The marriage law

All that i need

Summer seemed to end far too briskly, in Hermione's opinion. Although the days were still rather warm, the early mornings and evenings brought a cool breeze that cut right through you if you had the inconvenience of forgetting your jacket. However, in amongst a multitude of meeting agendas, family events and the excitement of little Victorie learning how to roll around on the floor, Hermione forgot that even though her own child was unborn, she still had to attend to him.

Despite the circumstances under which he had been conceived, Hermione felt that her son deserved nothing but the very best, and she loved him although she had technically never met him. It was during one of these rare moments of reflection that Hermione realised that she and Fred had done very little to physically prepare for their impending arrival.

Most other parents had gone out to buy cribs, clothes, bottles and toys as soon as the pregnancy test, still dripping with urine, came out positive. After the difficulty involved in getting pregnant, the whole incident involving Hermione finally finding out that she was pregnant, and the hectic months that followed, she had barely had a moment to catch her breath, let alone prepare for how her life was irreversibly going to change even more than what it already had.

So, it was with these thoughts in mind that Fred and Hermione set out to purchase what was apparently required to raise a baby to be the most productive member of society that he or she could be.

Having already done some research, Hermione decided that the dedicated stores in Diagon Alley were charging prices which she deemed exorbitant. After grabbing a warm coat, her purse in one hand, and Fred in the other she dragged them both around to the muggle stores which she had been eyeing recently.

It felt odd to her to finally enter one of these stores. Hermione had admittedly spent a short amount of time in her life cooing at the cuddly toys and cute bibs as she peered into shop windows when walking past baby stores, however, now that the time had come to make a definitive decision, she had to admit that she felt completely overwhelmed.

She and Fred stopped just inside the door of the first store, and it took all of Hermione's self control not to hyperventilate. Feeling the gentle, reassuring pressure of Fred squeezing her hand, she followed him over to where there were a number of cribs lined up. Hermione had seen some pretty strange things in her eventful life, but nothing compared to the selection of cribs here. There were some which had an in-built baby cry sensor; some converted into a bed for toddlers; whilst others were draped in so much gauzy fabric Hermione was sure that she would have to send out a search party when it came time to find her child after she put him down for a nap. Whatever happened to being able to find a plain and simple wooden crib for a baby?

The couple meandered up the aisles of products, finally seeing a crib that was mostly what they were looking for, and this one had the bonus of having drawers underneath as added storage. Moving on to change tables, they were faced with the same dilemma. There was everything there but a simple change table. Hermione just thanked her lucky stars that she and Fred did not own a car. She did not even want to fathom the thought of having to make another major purchase for the baby. Her feet were already beginning to ache, and her head was beginning to pound.

"Why don't we head over to the cafe across the street for some lunch?" Fred said, sensing that Hermione could not take much more.

Hermione nodded weakly, and allowed Fred to guide her across the street once they had paid for what they wanted.

"I'm okay," she said once she had settled herself in a seat. "I'm just not used to spending so much time standing up when I've got this extra weight to carry around. I was thinking that after we get some lunch, we can head over to this other baby store which is just down the road. I heard that they had some good quality baby clothes for a reasonable price."

After getting almost no response from Fred, she reached out and poked his arm where it was resting across the table.

"Are you alright? You've hardly said a word all day. In fact, I've done most of the discussions and bargaining with sales assistants."

This seemed to knock Fred out of his stupor, and he shook his head slightly like a dog ridding its ears of water.

"Wha'? Yeah, I'm fine."

This did not convince Hermione in the slightest.

"Are you sure?"

Fred sighed, and began playing with one of the salt shakers that sat in front of him.

"It just feels weird, all of this. Seeing and buying all the baby things have just made it all really hit home. It's one thing to cuddle someone else's baby and enjoy it, but quite another to actually be responsible for that baby."

Hermione finally understood what Fred was getting at. He was merely voicing the same arguments which she had been ruminating on since even before she became pregnant.

"I remember," she said after a short pause, almost whispering so that those sitting at the tables around them would not be able to hear what she was saying; "coming into Diagon Alley for the first time. I very clearly remember getting my Hogwarts letter, it feels like it was yesterday. But the fact is, it wasn't yesterday. It wasn't even last year. It was actually nine years ago. I shudder slightly when I think of how fast those nine, almost ten years have passed, and how different my life has turned out to what I expected."

Fred smirked slightly. "Can you think of what our life is going to be like nine or ten years from now?

Hermione felt a surge of pleasure roll through her as she contemplated the next decade or so, and yet at the same time she felt a sense of awe. Thinking of the future was not something that Hermione had done a lot of as she was growing up because it often led to dark thoughts, and miserable heartache. There was a time when she thought that she would not have a future beyond the next minute.

"I'm not sure that I want to think about what life is going to be like ten years from now. It seems more than a little scary."

Peering down at the menu in front of her, Hermione squinted at the various choices, allowing her brain time to think of how she phrased her next words.

"There was one thing that I learned when I spent that year on the run with Harry and Ron. That one thing was to live in the moment; all that you need in life is what is present in the moment you are in."

"How true," Fred replied being as enigmatic as ever.