Harry and Ginny flinched.
"RONNNNNNNN! RONNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNN! WHEN I CATCH YOU, I AM GOING TO KILL YOU!"
"You're doing great, Hermione," said a doctor.
"Great? Great? She's completely mental," said Ron.
Mrs. Weasley rolled her eyes and put her face in her hand, exasperated.
"I HATE YOU I HATE YOU I HATE YOU I HATE YOU I HATE YOU I—"
"Hermione, honey, just one more push, and it'll be over," said a nurse.
"ALL OF THE POWER IN THE UNIVERSE AND YOU CAN'T GIVE ME A LITTLE BIT OF COMFORT? YOU ARROGANT MAGICAL DOCTOR BASTARDS! AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"
A nurse came through the door, smiling.
"She's doing great," said the woman. Ginny was sitting on the bench next to Harry, gripping onto his arm so tightly her knuckles were white—she was very pale.
"Great?" Ginny breathed. "You call that"—Hermione screamed again—"GREAT?"
"Yes," said the woman, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. "I've seen it get much worse, believe me. Especially the teens without boyfriends to be here with them."
"That's comforting," said Ginny, still pale.
"Hermione," said Ron. "It's going to be alright—"
"DON'T TELL ME ABOUT BEING ALRIGHT, RON!" she was screaming.
"So when, exactly," asked Sirius. "Did Hermione get pregnant?"
"At the beginning of the year," said Ginny. "Nobody knew they were dating."
"You call it 'dating', Ginny," said Harry. "But technically—"
"Ah," said Sirius. "Well, it's not like we didn't all know it was going to happen—and when did you two...?"
"Oh," said Harry, turning a little red. Sirius still didn't know about the baby. "Uh, a little while after that, I guess."
"Yeah," said Ginny softly. She wasn't really paying attention to the current conversation.
Sirius had changed—he was now swallowed in silvery light, his hair was white, and his black robes had been replaced with white ones. Where he had come from? Nobody knew.
"All I remember," Sirius had said, "was that I was wandering around in a dark place—a little like the dungeons downstairs, but I could never get anywhere. And then, suddenly, I was standing in the Great Hall, being screamed at by a group of Hufflepuff girls."
Harry glanced over at Mrs. Weasley, who looked as if she was torn between joy and anger and amusement at the situation all at once. Fred and George were in the corner—Pansy was there, hanging off of Fred's arm. Draco was glancing at George, who didn't seem entirely upset about it.
Harry gagged.
Ginny also shot a nervous glance at Mrs. Weasley, depressed that they had to do this to her again.
"OH MY GOD!" said Ron, suddenly appearing out of the door. "IT'S A BOY!"
Mrs. Weasley gasped.
Ron disappeared in a flash back inside the room.
He appeared again, just as briefly.
"AND HE HAS RED HAIR!"
"Not surprised," said Harry.
"Oh God," said Ginny. "Another Weasley boy."
Mrs. Weasley burst into tears.
"Is she upset or happy?" asked Harry, looking at her nervously.
"I can't tell," said Ginny softly, reddening. She wasn't really worried—any child of Harry Potter's would have to be the most spoiled, well-watched baby on the planet.
"One year over, only for another to begin like this," said Seamus, dropping into the seat loudly. "When are Hermione's parents going to get here?"
"They're here," said Ginny, nodding toward an exasperated looking fellow off to the side, talking to Mr. Weasley. "Her mom's inside, watching. Can't imagine why anyone would want to, but—"
"OH MY GOD!" said Ron, sliding out of the room, looking a little crazy-eyed. "Harry! Ginny! Come see!"
Harry and Ginny shot each other scared looks. Seamus shoved Harry off the seat.
"Uh—"
"C'mon!" said Ron, pulling him after. Ginny followed reluctantly, and soon after, so did Mr. Weasley and Mr. Granger, and Mrs. Weasley.
Hermione was sitting on the bed, all traces of pain gone—Harry stared with his mouth hanging open, utter shock stunning him.
"Hermione—?"
"Harry! Look!" she said, holding something that was very obviously not books in her arms. "Look at him! He looks like an angel!"
Harry didn't want to rain on Hermione and Ron's parade, but he felt this was an unfair comparison on the angel's part. After all, it was a newborn baby; all red and squealing and the red hair didn't do much to improve the baby's lot...
Ginny was staring at the baby as if she was thinking along the same lines.
