So I decided to continue with this cos why not? I'm enjoying writing it and hope you like reading it - let me know your thoughts and any potential ideas because I'm still trying to piece it all together.

Chapter 2

It hadn't even been a week since they had lost their daughter and it wasn't the first time Charlie had woken in the middle of the night to an empty bed, his wife no longer in the room. He crept downstairs trying not to wake their son who would be returning back to Hogwarts at the end of the week in an attempt to return to normality. It didn't surprise Charlie to see his wife curled up on the sofa, a photo frame held tightly in her hands, tear tracks staining her cheeks. It broke his heart to see his wife like this. His wife had been his rock this past year. His wife was the bravest person he had ever met, and he worked with dragon tamers. His wife was never one to cry. That was until they had lost their daughter at 11:37 on Tuesday 19th October 2013.

Charlie's feet carried him to the sofa were he pulled his wife onto his lap rubbing soothing circles on her back. He heard her sniff, felt his top go damp and began to feel her shake with sobs.

"Shh…it's OK, love. It's OK. We're going to get through this, I promise. It's going to be hard but Izzy wouldn't want this. She would want us to have fun, laugh and pull pranks on each other. She wouldn't want us to cry over her," Charlie said, the tears filling his eyes as he remembered his daughter.

"I know. It's…it's just that…it's not fair. She was only nine. How could they have taken her from us so young?" Hermione choked pulling her face away from Charlie and looking up into his face. Her eyes were red and puffy, how they had been for the past five days. What hurt the most was the fact that the cause of her illness was a complete mystery. No one, not even the best muggle doctors, had a clue what was wrong with her. Not having any closure was what made Charlie's heart clench when he thought about her.

"Because that was her destiny. She was destined to bring us nine years of love and laughter. She was meant to make you see the fun side of life and to change us all. Just because she's gone doesn't mean she's left us," a young voice came from the stairs. Hermione and Charlie looked over and saw Jackson watching them carefully. They smiled at his son and beckoned for him to join them.

"How do you always know the right thing to say?" Hermione asked her son as she pulled him into a hug.

"Because I'm your child," he said tearfully. "Izzy was the same, she just preferred to be a bit of a rascal." Charlie let out a snort.

"A bit is the largest understatement of the century," he said with a smile. Jackson beamed up at his parents but they both noticed his eyes fill with sadness and anguish. Izzy was their daughter but she was also his sister, his best friend, his confidant. And yet, at the age of 11, Jackson was far too wise. He was always the one to comfort his parents. He was the glue holding the family together. He was the one who made sure his mother bathed and ate food. It turned out she listened to him more than she did her own husband, much to Charlie's annoyance.

"You do believe she's in a better place, don't you?" Jackson whispered into his father's shoulder. Charlie's heart ripped some more. Jackson had been the one telling them that and yet Charlie could distinctly hear the uncertainty in the question.

"Of course she is. She's surrounded with pranks that Uncle Fred and Uncle George wouldn't even be able to think of. She's not in any pain. She's eating again and she's happy. She's very happy. But more importantly she's watching over us, all of us. She's keeping us safe," Charlie said sadly planting a kiss on his son's head. The trio sat there on the sofa and in the comfort of each other's arms all drifted off to sleep.

{-}

Sunday 24th October dawned bright, blustery and sunny. Most of the trees were bare and the ground was covered in leaves. It had been the longest five days in Hermione's memory but she had promised a number of people that today would be day she would step outside of the house and join the rest of the Weasleys in what she truly hoped would be a joyous Sunday lunch. She wouldn't deny that she didn't want to go. Facing the Weasleys was the last thing she wanted to do. She needed to see her parents and be held by them and told by them that everything would be OK in the end. But she hadn't wanted to ruin their holiday so they were oblivious to it all. They would get back on Thursday and Hermione would tell them then. They loved Izzy hugely and it wasn't something Hermione could tell them over the phone or some other impersonal way. She needed to tell them face-to-face and that was going to have to wait until Thursday. So for now, it was the Weasleys and Harry, who were trying to help and both Charlie and Hermione had agreed it would do them good to go over to The Burrow.

"You sure you've got everything?" Hermione asked her son for at least the tenth time that morning.

"Yes, mum. I'm sure. I only brought by school bag and some books," Jackson responded rolling his eyes.

