Chapter 15: Movement

Author's Note: Hello, and thank you once again to heronlove, finchelromionelover and also Brook-Lucas-Fan-23 who have already reviewed the last chapter, as I have said before to all of you readers, reviews are really appreciated and I am incredibly grateful for each and every one. Anyway, I think one feature of this chapter is fairly obvious from the title, and other than that area/ scene I essentially have absolutely no idea what I am going to write and yet as I say this, I think I need to feature more Weasley's! Anyway enjoy and here is chapter 15!

3rd September 2005

"Come on Ron! We are going to be late!"Hermione called up the stairs to hear a scrambling of feet as they shuffled across the soft dark carpet of the upstairs corridor and head towards the bathroom. There house did not look the same as most semi detached ones in the conventional sense. From the outside, it was exactly the same and so was downstairs – a hall, medium sized living room that was small but warm and welcoming, and a kitchen with a small dining room area, but they had a large garden that extended very far back. Upstairs was quite different; instead, of having a small landing at the top of the stairs surrounded by several rooms, there was a straight corridor that extended from the end of the stairs to the last room at the back of the house. The first two rooms were Ron and Hermione's bedroom on the left, followed by the bathroom on the right hand side. Following on from that there was another bedroom on behind theirs and then on the other side of the corridor, there were two slightly smaller ones. Hermione had always wondered if they had chosen that house immediately because although they had just began their relationship at the time, neither of them had any intention of ever really going away from the other.

"Alright, I am coming, hold your horses." Ron called back before she heard the sound of footsteps then quickly heading closer towards her down the stairs. "How long have you been ready for?"

"Clearly longer than you have." Hermione chuckled, "About fifteen minutes, but that is all. You know how I am when it comes to things like this."

"Oh, we all know how you are when it comes to things like this."Ron laughed but was quickly silenced by the scowl on his wife's face. "But tell me, what do you get for the girl with a ridiculously stuck up father?"

"Erm... I do not know... a ridiculously stuck up mother?" Hermione supposed jokingly and Ron laughed out loud at Hermione's very selective and yet interesting humour, "Come on, you know Audrey has made him a lot more down to earth." She was right, since they had met, Percy had gradually become less and less pompous and more like and actual relatable person, who at least tried to see things from the rest of his families' point of view. Ron and George had always wondered if the way Fred had died had contributed to this change, but they did not really care, as long as he never went back to his old irritating ways.

"I admit that Audrey is good for Percy. She has gradually made him somewhat normal. It is Molly and Lucy I feel sorry for." Ron told her.

"Ron, it is Lucy's first birthday party, we can't possibly say things like that whilst we are there. Just get it out of your system now." Hermione gestured and Ron shook his head, feeling puzzled. Although their nieces first birthday had been one day under a month ago, it had worked out that her birthday was being celebrated now instead of them due to the many other things going on at the time.

"I have got it out of my system. That was getting it out of my system just then." Ron told her and Hermione slowly and with difficulty got to her feet. "Have you entered the stage now where it becomes harder to get up and down from the sofa?"

"It appears so. Hurrah, now can we please just go?" She asked sarcastically and Ron nodded before they headed towards the fireplace to use the floo network.

XXXXXXXXXX

"Ron! Hermione!" Ginny called, rushing over to her brother and his wife before embracing them both tightly though Hermione less than she did we it came to Ron. Although Ginny was not very similar to her mother one thing she had inherited from Molly Weasley was the ability to give an almost winding, powerful bear hug that could nearly knock you off your feet. "Are you alright? Did you both get here in one piece? Sorry, perhaps I should say three pieces..." She continued trailing off and Ron laughed.

"Great to see you too, Gin." Ron chuckled touching his sister on the shoulder before heading towards Harry.

"How are you?" Ginny asked

"I have been a lot worse. I just feel very tired all the time which does not really fit, as I can't stand sleeping." Hermione answered "How long have you been here?"

"Ten or fifteen minutes, it took a lot longer than it normally would to get out of the house because James was a little restless and neither Harry nor I could get him to settle." Ginny told her and Hermione looked at her sympathetically but as well as feeling sorry for her two friends, an annoyance, anger and somewhat frustration came across her mind. She understood that they had a child and they just wanted to be able to calm them down but she and Ron were looking forward to those things. After waiting for so long she believed that neither of them would be aggravated by their daughter crying or ever be annoyed by it because they were so glad that she was finally going to be there on the earth travelling through life with them. They did not think they would mind the crying, the sleepless nights, or the messy nappies, as long as their daughter was with them very soon.

