One year later
Hermione and Aaron had been married in a small ceremony with all of Hermione's wizarding friends. All the Weasleys had been there, except for Percy, but it's not like Hermione had missed the third oldest Weasley's presence. Even Ron had been there, because he had apologized for what he said that at that first dinner that she and Aaron had attended.
Hermione, of course, had forgiven him but told him that he needed to learn to control his mouth, because he insulted people when he opened it without thinking about what he was saying.
Ron for once had listened, as his mother had been on him to apologize and also the twins had pulled numerous pranks on him until he had.
Hermione had told Ron bluntly that he might think that she was a know-it-all and a bookworm, but not everybody shared his opinion. That he had insulted her in front of her new fiancé and he was lucky that Aaron didn't have any magic as he could've been taught a very painful lesson about being rude.
He was very lucky that Aaron at the time hadn't known that he could choose a proxy to fight in his stead, but now that he did he would use it if necessary.
Ron had gulped, because he knew Hermione would have advised Aaron on who to choose if he ever insulted her in front of him again just because he spoke before he thought. He would come out the worst he was sure, because all his family were very skilled with their wands, as they wouldn't've survived the war otherwise.
You are the same age I am Ron Weasley, which means you should have learned how to be polite and not insult someone every time you open your mouth, Hermione had told him firmly.
While Ron was a guest at the wedding he was not part of the wedding party, as Hermione couldn't have him ruining things just because he didn't know how to watch what he said.
Harry, of course, had been best man, as Aaron had asked him since he was a brother to his mate. Harry had been happy to fulfill the role.
Now here it was a year later and Hermione had never been so happy. The newly married couple had moved in to a house that had been bought and Hermione had sold the house she had grown up in. The new place had plenty of room for a large family, but it also had electricity and other modern conveniences. Hermione had finally caved and gotten a house-elf and now she couldn't imagine not having Fritzy to help her out. Luckily a little known ability of the house-elf was to shapeshift and so they had just suddenly required a gardener, as well as a housekeeper. Fritzy had a nice room on the top floor that wasn't a little space behind the boiler or some other small space, like in the attic.
Fritzy had protested that she didn't need so much space but Hermione had insisted and Aaron head backed her. Fritzy had burst into tears and had become even more loyal to the family. A little kindness went a long way, Hermione had learned and soon she had no idea how she had ever done without Fritzy in their lives. It pained her to admit that Harry, Daphne and Aaron had all been right. She had much more time to do other things other than household chores, as even with magic they took big chunks of time.
Hermione did a pregnancy test on her stomach to tell her if she was pregnant. It was something she did every month on the dot. She wasn't entirely sure she would get morning sickness since she was now immortal. Right now, she and Aaron were on a learning curve because Aaron didn't know either if a female of his kind would get something like morning sickness when pregnant.
They would eventually have that information, as Hermione hadn't even had her first kid yet, so they just didn't know what to expect.
The test came back positive and Hermione nearly jumped for joy.
She and Aaron had been anticipating having a baby and now she was finally pregnant. It was about time, although she knew putting stress on herself to have a baby in a certain amount of time could prevent conception so she tried not to worry about it.
"Fritzy!" Hermione called.
"Yes, Miss Hermi," Fritzy said popping into the room to stand beside Hermione.
"I am pregnant and I need you to fix a special dinner for Aaron and I," Hermione said.
"Oh baby!" Fritzy exclaimed looking very happy that she'd soon have a little one to look after added to her duties
"Yes, there will soon be a baby to look after," Hermione said. "I know that will make you happy Fritzy."
"Babys is special," Fritzy said. "House-evles love babies."
Hermione was well aware of this so she just nodded before dismissing Fritzy
Hermione was so happy she felt as if she could burst and she couldn't wait to tell Aaron. She knew that Aaron would be very happy and ecstatic for her as he had been wanting to have a child by her, his mate. Harry and Daphne would also be happy at the news and the Weasleys bar Ron and maybe Percy.
Harry and Daphne's third child had been a boy and he was just adorable. She knew that Daphne was planning on getting pregnant again next year. That meant her and Aaron's child would have a playmate that was only a few months younger right away.
She knew that Fritzy was going to fix a big dinner to celebrate her pregnancy and she couldn't wait to tell Aaron.
Hermione sat in her favorite chair reading a book waiting for Aaron to get home. The time passed slowly as Hermione was anxious to tell Aaron the news, something she normally never was. Normally, she got absorbed in what she was reading but she couldn't help dwelling on the fact that she was actually pregnant.
