Chocolate & Pumpkin Ice Cream

November - a month that normally brings the transition of autumn into winter. Normally. This month, however, there was an unexpected heat wave, making Hermione feel even more uncomfortable than she already did.

No matter how sympathetic George tried to be, Hermione would still snap at him for almost any reason. The reason she used most tended to be her clothes.

It seemed as though she had grown almost overnight, and was still growing. At only four months into her pregnancy, she still had a lot more growing to do.

"Can I kill you yet, George?" she asked, managing to sit in one of the seats at 3W. The twins kept insisting that she should start cutting down on work, but Hermione was insisting that she kept working. After all, she was pregnant, not an invalid.

"What did I do this time?"

George was busy arranging a display in window, and not really listening to her. Anyway, she was usually complaining about the same thing.

"I feel awful!" she moaned. "And it's all your fault."

"I think you had something to do with it as well," George pointed out, adjusting the position of a poster. He knew Hermione was scowling at him, so he suggested that she go home. When she point blank refused, he suggested that she go down to Florean Fortescue's Ice Cream Parlour. That was something that she did eagerly, promising to be back soon.

Fred emerged from the workshop laughing. From the way he looked at George, he could tell it was about him and Hermione. "What?" he demanded.

"You two! You act like more of a married couple than me and Kath ever do!"

"We're not married." George was firm in his tone.

"Not yet."

"Oh, don't you start as well! I have enough of that from mum - I can't bear to have you going on at me as well."

"She's having your children and you're not even considering marrying her?" Fred looked a little amazed.

"Not yet. And will you quit annoying me - I'm trying to get some work done!"

"There has never been a Weasley baby born out of wedlock."

"Whoever said they're going to be Weasley's?"

Fred looked almost ready to explode. "What? Mum'll go ballistic! Dad won't be much better!"

George sighed. He and Hermione had already discussed this, but were yet to come to a decision. Pulling his wand out of his pocket, he pointed it calmly at his brother and cast a silencing spell. Seeing Fred's enraged look, and how he was advancing threateningly on him, George quickly cast the full body-bind curse. Fred wobbled precariously for a moment, before toppling over.

With a grin, George turned back to his display.

Now he'd finally be able to get on with his display without someone bothering him. As much as having a twin was a good thing, it could also be a pain at other times.

Just as he was finishing his display, he was distracted by a small shriek from the doorway. Looking up he saw it was Katherine. "What's the matter?" he asked. Baby Alexander, who was in his mothers arms, gurgled in amusement.

"What did you do to him?" she demanded, pointing, with her free hand, to Fred who was lying on the floor, the curse still on him.

George flushed. "Um, it's just the body-bind." In truth, he had forgotten about him, but he wasn't about to admit that.

"George!" Katherine looked outraged. She handed him Alexander before fishing her wand out of the pocket of her robes. She quickly reversed the body-bind. Fred got to his feet looking very disgruntled. He started yelling at his brother, but while his lips moved, there was no sound.

Katherine shot George a withering look and reversed the silencing charm.

Fred glared at his brother. He seemed to be at a loss for words. He muttered something unrepeatable under his breath and balled up his fists.

"Oh, grow up, Fred!" exclaimed Katherine. "It was just a joke." She turned to George. "Wasn't it?"

There was something about her tone of voice that made George feel as though he were a small child. He nodded meekly, not daring to disagree with his commanding sister-in-law. "Good."

Looking satisfied, Katherine took Alexander out of George's arms (much to George's relief as he had started to pull his uncle's hair). "Where's Hermione?" she asked.

"Ice cream," replied George, and Katherine nodded in understanding.

"How is she? Any morning sickness?"

George shrugged. "As well as can be expected, I guess. It's not really morning sickness. More like, middle of the night sickness."

Katherine looked sympathetic. "What about Ron and Amanda? I haven't seen them for a while."

He would have answered her telling her that he hadn't seen them for a while, but he was interrupted by a group of young customers who came into the shop.

Fred ushered his wife and child into the back of the shop, leaving George to deal with the customers.

The Three Broomsticks was bustling with young customers: it just so happened to be a Hogsmeade weekend when Ron, Harry and Hermione decided to visit the Wizarding village.

With their busy life's, the three friend rarely got to spend as much time together as the used to. These occasional get-togethers (just the three of them with no-one else) were very much valued by all three of them. They also them a chance to get away from work.

"I can't believe we were ever that young," commented Ron, nodding in the direction of a group of third year students.

"Don't say that!" protested Hermione. "You make me feel old."

"He has a point, though," said Harry. "It seems like so long ago. It's almost unreal."

"Yeah, and now I'm married, Hermione's pregnant and you're..." Ron trailed off, looking questioningly at Harry. "What exactly are you and Laura?"

Harry shifted uncomfortably, trying to avoid Ron's prying gaze. Hermione smirked at him. She too had been wondering this.

"Are you going to get married?" she asked. Harry flushed right up to the roots of his dark hair.

"If she says 'yes'," he admitted in a quiet voice, barely above a whisper.

Ron looked decidedly impressed. "So you're finally going to ask her?" Harry nodded.

He muttered something that sounded like, "Her birthday next week."

