A/N: Yay, early again on my update!

Thanks to my fab reviewers: Weasel Princess, neespence, american-born-confused-desi, Misshogwarts1125, Silver Ice, hermione2, and Pikaye! Huzzah for you!

I'm not sure what's going to happen with the updates. My grandmother's pretty sick, near death, so I don't know what's gonna happen. If I suddenly go AWOL, you all know why.

Random though/Disclaimer: Haha, my spell check thinks Parvati's name should actually be Parfait.

Chapter 4: Ice Cream Encourages Conversation

"Are we not like two volumes of one book?" Marceline Desbordes-Valmore

After three hours of browsing in Diagon Alley, it was clear that the younger children had had enough. Isabel had broken at least one object in every shop (Fleur, luckily, persuaded the owners not to make them pay for the merchandise—coincidentally, all the owners were male). Diane whined half the time. The other half was spent asking me why I was so mean to Elphaba. Davy had picked out many strange gifts for his grandparents, ranging from a pack of Venomous Tentacula seeds to a hideous burnt-orange Pygmy Puff., but even he had exhausted his enthusiasm.

Before Bill, Fleur, and their children headed back to the Leaky Cauldron, Bill cornered me.

"Hermione, listen," he began, looking a bit nervous, "by now you might think my kids are—erm—the spawn of Satan or something—"

"No! They're sweet kids, they're just a bit…" I searched for the word that could cover Isabel's tantrums, Diane's clinginess, and Davy's string of questions. "Energetic?"

Bill raised an eyebrow at me, and I was almost positive he could see right through me. "Anyway, I got reservations for lunch at this fancy restaurant in Muggle London—Fleur's been dying to explore Muggle things for ages—and I was wondering if you could maybe watch the kids tomorrow afternoon?"

To this day, I have no idea what possessed me to utter these next ten words.

"No, it's no problem. I'll do it. It'll be great!" I even pasted on a cheesy smile for good measure.

Bill's face split into the Weasley grin. "Thanks a million, Hermione!"

"Daaaaaaddy, wanna go home!" Isabel screeched from her mother's arms across the street.

"That's my cue, I guess." He turned to cross the street. "See you tomorrow!" he called over his shoulder. I watched him walk over to his family. Isabel was still screaming, Davy was pulling Diane's hair, and Joaquin looked like he wished he could be anywhere but there.

A cold feeling of horror washed over me. What was I thinking?

The others, once they found out, shared that sentiment.

"You what?" Ginny gasped, almost dropping James.

"Hope you grow an extra set of arms before you go," joked Harry.

"Come on," I replied, examining a pair of earrings that were practically made for Ellie, "it won't be that bad. The kids were probably just wound up because of Christmas shopping and all that." My voice exuded more confidence than I carried inside my mind.

Ginny snorted, Harry chuckled to himself, but Ron sided with me.

"Hermione can take it; I mean, if Mum was able to take care of seven kids for years, then Hermione can watch four kids for an afternoon. Plus, Fred and George aren't in the equation either."

"True," Ginny conceded, but she still looked doubtful.

After a few more hours of browsing in Flourish and Blotts and Madam Malkin's, James began to nod off.

"We'd better get home," Harry said quietly, "sleep is a precious commodity in the Potter household these days." Ginny chuckled.

"Have fun babysitting the tyrants," she remarked lightly. "Hey, if you survive, we'll have to have you over for dinner in the near future."

"You'd better make something good then," I replied with a smile. "Preferably lamb or pork, you know that's my favorite."

"Deal."

Ron and I said our goodbyes, then set off in the opposite direction. Sometimes the fact that Ron and I would almost always be doing the same things at the same time (with the exception of work) made me feel a little weird, for some reason. By now I was mostly used to it, especially since we had always spent a lot of time together at school. But living with him allowed me to see all of him—not only in the physical sense, but in the emotional sense as well. I knew about those idiosyncrasies and bad habits he couldn't break. It was exhilarating, yet a little frightening, to know a person that well—and, at the same time, to know that the other person knew you that well, too!

