Author's Notes:
Ah! It feels so good to get back into the swing of writing. I wrote this little diddy when I was attempting to write something else entirely and hit a huge block. While I mentally tried to work around the block, the plot bunny for this hopped up to me and pulled me away. So I just started to write, and I'm quite pleased with the outcome. Although, I admit, it's paced a little slow. Anyway, enjoy!
Disclaimer:I don't make money off of the fanfiction I write. While the plot idea is mine, the characters and setting belong to J.K. Rowling and the Warner Brother's Corporation. Unfortunately.
Pairing Note:At the very end of the fanfiction there is implied Harry/Ginny.
Molly rubbed her swollen stomach, a soft sigh escaping her lips. She didn't look up from the book she was holding in her free hand when she felt Arthur lower himself onto the small sofa next to her. She still didn't look up when he put his arm around her, though she did lean into his embrace.
"How are the renovations coming?" Her eyes finally left her book to look at her husband. His shaggy red hair was hanging in his eyes, damp with sweat. The poor man had been working all day on the nursery room he had been building onto their small house.
Arthur smiled, pulling Molly closer to him. Lately her large belly would get in the way when he tried to pull her close for a hug or snuggle with her in bed. He loved moments like this where he could hold her close to him and not worry about whether or not he would be crushing his first born between them.
"The carpet is down." He answered her. "It's the green shade you like."
"Seafoam." She corrected, finally closing her book. She sighed again, closing her eyes and breathing in the scent of her husband. Her lips pulled themselves into a frown.
"Something wrong, Mollywobbles?" Arthur did have a knack for knowing when she was upset.
"Yes." She pulled away from him, tears forming in her eyes. Arthur prepared himself for another mood swing, they were coming so often. Last week he had to repaint the room several times because she would change her mind and become depressed that her child would be stuck in a room with a horrible color. He had worked all day with little breaks making sure the carpet was perfect, and wasn't sure he would be prepared when she asked him to change it.
"What is it, darling?" Arthur asked, steeling himself for the request he believed was coming.
Molly picked up her book, Baby Names printed on the cover, and shoved it at his chest. "I'm going to pop any second now and I haven't thought of a name for our first child. Arthur, it has to be perfect. It has to be brave, manly, yet reflect a certain softness and creativity." More tears spilled down her cheeks as she spoke. "I don't know what to call our little boy. What am I going to do?"
Arthur let out a sigh of relief, pulling his wife closer to him. "We could call him Arthur Jr." He suggested.
"Heavens, no!" Molly pulled away, narrowing her eyes. "If I were to call Arthur, how would you know who I meant?"
"We could call him Junior for short?"
"No." Molly said, her tears gone completely and her voice firm. "Do you like being a Junior member at the Ministry, Arthur?" She temper flared so easily these days. "Or do you wish you could be a Senior Member?"
"Er." Arthur's mind raced. "I supposed I would like to be a Senior Member."
"My point exactly." Molly huffed, when Arthur still had no idea what point she was trying to make.
He tried not to let his pride suffer because she wouldn't name the kid after him, and figured he could suggest another name. Maybe something she would like better, or at least something that made Arthur Junior not look as bad. The problem with Arthur was that he wasn't very good with names at all.
"How about Zavary?" Well, it didn't hurt to try.
"Sounds like Safari." Molly mumbled angrily, still heated from the Junior discussion.
"Harrison?" Arthur tried again.
"The nickname would be Harry. Would you want your child to be known as Hairy?" She emphasized this by giving Arthur's shaggy hair a tug. A small smile crossed her face. "With as red as our son's hair will be, I don't think we should draw any more attention to it."
"Fine." Arthur agreed. "How about Michael?"
Molly stood, shaking her head. "We've known tons of Michael's. His name has to be unique."
"Richard?"
"And what is the nickname for Richard?" Molly's eyes were narrowing once again, her hands on her hips.
"Er, oh." Arthur's face flushed.
"You are no help." Molly turned and stomped into the small kitchen they shared, pouring herself a glass of milk. "I'll figure the bloody thing out by myself."