"Well, uh, what are you going to name him, Ron, Hermione?" asked Mrs. Weasley,
There was a moment of silence.
"Leon," Hermione sighed softly, staring at her child with adoration.
There was another moment of silence and then Ron scoffed.
Hermione's head snapped up and she glared at her boyfriend.
"What?" she said, more like a growl than question.
"Well—Hermione, you can't be serious—"
"I'm dead serious!" she snapped. "What's wrong with 'Leon'?"
"Well—" he said, looking around nervously. Harry was staring at him like he was crazy, Fred was looking at him as if he was the bravest man on the planet, and Ginny's eyes were as wide as saucers. "I mean—isn't it a little...girly?"
"GIRLY?" Hermione screamed, eyes ablaze with wild fury. "GIRLY? WELL WHAT WOULD YOU SUGGEST, GENIUS?"
"Well," said Ron, the tips of his ears turning pink. "I was thinking—well—"
"Out with it!"
"I was thinking 'Galvin'."
Hermione's brain seemed to be shrinking with the effort it was taking simply not to lunge at him with her claws bared.
"Galvin Gudgeon, you mean, Ronald?"
Ginny choked back a laugh. Mrs. Weasley rolled her eyes.
"Not those ridiculous Chudley Cannon's again," said Hermione, rolling her eyes.
Harry shook his head at Ron.
"Well, if you really think about it, Hermione, Galvin Weasley isn't—"
"Who said it was going to be 'Weasley'," said Hermione with a shrug of her head.
Ron stopped mid-sentence.
"But—you can't—red hair—"
"Can't I, Ron?" she said, looking dangerously close to murdering him right in front of their newborn baby. "Can't I?"
Harry, catching a glance at Mrs. Granger, couldn't help but notice the hint of—what was it? Pride?—on her face.
"Well," said Ron, sputtering. He knew he was caught. "Well...Leon Weasley is...it has a nice ring to it..."
Hermione immediately brightened.
"It does, doesn't it?" she cooed, beaming at her baby child.
Ginny rolled her eyes. Mrs. Weasley sighed, relieved.
"Leon is a wonderful name, Hermione," said Mrs. Weasley, peeking at the child over Hermione's arm. Hermione had a very fierce grip on the little Leon.
Suddenly, unfortunately, Sirius walked into the room.
"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"
Was Hermione's response.
"What in the—! Oh my—! It's—!"
"Hermione," said Ron, rubbing his ears, "you saw him earlier when we were leaving for the hospital—"
"In the Knight Bus, remember?" asked Harry.
"No, I—I thought I was hallucinati—wait a minute," she said, glaring between Harry and Ron. "You took me on the Knight Bus? When I was pregnant? In LABOR?"
"It was quite nice," said Harry, trying to calm her. "Smoothest ride on the Knight Bus I've ever experienced."
"Well—Still!" Hermione said, obviously angry. "The Kni—!"
"It was either that or the Thestrals, and we figured that—well, you know, you can't see them."
Hermione was staring at him as if he was stupid.
"Bellatrix, Ronald," she said lowly.
Ron turned green.
"Oh yeah," he said. "I forgot."
"Oh, I forgot—"
"Harry, Ginny, Mr. and Mrs. Granger, Fred, Pansy, George, Sirius...Draco," said Mr. Weasley. "Why don't we—give them a moment."
Harry was fully aware of the numerous things that could happen between Hermione and Ron if they were given a moment, but he didn't feel like arguing at this point.
"Yeah, sure," said Harry, pulling Ginny out.
Mrs. Granger, he couldn't help but notice, was beaming at the sight of Ginny and Harry together. Harry felt immensely guilty—they still didn't know.
"So tell us, Sirius," said the Weasley family once they were back safely in the hallway. "What is the afterlife like?"
Sirius stared blankly. He was getting shocked looks from everyone who passed them in the hallway. He tried not to notice.
"Well...it was...dark."
There was silence.
"...and?" asked Pansy, giving him a trademark 'you're stupid' look.
"Well, I don't really remember. I briefly recall running into an old school friend of mine, Robert Shorte, but other than that..."
He frowned, deep in thought.
"There was a lot of searching. I felt like I could always hear them on the outside—like they were together, or they were waiting for me...but I couldn't see them. And I could never speak to them..."
Harry stared. Ginny stared at Harry.
"Well," said Mrs. Granger, looking down the hallway. "Is there a cafeteria?"