CHAPTER III

WARNING: Although I don't think anything in this chapter goes above the PG-13 rating, there are some scenes that have sexual content in them, even if it isn't very blatant. You may skip over them if you don't wish to read them, and if you do read them and think that they are R rated situations, please say so in a review and I will change my rating. Thanks!

Ginny stared wide-eyed at the space in front of here, where the pensieve was, feeling lost. Mother of Merlin show me the way, for I am lost, Ginny prayed silently. It was a saying her grandmother used to use, but oddly fitting. Harry stood next to her, at the foot of the bed, eyes pleading, hands gripped together and white-knuckled. Suddenly, it all seemed to sink in. She felt waves of hot and cold in dread, her eyes welled up, she began to cry. It was all too overwhelming.

"I'm only seventeen," she wailed, throwing her hands up in frustration.

This was not how she had envisioned starting a family. She and Harry had barely been together for a month. Harry walked over and placed his arms around her. She clung do him desperately, tears poring down her cheeks soaking through his professor's robes. He buried his face in her hair.

"You don't have to do it," he whispered. "We'll find another way," he said defiantly, voice cracking. He sounded on the verge of tears himself.

Ginny looked up at him.

"No," she faltered, feeling scared and helpless and angry all at the same time. "This whole thing depends on love Harry don't you see Harry?" she voice rising, "I don't have a choice! I will not have you having a child with a woman you barely know!" she shouted, struggling in his grip. He held on to her tightly, looking tormented, as though he thought he had caused all this. A small part of Ginny's brain reminded her that he probably did think he'd caused all of it, but she ignored it.

"A kid deserves more than that," she said whispered vulnerably, and burst back into tears. Something inside her was screaming, What are you doing?! She ignored it, and began to shake.

"Ginny?" he asked in concern looking at her face.

She didn't look at him, but stared fixedly at the pensieve, face devoid of emotion, except that she was still sobbing uncontrollably. Her eyes were empty through the tears, but she began to shake more violently.

"Ginny!" Harry shouted. He pulled her close, and forced her to look into his face, but she would not meet his eyes.

"Ginny, look at me!" he said forcefully. He kissed her, and felt her forehead with his palm. She seemed perfectly okay, except that she refused to hear him.

"Ginny listen to me," he said, pressing his forehead to hers, looking at her. "Listen, you're in shock, you need sleep. There isn't any pressure Ginny, you don't have to do anything you don't want to. I'm here for you…I'll always be here for you," he whispered in a rush, voice cracking. He felt hot tears in his eyes.

Finally, Ginny looked at him with blurred vision.

"Do you understand?" Harry asked anxiously.

Ginny nodded fractionally, then her eyes slid out of focus and she fell.

"Shit!" Harry cursed.

He caught her before she hit the ground and swept her up into his arms, carrying her to the bed and laying her down softly. He felt her pulse, which was normal, and her breathing seemed calm. When he was sure she was alright he sighed, sagging. For now she would sleep. He removed her shoes, and feeling daring, undressed her down to her undergarments and pulled the she sheets and the fluffy comforter around her. He kissed her cheek. She sighed in her sleep, and rolled over. Harry turned off the light in the bedroom, and went to the study. He took a pinch of powder from a box on the mantelpiece and tossed it in the flames.

"Professor Dumbledore's office," he said quietly.

Momentarily, Dumbledore's head appeared in the flames.

"Harry," the headmaster stated.

"Can you have the Weasley family and Hermione up here tomorrow?" Harry asked in a dead voice.

Dumbledore sighed.

"I can do that," he said sadly.

Harry nodded and said goodnight.

The next morning, promptly at eight there was a nock on the door to the study, Harry waved his hand from where he sat at his desk, making sure the bedroom door was closed firmly.

"Come in," he croaked.

The door opened to reveal Mrs. Weasley, Mr. Weasley, Ron, Hermione, Fred, George, Bill, Charlie, and lastly Percy as they walked into the room.

