“Quite well actually,” Fred began.
“We got a huge order for the Ministry on Tuesday and we’ve been working on that all week,” George explained.
“A bit tiring, but good money. How was yours?” Fred asked.
She hustled them over to the table to sit down. “Fine. I made a birthing blanket for Fleur and Bill, and then I sent Remus and Nymphadora an outfit for the winter time for little Paul.”
She started to send plates of food toward the table with her wand. Fred and George each grabbed a roll to eat while waiting for the rest of the family.
A small ‘pop’ sounded from the outside of the door and Ron walked in. He ran a hand through his now untamed hair. He walked over and placed a light kiss on his mother’s cheek before walking to the table and sitting down next to Fred.
“Oi, there is our freckled brother,” George said to no one in particular. He leaned back in his chair and nudged Ron’s shoulder.
“Oh, how you’ve grown since we last saw you,” Fred told him as he wrapped an arm around Ron’s shoulders and pulled him into a half hearted hug.
“Yeah, so’ve you! What’s it been, a week? Maybe two?” Ron asked, scratching his head in thought.
“Try six. What exactly have you been up to that you’ve been so bloody busy, little brother?” Fred asked.
“Me? It’s you two that’ve been busy. All I’ve got going is this stupid Quidditch rubbish and a couple of other things,” Ron told them, choosing his words wisely.
“He may be correct, Fred. What with the fact that we have fiancés and serious jobs to worry about, it isn’t us with all the free time, it’s the single bloke over there!” George explained matter-of-factly.
“Fiancés?” Ron asked, surprised.
Both twins broke out into huge grins.
“Oh my, I’m sorry, Ronald, I must’ve forgotten to tell you! The boys have purposed to Angelina and Cho,” Mrs. Weasley informed her youngest son.
Ron’s face formed a smile that matched his brothers’. He turned and grabbed Fred into a hug. Chuckling as he let go, Ron leaned back in his seat to clap a hand on George’s shoulder.
“You two…That’s great! That’s so great.”
“Well, obviously,” George joked.
**********
“Seeing as Charlie was Bill’s best man, and Harry was his second in line, I was wondering if you’d be my second. Fred will be my best man, I will be his, and Bill will be his second. I really want you there, Ron,” George explained to Ron later that night.
They were walking around in the garden after lunch.
Ron contemplated this. He’d been Harry’s best man and Neville, his second. Ron was touched that George was asking this when he’d always seemed to be closer to Charlie. George was marrying Cho, though, and as well as he covered it up, he never quite could close old scars.
George and Cho had been together nearly a year, but Ron barely knew her. He didn’t want to know her. He was happy for his brother, but he couldn’t believe George would sell himself to someone who was once Harry’s first girlfriend.
But that wasn’t the picture right now. George was asking Ron, out of all five brothers, to be his second.
Ron smiled. “I’d be honored,” he told his brother.
George pulled him into a hug quickly. “Thanks, little brother. This means a lot.”
But what Ron couldn’t stop thinking about the rest of the night was something that made his eyes burn. Who would he ask? Who would be his best and second men? Would he have any? Because he’d sworn himself to Hermione a long time ago and as far as he was concerned “ he wasn’t planning on changing that any time soon.
**********
“Luna, it’s one in the morning. Are you alright?” Hermione asked as she opened her front door.
Luna stepped in past Hermione and started pacing, wringing her hands as she went. She had a worried look on her face and her eyes were cloudy. Hermione started to get dizzy watching her, so she reached out and grabbed her friend by the shoulders, stopping the pacing and making Luna face her.
“Are you alright?” Hermione repeated slowly.
Luna nodded.
“Is the baby alright?”
Luna nodded again.
“Good, very good. Why are you here, then?” she asked softly, leading Luna to the kitchen for some tea.
Luna sat at the kitchen table without a comment or fuss. She remained as quiet all the while Hermione prepared them two cups of hot tea. It wasn’t until Hermione handed her a warm mug and sat down across from her that Luna said a word at all.
“He is asleep at my place. On…on my bed,” Luna said.
Hermione felt her heart jerk. Surely she wasn’t speaking about Ron? She nodded slowly. “Who?”
Luna shot her friend a worried, reluctant look. “Neville Longbottom.”
