Third Times the Charm

by Breanie

Part 3 of the Kismet Trilogy: Voldemort is dead. And while Harry and his friends turn their attention to the future and their new careers, not everyone is willing to move on. It all comes down to this. The cemetery in Godric's Hollow. Three elusive Death Eaters. One Resurrection Stone. One person from the past. All leading to a choice that just may destroy Harry.

38. The One With Romione's Epilogue Part Two

Author's Note:

We're in the final countdown of chapters! I can't believe it! I'm excited to finish my world of Kismet and take a break, but I'm also a little sad it's coming to an end. Chapter 38 marks four more chapters to go! I hope you enjoy where the story goes from here!

Reviews and Comments: To akshutalankar: Yes, I did throw a lot in this chapter lol. I loved Harry's vasectomy failing and his children being a bit horrified. Charlie and Lee are definitely the eccentric uncles in love and don't want admit it. Fred and George inventing together well into their seventies is definitely how their story should have went in canon. As to Teddy and Victoire starting their new lives in the Burrow, it just felt right to me. Sirius having a Kneazle who adores him, the dog tamed by a cat, was too perfect to pass up lol. Thank you very much! To Finnspa23: So very many names, I know lol. Thank you! To scrappy8: Thank you! Yes, Harry and Ginny being pregnant again really wasn't that much of a surprise lol. Thank you! To Read and Fly: Aw, thanks for saying they were all so great, but I am sorry to hear you cried through all of them. Their family has definitely grown and yes, Ginny is just too fertile lol. I would love it if you went back and read it all again and don't be afraid to drop me a review as you go along. I'm glad I surprised you with both Blaise and Gabrielle and with Charlie and Lee. Thank you very much! To the Mandalorian terminator: Thank you for saying each chapter gets better than the last. I'm so happy you loved Teddy and Victoire and ha, Bill's reaction was amusing! Thank you!

To Quill will 1981: So many kids! It's easy to forget a them lol. Yes, I did want to give more detail to their stories, so thank you for appreciating the work I've put into the epilogues. I tried to add a little in as you saw by Leo wanting Harry with him when Mina needed her twin there while she had her first baby. Leo wanted his brother's support as much as Mina needed it. Thank you very much! To Potterhead29: Thank you so much for loving my next generation family trees! They've been so fun to work with! Yes, Trelawney did make a prophecy that Harry would be Minister and have twelve kids, but I think eight is more enough for them and he's not going to be Minister lol. Yes, good Jily fan fictions are hard to find, but no, I don't plan on writing one. I have two James/Lily stories I've done (first was Crazy Little Thing Called Love) and the second is the prequel to ASC, The First Time Around. But if you're interested in James/Lily stories I think one of the best authors is TiffanyToms. I highly recommend you check her out. Thank you! To alix33: Mina will be teaching them writing, reading, some minor Latin, and of course mathematics. A primary education. Sirius definitely looks sexy with his grey. Thank you very much! To AnonymousHufflepuffWriter: Thank you! I'm so happy to hear you loved my writing format for the epilogues. Thank you very much!

To Sets: Yes, it was a fun callback to Hinny's second epilogue to bring Ocean in. Thanks for enjoying the bit with Luca Rossi as well. Thank you! To jennyalexa.1995alex: Ha, Harry and Ginny are done after eight lol. Thank you! To AQuickRead91: Thank you for saying this chapter was purely magical! To bandhoez9194: Thank you for loving Charlie and Lee, happy to keep you on your toes. Yes, of course Harry and Ginny have surprise twins lol. Seamus and Dean are definitely the fun uncles. Everyone will miss Colt for sure. Thank you very much! I love knowing that I've written something people will want to reread in the future. Thank you! To Tmr_Potterhead250: Leo is the more cautious of him and Mina, but yes, he's the one who loves the motorbikes more lol. Thanks for loving my idea of Little Hogwarts! No, I don't think it includes Muggleborns as they still don't learn of their magical heritage until eleven (it's tradition!). Yes, Leo and Aydin and Mina and Grayson! I loved the idea of Greg creating a construction company for him and his sons as well. Sirius is definitely aware of the double standards lol. I love the idea of Teddy being a writer! I first read it I think in Flo's work and I loved it! Ginny creating a Quidditch magazine was a fun idea to me. We'll see more of that later. Bill is a great big brother. Thank you for saying I handled the Veela allure well. Consent is sexy and yes, it does go both ways. I love having Dean still struggling with labeling himself and the idea of him choosing to be Seamus-sexual just made sense to me. Perfect, prim Percy having the daughters with tattoos, coloured hair, and piercings and a dog named Princess Sparkles was just too fun to pass up! Thanks for loving Molly finding love again and yes, Lucy and Luca are definitely an enemies-to-lovers love story lol. Thanks for loving Charlie and Lee (and their stupidity and denial). Aydin having seven kids seemed fitting to me as did Angelina having her own PR firm. We will find out more about Colin and Neville yes. Thank you very much!

To briana_t: Thank you! I love Teddy becoming a writer too and yes, him writing his own book and basing it on the Marauders was just so lovely in my mind. Yup, eight kids! James and Albus were not too impressed to learn their parents are still having lots of sex lol. Having Charlie and Lee get together but it taking over a decade made the most sense to me in terms of Charlie's personality. Yes, I'm sure I can't just keep writing forever lol. Thank you very much! To marauders_mowopapr: Yup, Harry and Ginny did have a whole Quidditch team with one in reserve lol. Thank you very much for sticking with me for so long! Thank you! To MotherofKatie: Thanks for loving "Percy's out-of-the-box kids" along with Charlie and Lee, it does make sense, doesn't it? We will not see Harry or Ginny dying, no. People do still remember Voldemort and of course there are still nightmares, but who wants to talk about that lol? Thank you very much! To This,is,my,fave,fic: Thank you! Sorry, I will not be doing any POVs from the afterlife. Thanks for reading. To saucyswimmer: I know, Mina and Leo grew up so fast! Thank you! It's been a lot of fun to come up with those acronyms for later exams lol. Thank you for loving Teddy being a writer (and sadly no little Teddy as a writer side story). Thank you for loving Charlie's story and loving how "woven in Sirius' twins' lives are with the entire family network." So many names lol! It took longer than I'd like to admit to find ones I liked lol. Thank you very much!

To George R: Thank you very much! Let's just say I have ever excessive and over the top charts lol. Happy to keep you enthralled! Thank you very much! To LilyBlack18: I know, it is hard to believe. Thank you! To EnigmaticEmeperor: Thank you! It is nice to catch up with the next generation, even just in general. It is so true, if anyone is going to have more kids after a vasectomy it would totally be Hinny! Colt did live a good life, but it was his time. Thanks for my loving my little Teodoire clip! Yes, Charlie and Lee — I thought they would be fun. Thank you very much! To Just William: Hmm, I'm not sure. Chapter 32 is there perfectly fine for me and formatted correctly. Fanfiction has been having lots of difficulties later; maybe try again later or check it out on Ao3 where the story is also posted. Thank you! To Cassiopeia Anastasia Black: Thank you! To katelyn453: Thank you! Yes, it was fun for Harry and Ginny to have a surprise seven and eight lol. Thank you!

My posting schedule: Weekly.

As always, thank you very much for reading and please, please review!

Your reviews give me life! They give me inspiration! And they make me want to keep writing for more than just myself! Thank you for all of your continued support!

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CHAPTER THIRTY-EIGHT:
Kismet Trilogy Epilogues:
The One With Romione's Epilogue,
Part Two

November 2011…

Ron stifled a yawn as he finished up the paperwork on his desk. The last two weeks had really taken a lot out of him and that wasn't even including how stressful it had been when James and Albus had been taken. Harry had gone home to be with his family after meeting with Robards and for once, Ron didn't mind taking over the paperwork as he knew how much his best mate needed this time with his family.

He looked up when Eric Baxter plopped down into the chair across from him. "Hey, Bax."

"Wotcher," Baxter said with a smile. "Need any help?"

"Nah, I'm just about done," Ron told him.

Baxter nodded, watching him work until Ron looked up again.

"What's up?"

"Can I ask your advice on something?"

Ron lifted an eyebrow. After partnering with the man for a little over four years, they had become close friends. Ron always went to him if he had something he needed a second set of eyes on and he and Harry often brought Baxter and Higgins in on cases they were working on or vice versa. Ron couldn't count the number of times they'd grabbed a pint together after work or helped each other when things got too intense. Eric Baxter was a good man.

"Sure, mate. What's going on?"

Baxter shrugged and leaned forward in his seat. His tongue touched his top lip before he spoke. "I met this witch a few weeks ago and she's brilliant, Weasley. Gorgeous and brilliant, but she has three kids."

"Is that a problem?" Ron asked.

"I don't know," Baxter admitted. "I'm not against kids by any means. I love kids. Your kids love me."

"They tolerate you," Ron corrected.

Baxter waved him off. "Shut it, they love me. But anyway, she has three kids and she's in the process of getting divorced. It won't be final until March."

"The ex?"

"They parted somewhat amicably," Baxter said. "Definitely no chance of getting back together."

"So, is it just the kids then?"

Baxter sighed. "She has three boys and I haven't met them yet. Well, I met the youngest one, but… I think I want to meet the others. The thing is, I don't want to commit to meeting her boys if I'm not ready for something more with her. I don't want to hurt her and I definitely don't want to hurt her kids."

"Aw, Bax, are you smitten?"

Baxter rolled his eyes. "I don't know if smitten is the right word, but I… I really like her, Weasley. I can't stop thinking about her. She hasn't even let me take her on a real date yet. All we've done is harmless flirting and a bit of snogging; she's just grabbed me by the throat, you know? She's smart and kind and her ex didn't know what he had. I want more."

"That's your answer then, isn't it?"

"Maybe," Baxter said. "What do you think? Should I go for it?"

"Has anyone else ever made you feel like this before?" Ron asked.

"No," Baxter admitted. "No one."

"Then go for it," Ron replied. "What do you have to lose?"

Baxter gave him a bright smile and slapped his hand over his shoulder. "Thanks, Weasley."

When he left, Ron shook his head. He never thought that he'd be the one that Eric Baxter went to for relationship advice. He wondered who the lucky lady was. He finished up his paperwork and headed home. He walked into the house in time for Hugo to run past him, covered from head to toe in something red and sparkly as Rose screamed at him to stay out of her room.

Ron caught his son around his waist, grimacing at the sheer amount of red sparkles covering his four-year-old.

"Bloody hell, Hugo, what happened?" Ron demanded.

"Rose threw them at me!" Hugo cried, tears in his eyes.

"ROSE!" Ron bellowed.

His six-year-old-daughter stuck her head out of her room. "He was in my room, Daddy!"

"That's not an excuse," Ron said. "Where did you even get this many red sparkles?"

Hermione appeared a moment later, looking slightly ragged as she held their eight-month-old-son Granger in her arms. "Goodness! I disappear for two minutes to change Granger's nappy and all hell breaks loose."

Hugo was crying and trying to wipe at his eyes which only made sparkles get in them. Hermione passed Granger to Ron to take care of Hugo and Ron turned to glare at his daughter.

"Hugo looks up to you, Rosie. He just wants to play with his big sister."

"I told him to leave and he wouldn't," Rose said, tears in her eyes. "So I threw my bag of glitter at him. I didn't know that it would open and go everywhere!"

Ron sighed and bent down to pull his crying daughter into his arms. "All right, Rosie. You apologize to your brother. We don't throw things, are we clear?"

"Yes," she whispered, wiping at her tears.

It took Hermione over thirty minutes to get Hugo sparkle free and by the time they had dinner and got the kids to bed, Ron was exhausted. He pulled Hermione down into his lap on the sofa and rested his beard against her neck.

"Bloody hell, I could sleep for a month."

Hermione chuckled and ran her fingers through his hair. "You and me both. How was Harry when you left?"

"Exhausted," Ron admitted. "He stayed to listen to the interrogations and then talked to Robards before he went home. He's off for a bit so that he and Ginny can have some time together with the kids."

"Gods, Ginny was beside herself. The poor thing was blaming herself left and right."

"It wasn't her fault," Ron said. "They were watching her."

Hermione nodded. "It almost makes me scared to take the kids out."

"We caught them," Ron promised. "No one is going to hurt our babies. I promise."

Hermione sighed into him. "I know. I trust you, but this was so… terrifying."

Ron turned his head to kiss her. "Yeah, it was," he admitted. "But we caught them and all of the kids were found safe."

Hermione nodded, tilting her head back a bit as he rubbed his beard against her neck. "That tickles."

"You love it," he teased, but he knew that she did. "How was today? It sounds like Rose and Hugo are getting to be a bit of a handful."

Hermione rolled her eyes. "One minute they're the best of friends and the next the two of them are fighting like its world war three. I thought that we would have a few more years before it was something we would have to worry about it."

"They'll come around," Ron assured her, slipping his hands down to cup her bottom. "We all fought as kids. But we also defended each other."

Hermione nodded. "If you say so. I don't have anything to compare it to. I never had any siblings growing up."

"You had Harry and he's much more annoying that any of my brothers," Ron teased.

She laughed. "I was twelve by then and it's hardly the same. Thank goodness for nursery school because if I had all three of them home with me every day, I would go spare."

Ron chuckled. "So would I. How's Granger doing?"

"He's an angel," Hermione replied. "He's trying to crawl more. I thought that he was going to crawl right to Hugo today when Hugo offered him a toy, but he plopped back onto his butt and held his hand out. But he's close to being unstoppable."

"Smart lad," Ron said. "He'll get there. He's young yet." He squeezed her arse. "I've missed you. This case has taken up all of my energy for the last two weeks."

"It was important," Hermione said.

He kissed the crook of her neck, rubbing his beard against her throat and making her breath hitch. "It was. We should celebrate the good news."

"Oh?"

Ron grinned and squeezed her arse again. "I'm an Auror who did a great job, I deserve a reward."

"Mmm, there are gold stars in the kitchen."

"Brat," he said, sucking on the skin of her neck hard enough to leave a mark.

"Ron! Don't leave a mark!"

He wiggled his eyebrows. "You love it when I leave marks." He squeezed her arse again. "Fuck, I love your arse."

Hermione's cheeks heated. Ron knew his wife was a bit self-conscious about the baby weight she'd gained with Granger. Unlike with Rose and Hugo, this time, it hadn't come off and Ron personally thought her rounder bottom and wider hips was the greatest sight in the world. In fact, he wanted to bite her arse on a regular basis.

"The kids have barely fallen asleep," she began. "And you're tired…"

"I'll sleep after," Ron said, standing and picking her up with him.

She squealed in surprise and he tugged her into the little library he'd made her when he proposed. He lifted her onto the armchair, making her stand on it as it made them almost the same height, before he reached for the jumper she was wearing (one of his old ones from Hogwarts) and tugged it over her head. He leaned forward to kiss her breasts through her bra as he tugged her tights down her hips. Then he pulled her knickers off.

Hermione undid her bra automatically as Ron still struggled with them (much to his dismay) and once she was naked before him, he licked his lips. He let his eyes wander over her full hour glass figure, the softness of her belly, the full breasts with the large pink nipples, and that delicious round bottom that he loved having his hands on. He leaned in and kissed her nipple, his large hands gripping her full arse, before he kissed his way down her stomach. He kissed each stretch mark tenderly before he went lower, falling to his knees as he let his tongue sneak out to taste her.

Hermione's fingers clutched his hair. "Ron…"

He gave her a wolfish grin before he used his tongue. He loved how his wife tasted. He loved the sounds she made, the way she clutched his hair in a way that both pushed him away and pulled him closer. He loved cupping that round delectable bottom as he did so. He moved one hand off of her arse to slide it up her stomach and to her mouth, pushing two fingers into her mouth.

Hermione sucked on them instantly and the feel of that pretty mouth wrapped around his fingers sent a jolt right down to his aching cock. Once his fingers were nice and wet, he moved his hand back down and as he sucked on her clit, he slid one finger into his wife's arse.

"Oh, fuck," she gasped.

Ron kept working her until he was two fingers deep and she was coming with a harsh cry. He kissed his way up her body, undoing his trousers as he did and he pulled her down to the rug on the floor on her hands and knees. He slipped two fingers back into her arse while his other hand slipped three fingers into her folds and she let out a strangled whine that made him grin.

"Oh, you like that, don't you?" he teased, kissing her bum tenderly. "The question is… what hole am I going to take first?"

"Ron…" she gasped, her fingers digging into the rug.

His fingers worked her clit and when he added another lubricant charm and a third finger to her arse, she came a second time, her cry of pleasure stifled by her fist. Ron decided that was good enough. He shoved his trousers down along with his boxers and cupped her round bottom with both hands, spreading her open before he danced his cock along her crease.

