Disclaimer: I own nothing. Nothing at all.

Chapter Six: Those We Love
Harry sighed. He had put Ginny to bed, but he himself was far from sleep. She was alive. Ginny was alive, and she was safe, here with him. It was just too miraculous. He still couldn't believe it…the one question that remained to him now was a perplexing, difficult one. How could he tell her family she was alive? It would be a shock for Mrs. Weasly who had not been as strong lately. Christmas had taken its toll on her, and she had come down with a mild case of Diricawl Pox. She had just finished recovering, although the tip of her left pinkie was still invisible. Harry didn't want to upset her any more than possible. And how to explain what Malfoy…that bastard…had done to her? Harry rubbed his eyes wearily. Who to tell? Then, unexpectedly, the problem solved itself.

"Hello, Harry," said Hermione's head from the fireplace.

Harry jumped and nearly fell off his chair.

"Harry! Why on earth are you so jumpy?" asked Hermione.

"Hermione! Where's Ron?"

"Out, why? I just thought I'd Firecall you; we haven't chatted for a while. It's not too late, is it?"

Harry crawled over to the fireplace. "Hermione. It's Ginny. She's alive."

Harry saw the shock settle over her face, then dissolve. "Harry," said Hermione gently. "Ginny's not alive. She's not coming back. I understand this is hard for you, I know you may have had feelings for her that were…stronger…than friendship, but you need to realize that it's impossible." She smiled sadly.

"Yeah, I thought so too," said Harry patiently. "Until she turned up at my door."

Hermione froze. "Harry," she said cautiously, "Maybe I'd better come over…"

"I'm not hallucinating, Hermione," said Harry, crouching down even closer to the fireplace. "Ginny's alive. And she's currently asleep in my spare bedroom."

Hermione let out a kind of happy sob. "Oh, Harry, you're not lying, I can tell! This is so wonderful; it's too good to be true! Is she all right?" Hermione looked up at Harry expectantly.

Harry took a breath. This was what it all came down to. He lowered is voice. "Are you sure Ron's not around?"

"Yes, Harry, I'm sure. He's working late at the office, Andrew wanted to talk to him about handing out assignments closer to home, now that Nick's been born." He eyes widened. "Why?"

"Listen, Hermione, Ginny's been hurt. Malfoy had her all these years, in some castle stronghold in another country. Voldemort," he spat the name, "gave her to him. And, well, you remember Malfoy. He tortured her, and he…he took advantage of her. All those years. So, no, Hermione, Ginny is not 'all right'. I just spent the last two hours listening to her story." He glanced away. "She's pregnant."

Hermione gasped. "No! Malfoy…?"

"Yeah."

"Bastard! Sick bastard! I hate him, I hate him, I HATE HIM!" Hermione disappeared for a second. Harry heard a crash. It sounded like she had broken a plate.

When she reappeared, she had tears in her eyes. "Poor Ginny…is she keeping the baby?"

Harry nodded. "She wants to. She says it's not her child's fault, and she won't punish them for what Malfoy did to her."

Hermione nodded, almost triumphantly. "I'm so proud of her," she whispered fiercely. "I could never have done it. I would have snapped, gone round the bend. But Ginny managed to escape. I'm so proud of her." Hermione furiously wiped her eyes. "Now tell me the whole story."

Harry did, and by the time he was done, Hermione's eyes were blazing. "I'll kill him," she whispered. "I'll kill him if it's the last thing I ever do."

Harry smiled grimly. "You sound just like I did."

"Malfoy has to pay," Hermione continued. "Ginny-I can't believe he did that to-"

"Hermione?"

Harry froze. That was Ron's voice. Ron continued. "What's happened? What were you saying about Ginny and Malfoy?" Although Harry couldn't see his friend, he knew that his eyes would be, at this point, glittering dangerously. Hearing his dead baby sister's name would have been bad enough, but to hear it in the same sentence with his old enemy Draco Malfoy meant there would be trouble.

"Who're you talking to, 'Mione?" Ron questioned his wife.

" It's just Harry," said Hermione in a soothing voice. "Ron, this might come as a bit of a shock, but…Ron?" Her head reappeared in the fire. "He left!"

Harry's front door slammed.

"Harry!!!"

"He's here," Harry told Hermione quickly. "I have to go."

