The Consequences of Alcohol and Depression

The Consequences of Alcohol and Depression

Chapter 19: Meet the Family

In just over an hour, Hermione was back in her room in the hospital, the starchy sheets covering her. Percy was sitting nearby, and they were both gazing down lovingly at their daughter. Their daughter! Hermione was still completely awed by the fact that she and Percy had created life, and were now responsible for her entire being. While a scary thought, it was absolutely amazing. She hadn't been able to quite believe it before, even when she'd gained all the weight and had her belly poking out, but this was just real.

"Alright," Amelia said as she walked into the room for probably the twentieth time in just as many minutes. "I think, if you're up to it, you can have some guests now. " She left the room once again, but Hermione knew she'd be back very soon.

"You want me to go get somebody?" Percy asked.

"Go get your Mum and Dad," Hermione replied, "They'll want to meet their granddaughter." Percy took one last tearful look at his daughter, kissing the top of Hermione's head before he left the room. She knew, in just the way he looked at Nicole, that he would be a wonderful father, and would do everything he could to take care of her. Hermione couldn't have asked for a better man to help her raise her child.

He returned a few moments later with Molly and Arthur. Molly immediately headed to the bed, and Hermione handed Nicole to her.

"Oh, my," she breathed reverently. Arthur stood behind her, looking at the small child over his wife's shoulder. "What is her name?"

"Nicole," Hermione replied softly.

"She’s beautiful," Arthur said to Percy and Hermione, who were both beaming proudly. Molly had tears in her eyes as she watched her sleeping granddaughter. After several moments, Arthur spoke again.

"Alright, kids, we're going to let someone else have a turn now. You both probably want to get some sleep, and you've got a lot of people to see before you get to do that." Molly gently handed Nicole back to Hermione, and the young girl's slumber wasn't disturbed.

Next came Bill, Fleur, and Charlie. "This is Nicole, huh?" Charlie asked as he gently cradled his niece and goddaughter.

"Yes," Percy replied.

"She is so gorgeous!" Fleur gushed.

"She is," Bill added. Charlie then handed Nicole over to his older brother, moving to Hermione and hugging her tightly.

"Congratulations, you guys," he said, moving over and hugging Percy as well.

Bill cocked his head to the side. "Hey, she kinda looks like you, Perce."

"Oh, God, I hope not," he replied, shaking his head. The group laughed, and before long, Bill, Fleur, and Charlie left, to be replaced by Fred and George, who came in bearing a rather large box of sweets and several floating balloons in colors of pink and yellow.

Noticing the way Hermione and Percy were eyeing the candies, George shook his head. "No, we didn't do anything to them. We just got them in the gift shop, right Fred?"

"Yeah, we've decided to wait a few days before we start giving you the Ton-Tongue Toffees again," Fred agreed with a smile.

"Alright, now, be careful, and support her head," Percy said worriedly as he handed Nicole over to George.

"Don't worry," George said, "I've got her."

Fred looked completely surprised by her, as if he'd never seen something quite the same. "She's so little!" he said, gently touching her tiny fingers. "I mean, I know babies area all supposed to be small, but this is just so amazing."

Suddenly, Hermione remembered something. "Say, Fred, where's Angelina?"

"Oh, she got called in to an unavoidable emergency at work. She said she'd be back as soon as she could be. Really wants to meet this one, she does."

"And her name is Nicole?" George asked softly. Hermione and Percy nodded. "Well, little one," he said to Nicole, "When you get a bit bigger, you're Uncle Fred and I are going to teach you all about practical jokes."

"You most certainly will not!" Percy said indignantly.

"Oh, I'm only kidding!" George said as Hermione took Nicole back. They left after a moment more, and Harry and Ginny made their way inside, each of them holding a huge bouquet of flowers.

As they set them down on overlarge windowsill, Harry asked, "How are you feeling, Hermione?"

"Well, I've just had my body literally ripped open, but I'm really doing rather good. Those doctors and pain relief specialists here are certainly doing their jobs."

Percy grinned. "Yes, they did a wonder on my hand, as well." Hermione looked up.

"What do you mean?"

"When you were squeezing my hand, you kind of pulled one of my fingers out of the socket," Percy explained. Hermione blushed, but she was smiling mischievously. A little something to tell him how she had been feeling...

"Sorry 'bout that," she said, looking over to Ginny. "Do you want to hold Nicole?"

"Can I?" she asked excitedly. Hermione nodded, arranging Nicole in Ginny's arms very carefully. "What color are her eyes?"

"Brown, just like Mione's," Percy said, bestowing a warm smile to Hermione. She returned it, taking his hand (not the one she'd held during labor, just in case), feeling very loved. After a moment, Ginny handed Nicole to Harry, who watched her happily.

