(Disclaimer: The world of Harry Potter does not belong to me. It is all the creation of the wonderful J.K. Rowling and I take no credit for inventing these characters.)
(Note from the author: The first two chapters in this story where written by a friend of mine. From this point on, I have created it. Enjoy!)
(Blooper Alert: In the first chapter, you may have noticed that I spelled mom the British way, "mum". In the last chapter, however, I accidentally spelled it "mom" throughout the whole chapter. That was my mistake as an American writer. From now on, however, it will be "mum". Sorry!)
Harry was flabbergasted.
"You-you're-pregnant?" he managed to stutter.
Ginny nodded her head silently. "Yes, that's what I just said, isn't it?"
Harry suddenly picked her up off the ground and whirled her around.
"Harry," Ginny started, but Harry cut her off.
"This is great!" he basically shouted.
"But Harry, how are we going to tell the kids?" Ginny finally said.
At this, Harry froze. The other kids. This hadn't entered his mind until that moment. He plopped down on the bed, deep in thought. Ginny went to sit next to him. After a few moments, Harry finally spoke up.
"We can tell them at dinner. That way, everyone is there and we can just tell them then and there."
"But Harry, we're taking the kids and having dinner at my mum's house. Remember?"
"Well then, I guess we'll have to tell everyone."
"Ev-everyone?" Ginny stuttered. "But Harry, why can't we just wait --"
"No, Gin. They're going to find out anyway. Why not just let tell them rather than wait for them to find out. Anyway, your mum will be thrilled for us. You know how much she loves children…"
"Oh, all right. You have a point." Ginny bit her lip. "But… what if something happens?"
At this, Harry let out a little huff of annoyance. "Gin," he started. "You've said this every time. And every time, I've told you: He's gone, Ginny. Voldemort is dead, for good this time. And without him, the Death Eaters are nothing and can't do anything."
"I know," said Ginny "But…"
"Ginny, there are no buts. We have nothing to worry about."
With that, he kissed her on the cheek and left the room to check that all the children had their bags packed for that night.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
"Is everyone ready to go to Grandma's house? Ginny yelled from the living room, a few hours later.
A rumbling was heard as all the kids came running down the stairs. Little Zoey was in the lead, followed by Brad and Scott and Harry was bringing up the rear, carrying baby Hailey in his arms.
"Ok," said Ginny now that everyone was downstairs. "Kids, we'll be using Side-Along-Apparition to get to Grandma's house. So, Zoey and Scott, you'll go with me and Hailey and Brad will go with Daddy. Everyone understand?"
A murmur of 'yes' ran through the room.
"OK," said Harry "Brad, come here and hold on tight to my arm." Brad did as he was told. "Ok, here we go!" Harry closed his eyes, concentrated, and with the twirl of his cloak, he was gone.
By now, Harry had gotten used to the sensation of Apparating by now, but he still disliked it.
Within a few seconds, he was at the Burrow. Apparently, Ginny had followed right after him because she appeared right next to him a few seconds later.
Molly had heard them Apparate and came bustling into the room. "How are you all?" she greeted warmly.
"We're all fine mum," said Ginny as Brad, Scott and Zoey ran up to hug their grandmother.
"Well, come on then! Everyone else is in the living room and I'm almost finished cooking dinner." Molly said as she ran back towards the kitchen. Harry, Ginny, Brad, Scott and Zoey followed (Zoey was holding Hailey's hand and helping her walk).
When Harry entered the living room, he saw, of course, a sea of red hair, with a couple of blondes here, a few brunettes there.
He looked around for Ron and Hermione and spotted them immediately, surrounded by their three children. Harry already knew that they were expecting, but Hermione seemed a bit bigger than last month. He ran over to them.
"Hey guys!" he said, embracing Ron like a brother, but he was having difficulties hugging Hermione what with her large stomach, but he hugged her just a warmly.
"How are you?" she asked, placing a hand on her stomach.
"Fine," said Harry. What about you?"
"Oh, I'm fine, but the baby is getting pretty heavy," she replied with a laugh.
"How's everyone else, mate?" Ron asked.
"They're all doing great."
Then, Ron and Hermione's children ran up to say hi to their uncle.
