The Weasleys' plot

Eight months had gone by since the war was won. Eight months since Ron and Hermione first kissed. Eight months the Weasleys had waited for the young couple to take a step and date. Nothing. They were oblivious, and the situation was exhausting.

And frustrating, bloody frustrating.

Why didn't they date when they made goo-goo eyes all the time? They loved each other as more than friends. Ginny and Harry had even caught them kissing a few times, but when she asked Hermione if they were dating, the muggle-born witch answered with a puckish eyebrow, "I'm not his girlfriend."

Strangely, when Harry asked Ron the same question, he got a similar answer, "I'm not her boyfriend."

When Ron said he had invited Hermione to spend the Christmas holidays in the Burrow, the Weasleys were delighted. It was their chance to push the couple in the right direction. Christmas miracles existed. Or so they wanted to believe.

On the first day, everybody made up excuses to leave the house during the morning so that Ron and Hermione had the Burrow for themselves. Molly went out to buy some food, Percy went to work, Ginny had a date with Harry… Their apologies were written in post-its that later hung across the Burrow. Hopefully, they would find Hermione and Ron in a tight embrace when they returned. Their hopes were shattered though, for Ron and Hermione were in the same position they were when they had left: still snoring.

On the second day, the George managed to charm a mistletoe plant so that whoever stood beneath it had to kiss if they wanted to be able to walk around the house separately without the plant on their heads. Fred had invented it before dying, and it was George's way to feel close to his twin and help Ron at the same time. Unfortunately, the charmed mistletoe wasn't helpful. When Ron realized he had to kiss Hermione, his cheeks turned as red as his cheeks, but she shrugged and kissed his cheek, breaking the spell.

Christmas day arrived and Molly knit matching sweaters with hearts for Hermione and Ron. Fleur and Bill had similar ones so that the young pair would grasp those sweaters were tailored to people in love. Ron nearly fainted when he saw them, but Hermione just laughed and hugged Molly.

On the fourth day, the Weasley family planned to have a snowball fight and accidentally push both of them together so that they stumbled and fell on each other. With any luck, the physical contact would make it, or so Charlie thought. He was wrong. When Arthur accidentally pushed Hermione towards Ron and both fell, she laughed and got up. She hadn't bothered at all. Everybody groaned although Ron and Hermione didn't seem to notice.

On the fifth day, it went one step further. Hermione, who was sharing her bedroom with Ginny, had told her she was taking a shower. Ginny waited for ten minutes and looked for Ron. She asked him to please go to her bedroom and get her Potions book so that she could do her homework with the excuse that she had just sprained her ankle descending the stairs. She didn't hesitate to act limp and whine a bit to make the story credible. When he went to her bedroom, he caught a glimpse of Hermione wrapped in a towel. He blushed deeply and turned around.

"Could you please give me the potions book? It's for Ginny."

"Sure. Here you have it," she replied as she got out of the room with the book in hand, now fully dressed.

Both of them went downstairs as if nothing had happened. Ginny facepalmed.

The days kept passing by, and the Weasley family was more and more discouraged. How oblivious could they be, really? Every single plan they had turned out wrong. Hermione and Ron kept on behaving like old friends, nothing more. It was maddening. Today was the last day Hermione would stay with them, aka, their last shot to finally get them together. They had to design a plan. A successful one at that, if possible.

"There must be something we can do!" Charlie cried out.

"Well, think quickly then!" growled Molly. "Hermione's leaving tonight!"

"We could talk to them separately and let them know that the other fancies them…"

"This is a horrible way to do it, Bill!" Percy shrieked.

"Weren't you supposed to be romantic?" George added. "What did Fleur see in you?"

"Children, please! At least he's suggested something!" said Arthur.

Ginny groaned.

"I think they'll never admit it. He practically saw her naked and nothing happened! What kind of guy does that? Seriously?! It's an impossible case!"

The Weasley family kept quiet as if the silence would inspire them. It was useless. They had run out of ideas and Hermione would leave.

It was time to say goodbye. The air was somehow sad. The usual smiles on the Weasleys' faces were nowhere to be seen. They had lost faith.

"I can't leave without telling you something," said Hermione.

Ron approached her and held her hand. He had a bright smile on his face and a twinkle in his blue eyes.

"Ron and I are getting married!" she shouted merrily, almost bouncing in excitement.

The stunned gasps of the Weasleys resounded in the Burrow.

"W-what?"

"I'm marrying Hermione, Percy," Ron said, not really looking at him. He was too busy staring at his fiancée.

"But you said that you weren't his girlfriend!" pointed out Ginny, looking at Hermione, who grinned slyly.

"And I didn't lie… I already was his fiancée."

Ginny gaped, Ginny and the whole Weasley family, that is.

"Since when have you been engaged, exactly?" Bill wondered.

"Since the 2nd of May," said Ron.

Molly put her hands on her hips and narrowed her eyes in that way that the Weasley children knew that they were in trouble.

"And you're telling us now?"

"Don't punish him, Mrs. Weasley!" exclaimed Hermione, putting her palms forward. "I asked him not to tell. You were grieving and I wanted to tell my parents too."

"But they don't remember you," whispered Charlie, as softly as he could.

Hermione smiled brightly.

"Not for long… I have just found the way to return their memories! It's taken me months to create the right potion! I discovered it a week before Christmas, in fact. We're going to Australia to return their memories and break the news now."

Glad as Arthur was her family would remember her again, he pouted, "You could have told the first day! We would have celebrated."

"And miss your poor attempts to set us together? No way!" exclaimed Ron.

"Ronald Weasley! If I wasn't that happy for you, I would scold you to death!" Molly screamed while she hugged her son and Hermione.

Everything went as planned and in April, a wedding took place.

…

A/N: Hi! This was originally written as a reader x Charlie imagine, but I've rewritten it as a Romione one-shot for this site. Hope you enjoyed it. Reviews are always welcome.