It was five and a half years after the defeat of Voldemort, and Ron Weasley burst through the doors of St. Mungo's. George's Patronus had just appeared in his flat, announcing Angelina was having their baby.
"Angelina Weasley?" Ron asked the receptionist. The blonde witch pointed down the hall. "Room two three five."
Ron nodded and followed her directions. He found Angelina's room and opened the door. Angelina was in the bed, clutching her round belly and breathing heavily. George was sitting by her side, and looked up as Ron entered the room.
"How's she doing?" Ron asked.
"Just contractions," George said, smiling slightly. Angelina, however, shot him a death glare.
"Just contractions?" she burst out. "How about you try giving birth sometime?"
"I think that's my cue to leave," Ron said. "Where's the rest of the family?"
"Waiting room down the hall," George said, cowering under the look Angelina was giving him.
Ron left the room and followed the hall to find the waiting room filled with Weasleys. Bill and Fleur were in the corner with four-year-old Victoire and two-year-old Dominique. Just three months ago, Fleur had announced she was pregnant with their third child.
Charlie was regretfully in Romania, and was unable to attend the arrival of his newest nephew.
Percy and Audrey were sitting next to Bill, ten-month-old Molly in Percy's arms. Harry and Ginny were sitting next to the couple. Harry was reading a copy of the Daily Prophet and Ginny was talking with Audrey, but Harry's attention kept drifting back to Ginny, as if he was expecting her to drop dead at any time. Ron knew why. Just a week ago, Harry and Ginny had announced they were pregnant with their first child. Ron knew Harry was making sure Ginny was comfortable and happy constantly.
With all his siblings having children, it made Ron think of having his own kids some day. He knew for a fact Hermione wanted children more than anything. They had never talked about it, but by the way Hermione looked at her nieces and nephews, Ron knew she really wanted her own.
Hermione was sitting next to Harry, speaking in a low voice to both him and Ginny. She had come to St. Mungo's earlier with her ability to get off of work early. Ron had stayed the whole day due to the fact that he had already taken a week off that month.
Ron approached her and sat down on her left side, kissing her head. "Hey beautiful."
Hermione turned and flashed her radiant smile. She was still the most beautiful thing in the world in Ron's mind. "Hi. When did you get off?"
"About fifteen minutes ago." Ron scooted closer to Hermione and wrapped his arm around her. He still couldn't believe he was married to Hermione. If anyone had told him he was going to marry Hermione Granger in his first year, he wouldn't have believed them.
An hour went by. Another shortly crawled by. Ron was getting restless, as well as the children. After a while, Fleur Flooed Victoire and Dominique to her parents' home in France, and Audrey took Molly to Andromeda Tonks' home, knowing that she would look after her. Both the women returned within ten minutes, not wanting to miss anything.
Ron soon found himself on a nearby sofa with a sleeping Hermione's head in his lap. He himself was drifting off as he checked a nearby clock: one o' clock in the morning. He began to stroke her hair that he loved to keep his mind off of what could be happening with George and Angelina…
He had a nightmare. He was caught in some dark portal that was slowly getting smaller…he couldn't breathe…
And as suddenly as he was getting squeezed, he was released. He was instantly placed in the middle of a black field, where the only other person he could see was Hermione. She was so close he could almost touch her…
And suddenly, she was writhing on the ground, obviously very much in pain. Ron tried to help her, but he suddenly couldn't move…then Bellatrix Lestrange came out of nowhere and started torturing Hermione more with the Cruciatus Curse…Ron was screaming out, begging her to stop…Bellatrix merely cackled at his feeble attempts to save Hermione…
Ron woke with a start and found Hermione's worried brown eyes staring into his. He looked around the waiting room and found the rest of his family staring back at him. Had he been screaming in his sleep?
"What happened?" Ron asked Hermione.
"You were talking in you sleep. You said…" she trailed off and blushed.
"You were yelling Hermione's name," Ginny said bluntly. After she said this, everyone in the room shifted uncomfortably and started talking amongst each other, leaving Ron and Hermione to talk to each other alone.
"What was it this time?" Hermione asked. She had gotten used to Ron having nightmares, especially since after the war. Both Ron and Hermione woke in the middle of the night often and confessed the dream was about the war.
"Just a repeat of Malfoy Manor," Ron said, not wanting to get into much detail.
Hermione raised her eyebrows. "She's dead, Ron. She can't hurt you or me anymore."
"I know that!" Ron exclaimed, suddenly impatient. "I – I just –" He inhaled to calm himself, willing himself not to explode at Hermione. "I don't know why I keep having these dreams."
Hermione grabbed his hand a squeezed it. "You're having these dreams because you're worried about me. You may not know it, but in the back of your head, you can't stop thinking of that night."
Ron pursed his lips. He knew what Hermione had said was true. Before he could respond, however, George came down the hall, looking flustered.
"I have a son," he announced, looking exceptionally proud.
Everyone surrounded him and bombarded him with questions. Hermione shot Ron an encouraging look before leading him by the hand over to George.
"What are you going to name him?" Ginny asked. Every eye was on George, all knowing what he was going to say.
"Fred," George said after a deep breath. "It's the least I can do for…him."
Everyone smiled and thumped George on the back as they followed him down the hall into Angelina's room.
