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SIYE Time:18:38 on 28th March 2024
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It Happened One Night
By SunDevil05

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Category: Post-OotP, Buried Gems
Characters:Harry/Ginny
Genres: Angst, Drama, Fluff, General
Warnings: Death, Sexual Situations, Violence
Story is Complete
Rating: PG-13
Reviews: 1042
Summary: Harry and Ginny make a decision that changes their lives....
Hitcount: Story Total: 253587; Chapter Total: 10865







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A/N: I think this is the longest chapter yet. They get longer as time goes on. Well I hope you all enjoy this chapter. I'm not sure when the next update is going to be. There's 3 1/2 weeks left in the semester and I have finals coming up. Another year almost gone.

As always thanks to all who have read this far! Please read, enjoy, and review!

DISCLAIMER: You should know it's not mine by now.




Chapter Sixteen


“You two look awful, and why aren’t you in your uniforms?” Ron asked the next morning at breakfast noticing that both Harry and Ginny were wearing Muggle clothes under their robes instead of their school uniforms and only James’ blue baby bag was in sight.

Harry and Ginny had to agree with him. Neither one got much sleep the night before between racing through the halls to get James to Madam Pomfrey, running into current and not so current hated Slytherins, and dealing with a sick child. They had also taken turns watching over James throughout the night, holding a cold cloth to his forehead as he slept and hoping that his fever would break. Neither one of them planned on attending class that day so that they could stay in Gryffindor Tower and care for James. He was much more important than their classes.

“We’re not going to class,” Harry informed his brother-in-law while spearing some sausages for himself.

“Why not?” Ron asked and stuffed a large amount of oatmeal into his mouth. Hermione rolled her eyes at him and took a sip of her orange juice.

“We’re excused. James is ill,” Ginny added watching James tug at his ear and cough. Ginny reached over and gently smoothed his hair out. He coughed again and yawned.

“Speaking of being ill,” Harry muttered and searched the baby bag for James’ medicine.

“Oh no, what’s wrong with him?” Claire asked. Ginny looked over at her friends who were all looking back at her with concern.

“He has a cold and an ear infection,” Ginny sighed. Several other girls, including Ginny’s old roommates, gave the infant sympathetic looks. James suddenly sneezed and Ginny cringed. She searched for a tissue and once she found one he fought with her as she tried to wipe off his nose.

“He’ll be okay won’t he?” Melanie asked, watching Ginny continue to struggle with James.

“As long as he takes his medicine and we keep an eye on him, he’ll be all right,” Harry said, holding two small vials in his hand. Ginny took one from him after she succeeded in wiping James’ nose.

“You do one, I’ll do the other. I’m not sure if he’s going to take it or not,” Ginny said. Harry nodded and they each opened the vials and measured out the correct amount with the medicine droppers Madam Pomfrey had given them.

James looked at his parents with a tired look on his little face and coughed again. It broke their hearts to see him so miserable. Ginny held the dropper up to James’ mouth, taking a napkin in her hand just in case she needed it.

“Open up, angel,” she said sweetly. James, not knowing what his mother was giving him, opened his mouth just like he always did when his parents gave him something. She gave him the medicine, hoping he would take it. A disgusted look appeared on his face and he promptly spit it out. Ginny caught it just in time with a napkin before the liquid trickled down his chin and onto his shirt. She sighed.

“He didn’t take any of it, did he,” Harry observed and Ginny shook her head. She filled the dropper again only half way just in case he did swallow some and held it up to him. James pulled his face away from her now aware of what she was giving him.

“Come on James. I know it doesn’t taste good, but it’ll make you feel better sweetie, I promise,” Ginny cooed. James shook his head, pulling away from her hand, as Ginny continued to coax him to take it.

“Maybe if you aim for his cheek he won’t taste it as much,” Harry suggested. Ginny stopped trying to give the medicine to James and looked over at Harry. He shrugged. “Well, it’ll go past most of his taste buds, that way he’ll take it without tasting much.”

“Worth a try,” Ginny agreed. She forced James to open his mouth and did as Harry suggested. This time he swallowed it but he didn’t seem to like it at all.

“Your turn,” Ginny said to Harry. Harry fought with James for a few moments but he succeeded in administrating the medication as well. Now they wouldn’t have to worry about that for another six hours.

Harry reached over and placed his hand on James’ forehead. He was relieved to find it had gone down more since the night before.

“It’s getting lower,” he said to Ginny. Ginny nodded and they both watched him with concerned looks for a few moments.

They spend the rest of breakfast being patient with feeding James. Madam Pomfrey had told them he had a sore throat so feeding him would take a while. It would be especially difficult to get him to swallow since he needed to have a lot of fluids to help him get better. Harry had fed him his bottle that morning. He had held the bottle up as James would take a few sips and pull away. Harry would wait and continue a few minutes later. James would take another couple sips and pull away again. This process continued until the bottle was finished.

When the owl post arrived, Harry and Ginny were bombarded with letters. They looked at each other confused and each picked up a letter. The moment Harry finished reading the first letter he began sorting through them all, keeping a look out for familiar handwriting and shoving the rest into the baby bag.

It was hate mail and it was all because of that Rita Skeeter article. Ginny picked up another letter and read it aloud.

“You little tramp! How dare you force a sweet and innocent boy like Harry Potter into something like this! He has enough on his mind let alone adding the burdens of your mistakes as well!”

She folded the letter and ripped it up. She picked up another and opened it.

“How could you treat an innocent little baby like that? If you didn’t want it, why didn’t you put it up for adoption so some loving and caring family can take it in and love it like it deserves. That poor, poor child,” she read that one aloud as well and promptly ripped it up. Ginny was furious but she wasn’t going to let it get to her.

Ginny picked up and third, sighed, then ripped it up. “Don’t people have anything better to do than write hate mail to people they don’t know because of some dumb article that doesn’t have any truth to it.”

“Easy, they don’t have a life of their own so they get involved in a strangers so they have some sort of entertainment,” Hermione answered and picked up a letter. Harry snatched it out her hand and shoved it in the baby bag. Hermione frowned at him.

“These are all going to be burned,” he announced and continued to shove them in the bag. He picked one up and after examining it, he shoved it to Ginny. “I think this one is from the twins.”

Ginny took it and opened the letter.

Dear Ginny,

Ron told us you, our dear baby sister, were back on the Quidditch team this year. So, we decided to come out to your first match and watch you kick Ravenclaw’s arse. Bill’s here so he wants to come too, seeing as he can’t get a date this weekend. And he calls himself a Weasley! Even Percival the Humongous BigHeaded Boy has a girl — married her as well. How did that one happen?

