Final part. I'm so sad this is over.
I'm sorry this isn't up on what is technically Friday (busy day, deadlines, blah), but I dragged myself out of bed at 3.30am just to upload this, so I hope it makes up for it!

EPILOGUE:

"Uncle Chaz?" a three-year-old Victoire asked as she and her favourite uncle were making cupcakes in the kitchen of the Burrow.

"Whats up kiddo?" Charlie asked looking at his eldest niece. She had raw cake mix on her chin and flour in her hair but still looked adorable with her pale ginger pigtails and cute freckles on her nose. He smiled at her, thinking he probably looked just as bad with it in his long red hair and five o'clock shadow.

"Are you going to ask Aunty Herm to marry you?" she asked sweetly and she spooned cake mix into paper cases.

"Maybe one day, sweetie," Charlie answered with a kiss to her head. He had been looking for months to find a perfect diamond for the ring he had made her. He had had his eye on an oddly cut white diamond to fit onto the smooth white gold band and was in negotiations with the goblins at Gringotts over ownership the previous week. Goblins always thought something was more interesting when someone else wanted it so Bill had stepped in to oversee many of the more complex issues of goblin transactions. As soon as Charlie had the diamond, he apperated to Bill and Fleur's cottage to fit it to the ring and had been carrying it in his jeans pocket ever since.

Since the day Victoire was born, Charlie and Hermione had been practically inseparable. They lived in a modest house near the Burrow so they could be near their family but still far enough away to have complete privacy whenever they wanted it. They lived in a house full of love, and respect for each other that was always full of Weasley's. Fred and George, and Ron and Harry were there almost every day to catch up over a beer while Hermione was always the first to jump at babysitting opportunities for her niece.

"I think you should get married," Victoire said matter-of-factly which caused Charlie to laugh. "You should because then I can have someone who isn't old to play with."

"Are you saying I'm old?" Charlie asked with mock outrage while he tickled Victoire's sides. She laughed and screamed and kicked her legs as Charlie picked her up and swung her in his arms. Charlie pulled Victoire into a hug that she returned with a kiss to his cheek.

"Love you Uncle Chaz," she said with the hug.

"Love you too Kiddo," he returned. He shifted her onto his hip as they put the cupcakes in the oven to cook. Charlie pointed his wand at the oven and a bright red balloon appeared out of one of the gas rings. "When that balloon pops, it means the cakes are ready, ok?"

"Ok!" Victoire said with enthusiasm as she was placed on a pile of cushions on one of the chairs. Charlie vanished the evidence of his and his niece's cooking while she drew on huge sheets of paper. There were pink swirls, yellow suns and green squiggles that were meant to be dragons flying through the sky. The scene was a peaceful one until the balloon popped which made all three of them jump and burst out giggling as glittering confetti came falling around the kitchen.

"How long have you been there Aunty Herm?" Victoire asked as Hermione came into the room. Victoire ran to Hermione who picked her up and swung her in circles.

"Not long," Hermione said. She had been watching them draw for around ten minutes, not wanting to disturb their laughter and chatter. "Did you and Uncle Chaz make cakes?"

"Yes, but Uncle Chaz said we're not allowed to give any to Uncle Ron because he said Uncle Ron is a greedy pig." Victoire reeled off, causing Hermione to laugh while Charlie smirked from where he stood near the oven with a tray of cakes in his hands. "But we can't give Uncle Harry them either, because he'll give them to Uncle Ron."

"Did you really say that, Uncle Chaz?" Hermione asked, playing up to the tone Victoire had set.

"Only because Uncle Ron ate two of the last ones and I didn't get one," Charlie reasoned as he pulled Hermione against him and kissed her. Victoire always made sure she made enough cakes for everyone when she was with Uncle Chaz and Aunty Herm.

"Eww gross!" Victoire called as she saw Charlie with his lips on Hermione's. They all laughed and decorated the cakes for the rest of the evening. It had been Bill and Fleur's fourth anniversary the night before and so Victoire was staying with Charlie and Hermione so they could be with each other. Once a thoroughly worn out toddler was sleeping with her head on her Daddy's shoulder and the house was quiet once more did Charlie and Hermione finally relax.

"What time is it?" Hermione asked around a yawn as she stretched before snuggling closer to Charlie's frame.

"Just gone eleven," Charlie replied. He smiled and jumped up from their sofa in the den of the Burrow. "Come with me."

"What? Charlie?" Hermione asked as Charlie lifted her from the sofa. He summoned their shoes from by the door and slipped them onto Hermione's feet before stuffing his own feet into his boots. "Where are we going?"

"You'll see," he said with a smile. "Just come with me."

Charlie led them both down the driveway of the Burrow, to where the wards ended and they could apperate away. Charlie wrapped his arms around Hermione's body and took a second to savour the contact before feeling that familiar, squeezing-through-a-tube feeling of apperating. All around them was noise, the bustle of a crowd and bright golden lights. Hermione recognized the smells and sounds of this place from a few years before.

"Covent Garden market?" she asked as Charlie let his arms fall from Hermione's body. He led them over to the basement area where the string quartette was once again playing their upbeat tunes. Charlie said nothing as he pulled her into the crowd to watch. Hermione was too busy remembering her last visit here, where she had laughed and cheered and clapped with hundreds of other people enjoying the merriment to keep an eye on Charlie. She turned to him expecting to see him stood behind her and was shocked almost to silence when he wasn't there.

"Charlie?" she asked. "CHARLIE?"

"Hermione Granger," said a voice near her. She whipped her head around and saw Charlie in front of the musicians who had stopped playing. The crowed shuffled as Hermione went towards the voice she knew belonged to Charlie. She found him and before she could move any further he spoke again.

