A/N: As with the previous chapter that included some group chat parts, I recommend reading this on AO3 to get the full experience but I tried to make it as neat as possible on her.

More baby announcement and baby planning and baby... you get it. It's all baby nugget


Harry's phone pinged for the tenth time that morning. He picked it up half-heartedly to see another message from his mother, with more advice for Ginny. He glanced over at Ginny who was reading a book beside him at the table. "You need to get your phone in your dorm because my mother keeps messaging me but it's for you each time." He showed her his phone.

Ginny stood up from the table. "Alright. I swear they are all in a frenzy…" She shook her head and stepped into the corridor, closing the door behind her.

Neville looked up from his laptop, his eyes landing on Harry. "Are you two doing alright?"

They were planning to tell the friend group today, so Harry felt he could already spill the secret to Neville. "You'll find out soon enough… Ginny is pregnant."

"Oh, shit."

Harry smiled at his honest response.

"How far along is she?" Neville asked carefully.

"Almost three months." He knew more judgement on timing was coming his way, but at least he hoped Neville would not judge too harshly.

Neville shot him a mildly amused look. "You really got it right on the first try, huh?"

Harry's jaw dropped. "That's just rude!"

"Am I wrong?" Neville folded his hands together.

Harry chose not to reply to that specific question. "Anyway, there have been some bumps along the way."

" Bumps ?" Neville was clearly amused by his poor choice of words.

"Shut up," Harry said, choosing to reply to his mother's text instead.

Ginny walked in and she paused as Neville looked at her. "Hey, my eyes are up here."

Neville looked at her in surprise. "No, Harry just told me—"

"I was joking, Nev. It's fine. Yes, I am with child." She walked over and sat down on Harry's lap.

"Don't say it like that," Harry commented as he wrapped his arms around her.

"Why? I have been trying out some phrases, so I can keep it new. Bun in the oven, expecting… or as Queen Victoria said it 'be caught'," she listed off.

"Got any more?" Neville asked.

"Well, there is always knocked up, up the duff…"

Harry cringed at the expression.

"Up the spout, in the family way…" Ginny continued.

"Each one of these is worse than the last," Harry told her. But if anyone could say them, it was Ginny.

"How long have you known?" Neville asked curiously.

Harry looked at Ginny. "About a month and a half."

"That probably was quite a shock?"

Ginny nodded. "You could say that, yeah. May as well drop the news in the group chat…" she told Harry.

He took out his phone. He uploaded a picture of the ultrasound and typed.


Traitor Squad
& the lovebirds


HARRY:
[ultrasound_photo]
The cottage trip turned out to be a bit more productive than you or we intended…
Expected on New Years!


"Yeah?" Harry asked Ginny to confirm as she read along.

Ginny chuckled at the message. She let out a little sigh. "Sure."

Harry pressed 'send' and they stared at the phone, waiting for reactions. Seamus immediately sent a laughing emoji. After a few seconds, presumably after a correction from Dean, he sent back 'For real?'

A yelp came from Hermione's dorm. They heard footsteps immediately after.

"Ginny!" The footsteps grew louder.

She hid her face in the crook of Harry's neck. The door flew open.

"Ginny."

Hermione paused in the doorway, wide-eyed. Ron walked in after her, watching the scene in front of him.

Ginny lifted her head. Hermione stepped closer with a look of disbelief, glancing between them and Ron.

"You can't just jump this on me through text," she said as she pointed at her phone.

Ginny grimaced. "I know, it was just more efficient."

Suddenly Seamus also appeared, dragging an unwilling Dean along. Following shortly behind were Cho and Luna. They all stood around in their dorm as if they expected more information.

Ginny got up from Harry's lap and turned to her friends. "If we had known you'd all be along, we would have put some champagne in the fridge," Ginny muttered sarcastically

Harry stood up too and stood close to Ginny, watching her expression carefully. All their friends looked a bit puzzled and a little guilty too. After all, if they hadn't schemed, it would have never happened.

