening. "Did mum look a little upset earlier?" He asked.
Ginny had noticed the same thing and her father admitted the truth but she wasn't sure Ron needed to hear it. The family had been talking and realized that as much as they all loved Hermione and hoped they would find their back to each other, they needed Ron to know they supported him.
"I think she was just happy with everyone here at once. Even Charlie."
"Right." He responded. He wasn't sure he believed that and thought maybe in the family's attempt to be more supportive of him, they were simply ignoring the Hermione issue.
But Ron had something bigger to attack before the night was over.
"Why don't we join Harry in the garden for one last drink?" He asked.
"Alright. But just one. I just know I'll have another brutal training tomorrow since we lost this weekend. And I can't be hung over."
"Just one, I promise."
They walked out to the garden to join Harry. "I'm sorry I missed the match. I just knew with all this bloody press, I'd have been a distraction."
They sat down and Ginny said, "No worries, bro, turned out it was an awful game."
Ron poured a Fire Whiskey for each of the them.
"I have a huge favor to ask."
Harry had a feeling this wasn't just a friendly drink to cap off the night.
"You know I've been seeing Christine and it's going quite well," Both Ginny and Harry tensed, they wanted to support Ron but they both felt dating a Muggle while technically still married would end in disaster.
"I met her brother yesterday and we got on quite well. So of course, she wants to meet you two. And even though she offered to wait I said we'd do it. I hope you two will do this. It would mean alot. Of course, it would have to be at a Muggle place and we'd need to come up with a Muggle career for you Ginny but it should be fun. She's a really great girl."
The couple usually agreed but as Harry started to respond in the negative, Ginny grabbed his knee and took over.
"Sure, we'll meet her. I'm free Wednesday and Thursday evening. Harry how about you?" The look his wife was giving him said, just agree.
"Either night works for me." Harry replied reluctantly.
"Great!" Ron replied. "I so appreciate this, you two. I know it's a bit awkward but it means so much."
"Ron," Harry started, "what does Christine know? I mean about you and Hermione?"
"She knows I recently ended a relationship. I've kept it pretty vague and I intent to keep it that way until I decide how serious I am. If I'm serious enough to tell her I'm a wizard, I'll tell her about Hermione. But those are big decisions."
"Fair enough, Ron," Ginny said. She could tell Harry wanted to push it but she didn't think that was a good idea.
"Alright, come on Potter, I need to get home." She hugged her brother and then Harry shook his hand.
"Good night you two. And remember Harry, I have Healer Cruz in the morning so I'll be in after." Harry nodded and walked with his wife to a safe apparation point.
Before they left he turned to her and said, "We've got to talk." Ginny nodded and they left with a pop.
Moments later Harry was following his wife up the steps to their bedroom.
"What are you thinking accepting that invitation? I get we're trying to show Ron support but this is nuts! We can support him without supporting this adulterous relationship."
"Harry, you sound like Mum." She said as she changed into her pajamas.
"Well, in this case she's right. I could get behind a few casual dates and even some snogging. But meeting family members? That's a step too far. And what about Hermione? How is she going to feel when she finds out? I feel like we're betraying her!"
"Harry, love, I feel the same way. And I hate this. But if we show him the support now, maybe he'll be more receptive when we try to talk him out if it later. If we don't put the effort in now, he'll resent us."
She was being very logical but it didn't make Harry feel any better. He felt like he was betraying his best friend, his sister and he hated it.
"I don't want to hurt either one of them, Harry. It's a delicate balance we have to maintain here."
She hugged him tightly and he kissed the crown of her head. "If I could find Alexis, solve the fail safe issue and get her to reverse the curse, all of this could be over."
"That's a lot of 'if's', love. I hate it but we may have to accept that he'll never get those memories back."
Harry shook his head, "I'm not ready to accept that yet. I'm just not."
The next morning, Ron was heading back to the lifts at St Mungo's with a spring in his step. Healer Cruz cleared him for full active duty and moved their sessions from daily to twice a week. The only thing marring this otherwise perfect Monday morning was the nagging dream he had the night before. He dreamt he was back at school, maybe his second year. He was confronting Malfoy and his wand backfired and he ended up vomiting slugs. In the dream, the younger version of Hermione he recognized from the photo at the flat was there too, he had been defending her because Malfoy called her a 'Mudblood'. It was a very vivid dream, it almost felt like a memory. He'd have to ask Harry about it.
As he turned down a corridor, he saw Hermione enter a healer's office. He was tempted to call out but decided against it. Then he glanced at the sign for the ward she was in and it said "maternity." And that perfect Monday morning feeling vanished.
