Birth of the Potter Children by JetLaBarge
Summary: Third in the Almost Happily Ever After series, starting at the end of the hunt for the remaining supporters of Tom Riddle and the end of Ginny's Quidditch career.
Rating: R
Categories: Post-DH/AB
Characters: None
Genres: None
Warnings: None
Challenges: None
Series: Almost Happily Ever After
Published: 2014.08.11
Updated: 2015.03.17
Birth of the Potter Children by JetLaBarge
Chapter 1: CH 1 A New Life for Ginny
Author's Notes: Brutus Borisky was led into the tunnel by two grim looking Goblins. A wizard pointed his wand at him, then at a chair. Brutus sat down. Across from him were the Wizard and another Goblin.
The wizard levitated a copy of the Daily Prophet to Brutus. He read the headline, “Ginny Potter Released from St. Mungo’s.” There was a photograph of Ginny walking out of the hospital, holding on to a walker. It was obvious that she was not having an easy time walking.
The Goblin said, “Not dead! Not even dying.”
“Impossible,” Brutus said. “There is a cursed needle in her brain.”
The Goblin said, “You have never killed before! How do we know you can?”
“None of my Bludgers have killed a player. That would be bad for business. I have to kill each time to harvest the brains I use for the cursed needles. This was the fourth cursed Bludger, and all three other players are just insane or damaged enough that they will never play again. I cursed this one to kill and it should have!”
“And now Ginny Potter will be even more protected! She needs to be dead,” the Goblin said.
Brutus said, “At least she’s wounded. If your boss wants revenge that will have to be enough.”
The wizard spit on the floor, and then said, “Not revenge. Prophesies foretell the end of his reign, and the diminishing of his master’s powers, if the Potters bear a child that becomes a wise king. One of the Potters needs to DIE, die before they have a child!”
Harry woke up first, as he usually did.
His Wizarding Smart Phone was blinking. He quickly read the messages. Damn. Now that the worst of the problems were over in England they were going to want him to help with problems with the rest of the Wizarding Community. No rest for Harry Potter, not that he really wanted to retire, but he was going to have to spend more time taking care of Ginny.
Last Saturday he woke up alone in bed, like he did most Saturdays when there was a Quidditch game. Last Saturday Ginny was not injured, had not almost been killed by the Bludger that kept her unconscious for five days.
Last night was the first night the injured Ginny was home, sleeping in their bed, the start of a new life. No more Quidditch, not even family games. Ginny was retired and more, seriously hurt.
Harry took a good look at Ginny. Her head looked all right, a little bruised yet but otherwise not bad. You could see the slight scarring where they had to put the right side of her head back together, and where they had removed part of her skull to let her brain expand, but nothing was obvious unless you looked real hard. They had shaved her head, and Harry thought Ginny had expressed more panic over the temporary loss of her hair than over the more serious, permanent injuries.
The scar she had received from interrogations the year before Riddle was killed was still there, looking worse because of the weight Ginny had lost. The right leg looked pretty bad. Harry knew that the knee no longer hurt, which was a lot better than it had been before. He had no idea how much feeling Ginny had in her lower right leg, but Harry thought it was less than she wanted to admit.
Despite being very skinny and short Ginny was not a tiny person. She still had nice sized breasts over the all-too-visible ribs, and although the bum was smaller she still had hips.
Ginny would survive, and adapt, and be happy. Harry was sure of that. She was tough. He just felt bad because all of her injuries were because she was Harry Potter’s girlfriend, and then wife.
Ginny was waking up. Harry gently said, “Ginny, love, good morning. I love you.”
A groggy Ginny responded, “Harry, I have to go to the loo,” as she stumbled out of bed, grabbed onto the walker, and turned to look at Harry.
Ginny sat down hard on the bed and said, “Do you remember what I said to you the afternoon of the Battle of Hogwarts, when you first woke up?”
“I’m not sure if I remember it or remember you telling other people,” Harry replied. “I was pretty groggy, and until I had my shower everything is kind of blurry, but it was something like, ‘never leave me?’”
As she was getting up Ginny started in, “And you replied you had to go to the loo, and now I really do have to go to the loo, but it just seems like, oh, I don’t know, like that was the start of our life together after you finished your tasks and beat Riddle. This seems to me to be the start of our life after I messed up and got injured and ugly and everything. I really do have to go to the loo, but you told me that you would always be there for me, thank you!”
Holding on to the walker to keep her balance Ginny made her way to the loo. She let herself down onto the loo, cursing her lack of balance.
Sitting down Ginny contemplated herself. ‘Skinny, I can see my ribs. Maybe I can get back the boobs and body I had before getting so, well, I WAS in fantastic shape! Well, except for the injuries. The right knee looks real bad. I AM skinny. Harry is treating me like I could break at any moment. I want a good shag, not like, ‘ if I get too excited she’ll break’, sex stuff. At least I can shag.
‘Stupid accident! I haven’t used the ‘Touch of Lust’ spell in years, but I’m bloody well going to use it today. Might as well hide here and shag my husband and try and forget how ugly and damaged I look. Boggarts. Bollocks and Boggarts. Damn! ’
Ginny used the ‘Touch-of-Lust’ spell with four flicks of the wand. By the time she got back to the bed she was beginning to think maybe four flicks was excessive, both because of how she felt and because she could see that Harry had really gotten the message as well.
“Better use the spells for endurance, Harry, all of them,” Ginny said. “We’ve got four years’ worth of not having sex enough to make up for.”
