Epilogue- New Year's Day: Saturday, January 1, 2009

(Day One-Thousand Eight-Hundred and Fifty-Seven)

"Daddy! Daddy, wake up!"

Harry opened his eyes to the sight of his three year old grinning at him, her nose about half-an inch from his, two of her pointy little fingers digging into his cheeks. How she'd managed to get inside the bedroom, on the bed, and perch herself on top of his chest without waking him was a mystery. A disturbing mystering. He and Hermione couldn't afford for her to get any sneakier and retain any control over their household.

"Happy New Year!" She squealed when she saw that she had his attention, throwing her hands in the air and bringing them back down to land with a resounding smack against his cheeks.

"Happy New Year, love," he laughed, sitting up and blowing a retaliatory raspberry against one of her cheeks. "Where's Mummy?" He asked when he noticed that Hermione wasn't in bed alongside him. He wasn't surprised, the older they got, the less sleep his wife seemed to require- which was good, because their first child had come into the world screaming and hadn't stopped since- but he did wish she'd been able to get some extra rest.

"She's downstairs. Why weren't you awake lazy bones" She taunted. "It's a new year, it's time to be up, up, up!"

Harry glanced at the nightstand and felt his eyes go wide when he caught sight of the time. It was half-nine. It was no wonder their children were already home, he owed Hermione big for this unprecedented lie-in, he just hoped she'd gotten some time to herself before they'd arrived home from the sleep-over with their grandparents.

"Nan and Papa want to see you before they leave," his daughter was babbling, "and Uncle Ron is here."

"What is Uncle Ron doing here?" Harry asked, attempting to disguise the dread in his voice even as he accepted that if Ron was here this early, unexpectedly, then the chances of his wife having had a peaceful morning had just rapidly dwindled.

She snickered. "He slept here, on the sofa!" She informed him, like it was the most scandalous thing she'd ever heard, "his hair is like this," she held out each of her hands about a foot away from her head. "Mummy said to come wake you nice-ly," she enunciated the last word very carefully, but her face fell as she seemed to realize something. "Was I nice? I meant to be nice." She whispered, suddenly all gentle concern.

Harry's eyes fell shut, he didn't think he'd ever get used to the maelstrom of emotions that this tiny being was capable of producing in him, and in such a short period of time. "You were very nice," he assured her, he knew that she had tried her best, and to tell her otherwise would only upset her. And if Hermione had actually intended for him to be awoken peacefully, she would not have sent their daughter upstairs unsupervised.

He wrapped his arms around her, swung his legs off the bed, and stood up, grateful that the habit of getting redressed after sex had become so ingrained since they'd had children, that he still did it even when the children weren't in the house. He carried her into the bathroom and set her on the vanity next to the sink so that he could brush his teeth, something he would never, ever neglect with his in-laws in the house.

"Guess what we're doing today?" She asked.

"What?" He said around a mouth full of toothpaste, feigning ignorance.

"We're going to see my cousins!"

"We are, aren't we?"

"Yes! And Aunt Amelia said she has a treasure hunt for me and Daisy, but not for the babies!" She sang happily.

"Is that so?" He asked, well aware of Amelia's plans. The woman was seemingly incapable of holding a simple family gathering, even just a gathering of the eight of them was somewhat of an event.

He and Hermione had remained close with Dudlley and Amelia after the wedding. And they grew closer when they had their first children, both girls, around the same time. It was just after Daisy's second birthday when Dudley had called them in the middle of the night, a note of pure terror in his voice and reported that he had caught her levitating a toy into her cot. Harry and Hermione had suspected that this was coming for a while, there had been a couple of unexpected occurrences around the baby, but they hadn't known for sure, and Harry had almost wished he was wrong when he'd heard how horrified Dudley sounded.

They had immediately gone to check on the little family, and fortunately Harry was also immediately able to see that all the fear Dudley felt was for his daughter, and not because of her. Ever since then the two families met up at least twice a month, all of the adults equally determined that Daisy would feel comfortable in the magical world, and with herself as a witch. It had been a disaster for Dudley's relationship with his parents, but Harry couldn't say that his cousin seemed particularly upset about their absence from his life.

"Uh-huh," his daughter answered, turning her attention to her hair, ignorant of his wandering thoughts. She picked up one of her plaits and held it out for his inspection. "Do you like my hair?"

"Very pretty," he complimented, dutifully inspecting both plaits which each had several colors of ribbon woven into them. "Did Nan do these for you?"

"Yes, she says I have the prettiest hair. Just like Mummy and Grandmummy!" She declared, eyes alight with pride.

