Epilogue

Autumn seemed to arrive suddenly that year. A fog was heavy on the morning of September the 1st, as a large brood, laden with trolley carts and populated with children featuring strawberry blonde curls, strode into Kings' Cross station.

They were plenty early, the patriarch of said brood assured himself, checking his pocket watch, which had been a wedding present from his parents. Timekeeping was all that was calming Ron Weasley at the moment, as he was surrounded by three boys, all unfortunately under the age of 11, sniffling and crying and gnashing in indignation.

"It won't be long now, and you'll be going to," he promised Arthur, Lorcan and Lysander.

His and Luna's triplets were hardly appeased. "Dad, it's still two whole years away!"

"All the spots in the good houses might be taken!"

"We want to go NOW!"

Ron chuckled at what Arthur had said. "All the good spots taken...? - Oh, rubbish! The Sorting Hat makes space for new firsties every year!" Just then, girlish shrieks went up from just a few paces behind him, and the father had to suppress a sigh: his daughters had resumed the catfight argument they had started in the car.

"No, I won't, I WON'T be in yucky Slytherin!"

"Pandora..." And the sigh in his wife's voice was probably the most exasperated in tone Ron had ever heard in all the years they'd been married. Somehow, not even motherhood to multiple... well, multiples had been able to faze Luna Weasley (neé Lovegood). "Would you please mind your sister, and give it a rest?"

"I only said she might be, Mother," Pandora, named for her maternal grandmother and the youngest of their twin girls (by one minute) grinned faux-innocently. "There's nothing wrong with that. Rhona might be in Slytherin. Bloody hell, so might I!"

"Language," Ron and Luna chided at the same time, the former with scarcely a glance over his shoulder. When the couple's eyes met, they shared an amused smile.

Rhona stuck out of her tongue at her twin sister. "You just want to be in Slytherin to see Albus!" she drawled loftily in her teasing.

Pandora's eyes narrowed. "You little..."

Rhona made a show of gagging. "Fancying our own cousin!" And this prompted Pandora to make a furious move towards her.

"Stop it!" Xenophilius, the eldest child, moved between them with practiced authority. Ron nodded approvingly to his eldest son as they approached the barrier. At only just 17, he was due to start his seventh and final year at Hogwarts.

"I think I might go on ahead..." Xenophilius decided, turning to embrace his mum. "Afraid I can't stay long, Mother; I'm up front. The Head Boys have an entire compartment to themselves..."

"Ooooh! Are you a Head Boy, Xeno?" Arthur's eyes widened with mock impressment. "You should have said something; we had no idea..."

"Hang on," Lorcan cut in facetiously. "I think I remember him saying something about it - once."

"Or twice," chimed Lysander.

"A minute..."

"ALL SUMMER!"

"Oh, shut up!" said Xenophilius the Head Boy. He bristled at his triplet brothers.

Luna sighed breathlessly and made a fuss over Xeno's robes. "Well, all right, dear, if you're sure. Now, have a good term... send me an owl when you get there." Xeno kissed his mother on the cheek, charged through the barrier and left.

"How come Xenophilius can't stay with us anyway?" Rhona pouted, as Luna took her hand and the rest of the Weasley clan passed through the stone stantion leading to Platform 9 and 3/4s.

"Because he's a Head Boy," Luna sighed patiently.

"And because he wants to get away from you lot," Ron quipped, sending a half-hearted, pointed glare down at his other sons, who had the decency to look shamefaced.

"Ronald!" Luna scolded, a gasp passing through her gape of shock.

"Hark, I wasn't aware I had married Hermione!" Ron jousted. It was all in good fun, of course, how his wife could sometimes show disapproval more resembling her quasi-sister-in-law. The children sometimes weren't in on the joke, however, such as now, when Pandora made a face.

"Dad? Married to Aunt Hermione? Ew."

Ron suppressed a smile, deciding to save the story of how he and his girls' godmother had briefly dated for when Pandora and Rhona were old enough.

"Speaking of," Arthur posited conversationally, as he and his family plunged into the congested chaos of the magical train station. "Where are they? Aunt Hermione and Uncle Nev, I mean."

"We'll find them," Luna assured her son. "Your aunt and uncle are always on time..."

