Hermione's Home

      A tall, red-headed young man walked up and down the alley, evidently nervous. Rubbing his hand through his hair for the tenth time, he glanced at his watch and bit his lip. It was time; he had to go now if he didn't want to be late, so he turned round the corner and headed to the house. He wasn't quite sure about how he felt: it was the first time he would be meeting Hermione's parents as their official son-in-law. But that wasn't what actually made him so anxious… It was the fact he was going to be in her home, her refuge, the place where she had spent her childhood… Or maybe it was just the whole situation. Hmph, if Hermione was in his head, she would realize he certainly did not have the emotional range of a teaspoon.
      He was still analyzing his feelings when he became aware he was already there. Slowly, he went up the steps and just stood in front of the wooden, welcoming door for a few seconds. Finally, he plucked up courage and, sighing, knocked with his knuckles. As soon as he did it, the door tucked open and a bushy-haired woman threw herself into his arms. He laughed and blushed, hugging her back. She looked up and Ron could see she was bubbling over with joy. Those bright brown eyes and that wide smile made his heart beat faster, Merlin he loved her!
      "I'm so glad you're here" she whispered, standing on her toe tips and kissing him on the lips.
      "I'm glad I'm here too" he answered. Hermione smiled from ear to ear.
      "Come on in!" she said, taking his hand and walking inside.
     The living room was cozy and nice, and Ron couldn't help smiling when he saw it. Everything was really tidy, buy yet the place radiated warmth. He could almost see little Hermione taking one of those heavy books out of the shelves and jumping into the comfortable armchair, her nose buried into the pages. A light and pleasant smell came from the chimney's flaming wood, and on the mantelpiece rested some delicate frames with photos of his girlfriend as a kid with a smiling couple.
      When the kitchen's door opened, a delicious scent flooded the room reminding Ron of his own mother. He turned around, still holding Hermione's hand, who stared at him with shining eyes. The woman in front of them looked a lot like her daughter: she had the same mane of bushy hair (though she had it shorter, and had tied it up to keep it away from her face), the same little nose, and he was sure that the same severe expression he knew so well could appear on her face. She smiled widely, drying her hands with the apron as she approached to them.
      "Nice to see you Mrs. Gra…" Ron started saying, but the woman interrupted him hugging him tightly.
      "I'm so happy you're here, Ron, dear!" she said cheerily, stroking his face motherly, "But I have to go take care of those potatoes. Show him the rest of the house, sweetie" she asked Hermione, kissing her hair and disappearing through the door again. Ron could feel his ears were red, and smiled clumsily at his girlfriend, who laughed out loud and took his hand again, leading him up the stairs.
     Once in the first floor, he could see a half-opened door, which Hermione told him was her parent's room. As they passed by, the door opened and a man came out of the room. At first he seemed surprised to see them, but then he smiled warmly, showing a perfect set of white teeth. The redhead froze, his blue eyes wide open, and Hermione stifled a chuckle.
     "Ronald. Nice to meet you again" the man said, holding out his hand to him. Ron tried to smile, though it was more like a grimace, and shook his hand.
     "Nice to see you, Mr. Granger" he answered, relaxing a little when he looked at him in the eye: behind the square reading glasses, he could see a pair of kind brown eyes which looked a lot like Hermione's.
      "So finally my sweet Mione fell in love…" his daughter couldn't help blushing when he said so "Though I would dare to say she has been in love for quite a while. Take care of my little girl, will you?"
      "Of course I will, sir" Ron said, suddenly serious.
      "You're a good boy" the man stated, looking at them with a wise smile. "I'll wait for you downstairs, we'll tell you when dinner's ready"
      When Mr. Granger left, Hermione looked away, completely blushed.
      "That's the bathroom, Ron. You may want to wash your hands before dinner. Then I'll show you my room" the redhead nodded and entered, closing the door behind him.
      Everything was white and impeccable, and the boy feared for his retina when he walked in there. He looked at the mirror and his pale, freckled reflex stared back at him. Curious, he opened the bathroom cabinet and found a series of teeth-cleaning devices, from dental floss to some unidentifiable and slightly scary objects. The tooth brushes were there too, and he smiled with tenderness when he recognized Hermione's: it was lilac and a dancing couple, a blonde princess and a prince, could be seen on the handle. They were actually moving; the girl had probably charmed it to do so. Ha, she did break rules sometimes…
      When he finished inspecting the whole place, he went out the bathroom. Hermione was expecting him, and holding his hand again, led him to her room. Hanging on the door, there was a home-made sign that said, in a childish but neat and familiar handwriting: Hermione's room. Ron smiled and stroked the letters, picturing little Hermione again. The girl grabbed the doorknob and turned it, letting her boyfriend into a grayish-blue room. The first thing that caught Ron's eye when he entered the place was a cute, fluffy teddy bear that rested on the tidy bed. It was orange and had blue eyes, but the boy couldn't get what was so familiar about it. The room's scent enraptured him; it was the scent he had learnt to recognize and to love for so many years: Hermione's hair. On the nigh table he could see an interesting electric lamp, a thick book, a feather quill and two photos: her and her parents at Paris, and Harry, Ginny, Hermione and him at The Burrow. Delicate white curtains framed the window, and loads of books covered the desk and the shelves. He approached the bookcase and caressed the spines; there were books of spells, of history of magic, but also muggle books, and even muggle children stories. He chuckled when he read Cinderella. Hermione could say whatever she wanted, but it sounded more like a disease than like a princess' name. He kept reading the titles, and he was moved by the fact she had kept all her childhood stories. Maybe they could both read them to their daughter some day. He was surprised by that thought, and his ears went red as he thanked Hermione didn't know Legilimency.
      Ron walked away from the shelves and casted an eye over the rest of the room. There were no posters on the walls, but she had glued a few photos on them. Again, he could see the three Grangers, Hermione, Luna and his sister, Harry, her and himself. On the floor, there was an odd black machine which he recalled the girl had told him was used to listen to music. Next to it there were some colourful boxes with strange names. He thought he should better lend her some Weird Sisters stuff.
      The whole place was so… so her. He loved being there; he felt… he kind of felt he was home. When he turned around, he met Hermione's brown eyes. She left Crookshanks on the floor (apparently the cat had sneaked into the room) and stared at her boyfriend expectantly.
     "So? What do you think?" she asked coming closer to him. Ron put his hands on her waist and whispered.
      "I love it. This… this was a great idea. I can see little you running around the whole place, devouring all those books…"
    "Hey!" Hermione complained, but he kissed her on the nose and she smiled.
    "By the way... what's with the tooth brush?" She went red.
    "Forget the tooth brush" she ordered, sticking her finger in his chest.
    "I'd like our kids to have a home like this one" he said, and the girl blushed even more, looking at him surprised.
    "You talking about having kids?"
     "I guess I'm just madly in love with you"