He rinsed his mouth and stood back to look at his daughter. She was her mother's daughter, really; from her brown eyes and wild curls to her almost scary intelligence and unending curiosity about everything she encountered, a trait he and Hermione both guarded fiercely, determined that the world would not attempt to stamp it out of her the way it had tried with her mother. He loved it, he wouldn't change a thing about her but he had been as shocked as anybody when she emerged from the womb not only screaming, but with a head full of deep red curls.

Holly had been her name since they found out that they were expecting her, a Christmas gift delivered nine months after their second Advent spent together, their first as a married couple. He'd spent Hermione's entire pregnancy walking around in a state of elated shock. Try as he might to wrap his mind around the fact that their tipsy decision to throw out Hermione's contraceptive potion had actually resulted in a baby, he couldn't until he was holding a mini-replica of his wife with his mother's unmistakably colored hair in his arms.

There had been a lot of distasteful jokes amongst both their acquaintances and the press which had questioned Holly's paternity as a result of this unexpected genetic quirk. More than one person had the audacity to ask Harry- under the auspices of concern- if he had possibly trusted Hermione and Ron a little too much, despite the fact that while Holly's hair was definitely red, it was nothing like the burnt-orange of the Weasleys brand of ginger. Harry found it ironic that if she had inherited her grandmother's eyes instead, the public would have been falling all over themselves to declare that she looked just like him, despite her remarkable resemblance to Hermione.

He had never flinched externally over the rumors, nor had he experienced a moment of secret doubt, Hermione didn't have a disloyal bone in her body, and the idea that she would be unfaithful to him, in particular, was laughable. But he could tell that the remarks had begun to affect Hermione, who had actually burst into tears when, the first time Minerva McGonagall had met the baby, she'd taken one look at her and gasped: "Lily."

After that he'd given in to her pleas to have a paternity test done and released to the press. It was the only time Hermione had given in to public pressure about anything. In fact, they'd managed to keep their engagement a secret until after they were married in the muggle world, just as they'd planned.

They had even been able to keep her pregnancy quiet for almost six months, and Harry was convinced the reaction to Holly's birth was at least partially a retaliation for months of missed opportunities for headlines on both subjects. So, they hadn't even tried to hide Hermione's second pregnancy, and once they'd told Holly there had been no hope of that anyway. Their son Henry, who was almost a year old, somewhat ironically, and unfortunately for the poor kid, was the spitting image of Harry. Though at least that pleased Hermione to no end.

"Yes," he agreed, "the three of you are the prettiest." He kissed her forehead. "Okay, let's go downstairs. Do you want a ride?"

Instead of answering verbally she held out her arms towards him. Hermione told him that eventually he was going to have to stop carrying her everywhere, but as far as he was concerned, she could ride to Hogwarts on his back instead of the Hogwarts Express, if she liked. And if he hadn't quit his job as an Auror and started teaching at their Alma Mater when he found out they were expecting Holly, he'd probably be heavily campaigning to not send their children to boarding school at all.

He carried her downstairs with her humming 'Auld Lang Syne' into his ear- which was vastly amusing- and into the living room where he found his in-laws, wife, son, and best friend talking quietly amongst themselves.

"Morning Harry!" Richard called, waving a tea cup at him in greeting.

Helen stood and held out her arms for him. "Happy New Year!"

He stepped into her embrace and returned the sentiment, then turned to see his wife and best friend seated on the sofa, they were each making a concerted effort to look like they weren't irritated with the other, which meant that he was certain to be in for a fun discussion whenever Richard and Helen left.

"Dada!" His son called, he was standing, balanced on Hermione's lap, holding onto her shirt to support himself.

Harry squeezed himself into a seat next to Hermione, on the opposite side from Ron, because he was not foolish enough to literally put himself between them. And there was some shuffling as Henry reached for him while Holly- eager to move onto greener pastures where she wouldn't be fighting with her brother for attention- crawled over her mother and onto her Uncle Ron's lap.

"Morning," he told the baby as he took him, then he turned to Hermione, "good morning, you could have woken me."

She waved him off. "You deserved to sleep. Ron and I were just talking," she turned to face Harry completely as she spoke, and her lips quirked upwards when she said Ron's name. It was enough to tell him that whatever she was pretending to be annoyed with Ron about, she was only doing it to make a point, and not because he'd really upset her. Poor sod.

"Well thank you," he leaned in to kiss her.

Ron cleared his throat which caused Harry to roll his eyes and glance at his best mate. "You're in our living room, deal with it."

"It's just because they love each other," Holly patted Ron's chest condescendingly and Harry heard Hermione try, and fail, to suppress a laugh.

"You're supposed to be on my side," Ron growled at Holly, tickling her sides as she squealed in delight.

Harry turned back to Hermione's parents. "The kids were okay last night?"

"Of course, we had a lovely time. Didn't we Holly?" Helen answered.

"Yep," Holly responded, though she didn't look up from her task of attempting to 'fix' Ron's bedhead.

