CHAPTER NINE

Oh Boy

At the kitchen table, Teddy smashed jam into his spaghetti. Then he poured a little bit of chocolate milk on it and stirred it all up. Ginny looked at the concoction he had created and tried not to hurl. She pressed a hand to the back of her mouth and turned away. Now that she was nearing the end of her first trimester, her morning sickness was starting to fade, but for whatever reason, she felt bad today. Harry saw her face over his newspaper and immediately intervened.

"Teddy, you're not supposed to play with your food," he scolded, vanishing the contents. "There are starving people in the world right now."

The little boy looked down at his empty plate. "Sorry, Harry."

"You should apologize to Ginny. She's not feeling well."

Ginny looked across the table and saw brown eyes staring at her imploringly. She could hardly be mad at him when he was just so darn cute. As a Metamorphmagus, he was able to change the color of his hair at will, but since he had not yet mastered changing the color of his eyes, it was Remus Lupin's eyes she saw staring back at her. His eyes were round, innocent, and the color of tree moss.

"I'm sorry, Ginny."

"It's okay," she replied, staring down at the dregs of her ginger tea.

"Are you sick?" he asked.

She nodded. "Mmhmm."

"You've been sick a lot. Maybe you should go to the Healer."

"You're right," said Ginny. "I'm actually going today."

She looked up at Harry, who met her eyes in acknowledgement over the top of the newspaper. It was noon on a Saturday, the last weekend in August. Harry had already switched back to a swing schedule with the Aurors, which meant that he was working the rest of the afternoon. He was, however, going to take an extra-long break to meet up with her for her appointment.

"Where am I going?" Teddy asked.

"You're going to visit Molly," Harry explained.

"Will Victoire be there?"

Ginny tried not to laugh at his eager face. "No, not today, but you'll be able to hang out with my dad, though."

"Okay," Teddy relented. "But I still wish I could hang out with Victoire. Me and her are best friends!"

"I know you are."

Harry put down his newspaper and stood up. "Okay, Ted, I have to go to work now. I won't be back until after you're asleep, but we'll go to the park tomorrow morning. Does that sound like a good idea to you?"

Teddy quickly bobbed his head up and down, and his hair changed from black to blue to pink with the movement. Ginny was pretty sure it was involuntary — he never would have chosen pink on purpose —but she decided not to say anything. Harry ruffled the young boy's hair fondly, and it faded back to brown.

"It's a deal. You behave for Ginny, okay? She doesn't feel good, so try not to cause any trouble."

"I'm a good boy! I never cause trouble!"

"Right you are, Teddy," Harry replied, then he leaned over and gave Ginny a kiss on the cheek. "I'll see you in a couple hours."

"See you."

And then in a flash of green, he was gone. Teddy sighed and rested his head on his hands, staring down at his empty bowl with something akin to boredom. Now that it was just the two of them, the house seemed far too quiet. Ginny looked at the little boy in front of her; she had known him almost his entire life. He had only been eleven days old the first time she met him. Everything she knew about babies, she had learned from him. How to change them, how to rock them, how to dry their tears...Of course, they shared the job with Andromeda, but Teddy would always be her first baby.

"Edward Lupin, have I ever told you that I love you?" she asked, clearing the dishes away with a wave of her wand.

He gave her a bewildered look. "Yeah, duh."

"Good," she smiled. "Because I love you."

"I love you too, Ginny."

There had been an eye roll in there somewhere, on principle, but the bashful smile on his face meant that he was sincere. Ginny's emotions — or more accurately, her hormones — wanted her to say more, to tell him that he was going to be a good big brother, but she held her tongue. They had big plans for that announcement, and she did not want to ruin it.

"Would you like to go to the Burrow now?" she asked.

He nodded eagerly. "Can I ride a broomstick?"

"We'll see."

