"Two eggs, over easy, bacon, and hash browns. And a smiley face pancake for you." The little boy in the booth with his mother giggled and nodded his head.
Today had been slow at work, because Lena was going to pick up Sally and the girls, and even though I had just seen them two days ago I was very excited.
I placed the order for mother and son and delivered a plate to a business man. Suddenly I was grabbed around the middle and a squeal filled the diner.
"We skipped church this morning!" Elizabeth reported.
I turned and lifted her up to my hip and kissed her forehead.
"I'm sure God understands this one time." I smiled at her.
"Jenny! Put her down, you can't be carrying her in your state!" Sally fussed.
"Hey Sally." I embraced my friend, who had Lydia strapped to her chest.
"So good to see you." She rubbed my back.
I sat them down and brought Sally and Lena their coffee. Elizabeth requested chocolate milk.
After I served them breakfast my shift ended, so Lena and I took them to our house. Elizabeth ran through the rooms and then halted before me.
"Where will baby sleep?" She looked at me curiously.
"In my room." I patted her head and sat on the couch.
She curled up next to me, "in your bed like I do sometimes?"
"No, the baby will have their own bed, like Lydia." Sally set Lydia on the couch next to me and went to settle herself in Lena's room. She crawled in to my lap, and gurgled at me, playing with the ends of my hair.
"I'm so surprised she is taking to you so well, you have been gone a month. Most of the time they forget you after you have been gone any amount of time" Lena commented from the chair.
Elizabeth giggled. A smiles down at her and shook my head. "Well she is one smart girl, and how could anyone forget me?" I teased as I scooped the baby in my lap.
"I'm your cousin, and everyone likes the foreigner better than me?" She fake pouted.
"Oh you are so abused" I kidded as I gave Lydia Eskimo kisses
"Maybe we have just been spying on you" Sally came back in the room with her purse on her arm. "Well, we need to get little sister to her appointment, the taxi just got here."
She took Lydia from me and placed her in her car seat. "Come on Lizzie girl."
"Elizabeth can stay with us." I offered as Lydia was buckled in.
"You don't have to do that."
"I want to. We might have to go do something fun." I tickled the wiggling child.
"Alright, I won't argue. Have fun, call me if you need me." She took Lydia and left.
"What are we going to do Miss. Ginny?" Elizabeth crawled up to my face.
"Lets see. Maybe go shopping, or see a movie and have some lunch. Whatever you want." I watched her eyes light up.
"There is a new princess movie. Can we go see it?" She pleaded.
"What do you say Lena, want to go to the show?" I worked my way off the couch and towards my room to find my shoes.
"I'm not really feeling up to it." I heard her huff.
I pulled my black shoes out of the bottom of my closet and slipped them on. Then I re-entered the living room to seeElizabeth scrambling around for her sandals. Lena was sitting in the chair, lost in thought.
"Are you okay?" I patted her hand.
"Yeah. Go have fun." She said absentmindedly.
I locked eyes with her for a moment, trying to read her curious expression. She broke eye contact, looking at the ground.
"Okay, call me if you need."
Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Elizabeth and I had a light lunch and a good time at the movies, when we returned Sally insisted upon taking us all to dinner. Lena seemed back to normal when we returned and remained that way through dinner.
Later that night Lena and I found ourselves freshly showered and in my bed. I stared at the dark ceiling with my friend turned away from me. She was awake, and I knew it.
She flopped over to face me after a time, and I could feel her eyes bearing in to the side of my head.
"What?" I sighed.
"Something is up." She whispered.
"What?" I looked over, confused
"What is going on?" She narrowed her eyes at me.
"I don't understand." I replied.
"Don't play stupid. Something is happening right under my nose, and I can feel it." Her voice was deathly serious.
"You are insane." I turned away from her.
"I thought we were better friends than this Jen." She sighed in defeat. I felt the bed shift as she turned away from me.
Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
The dream began as it had the night before. I stood on the edge of a chasm, watching my family battle for their lives.
I searched long and hard for Harry, to no avail. The scene played out just as it had before, my Mum running, Ron and Hermione back to back.
Finally my eyes fell on Tom, but this time I watched myself approach him. My huge feet ran across the grass as my long pony tail whipped behind me in the wind.
Tom rose his wand at the Ginny before him. "Watch out!" I yelled.
I turned to look at myself. Green eyes consumed me yet again. Tom threw the green light that hit her in the chest.
Her eyes closed and she fell in slow motion towards the ground.
"No!" I wailed, falling to my knees. My stomach was flat, and I knew.