"You want this?"

Hermione's eyes were full of lust as she shot him a look over her shoulder. "Yes."

Ron slowly pushed inside of her, taking the time to make sure she was comfortable. When he finally bottomed out, he held her hip with one hand, and then used his fingers on her again. Hermione's hips moved and he watched in awe as his wife's perfect bottom took him in as she rode him. He kept working her with his fingers and when he felt his balls tighten, he groaned.

"Bloody hell, I'm too close. You gotta come, Hermione."

He kept flicking her clit with determination, but he couldn't hold out. She was so tight and the way she was taking his cock was too much for him to bear. He came with a harsh cry, groaning her name in rapid succession as he did. He caught his breath before he slipped out of her and then he simply rolled onto his back and pulled her down onto his face to finish her off.

When she came, she snuggled up against him on the floor, a soft smile on her face. "Been a while since you've taken me like that," she whispered.

Ron reached a hand down to squeeze her bottom. "I love watching this arse bounce and you take me so good."

"We forgot to use a silencing charm. Do you think the kids heard us?"

"If they did, they would have come downstairs," Ron assured her. "All three of them sleep like the dead."

"They take after their father," she said. She sat up and pulled his shirt over his head, taking in the trousers he still had bunched at his ankles. "You didn't even get properly undressed."

He shrugged. "You being naked was much more important."

Hermione cuddled up to him again, her cheek resting over his sweaty chest and her fingers gliding through his red curls. "I love you."

Ron kissed the top of her head. "I love you, too."

"We have to have my dad round to dinner this week. I want to talk to him about selling the house."

Ron nodded. They'd buried her mother that summer and he knew that his wife was worried about her dad living in their house all alone now that Jean was gone.

"He might not be ready, Hermione. We're not going to push him on it. It's only been a few months."

"I don't want to push," Hermione began. "But I want to show him the reasons why he should get a smaller place. That's a lot of house for him to take care of alone."

"He has a cleaning lady and someone to take care of the garden and he has a cook. You've covered all of the bases," Ron said. "We'll mention it, but if he's not ready or shuts it down, we're done."

"I don't want to argue."

"And yet you're going to anyway," Ron said.

"I just said that I don't want to argue."

"And yet here you are," Ron teased. "Sometimes Hermione, you're not always right."

"I'm not saying that I'm always right," Hermione replied. "I'm saying that my father needs to consider moving into a smaller place."

"He's a grown man, Hermione. Let him make that decision when he's ready," Ron insisted.

Hermione huffed in annoyance and Ron rolled them so that she was underneath him.

"Don't huff at me."

"How you can shag me brainless one second and annoy me the next is an unparalleled skill, Ron Weasley," Hermione said.

Ron grinned and pecked her on the nose. "You just hate that I'm right."

"I don't."

"You do," he insisted. "But it's all right. You'll come around to my side of thinking soon enough."

"I hate you."

He wiggled his eyebrows. "Not what you were saying when I was buried deep inside of your arse."

Hermione gave his shoulders a push. "Get off of me, you brute. I need to go clean up."

Ron reluctantly rolled off of his wife and watched her stand and grab her clothes from the floor, tugging the jumper over her head. He tilted his head to look at her arse and she nudged his knee.

"Get up and put some clothes on."

Ron sat up and grabbed her hand, yanking her towards him, his hands sliding up her thick thighs. "Don't be cross."

"I'm not cross," she insisted. "I'm just… I'm worried about him is all."

"You have nothing to worry about," Ron assured her. "He's doing just fine and we'll just remind him that if he needs anything, we're here."

Hermione's eyes softened. "I know."

Ron climbed to his feet, stretching his arms up over his head before he pulled his trousers up that were still at his ankles. He told his wife he'd meet her upstairs as he double checked the doors and windows to make sure everything was charmed closed. He shut off the lights and peeked his head in on his kids, smiling at each of them sleeping soundly before he headed into the bath and joined his wife in the shower.

Despite his roaming hands, it was only to clean up and then they curled up in bed together. Hermione turned the light on and opened a book and Ron turned, resting his cheek against her belly, an arm around her waist. He was out in minutes, the sound of wife's soft breathing the only thing he needed.

~ KE: Romione II ~

April 2012…

Hermione looked up when Ron came into the kitchen with three large pizza boxes and another box with a salad piled high in his hands. She was grateful that she didn't have to cook tonight as she and Ron had both worked late and after picking the kids up from Molly's, she was already tired. Eric Baxter was coming over for dinner tonight and bringing his girlfriend who was also bringing her three kids.

As excited as Hermione was to finally meet the woman who had stolen Baxter's heart, she also wished it was another night other than tonight. She was exhausted.

Ron kissed her cheek and placed the bags on the counter. "Want me to reschedule?"

Hermione leaned back into his arms, closing her eyes. "I love you for asking that, but no. I want to meet Eric's mystery woman and her children. It's a Friday night and we've been planning this for ages."

Ron kissed her cheek again. "All right. They should be here any minute."

"Three pizzas seems like a lot."

"It's not," Ron said.

"You're not eating a whole pizza to yourself."

"I'm a growing boy."

"You're thirty-two."

He winked just as the doorbell rang.

Ron hurried out of the kitchen to get the door as Hermione turned to grab plates from the cupboard. She heard Baxter's booming voice and half a second later, Rose's excited shout as she ran to hug him, followed by Hugo.

When they came into the kitchen, Hermione smiled warmly. "Hi, Eric."

Baxter gave her a tight hug, Granger in his arms. "Hi, Hermione. Looking as gorgeous as always."

"Flatterer. So, where's this lovely mystery witch who stole your heart?"

To her surprise, he blushed. He passed her Granger and then turned towards the woman standing in the doorway holding a toddler in her arms and Hermione's eyes widened in surprise.

"Mandy?"

Amanda Brocklehurst Goldstein gave her a shy smile. "Hi, Hermione. It's nice to see you again."

"Eric, you never said that we already knew her!" Hermione exclaimed.

Ron shrugged. "That might be on me. He told me her name was Mandy, but I didn't make the connection."

Hermione rolled her eyes. "Boys are so stupid. This is why you ask for details."

Mandy chuckled, kissing the toddler's cheek before putting him on the ground. "They never do. This is my son Ezra. He's twenty-one months. Joshua is five and that's David, who's seven."

Hermione's eyes found the other two boys in the living room. Joshua was already playing with Legos along with David and Hugo while Rose was colouring near them. David looked very much like Mandy, but had Anthony's light blond hair while Joshua was dark like his mum. Ezra's hair was a lighter blondish brown.

"Wow, three boys," Hermione said. "I bet that's a lot."

"It has its moments," Mandy said with a smile. "Thank you for inviting us."

Hermione waved her off and introduced their three kids before calling all of the kids out into the garden so that they could eat outside. Ten minutes later, plates were full of pizza and salad as Mandy told them about how she'd met Baxter.

"Tony and I tried to make it work a second time after Ezra was born, but we realized quickly that it wasn't going to. He moved out when Ezra was four months old and we decided to divorce. A lot of paperwork and discussions followed because three children is a lot and well, it was official last month," Mandy explained. "We've been separated for over a year, but things take a while. Eric and I met in October in Serendipity."

Hermione smiled as she listened to Mandy tell her how she'd been in Serendipity Sweets and Blooms chatting to her best friend, Hannah Longbottom, when Ezra had decided to throw his chocolate milk and it landed all over Baxter who was walking by. Mandy had been horrified and tried to apologize, but to her surprise, Baxter had crouched down to Ezra's level and ruffled his hair.

"No worries, little tyke. Want to share your chocolate scone?"

Ezra handed over his scone and giggled when Baxter pretended to take a huge bite.

"Delicious."

"I'm so sorry," Mandy said again. "I wasn't paying as much attention as I should have been."

"It's fine," Baxter said, using a charm to clean his shirt. "Good morning, Hannah. I'll take my usual."

"Put it on my tab," Mandy insisted.

"Absolutely not," Baxter said.

"Yes," Mandy repeated. "It's the least I can do. I'm so sorry about Ezra."

"Ezra, great name," Baxter said. "And it's no problem, honestly."

He gave his money to Hannah and then winked at Mandy and hurried out.

They ran into each other again two days later in Serendipity, but this time to Mandy's surprise, Baxter had simply slid into the seat across from her.

"Hi, Ez, got some more chocolate for me today?"

Ezra, delighted in the attention, beamed at him.

"Hello again," Baxter said, his eyes finally meeting Mandy's. "I'm Eric."

"Mandy."

"Can I buy you a coffee?"

Mandy's eyes widened in surprise. "Oh, um…"

Baxter gave her a charming smile. "I don't see a ring so maybe I'm jumping to conclusions but I was hoping that meant you were single."

Mandy's eyes fell down to her bare hand. "I'm… we're getting a divorce. It's… not quite final yet but it's… yeah."

"He's a tosser. Let me buy you a coffee."

Hannah appeared at their table, a small smile on her face. "Here's your usual, Eric and Mandy, here's a fresh peppermint mocha. I'm stealing Ezra for some cuddles."

Mandy started to protest, but a half a second later she was alone with Eric who was smiling at her.

"It started off slowly as I wasn't sure what I was doing," Mandy admitted. "Trying to date again after being married for seven years was… well, a lot harder than you'd think. But Eric was nice and persistent and didn't run away when I told him that I had two other boys."

"She charmed me," Baxter said.

"We met a few times for coffee here and there, always when I had Ezra after dropping David and Joshua off at primary and nursery school and then we finally went out to dinner about a month later and… it became real," Mandy said.

Baxter leaned over to kiss her cheek. "I'm mad about her."

Ron reached for a sixth slice of pizza. "Baxter's a great bloke, Mandy. Way better than Goldstein."

Hermione rolled her eyes. "Ignore him. He's still holding a grudge."

"He flirted with you! In front of me!" Ron exclaimed.

"I flirt with your wife all the time," Baxter said. "You don't hate me."

"It's different," Ron insisted.

"Yeah, it is," Mandy said sadly and Hermione gave her a curious look.

She didn't want to pry, but she was sad that Mandy had obviously been hurt by her husband. She wanted to know more, but knew that if Mandy wanted her to know, she would tell her.

They spent the evening talking about their kids, a bit about Ron and Baxter's work as Aurors, and Mandy told Hermione how she'd quit her job as a curse breaker after having Joshua.

"I want to go back," Mandy admitted. "I miss it, but having three boys and… Tony convinced me it was better to stay home with them and I knew that he was right. Working full time and being a mum, it's almost impossible. I don't know how you do it."

"With a lot of help from my husband," Hermione said. "You should go back, even if only part time. Ron's brother works at Gringotts, maybe he could get you an interview, see if they're hiring."

"That would be great," Baxter said, reaching for Mandy's hand. "You should do it, love. You keep saying how much you miss working."

"But the boys…"

"Will be fine," Baxter assured her. "We'll work it out."

Hermione smiled as she watched Mandy's face flicker in surprise before she nodded. Hugo and Joshua got along great and David stuck to them most of the night while Rose did her own thing after claiming boys were annoying. When they finally left and Ron and Hermione got their own children tucked into bed, Hermione leaned into Ron's shoulder.

"They work well together."

"Yeah, they do," Ron said. "Mandy makes Bax pretty happy and I love him getting an instant family. He needs that."

Hermione nodded. Baxter had lost his grandfather two years ago after living with him and taking care of him for almost six years. He had been heartbroken and lonely and Hermione thought him falling for a talented, beautiful witch with three boys was perfect for him

"Do you think Tony really made her quit her job?" Hermione asked.

Ron shrugged. "Bloke's a prat so probably. I'll reach out to Bill and see if they need anyone. Mandy was always brilliant."

"Good," Hermione said. "Her boys seem sweet."

"Well, they are half Goldstein so that needs to be taken into consideration."

Hermione rolled her eyes. "They're kids, Ron."

Ron stole a kiss. "We'll see. Come on, let's go to bed. We have dinner at Fred's tomorrow. I want to see if Charlie and Lee say anything about their relationship yet. If they don't make it official by September, I owe Harry ten Galleons."

"Aydin calls Lee 'Dad.' How much more official can you get?" Hermione asked.

"Charlie's a commitment-phobe, Hermione. According to him, he and Lee are just hanging out."

"They live together!"

"According to Charlie, it's only until Lee finds a new place," Ron said. "He's stubborn too."

Hermione rolled her eyes. "They are both clearly in love with each other."

"I know," Ron said. "They just won't admit it. We'll needle Lee tomorrow and see if he lets anything slip. I'm not losing again. Harry said it would be December and George insists it will be October. If Charlie doesn't admit he and Lee are together-together by the end of next month, I'll be out of the running and it will only be Harry and George left. Bill thought Charlie would cave once Lee moved in, but that didn't happen."

"They've been living together for almost two years," Hermione insisted.

Ron nodded. "I know! Stubborn, like I said."

"A Weasley family trait," Hermione replied. "Come on, let's go to bed."

~ KE: Romione II ~

December 2014…

Life with three kids was hectic. Some days Hermione looked at her kids and felt like the most blessed woman in the whole world and other days she wondered if abandoning them somewhere would really be such a terrible idea.

Today she was leaning towards the abandonment idea.

"Hugo Harry Weasley!" Hermione shouted, making her son's head shoot up. "If I see you do that one more time, you're going to your room."

"Fine," Hugo shot back. "I don't want to be down here with you anyway."

"Hugo!"

"Why do I always get blamed?" Hugo demanded. "Rose started it!"

"Did not!" Rose yelled.

"Did too!"

"Did not!"

"Did too!"

"MUM!" Granger yelled.

Hermione let out a frustrated breath and tried not to scream just as the doorbell rang. Half a second later, the front door opened and Hermione heard Ginny's cheerful voice.

"Knock, knock."

"Auntie Ginny!" Rose exclaimed, running towards the front door.

Hermione turned towards her sister-in-law with a sigh as she came in with her own hoard of kids. It still surprised Hermione to see Harry and Ginny with six children.

"Hi, Auntie Mine!" Lily said, running to hug her. "We're here to make holiday biscuits!"

"Yes, you are," Hermione said, kissing the little girl's cheek. Lily Luna was the spitting image of Ginny at seven years old with her big brown eyes and freckled face and bright red hair. "Hi, Lily."

"Hi, Auntie Mine," James said, opening the ice box. "Do you have any chocolate milk?"

"James," Ginny said in exasperation as she stared at her ten-year-old-son. His dark brown hair was a mess on the top of his head and his brown eyes were very much like his mother's. "What have we said about going around and helping yourself at everyone's house?"

James pulled a carton of chocolate milk from the ice box with a grin. "But that doesn't count when I'm at Uncle Ron and Auntie Mine's house."

Hermione sighed when James took a drink straight from the carton. "Jamie, at least use a glass."

Ginny gave Hermione a look. "Sorry, my children are heathens."

Hermione chuckled. "Mine aren't much better. Thank Merlin you're here. I was contemplating abandonment."

"I do that at least twice a day," Ginny assured her, kneeling down to help her four-year-old-twins, Ella and Everett, out of their winter jackets before doing the same with two year-old Genevieve.

Albus, who was eight, moved behind his older brother to take the chocolate milk. "Can I have some?"

"Get your own," James said.

"Mum, can we have some chocolate milk?" Hugo asked.

Hermione sighed. "All right, everyone can have some chocolate milk and then we'll get things ready to make Christmas biscuits, all right?"

It took twenty more minutes before they had all of the ingredients laid out on the island, countertops, and kitchen table. Ginny ordered James and Albus to begin adding the ingredients to make dough for the shortbread while Rose and Lily worked on adding ingredients for sugar biscuits. Hermione had Hugo help her with mixing the chocolate chip biscuits (who seemed to have gotten over his anger from earlier) while three-year-old Granger along with Ella and Everett helped make the shapes with the biscuit cutters.

Ginny and Hermione did what they could to help the kids, but with eight kids working in the kitchen, there was bound to be a mess. Between James and Albus tossing bits of dough at each other, Hugo dropping two eggs on the floor, and Rose knocking over the bowl of flour, the kitchen was a mess. Genevieve moved back and forth from Ginny to Hermione's arms, wanting to be in on the fun, and as the biscuits baked, each kid took a turn decorating them in sprinkles and frosting in between batches.

After nearly two hours, there was flour, sprinkles, and frosting everywhere and at least a quarter of the six dozen biscuits were already eaten. When they finished, they cleaned up all of the kids and then bundled them all up to play outside in the snow and get out some of their energy.

James, Albus, Rose, Hugo, and Lily all began to make snowmen while Ella, Everett, and Genevieve crawled around in the snow. Ginny wrapped her hands around her hot cocoa and snuck a look over at Hermione.

"Want to make a run for it?"

