Thank you so much for reading! FRED KNOWS...
Hermione's having a baby, Hermione's having a baby! Now, we're all super excited, but the family doesn't know, do they? So, are they going to find out? What's Fred going to say when he realises that George already knows.
Read, review and enjoy,
Thanks, Em.
Hermione sighed as she slumped down onto the plush sofa, glancing back at the oven before turning on the wireless and sinking back into the cushions, hoping to ignore the growing weight on her shoulders from the memories of yesterday afternoon. She'd yet to gather up the courage to floo Fred, having been unsure whether he even wanted to see her, but she knew that he was only just accepting that he was going to have a baby; she'd already had a week more to let it sink in.
Luna had slept over in the spare room that night after a long conversation between the two - though Hermione saw it more as Luna berating her for letting Fred give her something unknown and not telling him straight away - but she'd left in the morning to go and see Rolf, which meant she'd yet to see the result of a stressed and impatient Hermione.
'Hello, it's 8am on Friday, it's very sunny here in London considering it's the beginning of September, and you're listening to The Way It Is with me, Lyra Good!'
"I've never heard this show," she said, thinking out loud, placing her tea down.
'And today we're taking you, our listeners, into the wonderful world of babies! Now I know this subject might not be for all my listeners, but it's been requested so much we've just had to give in. So, what made you sick? What were your pregnancy cravings? We discuss everything and anything today on The Way It Is!"
"Oh Merlin, on today of all days," Hermione sighed, standing up to switch the radio off.
'Hi floo-er, you're live on the wizarding waves, got any experiences you want to share?'
'Well, I don't know if it will rouse a debate, but, erm, I just wanted to say that pregnancy - no matter who you are - it's hard… and I don't think I would've been able to raise my daughter without the support my husband, so to all you fathers out there supporting your baby's mum - thank you.'
'Thank you floo-er, what a wonderful way to start our broadcast. So, talking of all those baby carrying mamacitas out there-'
With a sharp stab at the dial, the noise was gone and Hermione was just a little bit less annoyed by the morning as a whole. She would've put on a brave face for work, but she really hadn't been feeling up to it and another healer owed her for covering his shifts a few weeks before, so she'd taken the day off.
"Are you keeping it?"
Hermione spun around from the counter to see Fred standing there in her living room, his arms folded.
The first thought she had wasn't something she regularly worried about, but she pulled at the hem of her top, realising that she wasn't exactly dressed for a visit with leggings and a slouch t-shirt on. She speedily pulled off the marigolds she was wearing from cleaning the dishes and tried to ignore the awful state of her hair.
'I'm not trying to impress him,' she thought, closing her eyes for just a second, 'I'm not nervous, I-I'm fine.'
"Fred, what are you doing here?" she said softly, biting her lip as his eyes narrowed, "I thought…"
"What?"
"I thought you didn't want to see me, that you didn't want us," she frowned, rubbing her non-existent bump.
"Oh Merlin, of course," he growled, "I mean, after finding out from a fucking doctor that I got you, my little brother's best friend, pregnant I should just ignore you till the kid pops out."
She looked down, blinking quickly, "I came to tell you at the shop, but all of that with the potion and going to the hospital and…"
"Look, I didn't come to fight, I just want to know if you're keeping it."
"I am," she nodded slowly, "I don't care if you don't want anything to do with us-"
"Move in with me," he said quickly, staring at her imploringly.
Hermione's eyes widened and her heart started to pound as she realised what he'd said, "Fred, you can't possibly mean that!"
"I'm not asking for your hand in marriage Hermione, just if you'll move in with us - me and George - so that I can be part of my child's life," he said nervously, shoving his hands into his pockets, "We might not be together, but that little kid inside you is half mine. So, you know, just think about it for me."
"Fred-"
"And I know this flat doesn't look like much what with having to share it with my twin and being above the shop and everything but I've got some of that muggle frebreeze for the smell if it's too bad for you and a spare room we can convert into a nursery for when the baby arrives," he said, hesitantly, "We could even add another room if you wanted?"
