A/N: Be careful! If you read this chapter, you're in danger of finding out the baby's name!

Harry wasn't entirely sure how Christmas had snuck up on him that quickly. They had been counting down the days, and working on their theses, studying … and suddenly Christmas was at their door. He would be a dad in a matter of days. For now, he had to manage a very pregnant Ginny, and was worried about leaving her out of his sight for more than half an hour.

He heard the grunts coming from the bathroom and couldn't ignore them any longer.

"Are you okay in there?" he asked, then popped his head in. He had absolutely no clue why Ginny thought yoga poses in her underwear were a good idea at this stage of her pregnancy. "Careful! You're going to fall over." He rushed to stabilise her.

"I just wanted to shave my legs," she said in a defeated tone.

Harry shook his head. "Who cares about that?"

"I do."

"Alright. Then sit down and I'll do it." He guided her to sit down carefully.

She did not even object and sat down and handed over the shaving cream and razor. He set to work quietly.

"Remember the year when we graduated high school and you shaved my legs?" Harry asked.

She chuckled softly. "Why did we do that?"

"I don't remember," he admitted, carefully running the razor along the skin. "But it felt really soft."

Her head tilted. "I could shave your legs again."

"I think your legs are challenging enough for today," he replied to her with a lift of his eyebrows.

She looked down at her legs. "Actually, you are doing a really good job."

"Thanks. Don't distract me too much."

"Sure." She was quiet for just a moment, and then she spoke again. "Am I still pretty to you, like genuinely?"

He looked up at her in confusion. "What do you mean?"

"The stretch marks… the swollen ankles… whatever happened to my cheeks," she continued.

He could tell the reply mattered to her. "I really do. Genuinely." He smiled at her. "The cheeks are adorable, and the stretch marks just show you're growing a whole-ass baby in there." He returned his focus to her legs. "You could have asked me to help you shave upfront."

"I like my independence," she told him with a sigh.

He shook his head at her in amusement. "Must it include leg shaving?"

"Most definitely!" she insisted.

He finished up around her ankle. "All done." He rinsed her legs off and applied lotion before he helped her stand back up. He kept his hands close to her until he was sure she was steady.

"Now I'm ready for Christmas," she told him.

He nodded. "I'd insist you need more clothes but…" He winked at her.

"Oh, honey," she said sweetly. "You know I'll be too tired by the time we get back home, right?"

"I know," he told her. He kissed her. "Do we take the hospital bags in the car?"

Ginny looked down at her bump and felt around for a while. "Honestly, I don't think it's for tonight."

"Make way, pregnant lady coming through!" Ginny announced.

Her brothers parted and she made it through. Harry followed, carrying gifts.

"You're huge, you got twins in there?" Fred commented.

Ginny gave him a murderous stare as she planted herself on the couch. "Just the one."

Bill arrived with Fleur and their daughter Victoire.

"Harry! Eet ees so nice to finally meet you," she said, coming up to him and kissing him on both cheeks.

Harry was sure Ginny would have killed Fleur by now if she had the ability to get up more swiftly. Harry bent down to greet Victoire, who was hanging onto her dad's leg.

"Bonjour Victoire, comment ça va?" he asked.

The girl perked up when she heard French. "Très bien, et vous?" she replied cutely.

"Très bien, merci," Harry responded.

Then he stood up and greeted Bill.

"Nice to meet you in real life," Bill said.

"Likewise."

Harry turned back around to Ginny.

"Since when do you speak French?" she asked with a bit of a scowl.

"Well, you pick up a word here and there. I'm hardly conversational," he said as he sat down beside her.

Bill came to sit on Ginny's other side. "I knew you were pregnant but seeing you pregnant in real life is actually something different altogether."

Ginny smiled at her brother. "Well, she's practically cooked now. Just needs to come out, sooner rather than later."

"I hope the baby comes before we go back to France," Bill commented hopefully. "Then I'll get to meet her soon."

When Bill left, Ginny turned around to Harry. "On second thought, the baby can stay in for a while. I don't need Fleur and her French superiority complex anywhere near me."

Harry smiled and kissed her head. "Whatever you want."