"This is real; you are pregnant?" Luna asked in a loud whisper as if not everyone in the room knew yet.

Ginny nodded. "Yes."

"We are so sorry for scheming," Cho said in an attempt to make everything better.

"Is it really a … cottage baby?" Seamus poked curiously.

Luna slapped his arm. "Seamus! You can't ask people that!"

Seamus merely bumped against her softly to dismiss her. His eyes remained focused on Ginny and Harry. "Is it?"

Ginny bit her lip and looked at Harry.

"Well," said Harry, who would rather not share too many details of their sex life. "We can't know for sure, but probably."

Ron cleared his throat. "Now there is a question I didn't want answered."

"I do feel a little bit bad now about the whole thing…" Hermione looked down at the floor.

Most of their friends wore guilty expressions on their faces.

"Guys, it's fine. Obviously, this was a shock initially but we're happy to be having a baby," he told them truthfully.

Ginny's arms wrapped around his waist. He put an arm around her in turn and met her eyes, smiling softly.

Luna looked like she was about to cry. "You two are adorable. You need to quit it. Even with a baby on the way you're… like that." She squeezed Seamus' arm, who had the misfortune of being the nearest person to hold on to.

Ginny met eyes with each of them in turn as she spoke. "However, babies are expensive, and this is still your fault. We will be expecting amazing baby gifts," Ginny said, grinning because they couldn't deny them that.

Hermione shook her head. "You know, when you had that stomach bug, I suddenly thought…"

Several gasps of realization erupted from the group.

Ginny looked at her. "Yeah, we were worried you had caught on."

"I had my suspicions," Hermione admitted. "But then you were better. A few weeks went by, and I forgot about it until now."

"You weren't wrong, I was just having terrible morning sickness that week," Ginny confirmed.

"Hermione is perceptive like that," Ron commented, which earned him a smile from her.

Cho looked at the ultrasound on her phone. "So that's really your baby, then?" she said as if she couldn't quite believe it.

"No, we plucked a random ultrasound of the internet," Harry replied to the strange question. "Yes, that's our baby. She's due on the first of January."

"As baby name we were thinking Vendetta," Ginny announced with a grin.

The whole group looked up at her and then at Harry.

"You bet," Harry agreed without missing a beat. "If she's having a particularly bad day; we'll spin the wheel and whomever it lands on can enjoy some Vendetta for the day."

"I think we've made a mistake," Seamus whispered.

"Oh, you will be regretting setting us up," Ginny told him. "I think I am owed so much revenge." She patted her stomach to emphasise her point. "I'd love to chat more about this, but I am supposed to call another one of my brothers."

"We can meet for lunch in a bit?" Ron suggested.

The group agreed and they all filed out of the room. Harry met her eyes when the door closed after the last of them had left.

"That was interesting," Ginny said.

Harry nodded. "Quite rude how no one goes 'Oh, congratulations!', you know?"

Ginny chuckled. "You wonder why…"

Harry's phone pinged again. Seamus had updated the group chat subject. He replied.


We collectively apologise for cottage baby


[Seamus has updated the group name to 'We collectively apologise for cottage baby']

HARRY:
Apology not accepted.

LUNA:
We didn't put it there!

RON:
Please stop talking about that

CHO:
You set up your sister with your friend, that's on you


Ginny took the phone from him. "Give me that."

Harry watched as she updated both the group chat name and the photo.


We collectively apologise for cottage baby
(Pay us child support you cowards)


[Harry has updated the group name to 'We collectively apologise for cottage baby (Pay us child support you cowards)]

[Harry has updated the group photo with ultrasound_photo]

HARRY:
That was Ginny

And she is right

SEAMUS:
with what money may I ask?

HARRY:
That sounds like a 'you' problem, Seamus -G

SEAMUS:
Ginny, I think you should be the last person to say that

GIN:
Hey, I was on birth control, I am really not to blame for this
Well
You know what I mean

HERMIONE:
we just wanted you to kiss and hold hands
I, for one, will not be taking responsibility for babygate

HARRY:
Should invest in a baby gate tbh
I'll put it on the list
long list, very expensive


They joined the rest at lunch after their video chat with Bill. He reacted much like her other brothers had. A little surprised but overall quite accepting. As the only brother with a kid himself, he had offered her some advice. Ginny had promised to call him with questions she didn't feel she could ask her mother.

