Disclaimer: I don't own the movie or the books. So back off!!
A/N I hope everyone likes this chapter. I tried to get it up as soon as I could. Chapter 3 should be up soon.
Chapter 2: The Reencounter(s)
"He was absolutely insufferable, Ginny, I swear it," complained Hermione for the umpteenth time that day. It was a few days before New Years and Ginny and Hermione had been shopping for dress robes to wear to Ginny and Harry's first New Years Party as a married couple at their new apartment. Ginny listened patiently as Hermione repeated parts of the story to emphasize what kind of prat the guy was.
"He was smug and arrogant and the way he talked you'd swear he just came from America," she continued while looking through a rack of dress robes. "And he wasn't even a gentleman. He practically shoved me to the side when he left," she finished dramatically. Of course this wasn't true, but she was too infuriated to correct herself.
"Well, didn't Alex like the puppy you got him?" asked Ginny. She wanted to talk about something else and Hermione's kids seemed like safe territory. Ginny had known Hermione for years after Hermione's husband had died. They became so close that they each considered the other a sister.
"Oh, he absolutely adored it," squealed Hermione, "You should have seen his face when he found it under his bed. You see, I had tricked him into thinking I didn't get him anything.."
"Hermione you didn't!" said a shocked Ginny.
"I did and it almost broke my heart to pieces seeing the look on his face, looking everywhere for a gift with his name on it. When he didn't find any he got up walked to his room all sad and depressed."
"Poor Alex," said Ginny wiping a tear from her eye. She always had a soft spot for Alex as did everyone else who met up with him.
"I know, then a minute later I heard him scream and he ran into the living room with the puppy in his hands and tears down his face," Hermione sighed, "he looked so happy. It was his best Christmas by far. He named the dog, 'Gotcha."
"Gotcha?" asked Ginny.
"Well, the dog had a ribbon around his neck and a card saying, 'Gotcha.' So he assumed it was the dogs name," Hermione explained. Ginny chuckled.
"Well then, I guess that rude man did you a favor, then," said Ginny slowly.
"How so?" asked Hermione, the misty look now gone from her eyes.
"Think about it. Could you really do all that with an owl? Besides owls can be vicious sometimes and Alex needs something small and sweet like him." Hermione looked at her and looked back at the dress robe in front of her.
"I guess your right," she said after a while.
"And you'll never have to see that man again," added Ginny to lighten the mood.
"Your right!" smiled Hermione, "I'll never have to see that horrid red-haired man again." With that said she went to another rack and picked out dark blue dress robes.
'Red-haired man?' thought Ginny.
*~~*~~*
"She was a nightmare Harry, I'm telling ya. I mean, I heard of girls PMS-ing but this was ridiculous," said Ron as he was helping Harry carry boxes into Harry's new apartment. Ron and Harry had known each other ever since school and they were also working together at the Ministry. Ron was Harry's superior, but that didn't stop them from being great friends. And when Harry and Ginny had started dating, Ron didn't mind at all...well maybe a little, but he got over it once he realized his little sister was in good hands.
"That must have been pretty weird," said Harry as he waved his wand. All the items in the box at his feet had unpacked itself and went to its proper place.
"Tell me about it. If she didn't already have her hands full of bags she probably would have attacked me." Harry laughed at Ron's dramatic take on the events, but then again he did know how women were once they were at their wits' ends.
"Well, you got the owl didn't you? So what's the big deal," said Harry.
"Yeah, I guess your right," sighed Ron. He seemed a little sad.
"Did Natalie like the owl?" Harry asked. The sad look on Ron's face was definitely showing now.
"She liked it, but...she didn't seem interested," said Ron finally. He summoned up another box and quickly unpacked it.
"She didn't?" asked Harry incredulously, "That doesn't sound like Natalie at all."
"I think maybe the stress is finally getting to her, ya know? She had been looking a bit off color lately. And she really shouldn't be expected to take care of her family. She's only 13, for God's sake," finished Ron tiredly.
"So why don't you get a maid?" asked Harry as though this was the most obvious thing in the world.
"A maid?" asked Ron, "You want me to bring in a strange woman to take care of my kids? MY KIDS?"
"Don't worry about them. They'll be fine."
"I'm not worried about them," said Ron, "I'm worried about the crazy woman who would actually take on the job." Harry roared with laughter although he knew this was true. His children were like Denise the Menace times a thousand and that was on a good day. After Harry calmed down he asked Ron if he was coming to his party.
"I dunno...I need to keep an eye on the kids. If any of them get a hold of fireworks or alcohol..." Both Ron and Harry shuddered at the thought.
