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Author: Imogen Story: Alpha and Omega Rating: Young Teens Setting: Pre-OotP Status: Completed Reviews: 3 Words: 99,172
Chapter 6: The Calm After The Storm "Love in her sunny eyes doth basking play; Love walks the pleasant mazes of her hair; Love does on both her lips forever stray, And sows and reaps a thousand kisses there." Abraham Cowley: "The Change." Bright morning light penetrated the luminous orange of Ron's bedroom making Harry groan and bury his head back under the covers. There hadn't been much sleep last night, mainly because his mind had been far too active in ranging over the various possibilities and consequences of what had been suggested. He had turned this way and that, wondering about what could happen to them, and unable to settle to sleep at all. After much grumbling, Ron had finally threatened to hex him if he didn't keep still, and so Harry had remained flat on his back for quite some time, analysing a crack which ran across the ceiling, and forked into two by the window. It was quite a relief at one o' clock in the morning to feel a pair of cold feet wriggling into bed beside him. Ginny hadn't been able to sleep either, and Harry couldn't ever remember having been so grateful to see her. They hadn't talked much, just a few hushed whispers, but there was real comfort derived from simply being together, watching through the night and waiting for the morning to come. It felt so right to be there with her like that, Harry had reflected, as he kissed the top of her head, and felt her shuffle contentedly against him. However, it couldn't last. She had disappeared back to her own room at the first glow of dawn, leaving him to brood alone, finally falling into very restless dreams. Gradually opening his eyes again, Harry winced at the light he encountered, and felt rather as if he'd fought ten rounds with a mountain troll. Every bone in his body ached with exhaustion, but he reached for his glasses and glanced at his watch, grateful for the unusual silence in The Burrow. He sat bolt upright with a seamless movement, and before he realised what he was doing, he was out of bed. How could he have overslept so badly? Why hadn't Ron woken him? He hurriedly flung on some clothes, and dashed down the stairs. Pausing briefly in the darkness of the hallway beyond the kitchen, he wondered what he would find when he stepped over the threshold. He had never intended Ginny to face the rest of her family on her own, and the sight of the jaundiced long-suffering plant on the trestle did nothing to soothe his nerves. A leaf tumbled from the frail stem and drifted down to the floor, eddying slightly in the breeze from the landing window. He took a deep breath to steady his churning stomach, and opened the kitchen door. "At last!" Hermione's cheerful voice accosted him at once. "We thought you were going to sleep all day. Ginny's even worse; she's still not out of bed. What have the two of you been up to?" "Ginny's sleeping?" Harry asked anxiously. "Well, unless she's pretending so she can sneak out and steal our socks," Ron laughed. "I don't see her anywhere around here, do you?" And he proceeded to carry out an elaborate pantomime of investigating increasingly ridiculous places, searching for his sister. "Not under here either," he remarked, replacing the lid on the butter dish. Harry gave a hollow laugh, and moved to look out of the window across the rambling garden. "What's wrong, Harry?" Hermione asked gently, a frown furrowing her brow. "I'll bet he's had a row with Ginny," Ron chuckled. "What have you done to her now, Harry?" "No, it can't be that," Hermione said quickly. "Everything was fine until… until we got back here from Diagon Alley. Harry!" she exclaimed suddenly, "What did Dumbledore want?" "To talk to me about Voldemort," Harry explained carefully, watching Ron flinch at the name. "What about him?" Hermione prompted urgently. "Do you know more about what's going on?" "Sort of," Harry replied, feeling very awkward. "Hermione, can we talk about something else please?" "What's all this got to do with Ginny?" Ron asked curiously. "Dumbledore said it involved her too. Come on, Harry. You can tell us." "Not yet," Harry said, sounding a lot more certain than he felt. "What?" Ron burst out incredulously. "Why not?" "Just leave it, Ron!" Harry found himself yelling, and turned to leave the room, almost colliding with Mrs Weasley in the doorway. He glanced down, rather sheepishly at her, and was relieved to see her smile. "Ah, there you are, Harry dear," she said. "Just the person. Can you take some breakfast up to Ginny for me, please? I dare say you'll be wanting some too." She turned to Ron and Hermione and added, "And as for you two, I have some errands that need running. Now where did I put that list?" Harry hurried back up the stairs to the landing outside Ginny's room. He wrestled with the tray, slopping hot tea everywhere, and eventually gave up and put it on the floor so that he could knock on her door. "Come in, Harry," her voice laughed from within, and he twisted the doorknob and stuck his head round. He'd only ever been in Ginny's room on two previous occasions, and a greater contrast to Ron's was difficult to imagine. This room, by virtue of being a floor lower, didn't have a sloping ceiling that you cracked