Rose Weasley. Or was it Potter?

Disclaimer: Nope, not mine. You really think I'd have gone with OBHWF?

A/N: So, this is my response to the challenge “The truth about Rose Weasley” by leochick. It can be found here: http://talk.portkey.org/index.php?showtopic=26447 I hope you'll enjoy the story, and as usual let me know what you think of it, ok? Reviews help me improve, if there's constructive criticism in them. It starts before the epilogue, but it still follows what's portrayed there at first. Just so you know.

Rose Weasley. Or Was it Potter?

Chapter One: Bad News

Ron Weasley was shocked. He and his wife Hermione had been trying to have a child for months now, and yet they were constantly failing.

This had led to them agreeing to see an Healer about the situation. Both wanted this child, and especially Ron, as he felt it was the only way to keep their marriage going.

He had thought being married to Hermione would be like being in Heaven, and it had been, at first. For the few first years it had been pure bliss, and they fought rarely. It was really amazing, considering how much they had been bickering in school.

And yet, it wasn't to last. Especially the last six months had been true hell, mostly because of her often working late at the Ministry.

Of course, he and Harry were at the base of her hard work, since they were providing more and more arrests to be judged, and since she worked in the Magical Law Enforcement Department, it was often her who would have to prosecute the trials.

So, he hoped a child could stop them from drifting apart.

And now, this Healer, Daskins was his name, had dropped his bomb.

He, Ronald Bilius Weasley, son of Arthur Weasley, who had had seven children, was sterile. He couldn't procreate, not with Hermione, nor with anyone else.

The redhead felt the world crash on his shoulders. Hermione would surely want nothing to do with someone like him, who couldn't even give her the joy of being a mother.

He felt an utter failure, as he walked by her side through St. Mungo's.

Suddenly, he felt her small hand slip into his own, and he looked up at those warm brown eyes. She was looking at him with sympathy.

“I think we should go home” she said, and he found himself nodding. Going to work in this emotional state was a no do.

Once they Apparated to their living room, Ron crashed on the couch.

“Can you believe the irony of it all?” he suddenly said with a sad smile, looking up at Hermione who had been sitting in front of him on an armchair. “My father had seven kids, and I can't even have one” he shook his head.

“Ron” Hermione said tentatively. “There might still be a possibility for us to have a child”

He looked up again, and found her biting her lip in nervousness. He motioned for her to talk.

“You see, there's this Muggle technique, it is called in vitro fertilisation. It's been used for years by Muggles, in cases just like ours where one of the two partners is sterile. Basically, hormones are used to regulate the woman's ovulation, then the egg cells are removed and fertilized outside the woman's womb by sperm, in a fluid medium. Then, the fertilised egg is placed back into the uterus of the woman, so that it can start a successful pregnancy” she outlined the basics of the process to him.

Ron looked a bit pale. “It's…strange…” he muttered.

She rolled his eyes at him. “But it works” she said then. He nodded.

“So you think we should try this?” he asked her.

“I'm saying, let's go see some Muggle specialists on the matter, get more info, and then we can decide” she said with a small smile.

Ron smiled too. Hermione nodded, and stood up.

“I'm going to call my mother and ask her if she knows someone trustworthy” she announced leaving the room.

Ron remained there, sitting on the couch. His father would be proud that he was considering Muggle technologies to solve his problem, he thought with a chuckle.

--

It was a week later when they entered the study of Dr. Johnson. Ron was a bit nervous, and Hermione had instructed him to let her speak. The redhead was quite known for sticking his foot in his mouth, and the last thing they needed was an unwilling revelation of the Wizarding World, or some embarrassing comment that would be hard to explain.

So, after the brunette had exposed the situation and what they were considering, Dr. Johnson started lecturing them about the exact process of the in vitro fertilisation, or IVF as Muggles called it with an acronym, and its various stages, from the ovarian stimulation to the transfer of the embryo into the uterus, passing through oocyte retrieval, fertilisation, selection of the embryo. He also explained them that the sperm would need to be taken from a donor, and that they had some frozen sperm already prepared for the treatment there at the clinic.

