"James, I love you, but if you don't find a parking space in the next thirty seconds I'm going to be sick" Lily announced, closing her eyes against the waves of nausea that washed over her.
"Not on the baby!" he replied instantly, stroking the dashboard of his beloved Cadillac, as opposed to the actual fetus that was growing in his wife's womb by the second, "I mean just give me five minutes. Are you sure I can't just use an extension charm -"
"There are too many muggles around. Just pull over here and I'll meet you in the maternity ward" she instructed as they drove past the hidden entrance to St Mungo's.
"You sure?" James asked skeptically. Ever since discovering that she was pregnant seven weeks ago, barely a moment went by in which he wasn't fretting about one thing or another. Lily almost found it unnerving how someone who was usually so laid back was suddenly scrutinising the ingredients in every item of food, and buying hoards of maternity books before she thought to. Still, part of her knew that it was because he didn't have the privilege of carrying the baby in his body; couldn't feel the indescribable spark of life that bloomed in her womb and the steady assurance in her gut that everything was just fine. Her baby was fine.
"Absolutely" she said confidently, leaning over to plant a kiss on his cheek before climbing out the car.
Lily welcomed the frosty breath of winter air on her flushed cheeks, and took off her hat to allow her mane of glorious red hair to cascade down her back. When she heard someone wolf whistle from across the street, she didn't have to look to know that it was James, and promptly flipped him off to hide the laugh that bubbled in her chest.
It hardly felt real. Was it not just yesterday that she and James were just giddy school kids shagging in the prefect's toilets? Where her days were spent studying with Remus and Marlene, and listening to Sirius's latest plan to travel the world in the back of a van on his gap year. Then somehow she had blinked, and was married, had a mortgage and expecting a baby - all before her twenty first birthday.
She pushed the thoughts aside as she descended the steps into St Mungo's, and was instantly submerged in a series of chaotic assaults on the senses. Harsh fluorescent lights beamed from the ceiling, and a wave of vibrant chatter filled the air; swarms of various witches, wizards and goblins hurried past her in vibrant coloured robes. A tall man hurried past with his face covered in purple boils, and she instinctively placed a protective hand over the barely-visible curve of her stomach.
She scanned the reception helplessly, feeling overwhelmed. She'd been to this hospital many times before - mainly with Remus whenever he needed a checkup, and one unspeakable time when James got a traffic cone lodged on one of his antlers. Just before the pin-pricks of panic could grow any further, her eyes landed on a dark skinned woman cradling a newborn baby, wearing an expression of serene bliss. Just as Lily went to approach her, she was stopped in her tracks by the sight of the woman's mother catching up with her and placing an arm around the younger woman's shoulders.
Without warning, a lump rose in Lily's throat and she blinked furiously to stop the tears that threatened to fall. She'd been careful not to think about it - knowing that it would cause her nothing but grief, but since becoming pregnant not a day had gone by that she didn't miss her mother. Susanna Evans had died two years ago of ovarian cancer, and her father had joined shortly after of a broken heart. Naively, Lily had assumed that the insufferable pain would be enough to finally bring her closer to her sister - yet Petunia had remained as cold and distant as ever.
Lily so loved James, as well as Sirius, Remus and Peter - her boys had been nothing but overwhelmingly supportive. Yet, a gnawing pain deep in her chest mourned the presence of a mother or sister - what she wouldn't give to have a woman's advice, someone to tell her that what she was experiencing was perfectly normal, to offer remedies for morning sickness and tell anecdotes of their sacred experiences.
"Are you quite alright, dear?"
Lily jumped at the unexpected voice, and turned to face its speaker; a plump, heart faced woman with warm hazel eyes and bright red hair that fell to her shoulders. More noticeably, however, the woman had a very obviously pregnant stomach, the sight of which made Lily's heart lurch.
"Oh! I'm fine - thank you. I was just wondering if you could show me where…" her voice trailed off slightly, as she spotted the woman's jolly faced husband by her side.