"Hermione!" Ginny greeted her when she appeared in the living room with Ron.

Hermione went through the room and said hello to everyone and then came to sit with Ginny and Harry.

"Is my family still scary?" Ginny teased Hermione.

"No," Hermione admitted. "They're pretty great." She eyed Ginny. "How are you doing? Nervous?"

"I don't know," Ginny told her. "I am very ready to have her out because she's in the way of everything, but I'm scared of the pain and I don't feel ready to bring a baby home… but I don't think I'll ever feel ready."

"You did well, sweetheart," Molly said. "When I had Bill we didn't have nearly half the information available you did, and he turned out alright."

Bill winked at Ginny.

"Now that," George said loudly, "is very debatable."

"Personally I think it improved with every child and peaked with us, and then it went downhill again," Fred added.

Ron shook his head. "Please don't anger her."

"What is she going to do? Run after us? I'd like to see her try," George told her.

Ginny returned a glare that reminded Harry of Molly, and George flinched.

"Holy shit, that's scary," George told her. "Does that come with motherhood?"

Ginny winked towards Harry. "Must be."

There was plenty of food prepared by Mrs Weasley, who had outdone herself as usual. They started discussing the delivery over dessert.

"Are you going to faint Harry?" George asked.

Ginny looked between them. "I don't think so, Harry's not a fainter."

"I don't know," Harry replied as he scooped another bit of pie, "maybe I'll surprise you."

"I think we've got enough surprises out of you this year," she responded with a pat on his arm.

"I'm trying to start the next year strong as well," he said with a grin, which made George chuckle.

"Next year?" Ginny shook her head adamantly. "No. This baby is coming this year. It needs to come out."

"Most women go past their due date the first time," Fleur told her smugly. "You'll have to be patient."

Harry saw how much effort it took Ginny to bite back a retort.

"Well, I'm not most women," Ginny then said.

Harry squeezed her leg. "I am sure she'll be here as soon as she's ready."

"And the name has been decided?" asked Percy.

"Yes, but I'm not telling you," Ginny told them. "You'll find out when she's born."

"Ooh, can we guess?" Ron asked.

Ginny looked over at Harry and he shrugged.

"You get one guess each."

Fred perked up. "And if we guess it right, you'll confirm?"

"Yes," Ginny told him with a smile.

"What does the winner get?" Charlie asked.

"You get babysitting privileges," Harry told Charlie.

Half of them moaned about that and Ginny chuckled while sharing a look with him.

"If you guess right, I'll phone you first to let you know she has been born," Ginny offered instead.

That seemed to be enough for her brothers and it was unusually quiet.

"Bill, you can go first," Ginny said.

Her oldest brother seemed to hesitate for a moment. "Carol."

"No."

George cleared his throat. "Maybe they haven't decided yet and they're just trying to find one they like."

"It's decided," Harry confirmed. "I swear it on the cub's head." He placed his hand on Ginny's bump.

Bill looked over at George. "You'll have to believe them."

The silence was interrupted as Molly attempted to stop Fred from spraying the whipped cream straight into his mouth. He stopped before she reached him and added it on top of his second serving of chocolate cake with an innocent smile.

"Mum, what about you?" Ginny asked.

She turned to them. "You wouldn't want anything too classic, but you also don't like those weird new names…"

Harry bit his lip trying not to smile.

"Grace, perhaps?"

Ginny shook her head. "Good try, but no. What about you, Fleur?"

Bill squeezed Fleur's arm.

"Oh, I don't know. I am good at those English names… Dominique?"

Ginny shook her head. "Charlie?"

"Penny…" he said. "I think the double 'P' is nice."

Fred handed him the whipped cream when he held his hand out for it. Bill took a second helping for Fleur and gave her a kiss on her cheek.

"Nope. Percy," Ginny said. "Any guesses?"

Percy shook his head. "Oh, are we including me in this now?" he said, but the side of his mouth quirked. "Lisa."

"No, sorry. Dad?"

Arthur put his mug down. "Ruby."

"That is a nice name, but no."

Harry looked at the last four that had to guess. "I suppose no one will get it."

