Author's Note: I don't Harry Potter. Any new characters introduced are my own, please don't steal them!
This is the last chapter to this story. Thank you to everyone who has followed along with me. I enjoyed writing this so much. I have another story that will be out shortly called 'Lifeline'. It's a completely different story than before, if you read it before. It is a Draco/Hermione story set ten years after they graduate from Hogwarts.
Happy reading!
AliceLupin
Chapter 10 – The Family
"Mum! Have you seen my purple jumper?" Twelve year old Amber yelled down the stairs.
"It's in the dryer!" Hermione called back. Her youngest daughter Cora came into the living room with tears rolling down her face. "Cora honey, what's wrong?"
"Matty and Mikey are being mean!" She cried in her five-year-old voice, referring to the eleven year old twins. Hermione sighed, wishing Remus were here.
"Mathew! Michael! Living room! Now!" She yelled. Seconds later pounding could be heard coming down the hallway.
"Yeah mum?" They chorused.
"What were you doing to your sister?" She demanded of the two boys.
"We were only talk about Hogwarts." Mathew said innocently.
"And?" Hermione prompted.
"And talking about how cool it would be!" Michael joined in.
"And?" Hermione demanded again.
"They were teasing me because I'm not old enough to go yet!" Cora cried. Hermione sighed again.
"Are you two packed and ready to go?" She asked. They nodded in unison and Hermione shooed them away.
"Mummy, why can't I go to Hogwarts?" Cora asked, wiping the tears off her face.
"Because you're not old enough yet sweetie." Hermione said, pulling Cora onto her lap to do her hair.
"When can I go?" She asked.
"In five years." Hermione replied.
"But that's so far away!" Cora whined.
"I know pumpkin." Hermione replied, pulling Cora's hair into a ponytail. "But guess what? While Amber, Axel and Aiden are at school you get to spend all day with mummy."
"Yay!" Cora cheered, jumping off her mother's lap.
"We're leaving in 15 minutes!" Hermione called up the stairs. She sat down at the kitchen table and wished, not for the first time, that Remus was here to see the children off with her. He was now the Headmaster of the school since McGonagall had retired and only came home on weekends and during the holidays. Hermione owned a small book shop that kept her busy for the most part. Cora would start going to the shop with her during the days after Amber, Mathew and Michael started at Hogwarts.
The fireplace burst into green flames and Hermione saw her best friends step out of it.
"Hey Harry, Ginny. Where are the kids?" She asked.
"They're at Mums for the day. We wanted to see Amber and the boys off." Harry said dusting off him and his wife. Ginny and Harry had been married for seven years now and have two children and one on the way. Their oldest was James, who was a spitting image of Harry only with Ginny's blue eyes. He was five, born a month after Cora. Their youngest was Lily, who was the opposite, she looked exactly like Ginny with Harry's bright green eyes. She was three. Ginny was three months pregnant with their third child.
"The boys are being a pain in my arse today." Hermione said, getting up to get some water. "They were teasing Cora because she's too young to go to Hogwarts." Harry snorted in laughter.
"They're boys. What do you expect? All my brothers did the same thing to me." Ginny said. To Hermione's surprise, the fireplace burst into flames again. She jumped up out of her chair when she recognized her husband stepping out of the flames.
"Honey! I thought you couldn't be here to take the kids?" She asked, dusting off his robes.
"I have to be back before the children start arriving but I have time to go to the train station with you and come back with you and Cora for a bit." Remus said before kissing her.
"Good. You can deal with your sons. They've been a pain in my arse all morning." Hermione said, turning back to the kitchen. Remus followed her with a frown.
"What have they been doing?" He asked.
"What haven't they been doing?" Hermione sighed. "They hid all of Amber's books this morning and made her cry. They've been picking on Cora all morning. They tried to turn her stuffed wolf green and they've been teasing her because she's too young to go to Hogwarts. She was in tears." Remus frowned up at the ceiling.
"Do you want me to go talk to them?" He asked.
"It would be nice." Hermione admitted. "They never seem to listen to me." Remus nodded and left the kitchen. "I told them we were leaving in 15 minutes!" Hermione called after him. From upstairs she could hear Amber's excited squeal over her father's presence.
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"Alright. Amber, keep an eye on your brothers. Mathew, Michael, be nice to your sister." Hermione said, getting ready to put the kids on the train. "I expect at least two letters every week and I better not hear from your father that you've been getting into trouble or getting bad grades."
"Yes mum." They all chorused.
"Ok." Hermione said, trying to get ahold of her emotions.