It was sunny at the Burrow, far sunnier than it had been in London. It was the first thing Ginny noticed when she slid out through the sitting room fireplace, Teddy tucked underneath in her arms. The sunlight streaming in through the windows almost blinded her. A freckled hand came into her field of vision, and she grabbed it to drag herself to her feet. Teddy bounced up all on his own.

"Hello, sis."

It was Percy.

"Well, if it isn't Mr. Edward Remus Lupin!" said a loud voice.

Ginny turned to see her father standing in the doorway of the kitchen. With a wild cry, Teddy pitched himself forward into a run and tackled him around the waist. The two of them had a wonderful relationship, probably due to the fact that Arthur Weasley had somehow managed to convince the boy that spaceships were the greatest invention in the world.

"Arthur!" he shouted. "Grandmother got me a book about Apollo Eleven from the library! Do you know what that is, Arthur? Do you?"

"Hmm," said Ginny's father, feigning ignorance. "Is that the rocket that took them to the bottom of the ocean?"

"No, that's silly! You're silly!"

Their voices carried them out to the garden, and it was hard for Ginny to see who was more excited: Teddy or her father. She smiled and turned back to the sitting room, where her mother was sitting on the sofa with a cup of tea and her knitting needles floating in the air in front of her. Percy had already taken a seat back in the armchair, which he had obviously just vacated in order to help Ginny up.

"I'm no longer his favorite person," she announced. "Had to squeeze an 'I love you' out of him this morning. All he wants is Harry and Dad right now."

Her mother seemed unconcerned. "He's at that age; don't let it bother you. He's looking for his male role models because he wants to learn how a boy should act."

"It's kind of cute when you put it that way," Ginny replied wistfully, staring through the window.

"Speaking of cute, let me see!"

Her mother waved the knitting needles out of her face and leaned forward in anticipation. Ginny knew immediately what she was talking about, so she lifted her shirt to show off the baby bump. It still didn't look like much. At first glance, it could still be mistaken as an overindulgence of chocolate cake, but anyone who knew Ginny could tell that there was definitely something up with her belly. She used to have abs and a flat stomach. Unfortunately, that also meant that Ginny had now abandoned most of her favorite clothes in favor of loose tops.

"You look very beautiful!"

"Thanks, mum," said Ginny, falling into the seat next to her. "Threw up twice this morning, feel like a pukey mess, but I'm glad I still look beautiful."

Her mother unnecessarily rested a hand on her forehead. "Do you still feel sick? Would you like something to snack on? Crackers, perhaps?"

"No, I'm okay."

"Well, let me know if I can get you anything."

"Thanks, mum."

For the entire exchange, Percy was both patient and quiet, picking at the fabric of his sweater. He gave Ginny a wan smile when she finally turned to him, and she could immediately tell that something was wrong. There were dark circles under his brown eyes that were noticeable even behind his horn-rimmed glasses. It looked like he hadn't been sleeping. Or maybe he had been working too much. That was always a real possibility with Percy.

"What's up, Perce?"

"Just commiserating with mum."

Ginny rolled her eyes. "Quit being dramatic."

"We're getting evicted."

She blinked. "You and Audrey? I thought you owned that apartment."

"Not the apartment. The office."

Ginny allowed herself a small 'oh' of surprise. Percy had been working for a non-profit called MagicLink in the intervening years since the war. There were only four employees: Percy, his wife Audrey, their friend Ricardo, and (the founding member) Lenny Erickson. The purpose of MagicLink was to connect community resources to Muggle families who produced magical children. It had been created after the war, when it had become apparent that quite a few Muggleborns had died after being unjustly locked up in Azkaban. This included Audrey's father.

"I'm sorry," Ginny said, faltering a little. "Is there anything I can do to help?"

"I'm actually supposed to ask you and Harry for donations, since you are our current leading contributor. I hate begging for money Ginny."

"I'll talk to Harry," she said. "I had to give some of my signing bonus back to the National Team after resigning, so I'm not exactly rolling in gold either."

