I Know...

I Know...

Hermione and Ron's home was always comforting to Ginny. The warm reds and oranges of the walls and furniture were cozy, and although Hermione made sure the house was spotless, it was still obvious that children lived there. Ginny made her way to the large house whenever she was having a bad day, and this was definitely a bad day.

After bickering with Hermione about who was going to make tea, Ginny found herself on the couch, fighting off the urge to curl up and take a nap. She yawned as Hermione walked into the room carrying two large, steaming mugs.

Hermione sat down next to Ginny, handed her her tea, and said sympathetically, "What's troubling you?"

Ginny slouched forward and sighed, "What isn't troubling me?"

"That bad?"

"Just listen. The wedding planner owls me and says that she's going to France for the weekend to pick something up, which I think is a complete lie because she obviously can't handle the stress the week before the 'Big Potter Wedding,' so I'm left here, by myself, to handle all the last minute arrangements. Then I hear from Charlie who says that his mother-in-law is ill, so only he and his eldest daughter are coming, so I had to completely rearrange the seating for the dinner. On top of all that, my landwizard is trying to charge me an extra two months rent when I made it clear that I am moving out on the first of July! And I know this seems selfish, but Charlie's wife, Liza, was supposed to take me dancing the evening before the wedding and..." Ginny took a deep breath and slowed down the pace at which she was speaking. "...And I really wanted to go."

"Well, first of all," Hermione comforted, "I'll go dancing with you. Second, it's all right to be stressed and upset. Just remember, this is your wedding day we're talking about. It's going to be wonderful no matter what."

"Well, thank you, Hermione," Ginny took a sip of her tea, "but you just don't understand. All this stress is really getting to me. Not just mentally, but physically, too."

"How so?"

"Well, for starters, my temper is worse than usual, if that's even possible. Not to mention I'm exhausted, I'm nauseous, and to be completely honest," she lowered her voice and leaned closer to Hermione, "I've missed my monthly, and that hasn't happened since I was sixteen and there was a war going on."

Hermione thought for a moment. This didn't seem right to her. How could her friend be so suddenly affected by stress she'd had several months? As if a light bulb flashed in her head, she had an idea of what might be going on.

"Well, Ginny," Hermione said slowly, "you were young and skinny and sick back then. This sort of thing doesn't happen to fit, adult women very often. You don't think that perhaps your," she paused, "symptoms could not be associated with the wedding plans?"

Ginny was confused. She furrowed her brow. "I don't think so. What do you mean?"

"Have you considered that perhaps you might be..."

"What?"

Hermione looked meaningfully at Ginny, who was taking a sip of tea, and said "pregnant."

Ginny coughed and sputtered her beverage. "Excuse me!?" she exclaimed.

"Oh, come on, think about it! You've been worrying about your wedding since April, and it's only made you stressed, not sick or tired. Plus, I know that you and Harry aren't the most responsible people in the world." Hermione smiled.

Ginny smiled, too. "Well, I can't say your wrong about that last part, but do you really think? I mean me...and Harry. I just didn't imagine it would happen so soon"

"I know how you feel," Hermione said, standing up, "and I'm sure I have a book that will tell us how to know for sure. Let's check my library and we'll figure something out."

Ginny stood up with Hermione and followed her to the last room in the hall. This was Ginny's favorite room. It had a high ceiling and rows and rows of all the books Hermione had collected in her lifetime. Although it was nowhere near the size of the Hogwarts library, it did seem that any bit of information a person wanted to know could be found inside.

"Wait here," Hermione said and disappeared behind one of the shelves. She appeared a moment later with a book titled A Drop of Blood: Potions Used for Figuring Out Any Medical Problem.

"Blood?" Ginny made a face of utter disgust as she scanned the cover.

"Well, you can use any bodily fluid for most of them, but a few require blood." Hermione said, flipping through the book. She stopped at a page towards the end and handed it to Ginny. "Here," she said. "Just brew up the potion and it will tell you what you need to know."

Ginny memorized the page number and put the volume under her arm. "Well, I don't mean to leave so quickly, but I'm pretty eager to find out if you're right."

"Of course. Owl me when you know for sure, okay?" Hermione said, leading Ginny to the front door.

Ginny nodded, stepped across the threshold, and Apparated away.

*****

Dear Hermione,

I can't believe it! You were right! I'm going to have a baby! Oh, this is so exciting. I was going to tell Harry right away, but I decided to wait and surprise him, maybe at the reception, or on our honeymoon. I've figured out I'm about five or six weeks along, so we can keep it a secret a while longer. I hope my brothers aren't too horrible to Harry when they find out.

