Chapter 2 Congratulations, You're Pregnant
Two months had passed since Harry had undergone the implanting procedure. He and Ginny wasn't expecting anything to happen too soon. Shanti had mentioned that during the first appointment when they were discussing the procedure, it could take time. They would just have to wait, patiently.
Once again, Ginny was sitting at her desk in the Prophet office. She was working on her next article for the Sports page. With two children at home, Ginny often came into the office to work, leaving the boys with Molly or Harry took them to work with him. Even with the boys gone, Ginny still couldn't work as housework distracted her.
She had received great reviews on her articles about the last Quidditch game she covered. Because of her love for writing, she often wrote about other topics. She would even write about the general happenings in the Wizarding World, with the most recent being a story covering the grand opening of the second location of Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes. Writing about her life was a second topic she often wrote about. She talked about the challenges of being a wife and Quidditch star, being a wife of an Auror and her experience of being a professional Quidditch player.
She glanced to the wall where she had hung a picture of her and the Harpies in uniform with her own picture beside it. They were both taken before Ginny's last season with the Harpies.
Also on the wall was framed articles she had written. Her most favorite one was in the middle.
My Husband The Head Auror
She had written the article in which covering the ceremony in which Harry was promoted to Head Auror. She included the challenges and trials of being an Auror's wife, which was echoed by fellow wives of Aurors. As she had mentioned the bad, she mentioned the good. Towards the end of the article, she wrote about the hard work Harry had put into the Auror office and the Ministry as a whole. She mentioned how proud she was of Harry's accomplishments and included the short speech she had written for the swearing-in ceremony. The wife often had a chance to speak at the ceremony and Ginny was the first Auror wife to do so since before Gawain Robards.
Ginny included the two pictures that were taken by the Auror Department sign at the entrance and by Harry's new office. The one was taken by the sign that said Head Auror: Harry J. Potter was just Harry by himself, while the other included Ginny.
Eleanor commented her on the article, calling it a job well done and commented how nice the picture was. Ginny had a copy of the picture of Harry by the Head Auror office in a frame on her desk, as well as the one with her. In the picture of both her and Harry, she would occasionally lean over and kiss Harry's cheek.
There was a small mention in Ginny's article that with Harry being promoted to Head Auror, there was an Auror being promoted to Deputy Head Auror. There was no one better deserving of that than Ron. After Harry's swearing-in, Ron's took place. It was at Harry's request that they do them separate to let Ron have a moment that was all about him. That was the second time Molly watched Ron swearing in the Auror office, with tears of pride streaming down her face.
The article she was working on was about the adventures of taking your children to their first Quidditch match and offering tips to parents who are considering bringing their children to a match.
Ginny looked up from her article and caught a glimpse of one of the pictures she had on her desk. She kept pictures of her boys, including Harry, on her work desk. Her favorite picture was of Harry, James, Albus, and Teddy. The picture was taken one weekend when Teddy was staying with the Potters. She had lined them up on a step in the middle of the stairs. Albus wouldn't stay, so Harry scooped him up and moved in between James and Teddy, placing Albus on his lap.
"Ginny?"
At the sound of her name, Ginny looked up and seen that Raven was who had spoken to her.
"I love the article. The pictures are so cute."
Ginny beamed with pride. "Thanks."
Grace finished the article, handing it back to Ginny. "You took James and Teddy to a Quidditch match?" she inquired. "That must have been fun."
"Yes, it was," Ginny agreed. "Teddy wanted to go when the Harpies played, so we decided to bring James and leave Albus with Mum and Dad. We had a good time. We stopped at a burger place after the match. Harry and the boys pigged out. Ice cream was included in the meal."
Raven chuckled, knowing how wild James could be without the assistance of sugar. "How bad was the sugar high?"
"I wouldn't know," Ginny said, getting up and heading to the supply room and returned with some parchment. "I went to bed and Harry stayed with them. All I know is when I came back downstairs the next morning with Albus, James was on one couch, Teddy was in one of the chairs and Harry was on the floor."
"Poor Harry," Raven chuckled.
