Chapter 2- The Suggestion
Sitting at her desk in the Daily Prophet office, Ginny was working on her article for her series on tips from a professional Quidditch player. This article was discussing tips on how to get ready for games, mainly the recommended pre-game warm-ups. She had figured out how to share hers without being so blunt. All she would say when the girls on the team would ask was "If the walls in the locker room would talk" and that was it. But of course, everyone knew her pre-game warm-up included a snog or two or three from Harry.
She loved her job as the senior Quidditch correspondent. Since she had taken the job a few months after retiring, she had started to branch out in her writing. In the offseason for Quidditch, she would write about being a Quidditch star before she retired. And occasionally, she would write about the family, taking Teddy to a Quidditch match and soon will be writing about taking James to his first Quidditch match. Everyone loved her articles and Harry read over them before they were published.
Her most popular series to date was her 'A Day in the Life of the Queen of Quidditch'. In that series, she wrote about her day to day life as a Quidditch star and wife. The main question she had gotten was how she balanced her work life and home life. She smiled as she replied, "it helps to have a supportive husband."
Harry was supportive of her career as a Quidditch player. At one point, he had joked that she was going to cause him to have gray hair and he had even told his wife once after a minor injury Ginny had sustained, "You just took ten years off my life!"
Ginny's thought was broken at the sound of her coworker and friend, Raven's voice.
"Ginny, are you going to the Puddlemere United game this weekend?"
It had taken a moment for Ginny to respond, "Yes, I'm going. I decided that we'll take James and Teddy. This is going to be James's first Quidditch match. I was just going to take Harry with me, but he talked me into taking the boys. Albus is staying with my mother."
"How old is Albus?" Raven asked.
"He'll be two in the fall."
Grace, another of the girls who worked with Ginny came in and sat down at her desk. She greeted her coworkers as she passed.
"Not to be nosy," Grace began. "But have you and Harry figured out what you're going to do about having another baby?"
"We've talked about it and I'm going to make an appointment with the healer to discuss my options to have another baby."
The girls nodded and got back to work as Eleanor, the editor, entered the room. She was looking at the time sheet for that day and approached Ginny's desk.
"Ginny, have you taken your lunch break?" she inquired.
"Not yet."
"Go ahead and take it. I'll see you in an hour."
Ginny nodded and collected her purse and headed out the door. She glanced at the clock and seen that it was one in the afternoon. Knowing her husband, as she did, she knew he would work through his lunch break.
"I think I'll go and collect something for lunch and then head to the ministry."
"Tell Harry we said hello," Raven said, with a laugh.
"I will." Ginny left the office and headed down the alley to the Leaky Cauldron. She asked Hannah to reserve a table in the back and put in her and Harry's lunch order but telling her to wait until she came back with Harry.
She then disapparated to an alley near the visitor's entrance to the Ministry. Entering the phone booth, she dialed the number.
"Welcome to the Ministry of Magic. Please State your name and your purpose of visit."
"Ginny Potter, kidnapping Harry Potter," Ginny stated.
She knew that Harry sometimes worked his way through lunch and would come home, starving and could easily beat Ron in an eating contest. She once commented that she could hear his stomach growling before he entered the kitchen.
"Thank you. The Ministry of Magic wishes you a very good day."
Ginny rode down in the booth and waited until the doors opened.
She walked to the lifts, waving at some of the people she knew. She passed one of Harry's colleagues who waved.
"Ginny," Kingsley greeted as Ginny approached the Minister of Magic. He started to chuckle when he caught a glimpse of the badge Ginny was wearing.
"I'm going to drag him out of the office for lunch. He needs to get out of the office and breathe some." Ginny said defensively.
"Take it easy on him, Lassie," Kingsley said and headed off to the floos.
Ginny walked to the lifts and seen her brother and sister in law.
"Hello Ginny," Hermione greeted. "Would like to join Ron and me for lunch?"
"Thanks for the offer, Hermione, but I'm actually going to kidnap Harry and we're going to the Leaky for lunch."
"He just came in his office when I left, Ginny," Ron informed his sister.
Ron knew Harry's work ethic. He didn't complain. When Harry was promoted to Head Auror, a month after Albus was born, Ron was chosen to be the Deputy Head Auror. He loved his job because like Harry, the missions they had to go on were hardly any.
