Well, here it is! The last chapter of What if the Boy Hadn't Lived? *sniffle* I promised myself I wouldn't do this...

"Neville, you've tracked soot into the kitchen!" cried Mrs. Weasley in distress as he stepped out of the fireplace, looking alarmed as she charged toward him. "Don't stand there, clean it up! They'll be here any minute! Oh, never mind, I'll do it..."

"Good to see you, too, Mum," said Ginny dryly, who had followed Neville out of the fireplace and into the kitchen.

"Oh," said Mrs. Weasley, pausing in her furious bout of cleaning fit and looking reasonably abashed, "I'm sorry, Ginny, it's just that they haven't been able to come by in months, and what with their surprise—"

"I know, I know," said Ginny, waving her hand impatiently and accepting Mrs. Weasley 's hasty hug. She threw a smirk at George, who was watching them with an amused expression from the doorway, and added under her breath, "Everything has to be perfect for Ickle Wonnykins," making him snicker.

"I heard that," said Mrs. Weasley, shooing them into the parlor. "Go and listen for the door!"

"You've already got Bill, Perce, and Ted listening for it, Mum," George pointed out, ignoring Mrs. Weasley's fiery glare. "Unless you're worried they've all gone suddenly deaf, I don't think you need to put poor Ginny and Neville on guard duty."

"Why aren't you stationed out there?" Ginny asked as she led Neville quickly through the kitchen door, both of them rather relieved to be away from Mrs. Weasley's frenzied activity.

George pointed to his missing ear and grinned. "Sometimes this little doozy really comes in handy. Can't very well listen for the door with one ear, can I?" Neville chuckled and Ginny just rolled her eyes.

"I see them!" Teddy yelled from his place by the window, where he had been solemnly keeping a lookout for the past half hour. "They just Apparated outside the gate!"

"Take cover!" George shouted as Mrs. Weasley burst into the room, flinging her wand back and forth to straighten the portraits and make one last check for stray dust on the bookshelves.

"Molly," said Mr. Weasley beseechingly. "Do you really think all of this is necessary? It isn't as if they haven't been here before—"

"One of them hasn't," she snapped, and he ducked his head at her tone, mumbling, "Right, dear. Of course."

"What's that supposed to mean?" asked Neville, confused, as the others looked curiously from Mr. Weasley to Mrs. Weasley, neither of whom responded.

"All right, everyone," said Mrs. Weasley, looking as nervous as if the Minister of Magic himself were at the door—which still wouldn't have warranted that much anxiety, seeing as the Minister was Kingsley Shacklebolt and was familiar enough with the lot of them that he could not inspire a reaction like this out of Mrs. Weasley. "Positions!"

"Positions?" said Bill. "We've got positions now?"

"You really should have mentioned this earlier, Mum," said George, pretending to look stricken. "I haven't rehearsed. I don't know my lines. Oh, I'm going to humiliate myself in front of Ron, I just know it—"

With one last glare at George, Mrs. Weasley turned to the door, waiting with unconcealed excitement as two pairs of footsteps neared. Ron was only able to knock once before she had flung the door open and swept him up into her arms.

"Ron! It's so good to see you! I'm so glad you could come!" she cried, on the verge of tears of happiness.

Hermione grinned at the sight of the entire family waiting for them. It had been too long since they'd all gotten together, or even seen each other at all; Ron and Hermione had both been busy with their new jobs in the Ministry, and with their latest little surprise, of course. They hadn't had a minute to spare to even drop by the Burrow, let alone have a gathering with everyone.

Ginny reached her first, towing Neville by the hand. She hugged Hermione tight with her free arm, keeping a firm hold of Neville with her other. When they drew back, Hermione raised her eyebrows, and Ginny set her jaw and tightened her fingers in Neville's, her face turning pink, as if daring Hermione to comment. Neville was grinning in an embarrassed way, the bottom of his robes stained with soot. He looked a thousand times better than he had two years ago when they'd broken him out of Azkaban; his face had lost its sallow, sunken look and his eyes shone.

Hermione opened her mouth, but before she could say anything George all but shoved Ginny and Neville aside, throwing one arm around Hermione's shoulders and the other around Ron's, who had just squirmed out of Mrs. Weasley's bone-crushing embrace.

