Chapter 8: Clocks

Authors Note: I actually do not really have anything to say in this what is supposed to be brief authors note other than that as soon as you start reading; the sooner you will get the point of this chapter. Oh and from the last chapter, Harry and Ginny were not lying: Gravy and pasta actually does taste nice. Also I don't remember why I wanted to call this chapter clocks but I will try to fit the idea into it somewhere. Anyway here is chapter 8!

17th April 2005

It was only when Ron rolled over in bed and his arm hit the sheet covered mattress that he noticed Hermione was gone. The spot where she normally lay was as cold as ice and the duvet cover, sheets and pillow were crumpled, making it clearly look like she had not got up long before. An icy breeze surrounded Ron and he shivered, eventually making him realise that she must have opened the window that was closer to his side of the bed. 9 am. This was the earliest that she had been up in three weeks. Most days it would be 10 or 11 before she clambered sleepily out of bed. Other days he would have to almost drag her out knowing she would not sleep the next night if she did not get up at some point. He wondered whether it was the fact that she was doing a harder and longer job that was making her so tired but she seemed exhausted all the time. Clearly today was different and he was curious as to why.

More quickly than usual, he climbed out of bed and dressed remembering that they were going to see Harry and Ginny in less than an hour. He headed down the stairs assuming that maybe Hermione had gone out for a walk or had gone to get something. But there must have been some reason she had got up so early. The days when she slept in late she could be rather grumpy and moody. She always said that this was because she had less time to do the things that she had to do. The reality was as much as Ron liked it when they simply lay in bed together for a few hours when there was nothing important to do getting up early appeared to be good for Hermione. And whatever this was clearly was the opposite of that theory.

As he entered the living room, he saw her straight away. Her bushy haired figure was curled up in a ball on the deep sofa and was apparently in a deep sleep. He could not help but smile at the look of her, and it seemed like only yesterday that they were both eleven years old in their first year at Hogwarts. He did not know how she had come to the conclusion of falling asleep on the sofa. Maybe she had got up and then realised that she was so tired she dropped off. But on the plus side, it was apparent that she had perhaps remembered that they were going to Hharry and Ginny's given that she had changed out of her pyjamas and had a purple plaid shirt and jeans on. He wanted to wake her and yet at the same time he did not. She looked perfect lying there peacefully, but in Ron's eyes she would always be perfect, forever. Asleep or awake. It would always be that way, and that opinion would never change.

"Hermione." Ron said kneeling next to her and brushing a few strands of hair out of her face. "Hermione, love it is time to wake up." After a few moments she woke, a confused and started expression on her face as she sat up and ran her left hand through her fringe, casually brushing it back off her face.

"What is going on? Why am I down here?" Hermione questioned her eyes wide as they quickly surveyed the room. Ron smiled at her sympathetically, knowing that he had done this many times before.

"How would I know? You tell me?" Ron replied as he stood up once again and she bit her lip as if trying to think. Ron loved it when she did that. He knew that given that she was the smartest witch of their age the way he saw it this only made her intelligence even cuter.

"Sorry, I – I must have got up and when I got down here fallen asleep." Hermione murmured. "On the plus side, I did get dressed and have breakfast before doing so. Why am I so tired all the time?"

"I really do not know Hermione. Listen, do you mind if I just get something for breakfast and then we can get going?"Ron said.

"No, no of course not." Hermione answered "Here, I will start to get ready." She added but was unbalanced on her feet and turned a pale shade of white before Ron reached over and steadied her with his arm.

"Are you alright?" Ron enquired concerned as she sat back down.

"Yeah, I just felt a bit sick and dizzy."Hermione answered, and her face started to have more colour in it once again.

"Listen, if you do not feel up for it we do not have to go. Harry and Ginny would understand." Ron reasoned and Hermione shook her head. He had already known that she would do that if he said what he had said but thought it was at least worth an attempt to express this to her.

"No, no it's fine." Hermione dismayed his option with a wave of her hand. "This is one of the last times that it will be just the four of us. It would not be right if we missed it." With that, Ron quickly ate before he entered the living room once again, where Hermione appeared to have her coat and bag in hand.

