[later that evening]
“Gin…love? Are you ready yet?” Harry called.
“No, not yet. I’m just trying to get my shoes on.”
“Weren’t you doing that when I came down to grab your cloak?”
“Yes, I was,” she growled down the stairs. “You try being pregnant and not be able to see your feet!”
Seeing as he didn’t want to get himself into any more trouble with her, Harry went silent.
Two minutes later, she emerged from the bedroom and made her way down the stairs towards Harry who was waiting at the bottom with her cloak.
He reached his hand out to her as she neared the last few steps.
“You look beautiful!”
“I look pregnant,” she answered. “But thank you anyway.”
Ginny reached out her hand to take the one he offered and she stumbled, almost falling down the remaining steps.
“GIN! Are you okay?” Harry said rushing over to catch her before she fell.
“Yeah,” she breathed heavily. “I think I’m all right.” The near fall caught her off guard, making her heart rate pick up and her breathing shallow.
“What happened? Did- did you trip or lose your balance?”
“No, I got a sharp pain in my back but it’s not there any more. It just surprised me, that’s all.”
“Have you been having a lot of these back pains lately, Gin?” he asked, concern etched in his face. He knew that the nurses at St. Mungo’s had told them about several signs to watch for during the pregnancy. They said that sometimes a backache could really be labor pains.
Surely she isn’t going into labor. It’s too early, Harry thought.
“No…I mean, not really. I had a slight backache last night, but that’s all…” Ginny tried to shrug it off as if nothing had happened. “It’s nothing that isn’t normal,” she finished, seeing his worry.
She walked down the last three steps and put her back to Harry allowing him to put her cloak on.
“Come on now…or we’ll be late for dinner. I know you have reservations somewhere.”
“I think we should go to St. Mungo’s instead and let them make sure that you and the babies are all right,” Harry said, reaching for his emergency portkey (St. Mungo’s gave every expecting mother one so that they would be immediately transported to the hospital for any reason such as going into labor or complications).
“Don’t you dare think about it Harry James Potter. I told you,” she said turning around to him. She placed a soothing hand on his shoulder and trailed it lightly down his arm. “I’m fine…it was only a minor backache. There’s nothing to worry about. Let’s just go out and enjoy the fact that we are celebrating our first anniversary.”
He reached down and tilted her chin up so that he could look into her eyes.
“I just want to make sure that everything is all right. What if something goes wrong? I don’t know what I’d do if anything.
“Shhh…” she silenced him. “Nothing’s going to go wrong. No worries, yeah?”
Harry nodded weakly and leaned down to kiss her tenderly before leaving for dinner.
“Yes, two pumpkin juices please.”
“Harry,” Ginny started as the waiter walked away. “You could have gotten you some wine, you know. You’re not the one who’s pregnant.”
“I know, but…I wanted pumpkin juice,” said Harry with a very unconvincing tone.
“Mhmm…whatever you say.”
“Gin?” he spoke hesitantly as he watched his hand caress her’s. “I know that I probably don’t say this enough, but…I just want you to know how much I love you and how happy I am that we’ve been together for a year…and now with two babies on the way. I don’t think that you could ever meet a happier man than me.”
She bit her lip as he fumbled through his words becoming much of the nervous teenager he used to be just before they started dating during her fifth year.
“Harry…” she willed him to look into her eyes. “In my eyes, no other man compares to you. You are my world and you always will be.”
Harry’s eyes glistened with tears as he desperately tried to hold them back.
“There will never be any other person for me, than you, love,” he said.
Ginny bit her lip again, blushing uncontrollably.
“I love yo- Ooohh!” she exclaimed in pain.
Harry’s eyes shot wide open with fear.
“Gin, are you all right?”
Her breathing was heavier now but she tried to act as if nothing was wrong.
“No worries, Harry…I’m absolutely FINE!” she yelled, clinging to his hand for support.
“Gin…” he breathed with worry written in every line on his face.
She whimpered, willing the pain to pass but a sharper, fiercer stab came rushing through her stomach and she let out another yell as she wrapped her free arm around her stomach.
“Harry,” her chest heaved furiously. “Harry, something’s…wrong.”
“What is it?”
“I don’t know…I just know it’s not… GOOD-AHH!”
“We’re going to St. Mungo’s…NOW!!” Harry jumped up and grabbed Ginny, helping her out of the restaurant. Just outside the door, he pulled out his hospital portkey and they both held on as the swirling light passed all around them.
They arrived at the front door of St. Mungo’s within moments. Ginny was in even more pain now and the worse it got, the harder it was for her to stand on her own.
Harry was consumed with fear. He’d never seen her in so much pain before and he hated seeing her in such a state now. He desperately wished he could help, but the only way he could do that was to let the Healers take over.
“Come on, love. We’re here,” he said, wrapping his left arm around her back and her right arm around his neck.
Harry yelled out as the two of them came stumbling through the hallway, “HELP! WE NEED HELP!!”
Two nurses from behind the counter looked up quickly at the sound of Harry’s voice and Ginny’s cries of pain. The younger nurse grabbed a wheelchair that was nearby as the other rushed over to the other side of Ginny to help carry her.
“What’s happened?” said the nurse as she grabbed Ginny’s other arm and wrapped it around her shoulders.
“I- I don’t… I don’t know,” he stuttered. “We were just having dinner and she started screaming. I don’t understand what’s wrong…she can’t be in labor, the babies aren’t due for another two months.”
“Twins?”
Harry nodded in response.
The second nurse had now arrived with the wheelchair and they all moved to help Ginny sit down.
“Dear,” said the older nurse to Ginny. “Can you tell us where it hurts?”
She let out another whimper as she opened her mouth to try to speak. All that she could do was hold the right side of her stomach.
