Disclaimer: I own nothing of Harry Potter. It all belongs to J.K.R. This story contains Mpreg (male pregnancy) as well as said male giving birth. Not overly graphic, but will probably squick some folks. Consider yourselves warned.
Neville Longbottom checked his watch. Ten more minutes until the end of class. He sighed heavily and tried to finish the potion bubbling in front of him. It was going well so far. He only had two more ingredients to add and it was the correct color and consistency. Suddenly he closed his eyes and tightened his grip on the rod he was using to stir the potion. Another pain was working its way from his back to his abdomen. They were getting harder to ignore. But he had to. If he acknowledged the pain then he had to acknowledge the cause of it. He wasn't ready to do that. He placed his hands on the top of his work bench and tried to breathe normally as the pain slowly began to fade.
At the beginning of the first term he had been struck by a hex in the middle of the crowded school court yard. He had no idea who had cast it or what it was. He had suffered from abdominal cramping for about an hour and then it just seemed to fade away. That had been eight and a half months ago. Since that time he had suffered from weeks of nausea, more cramping, and a waist line that insisted on disappearing. Granted he had already been a little on the heavy side so he was the only one who noticed any changes. He refused to go to Madame Pomfrey. If he went to the medi-witch he would have to leave school. He was pretty sure that Hogwarts didn't allow babies. For that was what he was sure was making his life hell right now. After he returned from the Christmas break he had started to feel its movements. At times it had nearly driven him insane. He would be awoken in the middle of the night by strong kicks and little limbs poking him in the bladder and his ribs. He knew that the pains he was experiencing with increasing frequency meant that his time was now up. He would have to tell someone what was going on.
He opened his eyes and sighed deeply as the last of the pain ebbed away. He saw that his potion was about to turn bad and quickly added the next ingredient while stirring it smoothly. Professor Snape had been grading the previous class's pop quizzes for most of the period but now he was starting to glide around the room checking the contents of various cauldrons.
"Your potions, at this stage, should be milky beige in color. As you add the last ingredient it should turn completely white and have the consistency of warm honey. This is one of the easier potions that will be included in your O.W.L.s. If you've failed to brew it, count on failing you Potions O.W.L." He said with a pointed look in Neville's direction. Neville, however, felt a brief sense of accomplishment as he added the last ingredient to his cauldron and watched it go white and thicken. He seemed to do well in Potions as long as Snape wasn't there breathing down his neck the whole time. He turned off the flame under his cauldron and sat down as he allowed the potion to cool slightly before bottling a sample to be graded. He grimaced as he felt the baby shift. No doubt protesting the fact that its host had sat down, therefore cramping its quarters a little more. Three minutes before the end of the class period he stood back up and ladled some of his potion into a glass phial to turn into Snape. He finished cleaning his cauldron and work space just as the end of period sounded. He rested his cauldron in the rack with the others and made his way up to the front of the room to turn in his sample.
He was the last one to file past Professor Snape's desk. He had just placed the phial in the rack when a new pain gripped his back and spread to his stomach. He gasped involuntarily and put his hands on the teacher's desk to help support his weight. He squeezed his eyes shut as the cramp tightened even further, sending pains shooting into his legs. He heard Professor Snape calling his name, but he couldn't respond. This was the worst one so far. He jumped when he felt someone grasp his shoulders. He looked up to see the Professor standing in front of him. He felt himself being pushed backwards.
"Sit down Mr. Longbottom, before you fall." He sat on the chair behind him, but found himself sitting hunched over his stomach on the edge of the seat. He whimpered slightly as the pain seemed to reach its peak and was surprised to feel a hand grasp his own. He tightened his grip trying to concentrate on something other than the cramp. "Mr. Longbottom.?" He closed his eyes at the sound of the voice. Someone knew now. "Neville, look at me." He looked up at Professor Snape. "Breathe deeply Mr. Longbottom. In through your nose and out through your mouth." Neville did as his teacher told him. He slowly brought his hand up to smooth over his belly, moving it in time with his breathing. He unhunched himself as the pain started to fade. He felt his stomach start to relax. It had been rock hard at the peak of the pain. "What were you planning on doing Mr. Longbottom? Hiding in the loo and going through labor and delivery by yourself?" Neville took a deep breath and shook his head.
