A/N: Another update after I said there wouldn't be one?! Well, I was too excited to not put this update out there.

I was watching The Greatest Showman the other day. Cameron Seely, who plays the youngest daughter in that movie, is how I picture Aurora to look. So, there you go. Oh, and Alicia Weinwright is who I picture in my head for Hermione. Hope that helps anyone who's been a bit stuck trying to see what I see.

More notes at the end. EEEK, alright, read it. Tell me if you saw this coming. Reviews motivate me to write and edit faster…

Chapter 8, Back to The Burrow

With her black tint Ray-Ban aviator sunglasses firmly in place and a steaming cup of coffee with a full vial of hangover potion concoction in hand, Hermione could admit, this was the worst trip to The Burrow she'd ever had. And news flash, she'd broken off her engagement here once upon a time. At least, the blushing bride to be was in a similar state to Hermione. Scratch that, the red head was in a worse state.

Ginny was seated at one of the many picnic tables littered across the yard with her head down on the table while occasionally letting out a low pitiful groan of pain. When Ginny had said that this was a bridal party, she hadn't been exaggerating. It was just anyone who was in the wedding for Ginny. Apparently, Blaise was having a similar party with his groomsmen at his estate, and that group included Draco Malfoy. When Hermione had agreed to coming the night before, she hadn't even thought that of the very real possibility that Draco would be one of Blaise's groomsmen.

Just have to make sure to pencil in some time to have a good sit down with Draco, apparently sooner rather than later. No pressure, right? Just have to make sure that she tells Draco about Aurora and they've smoothed things over before Blaise and Ginny's wedding in less than six months for their New Year's Day wedding. Yeah, freaking, right. Hermione lifted the coffee to her lips, wishing that instead of hangover potion she'd had some Felix Felicis to slip in there because she was going to need all the luck she could get when approaching Draco. That wouldn't be too hard to brew, right?

"I think in her attempt to kill us, she might have done herself in. I wonder if she'll come back as a ghost to haunt us?" Tessa (one of Ginny's teammates and part of her bridal party) said looking down at the now unmoving body of Ginevra Weasley.

"Maybe she will have learned her lesson after this, and retire tequila. And doing shots, gods, we are too old to still be doing shots." Hermione replied taking another sip from her coffee, enjoying the relief that the potion was bringing her.

Ginny, who had apparently heard the exchange, just left out another grunt and flipped both Hermione and Tessa the bird while not lifting her head.

Laughing at her ridiculous friend, Hermione turned away from the two Quidditch players to try and find her daughter, who had run off with George Weasley and Lee Jordan's daughter (Annie, short for Leanne) who had just turned six in June. It didn't take long for Hermione to spot the girls shrieking with laughter chasing the garden gnomes. Annie with her long black curls and her almond skin, looked very much like her father Lee. It was clear watching the two from afar that she hadn't been prepared for the storm that is Aurora Jean Granger. Unlike her fathers, Annie was a much more reserved child who had so far hadn't spoken a word to Hermione. Even with being the older of the two, Annie seemed content to let Aurora be in command.

Aurora, per usual, had been very opinionated on what outfit she wanted to wear today to meet everyone (besides Ginny) for the first time. Hermione had always told Aurora that first impressions are important, and Aurora had taken that lesson to heart. Hermione, not having the energy to argue her down today, had allowed the girl to wear her bright white leotard with the blue otter shimmering on her chest. The white tulle tutu attached to her leotard had Aurora announcing to anyone that had come to introduce themselves to her that she was a ballerina, effectively making every adult at the gathering puddy in her hands. Hermione could see from where she stood, that white leotard was now completely filthy and Aurora was now yelling at Annie that they could be gardener ballerina queens.

"Hermione? Oh. My. Gawd. Is that really you?" The shrill voice that Hermione hadn't had the misfortune of heaving in years cut into Hermione's still pounding headache forcing her to tense up. Turning away from watching the filthy children attempting to command their army of gnomes to see a heavily pregnant Lavender Brown marching her way.

Oh, for fucks sakes.

Lavender and Ron had apparently started casually seeing each other about seven months ago, and Lavender was now six months pregnant. This was a development that Hermione had not heard about until earlier today when she'd first landed at The Burrow with Aurora. When she'd tried rounding on Ginny for not telling her, Ginny had just hissed at her like a cat and stalked off to find a coffee pot. The most Hermione had gotten out of anyone was the very basic timeline. Not that Hermione cared, she really didn't harbor any feelings for her ex and it didn't bother her that he was with Lavender and expecting their first child. Would have been a bit hypocritical if she cared, yeah? Seriously, her engagement hadn't been over more than a day before she was shagging Draco and getting knocked up.

