Chapter 5 Cravings, Mood Swings, and Baby Kicks
Ron sat at the table in the Auror's lunch room trying not to throw up. He'd seen his-sister-in-laws' cravings during the lunches at the Burrow and had to fight to keep his lunch down. He and Harry both nearly threw up when Ginny combined ketchup and salad cream on a burger at a cookout that Hermione's parents hosted to celebrate Ron and Hermione's new home. The worst was his own wife; Hermione dipped sour cream and onion crisps into vanilla ice cream topped with chocolate sauce and pickles.
Now he sat in the lunch room watching his brother-in-law eat his lunch, which was shepherd's pie, which he was now able to stomach, topped with pickled relish and salad cream with carrots on the side. Harry absentmindedly ate his lunch as he read over the reports from the last mission that one of the teams went on.
Harry reached for another report and caught Ron's face. "What?" Harry asked with a puzzled expression.
"Nothing," Ron returned to his own stack, munching on the sandwich Hermione made him that morning.
It may have only been noon, but Ron felt like it was a long day. The training session with the new recruits lasted longer than he thought. The mission that was scheduled to end next week wasn't going as planned. Ron would need to go out and check on it next week. He didn't mind helping Harry out during his pregnancy, but he had a new found respect for his brother-in-law.
No wonder Harry falls asleep on the couch after Sunday lunch, Ron thought to himself. It was nothing for Harry to fall asleep on the couch when they went to the living room. He would often be found curled up on one side of the couch allowing Ginny to sit beside them.
He had also survived Harry's morning mood swings. To say Harry took the news well was as white a lie as one could get. Despite the fact it was noon, everyone, including new recruits and sectaries had been told off at least once that morning. Ron tried to warn Jackson that Harry had already lost his temper over the news that the mission wasn't successful. It would make the third time in six months that the same mission failed and Harry was determined that this one would be successful.
An hour later, Harry would apologize for yelling at them. The women who had children sympathized with the mood swings, while everyone else wondered how much longer Harry would be working.
Ron was glad that morning sickness was now gone, although nausea would return for a short period of time. He also wouldn't be surprised once Harry could easily out-eat him.
Harry flicked his wand and the stack of papers was banished to his desk.
"You know how I said that the stuff Ginny ate when she was pregnant made me sick?" Harry said to Ron.
"Yeah," Ron answered, "Now you eat it."
"Yeah," Harry replied sheepishly.
"I forgot to ask what the first appointment was like?" Ron asked.
Harry went into to describe the appointment from the scrub pants to the ultrasound.
"The ultrasound was actually kind of odd. I've watched Ginny's but I never knew what it felt like. Well, it was actually not as bad as I thought it would be. Ginny helped wipe the gel off and told me when I showered that night to be sure I washed my stomach off well and good. I understood why because it itched like crazy."
Ron listened to his brother in law recount the entire appointment and he had to ask the one question that was burning his mind.
"Scrub pants? Why?"
"They said that there would be no needed for the stir-ups and handed me the pants, for modesty purposes."
Ron shook his head "Ginny probably wished she had a camera for that."
"She's already taken pictures, she plans on doing one every month to document how big I'm getting."
Before Ron asked, Harry said, "I asked her to take one even when my stomach was still flat, that way when the baby's born I'll have a way to remember how flat my stomach was."
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"Ginny, it's precious!" Raven commented on the ultrasound picture. Grace was looking at it over Raven's shoulder.
"How far along is he?" Grace asked.
"About twelve weeks, we found out when he was about six weeks along." Ginny passed the picture to Eleanor.
"How's he doing?" she asked.
"Morning sickness is better and he's eating a little better and able to keep it down. The cravings are just as bad as mine were. Last night he combined apple tarts with peanut butter drizzled with chocolate sauce." Ginny snorted.
"Ew," the others deadpanned.
"I know. I actually understood how Harry felt when I was pregnant."
"Interesting, isn't it?" Eleanor asked.
"Yes, it is. I walked in on the first appointment to find Harry, of course, in the lovely green gown and pants to match. They said something about wanting to protect modesty. I guess they didn't need to see anything from the waist down."
Eleanor leaned over. "How have you all kept this out of the Prophet?"
