-------------------------------------
Chapter 10: Closer to Redemption
-------------------------------------
A/N: This is it, the big one. For all of you who wondered what Ginny was running from, where Harry fitted in and what happened four years ago. Read and find out. This is not the final installment. Just a summary/interlude setting the stage for the next part Thanks to Lara for translating to English from my usual gibberish. -----------------------------------------
It seemed like hours that they stood across from each other, both thinking about the last time they had talked. In reality, it was probably more like a minute before they were shaken out of their reverie by the appearance of the lift.
"I should go." She stepped hesitantly towards the metal doorway.
"Ginny, wait!" Harry sounded desperate, almost pleading.
"Harry, we." She paused thinking back to their parting words four years ago. "I. There really isn't anything left to say, is there?"
"I know we didn't part on good terms, Ginny, please! Let me get a coat - we can go for coffee or something, I just really need to talk." He took a hesitant step towards her. "Please?"
She swallowed convulsively, taking a backward step away from him into the lift.
"This is a really bad time, Harry."
As she slammed the old-fashioned grid shut and pressed the Ground Floor button, her hand was trembling slightly.
"Ginny!" Harry's voice carried the familiar note of disciplining a small child, as if Ginny by some force of nature would be compelled to obey him.
It was the way things had been between them, Harry was only one year older than she, but that had never stopped him or her brothers from treating her as a child. She had never asked for their sheltering, and when she had started training to be an auror, they had all tried to persuade her from it. In the end she had given Ron a right hook and told Harry to shut up or fuck off - her exact words.
Ginny let her knees give way and slid down the side into a heap on the floor. She really wanted to go home. In New Orleans, there were no ghosts from the past, no secret plots of world domination...no Draco Malfoy.
As the lift finally reached the ground floor she scrambled to her feet. The security guard gave her a strange look, but was distracted by the telephone ringing. Ginny's sneakers made small squeaky sounds against the marble floor, and somehow crossing the floor made her really uncomfortable - as if she was being watched, and found wanting. She knew she probably looked like a mess.
"Yes sir, she is here." The security guard's voice sounded eerily clear across the room as he lifted his eyes towards her.
"Do you want me to keep her on the premises?"
That was all Ginny needed to hear before running towards the door as fast as she could.
She could hear the guard calling out for her to stop, but she kept running as fast as her feet would carry her.
As she rounded a corner she halted outside the familiar staff entrance of The Serpent. Was it Draco or Harry who had called the guard? If it was Draco, entering the club was probably on the top ten list of foolish things to do, but on the other hand, if it was Harry, she would be safe enough here. She hesitated outside before testing the door - it was open. She took a deep breath before entering. She needed to make her way back to her changing room so that she could pick up her stuff; she made her way behind the stage, meeting only a cleaner. She sighed with relief as she started packing her bag.
Fifteen minutes later, she walked down the corridor outside Draco's office. She hesitated briefly before raising her wand and once more removing the wards protecting the door. Inside was all the information she had on Draco Malfoy. All she had to do was pick up that bag and deliver it to Mrs. Thomas. Then she would be finished, and she could wash her hands of this and leave England once more.
Later, when Draco watched the muggle surveillance footage from his office, he couldn't help but wonder why she stood in the middle of his office for at least twenty minutes, not moving a muscle, before retrieving the bag she must had managed to hide away the night before.
----------------------------------------
It was close to midnight, and the residents of Ravenhall Manor were preparing for bed when the shrill ringing of a telephone disturbed the comfortable silence.
"Damn contraptions" the man muttered before making his way down the hall, hoping that his wife wasn't disturbed by the noise.
He ripped the receiver of the hook. "What?" his gruff voice was enough to put any caller off, but the person on the other side of the line had made a promise.
"I would like to talk to Hermione Granger, is she there?" a female voice inquired.
Severus saw his pregnant wife pad toward him in the dim lighting of the hall. She had probably been awake. It was something of a joke on the Hogwarts staff that Severus Snape, Slytherin traditionalist extraordinaire, had installed a muggle phone at his family residence, so that his young wife could contact her muggle friends easily.
He handed her the receiver with a shrug signaling that he didn't know who was calling.
"Hello? This is Hermione Granger."
"Hermione, it's Ginny."
At the sound of Ginny's voice, Hermione let out a sigh of relief.
"Ginny, how are you?"
"I'm going home. Hermione."
