Betrayal

FIVE MONTHS LATER

Ginny was in the kitchen of the Burrow when Hedwig flew in the window with an envelope in her beak. She plucked it out and opened it, pulling out the single sheet of parchment after patting the bird on the head and giving her some treats from the can of same they kept on the kitchen windowsill. Her heart gave a painful lurch upon recognising the handwriting.

To everyone at the Burrow...

Meet me at St. Mungo's. Hermione just had her baby. It's a boy. I'm going to need moral support.

Harry

Ginny grabbed some parchment and scribbled a return note, then handed it to Hedwig and sent her on her way.

Harry...

We're on our way. Congratulations on your new son. Can hardly wait to see him.

Ginny

"Mum, we've got an owl post!" she called ... and that was all it took.

* * * * *

Harry thanked everyone for coming, even though it was only Molly, Arthur and Ginny. Ron had claimed he couldn't get off work, but all knew the real reason he hadn't wanted to go. Just the same, they also knew that he couldn't avoid the issue forever. Ginny understood how he felt, but sooner or later the situation would have to be dealt with ... and she felt better being in the thick of things anyway, even if it hurt. She found it was easier if she remembered that Harry and Hermione were still her friends, if nothing else, and it was her duty to show friendship.

She carefully avoided Harry's eyes, however, at least for a time, since he could read what was in them better than almost anyone except her mother. However, she sat beside Hermione as she rested in her hospital bed, holding the baby with Harry's hair and if they were lucky, his eyes as well. Which reminded her ...

"Do you know what colour eyes the baby has, 'Mione?" she asked. "He looks so much like Harry that I wouldn't be surprised if he had his eyes as well."

"No, I don't know yet," Hermione confessed. "The eye colour is a distinct possibility, of course, but it's just as likely that he'll have my eyes ... or even those of my father. He has blue eyes. It's Mum who has brown eyes, and I got them from her."

"When did you start your labour?"

"About three-thirty this morning. I felt bad about it too, because I had to wake Harry from a sound sleep, but once he realised that the baby was coming, he ..." Hermione seemed to remember who she was talking to and decided not to speak anymore. Merlin knew this was hard enough for Ginny to endure without her rhapsodising about how happy she was to be a mother and all that.

However, Ginny seemed to sense this and said, "Don't worry, 'Mione. You have a right to be happy. Not every day one becomes a mother. I'd feel the same way in your shoes." Her voice seemed to lower with every word and Hermione could guess why even as her eyes lowered, Ginny's no longer able to meet those of her friend who was married to the man she herself still loved.

Ginny's actions were not lost on Hermione. "Something wrong, Gin?"

"No, 'Mione. I'm just so ... happy. The baby is ... beautiful. So ..." Ginny couldn't talk anymore over the lump in her throat.

Fortunately she was able to flee when Hermione's parents, new grandparents, came in and joined them, oohing and ahhing over their new grandson. But both Molly, surrogate mother for Harry, noticed her departure, as well as Harry himself. He got up from his place on the other side of Hermione, releasing her hand and giving her a kiss on the cheek, their eyes meeting with a mixture of knowledge and sadness before meeting Molly's eyes, shaking his head at her and following Ginny out. This was something he had to do alone, without an audience.

He found her walking alone in the waiting room a short distance away, hands clutching her arms and head bowed ... and if his eyes weren't deceiving him, her shoulders were shaking. Harry knew why they were shaking and had to at least try to ease her pain, if only a little, speaking in a soft, tender voice.

"Gin ..." he called softly.

"Leave me alone, Harry. You've done enough."

"I'm sorry, Gin."

"That and twenty Sickles will get me a cup of coffee," she returned bitterly. "Or better yet, a shot of Firewhisky--if not a whole bottle, which would set me back a Galleon or two. I'd like to have something to make me forget this waking nightmare."

"I know how you must feel, Gin," Harry tried to say in a soothing voice as he reached for her shoulder to turn her around to face him.

She threw off his hand. "You don't have any idea whatsoever how I feel!" she snapped, keeping her back to him even as tears brimmed in her eyes and her throat ached from trying to hold them back. It was likely that her arms would have bruises on them by the end of this, but at least that pain she could stand. The pain of knowing that Harry was married with a family was something else again ... and married to someone else to boot! "You have no idea whatsoever how much I wish it were me in that bed, holding that black-haired baby boy, bearing your name, wearing your ring! But that's immaterial now. You should be with your wife and child, not out here with me."

"What if I want to be here?" He tried to put his arms around her and purr in her ear, but Ginny moved away.

"No. You belong to another. What we had is in the past."

"Legally, not emotionally," he informed her. "I still love you and 'Mione knows it."

"So you intend to cheat on her after only five months of marriage?"

"It's not a matter of cheating. Just following my heart. You know how long I denied it. Well, I've decided not to deny it anymore." And before she could stop him, he pulled her close and kissed her passionately, his strong but gentle arms locking around her waist. It was a long time before he was able to let go of her lips, then moved them to the pulse point in her throat even as his hands pulled her tightly against him and he moved sensuously against her, moaning softly. "You don't know how much I've missed you, Gin. You're all I dream about every night. Don't tell me you don't dream of me every night. I won't believe it. We shared too much for that--and if I have my way, we'll share even more."

"Harry, no, please ..." But it was as if she hadn't spoken at all, his hungry lips and hands roaming over every possible inch of bare skin he could reach. Finally, she simply gave up to the avalanche of feeling inside her and stroked the back of his neck, unable to think any more as she moaned softly against his lips when he pressed her even closer.

"Is there a bathroom or broom closet close by? I don't know how much longer I can wait," he growled. "These last five months have been the longest of my life!"

"A couple of corridors over, I think," she murmured before he silenced her with his lips again. Once they found it, they both ducked inside and Harry thought a nonverbal Locking and Silencing Charm in the direction of the door, then both lovers made up for lost time with the proverbial vengeance.

* * * * *

When the pair finally rejoined the others, Molly was able to tell that more than just simple comforting had gone on, even though that was what Harry said he had done. But their suspiciously bright eyes and Christmas-morning smiles told an entirely different story. Her mother's intuition told her that Ginny had never stopped loving Harry and likely never would, even though he was at least technically married. Maybe this was what Hermione had been referring to when she said she doubted his feelings for Ginny would ever be resolved.

Just the same, it wasn't right to cheat on one's spouse, whatever the circumstances of the marriage and even if Hermione had gone into it expecting Harry to do it at some point. And she was right. Before she had gone for the evening, Harry had slipped her another note asking if he could be with Ginny that night since Hermione was going to be in the hospital for at least the next several days. She found herself nodding, albeit with misgivings, but if it made him and Ginny happy, then who was she to deny them?