A/N: Thanks once again for everyone who is reading and reviewing. I really, really appreciate it!

Ok, Chapter Four here it is…….

Chapter Four

Ginny had spent a couple of hours out at the pond hoping that by the time she went back to the house everyone would be gone.

"Ginny dear, I was starting to get worried."

Molly was placing a warm cup of tea in Ginny's hand as soon as she came through the back door.

"I'm ok, mum. I just needed to some time to think."

"Yes, I'm sure you do or did or well…." Molly trailed off there.

"Where's Maddie?"

"She's in the family room with Arthur, wouldn't hear of going to bed until you came back in."

"I'll go and get her."

"She's already had her bath, she just needs a story and to be tucked in."

Ginny sat the cup of tea down on the kitchen table as she walked by it and headed towards the family room. Sure enough there was Maddie in her grandfather's lap already in her pajama's. They were fiddling with some piece of equipment Ginny thought came from a muggle computer at one point.

"Maddie."

"Mummie!" The little girl climbed from her grandfather's lap and ran to her mom. Ginny bent down and scooped her up.

"Isn't it past your bed time young lady?" Ginny gave her daughter a mischievous smile as she asked the question.

"Yes, but, I was waiting on you. I wanted you to tuck me in. Like every night." Ginny squeezed her daughter closer to her into a hug.

"Ok, let's get you to bed then."

Ginny didn't put her daughter down even though she was starting to get too big for her to carry much longer. She wanted to relish the ability to hold her daughter that close to her for as long as she could. She carried the girl upstairs and into the bedroom that had been hers as a little girl and through another door.

When Maddie had been born and while they had lived at the Burrow for a while before Ginny moved them out on their own, her father had had a door built between Ginny's room and the room that had once been Percy's for Maddie to use.

Ginny sat them down on the bed and Maddie quickly untangled herself from her mother and scrambled under the lavender blanket covered in silver stars. Ginny pulled the cover up under her daughter's chin, tucked a stray bit of hair behind her ear and leaned over to give her a kiss. "Goodnight princess."

Ginny had started to get up when a little voice called her back. "Story Mummie."

"It's late Maddie, you missed your story time. It's time to go to sleep."

"But Mummie." Ginny could hear the pout in her daughter's voice.

Ginny sighed and walked over to a small book shelf. "Ok, but a short one. Which one shall it be?"

"I don't want to hear one of those."

"Well, what do you want to hear?" Ginny was not in the mood to make up a story tonight. She sat back down on the edge of the bed.

"I want to hear…." Maddie contemplated the rest of her request before putting it before her mother.

"I want to hear one about my dad."

Ginny really wasn't in the mood for this, but she couldn't take that out on her innocent child. Ginny had occasionally told Maddie stories about her dad and had allowed Hermione and Ron to do the same as long as they didn't give too many details surrounding her birth, his leaving, or the end of the war. She might be angry with Harry and hurt, but she didn't want to color her child's view of her own father if he ever did show up. She wanted her daughter to be able to love her father if she ever met him.

Ginny's disposition softened as she looked into her daughter's eyes. "Not tonight baby, why don't you ask Uncle Ron or Aunt Hermione to tell you one on Sunday afternoon."

"Please…."

Maddie pouted at her mother. She had never refused a request to hear about her father before.

"Why don't I tell you a story about…about a brave prince who went to fight an evil dark Lord and the princess who missed him?"

"Ok." Maddie said cheerfully. She loved the stories her mother made up for her.

Ginny lay down on the bed next to her daughter and wrapped her in her arms. "This might be a little longer than usual. Do you think you can stay awake?"

Maddie nodded her head, her pigtails brushing her mother's face.

"Once upon a time there was a brave prince. He had not always known he was a prince."

"Why not?"

"Well, because people had hidden that fact from him to protect him."

"From who?"

"From an evil dark Lord. Now, don't interrupt or I won't be able to finish the story."

"Ok."

"Anyway, well, after the prince had found out who he truly was the dark Lord came searching for him. He wanted to hurt him, to kill him."

"Ohhh no." Ginny giggled at the look on her daughter's face and continued.

"Well, before we hear about that, you must know there was a princess as well. She had always known about the prince and she had always loved the prince, even before they had ever met.

"First time the prince had to face the dark Lord he had to defend a special stone. The evil Lord wanted it to become powerful, but the prince knew he would use it for evil, so he had to battle deadly plants, enchanted keys and poisonous potions to save the stone. Now he had a brave knight and a fair maiden who helped him on these adventures. But it was the prince who had to go into the last chamber to save the stone from the evil Lord and he did, he returned to the castle with it and the dark Lord had been sent away."

