Chapter 45- Babies No More
"This time, like all times, is a very good one, if we but know what to do with it."
Ralph Waldo Emerson
Man is a history-making creature who can neither repeat his past nor leave it behind.
W. H. Auden
June 1, 2024
All the cliches about the passage of time ring especially true for parents. One day you're changing their nappies. Next, you're watching them board the Hogwarts Express. Soon, it's your daughter's fifth year and she's sending letters pleading for more money for a dress for the Yule Ball. Now she's leaving Hogwarts, Hermione thought, looking around the Hogwarts quidditch pitch. It was filled to capacity with the graduates and their families.
"Serena Frances Hightower."
The Weasleys, Potters and Grangers cheered and clapped for the girl who had begged the Headmistress not announce her full name. Minerva disagreed, saying it was a perfectly lovely name and that she wasn't about to go against over 1000 years of tradition because someone didn't like their middle name. She watched the children of former classmates walk to the raised platform to receive their certificates and congratulations from Minerva. The name Scorpius Aurelius Malfoy drew the attention of the crowd. His two awards for academic achievement seemed to embarrass him as he made his way to the front. Several students in the crowd cheered for him, Rose being one of them. She had no reason to dislike him, having no history of anything other than friendship for the boy. Rose was like Hermione, friends with everyone.
"At least that Malfoy turned out okay," Ron mumbled.
"Rose Elizabeth Weasley."
Rose was also a raving beauty. Tall like her father, with dark auburn hair, shining blue eyes and according to the boys "a right fit bird," Rose had no interest in any of the "immature, randy, idiotic blokes" at Hogwarts. That was just fine with Ron. No one was good enough for her in his mind. She was planning to be a Healer and in her opinion, the drama that would eventually accompany a boyfriend would distract her from her studies. Sure, she would admit to a few fun but non-serious flings over the years. However, she was a witness and shoulder to cry on too many times (in her opinion) for Serena when her various boyfriends over the years would move on to the next girl of the month.
Ron and Harry took a picture of Rose's group of friends; Rose, Serena, Scorpius Malfoy, Albus, and three others he didn't know proudly held their scrolls. Astoria Malfoy motioned for the group to stay for one more picture and raised her camera as Scorpius pointed to the Ravenclaw patch on his robe. Scorpius gave each girl a quick peck on the cheek and hug, the boys a clap on the back and a promise to meet at the pub soon for a drink.
"Potter, Weasley, Hermione," Draco said with a nod and walked away with his wife and son.
"So, what pub is this to meet soon for drinks?" Ron asked.
"No special someone to say goodbye to?" Hermione asked innocently.
"You mean like Serena's bloke of the month?" Rose asked and snorted at Serena's seemingly heartfelt goodbye to some boy from Hufflepuff. "As if."
"I hope I'm there to see when the love bug bites you," Hermione teased.
"Keep hoping mum."
A week later, Rose and Serena were at home in the attic going through their belongings, preparing to move into their own flat. They had found a nice two bedroom flat in one of the newer complexes for single witches located ideally between the Ministry and St. Mungo's. Serena was starting her job in the Department of Magical Games and Sports. She had hopes of working her way up to refereeing professional Quidditch matches. Rose would be starting Healer training in two weeks and from what she was told, the first six months she would be practically living at St. Mungo's. In the attic, they shifted trunks and boxes marked "Ron-Hogwarts" and "Hermione-Hogwarts."
"Just a peek couldn't hurt, could it?" Rose asked.
"None of this stuff is a secret, is it?" Serena asked.
Serena opened the one marked Ron, Rose the one marked Hermione.
"Oh my gosh!" exclaimed Serena, holding up an ancient Gryffindor quidditch jersey. "It's a classic," she whispered.
"How funny! Look at Mum's hair!" Rose said and held up a picture of Hermione, Ron, and Harry at the end of their first year. "Dad looks so small."
"So does Uncle Harry," Rose said speculatively.
She shifted through more of Hermione's box and saw a tarnished Prefect's badge, an old booklet for Apparition training, and a copy of Hermione's Fifth Year Career Counseling worksheet with her O.W.L.s attached. Rose was puzzled to see "Undecided in terms of career choice as of date of counseling" then Professor McGonagall's signature.
"Wow, look at mum's freakish marks," Rose said. She was an excellent student herself, good enough to get into the rigorous but prestigious Healer training program, but her mum's OWL's still held the record since 1887.
