Disclaimer: All characters and things associated with Harry Potter belong to J.K. Rowling and Warner Brothers. This writing is for pure entertainment only.
Summary: Sequel to "Law Change Lives". Hermione and Ron are settling into their new roles as parents, but nothing is ever as easy as it seems.
CHAPTER 1
Hermione smiled as she gently came out of a deep slumber, the warmth of the sun from her bedroom window warming her face as the smell of newly budding trees met her. It was certainly springtime. She could hear the birds faintly outside, hardly enough to wake her.
And then, Hermione shot straight out of bed. Things were far too quiet. She was never woken up by the sound of birds, but rather the sound of her nine month old, Rose crying.
Hermione quickly turned to see the other side of her bed empty and her mind quickly raced to the only logical thing she could think of. Ron must have had Rose somewhere.
Hermione quickly slipped on her slippers and then moved down the stairs of Grimmauld Place. "Ron?"
"Kitchen!" Ron called out.
Hermione moved into the kitchen to find Ron covered in pancake batter as Rose sat in her highchair, playing in a pile of maple syrup. Rose instantly looked up with Hermione came in and giggled, her blue eyes full of life.
"My…my…Rose! What a mess you made!" Hermione cooed at her daughter who merely giggled and held out a sticky hand with Hermione kissed, making Rose giggle even more. Hermione still refused to call Rose by the pet name of "Rosie" that Ron and everyone else had seemed to adopt. She thought Rose was much more beautiful, and she would not compromise on that.
Ron turned with a slight grin and shrug at his wife. "We were trying to make you breakfast…"
"And instead made me a mess…" Hermione grinned and moved toward Ron, wrapping her arms around his waist and kissing him.
Ron smiled down. "Well…good morning, Mrs. Weasley…you taste delicious…like syrup…"
"Hmm…I wonder why…" Hermione smiled back.
Ron and Hermione had been officially married over a year now thanks to the marriage law that had been put in place by Voldemort before the war. They were actually one of the few couples who had stayed married after Voldemort had lost power, and they were going stronger then ever.
Things had finally become normal for the pair. They had fallen into their roles as parents as easily as they had fallen into their roles as husband and wife, and they were happy. Ron had finally joined the Auror Squad officially two months earlier, and Hermione only had a few weeks left until she would finish up her N.E.W.T's at Hogwarts and begin a career at the Ministry, working for the Department of Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures, though she had worked out a deal with the Ministry where she would work only two days at the Ministry and the rest at home, so she could be with Rose.
Rose gurgled and slammed her juice cup off of her high chair, pointing down at the cup on the floor.
"Up…someone doesn't like the attention her Mummy is getting do they?" Ron laughed at Rose as she reached for him.
Hermione sighed, rolling her eyes and moving to pick up Rose's cup as Ron grabbed a sticky Rose. "She is such a daddy's girl…"
"Can I help it that I am the fun parent?" Ron teased Hermione.
"Wash her up please…" Hermione ignored Ron's comment.
Ron nodded and sat Rose on the counter, holding her steady with one hand as he used his wand to clean the syrup from her. He then set her on the floor where she quickly took off crawling after Crookshanks, who hissed and retreated into the den.
"That bloody cat is going to scratch her one day…should have left him at your parents." Ron comment as he moved to put the gate up to keep Rose in the kitchen for now.
"Crookshanks will do no such thing. He just isn't fond of you, Ronald." Hermione said as she began cleaning up Rose's mess. It had taken some serious persuading on Hermione's part to convince Ron to allow Crookshanks in the house.
"You just wait and see…" Ron shook his head and then sprawled out on the floor next to Rose, causing Rose to laugh and climb onto his chest.
"Oh…Rosie…you are getting so big…" Ron laughed, picking Rose up and twirling her up in the air, as he lay flat on his back.
Hermione laughed. She loved seeing Ron interact with Rose. He was a great father, and though she knew he would be, he even surprised her sometimes with how carrying he could be with Rose.
"What are we doing today?" Ron asked.
"Well…its lovely out…and Saturday…so I thought maybe we could take Rose to the park?" Hermione suggested, looking out the window.
"My mum owled…invited us to the Burrow for dinner…" Ron said.
"What did you tell her?" Hermione asked. It wasn't that she didn't love going to the Burrow, but sometimes she just wanted time for herself, Ron, and Rose, and Mrs. Weasley always made that hard on the weekends, constantly wanting them to come up for dinner or lunch.