“You’re not going to try and make up for all four years today?” Harry said with a little fake panic in his face.
“I hope to make a bloody good start!” Ginny said fiercely, hoping to drown her sorrows in the carnal pleasures of sex with her husband, something she always enjoyed.
The Touch-of-Lust spell did its job, but Ginny couldn’t do much more than lie on her back and enjoy. Every time she tried to get creative with a different position her inner ear started to give her problems. In the end Ginny had to settle for a lot of gentle lovemaking, not the athletic sex she loved
Mid-morning hunger overcame other urges and the Potters came down to the kitchen.
“I can’t ever remember being this aroused,” Harry said. “Did you do something, some spell or something, to get us this excited? I’m not saying I mind, but it is a little overwhelming. I would hate to go through life with quite this much urgency. Spending the rest of today mostly in bed is going to be fantastically pleasant.”
“Did I ever tell you about the ‘Touch-of-Lust’ spell?” a wary Ginny asked Harry. “It’s kind of dangerous, and I probably used it too much this morning, I was just so insecure and, but it’s FUN.”
“No,” said Harry warily, curious where the discussion of the ‘Touch-of-Lust’ spell would lead.
Ginny replied, “I found it in a book mum had, that she did NOT want me to read. She said that if you used it once a week with one flick you could probably keep a boy interested, and once a day and you had better want to marry the boy. I asked her what would happen if you used it with more than one flick, and she said that it was way too dangerous to use with more than one flick, because if you did that you could easily find yourself pregnant, and when I asked her how she knew that she got all red in the face and said ‘never mind.’ I didn’t find out until much later that two flicks got Mum and Dad Bill.
“Well, I used it with two flicks the first day after the Battle and then with one flick, never more until I got the ring and then only once a week or maybe twice if I was feeling real insecure until right before the wedding. I used it twice the day of the wedding and the two before.
“I’m sorry, Harry, that’s probably why I made such a fool of myself at the wedding, using the ‘Touch-of-Lust’ spell too much.
“After the wedding I really sort of forgot about it because we were shagging all the time anyway, but I felt so ugly this morning without any hair that I used it again, with four flicks, and I’m NEVER going to do that again! But it’s been FUN and we’re going back upstairs because it’s going to take all day at least to get me satisfied.”
“OH,” Harry replied. “It’s been fun, but PLEASE don’t use it with four flicks again. It’s fun but a little painful, too, at least for me.”
“Oh, I’m sorry,” Ginny replied. “I’m sorry, and I’m actually sorry I’m not sorrier. I promise I’ll never again use it with three or four flicks again. Oh Merlin I’ve messed up again.”
“We’ve got pleasant work ahead of us today, Ginny my love,” Harry said, laughing.
Ginny said, “There were all sorts of things I thought we could do, that crazy levitation thing, me all over you, and I can’t, I can’t, even with the Touch-of-Lust spell I just can’t move like I was able to before. Bollox and Boggarts, I’m just so damaged.” Ginny was crying by this time. “It’s fun for me, but you have to do all the work, and I’m just feeling so damaged, like I’ve ruined it for us.”
“I’m enjoying the day,” Harry said. “You still seem to enjoy, and occasionally more than just enjoy, our lovemaking. Gentle is not bad.”
“It’s not bad at all. It’s very good. Thank you, Harry.”
Harry and Ginny spent a good part of the day in bed, making love, but not with the vigor they were used to.
Harry woke up first Sunday morning. He could easily make love to Ginny, but the damnable urgency that so consumed yesterday was mostly gone. He was sore all over, like he had been used up, which in all honesty he sort of had been, but he could at least please Ginny if she wanted it. ‘Touch-of-Lust’ spell. More like being hit by a lorry of lust spell that was. Too much of a good thing can be too much, as much fun as yesterday was.
Ginny was fierce. That was one of the things he loved about her. She would survive everything, the lack of balance and loss of hearing in the one ear, and even the very slow growing of her beautiful hair. She just was not going to be particularly pleasant about it for a while. You married for better or for worse, and with the spells that witches and wizards used, especially all the ones her parents had used, you were pretty well stuck with each other. Might as well enjoy it, might as well enjoy his beautiful spirited Ginny.
“Morning, beautiful Ginny,” Harry gently said. “We are going to your parents for breakfast.”
“I want to hide,” Ginny said.
“Doesn’t matter,” Harry replied. “You had your fun yesterday. Time to face your brothers, who all saw you at St. Mungo’s anyway.”
“Doesn’t it bother you that I’m all ugly and damaged?” asked Ginny.
Harry shot back, “You are certainly not ugly! You are absolutely beautiful. Oh, it would be nice if the hair was back, but the hair will grow back and meanwhile you are just a beautiful woman with short hair.”
“I’m damaged,” Ginny said fiercely.
“I went to Hogwarts with a scar and other issues, like Tom Riddle in my brain messing with me,” Harry explained. “Didn’t exactly get out of the war without a few scars, and neither did you. You are tough, always have been. My tough Ginny is going to do fine navigating, even without very good balance.”
Harry touched Ginny’s head, and then ran his hand down her side to her hips. “Still look fantastic to me,” he said, some lust evident in his look and voice. “There will be time for that later, years to make up for, as you said, not having enough sex during your Quidditch career.”
“Have I ever told you how much I love you?” Ginny giggled and grinned and asked.
“Yes, often, and I’m overwhelmingly and passionately in love with you too,” Harry replied, grinning. “Still am, always will be, no matter what!”
“SHOW ME! At least when you make love to me I don’t feel quite so damaged,” Ginny said. So Harry did.
