Disclaimer: I don't own these characters. Sighs Regretfully.
Hermione stared at the plastic instrument in her hand, turning it at different angles to see if the sign it showed could be interpreted differently. She squinted simultaneously, for good measure.
Nope, she resigned, that is a plus sign.
She glanced at the instructions for the test she bought. Should you see a negative symbol, no hCG hormone has been detected, and a pregnancy is not likely. A plus sign signifies the presence of the hCG hormone, and a pregnancy is likely. Please consult your physician for a confirmation of a positive result.
Sighing, she folded the instructions and placed them back into the packaging. She threw the box away, eyeing the pencil shaped test again that was in her lap, unsure of what to think. Hermione knew muggle pregnancy tests weren't completely accurate. This could be some kind of blip, some random instance where the visual window of the test screwed up and added an extra line…
The scenarios went on in her head until some quick math reminded her she hadn't had a period last month. Yeah, she conceded, pregnant. Picking the test back up, she tapped it against her palm. Currently, Hermione was sitting on the edge of the tub in her flat, trying to decide if she should tell her husband right away, or see a doctor first to confirm it. Of course, she could perform a pregnancy test on herself magically, but she knew that would be risky. Ron always wanted to shag her the second he arrived home, and the test created a red aura on the uterus area for a positive result; a blue aura for a negative one—both of which lasted at least 6 hours. Either way, Hermione didn't want Ron to know she was even worried about being pregnant. He was busy with a blossoming Quidditch career, and they were only married a year. Even Hermione was becoming quite career oriented, what with flying through promotions at the Ministry. Because of this, the married couple knew their personal time was limited, and thus they made love frequently in order not to become so focused on work. If he saw the red or blue aura…
They must have slipped up somewhere: they weren't trying to get pregnant. But, even magical contraception spells weren't fool-proof. Sometimes biology was just so damn insistent. As Hermione mulled everything over, she heard a loud pop.
"Mione?"
SHIT, Hermione jumped up quickly, hands flying to her hair to smooth it down. She tried to act calm or normal. She pretended to be brushing her hair when she realized the test had flown out of her hands and had landed near the toilet. She almost ran to retrieve it when all of a sudden Ron was there, sweaty and muddy.
"Hey Mione, sorry to barge in, I feel disgusting."
Hermione tried to even her breathing. "No it's fine, what are you doing home so early?" She brought a hand to her hip, trying to widen her stance as much as possible and block the test from his vision, which was lying so obviously out of place behind her.
Ron motioned behind her, to the bathroom window. "Haven't you looked outside today? It's probably the worst thunderstorm we've had all summer. I reckon the threat of losing your whole team to a lightning strike was a good reason to stop practice." He snorted and began peeling off his uniform and pads. "Anyway, mind if I take a shower?"
Hermione shook her head as she tried to look innocent. Ron squinted his eyes, just realizing she seemed to be standing in the bathroom for no reason. "What are you doing, anyway?"
"Oh, nothing, I was just seeing if we had any anti-nausea potion in here." It was partially the truth, but she instantly cursed herself for giving away any hints that she was pregnant, and also felt stupid for not realizing she had been having pregnancy symptoms for over a week.
"Still feeling bad, eh?" Ron turned and flicked on the shower, grabbing a towel from the shelves behind him.
Hermione nodded, "It's about the same."
As he stepped in the shower, he called over the sound of the water. "Maybe you should go see a healer. I know you're probably stressed and all with work, but what if it's something serious, yeah? Don't you think you should get it checked out?"
Seeing an opportunity of distraction, Hermione scrambled for the test, fumbling with it and quickly putting it in her back pocket. "Yeah," she responded, "if it's not better tomorrow, I'll go."
Ron tsked at her stubbornness as steam filled the bathroom. "Good," he resigned. "Besides, you don't want this to interfere with work anymore, right? I know how much you hate missing work." The last part sounded like teasing, and Hermione crossed her arms.
"Of course I don't want to miss work, they've been understanding enough as it is, letting me take so many days off. And for your information, I haven't thrown up once today."
Ron cringed from inside the shower. "Thanks for that image…not that I haven't seen it enough the last couple nights."
Hermione stuck her tongue out at her husband even though she knew he couldn't see it.
"But really, love, please go to St. Mungos if it's not better by tomorrow, ok? There must be a reason why you're sick."
This is the part where Hermione was sure he would put it together. Why do some women mysteriously start to throw up, but have no other obvious symptoms of sickness? Hermione pictured the gears in his head moving, clicking it together. She expected him to burst out of the shower, stark naked, and yell, "You're pregnant, aren't you?"
The sound of the shower was all that could be heard. She relaxed. "Yes, Ronald, I'll go tomorrow."
The sound of the water died in Ron's silent approval. He hopped out the shower, wrapping a towel around his waist on his way out. He playfully kissed her as he wrapped his arms around her, soaking her blouse. She yelled and smacked him on the head, and he laughed and released her. "Well, someone's a bit moody today."
