A/N: Thank you as always, wonderful people, for reading, reviewing, favoriting, alerting, etc. :)

Disclaimer: Ron and Hermione are my all-time favorite characters, and I'm ever so thankful that J.K. Rowling created them.


"His First Niece"

2 May 2000

To say that Ron was having a tough day would be an understatement. Of course, the second of May hadn't been a particularly easy day to get through since the events of 1998, and today had been no exception. He'd been stuck on the evening shift at work, so he hadn't even been able to spend much time with his family. He had stopped by the Burrow at lunch to visit Fred's plot with his mum, which had been nice (though by no means pleasant). But soon after, he'd gone into work and had been busy nonstop since. Sometimes those who were still sympathetic to the former Death Eaters chose days like today to make a statement, and naturally the Auror department was on high alert to stop those plots before they happened. They did so without much trouble, of course—they were all damn good at what they did—but it made for a very long evening. What's worse, the bloke that was supposed to replace Ron on the night shift had been a solid forty-five minutes late, and as a result it was readily approaching midnight by the time he finally found himself walking into Number Twelve Grimmauld Place.

Ron carelessly kicked off his shoes and threw his outer robe on top of them. He was expected to be in the office at nine the next morning and he therefore saw no use in putting things "in their right place," as Hermione would have said. He stood on the landing for a moment, trying to decide which he wanted more: food or a shower. Eventually, he settled for summoning himself a bag of crisps—healthy choices be damned—before making his way up the stairs and into the bathroom. He turned the water in the shower up as hot as it would go, eager to wash away the sweat and grime of the day.

After twenty very relaxing minutes, Ron's desire to sleep finally outweighed the comforting pressure of the scalding water against his tired muscles. He hadn't gone to his bedroom prior to showering and didn't want to put on his dirty robes again, so he simply wrapped his towel around his waist and began to trek slowly toward what promised to be a deep sleep. Upon entering his room, however, he was surprised to see that there was already someone lying in his bed—but luckily for him, it was just the person he wanted there.

Hermione was sleeping exactly in the center of his bed, spread out comfortably across the extra space and snoring lightly. Ron smiled at the sight of her; he hadn't been expecting to see her here tonight, but he had no qualms whatsoever about the situation. He hated the nights they slept apart. Noting that she was wearing pyjamas and therefore would probably appreciate it if he did as well, he put on the nearest clothing he could find—which just so happened to be a bright orange shirt and maroon checkered boxers—and attempted to crawl into bed beside the beautiful woman who had, for some reason he'd never really understand or believe, chosen to sleep there of her own accord. The only problem was that she'd somehow taken up virtually the entire bed with her own small form.

Ron prodded her in the side lightly, careful not to fully wake her. The result was immediate; she rolled over to the side just enough that he had room to slide in behind her—but now, his arse was hardly on the mattress. He pressed his hips forward in an attempt to make some space, but she simply ground back on him, which, while pleasant, was not the desired outcome.

"Hermione," he murmured finally, accepting that he'd have to wake her briefly if he expected to sleep comfortably. "Budge over."

Hermione just hummed in her sleep. Ron sighed before poking her once again. "Move."

"MmmrRon." She moved backward again, pushing him further toward the edge.

"Hermione, as much as I love your arse, now's not the time," Ron muttered, placing a hand on her waist and attempting to guide her further forward.

"Mmph." No movement. Enough was enough. Ron rolled on top of Hermione and, sliding down her torso, lifted her shirt and blew a raspberry on her stomach. "Mph…eugh, Ron! Off!" she shrieked, batting her hand uselessly in his direction.

"Don't hog the fucking bed," he shot back, but there was no real venom in his voice. He flopped back down on his side, now facing Hermione, who had thankfully shifted enough to allow them both to fit comfortably on the mattress.

"I didn't realize I fell asleep," she said groggily as she took his left hand in her right, threading their fingers together. "Didn't think I'd be waiting so long."

"I got off late," Ron explained, kissing her forehead as he settled under the sheets, "and I'm expected to be in at nine tomorrow."

"As am I. Best get to sleep, then," Hermione murmured, slowly letting go of his hand. Her eyes were already closed again, and she was snuggling comfortably into his body.

"Now that you've let me on the bed," he muttered, loosely wrapping a protective arm around her petite frame.

"Mmph." Ron rolled his eyes once before closing them. Always had to have the last word, she did.

But alas, their rest was short-lived. Ron felt as though he'd barely even been asleep when he heard something banging on his bedroom door.

"Waazzat?" he asked blearily, shifting over to glance at the clock—it was just gone one in the morning.