Maddie was staring at her mother with wide eyes and rapt attention.

"What happened next?"

"Well, you see the prince had met the princess once, but only in passing. So a little while after the stone had been saved the prince came to spend time with the brave knight that he had befriended. Well, the knight's sister was the princess. She was all in a thither about meeting the brave prince. She made a right fool of herself too."

Maddie giggled. "What did the princess do?"

Ginny smiled to herself. "She stuck her elbow in the butter dish."

Maddie rolled with giggles for a few moments.

"You've got to get yourself together if you want to hear the rest." Maddie swallowed her giggles.

"Ok Mum, go on."

"Well, later on, the Prince, the Brave Knight, the fair Maiden and the Princess took a trip back to the grand castle where the Prince had saved the stone. All was not right any longer. There was evil lurking in the castle, in the walls. Residents of the castle were being petrified left and right. They were all scared that a secret chamber that housed an evil serpent was open again. And indeed it was."

"What happened?" Maddie's giggles had left her and instead she was slightly shuddering in her blankets. Ginny wrapped her closer to herself.

"Well, eventually the evil Lord took the princess down into that secret chamber and he wanted to take her life to make his whole again. But, the fair Maiden had figured out a clue to help the Brave Knight and the Prince to gain access to the secret chamber before she had been petrified as well. They went down the chamber, but before they could get to the princess an earthquake separated the Knight and Prince."

"Oh no."

"Well, the Prince was on the side of the rubble to continue on to the chamber and he did. He had the knowledge to speak to the special language it took to open the door to the secret chamber. He entered it and found the princess lying on the floor almost dead."

Maddie had taken in a deep breath. "What then mum?"

"Well, the prince fought the evil Lord and his evil serpent. The serpent's fangs were poisonous and the prince had gotten bit by one. He was afraid he was going to die and not be able to save the princess. But, a special bird known as a Phoenix came swooping in and cried over the prince's arm and it healed."

"What about the princess mum, did the bird heal her too?" Ginny could hear a bit of a sleepy slur to question.

"No, the prince did by getting rid of the dark Lord. You see the dark Lord was alive and becoming stronger because of a book, so the Prince destroyed the book with one of the poisonous serpent's fangs and that's what saved the princess. The prince, princess and the knight all made it out of the chamber safely."

"What about the maiden?"

"Well, the nurse at the castle had her back to normal in no time."

"And then…" Maddie was quickly falling asleep.

"Another time dear, you're falling asleep."

Maddie tried to look alert, but was failing miserably. "No, I want to know," she said in a whiney voice.

"Hush love, I promise, I'll finish the tale at another time."

Ginny gently got up from the bed, straightened the blanket a bit, turned down the lamp on the bedside table till it was just a dim glow and quietly left the room. She pulled the door to, leaving just a crack open.

Ginny looked around the room she had grown up in and crossed the floor to the wardrobe pulling out a night dress and changing. She slipped into the same bed she had slept in ever since she was three until she had moved into her own flat and pulled the worn quilt up around her. The past two days had been long and tiring. She hoped Maddie would sleep in some in the morning and allow her to do the same.

That night Ginny had dreams of stone corridors, black robes, sun lit afternoons by a lake, quidditch games played in scarlet and gold robes, long chats in front of a fireplace with friends nearby. She awoke suddenly right after dawn with the lingering memory of a 12 year old Harry leaning over her 11 year old self in that dark chamber way below the school. Ginny couldn't shake the feeling the memories had given her.

--

Ginny yawned for the fourth time in ten minutes. She was supposed to be helping Hermione plan her wedding to Ron. They were looking through muggle and witch wedding magazines.

"I'm sorry if this is a bit boring Ginny."

"Huh?" Ginny looked up at Hermione a bit bewildered. "Ohhh, no, sorry Hermione. No, it's just I didn't get much sleep last night."

"Oh, well, I can do this myself for a while if you want to go and take a nap or something."

"No, I'm fine, it's just warm and quiet in here." The girls had spread the magazine out over the kitchen table.

Hermione looked up down at the piece of parchment she had been taking notes on and around at all the magazines. "Where is Maddie?"

"Out back in that shed with her grandfather. I pretty much lose her on the weekends to that shed with him."

"What about your mum?"

"Out buying groceries. I think she's expecting an army for Sunday lunch tomorrow. I thought I heard her mention Charlie and Cicily were coming home for a few weeks and I think they are staying here."

"I tell you what, why don't we go shopping. Maybe we could do some of this browsing a bit hands on."

"Ok, let me go and tell Dad, Hogsmeade or Diagon Ally?"