“Dear…” the nurse began again, “have you been spotting?”
Harry frowned at the term but Ginny knew what she was referring to.
“Only a-… a little…just over an hour ago,” Ginny answered stumbling through her words.
“Oh dear…” the nurse whispered. She turned to the younger woman quickly.
“Get Healers Thomas and Johnson and meet us in room 7 in the maternity ward. Wait-” she said, stopping her before she could leave.
“Which Healer is assigned to you dear?” she asked Ginny.
Harry answered instead, “Williams.”
“Him as well,” she said to the younger nurse. “All three of them, room 7, now!”
“Nurse, what’s happening to her?” Harry asked as he stood beside Ginny, holding her hand.
“No time to answer that right this moment, dear. We must get her upstairs.”
The older nurse pushed Ginny to a fireplace just down the hall and Harry followed, still holding on to her.
“Grab some Floo powder and meet us upstairs in a moment,” she said as she took some Floo powder for herself and stepped into the empty grate with Ginny.
“Maternity ward,” exclaimed the nurse as green flames shot up around the two of them and in a flash, they were gone.
Harry waited a moment before grabbing his Floo powder and stepping in to do the same.
Within moments, he arrived in the maternity ward and stepped out of the fireplace, looking up and down the hallway. He didn’t see Ginny or the nurse anywhere.
They must be in the room already. 7, was it? Harry thought.
He turned to the right going in the direction that the sign adjacent to the fireplace instructed and found himself at room 7 after only a few steps down the hall.
He flung the door open to see that the nurse had just gotten Ginny onto the bed. She was screaming and crying at the same time and it was taking all that Harry had within him to keep himself together. He had to be strong for her.
“Nurse!” Harry exclaimed as he crossed the room towards Ginny. “Please, tell me what’s going on.” The desperation in his voice was overwhelming.
“Young man,” the old nurse said, patting his shoulder lightly. “I’m sorry, what’s your name?”
“Harry Potter and this is my wife, Ginny Potter,” he said, motioning towards her.
She gasped lightly and her eyes began to glisten.
“You poor, dear thing,” she mumbled. She took a deep breath, and steadied herself.
“We think that there might be some complications with her giving birth, but we will not know anything until the Healers can properly examine her. They’ll be able to let us know what needs to be done.”
“What do you mean ‘what needs to be done’? They’re going to be alright, aren’t they?” Harry looked more worried than ever. He never thought that whatever the problem was would be this bad.
“Listen, Mr. Potter…you just need to calm down. I can’t tell you anything more until the Healers get here,” said the nurse soothingly.
“Well, where the bloody hell are they?” Harry growled, stomping off towards the door.
Just then, the younger nurse appeared with all three Healers following behind her. They made their way over to Ginny and exchanged a few brief words with the older nurse.
“It’s about bloody time you showed up!”
Harry moved back towards Ginny but the older nurse stopped him before he could reach the bed.
“Come on, dear…let’s go out in the hall,” she said, trying to steer him out of the room.
“NO! I’m staying with her!!” He protested, pushing his way past the nurse.
“SIR!” Harry vaguely heard her yell as he ran towards Ginny and grabbed her hand.
“Darling, I’m here,” he said softly kissing her hand and then moving to her forehead to do the same.
“Harry,” she cried, tears streaming down her face. “I’m scared.”
“It’s going to be okay…it’s all going to be just fine.”
Harry hoped he was being reassuring, but the truth was he had no idea what was wrong or what might happen to her or the children.
“Mr. Potter, we must ask to leave the room,” said Healer Williams.
“I’ve already told the nurse that I’m not going anywhere!” he said through gritted teeth.
“We won’t keep you away long. Just enough time to let us find the problem and determine what needs to be done. Why don’t you contact her family…nurse?” the Healer motioned for her to escort him out of the room.
This time, the younger nurse came to his side.
“Come on, Mr. Potter. We’ll go use the fire to speak to her family…how’s that sound?”
Harry stood there gazing at his pain stricken wife. His eyes were hazy and he was too dumbfounded to move.
“Mr. Potter?”
“Er…” he blinked slowly at the nurse, “right…er, family. Y-Yes.”
As the nurse led him out into the hallway, she tried to distract his thoughts from Ginny.
“Right. So, how many people do we need to contact?” He wasn’t paying much attention to her. “Mr. Potter?”
“Oh….erm…sorry. Two, I think. Yes, two.”
“Would you like me to contact one, while you try to contact the other?”
“Uh, yeah….on second thought, no. This probably needs to come from me.”
They walked a few steps down the hall to the fireplace.
“Mr. Potter? ...Sir?” she said hesitantly, nudging the Floo powder to him.
“Thank you,” he nodded and said, “The Burrow,” allowing green flames to consume his head.
“Are you keeping a lookout for Mum?” whispered Fred.
“Of course I am…why else would I be peeking around the corner?” George hissed. “Hurry it up, will you. She’ll be back any minute.”
“I’m almost done.”
Without warning, Harry’s head appeared in the fireplace.
“Fred…” he called.
“I told you I’m almost finished. Don’t get your knickers in a twist,” Fred griped.
“Who’s wearing the knickers here?! I think somebody’s a bit paranoid. I didn’t say anything to you.”
“Yes you did. I just heard you say my name,” Fred turned to face George.
“No, I didn’t; you’re hearing things. Maybe the Burrow’s been haunted for all these years and we never knew…or perhaps, you’re just crazy, you wanker,” George said, walking back across the room towards his brother.
“Would you two just stop it?!” Harry raised his voice a little more.
“AH!” the twins screamed in unison.
“Holy Wheezes, Harry! You scared the sh-” but Harry cut Fred off before he could continue.
