Long Unanswered Questions

Everyone followed Bill and Fleur into the kitchen, and took their places around the long wooden table, where they'd had so many meals the previous year.

Dinner started with a simple spinach salad followed by cassoulet with a bright, fruity red wine.

"Fleur your cooking gets better every time I eat it," Ron said. "This is wonderful."

"It really is," Hermione agreed.

Fleur smiled as the compliments continued around the table. Conversation was mostly catching up on everyone's lives since the war. Luna was studying Magizoology as a Hogwarts extension student and was spending a great deal of time doing fieldwork. Dean was still working as an artist's apprentice under a famous portrait artist. Ollivander had, to the relief of the entire magical community, reopened his shop. Ginny told a funny story about flying with the Holyhead Harpies. Harry and Ron told some stories about their work as Aurors, and Hermione talked about the latest goings on in House Elf Relocation. It was a thoroughly enjoyable evening. When the cassoulet had been cleared, Bill suggested they take dessert in the parlor. Everyone headed out of the kitchen.

Ollivander declined dessert. "I'm getting old. A little wine and rich food does me in for the night I'm afraid. I'll leave you young people to it." Luna walked him out.

Fleur passed around dessert plates of a fruit tart with a sliver of soft cheese.

Bill poured glasses of a light Reisling for anyone who wanted it. As everyone tucked in to their dessert, Bill set his on the coffee table. "Now that it's all over, can we finally get the full story of what brought you here and what happened when you left?"

Harry and Ron looked at Hermione, who blanched and set down her plate. Dean and Luna looked at each other. Eventually, they all looked at Harry.

Harry cleared his throat. "You know most of it already. I'm not sure what you want us to say."

"Where were you before you came here?" Bill asked.

"Malfoy Manor," Luna said softly. "I was there for days on my own. Then they brought in Mr. Ollivander."

"We weren't there long at all," Dean said. "Only around an hour, I think."

"Long enough," Harry said.

Hermione took a drink of wine.

"Too long," Ron said grimly.

Fleur nodded. She had healed many of Hermione's injuries when they'd brought her into the cottage.

"And when you left here, you broke into Gringotts?" Bill asked.

"Yes," Harry said.

"How did you manage that?" Bill asked.

"Polyjuice potion and glamour charms," Ron said. They still never talked to anyone else about Harry's invisibility cloak.

"Polyjuice potion to look like who?" Fleur asked.

Ron glanced at Hermione, who was staring out the front window and sipping her wine. "Bellatrix LeStrange."

"How did you—?"

"One of her hairs was on Hermione's jumper," Harry explained.

"So, Bellatrix was at Malfoy Manor?" Bill said. "Is she the one who—?"

"Yes," Dean answered. "Horrible woman."

Luna nodded. "Truly awful."

"Bloody hell," Bill said. "That was insanely risky."

Harry nodded. "Our plans usually are."

"I saw the damage done to the bank," Bill said. "Is it true you escaped on a dragon?"

"Yeah," Ron said. "Harry's idea."

Harry shrugged. "It was the only option."

"What was that like?" Dean asked.

"Rough," Ron said. "The dragon was old and mostly blind. We had to keep casting blasting spells to make room for him to escape, but we had to hang on too, which wasn't easy given the state of our hands."

"What was wrong with your hands?" Fleur asked.

"They cursed the treasure in the vault with Gemino and Flagrante," Harry said.

"Everything we touched grew hot and multiplied by twenty. It wasn't long before the whole vault was full of burning hot metal," Ron explained.

"It was pretty awful," Harry said.

"Hermione took the worst of it," Ron said. "She was in a dress." Fleur, Ginny, and Luna all pulled horrified faces and clenched their legs together. Harry looked at him sharply but then looked away.

"No," Fleur gasped. "That must have been excruciating."

Hermione closed her eyes. "It wasn't good. I did manage to cast Impervious over all of us, which helped some."

"Helped?" Ron scoffed. "Kept us alive more like. Before she cast it, one of those bloody goblets touched my shoe and burned right through the leather."

There was another gasp and more uncomfortable shifting in the room.

"So where did you take the dragon?" Bill asked.

Harry snorted. "We didn't take it anywhere. It took us to the Lake District, and when it flew low enough, we dropped into a lake."

Ron shook his head. "So, we broke into a bank, got burned, and then almost drowned. Bloody awful day."

Harry shrugged. "I've had worse."