Also, if I remember correctly, you promised to go dancing with me, so I've made arrangements for us to go to one of the nightclubs in Fine Alley this Friday. I'll stop by around 8:00 and we can Apparate from your house. Don't worry about Ruby and Ron Jr. My mum plans to take care of them that night and bring them to get ready for the wedding in the morning.

Send my love to all,

Ginny

Ron glared at the letter in his hand. He knew he shouldn't be going through his wife's mail, but this was different. This was about his little sister and the man he thought was his best friend.

He stalked into the kitchen to see Hermione absentmindedly stirring a cauldron.

"What's this all about?" Ron asked, sternly.

Hermione spun around to see her husband holding up Ginny's letter.

"Why were you going through my things?!" She yelled. "You have absolutely no right to see that!"

"Well..." Ron was at a loss for words, "well...err....what's done is done! Now tell me what this is all about!"

"You can obviously read. No need for me to tell you what you already know," she said indignantly.

"So, it's true! I will have to kill Harry."

Hermione rolled her eyes at Ron, who was beet-red with anger. "There's no reason for you to kill Harry," she said.

"Yes there is! Look at what he did to my baby sister! He--"

"He made her very, very happy," Hermione cut in. "Did you even read the letter? She's excited, Ron, and she hasn't even told him yet. They're getting married in five days and he has no idea, and you had better not tell him, or kill him, for that matter."

"Fine!" Ron barked. He turned and walked out muttering to himself.

Hermione turned back to her cauldron and shook her head. He still acts like a child, she thought. Why can't he just stay out of my things? I mean, we've been married for six years. Doesn't he trust me? How can...oh...mmm...

Hermione felt a pair of familiar arms circle her, and a large nose embed itself in her hair.

"I'm sorry, darling," Ron said. "You're right, I'll mind my own business." He kissed her head and whispered, "I love you."

Hermione grabbed her wand, muttered a quick incantation to freeze her potion making, and turned to face Ron. She smiled up at him and said, "How can I not forgive that?"

He raised his eyebrows and leaned down to kiss her.

*****

Ginny scanned the living room of what would soon be her home. There were boxes stacked high against the walls and the only furniture in the room was the sofa. Moving was never easy for her. Even when she went to Hogwarts she would procrastinate packing and unpacking until the last possible moments, but right now she had no choice but to pick up the box labeled "Harry's Clothes (not robes)" and carry it up to the bedroom.

She climbed the stairs and paused for a moment at the doorway to an empty room. This would be the nursery soon. She'd paint it a pale blue, with perhaps a mural of a Quiddich game that would move slowly to be calm but still entertaining.

She continued down the hall and dropped the crate by the door. There was a large mattress on the floor. She'd only slept on it once. Actually, she hadn't got much sleep that night. She smiled, thinking about it. Not just that part, but also the idea of waking up next to the man she loved every morning without having to worry.

She lay down on the bed and before she could stop herself, she fell asleep, dreaming of the perfect life she was looking forward to.

"Ginny? Are you here?" A voice called, waking her.

Ginny sat up, rubbed her eyes and replied, "Yes, Harry. I'm up here."

Harry dashed up the stairs and into the bedroom. "What are you up to?" he asked.

"Oh," Ginny sighed, "I was just doing a little unpacking."

Harry cocked his head to the side. "Your hair's all messed up. Did you fall asleep?"

Ginny blushed. "Er...yes," she said.

"You look a little off. Are you all right?" Harry crouched down on the mattress with her.

A huge smile broke out across Ginny's face. "I'm fine. In fact, now that you're here, I'm great."

"Well, I'm glad. You look so happy. It's like you're glowing."

Ginny cleared her throat and looked away. "Well I'm sure that's an overstatement." She turned back to see Harry looking at her strangely. "What?"

"Are you sure you're all right?" Harry tucked a fallen hair behind Ginny's ear.

She just smiled and kissed him softly. All of his concerns disappeared.

*****

"Thanks again, for coming with me," Ginny said as she and Hermione stood on the edge of the dance floor of the nightclub.

"Oh, it's absolutely no problem!" Hermione replied enthusiastically. "As you know, Ron took Harry out drinking in Hogsmead, so it's only appropriate for me to take you out for some fun."

"So, shall we?" Ginny gestured towards the group of witches and wizards dancing wildly.

"Of course," Hermione said. "But before we do I want to remind you a couple of things. First, remember to relax. You're not a wife or a mother yet, so let go and have fun. Second, if someone starts dancing with you, don't look at them. The impersonality of it makes it much more interesting."

"Well, I'll definitely have to try that. Let's go!" The two women proceeded onto the dance floor.

*****

"Heeey, Rosie!" Ron laughed as Madame Rosmerta stood tapping her foot impatiently. "I'll have two more Ogden's. Whaddeeyoo want, Harry?"

