Chapter 44- Family Matters
For a while, Ron was gloomy after Rose left. He missed her and frequently spoke of his concern for her welfare. "What if" was often heard before he voiced a worry.
"Love, are you inventing things to worry about?" Hermione often asked.
"Well, look at all the stuff we got into," Ron would reply
"Yes, we got into a lot of stuff, but I know of two very big reasons why Rosie won't."
She sat down on his lap and he gave her a quick squeeze. "Enlighten me."
"Certainly. First, there's no evil, megalomaniac dark lord on the loose. Second, she's loads smarter than we are."
"I see your point, thank you Mrs. Weasley."
She gave him a quick kiss on the tip of his nose. "You're welcome, Mr. Weasley. Now, can you walk Hugo to school? I have an early appointment."
Although Hugo was a bit of a mummy's boy he was perceptive to the mood of his Dad. He noticed how his mum paid extra special attention to Dad and decided to do the same. So one day in November, when Ron came home from work and did paperwork at the dining room table, Hugo joined him with some primary school work and a copy of Idiot's Guide To Wizard's Chess. He didn't play near as well as Rosie, but was getting better. Ron glanced at his son across the table scribbling some numbers on a paper when he spotted the chess book and frowned.
"Hugh, let me see that."
He held his math paper to him.
"No, that chess book."
He shrugged and handed the book to him. Ron flipped through it and chuckled. "You're so much like your mum used to be, thinking you can learn stuff from books."
"Huh?"
"The best way to learn wizard's chess is to actually play, not flipping through a book and seeing someone else's idea of how to play."
His nine-year-old son, with eyes just like Hermione's, gave him a blank look. "Come on son, let's go to the den and see about the chess board there," he said.
A week before the Christmas holiday, Ron was actually in the kitchen, helping to prepare all of Rosie's favorite treats. Rosie's falcon, Bree, brought her weekly missive.
It's almost Christmas and I'm so excited
about coming home, which brings me to
ask an important question. Do you remember
me telling you about a friend of mine, Serena,
who grew up in an orphanage? Can
she come home with me for the holidays?
I know it's a lot to ask, but she'll either have
to go back to the orphanage or stay at
Hogwarts alone, for the holidays. We're good
friends, and I hate to think of her alone for
the holidays...
The letter continued with end-of-term test grades and the latest gossip about her mischievous cousins, Jamie and Albus Potter. Well, Jamie was the more naughty of the two, and Al just followed along. Many were surprised at Al's sorting, (thinking he would be placed in Ravenclaw with Rosie) but for reasons known only to the hat, he was placed in Gryffindor.
A week later, Rose, Serena, Albus, and a boy named William Wood sat in a compartment and chatted.
"I just hope I'm not intruding," Serena said for the fiftieth time. Rose rolled her eyes.
"Like I told you before, you're not. Daddy and Mum will like you, trust me."
"Yeah, Aunt Hermione's the best, she likes everybody," Albus said. "And she makes the best treacle tarts, better than Grams."
"Don't tell Grams that," Rose said.
A voice sounded from the train speakers. "King's Cross, prepare for arrival in ten minutes."
The Weasleys and Potters watched the train arrive, kids frantically waving from the windows at parents as the train pulled to a stop. The kids hurried off the train when Ron heard "Daddy!" and saw Rosie hurrying toward him. He held his arms open and engulfed his daughter in a fierce hug.
"Blimey, my girl's gotten so big, must be all that great Hogwarts food," he declared. Rosie drifted into Hermione's arms for another hug. Rosie turned and beckoned Serena forward.
"Daddy, Mum, this is Serena Hightower."
Hermione stepped forward and warmly greeted her. "It's so nice to meet you."
"We'll make sure you have a smashing time while you're with us," Ron said and looked around the station. "Where is Hugh? He said he was just going to get a soda."
"Yeah, it looks like the soda got him," said a laughing voice from behind. Serena gasped. There stood Ginny Weasley (one of Serena's heroes) with Rose's little brother, Hugh, who she recognized from pictures. The boy was wet with soda.
