Fic: Years Later (Ron/Hermione, FRT)
Remember back when I said I was going to try to get my last two HP fics posted between movie 5 and book 7? Well, that didn't happen. So I thought I would post them now. Merry Christmas!
Title: Years Later
Author: Ruth Sadelle Alderson
Pairing: Ron/Hermione
Rating: FRT
Disclaimer: Not mine, not making any money off of this.
Archiving: My webpage (http://www.graphousa.net/rsadelle/fiction/), anyone else should ask. Archived versions must retain all headers.
Summary: Years later, Ron and Hermione meet again. This time, they get it right.
Author's Note: I worked on this and let it sit and had it edited for so long that I no longer remember who all helped along the way. Many thanks to those of you who did. Title sponged from the summary of Sofie K. Werkers' "Evitar."
I. Meeting
"Mum, look! It's Quality Quidditch Supplies!"
Hermione called after her children as they raced down the street. "James, Minnie, stay together." Livy dragged at her hand, and Hermione bent to pick her up. "At least it's not Gambol and Jape's," she said. When she reached the crowd in front of the window, she found it to be largely red-haired and freckled.
"Hermione Granger," one of the parents said delightedly. "I didn't know you were going to be here."
Hermione dredged up a tired smile. "Hello, Fred." She nodded into the crowd. "My oldest is going to Hogwarts this year."
"Hermione! It's so good to see you." Molly hugged her tightly.
"Hello, Mrs. Weasley."
Molly laughed. "Please, call me Molly. With all the Mrs. Weasleys around here, that will just be confusing."
"These must be the Weasleys," a snide voice said from behind them. "They always have more kids than they can afford."
"And you must be a Malfoy," one of the Weasleys answered back. "They always pretend to be superior." As a retort went, it wasn't overly biting, but it was enough to make the Malfoy child back off, especially once she noticed all the adults standing around.
Molly turned to the crowd of her grandchildren. "Let's go, children. We're meeting the rest of your parents for ice cream." To Hermione she said, "Would you like to join us? Most of the family is here. We can catch up while the children get to know each other."
"Ice cream!" Livy cried.
Molly chuckled. "I'd say that's a yes."
"James, Minnie," Hermione called. "Come along. We're going to go have ice cream with the Weasleys."
There were more Weasley adults waiting for them at Florean Fortescue's. Hermione busied herself getting ice cream for her own children before she could steel herself to join the adults at their table.
Harry and Ginny arrived just as she sat down. "We got all the books," Ginny said smugly. "They're being delivered to the Leaky Cauldron." Then she noticed Hermione, and came around to give her a tight hug. "It's so good to see you, Hermione."
"Hello," Hermione said. She nodded at Harry. "Hello, Harry."
Harry's greeting was interrupted as a wide-eyed child who looked suspiciously like a Creevey came to ask for his autograph.
"Hermione, how is that husband of yours?" Arthur asked. "Donald, isn't it?"
"We're divorced."
"Oh, dear, I'm so sorry," Molly said.
"What happened?" Ginny asked.
"He took up with one of the hygienists while I was pregnant with Livy. When she was born--" Hermione shrugged. "We had a paternity test done, but he still didn't believe she was his."
"Why not?" George asked with a frown.
"Her hair's red. Neither of us have any redheaded relatives."
"So where'd she get it?" Harry asked with a quick glance at Ron.
"Minerva--McGonagall," she clarified, "thinks I unconsciously exerted my will on the baby while I was pregnant."
"It's been done before," Percy said, "but that takes a lot of magic."
"I wasn't using it for anything else."
"You kept in touch with McGonagall?" Ron asked.
"Yes."
"That must be hard," Katie said, "raising three kids on your own."
"My parents retired last year, so they take the kids while I'm at work." Hermione looked past the adults to the children. "Whichever Weasley you are," she yelled at the redheaded teenager holding a spoon over Livy's head, "if you get ice cream on my daughter's new dress, I'll put a hex on you and you'll be coughing up slugs for a month!"
"She'll do it, too," George warned.
"A prankster, just like his father," Fred said, shaking his head.
"We never should have named him Fred," George said with an identical headshake.
"You named your son Fred?" Hermione asked.
"Sure did. My eldest is Fred, Fred's eldest is George, and Ginny and Harry's twins are Fred and George."
Hermione looked around the table. "Weasleys causing trouble, a Malfoy being a prat, and Harry the celebrity. Some things never change."
"No, some things don't," Ron agreed.
"How many of them are there at Hogwarts now?" Hermione asked with a nod at the children.
"Three of ours," Ginny answered, "two of Charlie's, four of Fred's, five of George's, three of Percy's, and Bill's daughter. And, of course, Ron teaches."
"I'm surprised the place is still standing," she said, and they all laughed.
"What about yours?" Ginny asked.
"This'll be James' first year. Minnie's nine, and Livy's just three."
"They do any magic?" Angelina asked.
"James has been flying since he knew what a broom was. Minnie used to frighten Donald's parents half to death by Apparating out of her crib. Livy seems to have some affinity with plants." Her throat tightened and she blinked back sudden tears. "How do you do it?" she asked. "How do you send your children away year after year?"
"Oh, the first one's always the hardest," Molly sympathized, patting her hand. "It gets easier."
Livy wandered over and held up her arms to be picked up. Hermione obligingly lifted her up and momentarily hid her face in the baby's hair.
"She does look like one of us," Percy said.
"Percy," Ginny admonished with an elbow to his ribs.
Percy looked offended. "Well, she does."
"Percy, hush."
Percy scowled at Ginny but quieted. To Hermione's relief, the conversation quickly turned away from her as the various branches of the Weasley family caught up on news and Livy drifted off to sleep on her shoulder.
When Livy woke up and the sun began to dip, Hermione called out to her other two children. "James, Minnie, time to go."
"But, Mum, we're having fun," James protested.
"You'll see them all on the train tomorrow and we're meeting Aunt Minerva and Uncle Severus for supper," Hermione reminded him.
"Severus?" Harry asked incredulously. "Severus Snape?"
"Yes," Hermione answered.
"You're having dinner with Professor Snape?"
"Yes," she answered again.
"You kept in touch with him too?" Ron asked.
"I grow hellsbane for him. It's horribly expensive here and it only grows in Muggle gardens. James," she warned, "it's time to go."
She nodded at the adults. "We'll see you at the platform tomorrow."
***
II. Tea
"Mummy?"
"Yes, Minnie." Hermione rummaged through her purse for the house keys.
"Can we have tea outside today?"
At the word "tea," Livy's small, unhappy sounds turned into full-fledged wails.
"Yes, Minnie, we can have tea outside." Hermione drew out her keys and gently bounced Livy on her hip. "Hush, Livy, Mummy'll get you something in just a minute." Hermione looked up as they neared the porch and was greeted with the sight of Ron standing there with a bouquet. "Hello, Ron."
"Hello." He held out the flowers. "I brought you these. You know, mums for the mum." He half-smiled at her.
She struggled to smile back. "Thank you, Ron. That's very nice of you." She tried bouncing Livy again. "Livy, please," she begged. To Ron she said, "Come in and have tea with us."
She left him to close the door and went straight through to the kitchen. She dropped her purse and keys on the table and yanked open the icebox. "Yes, Livy," she soothed. "I'm getting you something now." She pulled out the milk and poured some into a sippy cup. She pushed the lid down on the cup and gave it to Livy, who finally quieted. "Thank Merlin," Hermione sighed.
She took down a stack of plates from the cupboard and set Livy on the floor. "Minnie, take the plates out." She gently pushed Livy's shoulder. "We're having tea outside today, Livy. Go with Minnie." She opened another cupboard and took down a vase, which she handed to Ron. "Put the flowers in water, would you?"
Ron ran water into the vase. "Isn't it dangerous for them to be outside alone?"
"I don't use much magic, but there are wards around the yard." Hermione filled a kettle with water and put it on the stove to boil. She took scones out of a box and put them in the oven to warm up. Three cups, a milk pitcher, the sugar bowl, butter and jam, a knife, and spoons went on a tray. When that first flurry of activity was over, she leaned back against a counter and looked at Ron in her kitchen.
"How's Hogwarts?" she asked.
"Fine, fine. I don't teach on Friday afternoons, so came to see you." Ron fell silent for a moment, and then said, "James is doing well. I can tell he's been flying for a while."
Hermione crossed her arms across her chest and gripped her elbows. "Good. I'm glad he's getting on."
"Hermione--"
The whistling of the teakettle interrupted whatever Ron had been about to say and made Hermione jump. She poured the water into a pot and pulled the scones out of the oven. The scones and the teapot joined the other tea things on the tray.
"Let me," Ron offered.
"I've got it." Hermione flashed him a tight smile. "Hold the door, will you?"