Ginny pressed two and rode the lift up to level two. She walked the familiar path to the Auror department, waving to some of the Aurors who waved to her. She greeted Maisy, Harry's secretary.
"Hello, Maisy. Is Harry around?"
"Oh, hello Ginny. He's in his office."
"Thanks, Maisy"
Ginny walked passed Maisy's desk and approached the door to Harry's office. She peeked in and saw the stacks of papers. She smiled when she saw the picture of her and the boys Harry kept on his desk.
Ginny cleared her throat, causing Harry to jump.
"Ginny! This is a surprise!" Harry was wracking his brain, trying to remember if Ginny said anything about her meeting him for lunch.
"I'm taking you to lunch, I'm giving you ten seconds to get your butt out of that chair and out the door or I will hex you."
Not wanting to be hexed by his wife, Harry jumped out of the chair and followed Ginny to the lifts. He vaguely heard chuckles from the Aurors in the cubicles nearby.
Once they reached the floo, Ginny told him they were going to lunch at the Leaky Cauldron. They headed straight to the table that Hannah had saved them and waited for the former Hufflepuff to take their order.
Hannah approached the table. "Wait, don't tell me. Harry will have the chicken and chips meal with a Butterbeer and Ginny will have the fish and chips meal."
Ginny shared a stunned look with Harry.
"Are we that predictable?"Ginny asked.
"Yes." Hannah looked between Harry and Ginny. "Well?"
"You've guessed it, but I want an iced tea to drink today instead of water," Ginny added.
"I'll have your order ready in a little bit."
Once Hannah left, Ginny asked Harry how his day was. They made small talk while waiting on their food, only pausing when Hannah brought them their drinks and Ginny asked how their son, Little Frank and Neville were doing.
Harry made a mental note to owl Neville sometime.
When their food was brought and they began to dig into their lunch, Ginny decided that now was a good time as any to bring up what she had been thinking about to Harry.
"What would you say if I decided I want to discuss our options for having another baby with Shanti?"
If Harry was surprised, he didn't show it.
"I know we wanted to wait until Albus was older," Ginny added. "He's going to be two this year and it might take a while to find someone to carry a baby and maybe even for them to get pregnant. For those reasons, I want to get started soon."
"I could understand your reasons for wanting to start the process now," Harry stated. He popped a chip in his mouth.
Ginny thought for a second, she knew that it wasn't common in the Muggle world, but could be a possibility in the wizarding world. She had heard of men being able to get pregnant with the help of a procedure.
But would Harry be willing?
"Harry, I have something to ask you."
"What is it, Gin?"
"Would be willing to be the one to carry our child?" she asked quietly.
Harry thought for a second. He knew it was possible and he had seen some pregnant men at Shanti's office when he went with Ginny to her appointments. Then he thought of himself carrying a baby. Like with Ginny's pregnancy with James, Harry imagined himself holding a small little bundle wrapped in a pink blanket.
Not needing to think about it more, Harry nodded.
"Yes, I would, Ginny. I would be willing to carry our child."
Ginny smiled and leaned over to kiss her husband. "Thank you," she whispered. All she needed to do now was to call Shanti and make an appointment.
How little did they know that their life was about to take a change that Harry didn't see coming?
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Ginny sat in the waiting room of Shanti's office. She looked at the clock on the wall and the door to the waiting room.
"Come on, Harry. Get here already," she muttered.
She looked up when she heard the door open and found a woman who looked to be Molly's age walk in and hold the door open for a woman for her own age. After she checked in, she sat down next to the older woman and they started chatting happily over nursery décor. She must be finding out the gender today.
She heard the door open again and looked up, expecting Harry. A man and women entered. The woman was about eight months pregnant. The couple sat down in the seats across from Ginny. It was hard for Ginny to sit there and watch the young couple because she knew that she would never get to carry another baby.
The door opened again, and this time it was Harry. He scanned the room and then met eyes with Ginny and walked towards her, sitting down in the chair beside her. He kissed her cheek.
"Sorry, I'm late. Kingsley came to my office just as I was leaving and wanted an update on the new recruits. I left Ron in charge and ran to the office floo before anyone else could stop me." The floos that were directly connected to St. Mungo's and to be used for emergencies only. Ginny looked at Harry with an uplifted eyebrow.
"It's good to be Head Auror," Harry said in response.
The medi-witch called Ginny's name and lead Harry and Ginny to Shanti's office. Shanti looked up when the door to her office opened and Harry and Ginny entered.
