---

*****
A young couple slowly twirled around the charmed dance floor, lovingly holding each other as they shared a deep kiss. The man pulled back only to become lost in his wife’s deep chocolate brown eyes, so full of emotion and love.

“I love you, Hermione,” he whispered in her ear, caressing the side of her neck with his fingers.

With mischievously glinting eyes, the young Gryffindor coyly smiled at her husband, loving the feeling of his arms enveloped protectively around her.

“Cedric, I-” she began, but was cut off by his lips pressing upon hers.

“Hush, love, I know what you’re going to say. Let’s not worry about tomorrow right now. Let’s enjoy tonight, and celebrate Harry and Ginny’s wedding like they did in ours.”

Her eyes filled with anger at being rudely interrupted, but she mutely nodded in agreement. Swallowing a knot of emotions, Hermione pulled herself closer to her long-time lover for comfort and reassurance. Tonight they would rejoice and share in the love that Harry and Ginny held for one another; tomorrow, they would worry over their future together.

Hermione shivered as she recalled her fourth year when Cedric and Harry had barely made it back alive to Hogwarts from their near-death experience with Voldemort in the graveyard. After the Hufflepuff recuperated from his almost mortal injury, he became one of Harry’s loudest advocates, lending credibility to the mad ranting of the Boy-Who-Lived that Voldemort was back.

During the trio’s fifth year, when Harry created Dumbledore’s Army in rebellion to Dolores Umbridge’s reign of terror, Cedric was one of its first members, often helping Harry with the more advanced defense spells.

After the Marietta Edgecombe incident, Cedric and Cho Chang broke up when the Hufflepuff seeker refused to quit the DA, and then took Harry’s side for defending Hermione’s anti-treachery jinx. When Cedric left Hogwarts that year, he continued to support Harry openly. He began working for the Ministry with his father in the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures. Shortly after, he began communicating with Hermione about the stirrings in the Ministry, and befriended the young Gryffindor.

During the trio’s summer of Horcrux hunting, the former Hufflepuff joined the Order of the Phoenix, and helped them as much as he could through his post at the Ministry of Magic. However, it wasn’t until the trio came back from their travels, mentally weary and physically exhausted that Cedric began to openly pursue Hermione Granger.

Their first kiss was sweet, feverish, and stolen in secret in the musty old library at the Order of the Phoenix headquarters. Hermione had been taken by surprise when Cedric had volunteered to help her research the last two Horcruxes. During their research, tension began to build until Cedric reached for her across the table, and bumped her nose on his before attacking her with a longing kiss all over her lips and neck. Just as abruptly as the kiss began, it stopped, as he abruptly pushed his chair back and ran out the door, leaving behind a very confused Hermione.

Afterwards, he avoided her like the plague, until she confronted him after one of the Order meetings. She cornered him and demanded to know why he had left her after such wonderful kissing. When Cedric realized that the object of his affections was actually blushing, he became emboldened once again and asked her out properly.

Their relationship blossomed as he courted her regardless of the war around them, often stating that, “A war is not a reason to put one’s life on hold.” A year later he proposed in the middle of battle amid the shouting of hexes, jinxes, and curses. Hermione had fallen, and in a matter of seconds, Cedric had been at her side shielding her from further damage. He started to panic at the thought of losing her when she began passing out, and cried out his proclamation of love. To everyone’s surprise she had giggled, and told him, “Shut up, you silly Hufflepuff. I’m not going anywhere without you.”

They married a month later in a private and secret ceremony at the Burrow amongst Order members. That had been two years ago.

As Hermione reminisced on their past, she choked on quiet sobs that made her small frame shake violently. She felt a sudden rush of air as her husband pulled back to look at her, alarmed at her tears.

“Love? What’s wrong? Why are you crying?” he asked, worry etched all over his features.

“Cedric, I’m pregnant. I don’t think I can do this alone. Please don’t go!” she blurted out as fresh tears rolled down her ivory cheeks.

