Ron told her of his day on the job. �Well, first, I was introduced to everybody in the office. Then they sent me out with a couple of the top guys. Some idiot went out and tried to Apparate this morning and splinched himself.�
Hermione winced at this term. She couldn�t imagine leaving half of her body behind when she Apparated.
�Then, we all had lunch at a little pub on this side of London. Wonderfully charming place. The Earl Grey was especially crisp.
�Then we had to go back and do a filing on the job. It�s an awful lot of paperwork, but it�ll all pay off. In Galleons, that is.�
Harry�s day was filled with meeting everyone from the Minister of Magic down. Then he had a light lunch, then he was shown how to fill out the office�s paperwork. The Head of the Department was Agatha Menace, a new witch who had filled the void of Ludo Bagman after he was forced to go into hiding from the Gringotts goblins. But Harry had something even more important to discuss with Hermione.
�Hermione, what do you feel about. . .erm. . .Ron?�
�Ron? Well, Harry, it would be nice to know why you�re asking me this and not Ron.�
�Well, it�s just. . .very complicated. You see. . .Ron. . .he, erm. . .let�s just say he�s got an idea in his head, but he doesn�t know how you will react.�
�What kind of idea?� Hermione said, with a suspicious tone in her voice.
�An idea that may change both of your lives forever.�
�Did he mean. . .� thought Hermione.
�He wants to marry you, Hermione.�
Suddenly, Hermione�s world ceased to exist. The word �marry� had her a loss for words. It was exactly what she wanted! But if Ron was having doubts about how she felt. . .
�But he doesn�t know how you feel about it.�
�If he wants to marry me and he knows me so well, he should know how I feel about it!�
* * *
Days passed, Ron, Hermione, and Harry settled into their jobs. They had found a wonderful apartment just outside of London that they could afford. One day, Harry had some news.
�They�re sending me to Bulgaria. I�ve got to clear up some stuff on the next Quidditch World Cup.�
�When do you leave, Harry?� asked Hermione.
�I leave tomorrow. I should be back in a couple of days.�
Harry packed his bags quietly. He wasn�t sure what was going to happen over the next few days with Ron and Hermione alone together, but he was sure that most likely by the time that he got back, Hermione would be sporting a ring.
A cold and dismal day sent Harry to Bulgaria. Ron and Hermione had stayed home, the constant pouring rain had caused flooding and shut down most of London, even in the magical world. Ron put a kettle of tea on. Soon, they were talking and joking around about all the oddities of their jobs.
The storm grew steadily worse over the next hour. The lightning cracked and the thunder boomed. Suddenly, the lights went out, and the pair was thrown into darkness.