AN: I don't own Harry Potter.

Once again, thank you all for the reviews, for following, or for adding this to your favorites.

I am sorry about the wait, but to make up for it - a double length chapter! That's right, dear friends. A double chapter! Who's excited besides me?

Also, I threw in a little surprise at the end just for you. And I know some of you are going to be disappointed that I didn't show Neville and Hermione's sexy time, but there will be plenty of that in coming chapters. I promise. This story is rated M for a reason, after all. ;)

Another little note before you go - I'm trying to soften Augusta up a bit. Since she doesn't have to worry about Neville so much, I figure she can loosen up and just be the loveable grandmother and eventual great-grandmother. Let me know how I'm doing so far.

Alrighty - on we go! Enjoy!

As Hermione and Neville quickly shuffled through the Manor, intending to head up to his rooms, their attention was diverted by the very sudden appearance of Tipper, the house-elf, in front of them, which made Hermione scream in surprise.

"Tipper is sorry, Misses." the elf said, turning to bang her head against the wall.

"Stop, stop, stop!" Hermione scolded, pulling the small elf away from the wall. "It's alright, Tipper. You just startled me. Please don't punish yourself." she said, rubbing the front of her head where Tipper had banged it against the wall, hoping to sooth the elf's mind.

"Tipper sorry, Misses." she repeated, twisting the hem of her towel-dress in her long fingers. "Mistress Augusta be wantings to speak with Master Nevvy." she said.

Neville groaned, all of the blood rushing back up to his body from his groin at the mention of his grandmother. Letting his head fall against the back of Hermione's shoulder, he said to the elf, "Tell her I'm coming," before adding quietly into her shoulder, "At least I was hoping to", feeling Hermione's body shake with silent laughter.

"I'm sorry, love." Hermione laughed, turning to face him as Tipper disappeared with a small pop. "How about this? I'll go upstairs and get ready, then you meet me in your room once you're done?"

Giving her a smile, Neville leaned in and pecked her on the forehead. "Deal." he said.

"Good. I'll see you in a bit." Hermione said, giving him a wink as she turned to walk up the stairs and he headed to his Gran's rooms at a brisk pace, wanting to get whatever she wanted to discuss out of the way so he could join his fiancée upstairs.

"Come in." Augusta called after he knocked on her door. "Oh, Neville. I see you got my message." she said, smiling at her grandson as she took off her glasses and set her book aside.

"Yeah, Tipper gave me your message." he nodded, taking a seat on her new beige loveseat.

"Good, good." she said. "Now, I want to talk to you about Hermione." she said. "I've noticed she spends quite a few nights here with you..."

"Gran, we're of age, and, in case you've forgotten, we're engaged to be married." Neville said defensively, not wanting to hear a speech from her at that moment about how they shouldn't engage in such activities until after the wedding.

"If you'll let me finish, Neville." she said in a stern voice, glaring at him. "What I was going to say, was that since Hermione spends so much time here, and she'll be moving in after the wedding anyway, why not ask her to go ahead and move in here?" she asked in a softer voice.

Neville stammered in surprise for a moment before gaining his composure back. "Well...hold on a second, Gran." he said, holding up his hand as a thought occurred to him. "Why aren't you lecturing me about propriety, and how we should wait until after the wedding, and all that? I mean, the one time I had Luna in my room, you just about blew a gasket."

Augusta chuckled, shaking her head. "Neville, you're to wed Hermione, as you've said. Nothing inappropriate about a...romp, if you will...between a betrothed couple. In fact, your grandfather and I enjoyed the occasional pre-marital romp." she chuckled, enjoying the blush that came over her grandson's face.

"Gran! Too much!" he groaned, burying his face in his hands.

"Besides, I'm looking forward to having this old house filled with the sounds of children, so get a move on, young man." she said, still chuckling.

"Gran!" Neville exclaimed again, his face heating up more as he removed his hands. "We're not...that is...we're being careful for now." he sputtered, staring at her in shock. "Maybe on the honeymoon, though." he added, smiling when she threw her head back laughing.

"Good, good." she laughed. "Now, come give me a kiss and go up to your fiancée. I'm sure she's getting impatient." she said, smirking.

Neville shook his head in amusement as he got up and went toward her. It would take a while yet, but he was enjoying this whole new side to his beloved grandmother. Leaning down, he hugged her as he pecked her cheek. "Goodnight, Gran." he said.

