Papa Don't Preach
Part 2: Family Dinner
"Bloody hell," George said after watching his only sister, his baby sister, disappear from sight.
The shock of the situation was slowly settling in. The three redheads were staring at each other, mouths open, in total shock.
"Ginny's pregnant?" Bill asked his twin brothers as if to clarify that he'd heard her right. When all he got were nods from the pair, he let out a long breath and leaned on the counter, his head in his hands. "This is so not what I came to hear." He rubbed his hands over his eyes and looked towards Fred.
"I wonder who the father is," George muttered, looking towards Fred as well. Fred's face was frozen. His eyes were in blank and his mouth formed a line. It was quite obvious… "You know, don't you? You know who it is!"
Fred shook his head, and then went to rub his forehead. "I need a drink." He muttered, walking away from his brothers and into the back into the office.
"We always keep a bottle of firewhiskey in there in case…well…something like this happens."
"In case your little sister gets pregnant?"
The bell above the door dinged again and George turned towards it, about to say they've closed early for the day, when he saw his little brother and his girlfriend walk in, holding hands. He saw Harry behind them and smiled.
"Oi!" Ron said, swinging his arm that was attached to Hermione's. She smiled at him before turning to the two men at the counter.
"Bill?" Hermione screeched, running over to give him a hug. She hadn't seen him in a while, since Christmas. Bill had always been her second favorite Weasley child; second only to Ron, of course.
"Hey Hermione," he said into the hug, shaking Ron's hand when she finally let go of him. He nodded at Harry, who returned the nod.
"So, mum's expecting us for dinner in an hour. Any idea what this is about?" Ron asked, trying to find some inkling of what was going on. At the looks on his brother's faces, however, he knew immediately that they knew.
"Uh…"
"Err…"
"You won't tell us then?" Hermione batted her eyelashes at George, who looked at his hands on the counter.
Sounds of kids laughing outside quite near the front of the shop were heard and George made a beeline for the door, locking it and switching the sign to 'closed' before anyone could come in.
"We think they should tell you," Bill offered, shooting a pleading glance at George, but his back was turned.
"Well, no reason we can't show up a little early, is there?" Harry asked, quite anxious himself to hear what whoever had the thing to say would say.
"Let's go then." Bill said, turning to George.
"I'll go get Fred. We'll meet you there." Bill nodded and quickly apparated out. There were three more 'pop' noises signalling the others had gone as well.
George walked hesitantly towards the back room, switching off the light to the main part of the shop. He'd worry about inventory and income tomorrow morning. Right now he had family business.
He found Fred under the desk in the office. He walked in and saw file folders floating about, sorting themselves into the correct filing cabinet, before the cabinet would snap shut and another would open, sending it's contents out to update themselves.
George crouched down to Fred's level and found him scrunched in to a ball – the only way he'd fit under the desk – a bottle of firewhiskey in his hand. It was already half gone. George took the liberty of grabbing an arm and a leg and pulling his brother out from under the desk.
Fred, however, just sprawled out onto the floor and put the bottle up to his lips, taking another long gulp, wincing at the burn as it went down his throat. Some of the amber liquid slosh over his face and ran down his cheeks, but he didn't move to wipe it away.
"You know what the funny thing is?"
"What's that?" George asked, taking the bottle from Fred – who swiped for it back – and taking a long sip himself, wiping the excess from his mouth on to his shirtsleeve.
"I never expected this from Ginny. You or me…maybe Ron, definitely Bill or Charlie…but Ginny and Percy were always the good ones…always the ones that followed the rules…"
"I never expected it from any of us. I always imagined us – all of us – married before starting a family. I don't see what the big deal is, though. So Ginny's starting a little early, a little out of order. So what?"
"You don't know what I know! You don't know what I saw! I saw them…together!" Fred covered his face in shame, hoping the get the image out of his head.
"Wait! So you saw them…doing it…" George jumped when Fred let out a loud laugh and tried to get up. He helped him up and looked at his twin, who was now leaning on the desk he had been under a moment ago, expectantly.
