Chapter Ten: Epilogue

Authors Note: To say that this has been a challenge to write would be an understatement. When I first started this story I figured putting a ten chapter story couldn't be THAT hard, however no one told me trying to write a closing chapter to a story is…

Harry woke as he did most mornings, with a very warm body resting on him. He blinked to clear his eyes of sleep and then silently thanked Daphne again for dragging him to a magical optometrist, the contact lenses worked perfectly!

Speaking of that witch, Mrs. Black stirred as Harry gently rolled her off him. They'd had a rather active night and he figured he would let her sleep in.

It had been ten years since the chaos of potions and divorces was sorted out and Daphne and Hermione had done their best to repopulate the Houses of Potter and Black having birthed seven children in that time across five pregnancies with two of those bearing twins and as a bonus one metamorphmagus. Harry certainly wasn't complaining, he'd always dreamed of a large family, with the added bonus of the sex being fantastic. It was the second pregnancy when they realized Harry had a breeding fetish and that seeing Hermione and Daphne waddle around pregnant was a powerful aphrodisiac.

While getting ready, Harry noticed the silence that ruled over the house in that moment, meaning it was still quite early.
They'd not left Grimmauld, simply continued the renovations to ensure there were adequate rooms for all the new children, so most mornings were utter bedlam. Harry, taking advantage of how early it was snuck into Hermione's room to give her a gentle good morning kiss. As he gently pushed the door open, he was gifted with a sight he never got sick of. There was Hermione Potter curled around a tiny bundle in a queen-sized bed. The tiny bundle of joy that Hermione was curled up protecting being the latest addition to their family and the Perverell Heir, Ignotus Daniel Peverell. Although Hermione and Daphne had gifted Harry with a large number of children, there was a high proportion of girls, with even the twins being fraternal.

After placing a gentle kiss on Hermione's temple, Harry ghosted out of the room and headed towards the kitchen.
Although Harry much preferred cooking the muggle way, having a house full of Potters, Blacks and Weasley's meant he had to lean on some domestic magic he'd taught himself. As Harry got into the swing of preparing breakfast, his mind drifted to the wider Weasley family. The divorce between Ron and Hermione had been long and drawn out but Hermione had ended up with full custody of the children, which had been their main objective.

After the divorce Ron had quickly quit the second job Hermione had made him get and returned to his life of barely working and lazing about. Although he did try to start gambling again, no one would extend him any credit as he was a known defaulter. Ron however, not wanting to give up his gambling started selling anything in the house not nailed down to enable him to feed his addiction. Molly only realized what was going on when Ron began turning up to The Burrow for almost every meal and sent Arthur around to check. Ron had a barren house, containing only a mini-fridge, couch, and Wiz-o-Vision (Magic TV), Ron had sold all his major appliances and furniture and had basically been existing in his living room whenever he was home. The Weasley's staged an intervention with Ron, leading to him selling the house and moving back into The Burrow, unfortunately his drive to gamble became too much and Ron was found dead in Knockturn Alley 6 months after the intervention. The Aurors determining that he'd been murdered due to involvement in illegal betting rings.

Ginny had faired a little better in the end, she moved away from England, as although Harry wasn't legally able to speak about anything that went on, the media had been relentless. They speculated on anything and everything relating to their marriage breaking up and the rumour mills became absolutely unforgiving when it came to light that Harry and Hermione had begun seeing each other.
Ginny's move to Chicago in the MACUSA hadn't been a massive surprise to Harry, he knew the Potter name wasn't as big over the other side of the Atlantic.
Ginny had managed to join a small Quidditch centric magazine as a journalist, her career was middling at best and her inability to remain loyal to a partner led to her being unable to settle down. It got so bad that Harry had heard from Dean Thomas, who had moved over there a long time ago, that she was unable to date any magicals in Chicago as the Weasley name had become toxic in the dating scene there.

Unfortunately for Molly, during the divorce proceeding between Hermione and Ron, it came out that she had been actively doping Hermione with Love and Loyalty potions, which had led to a major row between Arthur and Molly. Invitations for a Weasley family meeting were quickly dispatched detailing why it was required and asked specifically that partners be brought along, children were not to attend.
As the families began to arrive and congregate in the living room, which now looked like an AA meeting room with all the seating positioned around the walls facing inwards, where Molly and Ron stood waiting, the key emotion being experienced by those arriving (unsurprisingly) was anger. Though they'd all had a chance to initially digest what had been done, as Arthur had included it in the invitation to avoid any emotional blow-ups, they all considered Hermione a sister and to have this level of betrayal occur from not one but two of their own was unforgiveable. Once everyone was seated, Arthur explained to everyone how it had come to light and the situation in more detail, including the fact Molly and Ron had done their best to hide it from everyone else in the family with the exclusion of Percy, since he was their legal representative. Sensing that some Weasley tempers were about to go off, Arthur had quickly continued on that they were there to determine whether anyone else had been or was being doped, this turned the anger to confusion and fear.
Arthur then used his powers as Head of House to force Molly to explain the whole situation and confirm exactly who had been doped. She walked the entire family through the conspiracy against Harry and Hermione, detailing that Dumbledore first suggested the plan when he noticed them becoming too close, she pointed out that he simply wanted to keep Harry isolated and loyal but Molly had other ideas. Molly then tried to defend herself, explaining that she just wanted Ron and Ginny to be happy however no one in the room was having it, Angelina was especially irate about this, as she'd known Hermione the best and started yelling about ruining the future of the Brightest Witch of the Generation. Everyone went silent however, when Fleur asked a single question "Wait, does zis mean you used potions on 'Arry too?"
The room had remained silent then, waiting for Molly's response. George, Bill and Charlie considered Harry to be the brother they never had so when Molly nodded and then stared at the floor pandemonium erupted, Arthur just sat there stunned having not been told that tidbit. Audry had then quickly turned on Ginny, realising that she must have known about this as well and suddenly Ginny found herself pushed into the circle with the others.

