Because I didn't say this last time, DISCLAIMER. I DON'T OWN HARRY POTTER

Thank you for the reviews and the follows! It is seriously appreciated. I usually never get chapters out this fast but I am trying to be speedier in terms of actually getting things out there.

Anyway, this is the next chapter!

She and Padma locked up her office, and after saying goodbye to the other workers on their floor, parted ways by the Floo Network housed in the Ministry. Hermione was still excited over her newest life-changing decision; she could barely remember to calm down enough to speak properly into the Floo. After all, this was just the kind of thing that she was looking for. If she really wanted to change people's minds about things that were important to her, then what better way to change those mindsets during the children's formulating years at Hogwarts?

She flooed to the tiny home she shared with her husband and daughter in Ottery St. Catchpole not too far from both The Burrow and the Lovegood home. Ron picked the house out, of course, claiming that he did not want her to be separated from Luna Lovegood, one of her closest friends, but she knew the truth. He did it so that he could run back home whenever he pleased, especially when he had their daughter with him.

Hermione stepped out into the dim lighting of her home, the Floo's bright green glow casting everything with a sickly aura. She should have been surprised that the lights were off and no one was there, but in reality, this had happened so many times that Hermione couldn't really be phased by anything that Ronald Weasley had done as of late. And yet, even as she grew more irritated with him as time went by, she couldn't help but want him to be the first to know about her prospective career change. He was still one of her best friends, after all.

"Ron?" She called out, just for good measure. "Rose?"

Walking through the living room and into the kitchen separated by a small archway, she wasn't surprised to see the mess that awaited her. Pots and pans were thrown into the sink, the spell used to clean them not performed nearly as well. What she assumed was jam had been flung onto the walls and cabinets, on the table there were bags of potato chips of all different tastes and textures, pretzels, and candy. So much so that it had spilled off the table and now the floor was covered with a crumbling mess. The carton of milk was left open on the counter for who knows how long, and their were pieces of bread in the sink.

Walking over to the sink to survey the mess, she noticed the recipe card that she had left out specifically for him. Instructions for a grilled cheese sandwich, nothing too difficult. It was in the exact same place that she left it, and covered with cheese and strawberry jam.

"Honestly Ron," She muttered to herself, "How hard can it be to follow a simple recipe. It's grilled cheese. Not rocket science." A pause. "Then again, you probably don't know what rocket science is."

Next to the card with her instructions on it was slip of paper torn out from one of Rose's coloring books. There was writing on it, which meant a note from Ron. She could see the drawing of a figure on the opposite side of the paper. Flipping it over, she wanted to see exactly which coloring book Ron had ripped the page out of to use for his note. When she saw the image on the other side, her frustration at her husband grew intensely. It was an outlined drawing of Hogwarts, with several parts sectioned off for the paint-by-numbers system.

The coloring book was really quite astounding, and it was her daughter's favorite. Images of Professor Dumbledore, McGonagall, Snape, and even herself, Ron and Harry decorated its pages. At first, she was embarrassed to have her face plastered across a book that nearly every child in Wizarding Britain was going to get, and Harry agreed with her. Ron of course, loved the attention. After the war, Harry just wanted to live a normal life, and he had gotten it. Twelve long years of normality was just what the doctor ordered for the Boy-Who-Lived. But her daughter's book was enchanted in two very special ways.

For one thing, it had a magical lock on it, so that no one but Rose could open it unless she wished for him or her to. And, the coloring book allowed her to draw out whatever was on her mind, creating an image of it for her to color in. So for things she liked, some of her toys, her grandparents, cousins, anything at all, their images were shown in the book for Rose to color in.

She had no idea how Minerva McGonagall had been able to do it, recruiting Professor Flitwick in the process, but her former teachers had made it for her daughter for her first birthday, saying it was a small gift, when in truth it was priceless to Rose.

We have plenty of paper Ronald Weasley! She thought angrily. How could you take one of these?

Flipping the paper back over to read what he had written her, she wondered if it would have been too much to owl her, or send a simple Floo call. She would have responded of course, anything to get her away from the non-stop signatures and procedures.