"Ready?" Ron said

"Ready." Hermione replied standing up and approaching Ron.

"It is probably best that we do not disapparate, if you are not feeling great. Fancy flooing?" He enquired and Hermione nodded, "Sure." And with that they both stepped into the fire place. They had never really used it as much as disapparation as it was actually a very high muggle fire place. In spite of its height though, Ron still found himself having to duck as a precaution to not banging his head. They always used it as a fire place in the winter, and would fill it with fresh logs, twigs and coal from outside. The logs would remain there throughout the year unless it was being used for the floo network which was not very often. The vivid green, emerald flames of the fire place flickered and soon enough Ron and Hermione had left.

XXXXXXXXXX

"Hey, you got here okay then?" Harry said as they stepped out of the fire place. "You do not normally use the floo network do you? I do not think you have ever used our fire place to get here."

"Hermione felt a bit off just before we left and so it was probably for the best that we did not use apparition."Ron said and Harry stared at her fretfully, like he always seemed to when the brotherly side of him appeared, and she guessed that she was probably the same way when something was up with Harry. They had always been like that. They were scared for one another, they cared for one another, they loved each other in a brother sister way. Nothing more, and nothing less.

"Hermione, you really did not have to come if you were feeling unwell." Harry sighed looking at her worriedly.

"For goodness sake, the pair of you never stop do you?" Hermione questioned. "I am fine honestly. How is Ginny by the way?"

"Ginny is fine, still being treated like I am dying though." Ginny said from behind where Harry was stood, and Ron and Hermione realised that they had not noticed her. She was sat on the sofa and it was apparent that Harry had propped her up with about a hundred cushions. A book was rested on top of her stomach as she watched the three of them with an eyebrow which was highly raised. "I am pregnant, that is all."

"Sorry Ginny, we did not notice you there."Ron said smiling at his sister once Harry had stepped to the side of where Ron and Hermione were stood, only centimetres away from the fire place.

"I am really surprised that you did not notice me given how huge I am." Ginny chuckled and moved her feet up so that Hermione could sit down once Harry and Ron headed to occupy the opposite sofa. Hermione glanced over at her friend, she looked pale and tired. Almost as if she had not slept in a long time, days, weeks even. As she became whiter her red hair seemed to look even more vivid than usual, it was almost like she was a ginger, red headed ghost.

"Hey, are you alright?" Hermione asked quietly leaning over as Ron and Harry sat down and Ginny nodded, though it did not look convincing.

"Yeah, I am fine, just a bit of back ache." Ginny reassured her and Hermione dismissed any further concern. The next while passed quite quickly and in the midst of a flurry of chatter by the time the conversation was beginning to wrap up and Harry and Ron began their own conversation of Quidditch and work. The pair had then headed through the living room and into the large kitchen once Harry had declared that he would start on making a relatively early lunch at eleven and Ron had kindly offered to help. Hermione and Ginny continued to sit quietly for another half an hour, every so often making brief conversation but Hermione could clearly see that Ginny did not really appear to be up to talking. Her face was a lot paler than it had been before and her eyes looked slightly pained, like she had been stung by something. It was only at that point, that Ginny spoke.

"Hermione?"Ginny said, her voice little more than a whisper and Hermione turned once again to face her sister in law.

"Yes?" Hermione replied as she looked concernedly over to the other side of the sofa where Ginny was sat.

"I think my water just broke." She answered her voice evident of a slurred mixture of excitement and sheer fear. Hermione's eyes widened as she stared over at her, feeling rather glad that she had not listened to Ron or Harry and had come to see them anyway, because this really was the last time it would be the four of them minus any children. Her mind went blank. Although Ron and Harry were in the next room or the room after that, she had no idea what to do or what to say in between this moment and getting them, she had never expected them to be in this situation.

"Are you certain?" Hermione questioned, shocked by the surprising turn of events. When she had woken up a few hours previously, she had no idea that this was what was going to happen.

