A/N: I know the last few chapters were painful so thanks for sticking it through. But, I mean, I had to do it. Who remembers OotP? Harry can be a little selfish/whiney when things are difficult. I had to get a little of that in to keep him in character. He doesn't always think through what other people are going through and he doesn't always come around right away. Don't worry, though. Harry usually comes around. Maybe.

Chapter 9

The Defense Lesson

x-X-x

As the last week of November approached, Harry found himself spending more and more of his free time in the library by himself. He was still avoiding Ginny and found hiding in the back corner of the library was the best way to accomplish this, as his other option, the boys dorm, too often had Ron in it, which was extremely uncomfortable.

Over the past couple weeks, very little had improved between Harry and Ginny. They only spoke when absolutely necessary and every time they did, Ginny seemed deflated and Harry was defensive. Ron was still furious with Harry and was avoiding him even more effectively than he had in fourth year. Only Hermione seemed able to tolerate Harry. Sometimes, she would consent to sit at the same table in the library with him, albeit only if he was willing to listen to a lecture on what a moron he was, and it was in the midst of one of these lectures that one could find them on Sunday after breakfast.

"I don't know what's wrong with you, Harry. I really don't. I'm disappointed in you. You were so selfless when you sacrificed yourself to Voldemort so that we could defeat him. I was so proud to consider you my brother. But now, I can't believe you are the same guy who did that. Because you are being so selfish. Have you even thought about what Ginny's going through?"

"Of course I have th – "

"She is the one that's pregnant, Harry. She's the one who has hormones driving her mad, who can't keep down her breakfast half the time, who is furious that she can't stop crying considering she is the type of girl who never cries. And yet she is the one who has accepted, even embraced, what is happening. You're the one being a right idiot."

"That's not fair, Herm –"

"I swear to Merlin, Harry, I could punch you in the face right now. You know I can do it. But I figure Ron already took care of that for me. So instead, I am just going to have to knock some sense into you the old fashioned way. I mean, you both knew what could happen when you had sex. You knew there could be consequences. Now you have to deal with them. So stop being such a selfish prat and –"

"Hermione!" Hermione snapped her mouth closed midsentence at Harry's harsh tone. "I get it, okay. I'm a right git. I know. But can we please shut up now. I have to figure out what I'm going to present in Defense next week and I need to prep. I thought you had agreed to help. Not lecture me on something I already know. I'm a git but I don't know how to fix it right now so just lay off. And help me review protective charms. I think I want to focus on them next week."

Hermione gave Harry a hard look before finally relenting. "Fine. But don't forget that I'm still mad at you too."

"Noted."

While Harry and Hermione were holed up in the library, Ginny was sitting at a table near the fire in the common room with Ron. She appreciated Harry's attempts to steer clear of her. It made this horrible time just a little less difficult. But she wished that things weren't so complicated. For one, Hermione thought that someone needed to knock some sense into Harry and had therefore taken to studying with him. And right now, she and Ron could really use some help from the most-brilliant-witch-of-their-age. The essay on the properties of human-figure-transformation potions was kicking their arses.

Ginny had just unwrapped a new sugar quill, of which she had bought several dozen during the last Hogsmeade weekend and had already finished an entire box, as she tried to decipher a particularly difficult paragraph in her potions textbook, when a short second year came up behind her. The young boy shyly cleared his throat. She turned to see him. "Can I help you?"

"Uh, you're Ginny Weasley, right?" he asked in a quiet voice.

"Yeah."

He smiled and said, "Professor McGonagall asked me to give this to you." He handed her a small scroll and scurried away. Ginny unrolled it and quickly read the message.

"Weird," she muttered, "McGonagall wants to meet with me tomorrow night. Wonder what I did."

"Mhmmm," Ron said distractedly, never looking up at his sister. Ginny just sighed and went back to her essay, wishing there was someone better to talk to than her brother.

