Epilogue
4 Years Later
Ron shivered subtly; he hadn't been prepared for the cold air inside of the arena completely. He had remembered how cold it was when Heather went to her last ice skating practice. One would have assumed he would have been use to the chilly air of the new arena Heather and he gave money to build, but the natural climate to the area was still something he was adjusting to let alone this artificial one.
As he watched Heather gracefully glide across the ice, he smiled fondly at her. She was showing one of her students to perform a double toe tuck and the teacher was obviously was showing signs of frustration due to her student not catching on as quickly as she had hoped. She made a motion for the man in the audio box to stop the music and told the student to take a fifteen minute break. She skated over to Ron, and he handed her a cup of hot tea. "You look like you're having a tough time out there."
"It doesn't help I'm so nauseated. I can't wait for this is all over." Heather took a sip of her green tea and enjoyed the warming of her throat. "Did Harry call?"
"Yes, their flight lands in a few minutes. As soon as we're done here we can go and get them from the airport." Ron offered as he readjusted her skull cap over her ears. "Do you just want to go home? I can have Miles pick them up."
"That actually sounds like a good idea. You can rub my feet too."
"Rub your feet? I don't think so. They'll probably stink once you're done here."
"I'll take a shower first, silly." Heather chuckled. "Perhaps you'd care to join me?"
"Now it's scenarios like that which put you into the condition you're in now." Ron smiled as the couple laughed together. "I still can't believe your obstetrician is allowing you to still ice skate. I figured he would have made you stop a month or two ago."
"Do you actually think I'd listen to him if he did?" Heather rested her cup on her slightly protruding belly. "It's going to be way too soon for me before I have to stop coaching. My students have a competition coming up this week and the doctor wanted me to stop yesterday. They're not ready, so I'm not ready to stop."
"Promise me after the competition you'll stop. I'm not really looking forward for something like what happened last time to happen again."
Solemn, Heather took another sip of her cocoa. "I don't plan on it; especially since there isn't an evil wizard coming after us."
"Touché," Ron then noticed Heather's student returned to the ice. He looked at his watch. "You'd better get back to your student. I'll go get the group at the air port."
"You excited to see your mom again?"
"I am, but the moment she sees you she's going to go mental to see you still on the ice. My advice would be end practice early and not mention it to her." Ron offered as he zipped up his coat and wrapped his scarf around his neck once.
"Sounds like a plan. I'll go and finish up with my student and I'll see you back at the house." She kissed Ron on the cheeks and skated off to meet with her student.
Ron chuckled as he left the skating rink. Once outside, Miles greeted him with the door to the limo open for him to get inside. "Is the misses coming?"
"No, she's driving herself home. She's finishing up with one of her students and then she's heading home." Ron answered. "To the airport, Miles, but take your time. We need to give Heather enough time to finish with her student and get home before we can arrive there ourselves."
"Your mother wouldn't be too happy with her still ice skating I take it?"
"Not really, but you know my mother. She always means well…"
Miles chuckled as he pulled the car out of the parking lot and began driving down the road. "Yes I can imagine."
The short ride over to the airport arrived way too quickly in his own mind once the car pulled up to the unloading zone. Once the car stopped in front of the plane, Miles got out and opened the car door. Simultaneously, the door to the plane opened and Harry Potter was the first to step out. Once down the stairs, Ron gave his best friend a hug. "No cane?"
"My therapist took away the cane two years ago." Harry smiled as he looked his friend over. "You're looking well for someone who should be a nervous wreck."
"What is there to be nervous about?" Ron asked him once he spotted Hermione and pulled her into her embrace. "She's just pregnant. It's not like she's got some disorder or something and undergoing muggle medical treatment."
"True, but you must be feeling somewhat nervous." Hermione offered as she glanced around. "Harry, have you seen the twins?"
"They're with Fred and George. They mentioned something about needing their help with something."
"You left Lily and James with Fred and George. Are you mental?" Ron jeered.
Hermione dashed back to the plane and just as she was climbing the stairs and when she reached halfway up the stairs, Molly came out holding Lillian Heather Potter on her hip. Arthur, the head of the Weasley clan, carried James Sirius Potter. When Hermione saw her children in the older Weasley's arms, she breathed a sigh of relief. "Look, see Lily, we found mummy and daddy. They just came out side to see your Uncle Ron. You want to go and see your uncle?"
The young red-headed girl nodded, allowing her spiral curls to bounce up and down. Once down the stairs, Molly set the girl down on the ground and the little girl ran over and hugged her uncle. "Uncle Ronnie! Uncle Ronnie! Look, I made you something."
Ron had not noticed the piece of paper in her hand when she had flown out of his mother's arms and into his. When she handed him the paper, he saw multi colored scribbles. Not wanting to hurt his niece's feelings, he kissed her. "Thanks, Lil. It's beautiful. Aunt Heather is going to love this."
"It's a rainbow. See the pot of gold under it? The leopard cans put it there." She pointed to a black scribble under several different colors. In Ron's mind, at least the three year old got the colors of the rainbow right.