Harry walked behind Ginny as they walked to the table with their trays. Ginny slowed down a little so he could catch up.

"I feel like a zoo animal," she commented about their friends' eyes on them.

Harry offered a comforting smile. "Our love life is simply much more interesting than most of theirs."

"Interesting…" She nodded. "That is definitely what they think we are."

The group still looked as they put their trays down on the table and sat down. Harry picked up his fork and tried to get a bite in before more questions were launched. A choice he immediately regretted.

"At least we know Harry knows where to put it," Cho commented.

His mouth full, narrowly avoiding choking, he looked up alarmed. He chewed quickly and swallowed. "What?"

Cho was kind enough to explain. "You never dated before, that we know of. We were wondering if you were still a virgin before Ginny."

Ginny frowned, the corners of her mouth turning down in mild disgust. "What's wrong with you people?" She sipped her water. "And no, he wasn't a virgin."

He felt his cheeks burning. "Thanks for sharing that with the group."

"Then we wouldn't have... so quickly," she said. "I would have ease—"

"I know where the end of that sentence is going, let me just stop you there," Harry cut her off quickly. "Just say it in your mind first."

"Oh."

Seamus piped up from further down the table. "Maybe Harry got you pregnant on purpose to tie you down."

Before Harry could respond, Ginny moved. She pulled the bag Luna had been taking out of her tea from her hands. She held it by the string and flung it at Seamus. With surprising accuracy, it splatted against his forehead, droplets flying everywhere as it made contact with his skin. Then it dropped off his face and landed in his bowl, sending soup over the rim.

Seamus looked at her in surprise and her eyes read murder, daring him to say anything else. Luna's hand still had not moved as she looked down from her tea, to Ginny, to Seamus. Harry offered her an apologetic smile.

Dean leaned over to Seamus and whispered something in his ear.

"I apologise," Seamus said a moment later. He pushed his bowl away from him.

Harry met eyes with Dean for a moment, an unspoken exchange, and then Harry looked at Ginny. "I'd be an idiot to think that would work on her."

Luna, who had been wearing a frown for a minute or so, spoke up. "That's why you didn't join to go clubbing last time?"

Ginny nodded in confirmation. "If I didn't drink, you would figure it out immediately. Harry said he'd cover for me, but I just couldn't deal with that then."

Cho gasped. "Does that mean you are not joining next time either?"

"No, I will. May be my last chance to anyway. I just won't drink and..." She looked at Harry. "Bring my bodyguard." She grinned at him.

"Yeah, I am not letting you out of my sight," Harry confirmed, resisting the urge to wrap an arm around her.

"That reminds me I have to pick up birth control," Cho said, taking out her phone to note it down.

"It's okay, I can lend some of mine, I won't be needing it any time soon," Ginny joked.

Cho looked up from her phone. "Are you not going to have sex the whole time?"

Everyone paused to look at Cho.

Ginny reached out to her and patted her hand. "It's a good thing you're pretty."

Cho blinked slowly as she looked at Ginny. Harry could see the cogwheels turning. Cho laughed at herself. "Oh my god." She facepalmed. "That was stupid."

Ginny nodded. "Only a little." She leaned back in her chair. "There is something about not worrying you'll get pregnant when having sex."

"You do see the irony in that, do you?" Luna asked.

"It's not lost on me," Ginny admitted.


Ginny lifted her head off Harry's shoulder to check who was calling her.

"Charlie!" she said happily as she placed the phone against her ear. "What's up?"

"I just came from the airport but I figured I'd swing by here first, mum said you had news?"

She shot off the couch at once, startling Harry who looked up warily. "You're here?"

