"Miss Ginny! It's Christmas! Wake up!" Eric said charging into the room,
"SH QUIET ERIC YOU'LL WAKE UP THE BABY!" Madison yelled hitting the back of his head
"Sorry," he whispered, "but hurry Santa came and brought presents!"
Ginny smiled, she rolled out of bed, pulled on some thick wool socks and put on her robe, easing her way down the stairs checking the clock. She had to leave by noon to make it to the apparition point in Lezin where she was meeting Dane by one.
"Happy Christmas!" she heard everyone squeal at one time or another, the twins tore through their presents while the adults seemed to browse through theirs a little slower, making easy conversation, reminiscing about Christmas' past. These were the times that made Ginny long for home, long for her parents, all her stupid brothers and their idiotic jokes, she even missed Fleur, even if it was in the tiniest smallest fragment.
Ginny went upstairs, she had an hour before she had to leave and meeting Dane's family was making her more and more nervous. She pulled on a pair of jeans and dark green sweater. She was lucky in her pregnancy she hadn't put on as much weight as women generally did, her slim figure had remained petite, the mediwitch at school attributed it to her age, yet Ginny was sure she probably hadn't been eating like she should, and the constant stressors put on her life weren't helping her appetite.
With a flick of her wand she was packed, her trunk made lighter, and then she sat. She had been feeling a little strange all day, very tired, and the stomach pains she usually attributed to gas were hitting every few hours. She sat breathing deeply on the bed, then at about ten minutes to noon she heard a knock on the door,
"Ginny?" it was Luke,
"Yes?"
"Its about that time, I'll be taking you to the preparation point," he sounded confused, she smiled,
"Apparation point?"
"Yes well, Jules is coming too, she just can't drive you herself,"
"Alright," she winced as she stood up,
"You feeling okay?" Luke asked picking up her bag,
"Yah she's just," she paused, "I'm fine"
Ginny fell asleep almost as soon as she got in the car.
"She's exhausted," Luke mentioned after about ten minutes of silence,
"She works to hard, she refuses to get any special treatment at school,"
"Hard headed?"
"More than anyone I have ever met," Julianne sighed,
"She's got spirit"
"True, but she's pregnant, she's ballooning, and the stress isn't healthy for her"
"Keep an eye on her, she needs you" he warned, Julianne laughed,
"I will, you seem to have taken a special interest in her," she said eyeing him carefully,
"She feels alone, I guess I can understand what its like going into parenthood feeling like that,"
It didn't take long before they reached the apparition point,
"Hey Gin," Julianne said nudging her, "we're here,"
"What, ow," she winced again, the girl was giving her a lot of trouble today, "Right okay thanks,"
"No problem, might want to dab some water on your face before you meet Dane's family,"
"Thanks," Ginny replied rolling her eyes and wiping the drool from her chin,
"Be safe, and take it easy Ginny," Luke said handing her bag to her from the trunk,
"Right," she said stifling a laugh,
"Owl me if you need anything," Julianne added,
"I will be fine, don't worry please, I'm fine," Ginny added walking up to the apparition point at a very steady somewhat unconfident pace,
"I love you hun, I'll see you back at school," Julianne said reaching to give Ginny a hug goodbye,
"Love you too, safe trip back,"
"Bye Ginny," Luke said reaching in for a hug,
"Take care of yourself kid," he whispered before they parted,
She nodded and smiled at them both before grabbing her bags and apparating.
"Ginny!" Dane yelled, separating from an older couple and making his way towards her, Ginny smiled,
"Hey!"
