Chapter 6 What's It Going to Be

Harry sat in Shanti's waiting room, looking at a magazine for pregnant witches. When he walked in, most of the waiting room looked at him like he had grown two heads. He'd gotten used to the looks and stares, being the Chosen One, the Boy Who Lived and the defeater of You-Know-Who, but now he was getting looks for a different reason.

He had managed to sneak out of the office and get to St. Mungo's without anyone stopping him for some reason or another – as was usually the case – and was now waiting on Ginny. He looked at the clock on the wall and found he had five minutes left until his appointment time. He was starting to wonder if Ginny was going to be late again for another doctor's appointment.

As if on cue, Ginny came through the front door of Shanti's office and sat in the chair next to him.

"Hey, how are you feeling?" she asked.

"Tired. My back feels sore, and this little monkey hasn't stopped moving all morning," Harry replied, indicating his belly. Ginny placed her hand on his middle and felt their unborn child kick her hand.

"Wow. What do you want to bet it's a girl?"

"Harry Potter," the Welcome Witch called. Ginny helped Harry out of the chair and followed the pretty blonde until they stopped next to the scales. Harry toed off his shoes and stepped up, his jaw hitting the floor when the numbers appeared.

"175 pounds," the nurse muttered as she wrote down the readings on a clipboard.

"Is this bad?" Harry whispered nervously to Ginny.

"Not at all! It's normal to gain some weight during pregnancy," Ginny explained before bending down to pick up his shoes to carry to the exam room. "Two visits ago, you weighed 150, then 160, and now 175. You're not eating a bunch and not a lot of junk. You're pregnant. Weight like this is normal."

"Okay, change into this and Shanti will be in shortly," the Welcome Witch said, laying down the gown and pants and leaving.

"Explain to me the purpose of wearing the gown and pants every single time?" Harry asked, picking up the garb.

"Easier to examine you I guess," Ginny explained with a shrug.

Harry took off his shirt and tossed it to her before pulling the gown over his head. He then jerked his pants off, tossed them to Ginny, and slid on the scrub pants, placing himself on the end of the table.

"We'll find out what the baby is next week," Ginny said excitedly.

"Did you know your brothers are betting on what the baby is?" Harry asked.

"Yes, all of them think it's a boy, while the sisters-in-law think it's a girl. What are you guessing?" Ginny asked.

"Girl, too quiet sometimes to be a boy. Also kicks like a boxer. What about you?" Harry threw the question back.

"I'm thinking a girl. I would love to have a daughter, one with red hair, your green eyes…" Ginny sighed dreamily.

"I was thinking, what would you like to name it?" Harry asked. He already a name in mind, at least for a girl. He just needed to know what Ginny thought.

"I don't know about what to name a boy, but I really want a Lily," Ginny answered. She waited a moment before she asked, "Are you okay with that?"

"That's what I was going to say." Harry was surprised that Ginny wanted to name their child after the mother-in-law she never got to meet.

Any discussion of boys' names and middle names was cut short as a knock came at the door and Shanti stepped in.

"Hello, how are we doing?"

"Tired. The baby's started moving and it doesn't know the difference between night and day," Harry explained.

"That's perfectly normal." Shanti started taking Harry's vitals and blood pressure.

"Great! Everything seems to be going well so far," she said as she released the blood pressure cuff from Harry's arm.

"Any nausea, dizziness, bleeding, anything out of the ordinary?" Shanti asked.

"None," Harry replied.

"Okay, lie back on the table and let's see what's going on in there, shall we?"

Harry scooted back on the table before lying down. Shanti pulled up his gown and waved her wand over his bare stomach, focusing on the growing baby bump. Soon a thumping sound was heard in the room.

The sound of their unborn child was music to their ears.

"The heartbeat sounds good," Shanti informed Harry and Ginny as she canceled the spell. She laid her wand down on the table and turned back to Harry.

"Now let's see how big this little one is" Shanti stated as she pressed on Harry's stomach. She felt the baby moving slightly under her fingers and found the baby's head and feet, measuring how long the baby was.