When the couple left, more than an hour later, Ron was a bit overwhelmed by the info the Muggle doctor had unloaded on them. Hermione, instead, having researched the matter herself few days before, already knew most of what was said so she had no trouble following the doctor's reasoning.

Dr. Johnson had also alerted them about the risks of the process, such as multiple births, premature births, pregnancy loss, obstetrical complications, and possible long term damage. There was then the possibility of the embryo splitting in two in the uterus, which would lead to identical twins. Finally, he explained how the ovarian stimulation could result in ovarian hyperstimulation syndrome.

Summarizing, the process could be the solution to their problem, yes, but it wasn't completely risk-free.

Still, Hermione wanted to give it a try, if that was her only chance to have a child. Ron wanted to have one too, and he trusted her judgement on the efficiency of the treatment.

He also knew he would be hard pressed to make her change her mind once she had decided she wanted to do something.

That night, at dinner, they kept discussing the matter.

“So, I was thinking we should do it” Hermione said.

“Well, I guess it's worth a shot” Ron agreed. “But I'm a bit confused on how the whole process works. Can you give me a summarized version of what the doc said?”

She huffed. “Basically, someone will have to donate sperm and it will be used to fertilise my egg cells” she said, quite bluntly.

She could practically see the gears moving in his head.

“So it's not like they can change my sperm to make it efficient, right?”

“No, Ron, they can't. It has to be someone else's” she patiently said.

“I see. Well, I know it's not exactly the same but it feels like you'll have to shag someone else”

“Ron, I won't have to shag anyone!” she bellowed, turning hastily to look at him.

“Of course not” he said, trying to placate her. “But the effect will be the same. It's going to be someone else who gets you pregnant, in some way” he explained his line of thought.

Hermione looked at him sceptically. “Well, in a way I can see what you mean” she conceded, then.

“So, would you feel at ease knowing a stranger will be the one who will pass his DNA and such to our child?” he asked.

Hermione was torn between being amazed at Ron's knowledge of what happened when an egg was fertilised, and being nervous about what he had said.

Of course the clinic had prepared and selected only healthy sperm, still the idea of a complete stranger being the biological father of her child kind of scared her a bit.

“Not really” she whispered meekly.

“I guessed so” Ron said with a slight grin. “And nor would I. But, I guess the situation would be different if someone we know very well was the donor” he said, thinking.

It was few moments later that their eyes locked, both looking up in realisation, both knowing who the other was thinking about, and both knowing no one else would be a better choice.

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Disclaimer: Nope, not mine. You really think I'd have gone with OBHWF?

A/N: So, this is my response to the challenge “The truth about Rose Weasley” by leochick. It can be found here: http://talk.portkey.org/index.php?showtopic=26447 I hope you'll enjoy the story, and as usual let me know what you think of it, ok? Reviews help me improve, if there's constructive criticism in them. It starts before the epilogue, but it still follows what's portrayed there at first. Just so you know.

Rose Weasley. Or Was it Potter?

Chapter Two: Many Years Later

Harry Potter was satisfied. The hunt for the few Death Eaters still around was heading toward its end, with the arrest of Antonin Dolohov and his three cronies. Now they just had to find Bellatrix and her husband, and then they would be done.

It had taken them more than thirty years, but the end of the Death Eater menace was close now.

Harry was now sitting in first row in the trial for the four Dark Wizards. The first to be judged would be Dolohov.

The black haired man had no doubt of the result of the trial, but it still had to be done. So he looked up at his best friend of so many years now, Hermione Granger, who was going to prosecute the trials, and smiled reassuringly at her. She was the best, and would assure that those four got what they deserved. Which was no less that a life sentence to Azkaban.

She smiled back, then gathered her parchments and soon the trial started.

