Disclaimer: Not mine, don't own it — I wish! Unfortunately, Harry Potter belongs to JKR and not to me; I'm just playing in her sandbox.
Author's Notes:
» Hermione changes her name during the story. However, to make it easier to understand, I'll continue to refer to Hermione by the name we all know. The only times her new name will be used is when she introduces herself to new people, or when someone is speaking to her and addresses her by name.
» Only one more chapter to go after this, which I hope to post later this week.
» Thank you to atokkota for her support and feedback.
.o.O.o.
CHAPTER 16
A couple of days later, Hermione received a letter from Molly telling her that Arthur had been told about the girls. He had taken the news well and would be released at the weekend as planned, therefore, they were all expected at the Burrow for Sunday lunch. Now that Arthur knew the news, Penny and Hermione took the girls to explore Hogsmeade. As they walked around the village, Hermione heard a familiar voice calling her name.
"Merlin's saggy pants, it's Granger! Oy, Granger!"
Hermione spun round to look in the direction the voice was coming from. Standing in the doorway of the shop that had once been Zonko's Joke Shop and was now Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes was George Weasley, beaming at her in delight. He came running over and threw his arms around her, twirling her round and round until she was dizzy.
"Stop, George," she choked.
"We've missed you," he said reprovingly as he put her back on the ground. "Just because my little brother was a prat, that was no reason to cut yourself off from the rest of us, you know."
Hermione sighed. "Penny, would you mind showing the girls round by yourself? I think I need to talk to George and there's no need to spoil the girls' fun. They've been looking forward to seeing Hogsmeade."
Penny nodded. "We'll finish off back here so the girls can see the shop," she called back over her shoulder as she shepherded the girls away.
"Not here," said Hermione warningly as George, who had been looking at the girls speculatively, opened his mouth. "Do you have an office in the shop where we can talk in private?"
George nodded and led Hermione to a small flat above the shop, which had been set aside as an office and a rest area for the workers. They sat down and Hermione cast a Muffliato spell. This would fill the ears of anyone listening with a low buzzing sound. It would sound like a conversation that had been pitched too low for distinct words to be distinguished. As briefly as possible, she told George the whole, sorry tale.
"That stupid, insensate, selfish git! My little brother is a moron," barked George furiously, as he paced around the staff lounge. "And my brother-in-law is no better. I don't think those two will ever grow up! Just wait until I get my hands on Ron!"
"NO!" screamed Hermione. "George, I appreciate the support but I don't want Ron to know Aimée is his daughter. I don't want him to think he has a claim on her. I don't want him anywhere near her."
George stopped pacing and looked at Hermione consideringly. "You have a good point. All right, I won't say anything to him," he said, hugging her. Pulling back slightly, he looked into Hermione's eyes. "Nonie…" he said tentatively, "has anyone told you about Pansy?"
"Pansy Parkinson? No, what's she got to do with this mess?" asked Hermione, confusion in her face.
"With this mess? Nothing. With Ron? That's a whole other story," George replied ruefully.
"Tell me," said Hermione, with a sinking feeling.
George sighed. "Ron got her drunk and drugged her. He then slept with her and didn't bother with any kind of contraception. Pansy didn't remember much about that night, until she realised she was pregnant. She says she was a bit bruised up the next morning but she hadn't put two and two together at that point because she was still a bit fuzzy-headed. Severus used Legilimency to try and ascertain what had happened. Her memory was unclear but he looked back to the beginning of the evening, before Ron started plying her with drinks, and he saw Ron trying to chat her up. Severus confronted Ron, who admitted what he'd done. The git was even proud of it! Ron has refused to acknowledge the children — twin girls — and hasn't given Pansy as much as a knut in child support. Her parents disowned her and kicked her out. I gave her a job in the shop — she helps me with the brewing — and I let her live rent-free in the flat above the Diagon Alley shop. Ron had the audacity to start a screaming match with me in the middle of Diagon Alley over it. He yelled out that she was a whore and should pick up tricks if she wants a job. I beat him black and blue for that. He's the only man Pansy has ever been with, Nonie, and that only because he drugged her. It's not my responsibility to pick up after Ron's messes but he's not the one who was in a mess because of this. I know you and Pansy didn't get on well at school but I had to help her." George was pleading with Hermione to understand. Saying that she and Pansy had not got on at school was a massive understatement. They had hated each other.
