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Chapter Twelve Hermione didn't actually remember getting to the hospital. It all happened so fast that all a blur. Her desperate need to get to George seemed to get in the way of all rational thoughts. By the time they got to the hospital wing George had been admitted to, she had nearly cursed Fred's ears of because he nearly got in her way. By the time they got to the reception desk he was practically in hysterics. When she looked back on this a few years later, she realised she must have looked a sight: a heavily pregnant woman sobbing uncontrollably and threatening to curse anyone who told her to calm down. Fred managed to lead Hermione to a seat. He even got her a cup of tea. At first she refused it, but then decided she might as well drink it. She was still crying though, and a nurse actually asked Fred (discreetly, of course), if he thought it would be a good idea to sedate her. He decided against it, knowing Hermione would probably do several unspeakable things to him when she had recovered. The waiting room they had been shown into had a strange smell to it. Somewhere between pine disinfectant and broccoli. Fred didn't like broccoli. When Hermione managed to regain control of her emotions (she blamed her hormones), she found her voice. "What happened?" "We were going to a meeting with one of our Muggle suppliers," Fred explained. 3W's supplies for their products didn't come solely from Wizarding suppliers - there were certain materials which needed to be acquired from Muggle manufacturers. "We were going across Dartmoor and out of nowhere a pony stepped into the road. George swerved and... bang. We hit a signpost. The car got mangled and George was thrown about a bit." "But you're okay?" "I've got a couple of cuts and bruises. Nothing serious." Hermione was a bit confused by this. "But how come he was hurt worse than you?" She shifted slightly on her uncomfortably lumpy chair to face Fred. Fred bit his lip. He wasn't exactly sure how to tell her this. To Hell with it... he decided. "He wasn't wearing his seatbelt." Hermione swore under her breath. "My reaction exactly," commented Fred. "Excuse me, Miss Granger?" Hermione looked up. Stood in front of her was a woman, probably a couple of years older than herself. Hermione vaguely recognised her and decided that she was probably at Hogwarts with her. She stood up, attempting to straighten her green robes. "Yes?" "I'm Doctor Larson." "Is George all right?" Hermione asked quickly. The doctor consulted a clipboard, brushing a piece of her blonde hair out of her face. "George has suffered a few fractures, a lot of bruising and a punctured lung." Hermione let out a strangled sob. The doctor made it sound like her shopping list rather than a list of injuries. "Don't worry, Miss Granger, we've patched him up as good as new. We want to keep him in overnight to keep an eye on him in case anything happens, but other than that he'll be free to go in the morning." 'Free to go?' Now she's making it sound like he's in prison. Hermione decided that she didn't really like this doctor. "Can I see him now?" she sniffed. "Of course. He's in Room 367. Just down the corridor and to the right." Hermione was there faster than a Summoning Charm. George was in his room, sat on the bed reading a copy of the Daily Prophet. He looked no different than normal except a little paler. Hermione could even smell a cup of his favourite coffee on the bedside table long before she saw it. She rushed at him, embracing him before he could barely register she was in the room. Out of the corner of her eye, she could see Fred stood at the doorway, Mrs Weasley not far behind him. Pulling back, she slapped him. Hard. "Bloody hell! he exclaimed. "What was that for?" she asked, rubbing his cheek which now sported a red mark. "That was for making me worry!" Hermione said angrily. "And for not wearing your seatbelt." George winced. He had had a feeling that would be something Hermione would find out about. "I forgot!" he apologised. "You forgot?" asked Hermione in disbelief. "You forgot? How can you forget something as important as that? It's not like forgetting to put the toilet seat down!" "Please don't get mad, Little Bee. I'm sorry." Hermione softened slightly at the use of her nickname. "See?" George continued, tapping his chest. "As good as new. I've never felt better." Hermione scowled, and prodded him in the ribs. George winced, a squeak of pain escaping him. "Okay," he relented, "so I'm a little bit sore." There was a soft 'click' as the door was closed behind her. Fred and Molly had obviously decided to allow them some privacy. Softly, and not looking at him, Hermione said, "I was so frightened. I thought you were going to die." "But I didn't!" George gently reminded her, smoothing her hair. "In a couple of days it'll be like it never happened." "But it did! That's the whole point." She kissed him gently. "I don't think I could bear it if anything ever happened to you." A tear rolled down her cheek and George automatically wiped it away with his thumb. "Promise me you'll never do anything stupid like that again. Ever." "I promise," he assured her quietly, before tilting her head upwards and sealing his promise with a kiss. The next morning Dr Larson proclaimed George fit enough to go home. He still had to take a potion every few hours (punctured lungs were actually quite difficult to repair, even with magic), but other than that he was