"GIII-NNNN-YYY!" Harry wailed from Alice's room. He was supposed to be changing the baby, but Ginny could only imagine what trouble he had gotten into. Hoping that Alice hadn't gotten hurt, Ginny ran into the room. She saw the baby on the changing table and Harry close by, doubled over and gagging.

"You have to do it, Gin, I can't," He said between gags. Ginny bust out laughing.

"The Boy Who Lived. The Chosen One. Defeated Voldemort, but brought down by a dirty nappy." Ginny's eyes were watering with tears of laughter.

"I would face Voldemort again rather than deal with THAT!" Harry groaned. "How does something that small create something that foul?"

"Just go finish making her bottle, I will do this. But I have a wedding that I have to bake for tomorrow and a Quidditch match to report for in a bit, so you'd better get used to this, as I won't always be around." Ginny shooed Harry away, and tended to the girl. Five minutes later, Harry re-entered the room, and gave Alice her bottle.

"Wait, so is Hermione watching Alice then?" He asked.

"No...You and I talked about this on Monday. You agreed that you would stay here with Alice so that I could go do that. I've been away from work for two weeks, and I cannot miss these events." Ginny picked up Alice and walked with her into the living room. Harry followed Ginny, and waited for her to sit Alice in her swing.

"I can't tonight. I must not have heard you properly. I, er, have a prior commitment." Harry trailed off, not meeting Ginny's eyes.

"Well, you're going to have to cancel or work it out somehow. I am leaving right now," Ginny said, and disapparated before Harry could stop her.

The game lasted longer than Ginny had hoped. She felt bad for leaving Harry alone with Alice for so long, so she decided to pick up a few butterbeers to make up for it. She also stopped by the bakery to grab the treacle tart she had made for him earlier, and then disapparated home. She chose to apparate to the front door, so that the popping sound wouldn't wake Alice up. She quietly opened the door, walked inside, and shut the door again. The lights were off, which she expected, but what she hadn't expected to see were the lit candles hovering around the ceiling.

Or the girl Harry was snogging on the couch.

Ginny dropped the tart box, the sound causing Harry and the girl to jump up and Alice to start crying, simultaneously. Ginny rushed past the duo, not looking to even see who the girl was, and into Alice's room. She picked up the girl and began rocking her back to sleep. Ginny stayed in the room, long after Alice had fallen back to sleep. She had no idea why seeing Harry entangled with that girl had caused such a reaction. I'm totally over him, so I know it wasn't jealousy. At least I think it wasn't...

After what seemed like hours, Ginny finally exited the nursery. The candles had disappeared and so had the girl, to Ginny's immense relief. Harry was by the front door, wiping up the spilled tart. He looked up as she walked into the room, and smiled.

"Thanks for the tart, it smelled good," He said, trying to get a smiled out of Ginny. It didn't work, but caused her to flush, a mixture of anger and embarrassment.

"Was she the prior commitment you were referring to earlier? Ginny asked, causing Harry to give a sheepish grin. Ginny was not amused.

"I felt bad for staying out late, doing my JOBS, and I come home and you're snogging someone! I wasn't even able to concentrate on the match because I felt guilty for making you cancel your plans. What did she say when she showed up and you had a baby?" Ginny crossed her arms over her chest, waiting for Harry to answer.

"She thought Alice was cute. She offered to get her ready for bed, and Alice seemed to adore her." As soon as the words left Harry's mouth, he knew that he had said the wrong thing.

"Well I'm glad that this girl enjoyed playing house with you guys, but I think that it is completely wrong to bring her around Alice. It'll confuse the baby, because if I've heard right over the years, you don't stick to one woman." It was brutal for Ginny to say, but it was the truth. Harry's face grew red with anger, but he decided not to retaliate.

"It won't happen again." Was all that he said before heading to his room. The door slammed behind him, causing Alice to wail. Ginny sighed angrily, and went to tend to the girl.

Morning came too quickly, in Ginny's opinion. It had taken her over an hour to get Alice back to sleep the second time. She had fed and changed the baby, and even after that, Alice wouldn't quiet down. Ginny finally got her to drift off to sleep in her swing in the living room, which meant that Ginny had to sleep on the couch.

Harry and Ginny had silently agreed not to mention the previous night, which was easy enough to do when they hadn't spoken a word to each other all morning. Ginny was cleaning up the remains of breakfast while Harry was in the living room with Alice.

"Ginny, get in here!" Harry suddenly hollered. Ginny rolled her eyes.

"Oh, just deal with the nappy, Harry! I am a little busy in here."

"No, it's not that. It's Alice, she's trying to walk!" Ginny dropped the plates into the sink and hurried into the living room. Sure enough, Alice had pulled herself up using the couch, and was standing with only one hand still on it, teetering on her little feet. They had been attempting to teach Alice to walk for a week now, ever since the girl first started pulling herself up.

"Come here, Alice! Come to Gin-Gin!" Ginny sat on the floor, a foot or so in front of Alice. The girl grinned, her three little teeth glinting in the sunlight, and let go. It was a little wobbly, but Alice slowly tottered towards Ginny. A few steps later, the girl threw herself into Ginny's arms.

"Yes, you did it! Such a good, big girl!" Ginny cooed, hugging Alice. She stood, still holding Alice, and then bent so that the girl could put her feet back on the ground. Harry crouched a little bit away from the two, and opened his arms wide. Alice gave another grin, and made her way over to Harry. Harry scooped the girl up, and pulled Ginny into a hug as well.

"We did it, Ginny. We taught her something!" Ginny had tensed up when Harry had pulled her towards him, but relaxed at his words.

"So we did." Ginny hoped that this was a turning point in their co-parenting attempts, but decided not to hold her breath.