"Have fun guys." Harry told them. He gave them each a hug and secretly slipped the Marauder's Map to the twins when Hermione wasn't looking. "Hogwarts will be the best 7 years of your life, almost guaranteed, even if your dad is the Headmaster." He joked. Ginny hugged them all as well.
"Just don't slack off too much. Uncle Ron almost didn't graduate. Make sure you keep up with your school work." Ginny joked. The train gave off the five minute warning signal and Hermione hugged her children one last time.
"Bye guys! I'll miss you!" Cora said, hugging her siblings. "Tell me all about Hogwarts when you get back!"
"Alright. We'll see you at Christmas." She said, trying to hide her tears. "Have fun and be good." She said once more. They all grabbed their trunks and headed for the train.
"See you at the feast kids!" Remus yelled after them. The four adults stood and watched the kids get on the train. Bill and Fleur spotted them and walked over.
"Hello Bill, Fleur. How's Victoria doing?" Hermione asked.
"She es good." Fleur replied in her French accented voice. "Eet ees 'er second year."
"It's Amber second as well and the twin's first." Hermione replied.
"How does that work? Aren't they only six months apart?" Bill asked.
"Well yes but Amber turned eleven in March and the twins didn't turn eleven until the end of September." Remus explained. "The cutoff date for first years is September 3rd. If they're not eleven yet they have to wait until the next year."
"Ah. I see." Bill replied. "Well, we better get going. See you at Christmas." They walked away and Ginny turned towards Hermione.
"Would you like to come over for dinner tonight Hermione?" Ginny asked. Hermione smiled.
"I'd love to. It'll just be me and Cora all week." Hermione said.
"Well, you know I'm always home." Ginny replied. "You can come over whenever you want. I'm sure James and Cora can keep each other occupied."
"Thanks Ginny. We probably will." Hermione turned back and watched the train pull out of the station.
"We'll see you guys later. We have to go get the kids and head home. See you tonight Hermione." Harry said, pulling her into a hug.
"See you tonight." She replied. Remus wrapped an arm around Hermione.
"Everything okay?" He asked. Hermione sighed.
"I don't know. The kids are growing up and you're not home very often. For the next nine months it'll just be me and Cora for the most part. It'll just be different. I don't know what I'm going to do." He kissed her on the forehead gently.
"You'll do the same thing you do every day. You'll be an amazing mother and wife." He said. She smiled up at him.
"Thanks." He kissed her gently before calling Cora to follow them.
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Hermione lay in bed that night, listening to the emptiness of the house. It was just her and Cora, and it would be that way for quite a while. It made her think about when Cora would start school and she'd be by herself. What would she do with her days? Sure, there was the book store, but that only took up about half of the day. The other half of the day she would usually spend at home cleaning or out doing something with the kids.
She needed a hobby. Or maybe a new career. She was only 27, almost 28. She could easily start a new career. She had been thinking about Healing a lot lately. Maybe she could take some classes on being a Healer in her free time. She would need a babysitter for Cora but she had plenty of options for that. Hermione glanced at the clock to find that it was only 11. She climbed out of bed and went to check on Cora and then went downstairs, grabbing the phone on her way into the living room. She dialed Remus' cell phone and sighed happily when he answered.
"What's up, love?" He answered.
"Nothing. I just wanted to hear your voice." Hermione said smiling. Remus chuckled. "How are the kids doing?" She asked.
"Good. The boys are in Gryffindor. They seem to be in awe." He said laughing.
"We were too at the age, as was Amber last year. That castle was the greatest thing I had ever experienced at the age of eleven." Hermione replied. There were a few minutes of silence before she spoke up again. "I miss you." She said quietly. "I hate that you're gone all the time."
"I know love. Give it a few more years and I can retire." He said gently. She sighed.
"How would you feel about me taking some Healer classes?" She asked. "It'll keep me busy and maybe when Cora starts at Hogwarts I can start working at St. Mungo's." She could hear the smile in Remus' voice when he spoke next.
"If it would make you happy then go for it." He said.
"I think I'll go talk to them tomorrow. I'll probably have mum watch Cora while I go to the classes. Or Molly. They both complain that I don't bring the kids by enough." She said, picking at a thread on the couch. "Remus?" She said a moment later.
"Yes love?"
"I think I want another baby." She said after a moment hesitation. There was silence on his end of the line and she held her breath for his reply.
"Are you sure?" He finally asked.
"Yes." She replied. "I feel so useless sitting at home. You're there, making money and teaching children. Amber and the boys are there now too. It's just me and Cora. Compared to a week ago the house feels completely empty." She sighed. "Or maybe it's just my reaction to Harry and Ginny having more kids."