Hermione chuckled. "Don't tempt me. Rose and Hugo have been driving me mad lately and that's not even including the drama of my toddler."

Ginny nodded. "I hear you. Jamie and Alby are always fighting. Alby and Lily are the best of friends, until they aren't, and Everett follows Alby around everywhere which apparently is very annoying. Evie wants to be where everyone else is and Ella wants to be with Everett or James and wants nothing to do with Lily whatsoever. I can't even keep track of them anymore."

"That's what you get for having six of them."

Ginny rolled her eyes. "Don't remind me. Chasing the Quaffle is my only saving grace."

"It's doing well," Hermione said, sipping her own hot cocoa as she kept an eye on where Granger was making snow angels with Ella and Everett while Genevieve attempted to do the same, but couldn't quite understand the concept. "I hear people talking about it fairly often."

"It is doing well," Ginny said. "Having so many Quidditch connections helps. Lee's been a great asset and the girls on the Harpies as well. Oliver always has an ear and Angelina sends people my way. It's a lot of fun. Coming up with new topics biweekly is sometimes more time consuming, but I love it. Daire is a great help and thank Merlin for Colin. He's literally saved my life in helping me pull everything together in the last six months."

"He doesn't want to stay on?"

"No," Ginny replied. "I'd never ask him to. He has his own business with the photography shop and he's busy with Mads, I don't want to take up any more of his time. I need to hire at least two more people to help. At least one more to help with the writing and at least one more to help with the actual putting the magazine together, editing, organizing, and getting it ready for print. Daire Donovan is a talented writer and he's well organized and clever when it comes to pulling things together, but it can't all fall on him either. I put an ad in the paper yesterday so we'll see."

Hermione nodded. "How are Colin and Mads doing?"

"Wonderful," Ginny said. "The two of them are still very much stuck in the newlywed vibe and I love seeing him so happy."

Colin had married his boyfriend that summer in a small ceremony with just close friends and family. He was incredibly happy and Hermione thought it looked good on him.

"Good for him," Hermione said. "Have you heard from Luna? Are she and Rolf going to be back in England for the holiday?"

"I hope so," Ginny admitted. "I haven't seem them since they were here in August. Lorcan and Lysander just turned three and last I talked to her, Luna said that they keep sneaking into the Niffler house to play with them. Lysander has also adopted one of the moon calves whom he named Rizzo and refuses to go to bed unless Rizzo sleeps with him. Lorcan is apparently refusing to eat anything that's green. Luna told me that Rolf's resorted to charming green vegetables into different colours just to try to get Lorcan to eat something."

"Is that working?"

"It's fifty-fifty," Ginny said with a laugh. "But props to Rolf for trying."

Lily burst into tears at the same time that Albus shouted and Ginny shot to her feet.

"Hey! What's going on?"

"Mummy, Jamie destroyed my snowman!" Lily yelled in tears.

"You were doing it wrong," James insisted.

Albus kicked James in the ankle. "Build your own snowman!"

James shoved his brother who went down and half a second later, the two of them were rolling around in the snow and shouting as Lily cried. Rose made a dramatic sigh and got up to play with the toddlers.

Ginny pulled her boys apart with a stern voice and Hermione smiled when Granger ran over to hug her.

"Hi, sweetie," Hermione said, kissing his cold cheek.

Ginny turned her back and Albus tossed a handful of snow in his brother's face. James shouted and shoved a handful of snow down Albus' trousers and Albus yelped.

"BOYS!" Ginny shouted. "Do I have to separate you?"

James shrugged and elbowed Albus who elbowed him back. "What? We're not doing nothing."

Albus snorted and the two of them looked at each other and grinned.

Ginny gave them a look. "Behave or we're going home."

When she took a seat next to Hermione again, she had Genevieve in her arms.

"I think abandoning them sounds really good right about now."

Hermione chuckled as Granger ran off to play with his cousins again and then she sighed when Hugo began to throw snowballs at his cousins as Rose and Lily shrieked.

"It's almost dinner time, how do we feel about me adding some Carolans to our hot cocoa?"

Ginny grinned. "I think it's about bloody time."

Hermione laughed as their kids shrieked in laughter and thought no matter how hectic life got, she wouldn't change a second of it.

~ KE: Romione II ~

1st September 2016…

Ron stood behind Hermione, his arms wrapped around her as she held Granger in her arms and Hugo held onto his mother's other hand. They watched Rose wave at them from the window of the Hogwarts Express and Ron bit back the tears he felt rising in the back of his throat.

His little girl had turned eleven yesterday and today she was off to Hogwarts.

"Bye, Rosie," Hugo yelled as he waved and Ron ruffled his son's reds curls in amusement.

"I can't believe she's off to Hogwarts," Hermione murmured, pressing her lips to Granger's brown curls.

"Me neither," Ron said. "Do you think she'll be in Gryffindor?"

"Ravenclaw," Hermione said. "She's much too smart for her own good."

"Sounds like someone else I know."

Hermione turned her head to kiss him as the train disappeared out of sight.

"Kiss again," Granger demanded making Ron grin.

Hermione kissed Granger in response and he laughed when Ron kissed his other cheek before Ron scooped Hugo up into his arms and kissed him too.

"Ugh, Dad!" Hugo groaned.

"Ron!"

Ron turned at the sound of the voice and grinned at Eric Baxter when he saw him heading towards them. Baxter and Mandy had really hit it off. They'd been together for five years now and were engaged to get married. The most surprising thing was that Mandy had given birth to their daughter last year, Katerina Diana Baxter, Ron's goddaughter.

Ron scooped up the girl from Baxter's arms and kissed her cheek. "Hi, Kit-Kat!"

Katerina, who was fourteen months old, grinned at him. "Hi."

"Hi," Ron said, kissing her again. "David get off all right?"

"He did," Baxter said. "Mandy's a mess."

"I'm not a mess," Mandy said, wiping at her tears. "I just can't believe my baby boy is off to Hogwarts!"

"You and me both," Hermione said. "Rose was so excited she barely even waved goodbye."

"Uncle Ron!"

Ron turned in time for Lily to come running at him and he laughed, hugging her. "Hi, Lily."

Harry appeared next to him, holding five-year-old Genevieve in his arms while he held Ella's hand and Everett was holding onto Harry's jeans. "Rose get off all right? Hi, Eric, Mandy."

"Hi, Harry," Mandy said, giving him a bright smile. "Hi, Ginny."

Ginny smiled warmly at them with Albus by her side. "Hello. Typical September first, everyone's here."

Harry chuckled. "Seeing the kids off."

"I want to go," Albus said, crossing his arms in front of his chest.

"Next year," Ginny assured him, bending to kiss the top of his head.

Mandy smiled. "Merlin! Albus looks exactly like you did, Harry."

Albus rolled his eyes. "I don't wear glasses!"

Ginny chuckled. "He's getting a bit tired of being told how much he looks like his father, but I think he should be grateful to be so handsome."

Harry blushed. "Erm, well, I'm happy he doesn't have my eyesight. Lily was unfortunately not that lucky."

Hermione smiled at her niece. Lily had gotten her first pair of glasses last year and she loved them. Considering Hugo had also gotten glasses the same year, Hermione knew how fun that was. Hugo had already broken them three times. At least Lily was more conscientious of hers.

"Where's Tony?" Harry asked.

"He had to work," Mandy said.

Joshua was leaning into his mum. He was the same age as Lily and Hugo. Ezra was six and currently sitting on Baxter's shoulders. Hermione thought they made a lovely family and she thought it was adorable that the boys all called Eric 'Bax'.

"David was disappointed, but Tony promised to mirror call him tonight," Mandy said. "Being a healer means there's often emergencies."

"Of course," Harry said. "Being an Auror is the same."

"Yeah, but we're all here to see our kids get on the train," Ron said.

Hermione stepped on his toe and he hissed.

Ron passed Katerina back to Mandy and they all headed their separate ways. When they got home, Hermione scowled at him.

"What?"

"You know what," Hermione said.

"Well come on, Hermione," Ron said. "It's his son's first time getting on the train and he couldn't get the time off? I think that's bullshit."

"Dad, you can't say that," Hugo declared. "You have to put a Knut in the Swear Jar."

Ron sighed and reached into his pocket for a Knut, dropping it into the jar that Rose had decided they needed to start a few months ago. Between him and his brothers, the jar had already been filled three times, but Ron didn't want to talk about it.

"Hugo, why don't you and Granger go play?" Hermione suggested.

"Can I fly?" Granger asked.

Harry and Ginny had bought Granger the newest broomstick for kids which was called the Kid's-Bolt. It was the next level broom for children ages four and up. Granger had flown his toddler broom until he outgrew it and now was just as obsessed with his newest one. It flew up to five metres off of the ground and went up to forty kilometres per hour.

"Not right now," Hermione said. "You can only fly it when Dad or I are watching."

Granger pouted. "All right."

Once the boys left the kitchen, Hermione crossed her arms in front of his chest. "You need to watch what you say in front of the kids."

"I'm already filling the bloody swear jar," Ron complained.

At his wife's look, he sighed.

"Look, I get it. Tony's a healer and emergencies happen, but I still think he needs to show up more for his boys. He takes them every other weekend and I just can't imagine that. If something happened and we broke up… there's no way I'd only see my kids on those days, Hermione."

Hermione wrapped her arms around his waist and tilted her head back to look up at him. "That's because you are an incredible father, Ron Weasley."

"Well, yeah," he said, pecking her lips. "I'm the best. I just hope our boys are blessed with their father's great sense of humour and spectacular backside."

Hermione pinched said backside and he yelped. "You are a backside."

He grinned. "Is that your way of trying not to say arse?"

"Knut in the swear jar."

"Fuck."

Hermione laughed. "If you keep that up, you're going to single handedly fund our next holiday."

Ron rolled his eyes and kissed his wife again. They played outside with the boys, letting Granger fly on his broom while Hugo kicked a football around with Ron. Dinner felt strange without Rose at the table and Hermione promised the boys they could stay up until their sister mirror-called them.

It was almost nine when she finally did.

"Mum! Dad!" Rose exclaimed, her smile wide in the mirror. Her red curly hair was frizzy around her head and Ron felt a pang in his chest at the sight of her. He missed her already.

"Hi, baby girl," Ron said. "How was your train ride?"

"It was so good!" Rose exclaimed. "Jamie, Fox, and Gideon sat with me for a bit before they took off. But it was fine. Professor Hagrid took us all in a boat ride across the lake and then Professor Birmingham introduced himself and let us into the Great Hall where we all lined up and then there was a Sorting Hat and it sang a song! I'm a Ravenclaw!"

"Oh! Congratulations, Rose!" Hermione said with a smile. "I knew you would be a Ravenclaw!"

"Gideon said that it was because there was already too many Weasleys in Gryffindor, but I don't think that's true," Rose continued. "I'm with Vic and Dominique so that's much better than being stuck with the boys."

Hermione chuckled. She couldn't help but agree with her daughter's logic on that one. James, Fox, and Gideon were loud and definitely more than a handful when together. They were all starting their second year as Gryffindors.

Rose told them about how Professor Lupin gave a welcoming speech and how the food appeared and what her dorm looked like. They learned she was sharing a dorm with only two other girls, Giselle Goyle and a girl named Hadley Pritchard.

"Are there really ghosts?" Hugo asked.

"Yup!" Rose exclaimed. "The Ravenclaw ghost is called the Grey Lady. But Peeves is definitely a menace! He dropped a whole pudding right on the Slytherin table and Professor Lupin did this thing with his wand that made the pudding explode back all over Peeves. It was so funny!"

"Wicked!" Hugo said.

"We're very proud of you, Rose," Ron said with a smile. "You have the best time, all right?"

"And study hard," Hermione told her. "Don't forget to keep up on your homework."

Rose rolled her eyes. "I haven't even had a class yet, Mum!"

Ron chuckled. "Call us in a few days. We can't wait to hear all about your first classes."

Rose promised to do so before she said goodnight and disappeared.

"All right, boys," Ron said. "We talked to your sister. Now it's time for bed."

"Dad, do you think that Peeves will still be there when I go to Hogwarts?" Hugo asked.

"Peeves will always be at Hogwarts," Ron assured him. "He lives for trouble."

Hugo grinned. "I can't wait."

They worked in tandem to get pyjamas on and teeth cleaned before they curled up in Hugo's bed so that he could read a chapter of Barrie's Peter Pan. Hermione helped Hugo with some of the words, but he read clearly as Granger snuggled up against Ron and yawned. Hugo marked his spot in the book and they tucked the boys in, closing their bedroom door three quarters of the way before they went downstairs.

"Want a cuppa?"

"That would be lovely," Hermione said.

Once they both had cups of tea in their hands, they curled up on the sofa, Hermione resting her head on Ron's shoulders.

"I think Ravenclaw is perfect for Rose."

"Yeah," Ron agreed. "I mean, I wanted her to be a Gryffindor like us, but she's definitely a Ravenclaw."

"Maybe Hugo will be a Gryffindor. when he goes."

Ron snorted. "There's no way. Hugo is definitely going to be a Hufflepuff."

"You think?"

"He has the biggest heart of anyone and I don't know, I feel like he might end up being a Hufflepuff like Forest."

Hermione smiled. "Merlin, I can't believe we just put our baby on the train."

"I know," Ron whispered. "Do you remember our first train ride?"

Hermione took a sip of her tea. "I remember changing into my robes straight away because I was so excited. I had barely come out of the loo before I crashed into Neville. He was trying to find Trevor."

"Oh yeah," Ron said with a grin. "Greg scared him and Trevor escaped from Neville's grasp. Greg took off and Neville ran out to find his toad, leaving Harry and I alone with Malfoy and Zabini until you shoved in demanding to know if we'd seen a toad."

Ron chuckled as he remembered it like it had been yesterday. The compartment door had slid open and a bushy haired brunette stood there with rather large front teeth. She was already changed into her school robes.

"Excuse me, have any of you seen a toad? A boy named Neville's lost one?"

Harry shook his head. "Tell him to stop looking, Trevor will find him."

Hermione looked taken aback by this and stepped inside. "I take it you've already been asked then?"

"Obviously," Draco said as he stared at her. "Tell him to use his wand and maybe he can summon him."

"I doubt as a first year he will be able to use such an advanced charm," she said, hotly, brushing her bushy curls away from her face. "How is that going to do any good? I've tried a few simple spells just for practice and it's all worked for me. Nobody in my family's magic at all, it was ever such a surprise when I got my letter, but I was ever so pleased, of course, I mean, it's the very best school of witchcraft there is, I've heard — I've learned all our course books by heart, of course, I just hope it will be enough — I'm Hermione Granger, by the way."

She said all of this very fast and Draco merely quirked an elbow. "Muggleborn? How completely uninteresting."

Blaise smirked at him. "You're just jealous because you didn't learn all of your course books off by heart."

"Of course not," Draco said hotly, "I'm not a brown nosing twat."

Hermione flushed pink.

"Some of us actually have lives, Granger," Draco told her in annoyance.

Blaise smiled at her kindly. "Ignore him, I usually do. Blaise Zabini," he said, offering his hand which she shook with a smile. "This prat is Draco Malfoy, the redhead is Ron Weasley, and the scrawny one in glasses goes by Harry Potter."

Hermione offered each boy a small smile, but her eyes widened at the mentioning of Harry's name. "Are you really? I know all about you, of course — I got a few extra books, for background reading, and you're in Modern Magical History and The Rise and Fall of the Dark Arts and Great Wizarding Events of the Twentieth Century."

"Am I really?" Harry asked, the back of his neck burning in embarrassment.

"Didn't you know?" she asked in surprise. "Anyway, I expect we're arriving soon, you better get changed into your robes." She turned to hurry out of the compartment again, stopping and glancing back at Ron. "You have dirt on your nose, by the way, did you know? Just there," she said, pointing with her finger before hurrying out.

Ron grimaced in annoyance as he rubbed at his nose. "Whatever house I do get put into, I hope she's not in it."

She swatted his thigh. "Aren't you glad that the hat didn't agree with you?"

"Yeah," he admitted.

"And I wasn't just looking at the dirt," Hermione said. "I thought you had lovely eyes."

He bent his head to steal a kiss. "Who would have ever guessed we'd end up here, twenty-five years later?"

"Not me," Hermione admitted. "But I wouldn't change a thing."

"I'd change one thing," Ron said, linking his fingers with hers.

"What would you change?" Hermione asked.

Ron smiled and kissed her brow. "That day we discovered the Roman bath and I got my hands on this incredible arse for the first time… I would have fought you on it being a fluke."

"I was a bit stubborn back then, I suppose."

"Stubborn? You? I'd never have guessed."

Hermione laughed. "It might have taken us a while to get here and there might have been a few obstacles in our way —"

"—You the cause of most of them," he interrupted.

