encounters
Ginny used her day off to meet Hermione. She was heavily pregnant and therefore already on maternity leave. While Harry and Ron were working, they used the time to meet again before the birth of Hermione and Ron's child.
That day was Ron's last working day as an Auror. He had made this decision weeks ago and had shared it with Harry early on. Ever since he and Hermione had planned to have a child, he had thought about it more often; being an Auror was a partly dangerous job and unlike his best friend, he didn't feel one hundred percent comfortable with his job.
Ginny and Hermione were sitting in the living room of the small house that the latter and her husband occupied. It wasn't as big as Harry and Ginny's house, but it offered enough space for a family of three.
"Ron and I have decided to take the baby out via surgery," Hermione then announced.
"Via surgery in the sense of cutting open your tummy and all?" enquired Ginny.
Hermione nodded. "Yes, it's called a caesarean section and it's also done in the wizarding world."
"Don't get me wrong, Hermione, I'm certainly not judging you for the decision. I've been through childbirth before and honestly, some days I think about having this baby taken out of me this time too," the redhead replied. "What made you decide to do it?"
"You know that I cannot not plan everything." She laughed. "Besides, I'm still pretty much scheduled in my work and need a strict plan also on how to proceed after the birth. The magical C-section method is also much safer than the Muggle method and you're not even left with a scar."
Ginny laughed. "That sounds heavenly. And maybe that's also better, because then you can pick a day when I don't have a game, so I won't miss my goddaughter's birth."
"Have you decided if you want to have baby number two naturally again?"
"Yes, I have and I will have them naturally again. I know it hurts like shit, but that's Future Ginny's problem."
Hermione seemed to think for a moment. She set her cup of tea down on the coffee table and leaned back. She stroked her stomach with one hand and then looked back at her friend. "Have you ever felt bad for working even though you have a child?"
Instead of answering, Ginny looked at her sympathetically. "Are you afraid of people's comments if they notice you are going to work full time and Ron staying home with the baby?"
Ginny also put her cup of tea down on the small table in front of the sofa. "Hermione, I'll tell you this as a working mother with a husband who also works. It's bloody hard. Not just the comments you get. Merlin, I've had countless witches and wizards criticise me for still playing Quidditch and, that's not just during pregnancy, but after." She sighed. "It's also hard to plan everything and go through with it the way you planned. Harry and I were able to split it up fairly well, but that also meant that we didn't have an incredible amount of time for each other. But when you work together as a team, it works."
"And that's what Harry and you do." Hermione smiled. "Did it get easier over time?"
"Yes, it did. James got bigger and we felt better about leaving him with my parents from time to time too. Also, Harry and I made sure to take our time so that our marriage didn't suffer," Ginny said. "Because I admit, I love playing Quidditch so much and also doing it as my profession. But I would always choose my family."
~
It wasn't long before Ron and Harry returned. Harry had a sleeping James in his arms and Ron had a box in his hands containing all his personal belongings that he had in his office. Among them were pictures of him and Hermione at their wedding, one of James and also one of himself with Ginny and Harry at their wedding and some more. But other bits and pieces had also accumulated in his office over the years, which he now brought home.
"You look like you've been fired," Ginny commented as the two men stepped through the fireplace into the living room as she slowly but steadily got up from the sofa.
"And you look like you could use some help from a crane to get up," her brother countered.
Ginny glared at him. "Watch your mouth, Ronnekins. Even though I'm pregnant, I can still chase your ass around the house. I thought you should have learned that from my first pregnancy."
"No one's chasing anyone's ass around the house here," Harry cut in with a smirk. He walked over to his wife and pressed a kiss to her lips. "Ready to go home?"
"James is pretty ready for it, I think," Ginny said, kissing her son on the forehead.
"Is he always this tired when he gets home?", Hermione then wanted to know.
Harry shrugged his shoulders. "It happens. If he's anything like he is at home in kindergarten, I'm honestly not surprised."
"Oh Ginny, guess who we just bumped into in Diagon Alley," Ron then said.
His sister turned to him. "Who?"
"Your ex."
Harry shook his head with a smile. "Dean and Seamus were there and we ran into them."
"Oh, I saw them the other day too and talked to them briefly when I was taking James to nursery," Ginny replied and then smiled. "Did you know that they're going to adopt a baby? They will be at Hogwarts with our babies in the same year then too."
"First and foremost, since I didn't even know they were together until today, this information is very new to me," Ron replied, sitting down on the sofa next to his wife.
"Dean and Seamus?" the latter asked. "I haven't been in contact with them for a long time, but I think it's nice that they've found each other."
Ron pondered. "It's kind of funny, considering you used to date him, Ginny. After that, you both realised that you didn't just like men and women respectively."
"It's called being bisexual, Ron," Ginny countered, rolling her eyes. "And besides, I knew it before, I just acted it out briefly after my relationship with Dean, but then I had Harry."
"Okay, too many details," Ron said, covering his ears.
Harry grinned at his wife. "Come on, let's go." And then he whispered in her ear, "If we're lucky Jamie will sleep a little longer and we'll have some time to ourselves."
She grinned back. "Sounds good."