"Ummm, Diagon Ally? They have a several robe shops to look in, and if we want we can go out into Muggle London as well. I think I might want to check out a few of the Muggle dress shops too. I'll floo call Ron, he's gone into the office to do a bit of paper work this afternoon."

Ginny headed out across the back yard to her dad's shop while Hermione cleared the table and took a pinch of floo powder to call Ron. Ginny made it back in to see Hermione waiting on her.

"Well, ready to go?" the brunette witch was standing there ready to go.

"Yeah, I told Dad we would be back in time for dinner or else Mum will fuss."

The girls took the floo network to the Leaky Cauldron and then headed out back towards the brick wall that led to Diagon Ally. "Where do you want to start Hermione?"

"Madame Malkin's perhaps?"

"Sounds good." They weaved their way through all the busy Saturday afternoon shoppers before coming up in front of the robe shop. A bell above the door jingled merrily as they entered.

"I'll be right with you dears."

Hermione and Ginny spent a few moments browsing through the racks before Madame Malkin came over. "Yes, what can I do for you?"

Hermione turned to the aging witch and explained they wanted to look at a few of their wedding robes that she was getting married in the fall and that Ginny was going to be her brides maid and they were trying to get an idea of what they wanted to wear. Madame Malkin walked them over to a large rack in the corner and left them there to look for a few moments while she went to get a measuring tape to take their measurements.

Ginny had worked her way towards the back of the rack to take a look at the dresses for those in the wedding party. She was sifting through a few flowerr girl dresses trying to figure out which one would be the cutest on Maddie. She heard the door bell tinkle as someone else came in. Another sales lady was heard helping the new comer.

"Can I help you sir?"

"Umm, yeah I had placed an order a few days ago for some new robes and I had gotten an owl that they were ready to be picked up."

Ginny froze at the voice.

"Ok, Madame Malkin handles special orders herself. You'll just have to wait a minute, she's with another customer at the moment."

"Not a problem."

Ginny desperately tried to look around the rack to find Hermione before she realized who it was who had come in, but too late. Harry had spotted Hermione from across the store and was quickly making his way over. Ginny sighed, at least she was on the other side of the rack. She quickly parted the robes in front of her and climbed in among the fabric. She was not certain she was ready to handle another Harry encounter.

"Hermione!"

Hermione turned at the sound of her name and grinned as her friend came closer to give her a hug.

"It's good to see you. What are you doing here?"

"Well, I was trying to get a head start on looking for a set of wedding robes. I was here with Gi….ouch!" Hermione felt a pinch on the back of her leg. She quickly looked over her shoulder and caught Ginny's hand recoiling into the fabric of the rack of robes she had been looking at.

"What, you ok?" Harry looked at his friend suspiciously.

"Ohhh umm yeah. As I was saying I'm here by myself," Hermione put an emphasis on the last word hoping Ginny had heard her. "Ron had to go into the office for a little while and I thought I would do a bit of looking around."

Madame Malkin had walked up by this point. "Here we go dear, I have my measuring tape. Is this the groom?"

"NO!" both Harry and Hermione stated together.

Madame Malkin looked a bit perplexed at their over eagerness to answer her question in the negative.

"This is my friend Harry, he's going to be the best man."

"Ohhh, do you need to be measured as well?"

Harry looked over at Hermione. "Ummm, no, I don't think Ron has chosen their dress robes yet. He just happened to walk in."

"Actually, I came in to pick up an order I had placed earlier this week."

"Ohhh yes, Harry, hmmm Potter?"

"Yes ma'am, Potter."

"Melinda!" Madame Malkin called over her attendant and gave her instructions to go and find Harry's order. She returned immediately with several robes on hangers.

"Here, Mr. Potter. Why don't you take that dressing room over on the other side of the shop and go and try these on to make sure they fit properly."

Harry gave a wave to Hermione as he followed the assistant to the empty dressing room. As soon as Ginny saw his feet had carried him well away she removed herself from the rack of robes she had been hiding in.

"Hermione!" Ginny ground out.

"What! Hey, you pinched me!"

"Sorry, but I didn't want to be noticed."

"Of course, hiding in racks of robes and pinching people near by is totally not noticeable Ginny!" Hermione was standing there with her hand on her hips and Madame Malkin stood staring at the two of them.

"Let's go, I want to get home." Ginny had grabbed the hand not hoisted on Hermione's hip and took off towards the door.

"But…but..this was our first stop," Hermione stammered as she tried to get her footing to keep from tripping as Ginny was ready to make a run for the door. "Sorry Ms Malkin, I'll be back I'm sure, I really haven't settled on a design just yet." With that Ginny had whipped them out into the street leaving a bewildered Madame Malkin still holding her measuring tape.

