.

Chapter 1

.

Hermione smoothed her hair back and wrangled her mass of curls into a ponytail, wondering not for the first time how bad she would look bald. Probably terrible, she concluded as she glanced in the mirror to make sure her wand wasn't poking out of her jeans pocket again. Her parents hated the reminder of the power Hermione had over them. She hated that they saw it that way but figured it was a small thing she could do to ease the tension that existed between them ever since she'd returned their memories.

Certain her wand wasn't visible, Hermione snagged the grey blazer off the footboard of her bed and exited her room. She had several meetings to go to and while the bright yellow blouse and dark-wash jeans would be perfectly acceptable for most of them, she knew that her meeting at the Ministry required less-casual dress.

At the foot of the stairs, Hermione grabbed her purse and kissed her father, who was reading the newspaper on the plaid couch in their living room, on the cheek. "Good morning, Dad."

"Morning buttercup," he replied, his eyes never leaving the crossword he was filling out. "What's a ten letter word for 'the full monty'?"

Hermione rolled her eyes. "Everything."

He smirked, scratching in her solution with aplomb before patting her hand. "Mum's in the kitchen. Best say goodbye to her before you leave."

"Yes, dad." Hermione couldn't keep the dread entirely from her voice but fortunately her father had never been a very intuitive person. He waved her on, his gaze never leaving the paper.

Things with her mother had been… complicated since Hermione had returned their memories. While her father was rather staid about the whole thing, Hermione's mother had taken offense to Hermione's use of magic in any capacity. It didn't matter that she'd only been trying to protect them, Jean Granger felt that Hermione had betrayed her family and her muggle heritage by taking away their memories.

Sighing, Hermione made her way to the kitchen to see her mother. She personally thought that moving out of the house would help their relationship but didn't want to present the idea until she had somewhere else to live. Any mention of her boyfriend or Harry set her mother off so Hermione knew she couldn't move in with either of them. Especially because she didn't want to lie to her parents again.

Jean Granger had three pots going on the stove and a half-dozen casserole dishes lined up on the counter. It was meal-prep day at the Granger household and, as she had every Monday since Hermione could remember, Jean was in her element prepping the food for the rest of the week. She was chopping carrots when Hermione walked in and didn't look up at the daughter who was a near carbon-copy of herself.

"Morning, mum," Hermione greeted, sliding onto a stool at the peninsula.

"Did you sleep well?" Jean asked, moving on to some celery.

Hermione nodded. "I've got to head off but wanted to let you know I'll be in late this afternoon."

Sliding the neatly chopped carrots into a bowl, Jean looked up at Hermione with an appraising stare. "You're still going to meet with that teacher?"

Ignoring the ice in her mum's voice, Hermione nodded and picked at a spot on the counter. "You know I am. I think she's going to offer me a job."

Jean sneered and grabbed a potato to start peeling. "Rubbish. You need to go to University. Did the meeting with the Dean go well?"

No. But Hermione wasn't about to tell her mother that. The Dean of Oxford, who Jean had no way of knowing was a Squib, had known as soon as Hermione entered his office that she wasn't the least bit interested in furthering her studies at a muggle university. Graciously, he'd entertained Hermione for tea, discussing changes at Hogwarts and the Ministry and spending enough time speaking to her that if Jean enquired about the meeting Hermione wouldn't have to lie about not having gone. He'd pressed some brochures into her hands as she left, thanking her for visiting, and Hermione dug those out of her purse.

"He told me to look these over. There are a couple programs that seem interesting," Hermione said. Interesting, yes, but not enough. Not for her.

Her mum hummed, barely glancing at the glossy tri-folds Hermione put on the counter. "You're considering it then?"

Swallowing the lump in her throat, Hermione shrugged. "I have a lot of things to consider. I really must be going, Headmistress McGonagall is on a tight schedule."