Harry listened attentively to the accuses, and was not surprised to hear Dolohov confirm all of them and declare himself proud of bearing the Dark Mark.

It was a matter of minutes, really, before the man was lead away by an Auror and sent to Azkaban with a pair of special handcuffs. Harry knew that it wasn't the first time he was sent there so he mused that he might even find himself in his old cell. Not that it mattered, they were all the same, after all.

Then the three minions were judged. Harry had to listen to the pathetic excuses of the first two of them, claiming to be under Imperius, or threatened, and such.

“It's always the same bullshit” he thought while glaring at them. Hermione must have thought the same, because she was unfazed by them, and the rest of the Wizengamot voted for them to be sentenced to spend the rest of their lives in Azkaban after Legilimency proved their excuses to be lies.

Then it was the time for the last arrest to be judged. The brown haired man, with blue cold eyes, looked defiantly up to the Wizengamot members, sneering even in his condition. Harry rolled his eyes, thinking he would be a quick matter if he was going to be so proud of his actions like Dolohov had been.

Hermione started firing her accuses, and the suspect still looked almost bored. When the brunette finished her speech and asked for him too a life sentence in Azkaban, the Chief Warlock of the Wizengamot asked the prisoner if he had something to say about the accuses.

“I'm ashamed that I couldn't do more” was his cold reply, and uproar started in the room. As Harry had guessed, it took a total of three minutes to get him condemned to the Wizarding prison for the rest of his life. A shame, really, as the lad must have been not older than twenty-two.

Just as the Auror was escorting him to the corner of the room where he would apply the Portkey handcuffs to him, the suspect wrestled him, taking the man by surprise, and managing to snatch the wand away.

Harry bolted from his seat and ran toward the suspect to avoid his escape, but the man seemed to know he would never make it out of the room. He was scanning the room for a possible target though.

“Expelliarmus!” Harry cried, to disarm him, but the guy was quicker.

“Incideo!”

An orange beam shot from the wand and collided with no one else than Hermione, who fell to the floor with a soft “Oh”, then she paled, quickly losing consciousness.

She barely heard Harry Stun the thug before the world went black.

--

The raven haired wizard was sitting in front o f a closed door in the St. Mungo's hospital.

“Uncle Harry!” a voice startled him.

He looked up, and smiled.

“Hi, Rose” he said. Rose Weasley, or better Rose Lupin now that she was married to Teddy, was an Healer there at the Wizarding Hospital.

“I've heard there's an emergency” she said, business-like, and Harry was terribly reminded of Hermione, who would never let something distract her from the task at hand. Hermione, who was now fighting between life and death, because he had been too slow to react.

“There is one, yes” he wearily said.

“I'm going to see what I can do to help then” Rose said, not knowing who the injured was yet. When she found out, Harry could hear her arguing with some other Healer.

“I'm more than capable to help!” she protested.

“But you're too emotionally involved, Rose. You know the rules” someone who must have been older and used to situations like this calmly stated.

“But…”

“No buts. Now go outside and wait patiently. We will let you know soon if there are news”

Moments later a defeated Rose came to sit near Harry.

“I'm so sorry, Rose. It's my fault, I was too slow to react…” he said, then proceeded to tell her what had happened at the Ministry.

“Of course it's not your fault, Uncle Harry” the young woman said, hugging him. “You couldn't know that he would have done something like that”

Harry knew deep down that she was right, still he couldn't stop himself for feeling guilty.

“She's going to be ok, Rose” he said. “I just know she will” he soothingly said, pulling her close and hugging her tightly once more.

She shakily smiled against his chest. “Mum is tough, I know that” she commented, and both chuckled. Then, Harry released her from the embrace.

“Harry! Rose!” a third voice startled them both few minutes later, when the two of them were silent and lost in their own thoughts.

Looking to their left, they took in the form of Teddy Lupin, with his and Rose's daughter Julie in his arms.

