A/N: He he, what happened? I thought that last chapter I would be flooded with girls saying how romantic in the reviews :P but I was wrong. Anyway here's the new chapter hope you like it. Read and Review
Disclaimers: I don't own any of the characters from Harry potter, although I own the story.
Ps: If you want, I wrote another, one chapter story. It is about Slughorn, Dumbledore and Harry Potter. A funny experience to read. R&R
Wendell and Monica Wilkins
Time seemed to have stopped around them. The wind that had been blowing, the leaves that flew with the same wind, even their need to breath, seemed to have vanished. Ron and Hermione were still embraced, kissing each other gently; hand in hand, with the sun at their back starting to rise in the sky, as an orange flame. Time was against them. When they broke up from their kiss, the need to breathe returned, but both remained fixed in place, looking at each others' eyes. Time had fallen back, when they had been in danger of dying at the castle, thinking back as if that had happened centuries ago. Ron's answer to Hermione's question had been an impact on her. She had expected everything but not an open confession, especially from Ron.
In reality, she had been a bit angry at Ron. Since Ginny's incident in the castle with Harry, they had never had the chance to talk about anything. Hermione had thought that Ron had already forgotten about everything that had happened within the castle's walls.
The need of hurry and go looking for her parents had stopped for an instance. She wanted some answers and wanted the truth from him. Then suddenly, when she was about to talk, Ron cut in her words, brushing her lips with his fingers, delicately and gently, stopping her from asking any questions.
"We need to hurry. We'll talk later, I'll promise," said Ron, determined to leave as fast as possible. "If mum was to wake up before we get the chance of leaving, then I'm sure we won't be able to go. And I don't think you would like that now, do you?"
Together, they walked to the border of the Burrow, from where they could have disapparated.
Once on the spot, they gave a last glance back at the house and with the familiar popping sound they were gone. Around the same time, the first residents of the Burrow started to get up. Molly was the first to wake. She was always the first, in order to prepare food for all the others. It was Saturday morning, so apart from Percy, who had some work to do at the ministry, everyone else kept sleeping in their cozy beds. Harry was the first to wake up after Mrs. Weasley. Sitting on his bed, he wore his glasses. He glanced at Ron's bed and noticed that it was empty and that had already been laid out. This was really strange, considering that Ron always overslept and even more on weekends. Near one of Ron's pillow, there had been placed a letter, which was clearly left by Ron. Harry went through the letter a couple of times before believing what he was reading. As he was about to read the letter for a fifth, maybe a sixth time, Ginny stormed into Ron's room, to find that Ron wasn't there.
"Where's Ron, Harry? I need to speak to him, urgently!" said Ginny. She kept looking around, as if waiting for Ron to pop out any second. Harry now that he was fully awake, he started to think a little more about all the sudden things: Ron's bed empty, the letter, Ginny sudden interest in Ron, until everything became clear in his head.
"Now let me guess," mocked Harry. "Hermione is not in your room and you found a letter from her…mmm…telling you that she has left…mmm…to find her parents perhaps? Am I right?"
"H-h-how do you know all of this," said Ginny puzzled, looking at Harry as if he was reading in her mind.
"Because…," started Harry. "For the first time ever there is something that Ron knows far more than all of us, Hermione. Ron was the first to understand Hermione's plans inside out and he left me a letter saying what he had suspected and that he was going to help her in her search. Luckily for them, Mrs. Weasley woke a bit late today, or else it would have been another kind of story." Harry gave a sign and took a deep breath before continuing, "What worries me is…How we are going to explain two missing people without making Mrs. Weasley scream or burst shouting at us."
Harry and Ginny had been unintentionally placed in a hard situation. They knew that they could bluff for a bit with some sort of excuses, until they were discovered. Or else, they could just say the truth and hope for the best. The decision had to be taken fast. Any minute, Mrs. Weasley would be coming to wake them, and two empty beds wouldn't go unnoticed. To their bad luck, Mrs. Weasley read through their worries, and once she saw that two people were missing, while two others were talking silently by themselves. Harry and Ginny having nothing to invent told her the truth and hoped for the best. Harry showed Molly Ron's letter about Hermione. Mrs. Weasley wasn't content with the event, but neither did she look angry.
"Well at least there's Ron with her, she won't be alone," uttered Molly after a while. "Thou I don't like the idea of them leaving without saying anything. Ron should have been more mature, since he had already got a taste of the dangers still out there."