"Come on, they'll be fine. Besides you need to get out more. After Julie died you haven't done anything social," pushed Harry. "You have to come and I won't take no for an answer." When Ron didn't answer he quickly added, "And I'll find you a suitable maid to take care of them, okay?"
"Okay," said Ron finally, "but if the twins get hold of the neighbor's cat again, your paying for the operation." Then they both laughed and finished unpacking the boxes.
*~~*~~*
The night before the party, Harry introduced Ron to Abigail, a maid. She was a women in her late 40's and she already had 3 kids, who were grown up. Ron had studied her for a bit and nodded his head. She seemed to be strong and...together. It wasn't until he went home that he realized what was wrong with her.
"Abigail this is Natalie," he said introducing her to his daughter.
"Hello, dear. What's your name?" she had asked, Natalie.
"My name is Natalie," she said giving her father a puzzled look. He then passed that look unto Harry who seemed to be very interested in the ceiling.
"Yes, Jet Li, is a great actor, but what's your name," she had asked again.
"NATALIE" Natalie had shouted, when she realized the lady was hard of hearing.
"Ok Natalie, you don't have to yell. I'm not deaf." She then went on and soon the room was filled with children yelling there names.
"YOU DON'T HAVE TO SHOUT! I'M NOT DEAF!" she shouted when she met up with Victoria.
"She's not shouting Abby," said Harry quickly, "she's crying."
"I know that," she said huffily.
"Harry, I'm gonna..."started Ron.
"Come on Ron. Ginny wanted us to get some stuff for the party," said Harry pulling Ron out the door.
"Guys, be good!" he shouted before Harry closed the door.
*~~*~~*
Harry and Ginny's party was a great success. Everyone had fun and not once did Ron and Hermione bump into each other, though there were a few close calls. Like when Hermione was waiting for the bathroom and Ron emerged from it. Luckily at the same time someone came up from behind Hermione and engaged her in some small talk.
After the party Hermione stayed to help Ginny clean up and to actually get to know Harry. Ron also stayed to help Harry clean up and finish up all the snacks. He mostly left the cleaning up to Harry, though.
"Ron can you take out this trash bag?" asked Harry, shoving a big, black trash bag into Ron's hand, not waiting for an answer.
"Of course, Harry. Where should I take it out to? How 'bout the movies? Or Hogsmeade? Why not the..."
"Ron!" Harry exclaimed, "Those jokes are so..so..."
"Tired?" offered Ron.
"Tired?...I guess," said Harry unsure about the meaning. 'Must be an American thing,' he thought. Ron walked out of the apartment and the second the door closed Hermione and Ginny came out of the kitchen.
"Need any help?" asked Ginny, looking around the room. She spotted the empty plates and sighed. "I guess Ron's been here then."
"Yeah, he'll be back," said Harry, laughing at Ginny's expression as she help up an empty cup that seemed to be leaking syrup.
"Whose Ron?" Hermione asked.
"Ron's my best friend and incidentally Ginny's brother," explained Harry, picking up some bottles of champagne.
"Oh, how come I've never met him?" asked Hermione, doing the most sensible thing and waving her hand. The room was spotless within seconds. Harry stared at her dumbfounded while Ginny answered her.
"Well, he's lived in America for about 3 years and he just came back a year ago.." Ginny's was about to explain about Ron's kids when the apartment door opened and the subject of their conversation walked in.
"Harry, you've got some weird neighbors. That lady with the rollers was actually flirting with me," laughed Ron, but he soon choked back his laughter as he stared at the brunette witch in front of him.
Hermione heard his voice...it sounded so familiar, but it couldn't be. It just couldn't be, but it was...it was him. Of all the parties to be at on New Year's.
Ginny seemed to feel the tension between them so she quickly stepped between them.
"Ron, this is my friend Hermione. Hermione this is my brother, Ron." Ron looked at Hermione then at Ginny.
"We've met," he said shortly. Hermione nodded.
"Oh, really," said Harry who oblivious to the tension in the room, "How?"
"Harry, shut up," said Ginny who already put two and two together.
"What?" asked Harry, "Its an innocent question," he insisted.
"We met in Diagon Alley during Christmas," said Hermione. She looked at Ron who was looking at her in a strange way.
"Hermione?" He asked, "That's a weird name."
"Yeah, well Ron is a too common of a name for my liking," she said, thinking he was making fun of her.
"No, no..I mean its weird in a good way. You really don't meet up with a lot of 'Hermione's' now do you?" he said trying to calm her down.
"Well, no I guess not," she said slowly. "How's the owl?" she asked suddenly. Harry looked at them and suddenly understood.
"Your the crazy lady at the Magical Menagerie?" he asked.
