(A/N: I appreciate everyone's feedback so far. I know a lot of people are not convinced that the Draco plot line makes sense, but I just ask that you trust me and see where it goes in the next handful of chapters. Keep the notes coming! Thanks so much...carrytheotter)

Ch 54: Fresh Starts

The week after Christmas had flown by for both Ron and Hermione. Rose had been so thrilled to hear Ron had gone to the breakfast and that it had gone so well. Then she had promptly jotted off an owl to Al and Scorpius celebrating the good news and planning their first get together. After much back and forth, a New Year's Eve party and sleep-over at the Potters had been organized, and Hugo was going too so Lilly wouldn't feel left out. Ron and Hermione were going to come for dinner with everyone and then head home leaving Harry and Ginny to corral the six kids into 2018.

Ron was surprised to find he was actually looking forward to the whole thing. He always loved it when the two families got together and having the older kids in the mix was fun. And, he was thrilled at the idea of he and Hermione having a night to themselves with no kids, as that was a rarity. But he had thought he would be more hesitant about meeting Malfoy's son. However, with the way Rose and Hermione had talked about him, he actually seemed like a rather decent bloke. And if he had the bollocks to spend New Year's with him and the Potters, then maybe he should have been sorted into Gryffindor after all. Ron was sitting on the sofa looking at the papers on the side table, a mix of the muggle and magical newspapers of the day, both running the standard "top ten" news stories for the year. He was reading an article about the top ten quidditch moments from 2017 when felt Hugo lean across the back of the sofa.

"Ron?"

"Yeah, Hugo, what's up?"

"I don't think I've ever been to a New Year's Eve party. When they show them on the tele or in movies people seem to be dressed really posh. Is this that kind of party?"

"I don't think so, buddy, unless I missed something, which is always possible of course. But I would be shocked if Harry was wanting to put on dress robes to manage a slumber party of six kids on New Year's in his living room."

"I can see that."

"But, all that said, if you want to dress posh tonight, feel free to do so. I, however, plan to be in jeans and trainers."

"Unless Hermione makes you change," smirked Hugo.

"Unless Hermione makes me change," he conceded. And as Hugo increased his laughter at Ron's expense, Ron quickly threw his arm behind the sofa, grabbing Hugo around the waist and flipping him over the back of the sofa and onto his lap. "Yeah, yeah. Get your giggles in now mate, as you will pay for that one," he declared as he proceeded to torture Hugo with tickles on the couch.

Hugo was laughing, alternating between squealing laughter and begging for Ron to stop. But as the rough-housing ended, Hugo found himself laying on the couch, his head and torso leaning against Ron's chest.

As he snuggled into Ron's chest after the laughter subsided Hugo said, "Ron, I think 2018 is going to be a good year. Would hard to be worse than last year."

"Well, I sure hope it's better. I've learned to never say it can't be worse. But I have a feeling you are right about 2018. It's going to be a great year for both of us – all four of us, really."

"A year with a lot more happy I think."

"Definitely. There is going to be a lot more happy next year. It's not that it won't have hard days. There will be hard days and sad days. But we are going to have some fantastic days next year too."

"Maybe some wedding days?" Hugo asked, already trying to scoot away from the anticipated onslaught of tickles to come from Ron.

"You are a mess, you know?" said Ron as he smacked Hugo with a couch pillow.

"Yeah," squealed Hugo as he ducked a pillow swipe, "but I'm your mess."

"You sure are," smiled Ron as he reached to tickle Hugo in his most ticklish spot behind his knee.

Hermione had heard a shriek and popped her head around the door from the kitchen and soon saw that it was sounds of glee that she had heard. As neither of the boys had noticed her, she lingered in the door frame watching their shared moment. She was so glad Hugo and Ron had each other, and she was very grateful she was privileged to see such a special relationship grow and develop. She watched them for a moment, but wanted to give them some privacy as well so headed back into the kitchen to finish making the appetizers she had promised Ginny she'd bring to the party.

