A/N: Sorry it's been a while for this one! It's coming to an end thats for sure. I hope you enjoy! Let me know

Chapter 26

The day of Joseph's last Hogsmede weekend rolled around quickly and Hermione found herself sat against their headboard watching the Shifter get dressed. It was so entirely reminiscent of a time not so long ago where she was meeting the Shifter's son for the first time; properly anyway. She felt the same nerves welling in the pit of her stomach and she was sat in the same place watching the Shifter get ready. She felt a weird sense of coming full circle and she figured while she might be anxious, she wouldn't change anything for the world.

Storm was all but bouncing with excitement as she watched her rummaging through her drawers trying to find a suitable t-shirt. Her jeans were already fastened and she was stood weighing up a couple of options. Hermione could feel the excitement radiating from her and she took comfort in that fact.

But just couldn't help but worry. Joe was one of the most important people to Storm, if not the most important. She didn't really know what would happen if he decided he wasn't pleased by the news they had to share. She wanted so badly for it to go well and deep within the pit of her stomach she knew logically that there was no reason for it not to.

"Hey, you're in your own head again Hermione" Storm spoke and the bed dipped low as she knelt at the side to lean over to press a tender kiss to the brunette's cheek. "What can I do?" She questioned as she moved to sit beside her, perching on the edge. The sudden appearance broke Hermione out of her internal thoughts and she couldn't help the small smile that tugged at her lips as she reached out to smooth her palms over broad shoulders finally clad in a t-shirt.

Dark eyes met equally dark eyes and Hermione scanned Storm's face, quietly steeling her resolve and taking comfort from the way the Shifter was regarding her. A small genuine smile was tugged across Storm's lips, and her eyes were soft and warm. She was looking at her as if nothing else in the world mattered in that moment, and Hermione knew that in Storm's mind that was very true. "I'm alright" Hermione reassured her finally, a small smile tugging at her own lips as she moved to press a hand to the Shifter's cheek gently in an attempt to convey her own sincerity. She moved to twist the longer hairs at the base of Storm's neck around her fingers absently and watched with thinly veiled amusement as the Shifter's eyes fluttered for a moment.

Storm lent in again and pressed their lips together tenderly; slowly for only a moment before pulling away again. A deep sigh escaped her chest and her small smile twisted until it was beaming. "I love you" She murmured easily, "You look lovely" She added as an afterthought, scanning dark eyes down over Hermione's body.

The brunette had been dressed and ready long before she herself was. She was wearing a modest sundress and a cardigan over the top. The little bump she sported had grown only a little more, but it had started to become quite obvious indeed. The sight of it had Storm's heart beating a little faster within her chest. She still wasn't quite able to believe that this is where they were. She was married to Hermione Granger and they were having a baby.

"You do too" Hermione answered honestly, relieved Storm was finally ready to go. They were due to meet Joe at the Three Broomsticks in less than fifteen minutes, and at the rate the Shifter was going trying to pick out a t-shirt she figured they were most definitely going to be late. Storm had finally settled on a plain white short sleeved t-shirt to go with her black jeans.

She always appreciated the way Storm looked and since getting pregnant she couldn't deny the fact her hormones were most definitely raging. It was mildly embarrassing, but Storm never complained. Though, Hermione figured she never did complain when it came to the physicality of their relationship.

"It bodes well that you think so." The shifter smirked and Hermione instantly knew she had been busted looking a little too long. "I have plans to reward your bravery later on" Storm quipped with a cheeky waggle of her eyebrows. A wide smirk tugging at her lips a little mischievously as she pushed herself from the bed and offered the brunette her hands in order to help her up.

"Oh really? And what might those plans entail?" Hermione questioned, her own tone playful as she took the Shifter's paw like hands. Allowing the taller woman to pull her up and off of the bed gently. She was quite genuinely curious, though its not like there was ever any disappointment in that department at all.

"Good things come to those who wait" The shifter spoke mysteriously with a laugh, but Hermione knew by the way she was grinning there was nothing clean about her thought process. Her lips were curled up and she looked as if she was entirely delighted by the things running through her mind.

"You're such a git" Hermione laughed as she let Storm entwine their fingers and lead them out of the room and down the stairs.

"You love me" Storm retorted with a loud laugh and said nothing else on the matter. She led them through the house towards the decking that they'd apparate from. Only pausing by the back door long enough for them to collect the rest of the things they might need before they were wandering out into the bright sunshine.