"To 'The Burrow'?"
There was a long pause before Ginny answered.
"Yes. I have to say goodbye this time."
---------------------------------------
Ginny was resting on the bench gracing the wobbly second floor veranda. After hours of reacquainting herself with her family, she was taking a moment of much needed solace to gather her thoughts. She had been in England for a week; she cast a glance on her wrist watch, exactly one week. She kicked of her shoes and let out a groan before resting her head in her hands. It had to be some kind of record, to completely fuck up your life in a week.
"Mind if I join you?"
Ginny looked up, expecting one of her brothers, but instead was met by black hair and glasses.
Harry.
She scooted over so that he could sit down next to her. They sat there in silence, both unsure of what to say. It was Harry who spoke up first.
"So, Malfoy huh?"
She started laughing, she couldn't help it. But soon, the nervous laughter gave way to tears.
"Oh, Harry."
He slowly circled her with his arms, in a hesitant embrace, unsure of her response. But Ginny leaned in to his chest, seeking solace in his arms. Later, when only soft sniffles and shaky breaths disturbed the silence, he could finally whisper the words that had been burning in his mouth for so long.
"I'm sorry."
"It's okay Harry, really."
"No, I'm to blame, not you. It was my responsibility to keep you safe and the things I said were inexcusable."
"Harry, yes you did say some awful things to me, but you were not to blame. And nether was I. It was war; people do what they had to in order to survive."
"Gin! How can you say that? I accused you of killing our baby!"
-------------------------------------------------
St. Mungo's Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries, December 16th 2003
She was sleeping when he entered the room, her hair was fanned across the pillow like a blaze of fire. She looked like a child, but he knew appearances were deceiving.
It was strange how their relationship had evolved. In the beginning, it was mostly because it was expected. Everyone had wanted it. In his seventh year, right after the war had truly erupted only two days before they all left Hogwarts, she had come to his bed. They were children, afraid of what was to come, determined to get some kind of comfort before dying.
It had become a habit. When they were lonely, or just needed someone else's touch, they would seek each other out. And at some point, they had decided that they might just as well make it official.
He did love her, and she loved him as well. But there was no passion in their relationship, neither knew just when they decided that it was enough. There was comfort and companionship, familiarity and trust. There was war, and people took what chances of happiness they could have.
He hadn't known. The letter came two days after she disappeared
Miss. Ginny Weasley
You are to retire from active duty, and report to your medical officer ASAP, as the result from your last sample was positive.
We regret to lose your valuable effort in the field but wish you the best with your pregnancy and will offer you a position in administration so that you can continue your work as long as possible.
Best wishes
Dr. Jane Heller
It was standard procedure, all the female aurors in active duty where required to send in a urine sample once every two months.
He knew it was stupid, she hadn't known. He had wanted to be a father, to have a family of his own to love and care for. A son he could play Quidditch with on Sunday afternoons in the Weasleys' back yard. A daughter he could dote on. He didn't know what he had expected. She had been missing for four months; she would have been almost six months along.
Still it felt like a betrayal seeing her there, her slim waist suddenly seemed to mock him. 'Did you really think we would let you have this? A family?' Tears were burning behind his closed eyelids as he heard the rustle of sheets as Ginny woke up.
"Harry?" Her voice was slightly trembling
"Why did you do it?"
"What do you mean?"
His voice was raw with emotion as he made those horrible accusations "Did you not want it, or was it because it was mine? Did the idea of carrying my child repulse you so?"
"What are you saying, Harry? I don't understand."
"The baby, our baby. Why did you kill it?"
"A baby? What baby?" Her confusion and fear were evident as Harry stormed out of the room leaving Ginny alone to ponder the implications of what he had just told her. She had been pregnant, and Harry had just accused her of killing her unborn child.
------------------------------------------
She hadn't known, in truth Harry had realized that a long time ago. But he was angry and hurting. So when the Weasleys had invited him over for Christmas he had refused. The war had in reality already been won. Ginny's capture and imprisonment had been one of the last convulsions of an opponent already in shambles.
So while Harry dealt with his loss by rounding up and then thrashing some of the remaining death-eaters, Ginny had spent a month knowing that Harry held her responsible for the loss of her unborn child. Then she had left. One morning Molly Weasley had entered her daughter's room and found it empty. No parting letters, no words of goodbye. Just here one minute, and then gone the next.
---------------------------------------------
TBC.
