Post-peace Chaos (Drarry)

Chapter 34

[Harry]

Harry spat out a mouthful of ash before coughing his way out of the fireplace. Newly purchased floo powder was always so active. He sincerely regretted dumping out his last bowl.

Spluttering, he climbed out of the frame and was greeted by a grinning Ron.

"New batch, eh? As I always say, soot suits you..."

Harry scowled at him as he cracked up.

"Hi, Harry! Here," Hermione thrust a wet towel at him and he gratefully mopped up his face and wiped his glasses.

Ron passed him a bottle of beer and they unscrewed the caps together. "To Thursday Drinks' Night!" they cheered. Hermione rolled her eyes.

Harry made himself comfortable on their couch and gulped down some cold beer. It was definitely a reward after reading through tons of ways to practice Polyjuice, Veritaserum, and Amortentia detecting charms. He strongly suspected the course was added under Kinsley's order since he knew about the huge batch of Polyjuice supporting their Horcrux hunt.

"How's S.P.E.W. going, 'Mione?" The boys had learned not to call it spew the hard way.

"Oh, it's all right. People are still very touchy toward elf rights, the elves themselves too... But at least Arthur's helping me!" she said brightly. "He's got Kingsley to help, Kinsley's influence is absolutely great of course, he's the minister, we are raising awareness for muggles and muggle-borns as well..."

She chattered on animatedly, and Harry's attention shifted to Ron who was sitting beside her, watching his wife talk. He wondered if he also looked like a helpless romantic when he looked at Draco.

"...Anyway, that's enough about me," she beamed, sipping her sangria. "So, Harry? What about you? What happened after the Prophet thing?"

Harry set aside his beer on a coaster- something Hermione was very insistent on. "Er- well, I mean, you saw me," he said, blushing, "And then Gin's letter arrived, I went over to Draco's of course-"

Ron and Hermione's eyebrows reached the tips of their forehead. "Oh, yeah, I forgot to tell you, we're on a first-name basis now," he said.

Hermione was clutching her glass so hard he thought it would break. He didn't want to imagine what would happen next.

"Um, anyway... we got into a fight."

Hermione gasped and Ron's eyes widened. "You don't mean- the bruises? Blimey, Harry, I thought you said you were good!"

"Oh, no, we are, that's something that happened later..."

Ron and Hermione were both on the edge of their seats now. He felt oddly exposed.

"Then how did it end? Did you hex each other?" Ron asked hopefully.

"Er- no, it was just a verbal fight-" Harry waved a hand. "It ended a bit... comically."

"How, Harry how?! Merlin's pants, you're killing us!"

Harry fought the desperate need to laugh. He hoped the pair wouldn't die from shock after the evening.

"I called him a ferret? A ridiculous over-analyzing ferret, to be exact."

Ron roared with laughter and sloshed drops of beer over the couch. Hermione pursed her lips.

"It was pretty hard to continue yelling at each other after that point."

Hermione was trying her best to ignore the beer stains. "So? Then?"

"I stayed for dinner, and then I stayed for the night again-"

"WHAT?!"

"Oh, come on, I already told you guys I've already stayed over before, it's no big deal! Anyways," he continued, "He had a nightmare and he screamed, so I ran to his room because I thought he was hurt or something- but I didn't have on my glasses so I kind of rammed straight into his doorframe."

Ron's face was purple from concealing his laughter and Hermione made an effort to remain airy. "Interesting... do continue,"

Harry rolled his eyes. "And then I kicked open the door which ended in a swollen ankle- Ron, stop laughing for the love of Merlin! I woke him up..."

Harry's face flushed crimson.

"What? What?!" Hermione was on the verge of screaming to demand more. "Er- he- erm," Harry blushed even harder. "He- he won't let go of my wrist, so- so I slept- IN THE SAME BED, RON! -with him that night."

There was a moment of silence. Then Hermione burst into a series of squeals. She clutched both of Ron's shoulders and shook him violently. "Oh, dear, oh, dear! How romantic is that, Ron! They are basically star-crossed lovers!"

"Bah- 'Mione! Geroff, stop shaking-"

Hermione released her husband and smiled widely at Harry. He held up a hand before Hermione could pounce.

"Nothing happened, okay? Well, I mean, at that moment..."

Hermione looked as if she might faint. Harry resumed talking hurriedly. "I went to work the next day and we had dinner together at my place that night."

Something sparkled in Hermione's eyes and she gripped his hand tightly. "And?"

"Well... um, we kissed."

Hermione screamed.

"I knew it, I knew it!" She jumped up from the couch and flung her arms around Harry, all the while shrieking with joy. "Oh, how lovely! So what are you guys? Are you dating?" Hermione gasped. "Are you official?!"

Ron was laughing. "Let the man breathe, 'Mione," he chuckled.

She released him from suffocation and bounced back to the couch, humming.

Ron turned to him, grinning. "But seriously, what's the deal?"

A smile was playing around Harry's lips. "Oh, I don't know, I don't know... we're dating, yes, but I don't think we're an- item- yet."

It felt nice to share his giddiness with his friends, even though there was a high risk of choking to death.

"But surely you'll pop the question some time?" Hermione questioned with her eyes wide.

"Well... maybe, yeah," Harry looked up at his friends, who were both smiling. "I'd definitely like that."

"Oh, Ronald! How exciting is this?"

Ron merely grinned and chuckled. "I can't believe my best mate's snogging Draco Malfoy. I mean, how wild is that?"

Harry wriggled his eyebrow. "Pretty wild. He's excellent."

Ron made retching noises as Hermione looked as if she'd won the lottery.

"Ew, no, Harry! You dated my sister!" Ron looked positively green now.

Hermione giggled into her husband's arms and Harry smiled. "I still love her, she's one of my best friends."

"You'd better," Ron added threateningly. He broke into a smile after a second. "Didn't know you were the type to kiss and tell," he smirked.

"Actually, we kind of made a deal to do exactly that."

Ron drained a bottle of beer.