New Beginnings

New Beginnings

Ginny's eyes fluttered open, cutting her dream off half way through.

"Not again," she muttered quietly so as to not wake her husband, who slumbered beside her. By the dark that still permeated the room, Ginny guessed that it was probably only about 2 in the morning. Heaving herself out of bed, she put her hands on her lower back. It always seemed to hurt. Trying to move as quietly as possible, she crossed the bedroom to the adjacent bathroom, turning on the light only after the door was shut. Harry got so little sleep as it was, she didn't want to inadvertently wake him with the light.

Besides the aching back, the only other complaint Ginny had with pregnancy was the trips to the bathroom every half hour or so. Harry found no end to the humor to see Ginny stop whatever she was doing and scamper off to the bathroom.

Less than one more month, she thought, instinctively putting her hands on her swollen abdomen, and she would no longer be woken during the night by her bladder, but by a bawling infant.

Turning the bathroom light off, then opening the door and maneuvering through the room, Ginny climbed back into the still warm bed. In the soft light from the outside streetlamps, she could see her husband's face poking out from above the blankets. Untidy black hair now matted from sleep, a thin, lightening shaped scar was just visible above his right eye. Looking adoringly at him, she saw his eyelids moving, indicating that he was deep in a dream. Hoping, that for once, he was having pleasant dreams, Ginny pulled the blankets back over her and fluffed her pillow. She had barely closed her eyes when she heard Harry mumble something incoherent. Turning her head she saw that he was still sleeping, but was now tightly clenching the blankets in his hands.

She leaned over and kissed him lightly on his forehead, hoping he would calm down and sleep restfully. However, she had only just pulled her lips away when he mumbled a name that caused her to draw a sharp breath. She now knew his dreams were not pleasant. His dream was transporting his back in time to his 7^th year at Hogwarts, and his final battle with Voldemort.

"No....not Ron....not Ron....RON!"

Ginny jumped as her husband suddenly yelled a string of his best friend's name, then fell silent again. Pulling herself as close to him as her pregnant belly would allow, she cradled her sleeping partner.

"Shhhhh," she whispered, hoping her touch would send him back into peaceful sleep. "I'm here, everything is alright." But everything was not alright, at least not for Ginny. Hearing Harry scream the name of her dead brother brought chills to her, and took away any hope of returning to sleep quickly.

Later that morning, both Harry and Ginny were woken by Harry's alarm. After a quick good-morning kiss, Harry headed into the bathroom for his shower. Ginny, after pulling a comb quickly through her hair- she would shower after Harry had left for work- headed for the kitchen to start breakfast.

The bacon was already done and she was half way through the pancakes when Harry entered the kitchen as well, his hair still a little wet, and dark circles under his eyes. Pouring himself a glass of orange juice, he watched as his wife piled his plate high with pancakes and set the bacon in front of him.

"Sleep well?" she asked, baiting the conversation.

He shrugged because of a mouthful of pancake. Swallowing he added, "I'm just glad today is Friday. I'm looking forward to sleeping in tomorrow."

"You were talking in your sleep again last night."

"Ginny..." he started to say sternly.

"It's not fair Harry!" Ginny interrupted. "I have to hear you yelling out his name, but I don't know what happened. No one knows, except you."

"I already told you, I can't talk about it!" Harry growled, angered his wife had brought up the subject again.

"He was my brother, Harry! And if you don't owe it to me to tell me what happened, you at least owe it to Hermione!"

"Ginny..." he started to say again harshly, but softening his tone when he saw the tears welling up inside his wife's eyes.

"It's been seven years, Harry," she squeaked, whipping away the tears that were spilling down her cheeks. "Seven years, and I still don't know what exactly happened to Ron."

"I know," Harry sympathized, pulling her close to him and kissing her forehead. "It's just, I can't, I don't want to remember..." his voice trailed off as he buried his face in Ginny's hair.

Knowing that she still wasn't going to get Harry to talk, Ginny changed the subject. "So, you are going to be back in time for the shower tomorrow, right?"

Harry smiled sweetly, "of course," he replied.

"Don't 'of course' me, Harry Potter," she replied, putting her hands on her hips and looking very much like her mother.

"I'm just going out with my brothers for a little while. They want to take me out for a last hurrah so to speak, before I become a father."

