An Outlandish Affair

Chapter 2

The weekend Hermione and Ron spent together was indeed spent doing all of Hermione's favorite things. Friday night after they left the flat they went straight to the Burrow and allowed themselves to be celebrated by the entirety of the Weasley family. They ate an immaculate dinner cooked by Mrs. Weasley and the boys ended the night with a quidditch scrimmage, while the girls looked on and drank their butterbeer.

"I'm so glad I get to add you both to our family," Mrs. Weasley had said to Hermione while gazing at Harry on the quidditch pitch.

"We've always felt like family, now it's just going to be official," Ginny replied from Mrs. Weasley's other side. Hermione smiled into her butterbeer contentedly and watched Ron make a fairly impressive save, considering they were using the boys' old brooms from their childhood.

On Saturday her and Ron went to all of her favorite book stores, both muggle and magical. They stopped in to see her parents and give them the news of their engagement. The couple preferred to do this in person because even though Mr. & Mrs. Granger were used to owl post when Hermione was at home, it still generally shocked them every time an owl flew into their house unannounced.

They stayed overnight at Ron's brother Bill's house, Shell Cottage, where he lived with his wife, Fleur. The older, married couple had lent them the house for the night. The view of the stars there was so incredible that Hermione insisted they sleep outside on the beach, with a couple of barrier and privacy wards of course. Ron did indeed end up following through with some of his suggestive paper airplane comments, and by dawn the pair were finally cuddling up together to fall asleep listening to the sound of the crashing ocean waves.

On Sunday Ron tried to make Hermione breakfast but it somehow ended up being inedible so they went to one of Hermione's favorite muggle diners. Ron had never been to a greasy spoon like this before and he was enthralled with the endless options; he ended up ordering one of everything to try.

Later that afternoon Ron tagged along as Hermione brought him to all of her favorite ingredient harvesting spots. He helped her in silence as she worked, tying bundles of plants together or jarring other more hazardous substances. He admired her knowledge and the way she could focus so wholly on the task at hand. They left to return to their flat with a bag loaded with potions ingredients, all packed and labeled with Ron's handwriting.

It really was endearing, how much Ron had tried to cram into this weekend to make Hermione happy. No one had ever done anything like this for her before and she had thoroughly enjoyed being the center of Ron's attention.

By Monday morning when Hermione returned to the castle she was in a very good mood indeed. She walked up to the hospital wing with her satchel full of new, fresh ingredients, excited to settle in and get brewing for the day.

"Ah, you're here a bit earlier than I anticipated!" Poppy called from her office as Hermione entered the infirmary. "I hope you still have some interesting stories about your weekend to perk up this old woman's day!"

Hermione laughed and ignored the suggestion, holding up her bag to show Pomfrey her score from the weekend.

"Really darling, an engagement weekend and you go foraging for potions supplies... I also know you are aware we could just purchase most of these ingredients." Poppy rolls her eyes and accepts the bag from Hermione's extended hand.

"I am aware of that but why should the school spend more money when I can go get them for free, and probably better quality if we're being honest. I also know you couldn't possibly resist fresh ingredients. I found an entirely new patch of dittany, although grove might actually be a better word. I don't think we'll run out for a long time now, especially if I keep going back to freshen the patch up." Hermione explains as she watches the Matron take everything out of the bag.