"I was not!"

"You were," Ron insisted. "The fluke was all you."

"I… I was scared."

"Of me?"

"Of us. Of there even being an us," Hermione admitted. "I didn't want to lose our friendship and after Viktor… I was afraid of opening my heart again. It just took me a while to realize that you already had it."

Ron brought their joined hands to his lips. "Look at us, getting all soppy. We sound like Harry and Ginny."

She laughed. "They are pretty soppy."

"The worst," Ron agreed. "Did I tell you the other day I went to see Harry about going to lunch and Anita said he was having lunch with Ginny? They were totally shagging in his office. He had sex hair, I swear it."

"In his office?"

Ron nodded. "Yeah, in his office! He could barely look me in the eye when I called him on it. We've never had sex in my office."

Hermione chuckled. "Not true. I sucked you off in there on your birthday."

"Oh yeah, you should definitely do that again but that's not my point. Harry and Ginny have six bloody kids! When are those two going to learn to keep their hands off of each other?"

Hermione turned to slide her hands over Ron's thighs. "Want me to keep my hands off of you?"

"Abso-bloody-not," Ron said. "That's not my point!"

She grinned when he tugged her into his lap and then she brushed her finger over his bottom lip. "You have something on your lip, by the way, did you know? Just here…"

Ron sucked her finger between his lips and her eyes darkened. "I love you, Hermione."

Hermione leaned in to kiss him, brushing her lips over his. "I love you too."

Then she slid down to her knees and unzipped him and Ron's eyes darkened.

"Fuck, you're bloody brilliant, Hermione."

She smiled as she pulled him out and then leaned in to lick a long strip over his freckled cock. "Don't you forget it, Auror Weasley."

Ron fisted his hand in her curls as she sucked him into her mouth. He definitely never would. He was mad about her and when those brown eyes met his with his cock between her lips, he knew he was one of the luckiest blokes in the whole bloody world.

~ KE: Romione II ~

June 2017…

Hermione was hunched over her desk, reading the newest draft on the Centaur bill. The Centaurs were looking for some changes and wanted more equality from witches and wizards and Hermione's department was doing what they could to accommodate them. One of the big ones, which seemed too obvious when it was written down, was something Hermione was ashamed to say she had completely missed.

Basic physical accommodation within the Ministry of Magic.

The lifts weren't big enough for a Centaur to travel comfortably in and even the stairwells were too narrow for their large bodies to move to and from if they needed to get to the Ministry to do anything. It was a big part of their bill, wanting magical establishments to be accommodating to them and Hermione wanted to do everything she could to make that happen.

She heard Aidan say something from across the room, but she kept her focus on the words before her, making notes in the margins until a shadow fell across her desk. She looked up, blinking owlishly and adjusting the glasses she'd been forced to get two months ago. At first she'd hated the idea of them, but when Ron had called her his sexy librarian and then proceeded to shag her brainless against the wall of their personal library while insisting she keep them on, she thought they might have some perks.

"Hi, Hermione," Zee's friendly face greeted her.

Hermione smiled warmly. Zahira Black was an incredible woman who Hermione not only considering inspiring, but had helped her secure her job here at the Ministry. It was Zee who had helped her draft her first legislation for house elf welfare and had presented it to the department on her behalf while she'd still been in Hogwarts. Just thinking about it still warmed her.

"Hi, Zee. How are things?"

"Stressful," Zee admitted, resting her hip on Hermione's desk.

At fifty-three, she was still gorgeous with her long curly hair. There were a few greys amidst the dark brown that Hermione knew she usually coloured, but her brown eyes were warm. She was dressed in her usual attire of blue jeans, a blouse, and a black leather jacket. Today's blouse was gold and looked sharp with her bronzed tone and Hermione couldn't help but notice she was also wearing gold ankle boots with a seven and a half centimetre heel.

"I love the boots," Hermione said. "I could never walk in them without falling on my face, but I love them. Does the stress have anything to do with work?"

"I wish," Zee said with a laugh. "It's all about the wedding."

Sirius and Zee's daughter Mina was getting married in two weeks. She was twenty years old and set to marry her boyfriend of five years, Grayson Goyle. Hermione knew that Sirius and Zee had been helping plan the wedding and that despite Mina's insistence that it wasn't going to be some grand event, it certainly wasn't going to be as small as she might have hoped.

"Mina's stressed and it's making me stressed," Zee admitted. "It doesn't help that Sirius is freaking out a bit. The man is not ready to walk his daughter down the aisle. Pansy keeps tweaking Mina's dress which is making her worry, even though Pansy's done a phenomenal job, and the Nash Conservatory is breathtaking."

Hermione nodded. Mina and Grayson had wanted to pick their own wedding venue and had decided to get married at Kew Gardens in West London. The Nash Conservatory was going to be beautiful place for their wedding.

"And how are you dealing with it all?"

"Mostly trying not to cry," Zee said with a laugh. "I can't believe she's old enough to get married and I'm so proud of her at the same time and… whew! It's a whirlwind. But I was hoping to catch you about some work related things."

"Of course," Hermione said. "How can I help?"

"As you know, the house elves wage bill is set to rise an additional five percent on the first of September. However, there's still quite a bit of pushback from both house elves and some employers on the wage increase. There's a petition circulating demanding the increase be put on hold. Obviously we don't want this to happen, but we also need to make sure the house elves are comfortable with it."

Hermione nodded. House elves were still creatures that were hard to understand. Despite the many changes they'd implemented in the last twenty years for fair labour, fair wages, and fair treatment, not everyone was on board. The older house elves especially were difficult to please claiming that it wasn't right and that it was ruining their helpful people pleasing culture. It was a delicate balance they had to work with and it was a constant struggle to get anything accomplished because of it.

Zee took a seat across from Hermione's desk to chat and Hermione knew it was very much not her job to discuss this with Hermione, but Zee had always been a do what she was interested in kind of magizoologist and she kept that mindset when dealing with her coworkers. If it interested her, she took a personal interest in helping move it along and Hermione admired that about her. Goldwyn Oliphant had retired in 2008 and Zee had taken over as Head of the Magical Menagerie and was doing a great job.

Zee wanted to work out a plan for how to involve the house elves in the change and then she urged Hermione to go downstairs to her office with her so that they could hash out some more details. When they arrived in the Menagerie, as always Hermione was in awe at the freedom of the magical creatures. It was like being inside of an open zoo where the animals were being played with, healed, and treated before going out into the world. Witches and wizards were all around, working with them and she spotted Charlie Weasley on the left working with a group of three others as he spoke to them about the large dragon that was spread out in the corner.

It was truly an amazing place.

They headed into Zee's office and Hermione smiled at the glass walls. She had dark shades that would lower when she needed privacy but Hermione knew that Zee loved being able to look out and see the animals. It was like working inside of a magical forest and it was very cool.

Hermione reached down to pet Isis, the Kneazle that often came to work with Zee before she took her seat just as Sirius marched into the room. Hermione had to admit, at almost fifty-eight, Sirius Black was still an extremely attractive man. His dark fair fell just so around his face, easy to tuck back behind his ears. His black button down shirt had his sleeves rolled up, showing off his tattoos. He grabbed his wife's arm, spinning her into him before she could sit in her chair and captured her mouth for a long, steamy kiss that Hermione had to look away from.

Merlin, she hoped she and Ron still had that much passion when they were that age.

"Siri," Zee murmured, laughing when her husband kissed her neck. "What are you doing here?"

"Missed you," he said, nipping at her ear.

"I'm about to have a meeting with Hermione."

Sirius slid his hands up his wife's back and pulled her tighter against him before he looked over at Hermione. "Hi, Hermione. Lovely to see you. I need a few minutes alone with my wife."

"No, you don't," Zee said, slapping at his hands. "I'm so sorry about my husband. He's an animal."

"She loves it," Sirius replied. "Drives her mad with lust for me."

"Prat."

He grinned and stole another kiss. Hermione hid her smile as Zee let out a tiny moan.

"Five minutes," Sirius said.

"No. I'm at work."

"Fine, ten minutes then."

"Siri," Zee said with a strangled laugh as she attempted to maneuver herself out of his grasp.

"All right, fine," he said with a sigh. "You can blow me, but we'll have to ask Hermione to leave and close the blinds."

"You're incorrigible."

Sirius wiggled his eyebrows suggestively. "You didn't say no."

Hermione stood up and cleared her throat. "Erm, Zee, I have a few things I wanted to go over with the Centaur Liaison Office, perhaps we can reschedule?"

"Perfect," Sirius said. "She accepts."

Zee rolled her eyes. "I'm sorry, Hermione. My husband is being an absolute unprofessional prat. We'll have to reschedule. Can you come back down in about an hour?"

"That should be enough time for me to speak to the office," Hermione assured her.

"And more than enough time for you to suck me off."

"Sirius!" Zee exclaimed. "I am at work!"

"And it's just Hermione," Sirius said. "No offence, but it's not some stranger so I'm not going to lie about what I want."

"Why are you so randy?" Zee demanded as Hermione grabbed her bag and headed for the door. "You shagged me in the shower this morning."

"If I tell you I went to go visit Rem and walked in on him fucking Tonks against the wall of their living room, is that a legitimate reason to be randy? I mean, you know he has that huge cock and he was just plowing her doggy style when I walked in. They didn't even see me…"

"Merlin's beard," Zee muttered as the door closed behind a blushing Hermione.

Hermione snuck a glance through the glass and chuckled when Sirius sat on his wife's desk and gave her a look that she had to admit, was definitely enough to make her wonder how Zee was going to resist him. If he was her husband she would already be kneeling. Just the thought made her knickers wet and she bit her lip. Bloody hell, maybe it was catching. She chuckled when the dark blinds went down half a second before Hermione saw Zee snog her husband.

She really hoped that when she was their age, her and Ron were still so mad about each other. If Sirius had been right, it seemed that Remus and Tonks still couldn't keep their hands off of each other either. It made Hermione smile to think about even while she also really didn't need to know that her former professor was apparently packing.

She ran into Harry on the stairs and he grinned.

"Hey, Hermione! Are you coming from the Menagerie?"

"Yes," Hermione said. "I had a meeting with Zee, but we've rescheduled. Where are you off to?"

"Was hoping to catch my mum for a second. I had a question about the wedding."

"Sirius is with her and I rather think they might be indisposed."

Harry wrinkled his nose. "I didn't need to know that."

She laughed when he linked his arm through hers. "Neither did I. It's nice to see them so happy and so in love though. The two of them not only got a second chance together, but they've had an incredible life and now their daughter's about to get married."

"I know, I can't believe it," Harry agreed. "I still remember when Mina and Leo were born and now they're both engaged to be married. It's kind of mad though that my niece is going to marry my brother, you know?"

Hermione chuckled. "The whole not being a blood brother makes it a little less mad, but yes. How do you feel about Mina marrying Grayson?"

"He's great," Harry admitted. "He has a dry sense of humour like his dad and he's brilliant with his hands. Greg was showing Ron and I this design that Grayson made for their dream kitchen. It's gorgeous. All made of wood with intricate carvings… the man has talent. They're saving up to buy a house, but I think they'll end up building their own. Grayson's way too talented not to have his hands in it."

"I can see that," Hermione said.

She found it charming that Harry and Ron had become such good friends with Gregory Goyle over the years. He was a talented builder and a kind man and Hermione thought he was sweet. Pansy had grown friendly-ish to them over the years and while all of the couples occasionally got together, Hermione wouldn't say that Pansy was close to any of them. She was the most friendly with Hannah, but even then, Pansy tended to stick close with her best friend Daphne and didn't bother with the rest of them.

"How does Mina get along with Pansy?"

"All right, I think," Harry said. "She hasn't said much about her. I know Pansy is designing her wedding dress and from what Mina's said, she loves it so that's a plus. I'm excited for Evie to be the flower girl for her Aunt Mina."

Hermione smiled. The fact that Mina had asked Harry and Ginny's youngest daughter to be her flower girl was adorable and Hermione knew that she was going to look so beautiful.

"It is lovely," she agreed. "When do Leo and Aydin come back? Ron said that the last he heard it was only a few days before the wedding."

"Still the same as far as I know," Harry said.

Leo and Aydin were studying the healing of magical creatures on the reserve in the Village of Blue Fire. They had three months left on their program before they could write their exam and be qualified to heal magical creatures. Hermione thought it was an admirable job. They planned on moving back to England to work and were planning on getting married themselves next year.

"It will be nice to see them again," Hermione said. "Christmas seems a long time off already. Listen, I have to head to the Centaur Liaison Office, but we'll catch up later."

Harry leaned in to kiss her cheek. "Absolutely. You and me are grabbing lunch together."

"It's a date," she promised.

She waved goodbye and headed off. Unfortunately for her, she had a lot of work to do, but when she got home tonight she had a few ideas she wanted to run past her husband.

And all of them were quite naughty…

~ KE: Romione II ~

September 2022…

Hermione wiped at a tear as she stood on the platform at King's Cross Station and watched her youngest get on the train for Hogwarts for the very first time. Rose was starting her last year, Hugo his fifth, and their little Granger was just starting out. She wasn't sure where the time had gone.

Ron put an arm over her shoulders and she leaned into him. "He'll be fine, Hermione. I bet he's our Gryffindor."

Hermione smiled at that. Rose had gone to Ravenclaw and Hugo to Hufflepuff so she knew that Ron was hoping that Granger would end up in Gryffindor house. "We'll see where the hat puts him."

"Ron!"

They both turned at the shout and Ron gave a friendly wave to Eric Baxter. He was holding his seven-year-old-daughter on his shoulders as she waved at the train. Katerina Baxter had her mum's dark brown hair and was wearing bright purple glasses over her brown eyes.

"Hey, Kit-Kat," Ron said, lifting his goddaughter down from Baxter's shoulders. "I love the new glasses."

Katerina beamed at him. "Daddy helped me pick them out yesterday."

"He did a smashing good job," Ron assured her.

Hermione turned to smile at Baxter's wife, Mandy. They'd been together for over a decade now and married for four years.

"Hi, Mandy," Hermione said with a smile. "It's lovely to see you."

"You too, Hermione," Mandy said. "Eric and I wanted to see the boys off. Your youngest is just starting this year, isn't he?"

"He is," Hermione said. "It's hard to believe."

"Tell me about it," Mandy said. "David's in his last year already. Tony wanted to come by to see his boys off, but he ended up having do an emergency operation."

Hermione nodded. It seemed every year that was the story. "I'm sure the boys understand."

Mandy gave her a small smile that brightened when Eric put his arm around her. Hermione thought it was wonderful to see the woman so happy and Eric had truly made her happy. She didn't know exactly what had gone wrong between Mandy and Anthony but she knew that they hadn't been happy together. She did wonder if part of their troubles had been with Anthony's constant flirtation with other witches, but she didn't know for sure.

Ever since Mandy had been dating Baxter, Hermione had grown a bit closer to her. They lived down the street, having taken over Baxter's grandfather house and they usually made time to get together once every two months. Rose wasn't impressed with the three boys coming over all of the time, but she adored little Katerina. Mandy worked as curse breaker for Gringotts again and she and Baxter made a good team. They both made each other very happy.

Ron kissed Katerina's cheek again before putting her on the ground so that she could take her mum's hand. They waved goodbye and headed off, running into Harry and Ginny. Harry was holding one twin in his arms while Ginny held the other. Hermione had no idea which one was which. Henry and Hunter both had their father's dark hair and green eyes and were honestly two of the cutest toddlers she'd ever seen. They had each turned two on Harry's forty-second birthday in July and were definitely a handful and a half.

"Harry!" Ron said, slapping his friend on his back. "Kids get off to Hogwarts all right?"

Genevieve was holding Harry's hand and looking back at the Hogwarts Express longingly. Her dark hair was in two braided pigtails over her shoulders and her blue eyes were full of unshed tears. "Not me, Uncle Ron."

Ron crouched down so that he was eye level with his niece. "Aw, you'll get to go next year, Evie. Don't you worry."

"Everett and Ella were sitting with Granger, Lysander, and Lorcan," Ginny said. "I can't wait to hear how they'll be sorted."

"Oh, yeah," Ron said. "I forgot Luna and Rolf's boys started this year too."

"Luna and Rolf had to hurry off," Ginny said. "Poor little Xara's sick and they didn't want to leave her too long with Luna's dad. How are you two doing? Thoughts on the empty house?"

Ron grinned. "It hasn't sunk in yet. But I think it's going to be great having the place to ourselves again. Just think, Harry, another nine years and you and Ginny will finally know what that's like."

Harry made a rude hand gesture behind his son's head. He wasn't quick enough though because the twin in Ginny's arms saw it and made the same gesture.

"Harry!" Ginny exclaimed. "Hunter's copying you!"

