Chapter 47- Family Matters, Part Two

September 2027
A ordinary Tuesday night

Ginny was working late at the paper for a special Quidditch edition, so Harry ate a sandwich, straightened some clutter and went upstairs. Drawn yet again to the window, he saw Lily and David walking hand in hand along the path to her home. They stopped at the door and kissed heatedly. Lily took his hand and led him inside.

Ginny's right, I've got to stop this, I'm some kind of peeping Harry.

"Mum, Dad?" Albus' voice called out from downstairs. Harry hurried down the stairs, glad for the company. He really missed the kids. Albus was in the the foyer with his girlfriend of over a year, Marissa. They looked happier than ever.

"Dad, I asked Marissa to marry me, she said yes."

Thursday morning

Why, oh why didn't she lock the door? Rose thought as she gathered some things in her satchel and left the flat. Not a minute ago, she had opened Serena's door and found her in bed with Scorpius. The looks on the faces of all three, had anyone taken a picture, would have been a mix of utter shock, absolute embarrassment, and a touch of amusement.

Why am I surprised? Or am I jealous? Rose thought as she made her way to Kevin's before he left for work. She and Kevin had come so close to doing the deed (as Serena often put it) but never closed the deal. The truth of the matter was that it just wasn't that big of a deal to her. She had exactly one sexual experience in her life and it was entirely forgettable. It had been a quickie at Hogwarts her seventh year with a bloke whose name she can't even recall, all because she was curious and he just wanted to say he had done it. As she grew older, she asked her mum about sex in general from time to time without going into much detail (like she would ever tell anyone she was shagged by a sixth year Hufflepuff!)

She recalled a conversation last year and was told "when it's with with the right man, at the right time, it's very, very good."

Rose groaned and flopped back on the couch. "Mum, you and dad have been together practically forever. It's always the right time for you."

"Yes, it is, isn't it?" Hermione answered saucily.

"You're as bad as Aunt Ginny," Rose huffed and left the room before her mum mortified her further.

Apparently, Serena had discovered the whole right-man-right-time concept, based upon what she had witnessed and heard (obliviate is the word of the day!) when she opened the door. Serena had been riding Scorpius much like a horse at the races.

Well, isn't Kevin right enough? Isn't the time I spend with him right? God, I'm turning into a poet.

At Kevin's door, she did her usual three quick knocks and walked in, to find him walking out of the kitchen with a cup of tea and wearing only a towel, slung low around his hips. A drop of water fell from his hair, and Rose's eyes followed its journey down his shapely chest, toned stomach, to the trail of faint hair that disappeared under the towel. She suddenly wished she was that drop of water. She was mesmerized at the specimen of pure masculinity before her. Kevin watched her stare at him, biting her lip and swallowing when her eyes rested on the towel. To tell the truth, he was a bit flattered at the attention.

"Uh, Rose?" he asked, startling her from her trance.

"Huh?" she asked.

"Good morning?" he asked.

She nodded, walked toward him and placed a hand on his bare chest, slowly tracing circles around the nipples with her fingertips. He shuddered.

"Rose, what are you doing?" he whispered.

"Touching you, obviously."

"Why?"

"Why not? Should I stop?"

"I'm already late for work, you keep that up, I'll be even later."

"Oh." She dropped her hand and stepped back.

"What about you?" he asked.

"Nothing until after lunch."

"In answer to your question, no, you shouldn't stop. I like it when you touch me," he said.

"What about work?" she asked.

"I haven't been late in seven years, I think they can let it slide this once," he said huskily and pulled her close.

"Stop worrying, Rose isn't a gossip, you know that," Serena said, watching Scorpius comb his hair. He looked adorable sitting there at her mirror among all her "girly things."

"Does she always just walk in?" he asked.

"Yes, it's usually just the two of us. There was no way for her to know that there would be a man in my bed," she aid. "Between her internship and Kevin, I'm lucky to see her."

"So she's serious with this Kevin bloke?" he asked.

"As serious as I've ever seen her, there's even love there," she said.

"Rose Weasley in love, do wonders ever cease?"

Half an hour later, Rose lay nude, panting and amazed atop Kevin on his living room sofa. Fabulously right time, fabulously right man, she thought happily and placed a soft kiss on the chest she had been previously admiring. Her stomach growled. He chuckled.

"Have you eaten breakfast?" he asked and kissed the top of her head.

"No," she said with a sigh, not really caring. "That was better than any breakfast."

"While I agree, you must be starving. You eat more than any woman I've ever seen."

How many times had she heard her mum say "You eat just like your father!" She lifted her head to peer at him, one eyebrow raised. "Gee, thanks."

"I'm teasing, love."

"I know."

"I'm taking you to breakfast, but first I need another shower. While I'd love the scent of you to get me through the day, the goblins wouldn't."

"Can I join your shower?"

"Do you even need to ask?"

Friday Night
Lily's Cottage

"Oh yes, just like that," he groaned.

"What in the world are they doing to you at the academy?" Lily asked as she massaged a sore spot on David's lower back.

"Judo," he said. "I'm the biggest bloke in my class, everyone wants a crack at me. Your brother's the worst. I still think he's getting back at me in his own way for being with you."

"Take your shirt off," she said.

"Now you're talking," he teased.

"You know what I mean, I want to see where else you're hurt."

He shrugged his shirt off and Lily gasped when she saw a large bruise in the middle of his chest.

"I'm not really hurt, it's just bruising. They give us some kind of pain-relief salve for the hurt."

She softly kissed the chest bruise. "Hmm, that's better than any salve they can give. What about here?" he asked and held up his forearm. She kissed a bruise there too.

