I flop back onto the bed in complete exhaustion, tears rolling down my face and beads of sweat pouring out of me. The unimaginable pain that I've become accustomed to at this stage has eased considerably, but is by no means gone, and I have the feeling that I'll never be able to sit on a broom ever again. Actually, I'm not sure if I'll ever be able to sit on a chair again. Mum kisses my forehead, telling me she's so proud of me. Scorpius's eyes are focused on the baby – my baby – Healer Thorne is holding up and it looks as if he's stopped breathing completely.

"Congratulations," says Healer Thorne, "It's a boy."

A boy – I have a son. And he has ten fingers and ten toes, and he looks (and sounds) completely healthy. Healer Thorne lets Scorpius cut the cord, cleans him and wraps him in a white blanket and hands him to me. He's so tiny. Thorne says he's a big baby, especially one who came early – he's nine pounds. But he's so, so tiny. I'm afraid I'm going to break him. Am I even holding him right? He's not crying anymore and his eyes are closed. How can a person be so small, yet be the cause of so much pain? His cries ease after a few moments, when he has adjusted to life outside my uterus.

"Hello baby boy," I whisper to him. I wonder if he recognises my voice. Maybe if I was more sarcastic and shouted at James for a while he'd feel more at home. I mean, he must have heard all the times I swore while I was pregnant. Shit, speaking of James – I owe him twenty galleons.

"He's...he's brilliant," Scorpius gasps in awe. I'm in awe too. I thought Scorpius might be able to come up with a better adjective for his newborn son than 'brilliant', but I suppose that's a fairly accurate word for him. He is brilliant.

"He's just beautiful," Mum sniffs, leaning in to have a good look at him, "He looks just like you, Scorpius." She's just saying that to be nice. All newborn babies look basically the same. Still Scorpius beams with pride at her words.

"Can I hold him?" Scorpius asks nervously. I pass him over, supporting his head. Scorpius looks so awkward holding him, and completely scared shitless. It's exactly how I feel. After the placenta is delivered and after the Healer clears up everything with a wave of her wand, Mum goes out to tell the family about the new addition. The Healer puts a little blue hat on the baby's head, smiles at us and then leaves us alone.

"He looks like a seeker, doesn't he?" says Scorpius, now looking much more comfortable holding him, "He'll be the best seeker the Wimbourne Wasps ever saw! He'll change the face of Quidditch."

"He's a minute old, don't you think you're getting a bit ahead of yourself?" I yawn, my eyes half-closing.

I don't think I've ever been so exhausted in my life. James made me run twenty laps of the Quidditch pitch in fifth year with a bag full of bricks on my back in the blazing heat and I wasn't even half as tired. It's a struggle to even keep my eyes open, and I'm almost jealous of the baby sleeping soundly in Scorpius's arms.

"You did great, Rose," I can hear Scorpius's saying, "I don't know how you did it."

I don't know how I did it either.

*

I open my eyes and realise that I've slept right through until morning, having fallen asleep at eight o'clock last night. As far as I remember Dad, Mum and Hugo were in here, but I think everyone else went home. Well, everyone else except for Scorpius. He's asleep in the armchair beside my bed. It's nine o'clock and the baby is still sleeping too. Maybe it's not true what people say. Maybe babies don't cry all through the night. Or maybe my baby is just perfect.

Scorpius's arm slips off the chair and he awakes suddenly, looking around him to see where he is.

"Oh, you're awake," he says groggily.

"Yeah," I reply, though it doesn't feel like I'm awake. It feels like I'm stuck in the middle of a strange dream, still trying to decide whether it's going to turn out to be good or whether it'll be my worst nightmare.

"The Healer said to give you this if you have any pain," he hands me a vial of blue potion. I take it, as I'm beginning to feel pain as soon as I sit up.

"The Healer was in here?"

"Yeah, she came in when the baby woke up the first time," Scorpius yawns.

"He woke up?" I don't remember him waking up. Surely I would have heard him. I can't be that terrible a mother that I don't even hear my own baby when he cries.

"About three times, you were out like a light," says Scorpius, "He wasn't too loud anyway. Rose, don't look like that."

