Chapter 9: Tell Her Tonight
A/N: The chapter title comes from Franz Ferdinand. I highly recommend their debut CD, and it was just announced that they will write music for The Goblet of Fire, and may have a cameo in the movie (perhaps as the Weird Sisters). How cool is that?
Hermione Weasley worked hard to control everything that she could, both in her personal and professional life. This tactic had served her well as a Ministry lawyer, as she always appeared cool and collected in the courtroom. Her clothes were always pressed and her hair, once a bushy nightmare of unruly curls, was now tamed into cascading waves of honey brown. At Hogwarts, she had never taken the time to notice her own appearance, and furthermore could have cared less. Now, she realized the importance of her own grooming and appearance on how seriously she was taken in her job. She couldn't help but scoff at what she perceived as the shallowness of it all. Really, what did one's hair and clothing matter if one was articulate and knowledgeable in their field? But, she was clever enough to know that appearance did matter to others, no matter how unfair it seemed.
Hermione's control in her personal life had been all but non-existent since she and Ron had found out that she was unable to bear children. She had tried to be strong, and take the news with grace. She succeeded most of the time. Only when she overheard other women speak of their pregnancies as "accidents" or when she read about Muggle girls who discarded their infants in rubbish bins did she become outraged over the unfairness of it all. A child could never be an accident or a piece of garbage to be thrown out with yesterday's leftovers. Children were a gift, one she had not received.
Hermione didn't think that she could share her feelings about all of this to anyone. Even though Ron was going through it with her, and knew from his own experience how being childless made one feel...incomplete, she didn't want to burden him with her darker thoughts. He had been amazingly supportive and now was trying to become pregnant and carry their child. She felt he certainly had enough on his plate without adding more. Surprisingly, Hermione found great comfort in talking to Molly Weasley. Of all people, Hermione thought her mother-in-law, the mother of seven, could never relate to the emptiness she felt in her heart. Molly had surprised her, by not only understanding, but by offering comfort, companionship, and advise. Now that all of the Weasley children were grown and out of the house, Molly also felt an emptiness. It was Molly who had suggested that Hermione should get away for a few days with Ginny for a girls weekend away. Molly had even offered to watch little James so that the girls could enjoy themselves. Hermione, though she loved her husband dearly, had found that he took his mother and family far too much for granted. He simply expected them to be as wonderful and warm as they were. Perhaps, she thought, that comes with being raised in a close-knit, loving family. Hermione was the tiniest bit jealous of the unconditional love Ron had always known. She had been the only child to parents who, while career-oriented and ambitious, were not exactly warm and fuzzy. Now with both of her parents deceased over ten years ago, she felt even closer to Molly.
Remembering Ron's outburst at his mother last night, Hermione frowned. He had apologized for his behavior and truly appeared sorry. Perhaps it was the stress or the hormones, but Ron definitely was acting strange. His temper was short, even by Ron standards. Once she had left the house to cool down, she had talked about it with Ginny and Molly. Molly knew that her son normally was not that rude, and laughed it off. She laid wager that Ron would come to apologize shortly, right after he had fed himself. Sure enough, he did just that an hour later while the three woman sat in Ginny's kitchen drinking tea. Ron had that downcast look in his eyes, and truly did look remorseful. He was so utterly adorable that she couldn't remain cross with him. They had apparated home a short while later, and Ron had gone straight to bed. He really did look exhausted, she remembered thinking at the time. When she had awoken this morning, Ron had already left for work.
Hermione's thoughts were interrupted by a small 'pop' from the fireplace in her office. She looked up to see Harry's head in the fire.
"Harry! What a nice surprise. To what do I owe the pleasure?"
"Hermione, something's wrong with Ron. He collapsed while we were on a case this morning. I've brought him over here to Ginny's office and she's checking him over now. I think you ought to come." Before Hermione could digest the information, Harry disappeared again.
Hermione's mind went into overdrive. A million thoughts tumbled through her head at once. What if there's something seriously wrong with him? "Oh Gods. Please let him be alright," she said aloud, although there was no one in her office to overhear. As quickly as she could, she grabbed her cloak and informed the secretary that she had a family emergency and would be out of the office for the rest of the day. She took a handful of floo powder out of the expensive urn on the mantle, threw it into the fire, and shouted the name of Ginny's clinic.
As she stumbled out of the fire, she rushed over to the waiting room and immediately spotted Harry. Not bothering to brush the ashes from her clothes, she immediately threw her arms around his neck. She could feel the hot tears threatening to spill from her eyes as she asked him what had happened. Harry explained the day's events as Hermione sank into a chair.
"How could he go on a mission, knowing he wasn't feeling well? Do you think he'll be alright? How long has he been in with Ginny? Shouldn't we take him to St. Mungos?"
