Lunar Eclipse

Chapter Twenty Six

"Are you going to find out the gender of the baby?"

It was the question haunting Harry and Ginny as that lay in bed the night before Ginny's next doctor's appointment.

"I think we should," Ginny murmured, staring up at the ceiling. Her shirt was pulled up to reveal her bulging belly, and she was tucked against Harry's strong body. His arm was wrapped around her shoulder, pulling her closer into him. His other hand was on her bare stomach, his fingers tracing the freckles on the protruding surface.

"Don't you want it to be a surprise?" Harry asked, turning his head to look down at her. She glanced up at him, big brown eyes gleaming.

"The other two have been a surprise, and honestly, I would like to know if I need to buy any more for a baby girl, or if we're pretty much set for a baby boy," Ginny pointed out. She knew that while there would be some shopping for new things if the baby was a boy, a lot of the clothes the baby would go through would be hand-me-downs.

"We don't have to make the baby wear hand-me-down's, Gin. We have enough money to buy this kid new clothes," Harry replied, a hint of bitterness in his voice. Ginny sighed, knowing what he was thinking about.

"Harry, I promise you, our little boy or girl is going to know that, even if they wear hand-me-down clothing, they're still loved. And they're going to know that we don't have to worry about money," Ginny assured him.

She knew that Harry was just worried about the new baby feeling as he or Ginny did. All they were able to wear as children was clothes that had at one point belonged to someone else in the house. Harry knew how much he hated wearing Dudley's horrid hand-me-downs, and he knew how much Ginny hated asking for new shoes when her toes had been literally ripping through the seam.

"I know, I just want to make sure this kid has whatever they need," Harry sighed laying his head back on the pillow.

"Hey," Ginny cupped his chin with her hand. "They're going to know. We aren't going to spoil them to the point of rottenness. Just because they're not going to have everything completely brand new, that doesn't mean they're going to have to know what it's like to wonder about whether they're going to be able to get a new set of robes before school starts or not."

"I suppose you're right," Harry nodded, pondering the idea.

"So I think we should find out," Ginny repeated. She really wanted to know what they were having this time. She loved her boys so much, but she was secretly praying that this baby was a little girl. Boys were rowdy and hard to wrangle, while she always watched as Hermione would sit and braid Rose's hair, or have tea parties with her. She longed so badly to do that with the boys, but they could hardly sit still long enough to go to the bathroom.

"We do already have names picked out for both genders," Harry agreed, "it's not as though we're making a bet this time."

Ginny laughed. "Yeah, no more. I almost had a heart attack after I heard Albus Severus for the first time."

Harry gave a sheepish grin as Ginny laughed. "It seemed like a good idea at the time. And there's nothing wrong with the name. It's a strong name."

"Yup, but we agreed this time and that's what the kid's name is going to be. Remus Arthur or Lily Luna. Nothing else," Ginny raised her eyebrows as if daring him to contradict her.

"Okay, deal. We'll find out the gender," Harry conceded, heaving an exaggerated sigh.

"Just think- by this time tomorrow, we're going to know if this family is adding a little brother or a little sister."

*

The end of the day couldn't come fast enough for Harry. He would glance at the clock every so often to check the time to see when he could leave, but whenever he looked, he was always shocked to realize that the hand had only increased a few minutes.

"Potter," Kingsley Shacklebolt spoke, poking his head into Harry's office. "Go ahead and take the rest of the day off. It's Friday afternoon and things are pretty slow. Kick the weekend off early."

"Thank you, sir," Harry exclaimed already throwing his cloak on over his button up shirt.

"Eager are we?" Shacklebolt asked, chuckling.

"Ginny's got a doctor's appointment this afternoon in about an hour, and we're going to find out the sex of the baby," Harry responded breathlessly, with a smile.

"Well congratulations, and I hope all is well," the Minister gave Harry a kind smile. "Tell Gin I said hello."

"Will do. Thank you Minister," Harry nodded in appreciation towards the Minister.

"No problem Harry. Now go see your family and find out whether it's a boy or girl. My money is on a girl," Shacklebolt grinned.

"Mine's not. Statistically, girls don't run commonly in either one of our families, so I doubt we are having a girl, but who knows. Goodbye Minister, have a good weekend!"

"Bye Harry!" Kingsley laughed, watching as Harry practically dove into the fireplace and disappeared into the green flames.

"Ginny!" Come on, it's almost time to go! Are you ready?" Harry asked, dropping his briefcase on the floor in the entrance.

Moments later, Ginny appeared wearing one of Harry's old quidditch sweatshirts and a pair of tights.

"Let me grab my shoes, Mr. Anxious," Ginny giggled as she teased her husband for being so excited. She found it amusing how quickly she was able to change Harry's mind on finding out the gender of the baby. Now, he was completely hooked and very excited to know how their family was going to grow.

"Hurry up Gin!" Harry exclaimed, bouncing excitedly like a three year old waiting not-so-patiently outside an ice cream parlor.

"I'm coming," Ginny laughed, pulling her moccasins on her feet carefully, holding her balance as best she could, leaning on the island in the center of the kitchen. When she was done, she stood up and gave him an amused smile.

"Are you ready?"

Before she had even gotten all of the words out of her mouth, Harry was already bolting for the Floo. Ginny giggled to herself.

"I'll take that as a yes."

*

(A/N: Sorry this chapter was so short and crappy, I was writing this while I was half asleep and I'm still trying to figure out where I want this story to go from here, and how much longer I want to continue it. Anyway, I hope you've enjoyed this short, craptastic chapter :) until next time! Stay safe lovelies!)