"The maternity ward is?" the woman finished for her, spotting the way the younger woman's hand was curved on her stomach. Lily nodded. "Of course! Arthur and I were just heading there now - it's just this way"
Weak with relief, Lily blindly followed the couple - whom she guessed to be in their mid-thirties - through the winding hallway.
"Is this your first one?" the woman - who introduced herself as Molly - asked conversationally, while Arthur formed a barrier to the bustling crowd of people.
"Yes. To tell you the truth I'm not quite sure I know what I'm doing" she confessed breathlessly.
"I was exactly the same," Molly assured, "it does get easier - I promise you. Anyone who acts like they know what they're doing all the time are liars"
Lily grinned with relief. One of her many worries regarding motherhood was that she was young - even by wizarding standards. She would never forget how Professor McGonagall almost fainted when she heard the news, then went on to batter James with a rolled up newspaper.
"How many children do you have?" she asked, just as they entered a quieter area of the hospital, where the walls were painted with moving paintings of babies nestled into clouds.
"This will be our sixth," the woman said indulgently, laughing as Lily's eyes nearly bulged comically, "and last" she added.
"Well unless…" Arthur said suggestively.
"On my life Arthur, if this baby isn't a girl I'm throwing in the towel!" the woman snapped, feigning anger but instantly smiling at her husband, and Lily wondered if she and James would still look so utterly in love in fifteen years time.
As though he'd read her mind, her husband burst through the doors of the ward with the same natural confidence he always walked with - even though his distinctly muggle attire made him stand out. Lily's heart still sang at the sight of his tall, broad form dressed in smart muggle clothes - which contrasted the almost schoolboy appearance of his unruly hair.
"Merlin that parking was a nightmare - had to stun a couple of muggles, but I don't think there were any cameras" he ranted, stooping down to kiss her cheek, "ouch - I was joking!" he yelped when she wacked on the arm.
"This is my husband - James, this is Molly and Arthur" she introduced, "they have six children" she added for good measure.
"Good man," James said broadly, shaking Arthur's hand firmly and kissing Molly on the cheek. Lily rolled her eyes, but caught Molly looking at her with a distinctive gleam in her warm eyes.
"Here they are" Arthur beamed, pulling out a faded photograph from his breast pocket. Both Lily and James huddled to catch a look at the scene of domestic bliss; two older children each had a toddler perched on their shoulders and were grinning widely while a curly haired child with glasses bounced on the sofa behind them.
"Wicked" James breathed, and Lily glanced up to see the look of pure awe in his face. He glanced at both Molly's and her stomachs, "and I bet our boys will be best mates," he grinned.
"Hey! We don't know the gender yet" Lily said indignantly, "just because you're insistent on raising the next Quidditch legend"
"Oh, our kid is going to be the next best seeker - girl or boy" James replied instantly, and Lily couldn't help but feel warmed by his enthusiasm. Quidditch was one of James's greatest joys in life, and he had spoken endlessly about his plan on raising the next best seeker the world had ever seen - including taking him to all the international matches.
Before she could comment, a medi-witch emerged from one of the rooms holding a clipboard close to her chest.
"Mr and Mrs Weasley?" she said to the room, glancing between the two couples.
"That will be us," Arthur replied, and Lily turned to face Molly.
"Good luck!" she beamed, squeezing the older woman's hand as she walked away.
"I'll see you when you get out of your appointment, alright?" Molly said hurriedly, and Lily could only nod, as that damned lump in her throat made itself known once more.
When they were out of sight, she pressed her face into James's chest as he wrapped his arms tightly around her, forming a barrier against her and the rest of the world.
"Six kids" she said incredously, her voice muffled by his shirt.
"Don't know why you're acting so shocked, we're having at least seven to form our own quidditch team" James said casually, and she turned up to face him.
