I'm sorry about the delay, so I'm just going to put two up at once now. Liz is getting pissed at how slow this is going too, so I wish not to suffer her writer's wrath.

Chapter 4 In the Rain, Once Again

Ginny woke up, the pillow underneath her wet. She knew she'd been crying all night, because of the dreams. She hated being so close to him. It just made the ache in her heart bigger and more painful than was necessary. Where did he get off crushing her heart?

She walked into the bathroom, determined to wash away all trace of her dreams. She scrubbed her skin, trying to wash the feel his touch off her, but all she succeeded in doing was scrubbing it raw. She could still feel his hands, running down her arms and stroking her hair, his lips on her face…

She took the shampoo and scrubbed her hair. She had to get that feeling off her, that feeling only he gave her. She finally gave up. No matter how much she tried he'd always be a part of her. Whether she wanted him to be or not.

Her skin was raw when she stepped out, and after carefully patting it dry with the towel, she soothed a potion on it. In seconds it was back to it's normal porcelain color, but that feeling still lingered. She brushed her teeth and combed her hair and made her way downstairs.

The smell of bacon wafted through the rooms, making her stomach clench. God she was hungry. Harry was sitting at the table, reading the paper and she winced as her gaze landed on his hands. Without even looking up, he pushed the plate towards her. She took a slice and sat down.

"What are you going to do today?" he asked as he turned the page.

She glared at him, "Go shopping. We're going to be here for a while so we might as well settle in and Ara has no clothes."

"Need money?"

"No." And that was all they said to each other until Harry announced he had to get to work. He left and Ginny walked into the living room, but before she could sit down, she heard Ara wailing.

She quickly scaled the stairs and scooped up the crying infant. She held the baby to her, and Ara's small body stopped shaking. She carefully carried her downstairs and warmed a bottle.

After feeding her, she realized that Harry took the car. She couldn't go anywhere. "Damn," she swore under her breath as she stalked outside.

Looking out, she realized that chances were, she could walk into the town to go shopping. This was small town America; the town couldn't be that far away.

And how wrong she was.

After waling about two and a half miles she finally got to the outskirts. She hitched a whimpering Ara up and managed to make it to a grocery store across the street. She placed Ara in the cart and breathed in a sigh. It was so much cooler in here.

She began to weave her way up and down the aisles, putting various things in the cart. Diapers, baby wipes, corn, ham, sweet potatoes and so on. Finally, she had worked her way through all of them, and her cart was completely full and she ran into something.

More like someone.

As she went to gather everything that had fallen, she found her eyes locked with a pair of blue ones. "Hi," the man said.

As they stood up, she gave him a quick once-over. He was tall, with wavy brown hair and bright blue eyes. He was handsome, and well built, wearing a black shirt that showed off all his hard work at the gym. He held out his hand. "I'm Jake. Jake Malone."

Ginny took his hand, "Jeana Johnson, nice to meet you."

He cocked an eyebrow, "Ireland?"

She blushed and nodded. "I've got family there," he continued. "From Dublin?"

"Yes," she replied.

Ara giggled in the cart, reaching for Ginny. She picked her up and turned back to Jake, "This is my daughter, Ara."

"May I?" he asked. Ginny nodded and watched as Jake took her and bounced her up and down. Ara giggled and reached for his nose.

He handed her back and smiled, "She's cute."

Ginny nodded, "Yea, she's a handful though."

"I don't doubt it," Jake replied. "So, you moved into the old Hansen place outside of town?"

Ginny nodded. He continued, "That place's supposed to be cursed."

"Really?" Ginny asked, amusement evident in her voice. "Pray tell, how?"

"Old Man Hansen's wife left him for his farmhand, who happened to be her first love. Hansen went nuts, tellin' everyone he cursed the place, whoever lived there, married, engaged or otherwise would fall back in love with their first. He guaranteed that all relationships would end terribly, just like his did," he paused and smiled at her, "But you don't believe in that rubbish do you?"

Ginny was a little unnerved, Harry was her first, and he was engaged to Cho. This was not going to be pretty. "Of course not," she replied, surprised at how even her voice sounded.

Jake laughed, "Well, I'll let ya go now. It was nice to meet you Jeana."

"You too."

She watched as he walked away. If she had met him in Ireland, or even before this assignment, she would have asked him out for a drink or something. But now, she wasn't even sure if she ever wanted to date again. Maybe I'll just lock myself in a nunnery, she thought miserably as she headed to the checkout line.

After getting all those groceries she felt really stupid. How was she supposed to carry 18 bags two and a half miles back? She mentally slapped herself. Why didn't I think about a car?

"Need a car?"

She spun around and saw Kylie standing behind her. "I realized I only left one car. Sorry, there's one for you outside." Kylie scooped up some bags and led her to a black sedan. "It's a mommy car!"

Ginny and Kylie managed to load all groceries in and Ara. "I still have some shopping to do," she told her as she started up the car.