He gave her a sad smile. "I appreciate it."

"I do have a hypothetical question, though," Ginny said.

"Yeah?"

"What if we were to just give MagicLink a permanent office?"

Percy raised his eyebrows. "You have a full office with at least three conference rooms just sitting around somewhere?"

"Hypothetically," she snapped.

"I mean, I suppose I could take that as a donation."

"Ginny," their mother interrupted, her voice loud over the clicking of her knitting needles. "You never told me about that house in Devon. Did you and Harry go look at it?"

"Yes, and it was absolutely infested with Doxies."

"You can get rid of Doxies," said Percy.

Ginny shuddered. "No, I mean it was floor-to-ceiling covered with them. I've never seen an infestation that bad before, even at Grimmauld Place. They wanted us to put on protective gear just to go inside. There was no way I was going to do that; I'm pregnant! Doxy bites are poisonous."

"That's a shame. It would have been nice to have the two of you nearby."

"You should have seen this other house we saw near Stratford-Upon-Avon," Ginny continued, struggling to talk through her laughter. "It was literally upside down, and the family was completely okay with selling it like that. I laughed for a solid twenty minutes after looking up at the toilet. Harry had to drag me out of the house."

That, at least, brought a smile to Percy's face. She didn't want to mention the house in Lincolnshire because she was afraid it would bring up awkward questions about the other properties Harry owned. However, the more Ginny thought about it, the more she liked that one. They still had not been inside to see the layout. She was optimistic, though; layouts were a lot easier to change with magic if you liked the outside well enough.

They talked for most of the afternoon, pausing only to offer Teddy a snack when he complained of hunger. By that point, Ginny also felt well enough to eat. Her mother cut up some fruit and then made a blackberry pie with pickings from the bramble bushes down the road. Percy left soon after, though they all insisted that he take some pie home for Audrey. Teddy fell asleep at the kitchen table as soon as the back door was closed, and Ginny smiled when she saw that his hands and fingers were smeared with blackberry juice. She cleaned him with a damp cloth, and then her father carried him up to her old room on the first floor.

"I'm going to have a really hard time getting him to go to sleep tonight," Ginny said.

Her father gave her a pat on the shoulder. "That's what grandparents are supposed to do...load 'em up with sugar, let them take a nap, and then send them back to you all riled up."

"I'm glad you think of him as your grandson," she responded.

"He's a boy who needs a grandfather, so I'm going to be his grandfather."

Ginny followed her father as he walked back down the stairs. "I'm going to go find out the gender of this baby today. What do you think it is?"

"You know your brothers have a betting pool going."

"Why am I not surprised?"

Arthur Weasley laughed. "For the record, I think it's a girl. Your mother thinks it's a boy, and most of your brothers are agreeing with her. She was right about Victoire and Niki, so I'm afraid she's got some kind of sixth sense. We'll have to excuse her from all future betting pools if it turns out she was right."

"I'm always right," her mother called from the kitchen.

"Well, you'll know very soon," said Ginny. "I'll be back in time for dinner."

o - o - o - o - o - o - o

In the St. Mungo's waiting room, Ginny tried very hard not to look like Ginny Weasley. She wore her hair down and kept most of it in front of her face while she read an old copy of Witch Weekly. That didn't stop a woman from staring at her curiously from across room, as though she recognized her from somewhere. That was when Ginny realized that she was reading a subscription from November of last year, when she had been announced as the new chaser for the English National Team. There was a two page article about her on the inside cover. In Ginny's (not so biased) opinion, she thought she looked damn good in those pictures. Even though red was definitely not her color, she looked so fit and healthy that it didn't even matter. It made her feel slightly bitter about the present circumstances.