“Is that true? Has Hermione been hurt?” the young man asked, his hair growing darker with worry, he was a Metamorphmagus after all, when they both nodded, quite sombrely.

“We still don't know anything” Harry said, and exactly at that moment the door of the room opened.

“Mr. Potter” the Healer called him. Harry stood up, and Rose followed too.

“Miss Granger is going to be ok. She has suffered a myriad of internal wounds from that curse, and she would have died if not cured promptly, but we managed to stop the advancing of the curse. She's stabilized now, and she's resting, but I reckon she will make a complete recover in some days time, hopefully. There's still some risk, which is why we are monitoring her and not allowing visitors for a few hours at least, but I'm overall optimistic on her situation”

Both Harry and Rose let out a breath they didn't even realize they were holding, and thanked the Healer, then returned to sit with Teddy and little Julie.

“She's probably going to be ok” Harry said, and Teddy's hair returned the dark brown it usually was, as relief washed over him. The young man had always had a particular liking for Hermione, Harry mused as he watched him rock his baby daughter.

Soon, Rose got restless, and went to her husband to take the child from him, trying to busy herself with doing something till they were allowed to visit Hermione.

Harry could easily relate, and he stood there, a fond smile on his lips, as he watched her cooing to the baby, trying to make her fall asleep, and gently rocking her.

As Rose looked up, and met Harry's eyes, something clicked in her brain. She looked down at the green eyes of her daughter, then up again at Harry's and was shocked to realize they were exactly the same.

“Uncle Harry…”

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Disclaimer: Nope, not mine. You really think I'd have gone with OBHWF?

A/N: So, this is my response to the challenge “The truth about Rose Weasley” by leochick. It can be found here: http://talk.portkey.org/index.php?showtopic=26447 I hope you'll enjoy the story, and as usual let me know what you think of it, ok? Reviews help me improve, if there's constructive criticism in them. It starts before the epilogue, but it still follows what's portrayed there at first. Just so you know.

Rose Weasley. Or Was it Potter?

Chapter Three: A Long Chat

“Uncle Harry…”

The raven haired wizard smiled fondly at her, knowing what she had just realized.

“You've always been smart, Rose. Just like your mother” he said, motioning for her to come sit near him. She did, still rocking her child gently.

“I bet you want some explanation now, so I'll give it to you” he said. “We have to occupy time till they let us see Hermione anyhow” he added then, shrugging.

He then ran an hand through his ebony hair, while Teddy watched him and his wife, sitting near them.

“It all started many years ago, before you were born…” Harry started.

Harry was reading in his study, Ginny was in the kitchen, when someone knocked on the front door. He let his redhead wife go get it, but was soon called.

“Harry! Ron and Hermione are here, they want to talk with you” Ginny shouted, and he guessed she wasn't so pleased. He wondered why.

He descended the stairs and went to greet his friends, hugging both of them. He could sense something was off with them though.

“So, what did you want to talk me about?” he asked.

Hermione eyed Ginny nervously, and so did Ron.

“Actually, we'd prefer telling you alone…” the redhead started, shooting an apologetic glance at his sister.

“What you have to say can be told in front of me” Ginny replied haughtily. “Isn't that right, honey?”

Harry looked back and forth between them for a moment or two, then spoke. “Ginny, please, if you'd leave us alone just for a moment…”

The redhead young woman couldn't believe her ears, and stomped away muttering something not pleasant.

“Sorry about that” Harry said with a sheepish grin. “So, what brings you here and being so secretive?” he joked, but when they were done telling him, his face was much more serious.

“So you basically need that I donate some sperm so you can do this Muggle In Vitro Fertilisation and have a child?” he asked, to check if he'd got it right.

Hermione bit her lip nervously. “If you don't want to, we can always use someone else…” she said then.

“Of course I want to!” Harry said. “It's the less I can do for the two of you after the perils I dragged you through in the years” he said.

“Harry, mate, we made our own choices. You didn't drag us anywhere…” Ron started, but Harry cut him off.