"Hey, slow down. We just got here, right before I called you. Ginny wanted to look him over first to see what was wrong. She would have already transferred him if she thought it was serious. I haven't even sent a message to the Lieutenant yet. Now that you're here, I better go take care of it." Harry stood and turned back to look at Hermione, placing a reassuring hand on her should. "He's going to be fine. I'm sure of it."
Hermione placed her hand on top of his and gave it a squeeze. "I know, I'm just worried. He's everything to me, Harry." She closed her eyes, hoping to stop the tears from falling. When she opened them again, she smiled up at Harry. "Thanks for taking care of him, of us. You're the best friend I've ever had."
Harry kissed her on the cheek before walking off to the fireplace to inform Lieutenant Shanks of the day's events. Harry had only been gone a moment before a door opened down the long corridor and a head of auburn hair emerged. Ginny spotted Hermione and waved her back.
Hermione, keeping herself in check, managed to calmly walk the distance to where Ginny stood, rather than run as her first instinct told her to do. Ginny smiled at her, a markedly good sign. "He's going to be just fine. He's asking for you. Go on in, and I'll come back to check on you in a few minutes."
Ron was lying down on the exam table with his shirt off. When he saw his wife, a huge grin broke over his face. Hermione's fears were gone in that instant, and she was never so glad to see him as she was in that moment.
"There's my beautiful wife. Come here, you." Ron motioned for her to sit next to him. Hermione sat in the chair next to the table, cupping his hand between both of hers.
"Oh, Ron. I was so worried. Are you feeling better?"
Ron's eyes were misty, but the smile never wavered from his face. "I will be, in about nine months. We're pregnant, love. It worked." Ron's voice was oddly calm as he said the words they had wanted to hear for so many years. All of the frustration, disappointment, and waiting had led up to this moment. The tears that had threatened to spill since Hermione had heard about Ron's collapse now made their way down her cheeks. But these were tears of sheer joy. Hermione was rarely speechless, but this was one of those times. Instead, she placed her hands on either side of his face and kissed him tenderly.
After what seemed like an eternity, they broke apart. "Oh, Ron! Is it real? Is this really happening?"
"Yes love, it's real. We are going to be parents in less than nine months. I know, I can't really believe it either, but Ginny confirmed it. Thought she was going to break my ribs the way she was hugging me. Don't know whether she's happier about us giving her a niece or a nephew or the fact that her research was successful."
Hermione beamed at her husband. "I always knew that girl was a smart one. Had to be, I suppose, good Weasley genes and all." Her face changed to one of concern as she remembered why they were in Ginny's office in the first place. "So are you alright then? What about this illness of yours, will it affect the baby?"
"Actually, according to Ginny, I was sick because of the baby. Apparently, different people show signs of pregnancy in different ways. This was just my bodies way of letting me know."
Hermione placed her palm over Ron's flat stomach, hoping to feel any signs of life. There was no movement detectable, but she could feel the heat radiating from his abdomen. She leaned down to place a kiss on his stomach and felt a rumble under her lips. She laughed at his timing. "Hungry, are we?"
"How did you guess," he said, somewhat embarrassed that his empty stomach decided to make itself known at that precise moment. "Ginny should be back soon to let me out of here. What say we go to that little Italian place around the corner and grab a bite, yeah?"
As if on cue, Ginny knocked on the door and let herself in. Her smile was almost as wide as Ron and Hermione's. "Well, how are the mommy and daddy doing?"
Hermione threw herself at her friend and sister-in-law, and began to cry again. "Gin, how can we ever thank you? We never thought this could happen to us. You are the cleverest, most wonderful healer ever! You've made our dreams come true."
Ron, who was busy wiping his eyes, agreed. "You really are the best sister in the world. Thank you, for everything." Ginny crossed the room and hugged her brother as the tears began to fall down her own cheeks.
The emotional moment was interrupted by another knock at the door. Harry entered with a serious expression on his face. "The mediwitch said that Hermione was here, and I wanted to see if everything was alright. Why is everyone crying, is it bad news?"
"Looks like you're going to be an uncle again. The procedure worked, Harry." Ron was grinning from ear to ear.
Harry embraced Ron as a brother, and clapped him on the back. "Congratulations, mate. That's bloody fantastic! Told you my wonderful wife could do it." He turned to give Hermione a hug and lifted her off her feet, as they both laughed.
"So, enough with all this hugging and crying. Harry, did you check in with headquarters?" Ron wondered what their boss had to say about the day's events.
Harry's face turned serious again. "Yeah, I talked to Shanks. He was a little upset that I let Amato get away, but he'll cool down by tomorrow. He wanted to know if you were okay and told me to tell you 'don't even think about setting foot in this office until you are fully recovered or there will be dire consequences, Mr. Weasley'", Harry said in his best Bertram Shanks voice. "It was touching, really."