your head off at periodic intervals, and although it faced the drive at the front of The Burrow, rather than the southerly garden, plenty of light still streamed in through the two partially opened sash windows. There was something very feminine about the place, the scent of flowers, or perhaps the pastel walls or fabric; Harry wasn't sure, but whatever it was, it was distinctively Ginny. She swung round from the mirror to face him. "I come in peace," he said gravely, offering her his new Chudley Cannons socks and making her giggle. He paused for a second, still worried about her, but then grinned. "OK, it's time to confess; how did you know it was me? I can't believe my footsteps are so distinctive." "Well, I'd probably have guessed it was you from the way you came up the stairs," she smiled, eyes twinkling up at him. "But the thing that really gave it away was when you knocked on the door. All my brothers have a tendency to just barge in." "I guess that would be a dead giveaway," he chuckled, bringing the tray in from the landing, putting it down on her desk and then collapsing on her bed. "Maybe I'll have to start doing that as well." "You dare," she chuckled, pulling a brush energetically through her long hair, tugging impatiently at the knotted bits, and sending the spectrum of reds whirling around her, bouncing in the light. "Are you all right?" he asked her tentatively, as she turned towards him again. She regarded him seriously for a moment, and smiled. "Yes, I think I am," she said, sounding slightly surprised with herself. She flopped backwards on the bed beside him, her hair swirling across the lilac bedspread like a flame. Harry propped himself up on his elbow to look at her. "You never cease to amaze me, Ginny Weasley," he said, leaning over to kiss her. "How do you do it?" "You're too easily surprised?" she teased, and squirmed away from his tickling hands. "OK, OK," she giggled, holding out her hands in a gesture of surrender. "I just got to thinking, that's all." "Must have been a strain," Harry laughed. "Don't overdo it, Gin." "No, seriously, Harry," she said, her soft brown eyes looking deeply into his own. "I don't actually think things are as bad as all that." "What?" Harry said incredulously. "Out there with Voldemort, you mean? It sounds pretty desperate to me." "I know that's bad," she admitted, pushing her hair back out of her eyes. "I meant about the baby. We do actually have a choice, which is better than I thought last night." "I still have no idea what to make about all this," Harry confessed, pulling a face at her. "I'm terrified about both options, to tell you the truth." He lifted a strand of her hair and wound the coppery shades thoughtfully around his finger. "Just the thought of anything happening to you…" "Or you," she responded gently, reaching her hand to his cheek. He saw a flicker of the emotion from the storm cross her features as she added, "He's coming for you, isn't he?" "Yes," Harry replied, feeling his insides twisting into knots as he watched the pain in her eyes. "It doesn't sound like we've got long to wait either." "Everything's changing," she said, biting her lip. "Our relationship always felt like it was the steadiest thing in the world to hang on to, but Dumbledore's shaken that around so much with this baby idea, I hardly know where I am." "Right here, with me," Harry said, holding her tightly to him. "Whatever happens, Gin, we'll work through it together, I promise." "Oh Harry," she sighed, kissing him gently. "This isn't quite the future we were talking about the other day, is it? I'd always thought we'd finish school, work for a few years and then maybe settle down. I could picture us having a wedding like some of these Muggle poems talk about, and then getting round to having a family. This all seems to be the wrong way round, somehow. Where did that fairytale disappear to?" "Let's do it the way you'd dreamed," Harry said quietly. "Ginny, we can say no to this, and try to get things back to normal. The only thing I know for certain right now is that my future is bound to yours, for however long we've got together." He reached for her left wrist and silently traced the scar across it, and when he looked up at her, he was alarmed to see her eyes filled with tears. "Gin?" "Sorry," she said, then laughed a little shakily. "You'd think I'd be all cried out by now, wouldn't you?" "No," he shook his head and smiled wryly at her. "I feel like joining in and howling my head off, to be perfectly honest. This is awful, isn't it?" Ginny swung her legs to the floor and sat up on the edge of the bed, her head in her hands, and hair falling all around her. Harry heard a deep breath, then another, before she turned to face him. "We need to talk this through properly, Harry," she said, with a flash of her usual Weasley determination. "Every single option, and no hiding from any of the consequences. At the end of the day, we need to be certain that whatever we decide is right. I don't want to look back on this and regret the decision either way." "OK," Harry agreed slowly, taking her hands in his. "Well, Dumbledore suggested that we have this baby because Voldemort's winning the war." "I can't imagine what it would be like if he did take over," Ginny said, paling considerably. "It's already bad enough, and some of the people he's killed…" "Great