Chapter 93

Rose screamed. It was the most ear-splitting, agonising scream that Ron had ever heard from her in her brief life. The scream was so loud that Dominique, who had been thrilled to meet her newest baby cousin, ran away and hid behind Fleur.

"She's loud," Dominique said. "Why is she crying so much?"

"Zat is what babies do," Fleur said.

"Yeah, I wouldn't judge too much, Dom," Bill added fondly. "You were probably the loudest of the bunch."

Dominique stuck out her bottom lip in a pout as Molly attempted to soothe a screaming Rose.

Hermione flinched beside Ron, and he could tell she was fighting every instinct to take her daughter from his mother's arms.

But a moment later, Rose's cries were reduced to whimpers and eventually stopped altogether.

"Seven kids and five grandchildren. She knows how to do it," Ron whispered. "She's on top of it."

Hermione winced. "It just feels so wrong when I'm not the one…"

"Get used to being part of a large family." Ron kissed her temple. "There're heaps of people around to help."

Now that Rose had settled down again, Dominique ventured back over and planted a big wet kiss on her cheek, grinning afterwards.

"So cute," she said.

"That," George said, coming to stand in between Hermione and Ron, "is the truth." He threw his arm across each of their shoulders. "You make cute kids. Well done. Though she's loud, isn't she?"

Despite his brother's mocking, Ron was in a state of such happiness that he didn't even notice it. "It's her first time meeting this lot. Scary for anyone at the best of times, but terrifying for who has been here a week and only seen our house and St Mungo's."

"Hm, true," George said. He dropped his arms, watching Rose being rocked by Molly for a moment, and then continued. "How are you holding up, Hermione? Ginny told us about Rose's grand entrance. You doing okay?"

Hermione nodded. "Yeah. I'm okay. Better than anyone thinks I should be. Ron keeps fussing over me — not letting me do anything. I can't even shower without him making sure I haven't fallen over —"

"That's not true," Ron cut in. He looked at George. "She's exaggerating. I'm just trying to do my part. All the books say I'm supposed to be a support after —"

"Yeah, but not a control freak." George nudged him.

"No, he's great," Hermione said, offering Ron a smile. "A great husband, an even better dad."

"Thank you," Ron replied.

Another scream had them turning back to Molly, who was surrounded by a pack of curious children.

"Victoire!" she scolded, and the eldest jumped. "Do not poke her."

This time, Hermione seemed unable to control herself. She hurried over and all but snatched Rose from Molly's arms.

"I think she's getting tired," she blurted. "Do you mind if I put her down upstairs, Molly? It's been a big morning for her, meeting everyone."

"Of course, dear," Molly said, sounding a little hurt that Hermione seemed to not have trusted her to settle Rose again. "You know where the room is."

Before Ron could say anything, Hermione disappeared up the stairs.

It took Ron a moment to realise everyone was watching him. "Er," he said, looking around, "it's our first week, and it's all a bit new. I'll go and see if she's okay."

"Don't be too concerned, Ron," Molly said gently, resting a hand on his arm as he passed her. "It'll get easier as she grows."

"Thanks," Ron said. "It's our first time with a lot of people. It's a lot. For Rosie and…" He gestured in the direction Hermione had gone.

"Of course," Molly said kindly.

"I'll be back in a moment." Ron walked up the stairs slowly, trying to keep himself calm. He knew Hermione had been nervous about bringing Rose over to the Burrow, but he'd thought he'd managed to talk her around. It was something that Rose was going to have to get used to — and something Hermione would have to get used to. The Weasleys — as busy and as chaotic as they could be — were his family, and therefore Rose's family.

But, he realised, as he reached the first landing where his mother kept a room set up for all the young children to sleep in, he could also understand her nerves. He had to admit that coming over here was a lot at the best of times — more so now that he'd been living away from the Burrow for seven years. He loved his family, but it was huge now and a lot for a little baby (and her parents) to handle. Plus, the traumatic birth probably made Hermione a little more protective than she would have been otherwise.

He pushed open the door slowly, poking his head in. Hermione was bent over the old cot he had once slept in, stroking Rose's cheek.

"You okay?" he asked softly.

Hermione turned briefly before returning her focus back to Rose, whose eyes were fluttering.

"I hope they don't think I'm that person," she said.

"What person?" Ron asked.

"The one who freaks out every time someone else holds their baby. The one who doesn't trust anyone else with their child."

Ron entered the room fully and closed the door behind him. "I think they think you're just a new mum who is still trying to figure everything out. They're not judging. Not at all."

Rose's eyes closed completely. Hermione left her hand to rest on the baby's belly for a few moments longer and then slowly backed away, turning to Ron.

"I never thought I'd be like this." It sounded like a confession to Ron, though he didn't know what for.

"Be like what?" Ron asked.

