The Hidden One (2)

painting

The next few weeks were spent dealing with the Daily Prophet. News leaked that Harry had beat up the man, but the news made it seem like the man and Rose had been having another affair. Despite the fact that  many people were saying that Rita Skeeter was lying, many people still believed her, so Rose and Harry were spending most of their time at home or with Bill, Fleur and Victoire. Remus or Tonks were often at Shell Cottage too because Teddy had taken a liking to Victoire, and he was good at fetching things for the adults.

"Harry?" Rose asked. They were both in the kitchen making breakfast.

"Yeah?" Harry asked as he placed a chocolate chip muffin on her plate.

"Do you still love me now that I'm fat?" Rose asked. She was not six months pregnant, and her belly had grown almost overnight. She went from looking bloated to looking much more pregnant than she actually was.

"Of course I do," Harry said. "If anything I love you more now."

"So you only love me because I'm fat?" Rose asked.

"No, I love you more because you're carrying my child," Harry said, holding back a sigh. Rose had grown to be very self conscious of her belly, but Harry didn't care what she looked like. All he wanted was for her to be happy and healthy.

"Do you think we should tell everyone the gender?" Rose asked as Harry sat down across from her to eat his blueberry muffins.

"I kinda want to keep it a surprise," Harry admitted. "Seeing Dad, Sirius and Remus fight over who is right is very entertaining."

"They still act like they're twelve," Rose said, a grimace on her face. She was so cranky and over emotional from being pregnant that she could hardly stand to be around the three men when they were all together. She spent most of her time with their wives, learning about how to raise a baby.

"Wanna know what's weird?" Harry asked. Rose hummed to tell him to continue. "It's weird that our baby is gonna be twelve some day."

"It's weird that I'm gonna have to push this thing out of me in three months," Rose grunted.

"Can you stop referring to our child as this thing?" Harry asked.

"It's easiest to refer to it as thing thing so I don't accidentally reveal the gender to our family," Rose explained. "I can barely remember my own name now, so I don't want to slip up and reveal it."

"I feel like there's better things you could call the baby," Harry said.

"When I can get comfortable at night and I don't have to pee ten times an hour, then I'll call it a better name," Rose said.

"You know, Fleur was much happier at this point during her pregnancy," Harry noted.

"Unfortunately, I'm not Fleur," Rose said. "And her baby wasn't gigantic."

"The doctors say that the baby is normal sized," Harry sighed. He and Rose had already had this conversation before. While he knew that she was obviously uncomfortable, he was tired of having to tell her the same thing every day. "You're just small, so the baby seems bigger to you."

"We could try engorio-ing me," Rose suggested.

"Or we could never do that," Harry replied with a snort. Rose frowned as she ate the last of her muffins.

"Are you ready to go paint?" Harry asked, seeing that she was already done.

"I guess," Rose sighed as she held her hands out for Harry to help her stand. They were painting the nursery, and Rose was less than pleased. Her back was constantly hurting, especially when she stood for long periods of time.