One Door Closes Another Opens
Ginny sighed as she sat at her desk in the Prophet office, reading over the article she had just finished. It was about the sudden retirement of one of the Chasers from Holyhead Harpies. Julia, who was on the team with Ginny, announced her retirement after finding out she was pregnant with her first baby. It was one of two things that would break a contract with a Quidditch team for females among other regulations. She covered the highlights of Julia's career when she became the star Chaser following Ginny's retirement.
She had ended the article by adding her congratulations on the pregnancy and the retirement and well wishes from herself and Harry. They had attended the retirement Julia's husband Jake had thrown for her. Molly and Arthur kept James overnight and Teddy was staying with Andromeda due to being sick with Strep which he didn't want to pass on to James.
"Alright, Ginny?" Raven asked.
"I'm alright."
Eleanor stepped out of her office, approaching Ginny's desk. "How's the article, Ginny?"
"It's done. I hope it is okay I added my congratulations at the end. She was a former teammate of mine."
"Of course," Eleanor assured her. "I'll read this over and let you know if there need to be any changes before you leave today."
"Thanks."
Standing up, she stretched heading to the loo. She announced she was pregnant again to the girls in the office that morning. Once the commotion died down they got back to work, catching up with each other and inquiring how their weekend was.
When the clock struck noon, Ginny collected her handbag and left the office, heading to the café she and the girls frequented.
Harry was called into work early that morning, leaving before James got up. She only had time to make him a quick egg sandwich while he quickly showered and dressed. She had it ready when he came down the stairs. She didn't ask what it was about knowing Harry would tell her when he could. Because of his rush to get out the door, she didn't have time to make him lunch. Molly was keeping James for the day, adding she and Harry should stay for dinner.
With their busy weekend, Ginny didn't have time to meal prep like she usually didn't. And she knew Harry well enough that he sometimes worked through lunch and would come home starving. That is unless she bought him lunch or Ron brought him something back from the canteen.
Usually, he and Harry would leave the office and go to the shop to have lunch with George. But they had been so busy in the Auror office they didn't have time.
Studying the menu, she decided to get two orders of the chicken sandwich she was going to order with chips. It had gotten to the point where Eleanor knew Ginny was taking a longer lunch if she was gone past one hour. She didn't mind.
Once she had ordered her food, Ginny stepped to the side to wait. When her order was up, she collected it from the pick-up window, leaving the café.
On the upper end of the alley was an entrance to the Ministry. Walk through the arched doorway and you'll magically appear at the main entrance of the Atrium. It was often used by the Aurors or those in the MLE, but employees used it to access Diagon Alley for lunch breaks or Gringotts visits. Aurors often patrolled the alley though now it was to look out for thefts or criminals.
As she passed the Aurors on guard, they nodded to her, one greeting her.
"Hello, Mrs. Potter."
Once she was through the entrance, she made a right walking towards the wall of lifts.
She could have gone back to the Prophet office and used the floo, but she didn't feel like walking back to the office. She stepped onto a lift when the doors opened. She pressed the button for level two as she was the single occupant. The lift took off.
Before too long a witch's voice called, "Level two, Department of Magical Law Enforcement, including the Improper Use of Magic Office, Auror Headquarters, and Wizengamot Administration Services."
Ginny stepped off the lift, heading towards Auror Headquarters. She was just almost to the doors when they opened and two Aurors stepped out. One held the door for her.
"Thank you," She said.
She waved to Tank at the front desk, passing a few Auror trainees as she made her way to Harry's office.
"She's…."
"Auror Potter's wife, so don't get any ideas."
Ginny held back a snort as she walked towards the offices on the other end of the cubicles.
"Hi Ginny," Maisy, Harry's secretary, greeted. "How are you?"
"I'm good. Is he in?" She asked, pointing to the partially closed door.
Maisy nodded. "Go on."
Ginny pushed open the door to find Harry working at the typewriter.