Ginny sat down at her desk, turned to face her friends. "The only thing 'Poor Harry' did was sweet talk me into a back rub that night when we to bed."
Raven shook her head, while Grace looked on.
"I don't understand," she said.
"Grace," Raven began. "When you get married and have children, you'll see what we're talking about." Suddenly she turned to Ginny. "Has the implanting procedure been successful yet?"
"Not yet," Ginny replied. "It will take time."
"I have to say Harry is a brave man to undergo all of this just to bring a child into the world," Grace commented.
"He said that he would do anything to make me happy. And we're hoping that we get a girl," Ginny explained.
Raven reached over and took Ginny's hand in hers, giving it a gentle squeeze. "I hope for his sake you get a girl. How's he doing?"
"He's doing alright." Ginny chuckled at what had transpired the night before. "I came out of the bathroom last night and Harry had one of the throw pillows stuffed under his shirt."
Raven chuckled. She could picture it in her mind which made her laugh all the more.
"He asked me if I would still him when he got big as a house. He even lays in the bed, looking at his stomach almost as if there is something in there that is wanting out."
Raven roared with laughter, this time joined by Grace. The imagines that this information was creating were too much for them.
"Be patient," Raven said once she calmed down. "It will happen."
How little did Ginny know that it was going to happen a lot sooner than she or Harry could ever imagine?
OoOoOoOoOoOoO
The Flaming Dragon was a Chinese restaurant that opened in Diagon Alley after the war. It was one of the popular places for lunch and many ministry workers were seen there on their lunch break or they picked up takeaway at the end of the work.
The Flaming Dragon was a favorite among Harry, Ginny, Ron, and Hermione. So much so that Ron and Harry would sometimes come here for lunch instead of going to the joke shop for something different.
Harry and Ron were sitting in a booth in the corner of the restaurant, looking over the menu. It had been a while since the implantation procedure, and Harry and Ron hadn't had a chance to talk.
"So, no luck yet?" Ron asked, sipping his water.
Harry shook his head. "Hopefully I don't have to have another injection."
At Ron's puzzled expression, Harry explained the injection procedure. Luckily, Harry only had it done that one time. For Ron's sake, Harry left out the final part of the procedure.
"Ouch," Ron winced, sympathetically. "You're braver than me." He knew that Harry really loved his sister if he was doing this. Since Harry told him what he was doing, Ron had realized that the reason why Harry was doing this was to give Ginny the daughter they hoped this baby would be.
Ron also knew that Harry would do anything to make Ginny happy.
"So, what are we having for lunch?" Harry inquired, looking over the menu
"The usual," Ron replied. They ordered sweet and sour chicken with noodles for Harry and rice for Ron with an order of egg rolls.
"Alright," Harry agreed. "Hermione told you about the egg rolls. I think her and Ginny had them when they were here last."
"They did."
Unlike when the girls had lunch together, there wasn't much talk, only about Quidditch scores. It was a silent agreement that the family was off topics and wanted to focus on more manly topics.
The waitress brought their order and lunch continued uneventfully. Harry and Ron split an order of egg rolls, deciding to that by splitting them, they would only have to two, one for each of them.
The sweet and sour sauce was spicy to Harry, who tried to let out the fire on his tongue by taking a long drink of water.
"Is it just me or is the sauce a little spicy?" Harry asked, under the jest of passing one the fortune cookies.
Ron shrugged, figuring Harry must have gotten one with the spicy sauce.
When the bill came, Harry took it before Ron could grab it. A short argument broke out until Ron gave in, knowing they would be there all day if he just agreed to let Harry pay the bill. He could get it next time.
Once the bill was paid, they left the restaurant, deciding to use the Tube to get back to the ministry and just go to the London entrance to the ministry.
But what neither of them knew was what the next day was going to bring.
OoOoOoOoOoOoO
Harry woke up the next morning, stomach in turmoil. He didn't have a chance to figure out why before he bolted to the bathroom and began to vomit. Cursing Ron sounded really good right now.
"Darn you, Ron. You're lucky you're not here right now. I'd hex you so bad that you'll never know what hit you," Harry thought to himself.
