I Was Walking With a Ghost

Chapter 5

Hermione was sitting in a kitchen chair, the fingers of her right hand tangled in her bushy mop of hair as she stared determinedly at the text book in front of her. "I don't understand…there's absolutely nothing in here." With an exasperated sigh, she slammed the book shut and pushed it aside, pulling another one towards from a stack of about twenty.

Meanwhile, Ron was busy cooking up dinner. Having been dead for a half of year, he was absolutely famished and found himself to be extremely grateful that he was still able to touch and consume food. As he boiled some water for potatoes, he leaned against the kitchen counter, arms over his chest while he frowned at his obviously stressed wife. "You sure you don't want to take a break? You're going to pop a blood vessel you know." As if that was any different than usual.

Hermione shook her head forcefully, flipping through the pages as she skimmed the paragraphs for any sort of information on ghosts that break the rules of being ghosts. "I thought you knew me well enough by now, Ron." She glanced up at him momentarily, catching his somewhat concerned expression as she sighed again. "Fine, I'll take a five minute break, but just because I need to go grab a few more books that I missed." She pushed herself up from the table, taking off for the study, which was cluttered with enough books to put Madam Pince to shame.

Ron took the few minutes that Hermione was gone to stare out the window and try to make sense of things. He watched as the sun set behind the willow tree, which had been dead from the encroaching winter last time he had seen it. He shook his head, mainly at the fact that he had been, well, away for lack of a better word, for so long. He felt sort of resentful for allowing himself to get killed or whatever it was that had happened to him, especially given Hermione's condition. But at the very least, it wasn't as though Ron had been aware that he was going to be a father, seeing as how his wife had yet to tell him and neither of them had been giving any previous indication that she was pregnant. Odd to think now that her stomach was still flat the last time they saw each other. "Bloody hell…has it really been that long?"

"Yes…" Hermione's voice answered him softly, returning to the kitchen with three more books. "It has." She set them down on the table and approached her husband, holding out a pair of brand new gardening gloves. "Here."

"What are these for?" Ron raised an eyebrow as he took the gloves from her and held them in front of him.

"To wear, of course." Hermione shrugged and glanced up at him matter of factly. "If we can't have skin to skin contact, we have to settle for the next best thing." She pulled out a pair of latex medical gloves from her pocket and pulled them on.

"But they have flower designs on them!" Ron whined as he eyed the large roses and daffodils that were on the gloves. "Why don't you wear these and I'll take yours?"

"Because I can't turn pages with them." Hermione answered him very plainly, glancing over his shoulder at the pot of water. "It's boiling. I'll be right back." There was something else that she needed to get. As she left again, Ron stared at the gloves for a moment before begrudgingly slipping his hands inside. The things he did for love.

By the time Hermione returned, Ron had tipped the taters into the water and was sitting at the kitchen table, flipping through one of the textbooks that had colored illustrations. "Find anything?" Hermione sat down next to him, placing her hand on his back, or rather, the back of his shirt.

Ron shook his head, shutting the book and leaning back with a sigh. "Nothing…what's that?" He tilted his chin in the direction of her left hand, which held something long and wooden.

"This?" Hermione held it up to him. "Come now, don't tell you've forgotten what your own wand looks like." She smiled, handing it over to him as she reached for another book. "It's been on your nightstand, waiting for you. I can't tell you how many times I tried to put it away in a closet or drawer and it was right back in the same spot the next day. It's as though it knew you would be back."

Ron returned her smile as he gripped his old wand, the feeling of it very familiar despite the gloves he had on. "Smart wand." He waved it around lazily, not casting any spells, but getting the hang of holding it again. A few white sparks fell from the tip, disappearing midair as they fell towards the table. Setting it back down, Ron snaked his arm behind Hermione's back, resting his chin on her shoulder and his free hand on her stomach as he watched her reading again. "Is it possible I'm not really a ghost? Maybe I'm some sort of dream thing or something…" The thought made him frown. "I hope not though."

