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 Three: A Long Chat
"Uncle Harry…"
The raven haired wizard smiled fondly at her, knowing what she had just realized.
"You've always been smart, Rose. Just like your mother" he said, motioning for her to come sit near him. She did, still rocking her child gently.
"I bet you want some explanation now, so I'll give it to you" he said. "We have to occupy time till they let us see Hermione anyhow" he added then, shrugging.
He then ran an hand through his ebony hair, while Teddy watched him and his wife, sitting near them.
"It all started many years ago, before you were born…" Harry started.
Harry was reading in his study, Ginny was in the kitchen, when someone knocked on the front door. He let his redhead wife go get it, but was soon called.
"Harry! Ron and Hermione are here, they want to talk with you" Ginny shouted, and he guessed she wasn't so pleased. He wondered why.
He descended the stairs and went to greet his friends, hugging both of them. He could sense something was off with them though.
"So, what did you want to talk me about?" he asked.
Hermione eyed Ginny nervously, and so did Ron.
"Actually, we'd prefer telling you alone…" the redhead started, shooting an apologetic glance at his sister.
"What you have to say can be told in front of me" Ginny replied haughtily. "Isn't that right, honey?"
Harry looked back and forth between them for a moment or two, then spoke. "Ginny, please, if you'd leave us alone just for a moment…"
The redhead young woman couldn't believe her ears, and stomped away muttering something not pleasant.
"Sorry about that" Harry said with a sheepish grin. "So, what brings you here and being so secretive?" he joked, but when they were done telling him, his face was much more serious.
"So you basically need that I donate some sperm so you can do this Muggle In Vitro Fertilisation and have a child?" he asked, to check if he'd got it right.
Hermione bit her lip nervously. "If you don't want to, we can always use someone else…" she said then.
"Of course I want to!" Harry said. "It's the less I can do for the two of you after the perils I dragged you through in the years" he said.
"Harry, mate, we made our own choices. You didn't drag us anywhere…" Ron started, but Harry cut him off.
"I want to do it. When do I have to donate the sperm?" he asked.
They discussed the matter some more before a much more relaxed Ron and Hermione left, wishing Harry and Ginny a good evening and telling Harry they will contact him by owl.
He nodded, and hugged both of them before seeing them off.
"I bet Aunt Ginny wasn't much happy about it" Teddy scoffed, and Harry had to chuckle.
"You can very well say that, Teddy" he nodded, and resumed his story.
As soon as the other couple had left, Ginny started interrogating him.
"So what did they need to tell you alone?" she glared at him.
"Honestly, Ginny. It's already embarrassing for Ron to have to admit he's sterile when your father had seven kids, you can't expect him to do that in front of an audience"
"Ron's what?" Ginny said, before starting to snicker.
"Now you see why he didn't want to tell you?" Harry said, annoyed. His wife nodded, and recomposed herself, sort of. What made her grow serious again was what Harry said next though.
"They want me to donate some sperm so they can do a Muggle fertilisation technique and get Hermione pregnant" he said then, guessing that to explain Ginny the whole IVF business would have taken half their evening, and she would probably not have gotten it.
"What? You have to shag Hermione to get her pregnant?" she shrieked.
"Not really. I've to give some of my sperm to a Muggle doctor, they'll then use it to fertilise Hermione's egg cells"
"And what about the baby, once he/she's born?" Ginny inquired.
"Ron and Hermione will raise the baby as their own" Harry said.
"Harry, you can't do it!" Ginny shrieked again.
"They want a baby but can't have it, so I'll do my best to help them" the raven haired wizard said, his resolve steely.
"And won't it be hard for you to see them raise the baby knowing it's you who is the real father?" Ginny said, trying to play on his emotions to get him to not do it. The idea of him getting Hermione pregnant was unsettling, even with this Muggle technique which didn't require shagging.
"Yes, it will" Harry admitted. He had a sudden image of himself and Hermione raising a baby together, and couldn't help but smile fondly, albeit a bit sadly as he knew it wouldn't happen. "But they are my best friends, and they did lots of hard and dangerous things for me. I will do it, Ginny, end of the discussion" he said then, standing up and going back to his study, locking himself in and thinking about the matter all night.
He didn't even join Ginny in their bedroom, that night.
