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Birth of the Potter Children
By JetLaBarge

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Category: Post-DH/AB
Characters:Harry/Ginny, Hermione Granger, Minerva McGonagall, Neville Longbottom, Nymphadora Tonks, Ron Weasley
Genres: Action/Adventure, Comedy, Drama, General, Romance
Warnings: Death, Intimate Sexual Situations, Violence
Story is Complete
Rating: R
Reviews: 59
Summary: Third in the Almost Happily Ever After series, starting at the end of the hunt for the remaining supporters of Tom Riddle and the end of Ginny's Quidditch career.
Hitcount: Story Total: 123091; Chapter Total: 5032





Author's Notes:
This is the chapter where James is born. My thanks again to my Beta, FriendofMolly. I was only a spectator at the birth of my four children. With my Beta I had the perspective of someone who actually gave birth. As always reviews are much appreciated.




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Tuesday October 5, 2004, was Ginny’s due date. She was at the witch midwife’s office with Harry, getting checked. “James does not look like he is in any hurry to be born yet,” said the witch midwife. He’s not dropped, not in position. I want you back in a couple of days to check. This is quite normal.”

“Boggarts!” said Ginny. “How much bigger can I get? I can’t breath; the baby is pushing up against me so hard.”

“When the baby drops down into the birth canal you should have an easier time breathing,” said the witch. “Of course you will have a harder time walking as your legs get looser and the baby positions his head down there.”

“Why does this have to be so uncomfortable?” asked Ginny.

“I think,” said the witch midwife “Mother Nature wants you so uncomfortable that you will do anything to get that baby out of there.”

Harry did not know what to say or do. He really wanted this baby, and was very proud of Ginny. He also was very aware that it was all her right now; there was very little that he could do to help. If he got too concerned he was accused of hovering over her, but she wanted him around or close. Harry was breaking in a new secretary, Mary Lou Creevey, someone who could help him with the paperwork involved in managing the Auror department, so he went back to work. Ginny flooed to her mother’s house and talked. Sitting was getting harder and harder. She was told that walking was good for her, so she walked and walked and walked.

Thursday October 7 Ginny and Harry were back at the Witch Midwife’s office. “James has sort of turned into position,” said the witch “But has not dropped yet. If nothing happens before then I will see you Monday, but I expect something to happen before then. Call if you have any questions.”

Saturday Ginny and Harry watched the weekly Harpies Quidditch game, and Ginny wrote both the article on the game and another human interest story. Meanwhile Cindy wrote a little article on Ginny and how she was overdue but still covering the Harpies.

Monday October 11 the witch midwife said everything was ready, but James was still taking his time. Thursday October 14 the witch midwife finally said the baby was in position and should start dropping soon.

Friday Ginny was at her mother’s house. Her uterus was occasionally contracting, and over the morning the baby dropped. Ginny and Molly could really tell the difference. It was easier to breath and harder to walk. By the afternoon Ginny was having a contraction every hour or so, not hard and not too regular. Harry came back to the New Burrow for dinner. Molly let them know that Ginny’s labor was progressing, but it could still be quite a while. Harry and Ginny went back to Grimmauld Place for the evening.

Ginny did tell her editor at the Daily Prophet that she was in labor, and it was probably not a good idea to try and cover tomorrow’s Harpies game.

Friday night Ginny had a very hard time getting to sleep. It seemed that every time she was asleep she had another contraction, and they were getting harder and harder. They were still an hour or more apart. By 7:00 AM Harry was exhausted. He was glad it was Saturday and he had a couple of days off. He told Ginny “I have not had a very good night’s sleep, Ginny. Your labor is progressing and I’ll just stay with you today.”

“YOU’RE not having a good night’s sleep! YOU’RE not having a good night’s sleep! I can tell you that you have slept right through some of these contractions. Having your baby is very uncomfortable. You’d better appreciate me!” ranted Ginny. Ginny got up and got dressed, got something to eat. By the first part of the afternoon Ginny’s contractions were just under an hour apart, still too far apart to be worried. Ginny called the witch midwife, who wanted to meet the Potters at St. Mungo’s.