Anyway, we just wanted to let you know that three of your favorite brothers will be there at the match to cheer you on. Say hi to Harry and James for us!

Can’t wait to show our Gryffindor spirit!

Love,

Fred and George


“Well,” she folded up the letter and stuffed it inside her robes, “Bill, Fred, and George are coming to the match,” Ginny announced. Ron looked horrified at this.

“The twins are coming! Bloody hell!” he moaned.

“Language!” Ginny hissed and Ron muttered an apology.

“Why is that bad?” Hermione asked confused.

“Cleverest witch in the whole school and you don’t understand what’s bad with Fred and George showing up at a Quidditch match! Like you don’t know what the twins are like!” Ron exclaimed and shook his head. Hermione glared at him. “They’re up to something and let me tell you, if they ruin any chance we have of winning I’ll skin them alive!”

Hermione leaned over and whispered something in Ron’s ear. He grinned and his ears turned red.

Harry and Ginny rolled their eyes at them. They had been acting strange for the past week and had become very cuddly in public. Harry shook his head as his best friends whispered to each other and made eyes and he continued to sort through the letters.

Instead of going to class after breakfast like the rest of the school, Harry and Ginny headed back to Gryffindor Tower with James, where Harry dumped all the letters into the fireplace to burn. He thoroughly enjoyed watching those letters burn.

They spent the morning taking care of James and trying to do school work. While they worked on homework, James was absolutely miserable. He slept, coughed, sneezed, cried, and had vomited for the first time ever in his short life. This had greatly frightened him since he had never had anything like that happen to him before. It had taken Harry and Ginny nearly fifteen minutes to calm him down and clean him up. Shortly after, Harry watched as Ginny took off towards the washroom to rid her stomach of her breakfast as well.

“Honey,” Harry said gently when Ginny emerged and slumped into a chair next to him at the table they were studying at, “why don’t you go and see Madam Pomfrey?’

This was a very big mistake. Ginny glared at him.

“I don’t need to see her. I probably caught what’s going around,” Ginny retorted snappishly and opened her Herbology book. She grabbed a quill and began working on her sketches. Harry was about to point out that she didn’t have the other symptoms of a cold but thought better of it and went on with his work.

Later that evening, the Potters sat in the common room with a few other students who had gone to dinner early. Harry had finished most of his work and decided to work on his and Ginny’s brooms for the match that weekend. He had retrieved both brooms and searched for his broom maintenance book when he remembered he lent it to Ron the night before. He dropped off the brooms with Ginny and went up to his old dormitory.

He paused outside the door and heard something coming from within, but it was very muffled. He shrugged and opened the door.

Harry stood in shock and he fought to keep in his laughter. He knew exactly what those noises were now.

The curtains around Ron’s bed were drawn and he could hear Ron and what sounded like Hermione behind it and is was obvious of what they were doing. They had obviously forgotten to cast a Locking Charm and the Silencing Charm wasn’t very good. He tiptoed to Ron’s trunk where he spotted his book and was about to leave when an interesting conversation was taking place.

“How do you get this thing off?” Ron’s frustrated voice came.

“Oh honestly Ron, it’s not that hard,” Hermione’s irritated voice followed.

“Easy for you to say, you’re a girl, you take this thing off every day!” Ron retorted.

“Let me do it if you’re going to be like that!” Hermione said. Harry heard movement behind the curtain.

“No I’ll do it Hermione!” Ron’s angry voice said.

“You’d think after a few times you’d get it,” Hermione teased.

“Shut up! I’m not an expert at this you know,” Ron replied.

“No, but Harry is. Why don’t you get some pointers from him,” Hermione said.

“Ugh! Hermione, I don’t want to think about Harry and Ginny doing what we’re doing! There! I got it!”

“Finally.”

Harry quickly left the room as he saw something white (and something he had seen on Ginny many occasions himself) fall to the floor next to Ron’s bed. Harry did not want to be present for anything else.

Once he reached the common room, he collapsed on the couch next to Ginny, who was trying to feed James a bottle, and exploded in laughter.

Ginny looked at him strangely and sat James in her lap when he pulled away from the bottle and coughed a little.

“Something funny?” she questioned. Harry gasped for breath in his laughter.

“Ron . . . Hermione,” he managed but couldn’t stop laughing.

“What about them?” Ginny asked. Harry couldn’t reply. He was too caught up in his laughter.

“Daddy’s gone mad,” Ginny whispered to James. He was looking at his father curiously and sneezed. Ginny cringed and reached for the box of tissues on the side table next to her to wipe his nose.

Harry regained his composure enough to tell Ginny, “They were playing one on one Quidditch.”

Ginny’s eyes went wide and she fought to keep control.

“You’re joking!” she gasped. Harry shook his head and told her about the conversation he overheard. She couldn’t help but laugh.

They were so caught up in this new discovery, they didn’t notice Dean and Seamus climbing through the portrait hole and go up the boys’ stairs.

“WAY TO GO WEASLEY!” Seamus’ voice suddenly bellowed. Moments later a frantic Hermione bolted down the boys’ stairs and up the girls’ stairs, a blur to all present. That was all it took for Harry and Ginny to break out in laughter full blast this time. Even James began to giggle at the sight of his parents.

A very red faced Ron came down the stairs, his hair looking like Harry’s and his clothes rumpled. Ginny couldn’t help herself. “So, Ron, finally taking my advice are you?”

“Shut up Ginny,” Ron growled. Hermione came down the stairs a few moments later, wearing different clothes and looked very much embarrassed. Her face was flushed and her hair was looking wild.

“Isn’t one on one Quidditch so much fun,” Ginny continued to tease her brother and his girlfriend.

“We’re going for a walk!” Ron announced suddenly and grabbed Hermione’s hand.

“I’d suggest either the broom cupboard on the fourth floor or the Room of Requirement,” Harry called after them.

“Sod off Potter!” Ron shouted back and the portrait closed behind them.

“Well,” Ginny began, smiling at Harry, “that should keep him out of our business.”

“Either that or Ron will be asking me advice,” Harry said reaching for a broom. Ginny rolled her eyes and stood up with James.

“Don’t flatter yourself, dear. You’re not that good,” she said airily and walked over to the play pen.

“Hey!” Harry shouted, offended by her statement. Ginny turned around after putting James down and gave Harry an impish smile. She swung her hips as she walked back towards him. She stood in front of him and lowered her mouth to his ear.

“Why don’t you prove me wrong later on then,” she whispered. Harry grinned and he watched Ginny saunter away from him, once again swinging her hips suggestively. Yes, he definitely liked the benefits of being married.

