Sometimes It Be That Way

... The Confrontation, Part II

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'It's what happens when sand is hit by lightning.'

~ Melanie Smooter, Sweet Home Alabama, refering to the glassware

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She nervously fiddled with the book in her lap. Its binding crumbled at the edges under her fingers and the remains fell down her lap, sticking to her skirt. But she didn't care. She had just told the people she loved the most in the world that she was pregnant. She began to see herself in a different light: one that was no longer young, innocent, naive. She was now a young woman in their eyes, a young woman who had messed up and will most likely pay for it in the future. She began to see herself like that too and she had to kick herself and tell herself that it wasn't true. That, yes, she made a mistake, but there were no guarantees that everything wouldn't turn out right in the end.

'I'm pregnant'. The words echoed through her mind. They replayed over and over eeriely, like a broken Muggle record. Suddenly, it was all she heard, the ringing chorus of 'I'm pregnant' filling her ears. It was only a minute later that she realized that she was on the floor by her chair, everyone squished anxiously around her, the book laying dejectedly underneath the table.

Frowning, she asked, "What happened?"

"You fainted," Hermione explained, holding her hand tightly. She spoke to the others. "She should rest."

"Yes," Molly said, "I agree. I'm afraid that it's been too much excitement for one day. She needs to sleep."

Ginny began to protest but Bill had already picked her up and was now carrying her up the stairs with Hermione trailing behind. "Bill, put me down," Ginny protested. "I can get up the stairs."

Bill looked at her sternly and shook his head wordlessly. Ginny frowned at his clouded expression and looked back at Hermione who was anxiously trying to keep up with Bill's strides. Hermione simply shook her head so Ginny looked ahead, watching as Bill carried her up the stairs further until they were on the floor with Ginny's room on it. He carried her into her bedroom and laid her down on the bed carefully. Ginny looked up at him wearily and saw that his expression was still troubled.

"Do you want any water?" he asked simply.

"Sure," Ginny mumbled, trying to get comfortable on the bed. Bill nodded mutely and went back out the room leaving Hermione to sit on her bed.

"Are you feeling alright?" she asked Ginny anxiously.

Ginny put a hand to her head distractedly and nodded. "I'm alright... I guess," she said slowly. She looked at Hermione quickly, needing to know an answer. It would surely kill her if she didn't find out. "How did everyone react?"

Hermione hesitated before saying, "They seemed pretty chivalrous. Your brothers looked pretty stricken, but then you fainted and I guess now they are more worried for your well-being." She hesitated again before quickly getting up and saying shortly, "You should get some rest."

Hermione was almost out the door of Ginny's bedroom when Ginny finally asked, "How did... how did Harry react?"

Hermione stiffened before turning and putting on a weak smile. "He was surprised," she said curtly. "Like we both thought he would be. But he hardly moved when you fainted. I think he's a little too surprised so he couldn't move, it was like he was in shock or something." Her face suddenly twisted into a sneer. "God, why am I defending that bastard?"

Ginny went to open her mouth to contradict Hermione, but the door had already swung closed. As much as she hated to admit it, Harry didn't exactly do anything wrong. Yeah, he had taken advantage of her and used her to satisfy himself, but she had gone along with it. She could have just told him 'no' that night, but she didn't. It was just as much her fault as it was his.

That night, the only visitor to her room was Bill, who brought her water and anything else she wanted. By the time he had trudged through the door with her first cup of water, his mood had improved. He smiled when he saw her and Ginny noticed that his eyes lit up whenever he entered the room. A thought entered her mind, making her wonder what exactly was it that her mother had said to bring him into this mood so suddenly. She watched as he gently placed the glass of water on her bedside table and clasped her hand between his hands, rubbing it comfortingly.

"Anything you need, anything at all, you know where to find me," he told her. She nodded and he left the room to get more blankets for her bed, coming back in a couple of minutes. She got underneath the covers after changing into her pyjamas while he had been gone and he laid the blankets over her, then bade her good night and left her to the peace and quiet that was her room.