Fred and George whispered together for a moment and then nodded.

"Hannah."

"Florence."

"Nope," Harry said. "Hermione?"

"I think whatever name you have chosen will be wonderful."

"You have to guess," Ginny pressed. "Because I am telling you to."

Hermione shot her friend a look. "Fine, then. Isabella."

"Nope. Come on, godfather. Give it your best shot," Ginny teased.

He righted himself. "I think I should know upfront as the godfather."

"No," Harry said immediately.

"Then I'll guess Lucy."

Ginny glanced at Harry.

"Is that it?!" he asked excitedly.

Ginny shook her head. "No, but it was one of the last three before we settled on the one we picked."

Ron smiled. "Close enough. And that is why I am godfather."

"Smug doesn't suit you," George said. He grabbed the whipped cream from the table and attempted to spray it on top of Ron's hair.

"Boys!"

At their mother's voice, they halted immediately. Their dad took the whipped cream and put it out of reach.

"I still wanted that!" Ginny complained.

His dad nodded. "I'll come around with it and put it on your plates like I did when you were little."

Ginny grinned at him.

Harry glanced down and saw Ginny's bare feet. "Darling, where are your shoes?"

"They hurt." She pouted at him.

He shook his head. "Are there still socks from you upstairs? I'll get you some."

"Probably."

Harry shook his head and stood up and walked up to Ginny's room. He rummaged around the closet. It was mostly empty but a few things she never wore remained. He grabbed a pair of socks and was about to walk out when he saw an old polaroid picture of them from two summers ago. He tucked it into his pocket and walked down again.

She put her feet up for him to put the socks on because they both knew she wasn't going to struggle to put them on for ten minutes in front of her brothers and endure the teasing.

In the car, Ginny settled into the seat with a grunt. Harry hoped that the traffic wouldn't be too bad at this hour, because he could tell Ginny just wanted to tuck comfortably in bed, or as comfortably as possible.

He went into his pocket and handed her the polaroid before he started driving.

"Oh, I guess I left that in my room." She smiled softly.

He nodded. "I think it's one of those moments I should have realised I was in love with you."

"Why?" she asked. "I don't mean… why in general, what about this moment?"

He had hoped giving her the polaroid would distract her for a bit and he was glad it was working. "I always felt like I lost you a little when you were dating… with some guys more than others." Especially David, but he did not need to mention that. "And I told myself that was normal for a really long time. Of course you're spending more time with your boyfriend than me, but it felt a bit like you were abandoning me at times."

She frowned. "I'm sorry."

"No—It wasn't your fault," Harry told her. "You were still spending a lot of time with me even then, even if it created issues with those guys. I started loving summer so much because it would be just us, having the time of our lives."

"We really did," she agreed with a fond smile as she looked at the picture again.

"Maybe I liked Lars so much because he was frequently travelling back to the Netherlands."

Ginny looked at him and laughed. "No!"

"I am kidding. He was simply a good dude… but my point still stands; I took a long time to realise what was going on."

"I am a bit sad we won't get summers like that again," she told him.

He smiled at her. "Someone has to bring in money."

"I know," she said with a chuckle. "And it's a luxury you have a job lined up for you. I just want more fun times with you."

"We'll get there," he told her. "… when we retire and the kids are out of the house."

Ginny inhaled sharply. "Don't make me laugh, I don't want to give birth on Christmas Eve."

"It'll be Christmas before she's out." He smiled at her. "I think it's cute you think one laugh is going to get you into labour."

Ginny groaned beside him. "Harry, look at me. I'm rounder than a ball! She needs to come out."

"You are very… rotund."

"She doesn't have more space to take up, so out is the way," she said, gesturing downwards. "How my mother ever carried twins is beyond my comprehension."

"Twins like Fred and George… I bet they've been a pain since the start," he offered.

"I'm sure of that. I love them, but as kids they must've been such a handful."

Harry bit back his grin. "She probably wrongfully thought a girl would give her some peace."

"Aw, come on in, Ginny," Lily said, waving her inside.

Ginny sighed, tucked her hand against her bump and walked in. "Everyone continues to be disappointed when they see me!"