Elizabeth, the oldest of the three, got there first. She was 10, the same age as Brad, which meant that they would be going off to Hogwarts together. She had inherited the Weasley red hair, but her hair was bushy like her mum's. Her youngest brother, four-year-old Jacob, however, had brown hair. Their second oldest, Michael, had his dad's red hair. Michael was older than Scotty by two months.
After hugging them, Harry looked around a bit more. It still amazed him how many people could fit in the Burrow, but then he remembered how much Arthur loved Expanding Charms. Harry laughed quietly at his absurd idea. He saw Bill and Fleur, who had been happily married for 12 years talking with Fred and George. Fred's wife, Angelina Johnson-Weasley was busy tending to their twins and George's wife, Alicia Spinnet-Weasley was tending to their twins. Bill and Fleur had three kids of their own who where playing in a corner with Percy and Penelope's son. Charlie had met his wife Sarah in Romania and had two kids with her.
The Weasley clan was pretty big, Harry thought. But it was just going to get bigger what with both Hermione and Ginny expecting.
"Dinner's ready!" Arthur called from the kitchen where he had been helping Molly cook dinner. Everyone migrated toward the dining room.
Everyone managed to find a place around the table, all the families sitting near one another. Harry found his family and sat next to Ginny.
"When are we going to tell them?" he whispered to her.
"Right after dinner is over," Ginny whispered back.
Molly and Arthur were bringing the food out of the kitchen. Harry sniffed the air. It all smelled delicious.
Everyone started putting food on their plates and started to eat. Little mini conversations popped up all along the table. Before she knew it, everyone had finished eating. Her heart stated to beat twice as fast. She did not want to do this. She looked over at Harry with a look of pure panic on her face.
Harry whispered to her "Just do it Gin. It's now or never."
"How about never?" she said.
"Ginny. Look, I'll help you do it, ok? We'll tell them together.
"Oh all right,"
Harry stood up and cleared his throat. Ginny, however seemed to be glued to her chair, so he had to pull her up.
"Umm, excuse me, everyone, but Ginny and I have an announcement to make." Harry started. Everyone went silent and looked up at them. "Ginny, you want to tell them?"
"Ok. Well, umm, I'm umm… I'm going to have a baby."
A dead silence swept through the room. Ginny turned bright red and sat back down, her head in her hands. Molly was the first to speak up. "Congratulations, Ginny dear. I'm so proud," she said, going over to hug her.
Everyone else was still in shock about Ginny. But then Hermione spoke up.
"When are you due, Ginny?"
"Probably early in November."
"WHAT!" Brad yelled across the table at his mother. Everyone turned to look at him. "You're going to have the baby while I'm at Hogwarts? That's not fair!"
Ginny just looked at her son, realizing that yes, the baby would be coming while he was at Hogwarts. "Oh Brad –" Ginny started, but had to stop due to the fact that Brad had gotten up from the table and ran up the stairs. Ginny then turned and ran up the stairs after her son.
Harry was shocked by his son's outburst. Apparently, Ron could tell that he was upset and said, "Don't worry, mate. He'll get over it sooner or later." Harry just nodded as a response.
Meanwhile, Ginny was looking for her son in the many different rooms in the Burrow. Finally, after climbing to the top of the house and searching every room, Ginny found him in Ron's old bedroom. She quietly knocked on the door and Brad just said "Go away."
But Ginny entered and sat on the bed next to her son. She ran her hand through his hair, but he just pulled away. "Baby, I'm so sorry. I wish that I could control this type of thing, but I can't. But listen to me, Brad," he looked up and into her eyes. "Maybe we can arrange something with the Headmistress so we can bring you home for a few days during the school year. That way, you won't miss it. I know that I wouldn't want you to miss that for the world," she said.
"You would really do that?" Brad asked, a little bit skeptical.
"Sure I would. And I'm sure that McGonagall would let you. Strict as she may be, she would understand."
"Thanks mum. And I'm sorry about dinner. I was just really angry, that's all."
"It's all right, I understand."
Together, they went back downstairs to have dessert. After dessert, all the adults left their children at the Burrow in the care of their grandmother and grandfather.