Henry, who Hermione now realized was in Harry's arms, grinned at his brother and made the same hand gesture at Ron.

Ron chuckled. "You two definitely have your hands full with those two."

"We do," Ginny said. "And we need to get them home. We'll see you on Sunday. Dinner's at George's this week."

"We'll be there," Hermione promised.

They parted ways and Ron pulled her close to his side as they headed into the train station.

"As much as I love our kids, I'm looking forward to having a kid free house," he admitted.

Hermione looked up at her husband in surprise. "Yeah? Gods, me too and I've been feeling nothing but guilty about it."

He grinned and kissed her temple. "No guilt allowed. Come on, I'll walk you to work and then tonight, you and me are going to celebrate an empty nest."

"We are, are we?"

Ron wiggled his eyebrows at her. "Yeah, we are."

Ron dropped her off at her office with a soft kiss and when she sat her desk, Aidan Cross hurried over to lean his hip against it.

"Hey, Hermione. Did you and Ron get the kids off to Hogwarts?"

"We did," she said with a smile. "Granger starts his first year and I'm nervous for him."

"I remember the feeling. Devyn and Ivy are twenty and I still can't believe it," he admitted. "The girls are talking about getting a flat together and Tiberius and I don't want them to move out yet. It's mad how quickly they grow up. Anyway, once you're settled, I want to go over the new proposal for the upcoming wage increase for house elves."

Hermione nodded. "Give me five."

She watched Aidan head back to his desk and she began to gather her notes. The house elf legislation bill had been her baby and she'd worked at it for over twenty years. House elves were finally being paid wages and working regular hours with fair employment that included holidays and health benefits. However, getting them to accept fair wages had been a constant struggle. House elves were still drastically underpaid compared to witches and wizards who were doing the exact same job. Hermione and her team had been working on a steady wage increase each year, but it still wasn't enough and even the yearly increase was difficult enough to get house elves to accept, but they were doing their best to keep the bills something that worked for everyone involved.

Hermione knew that it was going to be a struggle, but knowing she was still fighting for some of the same things over twenty years later was something that irked her. They'd done a lot for house elves over the years and Hermione knew that it had all been good. She just wanted more for them and she wished that they would accept it.

After spending a few hours breaking down the bill of how and when it was going to be passed, she worked with Barnaby Lee on some of the issues that were arising with the vampires before finishing up for the day. She was pleased to find Ron coming to meet her when she headed towards the lifts.

"Done for the day?"

"I am," he said. "I was hoping you were too." Ron put his arm around her shoulders. "How do you feel about takeaway from that Indian place you like and then we can eat it in bed."

"We're not eating in bed," she scolded. "You always make a mess."

He chuckled. "Fine. We'll eat in the kitchen. But then I'm taking my beautiful wife to bed so we can celebrate having the house all to ourselves." He looked down at his watch. "By the time we finish dinner, Granger should mirror-call us anyway and we can hear the news that he's been sorted into Gryffindor."

"He might be a Hufflepuff like his brother," Hermione said.

"He might be," Ron agreed. "But I doubt it. Granger's a Gryffindor, I can feel it."

When Granger called them on the communication mirror three hours later and announced that he was indeed a Gryffindor, they both smiled.

"And where did Ella and Everett end up?" Ron asked.

"Ella went to Slytherin," Granger said. "But she seemed to become instant friends with this girl named Maddie. Everett's a Ravenclaw. We also got Blake in Gryffindor."

Hermione lifted an eyebrow. "Who's Blake?"

"You know, the little sister of Fin's new husband Bennett? She was in their wedding party," Granger said.

Hermione nodded, remembering the pretty girl from the summer wedding of Fred and Fiadh's daughter to Bennett Belby. "Right. Of course. What about Lorcan and Lysander?"

"Lorcan went to Hufflepuff and Lysander went to Ravenclaw," Granger told them. "They seemed happy about it."

"Good," Hermione said with a smile. "Well, be on your best behaviour, Granger. I want to hear all about your classes by the end of the week."

"I will, Mum," he promised. "Bye, Mum, bye, Dad."

"Bye," they both chorused before Granger's face disappeared from the mirror.

"See, Gryffindor," Ron said proudly.

Hermione smiled at her husband. "You were right."

"I don't think I heard you say that loud enough," Ron teased. "What was that?"

"You're a prat, Ron Weasley."

Ron grinned and leaned in to peck her lips. "How about I clean up our dinner and you go take a nice bubble bath? I'll bring you up a glass of pinot when I'm done."

Hermione's eyes softened. "You're not a prat. You're wonderful."

Ron chuckled. "Don't you forget it. If you're lucky, I'll let you suck me off too."

Hermione snorted. "And the wonderful disappears so quickly."

But she kissed her husband softly and told him to hurry up before she went upstairs to relax in the bath. She closed her eyes, relaxing in the soft, hot bubbles happily and when Ron finally came up, a glass of white wine his hand, she smiled at him.

"I love you."

Ron sat on the side of the tub. "I love you, too."

Hermione watched him as he ran his fingers through her bubbles absently. "You all right?"

"Hmm? Oh, yeah," he said, shaking his head. "Guess it just feels more weird without any kids than I thought it would."

"I know what you mean," she replied. "The house is too quiet, isn't it?"

"So quiet," Ron agreed. "It's not like Granger was particularly loud when he was alone, but we could hear him walking around or blaring music in his room and now… it's weird."

Hermione placed her wine glass on the side of the tub. "It's this quiet that made Percy and Audrey drift apart."

Ron cupped her chin in his hands. "We won't let that happen and besides, they're working it out. Audrey's moved back in and things are good there."

"I know," Hermione whispered. "Sometimes, I look at Harry and Ginny with little Henry and Hunter and I think I wish we still had another baby at home and then I think, thank Merlin we're done with all of that."

Ron chuckled. "You and me both. I love kids and I love our kids, but Harry and Ginny are bloody mad to have eight of them. Three is more than good enough."

"I agree," Hermione said. "Besides, now we have great-nieces and great-nephews to spoil."

Ron closed his eyes. "Bloody hell, I'm only forty-two, how is that that I have great-nieces and great-nephews?"

"Blame your brothers."

"I do. Every bloody day," Ron grumbled. "Bill and Fleur have Liam, Charlie and Lee have Colten and Bram, and Fred and Fiadh have Kyra… it's hard to believe three of my brothers are already grandpas."

"It really is," Hermione admitted. "But they're wonderful grandpas. You know, Rose is only eight years younger than we were when we had her."

"Bite your tongue, woman," Ron grumbled. "Rose isn't old enough to date."

Hermione laughed. "At Rose's age, I'd given you my virginity."

"Completely different," Ron said, pulling his shirt over his head.

Hermione smiled as she watched her husband undress. Being an Auror kept him in excellent shape and she wasn't ashamed to say that she enjoyed ogling his strong muscles, toned stomach, and thick biceps. She noticed some of the red curls on his chest were turning lighter, almost white in the light and when he dropped his trousers, she took in the darker red curls there with a smile.

"Going to join me?"

Ron grinned and stepped into the tub, but instead of sitting down, he leaned towards her, brushing his hard cock against her cheek. "I was hoping you might have another idea."

Hermione smiled at her husband and opened her mouth to let him slide it in and the look of pure bliss on his face was everything she needed. She sucked and teased him until he was begging and then they got out of the bath and dried off and Ron buried himself deep inside of her. When they finished, he kissed her brow and pulled her close.

"Having the house to ourselves again is going to be great."

When he was snoring five minutes later, she rather thought she had to agree with that assessment.

~ KE: Romione II ~

December 2022…

After picking the kids up from the train station, Hermione put a large Shepard's Pie in the oven and put together a salad. Ron had sent word that he was running late so she asked Rose, Hugo, and Granger to help work on the holiday decorations with her father.

Greg Granger was doing well and despite how much Hermione often worried about him, he was still living in her childhood home. He kept himself busy with his comic books and his bird watching and he'd even joined a Euchre group. She watched his eyes light up as Granger told him all about his first few months at school and she couldn't help but smile. She loved having her father here with them and he never missed a chance to be here when the kids were home.

"Grandpa, can I come stay over one night during the holiday?" Hugo asked. "We have to watch the new Marvel movie."

Greg grinned. Hugo and his grandfather had bonded over a love of comic books and the Marvel Cinematic Universe in which the two of them tried to see all of the films in theatres together when they could. Hermione loved that her dad finally had someone to bond over his love of superheroes with.

"Grandpa, you promised you'd come to a Quidditch match with me, too!" Granger insisted.

"And we will," Greg promised.

Hermione went back into the kitchen with a smile as she listened to her boys talk over each other. She stood on her toes to reach the dinner plates in the cupboard and caught Rose out of the corner of her eye.

"Hi, sweetheart. Will you help me set the table?"

Rose nodded and took the plates from her mum. Hermione snuck a look over at her daughter. She'd pinned up all of her red curls into a messy bun on the top of her head and she was dressed in last year's Weasley jumper which was bright blue with a bronze R on the front over black tights and bright blue fuzzy socks.

"Something on your mind?"

"Hmm?"

"You're awfully quiet," Hermione said. "I just wondered if there was something you might want to talk about."

"Just tired," Rose said.

Hermione nodded. She knew better than to pry. Her daughter was seventeen and in her final year at Hogwarts. Hermione remembered how stressful her own year had been, of course, there had been a war and her parents were living in Australia with false memories… actually, maybe she didn't really remember what it was like to be seventeen.

"How do you stop fancying someone?"

Hermione's eyes widened in surprise before she masked it. "Well, you can't stop feeling something just because you want to. Your heart wants who your heart wants."

"But fancying him is pointless," Rose said as she put plates around the table. "He'd never be interested in me."

"Rose, I don't want to hear you say that. You're brilliant and any boy would be lucky to have you."

Rose rolled her eyes. "No one wants a brilliant witch, Mum. All the boys care about is who has the best tits."

Hermione scoffed. "That's not true."

"It's totally true," Hugo said as he came into the kitchen and grabbed a bag of crisps from the cupboard.

"Dinner's in thirty minutes!"

Hugo shoved a handful of crisps into his mouth. "But I'm hungry now." He looked over at his sister. "Rose is right though, Mum. Tits are where it's at."

"Hugo!"

He shrugged and laughed as he walked away and Rose scowled.

"Why are boys so stupid?"

"Ah, a question every woman asks at some point in their life," Hermione teased. "Rose, boys aren't stupid. Girls just mature faster and sometimes it's frustrating. You're a beautiful young woman and you have my tits so I know they're nice."

"MUM!"

Hermione shrugged. "Well you do. Tell me about the boy."

"No, it's stupid. I don't even like him."

Hermione decided it was best not to comment on that. Instead she waited and sure enough a minute later, her daughter was complaining again.

"His hair is stupid. All too long in the front and a bit shaggy and his laugh is loud and just because I beat him on another test doesn't mean that he has to challenge me for the next assignment! Like who does that? It's a grade! Of course I'm going to do my best and put the effort in, but I don't care if he does better than me."

"Of course not," Hermione said, her lip twitching.

"And just because we're both heads doesn't mean he can order me around. He's a wanker and the fact that he's attractive only makes it worse," Rose insisted.

The fact that they were both heads made Hermione's eyebrow rise. "Rose, do you fancy David?"

Rose scoffed. "That would be ridiculous, wouldn't it?"

Hermione chuckled. She'd been so proud when her daughter's letter came announcing that she'd been picked to be Head Girl and when they discovered David Goldstein was to be Head Boy, they'd invited Mandy and Eric over with their boys to celebrate. Rose had always been friendly with the Goldstein boys, but they'd never been more than just acquaintances over the years. Being Heads and sharing a living space had obviously pushed them together even more. They were both extremely intelligent with top grades and Hermione could see that causing a bit of competitiveness between them.

David was tall and lean with blondish brown hair that he wore a bit long in the front and short in the back, just enough for him to tuck behind his ears. He looked very much like his father but with Mandy's warm brown eyes and wide smile and Hermione had to admit he had grown into a handsome young man. He was intelligent and kind and according to Mandy had top grades.

"He wouldn't like me anyway," Rose insisted. "He's always flirting with skinny blondes."

Hermione's heart pinged at that. She remembered how she'd had similar reactions when she'd been Rose's age. Sometimes she still felt that way when she and Ron went out. She was short and curvy and Rose had inherited her build.

"Rose, I don't want to hear you say that. You're a beautiful young woman and any man would be lucky to have you."

Rose blew a stray curl out her eyes. "I kissed him."

Hermione's eyes widened. "What? When?"

"The last night before we left for the train," Rose admitted, blushing. "We were arguing about something, I don't know, and he just wouldn't shut up so I grabbed his tie and I… it was stupid."

Hermione's lips twitched. "Did David kiss you back?"

Rose's answering blush made Hermione smile. "It was just a snog, Mum. By the time I get back to Hogwarts, he'll have forgotten all about it."

The sound of Ron coming home had her daughter turning to greet him and Hermione kept smiling to herself. She had a feeling that this snog wasn't something to toss under the rug and she wondered how long it would take for the two of them to snog again. Despite what her daughter was saying, Hermione heard the words she wasn't.

She liked David and she liked kissing him and she was afraid of how much she liked it.

Hermione couldn't wait to see what happened next.

~ KE: Romione II ~

June 2023…

The last thing that Ron expected when he arrived at King's Cross station to pick up his kids from school was to find his eldest with her arms locked around a boy's neck and her mouth pressed against his. He scowled immediately and Hugo snorted.

"Told you. You owe me a galleon!"

"How do you know that Dad's having an aneurism?" Granger complained. "I'm going to need more proof."

"Shut it," Ron growled. "And tell me who that is."

Hugo grinned. "Ah, that's Rose's boyfriend. You know him, Dad. It's David Goldstein. They've been sucking face non stop for like two months. They might snog more than Uncle Harry and Auntie Ginny."

"Goldstein!" Ron bellowed.

The boy in question didn't move. Instead he pulled Rose closer and had the nerve to put his hands on her arse. Ron saw red. He marched over, crossing his arms in front of him.

"Oi!"

Rose reluctantly pulled away, turning to give her father a big smile. "Hi, Daddy."

"Don't you 'hi daddy' me, Rose Jean," Ron said. "And you! Don't you have enough respect to keep your hands to yourself?"

Goldstein shrugged. "I'm spending my summer out of England and I wanted to tell Rose how much I'm going to miss her."

"That's what words are for," Ron snarled.

Rose placed a hand on her boyfriend's chest. "Sorry, David. My dad's a bit much. Dad, stop overreacting! I'm seventeen years old. I'm allowed to have a boyfriend."

Ron's scowl only deepened. "Not him, Rose."

Rose ignored him and stood on her toes to kiss David once more. "You'll mirror-call me?"

"Every day," he promised.

Rose patted his cheek before she handed her father her trunk. "All right, we can go."

"Rose Jean Weasley!" Ron exclaimed, his long legs catching up to his daughter in seconds. "You cannot date that boy!"

"And why not?" Rose demanded, spinning around and pinning him with a look that reminded him so much of Hermione that he blanched.

"Because-because he's a bloody Goldstein!"

"Weasley!"

Ron turned, the scowl still on his face as he came face-to-face with Anthony Goldstein. His blond hair had bits of grey in it and Ron had to admit, the man had aged fairly well. "Goldstein."

"I see you've heard the news. Why, when David told me it was your Rose that he was head over heels for, I wasn't surprised," Anthony said with a laugh. "If she's anything like her mother, I see the appeal."

Ron scowled. "Listen, we have to go."

"Of course," Anthony said. "We'll chat more later. We'll have to get the families together and catch up."

Ron only nodded and when Anthony walked away, he scowled under his breath again. "Fucking Goldstein."

Hugo laughed. "Dad, you should see your face right now! What did that bloke even do?"

"Let's go home. Your mum's waiting."

When they stepped foot into their home in Cambridge, the kids immediately found Hermione to hug and kiss her. Ron followed, pulling his wife back against him and kissing her ear.

"Ron, Rose says that you embarrassed her in front of her boyfriend? I hope that's not true."

"She's dating Goldstein's spawn, Hermione."

Hermione laughed. "His spawn? Really, Ron? I really don't understand this animosity you have towards Tony."

He scowled again. "Guy's a prick."

Hermione shook her head in exasperation. "He's never done anything to warrant your irrational hatred."

That wasn't completely untrue, but Ron wasn't going to admit it. Besides, he hadn't exactly gotten in his good graces either. Anthony and Mandy had married around the same time that Ron and Hermione had. He didn't know the details, but he did know that Anthony had visibly flirted with Hermione on more than one occasion and that he and Mandy had separated twice before finally divorcing ten years ago. The rumours were that he cheated, but Mandy had never outright claimed it. What he did know was that Eric was a much better husband for Mandy and a better father to her boys whom he reluctantly did like, unless they were kissing his only daughter.