Hermione was excited about the party. While slightly nervous about Scorpius meeting Ron, Harry and Ginny, having already met him, she was confident things would go very smoothly once the awkward introductions were out of the way. And she knew how excited Rose was to see her dear friend again. She had seen Al a few times over the holiday, but Hermione had a sense that she really missed Scorp. She was happy for her daughter, as Rose now had the type of friendships she had only dreamed of having with school friends growing up. Collin and Dennis were dear, of course, but they never went to the same school, and they had lived far away from each other for years. But she was really looking forward to a fun night with Ginny and Harry too. Ginny was what Dennis' mum would have called a "party in a paper bag." She could make any event a fun party with her enthusiasm and energy. Hermione was glad that Rose would have Ginny in her life too. In many ways, she was able to be a role model as a witch that Hermione could never be. She could help Rose understand cultural and practical magical things that were still foreign to Hermione. But, maybe even more importantly, Hermione was thrilled Rose could have another woman to watch embrace herself. Hermione had to laugh sometimes realizing how different she and Ginny were. Even on paper they were opposites – one was a muggle solicitor defending international refugees and the other was a retired professional magical athlete! But Ginny was ambitious, driven and hardworking just like Hermione was. And while she may be more extroverted, gregarious and spontaneous as compared to Hermione's rule following, book loving, organized self, they both were passionate about their families, about sacrificing for the cause and fiercely loving their children.

Covering the final appetizer with a warming charm she had learned, she cleaned up the last of the kitchen mess she had made and decided to head upstairs to take a shower before getting ready. She popped her head in on Rose on her way down the hallway, finding her excitedly packing things for the slumber party.

"Hi Mum," Rose said cheerfully.

"Getting excited, love?"

"Yes!" squealed Rose, rising up on her toes unconsciously as he spoke. Hermione smiled at the undeniable bounce and giddiness that could somehow only belong to an eleven year old girl.

"Do you need any help getting packed up?"

"No, not really. I mean, it's just one night. I'm just so excited, and I can't wait to go over there. Al said Scorp's mum was going to bring him by about an hour before we're supposed to come. I know Scorp is so thrilled to come. He has been bored out of his mind stuck by himself for the whole holiday."

"Well, I am glad Astoria will be able to bring him a bit early then. He'll be able to be all settled in before we get there."

"Well, whatever the reason, I can't wait. Now you go get ready so we can go. Do I need to go light a fire under Hugo and Ron too?"

"Well," Hermione chuckled, "last I saw they were tickling each other. But they're boys, sweetie. Getting ready pretty much means standing up and making they have shoes on."

"Fair enough," Rose laughed. "I know it was just you and I forever, but now you live with two boys, and my two best friends are boys. How did we end up like this?!"

Hermione laughed with her. "I hadn't thought of it that way, but I suppose you're right. So in addition to the culture shock of learning magic this year we had to figure out the weird ways of males too. May 2018 be simpler for us both."

"Nah, I don't think it will be simple, Mum. But it should be good."

"Why not simple?" Hermione questioned curiously.

"Really, Mum? Come on. Do you really think you and Ron won't get married or at the very least engaged this year?"

"Oh," said Hermione, slightly caught off guard at the shift in the conversation. "Well, maybe. We've certainly talked about what we both want, but we haven't specifically talked about when we'll get engaged, let alone get married."

"Well, you know what I think. And I think the way Christmas went this year showed we can make it work as a family of four even through some things that could be hard for a lot of people."

"Thank you for being an amazing daughter," Hermione said as she kissed Rose on the top of her head.

A few hours later all four of them were ready to floo to the Potter's home. The kids had their overnight bags packed, and Ron and Hermione each carried arms full of food and drink to bring to the party.

"I'll go first," squealed Rose as she practically jumped into the floo. Hugo followed.

As Hermione was about to throw down the floo powder, she caught Ron's eye. "You're not worried about meeting Scorp are you?"

"Not nervous. Curious," said Ron. "It is still all really weird. But Rose likes him, and I trust her. So, I am really curious to meet him. Go on – I'll be right behind you."

She smiled, headed through the floo, and Ron came a few moments later. When they arrived in Harry and Ginny's living room, they were greeted by a room full kids and chatter. All six children were there, and it seemed that they were each talking at the same time. Harry saw them arrive and waved them to come in and bring the food to the kitchen. As soon as they had placed their trays and bags on the counters, they headed back to the room where the kids were.

"Ron," Rose said as she pulled the nervous looking blond boy over, "this is Scorpius Malfoy. Scorp, this is Ron."

