YULE SHENANIGANS 4

Author's Note: I don't own any of the characters, as if I did then Ron/Hermione would have started far earlier.

Hogwarts

Ron would never be considered by any logical person as a deep thinker, and that much he was perfectly okay with. That former fact was something that Hermione had reminded him of on several separate occasions, usually being followed by his own grouchy recriminations of one sort or another. To his credit he knew that she was most often correct about her assessments of him, though he would never ever admit it to her or anyone else. He knew that if he was to ever admit it that she would never allow him to forget it and hold that truth over him for the rest of their lives. He knew that Harry would be knee deep in the second trial the next morning but it was he that found himself unable to sleep and so slowly descended the stairs from the dorm to the common room just before midnight. He was hoping for some time by himself to think but it was not to be. He had thought that he would be the only one up the night before the second trial, as Harry had long since rolled over and snored an hour earlier. All that he heard as he slowly entered the common room was the crackling of the fire, that and the ever so light flipping of a page.

"Okay who…oh…Hermione," Ron began to grumble with a slightly irritated edge to his words as he stepped off the final step and caught sight of Hermione curled up in her favorite chair, legs tucked up underneath her and a blanket about to fall off of her lap, a rather large book open across her lap.

"Shh…hush Ron," Hermione harshly commented at first before she saw Ron visibly flinch at the tone of her words and she managed to end it all with an embarrassed smile through the blush on her cheeks.

"Huh, what are you…oh," Ron started to answer loudly with an unhappy groan before he proceeded far enough into the room to catch sight of Rose slumbering away on the couch that he loved to lounge on in the evenings, her blanket bunched up down around her waist.

"She couldn't sleep so she wanted me to read to her…hey, she said I used to read it to her when she was young, put her right to sleep," Hermione countered with a slightly hurt frown before casting a quick but light glare at Ron and then trying not to blush openly as she saw that Ron noticed the book that she had been reading to Rose just before he came down the stairs, Hogwarts, A History.

"I wonder why, the reason I never read it, even the preface nearly put me to sleep," Ron remarked with a sly grin and a small wink that Hermione certainly did not miss as she cast him another slight scowl at his words before she dropped her gaze down to her book and hoped that her hair would hide the amused smirk on her lips and subtle blush to her cheeks.

"Yes well…that's you Ronald, thankfully she seems to have gotten more from my side of the family," Hermione noticeably forced herself to say calmly, so much so that even Ron being as thick as he could be noticed that something was amiss with her, before she couldn't help but yawn wider than she intended to.

"Really, you'd best be careful Hermione…you just admitted that she's your daughter, and after all of those denials," Ron teased back sharply with a slight wink as he ducked around the edge of the couch and finally plopped down in a chair next to the one that Hermione occupied, trying in vain not to stare at her beauty in the soft firelight.

"I…I…I don't hate her," Hermione nervously answered with a deep blush on her cheeks as her gaze quickly flittered back and forth between Ron's face and Rose's softly snoring form on the couch, seemingly more than a bit scared to look at either for to long for fear of tearing up.

"She seems to think otherwise," Ron reminded her with a sly grin as he nodded his head towards Rose as he leaned in close to Hermione; close enough to bump her shoulder softly with his.

"Look Ron, I know that I haven't been as friendly and accommodating to Rose as I probably should be but…it's not because I don't like her or that I hate her, it's just that she's…perfect, perfect…everything that I'd ever want in our…a daughter, I'm just afraid that if we know too much…if we change too much…that she…she….," Hermione tried to explain with a kind and proud but fearful tone of voice as she found that she couldn't look Ron in the eye as she spoke without blushing as red as his hair as her gaze instead locked itself onto Rose's slumbering form.

"I think it's a little late for that Hermione, we already know that we live and…well…she's the proof…," Ron tried his best to softly counter her, mostly so that he wouldn't wake Rose up just yet, as he leaned over closer to Hermione and flashed her a winning smile, though he felt his own temperature rise at being that close to her.

"But Ron…things can change, especially when dealing with time travel…if we learn to much about our future then…," Hermione cautioned him, a worried tone clearly audible in her voice, as she leaned back in her chair and stared over into the fire, in the end having to bite her lip to keep from shedding any tears at the thought of what could happen.

