I really need a beta reader! Please help me, otherwise the problems I'm having writing without the mistakes I'm making. Still, read, review and enjoy - here's another chapter in the beautiful story of Fred and Hermione and the little thing.
Love
Em.
For Hermione, the twin's supposedly weird and wonderful Hogsmeade shop, which was clearly just a huge play room, felt like the complete opposite of anything she thought she'd ever like.
It had these huge, bright windows that let so much light in she thought she'd go blind. They were almost always fogged up by the breath of all those kids pressed up against the glass, on their tip toes to see the magic just waiting for them inside. Hermione felt like it was too revealing and public; there was no way she could let herself be so open to everyone like the twins did; they let anyone who wanted to see into the most inner workings of their mind just peer through and stare.
And it was always crazy in there. Full to the brim of people buzzing about how amazing everything is - who could take all that pressure, people judging your creations twenty-four seven. God, it just made her skin crawl thinking about it.
It'd been five whole days since the Molly fiasco, and this was the first time that week she'd had time off in her lunch break and managed to get over to the shop to see Fred. She knew she'd told George she was going to see him on Monday, but she just hadn't had time.
She could tell George was already inside, dealing with all the young, fascinated customers, but she was feeling really terrified about going in.
Pushing the door open, she shook her head and laughed quietly, "I just have to make sure it's actually him this time."
She slipped through the crowds to the counter, where Lee was steadily counting cash from the till, "Er, Lee?"
"Oh hello, 'Mione! Are you alright?"
"Yeah, pretty good," she shrugged, leaning against the wood, "How about you?"
"I"m fine, I'm fine," he smiled, stopping his hands and focusing on her, "I'm guessing you're not here to pick something up?"
"Clever," she rolled her eyes, "I'm looking for Fred, actually. Happen to know where he is?"
"Why yes I do. And I guess I could tell you," he paused and smirked, "But you see, oh little 'Mione, that's quite valuable information. Do you know how many pretty girls come in here looking for one of my sexy best friends?"
"Pretty girls? Don't you mean sluts?"
"Oh, harsh," he teased.
"I'm not one of those floozies, Lee, and you know it!"
"No, you're not, I know that. But still, I can't be giving out all that precious information to you without payment."
"What do you want?" she sighed, crossing her arms.
"I think a kiss will do," he smiled, tapping his cheek.
"Oh," she smirked as he raised his eyebrows suggestively, loosening up, "Well I can do that easily enough."
She reached up and kissed him sweetly on the cheek, before sinking back down onto her heels, "So, where is he?"
"Our ingenious laboratory, where the geniuses are hard at work," he leaned forward conspiratorially, nodding to , "Those idiots won't let me anywhere near it, say I'm not half smart enough to go in there, but if I remember what your big hairy dog keeps telling me at Order meeting correctly, you are the brightest witch of your age."
"God, I haven't heard that in years," she giggled, "And I wish Sirius would stop going on about that - so I saved him from Azkaban and potential death by death eaters and Remus, get over it!"
"Alright little miss sarcastic," he laughed, "And the twins told me you don't have a funny bone in your body."
"They said that?"
"They obviously aren't worthy of your witty wordplay like me," he winked.
"Yeah, I guess I don't really know them all that well," she sighed, wrapping her arms around her stomach, "They wouldn't really know if I was funny or not, would they?"
"I guess," Lee said, furrowing his brows at her wistful expression, "They have known you since you were eleven, though."
"Exactly, I'm still that bushy haired eleven year old to them," she sighed.
"Er, I'm pretty sure when I saw Fred staring at you all night at the wedding, that wasn't a little girl's arse he was looking at."
"Lee! That's horrible," she whacked him on his arm, frowning as he chuckled, "No, Fred doesn't want that with me - we're, well, we aren't exactly friends with each other, never mind dating."
"You never know until you try," he smiled, ignoring her scowl before going back to his counting, "Anyway, I've neglected my work long enough; I can't be chatting to pretty ladies all day."
"Lee…"
"Yeah?"
"Can I see Fred now?" she insisted, rolling her eyes as his widened and he stood up.
"Course, 'course," he shook his head, opening the door to the back room and letting her through the counter, "I completely forgot."
"Thanks," she shuffled past him and into the lab, "See you in a bit."
"See you Hermione," he mock saluted her, "Be lucky."
She laughed as he left, "Fred?"
"I'm in the greenhouse!" he called from behind a large frosted glass door.
'Since when did the twins have a greenhouse?' she mused, walking over to where his voice had called from.
"Hey 'Mione," he turned to see her, rubbing his neck awkwardly "Erm, what's up?"
There was a lapse as Hermione tried to drag her eyes away from his exposed arms, and Fred's face showed his confusion as she came out of her gorm, "Hermione?"
"Sorry what?" she said, blinking quickly.
"Why are you being weird?" he asked, wondering why she was all flushed, "You aren't still thinking about-"
"Fred! We aren't mentioning that, remember?" she gritted out, grabbing him by his wrist, "Look, I came over to speak to you about something… it's really important."
