InsaneJournal

NaNo FanFic Part 20
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Pairings this part: Ron/Hermione, Harry/Luna, mention/implication of George/OFC, Bill/Fleur, Percy/Penelope
Rating: PG-13


May 2007, Red Dragonfly house, Devon

Harry stood at the open casement of Red Dragonfly's attic bedroom, watching the insects for which the cottage was named hover around the vines just outside. He could hear the muffled commotion at the other end of the house, but up here he was removed somewhat from the chaos.

Even, or perhaps especially, in the Wizarding World, childbirth seemed to a be a time for women to band together against the menfolk; except for Ron, who wouldn't be moved (probably couldn't be moved at this point, with the grip Hermione had on him), the rest of the Weasley males and hangers-on had been banished.  George had organized a game of Chase-the-Snitch for the children out in the garden, but Harry did not have the heart to play.  He had not expected this moment to feel so melancholy.

A voice echoed up the stair.  "Harry?" 

Harry turned from the window to see Remus coming up into the room. 

"Ah, Ginny said she thought she saw you sneak up here."  Harry's surrogate godfather paused at the top step, one hand curled on he railing.  "Mind if I sit?" 

Harry gestured to the plethora of comfy seating options in the plush room, then turned back to the window.

"All right, Harry?" Remus asked once he had settled into an armchair in the corner by the other window. 

"I suppose.  It's just strange, is all."  Harry wished he could better articulate his unease. 

"She'll be fine, you know." 

"Mm. Yes, I know."  With all of the wonders of Wizarding medicine, Harry had not even considered that she might not be fine at the end of all this.  This was not even his first direct exposure to childbirth, although hiding in a Turkish midwife's spare room while on the run from Dark wizards was perhaps not the best way to experience the phenomenon. 

Remus just looked at him, relaxing into the cushions of the chair.  After a moment, the werewolf crossed one leg over the other and laced his fingers over his knee.  It was his 'I can sit here indefinitely waiting for your confession' look.  It worked better on Teddy than on Harry these days, but Harry still felt its power. It was comforting, in some ways, to be almost thirty yet still have a man who approached a father figure.  The silence was comfortable for a while.

"I didn't expect it to feel so much like I was losing them," Harry said at last, to the hinges of the window.  He ran his finger down the frame of the glass, making the casement swing farther open, and the dragonflies scattered. 

"Losing them?" Remus echoed.  "Like you lost them at their wedding?"  

Harry tilted his head toward Remus with a tiny grin.  "I know, it doesn't make sense.  It just aches, for a moment, you know?  This is a big change."  Harry caught a glimpse of Lenore running for all she was worth after her cousin Arthur, who had one fist clenched over his head, trailing hair ribbons.  Then they vanished around the corner of the storage shed.  "I'm very happy for them." 

"And when will you tend to your own happiness?" Remus asked gently.

This was not a new theme for Remus.  "I am happy.  Very happy.  And it can only get better.  Just a little longer, and I can transfer home."  Harry imagined a time when he had a house and a garden much like this one, with small children running happily through the gate.  He could see it beautifully clearly in his mind, could taste home on his tongue. 

Remus shook his head.  "You know I disagree, but you both made that decision."  He sighed and shifted in his chair.  "Is there anything I can say to persuade you to come downstairs?" 

Harry shook his head. "No need to bring the whole party down.  I promise not to stay too much longer, all right?" 

Remus stretched his legs, then levered himself to his feet.  "Good.  Don't make us send Molly up."

That got a laugh out of Harry, and he was grateful.  He felt a bit better for the laugh.  "I won't." 

It turned out that there was not enough time for Molly to fall to worrying over Harry.  Only a few minutes after Remus had gone, the sounds of slamming doors and running feet were followed by a slightly accented shout into the yard: "He's here!  Seven pounds ten ounces!  Daniel!" 

Shortly after Fleur's announcement to the garden, Ginny's kerchief-covered head popped up in the stairwell.  "Harry?"

Harry turned fully away from the window. 

"She's asking for you."  Ginny grinned and pressed herself into the wall as Harry hurried down. 

He did not run, but his stride ate up the distance very quickly.  He found himself facing the midwife, Chloe, outside the door to the master bedroom before he had really finished processing events. 

"Ah. Mr. Potter."  Somehow Chloe's tone of voice gave Harry the impression that she disapproved of him.  Or his presence in the corridor just then, perhaps?  "Well, go on, they've been asking for you."