"Then we can stop that…we can stop you from getting hurt," Ron declared strongly with more than a fair amount of fire in his gaze as he leaned in a bit closer and laid one of his much larger hands over top of hers on the chair's armrest and then turned back to smile softly at Rose.

"You can't protect me from everything Ron…no matter how much you might want to, at least no more than I can protect you…and Harry…," Hermione softly replied with an honest but strained smile as she placed a hand over his on her hand and briefly rested her head against Ron's before the pair were interrupted in the middle of their combined breaths.

"If that doesn't beat all," Rose snickered softly, with more than a hint of terribly done suppressed glee, from across the rug as she propped herself up on her elbow and did her best not to yawn to widely before she had to resort to attempting to rub the sleep out of her eyes in the exact same adorable way that Hermione did, at least in Ron's mind.

"Rose…I thought…we thought…," Hermione shot back at first with a slight hint of anger in her words that quickly disappeared as she blushed deeply at the odd looks that both Ron and Rose were giving her before she pulled her hands away from Ron and the two almost reluctantly pulled apart.

"Relax, I've been fooling you two since I was little…pretending that I was asleep and all," Rose sheepishly admitted through a few stray strands of ginger hair, that she tried unsuccessfully to huff out of the way, before she admitted defeat and pushed herself up to a fully seated position and yawned widely, followed almost immediately by Ron and Hermione.

"Um…Rose…luv, I don't think that's something that you should be admitting so openly," Ron joked softly with a guilty expression as he caught sight of Hermione watching him very closely out of the corner of his eye and resolved that by leaning forward and smiling warmly at his daughter.

"Especially to us, your parents," Hermione added with a warm and sincere smile as she seemed to very much want to get up and give Rose a supportive hug but the weight of her book and how tired she was quickly dissuaded her from moving from her comfy spot in her chair.

"Thanks Mum," Rose very warmly beamed back as she sat fully upright and looked to be on the verge of tears as she struggled to say anything more before Hermione realized what she had said.

"For what…oh," Hermione began to ask before she had fully realized her own new admission and instantly went red and had to grit her teeth and nearly rip her book in half to keep from tearing up.

"So thanks again…but honestly you two remind me so much of my childhood right now," Rose answered softly as she wiped away a single tear before her small grin couldn't help but grow until it consumed her entire mouth and she looked back and forth between Ron and Hermione, beaming happily at them.

"Really, how so," Ron wondered aloud softly as he could barely hide his interest in the answer as he sat up straight in his chair and tried his very best to not look over at Hermione even though he really wanted to at that moment.

"Everybody always assumes that the two of you must fight all of the time…and you do fight at times…but most of the time you're just disgusting…disgustingly sweet with each other…especially you Dad," Rose admitted with a nervous sigh and slight blush to her cheeks as she tried to rub the sleep from her eyes with one hand while collecting her blanket around herself as she sat up and hoped that her hair wasn't sticking out everywhere as it loved to do especially given her parentage.

"What…ME," Ron spat out, being inwardly thankful that he hadn't been taking a drink at that moment and spit it out all over himself or Hermione, as he very nearly slid off the front of his chair before finally resolving to bite his bottom lip to keep from laughing at the absurdity of it all.

"Heh, HIM," Hermione began to giggle nervously before Rose's words fully filtered into her brain and her eyes and mouth went wide and she couldn't help but gasp in shock and surprise as she almost dropped her book off of her lap.

"Heh…yes, I know it's not what you expected, but it's true, once you somehow managed to get Mum to marry you Dad well…you turned into a big teddy bear, when Dad would have to stay at the shop late you'd wait up for him Mum, sitting in the easy chair by the fire and trying to read and reread your favorite book," Rose did her best to calmly explain one of her happiest memories from her childhood though she kept watching Ron and Hermione carefully in an attempt to see their reactions.

"It's a good book, full of very useful information and…," Hermione started to remind Rose, looking less than pleased at having to remind both redheads in the room of the facts about her favorite book, before her daughter went on with a bored groan and roll of her eyes, appearing as if this was definitely not the first time that it had happened.