"Pleased to meet you, Mr. Weasley. Thank you so much for allowing me to come tonight," Scorp said respectfully, but with a nervous shake in his voice giving away how anxious he really was.

"Pleased to meet you, Scorp," said Ron as he held out his hand to him. "Any friend of Rose's is a friend of mine. I am glad you could come."

"Thank you, sir."

"Now, we brought a whole bunch of food to this party. Let's go see if we can eat any yet," Ron said to the room of kids.

"NOT YET," screamed Ginny from the kitchen. "I need fifteen minutes to pull it all together. Why don't you six go destroy the play room for a bit first."

The sound of feet pounding down the hall and up the stairs gave way to a sudden silence in the downstairs of the house.

"When they're all together like that it's like a whole herd of hippogriffs in the house," laughed Ron.

"No doubt," agreed Harry. "Gin, what do you need? Are Ron and I more helpful doing something here or getting out of the way?"

"Out of the way," said Ginny. "Hermione and I can make this happen a lot quicker without you two 'helping' us I think. Just make sure the hippogriffs don't get so loud that they fall through the ceiling or anything, alright?"

Harry laughed and gave her a quick peck on the cheek, and he and Ron headed out of the kitchen. Hermione laughed as well and quickly started helping Ginny with the trays of food.

"Ok," Hermione admitted, "I still haven't mastered all of these wand skills that well so I think I will revert to do things the muggle way unless you tell me otherwise."

"Nah, that's fine," nodded Gin. "Sometimes it's harder to try and keep everything straight as you're levitating it anyway, and it's just faster to multitask by hand."

Soon the witches were uncovering the appetizers Hermione had brought, setting the soup to simmer on the hob, laying out salads, bread, butter, plates, bowls, napkins, cups, pumpkin juice and butterbeer. Ginny had decided they would do soup and salad altogether at the table, and then leave the appetizers out all evening as everyone snacked their way into 2018. And then she planned to bring out desserts and stronger drinks for the adults as the night went on.

"How was it when Astoria brought Scorp over?" asked Hermione, trying to sound nonchalant.

Ginny chuckled. "Well, it was fine actually. I didn't really know her in school, but I have crossed paths with her a few times over the years as she does some volunteer work with some of the same charities I work with. We weren't close or anything – obviously I didn't even know her son's name or that he was the same age as Al. But, she was very pleasant and extremely grateful that we were including Scorp despite the family history."

"How hard that must be to have to thank people for letting your child have friends," mused Hermione.

"Yeah. I feel bad for Scorp. He seems like a nice kid. Actually – he seems like an overly polite, extremely-nervous-that-he's-going-to-screw-this-up kid."

"We'll have to help him loosen up a bit. When I met him a while back at Hogwarts I asked him to call me Hermione, and I thought he was going to pass out."

"Well, I would doubt we'll get him that loose tonight," laughed Ginny.

"Why? I mean, your kids call us by our first names and vice versa. How is that so different?"

"Well, first you are family. And there are just so damn many Weasleys that we could never keep up with calling people Aunt, Uncle, Cousin and what not – except for Aunt Muriel. She was sort of a category of her own. But, you have to remember that the Malfoys are a seriously old pureblood family."

"But I thought the Weasleys were too? Did I get that wrong?"

"No – not wrong. But we are sort of the exception to the rule. Of the 'Sacred 28' families, we were pretty much known as the crazy blood traitors. I don't know much about muggle life, but Harry said it is like the old landed and titled muggles across England. They really cling to titles, formal etiquette, arranged marriages, social hierarchy and what not. And while Draco Malfoy was more or less cut out of that social circle, I would think both he and Astoria were raised in a way that it was simply ingrained in their nature."

"Huh. Hadn't really thought about it in terms of the British aristocracy. I guess that does make a little more sense. He definitely is quite formal."

"Yeah. I bet he feels like he landed on another planet. I would be shocked if he has ever eaten in the kitchen like this - I would assume they dine in the dining room with formal etiquette, meals prepared by house elves and what not."

"Yuck. I would hate that."

"Right – I mean really, can you picture me? With my temper and my fucking mouth? I'd last about five minutes."