“Do you hurt?” asked Harry as they left for St. Mungo’s.

“It doesn’t exactly hurt yet,” said Ginny, “but it is very uncomfortable, and a lot of hard work.”

The witch midwife examined Ginny and said, “We’re making progress, but we have a very long way to go.”

“Boggarts!” said Ginny. “How long is a very long way?”

“You’ll probably have the baby in the next couple of days. Everything is going just as it has to,” said the witch.

“Next couple of days!” wailed Ginny. “What do I do now?”

“You can go home” said the witch. “Just let me know when the contractions get real regular or when your water breaks.”

Harry and Ginny went to the New Burrow. They both figured Molly knew about having babies, and she would know when they had to call the witch midwife and get back to St. Mungo’s. Bill and Fleur came over with their 3 children, including baby Louis who was a little over a month old.

Victoire had to bring Teddy over to Aunt Ginny and tell Teddy, “Aunt Ginny is working to PUSH the baby out. It is REAL HARD and takes a LONG TIME. Girls do that to get babies born.” Victoire was very proud of herself, almost like she had done it. Teddy was not so sure about all this.

By Saturday night Ginny’s contractions were about half an hour apart and strong enough that Fleur though they probably ought to go back to St. Mungo’s. They arrived back at about 10:00 PM. Everything was going fine until Ginny spilled a glass with a little water and a lot of crushed ice down her front, most of it landing right where the baby was suppose to come out. In addition to feeling very uncomfortable the shock of the cold seemed to temporarily stop the contractions. It took Ginny a couple of hours to settle down after that, and a couple of hours for the contractions to start again. Ginny had as comfortable a night as you can when every half hour to hour you are having a contraction. The staff tried to allow Harry to get some sleep, with only modest success.

Sunday morning Ginny’s contractions were back to being about 30 minutes apart. As the witch on duty said, “We are making progress, but there is still quite a way to go.”

“I’ve been in labor for two days! I’m in my third blasted day of labor and you tell me I have a way to go!” fumed Ginny. “Merlin! Bollox and Boggarts!” She was in a right state, frustrated, and very tired. Harry was doing his best to comfort her, but he was getting exhausted as well. The witch midwife did quite a bit of wand work, made sure that Ginny had taken the pain potions, and by noon had another talk with both of them.

“Ginny, Harry, we are making good progress. This is Ginny’s first baby, and it is not surprising it is taking a while. We should have a baby today. Ginny, is the pain under control?”

“It does not exactly hurt,” said Ginny, “but it’s exhausting. I thought that a 24 hour Quidditch game was hard, but this is as hard.” Ginny was close to tears. Harry was holding on to Ginny’s hands, massaging her back, trying to do anything he could to make her feel better.

By 7:00 PM contractions were less than 10 minutes apart, and Ginny’s water finally broke, and the contractions were getting harder and harder. Ginny was falling asleep between contractions, she was so exhausted, but you could see Ginny was as determined as could be. Molly had shown up, but she was keeping everyone else away. Harry was happy to have someone else there. “I feel as tired as I did at the Battle of Hogwarts,” said Harry. “I can’t imagine how Ginny feels.”

“Ginny will be fine,” said Molly. “Even with all the spells and potions that really do take care of the pain, having a baby is hard work. Frequently the first baby is the hardest.”

The next hour and a half the witch midwife kept encouraging Ginny, saying that they were making progress, that her cervix was dilating more and more and James was coming. Finally she said, “The next time you have a contraction push as hard as you can.”

For the next few contractions Ginny strained like the athletic she was, and the witch midwife said, “Real good progress, Ginny.” Finally she said, “I can see the head. A couple more good pushes and we should have it.”

Ginny gave a tremendous push, and the witch midwife had a baby in her hands. Harry said, “You did it, Ginny! We have a son.”

“That’s nice,” said Ginny very tiredly.

The witch midwife suctioned off the baby with her wand, cleaned him up a little, and put nappies on him, and then put James Sirius on Ginny. He started to make nursing motions with his mouth, and Harry and Ginny put James on her breast and he started to nurse. “Oh Harry!” said Ginny, still obviously exhausted. “This is unbelievable! It feels so good!”

