Chapter 7
The Aftermath
"How many times do I have to tell you this, Miss Weasley? Healer Chang will be here momentarily."
"Yeah, you said that many "moments" ago!" Ginny growled angrily to the receptionist on the Labor and Delivery/Maternity ward of St. Mungo's. It was quite a comforting atmosphere, decorated in all shades of blues and pinks, with a few greens and yellows mixed in for good measure. One end was dedicated completely to rooms and operating theaters where the actual births took place — these had a rather sterile feel to them. But the other end was much more hospitable; it housed the rooms where mothers went after the birth to recuperate. Those rooms were much more comfortable, in Ginny's opinion. She would know, as she had spent the last twenty minutes pacing down the hallways, glancing in all the rooms just out of curiosity.
Receiving no further answer from the old woman at the desk, Ginny huffed away in anger, fully intent upon making another adventure out of pacing. Hermione had been taken into one of the sterile-like rooms upon first getting there, but Ginny had been told firmly to wait in the waiting area.
Before she could start pacing, however, a cry of "Ginny!" in a very familiar voice stopped her from making it even two seconds down the hall. She turned round to see Harry sprinting toward her, a worried frown creasing his forehead.
He finally reached her, panting and clutching at a stitch in his side. "Only just got here — came as soon as I read — Malfoy in Antarctica — " On her way out with Hermione, Ginny had hastily scrawled an explanation on a piece of parchment, urging anyone who read it to come to St. Mungo's as quickly as possible.
"Breathe, please, Harry, you won't be of much help if you've asphyxiated right in front of my eyes," Ginny mumbled distractedly, squeezing the bridge of her nose to help the dull pain that had started forming in her head.
With what seemed to be a great deal of effort, Harry forced some air in and out of his lungs. Eventually, his breathing returned to normal and he was able to provide some real conversation. "So what exactly happened? The last I saw she was fine, sitting on the couch . . . that was when I left with Malfoy."
With a withering glance at the old receptionist, Ginny grabbed Harry's hand and led him to one of the chairs in the waiting area. "Well, you know that Malfoy attacked her." Harry nodded. "Apparently, he was using the Killing Curse, pointed right at her stomach. He only just missed finishing it, she smashed him over the head with a frying pan. But he was almost finished, and it grazed her stomach — she was bleeding, and I suspect she was cramping as well."
"Sweet Merlin," Harry mumbled under his breath. To only just find out a few hours before that Hermione was pregnant, and now, he was finding out — well, nothing really. "So what's wrong then, Gin? Did she — I mean, is she still — "
"I don't know a bloody thing!" Ginny burst out with, earning herself and Harry a reproachful glare from the Reception Hag, as Ginny had come to refer to her in her head.
"Well, the Healer you saw, isn't he — "
"She. Cho's on her way," Ginny explained.
The name "Cho" didn't even register in Harry's mind, so preoccupied with the current situation was he. "What can I do? I must be able to do something to help," Harry asked.
"Ron! Oh, my God, Ron doesn't know!" Ginny slapped her forehead quite hard, as it left a blotchy red mark after only a few seconds. "You have to go to George and Katie's and let him know. It's going to be pretty impossible to tell him and only him, so you might as well fill the whole gang in."
"All right," Harry agreed. He kissed Ginny quickly before standing and Apparating quickly to his destination.
Ginny let her eyes wander once more to Reception Hag. She realized that the woman was staring at the spot where Harry had been two seconds earlier with widened eyes. "Yes, that was Harry Potter." Ginny boasted to Hag. "He's my boyfriend, you know. Now how about some of that information?"
Harry Apparated quickly to George and Katie's flat, searching the sea of red heads for Ron. He spotted his friend sitting on the couch uncomfortably as Katie kept her wand trained on him while flicking through what looked to be a Muggle bride magazine. Every once in a while, Katie would flick her wand and Ron's clothes would turn into splendid looking Muggle wedding clothes.
He spotted Harry, and gave him a grateful look before excusing himself from Katie, who looked slightly annoyed at the interruption. Ron hurried over to where Harry was standing, looking eternally grateful at the prospect of escaping the wedding preparations. "Hey, Harry, what's up?"
Harry felt sick at what he was about to tell Ron. Ron seemed to sense that something was wrong. "Harry? Come on, mate, what's going on? Did something happen to Ginny?"
Swallowing the hard lump in his throat, Harry said, "Not Ginny."
"Who then?" Looking around, Ron said, "Pretty much everyone's here except for . . . Charlie?" Harry shook his head. "Bill?" Shake. "Tonks?" Shake. "Riley?" Shake. By now, Ron was running out of guesses. It was clear that he was trying not to believe the conclusion that was forming in his brain. "Not — Not Hermione, Harry?"
No shake this time. "Bloody hell, what happened? Is she alive? Is she okay? Where is she? Is Ginny with her?"
Ron's voice had risen considerably and thus had drawn the attention of everyone in the living room. "Ron, darling, what's going on?" Molly's concerned voice floated into the hallway.
