Chapter Eleven: What is love?
Harry was perfectly happy spending the next two weeks doing practically nothing, perfectly happy when he forced his mind away from moping about his arduous love life.
Truth be told, he still had yet to set foot into Sirius' room, but the relief, the perhaps guilty but overwhelming pleasure of relief, that his destiny was lifted from his shoulders, and that it was quiet possible that no one else would die for him again; it was enough to lift anyone's spirits.
Then, of course, there was Ginny; though he saw her tired form occasionally since her return to active duty, thoughts of her tormented Harry deep into the lonely nights.
What was love? He had lead a life far from normal, and had grown up in a world devoid of any affections; who was he to know what true love was? Is that what he felt for Ginny? Without any answer to the first question, Harry was far from being able to answer the second; though his body ached to feel Ginny close to him once more, the nagging, normally sensible, part of his mind told him this was only lust.
The next, and possibly most important fundamental question was whether he could spend the rest of his life with Ginny. True love or no. So many people thought they could, and still ended up enduring messy separations; how could he, with lust, overcome the obstacles that still lay in his way. Would she even have him now?
Finally, what would happen if he did not continue his courtship of Miss Weasley? Would her family, her four older brothers, still support him? The Weasleys were the closest thing to a family he had, but they weren't his blood family.
"It's good to see Fred settling down, getting married, even if he insisted on reopening the joke shop." Mrs. Weasley sighed over her knitting needles; breaking the near silence that covered the evening gathering. Complete silence followed her words.
With Angela's due date quickly nearing, the couple had taken to dining at Grimmauld Place every night, as well as some afternoons and evenings; affairs that had become almost light hearted. They weren't here tonight, deciding rather to spend the evening going over the store's old accounts.
"A little baby will be wonderful." She added, after several minutes; her voice cetching in her throat. Everyone was looking at her now, and a glistening at her eye gave away more emotions then Mrs. Weasley was revealing. "And who knows if Bill and Fleur will ever have a baby!" Now she broke down and burst into silent tears.
Mr. Weasley wrapped a comforting arm around his wife; mumbling encouragements that Harry could not hear from across the substantial Black living room.
Harry's eyes shifted from the couple to Hermione and Ron, a few feet away, who had been reviewing sixth year transformation, but who now sat silent; Hermione's eyes locked on her mother in law, and Ron's nervously quivering over Hermione, as his ears turned a vivid red.
Why?
Mr. Weasley face rose from his wife to send a look to the three young adults' sending them silently from the room.
"She's lost so much." Hermione's voice was hardly above a whisper; she leaned into Ron's shoulder, as the trio paused on the landing.
Ron sighed, his head leaning down to rest on Hermione's.
"What's wrong Ron?"
Harry took a few hesitant steps up the stairs; fighting the usual battle between giving them privacy, and a selfish, childish, want to keep things the same as they ever had been.
"I was just thinking… About what my mum said…" Ron stumbled a little bit in nervousness, catching Harry's backward glance in his own extremely anxious one. An expression not unlike the one Harry had witnessed the cold and rainy night Ron had finally purposed to Hermione.
A fierce beating of wings against the landing window interrupted the moment.
"When will we…" Ron continued steadily on, as Harry walked over to the window and let the owl inside; the barn owl was on the smaller side, and was not one that Harry recognized. Releasing the note from its talon, the owl quickly departed once more.
"Ron, Hermione!" Harry yelped; staring down at the slip of parchment, which bore the Saint Mungo's seal. "Angelina is having the baby!"Ron snatched the slip from Harry, incredulity scripted clearly across his face; with a single motion he whirled around and dashed back into the living room.
"Oh my." Hermione and Harry were left, breathless and dumbfounded, outside the swinging door. "She wasn't due for another week, at least."
The next moment they were nearly bawled over yet again, by the hasty exit of the three Weasleys.
"We'll have to take the Knight Bus."
"But it'll take ages!"
"It can't be helped; no other way."
"Coming Harry?" Ron stopped in front of Harry, his breath coming heavily as if he had just finished a marathon, his hand rested on Harry's arm.
It was the normal nearly a Weasley, not a Weasley, sort of thing; He should just marry Ginny so they could move quickly past all this, are you family now or not, nonsense.
"Sure." Harry mumbled, taking a step closer to Hermione.
"You think you'll be alright?" Ron quickly moved on to Hermione.
"I couldn't miss it."
Quickly enough the party was out the front door, and onto the Knight Bus.
A/N The chapter is almost twice as long as the other; I would like to thank everyone who has reviewed, faved, or put alerts on this story, it's so nice, and everyone else who at least takes the time to read.