Ron, who had grown wise to Hermione's feelings toward the Burrow on the weekends, had been smart. "I told her you were asleep and I would owl her back when you woke up. She did say that it would just be us, and Harry and Ginny…George and Angela are out of town for the weekend."
Hermione sighed. She could see on Ron's face how much he wanted to see Harry. The two were Auror's together, but rarely worked on the same case, and because of Rose, Ron did not get to go out with Harry, Neville, Dean, or Seamus like they did. "Well…we can go. I suppose it would be nice not to cook tonight."
"Really?" Ron seemed surprised and stopped spinning Rose in the air and she quickly objected, waving her fist at Ron and gurgling.
"Sure." Hermione laughed and moved, scooping Rose up in her arms. "Rose, you need to start using your words instead of your fists."
"Oh rubbish, Hermione…she's hardly nine months…she talks enough in baby language. We don't need her speaking English quit yet…" Ron said as he stood.
"And why not?" Hermione seemed appalled that Ron wanted to slow their child down.
"Because she is your daughter…she won't stop once she starts." Ron said, sliding past Hermione.
"Oh, you!" Hermione gently slapped Ron's arm as he passed.
"I'm going to shower and get ready for the Burrow…if you decide to put Rose down for a nap, come join me." Ron wiggled his eyebrows at Hermione.
Hermione merely laughed a she watched Ron slide out of the kitchen and up the stairs. She then turned her attention to her daughter in her arms. "Your daddy is crazy, Rose."
Rose seemed to laugh and clap at Hermione before squishing her little fists on Hermione's cheeks and laughing even harder.
"Come on you goofy little child. Let's go get you ready to go to Grandma and Grandpa's house." Hermione said, moving down the hall toward Rose's nursery to get Rose changed to visit the Burrow.
The Burrow was its typical lively self even though most of its former occupants no longer resided there, the smells of Mrs. Weasley's cooking and the sound of Harry, Mr. Wealsey, and Ginny laughing in the kitchen around Mrs. Weasley filled the front yard as Hermione and Ron arrived by the car Hermione's parent's had given them. Ron, with tons of hard work from Mr. Granger, had hardly passed his Muggle test and was still getting used to driving the small silver BMW, but he understood why Hermione had insisted on them taking it from her parents. Although it was not as fast as flooing, apparating, or using a portkey, it was practical and safe to move Rose around in, especially around Muggle London.
Ron smiled up at his childhood home as he put the car in park. He had not been there in over two weeks and, despite how much he used to complain about being cramped in there with all of his siblings and parents, he had missed it.
"Ron…Rose is asleep…" Hermione whispered from the passenger seat.
Ron turned around to see Rose asleep in her car seat in the back. He sighed and cracked a small smile as he shook his head. "Your daughter has impeccable timing, Hermione."
"I believe she gets that from you, Ronald." Hermione teased back and then sighed, tilting her head to the side slightly as she examined her sleeping daughter. Rose's hair had come in a deep red now, nearly brown, the same beautiful color as Ginny's. "We will have to wake her, won't we?"
"We could try and bring her in like that…but I doubt the Burrow is quiet enough to let her sleep right now. I can hear Harry laughing all the way out here, and these bloody muggle windows are up." Ron tapped on the glass next to him as Harry's muffled laughs could be heard. Ron had a feeling Mr. Weasley and Harry had already broken into the Firewhiskey, something Hermione would frown upon.
"I know. Well…here goes some bad parenting…" Hermione sighed and moved out of the car, moving to the back seat to gently lift Rose out of her babyseat.
Rose gurgled and grunted, letting out a small cry as Hermione clearly woke her.
"Oh, Rose…Mummy is sorry…shh, baby…" Hermione rocked Rose in her arms as Ron pulled Rose's diaper bag out of the back and locked the car.
By the time Ron joined Hermione, who was slowly walking toward the Burrow with Rose, Rose had already seemed to quiet down and was now staring up at her mother intensely with the same blue eyes Ron had.
"There you go little Rosie…" Ron cooed at his daughter.
Hermione smiled at Ron and then down at Rose before they reached the door of the Burrow, which nearly came banging off the hinges as Mrs. Weasley rushed out the door.
"There's my beautiful Rose!" Mrs. Weasley cooed over the baby as she kissed Ron and Hermione hello and motioned the small family into the Burrow.
