believing (until the end)

The healer ran to her, but Harry's gaze was no longer on Ginny's lap, but on her face. With one hand he embraced her cheek.

"Ginny. Gin, look at me," he said softly, trying not to let his panic prevail. "Gin, please!"

Ginny's eyes opened, but only for a split second, before they closed again and her whole body relaxed and her other hand, which was in his right hand, became limp.

"Mr. Potter," he needed a few moments to realize that another healer who had joined him was speaking to him. "Mr. Potter, please listen to me carefully. There's something wrong with your wife, which we can't say yet, but the most important thing is that she stay calm as well as she can. Your wife is in the best hands," he assured him. “Take your son. Someone's coming over to check on him." He handed him the baby, which screamed loudly again.

Everything was like time-lapse, but it was as if Harry was moving in slow motion. He received his screaming son while his gaze was fixed on Ginny, who had been put an oxygen mask over her mouth and nose by a healer, while two others opened up the sides of her bed, and two more healers gave her some potions through the IV in the back of her hand. When did so many healers come into the room?

Slowly her hand left his and she was pushed away. He didn't know where they took her and what they would do.

He stared at the door through which she was being pushed, before turning his gaze away from it and looking at his son.

"Shhh," Harry said, wrapping him tightly in his arms. "It's all right, Al. Mummy's coming back, I promise."

He hoped he would not break that promise to his son. He hoped he hadn't already lied to his 15-minute-old son.

~

Two hours passed without hearing a word from the healers about his wife's condition. He was exhausted, but he couldn't sleep.

In the two hours another healer had come and had looked at Albus, who, to Harry's relief, was perfectly healthy. He lay peacefully asleep on his chest, while Harry absentmindedly stroked his back with one hand. Ginny couldn't die now – she couldn't die. James and Albus weren't supposed to grow up half-orphans. They needed her as a mother. Harry needed her.

The last years since the battle they had been inseparable. He loved her and their children more than anything else in his life, and there was a chance that the long life he had imagined with Ginny might be torn away.

While stroking Albus' back, he tried to distract himself. He thought back to the moment when he and Ginny had been arguing about possible names. How happy they had been at the prospect of having another baby. None of them knew then that something like this could happen.

~

"We'll need a name for Baby Potter Number Two soon," Ginny said as she lay next to Harry, on her left side, in her bed, looking at her husband. His hand caressed her belly.

Harry nodded. “Yeah, we haven’t really thought about it yet, have we."

"We already have a girl's name," she said. “If it’s a girl, we'll call her Lily."

"The same name we would have given Jamie if he had been a girl?" he asked.

She smiled. “Yes, I mean Jamie is not a girl and didn’t get the name. Then why shouldn't we be able to choose it for baby number two? Besides, I love the name."

"And what kind of boy's name is floating around in your head?"

"Some name you can shorten," she said after a moment of reflection.

“I would like the name Alfie. In short, you could call him Al," Harry suggested.

Ginny nodded. “Alfie is cute, but can you imagine an adult with that name? We could name him Alfred, but I'm sorry, I don't want to give that name to my son."

"That's right," Harry told her. “Maybe we can name him after someone in your family."

She shook her head. "No, no, no! I don't give any of my brothers the favour of naming my son after one of them. Fred's already taken, and naming our child Arthur is confusing. The same applies when we name our son after one of my brothers."

"What were your grandfathers' names?"

“My dad’s father was named Septimus and my mom’s father was named Winfrid. I'm sorry, but these names are terrible. There's no cute short form. Think about saying, 'Come here, Sep' Or: 'What have you done now, Winnie?!'" Ginny shook her head. "No, definitely not!"

Harry laughed softly. “I think the abbreviation Al is really nice. We'd just have to think of another name for it."

"What about Albus to honor Dumbledore?" she then suggested. 

"I don't know," said Harry. "Don't you think we're putting too much of a burden on our potential son?"

“We can’t know that now. Besides, almost no one will call him Albus anyway, just like we actually only call James Jamie."

Harry smiled. “Okay, so Albus Potter or Al Potter. And a middle name?"

“This is what we argue about after I've given birth."

~

Another hour passed before the door opened again and Healer Wilson entered the room. Harry would have liked to get up, but his sleeping son prevented him from doing so.

"Is she alright?" he asked tensely instead.