They made small talk for a few more minutes before Helen and Richard said their farewells, in order to go meet friends for a New Year's brunch at their club in time. The moment they departed Ron's smile turned into a pout.

"Your wife is being difficult," he informed Harry, 'difficult' being a euphemism for a long list of words he wasn't allowed to say in front of the children.

"Ronald," Hermione said through clenched teeth, "I asked you twice if you wanted my advice or if you just wanted me to listen to you complain. I'm sorry you didn't like what I had to say, but you clearly chose the former."

"What's going on?" Harry sighed.

"I had a fight with Mum, and I think Gemma and I broke up, and Mione's great advice was to tell me that I shouldn't get married."

"That's not what I said!"

Harry frowned in confusion over the subject of marriage. "Did you propose to Gemma or something?" While Ron had been in a couple of serious relationships over the years, Harry had been under the impression that this latest one was only a relationship by the broadest definition of the term, and only because Ron seemed incapable of just being single.

Hermione pressed her thumb between her eyebrows, a clear sign of frustration. "Start from the beginning Ron."

"Well, since the pair of you, and Ginny and Amanda, skipped out on New Year's Eve at the Burrow this year, I couldn't really get out of it."

Harry and Hermione sighed in tandem. "Ron," Harry began, "we've been through this. We spent Christmas Eve at the Burrow, we've decided that New Year's is for Hermione and I to have some alone time. I'm sorry that upsets your mum, but she's going to have to get over it. You don't have to fight our battles for us, but if you want to make your own plans then you need to stand up to her."

Ron just made a face. "So, anyway, Gemma and I went, and you know how Mum doesn't like her. She asked how serious we were since I brought her to a family holiday gathering. I said we were just having fun, but if she wanted me at home then I was going to bring my girlfriend. Gemma overheard."

"Ah," said Harry, "I can see how that might not have gone over well."

"Like a bludger to the face. Apparently I've been sending her signals," he said, putting air quotes around the last word. "And she thought being invited to the Burrow meant something too."

"And I-" Hermione cut in, "simply asked if he had explained to Gemma that he might not be looking for anything serious."

"See!" Ron pointed at Hermione, as if she had just conceded his point.

"I just wanted to know if you had been clear about your intentions, Ron."

"His relationship history isn't exactly a secret," Harry observed.

"That's true, but everybody wants to believe that they are the exception," Hermione argued, "if he keeps acting like he's serious, these witches are going to believe it. I'm not saying it's malicious, but I don't think it's fair to him, or to them. And I think it would be a lot easier on his relationship with Molly if he just told her that he's not looking to settle down and have children anytime soon."

"Who says I'm not!?"

Harry could only stare at his friend. "Are you serious?" He finally managed, he didn't even think he could name all the witches that Ron had been in a so-called relationship with since this time last year, and he did make an effort to keep up.

"Maybe," Ron answered, but he didn't sound like he even believed it himself.

"There's nothing wrong with being single," Hermione said, "I don't know why you insist on acting like there is."

"That's easy for you to say, you're married," Ron retorted, crossing his arms over his chest.

"Yes, but I wouldn't be if it wasn't for Harry. I wouldn't have gotten married just for the hell of it-"

"Mummy!" Holly objected to her mother's language, and Harry had to hide a laugh.

"Excuse me, darling," Hermione said, almost offhandedly. "Anyway, I just mean that you shouldn't get married just for the sake of being married. And you shouldn't be in a relationship just for the sake of it either."

"I want a family."

"You have a family. Doesn't he, Harry?"

"Of course you do, mate," Harry agreed immediately. "What do you think this is here," he gestured around them. "And I challenge you to find a witch who will love you more than that one there. Isn't that right, Pumpkin?"

"Don't be silly, Daddy, nobody loves Uncle Ron more than me," Holly answered without missing a beat.

There was no hiding the delight on Ron's face at this declaration. The fact was that he was everybody's favorite uncle, to his biological nieces and nephews, to Harry and Hermione's children, and even to Dudley and Amelia's children who he'd easily accepted into the fold.

But Holly was special to him. Her birth had come at a difficult time in Ron's life, he had been in the midst of changing jobs as he'd been uninterested in remaining in the DMLE without Harry, and going through a tumultuous break up with Emily, which was partially result of Holly's impending arrival, because it had made it abundantly clear that Emily wanted to settle down, and Ron hadn't been ready. Harry had been briefly concerned that he would be resentful of the baby, at least at first, but nobody had been happier about her birth than Ron had.

Ron loved her fiercely and Harry knew that if anything ever happened to him and Hermione, she would at least still be safe and cared for as long as Ron drew breath. Harry had guiltily found himself wishing on more than one occasion that his own godfather had been so reliable.

