December 1st
"I'm late,"
This was how Hermione greeted Percy when he got home from work. He'd intended to change quickly so that they could go over to the Burrow, where Mum was hosting a family gathering for Bill's birthday.
Hermione's words, and her hair, which looked like she'd been running her fingers through it, stopped him in his tracks.
"You're late?"
"Yes. I'm late." These particular words could only have one implication.
"How late?"
"...six weeks."
"Hermione!"
"I know! I should have realized sooner. But I just...I don't know," Hermione wouldn't look him in the eye.
"There's a spell we can do,"
"I've been too nervous to do anything,"
"Do you want me to do it?" It was a simple variation on a detection spell; Percy recalled it from his many, many readings of his book in basic healing, which had doubled as their form of communication last year.
"I…" Hermione stood up and started pacing, "Yes. No. I don't know."
"Well, why don't I do it then?"
"No!" Hermione backed away from him, "I just. Ugh!" She yelled suddenly.
"Hermione, what's wrong?"
"This is all your fault!" She pointed at him, "You're the one whose been doing the contraceptive spells lately!"
"I have, but I haven't forgotten once," Even as Percy spoke...he suddenly remembered that, headed home after Penny and Alicia's wedding about two months ago, he and Hermione had both been a few drinks past tipsy and…
He had amazing, albeit fuzzy, memories of the lovely, late night sex they'd had. But he didn't remember casting the contraceptive spell. He also recalled that lately, Hermione had been put off at the smell of their usual Indian takeaway, despite the fact that it was usually her favorite.
The look on Hermione's face told him that she'd already come to the same conclusion.
"This can't be happening!"
"We don't know if it is, yet. If you'd just let me perform the spell-"
"No! I'd rather take a muggle test. I can buy one tomorrow."
"But Hermione, we could do it right now."
"No, don't. I don't want to," Hermione seemed to be on the verge of tears.
"Hermione, what is wrong?"
"Nothing!" She stormed out of the room, body language screaming that it could not possibly be 'nothing' that was bothering her.
Percy went to the kitchen and poured himself a glass of water. His hands were shaking. His heart was pounding.
Hermione...pregnant? Was he going to be a father?
Truth be told, Percy hadn't given much thought to parenthood, but he did recall the long afternoon he had spent with Dad the summer before his fifth year of Hogwarts.
Dad had pulled Percy out to spend some time in his shed under the guise of helping him with a project.
What had followed instead was a long conversation, complete with pamphlets and diagrams, during which Percy learned more than he ever thought there was to know about the male body. Dad had no shame in matter-of-factly using the proper anatomical names for each part of the body and its function. Erections, nocturnal emissions, masturbation, sperm, semen. No detail was spared, much to young Percy's dismay.
Then, Dad had started in on describing the female body. Periods, as it turned out, were not just the end of a sentence.
And S-E-X, a word that Percy could scarcely say out loud to himself, was something that most adults did frequently, with one or more partners, purely for pleasurable purposes.
Childbirth, the next phase of the chat, was something that Percy had never spent much time on. Babies just...appeared...didn't they?
Apparently not.
By the end of the conversation, Percy had developed a blush so deep that his younger siblings had asked if he was sunburned when he returned to the house.
Percy didn't notice that several minutes had passed reminiscing on this awkward but somewhat endearing memory, until Hermione returned with her hair plaited, disguising how messy it had become from running her fingers through it.
"We've got to be at the Burrow soon," She said flatly, "You'd better go and change." She'd changed into a loose dress with a sweater over top, and a pair of leggings. The outfit was not out of the ordinary, but it did serve to completely camouflage her midriff.
Percy retreated to their bedroom, switching from his work robes into a muggle shirt and trousers. He polished his glasses with a handkerchief, and found himself looking in the mirror.
He was getting older, relatively speaking. He was 22. That was plenty old enough to be a dad, wasn't it? He had a good career that he liked, he had a big house with plenty of space for children.
When he finished changing, they walked out to the edge of the property together. He offered his arm to Hermione as he usually did when they travelled together, but she shook her head, twisting on the spot by herself and disappearing.
Why is she so angry? Percy wondered as he turned on the spot and disapparated alone.
It was surprisingly easy to hide their quarrel from others at the party. After singing to Bill and passing around cake and ice cream, everyone broke off into smaller groups to chat. Though the siblings saw each other frequently, there never seemed to be a lack of anything to talk about when they were together.
Ginny was one of the centers of attention, as the newest reserve chaser with the Holyhead Harpies. She'd begun attending practices and training with the team a few weeks prior, and was excited to chat to anyone who would listen about how it was going.
Fleur was another center of attention; she was seven months along and glowing, pregnant belly on display under a festive floral dress. She sat with Bill, Tonks, Remus, and Teddy, who was just old enough to sit up and smile and play.