"I was going to go to Madame Pomfrey." He said as he felt his eyes start to tear up. Professor Snape heaved a sigh and pulled his hand from Neville's as he leaned back against his desk.
"When?" Snape asked him. "When the child's about to start grade school?" Neville just looked down at his hands resting in his lap. He felt a tear slip down his cheek and hastily wiped it away. "From the intensity of that contraction I would say that your labor is well under way. When did it start?" He asked.
"I woke up with a backache this morning. Just before lunch it started to wrap around to the front. They're about nine minutes or so apart now." He said quietly. His teacher just stared at him.
"Are you completely insane Mr. Longbottom?" Neville looked up at him sharply. He felt a tickle of anger at the scathing tone Snape used. "You have no idea what is going on inside of you right now. Many infants don't tolerate labor well. That child could be in distress and you would be none the wiser. Not to mention the dangers of the pregnancy itself. Do you know how many things could go wrong in a male pregnancy?" All through Snape's tirade Neville felt his anger increasing. He really didn't need a lecture right now. "Leave it to a Gryffindor to get his self pregnant and then think he's above prenatal care." Snape said with a smirk. Neville felt his control slip. He got to his feet as quickly as he could and glared at his teacher.
"This isn't my fault." He said in a defiant yet shaky voice. "Some stupid arse decided it would be fun to hit me with a hex at the beginning of first term. I didn't know what it was. I felt fine after an hour or so. I didn't really realize what was going on until I started to feel it move after Christmas. So you'll just have to excuse me if I'm thrown for a bit of a loop by all of this! I was afraid I would be kicked out of school if anyone found out not to mention the fact that I'm only fifteen. I'm not ready for this...I..I didn't ask for this and I don't know what I'm supposed to do..and...and I don't know how ...I can't...I can't do this." He lost his battle with his emotions a little more with each word he spoke until he was finally crying openly. He sat back down in the chair and buried his face in his hands as he sobbed. Professor Snape just stood silently through it all. Neville's tears had started to subside when he once again felt the band of pain start up in his back.
"Oh...God." He gasped as he leaned forward bracing his hands on his knees. He heard the Professor reminding him to breathe and felt him once again offer his hand. Neville grasped it and began the slow, deep breaths he had done the last time. He opened his eyes and saw the professor withdraw his wand from his vest pocket. He didn't hear the spell that Snape muttered but he did hear the fast and steady 'whoosh whoosh whoosh' sound that followed it. The sound increased its pace as the contraction started to loosen its grip on his abdomen. He heaved a sigh as the last of the contraction receded. He raised his head again and looked at Snape. He had his head cocked slightly to one side and it seemed to be nodding a bit in time to the whooshing sound. He eventually noticed Neville watching him and stood up from the kneeling position he had taken while offering Neville his hand.
"The baby's heart rate seems to be alright, but we need to get you up to Madame Pomfrey. I have absolutely no desire to play midwife." He grasped Neville's upper arm and helped him slowly get to his feet. They had taken about five steps toward the door when Neville felt an odd internal popping sensation. It was immediately followed by a decrease in pressure in his abdomen and a trickle of fluid down his legs and onto the floor. He stopped in shock and just stared at Snape who was looking at him with a raised eyebrow. "You can't be having another contraction already? It's hasn't even been two minutes." Neville shook his head slowly.
"I'm wet." He said simply. Snape's eyes opened wide in surprise and he quickly brushed Neville's robes aside to see a puddle on the floor beneath him.
"Your water broke. We really need to get you to the hospital wing." He got them moving again. They were three quarters of the way to the Hospital wing before Neville's next contraction hit, only six minutes after the previous one.