"Hey, Hermione, hungry?" Ron pointed out Florean Fortescue's ice cream shop. "Cause I'm starving!"

"Some things never change, do they?" I elbowed him in the side.

"Like how you still read Hogwarts, a History, every six months?"

"At least I'm doing something productive instead of stuffing my face with sweets!"

"Eating's productive, especially eating ice cream. I'd choose ice cream over a book any day."

Remembering our arguments from Hogwarts, I thought to myself again, Some things never change. But at least now it was just in fun.

We took our ice cream (meaning Ron's enormous triple banana split, complete with whipped cream and cherry, and my regular hot fudge sundae) to a table near the window at the parlor. Outside, snow was beginning to fall and coat the street with a fluffy white blanket.

"I hate to be the know-it-all again," I said, licking a drop of fudge from my spoon, "but why are we eating ice cream in the dead of winter?"

Ron grinned slyly. "Because…it's good."

I rolled my eyes.

"Hey, admit it. You enjoy the unpredictable, even if it's eating ice cream at a time other than the summer."

"You are too much, and by the way, I've learned to live with adventure, especially since I befriended the Boy Who Lived and his sidekick at eleven."

"But you still think it's silly to eat cold ice cream while it's snowing." He pointed his spoon at me accusingly.

"There's a reason I orde fudge, you know."

He leaned across the table and kissed my lips. I could taste the banana and chocolate, along with his special Ron taste. When we broke apart, I smiled, recalling a memory.

"Do you remember the last time we were here?"

His ears reddened, but I could tell by the smile on his face that he wasn't angry. "How could I forget? Me blurting out that I was still a virgin and you laughing about Vicky and Parvati—"

"It was funny, though, admit it!" I laughed.

"I guess." He concentrated deeply on smashing the leftover half of the last banana to a pulp with his fork.

"Ron, is something the matter?" I asked, concerned that our trip down Memory Lane had troubled him.

He abandoned the banana mush and looked at me. "Bill and Fleur already have four kids."

His random outburst nearly knocked me off my chair. How was I supposed to respond to that?

"Um, I've noticed, dear," I began carefully, "but what does that have to do with anything?"

"I dunno…even though it's always mayhem at their house, they seem really happy, y'know? And Harry and Ginny, with their baby…they're a real family."

I could begin to sense where this conversation was drifting. I slid my hand across the table and covered Ron's hand. "But we're a real family, too, Ron. You and me, together. And we're happy, right?"

"Yeah, but…I don't know…don't laugh at me for saying this—"

"I wouldn't laugh!"

He dropped his gaze to the table for a moment, then looked up at me again. "My dad told me that nothing made him happier than watching my brothers and Ginny and me grow up, knowing that, someday, we would make him proud."

I searched for a response. "So—so you're saying…" My confusion was shifting to a bit of panic as I realized what he was going to say next.

He leaned forward slightly. "I really, really want to be a dad someday, 'Mione. Not just to make my family happy, but to see you happy, too—if that's what you want."

Among the various thoughts whirling in my head, I wondered, Since when do children guarantee happiness?

Instead of voicing that harsh opinion, I opted for a more tactful response. "Well, we don't have to decide this in one afternoon. Let me think about it, and we'll talk more about it, too. I mean, work's been crazy lately, and—"

"Shh." He swiped my spoon and fed me a spoonful of my sundae. "No talking with your mouth full!" He grinned triumphantly.

"Mmmm!" I whined with my mouth still full, tasting the mix of vanilla and fudge, wondering what it was about Florean Fortescue's that caused us to have these discussions.

Children...children…I pictured myself carrying a baby just like James, only with brown eyes instead of emerald. I saw myself singing the baby to sleep. I saw Ron and me, standing over a tiny white baby bassinet, just watching our child breathe.

I swallowed the ice cream. "We'll see."

Review, darn it! Kidding…but please do it.

FYI, I started an angsty one-shot describing Hermione's POV when Ron and Lavender walk in on her in HBP. Should be interesting…I'll try and post that soon, in addition to the updates for this one.

Much love…MUAH! Pepstepper16