Harry grabbed hold of Ron's arm and dragged him into the living room where everyone else was. "Right, most everyone's here — umm, the lot of you don't know yet, seeing as how she only just found out a little while ago, but umm — "
"Do spit it out, Harry, dear," Molly admonished gently. The wedding plans obviously were putting quite a stress on her, seeing as how she'd never spoken a word of reprimand toward Harry in the entire time she'd known him — not counting the misunderstanding that had occurred when he'd first arrived at the Burrow a few weeks earlier.
"Right then — Hermione's-pregnant-was-attacked-by-Malfoy-now-in-St.-Mungo's-we-don't know-if-she-and-the-baby-are-all-right-or-not."
Complete silence followed his one sentence explanation of the evening's events. Then, without a word, the Weasleys started disappearing, one by one. Harry knew that they were Apparating straight to St. Mungo's, but it was still odd to watch them all disappear in an orderly fashion right before his eyes. After he realized that he was the only one left, Harry followed the rest of the Weasleys to St. Mungo's.
"Where is she?"
"Sir, I can't tell you anything at the moment — "
"Listen, I'm her boyfriend . . . the baby's father, I think I have a right to see her," Ron informed Hag. Everyone was gathered in the waiting area with Ginny now, but Ron was furious. He spoke with an icy chill in his words, making it clear that he would be seeing Hermione whether Hag would give him the information or not.
"Sir — "
"Tell me. Now."
Apparently, the Weasley glare had been passed down from Molly to her children, because Hag gulped and flicked her wand so she could look through a very thick and heavy stack of papers. "V — Very well then. Miss Hermione Granger, Room 144. She's with Healer Chang at the mom — "
Before Hag could finish her sentence, Ron was gone. The entire Weasley clan, minus Charlie, Bill and their significant others was gathered around the waiting area. Mrs. Weasley's face was pale and strained, as was everyone's. They had, after all, just undergone a huge shock. They hadn't even known Hermione was pregnant, and now they were facing the possibility of losing something that they hadn't even known they had. It was all rather confusing.
"I hope she's okay," Fred mumbled to George.
"She's got to be," George answered, unconsciously taking the hand of Katie and squeezing it.
Ginny and Harry were having a similar conversation on the other side of the room. "She just looked so unbelievably scared. I'm not used to a scared Hermione," Ginny told him.
"It is unnerving. She's always so calm," Harry agreed.
"I can't believe that we've been here nearly an hour and nobody's told us anything!" Ginny suddenly burst out. "For Merlin's sake, I need to know if she's okay!"
"Calm down, Gin. Ron went in, we'll find out soon enough."
Ginny sat back down, breathing heavily. The scene played itself out several more times before Ron came back. The conversations stopped immediately. "Well?" an impatient Ginny finally asked.
"She's — She's all right, I suppose," Ron answered shakily.
"What do you mean, you suppose?" Mrs. Weasley demanded. "And the baby?"
"What I mean is that she was almost hit with the Killing Curse, and she's as good as she can be, given the circumstances. The baby's still alive, thanks to Ginny getting her to St. Mungo's so quickly. Otherwise — " Ron's voice broke here. He couldn't help but imagine what would have happened had Hermione been alone in the house.
A sigh of relief spread through the room. "So she and the baby are all right, then?" asked Ginny, voice weak with tears.
"Yes. She's got to stay here overnight, but she can come home in the morning," Ron explained. "I'm staying here with her."
With that, he turned right back around and went back to Hermione's room. Slowly, the rest of the clan Apparated away, some to the Burrow, some to their homes. But everyone eventually ended up at the Burrow for the night, anyway. Given the situation, they somehow felt the urge to just be together.
"I'll kill him. You know that, don't you?" Ron asked quietly. He was in one of the rooms on the recuperation side with Hermione later that night. It was a calm, soothing room, with walls that changed color with whatever mother and baby inhabited it. At the moment, they were a sort of undecided green, flickering slightly between pink and blue. Ron took it to mean that it was too early to tell what the sex of their baby was.
Hermione looked away, out the large window to her right. She was rather calm now, but still shaken. Almost losing this child — it had put things into perspective for her. She knew that from now on, her baby would be her number one priority. "Ron, there's no point — "
"What do you mean, there's no point? He tried to kill you, and our baby!"
"So you'd like to witness the baby's birth from Azkaban, then?" Hermione countered.
Ron became quiet after that. "No," he said after a while, sulkily. He was laying next to Hermione in bed, stroking her long, wavy hair. "But Malfoy should be punished. I can't believe he would have the nerve . . . why did he do it, anyway?"
"Well . . . it's my fault, really. Ginny and I saw him at the diner we went to after the Healer's, and I kind of yelled at him a little," she said quietly, shifting her position so her head was resting against Ron's chest.
"Why? Did he do something to you or Ginny?"
"Not really, but he was talking about us!" she defended. "He was with some slut and he was telling her bad things about us!"
"Did you actually hear what he said? Look, I'm not trying to defend him or anything like that, but you've got to understand that we really don't want to get on his bad side any more than we already are! His father is a Death Eater for Merlin's sake. We need to be especially careful now that we're having a baby."