"Crazy lady?" shouted Hermione, looking between Harry and Ginny, thinking Ginny was the one who told him.
"Yeah, Ron said..."Harry started, but Hermione interrupted him.
"So now I'm a crazy lady with a weird name?" she shouted at Ron.
"I already explained about the name thing. And as for 'crazy lady' you are," he said as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.
"Why you..you...UGH!" she shouted. She pushed past him grabbed her cloak and purse from the hanger, walked out of the apartment and slammed the door behind her.
"Mental, that one, I'm telling ya," he said. And with that he walked into the kitchen to find something else to eat. He knew that if he went home he would find the house devoid of anything edible.
*~~*~~*
Ron went home that night to find his children all asleep in front of the t.v. with their parties hat still on. They were a mess with all kinds of food on the floor and on their clothes. He knew most of them would wake up in the morning with stiff necks and stomach aches. He went and knocked on the room he had dubbed as Abigail's. She opened it up and looked at him and smiled.
"How was the meeting?" she asked. Ron was about to correct her, but decided against it. He gave her thumbs up and then he pointed towards the 6 sleeping kids, then looked at her.
"Why are you signing? I'm not deaf nor blind. I see them, so what?"
"SO WHAT?" exploded Ron, which promptly woke up the baby twins and they both started to wail which woke up the other kids.
"See what you did," accused Abigail as she went to see to the twins. He was about to tell her off, but he needed sleep and that wasn't going to happen as long as the twins kept up their imitations of banshees. Ron went back to the living room and herded his kids back to their rooms, while kissing them goodnight.
As he went in to see Natalie she had stopped him.
"Dad are you going to be okay? I'm going back to Hogwarts tomorrow and..." she trailed off.
"Sweetheart, don't worry about that. This isn't supposed to be your problem. It's mine," he said softly and she gave him a hug.
"Okay, Dad," when she pulled back she looked up at him and said, "By the way, I love the owl. She's so adorable."
"You deserve it," he smiled, relief sweeping through him. "So what are you going to name it?" he asked.
"Well, I was looking through some of my books and I came up with the perfect one," she said.
"And that would be..." pushed Ron.
"Hermione," she said, not noticing the shocked and horrified look on her father's face. "Well goodnight, Dad!"
*~~*~~*
Hermione walked into her house and found the scene more or less like Ron's. Her children were all asleep, though the t.v wasn't on. Instead they all seemed to have been sitting in a circle listening to Kyle, the oldest out of all them, reading them a story. He did so almost every year. She took the book out of his hands and put it on the coffee table. She woke them up and lead them to their rooms magically changing them into their pajamas and tucking them in.
As she changed her clothes she started thinking. She had a long day ahead of her tomorrow. First she had to take Kyle back to Platform 9 3/4, then she had to go back down to the hospital were she worked and that promised to be hell. She got into bed and she fell asleep the second her head hit the pillow.
Luckily for her everything went smoothly the next morning, which is more than anyone could say for Ron.
*~~*~~*
Ron's day started out like any other. He woke up to doors slamming feet scurrying and kids yelling. It was music to his ears. He went into his own private bathroom and took a quick shower. When he came out he saw all the kids banging on the bathroom door. They seemed a bit anxious.
"What's going on?" he asked. "And were is Natalie. We're gonna be late."
"Natalie's been in the bathroom for hours now," started Thomas.
"She's so selfish, Daddy, she won't even answer us," complained Theresa.
"We kept hearing weird noises from in there," provided Mattew.
"The kind of sound you make when you eat bad fish, or swallow Polyjuice Potion," added Matt.
"Naty in twouble, Daddy," finished Victoria.
Ron looked between all their children and banged on the door, feeling panicked.
"Natalie! Natalie open this door right now," shouted Ron. All they heard was a long moan.
"What's going on?" asked Abigail rocking a baby back and forth. Ron took out his wand and pointed it at Abigail. She looked shocked, but Ron wasn't going to waste his energies on her. He quickly burst the door open with a spell and ran into the bathroom, all the kids behind him. Natalie was in the bathtub and it looked as if she passed out.
"Oh shit!" yelled Ron. His kids were all used to his profanities.
"Mark! Go and get the fireplace ready to go to the hospital. Matt! Call your Uncle Harry and tell him where I am." Ron had insisted on living a half-wizard half-muggle lifestyle. One of hs favortie things was the telephone. "Tommy! Hold down the fort. Theresa take care of Vicky and Abby."
"Abby?" she asked.
