Author's note: I appear to be on a roll these last few days, so hopefully this will carry me to the end of the fic. There's between ten and fifteen (hopefully not twenty but whatever I need to write, I'll write) - chapters left, so I hope you're all in for the long haul, because I am.

As always, thank you all for your kind reviews and support, they give me the confidence to keep going.

Sirius is sleeping so there won't be a kitten note, but he still hopes you enjoy the chapter!

Chapter 36 - The Granted Wish

Hermione skimmed over a baby name book while Ginny sighed and watched the clock. "Does Gwendolyn count as a ridiculous name?" she asked. Ginny was always complaining about ridiculous names for children.

"Sounds too much like Geneviève, that's what Charlie and Fleur want for a girl." Ginny replied, still looking at the clock. "We've been here fifteen minutes already."

"Patience, Gin." Now that was a name. "What about Patience, as a name?"

"No."

She flipped a couple pages. "Hazel?"

"Isn't that an eye color?"

She sighed. "How about ... Iphigenia?"

"Iffy-what?"

"Iphigenia. It's from ancient Greece. She was sacrificed to the goddess Artemis to give Spartan warships safe passage to Troy."

"Sounds unlucky. Shouldn't you be discussing this with Fred anyway?"

"I'm not looking for me. I'm not the one who's pregnant."

"Oh. Carry on then."

After shooting down a dozen more names, for various reasons, Ginny was finally called in. She sat even more impatiently in the examination room, and Hermione had almost had enough of her complaining when Healer Richardson entered.

"Good morning ladies, have I been double scheduled again?"

"No, I'm just here for moral support." Hermione replied with a smile.

"Oh good." She sat and looked at her clipboard. "Are we here to hear the baby's heartbeat and discover the gender, Ginny?"

Ginny nodded in response.

"Excellent. If you would remove your shirt and lie back please – thank you."

Ginny had pulled her shirt up to below her bust, and Hermione was wondering how she hadn't noticed that she was getting bigger. She hadn't been very attentive lately.

"Have you been eating right?" The healer asked as she traced a circle on Ginny's belly with her wand.

"Three meals a day, and plenty of fruits and leafy vegetables."

"Hermione, can you confirm this?"

"Not the leafy vegetables, but she does eat plenty."

"Ginny, leafy vegetables. Maybe some bananas as well. Healer's orders, your potassium is low. If you're both quiet now, you can hear the heartbeat." They silenced immediately, and the sound of the baby's tiny heart filled the room. "That's just one heartbeat, Ginny, so your worries about multiples are over."

Ginny sighed in relief. "Good."

"Ready for the gender?"

"Yes." She replied eagerly.

Healer Richardson whispered a new incantation that made Ginny's skin glow pink. "It's a girl." She announced. Ginny squealed happily, she had really wanted a girl.

"Glad you're happy." The Healer said with a smile. "I'm writing you a prescription for a vitamin supplement, but don't think you're off the hook for leafy vegetables."

Hermione gave Ginny a pointed look.

"You're not my mother, Hermione." Ginny complained.

"Mother or not, she's right." Healer Richardson defended.

Ginny rolled her eyes.

Soon enough the appointment was over, and they were getting ready to go.

"Healer Richardson, can I talk to you for a second?" Hermione asked.

"Of course." The healer smiled. "What about?"

Ginny gave her a concerned look.

"I'll meet you in the waiting room in a second, Gin. It's kinda, personal."

"If you say so." Ginny shrugged, and promptly left the room.

"So what do you need, Hermione?" Healer Richardson asked.

Hermione couldn't stop smiling as they got ready for bed, and Fred couldn't help but say something. "You seem to be in a good mood."

"Why shouldn't I be?" She replied, sitting on the end of their bed.

He stood in front of her. "More so that I would expect."

"Maybe I know something I'm not telling you."

A grin spread across his face. "And what could that possibly be?"

"Remember the day with the fountains?"

How could he forget? "Of course."

"I dare you to guess what my wish was."

He had been wondering, she had spent such a long time making it. "You can't tell me or it won't come true."

"It already has. That's why I'm telling you."

"Then tell me already, the suspense is killing me."

"Well, all I could see were the kids playing in the fountains, so I wished for us to have some of our own." She stood, taking his hands and holding them on her stomach. He looked down at them, and back at her, speechless. "And my wish came true, I'm pregnant."

He tried to speak but stumbled over his words, completely excited. He couldn't believe it. "Are you sure?" He managed finally.

She nodded. "I went to the healer's a couple days ago to make sure, I wanted to surprise you, but then I wasn't sure when to tell you."

He felt like he might cry, he was so happy. He wrapped his arms around her, kissing her madly. "I love you so much." He whispered, holding her tight.