"Come here I missed you!" he said reaching out,
"I missed you too," though he had been on her nerves these last few weeks, she really had missed him, in all of his warmth and caring nature, and his hugs, big bear hugs,
"Ginny, it is so good to finally meet you," an older man said reaching out a hand, "I'm Aston Albright, and this is my wife, Abigail"
"Dane has told me so much about you" Ginny said reaching out a hand,
"Oh well we knew about you even before you started hanging around with Dane, you have quite the reputation in the defense field for being fierce," Ginny smiled, it seemed like such a long time ago,
"Well when your boyfriend is the wizard with the highest bounty you get to see a lot of action, and if you're not fierce you don't survive," his parents laughed
"Well then we may just be talking to the toughest witch of this generation," Aston commented
"Not hardly," she laughed, clutching her belly,
"Come on now lets head back to the house" Dane said before the conversation continued, "Come here Ginny grab my hand"
Before Ginny could say anything she was sucked in, the world sped fast around her, and then, it stopped and she was looking at some of the most beautiful mountains she had ever seen. Nestled between them was the kind of home that you had to look hard to find, an average sized home, with average looking angles, yet it seemed to have the most miraculous design in all its average appeal.
"Its amazing," was all she could utter, and again she found herself catching her own breath,
"You okay?" Dane said now looking worried,
"It's just the altitude I'm sure" he eyed her carefully as they made there way into the house,
The house smelt of sugar and cinnamon with a hint of ginger. The fireplace made it all glow in golden tones; it reminded her of the Burrow in all of its coziness.
"I love it," Ginny said smiling looking at Dane,
"I thought you might" Dane said watching her closely, "Let me take your bags upstairs," she nodded and handed him her bag,
"You can take a seat wherever dear, make yourself at home," Mrs. Albright said smiling and pointing over to the living area. Usually Ginny would have refused and asked to stay up and help but just now she was thinking she could use a rest. Something didn't feel just right, but she wasn't sure if it was necessarily wrong. She sat and carefully allowed herself to breath in and out.
Dane came down the stairs and stopped at the bottom to watch Ginny. Something wasn't right.
"What's wrong?" he asked quietly walking towards her,
"Just a little gas I'm sure," he didn't break eye contact,
"Really?"
"Its just a little more frequent than usual, I promise I'm nearly thirty weeks along, its supposed to get more painful, really, if it gets any worse I'll say something,"
"Okay, well dinners ready so come on, Mum's Christmas dinner is second to none," Ginny smiled,
"Well then I have a lot to be excited for I have had many a good Christmas Dinner,"
"Well over here my dear," he said helping her up and walking her over to the table,
"It's hard in that final trimester," Mr. Albright commented,
"I was on bed rest from stress with Dane," Mrs. Albright added in almost a groan
"Ginny's a trooper, she doesn't like to complain about anything,"
"That's because there is nothing to complain about," Ginny responded trying to sound bright and somewhat cheerful as her abdomen constricted once again, she gasped in pain,
Mrs. Albright looked startled, "Dear are you sure you are okay?"
"It's probably just gas, as embarrassing as that is to say,"
"Yes well if you have anymore I think we should head to St. Mungos, just to be safe," Ginny's eyes widened
"I really don't think that's necessary,"
"Worried about your anonymity?" Mr. Albright asked suddenly more aware of her situation, Dane gave him a sharp look,
"Why would you ask that?"
"Because she is a high profile case with an even higher profile ex-boyfriend, there is no doubt that a leak would cause a shudder in the Daily Prophet,"
"I primarily deal with my own medi-witch back at school" Ginny said quietly,
"Ginny, Aston and I have been in the defense program for years, I am sure we can call in a few favors if you wish," and then came another jut of pain, stronger than ever, it seemed she could barely breathe.
"Okay that's it," Dane said now standing up,
"I agree, let's go," Mr. Albright said definitively, Ginny was beginning to get scared, something was definitely wrong,
"Rough Day ay Harry?" Eddie Skeers from Quidditch Quarterly asked urgently
"Well as the season winds down players become more competitive, and players are also becoming more tired, which means they are at a greater potential risk for injury, now losing three starters in one game is rare,"
"How do you perceive your teammates will handle this?"
"Well I plan on going to St. Mungos to visit my friends, and I'm sure our team will recover, we have always shown great resiliency in the face of adversity,"
"Thank you for your time Mr. Potter, good luck the rest of this season," Harry nodded, Eddie was a fine reporter opinionated but fair, though he was not always kind he was always honest.
