Victoire Weasley was born three hours after Rose got to the hospital. Harry and Rose attempted to watch the birth to see what it was like, but Harry was so hungover that he left after the first push to puke. Rose didn't last much longer, and she and Harry ended up puking into a bush together.
"I can't do that," Rose panted as she sat next to the bush, her eyes wide and face pale. Harry vanished the large amounts of puke and sat next to his wife.
"That was horrifying," Harry said. "I don't know how Bill could stand to hear Fleur screaming like that. I can't...you're gonna have to..."
"I know," Rose said.
"What are you two doing out here?" Cedric asked as he saw them sitting on the floor. He was sweaty from quidditch practice, but neither Rose nor Harry cared.
"Fleur and Bill let us in the room while she was giving birth," Rose answered, a traumatized look on her face.
"I'm guessing it wasn't pretty," Cedric said. Rose and Harry both shook their heads no.
"It was very loud," Harry said.
"Has she finished giving birth?" Cedric asked.
"Probably," Rose said. "We left pretty early on."
"Let's go see," Cedric said. Rose and Harry stood up shakily and followed Cedric to the waiting room.
"There you two are," Hermione said, a wide smile on her face. "They just let the grandparents in. Victoire is perfectly healthy for being a few weeks early."
Rose and Harry nodded and slid down into the seats next to Ron, who was half asleep from being hungover.
"What's up with you two?" George asked, a smile on his face at the excitement of finally being an uncle.
"I can't do that," Rose said. "I'm not going to do that. This baby is just gonna have to stay in me forever."
"I'm sure it wasn't that bad," Hermione said.
"It was worse," Harry mumbled. "So much blood and screaming."
"I...I'm not...," Rose trailed off as she squeezed her eyes shut.
"Oh, boys, Ginny, come in here," Mrs. Weasley said as she opened the door to the room. The Weasley siblings immediately ran to see their new niece, Fleur's sister rushing in with them.
"Viktor, you too," Mr. Weasley said. Viktor gave them a thankful nod and entered the room as well.
"Are you two alright?" Mrs. Weasley asked.
"No," Rose admitted. Mr. And Mrs. Weasley shared a look before pulling chairs to sit across from the couple.
"I'm guessing that you've never seen a baby being born before," Mrs. Weasley said sympathetically. Harry and Rose both shook their head no.
"There's no way that I can do that," Rose said shakily.
"I thought the same thing and then I had seven kids," Mrs. Weasley said with a small chuckle. "Once you hold your baby in your arms the first time, it makes it all worth it."
"How can you stand to see her in so much pain?" Harry asked Mr. Weasley.
"It's hard," Mr. Weasley said with a sigh. "But you just stay by her side and encourage her. Like Molly said, holding your baby for the first time makes you forget all the bad times."
"I don't think my body can even do that," Rose said. "I can't...Merlin help me."
"You don't even really think when you're giving birth," Mrs. Weasley admitted. "Your brain just focuses on getting your child into the world and nothing else."
"There was so much blood," Harry said, a faraway look in his eyes.
"That's probably the scariest part," Mr. Weasley admitted. "Seeing all the blood makes you think the worst, but the healers are trained for this. They won't let anything bad happen."
"Not to mention your healing powers," Mrs. Weasley said.
"But what if they don't work?" Rose asked. "They didn't work when my insides got twisted. What if they don't work for childbirth?"
"You're probably going to feel the same amount of pain, but you're going to heal faster than normal," Mrs. Weasley said.
"Or I could just keep the baby in me forever and never do that," Rose said.
"Unfortunately, that's not how life works," Mr. Weasley said. "And I promise you, the second you hold your baby you'll forget you were ever even scared."
"You two have five more months to prepare," Mrs. Weasley reminded them. "I suggest watching more videos and going to some classes."
"Thank you," Rose said softly. She was still shaken from seeing Fleur, but she felt much better after talking with the Weasley parents.
"Of course," Mr. Weasley said. "Now, let's go see little Victoire."
Rose and Harry linked hands as they followed the Weasley parents into the delivery room. Everyone was surrounding Fleur and Bill on their bed, so they couldn't see the baby at first. Mrs. Weasley forced George and Fred to move, allowing them the first look at the baby.