"Hi Lavender, how are you?" Hermione was glad that her sunglasses were tinted dark enough that Lavender couldn't see her eyes. Hermione was much too hungover to be able to school her features and not give away just how much this woman annoyed her.

"I'm great, you know, Ron and I are getting ready for little Hugo's birth. I'm really wanting a Halloween baby; the birthday parties would have like, the best themes and would be so adorable. You know, all the pumpkins. I didn't realize you were going to be in the wedding, I thought today was just for the family and Ginny's bridal party." Unlike Hermione, Lavender was not wearing sunglasses to cover the distain on her face. Again, Hermione held no lingering feelings for her ex, but clearly the simple fact that she was Ron's ex was enough to make her a threat.

"I'm not in the wedding, my daughter, however, is one of the flower girls with Annie." Hermione motioned towards the garden where Aurora was now marching around carrying a large stick as if it were a staff while the gnomes followed behind her. How the fuck she convinced eight gnomes to follow her around is anyone's guess.

"You have a child? Since when? Who's her father? She doesn't even look like you, you're not serious that she's actually your kid." Lavender's blue eyes sparked with distaste as she looked down into the garden at Aurora and back at Hermione. Hermione knew that Aurora didn't look like her, obviously they didn't look alike, but Lavender was being a right tit.

"I found her at the shopping center, thought it would be great fun to be a single mum. You'll know all about that soon enough though, good luck with the birth." Not wanting to engage with this insane woman anymore, Hermione turned to stalk away to see if there was anything alcoholic to drink at this get together. Hermione was sure she could hear Lavender muttering 'bloody tart, always was jealous of me.'

Hermione went straight into the house, trying to put as much distance between herself and that insufferable witch as possible, chanting to herself 'you cannot jinx a pregnant woman.' She'd hardly stepped into the cramped kitchen before she ran directly into Fleur who was ushering along her two daughters, Victoire (age eleven) and Dominique (age eight).

"Hermione! I didn't realize you were going to be ere!" Hermione couldn't stop herself from leaning into the older witch for a hug with a huge smile plastered across her face. Fleur responded to the embrace with equal enthusiasm. "How vonderful to see you, are you in the vedding party then? Bill and I are not, the children being in the vedding was enough work without us being in it as vell. You, of course, remember my daughters. Girls, this is Hermione Granger, I don't know if you remember who she is, but she knew you when you were much younger."

Being patched up by Fleur at Shell Cottage after being tortured had forever bonded the women. Fleur had seen Hermione at the lowest point of her life; she'd seen the tremors that made it so Hermione couldn't even do the basic self-care and had helped Hermione until she was able to bathe herself. She'd healed Hermione's mangled and broken body, completely caring for her. Then, after the war, Fleur had helped Hermione with finding a mind healer that helped her with coping with the PTSD she'd been left with.

From all this, their friendship had blossomed. After Victoire was born on the first anniversary of the Battle of Hogwarts, Hermione had become one of Fleur and Bill's go to baby sitters. When they'd had Dominique three years later, Hermione had taken up being their twice a month sitter so the couple could get some alone time for their date nights. Even though she had been with Ron at the time, it wasn't her relationship with Ron that had made her a fixture in their house. It was the kindness and the warmth that Fleur had once shown a broken teen all those years ago, and that same teen wanting to give back in a way of thanks.

As fate would have it though, all things must come to an end. Her contract with MACUSA had effectively made it so that she wouldn't be able to continue to watch the girls she'd considered basically her nieces grow. When her relationship with Ron had imploded, Hermione had decided that it would be best for her if she broke as many ties to Ron as possible. Unfortunately, that had also included Fleur. The only reason her friendship with Ginny had stayed strong was because the witch refused to let Hermione go.

Seeing these the two girls that she'd once cared for as infants so much grown, was startling for Hermione.

"Fleur, it's so wonderful to see you. Yes, of course I remember your girls. I cannot believe how much they've changed since I last saw them." Both girls were spitting imagines of their mother. Their long silvery-blonde hair hung straight, reaching their waists. Their matching dark blue eyes sparkled as bright as their smiles. If it wasn't for the staggering height difference, they could pass for twins.

"We remember Minnie, mother. She was the best sitter we ever had. It's wonderful to see you again, Minnie. We're very glad that you're back from America." Victoire gave a curtsy towards Hermione in her greeting. Obviously, Fleur was doing etiquette lessons with her children. Dominique curtsied to Hermione as well, but said nothing; she had always been the quieter of the two.

"Harry told me that you had a son as well? Is he here with you?" Hermione looked around the space, but didn't see Bill or little Louis Weasley.

