Disclaimer: Nope, not mine. You really think I'd have gone with OBHWF?
A/N: So, this is my response to the challenge "The truth about Rose Weasley" by leochick. It can be found here: http://talk.portkey.org/index.php?showtopic=26447 I hope you'll enjoy the story, and as usual let me know what you think of it, ok? Reviews help me improve, if there's constructive criticism in them. It starts before the epilogue, but it still follows what's portrayed there at first. Just so you know.
Rose Weasley. Or Was it Potter?
Chapter One: Bad News
Ron Weasley was shocked. He and his wife Hermione had been trying to have a child for months now, and yet they were constantly failing.
This had led to them agreeing to see an Healer about the situation. Both wanted this child, and especially Ron, as he felt it was the only way to keep their marriage going.
He had thought being married to Hermione would be like being in Heaven, and it had been, at first. For the few first years it had been pure bliss, and they fought rarely. It was really amazing, considering how much they had been bickering in school.
And yet, it wasn't to last. Especially the last six months had been true hell, mostly because of her often working late at the Ministry.
Of course, he and Harry were at the base of her hard work, since they were providing more and more arrests to be judged, and since she worked in the Magical Law Enforcement Department, it was often her who would have to prosecute the trials.
So, he hoped a child could stop them from drifting apart.
And now, this Healer, Daskins was his name, had dropped his bomb.
He, Ronald Bilius Weasley, son of Arthur Weasley, who had had seven children, was sterile. He couldn't procreate, not with Hermione, nor with anyone else.
The redhead felt the world crash on his shoulders. Hermione would surely want nothing to do with someone like him, who couldn't even give her the joy of being a mother.
He felt an utter failure, as he walked by her side through St. Mungo's.
Suddenly, he felt her small hand slip into his own, and he looked up at those warm brown eyes. She was looking at him with sympathy.
"I think we should go home" she said, and he found himself nodding. Going to work in this emotional state was a no do.
Once they Apparated to their living room, Ron crashed on the couch.
"Can you believe the irony of it all?" he suddenly said with a sad smile, looking up at Hermione who had been sitting in front of him on an armchair. "My father had seven kids, and I can't even have one" he shook his head.
"Ron" Hermione said tentatively. "There might still be a possibility for us to have a child"
He looked up again, and found her biting her lip in nervousness. He motioned for her to talk.
"You see, there's this Muggle technique, it is called in vitro fertilisation. It's been used for years by Muggles, in cases just like ours where one of the two partners is sterile. Basically, hormones are used to regulate the woman's ovulation, then the egg cells are removed and fertilized outside the woman's womb by sperm, in a fluid medium. Then, the fertilised egg is placed back into the uterus of the woman, so that it can start a successful pregnancy" she outlined the basics of the process to him.
Ron looked a bit pale. "It's…strange…" he muttered.
She rolled his eyes at him. "But it works" she said then. He nodded.
"So you think we should try this?" he asked her.
"I'm saying, let's go see some Muggle specialists on the matter, get more info, and then we can decide" she said with a small smile.
Ron smiled too. Hermione nodded, and stood up.
"I'm going to call my mother and ask her if she knows someone trustworthy" she announced leaving the room.
Ron remained there, sitting on the couch. His father would be proud that he was considering Muggle technologies to solve his problem, he thought with a chuckle.
--
It was a week later when they entered the study of Dr. Johnson. Ron was a bit nervous, and Hermione had instructed him to let her speak. The redhead was quite known for sticking his foot in his mouth, and the last thing they needed was an unwilling revelation of the Wizarding World, or some embarrassing comment that would be hard to explain.
So, after the brunette had exposed the situation and what they were considering, Dr. Johnson started lecturing them about the exact process of the in vitro fertilisation, or IVF as Muggles called it with an acronym, and its various stages, from the ovarian stimulation to the transfer of the embryo into the uterus, passing through oocyte retrieval, fertilisation, selection of the embryo. He also explained them that the sperm would need to be taken from a donor, and that they had some frozen sperm already prepared for the treatment there at the clinic.
When the couple left, more than an hour later, Ron was a bit overwhelmed by the info the Muggle doctor had unloaded on them. Hermione, instead, having researched the matter herself few days before, already knew most of what was said so she had no trouble following the doctor's reasoning.
Dr. Johnson had also alerted them about the risks of the process, such as multiple births, premature births, pregnancy loss, obstetrical complications, and possible long term damage. There was then the possibility of the embryo splitting in two in the uterus, which would lead to identical twins. Finally, he explained how the ovarian stimulation could result in ovarian hyperstimulation syndrome.
Summarizing, the process could be the solution to their problem, yes, but it wasn't completely risk-free.
Still, Hermione wanted to give it a try, if that was her only chance to have a child. Ron wanted to have one too, and he trusted her judgement on the efficiency of the treatment.
He also knew he would be hard pressed to make her change her mind once she had decided she wanted to do something.
That night, at dinner, they kept discussing the matter.
"So, I was thinking we should do it" Hermione said.
"Well, I guess it's worth a shot" Ron agreed. "But I'm a bit confused on how the whole process works. Can you give me a summarized version of what the doc said?"
She huffed. "Basically, someone will have to donate sperm and it will be used to fertilise my egg cells" she said, quite bluntly.
She could practically see the gears moving in his head.
"So it's not like they can change my sperm to make it efficient, right?"
"No, Ron, they can't. It has to be someone else's" she patiently said.
"I see. Well, I know it's not exactly the same but it feels like you'll have to shag someone else"
"Ron, I won't have to shag anyone!" she bellowed, turning hastily to look at him.
"Of course not" he said, trying to placate her. "But the effect will be the same. It's going to be someone else who gets you pregnant, in some way" he explained his line of thought.
Hermione looked at him sceptically. "Well, in a way I can see what you mean" she conceded, then.
"So, would you feel at ease knowing a stranger will be the one who will pass his DNA and such to our child?" he asked.
Hermione was torn between being amazed at Ron's knowledge of what happened when an egg was fertilised, and being nervous about what he had said.
Of course the clinic had prepared and selected only healthy sperm, still the idea of a complete stranger being the biological father of her child kind of scared her a bit.
"Not really" she whispered meekly.
"I guessed so" Ron said with a slight grin. "And nor would I. But, I guess the situation would be different if someone we know very well was the donor" he said, thinking.
It was few moments later that their eyes locked, both looking up in realisation, both knowing who the other was thinking about, and both knowing no one else would be a better choice.
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