Hacking a little, Harry reached up and flushed the toilet, leaning his head against the wall. Did he have food poisoning? He had food poisoning before, definitely. He knew that it could come on as soon as an hour later. Or at least that was how it was one time in his sixth year. He never ever wanted to repeat that again. The only bright side of it was Ginny staying with him, rubbing his back and keeping him company in the dorm.
"Let's get the egg rolls, he said," Harry muttered, darkly. "They're good, he said." He paused when he felt his stomach protest of what he had fed it the day before. He leaned forward and heaved again, this time, bringing up more stomach acid with the remainder of his stomach contents.
Harry was surprised with all the noise he was making he hadn't woken up Ginny.
"Harry?"
He must have woken her up with the last round.
"Are you okay?" Ginny stepped into the bathroom, closing the door behind her. "Are you sick?" she asked.
"No," Harry moaned, holding his stomach. "I'm going to kill your brother."
Ginny felt sorry for Harry, no one should feel this way. She kneeled behind him and started to rub his back in slow soothing circles. This was an act she had done many times when he was sick.
Making a decision, Ginny got up from the floor. She leaned over to where her husband's head was laying on the toilet seat and whispered, "Harry, I need to floo Mum and see if she can take the boys and then call Kingsley and tell him you're not coming into work today."
It was a testament to how bad Harry felt because he replied, "Okay."
Usually, he put up a fight, one that he never won.
"Will you be okay with me gone for a few minutes?" she asked.
"Yeah," Harry groaned, feeling his stomach churn.
Ginny left the ensuite and head out of the master bedroom and down the stairs to the sitting room. There was only one fireplace in the house that was connected to the floo and it was the one in the sitting room. Harry said it was more for a security reason, which was why Ginny didn't use the fireplace upstairs in her and Harry's bed.
Picking up floo powder she called out "the Burrow "and soon she was looking at her mother's clean kitchen. It wouldn't stay clean for long with her boys.
"Mum?" she called.
Molly rushed into the kitchen, a duster in her hand, dressed in her cleaning clothes and an old apron that Ginny had given her a long-ago Mother's day. The flower pattern was faded and the straps and tie both been sewed back more than one. Molly only wore this apron to clean in. Ginny had brought her a new one a few years ago and she cooked in it.
"Ginny, what's wrong?" Molly asked, suddenly frantic.
"Harry's sick," Ginny explained, trying to keep her mother from being hysterical. "I need you to take the boys if you can."
Molly smiled, happy to spend the day with her grandchild. She never said no to her children when they needed someone to watch their kids. Any chance to spend time with her grandbabies, she took it. Cleaning could wait another day and magic could take care of what needed to be done now.
"Of course, I can. Bring them on over. I'll whip up something for them to eat if they hadn't had breakfast."
Ginny sighed in relief, but then again, when did Molly tell her she couldn't watch the kids.
"Thanks, Mum, I'll bring them over right after I firecall Kingsley."
"You're welcome, Ginny. I hope Harry feels better soon. I'll send you some ginger tea later today."
"Thanks again Mum, I'll see you in a little bit."
Disconnecting from her parent's floo, Ginny pulled her head out and glanced up the clock. Kingsley would be in the office right now as it was pushing nine in the morning.
She picked up another handful of floo powder and called out Kingsley's office floo as her destination.
Kingsley had looked up when the image cleared and before he had a chance to say anything, Ginny explained, "Kingsley, Harry's sick. He won't be into work today."
"Alright, Ginny, thanks for telling me. Tell Harry I hope he's feeling better soon."
"Thanks, Kingsley." Ginny disconnected the floo and then headed upstairs to check on Harry. He was still in the bathroom when she returned, sitting in front of the toilet. She had heard it flush a few times while she was downstairs.
"Are you okay?" she asked. Her response was a mumble. The only parts she understood was Ron and kill you.
"Alright, I'm going to take the boys to Mum and Dad's. I'll be back."
