It was now the third week of term. The sixth-years were starting to feel the heavier workload that was associated with their studies, especially with N.E.W.T.S. being next year. Rose and Albus were on their way to the library to reserve a table for themselves and Scorpius, who was at Quidditch tryouts. As they were walking, all of the sudden, they felt a gust of wind knock them over, causing them to land on the cobblestone floor. Laughter rang out, as Al helped Rose to her feet, with the loudest laughter coming from Bruno, Kyra, and Stanley.
"Really?" asked Al, unimpressed and unbothered. "You've been using that trick since our first year."
"Where's your boyfriend, Rose?" sneered Bruno.
"He's not my boyfriend," insisted Rose, knowing they were referring to Scorpius.
"Guess they finally got to them," said Stanley.
"Who?" asked Rose, concerned with Stanley's menacing tone.
"Who do you think?" taunted Bruno.
"Let's go, Rosie," said Albus, turning his back on them. "We've got better things to do."
"Oh, really, like what?" asked Stanley.
"Like study," said Al, which was met with snickering. "I'd rather not have my parent beg the school to have their precious little boy retake their O.W.L.S!"
"You like to elaborate on that further, poof?" asked Bruno, grabbing Al by his collar.
"Let him go or I'll hex you to eternity!" said Rose, jumping to the front of her cousin before Bruno had a chance to pick him up. Although much bigger than Rose, Bruno knew how tough she was from defence against the dark arts classes. Plus, like all Weasleys, she had a wide range of hexes in her arsenal. Slowly, Bruno backed up and walked away with Stanley.
"Al..." said Rose, concerned about her cousin.
"It's fine, Rose," mumbled Al. "It's just a word." With her arms open, Rose gently embraced Al, allowing him to put his head on her shoulder. Even though Al had his closest cousin and best friend to support him, the name calling did wear down on him.
"I'm sorry, Al," whispered Rose.
Hermione was walking to work after dropping Hattie off at nursery. It was a rainy morning and although Hermione was running a few minutes later than she wanted, she didn't want to jeopardize losing the baby by slipping on the wet pavement. At this point, only Ron and she knew about the pregnancy, but Hermione knew at some point she had to tell the family and her employees.
After the initial surprise and shock of it all, Ron came around in the end. If there was one thing Ron loved to do more than boost about his wife was boost about his children. The thought of another baby excited him, especially the thought of perhaps having another boy to even out the ratio in the house.
As she navigated her way around the puddles, Hermione had this eerie feeling in her gut, as though someone was watching her. Hermione stopped in her tracks to look around, only to see people passing her by in the London street. Normally, Hermione tried to blend in by walking to the Ministry, but today given this eerie feeling she decided that disapparating was the better choice. Hermione looked around once more before entering an alleyway to perform magic. She took one more glance and just as she disapparated, she saw a white-hair man looking at her at the opening of the alley.
In a split second, Hermione arrived to the Ministry, already busy and full of employees heading to work. Once again, Hermione looked around to see if anyone had followed her and quickly walked into the .
"Granger," said a deep voice. Hermione jumped at the sound of Shacklebolt's voice.
"Oh, I'm sorry," said Shacklebolt, who was taken back by Hermione's reaction.
"No, I'm sorry Kingsley," said Hermione. "I was just...lost in thought."
"Well, I've been looking for you," said Shacklebolt. "There's a matter I've been meaning to discuss with you about."
"Of course, Kingsley, I'm...excuse me..." Before Kingsley could ask Hermione what was wrong, Hermione sprinted to the bathrooms in the main lobby.
"We're glad to have you back, mate," said George, showing Ron to his new office at Weasley's Wizard Wheezes. "I'm sorry being an Auror didn't work out."
"No you're not," said Ron. "You miss bossing me around."
"Guilty as charged," said George, raising his hands to the air. "But in all seriousness, this couldn't have come at a better time because we actually need someone to help us spearhead our games section."
"Games?" asked Ron, sitting down at his new desk. "Like, chess?"
"Exactly," said George, also sitting down at the chair across from Ron's desk. "We've basically had the market cornered for pranks. Now, we want to expand into games. Do you remember all of those games Dad would bring home from work?"
"Oh yeah," said Ron. "Like...um, what was the one with the slides and ladders?"
"Chutes and ladders," said George. "Right now though, we want to focus on a chess game. But, we want a chess board that incorporates the magical charm of Weasley's Wizard Wheezes. You know what I mean?"
"So you want the queen to throw a Boogey Hex at a rook?" asked Ron.
"Well, she's a queen, Ron, we can think of something a bit more classy," said George, getting up from the chair. "I'll leave you to it to come up with some ideas."
"Got it," said Ron, giving his brother a faux salute.
"Welcome back, Ron," said George, with genuine warmth in his voice as he left the office.
Ron looked around at his office. It was stark at the moment, but within a few minutes, Ron used magic to decorate it with his favorite photos. The first photo was him and Hermione on their wedding day, the second was Rose in her Hogwarts uniform during her first year, the third was Hugo at a Chudley Canons game, and the fourth was Hattie on Ron's shoulders. The final photo was of the entire family from last year. Soon, Ron would have to add another photo of the fourth Granger-Weasley, a thought that filled him with joy.
Once done, Ron looked around the room to admire his work. Just then, Ron's phone rang. Ron looked down and saw it was Harry.
"Harry? What's up?" asked Ron.
"I just saw Hermione run into the bathroom," said Harry. "Is there anything you want to tell me?"