Chapter 10: Closer to Redemption
-------------------------------------
A/N: This is it, the big one. For all of you who wondered what Ginny was running from, where Harry fitted in and what happened four years ago. Read and find out. This is not the final installment. Just a summary/interlude setting the stage for the next part Thanks to Lara for translating to English from my usual gibberish. -----------------------------------------
It seemed like hours that they stood across from each other, both thinking about the last time they had talked. In reality, it was probably more like a minute before they were shaken out of their reverie by the appearance of the lift.
"I should go." She stepped hesitantly towards the metal doorway.
"Ginny, wait!" Harry sounded desperate, almost pleading.
"Harry, we." She paused thinking back to their parting words four years ago. "I. There really isn't anything left to say, is there?"
"I know we didn't part on good terms, Ginny, please! Let me get a coat - we can go for coffee or something, I just really need to talk." He took a hesitant step towards her. "Please?"
She swallowed convulsively, taking a backward step away from him into the lift.
"This is a really bad time, Harry."
As she slammed the old-fashioned grid shut and pressed the Ground Floor button, her hand was trembling slightly.
"Ginny!" Harry's voice carried the familiar note of disciplining a small child, as if Ginny by some force of nature would be compelled to obey him.
It was the way things had been between them, Harry was only one year older than she, but that had never stopped him or her brothers from treating her as a child. She had never asked for their sheltering, and when she had started training to be an auror, they had all tried to persuade her from it. In the end she had given Ron a right hook and told Harry to shut up or fuck off - her exact words.
Ginny let her knees give way and slid down the side into a heap on the floor. She really wanted to go home. In New Orleans, there were no ghosts from the past, no secret plots of world domination...no Draco Malfoy.
As the lift finally reached the ground floor she scrambled to her feet. The security guard gave her a strange look, but was distracted by the telephone ringing. Ginny's sneakers made small squeaky sounds against the marble floor, and somehow crossing the floor made her really uncomfortable - as if she was being watched, and found wanting. She knew she probably looked like a mess.
"Yes sir, she is here." The security guard's voice sounded eerily clear across the room as he lifted his eyes towards her.
"Do you want me to keep her on the premises?"
That was all Ginny needed to hear before running towards the door as fast as she could.
She could hear the guard calling out for her to stop, but she kept running as fast as her feet would carry her.
As she rounded a corner she halted outside the familiar staff entrance of The Serpent. Was it Draco or Harry who had called the guard? If it was Draco, entering the club was probably on the top ten list of foolish things to do, but on the other hand, if it was Harry, she would be safe enough here. She hesitated outside before testing the door - it was open. She took a deep breath before entering. She needed to make her way back to her changing room so that she could pick up her stuff; she made her way behind the stage, meeting only a cleaner. She sighed with relief as she started packing her bag.
Fifteen minutes later, she walked down the corridor outside Draco's office. She hesitated briefly before raising her wand and once more removing the wards protecting the door. Inside was all the information she had on Draco Malfoy. All she had to do was pick up that bag and deliver it to Mrs. Thomas. Then she would be finished, and she could wash her hands of this and leave England once more.
Later, when Draco watched the muggle surveillance footage from his office, he couldn't help but wonder why she stood in the middle of his office for at least twenty minutes, not moving a muscle, before retrieving the bag she must had managed to hide away the night before.
----------------------------------------
It was close to midnight, and the residents of Ravenhall Manor were preparing for bed when the shrill ringing of a telephone disturbed the comfortable silence.
"Damn contraptions" the man muttered before making his way down the hall, hoping that his wife wasn't disturbed by the noise.
He ripped the receiver of the hook. "What?" his gruff voice was enough to put any caller off, but the person on the other side of the line had made a promise.
"I would like to talk to Hermione Granger, is she there?" a female voice inquired.
Severus saw his pregnant wife pad toward him in the dim lighting of the hall. She had probably been awake. It was something of a joke on the Hogwarts staff that Severus Snape, Slytherin traditionalist extraordinaire, had installed a muggle phone at his family residence, so that his young wife could contact her muggle friends easily.
He handed her the receiver with a shrug signaling that he didn't know who was calling.
"Hello? This is Hermione Granger."
"Hermione, it's Ginny."
At the sound of Ginny's voice, Hermione let out a sigh of relief.
"Ginny, how are you?"
"I'm going home. Hermione."
