Pictures and a Thousand Words
I watch her down another full glass of water and then grimace as she swallows the last of it.
We've just finished clearing the table from breakfast, and I know that MacMillan - er, Healer-in-Training MacMillan - is supposed to come to the cottage to give Hermione her first baby exam today.
"It's just water," I say, wondering. "And if it tastes bad to you, why are you drinking so much?"
"I have to, Ron!" That, and the look.
Uh oh. Dumb question number 673.
She looks up at the clock, for what seems like the hundredth time in the last hour. "I feel like I'm going to explode. I would suggest you don't wash the dishes til after Ernie leaves."
"Erm, not that I'm arguing with that, but-" Bloody hell. Kinda afraid to take the leap on this one now. "Should I ask-" I can't help but cringe a little inside to be ready for her to fire the answer at me like a hex, "-why?"
She rolls her eyes at me. "Ron, I thought you read the book. I need to have a full bladder so he can see the baby well. If you don't behave, I'm not going to let you have your present."
"Yeah, I did - I did read the book, but - reading about you peeing, or really, not peeing was hardly the most exciting part," I admit, though then I realize maybe she expected it to be. Somehow. "Sorry. And yeah, 'course - the sonogram." I try to resist the bait, but I can't."What present?"
She grins at me because she knew that would get me. "This one," she says, using her wand to summon a box from another room and handing it to me.
"What's this for?" I ask, a little suspiciously. I'm wondering if it's another baby book I'm supposed to read in all that spare time I don't have.
"Ron, will you just open it already? It's something for today and you don't have to read it, it won't explode, and it's not educational. Of course, you can't eat it either, so you may not like it." Hermione rolls her eyes at me and sounds impatient.
I feel myself frown a bit in confusion as I open it. It sounds okay from her description, whatever it is, and since I just had breakfast I'm not even concerned that I can't eat it. Once I get to the box I can tell it's heavy in the middle, so I set it down on the table to open the lid. Right then, this I would never have guessed...
"It's a camera," I say, pleasantly surprised. Assuming I'm right. "Isn't it? Looks a bit different than the magical cameras I've seen. A new kind, I reckon?"
"Yes, it's one of the newer models of Muggle cameras," she says with a smile. "I was going to get a digital camera but it would be kind of hard to explain to the people who would develop the pictures why the sonogram is floating in mid air, and I wasn't sure if we could use it in the cottage. This way we can pay Colin to develop the pictures for us."
"Never had a camera before, Hermione - magical or not. Thanks, love." I lean over to put my arm around her and give her a kiss, then I pull the camera from the box and look into the big round part in the center. But after trying, I reckon that's not the right place to see what kind of picture you're taking. So I turn it over and look through a tiny little window near the top. Yeah, that must be the one.
"You're welcome. Ernie suggested having a camera ready so that you can take a picture of the sonogram. I'm sure your parents and my Mum and Nana would love to see him."
"Yeah, I reckon they would," I say. "So what do I have to do so I don't bollux it up?"
"OK," she says, taking the camera. "You look through this little window and you press this button here. It has automatic flash and you don't have to worry about forwarding it to the next picture, it does that automatically too. Whatever you see in that window is what you will take a picture of."
"Oh. All right. Let me try." She hands the camera to me and I point it at her, looking for her in the little window; within moments I can see her face through the little window. I move my fingers along the top edge of the camera, feeling for the little button she told me about.
Suddenly there's a bright white light everywhere and she shrieks.
I yank the camera away from my face and look at her. "What? What was that? A spell? You all right?" I quickly scan the room for anything amiss. Everything looks all right but her. She's blinking really fast and her face is all scrunched up and she looks a bit off-balance, so I grab her arm to hold her steady.
She shakes her head to try and clear it. "Ron, you don't need to use the flash. That's the button you used." She looks at me. "We need to make sure you know not to do that before the baby comes and you take his picture."
I feel really bad - I can tell from the look on her face that she's still not feeling quite right. "I'm sorry. I'll remember where that is from now on." I reach around her and give her a hug. Pulling away, I point the camera at the floor this time without looking through the little hole. Then I move my fingers along the edge till I find the button that sets off the light. "Right then. Got it now. So I don't need that one anyway today? Where does the picture go?"
"It goes onto the film, and we'll see it when it gets developed." She rubs her hand over her eyes. "Thank Merlin Ernie's almost here. I don't think I could wait much longer." She smiles at me. "Just think, we're going to get to see our baby soon."
Weird as it sounds, I hadn't really thought about that. I mean, I knew what was supposed to be going on, I knew why McMillan was coming, but that sonogram thing till now was just a fuzzy picture and some words in a book. I never thought of it being our baby we were going to see, the one Hermione says has been moving inside her, and that I wrote to, and that we talk to sometimes. Well, I did know - but - it's just strange to think about how we're taking a picture of someone inside Hermione - and that he's...we ...made him.
I can tell that Hermione wants to know what I'm thinking, but at that moment we're interrupted by the buzzer that Bill set up.
"I'll go," I say, heading out the front door to the gate. "Hey, McMi - er, Ernie." I pull out my wand and use it to open the gate and let McMillan in with his bag.