Realization dawned upon him then, and his eyes grew misty with emotion. Dropping to his knees, Cedric held his wife steadily by her hips. He burrowed his face in her small protruding belly while gently caressing the skin that carried his child. He looked up at her lovingly when he felt her soft fingers moving through his brown locks. She smiled wistfully at him while she tried to wipe her tears away.

“Hermione, love, I know you are worried about tomorrow, but I promise you with all my heart that nothing is going to stop me from coming back to you and our child.”

“But, Cedric, I-” she began.

“Hermione Diggory, when I put that ring on your finger, I made a promise to love, protect, honor, respect, and adore you above any other witch. I’ve kept my promise for the past two years, and I’m not about to break it now, my Gryffindor princess,” he smirked.

When he saw her smiling and rolling her eyes, he added, “Especially not now that you’re carrying our cub.”

His heart fluttered with joy at hearing her hiccupped laugh before he felt a swat at the back of the head that made him turn around sharply.

“Oi, Cedric! Stop making the rest of us look bad, you prat!” barked Ron Weasley, who was currently snogging the stuffing out of his own wife, Luna Lovegood-Weasley.

Cedric Diggory flashed the other men present a smile as he stood up. “I cannot help it, mate. It’s not my fault I was born so charming, or my wife so beautiful.”

“Put a cork in it, Diggory,” the groom smirked, “you’re taking the spotlight away from my gorgeous wife.”

“Oh, Harry!” cried Ginny Potter. “Let the Hufflepuff be a sap. He can’t help it! He just found out that Hermione is pregnant.” Ginny smiled wickedly at Hermione who couldn’t help but grin back at the red-head.

Ron’s eyes grew comically big at the announcement before he turned his predatory eyesight to Luna with a wolfish grin to match. However, Harry merely lifted an eyebrow in response, sending Hermione a silent message of ‘We will talk about this later’ like an older brother would to his baby sister.

“Thanks, Madame Potter for doing the dirty work of announcing the news for us!” Cedric roared with laughter.

“Now if you’ll excuse me and Madame Diggory,” he announced as he turned to his blushing wife, took her hand, and led her away into the secluded forest to discuss this new development in their lives. As they walked to the outskirts of the wedding party, Cedric and Hermione could hear catcalls being made after them following by roaring laughter. Hermione shook her head in disapproval, but couldn’t help laughing along.

Cedric also shook his head with laughter as he chose a nearby tree stump to sit on. As soon as they sat, he gathered Hermione in his arms, and tenderly kissed her forehead.

“Cedric, I wish you wouldn’t go. It’s a dangerous mission as it is. What if you don’t make it back?” she admonished.

“Who is going to help me raise this child? You surely can’t expect Ron and Harry to always be there, they have their own wives and family to worry about. Besides, do you really want Ron to be the male role-model for your child?” she teased.

“Hermione, I wish I didn’t have to go either, and spare me the vision of Ron trying to teach a Diggory anything. However, it is Order business and I wish for this war to be over as soon as possible,” he replied while placing a hand on her pregnant stomach. “I want to raise our child in a world free of Voldemort.”

The Gryffindor smiled cheekily at her husband before answering, “alright, if you must go. I’ll allow it. But if you’re not back before this child is born then you’ll have a lot of explaining to do, Diggory.” Cedric raised an eyebrow at her threat.

“Cedric, I’m sorry about our unexpected pregnancy. War time is not the setting to start a family,” she added as an afterthought when they had fallen into a comfortable silence.

“It isn’t the time to hold a wedding either, Hermione. Yet, we’ve all managed to get married since everyone left Hogwarts: you and I; Ron and Luna; even the twins found women who could put up with them; and finally Harry and Ginny. Voldemort can try to destroy our happiness, but he can’t stop us from loving each other,” he murmured.

The couple sat quietly in the shadows observing the newlyweds, who were caressing each other on the dance floor with tender glances and kisses.

“When will you be leaving?” she asked, watching her best friend dip his wife and kiss her deeply.

“Tomorrow evening, love,” he replied.

“Just make sure you come back in one piece,” she ventured bravely.

“Of course, Hermione,” Cedric replied as he admired her profile in the moonlight.

Suddenly, Hermione felt a loving hand gently turn her face around and she grew lost in the eyes of her sap of a husband.

