A/N I Own Nothing
Ao3 – Once_Upon_A_Potter
October 1st, 2000
"Is everything okay out here?" Molly asked, coming to her daughter and son in law.
The two looked up at her from where they sat on the ground.
"Just fine, Molly." Harry assured, giving her a small smile.
"Then, you don't mind if I join you, do you?" Molly asked, gesturing to the ground.
Harry and Ginny both shook their heads 'no', and Molly settled herself on the ground in front of them.
"I'm… sorry…" Harry told her sincerely, after a moment of silence. "For leaving like that."
"No!" Molly exclaimed, taking his hand in hers. "Harry, no, you don't need to apologize."
"I just…" Harry groaned, pinching the bridge of his nose, with the hand not held captive by Molly. "I feel terrible for how I reacted."
"Don't." Molly told him, pulling him into a hug. "Honey, don't. You didn't do anything wrong."
They stayed like that a moment, Harry basking in the warmth of Molly's arms around him, before he pulled back with a sigh, his hand going to his stomach.
"You want to feel the baby kick?" he asked, and Molly's eyes lit up.
"I would love to!"
xXx
The door swung open several minutes later, and out came Bill.
"Well," He started, and the three looked up at him, "Dad's done chewing out Muriel, if you want to come back in."
"Thanks Bill," Ginny told him, "But I think we, or Harry and I, at least, will stay out here for a bit longer."
Molly stood, "I'll be inside, if you need anything." She told the two, getting nods in response, before heading back into the house, Bill at her heels.
xXx
"We should probably head in, huh?" Harry asked, half an hour later.
"Yeah," Ginny sighed, standing, "Probably."
"Ground was not a good decision for me." Harry grumbled, "Help me up?"
October 9th, 2000
"Dolores Jane Umbridge, you are sentenced to life in Azkaban on the accounts of your crimes against muggle-borns, breaking the statue of secrecy by way of sending dementors to Muggle London, and the torture of thirty-seven students during the nineteen ninety-five to nineteen ninety-six school year."
October 14th, 2000
"Listeners, we are back with another episode of Potter Watch!" Lee announced into his microphone. "Today we have two special guests. Returning guest, savior of the Wizarding World, Harry Potter, and his wife, Holyhead Harpies star, Ginevra!"
"Ginny." Ginny corrected, raising an eyebrow at Lee.
"Uhm. Right, Holyhead Harpies star, Ginny Potter!" Lee corrected.
"Hmmm." Ginny hummed, "Better." She teased.
"So." Lee started, "I've had many questions come in from our listeners for the two of you."
"So you said." Ginny told him. He had told them when asking them to com onto the show.
"Unsurprisingly," Lee continued, "A lot of then seem to be about your relationship and baby Potter."
"Naturally." Harry laughed.
"I have had Owls bombarding my window at all hours of the day." Lee deadpanned, "I have lost many hours of sleep because of this."
Harry raised his eyebrows, if Lee wanted to talk about loosing sleep because of something… at least he didn't have a small human kicking anything from his bladder to his ribs.
"So!" Lee cleared his throat, pulling out a stack of parchments. You may not believe it, looking at the stack, but he had gone through and weeded out any duplicate questions. "Let's get started, shall we?"
xXx
"First question," Lee started, glancing down at the parchment. "Wants to know when and how you two got together."
"Well…" Harry started, as he and Ginny shared a look.
"Harry James Potter!" Ginny yelled across the Burrow's orchard, as she marched her way toward him.
Harry froze, before slowly turning toward her.
"…Ginny!" he exclaimed, nervously.
"Just what do you think you're doing?" Ginny asked, crossing her arms as she came to a stop in front of him. "Not even coming by once in the last few months, then not even acknowledging me, when you do come by! ON my birthday!"
"Ginny, I-"
"I thought you were dead, Harry!" She yelled, eyes suspiciously shiny, "Do you have any idea, how many times throughout the war, that I thought... I feared, you were dead?"
"Gin, I'm so sor-"
"I don't even know why I thought you might actually want to get back together, after the war." Ginny muttered, feeling stupid for even coming out here. After all, they had originally broken up because of the threat of Voldemort.
Harry scrambled to explain. He did, he had wanted to start dating again, after defeating Voldemort, but how did he tell Ginny that he wasn't sure he was ready to be in a relationship again so soon.
It would take them until the end of the year, but they did get there. Eventually.
"It's a bit of a long story." Ginny finished.
xXx
"The public wants to know baby Potter's gender and due date." Lee told the couple.
"Well," Ginny said, "We don't even know the gender."
"And the due date is November twenty-first." Harry added.
xXx
"What was the most memorable thing that happened at your wedding?" Lee asked, eyes scanning the parchment. "Other than getting married, of course." He read off, before looking up at the couple.
"Oh, boy!" Ginny muttered, leaning back in her chair.
"Well…" Harry drawled, "Rita Skeeter was there."
"And there was alcohol involved." Ginny added.
"Say no more." Lee joked.
"She fell into our wedding cake." Ginny told him bluntly.
"We had a Rita shaped crater, in our cake." Harry muttered.
"She wasn't even supposed to be there in the first place." Ginny grumbled.
"And," Harry tacked on, "Don't forget, we weren't even serving alcohol in the first place. She had brought it in in a flask." He deadpanned.
"You're kidding!" Lee chuckled.
"Do we look like we're kidding?"
xXx
"Okay, this one's for you, Ginny." Lee told her, "How does it feel to see your husband pregnant, instead of yourself."
