Author's Note: Hey, I had a review request expressing sadness that this was the last chapter and so if you agree with her then you are in luck! I actually have enough for this chapter and then another one after it! Yay, right? Now the time line is going to get a little faster, with brief snapshots. You'll see what I mean. And I hope you enjoy it!

Birthday

"Thank you for being here with me today." George held his glass up for a toast. "This birthday…well I needed you guys today more than ever."

Mrs. Weasley had tears in her eyes but she was still smiling when she jumped up and kissed George on the cheek. The first of April had fallen on a Saturday and the entire Weasley family, including any significant others, were spending the entire day together to celebrate and to honor the memory of Fred.

A very heavily pregnant Fleur had just handed a slice of cake to the even more heavily pregnant Hermione when the contraction hit. Hermione's grip tightened so hard that the plate cracked.

If it hadn't been for the toast no one else would have noticed but in the quiet of the solemn moment they did. "Was that what I think it was?" George asked, his face white as a sheet.

"I went to St. Mungos a few days ago because I kept getting these cramps and pains." Hermione waved away their concerns when several of the Weasleys admonished her for not having told them. "The Healers told me it was false labor."

"Is that what this is?" George asked.

Hermione was about to nod when the pain started in her back and raced across her abdomen. "Actually I don't think it is," she gasped.

George dropped his glass and raced around the table, stilling when Hermione suddenly laughed. "What? What is it?"

"There's a chance you're going to end up sharing your birthday again. These contractions are real. And my water just broke."

The next contraction hit and Hermione was so busy focusing on the pain that she missed the smile bloom across George's face.

One Day Old

They heard the first cry just minutes before midnight. "It's a boy!" the Healer cried.

Seconds later the baby was laid on Hermione's chest as the Healers started the necessary post delivery spells to prevent infection and so forth.

George hesitated but gently brushed a finger along the baby's cheek. "He's perfect."

"He is," Hermione agreed then seconds later she gasped. "We never agreed on names!"

She'd only been back in the wizarding world for a few very busy weeks and while they'd flung around a few ideas, mostly when they'd helped each other decorate the nurseries (one at each of their flats) they hadn't agreed on a single name.

"Can we..." George hesitated but then took a deep breath and carried on. "Can we name him after Fred?"

Hermione's eyes immediately welled up at the pain, hope, and apprehension in George's voice. "I thought about that but I wasn't sure…I thought maybe you'd want to save that for when you're in a real relationship," she finally said.

The conversation was halted for a few minutes as the Healers finished the charms on the baby and Hermione to make sure they were both okay and to help Hermione heal (no stitches in the wizarding world if a charm would do!)

Then George ducked down to look Hermione in the eyes. "I know you and I aren't…but we are friends and this is our first born. I just thought, since he was conceived not long after we lost Fred and what with him being born yesterday, that maybe it was a sign."

Hermione stared down at her son, his soft down hair already showing up dark red as it dried. "Fred Joseph Granger Weasley," she declared. "Joseph was my father's name. It seems only fitting."

"It's perfect," George murmured.

8 Months

Hermione was putting finishing touches on her Christmas tree when she saw it. She spun on her heels and watched closer as Freddie crawled from his play mat next to the couch and over to the box of ornaments. In a flash she picked him up so he wouldn't hurt himself, sat him in his swing, and then rushed over to the fireplace to use the Floo network.

Once she was on her knees and made the connection she hollered what had become a very common refrain. "George, you have to come see this!"

Minutes later he Apparated into the front hall in response to her call even though he'd been at work. Fortunately his employees were very understanding and knew he'd be leaving the shop when the bell that was attached to his Floo-linked fireplace would chime. "What happened this time? Is our little Freddie talking?"

Hermione pulled Freddie out of his swing and plopped him onto the floor. "Pick up one of the shiny ornaments and wave it around and see."

George chose a red and gold striped bulb (very Gryffindor) and waved it around as he crouched down.

It didn't take long for the little one to notice it and once he did he was off, crawling like a champ.

"Hey look, that's a real crawl, not a slither or a scoot!" George cheered, picking Freddie up as soon as he got close enough to. Then the boys sat on the couch with Hermione.

"I've been thinking…" Hermione quietly said but then fell silent before she finished her thought.

"Well that's a surprise," George teased as he tickled Freddie's chubby knees.

Hermione rolled her eyes. "All these new things with Freddie that'll be happening in the next few months…first words, walking. I don't want either of us to miss them if it can be helped. So maybe we should live together again."

They had both lived in Hermione's flat for the first three months of Freddie's life, George worked either days or evenings while Hermione was with the baby and he would always stop by during his lunches to give the new mother a much needed nap. Hermione spent her free time applying to jobs she could start once Freddie was a bit older and then one had fallen into her lap courtesy of a run in with Minerva McGonagall in Diagon Alley.

So now Hermione was a Transfiguration apprentice, training to take over her old professor's classes the following school year. With George's flexible schedule, his extended family and other trusted professors it was easy to find good child care while both parents worked.

But one thing that hadn't been working was the living arrangement now that they had moved back into their own flats. Though they would spend hours at each other's places so they could both spend time with their son it seemed like all the big things (the first smiles, the first rolls onto the tummy) always happened right after one of them went home for the night.

"You'd really want to do that?" George interrupted her musings. "Wouldn't that be a little awkward?"

"Of course it will be," Hermione admitted. "But we wouldn't be doing it for us, we'd be doing it for him."

The both looked at Freddie who was using George's hands for leverage as he lifted himself up and down, bouncing on George's lap.

"We'd have to set up some ground rules," George finally responded.

"Just simple ones really. No bringing dates around Freddie unless we've already discussed it and the relationship is very serious, like marriage may be in the future serious. And no overnights with Freddie in the house," Hermione dictated.

George turned to look at her in surprise. "Marriage?"

"I don't plan on dating for awhile, I don't have the time for it. But someday one of us will find someone. I suggest we not worry about it until it happens," she said as she smiled over at the scene. Freddie had given up on jumping around and had curled up on George's chest, already fast asleep. The glow of the Christmas tree's fairy lights made the red in both boys hair shine like fire.

And when George held out his other arm, the one not supporting Freddie, she didn't even hesitate to slide under it. They woke up in the same position hours later and the next morning George moved back in.