CH 6

Easter had been a whirlwind with solid traffic at the shop and an overflowing dinner at The Burrow. Only a week or so later was the second anniversary of Fred's death – well, the battle and the death of a lot of people. But it had also been Victoire's first birthday. And Ron had no idea how George would handle it.

But, in the end, Ron had been incredibly proud, not to mention surprised, when George embraced the day as a celebration for his niece. Rocks came from Australia and had been there to support and distract George in a way only he could. But Ron's favorite part of the day was when they had all been at The Burrow watching Victoire smear icing on her gorgeous little dress. There had been many presents, but after Bill and Fleur "helped" their daughter open a present from each of the guests, there had still been one very large gift left on the table. After some initial confusion and a check against curses by the ever-watchful father they'd finally opened it. Inside they'd found a gorgeous doll house. It had been clearly built by hand, and it was filled with furniture and red-headed dolls as well as instructions for how to charm them all to move about the house. But the card that was found tucked into the little doll's bedroom simply said, "To my most precious Vic, You will always be loved and watched over by your guardian uncle – Happy birthday"

Every uncle looked bewildered, and no one stepped up to claim the present. Charlie was convinced it was from Fred. Percy was convinced it was from Harry. But Ron kept silent in the conversation. While he couldn't prove that it was George, he had found multiple books left open in the work room on charming dolls, and he'd seen George researching doll house construction for months. Initially he'd assumed George was looking into a new line of merchandise for the shop, but Ron had been incredibly touched when he'd seen the end result.

The next day they were back in the shop as always. George said nothing about the doll house and neither did Ron, but something had shifted between them that day, and since then Ron had felt lighter. Sure, the anniversary was always going to be utter shite. But, maybe they would all make it in the end.

He was in a good mood that afternoon and decided to try and surprise Hermione with a nice evening out somewhere. They'd both been seeing Becky and working on their issues, but they hadn't gone out on an actual date since they'd been back from their trip the month before. He got off a few minutes early so he could beat Hermione home in an effort to keep her from starting to make a dinner they wouldn't eat. As it turned out, he did beat her there, but only by a few minutes.

"Oh, Ron, you're home early. Is everything ok?" Hermione asked, looking a bit flustered and caught off guard by his presence when she stepped through the floo.

"Yeah, everything's good. Shop was a bit slow today and George said he'd close up this evening. So, I thought maybe you and I could go out to dinner or something. Haven't had a date night in a while. Would that be ok with you?"

"Oh, well, yes, of course. That's a lovely idea," she said chewing on her lip for a moment. "Actually, I think that's perfect. Can I – well, do we have time for me to go freshen up a bit? Are we going to the Leaky or somewhere nicer?"

"I was thinking that nice muggle Italian place we went to with Harry and Gin before Christmas."

"Oh, lovely, and a bit posh, huh? I'll go glam up then," she said with a smile and headed upstairs.

Ron grinned and thought he'd do the same. Of course, it took him exactly five minutes to wash his face and put on a clean shirt, so he decided to wait downstairs where he could listen to a quidditch match on the wireless while Hermione got ready to go. Before too long she was back in a lovely dress that hugged her slowly increasing curves, her hair swept off of her neck and makeup of some kind to make her lips pink and glossy. She looked gorgeous, and he couldn't help but grin as she came down the stairs.

"You're beautiful," he said softly as he kissed her cheek.

"Thank you," she blushed. "And I would bet you're hungry. Shall we?"

"Yeah, I'll apperate us. And I'm not too famished, Kreacher had some muffins in the kitchen, so I am sure I'll make it 'til we get some bread at the restaurant," he laughed.

Before long they were seated at the nice Italian restaurant. Since it was not yet 6, they had beat the dinner crowd and were able to get a nice corner table where they could enjoy people watching and still be able to talk freely without the fear of being overheard by muggles.

"This is nice. You're right – we haven't really done this in...well, outside of vacation I'm not sure we've ever done this," she said.

"Something we need to do more of in my book."

"What triggered your good mood? You are awfully chipper. You didn't accidentally inhale cheering charms or something at work did you?"

"What? No, no – nothing like that. It's just an honest old fashioned actual good mood. I think making it through Vic's birthday and everything, well, it just seems lighter somehow."

Hermione attempted to give him a smile back, but Ron could sense something was off with her.

"What's going on?" he said, one eyebrow arched.

"What do you mean?"

