SECOND CHANCES 14

Author's Note: I don't own any of the characters.

One Week Later-The Burrow-Ron's Room

She had busied herself with maps of Australia for the past week. She had not altered anything about her parents past their memories and so she had taken the time to try and remember if her parents had views on whether they loved the sea or not, or if the really hated the heat or not. Of course sending them to Australia would not help with the heat but could help keep her parents from the interior of the continent. The rest of her time had been spent reading and rereading everything that she could about multiple births. As best he could Ron had snuck her the books from Hogwarts and other sources. The castle was almost totally rebuilt and would be far enough along to be able to be open for classes in September. Ron had even gone so far as to sneak her extra food, even managing to succeed at fulfilling her cravings no matter the time of day or night. They had just finished working in the garden an hour before and Hermione had taken a bath first before retreating to Ron's room so that he could take one after her. She was just about to close the newest atlas that she had been Ron slipped into the room wearing a towel that looked like it was straining to stay cinched around his waist.

"Get all cleaned up," Hermione wondered aloud softly as she heard Ron pick up his wand and lock and muffle the door behind him.

"Tried to, Mum was in a real rush to get ready for something at Hogwarts this afternoon, probably something to show people that it's open for business again, are you still sure that you want to go back," Ron replied with a tired but relieved smile as he set his wand back on the dresser and walked over to the bed before he draped himself across it, his gaze never once leaving her.

"Of course, I am going to set a good example for our children…and I expect that you will as well," Hermione answered with a rather dignified tone of voice as she lifted her nose up into the air a bit in a spot of fun before she couldn't help but smile.

"Yes dear," Ron remarked with a slight salute as he busied himself with taking her all in, wearing nothing but one of his old Weasley sweaters that his mother had knitted him. The neck had been so stretched out that one of its edges rested against the side of her neck and the other was draped down her shoulder so that one was bare and the other covered.

"Oh don't start that…at least not yet," Hermione shot back with a soft groan and rolling of her eyes as she suddenly looked like she wanted nothing more than to curl up under the covers and take a nap.

"You mean you don't like me calling you dear," Ron commented with a fake pout and hurt expression as he propped himself up on one of his elbows and stared intently across the bed and her.

"I didn't say that, I just don't want to get so used to it that we slip up and say it in front of your family, not until after they know everything, then it won't matter," Hermione replied a bit angrier than she meant to and blushed through the rest of her response before leaning forward and giving Ron a quick kiss on the cheek.

"Fine, I'll try to keep from showing that I care…although I do like this look on you," Ron let out with an impatient sigh as he rolled his eyes and then flopped over onto his back, but kept his gaze fixed firmly on her the entire time.

"Really…is it because my hair is a complete mess and I'm wearing no makeup…," Hermione asked softly while a slight scrunching up of her nose as if she'd smelled something bad as she fluffed up her hair at first before she followed by lazily pointing to her face.

"Or any knickers…," Ron answered with a devilish grin and one eyebrow cocked up before he rolled back over onto his side and laid a hand on her bare knee.

"I figured why bother for now, you and I are long past the point where that would matter to me anyway…besides, it's not like either of us has anything to hide between us anyway," Hermione shrugged with a corner of her lip curling up into a cheeky grin as she reached down and hiked up the hem of the Weasley jumper a little for Ron before she slid it back down her legs until it reached his hand.

"I love how you think, I just can't help but picture my mum's face if she saw us like this," Ron snickered with a rather large grin before he reached repositioned himself so that he was sitting on the bed so that he could pull a more than willing Hermione onto his lap.

"She'd never let us within a thousand miles of each other ever again," Hermione joked merrily as she curled up in his lap and felt both loved and safe.

"A little late for that luv, okay a lot too late for that, besides a few months from now we'll be graduates and then she can't do anything about it," Ron chuckled back as he slid one hand up the bottom of her thigh before it came to rest right where her thigh met her behind and the other hand slid under the jumper until it came to rest on her baby bump.

"True, but we're going to need her help when these three…not to mention with Henry," Hermione acknowledged with a daunting tone to her words as she pouted a bit while glancing down at her stomach as she laid a hand over top of Ron's on her stomach.

"It'll somehow all work out, and no I don't know that for certain but I do know that whatever happens we'll face it together," Ron declared, his voice full of conviction, as he pulled Hermione closer and gave her a strong and supportive squeeze before she could then say anything.

"And people wonder why I love you," Hermione cooed softly with a very much in love smile as she wriggled in her seat on Ron's lap until she got more comfortable and eagerly awaited what Ron's response would be.

