Chapter Sixty two

He came first; he rushed in and called out,
‘Ginny!’
‘Kitchen’
‘Honey’ he knelt down,
‘He’s coming, it’s too early and he’s coming’
‘It’s going to be ok’ he held her hand, ‘He’s going to be ok’
She came through the fireplace then,
Faith called, ‘Mummy, mummy!’
‘Go to them’ she said breathlessly, ‘Take them to mums’
Penny came in ‘Ginny?’
‘I can’t leave now’ Harry said stroking her forehead,
‘DO IT!’ She yelled ‘Please Harry’ she sobbed ‘Please, I can’t have them hearing this’
‘Ok’ he kissed her forehead and reluctantly let her go.

‘Ginny you’re going to be fine ok’ she held her hand ‘Now he’s early, really early and the best thing would be Mungo’s but right now, right now we can’t move you anywhere’
She huffed and heaved and tried to breathe raggedly nodding,

Harry picked up Patience laying her on his shoulder and took Faith’s hand,
‘We’re just going to see Grandma’ he smiled, swallowing dryly and led them to the fireplace.
They stepped though to Molly shouting at Ron,
‘Harry – shouldn’t you be at work’
‘Gin – labour – girls’ he said feeling the tears on his cheeks and remembering the last time.
She stared and stared, Ron stepped forward taking a sleeping Patience from his arms and reaching for Faith’s hand,
‘Come on princess - I’ll look after them, go on’
Harry nodded and turned back into the flames.

He got back and she was screaming. He wiped his eyes and went to her.
‘Gin – Gin, he’s going to be ok’
‘He’s not ready!’ she sobbed, as he shuffled to sit behind her knees at her waist and stroking her head as it lay on his collar bone,
‘He’ll be fine’
‘We’re going to be here a while Ginny’ Penny said waving her wand over her, ‘I can give you something for the pain’
‘I don’t want anything, I won’t be able to feel him, I want to – I have to feel him’
‘What ever you want’
‘I don’t want him yet, I’m not ready Harry, I’m not ready either’
‘You will be, just like last time, just think like that, once you hold him you’ll be ready’
‘We always knew him being premature could happen, we talked about this remember Gin, because of the girls and the problems’
‘I know’ she reached to hold his neck, to his cheek. He could feel the sweat on her palm, she was tired already and he felt her weight against his chest as they sat there.
‘I love you, but if we lose him – can you still love me if we lose him?’
‘Gin don’t talk like that, nothings going to happen, he’s just early’
‘Harry’
‘I love you no matter what’ he kissed the side of her head ‘always, till death do us part Gin remember’
‘Uh huh’ she mumbled and then squeezed his hand feeling another contraction.
‘How long is a while Penny?’
‘Hours, her waters broken he’s just pushing and moving’
‘What about a c-section?’
‘Last resort, being here, not sterile – there is no chance of moving them until he’s born and we’ll have to be quick being this premature’
‘What if I called an ambulance let the muggles take over’
‘I’m a witch; you’re a wizard I’m not going to a muggle hospital for them to cut him out of me!’
‘They’d have better experience with this Gin’
‘At home or at Mungo’s’
‘Ok’ there was no point trying to argue.

There was a voice in the living room, Harry recognised it as Arthurs.
‘Kitchen’ he called out,
‘Molly sent me to check up’
‘He’ll be a little while yet’
Arthur knelt down beside them, ‘Don’t be scared darling’ he kissed her cheek,
‘Daddy’ she mumbled,
He moved the hair sticking to her face from perspiration,
‘He’ll be alright, just like his dad hey, impatient to get things done’ he patted Harry’s shoulder, ‘Ron’s took the girls to the park, they’re distracted’
‘They need lunch’ she said barely breathing, ‘No junk, Mum’s not to spoil them with sugar or they’ll lose the teeth they’ve got’ she smiled,
‘Taken care of, you just think about this one hey’
‘Tell Charlie he was right, I couldn’t cope with Ron’ she smirked ‘I’m going to kill him when this is done with’
‘What did he do?’
‘Harry, it can wait for you to get mad at him’ Arthur said with a small smile, ‘I’ll get back to work, I’ll tell Rowan what’s going on with you ok, he’ll be fine this is emergency and well you to are best buddies anyway so he’ll cover’
‘Thanks Arthur’
She looked up at him ‘Dad?’
‘Yes’
‘You said – ah – you said Ron has the twins?’
He nodded,
‘I want mum to watch him with them’
‘Don’t worry, they’re fine, he’s their uncle’ he left before she could say anything else and she was too busy screaming in pain anyway.

It was another four hours before he arrived and Penny had called for two healers, transport and incubation to take them to Mungo’s.
She wanted to hold him, to look at him even but they had taken him away from her.
‘I feel empty’ she sat beside Harry on the hospital bed in the back of the van. They had a curtain up and around the clear plastic box he was in covered in tubes and they hadn’t opened them since they first got in the ambulance. ‘I want to see him’ she cried on Harry’s shoulder, ‘I want to see him, to hold him so badly’
‘Soon sweetheart, soon’ he stroked her cheek to wipe away tears,
‘I can’t do this again Harry’
‘Alright’
‘I mean it, my body doesn’t like it, and it keeps trying to hurt them’
‘Don’t’ he held onto her ‘don’t think like that’