Hermione broke out in giggle picturing the fiery red head trying to survive in a formal culture like that, and soon the red head had joined her in a fit of laughter. When they had mostly regained their composure, they put out the final details on the food with serving spoons and warming charms.

"OK! Dinner!" yelled Ginny. "Bring on the hippogriffs!"

Soon there was a thunder of feat as the kids ran thumped down the stairs and barreled into the kitchen.

As the kids poured through the door, Ginny muttered to Hermione, "Blimey, how the hell did my mum handle seven?!"

Then, shifting back to her Quidditch Captain voice, Ginny yelled over the din, "Oi! Over here! Alright you lot – and that includes you too, Harry & Ron – it is serve yourself for soup, salad and bread for now, but we'll all be eating together at the table. And it can't be all kids at one end and all grown-ups at the other, so leave room for us or I'll just have to make you move later. And couples can't sit together, so we're all spread out. The appetizers will be out all evening. So – fill up on the relatively more healthy food now, and you can hit the cheesy dips and biscuits later. There are glasses and pitchers of pumkin juice on the sideboard. Got it?"

Everyone nodded and somehow assembled into a relatively orderly line for the food. Once everyone had made their way through the soup line, they were all sitting at the table, and the kitchen was filled with the happy din of conversation. Ron had ended up between Al and Rose and across from Scorp, which he was actually really happy about. He tried not to laugh as he noticed how Scorp looked terrified at both the disorderly, casual dinner but also at the prospect of sitting with him for supper.

"So," offered Ron as he dunked some bread into his soup, "tell me about how Gryffindor and Slytherin houses spend time together now. It seems very different than when I was at Hogwarts."

Al and Rose quickly launched into an explanation of how Professors Longbottom and Sparrow had set up activities for the houses to do together. Scorp's eyes dotted back and forth between the two, but he didn't join in the conversation.

"So do Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw do the same thing?" asked Ron.

"Uh, I'm not sure. I don't think so, actually, but I guess I haven't really paid much attention," observed Rose.

"What about quidditch? Is there still a rivalry between the two houses or has that faded away over the years?" Ron asked.

"Well, it's there some, but I think it's led by the parents more than anything," commented Al.

"James, what do you think? Is the Gryffindor / Slytherin rivalry still there in quidditch like it was when Mum and Dad were there?"

James swallowed his soup before he could answer. "Um, I think it's still there but not nearly as intense as it was back then. Don't get me wrong, we still want to pound your house into the pitch, but I think fewer people end up in hospital."

"In hospital?!" shrieked Hermione. "For kids' sports? I mean, I know it can be a bit rough. But they're kids, right? Did any of you end up in hospital?" Hermione asked, quickly adding "from quidditch injuries, I mean."

"Well, Harry definitely did," answered Ron. "A couple of times actually. But – well, one of them was really the fault of a terrible teacher. He had a broken arm from a fall off his broom – which I know, wasn't your fault," he said to cut off Harry's protest. "We all know you are good on a broom, mate. It's time to let it go. Anyway, due to reasons beyond his control, he fell off his broom, and this git of a guy named Lockhart who was our Defense professor that year tried to pretend like he knew what he was doing and accidentally melted all of Harry's bones."

"What? That's a thing?"

"Well, yeah," admitted Harry. "But truly, and I feel like I really have some perspective here as I have been in hospital for many things many times and hurt many times on top of that-"

"You mean surviving the killing curse twice?" snarked Ginny, not noticing Scorp's eyes widening at the comment.

"Yeah – that too. Anyway – the point is I have seen my fair share of injuries. But having to regrow every bone in my body at once was beyond a doubt the most painful thing I have ever, ever had to endure as far as medical care."

"A fate worse than death," laughed Ginny. "Oh my brave husband," she giggled as she blew him a kiss. "May none of us face a night of skelegrow in 2018!" she announced as she raised her glass.

"Here, Here!" agreed Ron, and soon everyone had raised their glasses and were toasting to their bone health in the coming year.

As they settled back to eating, Ron returned to the small talk intent on getting to know Scorp as much as he could.

"OK, sorry, don't mean to belabor the point here. But I'm trying to understand how it all works now. So, can you go into each other's common rooms and stuff?"

"No, not really," answered Al. "But they have set up some rooms I don't think were there when you were there. They seem like old classrooms that got converted into something like a shared common room for all students."