Monday morning at breakfast, Ginny was eating alone, as Ron was running late and it had started yet another argument between him and Hermione. However, her solitude was short lived as Parvati Patil and Demelza Robins entered, whispering excitedly, and slid onto the bench across from her. Ginny immediately knew something was up, as she rarely hung out with either girl.

Sure enough, as soon as she sat down, Parvati leaned across the table and glanced around before conspiratorially whispering, "Hey, Ginny, did you hear?"

Knowing there was no easy way to get rid of them without hearing them out, Ginny resignedly said, "Hear what?"

This time it was Demelza who spoke. Keeping her voice low, she said, "Apparently, one of the Ravenclaw's in my year is pregnant. Can you believe it? A sixth year!"

Ginny's indifference immediately flew out the window. Trying desperately to hide her nerves, she asked, "What? Where did you here that? How do you know?"

"Some of the Ravenclaw seventh years told me," Parvati supplied. "It took a while but the sixth years in her dorm finally put it all together. Apparently she was sick quite a bit over the last few months and now she is showing. From what I heard, she's pretty big, although her robes must still hide it, considering no one else has noticed."

"Yeah," Demelza said. "But the Ravenclaws still aren't spilling who it is. I guess it won't be hidden much longer. I mean, if she's showing already, it's just a matter of time before the robes don't hide it anymore."

"Well, I wonder what McGonagall's going to do about it. I don't think I've ever really heard about something like this at school before," Parvati added. "Although, considering how old the school is, there must be some precedent."

"Maybe Hermione knows," Demelza wondered. "Have you seen her, Ginny?"

It took a second before Ginny realized she had just been asked a question. "Oh, um, yeah. I saw her earlier. Ron was running late so she was waiting for him."

"Oh." Parvati and Demelza spotted someone else a little bit farther down the table to share their gossip with. The quickly stood and bustled down without even a glance back at Ginny.

She was glad they had left. There was no way she would have been able to keep up a pointless conversation with them. Not with the way her thoughts were running mad in her head. She had noticed this morning that her pants barely buttoned and there was a slight curve to her stomach. Plus, she had been using an engorgement charm on her bras for several days now. How much longer would she be able to keep her secret? And what would happen when people realized Harry was the father? Even if he was being a prat about it, it would still be big news.

Ginny didn't know how she got through the day. If anyone had asked her, she really couldn't say what they had learned in her classes that day. At one point, she was so distracted that, in Charms, she set fire to a wooden bucket they were using to catch the water from a mini-rainstorm they were supposed to be conjuring. Luckily, she was working with Hermione, who managed to produce the desired rain and put it out before Flitwick had noticed. The last thing she needed was more homework.

After dinner, Ginny headed up to McGonagall's office, her brain still whirling about her conversation with Parvati and Demelza. Blindly giving the gargoyle the password and ascending up the moving staircase, Ginny knocked on the headmistress's door.

"Enter." Ginny mentally shook herself, forcing her mind to focus before walking into McGonagall's office.

"Ah, Ms. Weasley. Please sit," the headmistress instructed, indicating a chair in front of her desk.

Looking around, Ginny noticed much of the office hadn't changed since either Dumbledore or Snape had been in residence. Settling into the chair McGonagall had indicated, Ginny asked, "Uh, Professor, why am I here?"

"Yes, I'll get straight to the point. I'm sure you have more than enough work to be getting on with." McGonagall looked across the desk at Ginny and Ginny got the feeling she could see right through her. Remembering both Dumbledore and Snape having this same quality, she briefly wondered if there was some strange power in the office itself.

She focused back on the conversation at hand as McGonagall continued. "Madam Pomfrey has informed me of your situation. I'm sorry about the break in privacy but, considering it is a school hospital wing, there is a somewhat different protocol in place."

"Oh." Ginny's mind went blank upon hearing McGonagall. In hindsight, she probably should have suspected what the meeting was about but for some reason, McGonagall finding out about the pregnancy had never crossed her mind. Not quite looking at McGonagall, she quietly asked, "You haven't told my brother, Charlie, yet, have you?"