"She is absolutely adorable," he said, admiring her red curls. Suddenly, the door was opened very quickly, Ron and Draco stepping in.

"Hermione!" Ron said, rushing to her side, "Oh my gosh, I am so sorry we're late!" Draco had stopped the moment he noticed the bundle in Harry's arms, staring at it in awe. "Wait, where's the baby?" Ron quickly spun around to find his best friend cradling his niece.

"Would you mind if I held her, Hermione?" Draco asked softly.

Hermione shook her head. "No, but be very careful with her." Harry gently handed Nicole over to Draco, and Hermione noticed something very strange. At the angle the light was hitting the blonde man's hand, a gold... something was glinting. When a suspicion took place in Hermione's mind, she looked more closely, trying to decipher if it was what she thought.

"She's so beautiful," Ron said as he watched Draco hold the baby. Hermione then noticed the same flash coming from Ron's hand.

"Freeze!" she ordered. Draco's head snapped up.

"What, am I doing something wrong?" he asked nervously, "Am I not supporting her head enough?"

"Come here," Hermione said, waving him over. Draco very slowly walked over. "Percy, take Nicole for a moment," she added. As soon as the baby was safely out of Draco's arms, she wrenched his left hand towards her, a gasp coming from her. "Did you…?" she asked in wonder.

"Yes," Ron said quietly, both men blushing furiously.

"What?" Ginny asked, hers, Harry's, and Percy's eyes all looking back and forth between Ron, Draco, and Hermione.

"You did?" Hermione asked excitedly. Draco nodded. "Oh, come here!" she said, pulling Draco into a hug, Ron coming over and receiving the next one. "I can't believe you guys did that!"

"Did what?" Harry demanded. Draco took Ron's hand as they turned to the other occupants of the room.

"Well, while we were in Greece, Ron and I talked about doing something we'd been discussing for a while, and we decided just to go through with it." Draco held up his hand, as did Ron.

"We got married," Ron said, smiling madly.

Harry, Ginny, and Percy all looked shocked. "You did?!" Percy questioned, his shocked expression soon turning to a smile.

"Without your best man?" Harry asked Ron, a fake hurt expression on his face.

"Oh, come on, Harry!" the redhead replied, "We just decided to get it over and done with. We're going to have another ceremony in a couple of months, with all of our family and friends."

"Well, fine," Harry said, pretending to be offended. Ron simply pulled him into a hug, to which Harry had to respond.

"That is so great!" Ginny gushed, "I'm really happy for you."

Ron smiled. "Thank you," he said, moving to his brother, "But can I hold my niece now?"

"Sure thing, little brother," Percy replied, carefully handing his daughter to Ron, who looked at her like she was the most wonderful thing he'd ever seen.

"Whoa," he said quietly. Hermione could see the tears already forming. "She's great." And with that, Nicole's chocolate eyes slowly opened, looking at Ron happily before sliding back off into sleep. He sniffled as he handed her back to her mother, looking very grateful at the arm Draco slid around his shoulders.

Harry cleared his throat. "Why don't we let these three get a bit of rest right now?" he suggested.

"Yeah," Ginny said, "We'll be back later, okay?" Hermione and Percy both nodded, watching as the four left the room. Percy gently took Nicole from Hermione and set her down in her cradle, softly kissing one tiny hand.

"Now, you get some sleep, okay Hermione?" Percy half- questioned, half- stated. Hermione simply nodded, letting out a rather large yawn as she settled herself back onto her bed. Percy brought the covers up to her shoulders, a huge grin on his face. "You did it, Mione," he breathed, placing a warm kiss on her forehead.

"No, Percy," she said, "We did it. I couldn't have made it through all this without you." Percy's smile widened, and he leaned down and hugged Hermione tightly.

When he pulled back, he kissed both of Hermione's cheeks. "Now get some sleep." Hermione nodded, watching as Percy did his best to arrange his long legs on the small couch in the corner. He looked absolutely silly, but Hermione could feel her heart hammer in her chest at the sight. "Goodnight, Hermione."

"Night, Percy," she replied, slowly drifting off into sound slumber.

******

A/N- aww! Such a sweet chapter! Do you all need barf bags from the fluff?

  And I know that the gay marriage legalities are going to raise some questions, so here is my take on that: in the Wizarding world, gay marriages are completely legal, in any country, as long as they do it in the magical world. So that is how they can get married! I hope you all enjoyed this chapter, as it was a doozy for me to write. Far too many characters to decipher the responses of at once! Still, I did have that Ron/Draco thing in mind for quite a while, and I had to put it in!

Only a couple chapters to go, and if you review, you probably won’t have to wait so long to read the ending...