“Your wife is a real fighter. She's alright," said the healer, while a light smile rolled over her lips.

Harry had never felt more thankful in his life. It felt like he could breathe properly for the first time after three hours.

"Your wife suffered heavy bleeding," continued the healer Wilson. “These were caused by a rupture in the uterus. The rupture in the uterus occurred during childbirth. With surgery, we were able to fix it, and your wife will make a full recovery."

"Thank you!"

Harry didn't care that the healer saw him like this. He didn't care about anything, because at that moment, all that mattered to him was his family and that everyone was doing well. 

And he let his tears flow.

~

"Harry," Ginny said in a soft voice as her eyes slowly opened.

"I'm here, love!"

They had taken Ginny back to her room half an hour ago, and since then her husband had not left her side.

She looked at him with tired eyes. "Where's Al?" she asked.

"Here," said Harry, turning around so that she could see the baby in his arms. He perceived her desire to hold him and he stood up to grant her wish. Carefully he placed Albus on her chest. "Is that position okay?"

Ginny nodded and wrapped her hands around the baby, making sure the tubes that went into the backs of her hands didn't get tangled.

She smiled at the baby. “The name Albus suits him. He looks like a wise old man."

This elicited a soft laugh from Harry.

"Do you remember what happened?" Harry asked cautiously as he watched Ginny look at her son as he slowly woke up.

Slowly she nodded. "What caused all this?" she asked in a faint voice.

So Harry told her what he had been told before. “To fix everything, they had to cut open your lower abdomen. Because everything had to go so fast, they used magic, which means the scar will remain," he concluded.

"Yay, another scar," Ginny replied smiling. But in reality, she didn't care. The most important thing was that she and Albus were fine.

Harry laughed softly. “You are slowly competing with me in terms of scars."

"Has Al been fed yet?" she asked, looking at him.

He shook his head. 'No, he hasn't demanded it yet,' he replied. “Do you want to breastfeed him, or rather give him the bottle? The healers have already provided formula in case Al fussed earlier, or you're unable to nurse him."

"I want to try to breastfeed him," Ginny said and made arrangements to sit up.

Harry jumped up from his chair. "Stop," he said straight away. “I’m doing this for you."

He adjusted the bed so that she lay a little more upright and helped her half-take off her hospital shirt. "Do you need anything else?" he asked.

She looked up at him with tired eyes and smiled. “No, Harry, everything is fine. Now sit down and breathe."

~

About three hours later, Harry left Ginny's room to go to the family, who were waiting in the waiting room. He had sent them a patronus half an hour ago with the message that the baby had arrived, but had not yet mentioned any complications. He wanted to do it himself, face to face.

"Harry!" cried Molly when she saw her son-in-law. She jumped up and pulled him right into a typical Molly Weasley hug. "Congratulations on the baby!"

"Thank you, Molly!" said Harry, smiling lightly.

Arthur, who had also stood up, surveyed him from head to toe. “Is everything all right? You look pretty stressed."

Harry sighed and ran a hand through his hair. Molly grabbed his arm and pulled him to the chair next to Ron, who held James on his lap. His eyes lit up when he saw his father. Harry automatically had to smile and he stretched out his arms to his son, who then climbed onto his lap.

Then Harry began to speak: “The baby is fine, they were born seven hours ago," he said, not revealing the gender yet.

"Why didn't you tell us sooner?" asked Molly.

"Mum, let Harry finish," Bill stepped in and nodded to Harry.

“The baby is perfectly healthy, but after the birth, Ginny had a rupture in her uterus which caused severe haemorrhage." He noticed how each Weasley's eyes widened. “She was in surgery for three hours. In those three hours I have not received any news from the healers. Fortunately, Ginny made it."

When he looked into Molly's eyes, he realized she was close to tears. "Merlin's beard!" she whispered as Arthur put a reassuring hand on her shoulder.

"How is she now?" asked George, narrowing his eyebrows. He had already lost a brother – he was could not lose his sister as well.

Harry shrugged his shoulders. "She is doing okay," he replied. “She woke up about three hours ago and was awake for half an hour. She just woke up and asked for you. She's under strong pain potions, but they have to be slowly reduced so she can breastfeed the baby." Instinctively, he pushed James closer to him and then stood up again. “Ginny wants James to be the first to meet his sibling. I'll come and get you later to see the baby."