"No, Ms. Weasley, I have not. Although he will need to be notified as he is your head of house."

"I understand. I just want the chance to tell my family myself."

"Of course. Madam Pomfrey was required to inform me of your pregnancy as she is required to inform me of all pregnancies among our students, but it is my responsibility to notify the head of house and I believed your situation required some special consideration, given your familial relation to Professor Weasley. Thus, I will leave it to you to inform him, so long as you promise to do so."

"I will. I promise."

"Good. However, you and I must talk."

"Okay," Ginny said, carefully looking up at the stern face across from her. McGongall was perched at her desk, sitting ramrod straight, the portrait of the (supposedly) sleeping Dumbledore behind her. However, if Ginny looked closely, she could see the kindness in McGonagall's eyes, hidden behind the austere exterior.

"Now, before we start, I have a question for you and know that you do not have to answer. But I need to ask, nonetheless. Is Harry the father?" Ginny nodded slowly in confirmation. "Yes, I figured as much. Well, that does present a bit of a problem, given Harry's fame. Should this fact be known, I would expect you to be subject to an undo amount of public interest. I want you to prepare for that."

"I understand. I mean, I don't know what I'm going to do about that but I do know it's coming."

McGongall nodded. "Well, then, now we need to discuss how to handle this."

"Right."

"As I'm sure you have realized, this is an unusual situation. In the past, student pregnancies have been rare and it has been policy to send pregnant student's home to be homeschooled for the year. Assuming they were disciplined in their studies, they could return the following year and continue uninterrupted. If not, they could repeat the year. In the event that they were O.W.L. or N.E.W.T. students, they would be required to repeat the year."

"I see. So, I'm going to have to go home and repeat this year?"

"In a normal year, yes. But this is not a normal year."

"So what does that mean?"

"Well, as I said before, student pregnancy is typically a rare problem. However, this year, we seem to have something of a baby boom among our students. Actually, it appears to be among the general Wizarding population as well."

"Makes sense. There are three of us pregnant in just my family right now."

"Three?"

"Me, Fleur, and then Angelina is having Fred's baby."

"Oh, my." For a moment, McGonagall seemed at a loss for words and her eyes shimmered with unshed tears. "You will have to give them both my congratulations. I'm sure Bill and Fleur are thrilled and I can imagine what a treasure Fred's child is to both Angelina and your family."

"Knowing we have a little piece of him here with us makes the pain a little less difficult."

"I would imagine. Well, as I was saying, we have a bit of a baby boom on our hands. So, to stick with our previous policy would require sending quite a few students home this year. We are particularly loathe to do that this year, given that this year is already been disrupted by the events of last year. This is the only year that we will be offering the modified curriculum and given how many students need the combination of last year and this year, trying to reintegrate all of you back into the curriculum next year would be impractical."

"Right."

"I believe we have come up with a solution, which we hope will allow you both to complete your coursework here at Hogwarts and deal with your pregnancy at the same time."

"And what would this entail?"

"First, I want to point out that this is our first experience trying something like this so there will be a bit of trial and error involved as we proceed and quite a bit of the process may change and develop as we move forward."

"I understand."

"Excellent. Well, first of all, Ms. Weasley, you will be adding another course to your schedule. We are creating a class which will help you and the other students cope with the challenges of pregnancy as well as teach you parenting skills and other useful things. This class is also open to Harry, should he wish to join you.

"I doubt he'll want to. He really doesn't want anything to do with me at the moment."

"I see," McGonagall said, her tone saying more than her words. "Well, if that changes, and I severely hope it does, he can always join later." Ginny nodded. "Also, we will eventually need to move you to a new dormitory but we are still in the process of developing a housing situation at the moment. I will let you know as soon as this is finalized."

"Okay."

"And finally, you will need to participate in some one-on-one counseling throughout the year. Initially, the plan was to have the students meet with their head of house but you present a bit of a problem with that. I suspect your brother will not be the most effective source for you to confide in."