"Fred-"
"And I really think it's important that we stay together throughout this - even though we've never really talked and when we do we argue all the time - because there's no way I'm letting you take my kid away from me. Not that I'm suggesting you'd take my kid away, but there's a huge chance you might move away or something and I don't want that to happen do I, and-"
"Fred, is there any way I can get you to stop talking?" she interrupted loudly, glaring at him. She huffed as she crossed her arms, her mood suddenly switching, "Because, if I'm being honest, I've really needed to pee for this whole conversation and I didn't actually listen to what you were saying whilst you blathered on."
"Hermione, you can't really-" he shook his head as she interrupted him, wondering if he could remember his Mum's hormone-fuelled mood swings kicking in this early when she was pregnant with Ron or Ginny. His dad had taught him, George, Bill and Charlie that when their wives, or even friends that you just happen to knock up, got moody or sad, you just had to shut up and follow their demands, but if she was going to be this much of a banshee, he wouldn't bother.
'And lets face it, with a wife like Mum and the patience of a Hufflepuff, there's no way I could 'put up with it' like Dad did with Mum. I'm not going to be a damn doormat,' he thought angrily, scratching his head as he realised he'd lost track of what she was talking about completely, 'Bloody hell I'm going to get in trouble for this as well, aren't I?'
"Plus, I am trying my hardest not to throw up on your face because, you know, I have to be polite to the father of my illegitimate child," she said sweetly, her expression the opposite of her tone as her head bobbed from side to side, "Oh, and the reason I want to throw up isn't just because of the morning sickness I've been experiencing all thanks to your incredibly potent sperm at the most inappropriate times - for example in the middle of the meeting I had on Tuesday with my new head of department - but because your aftershave is currently overpowering my nostrils and I cannot breathe in without retching."
"Sorry, 'Mione-"
"But I can wait right here whilst I listen to you babble on about how great your testosterone filled flat is and that it's a brilliant place to force me into so we can bring up the baby that's currently pushing down on my bladder."
"God, you are such a bitch sometimes!"
"What?" she demanded, breathing heavily from her long speech.
"I was trying to do a nice thing - the right thing - and you just start moaning at me like I've doing you a great disservice! Are you ever happy? I'm standing here in your apartment to support you after you lied and kept my baby from me, to get involved; I'll do whatever it takes for our child and your just whinging about needing the loo!"
There was a pause in the conversation as both of them stopped to breathe, before Hermione spoke again, a twinkle in her eye.
"No, yeah, your right," she smiled, reaching up to place her hands on his flushed cheeks, staring lovingly into his eyes, "Lets move in together!"
"What?"
"You were absolutely right about me; I was wrong to argue with you and cruel to shout at you and I'm so sorry for doubting you and not listening."
He didn't reply, staring into her eyes reluctantly before she let go.
"We're having a baby so… yes, yes, a thousand times yes - lets live together! I'm totally in this. Oh, this is the most thrilling moment of my entire life!" she sighed happily, grabbing his hand and squeezing it, "Now what?"
"What do you mean?" he frowned, shaking his head in confusion at her straight face.
"Well obviously I'm going to have to move all my stuff in," she said, looking at him expectantly.
"Well yeah, eventually, I suppose, but it was-"
She furrowed her brows and looked straight into his eyes, "Are you saying I can't keep all my stuff? I mean, I am sacrificing my apartment aren't I? I think if I'm not allowed to stay in my own flat whilst having your baby I think I should at least get to make yours as comfortable for me as possible."
"I, urm, didn't mean it like that. I-"
"Good! Well I guess that's the move sorted. You'll just have to make space for all my furniture, oh and probably move George out."
"Wait, George?"
"Then what?" she asked again, not answering him.
"I-I don't know," he said, getting flustered by her quick questions, "I hadn't, er, really thought that far ahead…"
"Oh, you hadn't thought that far ahead," she mocked, staring at him in anticipation, "You know that surprises me because this all seemed so well planned."
"No, I just wanted to show you that I'm here for you, you know, I'll try my best to give you whatever you need."
"Really? Okay, I need to find a way to tell your parents that you got me pregnant without them disowning you, or Molly outing me to the wizarding world as a whore. Do you think you could sort that out for me?"
"Erm-"
"Also, I need a way to tell Ron that I slept with his least favourite brother at his wedding, and then tell Lavender, who already hates me, that she won't be the first one to have a Weasley grandchild for Molly but that I, who isn't even a Weasley, will be. Do you know how to do that?"