"Ginny, that was a bit rude."

"Sorry." Ginny gave Hermione an apologetic look.

"It's because of Harry isn't it?"

"You know I wish he could disappear back to wherever it was he came from and that people could stop asking me what I thought about his new position on the Dover Dragons."

They were hurrying up the busy street and Hermione was having a hard time keeping up with Ginny.

"Do you really mean that Ginny, that you wish he wasn't back at all?"

Ginny stopped in the middle of the street and gave Hermione a look that the other woman couldn't quiet read.

"Yes… No…. I don't know." She threw up her arms in exasperation.

"Yeah, let's get back to the Burrow, we can talk before dinner if you want to."

"Let's just apparate." So they did. As soon as they landed in the backyard of the Burrow Ginny once again headed out to the pond.

This time Hermione followed. She sat down on the grass next to the tree stump that Ginny had perched herself on once they had gotten to the clearing near the pond. The shadows were starting to get longer indicating the lateness of the afternoon.

"Do you want to talk about it Ginny?"

"What do I have to say?"

They sat in silence for a little while both absorbed in their own thoughts.

"Can I do this Hermione?"

"Do what?"

"Tell him? …Love him again?"

Hermione turned around and faced her friend. "He needs to at least know about Maddie, Ginny. She's his daughter too. And I bet he'll be thrilled once he gets over the shock. He didn't have much of a childhood and he'll want to make sure she has a great one."

"Well, he can't compensate for the first five years he's missed." Ginny knew her tone was a bit bitter, but she couldn't stop herself.

"He wouldn't have missed them Gin." Hermione said in a soft voice.

Ginny sighed. She wasn't mad at the comment. She knew it was the truth.

"I never imagined that if he won, if he defeated Voldermort that he wouldn't come back. I spent those months imagining him walking into the house and either seeing me pregnant or me holding our child and him being excited. I mean, I know it would have been a shock either way, but that we would start our future together, our family." Ginny had slid off the stump and was sitting on the grass next to Hermione tugging at blades of it.

"I never once thought he would survive and leave. I don't understand. When you all came back that night, Ron for the second time, and he wasn't with you….I think I died myself right there in that moment. I knew it wouldn't be a matter of days, but I wondered if I would ever see him again. The only thing that kept me from dying completely was the fact that I had a new life in my arms. I had to live for her, she couldn't lose both of her parents."

"Do you still love him Ginny?"

Ginny gave a watery chuckle. Tears had started to silently fall down her face. "Ron asked me the same question."

"Well, do you?"

"Yeah." Ginny whispered her response. "Of course, I never loved anyone else Hermione. Plus, he's the father of my child."

"Do you love him enough you could accept his apology?"

Ginny gave a noncommittal shrug. "I don't know."

"Ginny, you're going to have to apologize to him as well."

Ginny sat in silence for a moment. She knew that was true. There had been opportunities for Harry to know what was going on and she refused to let the information pass to him. "I know. I just, I'm not looking forward to this. I know it has to take place sometime."

"When?"

Ginny continued to pull grass for a few moments hoping that one would give her answers.

"Soon, I reckon." Her stomach flopped horribly and then sunk as far down as it could.

"If it was planned would you promise to show up?"

"What?" Ginny looked up at Hermione.

"I mean if we, or you or whatever, if a date is set, would you not chicken out and actually show up?" Hermione was starting to think her line of questioning might be considered treachery to Ron later on, but she couldn't stand the thought of springing on Ginny a meeting with Harry, not after seeing the wild and stressed look in her eyes when they had left the robe shop earlier. Ginny deserved the time to be able to collect her thoughts and figure out exactly how she was going to tell Harry he had a daughter.

"I…I guess. Do you have anything in mind? Ron had suggested the Burrow. Said I would feel safe here, and so would Maddie."

"That's a good idea. I tell you what, I'll work on it and get back to you. Ok."

"Ok. Just promise not to spring something on me last minute. I'll be a nervous wreck, but I do need time to figure out what I want to tell him. You'll be here won't you?"

"Yes, and I'm sure Ron will be as well. We'll make the situation as comfortable as possible."

"Thanks Hermione. You're the best sister I never had. Well, I guess you really are about to be my sister, even if by marriage."

Hermione giggled a bit and gave Ginny a hug. "I'm always here for you, you know that. Just leave this to Ron and I."

"Ok." The two women stood up and brushed their clothing off. "I guess we better get going back to the house, Mum will have started dinner by now, maybe we can help her finish it up."

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