Percy stood with Dean and Draco in the kitchen, chatting with Ginny and Harry about quidditch. Percy didn't have much to contribute, but between Harry's pride in his girlfriend's accomplishments and Dean's many questions about Wizarding sports leagues, there wasn't much of a need for Percy to do anything but enjoy the company.
After a while, Percy went to refill his glass and see if Hermione needed anything. Upon seeing her deeply entrenched in conversation on the other side of the room with Ron and Luna, Percy instead wandered over to Fred and George, who were playing with baby Teddy on the rug near the fireplace.
"Hey, Percy, how's it going?"
"Alright, how are you?"
"Alright. We're just playing with this little man," George gently turned Teddy around to face Percy. Teddy was an adorable child, all smiles. Percy reached for Teddy, picking him up and setting the baby in his lap. Fred leaned forward and tickled Teddy under the chin, and Teddy's giggle made the rest of them chuckle.
"Won't be long till we've got another one of these crawling around," George commented.
Percy's heart nearly stopped. "What?"
"Fleur. She's due at the beginning of February. Just a few more months now and we'll all be passing around a new little Weasley,"
"Oh, right, of course," If George caught on to Percy's nerves, he didn't say. Teddy leaned his head back into Percy's chest, and Percy shifted so that he was cradling Teddy.
Gosh, Teddy was adorable. Very small, with round cheeks and a mop of turquoise curls. Tonks had told Percy at one point that her own hair as a baby stayed very firmly in the magenta category until Tonks had turned 3 or 4. Percy ran his finger over Teddy's small cheek. The little boy was beginning to blink, long and slow, and Percy could tell he was getting sleepy.
"You look like a natural, Perce," Fred said. Percy didn't say anything to that; he wasn't sure he could without giving away the fact that there was a very real possibility that he would be a dad in the not-so-distant future.
"Hi Percy, have you got my Teddy bear?" Tonks asked, holding out her hands for her son. Percy passed Teddy over, and Teddy curled up in his mother's arms, "We're headed home pretty soon, got to get him into bed,"
"Of course. Have a good night, Tonks. Nice seeing you, Remus," The pair left with their son, leaving Percy seated on the floor with Fred and George.
Percy was left thinking about the day his father had given him The Talk. That evening, Bill had pulled him aside into he and Charlie's room.
"So, Dad had you working on some projects in the shed with him today, did he?" Bill said, beckoning Percy to take a seat at the foot of his bed. Charlie settled on the other bed, and Bill leaned up against the headboard.
"Yes. He did." 15-year-old Percy sat stiffly, already feeling the blush returning to his cheeks.
"Bill and I just wanted you to have the chance to ask us questions, you know," Charlie added, "If you wanted to be able to ask someone more your age,"
"I took Charlie aside, when he was 15. Seems we've started a tradition,"
"Oh." Was all Percy could say.
"We also wanted to give you these," Charlie added, reaching for a small paper bag with the logo of the local chemist, "Muggle condoms. They're almost as effective as the contraceptive spell, so if you happened to want to protect yourself before you or your partner have turned 17, or if you're with someone who doesn't know about magic...here they are. Instructions are on the package,"
"Thanks." Percy busied himself with studying the box, but quickly realized he didn't really want to know exactly what and how condoms were used.
"So...got any questions? You can ask us anything. There really are no stupid questions, promise,"
And Percy did, in fact, have questions, which Bill and Charlie both answered as honestly as they could. There were moments when all 3 boys were blushing, but Percy headed back to his own room that night feeling much less confused than before.
"Angelina's been talking about kids, lately," Fred said, suddenly, pulling Percy out of his daydream.
"Has she?"
"Yeah. We were talking about our future the other day. And." Fred paused, as he sometimes did, trying to gather his thoughts, "And I think she'd like to be married and settle down, when we're ready, and start a family,"
"Verity's been hinting at rings lately," George admitted. Verity and Angelina were seated together across the room, giggling about something, "She has no idea that Fred and I went out looking the other day. Found a custom jeweler and the ring is in the works right now. Should be ready in a couple weeks,"
"That's brilliant, George, congratulations," Percy smiled, clapping George on the shoulder.
"Thanks," George smiled sheepishly.
"Angie and I will get there," Fred said, "I'd just like to know that I could pick up our kids and carry them around. Play with them, lift them up, you know?" Fred's balance was slow to return, even with months of therapy.
"You'll get there, Freddie," George soothed, "And even if you're a little wobbly, so are kids. They're constantly toppling themselves over for no reason at all,"
"It'll be something you and Fred Junior have in common, won't it? Like father, like son," Percy added. Fred grinned.
"And of course, little Percy Junior will be right on his heels, lecturing him about the importance of staying upright," Fred teased, and then looked up, over Percy's shoulder, "Oh, hi Hermione,"
Could there be any worse timing? Percy looked up to see Hermione, looking pale.