Hermione took a couple of deep breaths. As much as she had disliked Pansy in the past, Hermione could not blame her for what had happened. "You're a good man, George Weasley," Hermione said at last. "I promise if I see Pansy, I'll be civil. The only one at fault was Ron."
"Thank you," said George gratefully. "Pansy and the girls will probably be at lunch on Sunday, especially as Ron and his family won't be there. The rest of us have taken her in as an honorary Weasley but Mum can't have her at the Burrow when Ron's around."
Hermione nodded. "Don't worry. I won't give her a hard time."
"Good!" he exclaimed, his usual exuberance back in his voice. "Now, when do I get to meet my nieces? I have to teach them how to prank!"
Hermione groaned theatrically. This was just the reaction George had been hoping for and he laughed delightedly. Hermione could not maintain her faux disapproval and joined in the laughter, thrilled that he had accepted the girls so easily.
"George," she said, hesitantly. "Penny has arranged to meet with Percy so she can tell him about Phoebe but what about the rest of the family? Not the children, perhaps, but Bill, Fleur and Charlie? Shouldn't we tell them before Sunday — will Charlie be there or is he at the dragon reserve in Romania? — so there's no extreme reactions in front of the girls. If anyone else reacts the way Harry did, I don't want the girls around at the time."
"Angie too," George said absently, as he considered Hermione's suggestion.
"Angie? Angelina Johnson?" Hermione asked in bewilderment.
"Yes, she's my wife," replied George.
"Congratulations! She's far too good for you, you know?" Hermione teased.
"I know," answered George seriously. "Now, onto your question. I'll tell Angie, Bill and Fleur tonight. I think you're right that they should know in advance. As far as I know, Charlie won't be there on Sunday, so he can wait for a letter. He won't get upset, though. If it doesn't have scales and breathe fire, he's not much interested."
Hermione laughed, knowing how accurate a description of the second oldest Weasley son that was. "Thank you for offering to tell everyone, George," she said gratefully. "I'd ask Ginny but given Harry's attitude, I don't want to cause trouble for her."
"Harry just doesn't think before he speaks or acts but he's not a bad guy. He's probably already regretting letting the words spill out without routing them via his brain first," George commented and Hermione laughed again.
"That's a very good description!" she said. "But Harry keeps on doing that to me. I've given him so many chances and I just can't carry on that way."
George nodded. "Fair enough," he agreed amiably. "Now, my nieces?"
As Hermione followed George down the stairs, she suddenly stopped halfway with an exclamation. George turned to her in concern. "What's wrong, Nonie?"
"Sweet Nimue," she whispered. "It was because of me."
"What? What was because of you?" asked George uncomprehendingly.
"Pansy! Ron went after her because he knew she was my biggest nemesis in school, after Draco Malfoy, of course! He thought that choosing Pansy would hurt me more than anyone else he might have bedded. He targeted her in some kind of sick revenge against me and didn't care who else he hurt."
George went pale. He had not put two and two together but now that Hermione had done so for him, he realised that she was probably right. "Merciful Merlin!" he whispered in return.
"I don't know if it'll make it better or worse for Pansy to know that but I ought to apologise to her. It's my fault, George!"
"No, it's not!" George snapped at Hermione, who was sounding hysterical. "Ron may have chosen to target Pansy because of you but it's not your fault. Did you know he would do that? Did you tell him to rape her, because that's what it was? Believe me, if Pansy had thought that she had the slightest chance of winning as a disowned, single mother, she'd have pressed charges against him for rape. Would you have approved if you had known? Encouraged him? Of course not! It's Ron's fault, Nonie, and no one else's. Do not blame yourself for this!"
