Five

New Year slipped by with much celebration only to be replaced by the bleakness of January. Life suddenly continued as it had before the merry season. Ginny found herself running around the ministry trying to meet deadlines and get work done.

Her social life had also taken a battering. The usual Thursday nights had seemed to dry up. Usually the girls would head out to a bar or a restaurant and spend the evening catching up. Of course over the six years thing had changed a little, Hermione would only show up once a month along with April depending on nights off. But Tonks, Penelope, Ginny and of course Heather and Opal from the office were out every week. But January had changed that a little.

Ginny hadn't been wrong in claiming that something was happening. She hadn't known how right she was when she told that to her husband on Christmas Day. There were whispers from Europe of something dark beginning to rise. Nobody knew the truth of it, but something was clear, they needed to check their records. So January had become a month for looking up prophecies.

It wasn't just Ginny feeling the heat though. Tonks had mentioned a number of unusual cases arising around Britain that required Aurors. With this Harry was travelling all over the place and had taken to arriving home late in the evenings. Ginny was careful about not making too much out of it but she was panicked. She remembered the days of Voldemort and the late nights. But she knew this was different.

It was with a surprise that one morning in January that Ginny opened a letter from Neville. Harry hadn't even looked up as she skimmed the words. She felt nauseated looking at the words. It was ready that was the just of the note. Knowing that she would have to go to Hogwarts she had asked Harry to come home early claiming that Hermione wanted to see her desperately that night. He had of course agreed, after all that's what Harry was like.

So at eight o'clock on that Tuesday evening in the last week of January Ginny snuck up to Hogwarts. The noise from the hall informed her that they were still having dinner so slowly she made her way to Neville's office. Entering she was surprised how homely it felt. There was that touch of kindness and warmth that she had always associated with Neville.

"Ah good you're here already!"

Ginny looked up from a photo on the desk of Neville and April and smiled. Neville wheeled himself over to a cupboard and pulled something out as Hermione closed the door and looked around. Ginny remained seated as Neville turned to her.

"So this is it. Now you'll need to take a dose every twenty four hours for two weeks."

She just nodded but Hermione caught her eye.

"Are you okay with this Ginny?"

"Yes – no – yes. Mostly yes."

Hermione shot Neville a look as she took the bottle from him and moved to put a cauldron over a small fire. The man gave Ginny the kindest of his looks as he rolled over next to her.

"Gin you don't have to do this you know."

"Yes I do."

"No if you're not ready you don't have to. Just because I've made the potion doesn't mean you have to take it."

"I want his children Neville. I really do."

She gave him a soft smile knowing that her eyes were slightly glazed.

"Do you remember that last year in Hogwarts? We use to walk down to the lake hand in hand and sit there talking for hours and hours. We use to joke about what we would do when the war was over, wonder what part we'd play. Even guess how many Death Eaters we'd take down in the next battle."

Neville laughed softly and she knew he was remembering the times too.

"We talked once about getting married you and me. We thought everything through carefully. It was going to be in May on the 21st. The same day that you're parents had gotten married. We knew that we wanted it to be a small ceremony with just our friends and closest family, so that was what two hundred people!"

Neville laughed again and when he spoke she heard a soft quiver in his voice.

"You were going to wear green dress robes and have you're hair in flowing curls. Then I was going to be in a smart pair of blue robes. Harry and Ron were going to be my best men and you wanted Hermione and Luna as your bridesmaids. Then after the ceremony we were going to go to a fancy restaurant and have a wonderful meal before heading to Cape Town on our honeymoon. You'd chosen the place because you wanted somewhere hot but liked the idea of the penguins."

Ginny nodded at his words. She could see that Hermione was watching them as she stirred the cauldron over the fireplace. Ginny thought that she could see traces of tears in the girl's eyes but was unwilling to comment on that.

As Neville fell silent turning to look out the window Ginny found her voice once more.

"We were going to wait a year and then start a family. Remember we were going to have at least five children. We'd agreed that the first son we had would be called Frank and the girl Alice after your parents. We'd been fighting over the fact that I liked the name Theodore for a boy and you kept insisting that we couldn't call our son Teddy –"

"Stop Gin."

She let her next words fall to the ground. Her eyes stayed on Neville. She knew that he could make out the lake from where he was, she could just see it herself. In the eight years since that final battle they had never once spoken about these dreams with anyone.

"Neville don't you see the man in my dreams has changed but the bases of them haven't. I've always wanted children and I know that I have three wonderful ones but I want to know how it feels to be pregnant. I want to hold a baby in my arms and know that it's the product of my love not somebody else's. I need to take this potion."

He turned and looked at her. She could see that his face was a mask. Blinking he studied her.

"Do you ever think of those plans Gin?"

"I use to all the time."

"And me. But that's from a different time now isn't it?"

Ginny put her hand on top of Neville's and gave him a smile.

"Yeah. That was from a time of pain and innocence. Now we live a life that is still painful, not so innocent but our own. Our own lives to live however we chose. Neville I've loved you for a long time and you once promised to give me children. Well you are."

His face shifted and she heard laughter once more.

"Don't let Harry hear you say that Gin."

The tension had broken and they were both startled by Hermione's voice.

"It's ready. Neville you need to tell her about the side affects."

"Yes of course. You might find that you feel a bit tired over the next three or four days. That should pass though. But towards about the ninth or tenth day you'll experience vomiting. That's natural. It just means its working. After day fourteen give the potion two or three days and then you should be able to conceive."

"Will it be permanent or does the potion stop working after a certain time."

"I think it's permanent. We'll just have to wait and see."

Ginny nodded as she took a goblet from Hermione. The liquid was a strange shade of yellow that reminded her of straw. Closing her eyes she thought of Harry, about how a child of theirs might look. Then with a gulp she put the goblet to her lips and let it into her mouth. She had a burning sensation and a need to gag but she forced the solution down. As she put the goblet onto the table she grinned. One dose down only another thirteen to go.