Thank you all for reading. Alas, we have come to the end. It was for me when Granger Enchanted went down, but re-posting my stories here have been fun and I've gotten to meet such nice people!
Chapter Thirty-Nine: Epilogue
The months after the third ritual were a whirlwind of activity, as everyone settled into their new lives. Hermione and her four Ancillaries secluded themselves in their home for several days. Then, Adrian, Draco, Marcus, and Theo each went back to their previous homes to pack their belongings. They chose rooms in the large house and Susan was tasked with decorating them to each wizards specifications. Rather than live amongst the renovations, Adrian took them all to the Mediterranean on his boat for a two week honeymoon of sorts.
When they returned, they had to deal with the trials against Ron for kidnapping Marcus and against Lisa Turpin for assault. They were also both charged with interfering with a Sorcery ritual, as Marcus was an established Ancillary candidate at the time of the kidnapping. It turned out that crimes against a Sorceress or her Ancillary were considered treason against the entire wizarding world and was punishable by death. Hermione, however, couldn't abide that penalty. Lisa was sick and needed treatment. Ron had at one point been a friend; also she couldn't do that to Arthur and Molly. In the end, Lisa was confined for life and treated for her obsession. Ron was sentenced to life in Azkaban, with the possibility of parole after thirty years if he was sufficiently reformed.
Things were rocky for the Weasley family because of Ron's actions. Business was down for George, Ginny was benched, and Bill was put on leave from Gringotts. Hermione made a statement supporting and absolving the Weasley clan of any wrong doing, which was helpful. Despite Hermione's show of support, Ginger was still harassed because she was closest to Ron and the most vulnerable. Her landlord voided her lease, she couldn't get a job, and she received enough anonymous threats that she worried harm would come to little Melody. Hermione insisted that Ginger and Melody come to stay in her newly renovated carriage house. Hermione liked the other witch, and she was grateful that Ginger had spoken up at the ritual as she had. That took a great deal of courage.
Ginger and Melody flourished on Hermione's little compound over the years. Ginger insisted on helping out as much as possible around the house and with Hermione's Sorceress work. Hermione encouraged her to get back into clothing design. It turned out that Ginger was really quite talented. After Hermione and Pansy were both photographed wearing things Ginger made, there was a real demand for her pieces. She had a particular flare for maternity wear, which was a real growth industry in the years after Hermione became Sorceress. Ginger stayed with Hermione's family longer than was required because she became an unofficial extended family member. She only moved out when she, finally, officially became a Weasley. Charlie stayed in England and ended up spending more and more time with his incarcerated brother's ex-girlfriend. It was a good match, a happy marriage, and a few years later Melody Weasley got a half-brother/cousin, Arthur Frederick Weasley.
Hermione set to work creating an Office of the Sorceress in Wizarding London. She hired Percy Weasley to manage everything. It took Percy and a staff of three more people to handle the requests, appointments, and appearances. Percy was a perfect fit and Hermione trusted his judgment, which was priceless. He liaised with the Ministry, foreign governments, and the sentient magical creatures like the Veela, Centaurs, and Merpeople. Percy enjoyed his job and reconnected with his old school sweetheart, Penelope Clearwater. They married and had two children, first Priscilla and then Prewett Weasley.
George Weasley never did marry or even have a serious relationship, but he was always incredibly social. He was a fixture at Hermione's home and, after many years, even Draco admitted that he quite liked the Weasley. George was also the favorite uncle of all the Weasley kids, which was no surprise to anyone. George did become a father, in a way, via donations he made to Luna Lovegood and Selma Turan. He was the biological father of Diana Lovegood-Turan and later to Nasir George Lovegood-Turan. The Lovegood-Turan household split their time between England and Turkey, and the children were fully embraced by the Weasley clan.
Molly and Arthur loved being surrounded by the chaos of their eight grandchildren. Molly was perpetually dismayed that Ginny never wanted to have children. Hermione thought, and told Ginny, that it was admirable that Ginny recognized her own lack of a maternal, nurturing side. Ginny ended up swearing off wizards entirely, which was surprising to everyone who knew her history. Even more surprising, the lone female Weasley fell deeply in love with her own Slytherin, Millicent Bulstrode, and the two were very happy together. Ginny finally found someone who worshiped her entirely and without reservation, and that's all she'd ever wanted. Ginny became the undisputed female Quidditch star of her time, as well as many other times. In the end, she even became reasonably friendly with Pansy Potter, since Pansy was still close to Millicent.
