The Morning After

Hermione awoke to the sound of sizzling bacon on Saturday morning. She sniffed the air, hungry for breakfast, but quickly lost her appetite. Her stomach churned and she felt suddenly nauseous. A small burp echoed from her lips and she clasped her hand over her mouth. Jumping out of bed, she flew to the bathroom and crashed through the door. Just as she came up to the toilet, she threw up in a massive heave. The heaving went on for a few more minutes before it stopped completely. Sinking fully to the floor, she leaned against the bathtub, shutting her eyes. If she hated one thing about pregnancy, it was the morning sickness.

Standing up slowly, she flushed the toilet and used the counter to balance herself. Lifting her head, she glanced at her pale face in the mirror; 'Good lord,' she thought,'this is horrible.' However, she was snapped out of her thougths when she heard a small knock outside on the bedroom door, quickly she leaped over and shut the door to the bathroom. She knew it was Ron, coming to bring her breakfast in bed like he did the morning after he found out she was pregnant with Rose. She had no intentions on being rude to him, but she couldn't stand the smell.

"Ron, if you have bacon with that breakfast, I assure you that you want to take it away immediately," she spoke through the bathroom door.

"Hermione? What's wrong? You alright?" Ron asked, concern etched into his voice.

"Yes, fine, just please love, if you don't want to see vomit all over the floor, please take it back downstairs and chuck it in the bin." Leaning her forehead against the door, she prayed that the smell wouldn't seep through the oak panel.

"Alright," he said, "I'll be back up in a minute then, just hang on."

Hearing the sound of feet clunking back down the stairs, she slowly opened the door and came out of the bathroom. There was no reminisce of the horrid bacon smell lingering anyway in the room, so she breathed a sigh of relief. She walked back over to the bed and sat on the edge.

'I hope I can make it through the day today,' she thought. This always happened, on the day she was busy or had something important to do, something went wrong. Not that she really cared this time though, another baby was much more important than making it through a family dinner. Later on, they were supposed to get together at the Weasley's home with her parents for a huge family get together they had a couple times a year. She looked up, hearing footsteps coming quickly up the stairs. No more than a second later, Ron peaked his head in through the door.

"You sure your alright?" he asked worriedly, coming to sit by her on the bed. He placed his hand on her back and slowly scratched her it soothingly.

"Yes, just the morning sickness, but I don't think it's going to be as bad as it was with Rose. This is only the fourth time I've gotten sick," she said, shutting her eyes and enjoying his movements.

"Alright, well do you need anything?" he asked, continuing to rub her back.

"Um, well now that I think about it, maybe some mouth wash," she said, grimacing at the horrid taste in her mouth that she just now noticed was there. Ron said nothing but just took out his wand and pointed his wand at a glass of water on the bedside table. The clear liquid quickly turned into a deep green color. Hermione picked it up and swished it around her mouth. Suddenly realizing that there was no where to spit it out, she got up and briskly walked to the bathroom.

Ron shot up, following her quickly, thinking she was going to be sick again. He quickly pulled her hair back and waited for her to finish. Hermione spit out the rinse and looked up at Ron, giving him a questioning look.

"What? I thought you were going to be sick again," he said in self-defense. Letting go of her hair, it slowly fell back onto her shoulders.

Grabbing a towel off the shelf, he handed it to Hermione. She took it gratefully and whipped her mouth off. After checking herself in the mirror one more time, she and Ron made their way out into the bedroom once more.

"Where's Rose at?" Hermione asked, pointing her wand at the closet.

"She's in her cage," Ron said, dodging a blouse and jeans whizzing past his head.

"It is NOT a cage Ronald," she said glaring at him, "and stop calling it one in front of people, they'll think we're some kind of horrible parents."

"Well it seems like a cage to me," he said nonchalantly, "it holds people in like a cage."

"It's a playpen, smartarse, and it's supposed to keep her in, so she doesn't hurt herself or get into things," Hermione said, gathering up her clothes and walking back into the bathroom.

"Doesn't matter, it's still a cage to me." Ron leaned against the doorframe and watched his wife. She was always beautiful to him, but her carrying his child seemed to make her glow. Smiling to himself, he thought back to the days where they didn't even know one another's feelings. It seemed so long ago, but he was just glad he was where he was now. He turned back to his wife in front of him, watching her turn on the shower and begin undressing.

