Seven Years Later: Rose Edith

[kanedax]

 Title: Seven Years Later: Rose Edith
Author: kanedax
Spoilers: Deathly Hallows, Previous Chapters
Rating: PG-13 for mild language and nudity
Characters: H/G, R/Hr, and others
Summary: Hermione comes home
Notes: Thanks to
buttfacemakani,
cloen, and
phoenixblaze. A joke string in this chapter was originated by BFM on this LJ post (with awesome art) and continued in the comment section by myself, cloen, and phoenix. It is made of win.
I don’t own the Weasleys or the Potters, but I do own the Grangers and the Wainwrights. Everyone else belongs to JK Rowling.

Outliving Your Usefulness / Previous Chapters / Home for the Holidays

As Harry Potter’s feet made contact with the pavement, an unexpected gust of wind blew from the north and tore the pile of papers from his hands.

“Oh, fuck!” he muttered to himself as he stomped down on the closest sheet.

I should have gotten a bloody paperclip, he thought as he watched the rest of the pages blow towards the lawns and houses yards away. Hermione’s going to kill me.

Wait a minute…

He pulled his wand from his coat. “Accio documents!”

The papers struggled against the wind. Some seemed to hang in mid-air, as if tied to his wand like a kite tied to a string. But in the end they all pulled themselves toward him and back into a neat pile in his hand.

Forgot I can do this stuff in a magic neighborhood, Harry thought, realizing that he was still far too used to sneaking around, playing the Muggle, on the streets of London.

Tutshill wasn’t London.

He glanced up and down the street, turning an orange hue in the approaching September sunset. He recognized Hermione’s car (Honda Civic, Harry thought. Nice and practical) parked along the curb, as well as Dan and Charlotte Granger’s and a third that he didn’t recognize. Despite the Muggle technology, it was common to see automobiles in wizarding neighborhoods outside of London, as they were still the most practical way to get around without drawing undue attention.

Dan and Charlotte seem to be doing well for themselves, too, thought Harry as he ran his hand along the hood of their new MINI Cooper. Even with having to pay for Caroline’s school. As much as he loved his broomstick, the ten-year-old inside him who once flipped through Uncle Vernon’s issues of Car & Driver in the toilet wished that he could have one of his own.

Not going to happen anytime soon, anyway, he thought. He could easily buy a car and put an invisibility switch on it similar to the one that Mr. Weasley had on the Anglia. Unfortunately, that would only be useful until a bicyclist smashed headlong into the unseen car parked on the street.

Something I’ll have to figure out later, he thought as he approached the front door. If at all. I don’t know how keen Ginny would be on the idea of a car, even as much as it would help us make James’s travels easier. He hates the Floo, hates the Knight Bus. We can’t fly him on broomsticks, and forget Apparition. And there are some days that we just can’t walk to the Underground.

Stop trying to talk yourself into it, he chided himself as the door opened.

“’Bout time you got here,” said Ron Weasley with a tired smile.

“Work got busy,” Harry explained, giving his best friend a quick hug before entering the house.

“You got Hermione’s things, then?” asked Ron, eyeing the stack of papers warily.

“Yeah, I did,” said Harry. “Wilcox said it wasn’t a big deal, but…”

“Hermione’s Hermione, right,” said Ron, rolling his eyes as they walked into the drawing room. “Harry’s here,” he said to the small group gathered around the room on chairs and couches. Ginny and Molly sat in chairs across from Harry, with Arthur standing behind them. Hermione was on the couch to his right, with her family, the Grangers, on the opposite sofa. Rounding out the group were two of Hermione’s cousins, Gretchen and Elizabeth Wainwright, sitting in spare chairs dragged in from the kitchen. Both wore the same matching crystal pendants that were around the necks of the other three Muggles.

“Daddy!” came the call of a small voice, and Harry saw a small red head streaking toward him from between Ginny and Molly. He bent down and scooped James Arthur Potter up into his arms.

“Hey, you,” he said, kissing his son on the cheek.

“He was getting antsy,” explained Ginny. “Everyone was paying too much attention to the baby.”

“Well, I could see how someone could feel that way,” said Harry, bouncing James up and down. “What did I miss?”

“Not much,” said Ginny as Harry bent down to kiss her.