We've just finished clearing the table from breakfast, and I know that MacMillan - er, Healer-in-Training MacMillan - is supposed to come to the cottage to give Hermione her first baby exam today.
"It's just water," I say, wondering. "And if it tastes bad to you, why are you drinking so much?"
"I have to, Ron!" That, and the look.
Uh oh. Dumb question number 673.
She looks up at the clock, for what seems like the hundredth time in the last hour. "I feel like I'm going to explode. I would suggest you don't wash the dishes til after Ernie leaves."
"Erm, not that I'm arguing with that, but-" Bloody hell. Kinda afraid to take the leap on this one now. "Should I ask-" I can't help but cringe a little inside to be ready for her to fire the answer at me like a hex, "-why?"
She rolls her eyes at me. "Ron, I thought you read the book. I need to have a full bladder so he can see the baby well. If you don't behave, I'm not going to let you have your present."
"Yeah, I did - I did read the book, but - reading about you peeing, or really, not peeing was hardly the most exciting part," I admit, though then I realize maybe she expected it to be. Somehow. "Sorry. And yeah, 'course - the sonogram." I try to resist the bait, but I can't."What present?"
She grins at me because she knew that would get me. "This one," she says, using her wand to summon a box from another room and handing it to me.
"What's this for?" I ask, a little suspiciously. I'm wondering if it's another baby book I'm supposed to read in all that spare time I don't have.
"Ron, will you just open it already? It's something for today and you don't have to read it, it won't explode, and it's not educational. Of course, you can't eat it either, so you may not like it." Hermione rolls her eyes at me and sounds impatient.
I feel myself frown a bit in confusion as I open it. It sounds okay from her description, whatever it is, and since I just had breakfast I'm not even concerned that I can't eat it. Once I get to the box I can tell it's heavy in the middle, so I set it down on the table to open the lid. Right then, this I would never have guessed...
"It's a camera," I say, pleasantly surprised. Assuming I'm right. "Isn't it? Looks a bit different than the magical cameras I've seen. A new kind, I reckon?"
"Yes, it's one of the newer models of Muggle cameras," she says with a smile. "I was going to get a digital camera but it would be kind of hard to explain to the people who would develop the pictures why the sonogram is floating in mid air, and I wasn't sure if we could use it in the cottage. This way we can pay Colin to develop the pictures for us."
"Never had a camera before, Hermione - magical or not. Thanks, love." I lean over to put my arm around her and give her a kiss, then I pull the camera from the box and look into the big round part in the center. But after trying, I reckon that's not the right place to see what kind of picture you're taking. So I turn it over and look through a tiny little window near the top. Yeah, that must be the one.
"You're welcome. Ernie suggested having a camera ready so that you can take a picture of the sonogram. I'm sure your parents and my Mum and Nana would love to see him."
"Yeah, I reckon they would," I say. "So what do I have to do so I don't bollux it up?"
"OK," she says, taking the camera. "You look through this little window and you press this button here. It has automatic flash and you don't have to worry about forwarding it to the next picture, it does that automatically too. Whatever you see in that window is what you will take a picture of."
"Oh. All right. Let me try." She hands the camera to me and I point it at her, looking for her in the little window; within moments I can see her face through the little window. I move my fingers along the top edge of the camera, feeling for the little button she told me about.
Suddenly there's a bright white light everywhere and she shrieks.
I yank the camera away from my face and look at her. "What? What was that? A spell? You all right?" I quickly scan the room for anything amiss. Everything looks all right but her. She's blinking really fast and her face is all scrunched up and she looks a bit off-balance, so I grab her arm to hold her steady.
She shakes her head to try and clear it. "Ron, you don't need to use the flash. That's the button you used." She looks at me. "We need to make sure you know not to do that before the baby comes and you take his picture."
I feel really bad - I can tell from the look on her face that she's still not feeling quite right. "I'm sorry. I'll remember where that is from now on." I reach around her and give her a hug. Pulling away, I point the camera at the floor this time without looking through the little hole. Then I move my fingers along the edge till I find the button that sets off the light. "Right then. Got it now. So I don't need that one anyway today? Where does the picture go?"
"It goes onto the film, and we'll see it when it gets developed." She rubs her hand over her eyes. "Thank Merlin Ernie's almost here. I don't think I could wait much longer." She smiles at me. "Just think, we're going to get to see our baby soon."
Weird as it sounds, I hadn't really thought about that. I mean, I knew what was supposed to be going on, I knew why McMillan was coming, but that sonogram thing till now was just a fuzzy picture and some words in a book. I never thought of it being our baby we were going to see, the one Hermione says has been moving inside her, and that I wrote to, and that we talk to sometimes. Well, I did know - but - it's just strange to think about how we're taking a picture of someone inside Hermione - and that he's...we ...made him.
I can tell that Hermione wants to know what I'm thinking, but at that moment we're interrupted by the buzzer that Bill set up.
"I'll go," I say, heading out the front door to the gate. "Hey, McMi - er, Ernie." I pull out my wand and use it to open the gate and let McMillan in with his bag.