Growing Pains

Chapter Fourteen

"Hermione! They're going to be home anytime now!" Ginny called to her friend from the kitchen, where she was running around like a chicken with its head cut off.

"Ginny," Hermione walked over to Ginny, and placed a hand on her upper arm. Ginny whipped around, her long red hair flipping behind her.

"What?" She answered, eyes wide.

"Calm down. Harry's not going to care about dinner when he gets home. He'll just want to see you and the baby," Ginny nodded.

"Now Ron, on the other hand, will probably kiss me hello and then ask about food," they both giggled at the thought of Ron's obsession with food.

Suddenly, the oven dinged, and Ginny turned back around to swipe an oven mitt from the countertop. She began to open the oven and bend over to pull the dish from the oven, when the baby kicked, making Ginny jump. She bumped her bare arm on the inside of the oven door, dropping the casserole face down on the floor.

"SHIT!" She screamed, clutching her arm and looking at the ruined food that was splattered all along her kitchen floor.

"Gin!" Hermione cried, rushing over to Ginny, who was now running her arm under cold water. Hermione turned to the mess and waved her wand hurriedly, whispering "scourgify."

"Let me see," she insisted, waving her fingers at Ginny's arm. Ginny silently moved her arm towards Hermione, showing her the already blistering, red skin.

"What happened?" Hermione frowned, looking up from the burn to meet Ginny's eyes.

"I burnt myself?"

"No, what happened to make you burn yourself?" Hermione rolled her eyes and took a deep breath.

"The baby kicked. Really hard. It hurt, so it made me jump and..." she winced and sucked in air through her gritted teeth as Hermione bumped the burn.

"Here, I think I know a spell that'll help take the pain away, and then I know Molly has some ointment you could put on there. Hold still," Hermione placed the tip of her wand right above the spot on Ginny's forearm, and whispered something indistinguishable.

And just like that, as soon as the pain came, it was gone.

"Geesh Hermione, can you do that while I'm in labour?" Ginny half-joked.

"Sorry to disappoint, but it only works on smaller injuries," Hermione smirked.

"Ugh."

"Ginny! Hermione! We're home!" A voice called from the foyer, and suddenly Harry and Ron were standing in the entry way to the kitchen.

"Harry!" Ginny raced over to her husband, kissing him passionately. Harry placed his palms on her cheeks, wiping away tears of happiness as she cried.

"Stupid hormones," she whispered, leaning her forehead against his.

"Speaking of hormones..." Harry got down on his knees in front of Ginny, placing his hands on the sides of her belly. He planted a row of gentle kisses down her stomach, and Ginny giggled at the tickling sensation.

"I missed you," he said, standing up.

"I've missed you more," Ginny said, surprising herself with the sappiness of the comment. "And I think they've missed each other too."

She nodded her head towards Ron and Hermione, who were standing a few yards away, their foreheads pressed together, eyes closed.

"He wouldn't shut up about it all week," Harry laughed softly. "He was all 'I miss Hermione' 'I miss Hermione' 'Is it bad I miss her cooking?' All that crap."

At that comment, Ron and Hermione broke apart, and Hermione gave him a stern look, putting a hand on her hip.

"'Is it bad I miss her cooking?' Really Ronald?" She smacked at his chest, but couldn't bite back the smile that came with her teasing.

"Well, I'm sorry to upset you Ron, but the supper I was preparing is now a no-go."

"What?!" Ron exclaimed, coming over to hug his little sister.

"Yeah, I dropped it," Ginny snorted. "Clipped the oven door pretty good too."

She held up her arm to show Ron.

"Whoa, gnarly burn!" He glanced at Harry, who now wore a worried expression. "I mean, bloody hell Gin, are you okay?"

"I'm fine. Hermione cast a charm to take away the pain, so I'm good now. Can't say the same about the food though."

"Gin, you have to be careful," Harry said, placing both hands on her shoulders.

"I wasn't trying to burn myself. The baby just kicked my spine, so sorry, I kinda got a bit distracted," Ginny replied defensively.

"Hey, I wasn't saying that. I was just saying... what if Hermione hadn't been here? What if you had seriously burned yourself? You need to take it easy."

"So what? I'm not allowed to use the oven now?" Ginny bickered.

"Hey, you two, stop. Ginny, he just got home, cut him some slack. He's just worried about you. And Harry, you literally just got home. Chill out a bit mate. She was just trying to cook dinner like always," Ron interrupted the couple's arguing.

Both Ginny and Harry sighed.

"I'm sorry," Harry began.

"No, I'm sorry. I've just been a little on edge lately and I guess I just snapped," Ginny apologized.

"That makes two of us," Harry placed one hand on Ginny's cheek and the other on her stomach. "I love you. I don't want us to fight."

"I love you too, and I don't wanna fight either."

"Great. Now that you've made up, let's go grab something to eat," Ron said right before his best friend kissed his little sister. He'd gotten used to it by now, but still, it wasn't as if he was fond of the idea.

Ginny, knowing that her big brother had planned the timing of his comment, rolled her eyes and gave Harry a kiss, purely out of spite more than anything else.

"Get a room," Ron teased, hip bumping Ginny on the way to the front door.

"Oh shut up you big git," she wrinkled her nose and shoved him back.

"Welcome home to us," Harry mumbled to Hermione, who just giggled.

"Welcome home indeed. Hope you haven't had your fair share of crazy on that trip because I can assure you, there's plenty more coming your way."

"Bring it. I'm ready."

"You better be."

(A/N: Sorry for the awful chapter, I was just trying to get out of the hole I wrote myself into. I also have writers block, so I was kind of scraping the bottom of the barrel on ideas for this chapter. I promise it'll pick up in the next few chapters. In the mean time, if you're looking for a good read, I've got a bestie who's been writing a bunch of different types of stories, some of them being Harry Potter related, some of them fantasy genre. Definitely check her out! Her username is @ThePaintedDreamer222 ! Her work is really good! Thanks for reading and I hope you enjoy!

Also, check out some of my other stories! Some of my personal favorites to write are The Rings, Figures, and The Promise! I also really like to write Indulgences, but I need more critiquing on that one, so please read and comment suggestions! Thanks!)