Harry kissed Ginny and kissed the back of James head. “Ginny,” said Harry “this is what I’ve always dreamed of. Thank you! This is fantastic!”

“It’s a damn sight harder than anything I’ve ever dreamed of,” Ginny said. “But it’s worth it, every blasted minute of it.”

James finished nursing as Ginny struggled to stay awake, and as soon as James was done Ginny did give in to her exhaustion and fell sound asleep. Harry was not in much better shape (although he was no where near as physically tired), and the staff moved Ginny, Harry and James into a room and put them all down to bed.

About 11:00 PM James woke up and started to cry. Harry remembered the nights with Teddy, got up, changed James and gave him to Ginny. Ginny was not wearing a bra; Harry just put James on her breast. Ginny looked at Harry and said, “The other breast, Harry.” She helped move James to the other breast. Harry went back to sleep for a few minutes, and when Ginny called, “Harry, James is done” Harry got back up, changed James again, and put him back down. James nursed a couple more times that night. At 7:00 AM Harry woke up. James and Ginny were both sleeping. Harry went to the loo, and did a shaving spell. He called for Kreacher, and asked for a change of clothes, and got himself cleaned and looking presentable. Harry sent a message to his office letting them know that James Sirius Potter was born Sunday evening and that he was not going to be in at all on Monday.

About 8:00 AM Ginny woke up. Harry was looking at James, who was sleeping soundly in the little crib next to her bed.

“You look awake, Harry,” said Ginny. “Who does he look like?”

“He looks like us,” said Harry, looking down at James. “He has Weasley red hair, what hair he has, and your beautiful brown eyes. I think he looks a little like me. He looks like a baby, a beautiful baby.”

He turned to Ginny and went over to her, held her hand, and kissed her. “How do you feel, Ginny?” Harry asked.

“Tired,” said Ginny. “That was a lot of work! I feel a little sore down here,” pointing down where the baby came out. “The breasts are just a little tender too. And I have to go to use the loo.” Ginny got up and grabbed on to Harry, and let Harry help her as she gingerly sat down. A witch came into the room and asked Ginny if she would like help to take a shower and get cleaned up. She indicated that that would be fantastic, and Harry let the two women work on getting Ginny cleaned.

Ginny came out of the bathroom with a clean nightgown on, and said, “That feels better! I’m hungry!”

“The Weasley is coming out,” said Harry.

“I did a lot of work the last couple of days, Harry!” said Ginny.

The Potters heard a little noise from the crib, and Harry said, “I think someone else wants breakfast.” Harry picked up James and said, “Welcome, James Sirius Potter. It’s time to get up and have some breakfast with your parents?” Harry had the biggest smile on his face when he was talking to James, and James looked at his father and waved his hands and legs. Harry checked and changed James nappies and gave him to Ginny, who sat up in the bed, opened her night gown and put James on a breast. Ginny was not worried about modesty when only Harry was in the room, and Harry was enjoying watching James nurse. “How do you know which breast to put James on?” asked Harry.

“You put him on the one that is full first,” said Ginny.

“And you can feel which one is full?” asked Harry.

“Of course,” said Ginny. “It’s a lot different than nursing with Mother Minerva’s bras. You can feel the milk in your breasts. You can feel them empty and get full.”

“You’re beautiful, Ginny,” said Harry. “I think I’m the happiest man in the world right now. I have a beautiful wife and a beautiful new son.”

Ginny sort of leaned back in the bed with James on her breast, patting him, looked at him and Harry with the most contented smile on her face.

When breakfast was brought to the room Harry took breakfast for both of them into the room, and when James was done Harry tried to burp James while Ginny started to scarf down breakfast like she had not eaten in a couple of days. Ginny had not had anything significant to eat the day before, and she was honestly very hungry. After Ginny was finished eating Harry gave James to her, and while Harry was eating Ginny was looking at James and talking to him.

About this time Molly knocked on the door, and Harry got up and invited her into the room. “How are the new parents?” asked Molly. “How is my grandson doing?”

