And Then There Was Three

"Now, Mr. and Mrs. Granger," Mrs. Thomas began, but was cut off by Hermione and Ron both saying:

"We're not married!" They turned to each other and had looks that said they almost wanted to burst into hysterical fits of laughter.

Mrs. Thomas suddenly looked reluctant to give Miko over. Like it really made any difference, she was just happy that it was one less depressed child to deal with.

Hermione saw the look in her eyes and instantly said, "Oh, but he's my fiancé! Yes, we live together and... He's my fiance. And these are my friends Harry and Ginny Potter, and their little girl, Sophia."

Harry smiled at her uncomfortably, but Ginny waved.

Mrs. Thomas still thought it wasn't as great of an idea, but she went along with it anyway.

"Well, we should head to a nice comfortable spot and talk about Michael. I'd like to speak with the relatives alone though." She shot that statement at Harry, Ginny, and Ron.

Ron turned beet red, but he nodded his head as well.

"Why can't Ron join me?" Hermione said indignantly. "He's my fiance. He's going to be in Michael's life as much as I will."

"I don't know for sure if you two will be together forever," Mrs. Thomas said matter-of-factly.

"Now you wait a minute," Ron said, letting his temper get the best of him. "Who are you to say how long we'll be together? I happen to love this woman very much."

Hermione was very flattered, but this didn't improve Mrs. Thomas' own thoughts of Hermione and Ron as a couple.

"That's all well and good, but until you're married, I can only go by assumptions. I mean no harm of course, Mr..."

"Weasley," Ron said abruptly.

Mrs. Thomas opened her mouth to say something, but closed it rather quickly.

And a smile spread across her face.

"You wouldn't happen to know Arthur and Molly would you?"

"They're my parents!" Both Ron and Ginny exclaimed.

"You tell Arthur and Molly Edwina said 'hello'. Why don't we all go get a bite to eat?" She had suddenly become quite a cheerful person.

So, instead of the original plan, Mrs. Thomas discussed Michael over a nice slice of blueberry pie with Hermione, Ron, Ginny, and Harry.

She was happy that Harry and Ginny had a child and would be able to help Hermione, not to mention the seven children that Mrs. Weasley had. Mrs. Thomas was also ecstatic of the fact that Hermione was a Healer at St. Mungo's. And she was glad to know that Ron worked at Gringott's.

Mrs. Thomas told Hermione that when the Texas Children's Center found out that she was the only living wizarding relative Miko had, they immediately sent a note to the Minister of Magic. Mrs. Thomas didn't know it was a Weasley. She was delighted to hear the news.

After discussing what seemed to be the easy things to Hermione, Mrs. Thomas told her and Ron that Michael had not been too keen to talk. She said that ever since Ministry for Magical Defense had found Miko hiding in the closet of his bedroom.

So that was the main reason the Magical Defense had not found out exactly what happened to Miko's parents, he was the only witness and he wasn't talking. Hermione thought that this was going to be very difficult to deal with, but Ron thought of this as way to work on better communication skills.

After Mrs. Thomas finally finished the last of her crumbs, she told Ron, Ginny, Hermione, and Harry that she would be heading out rather quickly.

"You tell Molly and Art I said hello. Don't forget. I'm so proud of Art's family. I knew the Weasleys would always be excellent."

Mrs. Thomas gave Sophia a pat on the head and an awkward hug to Miko, and she waved to the adults.
"Hermione, I'm sure you'll do an excellent job."

Ron cleared his throat.

"And you too, young Arthur."

Mrs. Thomas smiled and she headed down the terminal.

Miko's hand was still clutched to Ron's.

"Ginny and Harry, we're just going to drop Michael's things off at the flat and then we'll head to the Burrow and let Mr. and Mrs. Weasley meet our new addition. Okay?"

Ginny and Harry nodded.

Sophia walked over to Miko and pulled at his wild brown hair. Miko turned and did the same to her red-orange hair.

Ginny picked up Sophia and asked in a stern voice, "Why did you do that, Sophia?"

Sophia only smiled.

"Well, we'll see you there," Harry said as he took Ginny by the hand and they left.

Ron copied Ginny and picked up Miko. Miko didn't seem to be complaining. Then again, he really didn't talk.

"Well, we'll be taking a cab, won't we?"

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

The Burrow visit would have to be delayed, because on the cab ride home, Miko and Ron had fallen asleep.

Miko looked adorable, while Ron on the other hand, looked like a twenty-seven year old snoring baby. But it was cute.

When they arrived, Hermione tapped Ron softly on his nose and he easily awoke. Ron looked down at Miko and gave a sleepy smile to Hermione.

"He's got your nose," he said quietly.

"He is my cousin," Hermione said smiling.

