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SIYE Time:9:07 on 28th March 2024
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I Choose You
By YelloWitchGrl

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Category: Post-DH/AB
Characters:All
Genres: Angst, Fluff, Romance
Warnings: Mild Sexual Situations, Negative Alcohol Use
Story is Complete
Rating: PG-13
Reviews: 148
Summary: Ginny's 17th Birthday involved a lot of food, friends, and Firewhisky... now she and Harry awake to the aftermath. They have some tough choices to make.
Hitcount: Story Total: 59531; Chapter Total: 9046
Awards: View Trophy Room




Author's Notes:
Thank you to Wolf's Scream for beta'ing!

If you want to see the cloth diapers/nappies that they use, google: "bumgenius" and you can get a visual




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Ginny had several funny dreams that night. In one she fell 50 feet from a broom only to have Harry catch her at the last second. In another, she was locked in a room and she kept running around in circles, trying to find a way out. They were all unsettling and by the time she awoke she felt more tired than she had when she went to sleep the night before.

Harry was still sound asleep next to her. She turned slowly to look at him; to study his face while he slept.

Most people looked relaxed and peaceful when they slept but not Harry. He looked right now as if he was ready to take on a Death Eater. There were frown lines across his brow and his mouth was in a thin, hard line. Is he having a nightmare? Ginny reached her hand up and put it on his shoulder gently. “Harry?”

He didn’t move, but his face relaxed fractionally.

“Harry,” Ginny whispered, a bit louder.

Slowly his eyes blinked open and he turned his head to focus on her. “Hey,” he said groggily.

“Were you having a dream?” she asked curiously.

He brought his hands up to rub the heels of his hands into his eyes, barely suppressing a yawn. “Yeah, yeah it was the Mirror of Erised in my first year.”

“The what?” Ginny questioned, not sure what he was referring to.

“It was this mirror and when you look into it, it shows you your heart’s deepest desire.” Harry explained, stretching languidly. I found it my first year and Dumbledore told me what it was. When I looked into it I saw my family.”

She smiled at the content she saw on his face. “That must have been great, seeing them like that.”

He nodded and turned to her, studying her face carefully. “It was. I never wanted to stop looking at them. I… I’ve always dreamed of having a family.”

This didn’t surprise Ginny in the least. She knew Harry’s deepest desire was to have a family. It was obvious with how he was around her family. “I suppose with us getting married, it makes sense that you’d dream about your parents again.”

A strange expression fell over his face, almost as if it was painted on. “I didn’t see my parents in my dream.” His cheeks flushed, clearly embarrassed.

She tried not to laugh, but as she was usually the one blushing around him, it was difficult. “What did you see then, Harry? What’s is the deepest desire of your heart?” It was tough not putting a lot of inflection in it, as she teased him.

Harry rolled his eyes and then pushed her back onto the bed, rolling half on top of her. His eyes were intense as he stared down at her. “I saw you.”

Now it was Ginny’s turn to flush. Completely surprised, she stammered, “You saw me?”

“Well, and a couple of kids.” Harry’s eyes did not falter as he watched her intently, as if he was waiting for her reaction. “I saw our family.”

Ginny wasn’t sure what to say. She was shocked, although she wasn’t sure she could have said why. Completely out of nowhere she asked, “How many kids?”

Harry laughed and bent his lips to hers with a gentle kiss. “Three.”

“Oh good, I always wanted three. No more than that, mind.” She wasn’t sure why she said it, as she hadn’t actually ever really thought about how many kids she wanted. Instead of letting her big mouth blunder on, though, she put her arms around his neck and pulled him down into a hug. “I love you.”

“I love you too.”

The alarm went off.

Harry rolled off of her to smack it with his hand. “Time to go get Teddy.”

“I still don’t know how you got that thing to work in this house,” Ginny said as she rolled out of bed and went to her dresser to get some clothes. “It shouldn’t work.”

“It’s magic,” Harry said through a yawn as he grabbed his own clothes. “You want the loo first?”

Ginny nodded and scooted out the door. “I’ll only be a minute.”

It was more like 4 minutes, but Harry didn’t seem to mind. He was waiting outside with his own clothes as she came out and he kissed her on the cheek. “I’ll see you downstairs for breakfast.

Nearly 45 minutes later they were on a muggle bus, headed for Andromeda Tonks’ home. “I’ve been thinking,” Harry said as he ran his thumb along her knuckles. He had been holding her hand ever since they had left Grimmauld Place and Ginny was not going to complain. “I think I want to buy a car.”