"Ow, Oh ...God, Ow." He muttered as he stopped and leaned a hand against the wall. As the contraction tightened its grip he found it harder and harder to keep his breathing deep and even. He found the pain in his back was worse when he was standing. He panted against the pain and leaned into the wall with both hands letting his head hang down. "Oh Merlin. . . . Ooohhhh, I want to sit down." He groaned out as the pain reached its peak.
"And we'll pay hell trying to get you up again. I think not." Snape retorted. He walked behind the young man and gently but firmly pressed the heals of his hands into Neville's lower back, pushing them up along the boy's spine to help relieve some of the tension in the muscles. Neville groaned in response. The professor moved his hands back down to the base of Neville's spine and pushed up again earning a sigh as the boy felt more of the strain in his back dissipate. Neville slowly straightened back up and with out a word they resumed their trek to the infirmary.
They walked into the infirmary and Snape escorted Neville straight to a cot. Luckily there were no other patients in the room. Snape helped Neville ease himself down on the cot and then walked back to the Medi-witch's office. He returned with Madame Pomfrey in tow shaking her head and frowning.
"What have you gotten yourself into this time Mr. Longbottom?" She said softly to him as she sat on the cot next to him. She immediately began to feel around his stomach. "Severus, would you please pull the curtains and step outside for a moment." Snape nodded and did as she requested. "All right, Neville. These robes need to go. Let's get you into a gown." Neville frowned but he knew better than to argue. He sat up and began unbuttoning his robes. They had just managed to get him into one of the standard issue infirmary gowns when his next contraction hit. She helped him breathe through the pain as she felt his abdomen through the contraction trying to gauge its strength. Once the pain had passed she stood and helped him get under the sheets. She cast the same spell that Snape had down in the dungeons and Neville once more heard the steady "whoosh, whoosh" of the baby's heart beat. She listened for a few moments then nodded, seeming pleased with what she heard. She set the volume of the spell lower and went to leave the curtained area when Neville grabbed her hand. She looked down at the boy and then sat back on the edge of his bed. Neville looked at her.
"Is the baby okay?" He asked quietly. She gave him a small sad smile as she nodded.
"The baby seems to be fine Mr. Longbottom. Its heart rate is good and Professor Snape said that your amniotic fluid was clear when your water broke. If it had had a brow or greenish tint then I'd be worried that it was in distress, but it seems to be handling the labor fine." She paused for a moment and smoothed the boy's hair back out of his face. "I don't understand why you didn't come to me with this Mr. Longbottom. You could have put both yourself and the baby in a lot of danger by not telling anyone." Neville felt his eyes tear up again at her gentle scolding.
"I'm sorry." He said softly as he quickly swiped at a tear running down his cheek. "I was afraid. I was scared that I would have to leave school and I was scared about what was happening to me and I didn't want to admit that it was true. I still don't want to." He couldn't bring himself to look at the Medi-witch as he made the claim. She smiled gently at the young man.
"Well, I don't think your going to have much choice in that now. Not unless you can manage to convince yourself that you're just having a very large bowel movement." Neville gave a short, undignified snort of laughter at her comment. "Now, before I go, I need to examine you. Since you did get an external gush of fluid when your water broke, it's obvious that there's a way out somewhere. I need to determine if it's going to be rectally or if another opening was created by the hex when you were hit." Neville cringed at the idea of giving birth rectally but dutifully rolled onto his back when Madame Pomfrey told him to. He started to blush furiously when she had him bend his knees up and then let them fall open as she lifted the lower half of his sheet. She donned a pair of sterile gloves and bent to examine him. After a moment she raised her head and called his name. "Neville, It looks like you've been hit with the 'Tempus Gravis' spell. It's created a separate birth canal. I need to see how far you're dilated. This might be a bit uncomfortable." Neville nodded to her in response and resumed his staring contest with the ceiling. He hissed in a breath when he felt her fingers breach the birth canal. A bit uncomfortable was an understatement. It bloody well hurt.