Pansy and Harry went on to have three children, two boys, James and Albus, and then a girl, Lily Violet. Harry had the close family he'd always wanted as a child and Pansy surprised herself with how easily she adapted to motherhood. Of course, all of their kids would tell you that Harry was a pushover; it was Pansy you had to watch out for and her word was law. The Potter clan was a frequent visitor at Hermione's house. It was just easier to manage traveling with three children, as opposed to getting Hermione's brood over to Grimmauld Place.
From the very beginning, Hermione and her wizards worked on balance. They tried to ensure that each of them had individual time with Hermione once a week, but they also made sure to spend time all together. It turned out that whenever there was more than one Ancillary, they needed to function cohesively to properly anchor the Sorceress. The four wizards, already close friends, became even closer. They loved each other. It wasn't one witch with four separate relationships with four different wizards; it was a relationship of five people with each other. Just as Hermione had her relationship with each of them, they had individual relationships with each other that were loving and often sexual.
They were busy people, but managed the way that all families manage, by putting in an effort. Hermione had her Potions and Arithmancy work, but was able to use the lab she set up in the old barn on her property. Theo had lab space there as well and often worked from home. Adrian, Draco, and Marcus all created office space at home so they could spend more time together. The Sorceress' presence was requested all over the globe and Hermione tried to travel one weekend a month, always bringing her Ancillaries with her. Prosperity did flourish around her. Magical birth rates increased over the years, both in the Muggle and Wizarding communities. Magical creatures also saw an increase in their numbers. Magically rich forests expanded to support larger Centaur herds. Hermione spent a fair amount of time in Veela enclaves. They saw an increase in overall fertility, but also a more even ratio of male to female births. Hermione's wizards never did come to like that male Veela, Avian.
In that first year together, Draco got an adorable little sister, who was named Daffodil and was the image of Narcissa. Despite Draco's mock grumbling that the platinum blonde infant got all the attention, he adored the tiny girl he called Daffy. When other people outside the family tried calling her by that silly name, Draco hexed them. When Daffy got older, she learned to do the hexing herself.
On the one year anniversary of their bonding, Hermione and her wizards held an enormous party. It was lavish and over the top. Adrian and Draco organized it, but they all loved it, because it was the wedding reception they'd never had. Many of their friends and family stayed the night. That night Hermione got pregnant for the first time, as did several others staying on the grounds. Hermione's fertility overwhelmed all the contraception charms used that night and she was more than a little mortified.
Pansy and Harry hadn't planned on having children so soon, but were thrilled with little James. Blaise and Susan Bones also became parents to a beautiful boy, Dante Zabini. They'd never planned on being a couple, but were very good co-parents to the much loved little boy. Susan admitted that she'd always wanted a child, she just hadn't planned on doing it right then. Arabella Pucey enlisted Susan to work for her home furnishing and design empire, which was exceptionally successful. Blaise adored his son and did curtail his playboy lifestyle slightly in response to fatherhood. He later had a long-term relationship with an Italian witch and heiress that resulted in a little girl, Donatella Zabini, who would grow up to be as strikingly gorgeous as her grandmother.
Pansy Potter, despite her happiness, never let Hermione forget her part in creating her pregnancy; especially when morning sickness set in, when she got chronic heartburn, and when she couldn't fit in any of her clothes. When they discovered that a Sorceress develops quicker than a regular witch, making Hermione pregnant for only six months, a heavy Pansy Potter went on quite a tirade. When they realized that Sorceresses were typically blessed with multiple births, Pansy quit her whinging and offered Hermione her sympathies, happy with just one baby at a time.
Hermione and her wizards had planned to have a child, but decided to be all-together that night. They didn't care which wizard got her pregnant and knew that their family would grow as it should. A pregnant Sorceress turned out to be slightly dangerous. Her wizards worked overtime to help regulate her out of control magic. Luckily, it was only the last few weeks when they had to banish everyone from the home for their own safety, except her Ancillaries and the House-elves.
