Thanks guys! Liz mailed me the eigth chapter, so it should be out soon. Thanks!
Chapter Three: There Is Hope
"Howdy!"
Harry had been lying under the porch, fixing the support beams when an annoyingly high voice shouted. His head hit the board above him and he cursed.
"Sorry there neighbor," another voice said, it was a man's. "Need some help?"
A hand appeared and Harry took it. He was pulled up, and was surprised to be standing face to face with a tall man, about thirty, with dirty brown hair and a chubby face. His dirty blonde wife was standing next to him. Her smile was crooked and the gap between her teeth could easily fit a floss box through it. "Hi," he said cautiously.
"Har- I mean Peter, what's going on?"
Ginny walked out of the house, her hair still dripping wet. She jumped from the porch to the ground, standing right next to him. She crossed her arms across her chest and narrowed her eyes. "Who are you?" she asked, the suspicion oozing from her voice.
"I'm Jeb," the man said as he stuck his hand out for Harry to shake. "And this is my wife, Sarah."
The blonde smiled. "Ya'll from France or something?" she asked, "Your accent's a bit funny."
"Ireland, actually," Ginny replied evenly. "Peter got a job at the print shop."
"She means paper," Harry said, shaking Jeb's hand. "I'm Peter, this is Jeana," he said pointing to Ginny. As soon as the words left his mouth, Ara began to cry.
"Excuse me," Ginny said as she ran back inside.
"Got yourself a pup?" Jeb asked. "Me and Sarah got six. Junior, Joe, Mike, Dan, Patty and Kenny. Kenny's only 5, and Junior's 16. How old's yours?"
Harry froze. He didn't really know. "Um, bout five months."
"Ah, so ya'll are back in the saddle, eh?"
Judging by the suggestive wink Sarah gave him, Harry figured 'back in the saddle' was something sexual. In his dreams maybe. "Yea, we are," he said uncomfortably.
Jeb smiled, "Well woman, we better be a-getting back to the pups. Nice meetin ya Pete."
Harry sighed in relief as they walked away. Something about them sat funny with him, but he couldn't quite put a finger on it. He walked back inside and upstairs to take a shower. He was hot and sweaty and tired and all he wanted to do was fall over and die.
He climbed the stairs and slowly trudged to his room, but he stopped in front of the nursery. Ginny was sitting in the rocking chair, softly singing to Ara. A pang shot through Harry's heart, watching Ginny coo over the baby. When they were together, Harry used to have fantasies that looked eerily like this. Ginny would put the baby to sleep, make her way to their room and they would spend the entire night making wild, passionate love…
He shook his head. Potter, you're engaged, he scolded. But, every time he tried to run that fantasy with Cho in it, it never quite worked out. She'd end up crying or something dramatic like that. She always had to be the center of attention, and Harry had the feeling she'd try and compete for his attention with the baby. Of course that would be completely unnecessary, but he knew she wouldn't want to share the spotlight.
He quietly walked back to his room, grabbed an extra changed of clothes and walked to the bathroom. He turned the water on, and stepped under the spray, thinking about how everything went wrong.
-Flashback-
"Harry!" Ginny called as she entered his flat. When he didn't answer, she tried again, "Harry?"
Harry stumbled out of his room, his temples throbbing. He didn't remember anything from the night before or how he even got home, but the voice calling his name sounded vaguely familiar.
A redhead came rushing towards him, "Harry, are you alright?"
"Ginny?" And the past night's events came flying back.
She smiled, but soon it was replaced with a look of horror. Harry turned around and saw an equally hung over Cho stumble out of his room. When he turned back to Ginny she was gone.
And he never saw her again.
He had searched for her for almost six months, wanting to explain that it hadn't meant anything; he had gotten drunk and had taken her home. He and Cho hadn't even slept together, they had passed out before getting to that base, and he wanted her back, but he couldn't find her. Somehow, she had very skillfully covered her tracks, making it impossible for anyone, even her brothers to find her.