"Oh Hugh," Hermione fussed.
"The soda sprayed from the can when he took it from the machine," Ginny said.
September 1, 2019
Hermione was on the verge of a good bawl. Rose could tell. She was starting her third year, Hugh his first. The conductor announced the last call for Hogwarts, and Harry looked as if he was having the same problem with Lily as Hermione was with Hugh. They were the babies of the family and it was hard to let them go. Rose gave her mum one last hug.
"Don't worry Mum, I'll look out for him, so will everyone else," she said softly. "See?" she said and nodded toward a compartment full of Potter and Weasley kids, hanging out a window, urging Hugh and Lily to get on the train. Rose walked with Hugh and Lily to the train. Hermione and Harry watched until the train was a red dot in the distance.
Hugh's falcon, Max, brought Hugh's post that night. It had one word in Hugh's writing.
GRYFFINDOR!
The same month, Hermione received a post from Luna Lovegood. She last saw her friend a little over a year ago, before she went to America to study Rocky Mountain dragons. The letter arrived as she was preparing dinner, so she dropped it on the dining table to read after dessert. Ron came home as she ladled gravy into the gravyboat, kissed her cheek and took 2 sets of dinnerware to the table.
"I can't get over how quiet it is here without the kids," Ron called from the dining room. Hermione nodded in agreement. She fully expected to hear Hugh's thundering footsteps on the stairs when she announced dinner. Instead she heard Ron's "blimey!" and accompanying laugh. She went to the dining room with the steaming platter of pot roast.
"Here love, take a look," he said, taking the roast from her and setting it on the table. She sat down, read the letter and laughed.
To My Friends Hermione and Ronald:
Hello from the American Rocky Mountains! I hope this letter finds you and your children doing well. Your youngest started Hogwarts this year, didn't he? Research is going well well here and I expect to finish by the holidays, which brings me to the point of this letter.
I may not have found Snorkacks of any breed (yet!) on this continent, but I did manage to find a fiancee. We plan to marry on the peak of a beautiful mountain here in Colorado at the end of November. His name is Rolf Scamander, maybe you've heard of his grandfather, Newt Scamander, the naturalist? Well, Rolf followed in his family's footsteps and is a naturalist as well. We met two months ago, or bumped into each other rather, in Colorado City at the Midwest Division of the American Magical Administration. I can report that it was love at first sight. I only wish my father were still alive to give me away. I know that what you are about to read is asking a lot, but it would mean the world to me if you and Ronald could be here for the wedding. I've written Harry, Ginny, and Neville as well. If it turns out you can't attend, it's perfectly understandable. Either way, I'd love to hear from you!
Your friend always,
Luna
"The top of a mountain in November? Kind of cold, isn't it?" Hermione asked.
"We are magical you know, that shouldn't be a problem. How many vacation days do you have riding on the books?" Ron replied. Three quick knocks were heard from the back door.
"Come in you two," Hermione called out.
Harry and Ginny strolled into the dining room, sniffing at the air.
"Smells great," Harry said.
"You know where the plates are," Ron said and took a bite of his roast.
When everyone was settled with a plate, Harry asked "So, anyone up for a trip to America?"
When the school year ended, Rose and Hugo talked excitedly about their school adventures, friends, and grades. Rose showed Hermione her grades, especially proud of her Arithmancy grade. Not many students chose that as their additional class and Rose had also chosen Care of Magical Creatures. Three days into summer, Rose asked if Serena could come visit the next day.
"Of course she can," Hermione replied. "I have a special session to attend at the Wizengamot, but your Dad will be here."
"You have to do that on a Saturday?"
"Yes sweet."
"The orphanage Serena lives at has a rule that when one of the kids leave, they have to be picked up by someone from the place they're going."
"Ron love?" Hermione called.
Ron poked his head into the parlor. "Can you go with Rose to her friend's orphanage and pick her up?"
"Is it your little friend...the one that was here during the holiday?" he asked.
