It's nothing long, but I got the idea the other day and I thought it sounded sweet!

"Chudley. Chudley move!"

The sleepy puppy - if you could even call it a puppy as it somehow quadrupled in size over the past several months - barely acknowledged Ron's presence in the darkened bedroom. Ron had been away, holed up at a headquarters sight for the past four days, orchestrating one of the most precise and successful dark magic raids in the history of the Ministry. Despite his success and congratulatory accolades from the Minister, all Ron wanted to do was come home and crawl into his bed.

"Chudley!" Ron hissed. "You big oaf! Move it!"

Chudley was nonplussed. Instead, he curled up closer to Hermione and sighed.

Ron tugged at his orange collar, and Hermione stirred at the sound of Chudley whining. "It's ok, Chudley" she mumbled, patting the pillow next to her. "Daddy will be home soon."

"Daddy is home, and wants to sleep in his bed," Ron mumbled.

Hermione stirred again, rubbing her eyes as she yawned. Blinking them a few times, she realized that Ron was standing over his side of the bed, one knee sinking into the mattress as he tried in vain to move Chudley. "You're home!" she exclaimed through a yawn.

"Make your dog move."

Hermione tiredly laughed. "My dog?"

"You see him listening to me?"

She propped herself up a little bit and gave Chudley's head a good rub. "Go to your bed, Chudley. Daddy's home." She kissed his nose and got a swift lick in return before the large puppy stood up, his lanky legs wobbly walking on the mattress before hopping down to the ground and curling up on his big pillow near the dresser. "Everything go alright?"

Ron shed his shirt and his pants, wadding them both up and tossing them in the direction of the hamper. He gave her a nod and sighed as he crawled into bed. It was nice being able to come home and find Hermione in less of a frantic, worried state with him away. Despite his dog not budging from Hermione's side, even in bed, that's exactly what he wanted when he convinced her to get one. He leaned in and stole a kiss, and felt himself for the first time in four days relax as Hermione snuggled into his side.

"I missed you."

"I missed you more," Ron mumbled, hugging her tight to his body.

Just before he felt himself completely doze off again, he felt Hermione's slender hands grabbing onto his forearm. His arm had snaked its way around her waist and up her chest. They only found themselves sleeping this way nowadays when Ron had been away for days at a time. When the war ended, the very first night the two of them had ever slept in the same bed was inside the Gryffindor dormitories. Both of them were too exhausted to really wrap their heads around what was happening, or that they were crawling into the same bed. Ron was so tired he didn't even think twice when he realized his sister was sleeping mere feet away from him, her body splayed over Harry like a human shield. But that night, as the two of them passed out from the emotion of their journey overwhelming their senses, they locked themselves together in a way that would have prevented separation, even by the strongest giants.

Or, that was the case, until they bought Chudley.

Kisses from an overzealous tongue woke Ron up later that morning, Chudley's whimpers of excitement making Hermione laugh as she too, began to wake up.

"Someone's realized that Daddy's home," she mumbled, kissing the arm Ron had around her.

Ron shook his head, trying to make Chudley stop so he could continue sleeping the day away but it was wasted effort. Groaning, he let go of Hermione, rolled onto his back, and grunted as the dog jumped on top of him as he tried to prop his tired self upright against the headboard. "Alright, alright," Ron said with a half laugh, rubbing Chudley's ears as he dodged his licks. "I missed you too, Chuds. Were you a good boy for Mummy? Were you? I bet you were 'cause you're such a good dog - yes you are!"

Hermione shook her head, tossing back the blankets as she retreated to the bathroom, leaving Ron and Chudley to their little reunion. By the time she managed to shower, get dressed, and put on a small bit of makeup, she found her bedroom empty, but could hear Ron shouting for Chudley from the backyard. She peeked out the window and saw Ron, still in his pajamas with his boots and coat, throwing Chudley's big orange ball and laughing as Chudley worked hard to dig his toy out of the snow and return it to Ron.

"Boys," she mumbled to herself with a headshake.

She busied herself in the kitchen, making Ron's favorite breakfast foods, and eventually called him and Chudley back inside once the bacon was cooked.

Ron came back inside with cheeks as red as his hair, drying him and Chudley off with a flick of his wand before discarding his boots and coats. "Looks amazing, love," he said, nodding towards the scrambled eggs, sausages, potatoes, and bacon.

Hermione smiled, and kissed his cold lips. "Figured you wouldn't mind it after all that rubbish you probably ate at the Ministry."

"Hey - I'll have you know I ate a salad one of those days," Ron retorted as he took a seat.

"Did you get to the cafeteria late and take the only thing they had left?"

Ron rolled his eyes as he shoveled food onto his plate. "Whether or not it was the only thing left in the cafeteria is completely not the point, Hermione. The point - is that I ate the salad."

Hermione laughed as she poured herself a cup of coffee, and then another for Ron. "Of course, dear." She returned to the table and handed him his mug. Sitting down across from Ron, she smiled as Chudley switched his place on the floor, moving from lying next to Ron's chair to lying next to her feet. She picked up a piece of bacon from the plate, broke off a piece, and handed it to Chudley. "Good dog," she whispered with a pat on the head.

