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The Engagement	By : saritat9 Category: Harry Potter > Het - Male/Female > Ron/Hermione Views: 6588 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter. I'm not making any money with this. No copyright infrigment intended.

Chapter List
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The Engagement

Chapter 2 : The Dinner
It took a few weeks for the uproar to die down, but finally Hermione felt her life return to normal. People stopped walking on eggshells around her, they stopped whispering when she came near and no one told her how sorry they were about Viktor and his new fianc�e and how it really was his loss.

Well, almost normal.

Now that she didn't have Viktor to use as an excuse anymore, Molly Weasley was seriously getting on her case, trying to fix her up with someone at least twice a week. She would go to the Burrow for dinner or five o'clock tea and suddenly everyone was paired up and like magic she was sitting next to David who was an accountant (David was the brother of Charlie's muggle wife) or Kenneth who worked at the Ministry as a search assistant for Potions. This was hardly a surprise to Hermione; she had known Molly would do this the second the older woman found out she was single again. It didn't make it any less unpleasant.

All of the men Molly had fixed her up with had one thing in common - they were as exciting as watching paint dry. They were all lacking...something. Sense of humour, for one. If she was to be completely honest to herself, she could admit that perhaps the secret missing ingredient was the Weasley Charm; the same that had Harry going straight back to Ginny as soon as he was safe to date her without having to worry about the risk it posed to everyone involved. Lucky for him though, Molly left "dear Harry" and Ginny quite alone, only asking about their plans to marry every now and then. Hermione was sure they would be married within a year, and Molly would move on to asking about family plans. People often made the mistake of underestimating Molly -the woman was sharp as a shard of glass. And tenacious too!

Then Molly figured out the missing ingredient. Sort of.

It was during a casual Sunday lunch and there had been no David, Kenneth or Dennis brought up for Hermione's inspection. She was surprised at that, and thought to herself that maybe Molly was either slipping or giving up.

Molly Weasley give up? Never!

They had just sat down and started piling food on their plates when the backdoor opened and in came Percy Weasley.

"I apologize for being late, mother." he told Molly and kissed her on the cheek somewhat stiffly. There was still some tension left between Percy and his siblings, and it showed on every move he made and every sentence that left his mouth.

"That's alright, Percy. There's room next to Hermione, so why don't you sit down while I'll get you a plate."

It didn't speak well for her famous intuition, honed to near perfection during the war, that Hermione didn't suspect a thing when Percy sat beside her. Molly brought Percy a plate, a glass and utensils as Percy helped himself to the food. Slowly the discussion started again, and Percy was neatly excluded by his brothers. Hermione decided it was left up to her to try and make up for it.

"So, Percy. How is your work?" she asked, trying to look as sincere as possible.

Molly radiated when she heard Hermione making conversation with her cumbersome son. Hermione did not radiate when Percy gave her a long, thorough explanation about his work and all that it entailed. But clearly, not all of it, for- -

"Actually, Hermione, you and Percy have much in common! He helped the legislators with the manifest of rights for all magical creatures. " Molly exclaimed.

Hermione was in awe and she immediately started an excited interrogation of everything Percy had done that had resulted in the manifest that was as recent as merely two years old. Percy wasn't used to having such a captivated - and most of all, volunteered - audience, so he was more than pleasantly surprised to have the chance to explain the finer points of his work.

No one seemed to either notice, nor care that Ron wasn't looking happy at all. His date for the evening, Christina, was looking a bit bleak as well. Could there be trouble brewing in paradise, Molly wondered shortly before shamelessly taking the conversation in hand again.

"You two should get together sometime and talk about collaborating. I'm sure Percy would love to help you with that hippogriff case you told me about last week. Maybe even with the Dobby Fund."

