Chapter 3
"Harry!" Hermione screamed.
Ron hurried to his friend's side. His obvious concern was written all over his face. "Mate, Harry," he said. He slapped his face gently from side to side.
"Ron, stop it." Lavender told him. Just then a dull ache in her lower back took hold of her. The pain in her abdomen nearly doubled as she stood to ease her back pain. "Dear Merlin. Ron! It's time!"
"What time?" Ron asked.
"I think the babies are coming Ron." Hermione said. "Why don't you take Lavender to Madam Pomfrey and I'll take care of Harry."
"But, Harry's out cold. Lavender couldn't you have waited a little longer?"
"Sure Ron! Tell your kids to stay inside a bit longer would you! It's not me you git! I can't control childbirth!" Just then a gush of water shot down her legs.
"Gross, Lav! Couldn't you hold your pee it a bit? You just went on Hermione's rug. Sorry Hermione."
"That wasn't pee Ron," Hermione said. She was trying to stay calm even when she was quite in a panic inside about Harry and Lavender.
"Oh!" Ron looked as if he had a moment of enlightenment. He'd been attending the Lamaze classes with Lavender. He knew that the gush of liquid from a pregnant woman meant a sure sign of childbirth. "Merlin! Lavender, what the bloody hell are you doing standing up. You should be lying down."
"Hermione, I don't think I can make.." Lavender didn't finish her sentence. She and Hermione stood in stunned silence as Ron fell to the ground.
"He fainted!" Hermione said. She felt like laughing. "How are you feeling? Why don't you go to my room and lie down if you can make it. I'll have someone call Madame Pomfrey."
"Actually I feel fine. It's as if all the pain was just lifted away from me." She glance a look at Harry's form on the floor. She noticed the sweat beaded forehead and it looked as if he were gritting his teeth.
"Harry?" Hermione looked his way. "Do you want to lie down on the couch?" He shook his head. "Are you sure you can handle it? " He nodded his head. She took his hand and gripped it. She knew then that if would have been there when her time had come, he would have done the same.
Hermione levitated Harry from the floor and settled him on the couch. She levitated the pitcher of water and dumped the pumpkin juice on Ron's face. Ron's woke up and sputtered.
"Where… where am I?"
"In my room, Ron, you fainted. Lavender is in the bedroom. She needs you."
"I fainted?" Hermione rolled her eyes heavenward.
"Don't worry. I won't tell anyone, especially the twins. But Harry knows too."
"How, he's out cold."
"I think Lavender's been having labor pains all day and maybe when Harry popped in, he was hit with one of the stronger one." Harry nodded his head. "When he passed out, that's when Lavender felt the full force of the labor pains, but after her water broke, I think Harry woke up an re-directed her pain to him." Again Harry nodded.
Ron looked at the paid apparent in Harry's face. Harry was too weak to try to block it out, but he was strong enough to take on Lavender's labor pain. Of course, the other reason was also because he wanted to experience what a woman went through. He wanted to know what Hermione went through without him.
He was sure his kids were born. He felt them and he heard them in his mind.
"Will Harry be OK?"
"He'll be okay as soon as the babies come out. Harry, I don't think you should block out everything from Lavender though. This is the one thing that women go through that no other man will ever experience, well except you. But I think you should let her feel everything. If you don't, you'll take away the experience from her." He nodded and just as he did, Lavender's shouts came clear across the room.
"Ron! You git. I hate you!"
Ron immediately rushed towards Hermione's bedroom.
Just as Ron left, Madame Pomfrey followed by Dumbledore stepped into Hermione's room. Dumbledore looked at Hermione holding Harry's hand.
"What happened?" Dumbledore asked.
"He leapt in here. But he's not the reason I called Madame Pomfrey."
"OH! Right. Lavender is having the baby. Poppy would you mind attending to Lavender in there." He pointed towards Hermione's room. It never ceased to amaze Hermione how he knew what he knew, but she was glad. She only summoned Madame Pomfrey, but she knew that Dumbledore would be there nonetheless.
"Ron! Never will I do this again!"
"Breathe. Hee hee whoo whoo…" Ron went through the Lamaze class breathing technique.
"Shut the bloody hell up Ron! You breathe! Just get these babies out of me!"
"I'm here Lavender. Let me just check on you." Madame Pomfrey advised. She ran her wand across Lavender's abdomen. "You're almost ready to push, dear. Just a few more minutes."
Lavender screamed a few more selected expletive toward Ron as another contraction hit her hard.
As the contraction hit Lavender, Harry gripped Hermione's hand hard. Hermione yelped in response. But Hermione wasn't the only one affected. A loud cry came from another room. Harry's eyes opened as he whipped his head to the direction of the noise. He turned back and stared at Hermione in question.
"That would probably be James. I think he's an empath like you."
"I'll go see to him. You stay here with Harry." Dumbledore knew they needed to be alone.
As if she knew what Harry wanted to know, she continued. "I don't know what type of pain Lavender is going through, but I know what I went through Harry. I would have wanted you to be there."
"I'm sorry," he said. His voice was barely a whisper.
"We can't turn back the time, Harry. But when you're ready to talk I promise I will listen this time. I'm sorry for yelling at you back there and for running away like that."
`'s okay." He gripped her hand again. She knew that Lavender was experiencing another contraction. She could hear them from her room.
"Don't you want to turn off your empath?"