Hermione took one look at Harry and gave a soft gasp, her hand flying to her mouth. He looked terrible. His eyes were glazed and slightly bloodshot, there were dark bags under them, his clothes were rumbled and his hair stood at odd angles and was even more disheveled than usual.

Mrs. Weasley rushed to the fireplace and immediately summoned tea and breakfast for everyone from the kitchen's.

"Harry…" Hermione trailed off in concern.

"It's all right Hermione I just haven't slept all night," Harry croaked, voice parched and scratchy, removing his glasses and rubbing a hand over his eyes.

He motioned for everyone to sit, some took the couch, some the armchairs, and those who were left took the floor. Harry did not get up from behind his desk.

"Now before you all ask, I have to ask you please refrain from gasping in horror at what I'm about to tell you, because I'm tired and grumpy and I have a reason for what I'm about to say."

When everyone seemed to have nodded in agreement Harry spoke.

"Ginny is currently in the next room, sleeping in my bed, and she's only wearing her underwear so if she walks in, don't be too shocked," Harry said.

Harry eyed the Weasley family, all of whom seemed to be trying very hard not to jump to conclusions.

"Thank you," Harry told them.

He got up, putting his glasses back on, pulled his wand from his pocket and walked around the desk to a cupboard in the wall next to it. He opened it to reveal his pensieve. He prodded it, finding the same memory he had shown Ginny the night before and turned to his visitors. They all were beginning to look worried.

"I had a disturbing discussion with Albus last night," Harry said quietly.

"I think it's best if you heard it yourselves."

He brought the pensieve over to the coffee table in the middle of the room and beckoned to everyone. They all crowded around it, magically fitting so they could all see the bowl, and within seconds, had disappeared. Harry stayed. He went into the bedroom to find Ginny sitting up in bed, looking tired and confused. When she saw Harry she seemed to remember because an expression a controlled terror crossed her features and she flopped back on the bed. Harry went over and kissed her on the forehead.

"You look terrible," she told him.

Harry gave a short, weak smile.

"Did you sleep?" she asked.

Harry shook his head.

"Well, glad to know you're as unhappy about this as I am," she said.

Harry nodded.

"Your family's here, their in the pensieve right now, I thought they should know," he said.

Ginny nodded.

"I'm glad you did it, I wouldn't have been able to get one word out," Ginny told him. She stretched, the sheet uncovering her down to her midriff. She wore a very becoming white lacy bra. Harry averted his eyes, but then felt a hand on his cheek, pulling his head back to look at his girlfriend.

"If we're going to have kids together you may as well be able to look at me," Ginny said in resignation.

Harry sighed in relief and sank down on the bed beside her.

"You'll do it?" he said. "I really don't want to have kids with someone I don't love. I know it's a terrible time for both of us, I'm so sorry…" he babbled.

Ginny raised a hand and covered his mouth gently, sitting up as she did so.

"I'll do it, we'll get through this together," she said.

She leaned forward and kissed him firmly on the lips, before poking him to get him to move. She got out of bed, and stretched standing up. Harry averted his eyes again, although somewhat reluctantly, as it was a thoroughly enjoyable sight.

"Stop doing that!" Ginny exclaimed.

Harry looked back at her slowly, blushing.

"Sorry," he said. "I was just…"

"I know," Ginny said.

Harry got up and kissed her again, feeling lightheaded at holding a half-naked beautiful woman.

"Your family should be finishing with that memory sometime soon," he whispered, pulling away. He went to the closet and pulled out a red, satiny lounge robe with a Hogwarts patch on the front. They were given to all the professors. He gave it to her. Ginny smiled weakly at him and put it on, tying the sash around her. She put her hair up with a hair-tie and walked into the study (that doubled as a sitting room) of Harry's quarters. Sure enough, the room was empty for only a second when people began to reappear around the pensieve. Harry came up behind her, putting an arm around her waist and they stood like that in the doorway watching. One by one the whole family turned, the expressions on their faces ranging from horror to pity to terror, surprise, fear, any number of emotions.

"Oh!" Mrs. Weasley, exclaimed, covering her mouth with her hands as she took in her daughter. Her eyes welled up as Ginny's had the night before, and she turned to Arthur's embrace.

