Papa Don't Preach

Part 1: I'm Late

"I'm late."

Ginny Weasley sat at the kitchen table across from her mother; her eyes were glazed with unshed tears, her hands intertwined at the fingers in front of her.

Molly Weasley looked towards her daughter from the sink where she'd just charmed a knife to cut a bundle of carrots. She thought of only one thing that statement could mean, but immediately put that in the back of her mind. This was her Ginny they were talking about. Perfect, prefect, Head Girl Ginny who had just finished Hogwarts at the top of her class. She was leaving at the end of the summer for further schooling. She wanted to become a healer. There was no way…

"Late for what, dear?" Molly smiled at her only daughter as if those thoughts had not entered her mind. Her smile faltered when Ginny's eyes rolled.

"My period. I'm late."

Molly looked at Ginny; Ginny was staring intently at her own entwined fingers. When she finally did look up at her mother, she wasn't surprised in the least. Both pairs of brown eyes were filled with tears. Ginny's were the first to spill over, however, and as soon as the salty liquid ran down her cheek, it was like waterworks in the kitchen. The two women were crying together.

Molly tried to stay strong for her daughter, but this was not something she wanted to hear the day after her youngest child finished school. She moved to sit next to the young girl and pulled her against her chest, wiping at her daughter's face, pushing the tears away and not worrying nor caring about her own.

"I'm sorry," Ginny whispered against her mum's chest. She tried wiping at her tears herself, but they just kept coming.

"How long have you suspected?" Molly asked, moving her daughter away from her and looking into her brown eyes, still holding onto her arms.

"A few weeks. I'd been throwing up a lot and Luna finally got me to go see Madam Pomfrey." Ginny's tears had stopped, but unshed ones still filled her eyes threatening to spill over at any moment. She looked into her mother's eyes and sighed at the disappointment that filled them.

"I'm so sorry, honey." And then Ginny was pressed firmly against her mother again. Molly's tears ran down her face and buried themselves in her daughter's hair as she placed her chin on top of Ginny's head.

There were so many things she wanted to know; her head was swimming. There was one particular thing in mind. But she didn't want to upset Ginny. It had been a big step for her to even come to Molly and say something; she didn't want her to feel smothered.

But after a while of them sitting there, crying together, Molly's curiosity finally got the best of her and she pulled away from her daughter, taking a deep breath.

"Ginny, who's the father?"

Ginny's breath caught in her throat and she stood up, backing away from her mother. She couldn't tell her. She couldn't even tell him. He'd be too disappointed. She'd be too disappointed.

"Are you still seeing him?" Her mother pleaded, pressing her hands together.

Ginny figured she'd find out soon enough. Plenty of people knew about their relationship, and once word got out of her pregnancy, everyone will know.

But she couldn't tell. She couldn't do that to him.

So, instead of answering her mother's question, she fled the kitchen and out the back door, only slowing to a walk when she reached the lake a good distance away from the burrow. She sat against an old tree, staring at the lake.

They'd kissed here for the first time. He'd come for the past Christmas and the lake was frozen over, but not enough to go ice-skating like Hermione had suggested. She, Ginny, had a quite a row with Ron and ran out here, staring at the snow and ice covered lake.

He'd come after her and sat next to her, telling her what a prat he was. Then, he wrapped his arm around her and kissed her cheek. She turned her head, then, and kissed him square on the mouth. He looked at her like he wasn't expecting that. Then he kissed her again.

They'd been together ever since.

Ginny looked out at the lake and saw things had changed. Their relationship was stronger, more adult. He was 19, she 18. They'd made love for the first time shortly after Christmas; Ginny remembered it was Valentine's Day and he surprised her at school. But he only stayed for that night.

That's all she needed to realize that she was in love with him.

He'd visit her at school a couple of times a month. He'd go to Hogsmede whenever there was a trip. They'd hold hands and visit all of the shops, picking things out for each other and giving the other little kisses every now and then.

They'd been so public with their relationship she had been surprised her mother didn't know right away who the father was.

But suddenly he stopped coming. They'd see each other during the Hogsmede visits, but he was very distant during those times. Before she'd get an owl from him at least once a day, sometimes more. But after, she hardly ever heard from him.

During one of the trips she asked him about this; he told her he wanted her to concentrate on her NEWTS coming up. He didn't want to be the reason she didn't get into a good school after Hogwarts.

She'd been forced to accept that.

He got a room at the Leaky Cauldron, and they'd made love the last time there. That's when this all happened.

She hasn't heard from him since. He didn't even send her an owl congratulating her on being top of her class. He didn't even meet her at the train station like her brother and Hermione had.

She didn't ask any questions, but she knew something was wrong. That's when she knew she had to tell somebody.

Telling her mother that she was pregnant was the hardest thing Ginny had ever done. Seeing the pain and anguish in her mother's eyes cut through Ginny like a knife. She could barely tolerate it.

Suddenly, Ginny stood from where she was sitting against the trunk of the tree staring across the lake to the mass fields of yellow flowers, and headed towards the house, her decision made.

She was going to tell him. Soon.

((00))((00))

Ron Weasley sat in the living room of his large flat, staring blankly at the open book on his lap. He shared the flat with Hermione Granger, his girlfriend, and Harry Potter, their best friend, both of which were out at the moment. He hadn't been able to concentrate since he'd gotten an owl from his mum not two minutes before inviting the three of them for dinner. She said one of the members of their family had some big news.

He had some strange inkling that it was Ginny with the news.

And that thought disturbed him. He loved his little sister dearly, and the thought of some drastic change in their lives because of her was driving him mad. He had to know.

