For some reason, Harry is singing "Build Me Up Buttercup"

[boy_who_lived]

Who: Harry Potter, Hermione Granger and Ron Weasley
What: Dinner!
Where:  Harry's London Flat
When: Friday evening
Rating: PGish
Status: In-Progress

"Damn it!"

Harry cursed under his breath as the smoke detectors went off in his apartment again. He wasn't sure whose brilliant idea it was to have them EXACTLY in the kitchen, but if he was ever the kind of person to have a hit list, they would certainly be on it. No matter what he was making, even if he were boiling water for tea, it would set off every single alarm in the flat. He sighed inwardly as it went off, this time, for the vegetables that he had been attempting to steam on his stove top. He still hadn't mastered the fine art of it, but he felt a strange need to be able to impress Hermione; if he were at her flat, Hermione would have made sure that all of the basic food groups were covered, wouldn't she? Ron was more like him and wouldn't have cared, but this way was just... easier. His eyes had narrowed at the small beeping box that rested above his head before he pulled out his wand. He would have sorely liked to blow the little box into a hundred different pieces if he hadn't been informed by his landlord that getting rid of the device would have made him liable for some building code infraction or whatever rubbish he had tried to spew at Harry. Rethinking his plan, he instead flicked his wand to move the smoke away from the detector before he tucked it back into his back pocket. "Yeah, keep it up and I'll give you something to beep about you bloody- ... Great, now you're talking to your smoke alarm..."

It felt like ages since he had invited anyone over for dinner; true, he saw Ron at work nearly everyday, but it was rare that he got the chance to sit back and relax with him on a social visit, so he was excited... He could smell the dragon steaks wafting into his little apartment from the balcony where his barbecue sat. Summer was winding down and he had planned to take full advantage of his time outside for as long as he could. Taking a sip from his beer, Harry rotated the meat on the barbecue before he glanced down at the old watch on his wrist. It was still early... He had just shut the lid to his barbecue when he heard the smoke alarm in his kitchen going off once again, startling him. "Oh for crying out loud! I swear I'm going to blast you apart this time, building code or not!"

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[hermione_j_granger]

It shouldn't surprise Harry that when he set dinner for 8:00, Hermione was knocking at 7:45. After picking up some beverages and dessert (as per Harry's request), she apparated directly outside the door of his flat. She waited impatiently for a moment, and then she heard the smoke detector. "Harry?" She called, knocking again, not wanting to yell too loudly to alarm the other residents of the building.

Another few moments passed by without a response and she looked down the corridor, making sure nobody was around before she pulled her wand. "Alohomora!" She whispered, and quickly pocketed her wand again as she heard the click. Peeking her head in, she saw Harry in a heated argument with an inanimate object. She laughed aloud and made sure to announce her presence. "Harry! Do you require some assistance?"

Hermione entered his smoke-filled flat and closed his door behind her, placing the bag she'd brought on the kitchen table as she removed her wand once more, pointing it at the smoke detector. "Petrificus Totalus!" The alarm stopped beeping at once, and then she waved her wand to clear the bit of smoke from the air. "It freezes the battery," she explained. "Just make sure you unfreeze it after you're finished cooking."

Sniffing the air, she peered out onto the balcony. "You're grilling? It smells delicious. What's for dinner, Chef Potter? Oh-- and hi, by the way!" She threw her arms around him for a quick greeting hug.

[boy_who_lived]

"Right, I have had just about enough of your beeping!" he had shouted aloud to his smoke detector. He was entirely unaware of the fact that Hermione had walked into his apartment and his wand was out as he brandished it at the stupid contraption. He was trying to think of the best spell that he could use on it, but he heard Hermione's voice filling the air as soon as the beeping had stopped and it nearly caused him to jump out of his skin. "Hermione!" he cried, gripping the edge of the counter to calm himself. "Wh... When did you get here??"

There wasn't a lot of smoke inside of his apartment, but mostly just the steam had set it off... He wished the thing wasn't so sensitive! There was no way that he could hide the fact that his cheeks had turned a little red, but he tried to give Hermione a small smile, "Er... Thanks, Hermione... Bit of a nuisance, really... Thank GOD you're still just as clever as alway- oh..." He felt the arms wrapping around him and he couldn't fight back a small smile on his lips before he quickly returned the hug as his arms wrapped around her, "Hello to you too, Hermione... And steak!" he told her with a soft laugh, "I know, I know, my cooking is rubbish, but we'll all live through tomorrow and that's what counts."

