Chapter 5:
Ginny stood at the stove trying to make a pie from a recipe her mother had given her when she felt a pair of strong arms wrap around her waist from behind.
"Hey beautiful," Harry whispered in her ear. A smile crept across her face. Just as they leaned in to share a kiss, Teddy began to cry. Harry sighed. "I'll be right back."
"You better!" Ginny called over her shoulder.
Just as Harry returned to the kitchen with a giggling and cooing Teddy in his arms, the doorbell rang. Right away, Mrs. Black began to scream, causing Teddy to scrunch up his small face and wail at the top of his lungs.
"I'll get the door," Ginny offered over all the noise before dashing out of the kitchen, leaving Harry to calm Teddy down.
Ginny ran down the hall to answer the door. She could hear Ron upstairs trying to calm Mrs. Black down. She ignored them and opened the door, revealing Bill and Fleur.
"Hey!" she chirped as she gave her oldest brother and sister-in-law each a warm hug. She had begun to like Fleur; after all, most women would have left Bill after his attack. "Come on in." Mrs. Black was still screaming upstairs.
"I can take a look at that painting to see what can be done about it," Bill offered.
"Could you?" Ginny sounded desperate. "Not only does she drive us up the wall, but Teddy's deathly afraid of her
"Sure." When everyone got down to the kitchen, Harry was still trying to calm Teddy down.
"Oh, 'ere 'Arry, let me see 'im," Fleur offered. "I used to 'elp take care ov my seester." He handed her Teddy. She cooed over him, speaking in French.
"What can we do for you guys?" Ginny asked.
"Can't a guy visit his kid sister?" Bill asked as he swung his arm over her shoulders.
"Well yeah, but we weren't expecting you." Harry had never seen Ginny and Bill interact. It was obvious that they were extremely close despite the age difference. Ron entered the kitchen looking pretty winded.
"Hey," he said unenthusiastically when he saw Bill and Fleur as if they visited on a daily basis. "What's up?"
"We have some exciting news to tell you," Bill replied. Fleur handed Teddy back over to Harry. The baby as now calm and cooing again as if nothing had happened at all.
"I'm pregnant!" she exclaimed, unable to contain her excitement anymore.
"No way! Do Mum and Dad know?" Ginny gushed.
"We told them yesterday. Mum's beside herself, of course."
"This call for a toast," Ron said as he conjured up a bottle of Firewhiskey he had finally got around to buying, some pumpkin juice for Fleur and some goblets.
"Vere eez 'Ermione?"
"She's trying to take a nap," Ron replied, eyes downcast. He and Harry poured drinks, and everyone toasted to Bill and Fleur's baby. There was a pang of guilt among the men this was exactly like when Remus had arrived at the Shell Cottage announcing the birth of Teddy.
"How's George been?" Harry asked Bill. The oldest Weasley sighed heavily.
"He's working a lot. Mum, Dad, Charlie and I have all tried to talk to him, but he doesn't want to."
"Maybe I can try." Crookshanks slipped into the kitchen and stalked under the table. Ginny took Teddy from Harry and sat down on the floor next to the table to play with the cat. "I'll run down to his shop as soon as I can."
"Thanks." Bill and Fleur only stayed for a little while longer before heading back to the Shell Cottage.
After lunch, Ginny finished up her pie while Harry sat at the table working on a to-do list and Teddy sat on his lap making his working that much harder.
"So I need to talk to George, clean out Sirius and Remus' old rooms and work on Teddy's room, anything else?" She approached him and wrapped her arms around his neck from behind.
"Yeah, relax and spend time with your girlfriend." He put down his quill. "Come on, honey, when's the last time we spent some time together?"
"I dunno, Gin, I have a lot to get done." She left a trail of kisses from his ear, along his jaw, to his mouth.
"Please?" Before Harry could say anything else, Hermione trudged into the room. It was obvious that she hadn't slept at all.
"Hey 'Mione," Ginny said.
"Where's Ron?"
"He went out for a little bit, he should be back soon," Harry replied. She nodded, half listening. "Do you need anything?"
"No, I'm fine." Ginny gave him one last kiss on the cheek before going back to her pie.
"Do you want to talk about what's on your mind?" she asked Hermione.
"There's nothing to talk about," she snapped.
"Then why are you depressed and not sleeping at night?"
"It's nothing, okay!? You wouldn't understand anyway!" she exclaimed before storming out of the room. Sighing, Harry ran his fingers through his hair. Teddy looked up at him with his big eyes as if he could sense the tension in the air. Harry was at a loss at what to do about Hermione. It wasn't going to be long before she completely crashed and burned.