"Either that, or my body has just decided to give up on me entirely and I have lost complete control of my bladder. However I see the latter as the less likely one." Ginny said.

"Is that what the back ache was?" Hermione asked

"I think so." Ginny said before wincing in what appeared to be strong pain. "I think they were contractions."

"Stay right here. I will be back in a minute." Hermione spoke quickly as she got off the sofa and headed into the next room. Ron was enchanting bowls, plates, and glasses containing lunch to fly onto the table whilst Harry was laying out knives and forks for all four of them. Unbelievably and much to Hermione's surprise they were still discussing the issue at hand: whether the Chudley Cannons would make it into the Semi Final of the Quidditch League. It was a while before either Ron or Harry noticed Hermione stood in the doorway with her eyebrows travelling higher and higher on her forehead but at last, she caught Ron's eye.

"Hey." He grinned before continuing to speak, "Could you tell Ginny that lunch is ready please." He asked and Hermione shook her head.

"Lunch will have to wait." She replied in a matter of fact style.

"Why?" Harry said, interrupting the conversation, a confused expression worn on his face.

"Ginny's water broke." Hermione said and Harry's eyes widened before staring at her blankly and following her out of the kitchen and into the living room hurriedly with Ron in tow.

"Are you alright?" Harry asked, kneeling next to Ginny as she appeared to be doubled over before regaining her composure.

"Yeah, I am fine. Are you? You look like you are about to pass out." Ginny said giggling at Harry's suddenly white complexion.

"Fine. Fine." Harry said. "Have we got the stuff? Did you pack a bag? Do you want me to owl Arthur and Molly? Are you ready to go?" He began saying all of this very quickly and the reality was that he seemed more nervous than Ginny actually was.

"Harry, calm down. Yes I did pack a bag? Yes we have got the stuff, it is in the bedroom. Do NOT owl Dad and Mum, it is too early for Mum's fussing. And Lily said that we should not go until a little later – at least not 'til the contractions are ten minutes apart." Ginny informed him.

"Well, how far apart are they now?" Hermione asked

"Thirteen." Ginny replied

"Look if you want we can go and then meet you at St. Mungos later on." Ron said and Ginny cut him off quickly.

"Please stay." She pleaded "It will help pass the time if that is okay with you both."

"It is fine Ginny." Hermione smiled and then sat down next to Ginny, reaching for her hand. And they sat there for what was at least an hour, talking. Not just about children, but about other stuff that would have normally been conversed on a typical day over lunch if this was not the current scenario. It was surprisingly quick for Ginny to get to ten minutes and by that time they all appeared thankful to get to St. Mungo's.

"Okay, that's ten minutes now can we please go." Harry said and Ginny nodded before Ron grabbed Ginny's bag and Hermione flooed them over to St Mungo's. As soon as they arrived they departed ways with Harry and Ginny knowing that the next time they saw them they would have a child of their own.

XXXXXXXXXX

They sat in the waiting room of St. Mungo's for a long time and by the time of half past four slowly approached them as far as they were both aware, nothing had happened. Hermione found herself with her head rested on Ron's shoulder and his head was gently settled on top of hers, like a slightly imperfect jigsaw and they hands were linked as the pair sat huddled in the corner of the seventh floor/ maternity wards waiting room. Everyone was silent. Three and a half hours before when Harry had come out of Ginny's room, wherever that was and said that she had given the go ahead for them to contact everyone else. Fleur, Audrey and Charlie were not there but apart from that everyone else was and in the beginning there had been chatter and conversation and walking and pacing back and forth. But now there was nothing, and there was complete silence throughout the Weasley's that remained there.

A sickness rose in Hermione's stomach, she felt herself go cold and flushed before feeling a lot worse than she had in quite a while. She did not know whether it was because she was nervous for her friends or not but she knew that she also felt really sad at the same time. Their nephew was about to enter the world and both she and Ron had believed that perhaps they would have a cousin by now or would have one quite soon. But that was not the case. That was anything but the case and Ron and Hermione were officially about to become the only ones that were childless. That was apart from Charlie but they knew that he was intentional, he was far too happy with his dragons to care about having a relationship or a family. But this meant more to them than anything else and it was gradually beginning to seem further and further out of reach.