As he pulled back, Augusta reached one hand up and patted his cheek. "Goodnight, sweetheart." she said, smiling softly at him.

Neville woke a few hours later, a smile still on his face. After accepting his offer to move in...very enthusiastically, thank you...Hermione had shown her gratitude for the next couple of hours, and in many ways, which left them both smiling as they fell asleep curled together in his bed.

Squeezing Hermione tightly to him, Neville looked around his room and imagined how it would look once Hermione moved her things in. He had imagined it before, but now it was really happening, and, if he had his way, it would be happening around noon the next day instead of after Percy and Audrey's wedding that weekend. Hermione's books would sit next to his on the bookshelf in the sitting room. The tartan throw she loved so much would be on his sofa. His walls would be decorated with more photos of their friends. Her knickknacks would be placed here and there, making his sitting room look more...homely, he supposed. Her clothes would be placed next to his in his walk-in closet. Her bath products - shampoo, conditioner, that lotion that he loves so much that makes her smell like coconut and almonds, and her makeup - would occupy the space in the bathroom next to his stuff.

And he couldn't wait.

Closing his eyes, he decided to try and get a couple more hours of sleep before the day officially started.

"Morning, Hermione." Molly greeted cheerfully as Hermione stepped into the Burrow.

"Good morning, Molly." Hermione smiled.

"How was your night?" the older witch asked, wiping the table down.

"Lovely, thank you." Hermione said, hanging her bag off one of the chairs. "Uh...I do have some news, though."

"Oh?"

"Yes." Hermione nodded. "Um...last night, Neville...or, Augusta, rather...suggested I go ahead and move to the Manor, and..."

Molly paused in her cleaning, giving Hermione an understanding smile as she continued.

"...I said I would." she finished. "Is...is that okay?" she asked.

"Oh, Hermione, dear," Molly chuckled, her smile widening as she walked over to the witch, "of course that's okay." she said, hugging her. "After all, you'll be moving there after the wedding, anyway, and this way, you'll be settled after the wedding." she said.

Hermione sighed in relief as Molly gave her approval. "Thanks, Molly. But, don't worry, I'll still be here to help with the wedding. I told Neville I wouldn't move in until after Percy and Audrey's wedding."

At the mention of Percy's wedding, Molly's eyes got misty and she gave Hermione a sad smile. "Oh, I just can't believe that before long, all my babies will be married and having babies of their own." she said in a thick voice. "I mean, of course I'm excited, but..."

"But you're also sad that they're all leaving the nest at once." Hermione finished, nodding.

"Yes." Molly confirmed. "But then I think about all the grandbabies I'll have soon, and...oh! It's been so long since there's been a baby in this house." she said, a wistful look on her face.

Hermione smiled as she watched Molly fall into a daydream. The older witch had made no secret of wanting grandchildren, and had been hounding Bill and Charlie about it as long as Hermione could remember. Knowing how excited Molly got at the thought of grandchildren made Hermione wonder about Augusta, though. While Augusta had changed her behavior drastically, she couldn't help wonder how she'd be as a great-grandmother to Neville's children. While she was a stern, sometimes harsh, grandmother, Hermione hoped that Augusta's new attitude meant she'd be the opposite with them.

Although, Hermione remembered, she did raise Neville, so she was acting more like one of those mothers who expected nothing less than the best from her children. She had been told from Neville that Augusta had often been cold toward him, even appearing unfeeling and uncaring, which led Hermione to the belief that it was because when he was younger, Neville greatly resembled his father. And with him in St. Mungo's, that couldn't have been easy on the older woman.

Maybe with her and Neville's children, she'd get the chance to be the kind, loving grandmother she was supposed to be with Neville.

"Hermione!"

Jumping a bit, Hermione's mind came back into the room, and she blinked at Audrey as she stood in front of her. "I'm sorry?"

"I've been calling your name for the past five minutes, Hermione." Audrey said. "Where were you?"

"I just got lost in thought, is all." she said, shaking her head again to clear it.

"Oh, okay. Well, if you're done, are you ready?" Audrey asked.

Hermione frowned. "Ready?"

"Yes." Audrey nodded. Seeing the blank look on her face, Audrey continued. "For the final fitting?...My wedding dress?...You promised you'd go with me?" she clarified.