"No, I want to feel it. If it's even half the pain that you went through, then at least I'll have an idea."
"Okay, if you're sure."
"Can I see the kids before we talk?"
"I'm sure they already know you're here. Of course you can see them."
"I'm really sorry Hermione." He spoke through gritted teeth.
Hermione knew Lavender was pushing then. She could hear her still screaming up a storm in between the pushing.
"Ron! We will never have sex again!" Ron paled at her words. He looked to Madame Pomfrey for help.
"Don't worry dear, it's the pain talking right now." Ron almost let out a loud sigh.
"One more push, dear. I can see the baby's head already."
Lavender pushed again with all her might and the baby's head popped out. "Okay, Lavender, stop pushing for a bit." Madame Pomfrey ran her wand over the baby's head. Ron took a peek to see what was going on but couldn't move far from Lavender's death grip on his hand.
After the baby's nostrils' were cleared with fluid, Madame Pomfrey told Lavender to push again. This time Madame Pomfrey had her wand ready to assist the baby to turn in just the right way. The baby's shoulder could get lodged on the way out without help. She was also preparing to catch the baby on the way out.
When the baby was out, she let out a loud cry. Ron started to tear up. "Okay, dear. Relax for a moment. The other one should be ready to come out soon. I'll just clean this precious girl up and bundle her up."
Madam Pomfrey ran her wand over the baby and whispered the cleaning spell. The baby was clean in no time. She bundled her up and set her down in a crib she'd conjured up earlier.
Lavender screamed again. That was another signal to let them know that the other baby was ready to come out.
Harry felt everything Lavender did up until the last push when Ronald Arthur Weasly came into the world. Lavender and the babies were peacefully resting in Hermione's room. Ron was sitting down watching his family sleep on an arm chair next to the bed. He felt ecstatic.
Harry on the other hand felt humbled. He lay on the couch still reeling from the experience. His tears flowed freely and he didn't much care who saw him.
Hermione watched him and couldn't help but feel a little sorry for him. She knew how much he looked forward to their kids' birth. She knew how much he'd longed for a family of his own. Thinking back, she should have known he would not have missed his children's birth for the world unless something prevented him from being there. She wondered then what had prevented him from being with her.
"Harry, you should go back to the hospital wing and rest," Madam Pomfrey suggested.
"I'm okay. I just need to gather my bearings."
"Well, you know where it is when you feel the need to rest, dear. But I'm curious at how you were able to leave without me seeing you?" She was still unaware of Harry's true abilities. "You have to tell me all about it one of these days, Harry."
"I will ma'am. Remind me some time."
"I'll hold you to that Harry Potter. It's good to see you back." She walked out of the room. She knew the couple needed to sort a lot of things out between them.
"Are you feeling up to meeting the boys?"
He nodded. Harry already knew they were going to have three boys, but seeing them in the flesh was different. He was a bit nervous. What if they don't like me, he thought. His insecurities from his childhood crept in.
"Don't worry, Harry. I think they'd be happy to see you finally." Harry was taken aback. She didn't think Hermione was able to read minds, but she read him correctly. "Don't be so surprised, Harry. I still know how to read you even after a year or so."
He gave her a sheepish smile. "Am I that obvious?" She nodded.
They walked in the nursery and found three bright eyed little boys staring up at their grandfather as he read them stories. When Harry and Hermione stepped through the threshold, the little toddlers all turned to look at them as if on cue.
"Oh, look who's here boys," Dumbledore said. His voice was a bit more relaxed and gentle.
The three got up and toddled over to where Hermione and Harry stood. Harry couldn't move. He was mystified by the three healthy boys walking with little baby steps toward him. Two had black hair, one with green eyes the other with brown. The other one with brown hair had green eyes, but it looked almost blue green. Must be from his father's side of the family, he thought, and then looked up at his grandfather who wore a great big smile.
He could hear their thoughts and he knew they wanted him to kneel down to go down to their eye level. When he did, they toddled faster towards him. When he wrapped his arms around them, a circle of blue light surrounded them. In addition to the light, there was also some slight trembling, like a minor earthquake that would register at least 2 in the Richter scale. It nearly knocked Hermione and Dumbledore down.
Hermione and Dumbledore watched in awe. Not only were they stunned, but they were teary. Dumbledore stood next to Hermione and put his arm around her shoulder.
"They know who he is."
"It seems that way."
"Is it an earthquake?" Ron asked from the doorway. Then when he saw the blue light, he knew that it was just his brother and his little nephews creating chaos. He too was in awe. He felt blessed to know such a wonderful man. No matter how much Hermione suffered while he was gone, he knew deep down inside that Harry did not abandon her and his children.
All three stood and watched Harry, James Harrison (after Harry's dad), Brian Sirius (after Dumbledore and Sirius) and Emrys Remus (after Merlin and Remus). Harry laughed as he listened to his kids' thoughts. He almost felt complete.
A/N: Thanks for your reviews. I'll answer all your question about Hermione's other relationship in the next chapters. I wanted to unite Harry with his kids first.
Destroyerdrt: Thank you for your encouragement
Izzieq: Wow, you said a mouthful. I will try to answer your questions in the future chapters. I did answer your question about the babies right?
Robert: Thank you for reading my stories. Hope you continue to read them.
Lajo1013: Good to know someone was waiting for my story. Hope it keeps you entertained.
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