Hermione wrapped her arms around George's waist, leaning into him for comfort as she tried to pull herself together. "All right. I'll try not to," she agreed in a small voice.
George gave Hermione a brief hug and then tugged her hand and pulled her back down the stairs after him. By this time, Penny and the girls were in the shop too. George pasted a great, big smile on his face and sneaked up behind the two girls, who were looking at some of the goods on the shelves, sticking his head in between them. "Boo!" he whispered in their ears, laughing as they jumped in shock.
Hermione sighed in fake exasperation. "Girls, this is your Uncle George," she announced. "He's a bit of a prankster so you better watch out because his favourite victims are his family."
"Ssh! You're giving away all my secrets, Granger!" he said in a stage-whisper.
"Gale," she corrected. "Or better yet, Nonie."
"All right, Nonie!" he agreed exaggeratedly, as though it was a great imposition, beaming as he heard the two girls giggle in response.
"Now, let me show my nieces around the shop. You two go away," he said flapping his hands at Hermione and Penny in a shooing motion.
"Just don't corrupt my daughter, George Weasley!" warned Hermione.
"Would I do a thing like that?" he asked angelically.
"Yes!" came the uncompromising answer.
"You know me too well," he said with a wink.
Placing an arm around each girl's shoulder, he steered them away from their mothers. "Now, my lovely, young nieces, let's see what interests you. You get everything free today, just don't tell your Mums!" he said conspiratorially.
Hermione, who had heard every word, smiled ruefully, pleased to see them so charmed by their uncle. She and Penny stayed out the way as he showed them round the shop and loaded them with goodies. When George stopped by the racks of edible jokes, like the Canary Creams and the Candy Explosions, Aimée paled. "I don't want any of those," she said in a small voice.
George, knowing how badly Aimée had been injured when Reuben sabotaged her cauldron, understood immediately why she was upset. Plucking up a tube of the sweets, he showed them to Aimée. "Look at the instructions, Aimée," he said reassuringly. "They're perfectly safe if you follow the instructions. I don't want you to think I make things that are dangerous. It's not the Candy Explosions that are dangerous, it's the person using them who is. They're like anything — even your wand — they're fine as long as you use them responsibly. I won't force you to take them but I don't want you to be scared of the things I make."
As Aimée nodded hesitantly, Hermione came up behind her. "Why don't we take a tube and we can test them in Severus' lab, if he'll let us? If you try them in test conditions, following the instructions, you can see for yourself if they're dangerous or not. You won't need to worry about any dangerous explosions — Severus will make absolutely certain nothing bad will happen."
Aimée thought for a moment. She trusted Severus completely, most especially his skill in a potions lab, and it was silly to be scared of a few sweets. "All right," she agreed, and George let out a breath he did not realise he had been holding.
"Thank you," he mouthed at Hermione.
When the laden girls arrived back at the castle, they met Severus in the entryway. Aimée bounded over to him. "Severus, will you help us?" she asked excitedly.
"With what?" he demanded, with a smile in his eyes. "I'm a Slytherin. We don't agree to do anything before we know what we're agreeing to," he continued with a wink.
"I want to test the Candy Explosions," she replied quietly. "Uncle George offered me a tube but I didn't want to take them. Mum said we could test them in lab conditions, adhering to the instructions, so I can see for myself that they're safe."
Severus' eyes met Hermione's with understanding. "Of course," he replied. "Would you like to do it now?"
"Yes, please!" Aimée replied exuberantly.
Hermione relieved Aimée of her bags. "Why don't I take these to our rooms and then come and join you in the dungeons?" she suggested.
"Phoebe, do you want to come too?" asked Aimée, grabbing her cousin by the hand and towing her along behind her.
"Apparently so," she drawled dryly, much to Severus' appreciative amusement.
Penny needed to get ready for her meeting with Percy, so she gladly left the girls with Hermione and Severus. Aimée was much happier after seeing what the Candy Explosions were really meant to do and spent the afternoon chatting to Severus about potions. He even allowed her to assist him with brewing some for the school infirmary.
