He wanted to watch Hermione solve the world’s problems, he wanted to watch her work on new ground breaking discoveries, he wanted to attend her signing in ceremony as Minister of Magic, he wanted to tell her she was working too hard. He wanted to urge her to take time for herself. He wanted her to watch his kids, for them to call her Aunt "Mione, and then have to explain no she wasn’t really their aunt, but their father’s best and oldest friend. 