One week later at the Burrow, after breakfast, Mrs. Weasley wasted no time giving Ron extra chores.
"Hermione's going be here before lunch, so you, Ginny, tidy your room and make up the extra bed,” she commanded. “Ron, you know Hermione will bring her schoolbooks, so clear out the cupboard under the stairs, and make room for her trunks. Heaven knows what Fred and George have stored there, so don't open any boxes. I won't have their tricks going off all over the place again."
Ron laughed as he remembered the last time a box of Weasley's Wizarding Wheezes had “accidentally” been opened. The lounge wall was still displaying a vivid advertisement of jokes, fake wands, and cursed cakes. Mrs. Weasley hadn't been able to remove it, and Mr. Weasley wasn't inclined to. Despite the “low” nature of their chosen profession, he was very proud of their success”and even more proud of their income. Mrs. Weasley couldn't bring herself to approve it openly, but she didn't refuse the gifts of clothing and furniture either.
The thought of Hermione's arrival brought Ron back to Earth. He'd regretted their argument since arriving home and his temper had cooled. Ever since Ginny had told him that Hermione was coming to stay”as her guest”Ron was in turmoil.
What's she going to think of me? he thought. Ron, you're an idiot. She was only being herself, and you had to stomp on her like that. Why did she have to bring up her bloody classes?
He'd been set to ask her to stay until her mention of studies and classes had sucked away his shaky confidence like a Dementor's kiss. Then you had to go and be nasty to her, a voice inside him bellowed. Why did he always act like such a prat when she was around?
It was eleven in the morning and Ron was in his room, wiping away the sweat from his forehead. She should have been there by now, and he hadn't spoken to her since leaving the train station. Her parents sent a letter to the Weasleys, thanking them for agreeing to let Hermione stay for the rest of the summer holiday. In truth, the Grangers were very grateful that their daughter stayed in a place protected by continuous magical supervision.
"Ron, get down here!" Mrs. Weasley shouted, her voice carrying up from the kitchen. "Hermione's at the door and Tonks is here, too!"
Ron raced out of his room, and made a flying leap down the stairs. His hand grabbed the banister post, swinging him around on the second-floor landing, and he arrived on the ground floor before Mrs. Weasley could draw another breath to call his name again.
"I wish you'd come that quickly every time I call you." Mrs. Weasley’s eyes twinkled as Ron ran past her to open the front door.
He stopped at the door, smoothed his hair, tucked in his shirt, quickly sniffed around himself, reached his hand out to turn the handle, and opened the door.
"Hi!" his voice cracked . He thought he was having some kind of ecstatic vision”there was an angel standing on the doorstep.
"Hello, Ron," Hermione smiled. "Sorry we're late."
"That's my fault," added Tonks. "I insisted that we go shopping and do some girly stuff before we came over."
Girly stuff? Ron thought.
To him, it must have included a visit to a hairdresser. Hermione's hair wasn't all bushy, like usual. Instead it fell in sleek soft waves over her bare shoulders.
Her shoulders? screeched a voice inside his mind.
Ron had never seen them before. His eyes followed the line of her arms upward towards her neck. She was wearing a floral print summer dress that seemed to be holding itself up. There weren't any shoulder straps or anything. Her skin glowed in the sunlight. His eyes continued upwards to her face, and his jaw dropped. She was wearing makeup”some very subtle lipstick and eyeliner, but Ron wasn't aware of the details. It was a whole look he'd never seen before.
Going by that reaction, Hermione thought, Tonks' beauty advice was worth the time and money I've just spent.
"C”come in," Ron stammered. Hermione smiled again. "Where's your trunk?"
"They'll be here later," she replied. "I didn't want to drag it all over the place while we shopped. There are only these for now." She indicated a half-dozen boxes and bags behind Tonks. They were all imprinted with famous logos. Ron could only surmise how many outfits they contained, but if she looked half as good wearing them as she did in the dress she was wearing now, he looked forward to the fashion parade.
Ron carried the boxes and bags inside, where Mrs. Wealey stood waiting. Hermione was enveloped in a "Molly Weasley special" hug, greeted like a long-lost member of the family. Fred and George stood nearby grinning, and Ginny waited her turn to give her guest a welcome hug. Ron started to feel left out when Hermione turned to him, smiling. Her eyes were wet.
Oh, no, he thought, she's going to start crying again.
But she didn't. She simply walked to Ron, stretched her arms around him and hugged him tight. She didn't say anything.
Mrs. Weasley broke the spell. "Come and sit down, you two. There's a pot of tea ready. Fred, George, take those packages and don't you dare open them." Molly's voice held a note that Fred and George knew from the past. This wasn't any kind of normal warning, and they knew Hermione's shopping bags were off limits.