"What?" He called without looking up.
"I brought lunch," Ginny said.
Harry looked up. He sighed. "I love you," he breathed.
"I know," Ginny smirked. She sat down the bag, leaning over the desk for a kiss. "So what was it today?"
"You remember that cold case Ron and I opened an investigation on last year?" Harry asked.
Ginny nodded. She remembered it because it caused many sleepless nights for Harry. He had blamed it on James's teething, but Ginny knew better.
"They found the suspect. He's in holding right now."
Ginny smiled. "Is it who you thought it was?"
Harry nodded. "I might be home late. I'm taking a turn interrogating at two. Then I'm going with Ron to notify the wife we found him and he's being charged."
"So he confessed?"
"He did," Harry confirmed.
They made small talk as they ate, discussing the plans to turn the bedroom on the other side of the hall bathroom into James's room instead of the nursery. Teddy would stay where he was for now. They made plans for furniture shopping for a big boy bed for James as well as going ahead and purchasing any baby equipment they would need. Ginny knew they needed a new pram, car seat, and bouncer.
"So I told the girls about the baby today," Ginny began.
"And I told the team. I also told Robards I'm staying close to home."
"That's good."
"At this time, there are no scheduled missions." Harry paused to take a drink of the diet Coke he had pulled out of the cold box he kept in his office. He had handed Ginny one when they started to eat. "Unless something comes up, but where I put myself down as homebound, I won't be going."
"Good."
"Robards understands."
Ginny picked up a chip, popping it in her mouth. "So I was thinking."
"That's dangerous."
"Shut up you," Ginny murmured. "I was thinking what we would name the baby if it was a boy. We have a girl name."
"Do we still have that name book from when you were pregnant with James?"
"We do," Ginny confirmed. "I saw it when I pulled the baby stuff we kept in the attic."
"Naming James was easier, this time it's…."
Harry's office door burst open, halting the conversation. Ron panted before he exclaimed, "Hermione's at St. Mungo's!"
OoOoOoOoOoOoO
Much to Hermione's frustration, Baby Girl Weasley decided she wasn't ready to come out. Braxton Hick's contractions, Shanti had called them. Ginny remembered them with James. George had come over to check on her, finding her in pain. He had panicked thinking she was in labor and rushed her to St. Mungo's.
"I'm so ready for her to get here," Hermione said as they walked out of St. Mungo's. Jane, Hermione's mother, had just finished with a patient when Ron called her on the mobile. She had left immediately, her receptionist shooing her to the door upon hearing the news. Harry and Ginny stopped to tell Arthur who collected Molly from the Burrow.
Needless to say, Hermione wasn't the only one disappointed it wasn't time yet.
Ron pouted. "I almost enacted Operation Lion Cub."
"Do I want to know?" Ginny asked. Harry glanced at Ron as he hoisted James onto his hip.
"I don't think so," Hermione replied. "It's something Harry and Ron came up with."
Jane put her arm around her daughter. "Don't worry honey. She'll come when she's ready."
"And we'll be ready for her," Molly added.
OoOoOoOoOoOoO
Following Hermione's Braxton Hick's situation, things settled down. Harry rescheduled his interrogation of Paul Woodward, the man responsible for the murder of Robert Grady, a wizard who worked with werewolves. Hermione knew Robert from working with him on the Remus Lupin Werewolf Rights Act, an act which would grant werewolf rights like any other witch or wizard, including a Hogwarts education paid for with the Remus Lupin scholarship that would pay for everything including food on the train.
Harry didn't know Hermione was naming it after Remus until she presented it before the Wizengamot. When they broke for lunch, he hugged her with tears in his eyes.
It was during Harry's interrogation they learned the motive. Paul wasn't a fan of the changes. When Aurors searched the house he was residing in, they found a list of people. A hit list.
Hermione's name was on it.