Later that night, long after Harry had proven her wrong, Ginny was woken up not by James crying but by Harry kicking her. She sat up confused by this and looked over at her sleeping husband. Harry was thrashing around, becoming twisted in the sheets, and mumbling in his sleep. His face was scrunched up as he continued to flail around in his sleep. Ginny didn’t know if she should wake him up or let him wake up on his own. Not being able to watch him like this any longer, she reached over and gently shook him and calling his name softly. Harry quickly woke up and sat up straight, looking frantically around the room. His breathing was heavy and ragged. His eyes had a wild look in them and fear was written all over his face.

“Harry, it’s okay. It’s just a dream,” Ginny soothed him. Harry looked at her and Ginny saw him visibly relax. He reached a shaky hand towards her and touched her face as if he was making sure she was real. His hand felt clammy and cold against her skin. She put her hand over his, reassuringly. “It’s okay.”

Ginny pulled him close to her, rubbing his back soothingly. They sat there, Ginny holding on to Harry and trying to comfort him. She pulled him down with her, keeping him close to her and whispered soothing words to him. After a while he fell asleep in her arms. Ginny hoped these nightmares would stop but she couldn’t stop wondering if they meant something.


* * * * *


By Thursday, James was back to his normal happy self. He was back to babbling, laughing, grabbing everything in sight, and demanding all his parents’ attention. While James was completely healthy again, Ginny, however, was still the same and refused to see Madam Pomfrey. Harry had tired to persuade her but it was like teaching a rock to talk. He had given up and let her do what she wanted. He just hoped she would decide to go and see Madam Pomfrey sometime soon.

Harry’s nightmares had persisted. He had managed not to scream out whenever he had them. Each night they were different but always ended with Harry watching helplessly as Voldemort killed his family. He would wake up in a cold sweat and Ginny was always right there to comfort him. He didn’t know why he was having them but he suspected it had to do with that article and knowing that everyone in Britain knew he was a father, including Death Eaters.

On Saturday morning they were standing outside the Gryffindor locker rooms, trying to distract James so that they could go in to change and get ready for the match. They were trying to leave him with Hermione for the match but he had ideas of his own. James refused to leave his father’s arms. Ever since Harry and Ginny returned from Quidditch practice the night before it was like James was afraid of Hermione. He was crying when they returned and Hermione, looking very put out, had said that he was refusing to go to sleep and wanted them to come back. Ginny thought that Hermione was the one who was needed a nap and wanted them to come back.

“You know, we could always take him with us,” Harry suggested, gently bouncing James in his arms. He immediately regretted it when he saw Ginny’s look.

“Oh yes Harry, let’s take him up in the air on a broom, in the middle of a match where Bludgers are determined to knock your head off. Every mother’s dream for their five month old,” Ginny replied dryly.

“I was only joking,” Harry tried weakly but Ginny didn’t buy it.

“Harry! Ginny! Hurry up!” Ron’s voice shouted from the entrance to the locker rooms.

“Hang on! We’re having an issue out here! Don’t get your pants in a twist!” Ginny shouted back angrily.

“Come on James, let go of Daddy,” Harry tried to pull James away from him. James whined and clung to Harry tightly.

“Let’s go angel. Mummy and Daddy have to go,” Ginny tried and attempted to take James from Harry. He willingly went to his mother and clung onto her just as tightly. She glanced at Hermione and nodded. “Okay, go to Auntie Hermione now.”

One look at Hermione and James buried himself closer to Ginny and squirmed in protest.

“I’ve never seen him act like this. He likes Hermione,” Harry said, scratching his head in confusion. He looked at Hermione and jokingly said, “What did you do to our son?”

He was surprised to see a guilty look on her face.

“Hermione, what did you do to him?” Ginny asked, slightly shocked. Hermione bit her bottom lip.

“Oh, I’m so sorry. See last night, he wouldn’t stop crying and I just couldn’t take it so I . . . I — I yelled at him. I didn’t mean to, but I didn’t know what else to do. He just kept crying and crying and crying and I just . . .I just lost it,” Hermione admitted in a rush. Ginny was not happy that she had yelled at a five month old whose primary way of communicating his needs was crying, but at the same time she felt sorry for her. Despite the number of times she had watched James for them, she wasn’t used to his constant crying like Harry and Ginny were and knowing what to do.

“Welcome to our world,” Harry muttered under his breath. He glanced at James and thought, But I wouldn’t trade it for anything.

“It’s all right. He’ll get over it, but right now we have to be in there and we can’t take him with us,” Ginny sighed. She glanced behind Hermione and was relieved, for once, to see Fred and George bounding towards them both looking as if they had done something they shouldn’t have, Bill in tow.

“Thank Merlin!” Ginny exclaimed and handed James over to Fred once her brothers had joined them. They stared at her in shock.

“You’re giving him —” Fred began.

“— willingly — ” George picked up.

“— to us?” they finished together.

“Ginny, I don’t think that leaving him in their care is a good idea,” Bill said, looking wearily at the twins. “Especially after —”

“Look, he doesn’t want to go to Hermione so you three are watching him during the match,” Ginny cut him off impatiently.

Fred and George looked at each other and then at her. “Are you sure you’re our sister?”

Ginny glared at them and took the baby bag that was sitting near Harry’s feet. She shoved it at George.

“He’s getting over a cold and an ear infection so make sure he stays warm. And please make sure you put a charm around him so the sound isn’t so loud. I don’t want him to go deaf,” she explained. She narrowed her eyes and looked at each twin in turn. “If so much as a hair is out of place on his head —”

“What hair? The kid’s bald. Taking after Dad already!” Fred said, rubbing the top of James’ head. Ginny was not pleased.

“If a hair is out of place on his head I swear you two won’t have any hair at all,” Ginny warned and added, “anywhere on your bodies.”

“Don’t worry Ginny, I’ll make sure that nothing happens to James,” Bill clapped her on her shoulder. She gave him a grateful look and looked at James.

“Bye sweetheart. Be good for your uncles,” Ginny cooed and kissed his cheek. Harry stepped up and smiled at James.

“Be good,” he said and also gave James a kiss on the cheek. They said goodbye to Ginny’s brothers and Hermione and made their way into the locker rooms.

They quickly changed into their Quidditch uniforms and were surprised that they were a few minutes early for the pep talk in the meeting room. They propped their brooms up against a wall and Harry leaned against it. Ginny went to lean next to him but he stopped her and pulled her in front of him. He wrapped his arms around her waist, holding her close, and buried his head in her hair. Ginny placed her hands on his and they waited for Ron to come as the rest of the team filtered in and took seats on the benches.

Harry relished in having Ginny so close. He closed his eyes, thankful to have her in his life. He breathed in the scent of her hair taking in the scent of green apples.

“Thank you,” he whispered.

“For what?” Ginny asked. Harry moved his head so it was resting on her shoulder.