world to bring a baby into," Harry remarked grimly. "And just think of what we'll be asking of him if Voldemort does finally achieve what he's been trying to do to me since I was a year old. How can anyone live up to those expectations?" "You're managing," Ginny smiled up at him. "Yeah, but only just," he smiled ruefully back. "You know what scares me more than anything else about this?" He paused and she shook her head. "By the way Dumbledore was talking, it would make sense if he'd said the same thing to my mum and dad, and look what happened there. What happens if… Ginny, what's stopping the whole thing from happening all over again? History repeating itself, but this time with you and me." "It might," she said slowly, cuddling into him. "But just think for a second what would happen if we don't have the baby. It'll be easier now, and I'll never deny that, but Voldemort's out there, Harry. The things he's doing are…" she broke off and swallowed. "If we can stop him like this, I really think we've got to try." "I might be lucky again, and survive, in which case, why bother having the baby?" "Because we want to?" she suggested softly, clutching his hands tighter. Harry forgot to breathe. "W-What?" he gasped. "But you said…" "Harry, we'd have come to this point sooner or later anyway," she said honestly. "I know it's not the perfect romantic way of doing things, but it's still with you." She grinned suddenly. "I'd prefer to be cast out to eat thistles with you, than to be having a five course feast without you." "But you should be having the banquet," Harry insisted vehemently. "You deserve it, Ginny." "That doesn't matter to me, and you know it doesn't," she said simply. "The fact remains that we love each other, and that seems to me to be a pretty solid basis on which to start a family." Harry swallowed. "You're serious?" he managed to say, in very strangled tones. "I know I said I wanted that one day, but I wasn't expecting that day to arrive quite so soon." "Me neither," Ginny replied. "I know everyone will say we're too young, but with what we've been through these past couple of years, I feel an awful lot older than sixteen." "That's true enough," he said, images of recent torture burning into his mind. He suppressed a shudder at the memory of the high-pitched, merciless laughter ringing through his ears. The dark brown pools of Ginny's eyes were fixed upon his own, offering warmth and love. "You really want to do this?" he whispered. "I think so," she said carefully. "I know it'll mean giving up a lot, but I'm sure we could do it." "Ginny, think about it for a second," Harry exclaimed, his mind whirling with the possibilities. "I'm not saying no, but can you imagine how much danger you'd be in if Voldemort found out you were pregnant? Anything could happen." "Harry, something could happen to me anyway," she said earnestly. "Having this baby might not be any more risky than things are already." "And how did you work that out?" he smiled. "Well," she replied. "Who would need to know? My parents, my brothers, Dumbledore and Madam Pomfrey." She ticked them off on her fingers. "Not a single one of them would betray us to Voldemort and I'm only in more danger if he finds out about it." "Gin," Harry sighed patiently. "It'll be patently obvious to anyone who looks sooner or later." "Not necessarily," she grinned impishly, making Harry sit up with interest. "Wizard robes are pretty baggy to begin with, but there are all sorts of ways to transfigure your shape, even some charms of illusion where you can appear to be something you're not. I reckon I could hide it." "You probably could," he admitted, well aware of her talent in that realm of magic. He hesitated, and looked steadily at her. "Ginny, there are still a lot of reasons not to be doing this. At the risk of sounding like your parents, you've got another two years of school to get through for a start. Whatever happens you've got to finish school." "I know," she said, frowning suddenly. "Dumbledore said that arrangements could be made. Maybe I could try and take my N.E.W.T.s a year early in some classes, like Transfiguration and Muggle Studies. If I worked at it, I could probably do it, but I'd still have some subjects left over." Harry got to his feet and paced across the room, staring out of the window and down the deserted pot holed drive. They could do this; he was certain they could. In fact, difficult as it might be to have a baby with Ginny, he was startled to realise that he couldn't imagine anything he'd like more. The thought of having her there with him for the rest of his life, was something that made him want to yell aloud with happiness, and a baby… their baby… he couldn't help smiling at the thought. "How would you feel about doing your last year as a day student?" Harry asked suddenly, feeling a glimmer of an idea spread through him. "A day student?" she echoed, sounding slightly bewildered. "I'm pretty sure Dumbledore would let you," Harry explained quickly, sitting back down on the bed beside her. "Ginny, think about it for a second. If we do go ahead with this, what's preventing us from renting a house in Hogsmeade, and you can go into Hogwarts each day?" "Nothing, I suppose," she said, smiling at his enthusiasm. "But have you forgotten the small factor of the hypothetical offspring? Who's going to look