We've got a new surprise here, unfortunately more questions are raised before we get any answers. Soon though! Thanks for reading!

…..

Fine bloody time for a party. It's not like anything monumental has happened, not like there's anything worth celebrating. But look at that lot, putting out the cakes and roasts like it's the prodigal daughter returned.

Ron scowled at the scene from his seat on the front porch. Dad had set up a small tent in the yard and heated the interior, claiming the house was too small to accommodate the whole dinner party. Mum had laid out a long table underneath and covered it with trays and trays of food, more food than she prepared each Christmas. Some family. They were traitors, all of them.

Ron swirled his glass of fire whiskey, glad at least that everyone seemed to be getting the hint and was leaving him be. There was no way he was getting drawn into it, you wouldn't see him folding any napkins into swans for the party.

"Ronald Weasley! You get inside this kitchen and start helping this instant young man!"

The sound of his mother's voice shook him from his thoughts, and he dutifully walked back inside with a sigh.

"What?" Ron asked Mum as he entered the kitchen.

"Take these bottles and get them chilled." Mum handed him several bottles of elder wine, taking the glass of fire whiskey from his hand. "And don't you 'what' me!"

Ron rolled his eyes for what felt like the millionth time that day, then walked to the kitchen table. He set the bottles out in a row and retrieved a few more from the pantry, then set about cooling them down with his wand. He was just about finished when the sound of a baby's voice distracted him.

"Victoire, I can't play now," Ron said patiently, looking down to where a small toddler was pulling at his pant leg. But it wasn't Victoire, it was Rose. Ron bent down to eye level with the little girl, studying her face as if for the first time. It made him catch his breath.

When Ron and Harry had first seen Rose at Hermione's cottage, Hermione gave them a short story about some village bloke who had run out on her after discovering she was pregnant. She'd made a joke that she'd always had a thing for gingers, a joke that did not make Ron laugh. When he'd first seen Rose he'd felt something similar to what he was feeling now. This child was…familiar to him. Her hair was an unmistakable color, though it had Hermione's thickness. Her small, upturned nose was all Hermione but the eyes were cool blue. Almost as if…

But that was impossible. He and Hermione had never been together, not that way. After the battle they'd spent those first few weeks growing closer together and taking comfort in one another. They'd confessed things to each other and shared some knock out snogging sessions. She'd even told him…told him that she loved him.

But then she left. So it was obviously all a lie. And either way, he and Hermione had never been intimate, so he needed to get all thoughts of this child out of his head.

"Rose, don't run off from me again!" Hermione swooped into the space and snatched up her daughter, burying her nose into the red curls as if she'd been genuinely frightened for the child's well being.

"It's fine," Ron said awkwardly. "I wouldn't have let anything happen to her."

Hermione looked up at him at these words, as if seeing him there for the first time. She nodded slowly in response.

"I know you wouldn't."

Ron let his eyes roam up and down the picture in front of him, a grown up, mature Hermione holding a bouncing redheaded toddler. He'd seen this image before, so many nights in that tent during the hunt thinking there would never be an end, needing a picture of the future to remind him of what he was fighting for. Those days, he just knew if he'd had a Mirror of Erised in front of him, it would have shown him this image he was looking at now.

"Oh Won-Won, I'm so glad you're back!"

Both Ron and Hermione turned at the squeal. Before them stood Lavender Brown, clapping her hands and making a beeline for Ron. Ron looked mildly embarrassed but accepting as Lavender pulled his face to hers and began smothering it with kisses. Hermione watched the display, her skin drained of color and a look similar to disgust on her face.

"Don't ever go away for so long again! They wouldn't even let me see you in recovery, and by the time I heard what happened you were gone!" Lavender paused in her monologue to turn to Hermione. "Ooh, and Hermione, I just can't believe you're here! Ron and I haven't seen you since Hogwarts. You have to tell me absolutely everything that's happened in your life!"

"Um," Hermione looked down at her hand to where Lavender was gripping her, "okay?"

"Oh, sorry, you must be confused," Lavender said with a giggle. "Ron and I are together, we have been this whole time. You'll be seeing a lot of me around here."

Hermione looked at Ron then, searching his face for some sort of confirmation. Ron was staring straight ahead, looking at neither woman. She couldn't tell if he looked ashamed or triumphant.

"Gosh, and look, you have a baby!" Lavender leaned down to get a better look at the child. "Oh my, wow, Hermione she looks just like…"

Lavender stood straight up, her eyes flying to Ron and then looking back at Rose. Her gaze continued to dart between the two for a few seconds, as if trying to piece together a puzzle. You could actually see the moment she made her conclusion.

"Hermione," Lavender said slowly, "who exactly is the father of this child?"

Hermione huffed in indignation.

"Well that's a very personal question to be asking, Lavender."

"Lavender, relax," Ron said quietly. "She's not mine."

Ron looked at Rose almost wistfully as he said it, then looked away as quickly as he could. A crowd was beginning to form in the kitchen. Percy and Audrey had just arrived and had been on their way to greet Hermione, but stopped short when they noticed Lavender's irate face. Mum and Ginny walked in then to get more food to bring outside, and Bill and Harry sat quietly at the kitchen table now, folding napkins into swans.

"I find that difficult to believe!" Lavender shouted in response. "Look at her! And, and, how old is she? She looks almost three. What other redhead was Hermione swooning over three years ago?"

"Actually," Hermione said, with as much confidence as she could muster, "she's two."

"Hermione," Harry said suddenly. "I think we're all a little confused here, as well. She does look quite a bit like, well…you know."

Harry waved his hands helplessly in front of him, as if hoping he wouldn't have to spell it out. Ron continued to bore his gaze into the wall in front of him. He wouldn't look at anyone, and then this whole mess would be over. His jaw was clenched, and he knew it was because he was trying to keep himself from shedding the tears welling up behind his eyes.

"Harry," Hermione whispered, helplessly. "I told you. I told you it was someone else, and he left me."

"I know, but, well, look at her."

"I know perfectly well what my daughter looks like, thank you very much!"

Ginny stepped into the middle then, placing an arm around Hermione in support. This was hard on all of them, but turning on each other wasn't going to help things.

"Hermione, would you mind if I did a spell?" Ginny asked quietly. "I did a lot of nursing after the final battle, and I know a quick charm that could help put this all behind us."

"Wh-what kind of spell?"

"A paternity spell."

Hermione looked wildly around, as if trapped and looking for help.

"I, I don't think that's a great idea," she said. "I don't want magic used on my child."

"It won't harm her," Ginny said. "You can trust me."

"I think that's perfect," Lavender said, a note of venom in her voice. Hermione looked at the blond witch, fear in her eyes but also something else, that look she got before a challenge or a great row.

"Okay."

Ginny slowly pulled her wand out and hovered it over little Rose. Rose looked intrigued by the object, while Ginny looked like she might be sick any moment. Ginny chanted a few words that produced a thin line of gold smoke, swirling around Rose's stomach. Ginny then pointed the wand at Ron, muttering the same incantation, a gold swirl of smoke beginning around his own stomach. Ron watched in fascination as the two lines of gold grew and began reaching out toward one another. He had a sinking feeling in his stomach, not sure of what he wanted the test to find. Hermione, standing next to him with the baby, looked just as terrified. Finally, the two lines of smoke met and twirled together, wrapping around one another until suddenly the bright gold color tuned to black, and then disappeared all together.

"Well, we can all rest easy," Ginny said, looking almost disappointed. "Ron Weasley is not the father of this child."