"Ron, Ron!" A familiar voice accompanied the knocks this time. So Harry was the banging noise. If he'd had more energy, Ron would have clobbered him.

"Are you going to answer him?" Hermione murmured sleepily into his chest.

"No," Ron replied stubbornly. "If it was really urgent he'd have come in here by now."

"Ron! Get up please, I don't want to come in and take my chances!" Harry's voice called from the other side of the door.

Hermione looked expectantly up at Ron, who simply burrowed further under the covers. Rolling her eyes, she got out of bed, ignoring Ron's groan of protest, and stomped over to the door, throwing it open impatiently. "This best be important, Harry," she said grumpily. Ron chuckled unkindly at the shocked and scared look that immediately crossed Harry's face.

"Oh, Hermione I didn't realize—well anyway, Fleur's at St. Mungo's. I got an owl from Ginny, she's just given birth and Mrs. Weasley wants us all there," Harry mumbled a bit uncomfortably.

"Now? It's one o'clock in the morning, for Merlin's sake! Does she not realize some of us are meant to work tomorrow?" Ron groaned, rolling over to bury his face in his pillow in an attempt to hide from the lights, which Hermione had just inconveniently flicked on. Sure, he was excited to meet his very first niece or nephew, but wouldn't he or she still be there at a decent hour?

"Did she say why we all need to go?" Hermione asked.

"No, but I'm not about to cross her when she's already emotional," Harry replied. "If you two can get ready in about ten minutes, we'll Floo together?"

"Alright," Hermione said reluctantly. "Ron, can I borrow Pig to send an owl to the office? There's no chance I'll be any good at work tomorrow without sleep, and I'm about due for a personal day anyhow."

"Yeah," Ron said vaguely, turning to face Harry. "Reckon Robards would let me skive tomorrow, mate?"

"I dunno. I'm on evening so I'm not going to try," Harry said, leaning against the doorframe. "But it's your family so you've got a better shot."

Ron sighed heavily. "Might as well. Hermione, don't send Pig til I've written an excuse too."

"It's not an excuse, Ron, it's your family," Hermione scolded from the desk in the corner of the room.

"Right," Ron said, getting out of bed reluctantly and glancing at Harry again. "Well, unless you're going to stand here and watch us change…"

"I'll meet you by the fireplace in ten minutes," Harry said quickly before leaving the room.

Stumbling around the room, still drowsy with the sleep he wished he'd got, Ron located an acceptable pair of trousers and one of his newer Weasley jumpers. "Dunno why she needs us all there," he grumbled. "I s'pose it's fine if I get the day off work, but I'd almost rather sleep, y'know?"

Hermione sighed heavily, folding the parchment she was writing on. "It's her first grandchild. She probably just wants everyone together. To be honest, I'm not sure if crowding Fleur is the best thing, but I think it best not to argue. Write your letter, Pig's waiting. Oh, and do you mind if I borrow a jumper? I only brought work clothes with me and I don't think there's time to pop back to mine."

"Go ahead," Ron said automatically, crossing over to the desk and scribbling a note to his supervisors. Truly, he knew there would be no problem in taking a personal day for a family situation, especially since he rarely took extra days off, but he still didn't particularly want to do it. As much as he complained about the detriments of his job, he did like what he was doing and wanted to continue to impress his superiors. It'd been almost a year since he'd finished his training, and as such there was the opportunity for a pay raise at the end of June. Though he hadn't said it aloud, he was hoping to be bumped up a bit so that he could start saving for the future—for Hermione.

"Ready?" Hermione asked from over his shoulder a moment later.

"Yeah." Ron handed the two folded notes to Pig, who had been circling his head as he wrote. "Make sure these get to the right places," Ron told the owl sternly. He earned a hoot in response, and he opened the bedroom window to allow Pig to fly away.

Ron took Hermione's hand and began to lead them out of the room. "We best be back in that bed within twelve hours," he muttered, grabbing his Deluminator off the bedside table and using it to shut off the lights behind them.

"Less, I'd hope," Hermione replied as they began to make their way downstairs. "Harry made it sound as though the baby's already been born. We're just going to meet him or her."

"You're not that excited either, are you? So don't you nag me about being grumpy," Ron said.

"It's not my brother's first child. You ought to be happier than me," Hermione argued.

"Shut it, you know it's as good as," Ron replied. Hermione had no argument to the contrary.

Harry was already waiting for them in the sitting room, and they set out right away. The trip to St. Mungo's was quick, and they were immediately escorted to the maternity ward upon their arrival. Fleur had a private room at the end of the corridor, and there was a small gaggle of redheads waiting on the odd arrangement of furniture outside of it. Ron's mum spotted them first and greeted each of them with a brief but tight hug.

