A Touch of Pink

A Touch of Pink

It was the end of term, and Molly Weasley was in the washroom sorting through Ron's laundry basket, tsk-tsking to herself about how many articles of clothing he and his brothers went through in the span of a few weeks. "Honestly, these boys! I don't understand how - what on earth?" She stopped suddenly upon seeing a flash of pale pink silk amongst Ron's dirty jeans and socks. Her brow furrowed, and she picked it up. Held between her fingers by a thin strap, it was a nightgown, and not much of one at that.
"Oh, goodness!" she gasped, and dropped the offending piece of lingerie back in the basket, just as Ron came skidding into the room out of breath.
"Mum- have you gone through my clothes yet? I mean, I think I left something - "
"I'd certainly say you did leave something in there, Ron." Molly once again picked up the nightie and held it up for Ron to see. "As unsettling as this is, however, I certainly hope it's not yours..." she tilted her head at him, and cast a warning glance.
"Well, erm-I-no, I was going to say that it's well...Ginny's things got mixed in with mine - " Ron looked everywhere but at Molly, fumbling for something to say. His entire face was red as a cherry.
"Ronald," Molly said threateningly, although an amused glint flashed in her eyes. "Who does this really belong to?"
Ron bit his lip, rolled his eyes skyward, picked at a thread in his sweater. He mumbled something under his breath that sounded like "Sea Anemone."
"Speak up, Ron. What did you say?"
"Oh, bloody hell, it's HERMIONE'S, okay? We're - we've been..."

"Language, Ron!"

"Sorry. Hermione and I are sort of, we're dating now, and sometimes we..."

"Stop!" Molly held up her hand. "Honestly, there's no need to go into detail. Here." She walked over to him and handed him the lingerie, which Ron quickly balled up and stuffed into the pocket of his jeans. Relief swept his face and he high tailed it from the room before Molly could say another word.

He didn't stop running until he'd reached his room on the uppermost floor; he slammed the door, which sent Pigwidgeon into an even more frenzied state, whirling around Ron's head and twittering madly. Ron chucked the nightgown onto his bed and stared at it incomprehensively.

Mum had found Hermione's nightgown - he was never going to live this down. Between his mother and Hermione...when Hermione found out, she would wring his neck for sure. They had sworn to be careful, to not let anyone in on their relationship until they'd had enough time to get comfortable with it themselves. Crossing that line of friendship, it was a big deal - they hadn't even told Harry, for Pete's sake, and he was their best friend.

Harry. That was it. He would tell Harry. He wasn't sure why, but this made him feel better. Ron immediately put quill to parchment and scribbled a note, which after a few minutes of fussing and getting Pigwidgeon to sit still, he attached to the owl's leg and sent him off out the window.

"What the hell, he's going to find out anyway," Ron muttered, as he paced the room leafing his fingers anxiously through his tousled red hair. "Mum knows, that means most of the neighborhood will know before Harry even gets the letter."

Later that evening, Ron was still pacing his room impatiently waiting for a response from Harry. He hadn't ventured out since that morning, afraid to see the faces of his brothers and hear their taunting about him and Hermione, making kissing noises and google eyes at him. Then there would be Ginny saying "I told you so!" That was the last thing he needed. Ron seriously doubted he'd be able to face his mother again without picturing her holding Hermione's nightgown. His stomach rumbled uncomfortably. It had been hours since he'd last eaten, but he couldn't possibly risk going downstairs until things died down. Dad wasn't home from the Ministry yet, and of course Mum would be filling him in on all the embarrassing details.

It was with great relief that he saw the outline of Pigwidgeon appear above a line of trees not too far in the distance. The bird was moving erratically, and when he got a bit closer Ron noticed there was a small parcel attached to his leg along with a rolled up parchment.

The owl nearly crashed onto the table with the weight of the parcel, but squawked with delight when Ron came to retrieve him. "Calm down, you idiot! Let me get the bloody parcel off, then you can have an owl treat!" His hands were clammy and his fingers fumbled with the string attaching the package to Pigwidgeon's leg. The bird didn't make things easier by pecking at his hands enthusiastically as if to say, "See? I did it!"

Finally, Ron freed the package from the owl's leg. He found some owl treats in the cluttered top drawer of his desk, and gave them to Pigwidgeon, then he flopped down on the bed with his long, gangly legs hanging over the side. The hairs on his arms prickled as he first opened the parchment which bore his name written in Harry's unmistakable scrawl:

"Hey Ron -

I hate to break this to you, but you and Hermione are old news. Pretty much everyone has known about it for weeks already - that is, everyone except your parents, which I see you have taken care of already. You and Hermione are anything but subtle. Hermione gets so flustered when you walk into a room, and makes such an effort not to notice you that she may as well be staring right at you and declaring how much she fancies you. You blush so red every time you see her it's like you're standing there completely naked in front of her. Personally I think it's great, and it's about bloody time you told everyone so we could all stop pretending it wasn't happening right under our noses.Oh, by the way, Pigwidgeon will be making an extra stop on the way back - Hermione has a little gift for you...I'll talk to you soon, I can't wait to come to the Burrow next month, the Dursleys are driving me mad. I'm this close to turning Dudley into a donkey. See you soon.

~Harry"

Ron sat up. "Bloody hell, everyone knows? Were were really that obvious?" His cheeks flushed as he sat there for several minutes mulling over this revelation. After all that Hermione had said about restraint and secrecy, and how they needed to handle the situation carefully. All the tiptoeing around Harry, and the discreet hand slaps under the table whenever Ron touched her leg just under her skirt, it was all for nothing.

She'd kill him. She really would. They'd have a nice big row over it, that was for sure. And it wouldn't be a harmless row over something they both knew to be pointless and ridiculous- with those disagreements, they inevitably ended up in a compromising position. Those were the disagreements Ron particularly enjoyed. This would be the kind where Hermione wouldn't talk to him, or would look at him with such disappointment that he would want to shrink into the ground and disappear.

"Great. Just bloody great!" Ron tossed the parchment onto the floor. Then his eyes fell on the carefully wrapped package on the bed. He'd forgotten about the package. "....Hermione has a little gift for you..."

He swallowed, finding it suddenly difficult. Part of him was anxious to open it, while the other part of him was hesitant. But ultimately he couldn't wait, and he tore open the packaging with the eagerness of a small child.

Inside was a small box tied with a thin orange silk ribbon. The box was off-white with a metallic orange border and the words: "Cannon Fire: The Scent of the Chudley Cannons, A Cologne for Men" written on it in bold lettering. Wait. Cologne? He'd heard about this, it was brand new, and it was expensive - but he hadn't even bothered to mention it, he felt ridiculous mentioning cologne when he'd never worn it before. So how had she known?

He untied the ribbon and opened the box. Inside was short, square-shaped bottle with a cap in the shape of a cannonball. Tied to the bottle was a small card, with a note in Hermione's neat handwriting.

Ron ~

As soon as this came out I knew I'd get it for you. And don't worry, I won't tell Harry. I hope you aren't too upset with me about leaving the nightgown in your things. I suppose I just got tired of sneaking around, and I wanted everyone to know about us. I miss you terribly and I love you. Write soon.

~ Yours,

Hermione

PS: I can't wait to see you next month. It should be interesting!