A/N: Would you believe me if I said I owned any of it, anyway? Quick chapter, I know.
Arthur Weasley paced back. . .and forth. . . and back. . . and forth. . . and back. . .the heads of his sons following his motion like six fiery pendulums. Back. . . and forth. . . and back. . .
"Where in the bloody hell could she be?"
"Daddy, Mummy wouldn't like you swearing." Fred grinned up at his father impishly.
"You know she always yells at us for it!" George chimed in.
"Shut it, you two," Bill warned his brothers. "Though I'm sure Mum is saying much worse right about now." He was proved right a moment later as another incomprehensible scream came from the Burrow.
Arthur glanced worriedly back at the house before continuing his unending circle. "Where could she be? Did she get lost? We are rather isolated. . . maybe she was splinched?" the boys all made faces at the thought. "No. . . but. . . "
Back. . . and forth. . . and back. . . and forth. . . and back. . ..
"Hello? Mr. Weasley? It's Miss Jacobs, from St. Mungo's. . . are you there?" a young voice came from behind the Burrow. Arthur hurtled after the sound as if his life depended on it.
"Thankyousomuchforcomingfollowmeshe'sinlabornowanditsearlyandIdon'tknowwhattodo "
"It's all going to be fine, Mr. Weasley. Breathe! I'm sure she'll be fine."
Arthur took a deep breath and tried to explain again. "Molly wasn't due until the end of July, so we're a bit nervous about this one. Please, I'll show you up to the room. Bill! Watch your brothers, and the rest of you lot, mind what he says."
He strode off towards the house like a man on a mission, not even waiting to see that the Mediwitch followed.
"Mr. Weasley, I know you're addled, but PLEASE slow down, my legs aren't that long!" she cried from behind him. Sheepishly, he turned and waited for her to catch up with a mumbled "Sorry."
"Quite alright," she replied. "I understand your agitation completely. . .Now, you said she wasn't due until late July. . . have your other children come early as well?"
"No. Well, not this much. Bill and Charlie were about 3 days early. Fred, George and Ron were all late. Percy was right on time. Will it effect my son? Being born this early?"
"It might, but I don't think it will be anything untoward. Babies are born prematurely quite frequently, you know. You know the sex of the child already? Did Healer Hardwick do some tests?" she said quizzically.
"No, nothing like that. I just know it's going to be a boy. No Weasley women born into the family in ages, and all that."
The Mediwitch, Miss Jacobs a voice in his head supplied, stared at him with an unreadable expression. "I see. Well, I'm sure everything will be fine."
Arthur led her up the stairs and knocked softly on the door. "Molly, love? I have the Mediwitch here for you. . . we're coming in. . . "
The door creaked open slowly and the most heavenly vision Molly had ever seen walked through her door wearing St. Mungo's white.
"Mrs. Weasley? Hello, I am Miss Jacobs. Healer Hardwick was on another call, so I shall be assisting you. How are you feeling?" she asked primly.
"Well, I could be a bloody sight better, I'm sure," Molly snipped. "I have a small erumpant in my body that is just dying to come and say hello."
A glimmer of a smile crossed Miss Jacobs' face before she started pulling out an odd array of instruments from her small bag. "Mr. Weasley, I will need some space to set up my equipment. Is there a table I might use? Or a desk?"
"How about the dresser? It's close and I can clean it off quickly," he said, not even waiting for her reply before he started magicking items off the surface and onto the floor. "I can move it closer if you would like."
"No, that's fine, thank you. Did you want to stay in here for the birth, or would you rather wait outside?"
One of the items he had just transferred from the dresser to the floor zoomed past his ear with a vengeance not usually known to inanimate objects as Molly screamed in pain again. Miss Jacobs looked at Arthur and the shattered bit of kitsch at his feet.
"Maybe it would be better if I wait outside? I. . . I can check on the boys." Arthur started to make his way, warily towards the door.
"An excellent idea, Mr. Weasley," she replied. Molly howled like a banshee. "If we need anything, I shall call upon you."
Arthur ducked out the door as another object sailed in his direction. Somehow, he felt infinitely safer when he wasn't within the trajectory range of Molly's missiles.
Suddenly, all noise behind the bedroom door stopped, as if someone had turned off the wireless. Panic welled up inside his brain until he realized the Mediwitch must have cast a silencing charm on the room.
Clever, that. Keep the children from hearing anything that might scare them.
Keep him from hearing anything that might scare him.
"Pull yourself together, Arthur. Everything is going to be fine. Just fine. Now straighten up and go eat some dinner. There's nothing else you can do up here" the little voice inside his head told him. Thinking that a rather reasonable excuse to flee the premises, he bolted for the safety of dinner with his sons.