Everyone looked at him. Ron laughed and then everyone was laughing, even Hermione. Ginny, who had been exceptionally quiet all evening, turned to Bill. "I think we need another drink."

Bill got up and went into the kitchen. He brought back a bottle of Ogden's and a tray of shot glasses.

"That's the ticket," Ginny said. Everyone but Fleur took a glass. Ginny held up her shot. "To my insane fiancé, my mad brother, and his mental wife."

Everyone laughed and clinked glasses before downing their shots.

Luna coughed and stood. "As much as I've enjoyed this evening, I really have to be getting back. I told Rolf I wouldn't be late. He and I are going out to meet his parents in the morning."

"Ooh," Ginny said. "Must be getting serious if you're meeting the parents."

Luna blushed. "Must be. Anyway, goodnight all." Everyone hugged her before Ginny walked her out.

Dean stood next. "I should be going too. I told my mother I'd come out to her place tonight. I promised I'd paint her parlor in the morning."

"Something fancy?" Ron asked.

Dean chuckled. "No such luck. My mum thinks it's nice that I'm working on portraits, but to her, the best kind of painter is the one who puts white on walls."

Everyone laughed and then said their goodbyes with handshakes and hugs.

"Hey, Ron, could you walk out with me?"

"Sure." Ron followed Dean outside. Ginny was coming back in as they were heading out. She hugged Dean goodbye.

xXx

Outside, Dean turned to Ron. "When I got the invitation for tonight, it got me thinking about my time here. I was looking through the sketch pad I used back then and found this." He pulled what looked like a small tile out of his pocket, touched his wand to it and it expanded into a framed drawing of Hermione sitting on the dunes reading a book. "I thought you might want it."

Ron smiled at the drawing. Dean had captured her perfectly. "Thanks mate. This is fantastic. I love it."

Dean smiled. They shook hands and then Dean Disapparated.

Ron touched his wand to the frame and shrank it again before sticking it in his pocket. As he came back into the house, he could hear shot glasses clinking again, so it was going to be that sort of night.

xXx

After a couple more rounds of shots, Fleur stood and stretched her back. "I think you all should stay here tonight. None of you are sober enough to Apparate, and we're not on the Floo."

Harry yawned. "You're right."

Hermione nodded.

"Both guestrooms are ready." Fleur leaned down and kissed Bill lightly on the lips. "I'm going to bed."

"I'm right behind you." Bill watched her walk upstairs. "You lot need anything before I head up?"

"We're good," Ron said. "Go to bed. You look knackered."

Bill stood and stretched. "Yeah, it's been a long week. I'm glad the negotiations worked out so well for you three. I don't know how you always manage to land on your feet, Harry."

Harry shrugged. "I'm the Chosen One."

Bill chuckled. "Right. Goodnight."

When Bill had gone upstairs, Ginny started collecting glasses.

"Do you mind if we take the upstairs bedroom?" Hermione asked as she began collecting plates.

"Fine by me," Harry said.

"Sure," Ginny said.

"Thanks." Hermione took the plates into the kitchen. Ron filled the sink with warm water from his wand and added some soap. Ginny put the glasses and plates in to soak. She yawned.

"You must be exhausted from the trip in from Wales. Go to bed. I'll cast the rest of the charms," Hermione said.

"Thanks." Ginny and Harry headed into the little bedroom off the kitchen, closing the door behind them.

Hermione cast the spells for the dishes to wash and then put themselves away. When she turned around, Ron was leaning against the doorjamb staring at her. "What?"

He shook his head. "Nothing. Let's go to bed."

xXx

When they were upstairs in the bedroom where Griphook and Ollivander had once stayed, Hermione closed the door behind her and cast Impreturb on the room as she toed off her shoes.

Ron raised his eyebrows.

"I assume this is on your list."

He grinned. "Quite right." He kicked off his own shoes.

She smiled at him. "It's okay we're up here? The kitchen's not exactly appropriate and the little room downstairs was definitely out."

"Definitely." He would forever associate that room with the state she was in after Malfoy Manor, and he knew she probably would too. "This was the best choice."

She nodded and began unbuttoning her shirt.

Ron pulled his own shirt over his head and stilled her hands. "Let me do that." She dropped her arms and swayed slightly as he finished unbuttoning her shirt. He chuckled. "I think someone is a little drunk."

She nodded. "I probably shouldn't have had that last glass of wine or the two shots, but the conversation over dessert was upsetting."

"I know." Ron let her shirt fall to the floor and then took her hands in his and stepped back to sit on the bed. "I'm sorry about that."