"Mrs. Weasley…erm….I think that's why he followed her," replied Harry gently to Mrs. Weasley.
"Well, bless that boy," said Molly a bit more relaxed. "I hope she finds her parents that poor little girl. Now when you feel like it breakfast is served. And if Ron or Hermione contact you, please, do tell us OK?"
They nodded and she left to continue the rendezvous of the residents, leaving Harry and Ginny alone in the room. Molly's reaction had been far better than the one the youngsters expected. With Mrs. Weasley out, Harry kept silent looking at Ginny, thinking very hard about something to tell her, but no later than her mother left, Ginny was also out of Ron's room. Ginny had been avoiding Harry, since that night with Ron and Hermione at the castle. She had been avoiding any chance of being with him, especially alone. He wanted to talk to her try to re- arrange the situation, maybe not everything was lost. But he knew it wasn't the time yet. As he was heading down to the kitchen, he was joined by George, who was still yawning, scratching his head, near his missing ear. As it was Saturday, breakfast was eaten more slowly, without any hurry for work or what so ever.
It was already half June and officially Hogwarts would have ended. The air had already started to become warmer and the taste of summer was on the lips. After the first commotion, when Mrs. Weasley told everyone about Ron and Hermione, and things had calmed down, breakfast was served. After breakfast, Mr. Weasley decided to spend some quality time with his little daughter, talking about whatever passed through their minds. Harry sat on a couch not far from them, looking out of the window, from where the garden and the garage could be seen.
"Erm…sorry Mr. Weasley, can I talk to you for a second…if you don't mind," said Harry to Author.
"Call me Author son," replied Mr. Weasley, as he stopped from what he was saying to Ginny. "What do you want to talk about?"
"Erm…lately I have been thinking of something…emm…"
"Ginny dear, I think Molly is calling you," said Mr. Weasley
"I didn't hea-…, Oh yes! I think I heard her too," said Ginny, once she understood that her father wanted to talk to Harry, alone.
"Thanks Mr. Weasley," muttered Harry.
"Not a problem my dear boy, but please, call me Author,"
"Ok, well, I was thinking back, about some events that happened, since Sirius's death….
The roads were full of people doing their own business, shopping from one shop to the other, entering every shop, except one. This shop looked that it had been closed for several years now. The glasses had been painted black, as not to be seen the inside of it and the building itself looked like a step from falling. It was situated adjacent to an alley, which is always deserted, apart from an occasional tramp. A popping sound echoed in the alley and two persons appeared. They entered quietly in the shop from the back door. The inside of the building was new, like it was used everyday and cared for.
"Bloody hell! What is this place? And why is that clock marking four in the evening, I thought we left the Burrow around five in the morning" Ron told Hermione, while he was still getting over the odd feel of side apparition.
"Oh Ron, Don't tell me you have never heard of time exchange?" said Hermione, looking incredulously at Ron.
"What is it? A muggle thing?" replied Ron.
"No," signed Hermione.
She explained to him the difference in time between one country and another, how it changes from on place to another. Further on, she also told him about the place they were in., as Ron started to ask about where they were.
"Oh, I see. I've heard there are places like these, my dad told me about them, but I never had seen one before," said Ron.
"You really should do a bit of reading Ron. I knew these places from a book I read, 'quick destinations without muggle inconvenience'. For us witches and wizards to travel comfortably, instead of brooms and fire places, they were established certain points for us to apparate in. It was around the nineteen hundreds (1900's) that these points have been done," she said, ending her tutorial to Ron.
"Ok. Well, since you know more than me. Is there… anywhere we can go to sleep? I don't think the floor is a good bed and I don't think we can sleep here, right?" asked Ron looking around him.
"Don't worry, not far from here there is a sort of pub with bedrooms," said Hermione.
"You have thought about this quite a few…erm…how long have you been planning this trip?" asked Ron, looking at how knowledge she was.
"Oh…Ron," cried Hermione. "You don't know how I felt. Since we returned from Hogwarts, I started to look for a way how to bring m-mum and d-dad b-back. It's already passed a year. Since I last saw them…it's painful without them… OH RON!"