"Hn." The noise Jean made was halfway between disinterest and distaste but Hermione didn't care. She took it as her cue and backed out of the kitchen, leaving the Oxford papers behind. With any luck they'd get swept into the trashcan during clean up. Hermione took the bus to a muggle area near the Leaky Cauldron, opting to walk the rest of the way instead of apparate. It was a nice day. Slightly cloudy, which helped cool down the summer temps just enough that she wasn't sweating in her blouse and jeans. Fortunately she knew the way to the Leaky Cauldron by heart because she was too distracted by her thoughts to pay attention to her surroundings.

Oxford had always been on her list. When she was a little girl, her parents and she would visit the campus sometimes and dream about which degrees she could get. It wasn't until she had received her letter for Hogwarts that Hermione had even considered there were other options. And then she'd met Harry and Ron and things had gotten increasingly crazier and Hermione had to push her dreams of Oxford to the back of her mind in order to focus on saving the world. For the past seven years Hermione had helped the Wizarding world rebuild and then focused on taking and passing her NEWTs. Now that she was done, she had muggle and magical offers for work, relationships, apprenticeships and schooling coming in just about every day. With so many things to consider, Hermione was having a difficult time deciding just what she wanted to do.

Surprised at how quickly she arrived at the Leaky Cauldron, Hermione slipped inside and looked around. She'd told Jean she was heading to meet McGonagall but that meeting wasn't for another hour. First she had a breakfast date with her boyfriend.

He waved at her from a corner booth, his bright blue eyes shining beneath red hair that she personally thought could do with a trim. It wasn't something she'd ever tell him, though, since she knew it made her sound like his mother.

"Ron!" Hermione smiled as she slipped into the booth across from him, taking note of the breakfast already set out in front of her. "I've missed you."

Reaching across the table, Ron grabbed her hand and squeezed it. "Missed you, too, Mione. Why don't you eat and I'll tell you all about our trip to Dublin. At least, the bits I can share."

Hermione nodded and tucked into her breakfast as Ron told her about his and Neville's latest auror mission. Making a point to gasp at all the right places and look shocked when she knew he expected her to, Hermione wondered just how it was the immature boy she'd grown up with figured out what he wanted to do with his life before she had. Though Ron had offers for several quidditch teams after the dust settled on the final battle, he had shocked everyone by immediately pursuing the necessary NEWTs in order to become an auror. And, Hermione had to admit, he was a damned good one.

"...the idiot couldn't even tell the difference between a stunner and a stinging hex. He basically wet his pants and begged Neville to take him to Azkaban," Ron concluded with a flourish of his hand.

Hermione giggled, picturing it. "Honestly, I can't imagine why some people still believe Voldemort is coming back. All the original Death Eaters gave up hope years ago."

Ron nodded, reaching across the table to tuck a loose curl behind Hermione's ear. She blushed and took another bite of eggs. From the look of the empty plates in front of him, Ron had eaten before she arrived. It was a little annoying, however Hermione couldn't begrudge him a good meal after an exhausting mission. Even if it sounded like the fake death eaters they'd been chasing were no more impressive than a second year in a duel.

"Do you miss it?" she asked after she swallowed.

"Miss what?"

"The real action. The danger of knowing that your opponent wouldn't hesitate to kill you?"

Propping his head on his hands, Ron looked at her with a small smile playing around his lips. "Sometimes, yeah. But, I mean, we probably faced enough danger in Hogwarts to last us our whole lives. And… well, I think it's better that my job isn't as dangerous as it used to be."

"Why's that?" Hermione pushed her plate away, mimicking Ron's posture as she rested her own elbows on the table.

Her boyfriend looked suddenly serious and Hermione worried her bottom lip between her teeth. The flush running up Ron's face to his ears was as bright as Christmas lights and Hermione's breath caught in her throat. He only got this red when he was trying to convince her to take another step in their relationship.

"Ginny's pregnant," he blurted out suddenly.

"What?" Hermione jerked back. This she had not expected.

"Yeah," he nodded, taking a deep breath as if to fortify himself before reaching for her hands and pressing on. "It's her and Harry's second, you know."

Nodding, Hermione wet her lips. She did know, James was her godson after all.