Finally, she heard the front door open and the sound of footsteps as they entered the little foyer.
"I am home," Aaron called.
"I heard you come in," Hermione said rising from her chair and giving him a kiss. "Welcome home. I have some news."
"What's the news?" Aaron asked.
"I was going to wait until dinner to tell you, but I did the spell to tell whether or not I was pregnant. It came back positive."
"Really?" Aaron asked suddenly as he picked Hermione up and swung her around happily. "I'm so excited and happy. So how did you know to check have you been throwing up when I haven't been here?"
"No, I haven't had any morning sickness at all," Hermione said. "I've just been checking once a month to see if I was pregnant."
"So now we know that immortal women don't get morning sickness," Aaron said. "How are we supposed to tell if you're pregnant other than when you start showing in the future?"
"Well, I have been hungry a lot lately, so maybe that's a sign that I'm pregnant, because I have a baby growing in my belly. Normally, I try to watch the amount I eat very strictly," Hermione explained looking thoughtful. "We'll have to go to a Healer to learn how far along I am, but I can't be more than four months or I'd be showing."
"So do you think this baby will be magical?" Aaron asked.
"I have no idea," Hermione said. "It certainly possible, even likely, but they also might turn out to be a Squib. We won't know until I'm further along and the Healer can do a spell on me to tell if the fetus is magical."
"You can't do this spell yourself?" Aaron asked in surprise.
"Oh I can, but I won't be able to say see the results as they're supposed to form over my head. It's just one of those spells that you really need to have someone else perform for you. It's not a matter of ability. I don't have eyes on top of my head to see the results."
"I see," Aaron said. "Could you ask Daphne or even Molly to do it for you?"
"I could, but the problem with Molly is she'll want to gossip about the fact that I'm pregnant while she can keep a secret if necessary she won't see the need too. She'll have the news that I'm pregnant all over the Wizarding World before you can blink. While that's not necessarily a bad thing, it's not necessarily a good thing either."
"Why not?" Aaron asked.
"Because a lot of pure-bloods won't appreciate the fact that they'll be a new generation of Grangers that will likely be just as intelligent as their mother. I beat their Pure-blooded little darlings at Hogwarts because none of them studied as hard as I did. I was determined to fit in and do my best at all my lessons. It took me a long time to realize that I would never be accepted by some pure-bloods no matter how talented.
"I just don't want to give the pure-bloods a reason to come after me until our son or daughter attends Hogwarts at 11. Basically, I want to keep a low profile, as pure-bloods can be vindictive. While most of the ones that followed Voldemort are either back in prison or dead there are still a lot out there. Ones that never took the Dark Mark or joined Voldemort, but believe in the same ideals that he spouted.
"Certain families resent me, because I'm not Pure-blooded and yet I got better grades than their children. Yes, pure-bloods can be that petty. Why give them anymore ammunition? Why make it harder on our children who attend Hogwarts? While Molly will find out anyway, I'm going to ask her to not make a big deal out of it. To keep it quiet."
"I see," Aaron said finally understanding Hermione's reasoning.
"The whole Wizarding World doesn't need to know that the next generation of Grangers is on the way, even if their last name will be Dunin now. When the next generation proves just as intelligent as the previous, maybe it will start those pure-bloods thinking that Muggles aren't so worthless, that I wasn't just a fluke. It might take a few hundred years but I'm hoping that having multiple generations go to Hogwarts and get the best grades that eventually those pure-bloods will realize that Muggles aren't stupid at all and that they are worth something other then hatred and disdain.
"So you want to prove a point," Aaron said and Hermione nodded.
"Exactly," Hermione agreed. "I'm hoping if those pure-bloods families that supported Voldemort for example start to see Muggles, as people instead of creatures that they'll start to treat them better than they do presently. All of it starts at Hogwarts with the kids of the next generation. It's not like I don't have the time to see if my little experiment works, even if that's only somewhat."
"That's true," Aaron said. "We can't stay in England more than a few hundred years though since magical live longer than Muggles."
"While that's true there are such things as glamors so that we can come back for visits when we're supposed to be dead and nobody will know that, except our closest friends and family."
"Glamor," Aaron asked not understanding the term.
"It's basically an illusion that makes you appear as someone else. You could look like a teenager for example or someone older like a grandmother or grandfather. Most people will never be able to tell the difference unless we did something that seemed out of place."
"How hard is it to maintain, especially if you have to perform it on more than yourself?"
