A/N: The song "Iris" was written and preformed by the Goo-Goo Dolls. I felt that it was a perfect fit for Harry and Ginny.
CH 4: Natalie's Father
"I absolutely refuse to dance with Harry at the reception," Ginny said hotly and she tossed her hair over her shoulder. Hermione sighed as she gently patted Seren on the back. Her tiny red-haired baby was sleeping peacefully with a smile on her face.
"It's tradition for the best man and the Matron of Honor to dance together," Hermione pleaded. Ginny glared at her friend and turned away. How dare Hermione do this to her? "It's just a dance Gin; it isn't like you have to marry him or anything."
Hurt crossed Ginny face and she looked down at the ground. "I still love him Hermione, I can't just pretend that I don't and let him leave me again. If he leaves me again I'll die," Ginny said tearfully. Hermione took her hand and squeezed it gently.
"I know exactly how you feel; remember what happened between Ron and me? When he left me for the second time I thought that I would never be able to heal, that my heart would remain broken forever. He came back to me Ginny, and Harry would come back to you," Hermione promised.
"How many women would he have other than me, how many would he be sleeping with while he professed to love me?" Ginny asked scathingly.
"He didn't have an affair with Malia," Hermione said, suddenly angry. "When are you going to listen to us? Harry would never rip apart a relationship like that, you know him better than that."
"Never tell me what Harry is like Hermione, I don't know him anymore," Ginny said coldly.
"That is only because you aren't giving him the chance to get to know you again. You are judging him before you know him Ginny and it isn't fair to you or to him," Hermione said admonishingly.
"What do you want from me Hermione?"
"I want you to give your daughter a chance to know her father," Hermione said softly and Ginny paled. Not once in the past five years had that truth been spoken, Ginny hated to think about what Harry would do if he found out.
"It will only mess her up more. What she needs is someone who isn't going to be gallivanting off all over the country and send her a card for her birthday. She needs someone to be not just a father, she needs a dad," Ginny whimpered.
"You aren't giving him the chance to be that father by lying to both of them," Hermione reminded her.
"Natalie and I have each other and that is all we need. Harry isn't a part of my life anymore, and he is definitely not part of Natalie's…"
Harry sat out on the garden swing, gently moving back and forth. He felt miserable knowing that Ginny was here and yet he couldn't kiss her or tease her like he used to do. Everything was so much more complicated now than it had been when they were young. Even though they had been faced with the possibility of losing each other in the final battle their days had been full of love and carefree abandon. Harry sighed and raked a hand through his hair, unaware that Natalie had walked out of the house and now sat on the ground beside him.
Natalie looked at Harry with interest, it was the first time she had ever been alone with her father and she wanted to make it right. She was after all a very big girl of nearly seven years as her mother always reminded her. She took a deep breath and then tapped Harry on the shoulder.
Harry swung around to see Ginny's daughter beside him, eyeing him with great interest. She had Ginny's expressive eyes, as brown as chocolate and by the looks of it she was just as sweet. "Did you need something sweetheart?" he asked. Harry winced but he couldn't help adding the endearment to the end. It was as involuntary as breathing.
Natalie crooked a finger at him and he bent down to hear her. "Do you love my mommy?" she asked in a whisper.
Harry was shocked by the question but he could tell by the look on her face that she was very serious. He thought for a moment about how he would answer her and then he settled for the truth. "I love your mother more than anyone in the world. I even asked her to marry me when we were younger. She married your father instead," Harry said sadly. His heart was pounding painfully at the memories of that summer, but he kept the pain off his face.
Natalie smiled happily at Harry and then she decided that she would tell him what she had heard earlier. She crawled into his lap and smiled up at him. This surprised Harry, but he was also comfortable with it. "Guess what Harry?" she said shyly as she put her small hand on his chest.
"What Natalie?" he asked, clearing enjoying their game.
"Mum says that you are my daddy…"
"… I now pronounce you man and wife," said Kinglsey Shacklebolt, the newly appointed minister of magic, and Ron and Hermione turned to each other and smiling happily, kissed. The crowd cheered and Mrs. Weasley could be heard sobbing happily in the background.
Harry felt a tugging on his heart when he saw Ginny in emerald green robes and an ivory dress, identical to the one's Hermione was wearing. Even though he was still angry at being lied to he couldn't help noticing how beautiful she was. Natalie caught his eye then and she waved to him. Harry waved back, but motioned to her that she needed to stay in her place until they walked back down the aisle.