It was a pretty hot day and the sky above was a beautiful blue that expanded cloudless for as far as they could see. The breeze coming off of the water was nothing short of luxury as it whispered past them to fill the house up with the scent of salt water. The small hammock Storm loved so much was swinging gently, squeaking quietly. Hermione thought briefly about spending the night lounging in it, curled up with the younger woman in the dwindling light from the day. She figured that might be the perfect way to end such a nerve wracking experience.

"Are you ready?" Storm quizzed as she turned to face the older witch, moving to pull the older woman flush to her front. Her arms wrapped around Hermione's waist easily, holding her close as she offered up a protective embrace in the last moments before they saw Joe and told him their news. She held tight to the brunette, squeezing her gently in an attempt to reassure the older woman.

Hermione heaved in a deep breath and flicked her eyes up to meet Storm's own from underneath her eyelashes. Her own fists wrapped in the Shifter's t-shirt and balled it at the stomach for a brief second before she let go to smooth her palms up the taller woman's chest to thread her fingers up through unruly hair. Her heart was bursting in that moment, swelling as she considered thoughtfully what they were about to do; just how far they had come… just how truly happy she was.

"As ready as I'm ever going to be" She admitted and moved to slide her arms around Storm's shoulders, tip toeing to press a gentle kiss to the younger witch's jaw. She held herself as tightly to the taller frame as she could possibly get. The ever growing bump making it mildly difficult to do so, but she didn't mind at all.

With that Storm nodded, twisted them both and then they were being squeezed into nothingness. For a moment there was no breath that entered their lungs, no light that allowed them to see. But then they were landing in Hogsmede and both of them drew in a deep, heaving breath as they got their bearings rather quickly.

"Mom!" Was yelled over the hum of the crowd of students already filtering through the small village. "Hermione!" Was yelled right after, and as they turned they both spotted him simultaneously.

Storm blanched as she spotted the young girl next to him, their hands entwined much like hers and Hermione's were. She seemed to freeze and almost instantly Hermione felt much more confident about the whole situation. "Hey!" Hermione called back and the sound of her voice seemed to break Storm out of her stupor. It was almost as if she shook herself off and regained her composure, though she was still a little stiff.

"Hey!" Storm called finally a little louder than needed as the pair drew nearer to them. Her lips twisted up into a beaming smile as she dropped Hermione's hand only briefly to wrap her son up in a one armed hug that had been returned with vigour. The brunette was the next to be wrapped up by the boy who seemed much more confident than he had been during their last encounter. It didn't take long for him to pull away slightly with furrowed brows to look between them in confusion.

"Looks like I'm not the only one with something to say" He stated simply but quietly and his smile seemed to grow ten fold as he spoke mostly to Hermione herself. His words hushed as if they were sharing a secret.

"Surprise, you're going to be a big brother" Storm laughed then and clapped a paw like hand to his shoulder, delighted by how easy it had been to reveal. "Who's this?" She questioned, changing the topic to one that seemed to be skirted around up until that point. Her dark eyes fixed themselves to the young woman hiding behind Joe a little sheepishly. She was blonde and her eyes were a piercing blue, she seemed quite timid.

"This" Joe started, stepping back to take the girl's hand again and his smile grew even wider than it had been moments before. He looked proud, he looked excited to introduce his mother and this young woman. "This is Anna" he spoke, introducing the girl finally. "Anna this is my mom and her wife, Hermione" he motioned to them both in turn, the look on his face never changing.

Storm stepped forward and offered the girl her hand graciously flashing a warm smile. "It's nice to meet you" Storm stated simply and her smile warped and changed until she was grinning from ear to ear as the girl shook her hand in a firm grip.

"It's nice to meet you both. Joe said you wouldn't mind if I came along, he talks about you so much" She spoke kindly, her own smile bright as she moved to take Hermione's hand next and shake it just as firmly as she had done Storm's.

"Of course not, the more the merrier" Hermione spoke easily and a wide smile pulled at her own lips as she moved to wrap an arm around Storm's waist once again; sneaking a hand into her back pocket.

"Shall we grab a drink then?" Joe questioned, moving to motion towards the Three Broomsticks. "You guys can tell me all about your news then" He suggested and he truly seemed quite excited to hear about the impending new addition. Hermione wondered what it might be like to have such young parents and the prospect of having a younger sibling so much younger than he was. Though, if she considered it she figured the baby would be one of the most protected individuals on the planet.

