Hi, Hermione
Sorry about the delay, here come ‘you-know-what’ as promised and answers to your questions:
1) No problem. 2) I know. 3) Sounds good. 4) OK, I will NOT forget!
Got to run now! See you (Ha Ha…) later.
Harry
Harry tossed his quill, placed his short note in the parcel, along with his Invisibility Cloak, and hurried Hedwig to deliver it to Hermione. He had teased her many times about observing that absurd Muggle superstition, but he had clearly underestimated her will to do things properly. “A groom must not see his bride the day before the wedding.” Hermione had stated. “Thanks to your Invisibility Cloak, Ron will not see me wandering around, taking care of the last preparations! And stop laughing, Harry! This is tradition, not superstition.”
Whatever you say, bossy bride-to-be! Harry thought, adding a few shopping bags (his last-minute purchases on Diagon Alley) to his trunk. He dragged it out of the 12th Grimmauld Place, sealed his house with a wave of his wand before apparating on King’s Cross.
It was a warm summer afternoon. Although it was two hours away from rush hour, the station was already crowded with travelers. They all walked fast, glancing worriedly at the departures board, paying no attention to the black-haired young man who just popped up from nowhere. Actually, dressed in a casual black T-Shirt and an old pair of jeans, Harry could pass for any ordinary passenger heading for their train. Needless to say, after the press conference he had endured this morning, he enjoyed immensely being just a face in the crowd. There was no one to whisper behind his back, or to stare at his forehead, like many still did after all these years.
After a cautious glance around, Harry smoothly walked through the barrier dividing Platforms 9 and 10. He smiled broadly at the sight of the Hogwarts Express puffing clouds of steam on Platform 9¾. I am going back to Hogwarts! He thought, as an indescribable joy filled his heart. This time, there were no parents waving their children off to school or excited students struggling with their luggage. However, as he came aboard, Harry realized things had not changed much since his school years. The first compartments were already full. People were walking in all directions, trying to find a seat or to spot a friend in the train.
Harry found Hermione in a compartment nearby. She was pointing at a hand-drawn map, explaining some crucial matters to her mother and Ginny. Mr. Weasley, as usual, was in deep conversation with Mr. Granger.
“Good afternoon, everyone!” Harry said.
They all greeted him warmly. Hermione gave him a mutinous smile, pointing the parcel she just received from him, and mouthed a silent ‘Thank You’ over Mrs. Granger’s shoulder. In the passage, a few persons urged him to move forward, for his trunk was blocking the way.
“Sorry, I’ll see you all later,” Harry apologized. “I’ll go look for Ron.”
Again, they waved him off. Harry noticed how pleased they all looked to see him on board, especially Ginny. As their hands touched briefly on his way out, he could say she was relieved he did not miss the train because of some Auror emergency.
“Oy, Harry, come this way!” a joyful voice rose, and two familiar red heads emerged a few steps away.
Time and wealth seemed to have no effect on the Weasley twins: Fred and George constantly looked up to no good, and the devilish twinkle in their eyes was shining brighter than ever. Harry knew business was booming at their joke-shop, judging by the generous shares of profits that had been regularly transferred in his personal vault at Gringotts. That, at least, was the bright side of winning the Triwizard Tournament!
“Nice to see you, partner!” Fred said, shaking Harry’s hand.
“It’s about time you show up,” George added. “Ronniekins can definitely use an Auror’s help. Right, Fred?”
“How is Ron?” Harry asked.
“Come and see for yourself.”
Harry followed the twins in the compartment at their right, and immediately repressed a giggle: Ron was standing, his back to the window, looking totally crushed, not by nervousness, but by his mother’s emotional hug.
“Look, Mum, Harry’s here!” Ron uttered. “Help!” He mouthed to Harry and his brothers.
“Hello, Harry dear,” Molly wiped a tear from her cheek, without releasing her youngest son. “It is a blessing to have all of you here … with me … at my baby boy’s wedding.”
‘Baby boy’, did he really hear ‘baby boy’? Harry glanced at the twins who simply shrugged, enjoying Ron’s red squirming face. Fred and George let Mrs. Weasley coo for a few minutes more, than decided to intervene.