She dropped between Ron's arms crying herself out, gripping him tightly, as not to leave her. Ron remembered how painful it had been, when Hermione had decided to alter her parents' mind, in order to protect them. He remembered how many times she kept thinking about them and the times she cried during the night. He wrapped her in his arms, in the desolated store and kept stroking her hair gently, for her to calm down. She kept crying and crying, whilst Ron kept holding her tightly, letting her empty all her feelings. The only sound that could be heard in that desolated shop was Hermione's cry.
Once she started to calm down, Ron kissed her forehead softly, while with his thumb, he rubbed the last tears, still leaking for her red eyes. She was about to give her back to Ron, to compose herself, when Ron grabbed her and hugged her tightly making her head rest on his chest. Without any words, Hermione understood the gesture and remained silent leaning on him, hearing his heart, beating as fast as hers. The feeling of crying was suddenly replaced by a soft blush, as she too started to hold him tightly to her.
After a couple of minutes, they broke apart, ready to start walking, but before they did, Hermione leaned on Ron and kissed him gently on his lips as a thanks for his kindness to her, then Hermione grabbed tightly Ron's right arm and leaned her head softly on it. Together they walked out of the deserted shop, into the road full of muggles, to head to the pub that Hermione had indicated on a map, which she wisely had brought with her, just in case it was needed.
After about ten minutes of walking, they came to a stop in front of a shabby, old looking place. It was situated between two large guest houses, far more modern than the pub. It was done so, so that the muggles wouldn't be attracted to the pub. Hermione and Ron stopped in front of the shop for a second, just to read the shop's label, 'Antipodean Opaleye' pub and guestroom. It was named for the dragon that lived there. Once inside, if it weren't for the different faces and the fact that they were in Australia, they would have thought to have entered the Leaky Cauldron. The insides were identical.
As Hermione knew that she could be recognized as Harry's friend, she had booked a room under a false name. The bartender, after he saw that everything was fine, called for an assistant, to carry their language up to their room. Hermione had thought to travel alone, so she had ordered a single room. Unfortunately, since the rooms were all full, Ron had to share room with her. The bed could have easily accommodated both of them to sleep in it, but Ron decided to sleep on the couch, not to be a bother for her. Hermione wanted to share, but seeing as Ron had decided this for himself, she accepted his terms.
Since it was late to start searching for her parents, Hermione and Ron decided to order some food to their room and spend the rest of the remaining day planning on how to retrieve Mr. and Mrs. Granger. As light and strength started to fade, Hermione headed to take a shower, as Ron arranged the couch to sleep in. After Hermione got out of the bathroom, Ron headed for a wash too, to find Hermione already fallen asleep on her bed when he came out. He kissed her gently on her forehead, stayed watch a little by the window and slowly he went to his couch for his night's sleep.
Ron was the first to wake up next morning. The couch wasn't exactly the best place to sleep on. Hermione was still sleeping when he woke up, so Ron took the opportunity to take a shower in peace. Once he was finished, he headed downstairs to order and bring up breakfast. Several minutes later he was on his way to their room, carrying a large tray with their breakfast on it. Upon entering the room, he heard the shower and noticed that Hermione had woken up. He laid the breakfast on a table and went to lie down on the bed, as the couch had proven not to be comfortable. When Hermione got out, she couldn't help but smile at Ron. He had fallen asleep on the bed. She saw that he had already brought up breakfast, so after a warm gentle wake up, both of them started to eat. While eating Hermione explained to Ron what they were going to do and once they were finished from eating, they set out to start the search.
Once outside, Ron gave a huge yawn and started to follow Hermione's lead. Ron was amazed by a lot of muggle things. After all, he only went in muggle residents to rescue Harry from the Dursleys and when Harry had been of age. As they walked around, from one place to another, in search of her parents, Ron kept asking about muggle things to Hermione, while passersby would stare at him in surprise. They kept looking in every corner, for the names Wendell and Monica Wilkins, the names under which Hermione had filled her parents mind instead of their own. Unfortunately, the first day proved to be a total disaster.
Ron spotted a muggle's ice-cream shop and thought to cheer Hermione with one. He disappeared from Hermione's side, only to appear a few seconds later, holding two ice-crams in his hands.
"Erm…Ron, how did you buy these?" said Hermione, taking a lick at her ice-cream. After all she thought that Ron only knew how to use gallons, sickles and knuts.