Lily smiled apologetically. "I promise it's not personal. How are you feeling?"

She looked over at Harry, who smiled at her. "Very uncomfortable but continuing on."

Harry looked fondly at her. "She thinks it's for every moment but the baby hasn't dropped or anything. Our cub is very cosy in there."

Ginny walked to the couch and sat down. "It could happen. For some women, it happens right before labour." She glared at Harry.

He smiled at her. "Of course, honey."

Lily patted Harry's shoulder sympathetically. "James!"

"Yes, yes!" he said, walking out of the kitchen. He hugged Harry first and then looked at Ginny.

She smiled at him. "Don't worry, your granddaughter is still safe in here." She patted her bump.

He came over and hugged her and then sat down beside her. "I am going to be a grandpa soon."

Lily shook her head, glancing at Harry. "I am still not ready for that, no matter how excited I am for her."

"I am only ready because I need this part to be over," Ginny told them. "What about you, Harry?"

"Ready? No. Excited, yes." He looked at his mum. "That's normal, right?"

She nodded. "Yes. You'll be okay."

"I'll have to go check on the food," James said. "Sit tight."

Ginny leaned back on the couch. "No worries, I'll have no trouble with that."

Ginny watched Harry bent over at the table, staring at his laptop screen. He lifted his glasses to rub his eyes and then continued reading.

She got up slowly and waddled into the kitchen. She grabbed a bag of prawn crackers and then walked to his side of the table.

"Hey, Mr Grumpypants."

He looked up at her, some of the tension leaving his shoulders. "Hm?"

"You do know the world is not going to fall apart if you take a break, right?" she tried, squeezing his shoulder.

"I am trying to be a good dad," he told her. His hand ran through his hair.

She nodded and glanced at his screen. "Are you considering The Spirit of the Laws as a bedtime story or…?" she asked. "Because I was considering starting off with some lighter reading."

He raised an eyebrow. "I want to get as much done as I possibly can so I will have time to be an actual dad to our nugget-cub-baby."

"It's not all or nothing," she told him gently. "We've studied ahead." She crossed her arms. "Are you just trying to get higher grades than me?"

"Please, that's not even a challenge," he scoffed with a teasing smile.

She gasped and dramatically dropped her bag of crackers on the table. "You take that back."

"Or what?" His head cocked to the side.

"I will sit down in your lap, and we both know it will take me ages to get back up and you'll get absolutely nothing done."

He eyed her for a moment. "Fine, I'll take it back." Then his smile broke through.

She returned it. "You're not smarter than me, just so you know. You simply put in more work."

"We can agree on that."

She stepped a little closer and ran a hand through his hair. "And stop frowning, your daughter is going to think you're grumpy because that frown line is going to set."

He gazed up at her. "Fine. No more frowning."

"That's the spirit," she said lightly. She bent down just enough to kiss him and then she walked back to her own laptop to finish her chapter.

He looked a little more relaxed at his screen now. "Thank you."

"Hm," she replied softly. "Toss me my snacks please?"

Ginny found Harry the following day hunched over the toilet throwing up violently.

"Harry?"

"Don't come any closer, I don't want you to get whatever this is," he told her, almost shivering. "Fuck."

"If it's a stomach bug, I probably already caught it and if it's food poisoning… I can't catch it."

"That's a comforting thought," he muttered.

She eyed him. "Do you have a fever?"

"I don't know—Don't come and check. I am serious."

Ginny considered it for a moment but then imagined giving birth with explosive diarrhoea and violently puking and decided she wanted to skip that.

"Is the baby coming?"

She glanced down. "I… No. I don't feel anything out of the ordinary."

"Good." He rested his head on the toilet seat. "I'll just be dying over here then."

"Can I get you anything? Water?"

He shook his head quickly. "No, please no."

She nodded and walked out and then took up her phone and dialled Lily.

"Is it the baby?" she asked.

"Yours, not mine," Ginny replied. "He's sick and he won't let me touch him. And I'm worried if I get on the floor with him, we both won't be able to get up for the next couple of hours and that won't help anyone."

"Oh no! I'll be right there." There was the noise of car keys in the background. "What does he have?"