"Something that every Hogwarts student should read…yeah, I know…you've been telling me that since before I could even read Mum," Rose drawled back with her eyes closed and her shoulders hunched up with her head tilted back and to the side before she thought briefly about adding a touch of drool from a corner of her mouth but decided against it.

"Don't expect her to ever stop…honestly," Ron chuckled through back with a sly grin and subtle blush to his cheeks before he caught sight of Hermione giving him a look of ire and he went silent, though he could see Rose hiding a grin of her own as best that she could.

"Ron," Hermione scolded him with a less than pleased look in her eyes as she gripped the back of his wrist tightly and used the hold to keep him from speaking just long enough for Rose to get a word in edgewise.

"Trust me Dad, I know…anyway Mum you'd always end up falling asleep before he'd come home and Dad would always end up carrying you up the stairs to bed, sometimes I think that you did all of that on purpose just so that he'd have to carry you," Rose modestly grinned back at her father before she felt the very strong gaze of her mother on her and turned to face a very nervous looking Hermione, who appeared ready to launch into a detailed discussion on the matter if only given the chance to.

"I'd never do something like…that, honest," Hermione announced with a bit of a rather haughty tone to her words and her chin jutted out noticeably before she blushed deeply and tightly gripped the armrests of her chair, trying her very best to sound as if she was still in control of the conversation.

"Perhaps…but you always said that you slept really well afterwards," Rose snickered out dirtily under her breath with a very knowing grin towards Hermione before she finished it off with a quick wink.

"Sounds about right," Ron casually nodded back through a prolonged yawn as he casually glanced over at Hermione and did his very best to not blush at the incredulous scowl that she was forcing herself to cast his direction.

"How would you know, I'm going to bed," Hermione finally snapped, though not as angrily as Ron knew full well that she was capable of, as she looked more than a bit tired and scared of how badly she was losing the conversation more than anything else before she slid out of her chair and took a step past Ron but stopped and looked a bit uneasy on her feet.

"It…it just sounds like something you'd say is all, here…let me help you," Ron shrugged softly with a soft laugh before he shot up out of his chair and held one hand out to Hermione while he laid the other gently on her shoulder.

"No Ron, I don't need your help I can do it on my own," Hermione shot back, more out of point of fact than any actual anger as Rose could see the slight blush on her cheeks as she brushed Ron's hand away with one hand while using the other to try to cover up a rather large yawn as her eyes slid closed and her book fell from her grasp.

"Says you, here…just let me help," Ron disagreed calmly as he allowed Hermione to try and weakly wave him off before he wrapped one arm around her waist and pulled her close, trying his best not to laugh at the absurdity of the situation.

"RON…I don't…oh um," Hermione tried to growl while weakly struggling to push him away though she failed miserably and ended up leaning very heavily on him, with the sudden realization of just how close their faces had become.

"Y…yeah uh," Ron stuttered back under his breath as he felt the warmth of Hermione's against his skin, with his arms wrapped comfortably around her, as the twos faces were just a scant distance apart, leaving neither to notice a watery eyed Rose watching them with a nearly rapturous expression of joy, excitement, and anticipation on her face before the end. It was all that she could do to keep from making a noise as she silently watched Ron brush Hermione's cheek softly with his thumb.

"Hey Ron…oh, uh…did I interrupt something," Harry sleepily groaned out as he came down the last few steps that lead up to the boys dorm, pulling his robe on and trying to rub the sleep from his eyes as the same time with his glasses perched upon the top of his head just waiting to be slid down. It was obvious that he had no earthly idea what it was that he was interrupting. He could only get one quick blurry glance in, as Hermione and Ron rather reluctantly separated, before the ceiling fell in on him.

"UNCLE HARRY," Rose exclaimed angrily at the top of her lungs with her ears actually putting off torrents of steam before she openly spat venom before tearing off after a petrified Harry back up the stairs to the boys' dorm. For several minutes the only sounds that Ron and Hermione could hear were Harry pleading for Rose to stop and their daughter cursing him out very diligently, deciding that they would sleep in the common room for the night.