"I don't know, I think it's because Harry's threatened more than once to sue for privacy violations."
"Oh." Eleanor was surprised to learn this. Harry usually wasn't the type to threaten others, but now that she thought about it the press would be an obvious exception. Even though we're the press… Remind me not to get on his bad side.
"What about the extra articles you write about? A lot of them are on your relationship with Harry and the boys."
"Harry doesn't mind that because what I say is the truth."
"Didn't he arrest Rita Skeeter a long time ago?"
"She was in violation of her parole and the Aurors issues an arrest for her. Harry just so happen to be the one who caught her," Ginny explained.
"Correct me if I'm wrong, didn't she say that he and your sister in law were dating?"
Ginny thought for a moment and then remembered.
"That was a long time ago when Harry had to compete in the Triwizard Tournament. She wrote lies about him then. He was fourteen and she said twelve."
"As an Auror, I wonder if Harry has a favorite capture," Raven pondered.
"Dolores Umbridge," Ginny replied, promptly.
Eleanor, Raven, and Grace looked at Ginny.
"After the Carrows, she was his next person to capture."
"Was she the one who caused the scars on his hand?" Grace asked.
Ginny nodded. "She got additional time in Azkaban for that on top of the whole Muggle-Born thing."
Ginny finished up her work and bid the girls farewell, smiling to herself as she remembered the reasons why she was proud of the hard work Harry did to ensure that their kids and their nieces and nephews could have a future and they themselves could as well.
These thoughts filled her as she Flooed to the Harpies' Quidditch pitch to interview one of her former teammates.
She knew that she would be coming home late.
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Ginny Apparated in front of her house in Godric's Hollow some hours later. The cars were parked in the driveway, the outside lights in the back and the front were on and the only light on in the house was the living room.
She quietly opened the door and snuck into the living room, finding Harry asleep on the couch. He looked freshly-showered and cute in his pajamas, complete with one of the T-shirts she bought got him that would be big enough to hide the bump with his old pajama pants.
Ginny leaned over and kissed Harry on the cheek, which unfortunately woke him up.
"Hey," he muttered sleepily.
"Hey yourself. How long have you been asleep?" Ginny asked as Harry turned to lay on his back. She lifted his feet up and sat down, placing his feet in her lap.
"About two hours, came down here after I got the boys to bed. Ordered pizza, there's some leftover if you're hungry," Harry said through a yawn.
Ginny shook her head "No thanks, the girls and I went out to eat."
Harry rested his right hand over the bulge of his stomach. Ginny started rubbing his feet as they talked about their day.
When Ginny was pregnant with James and Albus, Harry would rub her feet and back. Now Ginny was returning the gesture.
Eventually, she noticed that Harry was starting to fall asleep. "Come on, let's get you to bed."
Harry walked in front of Ginny as they went upstairs. Ginny went to the bathroom for a quick shower before going to bed. When she emerged from the bathroom ten minutes later, she saw Harry was fast asleep on his side facing her side.
She walked around the bed quietly and burrowed under the blankets.
"Good night, Harry," she said, leaning over and kissing his head.
"G'night," came Harry's sleepy reply.
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Monday morning brought a new week and for those in the Auror training program, it meant fitness training. The other Aurors who were enrolled in mandatory physical training were forced to join them.
Yonas Mensah, the fitness trainer, had been the drill sergeant since before Harry and Ron were trainees. Harry still had nightmares about the guy and his deafening whistle of doom. Once or twice he'd been tempted to stick the whistle where the sun doesn't shine, never voicing this urge as Yonas would've in turn assigned them additional sit-ups, pushups or laps.
As a fully fledged Auror and now Head Auror (not to mention pregnant), Harry wasn't required to take the fitness exercise group sessions. Instead, he was free to use the gym anytime during working hours or as early as six o'clock.
Given that Harry wasn't cleared for physical exercise by Shanti, he sits in the corner of the room and watched as Yonas proceeded with his torture. Harry remembered going home sore after a training session with Yonas, which was now an exercise session, and to sweet-talk Ginny into a full rub down.
Harry always claimed that Ginny had magical fingers that would work out any knots he had in his back and shoulders and took away any cramps in his stomach.
