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Chapter Five
And so it begins…
Ginny lay on the couch as she watched the sun set from a nearby window. It had been two weeks since that lunch and she hadn't heard from Harry at all
'Thank Merlin,' she thought, 'Maybe he actually got the message.'
Deep down though, she was a tiny bit upset that he hadn't tried harder, a tiny bit upset that he'd taken her words to heart and had actually left her alone. Not that she wanted him to bother her, she reminded herself. It just would have been nice to know that their relationship had had such an effect on Harry that he couldn't let her go without a fight. But then, of course, he'd left her before anyway, so why should it be any different now?
A door opening interrupted her thoughts and she heard Nick's voice call out, "Gin? You here?"
"In the kitchen." She called back, trying to clear her thoughts of all things Potter.
"How was you're day?" She asked him, giving him a peck on the cheek.
"Well, I have good news and bad news."
"Tell me the good first"
"Okay," Nick said, his face lighting up. "You know that huge sale I made the other day? 100 copies of Quidditch through the ages for that big Quidditch School?"
"Yeah"
"Well, it's gotten me a promotion! To district manager! I'm going to be in charge of all the stores in London! And there's a huge pay rise as well!" Nick's eyes were bright with excitement and he was gesticulating enthusiastically.
"Nick that's great!" Ginny cried giving him a hug. "What's the bad news?"
"Oh," Nick said, dropping his hands and shuffling his feet nervously. "Well…the bad news is that as training, I'm going to have to go to the head office which is in America. For a month. Starting in two days"
Ginny's face fell. "A month! That's ages!"
"I know but it's compulsory. And it'll be a great learning experience for me. You could come." He suggested, his voice hopeful
"I can't," Ginny sighed. "Term starts in a month so I have to start getting my act together and organising books and tests and all that stuff."
"I suppose." Nick sighed. "Well, hey, I know! You could organise the wedding! I know how you girls love to do that sort of thing and all."Ginny frowned slightly. "Well, I kind of though organising our wedding would be something we'd do together. And besides, we haven't even chosen a date yet"
"Well the sooner the better hey? I mean, no need to wait around is there? Just a nice small wedding, 10 or so people maybe just a few weeks after I get back?"
"10 or so people? Nick just inviting all my brothers and their families will be almost 30 people."
"Well, we're not going to invite all the kids are we? I mean, they would just be trouble than is worth having them there."
"But Nick, the kids are a part of the family, it's practically sacrilegious for a Weasley not to involve the kids in a big event!"
"Hey, look calm down, I'm sorry alright? I wasn't thinking. We'll organise the wedding when I get back and invite all the kids and they can bring any little friends they might have and they can bring their friends and they can bring their friends and so on and so forth." Nick said with a smile, pulling Ginny in for a hug. "We'll make it one big kiddie party. How does that sound?"
Ginny's frown lessened slightly and Nick made puppy eyes at her until she burst out laughing. "Oh alright, I suppose that sounds better. But you do know that children are important to me don't you? I mean, I know we haven't really talked about all this stuff but you want kids right?" She asked
Nick shuffled uncomfortably. "Well, I suppose, I mean I love all your nephews and nieces but that's because at the end of the day when they're tired and crabby I can give them to one of your brothers and go home knowing I don't have to deal with them."
"But you want kids don't you?" Ginny pressed
"Well, not straight away…I mean, I want to enjoy my youth a bit more before being stuck at home with kids."
"Oh…" Ginny said, turning her head slightly
"But that's not to say I don't want them," Nick continued hurriedly, "because I do, and I wouldn't want anyone to be the mother but you…just…maybe in a few years time or something."
"Of course." Ginny said, extricating herself from his arms and turning to stack the magazines lying scattered on the coffee table
"You're not upset are you?" Nick asked anxiously, putting an arm around her shoulder
"No, no of course not." Ginny replied, her tone casual and off-handed.
Nick watched her thoughtfully for a minute before nodding and giving her a quick peck on the cheek before going into the bedroom.
Ginny looked up at the window and waited until she saw his reflection disappear before throwing down the magazine and going to lie on the couch
She'd never even considered the possibility that Nick may not want children straight away. She'd simply assumed that since he'd developed such a great rapport with all her nieces and nephews, he was a natural dad who couldn't wait for some of his own. She knew she felt that way. Every time she'd seen one of her brother's newborn kids, she couldn't help but think of the day it would be her bringing a tiny bundle of life into the world.
She knew she was young, only just 22 in fact but having grown up as the youngest child in a big family, she'd never gotten to experience what it would be like to have someone look up to you, depend on you and love you unconditionally. She'd always been the youngest, been babied by everyone, never having the chance to do the babying herself.
She sighed. Oh stop complaining, she berated herself. Its not as if he never wants kids, he just wants to wait a bit. There's nothing wrong with that.
Nick came back out of the bedroom and, seeing Ginny on the he went and knelt by her side. Taking her hand with his right, he used his left to gently push a strand of hair behind her ear.
"Hey, you understand don't you? I mean, I didn't mean to upset you with any of that, especially since I'm leaving in two days."
Ginny gave him a small smile. "Of course I understand. I'd just assumed we had the same opinions so it was a bit of a shock is all. But I respect what you want."
Nick smiled. Leaning in, he planted a light kiss on her lips then pulled her in for a hug.
"I love you Ginny Weasley." He whispered
Ginny bit her lip, but managed to get out, "I love you too."
**********
Harry rapped firmly on the big wooden door and seconds later it was opened by a pretty raven-haired girl.
"Harry!" The girl smiled "It's so nice to see you, how have you been? It's definitely been much too long! Come in, come in. I must say I was a bit surprised when I got your owl, a bit of an unusual greeting after 5 years, not that I'm very grateful of course..."
"Not a problem, it's my pleasure. Speaking of which…" Harry reached out to take his wallet and dug around before pulling out a piece of paper. "This should be enough to cover the it."
Cho smiled happily. "Thanks so much Harry. You have no idea how much those books will help our students. It was so generous of you to offer to pay for them."
"Well, I think the idea of a quidditch school is fabulous. And a friend of mine works there and the sale of those books is bound to get him a promotion. So I'm basically killing two birds with one stone."
**********
Ginny lay back on the couch and sighed. Nick had just left for America. She knew she should be upset, but really, she didn't feel anything. In a way, she felt it was almost…a relief to have Nick gone because it meant that Ginny didn't have to pretend to be happy around him.
Whoa…wait a sec…pretend to be happy?! She was happy. She…oh who was she kidding? Certainly not herself, no matter how hard she tried. Ever since Harry had reappeared in her life, she had started to doubt her feelings for Nick. And she hated herself for that.
Nick was a nice guy who loved her, why couldn't she give that back to him? She'd thought she could, but now she wasn't sure.
A snowy-white owl flew through her window and Ginny looked up startled as it dropped a piece of parchment on her lap. Gingerly picking it up, she opened it and read.
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"You will never know true happiness
until you have truly loved,
and you will never understand
what pain really is
until you have lost it."
~Anonymous
I lost you once Ginny, I'm not going to make that mistake again. I gave up too easily before, I didn't fight for what I wanted – I didn't fight for our love.
I thought I was doing the right thing by leaving, I've learnt now that the right thing means being with you.
I'm going to fight for you this time Ginny. I love you and I'm going to fight for you.
~ Harry
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Ginny felt the note fall from her hands as she sat back with a gasp. So he hadn't given up. He hadn't listened to her. He'd deliberately gone and done exactly what she'd asked him not to do.
She felt a smile tug at her lips. Maybe she was worth something to him after all.
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