"Good, the baby is a healthy size for nearly twenty weeks. You're almost halfway through the pregnancy," Shanti informed Harry as she wrote down the measurements in his file.

"Now, I'm going to press on your stomach and see how things are going in there."

"From your standpoint, how has this pregnancy gone?" Ginny asked.

"Very well," Shanti replied as she pressed Harry's belly. "Harry started out healthy and the baby seems to be growing and developing on time." Harry winced slightly when he felt Shanti's hand under his belly button.

"I don't have Harry's pregnancy categorized as high risk, although I want to keep a closer eye on him when he gets closer to his due date," Shanti explained.

Shanti continued her exam for another five minutes. When she would feel the baby, it moved away from her hand.

"I think this baby is going to be stubborn, it's moving all over the place," Shanti commented. Harry agreed with her.

"Okay, everything looks good," Shanti said, allowing Harry to sit up. "I will see you next week and hopefully the little one would allow us to see if it's a boy or a girl."

"I think we're hoping for a girl," Ginny said, handing Harry back his clothes.

"What's the bet?" Shanti asked. She delivered almost all of the Weasley grandchildren with the exception of Louis who was delivered by his father, as Fleur's labor had progressed too quickly for them to make it to St. Mungo's.

"All the men minus Dad and Harry think it's a boy. The rest of us think it's a girl," Ginny explained. She helped Harry down off the table and into a chair where he put his shoes back on.

"There's another," Harry stated.

"What is it?" Ginny asked.

"Whether or not I'm going to make it to the due date, if the baby decides to come early or if I beg Shanti to deliver it sooner. Only a few think I'll make it to the due date."

Ginny raised her eyebrows in surprise. She knew her brothers had given Harry a hard time about him being pregnant, but betting on whether or not Harry was going to beg the Healer to deliver their child early just to get the pregnancy over was a little over the top. She knew Harry wouldn't do that. Of course, come contraction time, then he might be begging.

"Okay, I will you next week for the ultrasound," Shanti said as she went out the door. Harry and Ginny followed her to the Welcome Witch to make their next appointment.

"See you next week. Try to keep the stress to a minimum, Harry," Shanti said in a warning tone. She was close to putting him on bed rest so they wouldn't risk the health of the baby, especially considering this was Harry.

"Shanti, my mother will be accompanying us, is that okay?" Ginny asked.

Shanti nodded. "I'll set up the larger room. I haven't seen Molly since you delivered Albus. Anytime a family member other than you and Harry want to come to the appointments, just let us know in advance."

"Okay, see you next week," Ginny said as she followed Harry to the fireplace to Floo home.

OoOoOoOoOoOoO

"What about your full first name," Harry asked. They were lying in bed later that night, discussing middle names for their daughter.

"No, I refuse my daughter's name to be Ginevra," Ginny stated in a tone Harry knew all too well.

"Okay, what about Molly?" Harry suggested, "but then again Percy named his daughter Molly."

"I have a suggestion," Ginny said as she motioned for Harry move closer to her so she could rub his back.

"Okay, what is it?" Harry said, relaxing immediately at his wife's touch. Harry was almost halfway through his pregnancy. His back started bothering him more and the little monkey in his stomach didn't stop moving. Luckily it didn't kick a lot, it would occasionally head bump into a rib or one of Harry's kidneys.

"Luna!"

Harry thought about it for a second and replied, "Lily Luna Potter, has a nice ring to it doesn't it".

"Lily is of course after your mom, but Luna would actually be after two people," Ginny pulled Harry to lean against her and she wrapped her hands around his waist, rubbing his pregnant belly.

"How?" Harry asked, leaning his head back on Ginny's shoulders. Ginny would rub his back and stomach every night to relax him, in hopes he would get some sleep.

"Luna is after the friend who has been there for me and you when we needed a listening ear, a shoulder to lean on or a hug. She's a close friend to our family and her name means Moon. Who did we know that has a moon-related nickname?"