He was grinning as he let go of the girl and turned to pull the vegetables off of the stove; he tapped the pot with his wand so that it would let them keep warm while he was waiting on everything else. "You look great, Hermione! How are you? ...I see food and no Ron, is this a private date tonight?" He asked, throwing her a teasing smile as he started to walk through his apartment to check on the steak's again, "...Don't mention the smoke alarm to him..."

[roonil_wazlib]

Ron had gotten out of work exactly at eight, and it took him a moment to get all of his things together. Finally he apparated to Harry's front door, and he didn't knock before throwing it open.

"Bloody IDIOTS at work today, Potter, I don't know how you STAND it." He took off his coat and tossed it onto the couch, kicking his shoes off at the door. It was obvious that Ron had been to Harry's flat several times, and it made sense. They DID work together, after all. Best mates, and all that.

He went to talk into the kitchen. "What are you cooking? I'm so HUNGRY, and it smells like you're cooking somethi- Hermione!" He looked surprised when he saw her standing there, but he smiled softly, walking over to her and he wrapped his arms around her before kissing her a quick hello. "I shouldn't be surprised that you're here early." He glanced over at Harry and grinned before clapping him on the shoulder.

"Hey!! You invited me here. And I'm here!" His face fell as he stared at the other man. "Feed me."

[boy_who_lived]

The second that he heard his door suddenly slam open he knew that Ron had arrived in his usual fashion. He rolled his eyes, but didn't say a word. He liked that Ron was able to come in here as if the place was like his own, but he still liked to tease him. "Who is it? Oh hey, Ron! Yeah sure, come on in! Drop your coat where ever - how was your day? Did you want something to eat or drink before we had dinner?"

Rolling his eyes, Harry pulled out a couple of beers from the fridge for him and Ron and a wine glass for Hermione, which he filled moderately with a bit of white wine; he knew that Hermione was a lightweight when it came to these things. He grinned broadly as he picked up a bag of peanuts to toss at Ron. "Here, eat this to hold you over! We're having steak and it shouldn't be too long now, but I don't want to hear you moaning about how hungry you are for the next twenty minutes."

He would have further questioned Ron about his day, but he knew how it must have went. Things were starting to heat up in their office, so long days were to be expected. "So?" he glanced up a both of them and he suddenly began to smile, turning the steaks over once more before he removed them from the grill, "What's new and exciting with you two?" He asked, looking at them brightly, "I haven't seen you in ages, especially you, Hermione!"

[hermione_j_granger]

Between watching Harry attempt to battle the smoke detector and having Ron sneak attack her with a kiss, Hermione couldn't stop smiling. She had really missed spending time with the two of them (usually as their referee or their audience member). What a duo they were, and when they cut each other up like that, she was reminded of just how lucky she was to round off the trio.

Still beaming when he handed her the wine, she moved over to sit on his couch until dinner was ready. "What an accommodating host you are, Harry! Why haven't I come over for dinner more often? I'm sure it'll be much more appetizing than Ron's cooking-- or attempts at cooking." How she wished that Ron inherited Molly's cooking skills.

"It really has been a while, hasn't it? Do I look different or something?" she asked with a laugh, her left thumb anxiously rubbing against the underside of her engagement ring, which she'd kept charmed invisible whenever she was in the company of anyone other than Ron.

She did remember her promise to Ron-- to wait for the next Burrow dinner to make their announcement, but perhaps Ron would change his mind and decide to share the news with Harry tonight! Her eyes lingered over to her beloved fiancee, the corners of her mouth curling down a bit. Why was he ALWAYS eating??

"Don't fill up with peanuts, Ron. Merlin, why do you always act as if you haven't eaten in weeks?"

[roonil_wazlib]

Ron grinned at Harry when he was given the peanuts and he gave a dreamy sigh. "I swear I love you mate." He opened the bag and immediately started to eat, pausing when he heard Hermione attack his cooking skills.