Ron obligingly held the door open for her. Hermione called the girls over to the table while Ron poured the tea. Hermione gave one scone to Minnie, one to Ron, and took a third one for herself. She broke pieces off her own scone and put butter and jam on them for Livy. Minnie told them all about her day at school, and at grandmum's, while Livy got jam all over her hands and face.
"May I go play?" Minnie asked when she finished her scone.
"Yes, you may," Hermione said.
"Me too!"
Hermione lifted Livy out of her chair and onto her lap. "In just a moment." She scrubbed the jam off of Livy with a napkin. "Now you may go play." She kissed Livy's cheek and put her down on the ground. She sank back into her chair and drank deeply from her teacup.
"Long day?" Ron asked.
"They all are." Hermione picked at her scone. "Stay out of Uncle Severus's plants," she called to the kids. "I'm a single working mother." She rubbed a hand over her eyes. "I have to work to support the kids, but that means I don't get to see them during the day."
"Don't you get some kind of support from Donald?"
"We're supposed to. He doesn't always come through."
"You don't have to stay in the Muggle world."
Hermione was saved from answering by Livy. "More?" she asked, holding up her cup.
"Yes, Livy. Mummy will get you some more." Hermione took the cup back into the house and used the break to compose herself while she poured Livy a second cup of milk.
Hermione had to stop in the doorway and fight back sudden tears when she returned. Livy was sitting on Ron's lap, apparently content to just sit there. Hermione gave the cup back to her.
"There you go, sweetie."
Livy wrapped her small fingers around the handles and climbed down from Ron's lap. "I love you, Mummy," she said.
Hermione bent down and kissed her hair. "I love you too."
Livy beamed up at her and went back out to play with Minnie. Hermione sipped her tea in an attempt to compose herself again.
"Is James really doing well?" she asked.
"Yes, of course. He seems happy. He's made friends with my nieces and nephews."
Hermione smiled. "Are they causing as much trouble as we did?"
Ron smiled back. "Different kinds of trouble. The twins both have kids James' age, and one of Harry and Ginny's is a year older, and she's the only Potter or Weasley in her year."
"Pranks," Hermione surmised.
"Oh, yes," Ron answered. "Pranks. They figured out how to spell the sixth-year girl's dormitory." He shook his head. "You'd think Charlie's girl was half-dragon herself the way she roared at them when the door spit water at her instead of opening."
Hermione laughed. "Whose idea was that?"
"I think it was purely a Weasley idea, but Mum says it was Granger research that found the spell to do it."
Hermione shook her head. "That always was the Granger place."
Ron put his hand over hers. "No," he said firmly. "That was not all you were."
Hermione shook her head. "Minnie," she called out into the garden, "leave Mrs. Tig alone. The neighbor's cat," she explained to Ron. She used the excuse of buttering a piece of scone to gently pull her hand out from under his. "The kids are always trying to play with her, but she's not much of a people cat." She nodded at the plants. "We have catnip, so she keeps coming back."
"Why do you grow catnip if you don't want the cat here?"
"Oh, I don't mind her being here. I think she minds more than anyone else." Hermione sipped her tea. "The kids were all colicky as babies. It used to drive Donald crazy. Catnip tea helped." Hermione sipped her tea again. "It's good for insomnia too."
"I'll have to remember that." Ron looked up at the sun. "I should be getting back. I have a Quidditch match to referee tomorrow morning."
Hermione nodded. "Minnie, Livy, come say goodbye to Ron." The girls emerged from the garden beds and came back to the porch.
"Goodbye, Ron." Minnie said, taking a piece of Hermione's scone.
Livy put her arms around Ron's legs. "Bye-bye."
Ron bent and hugged Livy. "Bye-bye, Livy. Goodbye, Minnie." He smiled and took a tentative step toward Hermione. "Goodbye, Hermione."
Hermione took a nervous half-step backwards. "Goodbye, Ron." She mustered up a smile. "Do come for tea again."
Ron beamed back at her. "I will."
***
III. Courting I
Hermione didn't realize how much she looked forward to Friday afternoon tea until the Friday she came up the walk and found three owls and a box on her front porch instead of Ron.
"Where's Ron?" Livy asked.
"I don't know," Hermione answered. "Let's find out." She put Livy down on the porch and fished through her purse for the correct number of knuts for the owls. The girls watched the owls fly away while Hermione unlocked the door.
"Minnie, bring the box into the kitchen. Come on, Livy." Hermione got the door closed and the girls into the kitchen. "Now, let's see what came for us." She opened the letter one of the owls had brought.
"Dear Hermione," she read.
"I'm sorry I can't be there for tea today. Half the staff has come down with some sort of flu. Poppy and Severus are working on coming up with something to fix them up quickly, but in the meantime the rest of us are doing our best to share classes and keep order.
"I sent some treats for you and the girls to have with your tea. There's magic keeping the food.
"I'll be thinking of you."
It was signed, simply, "Ron."
"Ron couldn't come for tea today," Hermione said past the knot of disappointment in her throat. "But," she said quickly, when Livy's crumpling face threatened tears and wailing, "he sent us treats for tea." She smiled brightly. "Let's find out what he sent."
Minnie helped her tear open the paper on the box. Hermione put one arm around Livy to keep her from falling off the chair she'd climbed up on.
"Look at this." Hermione began pulling things out of the box. "Pumpkin juice, and it's still cold. You're going to like that, Livy. Real Honeydukes chocolate. That's the very best stuff."
"Chocolate frogs! Can I have one?" Minnie asked.
"Yes, you may." Hermione gave her one of the packages. "Be careful or it'll hop away from you." She pulled out a small, warm box. "Oh! Pumpkin tarts." Below the food was a copy of the latest issue of Transfiguration Today. She put it aside for later and got plates and cups out of the cupboard. She and Minnie each got a tart, and she cut a third in half for Livy. She poured pumpkin juice into the cups and got the girls to sit down for tea.
Livy only ate half of her piece of tart, and then she began to whine. "Where's Ron?"
"I told you, sweetie. He couldn't be here."
"Why?"
"Because half the staff at Hogwarts is sick. Ron had to stay and help out."
"Why?"
"Because someone has to take care of all the students at Hogwarts." She reached out and took a Chocolate Frog from Minnie. "No more. You've had enough chocolate."
"Mummy, please?" Minnie asked.
Livy continued to fuss. "Why?"
"No, Minnie. Because we don't want James getting hurt."
"I want another one!"
"I want Ron here!"
"I know you do, Livy, but he has to work. Minnie, you've had enough chocolate."
"You don't love me!" Minnie accused. Livy just screamed.
"Minnie, I love you very much, but you may not have any more chocolate."
"No you don't!" Minnie shouted. "You want me to be sad all the time! Ron's not here because of you! I hate you!"
"That is enough!" Hermione snapped. "If you cannot behave civilly at tea, you may go to your room. The same goes for you," she said to Livy.
Minnie stomped up the stairs and slammed her bedroom door. Hermione took Livy up to her room and put her down on the bed. Even with Livy's door halfway closed, Hermione could hear her screaming all the way down the stairs.
Hermione broke the spells on the treats Ron had sent and stowed them in the icebox and cupboards. She took the letter and magazine to the living room and settled onto the couch. She read the last line of Ron's letter again and again. "I'll be thinking of you."
She put the letter down next to her and leaned her head back against the couch. She sat up enough to switch on a lamp when it really started to get dark, but she was still staring up at the ceiling when Minnie crept down the stairs.
"Mummy?"
Hermione forced herself to sit up. "Yes, Minnie."
Minnie hurled herself across the room and into Hermione's lap. "Mummy, I'm sorry."
"It's okay," Hermione said quickly before she was faced with Minnie's tears. "It's okay. I know you were upset."
"Ron didn't come," Minnie said.
Hermione stroked her hair. "No. He had to stay at Hogwarts today."
"I miss him."
Hermione smiled gently. "We all miss him."
"Will he come for tea next week?"
"I'm sure he will. Uncle Severus and Madam Pomfrey should have something worked out by then. They're very good at Potions making."
Minnie was silent for a minute, digesting that. Then she asked, "Is Ron going to be like Daddy?"
The question startled Hermione. "What do you mean?"
"Daddy stopped coming home for tea," Minnie explained with perfect logic.
Hermione was horrified. "No," she said forcefully. "No, darling, Ron's not like him."
Minnie sniffled quietly. "Ron won't not want to see us?"
Hermione smiled at the tangle of words. "No," she assured Minnie. "Ron loves you."
"How do you know?" Minnie was not ready to let go of her skepticism.
"The Weasleys," Hermione said, "adore children. And Ron is very much a Weasley." She looked down into her daughter's trusting face and smiled. "I remember when Charlie first brought Agatha to visit. They all fought over who go to hold the baby. Ron was right there in the thick of it."
