Chapter 17: Dream a Little Dream

Authors Note: Thanks for all the lovely reviews so far the ones I have read were really kind and heronlove's comment about a sugar rush really made me smile and laugh. Thank you once again. This is the chapter that has a plotline I mentioned a few chapters before, and although I said I thought it would happen in late September, here we are in early October, but anyway here is chapter 17! (Wow! Seventeen chapters already)

1st October 2005

"Are you sure you do not mind looking after him for the night." Ginny asked as she bounced James Sirius up and down in her arms to soothe him before handing the black haired boy to his aunt and uncle, who were also his two God parents. His eyes darted between the four adults curiously as Ron held him carefully, Hermione was still concerned that in spite of having held their nephew countless times, more times than she could recall, Ron was still anxious that he may drop the child like he had always been with their other nieces and nephews. But she did not mind that at all, because it clearly showed that he cared.

"Of course we do not mind you pair of idiots." Ron chuckled, "Go outside, you do realise that outside is apparently good. Go and have lives for once. You need them." He added and Harry somewhat anxiously and reluctantly handed over the bag of items needed for the evening. They watched the concern in his eyes knowing how much of a great father he would ultimately be and had already turned in to.

"Everything you will need is in there. Nappies, baby food, some wipes, nappy bags, the lot."Harry sighed, "His changing mat has been shrunk so that it fitted inside of the bag. It is probably for the best that you lie him on that if he needs changing, if you want your carpet or sofa or any other furniture to survive the evening."

"Honestly, do not worry. He will be absolutely fine." Hermione told her friends, interjecting as she watched Ginny's stare not lift from James even once. She was sure that maybe that had happened many times before, but never in front of her and Ron, not even when James had been born had she been like that.

"Thank you." Harry replied as Ginny kissed James' forehead and they prepared to leave. "Really, thank you. What time would you like us back for?"

"Well, it is up to you really. You two are the ones who have not really gone out at all for the past five months. It is quarter to six in the evening now, shall we say ten? That gives you easily four and a bit hours." Hermione suggested and Ginny nodded

"That sounds great. Well, we will see you later then." Ginny responded and a couple of seconds later, she and Harry disapparated right before their eyes. Ron and Hermione sat down on the sofa looking between themselves and James quickly. They had never been in this situation before and had no idea what to do with themselves. In retrospect, they had been in similar situations before, they had baby sat for one or two of their nieces and nephews before now, except they had been considerably older when those events had taken place. Victoire, being the first had been two years old before they had looked after her for the evening, Molly had been a year and a half old and that had been just for two hours. Then finally, Fred had been the same age as Molly had been, and for the majority of the three hours they had watched him, he had been in a seemingly comatose state of sleep. This was a new and uncharted territory, and they were both very uncertain of who and what would be the first more across the imaginary chess board.

"So..." Ron said looking across at his wife.

"So... what shall we do now?" Hermione asked and Ron thought. He felt like in those few seconds, he thought harder than he had thought in months. That worried him slightly, that a five month old baby was lying in his arms and between himself – the king and his wife – the brightest witch of their age, they had no idea what to do with this child. What if they arrived brought their child home from the hospital – presuming that was where they would be born – and they had no idea what to do. They could not let that happen as that would be their child. That would permanent, so they could not just hand them back to their mother and father at the end of the evening. They would be the mother and father, and as much as they were becoming more and more prepared for their daughters arrival, that thought frightened him slight more than he would have liked to admit.

"Well, there are children's channels on the television. We could put that on for a while whilst we decided what else we could do. Ginny said he likes that." Ron suggested

"Good idea." Hermione replied smiling and together, now knowing from Harry and Ginny that James had been beginning to try and sit up on his own but had not been successful yet, they surrounded him by cushions and lay him on the sofa as he watched the children's channel on the television purely fascinated whilst they tried to work something out.

"I have no idea what we are doing. Why do we never think ahead when it comes to things like this?" Ron said looking extremely panicky, immediately making Hermione more anxious knowing that if this was happening now the exact same thing could easily happen with their own daughter.

"Well, did Harry and Ginny pack any of his toys or books or anything like that that will keep him entertained until he drops off to sleep?" Hermione asked and Ron muttered a spell, instantly summoning the light blue bag with navy blue and azure rabbits scattered across it. Rumaging through it he pulled out several baby books and a few little toys and Ron frowned in curiosity.

"Did you cast a charm on this bag like you did with that bloody beaded one of yours when we were on the run?" Ron asked looking extremely puzzled.