"Oh, right," he raised his eyebrows, wondering what she could need to tell him, "Well first, whilst you're here, why don't you help me out with a little something I've been working on."
"Look, you know I don't like to get involved in those pranks you make up," she told him, leaning against the work surface.
"No, I'm not asking for you to help make something, but I do need you to test something for me," he said, waving his arms to physically repress her words as she tried to argue, "It's completely harmless! It's for our new Wonder Witch selection, you know, the one we've been doing for the ladies of Hogwarts."
"What is it?" she asked suspiciously, her hands meeting her hips in the usual disapproving stance, "You aren't making more of those love potions are you?"
"No! This range is all about keeping girls naturally beautiful and healthy," he told her smugly, "All I want you to do is try this new potion, the Cleansing Cordial."
"Oh," Hermione stopped, her arms dropping a she took the small blue bottle from him, the label in shimmering silver.
"It's for spots and acne. I know you don't have acne, but it could sort out that spot behind your left ear."
"How do you know about that?" she said indignantly, touching the small mark lightly.
"Well I discovered it when I was with you about a month ago, but I can't really talk about it it," he smirked, winking at her before snatching the bottle from her unsuspecting hands and uncorking it, "You only need to take a sip."
She took the proffered liquid, hesitating only for a second before bringing it to her lips, taking a small sip. Hermione put the bottle down and her eyes widened as the blemish disappeared slowly, "It's gone!"
"Ah, it works then," he grinned, "Here let me have a look."
"Fred?"
"What! I'm just gonna take a little peak," he said, spinning her around and pulling her hair back, "Wow, I am good."
"No, Fred," she said urgently, "I feel really sick."
He turned her to face him, touching her forehead lightly, noticing that she looked like she was blushing, "You've got a right temperature. Do you feel like you're going to throw up?"
"No, my stomach just aches; it really hurts," she told him, her breath getting heavier as she tried to deal with the pain. It felt like someone was trying to rip her abdomen out and she was really flushed and clammy - like she was standing in an oven.
'Oh Merlin, what the hell is wrong with me,' she fretted, her face scrunching up in pain, 'Oh, the baby!'
"Fred fix me!" she shouted, not caring that he was standing right next to her, "I-I need-"
"Right, I'm taking you to St. Mungo's," he asserted, grabbing her by the hand and taking his wand out.
"I-I can't apperate," she told him, groaning in pain and squeezing his hand, "We have to use the floo."
"What? Why can't you-"
"Just do it!" she cried out, not paying attention as he threw some powder on the fireplace and ushered her across the room and inside, "St Mungo's!"
For Fred, Hermione's haven of St Mungo's was the one place he hated the most. To be fair, Hermione worked upstairs, over in the cushy upper levels, not accident and emergency, where everything was crowded and stuffy, but the whole room was silent - a seriously unnerving contradiction. It was as if talking was a taboo, even people who were waiting together weren't speaking.
Everything spotlessly clean, yet you can still taste sickness in the air whenever he breathed in. After the symphony of coughing, hacking and wheezing that greeted Fred in the hospital reception, having just left Hermione to Dr Luca, he'd quickly located the floo and called George to ask him to come down to wait with him, but he'd said that Lee had already gone home, so he needed to look after the shop till closing, which was still an a while off. After he gave Luna a call, who he knew was Hermione's best friend, and she'd said she'd be down straight after work let out, but it'd been almost an hour since he'd spoken to her, there'd been no word from the doctors and no sign of Luna.
He'd been thinking to himself in the silence, thinking back to every detail of his potion and what could've caused the reaction, 'We tested it loads of times; it should have been fine for her to take… I just, I just wanted to impress her.' He sighed again, earning a glare from a middle aged couple sitting across from him on the stupid plastic-y chairs.
It felt really strange and awkward to sit alone and wait for her, he really needed someone to talk to about this. He had no one to talk to, no one to worry with, no words of wisdom or consolation. Normally his Mum would be here, feeding the whole Weasley clan till they were so full they couldn't get upset. That's why, no matter how immature it looked, he'd had a pumpkin fizz in his mouth since they'd taken Hermione away.
"Mr. Weasley?" the cranky old Welcome Witch called from the entry desk, "Is there a Fred Weasley for a Miss Granger?"
"I'm here," he said, holding up his hand and ducking over to her, abandoning his bag of sweets, "Er, any news?"
"I'm not here to tell you anything about the girl," she scoffed, rolling her eyes as if he was supposed to have know that all along.
'I can't start with her, I just want to see Hermione,' he told himself, "Then what are you here to tell me?"
"They're moving you up to the third floor waiting room for overnight patients," she said, pointing to the lift, "You just need to press the button with the 'P' on it."
"Right, I've got that," he nodded, before he realised what she'd said, "Wait, what's she doing overnight?"
"I really don't know, Mr Weasley."