Phoebe left the two enthusiastic potioneers to it and made her way back to the guest rooms she was sharing with her mother, where she happily settled down with a book until Penny returned. By this time, Aimée and Hermione had emerged from the dungeons and were sitting with Phoebe as they all waited.
"Well? How did it go?" Phoebe cried when Penny walked in.
Penny sat down and gave a relieved smile. "Very well," she replied. "Percy was shocked, of course, but he understood. He's not going to try and claim you — he even agreed to let Olivier adopt you — but he would still like to be a part of your life in some way, if you'll let him. He's going to tell his wife and daughters about you tonight — you have two younger sisters, called Molly and Lucy — and then he'd like us to come over and meet his family tomorrow, before we meet the rest of the family the day after."
Phoebe looked pleased. She had been scared that Percy would turn out to be a nasty piece of work like Ronald and she was happy he wanted to get to know her. Although she regarded Olivier as her father, it would be nice to have her birth father and her half sisters in her life, even if after she returned to Canada, it would only be through the exchange of letters.
Phoebe and Penny's day spent with Percy's family on Saturday had gone well. Percy was disappointed that he had missed so many years of his daughter's life but she was clearly loved and happy, and that was the most important thing. He knew the Clearwaters had been in danger during the war because of Sophie's blood status and he also knew that his own behaviour had not inspired confidence in him at that time. Penny had been right not to place her trust in Percy and he did not blame her for having run from the war. His poor behaviour during those dark times was something he had acknowledged long ago and which he still deeply regretted. There had been no rivalry that day between Penny and his wife, Audrey, since Penny had made it clear almost as soon as she arrived that she was engaged and very much in love with her fiancé. His two daughters with Audrey had been delighted to have an older half-sister and, not really understanding the history, regarded her as some sort of exotic creature who was there to play with and indulge them.
George had owled Hermione to assure her that Angie, Bill and Fleur were looking forward to seeing her again and to meeting Penny and the girls. Of course, Penny and Angelina had been in Hogwarts at the same time as each other but being in different years and in different Houses, they had never actually interacted. Arthur, according to both George and Molly, was extremely excited and could not wait for Sunday.
Finally Sunday arrived and the family nervously flooed to the Burrow from Minerva's office. Minerva and Severus were in a meeting and would follow on later.
"Welcome, my dears," said Molly, who had been impatiently waiting by the fireplace for their arrival.
Hermione, being the only one of the Canadians who was familiar with the Burrow and who knew all the Weasleys stepped forward, as their unofficial spokesperson. "It's good to be back here in the Burrow, Molly. Thank you for inviting us all."
"Arthur is in the living room and everyone else is outside," Molly said. "You know your way, don't you, Nonie?"
"Of course," she replied with a smile, leading the others away from the floo.
"Arthur!" she cried warmly, as she caught sight of the Weasley patriarch ensconced in a comfortable armchair. She rushed over to him and gave the kindly man one of her patented bear-hugs.
"It's good to see you again. We've missed you," he said, patting Hermione's back as she hugged him.
Hermione stepped back with teary eyes and a wide smile. "I've missed you, too," she assured him. "Arthur, these are your granddaughters, Aimée and Phoebe; and Phoebe's mother, Penny."
"It's very good to meet you all," he replied with an even bigger smile than Hermione's. "Penny, I'd be delighted to talk to you and get to know you later, but do you mind if I talk to my granddaughters first? I'm not supposed to have too many people around me at once."
Penny laughed. "That's quite all right, Mr Weasley. I know your granddaughters are very excited to meet their Grandad, so I'll leave you all to it."
Arthur gestured to the couch next to him and the girls bounded over to sit down. Hermione pointed towards the kitchen. "You can get out into the back garden through there. That's where we'll be," she told the girls, before leading Penny away.
As she walked out into the garden, she heard a scream. "Madame Gale! Où est Aimée? Where's Aimée?" Victoire cried as she came running over, with Teddy Lupin in tow, and crashed into Hermione for a hug.
"Victoire! Se comporter! Behave yourself!" chided her mother.