Ginny’s mouth fell open. “A car? Do you know how to drive?”

“Well no,” he grinned sheepishly, “but I can take lessons. It’s just really hard getting around with Teddy being so small. I honestly don’t know how your parents did it.”

“Brooms,” she said quietly so the muggle across from them wouldn’t hear her, “or the floo.”

“Yes, but still- it’s not all that easy and eventually we’ll have our own kids and we’ll want a way to transport them.”

She just stared at him. “I’m not sure I’d trust my child to be in one of those things. I’ve heard stories about them crashing.”

Harry rolled his eyes. “We could easily solve that. I’d just let your dad tinker around with it a bit.”

“But,” Ginny began slowly, “but aren’t they rather expensive?”

He looked at her oddly as he thought about how to reply. “Yeah, I suppose. But we have enough money.”

She leaned back in her seat, completely nonplussed. He’s said we have enough money. “Uhm…” She honestly didn’t know what to say.

Harry brought her hand up to his mouth and kissed it. She’d always loved when he’d done that, back when they were at Hogwarts and he knew it too. It simply made her insides melt. “It’s your money too, you know.”

Ginny shook her head. “That’s going to take some getting used to.”

Harry reached up and pulled a cord above her head and the bus began to slow. “This is our stop.”

~*~

Teddy had grown a lot since Ginny had seen him last. He was now four months old and Ginny wasn’t sure she’d ever seen a happier, or more colorful, baby. His hair was a shocking shade of orange today. The moment they had walked in the door, Harry had swooped down on the baby and picked him up. Kissing him once on the cheek, he lifted him in the air blew a very noisy raspberry on his belly. Teddy simply shrieked with laughter.

Ginny was dumbfounded. Where on earth had Harry learned how to be this good with a baby?

Andromeda patted her arm. “The first time he came, he wouldn’t move from the couch. He just sat there, holding him and looking terrified. He’s been watching me and learning, though.”

“I’m amazed,” Ginny admitted.

“Well, he comes every Saturday and he’s with him for most of the day. He’s been doing this for months.” Andromeda smiled sadly. “I don’t think Dora or Remus knew how good he’d be, but they couldn’t have chosen a better godfather. Now, come dear. How about some tea?”

Ginny followed Andromeda into the kitchen and helped her make a pot of tea, all the while studying her husband as if he had suddenly sprouted two heads. First he played with the baby on the floor, trying to help him roll over and then changed a nappy.

She couldn’t believe her eyes and had to go watch. But it wasn’t a nappy like her mother used- these nappies had Velcro and had cute little patterns on them. When Harry got up to put the nappy in the wash bag, he grinned at her sheepishly. “What?”

“What were those?” Ginny asked, pointing and looking over at Andromeda.

Andromeda laughed. “Newest muggle invention in cloth nappies. Dora hated the old kind that I used on her so she went to a muggle library and went on the, what do they call it? Interweb? Anyway, she was able to order them from a muggle store. They’re really fantastic, too. Better than that disposable rubbish that most muggles use now. And no pinning anything. I wish they’d had them when Dora was little.”

Ginny could see the sorrow in her eyes, so she pressed on. “My mum is going to have kittens when I tell her about those! I can’t tell you how many times I heard her complain about the pins, even if she could charm them on. Fred and George always managed to escape from the nappies.”

Harry looked between them, bouncing Teddy in his arms as the baby reached up for his glasses. “Don’t any wizards use disposable nappies?”

“Nah,” Ginny said, shaking her head. “That’s just muggle nonsense. Why not reuse something if you can?”

Harry shrugged. “So do you want to hold him?”

She laughed and reached for the baby. “I’d love to! I haven’t held a baby this small in years. Hi handsome boy.” Ginny gave him a noisy kiss on the cheek and he smiled at her. She could seem Remus’ eyes staring back at her and it was comforting, although it made her heart ache for their lost friends.

She watched Harry walk around, gathering up a few things and grabbing a bottle from the fridge. Not all wizards had them but Ginny rather liked the idea. “Is that Tonks’ milk?” Ginny asked Andromeda.

Andromeda nodded, smiling sadly as Harry froze. His eyes flashed between them. “This is Tonks’ milk? Really?”

“Yes,” Andromeda answered, looking surprised. “Who’s else would it be?”

“Well,” Harry said slowly. “I mean… muggles use formula. How do you still have so much?”