Ron and Hermione walked out first, arm in arm, grinning at each other. It was Harry's cue to take Ginny by the arm and walk with her out of the gazebo. As he walked toward her he saw a flash of light from her hand and realized that she was wearing a diamond ring. His heart clenched uncomfortably but her took her hand and placed it in the crook of his arm as was rehearsed.
When he got the chance he looked down at the ring and saw with surprise that is was the one he had given her when he proposed. Ginny was certainly full of secrets lately, and he was going to discover all of them whether she liked it or not. He decided to play the seduction game for a start; after all it had always worked before.
"You look beautiful Gin," he whispered softly in her ear. She felt his breath tickling her neck and instantly felt her knees buckle as they always did when she wanted him. Harry laughed and pulled on her arm to keep her up, still keeping his lips close to her ear.
"I want you."
She stopped instantly in the middle of the garden and turned to face him. Her face was devoid of color and her eyes were misty with passion. "Don't do this to me right now Harry, not while everyone is watching," she pleaded.
"We need to talk," he said firmly, wrapping his arm around her waist and pulling her close to him. Ginny melted in his arms and couldn't find the strength to protest when he walked with her away from the crowd. Instantly his lips found hers and he pulled the pins out of her hair so he could feel the silky strands between his fingers.
Her arms wound around his neck and she pulled him closer. She wanted to sink into him, become part of him. It had been so long since she had let herself go and let her heart take over and it was long overdue. His right hand trailed up and down her side, playing lightly over the flesh revealed in a slit at the side of her dress. She moaned and deepened the kiss, it was perfect, and this was perfect… this was so wrong.
She pulled away from him hurriedly, running a shaky hand through her hair. "This is wrong Harry," she said breathily.
"Wasn't it you who said that it was just a kiss and you are a grown woman?" Harry asked as he tried to catch his breath. Loving Ginny always took everything he had to give.
"I need time to think it all through. You can't just come barging back into my life and expect everything to be the same," she accused. Her face was flushing a bright pink and Harry had to resist the urge to pull her back into his arms and see if he could make it a deeper shade.
"You have until tonight at the reception Ginny, I expect an answer by then; an answer to everything," Harry whispered and then he placed a kiss to her neck and walked back to the burrow. He was feeling confident for the first time in the past few days that he was more comfortable than Ginny.
Ginny stormed into the house, slamming the door behind her with a loud thud. She ran up the stairs two by two (quite a feat in her dress) and flung herself on her bed in her room. The sobbing began instantly, she couldn't stop it and she didn't want to stop it. Everything she had ever wanted in her life was hers for the taking and she didn't have the courage to snatch it up.
Harry wanted her; that thought alone made her want to shout for joy and cry for days at the same time. It had been a long time since she had let her true desires come to the surface and it was scary. She loved Harry more deeply than she had ever imagined possible. After all he had deserted her hadn't he?
No, said a voice in her head, he explained it all to you. He was waiting for you and you didn't trust him. She didn't even trust him now and that was her problem. It wasn't fair for Harry to make him wait until she could sort through her feelings. Her only options were to tell Harry the truth and let him explain about Malia or to tell him that they could never have a relationship. Either way she was losing something and she couldn't understand why losing Harry would hurt so much.
"Ginny?" Molly asked as she knocked on her daughter's door. Ginny wiped up her tears quickly and pointed her wand at the door. It flung open and what Molly saw saddened her. "Are you all right dear?"
"Oh mum," Ginny whimpered and then burst into tears all over again. Molly rushed to Ginny's side and began to pat her on the back. Molly knew this had something to do with the way Harry had pulled her aside after the wedding, but she couldn't for the life of her figure out why she was so upset.
"How about you clean up a bit, change your clothing and come down to the kitchen for a cup of tea. We can discuss everything then," Molly said comfortingly and Ginny hugged her mother.
"You always know what is best for me mum," she said and sent her mother downstairs to make tea.
"What am I going to do?" Ginny wailed as she paced back and forth in the kitchen. She had just finished explaining everything to her mother and Molly was desperately trying to calm her daughter down but nothing seemed to work. Natalie had walked in asking her grandmother for a snack when she saw her mother break down and cry.
"What's wrong mum?" Natalie asked. Ginny said nothing, but she took Natalie into her arms and held her tightly to her chest.