It had been an unexpectedly brutal game, though things looked bright at the beginning, after losing three of the original players and losing by 400 Harry could do nothing but catch the snitch and end the miserable defeat before any other players were injured by the burly Bulgarian defense.
He would return home for a shower, have his weekly dinner in the bar with Ron, and then head over to St. Mungos to laugh with his soon to be healed teammates.
"My Name is Aston Albright International Defense League, and I would like to call for a Level 5 confidentiality agreement with the patient I am bringing in," the medi-witches glanced urgently at each other and nodded leading him to a private exam room where Ginny, Dane, and Mrs. Albright followed.
Again Ginny felt an even stronger strain to her abdomen, and her lower back had been tightening up ever since they arrived at the hospital. She buckled over and seemed to have held her breath; slowly she let it out as they pulled up with a wheelchair.
"When did all of this start?" the mediwitch asked as Ginny changed into a hospital gown,
"Early this morning,"
"Have they gotten worse through out the course of the day?"
"Yes," she said now laying down on the bed,
"How many weeks?"
"Thirty," the mediwitch put her hand on Ginny's abdomen,
"Oh, okay, keep breathing Ginny," the medi-witch said in a pensive some what worried tone,
"What's wrong, is, is she okay?" Ginny said now feeling another cramp,
"Ginny I believe you are going through pre-mature labor," Ginny's face went white,
"What? What does that mean? She was healthy everything was fine,"
"Premature labor can happen for any number of reasons, have you been under a lot of stress lately?" Ginny put her head back and rolled her eyes, Dane piped up,
"Yes she has," the medi-witch nodded,
"That coupled with your petite size, and other factors unknown could lead to this,"
"What does that mean?" Ginny said now becoming frustrated,
"We will monitor you for the next hour and if your contractions continue to increase we will induce labor," Ginny nodded feeling another one coming on, they were getting stronger,
"However considering you have had what looks like two contractions since I've been in the room with you, I would suspect that we will have to deliver your baby prematurely,"
"Is that safe for her?" Ginny asked now becoming even more scared for her child,
"Because you are thirty weeks along, your baby is almost all developed, while she made need to spend some time in our ICU, I believe she will be just fine, her heart rate sounds strong, however if we let her stay in too long I fear it may cause fetal distress,"
"So she is going to be fine?" Ginny asked yet it sounded more like a demand,
"I will do everything I can Miss Weasley," Ginny let out a sigh of relief,
"Thank you—"
"Call me Adair,"
"Thank you Adair,"
As she left the Albrights followed her, Dane stayed behind with Ginny watching her monitors, and holding her hand as the pain came and went.
"This is to be kept completely confidential, no one is to know she is here outside from those who are absolutely needed," Mr. Albright said in his most intimidating voice,
"Yes, Mr. Albright"
"Thank you," the Albrights opted to sit outside the hospital room, while Dane stayed with Ginny,
"Owl Hermione, Dane I promised her you would tell her if anything happened, and um get Jules here," he looked a little alarmed, "I'll be fine Dane, really, I need my friends here with me,"
"What about-"
"Not now Dane I already told you, just wait okay,"
Ginny's mind was reeling, she didn't have a place for the baby yet, she thought she would have months before having to decide this. Everything felt like it was spinning so quickly out of control, everything she had worked so hard to maintain. And on came another contraction, she grabbed onto the bed rail tightly and gritted her teeth.
Dane walked into the room about fifteen minutes later, about fifteen minutes and two contractions later, Adair walked back into the room, looked over Ginny's charts and glanced back up,
"Its time Miss Weasley, your dilating, and your body isn't ready for her to come out but she thinks she is, so we are going to go in for a c-section,"
"You mean like cut me open and take her out," Ginny stated plainly,
"Essentially yes, it's the safest way Ginny"
"Okay if it will help her be safe then okay,"
And that is where I leave you, Im sorry I know its been forever since I last updated but the next chapter will be WONDERFUL I promise this one was written quickly and is not my best… so I apologize for that :-(