Harry Potter and The Marriage Law

Not Broken Yet

3 months later

Ginny stretched her sore and tired body, trying to rid herself of some of the uncomfortable pains she had been getting accustomed to over the last few weeks. Her hand ran over her large bump with a loving smile gracing her lips, it was only a matter of time before they got to meet their baby. Her Mother was insistent on her and Seamus staying with them towards the end of her pregnancy and once the baby was born, insisting that they would need help with the baby after the birth and trying to figure out the routine.

The smell of freshly baked cookies hit her nose and she grinned, her stomach rumbling with hunger and a sharp kick from the little one told her they wanted some of the treat too. Ginny pushed herself up from the sofa and walked to the kitchen, chuckling slightly at the sight of many plates of cookies littering the kitchen.

"I know I've been craving cookies Mum, but don't you think this is overkill?" Ginny laughed

Mrs Weasley shook her head but smiled at her daughter's teasing, "These are not all for you Ginny, I've made a batch for everyone, I'll be sending them with Errol and Hermes. It seems Hermione has been getting similar cravings, Charlie said she hasn't been able to stop eating ice cream"

Ginny sniggered, remembering all too well the sweet craving phase she had went through, well she was still going through that one. She happily snatched a warm cookie for the plate and bit into it, sighing in delight as the warm chocolate melted on her tongue. "Good as ever Mum"

"Thank you dear"

They fell into a blissful silence, Ginny eating away at her cookies while Molly put the various cookies into different containers before sending them off with the owls.

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Hermione lay upon the slightly uncomfortable hospital bed, squirming slightly as the cold gel was placed upon her belly. She giggled slightly, Charlie looked down at her and quirked an eyebrow. "It's cold" She laughed

Charlie chuckled and placed a sweet kiss to her temple, watching as the Doctor placed a funny looking instrument on her belly while staring at a screen. He had been a bit nervous when Hermione had told him she wanted to have her scans done both the muggle and wizarding way, they had went to their first appointment at St Mungo's, which was bewildering to him, the Healer had performed a spell so that they could see the baby literally in Hermione's stomach, just like they were now as the Doctor was getting the screen ready, but it was so clear and the baby had been sitting cross legged like a little buddah, as Hermione said. He had never been in a muggle Hospital before and had found it quite intimidating with all the noise and people running about shouting 'Clear!" a lot of the time. Even though he hadn't been in St Mungo's a lot either with getting most of his treatment as a dragon tamer done in Romania, he heard it was well known for it's calming and relaxing presence.

Hermione saw the tension in his face and by his body, she squeezed his hand gently to let him know it was okay and that she was okay.

"Okay, are you ready to see your baby?" The Doctor smiled at the young couple

"Yes please"

The Doctor turned the screen slightly so they were able to view it, "Okay so here's the feet, their little toes" She smiled, glancing at the young woman on her bed, her heart warming as she saw the tears glistening in her eyes, she always loved being able to see the parent's reaction to seeing their baby for the first time.

"So the baby is breech at the minute, it looks like they're sitting like a little buddha. But the position is fine for now, you're still a good bit away from birth"

Hermione smiled as she stared at their baby on the screen, it was beautiful being able to finally see the life they had created together. Their little baby. She felt pressure on her hand and glanced at Charlie, her heart swelling with love as she saw a few tears falling as he stared at the screen. He was going to make an amazing father, she knew it. "That must be a comfy position for them, the baby was sitting like that in our last scan"

The Doctor paused for a moment as she eyed her curiously, "Like last time?"

The couple nodded and she printed out a few photos for them to look at it, she passed the photos quickly to them before turning her attention back to the screen, she brought up the previous ultrasound results and compared them to today's, a feeling of concern washing over her but she remained impassive, not wanting to worry the couple just yet.

"So we're done here for today, we'll get you back in soon to have another look, if you have any questions or worries you know how to reach me"

"Thank you so much Dr Hamilton" Hermione smiled, wiping the gel from her stomach and pulling her shirt back down to cover it. Charlie helped her from the bed and together they left the room, Dr Hamilton turned back to her screen and sighed, she really hoped her hunch was wrong here, but to make sure she needed an expert. She pulled her phone from her pocket and dialled the number she needed.

"You're through to Dr Robbins"

"Hey Dr Robbins, it's Dr Hamilton here, I need your advice on something, do you mind if I send you through the ultrasound?"

"Of course, send them to me and I'll take a look for you Dr Hamilton"

"Thank you" Dr Hamilton quickly emailed the images to her and remained silent while she could hear the slight sound of a mouse being moved and typing on the keyboard. After a few minutes she finally spoke again. "I just needed a second opinion to make sure before anything is mentioned to the parents. They're a young couple, must only be newlyweds. I hate having to give bad news"

Dr Robbins muttered a response to at least show some sign of acknowledgement that she had been listening, her eyes were focused on the ultrasounds before her and she immediately knew that Dr Hamilton was correct. "From these scans, it does look like it could be Type 2 or 3 Osteogenesis imperfecta, it's rare but from the size of the baby's head, there doesn't seem to be any sign of movement from the baby and short femurs that haven't grown" 

Dr Hamilton sighed, her worst fear for the couple had been confirmed. "Prognosis?"

"This is a very sad situation, and I know you hate giving parents to be the bad news but that is unfortunately part of our job. From these scans, if it is indeed type 2 and the infant survives birth, I don't think the infant will live longer than a couple of days or weeks"

"That's what I was afraid of, but thank you Dr Robbins for the help. I'll arrange another appointment to speak to the parents" 

The phone call finished but Dr Hamilton continued to stare at the scans, she just found it so unfair that a young, newly married couple would have to experience so much heartache in the early stages of their life together. Having to give bad news was always the worst part of the job for any Doctor, but when you are dealing with parents to be there was just something even more heartbreaking when they didn't get the news that they wanted. She sighed to herself as she picked up the phone once more, this time dialling the number of Hermione to arrange the new appointment. It was going to be a nightmare for them, and as much as she didn't want them to suffer, she didn't want to delay in informing them.

Authors Note - Sorry for having not updated in a while! This is a bit of a shorter chapter, and just a fair warning, the following chapters will be quite tough and sad to read but they are important to Charlie and Hermione's story. 

For those that are curious, Osteogenesis imperfecta type II is a lethal type of osteogenesis imperfecta, it is a genetic disorder characterised by increased bone fragility, low bone mass and susceptibility to bone fractures.