AN: Okay, so I admit it, I'm so impatient. I can't wait to share this chapter with you and round off Everything Has Changed so here I am, on a Sunday night, staying up late to post it. (I say late, it's 21:19 and it's a bank holiday here in the UK tomorrow.) The epilogue is pure self-gratifying cheesy fluff, and exactly the ending that Ron (and Hugo) deserves. Thank you SO MUCH for sticking with me and this story, and all the lovely comments and videos you've sent me.
I know I always say it, but my betas Adenei, be11atrixthestrange, cheesyficwriter, smjl and quicksilverfox are truly AMAZING and this story would be nothing without their beady eyes and calling me out on my shit. Other shoutouts go to Mina_Roman for being a massive cheerleader, HSP2200 for giving me the idea in the first place, mpaoshelle on Tumblr for her brilliant comic strips and Cynthia Granger for the TikTok videos. And all the rest of you for keeping me going with your lovely comments.
Anyway, for the last time for Everything Has Changed, I hope you enjoy this chapter. If you do, please let me know. If you don't - you're a monster. But also, please let me know but don't forget to be constructive and be kind. And keep your eyes peeled for my next story, of which I've already written the second chapter and I doubt will take me long to start posting, given how impatient I am xxx
Ron, Hermione and their little family go to Thorpe Park.
Three years later
The boiling hot sun beats against the top of Ron's head, and he shivers as a bead of sweat trickles under the collar of his t-shirt. A light breeze rustles the trees around them, although it gives no respite from the unforgiving British summer. He swipes his hand over his forehead before continuing to weave through the large groups of people. The smell of stale sweat and fried onions mingle with the proximity of what seems like everyone else from the UK, making him feel ill.
Perhaps riding Saw was a bad idea, especially with its one hundred degree drop and countless spirals. His head had bounced around the cart with every quick change of direction, rattling his brain inside his skull. It had taken him a moment to stop his legs from feeling like jelly after stepping off the ride. As he creeps closer to forty, a lot of the stuff Ron Weasley used to love now gives him a headache and makes the world spin around him for what feels like hours after. He is turning into a grumpy old git.
Who the fuck decided to come here in the middle of the summer holidays, anyway?
Despite the oppressive crowds and heat, a smile crosses Ron's face. He wouldn't miss this trip for the world.
The annual pilgrimage to Thorpe Park has become a family tradition ever since the first time they came here. It was a lot easier to handle the crowds and only getting to go on five rides out of the many on offer here when the tickets were free. Three years ago, he and Hermione won the trip after raising the biggest amount at the Ottery St Catchpole Junior School summer fete. The rest of the family have joined them over the past few years, turning the trip into the highlight of the Weasley summer holidays. Last year, he and Hermione even kicked off their honeymoon in style here, letting the kids go home with Harry, Ginny, and the rest of the Potters whilst the newly married Weasley-Grangers jetted off to the Caribbean for two long, child-free weeks of sun, sea and sex.
It had been a whirlwind romance. The couple had barely even been together a whole year before Ron proposed during a raucous family game of Monopoly on a random Sunday evening. They took their time with the engagement, planning out the perfect wedding for the pair of them. They kept it small, with only close friends and family in attendance, preferring to save their money for an extravagant honeymoon instead. What Ron wouldn't give to be back there now, lounging on the pure-white sand with a glass of cool beer in his hand and Hermione lying next to him in that delightful red bikini she owns.
Ron gets a momentary glimpse of Hugo's flaming red hair and Rose's bushy curls as the crowds part. They decided to run ahead, eager to get in the hour-long queue for Colossus, the next ride on their list after Hugo had worked out that they had enough time to ride it before they met everyone else for lunch.
A roller coaster cart thunders along the track overhead, and nausea bubbles in Ron's belly. Maybe he should sit this one out? All of a sudden, ten inversions don't sound like much fun.
The kids disappear into the hordes once more, and panic replaces the sickness. Ron calls out with a shaky voice, "Hey, you two, wait up! You know Hermione can't keep up with us, not with all that extra weight she's carrying."
Hugo and Rose respond straight away, freezing in place like two life-sized statues. Even from this distance, Ron can see their lips twitching and smiles threatening to appear on their faces, giving their little game away. Hugo's head turns the slightest amount, and as their eyes connect, the pair erupt into a fight of giggles, annoying the groups of riders who have to change direction to shift around them. You'd never guess there were six years between these two, given how close they've grown since their families merged. Ever since Hermione and Ron announced they were dating, Hugo and Rose have been as thick as thieves, acting more like siblings than step-siblings-slash-cousins. Their weird little set-up just works, even if it's a nightmare to explain to anyone curious enough to ask about it.
A sharp punch to Ron's arm distracts him, and he turns his gaze towards the source of the violent jab. Hermione's red and sweaty face fills his vision, blocking out the millions of people around them.
"Ow, you witch!" He rubs the spot she hit, even though she didn't hurt him—anything to garner more attention and sympathy from his beautiful wife.
