Chapter 101

Rose's smile filled Ron with so much joy. It was something he was unable to find the right words for. It was just a feeling that made his heart swell and for him to feel things that he didn't even know he was capable of feeling.

Over the years, Hermione had already pushed those boundaries, his love for her growing every day. But Rose… Rose had completely broken down and disintegrated all those barriers of what he thought he could feel. She'd completely and utterly changed the definition of love for him from the moment she'd entered this world.

And every day, it was something new. Every day, she'd grow and change. She'd do something they hadn't seen before, learn a new skill. At three-and-a-half months old, she was already showing that she was desperate to be on the move. She wriggled and rolled so much now it was almost difficult to keep up with her. She'd be in one place one moment, and then the next she'd be at the other end of the room.

"She's going to start crawling soon," Hermione had said one afternoon as they watched her attempt to wriggle herself towards a toy. There was a brief moment where it looked as if she was trying to push herself onto her knees.

"No, she's far too little," Ron had answered, ignoring what he was seeing with his own eyes.

There was a baby book Hermione kept in the living room, picking it up every so often to refer to one thing or another. She did that then, flipping to a page. "Well, it says here they can start crawling from as young as four months."

Ron watched his daughter, feeling a mix of pride and worry. He was thrilled to see that she was thriving. She was such a happy baby, she ate well, she was active. Sleep was still an issue, but nothing out of the ordinary, he thought. At the same time, the last three and a half months had been the best of his life, and the fastest. He'd watched his nieces and nephew grow, watched how big they'd gotten. James really did crawl around now at tenth months old and he got into everything. Ron had witnessed with his own eyes how nothing in Harry and Ginny's house was safe from his curious little hands.

But James hadn't crawled until a month ago. He'd been perfectly stationary and happy to be so.

Rose could at least give them a few more months.

Now, he watched her on her play mat by the breakfast table as he made himself a coffee. She'd long since grown unsatisfied with the restraints of the bouncer that kept her safe, insisting that they put her on the ground.

She smiled at one of the many toys she'd collected in the two weeks since her dad had started working at the joke shop. It moved around the floor, singing, and she turned on her tummy, following it with her eyes.

Her little face warmed him more than any coffee could and he smiled, watching her.

"You'll make a great Quidditch player one day, Rosie," he said.

At the mention of her name (or the sound of his voice, Ron hadn't quite worked it out), her eyes drifted towards him, grin widening.

"Maybe I can teach you how to play young. That way, when you get to Hogwarts you'll be a superstar." He smiled at the thought, though he was disinclined to think too far into the future considering he was already bothered by the fact that the first three and a bit months with her were already over. But he'd be incredibly proud if his little girl was to make the Quidditch team in her first year. No one had done that since Harry.

Rose's attention drifted back to the toy.

"On second thoughts," he said, "you'll probably do much better if your Aunt Ginny was to teach you. You'd probably get free lessons and have much better success."

The thought of his daughter being a great Quidditch player in the future brought another smile to his lips. She was part Weasley, which meant she'd probably be decent, though she'd unfortunately lucked out in the area of having him for her dad. Aside from Percy, who flat out refused to get on a broom, he was probably the least skilled of all his siblings. Hermione insisted he was good and he just let his lack of confidence get in the way, but Ron knew that wasn't entirely true.

Part of being a great Quidditch player meant you needed to have a lot of confidence. And he didn't.

James, Ron thought, would walk his way onto the team when his time came. And with any luck, Rosie would not inherit Ron's lack of confidence and join her cousin (or play against him if that were to be the case).

But he had many years to go before that happened and Ron hoped that time would just slow down a little so his wish didn't come into fruition too quickly.

She was perfectly happy to play on the floor of their kitchen for the time being.

His watch said ten minutes to five o'clock, which meant Hermione would be home in about twenty. Over the few weeks that Ron had been with Rose and Hermione had been at the Ministry, she'd made a big effort to get home on time. Ron had joked at the time, telling her that she just didn't trust him to take care of Rose without her supervision. Though, he knew it was more because she didn't want to miss any time with Rose.

She was incredible, and Ron made a point of telling her that when he could. She seemed so on top of managing parenthood and working and he admired her for it. She gave Rose so much time and attention when at home, and gave her all to her job between nine and five, five days a week.

How she did it, he'd never know.

Ron's eyes flicked to Rose again, who was still being entertained by the toy. "I think she'll be surprised to see us home early today," he commented to his daughter (who he was well aware could not respond to him).