"In your dreams" she murmured, "you'll be lucky if I give you three"
"Six?" he bargained
"Four, at a push"
Despite this, her mind conjured an image similar to the picture Molly had shown her, except this time it was a group of dark haired, green eyed children - all laughing and giggling in various forms of disarray, sharing bedrooms and playing hide and seek and driving her mad by dragging mud into the house. She saw endless summers spent playing quidditch in the garden or of family trips abroad to all the countries she was so desperate to see, winter nights spent gathered around the fire telling her daughters the same stories her mother taught her - she would make sure her kids always had each other, and were never left to fend for themselves. In that moment, Lily saw the wide landscape of her future stretch around her; ending with an image of her and James old and grey, surrounded by grandchildren.
She didn't say any of this to James, instead she squared her shoulders and argued;
"You're forgetting that Marlene has already promised to be a surrogate for Sirius and Remus in a few years, and I reckon Minerva will file a lawsuit if we send too many marauder kids her way at one time" she grinned and as James barked out a laugh, she rested her head once more on his chest, this time allowing the steady beat of his heart drum against her ear.
"Mr and Mrs Potter?" a Medi-witch coughed from the second doorway.
"Ready?" James asked her as he cupped her face in his large hands.
Lily bit her lip, all at once feeling slightly giddy with nerves. In just a few minutes the tiny fetus in her belly would become her little girl or boy, and their little family would begin to take its form.
"Abolutely"
Five minutes later she was lying on one of the hospital beds with her stomach exposed as a blonde witch - who couldn't be much older than them - cast a series of complex spells. Lily felt James's grip on her hand tighten, and closed her eyes.
Suddenly, the air filled with a deep, guttural rhythm which vibrated every surface of the room. Ba-dum, Ba-dum, Ba-dum.
Her baby's own heartbeat, the same as what she'd heard when listening to James's, except this baby was its own little person, produced entirely from her DNA and of the person she loved most in the entire world.
"Do you hear that, Lils? You're magic" James whispered, awestruck. He brought his face close to hers and brushed away the scalding tears that she hadn't noticed escape her eyes.
"I love you," she breathed, feeling hopelessly soppy. "We're going to be parents, Potter, can you believe it?"
"I know, Evans - and the hottest parents on the planet at that" he winked, and she rolled her eyes.
"Baby is looking nice and healthy, do you want to know the gender?" the medi-witch asked politely.
"Yes" they replied in unison, holding their breath.
"Congratulations, you're expecting a beautiful baby boy"
James let out a cheer so loud Lily imagined it could be heard all throughout the hospital, he punched the air in utter triumph, his face a picture of joy, and she considered that if their collective joy could speak; it would fill entire stadiums with its volume.
"It's a boy!" he shouted the moment they left the room. James thought he was going to explode from the euphoria that vibrated through his veins - he had a son. He caught sight of Arthur first, who brought him into a firm hug.
"Congratulations my boy!" the man said good naturedly, grinning from ear to ear, "looks like it's blue all round then!"
"Congratulations mate," he replied, and the men shook hands.
"Oh I'm so happy for you, sweetheart" Molly gushed, instantly taking Lily into her arms. Lily felt the steady curve of Molly's stomach press into her own, and breathed in the woman's comforting scent of lavender and woodsmoke.
"I'm just glad our boys will have each other for when they start school" she replied, her eyes still wet with tears. Her own childhood had been empty of magic, and she'd been forced to abandon all friendships (apart from with Severus) when she started Hogwarts, but for her son it would be different. Her son would grow up with a family that loved him and taught him all about magic, as well as little brothers and sisters who he would always remain close to - she was sure of it.
"Of course" Molly beamed, cupping Lily's face with her warm hands. "I'll write down my address and come over absolutely any time - day or night, do you hear?" she asked, and Lily nodded. Beside her, Arthur was speaking in a fervent manner to James, with both hands on his shoulders, and after doing a double take Lily noticed that James had tears in his eyes - which made her heart expand and break simultaneously. The death of his dad had a profound impact on her husband, who'd always been close to him, and she knew that just as she had craved the presence of a maternal figure to guide her during this time, James had unknowingly missed the presence of a more experienced man to talk him through the trials of fatherhood. A sudden calmness washed over her as she glanced at Molly and Arthur, unfounded knowing that these people were meant to be in her life somehow.