Harry decided to keep this information a secret until after Hermione had the baby. Ron was protective of Hermione at the best of times, but since she became pregnant, it had worsened. He didn't need Ron to kill the man before he went to trial.
Under a court order, Paul had surrendered his memories as something was missing from the case.
Harry and Ron viewed it. Once they were finished, they sat in silence. That is until…
"There is no way they would go on with a trial. His memory shows him doing it and he worked alone."
"I know Ron. It would or should be an easy case."
As time went on, Hermione's due date was getting closer, the boys found out the fate of the case they were working on.
"The Wizengamot has reviewed the memory you submitted into evidence and agrees with you. They are going to have a sentencing hearing instead of a trial," Robards informed Harry and Ron. He had called them into his office that morning.
They had submitted the evidence as well as the recorded confession both video and written to the Wizengamot. Chief Warlock told Harry they would decide by the end of the day. They would find out what the decision was the next day, which means they would find out the verdict tomorrow.
"What makes it challenging is he killed him the Muggle way. What was it called again?" Ron asked.
"Strangulation," Harry supplied. "It occurs when external forces, in this case, the hands are applied to the neck. In the memories you can see him applying pressure, adding more and more until the victim went still."
"So due to the memory being submitted and Mr. Woodward's confession, the Wizengamot are making their decision to do a sentencing hearing. They are planning on scheduling the hearing a month from now."
"Hermione should have had the baby by then. I can come in for that since I'll be on…"
What Ron said, Harry didn't catch. He was suddenly hit with a wave of nausea.
"Excuse me," He muttered before rushing out of Robard's office, making a beeline to the nearest men's room. He hit the door at a run, slamming into the first stall in time to lose the battle with his stomach. He was still retching when Ron came in.
"Are you okay, mate?"
Harry breathed heavily, waiting for his stomach to settle before he replied.
"Yeah, I'm fine."
"Uh-huh, we've talked about you using that word. You just ran out of Robard's office to throw up. Are you sick?"
"Ron, did Shanti tell you about how husbands sometimes can get pregnancy symptoms like cravings and such."
"Yeah, she told us about that at Hermione's first appointment. Why?" Realization dawned on Ron. "Oh, mate. This is what you got?"
"Yeah."
Harry felt like he could move away from the toilet without hurling again. He got up, leaving the stall. He rinsed his mouth. When he finished, Ron handed him paper towels.
"Thanks."
"Alright now?"
"Until the next wave," Harry deadpanned.
They left the bathroom, heading back to Robard's office. The Head Auror looked up when they walked back in.
"Okay Potter?"
Harry nodded.
"Alright, I'll send an owl in the morning if they come back with a decision in the morning before we are in the office. Go home, get some rest, spend time with the wife and kid," he added when remembered Harry had a son. "And I'll see you tomorrow."
Harry and Ron left the office, heading to their own to close up and head home.
"Maisy, I'm leaving for the day."
"Harry, Ginny called while you were meeting with Robards. She said to tell you she and James were at her parents."
Harry nodded. "Take the rest of the day off when you finished your work. You're coming in later tomorrow right?"
Maisy nodded. "Mum has a healer appointment in the morning and she needs me to come with her."
"I understand that. If you need anything…"
"I know." Maisy smiled. She had been on the receiving end of a Molly Weasley care basket. Plus Ginny had brought over food for her and her husband before, especially when her mother had surgery last year.
Harry met Ron at the door. Together they headed to the lifts to head to level one
"Going to the Burrow?" Ron asked.
"Yeah, I guess you are too."
Ron pressed the button for the lift. "Jane sold the house."
"So she accepted the offer Hermione's cousin offered?"
Ron nodded. "She can take her time moving out. Denise said they don't need to be out of their flat for another month. Hermione and I are inviting Jane to move in with us."
"Timing might be right with Hermione having the baby," Harry said. They stepped onto the lift. Harry pressed the button for the Atrium.
"True."
"How does Hermione feel about Jane selling the house?"
