Fanfic: Trinkets - Part Three: Unpacking
Title: Trinkets - Part Three: Unpacking
Rating: PG15
Words: 1,545
Challenge: Signed photo of Lockhart, Number 12 Grimmauld Place
Summary: During the various stages of moving out, Ron and Hermione find some old trinkets.
Warnings (if applicable): As I finished this so late last night, I'm afraid it's unbetaed.
Notes: For the Ron/Hermione Reunion at
rhr_smutfest. Third and final part of a series of three linked one-shots. I'm so glad I didn't have to think of a title and summary for this one... The last scene was inspired by this gorgeous fanart by catchsmoke. If I could hug things on the internet, I'd hug the crap out of that.
On a final note, I'd like to write a smutty follow-up but I can't write smut. That makes me sad.
***
‘Now pass me those small boxes to your left,’ Hermione instructed without turning, carefully placing the last volume on her bookcase: Year with the Yeti.
Ron did as he was told; the three brightly-patterned boxes felt heavy, but not nearly as much as the ones Hermione had previously unpacked, containing the majority of her book collection.
‘What’s in these fancy things, anyway?’ he said, weighing them in his hands. He lifted the lid of the top box with a finger, peering inside.
‘Just letters, Ron; pass them over.’ Hermione held out both hands, but Ron was tucking the lid under one arm and frowning as his hand reached for something inside the box.
‘I remember this,’ he muttered slowly, before revealing the item that had caught his attention. For a brief moment, Hermione felt like wincing. Then she remembered she had found Lavender’s corny necklace before and she’d handled it with poise. Maybe Ron would remember and reciprocate.
Ron raised an eyebrow as he gingerly held up a golden card, looking at her.
‘Please tell me you haven’t gone through this box since 1993, or some other reason why you still keep Lockhart’s get-well card,’ he said, very seriously.
‘No. I was aware of having it,’ Hermione replied, turning up her nose slightly.
‘Hermione, do you remember that the bloke was a fraud? That he tried to wipe off Harry’s memory and mine, and leave Ginny to die?’ Ron sounded more disappointed than angry as he carefully left Hermione’s boxes on her desk. ‘I get that you fancied him before finding out he was an arse, but honestly-’
‘That’s exactly why I kept it, Ron!’ Hermione interrupted. ‘I don’t fancy him anymore, and I know he was awful. But look where it got him!’
She snatched the card out of Ron’s hand and turned it around, looking at the swirly penmanship.
‘I was twelve. I’d found out he came from an almost entirely Muggle family-only his mother had magical powers besides him, did you know? And he’d accomplished such great things! Well, or so I thought he had...’
Hermione sighed, looking at Ron.
‘I really admired him. I thought, if he could do it, so can I. And I kept this,’ she said, showing him the card, ‘to remind myself not to believe anything unless I have solid proof.’
‘I didn’t know. That explains a lot, though,’ Ron mumbled.
Hermione raised an eyebrow at him, placing a hand on her hip.
‘Are you going to rub in the Hallows again?’
‘Well...’
‘Think again.’
‘Fine,’ Ron said with a smirk, holding up his hands. ‘I still don’t know why you want to keep his books, though.’
‘They’re awfully entertaining!’
‘Yeah, right. I’d stick to ‘awful’. I was thinking about selling mine-that is, if anyone’s nuts enough to buy them.’
Ron sat on Hermione’s new old bed to peruse the big cardboard box where now only his school books remained. They had been mixed together with Hermione and Harry’s ever since she’d sorted out the ones they would take with them during the Horcrux search, abandoned in a corner of Ron’s bedroom.
‘I could sell more of my books, actually. There are many I won’t ever need anymore.’
‘I don’t know how you can do that. I wouldn’t dream of getting rid of any of my books,’ Hermione told him, gently running a finger down the spine of one of the copies on her shelves. A thought crossed her mind and she suddenly beamed at Ron.
‘It’s okay, though. We’re practically living together; we can share mine.’
‘That’s true. Or maybe we should keep both sets, so when our kids go to Hogwarts we won't need to spend a lot on books,' Ron joked. He picked up his old copy of Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them and made a face. 'We'll keep mine for the memories and give them yours, they look far better preserved.'
He looked at Hermione, staring at him with a funny expression, and paled.
‘Do you really think about that?’ she asked.