“Hermione, whenever I’m alone, all I think of you as it is. And now when I’ll be alone in Romania, I’ll think of you and our child. I’ll wonder what you look like as you grow bigger, or if it’s a boy or girl. I’ll be back before the birth of our child, and I’ll be damned if anything prevents me from it,” he answered sternly, his eyebrows furrowed in concentration. Hermione gave him a withering look of aggravation at his constant sappiness, but smiled at his concern.

“Now, shall we dance, Madame Diggory? Something to sustain me in my moments of weakness?” he asked, raising his eyebrows suggestively. She began laughing and followed him out to the dance floor, where they danced the rest of the night away.

*****
The next evening, a tearful Hermione was being held by Harry Potter and his wife as Cedric, Ron, and Remus Lupin left on a mission to Romania to try to recruit help from that wizarding population in that country. Hermione watched teary-eyed as Luna whispered some words in Ron’s ears; he gave her a silent nod in return as he grinned goofily. When they finally left, Luna turned to Hermione and smiled brightly.

“Hermione, don’t worry. Cedric and Ron will be back to see their children grow up. Trust me,” she gleefully said.

A confused Hermione laughed at Luna’s announcement that she too was carrying a child. “Luna, how far along are you?” Hermione asked.

A blush rose on the former Ravenclaw’s neck and cheeks before replying, “last night after your announcement, Ron asked me if I wanted children. I wasn’t sure since it’s not the right time to start having families. However, you know Ron-the eternal strategist that he is, he argued that you and Cedric were starting one. So…we used a fertility charm.”

Hermione laughed openly at Ron and Luna’s reasoning. After her summer of Horcrux hunting with Ron and Harry, it became apparent that while the red-head and she had a mutual attraction to each other, it would never go beyond that. They would always be friends. When he began dating Luna Lovegood, she was horrified, but Cedric later pointed out that they were good for each other, and balanced each other out quite nicely.

“Well, I guess we’ll go through this pregnant stuff together, won’t we, Luna? Shall we go begin reading about pregnancy? I found a Muggle book called What to Expect When You’re Expecting. I’ve found it to be quite enlightening. I think you’ll like it.”

*****
Six months later, Hermione sat knitting baby clothes for herself and Luna wondering when Cedric would be back. She had yet to hear from him, and was glad to have a distraction even if it was only for two more months. Luna had truly being wonderful, and they had shared in the joys of finding out if they carried a boy or girl, as well as the many other gifts that pregnancy hands outs, like morning sickness which Luna appeared to suffer from the worst.

To Luna’s horror, and the amusement of everyone else, she was expecting twin girls. Hermione on the flip side was expecting a baby boy. She still remembered the look of disbelief on Luna’s face when Madame Pomfrey had announced, “Two perfectly healthy baby girls.”

She chuckled at the memory while patting her own stomach gently.

“Can I share in on that joke, Madame Diggory, or is it too naughty to say out loud?”

Hermione dropped her knitting and abruptly turned to the sound of the voice. Chocolate brown eyes met light brown ones.

“Cedric!” she exclaimed.

“I missed you too,” he replied, quickly moving to her side and embracing her. He touched her large belly, and grinned. He looked at her expectantly.

“Boy.”

“Boy?”

“Yes.”

He held her as he enjoyed the warmth and sensation of his wife with him once more. Oh, how he had missed her and her touch during his time in Romania. He had ardently searched for groups who didn’t agree with Voldemort, and had found many. Now he was sure that their mission had been a success; he was sure that Harry would win this war with the support of the Romanian underground groups.

“Hermione, I love you so much. Thanks for giving me a son during these dark times,” he began while rubbing her stomach.

“Cedric Diggory, when you put this ring on my finger I promised to love, honor, respect, bestow you above any other wizard, and bear your children. I’ve kept my promise thus far,” she admonished.

“You silly witch, using my own words against me,” he muttered, pulling her in for their first kiss in months. And it would have been a sweet kiss had it not been for the bellowing of one Ron Weasley that half of Britain heard that night:

“TWINS?”

“GIRLS?”

“BLOODY HELL!”