"I love you too, honey, but you're squishing me."

He let go of her immediately. "Are you okay? Did I hurt you?" He placed his hands on her stomach again. It was so flat, she needed to eat more. She was having a baby. Their baby. Was he ready to be a father? He really hoped so.

She placed her hands on top of his. "I'm alright, it's alright, calm down." Her eyes sparkled. She was so beautiful and his and they were having a baby, he couldn't believe it.

"We have to tell everyone, like right now." He was so excited.

"Everyone is asleep."

"Tomorrow then."

"Honey, I'm not due till late September, we have time. Breath. Please." How could she be so calm?

He took a deep breath. "Okay."

"Are you alright?"

He nodded. "Just really excited. When can we find out the gender so we can paint the nursery?"

"Sometime in March I think." She picked up his hands and sat back down on the bed.

A month. Just a month. He could be patient. He sat beside her. "I hope it's a girl."

She shook her head. "I want a boy."

"Maybe we'll get both."

She gave him a terrified look. "No."

Hermione awoke to the smell of frying bacon. Yawning, she stretched and got out of bed. Not bothering to put on pants, she walked into the kitchen to find Fred making enough food for all of Hogwarts.

"Good morning." He said, beaming.

"Good morning. Who are you making all this food for?"

"You, of course."

She sat at the table. "I can't eat all this."

"You're eating for two now."

She sighed. "More like one and … an eighth right now. I don't need to this much."

"But I made it just for you." He said blissfully, setting a plate, more of a platter really, of waffles, bacon, scrambled eggs, and toast in front of her. She thought lovingly of the yogurt and blueberries she had planned on having. At lease he'd be at the shop over lunchtime, she could eat as much or as little as she wanted then.

She put on a brave face. "Thanks honey." He was just trying to help.

He kissed the top of her head.

Ginny stumbled in, rubbing her eyes. "I smell bacon."

"She's got a nose like a bloodhound, that one." Fred teased. "Sit down Gin, yours will be done in a minute."

"You are good for something." She yawned and sat next to Hermione.

Fred sat a plate in front of her, and one in front of Ginny. They both had enough food for an entire Quidditch team. It did look good though. She poured syrup on her waffles.

"Hermione, there is no way you are going to eat even half of that." Ginny said after inhaling half of her stack of waffles.

Hermione gave her husband a look. "Someone seems to think I can."

Ginny dropped her fork. "Merlin's beard, you're pregnant."

She nodded in response, her mouth full of bacon. She was surprised she figured it out so fast.

"Well that's everyone then. Melanie, Fleur, Millicent," she ticked them off on her fingers, "George and Seamus adopted you, and-" She suddenly stopped and busied herself with retrieving her fork.

"Ginny."

"Yes, brother dear?" Ginny said in a voice sweet enough to pour on waffles.

"How was that sentence supposed to end?"

"Well…" Ginny was suddenly very red.

"Just showing him around, huh?" True to his word, Fred didn't tell Ginny that he already knew.

"They are engaged, Fred." Hermione said, deciding to defend her.

Ginny shot her a thankful look. "It's not fair, when everyone else announced they were pregnant, people were happy. Why am I the one in the wrong?"

Fred took a deep breath. "When are you due?" He asked, with a touch of overprotectiveness.

"June. That's why the wedding is being moved to May. Don't kill Sebastian it was my idea."

He was silent for a moment, then spoke. "Is that why you quit playing Quidditch?"

Ginny nodded.

"Have you been to see a healer, you're going to need vitamins and special potions."

"Taken care of. It's a girl."

"Just like Luna's." Hermione added.

Ginny rolled her eyes. "What ridiculous name are they giving her?"

"They're naming her Serendipity Dawn."

"Serendipity Dawn?" Ginny exclaimed, disgusted.

"Yes. Serendipity Dawn Lovegood-Potter. Luna picked it out." Hermione thought it was an adorable name.

"That is the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard."

"I think it's cute." Fred defended. "We should start looking at names, love."

"If you name my niece or nephew something that ridiculous I will never speak to you again."

"So I'm thinking Rainbow for a girl and Dragonslayer for a boy?"

Hermione chuckled but Ginny was indignant. "Don't even joke about that."

"What names are you looking at Gin, since you seem to be the expert?" Fred asked.

"Miranda. Or Alyssa."

"Fair enough. She's going to be so jealous of their cousin Dragonslayer though."

"We better call dibs on that name now before Charlie does." Hermione winked.

So many wished granted in this chapter. Hermione and Fred get the chance to be parents, and Ginny gets a girl on her first try. It made me happy to write. I hope you enjoyed reading this as much as I enjoyed writing it, and as always, please review and tell me what you think!

-Zen and Sirius