Harry turned the door handle and poked his head inside.  Hermione and Ron were on the bed, heads close together, both looking at the massive bundle of blankets in her arms.  Molly, Mrs. Granger, Penelope, and Luna were at the opposite end of the room, deep in conversation.  Luna turned when Harry opened the door, and smiled when she saw him.  He hesitated, but Luna made a clear gesture with her hand, urging him to go to the bed. 

He crept inside, gently closing the door, and walked carefully to Hermione's side.  Ron looked up over his wife's head and gave Harry a smile bright enough to light the room.  "There you are."

Hermione looked up, and Harry leaned forward to brush a strand of sweaty hair off her face. "Come up," she invited, lifting her hand from the swaddled newborn to smooth the coverlet next to her.  "Meet your godson." 

Harry gently sat beside her, echoing Ron's protective curl without realizing it until he had done it.  The baby was nothing special, as newborns went, slightly squashed and still a bit wet, with a head full of Weasley red hair that stuck up in all directions. Eyes smokey and dark peered from under almost invisible lashes. Harry touched the blanket just below the boy's hand, and Hermione gently took his wrist and moved it until tiny fingers clutched his smallest finger.  "Harry, this is Daniel." 

Harry smiled in pure delight at that instinctive grip, that connection made with a child less than an hour old. The baby blinked and Harry felt a deep certainty that he had been recognized. "Hello, Daniel." He looked at Hermione's face, lined and pale with exhaustion and the echo of pain, and kissed her forehead.  "You are so beautiful."  Ron beamed at him. 

Hermione, for once in her life, did not attempt to brush off the compliment.  She looked down at her son - Harry marveled again, Hermione's son! - and squeezed Harry's wrist.  "I'm so glad you're here."   She had tears in her eyes.  Harry eased his hand away from the baby, and the boy started nuzzling at the blankets. 

The mediwitch spoke up from the foot of the bed.  "He'll want his first meal, then you should sleep."

Hermione nodded; she had probably done research on the first hours of life in the Wizarding world.  Harry moved to leave the bed, but Hermione held on to his hand.  "It's all right, Harry.  Stay."   Harry looked at Ron, questioning, and their years of partnership in the field paid off in the silent communications that followed.  When he realized that it was really okay, Harry relaxed into the pillows curled close to his best friends. 

Hermione shifted the blankets around and brought the baby to her breast; Ron chuckled at how quickly his son latched on.  "He's a Weasley, all right." 

Hermione winced and adjusted her position a bit.  "Bites like a Weasley, too." 

Ron turned bright red at that, and Harry laughed out loud.  The women at the other end of the room turned at the sound, and Luna came over to the bed.  Harry reached out blindly and felt her clasp his hand then let go. 

Hermione started to doze off over the nursing infant after only a few minutes, and the mediwitch smiled reassuringly at Ron when he whispered a question.  "All perfectly normal.  Why don't you nap with them, for a few hours?  Young Daniel will wake hungry again soon enough."  

Ron and Harry eased Hermione into a more reclined position, then Harry left the new family in their nest, watched over by the indulgent mediwitch.  Luna took Harry's hand again and led him out the door, down the corridor and into one of the guest bedrooms. 
Harry walked across to the window.  This one looked out over the lane between the cottage and the neighbor's barn.  He felt Luna come up behind him, anticipated the warmth of her hands on his back, then his chest, as she laid her cheek against his shoulder.  Harry covered her hands with his.  "Have you slept at all?" he asked.

He felt the shake of her head.  "I napped.  We all did, in shifts.  Thirty-eight hours.  Poor Hermione." 

Harry was amazed at the clan behavior of the Weasleys.  Luna might be used to it, being Wizard-born, but in some ways Harry still saw things through the lens of his cupboard, all alone against the world.  He felt the same wonder at this family he had become a part of as he had the first time he saw Hagrid open the wall to Diagon Alley.  His melancholy had broken in favor of awe and love.  Love always did win out, in the end. 

He turned inside Luna's embrace so that he could hold her, burying his face in her hair.  "You should rest," he said, tightening his hold.     

She tilted her head to kiss his jaw just under his ear.  "You, too."

He started to protest that he was fine, but she lifted one slender finger to his lips.  "No," she said with a smile, "I know you've been up brooding the whole time.  Come along."  And slipped out of his arms, took his hand, and pulled him down beside her as she fell onto the bed. 

Harry stared at the ceiling for a long time, his only point of contact with Luna their interlaced fingers.  The light from the window was now the burnished gold of late afternoon, and Harry thought perhaps she had fallen asleep.  His own eyes were very heavy.  He lifted her hand to his lips and whispered, "I love you." 

Luna moved, her body rolling against his, then settling again, half-draped over him. She kissed his shoulder and settled their clasped hands over his heart. "I love you, too. Sleep, Harry." 

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