"Oh good, you've made it! And you picked up Hermione on the way, very good," Mum said excitedly. Ron could feel his ears going red. Everyone present knew on some level that he and Hermione had likely come from the same place—if George's smirk didn't give it away, then Ginny's eye roll would have. However, if Mum wanted to pretend like it wasn't happening, Ron supposed that was her own prerogative.

"The baby was born just before midnight; it's a girl, by the way. We'll be allowed to visit in small groups in just a couple of moments, I'm told. The child seems to be healthy, but they're just running all the necessary tests before they're allowing visitors. Bill came out awhile ago and said Fleur's doing well; her family's on their way from France. They got a bit hung up at the International Portkey office, but no matter, they'll be here by dawn at the latest," Mum continued while Ron greeted his dad, George, and Ginny.

"Oi, look what the cat dragged in," came a familiar voice as Charlie rounded a corner and approached the group with a smile. "Tea for you, Mum," he added, handing her a cup from the shop downstairs before giving Ron a one-armed hug. "Good to see you. And your sidekicks," he added with a mock-salute to Harry and Hermione.

"Yeah, you too. When did you get here?" Ron asked.

"About an hour ago. Bill owled earlier today asking me to come for the birth. Didn't realize it'd be so soon, but I made it. They wanted to name me godfather," Charlie replied, puffing out his chest proudly. "Now we're just missing Percy."

"It shouldn't be long," Ginny said, shifting as Harry made to sit down next to her on the small, uncomfortable-looking sofa. "I owled him the same time as I did you lot, and he lives closer."

"He probably didn't have some scrawny git banging on his door like the world was ending," Ron muttered, taking a seat in the only remaining armchair and beckoning for Hermione to join him. She followed, but sat on the arm rest after glancing nervously at Mum.

"All the same, I'd expect him to be here soon," Ginny said, frowning slightly. Then, as if he'd been called, a wild-eyed Percy materialized in the hallway, strolling toward them quickly. What was strange to Ron was not necessarily his sudden appearance, but rather the fact that he seemed to have come from a room further down the corridor rather than from the lift around the corner, which the rest of them had used to reach the maternity ward.

"Well, what've I missed?" Percy asked breathlessly once he'd reached the group, removing his glasses to wipe them hastily on his shirt.

"They had a baby girl a couple of hours ago, and we'll be allowed to go in shortly," Dad said briskly. Unlike Mum, in times of excitement, he had a way of being very straightforward.

"Where've you been?" Ron asked Percy suspiciously. There was no reason he should have come from down the hall, or that he would be out of breath.

"I was just—came from home," Percy stammered, a bit of a dazed expression on his face. Ron raised an eyebrow, but decided not to press it further.

The group didn't talk much, everyone too tired to really converse. Mum, however, was pacing back and forth excitedly. Dad would occasionally call to her to sit down, but she declined every time. After what seemed like a small eternity, a healer exited Fleur's room and told them they could begin visiting, but no more than two or three at a time. Naturally, Mum was the first to dash in, followed closely by Dad and Charlie.

Almost immediately after his parents left, Hermione slid into Ron's lap and laid her head on his shoulder. He smiled contentedly and wrapped his arms around her, ignoring George's lazy catcalls. "Now Mum's gone you'll pretend you like me?" he muttered teasingly into Hermione's hair, which was wilder than normal due to their short-notice wake up call.

"Shut up," Hermione whispered back. Ron smirked; she was trying to look stern, but her eyes were already fluttering shut. She was cute when she was tired—not that he'd ever say that out loud.

As the group sat in silence, Ron's mind began to wander. The baby—his niece—had been born just before midnight, Mum said. That meant her birthday would be the second of May. Ron felt a small pang of sympathy for the child then. Her birthday would always be the same day Fred had died, the same day the war had ended. There would be memorials and celebrations on and around that day for years to come. It wasn't necessarily the worst thing, Ron decided, just kind of strange.

The second of May was also his and Hermione's anniversary, Ron thought suddenly. Or was it really? It was the first time they'd kissed, but who's to say when they'd really become a them? He supposed since he'd been pretty well in love with her since he was about fifteen, probably earlier, having an anniversary seemed kind of silly. Still, it was significant in his mind that two whole years had passed since he'd begun referring to Hermione as his girlfriend. There had been a period of time that first summer during which he'd made a point of introducing her to everyone they met, even those that had already casually made their acquaintance, just so he could say, "This is my girlfriend, Hermione." He'd really been quite obnoxious, looking back on it. But then again, he thought, he still did that occasionally.

