The Pregnancy Chronicles
Disclaimer: No, no and more no. I own nothing except maybe minor characters. That is all.
December 2005
When Ginny first became pregnant, everyone kept telling her that her life would change when she would give birth.
At the time, the redhead hadn't believed them.
Now she did.
Life had changed so much since August 8 and Ginny wouldn't change it for a thing. She couldn't remember why she wanted to put off having children. She loved being a mother.
She loved James more than anything and she now understood why Lily Potter had sacrificed herself that fateful Halloween night. Looking into her baby's sweet face, Ginny knew that she would die for her son so that he could live a good life.
Ginny also now knew why her mother worried over her children so much when they were growing up. Ginny constantly fretted about James. When she had gone back to training in October she had sobbed when she brought her son to her mother's house. She kept thinking about him all practice, wondering if he was sleeping properly or if he missed her.
Harry was such a wonderful father, too. He doted upon Baby James and if the baby wasn't sleeping, he was in Harry's arms. He was attentive to the baby's every need and Harry and Ginny sometimes fought over who got to get James in the middle of the night.
Harry usually got him, to be honest. Since Ginny was breastfeeding, she decided to allow Harry to get James on most nights so they each got an equal amount of time with the baby.
The Potters were sleep-deprived too. Ginny found herself taking the same draughts Angelina took to wake her up. James liked to wake up every two to three hours so the Potters weren't getting a full night's sleep like they used to.
But it was worth it, frankly. Ginny would rather be sleep deprived and know that she was so because she had a baby.
Everything her baby did was perfect. Ginny praised James extensively whenever she changed his nappy, even though the fumes made her want to pass out. Even when James peed on her the first time she thought that his aim was perfect.
Harry hadn't been as enthralled about James peeing on him and he hadn't been happy when Ginny laughed at him, too.
Things were definitely changing in the Potter/Weasley homes. Ginny and Hermione's weekly lunches had been indefinitely postponed due to Ginny's new baby and because Hermione's morning sickness made her incapable of going out to eat.
Ron and Hermione had announced they were expecting in September and Ginny had been absolutely thrilled. James and the new baby would only be ten months apart in age! They would most certainly be best friends.
Ginny wasn't so sure about the burgeoning friendship between Baby James and Baby Freddie, though. When she had brought James over to Angelina and George's house for the first time, she and Angelina had set the babies on a blanket and watched them play.
The then seven-month-old Freddie had stared at James curiously and scooted over to him, examining him carefully. Angelina and Ginny had watched the cousins and when Freddie reached over to touch James' tuft of reddish brown hair, they had exclaimed that it was obvious that the two would be best of friends.
Until the gentle touches turned into hair yanking. James had squealed in pain before starting to wail, his tiny face turning red. Freddie, alarmed that the baby was wailing, also started to cry and turned to Angelina, arms up for comfort.
"That went well," Ginny said to Angelina as she tried to comfort her son.
"I'll say," Angelina murmured.
In the end, the two witches decided to not allow their children to be in close range of each other until they were old enough to not cause harm.
xxxxxx
She had returned home from another exhausting training session and she felt like her legs were going to give up on her.
I should have been exercising more when I was pregnant, Ginny thought miserably to herself as she kicked off her shoes and stared longingly at the couch. She wanted so badly to lie down on the couch and sleep but she knew she had to see James. Her baby always came first.
It took all of Ginny's strength to climb up the stairs, her sore muscles crying out in pain. She hated Gwenog sometimes for pushing her this hard so soon after having a baby but she also knew that it was best if she got into shape as quick as possible.
"Harry?" Ginny called as she reached the landing and walked towards the nursery. She heard a high-pitched squeal and a deeper laugh resonate through the room. Curious, Ginny opened the door to see James lying on his baby blanket on the floor, giggling like crazy when Harry blew raspberries onto James' bare tummy.
"You're so funny," Harry laughed, watching as James kicked his feet in excitement, his brown eyes wide with delight. "You know, your mummy is very ticklish on her stomach too. But don't try to tickle her when she's mad at you. She'll just hex you."