"It's quite all right, Fleur. I'm pleased she's excited to see her cousin. It's good to see you again, Fleur."
"You too, 'Ermione," the lovely Frenchwoman replied, giving Hermione a hug. "No, it is not 'Ermione anymore, n'est-ce pas? It is Nonie now, oui?"
"Yes, that's right, Fleur. Thank you for remembering. And this is Penelope Clearwater," Hermione introduced them. "Penny, this is Fleur Weasley. Her husband is Bill, the eldest Weasley brother. These two are Bill and Fleur's daughter, Victoire, and Teddy Lupin. You may remember Professor Lupin, who taught Defence Against the Dark Arts in your seventh year? Teddy is his son. I don't know if you knew his mother, Tonks? She was a Hufflepuff a few years ahead of you. She was a Metamorphmagus, who loved changing her hair colour, so she would have been quite distinctive."
Penny laughed. "Yes, I remember her. How could I not? She hexed one of the most arrogant and annoying people I've ever met for calling her by her first name."
Hermione laughed too. "That's her! She hated her name. I assume you've been told that about her, Teddy?" she asked, looking at the boy, who nodded his head vigorously.
"That's always one of the first things anyone ever says about her," he explained. "Uncle Harry says when he was growing up, the first thing people always said to him when they met him was that he looked just like his father but he had his mother's eyes. It's kind of like that."
"Yes, it is," replied Hermione understandingly. "Well, I only knew her for a couple of years but I'll be glad to tell you some other stories about her."
"Thank you," he beamed at her.
Victoire had stood politely waiting while Hermione greeted her mother but her patience had run out. Tugging Hermione's arm, she repeated her question. "Where is Aimée, please?"
"Aimée and Phoebe are talking to your Grandad. Wait a little longer, Victoire. Your Grandad wants to meet his new granddaughters. You'll see them when they come and join us. Grandma Molly probably won't let them stay with your Grandad for too long; he shouldn't get too excited right now," said Hermione.
Victoire nodded understandingly. "All right, I'll wait until they're finished talking to Grandad but then Aimée is mine!" she stated imperiously, before running off with Teddy again.
Hermione chuckled and looked around at the rest of the Weasleys. Bill was chasing after Victoire and Teddy, who were running away from him, laughing. Bill's hair was bright blue, courtesy of the mischievous pair. George was roaring with laughter at the sight of his brother. Percy and a woman who Hermione assumed was Audrey had taken Penelope off to introduce them to everyone else. Ginny and Angelina were supervising several children on broomsticks, while several others were running around, playing on the ground.
Hermione went over to join everyone and was greeted warmly by all the Weasleys of her generation, although she was only politely civil to Harry. He looked crestfallen but Ginny, who had come down to greet Hermione, thumped his arm and he said nothing. Hermione sat talking to Bill and Fleur in French, to the surprise of those Weasleys in hearing distance, who had not known she was fluent in that language.
When Aimée and Phoebe came to join them, Victoire pounced on them both with a squeal. It did not matter to her that she had never met Phoebe before. It was enough for Victoire to know that Aimée was very close to Phoebe and that the other girl also spoke French. They were soon sitting on a blanket, chattering away in that language, with Victoire's little sister, Dominique, beside them, while Teddy grabbed a broom and joined his adoptive cousins in the air.
As Hermione talked to Bill and Fleur a shadow came over her. Shielding her eyes against the bright sun with her hand, she looked up to see Pansy Parkinson standing next to her, looking awkward. "Hello, Pansy," she said neutrally.
"Hello, Granger," replied Pansy. "Sorry! I didn't mean to be rude! It was automatic to call you that," she added hastily, blushing.
At that, Hermione relaxed and laughed. "It's all right, Pansy. I understand. Why don't we start over? Call me Nonie, please."