"Um… Well," Ginny stuttered, unsure how to answer, "Weird, I guess? Not in a bad way! Just, I had never expected… this."
"This?" Lee parroted.
"…Obviously, I never considered that my husband would carry our children instead of me."
"Uh huh." Lee hummed.
"Now, I've always wanted at least one or two children, but, to be honest, the idea of pregnancy has always… scared me? A bit." Ginny admitted. "Not that I'm not absolutely terrified right now, because I am. Just… for different reasons."
The infant and parental mortality rate in Male Bearers terrified her. She didn't want to think about what she would do if something happened to either Harry or the baby.
xXx
"And. Last question!" Lee announced. "For Harry, What are the best and worst parts of pregnancy? This listener wants you to know that he, too, is a male bearer, and he and his wife are considering going the male bearer route to grow their family."
"Oh! Um, first off, I can say, that I don't think they'll regret it if they go down this route." Harry said, glancing toward Ginny.
Ginny gave a single nod, "As long as they know the risks."
"And, second, I don't think I can choose best and worst parts, to be honest."
"Well, what parts do you like?" Lee asked.
Harry hesitated, thinking, "Probably… feeling the kicking." He answered, then continued, "When it's not directed at my bladder, or my ribs. Or late at night."
"And, any parts you don't like?" Lee pressed.
Harry sighed, resigned. "The lack of mobility. And late night cravings."
"Any weird cravings?" Lee pried.
Harry thought for a second, before shrugging.
"I don't know if it necessarily counts as weird," Ginny said, looking between the two men, "But, his most recent, as in last night, was pickles and ice cream."
October 20th, 2000
Ginny wished Harry could have been with her at this baby shower her family had insisted on.
But, he had gotten out of it due to a Healer's appointment.
"Okay!" Audrey started, clapping her hands once, she had had a large part in planning this. "First, thank you all for coming! We have a couple games to get us started…"
Ginny sighed tiredly, propping her chin on her hand.
xXx
"I never want to have to do that again," Harry told Ethan, after having redressed.
"Well, unfortunately, I would suggest letting me check each appointment now." Ethan told him.
"Really?" Harry didn't whine. He didn't.
"Yes, really." Ethan responded. "In other news, you are dilated to a one already!"
xXx
Ginny stared down at the piece of parchment she had been handed. How the Hell was she supposed to know how many bones a baby was born with?
October 25th, 2000
October 30th, 2000
"Happy birthday, Mum!" Ginny said, wrapping her arms around Molly in a bear hug that rivaled Molly's own.
"You didn't have to do anything!" Molly told her children, hugging Ginny back, as she looked around at the decorations they had put up in her living room.
"Of course we did!" Ginny insisted, stepping back out of her mother's grasp.
"Humph." Muriel harrumphed.
Ginny didn't know what the woman's problem was this time, and chose to ignore it. A glance around the room revealed that the rest of her family did the same.
xXx
Harry came up behind Ginny, several hours later, wrapping his arms around her waist, and resting his chin on her shoulder.
"I'm ready to go home." He uttered, he had had several stress induced contractions since showing up, and was ready to be away from Muriel, specifically.
xXx
"Come on!" Ginny groaned, turning the key in the ignition again, but once more, instead of being rewarded with the engine roaring to life, all she got was a sad click, click, click.
Ginny sighed, "I'm going to go talk to my dad," She told Harry, unbuckling her seatbelt, suddenly glad her father had recently taken an interest in cars. "I'll be back."
"And I'll stay here." Harry called after her, not wanting to go back in.
She would only be in the house for a matter of minutes, before coming back out.
"Dad's going to look at it in the morning." She said, "but for now, he's letting us borrow the Anglia."
October 31st, 2000
"Daddy?"
Harry looked up to see a little girl looking up at him, hair red like fire, and eyes like emeralds. She was holding a realistic baby doll in her arms, also with bright red hair, Harry assumed it was one of those dolls that could be modeled after the little girl who owned it. While it was realistic, he knew it was a doll by how unnaturally still it was.
"Yes, My Flower?" He asked, leaning forward and picking the little girl up, settling her on his lap.
"You're a pretty great dad, you know that?" a boy asked, sitting on the couch beside Harry, cuddling into his side.
"Dad!" Another boy's voice, older than the first, came from behind him, just before the boy in question came vaulting over the back of the couch. Obviously intending to land on the couch but overreaching and ending up on the floor instead.
Harry's heart skipped a beat, but the boy immediately popped up, laughing, as he settled himself on the couch beside Harry.
"Guess what! Guess what!" The older boy demanded excitedly.
"What?" Harry asked, smirking, already knowing the boy's train of thought.
"No!" the boy exclaimed, "Guess what day it is!"
"Hmmm." Harry hummed, side eyeing the boy, "Christmas?"
"No!" The boy laughed, "Guess again!"
"Halloween?" Harry guessed.
"Nope!" The boy paused, "Well, yes, but no!"
"Well," Harry drawled, "Would it happen to be y-"
Harry woke up, blinking sleepily at Ginny's back, not knowing what woke him.
He rolled over. Only then registering the unusual wetness.
His brows furrowed in confusion. Had he wet the bed? But he hadn't done that since he was five!
He pushed himself into a sitting position, pushing the covers off his legs.
He went to stand, but stopped, breath hitching, when a contraction rippled through his abdomen.
He had had several throughout the day, but none quite as strong as the one just now.
Harry thought his situation through, once the contraction had passed.
The liquid… seemed to be coming from… between his legs, which would mean…
Had his water broken?
