Before the April Showers

Author's Note Well, here it is, the sequel to 'One Night Stand', just like I promised. If I'm being perfectly honest, I do not think that my words and sentences flow as easily as they did in ONS. But, with school starting in three days, I don't have the time to rewrite 4 chapters (yes, I have 4 chapters already written; can you believe it?) and still get the first chapter posted this month. And, although I do have the first 4 written, don't expect updates one after the other. As much as I would like to do that, my school year is very packed (first semester including two college classes and an SAT prep (which I'm taking this year, obviously) and second semester filled with the rest of my academics that I do not excel in), so I need chapters pre-written to have in the likely case that I won't be able to write very often. Haha. MS Word is telling me that sentence is too long. Woot for long sentences! Please be patient with my updates. I promise I will get them up whenever possible. Until then, enjoy!

Oh, and a special thanks to my wonderful best friend, Justine, for helping me get started. Without her, you wouldn't be getting this.

Disclaimer Harry Potter and all related characters and themes belong to JK Rowling.

Chapter One

The door was cracked slightly. I could barely see through the dim light, but next to me, Ron slept soundly. I shook him gently. He didn't stir. I almost groaned, but I reminded myself that I should be used to it-- after all, Ron was a very heavy sleeper. The issue at hand was that I'd heard a noise, and naturally, I was scared. He was my fiancé. He was supposed to protect me. I shook him harder and he snorted. How sexy, I thought sardonically. I heard the noise again. It was a knocking sound, almost like someone pounding on our front door. I glanced at the alarm clock out of the corner of my eye. It was almost three in the morning; it seemed very unlikely that someone would be at our door this early. I slapped Ron on the arm hard and surprisingly he roused. His eyes half-open, he grunted.

"Wha...?" I had the blankets pulled up to my chin as I spoke.

"I heard something." Ron yawned widely.

"So go see what it is." I scoffed.

"Me? You're the male, you go." Ron buried his head under the pillow, pulling some of the blankets with him.

"Ugh... 'Mione..."

"Please?" With a small sigh, Ron tossed the blankets aside and rose from the bed.

"Stupid bloody women," he muttered as he left. I sat still, waiting in the darkness, tense and alert. I heard the noise again, and the front door opened. Then, muffled voices. Gathering my courage, I got up and slowly crept to the bedroom door.

"S'okay," I heard Ron say. Someone was with him, I realized. I peered around the corner, and was startled to see Ginny. She was clutching a purple night bag to her chest, her eyes wide and scared.

"I'm sorry," she said softly. "Harry and I got in a huge fight... And I didn't know where else to go." I heard Ron chuckle.

"All right, all right. You can sleep here tonight." I chose that time to enter the living room. Ginny's head snapped to me when I spoke.

"Late, isn't it?" I asked, a small smile on my lips. Ron's eyes narrowed.

"Yeah, 'Mione, this is our scary noise." His tone came off as agitated and irritable. Lately, things had been this way. He and I had been fighting over the smallest things, things that we normally would have pushed away.

"Well, excuse me for being cautious," I replied tersely, folding my arms across my chest.

"Maybe I should go to Mum's," Ginny muttered, heading to the door.

"No!" Ron and I both shouted.

"Okay, okay," Ginny replied, throwing her night bag onto the couch. "Seems like I'm not the only one having relationship troubles," she remarked under her breath. Ron hadn't heard her; he was already making his way back to bed, mumbling about work in the morning. I gave her a stern look and joined her on the couch.

"So, what's up?"

"I dunno. Usual arguing, I suppose."

"Which is?" I implied.

"I don't really know what started it, actually," Ginny answered, sighing. "We've been fighting since early afternoon. And, I just couldn't take it, so I walked out."

"You can't keep walking out on him every time you have a disagreement," I reprimanded.

"I know," Ginny said curtly. "It's just-- I don't know what else to do. Harry can be so difficult sometimes. I love him with all my heart, but often times I find myself wondering if it's all worth it."

"Well," I started, standing. I walked to the hallway closet and pulled out an extra pillow and some blankets. Handing them to Ginny, I sighed. "You see how Ron and I are. You just got a small dosage five minutes ago. I would be lying if I said I didn't have the same thoughts from time to time, but--" I paused. Ginny looked up from spreading the blanket across the couch and gave me a questioning look. I smiled weakly. "I look at everything I've gone through and realize that no matter how bad things get, I could never give any of this up." Ginny nodded, smiling.

"Remember when you asked me if I was sorry I wasn't having a baby?"

I smirked. "Yeah."

"Kind of reminds me of this. Only the roles are switched."

"Well, what are friends for?" Ginny laughed and threw her arms around me.

"Thanks, Mione."

"No problem." I pulled away and started toward the hallway. "Goodnight, Gin. See you in the morning."

"Night," Ginny answered, and with that, I hit the light switch, leaving the room filled with darkness.

"Has anyone seen my other shoe?" a distressed Ron called the next morning.