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Hogwarts-After The Second Task

Harry had somehow managed to win the second task, though he was quite sure that it was greatly due to the enormous amount of respect that the other judges had for Dumbledore than anything that he had done. Krum had seemingly won the contest, all the while trying to get Hermione alone for a chance to talk to her in private, away from a grimacing and threatening Rose, who still looked ready to slug him. Hermione had taken supreme advantage of the discord between the two and taken it upon herself to rush her daughter away before any punches were thrown. Only an intense and stern glare from Hermione had stopped Ron from stepping in for their daughter and taking a swing at the Bulgarian, though just barely. Harry had taken the first chance available to him to slip away after the win, only learning moments later that his leaving hadn't gone as unnoticed as he had thought that it had.

"Want to be alone," Albus questioned with a nervous but yet nonetheless sly grin on his face as he fell into step beside Harry as they walked towards Hagrid's hut instead of the castle.

"Yeah, sorry," Harry reluctantly replied softly as he hated to admit that he didn't want to speak to his son but at that moment he just really wanted to be alone to have some time to himself to think and calm down after all of the excitement.

"Good for me then that Potters don't follow orders," Albus piped up back before Harry could say anything else, looking entirely to chipper about it all, as he kept the pace with his father and lightly bumped shoulders, trying to get him to laugh.

"I do," Harry weakly tried to object as he did his best to look surprised and offended even though he knew full well that Albus was entirely right about him following the rules.

"Hah, since when…remember Dad, I've heard your stories…you and Uncle Ron and Aunt Hermione broke so many rules I'm not sure that there's any that you didn't break…," Albus couldn't help but laugh openly at the idea before he calmed himself and spoke, with Harry stopping long enough to stare oddly at him before he could come up with a coherent answer.

"We were that bad of an influence were we," Harry tried to answer as calmly as possible though the look on his face would show anyone just how guilty and embarrassed he was feeling at the moment before Albus piped back up.

"As James says…the worst, and we wouldn't have had it any other way…sorry," Albus said quickly before he gave it much thought and figured out that Harry would have no way of knowing what James had said about anything, but silently hoped that he'd gotten his message across anyway.

"Forget about it, by the way where's Scorpius, I haven't seen him around very much lately," Harry rushed through as he tried to make it sound like the whole situation wasn't still bothering him a bit as he lightly patted Albus on the shoulder.

"He's probably off trying to avoid his dad somewhere, Mr. Malfoy wasn't very happy to have his son fall for the daughter of his enemies…," Albus suggested with a dark and somber smile before his slid his hands into his pockets and stared at the ground, finally kicking aside a few small rocks.

"Oh, so then Rose and Scorpius are…," Harry remarked softly with a slight blush to his cheeks as he thought about what Ron would say at the thought of his daughter dating a Malfoy before he was brought swiftly back down to Earth.

"He wishes…but no, she…she uh…doesn't feel the same way, you see she uh…how to say this…," Albus sadly and nervously answered after his initial response before he really dug his hands into his pockets and kept himself from looking at his father as he didn't want to say too much without talking to Rose first and obtaining her permission.

"Found some other bloke that she fancied more eh," Harry couldn't help but snicker out loudly as inwardly he let out a small sigh of relief that Ron's anger would not be raised and sent through the roof after all.

"Uh…yeah…something like that," Albus awkwardly answered as he wondered how Harry would take the truth and if he could even get it out even if he had permission before he quickly decided to change the subject too much lighter topics.

END OF CHAPTER 4

Author's Note: Thanks again to everyone for reading and reviewing this and the other chapters. As always reviews, comments, and questions are always appreciated. If you look at the books then Harry and Hermione just don't work as a pair. If you have them together then Cho and Ginny are greatly reduced in importance and Ron becomes greatly more of a side character and the trio is weakened not strengthened as then Rowling would have had to develop another female character for Ron to date, and given that Rowling seems to avoid outright romance in the books having the books be from Harry's point of view would mean a lot of it in a Harry and Hermione romance for one. I still don't read stories that pair Hermione up with anybody but Ron and him with her. I still think that the two should have gotten together earlier in the books, as early as book five. That and I think that they should have had more kids. The movies cut out most of the Weasley related storylines and the building moments to the canon pairings, partially because to me those that made the movies were more concerned with getting people to the theaters than the actual characters in the movies, and romantic triangles and such is one way that they do that in the movies, to try and get people wondering who will end up with whom until the very last minute. Thank You.