Harry’s words and looks, plus the sex, reassured Ginny. Harry could see that his words had the effect he had intended them to have, and felt better than he had since the accident.
As soon as they arrived at the New Burrow Teddy ran up to Ginny saying, “Mummy Ginny, Mummy Ginny. You going to be all right? Teddy so scared! Grandma Tonks so scared she in St. Mungo’s too.” Teddy grabbed onto Ginny’s legs and held on for dear life. Ginny promptly lost the little balance she had, and only Harry catching Ginny kept her from taking a bad tumble. Harry picked up Teddy so he would not cause Ginny to fall down, went over to the kitchen table with the two of them. Teddy sat right down next to Ginny holding on to her.
Molly told Ginny and Harry, “Andromeda really had a hard time after she saw you get hurt. She is spending a couple of weeks at St. Mungo’s calming down.”
“Maybe I can help with Teddy,” said Ginny, looking at him and tousling his hair. “I need something to do.”
“We could use your help, Ginny, with Andromeda gone,” said Molly. Molly then spent some time with Ginny going over what they were doing with home schooling, and especially what they needed Ginny to do with Teddy.
Monday morning Harry went with Ginny to her doctor’s appointment.
One of the healers said, “We think we have found the cause of your lack of balance. First, look at this moving picture we have of you getting hurt. See the movement of the Bludger!”
Harry and Ginny looked. Ginny had turned right into the Bludger, but they were headed to a glancing blow. At the last moment the bludger swerved into Ginny.
Harry said, “That Bludger has to be cursed!”
The healer said, “Normally, as bad as that hit was, we should have been able to heal the head injury and send someone home within twenty four hours. However, something real bad was happening right where the bludger hit you, Ginny. We couldn’t figure it out, which is one of the reasons why we removed some very damaged sections of your skull. When we did we found the magic was not in your brain but in this small fragment.” The healer held out a little piece of bone.
“In the bone we found this needle, and in the needle small amounts of a human brain, not yours, Ginny, but another human brain. It has been cursed, and it wants to travel right into your brain and destroy it.
“We were very lucky we took out this piece of skull, Ginny.”
“Who supplied the Bludgers?” Harry asked.
“Brutus Borisky,” the healer said. “They just found him, what’s left of him. Torture, then the Dementors Kiss, we guess. Pretty awful.”
“So now that you have that out I should heal?” asked Ginny. “I can get back to flying? I’ll get my balance back?”
“You should not get any worse, Ginny, and you will learn to adapt,” the healer said. “You may never get your balance back, and we just don’t know enough about this curse to tell you a lot more.”
“That’s part of my HEAD?” Ginny asked, looking at the little piece of bone. She felt around her ear, and thought she could feel a little hole under the skin.
“The bone will grow back,” the healer said. “We just don’t want to use any magic to speed anything up. We are still not sure what we are dealing with.
“Mrs. Potter, you need a house elf to accompany you, to make sure you do not lose your balance!”
Ginny said, “I don’t need a house elf shadow! It’s bad enough to have a guard follow you around.”
Harry said, “Please, remember the Prophesies, Ginny. You are in danger. If your guard is worried about you falling she is not going to be able to protect you from other dangers.”
There were three healers there, plus Harry. The guards and Dobedo were waiting just outside. Ginny looked at all of them, one by one, and then said, “Do I really need a house elf shadow to keep me from falling?”
All three healers said, “Yes, Mrs. Potter, you do.”
“Enough tempting fate, Ginny,” Harry said. “I want to grow old with you. I am very grateful that Dobedo is my friend. He is an incredibly faithful servant. I hope you have a house elf as a friend,”
Ginny looked at everyone again, a scowl on her face. “Bollox and Boggarts. I feel like I’m in Merlin’s outhouse. I’m that damaged?”
One of the healers said, “You are really in very good shape for someone who had a head injury as severe as yours. Getting here promptly has saved your memory and brain. But the balance, you really do need a house elf because of the balance.”
.“How do I get a house elf?” Ginny asked.
CRACK! Kreacher appeared with a small female house elf. Kreacher said, “Mitzi would be most honored to be Mistress Potter’s personal house elf!”
“I get paid real moneys to be your house elf!” the little elf said. “Room and board and a Galleon a week real moneys! Is such an honor!”
Laughing Harry said, “How can you turn down keeping a house elf gainfully employed, earning REAL MONEYS?”
Ginny laughed her face a mix of amusement and exasperation. She agreed to employ Mitzi.
Harry watched as Ginny and the house elf practiced working together. Harry felt much better after seeing Mitzi keeping Ginny from falling several times. Ginny was still adapting to her suddenly horrible sense of balance. The bad inner ear was sending all sorts of confusing signals.
When practice was over Harry accompanied Ginny and Mitzi to the New Burrow. After they got to the New Burrow Ginny turned to Harry and said, “Please go back to work, Harry. You have been hovering over me since Friday, like I was broken and would fall apart at any minute. I promise I will be careful.”
“WE be VERY careful!” Mitzi said. “I make sure Mistress NOT falls.”
Harry did not answer right away, and Ginny put her hands on her hips, one hand holding her wand which had charms on it to help her balance, and said in a deliberate but somewhat fierce manner “Go to work and stop hovering over me, Harry. I promise you I will not break.”
Mitzi was frantically supporting Ginny. Mitzi said, “Mitzi keep Ginny safe.”