"Well. I've just been thinking about them. They've got a nice little family and stuff and I've been wondering if… well…"

As Ron reached into his pocket, Hermione felt as though all the air had been sucked out of the room. She loved Ron but surely he wasn't going to… please let him not be… not over breakfast at the Leaky… she gasped when he pulled out a ring box and wrapped her clammy left hand in his own.

"Hermione," he said, his voice wavering only for a moment. "We've been together forever. Been in love for longer than that. And I think it's past time we take the next step in our relationship."

He popped the black little box open to reveal a ring with a square cut ruby flanked by two diamonds. It was simple. It was beautiful. It was so very her. Hermione felt like a bucket of ice water had been dumped over her as Ron got out of the booth and kneeled on the ground before her.

"Make a family with me?" he asked.

Make a family with me.

Not marry me, but make a family with me.

The purpose of the proposal wasn't lost on Hermione and she was speechless as she nodded numbly. He wanted her to be just like Molly. Just like Ginny. A homemaker with a brood of children underfoot. Ron's face exploded into the biggest grin as he slipped the ring onto her finger. It felt heavier than it looked and Hermione glanced at it as he pulled her up out of the booth and into a hug.

"Oh Merlin," he swore into her ear, arms like vice grips around her. "I was so worried you wouldn't like it. I thought for sure you'd tell me we had to wait until you decided what you were going to do."

That would have been a good answer, Hermione realized as her boyfriend–correct that, fiancé–kissed her. She did want to wait and see what she wanted to do with her life before getting married. But when he'd proposed all mental faculties had escaped her and now she was stuck. She had trouble responding to Ron's embrace, her eyes remaining wide open as she looked at the freckled face and red hair that would probably be the prominent features of their children.

"We'll get married quick," Ron promised as he pulled away. "I bet mum can have everything ready by next month."

"Hmmm," Hermione replied, unable to think of an actual response.

Ron smiled. His blue eyes sparkled with sheer joy as he hugged her one more time before grabbing his jacket and tossing a handful of galleons on the table. "If mum can pull it off, our first kid might be in the same year as Harry and Ginny's new tot."

"Hmmmm." Hermione wondered if that was the only sound she could make.

Ron winked at her, pecked her on the cheek and disappeared out the back door to head to work. Wordlessly, Hermione slipped back into the booth and buried her face in her hands. She loved Ron. She even wanted children...several of them. So why was she not as happy as she was supposed to be?

Because, she thought sadly, she had always wanted more out of life than a half dozen children tugging on her apron strings while they waited for dad to come home. Pulling herself out of her wallowing, Hermione slipped out of the Leaky Cauldron and made her way through the entrance to Diagon Alley. Just because she and Ron hadn't discussed it didn't mean she didn't know what he wanted from her. Ronald Weasley was looking to make a woman into his mother. And as much as Hermione loved and admired Molly Weasley, that just didn't seem like the kind of life she wanted to live.

It was too early to do some shopping so Hermione moved into the shadows. Perhaps things would work out, she thought. Surely Ron would understand if she wanted to compromise. Surely he would accommodate whatever it was she decided she wanted to do with her life. By the time she disapparated away, Hermione had almost convinced herself he would.

Hey there, it's me with a new story. I know, I know, I haven't published the next chapter to Motherless yet. And I'll admit I'm a bit stuck with it. Even though it's pre-written, I changed some things while editing and am trying to make it work with the next chapter. I am almost there... So please hang in there. Another thing that is holding me back is the fact that my husband and I have started our own adoption journey. And oh boy, the paperwork! It's amazing I have time for anything else between that and school. But I promise I haven't forgotten my stories!

This story has been in my folder for almost as long as Motherless. I'm finally on another kick with it and decided to start posting. I know exactly where the story is going and it should be a short one–around the length of Love Language–featuring a fluffy-ish SS/HG ship and the ever-overused-but-who-cares-cause-we-love-it Marriage Law. I'll post the first three chapters right away and then hopefully have even more for you once a week or so. It's obviously a bit OOC and definitely NCC/EWE.

As always, thank you so much for reading, following, favoriting and reviewing. I truly appreciate your support with my stories.

Blessings!