"Don't you go rolling your eyes at me, mister," Hermione said sternly, putting her hands on his hips.

"Sorry, mum. See you in a couple of weeks," he said hugging his mother tightly. Hermione returned the hug and didn't let go of her son. It was the fourth time in 13 months she was saying goodbye to send him to Hogwarts but the hardest by far. At least the past few days he had been around so not only was there a child in the house but also someone to keep Toby company. And now it would just be her, Charlie and the spaniel and it wasn't something she was particularly looking forward to.

"Mum…I can't breathe," Jackson spluttered.

"Right, yes. OK. Well you behave yourself Jackson and try and keep James, Lloyd and Suzie well behaved too," Hermione said with a weak smile, a tear falling from her eyes. Jackson nodded as he reached up and wiped the tear away from her cheek with his thumb.

"Everything will be OK, mum. I love you," he whispered, standing on tiptoes to kiss her cheek before turning round to hug his father and stepping into the fireplace to floo back to Hogwarts.

Oblivious to her surrounding, Hermione's knees gave way and she collapsed to the floor, her body shaking with sobs. Charlie was next to her less than a second later, pulling her slight frame onto his lap, his own tears streaming down his face. The couple sat there on the cold, hard floor for what felt like hours, letting their emotions flow. There had always been a small part of Charlie telling him to be prepared for Izzy to die but he had trampled that down with hope and belief that she would be fine. Despite having no clue what was wrong with here he always believed that in the end she was going to be fine, would go to Hogwarts in a few years and grow up to be an even greater prankster than his twin brothers. That wasn't the case and for the foreseeable future Charlie would spend a great deal of time remembering his favourite daughter and thinking about what could have been. If only they had known. If only he could have suffered instead. If only none of this had ever happened.

About an hour later, Hermione sat up and looked up at Charlie with eyes filled with pain and emotion.

"Do we really have to go?" she asked, her voice weak. Charlie sighed, truth be told he didn't want to go either but he knew they had to. They needed to get out of this house and try to carry on living "normally".

"Yeah, I think we do. But as soon as it gets too much, you just tell me and we'll leave straight away," he said, planting a gentle kiss on her forehead. Hermione nodded as she wrapped her arms around his waist and pressed her ear to his chest. The sound and feeling of his beating heart had always managed to clam her down, right from the days after the battle, through the miscarriages and pregnancies, after the labours and more recently after Izzy's passing.

"You're not planning on going wearing that are you?" Charlie finally asked realising that Hermione was wearing a pair of otter pyjamas, a strappy tank top and cardigan. Hermione snorted.

"Just as likely that you're got to wear that," she said with a smile. Charlie looked down and realised he was in a pair of boxer shorts and a t-shirt.

"Time to get changed then?" he asked with a smirk.

Half an hour later, Charlie and Hermione were ready to brave the other Weasleys and Harry for hopefully a relatively quick lunch. Just as Charlie was about to step into the roaring emerald green flames Hermione stopped walking and stared at the fireplace, a look of sadness etched on her face but paired with a smile.

{FLASHBACK BEGINS}

Hermione heard the thundering of feet come down the stairs and she whipped around just in time to see her four-year-old daughter throw her small body into her arms.

"What's the matter, angel?" she asked hugging the girl tightly, having noticed the tear tracks on her cheeks. Izzy just shook her head, burying herself into her mothers' chest. "Was it Uncle Fred? Did the parcel he send you blow up in your face?" Izzy shook her head. "Hmm…what about Uncle George? Did he make Toby turn into a canary again?" For the third time Izzy shook her head but Hermione felt the smile on the little girl's face. "Right, then, are you going to tell me?"

"It was…Jackson…he…he said I couldn't play with his broom," Izzy finally stammered, the tears flowing from her eyes. Hermione's let out a sigh of relief, Izzy never cried and she was expecting it to be so much worse.

"And what have I said to you about riding a broom?" Hermione asked walking over to the sofa and placing Izzy on her lap to face her.

"That…that. I can't play until I'm five," Izzy said sadly.

"And how old are you now?"

"Four," Izzy muttered quietly, not meeting her mother's gaze

"Exactly. So why did you think Jackson would say yes?"

"But…but I'm five in three days. Please can I have a go mummy?" Izzy pleaded, her eyes shining with tears.