“I want to do it. When do I have to donate the sperm?” he asked.

They discussed the matter some more before a much more relaxed Ron and Hermione left, wishing Harry and Ginny a good evening and telling Harry they will contact him by owl.

He nodded, and hugged both of them before seeing them off.

“I bet Aunt Ginny wasn't much happy about it” Teddy scoffed, and Harry had to chuckle.

“You can very well say that, Teddy” he nodded, and resumed his story.

As soon as the other couple had left, Ginny started interrogating him.

“So what did they need to tell you alone?” she glared at him.

“Honestly, Ginny. It's already embarrassing for Ron to have to admit he's sterile when your father had seven kids, you can't expect him to do that in front of an audience”

“Ron's what?” Ginny said, before starting to snicker.

“Now you see why he didn't want to tell you?” Harry said, annoyed. His wife nodded, and recomposed herself, sort of. What made her grow serious again was what Harry said next though.

“They want me to donate some sperm so they can do a Muggle fertilisation technique and get Hermione pregnant” he said then, guessing that to explain Ginny the whole IVF business would have taken half their evening, and she would probably not have gotten it.

“What? You have to shag Hermione to get her pregnant?” she shrieked.

“Not really. I've to give some of my sperm to a Muggle doctor, they'll then use it to fertilise Hermione's egg cells”

“And what about the baby, once he/she's born?” Ginny inquired.

“Ron and Hermione will raise the baby as their own” Harry said.

“Harry, you can't do it!” Ginny shrieked again.

“They want a baby but can't have it, so I'll do my best to help them” the raven haired wizard said, his resolve steely.

“And won't it be hard for you to see them raise the baby knowing it's you who is the real father?” Ginny said, trying to play on his emotions to get him to not do it. The idea of him getting Hermione pregnant was unsettling, even with this Muggle technique which didn't require shagging.

“Yes, it will” Harry admitted. He had a sudden image of himself and Hermione raising a baby together, and couldn't help but smile fondly, albeit a bit sadly as he knew it wouldn't happen. “But they are my best friends, and they did lots of hard and dangerous things for me. I will do it, Ginny, end of the discussion” he said then, standing up and going back to his study, locking himself in and thinking about the matter all night.

He didn't even join Ginny in their bedroom, that night.

Rose was looking at Harry in awe, and with newly found respect. “You…you're my Dad then!” she finally whispered, tears welling up in her eyes as the news sank in, and hugging him tightly. “I've always felt a pull towards you while growing up, and you always were my favourite Uncle. I guess this explains why”

He mussed her hair softly, hugging her back. “Now, dear, I may be your biological father, but Ron's been your Dad since you were born and I know he did a really fine job in raising you. He would be proud of the young woman you've become, Rose Kathleen Weasley” he said then, tears now filling his eyes too, as he kissed the head of her head. “I want you to always remember him as your Dad, understand?”

She looked up at him, brown eyes meeting green, and Harry was once more reminded of Hermione.

She nodded, and fresh tears came to her eyes, remembering how Ron had died a couple years before for a strange infection he got in Brazil while promoting some of George's new products. He had decided to explore Brazil more than what he and his brother had planned, and it resulted in him getting in contact with a very poisonous plant. There had been very little the Healers could do, as nobody before had gotten symptoms as bad as he did, and the usual cures for it hadn't worked.

“I guess that night was the beginning of the end between me and Ginny. Many more spats followed, especially because I met with Hermione often to see how the pregnancy was going. Ron was more than happy to have me around helping him cope with the strange cravings of a pregnant woman, as I'd gone through that same thing with Ginny already, but she…well, let's say she wasn't thrilled about my spending so much time with Hermione.

Our life together worsened, and even if we had two more kids, hoping they could patch things between us, she never truly forgave me for taking part in your birth. Our life together deteriorated, and so in the end we got divorced” he said.