Harry thought about it for a second and then it hit him "Moony…..Remus!"

"Right, so in a way we're honoring the Marauders, James, Sirius, and Remus," Ginny exclaimed.

Harry felt the baby move under Ginny's hand, almost like it knew that the hand belonged to its mother.

They sat in silence, Ginny continued to rub Harry's stomach in a soothing matter and Harry allowed himself to relax.

"What about a name for a boy?" Harry asked after several moments of contented silence.

"Something tells me that we won't need a boy's name, but if we did, I was thinking maybe Arthur something-or-another. I think Dad would be honored," Ginny said, resting her hand on Harry's stomach. She softly rubbed it, feeling their baby move under her hand.

Harry allowed Ginny's stomach rub to relax him enough to start to feel sleepy.

"Let's get some sleep, Harry," Ginny said as she moved to her side of the bed. She soon heard his snores fill the room and let them lull her to sleep, the positivity that she was going to get her little girl being the last coherent thoughts in her head.

OoOoOoOoOoOoO

The Leaky Cauldron was crowded for the mid-morning rush. There were a few hours until lunch, so the brunch crowd was busy getting breakfast before Hannah switched to the lunch menu.

Ginny entered the busy pub and looked around.

"Hello Ginny, they're in private room 2," Hannah called to Ginny over the noise of some of the Auror trainees enjoying their early break.

"Thanks, Hannah!" Ginny replied, making her way through the crowd, muttering an apology if she or her bag hit something. She made it to the private room and opened the door, greeted by Gwenog sitting at one of the tables next to Caroline, one of Ginny's former teammates.

"Ginny, it's been a long time!" Caroline exclaimed as she hugged Ginny.

"It has! The last time I saw you was at the Ministry's Christmas Ball!" Ginny said as she turned to hug Gwenog.

"Yes, it was, wasn't it?" Caroline said as she sat down in her chair. "I've been meaning to owl you so we can meet for lunch."

"I've been meaning to get with you to catch up without you having to jot down everything I say," Gwenog said with a grin.

The girls laughed. Ginny had been busy since she took the job as Quidditch Correspondent for the Prophet.

"So how's my favorite Auror?" Gwenog asked once Ginny had gotten settled into the seat next to her.

"He's good," Ginny laughed. "They've been working on some cases. All I know is it's Muggle baiting and Harry's been trying to identify the ringleader. Everyone they've arrested has been involved somehow."

"How's the pregnancy going, by the way?" Caroline asked.

"Been going good," Ginny replied happily. "He had a hard time with morning sickness, but that's long gone. We go to our Healer's next week to find out if it's a boy or a girl."

"Hoping for a girl?" Gwenog asked, peeking over her menu at her former teammate as the younger witch skimmed hers.

"Yep," Ginny said with a smile. "We even have a name picked out."

"What is it?" Caroline asked.

"Lily Luna Potter."

"I think it's got a really nice ring to it. Does Harry want a girl?" Gwenog asked.

"You bet he does."

Silence filled the room for a few more moments before Hannah came to collect their orders.

"So…what's new with you?" Ginny asked once the former Hufflepuff left.

OoOoOoOoOoOoO

Harry sat in the observation room off one of the training rooms in the Auror Training section of the Auror Department, occasionally making suggestions to the Trainees with his wand.

"Justin, lower your arm a little. There, now aim at the target."

"You look terrible, mate," Ron observed when he entered the observation room to check up on his brother-in-law.

"Thanks for the compliment," Harry muttered sarcastically.

"You okay?" Ron asked.

"I haven't gotten much sleep," Harry replied. "What was I thinking?!" he shrieked suddenly, grabbing Ron and shaking him. "Twenty more weeks of this!" He gestured to his distended belly. "I can't take it."

"Hermione is in the same boat you are, mate, and just think! These twenty weeks are going to go by so fast that soon, you'll be holding that baby right there," Ron said, patting Harry's stomach. He felt the baby kick under his hand in the three seconds it was on Harry's stomach.