Ron sat down on the couch beside Hermione. “We just got home about an hour ago,” he said. “Dan and Charlotte picked us up from the hospital in Bristol. Mum and Dad Apparated back. Everyone’s just been staring at her ever since.”

Harry turned to the other couch to see Charlotte Granger holding the bundle of pink blankets known as Rose Edith Weasley in her arms. Hermione’s sister, Caroline, was on her knees on the cushions, leaning over her mother with a huge grin on her face. Dan was on the far end, glancing over occasionally. He wasn’t wearing the awed expression that his family was, but he looked content nonetheless.

“Are you done holding her?” Molly asked Charlotte.

“Calm down, love,” said Arthur, chuckling. “We have four grandchildren. This is their first. Let them be grandparents for a bit.”

“Don’t remind me,” Dan joked, rolling his eyes. “I knew I was going to be a grandfather eventually. Doesn’t make it any easier when it actually hit me.”

“Is Teddy coming?” Caroline asked, pulling herself away from Rose just long enough to look at Harry.

“Teddy’s with Andromeda,” said Ginny, her tone sounding like she had already answered this question numerous times in the past hour. “He only visits us on some weekends when he’s being home schooled.”

“Okay,” Caroline replied, her voice full of disappointment.

“We’re here for Rose, anyway, dear,” said Charlotte. “She wants to say hi to her aunt.”

“I’m not her aunt,” said Caroline. “I’m only seven.”

“And what does age have to do with it?” asked Gretchen.

“Aunts are old,” Caroline explained like it was the most obvious thing in the world. “Just like Aunt Helen. She’s old.”

Gretchen and Elizabeth exchanged glances, then broke out into laughter. “Yeah, I can listen to that argument,” said Elizabeth. “Mum is pretty old.”

“Helen’s younger than I am,” said Dan. “So what does that make me?”

“I don’t know, Grandpa,” said Gretchen, and the sisters broke out into another spate of giggles.

“So I take it that’s your car outside?” Harry asked the sisters.

“We just got here a few minutes before you did,” said Gretchen. “Mum and Dad are going to be coming down from Manchester next weekend, but we were close enough to make stop.”

“You’re living together now, right?”

“We have a flat in Bristol,” Elizabeth explained.

“They followed us back up here after we got out of the hospital,” said Hermione.

Harry turned to look at Hermione for the first time. “You’re looking better,” he said as he walked over to her.

“No, I’m not,” said Hermione incredulously.

“Well, you’re clothed, at least,” said Harry. “No more hospital gowns.”

And she did look better. Harry hadn’t been able to see Hermione very much after what had apparently been a very hard labor. Harry had been there with Ginny, knew how hard it could be. And he knew that Ginny was in better physical shape than Hermione was coming in. Hermione certainly looked better, less exhausted, than she did after the Battle of Hogwarts, but not by much.

But she did have that glow about her. That helped.

Hermione pushed her way down, giving him room to sit. He did so, putting James on his lap, who quickly climbed off and ran over to his mother. “I actually wanted to leave sooner,” she said, taking the papers that Harry had brought from the small table in front of the couch. “But they wanted to make sure Rose was alright first.”

“Well, you did get out sooner than others,” said Arthur. “Lucius told me that Hedda was going to be there at least another day or two after you left.”

“Wait, what?” asked Ron perking to attention. “Lucius? Lucius Malfoy?”

“Oh, I didn’t mention that?” said Arthur, “Hedda Malfoy was in labor at the same time that Hermione was. They live in Bath, so Bristol was the closest hospital for them, as well.” He wearing an expression that reminded Harry of Ron the day they had spoken to Narcissa. Harry had to remember that, no matter what sort of bridges he thought he had mended with the Malfoys, it would probably be harder for the Weasleys to forgive past transgressions.

Besides, all Harry knew was that Narcissa and Draco were on… well… neutral terms with him. He wasn’t sure how Lucius felt about the situation, or about Arthur and Molly’s feelings.

Apparently things still weren’t smooth.

“Draco’s kid was born the same day as ours?” Ron stammered. “Why didn’t you tell us?”

“Well, you were already gone when we ran into him,” said Molly.

“Draco?” asked Elizabeth. “Why does that name sound familiar?”