Ginny headed to Albus's room first as his room was the closest. She scooped him up and quickly changed his nappy and out of his pajamas and into play clothes. To Ginny's amusement, Albus slept through the whole thing. She carried him to James's room, passing the room that was Teddy's when he stayed.
She woke up James after sitting Albus down on the end of the bed.
James, fortunately, was potty trained and Ginny planned to work with Albus. Hermione had mentioned catching a window of opportunity when Albus would show an interest in using the potty. Ginny wasn't going to let that slip through her fingers.
After helping James in the bathroom and quickly changing his clothes, she took the boys downstairs to the floo.
"You are going to spend the day with Grandmum," she told them.
"Why?" James asked. Everything followed with a why.
"Because Daddy doesn't feel good and Mummy is going to take care of him."
"Why?"
Ginny sighed. "Because Daddy has a tummy ache."
"Why?"
"Uncle Ron."
To Ginny's relief, James stopped. She directed James to grab on to her leg and picked up floo powder. Soon they were tumbling out of the floo in the Burrow.
"Grandmum!" James exclaimed seeing Molly. He shot himself into Molly's awaiting arms.
Albus woke up, due to the noise, and launch himself into Arthur's arms.
"Thanks for taking the boys, Mum."
"You're welcome, dear," Molly said, turning towards the kitchen. She summoned a vacuum flask with ginger tea and handed it to Ginny.
"Thanks for the tea. I'll come and get the boys when Harry's feeling better than today."
Ginny looked around the Burrow, noticing it was quiet.
"Have you talked to Hermione or Ron today?" Ginny suddenly asked.
"I talked to Ron this morning. He seemed fine. Why?" Molly inquired.
Ginny explained what she figured was wrong with Harry. "No, he didn't seem sick. I would know if he was," Molly stated.
"Alright." She said bye to the boys and told them to behave and flooed back home to Harry.
She took the tea to the kitchen, setting it on the stove. It wasn't until she glanced at the calendar that she remembered what Shanti said.
"May take four to six weeks to take effect"
Ginny gasped and quickly ran upstairs. She burst into the bedroom, noticing Harry had moved back bed. He jumped at her sudden appearance.
"Harry, I think I know why you're sick."
OoOoOoOoOoOoO
Harry sat on an exam table, waiting for Shanti to come back with the results of a pregnancy test. He sat with a bucket beside him as he was still feeling nauseous. Ginny watched her husband from the chair beside the exam table, as he fought off any feeling of nausea
"Gin, if this is morning sickness," Harry paused for a second when he felt something come up his throat. When the feeling went away, he said, "I apologize if I wasn't sympathetic enough."
Ginny stood up, walking over to stand beside her husband. She wrapped an arm around his shoulders and Harry leaned his head against her shoulder. Hopefully, it wouldn't be much longer to get the results.
She had immediately firecalled Shanti's office and Shanti told Ginny to bring Harry in, now. She collected her husband, quickly helping him change into something besides pajamas and slip on his socks and trainers. She forgone his hair and summoned her purse before heading down to the floo. Upon arrival, they were immediately taken back to an exam room.
Shanti was waiting for them and no sooner than the door, the closed, she began asking Harry what his symptoms were. She handed him a cup and directed him to the restroom down the hall. After that, they followed a mediwitch to the blood lab, where she drew blood from the crook of his elbow.
Now they were waiting for the results, somewhat patiently.
Shanti knocked on the door before entering. She was smiling, which gave away the news. Harry and Ginny smiled brightly, knowing what was coming next.
"The implanting procedure worked! Congratulations, you're pregnant."
Shanti went to explain that Harry would need to take potions every day to ensure the health of the baby. Since this was considered a male pregnancy, the potion was necessary. One missed dosage could end tragically. Once that was out of the way, Shanti went on to explain what Harry could expect over the next month. When she finished, she asked Harry and Ginny if they had any questions.
"When does morning sickness end?" Harry asked. This was no surprise to Shanti. This was the first question her patients asked or one of.
"It can last as long as six to twelve weeks," Shanti explained.
Harry sighed. It was going to be a long six to twelve weeks.