"Well I knew someday I would need to learn how to use muggle money," answered Ron, taking a lick at his ice-cream too. "You see, I was planning with Harry, to come with you once you decide to go back looking for your parents, although in my plans, Harry was included… anyway…erm…Oh…when we were repairing the shop, I asked Harry to teach me how to use muggle's money and he happily thought me between one work and another." This took Hermione by surprise, the fact that Ron had been planning to retrieve her parents was something that she would have never thought Ron would do. "Thanks to Harry, I know how to use these papers. He gave me lessons using his own money and then he said that I could keep it, without having to return it back. But hey, muggles sure like to complicate life, I mean why all these numbers…and types of coins and paper…"
As the day was still long for them to call it over and head back to the pub, Ron decided to head for the beach. After all Hermione had told him a lot about how nice they were in Australia. After changing in there swimming suit, which with magic lasted only a second, they headed on the sand to find a good spot to stay. Once they found a decent spot to stay in, they gave away and relaxed their nerves. After a couple of silent minutes, Ron started to look at Hermione. Her bikini matched the color of his shorts, which was green. He noticed how much Hermione had matured not just mentally, but physically too. Hermione turned her head to talk to Ron, when he blushed and turned the other side, his face turning Weasley red. Hermione chuckled, as she saw that Ron had been eying her throughout, although, now that she thought about it and saw, she couldn't keep from staring at how much muscular Ron had become. All the danger that they had been in and all the times they had to struggle to get out of bad situations seemed to have left some effects on Ron's body. There were also still some traces of scratches, which had been provided in the war at Hogwarts. When Ron had managed to face her again, she was as red as he was, looking completely embarrassed. Without uttering a word, they got up, walked to the sea and took a good swim to clear their redness.
The water was very clear and it felt cool and refreshing on their skins. As they swam around, occasionally laughing about something, they eased their minds. As time moved and they got bored of swimming, together, they got out to lie down on the sand to sunbath. Hermione fell asleep pretty fast, lying on her stomach giving her back to the sun. Ron noticed that many surrounding men were using some kind of liquid, which they were spreading on their women. From under his voice he muttered 'accio' and one of the bottles zoomed in his hand. Ron imitated the others and poured some of the transparent liquid on Hermione's back. When she felt the cold liquid on her back, she woke with a shock, but remaining still in place. As she felt Ron's hands on her back, she relaxed even more comfortably. She had thought that with all the things Ron went through, his hands would be rough, but that proved to be wrong. His hands were messaging her so delicately that she fell asleep again.
"Mione, Wake up, its getting late and we should start heading back to our room," whispered Ron, trying to wake her as gently as possible.
"Five more minutes, dad," replied Hermione, still sleeping.
Ron noticed that around her eyes were watery, not from the sea, but from new tears. Seeing that no one was close enough to see them, Ron took out his wand and clothed Hermione with a quick spell. To spare her the discomfort of side apparition, Ron lifted her in his arms, like a bride and walked her back to the pub. He didn't give any credit to all the people looking at him, or what they might have been thinking or saying. Once they were inside of their room, Ron laid her gently on the bed, to message his poor arms, from the pain of having held Hermione so long.
As they hadn't eaten anything since the ice-cream, Ron stomach started to growl. He ordered enough food for two persons, just in case Hermione would awake feeling hungry. His predictions didn't prove wrong, in fact after Hermione got over the strange feeling of having awakened in the pub. She took a seat near Ron and started to eat. After they ate and washed, Hermione went to her bed and Ron went to his couch for another uncomfortable night. Ron was too tired to even complain about how uncomfortable he was going to sleep again. When he was about to fall asleep, Hermione woke him up. As he opened his eyes slowly, he saw that Hermione was crying again and that she was holding a pillow from the bed close to her chest.
"What's the matter Hermione?" asked Ron. "Hermione, go get some sleep you need it for tomorrow."
"Ron…can you…can you sleep with me please?" asked Hermione. "I-I…don't want to be alone."
Ron mastering all of his remaining strength, managed to drag his own body to the bed. Hermione laid next to Ron, turned her head to face him, kissed him on the cheeks and muttered thanks. Ron smiled at her gesture and pulled her even closer to him. He made her rest her head on his chest, while he placed his hand on her shoulder. Hermione heard Ron's heart beat, once... twice...thrice,,, a steady rythem that relaxed her and took her on a good night's rest.