Minnie was silent for a moment, digesting that. "There are a lot of Weasleys," she said. "Isn't he sick of kids by now?"
"You don't know the Weasleys," Hermione said. "I'm sure they're just as delighted with the last one as they are with the first."
"And he'll come back next week?"
"Yes, if Uncle Severus and Madam Pomfrey can cook up something to make the other teachers better."
Minnie laid her head against Hermione's shoulder. "I hope they do."
Hermione leaned her cheek against Minnie's hair. "Me too." They sat in silence for long moments before Hermione sighed heavily. "We'd better have some supper, don't you think?"
"Let's have eggs," Minnie suggested.
Hermione kissed her hair. "That's a lovely idea." She stood when Minnie climbed down off her lap. "Go in the kitchen and get out the eggs, milk, and butter while I get Livy."
Livy had cried herself to sleep, but she awoke when Hermione picked her up.
"Mummy?" she asked muzzily.
"Yes, darling." Hermione kissed Livy's cheek. "We're going to have eggs for supper. Would you like that?"
Livy leaned her head against Hermione's shoulder. "Okay." She perked up by the time they got down the stairs and Hermione was able to leave her in a chair while she scrambled eggs for the three of them.
The meal was blessedly quiet, and she was able to put Livy to bed with a story when they were done. Minnie got half an hour of telly while Hermione washed the dishes and supervised her viewing choices from the kitchen.
She tucked Minnie in with a kiss. "Goodnight, Minnie. I love you."
"I love you too, Mummy."
Hermione kissed her once more and turned out her light on her way downstairs. She turned out the lights in the kitchen and went to where she'd left Transfiguration Today in the living room. A large owl hovered outside the window. Hermione let it in and took the letter it carried while it perched on the back of the couch. She cocked an eyebrow at it and sat down to read the letter.
"Dear Hermione," Ron had written.
"I hope you and the girls didn't miss me too much. I missed you dreadfully--when I've had even the slightest moment to think. The staff is feeling the strain of being cut in half, if even temporarily, and the students are beginning to notice.
"It's been a very long day.
"Severus asked me to ask you to send some hellsbane to us. He thinks he has an idea for something that will help.
"I wish I could have been there for tea with you and the girls."
He had again signed it with a simple "Ron."
Hermione took a pair of scissors and slipped out into the garden. She came back and gathered the cuttings into a careful bundle the owl could carry. She took a piece of parchment, a bottle of ink, and a quill out of her desk drawer.
"Dear Ron," she wrote and paused to look at the words for a moment.
"Thank you for the treats. We enjoyed them, even though the girls acted horribly over tea. They missed you.
"I missed you too." She thought about rewriting the letter and leaving that bit out, but chose to leave it in.
"I've sent Severus's hellsbane, and I've added in some rosemary that's grown beside a bed of carrots in a Muggle garden. It might help.
"Please come to tea next week. We missed you this week."
She debated over her closing and in the end signed only her name. She sealed the letter and gave it and the package of plant cuttings to the owl to take back to Ron. She let the owl back through the window and sat down on the couch to see what Transfiguration Today had to say.
***
IV. Christmas7
Hermione glanced around to do a quick check on the kids. James was engaged in a Wizarding Chess strategy discussion with the kids his age. Minnie played a game of Exploding Snap with Piper. Livy was deep in communion with the smoke gray cat that belonged to one of the kids already in school. There were plenty of adults around to keep an eye on them. Hermione grabbed her cloak off a hook and slipped out the door.
She breathed easier once she was outside. The presence of so many people in such a small space was starting to stifle her. She walked down to the pond and settled herself onto a rock.
It wasn't long before someone else made their way down to sit beside her.
"I missed you," Harry told her.
Hermione leaned into the arm he put around her shoulders. "I missed you too," she said.
He picked up a pebble from the ground and tossed it into the pond. "Why'd you leave?"
She was silent for a moment, gathering her thoughts. "I had to be my own person," she said slowly. "Here, I was that Muggle girl who was friends with Harry Potter." She half-smiled to show that it wasn't him she was angry with. "I just needed to be someone else."
"Did you get what you wanted?" he asked.
She shrugged. "I was just a normal person, a normal Muggle that is. It was nice for a long time." She tossed a rock into the pond and watched the ripples spread out over its surface. "I had a job, you know. I worked in my parents' office. That's how I met Donald." She risked a glance at Harry. "We met at a holiday party. There were lots of dentists there. He was nice to me." She laid her head down on her drawn up knees.
"It was really nice for a long time." After a long moment of silence, she sighed and sat up again. "And then it wasn't, and here I am."
"I'm glad you're back."
Hermione reached out and squeezed his hand. "Thank you."
Harry took her hand in both of his to warm it. "Ron's glad too."
This was the conversation she was wary of, and she didn't answer him.
"Molly told me once," Harry said slowly, and Hermione could see him remembering it, "that when Weasleys fall in love, they never fall out of it."
She didn't answer that either.
"Think about it," Harry advised as he stood. He squeezed her hand and kissed her temple.
Think about it. Of course she was going to think about it. She hadn't really been thinking about anything else, not since she'd met them all again in Diagon Alley. No, to be honest, not since she'd found out she was pregnant with Livy and that Donald was cheating on her.
She huddled down into her cloak and tossed another pebble into the pond.
"It's cold out here." Ron's voice wasn't a surprise--she'd heard his footsteps--but the hesitancy was.
"Yes, I know." She twisted to look at him. "I needed a little space. I haven't been around this many wizards in a long time."
"Are Muggles really that different?"
"Not all of them, but my family's awfully small." She grinned. "Especially compared to yours."
He grinned back. "Most are, compared to mine." He reached out his hand and helped her to her feet. "You could come back."
She removed her hand from his and turned away to face the pond again. "I can't."
"There's still a place for you here."
"I can't." She swallowed back her terror. "Donald would take the kids away from me."
"You told me he didn't want them."
"He doesn't, but he'd take them to hurt me."
Ron stepped forward and caught her elbow. "We can stop him. Half my family is in the Ministry. Harry's high up in the Muggle Relations department."
"He doesn't know."
"What?"
"He doesn't know." Hermione said again. "I never told him."
"You were married to him for ten years!"
"I know." She shifted restlessly. "It was never the right time to tell him. And then," she shrugged, "it just didn't seem to matter anymore."
"Didn't matter?" His voice was low and shocked. "How could it not matter?"
She stepped out of his grip. "It just-- It just didn't." She bowed her head and looked down at the edge of the pond. "I was happy, for a while, with my husband and my children and my normal Muggle life."
"For a while," he repeated.
"For a while, yes." She stood in silence and watched the water lap the rocks.
"You willed Livy to look like one of us," he said slowly. "To look like me."
"Yes," she said. "Yes, of course I did. I was so lonely and miserable." She was silent, and then she whispered, "I wished she really was yours."
"Hermione."
"That's what made it so awful." She turned around and let him see the tears she was fighting not to let fall. "Livy was his, but I was unfaithful all the same."
"He took up with one of his hygienists," Ron reminded her.
She shook her head. "I still shouldn't have been thinking of you." She squared her shoulders. "I won't lose my children. Not for anything."
"You don't have to." Ron reached out toward her. "Harry's in the Muggle Relations department." He took her hand in his. "We'll make sure your kids stay with you."
"I can't." But she left their hands clasped.
"Will you at least come back inside?" he asked. "You're shivering."
Hermione was grateful for the reprieve. "Yes." His hand was warm in hers as they walked across the garden.
Hermione checked on the kids again as soon as she went through the door into the house. Minnie was still playing Exploding Snap; at age nine and coming from a Muggle background, that was a game you could play for hours. James had moved from theory to practice and was staring down Lily across a chess board. Livy had the cat settled in her lap and somebody's toad cupped in her small hands.
Hermione relaxed a little and accepted the cup of tea Ron poured for her. They sipped their tea together and watched the children play.
"They'd be happy here," Ron said.
He was right. Hermione sipped her tea and didn't answer him.
***
V. Courting II
Hermione pushed Ron away and gasped for breath. "I feel like we're teenagers again."
"No Filch and Mrs. Norris to avoid," Ron pointed out.
"No." She shifted a little under him. "And no sharing the Common Room with a whole house of hormonal teenagers."
He kissed her. "No embarrassing moments being caught by my little sister."
She laughed. "No." She kissed him and thought about how different the easy banter and gentle kisses were from the early days with Donald.
Ron stopped kissing her and just looked at her. "I want to ask you something." He stroked her cheek.
She stopped smiling and felt a small knot of dread form in her stomach. "Ask then."
He kissed the tip of her nose. "Don't look so scared." He kissed her lips again. "Will you marry me?"