"Oh come off it, Hermione. This is me. You're worried about something - or about telling me something - and if we're doing all this work with Becky so we can just talk to each other, seems to me the best thing is to just put it out there."

She just eyed him, taking some deep breaths, but not saying anything.

"Well now you're just making me nervous," he said, good mood now completely vanished. "What is it?"

"Don't get all worked up, Ron. It isn't some terrible thing. It's just, well, I've learned about some possible opportunities today and wanted to talk through them with you. It's just, I am admittedly a bit nervous about how you will react and trying to figure out the best way to explain them."

"You can tell me anything, Hermione. I hope you know that."

"Oh I do. But I also know you pretty well, and I am quite nervous you will over-react or misinterpret this."

"Just say it already," he groaned, elbow on the table and fingers rubbing over his eyes.

She took another deep breath and let it out slowly. "Well, let me first say that if we hadn't made as much progress in the last few weeks as we have then I couldn't have even considered this. But, I feel like we are in a much stronger place where we are both really confident in knowing we love each other and nothing will change that and knowing we want the other person to be able to pursue their dreams."

"Hermione," he practically growled. "You're starting to scare me, just say it already."

"Right. Sorry. Didn't mean to scare you, I just..."

"Hermione!"

"Sorry! Right. Ok. Fine – I recently learned about a program where you can attend a muggle university with an attached magical school and get a dual-degree that is recognized by both the muggle and magical worlds. I could study history, public policy and human rights on the muggle side while at the same time do further study in history of magical creatures. I could learn history and get better prepared to be able to actually make a difference in how elves and goblins are treated and their rights within the magical world!" she gushed, eyes sparkling.

"That is amazing, Hermione," he smiled. "It's like it was designed just for you! And they'd be a fool not to accept you."

"Well, they already did. When I sent an owl to the university last week to learn more about the program, they recognized my name. They talked to McGonagall to learn more about me than what they read in the papers I suppose. But, today when I received the return owl with more information on the program, they also sent an acceptance letter and an offer to fully cover all of the costs of attending."

"Wow! Hermione! When do you start?"

"Well, I haven't accepted yet or made any decisions. I wanted to talk to you first. I just received it today when I was at Hogwarts. But, the program starts in late August and takes three years to complete, but you know me, I think I could probably finish in two."

"Holy shite, Hermione, we need to be celebrating! Why on earth would you be nervous to tell me this? It sounds so utterly perfect I don't think I could have imagined anything better!"

Hermione looked down for a moment fiddling with her napkin.

"Hermione?" he said again, this time with fear and concern sneaking into his voice.

"The program is at Columbia University. In New York City. In America," she said softly, glassy eyes now fixed on him.

He didn't say anything. He wasn't actually sure he wasn't having some sort of fit or something because everything suddenly felt very fuzzy, and he was hovering between passing out and exploding in anger and crying all at the same time. He just sat there with his mouth open, eyes fixed on her, not even blinking as his brain tried to process what she had just said.

Did she want to leave him? Did she want him to leave England? And leave his brother and family now when they still depended on him? Just when they were finally at a good place she wanted to turn everything upside down? What the actual fuck?

"Say something, Ron. Please. Be angry or be excited or full of questions or whatever, but for the love of Merlin, please say something."

He slowly came back to his senses enough to realize she was still talking to him. "You just said America, right? You want to move to America?" he asked in a confused whisper.

"No, I want to discuss the idea of temporarily studying there to be better prepared for a long term career in England," she said, not sounding terribly confident in her response.

Ron just kept blinking trying to process everything. She tried to speak, but he just held his hand up. "Just, give me a sec, ok? You've had more time to think here, and I'm trying to just - just give me a mo'."

She nodded, took a sip of her water and fidgeted with her napkin as she tried to not stare at him. But, she should see him running his hands through his copper locks, and he'd already wiped his brow as he'd clearly broken out in a light sweat.

"Ok – I need to try to be sure I totally understand the conversation we're having here. Are you saying you want us to move to America or are you saying you want to move to America without me?" he asked, his voice cracked at the end, betraying the anxiety and pain he had tried to mask.

She blinked slowly and said, "Well, I didn't actually think you would even want to consider moving, though it would be lovely if you wanted to come. But, well, I wondered if it would be a good time for you to think about taking Kingsley up on his offer. Then we could both get our schooling out of the way at once and not have to be apart any more than necessary."

