Chapter Twenty-Four: Hogsmeade

It wasn't often that Ron awoke before Hermione, however, today was a Hogsmeade trip so he was awake and excited. He turned to Hermione to watch her sleep. He loved to do this simply because he could and the fact she looked like an angel when she slept. He began to say her name in a gentle voice while kissing her awake.

'Hermione, my angel, wake up, it's Hogsmeade today,' he cooed.

'Mmm, Ron, what time is it?' she murmured, eyes still closed.

'Morning time,' he replied unhelpfully as he kissed her lips.

Hermione opened her eyes to look up at him and said, 'Kiss me, Ron.'

Ron complied with his soul-mate's request and again they made love before dressing for their trip to Hogsmeade. Meeting up in the common room, they exited Gryffindor tower to walk down to the Great Hall hand in hand, all the while ignoring the looks from the other Gryffindors.

The last few weeks had gone by in a bit of a blur. First there had been the verdict of Dolores Umbridge; she had gotten away with a fine and a suspended sentence – thanks to Cornelius Fudge's influence. Next had been the new player on the Gryffindor Quidditch team; he was a sixth year boy called Cormac McLaggen, and from what Ron could tell, he was not a team player or all that good, either. Although, it was amazing that Gryffindor could even field a team due to the fact three of its starters had been in detention with Professor Snape every evening for the last five weeks, they had been spending evening after evening doing all sorts of unpleasant tasks, but they still had many more to come, and the result was that the Gryffindor Quidditch team had yet to practice together since the beginning of term, something Snape found amusing and wasted no time in taunting the five Gryffindors.

Ron and Hermione enjoyed their breakfast together as they did every day. They sat close together whispering and feeding each other before it was time to go to Hogsmeade. They went outside to line up and wait. As they did, they noticed Potter, Longbottom, and the other Weasleys ahead of them waiting in line.

Ron wrapped his arms around Hermione from behind to keep her warm and neither one of them saw who had come outside. Ron was about to whisper something to her when another voice spoke.

'Where do you five think you are going?'

It was Snape and he was addressing Potter, Longbottom and the three Weasleys.

'Hogsmeade,' replied Harry.

Snape smirked and said, 'Not today, Potter, or your four friends as you all have detention –'

'What? Not today –!'

'Yes, Potter, today, and by interrupting me you have earned yourself and your friends an extra week of detention, now come along before I add some more!' said Snape, before turning away to go back inside as the five followed behind him, trudging all the way, as Ron smirked at them.

When they got the okay to leave, Ron and Hermione walked hand in hand together towards the village. It was a cold day so they were very close together as they made their way away from Hogwarts. They could hear Malfoy talking and laughing with Crabbe and Goyle, they were probably laughing at what had just happened back at the castle to Potter and his friends.

'Alright there, Draco?' asked Ron.

'Oh, yes, I was just laughing at Potter's latest mishap,' replied Malfoy.

'Did you see his face? He looked like Snape had told him that he was calling off Christmas,' said Ron.

Malfoy laughed again as Ron and Hermione walked further ahead.

They walked past The Three Broomsticks and on to the other pub in the village, The Hog's Head. They walked inside and immediately saw the two people they had arranged to meet: Ron's father, Arthur, and his third eldest brother, Percy.

Hermione watched as the Weasley men greeted each other with a manly hug between them. When they broke apart, Mr Weasley then said, 'It's good to see you, son.'

'It's good to see you too, Dad, and you, Percy, how are you?' Ron replied.

'We're fine, but we need to talk in private so I've asked Aberforth if we can have some privacy, and he has allowed us to use his living room upstairs,' said Arthur.

'Aberforth?' asked Ron.

'Yes, he owns this place,' said Arthur as they entered the living space and closed the door behind them.

'Didn't Dumbledore tell us that his brother's name was Aberforth?' Ron asked Hermione.

'Yes, I remember, it was when we all went to get Hagrid back teaching after Skeeter's awful article about him being half-giant,' Hermione confirmed.

'Is it the same bloke, Dad?' Ron asked.

'Yes, but we have other things to discuss, so let me start by congratulating you both on becoming Prefects,' said Arthur.

'I concur with father and would also like to offer my congratulations,' said Percy.

Ron and Hermione both blushed at being praised and thanked them for it before Ron asked, 'How are things going with the Order?'

Arthur sat down and sighed before saying, 'Not well, to be honest, but you shouldn't be worrying about things like that.'

'Dad, with all due respect, we are worrying because this war that's coming or has already started but nobody knows about affects us in every way,' replied Ron. 'It will be our generation that fights this war, and we need to know what we're up against.'

Again his father sighed and said, 'I know, Ron, but I can't help but want to keep you all from harm, when you are a parent, you'll understand.'

'Perhaps, but it's for mine and Hermione's children and their futures that we are fighting, Dad,' said Ron as he took Hermione's hand.

'Damn, when you put it like that …' said Arthur.

Percy then began to fill them in what had been happening in Minister Fudge's office, but could only speculate on how Dolores Umbridge got off with just the proverbial slap on the wrist instead of being sent to Azkaban.

Arthur then told them that he was one of the people guarding the item that Dumbledore had told them about on their first night back at school, and Ron and Hermione both pleaded with him to be careful before the discussion moved to a more positive topic; Ron and Hermione's relationship.