James stared at his father; his tiny body still as he listened to Harry speak.
Harry lifted James up and kissed him on his forehead, cradling his son tenderly in his arms. "I love you, James," he murmured as he rocked the baby in his arms. "I hope you like it when I tell you that because I always want you to know that you're very, very loved."
Ginny felt tears prick her eyes and she wiped them away roughly. She knew that Harry wanted James to have the childhood he never had. He wanted James to always know that his parents adored him.
The baby's face screwed up and he looked like he was about to cry, a fact that Harry quickly figured out. The older man's eyebrows knitted together but then realization dawned when James let out a grunt and his facial features smoothed out.
"Oh sweet Merlin," Harry's own face screwed up and he turned his head away. "James, did you just poop? Why can't you save these nappy changes for your mum?"
Ginny snickered softly but it was loud enough that Harry could hear. Turning his head around, he spied his wife and his eyes widened in relief. "Ginny! How long have you been standing there?"
"Long enough to know that you want James to save his nappy blowouts for me," she said, smirking when she saw her husband's face turn slightly pink.
James squealed when he saw his mother and he kicked his legs excitedly. "Hi Jimmy," Ginny cooed to her son. She loved it when James acted that way when he saw her.
"No, I'm not picking you up just yet. I'm going to let Daddy take care of your nappy first," she laughed at Harry's abashed reaction. "C'mon, Potter. Change him before he gets a rash."
xxxxxx
Christmas was around the corner and Ginny marveled over the fact that one year ago, she was in her first trimester of pregnancy.
Funny how things change in a year.
As this was James's first Christmas, Ginny wanted everything to be perfect. She bought a 'Baby's first Christmas' ornament and hung it up on the tree and even purchased a miniature Santa suit for James. When she had taken Muggle Studies, she had been fascinated by the story of St. Nick and his ability to cover the world in twenty-four hours to give all good children gifts. She had been even more impressed to learn that children believed this tale too.
She couldn't believe they were already getting to her baby's first Christmas. James was growing and changing before her eyes and the redhead wished she could pause time so her son could stay a baby forever.
Of course, with it being Christmas Ginny could now participate fully in the food-eating contest. This time last year she was plagued with morning sickness and wasn't at her peak performance. This year, though, she planned on dominating.
Close to Christmas, however, Ginny found herself sorting clothes through her closet, throwing all her maternity clothes in a pile so she could give them to Hermione. Angelina and Ginny planned on not becoming pregnant any time soon so they figured they should share with their sister.
"Ew," Ginny said aloud as she eyed a white, ruffled shirt. "Did I ever wear this? I hope not, it's hideous." She tossed it over her shoulder and continued sorting. Although Angelina had lent her a majority of her clothes, Ginny supplemented her wardrobe with additional pieces. As a consequence, Ginny had an abundance of maternity clothes that she certainly did not need anymore.
"Hmm," Ginny mused as she held up a green cotton dress. "I think I'll keep this one. Hermione wouldn't look good in green anyway."
So she continued to sort for a bit until she suddenly sat up, back ramrod straight. Faintly, she could hear the sound of a baby crying.
Checking her watch, Ginny grumbled when she saw James had only been asleep for forty-five minutes. Getting up, she quickly made her way towards the nursery, the baby's cries getting louder as she approached.
"Calm down, baby," Ginny said as she entered the room, her eyes zeroing in on the cot. "Mummy's here."
Looking down at her son, Ginny saw that he had kicked off his swaddling blankets and his dummy was at the corner of the cot, obviously tossed away by the four-month-old.
"Oh Jimmy," Ginny sighed as she took in her baby's red face, frowning at his cries. "You are going to be such a grouch tonight." Picking the baby up, Ginny snatched up his dummy and placed it in his mouth. Instantly, James's screams stopped and he closed his eyes, sucking vigorously on the pacifier.
"Brat," Ginny teased as she sat down in the rocking chair, wanting to rock her son back to sleep.
