The Surrogate

Disclaimer: All things pertaining to Harry Potter are the property of J. K. Rowling, Bloomsbury Books/Scholastic Press and Warner Bros. I just like to play with them!

A/N: Well, I'm back. I said I had quite a few ideas up my sleeve, so this is the first. The idea for this fic came to me during a discussion with my stepsister who was pregnant with twins at the time. This first part is quite short, but it's just the prologue - the other chapters will be longer. I thought I'd give you a taster first to see what you think, so please review and let me know!

I solemnly swear that I am up to no good...

***

It was a Saturday, the day that Hermione Granger's life changed forever.

It was the first Saturday in several weeks that she'd had to herself and she'd been determined to make the most of it. After sleeping until ten - which was definitely considered late when she was usually up at six - she'd enjoyed a long soak in tub until her fingers went all pruny and after dressing in her most comfortable sweats and her old Gryffindor fleece and pulling her hair into a messy bun, she curled up on the sofa with her favourite blanket, a mug of warm tea and her well-thumbed copy of Hogwarts, a History. As she turned the pages and slipped her tea, Hermione absent-mindedly stroked her stomach.

She was not yet in the fifth month of her pregnancy, but thanks to her small frame, her condition was definitely noticeable. Nevertheless she was enjoying the experience, though the root of her happiness was the knowledge that she would be contributing to the happiness of two of her best friends.

Harry and Ginny Potter had been married for five years and trying for a baby for two. But after four miscarriages, they were forced to admit that something was wrong and a visit to the magical fertility specialist at St Mungo's confirmed that Ginny wasn't able to carry a baby to term. It was tragically ironic that the only daughter of a woman who had borne seven children was unable to have her own.

Hermione's decision to be a surrogate for them wasn't difficult - she loved Harry and Ginny and if she could help them have a family, there was really no question of her doing it. When she'd told her parents what she was planning, they were understandably rather shocked and after getting over their initial surprise, her mother had sat her down and asked her if she had really thought about what she would be doing, what she would have to go through and what she would eventually have to give up.

She loved her mum for worrying about her, but she had thought long and hard before making the decision. And while for some women in her situation, there might be a concern over giving up a child they had carried for nine months, right from the start, this child had always been Harry and Ginny's and the thought of giving them the one thing they both so desperately wanted meant more to her than any kind of maternal instinct. Besides it wasn't as if she would never see the child - she knew Harry and Ginny would make sure she had a big role in the child's life.

And it wasn't as if she was married or currently in a relationship, so she had no partner to factor into her decision. With the exception of a handful of dates which hadn't gone anywhere, she'd been single since splitting with Ron Weasley, Ginny's brother, four years ago. Of course, one day she hoped to meet someone she wanted to settle down and have children with, but right now she was happy with the way her life was and so the timing for doing this was ideal.

The process had been a lengthy one, starting with a number of appointments with the specialist at St Mungo's and a series of fertility spells, which confirmed that she was perfectly healthy and should have no problem conceiving and carrying a child. And when another spell confirmed that she was entering her most fertile time, she underwent the insemination process. And then after about week, for which both she and the Potters were on tenterhooks, a pregnancy potion confirmed its success. Harry and Ginny had been ecstatic of course and since then had attended every antenatal appointment and class with her. And she just knew they would make fantastic parents.

She could actually imagine it perfectly. A little black-haired, green eyed child running around the halls of Grimmauld Place, which was currently being restored, refurbished and redecorated in preparation for Harry and Ginny to move into when the baby was born. The child would definitely be a Quidditch lover and would of course attend Hogwarts, almost certainly being Sorted into Gryffindor. Harry had once joked that the majority of Gryffindor House would be made up of the next generation of Weasleys.

Although she had the day to herself, he and Ginny had invited her round to their flat for dinner tonight and she was really looking forward to it. Last night, she'd felt the baby kick for the first time and she couldn't wait to tell them about it and see the look on their faces when the felt it for themselves.

Just as she took another sip of tea, the flames of the fire crackling in the fireplace turned green and Ron appeared amidst them.

Hermione placed her mug and book on the coffee table and stood up with a smile. She hadn't seen Ron for a couple weeks as he'd been away on his honeymoon after getting married to Luna Lovegood.

“Hey, Ron, when did you and Luna get back? I thought you were planning to be away until the end of the month?”

“Um, yeah, we were, but...”

It was then that she noticed that his eyes were red rimmed as if he'd been crying. She could count on one hand the number of times she had witnessed Ron crying and her breath caught in her chest as she realised that something must be very wrong.

“Ron, what is it? What's happened?”

Moving closer, he brought a hand up to cup her shoulder. “Uh, I think you should sit down.”

Hermione started to protest, but the look in his eyes made her reconsider and she sat down on the sofa she had recently vacated.

“Please, Ron, just tell me what's going on?”

Ron closed his eyes for a brief moment, as if trying to find the words he wanted to say.

“It's...it's Ginny. There's been an accident.”

Hermione frowned. “What kind of accident? Is she okay?

“No,” he said, swallowing around an obvious lump in his throat. “She's not okay. She's...she's dead.”

***

Mischief managed!

Just to clarify, I not a fan of Weasley bashing and I actually really like the character of Ginny Weasley - just not as a romantic interest for Harry.

More coming soon...

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