"I'm pretty sure my brother would try to break your neck if he knew what I'm about to do," she said and unzipped his jeans. She pulled down the jeans and boxers a bit and frowned at a bruise on his hip, placing a kiss there too.

"And what are you about to do?" he asked.

She took his erect, throbbing cock in hand and slowly stroked. "Make you feel a whole lot better," she said slowly took it into her mouth. He sighed in relief. Yes, this was better than any pain salve.

At the family lunch at The Burrow, the parents took a good look at their kids. Something was a bit different with some of them. Albus and Marissa, newly engaged, were the most radiant. Molly and Ginny were talking excitedly about the wedding.

She choked back a laugh when she saw Serena feeding Scorpius a grape. She already knew what transpired between those two. She overheard a conversation between Rose and Serena a few months back outside their door before making a surprise visit.

"You should have seen the look on your face," Serena teased.

"Well, what if you had walked in on me riding Kevin like a horse at the races?" Rose asked.

"I would have run away screaming from the horror, clawing my eyes out, begging someone to obliviate me," Serena said.

Hermione covered her mouth to stifle her laugh. They sounded just like she and Ginny.

"Now you know how I felt," Rose returned.

"So...are you and Kevin...you know...?" Serena asked.

"We're almost there," Rose said.

"Just keep in mind that Kevin's not some idiotic sixth year Hufflepuff, he's a grown man who loves you," Serena assured her.

"You sound like mum," Rose said.

"Hey, I learned from the best," Serena said.

Now months later, by the way Rose looked at Kevin, Hermione knew something significant had happened between them. It was significant to the point of Kevin asking Rose to move in with him last week. She talked about it the very next day with her parents.

"I really do want to move in with him, but I just can't leave Serena paying the lease on her own. She can't afford it," Rose said.

"Do you have to live together? Can't you just...keep things the way they are?" Ron asked.

"Dad, I'm practically living at Kevin's anyway," Rose said. "Didn't you and mum live together? Besides-"

"That's not the point," Ron said and Hermione held up a hand.

"Here's an idea: wait until the lease is up and decide, you'll have time to think about it," Hermione said.

The problem resolved itself when Kevin and Scorpius had a chat about their ladies and their wished-for living situations. Scorpius asked Serena to move in with him to his penthouse when their lease expired and that left Rose free to move in with Kevin. Both men shook hands on a well-executed plan. Hermione looked for Ron, who winked at her while talking to Bill. She glanced at Harry, who was looking intently at Lily and David. Her gaze drifted to the two.

The look of adoration in David's eyes was unmistakable. Lily brought his palm to her mouth and gently kissed it. Little Lily has grown up. They really are a sweet couple. Hermione's attention was again drawn to Kevin when he rose from the table, pulled Rose to her feet, nodding for them to go outside. She turned in her chair and observed. Kevin kissed her, took something from his pocket and knelt. Hermione shot from the seat in shock, gripping the door paneling.

Ron was at her side in seconds. "What's wrong?" With a trembling hand, Hermione pointed outside. The rest of the family looked outside too. Kevin slid the ring on her finger and they kissed again.

"I knew it!" Serena called out excitedly and hugged Scorpius.

"Huh?" Ron asked.

"Another wedding!" Molly declared.

Hermione suddenly felt weak in the knees. Why is my heart literally pounding in my chest? Her left arm started to hurt, so she massaged it.

"Are you okay love?" Ron asked. "You don't look so good."

"I-I don't know, d-dizzy," she said, dropped her glass and felt her knees buckle. Ron caught her in his arms and hurried toward the sofa, which David and Lily quickly vacated.

"Rose!" Serena called outside. "Come quick, it's mum!"

She knew by the tone something was really wrong, so she hurried back inside, where Ron was helping Hermione as best he could. Harry and Ginny were holding her hands. Rose, already a qualified Mediwitch, presently undergoing additional training to be a Healer, was scared to death for her mum. I need to keep my wits about me to best help her!

"Step aside please," she said and felt Hermione's pulse while summoning her satchel. "Mum, can you hear me?" she clearly asked but received no response. Hermione was drifting in and out of consciousness as Rose swished and flicked a medical wand over her.

"What's wrong with her?" Ron asked, his voice choked, his heart aching for her. The last time he had seen her like this was when she was accidentally cursed all those years ago at the Ministry.

"She's had, or is having a heart attack, we need to get her to St. Mungo's now," Rose said and stood, holding Hermione's wrist in one hand to monitor her pulse and quickly wiped a falling tear with the other. "She can't be treated properly here. Dad, Uncle Harry, it would be safer for all three of us to apparate her there, straight to the urgent care ward."

"She's only 48 years old," Ron protested when the healer said that Hermione had indeed suffered a mild heart attack.

Elizabeth and Ian, 68 and 70 respectively, nodded in understanding. "It's hereditary from my side of the family I'm afraid, but we had rather hoped it would skip her."

"She'll be all right now, won't she?" Ian Jr., now 26, asked.

"She's lucky. It was a mild attack with no permanent damage to the heart. We'll start a series of cardiac restorative elixirs that will take care of the condition completely. She should have no more heart problems for the rest of her natural life," the healer said.

"Can I see her now?" Ron said.

"Of course, she's resting comfortably," the healer said.

A week later, Rose was wheeling Hermione to the St. Mungo's communal floo. She had tended to her mum the whole week.

"Honestly, I can walk, the floo is right there," Hermione said for the tenth time.

"Wheelchairs are hospital policy for departing patients, mum," Rose answered for the tenth time.

At the floo, Ron helped her to her feet. "You too? Love, I'm fine, better than fine. I could play football today if I wanted."

"Don't you even think about it," Ron said.

"Mum, healer's orders are for you to rest," Rose said. "You need to let the elixirs work their magic. We've got a wedding to plan, don't we?"