“No time for jokes, guys. This is really important. Listen…who all’s still here?”
“Mum, Dad, Charlie, and us. Why?”
“I don’t have much time to explain right now…”
“Come on Harry, you have some surprise for Ginny don’t you?” George asked.
“You need our help?” Fred voiced a moment later.
“GUYS! This is no time for playing around. It’s extremely important!!”
With that, Fred and George both shut up. They knew Harry all too well and he didn’t joke about things of any serious nature.
“I need you to grab everyone and Floo to St. Mungo’s immediately. Then, meet me in the Maternity Ward.”
“Ginny’s having the babies?!”
“Isn’t it a bit early?”
“I promise, I’ll explain everything when you get here. I’ll be in the room with her when you all arrive. Just wait in the hall outside room 7 and I’ll be out as soon as I check on things.
“I’m going to see if I can reach Ron and Hermione. Get everybody else, now!” And without warning, Harry’s head disappeared from the flames.
“What was that all about?” George asked.
“I don’t know, but we’d better get a move on and find out. You get Mum, I’ll get Dad and Charlie.”
“Harry!” Hermione shrieked, sending a bowl of melted chocolate shattering across the floor and strawberries flying everywhere.
“Merlin, Hermione! What’s gotten into you?” Ron said, walking out of the bedroom toward her.
“Hi, guys,” Harry muttered.
“HARRY!” Ron turned in shock. “AH!! BLOODY HELL!!!”
His bare foot had just come into contact with a piece of glass from the bowl that Hermione dropped.
He was now hopping around, whimpering in pain, until he finally reached the sofa.
“Oh, stop whining. I’ll patch you up in no time,” Hermione said, grabbing his foot and carefully pulling out a small piece of glass.
“Well, you’d best do it in a hurry and for heaven’s sake, put some more clothes on,” Harry said, noting that she was in one of Ron’s Chudley Canon’s t-shirts and he in boxers.
“You both need to leave, now.”
“Why, for the love of Merlin, would I care to go anywhere right now?” Ron fussed as Hermione dabbed his small wound with a wet clothe.
“Because you two need to meet me and everyone else at St. Mungo’s.”
“What’s the matter?” Hermione’s head snapped up.
“Gin. She’s ju-...” Harry stopped, dropping his gaze from theirs. “Ugh, bugger. I don’t know what’s wrong…just hurry. I’m going back in to see the Healers. We’ll all be in the Maternity Ward. Wait outside room 7.”
He looked back up at them to see shocked expressions and knew that if he stayed there looking at their faces any longer, he wouldn’t be able to keep himself together.
“I’ve got to go,” was all that Harry could say before disappearing.
“Mum! Dad! What’s going on?” Ron said as he spotted his mother just down the hall.
“Oh, Ron, Hermione…dears. Why don’t you two sit down?” Mrs. Weasley stood up and held both their cheeks with shaking hands.
“No…you sit back down. Do we know anything yet?” Hermione spoke kindly.
Mrs. Weasley whimpered slightly and looked towards Mr. Weasley asking him to answer the question for her.
“No. We don’t know anything as of this moment. When we got here, Harry was walking back into the room and said that he’d be back out to talk to us, once he could find out something from the Healers. Fred and George seem to think that she might be in labor, based on their brief conversation with him…but we’re not certain.”
“She can’t be in labor. Not now…it’s too soon. She’s only 7 months along for Merlin’s sake,” Mrs. Weasley said in an hysterically high voice.
“He didn’t tell us much either but, he seemed quite worried about the whole situation,” Ron said, still in a dumbfounded state about Harry showing up in their fireplace and demanding that he and Hermione come to St. Mungo’s straightaway.
Just then, every person in the hallway looked up when they heard two nurses loudly calling his name.
“MR. POTTER? MR. POTTER, CAN YOU HEAR US?”
The door immediately flung open to reveal the younger nurse who went running down the hall to the closest nurses’ desk. They all saw her saying something hurriedly and then the lady behind the desk gave the nurse a small bottle.
As she rushed back past them, their gazes followed her until the door slammed shut again.
“What was that all about?” Ron asked but received nothing but shrugs in return.
A few minutes later, Ron got his answer. The young nurse that had run past them before stuck her head back out of the door.
“Could I get two of you gentlemen to assist me with Mr. Potter?”
“What’s happened to him?” said Mr. Weasley.
She stepped out of the room fully so that she could speak with them.
“He went into a state of shock earlier and we had to get some ammonia to wake him up.”
Several mouths dropped open at this announcement.
“Well…what caused it?” Charlie spoke, asking what was on everyone’s mind.
“I’ll leave that for him to tell you. He asked that he be the one to speak with you all.
“Now, if I could borrow a couple of you, I’d like to move Mr. Potter out here, if you don’t mind.”
“We’ll do it,” spoke Fred and George.
The twins stood up and followed the nurse back into the hospital room and within moments, they were walking back out into the hallway with a very groggy Harry linked between them.
“Now, give him just a few minutes to get back to normal before you all start in with questions,” the nurse said and then she turned to rejoin the others in the room.
“Oh and one more thing, could you let him know that he may come back in whenever he feels strong enough to,” she finished just before the door clicked shut again.
All seven people stood there staring at Harry, watching his every move.
“Look at the poor dear…he’s as white as a sheet. Maybe we should fetch him something to eat,” Mrs. Weasley said, observing him nervously.
“He probably wouldn’t eat anything, Mum,” Ron remarked.
After five minutes, Harry was still sitting there, not having moved an inch since they’d brought him out of the room. He had just sat there staring straight ahead.
Hermione decided to see if she could coax him out of it.
