So sorry for the delay with this chapter - my motivation for all of my stories took a bit of a backseat to something else I'm working on - but I am getting them back on track now!

Thank you to anyone who is still keeping up with this story - your reviews are always welcome!

I hope everyone is keeping safe.

Enjoy :)

16. Gift of a Friend

23rd March 2006

Ginny shakes her umbrella outside the door as she steps over the threshold into Grimmauld Place. She deposits the umbrella in a stand near the door before making her way down the hallway. It has been a while since she has been to the house, so she had been a little nervous about accepting Hermione's invitation, but she figures it is about time she put her Gryffindor courage to the test. Since their conversation in the Hog's Head, Ginny has neither seen nor spoken to her ex-boyfriend, nor has she seen much of Hermione over the last few weeks – what with Hermione putting in all kinds of hours at the hospital and Ginny constantly in negotiations with the Harpies about where this pregnancy leaves her position on the team.

"Hermione?" she calls out, wanting to give the pair fair-warning in case they are embroiled in some passionate embrace that will make Ginny's morning sickness flare up again.

"Harry?" she tries, when her first call receives no answer.

A smattering of footsteps sounds from upstairs and, within a moment, Hermione's frazzled, chestnut locks are swinging into view over the banister. The girl's flushed face is partially hidden by her wild mane, but there is no mistaking the smile in her voice.

"Gin! I'll be right down. Go put your feet up."

Ginny makes her way into the living room – which has become a much cosier set up since Harry and Hermione had renovated the place – and settles herself onto the soft, worn couch. She thinks that maybe she should have gone and put the kettle on, to save Hermione a job, but between the tantalising comfort of the couch and the warm glow of the fire, she finds herself unwilling and unable to move.

She has almost dozed off completely when Hermione bustles into the room with two steaming mugs. She hands one off to a now alert Ginny, smiling self-consciously as she does so.

"I've done some research and apparently peppermint tea is really good for easing morning sickness and bloating. But I got some others in for you that also help with pregnancy symptoms, like ginger and lemon in case you don't like this one. I also got Red Raspberry Leaf, but apparently that's not really suitable for the first trimester."

Ginny laughs at her friend; touched, but not surprised, that she has put so much effort into something as simple as making a cuppa.

"Trust you to have done more research than the person who's actually pregnant." Hermione laughs along with the redhead.

"Force of habit."

The two share a few moments of companionable silence before Ginny's mind runs back to the noticeable absence from the party.

"Where's Harry?" she hopes her nerves are not too evident in her voice, although Hermione has always been able to read her like a book. Her bushy-haired friend sighs and looks out of the window, as though hoping the man in question might miraculously appear there.

"He's putting in some extra hours at the ministry, but I'm hoping he won't be too long. It's this Percival case he's heading up – it's really hit him hard, Gin."

"Ron mentioned something about that – Harry can't hold himself responsible for someone else's actions though."

Hermione gives her a look which Ginny understands in a heartbeat – Harry had shouldered more blame and guilt for other people's actions over the years than most, and his tendency to overburden himself with unnecessary guilt was unlikely to change now.

"Actually," Hermione starts, a little uncertainly, "he's thinking about changing careers." She feels some guilt herself at bringing this up; Harry hasn't made any decisions yet and she's not sure that he's mentioned it to anyone but herself, but she needs someone to talk to right now, and Harry isn't always available for a heart-to-heart what with work and checking in on Andie and Teddy.

"Really?" Ginny isn't overly surprised by the development; she could see, even when they were together, the toll the job was taking on him and she had thought it only a matter of time before he either moved on to something else, or drove himself into an early grave. "How do you feel about that?"

"Honestly, Gin, I'm so relieved. Every time he walks out the door there's a risk he won't come back – and not just the normal every day risks we all face, but risks that come with deliberately putting himself in dangerous situations. I was so happy when he told me, but at the same time who knows when he will actually do it? Will there always be another case, one more thing he can't walk away from until it's completed? I don't know – I'm glad he's thinking about it, but I won't be able to relax until he actually does it, you know?"