The article briefly touched upon her relationship with Harry Potter, the Chosen One. It called them a "Power Couple" (whatever that met), and there was a picture of them from Ron and Hermione's wedding. Ginny quickly put the magazine back on the table and hid it under a few other copies. Speaking of Harry, she was sure that he should have been there by now. She checked her watch, drummed her fingers on the armrest of the chair, and checked her watch again. An assistant healer came out to the waiting room, and Ginny knew — just by looking at him — that he was going to call her name.

"I'm right here," she said.

He blinked at her in surprise but went along with it. "Right this way."

"My fiancé is supposed to meet me, but I think he's running late. Will you —"

"―we'll keep an eye out for him."

She followed him all the way up to the examination room, where she was instructed to change into a plain blue medical gown. She kept her socks on, though, because her feet were cold, and she tried not to sit and shiver on the hard, unforgiving chairs. Then another unfriendly assistant healer came by and escorted her to the bathroom.

"Pee in this cup."

"Cheers," she grumbled.

Once back in the examination room, Ginny checked her watch again and blew out a frustrated sigh. He definitely should have been there by now. Just as she was considering sending him a very unhappy summons via Patronus, Harry burst through the door. He was breathing hard, as though he had just run a marathon, and his glasses sat somewhat askew on his face. She raised her eyebrows, and he gave her an apologetic sort of smile.

"I'm sorry. Lost track of time at work."

"I figured," she said, pulling her arms in close to keep the goosebumps from erupting on her skin.

He fell into the chair beside her. "Are you mad at me?"

"No, you made it. I would've been mad if you didn't, though."

"Had a breakthrough on the Karina Martmouth case."

"Why are you working on that one again?"

He shrugged, running a hand through his hair. "I had some free time, and you know I hate non-closure. Wanted to give it another shot, and it proved to be a good idea."

"You're the only person in the world I know who would spend their free time searching for missing, presumed-dead victims of a war from thirty years ago," Ginny said quietly.

"Maybe...but she was somebody's daughter."

She searched his face, noting how it was both familiar unfamiliar it was to her; she knew — on an intimate level — those bright green eyes and that carefully polite smile he always wore when he wanted to mask what he was really thinking. Ginny could only guess what thoughts went through his head on a daily basis, and she wondered which ones he threw away and which would never leave him...like Karina Martmouth and all the other Muggleborns who had disappeared without a trace. And she loved him, both in spite of and because of that dedication to his job.

If only it didn't make him so unhappy…

Ginny wanted to say something about the hours he kept, but they were interrupted by the arrival of Healer Primrose.

The appointment passed with barely any concerns. The baby was still healthy and thriving despite Ginny's small size, and she was given another month's supply of potions to combat the morning sickness (although Healer Primrose assured her that it would stop very soon). At this point in her pregnancy, most of the baby's important organs were all there. The baby had reflexes, and he/she was also starting to wiggle fingers and toes. Ginny's back was mentioned a few times, especially in regard to the places where it had been broken, but the fact that she was still able to do yoga erased most of their major worries.

"You're third trimester will probably be very uncomfortable, unfortunately."

"My sixth year at Hogwarts was very uncomfortable, but I managed to survive," Ginny blurted out before she had a chance to censor herself.

Harry's face darkened. "I didn't even think about that...does the Cruciatus Curse have any long-term effects that might harm a baby?"

"No," said Healer Primrose. The question had not alarmed her at all, which meant that she had at least read through their medical files. "As long as Ginny was cleared from all long-term effects, there should be no harm to the baby. The Cruciatus Curse can cause miscarriages, but only if it's performed on a woman while they are currently pregnant."

"Good thing the Carrows are in Azkaban," Ginny muttered darkly.

Harry chose not to comment.

"I am definitely going to tell you to take it easy," Healer Primrose said, eyeing the two of them very seriously. "You have not had an easy life, Miss Weasley. I don't know if you are even aware of just how many times you've been injured. Even magic can't heal everything."

Ginny looked away. She knew that.

"Well, enough talk about serious matters. Would you like to know the gender of your baby?"