"She's okay with it. Hermione and Jane….see Hugh everywhere and that's why Jane wants to move."
Hermione's father Hugh had passed away in an automobile accident. He was hit by a drunk driver. Unfortunately, he didn't make it. It was a month before Hermione and Ron's wedding.
"How would you feel about living with Jane?" Harry asked. While he loved Molly like a mother, he couldn't imagine living with her twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week. He knew Ginny would go stark raving mad if Molly had to move in.
"We did for a month after Hugh passed which led us to move in and sublet the flat to George and Angelina while they looked for a house. Then we bought the house. I don't think it would be like that would be if it was Mum."
Harry nodded.
"If you need any help just let me know."
"I will, mate."
OoOoOoOoOoOoO
Robards sent an owl the next morning. Harry was up having gotten up early to head to the gym and was preparing to go over to Ron and Hermione's to drag Ron out of bed when the owl arrived. Harry opened the window, taking the notes from the owl, offering it a treat before it flew off heading back to London
He opened and released the breath he didn't know he was holding. The Wizengamot had reached a decision last night, but Robards was notified that morning.
They were going to go ahead with a sentencing hearing and they had it scheduled for exactly one month from that date. The sentencing would be life in Azkaban without the possibility of patrol. Kingsley was pleased with the decision as was Robards.
Harry looked up when he heard the floo flare and Ron came into the kitchen, dressed for work.
"Did you get this?" Ron asked, holding up a note.
"I did. Tea?"
"Sure," Ron said, pulling out a chair from the table and sitting down. "I feel like we've done our best and he's going to be spending the rest of his life in Azkaban."
Harry sat a cup of tea in front of Ron, sitting down in the chair across from him pausing for a second to make sure James's toddler seat was there.
"So we move on to the next case?" Ron inquired.
"I don't think have one unless we want to open a cold case investigation."
"Or take a look at the one case we had before we opened this."
Harry nodded. "I asked Matthews to keep an eye on it for us until we solved this case. Now we can go back to it. I'll call him before I leave here to ask him to meet us in my office when he gets into work."
"So we're not going to the gym?"
"Has anyone told Sondra anything?" Harry asked.
Ron shook his head. "No, I don't think so."
"I'll call Robards and let him know we'll go and notify her of the arrest and the Wizengamot's decision, along with the date for the hearing."
Ron nodded. He took the cup to the sink before heading to the floo. Before he made it, he heard little feet on the stairs.
"Uncle Ron!"
"Hey, buddy." Ron picked up his nephew, giving him a big hug. "Good morning."
"I thought I heard you come in. What's going on?" Ginny asked as she descended the stairs
"They decided on the case, sentencing," Ron informed his sister.
"Good."
Ron put James down on the floor, promising he would see him later.
"I'll meet you at the office, Harry."
Harry picked up James, putting him in his toddler seat. He summoned a banana from the fruit bowl, peeling it and breaking it in half, offering the other half to his son. James took it.
He was beginning to put together breakfast when he felt arms wrap around his waist. He felt Ginny's head against his shoulder.
"Are you telling Sondra?" Ginny asked. She had attended the funeral with Harry and had known Sondra from attending Ministry functions.
"Yeah, Ron and I are."
Harry turned around, wrapping his arms around Ginny. "So what's on your agenda?"
"I have an appointment with Shanti and meeting Angelina at the park. She's watching James for me today so he'll have a play date with Freddie. "
"Need me to come with you?"
"It's at ten."
"I'll see I can arrange my schedule."
OoOoOoOoOoOoO
Harry walked into Shanti Willis's office fifteen minutes after ten. He sighed once he reached the desk. The mediwitch waved him through.
"Come on back, Harry. Ginny's in room 102, Shanti hasn't gotten to her yet, but she's next."
"Thanks, Mabel."
Harry opened the door, slipped in, and closed the door behind him.
"I see you made it."