“Please, Woman, don’t choke our ‘baby’ brother before his wedding day.” Fred said, trying to untie his mother’s arms.
“Yeah! We had promised our mother to keep a protective eye on him.” George explained patiently, as if Molly did not speak English. “Do you know our mother, Madam? Her name is Molly. She gave us LIFE …”
“And she had sworn that if we don’t behave at Ronniekins’ wedding, she will take it back!”
Harry and Ron burst out laughing, and Molly finally let Ron off. She turned to Harry, her eyes still damp with tears of joy.
“You look good, dear!” she said fondly. “Good, but a bit thin. With all the time Ginny spent at your house, couldn’t she fix you a decent meal?”
“Honestly, Mum,” George shrieked. “Who cares about cooking when his girlfriend is around?”
“Besides,” Fred laughed openly at Harry’s crimson face, “Ginny would rather fix Harry himself than his meal!”
Luckily, a long whistle was heard, and the Hogwarts Express started to move, setting an end to the ‘cooking’ subject. Molly suddenly remembered some urgent task, and decided she had to find her husband.
“All these years, and this train just stayed the same,” she complained, pointing at the broken door of their compartment. “I’ll have to talk to Dumbledore. He must improve the quality of Hogwart’s transportation.”
“You do that, Mum!” Fred nodded approvingly. “And tell him that this place is infested with spiders too.”
After another affectionate hug to Ron and Harry, Mrs. Weasley finally left, closely followed by Fred and George, who had stuck a fake, hairy tarantula on her shoulder.
Harry and Ron looked at each other, letting out a sigh of relief. They fell on the bench, looking Platform 9¾ slowly disappear, as the Hogwarts Express was speeding out of King’s Cross.
“Hey, I have a surprise for you!” Ron said, opening a large bag, hidden under his seat.
They both laughed childishly at the mountain of sweets Ron had brought: Chocolate Frogs, Bertie Bott’s Every-Flavor-Beans, Sherbet Balls, Cauldron Cakes … It just looked as if a smaller version of Honeydukes had materialized right before their eyes!
“Remember that first time you bought the whole food trolley for us to share?” Ron asked, handling his friend a handful of Pumpkin Pasties. “I have always wanted to return the favor. It’s good to have you here, mate!”
“It’s good to be here.” Harry replied.
So, this was Ron playful way to express how he valued their friendship. Harry just grinned, and shoved hungrily a Pumpkin Pasty in his mouth. Ron did the same and soon, they were both laughing, talking with their mouths full of candies. There was no more Auror, or Ministry, but just two friends enjoying their time together. After a while, their conversation naturally landed on Quidditch. Ron was thrilled about the next World Cup, the first he would attend as Head of Games and Sports.
“England has a good chance this year,” Harry declared. “I will bet ten Galleons that all Chudley Cannons players will be selected for the national team.”
Ron’s smile suddenly shrunk a little, and Harry gave himself a mental kick for mentioning the Cannons in front of his friend. For a moment, he had forgotten that Ron had applied, a few years ago, for the Keeper position in his favorite team. His request had unfortunately been turned down in favor of Oliver Wood, who had joined the cannons in a famous multiple-players trade with Puddlemere.
“Sorry, mate! I didn’t mean to …”
“It’s OK,” Ron replied quite rapidly. “Actually, it was a good thing they signed Oliver. Besides, I have lots of fun planning and organizing games and sports: it’s like playing chess everyday. And think about the awesome seats I can get for the next World Cup!”
“I know you’re a hit at the Ministry.” Harry added warily. “Still, I think you were a sure bet for the Cannons back then. I don’t understand they did not, at least, give you a try.”
This time, Ron’s face became serious. He glanced cautiously at the open door of their compartment before looking back at his hands, avoiding Harry’s eyes.
“Well … I never told anyone, so promise me you will not slip a word about this, not to Ginny, not to Hermione, NO ONE!” Ron cleared his throat. “Actually, the Cannons did offer me the Keeper job. And I was the one turning it down!”