Hermione blushed as she picked up on the hidden meaning that only she understood. She tried to picture telling him. She knew he would be happy, but there was something in her that hesitated. She needed to talk to someone.
"Oh hey," he piped, interrupting her thoughts, "since I'm home early, I was gonna go see Harry real quick so we can plan George's bachelor party thing. But I'll be home for dinner and still get to see you tonight, ok?"
Hermione had forgotten all about George's upcoming wedding to Angelina. The reminder made Hermione almost positive she didn't want to bring up being pregnant, as she didn't want to steal the future married couple's attention. "Yeah, that sounds great. I think I'm going to go see Gin."
Ron furrowed his brow as he put on a fresh outfit. "You sure? Shouldn't the diseased relax?" Hermione hit him again. "Ow! Mione, I'm just kidding. Go see Ginny; I think Harry said she was having some kind of nausea thing, too."
Hermione's eyes widened at the news. Ginny couldn't possibly be pregnant, could she? Ron toweled off his fiery mane. "What did you guys eat the last time we all went out? Maybe it's some kind of food-poisoning?"
Thinking quick, Hermione tried to act casual. "You know, I think we both had that Salmon thing. It's a good thing I kept your paws off my food; otherwise you'd be sick, too."
Ron kissed her chastely. "Yeah, good thing. You know, we can probably sue that restaurant."
This earned Ron one more smack and he grinned widely in response. "My, you're feisty. Well, I'm off, so I'll see you later tonight for dinner, alright?" He hugged her as she nodded, kissing her one more time. "Love you."
"Love you." He walked out of the bathroom and there was a popping sound as he apparated out.
Hermione released a breath she hadn't realized she was holding. She pulled the test back out and quickly apparated to Ginny's flat.
Maneuvering the trip perfectly, Hermione found herself directly in Ginny's bedroom a second later. She saw the Weasley girl sitting on the bed playing with the hem of her shirt.
"Oh shit, Hermione!" She yelled a split second later, "You scared me half to death!"
Rushing to her side, Hermione apologized. "I'm sorry Gin, I should have owled."
The redhead brushed off the apology. "No, it's ok, I'm glad to see you." Hermione noticed she was still playing with the bottom of her shirt, as if hiding something. "Are you ok? What's that?" She nodded to the muggle test Hermione was still clutching.
"Are you pregnant?" Hermione blurted, eliciting a wide-eyed response.
Three seconds went by before Ginny's face crumpled and she threw herself backwards on the bed. "Fuck, am I that obvious? Bloody Hell, I don't even have to worry about telling Harry now, he'll figure it out if it's so obvious!"
Hermione felt a rush of companionship towards her friend. They were pregnant together, of all things. Ginny wailed to herself as Hermione turned toward her. You could almost see she was pregnant, but it was something one would notice only if you knew beforehand. Then Hermione saw the warm red glow that seemed to be emitting from under her shirt, which she had been frantically trying to hide.
"Ginny," the older friend gushed, "Ginny, you're pregnant, too?"
She sobbed harder, "Yes! I don't know how." Sniff. "Well, I mean I know HOW, but obviously Harry and I weren't planning it, we've been married only a little longer than you and Ron! That's not sufficient time to be having babies, and-" her voice cut off sharply. She sat up, and looked hard at Hermione, sniffling, trying to process what she had just heard. "Wait," she stammered, "WHAT?"
Almost guiltily, Hermione held up her test, to which Ginny shook her head, not understanding.
"Oh! Right, this is a muggle pregnancy test. It's positive."
Hermione saw the flash of wide blue eyes before she heard the piercing scream.
"We're both pregnant, are you FUCKING kidding me!"
The next couple minutes were a blur of hair and smiling and hugging and crying. The girls gushed over everything: the joy of being pregnant, the happiness in each other's pregnancy, and the emotions from keeping it all in.
"At least you've only known for an hour, I've known since last week! Well, I wasn't sure, but honestly, I've missed a period and have been retching for days. And I've been freaking out! I knew Harry would be gone for a while today which is why I finally did the self test." Ginny explained, pointing to her glowing stomach. "I wish I knew about muggle tests, I could have known for sure days ago! And I wouldn't have been anxious and moody to Harry these past couple days. Oh, look at me ramble."
Hermione smiled at Ginny, thankful she didn't have to go through such an unknown experience alone. She sobered the longer she thought. "Well," she said seriously, "how are we going to tell them?"
"Beats me, I've been trying to figure that out all week. You're the genius, what should we do?"
Hermione tried to think about different scenarios. Should it be cute, with maybe some kind of reveal? Was it supposed to be a more serious, make-them-sit-down-first kind of deal? She knew almost everything about books and spells, but for the life of her could not process the etiquette of announcing a pregnancy. "Well, they're going to be shocked, and some cute fluffy deal isn't really us, so maybe we just blurt it out?"