The next thirty minutes passed in near silence. Ron drifted in and out of consciousness a few times, and he was sure the others must have too. Hermione, for her part, was fast asleep within minutes. It was past two-thirty and quickly becoming three when his parents and Charlie finally returned to the corridor, and George, Percy, and Ginny disappeared into the room.

"How long has Hermione been asleep?" Dad asked Ron quietly as he sat on the sofa next to a teary-eyed Mum.

"Since right after you lot went in," Ron replied, speaking just loud enough so that she would not wake. "You alright, Mum?"

"Oh yes, dear. She's so beautiful—oh, just wait til you see. Gorgeous head of hair coming in already, a sort of strawberry blonde, I think. The spitting image of her mother, but you can tell it's a Weasley nose. They've named her Victoire—that means 'victory,' which is quite fitting if I do say so. Oh Arthur, can you believe it? We're grandparents," Mum said, speaking very fast with a wide smile on her face.

"Indeed we are, Molly," Dad said, chuckling lightly at his wife's demeanor. "You were hardly this excited for our own children, dear."

"Well, it's much easier when you're not the one giving birth," Mum replied indignantly.

"I'm glad that Teddy will finally have someone around his age to play with," Harry commented helpfully, sensing the need for a subject change.

"Oh yes, of course! And I expect they'll have more cousins to play with soon enough," Mum continued, casting a meaningful glance in Ron's direction. It was all he could do not to glare back—he loved Hermione, sure, but they weren't planning to have children anytime in the near future.

"Well, I'd bring home my babies, but they have a tendency to breathe fire," Charlie quipped. Dad, Harry, and Ron laughed, but Mum decided to take the opportunity to ask Charlie a barrage of questions, ranging from "do you intend to do such a dangerous job forever" to "aren't there any nice girls working on the range?"

A short time later, George and Ginny came back to the waiting area. Percy followed them closely, but walked straight past the rest of the family muttering something about a bathroom. Ron nudged Hermione a couple of times to no avail. "Wake up love, we've got to meet the baby," he murmured into her ear. When she responded only by shifting a little in his arms, he finally resorted to poking her in the side. Well, more like jabbing.

"Ouch," she protested on the third jab, grabbing his finger and shaking it in her hand in what he supposed was meant to be reprimand.

"Up," he insisted, and at last, with a groan, she obliged. "Waking you up when you're tired is a pain in the arse," Ron muttered to her as he stumbled to his feet—though she was light, his right leg had fallen asleep under her weight. She responded to his teasing by jabbing him hard in the stomach. He scowled at her, but she just smiled innocently.

"If you're quite done," Harry grumbled, leading the three of them toward the door and pushing it open.

"'Ello, dears," Fleur greeted them warmly as they came through the doorway. Bill was sitting on the edge of her bed, smiling at the bundle that lay in her arms. "Victoire 'as been sleeping, so we shall talk in hushed voices, if you don't mind."

"Victoire is such a lovely name," Hermione said softly, taking Ron's hand in her own as they approached the bed. Ron, for his part, felt almost dumbfounded. It was as though he hadn't truly realized that Bill and Fleur were having a baby, a real living baby, until this very moment.

"A lovely name for a beautiful girl," Bill commented, taking his daughter from Fleur and holding her for Harry, Ron, and Hermione to see.

"Oh, she's beautiful," Hermione whispered. Harry and Ron murmured their agreement. What Mum had said was true; the little girl looked a lot like Fleur. The tufts of hair atop her head were light, and her face was heart-shaped. But she had a long nose extremely reminiscent of Bill's, and if Ron didn't know any better he'd have thought there might be a small smattering of freckles on Victoire's tiny nose.

"You can all hold her, if you like," Bill said quietly, "but not for too long if you don't mind. It's been a long night."

"Sorry if everyone's been in your space," Ron said suddenly, thinking of what Hermione had said earlier about crowding the new parents. "Mum wanted us all here, and—"

"Nah, it's nice having the family here. It's just a bit much after awhile," Bill said casually, carefully handing Victoire off to an eager Hermione, whose breath caught as she held the infant in her arms.

"You're just gorgeous, aren't you? Just like your mummy," she cooed, a wide smile spreading across her face. Ron placed an affectionate hand on Hermione's shoulder. Due to their height difference, he had no problem admiring Victoire from over the top of Hermione's head. Harry took a seat on the chair beside Fleur's bed, watching his friends with a strangely thoughtful expression on his face.