“Ron, it was … your dream to play professional Quidditch, to go international...” Harry was stunned by Ron’s confidence.
“Right! But I reckoned I belonged here, with my family, my friends, and of course, Hermione...”
“Hermione? I’m sure she ….”
“…Would be the first person urging me to achieve my dream, I know. That was why I … changed the version a bit, so nobody would know. I wanted to stay by her side, because she had done exactly the same for me.”
Harry did not have a clue, so Ron carried on.
“Remember our final year? After Hermione got her N.E.W.T. results, job offers had been flooding in. One of them had come from Gringotts Bank: they offered her the position of 'Senior Analyst “ Ancient Runes & Foreign Civilizations'. And Bill told me that she had seriously considered accepting it. Knowing Hermione, it was her dream job! Then, came that night...”
Ron’s voice faded, as painful memories were dug up again. “That night, You-Kn … I mean … Voldemort knocked me off with this ugly spell he had invented! I was lucky he partly missed his target and the curse did not hit me in its full deadly extent. I was stone cold on the ground, but I was still conscious. I could hear Voldemort yell the Killing Curse at you. And I could hear you and Ginny cast the Reversio Charm, making him fall for good. Then, I could feel Hermione’s arms around my body, her teardrops upon my face. You know, Harry, for the first time, I could hear her swear like a trooper. She was beyond herself, angry for what had been done to me, and for not being able to help me before rescue arrived. That night, she swore to become a Healer, to devote her whole life if she had to, to find the cure that would save me.”
“The Hermione Countercurse!” Harry whispered.
“Exactly,” Ron nodded. “She never told anybody the reason of her decision to become a Healer, including me. But I knew why she had refused Gringotts’s offer. We all thought she spent a whole month to find the countercurse. In fact, she had found it after two weeks. She did not eat, or sleep, just kept searching through tons of books. And once I was saved, Hermione could simply forget about the whole thing and pursue the carrier of her dreams. But she stood by her words: she became the best Healer St-Mungo had ever relied on. She had chosen to stay at my side no matter what, to be prepared if the effects of the curse ever reappear to hurt me again. All of that, because she loves me, Harry!”
Harry felt his own heart ache with admiration for Hermione, and for Ron. All those years, he thought he knew every detail of the night that changed the wizarding world forever. The truth was, however, beyond his imagination. And the aftermaths of that night were still affecting their lives: his and his loved-ones.
“I owe her my life,” Ron concluded, smiling now through his misty eyes. “I love her more than words can express, and certainly more than any Keeper job the Chudley Cannons could offer me.”
“I didn’t know … Sorry...” Harry uttered, searching the right words to tell his friend.
“Don’t be! After all, the story will have a happy ending, right? Hermione and I are getting married tomorrow. And hey, I should be the one getting emotional, not you!”
Ron padded Harry on the shoulder then threw him a Chocolate Frog. They both grinned, and focused again on the candies in Ron’s handbag…
*******
A few compartments away, a door slid open and closed hurriedly. A tearful Hermione tossed the Invisibility Cloak from her body. Fortunately, everyone had left, and she could sob freely, her face buried in her hands. That red-head! She thought, still shaking with tears. This is the second occasion he made me cry! This time, there was no Moaning Myrtle, or giant troll as witness. But, there was Ginny, who just walked in her sobbing session with the most worried expression on her face.
“Hermione, please, what happened?” Ginny’s arms closed affectionately around Hermione’s shoulders.
“It’s Ron …He said …” Hermione could not continue, as hiccups turned her breathless.
“Ron? This headless brother of mine said something wrong again, did he?”
“No…”
“Is it about the wedding?”
“No… Gin … ny … No …”
“No what?”
Then Hermione’s face came out of her hands, showing to a stunned Ginny her most beautiful smile, although tears still rolled freely down her cheeks.
“He … loves me, Gin! Ron … really … loves me.”
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A/N: THANKS SO MUCH for reading! The next chapter will be R/Hr's wedding. Looks like a good deal, doesn't it? :D :D :D
Bye Bye, don't forget to review! - Neli-