Chapter 2- A Welcome Visit

"Hermione!" she heard a voice call as soon as she stepped of the Hogwarts Express. "Hermione! Over here!"

Hermione turned her head in the direction of the voice trying to pull her bushy hair out of her face. She quickly scanned the crowd of parents and children to see the messy dark hair of her best friend peaking up over everyone's head. She pulled her trunk and Crookshanks' cage off the train with her and headed in his direction. The moment she reached him he pulled her into a hug, barely allowing her enough time to drop her trunk first.

"Harry!" she said returning his fierce hug. "It's so good to see you. Look at you! Being a father must really be good for you."

Harry laughed good-naturedly as he reached over to help her with her belongings. Hermione studied her friend for a moment while he did. The final battle with Voldemort had nearly destroyed Harry and he still carried the scars, both physical and emotional. He now walked with a significant limp and the left side of his face had the look of being badly burned, but he still had the innocent look of a little boy in his eyes.

"I'm sure Ginny would be the first to agree with you," he said as he looked over at the cage she still held. "Ah, did you have to bring that mangy old thing?" he said laughing in a teasing voice.

"Oh, very funny. Crookshanks knows you're joking." She glanced around the platform, "where's Ginny and the baby?"

"Oh there was a last minute change of plans. Apparently Ronnie decided that it was dinner time a little early, so they decided to stay home. Makes things easier, really. This way we can just apparate rather than messing with Muggle transportation. Ginny hates to do side along apparition with the baby. She's always afraid she's going to end up Splinching him."

Hermione winced at the thought and said nothing more as they crossed the barrier into the Muggle part of the train station. They carefully found a secluded spot where no one could see them and then quickly apparated to the alley behind Harry and Ginny's flat.

"So, how was the rest of your year at Hogwarts?" Harry asked as they made their way inside the building and up to the second landing.

"Oh, all right, I suppose," said Hermione, quickly running out of breath. "Horace has finally decided he's had enough of us and is going into retirement again. I don't know what Minerva is going to do. She is not only going to have to replace the Potions position, but also the Slytherin Head of House. None of the other teachers were Slytherin so no one there now can do it."

She said nothing more as they had now reached Harry and Ginny's front door. He quickly unlocked it and Hermione was greeted with a sudden rush of red hair flying toward her.

"Hermione!" cried Ginny, pulling her into a hug even tighter than Harry's had been. "It is so good to see you. We really need to see each other more often."

Hermione returned the hug, trying to loosen Ginny's grip as she felt that she was quickly loosing breath.

"It's good to see you too Ginny!" she said as they released their hold on each other. "Now where is that beautiful baby I have heard so much about? Both Minerva and Neville send their congratulations."

Ginny and Harry led her inside. Hermione immediately noticed that the once immaculate flat was now littered with baby bottles and nappies.

"Sorry about the mess," said Harry trying in vain to quickly pick up a couple bottles lying near the sofa. Ginny went down the hall and soon came out with a small baby tightly swaddled in a blanket.

"Ronnie," she said in a soft voice, "this is your Aunt Hermione." She then handed the bundle over to Hermione who carefully, and nervously, took him from his mother.

Hermione looked down at the baby boy. He had a head full of bright red hair. 'Weasley red', she thought to herself and as she stood patting and rocking him he slowly opened his little eyes. Sure enough, they were a beautiful green just the same shade has Harry's.

"He's beautiful," Hermione said looking up at her friends.

"We certainly think so," said Harry gazing fondly down at his son. "We think his uncle would have been very proud."

Hermione could feel both their eyes on her as if waiting for a reaction. She felt her eyes begin to water almost as a reflex and she forced them back. When she thought it was safe, she looked up at them.

"I think little Ronnie wants his Dad," she said. Harry laughed and took the baby from her. The three went to sit in the living room.

"So Hermione," began Ginny, "are there any attractive young teachers over at Hogwarts these days?"

Hermione saw Harry shoot a glare at his wife. It was clear that she was not supposed to be bringing the subject up.

"Um, they're mostly the same teachers that were there when we went. Except Snape's gone and Neville's there. Why?

"Just curious," said Ginny shrugging her shoulders. "I just don't want you to become a hermit."

Hermione bristled at the implication. "I am not a hermit! I just like to have my own space."

Ginny said nothing to argue the point, much to Hermione's relief, and soon went into the kitchen to work on dinner. As soon as she was out of hearing range, Harry leaned over to whisper to Hermione.

"I'm sorry about that," he said quietly. "Ginny means well. She just doesn't like to see you alone. It's been so long..." He paused there unsure if he should continue or not. Hermione sighed.

"I know, Harry. It's just so hard. I mean, what if it had been Ginny? Do you think you ever could have moved on?"

"I don't know," Harry said looking down at his feet. "Forget she said anything okay? Really, Hermione. We just want you to be happy; whether that's as a hermit or not."

Hermione smiled at him. This was why they had been such good friends for so long. All they ever wanted was to see each other happy.

"It's okay," she said patting his hand. "Now what is that Ginny is cooking? It smells wonderful."

The rest of the day passed pleasantly with Hermione making as much fuss over Ronnie as possible and the three reminiscing about their school days. It was a pleasant and relaxed atmosphere and Hermione felt as much at home there as she did at Hogwarts. As evening stretched into night they talked about their plans while Hermione was there.

"I know Mum and Dad are going to want to see you," said Ginny gently rocking her son. "We told George that you were coming as well so I wouldn't be surprised if he stopped in sometime. He tries to stay busy between the shop and his 'social life' but I think he can squeeze in a few hours for family and old friends."

Hermione nodded feeling drowsy. Harry looked over at her and smiled.

"You look like you're about to fall asleep. Let me show you to the spare room. You need to catch up on your sleep from a hard year of teaching."