"Well, now the party can finally begin!" he said loudly, winking at Hermione. "It just wasn't complete without Ronny."

Ron's ears turned pink as he tried to struggle away from his brother, scowling. "Ha-ha."

The others crowded around to greet them as well. Bill clapped Ron on the shoulder and grinned at Hermione, who was given quite a shock when Fleur exclaimed, "'Ermione! It eez so good to see you!" and caught her up in a willowy hug. Hermione could barely stammer out an "it's good to see you, too" in her surprise. Percy was another shock—she hadn't seen him for at least seven years, back when Voldemort had first taken complete control over the Wizarding world. She didn't know exactly where he'd been, whether he had stayed at his job in the Ministry or if he'd gone to work for the Order. He nodded stiffly at her and hung at the edge of the group, looking uncomfortable.

Little Teddy hugged Hermione round the knees before throwing himself at Ron, who spun him in a circle with a labored grunt. "You're getting heavy, Ted!" he groaned. "How old are you now, fifty?"

"I'm seven and a half!" said Teddy indignantly. "How old are you?"

Hermione laughed along with the others as Ron's eyes widened with surprise. Just looking at all the faces smiling around her was enough to fill her with joy. The years following Voldemort's final fall had been so busy that she'd scarcely been able to enjoy the family she had officially entered into.

After all the hugs and greetings had been exchanged, Mrs. Weasley ushered everyone into chairs and practically demanded that they strike up decent conversation while she went and tended to a few more things—which, Hermione supposed, meant she had remembered a few more things she wanted to clean.

"Want to help me check on dinner, Ginny?" asked Hermione conversationally, and though the other girl looked a little uneasy, she got up and followed Hermione into the kitchen. Hermione closed the door behind them and spun around, suppressing the river of questions that wanted to pour out of her mouth.

For a moment they just stood and looked at each other. Then Hermione said casually, "So. You and Neville, huh?"

Ginny crossed her arms, looking defensive. "Yeah, me and Neville," she said, her eyes fierce and challenging Hermione to say something negative. "Is there a problem with that?"

Hermione took a breath to respond, but before she could Ginny swept on.

"Just because I was Harry's girlfriend doesn't mean I can't be with anyone else, ever." She looked away, her jaw clenched. "I loved him," she went on more softly. "I still do, and I always will. But Neville and I…we need each other, Hermione. We really do. Without him…" She shook her head. "There are just too many memories."

"Actually," said Hermione gently, "I was going to tell you that I think you two are wonderful together, and I couldn't be happier for you both."

Ginny looked as if she had been stricken absolutely speechless. Hermione wondered whether any of the others thought it insensitive of her to move on from Harry, though she couldn't imagine who would. Perhaps Ginny had painted up a far worse reaction in her mind, a reaction that hadn't been lived up to.

The sound of a motorcycle engine outside made a grin split Hermione's face. "Sounds like the surprise is here."

Ginny looked at her suspiciously. "Mum mentioned something about that. What surprise?"

"You'll see." Hermione strode out the back door to meet Hagrid as he descended on his roaring motorcycle, which wobbled precariously under his weight.

The others spilled out of the house after Hermione, many of them looking puzzled and extremely curious. Ron stopped at Hermione's side and took her hand, and they smiled at each other. Hermione had to stop herself from racing over to Hagrid and snatching the bundle right out of his arms.

"I see the motorcycle is in working order," said Mr. Weasley, unable to hide the pride in his voice.

Hagrid nodded vigorously. "Works better'n it ever has, Arthur. Yer a real genius with these contraptions, yeh know that?"

Mr. Weasley cleared his throat modestly but flushed red with pleasure.

"What have you got there, Hagrid?" asked Bill, his eyes already zeroed in on the blankets tucked into Hagrid's huge arm and the beginnings of a smile dawning on his lips.

Hermione tightened her grip on Ron's hand and together they walked up to the motorcycle, which rumbled noisily in the quiet of the garden. Hermione gently took the bundle from Hagrid's arms, looking up into his big, shaggy face to see tears tracking down his cheeks.

"Hagrid!" she said, concerned.

"I'm all righ'," he choked, rubbing his eyes with his sleeve. "Just brings back memories, is all."

Hermione patted his arm, sadness filling her. Even seven years hadn't dulled the pain of losing him, not for any of them.