"Like what?"

"Like you think you're a bad Mum because you didn't wake up."

He is a mind reader. He has to be. I do not have an 'I think I'm a bad mother' look. But what if Scorpius wasn't here? What if the baby was in actual distress and I didn't even wake up because I'm too bloody lazy?

"You know, we can't keep referring to him as 'The Baby'," says Scorpius, "I was thinking of some names...what do you think of –"

"Look if you want to call it Draco or Jubbah or Taurus or some weird Malfoy name, I'm going to need a seriously big bribe –"

"No actually –"

"And we're not calling him Lucius, because then all the other children will call him 'Lucy'," I tell him firmly.

"I don't want to call him Lucius!"

"You know, I could get used to Draco after a while, I reckon. We could call him 'Drake'. But I really don't think Dad's going to be happy about it –"

"Rose, what do you think of Aidan?" he interrupts me.

"Aidan who?"

"Aidan Weasley," he says. Who the hell is Aidan Weasley? Do I know an Aidan Weasley? Scorpius points at the baby.

"You mean as a name?" I ask stupidly.

"Well...yeah."

"I...I like it," I say. This has to be one of the first things we've ever agreed on, "Aidan Weasley...Aidan Ronald Weasley." I like that name. No, I love the name. Aidan. I can't imagine calling him anything else now that Scorpius has said it.

As if he knows we're talking about him, Aidan Ronald Weasley awakens and begins crying. Scorpius picks him up and hands him to me. He looks like such a Dad already, and I feel like a complete amateur.

"Why won't he stop crying?" I ask, "Why doesn't he like me?"

"Give him a minute," says Scorpius, "Maybe he's hungry. The Healer fed him some specially formulated milk last night, but she said that...you know..." he scratches his head uncomfortably, "She said it's best if you breastfeed."

Breastfeed? Why didn't I think of things like this? Of course he's going to want to eat, and of course I'm expected to breastfeed. I'm a mother now. This is what mothers do. But how can I just whip my breast out with Scorpius sitting right there? I've read that you're supposed to breastfeed about half an hour after the baby is born, but I just feel asleep. I'm completely negligent. What if he doesn't latch on now? What if he never latches on because I was too tired to feed him?

"I'm just going to go to the loo," Scorpius decides. Apparently he's picked up on how uncomfortable I am.

"Hello Aidan," I say to my baby, who has sort of stopped crying but is still whinging a bit, "Are you hungry? If you are you can...I don't know, you can blink twice." He looks at me and goes quiet, as if trying to figure out what on earth I'm talking about. Right. Okay. Let's do this.

I open the buttons of my hospital gown and wait. I don't know if he's supposed to latch on himself or if I'm supposed to push his head in or something. So I just hold him there. He continues looking up at me.

"Come on, Aidan. It'll be easier for both of us if you just do it."

He shows no indication that he's going to do it. He's disobedient already and he isn't even a day old.

"Please Aidan, please," I sob, "I'm sorry I didn't do it yesterday, but I was tired. You know how it is – I'm sorry! I'll never sleep again if you just do it! Please don't hate me, pet. I love you, just –"

He's doing it! See, I can be persuasive! This feels so strange, but so – rewarding? I don't know if that's the right word. I am feeding another human being! And not like how the House Elves feed the students of Hogwarts – I'm physically producing the food and the nutrients. Another human is completely dependent on me for their survival, and although it is scary, I'm doing it! I'm feeding him!

Scorpius knocks on the door before coming back in. Now I really don't care what he sees.

"He's doing it! He latched on, Scorpius, he's eating...or drinking or whatever it's called!"

"Really? That's fantastic! You know, I still can't believe he's here." Scorpius sits back down on the armchair and closes his eyes. Come to think of it, he probably hasn't slept much if the baby – I mean, Aidan – woke up three times last night. I can't quite believe he's here either. I suppose I just got so used to being pregnant. It's a bit hard to adjust to life without the huge bulging stomach, although there is still a significant amount of fat there that wasn't there before.