Even though they were technically his brothers-in-law, Harry, after marrying into the family he had more-or-less belonged to since he was 12, started referring to the Weasley children as his brothers, and he called Ginny's parents Mum and Dad.

"I know very well what happens when you go out with all my brothers," Ginny scolded, remembering their last outing. Harry had returned in the wee hours of the morning, more than a little inebriated. "You lot had better be back before the food is served, or I'll let Mum skin you all alive."

"Oh, Mum wouldn't do that," grinned Harry. "I mean, it's not like this is her first grandchild."

"Yeah, but this time it's different. I'm her only daughter, and she's been helping me plan this shower. You do not want to not show up."

"Don't worry, I will make sure we are back in time," Harry promised. "Now, I'd better be leaving or I'm going to be late."

"Have a good day, dear," said Ginny, leaning in to receive her usual good bye kiss. After their lips parted, Harry stooped down to kiss the top of Ginny's stomach before Disapparating with a small pop.

With her husband gone, Ginny pulled out her wand from her apron pocket.

"Scourgify," she said, pointing her wand at the dirty dishes. Instantly they were clean again. With a flick of her wand she levitated them back into the cabinets. With the kitchen clean, Ginny headed back upstairs to take her shower and get ready for the day.

The bathroom was still steamy from her shower as Ginny pulled on a maternity top. Wiping the mist off the mirror, she started combing out her hair. Looking at her reflection, she began to think about everything that had changed in the last seven years. History books were starting to refer to things as pre-defeat and post-defeat, but Ginny thought of things as while Ron was alive and after he had died. Her world had changed significantly since Harry had returned from his battle with Voldemort, carrying the body of her brother. No one had thought that the final battle would take place on Hogwarts grounds; no one thought that Ron would loyally follow Harry, refusing to stay behind; and certainly no one thought that Ron might not come back alive. It had been obviously from the body that it had been the Killing Curse, but any other information; circumstances, last words, were kept safely locked inside Harry's mind.

Ginny sighed. She was desperately hoping that with the birth of the baby, she and Harry could move on to a new stage in their life, and instead of pre and post Ron, she could start deeming things pre and post baby.

Saturday dawned bright and sunny, causing Harry to crawl out of bed, wrench close the extra, usually decorative curtains, and go back to sleep in the now much dimmer room. After a much needed lie in, Harry and Ginny, though both fully awake, decided they were too lazy to leave the comfy bed.

"Can we stay like this forever?" Harry asked sweetly, his arms wrapped around Ginny from behind, and bodies pressed together.

Ginny giggled. "Forever is an awfully long time, won't you get bored?"

Pushing himself up and putting his arms on either side of Ginny, Harry looked down at her mischievously. "Oh, I think we could find ways to pass the time."

He leaned down to kiss her, gently at first, but then progressively harder and more passionate.

Ginny, however, gently pushed against Harry's chest, knocking him back onto his side of the bed.

"We'll have none of that," she teased.

"I know," Harry pouted, "at least not for another month."

Ginny playfully smacked his shoulder for his remark. "We'll be too tried from rocking, changing, feeding, and burping to be doing any of that. The minute we have free time to lay about in bed, we'll be fast asleep."

"Oh, I'm sure we'll be able to find some time," Harry said with a wink.

"You don't know how much life will change once we have this baby, Harry," Ginny repeated. "Talk with Dad, he'll tell you how it's going to be."

Harry laughed. "It can't be that bad, your parents did have seven children." That earned him another smack on the arm.

"So, Ginny, sweet heart," Harry whispered, snuggling back down next to her.

"Yes, Harry, dear," Ginny replied, knowing Harry was about to ask for something.

"When are you going to tell me whether we are having a son or a daughter?"

Ginny laughed. "I remember quite clearly you telling me, when we found out I was pregnant, that you didn't want to know. You wanted it to be a surprise."

"Yeah, well, I've changed my mind," Harry returned, trying to look pathetic to sucker her into telling him.

"Oh, I think you can wait a month longer," laughed Ginny, thoroughly enjoying her husband's agony. "Now, come on, we need to be getting ready. Mum will be here in less than two hours."

Two hours later, Molly Weasley Apparated into the foyer, followed closely by Arthur and the rest of the Weasley family. Harry was immediately pulled into a motherly embrace by Molly, while Ginny hugged her father and brothers. To add to the confusion, Fred and George, their usual comic selves, started hugging everyone else as well, including each other.