‘No, of course not,’ he blurted, his ears turning beet-red. ‘I mean, sometimes, but I wasn’t saying... I’m not thinking of having kids right away or anything! I mean, we don’t even know if we’ll end up marrying or-’
‘What do you mean?’ Hermione cut him off, frowning. ‘“We don’t know if we’ll end up marrying”? Are you implying you won’t want to marry me? Or that you don’t think I will want to marry you?’
Ron took great care to return his book back into the box, avoiding eye contact.
‘Of course I want to marry you, some day,’ he said quietly. ‘Once we’re both a little more stable in our jobs, so we can get a house. Then, if you wanted to, have a couple of kids-probably less than four...’
Hermione fought back the smile on her lips before saying, ‘So if you do want to marry me... the problem is that you don’t think I’ll want to. Isn’t it?’
‘No,’ Ron said, but hesitated a second too long: Hermione stomped her foot down, accidentally crushing Ron’s.
‘Fuck!’
‘You're unbelievable, Ron! How can you still think something like that?’
‘I don’t!’ he half groaned, rubbing his sore foot. ‘I’m sorry, this came out all wrong! I only meant... I just don’t want you to think I’m rushing you into anything, or that I’m taking too much for granted, because we’ve never really talked... well, it’s only been a year, of course we haven’t discussed things like these...’
‘But you were thinking about it,’ Hermione insisted. She didn’t feel upset anymore, but only because she knew Ron had a tendency to become tangled in his words when he wasn’t sure how to translate his thoughts for her. Now she understood.
‘So was I.’
Ron looked up in surprise and smiled hesitantly.
‘You were?’
Hermione nodded.
‘I know we’ve only been together for hardly over a year. I obviously think this is working, and want it to stay that way, but I... I don’t want to take anything for granted either. But what I know is that, if I was ever to send my children to Hogwarts...’ She smiled at him now and took one of his hands. ‘There’s no one else I’d rather stand next to in that platform.’
Ron grinned at her.
‘But they’d be my kids, too, right?’ Ron said, causing Hermione to slap him on the shoulder, even as she smiled. ‘Or we just run into each other? Well, you do have a weird way with words, don’t you know that?’
He grabbed her hands and tugged gently. Hermione climbed into his lap, locking both legs behind his back, and kissed him.
‘So, if I proposed to you,’ Ron said, feeling the tickle of her fingers running through the hair on his nape. ‘Does that mean you’d say yes?’
Hermione’s eyes widened and her nails scrapped slightly against his scalp.
‘Are... are you proposing right now?’
‘No!’ Ron felt the colour spreading through the back of his neck. It was probably stupid to ask your girlfriend if she’d marry you when you weren’t actually proposing, come to think of it. ‘I just wanted to have a heads-up for when I do. I-I don’t have a ring yet-’
‘You don’t have to buy me a ring,’ Hermione blurted out. ‘I don’t want you to.’
‘Are you trying to get me kicked out of my family?’ said Ron, giving her a lopsided smile. ‘Shacking up isn’t scandal enough for you, huh?’
‘No, Ron.’ Hermione was looking very intently at him. ‘Forget about the ring. If you... if you’d proposed to me right now, I would have said yes. I would say yes if you-’
‘You want me to propose now?’ Ron’s mouth had suddenly gone bone-dry.
‘Well, look at this logically,’ Hermione said, adopting the very Hermione-like look she got when she was trying to convince people-and herself-that something was a perfectly reasonable idea. ‘We’ve known each other since we were eleven. We made it through a war together. This year hasn’t been perfect for a number of reasons, but we worked it out. I don’t want to get married right away; I don’t mind if it’s a long engagement. I just... I want to be engaged to you.’
When the seconds passed and Ron didn’t say or do anything but stared at her in a sort of spell, Hermione felt her stomach fluttering in nervousness.
‘It’s insane, I know; you don’t have to say ye-’
Her words were cut off when Ron leaned forward and kissed her, his hands placed firmly on her lower back in an impossible attempt to pull their bodies closer than they already were.
‘We’re engaged, then? You sure you don’t want to think this through?’
‘I already have,’ Hermione said breathlessly, her mouth still less than an inch away from Ron’s. ‘But I don’t think you’ve actually proposed yet.’
‘What would be the point? You already did, in your own way.’
‘Oh.’
Ron chuckled at the small frown that appeared on her face and kissed her again.
‘Hermione, will you marry me?’