Once the couples eventually said their goodbye's, Lily and James strolled leisurely down the street, happier than they had ever been.
"Right, this calls for celebration. Where do you want to go eat?" he asked, his arm draped across her shoulders.
"You're forgetting I booked us that dentist appointment at five" she reminded him, and he rolled his eyes.
"I've gone twenty years without a dentist appointment, I reckon I'm fine - sounds like a weird muggle conspiracy if you ask me"
"That's what worries me! Besides, did you know that some women lose their teeth during pregnancy? If your son decides that he needs more calcium he takes it straight out of my resources" she huffed. Of its many advances, Lily always wondered how on earth the wizarding world went without Dentists.
"Alright, alright, we'll go to the dentist. What about tomorrow evening" he proposed.
"It will have to be Friday, babe. Dumbledore's invited us for dinner tomorrow with Frank and Alice, remember?"
twenty three years later
"Harry, are you going to be sick?" Ginny asked casually from the driver's seat.
"If you keep breaking speed control laws then yeah, probably"
"What's the point in owning a Porsche if you can't go fast?" she replied, unbothered.
Of all the Weasley clan, Ginny had taken most comfortably to the sudden accumulation of wealth - particularly since her career playing for the Holyhead Harpies had taken immense strides. She'd developed quite the obsession with supercars, as well as property investment, and was the only one stubborn enough to convince her parents to renovate The Burrow as well as accept their gift of various holiday homes across Europe.
Harry wouldn't have it any other way though, because not only was Ginny the most beautiful, incredible woman he had ever met - but she was carrying his baby.
Frankly he still struggled to wrap his head around it; the fact that a little version of him was growing inside the woman he loved most in the entire world. That he was going to have a family that was entirely his - not only by love, but by blood.
"Still reckon it's a girl?" he asked her as she pulled into a parking spot.
"I promised Victorie I'd give her another little girl cousin," she answered, and looked down at the slight bump in her belly, "you've got no choice bub, the next generation of Weasley's is going to be entirely matriarchal".
She wasn't far off, considering thus far Teddy was the only male Weasley grandchild (even if it was honorary - though you should try telling that to Molly and Arthur).
"You're not seriously going to let Ron lose another bet to Hermione, she'll bankrupt him" he laughed, remembering how a very concerned Ron had approached him nights before insisting that he lie and say that the baby was a boy, as he was so sick of his wife always having the upper hand.
"Should teach him to never place bets against his wife" Ginny grinned as the pair of them descended the entrance into St Mungo's.
The reception of the hospital was a bright and obnoxiously loud area, and although he was initially thrown off, Harry had grown used to such places, and he knew that he had family waiting for him elsewhere.
"Merlin, they're here already?" Ginny breathed, and Harry followed her gaze to where Mr and Mrs Weasley were standing patiently by the maternity ward.
After knowing them for nearly half of his entire life, Harry found that Molly and Arthur had hardly changed at all, aside from the noticeable grey streaks in their once vibrant red hair. Also, it did always surprise him how small Molly looked from a distance; when he first met her as a child she would hug him and bring her close to her chest, even as he grew up she felt like the tallest person in the room from the attention she demanded, but he supposed some things had to change as you grow up.
"Harry dear, so good to see you again" Molly ushered, and he bent down to give her a hug. He'd always found her scent comforting as it reminded him so acutely of The Burrow - that homely smell of lavender and woodsmoke.
"Don't mind me mum, just carrying the essence of life in my womb" Ginny huffed, "does back pain ever go away?" she asked suddenly, placing a hand on her lower back.
"It's always bad for the first two love, but by the third your body will get used to it" Molly assured, undeterred by the fact that Ginny blanched almost comically.
"Well I won't have to find that out, we're sticking with two at most" she replied instantly.
"Is that so?" Arthur asked, glancing at Harry. It was no secret that if Mr Weasley was in charge of dictating how many grandchildren he had, the Weasley family would most likely dominate the population of Britain.
