Nine months

December

A Weasley fight

The Christmas holidays were growing near, and I could not wait for the school to be empty once more- I was getting more and more protective on my belly and walking down crowded corridors where someone may accidentally jab me in the stomach or bump me with a bag was giving me anxiety. 

Molly was insistent that I come home to hers for the holidays, but I managed to convince her to let me stay, my point being that I'd promised my parents I'd stay and that I wanted at least one medi-witch on hand at any given moment in case something happened. I figured that Ron had told her- Ginny promised that she hadn't, and Ron was still sending me death glares from across the classroom, pointedly sitting with first years so that he wasn't anywhere near me. I'd had enough of his pettiness, but I worried that if I brought it up again, he would out me to the whole school. It seemed that without Harry, there was no saving our friendship.

There was another party, this time out of the Gryffindor common room and down in the Great Hall, so that it was open to everyone, even teachers. It was being held on the last day of term so that everyone could attend, regardless of whether they were staying or going. 

McGonagall had told me that I probably shouldn't go, and I agreed with her heavy hint- I didn't want to go at any rate, and big parties still scared me to death, so I was quite happy to stay in my room and sleep. However, Ginny, forever the party animal, insisted that I should live "while I was still young", and she could perform a shield charm around the baby to protect her from elbows.

"Ginny, I hate parties" I whined on the night, stubbornly still wearing my uniform, which I'd recently had to alter, as my shirt no longer buttoned and my skirt was indecent. "I always have, I always will."

"You can't stay hidden away forever" she replied with her back to me, putting in a pair of big hoop earrings and wiggling into a pair of jeans. "And this'll be the last chance you'll get, I thought you were the one who hated wasted opportunities?"

"Don't turn my own words on me" I pleaded weakly, putting down my book and resting my hands on the baby. "And I have a good reason not to like parties, remember? The first time I was raped, the second I almost had a miscarriage?"

"That won't happen this time" she soothed, running her fingers through her wild hair and grimacing. "You'll know everyone here, and McGonagall will be watching you like a hawk. And you've got protective charms around you, you're basically wrapped in a cushioning charm. I'm surprised you don't bounce."

"Will you just respect my wishes?"

"Not this time" she replied gravely, dragging a brush through her hair. "I don't want to make you miserable, but I really believe that if you don't experience it now in a good way, you'll grow up being terrified of small spaces, noises, people. I mean, look what happened to Harry! He's in rehab right now, and he's barely older than me."

"That's different, Harry was fucked-"

"All of us are fucked, Hermione!" she suddenly shouted, throwing her hairbrush down on the table. "We've all got our death sentences set in stone now, Muggle-borns, blood traitors, werewolves, the order, we're all basically doomed! There's a good chance we won't all see the new millennia, so why can't we just live for the now? The war's coming, everyone's warning us about it! I mean, what if it happens tomorrow, and I never got to dance with you again? You never got to enjoy yourself?"

"Fine, I'll go!" I shouted, standing up and going to my draws and picking out the outfit that made me look the least pregnant. It was a simple oversized jumper and leggings, though the t-shirt underneath looked more like a crop top. I stuffed my swollen feet into boots and followed the glamourous Ginny down the stairs into the Great hall.