After working tirelessly for two weeks at the shop, he'd — for the first time — taken advantage of being the boss and left at four-thirty. Oswald was proving to be a reliable employee and Ron trusted him and the other girl — Isla — to set up for the weekend.

It gave himself time to actually sit down, drink a cup of coffee, and it gave Rose some additional time to move.

And then Hermione would come home and they'd need to get ready for dinner with Harry and Ginny. What had once been a common gathering had dropped off significantly since they each had children. These days, it was all about routine and being home in time for bed.

He savoured the coffee, drinking it in small sips and reheating it with his wand whenever it got too cold.

He'd just about finished when he heard Hermione arrive via the Floo. He was hoping to surprise her, but there was no way she would not have heard the loud squeal of delight from Rose as the toy nudged her nose.

"Ron?"

"Nice one, Rosie," Ron said cheerfully. "Remind me not to take you to any surprise parties. In the kitchen!" he called.

A moment later, Hermione came into the kitchen, her eyes flittering from Ron to Rose on the floor. "You're home," she said, sounding surprised.

"Yes," Ron said brightly. "The benefit of being the boss, right?" He grinned as she came over to kiss him.

Her mouth turned up into a small smile. "Yes, very. How was your day?"

Ron shrugged. "Busy. Never isn't busy. You'd think people would get sick of buying stuff, but nope. Seamus came in today."

"Oh, that would have been nice," Hermione answered. "It must be getting close to the baby being born now."

"Yeah," Ron said. "Seamus said only a few more weeks."

"That's so exciting." But Hermione didn't sound excited. She frowned, and Ron realised her attention wasn't on him.

"What is it?" Ron asked.

Hermione jumped, looking back at him. "Oh, nothing, I just… it's funny that you ran into Seamus today, and he's about to have a baby…"

"Why?" Ron questioned, confused as to where she was going with this. He didn't think it was funny that Seamus had come into the shop, or that he was about to become a dad.

"Well… did you ever hear that Malfoy had a baby?"

For a moment Ron didn't speak, but then he said, "What?"

"Last November," Hermione said. "Before Rose. And he never said anything. I mean… we don't exactly talk, but he didn't even mention it or anything. Never asked for time off…"

Ron shrugged. "Did you ask?"

"No. I didn't even know. Not until today, when he mentioned his son in passing. Said that was why he was late. 'Sorry, my son was sick.' And that was it."

Ron shrugged again. "How'd you know it was last November?"

"Because Maia asked him and he told her. I overheard. It just seems strange, doesn't it? That he didn't even bother to mention that his wife had a baby. Or didn't ask for any time off? Wouldn't he want to spend time with his child?"

At that, Ron laughed. "It's Malfoy you're talking about, Hermione. He's probably hired someone to look after the kid and goes about his business like it doesn't exist. Isn't that what Malfoy's parents did with him? The saddest part in all this is that our Rosie is going to have to put up with a Malfoy when she goes to Hogwarts. He'll be in her classes and everything."

Hermione didn't speak for a moment, apparently incredibly bothered by the fact that Malfoy didn't feel the need to tell her about his own child. If Ron was being honest, he didn't actually blame Malfoy. Why would he? It wasn't like she had told him anything about Rose.

"Come on," Ron said, "let's get ready for this dinner and talk about kids we actually care about."

Hermione seemed to snap out of whatever she was thinking, smiling again. "You know," she began, "tonight just might take today's baby count up to three."

"What do you mean?" Ron said quickly, worried. He tried to do a quick calculation in his head, but nothing came to him. Hermione couldn't be pregnant again, could she? It had taken them forever to get Rose. And he loved her with all his heart, but he wasn't quite ready for another kid. Not now. "Are you —" he said, hesitant.

"What?" Hermione almost laughed. "No!" She laughed again. "No, I was talking about Harry and Ginny."

"What?"

Hermione shrugged. "Well, last year, Ginny was talking about her return to Quidditch this year. She was incredibly excited about going back. She is meant to be going back in March, and March is only a few weeks away. She hasn't gone to a single training session. She hasn't been away… only one thing kept her away from Quidditch last time, and that was James."

For a moment, Ron stared at her, his mouth slightly open. Then he shook his head, partly impressed at how perceptive Hermione was and how ridiculous her comment sounded. She was right, of course. Ginny hadn't made mention once this year about going back to playing Quidditch, when last year it was all she talked about. She hadn't been to any practices and Harry hadn't said anything about her being away. Ron knew that he would have, if she had, because he would have been left looking after James on his own.