Hermione gave birth to Titus and Tiberius Flint. They would grow up to be huge wizards like their dad, as well as be two of the most vicious Beaters that professional Quidditch had ever seen. They had their dad's down to earth practicality and love of the outdoors, but they had their grandparents' gregariousness. They also had their mum's do-gooder bravery; which got them sorted into Gryffindor, much to their father's chagrin. They shared Gryffindor tower with James Potter, who inherited his father's Marauder's Map, and the three of them caused no end of trouble. Titus and Tiberius were nearly identical and only Hermione could always tell them apart, no matter what ruse they used to fool others. They particularly loved spending time with George Weasley and hearing stories about him and Fred during their youth.
After the twins were born, Marcus retired and stayed home to care for the children. He still did charity Quidditch events from time to time, but much preferred to take care of his family. When Titus and Tiberius reached their terrible twos, Hermione got pregnant again. This time, they ensured that no one else was around when they were all together with the goal of conceiving.
Six months later, Hermione had a second set of twins; this time a boy and a girl, Scorpius and Carina Malfoy. They both had the expected Malfoy platinum locks, but Scorpius' were a mop of curls while his sister's was straight. Scorpius was a replica of Draco personality-wise, dramatic and sarcastic but entirely charismatic and loveable. Draco lorded it over Marcus when Scorpius was sorted into Slytherin a few years behind his aunt Daffy. Scorpius and his sister were very close. He and their older brothers, Titus and Tiberius, were very protective over their first sister; however, Carina managed to be more devious than Draco ever was. Harry joked that she was a horrifying combination of Hermione's intelligence with Draco's Machiavellian tendencies, and he wasn't entirely wrong. She was just as loyal and loving as her parents, which balanced out her evil genius. Carina also valued intelligence more than power, which wasn't very Slytherin. She was the top student in Ravenclaw nearly all seven years of school.
Hermione and her wizards decided to only wait a year before trying to have children again. Hermione felt she could handle another pair, because they really had so much help. All four wizards were very involved in raising the children, no matter who the biological father was. The grandparents were also nearly constantly present. Of course, because Hermione planned on another set of twins, she gave birth to triplets. Alexander, Isaac, and Margaret Nott proved that even a Sorceress couldn't control everything and effectively tipped the scales so the children firmly outnumbered the adults in the house seven to five.
Margaret had Hermione's curly brown hair, but otherwise looked a great deal like Theo's mum. She was a quiet girl, but had an uncanny knack for making people comfortable. People sought her out and automatically confided in her. When the others needed an ear or a shoulder to cry on, they went to Maggie. She was also the household's lone Hufflepuff, but house affiliation and cliques didn't matter to Maggie. She was inseparable from Diana Lovegood-Turan, a Ravenclaw, and Priscilla Weasley, a Gryffindor.
Alexander looked exactly like his father. He had Theo's laid back attitude, but also had a quick temper. His many siblings learned how far to push Alex because when he snapped, nothing good came of it. Alex did well in Slytherin. His scheming classmates first misinterpreted his laid back demeanor to mean that he was an easy mark, despite warnings from Scorpius and Dante Zabini. Of course, after one warning they let the other Slytherins figure it out on their own, since that is what Slytherins did. It only took one spectacular hex and everyone knew not to push Alex too far. Slytherins did excel at self-preservation after all.
All three Notts were brilliant, but Isaac was special. He had a unique way of looking at the world and he was insatiably curious. Isaac was smaller than all his brothers and looked like a masculine version of his mother. He was also very odd socially, much like his grandfather, Ted. The two of them were peas in a pod and would spend hours together. Isaac was more interested in his own studies than what his instructors wanted him to learn, most of which he already knew. He never cared about marks and didn't fit in with his high-achieving fellow Ravenclaws. The members of that house had a tendency to ostracize and tease people who were different, much as they had with Luna. The first time Isaac's books went 'missing,' his older sister, Carina, scared the wits out the entire house with a frightening display of hexes that reminded everyone that she was indeed a Malfoy and that no one messes with a Malfoy's family.
Seven children was initially overwhelming to Hermione, but her wizards were able to calm her. Hermione always wanted a large family and she definitely wanted each of her wizards to experience fatherhood. It was the number that made her panic, but Molly Weasley provided her a great deal of moral support. She knew what having seven children was like. Hermione adored the children and each of her wizards was actively involved in childcare. They hired a small team of five more House-elves to wrangle the babies as well. Hermione had more than enough help.