"Harry, lie back on the table," Shanti directed. "I'll check and see how things are going in there before you leave."
Harry laid back on the table, pulling his shirt. Shanti pointed her wand at Harry's bare stomach and a projection appeared above his abdomen. In the middle of the projection was a little pink figure. Ginny took Harry's hand in hers
"There's the baby," Shanti said, pointing to the pink figure.
The couple looked at the projection, smiling happily. Shanti managed to get a picture from the projection for Ginny to have, then she waved her wand over Harry's belly and a piece of parchment appeared. Apparently, it was some information about the baby.
"You are six weeks along. The baby is due late July to early August," she read from the parchment. She sat the parchment down and turned back to Harry. "Alright, I'm going to press around on your belly. Tell me if you feel any pressure."
"I will," Harry murmured, feel Ginny squeeze his hand.
Shanti started lightly palpating and pressing, focusing on Harry's lower abdomen, the area where the baby was located inside Harry.
Harry could feel Shanti's hand lightly press on his abdomen. Then Shanti got a measuring tape and measured low long the baby was.
Then suddenly reality hit, it was real. There was really a baby in there. He was going to carry a baby.
Harry thought to himself "This just got real, there's really a baby in there".
After poking and pressing on Harry's stomach, Shanti allowed Harry to sit up. Ginny helped him pull down his shirt.
"Alright, everything looks good." Shanti made some notes in Harry's file. When she finished, she turned to Harry. "Now, I'm going to tell you to take care of yourself. Don't stress too much and try to avoid teaching the trainees if you can, otherwise place a strong shield around yourself and absolutely no missions. We can't risk a spell hitting your belly and killing the baby."
Harry nodded, knowing that Shanti was right. He knew most of this from Ginny's pregnancies.
"Alright, I will talk to Kingsley and Ron when I return to work," Harry decided.
"Okay. No Quidditch, but you can still fly, just no fancy tricks. I want to come to see me if something doesn't feel right. Tell Ginny if you're not feeling well and floo me if you have any questions regarding potions. Most have a pregnancy safe version." She paused for a second, thinking. "If the boys haven't already, if they dragon pox, you'll need to find somewhere else to stay for a week until they are no longer contagious. If it's James, who gets it and Albus doesn't show any symptoms, take Albus with you. I know he should be caught up with his peers by now, but this is just to be on the safe side."
Harry glanced at Ginny, who was listening tentatively. The roles were reversed now.
"Owl or floo me if you need me." Shanti opened the door. "Make an appointment with the welcome witch for two weeks from now. Congratulations, I hope everything works out."
"Thank you," Ginny said. She and Harry were alone for a moment to soak in all what had transpired over the last forty-five minutes.
Ginny smiled, placing her hand on Harry's stomach. Harry's own hand joined her own, covering her hand.
"We're having a baby. There's a baby in there." Ginny's eyes made Harry's. They both were happy, so happy they had goofy smiles on their faces.
"Yes, we are."
Ginny helped Harry down from the table and they left the exam room, heading to the checkout to make their next appointment. Once they were done, they flooed home.
"So what's next?" Harry asked when they sat down on the couch. Ginny was going to wait until later before collecting the boys from the Burrow.
"We tell the family."
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That night, Harry woke up that night, stomach rolling. He slowly turned over on his side, facing Ginny.
"Morning sickness is what some liar called it," he muttered.
Harry felt his stomach lurch one more time, and this time, he bolted from the bed and into the bathroom. He made it in front of the toilet before he started to hurl into the toilet, heaving what little he ate that day reappear.
He felt soft hands on his back, rubbing in soothing circles.
"I don't think I can take this," Harry groaned after he caught his breath and feeling his stomach roiling. Ginny didn't say a word, but got up and walked over to the medicine cabinet.
When she came home, she made sure Harry was fine before she left to go to the grocery store. They were running out of nappies and wipes and they were getting desperately low on milk. While she was out, Ginny went to Diagon Alley and got pregnancy safe stomach soothers that Shanti recommended when she was pregnant with James, if she needed a potion. She brought enough to last them for the month.