"Oh, she's beautiful," Rose gasped. The baby was smaller than normal, but that was to be expected since she was born early. Her hair was the same shade of blond as Fleur's, and her eyes were the same shade of blue as Bill's. Victoire was slowly blinking, looking between her mother and father.
"Come closer," Fleur encouraged. She had become a sort of mentor for Rose through her pregnancy, and they had developed a close bond. "Do you want to hold her?"
"Oh, I couldn't," Rose said quickly.
"Everyone else has gotten a chance to hold her," Bill said. Harry gave Rose an encouraging nudge and a warm smile. With a shaky breath, Rose sat on the edge of the bed, gently accepting the baby. Victoire fussed for a second before relaxing into Rose's hold, closing her eyes and going to sleep.
"You're a natural," Harry said softly. Rose grinned at him as she lightly bounced the baby.
"She's perfectly healthy for being born early, and we're going to get to go home in three days," Bill said quietly as he moved so that Fleur could lay down and rest. "She's smaller than average, but they're expecting her to grow soon."
Everyone continued to talk about Victoire, but Rose tuned them out as she looked at the baby in her arms. It felt different than the first time she had held Sebastian or Arabella, and Rose knew it was because she would be holding her own baby soon.
"I'm really sorry for running off," Rose apologized to Fleur. "I just...I got scared."
"I didn't even notice, if I'm being completely honest," Fleur admitted, her French accent growing thicker because of how tired she was. "I can barely remember the pain now. All I can remember is seeing her for the first time and hearing her cry."
"So it's not bad?" Rose asked.
"It's horrible," Fleur said, causing Rose to cringe. "But worth it. I'd go through pain ten times worse to have Victoire."
"Do you want her back?" Rose asked, noticing how Fleur's eyes kept going to the baby.
"I do," Fleur admitted, nudging Bill to held her sit up. Victoire fussed a little but immediately calmed and went back to sleep when she settled in Fleur's arms.
"You're already an amazing mother," Rose said.
"Thank you," Fleur said. "I'm expecting you to come over some to help and to learn what to do when your baby is born."
"We will," Rose assured her, glancing back at Harry who was talking with Bill and Charlie.
"I'm really sorry, but I need to check on the mum and baby," a healer said as she and several other healers entered the room. Everyone except for Bill immediately went to leave the room, waving goodbye to Fleur and the baby. Rose couldn't help but notice that several of the healers were sending her nasty looks.
"Did anyone else notice them looking at me?" Rose asked as everyone sat down in the private waiting room.
"They looked at you as if you had done something wrong," Hermione said.
"I think I know why," Ron said angrily as he handed Rose a copy of the Daily Prophet. On the front page was a picture of Rose holding her belly while Harry walked away from her and another picture of her hugging Krum.
"This just happened. How did they get these pictures?" Rose asked.
"We can do magic, in case you forgot," Fred said with a snort, causing Rose to flick him off.
"What does it say?" Ginny asked. Rose took a deep breath before reading.
"Rose Potter, or should we say Rose Krum? Briar Rose Potter, the wife to The Boy Who Lived and the Savior of the Wizarding World is pregnant, but that's not the biggest shock. The biggest shock is that the father is internationally famous quidditch star Viktor Krum. Mrs. Potter apparently broke the news to Mr. Potter at St. Mungo's, leaving him to stumble away. Mr. Krum was right there to comfort Mrs. Potter, giving her a large hug and then walking away to a private room with her.
An inside source tells us that the baby was conceived in June when Mr. Krum had a break from his intense quidditch practices. He and Mrs. Potter have reportedly been writing letters to each other ever since the Trinidad Tournament, which they both competed in. The baby is reportedly due in late March or early April and both parents are ecstatic!
An inside source tells us here at the Daily Prophet that Mr. Potter is apparently divorcing Mrs. Potter after the news of her affair. Mr. Krum and Mrs. Potter are reportedly going to get married the second that the divorce is finalized, and they plan on raising their child together in Bulgaria. Mr. Potter has already moved back in with his parents, the famed James and Lily Potter who came back to life after being dead for 14 years. Mrs. Potter was actually the one to bring them back to life, which makes this whole situation even more difficult.
