Ron stared into the crystal ball intently. His gaze fixed on the small orb as if his life depended on it. If he stared for a little longer he might reach the future with his mind. In the flash, he smiled and pointed to a small something in the abyss of the orb.
"Aha!" he cried gleefully. "I can see something. Why, it's a parchment! And what does the parchment say?" He dramatically gazed further into the glass with a look of wonderment on his features. Surely the crystal ball never lied "It's a piece of homework! And it has a 20 out of 20! Yes, your rein as know-it-all will be challenged by no one!"
He gazed further into the crystal ball as if he were speaking to him. And there, he saw the next revelation.
"My god!" he exclaimed. His voice was a mere whisper now, a whisper filled with barely repressed excitement. "I see a cat! You are going to have the best mouse catching cat in the world! And she will eat all the little disgusting rats that come in front of its little claws. Yes...and over here-"
"Um, Ron?"
"Yeah, Hermione?"
"What are you doing with our daughter?"
"You said you wanted me to put her to bed. She loves it when I read the crystal ball for her." He looked down at baby Rose and smiled. Her tiny eyes were closed in a peaceful sleep, a small smile playing on her lips. " You should be proud. Nothing puts her to sleep faster."
"Honestly, Ronald," Hermione said shaking her head. "I can't believe you are filling her head with that rubbish."
"It isn't rubbish," Ron said, still smiling. "We both know that she is going to be a complete and utter know-it-all. And that she's going to love cats. And that she is going to be the best student that Hogwarts has ever seen."
"Is that a fact, Ron?" Hermione said. "Did your crystal ball tell you all that?"
"It didn't have to," Ron said as he drew her close to him. "She has you."
"Who would have thought that you would have become such a romantic?" Hermione mused as she lay her head on her husband's chest.
"Creepy, right," Ron said as he gazed back at the crib inside the nursery. "But I would never do anything to mess up what we have now. I love you."
"I love you, too, Ron." They kissed slowly and sweetly, enjoying the moment.
"I just have one question, Hermione."
"Yeah, what's that, Ron?"
"Are-are you really always mad at me?"
Hermione laughed as they walked to their own room hand in hand. "Only at you, dear. Only at you."
The lights were all extinguished in the house. There is a quiet that blankets everything. But then the crystal ball that Rose's father was playing with for her amusement starts to glow just a little. And Rose opens her eyes ever-so-slightly. "If only daddy knew," she thought. "Someday...But not just yet..."