She reached for the stomach soother and wordlessly, handed it to Harry.
"Here, take this. It will help settle your stomach enough that you might be able to go back to sleep."
Harry took the stomach soother, swallowing it and then taking the water that Ginny had offered him. Once he was sure that he wasn't going to start vomiting again, he allowed Ginny to help him back to bed.
Once back in bed and lying down, Ginny reached over Harry's waist and rubbed his stomach in the very familiar circles. She knew that it would relax him enough to fall asleep. Soon, Harry's breathing even out and Harry was asleep.
He slept for two hours until he was woken again, this time it was a nature call. He got up and headed to the bathroom, relieving himself. He had just returned to bed when he felt his stomach lurch once more and Harry raced quickly to the bathroom.
Ginny woke up to the sounds of Harry vomiting. She quickly got up and headed into the bathroom where she found Harry leaning against the toilet, looking spent
"Do you want another stomach soother?" Ginny asked. Harry nodded. Ginny got another potion and uncorked handing it to her husband
"Is this going to happen every night? Am I going to be sick the entire time?" Harry asked, taking the potion from his wife.
Ginny handed a cup of water. He switched with Ginny taking the cup of water and handing her the empty vial.
"For your sake, I hope not," Ginny whispered, but Harry heard her. She sat down beside her husband, rubbing Harry's back as they sat there on the tile floor of their master bathroom, waiting for another round of nausea before they returned to bed.
Finally, the stomach soother took effect and Harry's stomach was calmer. Harry let Ginny lead him back to bed, he was feeling really tired by this point.
Harry laid on his back, with Ginny curled against his side. He felt her hand snake under his T-shirt and then began to rub soothing circles on his stomach.
"Thanks, Gin" Harry's sleepily replied.
"You're welcome." Ginny leaned up and kissed Harry on the cheek. Luckily, he slept great for the rest of the night until morning came.
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Ginny arrived at the Daily Prophet office to work on her article the following morning. Harry stayed home again, the morning sickness too much for him to go to work. Plus, they wanted to tell the family first before anyone else. She took the boys to the Burrow to give Harry some peace and then flooed back home to check on Harry before heading to work. Harry was already parked on the couch in the family room, watching some television show.
She left him instructions to call her if he needed her and left for the newspaper office. She mostly worked from home more than she did in the office, but working in the office had the advantage of getting more work done and adult conversations.
"Good morning Ginny," Eleanor greeted. She was sitting in what was called the conversation circle. It was where most of the not so private interviews were done and somewhere the employees, sat around and talked other than the employee lounge and break room. Raven and Grace were sitting in the chairs across from Eleanor. This was also where the four women had their morning meetings.
"Good morning, how is everyone?"
Conversation flowed for a while until Ginny decided to tell her co-workers her news.
"I got some news I would like to share," Ginny said, getting the women's attention. She smiled before she shared, "the procedure was a success. Harry's pregnant!"
There was a slight pause before they all jumped up and hugged Ginny.
"Congratulations!" The three said in unison, causing them to chuckle.
"That is good news," Raven commented.
"I'm glad it worked for you," Grace said as she and Ginny hugged.
Ginny nodded, the smile never leaving her face. "I am too."
"How's Harry?" Eleanor asked.
"Sick. Morning sickness has arrived."
The girls who had been pregnant all winced sympathetically.
"How bad is it?" Eleanor asked.
"It's been pretty bad. It was actually how I figured how he was pregnant," Ginny stated. She then launched into the story of what had transpired the day before and finding out that Harry was pregnant was the cause of Harry's illness. Picking up her purse, she reached inside and pulled out the picture Shanti made for her yesterday.
The women all cooed at the image. "Aw."
"Then I went to the store when we got home and I picked up some pregnancy safe stomach soothers for Harry. As we know morning sickness is what some lair called it and Harry woke up me a few times last night, sick. He only managed to eat some at dinner, only for it to come back up hours later."
"So, when are you telling your family?"
"Sunday, they know what we were doing. I know Mum will be thrilled, but the others, we'll see how they take this."