But, she couldn't be pregnant again.

"James is only ten months old," he blurted out.

Hermione shrugged. "You and Ginny aren't that far apart in age," she reminded him. "It's possible."

"Yes, but…"

"Well, I could be wrong," Hermione said.

"But you don't think so?" Ron replied. He glanced back down at Rose, imagining her at James' age. She was already showing signs of wanting to move more and the thought of having another baby so soon almost horrified him. He adored his daughter, but he was happy with just her. At least for the time being. A very long time being, he thought.

Hermione seemed to know what he was thinking, for she said, a smile on her face, "Don't worry, if that's the case, I'm not going to get any ideas for us."

Ron looked back at her. "Thank Merlin."

Hermione laughed.

"Well, I suppose we should go over then. Let them break the news to us…"

Hermione bent down to pick up Rose. "Hello, sweetheart," she said, kissing Rose's cheek. "Did you have a good day today?"

"As always," Ron replied. "She flashes a smile and the customers just hand over their money."

"So, you're using her as a sales pitch, then?"

"No. They just see her and they can't resist."

Hermione bit back a smile, which meant she wasn't too upset by it. "When did you last change her? Maybe we should change her before we go."

Ron thought back to his day. They'd been quite busy, and he remembered at around three o'clock telling Oswald he just needed to tend to Rose for a moment and if he could watch things. But then that kid had knocked over the Skiving Snackboxes, and then Rose had fallen asleep, and then… and then he'd gone home. And not changed her. The last time had been around midday.

Guilt swept over him in a way that he'd never felt before. "Oh, Merlin, Hermione… not since midday. She's been…"

Rose flashed him a smile, which he probably didn't deserve right now. How had he forgotten such basic care for his daughter?

"It's alright," Hermione said. "I'll go and do it now." She left the room, talking to Rose all the way down the hall, leaving Ron to wonder if she was angry with him for forgetting.

He'd never forgotten before. In fact, he'd slid into his routine with her so easily that it had become habit. At busy times, she was strapped to his chest, during quieter periods she was out the back with the toys where Ron could keep watch of her. Every two hours, he routinely fed and changed her. But that kid… he'd caused Ron to forget. After he'd cleaned up the mess and told the apologetic father not to worry, he'd gone back to feed her, because forgetting to feed a hungry baby wasn't possible, but he'd then just put her back on the charmed playmat while he went to help another customer.

He shook his head, running his hands over his face. He knew Hermione had her misgivings about Rose being at the shop every day, but until today, it had worked well. Now, this just proved that he couldn't do it.

When Hermione returned with Rose a few moments later, she found Ron sitting on a chair at the kitchen table. She stopped, looking at him, frowning. "Everything okay?"

Ron shrugged, his previous cheerful mood gone now. "I messed up," he said.

Her frown deepened. "What do you mean? Did something happen today?"

Ron lifted his head to look at her, slightly surprised by that question. What did she mean by 'did something happen'? Hadn't she just heard what he'd said about not changing Rose since midday?

He felt lost for words for a moment, before regathering himself. "I forgot to change her," he said. "I just… I just forgot."

Hermione was silent, and if Ron hadn't been watching her, waiting for her anger to set in, he would have thought that her silence was due to being furious with him. But that was not the emotion on her face at all. She looked more confused than anything.

Before speaking, she came to sit opposite him. "Okay, you forgot," she said calmly.

Ron was completely taken aback by Hermione's response. Was this the same Hermione who had fussed over every bottle just two weeks ago, he was talking to, or had someone taken her place? His mouth opened, but no words came out.

Seeming to sense his surprise, Hermione continued, "Ron, if I've learnt anything since we've become parents, it's that we need to throw out the notion that we need to be perfect for her at all times. She's fine, isn't she?"

Ron looked at Rose, nodding. "So, you forgot to change her once. I'm assuming you got busy today and it slipped your mind."

"It shouldn't have," Ron mumbled.

"And you've never forgotten before, have you?"

Ron shook his head. "Some idiot kid destroyed the place, and I had to deal with that."

"So, it's fine. Honestly. Did you think I'd be upset?"

The truth was, yes, but he was mostly upset with himself for forgetting to do it. Wasn't that what he'd promised Hermione when they made this arrangement? That he would be the perfect person to take care of their daughter?

Hermione's voice cut through his thoughts, seeming to understand what he was thinking. "Don't beat yourself up," she said gently. "Things like this are going to happen sometimes. And she's fine. I promise."

