The reception area to the maternity ward at St Mungo's was empty when Harry and Ginny arrived. As they walked up to the reception desk, Ginny felt another stomach pain coming on. She stumbled from the intensity of the ache with a twisted grimace on her face.
Harry quickly helped her to a seat, then turned back to the reception desk, "My wife is in labor!" he exclaimed loudly to the bored women behind the desk. "Get someone out here to help her right now!"
The receptionist rolled her eyes heavenward. From the way he was going on, one would think that this was the first time anyone had ever had a baby at St Mungo's. Nevertheless, she placed her wand to her throat and said, "Orderly to the receptionist desk immediately," which was magically emplified and transferred over the intercom system.
"Are you all right, Gin," Harry asked her, worried. His head snapped back to the reception desk. "Where's that orderly?" he demanded.
Before the receptionist could reply, an orderly appeared with a magical wheelchair. It differed from the muggle version in that it had no actual wheels, but merely hovered in the air at the correct height.
With practiced movements, the young orderly helped Ginny into the chair. He told Harry, "I'm moving her to labor room 2, where the healer will arrive shortly to examine her. You may follow me or you may wait for the rest of your family in the labor waiting room, which is through these doors." He indicated the door from which he'd just emerged.
Harry did not reply, but followed close behind the orderly, who directed Ginny's chair to the left once they went through the doors, then down to the corridor to the second to last room on the right.
As they entered the room, a healer's aide was waiting to take charge of Ginny, to help get her comfortable until the midwife arrived to check her labor's progress.
"Hello, I'm Rolande and I'll be taking care of you in between the midwife's visits," the young aide told her. Noting Harry's scar, she said to Ginny, "You're Mrs Potter, aren't you."
Harry rolled his eyes as Ginny answered affirmatively, but otherwise said nothing. He was used to it by now.
"If you'll excuse us for a few moments, Mr Potter, I'll get Mrs Potter undressed and ready for examination," the aide continued briskly.
"Go see if Mum is here yet," Ginny ordered. "I want her near me while I'm going through all of this."
"All right," Harry said slowly. "I'll be back shortly."
He left the room quickly, then sauntered back into the reception area. Finding it empty, he took a seat to wait for the arrival of Weasley family members. Harry didn't have to wait for long, however, as Molly Weasley came bustling in a few minutes later, with Arthur following her at a more sedate pace.
"Well, where is Ginny and why aren't you with her?" Molly demanded when she saw Harry sitting alone in the reception area. "I've notified everyone and they should all be here shortly."
"She's in the labor room," Harry snapped, irritation clearly evident in his voice. "The healer's aide shooed me out of the room so she could get Ginny ready for the midwife's examination." After a pause, he added, "And Ginny told me to come out here and wait for you."
"That's one reason I had my babies at home," Molly sniffed. "I was able to do it my way without strangers interfering. I wish you and Ginny had taken my advice and done the same."
Before Harry could tell her just what he thought, Arthur stepped in. "Now, Molly, Harry and Ginny are adults. It's not our place to tell them where their child should be born."
Giving Arthur a grateful glance, Harry rose from his seat and said, "The aide is probably finished with Ginny by now. Let's go in; she's probably wondering where we are." He led his in-laws to the labor room, where they found Ginny in bed wearing a hospital gown.
Molly took a seat next to Ginny, then demanded, "Has the midwife examined you yet?"
"No, but they've owled her and she's on her way," Ginny reported. "I hope it doesn't take too long; I don't know how much more of this I can take."
"First babies generally take longer to come than if you've had children before," Molly warned her. "It may be rough on you, but I promise you that you'll forget all about it once you have your beautiful baby in your arms."
"I hope you're right, Mum," Ginny said, grimacing as another wave of pain hit her. "But it seems as if I'll have an awful lot to forget."
----
Much later that afternoon, Hermione Granger-Malfoy undressed herself for a bath prior to dressing for the evening meal. Less than a minute after she'd removed her knickers and set them aside, she felt a warm gush of fluid between her legs.
"Finally!" she said out loud. Hermione had been feeling stomach pain on and off for much of the day, but hadn't quite believed that she was actually in labor. Now that her water had broken, she knew that her time had arrived at last.