She pushed him away and sat up. "Marry you."
"Yes." He took her hand. "I love you. I've loved you forever. I want to marry you. I know you're worried about the kids, but you're a witch, and a powerful one. You'll be marrying into a family full of witches and wizards, and half of them are in the Ministry." He squeezed her hand. "Mum would hex Donald herself to keep him from taking the kids."
Hermione smiled reluctantly. "She would, wouldn't she?"
"Yes." His thumb stroked across the back of her hand. "She already thinks of you as family." He leaned forward and kissed her. "I love you."
She kissed him back with a surge of passion she hadn't known she'd been holding back. "Yes. I'll marry you," she clarified when he only looked dazed. "I love you too."
His face lit up. "Brilliant!" He smacked a kiss onto her lips. "Let's go get the girls and tell your family."
She laughed. "I agree to marry you and that's what you want to do."
"You can't back out once I tell them," he said reasonably. He grinned at her and took her face between his hands for a deep, exuberant kiss.
"I won't back out." She drew him back to her for another satisfying kiss. "I want to be your wife."
"I'll give you anything you want," Ron said.
Hermione had to close her eyes against the naked sincerity on his face. She kissed him again to cover it up.
"I want a small wedding," she said against his lips. She drew back to see what he thought about that. "I already had a big wedding. I don't need to go through that again."
Ron's hands smoothed over her cheeks and pushed her hair back. His eyes bored into hers. "Anything you want," he said again, and she knew that he had never been so serious in his life.
"You and me," she said, "in front of a priest with the kids, my parents, and your family."
"I'll be happy if it's just you and me and the priest."
Hermione laughed. "I don't want it to be that small."
Ron smiled back at her and kissed her again. "If we get married just after the end of term, we can go on a honeymoon and leave the kids at The Burrow." He brushed his lips over her mouth. "The whole family descends on Mum for the first couple of weeks of the summer hols."
"All right," Hermione agreed. She stood and held her hand out to him. "Let's go get the girls."
***
VI. Marriage
Ron threw open the door to The Burrow. "We're home!"
Hermione's kids came running from whatever amusements they'd been engaged in.
"Mummy!" Minnie threw herself into Hermione's open arms. James wasn't far behind. Ron swept Livy up before he passed her on to Hermione.
Molly bustled out of the kitchen. "Hello, dears." She had a hug and a kiss for each of them. "Will you stay for tea?"
Ron glanced at Hermione. "No, Mum," he answered for them. "I think we'd like to get settled in and have tea in our own place today."
"Of course you would." Molly smiled at them. "You two just relax and we'll make sure the kids have all their things together."
Harry pulled Ron aside for some sort of Quidditch discussion, and Hermione wandered into the kitchen to talk to Ginny.
"How was the lake?"
"The lake?" Hermione said blankly. "Oh, the lake. It was lovely."
"You didn't even see it, did you?" Ginny smirked.
"Of course we did," Hermione answered tartly. "Our bedroom had a view," she added.
Ginny laughed. "That's what a honeymoon is for." She eyed Hermione. "Are you pregnant yet?"
Hermione flushed. "I don't know. Maybe. I could feel it with James, but not with the girls."
"Well." Ginny smiled brightly at her. "Congratulations if you are, and keep trying if you aren't."
The arrival of Ron and the kids, with their assorted baggage, saved Hermione from further discussion on the matter. "Are we all ready to go?" she asked.
"I think so." Ron hefted their luggage. "Bill and Charlie have our portkey set up outside."
They said good-bye to Ron's family and gathered around a nearly destroyed poster advertising the latest in Muggle pre-teen music.
"We all need to touch this," Hermione explained to the kids. She picked up Livy and made sure that one of her hands was on the poster. "Hold on to your luggage."
There was a jerk and a whirlwind and they landed in a heap in front of a house. Ron, who'd managed to stay on his feet, helped them disentangle themselves. Once the kids were on their feet, he caught Hermione's hand.
"Come and see the house." He tugged at her hand. "Leave the luggage. We can get it later."
"All right." She let him lead her to the door of the house. Ron's quick grin was her only warning before he swept her off her feet and into his arms. "Ron!" she protested. He only laughed and carried her into the house.
"Welcome to our home." He kissed her deeply.
"Me too!" Livy asked.
Ron laughed and scooped up both girls. He carried them over the threshold accompanied by their delighted giggles. James followed them in with an armful of luggage. Hermione thanked him with a quick hug.
Ron put Minnie down and took Hermione's hand again. "Come on. I'll take you on the tour." They stepped through the door from the entryway into an open, spacious room. Ron gestured around the room with their joined hands. "This is the living room." He took them across the room and through another door. "The kitchen." He took them out through a different door and down a short hallway. He opened the door at the end of the hallway first.
"This is my office." The desk was cluttered with Quidditch magazines, broom catalogues, and at least two copies of Quidditch Through the Ages.
"And this." Ron opened the door to the other room. It was just a bit bigger than his office. Hermione recognized the books on the shelves as her magic library, but the room was otherwise empty. "This is yours," Ron told her. "I didn't know what you would want to use it for, so I left it empty for now."
The thoughtfulness of the gesture nearly brought tears to Hermione's eyes. She didn't trust her voice not to break on a thank you. She squeezed Ron's hand instead, and his answering squeeze told her he understood.
They went back down the hall to the stairs. "The bedrooms are upstairs," Ron said. He led them up the stairs and showed them the four bedrooms, one for the two of them and one for each of the kids. The kids were delighted with their new rooms--complete with new moving Wizarding photos and posters on the walls--and stayed to get acquainted with them while Ron and Hermione returned to the living room.
Ron sat in one of the large, comfortable chairs in front of the fireplace. "Do you like it?"
"It's lovely." Hermione perched on his lap. "It's perfect." She twined her arms around his neck and kissed him. "Thank you."
"The Hogwarts staff expanded the house, as a wedding gift for us."
Hermione leaned back against Ron's chest. "We'll have to write them a thank-you note."
"Yes." Ron brushed his lips against the line of Hermione's jaw.
The kids came in as they sat there, and James and Minnie went back out to explore the yard. They came in again after a while and played with Livy on the floor.
A loud knock on the door shattered the quiet.
"I'll get it." Hermione pushed herself up off of Ron's lap and went to the door. "Hagrid!"
Hagrid beamed at her from the porch. "Congratulations, Mrs. Weasley."
"Thank you." Hermione stepped into a tight hug. "Come in. Would you like tea?"
"No, no, can't stay for tea," Hagrid said stepping into their living room and taking up most of the space. "I just came t'bring housewarming gifts for the children."
Hermione and Ron exchanged worried looks over the kids' heads.
"That's very nice of you," Hermione said, and Hagrid beamed at her.
Hagrid rummaged through the pockets of his voluminous coat and came up with something that squirmed in his large hands. He set it down on the floor where it resolved itself into a two-headed puppy.
"She's one of Fluffy's get," Hagrid explained. "Be good for the kids to have a pet."
Minnie sat down next to the puppy and reached out to pet it. Hermione took a half-step forward but relaxed when the puppy only rolled over to get Minnie and James to scratch her belly.
"Does she have a name?" James asked.
"Course not," Hagrid said. "She's your puppy, and that makes her yours to name." He rummaged through his pockets again, and this time came up with a small pot. Growing out of it was an equally small plant with leaves that were just starting to unfurl.
"Professor Sprout sent this for the little one," he said, and he put the plant down in front of Livy. She reached out to it and crowed with delight when a leaf curled around one of her small fingers.
"Thank you," Ron said while Hermione knelt down to inspect the puppy and the plant. "And thank Professor Sprout, too, if you would."
"Of course, of course. Glad to do it." Ron's hand disappeared into Hagrid's handshake.
Hermione, too, stood to shake hands. "Thank you so much, Hagrid."
"Ye're welcome," he said. "I'd best be getting back. Fang's had a bit of a cough. I don't like to leave him alone for too long."
"Of course," Hermione said. She walked him to the door and let Ron get to know the puppy. "But you will come for tea sometime, won't you?"
"Soon's you get settled in and Fang gets better, I'd be glad t' come for tea."
Hermione closed the door behind Hagrid. Ron looked up to watch her looking fondly down on him, the kids, and the puppy. He came to join her in the entryway and caught her hand in his.
"I'll make tea," he said. He brushed his lips over her fingers.
"I can do it," she protested.
Ron kissed her softly and slowly. "I'll do it. You help the kids pick a name."
Hermione squeezed his hand. "Ginny asked me if I'm pregnant yet."
Ron chuckled and squeezed back. "Are you?"
Hermione shook her head. "I don't know. I couldn't feel it with the girls."
Ron reached up and stroked her cheek. "If you're not, we'll just have to try again."
