Author's Note: Ok, I know that this story kinda just disappeared but I'm back and I want to finish it, hope you enjoy. E

Chapter 3:

Mum's the Word

The Burrow, Ottery St. Catchpole, England

Ginny Weasley awoke to an insistent tugging on her arm. "Come on, sleepyhead, Pa has breakfast ready," said James, before running down the stairs to find his Grandpa. As Ginny climbed out of bed to get dressed she couldn't help but smile at the antics of her young son, it was hard to believe that in just a few months he would be 3 years old.

After quickly getting dressed and pulling her hair back into its normal ponytail, Ginny went downstairs to find her son sitting on her brothers' lap, holding his wand. "Ron, I told you I don't like James playing with wands, it's much too dangerous, remember what happened last time!" It had taken the combined efforts of her dad, her other brothers Bill, Fred and George (although they had done more damage than fix it) Ron, and his wife Hermione as well as herself to fix the damage to the first floor of the Burrow.

"Sorry, Gin, he just grabbed it from me," said Ron, taking back his wand from the young boy on his lap. Ginny just smiled and headed towards the kitchen, getting to the door she turned around to see Ron handing back his wand to her son. "Some things don't ever change," she thought with a smile on her face. Walking into the kitchen she was greeted by the sight of her father burning the toast and her sister-in-law, Hermione, half asleep at the kitchen table.

"Morning, Hermione, didn't you get any sleep last night?" said Ginny cheerfully. Looking up, Hermione glanced at Ginny before dropping her head back to the table. "Well, that was a warm welcome" said Ginny trying to keep the smile on her face.

Hermione, once more, raised her head. "Sorry Gin, I didn't get much sleep last night, the twins had other ideas," Hermione said through a yawn. Hermione was 7 months pregnant, but looked like she could give birth anytime now, so most thought it was likely to be twins.

Ginny laughed, "Hey, I know what you're going through, been there, done that." She was glad that Ron and Hermione were together, it helped her to remember just how important it was to love and be loved. Ginny had only ever loved one person, Harry Potter, the father of her child and the one who had saved the Wizarding world. Ginny snapped herself out of her daydream, knowing that if it continued she would surely end up in tears. With this, Ginny smiled as brightly as she could and walked over to her father.

"Would you like some help Dad?"

"Oh, morning Gin, um, if you could set the table, that would be good," said Arthur.

After finishing breakfast, the Weasleys started their jobs for the day. Being a Sunday meant that all the family was coming over for lunch; since the end of the war, it had become a sort of tradition in the Weasley house to have Sunday lunch as a family. So, Ron was tasked with setting up the table outside; Hermione, being 7 months pregnant couldn't really do much physical stuff, so she spent her time helping in the kitchen or watching James; Arthur helped Ron with setting up the table and Ginny spent most of her time preparing lunch. She was never quite as talented as her mum, but she could still make a pretty good feed, even by Weasley standards.

It was just past midday when the first of the Weasleys arrived; Fred was accompanied by his girlfriend Angelina Johnson. The couple had been dating for the past 6 months and Fred had recently let slip to Ginny that he was rather serious about Angelina, well, as serious as Fred could be. Next arrived George, who was presently single; although Fred had been badgering him about asking Katie Bell out, all George could do was turn bright red. Next to arrive was Bill and Fleur, usually they were accompanied by their 2 children, 3-year-old Michelle and 18-month Remus but it seemed that this week they were being looked after by Fleur's parents. Everyone was just about to sit down when Percy and his wife, Penelope, arrived, with Percy apologizing profusely saying that he had had to dash into work for some reason or another, Penelope just rolled her eyes and said 'hello' to everyone.

So with everyone finally there they sat down to eat and before long they were all chatting animatedly about the week gone by. Ginny soon got bored with the discussion between Angelina, Fred and George about the Bulgarians' chance at winning this year's Quidditch World Cup, and took a chance to look around at all her family gathered there. As usual, her father was at the head of the table; beside him was Ron then Hermione; Ginny sat next to Hermione with James on her other side who at the moment was being entertained by his Uncle Georges antics with his plastic spoon. Opposite George was Fred, then Angelina, Penelope, Percy, Fleur, and finally Bill who was next to her father. But there was one other setting at the table, between Fred and George, where their mother Molly should have sat. Even after nearly 3 and a half years they still set her place at the table, knowing that even though she wasn't sitting there, she was still with them in spirit, and over the years it became like a tribute, not only to their mother but to everyone they had lost, even Harry, who they hadn't seen for just as long. Ginny bowed her head, not wanting anyone to see the tears forming in her eyes.

A few minutes later the noises of plates being stacked told her that lunch was over. Quickly jumping up she grabbed a few plates before heading towards the kitchen followed closely by Hermione, who had noticed that Ginny was in tears. Hermione motioned to the others to stay where they were and headed indoors to find out what the matter was with her closest friend.