"That's cool. Do you hang out there?"

"There are a couple," said Rose. "There is one for studying where you can do group projects and such and make more noise than you can in the library. And then there is one more for socializing where people play cards and hang out. We go there sometimes, but it can get a bit rambunctious depending who is in there. But it's always stocked with snacks. And I think they have different professors assigned to keep an eye on things between those common spaces because it seems someone is always popping in."

"Nice. That's actually a great idea," said Ron. "I wonder when they added that."

"Well, it wasn't there when I went back for my last year," said Ginny. "But it would have been really helpful that year."

"I would think it helps you meet more kids from other houses. There are some people I work with now that were in our year that I don't think I ever even met when we were at school," added Harry before turning back to talking with Hugo and Lilly.

"What was your favorite thing about Hogwarts when you were there?" Rose asked Ron.

"Hmm. Well, aside from meeting great friends, I would say quidditch and the chance to get into some real mischief while we were away from home," laughed Ron. "What about you three? What do you like most?"

"None of us can be on our quidditch teams this year," lamented Al. "But I agree with you on the hanging out with your mates piece and the being away from home part."

Rose added, "Well, I love those parts too. But, it's different for me I suppose. With only even knowing about magic for a few months before I went to Hogwarts, it just feels so incredibly magical that sometime I wonder if I am dreaming it all up."

Ron smiled and leaned down to kiss the top of her head, causing Rose to smile but look pleased and embarrassed at the same time. "What about you, Scorp? What do you like best?" asked Ron.

Scorp looked slighty petrified and as if had hoped everyone had forgotten he was there. But, realizing he couldn't avoid a direct question, he dabbed his mouth with his napkin and swallowed his mouthful before replying. "Well, sir, since I didn't have the opportunity to play with many children growing up, getting to meet some wonderful friends has been my favorite part."

Ron nodded and gave the boy a smile, knowing that the poor bloke was nervous as hell. "I met my best mate there, so I know exactly what you mean, Scorp. But somehow I made the mistake of introducing him to my little sister, so now I can't seem to shake him even for holidays and everything."

"Watch it there, Ron," warned Ginny, "I can still pull of a wicked bat bogey hex if need be."

"I'm just pushing your buttons," laughed Ron. "Don't get your knickers in a twist. See Scorp, there are definite advantages to being an only child."

"I was an only child," said Hermione. "And I get it, Scorp. School is a different experience when it's the first time you are interacting with so many kids at once."

"I was sort of an only child, but not really," chuckled Rose.

"You're stuck with me," smiled Hugo. "But that's not new."

"You know I love it," smiled Rose, causing Hermione and Ron to exchange a happy smile.

"Well, good," said Ron. "Scorp, do you like to fly? Harry and your dad were both really good seekers, but I was a keeper myself and Gin was more of a chaser."

"I do enjoy flying, Mr. Weasley," he replied. "But since I haven't had other people to play with I don't really know what position I would play."

"Huh," said Ginny. "We'll have to get you out to The Burrow over the summer and get you on the pitch with all of the cousins so you can practice more before school next fall and get a feel for what your skills are."

"That would be amazing, Mrs. Potter. Thank you so much."

Soon the kids had finished their meals and were getting restless at the table. "Alright," Harry announced. "You may all be excused. But you have to take your dishes up to the sink before you dash off."

"Thanks, Dad," James said as he quickly left the table, with four hot on his heels. Scorp looked slightly disoriented at the chaos, but quickly caught on that he was to put his plates in the sink. He smiled and gave an awkward attempt at a smile before dashing off after the other kids.

When the room had emptied of the kids, Ginny flicked her wand to have the rest of the dishes head to the kitchen and start cleaning themselves as the four adults clustered at one end of the table.

"That poor Malfoy kid is wound so tight he could snap," said Ron.

"Be nice, Ron. He's clearly terrified of saying the wrong thing."

"I know, I don't mean to be mean. I just wonder if he is always like that or if being with me and Harry is scaring him."

"I think it's everything that is scaring him," said Ginny. "He has probably never been in such a casual family environment before. He's clearly not really had friends before, let alone friends who happen to be the kids of his father's childhood enemies. And I think he has probably never washed a dish in his life because they have house elves. So the poor things is reeling in culture shock while trying desperately not to screw up the two good things he's got, which is Al and Rose."