Hermione, and surprisingly Ron, looked at them in sympathy.

Ron came up to Ginny and did something that would surprise the whole family for years to come. He seemed to be the first one to figure out that what Harry and Ginny needed at that moment was unconditional support rather that persuasions and arguments. He raised his hands and placed one on each side of Ginny's head, and kissed her forehead. Then he pulled her into a hug and rested his cheek on the top of her head, looking at Harry.

"You two are going to be the best damn parents that baby could ever have," he said quietly.

That set Ginny off again because she began to cry into his sweater, but this time more in helplessness and gratitude rather than rebellion. Hermione came over and hugged Harry, and that prompted the rest of the family. That is, the rest of the family except Percy. He stood his ground, looking thoroughly scandalized.

"Mum? You're not honestly about to just let them go through with this? It's completely preposterous, I for one, and horrified!" He said indignantly. Ginny looked up from the embrace of her brother, cheeks red, tears stopped, and glared at him venomously.

"Do you think this is easy Percy?" she spat scathingly.

Percy looked at her as though she was a small child who didn't understand. His brothers saw the look, and began to get surly. Charlie cracked his knuckles. Percy failed to notice.

"Ginny, I don't think you quite understand what you're getting yourself into…"

"WHAT?" Ginny shrieked.

She tore herself from Ron's embrace and marched over to her other brother, looking fit to kill.

"Percy Weasley!" came Molly's voice, but Ginny held up a hand.

"No mum, It's fine, let him talk," She said, flushed red, knuckles clenched tightly.

Harry took a step forward, struggling to control his own temper, but Hermione placed a restraining hand on him.

"You have a problem with this Percy?" Ginny asked in a deadly voice. "Well I'll tell you what, your problem is not half as big as mine!"

Percy waved his hand, looking quite angry himself.

"Then don't do it! Dumbledore can't force you into this! It's completely and utterly outrageous, the ministry would have a field day!" he said in a superior tone.

Ginny chuckled humorlessly.

"Oh the ministry! Your precious, precious ministry!" She scoffed. She brought up a finger and poked him very hard in the chest.

"The ministry is going to hell!" she shouted, "I don't give a damn what the ministry would do, because unless Harry and I go through with this, YOU ARE GOING TO DIE PERCY!" she roared.

Percy paled, he had clearly not thought about it in those terms. Ginny grinned maliciously.

"Oh yes! Didn't think about it that way did you, eh Percy? You seem to have forgotten the whole point of this; we need and heir, to defeat another heir! But it won't work unless the child is loved. And that's not going to happen, if Harry has a child with someone he doesn't love. So considering that I am prepared to give up my dreams to save YOUR SORRY ASS," she finished that part in a shout, "You would do well to thank me, and to thank Harry, instead of going off on some self-righteous, 'I know what's best for ever individual that I meet' speech!"

Ginny finished her discourse, glaring heavily at her pompous brother, leaving the rest of the family quite nonplussed. When she had caught her breath, and was satisfied that Percy was 'convinced' she turned to her mother.

"You're not angry?" she asked.

Mrs. Weasley shook her head, still looking distraught, and teary eyed, but almost proud.

"No darling, of course not," she said in a slightly higher voice than normal, glaring at her middle son.

Percy averted his eyes, bright red and now looking quite fearful.

"You're almost seventeen and then you'll be old enough to make your own decision," she said. "You may as well start now."

Ginny nodded to her mother.

There were a few more minutes of strained conversation. No one had any questions; they all understood why it was necessary that it be Ginny after hearing Dumbledore, excluding Percy. After a few minutes, Percy , Charlie, Bill, and Fred and George all said they had to get back to work, because they weren't allowed to be gone long, and Ron and Hermione, after lingering as long as they could and lending as much support as they could think of, eventually left reluctantly, having been called out of auror training. Mr. Weasley left soon after that to get back to the ministry as well. Only Mrs. Weasley lingered for a bit longer, and they all sat around on the couch and in the chairs talking.