"I hadn't - I don't know, I-"
"No, you don't know because you're just a stupid, immature prick! And you have no bloody idea what you're doing!" she said quickly, her voice raising higher as her arms waved dangerously close to his face, "How did you think pressuring me to move out of my home would help this situation? Did you just think Molly and Arthur would genuinely approve of me living with two men - one of which happens to have already knocked me up - whilst I'm pregnant with said baby?"
"Look, I was just-"
"This isn't the land of milk and honey, Fred, where we can move in together and magically everything is perfectly fine again - this is real life!"
"I know it's real!" he roared before she could interrupt again, "Don't you think I know that? I am shit-scared that we're not ready for this and I'm going to screw it up and us up too, I'm really fucking mad at you because you didn't tell me about any of this sooner and that I had to get the news from a doctor whilst you were unconscious, I'm bloody furious at myself for putting you and my baby in danger with that stupid potion-"
"Fred, that wasn't your fault. And I wasn't giving you an outright no," she sighed, giving up on fighting, "You just came at me with it so fast you didn't give me time to think. I don't know what I'm going to do, but it'd be nice if you let me think for a bit about everything before we start making big decisions."
"I just want to deal with this together," he said helplessly, "I want to be involved; I don't want you t-to leave me with no connection to our little baby."
"I know you're worried, I'm sorry I can't help much but it's just," she let out a deep breath and closed her eyes, "I have no clue what I'm doing, never mind what we're doing - but I won't keep you out, okay?"
"If that's the best you can do…" he said, a teasing smile on his face.
"For now," she nodded, "Once we get sorted with the family and everything, we can plan further ahead."
"Fine by me," he chuckled lowly rubbing her stomach, "Hello, urh, Pickle."
"Pickle?" she said, raising her eyebrows and laughing as he nodded fervently.
"Well it's about the size of a pickle right now, and it's a cute name…"
"Er, maybe more like a peanut, but I don't want to call it peanut. There's nothing really there anyway," she giggled, placing her hand over his, "No bump - it's too early."
"Well, I'm sure I can feel something," he breathed out in amazement, "Just a little baby sitting in there, listening to us talk about it."
"I think it might need to grow ears first, you know, before it starts eavesdropping," Hermione pointed out with a smirk as he stood up to face her.
"It might take after George," he winked, "We could call it eighteen months."
"Eighteen months?" she said, puzzling as to what he meant.
"You know, eighteen months," he smirked, pointing to his ears, "Ear and a half?"
"Funny," she rolled her eyes, folding her arms stubbornly, "It will most definitely have two ears, thank you very much and we are under no circumstances calling out baby eighteen months, nickname or otherwise!"
She rubbed her bump-less stomach fondly, "No, it's going to grow two good ears, two eyes, a mouth and a cute little button nose."
"Button!" Fred cried, "We could call it button?"
She frowned and said, "I think I might start to resent the name button when I'm the size of a beached whale."
"Well I thought it was cute," he shrugged, "I guess we'll just have to think of something later."
"Yeah," she said, smiling softly at him, "We've created something Fred. It's bloody scary, and I've got absolutely no idea how to handle this, but we've got a little gift."
"Yeah," he said, "They can be a late wedding gift to Ron - that he gets to be an uncle."
"Our little gift," she whispered, looking up into his light brown eyes, only just noticing how close he was, "Fred-"
He didn't move away as she called his name, only stared right back at her, raising one eyebrow and smirking, "Hermione?"
"Fred-" she took a breath, before stepping away from him, turning back to him and placing her hands on the counter for support, "You should probably go now… I'm see you on Sunday?"
He paused, before nodding, "Yeah, Sunday - at the Burrow?"
"Of course - and Fred?" she said, facing him again now she'd composed herself.
"Yes 'Mione?"
"We're keeping it quiet for now, yeah?"
He glanced at her stomach and then at her anticipating face, "Whatever you want. See you."
And with that, he apperated back home to get thoroughly trollied with George, in hopes it'd give him enough courage to tell his twin that he'd gotten their little brother's best mate pregnant.
'He's never going to believe this!'