Mrs. Weasley was hovering nearby, practically bursting with excitement. Hermione had already explained the "surprise" to her by owl, swearing her to secrecy. Ron put his arm around Hermione's shoulders, his chest puffed up with pride, and guided her forward until she stood amongst the others.

Hermione carefully shifted the blankets, revealing a small, red-haired head blinking brown eyes at them, a small fist waving in the air.

A small gasp went around the group as if a breeze had rippled through the garden.

"That's…" Ginny's mouth was gaping. She looked up at Ron in amazement. "Is that…"

"Yeah," said Ron, beaming at Hermione. "He's ours."

There was a great deal of activity, then.

Mrs. Weasley started crying tears of happiness and had to hide her face in Mr. Weasley's shoulder. Bill slapped Ron on the back, wearing a huge grin, and George shouted, "Well done, mate!" Fleur gave a rather high-pitched squeal and hugged Hermione for the second time in one day, which would never fail to bewilder her. Neville was looking down at the baby with a look of wonder, as if he couldn't believe what he was seeing. Even Percy, who had seemed so out of place before, was crowded around with the rest of them, smiling.

"Why didn't you tell us?" Ginny demanded.

"We wanted it to be a surprise," said Ron with a shrug.

George eyed Hagrid. "And is there any particular reason you wanted Hagrid to bring him on a bloody flying motorcycle?"

"Didn't want to Apparate with him," explained Hermione. She saw no reason why she should say that they had wanted Hagrid, who had been fawning over the baby ever since his birth, to have the honors of bringing him. She knew what it would remind him off: bringing little Harry to the Dursleys' so many years ago. Having him bring Hermione's son seemed...right.

"What is it?" Teddy cried from below, sounding frustrated. "I can't see!"

Hermione knelt down and showed him the baby. Teddy tipped his head to one side, curious. "He looks funny," he said. "Kind of red."

"That's because he's a Weasley!" George shouted, punching the air with his fist.

"He wasn't born that long ago, Ted," explained Ron with an exasperated look at George. "Believe it or not, you were that color when you were born, too."

Teddy made a face. "Nuh-uh!"

Suddenly the baby reached out and grasped Teddy's finger, making the little boy freeze and look at him in amazement.

"Wow," said Teddy, experimentally tugging against the baby's grip. "He's strong for a baby."

"He is," said Hermione, smiling. "Just like his namesake."

"What's his name?" asked Teddy.

Hermione glanced briefly at Ron, and in that look they shared a hundred thoughts, memories, sorrows, joys. There was brief silence, whole and complete, in the garden as everyone waited for the answer.

"Harry," said Hermione softly, looking down at the little baby. "His name is Harry."

The silence stretched on for a moment, and then Ginny knelt down beside Hermione, putting her hand on her shoulder. "It's a perfect name," she said quietly.

Hermione nodded and closed her eyes, holding her son close. She felt like if she concentrated hard enough, she could feel someone else kneeling on her other side, his emerald eyes glowing and his face split in a grin, forever there and never leaving.

And there it is! The end of my first fanfiction. This chapter was the hardest one to write out of all of them so far, and no, not because I was blinded by tears and sobbing uncontrollably. Although that might have been part of it...

Anyway, I hope it was a satisfying ending. I couldn't think for the life of me what to do for the epilogue, and this seemed like a fairly good way to wrap it up. A few tidbits of info not included in the chapter are that Luna Lovegood is now training to be the future Care of Magical Creatures teacher; a respectable and good-hearted Ministry worker by the name of Terence Mulfic became Headmaster of Hogwarts and is doing a splendid job; Ron works with Mr. Weasley in the Misuse of Muggle Artefacts Office (he only agreed to it because he knew it would overjoy his dad, and he's not sure he can take it much longer), and Hermione is preparing to become an Auror. Both of them also do quite a bit of work for the Order, helping them get the info they need to track down any remaining dangerous Death Eaters.

Yeah, I know the ending was corny. But I figured that since in the actual seventh book of Harry Potter he names his kids after all the people he admired, I would do the same for Ron and Hermione. Hope it didn't verge on creepy or anything.

And to finish off this painfully long Author's Note, I'd like to say how grateful I am to each and every one of you! Your support and reviews were really encouraging, and I enjoyed writing every word of this story. I'm genuinely sad to be finished.

You guys are awesome!