Mione,

At Mum's. Be back for dinner.

Ron

Of course. Whenever he felt like Rose was too much to handle, he went to his mother's house. Now, this wouldn't be a problem ordinarily, if it were not for the fact that her husband sometimes forgot their daughter at his mother's place. She'd come home from work, find him eating food made by Mrs. Weasley and she'd ask where Rose was, and he would look at her questioningly, as if he'd forgotten that he even have a child. Turning around, she eyed her chaotic kitchen and wondered if this wasn't dinner, but from lunchtime. In any event, she would have to go over there eventually, whether it be to retrieve her child, or kill her husband.

Stepping into the Floo, she threw down the powder and disappeared in a burst of green flame.

When she arrived, she noticed that there weren't very many people in the house. Of course, most of the Weasley clan had moved out, the only exceptions were George and Angelina, as well as their children, but most days it seemed like the Burrow was never empty. There were always people around, and today should have been no exception.

"Is someone there?" A warm voice called from the kitchen. Hermione stepped out of the floo and was greeted by the sight of her mother-in-law.

"It's just me, Mrs. Weasley." Hermione said, sounding more tired than she wanted to.

Stepping into the light, Hermione saw her mother-in-law, standing in the archway. Dusting off her apron, the older woman pulled Hermione into a hug. "Hermione, dear, what brings you by?"

At 29 years old, Hermione still felt like that 13-year-old girl, meeting Mrs. Weasley for the first time ever. And the older woman, who was always fretting and worrying about her, still treated her like a child. At times, it could be really nice and comforting, but other times, such as now, when she really did not need it. Her mother-in-law never really liked the fact that she was a career woman, and that she wanted to actually do something with her time instead of being Ronald Weasley's baby factory.

"Just looking for my husband and Rose. Are they here?" She asked, while Mrs. Weasley brushed down her pencil skirt and blazer, making sure they had not been ruffled in the trip over here. It took nearly all of her willpower not to snap at the older woman, but Hermione let her have her little joys.

Mrs. Weasley blinked, straightening. "Ronnie? Of course he's here, why wouldn't he be?" She said as if it were a common occurrence, which it was, unfortunately. She smiled brightly. "He and the other boys are playing a game of Quidditch in the backyard."

"Good. This means I won't have to go searching for him." She said with a chuckle, but Mrs. Weasley did not laugh. Hermione sighed and made her way towards the Weasley's back door.

Mrs. Weasley followed like a hawk, hovering just around her. "You know dear, you really should give Ronnie a break. He does work hard all day long."

"Mm…He does." She replied, but the words were hollow.

Following the War, Ron and Harry both applied to be Aurors in the Department of Magical Law Enforcement. Just their status alone was enough to get them accepted for the position, but Harry wanted to do things the normal way, and he joined Hermione in sitting for their NEWTS. Not to be outdone, Ron sat for them as well, though he didn't score nearly as well as the two of them did. Harry excelled in his Defense against the Dark Arts Newt, but Ron only managed to barely scrape only two NEWTS of Acceptable standing. The Ministry offered him the position even with grades like that, but Ron declined. He said he didn't want to be anyone's charity case, and went to work for his brother George in his joke shop. Of course, Ron didn't do the best job there either, but George was grateful for the help.

Entering into the Weasley's backyard, she could see the field where a makeshift quidditch pitch was set up. Looking up high into the air, she could see several dots the size of ants flying around in circles around the field. Over to her left was a large picnic table with several people sitting around it. It was piled high with food. She could see Neville, Luna, Arthur, Angelina, Lavender, Parvati, Seamus and his fiancé, Hannah Abbott sitting around it, laughing and conversing with each other.

When she neared the table, Seamus looked up. "Hermione, you made it!" Hermione grinned before looking at the table of food, and then back to her friend.

"I'm glad to be here," She said, a bit unsure of what exactly was going on. She turned to Angelina. "How's the baby doing?"

She leaned back and rubbed her growing stomach. "Fine, keep's trying to kick his or her way through my stomach though."

