Chapter 8
I'm sorry the last chapter was short but I had/have writers block as well as University exams.
Platform 9 ¾ was hot and busy. Hogwart's students saying hurried goodbyes to family and greeting friends with excited squeals of delight. Ginny had not yet partaken in any of these. There would be ample time to see her friends on the train. A whole crowd of people had come to see her go for several reasons. Both her parents were there, the last time they would be required to come here now that Ginny was in her final year of school. Charlie had come to see her off; he was leaving for Brazil any day now. Ron was there to; he had said nothing since they had arrived. She couldn't understand his emotions. Hermione had just arrived. She would be gone as soon as Ginny was gone for her training as a Healer at St. Mungos had just begun and was intense. Then there was Harry, next to her with his arm round her shoulders. And, in her arms was baby Lily, fast asleep. She had quite a lot of hair for one so young and it was all jet black- like most babies. Her eyes were closed but if they had opened Ginny would have seen them, a very pure blue.
'Typical,' Ginny mused 'as soon as I'm with company who will look after her she shuts up and sleeps.'
The name 'Lily' had been Ginny's own idea. Nobody else knew of her incident with Henry but if it were ever to come out, she wanted people to be sure who she thought the father was- even if deep inside she wasn't.
Ginny looked around. Everyone was there for her. She was touched but she also knew what they were waiting for. This was, the last time she would see Lily for two weeks and everyone expected her to be emotional. Permission had been granted that, on official Hogsmeade days, Ginny would be allowed home to see her baby. She hadn't particularly wanted this, Hogsmeade was much more inviting but there had been no negotiation. Now she was about to depart, but first, she had to give her audience what they had been waiting for.
Ginny had mastered incantation without words at the end of last year. Using this, she filled her eyes with tears. Then she hugged Lily tight and buried her face into her daughter's body. A moment later, she thrust the baby into Harry's arms, kissed him and fled onto the train. She knew she had done enough and the quick dash to the train would be perceived by her family that it was too hard for her to leave and let go so must be done quickly.
Ginny heaved a sigh and sat down in her compartment. She felt awful that she did not appear to have the bond of love that was meant to empower every mother. During her reluctant pregnancy everyone had told Ginny that when the baby came she would instantly feel different. It was clear in some peoples tone of voice, (notably her mother's and Harry's) that they hoped once the baby was born Ginny would want to end her studies and settle down with Harry. This had not happened. Ginny felt no more maternal than she had when she had discovered she was pregnant. Initially she had willed herself to become infatuated with Lily like everyone appeared to be but she could not make it happen. Instead, she continued to be interested with the same things as she had been before. She worked to regain her figure. She went to a 'coming of age party' to test her popularity. She bought all the books required for her final school year and, looking uncannily like Hermione, spent the remainder of her summer reading them.
It wasn't that Ginny rejected her daughter; she was concerned for her, but only as much as she was concerned for other children. She truly couldn't see the fascination that others had with Lily, watching her sleep, blow bubbles and pass wind were not very interesting pastimes. Still there would be a few weeks of peace and quite now. She could lie in at the weekends and spend her evenings relaxing and socialising, not changing nappies. Naturally she would try out for the Quidditch team, they might have been able to stop her being captain but they couldn't stop her being the best Chaser in the school. Hadn't she been trained by Harry Potter, the best Quidditch Captain the school had had. All those summers of playing with her brothers and Harry had paid off. There had been rumours last year that Fripping wanted to introduce a school Quidditch team and they could play against other magical schools. She would go to tryouts for that. Then there was all her school work. You didn't hang around with Hermione Granger for seven years and not pick up a few tips of studying. Her ambition of becoming an Auror was in spitting distance. One more year of hard work and she would be on the programme.
With a thud she remembered all the obstacles she would need to pass to get to that stage- her grades, her mum, Harry, Lily. Ginny shook her head. Now was not the time to worry about this. Hadn't she won the fight to come back to school. Hadn't she been able to avoid marriage. She must revels in these victories for now. Quickly glancing in the mirror on her way out, Ginny left the compartment and went to find her friends.