The Good Life
Rating: G
Summary: Set post-DH. The gang – married with children.
Pairings: Ginny/Harry, Hermione/Ron
“So,” Ginny said.
“So,” Hermione parroted, then because she felt stupid doing so, added on, “How’s Harry?”
“Oh, brilliant,” Ginny said flatly, “He loves being Teddy’s godfather. He’s over at Andromeda’s every day, cooing and making baby noises and playing with the little baby and changing nappies…” she trailed off.
“Bitter?” Hermione asked sympathetically.
“Very.”
&&&&
“Harry,” Ginny said, and crouched down next to his arse to peer under the table, where most of his upper body was hidden as Ted suddenly squealed loudly. Harry chortled until Ted crawled forward and actually bit the finger he had used to poke the three year old with.
“Ow!” Harry yelped, “hey!”
“Harry,” Ginny said, a little bit more insistently. He hit his head on the top of the low table when he turned to attempt to get a better look at her, and she winced with him at the loud crack. Ted clapped his hands and giggled happily.
“Nngh,” Harry said, dazedly.
She patted his rump kindly, then asked her question before she could lose her nerve. “Why do you like Ted so much? Is it only because he was… you know…”
“Lupin’s son?” Harry’s voice was a little muffled, he had turned to face Teddy again, “Maybe that’s part of it, but I dunno. I’m probably having more fun than a guilt-ridden person really should.” Teddy let out a high pitched scream of happiness.
Ginny was silent for a moment before she spoke again. “Harry?” she whispered.
“Yes?”
“I think we need to move up the wedding.”
“What’s wrong with our current date?”
Ginny took a deep breath. “I’m pregnant.”
There was a thump and Teddy’s giggles died down in confusion.
“Harry?”
No answer.
Teddy started to wail.
&&&&
“A lifetime of facing dangers most people can’t imagine,” Hermione muttered to herself as she navigated through the halls of St. Mungo’s, “and he can’t handle some news. I can’t believe this.”
“Yeah,” Ron said, cheerily, “Poor sod.”
Hermione eyed him strangely. “You’re taking this news awfully well.”
“Well, I’ve got something to hold over Harry Potter’s head for the rest of my life, I’m bound to be a tad chipper.”
&&&&
“Malfoy, sit down, you’re making everyone dizzy.”
“So says the man who fainted at least three times before the birthing of his own first offspring,” Draco Malfoy snapped at Harry, who raised his hands in surrender.
“Why are we here again?” Ron whispered to Harry, watching Malfoy pace around the room impatiently.
“Well-”
“Other than the fact our wives kicked us out of our respective homes for being, I quote, ‘insensitive bastards who don’t understand the pain and suffering that a woman must experience to bring precious life into the world’?”
Harry paused. “He’s a good-” he cut himself off, glancing at Malfoy unsurely, “-reformed man?” he offered. Malfoy tripped over his own feet, and then swore colorfully at a passing nurse, who looked frightened.
Ron gave him a flat look.
“He’s our coworker?” Harry tried again.
Ron scoffed, “Terrible reason. Try harder, mate.”
“We like his wife?” Harry said, tentatively.
Ron nodded, approvingly. “Nice woman,” he commented, “She made us apple pie once, didn’t she? It was delicious. What was her name again?”
“Something that started with a ‘w’, I believe.”
“Are you sure? I thought it was more in the ‘s’ range…”
“Could be. Maria?”
“No. Samantha?”
“Can’t be, I’m pretty sure. Nadia, isn’t it?”
“Clara, you poor excuse for friends,” Malfoy hissed at them, “Clara.” He started pacing again, Ron and Harry shocked into silence.
“We’re his friends?” Ron asked Harry quietly.
“S’pose so,” he answered.
“Do you reckon we should start calling him by his first name?”
“S’pose so,” Harry said again, flabbergasted.
Ron fell silent solemnly. “What was it again?” he whispered.
“I’m fairly certain it’s in the ‘f’ range…”
&&&&
“You’ve become quite the cook,” Hermione said, admiringly.
“Oh, stop,” Ginny said, turning pink, “You’re just as good, if not better, even though you have a full career as a mediwitch.”
Hermione laughed out loud. “Oh please,” she giggled, “Don’t flatter me, I know it’s terrible.”
Ginny turned pinker, and quickly avoided responding by saying, “You haven’t any idea how frustrating it is to cook for four kids and Harry, all of whom seem to have bottomless pits as stomachs.”
“Four?” Hermione asked blankly, “I thought you only had three.” She quickly brought up her fingers and named them under her breath, “James, Albus Severus, Lily…”
Ginny coughed. “The fourth one’s not mine. Teddy, remember?”
“Ah yes,” Hermione said, understanding dawning on her, “That does make sense.”
Ginny grunted in response, and Hermione twiddled her thumbs.
“So,” Hermione said, searching furiously for something to say, “not bitter anymore?”
“Not since the sex got better,” Ginny said distractedly.
Hermione choked, and Ginny looked up from the stew in surprise.
“Oh,” she said, mostly to herself, “I said that out loud, didn’t I?”
&&&&
“I think it’s time to give the ‘birds and the bees’ talk to my children,” Hermione mused thoughtfully, nursing a cup of tea.
“Brilliant idea,” Harry said, “Can you do it for mine too?”
“No!” Hermione protested, “They’re your children! Do it yourself!”
“But Hermione,” Harry whined.
“No,” she said firmly, “Absolutely not. You and Ginny take care of your own children.”
“But if you’re going to do it for your own children anyway,” he wheedled.
“No,” she repeated flatly, “Why can’t you do it on your own?”
Harry frowned. “Well, I never got the ‘birds and the bees’ talk from the Dursleys, for one,” he mused, “And I never quite figured that one out for myself. How do the birds and the bees work? They’re completely different species, it makes no sense…”
Hermione sighed, and put her head in her hands.
Ron glanced between the two of them in confusion. “What? What’s going on?”
&&&&
“No!” James wailed, “I don’t want Teddy to go!”
“Come on, James, darling,” Ginny coaxed her oldest son, “You know that Teddy has to go to Hogwarts, to learn how to be a great wizard! And he’ll come back to visit, right?” She shot Teddy a meaningful look that had the young boy scrambling for something to say.
“Er, yeah!” Teddy said, patting James’ shoulder awkwardly, “I’ll be back, and we’ll have all sorts of fun again.”
“Really?” James’ eyes widened almost comically, watering, his lower lip sticking out in a pout.
“Really,” Teddy confirmed, and gave his younger friend a slightly skewed hug, “and just think, in just a few years, you’ll be coming with me to Hogwarts, and we’ll have even more fun!”
James sniffed, and wiped his nose messily on his sleeve, making Ginny wince. “Mmkay,” James said, and let go of Teddy reluctantly, taking hold of his Mommy’s hand.
“Bye!” Teddy called, waving, as he disappeared into the barrier with ‘Gran Andy’, and James promptly burst into tears.
“My, he’s taking this rather hard, isn’t he?” Hermione commented, and Harry turned wide, watery green eyes towards her, bottom lip sticking out almost exactly like his son’s.
“Really?” he asked, lower lip wobbling slightly, eyes welling up slightly.
Ron turned away, and his loud coughing sounded suspiciously like laughter.
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