Disclaimer: I don't own any part of Harry Potter. I write this little fan fic strictly to entertain, certainly not to offend anyone. If the thought of Ron becoming pregnant offends you, please don't read any further.
A/N: I'm dedicating this chapter to VisiOnOfDeath and michelleywelley. To michelleywelley, thank you for your reviews of each chapter and your kind words. Your reviews always brighten my day. I'm honored that you've recommended this story to other people as well. That's a high compliment coming from an author such as yourself. And to VisiOnOfDeath, I want to thank you for your kind and enthusiastic review. It really made my day! In fact, it spurred me on to finish this chapter. Guess I just needed a little kick in the rear. Hope you and Joyce continue to enjoy the story. Keep the reviews coming.
By the way, is there anyone out there interested in being my beta? I could really use an extra brain to help me with this story. Benefits of the job include getting to read this story before anyone else, making suggestions as to where the story should go, and my undying gratitude and friendship. Maybe even some cookies. Now doesn't that sound like a good deal? Come on, you know you want to? Please?
Chapter 6: Somebody's Crying
Hermione lay in bed thinking of what was to come, with her husband snoring softly beside her. She looked over at his sleeping form, curled on his side with his mouth open. She smiled to herself and lovingly stroked his hair while he slept. They had agreed to tell the media once he had reached his third month of pregnancy, that was if he did get pregnant. After the third month, there was much less chance of miscarriage. Everything about this process felt to be out of their control, and both Ron and Hermione were feeling a bit stressed by it. IF they got pregnant, IF Ron could carry the baby to term, IF there were no complications...
Complications. That was a benign enough word, with a terrible meaning. At best, Ron would suffer a worse time of it than he would other wise have endured. At worst, Hermione could lose both the love of her life and their child. Or children, for that matter. Ginny had explained that there was a risk of multiple pregnancy with this procedure. What if Ron ended up carrying 6 or 7 babies like some of those muggle women she had read about? She didn't think Ron could handle the shock. No, she preferred one baby. Well, maybe two. Two would be alright, she supposed. As she imagined what twins would be like, she had a horrible image of Fred and George and all of the trouble they had caused poor Mrs. Weasley, and Hermione shuddered. No, definitely not. One baby would do just fine, thank you very much.
Hermione imagined what it would be like with Ron pregnant, waddling around the house and knowing that their child was in his expanding middle. Would she be jealous of him? Of course not! He didn't ask for her not to be able to conceive or carry their children. He was doing this not to show her up, but to bring their child into the world. It wasn't as if they would have some stranger carry their child. Ron would be the child's biological parent, after all. That would be too self centered to be jealous of him. But she knew that she wasn't being totally honest with herself. Somewhere in the back of her mind she thought she might be just a little jealous of him. After all, she was the woman. That was her purpose, to bear children. The old self doubt she had felt for so long after her initial diagnosis of infertility was ceasing back into her mind. She had felt that she was somehow less of a woman because she was barren. But Ron had never made her feel like she was less worthy of his love. He had been so supportive and loving with her through the whole ordeal, even though she knew his heart was breaking as well. She would just have to get a grip on herself and be as supportive of Ron as he had been with her. She needed to feel like she was an important part in this pregnancy, not just a bystander. Ron and her child would need her and she would be there to nurture them both.
Ron stirred beside her, opening his eyes slowly until they focused on his wife's face, and a sleepy grin broke over his face. Hermione loved it when he first woke up and had that goofy grin on his face. It was very endearing and very Ron. "Good morning, love of my life," she said before kissing him.
"Hmmm, morning love," Ron said with a contented sigh. He loved waking up next to the most beautiful woman every morning. He closed his eyes and curled up beside her to soak in her warmth.
"As much as I hate to wake you, we need to get moving. We have to be at Ginny's office in an hour so you can get your first dose of the potion." Ginny would administer the first dose of the potion to ready Ron's body for pregnancy, so that she could give him instructions on how to do it himself. He would then take it every day for three months before the embryo could be implanted.
"Alright," he yawned loudly, "let me take a quick shower to wake up. In fact, why don't you join me." He gave her the lopsided grin that always meant that they would be late for whatever function they were supposed to attend.
"I wish that I could, but we can't keep Gin waiting. There will be plenty of time for that later tonight." Hermione said, with a hint of regret in her voice.
"Ah well, can't blame a bloke for trying. I'll keep you at your word for later tonight, love." He said as he crawled out of bed and made his way toward the loo.