Rose was looking at Harry in awe, and with newly found respect. "You…you're my Dad then!" she finally whispered, tears welling up in her eyes as the news sank in, and hugging him tightly. "I've always felt a pull towards you while growing up, and you always were my favourite Uncle. I guess this explains why"
He mussed her hair softly, hugging her back. "Now, dear, I may be your biological father, but Ron's been your Dad since you were born and I know he did a really fine job in raising you. He would be proud of the young woman you've become, Rose Kathleen Weasley" he said then, tears now filling his eyes too, as he kissed the head of her head. "I want you to always remember him as your Dad, understand?"
She looked up at him, brown eyes meeting green, and Harry was once more reminded of Hermione.
She nodded, and fresh tears came to her eyes, remembering how Ron had died a couple years before for a strange infection he got in Brazil while promoting some of George's new products. He had decided to explore Brazil more than what he and his brother had planned, and it resulted in him getting in contact with a very poisonous plant. There had been very little the Healers could do, as nobody before had gotten symptoms as bad as he did, and the usual cures for it hadn't worked.
"I guess that night was the beginning of the end between me and Ginny. Many more spats followed, especially because I met with Hermione often to see how the pregnancy was going. Ron was more than happy to have me around helping him cope with the strange cravings of a pregnant woman, as I'd gone through that same thing with Ginny already, but she…well, let's say she wasn't thrilled about my spending so much time with Hermione.
Our life together worsened, and even if we had two more kids, hoping they could patch things between us, she never truly forgave me for taking part in your birth. Our life together deteriorated, and so in the end we got divorced" he said.
"I'm sorry, Un-Dad" Rose said, correcting herself midway. He might want her to keep thinking of Ron as her Dad, and she would, after all the redhead had raised her, but the truth was Harry was her real father, and she would treat him as such from now on.
Harry shrugged.
"Don't be. I guess we weren't really meant to be" he said. "I know now who I should have chosen many years ago"
Teddy had an inkling about whom Harry was talking, and it was confirmed when he told them another part of his story.
Harry rushed by his secretary, bellowing her to cancel all meetings for the afternoon. Then, he moved quickly through the Ministry floors to reach a particular door in the Magical Law Enforcement department. Knocking on it, he waited for the voice inside allowing him in, and then he stepped inside the room.
"Hi, Mione" he said.
"Harry! What a surprise! What brings you by?"
He shrugged, closing the door behind him. "Just wondering how is my best friend doing today" he said, grinning at her.
She rolled her eyes. "Harry, you've taken up to make daily visits with me since I started the treatment" she chided him, albeit smiling, and going to hug him.
"Well, I want to make sure everything's fine" he shrugged, and she kissed him on the cheek.
"It's sweet of you, but you have a wife to care for, Harry. Honestly, I'm not going to die for this, if I made it through Voldemort's days" she joked, and he grinned, pulling her close.
"So, you up for lunch together?" he asked casually, and she nodded. Few minutes later, they were in a café near to the Ministry, enjoying fish and chips and joking just as two carefree friends would do.
Harry had never felt happier.
"However, not everything was fine as it seemed. The doctor had told them the risks of the IVF, and while you were born perfectly healthy, your mother had quite a struggle with giving birth to you. I remember quite well that day" he said.
Everyone they knew was waiting for news outside the room. Ron was the only one inside, after all it was his wife giving birth to their child. And yet, Harry and Ginny being the only other ones who knew the truth, he felt compelled to glance at his wife, who was currently chatting with Molly.
He sighed, realizing then that she had been right. He wanted more than anything to be inside that room, holding Hermione's hand while their baby was delivered, soothing her through her pain. That role, however, was Ron's. Harry didn't know if it hurt more than he couldn't be there for his baby being brought to life, or not be able to soothe Hermione's pain.
But, he didn't regret his decision. She was the most important person in his life, much more than Ginny, and he would do anything for her. If helping her having a child this way was what he could do to repay his debt toward her, then he would, whatever pain it would bring him.
She deserved that.
Steeling his resolve, he announced he was going to the cafeteria and asked if anyone wanted something from there.
--
It was five hours later that Ron emerged from the room, pale as a ghost.
"She…she's born" he stammered, and from that everyone understood their child was a little girl. Harry went to clap him on the back, and the two of them exchanged a meaningful glance, but their silent communication was interrupted by an Healer bursting out of the room and running down the corridor, soon followed by another one who approached Ron.
"Mr. Weasley, I want to congratulate you. You have a very healthy daughter" the man started, shaking Ron's hand. "But, I have bad news too. Your wife…well, there have been complications, and we don't know exactly how, however her life signs have started fading…"
Harry felt the weight of the world loaded on his shoulders. Hermione was dying…was dying…
He shakily leant on the nearest wall, while Ron was still bobbing his mouth open without being able to speak.
