Title: A Mother of Two
Rating: T
Pairing(s)/Character(s): Ron/Hermione, Harry, Rose
Warnings: ANGST (Read at your own risk)
Disclaimer: Don't own 'em - not making any money off 'em. Dern it.
Word Count: 2,580
Summary: Hermione is pregnant with twins, but something goes wrong.

Notes:

Hogwarts School of Witchcraft & Wizardry: Writing Club - Get Organized Month – Write about Hermione Granger.

The Ultimate Patronus Quest Challenge: Special Class H: Birds – Magical & Mystica Creatures - 1. Acromantula: Write a 1,000 oneshot about your NOTP

Hermione rested her head on Ron's chest. His fingers gently combed through her mess of curls as they breathed harshly, recovering from an enthusiastic bout of lovemaking. It was a celebration, and their bodies were flushed from desire and need still. "I still can't believe this," she murmured as she rubbed her nose against her husband's chest.

"I know I should have thought this could happen. I mean, I have my Uncles Fabian and Gideon, and then there's Fred and George. Twins are in my family, but for some reason, I always thought if there were twins born in the next generation, it would be from George and Angelina. Kind of stupid I guess."

Hermione looked up at him. Her eyelids were heavy as she struggled to stay awake. "Not stupid. Just naive." She bit her bottom lip as she thought about her next question, but she couldn't keep quiet. She had to know. "Are you upset about it?" She didn't think he was, but she just wanted to make sure.

He looked at her. "Of course not. Just..."

"Yes?" Hermione prodded.

"Well, I guess I'm a little worried about money. You and I both make decent livings, but now we'll have an extra child, and that wasn't something we planned for."

Her eyes twinkled. "I always thought we'd have three or four children. We're just getting to the three a little faster than we thought we would."

His eyes widened. "You want that many kids?"

She knew why he was surprised. Ron was the one from the big family and Hermione was the only child. Their positions should be reversed, but maybe that was why they were reversed. Hermione knew the loneliness of a small family, and Ron knew the hardships of a large family. Still, no matter how many kids they had, all of them would be happy. Ron and Hermione would both make sure of that "Yes, I do. But if it makes you feel better, we'll stop with the twins."

Ron pulled her tighter against his body. "Now we have to tell Rose. How do you think she'll take the news?"

Hermione's eyes drifted shut, but before she went into dreamland, she answered, "Rose is excited about being a big sister. I can't imagine having two little siblings instead of one will make much of a difference to her. At least not until they're born and the reality hits her."

Ron shifted slightly under her and chuckled lightly at that. Rose really had no idea what was in store for her. He didn't say anything in response, and his soft snores were soon heard, and Hermione was able to go to sleep, safe in the knowledge that everything was right with her world.

Rose's hand felt Hermione stomach. She pouted. "Mom, I thought you said I can feel it when the babies kick."

Hermione placed a hand on Rose's head. "You do, but they don't kick all of the time. Even in my stomach, the babies have to sleep every now and then."

Rose tore her eyes away from the rounded stomach in front of her and looked up at Hermione's face, "Are you sure it's two boys?"

Hermione grinned. "That's what the Healer said. And with magic, it's 95% accurate."

"There are two babies. You couldn't give me at least one little sister."

Hermione thought she should be offended. "Hey, I did the best I could. Unfortunately, I can't control that part of it. Thankfully, you have a lot of female cousins to play with."

Ron walked in just as Rose whined, "It's not the same,"

"Is she complaining about having two brothers and no sisters again?"

Hermione rolled her eyes. "Of course. We may have to have a fourth child and pray it's another girl."

"Don't even joke about that," Ron warned.

Hermione grinned. "You know she got her stubbornness from you, right?"

Ron gazed at her with a knowing look. "Oh really? I remember a certain bushy-haired bookworm that could be just as stubborn as me. In fact, many times, she was more stubborn."

Hermione stood up. "I won't dignify that with a response."

Rose smiled happily as she ran to her dad and wrapped her arms around his waist. "Hi, Dad! I've been taking good care of Mom today."

"She really has," Hermione agreed, "She hasn't left my side."

Ron hugged Rose close. "I've taught my baby girl well."

Hermione took a step forward, but she stumbled slightly when a sharp pain hit her in the stomach. She hissed and closed her eyes.

