What happened afterward

Disclaimer: Oh I realized I forgot to put one in on the first Chapter. Anyway how many ways can I say that I am not making any money off of this story? Oh well I guess that is one way. Also the characters belong to none other than the outrageously talented JK Rowling. With whom we all owe many thanks to. I think that about covers it. If anyone does have this strange notion to sue me then I would say go ahead and do it because right now I am a poor college student who has way too much time on her hands.

Ron and Remus had just started setting up the chess board when a scream came floating through the curtain. “Don't you think about touching me again!” “Hermione put the vase down…Ah!” Harry came flying out from behind the curtain along with a vase aimed at him. He didn't notice the other people in the room because Madame Pomfrey's voice said. “Harry, dear, why don't you get us a clean blanket while you're out there?”

“I'm not sure I should go back in there Madame Pomfrey. She is wicked mad at me for not being able to procreate.” Ron snorted at Harry's comment which cause Harry to turn around and notice that besides the first year there was other people in the hospital wing.

“Harry.” Quickly he found himself in the bone crushing embrace of Molly Weasley. He was just beginning to relax when Madame Pomfrey yelled at him to hurry up. “Oh dear, I have the perfect blanket for you to use. Assuming this is the blanket to wrap the child in. Right Poppy?” She yelled yes and Molly got a distinct look in her eyes. “Well here you go Harry.” Molly said as she handed Harry a knitted blanket. Harry just stood there looking at for a good ten minutes. Tears sprang to his eyes, he was so confused and so happy at the same time. This time it wasn't Molly who gave him a hug but Remus did.

“Don't worry, James did a lot worse than you are doing when you were born. He was half-way to St. Mungo's before he realized he needed to bring Lily with him.” Harry let out a laugh and carefully met the eyes of everyone in the room. He saw Remus, Molly, Arthur, Ron, Ginny, Neville, Luna, Albus, Mr. and Mrs. Granger, and Dobby.

“Wait, where is Hagrid?” He asked as people glanced around for the person in question.

“I'll go get him Harry.” Dumbledore said and with a swish of his cloak he left the ward.

“Well I should get back to my girl before I get another vase thrown at me.” He chuckled slightly and than thought for a second. “She could have been a great chaser.”

“I'm going to pretend that I didn't hear that!” Hermione shouted at him as he came into view again. “Sweetie, I'm so sorry for yelling at you and for breaking your hand.” The last part came out in a scream though as another contraction hit her. “This kid better not have your hair!” She shouted as the pain made its way through her body. “Can I have some drugs now?” it was over and she wasn't sure if she could endure another one without the easing of pain.

“Give her the drugs. Give her the drugs.” Harry pleaded to Poppy. She gave them a sympathetic look and than shook her head. Harry felt like he was on the verge of screaming his head off in pain. Hermione, the love of his life, was in pain, something he could not bear to see. “Why can't you give her the drugs?” He questioned the matron of medicine.

“I would if I could but she is carrying a magical baby in her magical body, and the best way to bring one into the world is to not do anything to tamper with the birthing processes. This means, in a simpler manner, that drugs could be a danger not only to the baby but also to her.” Harry paled at her words and went back to trying to be as helpful as he could be.

Four hours had passed since Ron had entered the ward and six hours had passed since Hermione went into labor. He was right now concerned for his best friends, but also concerned that Remus Lupin was going to beat him at chess. Something that had never happened before and his concentration were focused solely on the game sitting in front of him.

Molly Weasley sat knitting a pair of white booties for the new Potter. She was tempted to make them in pink or blue, but since no one knew the sex of the baby she decided that white was the simplest color to choose from.

Arthur he husband sat talking to the Grangers. He was currently asking them how a vacuum cleaner worked. The Grangers were thankful for the distraction; for it got their mind off of how mad they were at Hermione and Harry. Mrs. Granger had tried to go behind the curtain a couple of times but she had been shooed out, by Madame Pomfrey, each time.

Luna, Ginny, and Neville were sitting off to the side playing a game of exploding snap. So far Luna had lost one eyebrow and Neville had a scorch mark on the bottom of his hand. Ginny was the only one without wounds, and they all snickered at the thought of getting injured in a hospital wing.

Albus and Hagrid were engaged in a conversation about the upcoming holiday. Both were discussing what to get the new baby to be and they both agreed that something to do with quidditch and books was going to be on everyone's list. They decided on to think about it some more and started to discuss when Lily had Harry.

Oh and then on the bed nearest to the door sat the poor first year. He had tried to escape three times and Madame Pomfrey had almost let him go once but the blasted Potter had to start screaming again. Harry that is not Hermione. Apparently she had broken another couple of bones in his hand and Madame Pomfrey had to rush off to heal him again.