"We will do our best, for now you can only wait. And hope" the healer said, before going back inside the room.
Everyone kept reassuring Ron that everything would be fine, that Hermione would be soon going to cradle her daughter in her arms.
All, but Harry.
The raven haired man was staring ahead, the empty corridor in front of him, unable to move. The only thought in his mind was that Hermione was dying, and somehow it might be his fault.
"What if my sperm and her egg cells somehow weren't compatible?" he thought. "But then, the baby wouldn't have been healthy, would she?"
For hours he tormented himself that way, and night was substituted by day. Ginny had tried to convince him get some rest at home, Ron would surely alert him of any news, she had said, but he was adamant.
"Hermione wouldn't have left my side if I were fighting between life and death. I won't leave hers" he said, glaring at his wife, and she glared back at him, before Flooing home with James. She was pregnant herself and she shouldn't tire herself too much, after all.
"It took your mother five days to exit the coma she was in, and she slowly healed. Probably the Muggle technique wasn't so fond of the magic flowing in your mother's body and it kind of messed up things. I don't even exactly know what or how, to tell you the truth" he smiled a bit sadly. "I'm sure you could find out, if you researched it" he smiled fondly at his daughter then. "However, while her health restored perfectly, her ability to have children was destroyed. She more or less became sterile herself"
"What about Hugo, then?" Rose inquired.
"Your mother and Ron adopted him. Quite a nice gesture, I have to say" Harry said with a smile. Rose nodded.
Teddy had gone to the cafeteria, so Harry decided to reveal his daughter another secret.
"You know, I've always admired your bravery" he said. Rose blushed.
"Brave? Me? I don't even know why I was sorted into Gryffindor!" she protested, and he shook his head.
"Being brave doesn't mean only being able to face danger, Rose. It's also standing up for what you believe in, and to not go with what's easy if it isn't also what is right" he wisely said.
Comprehension flickered through her eyes, and Harry nodded.
"Yes, the Weasleys weren't very supportive of you and Teddy, were they?" he said, somewhat sadly. "Even if they are the least prejudiced people I've ever known, they still had some reluctance to see one of them married to a werewolf, am I not right?"
Rose nodded, feeling the anger she had felt at some of the objections her family had raised come back full force.
"I didn't care. I loved him, and I still do. That's what truly matters in the end, and now that we are parents..." she said, looking down at her daughter, which had in the meantime fell asleep, "I feel so happy with him, I don't know how I could live without him"
"Which makes you far braver than I've ever been, Rose" Harry said, standing up, a sad expression clouding his features. "I may have vanquished Voldemort, with lots of help from your mother and Ron, and lots of other people mind you, but I've never been brave enough to do what I knew was right with my life"
Rose sensed he was referring to his marriage with Ginny, and stayed silent, waiting for him to elaborate.
"I knew Ron fancied Hermione, and I knew he was jealous of my fame and money. I would have never intentionally risked his friendship, he was my first friend of my age, the very first one being Hagrid" he continued. "So, when the time came for me to confront him on his fear that I and your mother might end together, I lied and told him she was just a sister for me. Merlin, if siblings thought about each other the way I did about your mother, the world would be an incestuous place indeed" he chuckled, and Rose smiled, despite everything.
"That was the moment I willingly stepped back. After all, it was somewhat expected of them to get together, while my destiny was to be with Ginny. At least, this is what Molly seemed to think, as she revealed when the engagements happened. If I had been as brave as you, I'd have said to Ron exactly what I felt, even if he had just come back to us, and if that drove him away again then I and your mother would have gone on alone, as we did anyway for a couple months, that winter when we were searching for Horcruxes. I was simply too much of a coward to do it"
Harry felt a pair of arms slid around his waist and an head resting on his back.
"You're not a coward, Dad. You are just a silly hero, who thinks about his loved ones' happiness before his own" she teased him, and he chuckled again, turning in her embrace and kissing her on the forehead.
"You're wise" he teased her, and she giggled.
That was the moment a smiling healer came out of the room Hermione was resting in.
"She's awake and has asked of you, Mr. Potter"
Harry looked down at Rose, who nodded, and released him from the hug. As he was walking inside the room, she whispered inside his ear,
"Tell her, Dad. You can still be happy together from now on, since both of you are single again"
He grinned at her, and nodded, before disappearing inside the room.
-->