"Isabelle Rose Granger-Weasley, you know the answer is no. We made your brother wait until he was five and you will most certainly not sitting on a broom a minute earlier nor will you play without supervision from your father. Do you understand me?" Hermione said sternly. Izzy knew that whenever her full name was used, it was the end of the discussion and that she had no hope. She nodded.

"Good. You only have three more days left and I promise that after then you can fly as much as you want, within reason that is," Hermione added quickly backtracking so not to have dug herself into a deep hole.

"Will I make Quidditch team?" Izzy asked excitedly, no longer sad. It always amazed Hermione at how quickly her moods would change as if nothing had just happened.

"The Quidditch team dear. And I don't know. Your father was an excellent seeker so let's hope you get it from him and not from me," Hermione responded with a smile.

"I want to be seeker," Izzy said wistfully. Even at the age of four, anyone outside of the family would think she was more like seven with how she spoke and acted. Hermione assumed it was from wanting to catch up with her elder brother and cousins the entire time.

"Let's hope you are then." Hermione planted a kiss on top of Izzy's head and was about to say something when suddenly the fireplace lit up with bright emerald flames and Charlie stepped out of the fireplace. Izzy's eyes turned wide in surprise and she almost squealed when she saw her father step out of the flames. Hermione laughed at the look on her daughter's face, becoming conscious of the fact that it was her first time seeing the floo in action. It's not safe for young children, up to about the age of five or six, to travel by floo so it was always portkeys, muggle transport or occasionally side along apparition under a sleeping charm.

"Whaaaat?" Izzy said, her eyes shinning with a mixture of confusion, shock and admiration. Charlie couldn't help but start to laugh at the look on his daughter's face.

"Nice to see you too, Iz," he chuckled. Izzy clamped her mouth shut and ran towards her father, jumping into his arms. Charlie swung her around in a circle emitting squeals of joy from the small girl.

"I'm confused, Daddy," she panted when Charlie put her back down on the floor, not letting go until she had regained her balance.

"And what are you confused about angel?" he asked crouching down so his face was level with hers. He didn't miss the look of amazement in her big, chocolate eyes.

"The fire. The green. You. Just…everything," she sighed in admiration. Charlie beamed at her before standing up and taking the bowl of floo powder from the mantelpiece.

"Charlie," his wife said suspiciously from the sofa.

"Just showing, dear," he said with a wink at Hermione. He then knelt back down in front of Izzy and showed her the grey powder.

"Have you heard of us talking about floo?" he asked.

"Like when I'm sick?" she asked and Charlie chuckled.

"No, like floo powder or travelling by floo," he said with a smile. Izzy shook her head.

"Well, floo is another way for witches and wizards to travel but you're too young so we don't travel that way. But maybe next week or something we'll give it a go. Anyway, travelling by floo means that you go through all the fireplaces to where you want to be. And you travel in bright green flames," Charlie explained, trying to make the process understandable from a four year old's perspective. "Here, take a handful of this and throw it into the fireplace." Charlie handed the powder. Izzy carefully picked up a handful, her face screwed up in concentration. She took the few steps to the fireplace and then chucked the powder in the fire grate, getting more on the floor than where it was actually meant to be. But it was enough and emerald green flames burst upwards and Izzy squealed in delight.

"It's amazing. I never seen it so amazing," she gushed and immediately went to grab more powder to make the green flames reappear after they had died down. Hermione grinned at her husband from the sofa, both incredibly happy with their lives and their glorious family. Life was pretty perfect, for now.

{FLASHBACK ENDS}

"You alright, love?" Charlie asked.

"Yes, yes I'm fine. Just remembering the first time Izzy saw the floo in action," she said smiling at the memory. Charlie let out a chuckle as he recalled the memory.

"She was so easily entertained," he muttered, more to himself.

"Yes, I think that's why she was turning into a pretty great prankster. Everything just made her happy and laugh," Hermione added thoughtfully. Charlie smiled and planted a kiss on his wife's forehead before reaching out and taking her hand worried that if he didn't physically drag her to the fireplace they would never actually make it to The Burrow.