Pansy nodded but kept standing there uncomfortably. Hermione sighed inwardly. "I owe you an apology, Pansy. George says it's not my fault — and he's right — but I still need to apologise. Ronald, what he did to you... I think he may have targeted you because you and I had such an antagonistic relationship when we were at school. He probably thought that by choosing you specifically, it would hurt me most. Of course, Ron being Ron, he didn't actually think it through. If he had, he'd have remembered I had left a long time previously and his tiny, little brain might have realised that I no longer cared what he did or who he did it with. I'm just sorry that he used you in some kind of petty and obscure revenge against me."
Hermione braced herself for the negative reaction she was expecting and was surprised to hear Pansy laugh. "Are you sure his brain is the only thing that's tiny?" Pansy snorted. "I may not remember much about that night but I do know I wasn't sore the morning after, even though I had been a virgin, and the bruises on my body suggested that he wasn't particularly gentle."
Pansy grinned conspiratorially and Hermione burst into peals of laughter. "You may be right. Perhaps his behaviour was to compensate for him being lacking in other areas!" With that, the tension between them was broken. Fleur was also laughing, while Bill also had a twinkle in his eyes, although he had initially squirmed at the direction the conversation was heading.
"I assume your daughters are the two black-haired girls?" Hermione asked Pansy. "They look very like you. Not like Ron at all."
"Your daughter is the spitting image of you, too," replied Pansy.
Hermione looked shamefaced. "I kept wishing throughout the pregnancy that Aimée would be like me and not like her father. I don't know if magic responded to something like that or if she just naturally looks like me, though."
Pansy looked startled. "I was exactly the same!" she exclaimed.
"Do you think…?" asked Hermione thoughtfully.
Pansy shook her head. "I have no idea and I don't think I want to find out."
"No," Hermione agreed. "That's a can of worms I'd really rather not open."
"What?" exclaimed Pansy, startled, and Hermione chuckled.
"Sorry, Muggle expression. It's like not stirring up a hornet's nest — another Muggle expression — or poking a dragon would be a good magical equivalent, I suppose. In other words, it's something that's not advisable to do," Hermione explained. "What are your daughters called?"
"Gaia and Freya. George told me that he and Fred were named after Molly's late twin brothers, Gideon and Fabian. They were G and F, then the next generation of twins, Fred and George, were F and G, so I thought that I should follow the family tradition and give my twins names with those initials, only I reversed it once more, so it's G and F again."
"I'm sure the Weasleys all appreciated that, Molly and George especially," said Hermione warmly. "That was a lovely choice of names."
"Thank you," said Pansy in surprise. She was still getting used to being on civil terms with the former Gryffindor Princess and the praise was unexpected.
"Mum?" asked one of the twins, who had both come over to meet their sister's mother. "Is everything all right?" She had clearly picked up on the awkwardness between Hermione and Pansy and was understandably wary, given the reactions she often received from the wizarding public for being the illegitimate daughter of an unwed mother.
"Gaia, Freya, I think it's no secret that your Mum and I didn't get on well when we were at Hogwarts. She was a Slytherin, I was a Gryffindor, and those two Houses didn't mix well in our time. I'm a Muggleborn and she's a Pureblood who had been brought up to believe she was better than me just because of the circumstances of her birth. I don't judge her for what she did as a child, though. People usually believe as children what they're taught to believe by their parents. It's only as we grow older and have more education and life experience, that they begin to question what they've been taught and form their own opinions. What they do and believe as children is less important than what they become and what they believe as adults. I'm not perfect myself and never was, but your Mum was given bad values as a child. Despite that, she's become a good person and is nothing like she was when we were in Hogwarts. She's overcome her bad upbringing and you can be very proud of her. As for any awkwardness between your Mum and myself, this is the first time we've seen each other since we were eighteen and we're only just beginning to make friends. That takes a while; friendships don't always form instantaneously, especially when you have to try and forget history in order start out all over again from the beginning."
"Thank you, Nonie," said Pansy hoarsely, tears glimmering in her eyes. Hermione had been very generous in her explanation to the two girls. Pansy had been absolutely vile to Hermione during their Hogwarts days.
At that point Molly called everyone to come and eat. Severus and Minerva had finally arrived, Hermione was glad to see, and she made her way to Severus' side. During lunch, Pansy and Hermione continued to make cautious conversation.