She laughed and pulled him close for a kiss. "I love you."
"I love you too." Ron disentangled himself. "I'll make tea."
--End--
Title: Years Later
Author: Ruth Sadelle Alderson
Pairing: Ron/Hermione
Rating: FRT
Disclaimer: Not mine, not making any money off of this.
Archiving: My webpage (http://www.graphousa.net/rsadelle/fiction/), anyone else should ask. Archived versions must retain all headers.
Summary: Years later, Ron and Hermione meet again. This time, they get it right.
Author's Note: I worked on this and let it sit and had it edited for so long that I no longer remember who all helped along the way. Many thanks to those of you who did. Title sponged from the summary of Sofie K. Werkers' "Evitar."
I. Meeting
"Mum, look! It's Quality Quidditch Supplies!"
Hermione called after her children as they raced down the street. "James, Minnie, stay together." Livy dragged at her hand, and Hermione bent to pick her up. "At least it's not Gambol and Jape's," she said. When she reached the crowd in front of the window, she found it to be largely red-haired and freckled.
"Hermione Granger," one of the parents said delightedly. "I didn't know you were going to be here."
Hermione dredged up a tired smile. "Hello, Fred." She nodded into the crowd. "My oldest is going to Hogwarts this year."
"Hermione! It's so good to see you." Molly hugged her tightly.
"Hello, Mrs. Weasley."
Molly laughed. "Please, call me Molly. With all the Mrs. Weasleys around here, that will just be confusing."
"These must be the Weasleys," a snide voice said from behind them. "They always have more kids than they can afford."
"And you must be a Malfoy," one of the Weasleys answered back. "They always pretend to be superior." As a retort went, it wasn't overly biting, but it was enough to make the Malfoy child back off, especially once she noticed all the adults standing around.
Molly turned to the crowd of her grandchildren. "Let's go, children. We're meeting the rest of your parents for ice cream." To Hermione she said, "Would you like to join us? Most of the family is here. We can catch up while the children get to know each other."
"Ice cream!" Livy cried.
Molly chuckled. "I'd say that's a yes."
"James, Minnie," Hermione called. "Come along. We're going to go have ice cream with the Weasleys."
There were more Weasley adults waiting for them at Florean Fortescue's. Hermione busied herself getting ice cream for her own children before she could steel herself to join the adults at their table.
Harry and Ginny arrived just as she sat down. "We got all the books," Ginny said smugly. "They're being delivered to the Leaky Cauldron." Then she noticed Hermione, and came around to give her a tight hug. "It's so good to see you, Hermione."
"Hello," Hermione said. She nodded at Harry. "Hello, Harry."
Harry's greeting was interrupted as a wide-eyed child who looked suspiciously like a Creevey came to ask for his autograph.
"Hermione, how is that husband of yours?" Arthur asked. "Donald, isn't it?"
"We're divorced."
"Oh, dear, I'm so sorry," Molly said.
"What happened?" Ginny asked.
"He took up with one of the hygienists while I was pregnant with Livy. When she was born--" Hermione shrugged. "We had a paternity test done, but he still didn't believe she was his."
"Why not?" George asked with a frown.
"Her hair's red. Neither of us have any redheaded relatives."
"So where'd she get it?" Harry asked with a quick glance at Ron.
"Minerva--McGonagall," she clarified, "thinks I unconsciously exerted my will on the baby while I was pregnant."
"It's been done before," Percy said, "but that takes a lot of magic."
"I wasn't using it for anything else."
"You kept in touch with McGonagall?" Ron asked.
"Yes."
"That must be hard," Katie said, "raising three kids on your own."
"My parents retired last year, so they take the kids while I'm at work." Hermione looked past the adults to the children. "Whichever Weasley you are," she yelled at the redheaded teenager holding a spoon over Livy's head, "if you get ice cream on my daughter's new dress, I'll put a hex on you and you'll be coughing up slugs for a month!"
"She'll do it, too," George warned.
"A prankster, just like his father," Fred said, shaking his head.
"We never should have named him Fred," George said with an identical headshake.
"You named your son Fred?" Hermione asked.
"Sure did. My eldest is Fred, Fred's eldest is George, and Ginny and Harry's twins are Fred and George."
Hermione looked around the table. "Weasleys causing trouble, a Malfoy being a prat, and Harry the celebrity. Some things never change."
"No, some things don't," Ron agreed.
"How many of them are there at Hogwarts now?" Hermione asked with a nod at the children.
"Three of ours," Ginny answered, "two of Charlie's, four of Fred's, five of George's, three of Percy's, and Bill's daughter. And, of course, Ron teaches."
"I'm surprised the place is still standing," she said, and they all laughed.
"What about yours?" Ginny asked.
"This'll be James' first year. Minnie's nine, and Livy's just three."
"They do any magic?" Angelina asked.
"James has been flying since he knew what a broom was. Minnie used to frighten Donald's parents half to death by Apparating out of her crib. Livy seems to have some affinity with plants." Her throat tightened and she blinked back sudden tears. "How do you do it?" she asked. "How do you send your children away year after year?"
"Oh, the first one's always the hardest," Molly sympathized, patting her hand. "It gets easier."
Livy wandered over and held up her arms to be picked up. Hermione obligingly lifted her up and momentarily hid her face in the baby's hair.
"She does look like one of us," Percy said.
"Percy," Ginny admonished with an elbow to his ribs.
Percy looked offended. "Well, she does."
"Percy, hush."
Percy scowled at Ginny but quieted. To Hermione's relief, the conversation quickly turned away from her as the various branches of the Weasley family caught up on news and Livy drifted off to sleep on her shoulder.
When Livy woke up and the sun began to dip, Hermione called out to her other two children. "James, Minnie, time to go."
"But, Mum, we're having fun," James protested.
"You'll see them all on the train tomorrow and we're meeting Aunt Minerva and Uncle Severus for supper," Hermione reminded him.
"Severus?" Harry asked incredulously. "Severus Snape?"
"Yes," Hermione answered.
"You're having dinner with Professor Snape?"
"Yes," she answered again.
"You kept in touch with him too?" Ron asked.
"I grow hellsbane for him. It's horribly expensive here and it only grows in Muggle gardens. James," she warned, "it's time to go."
She nodded at the adults. "We'll see you at the platform tomorrow."
***
II. Tea
"Mummy?"
"Yes, Minnie." Hermione rummaged through her purse for the house keys.
"Can we have tea outside today?"
At the word "tea," Livy's small, unhappy sounds turned into full-fledged wails.
"Yes, Minnie, we can have tea outside." Hermione drew out her keys and gently bounced Livy on her hip. "Hush, Livy, Mummy'll get you something in just a minute." Hermione looked up as they neared the porch and was greeted with the sight of Ron standing there with a bouquet. "Hello, Ron."
"Hello." He held out the flowers. "I brought you these. You know, mums for the mum." He half-smiled at her.
She struggled to smile back. "Thank you, Ron. That's very nice of you." She tried bouncing Livy again. "Livy, please," she begged. To Ron she said, "Come in and have tea with us."
She left him to close the door and went straight through to the kitchen. She dropped her purse and keys on the table and yanked open the icebox. "Yes, Livy," she soothed. "I'm getting you something now." She pulled out the milk and poured some into a sippy cup. She pushed the lid down on the cup and gave it to Livy, who finally quieted. "Thank Merlin," Hermione sighed.
She took down a stack of plates from the cupboard and set Livy on the floor. "Minnie, take the plates out." She gently pushed Livy's shoulder. "We're having tea outside today, Livy. Go with Minnie." She opened another cupboard and took down a vase, which she handed to Ron. "Put the flowers in water, would you?"
Ron ran water into the vase. "Isn't it dangerous for them to be outside alone?"
"I don't use much magic, but there are wards around the yard." Hermione filled a kettle with water and put it on the stove to boil. She took scones out of a box and put them in the oven to warm up. Three cups, a milk pitcher, the sugar bowl, butter and jam, a knife, and spoons went on a tray. When that first flurry of activity was over, she leaned back against a counter and looked at Ron in her kitchen.
"How's Hogwarts?" she asked.
"Fine, fine. I don't teach on Friday afternoons, so came to see you." Ron fell silent for a moment, and then said, "James is doing well. I can tell he's been flying for a while."
Hermione crossed her arms across her chest and gripped her elbows. "Good. I'm glad he's getting on."
"Hermione--"
The whistling of the teakettle interrupted whatever Ron had been about to say and made Hermione jump. She poured the water into a pot and pulled the scones out of the oven. The scones and the teapot joined the other tea things on the tray.
"Let me," Ron offered.
"I've got it." Hermione flashed him a tight smile. "Hold the door, will you?"