"What are we going to tell everyone?" Ginny wondered, looking at Harry and feeling a small bubble of panic.

"We can't tell them about You Know…Vol…Voldemort," she corrected her self.

Harry and Mrs. Weasley sat in silence, thinking. There was a whoosh in the fireplace and the headmaster stepped through the flames, interrupting their thoughts.

"We will most likely have to keep it a secret," Dumbledore said abruptly, replying to her earlier question.

"How…" Ginny began.

She and Her mother looked at the headmaster in surprise.

"Always knows everything does Dumbledore," Harry muttered.

Dumbledore sat in a vacant armchair.

"Well I can hardly hide pregnancy!" Ginny exclaimed somewhat hysterically.

Mrs. Weasley got up and joined her daughter on the couch where they could cuddle. Harry nodded, he too was feeling on the verge of a nervous breakdown.

"The earliest a child can be due is May," Dumbledore said, "not including the time it may take for you and Harry to get more comfortable with each other and after that, it may take time to…conceive," Dumbledore said all this with barely a waver in his voice.

Harry marveled at his calm demeanor. Ginny flushed bright red.

"The pregnancy can be concealed with spells," Dumbledore said.

Ginny groaned and buried her face in her mothers shoulder.

Harry rested his head in his hands.

"This is all too weird," he said.

Dumbledore looked at all three of the sympathetically.

"You give an old man some hope," he told them by way of response.

Harry and Ginny looked at the headmaster. He looked old an tired and grateful. It helped their resolve by a fraction of an amount.

"I still can't quite believe it," Ron said to Hermione at lunch. Although it was Saturday they still had a half-day of training that they had just finished. Hermione nodded, biting into her sandwich.

"It's like something out of a nightmare," Ron said.

Hermione guessed he was referring to Voldemort's plan but couldn't say it out loud lest someone hear. It was indeed like something out of a terrible dream. Voldemort's lack of foresight was something that they had been counting on. The fact that he had shown he was capable of thinking ahead was terrifying.

"Poor Harry and Ginny," Hermione said.

Ron nodded.

"Mum's first grandchild will be from her youngest," he said.

"They love each other though," Hermione said. "I have no doubt that they're meant to be together."

Ron nodded, suddenly looking uncomfortable. Hermione passed it off as thinking about Harry and Ginny. There was a long silence. Hermione applied herself to her lunch and admired the beautiful outdoor courtyard they sat in, and Ron pretended to, looking progressively more and more nervous. Hermione didn't notice though. He spoke abruptly, interrupting her thoughts.

"Hermione?"

Hermione looked up questioningly from her sandwich. It was undoubtedly the best sandwich she had ever eaten. He had an odd expression on his face.

Ron blushed.

"I know this may be a bad time, but I was planning on doing it before this all came up, and I'm still am going to do it."

Hermione swallowed.

"Do what?" she asked quietly.

Ron didn't seem to hear her.

"I know we've only been together for about a year," he said, "But this is the life I want," he said quietly.

He got up, and went over to stand right in front of her. Then, to her complete amazement he got down on one knee, hand in his pocket and pulled from it a navy blue velvet box, about the size of his palm. He held it in front of him and popped it open.

"Hermione Granger, will you marry me?" he asked, voice barely audible.

Hermione's eyes went wide, here heart dropped down into her stomach and then shot into her throat and she froze, brain not working. She stared at the ring that sat in the box. It was one simple princess cut diamond set in the center of a silvery colored band; Hermione didn't know what metal. She had never been a person for extravagant or elaborate jewelry, and this was the most beautiful engagement ring she'd every seen. Her throat seemed blocked up and she couldn't speak, she was left completely speechless. Ron took this as a bad sign and he ducked his bead, still holding out the ring in its box. Passers by on the street stopped to watch over the fence of the cute outdoor lunch place they had chosen to eat at. Ron chose it, Hermione thought in wonder. It was a beautiful place, the white outdoor tables with matching chairs and flower printed cushions on them, underneath and white wooden porch over-hang made of criss-cossed slats of board that allowed filtered sunlight to shine through the mass of vines that grew up and on top of it. There were flowers everywhere and the vines were in bloom, sending little pink petals drifting through the air occasionally. Hermione just then realized he'd planned it all on purpose. She looked back at the man kneeling in front of her, head hung sadly, and took the box from his fingers, looking at the ring. Ron looked up hopefully. She looked into his eyes, and began to cry and laugh at the same time. There certainly has been a lot of crying today, she thought.