"Lead the way" Storm stated simply, nodding along as she moved a hand to gesture towards the direction of the pub. The streets were full of students all wandering along, groups of them filtered through all going off into different places to do different things. Storm relished in the memory of the days where she had been able to wander these very streets with Ginny.

"I want to go to Honeydukes before we go home" Storm spoke quietly, leaning into Hermione as Joe turned to head towards the pub, leading the way hand in hand with the young girl he'd introduced to them. Storm couldn't deny he looked absolutely smitten and she was normally pretty decent with first impressions. She hoped she was right here, and the girl was as nice as she seemed to be. Though her eyes never left her son, scanning his back and watching as he walked along. His gait quite lumbering, lazy almost much like her own was.

"I wouldn't expect anything less" Hermione stated with a small laugh, shaking her head as they moved to wander along a little ways behind the pair. There were many memories held within these streets, and something in Hermione's chest was bursting with pride as she considered the fact they had just made quite a monumental one.

Storm's son had his first girlfriend, and this is where he had found out about his only sibling. "Are you okay?" Hermione whispered quietly as she considered the impact having a sudden girlfriend dropped on her was. She had all this yet to come, all this yet to experience with the little one growing within her womb. She forgot sometimes that Storm had done this, she had experienced things with this boy. He was her son and there was a motherly instinct that showed whenever he was mentioned.

"He best be using protection" Storm whispered back after a moment, her voice strained as she looked down at the brunette. Hermione couldn't help but laugh at the look on her face, her lips were stretched into a grimace and she had wrinkled her nose comically. "And he's taller than me now! How did that even happen?!" She added after a moments thought, her voice raising a little in pitch as she gestured above her own head.

The brunette stifled another laugh as she considered what the Shifter had said, shaking her head in disbelief. "Storm, he's fifteen! I'm sure it's innocent enough" Hermione retorted with a small snort of amusement. "Plus, he's not you! He seems much more sensible" She quipped in an attempt to ease the Shifter's obvious panic.

"What? Sensible like Cho? Yeah she's the one silly enough to shag me without protection! And we weren't a hell of a lot older than he is now" She stated bluntly, dark eyes wide and Hermione figured she actually looked quite afraid. You forget I have to do his washing, I know what his socks are like!" She grumbled again, her lips twisted down into a frown as she paused for only a moment before a look of dawning realisation plastered itself across her face. "I'll have to talk to him and make sure."

"Stop panicking, he's a smart boy" Hermione soothed, unsure really what else she could say to make the situation less stressful. "Lets just get through this and I'll be sure to do my best to take your mind off of it later on" Hermione whispered, leaning into the Shifter a little more to try and provide as much comfort as possible.

"Oh really?" Storm retorted almost instantly, her attitude changing entirely as soon as Hermione hinted towards a much more pleasant situation. Dark eyes brightened and her lips twisted up into a wicked grin.

"Yes really" Hermione stated simply, her tone factual as she lent back to peer up at the younger witch. Her own lips pulled up into a coy smile as she moved to smooth her hand across Storm's stomach in order to bring her closer; leaning up to press a chaste kiss to the Shifter's cheek. "Whatever you want" She quipped, knowing that statement itself would change the younger woman's mind frame entirely. It normally did the trick.

"And do I have to wear protection?" Storm whispered quietly, her tone much more joyful than it had been previously. Dark eyes were bright with excitement and Hermione could see the cogs turning in her mind.

"Well I cant get pregnant again" Hermione quipped finally as they wandered into the bar they had once frequented so often. The whole pub seemed to grow quiet once again and it seemed everyone had stopped to stare at them as they wandered through the door to the tavern.

Storm rolled her eyes as someone somewhere spoke her name and Hermione was grateful that it seemed to be the Shifter being fawned over rather than herself. She had garnered quite a grand amount of attention as part of the golden trio, but Storm was in fact an international quidditch star. The cup was resting on her shoulders and it had been announced only recently that she would be heading their team.

"Did you want to try the Hogshead?" Hermione questioned quietly as a flash went off somewhere in the background. Her words were almost cut off entirely as Storm let her go and rushed forward. She was almost shocked to see the Shifter grabbing hold of a camera held by an older gentleman and yanking it unceremoniously from his grasp.