“I'm sorry, Un-Dad” Rose said, correcting herself midway. He might want her to keep thinking of Ron as her Dad, and she would, after all the redhead had raised her, but the truth was Harry was her real father, and she would treat him as such from now on.

Harry shrugged.

“Don't be. I guess we weren't really meant to be” he said. “I know now who I should have chosen many years ago”

Teddy had an inkling about whom Harry was talking, and it was confirmed when he told them another part of his story.

Harry rushed by his secretary, bellowing her to cancel all meetings for the afternoon. Then, he moved quickly through the Ministry floors to reach a particular door in the Magical Law Enforcement department. Knocking on it, he waited for the voice inside allowing him in, and then he stepped inside the room.

“Hi, Mione” he said.

“Harry! What a surprise! What brings you by?”

He shrugged, closing the door behind him. “Just wondering how is my best friend doing today” he said, grinning at her.

She rolled her eyes. “Harry, you've taken up to make daily visits with me since I started the treatment” she chided him, albeit smiling, and going to hug him.

“Well, I want to make sure everything's fine” he shrugged, and she kissed him on the cheek.

“It's sweet of you, but you have a wife to care for, Harry. Honestly, I'm not going to die for this, if I made it through Voldemort's days” she joked, and he grinned, pulling her close.

“So, you up for lunch together?” he asked casually, and she nodded. Few minutes later, they were in a café near to the Ministry, enjoying fish and chips and joking just as two carefree friends would do.

Harry had never felt happier.

“However, not everything was fine as it seemed. The doctor had told them the risks of the IVF, and while you were born perfectly healthy, your mother had quite a struggle with giving birth to you. I remember quite well that day” he said.

Everyone they knew was waiting for news outside the room. Ron was the only one inside, after all it was his wife giving birth to their child. And yet, Harry and Ginny being the only other ones who knew the truth, he felt compelled to glance at his wife, who was currently chatting with Molly.

He sighed, realizing then that she had been right. He wanted more than anything to be inside that room, holding Hermione's hand while their baby was delivered, soothing her through her pain. That role, however, was Ron's. Harry didn't know if it hurt more than he couldn't be there for his baby being brought to life, or not be able to soothe Hermione's pain.

But, he didn't regret his decision. She was the most important person in his life, much more than Ginny, and he would do anything for her. If helping her having a child this way was what he could do to repay his debt toward her, then he would, whatever pain it would bring him.

She deserved that.

Steeling his resolve, he announced he was going to the cafeteria and asked if anyone wanted something from there.

--

It was five hours later that Ron emerged from the room, pale as a ghost.

“She…she's born” he stammered, and from that everyone understood their child was a little girl. Harry went to clap him on the back, and the two of them exchanged a meaningful glance, but their silent communication was interrupted by an Healer bursting out of the room and running down the corridor, soon followed by another one who approached Ron.

“Mr. Weasley, I want to congratulate you. You have a very healthy daughter” the man started, shaking Ron's hand. “But, I have bad news too. Your wife…well, there have been complications, and we don't know exactly how, however her life signs have started fading…”

Harry felt the weight of the world loaded on his shoulders. Hermione was dying…was dying…

He shakily leant on the nearest wall, while Ron was still bobbing his mouth open without being able to speak.

“We will do our best, for now you can only wait. And hope” the healer said, before going back inside the room.

Everyone kept reassuring Ron that everything would be fine, that Hermione would be soon going to cradle her daughter in her arms.

All, but Harry.

The raven haired man was staring ahead, the empty corridor in front of him, unable to move. The only thought in his mind was that Hermione was dying, and somehow it might be his fault.

“What if my sperm and her egg cells somehow weren't compatible?” he thought. “But then, the baby wouldn't have been healthy, would she?”

For hours he tormented himself that way, and night was substituted by day. Ginny had tried to convince him get some rest at home, Ron would surely alert him of any news, she had said, but he was adamant.