"Yes, and try to keep your temper in check." he said quickly as he easily lifted Natalie into his arms and went to the fireplace which was aglow with emerald green fire. He thanked Mark and stepped in. He was at the hospital and a stretcher was summoned immediately, taken Natalie into one of the rooms. Within seconds Harry was at his side looking around, wide-eyed. He jumped when he realized he was standing next to Ron.
"How is she?" he asked without greeting.
"I dunno, Harry. I think she might be faking it. Now that I think about it, she was worried last night about how I was gonna cope without her."
"You know Nat would never do anything like that," assured Harry.
"What makes you say that?" asked Ron.
"Because no matter how much she loves you guys, any child who is faced with the decision to go to Hogwarts or stay home...well, its no competition. Sorry mate. You didn't stand a chance," smiled Harry as Ron laughed. Soon a short man with huge glasses came up to them.
"You Weasley?" he asked.
"Yeah," said Ron.
"Follow me," he said shortly. Harry and Ron exchanged a look before going after him.
"What's wrong with my daughter?" asked Ron.
"I have no idea," the short man replied with a bite of impatience in his voice. Ron was about to jump the man, but Harry held him back. The man suddenly stopped in front of a door.
"Your daughter's in their, but wait until the doctor comes out," and with that the man apparated.
"Charming," said Harry sarcastically.
"Very," replied Ron in the same tone.
"I'm going to get something for you to eat. I doubt you had any breakfast," said Harry getting up to leave.
"Thanks Harry. For everything," sighed Ron. Harry nodded and walked away. Ten minutes had passed when the door to Natalie's room. The doctor looked up and saw Ron staring at her.
"What are you doing here?" she asked furiously. "Stalking is against the law, in most countries."
"I'm not stalking you. I'm here because of my daughter."
"Y-your daughter," said Hermione unable to keep the surprise out of her voice.
"Yes. My daughter Natalie."
"That darling girl is your daughter?" she asked in disbelief.
"Yeah, I know. It's hard to believe. She gets it from her mother," he agreed, smiling. "So how is she?"
"She's fine," said Hermione. "She probably just fainted from the shock, which I really don't know why she would be. Didn't her mother talk to her about it."
"Um...her mother died a while back," said Ron, rubbing the back of his neck.
"Oh, I'm so sorry," she said, and she truly sounded it.
"So am I," said Ron looking at the floor. He looked up and asked, "What did you mean when you said 'talk to her about it.'"
"Well, Mr. Weasley..."
"Ron," he interrupted.
"Well...Ron...what happened to Natalie happens to every girl around her age," she said slowly.
"You mean she...it came to her...she had it?" asked Ron.
"Yes, Mr...er...Ron." Ron nodded and quickly fell back into his seat, though he forgot the seat of a few feet away from him and he landed on the floor.
"How am I supposed to deal with this?" asked Ron dejectedly, not caring that he was on the floor. Just then Natalie came out of the room and looked at her father.
"Dad get up. Your going to embarrass us," she mock scolded. Ron jumped up and hugged her tightly.
"Are you okay?" he asked looking her up and down.
"Dad..I..I'm fine," she sounded a bit shy about everything so he dropped it. He didn't know how to broach this subject. Hermione must have seen the pleading look in his eyes because she then addressed Natalie.
"Natalie dear," Hermione started, "if you ever need someone to talk to about anything, you could just call me, okay?"
"Okay," she said slowly, her face slowly turning red. "But how do I get your number?" she asked.
"Ask your Aunt Ginny. She has it."
"Okay," she said and she gave Hermione a big hug, "Thank you so much." Hermione hugged her back and said "No problem at all."
"Well, thanks Hermione..Nat..It's time to go," interrupted Ron.
"Hermione?" asked Natalie, "Your name is Hermione?"
"Yes dear why?"
"Well its a weird name. You really don't meet up with many Hermione's now do you?" Hermione was shocked. That was more or less what Ron had said. 'She truly is her father's daughter,' thought Hermione. "That's why I named my new owl Hermione. Not only was Hermione a goddess, but its such a cool name." Hermione beamed.
"So that owl...was for Natalie?" she asked Ron as Natalie took out her father's wand and transfigured her pajamas into a pair of blue jeans and a black sweater. He snatched his wand away from her and said, "How many times do I have to tell you not to use my..."
"Dad it's impolite to ignore a ladies question," she said.
"What? Oh..yeah...yeah the owl was for her," he said.
"I'm sorry about the way I acted that day," she apologized.
"It's okay. I figured it was that time of the mon..." but he stopped and looked at Natalie who was staring at her shoes. "I'm sorry for the way I acted, too," he said. He put his arms around Natalie and muttered a 'let's go' and steered her towards the entrance.
"Remember what I said, Natalie," Hermione shouted after them.
"I will," she shouted back. She and Ron went to the fireplace and went back home.