Harry went back to work. He met with Arthur and Gawain and was informed of all that had happened while he was gone. It did seem that they had captured the last of the witches and wizards that were ardent supporters of Tom Riddle and had been involved in some sort of criminal activity.
Harry then spent some time going over what Arthur and Gawain knew about the cursed Bludger and the now dead maker of Bludgers, Brutus. Brutus was from a disputed, lawless area between India and China, outside of most normal Magical Governments. With Boris dead there wasn’t much they could do about the cursed Bludger.
Arthur said, “Wanda really wants to see Ginny again. I think she would like to meet with her at least every week.”
“Does Tracy still go to see Wanda?” Harry asked.
“Yes, and she would like to meet with Ginny too. Something about a rape victim and wanting more of the story,” Arthur said.
“I will tell Ginny tonight,” Harry said.
Gawain said, “We may have a new Auror recruit, one a little older than normal, Gus Gudgeon.”
“Gus has been a lot of help,” Harry said. “I am not quite sure how he ended up with Bellatrix, but I don’t gather that his stay was voluntary.
It was close to four in the afternoon, and all the other children had gone home. Ginny was in the living room at the New Burrow with Teddy. They spent some time rolling a ball back and forth on the floor, part of Ginny’s physical therapy. Teddy was very excited and proud, telling everybody, “I helping Mummy Ginny get better. After the ball rolling session was over Teddy was very quiet, and then went up to Ginny and said, “I go to your house after Quidditch.”
“That’s what you did, yes,” Ginny said.
“You not play Quidditch, because you hurt?” Teddy asked.
“I am not allowed to play anymore,” Ginny said.
“I no come to your house anymore?” Teddy asked, with tears in his eyes.
“Of course you can still come to our house,” said Ginny, “When did you want to come?”
Teddy said, “Real boys and girls go home with their real mummy and daddy every day. I wish I was a real boy.”
Ginny said, “You are a real boy, Teddy.”
“I no have real mummy and daddy I can stay with,” Teddy said. “Just real Gran, Gran, Granmum that is fragile and runs away when bad things happen. Can you be my real mummy?”
“Do you want to come home with me tonight?” Ginny asked, sensing the longing in Teddy’s questions.
Teddy said, “And tomorrow, and the next tomorrow, and the next tomorrow after that, like a real boy.”
Ginny held her arms open and said, “Would a real strong hug and kiss from me, a good mummy kiss, help you feel like a real boy? Then I will talk to my mum and let her know that you are going home with me tonight.”
Teddy ran into Ginny’s arms and hugged and hugged. Then he ran off to tell Grandmother Molly that he was going home with Mummy Ginny.
Monday night Harry came back to Grimmauld Place. He was met by Teddy, who said,” Daddy Harry, Daddy, I get to be a real boy and go home with mummy EVERY DAY! Just like a REAL BOY!”
“I will tell you later, Harry,” Ginny said. “It looks like Teddy is going to be staying with us for a while.”
Harry said, “I would love to have Teddy stay with us for a while.”
Teddy said, “Daddy Harry! Mummy Ginny played with me and did my lessons with me. She is smart! She knows all my lessons.”
“I’m glad Mummy Ginny knows your lessons,” said Harry, chuckling under his breath. “She is smart!”
“I roll a ball to her and she rolls it back,” Teddy said. “Pisiful Para-thippy for Mummy.”
“Thank you for helping Mummy get better,” Harry said. Teddy just beamed with pride.
After Teddy had gone to bed, Ginny told Harry about Teddy asking to come home with her so he could be a “REAL BOY.” “It’s got to be hard not to have two parents when everyone you know has two parents, and goes home to them every night,” Ginny said.
“It was hard being the only boy in my class without parents,” Harry said. “I never felt love from Aunt Petunia, and Vernon Dursley hated me. I just feel so bad that Teddy is an orphan too.”
The next morning Harry went with Ginny, Mitzi, and Teddy to St. Mungo’s, and when she was done let them floo to the New Burrow and he went to work. Wednesday morning and for the rest of the week, and from then on when Ginny went to St. Mungo’s Harry would floo to the New Burrow with Teddy and then go to work.
Wednesday afternoon a healer from St. Mungo’s met with Ginny at the New Burrow. She asked Ginny, “Would you agree to meet with Wanda and Tracy Tuesday and Thursday mornings? Wanda really wants you there. We feel that you could use to be there because of the trauma you have just suffered as well.”
Ginny replied, “Harry mentioned that to me. Yes I would like that.”
Ginny asked Molly, “Mum, do you think you could do without me for a couple of hours Tuesday and Thursday?”
Molly replied, “We have plenty of help to take care of the children. We will just plan on you being gone Tuesday and Thursday mornings.”
Thursday, at ten in the morning, Ginny (and Mitzi) went to the house where Wanda was staying. Tracy and a healer from the Mental Department arrived about the same time. The healer introduced herself as Jan. (Ginny learned that she was Jan Swart, and was married to another healer who worked with emotional problems, Ed Swart.)
Tracy waved a paper and said, ”Ginny, is it true what “Witches Rumors” says, that you have a death wish? You sure have gotten hurt a lot, and put yourself in danger.”
“I try never to read the trash in that little publication!” Ginny said. “They have had me sleeping around, and have Harry carrying on mad passionate affairs with half the witches in the Ministry.”
“You still put yourself in the way of a lot of danger, Ginny,” Jan said.
“When did I do that?” Ginny asked.
“When you flew right into that opposing player early in your career and received your first serious head injury,” Jan said. All three women looked at Ginny.
Ginny didn’t answer right away, but she finally whispered, “That sort of was my fault.”