“For being here. Especially with all these nightmares I’ve been having,” he explained. Ginny sighed. She held up one of his hands and kissed his palm.

“I always will be,” she replied.

Minutes later Ron strode into the room, head held high and his new broom clutched in his hand. He surveyed the room and glared at Ginny and Harry who were still leaning against the wall, Harry holding Ginny from behind.

“Hands off my sister Potter!” Ron ordered.

“She’s my wife. I can put my hands on her all I want,” Harry replied casually. Ginny nodded in agreement.

“Hands off!” Ron repeated himself.

“Why, Ron? Rather your hands be on me?” Ginny asked sweetly. Their teammates sniggered.

“No!” Ron denied and pulled a revolted look. He looked away and concentrated on the rest of the team. He cleared his throat.

“Today is the first match of the season. It’s also our first match. Now, Ravenclaw is all right, but we are much better. You keep flying the way you have in practice and we have that cup in the palm of our hands right off the bat,” he launched into his pep talk, a strange gleam in his eye as he talked away. He paced back and forth in front of the team his voice hard with determination. “I want you all to play hard and play to win. I want you to beat those Bludgers, score with that Quaffle, and catch that Snitch!”

The team cheered loudly.

“Two things before we go out there. First, Madam Hooch has informed me that a scout for the National Quidditch League might be here looking at the seventh years. Second, there’s been a change in the Ravenclaw line up. One of their Chasers was injured earlier in the week, so one of their reserves is playing instead. Hopefully, that won’t affect our game plan. From what I’ve seen, he’s pretty lousy. Now let’s get out there and win!” Ron shouted triumphantly. The team cheered enthusiastically and gathered their brooms. Before Harry and Ginny left, Ginny stopped Harry and gave him a passionate kiss.

“For good luck,” she said and Harry grinned. He took her hand and they walked hand in hand out onto the pitch.

“And here comes the Gryffindor team! Kirke! Jones! Sloper! Thompson! Potter! Potter! And their captain and Keeper, Ron Weasley!” Dennis Creevey shouted into the magical microphone, who had taken over as the announcer when Lee Jordan had left. The crowd cheered loudly. Harry looked up at the Gryffindor stands and saw Bill, Fred, and George with James. He smiled and followed the team out onto the pitch.

“And now here comes the Ravenclaw team! Ackerley! Corner! Edgewater! Fawcett! Goldstein! Newmen! And their captain and Seeker, Terry Boot!”

“Damn it!” Ginny swore under her breath when she saw Michael Corner strut onto the pitch in his blue Quidditch uniform. Harry’s grip on his broom tightened. He glanced over at Ginny and saw she was wearing a very unpleasant look on her face.

The two teams took their positions on the fields, mounting their brooms. Ginny glared at Michael and he returned it with a smirk. She narrowed her eyes and was now determined to keep the Quaffle away from him the entire game.

“You know the rules boys. A nice clean game,” Madam Hooch said as the two captains shook hands. “On my whistle. Three . . . two . . . one!”

Harry kicked hard off the ground and shot up high into the air, eyes already scanning for the Snitch.

“Chaser, Blake Thompson of Gryffindor takes the Quaffle and heads towards the goal. Keeper Rachael Newmen is waiting for him! Watch out for that Bludger! Yes! He dodges and continues to head towards the goal! He passes to Chaser Ginny Potter! Chaser Michael Corner is after her; she dives and passes it to Chaser Anita Jones! She gets up to the goal and - GRYFFINDOR SCORES, 10-0 TO GRYFFINDOR!” Dennis’ excited voice rang out throughout the pitch.

Then something unexpected happened.

Everyone in the stands, except those in the Gryffindor section, hair instantly changed to maroon. There was loud laughter and some terrified shrieks.

The Weasley twins had struck again.

Ginny grinned and shook her head before intercepting the Quaffle from Ravenclaw and barreling down the pitch.

“Potter takes the Quaffle — watch that Bludger Ginny! Nice hit by Beater Jack Sloper! Ouch! Corner rams into Potter and takes control of the Quaffle! He passes to fellow Chaser Stewart Ackerly and heads towards the goalpost. Keeper Ron Weasley is waiting for him, go get him Ron! Ackerly heads for the middle post and — yes! Jones intercepts! Gryffindor back in possession!”

Harry kept his eyes and ears wide open. He glanced behind him and saw Terry Boot, Ravenclaw’s Seeker, trailing him. They always seemed to favor that tactic. Harry decided to have some fun. He pretended to see the Snitch and took off towards the Hufflepuff stands. He wasn’t surprised to see Terry follow him. Harry did a sharp turn upwards and turned himself right side up out of the turn and zoomed towards the Slytherin stands. Just before he hit the wall below the seats he dived down and heard Terry slam into the wall. Harry grinned and went back above the match to resume looking for the snitch.

“Ginny Potter scores! 20-0 to Gryffindor!” Dennis cried excitedly.

All of those with maroon hair had changed to gold. Harry could make out Fred and George standing up and cheering loudly while Bill remained seated with James in his lap. He smiled and flew down towards them.

“Talk about Gryffindor spirit!” he shouted at the twins and just as he flew away he could hear them shouting Gryffindor at the top of their lungs.

The game went on and with every goal Gryffindor made the hair of the crowd would alternate between maroon and gold and became brighter each time.

“Ravenclaw scores. Ravenclaw takes the lead, 100-90,” Dennis called without his usual enthusiastic voice. Ginny glared at Michael. He had snatched the Quaffle out of her hands for the fifth time, once nearly shoving her on her broom.

Blake had seized the Quaffle and was flying back towards the Ravenclaw goal posts. He passed it to Ginny and she caught it.

Michael was right at her side.

“Sod off!” Ginny snapped, gripping onto her broom with one hand and keeping the Quaffle tightly under her other arm. Suddenly Michael ran into her, but Ginny was able to keep her balance. He slammed harder into her side and Ginny felt her grip loosen. She tried to hang on and Michael slammed even harder into her side. The Quaffle slid out of her arm and she felt Michael ram into her for a fourth time and this time Ginny couldn’t keep her balance. She slid off the side of her broom and managed to hold on with one hand. Ginny struggled to hang on and grabbed her broom with her other hand. She tried to pull herself up and forced the thought of how high she was off the ground out of her mind.

Her eyes widened in fear as she saw a Bludger coming straight at her and noticed that Jack and Andrew were at the other end of the pitch, both trying to fly as fast as they could towards her. A hand slipped and she was hanging on with one hand again. She was frozen in fear and shut her eyes in anticipation of the Bludger hitting her, a final thought of James and Harry crossing her mind.