Ginny rolled her eyes and grinned at Teddy. “Harry, she’s a wizard. I’m sure Tonks pumped before,” here she faltered and her eyes flashed to the older woman, but Andromeda smiled sadly and nodded, knowing where Ginny was going. “Before she left. Mrs. Tonks has simply been increasing the quantity. Mother’s milk is best.”

He still looked a bit confused, but let it go. He picked up the bag and grabbed the pram from the corner. “Well, I expect we won’t be gone too long. Just down the play park and back.”

Andromeda nodded and waved. “You three have fun.”

Once they were out the door and Teddy was safely in the pram, Harry said, “I think I have a lot to learn about how witches and wizards have babies.”

Ginny couldn’t help but giggle. “Harry if you don’t know how then I am certainly not going to explain it to you. You’ll have to ask my dad, because I am not giving you the talk.”

He rolled his eyes. “You know what I mean! Muggles use disposable nappies and formula, you know! I didn’t know that we didn’t.”

She shrugged as they walked down the sunny, tree-lined street. “Yes, I know all about that. Hermione told me. They also have their babies in hospitals.”

Harry nearly tripped over his own feet. “What?” He stopped, staring at her, completely stunned. “You… you won’t have our kids at St. Mungo’s?”

Ginny shook her head, enjoying this more than she should. “No Harry, I won’t! Pregnancy is not an illness. There are some times, you know, when a Healer might be needed but there is only one healer at St. Mungo’s who does birthing part time and she comes to your house. Otherwise it’s just the father and another experienced mother. It’s best to keep the new babies out of the hospital where all the sick people are.”

“But…” he stammered. Teddy was starting to fuss that they weren’t moving, so Ginny took over pushing the pram. “But,” Harry said again, catching up with her. “But, you know, muggles have to have surgery and such, all the time.”

“They don’t need to all the time, they just do,” Ginny said shrugging. “Honestly, Harry. Birthing is no different for witches than it is for muggle women. There are some witches who have a complication that requires a healer to remove the baby and then close the mother back up, but I’ve only heard of it happening a few times. It’s not very common.”

They arrived at the play park and Harry looked like he wanted to argue more, but Ginny forestalled him. “Look, you’re not a muggle Harry so you need to accept that things aren’t done the same way! Muggles can do things however they like, but mum’s told me about giving birth to all of us and the way she talks about it, they were the best experiences of her life. She said it was amazing to give birth to her children in her home and with no pain potions. The way muggles talk about it you’d think it was a horrible chore to be dreaded and not celebrated. That’s now how I want to give birth to our children. I want what my mother had.”

Ginny pulled Teddy out of the pram and walked over to a swing. She sat down, holding him as she gently swung back and forth. Harry was staring at her and she smiled, knowing he was still shocked. It didn’t matter, though. They weren’t ready for a child any time soon and by the time they were, he’d be used to it.

Finally he walked over behind them and began to push them slowly. Teddy loved it. The baby smiled and cooed for them and she couldn’t help but smile back. Even though his hair was horribly orange, it didn’t look too bad next to hers. The muggles around them might just think it was natural after all.

~*~

It was nearly five hours later before they were on the bus back home. They had worn Teddy out at the play park, given him a bottle while sitting under a large oak tree on a blanket, and he fell asleep on the walk back to Andromeda’s house.

“This was fun today,” Ginny said, giving Harry’s hand a squeeze. “I really enjoyed it.”

“It was,” Harry said, somewhat pensively.

Ginny looked sideways up at him. “What’s up?”

He shrugged, “Just thinking about him. I miss him all week.”

She knew that soon enough she was going to be missing Teddy too. “Maybe we can go see him more.”

Harry nodded and let go of her hand to put his arm around her shoulders. “It’s best that he’s with Andromeda. I mean, I’m only 18 and I don’t know the first thing about raising a baby, but still…”

“We’re not ready,” Ginny said softly. “If, Merlin forbid, anything happened to Mrs. Tonks then, you know, we could do it, but you’re right. He is better off with her full time. Maybe we can have him for an overnight next summer, when he’s older.”

Harry’s face brightened considerably. “I’d like that.”

“I would too.”

“I still want to look at getting a car.”

Ginny snorted and shook her head. “If you say we can afford it, then have fun. Just make sure you take those lessons. I don’t want to explain to my mum that you’re in St. Mungo’s for crashing a muggle car.”
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