"Now what time are you to be back by?" Molly quizzed the boys.

"4 o'clock," they all intoned back in a way that made Ginny feel sure that her mother had been etching that time into their brains.

"And not a minute later," Ginny added, "or you won't get a bite of food."

"Don't worry, we will be back on time," promised Harry, speaking for the group, and with a series of small pops, the men were gone.

"Now that our biggest hindrances are gone, we can get to work," Ginny joked to her mother.

"First things first," Molly replied, flicking her wand at the living room fireplace. "That way if I forget to light it later, Fleur and Elise can still get through with little Joel and Kevin."

Mother and daughter then moved into the spacious back yard, with a tall, wooden fence lining the perimeter.

"And you are sure the neighbors won't be able to look in?"

"Harry said the charm he used makes it so that all they would see is an empty yard, and no, they can't hear us either, so people can feel free to talk about whatever they want." Using only their wands, the two women started to set up tables in the yard.

"Put those long ones against the fence, Mum, we'll use those for the food," Ginny directed as she levitated a large, eight person circular table onto the grass. When all the tables were erected, they moved on to chairs, then decorating.

Ginny waved her wand and bright, festive, yellow tablecloths appeared on all the tables. Waving her wand again, vases appeared on the center of each table, filled with daisies, daffodils, and several varieties of magical flowers.

"Ginny, dear, we had better get moving on those tea cakes, or they will never be ready by the time the guests arrive," Molly reminded.

Ginny let her mother start with mixing the batter, while she put several pans of water on to boil to make iced tea. From the living room Ginny heard the sound of someone Apparating.

Sticking her head around the doorway to look in and see who it was, she let out a joyful screech. Rushing in, she hugged the auburn haired woman who was just taking off her travel cloak

.

"Ginny, you look absolutely wonderful. You're glowing!" Hermione complimented, disentangling herself from Ginny and taking a step back to look at her. "I love what you did with your hair, you look so motherly now."

Ginny smiled. "I didn't think changing diapers would be made any easier with my hair always in my face, and I've always hated pulling it back all the way, so, short it went."

They hugged again.

"It's been too long, Christmas seems like it was ages ago," Hermione lamented. "So I decided to come early, help you two set up, and maybe catch up on what is going on."

"Don't you worry about helping set up," Molly called from the kitchen, smiling to see the reunited friends. "I've got everything taken care of in here. You two go out and sit in the garden for a while and talk."

Hermione and Ginny walked back out into the brilliant sunshine.

"It's such a beautiful day," Hermione commented, throwing her head back and enjoying the feeling of the warm sun. "I'm so glad the shower is outside."

"I couldn't have asked for a nicer day," Ginny agreed. "So, with exams being so close, have you found yourself really busy at school?"

Hermione laughed. "I'd like to think I'm a much nicer librarian than Madam Pince. The 5^th years are so worried about O.W.L's, and the 7^th years practically never leave because of N.E.W.T.'s. I try to help them whenever I can, with homework, and papers, and such."

"You've stopped hexing the books, so that if by chance one in your possession becomes overdue it doesn't try to attack you while you sleep, right?" laughed Ginny.

Hermione laughed as well. "I had a fair deal of work figuring out the counter curses to some of the hexes Madam Pince put on the books."

"Is being head of Gryffindor House any easier now?" Ginny asked quietly.

Hermione was silent for a little while.

"I was ready to beg Minerva to take the position back," she replied slowly, "but her being headmistress, it really wasn't fair for me to ask her to take it back. I mean, after 6 years of juggling the two, I couldn't do that to her. But every time I stepped into the Common Room, I just wanted to start crying. I realized I had to stop dwelling on it, though, when a student woke me one morning. I had gone into the Common Room late one night, sat down by the fire, and started thinking about him. I think I cried myself to sleep. It's not so bad anymore, but the memories, they are everywhere."

"I tried to get Harry to talk about it Friday morning. I know he has been having nightmares about it, but he wouldn't open up. He gets angry when I ask about it, he says he doesn't want to remember," Ginny replied.

"Don't make him," Hermione responded. "He'll talk when he's ready."