"I'm a bit tired, Percy, I think I'm going to head home," Her voice was light, but Percy could see the tension on her face.
"Let me grab my coat, I'll come with you," Percy said, starting to stand, but Hermione had already turned and left. Fred and George looked at each other, then back at Percy.
"You'd better go with her, Percy. Pop by the shop sometime next week, we've got a couple new products that the DMLE contracted us to make. I want to get your opinion on them," George and Fred shook Percy's hand in farewell, and Percy grabbed his coat and hurried out the door.
Hermione was already gone, so Percy walked calmly to the edge of the property, in case anyone was watching from the windows, and disapparated.
Hermione was pacing in the living room when he finally got in the door.
"You told them?!" She exploded, "We don't even know if I am pregnant, and you told your brothers about it?"
"No, Hermione, of course I didn't tell them! We'd been talking about Fleur's baby, and then Fred mentioned that Angelina wants kids. You just happened to walk by at exactly the wrong moment, to overhear that," Percy took off his coat and hung it up, then picked up Hermione's from the floor in the entry and hung it up as well, "Of course I didn't tell anyone."
"I don't believe you." She spat.
"I'm sorry," Percy was well and truly bewildered. Hermione had been angry with him before, but she'd never been like this. Percy wondered briefly if pregnancy hormones had something to do with it, "Why won't you let me do the spell on you, to see if you are even pregnant or not?"
"Because!" She wouldn't stop moving, "I don't want to be! How can I be pregnant? I have no money, no job, I'm only 19 years old. My mother would have a fit, your mother would have a fit! I don't even know what I'm doing with my life, I don't even know if I want to have children or not, but I wasn't expecting to have to make that decision until after-" She cut herself off, eyes wide as she watched Percy.
"After what?" He pressed.
"After we get married." The words hung heavy between them.
"Married?" Percy was bewildered. Sure, the thought of marrying her had crossed his mind before, more than once. But he didn't know she'd been thinking about it, too.
"Yes, married. Except I don't even know if that's what you want,"
"I- I think, it is," He stammered, but she had already moved on.
"And even if that's what you want, I don't even know if that's what I want," Hermione plowed on, "We only just started dating a few months ago, and then I was in Australia for so long, and now we're home and together and you've got this great job that you love and a beautiful house that I've been squatting in,"
"Hermione, this is as much your house as it is mine," Percy said, but Hermione continued as if she hadn't heard him.
"And I just gave McGonagall my resignation because I hate working on the curriculum committee so much because they're all goddamn IDIOTS caught up in their own agendas."
"You quit?" This was news to Percy. Hermione barreled on.
"But now I'm jobless and basically homeless and I could be pregnant and I don't even know what I am doing with my life!" This was the dam that burst. Hermione began to sob, dropping to her knees on the floor.
Percy went to her, knelt on the floor beside her, and wrapped his arms around her.
Several long minutes passed as she cried. It gave Percy time to think.
They had only been together, officially, for a few months. They'd been friends for years, but Percy had never even considered that it could be something more until last summer, just before she'd gone on the run.
Then, once they finally got together, she was gone again to Australia for another several weeks. And then she came back and they were together, living together, having sex, eating dinner and doing the dishes together, all of it. It had been very much a "zero to one hundred" situation, diving in headfirst with no second thoughts or hesitations. Her getting the job with the curriculum committee had been similarly impulsive.
Percy thought back to what Hermione had said when she was yelling. She didn't have a job. She didn't know what she wanted to do. She wasn't feeling ready.
Percy wasn't exactly feeling ready either. But they didn't even know if she was pregnant yet.
"Percy," Hermione said. She sat up, and leaned back against the couch. Percy joined her, wrapping his arm over her shoulder. "I'm sorry."
"You don't need to be sorry. I know you're scared,"
"Yeah, I am scared. It wasn't until this morning that I realized that I missed my period. It was irregular for a while last year, and it only got back to normal a few months ago. And I was working from home all day to finish up my last projects for the committee so I can hand it off to my replacement. But I couldn't get anything done because I was just so nervous,"
"You could have sent me an owl, or floo-called. I would have come home. This is important."
"I know," She sniffled, "I just...panicked. Literally panicked,"
"You can talk to me, next time. We'll talk it through together. You're not alone,"
"Thank you," Hermione tucked her forehead into the side of Percy's neck, settling into his embrace.
They sat, quietly for another several minutes.
"Percy, would you please do the spell?" Hermione asked, quietly.
"Of course," Percy reached for his wand. Hermione inched up the dress she was wearing, revealing her abdomen that Percy could have sworn was just a little bit softer-looking than last he remembered. He murmured the incantation. After a moment, her entire midsection glowed white.
Pregnant.