Happily Ever After

Happily Ever After: A Day at the Burrow

The snow was falling lightly as Hermione pulled up to the Burrow and got out of her car. The house was lit spectacularly from the roof to the ground. There were lights everywhere as though the house had gotten in a bad fight with the Carnival Ferris wheel. Even some of the chickens were looking particularly (and peculiarly) festive. They were pecking away aimlessly on the front lawn with multi-colored lights wrapped around them, making soft squawking sounds. Hermione suspected that it was Fred and George who had committed this crime. After all, they had been complaining lately of having way too many Color-Changing No-Heat Christmas Lights left in inventory.

Hermione popped open the trunk to get out the presents. Well, "presents" was a bit of an understatement, she thought amusedly. She pulled her royal blue, hand-knitted scarf tighter around her neck. There were bags upon bags of gifts in the trunks for Arthur and Molly, her own parents, Ron, Harry, all of the Weasley siblings, their children, and her own children. It had been a long and hard day of work at the Department of International Magical Cooperation and being chief of it was not very convenient on Christmas Eve.

She heard the door open abruptly and looked up to see who it was. Ron, tall and gangly, older and yet as gleeful as he always was at Christmas time came dashing out in his socks and Weasley sweater (maroon as always) to greet her.

"'Mione, my darling," he shouted, grinning broadly and engulfing her with a huge hug. "How was work? Hard day today, wasn't it?"

"Oh, especially; I'm just exhausted, Ron. You wouldn't believe how many international calamities can happen in the space of ten hours! I've been talking to the Accidental Magic Reversal Squad all day and finally decided to leave it up to Padma and Parvati. They insisted that I come home." She said all of this very quickly and with an exasperated sigh realized how cold it was outside.

"Ron! Why didn't you put any shoes on? You're going to get a cold. Come on, help me bring all of these inside," she scolded him, but placed a small kiss on his cheek. Ron blushed and laughed.

"Of course...er, did you get a chess set for Caitlyn? She was really hoping for one so badly, and I, well, you know, I have kind of a soft spot for Caitlyn," he said with a goofy smile. Hermione grinned back.

"You have a soft spot for all our children, dear," she replied, "and yes, I did get her a chess set."

They both loaded their arms with several of the colorful bags and packages and were ushered into the house by Charlie, who was looking almost more excited than they felt. The inside of the house smelled like turkey, pies, and pine: the inevitable scents of Christmas. He helped take her coat and scarf and greeted her cheerfully.

"Nice to see you, 'Mione," he said, taking a look at the presents. "You can put all those in my room upstairs. Bill and I are going to take care of them later tonight." He winked. "It's going to be a very long evening."

And that it was. Children of all ages were running rampant through the house. Some of the more mischievous ones were shouting, laughing, and trying to annoy Percy by stealing his glasses. The house was filled with the usual busy cheer of Christmas. Just for the overwhelming sensation (and wonderful warm feeling) it gave her, Hermione decided to count the number of people who were staying there for the holidays.

Charlie had only recently gotten married and his wife was pregnant with a little girl. She was getting rather big now and loved tapioca pudding and baked potatoes with bacon, mustard, and basil. Yes, it was the craving stage. Bill wasn't married...yet. It was surprising, but true. They were all still waiting for him to propose to Fleur. Percy was married to Penelope Clearwater, of course, and they had two children to boast. George was the proud husband of Alicia Spinnet and he was the father of four kids. Fred was married to Angelina Johnson and they had five. Ron and Hermione were in the lead at the moment, though, with seven children. Tomorrow, Hermione thought eagerly, she was going to surprise Ron with some more news. Harry had finally fallen for Ginny, who was very relieved that he had come to his senses. They were married and had a little boy who had Harry's messy, jet black hair but Ginny's freckles and bright blue eyes. His name was Cedric and at four years old he acted quite like a genius and rather often scared his parents with the magic he could achieve involuntarily.