She lost her grip as the Bludger smacked into her shoulder and felt herself falling and screamed. She felt something fly into her and realized she wasn’t falling anymore. Then she realized that something was holding onto her waist tightly and that hold was very familiar. She opened her eyes and realized that the familiar hold was Harry’s. She relaxed and reached up to wrap her arms around his neck to hold on. She winced as a sharp pain throbbed in her shoulder.

“You okay?” he asked.

“No. My shoulder,” she said through gritted teeth. She heard him swear under his breath.

Ron called a time out and the team landed on the ground. Harry slowed down as he flew down to the ground. He gently landed and helped Ginny off his broom. They gathered around her and Anita was holding her broom, which she had rescued just after Ginny began to fall.

She took in a sharp breath at the movement her shoulder made.

“You better go to Madam Pomfrey. She came to the match today,” Ron advised. Ginny glared.

“No. I’m going to play. If he wants to play dirty then I’ll show him dirty,” Ginny snapped at Ron.

“But your shoulder,” Harry pointed out.

“I’ll see her after the match. I want to win,” Ginny replied firmly. She held out her good arm to Anita to take her broom. The team exchanged looks and all knew there was no convincing Ginny to get her shoulder healed. Anita sighed and gave the broom to Ginny. The moment she had it, Ginny mounted it and took off into the air. The rest of the team had no choice and followed her.

Ginny kept her promise. She showed Michael how dirty she could play even with an injured shoulder. She pushed and shoved him just as forcefully as he had, ignoring the pain in her shoulder. She snatched the Quaffle out of his arms and forced him to drop it on a few occasions.

Gryffindor was in the lead by twenty points and the game had been going on for over five hours now. There had been over an hour of the Quaffle being intercepted by both teams, with lots of fouls being committed (mainly Ginny paying Michael back), and Harry faking out Terry numerous times.

Ginny watched as Stewart Ackerley took control of the Quaffle and dodged Anita as she flew towards him. He flew over to the Gryffindor goalpost, Michael flying below him. Ginny smirked and anticipated the move. Stewart let go of the Quaffle and Ginny sped towards it, snatching it out of Michael’s reach. She flattened herself against her broom, turned sharply on her broom, and shot towards the Ravenclaw goalpost. She faked going to the right and threw the Quaffle into the tallest goalpost.

“GRYFFINDOR SCORES! 150-120 to Gryffindor!” Dennis shouted excitedly, jumping up and down and there were loud cheers from most of the crowd and the booing from the others was drowned out.

Harry cheered for Ginny. For being out of the game for so long, he was very proud of how well she was playing. But, he was beginning to become frustrated. There had been no sign of the Snitch anywhere and he was getting impatient. He had looked over at the Gryffindor stands where his brother-in-laws sat with his son and could tell that James was becoming impatient as well. He sighed and searched the sky.

He grinned.

Just over the Slytherin stands was a glint of gold.

Harry took off as fast as he could. He noticed that Terry did not follow him this time. Harry smirked and flattened himself on his broom. Just as he was nearing the Snitch it shot downwards. Harry quickly changed his direction and followed it. It did loops upwards and shot back down, Harry desperately trying to follow it. He heard someone behind him. Terry had caught on that Harry was not faking him this time.

The Snitch sped towards the Ravenclaw goalpost where the Chasers were fighting over the Quaffle.

“Go Harry!” he heard Ginny shout as he passed her by and she scored another goal.

The Snitch zoomed around the goalpost and back into the air. Harry shot upwards, arm outstretched with Terry at his heels. He reached as far as he could and finally his fingers closed over the golden ball, its wings beating hard against his hand.

“HARRY POTTER CATCHES THE SNITCH! GRYFFINDOR WINS 310 TO 120!” Dennis shouted excitedly. The stands erupted into cheers and everyone’s hair began to flash maroon and gold brightly.

Harry flew around the pitch in a victory lap, the Snitch in his hand while the rest of the team landed.

He finally landed and something small smacked into him hard, causing him to stumble backwards a bit. He realized an arm was around him and red hair was flowing into his face and finally figured it out to be Ginny.

“We won! We won! Oh I’m so proud of you!” she shouted happily and continued to give him a one armed hug and she kissed him fiercely.

He found himself being detached from Ginny as students and team members came up to congratulate him. Over the heads of some first and second years he saw Bill, Fred, and George with Ron and Ginny. Ginny was holding James with her good arm, smiling as a student talked to her. He fought himself through the myriad of students (whose hair was still flashing the Gryffindor colors) and finally reached his wife and son.

James squealed happily when he saw Harry and tried to wiggle his way out of Ginny’s arms. Ginny gave up and let Harry take him from her.

“Fred and George! What have you done?” Hermione shouted as she was marching towards them. She put her hands on her hips and glared at the twins.

“Whatever are you talking about?” Fred said, failing to look innocent.

“Everyone’s hair is still different colors!” she shouted.

“Oh, that’ll wear off —” George waved it off.

“— by Monday —” Fred added.

“— maybe longer —” George sniggered.

“— we’re not very sure about it,” Fred said, rubbing his chin thoughtfully. Hermione did not look pleased by this.

“You do the counter curse this instant or I’ll . . . I’ll,” Hermione began to threaten them only to find herself at a lost of words.

“You’ll take points?” Fred said helpfully.

“Give us detention?” George suggested.

“Never worked before, why would it work now?” Fred pointed out.

“Especially since we don’t go here anymore,” George grinned.

“Besides, it was only a one time charm we placed on the stands and it will wear off. Why don’t you go read Hogwarts: A History for the five millionth time or have you memorized it so much that you can recite page 482, paragraph three including where all commas, semicolons, colons, and apostrophes are,” Fred said. Hermione was looking indignant and opened her mouth to say something to him.
“Come on love, we won!” Ron threw his arms around her shoulders to stop her from shouting. “I have a great way to celebrate later.”

All outraged gone, Hermione went pink at his words. Harry, however, took advantage of this.

“Sounds like something I’m planning on having with Ginny later on. Have you mastered taking a bra off yet, Ron? I could give you a few pointers if you’re still having problems with that.”

Ron’s face turned so red, there was no telling where his hair began. His brothers grinned at him.

“Ickle Ronniekins has grown up!” Fred teased.

“Our little brother has finally become a man!” George added.

“All right Ron!” Bill clapped him on the back, smiling.

Ginny raised an eyebrow at her brothers.

“Why is it that when I go and do something like that, I get yelled at and nearly kicked out of the family, but when Ron does it he gets congratulated on it and called a man?” Ginny asked.

Her brothers looked at her, all lost for words.

“Well you see, it’s because you’re the only girl in the family,” Fred began to explain.

Ginny was about to show Fred just what the girl of the family could do when Harry stopped her.

