WARNING and SPOILER: some people may be upset by this chapter. Do not read if you will be disturbed by infant death!

Chapter 11

As Ginny arrived in the fire she heard a pop, suggesting Mrs Weasley had just disapperated. She looked around the kitchen, saw Lily in her chair and a note stuck to table beside her-

Darling I can't thank-you enough for taking today off-

I have been desperate to get to Madam Malkins.

I have left Lily's lunch in a caldron on the side, she eats

around midday and then has a nap.

Didn't I always tell you that you would want to be with

her eventually. Have a great time

Mum xxx

Lily cooed and waved her arms. In response Ginny picked her up for a hug. She wasn't bad really, when you thought of other babies people had. Ones that cried from dawn till dusk and nothing would settle them. Lily was now straining to be put down. As soon as Ginny did, Lily crawled off into the front room. Did all babies crawl at her age; Ginny wondered or was Lily special? After pondering on this for a moment Ginny remembered why she had come home.

'I need to know the truth' she muttered under her breath as she began looking through the piles of books on the mantelpiece. She recalled seeing the book she was after once, many years ago. It was ancient; her father had confiscated it from the Malfoys during one of the very first raids on their house. Mr Malfoy, after noticing it had been taken, had threatened Mr Weasley if he made its presence known to anyone. It seemed that Mr Weasley had listened because the book was kept with all their others. It was never used, but never destroyed. It contained powerful spells, potions and incantations, the type that had strict Ministry regulations, including, if Ginny remembered correctly Veritaserum.

Spying the book on the topmost shelf Ginny levitated herself to get it. It was dusty and crumbling at the edges. There was no contents page. Ginny began flicking through the volume aware that Lily could be heard in the living room playing with some toy or another.

At last with a yelp of joy Ginny saw the potion she wanted. The illustrations round the edge showed a man spilling out the contents of his soul- quite literally if Ginny was to take the picture seriously. She had never seen the potion being used- only ever heard of its power. Glancing down Ginny saw that most of the ingredients were easily accessible and that the potion only needed to simmer for 4 hours. She had feared it would be much longer. A distant memory sprang into her memory of Snape telling Umbridge you had to wait for a full moon cycle.

'This' muttered Ginny 'must be why the recipe for Veritaserum is difficult to come across. It would be so easy for anyone to whip it up. We would be spewing the truth everywhere.' Humming to herself, Ginny began collecting all the necessary ingredients together. Frogs eyes, rabbit liver, essence of Gnome, fig leaves, the list was quite long. A bubble of excitement surrounded Ginny. She had always loved potions- not the teachers but the ability to concoct an array or life saving remedies just by mixing a variety of everyday substances together.

Ginny didn't notice the time fly; she was so absorbed in her work. It wasn't until, several hours later she looked at the clock and gasped- it was nearly half past one. Lily was meant to have been fed ages ago and should be sleeping now. Kicking herself for forgetting her mother's one instruction, Ginny hastily added salt to the potions and, reckoning that it could be left for a few minutes, went off in search in Lily. Upon entering the living-room a quick glance told her the Lily wasn't there. Come to think of it, Ginny remembered, she hadn't heard Lily for a while.

'Oh god she'll be in the garden.' But one speedy search told her that Lily hadn't made it outside. Ginny was panicking now. She recalled her mother saying that Lily needed to be watched like a hawk. 'Damn'. Where was she? She could only crawl she couldn't have got far. But Ginny had been working for so long; she may have crawled miles- left the garden and set of down the road! As this thought entered Ginny's mind she heard from inside a distant bang followed a long series of thuds.

Ginny stood absolutely still. She knew what those noises meant. She herself had done the same thing when she was small. In a flash Ginny was at the foot of the stairs and screaming at the sight in-front of her. Instinctively and carefully Ginny picked up her daughter and laid her on the sofa. There wasn't a sound or a movement coming from either girl. The babies eyes were still open. They were bright green. In that instant, Ginny learnt two life changing things. That she didn't need a truth potion and it seemed never had. It wasn't important to her now anymore. Deep down she had always felt it was Harry's but never dared to embrace these feelings, just in case. She also realised that, however much she had neglected Lily- she had always loved her. Ginny had believed that she didn't have any special feelings for her daughter, but she did now. She had all along, but had been too selfish to realise it.

And collapsing on the floor next to her baby, Ginny wept, like she never had before.