Tonks removed her travelling cloak and sat down, responding, "Tea would be lovely, thanks. How about you, Hermione?"
"Yes, please," she replied. A cup of tea was way down the list at the moment, but Ron would have to wait. After all, they had at least a week before Harry turned up.
Ron was sent to the kitchen to fetch the tea.
Why do I have to get it, he wondered.
That moment of greeting her at the door was etched on a canvas in his mind. Her hair! That dress! He pictured the two of them walking along a path that ran passed the Burrow. She wore the dress, and her hair gently floated in the air, her hand was in his, and they talked about...
"Ronald!" His reverie was shattered by Mrs. Weasley’s voice calling from the lounge. "Whatever are you doing? Hurry up with the tea. Our guests must be parched!" Ron quickly placed the teapot and cups on a tray, and carried them out to the lounge.
He placed the tray on the table, then deliberately walked over to Hermione and sat down beside her. Mrs. Weasley gave him an exasperated look, and then set about pouring tea for everyone.
"Tell me dear, how are you? Have you recovered fully from that awful spell?" Mrs. Weasley had no tact.
"Yes, thanks, Mrs. Weasley." Hermione didn't really want to talk about it right now”not to her, anyway. She hadn't finished dealing with her emotions about the incidents at the Department of Mysteries, and her parents, while sympathetic and suitably worried, weren't the ones to help. The sooner she could be alone with Ron, the better.
"It must have been terrible, I mean, a girl your age having to deal with those terrible Death Eaters. What's happened to them, Nymphadora?"
Tonks' mood turned grim. "Most of them have been sent back to Azkaban, but there's not much point now, not with the Dementors out of Ministry’s control. Molly, I'm sure Hermione would rather talk about something else. What's been happening at the Burrow? How's the joke shop coming along?" She turned to Fred and George, proudly wearing their business suits of scaly green dragonhide.
"Couldn't be better!" they cried in unison. Fred continued, "The galleons are rolling in, we really should send a thank you note and a box of free samples to Umbridge."
"If we'd known it was this easy," George added, "we'd have left school ages ago." Molly scowled. She still had trouble adjusting to her twin black sheep. "Come and visit us soon, Tonks, we've some tricks you might be able to use."
Tonks laughed and said, "What could an Auror do with your Canary Creams, then?"
"Come and see for yourself," Fred replied. He wasn't willing to go into details in front of his mother, but they'd recently decided to expand into some more serious lines of fake magical apparati. George winked at Tonks, and she grinned back.
"How about you get settled, Hermione? I'm sure you and Ginny have loads to talk about." Tonks' eyes glittered merrily as she watched Ron's reaction. Ginny sniggered.
Ron moved quickly to take charge of the situation. "I'll help you get these things upstairs," he offered, standing, and placing his hands protectively on the parcels. He gathered them up, and moved to the stairs. Hermione stood, and spoke to Mrs. Weasley "Thanks for the tea, Mrs. Weasley. And thanks for having me here." She hugged Mrs. Weasley again, and turned to follow Ron.
"You run along and help them, Ginny. I want to talk to Nymphadora." Mrs. Weasley didn't see Ginny's eyes turn upwards. Ginny walked obediently towards the stairs, but suddenly found a reason to continue into the kitchen instead.
Ron put the parcels down when he reached Ginny's room. He turned just in time for Hermione to reach out and grab him in a bear hug.
"Oh, Ron, I've missed you so much," she cried, and held him tight.
"Hermione, I'm so sorry about what happened last week. I wanted to send you an owl, but I didn't know whether…"
"Its okay, I'm here now."
She deliberately didn’t send any letters, having realised as soon as she'd got home from the station that it would be a good time for some separation and reflection. It was possible she was only reacting to the events at the Department of Mysteries, and the argument with Ron at the station that day was both of them just letting off steam”but she'd been miserable all week since, and it hadn't altered her feelings a bit. She was where she wanted to be; with Ron.
"What's in the parcels?" he asked. "Your dress is a knockout. When can I see the rest of them?"
"Tonks made me buy seven different outfits, so you'll see one every day this week." She smiled and opened the door, and then turned around, suddenly nervous. "Do you really like this dress?"
"Like it? Bloody hell, you're so beautiful, I just want to..." he faltered, then picked up the parcels and carried them into the room.
"Shoo," she told him when they were inside. "I want to unpack these now, but you'll have to wait to see them all." She smiled and hugged him again. Ron didn't want to leave. Every private moment was precious, and he still didn't know what would happen over the coming weeks. He sighed.
"I suppose I'll have to kiss you before you'll go, won't I?" she said, smiling. Her eyes sparkled at Ron's startled reaction. She kissed him briefly on the cheek. "Now go away before Ginny gets here." Ron grinned and left, quietly closing the door.