"So he was concerned about me, was he? The old softy." Ron chuckled at the thought of what Shanks would say if he knew they called him a softy. "So was he really pissed, then?"
"Well, he's not happy that Amato is still loose, but he understood. He would have done the same thing if his partner were in trouble. Like I said, he'll get over it by tomorrow and when I bring old Delroy in, he might even bake me a nice plate of biscuits."
"Thanks again, mate, for saving my bacon back there. I thought I was fine. Guess the little one had other plans."
"Speaking of which, Ron," Ginny began, "you are going to have to give up the field work until after the baby is born. You really were lucky today. If you had gone on a more dangerous mission, it all could have ended very differently. I'm very happy for you both, and I don't want to be a kill joy, but you have to remember that your pregnancy is going to be high risk. You need to follow all of the instructions I give you, and you need to keep as much stress out of your life as you can. Being a male already puts you at a higher risk for miscarriage, and I want to try to reduce those odds as much as we can." Ginny handed Ron his potions and a scroll full of instructions on what and what not to do. "If you're feeling up to it, you can get dressed and get out of here. I really am happy for you both. I want to see you back here in the office in two weeks to see how everything is progressing. I've got to go tend to my other patients. Floo me if you need anything or just want to chat. We'll have to get together this weekend. Hermione, think about where you want to go on our girls weekend." Ginny quietly shut the door behind her.
"I've got to get going myself. There's a ton of paperwork just waiting for me at the office. You are going to be great parents. If anyone deserves this, it's the two of you." Harry disapparated with a pop.
"Guess that just leaves the three of us, love. If you hand me my shirt, we'll get out of here." As Hermione retrieved Ron's shirt from the other side of the room, his stomach gave a loud growl for the third time. "All right, all right. I'm hurrying and then we'll eat. Hold you wig."
"Who are you talking to?"
"The baby, of course. Already, it's demanding to be fed."
"Ron, the baby is no larger than the fingernail on my pinky. How can it possibly be responsible for that?"
"You'd be surprised how big a Weasley appetite can be."
Hermione whispered 'not really' under her breath, but Ron had obviously heard her. "Just wait. In a couple of months, this baby will be wanting food all hours of the day and night."
"An I'll make sure it has plenty to eat, even if it's three o'clock in the morning" Hermione said as she kissed him on the forehead, and mentally made a note to triple their food delivery order from Guielgood's Magical Grocer. She had a feeling that Ron would eat all of it, and possibly more.
They had enjoyed a leisurely lunch at Marconi's and true to form, Ron ordered two entrees. Over lunch, they had discussed telling the rest of the family and agreed that they needed to tell Molly and Arthur first, and then the rest of the Weasleys. Ron also thought about Harry, knowing that he would have to have a new partner for the first time. Harry hadn't mentioned it, and had been very supportive and happy when he had found out about the pregnancy. But Ron couldn't help notice how quickly Harry left to go back to work, and hoped that his best friend would be alright. Hermione thought that he would just need a little time to adjust to the idea of a new partner, but reassured Ron that Harry was overjoyed for them.
Later that afternoon, Ron and Hermione flooed to the Burrow to fill Molly and Arthur in on the good news. Molly immediately threw her arms around her son and squeezed him tightly. She then embraced Hermione, hugged her just as tightly, and kissed her cheek. Molly's tears of joy were infectious, and it wasn't long before Hermione was crying again. When they broke apart, Hermione noted that Ron's eyes were red rimmed, as he handed Arthur's handkerchief back to him.
"Well then, this is an exciting day. Oh, I'm just absolutely chuffed. I'm so happy for the both of you, and I can't wait until I meet my new grandson, or granddaughter. And remember dear, twins do run in the family," Molly said as she wiped her eyes on her apron.
"Ugh, don't remind me. Speaking of the devils, have you heard from them this week?" Ron hoped that his brothers would take it easy on him once they found out the news, but anything was possible from those two. After all, he was pregnant and Ginny said to take it easy. No stress allowed.
"Don't worry dear. I'll make sure that they don't excite you. Why don't you sit down, and I'll get you some supper. I'm sure you must be starved. I remember those days well. My appetite was enormous. I've made some Shepard's Pie, your favorite." Molly picked up her wand and magically spooned some onto a plate.
Hermione didn't think she could eat another bite. And really, it wasn't healthy for Ron to overeat and make himself sick."Sorry, Mum. We just ate about an hour ago. I'm still full from lunch."
"Speak for yourself. I'd love some, Mum." Ron began to stuff his mouth as soon as the plate arrived in front of him.
"Don't worry, dear. It's perfectly natural to be hungry all the time when you're pregnant. His body will tell him when he's had enough. He hasn't had any morning sickness then?"