"Why not?" he asked worriedly, biting his nails, "Is she in trouble? have they not sorted it?"
"Listen, I can't tell you anything I don't know, and I don't know anything. I promise once you get there a healer should be with you as soon as possible to explain everything to you."
He sighed at the idea of more delays, but with a quick thank you he headed to the lift, pressing the button she'd told him to a few times, thinking perhaps it might get him there faster.
'They better tell me whether she's okay,' he thought. He was really anxious that she'd been hurt really badly and they'd given him nothing to go on. He left the lift and took a seat in the new waiting room right next to the corridor that he knew from lead to the wards where she was.
A pretty blonde woman he vaguely knew from when they'd take Hermione away from him came along the corridor, calling loudly in front of Fred, "Have we got a Mr Weasley?"
"Er, that's me," he said, watching her surprise with a small smirk as she looked down in surprise.
"Oh right, lovely," she said, beckoning him to stand, "I can tell you what's happening now, if you'd like?"
"Can I not see Hermione?" he requested, looking worriedly down the hall, "Is she still ill?"
"No, she's fine," the woman assured him, "The only reason I didn't suggest it was because she's on some sedatives at the moment and she'll be a sleep for a while - it will give her mind time to rest after the adrenaline rush whilst her body repairs itself."
"Oh," Fred said, a bit calmer, "Well I'd still like to see her if you wouldn't mind."
"No problem," she smiled, starting to walk away, "Follow me; I can explain on the way down there. I'm Dr Carmen Luca."
"Hi, Fred," he said, holding out his hand for her to shake.
"Nice to meet you Fred. So we managed to calm the symptoms down quite quickly - the increase in temperature and dehydration was due to the main problem she was having and the dizziness was quite easily stabilised."
"And what was the main problem, exactly?"
"Well, the Dirigible plum contained in the potion usually reacts with the LH in a woman's body as it would in yours for example, but this reacted badly with Hermione's stomach, what with the condition she's in meaning there is no LH being produced."
"Condition?" Fred asked, though it seemed the doctor hadn't heard him as she turned the corner and opened the door to the room Hermione was in, "Excuse me, but-"
"Here she is," she said happily, "Safe and resting."
Fred's relieved smile somewhat faltered when he saw the pallid skin so unlike the healthy Hermione he knew and teased. This girl looked vulnerable and tired. He went to her side and stroked her hair softly, watching her shuffle at the disruption.
"She's not going to be effected again by it, is she?"
"Not unless you give her anymore of that potion," she teased, "You really should be more careful when testing these things."
"I really don't know what happened, we've run trials thousands of times," he frowned.
"Hermione said that it was one of your own creations?"
"Yeah, but it isn't like this is the first thing we've made - I'm with Weasley's Wizard Wheases in Diagon Alley."
"Oh yeah, my nephew really likes that shop," she laughed, "I don't think I've bought from anywhere else for his birthday present since he was five."
"Well I wonder what we missed," he said, thinking back to the tests they'd done.
"Well I assume that it wasn't made for pregnant women?" she asked.
"Yeah, none of our Wonder Witch products are suitable for pregnant women but what's that got to do with anything?"
"Fred, Hermione's pregnant," she told him seriously, grabbing her chart, "Look, I've got other patients to see to, I assume you're going to be okay here?"
"Y-yeah," he uttered, sitting slowly onto the seat by the bed, "I'll just-"
'Pregnant? Oh Merlin she's pregnant.'
He stood up quickly and started to pace by the side of the bed, his mind racing but no thoughts sticking in his mind, 'If she's pregnant, she isn't with anyone and she… she said she doesn't, she wouldn't - why the hell wouldn't she tell me?'
"Merlin almighty! I can't deal with this," he huffed, turning and leaving the room quickly.
He rushed down the corridor, trying to remember the way back to the lift; he needed to be at home, he needed to think about things.
'It might not even be mine,' he thought, but the idea of Hermione being with anyone else made him feel queasy. He wasn't paying attention to anything as he made his way back.
"Hi Fred, is she okay?" Luna said, having just arrived from work. She knitted her brows as she walked straight past her, not saying anything.
"Fred?" Luna shouted, confused by the boy stalking away from her to the lift, "Where are you going? Where's Hermione?"
The loud voice calling his name broke the bubble he was in, and he turned to look at who was behind him.
"Not now, Luna," he said lowly, gritting his teeth and carrying on down the hall.
'She probably knew too,' he scowled, ignoring her.
"But Fred, what about Hermione?" Luna cried again, to no avail. The scene he was causing was attracting attention, so Luna went to a nurse in the waiting room and asked where her friend was, heading down to the room she was in.
"Oh Hermione," she sighed, walking over to the pale girl sand grabbing her hand, "There's going to be a lot to deal with when you wake up, but I'll help you with it - I promise. Fred will understand everything, I'm sure."
The silence that met her reassurance was saddening. Luna was almost one hundred percent certain that Fred knew about the little baby Hermione was about to have - and was not happy.