“Let’s get changed and get you to Madam Pomfrey so she can heal your shoulder,” Harry quickly switched James to one arm and grabbed Ginny’s good arm with his other, then led her away from the group. Ginny glared at him but didn’t say anything.

The rest of the team followed them into the locker room and congratulated each other on the match. Madam Pomfrey was waiting in the locker rooms to heal the injured players on the spot. She was not happy when she found out Ginny did not come to her immediately, but she fixed her shoulder and told her it would be sore for a while and to be gentle with it.

They talked about the finer points of the game, with Ron saying that if they played like that against Hufflepuff in two weeks, the cup was as good as theirs.

Just as they were discussing Harry’s catch of the Snitch, a man with mousy brown hair and blue eyes entered the meeting room that joined the boys and girls locker rooms wearing midnight blue robes.

“Pardon me, but is this the Gryffindor team?” he asked. They team exchanged looks and Ron approached him.

“Yeah, I’m the captain, Ron Weasley,” he introduced himself and stuck out his hand. The man took his hand and shook it.

“Marvelous team you have here Mr. Weasley! Excellent keeping you did out there. Name’s Samuel Zimmerman, I’m a scout for the National Quidditch League. I was told that you and your Seeker are the only seventh years on the team,” Mr. Zimmerman said.

“Yeah, we are,” Ron affirmed and crossed his arms.

“I would like to talk to you both about possibly trying out for the League,” Mr. Zimmerman said. Ron’s eyes lit up in surprise. He whipped around and looked at Harry who was talking with Jack and Andrew. Ron waved him over and Harry excused himself and went towards his brother-in-law.

“This is our Seeker, Harry Potter,” Ron introduced Harry. Harry was still carrying James, so he shifted him to one arm and shook Mr. Zimmerman’s hand.

“You’re the Harry Potter?” he asked in surprise and his eyes traveled up to Harry’s lightening bolt scar. Harry stiffened slightly and tightened his hold on James. Mr. Zimmerman looked away and smiled at Harry. “Such an honor this is! It’s a pleasure to meet you Mr. Potter.”

“Likewise,” Harry said with a small smile. Mr. Zimmerman looked over at James and smiled again.

“Ah, this must be your son. I didn’t believe a word of that article Rita Skeeter wrote. Handsome little boy you have there,” he complemented.

“Uh, thanks,” Harry replied tentatively.

“Perhaps he’ll inherit your talents some day, won’t you little one?” Mr. Zimmerman reached out to tickle James but he shied away and pulled himself closer to Harry.

“Sorry, he’s a bit shy around strangers,” Harry said, gently bouncing James in his arm and rubbing his back reassuringly.

“That’s all right. Well, on to business. As I was telling Mr. Weasley here I think you two have potential to play in the National Quidditch League,” Mr. Zimmerman began. “We’re looking for young, fresh faces and I think you two would be perfect.”

“Reall — James!” Harry hissed and pried James’ fingers out of his hair, cutting off his reply to Mr. Zimmerman. He glared down at his son who was looking back innocently. “Be good will you.” He looked back at Mr. Zimmerman. “Sorry. He likes to do that.”

“Let me take him. Come on James,” Ginny’s voice came from behind him. “You can pull Mummy’s hair for a while.”

Ginny was back in her normal clothes and holding her arms out to take James.

“So this is the lovely mother,” Mr. Zimmerman said.

“Yes, this is my wife, Ginny. Ginny, this is Mr. Zimmerman from the National Quidditch League,” Harry introduced her. Ginny shook Mr. Zimmerman’s hand.

“Pleasure to meet you,” Ginny greeted him.

“The pleasure is all mine Mrs. Potter,” Mr. Zimmerman said with a smile. Ginny returned the smile.

“I’ll see you in the common room,” she said to Harry and kissed his cheek. Harry nodded and watched her leave with James.

“As I was saying, I would like to see you two try out for the professional league. You get to travel, get the top of the line Quidditch equipment, and the pay isn’t bad either,” Mr. Zimmerman told them.

“When are tryouts?” Ron asked.

“Next September. The exact dates haven’t been determined yet. We still have to see if some players are renewing their contracts in June or not. After that, the date will be set and tryouts will begin. So, are you two interested?” Mr. Zimmerman said, his eyes looking hopeful.

“Definitely!” Ron grinned.

“Wonderful! And you Mr. Potter?” Mr. Zimmerman asked. Harry wasn’t sure if this was a good deal for him or not. After all, he did have James to think about.

“I’ll think it over,” Harry said politely.

“Need to talk it over with the wife, huh? Ah yes that’s the beauty of marriage, making decisions together. The wife and I do it all the time,” Mr. Zimmerman said, smiling widely at them. “Well boys, I must be going. I’ll be in touch.”

They said good bye to Mr. Zimmerman and changed out of their Quidditch uniforms and into their normal clothes then went up to the common room.

A party was in full swing in the Gryffindor common room. There was lots of food and cases of butterbeer. Music was playing from somewhere and people were dancing and talking.

Harry spotted Ginny talking to her old roommates on the other side of the room and made his way over to her.

“Hey!” she greeted him brightly as he approached her. Harry kissed her in greeting.

“Where’s James?” Harry asked.

“His uncles are fighting over him,” Ginny answered and motioned behind him. Harry turned around and saw that Ron had joined the other Weasley brothers and all were fighting over who got to play with James. James was sitting in his playpen, clutching his blue bunny to himself and looking at his uncles with interest.

“Move over Ron! You get to play with him all the time!” Fred shouted, pushing Ron away.

“So? I’m still his uncle, and his favorite one at that!” Ron shouted back and picked up James. “Uncle Ronnie’s you’re favorite isn’t he James?”

Harry rolled his eyes and turned back to Ginny. “Is it safe to leave him with them?”

“As long as my son comes out of it in one piece, he’s all right,” Ginny said. “So,” she changed the subject, “what did Mr. Zimmerman say?”

“Well, he wants me and Ron to try out for the professional league next year,” Harry said. Ginny smiled.

“Oh honey, that’s wonderful! Did you accept?” she asked, thrilled at the news.

“Er, not yet. I want to talk it over with you first,” Harry said.

“We’re talking right now aren’t we?” Ginny pointed out, still smiling.

“Let’s discuss this later,” Harry whispered. Ginny studied him for a moment and nodded.

“Come on, let’s get something to drink and celebrate,” Harry suggested. Ginny smiled.

“All right, and later we can have that private celebration you were talking about earlier,” Ginny said. Harry grinned and they went to get their drinks, hand in hand.