"Mind if I join ya? I ain't got anything else to do," Kylie said as she hopped in. "Whatcha looking for?"

"Clothes," Ginny replied as they backed out of the parking lot.

"We only got one clothes store in the entire town, to the left."

It was Wal-Mart. They walked inside, and Kylie announced, "Welcome to the finest clothing establishment in Brownsville."

They scoured the clothes section for almost a half hour. "What, you didn't pack anything at all?" Kylie moaned as Ginny ran into the changing rooms with another armful of clothes.

"Well, I'm not sure. I have no idea how long I'm going to be here, or what occasion I'll need it for." Ginny threw another top over the door to Kylie, who put it back on the hanger.

"So, what's with you and what's his face, Peter?" she asked as she put the top on the reject rack, "The sexual tension was suffocating."

Ginny sighed as she pulled a pair of black pants over her hips, "We used to date." She opened the door and stepped into the three-way mirror. "It ended badly."

Kylie grimaced, "It ended that bad?"

Ginny turned and looked at the back of the pants, "Yes, I really don't want to talk about it."

The next stop was to the baby department. "She may not be your daughter, but you're a natural at this," Kylie said as Ginny sorted through the baby outfits. She shrugged and continued looking.

Sixteen outfits later, they left. "Well, I got to head to the Ministry. If ya'll need anything, call." And she disappeared with a pop.

Ginny loaded the car and buckled a sleeping Ara into her car seat and began the trek home.

She unloaded the car, and after four trips, managed to get everything in. She set about, putting things away trying to forget what she learned at the grocery store.

Was this place cursed? Because if it was, she was screwed.

--

Harry walked up the porch and into the house, throwing his briefcase into the living room. His first day had been a disaster. He was an auror, not a reporter. He had no clue what he was doing, and to top it off, he knew nothing about Nebraska or Brownsville. Luckily, he was covering world events instead of local ones so he didn't have to know things like that.

He made his way to the kitchen and stopped in the doorway. Ginny was bent over, and he couldn't help but notice what a wonderful backside she had. The pants she was wearing really didn't do much to hide it either; they accented it, if anything. She stood up, brushing her pants off, and he didn't take his eyes off her.

She didn't seem to notice, because she turned back to the stove. Whatever she was making smelled really good, and Harry wanted nothing more than to walk over to her and wrap his arms around her waist. Seeing her working in the kitchen made him want her even more.

Think about Cho, one part of his mind screamed. The other part told him that Ginny was his first. His only. She would always be the only woman he ever truly loved.

He quietly exited the kitchen, heading upstairs to freshen up. After changing, he went into the nursery to get Ara. She was sitting up, playing with her rattle and when she saw him, she raised her tiny arms and squealed. His face broke into a smile as he scooped her up. He had no idea it was possible to fall in love with something so tiny so fast, but he had.

He carried her down the stairs and sat at the table in the kitchen. Ginny had just laid out the food, and he reached across for Ara's food. Today, she was having string beans and squash, which smelled more like the crap they used to whip up in Potions than real food, but Ara didn't complain. She opened her mouth as Harry spooned it in and then he'd make a face and she'd laugh, the beans/squash mixture flying onto him.

"Ick," he whined as he wiped the brownish substance off his face. "I don't want it after it's been in your mouth sweetie."

Ara giggled and smiled as he continued to spoon the food into her mouth.

Ginny watched the scene, even though it was tearing her up inside. They looked so comfortable together, like a real family. She knew she should treasure the moment, because no matter what no entirely adequate man could ever make this moment feel so right, but yet another part reminded her that she was on borrowed time and she'd never see them again, so it was just best to forget it had ever happened.

Ara's squeals soon diminished, and Harry and Ginny managed to eat their food in silence. The baby was asleep by the end of the meal, and Ginny put her to bed. Harry retreated to the drawing room, and Ginny soon joined him.

"So, how was your day?" she asked, unable to bear the suffocating silence that surrounded them.

"Terrible," he replied. "I have no idea what the hell I'm doing and I swear the boss wanted to kill me by the end of the day."

Ginny smiled softly, "Other than that?"

"Lunch was probably the only good thing. I got to get out, there's this nice little restaurant on the west side, great chicken. Then, it was back to the office. I will never complain about having Jack Kings as a boss again."

She laughed and let her head fall back against the plush couch. A crack of thunder resounded, and Ara began to cry. Harry got up, "I'll get her this time."

Ginny watched his retreating figure and she slowly got up and went outside. Rain beat down on her body and she let it soak her clothes through. After she had left Harry, she had stood out in the rain in front of her flat in Dublin, willing it to wash away the feel of his hands on her body.

And here she was, in the rain once again, willing it to wash away all the memories of his touch, and it wasn't working. Again.

--

Harry watched from the nursery window as Ginny spread her arms out and the rain soaked her clothes through. Her face was turned up, her hair plastered down. She looked beautiful, standing there and he couldn't help but feel that he wanted her back.

He needed her back.