"Sorry." She said as she grimaced in sympathy with the boy. Another contraction hit halfway through her exam. The pain was almost unbearable and Neville whimpered once again as he clutched at the sheets beneath him. He struggled to keep his breathing in a steady pattern and nearly cried out in relief when she withdrew her hand and started to rub soothing circles over his belly. "It's alright Neville." She crooned gently. It seemed to take an eternity for the contraction to start backing off again. Neville started to have serious doubts about his ability to give birth to this baby.
"I don't think I can do this." He said as Madame Pomfrey straightened his bedding and helped him back over to his left side.
"Yes you can Mr. Longbottom. You're already more than half way there as it is." He gave her a surprised look. "Yes, More than half way." She repeated. "Your contractions are only about five minutes apart now and are lasting for about a minute. Your cervix is dilated seven centimeters out of ten and eighty percent effaced or thinned out. The baby is at what we call a minus one station, meaning that it hasn't yet started to push through the cervix, but its close." Neville just stared at her as he tried to absorb all that she had said. He was having trouble concentrating from the near constant pain in his back. It was almost worse than the contractions.
"Do I have to stay in bed?" Neville asked. "Laying here is really making my back ache. I feel better sitting up." Madame Pomfrey nodded her head and moved to help him sit up on the edge of the bed.
"You do what ever makes you feel the most comfortable." She conjured a pair of slippers and slipped them on his feet. "I'll go see if I can come up with a rocking chair for you." Neville nodded.
"Is Professor Snape still here?" He asked. Madame Pomfrey nodded as she started to push the curtain back that surrounded the end of his bed.
"I believe so. Do you want me to send him in while I get your chair?" Neville nodded his head.
"I need to thank him for his help." He said. The man may have been his least favorite teacher, but Neville realized that he would probably be cringing in his bed and doing this all alone right now if it wasn't for Snape. Soon after Madame Pomfrey went out Professor Snape came around the curtain followed by the Headmaster. Neville felt himself blanch. He wasn't ready to face the headmaster quite yet. Professor Snape came to the side of Neville's bed and looked down at the boy.
"I trust your feeling a little more in control of yourself now Mr. Longbottom?" Neville nodded his head.
"I just wanted to thank you for helping me." He ran his hand over his belly and around to his back as he reached for the dressing gown lying at the foot of his bed. "Madame Pomfrey says I'm more than half way there, what ever that really means." He said with a small smile. "Like I said though, I just wanted to thank you." Professor Snape gave a short nod in reply.
"You're welcome Mr. Longbottom. Now, I have papers that need grading. If you'll excuse me." He turned and nodded to Professor Dumbledore and left the room. Professor Dumbledore walked over and sat in the straight backed visitors chair next to Neville's bed. Neville finally worked up the courage to meet the Professors gaze.
"I'm sorry, Sir." He said. "I know I should have told someone. I was just too confused and scared to think straight." Professor Dumbledore nodded a leaned forward in his seat.
"It's alright Neville. Do you have any idea who may have hit you with this spell?" Neville shook his head slowly.
"It was out in the courtyard. It was really crowded. I couldn't even tell which direction it came from." As he finished his sentence he felt the ache in his back start to get worse, getting sharper until it finally wrapped around to encompass his entire abdomen. He groaned and leaned forward over his belly again, bracing his hands on the edge of his cot. Professor Dumbledore quickly stood and reseated himself on the edge of the bed beside Neville, taking hold of his hand and encouraging the boy to lean into him. Neville gratefully leaned into the headmaster's side grasping his hand tightly and breathing raggedly. He let out another groan as the contraction peaked and vainly rubbed his rock hard stomach in hopes that it would help relax it quicker. By the time the pain faded away again his forehead and upper lip had broken out in a fine sheen of sweat.
"Well, Mr. Longbottom, I think any other questions I have can wait until after you're feeling a bit better." Neville nodded as he continued to rub his stomach. "Professor Snape told me that you were worried about your place in Hogwarts and I just wanted to come up here and assure you that you will always have a place here. We will not put you out for something you had no control over." Neville felt as if a huge weight had been lifted from his chest and he felt his eyes fill with tears of relief.
