The Way You Want It
By: pottersweetie
Author's Note: This is the sequel to My Best Friend's Wedding. I'm going to try to see what I can do with this story, but if it ends up totally ruining the whole idea I'm going to give up on it all together. Hope you like the story! I want to know what you all think, good and bad. It's in Hermione's point of view again. Enjoy, Read, Review!
Chapter One
You Had Something to Ask Me?
"What do you buy a kid that has everything he could ever need or want?" I ask Robbie, picking up a rattle and
shaking it a little.
He pushes a button on a little light up piano and it starts blaring Mary Had A Little Lamb, little plastic music notes light up above the keys and a few people look over.
"This, buy him this," he says, pointing to the piano.
I laugh a little, "Ron would kill me."
"Hmmmmm," he hits the piano to make it shut up. "Why don't you just get him a savings bond or something, or a college scholarship."
"I want it to be more personal than that, this is my godson after all."
A tinny, static-filled version of 'I'm Too Sexy For My Shirt' reverberates from Robbie's pocket and he pulls out his phone, he smiles and answers.
"Hello love," he coos.
I smile, rolling my eyes a little.
I walk down the aisle a bit, looking at all the baby toys and clothes and furniture. This should be easy. Why isn't this easy? He's only one year old! If I gave him a piece of tinfoil for his birthday he'd think I was the coolest godmother in the entire world. Although, now that I think about it, that wouldn't be too safe.
And then it hits me.
Although Ron and Luna have a tendency to shower their son, Ioan, with gifts, they rarely buy him books. I'll buy him a book!
Brilliant!
I see Robbie get off the phone and I walk over to him, "What do you think about a book?"
"Depends, what book?" he replies.
"I don't know yet. Something with a lesson in it, you know? Maybe a really nice book of fairy tales."
He looks at me funny, "Um I'm not one to put down fairy tales doll, but I rather read about firefighters-"
"Not for you!" I hit him on the back of the head. "For Ioan, you dolt!"
"Oh!" he says. "No, I still don't like the fairy tale idea."
I bite my lip, "Maybe you're right. Fables?"
He scrunches up his face, "I don't know."
I tap my chin lightly, thinking furiously. Why is this so hard?
"Nursery rhymes! Every baby needs nursery rhymes!"
He shrugs, "If you say so."
I turn on my heel and head toward the front of the store, planning to go to a large bookstore where I can find a nice, expensive book of nursery rhymes.... Maybe even one with gold-edged pages!
But I'm stopped by a display of blankets.
They're all really cute, different colors, with different lucky charm symbols at the bottom left corner. There's a blue one, with a shooting star on it, and a red one with a gold horse shoe on it, and a white one with a red balloon on it, and a green one with a dark four-leaf clover on it.
They're made of the softest material, silky and thick and warm.
I pick up a green one and examine the little silk shamrock sewn onto it. Ron and Luna would love this, it's so soft and warm. And Ron just told me yesterday that Ioan dropped his old blanket in the toilet and they've been meaning to get a new one, but they haven't had time. And it matches his room.
Bingo, we have a winner.
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"Harry! Hermione!" Ron shouts over the loud party sounds emitting from the inside of the house, he's holding a large tray of cookies in one hand as he opens the door for us.
"Baking, Ron?" Harry says, raising his eyebrows.
Ron smirks at him, "Push off, Luna's about to have a nervous breakdown because none of the food is ready on schedule."
"Luna? Luna is having a nervous breakdown?" I ask. "The same woman who was more quiet than you were while birthing your child?"
He nods, "That's what I thought."
"Where is she?"
"Kitchen," he says, handing me the tray. "I have to go hose down some toddlers, I'm pretty sure they got into some perfume or something," and he hurries away.
Harry and I make our way to the kitchen through the busy living room and find Mrs. Weasley, Ginny, Fleur, and a rather frantic Luna.
"Hermione! Cookies! Where'd you get those?" Luna asks.
"Ron," I say.
She takes them from me and places them on the counter, pulling a spatula from a drawer, she begins to place them all on a different plate. I look at Ginny who is widening her eyes at me as if to say, 'The woman has gone mad!'
"Can I help you with anything Luna?"
"No, please! I have a system!" she nearly screams.
I move towards the table where they're all sitting, "Mrs. Weasley, how are you?" I ask, giving her a hug.
"Oh very good dear, how are you two?" she asks, letting go of me and pinching Harry's cheek affectionately.
"Good, very good, thanks," he replies, smiling back at her.
There's a loud crash from somewhere in the house, "Aw, damn!" we here Ron shout. "Help, please," he calls.
Harry laughs, "I'll go."
I sit down at the table, next to Fleur and across from Ginny.
"So," she whispers. "How are you and Harry?"
I smile, "Great."
"'ow long 'as it been now? A year and a 'alf or somezhing?" Fleur asks.
I nod.
