Characters: Ron, Hermione, Rose, Hugo

Prompt #46 Star


What's In A Name?

"You know… I really like the name Star."

Hermione, who was exhausted from giving birth only mere hours ago, closed her eyes. "Ron, for our son?" she questioned.

"What's wrong with it?" Ron questioned.

Hermione looked at him. "Star!? Do you really want to name your child that?"

Ron shrugged.

"Think of something a little more… normal," she begged. After Rose, she had become accustomed to Ron's slightly odd taste in names, but, even if it killed her, she was not going to allow her to name their second child Star. Especially their son.

"You said I could choose," Ron argued. "You said that because you named Rose, I could name him."

Hermione didn't have the energy to argue. She simply looked over to where Rose sat playing in the corner with a teddy bear one of the Healers had given her. It had kept her busy for the past half an hour, at least. Kept her out of the way.

"Not Star," she said forcefully. "Anything but Star."

Ron relented, probably hearing the tiredness in her voice. "Alright," he agreed. "Not Star."

"Maybe you should wait until the Healers bring him in?" Hermione then suggested. "Until you get to know him a little better? Rose's name never came to me until I was holding her."

Ron nodded. "Alright," he said. "But, I don't want him to be nameless for too long. I want to introduce him to our families with a name."

Hermione nodded, agreeing with that. She definitely didn't want to hand her son over to one of her parents, and tell them it was her son. She wanted to hand him over, and tell them his name.

"When will they bring him back, anyway?" Ron wondered, looking around the room as if their new baby would suddenly walk through the door.

"Soon," Hermione assured him, smiling. His attitude had changed a lot, she observed, the second time round. When Rose had been born, he had barely touched her out of fear of hurting her. But, with their second child, he had been eagerly awaiting his arrival.

The change in him made her smile.

"Rosie." Hermione turned her attention to where her daughter was still playing silently. Rose appeared not have heard her. "Rosie," she repeated, and this time, the small child turned her head. "Do you want to come and meet your new brother?" she asked her.

Rose was on her feet within a moment, and she bounded over to where Hermione lay in the hospital bed, and Ron sat on the chair beside it.

Ron lifted their daughter onto the bed, and Rose looked around eagerly.

"Where?" she asked.

"He'll be here very soon," Hermione promised her, drawing her close. Rose cuddled up to her, but was sitting up again, less than a moment later.

Her eyes went back to where the abandoned bear lay. "Teddy!" she cried, reaching out for the toy. "Teddy!"

Rather than letting Rose go back to it, Ron went and got it for her. Rose smiled, holding the bear close, before settling back down beside her mother.

Ron looked at Hermione with a questionable look.

Hermione shrugged. He was going to have a hard time getting Rose to give the bear back when he had to take her home, but in that moment, she didn't have the energy to care. For the next week or so, Rose was Ron's to look after.

With their two-year-old daughter still cuddling the bear, the door to the room opened, and in came a Healer with their new baby.

Hermione felt her heart pound against her chest in the anticipation, as the Healer wheeled a small bed towards them. She had only caught a brief glimpse of her child before. She'd only held him for a few seconds, before he had been whisked away to be cleaned up.

"Here he is," the Healer said, grinning at all three of them. "He's been desperate to meet you."

"As have we," Ron mumbled, getting to his feet to peer into the bed.

Rose's attention had diverted from the bear, and she was now standing on the bed, also peering down to the baby. She frowned. "What's that?" she asked.

Hermione saw and heard Ron hold back a laugh. What's that?

"Rosie, that's your new brother," Hermione explained calmly. "And, he's a who, not a what."

Rose watched her, clearly not understanding what she had just said.

Now came the hard part, Hermione realised. Getting Rose accustomed to her new brother. If Victoire and Dominique were anything to go by, it was probably going to take a few months. She nodded to Ron, who took the baby out of the small bed, and placed him in her arms.

It felt good to be holding him. It felt amazing, actually. Wonderful. Indescribable. How had Ron given him to her so easily?

Rose watched the exchange mild curiosity. She stared at her brother. "Baby," she said, leaning her face extremely close to him. She jabbed a finger into the side of his cheek, causing the child to twitch.