"No, I taught Ginny how to do it a few months ago after James was born. Why?" She replied glancing over into the bag that Ron was looking through.

"Well I do not know if it were deliberate, but my sister seems to have cast that charm over this bag. The nappies are falling into a deep and talk eternity at rapid pace along with the baby food." Ron muttered and then brought out a soft toy Jellycat rabbit that was a gentle, light hue of sky blue. As soon as Ron brought this out of the bag, his eyes lit up and so did James' whose attention had quickly and not surprisingly drifted from the television to his funny uncle and auntie who was trying not to laugh at her husband and his excitement over the little rabbit.

"A ha!" He said, his eyes bright, wide and sparkling with enthusiasm, one look of that and all her worries disappeared in the click of a finger. "When I met with Ginny in the Leaky Cauldron last week, she said that James loved this bunny rabbit. I mean look at him..." Ron trailed gesturing to the little boy who was kicking his legs and squealing with happiness. He handed the rabbit to Hermione and then rummaged for the little pot of muggle baby food. "I think she said that he eats about now."

"Here, I will distract James and then we could see if he is hungry." Hermione suggested.

"I will heat it up now." Ron said turning out of the room. Hermione then slowly stepped over to James and played with the rabbit, slowly making him giggle. Hermione remembered how Ginny and Harry had said that he had been doing that of lately and kept playing with the bunny. She slowly realised that although things were never perfect, what a perfect child her two friends had created together. It felt weird to think that Harry Potter and Ginny Weasley actually had a child together. Their love story was very different to her and Ron's one. Harry and Ginny realised they loved each other and that the other one did before the necessary moment happened, where as she and Ron spent years going round in circles and never realising that they were not the only ones having those feelings. Ginny had loved Harry for years before he realised that he loved her but they still had made it. They had still come so far to the point where they had gotten married and even now had a son of their own. They had grown so much as people, they all had and the four of them knew that that was definitely and always would be for the better.

It was obvious who James looked like particularly – his father, Harry. The dark black hair was an instant giveaway. But other than that he looked like a male version of Ginny, the same face shape, the same facial features, the same brown eyes. It was uncanny, but the uncertainty was who they would actually grow up to be. Harry and Ginny were very similar people, that was why they got on so well and were a perfect match for one another, but they also had some different qualities. Harry was unbelievably stubborn at times and had been particularly when they were at Hogwarts and on the run, not always willing to accept help. Ginny could be incredibly feisty and fierce when she wanted to be, hence the powerful bat bogey hex she could cast. They could be either, or they could be both. All that Hermione knew was that she hoped their daughter would be a combination of both her and Ron.

"You are really good with him you know." Hermione heard a quiet voice say and turned to see Ron stood gazing at his wife and nephew in the doorway with a proud and happy smile on his face.

"Do you really think so? Because I have no idea what I am doing." Hermione said, "It is even more difficult because he can't say if I am going wrong or doing anything right. You are amazing with children Ron and I feel like I am just tripping up over my own feet at every single move I make."

"Of course I think so. You are always in denial about this and never realise it but you really are good with children. Particularly with James, Roxanne, Lucy and Victoire. You have always been like that, you just have never really seen it." Ron told her and she beamed.

"Thank you." She said in response so quietly that it almost looked as if she had mouthed the two small words. "Now, how do you want to do this?" She supposed.

"How do what what what?" Ron stumbled over his own words not hearing what she had said.

"You know... the baby food. How do you want to do this?" Hermione suggested gesturing to the small pot in his hands. "It is not exactly like we have got a high chair or anything like that yet." She continued trailing off, immediately regretting not thinking about this before Harry and Ginny had actually brought James over. They had been thinking a lot lately about this moment, this day, but also about preparing for the baby as well. There were just over three months until their daughter was due to be born and although they had been planning out their moves within the next few months, taking them through October, November, December and to the 3rd of January they had not actually achieved anything of any true significance. There was still a room to paint, there was still paint to buy. They still needed to get furniture like a cot, a rocking chair, a changing table, and storage for the baby's belongings such as clothes. A buggy had not been bought and they still had the intentions of buying a hell of a lot of nappies in early December in the hope that given they would not be going out too frequently for a while after their daughter was born, they would hopefully have enough nappies to survive through the first few weeks. None of these things had actually been carried out yet, but they needed to be sometime rather soon.

"Well how about you balanced him somehow, I know holding him is a bit of a logistical nightmare at the moment given... well... you know..." He wandered, gesturing to his wife's stomach, "But that could work I guess."