Ginny just nods, knowing Hermione is not really looking for her to provide an answer, but just wants someone to vent to.

"You won't say anything, will you?" she asks. Ginny nudges Hermione's knee with her foot.

"You know I won't, Hermione. You know you can tell me anything." The two women share a smile, both more than comfortable in one another's company after so many years of friendship.

"So," Hermione finally continues, with a more upbeat demeanour, "how's everything going? Have you felt he baby kick yet? Do you know what you're having? I've read about a spell that can not only tell you the sex of the baby but can accurately predict what it will look like! Although…come to think of it, I did read about it in Witch Weekly so it may not be completely legitimate."

Ginny laughs and settles herself further into the couch; she has missed her friend over the past few months, more than she realised. Being here with Hermione feels just like old times, when they would lock themselves away in Ginny's room at the Burrow when they needed a break from the boys.

"Well, I can't say we've tried any outlandish spells from a magazine for middle-aged women," she jokes as Hermione's face colours at having taken advice from a non-academic source, "but we've met with our midwife a few times and…we're having a girl!"

The two friends squeal with excitement, which is not something Hermione will ever admit to anyone, before sharing an emotional embrace.

"Oh Gin, I'm so happy for you!"

"Thanks, Mione. To be honest, I'm thrilled to be having a girl, but I almost feel completely unprepared for it – I've been so used to being surrounded by boys my whole life that I'm not even sure what to do with a girl!"

"Well don't look at me," Hermione quips back, "I have as much knowledge about that as you do!"

The two friends share an intimate silence for a few moments longer before they hear the front door open once more. Hermione calls out to Harry that they are in the sitting room, but she is met with complete silence. The two women share a confused look as they hear the door shut followed by a thud.

After a few more moments of nothing, slow, careful footsteps can be heard approaching down the hallway and Ginny can feel the hairs on the back of her neck standing up. Hermione calls out again but is still met by complete silence. Both women stand from the sofa and draw their wands in unison. It seems clear to both of them that whoever has entered the house is no friend.

The footsteps pause outside of the door and Ginny can feel her heartbeat accelerating. She places a hand unconsciously over her stomach, as she clutches her wand tightly in her other fist. Hermione steps in front of the redhead, shielding her from whatever or whoever is about to enter.

The door slowly creaks open, revealing the dark hallway outside and a figure, dressed all in black, who seems to blend with the shadows themselves. Hermione can just about make out the man's broad shoulders heaving with exertion in the gloom. His cloak and the wide brimmed hat on his head drip water onto the floorboards, leaving puddles all around him.

As the man steps into the light of the sitting room, with that same careful, measured step, his face is illuminated, and Hermione hears herself let out a relieved sigh.

"Harry," she breathes out, lowering her wand, "you scared us! Why didn't you answer?"

Harry takes off his hat, shrugging his shoulders carelessly as the water continues dripping onto the floor. Hermione brings her wand up once more and Harry steps back quickly, his eyes widening in alarm as she makes a complicated movement with her hand – hot air steams out of the end of her wand, drying his clothes and the puddles on the floor simultaneously.

Harry lets out a relieved laugh, his shoulders relaxing slightly until he glances behind Hermione and he sees Ginny still standing with her wand pointing squarely at his chest. His eyes widen first in surprise and then recognition.

"Ginny Weasley?!" he exclaims, causing both girls to exchange a look of alarm. Harry clears his throat hurriedly, "I mean – Ginny, what are you doing here?"

"Harry, what's going on?" Hermione's hand twitches at her side, ready to bring her wand back up in an instant should she need it.