Charlie and Hermione barely managed to make it out of the fireplace at The Burrow before they were engulfed by readheads. Hermione felt overwhelmed as she was passed into the arms of each and every Weasley but it was the last member of her favourite wizarding family that she wanted to see the most. Hermione didn't want to let go of the elder twin, savouring the smell of smoke and parchment. She knew Fred would have struggled a lot. He was almost closer to Izzy than he was to his brother, almost being the key word. But nonetheless Hermione knew that Izzy's death had hit him hard.

{FLASHBACK BEGINS}

Charlie, Hermione and Jackson walked through the corridors and almost a kind of trance, hand in hand, none of them uttering a word, their feet aimlessly carrying them up to the tearoom. Toby was mournfully walking next to them, his tail drooping sadly. The Weasleys and Harry were all sat in the tearoom, some of them conversely quietly and others, including Fred, just sat there. Before any of them had noticed the presence of the family, Hermione's eyes had gone to Fred. He was sat in the corner, his knees drawn up to his chest and his chin resting on them. His eyes were unfocused and empty. Hermione had emptied herself of tears and felt hollow. She felt like a piece of her heart had been ripped from her chest. She didn't even know what to think or say or do. She felt as if time had frozen and she was walking around in her own world.

Unaware of what she was doing her hand left Charlie's and she walked over to Fred, blocking out all the noise from everyone else. As she neared the twin he looked up at her. He took one look at her face and felt his eyes sting. It had happened. The time had come. She was gone. At the age of nine, she had been taken away. Taken away from a family that loved her; a family that wouldn't know what to do without he. Fred let go of his knees and wrapped his arms around Hermione as she fell into the seat next to him. She rested her head on his shoulder and stared ahead of her, no more tears to cry. She could see, Charlie say something before breaking down in front of his family. Mrs. Weasley let out a sob and turned to her husband. She saw Bill reach out and pull his brother, his best friend into a hug. He saw Harry kneel down and comfort his godson, Toby already nuzzling at Jackson's face, Ginny right next to them. George and Angelina were holding on to each other. She could even see tears in Percy's eyes. Izzy had touched the lives of so many people and Hermione knew that they would all have happily taken her place instead of her.

As she thought about this and how it wasn't just her, Charlie and Jackson who had been affected, the tears began to trickle down her cheeks once more. She felt Fred squeeze her shoulders tighter as she sniffed. She had no idea how long she sat there watching, but not taking in, the scenes unfold around her. Mr. Weasley had begun to force tea and biscuits down the throats of everyone, some people accepting it and others not. Bill and Percy had disappeared for a while and Hermione knew they had been signing the necessary paperwork so she and Charlie didn't need to. It was a common theme in the Wizarding world, where it was extended family who sorted everything out after someone's death and not the immediate family. When she had first found this out, Hermione had been shocked but right now she was so grateful and couldn't think of anything worse than to watch them move Izzy's body and get her to sigh meaningless papers.

She let out a sigh and sat up. Fred cast a look at her and Hermione responded with a weak, watery smile. She walked over to where Jackson had fallen asleep next to Charlie and sat down on the other side of Charlie, curling up next to him, finding the soothing circles he rubbed on her back rather calming. She just wanted to be with her husband and son

Hermione had no idea when she had fallen asleep but the next thing she was aware of was being carried through the darkened corridors of St Mungo's towards the reception and the fireplace. She pressed her head against Charlie's chest and could feel the strength of his heart beating against his ribs. The next thing she knew she was being pulled along the bed and brought close into Charlie's body, his arms wrapped tightly around her waist as if he was afraid he would lose her next.

{FLASHBACK ENDS}

"She's much happier now," Hermione whispered into Fred's shirt.

"Yeah, I guess," he muttered pulling away. Hermione looked up and gently wiped away the tears with her thumb.

"You need to stay strong, Fred. It'll be hard but just remember how much she loved you. I wouldn't be surprised if she loved you more then she did me and Charlie. You need to keep her prankster legacy alive," Hermione said her voice strong and full of sincerity.

"I will, don't you worry," Fred said with a wink and a smile to match.

"That's her Uncle Fred." Hermione gave him one more squeeze before turning around. She hadn't realised quite how long she and Fred had stood there together but judging by the fact that everyone had dispersed she figured it had been a while.

"I see you didn't bring Toby," Fred pointed out.

