A/N So here's the end of Watching His Girl Grow... As I said at the beginning, this was never meant to be a stand alone story, but a kind of prequel to Girl No More, so let the final cliffhanger commence... Dun-dun-duh!
Enjoy guys, and thanks :)
Year 14
"Get out of here!" Hermione exclaimed, frowning in amused exasperation. "Go on, have fun!"
Harry gave her a small frown. "Are you absolutely sure you don't mind watching the kids?"
"We don't need babysitting!" Came James' voice from the next room, sounding irritated.
She chuckled slightly. "It'll be fine, Hugo and Lily are doing their homework and the other three are all arguing about Quidditch, I doubt I'll have any trouble with them." He still didn't look convinced. "Harry, it's your anniversary! You and Ginny deserve a night off. Crooks, stop trying to sit on Harry's feet!" She scolded her cat-kneazle; she had originally intended to leave him and Tyg at home, but when it had come to leaving the house, they had firmly wrapped themselves around her and Rose's feet, demanding to be brought with.
He shuffled, looking sorely tempted. "We would've asked Teddy, but he's with Victoire..."
Hermione rolled her eyes. "I'm going to go get Ginny, and then the pair of you are going out, no arguments!" He gave her a grateful smile and she quickly raced up the stairs of the Potter house, followed by the cat and kneazle, checking on the five kids as she went.
They were all home for the Christmas holidays, and the parents had loved seeing their respective children, but between the usual holiday stress and the hoards of Weasley children to entertain, Hermione had barely seen her god-daughter or her brothers. So she had jumped at the opportunity to offer to keep an eye on them so their parents could enjoy their anniversary together. Ron had offered to leave work early and miss the pub-night and join her, but she had politely declined, knowing that he still enjoyed going out with his friends on a Friday, even if he didn't drink, and not wanting to take that away from him.
She knocked gently on the door to the Potter parents' bedroom, opening it to find Ginny sat on her bed, scratching away at a length of parchment. "Gin, you look stunning." She exclaimed honestly. Her best friend was wearing a knee-length turquoise gown that accentuated her toned figure and made her scarlet hair shine, coupled with a navy shrug that was currently folded next to her as she frowned in concentration on her work, even when the two felines jumped onto her lap and sat resolutely down. "Crookshanks, Tyg, get down, you'll get fur on Ginny's lovely dress." They merely blinked at her.
"Thanks." She said, not looking up. "I still need to do my hair and make-up, but I have to finish this first..."
"What is it?"
"The review of the Puddlemere United game, I have to have it finished for work by Monday." Ginny had been working for the Prophet for over five years now, as the Quidditch correspondent, and seemed to be loving it.
"Ginny Potter! I never thought I'd be the one to tell you to stop working and go out on a Saturday night." Hermione joked, and her friend finally looked up and smiled at her.
"Weird how times change, isn't it?" She asked faintly. "Who would've thought, twenty years ago, that we'd be here?"
She sat down next to her and fixed her with a concerned look. "Is everything all right Gin?"
Ginny beamed at her. "I've been married to Harry for fifteen years today, we have three beautiful children together, and twenty years ago I thought we'd all die and I'd never see him again. I couldn't be happier, 'Mione."
They hugged tightly; it was not unusual for those who had survived the war to have random phases of intense emotion, but they usually consisted of tears or anger. It was nice to see Ginny so happy. "Your work can wait." Hermione said sternly. "Your wonderful husband is waiting downstairs for you, so lets fix your hair and make-up so you can enjoy your night with him." She did as commanded, though it took a fair bit of effort and Hermione loudly exclaiming, "What is wrong with you two today?" to remove the cats, and ten minutes later found them walking back down to meet Harry, Ginny's hair in an elegant bun, and a subtle brush of make-up adorning her face.
When Harry, dressed in navy dress robes that matched her shrug perfectly, saw his wife, his face lit up and he gave a small smile. It was the smile saved only for her, the smile he had given when they first started dating, when they got married, when they had their children. It was a shocked, thrilled loving smile, as if he was still amazed that this woman was his wife, that she loved him. "You look beautiful." He murmured with a light kiss.
She shared his affectionate look. "You don't look so bad yourself." She grinned, before they hand in hand went to say goodbye to their children.
Hermione lingered in the hallway, thinking about the smiles she used to share with Bill, that were now tinged with pain. But a year ago, when she had assured Ron she would not leave him, she had decided once and for all to bury those feelings deep down within her; he was acting more like the man she married, if still a bit possessive and easy to anger, and she constantly reminded herself that she had chosen to marry him, and to constantly pine for his brother was simply not fair. She had learnt to be content with being with Ron, and though Bill's burning eyes still made her mouth dry and every nerve end on her body tingle, she studiously avoided finding herself alone with him, choosing instead to play the part of perfect wife.
There were still many difficult times, of course, such as a few weeks ago when Ron had implored that she not go out for her co-worker Stewart's birthday celebration, then tried to insist that his concern regarding him was not a slur against her, but in fact a compliment as to how beautiful she was. This had led to a snapping war between them, ending with him joining her for the drinks, his arm wrapped around her in clear ownership, angering her further. However, when they had returned home, he had apologised and repeated his concern over the possibility of losing her, making her feel guilt she knew was ridiculously irrational on her part, but assured him that all was forgiven. After all, their disagreements were nothing compared to their arguments of the previous years, and all married couples fought, right?
When Harry and Ginny reappeared though, she couldn't help but wonder if her and Ron's marriage, the things they argued about and his attitude towards, what he called, her 'duties as a wife' (his use of that phrase had led to another epic yelling match), was actually healthy. She had long ago realised that the dream of she and Bill was just that; a dream. But did that mean that she had to stay with Ron? 'This is the 21st century for Merlin's sake,' she thought uncertainly, 'we could divorce and leave on amicable terms, I'm sure.' Sure, it would leave her single, but were all the fights and guilt worth the marriage? She'd never had an issue being alone before, and compared to Harry and Ginny, their marriage was downright atrocious. 'In fact', her treacherous mind added, thinking of George and Angie, Luna and Rolf, Neville and Hannah, 'compared to most marriages ours is awful.'
It was with these thoughts and a heavy heart that, after shooing away the two ginger furballs that seemed determined to keep the Potter parents in the house, she hugged Harry and Ginny goodbye, the former thanking her once more and the latter taking one look at her and saying they'd talk about whatever was going through her mind when they returned. As she watched the happy couple leave the house, she saw Tyg and Crookshanks sit themselves in the doorway, as if watching them too, and once more questioned their odd behaviour. She briefly entertained the thought that something was wrong, as since she had first had Crookshanks he had seemed to have a natural instinct for when trouble would come, as all kneazles do, but shrugged the idea off, blaming her tired mind and emotions. After all, she was the one who had insisted they go out and enjoy themselves, why should anything go wrong? So she turned on her heel and went to supervise what seemed to be an increasingly violent game of wizard's chess between Albus and Rose, leaving the two felines to jump up to the window and watch Harry and Ginny, seemingly sad looks on their small faces.