"Thank you." He said as he fought to keep from breaking down completely. He felt and heard the Headmaster rummage around in his pockets and was presented with a handkerchief. He accepted it and mopped up his face as the Headmaster stood and faced him.
"Is there any one I can send in to sit with you Mr. Longbottom? He asked. "Surely you don't want to go through this all on your own?" Neville shook his head slowly. "Are you sure? I can think of a few of your friends who would be quite distressed to know you didn't have anyone with you right now." Neville thought for a moment. It was nice to have someone to help him through the contractions. Even just a hand to hold made him feel better. Madame Pomfrey couldn't sit with him the whole time. She was too busy. Of his few friends the only one he could even think of having with him right now would be Hermione. She wouldn't judge or scold him. He looked up at the Headmaster.
"Maybe Hermione, if she'll come?" The Headmaster nodded in agreement.
"Ah, yes. Miss Granger. I do believe she would have been my first choice as well." He said with a large grin. "I shall send her up right away. Would you like me to explain things to her, or would you prefer to do it yourself?" Neville shrugged.
"You can tell her I guess. You can probably explain it a lot better then I could anyway." Professor Dumbledore graced him with a smile and left.
Madame Pomfrey had returned with the rocking chair and Neville had rocked his way through another contraction before Hermione showed up. When she rounded the curtain she just stood there for a bit, looking at her friend. She could hear the quiet, steady beat of the baby's heart through Madame Pomfrey's monitoring charm and Neville seemed to be rocking the chair in time to it's pace. He was sitting with his eyes closed and his head leaned back against the head rest. His face was slightly flushed and a small frown creased his brow. She stepped further into his area, calling his name softly.
"Neville?" He opened his eyes and looked at her, suddenly apprehensive as to how she would react. She just smiled at him and he sagged a bit in relief. She walked over and turned the visitor's chair so that it faced his and sat in it. She reached forward and gently laid a hand on the mound of his stomach. "How did we not notice?" She asked sadly. She looked up at Neville's face and raised a hand to cup his cheek. "I can't believe you've been dealing with this all alone for so long. I'm so sorry Neville." He shrugged his shoulders as she dropped her hand from his cheek to grasp one of the ones lying in his lap.
"You don't have anything to be sorry for." He said. "I didn't tell anyone. You can hide a lot with school robes and I live with a bunch of guys who don't notice much unless it has to do with Quidditch. It was easy to hide." He felt the baby shift slightly and Hermione gave a little gasp and a smile as she felt the movement under her palm.
"Are the pains bad yet?" She asked as she gave his belly a little pat then sat back in her chair. Neville wasn't sure how to respond.
"I'm not sure." He said. "They're coming every five minutes or so and they're pretty uncomfortable. I can't talk when I'm having one. It just takes to much extra energy." She nodded. They both looked up as Madame Pomfrey came through the privacy screens. She seemed a bit surprised to see Hermione there but then nodded slightly in approval.
"Well, I'm glad to see you'll have company Mr. Longbottom. She can help move you." Neville looked quickly at Hermione and then back to the Medi-witch.
"Move me?" He queried. Madame Pomfrey nodded as she set about gathering the few items he had accumulated so far.
"Yes, move you." She said as she stuffed his pillow under her arm. "I'm moving you back to one of the private rooms. I've just finished setting it up. You can't perform silencing charms on a ceiling that doesn't exist, and we'll need them before you're through." Hermione could have hexed the woman six different ways when she saw how white Neville turned at her comment. It didn't bode well for the boy. "Come along. Help him up Miss Granger." She said as she bustled past them. Hermione quickly stood and took Neville by the arm as he levered himself stiffly up out of the rocking chair. She kept her hand at the small of his back as he made way slowly toward the room Madame Pomfrey had disappeared into. They were crossing the threshold when Neville's steps faltered and he groaned slightly. He stopped and turned to the door frame grasping it with his hands to support himself. His breathing gradually escalated to harsh pants accented with a groan or whimper periodically as he leaned his forehead against the frame as well. He brought one of his hands to his back in a vain attempt to ease some of the strain he was feeling. Hermione jumped when Madame Pomfrey came up behind her and took her hands. She placed Hermione's hands on Neville's lower back and showed her how to apply the upward pressure that gave him a modicum of relief. Hermione nodded as they started to repeat the motion and Madame Pomfrey left the room again. She returned with the rocking chair just as Neville was releasing his hold on the door frame. He tried to wipe away the tears that had risen with out Hermione seeing, but he was too late. She gently brushed his hand aside and smoothed the drops away herself.
