I take a deep breath as I walk into the bedroom. Wedding nights, we aren't supposed to be nervous. This should be the one thing we are completely sure about. I'm supposed to be smart. I was the brightest witch of my age, but here I am, sitting on the cold tile bathroom floor, leaving the love of my life waiting outside, trying to get the nerve to go out there. Gryffindors are brave. This is supposed to be easy. It isn't long before the tears start to fall.

Poor Ron. He deserves someone who wouldn't be afraid of... of this. It's insulting for him. He doesn't deserve it. The knock on the door disrupts me. "Hermione?" he says as gently as he can, "are you alright?" I shake my head and pull my knees closer to my chest. He looks concerned, shocked, to see me in this state. This was the best day of my life, and here I am, crying on the tile of the bathroom floor. "What's wrong?"

I bite my lip. "I can't tell you?" I ask him, like it is a question.

He kisses the top of my head and runs his fingers through the atypical silky strands, released from the captivity of the wedding braid. "Hermione," he chuckles, "you can tell me anything."

I shrug. "You won't really like it."

He lets out another chuckle, but it sounds a bit more nervous. "You aren't regretting marrying me already, are you?" He tries to play it off as he is joking, but I can hear the nervous undertone of his voice. As if I could ever regret marrying Ron.

"I couldn't regret it, Ron, but it's just- you know," I lower my voice to a whisper, "what married couples are supposed to do, on their wedding nights..."

He lets out a laugh, out of relief, or just because he thinks my fear is funny, I don't know. "Hermione, are you here, crying on the bathroom floor, because you are afraid of sex?"

I bite my lower lip and nod. "Maybe, just a bit, yeah."

He pulls me even closer to him and he kisses the top of my head, just as he did before, but lets the kisses trail down my body, down my nose, kissing both of my wet eyelids, my lips, my chin, my neck and my shoulders, before he gets to the lace lining my nightgown, a red and black silk and lace number, bought especially for the occasion, he stops and looks into my eyes with a questioning look in his blue eyes. 'Can I go further? We can stop if you want.' his eyes seem to say. I wrap my arms around him and he scoops me up and takes me to the bedroom of our inn suite, and lays me down, as if I'm a china doll, and he is afraid of breaking me. My heart swells knowing he is trying to be gentle with me, as he is typically brash and headstrong, but I feel like I did that time we kissed after we destroyed the horocroux. Every sense was increased. Every touch was that much more meaningful. He was my protector, there for me when I was afraid, but gentle with me like if I was hit too hard, I would break. That's how the kisses started. Soft and gentle, but they quickly grew into something much more than that. They were filled with fire and passion, making me crave more. Suddenly I wasn't afraid anymore. I grabbed the edge of Ron's shirt and pulled it over his head. He did the same with my nightgown. I fumbled with the buttons on his pants, before he put his hands over mine and helped me undo them, all the while, we remained in a perfect, infinite, fiery kiss.

That was the first night we made love. We were clumsy, inexperienced, unprepared on what to do. In the confusion of me crying, terrified of things to come, I forgot to cast a protection spell, and suddenly James Sirius Potter, born earlier, had a cousin.

We were all in attendance for the last last marriage in our family, George and Angelina, a wedding that happened when Rose was eight months old. They both wanted to wait before getting married, to see if their feelings were real, or to see if they were both trying to use one another to help recover over the loss of Fred. Molly and Arthur sat in the front row, Molly and Lucy sitting on their laps, keeping James and Rose quiet in their carriers, Teddy, officially part of our family, helped out. Dominique played flower girl and Louis played ring bearer, while Victoire, Ginny, Katie, Alicia and I played Bridesmaids, Katie and Alicia sharing the roll of Maid of Honor between them. As I stood watching the wedding, I wondered if George and Angelina would have the same fears I had, or if they would be like Ron and be strong for the both of them.

A year later, George and Angelina welcomed a new addition, as did Harry and Ginny. Albus and Fred were born and I couldn't be happier for them. The two wives threw a joint baby shower and welcomed the new additions within a week of one another. I threw the two women a joint baby shower. Somehow, I couldn't shake the feeling the two boys would act very much like Fred and George used to act.

The last of our family was born when Fred and Albus were eighteen months old. Ginny and Angelina had a talent for becoming mothers at the same time, but they invited me to join the party this time. Lily, Roxanne and Hugo were born that October and we couldn't have been happier. I knew this all wen back to that one very special wedding night with Ron. What would have happened if Ron hadn't coaxed me out of my shell and hadn't made love to me that night? Where would we be?

Look! More practice! My theme this time was romance! Please review and tell me what I can improve on! First contest is Monday, so keep an eye out! The first contest piece will hopefully be out then!

-Juliet