* * * * *


Two weeks later, Gryffindor played their second match against Hufflepuff. This time the game was much shorter and Gryffindor creamed Hufflepuff by 370 points, putting them in the lead for the Quidditch Cup. They wouldn’t play their next match which was against Slytherin until early April so Ron had decided to call off practice for the remainder of the term. Once again there was a lively victory party in the Gryffindor common room and everyone was celebrating the win.

All except for Harry and Ginny.

Harry was leaning against the wall outside their washroom, where Ginny was inside once again. He was watching James take a late afternoon nap in his crib as he waited for her. To Harry’s surprise, James had fallen asleep during the match and unlike everyone else in Gryffindor Tower, he wasn’t up to celebrating.

The door opened and a pale looking Ginny emerged. Their locked eyes for a moment.

“Don’t even say it,” Ginny said before Harry could open his mouth. He sighed heavily.

“You’ve been like this for nearly three weeks now. Something’s wrong and it’s not a cold,” Harry said.

Ginny furrowed her brow trying to think of what was going on. She sat on their bed and sighed. Harry joined her and took her hand in his. He rubbed his finger on her hand lovingly.

“I don’t know what’s going on. The last time I felt like this I . . .” her voice trailed off and it suddenly hit her. She couldn’t be.

“The last time you what?” Harry pressed. Ginny remained silent, trying to fight off the nagging feeling in her stomach that told her it was exactly what she thought.

“I . . . I was pregnant with James,” her voice was above a whisper.

Harry’s eyes widened and he glanced behind his shoulder where James was sleeping. Another baby?

“Are you sure?” he asked. Ginny merely shrugged.

“No. I need to see Madam Pomfrey. She’s not going to be happy about this,” Ginny said.

“Do you want me to come with you?” Harry asked. Ginny nodded and they stood up.

They left the door slightly ajar and placed a Monitoring Charm on the room before they went back to the roaring party.

“Have a butterbeer Harry!” Ron shouted happily as he saw his best friend.

“Er, no thanks. Listen mate, can you keep an eye on James. He’s sleeping in our room,” Harry asked seriously.

“Sure. Where are you two heading to?” Ron asked sobering up and looking at them back.

“Going for a walk, it’s too crowded in here. There’s a Monitoring Charm on our room and the door is opened. If he wakes up, give him his bottle. Bye,” Ginny spoke quickly and yanked Harry towards the portrait hole.

Neither one of them spoke as they made their way to the Hospital Wing. Ginny’s prediction was right. Madam Pomfrey was not happy when Ginny told her she wanted to take a pregnancy test. She shouted at the pair for ten minutes on responsibility and learning from the past before she pulled Ginny inside the infirmary and slammed the door shut in front of Harry’s face.

Harry once again found himself slumped against the cold stone wall in the Hospital Wing. How could this have happened again? They had been careful and used that potion. But the more he thought about it, the more he realized that they had been lazy in using it. He couldn’t really remember the last time they had used it. Perhaps they should look into more effective methods.

Taking care of James while in school was hard enough, let alone the fact that they might be having another one. How could they raise two children at the age of sixteen and seventeen? How could they let this happen again? Harry had wanted to wait until Ginny was done with school to have more children, but that apparently had not gone as planned.

The Rita Skeeter article popped into his mind. There was no doubt that this would be the next front page news story. Harry clenched his fists in frustration at the thought of his family being exploited like this. And it certainly didn’t help that his nightmares had become almost a nightly visit.

His thoughts were broken when he heard the door click opened. He looked up and saw Pansy Parkinson and Draco Malfoy leave the infirmary. He expected to hear a snide remark, but the pair of them were too absorbed with each other to notice him. Harry sighed and pulled his knees to his chest. He crossed his arms on top of them and buried his head in his arms, lost in his thoughts.

He didn’t hear the door open this time or the soft footsteps coming towards him.

“Harry?”

Harry scrambled to his feet at the sound of his wife’s voice and looked at Ginny expectantly. She looked troubled and she was hugging herself. He didn’t like the look on her face. The last time she had that look was when she told him she was pregnant with James.

“Well?”

Ginny looked down at the ground and slowly nodded her head.

Harry let out a slow breath and pulled her close to him. A mixture of feelings soared through him and he wasn’t sure if he should shout out in joy or scream in frustration. Without a word, they walked back to the Gryffindor common room.

No one seemed to notice their somber state when they returned to the common room. Their house mates were too busy having fun and celebrating like most teenagers would. Harry and Ginny on the other hand were figuring out in their minds on what to do with a second pregnancy.

To Ginny’s surprise, Harry kicked a nearby armchair furiously.

“Just bloody perfect!” he shouted causing several students to stop their celebration. He put his hands on the back of the armchair and leaned forehead, his head bowed.

“Harry,” Ginny said cautiously, unsure of what to say to him. He spun around to face her. His eyes were fixed on her, alight with fury and his jaw was set. His whole body was tense and his fists were clenched tightly. She was scared.

“You just had to go and get pregnant again didn’t you!” he shouted accusingly.

This statement caused the entire room to fall silent.

Ginny sputtered for a few moments and stood up to her full height. She fixed a furious look on him and dared him to challenge her back.

“I did?! You were involved with that too you know. Don’t blame this on me!” Ginny shouted back, not caring what anyone thought.

“Who else is to blame for this?” Harry demanded.

“This? There isn’t a ‘this’, it’s a baby Harry, not a thing!”

“Who’s to blame then?”

“No one!”

“Well,” Harry continued to fume “what are we going to do then?”

“The same thing as last. I’m keeping my baby like I did before. Why would I change my mind?” Ginny crossed her arms across her chest.

“And how are we supposed to do that?” Harry asked angrily.

“We’re doing it now aren’t we,” Ginny pointed out hotly.

“That was different,” Harry snapped.

“How is that different?” Ginny demanded. Harry didn’t reply. He looked down at the ground and felt angry.

“How did this happen again?” he yelled not directing it at anyone in particular. Ginny took offense of this and marched up to him.

“Maybe if you would have kept your hands to yourself this wouldn’t have happened!”

“Maybe if you weren’t so willing it wouldn’t have happened!”

Ginny’s blood was boiling. How could he say that to her?

So she did the only thing she could think of.

She slapped him hard across his face.

Harry’s face was turned to the side by the force of her slap and he didn’t bother looking back at her. He couldn’t stand to look her in the eye after what he just said.

“Next time you want to play one on one Quidditch, you can play alone!” she shouted. She took a deep, calming breath before continuing, “Come and find me when you’re ready to have a civilized conversation with me about this. I won’t deal with you acting like a complete and utter prat,” Ginny said in a quiet yet stern voice and marched towards their room. She slammed the door hard behind her, leaving a stunned audience behind her.