"The more people you glamour the more power it takes, but I can put the spell on different objects. It doesn't have to be anything valuable it could be a cheap necklace or ring, just something you keep on you constantly. I'm not really using much power at all if we do it that way. You would have to keep the jewelry on you all the time in order to maintain the illusion. If you take it off for any reason then you just have to remember to put it back on."
"But what if somebody gets a hold of whatever object you put the spell on? Figures out what it does?" Aaron asked seeing a possible problem.
"A drop of blood is all it will take to bind whatever object we use to that person," Hermione explained. "It would be considered blood magic, but since it's benign, not really against the law and that's only if the Ministry finds out about them and who made them."
"That's really fascinating, but that's for later," Aaron said. "Sure will make it easier to move around the Muggle World if we look like different people every generation."
"It will," Hermione agreed kissing him. "Are you ever going to tell the Weasleys you're immortal at least Arthur and Molly?
"You think I should?" Aaron asked with a raised eyebrow not even having considered it.
"I do, except for Ron and Percy, who I don't believe can be trusted with the information. Ron wouldn't realize how important it is to keep it to himself and might blab it for some reason likely when he was drunk. As for Percy, he works at the Ministry and I wouldn't put it past him to pass the information on to his bosses. The rest of them though are trustworthy, even the twins. I never imagined I'd be saying that in a million years, but if there's one thing the twins aren't and that's blabbermouths. They also know how to keep a secret unlike their youngest brother and considering they think of me as family that means I have their loyalty, which is a Gryffindor trait as you know.
"I'm not saying Percy would pass on the information it to be malicious, simply that he doesn't seem to realize how corrupt the Ministry really is or at least he's not admitting to it. The damage would then be done and you don't want to know how the Ministry's likely to react. We would likely have to move to a different country entirely just to avoid people who would want to use us for experiments to somehow get what you and now I have.
"As for Ron, he's simply not mature enough to have such information. He might promise to keep it a secret, but then would likely blab it for one reason or another depending if he was furious or just didn't think before he spoke. Ron simply wouldn't realize the importance of keeping it secret."
"I agree with you about Ron and Percy," Aaron said.
He had been around the Weasleys enough by now to know them pretty well. They were loud, rambunctious, loyal, loving, intelligent, tenacious and had solid morals and ethics. They had fought in the war when others had cowered in their homes because they were brave, courageous and true. They had seen what Voldemort and his Death Eaters were doing was wrong and had stood up for their ideals. They were also not greedy in the least like so many people and were happy with what they had moneywise. There were simply a well grounded family that loved each other a great deal and worked hard. He and Hermione ate at the Burrow at least once a week and he always looked forward to one of Molly's meals.
He had been accepted as family from that first dinner and had only gotten closer to most of them since. He avoided Percy whenever he could, because he kept harping on how the Ministry was a great place to work but after all Hermione had told him about how corrupt they were he didn't want to tell Percy what he really thought.
He and Hermione were trying to live quietly for a reason and until they moved to another country that was the way it was going to be. Aaron didn't mind living quietly since he wasn't exactly mortal. It was what he was used to doing actually living normally, but quietly and not making waves.
"I'll think about it," Aaron promised.
"That's all I ask, as I would like to maintain contact with the family even after the original family passes," Hermione said. "I don't want to give up the connection just like I don't want to give up the connection to the Potters if it can be helped."
"You've been thinking about this," Aaron observed.
"I have," Hermione agreed. "I always knew that eventually Harry would die and also the Weasleys, but thanks to being magical they'll probably accept immortality easier than a regular Muggle. We don't necessarily have to live in England to visit frequently."
"How?" Aaron asked intrigued at the idea.
"Reusable Portkey," Hermione explained. "So long as they continue to live at the Burrow I can create a reusable Portkey that will take us directly to the back door. One that has a password component so only saying the proper word will allow it to work. You could even use it if I wasn't there, as the magic is in the Portkey not in the person using it."
"And if they move in a few generations and the property goes to another family?" Aaron asked.
"I don't see that happening, but if it happens I'll just create a Portkey to where they are living," Hermione shrugged. "I truly believe that at least one branch of the Weasley will live in the Burrow for centuries to come. Yes, children grow up and move out and get homes of their own, but there will always be a Burrow and a branch of the Weasley family living in it. It seems impossible to think otherwise."
Aaron could see the advantages and agreed he'd think about it seriously.
"We'll see, I suppose that's for the future though. I hope dinner is about ready I'm starving," Aaron said.
Fritzy popped into the room just staying then saying dinner was ready.
"Perfect timing Fritzy. I'm starving," Aaron told the loyal elf with a smile.
~~~Aaron and Hermione~~~