"Gin, are you ok..?" asked Hermione tenderly. Ginny turned around, her eyes bright with unshed tears.

"I just can't stop thinking about them, all the friends we lost, not to mention Charlie and Mum, and, and Harry…" Ginny trailed off almost to a whisper.

"Oh, Gin, I, I know it's not fair, but someday we'll find him, someday he will come back to us, I know he will," Hermione replied.

"But Hermione, what if something has happened to him, I'll never get to say the things he deserves to hear, he'll never get to meet his son…. James will, will never know his father…"

"Don't think like that, he will, he has to," Hermione said sternly.

"Oh, I'm sorry, I'm just being silly… It's just that sitting around out there, with everyone so happy, it sometimes makes me mad, that we can sit here and play happy families when there are so many people missing… it's so unfair Hermione, I just miss him so much…"

"I know sweetie, we all miss him… we all miss him."

Outside everyone was quiet, all knowing why Ginny was upset, they all were... Too many people were missing… and even though Voldemort was finally gone, he had taken too many with him…

Later on that evening, after putting James to bed, Ginny decided a walk outside would do her good. She always liked going for walks at night, they helped her to think and relax, and although she mainly thought about the past in these night time strolls, it never seemed as bad as it really was, with the stars shining down, and the moon, like a big protector, making sure that the world was safe. Ginny thought back to the war, the moon had never been bright; it was always hidden behind the smog that had been everywhere, in daylight and at nighttime.

Ginny thought back to her mum, she had died a month after her night with Harry in Grimmauld Place. Out of all the deaths she had had to deal with her mother's had been the hardest.

Ginny had fallen into depression after her mum had died, it wasn't until her father had noticed she was putting on weight that she had snapped out of it; she remembered the day clearly:

"Gin, sweetheart, is there something you need to tell me?"

"What do you mean, Dad?"

"Well, it's just that I noticed you have been rather sick lately and haven't been eating, but you haven't lost any weight. I don't know how to ask this, but, are you pregnant, Ginny?"

Ginny had been at loss as to what to say. She couldn't be pregnant, she was too young, but she had been feeling rather sick recently, she had just thought it was some sort of tummy bug. That was when it dawned on her, her night with Harry; Ginny Weasley was going to be a mum.

Ginny's pregnancy had passed with little hassle; she had told very few people, trying keeping it to family and close friends. Most of the Order knew though, as the Burrow was often a stop-over point to relay information to each other. The only person Ginny had not told was Harry. It was one of the hardest decisions she had had to make. Everyone had tried to tell her that Harry had a right to know, but Ginny knew that if she did the consequences would be too great, so she swore everyone who knew to secrecy until Voldemort was gone for good.

James had been barely two months old when Voldemort was finally defeated. Ginny had awoken in the middle of the night, and sensing something was wrong she went immediately to James' cot. James was still sleeping, so she had crept downstairs to get a drink. Walking into the kitchen had been the strangest sensation; her father was there, staring straight ahead, following his gaze, Ginny looked to the old family clock. For the first time since she had started her fifth year at Hogwarts, there wasn't one arrow pointing to Mortal Peril.It was then that Ginny knew, without a doubt, that Lord Voldemort was finally gone.

Ginny hadn't known what to do, whether to laugh, cry or shout with joy. In the end she went and hugged her father, before going to get James, together the three of them waited for the soldiers to return home.

At first light, Fred and George had arrived, followed closely by Percy, Bill and Fleur. For the following hours, they waited for Harry, Hermione and Ron to return but by 11 o'clock they were still waiting. Ginny had reluctantly put James down for a nap; hopefully Harry would be there when his son woke. As Ginny came back downstairs, she heard the end of the conversation, they still hadn't heard from the three of them, they were giving up hope. Ginny couldn't stand it, after all they had been through Harry had to come home, he had to meet his son, he had to hear what Ginny had been trying to tell him for years, that she loved him beyond anything in this world. Listening to their conversation Ginny couldn't stand it any longer, she headed outside.

Walking out the door, Ginny looked up, it was a sight she would never forget: three figures walking towards her, one tall lanky, another, shorter then the others with lots of bushy hair and the third, who once was short for his age and rather small, was strong and lean. The trio was home. Ginny couldn't really remember the details of the rest of the day; she had run inside and told the others. Then everyone had run out, people were hugging and crying, but Ginny only wanted one person, she wanted Harry Potter. Looking around she spotted him, he stood aside from everyone else, and that's when she caught his eye. The look on his face terrified Ginny beyond belief, he was scared and shaken. Knowing that she had to get to him Ginny ran, but she was too late, moments before she would have reached him he had Apparated away.

Ginny had spent months trying to find out where he was, but never got very far. Her whole family had helped, but in the end they had given up. It wasn't until three days before James first birthday that Ginny came to realize that they would find Harry, but only when he wanted to be found. So she continued with her life, hoping each day that Harry would come back to her and James.