Hermione added all these children to the adults staying at the Burrow to find the staggering sum of thirty-five people for whom she and Ron had to provide gifts. The Weasley grandparents (Arthur and Molly) had to find beds (or sleeping bags, cots, blankets, and pillows) for everyone. At the moment, though, thankfully, some of them were out to save the adults most of the hassle. Harry, Fred, George, six of their kids, Arthur, Bill, and Hermione's two oldest (Will and Noss) were out playing Quidditch in the back field. That would (hopefully) save a lot of time.

She relieved herself gratefully of the burden she was carrying, about seven bags of presents, in Bill and Charlie's room. Freshening up and settling in, Hermione came downstairs to attend Ginny, Alicia, Angelina, and Caroline (Charlie's wife) in preparing supper for the plethora of people at the Burrow.

"This is the largest family I think I could ever imagine," she said with a contented sigh. Ginny hurried over with an ecstatic grin to give her a hug.

"Not that you have any part in it at all though, right, Hermione?" Ginny teased gently, floury hands patting her on the back. They all laughed.

"Well, yes...I suppose I am partly to blame."

Preparing supper was no easy feat. Everyone was involved some way or another. It wasn't long before two of Hermione's children found her. One of them, Jane, was eight years old.

"Mum," she demanded, "I can go outside with the rest and play Quidditch, can't I?"

"Of course you can, dear. Just be very careful and don't let any of those boys knock you off your broom."

"She won't. I saw her playing with Bill and Will earlier. She's just as talented as her father," commented Ginny, sending a godmother wink (which reminded Hermione of Charlie) in Jane's direction.

"Yay! Bye!" she said, smiling widely at them. She hurried outside to join the game. This brought Hermione's attention back down to her youngest daughter, Elizabeth. She was a tiny little girl with a poof of messy bright red hair, freckles, and big brown eyes. Right now she was looking up at her mum, nibbling on her finger.

"Yes? What would you like, my little bookmark?" she asked. Her daughter was looking at Hermione matter-of-factly. Though she wasn't yet two, Elizabeth was very intelligent.

"Want to help cook," she said, holding out the hand that wasn't preoccupied for Hermione to pick her up.

"Alright, you can help me cook," Hermione said, carefully removing Elizabeth's fingers from her mouth and balancing her on her hip. Then they prepared the meal, Elizabeth getting to stir the batter or pour the flour.

In the other room with the brightly lit and overly decorated Christmas tree, Ron was telling stories of past Christmases to Harry, Augery, Caitlyn (their other three children) Percy and Penelope's kids (Percival and Persephone), and to the remainder of Fred and George's children. Right now he was telling about their fourth year. Some topics included were how he was jealous of Viktor Krum, how Ginny had to go to the ball with Neville, and what the Great Hall looked like decked out with huge trees and suits of armor that sang carols (Harry wanted to hear it again).

He was highly exaggerating this, though, of course. His description of Viktor sounded more like a mountain troll with a broken nose but his details of the Great Hall, the music, the garden, and the general feeling of the night was perfect. The kids were fascinated by his stories and always asked for more as soon as he was finished. So by order of their petitions he started telling them about one time in his fifth year, when he saved almost all the goals against Ravenclaw in the Quidditch cup finals. By the end of the story half the kids were running around the house belting out choruses of "Weasley is our King!"

The night went on as thus until all of the children were read a book and tucked into bed. The adults were left to finally relax while setting up Santa Claus's mysterious appearance. Harry strode over to Hermione for the first time she had seen him that night and gave her a hug.

"How's it going, Hermione? Are you doing well?"

Hermione clung to Harry cheerfully; he was like her long lost brother.

"I'm great, Harry, insanely busy, but great." She withdrew from him, smiling. "And you?" she asked.

"Oh, you know, I'm the usual," he said modestly.

"That bad, is it?" she replied. They both laughed. "There are so many children in this house, can you believe it?"

"Hardly, but I'm sure there will be more," he said with a grin.

"Yes, you're right. There will be; and relatively soon, as a matter of fact," she said, discreetly patting her (now small) stomach, "but don't tell Ron yet. It's going to be a Christmas surprise."

"Don't tell me what?" Ron asked, joining them and placing a kiss on Hermione's cheek.

"Your present, Ron; it is Christmas! You're never supposed to ask questions at this time of year, don't you know that?"