Lavender giggled. "We didn't think you'd come."

"What do you mean? Is there some party I'm missing?" She asked her friends. "Some holiday I've forgotten about?"

"Just a small gathering," Mrs. Weasley said in a huff. "It's not really important."

"Small?" Hermione asked, gesturing around the table. "Everyone's here! And they're all dressed up for the occasion to. I'd have come in a dress or something…" She said, feeling a bit self-conscious about her appearance.

Neville shrugged, taking a bite of his sandwich before speaking. "Well, it'll be Harry's birthday in a few weeks, and with the kids going off to Hogwarts this year, Harry didn't want to make a fuss about it and add to the confusion."

"So we decided to have his birthday party early this year." Angelina continued, and then gave Hermione a nervous look. "You remember that conversation, don't you?"

She nodded. "Yes, I remember talking about it with Harry and everyone else, but I don't remember anyone setting a date for it. If I had known, I would have taken off from work."

Why didn't I know about this? Harry's my best friend!

"Well—," Neville started, giving her friends nervous looks. "We told Ron to owl you at work yesterday morning, that's when we bought the cake—because you know Harry the best, and you'd know what he'd want. And we told him to tell you about it when you got home, but we're guessing he didn't."

"No he did not." She said testily. When she got home from work, Ron did nothing but eat his dinner and then crawl into bed, the plate of crumbs right where he left it on the dining room table. She looked around angrily, eyes blazing in search of her husband. "Where. Is. He?"

Luna pointed up, speaking for the first time. "Up there, high above the clouds."

She looked up, and she could see that a few of those ant-sized people on broomsticks had red hair. "Seamus," she said through her teeth. "Scoot over a bit."

Without a word, Seamus moved over and Hermione climbed up onto the picnic table bench, using his and Neville's shoulders as support. Her mother-in-law moved closer frantically. "W-What are you going to do?"

"I'm not going to shoot him out of the sky if that's what you're thinking." She looked back at her, startling the woman with her unintentional glare. She didn't mean to snap so harshly at her, but Ron had pushed her over the edge. "Although the thought is promising."

"Hermione, he really did try to remember…" She said softly, but Hermione was well past listening by this point.

Lifting her wand up in the air and holding it to her throat, she said "Sonorus." Then, once she knew that Ron could definitely hear her, she said. "Ronald Weasley! Some things need to be explained. If you don't come down here, then I will go up there and you don't want that to happen." Removing her wand, she cast Quietus, canceling out Sonorus and hopped down off the bench, while her family and friends stared at her in shock.

"You think he's really going to come down?" Angelina asked, giving her a skeptical look. "Ron can be as stubborn as you."

"I know," She said patiently, taking a seat on the other side of Luna, at the end of the table "But he will if he knows what's good for him."

Moments later, she felt an object hit her back. "Mummy!" she turned around and was met with the sight of her daughter. "I heard your voice so I came over here!"

6 year old Rose Weasley had inherited her father's bright red hair, but her mother's curls, and in the blowing wind, her hair whipped around her head like flames. Her blue eyes were bright as she saw her mother sitting there, and Hermione's anger quickly dissipated as she took in her daughter's smile.

"Hello Rose." She said, "Did you have a good day?"

"Kind of," She said, smiling. "At first it was me and Daddy, and it was really boring, but then we came to Grandmum's house and then I had lots of fun."

She nodded, patting down her daughters hair to try to catch some of the flyaway. She found that her daughter was covered in mud from head to toe. It was caked in her hair, and spots of mud and water spotted her shirt. "Where are your cousins?"

"Um..." Rose looked around, and then pointed a finger away from the Weasley house. "Down by the creek. Alice told us to look for freshwater plimpies, but we aren't finding any."

Hermione was about to open her mouth and tell her that there wasn't such a thing as a freshwater plimpie, but Luna said something first. "You'll find them, I just know it. Alice knows what she's doing. I taught her to look for them myself."