"I'm not going to think less of you if you admit that it hurts Neville. I wouldn't even want to image what you're feeling right now." He nodded, gave a sniff and made his way over to the rocking chair, but before he got the chance to sit Madame Pomfrey pointed him toward the bed.
"I need to see if you've made any progress Neville. Do you want Hermione to step outside?" Neville blushed and glanced at Hermione as the elder witch helped him to lie down.
"She doesn't have to." He said, but he wouldn't look her in the eye. Hermione waited until Neville was covered with a sheet before sitting beside him facing his upper-body. She took his hand and pushed her clinical curiosity away when she heard the sound of his knees coming up and dropping open. He tensed and grasped at Hermione's hand as he once again felt that intrusive pain, taking short panting breaths. Hermione leaned closer to him and smoothed his hair back off of his face.
"Shhhh...It's okay. It's alright." She held tight to his hand and kept trying to comfort him until she felt him start to relax and out of the corner of her eye saw Madame Pomfrey pull the sheet back down over his legs. Neville let out a shaky breath.
"Why does that hurt so much?" He asked as he was helped to sit back up on the edge of the bed. Hermione quickly bent and slid his slippers back on his feet.
"Well…" Madame Pomfrey said. "The cervix is just very tender. It's going through a lot of changes right now and the last thing it really needs is some one poking their fingers through it." Neville nodded. "Now, unfortunately you haven't made too much progress Neville. The baby hasn't come down any further and you're still at seven centimeters. You're completely thinned out now though, so that's a little progress, just not as much as I'd hoped." She turned from marking the information in what Hermione assumed was Neville's chart, and gave the boy a sympathetic look. "I know this is the last thing you want to hear, but I want you up and walking around. It'll help bring the baby down. That cervix isn't going to open anymore unless the baby's head is putting pressure against it." Neville felt like crying and was hard put to keep from doing so. He looked up as Hermione laid a hand on his shoulder. She grasped his elbow and helped him to his feet.
"Come on Neville." She said in a soft voice. "It'll be alright." He heaved a sigh and started pacing around his room. For over an hour he walked back and forth the small space, stopping and leaning heavily against the nearest item when ever a contraction came. Hermione would dutifully rub his back for every pain, but knew she was only providing the slightest bit of relief. Finally after an hour had passed, Neville was hit with his worst contraction yet. He tried to pant through it.
"Oh…oh…God…Hermione, I can't…I need to sit….uuunnngh…I need to sit!" And his legs started to give out under him." Hermione helped to brace him and whipped out her wand, pointing it at the visitors chair.
"Accio chair!" The chair slid across the floor to the pair and she helped him easy back into it. Each of his panting breaths came out sounding like a whimper and his grasp on Hermione's hand was painfully tight. "It's alright Neville. Just breathe." And she started to pant with him to help him keep up the rhythm. His contractions were only about three minutes apart now and lasting for well over a minute. As the contraction came back down he tried to catch his breath. She could see his was shaken.
"I can't do this." He said as he started to cry. "It hurts too much Hermione." She felt herself starting to tear up as well and shook herself out of it. She pulled Neville into a hug before pulling back and looking at him.
"You can do this Neville. I know you can. It can't be much longer now." He took in a stuttering breath and wiped at his face. Hermione dug in her pocket for the handkerchief he'd been using and helped him mop up his sweaty tear streaked countenance. She had just performed a cleaning charm on it and put it back in her pocket, when Neville started to groan again.