"Oi!! Listen, I DARE you to find someone who can make peas as good as I can. You can't." He glanced at Harry, and muttered his secret. "The trick is to defrost 'em in the sink, so there isn't a puddle on the floor." He turned back to his peanuts, before he continued in defense. "Hermione, I'm a growing MAN, I need my food! Unless you want to stunt my growth. And then we would BOTH be miserable..." He looked at Harry before he finally continued,

"Speaking of growth, have you seen the pants that Finnegan came in with a few days ago? I understand that hes trying to impress the new girl but bloody hell... looked like he was cutting off the blood flow to his children, he was."

[boy_who_lived]

Harry threw Hermione a wide smile as he pulled the Dragon steaks off from the barbecue and onto a plate. "No, you look the same as you always did, Hermione, the only difference is that you always seem to look a little happier every time I see you. ...Either that or I just forget that you smile this much..." He mused to himself as he set the steaks down on the small table. It sat in a little alcove, which was off to the side of his kitchen and it didn't seem like it could fit much more than the three place settings on it - Harry didn't entertain much.

He snorted loudly when Ron began to speak about how he was a growing man and he rolled his eyes. Harry was certain that the only thing still growing for Ron was whatever grew between his legs every other day, but he kept that to himself. Instead, he picked up the plate of vegetables that he had prepared earlier to bring out to the table, "Sure, Ron. I'm pretty sure if you grew any more you wouldn't be able to fit through doorways anymore, you're already bloody tall enough as it i- ... Seamus? ...Really?"

Harry's attention was suddenly diverted from whatever he was about to tease Ron with and he snickered. "I'm sort of pleased to say that I missed that, I don't think I want to see how tight Seamus' pants can go. ...I'm pretty sure this isn't something that we should be talking about in front of HERMIONE though." he said, rolling his eyes as he grabbed a basket of dinner rolls. "...Seamus doesn't look like he'd have much to really use to IMPRESS a blood girl with though... Hermione, grab your glass and come sit down and tell me how work is going for you an- Ron, for the love of- stop stuffing your face with peanuts, I've got real food now!"

[hermione_j_granger]

"Peas? Honestly." Hermione snorted, rolling her eyes at Ron. "At least they're healthy," she mumbled to herself, sipping at her wine quite slowly. After her evening with Ron last weekend (which was a fantastic evening until she lost count of the number of glasses she had imbibed--thus, the morning after she'd gotten quite ill), she decided to limit herself to one glass with dinner.

At Harry's announcement that dinner was served, Hermione got up from the couch and walked by Ron, snatching the peanut bag out of his hand on her way to the table. "Yes, thank you, I really don't need to hear about Seamus' constricting trousers. Not a very pleasant mental image, particularly before dinner."

She tossed the bag onto the counter and smiled yet again at Harry, before turning her back to him and throwing a subtle wink at Ron. "I look happier? I suppose I've been much happier for the better part of four years now, but I've always been the optimist of the three of us, wouldn't you say? If anything it's you who's much more pleasant lately. Not that you weren't before-- but you know, I suppose with the darkest wizard in generations chasing you for most of your life, it's justified." Hermione was awful at lying, but she was quite good at shifting the focus of conversation, so that's what she did to avoid being asked about her happiness again!

She took a seat at the table and her eyes went wide as Harry approached with the steaming steaks. "Harry! Is this dragon steak? Goodness, cuts of this are expensive! You really shouldn't have-- especially for us. We'd have been just as happy with take-out, isn't that right, Ron?" She eyed her boyfriend expectantly. "Save your money for, oh I don't know, a date? Are you dating anyone?"

Well that didn't take long. For some reason, Hermione always felt incredibly awkward speaking about her own love life, or even about any of her other friends' love lives, but not Harry's. Lucky him!

[roonil_wazlib]

"Now Hermione, let's not get picky now, if Harry wants to feed up dragon steaks then he can feed us dragon steaks! Isn't that right Potter?" He grinned widely before sitting down at the table and he winked at Harry, scooting in next to Hermione. He had already cut into the steak and he was chewing before he gave a snicker.