“Harry,” she said, kneeling down in front of him. “Harry, can you hear me? It’s Hermione.”
The only response she was rewarded with was a blink. She tried again, thinking that talking to him might help.
“Hey! I saw Professor Lupin and Tonks today. They said that they wanted to have dinner with you, Ginny, Ron and me sometime next week. How’s that sound?”
Still, there wasn’t much of a change, just another blink and a small twitch. She thought again and something came to mind, but would it work? No harm in trying, she thought.
“You won’t believe it!!” she exclaimed, making everyone look at her with an even stranger expression than they already were.
“Snape’s set an essay due Monday and the final game for the Quidditch Cup is this weekend. To top it off, I just heard that Katie was sick again and I can’t find Ginny to see if she can still-” but she stopped herself when she saw Harry blink a few more times and shake his head a little, trying to clear it.
“Snape did what? And Katie…what’s the matter with her?” his focus was now on getting answers from Hermione.
She thought hard. Well, that woke him up, but how do I make him realize when and where we are? Hmm…
“I know,” she finally spoke. “An essay, a sick player…not to mention Ginny. What are we going to do about her?”
“She’s not missing, Ginny’s…Gin-” making him say her name seemed to do the trick. Harry’s movements slowed down until full comprehension dawned on him.
“GINNY!!” he yelled and jumped up from his seat only to be pinned back down by Charlie and Ron.
“LET. ME. GO! I need to get back in there. She needs me,” he snapped, fighting against their hold.
“You’re right, she does need you in there…but you’re not going back in until you do a couple of things,” Hermione stood up and put her hands on her hips. Harry wondered if Ron realized just how many ‘Mrs. Weasley’ characteristics she had.
“And what’s that?” he said through gritted teeth.
“Well, for one…you’re not going anywhere until you calm down and are sure that you’re stable enough to go back in there and give her the proper support that she needs. And two…you’re going to fill us in on what the bloody hell is going on!”
That was definitely a ‘Ron’ characteristic, Harry thought.
He stopped struggling against the hold that Charlie and Ron still had on him. Finally, he sighed heavily and dropped his head in resignation.
“Gin…” he whispered and finally looked back up at Hermione. “Fine, but you’re the ones that will need to sit down.
“Let me go, I won’t take off running,” he looked at the two still holding him. However, they didn’t release him until Hermione nodded her consent.
He stood, pacing the hall in front of them as they all moved to sit in the available seats with Hermione deciding to sit on Ron’s lap since they were one chair short.
Harry looked at her family…no, their family sitting there waiting for him to say something and he knew that this wasn’t going to be an easy task. Hell, nothing about the situation was easy. All he could do was pray that everything didn’t turn out as badly as the Healers said they might.
“Well…” he began, “You all know that I was taking Ginny out tonight to celebrate,” he sighed, letting the realization of the day hit him again, “…our anniversary. So, we were getting ready to leave and as she was walking down the stairs when she lost her balance and almost missed the last few steps. I just happened to be there and caught her before she fell.
“I was immediately concerned. I asked her if anything was wrong and she said that it was just a small pain in her back; ‘it just caught me off guard’ she said. Despite the fact that I suggested we come here, she said it wasn’t anything to worry about and that we should just go on to dinner.
“I let her have her way, thinking that if something was really wrong, she wouldn’t stop me from Apparating us both here, immediately. So, we went on to the restaurant as planned and we hadn’t been sitting there talking for more than ten minutes when all of a sudden s-she…she started screaming in pain. I didn’t know what was wrong…it just kind of came out of nowhere. I asked her if she was okay and she tried to push it off again and tell me everything was fine, but another pain hit her even harder. She knew something was wrong then and I grabbed her quickly and headed straight here.”
Harry was still pacing in front of the seven of them, determined not to look at their faces but to get to his point quickly. The hall was so silent that you could swear that you’d be able to hear a pin drop a mile away.
“When we got here the nurses couldn’t tell me anything. I don’t know if they didn’t know what was the matter or if they just didn’t want to tell me themselves. That’s when they got the Healers and sent us straight up here. I followed behind the nurse, Flooing up and when I reached the room, Ginny was already on the bed. Her screams-” he stopped. His eyes were welling up with tears at the mere thought of it. His voice was shaking as he continued and he hid his face in his hands.
“…Dear God, her screams were wrenching my heart out. It was unbearable. It was killing me just knowing that she was in more pain than I could ever imagine. I just wanted to bear it for her.”
Mrs. Weasley let out a sob and buried her head in Mr. Weasley’s chest. Harry watched as he wrapped his arms around her and tried to calm her down.
Harry had to hurry so that he could go back in to see her. He’d rather have stayed in there and withstood her screams than to let her be alone. He wouldn’t do that to her.
“That’s when they said I should contact all of you while they examined her. They didn’t tell me anything until you arrived…when I headed back in.”
“What did the Healers tell you?” Charlie spoke slowly.
“They said that there was a…a complication,” Harry swallowed, mustering the courage to continue. “It turns out that Ginny…was bleeding…badly. That’s part of the reason she was in so much pain.
“The Healers said that it’s,” he frowned recalling the exact terminology, “…erm, detached placenta.”
Apparently both Mrs. Weasley and Hermione knew what this meant, but everyone else had no clue as to what Harry was talking about.
“How bad is it, Harry?” Hermione breathed.
“They said it’s…fully detached.”
“OH GOD!! My baby! My baby!! She needs me,” Mrs. Weasley tried to stand up but Mr. Weasley held on to her tightly.
“Honey, it won’t do you or her any good if you go in there acting like this,” said Mr. Weasley.
“That’s why I’m out here right now…Mum. When they told me, I must have gone into a trance or something.”
Ron was doing nothing but looking back and forth at everyone, still confused as could be.