"Fussing over her, worrying about her… just wanting to be with her all the time. I thought that I'd be different. Better."

Ron took her hand, pulling her towards him. "What's better than loving your daughter?" He almost laughed at the insinuation. "Hermione, where's this coming from? Are you okay?"

For a moment, she didn't answer. She looked at something over his shoulder, and he realised she was trying to find the right words. It was unusual for Hermione to not know what to say.

"Hermione?"

"I didn't realise it would feel like this," she eventually said. "That I'd love her so much. That she'd mean absolutely everything to me, and that I'd be so… overwhelmed by it all."

"She's six days old, Hermione. Not even a week. And you spent two of those days in hospital because of what we can only describe as a very traumatic birth. In my eyes, you're the strongest person I've ever known, and you're handling it way better than I could. You're the best mum our Rosie could ask for."

Hermione laughed through the tears that had formed in her eyes. "Rosie? Is that what you're calling her?"

Ron shrugged. "I thought it was cute." He gathered her against him.

"Of all the books I read, none of them prepared me for just how exhausted I'd feel or just how much I'd want to protect her from everything."

"Like loving grandmothers and big bully cousins?" Ron teased.

"I know." Hermione sighed. "I suppose… it's just going to take some getting used to, to… let others help."

"It's always been a problem of yours. You know that. You like to do things yourself. It's why you're so good at what you do. But… when it comes to raising our Rosie, well, we don't have to do it on our own. She's lucky. She's going to grow up surrounded by people who love and adore her. But at the same time, we've got this. You're allowed to feel protective of her, you're allowed to love her like you do. There's nothing wrong with that. She's tiny. She needs us."

Hermione nodded and pulled away from him. She took his hand and pulled him towards the door. "I just never expected to feel this way. It's a new feeling for me. It's strange."

"I get that." Ron began to close the door gently behind him but was stopped by Hermione a moment later. She opened it again and quietly cast the sound charm so they'd know when she was awake.

"It even makes me nervous having her so far away," she said, this time smiling.

"I reckon it'll get easier." They started descending the stairs. "I mean, look at Victoire and Dominique, and even little Molly to an extent. They run around wildly and Bill and Fleur seem happy to let them run free. Bill said something about burning off energy. She's just so tiny now, and so little, that we want to do everything we can to keep her safe."

They reached the bottom of the stairs, and Hermione turned to him, smiling. "You seem to have it under control."

Ron shook his head. "I feel the way you do," he assured her. "I hate hearing her cry; I just want to do everything in my power to keep her safe. But I suppose I've just embraced my feelings for her a little quicker than you have. I love her so much and it's how I wanted to feel when I saw her. How I hoped I'd feel. I love being her dad."

"And I love being her mum. I just want to be the best one I can be for her."

"And you already are." Ron kissed her. "You have this under as much control as I do, and you also have me. Don't put so much pressure on yourself and don't let those dumb books tell you what to do. Rosie's the only book we need. She'll let us know."

They returned to where everyone else was.

"Is Rosie going to stick?" Hermione questioned.

"You don't like it?" Ron asked.

"I… don't know."

Ron smiled at her but didn't respond.

"Everything okay, dears?" Molly questioned, looking anxious.

"Yep. Sound asleep. Meeting you lot took it out of her, Mum," Ron said.

"I scared the baby, didn't I?" Victoire asked. "I didn't mean to."

"It's alright," Bill assured her. "Babies, when they're just born, scare easily. When she's a little older, she'll probably find you hilarious."

"As we all do," George added with a smirk.

Victoire beamed, then vanished with Dominique trailing closely behind her.

"Stay close!" Fleur called after her children. "Don't go past ze big tree."

The only sound was the giggles of the two girls.

"So, anyway," George said after a moment of silence, "as I was saying, I'm in a bit of a pickle regarding what to do with the shop. I have the money, but not the staff to manage a second one."

"You're opening a second shop?" Hermione questioned, sounding mildly impressed. She'd always been somewhat dumbfounded by the success of the joke shop — apparently unable to fathom how so many people could be interested in such useless products. But they weren't all useless. Especially these days. Most of what George sold were fun, practical things. Ron personally enjoyed the sweets George had created. George said they were an enormous hit.

George shrugged. "I have the money to purchase premises in Hogsmeade, but when I spoke to Lee and Verity about it — the two employees I trust the most — they both quit on me."

"What?" Ron said. "But —"

"No hard feelings," George assured him. "Lee was only ever there temporarily, helping me out while I needed it. He has his own job with the Prophet. The shop was always on the side for him. It was good of him to stick around as long as he did. But he didn't think he could take on the responsibility of helping me manage two shops."

"And Verity?" Ron said. "She's been around since you opened, practically."