"Hello Ginny, Harry. How are you?"
"I'm good," Ginny answered.
"I'm a little tired, but I'm okay."
Shanti brought Ginny's file to the front and looked through it. She then looked up at Harry and Ginny.
"It's my understanding we're here to discuss the options for having another baby."
"Correct," Ginny replied. "We also have an idea."
"Oh." Shanti leaned over, wanting to hear this. "What is it?"
"Well, we've heard about an implanting procedure where you insert and uterus into a male and they carry the baby."
Shanti nodded and turned to Harry. "Is this something you're interested in?"
"Yes, Ginny and I discussed it and we've decided that this is how we want to add another child to our family."
Shanti smiled at Harry and Ginny. Of the Potter/Weasley bunch, they were her easy patients.
"Okay, well, I'm glad you came to this decision. Ginny, you still have your ovaries, you should have eggs." She turned to Harry, "And we'll need to collect sperm from you. The egg would from Ginny will be fertilized and then inserted into the sack, and then that night, you two can do your thing and we'll take it from there. I can always insert as many eggs as we need."
"How is the implanting procedure done?" Ginny asked.
"The uterus, which is more like a sack, will be implanted into your abdomen, but hovering it over your lower abdomen and then it will be vanished directly into the area it was hovering over.
Then I'll inject the fertilized egg. Once that's done, I'll check your abdomen and see if the sack is where it needs to be and if it's not I'll manipulate it where I need it to. Your abdomen will be numb during the whole procedure and all you would feel is some pressure."
Shanti paused for a second to ask "Any questions?"
"No," Ginny said, while Harry shook his head.
"Okay, I'll need clearance from your healer saying you are healthy for this procedure. Once I have that, we'll schedule the procedure."
Ginny nodded, her mind spinning. She looked at her husband. "Are you sure about this?"
Harry looked at Ginny and nodded, "When I married you I promised myself I would try to give you anything you wished for. You want another baby, I'll give you another baby."
Ginny was speechless. She then smiled and leaned over, kissing her husband. She whispered a "Thank you" when they broke apart.
When they left the office an hour later, Harry asked, "Should we tell the family?"
"Sure, let's start with Mum and Dad."
"I'll think after your parents, I'll tell Ron. Because when I do get pregnant, I can transfer some of my responsibilities over to him."
"Good idea." She leaned over and kissed her husband, noticing that Harry had a look of anxiety on his face.
"It will be okay, sweetie. You'll see." Ginny smiled, thinking of what a wonderful husband she had.
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"You are absolutely mental, Mate. Absolutely mental," Ron stated. Harry had just told him his and Ginny's plan for adding another baby to their family.
Harry leaned back in his chair, thankful he had placed a silencing charm on his office. "I know it sounds mental, Ron. But Ginny can't have a baby and this is a way we can have another baby."
Ron sat down in the chair across from Harry. "Do you know how long a pregnancy is? Nine months. Morning sickness, cravings, mood swings. Mate, you have mood swings without the added fact of pregnancy."
Harry looked at Kingsley, who had been silent since Harry told them the news. Harry had invited him to this meeting so he can be in the loop.
"Does Hermione know this? Has Ginny told her?"
Harry let out a breath. "She will when she gets to the Burrow."
Meanwhile, at the Burrow…
"Let me get this straight," Molly began. "Harry is going to undergo a procedure and after which he could get pregnant and carry a baby."
"Yes," Ginny said. She had just told her mother and sister in law what they had decided on regarding growing their family.
"I have to say, I admire Harry for choosing to do that for you," Hermione started. She had been quiet up to this point.
"I think what surprised me the most was how open to the idea, Harry was. He even volunteered to do it, surprised me," Ginny stated, picking up her teacup.
"So what happens now?" Hermione inquired.
"I made an appointment for Harry to go to see Holly. Shanti wants clearance from her before we move forward. Then she'll perform a procedure to implant, what would be the uterus, so to speak, in Harry's abdomen. Then she would inject the fertilized egg. Then we wait."
"He's positive, he wants to do this?" Molly asked.
"Yes, he's positive."
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Harry perched on the edge of the table in the examination room of Holly Jackson's office. She was the Potter family healer and had been since James was born. It had been a week since the appointment with Shanti and today was Harry's appointment to get clearance to undergo the procedure.
