don't wake me up, i am still dreaming

[cleverness]

In the weeks leading up to her due date, Hermione had done everything in her power to prepare for every possible turn of events for the baby's birth. She had mapped out at least a dozen ways for her to get to the hospital from every one of the few locations that she had been frequenting lately, and she made sure not to expose Ron to more than one or two contingency plans, not wanting to overwhelm him with too many details. She had read up on the various options for birth, on the benefits and drawbacks of using an epidural, on the wide range of labor times experienced by most women in modern day. Short of selecting everyone on the staff who would help her deliver the baby, Hermione had thought of it all.

And yet, never had she really anticipated that her baby would be punctual. The due date was only a rough estimate, she knew, based on imperfect information about her cycles and potential moment of conception. And she'd certainly heard enough horror stories from the women who frequented the Limelight about how they'd delivered several weeks early, or even several days late, with plenty of false labors in between.

So when Hermione woke up in the mirror of the night, drenched in sweat and muscles contracting, she almost assumed that it was a false alarm. Everything had been too calm. Too quiet. It couldn't happen all of a sudden.

Then she realized her sheets were sodden, and with a soft gasp, she reached over to the side and gently shook Ron's shoulder.

"Ronald," she whispered urgently, trying to push herself up into a sitting position as one hand quickly dropped to her belly, stretching protectively over the curve. "Ron, my water broke."

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[deluminate]

Between the two of them, Ron had always been the heavier sleeper. Over the years, he'd gotten better at waking up earlier, and at not needing to be shouted at or nearly tossed out of bed before waking up, but Ron had always reckoned that Hermione would probably always be the lighter sleeper between the two of them.

She shook his shoulder and he drifted out of sleep, not nearly awake enough to quite grasp what Hermione had said. As much as he'd been on alert lately, knowing that the day of the baby's birth was nearing, it didn't quite seem to carry over to the middle of the night.

"We can mend it in the morning, Hermione," He yawned sleepily, pulling the sheets a bit more snugly around him. "Reparo..."

[cleverness]

It was both a blessing and a curse that her contractions hadn't arrived yet. Hermione knew that it meant they had some time before things grew too urgent, but over the years of their relationship, Ron had learned how to put up defenses against Hermione's constant scolding, especially when they interrupted his sleep in the middle of the night. With a slight huff, Hermione shook his shoulder more urgently and waved her hand, wandlessly lighting up the lamps in the room.

"Ronald Weasley. The baby is coming," she said between gritted teeth, careful to enunciate every word. Without waiting for him to fully react, she slid herself over to the side of the bed, one hand supporting her back as she got up and looked for the already packed bag resting near the foot of their bed. "I can't guarantee that it'll wait for you to enjoy a few more minutes of sleep."

[deluminate]

Hermione shook his shoulder a bit more, and though the world was still foggy and blurred, Ron sat up, not entirely awake, even though the room was illuminated. At least, not until he shifted on the bed, his leg sliding over onto a patch of wetness on the bed.

"What's..." he started, but very quickly the realization began to dawn on him, and it wasn't more than an instant before he was wide awake. "Bloody hell. Now? You're sure?"

Even before she'd answered, though, he was sliding out of the bed, trying not to panic, trying to remember everything they'd gone over in the past few months. Of course, there was a plan in place— Hermione bloody well always had a plan— but still in his pyjamas in the middle of the night, he hadn't calmed down enough to remember it just yet.

[cleverness]

"Well, I haven't had a contraction yet, so it may still be some time until the baby arrives, but we shouldn't take our chances," Hermione muttered, briefly running her hands over her stomach and trying to feel for any stiffness in the muscles. She took a few deep breaths, one hand reaching out for the door frame to brace her weight. She glanced around for her wand, having forgotten to grab it in her haste to get off the bed.

"Can you hand me my wand?" she asked, shivering slightly as the damp section of her nightgown clung to her skin. "And call the doctor to let them know that we're coming. Can you drive, or will we have to use the Portkey?"

There was a small woven bootie in the top drawer of Hermione's nightstand, an emergency Portkey in case she went into labor without Ron around. But as far as transport to the hospital went, Hermione much preferred the idea of sitting in a vehicle, preventing any chance of losing her balance while using a Portkey.

[deluminate]

Ron was standing, trying to climb out of his pyjamas and find a pair of trousers when Hermione asked for her wand, and he had to nearly hop to find it and take it over to her.

Right. Call the healer, find the bag, get to the hospital. This should be easy. He'd helped capture Death Eaters, he'd caught criminals in Darrow. This was nothing.

Except, he'd somehow ended up with two legs in the same leg hole of his trousers.

"I can drive," Ron said, though he probably didn't sound quite as confident about it as he wanted to, "I can definitely drive."

[cleverness]

Before Hermione could reach for her wand, she grimaced as a tightness began to form at the small of her back, then spreading forward and tightening in her abdomen. Face growing pale, Hermione did her best to keep from crying out, which she could only imagine would cause Ron to further panic. She bit down on her lower lip, hard enough that the area quickly grew numb from the pressure.

At least they knew the baby was really coming.

As soon as the contraction passed, Hermione pushed herself up, having subconsciously lowered herself to a bent position. Straightening her body, Hermione checked her nightgown for any hint of blood. Finding none, she rubbed at her temple, where her skin was covered in cold sweat.

"Are you sure you can drive? We could always call Luke," Hermione pointed out. While she didn't enjoy casting doubt on Ron, she was extremely aware of the fact that it had taken a couple of tries for him to pull on his trousers.

[deluminate]

"No, not I've got it," Ron insisted, though he wasn't entirely sure it was the truth. But one thing Ron was certain of, was that he wanted to be able to at least drive his wife to the hospital tonight. Somehow, it seemed important. Bloody hell, everything about this was important, really.

He finally managed to pull his trousers on the right way, pulling them up with a hop before pulling on his shoes.

Frowning at the expression on Hermione's face as she pulled herself up to a standing position, Ron closed the distance between them, setting his hand at the small of her back.

"Alright, Hermione? Can you walk?"

[cleverness]

Hermione paused, giving Ron's question some real thought. While Hermione preferred being completely in control of her actions, she knew that now wasn't the time to shoulder too much on her own. After so long preparing for the baby and taking care of every step along the way in her pregnancy, the last thing Hermione wanted was for something bad to happen at a critical moment like this.

She breathed in deeply, reaching behind her for Ron's hand, giving it a slight squeeze.

"I believe I should be able to walk until the next contraction, but I wouldn't mind some help," she said, shivering slightly at the dampness underneath her nightgown. "And my dressing gown, please."