"... and they always beat us here," Ron grumbled under his breath, checking his pocketwatch again. "And we're actually jolly well early!"

"And whose fault is that?" Luna grinned at her husband with affectionate amusement.

Ron beamed, even as he flushed. "Yours, my love." Turning his head, he caught something in the mist coming from the locomotive. "Oi! I think that's them, Arthur, my lad."

A group of seven people were standing alongside the very last carriage. The Weasleys dashed up to them. "Hi," Arthur breathed, looking immensely relieved.

Nora Rose, who was already wearing her brand-new Hogwarts robes, beamed down at him.

"Parked all right, then?" Neville pumped Ron's hand, before Ron squirted around to land an affectionate kiss on Hermione's cheek, causing her to blush and beam. "I did. Hermione didn't believe I could pass a Muggle driving test, did you?"

"... You're in good company, mate - she didn't believe I could either!"

"You too? She thought I'd have to Confund the examiner!"

"That's not true, Daddy!" Two pairs of voices chorused.

Ron stared down at his surrogate nephews. Were it not for the chestnut hair, he might have blanched at the deja vu. "It's like the second coming of Fred and George..." he muttered.

"Frank and Hugo are right, love - that's not true, and no, I didn't," Hermione assured her husband, cupping his cheek so she could kiss it warmly. "I had complete faith in you."

Neville beamed down at his wife, captured her lips chastely, then motioned for Ron to follow him. Once they were a good distance away, he confessed in a whisper, "As a matter of fact, I did Confund him." Together, he and Ron lifted Rhona, Pandora and Nora Rose's trunks onto the train. "I only forgot to look in the rear mirror, and let's face it, I could use a Super-Sensory Charm for that." Ron nodded along absently. Sauntering back to their families, Ron observed how his ex-girlfriend was trying to corrall her own girls.

"Alice - No, Jean, Jean, you stay right here... Would you like a Chocolate Frog?..."

Luna curled into her husband, watching the scene with a kind of bemused bafflement. "Thank the Grey Ladythey'renot twins..." Alice was 7 and Jean, the baby, was 4.

"Excuse me, who decided to turn babymaking into a competition?" Ron twittered, smirking down at his wife.

Luna flushed. "... Hermione and I did..." She mumbled, like a caught child forced to make an admission. "But you know your mum - she wanted us to have what she did!"

"No, she just wanted more grandbabies - little wonder she pretty much adopted this lot!" And he gestured at Alice, Jean, Frank, Hugo and Nora Rose.

"It's not my fault Hermione took my being pregnant all the time as a sort of challenge..."

Ron kissed Luna's temple. "We still edged them, love - 6 to 5. Remember that." The boys had been quite the surprise. It had been sort of funny how Hermione had turned purple with incensed envy upon Ron and Luna announcing they were having triplets.

"Nev," Luna hummed to her best friend. "Did Harry and Ginny bring Albus by?"

"Hmm? Oh, no... no... Al's already onboard; we just gave him a ride. Gin can't be on her feet anymore, you know."

Hermione rolled her eyes. "Pregnant in her mid-30s... and twins again! Of all the foolish things for Harry to do..."

Neville chortled and cut his bride off with a kiss on the mouth. "I thought it was rather fitting, love. And funny. If anyone deserved to have twins the most out of all of us, it was old Gin!"

"Any idea what they'll name them yet?" Ron wanted to know.

"Harry says they're thinking about James and Lily," Hermione chittered, as she fussed over her eldest daughter. "Bag - jumper..." She pulled Nora Rose in her for a hug. "Miss you..."

"Copycats!" Ron was bawling. "We named our kids after our parents, now they have to do it too?"

"Be kind, Ronald..." Hermione clucked. Her eyes were sad. "Harry has more reason to honor his parents than we did... At least ours can are here to enjoy their namesakes..."

Ron nodded. "Yeah..." he mumbled. Clearing his throat, he checked his pocketwatch again. "It's nearly eleven, you girls better get onboard." He nodded to Rhona and Pandora.

"Don't forgive to give Hagrid our love!"

"Mum! I can't give a professor love!"

"But you know Hagrid..."

"Professor Hagrid, he'll be," Pandora rolled her eyes. "I can't walk into Care of Magical Creatures and give him love..." She aimed a kick at her sister. "See you later, Rho - watch out for threstrals."