"I don't want Rose to get hurt."

Hermione sighed and turned in her husband's arms. "I love you for that, but Rose gets to choose who she wants to date."

"She's only seventeen!"

"She'll be eighteen at the end of the summer," Hermione corrected. "She just finished her schooling. She's an adult. Stop being a bully."

"I'm not being a… she's my daughter."

"Yes," Hermione said. "So stop being an arse to her. You like David."

Ron grunted. "Fine. I mean, you did go out with McLaggen so I shouldn't complain."

Hermione rolled her eyes. "But won't you, Won Won?"

Ron growled and boxed her in against the kitchen counter. "I'm not complaining."

"Sure sounds like it."

"I'm stating a point."

"You know and like David."

"He's still Goldstein's son!"

"So what? Tony was only ever kind to me in school."

"Yeah, because he wanted to get into your knickers!"

"Ron!"

"Well, he did," Ron exclaimed.

"You love Eric and he's David's stepfather."

"Not the point," Ron grumbled. "He's still Goldstein's spawn."

Hermione rolled her eyes and threw her arms up in frustration. "There's no winning with you."

Instead of responding, he locked her arms behind her back and kissed her smartly. "You love me."

"I question my sanity daily."

He stole another kiss. "Fine, I'll be nicer to David next time I see him."

"That's all I ask," Hermione said.

Ron released her wrists and squeezed her arse just as Granger came into the kitchen for a snack.

"Ugh, really, Dad? So gross."

He grabbed a box of crackers from the cupboard and shoved a handful into his mouth.

"Dinner's almost ready," Hermione said.

"But I'm hungry now," Granger complained.

Ron moved away from his wife and took some of the crackers from his son. "Just a nibble before dinner. You know, like a pre-dinner."

Hermione rolled her eyes. "He's so your son."

Granger grinned and Ron ruffled his hair affectionately. "Yeah, yeah he is."

As the summer went on, Ron was extra annoyed when he found Rose talking to her boyfriend on the communication mirror almost daily. Apparently, Tony had taken his boys on a summer trip to Greece for three weeks and Rose missed her boyfriend.

When David returned to England, the first thing he did was show up in Cambridge with a bouquet of flowers and a charming smile.

"Hi, Ron," he said, brightly. "Is Rose here?"

Ron scowled. He wanted to insist that David call him Mr Weasley, but since Ron was godfather to David's half-sister and had more or less seen him around for almost a decade, there was no point. He reluctantly let him inside.

"How was Greece?"

"Hot," David said with a laugh. "But it was fun. I wish Rose could have came with, but I had a great time. Dad brought his new girlfriend which was less fun, but Josh, Ezra, and I did our own thing."

Ron nodded as he called up the stairs for Rose. His daughter came sprinting down the stairs, her red curls bouncing down her back and her warm brown eyes wide in excitement. She jumped into David's arms, who caught her with a laugh before he kissed her promptly on the mouth.

"I missed you," David murmured, kissing her again.

"I missed you more," Rose said.

Ron cleared his throat. "Let's not forget that there are other people in the house, Rosie."

Rose gave her father an annoyed look before she took David's hand. "Come on, let's go out into the garden and you can tell me everything about your trip."

David beamed at her and Ron shoved his hands into his pockets.

"What more does he have left to tell you? You talked every bloody day!"

Rose ignored him and led David outside and Granger appeared next to him, biting into an apple.

"Smooth, Dad."

"Shut it," Ron grumbled.

Granger snickered and headed back into the kitchen and Ron thought it was going to be a long summer.

With Rose graduated from Hogwarts, she was still trying to work out what she wanted to do with her life. She'd applied to the Lex Schola, but wasn't sure if that's really what she wanted. She was incredibly intelligent and driven like her mother and Ron knew that she would go far. It was why when she told him just before her eighteenth birthday that she decided to attend the Lex Schola after all and go from there, he was even more proud of her than ever.

She studied for two years and got her degree while getting engaged to David Goldstein six months after her eighteenth birthday. Ron tried to convince her to wait, telling her that they were still young and should wait and see what they wanted before getting married, but his daughter was as stubborn as her mother. Baxter had slapped his hand on Ron's back and grinned.

"Looks like we're going to be family, Weasley. Now you're never getting rid of me."

"Wish I could say the same about Tony," Ron muttered under his breath making Baxter laugh and Hermione scowl.

It was a few days later when Ron took Rose out to Serendipity Sweets and Blooms for Hannah's infamous hot cocoa and a fairy cake, that he really looked at his daughter. Sometimes it still surprised him how much she looked like Hermione. From her kind smile to her brilliant brain to her curly hair to how she carried herself. But her hair was Weasley red and she had his blue eyes and freckles and he saw so much of himself in her as well.

"Are you going to say anything or are you just going to stare at me, Dad?" Rose asked, taking a sip of her hot cocoa.

Ron chuckled as he leaned back in his seat. "Just admiring my beautiful daughter and wondering when the hell you grew up on me."

Rose blushed. "I know you think we're too young, but he makes me happy, Daddy."

"I know he does, Rosie."

"Didn't you know that you loved Mum when you were my age?"

"I knew I loved your mum when I was much younger than you."

"We're engaged, Daddy. We're going to get married next summer which will give us time to plan the wedding and to keep studying."

Ron nodded. "I know. I guess I'm just not ready to walk my baby girl down the aisle yet."

Rose's eyes softened. "David's a good man, Dad. You like him, don't you?"

The uncertainty in his daughter's eyes made Ron's heart clench. He knew if he told her he didn't, she might actually break off the engagement. Rose trusted him and his thoughts more than anyone and it warmed Ron's heart that she put him on such a pedestal while also worrying him that he would one day disappoint her.

"Your mum and I went to school with David's parents, Mandy and Tony. Mandy actually used to date Uncle Harry."

"Really? Weird," Rose said.

Ron chuckled. "Yeah, I suppose it is. It was before he realized he was madly in love with Auntie Ginny and before Mandy and Tony started dating. Tony was a nice bloke. He was smart and top of his class and everyone liked him. I always thought he was a bit full of himself but if I'm honest, I think I hated that he flirted with your mother."

Rose grinned. "Dad, were you jealous?"

"Shh, listen to me for a second," Ron said. "Fine, I was a little jealous. Goldstein was a lot smarter than me. He had top grades and he could talk to your mother about stuff that I couldn't because she's so bloody brilliant and even though I knew she loved me, I was always worried that she would turn around and look at me and realize I wasn't good enough for her."

"Dad…"

"I know it's illogical. I know your mother says the opposite and that I'm much too good for her, but that's not the point. The point it, I was jealous and over the years, even after he married Mandy, Goldstein kept flirting with your mum and it made me hate him. I know David is a good man, Rosie. He's brilliant like you and he makes you smile and happy and he's clearly head over heels for you," Ron replied. "I don't want you to get married, but that's not because I don't like David. You two are great together. You make each other happy and I know you'll be happy together, but I'm not ready to give you up just yet."

Rose's eyes softened. She moved around the table to throw her arms around him, snuggling her face into the crook his neck. "I'll always be your little girl, Daddy. Just because I've grown up and fallen in love doesn't mean you won't always be the most important man in my life."

Tears welled up in Ron's eyes and he blinked them away. "Well, I… fuck."

Rose chuckled against his neck. "I love him, Dad. We make each other happy and he looks at me like you look at mum… like he can't believe he's lucky enough to have me and that's all I've ever wanted, Dad. I wanted someone as great as you."

A tear snuck down Ron's cheek as he held his daughter tighter. "Well, that's hitting below the belt."

Rose grinned and kissed his cheek. "I want you to walk me down the aisle knowing that the man I'm marrying is someone you can trust."

"He is. I do," Ron admitted. "David's a great man. A lucky man. But if he hurts you, you tell me, Rose, and I will destroy him."

Rose laughed. "All right, Daddy."

Ron pulled her close again and kissed her temple. "I love you, baby girl."

"I love you too," Rose said before she swiped his fairy cake right off of his plate.

"Oi!"

"Too much sugar at your age should be monitored," Rose teased. "I'll take this off your hands."

"I'm only forty-four!"

Rose grinned as she took a big bite out of the cake, icing covering her lips. "And I'm trying to keep you around until you're hundred and four."

"Buy me another fairy cake or you're grounded."

Rose laughed in response and Ron stared at his daughter in absolute pride.

David decided to go into healing like his father, but with his focus on emergency healing. He wanted to work in the A & E and he studied hard to get his internship at St Mungo's. After finishing her schooling, Rose decided she wanted to be a praetor which meant that she had to work as an advocatus for a minimum of ten years before she could move up to apply to be a praetor. She was immediately hired by the Ministry of Magic's Department of Magical Law where she interned as a domestic advocatus. They were both interns in their budding careers when they married in the summer of 2025, but David and Rose were incredibly happy.

They rented a tiny studio flat in London almost right in the centre between St Mungo's and the Ministry of Magic and Ron cried as he walked his daughter down the aisle. Goldstein slapped Ron on the back after the ceremony, his third wife, a blonde who was fifteen years younger than him named Tanya, on his arm.

"Looks like we're officially family, Weasley."

Ron scowled. "Thank Merlin David takes after Mandy then."

"Oi!" Goldstein exclaimed.

When Ron held his wife close on the dance floor, he watched the happiness eluding from his daughter.

"You like him," Hermione said, kissing her husband's cheek.

"I don't dislike him," Ron admitted grudgingly.

Hermione smiled. "If you really didn't like him, Rose wouldn't be marrying him. She adores you, Ron."

Ron knew his wife was right about that and he had to admit, David was a great bloke. He was twenty-one and about to start his first year of residency at St Mungo's as an emergency healer. He was dedicated and intelligent and he looked at Rose like she hung the moon. It was more than Ron ever imagined for his little girl.

"I like him," Ron admitted. "As long as he treats her right, I'll keep liking him."

Ron watched as David's eighteen-year-old-brother Joshua hurried over to take a drink out of Tony's hand. "I'm thankful he takes after Mandy."

Hermione nodded. "I don't know the full story there, but from what Rose has let slip, Tony never fully dealt with losing his best friend in the Battle of Hogwarts. When Terry died, he just lost it. Rose said he was all right after a few years, but he never fully healed. He cheated on Mandy a lot. She tried to help him, but… I feel bad for him."

"His third wife is a child."

"Rose said that David is a bit embarrassed by him sometimes. But his father adores him and that shows," Hermione said. "Sometimes our mistakes cost us."

Ron knew that she was right and he did find a pang of sympathy for Tony at her words, but he still thought the man was a bloody prick. "Well, hopefully this Tanya makes him happier than the last one did."

Hermione kissed him in response.

When they sent Rose and David off, Ron held Hermione close to his side. "I can't believe our baby girl is married."

"Me neither," Hermione admitted. "Rose Goldstein now."

Ron wrinkled his nose. "That might take some getting used to."

"What might take some getting used to?" Harry asked, coming up to stand next to his friends. "The fact that your daughter's married or that she's married to Goldstein's spawn?"

"Harry, don't start," Hermione scolded.

Harry grinned. "We both know that it's what Ron's been thinking."

"I like David," Ron grumbled.

"So do I," Harry said. "He's a good kid with a good head on his shoulders. Rosie adores him. Besides, it could be worse."

"How could it be worse?" Ron demanded.

"At least she's not in love with a Malfoy."

Ron laughed. "That is worse, I agree."

"You two have to stop that," Hermione scolded. "Those boys are in love."

"I'm not opposed to it," Harry said. "I'm proud of Albus for being brave enough to tell us that he's gay, that's not the bloody point. The point is that he can do so much better than a bloody Malfoy. He should have better taste."

"I don't know, mate," Ron said. "My sister chose you so taste doesn't run in the family."

"Please," Harry said. "You would have chosen me yourself if you could."

"Fair," Ron said, making Hermione roll her eyes. "Hermione would never forgive me if I left her for you."

Harry snorted. "Prat."

Ron looked over to where Albus Potter and Scorpius Malfoy were chatting intimately in the corner at a table.

"They do look bloody happy though."

"I know," Harry sighed, a soft smile on his face. "And Scorpius is great. He's smart and kind and he doesn't take Alby's shit when he gets moody."

"Like father like son," Ron teased.

Harry shot up two fingers in response. "As I said, he's great. I just wish his father wasn't Draco Malfoy."

"It's hardly like you two are mortal enemies," Hermione said. "You even get along now."

"No," Harry corrected. "We tolerate each other because of our mutual love of Theo. I'd never invite him to pub night."

Ron snorted. "Like he'd come."

"What are we talking about over here?" Ginny asked, coming up and slipping under her husband's arm.

"Alby's boyfriend," Ron said.

Ginny gave her husband a look. "You like Scorpius, stop complaining that he's Draco's spawn."

Hermione shook her head. "Ron says the same thing about David. It's funny how some things never change."

Ginny urged Harry home. She'd brought Henry and Hunter home hours ago where Basil promised to keep an eye on them. "Come on, let's round up the kids and get home."

They said goodnight and Ron turned back to his wife. "Should we round up our boys and head home too?"

Hermione stood on her toes to kiss him before she nodded. "Yeah, let's go home."

~ KE: Romione II ~

September 2025…

Ron was scowling at the schedules that were laid out before him. He hated working on the schedules. They were time consuming and everyone seemed to need time off for some reason or another. He added in the appropriate time off as needed and then looked up at the knock on his door.

His nephew and godson stood there, a wide smile on his handsome face. James Potter was twenty-one and had just been promoted to an A2 in the Dark Arts Unit. He was good at his job and Ron knew that a lot of that had to do with the fact that he very much was his father's son.

"Hi, Uncle Ron, got a second?"

Ron gestured for him to come inside. "For you, always. Especially when I'm working on schedules."

James chuckled as he stepped inside. "I wanted to talk to you about this case that Baxter and I caught."

Ron nodded as James took a seat across from him. When Harry had been promoted to Deputy Head Auror of the Dark Arts Unit in 2011, Ron had been thrilled for his best mate. It gave Harry more responsibility and a chance to lead, while letting Ron still be his partner. Four years later, when Harry was promoted to Head Auror of the Dark Arts Unit, Ron had been surprised when his best mate asked him to take over as Deputy Head.

"I want someone I can trust, Ron. You've always been my number one."

Ron had asked to think about it and he and Hermione had spent hours discussing the pros and cons, but it had come down to the same thing — he wanted to be by Harry's side so he'd taken the promotion and the raise. Ten years later, he cursed his best mate's name daily for the added paperwork this job gave him, but he had to admit, he rather liked it.

"Baxter and I think one of the suspects has left the country," James said, dragging Ron out of his thoughts. "We're going to consult with the MIA about getting some help to find them."

"Good," Ron said. "You can trust Baxter. He's a smart man."

"I know," James said. "He's a brilliant partner. I'm learning loads from him. I like Higgins too, but I'm going to be disappointed to lose Baxter."

Ron frowned. "Why are you losing Baxter?"

James' eyes widened. "Oh, I mean, erm…"

"Jamie…" Ron growled.

"Gotta go! Lots to do! Nice talking to you, Uncle Ron. Bye!"

Ron watched his nephew jump out of his seat and run towards the door like his trousers were on fire. He closed the file on his desk and headed next door to see Harry. Anita, Harry's personal secretary told him that he was free, so he headed inside. He found his best mate with one hand in his hair, the other with a quill as he made notes.

"Got a second?"

Harry looked up, his eyes a little unfocused, a smudge of ink on his cheek. "Uh, yeah, of course, close the door."

Ron closed the door behind him and plopped down into the chair across from his best mate. "Jamie just came to see me. Their case might tie into the MIA."

"The one with that murder outside of St Mungo's?" Harry asked.

"That's the the one," Ron said. "He's a good Auror. He has instincts like his father."

Harry smiled at that. "It's not the first job I would have wished he'd taken, but I'm proud as hell of him. If he keeps it up, he'll be an A3 by the time he's twenty-two. Baxter's done a great job with him."

"Eric's a hell of an Auror," Ron agreed. "So, why is Jamie concerned he won't have him as his partner and mentor anymore?"

Harry winced. "Ah, I was hoping you wouldn't hear that until we had drinks later."

Ron gave him a look. "What's going on, mate? Where's Baxter going?"

"Here," Harry said. "I've asked him to apply for the position of Head Auror of the DAU and he got it."

Ron's eyes widened. "What?"

"I think he's the best man for the job," Harry said, leaning back in his chair. "He's smart, he's driven, and he knows how to lead a team. He's a great trainer and the two of you get along great. I know you don't want this seat, Ron, so I thought he would be a good fit."