"Yes, just turned four in February. Louis and Bill will be along a later, they had a project they've been working on that they wanted to finish." The conversation was cut off by Ginny storming into the kitchen followed closely by Mrs. Weasley, who was loudly scolding her daughter.

"Honestly, Ginevra. What on Earth were you thinking!? Do you know how much time and energy has gone into putting together this party for you! You are about to be a married woman, not to mention you're almost thirty! Married women don't go out getting so intoxicated that they can hardly function the next day at events! You need to grow up!" Mrs. Weasley wasn't at the point of yelling, but the volume of her voice was loud enough that Hermione could feel the headache she'd been fending off all day coming back in full force making her want to search for the nearest exit.

"I'm twenty-eight, not thirty. Also, Blaise was with me, mother. It's not as if I was out acting like a trollop all night. You're the one who wanted to have the party, not me. It's mostly just your kids and grandkids here anyway, so what does it matter that I'm hungover?" Ginny had at some point since Hermione had last seen her gained a few new accessories. A hat and her own sunglasses were now helping her fend off the light and keeping Ginny shaded.

"YOU THREW UP IN THE PUNCH, GINEVRA!" Mrs. Weasley screeched at Ginny who had turned her back to grab a glass of water, that she promptly transfigured into white wine, before she turned back to face her mother.

Leaving the two feuding Weasley women, Fleur, Hermione, and the younger girls all fled before they could be pulled into their argument. Once they were back outside in the yard, Fleur spotted Charlie and with a wave, she and her daughters were off to go speak with the second eldest Weasley brother. Hermione, left alone, scanned the garden and saw that Aurora and Annie were no longer there. Confused where she could have run off to, Hermione began walking around the property in search of her missing child.

"Oi, Mione!" Turning her head, Hermione saw George running towards her, with a broom slung over his shoulders as he moved. "You didn't tell me your kid could fly; girl is a natural on a broom!"

"I'm sorry George, I think I misheard you. Did you just say that my daughter, you know, the little girl running around in a tutu, is currently on a broom?" Harry had been begging Hermione for years to let him teach Aurora how to fly. Hermione had been stern, that there was no fucking way she was going to let her four-year-old have flying lessons. Yet, here was George Weasley tell her that her sweet baby was currently off flying on a death trap.

"Yeah, her and Annie asked if me and Lee would let them on the toy brooms. Aurora grabbed Annie's old pink one and took off, she bloody brilliant for being so young. How long has she been flying? It's really incredible." Hermione could feel the anger in her rising the more George spoke.

"You didn't think to ask me, her mother, if it would be alright for her to get on a death stick. Aurora has never in her life been on a broom stick and now here you are telling me that she's off flying around right now!? George, she could fall and get hurt!" Hermione's words came out much more vicious than she normally would have liked, but her nerves were completely shot. She was hungover, Draco had kissed her last night then ran, Mrs. Weasley had made at least eight comments about her being a single mother, and now her daughter was up on a broom. What the fuck else could possibly go wrong today?

Not waiting for a response from the man, Hermione (with George closely behind her) made her way over to the open field that housed the Weasley's backyard Quidditch pitch. Hermione could easily make out the two girls, who were being trailed by Lee. Annie with her long black curls and almond skin where a stark difference to Aurora with her white blond curls and pale skin. Even with Annie being a more experienced flyer and two years old, Aurora was easily keeping pace with her.

"See Mione, I told you, she's fine. She's a natural. Nothin' to worry about." George was saying while Hermione watched with wide eyes at her daughter easily maneuvering the broom she sat on. "Bloody brilliant she is if she's never been on a broom before."

Hermione continued to watch Lee with the two girls easily flying around the pitch for a while longer, until Aurora had finally noticed her mother's eyes trailing her movements. She had a little bit of a rough landing where she stumbled slightly, causing the tulle to flutter around her waist, but Aurora was able to steady herself before she face planted into the grass.

Aurora dropped the pink broom stick that she had been using and raced towards where Hermione and George stood, waving her arms in the air with a bright beaming smile plastered across her face. "MUMMY! DID YOU SEE ME FLYING!" Aurora shouted as her short legs carried her closer to the adults.

Hermione jogged to meet her daughter part way before scooping her off the ground and lifting her into her arms. "Aurora Jean, did you know that you're my favorite person ever?"

Snuggling into her chest, Hermione could hear Aurora sigh against her skin, "you too."

ooo

After Aurora showed her skills with a broom, Hermione excused them with the pretense that it was Aurora's nap time. In one part to avoid another interaction with Lavender and another part because Hermione also was needing a nap if she was going to make it through dinner later.