"Yeah yeah, just say it, Hermione. Harry was an outright git sometimes in school." He winked at Harry playfully before he gave another sound at Hermione's question. "Bloody hell, woman, let the boy BREATHE before you attack him about his love life! He doesn't start asking us about ours!"

Ron paused for a moment... before he muttered, "Which is... uh... progressing..." He glanced cautiously at Harry before smiling at Hermione. "Isn't that right?" He supposed they could tell Harry. ...He was Ron's best mate, after all.

[boy_who_lived]

His eyes rolled when he heard Hermione starting to talk about the dragon steaks and he gave her an exasperated look. "Hermione... If I want to spend money on dragon steaks for you and Ron to come and have dinner with me then I will, thank you." he tossed her a teasing little smile as he sat down at the table, which he was nearly knocking elbows with both of them at. Before he served himself, he took another sip of his drink, which he realized was a bad idea. Hermione had started to question about his love life and he nearly choked on the liquid as it tried to go down his throat. "D... Dating!? No..." he quickly started to shake his head, "No... I- ... I would have told you or Ron if there was, you know..." He told her with his cheeks still burning brightly. No, he hadn't been with anyone since he had walked in on Ginny with that other girl...

He cleared his throat quietly as he took another sip from his beer; his head searched for another topic to switch the conversation to and he gave Ron a very grateful look when he told Hermione to let him breathe. It wasn't something that he was trying to avoid, he just hadn't had much of an interest in being with anyone recently. A few women had caught his eye in the bar, and, shockingly, a few men had as well, but all of which led to a dead end. They were all too drunk by the end of the night to do anything with...

He had just picked up his fork to take a bite from his steak, but Ron's word's had made him pause. ...Progressing? His eyes immediately flickered to Hermione's finger to see if there was something sitting on it that he had missed, but there wasn't... Looking extremely baffled, Harry's eyes flickered from Ron, to Hermione, and then back to Ron once more, as if he were trying to decipher what exactly was going on.

"Er... I know I'm an auror and I spend a lot of time cracking ridiculous things, but... I'm not too sure if I quite followed you on that on, Ron. ...Progressing in what way?" He asked cautiously - oh god, Hermione was PREGNANT. Before he could stop himself, Harry blurted quickly, "Hermione, should you be drinking that wine??"

[hermione_j_granger]

"He wasn't a git. He was just very stressed... and I'm certainly not ATTACKING him about his love life, it was merely a simple question!" It was difficult to stay mad though, when Ron continued on and announced that things were progressing.

Hermione beamed at him, nearly jumping out of her seat. "Ron, are you sure you want to tell him? I thought we were going to announce this to everyone at once..." She slipped her hand over Ron's and gave it a squeeze before looking back to Harry, brow raised.

"Oh! Oh my, you're right, Harry. I really shouldn't be drinking wine. I've been so queasy since last weekend..." Hermione had only assumed that Ron shared Hermione's hangover tale with Harry at work.

[roonil_wazlib]

Ron, however, picked up the look on Harry's face and he quickly looked at Hermione's hand... she was still hiding the ring and- "OH!" Ron gave a surprised sound before he quickly looked at Harry. "No mate!! No, she's not... Bloody HELL, Harry!!" He gave the man a dangerous look, almost as if to say to not even CONSIDER that yet, before he glanced at Hermione and he cracked a smile.

"You're still hiding it." He muttered it to her gently, squeezing her hand so that she would look at how her ring wasn't showing the way it usually was. "I suppose you fix that before we give Harry a heart attack, eh?"

[hermione_j_granger]

Furrowing her brow, Hermione was quite confused when Ron started raising his voice, and then she joined in. "Oh! Harry, no-- I'm not-- we're not-- certainly not-- you thought I was pregnant??"

She couldn't help but give a nervous sort of laughter at that as she recalled being quite diligent with her birth control potion schedule. No, there was no chance of that. Thank goodness! She took another drink of her wine as she calmed herself, and then on Ron's cue, she pulled her wand and reversed the invisibility charm on the ring.

Her right hand still clutching Ron's, she reached over to Harry with her left, revealing the real secret. "Not as dramatic as a pregnancy, I suppose..." She said with a smile. Alas, the real reason why she seemed so cheerful this evening!