An hour later, they were seated in Ginny's exam room. "Here's the potion, Ron. You will need to take it everyday, at the same time to have the maximum benefit. You will need to take it on an empty stomach, but follow it with food within 30 minutes of the dose." Ron eyed the bottle with the royal blue liquid in it and hoped that it tasted better than the potions Madam Pomfrey used to give whenever he had been sick or injured at Hogworts. "You will place 7 drops in a glass of water and drink it down as quickly as possible. I'm sorry it doesn't taste very well. Pity sugar makes it useless." Damn, so much for tasting better than Pomfrey's.
After Ginny had mixed the potion in water, he downed the glass in 2 gulps. "Blahhh! You weren't kidding about the taste. That's bloody awful!"
"Sorry about that. Other than the taste, how do you feel?"
"My mouth has a sort of oily feeling from it, but otherwise fine." Ron knew he shouldn't feel an immediate reaction, but he thought he would have felt something.
Ginny wrote his response down in a chart. "You may experience some side effects while taking this potion including moodiness, mild abdominal discomfort, aches and pains, and or food cravings. If anything becomes severe or unbearable, I want you to contact me immediately. One other thing Ron. I'd like you to write down how this potion effects you in this journal." Ginny handed him a bound journal with several columns across the pages. The titles of the columns were Time of dose, Time of meal, Physical Reactions, Emotional Reactions and there were enough pages to last for the entire three months. "You don't need to write anything elaborate or even full sentences. Just a word or two about how you feel throughout the day will suffice. At the bottom of each page is a comments section if there is anything else you would like to add."
"I didn't know there was going to be homework too." Ron said, only half joking. "Just kidding. I'll do it Gin, although you know I'm not the most articulate with my feelings and such."
"Yeah, don't I know it." replied both Ginny and Hermione at the same time. They looked at each other and began laughing hysterically. Ron soon joined them until they were gasping for breath. Once they had calmed down again, Ginny held out a plate to Ron.
"Here's some muffins I picked up from the baker around the corner. There's enough for you and Hermione to share, and I want you to eat a couple now Ron to help with the potion. Ron didn't need telling twice. He gladly welcomed the chance to get the taste of the potion out of his mouth.
"I'll need to see you both again in three months for the procedure. Let me know if you need anything. Oh, and keep an eye on that husband of mine. Tell him I love him when you see him, Ron." Ginny walked them to the door and gave them each a hug.
After a week of taking the potion, Ron noticed that he was starting to feel some of the side effects Ginny had mentioned. His temper at work was quick to rise, and he need to remind himself not to say anything stupid. This was always a hard task.
Harry had noticed that his partner was a little off his game. Not that he couldn't perform all of his duties as he always had, but Ron often seemed to be holding his tongue for fear of saying something he would regret. But Harry couldn't miss the tell tale signs of the Weasley temper when Ron's jaw would clamp tight and his ears would turn a bright scarlet. And usually it was over small things that never would have bothered him before.
After the first month, Ron was also feeling the physical side effects. He often had a dull headache, but this was more annoying than painful. His back was stiff and sore, but this was really nothing out of the ordinary given his line of work. The most troublesome ailment was the constant stomachache he seemed to have. No matter how much or how little he ate, the stomachache would not go away. It wasn't unbearable, but it wasn't pleasant either. His stomach felt heavy and somewhat distended. Ron noticed that certain types of pants, ones with tight waistbands, made him feel worse and he avoided them at all costs.
Into the second month, Ron could no longer hide his emotional state from his co-workers. Ron and Harry were on an assignment and were watching a known criminal, waiting for him to make contact with his supplier of illegal poisons. At last, the time came for the bust and it went down perfectly. Both the dealer and supplier were arrested. The dealer however refused to go quietly. "Come on, mates. I didn't mean no harm. I gots 5 wee ones to feed and clothe. I needs to give 'um a roof over they heads. Poor ickle tikes. What will become of them with they poor ole pop locked up? Have a heart mates. You got any kids?"
Harry had heard enough and performed a silencing charm on the man to shut him up. Harry knew very well that he was a bachelor with no children. He looked back at Ron and found him staring with his eyes watering.
"Hey, what's wrong Ron? You feeling ok?" Harry knew that Ron had been feeling pretty crappy for the last couple of months due to the potion he was taking. Ginny had asked Harry to keep an eye on Ron and let her know if he was having problems. Ron was rubbing his stomach, and Harry wondered if the pain had gotten worse.
"Those poor little kids. Oh Harry, what have I done? Now they won't have a dad?" Large tears began falling down his cheeks, and Ron was powerless to stop them. His shoulders began shaking and he placed one of his hands over his eyes.
Harry felt stunned. Ron knew as well as he did that that clod had no family, but there was no reasoning with Ron right now. His emotions were all over the place, but this was the first time Harry had seen him cry. In fact, Harry had only ever seen Ron cry at his brothers' funerals, and then only briefly. Certainly not huge fat tears like he was now, over something that wasn't even real. Harry led Ron over to a nearby bench away from the rest of the auror team to let him get it out of his system in private. The last thing Ron would want was for his co-workers to see him like this. Harry sat with him and awkwardly patted his shoulder. Ron sat doubled over, one hand on his stomach, one over his eyes.