"It's okay. We owed them an explanation."

"I'm still sorry."

She pressed her cheek against the top of his head. "Me too."

He dropped her hands and reached for the button on her jeans. As he slid them over her hips, he noticed the black silk underwear she was wearing. He rubbed the silk between his thumb and index finger. "This is such thin fabric."

She snorted. "No one buys silk underwear because they want something thick and bulky."

"That's why you were sobbing."

"What?"

"On the dragon, you were sobbing, and then after, behind the curtain, you were whimpering and crying. It wasn't just your legs that were burned."

She blew out a slow breath. "No."

He pressed his forehead against her chest. "You healed those burns first."

"Of course, they hurt the most."

"You were in fresh underwear by the time I stepped behind the curtain."

"The other pair had mostly burned away."

"Fuck," Ron whispered. "Why didn't that occur to me at the time?"

"I don't know, but I'm glad it didn't. I don't think I could've handled that conversation in the midst of everything else. Besides, the Dittany took care of it."

He sighed and nuzzled against her. "If I'd known, I could have offered to kiss it and make it better."

"Right, because there was time for that. Not to mention, you hadn't even kissed my mouth at that point."

He chuckled. "I'm sure Harry would've understood."

"I'm quite sure he wouldn't have."

"You might be right." Ron slid her underwear over her hips and letting it fall to the floor. "We have time now though."

xXx

Downstairs, Ginny sat on the bed and pulled off her shoes. "I think Fleur might be pregnant again."

"What? Why do you say that?" Harry unbuttoned his shirt.

"She wasn't drinking tonight, not even wine with dinner."

"Maybe she just wasn't in the mood to drink."

Ginny arched an eyebrow at him. "She's French. Wine with dinner is like a religion with those people. I bet she's pregnant."

"Maybe, if so, I really hope it goes better this time."

"Me too." Ginny pulled off her socks. "She and Bill were both gutted last time."

Harry nodded as he dropped his pants. Ginny looked around the room. "Why didn't Hermione want to be in this room?"

"This is the room she shared with Luna."

"Then why wouldn't—"

"She recovered in here."

"Oh. I guess that makes sense then." She reached for his hand. "You three have been through so much. It's a little shocking when you think about it."

Harry sat next to her on the bed. "I try not to think about it too much, but on nights like tonight, when there are other people, and they want to talk about it, need to really, that's hard."

She kissed the back of his hand. "I know. I'm sorry Bill had so many questions."

"Don't be. He and Fleur deserved answers. They took care of us for weeks when we really needed it, and they didn't ask too many questions and didn't kick us out when we didn't answer the ones they did ask."

"They're good people."

"Even Fleur?" Harry winked at her.

She chuckled. "Yes, even Fleur."

xXx

True to his word, Ron had quite thoroughly kissed everywhere Hermione might have been burned until she lay sprawled out across the bed feeling light-headed and boneless. He crawled up next to her and kissed her shoulder. "You've been rather lazy so far considering this is on the list."

She tilted her head up and arched an eyebrow at him.

"I'm just saying, usually list sex is a bit more involved on your part."

She snorted at him. "Oh, please." She slid off the bed. "As if I don't know what the fantasy is." She leaned over and wiggled her butt at him. "Oh goodness, did I drop a sock?"

He rolled off the bed and behind her. "I love you so much."

Hermione gasped and pitched forward a bit. All the alcohol had made her dizzy.

Ron gripped her hips to keep her from falling over. "You all right there?"

"I'm a little dizzy."

"Don't worry." He pulled her more firmly against him. "This isn't going to take long."

She giggled.

xXx

At four o'clock in the morning, Ron woke from a sound sleep and sat bolt upright in bed. "Bloody hell!"

Hermione stirred next to him. "What's wrong?"

"Did you cast the contraception charm?"

Hermione rolled over on to her back. "No."

Ron threw back the covers and rolled out of bed. "No? Are you serious?"

Hermione rubbed her eyes. "I forgot." She yawned.

"You forgot?"

"Well, so did you."

He opened his mouth, but then closed it, and looked at her. "Why don't you care?"

She blinked at him. "I care."

"Then why aren't you freaking out?"

She sighed. "Honestly, I'm still kind of drunk. Besides, we're married, right?"

Ron narrowed his eyes at her. "What aren't you telling me?"

She scowled at him. She didn't have a dressing gown, so she reached for his T-shirt and pulled it over her head before getting out of bed.