Of course, it was only one o'clock in the afternoon. They had five hours before they were scheduled to be at the burrow. He'd tried to get his mind off of things by reading up on hexes so as to keep his memory fresh in case he had to use any anytime soon, but it was no use. He couldn't concentrate.

There's something about the tone of her letter that was eating away at his insides. He didn't like it.

He was distracted, however, when a red headed girl popped out of the fireplace and landed with an 'oof' on the floor in front of it.

Ginny stood up straight, brushing the soot off of her muggle jeans and tight blue tank top, gazing at her brother with an amused expression. "Useful Hexes and Their Counterparts," she read the title of the book that had fallen to the floor when he jumped up in shock, giggling. "Going to hex someone big brother?"

Ron simply glared at the younger, girl version of himself, picking up the book and putting it on one of the many bookshelves in the room.

"Not if I don't have a reason to," he muttered, turning back towards his sister, who had made herself comfortable in the chair he'd been in a minute before. "How nice of you to visit, would you like a cup of tea?" he asked sarcastically, glaring at the girl sitting cross legged in the most comfortable chair in the whole house.

"I'd adore one, actually." Ginny smiled at the angered look on her brother's face, but remembered she'd come there for a reason.

"So," Ron started, heading towards the kitchen to make the tea. Ginny followed and plopped into a chair at the table, watching her brother move about the room with an amused look on her face. "Do you know what mum wants to talk to us about?" He gauged her reaction carefully, noticing her face fall.

"What do you mean 'what mum wants to talk to us about?'" Ginny's voice faltered a bit with nervousness that she quickly tried to cover with a smile. But Ron saw right through it.

"What's wrong Ginny? Mum sent an owl for the three of us to come for dinner, that there was something someone wanted to tell us." He placed the tea in front of her and sat down next to her, gazing at her in concern.

"What makes you think it has something to do with me?" Ginny asked, her voice wavering slightly. She sipped her tea and turned towards her brother.

"Does it have something to do with–"

"It has nothing to do with me, Ron." Ginny cut him off and turned towards the door. "I need to leave. I've got to visit Fred and George today, I promised."

"They'll probably be at dinner!" Ron called after her, smiling when she stopped quickly for the words to sink in before heading towards the fire.

With a green flame, his sister was gone.

((00))

Apparating was never really an option for Ginny, now especially because it might hurt the baby. Ginny barely passed her apparation test. She'd gotten the lowest mark you could get without failing, and always opted for a more safe method of travel like floo powder or portkeys.

So when she all but fell out of the fireplace in Weasley's Wizarding Weezes at number 93 Diagon Alley, she decided to swear off of traveling for at least an hour. She glanced around where she'd come out. It was the storage room of the store. She saw red hair peaking over the top of a stack of boxes labeled Ton Tongue Taffy across the side.

She moved towards the hair, knocking over a box and making her presence known. The boy attached to the hair jumped, the clipboard in his hand falling to the floor, as he whipped around to see the intruder. He breathed a sigh of relief when he saw Ginny.

"Jesus, Gin, you scared the shit out of me." George told her, bending over to get his clipboard and resumed counting stock.

"Sorry. I didn't mean to…I – I just needed to ask you a question."

"Couldn't you have waited until dinner? I mean, is it really that important?"

"Dinner? So you got an owl from mum too?" Ginny's eyes widened as she realized the reality of the situation.

"I got an owl from mum saying we'd better show – you know how sometimes we're there and sometimes not – because someone had some important information for us." George didn't look up from where he was counting boxes of something with 'Purple' in the title and marking his clipboard.

"So you'll be there?" Ginny asked, trying not to let the nervousness show through in her voice. It did, however, and George turned towards her.

"Everything all right?" He asked, looking his sister up and down. Her red hair hit between her shoulder blades and half of it was up in a ponytail. Her tank top was covered in soot, as well as her jeans, face, and arms. He had a sneaking suspicion that this wasn't the first place she'd traveled to by floo.

"I hate my life," she whispered, her eyes filling with tears.

"Come on," George held out his hand to her. "Let's go get a butterbeer."

"No!" She insisted, resisting him pulling her out of the small room. But he was stronger and faster than her and she was sitting on a stool behind the register of the shop before she knew what was happening.

George placed a bottle of the liquid in front of her as Fred came over; ready to ring up a customer he'd been helping. Once the little boy was gone, Fred looked towards his soot-covered sister.

"All right there, Ginny?" Fred asked, wiping the counter off with a rag before tossing it aside and leaning over to look his sister in the eyes.

She was about to answer when the bell above the door dinged, signaling another customer had come in. The three of them looked over to see their eldest brother, Bill, walk through the door.

The tall man looked left and right before his eyes settled on the three of them. "Bill!" Fred yelled, walking quickly to his brother. "How are you, old chap?"

Bill laughed at his brother's antics and moved towards the counter, giving Ginny a quick kiss on the cheek and patting George's back.

"Not that it's not great to see you, Bill, but what are you doing here?" George asked, taking the untouched bottle from in front of Ginny and taking a swig.

"Mum owled me and told me I had to come stay for a while. Naturally I was curious and took off from work. I was scheduled a vacation any way."

Ginny's eyes widened. So their mother had gotten to Bill and probably Charlie, too? This wasn't going to be a fun night.

"Any idea why she wanted me to come?" Bill asked his siblings, looking to each one.

"Ginny was just about to tell me." Fred said. The three of them looked at their sister. She took a deep breath and decided just to tell them. None of them knew whom she'd been seeing; at least she didn't think they did.

"I…err…I'm…I'm pregnant."

But before they could say anything – before any of them could get one word out – she conquered her fear and disapparated.

((00))