"Yes. Just tell me what dorm you are in, and I'll be right there. "

"Top floor," she said, already walking out of the door. "I'll meet you in the corridor."

"I'll be up in a minute," he said before the call disconnected.

Ginny waited impatiently until her brother appeared at the top of the stairs. "Charlie!" she yelled, running towards him.

He opened his arms for her and caught her as she ran to him. He hugged her tightly. "Good to see you," he muttered. He released her.

Ginny pulled him along to Harry's dorm.

Seamus popped his head out. "Is everything fine? I heard yelling," he said.

Ginny paused at his door. "It's my brother!"

Seamus crossed his arms. "You're never that excited to see Ron."

"It's because I am her favourite brother," Charlie said.

"I see Ron every day, I see Charlie less," Ginny explained, continuing down the hallway.

"Nice to meet you," Seamus said.

"Likewise!" Charlie replied.

Ginny stepped inside the room again. Harry stood up from the couch as she closed the door.

"You remember Harry," Ginny said, pointing at him.

"Vaguely," Charlie replied, shaking Harry's hand. It must have been over ten years since they last met, and it would have been from afar back then.

She felt much less nervous telling Charlie now that the majority of the reactions had been positive. "The news is that I am pregnant," she blurted out.

Charlie froze and Ginny realised she may have jumped the gun this time. His eyebrows rose. "What?"

"I am pregnant," she repeated, smiling awkwardly in the hopes to alleviate the tension.

Charlie's jaw tensed. "Okay so, what's the deal? Who is the father and what are they doing? Because if you need me to kick their ass, I'll do it." His fists balled.

Harry stood up straighter too, as if Charlie was going to realise any moment it was him and he was ready to throw a punch.

Ginny held up her hands. "Woah. No one needs their ass kicked." She pointed at Harry, who didn't seem too happy about that. "Harry, who used to be in Ron's class, was on the football team with Fred and George."

"Yes, used to be Ron's best friend," Charlie said.

"Who is now my best friend. He is the father," Ginny told him.

Something flickered across her brother's face as he registered the information.

Ginny realised that wasn't clear either. "We have been dating for a few months, we are happily together and having a baby together. We are all good."

Charlie's posture deflated. "You could have led with that!"

Harry let out a breath of relief now that the situation was defused.

"I thought you knew!" Ginny argued back. "Don't you read the group chat?"

Charlie shook his head in disbelief. "It's full of puppies half the time. I don't know who is sending them, but it is impossible to keep up with." He took her hands now. "So, you are having a baby? A human child. A little crotch goblin."

Ginny grinned. "Yes."

"I want to tell you congrats, but you are still studying, living in a dorm..." Charlie listed.

"We have a few things to figure out before then," she agreed.

"How did mum and dad react?" he asked now.

She shrugged. "The way you'd expect. A little surprised but mum heard 'grandbaby' so she was okay."

Charlie chuckled. "I believe you." He turned to Harry. "I am sorry for reacting that way. I was just worried and in my head she's still my tiny sister."

"You didn't hit me in the face, we are good," Harry replied.

"I do prefer it if we all get along," Ginny said, her hand sliding over her stomach. "Harry is your niece's dad so that's basically family."

Charlie eyed Harry. "I suppose that's true." He turned to Ginny again. "I guess I am the last to know?"

She shook her head and smiled. "Percy doesn't know. We are not telling him."

Charlie shot her an amused look. "May I ask why?"

"We are trying to figure out how long it will take for him to notice. Fred has opened a betting pool," she told him.

"Of course he did." Charlie shook his head.

"My bet is six months along," Harry said. "Ginny can't join so she can't play it up and win."

Charlie looked at his sister. "How far along are you now?"

"Three months," she replied.

Charlie looked her up and down. "Turn sideways."

Ginny turned to the side and looked at Charlie expectantly.

"I'll bet seven months then," he said after he had looked a little longer. "It must be properly in the way before he'll notice, I am pretty sure."

Ginny smiled. "We'll see."

"Is Ron here right now?" he asked.

Ginny nodded. "Yeah, let's go find him."