"Hermione, are you alright?" Ron asked.

"I am sorry..." She trailed off before standing up. Suddenly as she tasted the horrible tang of vomit in her throat before she let go of Ron's hand and ran for the nearest toilets, covering her mouth as she went. Once she had finished, she leant back against one of the walls of the small cubicle and felt tears streaming down her face. She was hurt and breathless, and did not think she would be able to gather her thoughts into a coherent sentence without crying. It was after a good few minutes that Hermione heard the noise of a door opening.

"Hermione?" A soft calm voice said that she knew full well as Angelina's. The dark, long shadow of her tall frame silhouetted into the cubicle and it became apparent that she was standing outside. "Are you okay?"

"Yes, I am fine." Hermione sniffed, "Just a little sick that is all."

"Please can I come in?" Angelina asked and Hermione sighed before flushing the toilet.

"Yes, okay." Hermione opened the door and Angelina embraced her as she cried. In spite of being a fierce and fiery Quidditch player for the Gryffindor team at Hogwarts, it turned out that Angelina actually was the soft, hugging type of person that nobody had ever really expected. She was calm and not easily annoyed, and Hermione wondered if maybe perhaps maybe that was one of the reasons George liked her so much. The two sisters in law stood there for a few minutes before Angelina broke away and handed her a tissue, which Hermione took gratefully mouthing "thank you". Hermione realised, that although they had not told anyone else about what was going on between them, given the current circumstances, there was a chance that she had worked out what was going on.

"Do you want to talk about it?" Angelina questioned. Yep. She has worked it out. Hermione thought to herself.

"It is just a difficult time at the moment." Hermione wiped a few stray tears away. "And it seems to be that something like this makes it feel even tougher than usual." Within those two sentences, Hermione never said exactly what she meant but somehow knew that Angelina knew what she was talking about. She never asked any questions, but simply nodded in response kindly and knowingly.

"It will happen for you two. I know it will." Angelina reassured her and Hermione smiled. "Do you want to come back out? Ron is going out of his mind out there with worry. Were you actually sick?"

"Only a little but yeah, I was sick." Hermione told her. "Hey Angelina?" And Angelina turned on her heel as she heard this, gradually approaching the door.

"Yes."She replied

"I know you tell each other everything but please do not tell George about this." Hermione sighed

"Of course not." Angelina smiled and they headed out. Ron looked up at her and stood up as soon as Hermione came over to him before wrapping his arms around her tightly, too tightly perhaps.

"Are you alright? Were you sick?" Ron muffled into her hair before seemingly feeling her forehead as if she was an ill child.

"A bit, but I am fine now, honestly." Hermione promised him and out of nowhere came an outcry of "HARRY!" In which both of them turned to see a tired and beaming Harry Potter as a huge grin spread across his face. In spite of the fact that they were the only ones that had not said anything, he surprisingly headed over to his two best friends first. They looked at him, and he looked back. The silence between the three of them was something no one else would ever share and Ron and Hermione smiled back before Ron began to speak.

"Well?" Ron asked and Harry's grin seemed only to get bigger.

"Well, I am a Dad." He announced and as the rest of the Weasley's cheered both Ron and Hermione embraced him like they had as teenagers, tightly as if to never let go, knowing that this was the start of the second generation of their little family within a family. Then all the questions came flooding at once, like when he had asked Ginny, little over six hours before.

"How are they both? What is he called? Who does he look like?" The questions came from the Weasley's but all seemed blurred but before they could even continue Harry decided to speak.

"They are both fine, everyone is fine, you will find out the rest all in good time. But we were both actually wondering if you two would like to come and meet him first." Harry asked and smiles spread across Ron and Hermione's faces as they followed him along a narrow corridor and into the end room. It was quiet at this end of the corridor, somewhat peaceful, that was until they stepped in. Ginny was propped up by pillows in bed. Her hair was tied into a loose side ponytail and she looked, tired as she held the small baby.