"Good luck, Harry,' said Hermione. "Tell Ginny I love her!"

"I will," Harry promised. "Goodbye!" he quickly ended the Firecall.

Ron entered the kitchen. "What's going on, Harry?" he asked, his voice dangerously pleasant. "What's happened with Malfoy and- Ginny?" He broke off suddenly, staring at the stairs behind Harry. Harry turned to see what he was looking at. There was Ginny in her dirty robe, frayed rope tied around her middle.

"Hello, Ron," she said softly. "I'm not dead."

For a second no one moved. Then Ron flew across the space between him and Ginny and swept her into a bone-crushing hug. He sobbed unashamedly, burying his face in his sister's shoulder. She cried too, patting him on the back.

After a few minutes, Ron released her, and stepped back to look her over. He froze.

"Ginny-"

She smiled. "You and Harry had about the same reaction." She sat down at the kitchen table heavily. "So now you two know."

"Three," Harry put in. "I told Hermione when she Firecalled. You were asleep. She said to tell you that she loves you."

Ginny smiled. "I've missed Hermione."

Ron was still staring. Then he seemed to put two and two together. "MALFOY! I'm going to KILL HIM!" He roared in anger and ran for the front door. Harry made a wild grab for him.

But it was Ginny who stopped him. "Ron, wait! I don't even know where he is! Plus, I need to talk to you! I haven't seen you in four years! Are you and Hermione married? What's been happening? I want to be a part of your lives again."

Ron walked back into the room. Despite himself he was grinning slightly. "Yeah. Hermione and I got married. And you're an auntie."

Ginny shrieked with happiness and gave Ron a kiss on the cheek. "Oh, Ron, congratulations! Is it a girl or a boy?"

"It's a boy," said Ron, pulling out his wallet. "His name is Nicholas."

Ginny took the photo, and watched as Nicholas spit up all over the shoulder of his proud father. "He's sweet, Ron," she cooed, admiring the picture. "And he'll have a little playmate soon enough."

Ron gulped. It appeared he had decided to leave his anger for later -for Malfoy. "Where have you been, Ginny?"

Ginny sighed. Harry decided that this would be a good time to make sure the guest room was properly outfitted for Ginny. He just assumed she would be staying here. He quickly excused himself, and went upstairs to check. When he was finished, he wandered into his bedroom, lay down, and fell asleep.

Harry awoke sometime later to shrieks and screams. He leapt out of bed, and raced downstairs, a million what-ifs running through his head. As he neared the bottom of the stairs, however, he realized that they were cries of a much different kind.

The Weasly family was gathered in Harry's kitchen. Ron held Nicholas in one arm. His other was around Hermione. He smiled at the scene. Harry had a feeling he had called everyone. Percy introduced his daughter to Ginny. Lizzy brightly greeted her aunt.

Bill and Charlie took turns picking Ginny up and whirling her around. Bill lightly patted Ginny's stomach. So they knew what had happened to her, thought Harry. He smiled. Ginny certainly had been wrong about her family not accepting her back. It was like she had never left. Fred and George had brought a box of their Weasly's Wildfire Whizbangs. Harry's kitchen and, indeed, his whole downstairs, was filled with the things.

Harry scanned the room. Only two people were missing. And that would be-

"MUM! DAD!" Ginny propelled herself across the room at her parents, who had just walked in. Mrs. Weasly opened her arms, and Ginny hugged her mother for the first time in four years. Hermione sniffled loudly.

Harry smiled happily. The Weasly clan was complete again.

A/N: It's a really crappy chapter ending, I know, but it wouldn't come together right, and it had to be like this to lead into the next chapter. I should tell you now; this fic is going to eventually be H/G. So I needed to set that all up.

Looking back at the last chapter, I realized I made a lot of stupid, stupid punctuation/grammatical mistakes. I'm so sorry, guys! I was just rushing to get the chapter up, and I skimped on editing. I am properly ashamed and abashed.

And finally, thanks to everyone who reviewed the last chapter: coolone007-2, weselan, Chaos Girly, Maritess, merlindamage, s.halliwell24, dark fire chain, and SilverTrinity. Again, I'm sorry if I forgot you, just let me know and I'll give you a cameo or something like that.

Next time: Something else will happen; I haven't finished planning it out yet!