They'd gotten lucky, though they hadn't really ever gone anywhere of interest to garner them attention. Storm was quite happy to stick around home, or venture into a muggle domain to remain as anonymous as possible, and Hermione had found she too was more than pleased by that. She hadn't seen the Shifter become aggressive so far, not since they were in school and it had seemed as if she had grown out of it.

"Get that out of his face" came the Shifter's voice all but growled as she slammed the camera onto the floor and destroyed it with a swift curse. Small pieces flew up and into the air before showering the ground with glittering bits of metal. "He's underage and you have no place trying to take his photo" She seethed as she gripped tightly to his collar now and the man had begun to try and squirm away from her.

He was weedy, and clearly had thought he had done nothing wrong. Hermione had clocked on quickly to what had happened, and she realised swiftly why there had never been any photos of Joe printed anywhere. She realised how he had been kept out of the public eye and she only felt herself growing even fonder of the Shifter, though she hadnt actually thought that was possible. Storm had protected him, kept him away from the dramatics the prophet spewed.

She was stunned as the shifter all but threw the bumbling bloke away from herself, still glowering at him quite threateningly as she watched him bolt out of the now silent tavern with a stern glare. Her eyes narrowed threateningly as she ensured he had left before she turned back to Joe, Hermione and Anna all watching her. An arrogant smirk tugged at her lips as she folded her arms across her chest and shrugged. "He'll get a new camera" She quipped as if that explained everything. "Find a seat then and I'll get the beers in" She added simply before moving to make her way towards Madam Rosmerta who was shaking her head rather unsurprised.

"She does that every time that happens" Joe stated casually as he pointed towards a table that was free towards the back of the pub. Flicking his eyes towards Hermione and Anna in turn before making to clear a path for them both through the students still gawking at the Shifter now behaving as if nothing at all had happened.

"You should have seen her in school, that's tame compared to what I had to deal with" Hermione quipped as she followed closely behind her stepson, noting he seemed to be ensuring she had plenty of room. Noting he was watching around them to ensure she didn't get knocked.

"She seems quite aggressive on the quidditch pitch" Anna pointed out, though there was no judgement or malice to her tone. It seemed to be quite factual and part of Hermione was instantly reminded of Luna.

"I think she gets most of it out while she's in the air to be honest" Hermione reasoned. She had seen some things on the pitch since she and Storm had gotten together that would have seen a student at Hogwarts in detention for weeks. It was brutal, and there was a lot to be said about the correlation between Storm being so calm now and her behaviour on the pitch. "But, she's never ever been aggressive with anyone whose not done anything wrong, so I don't imagine she'd be like that at home anyway" Hermione added as an afterthought and Joe nodded his agreement.

Their moment was broken by Storm returning with three butterbeers and a pumpkin juice for Hermione herself. Her smile was wide once again and she seemed entirely unperturbed by the events that had only just happened. "Are you okay?" She questioned then, and Hermione noted the tone of worry in her gaze as she regarded the three of them.

"Absolutely" Joe responded easily with a shrug before taking a tankard and pulling it to his lips to down half of the contents. His upper lip was coated in foam as he pulled the beverage away from his lips.

"So, how long have you two been together?" Storm questioned, and she seemed to finally relax a little. She leaned to drape an arm across the back of Hermione's shoulders and sat close, allowing the brunette the proximity to rest a hand on the top of her thigh under the table as they chatted idly with the pair opposite them.

The rest of the encounter went smoothly and before Hermione knew it it had come to a close. Joe and Anna were wandering back towards the castle and Storm was stood watching them go beside her. "Do you fancy a Chinese?" Storm questioned absently as she allowed the brunette to wrap her arms around her waist.

"I fancy something" Hermione quipped coyly a smirk tugging at her lips and an eyebrow raised suggestively. She watched the shifter from underneath long eyelashes as Storm seemed to cotton on to the true meaning of her words. The taller witch's lips quirked and she just nodded her consent.

"You are insatiable Hermione" Storm laughed as she shook her head in disbelief, though she didn't at all seem put out by the thought.

"Well I have got a promise to keep, and besides" She paused briefly to allow her words to sink in. "You did say you had some plans in store for when we got home" She added simply, slipping her hands into Storm's back pockets as the Shifter wrapped her up tightly.

"That I do" Storm stated, the meaning to her words hardly hidden behind irises darkening in the light from the sun beginning to set low on the horizon. Hermione did not need to respond, she did not need to explain anything else. She simply allowed the Shifter to apparate them home and without hesitation led her inside.