"They are here, love." Harry said holding the door for Ron and Hermione before closing it behind all three of them. The two occupied the chairs next to the left hand side of Ginny's bed whilst Harry sat at the foot of it.

"Hi." Hermione smiled as they both gently hugged her before taking a seat.

"Hi." Ginny beamed back happily before proceeding with the rest of her sentence. "Ron, Hermione, we would like you to meet your Godson; James Sirius Potter." Hermione's eyes went to Harry and he smiled back at her upon hearing the name, it was something she and Ron had pondered on when trying to guess in their own time what their nephew/ godson may be called but had dismissed it after a while of hanging onto the idea, thinking that perhaps they would chose something more original and not clouded over the past, but when they looked at the child, and heard the name, they knew it simply fitted perfectly.

"After your Dad and Sirius?" Ron asked rhetorically and they nodded

"We discussed it for a while and we decided it a) sounded good and b) it seemed only fitting to name him after someone or some people that we lost." Harry informed them before Ginny spoke once again.

"Would you like to hold him?" Ginny questioned softly and Hermione nodded as the tiny child was carefully passed to her. She smiled as she and Ron properly looked at him for the first time. Like Harry and no surprise, his hair was black and already seemingly wild. But he had Ginny's light brown eyes and most of her facial features. As far as the four of them could see, he was perfect.

"He is lovely." Hermione croaked as a tear fell down her face and she looked up at Harry and Ginny. "He looks like both of you." She then passed James onto Ron who grinned proudly as he held him for the first time. They continued to talk for quite a while, knowing that the rest of the Weasley's had the entire evening and early hours of the night to meet James. Sooner or later, Hermione felt herself starting to yawn and her eyes began to feel heavier than normal, a lot heavier than before as she started to nearly drift off before Ron woke her.

"Hermione, we do not mind if you go home, you look shattered. Not Ginny-just- gave- birth shattered but close enough." Harry told his friend and she sighed, wiping the sleep that was forming away from her eyes.

"Are you sure?" She asked

"Of course, we do expect to see you again within the next 24 hours you know." Ginny joked

"I will be home in a while, I promise." Ron informed her and she nodded before congratulating Harry and Ginny once again and parting ways for Bloomsbury. Instead of taking her usual root, she stopped off at a few shops, bought a few things and then headed home quickly with curiosity.

XXXXXXXXXX

The answer to any underlying questions she had had throughout that day was certainly not what she had expected. Anything but what she had expected but in a somewhat positive way. She sat on the edge of the bed fiddling with her thumbs as she thought to herself. A lot had changed in that day. A lot more than she had ever assumed would when she had woken up twelve hours before hand. Her mind was in shock, almost numb as she tried to wrap her head around her reflections. Everything was different. And on the inside she smiled to herself at the idea of how much had happened. She did not move, nor did she speak, that was at least until Ron arrived home.

"Hi, are you alright?" Ron asked as he entered the room, kicking his shoes off and putting them in the wardrobe. No answer. He looked at her quizzically. Her pupils were wide and bright, almost as if they were alive themselves, and she had a soft, simple expression worn on her face showing no exact or precise emotions within it. She had been rendered speechless.

"Is something wrong?" He wondered, sitting down next to her on the bed and she reached for his hand, suddenly squeezing it tightly. He decided to grip onto hers equally back as he took the other hand as well, so that he was holding both of her cold ones between his warmer ones.

"Hermione?" He questioned softly and this time she responded. She turned to face him as their hands were still entwined and seemed to look directly into his eyes with hers, which appeared to be brighter and shinier than ever as the smallest of smiles appeared on her lips when she spoke with a mixture of anxiety and excitement.

"I'm pregnant."

Authors Note: Hooray! I am so glad that I have finally got this chapter done. I was trying to get it done within the space of a week but it turns out that it may have been a few hours more than that. But as you can see from the cliff hanger on this chapter Hermione is finally pregnant! I wanted to make the moment seem as delicate and subtle as possible and I hope I have least tried to reflect that within the final scene. Anyway thank you and PLEASE REVIEW!