“Would somebody tell me what the bloody hell he’s talking about?”
Hermione looked into Ron’s face and ran one hand soothingly through his hair.
“It means…” she spoke carefully, “that the babies aren’t getting the oxygen and nutrients that they need to survive. Most babies live through it, but when they are fully detached…they could die.”
“But, I don’t understand…why aren’t they doing something about it now?”
“They are,” Harry said. “Or…at least they’re trying. From what they could tell, it doesn’t look good. They said there’s a chance that they’ll be okay, especially since we got here so soon, but they won’t know until they deliver the babies.”
A shrill scream came tearing through the wall, startling everyone. Harry’s eyes widened in terror and he felt as if his entire body had frozen on the spot.
“Mr. Potter,” came the younger nurse’s panting breath from behind the door, “she asking for you.”
He swallowed hard and looked back with fearful eyes at the people that he’d always considered as his family before sprinting back into room number 7.
“Gin…” Harry breathed as he swept her up into his arms. “I’m here, love. I’m here.”
She was crying desperately into his chest. “Harry,” she sobbed, “something’s wrong with the babies. They’re not moving,” she looked up into his eyes. “I can’t feel them move.”
“No worries, love, yeah? The Healers are going to deliver the babies any moment.”
“B-but…it’s too soon…”
“They need to go on and deliver them. If they do it now, they’ll be just fine,” he nodded.
Ginny looked down at the Healers who were whispering to one another and then she looked back to him.
“Harry…tell me what’s wrong.”
His eyes saddened at having to tell her the news but, he would rather it come from him than from anyone else.
“Gin…the placenta…it’s detached…fully. You’ve been bleeding quite a bit. That’s why the Healers have to deliver the twins early, to make sure that they are out of harm.”
“Will they be still born?” she asked, questioning both Harry and the Healers.
“I do not believe that they will be,” spoke Healer Williams, “but if we don’t move quickly, the chances of that occurring increases by the minute.”
Suddenly, her whole body started trembling and Harry shut his eyes tight as he embraced her with all that he had in him.
“Harry…Harry, something’s…happening…AAHHH!!!!” she screamed and buried her head in his chest again, wanting to muffle her voice.
“What’s going on?” he asked the Healers as they rushed over.
He looked back to Ginny, “It’s all right, love…no wor- Ginny?” Harry pulled her away from him, “Gin?”
She was no longer moving but instead lying limp in his arms as he continued to hold her.
“Somebody…HELP ME!” he yelled as Healer Johnson rushed over to Ginny, checking her pulse.
He let out a deep sigh of relief, “She’s okay. She’s probably just passed out from the pain and bleeding. She’s best if she’s out during the delivery anyway so that she won’t worry herself over the babies. Right now, her body needs to concentrate on healing itself.”
“Mr. Potter?” came Healer Thomas’s voice. “You do understand that in order for us to deliver the babies, we will have to do a small incision?”
Harry regrettably knew that they had no other option at this point and nodded his understanding.
He watched the Healers make the incision across Ginny’s stomach, just beneath her navel.
Harry clung to her even more and leaned down to kiss her head. He paused for a moment taking in the scent of her hair, not wanting to look at what the Healers were doing to her.
He took in one last deep breath, letting her fragrance fill him and willed himself to look down at the Healers.
To Harry’s surprise, Healer Johnson had just delivered one of the babies and gave him a smack on his tiny bum. No sound. Harry knew this wasn’t good. He watched them as they carefully laid the baby in a towel that one of the nurses was holding, pulled out some kind of instrument and opened the baby’s mouth to clear his breathing passage. The Healer took the baby one last time giving him another smack and a loud cry finally broke out from the child.
Harry released a breath that he didn’t realize he’d been holding and happily cried into Ginny’s fiery red hair.
One more to go, he thought. Please, let this one be okay too.
When Harry looked back down the bed, the Healers already had the second infant out but were wisely clearing the air passage before giving the baby a swift little smack and sure enough, within 10 seconds, the second child, his little girl, was crying and he thought that he’d never felt such relief in his life, knowing that their two children were alive.
“So, they’re all right then?” Harry asked, walking over towards the small beds where the nurses were laying the babies.
Healer Williams was the first to speak, while the other two Healers saw to Ginny. “Their lungs are probably a little more underdeveloped than they would be if they had been delivered later, but most twins are born relatively early, so this is something that we expected. We’ll keep them here for a few days and monitor them until we’re sure that they’re healthy enough to go home.”
“Erm, excuse me,” one of the Healers said. “I hate to break this up but, Healer Williams we have slight problem here.”
“What is it?” asked the Healer.
“It appears that Mrs. Potter was bleeding more than we thought. She’s lost a good amount of blood.”
“What?” Fear suddenly appeared across Harry’s countenance again. “What do you mean she’s bleeding more? How could you not know that earlier? You could have healed her already and now …now what? What are you telling me?”
“Mr. Potter…you’ve got to calm down, okay?” said a nurse, taking note to Harry’s growing anxiety. His chest was rising and falling with each heavy breath and he was on the verge of crying but he had to be strong for her, even if she wasn’t awake. He had to be strong for his family.
His family, the words sunk in as if he hadn’t let them before.
Regaining his composure, Harry took in another deep breath and asked again.
“If…if she’s bled more than you’d thought, what can be done and what’s going to happen to her?”
“What we’ll do,” Healer Thomas said, “is stop the bleeding as much as possible. Hopefully we’ll be able to stop it fully. We’ll heal up her incision and we’ll probably need to do a blood transfusion. From the looks of it, she’s lost a great amount.”
“She can have mine,” the words came rushing desperately from his lips. “You can take some of my blood and give it to her”
“Mr. Potter, we’re not even sure if you have the same blood type.”
