The Five Year Mark

The five-year mark

My Princess ; My Wife

For My Dear Wife,
On This Usual Day;
I Write You This Poem,
In My Own Special Way.

I Wanted To Tell You,
In Words Of My Own;
You're The Most Precious Person,
That I've Ever Known.

You're The Prettiest Girl,
Than Any I've Seen;
Your Body Is Flawless,
So Slender And Lean.

Your Eyes Have That Sparkle,
That I Can't Live Without;
One Day Without Them,
And I'd Die-There's No Doubt.

And I Just Lose Control,
When I Glance At Your Hair;
Those Curls Are Just Stunning,
So Perfect And Rare.

You're The Most Caring Person,
That I've Ever Met;
There's No One Like You,
And That-I Can Bet.

What Attracts Me The Most,
Is Your Sweet And Kind Touch;
You're A Gift Sent From Heaven,
And I Love You So Much.

So Hold Me As Close,
As You Possibly Can;
'Cause Now And Forever,
I Am Your Man.

- Jason D. Megary -

*****

"Just one more push Mrs. Weasley, that's a good girl."

Hermione was gasping for breath, she was in pain and just wanted it to stop. Beside her was her husband, trying not to show too much that his wife was beginning to cut off the blood circulation to his hand. They had gotten married two years after that fateful New Year's Cruise when they had declared that they would not and could not love anyone else. Their marriage had been going on smoothly and they were just going to have their first child.

Hermione gave one final push and immediately her gasping was drowned out by a baby's first cry, just starting to use its lungs.

"Congratulations Mr. and Mrs. Weasley, its a boy."

While the nurses took him off to clean him and wrap him in a soft blanket, Hermione got her first good look at the room she was in. She took in the white walls with the soft pattern of mixtures of flowers, the light pink curtains that hung on either side of the window, and the perfect view of the park that she had from that window. She noticed the pictures of fruit, and the ones of mothers and their children. She took in the surprising softness of the bedclothes and mattress and the fluffiness of the pillow she had finally gotten to lean back on for more then two seconds. She relaxed at the thought that she was no longer in severe pain, and laughed at the fact that her husband was slightly rubbing his right hand that she had finally let go of.

As she closed her eyes and let out a sigh of content, she felt her husband stop massaging his hand and start to massage her aching shoulders. He always knew exactly how to comfort her while she had been pregnant. He rarely got upset with her and knew how to make everything all right when she just wanted to collapse and cry until there were no more tears left in the universe. A couple of times she had done just that, and because he understood that she just needed to let it all out and cry until she could cry no more, he was the best thing that had ever happened to her, and his shoulder fit perfectly around her face. He was understanding, generous, comforting, and an extremely good listener at all the right times and she couldn't ask for anything more.

She supposed that all of his brothers and male relatives had given him advice about what to expect and what not to expect. That they had warned him what to say and what not to say, what he should do and what he should never do unless he wanted to be beheaded by a frying pan-to-the-head. That was one of the things that you could always count on the Weasleys for: good advice, with a hint of amusement and sarcasm. During her pregnancy she had often sought sanctuary in the Weasley women when her husband was working at his Quidditch Supply Shop. They were also very understanding, and even though a couple of them had never been pregnant, they all knew one of the perfect ways to cheer her up. Chocolate frozen custard from one of the local Muggle fast food chains always did the trick when her husband was not there to rock her into contentment. It was so thick and creamy, and perfect in every way. It soothed her from the inside out. She was almost certain that her new baby boy would be addicted to chocolate, she had eaten so much of it.

As the nurse came back in, she held a soft bundle in her arms. Hermione realized that he would have little to no trouble fitting in at her husband's side of the family's parties.

"I suppose he won't feel left out at your side's family gatherings then," Hermione commented aloud as her first newborn baby boy was placed in her arms after being wrapped in a blue blanket. "That place is completely over run with boys," she finished with a sigh.

"Well, what can I say? Us Weasley men have strong genes in us, we does. I'm just keeping up the tradition that the first five or so kids of the newest couple will be boys," replied Ron smiling down at his precious child. Although she was completely right that he wouldn't feel left out, there were still about three girls that always ran around giggling about cute boys and fixing their hair, while the about fifteen boys played and watched Quidditch in the makeshift pitch in the backyard.

The boys were usually accompanied by the older Weasley men who were also playing and watching Quidditch in the back yard when their kids and nephews were taking a break to gain back some energy.