"I just don't want to see you do something, just because you feel like you have to, Ron," said Hermione quietly. "If you want to get married, I want you to hold out for the best witch in the world, the one that you can't live without, like Harry and I did. But also, if you don't, I want you to know that's okay too. I just want you to be happy."

Ron's face softened and he just blinked at her for a minute. "Oh."

Harry sat back and watched the situation unfold like he'd watched similar ones unfold countless times before. He was certain that was what Hermione had meant to say during their initial conversation, he was also certain that she hadn't been so tactful before. Because even after all these years, she grew impatient with Ron so easily and whatever she wanted to express to him often came out snappish and sometimes downright mean. Just as Ron was too easy to jump to the conclusion that Hermione was criticizing him, and snap or be cruel to her in return.

"Mum's not going to be okay with that, she'll keep trying to set me up," Ron finally managed.

Hemione nodded. "I understand what you mean, but in the end Molly just wants you to be happy too. It's just that she tends to push her version of happiness onto everybody, because she thinks that it's best. But she'll learn to accept your choices, whatever they are, eventually, if you stand up to her. Just look at Ginny and Amanda."

Harry thought that was probably one of the truest things he'd ever heard spoken about Molly Weasley. The people she loved, she loved with her whole heart, but she did have a way of trying to impose her will on them. He also thought it was very generous of his wife, who loved Molly but often found her frustrating, especially since they'd had children.

Hermione reached over and took one of Henry's little hands, then she glanced up at Harry with a smile. "My life got so much better once I was honest with my parents about my life and what I wanted out of it, trying to hide from them, or just show them what I thought they wanted to see only made things more difficult."

Ron nodded, though he didn't look particularly happy about it, but he had seen first hand and had commented more than once about the changes he'd seen in Richard in Helen around the time that Harry and Hermione became a couple, so he couldn't deny the truth in her words. "What should I do about Gemma?"

Hermione snorted and Harry decided it was time for him to jump back in. "Do you even really care that you broke up?"

"I'm not sure that we did."

"Would you care if you did?" Harry specified.

He exhaled loudly through his nose. "No."

"Well I think that's your answer."

Ron huffed again. "I hope you both know that this is all your fault."

"Oh?" Harry asked, more amused than anything, sure he was about to hear something truly ridiculous. "Why is that?"

"This fairytale thing the pair of you have going on is really hard to live up to. Witches have expectations, you know."

"Oh yeah?" Hermione scoffed. "Send the next one who thinks like that my way. I'll tell her a little about what it was like to live with the two of you in a tent. Put that idea right out of her head."

Ron managed to look insulted, but Harry could only groan.

Later that night after they'd returned from the Dursleys, and their children were in bed, Hermione climbed onto the sofa and put her head in Harry's lap.

"Do you think he listened to us?" She asked.

"I think he always listens to us. You can tell by how often he gets upset by what we have to say."

She laughed. "I'm serious though."

"I really think he did. It's up to him how he chooses to act on it, and it's not your responsibility to make sure that he does, or you'll be just like Molly."

"Bite your tongue!" She poked him.

He caught her hand and brought it to his lips. "Were you telling the truth before?"

"About what?"

"That you wouldn't have married anybody but me."

She reached up and touched his face. "I hope that I wouldn't have settled for anything less than our family. I wasn't expecting you, you know? Even though you were right in front of me. I guess it was appropriate though."

"What's that?"

"The way I fell in love with you, or at least the way that I realized it, during Advent, which is traditionally a period of expectation and waiting."

He grinned at her. "Is that why you decided Advent was also a good time to suddenly stop taking your contraceptive potion?"

"I don't remember you having a single thing to say against that idea, Harry Potter!" She shook a finger at him.

"No," he said, his mood transforming from one of amusement into adoration as he looked at the woman who had given him everything. Sometimes, he still had a hard time believing that she was his. "I wouldn't trade either of them for anything."

"Me either," she turned her head and he could tell that her attention was focused on her now-empty Advent calendar which was sitting across the room, the same one he'd bought her five years ago and refilled for her to enjoy every year since. They'd bought a second one last year, so that Holly could start partaking in the tradition, but this one would forever be just for her. "I'll be sad to put it away tomorrow, now that the holidays are officially over. It's been five years and I still can't even tell you how much I love you, Harry."

He shook his head in disagreement, but smiled at her. "You make me sure about it every day."

The End

Author's Note: Well, that's it. Thank you all again, a million times over. Ron's lack of traditional happily ever after here was also written as a little reminder to myself that life doesn't always (hardly ever) turn out how you plan, but that doesn't mean that it can't still be good. Just something to think about in this new year, have a happy and safe 2022! And for those of you who expressed an interest, I have begun updating The Other Side, again! Thanks!