George nodded. This one seemed to bother him more than Lee — his best friend — leaving. "That, I admit, was a bit of a shock. I offered her the management position at the Hogsmeade one when I opened it. It would be hers to run. But she said she'd been doing some thinking and thought she needed a change in her career. She's with me until the end of February. I can assure you that no other job with her qualifications would pay as well, but…" He shrugged. "What can I do?"

"I'm sure you'll sort it out, George," Molly said. "You've gotten this far. I'm sure it's not the first challenge you've faced in running it." Then she exited toward the kitchen.

"Hire more staff," Ron said simply.

"I'm not worried about the Diagon Alley one," George said. "It's whether I should go through with opening Hogsmeade when I don't have someone experienced enough, or someone I trust enough, to make sure it runs smoothly. I was really banking on Verity."

"You don't have anyone else who could do it?" Hermione asked.

George shook his head. "I have two others who work for me and they're both nineteen, fresh out of Hogwarts and one isn't really that bright. Good worker, but…"

"You'll work it out," Ron said confidently. "Mum's right. You always do. But I'd probably suggest holding off on the second shop for a while. Don't rush into anything…"

"And risk losing the premises." George sighed. "Anyway, enough of my worries. Nothing for you two to worry about. Not now that you're parents and navigating that. I'll think of something. I'm still sort of hoping that Verity will have a change of heart and stay on."

Ron thought that was unlikely, and he suspected George did too, but neither of them said anything.

A moment later, Molly called them all for lunch.

"It just keeps getting bigger and bigger," she said brightly in reference to the table they all crammed around. "Soon, we'll need to expand the kitchen to fit you all in."

"Not everyone's here today, Mum," Ron said with a smirk. "We fit just fine."

"But you won't on the rare occasion everyone shows. And it's a thought, don't you think, Arthur? We can make the kitchen itself bigger, expand the table, and have everyone in here comfortably."

"Of course, dear," Arthur answered with a smile. "Will give me something to do when I retire. Which… I plan on doing in six months' time. I'll be ending my time at the Ministry in June."

"Really?" Bill said. "You kept that quiet."

Arthur grinned. "Well, we had far more important things to discuss, like our beautiful new granddaughter, that it never came up. But yes, I look forward to living the rest of my days out as Granddad Weasley and not having to go to London five days a week."

Everyone threw a million questions at Arthur after that, asking what he planned to do with all the free time he'd find himself with. George even teased him about working at the shop, but Arthur said that might be a little too loud for him to stomach in his old age.

Ron couldn't help but think of his own return to the Ministry in three weeks. He had four weeks off work to spend with Rose, but after that, he'd be forced to leave her every day. He thought about asking for more time, but before Rose's birth, they'd been very busy with the Black Robes issue. They still weren't far into solving that despite their best efforts.

They'd just finished eating when a piercing cry filled the kitchen, frightening James, who burst into tears.

Hermione made to stand up, but Ron put his hand on her arm, pulling her back to her seat. "I'll get her," he said. "Remember, we've got this."

Hermione nodded and smiled, relaxing back into her chair.

Ron made a note to be as quick as possible. He took the stairs two at a time and opened the door slowly, smiling.

"Hey, Rosie," he said. "You didn't sleep for long." He approached the cot and picked his daughter up, bringing her close to his chest. "Too much excitement, huh?"

She settled against him, which meant she wasn't hungry. Usually, if she was hungry, she'd cry no matter how close he held her.

"Come on, let's go and see everyone again." He carried her back downstairs, this time navigating the stairs carefully. When he came back into the kitchen, he could tell that Hermione was using all of her strength to not go for Rose. It wasn't that she didn't trust him; he knew that. It was just in her nature to want to be in control — the reason why she made such a great Head of an office.

As he returned to his chair, still holding Rose close to him, Hermione said, "Is she hungry?"

"Nope," Ron said. "She's good. Aren't you, Rosie?" He turned Rose around so that she could see everyone else. He didn't actually know how much she really could see, but he'd noticed she was quite observant in her short, little life. She liked watching people.

Rose's eyes went wide as her world was suddenly filled with colour and people and things that were new to her. Everyone was staring back at her, though her understanding of social queues probably didn't register this. They might have been big blurs of colour for all she knew.

After a moment of silence where everyone was watching Rose, Molly said, "She's just such a sweetheart."

Ron looked at Hermione, who smiled. Rose's hands flapped in what could only be excitement.

"See," he said to Hermione. "She's okay. We've got this."

Hermione nodded. "I know," she whispered. And he saw her relax to the point that she might actually enjoy this visit after all.

I hope you all enjoyed this chapter. I've been in a bit of a writing slump lately with this story, but I'm hoping to get more time and inspiration. Luckily I've written up to chapter 125 so still much more content to post over the weeks and months! And I'm still writing, just not as frequently. Idiot me decided my 'plan' for 126 was 'something happens here' so that was not at all helpful lol.