Disclaimer: I own nothing!

(A/N: Sorry I dragged around on this chapter! It was hard to follow my last chapter, and I had trouble with this one. I hope you like it. Also, I'm sorry for the side-story mid-chapter...I got carried away...)

Hermione was floored. She watched as Bill stomped in and demanded access to the daughter he hadn't acknowledged for almost a year. When his parents just sat motionless, Hermione decided to speak up.

"Oh, decided to be a father, have we?" She narrowed her eyes at the scarred Weasley. The long-haired man quickly turned to face her, surprised to have been called out on his neglectful attitude toward his daughter.

"What the hell is that supposed to mean?" he asked, with no small amount of control in his voice. Hermione could tell his was trying to keep himself in check.

She stood and picked Victoire up out of her high chair. The little girl did not acknowledge her father's presence, but clung to her "Miney" instead, snuggling into her shoulder. Hermione chose not to shout at the ignorant man in front of her. The other Weasleys, which consisted of Molly, Arthur, and Ron (Ginny was in her own flat), just watched as Hermione stood up to Bill.

"You think you can just leave this little girl here for an entire year, let her acclimate herself to an environment where she is cared for both day and night. The closest thing to a father she knows is Arthur or one of her uncles, and Molly, Ginny, and I are playing Mum. Bill, I know you've been hurting, but my God, man! Grow up! You're not the only one!" She stopped and smelled the air a bit. "Victoire needs a change; I'll be right back." The angry brunette stalked out of the room, leaving a dining area of stunned Weasleys in her wake.

Bill looked at his mother. "What the hell was that?"

"I believe it was Hermione standing up to you," Ron spoke up from beside his father. Bill turned to his youngest brother. Ron continued, "I don't much blame her. She loves that little girl in there, as do I. We can't stand to see her call for you, mate, and not be able to tell her where you are, what you're doing. Thank Merlin she's not old enough to understand that you're not around! You're lucky she even knows she has a dad," Ron finished with a scowl.

"Ron, dear…"

Bill clenched his fists, but his face relaxed a bit. "No, Mum, he's right on this. Both he and Hermione are. I've been a shitty father, and that realization is what drove me to come get my daughter this morning. However, I shouldn't have pushed my way in here, demanding her. I never even considered her relationship with all of you."

"With Hermione." Arthur stated softly.

Bill moved to sit by his father. "What's that, Dad?"

"Of course, we all love Tori; she's our granddaughter and your brothers' and Ginny's niece. We can't help but love her; we've loved her since we heard she was going to be born. However, Hermione doesn't have that familial connection, yet she loves that little girl in there like she's her own. No offense, Bill, but just this morning, she had approached your mum and me about formally adopting Tori if you didn't think you were able to physically take care of her." Arthur stared at his son intently.

Bill's eyes widened. Hermione wanted to adopt his little girl? The wolf in him stirred, and it wasn't happy. "She wanted to what?" he growled.

Molly tried to smooth the situation. "Bill, honey, she was just concerned! She didn't think you were able…"

"And you lot were just going to let her come in and take my little girl?!"

"No, they weren't!" Bill jumped up when he heard the topic of their discussion behind him. Hermione was shooting daggers at him with her eyes while bouncing Victoire on her hip. His little girl was half-asleep with a worn doll wrapped in her arms. Hermione continued quietly. "Both Molly and Arthur convinced me that you would be back to take care of your daughter; I promised to give you six more months before discussing this with them again. Bill, she needs parents, or at least one full-time parent!"

"Aren't you working as a healer? How can you be a parent and a qualified, full-time healer?"

"I research. That means I make my own hours, which means I can be a parent! I'd spend more time with her than you do!" To emphasize her point, she held the little girl closer. Victoire unknowingly added salt to the wound by snuggling deeper into Hermione's embrace.

Bill knew the way to win an argument with Granger was simple: don't argue. She should have gone into law, he thought.

"Fine. As I was telling them before you walked back in, I've come to recompense. I want to be back in my daughter's life. I've hidden long enough. Fleur's not coming back; I've accepted that. However, it was painful to see her every day in my daughter's face. Now, I know that I have to love my daughter for her, not for her mother. I'm sorry for not thinking of all of your feelings when I burst up in here."

Hermione slowly walked up to the redhead. "I see what you're saying, Bill. You do know that it's not going to be that easy, though?"

"What's not?"