In even more shocking news, an inside source tells us that Mr. Krum is not the first person who Mrs. Potter has cheated on her husband with. She has apparently had affairs with Mr. Ronald Weasley, Mr. Fred Weasley, Mr. George Weasley, Mr. Cedric Diggory, who she brought back to life, and her own cousin, Mr. Draco Malfoy, who she was engaged to at one point. We hope that Mrs. Potter gets what's coming to her and that Mr. Potter is able to find someone who actually cares for him."
No one said anything once Rose finished reading. Rose let out a sob and curled into Harry's waiting arms. He was shaking with anger, and he was ready to walk into the Daily Prophet office and turn Rita Skeeter into a cockroach for life.
"I'll kill her," Viktor said. "This Skeeter woman is horrible! I could get kicked off the quidditch team for this!"
"Me too!" Cedric said. "And she's trying to ruin their life! We can't let her get away with this!"
"That cockroach has the audacity to say that you're cheating on Harry," Hermione said, anger practically radiating off of her. "I'll help you kill her."
"No one is killing anyone," Mrs. Weasley said. Her voice was shaking with anger, but she was calmer than most people in the room. "We will use the Quibbler to release our own statement and we'll write to the Daily Prophet and ask them to put the statement in too."
"Everyone thinks I'm a whore now," Rose cried. "She's absolutely horrible. How could she say that about me?"
"Cause she's a literal cockroach," Ginny said, a sneer on her face. "She deserves to be stepped on."
"I have to go talk to my coach about this. I'm really sorry," Viktor said. "We'll put out our own statement and we'll make sure that everyone knows that you and I never had an affair or anything."
"I have to go too," Cedric said. "I'll put out my own statement too."
"Thanks," Harry said, his voice tight. Cedric and Viktor nodded and then left to go make sure that their careers weren't ruined by Rita's lies.
"If you'll excuse us, we have some Dungbombs and fireworks to send," George said, his face set into an angry scowl.
"We'll be back as soon as we find Rita's address," Fred said. The twins left with a pop, making Rose jump in Harry's arms. The healers all left the room shortly after, all of them sending Rose disgusted looks.
"You're a disgrace," one of the healers spat at Rose, making her flinch and curl into an even tighter ball.
"Don't talk about her like that," Harry said strongly.
"I've always thought that you could do better," the healer said before leaving. Rose let out another sob as Harry pulled her even closer. She was completely on his lap by this point, her hands clutching his shirt.
"I'll go to the Ministry right now and see what we can do," Percy said.
"Me too," Mr. Weasley said. "Kingsley and Remus won't like the article, and they have the most power right now. We'll figure this out."
"The dragons still crave human flesh," Charlie offered. "I'm sure we can get her to Romania without anyone noticing."
Rose let out a small chuckle. Harry placed a small kiss on her forehead.
"This day has just been one bad thing after another," Rose sighed, her tears finally slowing down.
"Not everything has been bad," Mrs. Weasley said. "Victoire is here now and she's perfectly healthy. That's a really good thing."
"Yeah," Rose said softly. "But now everyone knows I'm pregnant but they think it's Viktor's baby."
"I've never liked Krum," Ron stated.
"You had the biggest man crush on him," Harry said.
"Yeah, but then he snogged Mione," Ron said. Hermione slapped his chest, hissing that it wasn't the time.
"What are we gonna do?" Rose asked, her voice soft and light.
"We're gonna release a statement and then ignore anyone who doesn't believe us," Harry said. "Their opinions don't matter. What does matter is that you and I are in love and having a baby and if anyone tries to look at you, I'll kill them."
Rose just nodded and shuffled to be more comfortable. The warning that Dumbledore gave her echoed in the back of her mind, and she subconsciously wrapped her arms around her belly. She knew that there were still some Death Eaters left, and they would love to kill their baby. Rose couldn't help but be worried.
"How about we say bye to Bill and Fleur and then go home and take a nap?" Harry suggested.
"You just want to nap cause you're hungover," Rose said with a small chuckle.
"Very hungover," Harry confirmed. "So let's go take a nap and not worry about Rita Skeeter for a few hours."
"Okay," Rose mumbled as she stood up. Harry linked their hands together and guided them into the room with Bill and Fleur.
"I'm guessing you've seen the article," Bill said.