The door slam caused James to wake up and cry. Ginny sighed and went to care for her son, trying hard not to cry herself. She settled herself on the bed with James and couldn’t help but let the tears fall.

No one spoke in the common room. They were too afraid to say anything. Harry didn’t care. He leaned his forehead against the wall, hating himself for how he had acted and his cheek was stinging from Ginny’s slap. He didn’t mean to say those things to her. He didn’t mean a single word. He was actually happy about having another child, but his bitter emotion got the best of him.

“Harry,” he heard Ron’s voice. Harry whirled around to look at him.

“I don’t need this from you Ron. I got your sister pregnant again, all right! I know what I did and I will take care of her. I don’t need the whole big brother talk again because quite frankly I got enough from you and your brothers to last me two life times,” Harry said before Ron could say anything.

Ron crossed his arms and wore an unreadable expression.

“You know, Harry, I would congratulate you on having another kid, but it seems fitting right now to congratulate you for becoming the number one prat of Gryffindor Tower. Thanks for treating my sister like dirt in front of everyone,” Ron said and went to go comfort Ginny.

Harry really hated himself now.

“Let’s talk.” Hermione suddenly grabbed his arm and pulled him out the portrait hole.

Harry leaned against the wall, his hands buried deep in his pockets and waiting for Hermione to lecture him.

“You’re not mad that Ginny’s pregnant again, are you,” she said. Harry shook his head and allowed a small smile on his face.

“How could I? I mean, we created another baby. Our baby. It’s the best gift she could give me,” Harry admitted. Hermione smiled softly.

“That’s good to hear,” Hermione said. “So why did you blow up like that?”

Harry shrugged, not wanting to admit the reason why. Hermione didn’t know that Harry was having nightmares. After the first one he had, he hadn’t told anyone he continued to have them, all except Ginny since she did share a bed with him.

“Look, I’d rather not take about that right now,” Harry said. Hermione nodded solemnly.

“I understand,” she said. Harry smiled at her.

“I really ought to go apologize to Ginny,” he said.

“Yes, that would be a very good thing to do. If I remember from last time, Ginny is not one to cross while she’s pregnant,” Hermione agreed. Harry nodded and offered her a small smile. She faced the portrait and said the password. Before she went inside she stopped. “Harry?”

“Yeah?”

“Congratulations.”

He smiled. “Thanks”

She smiled and went back into the common room.

Harry decided to wait in the corridor for a bit to let Ginny calm down and collect his thoughts. He had lot of apologizing to do. After what seemed like an hour, Harry re-entered the common room. He avoided looking at anyone and was well aware that they were looking at him.

Harry paused before he entered his and Ginny’s room.

Quietly, he opened the door. Ron was sitting with Ginny on the bed, James between them. Ron was throwing a blanket over James’ head and quickly taking it off. James was laughing and babbling happily as he did this. Ginny was sitting cross legged with a hand on her stomach and smiling at her brother and son. Ron put the blanket over James’ head and he took it off. James laughed and looked away. He spotted Harry and reached out for him. The infant landed on his hands and knees on the bed, reaching a tiny arm out to him and smiling broadly. Both Ron and Ginny looked over at Harry. Ginny immediately turned away and Ron looked back and forth between them. He climbed off the bed and picked up James.

“Come on James. Let’s go play,” Ron said as he brushed past Harry with James in his arms. The door shut and he was alone with Ginny.

“Ginny,” he said softly. She didn’t reply. She moved to lay on the bed and rolled over with her back to him. He slowly approached her and sat on the edge of the bed. “Ginny.”

He heard her sigh.

“Are you going to be civil?”

“Yes.”

She sat back up and looked at him. He could see her eyes were red and it was obvious that she had been crying. How could he make her cry?

“I’m sorry. I overreacted a bit,” he began.

“A bit!” she repeated. “More like you went over the deep end and kept on swimming!”

“All right, all right, look the point is, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean any of that stuff and I take it all back,” he added quickly.

“Why?” she asked.

He frowned. “Why what?”

“Why did you act like that?”

“Oh.”

He stood up and paced the room, running his hand through his hair.

“Does this have to do with your nightmares?” she asked. Harry stopped and stared at her. She sighed and stood up.

“Harry, we’re safe here, you know that. Voldemort can’t get me or James or this baby. He wouldn’t dare try to get through the castle’s security especially with Dumbledore here,” she said. Harry knew she made sense and it was silly for him to worry like this, but he couldn’t help it.

“Maybe you should start those Occlumency lessons again,” she suggested.

“No. Not with Snape again,” he flat out refused. He had told her all about those sessions with Professor Snape and had refused to do them again. Even when everyone tried to convince him, he stood his ground and never went back.

“There must be someone else. Talk to Dumbledore about it. I’m sure there’s someone else you can work with here. I just can’t take seeing you like this, going barmy over these stupid nightmares and blowing up like you did,” Ginny begged.

He didn’t say anything even though he knew she was right.

“Please.”

Finally, he nodded. Ginny smiled and silence fell around them.

“Um,” he began, “look about earlier, this whole nightmare thing and not to mention I know that somehow this is going to get out to the papers really made me mad and I blew up. I really didn’t mean anything I said to you. I didn’t want to hurt you.”

She was silent for a while and smiled softly. “It’s all right. You’re forgiven.”

He knew he wasn’t totally forgiven but he’d make it up to her over time. He smiled softly and glanced down at her stomach.

“So, you’re pregnant again,” he said. Ginny nodded.

“I’m pregnant again,” she confirmed and he finally let the happiness of becoming a father again overtake him. He grinned and walked towards her, embracing her fiercely. When he let go, he softly kissed her and put his forehead against hers.

“We get to do this again then?” he asked. She nodded. “Good. I’m going to be here for you this time, I promise. Nothing is going to stop me from being with you.”

“That sounds great,” Ginny smiled at him and she kissed him. Harry put both hands on her waist and looked down at her flat stomach.

“How far are you?” he asked.

“About six weeks. The baby’s due in June, again,” she said. Harry smiled and began to talk in baby voice to her stomach, much like he had done before when she was pregnant with James. They were so involved with Harry talking to her stomach and Ginny laughing they didn’t notice the door opened.

“Sorry to interrupt,” they heard Hermione’s voice. They stopped at looked at the door. Hermione and Ron were standing in the door way, James in Ron’s arms. James reached out for his parents and Harry went over and took him.

“You two talk things through?” Ron asked. Harry nodded.

“You can revoke my title as Number One Prat,” he said.

Ron didn’t find it funny at all. In fact, at closer inspection Harry saw that something was troubling them.

“What’s wrong?” Ginny asked, joining them.

Hermione spoke up.

“Dumbledore’s office was broken into.”
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