after him, or are you expecting me to sneak a baby into Potions lessons in my bag?" "No," he grinned, imagining Snape's reactions at the sudden appearance of yet another Potter in his classroom. "I'd need to check at Gringott's, but I think we could get by for a year or so without me earning any money, and you've heard your mum on the subject of grandchildren. I'm sure she'd have no qualms about teaching me how to look after a baby." "Have I ever told you how much I love you?" she said, looking at him in amazement. "Once or twice," he laughed. "I really wouldn't have to give up school?" "Over my dead body," he began and then froze, looking at her horrified expression. "Ginny, I'm sorry. I didn't mean…" "I know," she said, catching her breath. "It's fine, don't worry about it." "Gin, it might not be fine; just suppose we do this, and Voldemort manages to kill me," he said, feeling a cold dread settle into his stomach like a lump of lead. Ginny began to protest, but Harry shook his head. "We know it could happen. How on earth would you manage on your own with a baby?" He took one look at her face and felt a surge of guilt. "Gin, I'm sorry, but we have to do this; you said yourself we've got to look at all the possibilities, no matter how awful they are." "I'd not really be on my own, I suppose," she said, chewing her lip. "Mum and Dad seem to be fairly realistic about this whole business, so I could come back here if… if…" She gulped and then looked him straight in the eye. "Harry," she said firmly. "We've got to be well prepared, that's all. At least we know what Voldemort did to your mum and dad, so we can work to make sure it doesn't happen to us. Dumbledore has had some sort of protection spell on you at the Dursley's for the past sixteen years, we could do another one on our baby. There's the Fidelius Charm as well if we have to. We've just got to make sure we're safe, one way or another." "You sound pretty certain," he said, smiling across at her. "I need more time to get used to the idea," she replied thoughtfully. "But apart from that, I know it's the right thing to do. What do you think?" "I think you're incredible," Harry said fervently, wrapping her tightly in his arms and kissing her. "You're also completely right, not that I ever intend to get into the habit of telling you that." He laughed as she gently elbowed him in the ribs in mock-protest, and fell backwards on the bed, taking her with him. "What sort of timescale do you reckon Dumbledore has on this?" she asked, wriggling closer to him. "I mean, he doesn't expect us to do anything straight away, does he?" "I think it has to be reasonably soon," Harry said, reflecting on the conversation the previous evening. "But how would you feel about waiting until you're actually seventeen? It's not far off, and I'd feel a lot happier if you could use magic wherever you were to protect yourself." "A couple of months breathing space sounds perfect," she admitted. "I suppose if things are taking a turn for the worse, we could always bring it forward, or it gives us a chance to change our minds completely after this pressure goes. Halloween would mean that," she counted forwards beneath her breath before continuing, "the baby would arrive in the summer, after all the exams and everything. That would work." "Gin," he said curiously. "That would make it term time when we… er… well… y'know." He felt the heat rise into his cheeks and barely knew where to look, until he heard her giggle. "Have sex?" she queried innocently. "Er… yes," he stuttered, blushing madly. "How are we going to manage that at Hogwarts?" "I suppose that's one of the things we need to talk to Dumbledore about," Ginny grinned impishly at him, looking slightly pink herself. "But you'll have to work on articulating the concept a bit more clearly than that. I mean, if you can't talk about the theory, how on earth are you going to cope when we finally get round to the practical?" He chuckled, and settled into a more comfortable position, letting the sensation of relief drift over him. A decision had been reached, and although it wasn't the easiest of the options they had faced, it was undoubtedly the right one. He mulled over the idea of the baby again in his mind in the stillness that invaded the room. "What do you reckon this baby of ours will be like?" he asked at length. "Oh it'll have all of our worst features but magnified a hundred fold," Ginny laughed. "Can you imagine it? A tiny one with my temper." "My knobbly knees," Harry grinned, and then burst out laughing. "Or my hair! Poor kid." "And it'll perpetually be getting itself into dangerous situations," Ginny giggled. "You'll have no hair left before you're thirty if he's anything like Fred and George." "Gin, we'll have no house left if this child is anything like Fred and George," Harry exclaimed, chuckling away at the concept. "Were you serious about that?" Ginny asked, reaching up to kiss his cheek. "Finding a house and moving in together in Hogsmeade." "Absolutely," he replied. "Unless you don't want to." "Don't be silly; of course I want to," she smiled, cuddling in to him. "It's as close as we're going to get to the fairytale, isn't it?" "Mmm," Harry replied slightly distantly, as a new thought took root in his mind, and began to germinate rapidly.
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