"Yeah," Harry said. "We're gonna go home and nap and forget about it for a few hours. Mr. Weasley and Percy are at the ministry right now trying to see if there's anything they can do."
"I never liked that woman," Fleur growled, her face set into a scowl. "She's horrible."
"If I ever see her someone will have to hold me back so I don't punch her," Rose said.
"I don't think anyone will hold you back," Bill said. "By now we all want to punch her."
"By the way, we've requested another healer," Fleur said. "That healer was being nasty about you and so we told her she could leave."
"Thank you," Rose said softly, a tired smile on her face.
"Congratulations, and we'll see you soon," Harry said, noticing how tired both Rose and Fleur were. The new parents mitered their goodbyes, more focused on the squirming baby in Bill's arms.
"Do you need anything?" Hermione asked them as they came back into the waiting room.
"No, we're good," Rose said.
"We can stop by tomorrow," Ron offered. "I'm sure mum can make you some food."
"You can't just offer your mother's food," Hermione sighed.
"It's no problem if you do want food," Mrs. Weasley said.
"Some shepherd's pie would be nice," Rose said sheepishly. She didn't want everyone to constantly give them stuff, but she also couldn't say no to Mrs. Weasley's food.
"Of course," Mrs. Weasley said kindly. Rose and Harry waved goodbye to everyone before making their way through the hospital to the fireplace.
"Everyone is staring," Rose mumbled. Harry's arm around her waist tightened some as they passed a wizard, who was staring at Rose like she was a piece of meat.
"I hear you're in an open marriage!" Thr wizard yelled. "Can you open it to me?"
Rose and Harry both ignored the man until he followed them, leaning forward to grab Rose's butt. She let out a shriek and pulled our her wand, blasting the man against the wall.
"You piece of sh-"
Harry was tackling the man in an instant, throwing punch after punch. Rose clutched her arms around her stomach as Harry and the man started fighting. It didn't take long until they were being pulled apart by a very unhappy looking Sirius and Remus. Their wives and the Potter parents were standing behind them, looking upset.
"What the bloody hell is happening?" James asked, staring at his son in shock.
"Nothing," Harry muttered as he walked over to Rose to make sure that she was okay. Harry's lip was bleeding and he had a small limp.
"I'm very sorry, sir, but you're going to have to talk to the aurors," a healer said angrily. "We don't tolerate that sort of behavior here at St. Mungo's."
"I'm head auror, so I can handle this," Tonks said. The healer looked hesitant, but she nodded anyways, looking a little starstruck.
"You gonna tell us what that was about?" Sirius asked, an eyebrow raised. Rose clutched onto Harry's arm as Remus helped the man stand. He looked worse than Harry, with a busted lip, a cut over his eyebrow and bruises all over his body.
"He-he touched me," Rose said, her voice breaking. James barely got in between the man and Remus and Sirius to stop them from pummeling the man.
"Don't kill him," James said. "Trust me, I want to hurt him just as much as you do, but that won't end well for us."
"I'll do what I want," Sirius snarled.
"Sirius," Marlene said tensely. His body detensed and he slowly turned to see his wife and young children.
"Touch her again and I'll cut off your hands and make you eat them too," Sirius snarled before walking off to hold Sebastian. Rose knew that he was holding his son just so he wouldn't hurt the man.
"Remus," Tonks said softly. "There's nothing we can do."
Remus spat at the man before turning away. James muttered something to the man, making his eyes go wide. He ran off quicker than Rose had seen anyone run before.
"Are you okay?" Lily asked softly. Rose just sniffled and shrugged, moving closer to Harry. She was completely pressed against his side with his arm around her waist. He was completely healed, but the pissed off look was still on his face.
"Can we go home?" Rose whispered. Harry's face immediately softened and he nodded.
"We're gonna go say hi to Bill and Fleur, but we'll come over after, okay?" Marlene said.
"Okay," Rose whispered. She was exhausted, both mentally and physically.
"Do you just want to apparate from here instead of going to the fireplaces?" Harry asked quietly. Rose knew that the fireplaces were a whole floor below, so she nodded.
"Just a warning, I'll probably puke too," Harry said, his tone light as if trying to make Rose smile. She giggled lightly before clutching even closer to Harry. As they landed, both of them puking their guts out, Rose knew that she would always be happy with Harry.