"Yes," said Ginny, sitting straight up again.

She and Harry had talked about it in great detail, trying to weigh the pros and cons of knowing the baby's gender in advance. In all honesty, Ginny hated surprises. She hated being caught off guard, and it was important for her to feel as prepared as possible after such a rocky start to her pregnancy. Harry, of course, agreed with her. He could hardly disagree. Healer Primrose turned away from them as she worked, stirring a small cauldron of potion that had been made with leftover urine from the cup. A tray had been placed in the center of the room, upon which sat two different, but ordinary plant seeds. As far as Ginny could see, there appeared to be nothing extraordinary about the seeds. The healer then used a pipette to distribute several drops of the potion onto each. She vanished all the supplies and took a seat next to them.

"Did you know that Muggles use a machine to get an image of the baby?" Healer Primrose said, in a casual sort of voice. "They have to wait until the baby is at least twenty weeks along, and then they use the machine to look between the baby's leg."

"Yea, I actually read about all this in a book," said Ginny.

Harry looked at the both of them, obviously confused. "What exactly are we waiting for?"

Before either Ginny or Healer Primrose had a chance to respond, the seed on the right began to twitch. Little roots popped out of husk, stabilizing it against the bottom of the tray. Then a yellow-golden stalk shot upright and branched with feathered fronds. It swayed for a second, as if in a high wind, then rocked to a standstill. It looked as though it had been growing for months.

Ginny clapped a hand to her mouth.

"That'll be the barley," said Healer Primrose. "Congratulations! You're having a little boy."

o - o - o - o - o - o - o

Teddy did not fall asleep until it was already way past ten o'clock. She would have been angry at her father for the disruption to their routine (for Teddy always got up at the same time no matter how late he went to bed and no matter how tired he felt in the morning), but she was still far too excited about the news to be angry at anything. They were having a baby boy! No longer did the creature in her stomach feel like a faceless parasite, draining her energy and making her feel sick to her stomach. It was a baby boy. It had a pronoun. He was growing inside her. He would be born in March. He was already so loved.

Her intention had been to stay up and wait for Harry, if only to celebrate for a little bit long...but like all good intentions, it didn't last. She fell asleep within ten minutes, only to wake up several hours later. The clock on her bedside table said that it was half past two in the morning, but the lights were still on in the bedroom. Harry had been home; she could see his Auror cloak on the floor by the bathroom where he had obviously dropped it. Ginny pushed herself into a seated position and rubbed her eyes. He was not in the bathroom or the bedroom.

Sometimes, if he were having particular trouble sleeping, Harry would walk downstairs to check on Teddy. This was where she figured he was, so Ginny took off after him. Her muffled footsteps would have gone unnoticed in the giant house if it wasn't for the bones that popped in her knee as she walked. Still, Harry was not in Teddy's room. The little boy's door was open, and she could see the light from the hallway spill onto his sleeping face. He looked so small in sleep, so innocent.

"Harry?" she hissed down the hallway.

There was no answer.

So she crept onward, walking as quietly as she could manage. There were sounds coming from the study, and the more she strained her ears, the more she could hear; distinguishable were the rough sounds of parchment and the occasional sniff of a person fighting the beginning stages of a cold. Was it Harry? Or was it an intruder, digging through their protected documents? Ginny thought of James and Lily Potter, dying unarmed in the safety of their own home. She felt a thrill of panic; her wand was upstairs, resting on her bedside table.

She was foolish, reckless, and naive.

Peering around the edge of the doorframe, she was relieved to find Harry, sitting all alone on the floor of the study. All around him were pages and pages of parchment, situated as though they had been scattered by accident. He held several in his hand, but he was frozen halfway in the act of picking them up. Ginny was surprised to find him so engrossed in his reading that he didn't even notice her. It was rare that anyone ever snuck up on Harry Potter.

That was when she noticed that the pages he held in his hand were the pages of her book.