Hermione glanced in the mirror, catching her husbands eye. She turned her head away quickly, smiling to herself. To this day, it amazed her how he still made her blush like a school girl. Taking off her night shirt, she threw it into the hamper, then proceeded to take of the rest of her garments.

"There's no reason to blush love," Ron said quietly, wrapping his arms around her and nuzzling into her neck.

"I know, but you still make me nervous," she chuckled, "however I suppose that's a good thing after all these years." She leaned back into him and turned her head slightly. Her lips met his in a sweet surrender. He tugged at her lower lip, begging for entry. However, she pulled away, smiling a coyly and backing up, stepping into the shower.

"Oh now that's just cruel Hermione," he whined, "Get me going like that and then just leave me hanging. You're a cruel witch Hermione, very cruel."

"I know," she said peaking out from behind the shower curtain, "but knowing you, it would go so much further than what we were planning and Rose would be clawing her way out of her "cage" by the time we were done."

"Yeah," he said chuckling, "well I can't wait till your hormones kick in and you can't keep your hands off me."

"Dream on Ronald, now go watch Rose and maybe I'll do something nice for you later." Ron walked out the door, chuckling to himself. Jogging down the stairs, he came down into the living room. Rose was in her playpen, jabbing her teddy bear with her toy wand.

"Where mummy?" Rose asked curiously.

"In the shower love," Ron answered to his daughter. She shrugged her shoulders and went back to jabbing her bear. Laughing, Ron picked up Quidditch Weekly and began to read about another awful season for the Chudley Cannons.

Twenty minutes later, Hermione came walking down the stairs, dressed and ready for the day. Ron had long given up on the magazine,which lay beside him, and was now bouncing Rose up and down on his knees. She sat down next to them and watched Rose giggle and smile at her fathers antics.

"Mummy!" Rose gurgled, stretching her arms toward Hermione.

"Rosie!" Hermione responded back, lifting her up in the air above her.

"Hermione you shouldn't really be lifting her," Ron cut in, "she's getting quiet heavy."

"I'm perfectly capable of lifting our child," she said getting up. "It's not as if I'm seven months along, I'm about two, and I'm not giving up and being lazy this early!" Taking a moment to adjust Rose in her arms, she then stomped off into the kitchen.

"Bloody hell," Ron muttered, getting up and following her. This was the part that he disliked the most, the hormone imbalance. He never knew what to say to her because one word could send her flying in a thousand different directions. Stepping into the kitchen, he found her packing up some things for Rose into a small bag for later. Meanwhile, Rose sat happily in her high chair, doodling with a pencil on a piece of parchment.

"Look, Hermione, I'm sorry. I just want to make sure you're alright. You and Rose are the most important things in my world and I don't want to see you overstressed or overworked, that's all." He laid a hand upon her shoulder gently, finishing his statement. She turned around and sighed.

"I know Ron, but you don't have to treat me like I'm handicapped. I know what's to much for me and the baby and right now, handling Rose isn't a problem for me." Reaching up, she loosely laced her hand with his and gave him an exasperated smile.

"Alright, fine. I'll try and simmer down my over-protectiveness for a while and let you work it out, but as soon as you hit month 5, it's all me, got it?" he smirked.

"Fine Mr. He-man warrior, do what you will. And thank you," she said, returning his smile and kissing him gently.

"Yuck!" Rose giggled after seeing the position of her parents.

They broke apart and laughed at the expression of disgust of their daughters face. "Rose, if only you knew what I went through to get your mother," Ron said, "the least I deserve is a kiss now and then."

"Very true Ron, very true," Hermione laughed, "Alright, are you ready to go then?"

"Sure thing," Ron said, grabbing Rose from her seat and handing the travel bag to Hermione.

The family strode out of the kitchen and into the living room to the fireplace. Ron grabbed a handful of floo powder and stepped into the fire place with his wife and child.

"You ready to tell everyone?" he asked Hermione.

"More then ever," she responded smiling. Ron smiled back and cleared his throat.

"The Burrow!" he shouted, throwing the powder down. In the next second, green flames erupted and whisked the family away to their home away from home.

Well there you go, chapter 3!
Forgive my lateness, but my main concern is my finals coming up
and I've been studying like crazy for them.
Once school is over in 6 days, my posts will be more consistant & sooner, promise! :)
Reviews anyone? Please & thank you :D