A/N I hope everyone likes this chapter. I tried to get it up as soon as I could. Chapter 3 should be up soon.
Chapter 2: The Reencounter(s)
"He was absolutely insufferable, Ginny, I swear it," complained Hermione for the umpteenth time that day. It was a few days before New Years and Ginny and Hermione had been shopping for dress robes to wear to Ginny and Harry's first New Years Party as a married couple at their new apartment. Ginny listened patiently as Hermione repeated parts of the story to emphasize what kind of prat the guy was.
"He was smug and arrogant and the way he talked you'd swear he just came from America," she continued while looking through a rack of dress robes. "And he wasn't even a gentleman. He practically shoved me to the side when he left," she finished dramatically. Of course this wasn't true, but she was too infuriated to correct herself.
"Well, didn't Alex like the puppy you got him?" asked Ginny. She wanted to talk about something else and Hermione's kids seemed like safe territory. Ginny had known Hermione for years after Hermione's husband had died. They became so close that they each considered the other a sister.
"Oh, he absolutely adored it," squealed Hermione, "You should have seen his face when he found it under his bed. You see, I had tricked him into thinking I didn't get him anything.."
"Hermione you didn't!" said a shocked Ginny.
"I did and it almost broke my heart to pieces seeing the look on his face, looking everywhere for a gift with his name on it. When he didn't find any he got up walked to his room all sad and depressed."
"Poor Alex," said Ginny wiping a tear from her eye. She always had a soft spot for Alex as did everyone else who met up with him.
"I know, then a minute later I heard him scream and he ran into the living room with the puppy in his hands and tears down his face," Hermione sighed, "he looked so happy. It was his best Christmas by far. He named the dog, 'Gotcha."
"Gotcha?" asked Ginny.
"Well, the dog had a ribbon around his neck and a card saying, 'Gotcha.' So he assumed it was the dogs name," Hermione explained. Ginny chuckled.
"Well then, I guess that rude man did you a favor, then," said Ginny slowly.
"How so?" asked Hermione, the misty look now gone from her eyes.
"Think about it. Could you really do all that with an owl? Besides owls can be vicious sometimes and Alex needs something small and sweet like him." Hermione looked at her and looked back at the dress robe in front of her.
"I guess your right," she said after a while.
"And you'll never have to see that man again," added Ginny to lighten the mood.
"Your right!" smiled Hermione, "I'll never have to see that horrid red-haired man again." With that said she went to another rack and picked out dark blue dress robes.
'Red-haired man?' thought Ginny.
*~~*~~*
"She was a nightmare Harry, I'm telling ya. I mean, I heard of girls PMS-ing but this was ridiculous," said Ron as he was helping Harry carry boxes into Harry's new apartment. Ron and Harry had known each other ever since school and they were also working together at the Ministry. Ron was Harry's superior, but that didn't stop them from being great friends. And when Harry and Ginny had started dating, Ron didn't mind at all...well maybe a little, but he got over it once he realized his little sister was in good hands.
"That must have been pretty weird," said Harry as he waved his wand. All the items in the box at his feet had unpacked itself and went to its proper place.
"Tell me about it. If she didn't already have her hands full of bags she probably would have attacked me." Harry laughed at Ron's dramatic take on the events, but then again he did know how women were once they were at their wits' ends.
"Well, you got the owl didn't you? So what's the big deal," said Harry.
"Yeah, I guess your right," sighed Ron. He seemed a little sad.
"Did Natalie like the owl?" Harry asked. The sad look on Ron's face was definitely showing now.
"She liked it, but...she didn't seem interested," said Ron finally. He summoned up another box and quickly unpacked it.
"She didn't?" asked Harry incredulously, "That doesn't sound like Natalie at all."
"I think maybe the stress is finally getting to her, ya know? She had been looking a bit off color lately. And she really shouldn't be expected to take care of her family. She's only 13, for God's sake," finished Ron tiredly.
"So why don't you get a maid?" asked Harry as though this was the most obvious thing in the world.
"A maid?" asked Ron, "You want me to bring in a strange woman to take care of my kids? MY KIDS?"
"Don't worry about them. They'll be fine."
"I'm not worried about them," said Ron, "I'm worried about the crazy woman who would actually take on the job." Harry roared with laughter although he knew this was true. His children were like Denise the Menace times a thousand and that was on a good day. After Harry calmed down he asked Ron if he was coming to his party.
"I dunno...I need to keep an eye on the kids. If any of them get a hold of fireworks or alcohol..." Both Ron and Harry shuddered at the thought.
