The POVs switch a bit throughout this story. If confused, let me know and I'll do my best to clarify.
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Chapter 2: Stalked by Fear ******************************************************************************** Eight years later…She wearily wiped a stray hair out of her eyes, and sighed. It had been a long, brutal night. She finished filling in the required information on her patient's chart, and left the room, more than ready to get home to her bed so she could forget the entire, horrible night.
"Jenny, you're not looking so good, hun," the elderly nurse, Carla, said in passing. She smiled in passing.
"It's been a long night, and I am more than happy to be finished here!" she answered, a hint of excitement creeping into her voice. The nurse laughed; the night staff loved it when the young woman worked with them. Her bubbly energy, even after the worst of nights, was always refreshing.
"Well, you make sure you get enough sleep, young lady, or I'll have to make sure Dr. Denis takes you off the rotation," her supervising doctor announced, coming upon the two women.
"Ooh, is that a threat or a promise?" she asked, with a mischievous grin. He just laughed, walking away.
"Oh, before you leave, honey, this was dropped off for you. I would have given it to you sooner, but you were working on that car accident victim, and then I just plain forgot about it. It looks pretty official, Jenny. I hope everything is all right," Carla said, handing her an envelope made of heavy paper. She felt her heart stop as she took it from the elderly nurse.
"Thank you. I'm sure it's nothing. My husband has this strange affection for writing me letters when he's away, that's all. He's a bit of an old-fashioned romantic," she explained, forcing a cheerful smile on her face. She stared down at the envelope, fingering the carefully written address on it. She looked back up to Carla's kind eyes and smiled.
"I'll see you all in a few days!" she chirped, waving to the other nurses huddled in the nurse's station, passing down the hall, until she reached the staff room. Flinging open her locked, she grabbed her bag and stuffed her street clothes inside, so eager to get home that she didn't even think to change out of her scrubs. She sat down on the bench, laying the envelope carefully down beside her, and began to untie her shoelaces. She paused after a moment, and knew that she couldn't wait any longer.
Two months and nothing. No contact from anyone in the wizarding world, no contact from him. Nothing, she thought angrily, glaring at the envelope, as if to hold it accountable for the situation she was in. She glanced at the name written on the front, and had to smile over Carla's nearsightedness. It plainly said Ginny Potter, not Jenny Peters, the pseudonym she had been using for over four months. It was the one clue that she had that it might actually be from him.
Unable to wait any longer, she seized the envelope and tore it open. Unfolding the thick parchment paper, her eyes scanned the words, and she gasped.
* * * * *
Monica Calhoun, the pediatric specialist on the emergency ward, trotted into the staff room, eager to change into her scrubs before any of the nurses noticed that she was late. They loved to tease the pretty young doctor as much as possible, and the more fuel they had, the better. She stopped abruptly when she saw Jenny Peters sitting on the bench, her head in her hands, holding a crumpled piece of paper in her hands. Immediately concerned as she observed the state of her friend, she quietly sat down beside her, and touched her shoulder.
Jenny looked up at her, her eyes bright, with a devastated look. Monica just sighed, and put an arm around her shoulder.
"I take it you finally heard something about your husband," she said softly. She heard her friend sigh, full of weariness.
"He's missing, and presumed dead," Jenny said, her voice wavering slightly.
"Oh, honey, I'm so sorry," Monica said, feeling awkward and stiff, unsure of what to say. Jenny looked at her intently.
"Don't be. He's not dead," she said, her voice full of conviction, shaking her head adamantly back and forth. "I would know if he was. He's still out there, they just need to find him!"
"Jenny, I know that's what you want to think, but…this won't help you deal with it," Monica said, uncertainly. Jenny just jumped up, throwing the piece of paper to the ground, and began to pace.
"I would feel it if he weren't alive, Monica! I would know! He'll come home, I know it!" Jenny said, biting her lip, twisting the ring on her left hand nervously.
"Okay," Monica said. Jenny stopped and gave the other woman a strange look.
"What?"
"If you say he's coming home soon, I believe you. But Jenny, I really think it's time to start thinking of maybe contacting your family. You told me a few weeks ago that you've been out of touch with them for six months or so. With the baby and all, and now this news coming, I think you're going to need someone to be with you until he's home safe again," Monica said. Jenny stopped, looking at her, startled.
"What baby?" she asked, slowly, looking away from her friend's eyes.
"How long did you think you could hide it, seriously Jen? In a hospital? We've got a bit of a pool going on to see when you're actually going to announce it. You've been showing for a little while now," Monica said to Jenny's surprise. She sat down, stunned on the bench, staring straight ahead.
"I thought the father might want to be the first one to know," she whispered, her lip trembling slightly, as her hands moved down to rest on the very slight swell of her abdomen. "Oh Monica, what am I going to do?"
"Call your family. You need them."
"I want to, more than anything. You have no idea how much. But I can't. It's really complicated and I can't really explain it, but that's just not an option…But I do wish they were here. My mum, and my brothers…I can just think of what they'd say, and how they'd make me laugh and forget all about this horrible fear that I may never see my husband again…"
"It's going to be okay, Jen. You know it, remember? Don't give up on that, and you'll be fine," Monica said, decidedly cheerful, as she avoided the heartbreaking look in her friend's eyes.
* * * * *
He watched the young woman dressed in a Muggle hospital outfit with a book bag slung over one shoulder, make her way through the village, waving a hand casually to those who greeted her. This older part of town, known affectionately as the 'village' to the locals, had many small shops that would bring their products outside, set out on tables to display to the wandering citizens. He watched as she paused outside the bakery, speaking momentarily with the elderly couple loitering outside the door before walking in.