Wandering down to the little pond, Hermione had conjured two blankets, and laid one out on the ground and laid the other on top of herself and Aurora. It wasn't long before both witches were fast asleep curled up together, enjoying the shade from the tree and the summer breeze blowing over them.

About an hour later, Hermione was woken up by the feeling that someone was watching her. Knowing who was watching her, Hermione stretched her arms above her head, feeling the cracks from her joints. Slowly opening her eyes now that her body wasn't so sore, Hermione could make out the glow of the white blond hair that she knew so well hovering over her.

"Mummy, I'm hungry. Can you get me something to eat?" The little girl's grey eyes were almost sparkling as she looked down at her sleep tousled mother.

"Yeah, just give me a second and we can head back up to the house. I'm sure Mrs. Weasley has dinner just about ready anyway." Hermione said sitting up from the space that she had been napping on.

A quick wave of her wand and both blankets that they had been using disappeared into thin air. Once that was cleared away, Aurora spun in a circle before running back towards the house. Hermione walked slowly after the girl and watching her figure disappear up the hill, not even attempt to call her back, knowing that Aurora was excited to get back to playing with Annie.

Hermione had hardly made it back up the hill towards the house when she saw that Aurora had been stopped by a little red headed boy that stood slightly shorter than Aurora. The boy had the same dark blue eyes as his sisters, but instead of clear pale skin like they had, his face was littered with freckles brushed over his nose and his cheeks. He was also standing completely still looking at Aurora with his mouth hanging slightly open.

"Mummy, I think he's broken. Hello, I said my name is Aurora Jean, what is your name?" Aurora had quickly glanced back towards Hermione before turning back towards the boy leaning in closer and bending at the waist, and tilting her head so they were face to face with their noses almost touching.

"Louie? Mate? You alright there?" The deep baritone voice broke over Aurora's endless chattering. Hermione stopped watching the exchange with the children, looking around to find Bill Weasley strolling towards them at a slow pace. He still wore the scars from when Greyback had attacked him, and his red hair was even longer than she had remembered it being, pulled back into a low ponytail.

"Louie, that's your name. You can call me Aurora Jean or princess. My Uncle Harry calls me Rory, but my mummy doesn't like that name, and only Uncle Harry can get away with calling me that without being scolded. Can you talk? Sir, I don't think he can talk." Aurora had stood back up with clasping her hands behind her back, now addressing Bill with a very serious expression on her face.

"Hey there Mione, who might this little lass be?" Bill asked now that he was close enough to the two children, getting down on one of his knees so that he was eye level with them.

"My name is Aurora Jean, that's my mummy. Is he broken, is that why he won't talk to me?" Aurora asked Bill, not moving from her place in front of Louie. Looking over at his still stunned in place son, Bill threw his head back laughing and clapped a hand on his back.

"Hello Aurora Jean, my name is Bill Weasley and this is my son Louis, but you can call him Louie. No, I don't think he's broken and he can talk just fine, usually. I think he might just be a bit shy right now, why don't we give him a little space so he can take a quick breath." As soon as Bill suggested the two children separating, it seemed that Louie had snapped out of whatever state he had been in and looked up to glare at his father before turning back to Aurora with his hand stuck out in front of him in a silent greeting.

"Oh good, you're okay! Come on then, let's go get something to eat!" Aurora had mistaken the hand shake and took Louie by the hand. When she didn't release him, there was a look of shock and joy mixed on Louie's face as Aurora began dragging him off towards the house chattering the entire way on their walk, still not letting Louie get a word in.

Hermione watched until the white blond and red hair both disappeared into the crowd of adults gathered around waiting to sit down to dinner. Shaking her head at the tornado that is her daughter, Hermione turned her attention back to Aurora's latest victim's father and went straight in for a hug.

"How have you been, blimey Mione, you're still the size of a kitten. I didn't realize that you had a daughter, she's got your personality that's for sure." Bill said with his long arms wrapped tightly around Hermione's small frame.

"I've been excellent, thanks. Just moved back to England at the start of the month. Yeah, she just turned four back in May, just a few days after Victoire's birthday actually. How have you been? I saw Fleur earlier, and the girls. I can't believe how much they've grown in just five years."

Hermione and Bill began their walk back towards The Burrow with both of them giving their thrilling tales of the adventures that their jobs had taken them on in the last five years. Bill's work as a curse breaker for Gringotts had kept him busy, with all the different dark artifacts that some old families had been trying to smuggle into the bank to keep hidden from ministry raids, making for some cringe worthy stories.