Ron raced to her. "What's wrong?"

She fell to her knees; her hand clutched Ron's shirt as she went down. "Hurts," she whispered.

"Mom, Dad, there's blood!" Rose screamed.

That's the last thing Hermione remembered before everything went dark.

Ron didn't sit in the waiting room; he paced. He kept looking to the door that led to where Hermione was, currently being looked over.

He wanted to be back there with her, holding her hand, but he was barred from the room as the Healers worked on her.

The door open and Harry came running. "Any news yet?"

Ron shook his head. He didn't look at Harry, but he asked, "Was Gin okay with watching Rose?"

"Of course," Harry scoffed, coming to stand besides Ron. He put a hand on the redhead's shoulder. "Hermione will be okay. She's a fighter."

"Maybe, but what about my sons?"

"Well, they're half of Hermione, so I'm sure they not only inherited the fighter gene, but also her stubbornness."

His stomach clenched as he thought back to the conversation they jokingly had earlier, just before his world tilted upside down. "I want to know what's happening. What's wrong? We didn't have any problems with Rose. Why is this happening?"

"I don't know," Harry murmured. They stayed standing, waiting to hear news. They needed to know everyone was okay.

It was two hours later that a Healer came out to find them. Ron looked at the man and anxiously asked, "Well?"

The healer shot Harry a look. "Mr. Potter, I'm sorry, but I can only talk to Mrs. Weasley's husband or immediate family members."

Harry's eyes became shadowed as he nodded and went to move away.

Ron grabbed Harry's arm. "Harry is Hermione's brother in every way that matters, and he has just as much right as me to hear what you have to say. So talk. Is my wife and sons okay?"

The Healer looked as if he was about to argue about Harry's right to be there, but one look at furious blue eyes made him change his mind. "Mrs. Weasley went into labor."

Ron blinked. "She's only seven months pregnant. Isn't that too soon?"

The Healer nodded. "I'm afraid so. Even with the help of magic, babies shouldn't be born that early. And that's why we're doing everything we can to stop the pregnancy. Unfortunately, she's had a negative reaction to one of the potions we gave her."

When Ron went silent, fearing the absolute worse, Harry asked, "What kind of negative reaction?"

The Healer couldn't meet either of their eyes. "She has fallen into a coma."

"Coma!?" Harry screamed. "Why don't you do something to help her?"

The Healer glared. "We're doing everything we can. We've looked her over, and we see no reason for her to be in a coma. We think it might be because her body's magic is lending itself to your sons in order to save them, and her magic can't support both the babies as well as her own body. Only time will be able to tell us if it's successful."

"Time? That's all you've got for us?" Ron asked.

The healer ignored the tone. "You'll be notified as soon as there's any other information." With that, the Healer left them.

"She'll be okay," Harry muttered, but Ron wasn't sure who it was meant to reassure.

After what felt like forever, Ron was finally allowed into see her, but Harry wasn't. And no matter how much Ron argued, the Healer wasn't budging this time.

He apologetically looked at Harry.

Harry shook his head. "Go. Talk to her. I heard that people in a coma can hear what's going on around them, and maybe she'll wake up if she hears your voice."

Ron nodded. When he walked into the hospital room, his steps faltered. There weren't wires or tubes like there might have been in a Muggle hospital, but she still looked frail. In fact, Ron wasn't' sure he had ever seen Hermione look so weak.

He took a deep breath as he approached the bed. He grabbed her hand. "Hermione, I don't know if you can hear me, but Harry said you might be able to. I'm not sure where you went in your mind, but you need to wake up for me. I know you're doing everything you can to save our sons, but once they're saved, you have to come back to us. Our sons and daughter need their mom. I need their mom. I can't imagine my life without you, and I never want to have to live it without you. We are going to grow old and grey together. Remember? You promised me. And if I can say one thing about Hermione Weasley, it's that she never breaks her promises."

He bent down and pressed a soft kiss to her cheek. "Come back to us," he whispered fervently.

He hoped she heard his plea. He didn't know if he would be able to survive if he lost her.

Ron stayed with her until he was ushered out be a Medi-witch. "We'll come and get you when you're allowed to have another visit," she promised sincerely.