Harry approached his wife, kissing her softly. "Once we came back from notifying Sondra, we met with the solicitor for the prosecution. He seems pleased with the results from the Wizengamot. He wanted to personally thank Ron and me for closing this case. He had the files for it for two years."
"How did you know it was Woodward?"
"All of his coworkers, including Hermione, said he was against the changes Kingsley and the Wizengamot were making. I would guess that he was pro pureblood even more than Lucius Malfoy."
"That's saying something."
A knock on the door paused their conversation. Shanti came in, carrying Ginny's file.
"Hello, how are we?"
"Are you talking to her or me?"
"Both of you," Shanti said with a smile.
"I'm good. I feel great. Morning sickness isn't as often as it was with James."
"Though I get the periods of nausea," Harry said, explaining the times he had felt nauseous and the times he did throw up.
"Sometimes the husband or the partner has the symptoms in place or along with the wife."
"So when she's passed the morning sickness, my nausea will go away?"
"It should," Shanti assured him. "But if it doesn't I would speak with Holly."
"Okay," Harry murmured.
The first highlight of the exam was they got to hear the baby's heartbeat. This was the first time with this pregnancy. Harry was glad he had rearranged his schedule to be here with Ginny.
The second was they got to see the baby as Shanti did a scan to check on the baby's development.
"Everything looks great. The baby is growing and developing, exactly what I like to see." Shanti waved her wand and copies of the scan appeared. She handed them to Ginny. "The baby's healthy, you're healthy, which is what you like to hear."
"It is," Ginny confirmed. "When is the next scan? I think Mum would like to come with me sometime and I would like that to be when we do a scan."
"We can at your next visit. You are fourteen weeks along, into the second trimester. Now, the second trimester as you know typically brings physical and emotional relief. As you notice a decrease in early pregnancy symptoms and maybe even more energy, you might also feel a little less worried about something going wrong. If something doesn't feel right, even if you can't put your finger on it, call me."
"I hope I don't have to, but I will."
"Unless Hermione goes into labor I'll see you at the next visit."
Ginny chuckled. "I think she's ready."
"So is Ron," Harry added.
"Again, if you feel off or something doesn't feel right call me or go to A&E. If you request me and I'll be there."
Harry and Ginny followed her to the desk where they scheduled Ginny's next appointment to see Shanti. When they walked out of her office, Ginny turned to her husband.
"Do you need to get back to work? I don't have to meet Angelina for another hour."
"No, I have time to grab lunch. Anywhere you would like to go?"
"Let's go to the pizza place we used to frequent when we lived in Soho."
"Lead the way milady."
OoOoOoOoOoOoO
Now that Harry and Ron had closed the cold case that had taken up a lot of their time and they had the time, they returned to leaving the office for lunch, going to Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes to have lunch with George. It had been a while since they were able to get together for lunch. George seemed to be excited about the resume of meeting for lunch when Ron told him at Sunday lunch, he asked if they had any requests.
Bill would occasionally join them for lunch if he had time. It was nice for the brothers to get together since the wives met for lunch often.
Bill had already arrived at the joke shop, taking the stairs leading up to the flat above the shop. It used to be where Fred and George lived when they opened the shop. After Fred passed in the battle, George turned the flat into an office and lounge area for him and the employees. He never came back to live here after the battle. He moved into another flat in Diagon Alley. Angelina moved in a few months later.
He inhaled the scent of chicken stew.
"Is Angie's chicken stew?" He asked in form of a greeting when he walked into the lounge/kitchen area.
"Yes, it is. She made a double match, sending some to her Mum and Dad."
"How are they doing?" Angie's brother had been killed in a car wreck three weeks ago. Like with Molly, Claire had taken to her bed not leaving unless it was to go to the loo.
"Alright, Mum was going to take some food over. Nigel asked if Mum could talk with Claire, considering…."
"She knows what it's like to lose a child," Bill finished.
They looked at the door when they heard the door slam downstairs. Ron's voice told them he and Harry had arrived.
