Disclaimer: Harry Potter and all that jazz does not belong to me. It belongs to JK Rowling. Also, the song Clark Gable, by the Postal Service, belongs to, well, the Postal Service.

Life In Every Word

Chapter One

I want so badly to believe
That there is truth
That love is real.
And I want life in every word
To the extent that it's absurd.

A stony silence lay over the graveyard, still except for the shivering breaths of a young girl before a grave. She stood above a blank tombstone in a dark cloak that flapped around behind her in the wind. Her hair, which occasionally seemed red in the moonlight, spun out behind her wildly, almost Medusa-like. The girl's face was as blank as the grave before her, not giving any clues or details. She had to work to get to the ground, as though she wasn't used to the way her body felt.

As she knelt before the grave, a mix of emotions now were visible on her face. Small tears poured from her wide, brown eyes down her cheeks, rosy from the cold. In her hands she held two single lilies, which she dropped before the plain tombstone.

Barely noticeably, she whispered, "I miss you."

The words seemed to hang around her, and she began to cry harder, ever as silent.

Suddenly, her face screwed up with what appeared to be pain. She opened her mouth and a deep, painful scream erupted into the still night. She fell backwards, her arms clutched tightly against her stomach. As she toppled to the ground, her robes fell back, revealing a large bulge beneath her arms. The girl was obviously very pregnant.

She began to cry as she held her bulge, trying to push herself up. Her arms were too weak, though, and she collapsed again. Her face now showed how much pain she was in as she struggled. She seemed almost blinded from the pain, and her screams and moans continued to fill the cold graveyard. No one was around to help her, it seemed, and after a long fight to stand, she gave up trying to get off the ground. Instead, she began to push herself back, away from the graveyard, using only her legs.

When she had at last moved away from her previous spot, it was clear that the ground beneath where she had been was wet. Once again, she let out another loud, terrifying scream, clutching her protruding stomach. This time, though, it seemed the pain was too much, and she couldn't keep her head off the ground.

The girl collapsed onto the cold dirt, her tear stained face revealing her intense fear. However, the second her head hit the ground, a tall man darted out of the trees surrounding the graveyard.

His hair was dark, nearly as dark as the night, and it stuck out at all ends. The moonlight glinted off his glasses, and deep emerald eyes were visible beneath them. His brave, defiant eyes now shone with fear and exhaustion as he ran to the girl swiftly. His feet barely made a noise as they touched the ground, and the girl didn't notice his presence.

Not until he knelt down by her and gently lifted her head from the muddy earth floor. She opened her eyes slowly, staring up at his face. A mixture of fear, shock, and relief played out on her features as she opened her mouth.

"Harry?" Ginny whispered, before collapsing into his open arms, her closed eyes blocking out the cold night.

---

Ginny sat in a bathroom stall, alone, crying silently. Her stomach still felt queasy, making her sure that she wasn't done throwing up. Sure enough, she felt the bile rise in her throat quickly. As she vomited into the toilet, she wondered if this was how it would always be. Throwing up alone with no one to hold back her hair. Never before had she felt so lonely.

She flushed the toilet and sat on the ground for a while, absorbed in her thoughts and tears. She was sure by now that she was pregnant, there was no denying it. The way she hadn't fit into her old dress robes this morning, the way she kept throwing up, the way she'd already been nine weeks late. Yes, Ginny was, in fact, pregnant. Only problem was, she didn't know what to do from here.

"Ginny?" A voice called into the large bathroom, echoing across the stone walls.

Ginny wiped her mouth quickly with toilet paper and flushed the toilet, standing up. "Yeah, Tonks?" she called back.

"Your mum sent me to look for you. She said you weren't 'mingling enough' by hiding in a bathroom stall."

Ginny sighed, pushing open the door. "I'm not hiding," she said sullenly.

Tonks looked at Ginny strangely. She looked as though she wanted to say something, but she held back. Ginny washed her hands carefully, waiting until Tonks wasn't looking to take a sip of water.

"It is your party," Tonks said, and now Ginny was sure she was holding back from saying something. "It's not every day you turn seventeen."

Ginny sighed again, drying her hands with a paper towel. "I didn't ask for a stupid party. I'm of age now, shouldn't I be involved in decisions like this?"

"Your mum just wants you to be happy," Tonks said, but Ginny didn't believe it.

"She doesn't know what I need to be happy! She thinks that by throwing me a birthday party and inviting every seventeen year old boy she knows I'll suddenly be happy. Like that will make me completely forget Harry!"

Tonks ran a hand through her short pink hair. "She doesn't want you to forget Harry. She just thinks you'd be happier with someone else, someone who's here..."

"No," Ginny said hotly. "She thinks that I'm just pining over Harry, that he doesn't care for me the way I know he does! She wasn't there that last day before he left, she didn't hear what he said to me!"

With that, Ginny was crying again. "He told me," she whispered now, her voice choked with tears. "He told me he loved me."

"Gin, I believe you!" Tonks said quietly, resolutely.

The tears continued to pour. "But you're the only one! Everyone thinks that I was just a fling for him, another Cho Chang... they don't understand that he loves me as much as I love him... I wouldn't be going through what I am for him if he didn't love me as well!"

Tonks looked concerned, but Ginny knew she already had figured it out, even as she asked the question. "What are you going through for him?"

"Oh don't act dumb!" Ginny spat. "This is the third time this week you've found me throwing up in a bathroom, and you were with me this morning when I couldn't get these damn things on!" she gestured to her too tight robes. "I'm pregnant, and you know it!"

Tonks didn't look surprised, but she looked worried. "Ginny, there are other options--"

"I am not getting rid of it!" Ginny had to work hard to keep her voice down. "I'm not going to kill an innocent child, just because I'm not ready to have it. I will have this baby, and if I can't handle raising it, I'll put it up for adoption. But I'm not about to kill it!"

"Ginny, just because you think this will bring you and Harry closer--"

"THIS HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH HIM!" Ginny screamed. "I'm not planning on telling him, not until he comes back, and when he does, I will take full responsibility. I understand what this will do, and I don't want him to feel guilty. Not until Vol- Voldemort is destroyed will he know about this child, and even then, I don't want him to have to take any responsibility. I love Harry, I do, and he loves me. He'll understand that I need to raise him or her alone. Harry will understand that I don't want to force him into anything."

Tonks nodded. She grabbed a wad of paper toweling and gently wiped the tears of Ginny's cheeks.

"Let's get back to the party," she said quietly, and together, the two walked out of the dark bathroom.