He stared at his wife as he walked to the door. Before he exited the room, he said, "I love you, Hermione. Remember your promise."

When Ron met up with Harry in the waiting room, he told his best friend how Hermione looked.

The two of them sat side-by-side as they waited to hear about an improvement. Eventually, Harry had to leave to go home to Ginny and the kids. "What should I tell Rose?"

Ron thought about it. He didn't want to needlessly scare his daughter. "Just tell her that her mom is sleeping while her magic protects the babies."

Harry wordlessly nodded. He extracted a promise from Ron to Floo if there were any changes and then he patted Ron on the back before he left.

Ron listened to the words, but he had trouble processing them. He couldn't believe this was actually happening. "You can't."

"We have no choice. If there's any chance for all of them to survive, the babies must be delivered."

"It's too soon," Ron muttered. His sons weren't strong enough to leave Hermione's womb yet. They weren't.

"Mrs. Weasley's magic can't continue to sustain the babies as well as her body much longer. If we don't attempt this, we'll lose all three of them," the Healer announced gravely.

Ron swallowed past a lump that suddenly felt lodged in his throat. "What are the chances of my sons surviving?"

Part of him didn't want to know the answer, but a bigger part of him knew he needed to know, so he could prepare himself.

The Healer sighed. "In these kinds of situations, it's hard to say. If it was one baby, the chances for a happy ending would be higher. But since there are two babies, there's always a chance that one might be more undeveloped than the other one, and when that happens, it's more likely that the weaker one doesn't make it. I'm not telling you this to be harsh or to scare you, but you asked, and I've learned to never give patients or family members false hope."

Ron nodded. "And there's nothing else you can do that would increase the chances of everyone being safe and happy?"

"I'm afraid this is the last option for us."

Ron closed his eyes and gave the order. "Go."

He held a baby in his arms when Hermione opened her eyes. She looked over at the two of them. She couldn't help but notice that there were tears in Ron's eyes. Somehow, she just knew what happened. Maybe it was a sixth sense. Maybe she just knew her body. Or maybe Ron's sadness while holding a baby when there was no second baby nearby could only mean one thing. "Ron?" she whispered.

He looked up from the newborn's face. "Welcome back," he murmured with a forced smile.

"Our other son... He's... He's not here, is he?"

Ron didn't ask how she knew. He only shook his head. "He was too weak."

Hermione closed her eyes as pain shot through her heart. "It's not fair, it's not fair, it's not fair," Hermione repeated. She didn't stop. That was the only thing she could even think to say.

Ron scooted backwards on the bed so she could see the baby. "Meet our son."

She wanted to scream at him about why he was acting so indifferent. He was acting as if he didn't care that their second son had died before he could really live, but she knew he was doing his best to remain strong for her. When he was alone or maybe with Harry, he'd allow himself to fall apart. With Hermione, he felt the need to take care of her, and he couldn't do that if he gave into his own grief.

So, instead of shouting at him about how he should be showing some emotions, she simply looked at the baby. She couldn't help but think she should be holding another baby while she and Ron discussed how to safely swap them, so they could each hold both babies. There was a missing piece in their family, and it would never be filled. She didn't take the baby from Ron's arms; she felt too tired to hold him and didn't want to accidentally drop him. Instead, she just gazed at the sleepy face and raised a hand to run a finger along the smooth cheek. "Is his name going to be Hugo or Alex?" Those were the names they picked out for their sons.

"I think I like Hugo."

Hermione nodded. It didn't matter to her.

Ron stared at her in the unnerving way he did when he was trying to peer into her soul. "The Healer said that once your body heals completely from the damage—in about six months—we can try to have another baby."

Hermione remembered how they talked about how many kids they were going to have. It was all jokes, all happiness. Neither of them thought something like this would ever happen to them. It did, though, and the reality changed everything for her.

She slowly shook her head. "No."

"No?" Ron echoed.

She stared into Ron's eyes. "I never want to go through this again. If I get pregnant, I'll worry the whole nine months about something going wrong. I never want to feel this empty again. Rose and Hugo are it for us. No more kids. No more kids."

Ron nodded.

She knew he thought she would change her mind once time passed and the pain was nothing more than a terrible memory, but Hermione would never change her mind. She was a mother of two. And she would forever stay a mother of two.