"Right, but how do we help him understand we don't bite?" asked Ron.

"I don't think you can tonight," said Ginny. "It will just take time, and tonight is step one. You get him over to The Burrow over the summer to hang out with the whole lot on the quidditch pitch, and he'll loosen up. He may never call you ickleRonniekins, but we'll loosen him up. Worked on Harry, didn't it?"

"What? What did I do?"

"Seriously? Do you remember how tightly you were wired the first time you came to The Burrow?" asked Ginny.

"You're one to talk, Gin. You were so star struck you sprinted back upstairs as soon as you saw him in the kitchen," retorted Ron.

"Please, I was ten."

"Well, yes," said Harry. "I had certainly never seen any family like the Weasleys when I was living with the Durselys. And since you actually had to break the bars off the window to break me out of that damn place, I was willing to do anything I could not to be rude or sent back. But Ginny's right. We just keep inviting him, and he'll loosen up once he realizes we won't ban him from our kids' lives if he sneezes wrong."

Hermione just eyed them all in this conversation, making a mental note to ask Ron more about it later. She knew Harry's time with his relatives had been bad, but she didn't remember hearing about bars before.

"Well," Ginny said as she got up to get four glasses and a bottle of firewhisky, "I think it would be hard to decide between you two which of you had a more drastic 2017."

Ron and Hermione glanced at each other with a sad smile.

"It has been rather drastic," agreed Hermione. "I miss Dennis so much, but I am definitely happier now than I can ever remember being before."

"Me too," said Ron. "There isn't a day when I don't hear Fi in my head. But, I have never been happier. Also never been as tired, but it's in a good way – not in a I've been on this stakeout too damn long way."

"Yeah," Harry laughed. "Kids have a way of draining more energy from you than you even knew was there to begin with."

"So back when I was on the Harpies, the team always did this thing at the end of each year that I really liked, so I think we should do it tonight," announced Ginny as she summoned some quills and parchment. "Everyone wrote down three negative things from the past year – something that made you sad, or something you regretted or something you wish you could do over. Three things you are proud of or happy about from the year. Then we all write down three things we hope will happen in the coming year. Then lastly, we each write down what we are going to do to try to make sure the good happens and the bad isn't repeated. You don't have to share them. But you can if you want. But then we burn the ones about last year, and the things about the year to come are magically sealed in an envelope that you can't open until Dec. 31, 2018."

"Ooh, I love that," said Hermione.

Ron and Harry had less enthusiastic looks on their faces, but were quickly corrected with glances from their respective witches. Downing the firewhisky, Ron glanced down at his parchment.

"Hmm. Didn't think there would be homework tonight."

"Shut it, Ron," commanded Ginny. "Just play along."

"Right, right, I am," he protested.

Hermione glanced intently at the parchment, quickly starting on the assignment. The year was so tumultuous, but she enjoyed the idea of whittling away the nonsense to the core parts of the year.

Hermione J. Granger 12/31/17

Top Three Awful Things About 2017:

1)Losing Dennis and his family in the accident, and having to tell Hugo

2)Realizing Rose was going off to boarding school at 11

3)Being scared I was going to lose Ron when he was struck by that awful curse and having to be strong for the kids.

4)(sorry I couldn't limit it to 3) Losing my shite when I misunderstood what happened with the money stuff

Top Three Happy Things of 2017:

1)Falling in love with Ron

2)Learning Rose and I were magical

3)Watching us all become a family of four

Top Wishes for 2018:

1)For us be an even stronger family of four, to include: helping Hugo be less sad; supporting Rose in her transition to the magical world not to mention puberty; and being a good, loving and strong partner to Ron

2)For us all to be healthy and safe

3)To begin to get a real sense of what I am supposed to do with my now magical life once Hugo goes off to school (and learn a lot of magic in the meantime)

How Am I Going To Try To Make Those Things Happen?

1)Try to stay patient and loving with all of my family members, and look for ways to support each of them.

2)Not sure how to help this one

3)Set up rigorous revising schedule with Hogwarts tutorials while exploring magical career options that could integrate my existing career skills

Ron watched as Hermione feverishly scratched away at her parchment. Really think she would have left us all in her dust if we had been in class together, thought Ron. Bugger. I really have to jot something down. But at least no one else will have to see it.