The room was cool, but thankfully Harry wasn't forced to wear the god-awful green gown he had been forced to wear during many physicals with Healer Chorley, one of the healers who took care of all of the Aurors as they come through St. Mungo's and the healer Harry was assigned to.
Like with the ministry matron and her staff, Ginny was on a first name basis with most of the staff in Healer Chorley's office and Healer Chorley addressed Ginny as Ginny and not Mrs. Potter.
There was a knock on the door and Holly entered the room.
"Hello, Harry. So you're here for medical clearance for an implanting procedure to become pregnant." Holly looked up at Harry, her heel clacking on the floor. "Have you gone mental Harry?" she asked.
"No, I'm not," Harry replied, sounding like he was serious. Holly knew why Harry was doing this, having seen Ginny not long after Albus was born. Her heart went out to Ginny and she had to say, she admired Harry for choosing to do this for this wife.
"Alright, let's get started." Without needing to be told, Harry laid back on the table.
Holly's examination began with an examination of Harry's heart and lungs. She moved along with the exam only pausing to announce what she was doing next. As she went, she told her finding to a Quick Quotes Quill. Harry eyed it, untrustingly. Holly finished her examination with the abdominal exam, pressing and palpating Harry's belly.
"Okay, everything looks great, I'll write up the report and send it to Shanti."
Harry left Holly's office, heading home to tell Ginny that everything was fine and he was cleared to undergo the procedure. He just wondered if he was making the right decision. But the thought of making Ginny happy and the possibility of getting a daughter, made Harry decide that he made the right decision.
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Ginny brushed her teeth in her master bathroom, enjoying the peace and quiet. The boys were in bed and it was just her and Harry. It was this reason why she loved this time of the day, when it was just her and Harry, in their own little world.
Tomorrow was implantation day. The day when the sack will be implanted into Harry the process of having another child will begin. Ginny could tell as the day wore on that Harry appeared to be more and more nervous about the events taking place the next day. She hadn't had a chance to talk to him about, being busy with the boys.
She spit out the foam and rinsed her mouth before pulling her hair up in a ponytail. Why she did so, she didn't know. Because at some point in the night, Harry would take it down.
Walking out of the bathroom, she found Harry lying on their bed, his shirt pulled up thus revealing his stomach. His left hand was behind his hand while his right was on his belly, almost rubbing it flat.
Ginny laid down beside him, placing her hand over his that was now resting on his belly.
"Is there a monster or something in your stomach that's going to jump out or something?" she asked. Harry shook his head.
"Just trying to remember what my stomach looks like before it becomes big and fat."
Ginny leaned over and kissed Harry's cheek. "Are you nervous about tomorrow?" She asked.
Harry took a deep breath before turning to his wife. "Is it bad to say that I'm scared? I know I agreed to this, but I can't help but think what if something goes wrong?"
Ginny moved her hand to stroke Harry's abdomen. "I know it's scary, baby. But it will be fine. You'll be okay."
Harry was silent for a minute or two before he nodded, agreeing with his wife. "Okay, but I'm still feeling nervous about the whole thing."
Ginny wrapped her arm around his waist, pulling him closer to her. He snuggled into her embrace.
"I will be right beside you through the whole thing. I promise." She reached with her hand and ran her fingers across the muscles in his abdomen.
"Enjoy that while you cane, because sometime after tomorrow, my flat and muscular stomach could be gone."
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It was early the next morning when Harry and Ginny left the house that morning. The sun was rising as they pulled out of the driveway. They had to be at St. Mungo's by eight in the morning. The procedure would last about an hour, which included observation. Ginny drove them to London, neither one of them talking.
When they reach Shanti's office just before eight, Ginny checked Hay in and went to sit down beside her husband. She immediately began rubbing his back in soothing circles like she before he was called as a witness in all of the Death Eater trials.
Shanti had given Harry a special soup to use when he showered that morning to wash his abdomen with. Because the procedure had a side effect of nausea, Shanti recommended that Harry didn't eat anything that morning.
Ginny kept rubbing his back, knowing Harry wasn't in the mood to talk. He was off in his own little world. This wasn't an easy decision and Harry had decided to do this make Ginny happy. Ginny just hoped that this would accomplish what they hoped it would. Give them the daughter they were wanting.
"Harry Potter," called the welcome witch. Harry and Ginny stood up and followed the welcome witch into the room where the procedure would be taking place.