"Can you imagine how she must have felt, deciding not to go back her seventh year?" Serena asked.
"You know the story, she would have done anything for Uncle Harry," Rose said. "But no, I can't imagine how she must have felt."
They came to trunks marked "Ron-other" and "Hermione-other." Rose opened Ron's and took out a envelope marked "honeymoon." guess there's more than on the wall in the den! As she flipped through the pictures, she knew why they weren't on display in the den. These were intimate, personal pictures. One was of Hermione asleep, a sheet barely covering her nude body with the Nile River in the background. In another, Ron must have caught her by surprise as she was just able to cover herself with a towel. She laughed and tossed a washcloth toward the camera. She quickly put the envelope back into the trunk when she came to one of Hermione seductively eating a slice of orange. Mum seducing Dad-ewww!! She spied an old notebook and flipped through it until she came to a page entitled "What I Love About Hermione."
"Oh Dad," Rose said softly. Dad can really be sweet! He's spot on! Mum is smart, she's made the world a better place and she does have a wicked sense of humor!
"What?" Serena asked and leaned over to see what Rose was getting so teary over. "Aww, that's so sweet!"
They turned the page and saw Hermione's writing and a page entitled "What I Love About Ron."
"I hope I find the kind of love mum and dad have," Rose said.
"Yeah, me too," Serena said. "Hey wait, you?! Miss Rose no-blokes-allowed Weasley?"
Rose shrugged. "Just because I'm not looking for a bloke doesn't mean I'm averse to the idea. If it happens, great. If not, that's okay too, that's all I'm saying. "
The last thing they looked at was a picture they would never forget. It was a picture of a very pregnant Hermione with "Rosie-eight months" at the bottom. Hermione was looking smiling sweetly at Ron when he kissed her swollen belly, laid his ear to it and tapped lightly with a fingertip as if to say "Hey there, Dad's here."
June 3, 2026
"Lily Luna Potter."
"Hugo William Weasley."
"Louis Pierre Weasley."
Once again, the families clapped and cheered for the babies of the families leaving Hogwarts. The event was also Headmistress McGonagall's last official duty as the school's head. She was retiring at the ceremony's end at 101 years of age. One last feast at Hogwarts that night was to be held in her honor for her years of service to the school, over 70 years worth. Professor Flitwick, the the deputy head, was the unanimous choice as her successor, but a new deputy head had yet to be determined.
What an end of an era, Harry thought as he watched his daughter rise with her classmates and toss her pointed hat in the air. Lily was leaving Hogwarts with academic honors, but had no career aspirations. She was so talented at Charms that Professor Flitwick suggested an apprenticeship with him, but she politely declined the offer. She was raised with an intense love of family, and along with her nurturing nature she knew that being a housewitch like her grandmother would be the only thing that would make her truly happy. She was an apt pupil under Molly's tutelage, grew to love homemaking and was an excceptional cook.
She got a job at the Java Magic Cafe in Diagon Alley and Harry bought her a small cottage in Ottery St. Catchpole, so she could have her own place to happily set up housekeeping but still be close enough to the family. Lily didn't know it, but from the east window of her parent's bedroom, the front door of her little cottage could be seen. Harry was having a hard time letting
his little girl go, so being able to actually see her home would help the letting go process.
Hermione wouldn't be having such a hard time with her scholarly but fun-loving son. Hugo had taken a shine to history when he started Hogwarts. His fifth year, his series of What If historical essays intrigued Professor Binns to the point of forwarding them to various Wizarding publications. There were never prouder parents than Ron and Hermione when they saw the articles of their 15 year-old-son in prestigious publications such as Wizarding World Monthly, Modern Magic, and Today's Sorcerer.
The summer after his sixth year, he was offered a summer job as a research assistant intern at the British Wizarding Museum, which he eagerly accepted. His seventh year, with Professor Binns and the museum curator's recommendations, he applied for admission to London Wizarding College to study Magical History. He was accepted and would start mid-August while working part-time at the museum. He would also be living at home until he finished school, which was just fine with Hermione. Ron was amazed at the sheer amount of information Hugo could absorb. He has to get it from Hermione. How often had he heard Hermione quote some legal precedent from 1910 or talk with Hugo about some obscure transfiguration discovery from 1930? He was the proudest father in Britain- his children would be a Healer and a Historian.