Okay, had an idea. This is a short little oneshot of how Hermione and Ron got together. It's after the war and everything. Bascially just a little fluff that is pointless.


Ron Weasley sat in front of a dying fire. His head was empty of all thoughts, something that was quite unusual for him nowadays. He was usually thinking about a fantastic witch who had, in some unknown way, stolen his heart. Not that she knew that either. She had no idea how much he really did like her. Then again, Ron hadn't been exactly obvious about it. He usually remained neutral when around her, not wanting to display too much emotion.

His eyes traced the swirling patterns of the fire, watching it twist and turn, swoop and dive.

Fire, he thought suddenly, is a wonderful thing. It consumes. It stirs desire. It captivates me. Like Hermione.

And just like that, Ron's thoughts returned to Hermione. He groaned and put his head in his hands. Ever since the Wizard's War, as everyone now called it, Ron and Hermione had drifted apart to what they had been before it. They were keeping a strictly friendly friendship, nothing more. This was decided by both of them in an unspoken agreement.

But staring at the fire that night, Ron was suddenly sick and tired of acting like that. He knew that she still harbored feelings for him and he sure as hell knew that she knew that he still liked her. He got up and surveyed his one room apartment. There was his unmade bed tucked into the corner of the room. The small kitchen area had dirty dishes piled a mile high in the sink. The mini refrigerator was running low on stock. Overall, it was pretty pitiful.

He had moved out of the Burrow about a year ago when Harry had proposed to Ginny. Ron was happy for them but figured it was kind of sad when his sister moved out of the house before he did. And he was older. So he had subscribed to the Muggle paper much to his father's delight. His obsession with Muggle life was still present after the war. Every morning he had circled possible apartments or houses that he saw that he could afford with his job, which wasn't many. He had finally come across this apartment building in the next town over from the Burrow and settled.

Looking around Ron saw that it was hardly a fit place to live. On the other hand, it was the only place that he could afford monthly with his salary. Then, thinking about that, Ron saw that his job pretty much sucked too.

"Merlin what has happened to me?" he wondered aloud.

The bare walls stared back at him unanswering. He laid in his bed and shut off the light. He turned on his right side and stared out of the window. The night was warm and a nice breeze billowed though.

Tomorrow, Ron thought. I'm putting my life back together.


Sunlight filtered through the open window. Shafts of it fell across Ron, creating patches of warmth on his body. He woke with a start and sat up. He had been the having the most awesome dream that had been cut short by a banging on the door. Whoever was banging was taking no trouble to be polite or delicate.

"What?!" Ron shouted crossly getting up.

"Calm down mate, it's me."

"Harry?"

"No, it's Hermione. Of course it's me! Now open the door!"

Ron stumbled to the door and unlocked it. Sure enough, Harry Potter stood in the doorway scar and all. He was still three inches shorter than Ron and they shared no similar features. He had think, unruly black hair and bright green eyes behind thick glasses. He was wearing Muggle clothing: jeans, t-shirt, and sneakers.

"Why are you here?" Ron asked shuffling into the kitchen. He yawned and got himself a cup of coffee.

"Ginny's pregnant!" Harry blurted.

Ron froze, coffee mug halfway to his mouth.

"What did you just say?"

"I know it's sudden and everything, but you're about to be an uncle!" Harry was beaming at Ron.

"You got my sister pregnant?" Ron asked feeling no embarrassment whatsoever.

Harry blushed.

"Er, yeah. Not that we planned to have a baby or anything but we kind of got carried away and you know…" he trailed off squirming.

"Okay, I don't want to know any of the dirty details. Just—wow. It's defiantly a shock. Really unexpected," Ron added seeing Harry's face. In fact he had no clue what he was going to say. He was going to be an uncle! He stood perplexed leaning against the kitchen counter.

Harry didn't seem to notice Ron's lack of response.

"Well, I've got to go. Ginny has her first appointment today and I promised that I would go with her. I just wanted to stop by and tell you."

"Congrats, mate." Ron shook Harry's hand as Harry backed out of the apartment.

"Thanks." Harry walked out the stairs and out of the door.

Ron closed the door and banged his head against it several times. His younger sister was having a baby before he was! That thought just frustrated him even further. He grabbed his robe off the coat rack and barreled out of the door. He was going to go get a new job.


Several hours later Ron stood in front of the Auror department in the Ministry of Magic. He took a deep breath and walked in, remembering the words of his previous visit.

If you ever need a job, don't hesitate to come here. We will give you one without a moment's hesitation.

Ron shook his head. There was a reason he didn't want to take that job back all of those years ago. He didn't want to fight bad witches and wizards. And yes, there were some out there. However, he felt no choice but to come here. They paid good money, something he was in desperate need of.

The Head of the department recognized him immediately.

"Mr. Weasly what can I do for you?"

"I need a job," Ron told him sullenly.

The Head beamed, "I can set you up with one right now. You will need an assigned partner however and there only seems to be one name left on the list."

Ron waited while the Head scrambled for the list. When he finally got it, he ran down the list of names until he found the one that he was looking for, "Aha! Here we go. Your partner will be a… Miss Hermione Granger."

Ron froze. "That can't be right. Are you sure you are reading the name correctly?"

The Head nodded. "It's the only job available at the moment."

Ron sighed, "I'll take it."

"Good good! We can get you started right away. Does tomorrow sound okay?" The Head beamed when Ron nodded. "Fantastic! Arrive here at seven sharp tomorrow morning."

Ron returned home in low spirits.

Of all the people in the world, I get stuck with Hermione, Ron thought. He sat thinking in his bed all day until he realized that night had fallen. I'll just have to make the best of it.


That is how, six months later, Ron stood back to back with Hermione. They were each dueling an opposing opponent. Curses were flying everywhere and jets of light lit up the starry night sky.

At this point in Ron's life, he had managed to pull everything back together. He had bought a house and moved out of his old shitty apartment. He started to actually clean after himself. His house was always somewhat neat when he left it in the mornings. He started visiting his family every once in awhile and actually returned some of Ginny's calls. All of this happened only because he got to spend all day with Hermione, talking and working with her. He had stopped feeling sorry for himself and actually wanted to wake up every morning.

So, in the midst of all of this fighting, Ron started screaming.

"Hermione Granger!"

"What?!" she shrieked as she blocked another jet of light.

"Will—" Ron grunted as he stunned one of his opponents.

"What?!" Hermione screamed again.

"You—" Ron stunned another one.

"Ronald this is not a very good time!" Hermione bellowed as she took down two at once.

"Marry me?" Ron took out his final opponent.

Hermione uttered one last curse and the last wizard fell. "Are you bloody crazy?! You don't distract me in a fight! I could get—what? What…what are you doing?"

"Hermione Granger, will you please marry me?" Ron had gotten down on one knee.

Hermione stood over him and looked down at him. "Are you serious?"

"Please?"

Hermione looked uncertainly around then, as if seeing an answer in front of her, knocked Ron over and kissed him on the mouth. When they surfaced for air she said, "What took you so long?"