Jan continued, “When those two thugs were after you in the game that finally demolished your right knee, you could have protested, could have sat out the game.”
“What?!” Ginny exclaimed. “And show those trolls they could intimidate me?”
“And maybe not have your knee demolished,” Jan said.
“Is this a pick on Ginny session?” Ginny asked, astonished at how this ‘consoling’ session was going.
“It was my turn Tuesday,” Tracy said. “I was asked if I suspected that maybe Pansy was captured, that going to meet her was dangerous. I had to admit that as soon as I was captured I thought that I should have known better. It’s not the same as saying it was all my fault, but we should admit when we have been foolish and not keep doing stupid things.”
Wanda said, “I guess I really didn’t have too much of a choice when I married Harold, just because of how I was raised. I do have a choice now. I could try and find another man who would abuse me, or I could try and find someone nice. Now I do have a choice.”
Jan said, “You have choices to make too, Ginny. One choice is how careful you are going to be with your body. I see you have a house elf to help you, to keep you from falling. That is a mature choice.”
“I’m not sure I had much of a choice,” Ginny mumbled.
Jan said, “You have the choice to not acknowledge your injuries, and not to get help, and to keep falling. That would be a disastrous choice, but it would be a choice.”
Ginny said, “Harry said he wants to grow old with me, and the healers have all told me that if I want to live a long life with Harry I am just going to have to be slow and careful from now on. I feel like an old handicapped lady. Damn!”
“You are the youngest one here!” Tracy exclaimed. “You are safely married. Here I am expecting a child by one of those bastards, and I don’t know who and don’t care to know. Despite your injuries you are in a pretty good place in your life, unlike us.”
“You never read “Witches Rumors by Rita Skeeter?” Wanda asked. “She writes about you all the time.”
Ginny replied, “All LIES. I’ve never been unfaithful to Harry. Harry works with my brother and works for my father. The idea that he could be cheating is preposterous. Besides, Harry just isn’t that type of person.”
Jan said, “The rumors have to bother you, though.”
“Maybe a little,” Ginny said. The next minutes of discussion made it obvious to Ginny as well as to the others that the stream of articles over the last four years had bothered Ginny a lot more than she had realized.
The session lasted well over an hour, and at the end Ginny promised to be back next Tuesday.
Ginny went back to the New Burrow with Mitzi, and had a delightful afternoon with the women and children. Mitzi held one of Ginny’s hands, and Teddy the other, as they took the floo to Grimmauld Place.
“Shall we read a book together?” Ginny asked Teddy.
“Read a Dr. Seuss book! I get a Dr. Seuss book for US to read,” Teddy said. Harry had read books by Dr. Seuss as a youngster, and when he found a bookstore that carried them he bought all the early reader books he could find. They were mostly in Teddy’s bedroom at Grimmauld Place, because the house elves always s put them back no matter where Teddy left them. Teddy actually did most of the reading, with a little help and a lot of encouragement from Ginny. When they were done Teddy kissed Ginny and said, “I love you, Mummy.
Ginny had a hard time holding back tears, mostly of joy, as she said, “I love you too, Teddy. Put the book back. The house elves are fixing dinner, and we can eat as soon as Daddy comes home.”
They had a delightful dinner, with Harry sharing some of what had happened at the Ministry and Ginny sharing what had happened during her day, always keeping in mind that Teddy was listening. Teddy shared too, and asked questions. After dinner Harry and Teddy played a little, and then Harry read Teddy a story and put him to bed.
When Harry came down to the drawing room Ginny asked Harry, “Are you happy, Harry?”
“Yes, I think I am,” Harry said. “I could get used to coming home every night to a wife and child, or children.”
“Do you mind that I want to make love in the morning and evening? It makes me feel more secure and loved, but I worry that I’m asking too much of you.”
“Most men I know would be thrilled if they had a wife as sexy as you. I am lucky enough to have a sexy, curvy, beautiful wife. I still cannot believe how lucky I am.”
“We had a consoling session today, and Tracy told me that, despite the injuries, I have a husband that loves me and I ought to be happy. Then Teddy said he loves me, and you always say you love me. I’m not happy I was hurt, but I shouldn’t feel too sorry for myself. I have so much to be grateful for.”
“That’s my Ginny!” Harry exclaimed.
Friday Harry finally had the time to go over and see the prophets in Switzerland, and meet with Al and some of the people in the International Aurors Association.
“Ginny dodged a killing spell,” Al said. “She is safer now than she has been since she started playing Quidditch.”
The rest of the Aurors in the International Aurors Association agreed with Al. They all felt much better about being able to protect Ginny.
Harry went to the Prophecy Department after his meeting with the International Aurors. Steve and Valerie Bushman were there, and they greeted Harry warmly. Harry asked, “Do the prophets say anything about Ginny and me, about the Regents?”
Valerie said, “Yes. After Ginny awoke a lot of signs changed. We were all worried about Ginny, and now the signs for her point to a long life not a short one. Ginny is still alive, and despite a life altering injury she is not in bad shape.
“The signs point even more strongly to you and Ginny being the parents of the next King of Witches and Wizards.”
“Is that a good thing?” Harry asked.
“The Goblin’s sword cuts both ways, as they say,” Valerie replied. “You and whoever becomes the next King will have an exciting, and at times, a dangerous, life. Your odds of winning are better than they have ever been.”
“All these problems because I killed Tom Riddle?” Harry asked.
“Oh no,” Valerie said. “The biggest problem is that the Power that control Dementors is threatened by you and your heir.”