"What, who wonders…how could they, did you tell someone about us," Ron replied angrily as his head bolted upright and he looked all around the room, looking as if he was studying every inch of it for an answer to his question.

"Relax Ron, I didn't tell anybody, I just love watching you squirm," Hermione laughed off as she playfully swatted him on the chest and tried to keep her chuckles to herself at the further look of confusion on Ron's face before he settled into a sly grin.

"Oh really, then maybe I need to punish you for that," Ron muttered under his breath directly into Hermione's ear as the hand that was on her stomach slid upward a bit and the hand that was under her thigh did the same.

"Oh no, I am so scared," Hermione wailed softly with a clearly fake tone of fear as she laid her head back onto his shoulder and then stared up at the ceiling, silently wondering just what Ron had in mind.

"You should be," Ron huskily whispered to her before he leaned his head in and placed a few lingering kisses on her neck and he could only grin like mad when he felt the shivers go through her body with each touch of his lips.

"Ron…no, we can't," Hermione weakly offered up with her eyes flickering closed as even Ron could tell that the brunette was fighting a losing battle, even before he started to lightly tickle her.

"What, why not," Ron groaned out unhappily as he tried to keep from laughing and the disappointed moan that escaped Hermione's lips at the fact that his kisses had stopped before she formulated a good answer.

"Because that's how this happened…remember," Hermione remarked softly with a hint of accusation in her words as she lightly patted her stomach before her lips met his.

"Yeah, but what's the problem, not like I can get you pregnant again right," Ron replied under his breath with his lips touching hers with every word as he spun her around so that she was straddling his lap and they were face to face with his arms around her upper and lower back keeping her upright as her hands were in his hair keeping them close.

"Well that's true…alright, but we can't spend all day and mmpf," Hermione relented with a slight shrug of her shoulders and a smile as she kept her gaze locked directly onto Ron's before he kissed her again and the two fell back onto the bed again and seriously hoped that no one would need them for the next few hours.

1111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111

The Burrow-The Kitchen-One Day Later

She hadn't felt all that well when she had woken up in Ginny's room and had stared at the ceiling for what felt like hours to try and feel better before going down to breakfast. The morning sickness was mostly gone and for the first time in three days her stomach had rumbled loudly in the morning and she definitely wanted to eat. A quick check in the mirror showed her that though her hair was a total mess she looked well enough that she thought that her baby bump was covered up enough and she didn't look like she'd spent most of the day before shagging Ron as often as possible. She had arrived into the kitchen to find Harry and Ginny sitting side by side digging into the food on their plates and Mrs. Weasley humming softly to herself as she continued to cook more food on the stove.

"About time you got up Hermione, going to have seconds and thirds again this morning," Ginny piped up with a warm smile before she took a rather large bite of her toast and went silent.

"Shut up Ginny," Hermione snapped through a yawn as she sat down at the table across from Harry and started to pull the half empty plates of food towards her, only then noticing that there was a plate next to her that seemed as if whoever had been eating off it had stopped suddenly.

"That's enough the both of you, I won't have you two darkening this fine morning with one row after another," Mrs. Weasley interjected without taking her eyes off of the food on the stove as she called back over her shoulder, almost as if she had eyes in the back of her head. Hermione busied herself with overloading her plate and then shoveling it into her mouth, seemingly not caring much for manners just then. Ginny seemed to regard her oddly when the brunette had cleaned her plate and then overfilled it again.

"It's not been that bad Mrs. Weasley, at least it's better than if Ron and Hermione were fighting, right Ginny," Harry offered up in the optimistic hope to lighten the mood and get things moving without allowing Ginny or Hermione to immediately say anything to the contrary.

"Huh…oh uh, yeah," Ginny grumbled out impatiently as she shifted in her seat before she went back to eating and tried to look anywhere but at Hermione, who was far too busy anyway cleaning her plate for a second time.

"My word Hermione that's a lot of food, if I didn't know any better I might almost think that you were…but that couldn't be, far too soon for any of that," Mrs. Weasley exclaimed with a look of total shock as she eyed the large amount of food on Hermione's plate before she seemed to think of something and then shrug it off with a smile.

"For what Mrs. Weasley," Hermione asked softly with a concerned look as she balled both her hands up into fists and her toes as hard as she could while refraining from breathing to await Mrs. Weasley's answer.

"Far too soon to be having children, I remember when I was pregnant with Ron I was eating all day long, I could never get enough," Mrs. Weasley answered with such a tone of certainty in her voice that she seemed to be trying to make the others believe totally in her words just by how she said them.