Aidan goes back to sleep after he's been fed. I have a shower and feel much more refreshed now that I don't smell like sweat and my hair isn't as greasy as a bag of chips. The Healer comes in shortly afterwards and tells me I can go home after lunch.

"After lunch? Isn't that a bit soon?" I ask her.

"No, it's fairly standard," she replies.

"But...what if something happens to Aidan? What if he stops breathing...or what if...what if..."

"Miss Weasley," she smiles, "It's completely normal to feel this way. If you have any questions, you can contact us at any time."

Stupid sadist Healers don't even care about my baby. All they want to do is free up the bed for the next poor pregnant woman who has to go through the torture of giving birth.

"It's safe to use the floo system as long as you keep the baby held very closely to your body. We have special floo powder you can use, you won't go quite as rapidly as with normal floo powder..."

At one o'clock I floo home, while Scorpius apparates on ahead. Apparently you can't bring babies on side-along apparition until they're more than twelve weeks, so I have to bring Aidan. Flooing so slowly is a strange experience. I can see into people's living rooms through their fireplaces. Most of them are empty, but the odd few have people reading on their sofas and cleaning and one rather disturbing living room has two people going at it right there on the floor. I don't really like this slow Flooing thing. I hold Aidan close to my body as instructed and wait until I see Scorpius. After what has to be at least ten minutes of passing random fireplaces, I spot Scorpius and Hugo and step out. Usually I'd go flying into the living room spreading soot all around the place, but today I can actually step out.

"You're here!" Mum cries, running into the living room from the kitchen. I barely have time to dust myself off when Dad runs in from the kitchen too. "We were going to go to the hospital just now but then Scorpius came and said you were on your way already. How's my grandson today?" Mum takes Aidan off me and starts cooing at him, as people do at babies. Dad looks in at him over her shoulder.

"He's amazing, isn't he?" Dad whispers in awe, "Oh, look what I got him!" He grabs a bag from beside the sofa and takes a bright orange baby grow out of it, with the Chudley Cannons logo stitched on the front. "Isn't it brilliant?!"

"Can I hold him now?" asks Hugo, "I didn't get to hold him yesterday."

"Go ahead," I tell him.

"Mind his head now, Hugo," Mum warns and hands Aidan over, "Do you have a name for this little man yet?"

I thought Scorpius might have told them already, but I'm glad he hasn't. He looks at me, indicating that he knows that I want to tell them even though he was the one who came up with the name.

"Yes...this is Aidan Ronald Weasley," I tell them proudly.

"Aidan's a cool name," says Hugo, "Aidan, I'm your Uncle Hugo. You can call me Psycho."

My child has no chance of being normal.

"Ronald? You really...you really named him Aidan Ronald?" Dad asks in shock.

"Well, yeah," I shrug, "He was never going to have any other middle name."

"Unless he was a girl," says Scorpius logically.

Dad looks honestly touched by this revelation. I think I can see tears in his eyes.

"Uh, I'm just going to the bathroom," he says in a shaky voice. Mum rolls her eyes.

"I think Aidan is a lovely name," says Mum, "It really suits him."

I want to tell her about the breastfeeding, but I don't want to creep Hugo out, so I decide to leave that until later. Mum tells me to sit down and put my feet up while she fixes up some lunch. Scorpius decides to help her, trying to get on the good side of his could-be future mother-in-law.

Or not. I don't care.

I put Aidan down for a nap before we all dig in to some of Mum's delicious quiche, followed by those pancakes Dad promised me before I went into labour. The whole situation is still a bit surreal to me. I don't think it has sunk in yet. Even the fact that Scorpius Malfoy is sitting at our kitchen table eating lunch with us is a bit strange for me, even though he's stayed here before plenty of times.

"Mr and Mrs Weasley," Scorpius begins.

"Please, call us Ron and Hermione," says Mum and Dad looks at her as if he would much prefer to be referred to as 'Mr Weasley', especially by a Malfoy. Mum scowls back at him.

"A-Alright..." Scorpius looks equally discomforted by this, "Well, I was just wondering if it'd be alright if my parents stopped by later on. They haven't seen the baby yet and –"

"That's fine, Scorpius," says Mum kindly, and she kicks Dad under the table when he drops his fork in shock. Scorpius pretends not to notice. "I'm sure you'll be getting plenty of visitors today..."