"You spoil that dog more than I do."

She shook her head as she took a bite of bacon. "I hardly believe that to be possible, Ron. I know you give him extra treats after I give him some before work in the morning."

Ron had the decency to feign a bit of shame at her accusation. "Not all the time."

"But most of the time."

"Or all the time," he mumbled into his coffee cup.

Hermione laughed as Ron took a drink. She dished herself up some eggs and two pieces of sausage, and carved into her link when she heard an apparation pop and a loud cry. Chudley immediately stood up and blocked Hermione from moving, while Ron got up to investigate. However, their visitor beat him to the kitchen door, as a panicked Harry and a frazzled Teddy came swooping in. Hermione immediately took the sobbing Teddy from Harry and sat back down at the table, removing his knit hat and cuddling him close.

"Ginny's going into labor," Harry blurted. "Your mum's taking her to St. Mungo's right now, but I need someone to watch Teddy -"

"I've got him," Hermione interrupted. "Ron, go up and get dressed - meet your family at the hospital."

"You should come with."

"No - I'll stay here with Teddy," Hermione reasoned. "He doesn't need to be at the hospital all day. Harry - why is he upset?"

"He hates apparating and Daddy wasn't smart enough to use the floo," Harry apologetically replied. He walked over and gave Teddy a kiss on the top of his head and then kissed Hermione's cheek. "I'll let you know when the baby comes. Ron - I'll see you at the hospital?"

Ron nodded. "I just need to get changed."

Harry gave everyone a cheesy thumbs-up, then ran his hand through his black mop of hair. "I'm going to be a dad," he suddenly said. "I mean, I'm already a dad, but I'm going to be a dad! And I've got to go! See you at the hospital!"

He was gone before anyone could say goodbye. "Finish your breakfast, and go change," Hermione instructed Ron as she peeled Teddy's coat away from his arms, noticing he was still in his pajamas. "Teddy, do you want some breakfast?"

Teddy nodded, wiping the remaining tears from his eyes.

She kissed the top of his head and turned him around on her lap, stabbing some of her eggs onto her fork and handing it to Teddy. He leaned back against her and took a bite. "Mmm," he said. "That's tasty, Aunt Mimi!"

"Well I'm glad you approve," she replied, ruffling his hair as it morphed from dark black to a bright shade of Weasley red. She fought against the Mimi name for a long time, comparing it to that of a grandmother, but eventually she lost, coming to grips that she did not possess a child friendly name when it came to pronunciation. She watched Ron inhale his breakfast before disappearing upstairs to get changed, Chudley following him every step of the way. "Do you want bacon?" she asked.

Teddy nodded. "Yes please."

"You have such good manners," she praised, handing him a crispy bacon strip.

The little boy beamed. "Mummy says you always gots to say please. Mummy is having a baby today."

"She is," Hermione agreed with a smile. "You're going to get a new baby brother or a sister!"

"And we're going to play lots," Teddy added with a mouthful of bacon. "Daddy says so."

By the time Hermione had Teddy's belly full with breakfast, she and him retreated into the living room to watch cartoons on the telly. She half expected Teddy to sit in the middle of the floor like he usually did when he came to play, but instead he curled up with Hermione, leaning against her as watched a movie. When Ron came down several minutes later, she could smell his shower soap before she could see him.

"Figured I should probably bathe, considering I was too tired to do so when I came home," he said, walking around the couch and taking a seat next to Hermione. He couldn't help but stare at Teddy, watching as he hugged his little arms around Hermione's waist, yawning as his eyes were fixated at the dancing robot on the telly. "He's getting big," he remarked.

Hermione smiled. "He is, isn't he? Hard to believe, you know?"

"Yeah," Ron said as he felt his heart leap into his throat just a little bit.

"You alright?"

He nodded quickly, and reached out for her hand. He gave it a squeeze, then pulled her hand up to his mouth to kiss it. "I love you, you know?"

"I know," Hermione sweetly replied. "I love you too."

Ron nodded towards Teddy. "We'll have one of those someday, you know."

"I know," Hermione replied. "You should be getting to the hospital."

"Yeah, I reckon so," Ron said. "I'll send you a patronus with news, ok?"

Hermione nodded. She leaned in and kissed him, smiling just a bit as he kissed her back. "Love you. Give Ginny my love."

"Love you more," Ron replied with a smirk. "Be good, Teddy."

Teddy nodded, his eyes glued to the telly. "Bye Uncle Ron."

Chudley appeared as Ron apparated to the hospital, appearing sad that Ron was now nowhere to be found. Hermione took one look at the pitiful face and nodded with her head, giving him permission to leap his gangly body up onto the couch. Much to the delight of Teddy, Chudley rested his head in both his and Hermione's lap, where the three of them remained while they waited for news. Every once in awhile, Chudley would lean his head up and lick Teddy's cheek, making Teddy squeal with laughter as he wiped away the dog spit with his pajama sleeve. Hermione would just shake her head and sigh. Boys.