"Well…" Remus said. "Think about it some more. If you decide that that's really what you want, then that's what you'll get. We can talk about it this weekend if you'd like. I'd like to ask Harry and Ginny to take Cora this weekend. We can have the house to ourselves all weekend." He said. She could hear the hint in his voice and she smiled.
"That would be nice. We haven't had a day to ourselves in months."
"I know. But I've got to get to bed honey. You should get some sleep too. You know Cora will be up at the crack of dawn like she always is." Remus said.
"I'm seriously considering putting curtains up in her room so she'll sleep a little longer. The sun shines right in her room in the morning." Hermione replied, trying to get a few more minutes in. Remus chuckled.
"There's something for you to do this week. But I've gotta go love. I'll talk to you tomorrow, okay?" He said. Hermione stuck her lower lip out and pouted or a moment.
"I guess." She said finally. "I love you."
"I love you too. I'll talk to you tomorrow. Good night and sweet dreams."
"Good night. Sweet dreams." She replied. She heard his line go dead and she set the phone down. Did she want another baby? Or was it just a reaction to Ginny having a baby? Or to her kids growing up? She would have to think on it quite a bit. She wasn't sure she wanted to go through that again. She had plenty of time to have more kids as well. At least fifteen more years. Yes. She would definitely have to think about it.
She hung up the phone on the charger and headed back upstairs. She checked on Cora and then went into Amber's room. Her baby girl was 12 years old now. She was at Hogwarts, in her second year. She looked around Amber's room. It hadn't changed much in the last twelve years. Amber wanted to keep the purple fairy walls. The only things that had changed were the furniture. The toys and decorations were the same as the day she was born. Hermione glanced around once more and flipped the light off.
She went into the boys' room as well. It was decorated in shades of red and blue with Quidditch decorations and toys everywhere. Their room was a mess, as it always was, and Hermione made a mental note to tell them that they couldn't leave for Hogwarts after break until it was clean. She flipped off the light and continued to her bedroom. She climbed into bed and stared at the ceiling, flipping through her thoughts.
Her kids were her life. Her schedule had always been planned around them. Now that three-fourths of them were gone, she didn't know what she was going to do. If this was her reaction to Amber and the boys going to Hogwarts, how would she feel when Cora finally went? She would probably end up in a St. Mungo's ward. All this free time was driving her crazy.
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Remus arrived home at 6pm that Friday. Hermione had already taken Cora to Molly's and had dinner on the table when Remus walked through the door. He immediately pulled her towards him and placed a kiss on her lips.
"How are you?" He asked as he pulled away.
"I'm okay. I've been so bored this week though. Without you and the kids here I don't have anything to do." She laughed. They sat down to eat dinner and Hermione started asking about the kids.
"Amber is doing great. Top of her class again. Mathew and Michael are just about the most popular kids in the school already. They're making friends fast and have pretty good grades so far. Amber comes and visits me every night, just like last year. Her and Victoria spend a lot of time together but she doesn't really seem to have any other friends yet. But at the same time she seems okay with that so I'm not too worried about it." He paused. "Have you though about what you said the other night? About having another child?" She considered her words before she spoke.
"Yes. And I do want another. It's not just because the kids are growing up. I want another baby. But I'd like to take some Healer classes first. I was thinking we could try towards the end of the school year? That way you and the kids can be here when it's born." She paused. "If you want to that is." Remus smiled at her softly.
"How can I say no to you? Especially when it's something I want as well." They continued eating dinner and talking. When dinner was done, Hermione cleared off the table and began doing the dishes. Remus came up behind her and wrapped his arms around her waist.
"What do you think you're doing?" he growled in her ear. Shivers immediately sped down her spine.
"Doing the dishes." She whispered.
"I haven't been home in a week and we have the house to ourselves and you're doing the dishes? Why, Mrs. Lupin, I can think of much better things we could be doing right now." He whispered, nipping at her neck. Hermione spun around in his arms and kissed him passionately. He lifted her up and she wrapped her legs around her waist so that he could carry her to the bedroom.
He tossed her on the bed nonchalantly and pulled his clothes off. She undressed quickly as well and climbed under the covers. She met him with a passion that beat his own and once more, he fell in love with her all over again. They truly were meant to be together. Even after twelve years of marriage he still loved her just as much, if not more, than he did on the day her married her. And he would bet his life that it would be that same way in fifty years.
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Author's note: So I decided to buckle down and finish this story up. I hope you all liked it! Thank you to every one who stuck with me for the ride. I had a great time writing this story! As I said, I will have a new one out very soon. It's a Dramione story titled 'Lifeline'. It's different than the one I had posted not too long ago so if you started reading that you already, I apologize but I will not be finishing it. Well… I will. But it's a different plot.
Thanks for reading!
AliceLupin