TITLE: It's Oh So Quiet
AUTHOR: woodnsnape
RATING: PG
SUMMARY: Arriving home, Hermione is met by silence and she sets out to discover why.
DISCLAIMER: All Harry Potter characters belong to J.K. Rowling. I do not own them, I only borrow them. I hope she doesn't mind!
IT'S OH SO QUIET
"Honey, I'm home."
Hermione placed her keys onto the hall table of 'The Ranch' and dropped her bag to the floor as she moved along the hall of their home.
"Hello!"
She received no response. Hermione Granger was an extremely clever witch, so it was only natural to come to the obvious conclusion; the house was far too quiet.
She walked into the living room, while relieving herself of her cloak, and looked around. All the lights downstairs were on, and to Hermione it looked like Blackpool Illuminations. Casting her gaze around the room, the surprise was etched on her face. It was tidy, and Hermione could tell that the cleanliness was not the product of a quick cleaning spell.
"Okay Hermione," she asked herself. "What exactly is going on here?"
Moving towards the kitchen, via the dining room, she noticed that the computer in the corner was switched off. This caused Hermione to look twice, as it was a very rare occurrence indeed, especially in a house occupied by teenagers.
Arriving at the kitchen she noticed that there were no dishes in the sink, or clothes in the washing machine. There weren't even any stray socks left in the washing basket!
By this time, Hermione Granger was puzzled. 'The Ranch' was always bustling with activities.
Moving back to the hallway, Hermione approached the staircase. As she began to ascend the stairs she could hear music playing quietly from a room at the top. Upon reaching the landing the music stopped. With a shake of her head she moved towards the first of four bedroom doors.
Opening the first, she was met by a bombsite! Well not literally but, it definitely looked as though a bomb had exploded within the walls.
Hermione smiled to herself, "Artie's room is quite clean for a change." Looking around, she could see the moving posters and the photographs of their family, the only real indication that a wizard lived there. It looked like a typical eighteen year olds room, with a TV and DVD player, a stereo and dozens of CD's scattered across the floor. But, there was no Artie.
Leaving the room behind, she moved on to the next door. She was met by a ginger, part kneazle sprawled upon a bed that definitely belonged to a young girl. The cat and the small snowy owl perched in the corner were asleep. The room was tidy and the shear number of books piled carefully on the floor, as well as on the bookshelves, indicated that the child looked after her things. Looking around, Hermione noticed that 14 year old Maisie's well worn copy of 'Hogwarts a History' was missing from its customary place of honour on the bedside table. She knew that Maisie went nowhere without that book, consequently she realised that Maisie was not at home.
There were two more bedroom doors for Hermione to investigate. Deciding on searching the bedroom that was not hers, she walked towards it. She couldn't help the snort of laughter that accompanied her entrance to the room. The colour scheme never failed to amuse Hermione. It was split directly down the middle; one half being black with splashes of blue, and the other, white with a touch of pink. The room could only belong to a set of twins. 12 year old Logan and Lynzy, refused to sleep in separate rooms when they were at home, allowing Hermione to use the master bedroom and nursery in the attic as a library and office. While at Hogwarts, the twins slept in different towers, at different ends of the castle, so they were determined to be together during the holidays.
Hermione could still remember the day Severus Snape had written to them, saying how proud he was that Lynzy had been sorted into Slytherin. Of course it came as no surprise to the family that she would be sorted into that house, the only shock had been that Logan was not there as well. The twins terrorized the Professors and ghosts at Hogwarts, putting their Uncles' Fred and George's past behaviour to shame. Of course, having a foot hold in both Slytherin and Gryffindor only seemed to cement their power within the halls.
Giggling to herself, Hermione exited the room before stepping towards her final destination.
Glancing towards the door, she could see the pale shafts of light shining through the gaps in the doorframe. Trying the handle to her bedroom, she found that it wouldn't budge. She pulled her wand from the back pocket of her jeans with practised ease.
"Alohomora!"
The door squeaked open and upon seeing her room, her mouth gaped open in awe.
Hundreds of candles were floating around the bed, and Hermione could see vase's of white and red roses, her favourites, placed around the room.
She caught a movement out of the corner of her eye and exhaled a breath she hadn't realised she had been holding.
"Where are the children?" she asked softly.
A pair of arms snaked around her waist, from behind, and she felt a chin upon her shoulder.
"They're at 'The Burrow'. They're staying the night."
Hermione turned into the embrace while the man captured her lips for a lingering kiss.
Breaking away, Hermione smiled. "You've been busy, the house looks spotless."
Softly stroking her cheek with his thumb he replied.
"Only the best for you 'Mione, my sweet and anyway, I had to tidy up before you got home because…"
"Because…" she prompted with a wicked glint in her eye.
"Because," he began sheepishly, "I trailed a load of mud in from work, then the twins let off a Filibusters Firework and a Weasley Exploding Surprise at the same time, 'for a laugh,' they said."
"Instead, they nearly destroyed the living room!" Meeting her eyes, warm chocolate brown locked with cool sea blue, and he continued. "Besides, I love you Hermione Granger-Weasley and I would do anything for you, especially after these twenty wonderful years. Happy Anniversary, my sweet 'Mione!"
"I love you so much Charlie Weasley, Happy Anniversary."
With that, she pushed him onto their bed all the while kissing him passionately.
After some time Hermione broke apart. "Charlie," she warned. "If I ever catch you trailing mud into our house again, I will hex you!"
"I know, love. I wouldn't have it any other way."
With that, he cut off any reply she may have had, in the same way he had learned twenty-one years ago when they had first admitted their feelings for each other, by connecting his mouth to hers and kissing his wife.
Eight and a half months later, the entire Weasley and Granger clan, as well as all honorary members, were at 'The Ranch' helping Hermione and Charlie to pack up the library.
They were in need of the master bedroom and nursery for the newest additions to the Granger-Weasley household. Although, they weren't expecting triplets!
FINE
I hope you enjoyed this edit. Please Review. Thanks for your time. WNS