"To 'The Burrow'?"
There was a long pause before Ginny answered.
"Yes. I have to say goodbye this time."
---------------------------------------
Ginny was resting on the bench gracing the wobbly second floor veranda. After hours of reacquainting herself with her family, she was taking a moment of much needed solace to gather her thoughts. She had been in England for a week; she cast a glance on her wrist watch, exactly one week. She kicked of her shoes and let out a groan before resting her head in her hands. It had to be some kind of record, to completely fuck up your life in a week.
"Mind if I join you?"
Ginny looked up, expecting one of her brothers, but instead was met by black hair and glasses.
Harry.
She scooted over so that he could sit down next to her. They sat there in silence, both unsure of what to say. It was Harry who spoke up first.
"So, Malfoy huh?"
She started laughing, she couldn't help it. But soon, the nervous laughter gave way to tears.
"Oh, Harry."
He slowly circled her with his arms, in a hesitant embrace, unsure of her response. But Ginny leaned in to his chest, seeking solace in his arms. Later, when only soft sniffles and shaky breaths disturbed the silence, he could finally whisper the words that had been burning in his mouth for so long.
"I'm sorry."
"It's okay Harry, really."
"No, I'm to blame, not you. It was my responsibility to keep you safe and the things I said were inexcusable."
"Harry, yes you did say some awful things to me, but you were not to blame. And nether was I. It was war; people do what they had to in order to survive."
"Gin! How can you say that? I accused you of killing our baby!"
-------------------------------------------------
St. Mungo's Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries, December 16th 2003
She was sleeping when he entered the room, her hair was fanned across the pillow like a blaze of fire. She looked like a child, but he knew appearances were deceiving.
It was strange how their relationship had evolved. In the beginning, it was mostly because it was expected. Everyone had wanted it. In his seventh year, right after the war had truly erupted only two days before they all left Hogwarts, she had come to his bed. They were children, afraid of what was to come, determined to get some kind of comfort before dying.
It had become a habit. When they were lonely, or just needed someone else's touch, they would seek each other out. And at some point, they had decided that they might just as well make it official.
He did love her, and she loved him as well. But there was no passion in their relationship, neither knew just when they decided that it was enough. There was comfort and companionship, familiarity and trust. There was war, and people took what chances of happiness they could have.
He hadn't known. The letter came two days after she disappeared
Miss. Ginny Weasley
You are to retire from active duty, and report to your medical officer ASAP, as the result from your last sample was positive.
We regret to lose your valuable effort in the field but wish you the best with your pregnancy and will offer you a position in administration so that you can continue your work as long as possible.
Best wishes
Dr. Jane Heller
It was standard procedure, all the female aurors in active duty where required to send in a urine sample once every two months.
He knew it was stupid, she hadn't known. He had wanted to be a father, to have a family of his own to love and care for. A son he could play Quidditch with on Sunday afternoons in the Weasleys' back yard. A daughter he could dote on. He didn't know what he had expected. She had been missing for four months; she would have been almost six months along.
Still it felt like a betrayal seeing her there, her slim waist suddenly seemed to mock him. 'Did you really think we would let you have this? A family?' Tears were burning behind his closed eyelids as he heard the rustle of sheets as Ginny woke up.
"Harry?" Her voice was slightly trembling
"Why did you do it?"
"What do you mean?"
His voice was raw with emotion as he made those horrible accusations "Did you not want it, or was it because it was mine? Did the idea of carrying my child repulse you so?"
"What are you saying, Harry? I don't understand."
"The baby, our baby. Why did you kill it?"
"A baby? What baby?" Her confusion and fear were evident as Harry stormed out of the room leaving Ginny alone to ponder the implications of what he had just told her. She had been pregnant, and Harry had just accused her of killing her unborn child.
------------------------------------------
She hadn't known, in truth Harry had realized that a long time ago. But he was angry and hurting. So when the Weasleys had invited him over for Christmas he had refused. The war had in reality already been won. Ginny's capture and imprisonment had been one of the last convulsions of an opponent already in shambles.
So while Harry dealt with his loss by rounding up and then thrashing some of the remaining death-eaters, Ginny had spent a month knowing that Harry held her responsible for the loss of her unborn child. Then she had left. One morning Molly Weasley had entered her daughter's room and found it empty. No parting letters, no words of goodbye. Just here one minute, and then gone the next.
---------------------------------------------
TBC.