"So you're not breaking up with me?"

"WHAT? No! Not at all, Ron. I love you. You know that, we've talked about how we're in this for the long haul, right? I tried to explain that ahead of time. Maybe I shouldn't have even mentioned it, as even I am not even sure it's a good idea. But, it did seem tailor made for what my interest are. And, we've been doing so well recently and I just wanted us to talk about it – to discuss it and see what you thought and I guess take it from there. I didn't mean to upset you at all, that wasn't remotely the intent. And we can drop it right now if you want."

Trying hard to control his frustration and how kicked in the gut he felt, he kept asking clarifying questions like Becky had taught him to do to be sure he wasn't leaping to the wrong conclusion.

"I'm just trying to make sure I get what's happening here as I'm suddenly feeling a bit like I just stepped into some sort of alternate universe."

"Sorry. I didn't mean to make you so upset. I just wanted to be honest about the opportunity. If it's not the right thing for us I can just forget it."

"Don't get ahead of me, Hermione. I'm trying pretty damn hard to not lose my shite right now and be level headed, but you have to help me do that."

"Ok. Sorry, yes. What questions do you have?"

At that point the waiter came for their drink order. Hermione ordered a glass of white wine while Ron asked for a firewhisky.

"What? I'm not familiar with that brand, sir. The ones we offer are here on the back of the menu..."

Realizing Ron was still trying hard not to blow his lid Hermione cut the waiter off. "Sorry, we discovered that brand on a recent trip, but doesn't seem to be very available in England. Pity. Anyway, just a glass of one of your good Scotch Malt Whiskeys will be good, won't it, dear?"

Ron nodded and didn't say anything, so the waiter scurried off to fetch their drinks.

"Ok," Ron said as he took in a deep breath and exhaled slowly. "Let's just put aside for a minute the whole thing about the shop and being an auror and all that. Do you even want to live in America? England has good universities, isn't there a program at Oxford or Cambridge or somewhere you could attend – or, bloody hell, even somewhere on the general continent would be good – what about Paris or Brussels or something? Why does it have to be America?"

"I had the same thought initially," she said. "Apparently Oxford has a program where the studies focus on history and literature. Cambridge is more focused on the sciences like potions and chemistry and such. The other European universities had similar programs that were close but not quite what I would want to dedicate three years towards. There were only two universities with this type of program. One in New York, and one in Tokyo. And, well, I speak English so I thought the New York program would be preferable. But, if you want to look at us moving to Japan I'm sure I could..."

He cut her off by simply raising his hand and sighing. "Ok. I get it. Has to be New York. Next question – do you actually want to live there?"

"While it wouldn't have occurred to me if not for this particular opportunity, I have to admit the idea of living somewhere where we aren't recognized on the street sounds pretty great. And it would be amazing to study in a different system and the professors there have an amazing reputation. They've been able to make some huge advances with the rights of other magical creatures in America, and it would be fantastic to learn there. But, that said, the idea of being so far away from everyone I love and everything I know, well, it is admittedly unsettling. But not paralyzing. But, Ron, if you don't want me to go, I won't go. I'm completely serious. You matter more to me than any program or school. You need to know that."

He closed his eyes briefly as she finished, her words taking the fight right out of him. Just then the waiter returned with their drinks, and Ron took a large sip of the whisky.

When he spoke again his tone was softer, "Let's say I can't go with– whether because I need to be here for the shop or because I go to the Auror Academy, can you honestly see yourself living alone in a foreign country for three entire years? Three years Hermione. It's a bloody long time. And while you are much better, it wasn't long ago you couldn't picture yourself going to Hogwarts for a few months. Now you really think you're ready to move to New York?"

"I don't know," she confessed with a wavering voice. "I don't know if I'm ready, but I am willing to consider giving it a shot because I think if I can do it, it would be amazing. And if I can't, then, well, I'll know I tried my best and then I could just come home. I feel incredibly blessed now to know I can always come back. And success or failure – both would help me grow and hopefully make me more independent and confident again."

The waiter returned again and took their dinner order giving Ron a few moments to collect his thoughts. He really hadn't given any actual consideration to the idea of going to train as an auror. And this would be a chance for him to do that without feeling like he was walking away from her after swearing he'd never do it again. But then it would still be another two years apart after that before she finished. And what about George? Could he do it without him? And what about his relationship with Hermione – could they make it if they weren't in the same place?