**********
“So, how are you, little brother? Really, how are you? Mum and dad say you go up to their room every time you’re here. They also say you’ve been visiting almost every day for dinner or lunch,” Charlie asked Ron.
Charlie was in town for the week for work and had come down for dinner. Fred, George, Charlie, and Ron were all sitting in the forest behind the Burrow. They had just played a two on two midnight Quidditch game.
At Charlie’s question, Fred and George nodded.
Ron shrugged. “I’m alright. It’s just that, it’s getting closer to August. Next week is July 31st,” he explained.
None of the brothers needed further explanation. They all moved closer to their youngest living sibling and huddled into a group hug. They let it last for a while and when they pulled away, there were tears in all of their eyes. There was no denying it. Harry was their brother. And it made it that much harder.
A comfortable silence settled between them as they all got settled down again.
“Have you…you know, have you spoken to Hermione since “ she left?” Charlie asked.
Fred and George turned their gazes toward Ron expectantly. Leave it to his brothers to make Charlie ask the serious questions.
“Err…well, yeah, actually. A bit,” Ron answered briefly.
“Go on, tell more,” Fred pushed.
Ron sighed. “About a week ago, I found a couple of letters in Harry’s desk drawer in their room. There were six. Three were written by Ginny and three by Harry. They each had written one to me and one to Hermione. Then they had each written one to each other. I took Hermione’s to her. She sort of stormed out. Friday she came to visit me, to apologize. I mucked it up and we ended up in a huge row. I went drinking. This morning I woke up on her sofa in her front room.”
The three brothers stared at Ron in sympathy and shock. They all knew how he got when he was drunk. They all knew that his mouth developed some sort of motor or something after he started to drink.
“Wow, mate. That’s not good. Did she say anything when you woke?” Charlie asked.
Ron shrugged. “Not really. She just said that I hadn’t done anything wrong. But there was something wrong. I just can’t remember what happened. I must’ve said something, though. Anyways, then this morning, she came by asking about Oliver Wood.”
“What?” Fred asked, incredulously.
“Already she’s asking you to hook her up with someone? And a married man, no less?” George asked.
Ron shook his head. “Oliver is filing for a divorce and he wanted to give his wife an album of their lives. He asked me if I knew anyone who did photo albums well.”
“And of course you told him about Hermione!” Charlie finished, understanding.
“Yes, but apparently she found out it was a divorce gift and she came running to me, asking why I would refer her to make a divorce gift for someone. I explained that he was just asking for someone who did albums well, and she did Harry’s and Ginny’s so brilliantly, that why wouldn’t I recommend her?”
“Naturally,” George nodded.
“So then we clarified that we were no longer at odds and just as we were about to have a moment, she got an owl from St. Mungo’s about one of her patients,” Ron finished.
“Bloody hell, Ron. You aren’t even dating her and it’s like you’re married,” Fred told him.
“There something she isn’t telling me, though. I can feel it. On Friday, she was saying something about making a mistake two years ago and saying that she can’t take it back or some rubbish. There’s something she’s keeping from me, I just can’t put my finger on it,” Ron thought out loud.
“Mate, you need to go talk to her in the morning. Figure things out. You still love her. As long as it may take you to figure that out, every one of your family members is very aware of it,” Charlie told him.
Fred and George mumbled their agreements. Ron had no reply; he was very aware of it, too.
**********
“That’s good, Luna! That’s a good thing! What are you doing here? You need to be there, showing him your wild side!” Hermione told her friend exasperatedly.
Luna shook her head and went back to pacing. “No, no, no, no! I already showed him my ‘wild side’! On a first date! With my daughter in the next room! What if I’m not ready for another relationship? What if that is what he expects out of this?”
Hermione noted that the tone in Luna’s voice showed signs of denial. There were also signs of worry and stress. Hermione felt momentarily grateful to her parents for encouraging her to work in the children’s part of St. Mungo’s after the war had ended. She had been trained to read tones and handwriting. Many children don’t talk about how they feel, but it shows in how they speak and write. With this talent, Hermione was able to tell what her best friend was feeling.
“Luna, come here,” Hermione said softly. She pulled the blonde into a comforting hug and let Luna cry into her shoulder.
“It’s alright. It will be fine. Neville’s an amazing guy. He’ll never hurt you the way Ron did. He’ll never be the way Oliver is. He isn’t that type of guy, Luna! He’s Harry’s type. He’s perfect,” Hermione cooed softly as she rubbed Luna’s back.