They arrived and were bundled out separately. He was taken away and they got a parting glance as he was wheeled down the corridor and they moved into a private room. Penny came in,
‘Ginny, Harry’
Ginny spoke up to her ‘Why can’t we see him?’
‘He’s very small, very delicate, he’s got some problems breathing and the incubation will help with that’
‘When can we see him?’
‘Soon, I promise, very soon – for now does he have a name?’
‘James Arthur Potter’
‘Lovely, ok, so little James is three pounds two ounces and not quite ready to be held yet’
‘So small’ she mumbled ‘He’s barely--’sobs cut off her words as Harry embraced her gently,
‘– I know how much you want to but it’s just not going to happen while he’s so fragile. He’s going to have a feeding tube for now and once he’s strong enough we can see how he goes out side the incubator’
Harry continued the questioning, ‘How long will he have to stay?’
‘The average stay of a premature baby is six to eight weeks; we can’t rush getting them to a healthy weight’
‘What about holding him?’
‘That is – you can visit him anytime you like, we’ll show you how to sterilize your hands and give you gowns and you can touch him with gloves on in the incubator, but holding would usually be two or three weeks’
‘That long until – I can’t wait that long to hold him’ she sobbed into Harry’s arms, ‘I can’t wait to know if he’s ok, why couldn’t he wait; why did he come so soon?’
‘Too eager to see the world, to meet his mum and dad’ she smiled gently and stroked her head,
‘I’m going to see if they’re ready to let you in now, I’ll be back shortly with some more answers’

She left as Charlie arrived. He looked in through the door and was about to leave thinking better then to disturb them,
‘It’s ok’ she beckoned with a hand, ‘Come in’
‘Are you guys – there’s no point in asking if you’re ok, I can see things aren’t’
‘He’s so small and they’ve taken him’ she said wiping her eyes, ‘We have to see him through a box and we can’t hold him, I’m his mum and I want to hold him but I can’t for weeks’
‘He’s a fighter, he’ll come through, he’s tough, he’s got your and Harry’s genes’ he smiled ‘He’s got mums too so no doubt he’s a stubborn little fella, he won’t give up’
‘Hmm’ she sighed, feeling like she couldn’t cry anymore,
‘You need to rest Gin’
‘Not till I’ve seen him’
‘Nap, I’ll wake you as soon as she comes back’
‘I can’t’ she let out a yawn; trying to fight closing her eyes against his warm and comforting embrace.
‘You have a name and weight?’ he said softly ‘So I can tell the others?’
‘James Arthur, three pounds two’ Harry noted the worry on Charlie’s face at that ‘Born at four thirty six’
‘Ok’ he wrote it in a note pad in his pocket and read it back to check it was right. ‘I’ll let them know, Ron hasn’t let the twins out of his sight, they’re ok, they ask for you two’ he saw she was sleeping against his arm and smiled ‘I’ll check on them, we’ll see you soon’
‘Thanks Charlie’ he left and Harry lay her on the pillows gently and tucked her in. He sat watching for half an hour before Penny came back.
‘If you’d like to come with me you can see him now’ she smiled reassuringly,
‘Gin – Gin honey’ he said softly moving hair from her cheek as she stirred and woke up,
‘Hmm’
‘We can see him’ he grinned watching her face light up and she sat up urgently,
‘Gently now Ginny, you’re still quite fragile yourself’ Penny tapped the chair beside the bed turning it into a wheelchair and Harry picked her up and plonked her in it softly,
‘Just a couple more minutes and you’ll be able to say hi’ she said as they walked down the corridor, ‘He’s stable and everything’s looking good, his heart rates stronger and they’ve cleaned up his eyes so he can open them – he’s quite a wriggler I imagine he moved a far bit and kept you awake at night’ she smiled as she spoke,
‘Not so much’ she bit her lip anxiously as they got the doorway of the room,
‘Here we go’ she handed over conjured blue gowns and gloves before opening the door to the room and walking to the only baby in the room.
‘Little James is the only one today, hasn’t been that many wizarding births of late people are waiting longer to settle’

She stared helplessly into the box and reached to touch the plastic,
‘So… so tiny’ he said for the both of them looking in at the doll sized, baby grow clad little one sleeping with tubes on his nose and a line into his ankle,
‘He’ll be bigger and stronger before you know it’
‘Hmm’ Ginny said,
‘We’ll keep you in over night Gin, but after you’re discharged you can come day or night – that goes for the both of you – he can have up to three visitors in here at a time, I’m sorry but no other children, the risk of infection is too high’
‘Only the girls – they’re not old enough to understand yet, I mean they don’t know he’s here or he was coming – they just thought mummy was getting fat’ she smiled ‘We’ll tell when he’s ready to come home’ she stroked the clear plastic,
‘You can reach in and touch his hand’
‘I can – I don’t want to wake him’
‘You just let him know you’re here, he’ll know it’s you, he’ll know you’re mummy’ Penny said pushing her chair forward,
She touched his hand with her pinkie, his fingers wrapping round it as he yawned and blinked,
‘He’s awake – Aww’
‘It’s ok’
His dark eyes blinked and took in her smiling face,
‘Hello sweetheart, its Mummy and Daddy to come and see you’ she felt his hand let go and reached to touch his forehead softly brushing a finger over it,
‘He’s so soft and cute, Harry, say hello to him’
He was wiping his eyes on his wrist anxiously trying not to let her see him cry, she pulled her gaze away when she noticed Harry didn’t move any closer,
‘You big softy’ she mumbled and stood up to hug him ‘Just like you were last time’ she reached up for a kiss and then they both turned holding each other to take in James again.
‘He’s going to look just like you’ she said with a grin ‘James’ genes aren’t ever going to die out in the boys of this family are they’
‘Hmm’ he reached in to him watching his hand grasp his little finger just like it had with Ginny’s,
‘Good motor reflexes, I reckon he’ll be a seeker too’ Penny added, ‘I’ll leave you two to him for a bit and then they’re going to want to ask you something’s, sort out the paperwork’
They both nodded neither of them taking their eyes from him closing his and going back to sleep.

Welcome my new reader, this chapters for you :-) ! it's so good to have one after so long of writing just for me lol xox