Rose rolled her eyes. Little friend? "Yes Dad, Serena."
"What time?"
Rose shrugged. "Anytime, she's doesn't really go anywhere."
"Okay, how about after breakfast?"
"Great!" was the reply and a flurry of red hair flew upstairs to write a letter.
Serena stayed for dinner, enjoying their company and the playful arguments of Rose and Hugo. She also told them that no one really used the word "orphanage."
"Our house mother, Ms. Chandler, doesn't like the word, says it too Dickens, whatever that means. We just call it the home," Serena said.
Harry, being who he was, felt responsible for the number of homeless and orphans after the war. In response, he started The Potter Foundation. His foundation supported the Hogwarts Trust, The Potter Home of Greater London (of which Serena was a resident), and a sizable donation to St. Mungo's every year. Many wealthy former Death-Eater families who wanted to put their names in the best possible light also contributed large sums to the foundation. Draco Malfoy was the second-largest contributor behind Harry. As a good-will gesture to Gringotts for what happened all those years ago, he paid for a new dragon and upkeep of the creature, as well as the new security measures put into place, assuring that what Harry, Ron and Hermione did all those years ago would never happen again.
In July one night after dinner, Rose asked to speak to her parents in the den about something important. Please, let it not be about a boy! Ron silently pleaded. She's only thirteen!
Rose brought a tray of drinks and snacks to the den, sat down, cleared her throat and began.
"Did you ever want to have more kids?" Rose asked.
Ron and Hermione blinked and looked at each other.
"Yes, we did."
"After Hugo, I wasn't able to have another."
"Have you thought about adopting or something like that?"
"Sometimes," Hermione said.
"What do you think of Serena?" Rose asked.
"Serena? Well, she's a sweet, smart girl," Hermione said.
"She's a walking Quidditch dictionary, that makes her okay in my book," Ron joked.
"Dad!" Rose said.
"Calm down love, that was a joke. Like your mum said, she's a sweet, smart girl," Ron assured her. "We like her well enough."
Rose took a deep breath. "What do you think of Serena coming to live with us? For good?"
"Like adopting her?" Ron asked. "Is that what this is all about?"
When Rose pulled a stack of papers from underneath the chair cushion, Ron and Hermione smiled at each other. "Serena and I have been researching this since the holidays. In the magical world, adoption requires notification of the parents. Since hers are dead, you can apply for guardianship of her. It's like adoption, just not called adoption."
She gave the papers to Hermione, who was bursting with pride inside. Hermione, a research nut herself, recognized that Rose had taken the initiative and had done research better left to adults. Those two must really want this.
Ron was thinking the same. "You two must want this pretty badly. Like mother, like daughter, doing research and all," Ron said proudly.
"I can see you're serious about this. Let your father and I talk it over," Hermione said.
"We'll sleep on it and decide tomorrow," Ron said.
"That's all we ask, just think about it," Rose said.
That night Ron and Hermione cuddled in bed and discussed what Ron called "Rosie's proposal."
"She may look like me, but she's all you, you know," Ron said. "She wants to help everybody."
"An admirable quality for a thirteen year old," Hermione said.
"I agree," he said. "So, any cons to this?"
"You know, I can't think of one."
"Neither can I. We can afford it, we give a good kid a home, Rose basically gets a sister she's always wanted, Mum gets another grandkid to spoil, Hugh gets someone else to torment..." he said.
Hermione chuckled. "So it's settled then? We'll go this home she's at and get the quaffle flying. I'm pretty sure it falls under my side of the legal house," Hermione said. At the Office of Magical Law at MLE, she specialized in Civil Law and Affairs.
"I love it when you talk quidditch," Ron whispered and slowly slid the nightgown from her body.
The next morning, Rose could barely eat breakfast she was so beside herself, happily. They were going that morning to get the guardianship process started for Serena. The two war heroes and daughter surprised the administrator and house mother.
"Are you here on behalf of the Potter foundation?" Mrs. Hanover, the home administrator asked.