"Oh God, Here it comes again." He started to rock just slightly in his seat and screwed up his face at the pain. Hermione grasped his hand again and realized that he had barely been spared a minute since the last contraction. She jumped when he released a muffled scream, and started to pant raggedly leaning forward over his belly. Neville seemed a little dazed when the contraction ended.
"Come on Neville, I think we better get you back into bed, then I'm getting Madame Pomfrey." She helped him shuffle over to his bed and got him to lie down then quickly left the room to get the Medi-witch. "Madame Pomfrey!" The nurse looked up expectantly when Hermione called her name. "I think you better come." Hermione said quickly before rushing back to her friend. She was already sitting beside him on the bed, holding his hand when the older witch entered the room. Neville was groaning and arching his back in pain. One hand holding Hermione's and the other clasped tightly on her fore arm.
"Talk to me Mr. Longbottom." Madame Pomfrey said as she sat on the edge of the bed while pulling on exam gloves. "Tell me what you're feeling." Neville muffled another scream between clamped teeth as she reached to exam him again.
"It burns." He exclaimed between ragged breaths. Madame Pomfrey was delighted to feel that the boy was finally fully dilated and the baby had started to progress down the birth canal. "Uuuungh….I feel like I need to bear down!" He ground out as he did exactly that.
"Well done, Mr. Longbottom!" She told him. "You are about to have this baby!" She stood and raised the head of his bed to a semi-reclined position while the bed in its entirety rose a few feet higher. Hermione clambered off of it as it rose with out breaking out of Neville's grasp. He slumped back against the bed as he got a brief respite between contractions, trying to catch his breath. Madame Pomfrey pulled the bottom section of his bed away leaving two sections along the side with shallow indentations that she rested his heals into before quickly spreading a sheet over his bent knees. "Neville, on the next pain, I want you to push. Take a deep breath, hold it, put your chin to your chest and push. Alright?" Neville nodded to her, his face red and his hair damp and curly with sweat. The next contraction was on him within seconds and he drew in a deep breath, squeezing Hermione's hand for all he was worth and bore down as hard and long as he could. He gasped in another breath and was able to push a second time before the contraction ended.
"That was good Neville." Madame Pomfrey praised from the end of his bed. "This time, I want you to grasp the backs of your knees when you push. Pull them back toward you. It'll help give you leverage. Curl up around the baby." He gave a quick whimpering gasp as the next pain started, then drew in a deep breath and pushed, pulling his knees back as much as he could. He could feel Hermione's arm around his back, helping him to lever up. Again he was able to get two pushes in before the contraction ended. "The baby's head is right there Neville." Madame Pomfrey encouraged. "One more push and it'll be crowning." Neville barely listened as he tried to rest. Hermione mopped his sweaty face with a soft cloth and gave him an encouraging smile. When the next contraction came Neville gave one push and screamed half way through it. He started panting and groped once again for Hermione's hand to squeeze.
"Neville?" She queried. He just screamed again his back arching slightly. Madame Pomfrey chimed in.
"The baby's head is coming Neville. One more good push and the head will be out." Neville shook his head.
"No!" He gasped. "It burns too much. It feels like I'm tearing in half!" He cried. Madame Pomfrey nodded.
"I know it does. That's the perineum stretching to let the baby's head through." She ran her fingers along the lip of the perineum, helping the baby's head to stretch it slowly with out tearing. "Once the head is out the burning will stop. You have to push through it." She placed the tips of her fingers against the baby's head to keep it from coming to fast.
"I can't!" Neville sobbed. Hermione smoothed his sweat soaked hair back from his face. Neville tried to resist the urge to push on the next contraction but it was useless. His body just took over. He gasped in relief when the baby's head fully emerged. He could hear Madame Pomfrey gasp.
"Well, hello there Poppet." She said as she smiled down at the baby, who although silent with only its head out, was staring straight up at her. She looked up at Neville. "No wonder you've had such a rough time, Neville. This wee one's come out the wrong way. Its sunny side up instead of face down as it should be." Neville only response was to grunt as the urge to push came upon him again. He gave a low groan the whole length of the push as the baby's shoulders rotated out from under his pelvis. "One more push Neville! Just one more and the baby will be out!" She encouraged him. Hermione helped him up one last time and he pulled back on his legs and pushed as hard as he could. He sobbed in relief when the baby slid free of his body.