"I know the feeling," Hermione smiled back sweetly as she made it a point so say that as softly as possible so that she could tell the truth, after telling one lie after another, for once in a very long time, hoping that Harry and Ginny wouldn't hear her.

"What did you say Hermione," Harry wondered aloud with a curious expression as he momentarily stopped his food laden fork on its way to his mouth to speak before eating.

"Er I…has anyone seen Ron, it's not like him to leave food uneaten," Hermione nervously replied with a slight blush to her cheeks before she quickly changed the subject and tried to move the conversation forward without giving Harry any time to ask his question again.

"Oh yeah, he was here a few minutes ago but then left suddenly when an owl came with something for him…something from the ministry, looked like Kingsley's handwriting," Harry explained with a bored shrug, as if he found the entire thing completely commonplace, before he went back to eating his breakfast and trying not to make it to apparent that he was sneaking peeks at Ginny.

"Kingsley…oh no," Hermione gasped out as she dropped her fork halfway to her mouth and scrambled out of the kitchen and rushed outside before anyone could say anything.

"Wonder what's bothering her," Harry questioned with a slight scowl of confusion as he turned and looked over his shoulder at the door of which Hermione had left open in her sudden haste to leave the house.

"Beats me, who knows with Hermione," Ginny shrugged with a slightly impatient frown as she glanced first at the open doorway and then to Harry before returning to her breakfast.

"Ron…where are you, Ron…there you are, what," Hermione exclaimed desperately as she rushed around the yard in her attempt to find Ron, all without making herself sick from how much food she had just eaten before all of her physical activity. She finally found him a good distance from the house standing behind a rather large tree.

"I…I'm sorry Hermione, I…," Ron started to say sadly with tears running down his cheeks and an open letter in his hands as he turned and saw Hermione approach him before her gait faltered and she had to lean on the tree for support in catching her breath as the full weight of Ron's words struck her.

"N…no…please no, Ron…please…," Hermione choked out as she felt like her heart had stopped in a split second and her knees went numb at any attempt to take a step towards Ron, forcing him to catch her as tears spill down her own cheeks.

"Wait, it's okay Hermione, Henry's okay, your parents to," Ron quickly snapped out the second that he figured out what Hermione had thought that he was meaning as he easily caught her in his arms and dropped down to his knees so that she could compose herself without falling.

"Then why," Hermione demanded angrily as she balled up the front of Ron's shirt in her fists and glared at him through very watery eyes and tear streaks on her cheeks.

"I'm sorry I opened the letter without you, I couldn't wait, sorry," Ron admitted while looking very guilty and apologetic before he handed Hermione the letter and stayed quiet as she read it a few times over herself.

"Don't be…just never scare me like that ever again do you hear me," Hermione declared strongly as she used the front of Ron's shirt to wipe the tears out of her eyes and then her nose as well, feeling a little bit of satisfaction at the suddenly very uncomfortable look that passed over his face at the act.

"Every word…crystal clear," Ron readily agreed with a nervous grin as Hermione carefully folded the letter back up and slipped it into one of her pockets before she closed her eyes and leaned her head forward until it came to rest up against Ron's chest.

"Now come on, we have to talk to your mum about my parents so that we can go get our son," Hermione finally announced softly after several minutes as it was clear to Ron that she was trying to regain her full composure before she stood up on her own and offered him her hand.

111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111

The Burrow-Thirty Minutes Later

It ended up taking her longer than she had anticipated for she and Ron to collect themselves enough to do anything more than think about the meaning of the words on the letter without them both tearing up. It would be completely normal for Hermione to shed tears at the chance to retrieve her parents and restore their memories to them, though Ron showing any such emotion would more than raise concerns. She decided that if anyone else learned of the existence of their son at that moment then the trip to Australia would be a family affair and everyone would go. Hermione felt it better that the group that went to retrieve Henry and her parents was kept to the bare minimum as best to not overwhelm them when they had regained their memories and needed a recap of the last year. She also wasn't thrilled at the notion of telling her parents that she was pregnant again, though she consoled herself with the knowledge that at least this time she wouldn't be days away from giving birth. She took it slow in telling Mrs. Weasley as she knew that

"Hermione dear, why didn't you tell us, we could have helped you, you didn't need to…," Mrs. Weasley asked with a pained expression as she sat down on the couch next to Hermione and put an arm around her.

"She didn't have a choice, the fewer people that knew about her parents the better, especially since we knew that they would be prime targets for the Death Eaters, she couldn't take that risk," Harry answered before Hermione could as he shrugged his shoulders while sitting down in one of the other chairs in the room and trying to sound sympathetic.

"But they could have stayed with us, we would have protected them," Mrs. Weasley declared strongly as she looked alarmed at everything that Hermione had to do to protect her parents.