Ron stared at his best mate for a full minute before he stood up. "Baxter's a great fit, but where the hell are you going?"

"Gawain's finally retiring," Harry said, making Ron turn and look at him. "I'm being promoted to Deputy Head Auror of the entire Department of Magical Law Enforcement."

"Bloody hell," Ron said. "Congratulations."

"Thanks," Harry said. "It's… going to be an adjustment, but working directly under Shacklebolt is going to be great. I can learn a lot from him. He's been department head for almost thirty years."

"Yeah," Ron said. "He's going to groom you to take his place."

"Ideally, yes," Harry admitted. "Rumour is that he wants to retire within the next year and if everything goes well, I'll move up to Head Auror."

"Blimey," Ron said, falling back into his seat. "Not seeing you every day is going to be weird."

Harry gave him a half smile. "Yeah, it will be. I'm not entirely ready to give up fieldwork, but now that Jamie's an Auror I need to step back. This is a good move and I know that Ginny's more comfortable with it, not that she'd admit it. It's time for me to take it."

"You've only turned it down consistently for the last five years," Ron teased.

Harry grinned. "I know, Robards has told me more than once that if he dies before he can retire because I won't take over, he's going to haunt me. It's time. But with Bax moving to Head Auror, Jamie will need a new partner. I was leaning towards Higgins or even Jackowski."

"Jay would be a good fit," Ron said. "He's patient and great at training. He would get Jamie to where he needs to be to write his A3 exam."

"True," Harry said. "All right, Jackowski it is."

"I want to talk about Winchester while I have you," Ron said. "Higgins' says he's doing brilliantly, but he thinks he should work under Sully for a bit to up his experience."

"That doesn't surprise me," Harry replied. "Rafe's a great Hit Wizard and Aphrodite is just as good in the MPU, their son's a natural. I'll talk to Natalie tomorrow and see if she's interested in taking on Cass."

"Good," Ron said. "Shit, Harry. I'm going to miss you."

Harry grinned at his friend. "We'll grab lunch regularly. It will be like I never left."

But Ron knew that wasn't true and he missed his best mate already.

~ KE: Romione II ~

August 2027…

Ron helped organize the picnic tables in the back garden of the Burrow for their weekly Sunday dinners with the Weasley clan. They rotated houses on a regular basis, but when it came to summer dinners, the Burrow was still the best and favourite place for everyone to meet.

Ever since Teddy and Victoire had taken over the Burrow five years ago, they'd done a lot to fix the place up. The house had a fresh coat of paint, the chicken coop was fixed up, and all of the windows were given bright blue shutters. It looked different and yet felt very much the same.

The little cottage they'd built near the orchard where Molly lived with her beau, Roy Henderson, was white with a black roof and black shutters and Ron knew that his mother was incredibly happy there. Ron kissed Victoire's cheek when she came down the stairs with her youngest son Kingston in her arms. King had been born in April and at four months old was already starting to look more and more like his father. Charlotte, whom they called Charlie, came running down after her mother. She spotted Ron and beamed.

Ron picked up the little girl with a smile and kissed her cheek. Sometimes he still couldn't believe that he was a great-uncle. "Hi, Charlie girl, how are things?"

Charlotte had just turned three and was the apple of her father's eye, until Bill came into the room. She adored him completely. The moment Bill stepped into the kitchen, Charlotte wiggled out of Ron's arms and ran towards her Grandpa in glee. Bill threw her up into the air as she giggled and kissed her cheeks.

Their oldest son, Liam, was five. He was already playing outside with his cousins.

"Thanks for helping set up, Uncle Ron," Victoire said, kissing her uncle's cheek. "With three little ones, time just escapes us."

Ron chuckled. "I remember that well enough on my own. Here, let me take King from you."

Victoire passed him her son gratefully and Ron carried him outside to where the rest of the family was already gathered. Everyone showed up with food and it took no time at all for the tables to be groaning under dishes of food as everyone sat around the tables and chatted and caught up.

Ron looked around with a smile after passing King to Harry. Kingston Harry Lupin gave Harry a big smile as he held him and Harry kissed his cheek. Ron took in everyone else around him in awe, still shocked at how big their families had gotten.

Bill and Fleur were sitting at one end of the table chatting to their daughter Dominique who was twenty-five and an accomplished contemporary romance author now. Her long strawberry hair was tucked behind her ear, her fringe artfully tousled just over her bright blue eyes. Louis was twenty and his bright blond hair was spiked with gel and he had red stubble on his cheeks which amused Ron as the red was such a contrast to his bright blond hair. Louis was working for Gringotts like his parents, but he'd transferred over to the Paris branch a few months ago. He worked as vault designer for the bank which Ron thought was a pretty neat job as it involved building, strategical designs, and curse-breaking skills. It was rare that he made it home for these dinners so Ron knew that his brother must be pleased to see his son. Tristian, a head of blonde curls that were almost down to his chin, worse his royal blue glasses low on his nose. He was eighteen and had just finished Hogwarts that year. He was starting at the Ministry of Magic in next month in the Department of Magical Equipment Control under the umbrella of the Department of Magical Accidents and Catastrophes.

Teddy was sitting next to his godfather, Harry, as he tried to urge his five-year-old-son Liam to eat something that wasn't chips with gravy and Harry bounced King in his lap while Charlotte sat next to Victoire, munching happily on roasted chicken.

Charlie and Lee were sitting on the opposite side of the table. Charlie was holding their newest grandson, Jackson Sirius, who would be one in October while Lee held Jordan Arthur on his lap. Jordan was three and beaming at his grandfather as Lee gave him more chips and gravy. Bram Charles was five and itching to finish his dinner so that he and Liam could go play. Colten Raleigh was seven and was currently talking his father's ear off about something or another as Aydin rested her cheek against her husband Leo's shoulder. Ron couldn't believe his brother had four grandsons sometimes. He watched Lee peck Charlie's cheek and the look of love on his brother's face made Ron smile. He was glad that Charlie had found Lee, they worked well together.

Even if he'd lost the bet against them all those years ago because of their sheer stubbornness.

Percy and Audrey were sitting next to Aydin and Leo. Molly Anna was twenty-six and Ron thought Percy had said she was somewhere in Peru at the moment so she wasn't in attendance, but their daughter Lucy was twenty-one and present. She was talking to Aydin about working in a restaurant in London and how much she was looking forward to opening her own place. She was saving diligently, determined to have her own place before she was twenty-five. Lucy was an incredible cook and had spent the last three years training in culinary school.

Fred and Fiadh were whispering to each other as Fiadh bounced their grandson Mack on her lap. He was two and he had rolls for arms and legs and was completely adorable. He was the son of Finley and Bennett Belby and a very handsome lad. Bennett was smiling fondly at him. Felicity was holding onto their youngest son Keagan who had just turned two while their five year-old-daughter Kyra was bouncing in her father Killian's, lap. Finley and Felicity were already twenty-nine years old.

Forest, who was twenty-five, was resting her head against her new husband's shoulder. Gabriel Goyle was smiling at her as he offered her food from his plate and she was staring adoringly into his eyes. They'd just announced that they were expecting in February or March and Ron thought it was incredible that three out of Fred's kids were married already. Fox was twenty-three and talking about his job in the Auror's Inquisitors Unit where he worked as a Potioneer.

George and Angelina were laughing at something their son Gideon was telling them. Gideon was twenty-one and working for Angelina at Weasleys' PR. He loved his job and had been dating Ava, the daughter of Neville and Hannah Longbottom, for the last year and a half. She had Hannah's long blonde hair and blue eyes and she had a warm smile on her face as she showed off her brand new engagement ring. Roxie was twenty and working in the Office for the Detection of Counterfeit Defensive Spells and Protective Objects. She was loving her job and Ron knew that she was bloody good at it.

Asher was teasing his brother Knox about something that had the two of them howling. Asher would be eighteen in November and was starting his last year at Hogwarts in a few weeks. Knox was fifteen and would be going into his fifth year.

Rose was sitting close with David, who Ron still couldn't believe had been her husband for two years. They were grinning at each other as Hugo rolled his eyes from next to them. Hugo had just turned twenty and was working in a coffee shop in Apricity Lane. He was still trying to work out what he wanted to do, but he'd hinted that he was interested in maybe opening his own coffee shop or maybe even a book shop. Ron thought he definitely had the head for business and he couldn't wait to see what his son ended up deciding to do. Granger was sixteen and would be starting his sixth year at Hogwarts. Granger was Quidditch obsessed and an incredible Keeper. He'd been playing for Gryffindor since he was a second year and Ron knew that he had dreams of playing professionally one day like his aunts had. Angelina had already hinted to Ron that scouts were already looking at Granger. Ron really hoped his son's dreams came true on that end. Granger was currently talking his Auntie Ginny's ear off about Quidditch.

Harry was talking to his eldest son James, who was twenty-three, and had his arm around his girlfriend, Hadley Pritchard. Hadley worked as a fashion designer in the popular shop Vane Fashion in Diagon Alley that was owned and operated by Romilda Vane. They were a year apart and in different houses so they'd never really met until after they'd both left school. Now, they were newly engaged and set to marry in two years. Hadley had reddish blonde hair and big blue eyes and she and Jamie made a striking couple. Albus, who was twenty-one, was chatting with his boyfriend, Scorpius Malfoy. Albus had decided to go into Potions, but unlike Fox, voted against working for the Ministry of Magic. Instead he was working at the Potter Potion Warehouse in Liverpool as a Potioneer Creator. He was very intelligent and obviously had inherited Fleamont's potion skills because according to Harry, Albus had already helped improve upon two healing potions. It was the perfect career for his moody, surly nephew who got to work alone and away from people most of the time. Scorpius went a different route and was working as a teacher at Little Hogwarts. He taught the four and five year-olds and loved every second of it. The two of them had recently moved into a flat together and were incredibly happy.

Lily Luna Potter was going to be twenty in November and she'd shocked everyone by announcing her engagement a week ago to Oakley Wood, the eldest son of Oliver and Katie Wood. She was already planning her wedding for the next summer and Harry was beside himself at the thought of his little girl being the first of his kids to get married. Lily was the spitting image of Ginny with her long bright red hair and her dark brown eyes. She wore black circular frames over her eyes as she held Oakley's hand with a smile. Lily worked at the broomstick factory in Manchester on creating the perfect broom. She had a strong background in charms and transfiguration and had been hired straight out of Hogwarts. She was full of ideas on creating the perfect new model of the next big flying broom and Ron knew that she would do it. Oakley looked exactly like his father from the thick dark brown hair to his warm brown eyes and he took after Oliver in more ways than one — he loved Quidditch. But unlike Oliver, Oakley had no desire to play the sport, instead he wanted to coach. To Ron's surprise, he'd become one of the youngest assistant Quidditch coaches in the League in over three hundred years when he was hired to help out the Chudley Cannons. This was going to be his first season as Assistant Coach.

Ron was thrilled.

The Cannons had been a joke in the league for over fifty years, maybe longer. They'd been run by the same coach since the fifties and Ron thought that Oakley was exactly the kind of bloke to go in there and shake things up. He had his fingers crossed that he could do it as he desperately wanted to see his favourite team win a match for once.

Cedrella Potter or Ella as she was called, was seventeen and entering her sixth year at Hogwarts along with her twin brother Everett. Evie would be entering her fifth. Harry and Ginny's youngest and surprise late babies, Henry and Hunter, had just turned seven last month and were currently running wild in the garden, their laughter joining the other kids.

Ron shook his head, sometimes the largeness of his family still shocked him.

It was why when Rose stood up, her hand in her husband's, did he already know what was coming when she smiled at everyone.

"We're pregnant," she announced as everyone cheered.

Harry nudged Ron's elbow. "You're going to be a grandpa, old man."

Ron stuck his tongue out at his best mate. "You're not far off, mate with two kids engaged."

"Not as close as you," Harry teased.

When they went home that night, Ron put his arms around his wife. "We're going to be grandparents."

Hermione nodded, tears in her eyes. "I can't believe our baby is going to have a baby."

"Me neither," Ron whispered. "But she's going to be a great mum."

Hermione snuggled into her husband's embrace and Ron thought life continued to surprise him.

~ KE: Romione II ~

September 2028…

Ron walked into …And A Bottle of Rum, the pub that had become their meeting place for the last two decades, and caught sight of Neville sitting in the back booth by himself. He slid into the booth next to his friend and grinned.

"Hey, mate. How are things?"

"Good," Neville said. "You?"

"Well, my daughter married a Goldstein."

Neville chuckled. "I know. I was at the wedding and it was three years ago. You have to let it go, mate."

Ron grinned. "I'm still in shock. I mean, David's a nice bloke, but still…"

Neville gave his friend an amused look. "And how's being a grandpa?"

Ron's face lit up. He still couldn't believe that he was actually a grandfather, but his little Rose had given him his first grandson on the fourth of August whom they named Baxter Ronald Goldstein. They were calling him Bax for short.

"Kind of brilliant. I mean, I'm way too young, obviously, but Bax is perfect and they named him after me and Eric which is only further proof that Anthony Goldstein is a dickwad."

"Can't argue with that logic," Neville said. "Jake's engaged."

"What?" Ron exclaimed in surprise. "Since when?"

"He told Hannah and I last night," Neville said. "To Norah. He's head over heels for her and the babe."

"Bloody hell! You're going to be a grandpa."

"I know," Neville said with a chuckle. "I'm still a bit shocked as well. Hannah and I love little Deanna, of course. I mean, Jake's been in love with Norah since before she gave birth to that angel, but I'm still surprised he's decided to marry her. Well, no, not surprised, just… it's sooner than I imagined it would be."

"Are you telling Ron the news?" Seamus asked, sliding into the booth on the other side of Neville. "His son is marrying our niece!"

"Norah's completely smitten," Dean said. "Jake's her world and the fact that he loves Deanna… makes us love him even more."

Neville smiled with pride. Ron knew that Neville was excited for his son to get married, but it did mean that both of Neville's kids were set to marry. Ava was newly engaged as well to George and Angelina's eldest son, Gideon. They were planning on marrying next year. If Jake and Norah were planning to marry soon as well, well, Ron knew that meant a lot of work for Neville and Hannah in the next few years.

Neville and Hannah had been married for over twenty years and were successful owners of Serendipity Sweets and Blooms. Neville was known as a skilled Herbologist who not only took on students, but created his own plants and flowers. He was well known in the world of Herbology and extremely skilled at what he did. Hannah was still the most incredible baker and the only person who ever came close to baking as well as Hannah Longbottom was her son, Jake.

Jacob Longbottom had inherited his mother's skill in the kitchen. He had his mother's bright blond hair and blue eyes that he wore just long and shaggy enough to hang over his ears. He was tall, with strong arms and hands from kneading dough, and lean with a soft belly and chubby cheeks. Ron had heard his wife call him adorable on more than one occasion. At twenty-one, he had settled into his job as master baker and apparently was known for talking to his dough. He loved baking and everything that came with it.

Neville's daughter Ava was twenty and followed in her father's footsteps, but was more interested in the retail side of Herbology. She loved everything about selling flowers from guessing what blooms fit each customer to finding the perfect fit. She had her mother's long blonde hair and blue eyes as well, but her tall, lean figure reminded Ron strongly of Augusta Longbottom. She and Gideon made a striking couple and Ron thought they complimented each other very well.

Neville and Hannah were incredibly happy and despite a few rocky occurrences over the years thanks to Caroline Abbott trying to butt her nose in where she didn't belong, they made it work.

Ron grinned at his friends. "Now you guys will share a grandchild."

"We're not grandparents," Dean corrected. "We're uncles."

"Great uncles," Seamus said.

Dean grimaced. "That makes us sound old. Let's just stick with uncles."

"Well, I am a grandpa," Greg said, smiling as he slid into the booth next to Dean. "And trust me, it makes me feel old, but it's brilliant."

Ron smiled at Greg. It was hard to believe that Greg was a grandfather many times over, but he was. His eldest son Grayson had married Mina Black over ten years ago. They had four children together.

"Zelena is going to be nine in December," Greg continued. "Pansy and I can't even believe it. She came over last week and told us that Padpa let her ride his motorbike, I thought Pansy was going to keel over. Apparently, Sirius took Zelena, Ariel, and Helia for a ride around the house on his motorbike. The girls loved it."

"Not Orion?" Ron asked, thinking of their youngest and only grandson.

Greg shook his head. "Nah, he's only just turned three and apparently is too young for that adventure. They definitely have their hands full. Gabe and Forest were over this afternoon for tea as well and they brought little Briar."

Briar was their newest granddaughter who had been born in March and was not only the granddaughter of Greg and Pansy, but also of Fred and Fiadh. It was mind boggling to Ron how quickly all of their families had intertwined. Not only had Greg's eldest son married Sirius and Zee's daughter, but his son Gabriel had married Fred's daughter Forest. Now Neville's son was engaged to the niece of Seamus and Dean and his daughter was engaged to the son of George and Angelina… it was interesting.