He didn’t have to wait for her answer.
Rating: PG15
Words: 1,545
Challenge: Signed photo of Lockhart, Number 12 Grimmauld Place
Summary: During the various stages of moving out, Ron and Hermione find some old trinkets.
Warnings (if applicable): As I finished this so late last night, I'm afraid it's unbetaed.
Notes: For the Ron/Hermione Reunion at
rhr_smutfest. Third and final part of a series of three linked one-shots. I'm so glad I didn't have to think of a title and summary for this one... The last scene was inspired by this gorgeous fanart by catchsmoke. If I could hug things on the internet, I'd hug the crap out of that.
On a final note, I'd like to write a smutty follow-up but I can't write smut. That makes me sad.
***
‘Now pass me those small boxes to your left,’ Hermione instructed without turning, carefully placing the last volume on her bookcase: Year with the Yeti.
Ron did as he was told; the three brightly-patterned boxes felt heavy, but not nearly as much as the ones Hermione had previously unpacked, containing the majority of her book collection.
‘What’s in these fancy things, anyway?’ he said, weighing them in his hands. He lifted the lid of the top box with a finger, peering inside.
‘Just letters, Ron; pass them over.’ Hermione held out both hands, but Ron was tucking the lid under one arm and frowning as his hand reached for something inside the box.
‘I remember this,’ he muttered slowly, before revealing the item that had caught his attention. For a brief moment, Hermione felt like wincing. Then she remembered she had found Lavender’s corny necklace before and she’d handled it with poise. Maybe Ron would remember and reciprocate.
Ron raised an eyebrow as he gingerly held up a golden card, looking at her.
‘Please tell me you haven’t gone through this box since 1993, or some other reason why you still keep Lockhart’s get-well card,’ he said, very seriously.
‘No. I was aware of having it,’ Hermione replied, turning up her nose slightly.
‘Hermione, do you remember that the bloke was a fraud? That he tried to wipe off Harry’s memory and mine, and leave Ginny to die?’ Ron sounded more disappointed than angry as he carefully left Hermione’s boxes on her desk. ‘I get that you fancied him before finding out he was an arse, but honestly-’
‘That’s exactly why I kept it, Ron!’ Hermione interrupted. ‘I don’t fancy him anymore, and I know he was awful. But look where it got him!’
She snatched the card out of Ron’s hand and turned it around, looking at the swirly penmanship.
‘I was twelve. I’d found out he came from an almost entirely Muggle family-only his mother had magical powers besides him, did you know? And he’d accomplished such great things! Well, or so I thought he had...’
Hermione sighed, looking at Ron.
‘I really admired him. I thought, if he could do it, so can I. And I kept this,’ she said, showing him the card, ‘to remind myself not to believe anything unless I have solid proof.’
‘I didn’t know. That explains a lot, though,’ Ron mumbled.
Hermione raised an eyebrow at him, placing a hand on her hip.
‘Are you going to rub in the Hallows again?’
‘Well...’
‘Think again.’
‘Fine,’ Ron said with a smirk, holding up his hands. ‘I still don’t know why you want to keep his books, though.’
‘They’re awfully entertaining!’
‘Yeah, right. I’d stick to ‘awful’. I was thinking about selling mine-that is, if anyone’s nuts enough to buy them.’
Ron sat on Hermione’s new old bed to peruse the big cardboard box where now only his school books remained. They had been mixed together with Hermione and Harry’s ever since she’d sorted out the ones they would take with them during the Horcrux search, abandoned in a corner of Ron’s bedroom.
‘I could sell more of my books, actually. There are many I won’t ever need anymore.’
‘I don’t know how you can do that. I wouldn’t dream of getting rid of any of my books,’ Hermione told him, gently running a finger down the spine of one of the copies on her shelves. A thought crossed her mind and she suddenly beamed at Ron.
‘It’s okay, though. We’re practically living together; we can share mine.’
‘That’s true. Or maybe we should keep both sets, so when our kids go to Hogwarts we won't need to spend a lot on books,' Ron joked. He picked up his old copy of Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them and made a face. 'We'll keep mine for the memories and give them yours, they look far better preserved.'
He looked at Hermione, staring at him with a funny expression, and paled.
‘Do you really think about that?’ she asked.
