Just Another Normal Day in Diagon Alley

Part 4

Saturday morning came too soon for one resident of the Burrow. Ron Weasley poked his ruffled head out from under his warm blanket in disgust. The sun out and shinning, which translated to him, that Hermione would be by soon to drag him out of the house for a day of shopping, as she liked to call it. But Ron liked to refer to it later on as the worst day of his life.

When Ron met Hermione and eventually fell head over heels in love with her, the muggle who coined the phase 'opposites attract' wasn't kidding. Everything that Hermione loved, Ron hated and vice-versa. But this knowledge didn't stop them, and now or at least as of last night, the couple was happily engaged to one other. Now the only problem was how to get everyone together at once and announce the news.

As Ron fished around in the piles of clothes that littered his old bedroom, a knock sounded on his door. He quickly pulled the shirt in his hand over his head and ran his hand through his ruffled hair. Once he thought he looked presentable enough, he opened the door. Standing on the other side in a pale blue robe that lightly brushed across her knees was his beautiful and very clever fiancée. Hermione greeted Ron with a smile and a light kiss on the lips. Ron's ears turned slightly pink in response to her action.

"Are you ready to go, Ron?"

"Yeah, Herm. Have you had breakfast yet?" Hermione just shook her head slightly negatively.

"Well, Mom and Dad left late last night to spend the weekend with Bill and Fleur and their new baby, so looks like I'm watching the house for the weekend. Since I can't cook and you don't like to cook, let's go the Leaky Cauldron for breakfast and do a little bit of light shopping after that."

Hermione's face lit up at the prospect of shopping. Ron, eyeing her excited air warily he emphasized the key word in his statement heavily to her or at least tried to.

"A little bit of light shopping, Herm. And I don't mean the kind of light shopping you're thinking of. Mine means at most, three bags, I already know that yours means at least ten or eleven bags. I'm not carrying all those bags."

Hermione's lower lip started to jut out from her mouth and little tears could be made out glistening in her lovely brown eyes. Ron rubbed his forehead before grabbing her hand so they could apparate to the Leaky Cauldron before breakfast was stopped being served. Hermione grinned secretly in satisfaction, in her knowledge that she had just gotten her way again.

The pair appeared next to the large fireplace in the main chamber of the pub moments later. Tom greeted the couple when they arrived and told them that a waitress would be right over to take their order. Ron nodded in assertion at Tom, and pulled the chair out for Hermione at their table. Less than four minutes later, a waitress happily bounced over to their table to take their order. Once they had ordered the trio minus one person began to discuss how they were going to tell everybody.

"Ron, how about this? You owl everyone and invite them over for dinner one night next week and we can tell them that way. I mean it makes perfect sense, and it is also the easiest way to do it." Ron looked disgruntled at her suggestion.

"Why do I have to owl and invite? Why not you?"

"Because, Ronald. I work five days a week, nine hours a day. Which means I come home a lot of time with loads of paper which have to be completed by the morning and I just don't have the time or the energy to do the invitations too. Ron, what do you do during the day? Yes, I understand you practice Quidditch five hours a day, three days a week. But it is the off-season at the moment and it won't kill you to do this one little favor for me."

As Hermione ranted on and on at him for what seemed like hours, Ron paid tribute to the dirty ceiling above his head by rolling his eyes again and again. The light of the heatless fire in the hearth bounced off objects and made them shimmer and glisten in its light. Hermione's engagement ring caught that light in its grasp and held it tightly. Neither Ron nor Hermione noticed that someone had approached them till Hermione was pushed out of her rant by Ginny, who was currently examining her ring. She pushed her hair back from where it had fallen and laughed happily at Ginny's facial expression.

"Surprise."

The younger woman in front of her could only shake her head at her. "I'll say. So exactly when were we going to hear about this charming new development?"

Hermione felt her cheeks heat up in a light blush. "Probably as soon as Ron decided to owl his parents and invite the entire family including the Malfoys and Potters over to the house for dinner." Ron's face went from bored to hurt in a matter of seconds. "Back me up, Neville, why should I have to owl and invite? Considering this is Herm's idea."

The other man only held his hands up in defense of himself and took a step back in case of anything. "Hey, Ron. I like sleeping in the same bed as my wife, so I'm not getting involved. This is between the both of you." Ron watched his sister kiss her husband on the cheek before she spoke to Hermione. "And mom said that they can't be taught anything." Neville's expression was one of supposable hurt, Hermione could see that it was only in jest of his wife's statement. "Thanks a lot, Ginny. I'm just loving your faith in me." Ginny giggled at his response.

When Hermione's attention turned back to her fiancé, her gaze softened into pity at the man sitting in the chair. Ron sat rocking back and forth mumbling a string of words that resembled, 'I'm not listening to this. My sister isn't sharing a bed with one of my best friends. They have separate beds in separate rooms on the opposite sides of the flat.' Hermione patted and rubbed his head in a comforting gesture. While she tried to comfort her fiancé, Neville motioned to Ginny in silence that they should be going. The couples gave each other their goodbyes, and afterwards the Longbottoms departed for the wall that divided the two worlds.

When the waitress returned a few minutes later with their food and drinks, Ron proposed a solution to their existing problem.

"Okay, I will write the invitations, but you have to pay for the parchment and the ink at the stationary shop when we get there." Hermione was silent for a few seconds, than she picked her hand up from its resting place and held it out to the man before her. Ron grinned as he shook to finalize the deal set.

During the rest of their meal, the pair passed friendly banter back and forth. With the check paid, they left The Leaky Cauldron and strolled out into Diagon Alley. Hermione read her watch as they passed through the barrier in silence. Her watch read a little after 11:30, which meant that they didn't have long before the stationary shop closed up for the day. Side by side they walked the short distance to the shop; a friendly elderly witch welcomed them into the shop.

Whilst Hermione browsed the through the different colors of parchment and wax, Ron spent his time looking at the assortment of inks and quills. Hermione called Ron over to her location minutes later.

"I'm thinking maybe this deep blue parchment with the silver wax. What do you think?" Ron shrugged.

"Whatever you think looks best. But what color ink will you use?" Hermione paused for a few seconds.

"Silver would do nicely, but I would be scared that it would be over-doing it a little, don't you?"

"It will look fine, Herm. Now let's pay for it, so I can take you by Flourish and Blotts before we leave Diagon Alley."

"Are you sure you don't want to go by Quality Quidditch Supplies, I hear they have a new broom just in?" Ron glanced at the petite woman beside him. She could see the wheels turning in his head.

"No. I'm tired. Not that I don't love degnoming my mother's garden for her and everything, but right now, all I want to do is go home and crawl into my own bed with a very pretty little witch and sleep for the rest of the day." Hermione grinned at Ron, and kissed him on the cheek in agreement of the idea.

The couple walked next door to Flourish and Blotts where Ron purchased Hermione the newest edition of Hogwarts, A History. Once the purchase was made, the couple apparated home to their bedroom, where they followed every letter of Ron's idea.