"I'm working on it." Harry laughed in response. As much as he understood Ginny's reluctance at having a big family, plus knowing that his child would have three times the normal amount of cousins than most, he couldn't quite escape the want to have many of his own children.
"It's the best thing you'll ever do" Arthur said serenely, before kissing Molly on the cheek.
"Gross," Ginny muttered, but a warmth bloomed in the pit of Harry's stomach as he saw how in love the grey haired couple were with one another, and he wondered if he and Ginny would be like them in forty years' time.
Something deep down told him he would.
"Mr and Mrs Potter?" A medi-witch asked gently from one of the open doorways.
A shot of nerves went down Harry's spine, and he clasped Ginny's hand automatically. In mere minutes he would know ….
"That's us," he answered with brazen confidence.
"Now you go in there and tell me I have a nice healthy grandson" Molly ordered, squeezing his arm.
"You're the boss," he nodded with a grin, before following Ginny into the room.
Five minutes later, Ginny was lying on one of the hospital beds looking slightly pale - which he was told was a potential side effect of the spells.
"You alright?" he asked worriedly, moving a stool to sit by her head. He couldn't help but notice how utterly beautiful she looked - even if she didn't feel it; he'd spent nights counting the freckles on her face, or running his hands through her glorious mane of red hair.
"Yeah" she replied, her voice slightly hoarse, "and Harry?"
"Hmm?"
"If it's twins, I'll kill you"
Both of them burst out laughing with a combination of excitement and frayed nerves, before sobering slightly - their minds had automatically been filled with a younger version of Fred and George, which reminded them so acutely of their devastating loss.
"Our kids won't have the same life that we did" he said quietly, bringing his face close to hers. It was a thought he'd spent nights repeating to himself whenever he found himself worrying over Teddy or his nieces,
"Yeah, you're right," Ginny whispered, she was so close that he could feel her breath caress his face, "when they're teenagers they'll be like "what do you mean I can't go to the party? My life is the worst" and we can call them entitled bastards and drink a bottle of wine"
"Exactly" Harry grinned, and while Ginny's tone was mocking - both of them desperately hoped that their children would have the mundane worries of a balanced adolescence - one that didn't consist of being possessed by dark wizards or of war or being murdered.
All at once, the sound of a heart beat burst through the air, and Harry thought his own heart was going to explode out of his chest. For a moment he couldn't catch his breath - couldn't even think - only hear the steady ba-dum, ba-dum, ba-dum.
That was his child, his own flesh and blood. He stared at Ginny's stomach with renewed reverence.
"You're incredible," he breathed, and she pushed herself up to kiss him furiously.
"Holy shit" she whispered into his mouth, her own brown eyes wide with awe.
"Baby is doing well, would you like to know the gender?" the medi-witch asked.
"Yes please," Harry answered, as Ginny seemed rooted to the spot.
"Congratulations, you're having a boy"
Harry froze. Perhaps it was because Ginny and Hermione had been so confident and self assured that they were having a girl that meant Harry hadn't given much thought to the possibility that his baby would be a boy, and his heart filled with pride so powerful that it consumed every fibre of his being.
"It's a boy!" He shouted, drunk with excitement, the moment they left the room.
He slammed into Arthur, and the older man wrapped his arms tightly around him while slapping him on the back.
Harry's mind flooded with a series of distorted memories and premonitions - he envisioned himself taking his son to his first quidditch match, teaching him how to shave and then taking him for his first drink at a pub, being an ally when he got himself in trouble and always believing in him - all of which Mr Weasley had done for him.
"Congratulations my boy, you're going to be a brilliant dad," Arthur said fervently, and Harry forced himself to look him straight in the eye.
"If I'm half the dad that you've been to me, I'll consider myself proud" he said seriously, his voice breaking towards the end.
He hugged Arthur once more, and what neither he nor Ginny saw was how Mr and Mrs Weasley looked at each other across the shoulders of the younger couple, their faces wet with tears.