"Oh Percy, would you?!" Hermione radiated into Percy's direction and the usually rigid man turned into mush. Ever since he had broken up with Penelope Clearwater a few years ago, Percy had been feeling isolated. Okay, he was man enough to admit the truth to himself - he had been feeling lonely. He didn't get along with his brothers or his sister and he missed the companionship that came with seeing someone seriously. Perhaps he should look into this thing and consider Hermione. His brother Ronald obviously wasn't interested in her anymore and Hermione wasn't interested in Ronald. He had always admired her work ethic and intellect, and had thought she had a good head on her shoulders except for her choice to side with Harry and Dumbledore rather than the Ministry. In retrospect, that spoke to her good judgment and level-headedness all the more. She would make a good wife that any ambitious, high-aiming man could be proud of.

"Uh...sure. That is, I will of course assist you if I'm able."

Hermione thanked Percy warmly while Molly nodded with an approving smile on her face.

Ron scowled.

= = =

"Ron! Did you hear a word I just said?" Christina asked frustratedly, while all the response Ron could summon from himself was a distracted "Hunh?"

"Honestly, Ron! I've been talking to you for the past five minutes. Didn't you listen at all?"

Ron considered pointing out that perhaps she should've noticed in less than five minutes that he hadn't replied or paid attention. Most of the time Christina was happy enough to babble for minutes at a time without requiring any feedback. Ron usually said "right" or "yes" every now and then just to be on the safe side, rarely having the slightest idea of what he was agreeing to. How was he supposed to know that this was one of the rare occasions she actually wanted him to contribute? And something about the way she said "honestly, Ron" annoyed him...

"I'm sorry, Chrissy. I was looking at you and got...distracted." he wiggled his eyebrows meaningfully. Christina giggled, forgiving him easily.

"I was just saying that your...friend Hermione, would suit Percy just perfectly, don't you agree? They're both so solemn and intellectually driven."

Ron gaped at his girlfriend of the past three weeks. "Percy and Hermione? What ever it is that you think you're seeing there, I don't see it!"

"Oh, Ron, that's so typical of you." Christina purred, "You can't see the painstakingly obvious! It's blatant he really admires her and I think she feels the same way. There's definitely some chemistry there."

Ron's first instinct was to burst out laughing at the idea of Percy having chemistry, period, but with Hermione involved he didn't exactly feel like laughing.

"I think your brother's sexy. No way near as sexy as you of course," Christina stroked his arm, attempting to be sensual- but instead succeeding in being a bit annoying. She continued, "But he's hot. It's something about that repressed look, what with his horn-rimmed glasses and all. It's no wonder Hermione sees it too. Actually, they're both a bit repressed."

Ron wanted to tell her that though Hermione was perhaps outwardly conservative she had never been repressed. Ron couldn't help smiling when he remembered how he used to try and make her feel embarrassed by making lascivious but between-the-lines comments about his girlfriends and their various talents. Sometimes she blushed; sometimes she scolded him loudly for sharing something with her that was private between himself and his girlfriend and not something she even wanted to know about. And sometimes, just sometimes, she would turn to look at him closely and her eyebrow would curl upwards like she was saying "Really?" and not believing a single word. Her pink lips would also turn upwards, like she had some secret he had reminded her of. Like there was some bloke she was thinking about. The thought sobered him up quickly. Krum. That ruddy two-timing bastard.

Christina interrupted his thought process by moving her stroking hands lower and cooing "Say...would you perhaps be interested in some...carnal activities?"

"I might be persuaded," he smiled, his mind still on Hermione and Percy, as an entity. No, Christina was wrong, she had to be. He couldn't see Hermione liking Percy, beyond niceties.

"What makes you think she feels the same way?" Ron didn't doubt that Percy fancied her, she was Hermione. And Percy probably liked how she was fussy about the little things, too. Attention to detail, he'd call it.

"Women know these things, Ron."

Ron considered this silently for a while, and then pondered out loud, "I really can't see it."

"Let's forget Hermione and Percy and concentrate on us, dear." Christina berated with a slightly sour note in her voice, "That's what's really important, isn't it?"

Ron nodded and let Christina pull him to the sofa. She smiled tremulously and pushed him down gently and kissed his ear and sensitive throat.

"I'll make you forget about everyone else but us, Ron." she winked.
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The Engagement