Harry and Theo arrived together, Harry apologizing as apparently Henry and Hunter had been causing a ruckus when he left. Ron shook his head, that was another thing. Here they were talking about grandchildren and his best mate had gone and had more kids at the age of forty.

Theo laughed. "Better you than me, lover. Bas and I are rather enjoying all of the kids being off at Hogwarts. We can have sex all over the house again."

Ron snorted. "Yeah that sounds like you two."

"You're just jealous because Bas loves my arse so much."

Ron shrugged. "Well, second rate is more his style."

"Oi!"

Seamus snorted. "I'm glad to see that some things haven't changed."

They talked about work and their kids. Seamus and Dean told them that they were both thrilled and sad for Norah and Deanna to move out once she and Jake married and Harry spoke about Jamie being an Auror to his upcoming wedding next year.

"Lily's wedding was beautiful," Seamus said. "She looked even more beautiful than Ginny did when she married you."

Harry's face lit up. "Merlin, she did. I cried like a baby walking her up that aisle, but fuck if Oak isn't a good bloke, you know? I can't believe my baby girl's married."

"Just wait until you're a grandpa," Ron said. "It's mind boggling."

"I have two eight-year-old-boys, Ron; grandkids are a ways off yet."

Seamus snorted. "Bet you ten Galleons you're a grandpa before Henry and Hunter go off to Hogwarts."

"Bite your tongue," Harry said. "I'm not ready for that."

Dean grinned. "I'll take that bet."

Greg chuckled. "Harry might regret that. Gavin came over last night and introduced us to his boyfriend as well."

"Boyfriend?" Dean said, lifting an eyebrow.

Greg nodded. "Surprised us too. Gavin's never said anything about his sexuality, but apparently he's pan and demi. I'm still learning the terminology, but he's happy."

"Who's the boyfriend?" Neville asked.

"Kai Tommasi. He works for Ginny at the magazine," Greg said.

"Kai… wait, isn't he the one who wears all that makeup?" Ron demanded. "Bloody hell, he was the one with Stevens."

Harry nodded and Ron knew his friend was thinking the same thing he was. Four weeks ago, Harry had been called to Chasing the Quaffle by his wife to find Kai all beat up and Gavin Goyle telling him that Kai's ex-boyfriend had run off after Gavin broke his nose.

It had taken some time for Harry to coax the story out of Kai. It turned out that Trent had been abusing his boyfriend for months and when Kai had gone to the DMLE for help, Trent's father, Thomas Stevens, took over the case and declared Kai to be a liar. It had been a huge issue and Harry had not only fired Stevens personally, but charged him with falsifying evidence. Thomas Stevens had gone to Azkaban and his son Trent was also sent to the crypt for assault.

Kai was one of the sweetest young men that Ron had ever met. He was tall and willowy. He wore his black hair swept back from his face in perfect spikes, closely shaved on the sides, and always wore sharply drawn black eyeliner and ruby red lips. Sometimes he even wore glitter on his lids or did something to his eyes to make them look sultry. Hermione had said more than once that Kai had better makeup skills than her. He was a beautiful man and Ron thought if anyone deserved to find happiness after what he went through, it was Kai.

"Yeah," Greg said, pulling Ron out of his memory. "Gavin stares at him like he's a well of water and he's dying of thirst. I've never seen my son so happy."

Ron thought Gavin and Kai were definitely not the couple he would have imagined, especially since Gavin was built like his father down to his love of working out. All of Greg's boys had muscles bigger than Ron's head and all of them were gentle giants like their father. Except for Grant. The youngest Goyle was scrawny and short and his brothers teased him constantly about it.

"That's great, Greg," Dean said, reaching out to touch the big man's arm. "If you have any questions about any of it, you can always come talk to Seamus and I anytime. I'm still not comfortable choosing a label for myself so I've done a lot of research on them."

"I thought you settled on Seamus-sexual?" Seamus teased, wiggling his eyebrows.

Dean rolled his eyes. "Yes, but it's not a real term."

"How dare you! I'm a catch," Seamus insisted.

Harry chuckled. "I think Dean deserves a medal for putting up with you."

"Thank you, Harry."

"Oi!"

They all laughed at that before Ron wrinkled his nose.

"What are Grant and Giselle up to?" Seamus asked.

"Grant's my only son not interested in construction," Greg admitted. "He's brilliant and is fascinated by history. He's been hired on by the Department of Education as a magihistorian and is working on the history of the twentieth century. As for Giselle, she's working at Fabulous."

"Bet Pansy loves that," Ron said. "Chooses a different store."

"Well, Fabulous doesn't have lingerie which according to Giselle is embarrassing for her mother to sell. I try not to get involved," he admitted.

Seamus laughed. "Wise choice, mate."

Ron wasn't sure where the time went but he knew that sometimes he still felt like he was fifteen again, sitting in his dorm, sneaking Irish whisky from Seamus' trunk and playing 'Would You Rather?'

It was hard to believe time had changed so much.

When he got home that night, he told Hermione about Jake and Norah and updated her on Greg's grandkids; filled her in on any other news before he sat on the sofa, his wife curled into his side.

"I can't even imagine having five grandkids at our age," Ron admitted.

"Well better get used to it," Hermione teased. "Rose has already said she and David want at least two kids. Bax is hopefully only our first one."

Ron grimaced. "I don't know if I'm ready for that. I mean, Granger's only starting his last year at Hogwarts now."

Hermione chuckled. "I know. God, where did the time go that our baby is seventeen!"

"I still can't believe that Rosie married Goldstein's spawn."

"He's our son-in-law now, you have to stop calling him that."

Ron winked. "I'll think about it."

He leaned in to kiss his wife as the front door opened and Hugo stuck his head in the doorway. "Ugh, gross. Parents shouldn't snog."

"Kids should be more polite," Ron retorted.

Hugo, who was twenty-one and looked very much like his father despite having a shaggy head of bright red curls, adjusted the dark glasses over his freckled nose. "Whatever. I'm grabbing a snack and heading out. Don't wait up."

Hermione sighed as she watched her son stomp off. "Sometimes, I swear it was just yesterday that he was a cute little baby."

Ron snorted. "I know. I feel the same. Now we're grandparents."

Hermione smiled and kissed Ron's cheek. "I love you, Ron."

Ron turned her face towards his to kiss her soundly. "Me too."

Then he pulled his wife close, a smile on his lips.

~ KE: Romione II ~

January 2029…

Ron grabbed his communication mirror out from under the pile of paperwork it was sitting on, cursing his lack of organizational skills as he did. He pulled it out and swiped his thumb over it to open it and beamed at the sight of his youngest son. While Hugo and Rose looked more like him, Granger looked very much like Hermione. He had the same curly brown hair, worn a bit shaggier and longer than Hugo and bright blue eyes. His cheeks and nose had a smattering of freckles, but right now his wide mouth was smiling in excitement.

"Dad! You took forever to answer!"

"It was buried on my desk," Ron told him. "What's going on?"

Granger bit his bottom lip, his eyes twinkling. "Auntie Angelina just sent word… Dad, I've got a tryout for the PQTC. First round is in a few weeks."

"Blimey!" Ron exclaimed, his own eyes widening. "Granger, that's fucking brilliant!"

"I'm so excited, Dad," Granger admitted. "I want this so much! I know I can show them how skillful I am on the pitch."

"Absolutely," Ron told him. "You can do this. You'll be ready!"

Granger immediately started telling him all about the training that he was doing, running around the pitch and his drills with his broom. Ron beamed with pride the whole time and when he closed the mirror, he couldn't keep the smile off of his face. His son had a tryout for the PQTC, he couldn't be prouder.

Not only did Granger nail the first tryout a few weeks later, but he kept it up and when his cousin Gideon offered to sign him on as his agent, Ron and Hermione both squealed in delight.

"Our son's going to play professional Quidditch!" Ron exclaimed, his eyes wide. "I can't believe it!"

Hermione smiled. "Whatever team he decides to sign with, we will be ready to cheer them on."

"Agreed," Ron said.

When June came and they picked up Granger for the last time from the Hogwarts' Express, their son threw his arms around both of them. Granger, who had inherited Ron's height, had to bend down to hug his mother. He kissed her cheek and then grabbed Ron's arm.

"Dad… I signed with the Cannons."

Ron stared at his son for a full minute with his mouth gaping open. "You… what?"

"I signed with the Cannons," Granger repeated. "Coach Wood came to see me at Hogwarts in the last game. He told me how he's been working on turning the team around and how now that the old coach has finally retired, he's bringing in new blood and the whole team's getting revamped, Dad, and he wants me on it."

Ron pulled Granger close and kissed the side of his head. "My boy… Chudley! I'm so fucking proud of you!"

"We're both so proud of you," Hermione said, lifting Ron's arm to sneak into the hug. "There's no need to add the f-word to it."

Granger snorted. "It makes the statement more powerful, Mum."

Hermione gave him a look. "No swearing, Granger. I don't care if you're eighteen now."

Granger kissed her cheek. "Come on, let's go home. I can't wait to tell you what the Cannons are offering me."

Ron grinned as he watched his son wrap his arm around Hermione and steer her off and thought his son was going to play professional Quidditch for his favourite team. He couldn't believe it.

He couldn't wait to tell everyone.

Granger signing with the Chudley Cannons as a Keeper was an exciting concept. The first year was rocky and the team didn't improve right away, but for the first time in decades, the Cannons didn't come in dead last in the League. With Oakley Wood as their coach, the team steadily improved and during Granger's third season, the Chudley Cannons made the playoffs for the first time in over a hundred years. Ron screamed his pride so loudly that he lost his voice and Hermione was right alongside of him.

Rose and David gave them a granddaughter the same year that the Cannons went to the playoffs, a little girl whom they named Amanda Rose. Bax was three and half by then and not at all impressed by his new little sister.

Granger met his wife Ramona during a team celebration in 2031 and fell hard, being the next of Ron and Hermione's children to get married. Ramona Warrington worked as a manager of the Leaky Cauldron in Diagon Alley which her her parents had taken over two decades earlier. She wasn't impressed with all of the Quidditch players' shenanigans and kicked them out of the pub one night. Granger was smitten with her and the fact that she wanted nothing to do with him, made him even more so. Ron thought Ramona was exactly the type of woman Granger needed to keep him on his toes. They married in 2035 and gave them two grandsons, Payne Cassius and Orson Ronald and then one granddaughter, Selena Jean.

Hugo, who had been working at Café Book in Apricity Lane, ended up becoming the manager of the place. When he told them that he was opening up his own café and bookshop in Hogsmeade, Ron was proud of him. Hugo had a great head for business and knew exactly the market to cater to. He opened shop in 2033 right in the middle of Hogsmeade and called it The Book Bar. It was a bookstore and a café where people could shop and drink. He had board games for them to play when they came in and served an assortment of different beverages and sweets. He fell in love with a pretty brunette named Kenna Brown who turned out to be the daughter of Zee's cousin Ian. Kenna was a firefighter in the fire broomgade with a big laugh. She was tall and willowy and a ball of sunshine to counteract Hugo's moodiness. They married in 2042 and gave Ron and Hermione two granddaughters: Catherine Kenna and Pippa Madelyn.

The day Selena was born in June of 2048, Granger helped the Chudley Cannons win the Quidditch Cup for the sixth time in twenty years and Ron cried.

"You have a new granddaughter today and those tears are for the match, aren't they?" Hermione demanded, giving her husband an annoyed look.

Ron wrapped his arms around his wife who was holding Selena. "I love you, Hermione Granger-Weasley."

Hermione chuckled and passed her husband his granddaughter. "I love you too, but you're still a tosser."

He grinned and thought life had turned out pretty good.

---

End Author's Notes:

Here are the family trees mentioned in this chapter:

Mandy Brocklehurst m. Anthony Goldstein (2003) (div. 2012) m. Eric Baxter (2018)
1. David Anthony Goldstein (18 May 2005) m. Rose Weasley (2025)
a) Baxter "Bax" Ronald Goldstein (4 August 2028)
b) Amanda Rose Goldstein (25 April 2031)
2. Joshua Goldstein (17 April 2007)
3. Ezra Goldstein (1 June 2010)
4. Katerina Baxter (7 March 2015)

Bill Weasley m. Fleur Delacour (1997):
1. Victoire Gabrielle Weasley (2 May 1999) m. Teddy Lupin (2020)
a) Liam Remus Lupin (6 February 2022)
b) Charlotte "Charlie" Dora Lupin (9 June 2024)
c) Kingston Harry Lupin (17 April 2027)
2. Dominique Rose Weasley (16 March 2002)
3. Louis William Weasley (9 March 2007)
4. Tristian Rainier Weasley (12 July 2009)

Charlie Weasley bf. Lee Jordan (officially since end of 2010):
1. Aydin Dora Weasley (1 December 1996) m. Leo Black (2019)
a) Colten Raleigh Black (4 March 2020)
b) Bram Charles Black (27 August 2022)
c) Jordan Arthur Black (6 February 2024)
d) Jackson Sirius Black (22 October 2026)

Percy Weasley m. Audrey Mayfair (2000):
1. Molly Anna Weasley (30 October 2001)
2. Lucy Louisa "Lucy Loo" Weasley (7 January 2006)

Fred Weasley m. Fiadh Alexander (2010):
1. Finley Artha Weasley (16 October 1998) m. Bennett Belby (2022)
a) Mackenzie "Mack" Bennett Belby (1 June 2025)
b) Brogan Alexander Belby (7 May 2028)
2. Felicity Ciara Weasley (16 October 1998) m. Killian McCoy (2020)
a) Kyra Finley McCoy (7 May 2022)
b) Keagan Frederick McCoy (1 June 2025)
3. Forest Georgina Weasley (7 February 2002) m. Gabriel Goyle (2026)
a) Briar Fiadh Goyle (2 March 2028)
4. Fox Fabian Weasley (9 August 2004)

George Weasley m. Angelina Johnson (1999):
1. Gideon Aaron Weasley (19 August 2004) eng. Ava Longbottom
2. Roxanne "Roxie" Angelica Weasley (4 September 2007)
3. Asher Lee Weasley (17 November 2009)
4. Knox Logan Weasley (21 January 2012)

Ron Weasley m. Hermione Granger (2003)
1. Rose Jean Weasley (31 August 2005) m. David Goldstein (2025)
a) Baxter "Bax" Ronald Goldstein (4 August 2028)
b) Amanda Rose Goldstein (25 April 2031)
2. Hugo Harry Weasley (13 July 2007) m. Kenna Brown (2042)
a) Catherine Kenna Weasley (17 May 2044)
b) Pippa Madelyn Weasley (22 July 2046)
3. Granger Weasley (1 March 2011) m. Ramona Warrington (2035)
a) Payne Cassius Weasley (13 September 2039)
b) Orson Ronald Weasley (25 March 2044)
c) Selena Jean Weasley (29 June 2048)

Harry Potter m. Ginevra Weasley (2000):
1. James "Jamie" Sirius Potter (5 April 2004) gf. Hadley Pritchard
2. Albus "Alby" Fleamont Potter (1 June 2006) bf Scorpius Malfoy
3. Lily Luna Potter (3 November 2007) eng. Oakley Wood
4. Cedrella "Ella" Theodora Potter (21 October 2010)
5. Everett Arthur Potter (21 October 2010)
6. Genevieve "Evie" Zahira Potter (9 May 2012)
7. Henry Remus Potter (31 July 2020)
8. Hunter Colten Potter (31 July 2020)

Mina Black m. Grayson Goyle (2017):
1. Zelena Minerva Goyle (26 December 2019)
2. Ariel Sorcha Goyle (3 April, 2021)
3. Helia Marguerite Goyle (14 February 2023)
4. Orion Sirius Goyle (6 September 2025)

Neville Longbottom m. Hannah Abbott (2002):
1. Jacob "Jake" Franklin Longbottom (21 January 2007) eng. Norah Finnigan
a) Deanna Shay Finnigan (31 January 2026)
2. Ava Alice Longbottom (1 July 2008) eng. Gideon Weasley

Patrick Finnigan m. Maureen O'Connolly (1965):
1. Kathleen "Katie" Finnigan (1967) m. Jason White (1997)
a) Saoirse Kathleen White (4 January 1998)
2. Darcy Finnigan (1974) m. Penelope Clearwater (2008)
a) Norah Shay Finnigan (7 September 2005) — father is Jonathan Pepper — eng Jake Longbottom
aa) Deanna Shay Finnigan (31 January 2026) — father is Edward Crabbe
3. Seamus Finnigan (1979) bf. Dean Thomas (1996)

Thank you for reading and please review!