"Not really, no."

"So I will meet with you personally. As the year progresses, we will discuss anything that concerns you. We can go over your choices and decisions, any worries you may have, along with any other issues that arise. And once again, should Harry come around, he would be able to join you at these meetings."

"I won't hold my breath."

McGonagall's stern face transformed with a small smile as she looked down at Ginny. "I wouldn't give up on him yet, Ms. Weasley. Generally, Harry comes around and does what is right."

"Last few weeks don't really support that."

"This is quite a change to handle, especially at your age."

"No offense, Professor, but if he can learn that he has to die and process that in just a few minutes before accepting it and walking out to face his death head on, then he has had plenty of time to come to terms with this."

"The adrenaline of battle does many things, Ms. Weasley. And Mr. Potter has been through quite a lot."

"So have we all. But I didn't get the option to freak out and run away."

"No, you didn't. And I must say, I'm impressed with how you have handled this."

"Thanks."

"It is the truth, Ms. Weasley. Now, are there any other issues you wish to discuss or any questions you have?"

Ginny was slightly overwhelmed by everything McGonagall had told her during the meeting. She was thrilled to know she could stay and get her N.E.W.T.s but she needed time to process everything. When she looked back over the term thus far, it seemed like everything was happening too fast and she was struggling to keep up. After a minute, she looked up at the headmistress and said, "No. Not right now."

"Excellent." McGonagall handed Ginny a sheet of paper, saying, "Here is your new class schedule. Do not hesitate to come see me if any issues arise."

"I won't."

"Good. Then you may go Ms. Weasley. I will let you know when our next meeting is."

Ginny nodded and stood to leave. When she reached the door, though, she hesitated. Turning back around, she said, "Professor McGonagall?"

The professor looked up from her desk. "Yes?"

Ginny paused, searching for the right words. Finally, she simply said, "Thank you for this."

McGonagall's eyes shined for a moment. If Ginny didn't know better, she would say there were tears glistening in them. "You are welcome Ms. Weasley."

With that, Ginny pulled the door open and left. She bounded down the moving staircase, eager to get back to the common room and tell Hermione everything McGonagall had just told her.

The next day, Harry awoke early, quickly dressed, and headed down to breakfast. Over the past few weeks, he had taken to rising early and leaving Gryffindor tower so as not to be in the room when Ron awoke and so that he could be long gone from the Great Hall by the time Ginny came down.

Avoiding Ron and Ginny had become a full time job. Not only did he eat breakfast early, but he also went to dinner late, giving them plenty of time to eat and leave before he got there. In class, he sat as far from them as he could and during their free time, he was still hiding in the corner of the library. He hadn't actually seen Ginny up close in two weeks and he hadn't talked to her at all since that day in the Hospital Wing.

The entire school had taken an interest in Harry and Ginny's break up. Girls, who seemed to think Harry was suddenly available, were throwing themselves at him. He was starting to watch his food and drink for signs of a love potion. The memory of the chocolates Ron had eaten from two years ago was not one that would soon be forgotten.

Harry's friends who weren't privy to the reason for the tension between him and Ginny were struggling to understand the sudden separation between the two. Both Neville and Luna had tried separately to get the reason out of Harry but he wasn't spilling. As far as he was concerned, the reason he and Ginny were apart was his fault and he wasn't going to cause any more problems for her than he already had. And he suspected telling people she was pregnant would cause problems.

And so, after he quickly ate his breakfast that morning, he left the Great Hall and headed up to the library, taking secret passages whenever possible to avoid students heading to breakfast.

In the library, Harry pulled out his notes on DADA. His lesson in Defense was today and he was nervous. He had never taught a lesson without having Ron and Hermione as backup, not even during his Dumbledore's Army days. And he knew he would get no help from them today. Hermione may have consented to helping him in the privacy of the library but, in public, she was firmly behind Ginny. So he was all on his own, and frankly, he had no one to blame but himself.