“So if we have a child he is going to be in danger, because of these prophesies?” asked Harry.
“Only one, and not necessarily the first one,” Valerie said.
“How many children are we predicted to have?” asked Harry.
“We have odds, only. No firm predictions,” Valerie said.
“The odds are best for how many?” Harry asked.
“Three, or six,” Valerie said.
“Three or six?” Harry asked.
“Odds peak at three and again at six. We really do not know. We just know odds, sort of.”
Friday night Harry shared what he had learned.
“I was in that much danger?” Ginny asked. Harry nodded.
“The Aurors and the prophets are both happy I cannot fly?” Gunny asked. Harry nodded again.
“Let’s start with one child, and see how that goes,” Ginny said.
“We sort of have one already,” Harry replied.
“I wonder if Teddy counts in the three, or six?” Ginny asked.
Saturday morning Harry told Ginny that they were going to watch the Harpies game, going to the Potter/Weasley box like they usually did.
Ginny felt her hair, looked at herself, and said, “Do I have to?”
Harry said, “Yes. You always liked Quidditch. Maybe you can coach from the sidelines. At least you can encourage your teammates.”
Ginny said, “Rita won’t be able to write about me sleeping around when I’m not home at night. I’ve been home every night since I first came home.”
Harry, Ginny and Teddy, with Dobedo and Mitzi, went to the Potter box. Bill and Tabatha Lionheart were already there. Bill asked, “How are you feeling, Ginny? Head hurt a lot?”
Ginny said, “Not really. It’s a little sore where the Bludger hit, but other than that, I don’t know.”
Bill asked, “Not hard to think?”
“NO!” Ginny yelled. “I’m not stumbling over my words like you sometimes do and I can think on my feet as well as before,
“Except it’s hard to think when I’m dizzy.
“Half the time I’m dizzy! Bollox and Boggarts.
“Bill, does it ever get any better? I’m so damn Merlin blasted FRUSTRATED all the time. I’m ANGRY too. Mad at myself and at everyone who has ever hurt me.”
Harry was trying to listen in compassionately, and Ginny noticed and yelled, “STOP FEELING SORRY FOR ME, HARRY, AND TREATING ME LIKE A DELICATE FLOWER THAT WILL BREAK ANY MOMENT!! I’M NOT A SOAP BUBBLE THAT IS GOING TO BURST ON YOU, HARRY!”
Ginny turned to Bill, saying, “How come you are not angry all the time?”
“Donna has enough anger in her… for both of us,” Bill said. “She is …getting better.
“I had all kinds of anger, and guilt, and frustra…SHIN, sorry. Still do, sometimes.”
“It never gets any better?” asked Ginny, thinking of Lavender and how she never got better.
“It gets lots better, Ginny,” Bill said. “Healing takes time, but it is fantastic when you finally succeed.”
Bill paused like he was trying to think of something, and then said, “It’s just lots and lots of hard work.
“It is lots and lots of hard work.
“It is lots and lots of frustrating, hard work.”
“Is it always hard on the person you are married to?” Ginny asked. “Harry has to put up with so much!”
Harry looked at Ginny and said, “Like LAST Saturday? It was such a hard job pleasing you.”
“It was hard, all day,” Ginny said, grinning. “But I’m always yelling at you. Well, not always, but too often. I feel like I ought to be happier. I am happy sometimes, and then I get angry or frustrated or both.”
Bill said, “Donna could have just left. She could have just left me. Instead we got, got, got married and she helped nurse me to functioning.
“Then I found I could talk to people who needed someone to listen.
“I’ve always been more patient than Donna. You have to be patient to be a good Seeker. It is not all thrilling flying. A lot is patience, just patience.
“I’m doing more good that when I was just catching Snitches.
“But it is still hard sometimes.”
Ginny said, “Well, I’m not over the ‘it is hard and I am mad’ stage yet.”
Harry nodded to Bill to indicate that Ginny was indeed still mad and still found everything hard
Bill thought some more. You had to be patient to listen to him. Then he said, “Donna and I go to talk to the Mind Healers once a week. We go mostly once a week. We go, except when she is busy.
“Do you want to go with us next Monday? Monday morning. It is important, so we schedule it for Monday morning.”
Ginny asked, “Will it help me get rid of all this ANGER!”
Bill said, “It should help. It should help some.”
The game was about to start, and Harry said, “We will talk about this after the game.”
There was a brief tribute to Ginny at the start of the game, and Donna came to the box after the game.
Bill looked at some notes he had written, and then said, “Donna, do you think Ginny and Harry could come with us to talk to the Swart couple Monday? So maybe Ginny will not be mad all the time like you were.”
Donna said, “You were plenty mad at yourself at first, Bill Lionheart. People had been telling you for years to be careful, but no, once you spotted the Snitch you would die rather than let the other Seeker catch the snitch. The only problem was you almost did die on me. You knew it was your fault, and you were mad and frustrated and it was real hard living with you at first.
“Bill, I still wish you had not gotten hurt, but we are a better couple now than we would have been.”
Donna looked at Ginny and said, “I think I am a lot nicer a person than I was when you first met me. We had to go to counseling because of Tabitha, and I think that was good for me as a person and for our marriage. Come with us next Monday, at St; Mungo’s, at nine in the morning.”
“I would like that,” Harry said. “I need it right now.”
“Is living with me that hard?” Ginny asked.
“It is going to be hard if you are in bed with me every night,” Harry said, squeezing Ginny’s bum playfully. “Seriously, both you and I have a lot of changes going on in our lives. I think we could both use some advice.”