Ginny rested on the bed beside Harry after Charlie had left. Her head was next to his, their feet resting on opposite sides of the bed.

She looked up from her phone and turned her head to look at him. "Charlie made a good point. We can't exactly raise a child in a dorm room."

Harry looked at her. "You can't. I am not sure if that's even allowed?" he wondered out loud.

She nodded, their gaze comfortably rested on each other. "Right. Then what is our plan if we want to study at the same time?"

"I have actually already given it some thought," he said." Considering everything, the best would be to rent an apartment right off campus."

Ginny blew air out of her mouth. "That sounds like an expensive ordeal. I am not exactly making money since I quit in January."

"You couldn't stay working there either, it just wasn't a good environment, and the payment was kind of shit anyway. I also think with studying, your thesis and having a baby, getting a job is not going to be manageable." He paused. "I think I got it covered. I should check my math again but ... I am ridiculously well-paid for the amount of work I do, in the hopes I'll stick with them when I graduate. And I have some savings."

Ginny glanced away. "You shouldn't have to spend your savings on—"

"My girlfriend and child?" he answered.

She met his eyes again and nodded.

"I think we do have to live together, unless you plan on raising the nugget by yourself." He raised his eyebrows.

Resigned, she shook her head. "Of course not." She sighed. "When I talked about us living together before... I imagined it in a year or so..."

"I think the nugget got us in speed there." He frowned slightly. "It isn't about us. Not that I don't want to live together with you, you know that. It's more about making sure the little one has a home while we manage our studies as well. More time with you is just an added bonus." He rolled over so he was hovering over her.

Ginny looked up at him. Her fingers landed against his cheek. "She does need a home. Just because her parents are idiots doesn't mean she has to miss out," she said with a soft smile. "I guess if we move in before term starts we can get settled on our own time and prepare for her arrival."

"I still can't believe we made a baby."

Ginny gasped dramatically and sat up. Harry only narrowly missed getting hit in the chin by Ginny's forehead. "Oh my god, did no one ever have the talk with you?"

"Gin." He sat up too, his arms folded as she grabbed pen and paper from the desk.

"Don't worry, I'll explain," she said, eagerly making sketches on the paper. She sat on his lap and showed it to him.

Harry's brows knitted together as his eyes flitted over the paper. "What the hell is that supposed to be?"

"A reproduction of what you drew me five years ago actually," she told him happily, enjoying his baffled reaction. "But I assume you don't remember…"

Harry pulled the paper out of her hands and looked at it again. "I think I knew more than that five years ago, but surely I would remember this."

She blushed and shook her head. "I asked when you were really drunk in the hopes you wouldn't remember." She grimaced. "I was nervous about my first time. I needed a guy's point of view and who better to ask than you."

Harry stared at her in complete disbelief. "You're joking?"

"I am not." She took her phone. "I did save the picture somewhere. If you give me a minute I'll find it back."

"Frankly, I am a little upset you didn't feel like you could ask me this sober. I would have probably answered you just as well." He crossed his arms again.

She glanced up from her phone. "It wasn't about you really." She could feel her cheeks burning. "I was embarrassed to ask, and it was just nicer if you didn't remember." She found the photo and showed it to him.

Harry's eyes widened. "How...? That's somehow worse than what you drew just now. Looks like I wasn't much help after all." He zoomed into the picture to look at it more closely and shook his head.

"I mean the drawing..." She pointed at it. It spoke for itself. "However, the advice you gave me was pretty great. You put me at ease."

"What did I say?" he asked curiously.

She snorted. "That's for me to know and for you to never find out."

"At least you were thinking about me during your first time," Harry said with a laugh.

"Inadvertently, yeah. I didn't think about it again after that until the first time we…" She trailed off but her eyebrows raised suggestively.

"Did you use my advice on me?"

She placed her hands on either side of his face. "Remember the first time we had sex after we officially got together?"

He nodded. "Yes, of course." He let out a small gasp. "Oh." His eyes twinkled as they met hers.