"I thought they were invisible - you said they were invisible!" As Rhona made to chase after her twin, Ron held her back from nearly crashing into her godparents, who were sharing a rather passionate kiss goodbye. "Ride safe," Hermione hugged Neville around the neck. "And watch out for our girl. You're riding in the caboose, right?"

"Yup."

"OK. I love you."

Giving a jerk of his head, Ron guided his own namesake off to one side. "Threstrals are invisible, just as Panny and Mummy said. But anyway, you won't be going up to the castle that way; you'll be going in the boats..."

"What if I'm in Slytherin, Daddy?"

The vulnerable whisper was for her father alone, and Ron knelt down so he was eye-level with his little girl.

"Rhona Noelle," he stated. "Your mother and I will be proud of whatever House you end up in."

"But just say..."

"... including Slytherin..." (He fought not to make a face). "... which will have gained a wonderful young witch. It doesn't matter to Mummy or me, love. But if it matters to you, you can choose Gryffindor, or Ravenclaw, over Slytherin."

"Or Hufflepuff?"

At Rhona's bright and shining eyes, Ron barked out a laugh and tousled her hair.

"Yes, even Hufflepuff."

"Hufflepuff?" Hermione laughed brightly, turning from where she remained at rest in her husband's embrace; she seemed reluctant to let him out of her arms. "Whoever would want to be in that House?"

"Teddy Lupin, for a start," Ron shot back. "Speaking of, did you know he and Victoire are engaged?" At Hermione's wide and agog blinking that indicated she most certainly had not heard that about Harry's godson, Ron laughed and ruffled Rhona's hair again. "Yes, you can even ask to be Sorted in Hufflepuff, if you want to."

"Really?"

"It did for Uncle Harry."

He had never told any of his children that before, and was pretty sure Harry hadn't either, yet he saw the wonder shining in Rhona's eyes when he said it. The Express's whistle blew and children were now bounding onto the train, parents huddling to the windows to pass kisses, last minute reminders. Neville kissed Hermione deeply one last time and then leapt for the caboose where one Professor every term was assigned to ride the rails to the castle, for security. Nudging Rhona aboard, Ron slipped his fingers into Luna's and the couple strolled at an ambling pace down the platform, keeping step with the train. Hermione corralled the too-little ones - all seven of them, including the triplets.

Many students were craning their necks out the windows. "Why are they all staring?" Nora Rose demanded.

"Don't let it worry you, love," Luna called.

"Probably your mum," Ron added. "Minister for Magic and all - she's extremely famous!"

Nora Rose, Rhona, Pandora and Xenophilius, who had joined his sisters and cousin at their compartment window, all laughed. The train thundered out of the tunnel and turned a corner; Ron's hand was raised in farewell.

"She'll be all right," Luna murmured.

Turning to her, Ron stooped and pecked his wife lightly on the lips. "I know she will." Taking a moment, he sighed deeply. "Shall I drop you off at the castle?"

"Yes, please," Luna murmured, swaying on tiptoes to brush a kiss along his cheek. A beat, and then she smirked: "Just so long as you don't crash your Dad's car again on grounds."

"You're taking Arthur Sr.'s Ford Anglia up to the castle?" Hermione didn't seem to know whether to be horrified or impressed, gawping at the couple as they strode back over to her and the gaggle of kids.

"A Professor of Field Studies mustn't be late. Plus, she seems to like it," Ron slung his free arm over his former girlfriend, the other wound about his wife's waist. "Besides, the old contraption runs right well - it did on our honeymoon when Lu and I were first married."

"Hmm," Hermione hummed demurely. "If only Neville and I had left our wedding by car instead of by broomstick."

"Leaving a reception by broomstick after being Just Married is tradition!"

"Oh, yes - until the bride or groom falls off the edge at 35,000 feet..."

"That'd never happen," Ron rolled his eyes.

"You didn't let it happen to Luna. For heaven's sake, Ronald, you didn't even let her getona broomstick!"

"Lu has a delicate consitution. And a fear of heights.Andshe was carrying the girls at the time. Come off it, 'Mione, love - you know this!..."

And through much laughing and ribbing, the two families strode back through the barrier to the Muggle world together. All was well.