As the waiter left, Hermione said, "I'm not saying we need to make a decision right away. Like I said, I only got the letter today. I just want to discuss it. I haven't totally made my mind up about my preference either. I didn't want to keep something from you, but I didn't want to upset you either."

"No, no, I'm glad you said something. Really. Please always tell me what's going on. It just caught me a bit off guard, I would say. And I'm not saying it's terrible either, but it was definitely a bit of a shock, so I'm just trying to get back to solid footing before I try to make sense of it all. Just, well, blimey, Hermione - three years is a long, long time."

"I know. But, it's not like it would be three full years. School there is late August to late May, and I would be off for Christmas and the summer. And, while I believe there are required internships as part of the program I am sure I could arrange to do those back here, closer to home. And I could also take two extra classes each semester I could probably get out of the third year altogether."

He gave her a look and simply said, "No bloody time turners."

"No, no – I've learned that lesson. I would just take two extra classes, not nearly as many as I did that year."

"Hermione, I think I can confidently say that you shouldn't add extra work if you have any hope of staying healthy. Without your support system there to remind you to eat and take care of yourself there would be no way you could add that extra work. Don't make yourself sick or lose the ground you've gained these past few years. If you do this – if we do this – we have to do it right."

"Well, put aside that part for a moment. What do you think about taking Kingsley up on his offer? Does that hold any interest or is it truly a dream that is no longer yours?"

He considered her question before answering and finally said, "I would be lying if there wasn't a spark of excitement at the potential of it. But I am far from sure I would want to take him up on it just yet."

"Do you think George and the shop would be ok?"

He sighed. "You know, three months ago I would have said no. But, honestly, I think he could be ok. I mean except for when I was away at training I could still help a lot."

Their food came and they took a few minutes tasting each other's dishes, and eventually Ron said, "I'm sorry – I just have to ask – is this because I've been hovering too much and smothering you? Am I sending you running off to America because you think I'm like Mum?"

"No, not at all," she said with a bit of a laugh. "I love you. I love you so much it hurts. And I am so proud of how far we've both come in working on the hard things even in just the last few weeks. You've been so much better at watching your boundaries with George and me since we spoke about it. You did a tremendous job through all the anniversary nonsense. New York has nothing at all to do with running away from you. In fact, it's the only real negative about it. But, I want you to be able to pursue your dream and have no regrets that you didn't give it a shot. And, well, I guess I assume you feel the same way about me. I want us together in fifty or sixty years. We are for a lifetime. Three years of challenge to pursue our dreams in the long run might be worth it to be sure neither of us has regrets or resentments."

"Well, that's a good perspective I guess."

"If you have other questions, let's get those addressed. But if you don't have any, I suggest we stop worrying about it tonight. Let's put it aside and trust we will make the right decision together. And for now, just think about it. Talk to Harry or Kingsley or George or Becky or whoever you need to talk to in order to figure out what you think is the best thing to do. And I'll keep researching on my end too. We don't have to make any decisions for a while – the program said the spot is mine if I want it, so even if we take all summer to think about it and decide to do it in early August, it would still be an option on that end."

"Wait – one question – what about your parents? Have you mentioned it to them?"

"No, Ron. Aside from McGonagall who told me about it to begin with, I haven't spoken with anyone about it. Truly, your opinion is the only one that counts in the final decision anyway. Everyone else will be fine in the long run. But if you and I aren't together and in agreement on the plan then I won't go. End of story."

"Don't put that on me, Hermione. Then I have to say go, because it would absolutely kill me to be the reason you can't pursue a dream. And yet I don't know how it won't kill me to be away from you that long."

Now it was Hermione's turn to have glassy eyes. "I'm sorry, Ron. I don't want to put you in such an awful position. But now you understand how I don't want to keep you from your dreams either. But, it just seems to me that there has to be a logical way to solve this problem. If we could figure out how to kill Voldemort then we should bloody well be able to figure out how to support the person we love most in pursuing their dreams."

He reached over to take her hand and kissed it softly. "We will, Hermione. We'll figure it out. I promise. It's about damn time the universe cuts us some slack, don't you think?"

She laughed, and the two allowed themselves to drift into conversation about other topics for the rest of the night. And when they'd gotten home they'd made love, chasing the sensual feelings to escape the storm of worry each had about the future. And after each was fully spent they fell asleep holding tightly to each other.