Mum's not joking either. We're getting more visitors than I got the day before I went into labour. Of course the Auntie Audrey Clan are the first to drop in as soon as they find out I'm home, but they – as in Audrey and Molly – are quite disappointed to find that Aidan is fast asleep. Percy and Lucy don't really seem to mind. Percy is busy telling Dad all about the changes being made to the Department of Mysteries next year, and Dad has yawned about twenty-six times since the conversation started.

Jenny, Al and Dom stop in soon after Percy and Audrey leave. I'm happy to see them, but this visitor business is quite tiring, and even though I got thirteen hours of sleep last night, I'm still exhausted.

"Rose, he's so gorgeous," Jenny sniffs, holding her godson for the first time.

"Yeah, it's hard to believe you two could make something so beautiful," Dom sneers, "Nice work Mr Malfoy."

"Cheers Dom," says Scorpius sarcastically. Dom throws her arm around his neck and ruffles his hair playfully. I feel a split-second long flash of jealousy, but shake it away. Dom is with Mark. She and Scorpius broke up. They are just being playful mates. Although when they actually got past the hating each other phase I'm not sure. And anyway, even if they weren't just friends, if they were something more, I would have absolutely no right to be jealous. Scorpius and I broke up for a reason. Jenny looks at me and I feel like she can see what I'm thinking. She shakes her head as if trying to tell me to stop being so ridiculous.

"I can't believe he's yours," says Al, "I mean, it was just last year you, James and Mark were lighting bags of Hippogriff dung –"

"Shh!" I hiss, "My Mum's in the kitchen!"

"Come on, you've just had a baby, how innocent does she think you are?" asks Dom.

Teddy and Victoire arrive soon after, both of them looking quite terrified by the very idea of having a baby of their own. Of course I'm the only one who knows they're pregnant, so I can't exactly say anything. When Teddy, Victoire, Jenny, Al and Dom leave, Uncle Harry and Aunt Ginny arrive.

"Ginny...I just want to say thank you so much for being there for me yesterday," I tell her in private while everyone else is fussing over Aidan.

"Oh please, it was nothing," Ginny waves her hand, "You seem to be doing well so far."

"I feel like crying every twenty minutes or so," I admit, "And I'm constantly worrying that there's something wrong with him. Is that normal?"

"Yes, it's normal," she assures me.

"When will that go away?"

"When it does, I'll let you know," she winks.

When the doorbell rings for what feels like the millionth time today, Mum goes to answer it while Ginny and Harry take loads of pictures of Aidan. Dad has taken loads too and sent about fifty to Uncle Charlie in Romania. I feel sorry for the poor owl that has to carry them the whole way.

"Scorpius," says Mum, "Your parents are here." She steps aside and allows Draco and Astoria Malfoy into the living room. Dad and Uncle Harry look at one another sceptically. I knew this was going to be awkward, but it's unbearable already. Luckily Aidan awakens and breaks the tension – thank God for that child.

"He needs his nappy changed," I announce, for lack of anything better to say.

"I'll do it!" Dad, Harry, Ginny and Scorpius all say at the same time, each one of them looking for an excuse to escape the tension. That's how bad it is – we'd prefer change a nappy.

"No, it's alright, I'll do it," I say and rush from the room upstairs to my bedroom. He doesn't actually need his nappy changed, but he does look hungry again. I've tried breastfeeding a few times today, but he hasn't latched on since this morning. This time, however, he does. He seems content afterwards, and more alert than ever before. He is looking around my room with his big grey eyes that I'm quite sure are going to turn brown in the next few months, just like I'm sure his very dark hair is going to brighten up. I had jet black hair too when I was born, apparently, just like James apparently was blonde as a toddler.

"Are you ready to meet your grandparents, Aidan?" I ask him, "Now if you get a slightly evil vibe from Grandad Draco, that's completely normal and just something you'll have to get used to. And if he ever tries to bribe you to...I don't know...abort your child, just say no. Oh, and say no to drugs." I feel it's never too soon to teach a child these things. "And Granny Astoria is quite a lovely lady, but she's not as nice as Nana Hermione, alright?" He continues staring at me. Maybe he understands me. "Oh, and in case I haven't introduced myself already – Rose Weasley. But you can call me Mum."