"If we do that then at least we have both done something each, you will have fed him and I tried to entertain him earlier." Hermione said as Ron passed her James and she attempted to carefully sit him up upon her knee, bouncing him gently to keep the baby calm. As she watched on as Ron pretended the plastic spoon was the Hogwarts Express, something that her father had done with her and airplanes when she was little, she realised how good he was with James. Ronald Weasley, the stubborn, sardonic and emotionally immature, insensitive teenager was anything but those things now. He was like a Dad. He was a Dad, well; he would be in a few months time. But he really was good at it, he always had been with their nieces and nephews ever since Victoire had been born. Although she trusted Ron with her life, she was beginning to have even more faith than she had ever had in regards to their child.

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"I know he can't walk, or stand. Or even sit up for that matter, but boy he can wear you out." Ron sighed as he glanced up to the clock, realising that Harry and Ginny would be back in an hour. He continued to hold James on his hip as the little boy smiled and looked towards his godfather/ uncle happily and amused but did not laugh.

"I hate to say I told you so, but, I told you so." Hermione chuckled, leaning against the kitchen door frame, before conjuring Ron a glass of water and handing it to him. "Here, I think you will need that."He nodded a thank you in response.

"What is that smell?" He pondered a few seconds later, curiously and confusedly sniffing the air. Doing this immediately made Hermione chuckle.

"I think he needs his nappy changing, don't you?" Hermione raised an eye brow with a small smirk on her face as she watched her husband pull a face in pure disgust.

"Where is the stuff?" Ron asked

"In the bag, as it was three hours ago." She replied slowly, "I have not moved it Ron, here." She chucked him a nappy as they lay James down on a towel on the soft, red carpeted floor. He grinned slightly as he watched his uncle panic and his aunt try to calm him down as they attempted to rather clumsily change the nappy.

"Have you ever changed a nappy before?" Hermione asked, clearly emphasising the word ever to deliberately annoy her husband.

"Not as far as I can remember, no." He muttered in reply. "I know that you have though, when we were at the Burrow last month with Harry. How did that go, by the way?" Ron enquired, glancing over at her quickly whilst still trying to perform the task at hand. Hermione loved watching the panic unfold on Ron's face as he tried to work out what he was doing. He was not naturally a panicked person however, it seemed as of recently, finding out that they were going to have a child had made him like that now more than ever before.

"How about this, you, you know... you clean him up, and then I will put the clean nappy on. Okay?" Hermione suggested and Ron heaved a sigh before nodding and moving over, having already cleaned James. Hermione quickly placed the nappy back on James and pulled his legs back into the baby sleep suit he had already been wearing beforehand.

"See that was not so hard, was it?" She said once she had finished.

"Okay, okay, do not start rubbing it in. Besides, we will get used to it once the baby is born in a few months." Ron responded. "I am going to go and get a coffee, do you want anything?" He went on to ask.

"No, I am fine, but thank you." Hermione said as she held James. It had been a long day, she clearly not realised how long exactly but it felt like an eternity since she had woken up in the morning. As she looked down at James, she realised how much their god son had grown since they were first born. She vividly remembered that day, as if it had happened only a few hours ago. That was the day that she and Ron's two best friends, the boy they had met all those years before on the Hogwarts Express and the girl who could cast an incredibly powerful bat bogey hex. That was the day she had started to become ill, or so she thought. That was the day that Ron came and sat down on the bed next to her, worried out of his mind and she had told him that she was pregnant. That was the day that had changed everything for the four of them, in different ways but it had definitely changed them. Suddenly there were two new lives involved in the equation and their worlds had gotten a whole lot bigger.

Flashback

19th April 2005

"Here, you go first and then we will follow." Hermione said and Ron reached for her arm as Ginny gathered James into her arms carefully.

"Are you sure you are alright?" Ron asked concernedly in a hushed whispering tone.

"I am fine, Ron, I promise you, really." Hermione muttered under her breath back, hoping that neither Harry nor Ginny would hear their conversation and begin asking questions. They were both incredibly curious people and so if they overhead anything that was currently being said, they were inevitably both bound to ask.

"Okay, I think that we are ready." Ginny said, unintentionally breaking her brother and sister in law's conversation with some uncertainty in her voice before grabbing a handful of floo powder."Home!" She called and the green flames made herself and she and Harry's newborn son vanish from the St. Mungo's corridor.

