It had been well over a month since they had had dinner with Harry and Ginny and by now the whole family knew their news. They had already begun kitting out Grimmauld Place for the new arrival and it was enough for even Sirius to be excited. Harry revelled in showing her the wizard photograph of Ginny's first scan and Hermione had squealed as he handed it to her.
However, fast forward two more weeks and things were beginning to turn a little sour. Hermione stared at the potion that was currently facing her on the bathroom shelf with a blank expression. It had turned silver, as promised, and she wasn't quite sure what to do next.
"I have to tell Fred…" she muttered to herself before waving her wand over the vial that held the potion and making it disappear before her eyes.
She knew that Fred had already headed down to the shop for another busy Saturday and she only hoped that she would be able to call him away, even just for a few moments. Hermione thought it best to calm her nerves before she faced Fred and so she took to the shower, allowed the steam to cloud the room and cleared her head. She managed to find some jeans and a jumper that she had left on a previous visit and then nipped out of the flat and down to the shop.
Although it was busy, Fred and George had ample numbers of staff covering the shop floor. She found Verity supervising a new girl on their old rusty till.
"Hi Verity! Have you seen Fred about? I need a quick word with him."
"Morning Hermione! He and George are in the back room testing new products."
"Thank you!" Hermione made her way through the crowds of customers until she reached a small door hidden behind a curtain that was marked "Weasleys only".
As she entered she ducked and narrowly missed being hit by a long flame which she discovered was coming from a box that George was holding.
"Sorry love, you really should have knocked!" Fred laughed.
Hermione gave a little smile before asking George if she could have a moment alone with Fred.
"What is it? Is something wrong?" Fred asked as soon as they were alone. He took her over to the small armchair that sat in the corner of the room and crouched beside her. "I can tell something's bothering you love."
"I'm pregnant."
There was a moments silence as Hermione looked at her feet and Fred tried to process the revelation.
"Are you sure?" He took her hands in his.
"The potion is never wrong. It turned silver almost instantly."
"You know that I will support you with whatever you choose to do."
"I want to keep it." Hermione didn't know when she had decided that but it felt as if it was her only option. "I know that we're not ready but I can't bear the thought of choosing not to keep a baby, I really can't."
"Then we're keeping it and we'll do it together, I promise."
Hermione was now crying, her eyes welling up as Fred told her that he would stand by her.
"I'm scared Fred, we weren't expecting this and I don't know if we're ready!"
"I'm scared too but I won't leave you on your own, I'll support you the whole way through this, I promise."
"Th-thank you Freddie! I was scared to tell you, I didn't know how you'd react and I-"
"Ssshhh, it's alright love," he stood and pulled her into his side. "We'll be a family, the three of us."
He took her back up to the flat and wrapped her in a blanket before making her a mug of hot tea and finding one of the many books that she had left there.
"I'll be done in a couple of hours and then we can sit together and figure out what we do next. I just have one request."
"What is it?"
"That I can tell George, he won't tell anyone else but he'll know that I'm keeping something from him, Twin intuition and all that."
"That's fine, I'll see you in a couple of hours."
He kissed her forehead and left her to bury herself in her battered copy of Romeo and Juliet before he returned a few hours later. The shop had been locked up for the day and the customers were all sent home happy and Fred and George arrived back in the flat determined to look after Hermione. Upon arrival, George wandered to the sofa and wrapped his arms around her without a single word and took her empty mug to refill it in the kitchen.
"He gets it because I get it, love," Fred told her as she looked confused.
"I appreciate that I suppose," she told him as she sat up and made space for him.
She had barely moved since he left her, instead she had lay down and stayed in the foetal position until she eventually numbed herself.
"I can barely comprehend what's happening right now. We're not like Harry and Ginny, who have been ready for this ever since the war ended. We aren't in the same position at all. We aren't settled, Christ we've been together for less than a year!" her chest began to tighten as she thought about all of the things that weren't right about the situation.
"Love, I know that you said that you want to keep the baby, and I totally support you, but I need to know that you've considered other options, just given how stressed you are thinking about it." He took her hand and rubbed circles on the back of it to soothe her.
"I've barely given any thought to it. But perhaps we should go St. Mungo's and have a chat with a healer about it?"
"We can head in, in the morning. Until then, you need a good night's sleep," he kissed the top of her head before leading her through to his bedroom and wrapping her in the duvet.
As Hermione tried to sleep all that she could think of was why she couldn't feel the same joy that seemed to radiate off of Harry and Ginny. All that she wanted was to be happy that she and Fred were going to bring another life into the world and yet at the same time she couldn't shake the feeling that it wasn't right.