He emerged from the shadowy corner he was hiding in, and surveyed his surroundings. The sun was starting to set, and most of the shops were beginning to close their doors. The pedestrians, casually walking down the sidewalks, didn't pay any attention to him as he moved down the street, limping painfully, until he reached the alley beside the bakery, where he stood, waiting for her to emerge.
The few moments rest allowed him to survey his condition. His right leg, horribly wounded and bleeding openly, was a cause for concern. It was shaking with the effort of holding his weight, and he knew that it wouldn't be much longer before he would collapse, succumbing to the pain and blood loss. But he had to get to her before that happened.
His vision blurred slightly as a wave of exhaustion threatened to overcome him. He heard the tinkling of a bell, the type that small family-owned shops tended to hang at their front door to alert them when customers came in. He blinked, his eyes focusing again as he saw the bright haired woman trot down the sidewalk, making her way once again down the street. He watched her as she paused at a small fruit stand, smiling and laughing with the owner, before picking over a pile of apples. Picking out one, she paid the man, and placed the piece of fruit in her bag.
The sky was growing darker – not only from the setting sun. Storm clouds had suddenly rolled in, casting an ominous shadow over the peaceful village. He shivered slightly as a cold wind swept past him. She was talking with the man now, chatting animatedly, her hands motioning as if to illustrate her point better. Seeing an opportunity, he knelt down, sighing in relief as the weight on his injured leg was eased. He checked his wound, and grabbing his wand, he muttered a simple spell, hoping that it would be enough to stem the blood.
He looked up as he felt a drop of rain on his head. As his focus had shifted to his aching leg, he noticed that during his moments of distraction, the sky had become utterly pitch black; the storm clouds completely blocking out any of the fading light from the setting sun. Within moments, the slight drops of raining exploded, with an ominous crack of thunder, into a heavy downpour.
Standing up with a groan, as his injured leg throbbing with pain, he quickly scanned the street in front of him, searching for her. He saw her, staring up at the pouring sky with a look of disdain on her face, before she crossed the street, and disappeared in the alley between two large buildings.
With a horrible feeling of panic growing in his stomach, he bit back the throbbing pain wracking his body, and began to limp forward, sensing that this threshold: if he was going to make his move, he'd better do it now lest he arrive too late.
* * * * *
As she trudged through the streets, which had instantly turned into mud with the beginning of the torrential downpour, she cursed herself for not accepting the ride that Monica had offered her. It had been almost a week since that fateful letter had arrived, and ever since, she'd been almost coddled by all of her colleagues. Monica had spread the word about the news that she had received, and all of the elderly nurses had been hovering around her incessantly. She appreciated the effort, but right now, sympathy was the very last thing she wanted.
The only thing she wanted, more than anything else, was a reason to hope.
But, as her co-workers were unable to deliver that, she was forced to endure their attempts at comforting her, and because of that, she was beginning to feel smothered by them. For the first time in the months she'd started working at the Muggle hospital, when she woke up, she dreaded the thought of going into work. But it did keep her busy, and for that she was thankful. But she still felt smothered, and that was why she'd refused Monica's offer – a decision she was now sorely regretting.
It had been a long, tedious day. In a smaller town such as this one, most days were easy going, with very rare real accidents taking up her time. It was the night shift that saw all of the excitement – that was when this smaller town seemed to come alive. She sighed as thought back on some of her nightshifts – multiple car accidents. She wondered about Muggles and their ingenuity; they could find so many ways to cope with living without magic, but sometimes those alternatives were so dangerous…
As she pondered the lifestyles of Muggles, she was torn out of her thoughts by the sound of footsteps squishing in the mud. She quickened her pace, feeling uncomfortable now that she was outside, alone while it was dark and stormy, and there was an unknown person walking behind her. Most of the people in the village knew her by name, and she knew that if it had been someone who recognized her, they would have called out to her to ask her how she was enjoying the "lovely weather", a common question among the locals during the frequent storms.
After a few paces, her heart began to beat faster as she noted that those footsteps were becoming faster as her own pace quickened. Her eyes scanned the narrow alley, counting the moments before she would be out of it, and closer to the safety of her home, out of the rain. Her thoughts turned to her wand, tucked safely (and unreachably) in the sock of her right foot. She would have to stop to fish it out; something she was unwilling to do. She desperately wanted to turn around and see who the person that was following behind her, but her desperate fear wouldn't allow it, and her common sense told her that it was unwise to do so.
She breathed a sigh of relief as she heard the footsteps stop. She carried on, noting with pleasure that she was only a few feet from the end of the alleyway. A dozen more steps and she'd be safely on her own street. She began to walk faster, eager to get out of the dark and gloomy alleyway, realizing how unwise she'd been to take the short cut.
And then she heard it. The sound of footsteps behind her began again, only this time they weren't just walking; they were running. She dropped her bag and began to run herself, her heart beginning to beat rapidly, and a surge of adrenaline coursing through her body, fueling her anxiety. The footsteps drew closer to her, and she heard a raspy voice call out to her.
"Watch out!"
She paused for a split second, turning to face the stalker. She saw a glimpse of a tall figure, dressed in black, running towards her with a strange gait, reaching towards her. Her observation of her would-be attacker was interrupted as she saw a bright flash pass before her eyes. He leapt forward, pushing her to the ground, shielding her body with his. She screamed as the wall where she'd just been standing exploded in a shower of light and shattered brick.
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*whispers in shame* For those of you who might not be aware, this WILL NOT be a D/G romance story. Yes, Ginny is married to Harry Potter in this story, and is living in the Muggle world under a pseudonym, cut off from the wizarding world, her family, and most importantly, her husband. Explanations to be delivered in later chapters.