James, however, had no intentions of going back to sleep. His brown eyes flew open and locked with his mother's. Mother and son stared at each other until James started to smile, reaching his tiny hands up to grasp Ginny's chin.
"You want to play?" Ginny asked in disbelief as she felt her son's sharp nails scratch against her skin. "Unlikely, Jimmy! You need to go back to sleep." She started to rock him and slowly hum the lullaby that usually lulled James to sleep. She closed her eyes and leaned her head back, willing James to succumb to sleep again. She had so much to do and it was easiest to get done when James was knocked out.
But James didn't want to sleep and he didn't like that his mother wasn't smiling and paying attention to him. Spitting out his pacifier, James whimpered, his small face crumpling as his lower lip jutted out.
Hearing that whimper, Ginny looked down at her son. James, upon seeing that his mother was paying attention to him, smiled and cooed at her.
Ginny scoffed and stroked James's cheek. "Oh c'mon. Are you really boycotting a nap? Really? Fine, we'll just let daddy deal with you tonight."
Getting up, Ginny took out her wand and summoned a baby blanket and some toys. She needed to finish sorting the clothes but she also needed to entertain her son too.
Carrying James into her closet, she set the blanket down and placed James on his tummy; setting the toys close to him so he could play. James squealed when he saw his favorite toy dragon and he grasped it. Rolling onto his back, he laughed to himself as he stuck the toy in his mouth.
Amused at her child's ability to entertain himself, Ginny returned to her sorting.
James soon tired of his toy and watched his mother instead. Ginny had no idea he was doing this until she tossed a shirt over her shoulder and heard an explosion of tiny, baby giggles.
Ginny turned her head to see James laughing hysterically, his round belly heaving. Raising an eyebrow, Ginny fought a smile as she listened to her baby laugh. "What is so funny?" She asked, reaching over to smooth his small tuft of hair. "Is it because I tossed the clothes over my shoulder?"
James, finally calming down, looked at his mother and kicked his feet.
Watching him, Ginny found a shirt she didn't like and tossed it over her shoulder. Immediately, James started to giggle.
Ginny couldn't help herself and started throwing as many clothes as she could over her shoulder, laughing along with James.
"Oh Jimmy," Ginny laughed as she picked her son up and kissed his chubby cheeks. "You have such a bizarre sense of humor."
xxxxxx
"Ginny! You need to hurry up, or we are going to be late!"
The redhead made a face as she finished dressing James in his Santa suit. "Daddy just doesn't understand," she said to her son. "You're just so cute that I have to keep you dressed up."
"GINNY!"
"Keep your hair on!" Ginny yelled back, scowling at the door. Turning back to James, Ginny grinned when she saw her baby dressed in a red one-piece with faux fur lining at the neck and sleeves. The outfit had fake buttons down the middle and ended where the black and gold belt started. The baby's tiny feet were enclosed in red booties and Ginny placed a hat over James's tuft of hair.
"There!" She beamed, gazing at her adorable baby. James reached up to touch the hat and tried to yank it off, a scowl on his face.
"Keep it on, James!" Ginny grabbed his hands and held them in hers. "You look so cute!"
"Ginny! Do you really want your Mum to kill us on Christmas?"
Sighing, Ginny picked James up and whispered to him, "your father is nuts." Carrying him downstairs, she proudly showed her son off to Harry, who had a look of disbelief on his face.
"What the hell did you dress our son in?"
"Language," Ginny reprimanded. "And it's a Santa suit! You know, the fat old man that Muggle children believe to fly around the world in one night and bring them presents!"
Harry stared at his son and James stared back at him before James squealed and lunged for Harry.
"Your brothers are going to take the mickey out of you for dressing the baby like this," Harry said, grimacing as James yanked on his nose. "Ouch, mate, that hurt."
"I don't care," Ginny said defensively. "If they make fun of him, I'll just hex them."
xxxxxx
A few days after Christmas, Ginny and Hermione finally made plans to go out to lunch at a small French bistro in London and Ginny was looking forward to it. She had missed her weekly lunches with her best friend.