‘No, of course not,’ he blurted, his ears turning beet-red. ‘I mean, sometimes, but I wasn’t saying... I’m not thinking of having kids right away or anything! I mean, we don’t even know if we’ll end up marrying or-’
‘What do you mean?’ Hermione cut him off, frowning. ‘“We don’t know if we’ll end up marrying”? Are you implying you won’t want to marry me? Or that you don’t think I will want to marry you?’
Ron took great care to return his book back into the box, avoiding eye contact.
‘Of course I want to marry you, some day,’ he said quietly. ‘Once we’re both a little more stable in our jobs, so we can get a house. Then, if you wanted to, have a couple of kids-probably less than four...’
Hermione fought back the smile on her lips before saying, ‘So if you do want to marry me... the problem is that you don’t think I’ll want to. Isn’t it?’
‘No,’ Ron said, but hesitated a second too long: Hermione stomped her foot down, accidentally crushing Ron’s.
‘Fuck!’
‘You're unbelievable, Ron! How can you still think something like that?’
‘I don’t!’ he half groaned, rubbing his sore foot. ‘I’m sorry, this came out all wrong! I only meant... I just don’t want you to think I’m rushing you into anything, or that I’m taking too much for granted, because we’ve never really talked... well, it’s only been a year, of course we haven’t discussed things like these...’
‘But you were thinking about it,’ Hermione insisted. She didn’t feel upset anymore, but only because she knew Ron had a tendency to become tangled in his words when he wasn’t sure how to translate his thoughts for her. Now she understood.
‘So was I.’
Ron looked up in surprise and smiled hesitantly.
‘You were?’
Hermione nodded.
‘I know we’ve only been together for hardly over a year. I obviously think this is working, and want it to stay that way, but I... I don’t want to take anything for granted either. But what I know is that, if I was ever to send my children to Hogwarts...’ She smiled at him now and took one of his hands. ‘There’s no one else I’d rather stand next to in that platform.’
Ron grinned at her.
‘But they’d be my kids, too, right?’ Ron said, causing Hermione to slap him on the shoulder, even as she smiled. ‘Or we just run into each other? Well, you do have a weird way with words, don’t you know that?’
He grabbed her hands and tugged gently. Hermione climbed into his lap, locking both legs behind his back, and kissed him.
‘So, if I proposed to you,’ Ron said, feeling the tickle of her fingers running through the hair on his nape. ‘Does that mean you’d say yes?’
Hermione’s eyes widened and her nails scrapped slightly against his scalp.
‘Are... are you proposing right now?’
‘No!’ Ron felt the colour spreading through the back of his neck. It was probably stupid to ask your girlfriend if she’d marry you when you weren’t actually proposing, come to think of it. ‘I just wanted to have a heads-up for when I do. I-I don’t have a ring yet-’
‘You don’t have to buy me a ring,’ Hermione blurted out. ‘I don’t want you to.’
‘Are you trying to get me kicked out of my family?’ said Ron, giving her a lopsided smile. ‘Shacking up isn’t scandal enough for you, huh?’
‘No, Ron.’ Hermione was looking very intently at him. ‘Forget about the ring. If you... if you’d proposed to me right now, I would have said yes. I would say yes if you-’
‘You want me to propose now?’ Ron’s mouth had suddenly gone bone-dry.
‘Well, look at this logically,’ Hermione said, adopting the very Hermione-like look she got when she was trying to convince people-and herself-that something was a perfectly reasonable idea. ‘We’ve known each other since we were eleven. We made it through a war together. This year hasn’t been perfect for a number of reasons, but we worked it out. I don’t want to get married right away; I don’t mind if it’s a long engagement. I just... I want to be engaged to you.’
When the seconds passed and Ron didn’t say or do anything but stared at her in a sort of spell, Hermione felt her stomach fluttering in nervousness.
‘It’s insane, I know; you don’t have to say ye-’
Her words were cut off when Ron leaned forward and kissed her, his hands placed firmly on her lower back in an impossible attempt to pull their bodies closer than they already were.
‘We’re engaged, then? You sure you don’t want to think this through?’
‘I already have,’ Hermione said breathlessly, her mouth still less than an inch away from Ron’s. ‘But I don’t think you’ve actually proposed yet.’
‘What would be the point? You already did, in your own way.’
‘Oh.’
Ron chuckled at the small frown that appeared on her face and kissed her again.
‘Hermione, will you marry me?’
He didn’t have to wait for her answer.