"I think you mean leprecon. Does the leprecon have a name?" Ron was almost afraid to ask the child, knowing she had the most active imagination than any other child he knew.
"No, he doesn't because leprecons aren't real. They are fake like fairies, unicorns, and sprites." James interrupted him.
Ron chuckled knowingly. If only the boy actually knew the truth. It had been obvious Harry and Hermione had not informed their son of his heritage and more than likely due to his lack of showing magical ability. Lily had shown signs since the moment she was born. Occasionally, there would have been a book thrown across the room. Not this surprised Ron much. Lily was the first to be born. "Now how do you know that?"
"He probably got it from that muggle day care he goes to. If he were taught at home or even a magical daycare, he would know…" Molly mentioned as she adjusted James' black hair nervously. "Why did you have to inherit your father's hair?"
"Let's not start that again, Molly. If they want to send him to a muggle school then so be it."
"But Lily doesn't go to one. She goes to a magical day care."
"You know how it goes, Molly. The female body develops quicker than the male. The same applies to magic. Girls just develop quicker. She needs to go to a magical daycare to keep her from killing anyone. Not intentionally mind you. She doesn't have control yet, but considering her parents and their heritage the quicker she learns to control it, better." Arthur offered as he patted James on the shoulder. "Don't worry, Jim, you'll develop soon. Your Uncle Ron didn't really come into his powers until he was 7. He threw one of the cast iron skillets across the room."
Jim scoffed. "Magic doesn't exist."
Under his breath, Ron smiled as he said as he patted his nephew on the head before Lily and he entered the vehicle. "Aren't you in for a big surprise?"
"Hi, Ronniekins!" Fred announced as he beat his youngest brother to the car. Ginny followed close behind him. "Lovely day for a drive isn't it?"
"Yes, especially once it torrentially down pours. Maybe we'll have a tornado." George glanced up to the sky before following his twin inside the car. "Wouldn't that be bloody brilliant?"
"That only happens when Heather gets extremely pissed and right now I really don't think we want her consuming alcohol." Bill offered with his arm around his wife Sandra. They were followed by Charlie who was carrying a few bags left over from the plane. Miles took the bags and put them inside the trunk.
"And why is that, Ron?" Hermione grinned knowingly once the car door was shut behind Ron and Miles began pulling out of the airport.
"Well, I don't know, Hermione. Maybe it's because she's scary when she's plastered." Ron warned her with his eyes. Heather and he hadn't told his family about the pregnancy yet and he wanted to tell them with her around. It was one of the things on his agenda for the two weeks they were planning on staying.
"Oh, I could just see her being completely pissed." George grinned.
"I could too."
"Is this limo new?" Ginny asked as she opened the refrigerator in the bar. When she found there was soda stocked, she frowned. "There is no Vodka, Ron, really?"
"Yes, a new one. Heather likes the S.U.V because of the roomy interior. We sold the old one for this one. She wanted to keep the old one, but it just wasn't practical." Ron offered as he watched his father tapped at one of the light fixtures. "We let Cosmo Cyrus and India Jade use the old one at their wedding before we sold it. Heather says it was quite the ceremony. I had to teach a class the day of the wedding at Great Lakes otherwise Heather would have made me go too."
"Not a big fan of weddings, Uncle Ron?" Lily asked as Ginny gave the girl a grape Ne-Hi.
"Are you kidding me? He probably purposefully made something up to get her off his back about going." George voiced as he grabbed root beer. "Don't even get me started about what happened about what happened at his wedding to make him so late."
"What did happen for him to be late for his own wedding? You told me that he was late due to muggle traffic." Molly demanded as the car pulled into the driveway to the former Nelson estate.
"Thanks for getting me into trouble, George. I'll remember that when you go to get married." Ron told his brother as he stepped out of the car and into the warm Illinois sunshine. "I swear Illinois only has two seasons: winter and summer; often occurring in the same day of course."
"Is it just me or does it not feel like its room temperature out here." Harry offered as Hermione helped their twins out of the car.
"It's the humidity." Hermione rambled once everyone was out of the car. "The area often has a humidity issue due to the climate, the proximity to multiple bodies of water, and so forth."
"Getting back to the whole wedding issue…" Molly began, but was interrupted when Heather came out of the house to greet them. She would never learn what happened to her son to make him so late. "Heather, it's good to see you again, dear."
"Everyone come inside. It's a lot cooler. I'm sure all of you are tired from your long trip, so I had Ami and Rose turn down the guest bedrooms." Heather mentioned as she took her husband by the hand and they lead the family inside. James, Miles, and Jonathon left the house to get their luggage.
"Who are Ami and Rose?" Hermione asked as the group headed up the stairs to the guest wing.
"Amethyst, or Ami, Pierce is our new head of household. She came highly recommended from a few of my parents' friends, the Oaks, in Washington. Rose Macintyre is our new maid and was also recommended by the Oaks." Heather entered the farthest room where she found Ami and Rose turning down the beds. "Almost done, I see."