"You weren't kidding when you said that the baby moved constantly," Ron said with a hint of sympathy.

A knock on the door interrupted their conversation. Harry pointed his wand to the door and it swung open to reveal Maisy, his secretary.

"Harry, this came for you five minutes ago," she said, handing Harry a letter.

"Thanks, Maisy."

When the bespectacled brunette left, Harry opened the letter and sighed.

"What is it, mate?" Ron asked.

Harry handed him the letter wordlessly.

"'Dolores Umbridge is scheduled for a probation hearing on April 15th at 1:00 p.m. in Courtroom 5,'" Ron read. "What does this mean?"

"She won't get it," Harry deadpanned. "The Wizengamot and Kingsley have already decided she's going to wait another ten years. Don't even know why she needs the hearing at all."

Ron turned his attention to the trainee instructor Harry had hired to assist him. "How do you he's doing?" he asked.

"Considering this is his second week, he's doing okay. He's sort of like Yonas and that's why Kingsley recommended him."

Ron looked at Harry puzzled. "Kingsley was a reference on his resume," Harry explained.

After a few more minutes watching the training, Harry was interrupted by a knock at the door. He called for entrance and Maisy, his secretary, poked her head in.

"Your wife's on the Floo, sir."

"Thank you, Maisy. I'll be there in a minute," Harry replied, packing up his things and excusing himself from the training. He headed to the Floos, Maisy directing him to the one that Ginny's head was in.

"What's wrong?" Harry asked.

"Can you get away a little early today?" Ginny asked.

"Why?" Harry countered.

"Shanti had a cancellation and she can move us up to today," Ginny explained.

Harry was confused as to what Ginny was talking about. "What?" he asked, furrowing his eyebrows.

"We can come in for the ultrasound appointment today instead of tomorrow. You're at twenty-one weeks and we might be able to see if this little one's a boy or a girl!" Ginny couldn't keep her excitement out of her voice.

"Okay. Is your mum coming?" Harry asked. He knew that while Molly had grown a bit tired of Muggle electronics, it was next to impossible for her to resist the temptation to take a gander at her incoming grandchild.

"Yes, she's coming. Angelina's got the boys. I'll meet you at Shanti's office at two."

"Okay, see you then."

Harry walked to his office to get the rest of his things and found Ron standing outside.

"Be prepared to cash on in the gender bets Sunday. Ginny called to tell me the ultrasound appointment was moved to this afternoon at two."

"What are you guessing?" Ron asked.

"Girl. Ginny wants a daughter," Harry stated, moving a purple file into a filing cabinet.

"She feels like she's drowning in a sea of testosterone, doesn't she?"

"Mm-hmm, especially after the two little monsters we call our sons. Al's hit his terrible twos a little early."

Ron winced. "Worse than James?"

"Actually, more like Freddie."

It was needless to say that George had gotten paid back for everything he did as a child with his son Fred. He hugged Molly one day and thanked her for not drowning him and his twin Fred at birth.

A knock on Harry's door interrupted their conversation. Harry turned to find Ginny and Molly standing at the door.

"Hello boys, we figured we come and see if you would like to go lunch," Ginny explained.

Without any prompting, Harry and Ron followed Molly and Ginny to the lifts to the Atrium. Ginny stopped long enough for her mother and brother to walk ahead of them and soon matched strides with her husband.

"I know you always had a difficult time getting out of the office to get to our appointments. I figured this way I could feed you lunch and then we would go to St. Mungo's," Ginny explained.

"Good idea," Harry replied. "I'm starving." They took a little detour to invite Hermione to lunch, then headed to the fireplaces, where they Flooed to the Leaky Cauldron. They sat down to lunch and promptly began discussing everything baby.

"I hope we have a boy, but I don't know if I could raise a son," Hermione confessed, cutting her meatball in half.

"Hermione, it's no different than a daughter. I had six of them before I had Ginny," Molly said soothingly.

"Look at this way," Ginny said and then pointed to Harry and Ron. "Look how well these two turned out".