"No!" Fred was giggling like mad. "I saw them here, in Hogsmeade. You were counting inventory. I told you we'd be busy because the kids from Hogwarts were coming today. But you insisted on taking inventory. So I was watching the shop, making sure no one tried to shop lift even though we've got them cursers that curse you whenever something leaves the shop unpaid for. And I saw Ginny and him walking around holdin' hands and kissin' and stuff."
"So you'll tell me who it is?" George asked excitedly.
"Go home. Ask Ginny. I'm going upstairs."
The twins lived in a flat above the shop. It was sparsely furnished with two bedrooms, a bathroom, and a kitchen that happened to be connected to a living room. They never used the kitchen, opting for going to the burrow for meals.
George watched his brother retreat up the stairs before turning off all of the lights in the downstairs part and disapparating to the burrow.
((00))((00))
Ginny had appeared in her room in the house and immediately turned to the door and put a silencing, locking, and imperturbable charm on it.
Her twin brothers had the biggest mouths. There was no doubt in her mind that they wouldn't spill the beans to the rest of the lot. And that was mighty fine by her. She didn't want to be there anyway.
The girl flung herself on to her bed and buried her head in the pillow. She'd been thinking about him for a while, wondering when he'd show his face now that she was home from school. She's almost been back a whole 24 hours and he still hadn't come by.
Tears welled up in her eyes thinking about the last time they were together. She turned over onto her back and put one hand behind her head, gazing at the plain white ceiling. Her other hand rested on her lower abdomen. She thought about the little baby growing inside her.
Her smile turned to a frown when she realized that its father might not be there for it. "I can't raise a baby on my own," she muttered to herself, pressing her hand softly into her still flat belly.
"Mum and dad will help you," she reassured herself, standing up and going over to the mirror. She stood sideways, trying to imagine what she'd look like pregnant. She puffed her stomach out as far as it would go.
She looked ridiculous.
"This is pathetic." She told herself, watching her reaction in the mirror. She changed her pair of jeans for a pair of gym shorts and kept her tank top.
She stood up from taking off her socks and stumbled a little, a wave of dizziness suddenly hitting her. She became scared. What if she'd hurt the baby?
She did the only thing she could do. She lifted the charms and yelled for her mum.
((00))((00))
"But what if I hurt the baby?" Ginny whispered five minutes later. Molly ushered her to the bed and she fell onto it, suddenly tired.
"You didn't. It's because you apparated. No more while this is happening." The motherly tone coming from Molly caused a smile to form on Ginny's face.
"Great. I finally get the courage to do it and it nearly kills my baby."
"But it didn't. Now get some rest. I'll be up to check on you later."
((00))((00))
"Mum?" Ron said, opening the door to his childhood home, followed in by Hermione and Harry. "Mum, you there?"
Bill appeared behind them a second later and followed the group into the house, shutting the door behind them.
Molly was coming down the stairs just then, and smiled to the lot. "You're early," she commented, making her way to the kitchen.
"We were just excited to hear the news," Hermione said, following her to help.
"Say mum, where's Ginny? I need to talk to her." Bill said, catching Molly's eye. They made eye contact for a moment. In that moment, everything was said that needed be. Molly knew that Bill knew and Bill knew the same for Molly.
"She's asleep," Molly told them. "She's had a long day, and I can only imagine that it's about to get longer."
Bill walked towards the stairs, fully intent on going to talk to Ginny, but a hand on his arm made him stop. He looked up at his mother and sighed. "I just need to ask her something."
Molly looked toward Ron and Harry, who were busy doing something to make Hermione laugh, before turning to Bill. "She's not going to tell you. She won't even tell me. Now leave her alone; you'll see her at dinner." Bill nodded, but didn't drop the subject by choice.
They were interrupted when a 'bang!' erupted from the living room. They all rushed in to find that Percy and Charlie had decided to apparate to exactly the same spot at exactly the same time. Both men were lying on the floor, clutching their heads.
"Charlie, Percy, are you all right?" Molly asked, giving each of her sons a once-over to determine the depth of their injuries.
"I'm fine, Perce?" Charlie got to his feet, rubbing his forehead gently.