“Besides, it’s not a conversation I want to remember,” Arthur continued flatly. “Lots of nose-raising and condescension from Malfoy. Just like always…”

“So Draco’s kid has the same birthday as Rose?” asked Ron.

“Sounds like it, yes,” said Arthur. “I didn’t look at the records, though.”

“Hermione?” asked Ron. “Can we put Rose back in for another day or two? Maybe give birth to her again?”

“You do and there’s going to be canaries,” Hermione threatened.

“I just hope she got here first,” Ron grumbled.

“We’ll have to read The Prophet,” said Ginny. “Check the announcements. Do you have the latest issue?”

“Sunday’s is in the kitchen,” said Ron. “I brought the stack in from our hospital stay and tossed them on the table.”

“What’s his… her… name?” Harry asked Arthur.

“Scorpius.”

The room fell silent.

“What?” Harry asked in disbelief.

“Scorpius,” Arthur repeated. “Scorpius Malfoy.”

“Oh, you’ve got to be joking!” Ron laughed. “That’s the name they came up with?”

“Well, I suppose it makes sense,” said Hermione. “It’s an astronomy theme. Draco, Bellatrix, Andromeda…”

“But Scorpius?” Ron continued. “A billion stars in the sky, and that’s the best they could do?”

“It’s quite a name to try to grow into,” said Ginny, who was smirking herself. “Like Draco wanted to come up with the most intimidating name possible.”

“What’s his middle name?” laughed Harry. “Optimus Prime?”

“No,” said Gretchen, “his middle name’s Captain Malcolm Reynolds. They’re saving Optimus Prime for his sister.”

“Scorpius Captain Malcolm Reynolds Malfoy,” Elizabeth repeated. “I think I could get in line for that.”

Harry had no idea who Reynolds was, but he couldn’t help but continue laughing along with the Grangers and the Wainwrights.

“Scorpius,” said Hermione. “He’ll either have to be a Bond villain or a professional wrestler. Anything less will be a great disappointment.”

Half of the room burst into another peal of laughter. Harry looked around at the Weasleys, who were staring at the proceedings blankly. “Sorry, sorry,” he said, snorting through his nose as he tried to contain himself. “Muggle humor. You wouldn’t get it.”

“I lost you at the Optihoozy,” said Ron, shrugging. “But I’m sure it was very funny.”

“Molly, you can stop giving me puppy-dog eyes,” said Charlotte, standing up to hand Rose to her other grandmother.

“Thank you, dear,” said Molly, taking the baby and cradling it in her arms. Ginny and Arthur automatically leaned over to look at her, but James saw that he suddenly wasn’t the center of his mother’s attention and walked back over to Harry, who lifted him up and set him back on his lap.

“Scorpius,” Ron muttered under his breath. “Hermione, next time we’re having our kid here at home.”

“Why would that make a difference?” asked Hermione. “If Hedda has another one, she’ll have another one. Wouldn’t matter if we’re in the same building or not.”

“Well, still…” Ron said. “Distance between, you know?”

“I don’t think you’ll have to worry,” said Arthur. “Unless Draco’s breaking from tradition, the Malfoys have always had only one heir. They prefer to stop once they get their prodigal son.”

“Awwww, no Optimus Prime Malfoy?” Gretchen said, and Elizabeth covered more giggles with her hand.

“Nope, still don’t get it,” said Ron, shaking his head.

“If there is a next one,” said Hermione, “I’ll probably have him or her at home. I don’t know how you and Harry were able to pull it off, Ginny. It was hard enough getting to Bristol from a wizarding neighborhood, I don’t see how you two could do it from Grimmauld Place.”

“It wasn’t easy,” said Ginny. “We had to stand on the stoop until the ambulance showed up disguised as an ice cream truck. Once they got there, Harry threw his Invisibility Cloak over me in case anyone happened to drive by. Believe me, the whole idea of a midwife is sounding quite tempting for the next one.”

“Have you thought about moving?” asked Dan.

“What, from Grimmauld Place?” asked Harry. “Why would we? I mean, it was willed to me, we don’t have to pay a mortgage on it.”

“But it’s not a very good place to raise a child, is it?” asked Molly. “All of those stairs, all of those rooms…”

“And are you even able to get him outside?” asked Charlotte.

“Well, we get to the park occasionally, yes,” said Ginny, but she and Harry exchanged an awkward glance.