"Hey, Hermione." Harry said, approaching her and Ginny whilst carrying a four nearly five month old James Sirius Potter in his arms. He appeared to be much calmer than Ginny had originally informed her about and almost in a state of unconsciousness. She could not help but guess that maybe he had calmly been rocked into that state by Harry, who fatherhood appeared to have come naturally to despite never actually having a father, god father or a father figure around for long enough for Harry to pick up things from them. Ginny had told her and Ron once or twice if she wondered if he had picked things up from the rest of her and Ron's brothers and her father as well as just being a good Dad.

"Hello, Harry. How are you?" Hermione asked looking down at her little nephew.

"Tired, knackered, exhausted, however you want to put it." Harry said and she laughed before his expression softened a little and he looked into her eyes. "How about you?" He said quietly, noticing that Ginny was still there next to them but already talking to Bill, the pair of which were stood next to them.

"It is...complicated." Hermione thought and as soon as she finished saying this, James squirmed and began to cry again.

"Well, I think James needs his nappy changing and so we can talk about it up there if you want to." Harry said gesturing towards the stairs and Hermione nodded before Harry reached for her hand as they headed up the long narrow sets of stairs towards Ginny's old bedroom. It was not dusty, like you would imagine a room that had not been frequently lived in for seven years. It was still well loved and often used if Harry and Ginny had ever stayed overnight at the Burrow, like everyone had once or twice if people had been slightly too drunk after a celebration to disapparate or floo to their own homes. It still only felt like yesterday that Hermione remembered lying on a bed she had conjured into the room several times throughout the years, specifically after the end of the war when she had had nowhere else to go until she found her parents along with the help of Ron.

"Could you just hold James whilst I get the stuff?" Harry asked, and Hermione nodded before her brother in law slowly passed her nephew over to her. She had held James many times before, as it turned out that given they were his godmother and godfather as well as auntie and uncle they appeared to see James the most out of the rest of his relations, but it still felt weird and thrilling to think that two of her best friends had created the person she was holding and that they were now parents after so many years of knowing one another.

"Thanks." Harry told her and he laid James down on top of a blanket on Ginny's old bed. "Do you mind helping out? I know he is nearly five months old and so we should have gotten used to it, but he tends to wriggle around a lot so it turns into a two man job."

"Of course I do not mind. What do you want me to do?" Hermione asked

"If I clean up can you just quickly put the nappy on him?" Harry told her and his friend knitted her eyebrows feeling puzzled.

"How do I do that?" Hermione questioned and Harry's eyes widened in somewhat shock and horror.

"Hermione Jean Weasley, have you never put a nappy on a baby before?" Harry asked dramatically and in a mocking voice to make his sister in law laugh.

"Hey, I have." Hermione started, "I just have not done so in a long time. By long time I mean fifteen years. I changed one on my cousin Louisa when she was a baby once but other than that I have never really been required to."

"So, you have never done so on any of your...five nieces and...three nephews? Two if you do not count this one." Harry said gesturing down to his and Ginny's baby who was lying down and giggling in front of them both.

"I have never exactly had a real reason to." Hermione said to him in full honesty. "Whenever, I have been around any of the children it is not exactly like I have been obliged to go "hey, can I change your son/daughter's nappy?" they have always rushed off to do that. And then when we have baby sat for any of them before the only one we have ever done was for Victoire as believe it or not, people seem to either not go out at all, or take their children everywhere. By the time we looked after Victoire, she was already four years old and did not really need any of that anymore. Oh actually, we watched her once before that when she was one and so I guess it still has been a long time since I changed a nappy and I can't remember how to." Hermione finished

"When you were looking after Victoire, I know that this is a weird question but who changed the nappies?" Harry asked after a few moments of pure silence, even from little James Sirius.

"I did, she only needed it changing once. Why?"Hermione enquired whilst answering his previous question and he became even quieter than before.

"So that means, as far as we know, Ron has never changed a nappy. Oh my God..." Harry trailed off, "Anyway, I will show you. Beside it will be good practice for when your daughter is born." He went on and with Hermione's help, they changed James' nappy, resulting with Hermione feeling rather proud of them both.