As morning came, it proved hard for the two of them to wake up. The need to wake up seemed to be far away. As time pressed, reluctantly Hermione got up to get washed, leaving Ron still sleeping. When she came out to see that Ron was still sleeping, she couldn't help, but smile at him. She ordered breakfast and when it was delivered to their room, she gently woke Ron up.
"Good morning Mione," said Ron, emitting a rather largely yawn
"Good morning Ron," replied Hermione, taking a sip of her coffee. "You should eat breakfast and take a shower, we have a new day ahead and we already overslept." Hermione was already back to her usual self
As Ron ate quietly, Hermione explained what they were going to do that day. Once he was finished both from Hermione's instructions and breakfast, he headed for a second on the bed. From second, they became minutes and for them not to become hour, Hermione threatened to soak him with freezing water. Not to give her a chance, Ron hurried to the bathroom. Only when he got out of the shower did he remember to have forgotten his cloths outside. As he didn't hear any sounds, he thought Hermione was already waiting for him downstairs. Quietly he got out of the bathroom wearing only his towel. He was already hurrying back in the bathroom, when Hermione came face to face with him. She immediately noticed that Ron was only wearing his towel nothing more. Turning scarlet pink she looked opposite of him with her back to him. Ron hurried inside the bathroom, closed the door, only to get out five minutes later as scarlet pink as Hermione had been. Putting the small incidents out of their mind the two youngsters headed back outside the pub, for another day's research.
The day seemed fortunate, in less than three hours; they had located the residence of Mr. and Mrs. Wilkins, following a muggle's instruction. The house was nearly a copy of Hermione's old one. Although Hermione had modified their memory, their taste didn't seem to have been effected at all. On Ron's idea, they were to pretend to be from a muggles organization. After devising the plan, Ron stepped close enough to ring the door bell. In a minute a woman appeared at the door, who Ron took to be Hermione's mother, from her appearance.
"Erm…sorry to bother you lady, is this the residence of Wendell and Monica Wilkins?" asked Ron.
"Eee…yes…is something wrong?" asked back Hermione's mother.
"Not at all. We are from the house control department and are here for a quick look at your house to see that everything is in order," replied Ron calmly as possible.
"Yes sure dear, come in, I'll call my husband too."
"Yes that would be great," replied Ron.
She welcomed them, as she would have done with any guests, although, she couldn't help but smile brightly at the sight of Hermione. She sat them in the living room, as for her to go and call her husband.
"I can't Ron, I'm scared," said Hermione crying.
"You have to, I'm no good at memory charms," he told her, gripping her hand tightly to his.
Once Ron had managed to calm Hermione down, all they had to do was wait for the Wilkins to come back, so they could return to be Mr. and Mrs. Granger. As the two appeared in front of Hermione and Ron, Hermione took out her wand and with a single swing muttered 'Obliviate'. Her parents went ridged and their eyes got unfocused.
"Ron…stay by me please," plead Hermione. "Once they come back to their senses, t-they will remember that night when I placed the spell on them. Please stay by me, I don't know what they will think of me Ron, I don't know if they will ever be able to forgive what I've done.
"I'll stay with you Hermione, don't worry."
After a short time, both her mother and her father started to get conscious again. Mr. Granger was the first to snap out of the spell. He looked around, feeling a stranger in a house he had lived for more than a year. He was soon joined by his wife, who looked as surprised and confused as he was. As they came to their full senses, both parents could only remember one thing clearly, it was the moment when Hermione had placed the spell on them.
"Why Hermione, What happened, why did you use magic on us?" asked Mrs. Granger in a shocked voice.
Hermione was too shocked and near to tears again, to be able to tell them the whole story. Ron taking over, helped Mr. and Mrs. Granger to sit on the sofa and placed the tearing Hermione between them. He took out his wand and conjured four glasses, which he filled up from a bottle of fire whisky, which he had brought just for this case, when they would be explaining or re-telling the story of all that had happened, actually it was Harry's idea for the whisky as it had proven efficient more than once.
"Trust me you're going to need that," told Ron to both Hermione's parents. "This won't be a nice story."