She tried to sleep, but couldn't. She ended up rolling over time after time, thinking endlessly about how Harry had reacted. Even though Hermione had told her the gist of it, Ginny still wondered what his expression had looked like. Had it been surprised-surprised? Or had he just been surprised? After a while, she couldn't help feeling a little joyous that she sort of had a victory over him and had surprised him with the news. 'Bet he didn't expect that,' Ginny thought smugly. Her smile soon faded as she realized what she had just thought.

She sighed and rolled over towards her bedside table and pulled out one of Hermione's romance novels, Katherine and the Pirate. She opened it up to the last page she had left off at and started to read, trying to focus on what has being said and done in the story. An ex-pirate was sailing his best friend's little sister across the ocean after said best friend was kidnapped. The sister and the ex-pirate end up falling in love. This was a book that Hermione had recommended, but Ginny found it a little uninteresting because of the fact that it was set in the Muggle world a couple centuries ago.

Muffled voices floated up to her room and she tried to listen to what they were saying. After sort of reading a page or two and going over a paragraph nearly ten times without really reading it, she sighed again and put the book down on her bedside table next to the abandoned glass of water. She looked at the glass and picked it up, looking at the inscription on the bottom of the glass. It read, 'Andrews-Malfoy Canada' with a little upside-down triple-arch underneath the name. Her eyebrows rose up as the familiar last name loomed at her from the bottom. 'Malfoy? Were there Malfoys in the industry of making glass? And in Canada? And why do we have one of their glasses?' she thought. She shook her head and shrugged.

An hour of restlessness passed by. During that time, Ginny paced the room, willing sleep to come upon her. At the end of that hour, the noise from downstairs began to dwindle off and footsteps pounded on the stairs. Ginny quickly jumped back into bed, turning the light off. The door opened and she pretended to be asleep as Hermione came into the room and closed the door. She dressed before getting into her own bed and quickly fell asleep.

Another hour passed and Ginny still felt restless. After everyone had gone to bed, Ginny quietly left her bed and went out onto the stairs, her feet touching the cold floor underneath. She padded down them softly and listened for any sounds coming from any of the bedrooms. When none came, she continued on towards the kitchen and suddenly stopped in her place as she turned the corner to the kitchen, the way she had nearly five years ago when she had first met a certain boy up close and personal.

"I was wondering when you were going to come," Harry suddenly said, sitting at the same chair at the kitchen table he had been sitting in at dinner time. Ginny froze and stared at him anxiously, trying to read his expression. If he had waited all that time in the same chair until she came down, then it would probably be bad.

She folded her arms defensively, as if guarding herself from whatever evil Harry might say. "What are you doing here?" she asked.

"Funny," Harry commented, finally moving from the table and going to sit on the couch in the living room, absently picking up a magazine from the coffee table. "I could ask you the same thing."

Ginny watched him sit down and followed suit, although in a chair across from him. She nervously folded her legs underneath her and watched him stare at the magazine, frowning. "I couldn't sleep," she muttered.

"Neither could I," Harry stated. The tonelessness in his voice was starting to wig Ginny out now. "I got so tired of trying to sleep, I came down here and waited for you." He lapsed into silence then and she waited until he was ready to question her. Her adrenaline began to rush again and she shifted uncomfortably, waiting for it.

When he spoke next, his voice was low and hushed, almost toneless. "When were you planning on telling me?" he asked. He looked up at her, his eyes hard and penetrating. She quickly looked away from his eyes. He looked back down and played with his fingers and she relaxed.

"I was going to tell you," she quietly said. He nodded a little and she added defensively, "I was! I was just waiting for the right... moment."

He nodded again, and she could tell from his posture that he didn't quite believe her. He looked as if he really wanted to say something important but seemed to bite it back. Silence. Then he asked, "Does everybody know that I'm... the father?"

She shook her head and said, "Just me and Hermione."

He chuckled. "I guess Hermione isn't too happy with me right now, with the way I handled things."

Ginny looked down slowly. A surreal feeling washed over her, making her feel as if she wasn't really there. She forced herself to speak and said quietly in reply to Harry's comment, "No, she isn't."

Silence again. But this time it wasn't uncomfortable. At some level, the two of them had reached a sort of understanding with each other. Looking back now, she didn't blame him. She mostly blamed herself.

It was awhile before either one of them spoke again. Then, Harry asked the question, "What do we do now?"