It was only a few days later when Molly was clutching her stomach with contractions. Her knuckles were white and her face was red. Beads of sweat budded on her forehead. The trip to St. Mungo's had not nearly been fast enough. It was mostly a blur to Arthur; pushing her in the wheelchair and rubbing her back. There was a lot of yelling, Molly even threatened to have him fixed if the pain kept on, but it was all worth it when that little blue bundle was passed into his hands. A boy. His son. Soft red hair covered the boy's head, his little face and button nose dusted with freckles. Such a sweet boy. There was one glaring problem, however.
The boy didn't have a name.
Or so Arthur thought.
The Mediwitch approached, parchment and quill in hand. "Mr. and Mrs. Weasley, you have such a darling boy." She leaned over Arthur, looking the baby over to make sure everything was in order. "What name are you going to gift him with?" She asked, flashing a bright smiling and posing her quill above her paper.
"Can we just have a min-" Arthur started, but was interrupted.
"His name is William."
"What?" Arthur asked, shocked. His wife hadn't even discussed the name with him. Not that it wasn't a nice name. It was. Yet he felt incredibly left out of the decision.
Molly glared at him, her face looking more worn and tired by the minute, proof of the struggle she made to bring her son into the world. "William Arthur Weasley."
"Oh." Well, that shut him up.
"Oh, Arthur, another boy!" Molly squealed, a Wizard's Sonogram clutched in her pudgy fingers. She could see her second son's slight movements within her, all on the black and white photograph. She felt Arthur move behind her, putting his arms around her waist.
"I'm sure Bill will love...er...his brother."
Molly spun around, her large stomach pushing Arthur back. "What was that supposed to mean?" She put the sonogram image on the counter, next to the baby monitor where she could hear Bill sound asleep in his room.
Arthur sighed. "I just meant that Bill's name was a little last minute."
Molly's eyes shut as she rubbed her temple. "I put a lot of thought into that name, Arthur Weasley. You're just sore because it wasn't one of your ruddy suggestions. Honestly, what child would want a name like Zavary?"
Arthur rubbed his wife's arm. "I just want to be a part of naming my child, Molly."
"Fine!" Molly shoved Arthur away. "You want to name your kid, then name him! You had better have some good suggestions in the morning, Arthur!" With one final glare, she stormed up to the small bedroom they shared...not that they would be sharing it tonight.
In the morning all of Arthur's naming suggestions had been shot down.
"Bartley?"
"You want to name our son after an herb?"
"Not Barley, Bartley."
"Same thing."
"Slate?"
"Heavens, no."
"Conner?"
"We're English, dear. Not Irish."
"I guess Daniel's out too, then."
Molly huffed and rolled her eyes. "Yes, Daniel's out too."
There was a straight month of this. Even Arthur's son Bill was coming up with names Molly liked more. It was a week before Molly's due date when Arthur resigned to sulking in his favorite chair or reading the paper, rather than continue the great name debate with his wife. She occasionally would bring it up, but by the time she was being rushed to the hospital again she seemed to have forgotten all about asking Arthur's opinion. This time he wasn't with her, holding her hand and whispering soft words. Instead he was pacing outside, watching Bill read one of those outdated magazines they keep for children. The nurse had even given him some paper and a crayon to draw with. Finally a Mediwitch stepped into the waiting area, a warm smile on her face.
"Arthur?" He turned toward the Mediwitch who had entered. "Would you and Bill like to meet your son?"
Wordlessly he lifted Bill up into his arms and followed the Mediwitch into the room. Molly was beautiful, even with her hair sticking to her forehead and her face worn. She was holding a blue bundle in her arms, his second son. He put Bill next to the bed, watching his little eyes open wide at the new addition to the family.
"Bill.." Molly mumbled, her tired eyes sliding open. "This is your new brother. His name is Charlie."
Arthur was taken aback. So, she had named this one too. Ah, it didn't matter now. He plucking the bundle from his wife's arms, allowing her to drift off to sleep.