"I do, excuse me, Harry, though you just violated that rule yourself. I shouldn't have asked," Ron quipped.

"Got me there," Harry said, giving Hermione a secretive look. He exchanged a few more best-friend and brotherly words with Ron and then left them to their own devices.

The tree looked beautiful in the corner. It was large and a deep forest green, fragrant with the scent of fir and pine. The dozens of ornaments and heaps of tinsel glittered on the tree magically. Hermione spotted small snitches, owls, wands, and trains hanging silently and majestically upon its boughs. A nearly amazing number of stockings "hung by the chimney with care" reminded Hermione of that Muggle cartoon about the Grinch.

Bill and Charlie were setting out all of the presents, stuffing stockings, and joking around with ribbons and bows all over themselves. Ginny and some of the other wives were holding a soft, mellifluous conversation in the corner. Caroline and Penelope were knitting scarves, comparing notes on different stitches. Fred and George were pestering Harry and Percy about their glasses ("Oy, Fred, it looks like the four-eyed convention's being held over here!"), and Arthur and Molly had gone to bed after the children. Hermione sighed comfortably with Ron's arm around her and leaned back into his warm chest.

"Did you ever think it would be like this, Ron?" she asked him innocently.

"Since first year," he replied. "I had this feeling; I knew it would be like this. That's why I was so, well, you know, about Krum. It was the first time that my image of us had been threatened. I love you, 'Mione. You know that. I love this family, Harry, and all of our children. I wouldn't do anything to trade my life away." he smiled at her, pulling her closer with his arm.

"I love you, Ron," she answered, looking up at him. He abruptly took out his wand and cast some spell upward. Hermione glanced curiously to see what it was.

"Mistletoe," Ron said mischievously. "I guess we have to kiss."

"Oh, horrors," said Hermione teasingly.

"Hey, that isn't nice!"

He wrapped his arms around her and leaned in, placing his lips on hers. She reacted, embracing him too, delicately. She loved his kisses. They were always so tender and caring, but at the same time wildly passionate. It was no wonder she already had seven kids, Hermione thought to herself, grinning. Ron deepened the kiss intimately and Hermione responded accordingly.

"Let's go to bed, it's pretty late," she said to him, once they had broken apart.

"Sounds good to me," replied Ron, an innocent smile plastered on his face. She knew what he was suggesting.

*~~~~~~*

The next morning Hermione awoke to the rumbling of feet downstairs towards the tree. She felt Ron wake up beside her with a slight movement and a yawn.

"Good morning," she whispered.

"Good morning," he responded, kissing her lightly on the forehead, and pushing her bushy brown locks behind her ear. They lay in content silence for a few minutes, listening to the carried shrieks of delight and enthusiasm from the kids downstairs.

"I have something to tell you for Christmas," Hermione said, looking at him happily.

"What's that?" he asked, searching her face. She smiled at him and gave him a short kiss.

"Elizabeth isn't going to be the youngest for much longer, Ron."

Ron's eyes grew wide for a moment...then his face was filled with love, joy, and excitement all at the same time.

"Really?" he said rather loudly. "You're going to..." He quieted himself a bit. "We're going to have another?"

Hermione nodded eagerly.

"Oh, 'Mione," he exclaimed, giving her a huge hug. They lay there for a while longer, just thinking about this new discovery.

"It's a boy, isn't it?" Ron asked.

"Yes, I believe so," replied Hermione.

Suddenly, Augery (their four-year old) ran into the room and jumped on the bed.

"Mum! Dad! You have to come downstairs! You won't believe what Caitlyn got from Santa Claus! A chess set, just like she wanted! Isn't that wonderful? I've been waiting for you to come down so I can open my presents and so has Harry. Come on, hurry up!" she said with an amazing speed, so delighted that she was hopping up and down on the bed and tugging on Ron's hand, entreating him to get up.

"Alright, alright," Ron said, "go on downstairs and we'll be there in a minute."

"Okay!"

Christmas was always like this at the Burrow with the Weasleys, and ever would it continue to be like this. Numbers of children would grow, sorrows would decrease, and each year was more unique and exciting than the last.

~Evyfleur