“Hermione wouldn't have left my side if I were fighting between life and death. I won't leave hers” he said, glaring at his wife, and she glared back at him, before Flooing home with James. She was pregnant herself and she shouldn't tire herself too much, after all.

“It took your mother five days to exit the coma she was in, and she slowly healed. Probably the Muggle technique wasn't so fond of the magic flowing in your mother's body and it kind of messed up things. I don't even exactly know what or how, to tell you the truth” he smiled a bit sadly. “I'm sure you could find out, if you researched it” he smiled fondly at his daughter then. “However, while her health restored perfectly, her ability to have children was destroyed. She more or less became sterile herself”

“What about Hugo, then?” Rose inquired.

“Your mother and Ron adopted him. Quite a nice gesture, I have to say” Harry said with a smile. Rose nodded.

Teddy had gone to the cafeteria, so Harry decided to reveal his daughter another secret.

“You know, I've always admired your bravery” he said. Rose blushed.

“Brave? Me? I don't even know why I was sorted into Gryffindor!” she protested, and he shook his head.

“Being brave doesn't mean only being able to face danger, Rose. It's also standing up for what you believe in, and to not go with what's easy if it isn't also what is right” he wisely said.

Comprehension flickered through her eyes, and Harry nodded.

“Yes, the Weasleys weren't very supportive of you and Teddy, were they?” he said, somewhat sadly. “Even if they are the least prejudiced people I've ever known, they still had some reluctance to see one of them married to a werewolf, am I not right?”

Rose nodded, feeling the anger she had felt at some of the objections her family had raised come back full force.

“I didn't care. I loved him, and I still do. That's what truly matters in the end, and now that we are parents...” she said, looking down at her daughter, which had in the meantime fell asleep, “I feel so happy with him, I don't know how I could live without him”

“Which makes you far braver than I've ever been, Rose” Harry said, standing up, a sad expression clouding his features. “I may have vanquished Voldemort, with lots of help from your mother and Ron, and lots of other people mind you, but I've never been brave enough to do what I knew was right with my life”

Rose sensed he was referring to his marriage with Ginny, and stayed silent, waiting for him to elaborate.

“I knew Ron fancied Hermione, and I knew he was jealous of my fame and money. I would have never intentionally risked his friendship, he was my first friend of my age, the very first one being Hagrid” he continued. “So, when the time came for me to confront him on his fear that I and your mother might end together, I lied and told him she was just a sister for me. Merlin, if siblings thought about each other the way I did about your mother, the world would be an incestuous place indeed” he chuckled, and Rose smiled, despite everything.

“That was the moment I willingly stepped back. After all, it was somewhat expected of them to get together, while my destiny was to be with Ginny. At least, this is what Molly seemed to think, as she revealed when the engagements happened. If I had been as brave as you, I'd have said to Ron exactly what I felt, even if he had just come back to us, and if that drove him away again then I and your mother would have gone on alone, as we did anyway for a couple months, that winter when we were searching for Horcruxes. I was simply too much of a coward to do it”

Harry felt a pair of arms slid around his waist and an head resting on his back.

“You're not a coward, Dad. You are just a silly hero, who thinks about his loved ones' happiness before his own” she teased him, and he chuckled again, turning in her embrace and kissing her on the forehead.

“You're wise” he teased her, and she giggled.

That was the moment a smiling healer came out of the room Hermione was resting in.

“She's awake and has asked of you, Mr. Potter”

Harry looked down at Rose, who nodded, and released him from the hug. As he was walking inside the room, she whispered inside his ear,

“Tell her, Dad. You can still be happy together from now on, since both of you are single again”

He grinned at her, and nodded, before disappearing inside the room.

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Disclaimer: Nope, not mine. You really think I'd have gone with OBHWF?

A/N: So, this is my response to the challenge “The truth about Rose Weasley” by leochick. It can be found here: http://talk.portkey.org/index.php?showtopic=26447 I hope you'll enjoy the story, and as usual let me know what you think of it, ok? Reviews help me improve, if there's constructive criticism in them. It starts before the epilogue, but it still follows what's portrayed there at first. Just so you know.