"So, when do I get the pleasure of working with you again?" Yonas asked Harry as he packed up his stuff.
"After the baby's born," Harry replied. Shanti had cleared him only for yoga and walking.
"I look forward to it," Yonas said as he left the training room.
"I don't," Harry muttered as he climbed off the stack of mats he had been sitting on. He walked back to the office where he was greeted by Kingsley and Ron.
"Session over?" Ron asked. He had taken over the Auror training sessions until Harry could find someone for the job. Yonas was a good Auror in his day, but he was a better fitness instructor. Harry couldn't spear the good Aurors because he needed him for cases. Kingsley approved for Harry's idea to look into the other ministries and see if there was an Auror willing to train the new recruits and willing to move to England.
"Yeah, just ended," Harry said as he lowered himself into a chair. His now noticeable budge made him look like he was growing a belly. Luckily for Harry, his stomach was the only part of his body getting fat.
"We need to talk," Kingsley said in a tone Harry recognized from a few years ago when the Aurors had too many failed missions and Kingsley intervened with Harry as a team leader.
Harry turned to Ron. "The mission failed again, didn't it?"
Ron just nodded and had to place his hand over his mouth to keep from laughing at how Harry was getting out of the chair.
Harry swung his office door open and bellowed "JACKSON, SAMUELS, PETERS, CONFERENCE ROOM NOW AND BRING YOUR TEAM WITH YOU!"
Ron and Kingsley looked at each other. Harry was at the end of his third month, heading into his fourth. Ron remembered Ginny's mood swings and compared to Harry, Ginny was a little calmer, despite the fact that of the two of them, Ginny's temper was worse.
They could hear Harry chewing the team out in the conference room. Muggle-baiting was on the rise and Harry was trying to get the bottom of it but wasn't having any luck. Cases like these went on for years and not months.
"It's going to be a long day," Ron sighed.
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Harry stumbled out of the Floo, smelling dinner from the kitchen. He entered the kitchen and found Ginny fixing plates.
"What's this?" Harry asked.
Ginny looked at him with a smile. "You see, Harry, there's this meal we have in the evening. It's called dinner. I know it's been a while since you've seen a dinner, but this is what it looks like."
She set the plate down at the table. "Hungry?"
Harry's stomach answered for him with a loud rumble. He went to his office and dumped his bag in the armchair he placed in the corner, then went in the downstairs bathroom where he washed his hands. Returning to the kitchen, Ginny had fixed glasses of water for herself and Harry.
It had been a long week. Since Monday's chew-out session, Harry had noticed the Aurors were working overtime to figure out the Muggle baiting case. He would have stayed, but then Ginny would have shown up and dragged him home by the ear.
"Where are the boys?" Harry asked. He then felt two pairs of hands wrap around his legs and heard laughter.
"Okay boys, dinner," Ginny said as she placed Albus in his high chair. Ginny shared the progress they were making with potty training Albus. James was fully potty-trained, much to the relief of his parents.
"I got an owl from Shanti; our next appointment is scheduled for next week," Ginny informed him as they cleaned up the kitchen once dinner was over.
Harry went to the living room to relax after a long day at work. He laid down on the couch, resting his tired body. He pushed up his glasses and pinched the bridge of his nose, fighting off an oncoming headache. Shanti had lectured him on keeping his stress level down during the pregnancy. He was almost asleep when he felt Albus climb on the couch and crawl up on Harry.
Albus raised Harry's shirt and started talking to the baby in his stomach. Shanti had encouraged Harry and Ginny to talk to the baby like they had during Ginny's pregnancies. James came into the living room and started talking to the baby as well. Ginny came in the living room sometime later and found James and Albus chatting jubilantly with their daddy's belly.
Ginny smiled at the scene before her and quietly left the room.
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Ginny stood beside the floo, waiting for Harry to come through. She didn't have to wait long because the fireplace roared and Harry came out. Ginny grabbed him before he could fall.
Last week at lunch, Ron and Hermione announced they were expecting baby number two. Because of their struggle to get pregnant with Rose, they waited until Hermione was past twelve weeks before they announced she was pregnant.
Ginny went into the living room where the family was gathered and talking, Molly was in the kitchen, cooking.
