Good or Bad News?

"It's okay, we can do this," Her voice was calm as she repeated the mantra to herself. Her eyes were focused on the identical pair staring through the mirror at her, and her mind was maintaining the steady beat of her breath. "It's okay," she said again, "we can do this." Her hand was resting softly on her abdomen, and the ghost of a smile could be seen on her lips.

Tonight, the Potters had to descend from their peaceful abode to the ruckus of the Weasley household for one of the bi-monthly family dinners. Not that this was unusual, or even unpleasant, but the newly-wed couple had just returned from their month away together and were already expecting to be the talk of the party – even without the shocking news the bride was about to reveal. With their family and closest friends gathered already, Harry thought it would be the best idea to rip the band-aid off fast and tell everyone at once, but he was not really the one who had the final say in the matter.

Hermione took a deep breath and put on her nicest dress. She had decided on the tight blue one, one – because Harry always said her butt looked great in it, and two – because in a couple months her butt won't be fitting in it. Standing before the mirror, Hermione straightened out the creases in the fabric for the thousandth time, and frown slightly. Lost in her thoughts, she didn't notice as Harry snuck up behind her and slowly slid his hands around her waist, his hands finding their way to her stomach and his fingers entwining with hers.
"You look stunning," he whispered with a smile, placing a small kiss on her shoulder. Hermione smiled, turning her head and resting her lips against his cheek.
"What do you think they'll say?" She asked softly, her mind still running through the worst possible outcomes of revealing the news.

The couple had planned to tell everyone they were expecting. What they were not planning to reveal was that she was just under three months pregnant. Harry had been trying to convince his wife that Molly could care less about the illegitimacy of their child, even bringing up the fact that Percy's own daughter – Molly the second – was born one month before the couple were even engaged. Hermione still insisted that that piece of information stay between the two of them until (or even if) she chose to reveal it.

They arrived one hour 'fashionably late' to the dinner and were greeted with the most beautiful welcome. Molly rushed to the door, flinging it open to embrace her children, and babbling about the various things they missed while they were away. Victoire was showing signs of magic, and baby Molly was apparently close to walking. The grandmother was already glowing with love and happiness, that suddenly Hermione's fears were almost washed away. That was until the next person walked out to greet them. Ron, their best friend, had a huge smile on his face. He welcomed them with open arms and claimed that he had feared he would fall into a depression without them. Hermione's smile was tainted with the fear that this news would hurt all of the progress they had made together – and would make her lose Ron forever.

After the war, almost everyone could see that pieces of each other were missing. Many tried to fill them with work, and labour (the castle itself was rebuilt in no time). Others found their missing piece in travel, or family. Most tried to look for it down the bottom of a bottle, or in the arms of a lover. Ron took Fred's death hard. Not nearly as hard as George, which he would use as an excuse when someone would show him too much worry.
"I'm fine," he would say, "George needs you more than I do." But you couldn't deny that he needed help. One person he refused to turn away, though, was Hermione. After the kiss they shared in the hallway during the battle, neither could deny the electrifying need between them. But after a while of trying to 'go steady' they both realised that they weren't going to work. Mutually, they called it off (much to the disappointment of Molly, who insisted that Hermione understand that she was still a daughter to her; 'No matter what'). A while later, when things had almost returned to a faux normal, Harry and Hermione had discovered that the other had exactly the piece they needed to fill the gnawing holes in their souls. They hid it for a time, but realised that this was not the way they wanted to live, and told everyone. Ron, to everyone's surprise, took it well. At least, he looked like he did initially. Later that evening he began to behave irrationally and angrily. He finished the night screaming at Hermione, saying that she abandoned him in his time of need. Hermione found out later that he was suffering from severe depression and PTSD, and he had been keeping it from everyone – even her.

Above everything else, Hermione prayed that this baby would not ruin the relationship that she and Ron had been able to re-form, and especially the one that Harry cherished so much between himself and his best friend.

"I'm so glad you guys are back!" Ron said, a huge smile on his face. Hermione chatted for a moment with him but was distracted by the glowing face of the eldest Weasley daughter (Molly II now taking her place as the youngest). Ginny spread her arms wide and Hermione rushed into them, thanking the gods for their comforting embrace. Even through everything, their relationship was able to remain practically changeless. Ginny had known from the very moment that her and Harry tried to move back into a relationship again, that something had changed. And she was even one of the loudest supporters of Harry and Hermione's relationship, blessing it even before Hermione could admit her feelings.

Hermione realised in that moment, with Ginny's arms around her neck and Ron's laughter flowing over her, that they were all family and family accepts one another's decisions no matter what. With a smile she gave Ginny an extra tight squeeze, let go of her fears and whispered:
"I'm pregnant."

A/N: Words – 1,060

Hogwarts Assignment: Divination – "Task #1: Baby – pregnancy, Fly – Ron's jealously, Sun – Molly's happiness…"