When the triplets had their first birthday, Hermione realized she'd become slightly addicted to babies and started to think about getting pregnant again. Titus and Tiberius had just turned four, while Scorpius and Carina were two and a half. It didn't take anything to convince her wizards to try again. Adrian, Draco, Marcus, and Theo all grew up as only children. They wanted a house full of kids. Marcus joked that they only had enough for one Quidditch team, and they needed subs.
When the triplets were about a year and a half, Adele and Astrid Pucey were born. Both were lovely, bright, incredibly creative girls that turned out very different. Like Titus and Tiberius, the girls were nearly identical. Only Hermione could always tell which one was which when they were babies. By the time they were five, however, anyone who knew them could tell the difference. Adele liked darker colors and was tougher than her sister. She was adventurous and never backed down from a challenge. Adele was the kind of child reverse psychology was made for; she would try anything if someone implied that she couldn't do it. Adrian told everyone that Adele got her stubborn, adversarial attitude from her mother. Of course, Hermione would point out that Adele could've easily inherited her argumentative nature from her solicitor father. Astrid was more like her father in that she gravitated to beauty and art. Astrid turned out to be a talented artist and marched to the beat if her own drummer. Reverse psychology never worked on her because she was stubborn in an entirely different way. While Adele would argue and fight, Astrid simply did whatever she wanted with very little exceptions.
Despite their differences, Adele and Astrid were extremely close; they balanced each other well. It was quite surprising when they were separated at Hogwarts into houses that no one anticipated. Headstrong Adele became a Slytherin and dreamy Astrid a Gryffindor. Their parents decided they were good placements because Adele needed a place to channel her ambition while Astrid needed a place that recognized the inherent bravery of her individuality. Adele was a horrible influence on two of her best friends, Nasir Lovegood-Turan and Lily Potter, who were sorted into Slytherin the same year. Astrid was by no means alone in the Gryffindor tower, as her oldest brothers Titus and Tiberius were exalted sixth years. She also had the Potter brothers and two Weasleys, Priscilla and her cousin Arthur, for company.
There were two years that saw all nine of Hermione's children enrolled at Hogwarts at the same time. Minerva McGonagall had wisely chosen to retire the year before the first set of twins enrolled, leaving the new Headmaster Flitwick with a daunting task. McGonagall and Snape both visited the school often. While Flitwick did appreciate their advice, he didn't care for their gleeful expressions and the fact that they found a great deal of entertainment in the exploits of the Flint, Malfoy, Nott, and Pucey children.
The Headmaster kept inviting them because Titus and Tiberius had an unusual devotion to the former Gryffindor head of house and Headmistress. All the children grew up thinking of Minerva as their maternal grandmother of sorts, even calling her Nana. The Flint boys adored her blunt manner and she was the first one they owled when they were sorted into Gryffindor. The elderly witch cheered the loudest at their Quidditch games. Flitwick knew that a stern look from Minerva worked as well as calling their mother, the only other person who could manage them. The other biggest troublemaker was little Adele, who adored Severus. The children all called him Uncle Sev and for the longest time couldn't fathom why everyone was so afraid of the black-clad wizard. It was just Uncle Sev. A few words from Severus calmed Adele the way no one else on the staff could ever manage. The little girl took everything he said to heart and never wanted to disappoint him.
While the Flint boys and Adele were the most likely culprits for mischief, the others were in no way innocent angels. Hermione was used to hearing from Neville, the Gryffindor head of house, as well as Sasha, the Ravenclaw head of house. After the Russian metamorphmagus finished his apprenticeship with Kobayashi, he went to teach Transfiguration at Hogwarts. The Slytherin head of house, Hestia Carrow, had ample reason to contact Hermione's household as well. Hermione wasn't sure who the head of house was for Hufflepuff sometimes, because Maggie was as close to an innocent angel as was possible. Her siblings never let her take the fall, usually because she was an innocent bystander or co-conspirator at best.
