Written for the QLFC round 1

Team: Pride of Portree

Position: Seeker

Prompt: Write your captain's NOTP (Ron/Hermione)

Word Count: 966

During the final battle of a war probably wasn't the best time to start a new relationship, but, frankly, Hermione thought it was quite romantic. She'd recognised her feelings for Ron well over a year previously and thought he reciprocated them, but after the fiasco with Lavender, Hermione hadn't been as certain as she would have liked.

Once the battle was over and Harry was back with them in one piece, Hermione and Ron had disappeared to find one of the few rooms still in one piece where they could have some time to themselves. Again, not the traditional kind of romance she'd dreamed of as a child, but still more romantic than anything she'd expected from Ron.

When Hermione failed to find her parents in Australia after the war, Ron was her rock. When she sent her Patronus halfway across the world to tell him in the shortest time possible, she had not been expecting him to show up in Sydney less than an hour later. It turned out he and Harry had used some of the leverage they still had as war heroes to get a portkey authorised in record time.

Ron took Hermione back to the Burrow with him immediately, where he had a hushed conversation with his mother. Molly pulled Hermione into a hug that was so motherly it had Hermione in hysterical tears from the loss of her own parents. Ron simply allowed her to be comforted by Molly, somehow knowing even before Hermione did exactly what she needed at that moment.

Living at the Burrow was simultaneously relaxing and hectic, familiar and new, comforting and irritating. Hermione stayed there for almost six months before explaining to Ron that she simply needed more space and peace than she was getting at that moment. She had expected him to complain, to remind her about the last time they'd been away from his mother's cooking, but to her surprise he grabbed the morning's copy of the Daily Prophet and began looking at the advertisements to see if there were any flats available to rent.

Moving into their own place was strange at first, but Hermione quickly adjusted to the quiet. Unfortunately, it wasn't to last. When Hermione woke up feeling ill three days in a row, Ron brought home a Muggle pregnancy test, admitting that he didn't actually know the spell to check and did not want to ask his mother. Overcome with love and hormones, Hermione burst into tears.

The wedding plans were a little rushed, of course, with a baby on the way, but Ron wouldn't hear of Hermione being an unwed mother. He knew it was accepted in the Muggle world, but in the Wizarding world, Hermione would be looked down on by all. A simple dress, Arthur performing the ceremony, Harry and Ginny standing in quickly as best man and bridesmaid respectively was all that they needed. Hermione was already a Weasley in everything but name and now she was joining the family officially.

When little Rose was born, Hermione expected to be surrounded by various Weasleys, but Ron kept them away, somehow knowing without being told that his wife needed to be alone with their child. He loitered in the doorway, overcome with love as he watched Hermione cooing over the little bundle in her arms. When she looked up and beckoned him over, Ron rushed to hold his daughter. He had thought that he could never love anyone as much as he loved Hermione, but this tiny little creature had stolen his heart the moment he laid eyes on her.

Being parents was a difficult adjustment, and Hermione and Ron began arguing more frequently than before. Whispered fights were becoming more and more common at night, until Hermione felt that she was at the end of her tether. Then, one day, Ron came home early and announced that he'd taken a leave of absence from the Aurors. He said that Hermione found her career more fulfilling than he'd ever found his, and so he'd be happier staying at home with Rose while Hermione worked. Hermione flung her arms around his neck, suddenly reminded of all the reasons she loved him.

When Hugo was born, Hermione returned to work only a month after giving birth, trusting Ron implicitly to take care of both their children. Ron was happier as a stay-at-home father than he had ever been catching dark wizards, finally having found something he could do better than Harry, who struggled to take care of even one of his children alone, let alone all three of them.

As the children grew, Hermione looked forward to having peace at home again. As much as she loved her children she missed having time to herself. Ron, however, dreaded the day his little princess would leave for Hogwarts, although with the brains she had clearly inherited from her mother he knew she would excel there.

The day Rose boarded the express was the first time Ron really cried since Fred's funeral. Hermione held him and he felt no shame in soaking her hair with his tears. He missed his daughter more than she'd ever know.

"You know, Hermione, I don't think I'll be able to cope when Hugo's gone too," he confessed to his wife that night.

Hermione smiled at the man who was the antithesis of everything she had ever imagined wanting in a husband when she was little.

"Perhaps we should have another one," Hermione said, smiling. "I wouldn't want you to be bored, after all."

Ron smiled as he lay beside his wife, everything he'd always dreamed of and more. He wondered how she always knew exactly what he wanted without him ever saying it aloud, and wished that, just once, he could do that for her.