Alice was Luna and Neville's daughter. She inherited her mother's silver-blue eyes and her father's brown hair. She would be attending Hogwarts in the fall with several of the other Weasley children. Harry and Ginny's sons, George and Angelina's daughter Roxanne, and Bill and Fleur's daughter Victoire would all be going for their first year at Hogwarts, joining Teddy Lupin who would be going in to his second year. The remaining children, Rose, Lily, Fred and Neville and Luna's twin children Xeno and Pandora were all much too young to go, in between the ages of 5 and 10.

"Go and get everyone else, sweetie, it's almost time to cut Uncle Harry's cake." Angelina said quickly, looking at something out of the corner of her eye. Hermione saw it too. Ron, along with everyone else who had been playing Quidditch landed softly in the grass wearing a grin that could have outdone the Cheshire cat. She stiffened, her fury returning at the irritatingly lazy way he sauntered over to her.

"Okay!" Rose said, not noticing the change in her mother's attitude. Hermione stood up, ready to take on yet another challenge.

"Hey babe, glad to see you got my note," He said once he reached her. He planted a kiss on her lips that she did not intend to respond to. "What took you so long?" He asked when they separated.

She noticed Neville, Luna and Seamus inch ever so slightly away from her as though she were going to Avada Kedavra him right then and there. But she wouldn't. Yet.

She stared him down. "I might have gotten here earlier if you actually said that today was Harry's birthday celebration."

"I told you, didn't I?" Ron asked. He looked at the other occupants of the table. First at Seamus, and then Neville. "Didn't I? N-Neville, you were there when I sent the floo call, don't you remember? And S-Seamus you s-saw me send the owl, right?"

Neville shrugged. "Don't look at me, mate. I'm staying out of this one."

"Same here." Seamus grinned and looked the other way. "I've seen enough of these fights to last me a lifetime."

Seeing that he wasn't going to get any help from his friends, Ron turned back to Hermione. "I'm sorry… guess I sort of forgot to tell you, what with me being so busy and all."

Hermione rolled her eyes. "We live in the same house, Ron. How hard would it have been to tell me in passing? In the hallway, before we went to bed, at dinner, in the kitchen?" Ron's face turned red with embarrassment. "And by the way, what did you do to my kitchen?"

Ron blinked, taken aback. "Oh, a-about that…" He stammered. "I meant to clean that up before you got home."

She narrowed her eyes. "Did you, now?"

He nodded enthusiastically. "R-Really I did! Honest! But I guess I just got caught up in the Quidditch game—But I love you, Hermione."

His apologies always went that way. I'm sorry you tripped over my shoes—But I love you. I'm sorry I forgot to pick up Rose from the sitter's—But I love you. I'm sorry I'm such complete idiot. But I love you. As far as she was concerned, that apology line of his was being overused and overdone.

"I know you love me, but I left simple instructions for a grilled cheese sandwich. How did you get strawberry jam all over the place?"

"You told me to let Rose be creative." He said sheepishly.

"So you let her paint with food?" Hermione exclaimed in disbelief. She eyed Ron with extreme irritation. "Even in the muggle world we have paint that washes off, and doesn't get on furniture. You mean to tell me that you couldn't perform a spell to protect all of the non-washable surfaces?"

"I didn't remember it— and I didn't feel like buying it!" He said, getting angry. He looked around once more. Everyone was staring at them in shock, and she could hear the voices of the children as they were coming up the ridge to the house. "Look, do we have to do this now?"

Hermione sighed, relenting. She didn't really want to fight with him in front of the children, especially Rose. But that was another time that she had agreed to postpone a conversation between the two of them, but unlike all of the other times, she would make sure that Ron didn't keep her waiting for too long. She was growing tired of his laziness, his evasions, and something was going to have to change.

Perhaps her new job offer was just the thing she needed.

"Hermione!" Ginny came over, broom in hand, all sweaty from playing Qudditch with the boys. George, Dean Thomas, Oliver Wood, Lee Jordan and Ernie MacMillan followed right behind.

"How was the game, guys?" Hermione asked.

"Alright, I suppose." George said, "Though it would have been better if we had some more players." He said, giving pointed stares to Neville and Seamus.