"But that's just it mum, you couldn't have, no matter how much you wanted to…after what happened at the wedding, you were being watched to closely for anything like that," Ron countered with a pained expression as Hermione gave him a look and knew that he wanted to comfort her but barely managed to hold himself back and break their cover.

"I understand that son, but it just doesn't feel right that she had to do it all by herself, there should have been another way…and are you sure that you have the right incantation to counteract your memory spell," Mrs. Weasley questioned with a less than convinced tone to her words as she gave Hermione another hug and looked like she had no intention of ever letting any of them go anywhere out of her sight.

"Both Kingsley and McGonagall say that this spell will work and I have to believe them, I don't really have any other choice, I miss them too much," Hermione answered with as optimistic and encouraged expression as she could muster on the spot in the hope that her belief in her old teacher would carry the day.

"So then why do you want me to go with you," Harry asked softly as he slightly leaned forward in his seat in the other chair across from Ron and first looked to Hermione before turning his gaze to Ron, who he noticed seemed more than nervous.

"Don't you mean us, because I'm not letting you lot run off again and leave me behind," Ginny declared strongly as she scooted to the front edge of the couch and looked ready to confront anyone that would try to tell her that she wasn't going with them.

"You're not going Ginny," Mrs. Weasley argued sharply as she shook her head and looked like she wasn't about to change her mind on the subject, much to her youngest child's dismay.

"Why not," Ginny shouted angrily as she shot up to her feet and balled her hands up into fists and glared at her mother, as she wasn't about to be left behind again before her mother cut her off.

"Because it's too dangerous with…with…well with…it's too dangerous," Mrs. Weasley replied in a rush as she was going more on her emotions than anything else and it showed when she found it hard to come up with a valid reason to keep Ginny from going that wasn't an emotional one.

"We don't know that for certain mum, besides I'd be with them," Ginny offered with a hopeful look in her eyes as what she was saying was true even though it didn't assuage Mrs. Weasley's fears any.

"That's what worries me Ginny, for some reason you three attract trouble like I've never seen, I'm worried enough about the three of you going but Ginny…," Mrs. Weasley replied softly, the worry clearly evident in the pained expression on her face, as she let go of Hermione and stood up in front of Ginny, looking like she was unsure how Ginny would respond to a loving hug just then.

"I want her with us Mrs. Weasley, I'm going to need her help, and we'll use the tent that we used all this last year, without the jinx on Voldemort's name there's no way anyone could find us as long as we put up the wards correctly," Hermione declared calmly from her spot on the couch, as truthfully she wasn't that enthused about trying to jump to her feet as she expected that if she tried it she'd get to much momentum going forward and fall flat on her face, though she did reach a hand up and lay it on Mrs. Weasley's arm, hoping that the physical contact would calm her a bit.

"And we can put out a story that we're at Hogwarts helping rebuild or something so that nobody will be looking for us in Australia, they'll never think to look for us on the other side of the world even if they do find out that we're not helping rebuild," Harry added quickly with a steadily growing look of acceptance and eagerness as he spoke, all the while looking straight at Mrs. Weasley and hoping that she wouldn't argue too much.

"I don't like the idea but I don't have much of a choice do I," Mrs. Weasley replied with a slightly cold look in her eyes as she guessed that the choice was out of her hands but that if that were the case then she was going to state for the record that she thought that it was a bad idea.

"Not really…sorry," Hermione remarked meekly with a pleading smile as she clasped her hands together on her lap in an attempt to keep them from her stomach where she had almost laid them instead.

END OF CHAPTER 14

Author's Note: Thanks again to everyone for reading and reviewing this and the other chapters. As always reviews, questions, and comments are greatly appreciated. At the beginning of this chapter Ron and Hermione don't go all the way but mostly just fool around and as for the nudity part Hermione is alone with Ron and not showing off for the sake of it but just not ready to fully get dressed just yet when Ron comes in wearing only a towel. I could have drawn out the second part more but didn't want to have Ron let Hermione think that something was wrong as he wouldn't do that to her. Side note I'd love to see Rupert Grint as the next Doctor whenever the current one leaves, since he'd fit the character to me and the Doctor has wanted to be a ginger for a while. At the end of the chapter I just had them try to convince Mrs. Weasley that they were going to Australia and to tell her about Hermione's parents even though they of course kept the children a secret still, though that won't last much longer. The next couple of chapters are going to be fun and uh…interesting, with some interactions have been a long time coming. Changing my mind again this story could go past twenty chapters, though those said chapters will be epilogue chapters. Thank You.