Ron drew back. It must be serious if she couldn't discuss it naked. He pulled on his boxer shorts. "I thought you wanted to wait."

She crossed her arms and looked at the floor. "I went to see a healer."

"What? Why? What's wrong?" Anxiety crept up his spine.

"Nothing, I mean, not really, well, kind of…"

"Hermione." He blew out a calming breath. "Why did you go see a healer?"

She shrugged, but he could tell she was upset. "I was just thinking about what you and Ginny said about how difficult it can be for magical couples to have children. I've taken a lot of magical damage over the years, what with the botched Polyjuice and being petrified for so long, that curse from Dolohov, and then what happened at Malfoy Manor, and the bloody syndrome that followed. I thought…well…I thought I'd better check to see if I could even have children."

He felt his heart sink.

A tear slipped down her cheek. "I probably should have gone before we got married. I know what having a family means to you."

Ron felt like he'd been punched in the gut. "Not as much as you mean to me. So, what did the healer say?"

"She didn't think it was especially likely that we would have children."

"Why? What's wrong?"

"It's like I said. I've taken a lot of magical damage over the years. Actually, so have you, which doesn't help either."

"So, is it impossible?" He felt sick.

"No. Just not particularly likely." Another tear slipped.

"Oh. So, it could still happen." He took heart. The men in his family had a strong track record in that regard.

She nodded. "Maybe."

"I'm a Weasley."

She smiled. "I know. Virile. I get it. Let's hope that holds true for us."

"Does that mean we aren't going to do the charm anymore?"

Hermione sighed. "I legitimately just forgot tonight. I've been meaning to talk to you about it, but I only got the results a couple of days ago. I needed to sit with it a bit, before I could talk about it."

"So, are you sure you want to stop doing the charm from now on? What if I get you pregnant tomorrow? Are we ready for that?"

She shrugged. "Is anyone ever really ready? I'll be twenty in two weeks. We've both got good jobs. We've got a house. We've got family. If I'm in the pudding club tomorrow, I promise, we'll be fine."

He grinned at her. "Challenge accepted."

She laughed and he hugged her.

xXx

Hermione fell back into a sound sleep, but Ron couldn't manage it. His head was swimming. He would doze off and then come awake thinking they might not be able to have children. Then he would doze off again and wake up thinking she might already be pregnant. At six o'clock, he couldn't take the anxiety anymore and slipped out of bed. He got dressed as quietly as he could and went downstairs to make a cup of tea. He was surprised to find a pot already made. He poured himself a cup and went outside to find Harry standing on the shore.

Ron walked down to the water to stand beside him. "You're up early."

Harry looked at him. "I thought some tea and fresh air might help my hangover."

"Yeah." Ron scratched at the stubble on his cheek. They both stood looking out at the waves and sipped their tea.

"You never told me Hermione was so badly burned in the vault."

Ron shrugged. "You had enough on your mind at the time, and we took care of it."

Harry shook his head. "Bloody awful."

Ron nodded.

"Ginny thinks Fleur is pregnant again."

"Really?" Ron wondered again if Hermione might be pregnant or if she'd ever be pregnant.

"She wasn't drinking last night. Not even wine with dinner."

"Ah. That is suspicious."

"Yeah." Harry ran his fingers through his unruly hair. "If she is, I hope it works out this time."

"Yeah, me too." Ron felt a whole new level of anxiety wondering if Hermione would struggle with pregnancy the way Fleur did.

"I can't imagine having a kid right now."

Ron eyed him. "Well, that's good, since you're not even married to my sister yet."

Harry frowned at him. "You know what I mean. I suppose you can't wait to get started on your brood."

Ron shrugged. "I'm not bothered either way."

Harry raised his eyebrows in surprise. "What's that supposed to mean?"

Ron tossed out the remains of his tea. "We have kids. We don't have kids. Makes no difference to me."

"Since when?"

Ron shrugged again. "Since always. Hermione and I are together. We're happy. That's what matters. If she's pregnant right now, that's great. If she's pregnant next week or next year or five years from now, great. If she's never pregnant, that's fine too. I'm not bothered."

Harry knew for a fact that Ron had always wanted kids. He used to joke in school that you had to have at least six to get a good one. To see him so casually blow off the idea of having children was disconcerting. "Is everything okay?"

Ron handed him his teacup. "Everything's fine. I'm going for a walk." He started off down the beach. Harry watched him go for a moment before he went back inside to get another cup of tea.