"Yes, well, I really wanted a girl, but right now I'm just so glad that he's here and he's healthy that I really couldn't care less," she said, her gaze never lifting from her new beautiful baby boy. She only lifted her eyes when a sudden thought struck her. " What are we going to name him? Are we going to name him after one of our fathers, or give him a new name completely his own?"

Ron thought for a moment and then said," How about Gabriel? I think I heard somewhere that it means 'one of the archangels' or something like that."

"Hhmmm. Gabriel sounds perfect for him. Gabriel Rupert Weasley." She looked down again and smiled at the now sleeping baby in her arms. "Hello, Gabe. I'm your mommy. And see that man, over there, grinning like a mad man? He's your new daddy." She looked back at Ron. "I can't wait for him to meet your family. With that red hair of his that I can see already starting to come through, and those cute little freckles on his adorable little nose, he'll fit right in."

"That he will, my darling 'Mione," Ron said bending over and kissing the top of her head gently. "That he will. Now lay back and get some rest, I can only imagine how exhausted you must be."

Hermione just nodded and handed their new baby boy to her husband. She promptly fell asleep as soon as her head hit the soft hospital pillow.

~~~*****~~~

The next day Hermione's small hospital room was almost full to bursting with people. Everyone from Ron's side of the family was crowded into one part of the room, while Hermione's parents were in a corner, carefully avoiding doing anything that might cause one of the Weasleys to get mad at them. They really were very nice, but they thought it best not to get on their bad side.

Ron was sitting on the bed next to Hermione who was holding Gabe while they were answering any questions anyone had. Harry and Ginny, who had started seriously dating after the cruise, were standing hand-in-hand on one side of the bed looking down at Ginny's newest nephew.

"You can tell he's a true Weasley already," noted Harry as he was looking over the new baby.

"Yes, he already has the Weasley trademark: red hair and freckles," Ginny supported her boyfriend while smiling from ear-to-ear. If I didn't know better, Hermione thought to herself, I'd think that she and Harry were keeping something from us.

"Looks wise, I'm just glad that he doesn't have my nose. Mine is barmy, Hermione's is much better," he said as he tapped his wife's nose playfully. Ron had gotten very good at complimenting his wife over the past nine months. "Can you imagine him with my nose?" Ron put in after taking a good, long look at his son. Harry, Ginny, and Hermione all chuckled at this.

"I like your nose, but your right he would look a bit off with it. But, he does have your eyes with all of their liquid-like blueness," Hermione countered admiringly.

"You both have good and not-so-good features to you," Harry commented.

"Yes. Ron has great eyes but doesn't like his nose, while Hermione has a beautiful nose but thinks her eyes could have been better," Ginny diminished everyone's thoughts with one good and one not-so-good note on both parties.

Fred, Angelina, George, and Katie walked up to the other side of the bed. Angelina and Katie immediately started hugging Hermione and cooing at the baby. Fred and George slapped Ron on the back and started kidding him about how he would now have a harder time getting pissed drunk without getting in trouble. Before they left Fred leaned down and said quietly in Ron's ear,

"Don't let this baby ruin your sex life! Remember, there are two of you!" With one final slap on the back and a sly wink he went off to rejoin his wife.

Just then Molly hushed everyone in the room.

" Everyone," the entire room went quite and looked in the direction of the voice. "Everyone listen. Hermione, Ron, why don't you tell us a little something about the baby?" She got down off the chair she had been standing on as everyone in the room directed their attention to the proud new parents.

"Well, er, um, as you all should know, when two people love each other very much," he was cut off by a swift elbow in the ribs from his wife.

"Not that little something you moron, she meant his name and stuff like that."

"I know what she meant. I just wanted to see what you would do if I said that."

A voice from one of the kids in the room spoke up, "You didn't have to," said the voice. "We already knew that you had sex, and that he was a boy. Tell us his name, weight, height, time of birth, and all that other cute baby stuff." Everyone was turning and staring at Bill's eleven-year-old daughter, Camy.

"Yeah," her twelve-year-old cousin, Charlie's son Michael, supported her. "Spare us the kinky details and get on with explaining information about the baby. Not where he was conceived, or how many tries it took, we just want his name and height and all that." Now everyone was staring at the two of them who had looks on their faces that said, " What? Everything we said was true!"

"Well," Hermione started, "now that we have some guidelines to follow," all the adults in the room chuckled at that, "his name is Gabriel Rupert Weasley, he weighs eight pounds and three ounces, and is thirteen and one-half inches tall. He was born at nine forty-seven P.M. on January the twenty-fifth. Ron here gave his name to him and it means 'one of the archangels.'"