Her stomach churned something awful as they walked through the doors of St Mungo's the following morning.
"Welcome to St Mungo's, what can I help you with?" The pretty receptionist asked as they approached.
"We'd like to speak with one of the healer's in the family planning ward, is Marlene in today?" Hermione asked.
The receptionist span around in her chair to take a look at the rota behind her.
"She is and she's free in twenty minutes so I could fit you in then?"
"That would be perfect."
"And your name please?"
"Hermione Granger."
"Thank you Miss Granger that's on the third floor, opposite the doors for the magical bug ward," she smiled at them as they turned away and headed for the stairs.
"Marlene's husband works in the Ministry, he's a department head." Hermione told Fred as they made their way up the narrow staircase that led between each floor.
They reached the third floor and went through the small door which was marked "Family Planning Ward" and took two of the many free seats in the waiting area. Hermione picked up an old, battered copy of Witch Weekly and began flipping through it absentmindedly, not even bothering to look at the content as she passed each page.
Fred sensed her nerves and took the magazine from her and replaced it with his hand.
"It's going to be fine, love."
Hermione didn't reply and instead looked at their interlocked fingers.
"Hermione Granger?" The voice called from the other end of the waiting room.
They rose and walked towards her, following her into the small office.
Marlene was in her late thirties, with a plump physique and always a warm smile on her face. Hermione had frequently met her at Ministry events that she attended with her husband.
"How have you been Hermione?"
"Quite well thank you."
"Would you like some tea?"
"No thanks, we just really need some advice today."
"Of course, what can I do for you?"
"We recently discovered that I'm pregnant but we're really not sure if we're ready for it. We wanted to know our options, at least just to consider."
"I completely understand, it can be quite daunting, especially when it's a surprise." The older healer told her. "Here at St Mungo's we have an excellent maternity ward with an array of services, should you decide to continue your pregnancy. However, should you decide that you aren't ready to keep your baby we have two options: we can terminate the pregnancy, given that you are early enough into the pregnancy, or you can choose to give your baby up for adoption. We have a full range of services here to support you in any decision that you take."
Hermione realised that she had taken Fred's hand once again as she turned to look at him.
"What happens if I choose not to continue the pregnancy?" Hermione asked timidly after a moment.
"We would book you in for an overnight appointment. You arrive in the early evening and we make you comfortable in your own room and then we provide you with a potion which will terminate the pregnancy."
"Why do I need to be in overnight?"
"We need to wait and make sure that we can monitor you whilst your pregnancy ends."
"But we have magic, there isn't some easy way that just makes it go away?" Hermione's eyes were tearing as she thought about all of the hours that would pass whilst she thought about letting go of the tiny little life inside of her.
"I'm afraid not dear, not in this case. It's far too delicate a thing for us to meddle too much in with magic. This is the safest way if you choose to pursue that option."
"Do you have any information about the adoption process? It's something that we would have a little more time to think about." Fred asked.
"Of course, if you give me a moment I can fetch you the relevant information pack. I'll just be a moment," she said as she quickly left the office.
"Are you ok Mione?" Fred asked as he turned to face her.
"I-I don't know. I know it's her job but she talks about terminating a pregnancy like it's fixing a broken arm or something! Can I really just get rid of something that would grow to become our child?"
"I understand, but we don't have to decide today."
Marlene returned at that point and handed Fred a small leaflet.
"I know it's not very much information but I don't want to overload you today, I understand that this is a difficult process for you and that you can't make a decision straight away. However you can owl me at any point should you have any queries."
"Thank you so much Marlene, we really needed some sort of guidance." Hermione told her.
"Of course! Like I said, any time you need anything, let me know," she smiled at them as they rose and left the office.
Hermione and Fred said very little as they returned to the flat above the shop. It wasn't until they were sat in Fred's bedroom that they spoke about what happened.
"How do you feel love?" he asked her.
"Sick," she admitted. "It feels like too much of a huge decision for me to be making."
"That's why I'm here to make it with you, I promise."
"I think…."
"Yeah?"
"I think we need to keep the baby. I know it's not ideal but I can't bear the thought of getting rid of our child Freddie!" she cried as she wrapped her arms around him.
Fred took a deep breath as he thought about it.
"We're having a baby then!" Fred shouted enthusiastically and pulled Hermione to her feet on the bed and began bouncing and screaming that they were having baby until they both collapsed in fits of laughter.
So as the chapter title indicates, this was a chapter of surprises. Bear with me on this one though!
L x