“But you don’t have a lawn or a garden,” Charlotte continued. “And you have to sneak him out. And with all of the time that Teddy’s there, how often do you get him to the park?”

“Ummm…” Harry thought hard, trying to remember the last time that he had taken Teddy outside when he came to visit. Usually they sat inside, playing games or playing with his toys.

“It’s something I’ve been thinking about,” Ginny admitted, which caused Harry to raise his eyebrows.

“You have?” he asked.

“Well, of course I have,” said Ginny. “I’ve been thinking about it more since last month.”

Last month, Harry thought, remembering the near miss they had when James ended up on the first landing. He had almost toppled down the stairs, but Ginny had caught him with a Mobilocorpus before he even hit the first step.

“Haven’t you?” Ginny continued.

“I… I don’t know…” said Harry. “I guess I just haven’t thought about living anywhere else but there.”

“Honestly, it’s amazing that the Blacks were even able to live there as long as they did,” said Molly. “With all the children that have gone through there over the centuries.”

“Iron discipline,” said Arthur. “A child gets in trouble, the Blacks probably used punishments that are illegal in most countries nowadays. As for living in that Muggle neighborhood, I think it’s safe to assume that they didn’t give a…” he quickly glanced at James, Rose, and Caroline before continuing. “…They didn’t care who they Obliviated or modified. Anyone that saw them walking out of their house quickly forgot them. Probably forgot the rest of their day, as well. They were just Muggles, after all, and the Blacks had enough influence over the Ministry to do it without any recourse.”

“God, no wonder Sirius hated that place,” said Ron.

Harry and Ginny took another look at each other as Molly reluctantly handed Rose off to Arthur.

“Have you been thinking about it?” Harry repeated.

“Yes, I have,” said Ginny. “I’ve been thinking of bringing it up, but I know how you are with it being Sirius’s old place, and all…”

“I don’t know if we could afford a new house,” said Harry. “I mean, would anyone even be able to buy Grimmauld Place? We can’t exactly put it back in the Muggle registries.”

“Like you need to sell it,” said Hermione. “Harry, you’re making almost as much at the Ministry as I am. Between my salary and Ron’s we can afford this place easily. Your salary, plus your inheritance…”

“…And don’t forget the royalties I’m still getting from Harpies merchandise,” said Ginny. “And all the money I’ve stocked up from my last contract.”

“You could just leave Grimmauld Place as is,” Hermione continued. “Or just let it disappear. As long as the Muggles don’t know it’s there, it could sit for centuries unnoticed.”

“Okay, okay,” said Harry. “We’ll talk about it, alright?”

“Good,” said Ginny. “I’ll start looking around for decent wizarding neighborhoods.”

“I said talk about it,” Harry repeated. “Not, you know, doing it.”

“You know we’re going to, though,” said Ginny with a wink. “I have that power over you.”

“You and your cunning ways,” Harry chuckled, but really couldn’t find an argument against it.

“Speaking of jobs,” said Hermione, flipping through the papers. “I’m missing one or two pages in here.”

“Those are the pages that Wilcox gave me,” said Harry.

“Which is exactly why I’m not trusting Wilcox with them,” Hermione sighed. “Could you…?”

“Let me know which ones you need,” said Harry. “I’ll bring them over after work tomorrow.”

“Thank you.”

“What are all of those, anyway?” asked Elizabeth.

“A few documents, a few treaties,” said Hermione. “Nothing I can get into detail about without getting smacked by about a dozen secrecy spells. But just a few things I wanted to proofread, making sure that things are straight before I go on maternity leave.”

“Maternity leave?” asked Molly. “You’re planning on going back to work?”

“Of course she is,” said Charlotte. “Why wouldn’t she?”

“Well, she’s a mother now,” said Molly. “Rose is her job.”

“I seriously doubt that a woman who finished school in the top of her class would be expected to suddenly become a stay-at-home mother,” said Charlotte. “It’s not the 1800’s, after all.”

“So, what, then?” asked Molly. “You expect her to abandon her daughter with some… what? Muggle day care service?”

“I could take care of her…” Ron interjected.

“Don’t be silly, Ronald,” Molly replied.

“It’s an option,” said Charlotte. “But after the child is old enough to attend primary school, of course she can go back to work.”

