Disclaimer: Yes! I own Harry, Ginny, Hogwarts, everything!!! Muahahaha!!! sighs No, just kidding. I can dream, can't I?
Chapter Four: Ginny's SecretFor a long moment, neither of them moved. Harry couldn't. He was staring into the face of someone he believed to be dead. It was as if his parents had just knocked on his front door.
"Ginny?" he whispered, hardly daring to breath. This had to be a dream, his brain told him. This was impossible. Ginny had died at the hands of Voldemort. But something in the back of his mind whirred, and slowly clicked into place. They had never found her body…
"Ginny?" asked Harry again, holding out a hand to her. Her eyes widened. Suddenly, she turned and ran into the Forbidden Forest, which bordered Harry's back garden.
"Damn!" Harry swore. "Ginny, wait!" He tore after her.
Ginny had always been fast. If it really was Ginny, she seemed slower now, more cumbersome. Harry didn't care. He raced through the woods after her.
"Ginny, wait!" he called. "It's me, Harry! Wait!"
Harry slowed to a stop and glanced around. The trees seemed to close in around him, and Ginny was nowhere in sight.
He flicked his wand. "Lumos." Holding his wand high, he pointed it in various directions. Movement behind a tree caught his eye. He advanced, wand out.
"Ginny?"
He heard the twig snap behind him. "Oblivate!" cried a hoarse voice. Harry's years of Auror training kicked in. He spun and threw up a shield charm. The Memory Charm bounced harmlessly off.
The cloaked figure, wand still outstretched, turned and ran into the forest. Harry caught a glimpse of red hair underneath the hood.
"IMPEDIMENTA!" roared Harry. The figure froze in place, feet locked.
Harry slid his wand into its familiar place in his back pocket, and crossed the clearing. The figure stood trembling. Harry couldn't tell if it was with rage or fear.
Harry faced the figure, and pulled its hood down.
Brown eyes filled with tears of defiance stared back at him.
"Let me go, Harry," said Ginny furiously.
"Ginny…" Harry grabbed Ginny in a bone-crushing hug.
Ginny patted him on the back, as the jinx started to wear off. Suddenly, she twisted, and Harry found himself at the wrong end of a wand.
He backed off slowly, slightly wary. A brief probe of her mind reveled that she was not under the Imperius Curse. There was something else there…a slippery something that slid away from his mind. Ginny had a secret.
"Going to curse me, Gin?" Harry asked, his voice hard.
Ginny wavered, but did not lower her wand. "Harry," she said, her voice raspy and hoarse; the voice of someone who had not spoken in a long while. It was eerily like Sirius's voice had been, all those years ago in the Shrieking Shack. Ginny continued. "You have to let me go. And you have to let me Oblivate you. It's…for your own good. I can't go back, and it would just kill you and M-mum and everyone if they knew I was alive but…like this."
"Ginny. I am not leaving you out here in the forest. And I am NOT letting you Oblivate me. Gin- I saved you in second year. When you disappeared, it damn near killed your Mum, your Dad, Bill,Charlie, Percy, the twins, Ron, Hermione, and…me. You know I would never hurt you. Why don't you trust me?"
Ginny slowly lowered her wand. "I can't stay. I have-look Harry, things happened to me, there are things you wouldn't like…"
Harry crossed the clearing in two bounds. "Gin. There is nothing you can say that is going to change my mind. Now you can either come back to my house quietly, or I will CARRY you back. I can do that you know." A shadow of a grin flickered over his face. "I'm an Auror now."
Ginny still hesitated.
Harry turned and began to walk back to his house. He knew Ginny wasn't following him. He turned around. She still stood there in the clearing, a shaft of moonlight hitting her. She hugged her too-large cloak tightly to her thin frame.
"I imagine you're hungry," Harry remarked almost nonchalantly. "I just went shopping yesterday. I think I have something you'll like more than yesterday's leftovers." He looked her up and down appraisingly. "You look like you haven't had a good meal in ages."
Ginny stood there for a moment more, then resolutely marched past Harry, who chuckled under his breath slightly.
Some things never change, he thought.
Harry pushed open the door to his kitchen. He fit the light switch. The kitchen flooded with light. This gave Harry a chance to fully examine Ginny. She settled herself lightly in one of his chairs.
For starters, she was filthy. Her hair, once shiny and full, was dull and matted with dirt, sweat, and - Harry scowled - blood. She was one of the thinnest people Harry had ever seen. The skin of her face was stretched tightly over her face, and her lips were cracked and bleeding. Her fingernails were broken off, and brown. She was dressed in a loose robe that probably would have fit Dudley Dursley if he were inclined to wear robes. The robe was tied slightly above her waist with a fraying rope. Her feet were bound with rags. The only thing she wore that Harry would even consider letting a dog sleep on was her robe. It looked like it had once been expensive. It had been black velvet, though Harry could barely tell. Its clasp was dull metal that might have been silver. There was a bloody scratch under one of her eyes.
Harry whistled. "You look like hell, Gin."
She smiled wryly. "Thanks, Harry."
They looked at each other for a long moment. Ginny folded her arms over her stomach.
"So, um…you must be hungry."
I sound like an idiot, thought Harry.
"Yes. I am."
Harry rummaged in the pantry. He pulled out a loaf of bread and an apple.
"Here." He placed the food in front of her. She grabbed the bread and tore the end off. Stuffing it in her mouth, she leaned over the table, and grabbed the apple. Taking a huge bite, she sighed happily through a full mouth.
Harry smiled.
After Ginny had eaten her fill-which was two loaves of bread, four apples, and a jug of mile later- Harry brought her into the living room. He sat her down on the couch.
"Now tell me what happened. Everything."
She looked around frantically, as thought looking for a way out.
"Ginny?"
I'm sorry, Harry. I have to leave. This was very kind of you, but-" She stood up as thought to leave. Harry also got up.
"I don't think so, Gin. Do you even have any idea what this is like for me? I'm standing in my living room with someone I thought was dead. It's like if Sirius had suddenly showed up in the middle of my sixth year. It's the best thing that could ever happen. I see you here, and I see that you're alive, but at the same time I think it's a dream, and it can't be possible. But you ARE real, Gin." He crossed the room and stood in front of her. "You're real." And he looked at her. And then he saw it.
Her stomach was swelled…too large for someone so thin. He hadn't noticed it before, because the robes were so loose on her. He stepped back suddenly.
"Ginny-"
Ginny sat back down and smiled, sadly. "You see why I can't go back, Harry? You think my family will accept me like this?"
Harry tried to close his mouth, but couldn't. "Ginny…"
She glanced down at herself and back up at him. "Yes, Harry," she said bitterly. "I'm pregnant."
A/N: I told you she had a surprise. Poor Harry, huh?
If you guys don't like this twist, please review and tell me why. I won't get upset. Stick with me, though, it will get better!
Thank you everyone who reviewed who I didn't thank in the last chapter: ZanyRoz18, tomlover0, hpgirl7777, and nessy-poo-2008. I really like knowing that people like my story!!! ( -:
I'll try to post as fast as I can - I go back to school tomorrow, so I'll just have to do my best, but no promises!!!
As always, please R&R!!!
Up next: Harry and Ginny have a loooong talk, and the Weaslys find out Ginny's alive.