"I'm all right." Percy's voice was soft, however, and all eyes turned to him. He was still on the floor, resting back on his hands, his khaki-clad legs stretched out in front of him. His head was back, though, and a small trickle of blood was coming from his nose.
"Oh, Percy! Let me fix that for you!" Molly insisted, pulling her wand out of her dress. She pointed it at his nose and muttered a spell. The blood immediately stopped and his nose cleaned itself of the blood.
"Thanks, mum." He got up and gave her a warm hug, turning to the rest of them. "Hello."
"Not that I'm not thrilled to be invited to dinner, mum, but what's this all about?" Molly was about to open her mouth to scold them about waiting until dinner when Bill walked down the stairs.
When had he gone up stairs?
"Ginny's refusing to come down. I told her Percy and Charlie were here and she flat out said she wasn't coming down until they left. Until everyone was gone, actually." Bill said, stuffing his hands into the pockets of his olive-green trousers.
"So, will you tell us mum? It's obviously about Ginny if she's locked herself in her room."
Molly was hurt that Ginny didn't want to tell the lot herself. She thought Ginny might grow up and take responsibility for her actions; she was wrong. Maybe inviting the whole family for dinner wasn't such a good thing until she was ready.
"I could," Molly said cautiously, looking at the group in front of her, all looking back at her expectantly. "Ginny's – "
"Bloody hell," they heard the familiar voice from the kitchen and soon George joined them in the living room.
"Shhh!" Ron insisted, holding one finger over his lips. "Mum was just about to tell us…"
"Sorry," George whispered, but didn't seem as interested as the rest of the lot. Molly figured he knew as well.
"Where's Fred?" Molly wondered aloud.
"He's not coming."
"Mum!" said Ron loudly. "Tell us already!"
"Well…Ginny's…" She took a deep breath, closing her eyes briefly before looking at the lot. "Ginny's pregnant."
She was met with five shocked faces.
"What?" She heard from behind them. She turned to find her husband, arms full of things from the Ministry, staring at them.
She'd really wanted Ginny to tell him.
Angry didn't even touch how Arthur Weasley felt. Questions and wonders zoomed through his head at lightning speed. Then he asked the question everyone was wondering.
"Who's the father?"
((00))((00))
"Who's the father?" Arthur demanded in a stern, fatherly voice, glancing over the group of people in front of him. His face was red with anger, and most shrunk back away from him.
But Harry stepped up.
"I think we'd all like to know that." He muttered, his voice filled with disbelief.
"So no one knows?" Arthur demanded again, not bothering to look at the lot. Instead, he made his way up the crooked staircase to the third floor and walked to the door of his daughter's room.
They could hear him knock from the whole three flights down, praying that he didn't go crazy when he realized she couldn't hear him. Her locking charm that she'd set after Bill left her had doubled as sound proofing her room as well.
"Maybe we should skip dinner." Ron muttered, taking Hermione's hand.
"Got an extra room, brother?" Charlie turned to their youngest brother. No one wanted to be in the same house as a mad Arthur Weasley, and right now, he was pushing crazy.
"One, mate." Ron told him before apparating out with Hermione in tow. Charlie smiled at Bill, who glared at him for getting Ron's spare room, before following his brother's lead and leaving. Harry left a second later, leaving Percy, Bill, George, and Molly standing alone in the kitchen.
"We've got some extra room at the shop," George offered, glancing at Bill and Percy. "We've got a big couch…the floor's probably more comfortable than sleeping here."
Bill shook his head. "I'm not sure I want to be with a drunken Fred," he muttered, turning to Percy. "You want the couch?"
"Well, I for one am not scared of sleeping in the same house as my father."
"You're the only one," George whispered under his breath, but Percy heard and glared at him.
"I'm not scared of him. I just figure that him and mum and Ginny need to talk and would rather not be shunned to my room at seven o'clock, thank you very much," said Bill, turning to George. He opened his mouth to speak, but Molly cut him off.
"Why is Fred drunk?" she asked nervously. Fred had only been drunk once – to her knowledge – and that was when he'd broken up with his one and only girlfriend, Angelina Johnson.