Her brothers had flipped when they found out, but instead of killing Harry, they didn't talk to him for a month or two. Hermione did, and Ron couldn't very well ignore him, but basically everyone forgave him because they knew he loved Ginny more than anything, except the person who mattered the most.
Ginny.
-End Flashback-
A knock on the door brought him back to the present. "Dinner!" Ginny shouted over the din of the splashing water. He sighed and turned off the shower. This was going to be the most uncomfortable dinner of his life.
Ginny carefully descended the stairs, a sleeping Ara in her arms. She couldn't explain it, but she didn't want to put her down. After digging for a highchair, she set it up, between her and Harry.
He came down, into the kitchen just as she placed the roast on the table. Something about seeing him, sharing a house with him, and a having a 'family' with him brought back fantasies she'd worked so hard to forget about. The one where she would make dinner, he'd put the baby to bed and then they'd spend the entire night making wild, passionate love was the one that kept resurfacing. And it was driving her crazy.
Dinner was spent in a very awkward silence, each party sneaking glances at the other, and when chance happened that their eyes met, they'd each look away, blushing like chili peppers. Little Ara remained blissfully ignorant of the situation; she slept all through dinner and the clean up, finally waking when Ginny took her to the drawing room.
"Look Ara," she cooed as the baby giggled, "See the pretty picture?" Ara would drool and giggle, looking adorably innocent as she waved her tiny fists in the air before sticking them in her mouth.
Ginny laughed as Ara crawled around on the floor, rolling around and giggling whenever Ginny laughed. Harry stood in the doorway, watching.
Ara crawled over to him and put her arms up, opening and closing her tiny fists. Finding himself unable to resist, he scooped her up. He took a seat across from Ginny and bounced the baby on his knee, extracting adorable coos from the baby.
Ginny smiled lovingly at the baby, and took her from Harry when she fell asleep. She cradled her, making sure she was asleep before looking over to Harry.
He scratched the back of his neck uncomfortably before saying, "Look, I know this is probably really uncomfortable for you but-"
Ginny cut him off, "I understand. Let's just agree to not deal with the past, take care of the baby and try not to get emotionally attached, okay?"
All he could do was nod.
Ginny stood up and announced, "I'm going to put her to bed and then go myself. Night."
He watched as she walked out, "Night," he echoed.
Ginny carefully laid Ara down in her crib and walked into her room. She shut the door, changed and crawled under the covers. She laid her head on the pillow, not even bothering to try and stop the dreams she knew where coming.
-Ginny's Dream-
They were reclining against one of the trees by the lake, enjoying the sunset as the colors spread out over the blue waters. She was sitting between his legs, and his arms were around her waist.
"I wish we could stay like this forever," Ginny whispered as his lips brushed her neck.
"Me too," he whispered in her ear, putting his chin on her shoulder and she leaned back against him. "I love you."
She turned around to look him in the eye. It was the first time anyone had ever told her that, and she wanted to remember the look in his eyes. "I love you too Harry."
--
Harry watched as Ginny walked out, and he put his head in his hands. He was so stupid. He should have just stayed with her that night, but no, he had to go out with the boys. He hated himself.
After wallowing in self-pity for a good 15 minutes, he carefully made his way upstairs, not wanting to wake the baby. He heard something moving in Ginny's room, and against his better judgment, he opened her door slightly.
Ginny had kicked off her covers, and was lying on her stomach, her lilac nightie riding up slightly in the back. Harry watched as she turned over again, and this time she mumbled, "I love you too Harry."
His eyes widened. He remembered the day she'd first said that to him. He turned around, not closing the door, and numbly stumbled to his room. He didn't bother to change, just fell back, and stared up at the ceiling. She was dreaming about that day.
There's hope.
--
Yay, there's hope! Not unless you REVIEW! (hee hee)