Harry showed Hermione to her room while Ginny put the baby down. Hermione slipped in between the soft covers and for the first time in a long while she did not have nightmares when she fell asleep.

The rest of the week passed quickly and pleasantly for Hermione. Harry had taken off work for the week and Ginny was still on leave from Gringott's. They had a lovely time shopping in Diagon Alley and Hermione ran into several old classmates that she had not seen since starting her position at Hogwarts.

"My boy Edward will be starting Hogwarts in just a couple years," said Ernie Macmillan who they had run into one day at Flourish and Blots. He and Hannah Abbott had married almost straight out of school. "No question whether he's a wizard. The other day we caught him on top of the neighbour's roof. No clue how he got there." Ernie had laughed heartily and Harry had recounted a similar experience he had as a child.

On the last night before Hermione was to go to her parents, Arthur, Molly and George joined them at Harry and Ginny's for dinner. Hermione was glad to see them as she thought of them like a second family to her. Molly was thinner and quieter than she had once been. The loss of two of her children had nearly killed her at the time. Arthur was now mostly gray with only a sprinkle of the trademark Weasley red hair. But they were the same loving and kind family that they had always been.

Molly and Arthur were the first to arrive and Hermione gave them both hugs as they came through the door.

"Hermione dear," said Molly as they released their hold on each other, "it's so good to see you! You're looking a little thin. Haven't those house elves as Hogwarts been feeding you enough?"

"Nonsense, Molly," said her husband coming in from behind her holding a very large wrapped package, clearly for the baby, "she looks lovely as always. It's good to see you Hermione!"

He handed the package to Ginny who quickly unwrapped it. She stared looking at it dumbfounded for several minutes and Harry and Hermione exchanged a quick grin.

"Oh! It's a…. it's… What is it Dad?" She looked up at her father in confusion.

"It's a baby swing," said Arthur obviously very excited. "Muggle contraption. It runs on batteries!" Clearly he thought this was the best part.

"It's supposed to help sooth the baby," said Hermione as she helped Ginny take it out of the box. "My cousin had one when I was little."

After the swing had been set up and tried out on Ronnie who seemed to delight in the music and flashing lights, they all went into the kitchen. Ginny had roast beef in the oven and had potatoes peeling and chopping themselves by the sink. They sat around the table drinking butterbeers and chatting when they heard a knock at the door.

"Oh, that must be George," said Ginny as she jumped up to answer. Sure enough, several moments later Ginny re-entered the room with George trailing behind her.

"Hey Hermione!" he said cheerfully after he had greeted both his parents. "How's life at Hogwarts?"

"About the same as it's always been," she said smiling fondly at the young man. George still acted like the same cheerful happy-go-lucky man he had always been, but somehow he had seemed a little diminished since his twin's death. His smiles never quite reached his eyes and it seemed that he was always waiting for someone to finish his sentence.

Ginny announced that dinner was ready and they all settled down to the table. It was generally agreed upon that Ginny's cooking could only be rivalled by her mother and everyone enjoyed themselves down to the treacle tart for dessert.

"So, I heard through some people at the Ministry that old Horace Slughorn has finally retired again," said Arthur as they finished their dessert. "Does Minerva have any ideas of who to replace him with?

"None at all," said Hermione shaking her head. She thought for a moment before continuing, "I had suggested seeing if Snape would be interested in returning, but Minerva seemed to think that he wouldn't even consider it. Have either of you heard anything of him lately?" she looked over at both Arthur and Harry.

"I haven't heard a thing," said Arthur, "but then I'm not in a department that would hear a lot of that information. What about you Harry?"

"The last time I saw him was over a year ago. A couple of interesting items had turned up at Borgin and Burkes that I thought he might have some information on. He made it quite clear then that he wanted to be left alone. He said he had done his part and if he ever saw my 'arrogant, snot-nosed face' again he would hex me off the map. Charming as always," grunted Harry.

Although Harry now had a grudging respect for his former Potions Professor, Snape was still far from his favourite person. Once it had become clear that Snape had been acting on Dumbledore's orders when he killed him, Harry had ended his need for vengeance, however he still felt slighted from all those years he was tortured in class.

"Slimy git!" mumbled George. "I bet in all our years at Hogwarts Fred and I lost twice the points to Snape as we did any other professor."

"Oh and I'm sure you never deserved any of it, did you?" said Molly with a gleam in her eye. George smirked for a moment and appeared to be lost in time.

"Well, maybe some of it was deserved…"

The whole table laughed and Harry, Ginny, Hermione and George spent the next several minutes reminiscing about some of the more memorable pranks the twins had pulled. It was only when the subject of their exit from school came up and Molly looked as if she was about to launch into a lecture that they decided to change the subject.

"So, how is the shop going, George?" asked Hermione as Harry began clearing dishes off the table with a flick of his wand.

"Booming, as usual. I just had to hire a new manager since I have to spend so much time away researching new products. Her name is Natalie McDonald. I don't know if you would remember her or not. She was in Gryffindor but she was a few years behind you lot. I think I was in sixth year when she started."

Hermione nodded faintly remembering the shy young girl. She had never had much interaction with her but she seemed nice enough.

"I remember her a little. How is that working out for you?"

"Spectacular. It's like she can read my mind and knows what should be done even before I do. I've never seen such a hard worker." Then George took a quick look at his wrist, "look at the time! Hey, I hate to eat and run, but I've got a date and she'll wring my neck if I'm late again!"

"Oh, you're seeing the same girl twice?" said Ginny smirking at her brother. "Must be serious."

"Very funny, Gin," he said giving her a quick kiss on the cheek, "bye Mum, Dad, Harry. It was nice to see you Hermione. If you get a chance stop by the shop; fifty percent off anything in the store." And with that he was out the door.