Ginny agreed.
Cindy Base Hudson and Henry and their sons Rich (3) and Bob (1) were among the people who occasionally were at the Potter/Weasley box, and they were there that day. Rich and Bob were among the children being educated at the New Burrow, and Cindy saw Ginny frequently. Over the next couple of months Cindy would do stories about Ginny and her recovery from the head injury, once a week for the first 2 weeks then every other week, then less frequently.
Rita was also writing about Ginny. Ginny really was unsteady on her feet, and the headline in ‘Witches Rumors’ read, “Ginny Potter drowns her sorrow in alcohol!” The article also suggested that Harry would be looking for a less handicapped woman to bed. If Rita frustrated Harry it made Ginny furious. There just wasn’t much they could do about it, since the articles were always stated as rumors and not facts.
Teddy came home with Harry and Ginny, as usual, after the game. Everybody went to the New Burrow Sunday morning as usual, and Harry shared with Arthur that he and Ginny would be going to a session with the Mind Healers the middle of Monday morning, after the usual Monday Morning management meeting of the DMLE.
Early in October Andromeda Tonks finally came back to the New Burrow. She came back on a Monday, arriving with Molly shortly after Ginny had gotten back for one of her regular sessions with Harry and the Mind Healers. Molly and Audrey let Andromeda help with some of the smaller children. Teddy wanted nothing to do with his grandmother, and avoided her.
Late in the day, after Teddy and Mitzi had helped Ginny with her physical therapy, Teddy told his grandmother, “I help Mummy with her Physical Therapy. PHYSICAL THERAPY is play that helps Mummy get better. I am a good boy helping my Mummy getting better.”
“You can tell me all about it at dinner,” Andromeda said.
“I go HOME every night with my REAL Mummy like all REAL boys do!” Teddy said.
“You don’t stay here?” Andromeda asked.
“You no stay here all the time,” Teddy said. “You run away! Mummy Ginny and Gran Molly not run away.”
Andromeda sort of backed away from Teddy, and then ran into her bedroom.
Molly took Ginny aside and said, “I will be over to talk to you after Teddy is in bed.”
That evening after Harry came home, when Teddy was occupied elsewhere, Ginny said, “Andromeda is back from St. Mungo’s.”
“How was it?” Harry asked.
“Teddy told his grandmother that she ran away. Andromeda didn’t take it very well. Mum said she would talk to us about it after Teddy is in bed.”
“Everything is getting in place at work to allow me to go to San Francisco,” Harry said. “Are we going to take Teddy?”
“We can see if he would like to go,” Ginny said. “We can ask Mum tonight.
“You really can get away for over half a year? There are not any big things that the Ministry wants you to do?”
Harry said, “The biggest thing the Ministry and the Aurors are trying to do is to account for all the people who went missing during the war. We think a lot of them are alive, and either held somewhere against their will or in hiding not knowing that it is safe to come out. I can probably be more help eventually finding those people if I take the courses.”
About nine, after Teddy was in bed, Molly came over. She had a copy of Witch’s Weekly and a copy of Witch’s Rumors.
“They both say you are pregnant, Ginny,” Molly said. “You have gained back much of the weight you lost when you were at the Harpies.”
“I haven’t even had my monthly yet,” Ginny said. “I’m probably going to have to gain back all the weight I lost to get pregnant.”
Molly said, “Teddy has had a harder time each time Andromeda leaves for one of her little vacations at St. Mungo’s. I’m not saying she doesn’t have a real problem, but it has had its effect on Teddy. She is going to damage her relationship with her grandson if something doesn’t change.”
Ginny said, “We were thinking of taking Teddy to San Francisco with us.”
“I don’t think you should leave him here,” Molly said. “I’m going to miss him, but you and he will be back. It is going to be hard on Andromeda, but she’s brought some of this on herself.”
The middle of October Ginny was talking to Cindy about the Quidditch reporting in the Prophet. “The Quidditch reporters are terrible!” Ginny said. “They don’t know the game, and they don’t always get their facts right!”
Cindy said “Mario Bagman is looking for better Quidditch coverage in the Daily Prophet. Would you like to report on Quidditch?”
Ginny said “I think I could. I know enough about Quidditch. Could you introduce us?”
Cindy said “Let’s floo over there right now.”
The two girls took the floo over to the Daily Prophet, leaving the boys with Henry. Mario and Ginny talked a little.
Mario looked at the unsteady Ginny, and the house elf, and said, “You don’t sound like someone who has been drinking.”
Ginny answered, “I don’t dare have a drink, not even butterbeer, until after dinner. The unsteadiness is all due to the injury.”
“The injury will not keep you from writing?”
“No!” Ginny answered.
They talked quite a bit more about Quidditch, and finally Mario asked “When do you want to start?”
Ginny said “Harry and I are going to North America in January, and we will not be back until next summer. Maybe I could start then.”
“What are you going to be doing?” asked Mario.
“Harry is going to be taking classes” said Ginny. “I’m not sure what I am going to be doing.”
“Could you take a writing class to get ready for writing a Quidditch column?” asked Mario.
“That would be a great idea!” exclaimed Ginny. “Harry and I are supposed to go over next week, and I will see if I can take a class.”
When Harry came home that evening Ginny was bursting with excitement. She said, “Mario Bagman is looking for better Quidditch coverage in the Daily Prophet. I know I can do better than the slugs they have writing about Quidditch now. Mario Bagman is going to let me write about Quidditch next fall!”