Ron obligingly held the door open for her. Hermione called the girls over to the table while Ron poured the tea. Hermione gave one scone to Minnie, one to Ron, and took a third one for herself. She broke pieces off her own scone and put butter and jam on them for Livy. Minnie told them all about her day at school, and at grandmum's, while Livy got jam all over her hands and face.
"May I go play?" Minnie asked when she finished her scone.
"Yes, you may," Hermione said.
"Me too!"
Hermione lifted Livy out of her chair and onto her lap. "In just a moment." She scrubbed the jam off of Livy with a napkin. "Now you may go play." She kissed Livy's cheek and put her down on the ground. She sank back into her chair and drank deeply from her teacup.
"Long day?" Ron asked.
"They all are." Hermione picked at her scone. "Stay out of Uncle Severus's plants," she called to the kids. "I'm a single working mother." She rubbed a hand over her eyes. "I have to work to support the kids, but that means I don't get to see them during the day."
"Don't you get some kind of support from Donald?"
"We're supposed to. He doesn't always come through."
"You don't have to stay in the Muggle world."
Hermione was saved from answering by Livy. "More?" she asked, holding up her cup.
"Yes, Livy. Mummy will get you some more." Hermione took the cup back into the house and used the break to compose herself while she poured Livy a second cup of milk.
Hermione had to stop in the doorway and fight back sudden tears when she returned. Livy was sitting on Ron's lap, apparently content to just sit there. Hermione gave the cup back to her.
"There you go, sweetie."
Livy wrapped her small fingers around the handles and climbed down from Ron's lap. "I love you, Mummy," she said.
Hermione bent down and kissed her hair. "I love you too."
Livy beamed up at her and went back out to play with Minnie. Hermione sipped her tea in an attempt to compose herself again.
"Is James really doing well?" she asked.
"Yes, of course. He seems happy. He's made friends with my nieces and nephews."
Hermione smiled. "Are they causing as much trouble as we did?"
Ron smiled back. "Different kinds of trouble. The twins both have kids James' age, and one of Harry and Ginny's is a year older, and she's the only Potter or Weasley in her year."
"Pranks," Hermione surmised.
"Oh, yes," Ron answered. "Pranks. They figured out how to spell the sixth-year girl's dormitory." He shook his head. "You'd think Charlie's girl was half-dragon herself the way she roared at them when the door spit water at her instead of opening."
Hermione laughed. "Whose idea was that?"
"I think it was purely a Weasley idea, but Mum says it was Granger research that found the spell to do it."
Hermione shook her head. "That always was the Granger place."
Ron put his hand over hers. "No," he said firmly. "That was not all you were."
Hermione shook her head. "Minnie," she called out into the garden, "leave Mrs. Tig alone. The neighbor's cat," she explained to Ron. She used the excuse of buttering a piece of scone to gently pull her hand out from under his. "The kids are always trying to play with her, but she's not much of a people cat." She nodded at the plants. "We have catnip, so she keeps coming back."
"Why do you grow catnip if you don't want the cat here?"
"Oh, I don't mind her being here. I think she minds more than anyone else." Hermione sipped her tea. "The kids were all colicky as babies. It used to drive Donald crazy. Catnip tea helped." Hermione sipped her tea again. "It's good for insomnia too."
"I'll have to remember that." Ron looked up at the sun. "I should be getting back. I have a Quidditch match to referee tomorrow morning."
Hermione nodded. "Minnie, Livy, come say goodbye to Ron." The girls emerged from the garden beds and came back to the porch.
"Goodbye, Ron." Minnie said, taking a piece of Hermione's scone.
Livy put her arms around Ron's legs. "Bye-bye."
Ron bent and hugged Livy. "Bye-bye, Livy. Goodbye, Minnie." He smiled and took a tentative step toward Hermione. "Goodbye, Hermione."
Hermione took a nervous half-step backwards. "Goodbye, Ron." She mustered up a smile. "Do come for tea again."
Ron beamed back at her. "I will."
***
III. Courting I
Hermione didn't realize how much she looked forward to Friday afternoon tea until the Friday she came up the walk and found three owls and a box on her front porch instead of Ron.
"Where's Ron?" Livy asked.
"I don't know," Hermione answered. "Let's find out." She put Livy down on the porch and fished through her purse for the correct number of knuts for the owls. The girls watched the owls fly away while Hermione unlocked the door.
"Minnie, bring the box into the kitchen. Come on, Livy." Hermione got the door closed and the girls into the kitchen. "Now, let's see what came for us." She opened the letter one of the owls had brought.
"Dear Hermione," she read.
"I'm sorry I can't be there for tea today. Half the staff has come down with some sort of flu. Poppy and Severus are working on coming up with something to fix them up quickly, but in the meantime the rest of us are doing our best to share classes and keep order.
"I sent some treats for you and the girls to have with your tea. There's magic keeping the food.
"I'll be thinking of you."
It was signed, simply, "Ron."
"Ron couldn't come for tea today," Hermione said past the knot of disappointment in her throat. "But," she said quickly, when Livy's crumpling face threatened tears and wailing, "he sent us treats for tea." She smiled brightly. "Let's find out what he sent."
Minnie helped her tear open the paper on the box. Hermione put one arm around Livy to keep her from falling off the chair she'd climbed up on.
"Look at this." Hermione began pulling things out of the box. "Pumpkin juice, and it's still cold. You're going to like that, Livy. Real Honeydukes chocolate. That's the very best stuff."
"Chocolate frogs! Can I have one?" Minnie asked.
"Yes, you may." Hermione gave her one of the packages. "Be careful or it'll hop away from you." She pulled out a small, warm box. "Oh! Pumpkin tarts." Below the food was a copy of the latest issue of Transfiguration Today. She put it aside for later and got plates and cups out of the cupboard. She and Minnie each got a tart, and she cut a third in half for Livy. She poured pumpkin juice into the cups and got the girls to sit down for tea.
Livy only ate half of her piece of tart, and then she began to whine. "Where's Ron?"
"I told you, sweetie. He couldn't be here."
"Why?"
"Because half the staff at Hogwarts is sick. Ron had to stay and help out."
"Why?"
"Because someone has to take care of all the students at Hogwarts." She reached out and took a Chocolate Frog from Minnie. "No more. You've had enough chocolate."
"Mummy, please?" Minnie asked.
Livy continued to fuss. "Why?"
"No, Minnie. Because we don't want James getting hurt."
"I want another one!"
"I want Ron here!"
"I know you do, Livy, but he has to work. Minnie, you've had enough chocolate."
"You don't love me!" Minnie accused. Livy just screamed.
"Minnie, I love you very much, but you may not have any more chocolate."
"No you don't!" Minnie shouted. "You want me to be sad all the time! Ron's not here because of you! I hate you!"
"That is enough!" Hermione snapped. "If you cannot behave civilly at tea, you may go to your room. The same goes for you," she said to Livy.
Minnie stomped up the stairs and slammed her bedroom door. Hermione took Livy up to her room and put her down on the bed. Even with Livy's door halfway closed, Hermione could hear her screaming all the way down the stairs.
Hermione broke the spells on the treats Ron had sent and stowed them in the icebox and cupboards. She took the letter and magazine to the living room and settled onto the couch. She read the last line of Ron's letter again and again. "I'll be thinking of you."
She put the letter down next to her and leaned her head back against the couch. She sat up enough to switch on a lamp when it really started to get dark, but she was still staring up at the ceiling when Minnie crept down the stairs.
"Mummy?"
Hermione forced herself to sit up. "Yes, Minnie."
Minnie hurled herself across the room and into Hermione's lap. "Mummy, I'm sorry."
"It's okay," Hermione said quickly before she was faced with Minnie's tears. "It's okay. I know you were upset."
"Ron didn't come," Minnie said.
Hermione stroked her hair. "No. He had to stay at Hogwarts today."
"I miss him."
Hermione smiled gently. "We all miss him."
"Will he come for tea next week?"
"I'm sure he will. Uncle Severus and Madam Pomfrey should have something worked out by then. They're very good at Potions making."
Minnie was silent for a minute, digesting that. Then she asked, "Is Ron going to be like Daddy?"
The question startled Hermione. "What do you mean?"
"Daddy stopped coming home for tea," Minnie explained with perfect logic.
Hermione was horrified. "No," she said forcefully. "No, darling, Ron's not like him."
Minnie sniffled quietly. "Ron won't not want to see us?"
Hermione smiled at the tangle of words. "No," she assured Minnie. "Ron loves you."
"How do you know?" Minnie was not ready to let go of her skepticism.
"The Weasleys," Hermione said, "adore children. And Ron is very much a Weasley." She looked down into her daughter's trusting face and smiled. "I remember when Charlie first brought Agatha to visit. They all fought over who go to hold the baby. Ron was right there in the thick of it."