As all the others in the hospital wing talked, played games, knitted, and sulked. The others, Harry and Minerva, tried to calm Hermione down. “It is never going to come out.” She said to Poppy as Minerva put a cool wash cloth on her sweating forehead. Her face was dripping with sweat and her hair was clinging to her face. She felt exhausted and she was told that labor could go on for hours on end. And she was beginning to think that this was a bad idea.

“Let's see how far along you are.” Poppy said. “Okay, well, Hermione are you ready to get this kid out of you?”

“Out? You mean that?” She questioned the elder lady standing at the foot of her bed. Hermione was so happy to hear those words she felt like she could finally see her toes again.

“Okay now I need you to push. There are going to be about three to five pushes in total depending how much this baby needs help. Harry and Minerva you need to help her sit up and hold her hands. She is going to need a lot of support during this part. You two have been doing great, by the way.” She said flashing them all a smile.

“Needs help…this baby please with its father it is going to need all the help it can get.” Hermione said. She shot Harry a look who just chuckled at her comment.

“You're forgetting, dear, that for its mother it's got the most brilliant witch of this age.” Harry responded to her crack at him.

Madame Pomfrey brought over some pillows to prop Hermione up with and she adjusted the bed so the top was slanted to put her in a more upright position. Harry looked at Minerva and flashed her a smile. “Thank you for everything.” He said and then grabbed Hermione's hand.

“No need to thank me, Mr. Potter. Now let's bring the new generation of Potter's into this world.” Her brisk Scottish accent was even more pronounced when she was as tried as they all were.

“Now when I count to three I want you to push?” Madame Pomfrey explained to Hermione who was taking in deep gulps of breath. “One. Two. Three.”

“Arrg…” was the sound that came out of Hermione's throat as she pushed, or tried to push, the baby out her. Thankfully Harry and Minerva were by her side holding her up and holding her hands. She was sure that she wouldn't be able to do any of this without their help.

As Hermione pushed, the rest of the visitors in the hospital ward went quiet. They all knew what was going on behind that curtain and the excessive screaming gave them some clue that it was time for the child to come out. Though that wasn't the only thing on their minds at the moment for their attention was also focused on what had to be the longest chess game in history. Going on six hours and some odd minutes, Remus Lupin and Ronald Weasley were battling it out. Or well their pieces were battling it out.

“Knight to E2.” Remus said and very quickly and calmly the piece moved across the board and took Ron's queen. One of the few remaining pieces on the board. Remus gave the board a calculated look and than smiled. “Checkmate.” He simply said.

“Wait no! That is impossible.” Ron was baffled beyond belief; someone had actually beaten him in chess. But his cries of protest and Ginny's laughter were quickly drowned out by the shouts of Madame Pomfrey telling Hermione this was the last push she had to give. Everyone quickly tensed up and waited to hear the happy news. Was it a boy or a girl?

“Can you put up a silencing charm Mr. Potter? I'm assuming you two want this to be a private moment.” She looked at the two who looked at each other and than quickly nodded. With a wave of his wand the visitors suddenly stopped hearing the noise coming from behind the curtain.

Hermione had Minerva and Harry prop her up for one last time and she pushed with all her might. Labor, she thought, was something akin to doing the split on rollerblades. Not that anyone in the room, besides Harry, knew what rollerblades were.

Finally after what seemed like twenty minutes later, in actuality it was one about two, she heard a loud wailing coming from the end of the bed. “What is it? What is it?” She questioned the nurse. Her energy was failing and she wasn't sure if she had much strength left to do anything but fall asleep. She tried to fight the darkness that took over her but to no avail she drifted off to sleep. The question lingering in her mind, is it a boy or a girl?

Harry too was asking the question but his focus quickly faded from his new born child to his wife's limp grip. Something wasn't right, he thought and quickly he called out Hermione's name but the darkness had already taken hold of her. He sunk down into the chair beside her bed knowing that he couldn't raise their child on his own, knowing that if he was to lose her that life would never be the same. The question of doubt was running through his head, would his wife live to see their child?

*Note* I realize that this chapter is a tad bit shorter than the first. But I figured I would end it on a bang. Which I think is a good thought on my part. The next chapter is going to take a while because I have to rework it for where I want it to go and not for where it was going. Just so you know, and I won't get my head bitten off, the next chapter is going to include a tad bit of flashbacking. I'm think maybe the wedding, maybe when Hermione found out she was pregnant, or maybe why Harry was out on the quidditch field while his really pregnant wife could go into labor at any moment.