The Baby Project: Put me back together

Ron- Chapter 14

I don't often feel bad about things. 

The things I do feel bad about are usually not really my fault, I just feel bad anyway.

But maybe I have been a bit harsh on Cho.

I don't hate her, it's just that she broke Harry's heart in 5th year, and as his best friend, I never forgot. I know he forgave her and he's happy with Ginny now, but bloody hell, someone's got to remind her.

So that's why I make my way to the hospital wing, almost tripping over a bunch of annoying first years, giggling about something Snape did that I really don't give a monkeys about. 

Cho told me about her ultrasound today, and I feel just a tiny bit bad for how I reacted.

I basically told her that I wasn't interested, and she'd have to this all alone. But more aggressively worded than that. And a bit more angrily than was probably needed.

I sat with Harry and Luna for a bit after that, and Harry was talking to Luna's bloody belly. What a madman. 

But it got me thinking, maybe I should be doing the same. Oh, I'll be damned if I sit there talking to Cho's belly, but the least I can do is show up to the ultrasound.

I enter the hospital wing, breathing in the bustling business of the place, the nurses rushing around, the closed curtains hiding the ultrasound patients. 

I pop my head round the first curtain to see Ginny lying on a bad and Neville standing next to her, gazing at the screen. 

"Bloody hell, how many are in there?" I burst out before I can stop myself.

"They seem to have multiplied," smiles Ginny woefully. 

Neville just looks stunned. I pat him on the back, with a "good luck to you mate," and then I am moving past the other happy couples, until I reach the curtain at the end. I figure it must be Cho behind there, so I peel back the curtain slightly. 

Oh.

Oh.

It isn't Cho.

It's Malfoy, snogging some girl's face off. 

I am just about the close the curtain and walk away, when I see a lock of bushy brown hair. 

My heart stops.

It can't be. 

"Hermione?" I ask incredulously. 

As they spring apart guiltily, my heart sinks. It is Hermione, who, moments ago, had the ferret pretty much lying on top of her.

It makes me sick. 

Did she really move on so quickly?

Or has this been going on long before I realised?

Either way, I need so somehow un-see that, because I don't think I can bear this pain of not being good enough, of the nasty ferret somehow having something that I don't. 

Without a word, I close the curtain and walk away. 

"Shit," I hear from behind me, and the scrambling of Hermione getting up and trying to come after me. 

I pretty much sprint down the hallway, doing anything to get as far away from them as possible.

"Ron?" I hear, but I don't stop to check who it was.

I run and run and run, until my lungs can't breathe anymore, which admittedly is not long after I started running. I'm not exactly the fittest wizard out there. 

Maybe that's why Hermione broke up with me. Maybe she finds me ugly now, too pudgy to call her boyfriend. But deep down, I know she isn't that superficial, that there must be another reason. 

I am bent over, wheezing to get some air back in my lungs, when I feel a hand on my back, and it is almost soothing, until I see it belongs to Cho. 

I don't shake her off though, and she eventually drops her hand. I sit down, exhausted from my exertion. Without a word, she sits down next to me, sighing. 

"You might as well tell me why you don't like me so we can move on."

I sigh, not in the mood to argue right now. "I don't dislike you, I just..."

And I suddenly can't think of any reason to dislike her, other than the fact that she's disturbing my peace.

But it doesn't really feel disturbed anymore. 

I would never admit it, but it feels good to have her sitting next to me, listening to me as I tell her about Draco and Hermione. 

She lets out a low whistle after I finish, and the reaction surprises me. 

"I didn't realise they were close," she mutters, frowning. "I'm sure Mione would have told me."

"I think she's been hiding more than we knew," I muse, and I'm not sure why, but I am really glad Cho is here with me.

She grabs my hand and turns to me, sincerity written all over her face. "I'm sorry Ron."

Maybe she's not so bad after all. 

"I don't want to talk about her anymore," I say hollowly, although her words start to thaw my heart. 

She drops my hand, and I am unsure how to feel about that, before she sits back, leaning against a tree I didn't even realise was there. She rests her hands on her bump, and it looks bloody big. It must be uncomfortable for her to carry around. I study her face, seeing her smile contentedly and look down at her belly as she rubs it absentmindedly. 

Her lashes are long and dark, I realise, although I'm not sure why that detail surprises me. Or why I notice it at all. 

"Have you had your ultrasound today?" I ask, desperate to continue a conversation with someone. Anyone. 

"Yep," she replies. Then after a moment, "do you want to see the picture?"

I nod, and she pulls a piece of paper out of her robes and hands it to me. 

There are two little bundles in there, their body shape recognisable. I'm deluding myself, but I could swear one of them has my toes. 

Not that I spend a lot of time looking at my toes, I just have this inexplicable urge to comment on it. 

Cho rests her head on my shoulder, and I am surprised to find the action comforting. 

And we just stay like that, not speaking, not moving, just looking at the picture of our children. 

A/N: Hello! Update is out!

Apologies for the slow progress, after I finish this book I'm going to go back through and edit it as I know some of the earlier chapters are slightly cringey reading back😂

Thank you for reading!!

Lots of love

Saf xx