My Attempt At Gin's Bloody New Years HW

Bad – losing Fi, having to help Hugo through his grief while pretending I know what the fuck I'm doing, watching that scum bag throw a curse at Hermione

Good- Hermione, Rose, Hugo

Next –Propose, Pray she says yes, get married as soon as possible before she comes out of whatever fog has convinced her I am marriage material

Doing-Propose, pray she says yes, don't fuck it up

Ron finished and realized Hermione must be writing a two foot essay. Merlin she was an overachiever. Maybe it was good I didn't know her at twelve. I would have been utterly aggravated if she had been such a perfectionist at that age he thought. Harry had put about as much effort into the assignment as he had, and was already pouring more firewhisky for them both. They caught glances and wordlessly agreed neither would smirk first. When their ladies had finally finished, and Ginny had burned the scraps representing 2017, they decided to play cards for a while.

Every now and then one of the kids one wander down and snag some biscuits and juice, but as the clock neared midnight, Ginny got out the champagne and sparkling pumpkin juice. She called the kids down when there were only a few minutes left, passing each a glass of sparkling pumpkin juice while the adults each had a champagne.

The kids began yelling in unison, "10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, HAPPY NEW YEAR!"

Hermione put her arms around Ron's neck as he leaned to kiss her. "Happy New Year, Ron."

He kissed her again, pulling her closer to him, "Happy New Year, love."

They kissed again, and clearly embarrassed Hugo and Ron who were both covering their eyes. "I think we are mortifying the kids in front of their friends," Ron mumbled against her lips with a grin.

"That's what parents do," she said as she kissed him again. "And I've never gotten to have a proper New Year's kiss before."

"Yeah? Me either," he whispered as he kissed her again, running one hands through her wild curls while the other snaked down to her bum, holding her to him.

While Hugo and Rose were still vacillating between embarrassment and happiness, the Potter kids had dissolved into general chaos while Scorp was wavering between the glee of being with his new mates and trying not to be shocked at such public displays of affection in front of children no less.

"How about we head home?" Hermione said quietly into Ron's ear. He simply grinned.

"Alright you lot," Ron said. Hermione and I are old fogeys and going to go home now while you guys keep the slumber party going. But," he said looking directly at Rose and Hugo, "you two listen to Ginny and Harry, ok? And if you need anything, just let us know. But otherwise, we'll be back tomorrow afternoon sometime to fetch you."

"OK," they each nodded, hugging Ron and Hermione and wishing them "Good Night and Happy New Year" before they headed up with the other kids to shift the party back to the playroom.

"Thanks for keeping them," Hermione said.

"It's easier if they have friends to entertain them," admitted Ginny. "If it's just our three, then they fight. And they want us to entertain them. This way everyone wins. We'll let you know what time tomorrow. But it definitely won't be before early afternoon."

A short while later, Ron and Hermione arrived back to their own living room. Hermione came through the floo first, and when Ron stepped through moments later, he was met with her immediately crushing her lips to his. Momentarily stunned, he dropped the bag he was carrying and quickly engulfed her in his arms, lifting her up. She wrapped her legs around his waist while he carried her towards the stairs as she continued to kiss him. He wanted to get them to their room, but when her hand moved up from his neck to his hair, and her tongue went into his ear, he groaned and had to lean against the wall of the stairwell.

"God I love you," she gasped in a breathy voice, as she ran her hand against his chest.

He groaned again, shifting his hand from the back of her bum further down so that his fingers were just touching her where her heat was building, causing her to let out a pleasured whimper.

"Bed," she said quickly, and he nodded, refocusing his attention to the stairwell and quickly getting them to their room. He walked towards their bed, laying her gently down on it and crawling onto it so that he was straddling her. She scooted up towards the headboard, pulling her top off as she did, revealing one of the fancy bras she'd bought before their trip to Salem. He grinned, as it confirmed for him that she'd been looking forward to their time alone together as much as he had.

"Happy New Year," she grinned.