Minnie was silent for a moment, digesting that. "There are a lot of Weasleys," she said. "Isn't he sick of kids by now?"
"You don't know the Weasleys," Hermione said. "I'm sure they're just as delighted with the last one as they are with the first."
"And he'll come back next week?"
"Yes, if Uncle Severus and Madam Pomfrey can cook up something to make the other teachers better."
Minnie laid her head against Hermione's shoulder. "I hope they do."
Hermione leaned her cheek against Minnie's hair. "Me too." They sat in silence for long moments before Hermione sighed heavily. "We'd better have some supper, don't you think?"
"Let's have eggs," Minnie suggested.
Hermione kissed her hair. "That's a lovely idea." She stood when Minnie climbed down off her lap. "Go in the kitchen and get out the eggs, milk, and butter while I get Livy."
Livy had cried herself to sleep, but she awoke when Hermione picked her up.
"Mummy?" she asked muzzily.
"Yes, darling." Hermione kissed Livy's cheek. "We're going to have eggs for supper. Would you like that?"
Livy leaned her head against Hermione's shoulder. "Okay." She perked up by the time they got down the stairs and Hermione was able to leave her in a chair while she scrambled eggs for the three of them.
The meal was blessedly quiet, and she was able to put Livy to bed with a story when they were done. Minnie got half an hour of telly while Hermione washed the dishes and supervised her viewing choices from the kitchen.
She tucked Minnie in with a kiss. "Goodnight, Minnie. I love you."
"I love you too, Mummy."
Hermione kissed her once more and turned out her light on her way downstairs. She turned out the lights in the kitchen and went to where she'd left Transfiguration Today in the living room. A large owl hovered outside the window. Hermione let it in and took the letter it carried while it perched on the back of the couch. She cocked an eyebrow at it and sat down to read the letter.
"Dear Hermione," Ron had written.
"I hope you and the girls didn't miss me too much. I missed you dreadfully--when I've had even the slightest moment to think. The staff is feeling the strain of being cut in half, if even temporarily, and the students are beginning to notice.
"It's been a very long day.
"Severus asked me to ask you to send some hellsbane to us. He thinks he has an idea for something that will help.
"I wish I could have been there for tea with you and the girls."
He had again signed it with a simple "Ron."
Hermione took a pair of scissors and slipped out into the garden. She came back and gathered the cuttings into a careful bundle the owl could carry. She took a piece of parchment, a bottle of ink, and a quill out of her desk drawer.
"Dear Ron," she wrote and paused to look at the words for a moment.
"Thank you for the treats. We enjoyed them, even though the girls acted horribly over tea. They missed you.
"I missed you too." She thought about rewriting the letter and leaving that bit out, but chose to leave it in.
"I've sent Severus's hellsbane, and I've added in some rosemary that's grown beside a bed of carrots in a Muggle garden. It might help.
"Please come to tea next week. We missed you this week."
She debated over her closing and in the end signed only her name. She sealed the letter and gave it and the package of plant cuttings to the owl to take back to Ron. She let the owl back through the window and sat down on the couch to see what Transfiguration Today had to say.
***
IV. Christmas7
Hermione glanced around to do a quick check on the kids. James was engaged in a Wizarding Chess strategy discussion with the kids his age. Minnie played a game of Exploding Snap with Piper. Livy was deep in communion with the smoke gray cat that belonged to one of the kids already in school. There were plenty of adults around to keep an eye on them. Hermione grabbed her cloak off a hook and slipped out the door.
She breathed easier once she was outside. The presence of so many people in such a small space was starting to stifle her. She walked down to the pond and settled herself onto a rock.
It wasn't long before someone else made their way down to sit beside her.
"I missed you," Harry told her.
Hermione leaned into the arm he put around her shoulders. "I missed you too," she said.
He picked up a pebble from the ground and tossed it into the pond. "Why'd you leave?"
She was silent for a moment, gathering her thoughts. "I had to be my own person," she said slowly. "Here, I was that Muggle girl who was friends with Harry Potter." She half-smiled to show that it wasn't him she was angry with. "I just needed to be someone else."
"Did you get what you wanted?" he asked.
She shrugged. "I was just a normal person, a normal Muggle that is. It was nice for a long time." She tossed a rock into the pond and watched the ripples spread out over its surface. "I had a job, you know. I worked in my parents' office. That's how I met Donald." She risked a glance at Harry. "We met at a holiday party. There were lots of dentists there. He was nice to me." She laid her head down on her drawn up knees.
"It was really nice for a long time." After a long moment of silence, she sighed and sat up again. "And then it wasn't, and here I am."
"I'm glad you're back."
Hermione reached out and squeezed his hand. "Thank you."
Harry took her hand in both of his to warm it. "Ron's glad too."
This was the conversation she was wary of, and she didn't answer him.
"Molly told me once," Harry said slowly, and Hermione could see him remembering it, "that when Weasleys fall in love, they never fall out of it."
She didn't answer that either.
"Think about it," Harry advised as he stood. He squeezed her hand and kissed her temple.
Think about it. Of course she was going to think about it. She hadn't really been thinking about anything else, not since she'd met them all again in Diagon Alley. No, to be honest, not since she'd found out she was pregnant with Livy and that Donald was cheating on her.
She huddled down into her cloak and tossed another pebble into the pond.
"It's cold out here." Ron's voice wasn't a surprise--she'd heard his footsteps--but the hesitancy was.
"Yes, I know." She twisted to look at him. "I needed a little space. I haven't been around this many wizards in a long time."
"Are Muggles really that different?"
"Not all of them, but my family's awfully small." She grinned. "Especially compared to yours."
He grinned back. "Most are, compared to mine." He reached out his hand and helped her to her feet. "You could come back."
She removed her hand from his and turned away to face the pond again. "I can't."
"There's still a place for you here."
"I can't." She swallowed back her terror. "Donald would take the kids away from me."
"You told me he didn't want them."
"He doesn't, but he'd take them to hurt me."
Ron stepped forward and caught her elbow. "We can stop him. Half my family is in the Ministry. Harry's high up in the Muggle Relations department."
"He doesn't know."
"What?"
"He doesn't know." Hermione said again. "I never told him."
"You were married to him for ten years!"
"I know." She shifted restlessly. "It was never the right time to tell him. And then," she shrugged, "it just didn't seem to matter anymore."
"Didn't matter?" His voice was low and shocked. "How could it not matter?"
She stepped out of his grip. "It just-- It just didn't." She bowed her head and looked down at the edge of the pond. "I was happy, for a while, with my husband and my children and my normal Muggle life."
"For a while," he repeated.
"For a while, yes." She stood in silence and watched the water lap the rocks.
"You willed Livy to look like one of us," he said slowly. "To look like me."
"Yes," she said. "Yes, of course I did. I was so lonely and miserable." She was silent, and then she whispered, "I wished she really was yours."
"Hermione."
"That's what made it so awful." She turned around and let him see the tears she was fighting not to let fall. "Livy was his, but I was unfaithful all the same."
"He took up with one of his hygienists," Ron reminded her.
She shook her head. "I still shouldn't have been thinking of you." She squared her shoulders. "I won't lose my children. Not for anything."
"You don't have to." Ron reached out toward her. "Harry's in the Muggle Relations department." He took her hand in his. "We'll make sure your kids stay with you."
"I can't." But she left their hands clasped.
"Will you at least come back inside?" he asked. "You're shivering."
Hermione was grateful for the reprieve. "Yes." His hand was warm in hers as they walked across the garden.
Hermione checked on the kids again as soon as she went through the door into the house. Minnie was still playing Exploding Snap; at age nine and coming from a Muggle background, that was a game you could play for hours. James had moved from theory to practice and was staring down Lily across a chess board. Livy had the cat settled in her lap and somebody's toad cupped in her small hands.
Hermione relaxed a little and accepted the cup of tea Ron poured for her. They sipped their tea together and watched the children play.
"They'd be happy here," Ron said.
He was right. Hermione sipped her tea and didn't answer him.
***
V. Courting II
Hermione pushed Ron away and gasped for breath. "I feel like we're teenagers again."
"No Filch and Mrs. Norris to avoid," Ron pointed out.
"No." She shifted a little under him. "And no sharing the Common Room with a whole house of hormonal teenagers."
He kissed her. "No embarrassing moments being caught by my little sister."
She laughed. "No." She kissed him and thought about how different the easy banter and gentle kisses were from the early days with Donald.
Ron stopped kissing her and just looked at her. "I want to ask you something." He stroked her cheek.
She stopped smiling and felt a small knot of dread form in her stomach. "Ask then."
He kissed the tip of her nose. "Don't look so scared." He kissed her lips again. "Will you marry me?"
She pushed him away and sat up. "Marry you."