"You're lucky you didn't get suspended. I know Clowes can be a jerk. Heck, I can't even stand him sometimes. He's only going to be with the department for two more months until Anthony is back from leave."
"I know."
"So how are things going?" George asked as he got four bowls out of the cupboard.
"Well," Ron began. "I am beginning to think this child wants to stay put. Hermione is tired of being pregnant." He turned to Harry. "Do you remember how she was at Hogwarts, during her time of the month?"
Harry's face told him he remembered. "She literally growled at me one time in fourth year when all I said was good morning Hermione." He reached for a bowl and helped himself to the stew. "We both walked on eggshells for the whole week. We did get a warning. We knew it was coming when she starts getting snappy."
"And is that how you would describe our sister when it's her time of the month?" Bill asked.
"Bill, we," George motioned to himself and Ron with a spoon. "Lived with her when she reached the time of the month and she was mean!"
Harry collected a glass of Coke as Ron got a bowl. "I learned even before we were dating that she was a… little crabby during her time of the month. But when she started the potions her fourth year, it evened everything out. Does that mean she doesn't nearly rip my head off over something small like I'm looking at her? Yes."
"And then there was the time you had to make an emergency trip to Honeydukes because you ate the last of her chocolate," Ron reminded him, getting a glass.
"Owl order would have taken forever," Harry said, sitting down. "But back to the subject of Hermione. Ron, do you remember how Gin was in the last weeks of her pregnancy with James?"
Ron nodded. "I remember she about hexed Percy when he commented on that fact she was passed due."
"And she would have hexed Charlie when he made a comment on how comical it was to watch her try to get up out of a chair," George added.
Bill patted his brother on the shoulder. "I nearly got hexed when I took too long for getting her a fan."
"So, I have something to look forward to," Ron murmured.
"Ron, it will happen. So any names yet?"
"No. What name were you considering for Victoire?"
Bill paused with his spoon almost to his mouth. "We had entertained naming her after Fleur's Mum or one of her grandmothers. But when she was born on the second of May, Victoire was a name she had seen somewhere and it was on our list, we couldn't think of anything else more fitting."
"I did think of a flower name. Something to honor Hugh," Ron admitted.
"Like Peony or….."George trailed off.
"Poppy," Bill suggested.
"Jasmine."
"Magnolia."
"Iris."
"Calla, but then that's a name of a Lily."
"What about….." Bill trailed off as he tried to think of flower names.
"Rose."
Ron looked up from his stew when he heard Harry's suggestion. "Rose Weasley. I'll suggest it to Hermione and see what she thinks, but I like it."
When they returned to the Ministry, Ron made a pit stop by Hermione's office. It was her last day in the office as she was going on maternity leave early. It was Shanti's orders.
"Hiya," He greeted.
"Hi love," She said, leaning her head back for a kiss. "How was lunch?"
"Good, Angelina sent stew. I think Ginny was making a pasta bake for tomorrow. Bill is going to join us again and I think Charlie might stop in. He said he wanted to start coming to the shop for lunch with us."
"That would be fun. If you can get Percy to join then it would be all of your brothers," She noted. She knew Ron counted Harry as a brother more than a brother-in-law.
"So I've been thinking and….." He trailed off and summoned a box of tissues. "I was thinking of naming the baby a flower name to honor your Dad."
"Because of his love of gardening, I love it. What name do you have in mind?" Hermione asked.
"Well, Bill and George tossed around a couple, leaving out Lily because we know Harry and Ginny plan on naming their daughter one day Lily. But Harry had a good suggestion."
"What?"
"Rose."
"Rose," Hermione repeated. "Roses were Dad's specialty. The garden would have been full of them if he could talk Mum into just a Rose garden, but Mum liked other flowers. She'll love the name as much as I do." She sniffled.
"You know what? I can't wait to meet her," Ron said.
"Me neither."
It wasn't going to be much longer now.