"Come on, they'll be fine. Besides you need to get out more. After Julie died you haven't done anything social," pushed Harry. "You have to come and I won't take no for an answer." When Ron didn't answer he quickly added, "And I'll find you a suitable maid to take care of them, okay?"
"Okay," said Ron finally, "but if the twins get hold of the neighbor's cat again, your paying for the operation." Then they both laughed and finished unpacking the boxes.
*~~*~~*
The night before the party, Harry introduced Ron to Abigail, a maid. She was a women in her late 40's and she already had 3 kids, who were grown up. Ron had studied her for a bit and nodded his head. She seemed to be strong and...together. It wasn't until he went home that he realized what was wrong with her.
"Abigail this is Natalie," he said introducing her to his daughter.
"Hello, dear. What's your name?" she had asked, Natalie.
"My name is Natalie," she said giving her father a puzzled look. He then passed that look unto Harry who seemed to be very interested in the ceiling.
"Yes, Jet Li, is a great actor, but what's your name," she had asked again.
"NATALIE" Natalie had shouted, when she realized the lady was hard of hearing.
"Ok Natalie, you don't have to yell. I'm not deaf." She then went on and soon the room was filled with children yelling there names.
"YOU DON'T HAVE TO SHOUT! I'M NOT DEAF!" she shouted when she met up with Victoria.
"She's not shouting Abby," said Harry quickly, "she's crying."
"I know that," she said huffily.
"Harry, I'm gonna..."started Ron.
"Come on Ron. Ginny wanted us to get some stuff for the party," said Harry pulling Ron out the door.
"Guys, be good!" he shouted before Harry closed the door.
*~~*~~*
Harry and Ginny's party was a great success. Everyone had fun and not once did Ron and Hermione bump into each other, though there were a few close calls. Like when Hermione was waiting for the bathroom and Ron emerged from it. Luckily at the same time someone came up from behind Hermione and engaged her in some small talk.
After the party Hermione stayed to help Ginny clean up and to actually get to know Harry. Ron also stayed to help Harry clean up and finish up all the snacks. He mostly left the cleaning up to Harry, though.
"Ron can you take out this trash bag?" asked Harry, shoving a big, black trash bag into Ron's hand, not waiting for an answer.
"Of course, Harry. Where should I take it out to? How 'bout the movies? Or Hogsmeade? Why not the..."
"Ron!" Harry exclaimed, "Those jokes are so..so..."
"Tired?" offered Ron.
"Tired?...I guess," said Harry unsure about the meaning. 'Must be an American thing,' he thought. Ron walked out of the apartment and the second the door closed Hermione and Ginny came out of the kitchen.
"Need any help?" asked Ginny, looking around the room. She spotted the empty plates and sighed. "I guess Ron's been here then."
"Yeah, he'll be back," said Harry, laughing at Ginny's expression as she help up an empty cup that seemed to be leaking syrup.
"Whose Ron?" Hermione asked.
"Ron's my best friend and incidentally Ginny's brother," explained Harry, picking up some bottles of champagne.
"Oh, how come I've never met him?" asked Hermione, doing the most sensible thing and waving her hand. The room was spotless within seconds. Harry stared at her dumbfounded while Ginny answered her.
"Well, he's lived in America for about 3 years and he just came back a year ago.." Ginny's was about to explain about Ron's kids when the apartment door opened and the subject of their conversation walked in.
"Harry, you've got some weird neighbors. That lady with the rollers was actually flirting with me," laughed Ron, but he soon choked back his laughter as he stared at the brunette witch in front of him.
Hermione heard his voice...it sounded so familiar, but it couldn't be. It just couldn't be, but it was...it was him. Of all the parties to be at on New Year's.
Ginny seemed to feel the tension between them so she quickly stepped between them.
"Ron, this is my friend Hermione. Hermione this is my brother, Ron." Ron looked at Hermione then at Ginny.
"We've met," he said shortly. Hermione nodded.
"Oh, really," said Harry who oblivious to the tension in the room, "How?"
"Harry, shut up," said Ginny who already put two and two together.
"What?" asked Harry, "Its an innocent question," he insisted.
"We met in Diagon Alley during Christmas," said Hermione. She looked at Ron who was looking at her in a strange way.
"Hermione?" He asked, "That's a weird name."
"Yeah, well Ron is a too common of a name for my liking," she said, thinking he was making fun of her.
"No, no..I mean its weird in a good way. You really don't meet up with a lot of 'Hermione's' now do you?" he said trying to calm her down.
"Well, no I guess not," she said slowly. "How's the owl?" she asked suddenly. Harry looked at them and suddenly understood.
"Your the crazy lady at the Magical Menagerie?" he asked.