Molly looked at James who was lying on the bed, wide awake looking at his mother. Ginny looked up at her mother and said, “I thought after taking care of Teddy for those 3 months, plus this spring, I knew what it was like to be a mother. It’s different when you carry the baby for 9 months, have him kicking and rolling inside you. Are they all so wiggly and squirmy?”

“He’s an active one,” said Molly, grinning and nodding her head at James. “They are all different, even before they are born. Percy was the quietest. If you poked him he just tried to get out of the way. I can’t believe how active the twins were; the best thing about that pregnancy is that they came 2 weeks early. By the time they are born you are ready not to be pregnant, that’s for sure.”

“I didn’t mind being pregnant,” said Ginny. “The middle three months were the best. I knew what was happening to my body, and I wasn’t so huge.” Ginny looked at her mother. “Labor was like 2 back to back 24 hour Quidditch games. It was really hard work, but the result was better than any Quidditch win.” Looking down at James Ginny said, “You’re better than a Quidditch win, James. I bet no one though I would say anything was better than a Quidditch win.”

“Not even me?” said Harry in mock horror, pointing to himself.

“Oh, you’re better than a Quidditch win, at least on your good days,” said Ginny chuckling. Then with a self satisfied sigh, “I think we made a good one,” wiggling James hands and smiling at him. James gave a self satisfied smile and made noises that indicated he was filling his nappies.

“When you’re here you do this,” said Ginny handing James to Harry. “I fill him up and you empty his nappies.” Ginny had the biggest smirk on her face as she gave James to Harry. Ginny knew she would change her share of messy nappies; she sure did with Teddy. Harry took James over to where the clean nappies were and cleaned him and put new clean nappies on him. James gave a smile and before the nappy was fastened proceeded to wet it; Harry with the experience of Teddy and some of the male nephews was ready with the diaper over James before he could squirt him. “I’ve done this before, James, old boy, you’re not going to squirt me!” said Harry, smiling at his son. This being a dad is a really good thing, thought Harry. Harry brought James over to Molly, who held him as he gave a little burp, and then settled down to sleep.

Harry sat on the bed next to Ginny and held her hand, looked at her, and started to tear up. “What are you thinking about, Harry,” asked Ginny.

Harry said “How close we came to losing everything. How I could have stayed dead and James would not be here. How glad I am that your mother is here, and how I wish my mother could see her grandson, my mum and dad.”

“You’re a good dad, Harry,” said Ginny. “I am so glad you came back to me.”

One of the witch midwives came in and examined Ginny and James and said they could go home whenever they wanted to. Before they got up to go out of the room Mitzi was there, looking proud and happy. “I help Mistress, keep Mistress and little Master safe,” she announced, as she walked beside Ginny.

As they walked out of their room they saw another couple with a new baby. There was a little boy, maybe 5, and a little girl, maybe 3, with the couple. The couple looked familiar, and they tried to place them. The wizard said, “Harry Potter, how are you?”

“Fantastic,” said Harry. “Our first child, James Sirius,” as he showed James.

“I’m John Jones, this is my wife, Danielle and this is our 3rd since that awful day my wife and I picked up her daughter and my son at Hogwarts. Riddle did not defeat us!” He turned to the children. “Harry, Ginny, come here!” He knelt down to the children and said, “Remember that story I read you, about how Harry Potter defeated the wicked Tom Riddle and saved our world.” The boy nodded strongly and even the little girl indicated she knew which story that was. “This is the famous Harry Potter, the one in the book, the one you were named after.”

Harry sat down on the floor and shook the hand of his namesake. He said, “Do you want to see the lightning shaped scar?” The little boy’s eyes got wide open and he nodded yes energetically. Harry pulled the hair away from his face so it was easy to see the scar, and helped the little boy touch it. “You’re really real,” said little Harry with wonder in his eyes.

Ginny was watching, and said to the little girl “Are you named after me?”

Little Ginny looked at her parents, who nodded, and she said in a very small voice, “Oh” looking at Ginny and her parents, back and forth a couple of times before trying to bury her head in her father’s pants leg.