"Feeling any better?" Harry asked when Ron's shoulders stopped shaking.
"Sorry about that. Don't know what came over me." Ron was truly embarrassed by his outburst.
Harry noticed that their boss has just apparated on the scene to see how the mission went. Harry left Ron to collect himself and headed off Lieutenant Shanks before he could see Ron in this state. "Good work, Potter. We've been after these two for months. What's Weasley doing over there?"
"Oh, uh, he's not feeling very well, sir. Must be that nasty bug that's going around. Not well at all. Do you want me to send him home sir?" Harry lied. Well, it wasn't exactly a lie. Ron was feeling bad, but not because of the flu.
Lieutenant Shanks, famous for his dislike of disorder and sickness, agreed with Harry's suggestion. "Yes, indeed. Why don't you take him back Potter. Don't want him splinching himself if he's ill. Tell him to take the next couple of days off to recuperate. Can't have him getting the rest of the department sick with whatever he's got. Tell him to feel better, Potter." Shanks turned on his heel and returned to the other aurors on the scene.
Harry returned to Ron's side and placed his hand on Ron's shoulder. "Let's go mate."
Ron paled. "Shanks' wants to see me, doesn't he? I can't face him like this."
Harry smiled at him. "Don's worry, I told him you were sick. He gave you the next couple of days off to 'recuperate'. He's afraid he'll get your 'illness'. I'm supposed to take you home so you don't splinch yourself. Lets go relax for a bit. Don't know when the last time we got off early was." They arrived at Ron's house and hung out the rest of the afternoon, just the two of them. Like old times. Ron even made them a snack, but Harry informed him that he wasn't hungry after Ron offered the plate of pumpkin pasties covered in hot sauce.
Harry had left Ron at his house before Hermione returned from work. Ron explained what had happened at work and was relieved when Hermione didn't laugh at him.
"Oh, poor thing," she said as she kissed his forehead and wrapped him in a hug. "You've really had a rough few weeks of it. Well, I'm glad you've got a couple of days off. I think you need a bit of a break from the stress. Why don't I call in sick and we can spend some time together."
"You, Hermione, are willingly going to skive off? I don't believe it! Wonders never cease."
Hermione slapped him on the shoulder and noticed that he was rubbing his stomach. "Stomachache again?"
"It never ends. Ginny said I would have some discomfort, you know, forming the 'organs' and all, but I'm getting a little sick of it."
"Why don't you lie down and take your shirt off." Hermione gently pushed him back on the sofa as he removed his shirt. She noticed his belly seemed a little swollen, most likely due to the new organs forming in there for the baby. She placed her hands on his stomach and began massaging it in slow, gentle circles. "How does that feel? I'm not hurting you am I?"
Ron was marveling at how good her hands felt. "No, it feels incredible. Please don't stop. It's the first time my stomach has felt good in ages." Hermione continued her massage until she noticed that Ron's breathing had evened out. He had fallen asleep. Hermione was glad that she could make Ron feel even a little better. Maybe she would have an important role to play after all.
A/N: The title, Somebody's Crying is by Chris Isaak.
LJ Fan: As always, you were the first to review this chapter. How do you do that? You can always make me laugh, my dear. The next chapter is dedicated to you! Did I tell you that I'm looking for a beta? :)
AnonymousPHancock (too lazy to log in): You know, they have this new feature on fanfiction.net that allows you to stay logged in for 3 days! Just kidding, I don' t care if you're logged in as long as you leave me a review. Keep them coming. Still looking for a beta, you know.
Strayct: Yes, most of the adults I know make more mistakes than children. And their mistakes are much bigger. Just like it would be a mistake to not beta for me :). I had to add it, sorry. The pros and cons list was fun to write. I do that when I've got to make a big decision.
michelleywelley: You rock, my friend. I had to dedicate this to you. Hope you don't mind. By the way, know anyone interested in being my beta? :)
triniroo: I don't think you're going to see too many similarities, other than being pregnant and non-slash. Glad you're liking it so far. Beta, anyone?
Hp/charmed obsessed: I love getting stories off other people's favorite lists. Thanks Digga Digga. Have you seen my beta?
VisiOnOfDeath: I know I already dedicated the chapter to you, but I did enjoy reading your review. I was feeling stuck in the story line, but after reading your review, I got a second wind. You are my muse. Wanna be my beta too?
OK, OK, I guess you guys get the hint. But I really do need a beta. Take pity on ne, I beg of you.