"Yes." He took her hand. "I love you. I've loved you forever. I want to marry you. I know you're worried about the kids, but you're a witch, and a powerful one. You'll be marrying into a family full of witches and wizards, and half of them are in the Ministry." He squeezed her hand. "Mum would hex Donald herself to keep him from taking the kids."
Hermione smiled reluctantly. "She would, wouldn't she?"
"Yes." His thumb stroked across the back of her hand. "She already thinks of you as family." He leaned forward and kissed her. "I love you."
She kissed him back with a surge of passion she hadn't known she'd been holding back. "Yes. I'll marry you," she clarified when he only looked dazed. "I love you too."
His face lit up. "Brilliant!" He smacked a kiss onto her lips. "Let's go get the girls and tell your family."
She laughed. "I agree to marry you and that's what you want to do."
"You can't back out once I tell them," he said reasonably. He grinned at her and took her face between his hands for a deep, exuberant kiss.
"I won't back out." She drew him back to her for another satisfying kiss. "I want to be your wife."
"I'll give you anything you want," Ron said.
Hermione had to close her eyes against the naked sincerity on his face. She kissed him again to cover it up.
"I want a small wedding," she said against his lips. She drew back to see what he thought about that. "I already had a big wedding. I don't need to go through that again."
Ron's hands smoothed over her cheeks and pushed her hair back. His eyes bored into hers. "Anything you want," he said again, and she knew that he had never been so serious in his life.
"You and me," she said, "in front of a priest with the kids, my parents, and your family."
"I'll be happy if it's just you and me and the priest."
Hermione laughed. "I don't want it to be that small."
Ron smiled back at her and kissed her again. "If we get married just after the end of term, we can go on a honeymoon and leave the kids at The Burrow." He brushed his lips over her mouth. "The whole family descends on Mum for the first couple of weeks of the summer hols."
"All right," Hermione agreed. She stood and held her hand out to him. "Let's go get the girls."
***
VI. Marriage
Ron threw open the door to The Burrow. "We're home!"
Hermione's kids came running from whatever amusements they'd been engaged in.
"Mummy!" Minnie threw herself into Hermione's open arms. James wasn't far behind. Ron swept Livy up before he passed her on to Hermione.
Molly bustled out of the kitchen. "Hello, dears." She had a hug and a kiss for each of them. "Will you stay for tea?"
Ron glanced at Hermione. "No, Mum," he answered for them. "I think we'd like to get settled in and have tea in our own place today."
"Of course you would." Molly smiled at them. "You two just relax and we'll make sure the kids have all their things together."
Harry pulled Ron aside for some sort of Quidditch discussion, and Hermione wandered into the kitchen to talk to Ginny.
"How was the lake?"
"The lake?" Hermione said blankly. "Oh, the lake. It was lovely."
"You didn't even see it, did you?" Ginny smirked.
"Of course we did," Hermione answered tartly. "Our bedroom had a view," she added.
Ginny laughed. "That's what a honeymoon is for." She eyed Hermione. "Are you pregnant yet?"
Hermione flushed. "I don't know. Maybe. I could feel it with James, but not with the girls."
"Well." Ginny smiled brightly at her. "Congratulations if you are, and keep trying if you aren't."
The arrival of Ron and the kids, with their assorted baggage, saved Hermione from further discussion on the matter. "Are we all ready to go?" she asked.
"I think so." Ron hefted their luggage. "Bill and Charlie have our portkey set up outside."
They said good-bye to Ron's family and gathered around a nearly destroyed poster advertising the latest in Muggle pre-teen music.
"We all need to touch this," Hermione explained to the kids. She picked up Livy and made sure that one of her hands was on the poster. "Hold on to your luggage."
There was a jerk and a whirlwind and they landed in a heap in front of a house. Ron, who'd managed to stay on his feet, helped them disentangle themselves. Once the kids were on their feet, he caught Hermione's hand.
"Come and see the house." He tugged at her hand. "Leave the luggage. We can get it later."
"All right." She let him lead her to the door of the house. Ron's quick grin was her only warning before he swept her off her feet and into his arms. "Ron!" she protested. He only laughed and carried her into the house.
"Welcome to our home." He kissed her deeply.
"Me too!" Livy asked.
Ron laughed and scooped up both girls. He carried them over the threshold accompanied by their delighted giggles. James followed them in with an armful of luggage. Hermione thanked him with a quick hug.
Ron put Minnie down and took Hermione's hand again. "Come on. I'll take you on the tour." They stepped through the door from the entryway into an open, spacious room. Ron gestured around the room with their joined hands. "This is the living room." He took them across the room and through another door. "The kitchen." He took them out through a different door and down a short hallway. He opened the door at the end of the hallway first.
"This is my office." The desk was cluttered with Quidditch magazines, broom catalogues, and at least two copies of Quidditch Through the Ages.
"And this." Ron opened the door to the other room. It was just a bit bigger than his office. Hermione recognized the books on the shelves as her magic library, but the room was otherwise empty. "This is yours," Ron told her. "I didn't know what you would want to use it for, so I left it empty for now."
The thoughtfulness of the gesture nearly brought tears to Hermione's eyes. She didn't trust her voice not to break on a thank you. She squeezed Ron's hand instead, and his answering squeeze told her he understood.
They went back down the hall to the stairs. "The bedrooms are upstairs," Ron said. He led them up the stairs and showed them the four bedrooms, one for the two of them and one for each of the kids. The kids were delighted with their new rooms--complete with new moving Wizarding photos and posters on the walls--and stayed to get acquainted with them while Ron and Hermione returned to the living room.
Ron sat in one of the large, comfortable chairs in front of the fireplace. "Do you like it?"
"It's lovely." Hermione perched on his lap. "It's perfect." She twined her arms around his neck and kissed him. "Thank you."
"The Hogwarts staff expanded the house, as a wedding gift for us."
Hermione leaned back against Ron's chest. "We'll have to write them a thank-you note."
"Yes." Ron brushed his lips against the line of Hermione's jaw.
The kids came in as they sat there, and James and Minnie went back out to explore the yard. They came in again after a while and played with Livy on the floor.
A loud knock on the door shattered the quiet.
"I'll get it." Hermione pushed herself up off of Ron's lap and went to the door. "Hagrid!"
Hagrid beamed at her from the porch. "Congratulations, Mrs. Weasley."
"Thank you." Hermione stepped into a tight hug. "Come in. Would you like tea?"
"No, no, can't stay for tea," Hagrid said stepping into their living room and taking up most of the space. "I just came t'bring housewarming gifts for the children."
Hermione and Ron exchanged worried looks over the kids' heads.
"That's very nice of you," Hermione said, and Hagrid beamed at her.
Hagrid rummaged through the pockets of his voluminous coat and came up with something that squirmed in his large hands. He set it down on the floor where it resolved itself into a two-headed puppy.
"She's one of Fluffy's get," Hagrid explained. "Be good for the kids to have a pet."
Minnie sat down next to the puppy and reached out to pet it. Hermione took a half-step forward but relaxed when the puppy only rolled over to get Minnie and James to scratch her belly.
"Does she have a name?" James asked.
"Course not," Hagrid said. "She's your puppy, and that makes her yours to name." He rummaged through his pockets again, and this time came up with a small pot. Growing out of it was an equally small plant with leaves that were just starting to unfurl.
"Professor Sprout sent this for the little one," he said, and he put the plant down in front of Livy. She reached out to it and crowed with delight when a leaf curled around one of her small fingers.
"Thank you," Ron said while Hermione knelt down to inspect the puppy and the plant. "And thank Professor Sprout, too, if you would."
"Of course, of course. Glad to do it." Ron's hand disappeared into Hagrid's handshake.
Hermione, too, stood to shake hands. "Thank you so much, Hagrid."
"Ye're welcome," he said. "I'd best be getting back. Fang's had a bit of a cough. I don't like to leave him alone for too long."
"Of course," Hermione said. She walked him to the door and let Ron get to know the puppy. "But you will come for tea sometime, won't you?"
"Soon's you get settled in and Fang gets better, I'd be glad t' come for tea."
Hermione closed the door behind Hagrid. Ron looked up to watch her looking fondly down on him, the kids, and the puppy. He came to join her in the entryway and caught her hand in his.
"I'll make tea," he said. He brushed his lips over her fingers.
"I can do it," she protested.
Ron kissed her softly and slowly. "I'll do it. You help the kids pick a name."
Hermione squeezed his hand. "Ginny asked me if I'm pregnant yet."
Ron chuckled and squeezed back. "Are you?"
Hermione shook her head. "I don't know. I couldn't feel it with the girls."
Ron reached up and stroked her cheek. "If you're not, we'll just have to try again."
She laughed and pulled him close for a kiss. "I love you."
"I love you too." Ron disentangled himself. "I'll make tea."
--End--