She beamed back at him.

"That just makes me more convinced that's when the nugget happened." Harry poked her belly softly.

"Oh my god," she let out. "You know that's not... a deciding factor on conceiving."

"You said yourself you thought that's the day you were ovulating," he argued back. His hands came to rest on her lower back. His thumb stroked against her skin.

"That's speculation," she told him.

He shrugged. "I just think it's nice."

She squinted at him. "Do you think that's romantic?"

"I do think it beats getting pregnant from a random hook-up, it feels more... neat." Harry shifted and lay down.

She lay beside him and tucked against him. "That was a long sentence just to say 'yes'."

He nuzzled against her cheek. "I am feeling severely judged."

"Harry," she told him adamantly. "The egg doesn't know what I am feeling."

"It's more like a hospitable environment type of thing, perhaps," he suggested. "You just loooove me so much your body was egging on the sperm."

She placed her hand over his mouth. "You need to stop talking right now. And you don't get points for your dumb pun."

"It's a dad joke," he said against her hand.

She moved her hand again, massaging the skin by the nape of his neck. She met his eyes. "If... If you can find scientific proof to support your claim, I shall consider it."

Harry resolutely picked up his phone and typed and almost a second later let out a triumphant 'Aha!'. She moved her head reluctantly to see his smug grin. "It's all about the oxytocin. It says literally what I said but a little more sciencey."

"Okay, but just because it is more likely, doesn't make it true," she argued, unable to let him win.

"We can agree on that," he agreed. "Statistically speaking..."

"Yeah yeah." She dismissed his point. She thought back to that evening herself. Suddenly her eyes widened, and she slapped her hand in front of her mouth. "Oh no!"

Harry looked at her curiously. "What?"

She shook her head. "Nothing." She smiled at him.

"You can't react like that and then not tell me!" he told her.

She turned on her back and folded her hands on top of her stomach solemnly. "I can't tell you, I was planning to take this secret to my grave."

He propped his head up on his hand. "Ginny."

She could feel her cheeks heat up and by the way Harry stroked his finger against her cheek, he could see her blush.

"It can't be that bad," Harry said. "Please tell me."

"You can't tell anyone else," she said with a glance at him. "I have a reputation to uphold."

"Of course. Girlfriend-boyfriend confidentiality." He kept looking at her, impatiently waiting for her to speak.

"That night we got together..." She stared up at the ceiling. "When you fell asleep, I told you I loved you. I knew it was ridiculously early and I didn't need you to hear it... I just knew it was true, so I said it." She stole a glance at Harry to see his reaction. "That's why it didn't feel like a big thing when I said it again three weeks later."

Harry turned on his back too and breathed out slowly. "How am I supposed to process that."

Ginny found his hand and entwined their fingers. "Am I the one chasing you away now?"

"No, I figured out pretty quickly..."

"What?" she asked.

"That I'd have to marry you."

When she looked at him, he was already looking at her, watching her reaction.

"It's what our parents meant by eloping, didn't they? They saw it before we did," Ginny said with a chuckle.

Harry turned and pulled her close, legs entangling lazy. "I did promise they'd be there, so alas we cannot elope." A small laugh escaped his lips.

She pressed a kiss against the corner of his mouth. "Yes, I think I have more objections than the attendees for our nuptials."

"Ouch."

"My objections aren't about you. I would argue we have got enough on our plate. Move in together, the little one..." Before Ginny could move his hand, it already pressed against her stomach. She met his eyes again.

"Our phases are severely messed up," he agreed. "I guess it's something to revisit at a more appropriate time."

"I suppose we can seriously talk about it when the nugget learns to walk," Ginny said.

"That's like what? Two years from now?" he asked.

"Give or take a few months," Ginny told him. "The nugget is in fact about the size of a nugget now.

"That's dinner decided then," Harry said. "We shall have nuggets today for our nugget."

"Good, she craves nuggets," she responded, using any opportunity to blame things on the baby.

Harry, however, was already well aware of her tactics. "That's just you, Weasley."