I bring Aidan back downstairs to face the Malfoys. I feel like a negligent mother, subjecting him to Draco Malfoy at such a young age, but I suppose there's nothing I can do about it. Well, I could always run out the front door and hide in a ditch until they leave. But then I'm fairly sure social services would take him away from me. And I wouldn't blame them, not in the slightest.

Everyone is sitting in silence in the living room. Mum has made tea for Draco and Astoria and I can see that this is just about the strangest situation they've ever been in. Dad and Harry seem to be in some sort of staring competition with Draco, while Astoria looks at the family pictures hanging around the room.

"There you are!" exclaims Mum, not at all masking the relief in her voice when she sees me walking into the room. Scorpius looks just about ready to die.

"Sorry about that," I say.

"Not at all," Astoria smiles, standing up to have a good look at Aidan, "Oh he's just perfect! Draco, look at him, isn't he perfect?"

Draco looks at him and says nothing. At first I think he's going to just ignore the fact that he is his first grandson, that Aidan means nothing to him, but then I see the slightest trace of a smile on his lips. And that's enough for me as far as Draco Malfoy goes. I really don't think he's going to get any warmer.

"May I hold him, Rose?" Astoria asks, "If it's alright with you –"

"Of course it's alright," I tell her and hand him over.

Draco looks at him closer now that it's Astoria holding him and not me. Astoria is unable to stop grinning. Aidan has that effect on people, I've noticed.

"He's wonderful," Astoria gasps, "He really is. And I think you chose a lovely name." She's looking at me as she says it.

"Actually, Scorpius chose it," I say. Everyone looks at Scorpius, as if surprised he could have come up with such a normal name.

"What, just because my name is Scorpius I can't think of nice names?" he asks, mock-offended.

"Well it's very nice," says Astoria, as if Scorpius is a little six year old showing her a muddled up picture he finger painted at school. "Draco, do you want to hold him?"

Dad stands up now too as Draco takes the baby from Astoria. It's as if he's in competition with him to see who the better grandfather is. Draco smiles an actual smile this time as he looks at Aidan. Maybe he sees the Malfoy in him. It's funny, the reason Dad loves Aidan so much is because all he sees is Weasley. I suppose we all see what we want to see.

"He's...well, he's...er, congratulations," Draco mumbles.

"Can I hold him now?" Dad asks childishly.

"I only just got him!" Draco complains.

"Yeah but –"

"Ron," Mum hisses, "You've held him already today."

"Yeah, but not while he was awake," Dad argues.

"Yes but Mal- I mean, Draco, has only just got him," says Mum. Dad looks at her as if she's completely betrayed him. She glares back at him, with a very distinct 'Do Not Mess With Me' look.

"You have the same glare as your Mum," Scorpius says quietly to me. Oh God, I do and all. I can tell Mum isn't actually sticking up for Draco Malfoy, she just doesn't want another argument between him and Dad. Draco smirks triumphantly at Dad.

"He's Aidan Ronald you know," says Dad and that wipes the smirk off Draco's face. Can they get any more immature?

"He looks like Scorpius, doesn't he Astoria?" Draco retaliates.

"I...well, he looks like..."

"Any other newborn baby," I say, "He doesn't look like anyone yet."

Do we really have to sort him so early? Why don't we just get the sorting hat to put him in Gryffindor or Slytherin right now?

Astoria and Draco don't stay too long, but say they'll be back to visit soon. Scorpius is staying here for the next few weeks to help out with Aidan until he has to go back to school. And despite the fact that he is unsure whether he should go back to Hogwarts or not, and despite the fact that I'm scared shitless of not having him here with me, he is going back. He will get his NEWTs, he will get a good job and we will be a family. One day.

7 weeks later...