Figuring that she had a bit of time before hard labor began in earnest, she climbed into the waiting tub. There would be no chance for a complete bath once she got to St. Mungo's, so she took advantage of the opportunity she had.
Once inside the tub, she called out for Breezy. No sooner than she'd spoken the elf's name than she heard the distinctive crack of apparition.
"Mistress called for Breezy?" the elf inquired, a concerned expression on her little face.
"Please go tell Lucius that I need him in here," Hermione told her.
"Right away, Mistress Hermione," Breezy replied, then promptly popped out of the room.
A moment later Lucius appeared in the doorway. "What is it, love?" he asked. "Breezy said you needed me."
Suddenly inexplicably shy, Hermione looked down at the water and said softly, "I think I'm in labor, Lucius."
"Are you sure?" he asked.
"Oh, yes," she affirmed. "I'd been having some stomach pain earlier, but my water broke while I was getting undressed just now."
"Why didn't you tell me about the stomach pain before?" Lucius demanded.
"I wasn't sure what it was," she told him slowly. "And I didn't want to get your hopes up unnecessarily if I was wrong."
"Let me help you out of the tub, then," Lucius said decisively. "I'll use my wand to dry and dress you. Breezy already has your hospital bag packed, so we can be off to St Mungo's within five minutes."
"We're not in that much of a hurry," Hermione assured him, smiling broadly now. "From how my books have described labor, I'm only in the early stages. It could be hours before I give birth." Reaching out her hand for him, she said, "Why don't you get naked and join me in here. It might be quite awhile before we get to bathe together again."
"All right," Lucius agreed. After waving his wand at himself, his robes disappeared. He climbed gingerly into the large tub, careful not to jostle Hermione.
"I remember that Narcissa was in labor for two days before giving birth to Draco," Lucius told her after he'd settled in beside her and began washing her back. "She had a very hard time, as I recall."
"I'm hoping I'll be like my Mum," Hermione replied, repressing a shudder at the notion of being in labor for two days. "She was in labor with me for only six hours."
"I've heard that muggle women typically have an easier time having babies than do pureblooded witches," Lucius observed. "Perhaps this is also true of muggleborn witches."
"Not all muggle women have an easy time of it," she told him. "It varies widely from woman to woman."
"Why don't you lean back and I'll wash your hair for you," he told her, changing the subject. "It may be awhile before you get another chance."
"That would be lovely," Hermione sighed, leaning back almost into Lucius' lap.
Neither spoke for the next few minutes as they enjoyed the pleasure of human touch and simply being together. Hermione could sense the love emanating from Lucius as his strong fingers expertly worked shampoo through her curly brown tresses.
After he was finished, she remained lying against him for several moments, wishing the moment could last longer. Eventually, however, she sat up reluctantly. Turning to face him, she said, "I suppose we should get ready and go. The pains are coming somewhat more often now, and there's no point just sitting here waiting around."
"You're right," he agreed. "Let's get on with it."
Lucius helped Hermione out of the tub, then quickly dried and dressed her using magic, before dressing himself.
"I'd better do something about my hair," Hermione said as she looked at herself in the mirror. "I don't want it all over the place while I'm at the hospital." Thinking for a moment, she picked up her wand and with a muttered incantation, her hair was tightly woven into a single plait at back.
Satisfied, she entered the bedroom, where she found Lucius now impeccably dressed in summer-weight robes.
"Are you ready to go?" he asked. "I'll take you by side-along apparition, as I don't want you to risk splinching yourself or the baby."
"Just about," she said, walking into the library to the writing desk. "I want to send an owl to Mum and Dad and let them know what's going on."
After she'd penned a quick note to her parents, she turned to Lucius. "I just realized! How will Mum and Dad get into St Mungo's?"
"Tell them that Draco will come and apparate them there in a short while," Lucius instructed. "I'll have to send him an owl as well after you're done."
A few minutes later, Lucius and Hermione stepped out onto the balcony that overlooked Diagon Alley.
Looking down at Hermione, Lucius smiled as she tucked her hand into the crook of his elbow. "Ready?"
"Let's go," she affirmed. "I'm more than ready."
With no further ado, Lucius disapparated them with a loud pop.
---
A/N Thanks to all my readers and reviewers that have inspired me to keep writing this story for over a year.
A/N Next chapter yet to be named.