"I will go, and see if she needs anything..." Hermione trailed before stepping into the fire place and quickly declaring "Harry and Ginny's!" before once again disappearing from the hospital. She quickly stepped out of the fireplace in the warmed atmosphere of Harry and Ginny's living room, their house not being very far from her and Ron's own home. As she walked further out away from the floo connection to somewhat calm her sudden dizziness that had been brought on like it had two days before when she and Ron had headed over here, much to the concern of her husband and brother in law, she could hear the distant crying of a baby. Almost automatically knowing that it would be James, she attempted to follow the sound and headed up the stairs to the landing where Ginny was walking back and forth, rocking the two day old boy gently as if to calm him down.

"Is he okay, Gin?" Hermione asked and Ginny's head darted up from the baby to look at her sister in law. A sudden amount of concern and care was obvious in her eyes. It was not like there had not been any before hand, but there was more now than ever before, making Hermione not help but smile at her friend.

"I think so; I guess it was just the flooing that got to him." Ginny reassured her, approaching Hermione slowly.

"Have you got everything ready in his room?" Hermione questioned

"Almost, obviously it will be alright for now as he will be sleeping in our room but we have just about got everything sorted. I think we had a few days ago, just in case." Ginny told her.

"Ginny! Hermione!" Harry called.

"Up here!" Hermione replied more quietly as to not disturb James.

"Is he alright?" Harry asked, hurrying up the stairs concerned for his new born son.

"He is fine, Harry, honestly. Where is Ron?" Ginny asked

"He went back to get the last thing we had left. I am sure he will be here in a second though." Harry replied.

"Harry!" A voice Hermione instantly recognised as Ron's called up the stairs, "Where do you and Gin want this stuff?" Hermione turned her head so that she could look directly towards the bottom into the hallway where her husband was holding what appeared to be an enormous bag in his arms, looking like he could easily drop it, making her try to quickly stifle a laugh.

"Could you bring it up here please? Thanks Ron." Harry responded gesturing to his and Ginny's bedroom. Hermione could only ever remember coming in the room on a few occasions as it was not really necessary to take a look into somebody else's bedroom when you went round to their house but she realised how similarly different it was to hers and Ron's own one. The colours, the layout, everything was different but it literally was just Harry and Ginny. Harry conjured a spell and with Hermione's help levitated the cot from James' room into his and Ginny's room, positioning it slightly closer to Ginny's side as although they would both be getting up to calm James down, more often than not it would be Ginny that would be required.

"Well, I brought some tea bags, if any one wants a cup of tea." Ron said

"Thanks, mate." Harry said.

"Sorry, but I can't have caffeine for a while, a glass of water would be fine though." Ginny asked and Ron headed back down the stairs. As Harry and Hermione left the room Harry turned back to glance at his wife and son cautiously. Hermione could see the worry in his emerald coloured eyes as his gaze was fixated upon them. He had grown as a person so much and although she was not one of his parents, but more like a sister, she could not have been more proud.

"You are doing great you know?" Hermione whispered, placing a hand on his shoulder from where she stood behind him and he turned his head slightly at the sound of her voice before looking back into the bedroom once again. "You both are."

"I think the world of her..." Harry replied, noticing that Ginny was so focused on James who was gurgling and looking back up at her that she would not notice that he and Hermione were talking. "This makes me love her that little bit more."

"I know you do, Harry." She told him, "I know you do." To which he turned around and hugged her tightly.

"It will happen for you two, Hermione." Harry reassured her, almost as if he could read her inner thoughts like the pages of a book, "I just know it will." As he said that, she looked over his shoulder into the room where Ginny and James were, smiling, knowing that it was happening right then.

Flashback Ends

"Hermione, Hermione, wake up." A voice said and Hermione slowly opened her eyes to see Ginny sat on the sofa next to her. Behind Ginny were Ron and Harry close to the kitchen doorway, Harry holding James in his arms and Ron with a small what appeared to be a smirk on his face.

"What is going on?" She asked

"You fell asleep holding James. We just got here a couple of minutes ago." Ginny told her, "Thank you for looking after him." Harry and Ginny gathered their belongings and before long, had bid farewell and headed home, leaving Ron and a sleepy Hermione in the living room.

"Come on, sleepy head." Ron said, helping Hermione off the sofa, before they headed up the stairs. "Bath, pyjamas, teeth and bed for you I think."

"Did you really just say that? If so you will be a great Dad." Hermione mumbled dozily.

"Hopefully Rose will think the same." Ron smiled

"That is the first time we have called her by her name." Hermione beamed

"I know."He grinned once again, squeezing her hand.

A/N: I HAVE FOOD POISONING! This has potentially been the worst weekend ever. But I digress, sorry this has taken so long, homework, coursework etc etc, GCSE's are a nightmare. Anyway thanks for reading and PLEASE REVIEW!