As expected, the same thing repeated itself with Percy. Molly spent nine months humoring his suggestions while sneaking peeks at the baby naming book when she thought he was asleep. When the time came for her to give birth again, he sat outside with Charlie and Bill knowing full well that when he went in to see his third child he would already have a name. To make matters worse, as he waited for his third son to be born he ran his hands through his hair and suspected that his hairline was beginning to recede.
When Arthur followed the Mediwitch into the room, sure enough, his son was already named. Percy, this time. A bit feminine, but Arthur thought it was a fine name.
Fred and George's names came a bit earlier than the delivery room, so Arthur (though his hands were too full with his three sons to worry about it) at least knew his sons names ahead of time. Or, well, one of them. George's name came first. Molly cuddled her moving sonogram picture, rubbing her belly and cooing "Oh George, you're brothers can't wait to meet you." When she went into labor, and a second child arrived, without hesitation he was named Fred.
By the time Ron came, Arthur had become completely resigned to not naming his child.
Ginerva Weasley changed that.
Molly sat in her large chair, her stomach about to burst. She hadn't bothered with a sonogram this time. She knew it was going to be a boy. All her children had been boys, and she delighted in picking out names for each ones.
When Arthur entered after putting the other children to bed, Molly looked up from her book. Poor Arthur looked tired and worn, but always made time for Molly. She smiled at him.
"Do you like Archibald?" She asked, batting her eyes at him. He nodded, knowing that it didn't matter if he liked the name or not. Molly would be naming their seventh son without his imput, even if she pretended to humor his opinion.
"What about Xavier?" Again, Arthur nodded. He watched his wife turn back to the book. "We could go with Archibald Xavier." She suggested, biting her lower lip in thought.
"Whatever you want, Dear." Arthur stood and stretched, his bones cracking. How he wished his eldest sons were home and not at Hogwarts. They always knew what to say to Molly when she threw names at them.
When Molly went into labor, Arthur was at the Ministry. He called Floo'd Jenny, a small girl who was just out of Hogwarts and sometimes babysat for them, before rushing to St. Mungos. Without having to watch over red heads running around everywhere, Arthur was allowed to be in the room with her. He held her hand, though the act of affection was made hard by Molly's grip of steel crushing his bones and tendons. She slumped back, huffing. Her eyes fluttered open, gazing at him.
"It's okay, Darling." He knew after all this time she didn't need his words of encouragement. She had already done this six times before. She knew the routine. The only difference now was that he was there with her, supporting her. It seemed like hours before the Doctor told Molly she could stop pushing, that their child had been born. While they cleaned the baby, Arthur kissed her forehead and told her what a good job she did.
Finally, the Mediwitch, followed by a Nurse prepared to take the Birth Certificate Information, carried their bundle of joy to them. "It's a girl!" She annoucenced, passing the baby to Molly. "What are we naming her?"
"Archib-" Molly's open mouth shut. Her eyes widened. "A girl?" She asked, looking down at the newest addition to the Weasley's. "It's a girl?"
"Yes." The Nurse said, flashing a glowing smile. "The name, Mrs. Weasley?"
Molly was silent, her eyes still wide. She was at a complete loss for words. She didn't expect a girl. She had no idea what to name a girl. Her head whipped around to look at Arthur, her jaw dropping again.
After a moment of silence, Arthur spoke. "Ginerva. We'll name her Ginerva." The nurse nodded taking notes on her certificate.
Molly glanced up again, shocked that Arthur had done what he done. "Ginerva?" She asked. He nodded, reaching to take the baby girl from her. The Nurse approached, asking for a middle name and other information needed to file the certificate.
Ginny rolled over on the grass, her red hair falling in her eyes. "You know what I wonder?" She asked Harry, who was laying next to her. He closed his Quidditch Magazine and propped himself up on his arm so he could look down at Ginny.
"What do you wonder?"
She shivered at his whisper, but sat up as well. "After naming six boys, how did my parents come up with Ginny?"
If you would like to join the Great Name Debate and argue for either Arthur or Molly, they make this handy little review button. Click it.