“We do,” Harry insisted. “We already knew that.”
“We’ll check, just to make sure...but if you’re certain,” said Healer Thomas, “then we’ll use some of your blood for the transfusion.”
“What the hell is taking so long, damnit?!” said Ron as he paced the floor outside room number 7.
“Ronald Weasley! You watch your mouth!” Mrs. Weasley snapped and burst into tears again.
“I’m- I’m sorry, Mum. I didn’t mean to upset you- I’m just….oh, bloody hell,” he said, collapsing into the chair next to Hermione and laying his face in the crook of her neck as she wrapped her arms around him. She reached one hand up to gently stroke his hair, helping to calm him down.
“I’m sure we’ll find out something any minute now,” Hermione said reassuringly. “They’ve probably delivered the babies and are just finishing things up.”
“Well, someone could’ve had the decency enough to come and tell us what’s going on.”
Just then, Harry emerged from the room looking pale and drained of energy.
“It’s about bloody time that you came out to tell us something,” Ron jumped up and moved towards him.
Harry looked up blearily at Ron’s face, finding it hard to focus on anything.
“Huh?”
“Harry, dear? What’s the matter?” Mrs. Weasley said, drying the tears from moments before.
He couldn’t bear to look into Molly’s eyes. Instead, he sought solace from Ron.
His best mate seemed to pick up on what he was looking for. Ron knew that he’d look for the same thing from Harry if anything ever happened to Hermione.
“What is it, mate?” he placed a hand on Harry’s shoulder.
“There’s…erm, good news and not so good news,” Harry started to say as the door opened behind him. “Here’s the good news.”
Both nurses walked out of the room pushing two tiny beds that held the most precious children that Harry had ever seen.
Every single mouth had dropped open in shock, which quickly turned into smiles and “awws” as everyone crowded around. Mrs. Weasley burst into tears again; however, this time they were tears of happiness.
“We haven’t named them yet, just so you know…and they’ll probably have to stay here for a few more days until the Healers are sure that they are doing well enough to go home. But other than that, they seem to be doing better than expected,” Harry said as he played with his son’s toes.
“Aren’t they the most beautiful things you’ve ever seen?” Mrs. Weasley choked out.
“We’d better get along with them. You’ll all be able to come see them in the nursery a little later,” the older nurse said.
“Will you be joining your wife again Mr. Potter?”
Harry nodded, “Yes. Yes, I will.”
Hermione watched the nurses as they pushed the tiny beds down the hall.
“Harry,” she said softly, “ you said that there was some ‘not so good news’?”
He nodded in answer and everyone quickly brought their attention back to him. Anyone could deduce that the news either had to be regarding the babies or Ginny. But from the sound of things, the two Potter children were just fine, which only left their mother.
“The Healers have said that Ginny…erm, that is…with the complication, she’s lost a lot of blood; more than they originally thought she had.”
Harry saw Mr. Weasley wrap his arms around his wife, bracing them both for whatever news he would bring.
“Go on, mate,” Ron murmured. Harry took a deep breath and swallowed hard.
“They were able to stop the bleeding but since she’d lost so much, they said that a blood transfusion would have to be done.”
Every Weasley immediately began rolling up their sleeves saying that they would give their blood to help her, but Harry raised his hand to silence them.
“I’ve already given enough…at least for now. They may need more later, I’m not sure…it just depends on how she’s doing. All that’s left now is for her to heal on her own.”
No one had expected this turn of events. After all, it was very rare that the mother was ever in danger when it came to this.
With a click, the door behind them opened again and everyone turned their attention to the three men that stepped out of the room.
“Mr. Potter…” said Healer Williams. “She’s stabilized now.”
Harry nodded his thanks to Mr. Johnson and Mr. Thomas as they began to walk away from the group.
Turning back to Mr. Williams, Harry asked, “Will she be all right?”
“Right now, it’s just a matter of time. She’s still unconscious and we don’t know how long that she’ll be out. It could be a matter of hours, or days even, before she wakes. But we’ll monitor her and notify you to any change in her condition-”
“No,” Harry interrupted him. “I’m going to stay with her. I won’t be leaving this room.”
Healer Williams began to suggest that he go home and get some rest but gave up trying to convince Harry to do anything else other than what he’d already set his mind to.
“Alright then,” he sighed. “I’ll be back in to check on her at least once a day and the nurses will be in every few hours to give her a potion.
“You can all go in now, if you want,” he looked towards the large group behind Harry. “She’s not awake, of course, but it will be good if she hears familiar voices.” The Healer looked back at Harry finally and said, “Mr. Potter, if you need anything just tell one of the nurses and they’ll get me straightaway.”
“Thank you, Mr. Williams…for all your help,” Harry said, shaking hands with him just before he turned to leave.
“Harry…” Mr. Weasley said softly. He hadn’t said much of anything since they arrived at the hospital. “We know that she must’ve been in terrible pain. We could hear her scream a few times…but, how bad did she get?”
Harry could tell that his father-in-law really didn’t want to hear about how bad his only daughter had suffered, but he would rather know than not to. He decided not to divulge everything.
“It was bad, Mr. Weasley, but it only lasted a little while.”
“Well, you all can stand around as long as you want, but I’m going to see my daughter!” said Mrs. Weasley as she burst through the doors with everyone else quickly behind her.
Three days had now passed and there had been no sign of Ginny waking up any time soon.
Even though the Healers said that she should pull through this just fine, Harry couldn’t help but worry about her.
He’d stayed in her room the entire time she’d been there. Despite the pleadings of the nurses and Mr. and Mrs. Weasley to go home and get some rest, he refused to do so, insisting that he would stay there as long as he needed to until he, himself, was sure that she was going to be all right.