The redhead grinned. "Good on you. I'll go get us some drinks to celebrate." When Ron came back a couple of minutes later carrying a tray of drinks, he looked a bit embarrassed. "I think Rosmerta was trying to flirt with me." Harry and Hermione couldn't help but snigger at this and Ron looked a bit put out. He set the drinks down. Hermione took one look at hers before dashing away in the direction of the ladies toilets.

Ron grimaced. "Is she going to be all right, do you think?"

Harry shrugged. "Not a clue. I've no experience in that sort of thing. Unlike you. I can't believe you're going to be a father."

"What's wrong with me being a father?" asked Ron.

"Well, it's just strange, that's all," said Harry, trying not to get Ron angry. That was the last thing he needed. He took a swig of his Butterbeer. "So have you started thinking of names?"

Ron grinned wickedly. "I keep winding Amanda up by telling her the middle name is going to be Chudley. She gets really wound up about it and keeps threatening me!"

"Is it really such a good idea to wind her up?" asked Harry.

After thinking about it for a second, Ron shrugged. "I dunno. It's still bloody hilarious, though."

Harry didn't look too impressed though, and so turned the subject to Hermione, who still hadn't returned from the toilets. "On a scale of one to ten, how surprised were you about her and George getting together?" Ron considered this for a second before saying:

"Eleven."

"Really? For me it was more like twenty."

"She kissed you, didn't she?" asked Ron. Harry blushed once again and nodded.

"I was helping George test the Duplicate Quill. She thought I was him."

Ron nodded in understanding. Suddenly he gave Harry a puzzled expression. "How come you didn't tell anyone else? I mean, Hermione making you promise doesn't really sound like you."

"Blackmail." Hermione took her seat at the table, and pushed away the drink of pumpkin juice that Ron had bought for her. She grinned mischievously. Turning to Ron, she said, "Do you remember that picture of you and Harry at your twenty-first birthday party?"

The redhead paled beneath his freckles. "Would you really have done it?" he managed to ask her.

Hermione nodded. "Why not?"

"Harry you're an idiot." Ron's comment shocked Harry.

"What? I'm not!"

"Harry, you have been an honourary Weasley for quite a large part of your life. Haven't you learnt anything?" Ron looked half-angry, half-amused.

"Erm... don't accept any food from the twins."

Ron rolled his eyes. "Apart from that. Remember that picture we have from my birthday? The one of Hermione and Ginny?"

Hermione's mouth dropped open. "Ron Weasley, you wouldn't."

Imitating Hermione, Ron nodded, replying, "Why not?"

"Truce?" asked Hermione meekly, blatantly ignoring Harry's smirk.

Grinning broadly, Ron stuck out his hand. Hermione shook it, feeling slightly defeated.

"What are you doing, Little Bee?"

Hermione looked up from the 3W paper work that she was doing to see George stood in the doorway, s bunch of tulips in his hands.

"Aren't they a bit out of season?" she asked gesturing towards the flowers.

"Ah, well, that's the beauty of magic." George grinned, setting them down on the table beside her. "However, magic is nowhere as beautiful as you are." He ran a hand nervously through his red hair.

"You want something, don't you?" Hermione asked, narrowing her eyes suspiciously.

"No!" he protested. "I just saw these flowers and I thought of you. But, if you're offering, a kiss will do nicely."

"I think I can manage that," Hermione told him, as he caught her lips in a soft kiss. "I might even be able to stretch to two." She kissed him gently and smiled. "What it is?" she asked, seeing the amused expression on his face.

"You have ink on your face," he told her, wiping off the offending substance with his thumb.

"Thanks," she told him.

"Are you hungry?" he asked, straightening up. "Because I have a hankering for Chinese food."

Hermione pulled a face. "Urgh. Not tonight, George. They're giving my heart burn." She placed a hand on her bump and smiled apologetically. "You're welcome to get some for yourself, though."

George shook his head. "I won't bother," he said. "There's no point." He smoothed down her hair and placed a soft kiss on the top of her head. "Do you want anything to drink?" he asked.

"I'll just have a water," she said. She followed him into the kitchen and frowned. "I swear I only tidied this place up yesterday."

"I'll sort it out," George promised her. He poured her a glass of water and handed it to her. She took it thankfully and sipped it gently. He disappeared into the larder and emerged with what appeared to be the ingredients for a very large, and unusual, sandwich. George was just about to cut the bread when his MagiPager went off loudly, making him jump.

Hermione chuckled at his surprise and he scowled, glancing at the annoying item. "It's Fred," he informed her. "Something about the merger." He paused, reading the rest of the message. He grinned broadly at Hermione. "It's gone through!"

"It has?" Hermione couldn't believe it. The merger with the 'Laugh a Minute' joke company had been in the works for months, and it had often seemed as though it would never happen. But it finally had. George nodded, talking Hermione into a giant bear hug. It was obvious just by the look on his face that he was ecstatic about this development.

There was a small 'pop' in the hallway and Fred appeared in the kitchen a moment later. "Did you get my message?" he asked. He looked just as excited as George.

"Of course we did," Hermione told him.

"Good. I think it's time to celebrate." Fred held up a bottle of champagne just as Katherine and baby Alexander came into the room.