"So what is going on?" Harry questioned "Is this about the nightmares?"

"How do you know about the nightmares, Harry?" Hermione said, her eyes enlarged as she spoke.

"Ron told me. Well, actually I sort of forced it out of him. He had been so quiet all day when we went to the Leaky Cauldron, and when I asked him if everything was alright he brushed it off with an "Oh, it's nothing, honestly" and the reality is that it was bloody obvious that it was not just nothing. What happened though?" He informed her

"I am still not fully clear on all of the details. I had a dream and she was torturing me again, and was muttering threats about Ron and the baby. Ron woke me up and he was scared and I was scared, my scar on my arm reopened – which I did not think was possible but I am a witch and you are a wizard – anything is possible clearly." Hermione sighed and Harry nodded, "I do not want to worry him. We already have enough to worry about, and yet he is still concerned despite the fact that I am taking a potion which has been stopping the nightmares."

"Hermione, of course he is going to worry about you. You are his wife and he loves you. I have never seen him talk about anyone the way he talks about you and you are just as bad as each other – like any couple in love you care about each other more than anything." Harry told her and she smiled. As Harry held James carefully, he yawned and wiped the sleep away from his eyes, despite it already approaching the early evening.

"Are you tired?" Hermione asked and Harry chuckled, trying to state the obvious, "When was the last time you slept or went out, or did anything being just the two of you without the baby?"

"Never." Harry laughed, "A couple of times, but that is it and that was at the very beginning. Everyone else has children, this was a time when you two were just sinking in to the fact that you are pregnant and Ginny worries about asking her parents to watch him too much."

"Well how about later this month, Ron and I watch him whilst you two go out or do something together? It would give us good practice for when the baby is born and you two would actually get some space and peace for a while. "Hermione suggested

"Are you sure?" Harry asked "What about Ron?"

"Oh honestly Harry, Ron will not mind. He said the same thing the other week. Besides, he is our Godson, of course we do not mind." Hermione smiled

"Thank you." Harry whispered realising that James was starting to nod off once again. "I will ask Ginny, but I am sure that she will say yes too." Following on from that they headed down the stairs to where the rest of the Weasley family and one Potter were scattered across the kitchen, dining room area and the living room. As per usual there was quiet chaos as children cried, giggled and ran around, and some of the adults did the same. Ginny was no longer talking to Bill but had gone on to talk to Audrey instead, who was balancing a one year old Lucy on her hip. It was surprising that so far in life, neither of Percy and Audrey's daughters looked particularly like either of their parents. Bearing in mind that they were both still incredibly young and so their features would develop as they got older. Lucy however, looked slightly more like her mother with the same brown hair and green eyes but at this stage it was hard to tell who a lot of children looked like, and so they guessed they would all just have to wait.

"Gin!" Harry called and she came over to them in between her journey from Bill to her father –Arthur, neither of them thought they had seen her talk to so many people so much in a long time.

"Are you alright?" Ginny asked and Harry shook his head laughing at her growing concern that had been mulling since James was born five months before.

"We are fine. We are all fine." Harry started, "Listen, Hermione had an idea that we thought you would like. She suggested that one night later in the month we go out for the evening and she and Ron would not mind looking after James." Ginny turned and looked at Hermione, a straight expression that did represent neither any positivity nor negativity at all. Almost as if she was expressionless, making Hermione wonder that her response could essentially go either way.

"You really would not mind?" Ginny said, her face breaking into a small smile.

"Of course not. We love James, and we love you both too. You do realise you are entitled to a break?"Hermione laughed

"He is our son though, it is not like we can just drop him off with someone whenever we feel like five minutes to ourselves though is it?" Ginny questioned

"No, but you are allowed to. Look, I know that you created him, Ginny you gave birth to him and you are both parents and that is another role in your life but you need time to be yourselves as well. You need time to just be Harry Potter and Ginny Weasley, sorry, Potter. And the fact is you have never asked us to watch him for a while and we would both be happy to do so." Hermione told her friend and Ginny hugged her tightly.

"Thank you." She replied "When would be okay for you and Ron?"

"Whenever you like. Harry and I came up with this month or next month but you know we are more than happy to look after him any time, just... perhaps not January." Hermione said gesturing down towards her more prominent stomach than it had been a few weeks before and Ginny laughed.