Although it had been confirmed that no other partners to a Weasley had been doped with potions, to the relief of Fleur, Audry and Angelina, trust levels in the Weasley Matriarch and the youngest Weasley's was at zero. Molly was made to complete a vow in front of everyone stating that she had never dope anyone else with any potion.
An unofficial agreement was reached by the three brothers and their families, with The Burrow never hosting another family gathering again, much to Molly's horror when she realised months later. Additionally, not one thing that she cooked or prepared before arriving at any parties was consumed by a member of the Weasley family, it was the third or fourth time she returned with a full tray of cookies that she was especially proud of that she realised this.
In the end, Molly lived a sad existence where the only person to consume her cooking without question was Ron and once he passed, not even Arthur ate anything she cooked without checking it first.

Harry was brought back to realty by a gentle kiss that was placed against his check. He looked around and realised that his magic cooking had finished and the utensils had even dished up everything at the centre of the table.

"Thank you for cooking my love, it looks fantastic as always" Hermione said as she sat down and began dishing up a small plate for herself.

"Where is Ignotus?" Harry asked.

"Oh he is still sleeping, I asked Flopsy to keep an eye on him since the smell of your cooking was driving me mad." Hermione said with a cheeky smile "Oh and just so you know, I'm heading into the office to help Daphne go over some legal documents she is having trouble with." Hermione stated as she sat down and began dishing up her breakfast.

Ever since the divorce had been finalised, Harry blushed as he remembered being found with the now Mrs. Black covered in sweat and cum by the now Mrs. Potter, Hermione and Daphne had struck up a fast friendship. Both had realised that unless they wanted the house to full of animosity and jealousy that this was their best bet and had therefore begun having in-depth discussions on government policy and mini debates about legal issues that Daphne brought home. Hermione, who had always wanted to work for the Ministry and get involved in law creation, until the unfortunate potion debacle, and adored the opportunity to stretch her mental muscles with Daphne. It didn't take long for Daphne to realise just how powerful and underutilised Hermione's beautiful mind was and therefore brought her on at the firm as an advisor.

"Ahh so I'm home alone today, eh?" Harry said with faux disappointment in his voice "Though, I guess only as alone as a man can be with a house full of young adults and children." He followed on with a laugh, Hermione joined him with her magical laugh that Harry still, even after ten years, would never get enough of.

"Yes well, I need a break from 'mothering' and you love the kids so I'm sure it's not as painful a situation as you make it out to sound!" Hermione said "Can I ask what you were thinking about when I walked in?"

"Oh, just how we got here and what the whole potion situation did to the Weasley family." Harry said sadly, he knew that Molly did this to her own family, but he still felt somewhat culpable for the whole situation. If he'd never met them, maybe they'd still be a family?

Hermione, recognising the look in her husband's eyes stood up and kissed him forcefully on the lips. "Now Mr. Potter, I don't want you thinking you were somehow at fault for how their family ended up. Just remember, and I promise they would say this if you asked, that you brought more happiness to most of their lives than you did pain. You're as much an honorary Weasley as I and the kids are."

Harry simply smiled at his wife "What would I do without you?" kissing her back with as much love and affection as he could, hoping they were conveyed through his lips.

"EWWWWWW, I do NOT need to see that in the morning" came the voice of Lily Potter "We're all well aware of how much you love mum and Daphne dad, there is no need to remind us. Especially just before we're about to eat!"

Although James, Rose and Albus had all moved out already, Lily and Hugo were still making the most of free housing after Hogwarts. Lily had taken to Hermione exceptionally quickly but even ten years on was still not quite comfortable with the idea of calling Daphne mum.

"Well given I'm married to two of the most intelligent and beautiful women on the planet, sometimes I just can't help myself!" Harry said with a smile, making Hermione blush and Lily gag.

"As long as you keep you don't get too kissy with my mother when I'm around, lord knows she's been happier the past ten years when compared to the previous thirty." Hugo said morosely as he also entered the breakfast area.
In the end, Lily had unsurprisingly been sorted into Ravenclaw continuing to live up to her bookwormy ways, while Hugo went to Gryffindor. Hugo's Gryffindor brashness shining through to everyone in the room with his statement.

As Harry was about to respond to Hugo, a stampede of small children rushed into the room followed by a tired looking (and slightly limping) Daphne Black. Who gave Harry a chaste kiss as she limped passed, towards her seat at the table.

As Harry watched his family sit and begin interacting amongst each other, he was struck by a thought that he might just be the happiest and luckiest man on the planet. With that thought, he cast the memories of their ordeal to the side and joined them at the table as they began to plan out their day and just generally enjoy time together as a loving family should.

Closing Notes: I know some people are going to be disappointed in this ending, however I felt it summed up the ending I wanted, with Molly, Ginny and Ron getting the endings I felt suited them. Some may feel I went soft on Molly however you've got to think about what is important to her, she loved her family and conveyed that love a lot with food in the stories, having her family not trust her anymore I think would break her. For those of you hoping for smut, I must disappoint you, given he feel I was going for with this ending it just didn't fit.

I wanted to thank everyone that has read this story, I hope you got as much enjoyment out of reading it as I did writing it. For those who did not, well constructive criticism is always welcomed!