The Consequences of Alcohol and Depression

The Consequences of Alcohol and Depression

Chapter 21: Epilogue

Mrs. Hermione Weasley stirred from her slumber as she felt a large hand softly stroking her once again pregnant stomach. She lazily stretched, snuggling closer to the warm body that was pressed against her back.

"Morning, love." Hermione slowly opened her eyes, a red blur hovering above her. As her vision focused, she rolled onto her back and smiled at her husband.

"Morning, Percy," she replied sleepily.

"And how are we today?" he asked cheerily, gently drumming his fingers on her belly.

"We're fine," she told him in a saccharine sweet voice, raising a hand to cup his cheek, the ginger stubble tickling her palm. Percy lowered his head slowly, capturing Hermione's lips in a very thorough kiss.

Their wedding had been a beautiful affair. It had taken place sixteen months after Nicole was born. Hermione had chosen to wear a Muggle gown, like Ginny had, and she'd looked spectacular. Five months after that, Hermione and Percy had been given terrific news: Hermione had gotten pregnant again! Six months after, she'd delivered two healthy babies, twins Cassandra and Michael.

Hermione was quite enjoying motherhood. Nicole was now four, and Cassandra and Michael were in their 'terrible twos'. All three kids had the trademark Weasley hair, and the twins had gotten Percy's beautiful azure eyes.

Percy was a wonderful husband. Loving, supportive, attentive, wonderful with the children; he was terrific. They had a few minor squabbles every now and then (like Percy's aversion to Hermione working while pregnant), but they always worked things out quickly and got through their problems.

Hermione sighed into Percy's mouth and threaded her fingers through his crimson tresses, relaxing further into the bed and the kiss. Percy lightly stroked Hermione's cheeks, keeping the kiss deep but gentle.

Pulling back slightly, Hermione smiled as Percy rested his forehead against her own. "I- love- you," he whispered against her lips, punctuating each word with a gentle kiss.

"I love you, too," Hermione responded in kind, pulling Percy back down. They stopped their romantic display, however, when the door to their room was flung open.

"Mummy! Daddy!" shrieked Nicole, dashing into the room and jumping onto the bed.

"Oh, be careful with your Mum, Nicole," Percy said worriedly, halting Nicole's process of jumping on Hermione. She looked tentatively at her mother, not moving another inch.

"Well, you can give me a hug, sweetie," Hermione said with a smile. "We just don't want to hurt your little brother or sister."

Nicole gained a very knowing look, nodding sagely. "Yes…" she said in an important voice, patting Hermione's belly with her small hand. She then gently put her arms around her mother's neck.

"There you go," Hermione said, kissing the top of Nicole's head. Nicole then turned and spotted Percy.

"Daddy!" she yelled, quickly jumping on top of Percy, nearly knocking the wind out of him. Percy let out a short grunt before hugging her back and ruffling her hair, the messy pigtails becoming even more rumpled.

"Where are your brother and sister?" Hermione asked. Before Nicole could answer, a tired voice sounded from the hallway.

"They're here!" Ron suddenly appeared in the doorway, looking very tired but very happy. He was holding Michael, who began to wiggle as soon as he saw his parents.

"Daddy!" Michael said excitedly, jumping into Percy's arms as soon as Ron sat him down. Michael was very close to his father, what with them being the only two men in the house.

"Where's Draco?" Hermione asked, leaning over and gently smoothing down her son's hair.

"He'll be right here," Ron said, stifling a large yawn. "Did you guys have a nice night?" Ron and Draco had taken the children for the night so Percy and Hermione could have some much-deserved rest.

"We were asleep by eleven," Hermione said truthfully. She and Percy had spent a nice, quiet evening talking by the fire and reading in bed. They had been too exhausted to even consider doing… anything else.

After just a few moments, a very disheveled, but also very happy looking Draco appeared, carrying a grumpy Cassandra. He sat her on the bed, smiling wistfully at the sight of the family. Without so much as a word, Cassandra, or Cassie for short, nestled herself down between her mother and father, Michael curling up beside her.