fine. Hermione insisted that they Apparated home, though - even when it was repaired, George had a feeling that she wasn't going to them him near the car for quite a while. They were just at the Apparition point outside the hospital (there were strict hospital rules that you were not allowed to Apparate or Disapparate inside the hospital, hence the Apparition point) when they were nearly knocked over by someone in a rush to get somewhere. In fact, George was knocked over. "Ron!" exclaimed Hermione in disapproval. "What are you rushing for?" she asked as Ron helped his older brother to his feet. "George has just come out of hospital - I don't want to have to admit him again!" "Amanda!" Ron managed to pant. "Hospital... baby... labour..." George and Hermione looked at each other in astonishment. "About turn," ordered George, and he and Hermione accompanied Ron into the hospital, attempting to calm him down. He was getting rather flustered and couldn't talk in complete sentences. Luckily George had know Ron for Ron's entire life and Hermione had been his best friend since they were eleven, so it was fairly easy to work out what he was attempting to say. "Me at work... owl... rush..." "Does Mum know?" asked George. He knew Molly Weasley would want to know if one of her grandchildren was on the way. Ron managed to nod. "Yeah... I sent... owl." "She'll be here in a minute, then," said Hermione, pushing Ron into a chair in the waiting room. Pushing a piece of hair out of her eyes, she went off to the reception desk to inquire about Amanda. She returned a few minutes later. "Amanda is in Room 130, recovering," she announced happily. Ron turned a nasty shade of white at this announcement, and he leapt to his feet. he grabbed onto Hermione's shoulder's in an attempt to keep himself upright. "Recovering? Does that mean..." Hermione nodded and Ron was gone before she had a chance to tell him anything else. Because of various medical problems, Amanda had been advised to have a caesarean section by the doctors. A date for the birth had been set, but Amanda had seemingly gone into labour earlier. According to the nurse, Amanda had arrived at the hospital an hour beforehand in a quite a panic as she hadn't been expecting to go into labour at all. Amanda had given birth to a very healthy baby about twenty minutes before Ron's arrival. "Is it a boy or a girl?" George asked curiously, standing up. "A boy," Hermione informed him. "Seven pounds three, apparently. No name yet, but that's understandable." Congratulations Ron and Amanda," said George in awe. He gazed at Hermione. "I suppose we're next for this, y'know." Hermione groaned. "Please don't remind me." She smiled. "Not long now, is there?" George shook his head. He gingerly placed a hand on Hermione's stomach. One of the babies kicked obligingly, making a huge grin spread across his freckled face. A loud voice interrupted the tender moment. "Right - where are they?" Looking around, they saw Harry appear in the waiting room, a bunch of lilies in one hand and several helium-filled balloons with the word 'congratulations' written on them in sparkling letters which changed colour every few seconds. The green-eyed man was also struggling to carry a very large teddy bear which had to be at least three feet tall and had a white bow around it's neck. George quickly rushed to relieve him of his load, moments before Harry would have dropped the flowers. For the next half an hour there was a constant stream of redheads into the waiting rooms, all bearing gifts of some kind. Thankfully the waiting room had been empty before that. Molly Weasley seemed to be a bit overwhelmed by it all and was sobbing in the corner whilst being comforted by Katherine and Meredith. She kept mumbling something about her youngest son and him being all grown up. Nearly an hour after Ron had rushed off upon hearing the news, the redhead appeared nervously in the waiting room, holding his new son. Amanda appeared behind him, looking tired, but happy nonetheless. "Can we have everyone's attention?" asked Ron, loudly. They didn't get everyone's attention at once, so Amanda spoke loudly above their voices. "Oi, pipe down!" There was a slight chuckle at this. Hermione was surprised that the baby didn't make any sounds from all the noise. Then, she realised, he was asleep and he must have inherited his father's ability to sleep through anything. "We would like to introduce our son, the newest addition to the Weasley clan," announce Ron proudly, a very large smile gracing his face. "May I present Richard Julian Weasley." A/N: Phew - George is safe and well. I can't believe how many people thought I was going to kill him off: as if I'd do I thing like that! :D The Weasley clan now has a new member: Baby Richard. Baby Richard's cousins are going to have to get a move on though.
Review, Flame, Whatever. Here's a thanks section for Chapter Eleven:
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Chocolate & Pumpkin Ice Cream
By: silvernatasha
***COMPLETED*** George/Hermione romance. Now that the relationship is completely out in the open, what's going to happen?
Rated: Fiction T - English - Romance/Humor - George W., Hermione G. - Chapters: 13 - Words: 33,428 - Reviews: 534 - Favs: 402 - Follows: 40 - Updated: Nov 10, 2002 - Published: Mar 31, 2002 - Status: Complete - id: 693324
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Full 3/4 1/2 Expand Tighten
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