And so he began, retelling the story that had been continuously been recounted over and over to everyone. He started with why they had been placed under a spell and why they were in that house. From there he stepped in filling them with what Harry, Hermione and he himself went through. As time passed the Grangers were filled with all the details and as Ron had said, they really needed the drink later. By the end of Ron's story, with why they had come to Australia, Hermione's mother was holding tight her daughter, crying and brushing her daughter's hair with her hand, as Hermione was crying herself out on her mother.
"Thanks…Ron I believe right? Thanks for taking care of our daughter and thanks for coming with her here," thanked Mr. Granger, as he himself was hugging his only daughter.
Mrs. Granger looked like the happiest woman in the world. While Mr. Granger was still talking to Hermione and Ron, she went to prepare dinner for everyone. Mr. Granger kept asking question after another, feeling like some things didn't seem right. Hermione having finally regained control, although some tears still flowed from her eyes, was happily responding to all her father's questions smiling brightly. As this was a long time, since Hermione had seen her parents, Ron decided to lay silently on one of the sofas and watch Hermione, finally happy. Hermione noticed Ron's reaction and pulled him from his shirt, right behind her.
"So Ron, how are your parents? Fine I hope, I'm sorry to hear of your brother loss, may he rest in peace," said Mr. Granger gravely. Mr. Granger had known the Weasleys family since Harry's, Ron's and Hermione's second year, when they were in Diagon Alley to buy school supplies. "Now that I'm thinking…mmm…Where's Harry? I thought he's usually always with you."
Hermione turned scarlet pink, when her father had asked the question. She had answered all of his questions so far, but this; it was something she was very shy about. She knew that this question might have popped out. The fact that Harry hadn't come was strange, as the three never left each other. Luckily for her, she wasn't the one to respond to Mr. Granger's question. Ron faced Mr. Granger calmly, but with decision in his eyes.
"About that…erm…Mr. Granger…you know that I told you the whole story…well… I skipped a little part. Even if we DID invite Harry to come with us, he would have declined. You see at the Burrow being so numerous, it isn't easy to talk," stated from Ron, receiving an approving nod from Mr. Grange. "And as Hermione decided to come looking for you, I came with her."
"I still don't understand," said Mr. Granger. "What does talking; have to do with Harry not coming along?"
"Well you see…erm…how should I say this…mmm…Well Hermione is my girlfriend," revealed finally Ron.
Thanks to his luck, Ron was saved from Mr. Granger's answer by Mrs. Granger, who had called them for dinner. What was to be a motivated dinner turned out to be into a mute one. Mr. Granger kept silently eating, with small intervals to eye Ron.
"OK this has gone too far, what's happening? Why are you all suddenly quite?" asked Mrs. Granger.
Hermione explained to her mother what had just happened and Mr. Granger's reaction to the news. Mrs. Granger had heard only the part, where Hermione told her that she was dating Ron.
"Oh…my little baby is dating her first boy," said close to tears Mrs. Granger, as she took Ron's hands and hugged him to her.
"MUM! Don't embarrass me please!" said Hermione to her mother, as she turned scarlet pink when she saw Ron near to laugh.
After the news, dinner resumed normally with everyone talking, except Mr. Granger, who kept eating in silence. Once dinner was finished Mr. Granger was the first to leave the table. While Hermione helped her mother clean the kitchen, Ron went to wait for them in the living room. Since Mr. Granger had left first from the kitchen, Ron wasn't surprised to see him sitting on the couch, pretending to read, as Ron saw it.
"Ron…would you mind if we talked a little?" asked Mr. Granger. "Don't worry, there's nothing to worry about Ron."
"Yeah sure," replied Ron.
"Not here…mmm…lets go in that room, I want to speak alone if you don't mind,"
"No problems, lead the way sir," said Ron.
"Call me Harold."
As they entered the room, both Ron and Harold sat down opposite of each other. For the first five minutes there was complete silence, with occasional noises or voices from the kitchen.
"As Hermione had told you surely, she is my only daughter and I believe you quite understand that she is my most precious thing. Now don't get any wrong intentions Ron, I'm not going to say to leave my daughter alone, or to obligate you to do something against your will, but as a father I want her to have the best."
"And I want to give her that sir," replied honestly Ron.
"I'm sure you will, but still, I wish to get to know you a bit before I approve too. Although I don't think my opinion will matter a lot. Hermione had frequently spoken about you and she always wore a bright smile, when she talked about you."
