Maybe One Day

Hermione tried to keep her giggling to a minimum as she hid in the doorway, watching Ron trying to put together the bedframe without a wand. Hermione had convinced him that it wouldn't hurt him to try it the Muggle way, and that it wouldn't take as long as he thought it would. His face was steadily getting redder and redder, though, as the afternoon progressed.

"Screwdriver, Sev?" the redhead asked through gritted teeth as he glared at the frame like everything was the piece of metal's fault. Severus, a very concentrated look on his tiny face, went to the Muggle toolbox that they had borrowed from Arthur Weasley and quickly searched through it, carefully selecting a screwdriver he thought might be the right size.

Proudly presenting the tool to Ron, Severus stood at his side and watched the older man struggle with the unfamiliar screwdriver and screw, growling at the things in his hands as he worked. Hermione was trying her best to not laugh, but Severus was having more trouble. He giggled quietly beside Ron, a tiny, chubby hand covering his mouth as he looked at Ron with glittering eyes.

"Yeah, yeah, it's real funny," Ron groused, groaning as he glared at the tiny screw. "If you ask me, I think magic would definitely have this finished much quicker." He side-eyed Hermione and groaned again when she shook her head, smiling and nodding toward Severus, who looked quite sad at the prospect of their building time being cut short.

"Alright, alright, I suppose we can give it one more try. How about you try this time, kid? I'll hold the pieces for you, and all you have to do is turn the screwdriver. Okay?" Ron scooted back a bit so Severus could get to the pieces of metal, his eyes wide as he took the tool from Ron.

"You think I can? If you couldn't get it, what makes you think I can?" Ron just smiled and shrugged, knudging him between Ron's knees and the metal.

"Alright, line them up," Ron trailed off, watching the two pieces of metal meet, and then said, "Now twist. Good! Keep going, now." Severus continued to twist the screwdriver until the two pieces of metal were completely fastened together. "Good job, Severus! See, you did it beautifully."

Severus's smile almost blinded them, as he hopped up and beamed at them both. "I did it! Do we have to do more? Can I help again?"

Ron grinned and tugged the boy in for a tight hug and then nodded, giving Hermione a proud smile. "Alright, Sev. Just a few more, and then we'll be able to stick the mattress on."

As Severus and Ron continued on with their building, Hermione stealithly hid the camera she had been using for the past hour. Sighing contently, she left them to it and went to the kitchen, looking over the papers she had received from work a few hours earlier, telling her what she had missed the week she was off. She would be returning to the office in two days, once Monday rolled around. She wanted to reintroduce Severus to the Weasleys before then, as he would most likely be staying with Ron's parents while they were both at work. She was slightly worried how Severus would react to the other Weasleys. She knew they would all welcome him to their growing family with open arms, but she was worried how comfortable the little boy would be with people he had spent so much time with as an adult in the Order.

She flipped through her work memos, already planning out what she would need to get done first on Monday. The time flew by until she heard a heavy clunk from Sev's room and then childish laughter. Standing curiously, she wandered back to the doorway and peeked in, laughing out loud at the sight that greeted her.

"'Mione! A little help, please. You two can laugh to your hearts' content once this thing is off of me!" Severus was sprawled on the floor laughing, red faced. Hermione wasn't far behind. The scene was just too funny. Ron was pinned beneath the heavy metal frame that he had just turned around to lay on the floor right side up. The metal had fallen on him, though, and brought him down beneath it.

With a shaky wave of her wand, Hermione lifted the frame off of Ron and he scrambled out with a michevious grin. Severus had no time to escape as Ron went after him, his long fingers tickling the little boy he had scooped up in his arms. Squeals of laughter broke out and Ron charged after Hermione next, chasing her down to join in the fun. Instead of fighting back, she smiled and wrapped them both up in a hug.

"Ah, my boys," she said fondly, chucking Sev under the chin as he tried to catch his breath. When he had calmed down, Hermione saw the content look enter the little boy's eyes as he snuggled in closer to Ron and looked up at her with a sweet smile.

A moment later, he gave the most adorable little yawn and Hermione felt her heart melt. "Looks like someone needs a nap," she whispered, quickly floating his mattress onto the bedframe and summoning up his new sheets, blankets, and pillows.

The bed was made up in moments, and Hermione added a warming charm to the blankets before tugging the blanket back for her little boy. "Come on Sev, nap time." Ron brought him closer, his eyes already fluttering close, but he whined and shook his head, trying to burrow furthur into Ron's chest. "Sev, come now, it's time for some sleep."