Forcing himself to focus on his lesson plan, Harry began going over spells he wanted to discuss. He had thought about all the spells that had helped him most during the war, focusing on protective enchantments. However, he still wasn't sure he was satisfied with the list he had. Reading what he had, he went over the spells, one by one.

Muffliato – This spell had allowed him to have private discussions with Ron and Hermione while they were still in school and had been central to their protection once they were on the run. Harry still remembered the time the snatchers had come so close to him and Hermione early on in their time on the run. Muffliato had been a central part of preventing the snatchers from finding them.

The Invisibility Charm – Harry knew this spell had been just as central to saving them all as Muffliato, as it kept their camp hidden from prying eyes. Without it, all three of them would likely have been captured much sooner.

Expecto Patronum – This spell provided protection of a different sort, although just as important. His very first corporeal patronus had saved Sirius's life by the Black Lake in his third year and he had also used it to save Dudley the summer before his fifth year. He liked to hope that that experience had healed a little of his relationship with Dudley, although he hadn't had any contact with him since they had parted ways before Harry's seventeenth birthday.

The Fidelius Charm – The last spell on Harry's list brought up mixed emotions. This was the spell that was supposed to save his life when he was a baby, save his family's life. If his mum and dad had just put their faith in a better person than Wormtail, they might still be alive now. Therein lay the greatest weakness in this most effective of protection spells. It required loyalty and trust, two things which were not easy to come by many times. However, during Voldemort's reign, Harry had come to realize that, despite Wormtail's betrayal, he needed to trust his friends. And sometimes it worked. When Voldemort had gone after Ginny and her family, first the Burrow and then Great Aunt Muriel's house were protected successfully with the Fidelius Charm.

Harry was forever grateful that Ginny had been protected. He didn't think he could have survived or had the strength to fight without her. She meant the world to him and just thinking about her was painful, as they still weren't speaking. Harry knew the mess they were in was his fault and only he could fix it but he couldn't figure out how.

As he thought about Ginny, he had been absentmindedly doodling on his list of spells. Looking down at what he had written, Harry saw the word "Love" written over and over again. Realizing what he had written, he blinked. Of course! Harry thought to himself. There was no greater protection than love. As Dumbledore had said, it was the greatest magic on Earth.

Suddenly, everything clicked and Harry realized what he needed to do. For both his lesson and for his life. Harry pulled out a fresh sheet of parchment and frantically began rewriting his lesson plan. He only hoped he wasn't too late.

That afternoon, as Ginny filed in the Defense classroom, she quickly commandeered a seat in the very back, knowing that Harry was leading the class. In truth, she wanted to be anywhere else but there but, considering how kind and understanding Professor McGonagall had been to ensure that she could finish her education, she figured that she owed it to the headmistress and to herself to actually go to class. But that didn't mean she had to sit anywhere near Harry.

She knew the minute he walked through the door behind her. No matter how mad she was, she was still attuned to his presence. She watched him out of the corner of her eye as he passed her, not even looking in her direction. Ginny could tell he was stressed as he reached the front of the room. His shoulders were tight and his hands were fidgeting. She knew he had never really been comfortable as the center of attention but she thought Dumbledore's Army and his position in the war had helped relax him. But instead of relaxed, he seemed more nervous than she had ever seen him.

Harry looked out at the class, his nerves frayed. What if this didn't work? What if no one understood? What if she didn't understand? It felt like this was his last chance to set the record straight on so many things.

He cleared his throat. "Hey guys." He paused, not quite sure how to go on. He looked back at Ginny, slumped down in the back row. He didn't blame her for hiding. He just hoped she would still listen.

Clearing his throat again, he said, "So, yeah, when I started this, I was planning on discussing protective spells. Muffliato, the Patronus Charm, and the like. They were bloody useful – er, sorry professor." Harry was so nervous, the curse had just slipped out. Harry glanced at Professor Diggle who just smiled and directed him to continue.