“That’s fantastic, Ginny!” Harry said.
“I am going to take a writing class while you are going to your classes,” Ginny told Harry. They spent the rest of the evening talking about classes and class schedules.
The first of November Harry and Ginny went to San Francisco. There Harry scheduled his classes, one about using the Internet and computers, and also cell phones and GPS systems. The other class was about hiding from Muggles, especially with Muggles having GPS systems, airplanes and satellite photographs, and lots of security video cameras, and other ways of making it harder and harder to hide from Muggles. Both classes could easily take 30 hours of work a week, so Harry was going to be working very hard, but with this schedule Harry and just over a dozen other witches and wizards could go through what was usually one to two years’ worth of classes in 6 months.
Ginny found out what she had to do if she was going to bring Teddy along, and registered him for classes starting in January. She also found out that she had time to take a couple of classes herself. Harry was going to be busy, so she might as well be busy as well. She registered for one class on “Beginning to Use Muggle Technology”, that was going to cover cell phones and computers and even televisions and electricity. The other course was a writing course with a focus on “Writing for Publication”; this course was going to come in very handy if Ginny was going to help cover Quidditch for the Daily Prophet.
Ginny then had to decide if she wanted to write articles using a ‘Quick Quotes Quill’ or a newer ‘Wizarding laptop computer.’ The new standard was the Wizarding laptop computer, but to use it Ginny was going to have to learn how to type on that ‘quirky keyboard.’ “Harry” Ginny fumed, “I just hate to think about using a Quick Quotes Quill, after Rita Skeeter. I’m going to have to learn how to use that quirky keyboard.
Harry quickly purchased Ginny a laptop computer, as expensive as they were. They purchased a game to teach typing, and Ginny brought it back to England with her.
Early November Ginny was very aware that she had gained back all the weight she had lost, and maybe gained another pound or two. She was also aware that she had gained back the bust and hips that she had when she was first married. Harry also noticed, and made some favorable comments about Ginny’s shape. Ginny did not mind; she also liked her shape; as long as she did not get any bigger she was delighted with her current shape.
Ginny’s memory was not quite as good as it was before, and she took to carrying around a note pad and writing notes to herself. It worked pretty well.
Harry spent the fall of 2003 getting ready to be gone the spring of 2004. He and Gawain had put in place a good team of Aurors with good supervision. Few people were worried about Harry being gone for 6 or 7 months, and some looked forward to growing when Harry was gone.
The week after he purchased the computer for Ginny Harry came home to find a very upset Ginny. “What’s the matter, Ginny?”
“I got mad at my laptop. Can you get it fixed?” she asked, looking ashamed and embarrassed. She handed Harry the laptop in its carrying case.
“Don’t worry, I’ll take care of it” said Harry, not worrying about it. He knew that Ginny was having a very hard time learning to type and using the computer, and he could just imagine her getting frustrated and throwing the computer or pounding on it and breaking it. So the next day Harry brought the computer over to the Harry Potter Estate offices where there was a wizard good at computers, Muggle and magical computer interfaces, and fixing computers that had gotten damaged by magic.
The wizard took the computer out of the case, touched it with his wand, and began to laugh. “Oh my! Your Ginny has a temper, does she?” he asked, with a grin on his face.
“Oh yes!” said a smiling Harry. “You can tell?”
“I can tell when a computer has been smashed into thousands of little pieces by magic and then tried to be repaired,” said the wizard. “Ginny was obviously very mad or very frustrated.”
“Can it be fixed?” asked Harry.
“No,” said the wizard. “Let me undo the repair and I can show you why.” The wizard undid the repair; the laptop was in over a thousand pieces, way over.
“I think Ginny lost her temper,” Harry said warily. “I always knew it was not a good idea to get on her bad side.” So Harry purchased another laptop computer for Ginny.
That night Harry brought the laptop in. “I’m sorry, Ginny, but the computer was damaged beyond repair. I got you a new one.”
“I am learning how to type on that stupid keyboard,” Ginny said, very apologetically. “I was doing so well and then the computer game made everything harder and I got upset, and I just lost it. I’m sorry.”
“I know Hermione types and uses a computer,” Harry said. “Maybe she could help you.”
“I have talked to her, and we have gone over some things,” Ginny said. “Bill has people working for him that use these things too. It is just that they all say practice, like what I was doing when I broke the other computer, is just what I need.
“I just get so frustrated some times, Harry. Everything used to come so easily for me, and it is just harder. I’m adapting to the lack of balance, and am grateful for Mitzi, but I just can’t run and move like I used to. A little hearing is coming back, but there are issues we are working on with the hearing. And my hair is growing back, and I know it will be back some day. It’s all just taking a lot of time.”
Harry said, “I’m sorry if your life is just a lot harder than it used to be.”
Ginny looked into Harry’s sad eyes, and she knew it wasn’t that bad, and that she had to tell Harry. “Harry,” she said, “the funny thing is that life is really good. Yes, I get frustrated. I’ve always had temper, and I have a few more things to get mad about. But then I look at you, then I look at Teddy, and my family and friends, and realize how much I have to be thankful for.
“I want to do more than just be a mum, but the part of my life that is being a mum to Teddy is fantastic. When we get back from San Francisco I want to make real work of having some children of our own.”
“We’ll start as soon as we are back from San Francisco? That would be fantastic, Ginny,” Harry said.
The very end of November Ginny noticed that she had an upset stomach, and finally recognized something that had not happened in 4 years. She spotted just a little, although she thought, ‘It’s nothing like a real monthly period.’
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