Shanti came in the room, not a moment later.
"Good morning, how are we?" she asked, sitting down on a rolling stool.
"Nervous, "Ginny replied, looking at her husband, who suddenly looked a lot paler.
"I'll go slow and explain what I'm going to do before I do it. Need me to stop I'll stop," Shanti stated.
Harry swallowed and then nodded his head. "I'm ready," he said.
Shanti handed him a gown and told him to change into it. She stepped out to allow Harry to change. Quickly, Harry changed into the green gown and sat down on the bed, covering his lower half with the sheet Shanti had left.
A minute passed before Shanti returned with a box. "Okay, in this box is the sack that will act as a uterus to house your baby and that I would be implanting today. Any questions before we get started?" she asked.
Harry and Ginny both said no and Shanti gave them a quick review on how the procedure was going to go.
Listening to the healer explain, Harry felt scared. He instantly thought about how much is this going to hurt.
"Lie back for me Harry and we'll get started. "
Harry laid back on the bed as Ginny grabbed his right hand, giving it a gentle squeeze. Shanti readjusted the sheet to cover Harry from the waist down. She then pulled up the gown, exposing Harry's belly.
"Okay, I'm going to insert the sack now. You might feel some pressure and a burning sensation, but it should subside once I got the sack through all the muscles. Take a deep breath for me, Harry. It will relax your belly for me to implant this a little easier."
Harry focused on a discolored ceiling tile, trying to get his mind off of what was going on. He felt pressure when the sack went through the skin and muscles of his abdomen. It burned slightly, but not as much as he had expected.
"Okay, now ready for part two."
With a syringe looking machine, Shanti positioned it to hover over Harry's abdomen. "Now I'm implanting the fertilized egg. You should feel some pressure and little pinch when I insert the needle.
Harry nodded, his eyes glued to the ceiling. He felt Ginny squeeze his hand and rub his arm.
He hissed a little when he felt the pinch and in what seemed like in a blink of an eye. It was all over.
Shanti pressed on Harry's abdomen lightly to check and see if the sack was in place correctly. It was.
"Everything feels good. You may sit up now."
Ginny helped Harry sit up, slowly. She winced when she saw Harry grimace at the sudden pain in his stomach.
"I'm going to recommend that you rest for the rest of the day and tonight, you take the potion and we'll let nature take its course. May take four to six weeks to take effect, meaning we'll find out if this worked. You can take a pain potion if needed, though, try to take one. If the pain gets worse, contact me or come in."
Turning to Ginny, she added, "Ginny, some of the patients who have undergone the same thing Harry just did, told me that a light abdominal massage helped relax the muscles and ease the pain. Need me, call me."
"Thanks, Shanti."
After Harry was changed back into his clothes, he and Ginny headed back out to the car park where Ginny had parked and drove home to Godric's Hollow.
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Harry spent the day on the couch, in the family room, resting and relaxing. He watched some TV, sorted through the paperwork he had in his messenger bag and had even sent Ginny to the Ministry and to his office for the paperwork he had on his desk. He wasn't one to just sit somewhere and do nothing. He had to be sick to do that.
He slept the afternoon away, having not slept much the night before due to nerves about the procedure.
Ginny ordered pizza from the place in the village where they frequented when they didn't have the energy to cook or needed something quicker than a cooked meal. They enjoyed their rare adult time and had a real adult conversation with a meal in which they didn't have to wipe faces and no reminders of using table manners. They also enjoyed watching a movie that was very adult with not a cartoon or kids character in sight.
Molly and Arthur had the boys for the night and Ginny would pick them up in the morning after Harry left for work.
Deciding to go to bed, Ginny helped Harry up the stairs to their bedroom and into their bathroom. They showered together for the first time since before Albus was born.
After they finished their shower, dried off, and got dressed, Ginny led Harry to bed and helped him to lie down. Shanti had recommended not using anything when massaging Harry's stomach, just the skin to skin contact will be enough. She pulled up Harry's shirt and began to massage Harry's abdomen in slow soothing circles. Sometime later, she noticed that how relaxed Harry had come. Shanti had also warned her that Harry's stomach might feel bumpy over where she implanted the sack.
After Ginny finished the massage, Harry sat up long enough to take the potion. He swallowed it and then pulled his wife closer to him.
"Here's to hoping this works."