Molly spoke up. "Going from no children to suddenly taking care of a one-year-old; it'll be just like adopting a child. You'll have to learn your child, finding out what she likes and dislikes, what she can and can't have. You'll a have to figure out her schedule, know when she naps and when she eats. Bill, honey, it's not going to be easy, especially with your current work schedule."

Bill nodded. "Which is why I've put in for my vacation time. I have a month that's added up, so I can commit that to learning Victoire's schedule." He ran his hands through his long hair. "Bloody hell, I never thought I'd have to learn my child after her first birthday!"

"Which you missed."

"What?"

Ron quietly stood and walked to the kitchen door. "You fucking missed your daughter's birthday, Bill," he whispered. "You were in a drunken stupor for a week. None of us could reach you unless we actually apparated out to Shell and made sure you hadn't killed yourself."

"I never…"

"You never cared, Bill." Ron turned to his parents and Hermione and said, "I need to get to work. See you Sunday."

Bill slumped back down in the chair he had been occupying. "Why is he so angry? I know I've screwed up, but…"

Hermione spoke up. "It's Harry, Bill. He's seen what deserting a child can do to a person. Luckily for Victoire, she has a family to spend time with and love her, but he doesn't see that. He sees Harry. He's never been able to understand how Harry was just left on the Dursleys' front steps as a baby, and he's never forgiven Dumbledore for that."

"Wow. I don't think I've ever thought of it that way." Bill looked beside him to where Hermione was holding a now-sleeping Victoire. "Could…could I?" he asked, holding his arms out.

Nodding slowly, Hermione gave the little girl over to her father. Bill took his daughter into his arms and smiled as she unconsciously moved closer to him in her sleep. He adjusted her to where her head was lying on his shoulder and sat back.

"Hermione, I…I just want to thank you first of all."

"Thank me?"

"For being there for Victoire. I know my family has been here, but you didn't have to. Thank you." He looked at the young healer.

Hermione swallowed. "It wasn't anything I planned on doing, Bill. I just really…"

Bill cut her off. "I know, Hermione, and I appreciate it. Also, it's obvious that she loves you. It would devastate her to change her routine so drastically, so if you wouldn't mind, could you pop over to Shell Cottage every few days, maybe even keep her if you're available, and I have to work?"

The brunette grinned. She had been afraid Bill would cut her out of the little girl's life. "I'd be honored."

Ron stalked out of the house, angry at his brother for being a prick (and a terrible father to boot), angry at Hermione for taking his apology so quickly, angry at his parents for looking past Bill's faults so easily…However, most of all, Ron Weasley was angry at none other than Harry Potter.

Harry had left him behind. All throughout school, the two had made plans; they didn't even sign up for different classes! Ron and Harry would join the Auror Academy, and Hermione would just excel at everything and become either a healer or a lawyer working her way up to Minister of Magic. However, on Harry's eighteenth birthday, Ron's best friend had thrown a curveball at him.

"You're doing what?" Ron half-yelled at Harry, not quite understanding.

"I'm leaving, Ron," Harry replied calmly. "I have to clear my head, and the only way I can do that properly is to get away." He sighed. "I have to go."

Ron sat down heavily on his bed at the Burrow. Harry, Ron, and Hermione were all staying there until they figured out what they were doing with their lives. Hermione had already announced that she was going back to Hogwarts in September with Ginny and Luna, effectively putting off any relationship between him and his brunette best friend, as he had decided to begin auror training.

"But…Harry…I…"

"Ron, we're adults. You'll be okay." Harry sat across from his best friend. "I need this; I need to straighten this shit out in my head, or I'll implode. You'll complete auror training, Hermione'll finish school, and you two will be amazing together. Trust me. You don't need me around all of the time."

Ron looked at Harry disbelievingly. "But it's always been...us." He narrowed his eyes. "You've already told Hermione, haven't you?" he said, thinking back to the girl's slumped shoulders that morning.

Harry nodded. "She's not particularly happy, but she understands. I'm going, and you can either be happy for me, or you can pout and get mad." He stood. "What's it going to be, Ron?"

The redhead sighed and looked up at the boy he'd befriended on the Hogwarts Express eight years earlier. "I'll miss you, Harry."

"I'll be back, and I know you'll be here, Ron. You always are."

Ron stomped to the toilet concealing the entrance to the Ministry. As he stood in line, he thought back to his conversation with Hermione one month earlier.

"You miss him, don't you?" Hermione was feeding Victoire.

Ron jerked his gaze from the fire. They had eaten dinner with his parents at the Burrow, and the rest of the family was napping at various places throughout the house. Hermione had volunteered to watch over the one-year-old, and Ron had decided to keep them company; however, he was instead lost in his own thoughts.