Life could be surprising, even for a Sorceress with the power to control the elements. One of those surprises was Sabine Flint, born the year Adele and Astrid turned four years old and the only single birth in the family. The little girl was the very image of her mother, with a petite frame and a riot of curly brown hair. She had her father wrapped around her finger. In personality, she was more like Marcus. She was most comfortable with her family and close friends. Strangers experienced her as cold and taciturn, but like her father, Sabine didn't care about that at all. She was sorted into Slytherin with her brother Alex and her sister Adele, where she was the brightest witch in her year.
The biggest surprise came two years after Sabine. Hermione's last pregnancy was again twins, which was not unusual. The odd part was that the two boys had different fathers. The family was used to odd and happily welcomed Oberon Pucey and Cygnus Malfoy. Oberon would grow up to be as dashing as his gorgeous father, but didn't have to rely on his looks entirely since he was smart as a whip. He was sorted into Slytherin with his sister Sabine, the only sibling left at Hogwarts when he and Cygnus began their first year. Everyone thought it was odd that the outgoing Oberon was brother to the taciturn Sabine, but they wisely kept their thoughts to themselves. Cygnus was the same platinum blond that only Malfoys could be, but that's where the obvious similarities ended. Cygnus managed to be disheveled constantly, which was very un-Malfoy-like. He was also unwaveringly friendly and helpful to everyone, with none off the cool Malfoy hauteur. Even though everyone saw it coming, Draco pouted for a week when Cygnus was sorted into Gryffindor.
Life was different for the twelve children. Having the Sorceress as your mother was strange. People revered their mum, which they understood because they knew she was wonderful. They didn't always understand the fuss she created. Also, no one else they knew had so many siblings or so many parents. They didn't know anything else growing up and as they got old enough to realize how odd their home life really was, none of them would've chosen anything else. Their parents clearly loved each other and all of them. The kids were all very different people, as were their parents, but they were a strong and loyal group. Carina, Maggie, Adele, Astrid, and Sabine had monthly slumber parties, usually on the same night their mother had her monthly witches-only nights with her friends. Daffy, Diana, Priscilla, and Lily were frequent attendees to the girls' sleepovers. The sisters would go on to keep the tradition all their lives, endeavoring to meet up at least one night a month. Titus, Tiberius, Scorpius, Alex, Issac, Oberon, and Cynus were just as close, even though they felt slumber parties were poncey. As adults, they did meet up at the pub at least once a month.
One thing all the children had in common was that they all strived to find love like they saw everyday in their parents. Once they'd seen the depth and strength of love their parents had, they wouldn't accept anything less in their own marriages. Most of them had flings and short-term relationships, but none of them would settle down for anything but the real thing.
Hermione, Adrian, Draco, Marcus, and Theo loved each other for decades. They raised twelve outstanding children and had a staggering thirty-two grandchildren. The five of them worked together on some world-changing projects and were instantly recognized in any wizarding community. They were happiest just being together and their sexual connection never dimmed. Theo charted their sex life as a group for a decade as a research project, much to the embarrassment of the children; although Isaac didn't care when it was published. The role of the Ancillary needed to be very sexual, as that was one of the primary ways the Sorceress anchored her magic. Surges in magic needed an increase in sexual activity, since the release found in sex helped Hermione release an overload of magic. Theo found notable events occurred around these periods of increased sexual activity, likely due to the increased elemental magic released out. After a weekend trip to a tree farm that specialized in rare wand woods, their groves effectively doubled. A mountain getaway for a week was followed by the feuding trolls in the area actually coming to a truce. One particularly exuberant vacation on Adrian's yacht opened up a path to the supposedly lost city of Atlantis; where the people were happy to see new folks but objected to being designated as lost, pointing out that they knew exactly where they'd been the whole time.
Hermione always knew the five of them functioned best as a unit, but was devastated when she realized how closely linked they really were. It meant that the five of them would leave the world as a unit. None of them could possible survive without the others. For herself, she couldn't imagine losing any of her wizards and being able to go on. What upset her was that their children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren would lose all five of them at once. When she was one hundred and forty years old, Hermione told her children about her realization, but it turned out that they had reached the same conclusion decades earlier. They couldn't imagine how any of the five could survive without the others and understood what would happen.
Eventually, at a ripe age of one hundred and fifty-three, Hermione went to bed with all four of her wizards and none of them ever woke up. It was midsummer and the one hundred and thirtieth anniversary of their bonding, which the world thought was exceptionally fitting.
The end.