It was just after noon on the fourth day, now.
Harry was sitting in a chair that he’d pulled near her bed, reading a book to her. She always loved hearing his voice. It was so soothing to hear him speak and she’d always joked that he’d be the one to read their children bed time stories because his voice sounded much better than hers.
The thought of that moment put a smile on his face as he continued reading.
"...I love you without knowing how, or when, or from where. I love you straightforwardly, without complexities or pride; so I love you because I know no other way than this…” Harry paused as his eyes became glassy and drew a deep breath to help calm his nerves.
With emotion thickly coating his voice, he spoke again. “Where I does not exist, nor you…so close that your hand… on my chest is my hand, so close that your eyes close as I fall asleep."
Harry sat quietly for a moment before marking his page and closing the book that he’d been reading from. After carefully sitting it on the table next to her bed, he slowly removed his glasses and placed them on his lap.
Rubbing the unshed tears from his eyes, he warily brought his hands down over his cheeks, then to his chin, feeling the stubble of not having shaved in three days.
He briefly thought about how un-kept he must look and decided to go tidy himself up a bit. He didn’t want her to see him like this when she woke up…no matter when that would be.
After grabbing a quick shower and taking care of the pesky stubble, Harry stepped out of the loo that was in Ginny’s private room and walked slowly back to his chair.
He unconsciously ran a hand through his tousled hair and sat down, all the while the words he’d read to her earlier were ringing in his ears.
I love you…because I know no other way than this, Harry thought as he took in the sight of her lying there.
“So close that your hand,” he whispered, picking up her left hand and letting it rest over his heart, “on my chest… is my hand. So close that your eyes close,” he said closing his, “as I fall asleep.”
“Gin…” Harry said with a ragged breath. He pulled her hand away from his chest and kissed it dearly.
“Please…please don’t go. Please don’t leave me,” nothing held back the tears this time.
“I’ll make a better life for us, I promise. I know that I didn’t tell you enough just how much I love you. I do though…I love you…and our children more than my own life.
“Please don’t leave me alone, Gin. I cannot bare this life without you,” he said, holding more closely to her. “Hold on, love…just…hold on.”
He brought her hand and his head to rest on the edge of her bed when, moments later, he heard a click and the door opened to reveal the older nurse that had helped them when they arrived three nights ago.
Harry straightened himself up in his chair after realizing who it was and hastily wiped away the tears.
“How are you doing, Mr. Potter?” she said with a soft voice.
“Fine,” he choked out.
She walked over and patted him on the shoulder.
“You look better. Finally decided to get up from that chair for a few minutes, I see,” she smiled sweetly. “I’m just getting ready to end my shift but I thought you might like a little pick-me-up.”
Harry blinked as if trying to clear away the haziness from the lack of sleep he’d had.
“I’m sorry?” he said confused.
“Well, Nurse Lewis…that’s the young lady that assisted me…she and I knew that you were having a rough time of things with Mrs. Potter …and knew that you very seldom left this room, so…we thought, that is…if you don’t mind…we thought we’d bring you a little something.”
The old nurse smiled down at him and then turned back to the door. She pulled her wand from her right front pocket and with a flick of her wrist, opened the door.
In came the young woman, Nurse Lewis as it was, pushing two small rolling beds into the room.
Harry stood and walked over to the beds and with a sharp intake of breath, he saw his two beautiful children. Since he first laid his eyes on them, he believed that they were the most precious things that he’d ever seen.
Harry’s emotions overcame him again and he suddenly found it difficult to hold back his tears. Blinking rapidly, he attempted to dry his eyes.
“Thank you…both of you, really,” he smiled weakly.
“The ladies in the nursery told us that you only had a few opportunities to go down to see them…so, we thought you’d like this…” the older nurse trailed off.
“Yes…I do. How can I thank you both? This is exactly what I needed to brighten my day.”
“Well…I wouldn’t thank us too quickly. It’s about time for their feeding…so, now’s as good a time as any for you to practice. I also thought it would be a nice little surprise for the Mrs., you know, to see that you’re already skilled at it,” the older nurse said knowingly.
“If you need some rest…or if you need any help…just call up to the nurses’ desk.”
She patted his shoulder one last time and then turned to leave.
“Thank You…” Harry muttered.
Just as she opened the door, the older nurse turned back to Harry with a question.
“If you don’t mind me asking…sir…what do you plan on naming the children?”
Harry drew a long breath and then stopped before answering her question. He and Ginny had discussed name options but had never really decided on anything yet. After all, they assumed they’d have another two months before having to decide.
“Actually…er…I’m not sure. I mean, we…we never really-” he began but was stopped by the nurse.
“It’s all right, Mr. Potter. I think the both of you will be able to decide soon enough,” and with one last kind smile, the two nurses left.
“Oh…my little one,” Harry whispered to his daughter, who was lying in his arms wrapped in a pink blanket.
As he cradled her, he looked down at her small feet. 10 toes, Harry thought. His eyes trailed up her tiny body and he stuck his finger out, letting her grab on to it. 10 fingers.
“You certainly are the spitting image of your mother,” he spoke softly. “Oh yes…I’ve seen some of her baby pictures. Not to mention…you’ve got that fiery red hair too. Of course…you’re grandmother…my mother…she had red hair too.”
From next to the bed, Harry heard a coo and stood up to see his son, who was wrapped in a blue blanket, of course.
“And you, young man. I’d say that you look just like your grandfather and me. Quite the attractive little tyke you are,” he chuckled. Observing them a moment longer, he sighed, “You two are going to give your mother and I so much trouble aren’t you?”