"Who?"

"Harry, silly. You've been like this since he left two years ago. I catch you staring off into space at the oddest times, and it's gotten worse since his last letter." Hermione adjusted the baby where she could sleep more comfortably after her dinner.

Ron shook his head. "Of course I miss him; he's my best friend. He's been gone for two fucking years! What…or who…is keeping him away for that long?"

Hermione opened her mouth to say something, but Ron interrupted. "I mean, he knows no one in any other country! We're the two most important people in his life, barring Teddy. Couldn't he at least visit?"

"Ron…are you…jealous?"

He shrugged. "I just think Harry could be more considerate, that's all." Unbeknownst to Ron, this was just nights after Hermione's conversation with her mother, so his attitude toward their raven-haired best friend was giving Hermione the perfect opportunity to break things off with Ron…and open the idiot's eyes in the process.

"Ron, do you love me?" she asked, echoing the question her mother had asked her just two nights earlier.

His head jerked up. "What?" At her pointed gaze, he glanced nervously back to the fire. "What does that have to do with our discussion of Harry?"

"It's important; trust me. Do you love me? And look me in the eyes when you answer." Hermione stood and put the baby in her crib and walked back over to sit by her boyfriend.

Ron sighed. "I do." He looked into her eyes, and her heart broke with the emotion mirrored there. "I love you, Hermione Granger, with everything in me."

Hermione smiled at him. "But not as the woman you want to spend the rest of your life with, right?" She almost laughed at the relief that cleared his bright blue eyes at her statement.

"Are you angry?"

"Ron, I have been sitting around for days trying to figure out how to word this without damaging our friendship." She took his hand. "That means more to me than anything."

He nodded, then he sighed and stared back into the fire. Hermione decided to take a chance.

"Is there someone else, Ron?" Hermione asked quietly. She sucked in a breath when he turned his head a bit, and she caught a glimpse of wetness trailing down his cheek. "Oh, Ron!" She grabbed her best friend and held him. "That idiot Potter…wait until I find him…"

Ron pulled back almost violently. "Potter? How…how did you…?" He looked panicked.

Hermione smiled sadly. "I wasn't called the brightest witch of our generation for nothing, Ron. The jealousy, the sad sighs, the way you talk about him for days after each letter…I miss him, but Ron, you're almost in pain without him. It's like he took a part of you when he left. Why don't you go try to find him?"

The redhead looked resigned. "He told me before he left that we, as in you and I, would be brilliant together. Hermione, he'd never look at me that way! This would freak him out! I've just somewhat come to terms with it myself!"

"Ron, he's Harry. Even if he doesn't feel the same, he needs to know. He won't judge you. In his own way, he loves you. You were his first friend; you'll always be special to him."

Ron shook his head. "But Hermione, the thing is, if he rejects me…it'll kill me."

Ron finally made it up to his office and picked up his assignments for the day. He groaned when he realized that he was behind on his paperwork and that his supervisor had given him the entire day to catch up.

This day just keeps getting better and better. Ron grumbled to himself.

Hermione sat in her little alcove at the Burrow and pulled Victoire closer as she read Little Red Riding Hood to the little girl. She leaned in and took in the smell that each baby has, that baby powder aroma that made her smile.

Bill stood back and watched the two. He felt like an arse, taking Victoire away from the young healer like this. She had watched the little girl grow for a year, just like the rest of his family had.

No, I have to take her home! She's mine! He knew he was correct, that Victoire belonged at home with him. Bill had opened his home to Hermione; she was welcome any time she liked. He just needed this month to re-learn (or learn for the first time) his daughter.

"Hermione? I think we need to go; I have everything set up. Thank you for watching over Victoire for me."

Hermione looked up at the eldest Weasley brother and nodded slowly. She pressed a kiss to the little girl's temple and stood, putting the book into the bag she had prepared for her.

Victoire laughed as Hermione tickled her stomach. "I'll see you later, little one. You be good for Daddy, won't you?"

"Da-da-da…" Victoire babbled as she grabbed at Hermione's nose. Hermione handed her over to Bill, who regarded the brunette closely.

"Just remember, you're welcome at any time; just Floo. Also, we'll be here for Sunday dinners."

"And if you need me at all…" Hermione began.

"I'll call." Bill picked up Victoire's bag and moved to go outside past the wards. "Thank you again, Hermione."

"Bye, Victoire. I love you." She didn't begin to cry until she heard a faint Miney! just as the two apparated to Shell Cottage.