Harry and Ginny quietly walked down to the Hogwarts gates holding hands. Hermione had noticed that something was off with them at lunch, but Ron, as usual just blurted out the first thing that came into his head.
'Bloody hell! You two look like banshees!' He barely finished before Hermione hit him around the head with her legendary beaded purse. It sounded like she was carrying every book she had ever owned in it as well as the tent and other equipment they used last year.
'Looks like Hermione will keep you in line Ron,' joked Harry, 'that bag sounds like a real weapon!'
The pair saw Hagrid waiting at the gates. He simply nodded and said his customary 'Alright Harry!' before opening the gates and letting them out. Once outside, Harry hugged Ginny close to him and apparated. He didn't want to risk her falling over at the other end.
In less than five seconds they had arrived in the bustling main entrance of the hospital. Across the room, they could see a man emitting green, luminous bubbles from each nostril and as they watched, the colour changed to blue.
They headed over to the welcome witch who directed them to the twenty fourth floor. With the hospital serving all witches and wizards, the hospital had to be very large; usually there were over five hundred inmates.
Ginny and Harry decided to wait for the lifts. They were a pristine white with red edging. Harry thought it very fitting for the hospital to be themed in the colour of blood.
They had to stand in the lift with a small, elderly witch who chattered away with them until the thirteenth floor which housed the permanent residents of the hospital.
'Why, hello dears, you'll never guess who I'm going to see! It's my wonderful son Gildy. He's been in here for nearly six years now since his wand backfired on him. It was so awful, but never mind, he's still just as handsome as ever. Did you know that they're reinstating the Witches Weekly Best Smile competition again? I'm sure Gildy will be able to get another beautiful trophy.'
Harry and Ginny quickly twigged that this was Gilderoy Lockhart's mother. He was their worst Defence Against the Dark Arts Teacher in Harry's opinion but Ginny had spent time being taught be the Carrows and could not agree.
Just before the lift stopped on the 24th floor, Harry grabbed Ginny's hand and whispered to her. She smiled and together the walked across the waiting room to the desk. The receptionist was extremely brisk.
'Name?'
Ginny replied as quickly as she could.
'Ginevra Potter.' Ginny was surprised that there were no more questions when she was sent to sit down after only giving her name. They had hardly relaxed when they were called back into a small assessment room where they were directed to wait until the Healer arrived.
There were all sorts of posters giving advice on the walls as well as a few pictures who snored gently in their frames. Ginny had no doubts that they were full of 'useful' advice when they were awake.
The Healer took another ten minutes to appear and during that time, Harry and Ginny talked about anything but the imminent appointment, it was too daunting. The Healer was a witch called Hazel Allan. She was about thirty and extremely kind and understanding of how scared they were. She quickly apologised for her tardiness.
'Sorry I'm a bit late. We had a young man down the corridor who just fainted and we could not revive him. Not even a reviving potion worked. Must have been a huge shock for him. Now, let's get on with your appointment. You've been sent from Hogwarts, I see. Okay, the notes say to confirm Madam Pomfrey's pregnancy test. Now if you'll lie back please.'
'Don't I have to drink a potion?' asked Ginny as she pulled up her top.
'No, this test is more advanced than that. It will tell use everything possible that we can know about the baby at this point,' as she spoke, the witch began a complicated wand movement and finished off the spell with a similar command to that said by Madam Pomfrey back at the school.
Once again, the couple could see her eyebrows rise in surprise and her face tighten before she excused herself to go and get her colleague. She quickly returned with a much older wizard who introduced himself as Herbert Jackson. He copied the healer's earlier spell before reading the sheet of results and looking up at the couple.
'Mr and Mrs Potter, we have received a very unusual result from your tests so far. It appears that the babies' magic is innately more powerful than normal. Sometimes this does happen, the reasons are unknown, but it could cause problems in you pregnancy Mrs Potter. In the past we have seen that the babies' magic will interfere with your own, sometimes reducing it completely during the pregnancy. In other cases, we have seen the body severely weakened during the pregnancy. Thankfully, both of these conditions will improve or heal completely once the children are born.'
The other healer continued.
'The babies appear to be completely normal other that the magic. We can tell you the gender of the babies at a later date, unless the magic blocks it from us. From today, we will meet weekly; I will come to your school alongside Healer Jackson. Madam Pomfrey and your Head of House will be told of the circumstance surrounding your pregnancy. Do you have any questions?'
Harry looked at Ginny who turned to the mediwizard and witch and began questioning.
'How weak could I get and will the babies both be powerful?'
'There have not been more than five cases of this condition occurring, therefore, we cannot be entirely certain. Unfortunately with most of the cases, the mother's life had been in the balance at around twenty three weeks of pregnancy. The good news is that the babies can be born at this point and be perfectly healthy due to the advances in medical care.'
'What about the babies?' prompted Harry.
'The babies will not suffer any side effects from the magic, although, obviously one or both of them will be exceedingly powerful. It basically means that you'll be living with flying toys and a toddler tantrum will have another meaning. If you want advice, I'd ask Albus Dumbledore. As the headmaster of Hogwarts for so long I'm sure he had contact with one of these powerful children.'
Ginny nodded and sat up before hopping off the table. As she did so the mediwitch started.
'I nearly forgot. Here are some vitamins for you to take during your pregnancy. You should take them alongside the folic acid you started taking when you got married. Please remember; your babies need to be fit and healthy if they are to be born in just 18 weeks! Good bye.'
The couple headed out of the door and back to the lift. Once in the main foyer of the hospital, Harry apparated them away, but they ended up in a completely different place to where Ginny expected to arrive.