"Water's fine," Harry cleared his throat and slipped the bar maid an extra galleon to apologize for his friends drunkenness.

A moment later she returned with two shots and a glass. Ron took one of his shots and drawled, "Ya know, Harry, I'm going to have to kill you. I told Hermione I wouldn't kill you, but I will. Oooo, yeah, I will!"

"Ron, we've already discussed this," Harry rolled his eyes.

"Nope!" Ron never made any sense when he had had too much to drink, so Harry didn't think he had much to worry about. "Nooooo, Harry, you don't know! I'm going to have to kill you!"

"Ron," Harry gestured to the six empty shot glasses on Ron's side of the table and the single one beside himself. "You've had way too much to drink. You are going to have hell's hangover tomorrow."

"I'll kill you!"

"I promise to take good care of your sister. I'd never do anything to hurt her."

"Haaaaarryyyy! I'm not talking about what you're going to do after tomorrow. I'm talking about what you did with my sister, several weeks ago!" Ron laughed and hiccoughed.

"What are you talking about?"

"You *hic* knocked my *hic* sister up!"

"I did not."

"Yes, *hic* you did. *hic* That's why I have to *hic* kill you!"

"Who told you that, Weasley?"

"Ginny wrote a letter to Hermione *hic* and I read it!" Ron chuckled.

"Wait," Harry said, confused, "you're telling me that I got Ginny pregnant and she told Hermione, but she didn't tell me?"

"Yep, Harry, *hic* I have to kill you now! *hic*"

Suddenly everything made sense--Ginny's constant fatigue and the whole seafood fiasco at the rehearsal dinner. Harry could sense something between Ginny and Hermione, as if they knew what was coming. When Ginny had leapt up to run to the ladies room, Hermione didn't look remotely surprised. Then of course, Harry had told Ginny she was glowing. Pregnant women glow. She had abruptly changed the subject, as if she didn't want him to suspect anything. Why doesn't she want me to know? Harry thought.

"Why hasn't she told me?" he asked quietly.

"She wants to *hic* surprise you, but *hic* SURPRISE!" Ron laughed like an imbecile.

"I have to go." Harry stood up abruptly. "I have to go talk to her."

"Noooo, Harry! *hic* She wants to surprise you! *hic*"

"Well, I won't be very surprised, Ron. I'm going to Fine Alley. Stay here. I'll be back to get you in an hour or so."

With a CRACK Harry was gone.

*****

"This whole don't-look-at-who-you're-dancing-with thing is great!" Ginny called over the blaring sound of the hit Weird Sisters song.

"I know!" Hermione called back, "It makes it so much more fun!"

Ginny nodded, noticing how high Hermione's voice sounded. "It's so weird in here! You don't even sound like yourself!"

"It's just the music and all the other people talking over me," Hermione laughed. "I'm going to go get a drink! You want one?"

"No, thanks!" Ginny spun around and resumed her dancing. She looked up at the ceiling. The effects wizard was shooting off sparks in different colors in all directions. It was beautiful to look at. Just as Ginny's mind began to wander to the canopy of stars that would be covering her wedding reception, someone came up behind her and took her hand. It wasn't Hermione. It was a man's hand. She didn't let go, but she turned her back to him obeying the "no peeking rule."

He respected her space and danced a few inches away, but she could still feel the heat of his body.

"Hey!" she called.

"Hey," the man said back.

His voice was so familiar. Ginny knew she knew this man, but because she was in a club, the music was so loud that his voice sounded high and abnormal. She couldn't place it.

"So, where are you from?" She asked.

"Well," the man said, "I move around a lot for work, but I'm finally settling down in Hogsmeade."

"Really?" Ginny smiled, "Me, too."

"What a coincidence," he said, putting his hands on her hips.

"Hey, hey!" She held up her left hand, "I'm getting married tomorrow."

He reached up and pulled her hand down saying, "Ginny, I paid good money for that ring. Don't go waving it around like that."

Wait, she thought, that's not right. He couldn't have said, "Ginny, I paid." He must've said, "Somebody paid." Yes, that makes much more sense. I just heard him wrong. He definitely said, "Somebody paid."

"Will you please leave me alone," she requested, taking a step forward. The man followed her movement.

"No, love, I won't. You wanted to surprise me, but," he wrapped his arms around her abdomen, "I know."

He had gone way too far and he wasn't making any sense. Ginny grabbed both of the man's hands and spun around saying, "What do you know?"

At that moment she came face to face with the most amazingly handsome man in the world. His bright green eyes seemed huge behind his round glasses and his raven hair was a mess. His bride-to-be was speechless.

"I know," he paused leaning closer to her, "that you have made me the happiest man on earth."

The End