"Sorry, Hermione – it's just been a long day. Do you promise not to hex me if I sit down?" he laughs at his own joke, but the girls remain silent. He moves cautiously further into the room before perching gingerly in the space recently vacated by Ginny. Hermione and Ginny remain standing,

Harry brings his hand up, pulling awkwardly at his hair and making it stand on end even more than usual.

"Well," he finally says, after a long uncomfortable silence, "won't you sit down?"

"Who are you?" Ginny demands, already fed up of the charade playing out before her.

Startling green eyes fix unwaveringly on the redhead and she grips her wand even tighter in her fist. She has half a mind to just hex him and be done with it, but she is wary of misreading the situation – misreading him – and potentially putting herself, Hermione, and her unborn child at risk.

The man sighs and shakes his head, as though disappointed with an unruly child.

"You were not supposed to be here," the voice is uncanny, but the way the man holds himself is too awkward for Harry. There is a dark stillness about him that does not match with Harry's sometimes restless energy.

"Who are you?" Ginny asks again, her fear making the question sound shriller than she would normally have liked. The face she once knew better than her own stares back at her blankly until a slow, almost confused smile crosses the man's features.

"This was not my plan," he tells them, his gaze now flitting between the two friends, "but maybe it will be better this way. Yes…yes, I think it will be better this way. The 'Great Harry Potter' loves to be the hero, doesn't he?" He sits forward eagerly on the couch, his face – Harry's face – lighting up with a feverish excitement.

"Yes, yes…remember the second task? You must remember!" he angers easily, annoyed at the confusion on their faces. "The lake task, in the tournament? He should have only saved one, but he wanted to save them all. Yes, they glorified him for that one, didn't they? But that was easy, they were all in the same place," his eyes flit frantically around the room and Ginny cannot tell whether he is still talking to them or just to himself, "yes, yes…they were all in the same place, and they were never truly in danger…no, this will be better. This will be much better."

He stands abruptly from the couch, causing Hermione almost to jump backwards into Ginny. Both women now have their wands levelled firmly at the imposter's chest, but he pays them no mind.

"Where is Harry?" Hermione finally asks. Ginny's mind wonders along a different track, as she wonders how the man gained entry to the house in the first place; she worries momentarily that she may have inadvertently let him in, until his next words alleviate that fear at least.

"Oh, he's in the hall," the man is so nonchalant as he says this that he may as well have been telling them where he left his hat. Ginny has had enough of the chit-chat; they know where Harry is, and the man seems distracted enough to not put up much of a fight – she knows now is the time to act.

"Stupefy!" she calls out, a jet of red light hurtling straight at the oblivious man. Ginny does not even have time to lower her wand before the spell hits a block in mid-air and shoots back at her. Hermione, ever the quick thinker, is mercifully fast with her reactions:

"Protego!"

The man continues moving about the room, paying neither woman any mind. The girls watch in horrified fascination as he pulls his own wand from a pocket in his cloak.

"This is not a child's game", he intones, his voice losing its resemblance to Harry's with each word. "I did not expect you to come quietly and, I am afraid, I have no time to get into dramatics. The presence of a second complicates things, you see; although, it will be better…yes, it will be better in the long run."

From his other pocket he pulls a handful of black powder; he stares at it a moment, as though unsure of what to do with it, before throwing it in the air. In a flash, the room is engulfed in darkness and Ginny reaches out for Hermione with her free hand, needing to keep hold of the other woman. Both friends cast 'lumos', however they have dealt with Fred and George's products enough to know that their efforts are futile. Ginny can hear her own laboured breathing, and her heartbeat is pounding in her ears, but there is no sound from the man stalking them in the dark.

Through the darkness she sees the briefest flash of a muted green colour; a split-second later she feels Hermione's grip slacken before she is pulled forward slightly by the weight of the other woman dropping to the floor.

Ginny's mind goes numb, her body freezes, and she has no time to react when, as the darkness starts to disperse she sees a strange man, with only some of Harry's features twisted into a gruesome mask, level his wand at her head.