Arthur and Percy were visibly very pleased that Ron and Hermione were together; however, they did hint to the couple that Ron's mother was not so pleased.

'I don't give a monkey's arse what she thinks, Dad,' Ron said defiantly.

'Neither do I, and if she even thinks about trying to interfere, well, what I do to her will make what I did to Ginny look like a scratch,' said Hermione, fiercely.

'Not to mention the fact that she was all for forcing Hermione into a relationship with a boy she doesn't love, so she has no right to judge us for the choices we make,' Ron added.

Arthur and Percy could tell that talking about Ron's mother was pissing him and Hermione off, so they changed the subject and asked about how their studies were coming along.

Ron chuckled and said, 'Rather well, actually, but then with Hermione nagging me to study and do homework –'

'I do not nag, Ronald!' said Hermione, indignantly.

'You do, but I've decided to find it endearing, and you only do it because you want me to do well,' said Ron.

'Of course I do, I love you, Ron,' said Hermione.

'I love you, too, but sometimes you need to remember that all work and no play make Ron a dull boy,' he said.

'You mean an irritable boy,' retorted Hermione.

'Yes, that too,' Ron said.

Arthur chuckled at the couple before saying, 'I think we should leave you two to enjoy what's left of the day in the village, after all, there's nothing like going on a date in Hogsmeade with someone you love.'

Ron's ears went red as Hermione blushed before Arthur and Percy took it in turns to hug Ron and Hermione.

'Take care, you two, and please be careful,' said Arthur.

'We will, Dad, and you and Percy do the same, okay?' replied Ron.

'We will, now go on and have fun,' said Arthur.

Ron and Hermione left the Hog's Head Inn to walk around the village, holding hands as they did so. They visited Scrivenshaft's, Zonko's and Honeyduke's before going for a Butterbeer in the Three Broomsticks. Sitting opposite one another, they played footsy under the table until Ron moved around the table to sit next to her to whisper words of love and tickle her to make her laugh.

Eventually the afternoon trip came to an end, so Ron and Hermione made their way back to Hogwarts together. Ron had bought a solid supply of Chocolate Frogs, Sugar Quills and other sweets to share with Hermione. Of course, she had not let him buy any childish things like Dungbombs and Stink Pellets from Zonko's due to the fact that he's supposed to be a Prefect.

When they arrived back at school, they went to the kitchen to get some food so they wouldn't have to leave Ron's room for dinner. Ron stashed his Chocolate Frogs in a drawer before he and Hermione ate some of the food acquired from the kitchen as they enjoyed their solitude.

The following weekend was the first Quidditch match of the season, and the Gryffindors were not very confident at all. This was because Harry, Fred and George had not been able to attend a single practice since the humiliating fight with Ron and Hermione in the common room which had resulted in being in detention every evening and weekend. Angelina Johnson had been forced to pick reserves for practices instead. For the Beaters she had been forced to choose Jack Sloper and Andrew Kirke, and neither one of them was what you would call gifted. Ron having watched the practices wouldn't be at all surprised if one of them ended up knocking himself out with his own bat. As for a Seeker, she had been forced to use a fourth year girl by the name of Demelza Robbins, who, by her own admission preferred being a Chaser, but she was still an excellent flyer. However, the worst player on the team was the Keeper, Cormac McLaggen, a sixth year boy who was arrogant enough to think that he could play each position by himself and was better than those who actually played in the positions. Ron could not help feeling bad for Angelina as McLaggen was stressing her out to the point that she had pleaded with Professor McGonagall to allow Harry, Fred and George to practice and then play in the game against Slytherin, because they at least would have been able to shut McLaggen's mouth for her, but McGonagall had not relented and so she was stuck with him.

Or so she thought.

Ron, with Hermione's blessing, had approached Angelina and suggested that he would play instead, but it would be a one shot deal as he did not want to be on the same team as Harry, Fred and George. He told her, truthfully, that he was a better player than McLaggen, so she gave him a try-out two days before the game, and had not been disappointed. Ron "borrowing" George's broomstick had been excellent at stopping shots and his distribution of the Quaffle far exceeded that of McLaggen's. Ron was also more helpful with Kirke and Sloper's development as Beaters, but they were never going to be as good as Fred and George.

So, when the day of the game arrived, Ron was feeling good about playing in the match against Slytherin. The game itself had been a walk in the park for him, as the Gryffindor Chasers dominated the game, but he still had to make a few good saves as he kept the Slytherin Chasers scoreless throughout the whole game, the new Beaters for Slytherin were Crabbe and Goyle, and they weren't very good either, which was proven correct as one poor Bludger shot by Crabbe hit Malfoy which allowed Demelza to catch the Snitch, as Gryffindor won by a score of 460-0.

The best part was the party afterward. Ron had spent the entire evening being praised by the vast majority of the Gryffindors. He spent the evening with Hermione either sitting on his lap or in his arms as they danced. Of course, noticeably absent from the celebrations were Harry, Neville, Ginny, Fred and George. They had missed seeing Ron's outstanding display as they had been in detention with Filch. None of them stayed to congratulate the team on their win but instead gone to their beds without a word.

The hot and sweaty mind-blowing fuck session Ron and Hermione shared after the party was even better than thrashing Slytherin at Quidditch.