"He knows who the father of Ginny's baby is so he's decided to drink himself in to a stupor." George told her, preparing himself for his departure.
"Well what are you waiting for?" Molly yelled at the two men as if what she was talking about was plain as day.
"I don't follow…" Bill's forehead was knotted in confusion, lines crinkling the tan skin.
"You twit!" Percy bellowed from the doorway where he'd been about to exit to his room. "Fred is pissed off his arse! He's more likely to spill the beans than if he were sober. Go talk to him. We all want to know who knocked up our little sister…"
"By gosh golly gee," George muttered, slapping his forehead. "Percy's right. We should go talk to Fred. But he might not tell…"
"He might be mad for us asking…"
"But he might tell you," the voice was Arthur's. He was standing in the doorway where Percy had been just a minute before. His face was tired; he look incredibly drained of emotion.
"It's worth a shot."
((00))((00))
The second the two popped into the flat above the shop, they began searching for their brother. It didn't take long to find him, however, because he was sitting in the recliner in the living room/kitchen. His legs where resting on the coffee table; one arm was draped over his face, the other arm flung over the side of the chair clutching the bottle of alcohol.
"Fred?" Bill asked, nudging the man's foot with his own foot. He moved only a little, but fell right back into his alcohol-induced sleep.
"Well that idea's shot to shite," George muttered, sitting on the couch across from his brother. Bill sat next to him, taking his trainers off and resting his sock-clad feet on the table.
"I wonder who it could be," George said aloud, mentally kicking himself for insisting he do inventory at that time that day. He should've stayed in the front to help Fred with the school kids.
But from what he could remember of the day, he had been upset with Fred and wanted him to suffer by having to deal with a bunch of third years setting off fireworks in the shop.
He never thought something like this could happen.
"Don't we all, Georgie? Don't we all?"
"All of us except for him," he muttered, watching Fred sleep.
Fred let out a sleepy snort, before rolling his head the other way and smiling in his sleep.
((00))((00))
"I love you," he told her, reaching behind him and pulling out a dozen roses. She smiled, taking the flowers from him and putting them on the table next to the four-poster bed.
"Really? Do you mean it?" her brown eyes pleaded with him. Like he'd ever lie to her. But she had to be sure; make sure this night was actually happening.
"Of course, Ginny. Do you think I'd lie to you?"
Upon the first two words, she flung herself at the taller boy, wrapping her arms around his neck. "Of course not! I love you, too!"
The two kissed like they'd never kissed before. It was slow and passionate and everything Ginny had ever wanted in a kiss. She ran her hands down his back, lifting his shirt slightly and pressing her hands against his warm, bare skin. She needed to feel his skin, make sure he was actually there, saying those words.
"Ginny…let me love you." The statement was more of a question that he asked, leaning back to look in her eyes.
She looked around the room. She, being Head Girl, got her own room in Gryffindor Tower. There was just the four-poster bed, a dresser, a nightstand, and a full length mirror next to her bed. She did have her own bathroom, however.
Ginny hadn't pictured this where she would have her first time.
But as long as it was with him, she didn't care.
Ginny nodded to him, hearing the animalistic growl as soon as she gave him the okay. It didn't take him any time to rid her of her nightgown. She was naked underneath, and writhed under the scrutiny of his loving gaze.
"You're beautiful," he told her, leaning down and capturing her lips in a searing kiss. His hands wrapped around her waist and rested on the small of her back. He moved his kiss from her mouth, trailing down her jaw to her neck, suckling at the sweat, tender flesh where her neck meets her shoulder.
She moaned lightly as his fingers moved lower. They'd done this before, but the intense feelings still sent shivers down her back.
Slowly, he led her backwards until her legs hit the edge of the bed, and suddenly she was lying down, him straddling her thighs and smiling devishly down at her.
Her hips bucked as his fingers made circles around her belly button. It was then that she realized that he was fully clothed.
She reached up to his shirt, pushing him into a sitting position, and began unbuttoning them one by one. As soon as one button popped out of its designated whole, she immediately fumbled for the next until his shirt hung loosely over his shoulder.
