Nine months

January

Enchanted 

The other few students that had remained in Hogwarts had crowded outside with the teachers, to watch the firework show to signify the new year. I'd only watched this tradition a few times before in the wizarding world, and even then I was taken back when the sky was lit up so spectacularly in pink and gold.

"Maybe it's a sign that the sky is pleased to see you" I whispered to baby, who kicked in return. She's started doing that a lot recently, and it was fascinating to see my stomach warp around and know it was a tiny girl inside kicking. Mrs Weasley had been specifically emotional, putting her hand on my stomach and feeling a little high-five back, as though the baby was trying to say hello back. But she was also kicking me quite a bit in the stomach, and it wasn't comfortable. I wondered how I was meant to learn when every ten minutes I would feel a sharp tug in my stomach or feel someone kick the desk in front of me.

We stayed there in silence for a good ten minutes- all of the children with me were also Muggle-born, as all the children with magical connections were forced by their guardians to come home, so the students with me had never seen a magical firework before. 

Especially not ones sponsored by Weasleys Wizard Wheezes.

Great dragons filled with fire roamed the clouds, breathing blue smoke out of their nostrils as they ducked and weaved through the clouds. Some sparkles simply hung in like stars, though these were, of course, magical, and were pink, blue, green, purple and gold. Sparks rained down like the snow at our feet, but they could land in your eyelashes and leave you unharmed. Even the bangs were enchanted- they didn't just explode, they roared, with fizzing sounds ringing in both ears, though you couldn't tell where it was coming from. 

I was as enchanted as I had been when I'd first read Cinderella as a child, and yet I couldn't enjoy it- my back and the balls of my feet hurt, and even the weight of the bump was so heavy I had to support it with one hand after standing still for fifteen minutes. In the end, I retired early, only being able to take the Gryffindors and Ravenclaws back to their towers, and missing out on the guys who lived down below, as I couldn't face going all around the castle any longer.

We left with McGonagall, after wishing the other half goodnight (who had been taken back by Snape), and stumbled up the stairs, the little ones still running and giggling, fuelled by the endless sweets they'd been fed throughout the evening. It was embarrassing to stumble along at the same rate as an elderly lady- the year before I had bribed Ron to take the younger years while I intentionally walked beside our head of house, but now she was a couple of steps ahead, and I was calling to her to slow down.

"I haven't been asked to do that in decades" she mused cheerfully, waiting to allow me to catch up.

"Why did I have to get sorted into Gryffindor" I wailed, leaning on the bannister for a bit for a rest, the younger students trying to rush off on their own. 

"I'm afraid the only other option for you was Ravenclaw, and they have the same amount of steps" she replied gently, and I groaned, cursing my overweight body.  "Do you want me to levitate you the rest of the way?"

"Could you?" I asked, relieved to immediately feel the weight being lifted off my feet and fade into nothing less like I'd fallen into a chair made of nothing. I didn't care that I looked ridiculous- the sixteen-year-old in her third trimester looked ridiculous, I doubted anything else I would be doing would make much of a difference. The two Ravenclaws and the three Gryffindors laughed to see me floating up the stairs, but I stuck out my tongue and made it clear that I was in on the joke too.

"Happy new year, boys" I called after the retreating Ravenclaws after we'd dropped them off in their corridor and made sure they got in safely before going to our own common room.