"Cassie didn't get much sleep last night," Draco explained. "Seems we forgot her bedtime 'storybook'." Ron snorted very loudly. For reasons unknown, every night at bedtime, Cassandra liked to be read to from Hogwarts, A History. Like mother, like daughter.

"And when Cassie doesn't sleep, Mikey doesn't sleep," Hermione added, looking down at the sleeping twins.

Draco sighed happily. "Ron?" he asked, raising his eyebrows.

"You want to tell them?" Ron replied; Draco nodded furiously.

"Tell us what?" Percy asked, looking over to Hermione, who was now in the process of putting Nicole's hair into a much neater plait. She shrugged, looking to the two men at the foot of the bed.

Smiling hugely, Ron took Draco's hand. "The adoption papers went through," he said quietly.

"Really?" Hermione asked. Draco nodded.

"They said they'd have a baby for us within four months," he told them excitedly.

"Did you tell Mum yet?" Percy asked.

"We're doing it today. Gin and Harry stopped by last night right after we got the news, and you four are the only ones who know yet," Ron said.

Hermione smiled. "That is so wonderful," she said sincerely. Ron and Draco had been trying to adopt since Nicole had been a year old, but they hadn't had any luck… until now, apparently.

"Yeah," Draco said blissfully, "We'll finally have a child to love and raise as our own…" Caught in the tender moment he leaned over and kissed Ron intensely.

When they hadn't parted after several moments, Hermione cleared her throat. "You know, you guys had better go tell Mum; if she finds out you two didn't tell her straightaway that she's getting another grandchild, man, will she be in a right mood!" Ron and Draco both nodded in assent.

"Yeah, we'd better go," Draco said. He suddenly cocked his head to the side. "Say how many is this going to make? Grandkids, I mean."

Percy bit his lip in concentration. "What, ten? With four on the way now?"

"Eleven with four- er, five coming," Hermione amended. So far, she and Percy had three, Harry and Ginny had two with another on the way, Fred and Angelina had one and she was pregnant with twins, George and Sarah had two, and Bill and Fleur had three. Charlie was still single, and he'd said that Molly just might have to count on that forever. He was perfectly happy being an uncle, not to mention godfather to Nicole, and Bill's oldest, Allie.

"Well, thanks a bunch for watching the kids," Percy said, smiling down at the children.

"It's no problem," Ron said. "You know we always love to."

"Now that you two have had plenty of practice, you should be great with your own," Percy said.

"Hopefully," Draco said. "Okay, little one, come give us a hug." Nicole quickly jumped up and went to Draco, hugging he and Ron in turn.

"And what do we say, Nicki?" Hermione asked.

Clasping her hands in front of her, Nicole smiled sweetly. "Thank you for letting me 'pend the night, Uncle Ron and Uncle Draco," she said graciously.

Ron and Draco both grinned. "She is absolutely adorable!" Ron gushed, softly patting the child's head.

"You are very welcome, Nicole," Draco told her. "Bye, everyone!"

"Bye," chorused Percy, Hermione, and Nicole as Ron and Draco Disapparated.

Hermione turned to Nicole. "So, Nicki, what did you do last night?"

The girl smiled proudly. "Uncle Ron teached me to play chess!"

"Terrific," Hermione said dryly, her annoyance at her brother-in-law and best friend quite obvious to Percy as he took that opportunity to grin broadly.

"Alright, I'll get these two to bed, then," he said, standing and gently lifting Cassandra with one arm and Michael with the other. "Come on, Nic, you can help me with Cassie and Mikey, and then we'll make breakfast for Mummy."

"Yay!" Nicole called; cooking was one of her favorite activities. She quickly dashed out the door towards the twins' room.

Chuckling, Percy walked around the bed, stopping in front of Hermione. "No rest for the weary, huh Mione?"

"Not for a while, at least," she said with a smile. Percy leaned down and gently pressed his lips to hers.

"I'll be counting the days," he replied with a lascivious grin.

"What, till we can sleep through the night again?" Hermione asked, feigning innocence.

"Sure," Percy said with a wink. Hermione simply smiled and shook her head as he walked through the open door.

The End

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