Hermione was in the kitchen making another pot. "Have you seen Ron?"

"Yeah, he went for a walk." He set Ron's teacup in the sink.

She raised her eyebrows. "At this hour?"

Harry shrugged and rubbed his temples.

"Headache?"

"Too much to drink last night."

"Me too, so I popped home for some hangover potion. I brought extra. Want a bottle?"

"Please."

She pointed to the table where three little purple bottles were lined up. "I already took mine."

Harry popped the cork on one and downed the contents. The relief was immediate. "Thanks."

Hermione smiled at him. "You're welcome." She took her cup of tea and went outside.

The door to the downstairs bedroom opened and Ginny came out wincing against the light coming in through the kitchen windows. Harry handed her one of the little bottles, and she drank it down. "You're a god among men."

"You're the only one who sees it." They both laughed. "But you have Hermione to thank for the hangover potion. Tea?"

"Please." He poured her a cup, and she kissed his cheek. "How are you doing this morning?"

"Okay, I guess. The statues and memorials have me a little freaked out."

She nodded and sipped her tea. "I can understand that, but I don't see a way of avoiding it."

"Neither do I, so I guess I'll just deal with it."

"You are the Chosen One."

He let out a soft snort. "Right. Somehow, I used to think all that would go away if I could just defeat him, but it's never going to, is it?"

She shook her head. "It's not likely to, no."

Harry sighed.

"Luckily, you have a super-hot fiancé to take your mind off all that."

He grinned at her. "That is lucky."

"I know. I'm going to go drink my tea in the sunshine."

"Okay. I think I'll take a shower."

Ginny kissed his cheek and went outside.

xXx

She sat down next to Hermione on the bench outside the cottage. "Good morning."

"Hi."

"Thanks for bringing the hangover potion. What a lifesaver."

Hermione smiled. "I popped home for it this morning. I figured, if you all felt like I did, we'd end up wiping out Bill and Fleur's supply."

"Smart."

Hermione let out a soft sigh.

Ginny looked at her. "You doing okay?"

Hermione gave her a weak smile. "Fine." Ron came around a bend in the beach and started walking toward them. Hermione didn't take her eyes off him.

Ginny could tell something was wrong, but she didn't want to pry. She thought perhaps they'd had a row. "I'm going to get some more tea. Want some?"

"No. I'm good."

Ginny went back inside.

Ron approached and took a seat next to Hermione. "Hiya."

"You were up early."

"Yeah, something about that sea air, I guess."

She looked at him, her brow wrinkling with concern. She leaned against him and sighed.

He put his arm around her shoulder. "I've been thinking. I say we give it five years. If we can't manage by then we'll start thinking about other options."

She nodded against his chest. "That sounds reasonable."

"Course, by then, you'll probably be Minister of Magic."

She snorted. "Right. Like that's ever going to happen."

"You never know."

She leaned back and looked at him. "You know you're not even allowed to run until you're at least fifty, right?"

He shrugged. "I didn't know that, but I'm glad you're planning ahead."

"I'm not planning—"

He laughed.

She swatted his shoulder. "You're impossible."

"Yes, dear." He pulled her closer.

Fleur came outside, rubbing her eyes and holding a cup of coffee.

"Good morning," Ron said.

"Tiens," she mumbled and sat next to Ron on the bench.

Ron looked at Hermione.

She smiled. "You know she only speaks French before caffeine."

Ron chuckled. "Oh, that's right."

They all three sat in silence as they looked out over the water.

After a few minutes, Hermione said, "Fleur, I was thinking that we should take Luna for a day out."

Fleur raised her eyebrows. "Yes, we said we would do that, didn't we?"

Ginny stepped outside. "Do what?"

"Take Luna for a girls' day out."

"Ooh, that sounds fun."

"You should come too," Fleur said. "It would be good to take a day."

"What's involved in a girls' day?" Ron asked.

"Oh, you know, a bit of pampering, a bit of shopping," Hermione said.

"What sort of pampering?"

"Mani-pedis, haircuts, a massage perhaps," Fleur said. "The usual stuff."

"Haircuts?" Alarmed, he raised his eyebrows at Hermione.

"Oh, calm down," she said. "At most, I might get it trimmed."

"Okay then, sounds like fun. I think I'll go inside and see if Bill and Harry want to talk about something manly."

Everyone chuckled.

After breakfast the women compared calendars and then Fleur sent Luna a letter with some suggestions for a girls' day out.