When Luna got a hold of herself, Hermione filled their mugs with more tea. They went back to sitting across from each other.
“What if he’s too perfect? What if it’s all some act? I can’t do it again, Hermione, I can’t and I won’t!” Luna told her.
“Luna, he’s not too perfect. I know you’re scared, but you’ve finally got a break. You finally have a good thing; don’t go pushing it away,” Hermione replied.
Luna looked up at Hermione and couldn’t help but return Hermione’s smile with a weak one of her own. Hermione was right; she deserved this. And Neville was perfect. And, as far as she was concerned, she’d just had one hell of a time with him. She couldn’t help but picture doing what they’d done over and over in her future.
She sniffed and grabbed a tissue from the table. She took a deep breath, let it out slowly and looked Hermione in the eye. “I deserve this,” she stated simply.
Hermione knew that Luna wasn’t telling her this, but more trying to convince herself. So Hermione did what she did best; she reassured her friend. “Yes,” she told her, “you do.”
**********
’Hermione “ We need to finish our conversation. Can I come by your place later? ~Ron’
Hermione reread the letter. She wiped a tear from her face and grabbed a quill, some ink, and a piece of paper from her desk drawer.
’See you soon.’ she wrote before signing it. She attached it to Pigwidgeon’s leg and told him to get to Ron as soon as possible. She stood by the window in her kitchen and watched the owl fly away, thankful for the moment of peace. Then she turned back to her desk and looked at the will sitting on top of it.
This would be her chance to tell him. It was now or never.
**********
“Hey, Pig,” Ron greeted his owl as he took the letter from its leg. He read the letter quickly before walking to kitchen table and sitting in one of the chairs. He continued to drink his coffee and he picked up the letter to Ginny from Harry that had been sitting in the middle of the table since he got home this morning around two. He had been staring at it since he got up an hour previous, scared to read it, but curious as to what it said.
He took a deep breath and slowly took the letter out of the envelope. He unfolded it. He saw his own name within the letter and Hermione’s wasn’t too far after it.
His eyes automatically shut. This happened with Ginny’s letter, too. He took another deep breath, carefully opened his eyes and began to read the letter.
Right now you are in the other room. I assume you are writing letters as well. We are all nervous these days. Nobody knows what could happen. I just needed the chance to tell you how much I love you.’
Ron’s eyes darted down the letter a ways to the sentence with Hermione’s name.
Ron closed his eyes sharply. He couldn’t finish reading. He didn’t want to know what the rest of the letter said. He Apparated to Hermione’s place without a second thought.
When he got there, she was sitting at her desk with her knees pulled up to her chest and her chin resting on them. There was a letter in front of her that Ron assumed was the letter from Harry. She turned her head slowly to him.
“I didn’t think you meant this soon,” she told him, glancing at the clock to see that it was only eight thirty.
It was then that Ron realized how heavily he was breathing. He put it to the back of his head and glared at her. “You lied to me,” he growled through gritted teeth.
She screwed up her face. “Excuse me?” she whispered furiously as she stood from her chair.
“You told me I was your only. You lied to me! Harry?” Ron choked.
“What in the hell are you talking about, you bastard?” Hermione asked through her angry tears.
“You were babysitting? Damn it! And Ginny knew? She knew and she didn’t care?”
“Ronald, lower you voice! You don’t know what you are talking about!”
Ron grabbed his hair and started to pace the room, trying to calm his breathing.
“Why didn’t you tell-“
“Mummy?” A little boy with messy black hair came into the room, rubbing his eyes.
Hermione jumped with surprise, but quickly walked over to him, lifting him into her arms. He wrapped his tiny legs around her waist and his arms around her neck.
“Sorry, baby. Mummy’s fault,” she was whispering as she rubbed his back.
He looked up at Ron. “Who’s ‘at?” he asked.
Ron noted the little lisp and he softened. The boy’s eyes were the replica of Ron’s younger sister’s.
Hermione continued to rub his back. “That is Ron. Ron, this is James Ronald Potter. He is Ginny and Harry’s son.”
A/N: Sorry about the cliffie. Hope you are putting two and two together! Big shout out to my betas Manda and leah3467!!! Thanks for reading, now please REVIEW!!! Manda*