“Primary school? Primary school?”

“Well, of course. That’s what I did. I went back to work part-time when Hermione was at school. And when she became old enough to take care of herself for a few hours, I returned full-time. I’m doing the same with Caroline now.”

“That’s absurd!” Molly said. “Rose should be home schooled, just like every other Weasley child.”

“You’re doing her a disservice by keeping her away from children her age.”

“No, you’re doing her a disservice by putting her into a Muggle school,” said Molly, her voice rising. “What happens when she starts to get Muggle friends? They’ll want to come visit. When she says that she can’t have visitors, teachers will start to get concerned. Then they’ll start to get suspicious. They’ll want to know what her parents do for a living, or how she’s being treated at home if she’s afraid of ever having anyone over. The authorities will get involved.”

“I think you’re over-exaggerating…”

“And what happens when she starts to develop her powers?” Molly continued. “What happens when she starts to develop her abilities? How will she feel when she gets put into detention because she lit a blackboard on fire, or petrified the neighborhood bully?”

“Oh, good,” said Hermione dryly. “My mother and my mother-in-law are fighting over us. This is exactly what I wanted on our first day out of the hospital.”

Molly and Charlotte seemed to come to at the same time, and looked around the room. Every eye was looking at them. Caroline’s mouth was hanging open, staring at her normally low-key mother, while James was snuggled up against his father, as though trying to keep away from the argument.

“I’m sorry, dear,” said Molly. “It’s just…”

“I know what it’s just,” said Hermione. “I knew this was going to happen. Why do you think I haven’t talked to any of you about it? You don’t think I haven’t thought about this at all?”

“So you’re going to be going back, then?” asked Charlotte.

“I don’t know yet,” said Hermione shortly. “Every time I think I’ve made one decision, the other side starts to poke at me. But I have another year to figure it out, and the last thing I need is for either of you to start hounding me about making the wrong choice.”

“We’re not hounding,” Charlotte said. “We’re just concerned about you and Rose, is all.”

“I know you are,” said Hermione. “And I… I appreciate it. But only to a point.”

“Hermione…”

“Look,” Hermione sighed. “Rose is tired. And she needs to be fed.”

“She seems just fine…” said Arthur, cradling the little girl.

“Okay, then I’m tired,” said Hermione, her patience waning. “And I need to be fed.”

“We could order pizza,” said Gretchen. “Or Chinese. Make a party of it.”

“Don’t be silly,” said Molly, standing up. “There’s a perfectly good kitchen, I can throw something together…”

“Guys, the baby’s not going anywhere,” said Ron, his eyes meeting those of his wife. “But it’s been a really long past few days. And we all need some rest. If you’re concerned about us, then you’ll take a hint.”

The Weasleys, Grangers, Wainwrights, and Potters all exchanged glances.

“Sure, we can head out,” said Daniel, pulling himself to his feet first. “Caroline has to head back to school tomorrow, we got her out of classes for today.”

“We can come by tomorrow, if you’d like,” said Charlotte. “We closed down the office for the week, just in case you delivered late.”

“It’s fine,” said Hermione. “I think I just want a few days with my husband and my daughter.”

“If you’re sure…”

“I’m sure there are a few patients who are going to need emergency root canals,” said Hermione. “Don’t keep away from the office for my sake.”

“We’ll follow through with that order, too,” said Arthur, handing Rose to Ron. “Won’t we, Molly?”

“Maybe they would at least like me to come by later this week,” said Molly. “Fix them some breakfast?”

“If we want to take you up on that offer, we’ll send you an owl,” said Ron.

“Don’t worry, Herm, we won’t bother you anymore,” said Gretchen, giving her cousin a quick hug as the group made their way to the front door.

“No, see, you two I could stand to hear from more often,” said Hermione as Elizabeth followed behind her sister. “Just not for a few days.”

“Duly noted,” said Gretchen. “We’ll try to come by more often.”

As the families made their goodbyes and walked out the door, Harry turned to Hermione. “Susan sends her congratulations,” he said. “She told me to tell you to send her an owl whenever you’re ready to start getting non-family company. Same with Dean and the Macmillans.”

“I’ll let them know,” said Hermione.