"Hey!" Ron exclaimed.

"What are you getting at Gin?" Harry asked.

"You three have been best friends for about…I don't know, forever! She's practically taken care of you two. Ron would still be talking with his mouth full," Ginny said, stirring the sauce in her chicken.

"What about me?" Harry asked.

"I did the opposite, tried to get you to eat more" Hermione explained.

She recalled the early years at Hogwarts when Harry was so skinny that when he didn't have a shirt on, you could count his ribs. Later on, his eating habits improved. He ate nearly as much as Ron, only cleaner.

Ginny leaned and whispered to Harry. "Try to wait until after the ultrasound to go to the restroom. They work better when you have a full bladder."

When they finished lunch they returned to the Ministry, where Ginny, Harry, and Molly went out past the visitor's entrance of the Ministry to the community parking lot where Ginny had parked the car.

She then drove off, heading to St. Mungo's.

OoOoOoOoOoOoO

Harry sat on the table in the green gown and scrub pants he had worn at every appointment with Shanti. Ginny sat in a chair next to him with Molly in the chair next to her. Molly looked around the room at the different equipment, occasionally asking questions.

Harry swung his feet out in front of him. He realized that he had one the pair with a hole in the toe.

"I need to repair that or buy you some new socks," Ginny said, causing Harry, who had been lost in thought, to jump. "Sorry. Didn't mean to startle you."

"It's alright, honey," Harry replied.

"I know that's a gown, but what about the pants?" Molly asked.

Ginny explained to her the reason for them was for male pregnancy patients. Shanti had delivered many male pregnancies, some in similar situations to Harry and Ginny.

A knock came at the door and Shanti came into the room.

"Hello everyone!" she said as she closed the door behind her. "Molly, I haven't seen you since Albus was born! How are you?"

"Great! Arthur and I are excited for more grandbabies to love and spoil!" Molly said with a smile.

Shanti smiled. "How are you going, Ginny?"

"Good, I actually would like a word with you when we're done. Alone," Ginny said, the last part looking at her mother and husband.

"Okay, we do need to set up a time for you to come in." She turned to Harry. "But first and most importantly, how are you?"

"Tired, my back feels sore, I'm getting to where I can't see my feet and the little monkey doesn't ever stop moving, but other than that I'm okay," Harry replied.

"Harry, you're at twenty-one weeks, halfway through the pregnancy. I'm going to recommend you start cutting back on your hours at work. Spend some time at home. You can work from home if you need to. I'm not putting you on bed rest…yet. We need to keep this little one in a little longer."

Harry looked at Ginny, almost if they were having a conversation mentally. He then turned to Shanti. "I'll talk to Kingsley and Ron about it tomorrow."

"Okay, are we ready to see what this little one is?" Shanti asked.

She was met with three excited shouts of "yes."

Without prompting, Harry laid down on the table and pulled up the gown. Ginny stood beside him with Molly next to her. Shanti squirted the gel on Harry's belly and placed the wand on his bulging stomach.

"How's the potion going?" Shanti asked. Harry had to take a potion once a day to keep him and the baby healthy. Like all the potions, Harry had taken in his lifetime in the wizarding world, they were nasty.

"Good, I take them every morning."

"Excellent," Shanti said, turning her attention to the screen. Molly was awed when she saw her grandchild on the screen.

"How precious is that!" she exclaimed as she watched the baby suck its thumb.

"Okay, everything looks good," Shanti said as she moved the wand down. "Heart looks good and healthy. Lungs are good. Okay, now, let's see if we can see if it's a…" The baby moved just as she moved her wand to see if the baby was a boy or a girl.

"I felt that," Harry said. It was interesting for the baby to move inside him, but to see on a screen as well... No experience could compare.

"Well, we do have a clear view of what the baby is," Shanti said with a smile, and she looked at Ginny, Molly and then Harry.

"And?" the women said in unison.

"Well, looks like Harry will be getting a Daddy's girl."