"It's been seven years, Hermione. He's not the only one hurt, he's not the only one who misses Ron, but he is the only one who knows what happened. I just want to know, that way I can have this baby and move on with my life. Am I being selfish, is that too much to ask?"

Hermione leaned over to hug Ginny. "You're not selfish; it took me a long time to accept that I may never know what happened."

Ginny looked up at her best friend. "I've been doing something horrible," she said. "Harry wants to know the sex of the baby, he's changed his mind since we first found out I was pregnant, but I refuse to tell him. I don't say it out loud, but it's because if he's allowed to have his secrets, why can't I have mine? He'll at least find out in a few weeks, I may never know."

"Ginny, knowing or not knowing is not going to bring Ron back. You're about to start one of the best parts of your life, with the man you love, despite his secrets, and have a beautiful, healthy baby. Ron wouldn't want the circumstances of his death to get between you and Harry."

"I wish I could be like you, Hermione, so strong, stoic. I don't know what I would have done had it been Ron who walked away from the fight, carrying Harry."

Her friend smiled at her sadly. "We can't change the way it happened, Ginny. Why are we even discussing this now? Like you said, it's been seven years. This is your day, your day to celebrate the coming of a new life, a new beginning."

The friends hugged again

.

"I need to be changing before the other guests arrive," Ginny said as she stood up, looking down at her garb.

"And I'll finish helping your Mum in the kitchen," smiled Hermione.

When Ginny descended the stairs again, she was wearing her new maternity dress that she had picked out specifically for the baby shower. It was tan with blue flowers; cap sleeves, and reached to the floor. Ginny had never been used to wearing new clothing, but now that she could afford them, she liked having something new for every occasion. From the kitchen she could hear several more voices; Fleur and Elise had arrived, along with their small sons.

"Hiya, Aunt Ginny," cried Joel, a bright and cheerful four-year-old, waving from the kitchen chair he was sitting in.

"You get bigger every time I see you," Ginny exclaimed, stopping down to hug her nephew. She was always amazed to see how much he looked like Bill, except for his silvery hair, which there was not doubt came from his mother's side.

She then turned to Kevin, who, after seeing his cousin wave, was waving from his mother's arms. At just over two, he could talk when he wanted, but was still very shy.

"Aren't you going to say hello to your Aunt Ginny," Elise prompted, but the little boy just blinked demurely and kept waving.

"Charlie and I can figure out everything else, except where he got the shyness from. We, apparently, were both little terrors when we were young."

"Terror is an understatement," Molly chuckled. "I was always hoping he would have a child as devilish as he had been, that way he would know what he put me through. Instead, you two have this perfect little angel."

"How are you feeling?" Ginny asked Elise, who was just starting to show with her and Charlie's second child.

Elise rolled her eyes. "The same as I felt with Kevin, sick every morning. I envy you, Ginny."

There were two loud pops from the living room.

"The rest of the guests are arriving," Ginny announced happily. "We should move out to the back yard."

Three hours later, a gaggle of women and small children were relaxing in the Potter's backyard. The games had been played, the tea had been served, and the presents had been opened amid many exclamations of, "how cute," "that's adorable," and "awww." Now the women were sitting around the tables, talking, gossiping, and catching up with each other.

"Please excuse me," Ginny said politely, getting up from one of the tables. "The caterer is supposed to be here at three thirty, and I'd like to meet her when she Apparates."

The first thing Ginny did when she entered the house was use the bathroom, then she went into the living room to wait for the caterer to arrive. Plopping herself down into one of the easy chairs, her gaze fell upon one of the many pictures she had adorning the end tables. It was from her 6^th year at Hogwarts, the first date she had with Harry. It had actually been a double date, her and Harry along with Ron and Hermione. They were sitting in the Three Broomsticks. Ron was on the far left, Harry on the far right, and Hermione and Ginny in the middle. Ron and Harry were each clutching a Butterbeer in their outside arm, while their other arm was around their respective date. The picture had been taken by Colin Creevy, who had surprised them by developing it for them. Like all magical photographs it was moving. Ron and Harry were swinging their mugs around, laughing while her and Hermione's picture selves were rolling their eyes at the antics of the boys. Ginny was so absorbed in the picture that the Apparating pop of the caterer caused her to nearly jump out of her skin.

