The first night had been bad. She'd lain there, in the girls dormitory in Gryffindor, her mother across from her, Hermione on the other side. Her father sad in the chair, Percy paced all night, and George moaned.
The second night had been worse. They'd been in the Burrow again, and it had been silent. The Burrow was never silent.
The third night was a little better. Harry stopped by, and they went for a walk. He held her hand, she kissed his cheek.
The fourth night was the worst. After a loud bang they'd all run downstairs, only to see George lying on the couch, the fireplace blown out.
The fifth night Ron sat on her bed, and told her everything that had happened.
The sixth night her dad had gotten promoted and Rita Skeeter had tried to sneak in to the family dinner.
"I can't believe she'd do that," Harry said disbelievingly as they'd all sat down to dinner. "I mean, I always knew she was a bit off, but really."
"She's completely nutters is what she is," Ron said through a mouthful of potatoes. "Pass the chicken, wouldja, mate?"
"I thought there was something off," Ginny said as she handed her brother the bird. "I mean, it wouldn't be so strange for Hermione to come, but to come without you two."
"Or just without Ron," George said with a smirk.
"Shut it," Ron ordered, the tips of his ears turning pink.
Mum glared at George. Dad slipped a note to Ron. And I was just happy to see the smile on Harry's face.
"Let's all have a toast for your father, now," Mrs. Weasley said. Fleur's face lit up, and she began bouncing up and down almost excitedly. Bill put a steadying hand on his wife's arm, and raised his goblet.
"To Dad, the best Muggle Director ever," he said.
"To Dad," all of the Weasley's (and Harry, of course) said, raising their own. The moment that the goblets were down again, Fleur leapt to her feet.
"Bill and I, ve 'ave some news," she announced. Mrs. Weasley smiled at her, a genuinely kind smile. Ginny realized with a start that she felt the same way. Fleur was a part of the family, no longer a source of annoyance. She was, as strange as it seemed to say, a Weasley.
"We're pregnant," Bill said, and the entire house erupted.
Ginny was smiling, too, going along with motions, clapping her hands, even jumping up and down a time or two. And she was happy, she was, and if she just kept saying that, thinking it, it would be true.
Except that other questions kept streaming through her head, most of all
What now?
What now?
What now?
She could feel a strange prickling from her side, and when she turned, she wasn't surprised to see Harry Potter's green eyes drilling into her. He jerked his head toward the door, as if asking her to leave. She glanced at her family again, at all of the older Weasley's gathered around Bill, at the tears in her mother's eyes, at how Fleur was practically glowing with pride and Ron was hugging their father tight, tears streaming out of his eyes.
"I still feel like I'm suffocating sometimes," Harry said, sounding a little apologetic. "Even with your family."
"Yeah, I know," Ginny said. "Me, too."
She bit her lip after she said that. She could already hear his answer—why should she feel suffocated, they were her family, she hadn't been out searching for Horcruxes, she hadn't battled Voldemort. .but he didn't say anything, and Ginny thought her heart might explode from love.
"I know that what you went through was a hundred times harder than anything at Hogwarts," she said lowly. "But. . .it was hard, Harry, it was so hard. It wasn't good anymore, and I don't want to go back, but I don't know what else to do."
And suddenly, inexplicably, Harry was laughing, and Ginny felt her own lips twitching into a smile to laugh. She didn't know why, but a moment later they were both laughing, leaning in to each other's arms, shaking with mirth.
"I never thought of that!" Harry gasped, tears leaking out of his eyes. He clutched his stomach hard, as though it heart. "I never graduated. We never took the NEWTS. Imagine what Hermione will do when she realizes that!"
"Harry," Ginny managed between giggles. "You realize we'll be in the same year now?"
"You realize now that Neville will be finished schooling before Hermione?"
They collapsed onto the ground, the soft, green grass of the magically maintained lawn cushioned their fall. "Is that what we do now?" Ginny asked, her hand reaching out and clutching Harry's. "Go back to Hogwarts? Take our NEWTS? Be normal?"
"I guess," Harry sighed, and squeezed her hand gently. "I don't really know what else there is."
"It will be weird, though," Ginny said. "To go back there. It won't ever be the same, will it?"
"Nothing will be," Harry said softly. He rolled onto his side, perched up on one elbow, and stared down at her. Ginny's lips kept twitching up at bit, trying to reach a smile, but never quite there. "Ginny. . ." he said softly.
"Shut up, Harry," she said. "Harry Potter, just for once in your life, shut up."
And then she leaned up a kissed him.