"Well, it looks like Harry and Hermione will be having their babies a week or so apart," Audrey said to the room at large.
"That's something I was wondering," Hermione said. "How is Harry going to deliver your baby?"
Harry answered before Ginny could. "Same way Albus was born, only it'll be me they'll be slicing open."
Ginny shook her head. "Must you say it like that?"
"What's wrong with how I said it?" Harry asked.
"Never mind." Ginny didn't want to cause Harry another mood swing.
Molly called them for lunch and everyone went into the dining room.
Hermione and Harry compared pregnancy symptoms and cravings.
"I now have to deal with a pregnant wife at home and a pregnant boss at work. I can't escape, can I?" Ron said out loud.
If looks could kill, he would have dropped dead that instant, judging from the looks he was getting from Harry and Hermione.
When lunch was over the men all retreated to the living room and the women remained in the kitchen.
"Second pregnancy is not as bad as the first, I don't have any morning sickness, it's actually been pleasant," Hermione said when Angelina asked how she was doing.
"And how's Harry?" Molly asked.
"He's okay, mood swings are the same. One minute he's happy, the next he's angry, sad the next. Reminds me of my mood swings." The ladies all laughed.
"He could easily out eat Ron in an eating contest."
Hermione, remembering how rare it was to see Harry eat nearly as much as Ron, was surprised.
"Really?"
"I've seen it three times this week" Ginny replied, remembering the surprise when Harry fixed himself seconds and thirds of the pork chops, potatoes, and carrots.
"Is Shanti concerned about him gaining too much weight?" Molly asked.
"I'll find out when we go this week" Ginny replied. She turned to her mother "We go next week for an ultrasound appointment. We usually do them at the same time, but Shanti scheduled the ultrasound for next week. But I'm wondering if you would like to go with us?"
Molly looked at Ginny with a smile. They would find out if the baby was going to be a girl or a boy.
"Yes, I would, who would keep the boys?" Molly asked.
Angelina spoke up, "I will, you've kept Fred and I can return the favor."
"Alright, thank you, Angie," Ginny said and looked at her mother. She hoped that her suspicions were correct and that the baby in Harry's belly was a girl.
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Ginny brushed her teeth, thinking of what she needed to do the next day. She was looking forward to the appointment they had with Shanti this week and the one for the ultrasound the next. The boys were asleep, Teddy was at Andromeda's for the week and Harry was already in the bed.
He came home feeling tired and decided to camp out on the couch for the evening. Ginny popped in a movie and the boys watched with interest – Curious George, a movie about a curious little monkey who lived with a man with a yellow hat. The boys loved the movie. Harry fell asleep halfway through it.
Ginny smiled when she remembered how loving her sons were towards their dad. They covered him up with a blanket they'd found in the closet, then kissed him good-night.
She was broken out of her thoughts when she heard Harry.
"Ow!" Harry said, placing a hand on his stomach with a pained expression.
"What's wrong?" Ginny asked, alarmed.
"I don't know, I just felt something sharp down where the… ow!" Harry looked at Ginny with a pained and scared expression. Ginny settled beside him in their bed and placed her hand under his shirt on his bulging bump. She felt something kick her hand.
"Harry, I think this is the baby moving!" Ginny said in an excited tone.
"It is?" Harry asked, matching her expression.
Harry laid back in the bed as Ginny raised his shirt up. She should faintly see the baby's foot under Harry's belly button.
"It is the baby moving!" Ginny said, leaning down to speak to it. "Hello, sweetheart, this is your mummy. I hope daddy's taking care of you." She kissed Harry's baby bump.
"Now that the baby's mobile in my stomach, does this mean that I won't get a moment's peace?" Harry asked.
"That's later in the pregnancy." Ginny leaned over and kissed Harry. "I think we have a ways to go before the baby uses your bladder as a trampoline."
"I'm not looking forward to that," Harry stated.
Ginny reached over and rubbed his stomach. She used to absentmindedly rub Harry's stomach to help relax him after a long day at work. Now she did so she could feel their child moving around. She rubbed his stomach until she heard his snores telling her that he had fallen asleep. She quickly and easily joined him, dreaming of a little girl with red hair and brown eyes, a complete daddy's girl.