Ginny arrived at the restaurant right on time. Wrinkling her nose at the noise level, Ginny muttered a spell under her breath so that James wouldn't hear any of it while he slept in his pram. James was finicky about naps and Ginny would be damned if she would have her son scream his tired head off in the restaurant.
"Hi," Ginny said when she saw Hermione, hugging her tightly. "You look fantastic!"
Hermione laughed and ran a hand through her bushy hair. "Don't jinx me. Normally I feel awful. Is James sleeping?" She peered into the pram to see the baby sleep, his tiny mouth slightly open.
"Yes," Ginny said, collapsing into her chair with relief. "He's boycotting naps because apparently, the waking world is more entertaining than sleeping like a good baby. I just got him to go down maybe ten minutes ago and I'm hoping he'll sleep for two or three hours."
"Why won't he nap?" Hermione asked in concern, finally noticing how tired Ginny looked. "Oh Ginny, we could have rescheduled for another day if you were exhausted."
Ginny rolled her eyes. "Please, I wasn't missing this for anything. He won't nap because of something called a four-month sleep regression. That's just a fancy term meaning that James will not sleep at night anymore."
Hermione winced. "What causes this?"
"From what James's Healer and my mum have told me, this regression is normal because James is developing so fast now that his sleep is disrupted." Ginny eyed James before moving his pram slightly so the waiter could come through. After ordering their drinks, both women scanned the menu in thoughtful silence.
"So how are you and Harry doing since James has been born?" Hermione asked, placing her menu on the table and looking at Ginny.
"Really well," Ginny said. "I feel that ever since James arrived, our relationship has deepened as corny as it sounds."
Hermione smiled at that. "That doesn't sound corny. It sounds sweet."
"So sweet I'm going to choke," Ginny laughed. "But yes, we're doing really well. Maybe it's because he and I are both sleep deprived."
"Do you mind me asking a personal question?" Hermione asked, her cheeks tinged pink.
Ginny had a feeling she already knew what the question would be. "Why Hermione Weasley, are you going to ask me how my sex life is?"
Hermione blushed harder.
"Hermione, you sly fox! I think my brother is rubbing off on you!" Ginny laughed even harder as Hermione sunk lower in her seat, obviously embarrassed.
"But to answer your question—it is fabulous still. The minute the Healer gave the okay, we went at it, as vulgar as that sounds."
Hermione wrinkled her nose at the thought of her best friends going 'at it' but tentatively asked, "Did it hurt?"
"Yes," Ginny winced and shifted uncomfortably, remembering the pain. "The Healer said that was normal because my bits were still readjusting from having a baby but it doesn't hurt now."
"You two are using protection, right?"
Ginny opened her mouth to answer but the waiter reappeared with their drinks. After ordering their food, the waiter left and Ginny looked at an expectant Hermione.
"Well?" Hermione pressed. "Are you?"
"Well aren't you nosy," Ginny remarked as she sipped on her lemonade. "But no, we are not."
Hermione looked slightly scandalized. "Why ever not?"
"I'm breastfeeding James," Ginny said, confused as to why Hermione looked so shocked. "You can't get pregnant when you're breastfeeding. It's nature's best birth control."
xxxxxx
A few days after that lunch, Ginny had a checkup at St. Mungo's and she had dragged along Harry to mind James. The last time she had taken James; he had pitched a fit in his pram because his mother hadn't been paying attention to him. So, to rectify the situation, she brought along her husband to distract their son.
"Hello, Ginny," Leah Gold said as she bustled into the room. "How are you doing?"
"Good. How's the family?" Ginny asked.
"Excellent," Leah said as she noticed Harry and the pram in the room. "Hello Harry."
Harry nodded at Leah and smiled before turning his attention back to the pram. James, not liking that he was strapped in, scrunched up his face and started to whimper.
"Is it alright if I take James out of his pram?" Harry asked Ginny. "He's getting fussy."
"Yeah," Ginny said. "I think he just wants to look around and flirt with Leah."