"Neither do I." Hermione flipped through a rather large, dusty medical manual with a shake of the head. "No…you don't fit the mold of an illusion either. You wouldn't be able to wield your wand if you were just from a dream. And I know that I can't be currently in a dream anyway because if I was then I wouldn't be able to feel any of this incessant kicking that's going on." It took Ron a moment to realize who said kicking was coming from, but he smiled as he remembered, running his hand slowly down her front until he could feel the light, constant thumping against his hand.

They sat like that for a while, Hermione reading, leaning against her husband's arms and grateful that he was still in his long-sleeved robes, and Ron holding her gently, his gloved palm resting on her stomach as he tried to make up for all the small, fluttering kicks that he had missed over the past few months. It was a scene that they had both missed a great deal, the two of them together, peaceful and content. It had been a very long time since they hadn't had to worry about anything and could just take advantage of the fact that they were together. The glanced at each other occasionally, both of them aching desperately to kiss or touch each other but knowing that it was nothing more than a burning desire that could not be fulfilled.

Finally, they were snapped back into reality when the water on the stove began boiling over, sending hissing spurts of steam into the air. Ron hopped up from his seat, not needing to use oven mitts as his gloves were rather thick, and fixed up his dinner. He had about a million questions to ask Hermione about everything that had happened, but his mind was too fussed at the moment to want to think straight about anything at all. It could wait until tonight.

"Just once more, please?" Ron, his hands still covered in floral gloves, nudged Hermione's shoulder as he tried to get her to roll back towards him. It was nearly midnight and Hermione was thoroughly exhausted after the whole day's events. She just wanted to sleep, but Ron was too caught up in his excitement to let her. "Come on, please?"

Hermione sighed, shifting under the covers and rolling onto her back. It was rather uncomfortable, what with the baby laying on her internal organs, but she was too tired to care. "Must you? It's not even moving anymore." She yawned. "You're the only one who's not entirely exhausted right now."

"I know, but I've been gone for six bloody-"

"Don't curse."

"I've been gone for six months and now I've only got a few days to get the baby used to me before it's born." Ron pouted slightly, his expression reminiscent of his stubborn days as a young boy. "Please, Hermione."

Too tired to argue, she tossed the covers off of her and adjusted the large sweatshirt she was sleeping in despite the warm weather. It was the only long sleeved shirt she had that still fit, so she had little choice. "Alright, but I really do need sleep." She yawned again, her eyes half opened as Ron sat up, creaking the mattress slightly beneath them.

"Hello there, it's me again. Ron…ummm Dad…Daddy?" In all honesty, Ron felt rather foolish speaking to Hermione's stomach, but he reminded himself that he wasn't addressing it, but the little person inside it. "I know you're tired and Mum is tired and all but I just want you to know that I really didn't mean to leave you two for so long and that I'm not going to leave anymore and I love you both and I don't want you to think that I don't because I do." He said this all in his usual hurried, stumbling way, despite the fact he had been saying the same thing for the past hour or so.

As Hermione listened to his voice, she shut her eyes, feeling herself drift off to sleep. Taking notice of this, Ron grabbed his wand and flicked off the lights in the room, leaning in close to her face and brushing the hair away from her eyes. He tried kissing her on the forehead but it was a futile effort that just made him feel even worse. Sighing quietly, he returned his attention to his baby and rubbed Hermione's stomach lightly. "I really can't wait to see you, you know. Mum and I were trying very hard for you for a long time but things just weren't safe enough for a baby. I'm just glad that things are better now, and hopefully we can be a normal family. It will be just the three of us, or maybe more if you want some brothers and sisters." He chuckled as he leaned down and kissed the bump that was his currently sleeping baby. "But there's plenty of time for that. I don't think your dear Mum wants to go through another pregnancy quite yet." He had never really gotten the chance to talk to Hermione about all of his questions, one of which was how she had felt physically and emotionally for the past few months, but he had a feeling that it wasn't something she wanted to repeat anytime soon.

Ron smiled as he felt a single, light kick against his palm. It all felt so surreal, that he was back with Hermione, that they were finally going to have a baby, and that the past few months had even existed with him not knowing. He didn't particularly like that last part, but he forced himself to focus on the fact that he was there now and that's all that mattered. "Good night." With a light pat, he rested his hand on Hermione's stomach, laid down next to her, and let himself fall asleep, feeling rather content and pleased.