"I'll meet you guys there!" Ron said, grabbing his sweater and putting the phone down.
"Where are you going?" asked Lavender, who had been reading in the kitchen.
"Ginny is in labour!" he yelled, excited. "My nephew will be born any moment!"
"Oh, that's great." She said, her tone flat.
"What?" he asked, looking at her.
"Nothing," she said, and got up. "I'll get my coat."
"Well, hurry up!" he said annoyed.
"Why can't we get married already?" she quickly said.
"Ugh, Lavender not now," he said, running his hand through his bright red hair. It was his usual gesture of frustration.
"I want a family Ron, look everyone's settled except us! We live together and that's about it!" she yelled.
Ron took a deep breath.
"You think it's easy going to weddings and births and not having one of my own? I'm ready to start a family Ronald."
He turned around. He had been thinking about that for a while. Everyone told him the same thing, to just settle down with Lavender and move on. It wasn't fair to her that he had kept her waiting.
"Fine," he said, the words stuck in his throat." Let's get married."
Lavender turned a dark shade of pink and ran up to him. She planted a kiss on him.
"Do you mean it?!" she asked. He nodded, feeling uneasy.
"Yeah."
As they made their way up the hospital stairs, Lavender held his hand, not once wanting to stop talking about their future together. He tuned her out, not thinking about it at all. He just nodded, pretending to listen.
As they turned the corner, he felt his heart stop. Hermione was standing at the end of the hallway, her eyes on him. She smiled, and he didn't know what to do. He stopped walking, wanting to stare at her, wanting to take in her image.
"What the he-" started Lavender, but he let go of her hand and walked ahead of her, scared Hermione was going to disappear.
She looked uncomfortable as he approached, twirling her brown curly hair around with her finger. He didn't wait for her to say anything. He took her in his arms, hugging her tight, and for a moment she didn't do anything, but then he felt her arms wrap around him.
"Excuse me," said Lavender, tapping his shoulder. "We have a baby to see."
"Hi, Lavender." Said Hermione, smiling. Lavender ignored her.
"Yeah, go in," said Ron, ignoring her. He stepped away from Hermione. She looked more beautiful than when he last had seen her. She had a glow to her, something he couldn't put his finger on.
"The baby is beautiful, Mrs. Weasley is in there with the rest of the family. I decided to give them space." Said Hermione politely. Lavender flipped her hair and walked away, arms crossed. At that moment Mrs. Weasley came out, holding a little girl in her arms.
"Ron, you're here." She said. She handed the little girl to Hermione, kissed Hermione's cheek and patted Ron's head. She began to cry and walked back inside.
"What's going on?" Ron asked, his heart beating fast. Why was Hermione holding the little girl?
"Ron, this is my- my daughter." She said.
The color drained from his face. He felt his eyes get heavy, and he tried to smile. "R-r-really?"
"Her name's Katrina."
Ron felt his throat go dry. He swallowed and put his hands in his pocket.
"She's beautiful." He managed to say. "Well, I guess I'll go see my nephew, huh?"
Hermione kissed Katrina's forehead. Her face got red, and tears were beginning to build up in her eyes.
"Ron, she's your daughter."