Soon enough, James was happily taken out of his pram and Harry settled the baby on his lap. James smiled and cooed, looking about the examination room with bright eyes.
"He's so precious," Leah sighed as she smiled at the baby. "He looks like Harry."
"He has my eyes though," Ginny pointed out. "That's the only thing that helps me remember that I birthed that child. He's all Potter."
James made eye contact with Leah and smiled before lowering his eyes and looking back up at her.
"Flirts like a Potter too," Ginny teased, blowing a kiss towards her husband.
The examination went smoothly and Ginny found herself impatient to leave. She had a meeting with the Harpies at four and she didn't want to be late, as Gwenog would make her run laps.
"Alright Ginny, you're pretty much done except for one thing."
"Why do I have to pee in a cup," Ginny sighed as she got off the examination table. "I'm not pregnant."
"Just to make sure," Leah said. "And it is not just for seeing if you're pregnant. Your pee can tell us a lot if your kidneys are functioning fine."
Ginny grumbled good naturedly before grabbing the cup and disappearing into the bathroom. A few minutes later, she returned and handed the plastic cup to Leah.
"I'll be right back," Leah said as she left the room.
"Honestly," Ginny said to Harry as the door closed. "Why can't they just cast a spell to see if my kidneys are working fine?"
Harry shrugged and dangled a toy in James's face. "Guess that the Muggle way is better."
Twenty minutes later, Leah returned to see Ginny holding James and Harry standing close by, making bubbles appear out of the tip of his wand to the delight of the baby. James squealed and giggled, making his parents laugh.
"Hi Leah," Ginny said as she noticed the Healer standing there. "Are my kidneys fine?"
"Yes, your kidneys are functioning just the way they ought to," Leah said. She hesitated for a moment. "Ginny, has James's eating habits changed?"
Ginny's eyes narrowed. "What do you mean?" She winced as James yanked on her hair and she threw her hair over her shoulders so the baby couldn't reach.
"Has he not been as good of an eater as normal?"
Ginny frowned and was about to say no but Harry stopped her. "He did throw up right after you fed him a few days back. Remember that?"
"Oh yeah. That was a bit strange."
"Has he been throwing up since?" Leah asked.
"Just spitting up." Ginny rubbed her son's back and wondered why Leah was asking such questions.
Leah shifted her weight from foot to foot. "Have you started your period again?"
Ginny nodded. "Showed up about two months ago and I haven't had it since. I figured it was just because I've been nursing James around the clock. He's a good eater."
Leah looked at her chart before glancing at Ginny. "I tested your urine cup and it tested positive for pregnancy. "
Ginny's whole world seemed to still as Leah's words sunk in. Faintly, she could hear Harry sputtering. "That's impossible!" Ginny managed to get out, her heart hammering. "I'm breastfeeding! You can't get pregnant while breastfeeding!"
"Bollocks on those old wives tales," Leah sighed. "That's not true. You certainly can get pregnant if you're breastfeeding. Breast milk isn't a contraceptive. You're about seven weeks pregnant."
"But—but I haven't had any first trimester symptoms!" Ginny protested, refusing to believe she was pregnant. "With James I was throwing up, exhausted—"
"Every pregnancy is different," Leah said. "Healer Morris should be surprised to see you back so soon so you should make an appoint—"
CRASH.
Leah, Ginny and James turned to see Harry faint and fall to the floor.
"Amazing," Ginny said breathlessly as she stared at her unconscious husband. "He can vanquish the darkest wizard known to mankind and stare down death more times than I can count but he cannot handle the news that his wife is pregnant again."
xxxxxx
Well, there you have it! The last chapter to this story. Sorry to all you guys who would want a sequel with Ginny's new pregnancy, especially after this ending. That's not happening as the plot line would pretty much be the same.
Thank you to all you wonderful people who reviewed and read this story. You guys made my transition back to this site so fulfilling!
I might be posting a new story soon. Depends on if I outline enough of it out so keep a look out in the next couple weeks/months!