The cab stopped and Hermione paid. Ron never really attempted at taking Muggle Studies, so anything Muggle was left up to Hermione.

"He won't even get to see the flat," Ron whispered. He went to Miko's new room and laid him on the bed as carefully as he could.

"Yes, but he'll wake eventually. He's deemed to get hungry," Hermione said sitting down.

He returned to the living room and sat on the couch with Hermione.

"I'm meeting Ginny tomorrow during lunch to talk about some wedding ideas."

"I don't get a say in this? I thought we were getting married!" Ron said sounding more upset than anything.

Hermione turned to look him in the eyes and stated simply, "Alright then, you can write out the invitation list, pick what colors the flowers should be, the wedding dress, the tux (of course you'll be doing that anyway), the color of the bridesmaid's dresses, and whether this is going to be a wizard or Muggle wedding or not."

"I wish I hadn't asked," Ron said, turning away from Hermione turning red.

Hermione kissed him on the cheek.

Ron owled his parents and told them that Miko would not be able to join the wild festivities at the Weasleys because he had fallen asleep and they (Ron and Hermione) wanted to let him get as much rest as possible.

So the Weasleys, being the parents they are, came over to visit.

"He's skin and bones," Mrs. Weasley said as she stood over Miko's bed. Mr. Weasley didn't say anything, only smiled down at the sleeping boy.

Mrs. Weasley turned to Ron and asked, "Do you know what happened to his parents?"

Hermione shook her head, "He won't talk."

"All he needs is some affection," Mrs. Weasley said rubbing the sweat off his forehead.

"I know you don't expect to raise a child in this matchbox," Mrs. Weasley rounded on her son.

Ron looked up at the ceiling, and Mr. Weasley pat Mrs. Weasley on the back. "Don't nag, dear. I'm sure Ron and Hermione are working on the wedding right now."

Ron quickly looked back at his mother, "Hermione was talking about it before we owled you!" He turned around expecting something, anything from Hermione.

"Well," Hermione began, "I've only got a few ideas."

Mrs. Weasley nodded her head, "That's good enough dear. Well, we better let him sleep. Let's leave the room."

They left the room and Mrs. Weasley chided Ron about his mess of clothes thrown in the closet, and his bad habit of leaving boxers on the bathroom floor. Hermione couldn't help but to join in with Mrs. Weasley this time.

Ron tried his best to ignore their comments, giving Mr. Weasley a rather pathetic 'help me' look.

Eventually getting rid of their parents, Hermione decided to make dinner. Much to her surprise, Miko did not wake up. So she and Ron at dinner at their small two-seater table alone.

As Ron and Hermione lay in bed, they talked about parenthood, the wedding, and work.

Hermione nestled in Ron's chest and he couldn't help but to sniff her hair.

"This is going to be really hard," Hermione said, knowing that Ron would know exactly what she was talking about.

Ron kissed his fiance on the forehead, "Everything isn't meant to be easy, Hermione. I mean, if everything were, would Harry have turned away from Voldemort and let someone else handle it?"

Hermione looked up at Ron, "Yes, but that's not what I mean. I understand that, but why us? Why were we chosen to be responsible for this child?"

Ron shrugged, "No one knows that. But I'm sure we'll do okay."

Hermione decided that she'd change the subject She brought up the subject of Ron's job.

And that was a very sensitive subject as usual.

"You've got a lot of time off. I didn't know you were studious about your job. You always told Harry you hated curse breaking."

"You know, I was thinking that with my time off from Gringotts, I could work on my broom skills." Ron tried to say this as casually as possible.

"Why?" Hermione asked, curious.

"Well, I'm thinking about trying out for the Cannons this fall. It seems their Keeper retired and positions are open. Plus, it's something that I've been-"

"Ron! Listen to yourself. Why would you do that now? Michael has just come into our lives? We're about to get married. What sense would it make? I think I'd rather have you not working."

"Why?" Ron asked flabbergasted.

There was screaming coming from Miko's room and Ron and Hermione immediately jumped out of be.

Hermione knelt by Miko's bed, and sat him up. He wasn't talking, but he was making very strange mumbling noises.

"Well, it's obvious isn't it?" Ron said standing behind Hermione.

"What?" She asked, not taking her eyes off Miko.

Ron moved around so that he could lift Miko into his arms. He did it so easily; Hermione was shocked at his gentle notion.

"He'll just have to sleep with us for the rest of the night. Just in case, you know, he has another one of his spells."

Hermione only nodded her head, feeling foolish for not thinking up the idea herself. She followed Ron back to the Ron and watched as Ron laid Miko between them.

"This conversation about the Cannons is not over," Hermione said to Ron as he kissed her goodnight.