I walk steadily towards the barrier between Platforms 9 and 10 at Kings Cross Station, pushing the pram in front of me. Aidan is sleeping soundly in it for the first time today, having screamed his lungs out all of last night. Platform 9 ¾ is bustling with students as usual, many of them staring at me and trying to get a look into the pram. I suppose they're surprised to see me. I suppose they weren't expecting me back.

Scorpius comes through the barrier after me and we fight our way through the crowd to find the others. Mum and Dad are hugging Hugo goodbye, while Ginny is straightening up Al's Head Boy badge on his robes. Lily kisses her Mum, waves to me and Scorpius and then jumps aboard the Hogwarts Express.

"How's my favourite first cousin once removed?" Al grins peering into the pram.

"Wake him and die," I growl.

"Woah, someone's grouchy," Al observes.

"Someone only got two hours sleep last night so I wouldn't mess with someone if I were you," Scorpius warns him.

"Oh, right," he says, "Well, I'm off to find Jenny. I'll see you soon, Rose." I hug him and he climbs onto the train. I then see Dom and Jenny pushing through the crowd to get to us, followed closely by Laura.

"I can't believe you're not coming back this year!" Dom cries, "The dorm's not going to be the same without you! Nor is the Quidditch team, which I'm captain of, by the way." She keeps randomly throwing that in, as if she hasn't told us twelve thousand times that she's captain of the Gryffindor team.

"Too right," Laura agrees, "So is this him then?"

"No, this is just some random baby I stole," I tell her.

"Well I can see motherhood hasn't changed you a whole lot," she grins, "He's cool. A bit small, but what can you do?" I can't believe this time last year I hated her.

"Bye Aidan!" Jenny coos in and I reiterate the 'wake him and die' statement. "We'll see you in five weeks?" I nod and hug her and the three get onto the train. In five weeks I've planned to apparate up to Hogsmeade (if I get the time to take my apparition test) with Aidan. He'll be twelve weeks by then and thus be able to go side-along, and Al has promised to organise a Hogsmeade trip for that weekend.

The whistles sounds, indicating that the train will be leaving in one minute. I turn to Scorpius.

"Right, well I'll see you soon," I say, feeling my stomach tighten up and a lump forming in my throat.

"Right," he nods and pulls me close in a hug.

"A-and...I was just thinking...you know, forming thoughts...as one does...and I think," I stutter, "I think it might be best if you concentrate on your studies this year. You know, you don't want to get distracted by say, I don't know...girls or something."

"You don't want me to date?" he asks, smirking slightly.

"Oh no! No it's not that! I mean, I want you to date!" I cry quickly, "Date away! You can go and date anyone you like! Get stuck in my friend!" Am I really coming out with this? "I just think that in your NEWT year you shouldn't be wasting time kissing when you could be studying!"

He raises his eyebrows, clearly amused. "So you don't want me kissing girls?"

"It's not what I want, it's what's best for you academically! Studies have shown that single people do better than say, people who date half the population of Hogwarts. But you can kiss any girl you want, it's fine by me!"

"I can?"

"Yes!"

"Any girl I want?" he asks.

"Yes, any girl." Oh kill me now. This is worse than when I barged in on him in the bathroom at the wedding.

"Can I kiss you then?" he asks.

"Me?" Did he really just ask that?

He kisses me. And it's euphoric. It's completely sensational. And I completely forget why we haven't been doing this all along. I can hear Al, Jenny, Dom and Laura cheering out the window of the Hogwarts Express. Then the whistles sounds again and the doors of the train start closing.

"You have to go!" I tell him, pushing him over to the door of the train. He throws his trunk on and then turns back to me.

"I won't be kissing any other girls," he tells me, "I promise. You look after that son of mine."

"I will," I reply.

The doors close and the train begins to move off. I can see my friends and cousins waving at me, Scorpius smiling, and I can't stop the tears coming as I see my old life speed away from me towards the castle I'll always call my home. The Hogwarts Express is soon nothing more than a dot in the distance and then it finally disappears around the corner. I feel Mum's hand on my shoulder and I follow her and Dad back out to the Muggle world, pushing Aidan's pram. It's just him and me now. Me and my baby. My beautiful, perfect little –

"Waaaaahh!!!"

Oh bollocks.