Chapter 16- The Start of Something Special

"Ron! Ron!" Hermione hissed, poking her sleeping husband in the side.

"Mhhhmmm… I like the strawbry onnnne…" Ron mumbled sleepily, batting her hand away.

"RON!" Hermione said, slightly louder. "I think the baby's coming!"

"No it's not!" he mumbled, rolling over. "It's coming next week! Now go back to slee…" He let out a loud snore.

"RON!" she cried, elbowing him in the ribs. He let out a small yelp of pain and opened his eyes.

"What?"

"My waters have broken!" she murmured frantically.

"Don't worry, sweetie, we'll get you some new ones…" he muttered, waving her away and rolling over again.

"Ronald Weasley, unless you want this baby to be born in this bed, I suggest you get up NOW!"

"I'm up, I'm up!" he hissed, sitting up abruptly. "Are you sure it's really coming?"

"Certain." Hermione replied firmly.

"Well, isn't there anything you can do? You know, some sort of spell or something to keep it in there for a bit longer?" Ron said, enquiringly.

"No, there is not!" Hermione said, darting around the room, shoving items into a bag.

"There must be." Ron replied, insistently. "You're Hermione- you can do anything!"

"Ron, I am going to the hospital now." Hermione said, pulling on her cloak over her nightie. "I suggest that you should do the same, if you are still keen to be the father of this child!"

"Okay, okay, hang on!" Ron said, grabbing his cloak. "I'm coming…"

Ron gazed down the long, purple walled corridor in front of him, his stomach squirming about as though he had just swallowed a dose of Polyjuice Potion. The Maternity Department at St Mungo's was located a few minutes walk away from the main building, in a disused apartment block. The insides of it were decorated in soothing pastel tones, but it still had that very distinct "hospitally" feel that gave Ron the shivers.

He wheeled Hermione down the corridor towards Room 44. They had insisted on her using a wheelchair, despite her protests that she could easily walk. Ron hadn't really thought about the actual birth much- he knew that it would happen at sometime, but he hadn't put a lot of thought into what the actual process really entailed. All he knew was that it supposedly hurt… a lot. Hermione didn't seem too worried, though. She was a lot more comfortable about these sort of things than he was. He was glad that he had such a brave wife- it was nice to have someone to reassure him that the cut on his arm wasn't really as bad as it seemed, or to sort out his leg when he broke it playing Quidditch in the park with Harry. She hadn't even winced when she saw the bone sticking out of the side- he would have run a mile if it was her who needed help…

They had reached Room 44. Hermione turned around and smiled at Ron. It wasn't her usual smile though- he could definitely see a hint of trepidation lingering at the back, and he wondered if Hermione wasn't as fearless as he had always believed her to be…

"You ready, sweetheart?" he said, squeezing her hand reassuringly.

"Ready as I'll ever be."

Ron opened the door slowly and looked around the room. Not too bad- it was a biggish room, with a bed near the door, several chairs and a curtained-off area at the other side. He'd seen worse…

Suddenly the curtains flung themselves open to reveal another couple- a smiling, pregnant woman with curly dark hair in a hospital gown and a blonde man with a moustache, who was evidently her husband.

"Hi!" the woman said perkily, giving them a little wave. "I'm Morag and this is my husband Alisdair. Looks like we're gonna be baby mates!"

Hermione's eyes widened in horror. Baby mates? Baby mates? Here she was, in a hospital, about to have her first child, and she was going to have to give birth in the same room as someone else? More importantly, she was going to have to give birth in the same room as someone who uses the term "baby mates"? That was NOT happeni-

"Ohhhh….OHHHHH!" Hermione hollered. Ron looked at her, alarmed.

"Are you okay, love?" he said concerned. "Do want me to get someone?"

"No, it's all right, it was just a contraction…" Hermione gasped. But it had hurt…!

"Don't worry, honey, the first ones always throw you off balance!" Morag piped up. "They'll set into a pattern fairly soon though!"

"That's great!" Hermione smiled sarcastically. "Ron, could you go and see if we can get a private room?"

"Sure," he said, eying the other couple suspiciously, as though they might attack her whilst he was gone, "will you be okay here on your own?"

"I'll be fine," she reassured him, before whispering, "Now go! Go fast!" Ron shot off down the corridor, leaving her at the doorway.