"Crazy lady?" shouted Hermione, looking between Harry and Ginny, thinking Ginny was the one who told him.
"Yeah, Ron said..."Harry started, but Hermione interrupted him.
"So now I'm a crazy lady with a weird name?" she shouted at Ron.
"I already explained about the name thing. And as for 'crazy lady' you are," he said as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.
"Why you..you...UGH!" she shouted. She pushed past him grabbed her cloak and purse from the hanger, walked out of the apartment and slammed the door behind her.
"Mental, that one, I'm telling ya," he said. And with that he walked into the kitchen to find something else to eat. He knew that if he went home he would find the house devoid of anything edible.
*~~*~~*
Ron went home that night to find his children all asleep in front of the t.v. with their parties hat still on. They were a mess with all kinds of food on the floor and on their clothes. He knew most of them would wake up in the morning with stiff necks and stomach aches. He went and knocked on the room he had dubbed as Abigail's. She opened it up and looked at him and smiled.
"How was the meeting?" she asked. Ron was about to correct her, but decided against it. He gave her thumbs up and then he pointed towards the 6 sleeping kids, then looked at her.
"Why are you signing? I'm not deaf nor blind. I see them, so what?"
"SO WHAT?" exploded Ron, which promptly woke up the baby twins and they both started to wail which woke up the other kids.
"See what you did," accused Abigail as she went to see to the twins. He was about to tell her off, but he needed sleep and that wasn't going to happen as long as the twins kept up their imitations of banshees. Ron went back to the living room and herded his kids back to their rooms, while kissing them goodnight.
As he went in to see Natalie she had stopped him.
"Dad are you going to be okay? I'm going back to Hogwarts tomorrow and..." she trailed off.
"Sweetheart, don't worry about that. This isn't supposed to be your problem. It's mine," he said softly and she gave him a hug.
"Okay, Dad," when she pulled back she looked up at him and said, "By the way, I love the owl. She's so adorable."
"You deserve it," he smiled, relief sweeping through him. "So what are you going to name it?" he asked.
"Well, I was looking through some of my books and I came up with the perfect one," she said.
"And that would be..." pushed Ron.
"Hermione," she said, not noticing the shocked and horrified look on her father's face. "Well goodnight, Dad!"
*~~*~~*
Hermione walked into her house and found the scene more or less like Ron's. Her children were all asleep, though the t.v wasn't on. Instead they all seemed to have been sitting in a circle listening to Kyle, the oldest out of all them, reading them a story. He did so almost every year. She took the book out of his hands and put it on the coffee table. She woke them up and lead them to their rooms magically changing them into their pajamas and tucking them in.
As she changed her clothes she started thinking. She had a long day ahead of her tomorrow. First she had to take Kyle back to Platform 9 3/4, then she had to go back down to the hospital were she worked and that promised to be hell. She got into bed and she fell asleep the second her head hit the pillow.
Luckily for her everything went smoothly the next morning, which is more than anyone could say for Ron.
*~~*~~*
Ron's day started out like any other. He woke up to doors slamming feet scurrying and kids yelling. It was music to his ears. He went into his own private bathroom and took a quick shower. When he came out he saw all the kids banging on the bathroom door. They seemed a bit anxious.
"What's going on?" he asked. "And were is Natalie. We're gonna be late."
"Natalie's been in the bathroom for hours now," started Thomas.
"She's so selfish, Daddy, she won't even answer us," complained Theresa.
"We kept hearing weird noises from in there," provided Mattew.
"The kind of sound you make when you eat bad fish, or swallow Polyjuice Potion," added Matt.
"Naty in twouble, Daddy," finished Victoria.
Ron looked between all their children and banged on the door, feeling panicked.
"Natalie! Natalie open this door right now," shouted Ron. All they heard was a long moan.
"What's going on?" asked Abigail rocking a baby back and forth. Ron took out his wand and pointed it at Abigail. She looked shocked, but Ron wasn't going to waste his energies on her. He quickly burst the door open with a spell and ran into the bathroom, all the kids behind him. Natalie was in the bathtub and it looked as if she passed out.
"Oh shit!" yelled Ron. His kids were all used to his profanities.
"Mark! Go and get the fireplace ready to go to the hospital. Matt! Call your Uncle Harry and tell him where I am." Ron had insisted on living a half-wizard half-muggle lifestyle. One of hs favortie things was the telephone. "Tommy! Hold down the fort. Theresa take care of Vicky and Abby."
"Abby?" she asked.
"Yes, and try to keep your temper in check." he said quickly as he easily lifted Natalie into his arms and went to the fireplace which was aglow with emerald green fire. He thanked Mark and stepped in. He was at the hospital and a stretcher was summoned immediately, taken Natalie into one of the rooms. Within seconds Harry was at his side looking around, wide-eyed. He jumped when he realized he was standing next to Ron.