"Careful, Rosie," Ron said, holding back her hand to prevent her from doing it again. Rose fought under his grip.

Hermione smiled. "That's right," she said. "A baby. Rosie's baby brother."

Rose smiled, and Ron let her go. She ran her hand gently down the baby's face this time. "Baby," she repeated.

"A baby with no name," Hermione added, looking back at Ron. They had never had this much trouble with Rose. The name had come to her almost instantly, but even with her son in her arms, she was unable to think of something that would suit her baby boy.

Ron seemed to be having the same difficulty. He frowned.

"We could always go with what I suggested?" he said half-heartedly. "I mean, if we can't think of anything else."

Hermione shook her head. "I'd rather he have no name," she said firmly. She didn't mean that, of course, but she was going to put Ron off that idea for as long as she could. She might have considered the name Star if they had had a girl, but even in the wizarding world, a boy wouldn't fair well with that name.

And she didn't want to subject her baby to a lifetime of teasing.

"Well, you think of something, then!" Ron snapped, all of a sudden defensive. "I'm out."

Hermione looked down at the sleeping baby in her arms. He had red hair, just like his sister, and most of the Weasleys. It was that feeling all over again – the feeling she had had when holding Rose for the first time. That overwhelming feeling of love she had felt for no one but her daughter until now.

He needed a name.

"No name?"

Hermione looked into her daughter's eyes. They were soft, round, and a little confused. She shook her head sadly. "Not yet, Rosie, but we'll find one soon."

Rose looked down sadly. "No name," she said again.

"Maybe Rosie can name him?" Ron then suggested, pulling their daughter from the bed and onto his lap. "I mean, we can't think of anything, so maybe she can."

Hermione was about to shut down that idea, but then noticed the smile on her daughter's face at the suggestion. She may have been only young, and could barely form a sentence, but she understood everything that was said to her.

"Rosie names baby!" she exclaimed, bouncing up and down in Ron's lap.

Hermione grimaced. "Give us something, Rosie," she said.

Rose's face contorted. She was thinking; Hermione could almost hear her brain trying to un-jumble the process of a thinking toddler.

Both she and Ron waited patiently, until, eventually, she cried out, "Hoo-go!"

"Hugo?" Hermione and Ron both spoke at the same time.

Rose nodded. "Yes."

"But, Rosie," Hermione began, really not wanting to have to let her daughter down. "That's the name of one of the boys who live next door to us. We can't have two Hugo's living in the same street."

Once again, her words didn't seem to make sense to Rose. She stared at Hermione blankly.

"Hoo-go," she repeated.

"Rosie –"

"– I like it," Ron interrupted, smiling. "And, he'll have your initial," he added.

Hermione hadn't ever considered that. Hugo was a nice enough name, she would admit, but it also felt strange. She already knew a Hugo – he played with Rose all the time. What would that family think once they brought their son home, and introduced him as also Hugo? She suspected they already thought them a bit odd, due to some of the strange things Rose had said in passing to them. She didn't want them to think her a name-stealer as well.

Ron seemed to know what she was thinking. "Hey, if they ask, we'll tell them Rose chose the name," he said with a shrug. "In honour or something."

Hermione hesitated. "I don't know, Ron… it doesn't feel right."

"It suits him," Ron argued.

Hermione returned her attention to the baby. It would suit him, she agreed. It suited him very much, actually….

"We've got two names right now," Ron continued. "And you've shunned one of them. Unless you can think of something as good as Hugo, I say we use it… do you really want to inflict the name Star onto your son?"

"Not at all," Hermione said.

"Then, Hugo it is."

Rose jiggled in Ron's lap. "Hoo-go!" she said.

Hermione forced a smile. "Hugo," she conceded. "Hugo Bilius Weasley." This time she gave a genuine smile to her husband. He returned it.

She loved the name – truly. She just hoped that she could come to love it on her son.


Thanks for your suggestions guys! They have all been duly noted, and I'll see what I can do with them. And feel free to suggest more. I'll take all of them into consideration! This idea was based on a suggestion by myhorserocks.

Thanks for your reviews, also. Muchly appreciated. I hope you enjoyed this one. Please leave a review :)