Gumshoe
A/N: Happy Birthday Meg! ThisIsMegz' birthday is today and I wanted to write her a story! This is what she asked for. Luv you girl!
Ron has always been the closest to Ginny, even as adults, they see each other at least once a month. And Ron loves that. Ginny's right brilliant and Harry is his best mate. So when Hermione was sent to Canada for a week, Ron was happy to accept the invitation for dinner with the Potters for every night Hermione was away. Ron appreciated the company, he missed Hermione when she was gone and having the guarantee that he would have Harry and Ginny with him for dinner made Hermione's absence a bit easier.
"I really appreciate you two inviting me over." Ron smiled at Harry who looked very preoccupied. Harry didn't respond.
"Mate," Ron waved his hand in front of Harry's face.
Harry started, "Sorry, yeah, we're happy to have you. Hermione would kill us if we let you go crazy by yourself. Let's get going, I'm cooking tonight."
Ron followed Harry out the Auror office door. "I thought Ginny cooked on Tuesdays."
"Er, sometimes yeah, but I'm cooking tonight."
Ron shrugged. Harry was as good of a cook as Ginny so he wasn't going to complain.
What surprised Ron, though, was that Ginny was home when they stepped through the fireplace. Ginny was never home before Harry on a practice day.
"Hey Ginny," Ron gave his sister a hug, "did you get out of practice early?"
Ginny shrugged, "Sometimes we get lucky."
Harry coughed.
"So tell me about your day," Ginny bumped Harry with her hip.
Ron added to Harry's account of their day of following up on leads. He was about to tell her about Harry trying to control his temper with one Robards when Ginny bolted from the kitchen.
"Ginny?"
"I'll check on her, Ron," Harry was already following her path.
Ron hesitated only a moment before he followed. If something was wrong with Ginny he wasn't going to just sit by and watch. He still had nightmares of frantically moving rocks as he tried to get to where Harry was trying to save Ginny in the Chamber.
"It's fine, Harry," Ginny groaned and Ron stopped short of the master bedroom, listening in.
"Is it normal to randomly be sick?" Harry's voice dripped with his concern and Ron thanked Merlin again that his best mate ended up with his sister. No one else was good enough.
"For the first little while yeah, sometimes through the whole thing. Gwen was really excited for me but I didn't make it through all of practice today. She gave me tomorrow off to go see a healer and get some potions to make it so I can practice and play until I'm required to take leave."
"What can I do, Gin," Harry's voice had dropped low and Ron had to employ all of his Auror training to slip into the room so he could keep listening.
"Go distract my brother, he can't know yet." Ginny groaned again, "Make something up and I'll pull myself together."
Ron moved as quickly as he dared back to the kitchen, barely sitting back at the bar stool when Harry strolled in.
"Is everything alright?" Ron observed Harry closely. He washed his hands before returning to making dinner.
"Gin just remembered an owl she was supposed to send. She'll be right back."
"What about?" Ron pressed.
Harry bristled, it was a small gesture, his shoulders straightening for a fraction of a second before he immediately relaxed.
"I didn't ask," he shrugged and then changed the subject.
Ron went with the change, but the moment Ginny came back in almost ten minutes later, he jumped to question her before Harry could say anything.
"What was that about?"
"I forgot to do something important," Ginny shrugged.
"Yeah? What was it?" Ron observed his sister and brother-in-law. They shared a short, barely there glance before Ginny smiled at him.
"I forgot to send an owl to Gwen with some paperwork I forgot to bring this morning. It's for our next photo shoot and she wanted it before the end of the day. I think I just made it."
Ron's eyes went wide. If Harry and Ginny wanted to become criminal masterminds they'd probably be unstoppable. He knew they hadn't said anything after he slipped out because Harry had been hot on his heels as he snuck out. But they'd both pulled the same story out for him somehow.
Dinner was strange. Ginny didn't eat much of Harry's chicken soup, which Ron knew was one of her favorites. After dinner, she said she was tired and went to bed early. Harry acted like this was completely normal but kept spacing out through the rest of the evening.
Ron went home very confused that night.
And he experienced deja-vu the next night, and the next, and the next, and the next, and the next. At some point in the evening, Ginny would bolt from the room, Harry would follow. Ron would sneak and listen to them at the master bedroom door. He had figured out that Ginny was somehow sick. She had medicine for it, but she was only supposed to use it for practice and games since her body could develop a resistance to it. Harry kept spacing out, even when they were in the office. If he didn't have something specific to focus on he would get lost in his head. Hermione seemed to think he was stretching things.
"I heard her say that she needed a healer," Ron insisted into the phone.
"Ron, she probably got hit by a Bludger," Hermione sighed. "I'm sure she and Harry have everything under control."
"A Bludger hit is easy to fix, why would she have got sick about a Bludger injury? And I think she's sick every time she runs out of the room." Ron knew if Hermione were actually there with him she'd see what he saw, but when he described it he realized it sounded rather mundane.
"Ron, I love you, and I love that you're worried about Ginny, but if she was injured during practice and the potions they're giving her are making her sick then that would explain everything. Harry always gets distracted when it comes to your sister." Hermione's voice softened. "Now, I want to hear what we're going to do when I get home tomorrow morning."
Ron chuckled, "I'm going to make the most of our time before we have to go to the Burrow for dinner."
And when Hermione walked through their grate, he did just that.
In fact, Ron was so caught up in having Hermione back that he completely forgot about the Potter's strange behavior. Until he walked into the door at the Burrow and watched Ginny bolt for the bathroom, Harry hot on her heels. Ron looked at his mum, whose eyes were calculating.
"She's been like that all week." He announced.
"All week?" Bill asked, his expression a perfect replica of their mum's.
Ron nodded. "I overheard her tell Harry she went to a healer because she wasn't making it through practice."
"How often have you seen her this week, Ron?" Percy asked, sharing a long look with Bill.
"Every day this week."
"You boys stop right now," Molly turned on them. "It's not your place and you know that."
"She's right," Fleur nodded as she broke up Victoire and Dominique's argument. "You keep it to yourselves."
"Wait," Ron's brain started to put everything together, "bloody hell!"
Hermione's hand clapped over his mouth, "You heard your mother!"
Harry and Ginny came out at that moment, Harry's arm protectively wrapped around Ginny's shoulders.
"So, er, I was hoping to tell you before that happened," Ginny sighed and leaned into Harry, "but we'd like to announce that we're having a baby."
"I told you something was up!" Ron grinned at Hermione.
Hermione rolled her eyes, "I love you dear, but I knew before I left for the trip."
"How did you know?" Harry asked.
Hermione smiled, "I saw the test in the trash can when I stopped by with those books for Teddy before I left."
"Thanks for keeping it to yourself," Ginny hugged her.
"You really need to thank me for not letting this one figure it out." Hermione winked at Ron. "If I hadn't kept telling him nothing was going on he would have found you out in two days."
Harry chuckled, "That's part of what makes him the best partner."
Ron pulled Harry and Ginny into a hug, "Next time fill me in and buy my silence."
"You watch your mouth, Ronald," Molly laughed and pulled them all into a hug. "Grandma's should always find out first."
It wasn't until thirty years later when Rose came to tell them she was expecting, that Ron realized his mum had been right. Grandparents should always be told first.