Rose Weasley. Or Was it Potter?

Chapter Four: Long Time Due Romance

As Harry entered the room, he gasped seeing Hermione's mid section heavily bandaged.

“Oh, come on, Harry” she teased him with a smile. “You've been in much worse conditions through the years”

“And I can tell you now that I truly understand what you went through when watching over me all those times” he replied with a smile. “It's the second time you give me a nasty scare, I hope you don't have plans to do that again” he mock chastised her then.

She rolled her eyes at him before his words really sunk in. “Harry, you shouldn't talk about that here, she might overhear you” she reminded him, oblivious about the long chat he and Rose had shared while waiting to be let in her room.

“She knows. She recognized the similarities between me and little Julie, especially the eyes. Always been a smart one, our Rose” he said fondly, taking her hand in his own. “I had to tell her or it would have made things worse”

Hermione nodded, sighing. “I hope she understands”

“Oh, she does. And she will never forget Ron as her Dad. But now she knows the truth. I even told her some things you don't know, to tell the truth” he sheepishly admitted, realizing after many years his moment to be a true Gryffindor had come again, and he was determined to not let it slip away this time.

“So, are you going to tell me or not?” Hermione huffed when he paused.

He chuckled. “Impatient, aren't we?” he teased her and she had the grace to blush. He cleared his throat then, and mustered all the bravery he was able of.

“There's something you should know about the Horcrux hunt so many years ago” he started.

When he was finished telling her what had happened when Ron had destroyed the locket, she was looking at him with a mixture of anger and awe.

Anger, because he had assumed her feelings for him were only sisterly without asking her first, and because he told Ron he loved her as a sister only.

Awe, because she deep down had a feeling he didn't tell Ron the truth and if that was the case, he must be the most selfless man on Earth.

He waited for her to say something, but she didn't, so he continued.

“I'm sorry I was a chicken back there and didn't have the guts to tell Ron the truth, but I'm doing it now. As Rose pointed out, we still have many years in front of us and I won't live them with the regret of not telling you”

Hermione was speechless. She had an idea of what he was going to say but couldn't bring herself to believe it.

“I am utterly, definitely, head over heels in love with you, Hermione Jane Granger” he finally said.

Tears pooled in her eyes, and for a moment she was assaulted by the regret of the years they could have had together. She was also aware that even if they were to get together now and live for another hundred years together, she would never be able to give him a child to raise together, and that was the main reason for the sadness enveloping her.

But the joy for having Harry return the feelings she had been harbouring since their fifth year at Hogwarts was much more intense, and so she cried, and cried. Of joy, of course.

Harry, however, didn't know that, and seeing her cry he got immediately worried.

“Hermione, I'm so sorry, I didn't want to upset you so much!” he said, and she shook her head, finally forcing herself to speak.

“I'm not upset Harry. Quite the contrary in fact, I'm overjoyed at the thought that you love me too!”

“Does this mean…?”

“Yes, Harry. I'm in love with you too. Have been since Hogwarts, in fact, but you had Ginny…”

Harry chuckled. “We have been two fools” he said, gently cupping her face with his hands. “But no more” he whispered then, mere inches from her lips, before he moved to close the gap.

Hermione was shocked at the intense sensation when their lips met for the first time. It felt so powerful, so right, and she laced her arms around his neck, kissing him back, meeting his tongue greedily with her own, in a frenzied rhythm, moaning when he sucked on her lower lip, more than three decades of hidden passion pouring from both of them as they finally found each other.

From the doorway, a figure silently observed the scene, an huge grin on her lips. As she looked at her mother and biological father kissing like there was no tomorrow, Rose couldn't help think that love truly conquered everything, even misunderstandings and fear to hurt someone close.

As she quietly left the other two to each other, she smiled to herself, proud to be a Potter.

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