In Sickness and in Health

{1}

Hermione felt the day pass slowly in her office at the ministry while she was there. Mostly, she was looking forward to her date with Ron that evening through the entirety of the day. She was at home now, but Auror's never arrived back early, so she wasn't worried about being alone in the lonely flat without him and his boisterous attitude.

At about half five, he finally arrived, sweating as though he'd ran the whole way home.

"Are you alright?" Hermione wondered, lifting herself from the kitchen table and setting her book down, being careful to place the bookmark where it belonged.

"Yeah, 'Mione, of course. Just late is all. Harry and I were finishing up a field case, and some prat threw a curse at us, but we dodged it. The paperwork was a bear."

Ron continued to ramble on about his case, pecking her lips before shedding his cloak and going into their room to switch quickly into muggle clothing and shower. Hermione felt that wizarding restaurants were few and far between, so she liked to go out around them and try all they could. He entertained her, and tonight he was doubly doing so, as their date was actually quite fancy. They'd been planning it for a few weeks, and Hermione kept checking her watch to make sure seven hadn't been approaching too quickly. The shower went on, and the clock read six, so she wasn't overly worried.

When Ron was dressed, and his hair had been spelled into place, Hermione slid into their room and changed into her outfit, not wanting it to wrinkle. He left the bathroom, and she smiled at him in his nice button-down and dress pants. He hated the way they felt, but she assured him they looked much better than his dress robes.

"You look wonderful," she assured him.

"Thanks, is it warm in the flat?" He answered, not commenting on her own choice of dress. It was silky purple, and it seemed to fit her just right when she'd gotten it the evening before. Of course, Ron wouldn't be able to comment on the fit of a woman's dress.

"Not really, it's the usual temperature."

The back of Ron's hand was at his forehead soon enough, and when he brought it back, he had to wipe it of sweat.

"Feel's too hot, I'm dying in here," he mumbled.

"Maybe it's because of the hot shower you took," Hermione scolded him, "It's not good for you to have the water so scalding."

"Don't worry, 'Mione," Ron seemed to brush it off, "Probably just a cold or something. Where are we going again?"

Hermione blinked, "Orien's, a block down the street."

She'd told him at least a million times, but apparently that wasn't enough for him to retain it.

"Let's go then, I assume you want to walk?" He teased, grabbing her waist as they headed towards the door.

"I know you work out while off-duty Ron, but not all of us are Auror's and can do that," she dealt back, laughing as he laughed with her. "I need to get exercise in otherwise!"

The couple headed out the door, and Hermione checked her watch again to make sure they would be there early. It was quarter of seven, and everything was going according to plan. She smiled, enjoying the light brush of a summer breeze when they exited their building.

Ron coughed, interrupting the peace that came with the bustling of cars and people in the streets of London.

"See," he muffled between a few more coughs, "Just a cold."

Hermione resisted the urge to make him let go of her so that he wouldn't get her sick as well, but they lived together, so not much could be done about her avoiding him.