Since Louis had been born, Bill explained how he'd stayed in England until just this last year, when he started traveling for work again. Not going anywhere too far, but he said that he had been spending a lot of time in France and Russia working for the different branches of Gringotts in each of those countries too.

Hermione and Bill had been so lost in their conversation that Hermione hadn't even taken notice of the people sitting around them while they were still chatting away, that was until Fleur came bounding over to them giving her husband a chaste kiss on the lips before turning on Hermione.

"Hermione, why didn't you tell me that you have a veela daughter? That explains why poor Louis hasn't been able to utter a single word since he laid eyes on her, but oh Bill, aren't they just darling? He's completely smitten with er." Hermione had made the mistake of taking a drink of water at that moment and ended up in a coughing fit.

"Blimey, is she a veela? Mione, you okay?" Bill was now asking while he patted Hermione firmly on the back trying to help to keep Hermione from choking.

"Fleur, I'm sorry, but you're mistaken, Aurora is not a veela." Hermione as finally able to say after she'd been able to catch her breath with tears still in her eyes.

"Of course, she is, Hermione. Being part veela, and aving that gene, I can sense clearly that she is a veela. Mi maman explained to me when Bill and I started aving children that the anyone with a veela gene would be able to sense when someone is a veela, but surly your daughter's father's family explained this to you at er birth, yes?" Fleur explained to Hermione as if this were all such a simple concept and it was impossible that Hermione wouldn't know this.

"Fleur, Aurora's father has never met her." Hermione swallowed slowly only able to utter that statement. A veela child, of fucking course, Draco Malfoy couldn't just make a normal child.

"Vell, that explains how you don't know, but why ave they never met? That is odd." Fleur asked looking towards where the children were all seated. Hermione followed her gaze and saw that poor Louis Weasley, who was still sitting next to Aurora, slowly lifting his fork to his mouth, but missing and making a mess on his shirt. Aurora, kept covering her mouth with her hands and laughing at the poor boy before gently dabbing the corner of his mouth with her napkin then going back into whatever animated one sided conversation she was having with the boy.

"Fleur, she can't be a veela. That's impossible." Hermione stated, purposefully ignoring the question Fleur had just asked.

"Of course, she can be, as long as one parent has the veela gene, any child born can become a veela. It is rare though, as not every child will inherit that gene in a family the further down the line from a veela they are. Ave you seen a healer yet to discuss her growing magic? I'd guess that it is strong than normal for her age. You don't need to worry about er transforming or anything like that, she won't present er full veela abilities until she's between seventeen and twenty. It's something to be aware of since veela children ave been known to throw fire when they have a tantrum before their full transformations, occasionally that is. If you'll excuse me, I need to intervein with that." Fleur finished explaining before having to go break up a fight that had broken out between Dominique and Annie over the last roll.

Hermione was left sitting in her chair speechless watching the tiny girl that was her entire world happily chattering next to Louis, who for his part couldn't wipe the smile from his face watching Aurora tell him a very detailed story about her gnome army from earlier that day.

"Well, fuck. This can't be happening." Hermione murmured more to herself than anyone else.

"Mione, hey, Fleur wouldn't just say something like that unless she was sure. It's some weird veela magic, but I wouldn't doubt her on this." Bill whispered to Hermione, making sure that he kept his voice low enough that no one else could hear.

"What the fuck does this even mean for Aurora, Bill? Harry is already worried about Dolohov coming after us because of his weird obsession with me. What will her being a veela do to us?" Hermione looked up into the eldest Weasley's face, feeling dread settling into the pit of her stomach.

"It's nothing too bad, Mione. It'll just be important to make sure that others don't find out about her being a veela. I've heard some rumors before that veela children are sometimes traded and bartered for. They have a more powerful hypnotize powers than an adult, and it makes them a prized possession. I'd keep it to yourself what she is. When Fleur was pregnant, we were told to not tell anyone if one of the kids ended up being a full veela since it is dangerous. I'm sure Fleur will be more than happy to talk you through any questions or concerns you have though. She'll know more than I do." Hermione could hear the serious tone in Bill's voice. The slight threat of what could happen to Aurora if this news were to ever reach the wrong people.

Hey Draco, just real quick. That snog was great, too bad you're married and it cannot happen again. By the way, you knocked me up at Harry and Theo's wedding and now we share a daughter. Oh, and, just found out that she's a veela, and at risk of being fucking kidnapped if the wrong people find out. Thought you ought to know.

Perfect. No edits needed with that little speech.

Hermione put her head down in her hands with a groan. When were things going to start getting easier?

A/N: Aurora is a VEELA! Well, that complicates things a bit more for Hermione. Happy Friday, I'll see you all Monday with the fluffy drama!