"How is she?" he asked without greeting.
"I dunno, Harry. I think she might be faking it. Now that I think about it, she was worried last night about how I was gonna cope without her."
"You know Nat would never do anything like that," assured Harry.
"What makes you say that?" asked Ron.
"Because no matter how much she loves you guys, any child who is faced with the decision to go to Hogwarts or stay home...well, its no competition. Sorry mate. You didn't stand a chance," smiled Harry as Ron laughed. Soon a short man with huge glasses came up to them.
"You Weasley?" he asked.
"Yeah," said Ron.
"Follow me," he said shortly. Harry and Ron exchanged a look before going after him.
"What's wrong with my daughter?" asked Ron.
"I have no idea," the short man replied with a bite of impatience in his voice. Ron was about to jump the man, but Harry held him back. The man suddenly stopped in front of a door.
"Your daughter's in their, but wait until the doctor comes out," and with that the man apparated.
"Charming," said Harry sarcastically.
"Very," replied Ron in the same tone.
"I'm going to get something for you to eat. I doubt you had any breakfast," said Harry getting up to leave.
"Thanks Harry. For everything," sighed Ron. Harry nodded and walked away. Ten minutes had passed when the door to Natalie's room. The doctor looked up and saw Ron staring at her.
"What are you doing here?" she asked furiously. "Stalking is against the law, in most countries."
"I'm not stalking you. I'm here because of my daughter."
"Y-your daughter," said Hermione unable to keep the surprise out of her voice.
"Yes. My daughter Natalie."
"That darling girl is your daughter?" she asked in disbelief.
"Yeah, I know. It's hard to believe. She gets it from her mother," he agreed, smiling. "So how is she?"
"She's fine," said Hermione. "She probably just fainted from the shock, which I really don't know why she would be. Didn't her mother talk to her about it."
"Um...her mother died a while back," said Ron, rubbing the back of his neck.
"Oh, I'm so sorry," she said, and she truly sounded it.
"So am I," said Ron looking at the floor. He looked up and asked, "What did you mean when you said 'talk to her about it.'"
"Well, Mr. Weasley..."
"Ron," he interrupted.
"Well...Ron...what happened to Natalie happens to every girl around her age," she said slowly.
"You mean she...it came to her...she had it?" asked Ron.
"Yes, Mr...er...Ron." Ron nodded and quickly fell back into his seat, though he forgot the seat of a few feet away from him and he landed on the floor.
"How am I supposed to deal with this?" asked Ron dejectedly, not caring that he was on the floor. Just then Natalie came out of the room and looked at her father.
"Dad get up. Your going to embarrass us," she mock scolded. Ron jumped up and hugged her tightly.
"Are you okay?" he asked looking her up and down.
"Dad..I..I'm fine," she sounded a bit shy about everything so he dropped it. He didn't know how to broach this subject. Hermione must have seen the pleading look in his eyes because she then addressed Natalie.
"Natalie dear," Hermione started, "if you ever need someone to talk to about anything, you could just call me, okay?"
"Okay," she said slowly, her face slowly turning red. "But how do I get your number?" she asked.
"Ask your Aunt Ginny. She has it."
"Okay," she said and she gave Hermione a big hug, "Thank you so much." Hermione hugged her back and said "No problem at all."
"Well, thanks Hermione..Nat..It's time to go," interrupted Ron.
"Hermione?" asked Natalie, "Your name is Hermione?"
"Yes dear why?"
"Well its a weird name. You really don't meet up with many Hermione's now do you?" Hermione was shocked. That was more or less what Ron had said. 'She truly is her father's daughter,' thought Hermione. "That's why I named my new owl Hermione. Not only was Hermione a goddess, but its such a cool name." Hermione beamed.
"So that owl...was for Natalie?" she asked Ron as Natalie took out her father's wand and transfigured her pajamas into a pair of blue jeans and a black sweater. He snatched his wand away from her and said, "How many times do I have to tell you not to use my..."
"Dad it's impolite to ignore a ladies question," she said.
"What? Oh..yeah...yeah the owl was for her," he said.
"I'm sorry about the way I acted that day," she apologized.
"It's okay. I figured it was that time of the mon..." but he stopped and looked at Natalie who was staring at her shoes. "I'm sorry for the way I acted, too," he said. He put his arms around Natalie and muttered a 'let's go' and steered her towards the entrance.
"Remember what I said, Natalie," Hermione shouted after them.
"I will," she shouted back. She and Ron went to the fireplace and went back home.