She pushed it off of him, throwing it on top of her nightdress in the corner, her fingers splaying over the mass that was his chest.
"Oh, Ginny," he breathed, pulling her hands away from his chest and kissing her fingertips. She pulled his face down to meet hers in a bruising kiss, their tongues dueling inside each mouth, trying to gain the upper hand of control.
She turned her head and went for the buckle on his trousers, having some difficulty getting it undone. He finally moved his hands down to help her. He rolled off of her and shimmied out of the cargos and his boxers as well.
Ginny rolled onto her side, facing him, taking in all of his beauty in the moonlight coming from the lone window in the room.
"I really do love you," Ginny told him, watching him turn over and pull her closer to him.
"I know, love," he insisted. Ginny smiled at the name he'd called her and sighed when he climbed above her, spreading her thighs and resting between them. "I love you, too."
And he took her.
Ginny woke up, gasping for air as the memory of the first time came back to her. Her breathing slowed when she realized that it was all just a dream – or rather a memory of her past.
Her stomach growled and she realized she was hungry. By the light outside – or lack there of – she realized it was probably late, maybe ten o'clock. Against her better judgment, she decided to go get something to eat – no use in starving the poor kid.
She decided not to bother with her dressing gown and just walked out of the room in her pajamas – a pair of flannel pants and a blue tank top. She crept past Percy's old room, cursing the creaking floorboards, and went down the stairs and into the kitchen.
She fixed herself a sandwich and sat at the table with that and a glass of pumpkin juice, picking up a copy of 'Witch Weekly.' She smiled when she saw Harry's face staring back at her.
They were still talking up his defeat against Voldemort. He'd killed him at the end of his seventh year, with the help of Hermione and Ron of course. But they were always there, weren't they? They always came to Harry's rescue.
She noticed, however, that the article wasn't about the end of the war. Harry, apparently, was now know as 'Sexiest Rookie Quidditch Player of the Year.'
Mr. Harry Potter, 19, is the most sought after bachelor in the wizarding world since Gilderoy Lockhart…
Some more about Harry's good looks…
…Puddlemere United as reserve Seeker. A formal Press Release is to be issued sometime tomorrow announcing Potter's promotion to first string Seeker, as Barroft is retiring at the end of the week…
There was more about the team and statistics, along with interviews from players and coaches. There was nothing in the article from Harry. Ginny read the article in it's entirety while eating her sandwich before putting her cup in the sink and heading back to bed.
On her way up the stairs, she met Percy in the hall. He was heading down to the kitchen for a midnight snack. She muttered a 'hello' to him, catching him when he dared to take a glance down at her stomach. She took in a sharp breath, letting him know she'd caught him, before making her way up the rest of the stairs.
((00))((00))
"It just doesn't make sense," Ron muttered to himself, sinking into the bed currently occupied by a reading Hermione. "Why won't she tell us?"
"It's obvious," Hermione told him, putting her book down on the table next to her bed and turning towards him.
"Well what's so obvious, missy?" He smiled at her, wrapping his arm around her shoulder. "Do YOU know?"
"Of course not, Ron. If I knew you know I would tell you. It just…Ginny has six brothers. SIX. Do you really think she's going to announce to the world who got her pregnant at 18? Do you really think she's going to throw the guy she loves to the wolves – being you and your brothers, not to mention your father!"
"So she loves the guy? Are you sure it wasn't just some random shag?"
"She's not the kind of person to just go sleep with someone – "
"I bet it was that Creevy kid. He's got shifty eyes…"
"Ron, you sound ridiculous!" Hermione muttered, turning towards the wall and crossing her arms over her chest.
"It could be anyone. ANYONE! Anyone who goes to Hogwarts…what if she was raped? Oh god, I'd never live with myself."
"I don't think she was raped. And if she was, it would in no way be your fault." Hermione closed her eyes, preparing to be lifted off to sleep.
"Maybe the reason she won't tell us…do you think even Ginny knows who the father is?"
She didn't have an answer to that.
((00))((00))