"All that extra weight she's carrying," Hermione mimics in a harsh tone, although the smile on her face gives away that she's only playing. "That's your baby daughter you're talking about. Plus, I'm thirty-eight. You can't expect my body to snap back like it did when I was twenty-one."
Ron grins and grabs her, pulling her close to him as he seeks out her lips. He murmurs against them, "Mmmmm, but I think you're even sexier with these curves." He gives her a soft kiss, careful not to squash the seven-month-old baby sleeping in the sling Hermione wears. Once he pulls away, he peers into the carrier, dancing his fingers amongst the fiery red curls on his daughter's head, not wanting her to feel left out. "And you're the most beautiful daughter, too. Look at her all content sleeping on her mum's boobs. That's my favourite place in the world, too. She's just like me."
"Yeah, a lump." Hermione groans. "Does she feel hot? Maybe bringing her here was a bad idea after all? We should have left her with your mum."
"We didn't expect it would be this hot, love." He gives Hermione another kiss. "But please stop worrying about her. I'm sure Grace will tell us if she's feeling uncomfortable." Ron regards Hermione's worried look for a moment more before deciding to try and appease her. "Maybe try some cold water in her bottle before her next feed like Ginny suggested?"
Grace stirs, and Ron's heart skips a beat before filling with glee as the baby gazes up at him with beautiful, wide brown eyes. She gives him a sleepy smile before muttering a string of nonsensical babble. Without asking Hermione, he unstraps the carrier and lifts Grace out of it, planting a firm kiss on her sleep-warmed cheek.
It was never in their plan to have another child, although Ron secretly yearned for a baby to call his own (not that he treats Grace anymore favourably than Hugo or Rose, of course.) She'd come as a pleasant surprise, with Hermione finding out she was pregnant just before her wedding dress fitting. Grace was a Christmas baby and the perfect present to complete their little family. Hugo and Rose had been over the moon.
"Ron." A whinge disrupts the father-daughter moment as another of his children tugs on his elbow. Rose stands next to Hermione with her hands on her hips and a threatening look on her face. Hugo waits next to her, looking equally as pissed off. She continues, "Can you please put baby Grace down? We need to join the queue for Colossus now. Otherwise, we'll be late to meet everyone else for lunch. Nanny Molly won't let them eat without us, and that will piss everyone off."
"Rose, watch your language around the baby." Ron gives her a warning look, trying not to smile as Hugo giggles at the telling off.
Rose and Hermione blended in well with the rest of the Weasleys, and once Molly got to know Hermione properly, it was like Hermione was her best friend. It only took a few weeks of Ron and Hermione dating before she and Rose were attending Sunday dinner at the Burrow, and pretty soon, they were turning up without Ron needing to be there. Rose loves tinkering with gadgets and devices with Arthur in the garage and has even gone to trawl car boot sales and second-hand shops for treasures with him. Like the Weasley granddad, she enjoys taking things apart and putting them back together without the manuals.
The Weasley-Grangers only have a year of Rose left in the house before she heads off to university. The brainiac already wants to apply to Cambridge or Oxford, amongst other places. It'll be a year of change, with Hugo only having one year left at Ottery Junior School before heading to high school. Still, at least they have Grace, and Ron plans to keep her this small for as long as he possibly can.
"What do you reckon, Gracie? Shall we let your big brother and sister ride yet another roller coaster? Do you think your old Dad can take it?"
Grace blows a raspberry, then reaches out for Rose, who pokes her tongue out at the baby but refuses to hold her. Rose has already turned her body back in the direction of the queue, which seems to have grown longer whilst they've had their discussion.
"That's a yes then." Ron hands the baby back to Hermione with a sigh. "If I puke, I'm allowed to blame Rose and Hugo, yes? It's not because I'm getting old?"
"You're only as young as the woman you're feeling," Hermione responds.
He pouts. "Oh, bollocks. You're older than me."
Laughing, she gets the baby back into the carrier with Ron's help. "I'll wait by the exit and give this one a drink. I think there's a bench there."
"Alright, love. Try and find a bit of shade, yeah?"
She raises an eyebrow at him. "This isn't my first baby, Ron."
"I know, I know!" He raises his hands in surrender. "I'm only looking after the two of you. We'll wave if we can see you when we're upside down. Come on then, kids, let's get me well and truly killed off."
He gives Hermione and Grace one last kiss before letting Rose and Hugo pull him away.
"You'll be fine, Uncle Ron." Hugo laughs. "It's only a roller coaster."
Of course, it's easy to say only a roller coaster when you're eleven, and it doesn't matter if you're not the right side up because you're used to running around like an idiot, tumbling and throwing yourself all over the place. But Ron knows one more roller coaster won't hurt, at least, he hopes. And even if he does puke at the end of it, it'll be worth it for the memories that will last well after all three of the kids have grown up and have left the nest.
He glances back at Hermione, who is already settling on a shady bench. She chats away to the baby as she makes herself comfortable, and Ron's heart fills with love.
Yes, he has it bloody perfect. He never thought his life would change this much when he turned up to the Ottery St. Catchpole PTA meeting all those years ago.
But he's glad it has.