The two men kept talking alone, with Mr. Granger asking Ron all sorts of questions. Meanwhile, still cleaning in the kitchen Hermione and her mom were having a motivated talk.
"Mum...stop it, you're making me blush" said Hermione between laughing and trying to stop her mother.
"Well he is cute, isn't he?" replied Mr. Granger laughing, as Hermione started to get a bit pink. "Ohh…how I wish to see your father talking to him, that would surely be funny. You know your granddad did the same thing to your father, when he started to date me."
"Really? Oh…I hope Ron we'll be OK…" said Hermione preoccupied with Ron's position.
"Don't worry dear, I'm sure you'll have him back whole…so…how about we finish these and wait for them in the living room?"
"OK mum."
Time flowed for the two groups and soon all four of them were in the same room, with Hermione near Ron and Mr. and Mrs. Granger next to them.
"Well I guess now that everything is back to normal, we can go back to our old house, right? What do you think Monica?" asked Harold.
"Oh… I'd love to Harold, but we have already paid till the end of June, might as well enjoy them," responded his wife.
"OK dear. Now Ron, Hermione, dears, why don't you go back to that place you were staying at and retrieve your belongings. I guess you could stay here till the end of June, if it's OK for you Ron," added Mr. Granger.
"I don't think they will object, although it's better to contact them, I think they might become too worried," said Ron.
With the help of Hermione, Ron sent a message through his patronus to inform the Weasleys, that they had found the Grangers and had placed back their memories and that they would be staying there till the end of June. Waiting for the Weasley's reply, Ron and Hermione headed back for the last time to the pub, to retrieve their things. In less than an hour, they were back to the house, with all of their stuff. As they were about to head upstairs, a weasel patronus appeared through one of the opened window.
"Oh, thank god you're OK, I was getting worried… yes dear, you can stay if you wish. Hermione if your parents would like to come, we would gladly invite them for dinner. I'll await your reply," and with the last word still echoing, the weasel disappeared.
"Tell you father Ron, that we would gladly accept the invitation," Mr. Granger said.
"OK sir, but first, if you don't mind, I would like you to keep the story between me and Hermione a secret, until we are ready to reveal it. You see, you're the first to know about this."
Once Mr. Granger nodded in agreement, with the help of Hermione once more, Ron replied with the date they would be arriving at the Burrow. As the day was still young, and none of the four had anything else to do, they went out, with Hermione and her mother shopping a bit and with Ron trying to explain the rules of quidditch to her father. As it started to get a bit darker, the four retreated back to their house, for a long night rest, after all that had just occurred in the past few hours.
"Now Ron you'll be sleeping upstairs first room, it's small but quiet comfortable…"
"Everything is better than the pub's couch, sir," Ron interrupted Mrs. Granger laughing.
"Well OK…" laughed Mrs. Granger. "And you Hermione, you can sleep in the room just in front of Ron's. Ours will be adjacent to yours dear."
"We're going to sleep, our minds need to rest a bit after all we had learned," said Mr. Granger. With that both He and his wife headed to sleep. "Now you two don't stay awake for too long OK?"
"Yes dad."
"Hermione, are you happy now?" asked Ron later, when they were alone in the room.
"Yes Ron, I am," replied Hermione jumping on him, hugging him tightly to her, as if he was the most precious treasure in the world.
"Well, I'm tired too. Do you want to retreat to our rooms?"
"OK," said Hermione and loosing her grip on him they headed upstairs together.
Just before entering their separate rooms, they furtively kissed each other, not to be seen by anyone, and headed in their own room. Ron was exhausted and fell asleep immediately upon resting his head on the pillow.
Now everything is back to normal. I can't wait to get back to our old house and get back with our old, normal lives. I wonder how Harry and Ginny had managed against Mrs. Weasley thought Hermione. Well at least if I don't know that, one thing is certain. I love you Ron, good night, my red haired boy. With the last thought, Hermione laid her head gently on her pillow and finally she got to have a relaxing night.
A/N: Ahh! isn't it sweet? Did you like this love chapter between Ron and Hermione?
As time is passing since Voldemort's farewell, things are starting to get normal, as normal as in the wizarding world could be. Stay with me to see what will happen to all the Weasley's members and will Ron and Hermione reveal their now official relation?
You'll know soon with the next chapter.
Next chapter: Back to normality
Review your thoughts, they are really appreciated. Thanks. Stay with me as always.