"Not so far, but the scroll Ginny gave us said it could appear any time. Normally, a woman wouldn't even know she was pregnant yet at this stage. It's hard to know exactly what to expect with Ron's pregnancy." Hermione watched in awe as Ron finished off another plate of food.
After Ron had eaten his fill at his parent's house and agreed to bring home several casseroles and pies, the couple flooed back to their own home. Ron unfastened his pants and stretched out in a chair. He absently rubbed his stomach and spoke to their child. "Yes, you're full and happy now, aren't you? Your grandmother is an excellent cook, isn't she? Just wait until you're older, and you have your first Weasley Christmas at the Burrow. You wouldn't believe all the food she cooks. And all of your aunties, and uncles, and cousins will be there. It's quite the three-ring circus."
Hermione sat on the floor next to Ron and placed her hand on his stomach. "You're going to love it there, little one. And you will be loved by so many people, but especially by Mummy and Daddy. We love you so much already." She smiled at her beaming husband. "Well, you certainly ate enough for a family of five tonight. How's your tummy feeling?"
"It aches like mad, but I'm so happy I couldn't care less."
Hermione kissed him on the forehead, and grabbed his hand. "Come on, you look tired. Let's turn in early. You know, you'll have to talk to Shanks tomorrow morning about assigning you to a desk job. Are you ready for all of this?"
"Guess I'll have to be. I'd do anything for little Cleatus here."
"Cleatus? You can't be serious."
"We can't keep calling him or her 'it' or 'the baby', so why not Cleatus? Cleatus the fetus." He gave her one of his trademark smirks.
She laughed out loud at this. Only Ron would come up with a name like Cleatus for the baby. Perhaps everything was finally working out the way it was supposed to. The gift of life had been given to them, and she didn't plan on ever taking it for granted.
A/N: I know, this was extremely sappy, but since I've been building up to this for 8 chapters, I figured you deserved a little extra sappy goodness. I actually got this chapter out quicker than I thought I would, so hopefully this makes up a little for the long delay before. Again, many thanks to the lovely and talented betas, Michelleywelley and LJ Fan for their support.
procrastinator: Thanks, I'm glad you like it.
LJ Fan: Thanks for your suggestion. It made much more sense after I changed that part. I agree, Molly is awesome. She's the mother of all mothers, which is why I have such a good time writing her. No, I haven't seen any good movies in a while. It doesn't seem like there's been much out. I did watch "Love Actually" again though, and it always fills my need for sappiness.
Strayct: Well, I guess this chapter answered the question of what's wrong with Ron. I'm not done torturing poor Ron yet, but don't worry, it's all for a good cause!
Arwentheelf: Your wish is my command.
Ascamelien: I'm glad you liked it so much. My head is getting larger by the minute with all of the praise :) At least I didn't make you wait 3 months this time! See, I'm getting better (this week anyway).
priestess-of-suzaku: Keep reading (and reviewing) to find out. What would you like him to have?
Harrysmom: Thank you. I agree that's it's time for Ron to do something wonderful, as it bugs me to no end when he's only portrayed as the fool for comic relief. His character in cannon is so much more dimensional than he is in the movie versions. He would do anything for the people he loves, even if it means sacrificing himself. I think he is an all around wonderful guy, but that's not to say he won't still provide a little comic relief. That's why we love him! Hope you continue to enjoy the story.
Michelleywelley: Thanks for the suggestions - I had my issues with those parts too, and your comments were right on target. I'm waiting anxiously for pumpkin carvers next chapter. I changed my bio to list my favorite fan fics on other sites, and hers is the first one on the list (with a little endorsement from you as well). If you have any other suggestions for good stories, let me know. I'm always up for a good read. Oh, and you asked about "hold your wig". It's just something I made up, kind of like "don't flip your wig".
hp/charmed obsesed: Thanks again. I tried to be a little quicker this time :)
Satine-cm: I love having faithful readers! Did you mean "Junior"? That's the one where Arnold is pregnant. Yeah, that's the tone I'm trying to go for, rather than the typical Mpreg story. It didn't start off as anything like the movie, but as it goes on, there are certain similarities that keep popping up. Hope you continue to enjoy the story.
Huggles4All: Thank you so much. I'm trying to keep it a little different, but with so many fan fics out there, it's hard to be original
Rise2destiny: Hope this answers all your questions. Thanks for reviewing.
Penelope Richmond: Thank you so much! That was very nice of you. But I think you should still write your story - I'd love to read it. And if you need any firsthand info, I'd be happy to help.
Triniroo: Yes, he's finally preggers. Thanks for continuing to follow the story, hope you like it so far.
Bob Bennit: That's ok. I do that sometimes too. I'm glad you reviewed for this chapter, anyway. Keep any eye out for Delroy Amato, you may see him again.