"I was asked today by a woman, about this tall," he started, with his hand held at waist height. "She has freckles and cute pigtails and she asked if I was ever going to marry Aunty Herm and like an idiot, Uncle Chaz said 'maybe one day'. Ever since, Uncle Chaz has been kicking himself because he said the wrong thing. It's not a case of maybe; it's a certainty.

"Spending the past three years with you have been the best three years of my life, without doubt. We got through a lot of bad stuff without each other, but you helped me put the pieces back together when you didn't have to and I want to thank you for it. You showed me the good things in life again and made me want to grab it by the balls and see where it takes me, and where it takes us.

"I know I can be a pig, a git and a downright arse when I want to be. And I know you love our family more than anything so I want to make it official. I'm not doing it to prove a point as I'd burn up a sun just to tell you that I love you, a piece of paper can't prove it any more than I can right now." Charlie reached into his pocket and pulled out a worn velvet box before lowering himself on bended knee. The whole market place was silent as everyone was listening to Charlie. Nothing moved and no one spoke as he finished his speech.

"Hermione Jean Granger. I love you. I love everything about you, even though you think Poirot is better than Holmes. Would you do me the greatest pleasure by becoming my wife? Will you marry me?"

Hermione stood, looking at Charlie on his knee in front of her. He opened the velvet box and it showed a large, roughly shaped diamond that glittered in the golden glow of the market. Through her tearful eyes she saw it glint in Charlie's shaking hand.

"You big, daft idiot Charlie Wealsey," Hermione said through her sniffles as she walked to him. "You need to promise me something." Charlie looked up at her from where he kneeled on the ground. His eyes blazed into hers as she spoke to him.

"Anything."

"I need you to promise that you'll do the night changes at first."

Charlie looked up at Hermione, confused at her request. The cogs of his mind working overtime until the penny dropped. He tore his eyes away from Hermione's briefly as he looked at her stomach and then back into her big, beautiful brown eyes. Charlie's mouth was open in shock as Hermione beamed at him, nodding her head madly.

"Yes, yes yes!" she said wetly. Charlie slid the ring onto Hermione's shaking hand as the crowd erupted into jovial whoops and cheers while the band started playing again over the sound of the entire market applauding.

The kiss they shared at that moment was the most special yet as they both laughed and cried with each other, tears of happiness shining on both their cheeks.

"Take me home, Charlie," Hermione whispered as their kiss broke. As they left the market place, strangers throwing blessings and congratulations' upon them they walked hand in hand. The ring was a perfect fit on Hermione's hand. It was where it belonged.

They apperated as soon as they were out of sight, straight to their home near the Burrow where their lips were pressed frantically together as soon as they arrived. They embraced where they stood, hands running under shirts and through hair, exploring well-known bodies all over again. Hermione pulled Charlie's tee over his head and threw it aside before planting kisses along his collar bone and down his torso, causing a shiver to quickly follow.

These kisses were quick and frenzied as her fingertips dragged along his skin, sparking like electricity between them. She pushed Charlie back onto their sofa, straddling his hips where he fell. Hermione could feel him, hard beneath his jeans where she sat astride him as she continued her kisses on his collarbone and licked up to his ear.

Charlie moaned, low in his throat at Hermione's ministrations. Hermione removed her shirt and threw it to join Charlie's on the floor and his eyes easily flowed along the contours of her body. Charlie truly did love the freckles on her side and the scars on her hip she always tried to hide, and the way she didn't care about any of that when they were alone together, truly at one with each other. Hermione stood to remove the rest of her clothing, Charlie watching her as she did. She teased enough to make Charlie growl softy from the back of his throat, but it turned into loud moans and gasps as she unbuttoned his jeans and dragged them from his body.

Slowly, she kissed and caressed her way up his legs and playfully ran her tongue along the hard length her fingers were softly stroking. Charlie's breath caught sharply at the contact and he threw his head back. Hermione knew how to play him so he was a shivering, whimpering mass. She lowered her mouth, taking his length into her mouth where she sucked carefully, a playful tease in this sea of tension. Hermione sucked harder, her head moving to take him deeply into her mouth, which caused Charlie to moan her name louder and push her hair back to see her face. Hermione looked into his eyes, smirking through her lashes; an expression that made Charlie close to losing control.

Hermione removed her mouth with one last flick of her tongue and took her place on Charlie's lap again, making teasing movements of her hips that reduced him to breathy whimpers under her. She stopped the teasing, needed to feel Charlie in her.

He entered her and Hermione started to rise and fall, Charlie's hands possessively on her hips while her hands rested on his muscled shoulders. They moved together, hips rolling as they reached their climax, calling for each other in the shadowy room.

Together they slept on the sofa, naked and wrapped in a conjured blanket. The bright morning sun winking through the living room window brought Charlie out of his blissful dreams of families and babies and he looked at the woman curled up next to him. Gently placing a hand on her stomach so he didn't wake the sleeping Hermione, he wondered if it was all real, or just a wonderful dream.

"Good morning, Daddy," she said, her voice thick with sleep.

"It's really real, isn't it?" He asked. "This is really happening."

They had got their happy ending.

Fin… For real.
So, what do you think? Please review and let me know your thoughts on this. It's been an absolute ball to write and I'm so sad it's now come to a close.
The response to this has been phenomenal, I mean really it has. It's got nearly 70 alerts just on this story alone which is madness when my next most popular story only had 18 reviews before it was complete.
I want to thank everyone again (I know I sound like a Miss World winner now!) but all the reviews have been amazing and so encouraging when I was still on thin ice at around chapter 5-6ish.
Massive love to everyone who followed this, or have followed this to the end after it was completed.

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