"Have you checked your closet?" Ginny asked incoherently; she was standing in the bathroom, toothbrush in her mouth.

Mornings in our house could only be described as pure chaos, and that was when Ginny hadn't spent the night on our couch. With her here, things were ten times as hectic. With only one bathroom, and four people needing to leave the house no later then eight made things complicated. It didn't help that I woke late and Ginny had beaten me to the bathroom. Being forced to wait, and already running fifteen minutes late, I had to skip my shower and simply threw my hair into a messy bun. My shift at St. Mungo's started at eight fifteen, and since it was slowly approaching eight o'clock, I couldn't be bothered to perform an anti-wrinkle charm on my uniform. I was currently standing in the kitchen, pouring cereal into a small bowl.

"No, Gin," Ron remarked sarcastically. "I didn't think of that!"

"Look in the living room!" I directed, pulling the milk from the icebox.

"I did!" he replied, agitated. I shook my head.

"Daddy choo," a small voice said happily. I turned around and a smile formed on my lips. I placed the bowl of cheerios on the tray of the highchair. Bending down, I picked up Ron's shoe and called him into the kitchen.

"Thank God," he said, balancing on his left foot while putting the missing shoe on the other. "Where'd you find it?"

"Thank your son," I replied, ruffling Aiden's red curls.

"I shoulda known," Ron stated, shaking his head. "Well, then, I'm off," he added, kissing Aiden on the forehead. He placed a kiss on my cheek next and said, "I love you."

"Love you, too," I replied, and watched as he made his way to the fire. "Bye, Gin!" he shouted, before disappearing in the flames.

Shortly after Aiden's birth, Ron had decided to become an Auror. The training, which took three years to complete, was hard work and didn't pay much money. That small factor made the first year of our relationship rough. I was in school, getting my medical degree, and working part-time as a waitress at a Muggle pub in Ottery St. Catchpole. Ron's Auror training kept him busy; he wasn't able to hold down another job. With what little money we made, we were barely supporting ourselves and Aiden. Unfortunately, we weren't able to move out of the Burrow until after I graduated and got a full-time job at St. Mungo's. It took a few months of saving almost every penny, but we were finally able to move into a place of our own. Granted, a small place (only two bedrooms and one bathroom) and renting doesn't have many luxuries. But, everyone has to start somewhere.

"Ginny," I called. "You're gonna be late for class!" I took the half-eaten cereal from Aiden and threw it in the sick. Aiden was already wiggling out of the chair before I could take the tray away. He ran off down the hall yelling, "Aunt Gin, Aunt Gin". I laughed and started after him. Ginny had returned to the bathroom and she was hastily running a brush through her hair.

"Ugh," she sighed. "I look horrible."

"You do not," I replied, picking Aiden up. "Why are you stressing out anyway?"

"I have major test in Charms today." Ginny, who had debated over many career choices, had finally decided to go with her dream job and teach. Although, she still wasn't sure whether she wanted to teach Charms or Transfiguration. So, instead of making a final decision, she was majoring in both subjects. She said that whichever position was needed when she graduated, that was what she would teach.

"Didn't you study?" I asked, locating Aiden's bag in a corner.

"No. My mind was elsewhere," Ginny said, avoiding my eyes. I smiled knowingly and picked up the bag filled with various baby items.

"Well, I'm sure you'll do fine," I said reassuringly. "Besides, you were top of your Charms class during Hogwarts, and you're top of your Charms class now. Just keep your mind off of Harry and you won't get distracted." Ginny nodded and kissed Aiden's cheek.

"I suppose I better go, then. Thanks, Hermione. For everything."

I nodded and switched Aiden from one hip to the other. "Are you gonna stay again tonight?"

"Dunno. Depends, I guess." She started out of the bathroom. "Although, once Mum gets word that we had a fight, she'll either demand we 'kiss and make up' or that I stay at the Burrow. Sorta wish I didn't have to go over there tonight. But, Charlie would kill me if I missed Anna's birthday."

"No, he wouldn't."

"Yeah, he would," Ginny insisted and I rolled my eyes. By that time, we had reached the kitchen and Ginny handed me the pot of Floo Powder. "Listen, when you drop Aiden off at Mum's, don't tell her I came over last night. Maybe Harry and I'll have chance to work this out before Mum can interfere." I agreed and Ginny threw her handful of powder into the fireplace. "See you tonight," she said as the flames turned green.

"Good luck," I said as she disappeared. I grabbed my bag from the kitchen counter, and with the posture that only a mother has, balanced both mine and Aiden's bags, my file folders, and Aiden in one arm, threw Floo Powder into the now orange flames, and called out my destination, ready to start the day.

Author's Note Well, there it is. Chapter one of 'Before the April Showers'. Hope you enjoyed. It's a slow beginning, but… yeah. Anyways, please review. It would certainly make starting school a much happier experience. Chapter two will be out once I finish writing chapter five! Thank you much!