"This is the most beautiful ring I have ever seen," she told him, voice thick with tears and happiness.

Ron stared at her and then began to smile hesitantly. Hermione began to laugh again, dashing tears from her eyes. She jumped up from her seat.

"Of course I'll marry you, you silly prat!" she exclaimed loudly, crying very hard by this time.

Ron yelled. He jumped up and caught her up in an embrace, swinging her around and around until they were both dizzy. Then he planted her back on the ground and kissed her firmly, taking the ring box from her hand. He removed the ring from where it had been nestled in the soft interior and reached for her hand, sliding it onto the ring finger. It fit perfectly, having been charmed to adjust to her finger. Hermione sniffled again, but it was muffled by another kiss. Just then there was the sound of applause and whistles and both of them turned to find they had gathered quite a crowd.

"Smile!" shouted someone, there was the flash of a flashbulb, prompting a laugh from the two. The looked at each other in delight, Ron bowed jokingly to the crowd, and then pulled Hermione close, whispering in her ear, there was another flash.

"Let's get out of here," he said.

Hermione looked at him and nodded. She waved her wand, leaving a pile of money on the table and they turned and ran, escaping through the back door of the restaurant.

A few nights later Harry sat at his desk writing lesson plans while Ginny sat across from him on the couch doing her homework. She had moved her things into Harry's rooms, something that wasn't to difficult to do because she was head girl, and had her own room, so there was no one around to wonder. She had told her two close friends, Colin and Lana, the truth and Dumbledore had sworn them to secrecy, pressing on them the importance of not divulging the information to anyone. They had agreed, and now Ginny and Harry essentially lived together. Neither knew quite what to do. Harry was not a virgin, and hadn't been since sixth year, when he had dated a girl from Ravenclaw (not Cho Chang) for seven months. Ginny was, and that made things a little awkward. Harry wondered if he should ask Ron about it, considering he and Hermione and already gotten past that stage in their relationship. Then again, that sounded like another awkward conversation that he didn't want to deal with. Ginny put down her parchment and quill and stood up, she was wearing his bathrobe again, having already gotten ready for bed, as had Harry.

"Coming to bed?" she asked him.

Harry looked up. He smiled and put down his things as well.

"May as well, I'm not getting anywhere," he said. He too got up and went over to her, putting his arms around her a kissing her deeply. Ginny kissed him back, lifting her hands up to his head and twining them in his hair, a sign that she was in the mood for a little more than just going to bed. She pulled back and grinned. Harry grinned back mischievously and scooped her up in his arms, prompting a shriek from her. He carried her to the bed and dumped her unceremoniously on the soft covers, before tickling her mercilessly. She shrieked again and began to giggle, wriggling away as much as she could, but not having much success.

"Shhh," Harry said laughingly, "You're going to wake up the whole castle," he said, stopping his assault.

Ginny chuckled, reached over onto the bedside table to get her wand, and cast a silencing charm on the room. Harry looked at her in surprise, then smirked, leaning forward menacingly with his hands ready.

"Oh, now you're in for it," he said, getting onto the bed and leaning towards her.

"In for what?" Ginny said, making her eyes wide and affecting an innocent look.

Harry smiled as kissed her again, a kiss that quickly turned passionate. He waved his hand and the lights went out throughout the whole apartment before returning his hand to wear it hand been before. Fingers fumbled at ties and hooks and their hands strayed from their previously innocent positions, and somehow, magically, the awkwardness between them vanished as quickly as it had appeared.

SEE HERMIONE'S ENGAGEMENT RING! Ask for it in an email or a review and I'll send you a picture of one I found that looks like I imagined it. Don't forget to include your email address!