"Blurt it out? Blurt it out? Hermione, I don't want to make it sound like some terminal disease! I don't know what we should do but blurting it out doesn't sound fun or happy at all!"
"I know, I know! Aren't you worried though? About what they'll think? I don't want to do some cute announcement if they won't be happy about it."
Ginny eyed her best friend carefully. "You think they won't be happy? I know we haven't talked about it, and it sure as hell wasn't planned, but I know they'll be happy."
Hermione could punch herself she was so stupid. Of course they'll be happy. Shock was a given, but anger or sadness? About having a child? Of course not. "You're right. Well, I'm certainly not the one to plan something so unrelated to academics, so we're at a loss."
The girls laughed as they contemplated what to do. Ginny stopped giggling first. "Hey, maybe you can do the self test on yourself and then we can just show them. I feel stupid being the only pregnant woman with a red belly, anyway."
"That's actually a good idea. It's not too flashy or obnoxious, but it's clever. Oh, alright." Before she could rethink it, Hermione pulled out her wand (which she had tucked behind her ear before she did the muggle test) and performed the incantation while pointing to her stomach. Within seconds, a deep red glow appeared, and both of them laughed at the state they were in.
"Well aren't we attractive?" Ginny quipped, lifting her own shirt up. "I only did the spell on myself about an hour ago, so mine will last another 5 or so hours. Dumb spell, if you ask me." She picked up Hermione's test, examining it closer. "This is actually neat."
Hermione nodded in agreement, "That's why I did the muggle test in the first place; I didn't want Ron to see me with a red belly. Although, I had to pee on it for it to work."
"What? Gross!" Ginny flung the test away quickly and they both dissolved in laughter again.
The girls owled George, who had seen Harry and Ron last, and learned that they were probably at Ron and Hermione's flat, finalizing details for the bachelor party.
"To your flat, then." Ginny squeaked. Hermione took Ginny's hand, squeezing it reassuringly as they disappeared with a pop.
"Oi, what are you girls doing here?"
Ginny and Hermione gathered their bearings as they adjusted to the scene around them. Harry and Ron were sitting at the dining table, a notepad and a calendar between them. The girls must have looked scared, for the boys' faces grew more concerned at each passing moment of silence.
"Is everything ok?" Harry asked tentatively.
Any reserve Ginny had at her flat melted away. Her face broke and she wailed, lifting up her shirt, exposing the red underneath. "Look! This is why I've been sick! Her, too!" Ginny yanked up Hermione's shirt; the two of them bare-midriffed and silly looking.
"Bloody Hell, Gin. I knew we didn't have a solid plan, but really?" Hermione whispered through gritted teeth.
The boys looked at each other, and then looked back at their wives. Harry finally spoke. "What is that? Why are your stomachs red?"
"Wait, did you both go to St. Mungos today? Are you both sick? What's going on?" Ron asked worriedly.
Ginny tried to make sense of their responses. "Sick?" She let go of both of their shirts. "Don't you know what this means?"
They received a dumbfounded stare.
"Fuck, Hermione, we didn't plan on them not knowing what it meant, I thought this was common knowledge! What do we do?" Ginny grabbed her friend by the arm, frantically trying to back pedal the scene she just caused.
Blurt it out, blurt it out, thought Hermione, her face nearly wincing at the awkwardness that was this situation.
"Ok, we're actually kind of worried now, will someone please explain?" Harry piped, breaking the girls' inner arguments.
Apparently, Ginny was also planning to revert to the blurt-it-out strategy. "Hermione's pregnant!"
"Ginny!"
"WHAT?"
Hermione looked more pained than ever. "Ginny is, too!"
Ginny finished lamely as shocked silence overtook the room, "Surprise…"
The silence that ensued was so palpable; it was if time itself froze. No one moved or said a word. It seemed unlikely that anyone was even breathing.
After a few minutes, both Ron and Harry's expressions became quizzical, as if trying to recall how it was possible.
"You don't think…" Harry asked quietly, "…that one time in Honeydukes?"
"Harry Potter! I just told you I'm pregnant with your child and you ask if it's a result of when we shagged in Honeydukes?"
Ron visibly cringed. "Oh bloody hell!" He turned to Hermione, finally getting up from the table. "So you're pregnant?"
Hermione felt a quick pang of dread at his tone before Ron rushed to her, enveloping her in a bone crushing hug. She nodded into him. "I know we didn't plan it…"
He kissed her before she could finish. Sometime during their embrace, Harry made his way over to Ginny and was smiling widely while feeling her stomach. The girls looked at each other, feeling grateful and relieved, knowing the worst was over, if you could call it the worst.
Ginny was the first to break the happy moment.
"Well, have fun boys, I hear one pregnant woman is a handful, but two? Good luck!"
The husbands groaned before smiling again at their wives, excited to begin a new chapter.
Fin
AN: I don't know the timeline of when everyone got married/started having babies, so this probably isn't accurate to the books, but I don't care Also I made the magic pregnancy test thing up for plots sake! Thanks for reading and please review!