"Also, as far as we can tell, he doesn't have the Weasley trademark outspokenness or dirty mind yet. We'll have to fix that later." When Ron put in his little comment, everyone in the room chuckled, even the Grangers, who were starting to get into the swing of things when it came to the Weasley family.

Fred and George, better known as Gred and Forge, were always the ones to make everyone in the room laugh. This time Fred came up with the hilarity question. "Where was he conceived?" he called out over the soft murmur of the small crowd in the room.

The whole Weasley side turned to face the new parents to see how they would answer, considering that they had been told not to reveal that little bit of information. Ron leaned over and whispered in his wife's ear, "Let me get this one, I know how to get him right where my entire family will groan in disgust... I hope. At least, that's what I'm aiming for."

At his wife's nod he straightened up and said, "You know the place very well. It was where you first found us five years ago," he stopped to create suspense-filled pause. Only Harry and Ginny had even the slightest idea of where he was talking about and everybody else urged him on with a, "Get on with it!" in unison. He looked at Fred and Angelina and upon seeing the confused looks on their faces he started to finish his sentence, "Oh come now. Surely you remember?" Harry and Ginny, who had just caught on as to where he was referring to, were trying and failing to stifle their sudden bout of giggles. The entire population of the room was now crowded around the small hospital bed in suspense as they waited for him to finish.

Ron then recalled a family party last July when they had all gone to Fred and Angelina's house for the Muggle-American holiday of independence to swim, have a barbeque, and light some wheezes into the air. It was also when Hermione and Ron had announced that they were going to have a baby.

"In fact, you have all been there. Not at the time, but a little after. It was on the West edge of Fred's pool, right by the main ladder."

There was silence for a few moments as everyone recalled the party last July. Gradually the whole room groaned in disgust with their faces stuck on a grimace of disgusted clarity.

For a few more moments everyone was silent until Ron, Hermione, Harry, and Ginny couldn't take it anymore. They all burst out laughing and Ginny clung to Harry to help her stand as he clutched the bedside table for the same reason.

Gradually the rest of the people caught on that that wasn't really where it happened and soon the laughter grew so loud that the nurses in control of that floor of the hospital thought that there was an ongoing party in one of the rooms but ignored it because there was virtually no one else on that floor.

When the laughter subsided, all of the bloodline Weasleys' faces were a bright crimson from laughing so hard, but none so much as Ron, Ginny's out of laughter, and Fred's out of embarrassment and laughter.

"I see your wife finally learned how to take a Weasley joke," commented George as he saw that Hermione was still smiling.

"Yes, George. I have also learned how to tell you two apart, a skill most of the rest of the Weasleys don't even have," as everyone nodded and murmured in agreement. "In fact, if I recall correctly," it was Hermione's turn to pause and create suspense, "I seem to remember, when you were still in Hogwarts, your mum having to stitch your initials into your boxers in order to tell you two apart, and that you two would switch boxers in order to get her confused." At this the room went into another round of laughter. When that too had subsided Fred asked,

"And just how do you know about that Young Lady?"

"You seem to have temporally forgotten who I married three years ago," Hermione said patting Ron's shoulder while Ron smirked, "I can have him snoop anywhere I can't at The Burrow. That, and I bribed him into telling me something about every single one of his brothers encase I needed it for something."

George, and Fred too, had both gone into a very unflattering shade of maroon as George said, "Oh. OK then. Carry on."

Hermione was just a little surprised when Bill called out, "What did you bribe him with?"

Ron laughed and put on a very convincing imitation of Percy as he said in a monotone and businesslike voice, "That information is classified until such time as the people it concerns sees fit to release it."

Once again the room was consumed in a small bout of giggles as everyone old enough to be there recalled when Percy had said pretty much the same thing the summer before Ron, Hermione, and Harry's fourth year when he refused to tell his younger siblings that the Triwizard Tournament was going to happen at Hogwarts that year.

Suddenly, Hermione felt something move in her arms.

Gabe had awoken from his peaceful slumber during the previous round of laughter and was now staring innocently around at the large clump of fiery red hair and the smaller blots of brown, yellow, silver, and the one spot of blue that was on Bill's other son, sixteen-year-old Kenny's head. He whimpered and Hermione hugged him close to her heart so the smooth, steady rhythm could soothe him. Ron noticed this and gently asked if he could hold him for a while as she had been holding him since she woke up. She nodded and handed Gabe over to him. He was still whimpering as she handed Gabe to him but immediately stopped as soon as he was completely in Ron's strong-but-gentle-when-he-wanted-them-to-be arms.