"So is this your first?" Alisdair smiled.

"Yeah…"

"Oh, this is our sixth!" Morag giggled. "We just adore children."

This was reassuring, Hermione thought to herself. If they had been willing to go through this six times then it couldn't be that dreadful…

"So are you having a Painless Procedure Potion?" Morag simpered, flicking her hair.

"No, no," Hermione replied, "I want to do this all naturally. PPP's can have nasty side effects, and I don't want to take any chances."

"Wow! How brave of you!" Alisdair said, raising his eyebrows, either in admiration or in amusement. Hermione forced herself to smile back. Come on, Ron, she thought to herself, how long can it take to ask for a private room?

"So are you planning on continuing to work after you get your little bundle of joy?"

"Yeah- my sister-in-law works from home so she's going to look after the… bundle whilst I'm at work." Hermione replied in amusement. Bundle of joy? Who were these people?

"Hey- we're in Room 19 now!" Ron said, wiping the sweat from his forehead.

"Great!" she grinned at him, before turning back to face her companions. "I'm afraid I'm going to have to go," she said, with a look of fake sorrow across her face.

"Oh no!" Morag exclaimed. "That's too bad! Well, good luck with your baby! Maybe I'll see you around the hospital?"

"Not if I can help it…" Hermione muttered as Ron wheeled her out of the room.

Ron looked around the, mercifully private, Room 19. They had been there for almost three hours and he was starting to get a tad bored, much to his embarrassment- he felt that he should be more excited about the arrival of his first child. He decided that now would be a good time to contact Ginny and Harry, so he excused himself and went out into the hallway. How would he call them? Maybe the maternity department had an Owlery..?

He wandered along the hallway, before coming to a signpost, which directed him along three corridors, up several flights of stairs , and along a hallway towards a set of pink doors, marked "Mail Room". He wandered absent-mindedly through the doors, but what he saw on the other side took his breath away.

Storks. Dozens and dozens of storks.

"Hello there! How can I help you?" a voice said cheerfully from beside the window. Ron moved forward to get a closer look at the person addressing him. It was a young man in mint green robes, with a shock of blonde corkscrew curls.

"Yeah…" Ron said hesitantly. "Is this the Mail Room?"

"Yep!" the man replied cheerily, stooping down to tie a roll of parchment onto the leg of an obliging stork. "You needing to send a letter?"

"Uh huh… what's with all the storks?" Ron said, unable to keep his curiosity under control any longer.

"We get that all the time," the man replied, waving the stork off with a flourish of his hand. "When Muggle kids ask their parents where babies come from, some of them say that a stork brings them. It saves a lot of… explaining," the man said with a smirk, before continuing. "Anyway, the staff all thought it would be a really cute idea to have storks deliver the news of a new baby, rather than owls. Adds a nice touch. So you're wanting to send a letter?"

Ron nodded, still smiling inwardly. Muggles! They'd believe anything, wouldn't they?

"Here," the man said, handing him a roll of parchment and a quill. "Just write out your note- use the desk over there- and then give me a call."

"Great!" Ron said, sitting down at the desk. He hastily scribbled-

Hey guys!

Me and 'Mione are at the hospital- she's in labour! We've been here for three hours so far, and we're still not even close to finished, so there's no need to hurry. See you soon,

Ron

P.S- Could you owl Mum and Dad and let them know?

P.P.S- We're in Room 19, not 44, just in case reception sends you the wrong way.

He folded the letter up, scrawled the address on the front and looked for the assistant.

"Hey…you! Blond guy!" Ron called, feeling more than slightly stupid- he really should have asked the guy's name…

"Over here!" the man replied, waving his arm in the air. Ron walked across and handed him the parchment. The man took it, tied it onto the leg of the nearest stork and sent it off, before turning to Ron and saying "It's Rory, by the way. Nice to meet you."

"Ron," he replied, turning slightly red. "I should probably get moving- I have people waiting for me downstairs…"

"Sure thing," Rory replied, "and congratulations on your baby, by the way." Ron turned around, slightly surprised. He could have been up here for any reason- how had Rory known that he was going to be a father?

Rory smiled, obviously understanding Ron's surprise. "Let's just say it shows."