"Er, I mean they were very useful while I was on the run, searching for a way to destroy Voldemort. That was the plan, at least. But then I realized that, despite how often we used them, in the end, they were not the protection I wanted to talk about." Harry felt his confidence growing as he spoke. "You see, the protection that has saved me over and over again since I was a year old, the protection that Professor Dumbledore spent years trying to teach me about, was not some spell. It was love."

Harry heard doubtful whispers coming from most of the students in the room. He saw Hermione and Ron glance at each other from either side of Ginny. He had never really talked about his mother's protection with anyone but them so he knew they could see the significance of what he was doing, knew how difficult it was for him to talk about it with the whole of the seventh years. But it wasn't his two friends who drew his gaze.

Between Ron and Hermione, Ginny sat transfixed, her eyes staring straight at Harry. At his last statement, her head had snapped up and now, their eyes were locked on each other. She held her breath, not wanting to miss a single thing.

As they stared at each other, Harry continued talking, never looking away. "I know it seems a little strange, and trust me, it took me a long time to really believe in the power of love. And even then, I didn't fully trust it. Dumbledore tried to tell me time after time but I didn't listen.

"What most of you don't realize is that the power I had that Voldemort didn't, the single power which enabled me to defeat him, was love. My mother loved me so much that she died to protect me. She invoked an ancient magic based in love and it kept me safe until I was old enough to face Voldemort myself. While I learned how to defeat Riddle, so many people I loved stood between me and death simply because they loved me. I survived to face Voldemort when I was prepared to defeat him because of the love of others.

"And then, during the battle, I sacrificed myself, willingly, because of my love for those still fighting, and by doing so, I provided them with the same protection my mother provided me. My mother's love provided me with the protection I needed to come back to life and finish the fight and my love protected those fighting the Death Eaters. I only wish I could have protected them all, that I could have sacrificed myself sooner, before we lost so many.

"But in the end, it was Voldemort's dismissal of the power of love that was his downfall, not me. And honestly, even after all that, I still doubted love's power. But I don't anymore. I believe in its ability to conquer everything. You see, love is the greatest protection there is. Love is what makes life worth fighting for."

As Harry's speech came to an end, he stared at Ginny for a moment longer, his heart full, before looking away, finally breaking the eye contact the two had shared. Glancing around the room, he saw most of the class was staring at him in a mixture of confusion and disbelief. Harry wasn't sure if it was about his lesson about love or if they had sensed the underlying message. Either way, he laughed a little, adding, "Maybe I should explain this all a little more."

For the remainder of the class period, Harry tried to explain what Dumbledore had taught him about the power of love, about his mother's protection. He pointed out that it was what you were fighting for that made the difference and fighting for love was the most powerful motivation there was.

Throughout, Ginny had sat in a stunned silence, barely registering anything that was discussed after Harry's initial speech. She had never known about a lot of what he had told the class and she didn't really care that she wasn't hearing any of it now. Harry could always tell her later. Because, in the end, it didn't matter. In the end, all that mattered was what had transpired between them during those early minutes, their eyes communicating everything their mouths could not.

As the class come to an end and the other students left, Ginny never took her eyes off Harry. Beside her, she vaguely registered Ron and Hermione saying they would see her later before quietly following the rest of the class form the room.

Barely daring to breath, Ginny quietly made her way to the front of the room, where Harry was lingering, slowly putting his papers back in his bag. "Harry?" she asked tentatively.

Harry looked at her and she saw his eyes were bright as they looked down into hers. "Ginny. Gin, I'm so sorry. I know you can never forgive me for what I put you through this month but I need you to know that I am more sorry than I have ever been in my entire life. I love you so much, Ginny. And I love this baby, too. This baby is a part of you. We are a family and I'm so sorry I couldn't see that before. I just, I was just so scared –"

Ginny stopped his ramblings with a kiss. A long, passionate, deep kiss that lasted until they were both completely and totally out of breath.