"This is the last one." Ami smiled at the Mistress of the house then turned to look at the newcomers. "Are these the guests, Ma'am?"
"Oh, yes. This is Hermione and Harry Potter with their two children Lily and James."
"Jimmy." James protested the use of his given name and folded his arms across his chest. The group chuckled.
"Alright, Jimmy." Ami smiled as she and Rose moved closer to the group from where they where standing next to the bed. "Is this the Master's family?"
"Yes, this is Molly and Arthur Weasley and their children. Bill and his wife Sandra, Charlie, Fred, George, and of course Ginny are the other red heads." Heather introduced. "Please show them to their rooms, Rose. Ami, have Jon begin dinner. I'm famished."
"At once," Ami smiled as she and the rest of the group exited the room. "Would you like me to bring tea for you in your room with your snack to warm up after your practice?"
"Yes, bring it to my room. I think I'm going to lay down for a nap afterward. I'm exhausted." Heather ordered as she headed down to the master suite.
"That's odd. Heather usually doesn't get that tired after skating practice. Does she?" Molly asked her youngest son as she entered the room she and her husband would be sharing during their stay in the United Sates.
"Not usually, but lately she's having to get up real early."
"Practices I take it?" Arthur asked. "If she's not too careful she's going to wear herself out."
"Yea, I agree. That's why after today she isn't going to do them anymore. I told her if she didn't I would set her alarm four hours later and she would be late." Ron kissed his mother on the forehead. "Why don't you two lay down for a bit, and then come down to dinner. There is something Heather and I want to tell you."
"Well, why not tell us now and get it over?"
"Because," Ron smiled at his mother, "we want to tell everyone at the same time."
"You two aren't having problems again, are you?" Arthur asked his son attentively.
"No, actually, we're not. It's actually something really good." Ron hinted to his parents as he exited the room. "Now, get some rest and you'll see at dinner."
Arthur eyed his wife. "What do you think it could be?"
Molly folded her arms across her chest and thought about what her son had said. "Either they're moving back to England or she's pregnant, again."
"That's a bit of an extreme difference between explanations, dear."
"Yes and when have you ever known Ronnikins and Heather to do anything that wasn't extreme?"
*****
Black-eyed Susan and Queen Anne lace dotted the landscape along the trail. Their scent wafted in the breeze along with the scent and sounds of trickling water. Birds chirped and a red-tailed hawks swooped down catching their pray among the massive prairie preserve in between the former Nelson estate, now appropriately called Red-Tail Manor due to the pair of hawks were released on to the estate grounds when the couple who were given the land were married, and the woods in the farthest section of the estate.
Harry Potter thought about how serene it was to have his entire family, including his newly extended and adoptive family. He laughed as he watched his children wade waist deep in the lake splashing around. Jim had splashed his sister and she had retaliated with pulling him under the water level unexpectedly after she had submerged. "Quit!" He had screamed.
"Only if you do too," She called back from where she had climbed up on the rope swing and flung her body in the deeper part of the lake.
Hermione laid her head on Harry's shoulder and smiled. A wave of content passed through him once she did. All was right with the universe, for at least the moment. Deep inside, Harry always knew there would always be someone trying to underhand moments like this. "You realize that in seven years, the kids will be off at Hogwarts and you and I will be able to get back to trying to find time to be with each other."
"Yes, but at least this time we get to keep on eye on them as we do it." Harry offered as he pulled a root beer out of the picnic basket. "Where are Heather and Ron? I thought they were going to be joining us."
"They are, but they wanted to tell Mr. and Mrs. Weasley about their delivery that's coming in nine months." Hermione sighed. "With all this talk about babies, it kind of makes me want to have another one."
"Really," Harry raised an eyebrow. "No wonder we've been getting some extra practice in."
Hermione giggled as she swatted his arm playfully. "You'd enjoy it way too much."
"Always," Harry grinned impishly back at her. He stole a kiss from her but before the ringing sound of Molly's excited scream rang through out the wooded area. "Sounds like the Weasleys know about the newest member of their clan."
"Yes it does sound that way, doesn't it?" Hermione offered then she called to the only other adult in the area. "Ami, would you take the children back to the house and change them for dinner? Harry and I will be along in a moment after we clean up here."
"Are you sure? I can clean up if you would prefer."
"No, Mrs. Potter and I have it." Harry's lustful eyes never left Hermione's. "You guys go along. We'll be along shortly."
Sensing what the couple needed more was time alone, she silently took both Jim and Lily and lead them back to the house. When they were finally only among the animals of the wooded area, Harry grinned lustfully. He nipped at her earlobe and began caressing her behind.
As he made his way down her neck, Hermione asked. "Harry, are you happy?"
He stopped his attentions only to look into her eyes. He was silent as he thought about how to answer her. When he finally answered her; his answer was as simple as the question she asked. "Yes."
*****
End.