"Sorry if I startled you, Ma'am," apologized an elderly, but very amiable looking witch. "Mrs. Ginny Potter, I presume."

Ginny nodded. "We have the tables set up in the backyard, if you could just follow me."

Outside, the elderly witch simply waved her wand a few times and all the food appeared perfectly lined up on the tables. Under each tray she placed small glass jars, which, with a flick of her wand, were filled with blue flames to keep the food warm. With one last flick, about 4 dozen bottles of Butterbeer appeared.

The witch Disapparated after Ginny paid and thanked her, leaving the guests with the tantalizing aroma of the home cooked food.

"Any bets on whether the boys will be back on time," Elise joked.

The boys, in fact, not only returned on time, but ten minutes early. The other guests, mostly men who wanted to avoid that "girly stuff" earlier in the afternoon, started arriving as well. Before long, all the tables were filled and buzzing with conversation while people ate happily.

Ginny couldn't help but laugh as she looked out on how her guests had segregated themselves. The women, most of who had been there since the early afternoon, were seated around several of the tables, talking amongst themselves. The men, perhaps feeling uncomfortable at a baby shower, had moved the remaining round tables together, creating one long table, at which they were all seated. Every once in a while one of the men, usually Fred or George, would crack a joke and the whole table would roar with laughter.

"Who's that sitting next to Mad-Eye Moody?" Hermione asked, her eyes following Ginny's to the men's table.

Ginny paused to think for a minute. "I know Harry introduced me to him once before, I'm trying to remember his name. He works with Harry, an Auror from the United States. Daniel Clifton, I believe his name is."

Still observing the boys, Ginny saw Mad-Eye Moody whisper something to Harry, who then got up and started walking towards Ginny.

"Mad-Eye says there is a Muggle delivery man standing outside our front door with a package," he whispered to her.

Excusing herself again, Harry and Ginny went into the house. Once inside they could hear the impatient ringing of the door bell.

"Who would be sending up things through Muggle mail?" Ginny pondered out loud.

Harry shrugged as he opened the front door.

"Mr. Harry Potter?" the man asked, and when Harry nodded, he thrust a clip board at him. Harry scrawled his signature and received the package. Closing the door again, Harry turned to his wife with a very confused look on his face.

"The return address is Number 4 Privet Drive. What would the Dursley's be sending us?"

"Only way to find out is to open it," Ginny replied.

Harry pulled the flaps of the box apart and pulled out a very dirty, blue baby blanket, along with a note that fell to the floor. Ginny reached down to retrieve the note, while Harry sarcastically commented, "what a lovely and thoughtful gift."

Ginny, however, had finished reading over the note and her mouth was still slightly agape from the shock.

"Harry, that is the baby blanket your Aunt and Uncle found you wrapped in when you were left on their doorstep. Hagrid must have brought you in it. This was probably your blanket when you were living with your parents."

"How do you know all that?"

Ginny thrust the note at him, and he took it. He immediately recognized his Aunt Petunias' neat handwriting.

Enclosed is the blanket we found Harry wrapped in when he was left on our doorstep.

Petunia Dursley

"That's it, nothing else, no explanation? Wait, how did she even know we were expecting a baby, I haven't been in contact with them since you made me send them an invitation to our wedding?"

Ginny blushed slightly. "I may have sent them an invitation to the baby shower," she replied sheepishly.

"What? Ginny, why, you didn't expect them to come, did you?"

"No, but just because they treated you so horribly doesn't mean we have to sink to their level Harry. I'm sure they wish we would just drop off the face of the planet, so sending them friendly little reminders that we are still alive must be a little irksome, besides the fact that I'm civilized about it."

"I can't believe my Aunt would have kept this for so long," Harry mused. He had found, in the bottom left corner the initials H.J.P. sewn into the blanket. Absentmindedly, his fingers traced the curving, looping letters.

"You know, with a few cleaning spells that blanket could be quite sanitary once again," Ginny commented.

Harry smiled. "I think our baby might like that."

Ginny and Harry placed the blanket on the kitchen table, to be cleaned later, and went back out to join their guests.

It was well past sundown by the time the party broke up, leaving Harry, Hermione, Ginny, her parents, brothers, and sisters-in-law to help clean up. Thanks to magic, it didn't take very long.

Hermione and Harry embraced to say good bye.