Ginny and Molly shrieked. "It's a girl!"

"Here's a picture of your little girl, have a name picked out?" Shanti asked as she handed Ginny some towels to wipe the gel off Harry's stomach.

"Lily," Ginny replied.

"Who's this one named after?" Shanti asked, knowing who James and Albus were named after.

"My mum," Harry answered, "I know a group of men who aren't going to be happy."

"Okay, I'll see you at your appointment next month. Ginny, you said that you wanted to talk to me?"

"Yes." She waited until Molly and Harry were out of the room before she started. "I was wondering what I could do to help Harry relax some. I thought about having Mum and Dad watch the boys for a weekend so I could spend some time with him."

Shanti smiled and nodded. "He deserves some pampering. If you're wanting to do this at home. Massage is a great way to help his back pain. He can't lie on his belly, but he could on his side. Lightly massaging the abdomen is recommended, but don't you do that now?"

Ginny nodded. "I've been doing so since before we were married, especially when he was sick. Of course, now it's also to feel the baby moving."

Shanti walked to her office and got a booklet. "This will give you all the information you need about massage during pregnancy."

"Thank you," Ginny said as she picked up her purse. "Can we discuss our options on delivery during our next appointment? It's starting to give Harry some anxiety."

"Sure, we were going to anyway," Shanti replied.

"Thank you and we'll see you next month," Ginny said as she made her way to where her mother and husband were waiting.

"What's wrong?" Molly asked when Ginny approached her.

"Nothing, I just wanted to ask a question." She looked around for Harry. "Where's Harry?"

"Restroom," Molly replied.

"Mum, can you take the boys next weekend? I want to spend some time with Harry."

"Of course, honey! What have you got planned?"

"I'm going to do some pampering. Shanti recommended some pregnancy-safe massages and she said they would help with his back pain."

"Did Harry do that for you?" Molly asked.

"Some, not all of what I'm planning," Ginny said, their conversation ending when Harry came out of the restroom.

"Ready to go?" she asked.

They headed to the Floo and went home.

OoOoOoOoOoOoO

Later that night Ginny came out of the bathroom and smiled. She watched Harry sleep for a few minutes before she walked over to her side of the bed. She sat down on the bed and watched as Harry turned over to his other side, facing her.

Harry looked younger than what he was when he slept. She didn't see the lines in his face that appeared with he was stressed. She looked down at his belly and smiled. Scooting down in the bed, she laid on her side facing Harry or rather Harry's stomach.

When she was pregnant with the boys Harry would talk to them when they were still in her stomach. Now she could do the same. She knew she wouldn't wake up Harry.

"Hi baby girl, it's Mummy. I hope Daddy's taking care of you. Mummy wishes I was the one carrying you. But I can't. I hope you'll appreciate your Daddy for carrying you. I know he loves you already. Just like I do."

Ginny placed her hand on Harry's stomach, feeling their little girl moving beneath her palm. Gently she lifted up his shirt and kissed the bulging bump, lightly rubbing his stomach. She noticed a hairline going up from his belly button to the middle of the bulge. She noticed some of the stretch marks that lined his stomach. She made a note to pick up some cream for the stretch marks and some stuff to get rid of the hair. If Shanti planned on doing a Cesarean section, Harry's stomach would need to be clean-shaven.

She pulled down his shirt and turned over. A minute later she felt Harry tap her shoulder.

"Can you get me some stomach soother? My stomach feels gassy."

Wordlessly Ginny got up and went to the bathroom. Morning sickness and periods of nausea had been long gone. Now they were traded for the occasional feeling of nausea, stomach aches and gas pains. Shanti told him that digestive distress was part of the pregnancy package.

Ginny went to Harry's side of the bed and helped him sit up enough. She handed him the stomach soother. Once he downed the potion she handed him a glass of water.

"Thanks, Gin," Harry mumbled as he laid back down.

Ginny returned to bed. When she finally went to sleep, she dreamed of a redheaded girl with her eyes, who had Harry wrapped around her little finger.