"No madam. We're here to inquire about assuming guardianship for one of the children here," Hermione said and held out her hand. "Hermione Weasley, pleased to meet you," then Ron introduced himself.
That caught the women two off-guard. It was rare for anyone to inquire that about older children. Babies, yes. Children, rarely. The last baby in the home was now a 13 year old boy.
"Which one?"
"Serena Hightower," Ron said.
"You must be Rose," Ms. Chandler said. Rose nodded shyly. "She talks about you often."
Mrs. Hanover rose and spoke. "Ms. Chandler will retrieve Serena for you and get some refreshments. It will take me a few minutes to find the guardianship papers. Excuse me."
Minutes later, Serena entered the room. Both girls squealed and talked excitedly with another. Ten minutes later, Mrs. Hanover returned to the office.
"Here we are. This first form is for temporary placement in your care until an investigation is completed. All it requires is your basic information and I will release her to you today," she said kindly. Serena bounced in her chair. "If for some reason there's a problem in any aspect of the investigation, she will be returned here until the problem can be resolved."
"Sounds reasonable," Hermione said.
As Ron and Hermion filled out the forms, Mrs. Hanover didn't see a problem. Both are war heroes. Mr. Weasley is an Auror, in a supervisory position no less. Mrs. Weasley is an attorney in the Office of Magical Law. Their best friend is Harry Potter, founder of this very home. She watched them interact with Serena. They seemed like good, kind people. Ron gave her a chocolate frog.
"Do you work with the Potter Foundation, Mrs. Weasley?" Mrs. Hanover asked.
"Yes, I handle the legal matters of the foundation," Hermione said and gave the papers back.
"This looks to be in order. I'll sign it, make a copy and file it with the Ministry. You take a copy with you." She turned to Serena with a teary smile. "You may gather your belongings, young lady."
Serena left in a flash of blond hair and excited green eyes.
"We love all the children here, but we'd love to see them in a good home even more," Mrs. Hanover said. "Serena's one of the older ones, she'll be missed."
When Serena returned with a suitcase and some books, a small crowd of children were behind her, peeking over her shoulders and around her to see who was taking her away from the home. Some of them knew Rose from Hogwarts and waved.
"Ready to go?" Ron asked, his voice almost choked at the sight of all the kids. As someone who came from such a large family, he couldn't begin to imagine what it was like not to have one.
On the way to the door, the girls talked excitedly about the summer. Suddenly, a small voice from the group of children called out, "Don't go Serena!"
Serena reversed course, went straight for the forlorn little boy and crouched next to him. "Hey now, none of that. Haven't we talked abut going to families?"
The boy nodded.
"I'll visit and send letters," Serena assured him and looked at everyone. "I won't forget you, any of you, I promise." She received hugs from kids in the crowd and rejoined the Weasleys. At home, she was given her choice of the two guest rooms.
"I get my own room?" she asked at a whisper.
"If you'd like," Hermione said.
"I've never had my own room."
"Well, you do now. I'll just let you do the things that girls do to get settled and let the family know what's going on," Ron said.
Over the weekend, Serena did her best to become accustomed with her new life, living in a real home with a family. She met the rest of the family, and Mrs. Granger was actually in tears over Serena. She loved Quidditch, so how cool was it to be with a family where Quidditch was a way of life? There was often impromptu matches staged at The Burrow or Potter Hill, and she was beyond thrilled to get to play with her hero, Ginny, and get seeker lessons from Harry Potter. She was amazed at the simple novelties of going to the kitchen whenever she liked for a snack (Ron encouraged it) or going on shopping trips. She never had a pet, and fell in love with Adan, now a 14 year old kneazle.
Two weeks into the temporary placement arrangement, Ron and Hermione were summoned to the Ministry Social Services Department to finalize the process, to make their guardianship of Serena permanent. The background investigation had concluded that they would be an acceptable family, and when the final papers were signed, a Quidditch party was held at Potter Hill to recognize Serena's status as a member of the family.