Hermione looked at him astonished. This was not the Ron she had known for seven years! When had he gotten so mature? Ever since she'd told him about the baby he had grown more serious by the moment, up until this little outburst.
"Are you okay, Ron? What's gotten into you?"
"Me? It's what's gotten into you that's got me thinking," he answered, grinning at his own joke.
"I can see why you're worried, but I don't think we have to worry about Malfoy . . . anytime soon, that is. I sort of hit him with a frying pan . . . " she trailed off as Ron burst into laughter.
"Hermione, my Hermione, whacked Malfoy with a frying pan?" he managed to gasp out between bouts of laughing.
"Yes, and I don't see what's so funny about it," she returned sharply, lifting her head up and moving toward the opposite side of the bed.
"Okay, I'm sorry for laughing. It's just so un-Hermionish," he said, reaching to wrap his arm around her shoulders and bring him back toward her. "Oh, Merlin, I just got the most brilliant idea!" he exclaimed, deciding that it was safe to speak again.
"Well, there is a first time for everything," she retorted.
"No, I'm serious! Let's get away from here for the last week of summer, come on! Harry and Ginny can come with us, it'll be fun," he pleaded at the dubious look on her face.
"I don't know . . . I've got lesson plans to make," she argued. She had just gotten the letter a week before, from Professor McGonogall herself. After Dumbledore's death, she had become Headmistress of Hogwarts. She wanted Hermione to come back to Hogwarts as an assistant to Professor Flitwick. He planned on retiring at the end of the year, and when he did, Hermione was to take over his job as Charms professor. "And what if the Healer says I'm to stay in bed?"
"Sod the lesson plans, let's go! I've even thought of the perfect place . . . the Bahamas! Who could say no to a week of the Bahamas? And if you have got to stay in bed, what better place to do it than there? You can lay out on the beach and relax. No strenuous activity."
"Hmm . . . I guess it would be good to get away for a while. Okay," she agreed, smiling at the exuberant look on Ron's face. "But I've got to talk to the Healer first, before anything's set."
"Brilliant! I can't wait to tell Harry and Ginny! You know what, I think I'll go right now. You don't mind, do you? I'll be back in a minute," Ron assured Hermione. He didn't want to leave her, but he really wanted to tell Harry and his sister about the vacation.
"No, go on. I'm going to take a rest, anyway. I'm knackered . . . just come back, all right?" Hermione said in a small voice.
"Of course," Ron replied. He leaned over to kiss Hermione, then Apparated to the Burrow.
"Harry! Ginny! Where in the bloody hell are you guys?" called Ron as he bounded up the stairs two at a time.
When he reached the top he heard voices coming from Ginny's room. He'd only recently found out that his mum and dad were letting Harry and Ginny share a room. Being Ron, he had of course blown a major fit about it. The result was Harry and Ron each gaining a black eye, but Harry and Ginny still sharing a room.
Upon asking his mum why she was letting them sleep in the same room, she'd just looked at him and sighed. Then, she told him that Ginny was going to be a mother soon and he'd better get used to her sharing a room with Harry, because surely they'd be doing much more than that sooner or later.
He walked over to Ginny's room and saw her laying flat on her back with her T-shirt pulled up to reveal her pale belly, not even slightly rounded yet. Harry was on his stomach, facing Ginny, with a hand resting lightly on her stomach, as if afraid to hurt the baby. As Ron watched, Ginny placed her hand on top of Harry's and leaned up to kiss him.
"Ahem . . . " he cleared his throat embarrassedly. Harry pulled away guiltily, a blush creeping up his cheeks.
"Hey, Ron . . . we were just — "
"Yeah, yeah, I know what you were doing. Spare me the details," said Ron dismissively. "Anyway, Hermione and I are going to the Bahamas next week, sort of celebrating . . . you know, the babies and all, and it being the last week of summer. We were wondering if you two wanted to join us."
"Are you kidding me!" squealed Ginny. She jumped up from the bed so fast, Harry would've fallen right off the other side if he hadn't caught hold of the bedpost.
"Um . . . no, if I was do you think I would have interrupted your little snog session to ask you?"
"Oh, come off it, Ron. When are we leaving?" asked Ginny, too excited to pay any mind to the slightly reprimanding tone to her brother's voice.
"I don't know. Probably within the next few days, as soon as the Healer says Hermione's fit to travel. We'll come back the day before term starts, seeing as how you've got to get back to school, and so does Hermione," answered Ron.
"Awesome, this is going to be so fun!" shouted Ginny. She raced out of the room, presumably to find someone of the female race so she could giggle and shriek some more.
Harry got up off the bed and walked over to Ron, eyeing him warily. He wasn't hankering for a third black eye from his best friend. Ron grinned, and Harry relaxed.
"This is going to be fun, isn't it?" Harry asked.
Ron clapped him on the back and held the door open for him before going through himself. "That it is, mate. That it is," he chuckled. "Two pregnant women and a week in the Bahamas . . . couldn't get much better than that."