"Do you have a boyfriend, Nonie?" asked Pansy.
Hermione peeked up at Severus through her eyelashes and saw him smile and nod. "Yes," Hermione replied. "Severus and I are in a relationship."
"It looks like you've dropped quite a bombshell, Nonie," Severus drawled in amusement, at the sudden, shocked silence. "I don't think I've ever heard such quiet at the Weasley table."
That broke the spell and George let out a bark of laughter. "You may be right, Severus," he agreed. "I'll have to see what I can do to liven things up again," he added with a wink.
Angelina gave him a swat to the back of his head. "Not now, George. I want to hear more about Nonie and Severus!" she added with a wicked grin.
"How is it going to work out? Will you be coming back to Britain?" asked Ginny in excitement.
Hermione shook her head. "No, Severus is moving to Canada."
After a moment, Severus spoke again. "You've actually managed to stun the entire Weasley family twice in the space of just a couple of minutes, my dear. I'm impressed."
"But… But…" spluttered Ginny.
"Surely you don't think I ever actually enjoyed teaching, Ginevra?" asked Severus wryly, repeating the words he had spoken to Hermione back in Montréal, and Ginny giggled.
"Well, no. But I never imagined you leaving Hogwarts either," she replied.
"I didn't feel I could leave for a long time. At first, the Dark Lord and Dumbledore both required my presence at Hogwarts and, then, after the war, there was no one else I could trust my Slytherins to. They needed me at that time: a Head of House who had been on the Light side but who had also seen and knew what had happened on the Dark side, who would understand their backgrounds and who would stand up for them."
Ginny nodded in understanding. "And now?" she asked.
"Now, the war has been over for fifteen years and I finally have a replacement in whose hands I'm happy to leave my Slytherins. He is a good Potions Master and has far more patience than I. He was also a responsible prefect and will take good care of his House."
"I'll miss you, Severus," said Pansy sadly. "Oh, don't worry, Nonie. There's never been anything between us, but Severus has been very supportive towards me. I wasn't exactly the most popular person in the wizarding world immediately after the war — no one ever stopped to think that I was simply scared witless at the Final Battle — and, after everything that happened with Ron, I'm somewhat of a pariah. I'm a disgrace because I'm a single mother. It's helped that the Weasleys have been so good to me but I don't think I could have managed at the beginning without Severus."
George coughed. "About that," he said. "We opened a few stores in the US and they're doing very well. I was thinking of expanding into Canada. Pansy, I offered you the chance to manage one of the US stores but you didn't want to move where you wouldn't know anyone. What about Canada? Nonie, Penny and Severus will all be there. I'm not chasing you away but it might be good for you to get a fresh start. Perhaps Nonie and Penny can introduce you to some fit bloke."
Hermione and Penny exchanged a look and both burst into giggles. "It's taken us all this time to find fit blokes ourselves, so I'm not sure how much help we'd be."
"Marc Bellamy?" Penny asked.
"Hmm, I'm not sure," replied Hermione consideringly. "No reason why we can't introduce them, though. Pansy," she continued, turning to the dark-haired girl, "if you want to move to Canada, we'd welcome you and help you. You certainly won't need to worry about being alone. I chose Canada because my mother was born there and I already had Canadian citizenship — although, you won't need to worry about that. The Ministry of Magic can grant you citizenship and their process is much quicker and easier than that of the non-magical authorities. Despite that, though, when I arrived in Canada, I was alone. I had no family left. First my employer's family practically adopted me and then, when I met Penny again, the Clearwaters also took me in as one of their own. I know how you must feel, I miss my parents every day, but I certainly don't feel alone anymore. I have a large honorary family and I'm sure they'd all welcome you, too."
"I don't know," said Pansy hesitantly.
"You don't need to decide now," Hermione reassured her, seeing the other woman was somewhat overwhelmed. "Just know that you'd be made welcome if you do decide to come."
"Thank you," said Pansy with a grateful nod. "I'll keep that in mind."