"It's a girl!" Poppy announced happily as she held the baby up for Hermione and Neville to see. Neville sank back against the bed in exhaustion and Hermione smiled at him as she wiped his flushed face with a cool wet cloth. They both looked down and smiled as the baby suddenly let out a lusty cry.
"Is she alright?" Neville asked a bit apprehensively. He had been worried that she might have problems that would have gone unnoticed due to his lack of prenatal care. Madame Pomfrey finished suctioning out the baby's airways and nodded.
"She seems to be perfectly fine Mr. Longbottom." She clamped and cut the cord and wrapped the baby loosely in a towel. "Hermione? Would you be comfortable giving this little lady her first bath? Neville and I still need to deal with the afterbirth and get him all cleaned up." Hermione nodded.
"Sure." She said as she came forward and took the baby in her arms. She studied the baby as she cleaned her. She had a rather pronounced cone head from the tight fit down the birth canal, but Hermione knew that would right it's self soon enough. There was no denying that she was a beautiful baby. And there was no denying that she was Neville's baby. She had the same round face and chubby cheeks as her father and she had a fuzzy cap of light brown hair that turned to curls as it dried.
Hermione was thankful for her summer babysitting jobs as she expertly covered the tiny bottom with a cloth nappy. She swaddled the baby in a fresh blanket and cooed to her softly as she picked her up and carried her back to her father. Neville was all cleaned up and in a fresh gown and bedding. He was resting, propped up, and with his eyes closed as she approached with the baby.
"Neville?" She called quietly. He opened his eyes and they were drawn to the bundle in Hermione's arms. "Someone wants to say hello." Hermione said with a smile. Neville had never been unsure of himself as he was the moment she placed his baby in his arms. He just stared down at the tiny face that peeked at him from the folds of the blanket. "She's beautiful Neville." Hermione said as she sat on the bed next to him. He gingerly brought a hand up to caress the softness of the baby's cheek and she sighed in her sleep. He smiled. Despite the fact that he had spent months trying to deny her existence she had somehow worked her way thoroughly into his heart. "Does she have a name yet" Hermione asked. Madame Pomfrey raised her head from her paper work at that question. Neville looked back down at the little girl and leaned down to rub his cheek on her soft hair and take in her soft baby scent. He nodded with his eyes still closed.
"Alice." He said. "Alice Francine Longbottom. I'll call her Ally for short." Madame Pomfrey nodded in approval. Frank and Alice would have been proud of their granddaughter.
Approx 2 years later:
Neville smoothed his hand back through the tumble of curls on his daughter's head. It had taken him awhile to get her to sleep. It had been a busy and exiting day. Her daddy had graduated from Hogwarts. Neville smiled. There had been times over the last two years when he thought he would never reach this point. Taking care of a baby and keeping up with all of his studies had sometimes been an overwhelming task, but his friends had been a God send. Especially Ally's Aunt Miney. Neville's smile grew. For now, it was the closest the child could get to saying Hermione's name, but Neville had a feeling she would always be Aunt Miney.
Neville and Ally would be staying at Hogwarts over the summer and with the start of a new school year, Neville would start an apprenticeship with Mrs. Sprout. He wanted to obtain a Masters in Herbology. It was what he had always been best at. He let out a tired sigh and looked back down at his daughter. He couldn't believe that there had been a time when he had wished she didn't exist. She was his whole life now. He gave her a gentle kiss on her forehead, slowly stood from the rocking chair and laid her in her bed. He pulled the covers up and tucked them in around her. He bestowed another kiss upon her tousled curls.
"Sleep well Angel." He whispered. He turned and looked at her again when he reached the doorway. He still had no idea who had hit him with the 'tempus gravis' spell that day, but if he ever found out, he'd be sure to thank them.