"Ginny dear, maybe you should tell him the truth," Molly said encouragingly. Ginny just shook her head in mortification.
"I can't just tell him that Natalie is his daughter. He will be so angry with me mum, he'll never want to speak to me again," she cried.
"I thought that you didn't want to have anything to do with him. Didn't you say that you didn't trust him and that you can't love someone who could have an affair? Why do you want him to talk to you?" Molly said pleasantly as she tidied up the kitchen. She smiled to herself; proud of the way she had handled that. Any moment now her daughter was going to start trying to explain herself.
"Mum, don't worry I already told Harry he is my daddy," Natalie said happily.
At her confession all hell broke loose.
"I have to tell him, to explain to him why I kept it a secret," Ginny stammered.
Molly sighed slowly and looked to the dance floor. Ron and Hermione were swaying to the music, staring lovingly into each other's eyes. Arthur was dancing with a very pregnant Katie, who kept stopping to massage her large belly and take deep breaths. Molly turned to her daughter with an exasperated smile.
"He has been in love with you for a long time Ginny dear, just tell him. He has to understand that you were scared," Molly said comfortingly.
"That is the thing mum, I'm never scared!" Ginny moaned. Molly rubbed Ginny's back and watched for Harry. He was on the other side of the dance floor and he was chatting with Megan who was keeping an eye on her very mischievous twins.
"Everyone is scared sometimes, and yours was a very understandable fear."
"Was it though?" Ginny demanded. Molly threw up her hands in the air and stood up.
"I give up Ginny; figure out your life on your own. I'm going to look for my little Natalie; none of this is her fault," Molly said sternly and began to walk away.
"Are you saying that it is all my fault then?" Ginny asked coldly.
"You are a grown woman, make your own choices, but don't blame any of it on your daughter. She is just a little girl," Molly said calmly and walked off.
Ginny sighed and then froze. Harry was walking purposefully over to her and she couldn't find any reason to leave. "Hello Ginny," he said huskily. Ginny's inside's melted away.
"Hello Harry."
"May I have this dance?" he asked. Ginny realized that another song had started to play and tears sprang into her eyes. It was their song.
"You are the only person I will ever dance with to this song," Ginny said and she stood up and took his hand. "Iris" began to play and Ginny was swept onto the floor in Harry's arms.
"And I'd give up forever to touch you
Cause I know that you feel me somehow
You're the closest to heaven that I'll ever be
And I don't want to go home right now."
The words were playing through her mind and Ginny realized that it had never been truer than it was now. Harry was looking down at her, his beautiful green eyes burning with passion and… love.
"And you can't fight the tears that ain't coming
or the moment of truth in your lies
when everything feels like the movies
Yeah you bleed just to know you're alive."
Ginny knew that her time had come to tell Harry the truth. He already knew about her lie, all she had to do was tell him why… but she couldn't do it. Her throat was constricting, her words were stuck and she couldn't speak.
"I don't want the world to see me
Cause I don't think that they'd understand
When everything's made to be broken
I just want you to know who I am."
The song finished up and Ginny stopped, looking up into Harry's eyes. "Harry, I…"
"Good Lord… Katie!"
Harry and Ginny turned and saw Katie on the floor, holding her stomach tightly and breathing hard. Ginny screamed and rushed to her side. "What's going on?"
"She's going into labor," George said softly and he stroked his wife's face. Ginny looked back and forth from Katie to George and realized how much he loved her. She hadn't had that when she had had Natalie.
Harry was suddenly at her side and Ginny felt calm. "How do we get her to St. Mungo's? Is she in any state to apparate?" Harry asked. He had taken Katie's hand and he was stroking it lightly. It seemed to have some effect on her because she had stopped groaning and her breathing was evening out.
"Katie, can you apparate? I can help you if you need it," George said. Katie nodded and George helped her to her feet. She grabbed her stomach and swayed against her husband, turning a sickly green.
"We'll meet you there in a few minutes," Fred said and George dissaparated with Katie clutched tightly in his arms.
"That was a lovely end to the evening," Hermione said softly and Ron wrapped his arms around her shoulders.
"At least it was memorable," he teased. Hermione grinned and kissed her husband affectionately.
"Let's get changed and meet George at St. Mungo's," Harry suggested and everyone nodded and went their own ways. Harry walked back to the Burrow leaving Ginny alone. She had her reprieve but instead of feeling relieved she was upset. Why did Harry always do this to her?