"Do you want to hold her, Ron?" Hermione asked softly a few moments later, turning slightly to look at him. He held her gaze for a second, as he was wont to do during those moments in which he was struck by just how lucky he was, before nodding. He was a little nervous, but he'd held Teddy enough times that he knew he could do it. He carefully took hold of the sleeping child, shifting her so that she was well-supported in his arms.

"Hey Victoire," he murmured. "I'm your Uncle Ron. Oh, blimey, I'm an uncle."

Hermione laughed lightly from beside him. "And there's your Aunt Hermione," Ron added softly. "I s'pose she's not your proper aunt yet, but that doesn't matter. We're still gonna spoil you rotten."

"Oh, will we?" Hermione asked warmly, leaning her head against his arm.

"It'll be sweets from Ron and books from Hermione, I'd wager," Bill laughed from his place on the bed.

"My little girl is so lucky, to 'ave so many aunts and uncles to smother her with love," Fleur remarked, resting her head on Bill's shoulder.

"Her parents aren't bad either," Ron replied, grinning at his brother and his sister-in-law. "Wanna meet Uncle Harry, Victoire?" He carefully passed her tiny form to Harry, who received her with ease. After several more minutes of fawning over the baby and visiting, Harry handed Victoire back to her mother and the three said their goodbyes, at last allowing the new parents some time to themselves.

As they stepped back into the corridor, Ron checked his watch and noticed that it was readily approaching four o'clock. All in all, he couldn't deny he was glad that he'd met his niece, but now it was really time to go to bed. Or perhaps, he thought as he glanced sideways at Hermione, he could spare an hour or so before he slept…

"Oh good, we've all been through then! That will give them a couple of hours to rest before the Delacours get here," Mum said. "Maybe we could all go get a spot of breakfast, I've been told the dining area upstairs is open all night—"

"Mum, I think it's time some of us went home," George cut in firmly. "My brain's hardly working—I don't think I've made more than two jokes all night."

"Yeah, Mrs. Weasley, I have to be to work at two and I was hoping to get some sleep before then," Harry added, far more apologetically than George had.

"Maybe we could all get a couple hours sleep and then come back?" Ron asked, choosing his words carefully.

"Now see here, you lot," Mum began angrily. "That's your brother's daughter that's just been born—"

"And we've all seen her, and she's gorgeous. But they don't need us right now," Ginny pleaded. "They just need some rest, as do we all."

"Molly, maybe we let the kids go get some sleep. We can all meet back here in a few hours for lunch, and then spend the afternoon together," Dad suggested soothingly.

Mum made a great show of sighing, but it was clear she'd been persuaded. "Well, I suppose…"

"Mother? Father?" The group collectively turned around to see Percy, just returned from what must have been a very long "bathroom" break. On his arm was a tall woman with long, dark-blonde hair. She was wearing a Healer's uniform and a slightly nervous expression, though her posture exhibited nothing but confidence. Percy coughed importantly. "This is Audrey. We've been seeing each other for a year, and earlier tonight she agreed to marry me."

There was stunned silence for a moment. Then, all hell broke loose.

"As much as I want to know what the hell just happened, let's save our congratulations for lunch, shall we?" Ron muttered into Hermione's ear during the commotion. She nodded in agreement, taking his hand and marching them straight past the mess of shouting, crying, hugging, and general chaos that was his family without so much as a word. "I really love you," he told her conversationally, releasing a sigh of relief as they rounded the corner and stepped into the lift.

"I love you, too," Hermione replied, reaching up to tug on the collar of his jumper. He took the hint and bent over a bit so that she could kiss him—which she most certainly did. Ron wasn't sure if he'd ever get used to the fact that sometimes, she liked to kiss him for no particular reason at all, but he certainly never wanted to. "Time for bed," she said simply when they separated a few seconds later. Ron smiled in agreement and, each with one arm around the other, they exited the lift and then the hospital, so that they could (eventually) catch up on some sleep.


A/N: This turned out to be a bit of a filler chapter, I think, but I enjoyed writing it nonetheless. The last few chapters have been pretty significant for Ron and Hermione, and the next couple will see a lot of action as well. As for Percy's surprise announcement—I think Audrey brings some spontaneity to his life, thus their seemingly sudden engagement. But it's not as out of the blue as it seems—there will be some more explanation of their relationship in the next chapter. :)

Again, a big 'thank you' to everyone that is reading this fic. I'm still a bit dumbfounded that as of the time of now, 82 people get an e-mail every time I post a new chapter. Please know that I greatly appreciate the support, more than I can properly express in an author's note or a review response. Nutella and hugs for everyone!