The entire room had been watching as the baby was transferred from Hermione's arms to Ron's, and was amazed that he stopped whimpering as soon as he was in Ron's arms.

"He really seem to be content in your arms there, Ron," Charlie called out through the stunned silence. They had all been expecting the baby to start to bawl any minute.

"Yeah. He has barely made a sound all morning. That will come in handy when you're trying to sleep," Percy supported him as he remembered when his own son and daughter, Godric and Rowena, twins, had kept Penny and him up until four in the morning trying to get them to go back to sleep.

During all this, Hermione had seen Ginny start to squirm in anticipation as if she was sitting on a huge secret but didn't want to tell anybody. She leaned over and quietly asked her,

"Gin, is there something you want to tell us? You've been squirming all day and you look like you're keeping something from us."

"Well, there is something. But if I tell you what it is first, will you tell me if you think that it will draw too much attention away from you and Ron?"

"Of course, Ginny. What is it?"

Ginny leaned in closer and told Hermione her news. When she finished, Hermione was nearly jumping in delight. "Really? Oh Ginny, that's wonderful! Of course you can announce it. If you want I can get the crowd's attention for you."

Ginny nodded and whispered in Harry's ear as Hermione called out,

" Everyone. Everyone. Ginny has something she wants to tell us."

Everyone's eyes turned to face Ginny and Harry as Ginny continued to squirm in delight.

"Well, as you all know, Harry and I have been dating for quite a while now." The crowd started to murmur excitedly. "Last night, right before we received word that Gabe had been born, Harry asked me to marry him and I accepted."

There was a short span of stunned silence after she had finished telling her news until, once again, the room exploded. This time with cheers, yells, whoops, and applause from the more normal people, and a couple of catcalls and dog barks from Gred and Forge.

Over the applause Ron yelled, "And about bloody time too!"

"Ron watch your language. Gabe's not even a day old and already you're influencing him to speak like you!" Hermione warned him while poking him in the side.

"Well, if you're going to push books and studies on him, like I know you will try to, then I get to push language and Quidditch on him. It's only fair." He put on his puppy-dog pout.

Hermione surrendered, "Oh fine."

Gabe had awoken once again but fell back to sleep when Ron started to rub his tiny back with his thumb.

"As I said before," Ron started to repeat when the applauding stopped. "It's about bloody time you two finally got married. So when's the date?"

"Where are you two going for your honeymoon?" added Bill.

"And, is mum going to explode with joy right next to you?" Charlie put in.

Everyone turned to look at Mrs. Weasley for the second time today and she did indeed look like she was going to explode she was so swelled up with pride and joy for her youngest child and only daughter. Harry was like an adoptive son to her and now he was going to be her son-in-law in reality.

While everyone ad been watching Mrs. Weasley, Fred and George had started a count down,

"Ten...nine...eight...seven...six...(pause to respect the tradition of countdowns)...three...two...one...bbhshsbbbhsbhbhbsbhbbs!!"

Ginny waited for her brothers to finish.

"We don't know anything yet, we just found out last night. And mum better not explode or else she won't make it to the wedding," She replied to her older brothers' questions.

Somewhere in the background music started to play softly. The supremely annoying choir once again appeared on a stage set off to the side that nobody had noticed until now.

"Oh bloody Hell. Not them again!!" on groaned in disgust.

"Ron, language," Hermione warned him again.

"Ah, ah, ah, my darling 'Mione," Ron said with a wag of his finger. "We have a deal, remember? Books and studies for language and Quidditch."

"Humph" Hermione pouted.

I'm really not liking the way he can remember Quidditch stats and silly bets and deals better than my birthday and other things like that that are really important. Just like he can't remember to actually read Hogwarts: A History instead of just asking me something that is stated perfectly clear on page 73, chapter seven, but he can remember when Honeyduke's and Zonko's get in their new shipments. Actually, that is quite nice because then he can get me all the things I really like before everything gets all picked over. Oh! I just can't win with him! He's so damn cute! And when I try to win an argument, he puts on his cute little puppy dog pout and my knees go weak and all I can think to do is snog what's left of his brain out! Oh why did he have to be so damn sexy?!?!

During their quiet argument the choir had started to sing...

Because we're

Going to the chapel

And we're gonna get married

Going to the chapel

And we're gonna get married

Gee I really love you

And we're gonna get married

Going to the chapel of love

It looked like everything was going perfect for the Weasleys. Now they just had to survive all the family holidays and get-togethers to make it to the wedding.