Ten

Ginny looked at the wine glass. It was taking all her strength not to grab for it and drink it down. But she couldn't now. Alcohol wouldn't help in the least. But still Merlin it would take the edge off. If somebody had told her that she would be this unhappy pregnant then she would never have bothered.

But it wasn't the pregnancy. She was as thrilled as day one. But now two weeks after telling Harry she felt sick thinking about how it had torn her family apart. Nobody had seen Harry since that day she had fought with him. He hadn't come home, hadn't been to work or contacted anybody.

It was her fault that's what Ginny kept thinking over and over again. Why hadn't she spoken to him sooner? Why had see been so determined to keep him out of the decision? She loved him. She loved him more than she had ever loved anybody else. How could she have kept him out of something this big?

Just thinking about the look on his face when he confronted her sent shivers through her body. He had looked so hurt. There was a hint of betrayal as he had spat Neville's name at her. How could she have been that stupid? She was missing him so much. Especially now. She had expected him to be part of the pregnancy, taking care of her and assuring her that she wasn't getting fat.

Ginny picked up the slab of chocolate and snapped a large piece off dropping it into her mouth. The worse part of everything that had happened was trying to explain to the children. They didn't understand where Harry was. What was Ginny suppose to tell them? She had lied of course. They thought that Harry was on the trail of some bad guy and couldn't come home until he caught them. Holly and Charlotte had bought it but she wasn't too sure about Gavin.

Then there was everyone else. She hadn't told anybody the exact truth. Penelope had asked a number of questions especially when the children had told her that Harry was out catching bad guys. Everyone thought that they had had an argument but nobody knew the exact truth. The only one who knew something more was Neville but he had refrained from saying anything at all.

"Ginny?"

She spun looking over her shoulder. Maybe Harry was back. But she knew before she even saw Ron that it hadn't been Harry. The two men didn't sound alike.

"Hey Ron."

"Do you want to come round for Dinner tonight?"

Ginny shook her head slowly looking back to the wine bottle. It looked so good. She could taste the sweetness of it already. The chair opposite scraped on the floor as Ron pulled it out to sit down. He was watching her very closely.

"What happened?"

"Nothing."

"Ginny Harry doesn't just disappear for no reason."

"And what about your seventh year?"

"Yes because him going after V – Vo – Voldemort was nothing."

He staggered over the name as Ginny flinched slightly. She knew that their children found it strange that they had such a problem with the name but she was sure when they arrived at Hogwarts and found out everyone still called him You-Know-Who they'd maybe understand some of their reluctance.

She rested her elbow onto the table as she lowered her face into her hand. Her chin rested against her palm and she could see that Ron was watching her closely.

"Fine what do you want to know?"

"Why did Harry leave?"

"Because we had a fight."

Ron's brow creased slightly.

"You've had fights before and he's never left."

"We'll he's never accused me of having an affair before."

"HE WHAT?"

Ginny closed her eyes sighing softly.

"Ron Harry thought that I was being unfaithful."

"Why?"

"Because he thought that Neville and I were back together."

"Neville! But he's happily married."

"As am I Ron, hence affair."

"Were you?"

"WHAT KIND OF QUESTION IS THAT?"

Ginny tried to calm down taking deep breaths. She opened her eyes and looked straight at Ron. He hadn't moved a muscle. His eyes locked tightly on hers.

"I'm trying to understand why Harry left."

"Because I lied to him."

"You what?"

"Neville and I haven't been having an affair Ron, but we were doing something behind Harry's back."

"What?"

"He's been working on a potion that could reverse the effects of the Infructuosus curse…"

"He's what? Ginny really?"

She just nodded as Ron threw his head backwards running his hand through his hair.

"You didn't tell Harry?"

"No. I kept it quiet. That's why I was at Hogwarts during the Quidditch game. It seems Harry followed me to Neville's office and got the wrong idea. He confronted me the day he left."

"Ginny why didn't you tell me?"

"I don't know."

Tears were forming in Ginny's eyes as she looked at her brother. He looked so annoyed. Slowly he stood up scowling.

"I'm going to find Neville and give him a piece of my mind."

"What? Why?"

"For getting you're hopes up and then causing everything to fall apart."

"Ron he didn't."

"Ginny."

"I'm pregnant Ron. It worked."

"Shit."

Both his hands went to his face as he turned away from her a moment.

"Harry is dead!"

He walked back across the room and pulled her into a tight hug. He held her close and spoke softly into her hair.

"I'm going to find Harry and kill him for what he's putting you through. Then I'll drag him here for you to kill!"