Voldemort appeared before me and pulled me off the ground by my forearm.
"Just kill me. Please." I cried.
His red eyes searches my face, and a smirk filled his features. He dropped me and looked down upon me.
"No. I don't think I will." He laughed.
He disappeared and I was left to scream in pain as my heart was torn in to pieces.
Lena was shaking me. "Jenny. Come on wake up. It's okay it's just fine."
I sobbed uncontrollably. I could barely breathe.
"Tell me. I can't help unless you tell me." She wrapped her arms around me and rocked me.
"I can't" I gasped for air.
"Is it about your husband?" She rubbed my back.
I nodded, still in hysterics.
"And the baby?"
I nodded again.
"Deep breaths. In the nose, out the mouth." Lena coached me.
My breathing went back to normal, even with a steady stream of tears down my cheeks. I finally lay back on my pillow, and Lena tucked the quilt in around me.
"I know I can't do anything about James, but I pride myself in being a good listener. Also, I am always here for you and the baby, I'm not James, but I can support you the best I can until he gets home." She laid on her side next to me.
"That's the thing" I sniffed "What if he never gets to come home?"
"I can't make any promises, but I have a feeling it will all turn out alright." She brushed a tear off my face "if it's not okay, then we will cross that bridge when we get to it."
We laid together in the dark for a while. Finally I heard Lena's breathing deepen and even out.
Now was the time I began to worry. I was so happy to have wonderful people to stand with me, but now I had to face the reality that I could be putting them in danger. Draco had taken a lot of precautions as far as I had seen. But there was always a chance.
"Damnit. I sound like Harry" I rolled my eyes in the darkness as the thought struck me.
It was true though.
Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
After I dropped Sally and the girls off at the airport, I called Lena to tell her that they were safely off. The phone rang twice before the picked up.
"Michael Freeman's office, my name is Lena. How may I help you?" she said in her fake smiley phone voice.
"Lena?"
"Hey Jen." I heard her rustling papers
"I just dropped them off, it went well." I informed as I started my car.
"Good, good. "She said absentminded." Hey, wanna meet up for lunch? My lunch hour starts soon"
"Yeah, sure. I'm already in the car." I eased out of the parking garage.
"Mexican place on fifth in fifteenth?" She suggested.
"Sounds great to me."
We sat at a booth munching on tortilla chips. Lena was back in her pencil skirt and heels, hating every moment of it.
"How are you feeling today?" She popped a chip in her mouth and surveyed the other patrons of the restaurant.
"Pretty well, tired. Didn't sleep well last night after I woke." I yawned.
"Want to talk about it?" Her attention was now directly on me.
"He is a soldier. In a lot of danger all the time. That's why he sent me here. I can't even be in contact with him. I will be contacted if he is seriously injured. That's about it." I sighed in relief as I finally let her in.
"So is he some big head honcho or something?" The chips were forgotten and she didn't even notice when the waiter brought the drinks.
"Everyone knows who he his."
"Would I know anything about him?" She sipped from her straw blindly, after chasing it around the glass with her lips.
"Maybe if I told you his name, but probably not." I ordered for the both of us as she gaped at me from across the table.
"His name isn't James Pearson?" She looked at me wide eyed.
"Nope." I scooped some salsa and crunched down on my chip.
"Your name isn't Jennifer Pearson?" Her expression never changed.
I just smiled at her across the table.
"Whoa." She whispered. "I didn't know this could happen in real life."
"Can you tell me your name?" She asked. "You don't have to, just a question."
"I can. But not here. My name is not very common, and someone might recognize it. Few here would know what I look like, but my name is very well known. So if you hear anything funny, or anyone strange comes calling for me, don't let them in without contacting me first."
"Holy cow!" Our food arrived and she began shoving her food in. "Is your accent real? Or are you just faking it to keep your cover?" She wagged her eye brows.
"I'm not some super-secret spy or anything." I laughed. " it's a real accent".
"Hmmmm if you say so." She raised an eye brow.
"Whatever" I rolled my eyes at her antics
A/N-I know I know. Two Chapters in one week. I got quite a few reviews, fast. Beside the fact that I am still in bed sick, so why not? Maybe if you are extra nice I may post another by the end of the day. I had a comment about the story earlier that was a bit unsettling. I know there is not a million things going on right now, but we are getting there. We will have Hermione in the next chapter, and the chapter after that is all about Hermione again. So give me a little slack, and be patient. Things are getting ready move. I still appreciate the feed back, don't get me wrong. Any way, please review and look out for my next chapter. Love you guys!