The entire family had been fussing over Holly since the reveal the day before. Her cousins had endless questions about New York, and Aunt Ginny had taken it on as a personal mission to teach her to fly despite her protests, and Molly, in addition to presenting her with eleven years' worth of her own Weasley jumpers that had been procured from a Spell-o-taped box in the attic, had taken to emptying the pantry of all of its contents in a whirlwind effort to learn all of Holly's favorite foods. It was still a bit overwhelming to be cared for by so many people, but less so knowing that their love was directed at her and not just at Rose.
"What would you like in your pancakes, dear?" Molly asked from where she was whipping up a huge batch at the stove. "Fruit? Nuts? Chocolate chips?"
"Oh, I usually just have some porridge for breakfast."
"Nonsense. It took some time to get your mum eating like a Weasley, too," Molly tutted. "Can't go wrong with chocolate chip." She turned back to the stove, and Uncle Charlie winked at Holly from across the table.
"You'll get used to it," he said in an exaggerated whisper, earning him a cuff to the back of the head from his mum.
Holly's dad wandered into the kitchen then, looking rather bleary-eyed. "You got home late," Uncle George noted, looking mischievous. "How was your date?"
Ron glared at him as Holly looked curiously at Uncle George. "Wasn't a date," he muttered as he poured himself a cup of coffee. "And it was—er, fine, I guess."
"You had a date?" Holly couldn't help asking.
"It wasn't a date," Ron said more firmly, kissing the top of her head in greeting. "I saw your mum last night."
There was a loud clang from the stove, and Molly whirled to face Ron. "You saw Hermione?"
"Told you I was going to."
"Yes, well, I didn't realize that you had. You should have invited her over for breakfast."
Ron rolled his eyes. "She'll be here in a bit. She—" he looked pointedly over at Holly "—and Rose."
Holly's stomach dropped. "You're switching us back?"
Every eye in the kitchen was suddenly on Ron, awaiting his answer. "We have a lot to discuss," he replied evasively.
"Ronald Weasley, you cannot honestly expect to continue this ridiculous—"
"Mum!" Ron cut her off. "I love you, but when I say we, I do not mean the entire family."
Molly looked like she had more to say, but her eyes cut to Holly before she turned back to her cooking without any further comment. Ron sat down beside Holly and sipped at his coffee.
"Can't we just spend some time together before we go back to school?" Holly asked softly. "The four of us?"
Ron looked slightly pained when he answered slowly, "I would like that very much."
"Then what's the problem?" Molly gave a triumphant sounding hmph from the stove.
"The problem is that your mum and I live very separate lives, and I'm not even sure how long she's planning to be here."
"Didn't get much talking done, did you?" Charlie winked at Ron, who gave him a very stern glare in return.
"And I'm quite sure she's not going to go all the way back to New York without you."
"Let me talk to her," Holly said confidently.
Ron's lips twitched with the effort of holding back a grin. "You think you can persuade her?"
"I know I can." Holly looked over at Ron. Her mum had always said she couldn't resist Holly's brilliant blue eyes, and she finally understood why: Holly had a hunch she'd once had a similar weakness for her dad's brilliant blue eyes. And with any luck, she still did. All three of them together, Hermione really didn't stand a chance, Holly thought mischievously.
Rose had been asleep when her mum got home from whatever she'd been up to the night before, so she wasn't sure what prompted the huge hug Hermione gave her when she arrived in the dining room for breakfast. "Hermione, darling, are you alright?" Jean asked, noting as Rose did that her mum looked like she was about to cry as she sat across from her.
"How was your meeting?" Hugo added, his tone concerned.
"Oh, it was…" Hermione paused. "Enlightening." Both of Rose's grandparents frowned in confusion. Hermione glanced at them quickly before her gaze fixed back on Rose. "Mum, Dad, you remember your other granddaughter, Rose."
Rose froze as she looked back at her mum. "What?" Hugo and Jean chorused, now looking at Rose in disbelief.
"I—how—what?" Rose sputtered, wondering if it was even remotely possible that this was a shot in the dark by Hermione and not her cover blown.
"I saw your dad last night," she said, tucking into her typical bowl of porridge. "The two of you aren't quite as sneaky as you imagine."
"You saw Dad?"
"Hold on just one minute here," Hugo said, now staring at his daughter. "Hermione, are you sure about this?"
"Well, if she's not, this was quite a ridiculous way to break the news to Holly," Jean pointed out. "Who doesn't look nearly as confused as she should, if this were in fact news."
All of the adults were watching her now, and Rose grimaced. Her cover was definitely blown. "Grandma's right," she sighed, dropping Holly's difficult accent in favor of her own. "I'm not Holly."
Jean rose from her seat immediately and wrapped Rose up in a hug. Hugo still looked like he was trying to work out a complicated maths equation in his head. "How did this happen?" he questioned, now examining Rose in amazement.
"Do you want to tell them or shall I?" Hermione asked Rose with a teasing smile.
"Holly and I met at Beauxbatons, and we sort of sussed everything out together. And we...well, I wanted to meet Mum, and Holly wanted to meet Dad, so we just...switched places for Christmas." Rose paused; none of them seemed angry, but this was Holly's family, not hers, yet, and she felt the need to protect her. "It was my idea. To switch. Not Holly's. So don't be mad at her, when you see her."
"Oh, darling, I'm not mad at all," Hermione assured her. "But you do need to finish eating quickly and go get dressed."
"Where are we going?" Rose asked curiously.
"To the Burrow."
As much as Rose loved her dad's childhood home, it was the last place she wanted to be right now. Her mum taking her there could only mean one thing. "You and Dad are switching us back, aren't you?"
"Your father and I thought it was best that the four of us all sit down and talk. Together."
"So, you're not switching us back?"
Hermione sighed and pushed her hair back from her face. "Let's wait until we're all together, okay? Nothing's been decided one way or another."
"Do Holly and I get a say this time?" Rose asked, more sharply than she'd meant to. At first, she'd been so preoccupied with making a connection with Holly, and then the focus had been on their plan to switch places, but now that that had been foiled, Rose realized she very much wanted answers. What reason could her parents possibly have had for raising them apart?
Hermione didn't even flinch. "Yes. I think it's important that you do."
Ron was pacing his bedroom when there was a knock on the door and Harry poked his head in. "Are they here?" Ron asked him anxiously.
Harry shook his head as he entered and shut the door behind him. "What are you so nervous for? You saw her last night."
"Yeah, but now we have to actually talk about things."
"Never been a strong point for the two of you," Harry quipped. Ron glared at him. "Look, just be honest. With the twins. And with Hermione."
Ron hesitated, but he had to ask. "Is she seeing anyone?"
Harry smirked; Ron wanted to hex him. "Does it matter?"
"Fuck. She is, isn't she?"
Harry shook his head. "Not that I'm aware of." His voice was softer when he asked again, "Does it matter?"
"Bloody hell, Harry, you know it does. You really going to make me say it?"
Harry shrugged. "Think of it as a practice round for saying it to Hermione."
Ron looked down at his shoes. "You know I've never felt about anyone else the way I felt about her."
"Felt or feel?" Ron was saved from replying by Ginny's shout from downstairs that Hermione and Rose had arrived, but he could tell from Harry's knowing look that the answer was obvious. "C'mon," Harry said, clapping him encouragingly on the back. "Let's go."