"How are you, Mum?" Ron asked as he set the diaper bag down and followed Hermione into the kitchen where Harry, Ginny, and Mr. Weasley were already sitting at the dinner table.
"Lovely, lovely! So happy to see my granddaughter! I haven't seen her in a week!" Mrs. Weasley commented, gently rubbing Rose's cheek as she helped Hermione sit down at the table.
"I know…I'm sorry…we've just been so busy with everything." Hermione smiled up at her mother-in-law.
"Not to worry, dear. I know things have been crazy…it's been the same for these two…" Mrs. Weasley motioned to Harry and Ginny as Harry was making faces at Rose and causing her to smile and laugh a bit.
"I'm sure…" Hermione laughed at Harry. "Honestly, Harry…if those are the only faces you make at her, she might start to think her Uncle Harry really looks like that."
"Lot better then he normally looks." Ron teased, opening himself up a bottle of Muggle Beer that his father had grown fond of after a few holidays with Mr. Granger.
"Loads better then her dad looks…" Harry shot back.
Hermione rolled her eyes at the two of them and moved Rose so that the baby was standing on her knees with her support.
"She's standing now, is she?" Mrs. Weasley said hopefully.
"Working on it. Definitely crawling everywhere…" Ron said proudly.
"Well… she should be walking soon. Most of mine did by ten months." Mrs. Weasley commented.
Hermione bit her tongue. Lately, it seemed like every time she came to the Burrow Mrs. Weasley was slipping comments in about Rose's development like that and it was getting to Hermione. Rose was well ahead of schedule for most things, so she had no idea why Mrs. Weasley always had to say something, as if she was judging her parenting skills. Hermione was certain Ron's mother didn't do it on purpose, but it still was a bit annoying.
Ron, able to tell it was bothering Hermione, simply slipped an arm around Hermione's shoulders. "Mum…Rose is well ahead of where she needs to be."
"Oh, I know that, Ron. I am just saying…" Mrs. Weasley turned back to the dinner she was finishing cooking.
"So…what's the big plan when you finish up your N.E.W.T.'s, Hermione?" Harry asked.
Hermione glanced at Ron and then back at Harry. "Nothing really…just spend some time at home before I begin work."
"Sounds bloody boring." Ginny commented, sipping her own beer.
"Do you have some glorious plan?" Ron snorted at his sister.
"Actually…yes. Harry and I were going to go to France for two weeks." Ginny smiled at Harry.
"France?" Ron seemed slightly jealous. "But Harry…what about work?"
"I asked off. Kingsley said it was fine." Harry shrugged.
"Oh…wow…" Ron tried his best to hide his envy, but Hermione could hear it in his voice.
"And then maybe when you come back, Rosie won't be our only grand child…now will she…" Mrs. Weasley smiled lovingly at Rose who was now grabbing a fistful of Hermione's curls.
"Yes…how is Fleur doing?" Hermione asked, taking the opportunity to change the subject. Fleur and Bill were expecting their first child in a few weeks.
"Bill said well…we spoke just the other day." Mr. Weasley chimed in.
"And Fleur is feeling alright?" Hermione asked.
"She said fine…oh it will be so lovely to have another baby around! Someone for Rose to play with…someone around her age since I doubt you two will be having anymore anytime soon…" Mrs. Weasley spoke mostly to Hermione.
"I…well…" Hermione felt her cheeks flush red as she knew Mrs. Weasley's famous speech about having children close in age was coming. It was a normal conversation they had nearly every time they got together, now that Rose was getting a bit older. Hermione couldn't figure it out. When Rose was first born, Mrs. Weasley was quite keen on making sure Ron and Hermione were not overwhelmed and now she kept pushing the idea of another child on them every chance she got.
"We are busy with work…and getting sorted out, Mum. Told you…no kids for a bit." Ron said, digging into the bread Mrs. Weasley had placed on the table.
"Oh, I know…I just think its best to have children one right after the next. Rose will grow up nearly an only child at this rate." Mrs. Weasley said, and then turned to Hermione. "Not that there is anything wrong with that."
Hermione just gave Mrs. Weasley a tight-lipped smile and took a deep breath, feeling slightly overwhelmed by Mrs. Weasley. This is why she did not enjoy coming over to the Burrow right now. However, she hoped that would change once Bill and Fleur had their baby and took the pressure off of Rose as the only grandchild. Though, Hermione couldn't help but notice that Rose did not seemed phased by any of the extra attention, as she busy grabbed at Hermione's curls again, this time trying to eat some of them.