Ron nodded, not wanting to continue the conversation anymore. "Should we go? Don't want to be late. And maybe you're right; maybe they do have news to tell us."

…

Ron knew immediately, the moment he stepped into Harry and Ginny's house, that Hermione was definitely right. It was obvious the second he laid eyes on his sister that she was pregnant again. He didn't know how he knew, because she wasn't showing all that much, and he wouldn't have noticed if he hadn't been looking, but he now couldn't help but notice the small bump she carried.

And she was rather cheerful, too. So was Harry. They greeted them brightly, ushering them into their living room as if they hadn't seen each other in months, not just weeks.

Which was still a long time, Ron reasoned. Longer than what they were used to. It wasn't until he left the Aurors did Ron realise just how much of his time spent with Harry had been at work. If there was one thing he did miss about that job, it was going in and seeing his best mate every day. The laughs, the talks, and the company.

Now, with a kid each and working separate jobs, they actually had to schedule catch-ups such as these, and that was hard.

And it looked like Harry and Ginny were going to have their hands full even more so than what they currently did.

The living room was larger than Ron and Hermione's, and more open. But even so, it was crowded and filled with many toys, both magical and Muggle, that Ron could guess James never played with.

Harry, much like Ron, had been determined to ensure that his son didn't miss out on anything like he had. The only difference was, Ginny had not been there to convince Harry that James didn't need all that stuff like Hermione had for Ron. She'd agreed with him.

Looking at the space, Ron felt grateful for Hermione. Rose had everything she needed and a little bit more, but she didn't have everything like James did. But, Ron reasoned, James was probably going to have to share his things in a few months, so that was something.

Upon seeing his visitors, James crawled over to Ron and Hermione, grabbing onto Hermione's leg and using it as leverage to pull himself up. Hermione bent down to pick him up, allowing the boy to nuzzle into her.

Ron beamed at her, feeling a rush of love for his wife and nephew. Hermione had always been good with James, even before Rose was born, and over the ten months of James' life, they'd developed quite a bond. James adored Hermione and Ron knew without question that Hermione loved the son of her best friends.

It had Ron thinking back to almost a year ago now, when Harry had showed up at their place under the pretense of returning a pen, just to express his fear that his son was going to be left alone if anything were to happen to him or Ginny. They'd assured him then that that wouldn't be the case, but Ron knew now with the utmost certainty that if anything was to happen to either of them, he and Hermione would take James in, in a heartbeat. And he'd be loved and cared for as if he was their child. Because that was how they both felt about the kid, his tantrums and all.

While Hermione cooed at James, talking to him and making him giggle, Ron extracted a blanket from Rose's bag — something they carried everywhere — and with Harry's help, laid it on the carpet of the living room. Things looked different these days on their dinner dates, where their main priority was making sure their kids were set up before they looked after themselves.

Harry brought over some toys and laid them on the mat, and Ron placed Rose on it. She immediately rolled over onto her tummy, stretching out her hand to reach for one of the toys. Harry and Ginny got to witness first-hand her attempt to briefly get onto her knees before collapsing back onto her tummy.

"Wow, you weren't kidding when you said she was close to crawling," Ginny said, sounding impressed.

"What are you going to do when she actually moves?" Harry asked.

"Put everything up on the shelves," Ron answered, grinning. "Isn't that what you had to do?"

"Yeah, luckily for us we had many more months before we were forced to do that," Ginny answered.

Hermione put a bubbly James back on the ground and he immediately crawled over to where Rose was playing. He sat on the mat alongside her, picking up a block with some letters on it and shoving it into his mouth.

Rose didn't pay him any mind, more interested in the small bear she'd managed to grasp in her little hands.

"Friends for life!" Harry said brightly. "Just like we always said they would be."

They watched the two kids play for a few moments, Ron feeling a sense of calm wash over him. Oh, how he loved this life he'd chosen for himself, where the simple joy of watching his daughter and nephew play beside each other made him feel at peace.

It was Ginny who broke the silence. "Anyone care for a drink?"

They answered in turn, and Ginny — looking rather pleased with herself — hurried from the living room to fetch them.

"So," Ron said, once they were all settled on the sofas, their chosen drinks in hand. He decided he was going to get straight to the point, even if Harry and Ginny wanted to do it differently, "how's Quidditch practice going, Gin?"