"No, he's been quite grumpy recently and distanced himself a lot. Izzy was his favourite and I think he knows she's not going to be around. I would have thought he would be glad as he won't be turned pink and black anymore," Hermione added eyeing Fred with curiosity.

"Hey, it was just a bit of a joke. Could never work out why it didn't go back to normal after half and hour though," he said holding up his hands in surrender. Hermione rolled her eyes but couldn't help the twitch of her lips.

"Probably because you didn't add enough Boom Berry to the initial potion," a voice wafted from the door. Fred and Hermione turned around to see George walking towards them.

"Ah yes, that would probably have helped," Fred said thoughtfully. "What do you think about making a potion that will restore anything and anyone back to the original?"

"Now that's something I could get behind," George responded eagerly. Hermione smiled and left the twins to babble on about more ideas for their incredibly successful shop. She headed into the kitchen where she found Mrs. Weasley madly running around trying to cook up lunch.

"What can I help you with?" Hermione asked, pulling out her wand ready to deal with any task that would be handed to her by the flustered woman.

"Oh, Hermione, dear. There's nothing you can do. Really I'm fine. You're the guest, go and relax," Mrs. Weasley responded. But Hermione spotted the tray of roast potatoes catch alight and she quickly sent a stream of water at the flames before they got out of hand.

"Oh, golly. What happened there?" Mrs. Weasley asked shocked to see Hermione stand by the oven, smoke drifting out of the window.

"Your potatoes caught fire. But they're fine. What can I do, Molly? It seems you've got a lot going on," Hermione pressed the woman once more to give her a job.

"Oh, Hermione. You're going to think me awful. I just can't…what with…with Izzy and…and…I," Mrs. Weasley dissolved into tears. Hermione stood there, unsure quite how to react. She knew Mrs. Weasley to be quite the emotional one but wouldn't have expected her to lose it in the middle of the kitchen when she had all her family around for lunch. Hermione pulled the Weasley matriarch, her second mother and woman she looked up to into a hug and held her tightly.

"I don't think you awful. Everyone experiences grief and people just express it differently. We're going to get through it. It may be a while but we'll get there, we'll get there in the end," Hermione said patting Mrs. Weasley's back. She felt odd saying these words herself. The past five days, people had been saying it to her not the other way but right now Hermione felt a little more strength just by saying those few words.

"You're right, Hermione. You always are. I'm sorry about, about this. I thought I would be able to control it all. There's no excuse for me to get upset, especially not today. Right, now for lunch. Can you redo the potatoes? I think they may be ruined. And then can you make a gravy?" Mrs. Weasley asked dabbing at her eyes with her apron. Hermione nodded as she threw the potatoes into the bin and got to work peeling and cutting up another batch.

Just under an hour later found Hermione squeezed between Charlie and Ginny at the rather full kitchen table. Looking around the table, Hermione could feel the love radiating from everyone. It was the same as when she had had her first miscarriage when it had felt as if everyone was experiencing it with her. That was what was so amazing about the Weasleys, when one of them suffered or experienced something less than ideal everyone grouped together and helped that individual get through it all, regardless of whether they were related through blood or marriage. It made her heart fill knowing that everyone was going to be there and help her, Charlie and Jackson, and even Toby, get through the next days, weeks, months and even years.

Both Charlie and Hermione were surprised at how pleasant the meal was and how they felt so welcomed and loved. Hermione had expected everyone to bring up Izzy and everything and to not be able to cope but much to her delight it was just a toast, from Fred, at the beginning of the meal and otherwise it was almost as if nothing had happened. They were both glad that was what the atmosphere was like and despite dreading it a lot they were both glad they had ventured out of the house and visited The Burrow. They both collapsed onto their sofa when they got back home later that afternoon. They snuggled up together and flicked on the television, neither of them truly paying attention but enjoying the background noise. They had barely got back for 10 minutes before Toby appeared from upstairs carrying a soft toy. It was Bear, Izzy's teddy who went everywhere with her. Toby jumped up onto the sofa and lay down, resting his head on Hermione's lap. Hermione didn't have the heart to get him off the sofa like she would have done in the past but let him stay and together the three of them stayed there well into the night, reminiscing of Izzy resulting in tears and even a few laughs and barks from Toby.

(A/N: hope you enjoyed the new chapter, don't forget to leave a review 3)