"After all the drama you guys went through," Ginny sighs, shaking her head. "I'm glad you two are finally together."
I smile, resisting the urge to laugh, "I know, me too."
They laugh a little.
Then I ask, "What about you? Do you have a boyfriend these days?"
"No," she says quickly, pink rising up from her neck. She laughs nervously, "Sadly."
"The homo has entered the building!" I hear Robbie shout as he walks into the house.
I laugh to myself, wondering if it's a good thing that Robbie and Ron turned out to be some odd form of friends.
"I'm gonna go say hello to Ioan, and the nut case that just walked in," I say, standing up and leaving the kitchen.
I find Ioan sitting on the floor in the family room with a few other little kids. Fleur and Bill's two daughters, Madeleine and Patrice, and a few other little boys and girls, the offspring of our friends.
"Happy birthday Ioan!" I say, sitting down next to him on the floor where he's examining a block.
He looks and smiles brightly at me, "Hermeany!" he squeals, standing up and jumping against me, his arms encircling my neck.
"Are you having fun?" I ask him, laughing as he settles into my lap, holding the block again.
He nods, hitting the block against the floor. His light red hair is soft and wavy on his head and his eyes are big and dreamy as he tries to figure out the blocks purpose.
It's not too long before Robbie comes over and sits down on the floor next to me, he's absolutely bubbly and smiling ridiculously. He pokes me in the arm, "I know something you don't know."
"What?" I ask as Ioan climbs off of me and runs across the room to Ron and Harry who just walked in from the dining room.
He shakes his head at me, "I'm not telling you!"
"Robbie, you loser! What is it?"
"I can't tell, let's just say, you're gonna like it!" he nearly shrieks.
I groan a little, "I don't like surprises."
"You're gonna like this one!" he practically bounces up and down.
"If you say so."
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At dinner I caught Ron looking at me oddly several times.
I worried I had food stuck in my teeth or maybe my eyes were falling out and I didn't know it, but he was smiling so I don't know. And Harry seemed nervous, fidgeting and shaking at random. I wanted to know what the hell was up with everyone, but I figured it had to do with my surprise.
So I let it all go.
After dinner when Luna was serving birthday cake I was going to try and wriggle the details of the surprise out of Robbie but he had disappeared outside and was arguing with his boyfriend over the phone in the drive.
That was when Harry came up to me and held my hand, he was nervous again and I knotted my eyebrows.
"What's wrong? You've been acting a little weird," I said.
He swallowed, "Have I?"
I nodded.
"Well, it's just that I had something to ask-"
"Hermione!" I hear Robbie shriek from the front door.
I turned and looked in his direction, he was waving me over, a desperate look on his face. I turned again to Harry, "I'll be right back."
But it took half an hour for Robbie to explain the fight he had gotten into with his boyfriend and to give him advice on what to do. When he called him back and they started arguing again I retreated inside.
And now Ioan's opening his gifts.
He's already opened several presents, baby clothes and a train set, and some coloring books, a toy transfiguration set, and a collection of broken iPods from Mr. Weasley.
I find Harry sitting on an armchair, watching as Ioan hands Luna a large piece of crumpled up wrapping paper. I sit on the arm of the chair and he looks at me, smiling.
"You had something to ask me?"
"Yeah-"
"Hermeany!" Ioan shouts, ripping back the paper of my gift. The kid's gonna be disappointed to find a blanket and a book, but he'll appreciate it when he's older.
When it's opened he shakes out the blanket and runs his little hands over the shamrock.
"GREEN!" he shouts.
"That's so perfect, it'll match his room," Luna says lightly, restored to her normal dreamy self.
Ioan drops the blanket to the floor, "BOOOOOOOOK!" he shouts, opening the book and flipping through the pages as if he can actually read.
"What do you say Ioan?" Ron says.
"Tank you, Hermeany!"
My godson is going to be a genius.
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Everyone's leaving when I get to really talk to Harry again. We've already said our goodbyes and we're heading down the drive when I ask, "You had something to ask me, right?"
He takes a shaky breath, "Oh yeah."
"Harry, what's wrong?"
"Maybe you could come over to my flat tonight, so we could talk-"
He's cut off by a very distraught Robbie, "Hermione, I need you."
I look at him, something in his voice is not right and he's near tears.
"Robbie? What's wrong?"
"He broke up with me," he says.
"Oh Rob-"
"Please sleep over I don't want to be alone," he pleads.
I hate seeing Robbie so upset, I'm not used to it and I want to help him. I look at Harry who looks worried about Robbie's behavior.
"Go ahead," he says. "I'll talk to you tomorrow."
"Are you sure, Harry?" I ask.
He nods, "Call me if you can."
"Okay, I love you," I say, giving him a quick kiss.
"I love you too," he says, giving my hand a squeeze before we walk in separate directions.
Author's Note: Chapter one, hope you like it! Please review!