“Neville sends his regrets,” Harry continued as the group walked to the fireplace. “He wanted to come by the hospital like he did for James, but it’s too early in the school year, Ogden’s not letting them take any time away from Hogwarts yet.”

“God, she’s going to be the oldest in her year, isn’t she?” said Hermione, shaking her head.

“Just like her mother,” said Ginny.

“Might not be the oldest, anyway,” said Harry. “Depends on when Hedda popped out Scorpius.”

Ron snorted. “Scorpius,” he repeated, shaking his head.

“And Luna also owled us,” said Ginny. “She’ll come by when she’s back from Belize in a few weeks.”

“Sounds good,” said Hermione, giving Harry and Ginny a quick hug and a kiss on the cheek before giving a bigger one to James. Ron handed Rose off to Hermione and gave Ginny a hug, Harry a handshake, and James a rustle of his red mop of hair, and the Potters Flooed back home, leaving the Weasleys alone in their house for the first time in what felt like weeks.

“It’s going to be like this for a while, isn’t it?” Hermione asked wearily as they walked back into the drawing room.

“Probably,” said Ron. “And that was just the grandparents and the closest. Wait’ll we start getting the entire Weasley clan in here.”

“Oh, God, don’t even make me think about it,” she replied, sitting down on the couch with Rose cradled in her arms.

“Babies do that to people,” Ron shrugged. “We were the same way with James, Victoire, and Fabian,” referring to Percy and Penelope’s one-year-old. “And you can’t tell me that you didn’t want to visit Remus and Dora after Teddy was born, even though we were on the run.”

“Stop making sense,” Hermione sighed. “Take her for a minute, would you? She’s getting hungry.”

“Do you want me to get one of her bottles?” Ron asked as he took the baby.

“No, I can do it myself,” said Hermione, pulling her shirt off. “Just hope I’m doing it the right way, it’s the first time without a nurse hanging over me.”

“I’m sure you’ll do fine,” said Ron, handing Rose to her while trying to remind himself that, even though his wife was sitting topless across from him, it was in a purely non-sexual way.

“Thanks,” she replied, putting Rose to her breast, where she quickly began to feed.

“Do you want me to get you anything?” asked Ron, walking to the kitchen. “I was going to make a sandwich.”

“Do we have any more raspberry jam?”

“A little bit,” he called, causing Artemisia and Pigwidgeon to flutter in their cages.

“A sandwich sounds good,” said Hermione, as she glanced down on her breasts. “I’m going to need to buy some new bras. They keep getting bigger.”

“You don’t hear me complaining.”

“Pervert,” Hermione chuckled. She heard Ron laugh from the kitchen, and then the house sat in a comfortable silence, broken only by the hooting of the owls, the scraping of knife on bread, and the quiet sucking from Rose’s mouth. Hermione ran her hand over her daughter’s head, the first Weasley in decades to, at least so far, not be a redhead.

Hermione jumped slightly as the lights around the drawing room lit up. She looked up to see Ron standing at the door to the kitchen, his wand in one hand, a plate of sandwiches in the other.

“Did I startle you?” he asked. “It was getting dark, thought it was time to turn the lights on.”

“Sorry,” Hermione said with a small smile. “Just got lost in her, I guess.”

“Don’t worry,” said Ron as he set the sandwiches down on the coffee table and sat down beside her. “It’s happened to me plenty, too. Grab a sandwich, Rose looks full.”

“Thanks,” said Hermione as Ron offered her the plate.

“Want me to take her?” asked Ron. “Put your shirt back on?”

“I’m fine for now,” she said, leaning back and closing her eyes.

“You know I was serious about the offer,” Ron said. “You know, the one I made earlier. If you want to go back to work, I can take care of her. George has the shop running fine, he won’t suffer if I’m gone.”

“I know,” said Hermione.

“You trust me with her, right?”

“I do,” said Hermione. “More than anyone else. But can we not talk about it right now?”

Ron nodded. “No problem.”

“We have a year,” she said, putting her head on his shoulder. “And I’m not ready to leave her yet.”

Ron chuckled, putting his arm around her bare shoulders and looking down at Rose Edith Weasley, who was yawning with her tiny mouth. “I know how you feel,” he said. “Why do you think I offered in the first place?”

Outliving Your Usefulness / Previous Chapters / Home for the Holidays