“Please don’t give them any ideas, love…” came a tired but sweet voice.
Harry turned slowly to see Ginny pushing herself up in the bed. She’d finally woken up. After all this time, all his worrying, she was out of danger…she was still with him.
He stood there for another moment with a dumbfounded look on his face until he heard her voice again.
“Well…don’t just stand there. Say something,” she smiled.
“Shite,” he whispered.
Chuckling lightly at his response, “Well…that’s not exactly what I was expecting…but I’ll take it.” She laughed again and flinched slightly as her soreness made its presence known.
Harry turned and gently laid their daughter in her bed. The moment she was content, he turned and took two giant strides over to where Ginny was lying. He only paused for a brief moment before swooping down to kiss her with a fierce determination, taking her breath away.
When Harry finally pulled away, Ginny was lying back on her pillows again from the sheer intensity of his kiss.
She opened her eyes lazily as she remained reclined on her pillows and looked toward Harry, who was just standing there, intently gazing at her…taking in every square inch of her and stroking her fiery red mane absentmindedly.
“Wow…” she said with heaviness in her voice. “You’d think that you missed me.”
“That’s not funny, Gin,” Harry finally spoke to her.
Ginny’s expression grew serious as she examined him. “I’m sorry, Harry. You know me, I just have to-” but Harry stopped her.
“Gin…you scared the shite out of me…out of all of us. We thought we were going to lose you and the babies.”
“I know, Harry,” tears filled her eyes as thoughts of not being with him flooded her mind. “I’m so sorry that I put you through this.”
“Put me through this?” Harry said slowly. “What are you talking about?”
“If we had just come here after the pain that I had at home, we could’ve possibly avoided all of this.”
“Gin…whether we’d gotten here then or not, this still would’ve happened. You didn’t do anything wrong. The Healers said that sometimes it just happens. There’s no explained reason, it just does,” he said as he cupped her face with both hands. “This was not your fault.”
Ginny broke into a small sob, “What would I have done without you?”
Harry leaned down and rested his forehead against hers.
“Let’s never find that out, okay?” he whispered and she nodded her head a bit, as she closed her eyes and took in his scent. It had only been three days, but God she missed him.
Just behind them, they heard a few small coos that made both of them stop and look in the direction that it was coming from.
“Merlin,” Harry whispered, “these two should have been the first things that you’d seen instead of me blubbering on like a git.”
As he walked over to the small beds, Ginny spoke. “I saw what I’ve been waiting for. Harry…” she said stopping him before he picked up their son. “I always want you to be the first and last thing that I see everyday,” she said with sincerity.
“You can count on it,” Harry breathed. He turned back to pick up the baby and then looked towards his wife, “But you may change your mind when you see these little faces.”
A bright smile lit up Ginny’s face and she bit her lip out of nervous habit. She made a sweet whimpering sound and like a child, she stretched out her arms, begging with her hands to hold him.
Harry walked over to her with a huge grin on his face. Three days ago, he wasn’t sure that he’d ever be this happy again in his life. Now, it was as if nothing bad had ever happened. He had his wife, his two beautiful children and they were all healthy, happy, and alive.
He gently laid the fragile boy in her arms and after she had him securely cradled, he went back to bring their daughter over as well.
As Harry made his way back to Ginny, she slid over in the bed, making room for him to sit next to her.
“Aren’t they the most beautiful things that you’ve ever seen?” he said as he sat down.
She cheerfully sniffled, “Beautiful doesn’t quite do them justice.”
“You’re right, it doesn’t.
“Quite frankly, I think she looks just like you…and he’s the spitting image of his dear ol’ dad,” Harry voiced.
Ginny took a good look at her two newborns, tilting her head slightly. Apparently arriving at a conclusion, she looked over to Harry, who had been staring at her as she held the silent battle within her head.
“Maybe one a little more so than the other, but…I think they’re the perfect combination of the two of us,” she winked. “See, now he’s got your hair and chin, but he’s got my nose. And as for this one, she looks just about like me except for the eyes. Those are yours.”
Harry quickly examined his children and then looked back at her, “You know…I think you’re right again.”
She smiled cheekily at him and before the words could roll off of her tongue, he captured her mouth in another kiss, letting a small moan escape from the back of her throat.
“You’ve got to stop doing that,” Ginny said as his lips left hers.
“You don’t mean that,” he joked.
With a resigning sigh, she smiled, “No…I don’t.” She reached out her hand and traced his jaw line with one small finger. “Don’t ever stop doing that,” she whispered.
“You can bet that I won’t,” he vowed with deep admiration in his eyes.
“You know?” Harry cleared his throat. “We never decided on what we were going name them.”
“Hmm…” Ginny pondered, bringing her thoughts back to the children. “Well, what do you think?”
His eyes shot open wide with shock, surprised that she’d really ask him without making a suggestion first.
Shite, this better be good, Harry thought.
“Well…” he spoke hesitantly. “We know Roonil is out.”
“Very funny, Harry…now be serious.”
Harry thought for a moment longer and finally answered carefully.
“Okay…they don’t have to be named this…but…erm…it’s all I can come up with. How about Sirius James and Lily Molly?”
“Hmmm…” Ginny cringed a little. “Sirius James, I like…but, maybe not so much Lily Molly. Since she does seem to favor your Mum, we’ll keep Lily…but how about Ann for her middle name?”
“Sirius James and Lily Ann Potter…” Harry thought aloud. “I like it. Yeah…I really do,” he said as he leaned over and kissed Ginny on the cheek.
“Sirius James and Lily Ann, it is…”
A/N: So….off you go…please REVIEW. I’d really like loads of feedback. Here’s to hoping we hit 100 reviews with the posting of this chapter.
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P.S. One more chapter to go.