Epilogue: Forever

10 years later

Hermione smiled as she shifted a lock of her husband's long hair from his face as he slept. The touch roused him from his dreams and he cracked open a sleepy eye to look at her.

"Morning, love." Hermione said, pressing a soft kiss to his bearded cheek.

Charlie grumbled and stretched his arms above his head, his still muscled body flexing as he moved. Charlie Weasley had aged beautifully, his handsome features only increasing as he neared his fortieth birthday. Gentle laugh lines framed his mouth and his eyes now held permanent crows feet but the boyish playful glint never left them.

"Mummm!" One of their children called loudly from downstairs.

Hermione sighed and flopped onto her back, trying to ignore the sound of her children running around downstairs as they woke from their beds. A loud shout and bang from below had her swearing into their large bedroom and Charlie huffed a laugh as they both swung out from under the warm covers.

She pulled on a pair of muggle jeans and a dark green t-shirt and quickly padded downstairs. She found her eldest son, Rowan, attempting to cook himself breakfast. He was only nine-years-old but tried to act like a proper adult, reminding both her and Charlie heavily of how Percy was as a child.

Her second eldest, Asher, who was born just shy of two years apart from his brother, was quite the troublemaker. She and Charlie had to repeatedly confiscate various stink bombs or Puking Pasties that Fred and George tried to sneak him at every family gathering. Hermione found him hiding under the dining room table, holding a jar that she instantly recognized as one of the Twin's products. He had the Tiny Twister Jar aimed directly at his younger sister's door, waiting for her to open it to unleash it upon her.

"And what, may I ask, do you plan to do with that?" Hermione asked as she crouched at the table, making Asher jump in surprise.

He quickly hid the jar behind his back and gave her an innocent smile, "Nothing, Mum. I don't have anything."

"It's a Tiny Twister, Mum. Uncle Fred gave it to him last weekend when we went to Gran's." Rowan piped up from the stove.

Hermione held her hand out and Asher reluctantly placed the Tiny Twister in it. "Out from under the table, dear."

Asher scrambled out from between the legs of a chair and stuck his tongue out at his older brother. Hermione had to suppress a smile as she stuck the jar in a charmed box with all the other confiscated items from over the years. One day, when her resolve wavered, she would unleash every single one of those items on the Twins.

Her daughter's bedroom door opened and five-year-old Kaida stumbled out, wiping the sleep from her eyes. Charlie came down the stairs a moment later as Rowan finished cooking breakfast.

Charlie took a dramatic inhale of the food and gave his son a beaming grin, "Well-done, Rowan. That smells great."

Rowan glowed at his father's praise and hopped off the step-stool to eat as Hermione scooped up Kaida and brushed the fiery red curls from her face. All of her children had the same hair, Weasley red with Hermione's untameable ringlets.

"Oh, Mum the owl post came already. There was a letter for you." Rowan said as he shovelled his eggs into his mouth. Charlie began to cook the rest of the family breakfast and Hermione grabbed the letter Rowan pointed to from the counter.

It was scribbled in her assistant's familiar handwriting and she hurriedly opened it. Hermione let out a gasp as she read and nearly dropped Kaida in her excitement.

"What is it?" Charlie asked, turning to look at her with a spatula in hand.

She grinned at her husband and handed him the letter before turning to her children, "Eat quickly, everyone. Lumi's egg is hatching!"

After breakfast and haphazardly dressing her children, they all flew down to the research building a short distance from the Commons. Kaida was tucked tightly between Hermione's arms as she rode on her Firebolt while Asher rode jovially with his carefree father.

She was immensely proud of Rowan, however, riding next to them on a broom of his own. He had been gifted a Nimbus 2007 by them last Christmas when he passed a flying test with Keeper Harpis, who had finally mastered the broom and been made the flying instructor. Rowan was an amazing flyer and had been on a broom since infancy. Charlie hoped he'd be sorted into Gryffindor and make the quidditch team in his first year.

"Have to try to beat Potter. He made me look bad when he became seeker." Charlie had said to her one night when she discovered he had bought Rowan a self-hovering broom when he was only two.

The group of them descended quickly and shoved their brooms into the racks near the front door, rushing inside.

Hermione led them through to the hatchery, where her assistant, Megan, waited for them.

"Professor Weasley!" The timid girl squeaked out. Hermione had been titled Professor when she was made head of the hatchery department two years ago but it still sounded odd.

Hermione smiled at her as they came to Lumi's egg, the large blue opalescent egg sat wedged between hot coals and large cracks were forming on top. Her heart swelled as she thought how they came to this moment.

They had heard rumours of another dragon matching Lumi's description being spotted around Finland and Charlie and a small group of Keepers were dispatched to find it. They had returned four days later, chilled to the bone but glowing with happiness as the totted in another Finnish Blackscale. A male Finnish Blackscale.

It had taken all but a week for Lumi and the now dubbed, Jasper, to mate and only six months to produce the egg that is now hatching.

Charity, now Keeper Beedle, and Felix burst through the doors, followed by Orval and Luella and their daughter, Ana. Ana was only a year older than Rowan and Hermione could already tell infatuation was blooming in her son. His cheeks coloured slightly as Ana said hello to him and Hermione had to bite the inside of her cheek to stop from smiling.

"Has it happened yet?" Felix asked as he rushed towards the group, out of breath.

"Just about, only a few more minutes now." Hermione said and turned her attention back to the egg.

The group gathered around as the crest began to cave in and a hole formed. A sudden burst of flame shot out from inside, causing the egg to burst apart. It revealed a solid black dragon, no larger than the size of a small dog, staring at them with icy blue eyes. It had nubs where it's horns would grow in and it stumbled on its claws as it moved around clumsily.

Megan was furiously taking notes down beside her and for once, Hermione was glad to simply enjoy the magic happening in front of her.

Charlie wrapped an arm around her shoulders, tucking her into his side and Hermione made a grab for all her children to pull them in close. Even Asher, normally too rebellious to want affection, was too stunned by the baby dragon and allowed Hermione to hold his hand.

The emotion in the room was overwhelming and tears pricked the corners of her eyes as Megan began to examine the newborn.

She looked up at Charlie with a grin as a few tears overflowed, trailing down her face. His own emotion matched hers and he leant down to press a sweet kiss to her lips. Her heart nearly burst at the love she felt from her husband of ten years.

Her soulmate.

Her forever.

And with that, we come to the end. Again I want to thank everyone that helped this fic come to fruition! And thank you so much for reading I hope you've enjoyed.

Don't forget to check out the rest of this collection on Archive of Our Own (hermiones_nook - collection: Hermione's Nook RarePair Soulmate Fest) for some other fantastic fics (:

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