"Oh! Right, right." Hermione nodded. "Sorry, Audrey. Yes, I'm ready." she said, grabbing her bag off the hook where she'd hung it.

"Bye, girls." Molly waved.

"Bye, Molly." "Bye."

Hermione rolled her eyes for the umpteenth time as she and Audrey walked to the dress shop.

"For Merlin's sake, I didn't forget, Audrey!" she exclaimed. "I was just lost in a train of thought." she said.

"Just admit it, Hermione, you forgot!" Audrey shouted, walking a bit ahead of Hermione.

Hermione frowned, watching Audrey walk away. She was confused, to be honest, about her behavior that morning. Usually, Audrey was sweet, and very kind to everyone. Hermione had never even heard the witch yell at anyone before, and already she'd yelled at three people.

As their appointment finished an hour later, Hermione was ready to take Audrey out back of the dress shop and beat her silly. She had screamed at the shop owner, made the sales clerk cry, and had even shouted at a little girl in the store for nearly running into her. Grabbing the girl's arm and dragging her into an alley just up from the shop, Hermione glared at the witch as she stood in front of her, determined to find out what her problem was.

"Alright, Audrey, what's gotten up your arse this morning, eh?" she asked, crossing her arms across her chest.

"I don't know what you mean." Audrey said, staring at her feet.

"Well, for one, you yelled at a little girl, which is completely unlike you. And, you made the sales girl cry, Audrey. Not to mention you've just about snapped my head off about a hundred times, so come on. What gives?" Hermione asked.

"Hey, if that sales girl can't take a bride yelling at her, maybe she shouldn't work there!" Audrey shouted.

"Audrey!" Hermione snapped.

Audrey didn't say anything, instead bursting into tears.

"Oh, Audrey." Hermione said, moving to embrace her. "I wasn't thinking, I'm sorry. You're probably stressed out what with the wedding in two days, and still so much to do." she said, patting her on the back.

Shaking her head, Audrey mumbled something under her breath as she wiped her hand across her eyes.

"What was that?" she asked, pulling back.

"It's n...not the we...wedding, Hermione." Audrey stammered. "I'm pregnant."

Hermione froze, her mouth agape. "Well...that's...that's a good thing, right?" she asked, regaining her composure.

Audrey shrugged, wiping her eyes again. "Of course it is, but it's too soon." she cried. "We still had a year to get pregnant. Percy and I agreed to put trying off for just a few months so we could get settled in after the wedding and honeymoon." she cried. "Merlin, Hermione, my baby wasn't supposed to be a guest at my wedding!" she shouted.

"Oh, Aud." Hermione sighed, rubbing her arm soothingly. "I'm sorry." she said.

"It wasn't supposed to happen this way." Audrey groaned.

"Of course not." Hermione said. "But, hey, way to Percy, am I right?" she asked, smiling when she heard Audrey snort.

"Hermione." Audrey whined. "You've been around Ginny too much."

"Sorry, but I got you to laugh." she smiled. "And look on the bright side. Being pregnant, you've got the Ministry off your case, and now, you and Percy can just enjoy being married. You won't have to worry about conceiving each month. You just enjoy each other, and get ready for when the little one comes along."

"I hadn't thought about that, to be honest." Audrey said, a smile starting to form on her face.

"Well, there you go." Hermione smiled, hugging her again. "Now, we need to get you to relax." she said.

"I don't think I can, really. Like you said, there's still so much to do with the wedding, and now, I've got this huge secret to keep from everyone until after the wedding, and I am not good at keeping secrets." Audrey said, paling a bit.

"Trust me, Aud, you'll be fine." Hermione said, looping her arm through her friend's as they walked out of the alley. "Now, come on. It's time for brunch. My treat." she said.

"Okay." Audrey laughed. "Oooh, can we go to the Leaky? They have this new dish that is absolutely delicious. It's this round bread stuff, and it's got..."

"Audrey," Hermione interrupted, "it's called pizza, and it's not really all that new." she said, chuckling.

"Oh?"

"Yeah. It's been around for forever."

And as the two walked through Diagon Alley discussing various types of pizza, Audrey felt a thousand times better than she had. If only she could keep her mouth shut until Saturday.

Review please.

So? How about that bombshell?

Til next time!

XOXO - Onyx Obsidian