“I hope you don’t mind us naming our children after you,” said the wizard.

“I’m honored,” Harry said. “Thank you.”

“You named her after me, like I was famous or something?” Ginny asked.

“For what you did to fight Tom Riddle, not for the Quidditch,” John said.

“Thank you,” Ginny said. “I’m honored too. Who is the newest addition?”

“We named our second son Neville,” John admitted.

Everything was going well for the couple. He was working and they were raising a magical family. “Riddle died, but our genes, our family, will live on,” said the wizard.

By early afternoon Ginny was in her own bedroom with a crib for James at their bedside.




Tuesday Harry went back to work and Ginny was on her own, to care for James. She had the help of the house elves to cook and clean, and Mitzi stayed close, but Ginny was going to be the primary caregiver of James. Ginny woke up when Harry went to work, as did James. James nursed fitfully before going back to sleep, and Ginny fell asleep shortly after.

WAAAAAAAA WA WA WAAAAA WA WA (brief pause) WAAAAA WA WA WAAAAA WA WA

Ginny bolted upright, eyes closed. The vertigo that had plagued her ever since her head injury attacked her with a vengeance, and she fell back on her bed. Mitzi was there in an instant, “Mistress needs help.”

Ginny opened her eyes, grabbed Mitzi’s hand, and headed to the loo. There was nothing tentative about James!

WAAAAAAAA WA WA WAAAAA WA WA (another brief pause) WAAAAA WA WA WAAAAA WA WA

Ginny got to the loo, took off the knickers that you needed to wear during your period, or after having a baby.

Ginny looked down at where the baby came out. How that big head did come out of that? No one ever told you quite how messy it was, well they sort of told you, but then your water broke and that was messy, and after the baby you had the afterbirth, and then it was almost like a period as your body got rid of the rest. The stomach and that most private part of her sure didn’t look like it did before she became pregnant. Well it was private down there before you had a baby, but it sure wasn’t all that private when you were actually having the baby. Ginny was glad Harry was the only man in the room when James was born.

WAAAAAAAA WA WA WAAAAA WA WA (more urgently and louder) WAAAAA WA WA WAAAAA WA WA

Grab hold of Mitzi, thought Ginny, and get back to the bed. All right, James, thought Ginny. I’m coming. I’m coming.

James looked at his mother, mouth moving, arms waving, just a little panic in his face.

SLURP latch on Oh Oh. It was absolutely amazing, a little shocking actually, and a little painful at first, how much suction an infant could produce.

Ginny looked down at James, his little hands caressing her breast. Time to get a little air out of you, James, thought Ginny as she put James on her shoulder and got a couple of “BURP P P” noises out of him.

Disconnected thoughts drifted through Ginny’s mind as she nursed James. Now switch to the other breast. Oh on the right side, a little pain from the scar. Harry is never going to know about that. It’s not bad, just an annoying little pain really, just lets me know how close we came to losing everything.

So many things they don’t tell you. How your breasts are always uneven, one fuller than the other one. How when the baby cries and you can’t get to him right away the breast doesn’t care, but it will start to leak milk. Actually as a female it seems like you have things coming out of a lot of orifices, things you share with men and that you don’t. Men don’t have periods. They don’t feed babies pulling milk out of your front. They sure don’t push a quaffle out their bottom.

It hurts sometimes. It’s messy. It’s complicated.

Ginny looked at James.

It’s wonderful. It’s all worth it, a thousand times worth it, if you can produce a James after all that.

This being female is complicated. When she was the youngest and the only girl Ginny thought it was better to be a boy, do all the boy things. Well, she had done more of the boy things than most boys, fighting alongside Harry, Chaser for the Harpies. Harry loved her because she was tough, he said, and she always wanted to be tough. But Harry would never give birth, never nurse a child. That was one of the joys of being female.

It hurts sometimes. It’s messy. It’s complicated. And there was no way she would trade being female, not now, not after giving birth. She was not going to stop at one child. She was going to do it all over again, and maybe again, because being a mother was the most complicated, frustrating, and wonderful thing in the world.
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