"Don't you dare look at me, George Weasley." Angelina said, pointing to her rounded stomach. "It's your fault I can't play anyway."

"Sorry, love." George smirked at his wife, blushing. "Actually…I'm not sorry in the least."

"You know me, I'm rotten at Quidditch." Neville said, "I'd be the worst."

"We know that." George snickered. "That's why you would have been on Harry's team. He always wins."

"I don't' always win." Harry said from behind her. She turned and he smiled when he saw her. He lifted her up into the air, swinging her around. When he set her down, he was smiling. "It feels like ages since I've last seen you, and it's weird since we only work 2 floors apart from each other."

"I know Harry, and happy early birthday." She said, smiling at her best friend.

"I didn't think you were going to make it, when I asked where you were, Ron said you were being a workaholic as usual."

She cut a glare at Ron who visibly blanched before turning back to Harry. She chuckled, "Well you know me, and I do love working."

The sound of chattering children halted their conversation. A group of children raced up the incline to The Burrow, each carrying a small bucket in their hands. First was Teddy, James and Roxanne, who were the most muddy. Roxanne's black hair flew behind her as she tried to overtake Teddy and James. The next bunch up the incline were Alice and Albus. The two were nearly inseparable and several jokes had been made (mostly by George), that the Potters and Longbottoms would be in-laws in the future. After them came Rose, Lily and Pandora who were all the same age and Xeno(philius) and Fred brought up the rear. It was strange to see them all getting along, but they were family, and no matter what you always loved your family.

The children found their parents and excitedly showed them the shells and flowers they had caught and put inside each bucket. Rose left her friends and bounded over to her father. "Daddy, Daddy, look!" She said, holding up the bucket. "Look what I found! 3 shells and two purple flowers!"

"That's nice, baby girl." Ron said, waving her away as he collapsed on the bench next to Hermione. She inched away from him. Rose turned away from her father with a frown.

"Mummy, what's wrong with Daddy?" She said sadly. "He didn't want to see all the pretty shells I found."

"Daddy's not feeling too well," Hermione said carefully. "But Mummy will love to see them."

Rose grinned and sat on her lap, staining Hermione's suit with mud and excitedly showed her the shells, pointing out what she liked and did not like about each one, and carefully picking up the flowers. Hermione listened with rapt attention, focusing on her child and solely her child. It is what a parent had to do, something that Ron had yet to figure out.

Once they cut Harry's cake and given him gifts, Hermione thought it best to make her announcement. "Um…everyone?" She said, standing up. They all turned to her with rapt attention. "I have an announcement to make."

"What is it, Hermione?" Harry asked, spoon paused in the air still with cake on it.

"I've been offered a teaching position." She told them after taking a deep breath. "At Hogwarts."

"That's amazing, Hermione!" Ginny said, standing up and hugging her.

"Wait, so now Aunt Hermione is going to be my professor?" Teddy asked, eyes wide. He looked at Hermione. "You're going to go easy on me right?"

She laughed. "Of course not, you know me by now."

"Great, she's going to be the next McGonagall." George snickered. "She'll be even bossier than she is now."

"No she won't George; she'll be perfect at it." Harry said. Then after a moments, pause, she said. "I'll be covering her classes actually. I'm the new Transfiguration professor."

"Excellent." Ron said sarcastically, raising his wand in the air. His voice held a touch of bitterness. "I can see it now. Levi-o-sa, not Levio-sa."

Come on, Ron. Don't ruin a moment for me.

She shook her head with a grimace. "That's Charms, Ron. I should think that I wouldn't have to tell you the difference."

"I-I knew that!" He said roughly, stuffing his wand back into his pocket.

"Well…" Seamus said awkwardly, holding up a glass of wine, and the children were given water. "Happy Birthday to Harry, and Congrats to Hermione."

"Congrats!" Everyone echoed and took a drink.

But amidst all of the congratulations, there were two people who weren't happy at all. And they had to do something to stop this from happening.

Okay, so that was chapter two! Thank you for reading, and if you could just leave a review, even 2 words about what you think, I would really appreciate it.