"You know Harry, Tonks is getting bored of the Defense Against the Dark Arts position. She wants to get back in the field, as she calls it, so we might have an opening coming up."

Harry laughed. "Could you really imagine me as a teacher Hermione? You were always the one with the teacher qualities."

"Just something for you to think about," Hermione responded. "But I do need to get going. I'm opening the library early so students can study for exams."

"Actually, Hermione, I was hoping you could stay a little longer. I was hoping everyone could stay a little longer. There is something you all need to hear, something I should have told you a long time ago," Harry announced to the whole room.

Waving his wand, more chairs appeared in the living room. Ginny walked up to her husband, looking up at him questioningly. "Harry, what is this about?" she asked, though thinking she knew the answer already.

"You were right, Ginny," he responded. "It's been too long, and I owe it to you all."

Harry waited for every one to sit down. Molly and Arthur were huddled together on a love seat, while Bill and Charlie sat with their wives. Joel and Kevin were both asleep on their mother's laps. Fred, George, and Percy were left to share the sofa, while Hermione sat by herself in one of the easy chairs. Ginny sat next to her, in the matching chair, while Harry stood behind her, his hands on the back of the chair.

"There is someone who should have been here tonight, and I think you all deserve to know why," Harry started. The words had barely passed his lips before Molly, Hermione, and Ginny were all silently crying. Harry, however, wasn't going to stop until all that had to be said was said. "In order to understand what happened to Ron, I need to start before the last battle. I realized that the prophecy would be fulfilled my 7^th year months before the actual battle. I just had this feeling. Ron asked me why I didn't run from it, let someone else fight Voldemort. I told him that if I did that, I would loose my self respect. I was already madly in love with Ginny, and I remember telling him that I wanted to be the one who made the world safe for her. When I left to go fight him, Ron refused to stay behind. As we walked out, I begged him to turn back. He told me he wanted to be able to say he at least cheered on the wizard who was going to make the world safe, since he couldn't make it safe for Hermione himself."

At this, Hermione let out one audible sob before burying her face in her hands.

"So that's why he was there," Harry continued. "I should have hexed him, the full-body bind, something, to have kept him from going any farther. It's my fault he was there. I was selfish. I honestly didn't think I was going to be the one who won, if I was going to die, I wanted to die with my best friend. So I didn't make him turn back. If I had, things would have turned out differently. He jumped in front of me, took the curse that was meant for me. The Killing Curse, Avada Kedavra, in a flash of green light he was gone. There were no last words, no explanation for why he was in front of me, no hero's glorious death. He died like Cedric, like my parents, like countless others. So now you know. That's it, that's what I've been hiding the last seven years. And I'm sorry."

Ginny looked around the room, and through her own tears she could see everyone else was crying as well.

"Why tell us this now, Harry?" she asked, turning around to see her husband crying as well.

"I want to be the best father I can be, and if I keep letting Ron's death haunt me, I won't be the best. I want my son or daughter to be able to ask me to tell them stories about when I was at Hogwarts, and I want to be able to tell him or her about Uncle Ron. I realized that if I wanted closure, the first thing I had to do was give it to you."

It was very late by the time Harry and Ginny got to bed. After Harry had explained what had happened seven years ago, hours of tears, relief, and stories about Ron had followed. Ginny finally felt the closure she had never been able to feel.

As they lay in bed, Ginny could feel sleep threatening to spill over her mind. Turning to her husband, she whispered in his ear, "Thank you for what you did tonight, dear."

Harry turned over to face her. "I'm sorry I didn't do it seven years ago."

"Harry, could I ask your opinion about something?" Ginny asked softly.

"Hmmm," Harry replied, half way asleep.

"What do you think about the name Ronald Sirius Potter?"

Harry's eyes sprung open. "A boy?"

Ginny nodded, smiling widely as Harry threw his arms around her and kissed her. He was smiling mischievously.

"What is it?" Ginny laughed, recognizing the glint in his eyes.

"The other day at work I heard some news about Draco and Pansy Malfoy. They just had a son. He'll be in the same year as ours."

"Harry, don't you get any ideas. I will not have you teaching our son hexes just so he can continue a boyhood grudge of yours."

Harry smiled innocently to his wife. "As long as he finds friends like I had in school, he won't need me to teach him the hexes."