"Harry, I think it's time to go."

Harry looked up from the ream of never-ending paperwork that was his job at the Ministry; no longer tracking down Death Eaters and other Dark wizards, instead he was tied to report after report that always needed to be done yesterday, no matter that he had a wife, two children, and a third on the way. It seemed every night he was up even later doing the same thing; sometimes he hardly remembered the incident he was writing up.

Wiping the bleariness from his eyes and the ink from his fingers, Harry set down his quill and stretched. "I've just got one more and then I'll be up. I promise."

He heard a sharp intake of breath behind him. "Not that, you stupid prat!" snapped his wife. "Me. It's time to go. Now."

Confused, Harry turned around. "What do you me—" he started, only to stop and stare when he saw Ginny standing against the doorway of his office, breathing in the strange way she had learned to breathe when she had given birth to first James and then Albus. "Oh."

"If you've figured it out now," she hissed, "could you put away those damn papers and help me instead of sitting there like a flobberworm?"

"Of course," Harry murmured, hiding a grin as he hurried over to support her. She had called him many colorful names during the boys' births, and apparently this one was going to be no different.

Ginny grabbed his hand and squeezed hard, channeling all the pain of the contraction into cutting off the blood supply to his fingers. Having experienced it twice before, he bit his lip to keep from saying anything; she had actually grabbed her wand and hexed him during James's birth after he had made a casual remark about losing the ability to feed himself.

The contraction soon passed, and Ginny looked up at him with a sheepish smile as she let go of his hand. He dropped it behind his back and shook it out, knowing there would be more.

"At least I didn't jinx you," she murmured. "This one's coming fast. We should go."

"What about the boys?" asked Harry, completely forgetting that they had planned for exactly that moment. As seemed to happen with women during such a time, Ginny somehow found the focus and patience to remind him.

"Call my mother and she'll Apparate over, remember?"

"Right," Harry muttered, heading toward the fireplace. He reached into the urn they had received as a wedding present. It was so hideous Harry had wanted to stash away in a back closet, but Ginny had giggled and insisted on using it for Floo powder. Yet as his hand scraped the bottom of the ugly purple jar, it came out empty, and Harry felt sudden panic practically slap him across the face.

“We’re out of Floo powder!� he exclaimed. He turned and stared at Ginny, who was leaning against the doorway breathing heavily again. “Where is the Floo powder? Why are we out of Floo powder? We should have gotten more Floo powder!� He was babbling and he knew it, but he had been caught unprepared. He had gone through this twice before, but the boys’ births had both gone according to plan. That plan meant contacting Molly Weasley and then Flooing to St. Mungo’s—except they were out of Floo powder and could do neither.

“Maybe you should have thought of that while I was busy working, taking care of two kids, and incubating the third,� Ginny snapped. “Use the backup plan.�

“Backup plan?� Harry repeated.

Ginny winced as the contraction rolled across her abdomen. “Some Auror you are, Potter, working without a backup plan." She closed her eyes. "Tell my mum we're having the baby here instead,� she managed as a soft moan escaped her lips.

“But an owl will never get there fast enough—“ Harry began, only to be interrupted by his wife’s flashing eyes.

“Then send your damn deer,� she growled. “And get me to bed.�

Harry shook himself and cast a Patronus, sending it off to the Burrow as quickly as he could. He took Ginny by the hand and helped her to the bedroom, where he carefully laid down extra blankets and propped up as many pillows as he could possibly find. Ginny stood against the wall and instructed him to cast several disinfecting spells. As soon as she sat down on the edge of the bed, she let out another groan.

“I don’t think mum is going to make it,� she gasped.

“What?� asked Harry. “Already? But the boys took much longer—what’s happening?�

“What’s happening is this baby is coming now!� Ginny exclaimed. “So get down there and deliver your child!� And with that she pulled her legs up and pushed.

Harry scrambled to be there. He didn’t have long to wait: he saw the baby’s head crowning, and with another push and groan from his wife, the head of dark red hair was through. Desperately trying to remember what the Healer had done for his sons, Harry gently took the baby’s head and neck and supported it as first one shoulder and then the other slid free, followed by a tangled mass of arms and legs.

The baby flailed, and Harry quickly laid it on Ginny’s chest, covering them both with a warm blanket. He stared at them in shock, shaking from head to toe. That was it: he had just delivered his third child at home in their bedroom. He was a father once more. It had happened so quickly he could barely process what had happened. He was suddenly dizzy.

The baby gave a sharp cry, and Harry felt the adrenaline explode from him in both laughter and tears. He moved to the head of the bed to kiss his wife and gaze down at his child. He realized he didn’t even know if the baby was a boy or girl. Before he could ask, a tiny voice at the doorway spoke up.

“What’s going on?� asked James, rubbing sleepy eyes. Albus padded up behind him, thumb in his mouth as he dragged his favorite stuffed dragon behind him.

“You have a baby sister,� Ginny replied, smiling at their firstborn and his younger brother. Harry felt his eyes well up. For some reason, he had assumed they would have another boy, but his heart melted as looked down at his newborn daughter.

“Oh,� James replied, sounding disappointed. “She's small. What’s her name?�

Harry picked up Albus and walked James over to the bedside. He looked at Ginny, who simply nodded and gave him a tired smile. They had talked about names, but without knowing whether the baby was a boy or girl, they had not settled on one. Gazing down at the baby in his wife's arms, his heart bursting with happiness, Harry knew his daughter's name.

“Her name is Lily.�

* * *