"Oh yes," he smiled, "2018 is getting off to a smashing start." With that she was pulling at his jumper, which she tugged off of him, with his shirt quickly following. They tumbled on the bed, and soon she was straddling him, running her mouth across his bare chest while he ran his fingers up and down her back. She moved her tongue to one of his nipples, eliciting another groan from Ron as he began to feel his jeans getting tighter. She noticed as well, and moved her hands to his button, shimmying his jeans and pants down and freeing his erection. He was quickly trying to get her in an equal state of nakedness, and had her down to her knickers and bra.

He ran his fingers over the satiny ensemble, remembering how she had enjoyed that before. She closed her eyes with a gasp as the sensation of his finger nails across her silk covered nipple sent an electric jolt to her core. He soon had one hand working her breast while the other was stroking over her knickers, and he loved watching her as her breathing changed noticeably as his touch heightened her arousal. Soon he reached back to shed her bra, taking her breast in his mouth, swirling the hardened nipple in his tongue, and scraping it gently with his teeth as she arched her back in pleasure. He continued the sweet torture of her breasts for a while, ensuring both had equal attention before he began moving his mouth down her stomach. She was gently trailing her fingers up his left arm while the others gently scraped against his scalp.

As his mouth reached the silky, lacy knickers, he decided that he definitely needed to start every new year off with a mouthful of Hermione. Pulling her knickers down and off of her, he kissed her inner thighs as his fingers lazed over her. He dragged his fingers in random swirls across her thighs, her stomach and back to her center, slowly, slowly, slowly inching closer to his final destination. He smiled, knowing that he was working her into a state of arousal that was just shy of torture. But as he finally let his fingers touch her folds, he grinned feeling how wet she was at his touch. He kissed his way towards her center, licking and nipping at spots he had learned she responded to over the years. Finally, his tongue landed under her folds to her nerve center, and he sucked, rolling her swollen nub into his now-practiced mouth. She gasped, arching her back further as he continued to lick and suck her into a frenzied state. When she had just almost reached orgasm, he lessened his tongue's pressure slightly, moving two fingers into her, arching them towards the one spot he knew would make her insane. He knew he had found it when he felt her thighs clench, trapping his face in between them and her core. Smiling again at what a brilliant way this was to start a year, he continued pumping his fingers into her as he began licking again.

"Oh god," he thought he heard her mumble before she descended into a pattern of erratic breaths speckled with moans and whimpers as she writhed beneath his touch. When she finally came, she screamed out again and again until she finally went limp in his arms. He slowly kissed his way up to her face, taking her in his arms as she smiled hazily at him. She dreamily ran her hands over his arms, kissing him slowly. As she increased the intensity of the kisses, she began to drag her mouth down his jaw line, feeling the beginning of stubble appearing. Rolling him over so that she was straddling him, she began to rub against him, kissing and nipping as she moved her attention down. He sighed and let out a garbled moan as she began fondling him. As she moved her mouth to his erection, he felt his eyes begin to roll back and surrendered to the exquisite agony she was causing.

"Fuck," he gasped, and he could feel her smile against him.

She moved back up, kissing his lips again as he rolled her over onto her back. He pulled his head back gently, looking into her eyes.

"I love you so much, Hermione," he said.

"I love you, Ron," she said gazing into his blue eyes darkened with lust and love.

Holding her gaze, he slowly entered her. She kissed him again, gasping into his mouth as he thrust into her. He continued to rock gently into her, and she raised her hips to meet each thrust, alternating between kissing him and staring into his eyes. But soon the pleasure began to overtake both of them, and she found she had to close her eyes in gasps as he pumped faster, sending the waves of pleasure pulsing through her as she felt herself tighten around him. Grasping at his bare back to hold him as tight as she could, she felt him go limp in her arms and roll to the side in an attempt to not crush her beneath him. Not wanting to be separated from him, she rolled to her side as well, wrapping herself tightly around him, laying her head on his chest to listen to his pounding heart beat. They lingered there in the silence broken only by their slowing breaths.

He felt her smile against his chest and asked, "what are you thinking about?"

"You aren't going to make me put clothes on tonight," she said with a grin as her hand slowly traced a pattern over his stomach.

He laughed, kissing her forehead and tightening his arms that was wrapped around her waist. "No, in fact, I don't think we should put clothes on until right before we have to go get the kids tomorrow afternoon."

"Hmm," she said as she kissed his chest. "Not a bad idea at all."