Chapter Two; Out to Lunch
Fleur carried Johnny inside the restaurant while Bill and Hermione walked inside behind them. "I think this is the first time that I haven't seen a dummy inside Johnny's mouth." Hermione said before she thanked Bill for getting the door for her.
"You're welcome." He began with a grin. "And yeah we're starting to wean him off of it. He only gets one for naptime and bedtime." He said as they got in the back of the line. That's when suddenly Hermione realized that Neville and Luna were in front of them.
"Hullo Hermione." Luna said while she smiled warmly at her and gave a slight wave.
"Oh, hullo Luna." She greeted with a grin.
"I see that you brought Bill, Fleur, and Johnny with you." She said.
"Actually they brought me. They invited me to come with them." She explained. "I really wish that Harry, Ron, and Ginny were here too though." Hermione told her.
"Speaking of that, how are they doing?" Fleur asked her.
"They're doing pretty good, I miss them like crazy though." She said.
"So does Johnny. He asks about them all the time and when they're coming back." Fleur told her as the line started to move up. "That's a dangerous business to be in. You never know what is going to happen to you next." She said.
"That's no different from normal everyday life." Hermione began. "But Harry's the type of wizard who lives his life to the fullest and appreciates every day God gives him." She said.
"We're exactly the same way. Every day that I'm studying magical creatures is like another adventure. And with Neville being a dark wizard capture, he never knows what kind of hand he is going to be dealt." Luna said.
"All I know is that I'm ready to live my life for Luna and any future children that we might have." Neville said as Luna showed her new ring to Hermione.
"Oh Luna that's so beautiful. That's amethyst isn't it?" she questioned her.
"Yeah, it's my birthstone. By the way, since Johnny and Lottie are the youngest children that we know we have chosen them for the ring bearer and flower girl. Hermione, we want you to be one of the bridesmaids." Luna explained.
"I'd love to!" Hermione exclaimed excitedly.
"Do you hear that Johnny? You get to be the ring bearer which means that you get to carry the rings to the bride and groom." Fleur told him.
"Awesome." He said as everyone else laughed.
"And I'm sure that Lottie will love getting to be the flower girl since all I've ever seen her in before have been dresses." Bill said as the line moved again.
"And Harry's going to be the best man and Ginny will be the maid of honor. Plus Eve and Kasai will be our other two bridesmaids if they want to be along with Ron, Jerry, and Rickie as the groomsmen. And maybe Harry's father as the head usher, and we'll invite all of the others to attend the wedding." Luna told her.
"That's really exciting Luna, I'm happy for you. Have you planned a date for the wedding yet?" Hermione asked her.
"No, not exactly. That's the part that we're still working on." Neville told her when finally it came their time to order.
"Alright buddy, what do you want to eat for lunch?" Bill asked while he smiled at his son who continued fidgeting around inside his mother's arms.
"Chicken." He replied.
"Alright, so you want some chicken nuggets then?" Bill questioned him as he nodded his head. "And do you want some milk to drink?" he asked him as the little boy nodded again and Fleur smiled at him before she planted a kiss on his cheek and adjusted her grip on him.
"Does he still eat ketchup with everything?" Hermione wondered.
"Oh yeah. His Uncle Harry got him hooked on that." Fleur told her.
"I'll just order him a kid's meal so he can get some French fries along with it." Bill began. "And then if you be a good boy and eat all of your lunch you can have some ice cream for dessert." He told him as a wide grin stretched a crossed Johnny's face while Neville and Luna stepped aside and turned their heads to look back at him.
"I love children. I can't wait to be a mother someday." Luna began as she smiled warmly at him. "I mean Johnny's so adorable." She said.
"Well thank you but don't let this sweet and innocent face fool you. Once they become mobile it gets tougher. As if it wasn't already tough enough raising him as an infant." Bill told her.
"Johnny was a pretty good baby and he slept a lot more at night than most babies do especially Danny. I feel really bad for Brittany. Her baby hardly lets her have any sleep. I'll be curious to see what happens when our daughter is born though and what her schedule will be like." She said as Neville and Luna's lunches finally arrived and they turned around and carried their tray back to a table.
….
As Hermione got back home she found Snape in the backyard sitting on the patio while he watched Teddy and Heather swinging on their swing set and seeing who could swing higher than the other one. Hermione took a deep breath and let it out again before she sat down beside him. He turned to look at her and grinned. "There you are Miss Granger. How was lunch?" he asked her.
"Great." She replied as he arched an eyebrow at her while she sunk further inside her chair and propped her elbow up onto the table and rested her head inside the palm of her hand.
"Really? Because you don't sound like it was." He told her.
"Well it's just that Harry and Ron and Ginny are gone, Hogwarts doesn't start a new term until another month, and my singing career is on hold because I'm too busy helping you right now. Not to mention that Neville and Luna are too busy planning their wedding, and I'm really happy for them but I just wish that I knew what to do with my life right now." She explained. "Not that I don't love spending time with you and the children, I just wish there was something I could do to keep myself busy." She told him.
"Well,.. you complain an awful lot." He told her as she quickly glanced up at him and saw that there was a playful grin on his face that alerted her that he was teasing. "I'm kidding Granger." He told her in clarification.
"I know, but that still doesn't solve my problem." She said.
"Really? I didn't think that there was a problem on this planet that Hermione Granger couldn't solve. Listen, if you really want to do something useful you might want to try talking to your friends about it. I'm sure that they could at least give you an idea." He suggested as she smiled at him.
"Yeah, I think I'll try that. That sounds like a good idea. I'll go inside and talk to Harry. It's been ages since I've talked to him anyways." She said before she thanked him and quickly leapt to her feet. Snape grinned at her and watched as she walked back around the corner.