"Well, thank you, once again. It is really appreciated." Harry beamed.

XXXXXXXXXX

"Of course I would not mind." Ron exclaimed, "Why did you think that I would mind?" Hermione shuffled onto her side so that she could face her husband in the darkness of the very, very late night. They had decided not to stay too long following on from the meal at the Burrow and headed home before anyone else. It was now closer to midnight than they would have liked and Hermione had only just gotten into bed after a sudden surge of random hungriness that came part in parcel with pregnancy.

"I am not sure, I guess I thought because I had gone ahead and suggested it without talking to you about it first. We talk about everything together, and I just jumped straight into that." Hermione told him.

"Well I am glad because I know we had mentioned it a while ago and then forgot about it. Besides they need a break from it all once in a while." Ron sighed

"They are both as bad as each other, and can be so bloody stubborn. They will not admit that they sometimes need a little space. I know we are not quite sure of how they are feeling, but we will soon and right now we can see two exhausted people who require a break."Hermione replied. "Sorry about the brief disruption, by the way." She laughed, thinking about her very recent journey to the kitchen and Ron smiled in the dark.

"It is fine. I was kind of waiting for this to happen at some point. Actually I thought it would have happened sooner than now." Ron chuckled before sitting up and turning the light on. "What exactly did you end up eating?"

Hermione looked at him from where she was lay and turned slightly red. "Olives on toast. I am beginning to turn into you." At this Ron burst into laughter.

"Not a bad combination either." He replied before leaning over to his bedside table and turned the little lamp on. The way the lamp lit up made shapes of light seem as if they were dancing across the bedroom walls in a calming, peaceful way. "Listen, have you thought at all about any names for the baby."

In response to this, so they could see each other more clearly, Hermione also decided to turn on the lamp on her bedside table and sat up in order to look him in the eyes more clearly. The reality was that she had thought about it on and off, but had never really come to a conclusion or gathered any actual names in her head. She knew that they wanted to call their daughter something that would be perfect and so far she had not found that yet.

"I have a little, what about you?"Hermione asked and Ron wrinkled his eyebrows – clearly thinking over his answer before he said it.

"I have... once. But I was wondering if we could look over a few perhaps." Ron suggested and Hermione smiled flicking through the book of girls baby names that Ron had bought in Flourish and Blott's earlier in the year in July.

"Eleanor?" Hermione suggested and Ron looked at her, his head cocked to one side, "Okay, how about something else, Holly?"

"I think given that she is due in very early January, when it is still the Christmas season, it would be just cruel to call a child Holly. It is sort of like calling them tinsel or something like that don't you think?" Ron replied

"I suppose. Go on then, you give me the best that you can find." Hermione said throwing the book to him.

"Hmmm." He muttered scanning through the pages, "How about Isobel? Or Violet?"

"Not bad... perhaps we should decide when we are in a better state of mind." Hermione said

"If you say so, just one more though. What do you think of Lydia?" Ron asked and Hermione did not respond. He turned to look at his wife, who was sat up wearing an expression of shock that he did not believe he had seen on her face for a very long time... if ever.

"Hermione?" He questioned and she looked up, "'Mione, say something..."

"The baby kicked." She whispered gazing into his eyes and Ron felt as if his heart had somewhat fluttered and then stopped beating completely. Hermione could slowly feel the tears stinging her eyes before one or two escaped and fell down her cheeks as she recalled the impact of the slight yet powerful nudge.

"Really?" Ron replied excitement evident in his voice and she reached for his hand and slowly moved it to her stomach before there was another nudge and Ron also found himself with tears in his eyes. "Wow." He said before embracing her tightly and they remained like that for a few minutes. After those few moments, they lay back down and turned the lights off, still holding a gaze on one another in the darkness.

"I love you." Ron whispered

"I love you too." Hermione responded before continuing, "Hey Ron."

"Yes, love?"

"I generally am not too fussed about what we call her as long as she isn't named Lavender." Hermione said and Ron laughed

Authors Note: Sorry that this has taken so long. I have been doing a lot of revision for controlled assessments that are coming up. It may be longer than a week before my next week as I have a GCSE English assessment throughout this week on Juliet from R+J and Macbeth but I will try to get it up as soon as possible. Anyway thank you and PLEASE REVIEW!