He felt Hermione's reprimanding gaze on him, but he ignored her. He knew his sister was pregnant, so they may as well have it out in the open now.

"Haven't been going!" Ginny answered cheerily. "In fact, I'll be missing another season all together."

"Oh, and why might that be?" Ron asked, not at all trying to disguise his mock surprise. Hermione whacked his arm gently, but he again ignored her, instead focusing on his sister.

Ginny's eyes narrowed. "I saw you staring at me when you got here, you know. So you obviously know. How'd you find out?"

"I'm married to someone who notices everything," Ron said in response, and all eyes flickered to Hermione. She gave Ron an unimpressed look.

"Hermione noticed you weren't talking about Quidditch anymore," Ron answered on behalf of his wife when she didn't say anything. "And concluded that only one thing kept you away from Quidditch last time, so that same thing would be keeping you away this time." He paused, looking his sister over. "You don't sound too upset about it, though. Last time you were murderous at not being able to play."

Ginny shrugged. "Not much I can do about it. It's happened, we didn't plan for it, so I just have to deal."

Ron winced at the admission. "Huh, so another surprise." He tried his best to control the bitterness that was threatening to escape, though he wasn't sure he was successful. He didn't want to be upset with either of them for seeming to be able to have a baby so easily, especially because he had Rose now and having another baby wasn't on his mind, but he supposed some residue of his and Hermione's struggles still lingered at the back of his mind.

"Yes, and that bothers you, doesn't it?" Ginny asked spitefully. She opened her mouth to continue, but to Ron's utter surprise, it was Hermione who interrupted.

"You remember how hard it was for us, don't you?" She didn't say it in a mean way, but Ron was grateful. He saw Ginny close her mouth and go a little red — something that Ginny never did.

"I'm sorry," she said after a moment. "I did forget for a moment."

"But, Ron is being rude, too," Hermione continued, and Ron's gratefulness vanished. "We're happy for you both. Aren't we, Ron?" She nudged him in the ribs.

"Of course we are!" Ron replied, meaning it. "Of course I'm happy. When's it due?"

"Well…" Harry began, "somewhere towards the end of August or early September. The official date is the twenty-ninth of August, so if that is what happens, Rosie will have a friend at Hogwarts. But who knows."

"James was early, so this one probably will be, too," Hermione said matter-of-factly. "Oh, it'll be so good for Rose to have a friend when the time comes!"

"Yeah," Ron added, "otherwise she might be forced to make friends with Malfoy's kid."

"What?" Harry and Ginny said together, looking at Ron with wide eyes.

"When did that happen?" Harry then added.

Ron shrugged, looking at Hermione. "Last November, apparently. Hermione only found out today. He never even asked for a day off or anything."

"Do you think he's hired someone to raise his child?" Ginny asked.

"Most likely," Ron replied with a nod. "That's what I think, too."

"I can't believe it wasn't even in the papers or anything," Harry said.

Ron shrugged. "Probably didn't want to draw attention to himself. The papers haven't been kind to the Malfoys in recent years."

"That's so strange," Harry murmured thoughtfully.

"You said it," Ron replied.

A cry distracted them, and Harry immediately jumped up, pulling a much larger James from Rose. He'd decided that lying across her was the answer to taking the toy she was playing with from her.

Hermione moved to check on Rose, but the cry had been from James, not from his cousin whom he was crushing.

Once it was established that Rose was okay, and Harry gave James a different toy to distract him, Ginny beamed.

"They even fight like best friends. Siblings, even."

"And just think," Ron said, "soon James will have a real sibling to bully. Is he getting a little brother or sister."

"Brother," Harry and Ginny answered in unison, both of them smiling.

Ron looked at Hermione, who was also smiling. It made Ron's own mouth curl up, too.

"Well," he said, "let's hope this one learns to stand up for himself. Because he's certainly going to need it."

Both Harry and Hermione jumped up again, just as James tried to take Rose's toy from her for the second time.

"He'll be older by then," Harry said, sounding hopeful.

"And more prone to jealousy," Ron added helpfully.

Harry picked James up and carried him to a completely different part of the room. He set James on the floor and put some toys around him. "Well," he said, shoving a toy into James' hand. The boy took it and put it in his mouth. "Let's hope that it's different when his little brother is here."

February was a really terrible month for me for mental health, and then early March upped it and I experienced a pregnancy loss and only now am I getting back into things and finding my feet.

I really hope you enjoyed this chapter, and honestly, some happy baby stuff is exactly what I needed! I hope you all did too!