"Stomach bug or something. He is living in the bathroom for the time being," she informed him. She heard Harry throw up again.

"Does he have a fever?"

"He won't let me check!" Ginny complained.

Lily sighed. "Poor thing. I'll drive by the pharmacy and pick some items up."

"Thank you." She walked back to the bathroom. "Your mum is coming."

Harry only let out a garbled sound.

"There there."

Harry let out a pained chuckle. "Thanks."

Lily arrived surprisingly quickly. She guided Harry to the couch, with a bucket in case he needed to throw up again.

"This is the worst timing," he said.

"It could be worse," Ginny offered. "I could be actively giving birth."

He looked at her, eyes bloodshot from throwing up. "Don't joke, imagine if I miss it."

Lily smiled. "It will be fine; you just try to rest."

"I have so many things to do," Harry sighed.

Ginny sat down on the other seat. "Just give yourself a day, babe."

"Listen to her!" Lily said.

She ended up staying around, doing some cleaning and cooking for Ginny. Harry insisted on sleeping on the couch though he was feeling a bit better, and Ginny did not manage to convince him to move to the bed.

Thankfully by the morning he was feeling much better and managed to keep down both his water and breakfast. Ginny forced him into a hug after that and he let her, tucking his head against hers.

"See, you're all better and there are still two days until her due date," she told him, caressing his back.

He nodded softly. "Thank fuck."

"Do try to rest up still today," she suggested gently.

To her surprise, he nodded.

Suddenly it was New Year's Eve. They were spending it with just the two of them, considering her due date was hours away. They had just enjoyed dinner and Ginny was sitting across from him, her hands resting on her bump.

Harry raised his glass. "To this last year where you've had a series of upgrades from best friend to girlfriend to mother of my child."

Ginny chuckled, her face was glowing pleasantly in the light of the candles he had set up on the table.

He continued. "I wanted to say that I wouldn't change a thing and I love you."

She stood up and came up to him slowly.

"To my best friend and partner in crime."

"Babe," Ginny started but Harry was not done yet.

"For the coming year, I can't wait to meet our baby." His hand came to her bump. "May she be as lovely as her mum."

Ginny looked at him fondly.

"May we spend more time together, learn to be parents together and support each other. I love you so fucking much."

Ginny grinned and sat down on his lap and kissed him softly. She pulled his glass out of his hand. "To the best of friends, who is the best of boyfriends, who I'm glad is on this adventure with me. Please keep going on adventures with me until we're old and grey."

Harry kissed her cheek.

"And of course to our daughter, our adventure for the coming year… May she have your kindness and optimism. I can't wait to meet her." She leaned in and kissed Harry.

Then he took the glass from her, raised it and drank from it.

Ginny checked the time. "Almost New Year."

They stood up and moved to the window to see the fireworks. Harry put his arms around her. They counted down together. He kissed her softly as the new year hit. It was an unusually quiet celebration for them, but he wouldn't have changed it for the world.

"Happy New Year, love," Harry told her.

"Happy New Year, darling," she said back.

They turned their gaze back outside as the fireworks started going off.

"Do you remember my New Year's wish from last year?" Ginny asked softly as she watched.

"You were very drunk." He was surprised she ever remembered her own wish.

"Still got mine, didn't I?" Her eyes darted back to him.

He squeezed her closer. "Just because I gave you my heart, doesn't mean you can play with it like that."

She shook her head lightly, her expression bright. "Not playing, I mean it. This is what I wanted, I just didn't know it was Harry-shaped yet."

"I love you," he murmured, and he placed another kiss on her lips.

Ginny turned her attention back to the fireworks. "What was your wish? I don't remember it."

Harry thought back on it. "I didn't have many ambitions last year so I just wished your wish would come true. I just wanted to see you happy."

Ginny's face broke into a grin. "So you jinxed it then. You inevitably tied our wishes together. Then you took me home."

He shook his head. "I wanted to make sure you didn't choke and die at night, that was entirely platonic."

They both looked down as the noise of a big firework made the baby jump.

Harry rubbed Ginny's bump. "It's alright. We've got you, June."