Ron cuddled Sev close for a moment before disentangling himself and setting him down on the bed carefully. Sev groaned, but quickly settled down into the blankets and promptly passed out. The struggle with the bedframe must have really tired him out.

Hermione moved over to Ron and stood with him for a moment, just looking down at him. He was such a well-behaved boy, though she thought that shouldn't be too shocking, seeing as he used to be a full-grown adult. But he was bubbly and happy and childish now, most of the time, at least. He was growing to trust them, she thought. Even Ron, which shocked her a bit. Though, granted, Ron had grown up a lot since they were schoolchildren. He was still handling this whole situation so well, and she loved him even more for it.

Turning to face him, she took his hand and led him out of Sev's room, closing the door as quietly as she could behind them. "Well, that was entertaining. Did you get any good pictures? With all these photos, we're going to have to buy some albums, y'know?" Ron was beaming. Hermione was shocked at how quickly he was picking up the art of fatherhood, but he was doing extremely well so far. It made her so happy that her soon-to-be husband supported her in her decision about taking Severus in.

"Oh, yes. Come on, I'll show you." They settled at the kitchen table and Hermione started flipping through the pictures on her camera, showing Ron all the angles she had gotten. She had so many, it seemed like she had simply been taking a picture every few seconds.

Chuckling at Hermione's zealousness, Ron tugged her in for a hug and she sighed contentedly, leaning into him with a happy little smile. Just then, the Floo flared green and Molly Weasley's face appeared, a wide smile spread across her face.

"Molly!" Hermione said, shocked, quickly jumping up to kneel before the fire.

Molly grinned before sending them a mock stern glare. "You two, when were you going to introduce us to your new little one?! I had to hear about the situation from Minerva this morning. She assumed I already knew about him. When are you coming round?" Quickly switching tracks, she muttered to herself, "He was always so skinny before, I'm sure it hasn't changed now." She nodded to herself and stared them down sternly. "You must come round so I can feed you all up. You don't eat nearly enough, dears. And while you're coming, I should just have everyone come round, have a proper get-together, while we're at it!"

She hardly stopped for breath, and Hermione had to jump in while she could. "Molly, we were going to stop in tomorrow! We wanted to get everything settled here before we took him anywhere else. I wanted him to get comfortable with us, as well. I'm sure you understand?"

Molly had the decency to calm down a moment, before going on enthusiastically once more. "Oh, of course, dear! Well, I'll just get the message out to everyone, let them know about tomorrow. See you all then, dears!" Then, just as suddenly as she had arrived, Molly was gone.

After a shocked moment of silence at the abrupt end to the Floo call, Hermione muttered, "Well, I guess he'll get to meet the rest of the Weasley clan tomorrow, then." Ron started to laugh, and then Hermione joined in. The imagery alone was hilarious. "We'll definitely need to keep him close. I don't think the little ones could stand up to his tongue yet. Maybe Teddy and Victorie, but the others are a bit young, still. I'd be afraid to leave him alone with them!"

That just started off another round of laughter. As they calmed down, they heard Sev's door opening and his sock-clad feet tip-toeing into the kitchen. He was rubbing his eyes tiredly and wandering closer and closer to them. When he reached the table, he set his chin on the tabletop and sighed, looking up at Hermione from beneath his fringe.

"Can I have a snack?" he asked. The poor thing still looked half-asleep, and Hermione just smiled, running her fingers through his long, dark hair.

"Of course, Sev. Sit down, why don't you?" He plopped down in a seat between Ron and Hermione and Hermione stood to put together some crackers and juice for him. She set the plate and cup down in front of him and settled back down, smiling happily.

"So, tomorrow we thought we'd go over to the Burrow. They're having a family get-together, and you'll get to get reaquainted with some and meet the others. What do you say, Sev?" she asked calmly, rubbing a hand up and down his spine. She felt him stiffen for a moment when she mentioned the Burrow, but then he melted into her hand and smiled shyly over the lip of his cup.

"Okay. Just," he paused, screwing his face up for a moment before sighing and continuing, "don't leave me alone, okay?"

"Of course, honey. If you want to stick with us, that's fine. If you change your mind once you get comfortable there, then that's fine, too." She smiled and kissed his cheek, making him giggle into his crackers before ducking his head and blushing.

They had come so far in just a few days, she reflected. He was already breaking away from Severus-the-adult and letting Sev-the-little-boy out more and more. Just the amount of times he had started laughing today was proof of that, and she prayed that he never had to hide behind his adult persona ever again. He was their little boy, now, after all. He shouldn't have to hide.