Thanks to all the people who've shown an interest in this story, especially UnexpectedInspiration, HighSummonerMelecca, Rasberry-Posicle, Beatrice Potter, Literati & Naley Forever and HopelesslyXobsessed for their reviews. I've changed a few things from the original version of this chapter because of reviews, so I'm not just agreeing and then doing nothing about it! I probably should have warned people at the start that some of the characters would have to be at least slightly OOC, or I wouldn't have a plot!
Disclaimer: See previous chapter.
Dear Diary,
It's born. A girl, who currently has no name. Her birthday is the 15th August, four days after mine, and she's tiny. She cries all the time; I'm getting practically no sleep. And all this is going on while I have to mourn everyone who died during the war. Lupin. Mad-Eye. Dobby. Colin. Fred.
Hogwarts is opening soon, with extra places for those like Dean, Ron and Hermione who missed the last year. I'm not going back. I've got to look after my daughter. Looking at her, there's no doubt who her parents are. She's got bright red hair and freckles (which, although not entirely unexpected, was a pleasant surprise when I first saw her) and has Harry's bright green eyes. After dreading the birth for so long, I'm amazed how beautiful she is. But Harry still doesn't know about her.
Harry. He's on the run. I can't believe they're doing this to him, but the new Minister, Raymond Hollyback, is charging him with a load of things he did last year, that he had to do to defeat Voldemort. They're even saying he murdered 'Tom Riddle' and the "fugitive" he harboured is Sirius – turns out he was never officially pardoned. Hollyback's trying to restore the Ministry by saying that even Saviours of the Wizarding World can't get away with breaking the law. He doesn't seem to care that if Harry hadn't broken the law, Voldemort would still be in power and he'd probably be dead.
Hermione is with her parents in Australia and Ron is visiting. Harry's with them for the moment, and I've owled him to let him know what happened as a result of our Christmas misdemeanours. I wasn't at the Battle – mum wouldn't let me go back to Hogwarts after Easter, when it had become obvious that I was pregnant. Too many questions would be asked. That meant that I didn't know what was happening until Kingsley stumbled through the fireplace to tell Tonks the bad news about Lupin. I'd been at Andromeda's house with her, Tonks and Teddy for the duration of the fighting. I think Tonks would have left for Hogwarts if I hadn't been there – she was getting so agitated.
I was so upset at hearing that my brother and several of my friends were dead that it didn't process at first that Harry had won. By the time I realised that I could see him and tell him our secret, he was gone.
At first he just wanted to get away from everything, but then Raymond Hollyback was named Minister for Magic and he released the charges. There was such an outcry at first, but then he made a statement revealing what Harry had done during his year out of school and people began to get used to the idea.
George has disappeared as well. He's hardly spoken a word since Fred died, and then just left one day, saying he needed some space. Tonks is coping as well as can be expected, while Teddy takes up a lot of her time. I'm not naming my baby until Harry sees her. I'm sure he wants her more than I do and as soon as these charges are dropped he can have her. It's not as if I hate her, I just want a normal life for a 17-year-old. I want to go back to Hogwarts, play quidditch, get a job... So long as I have a baby to look after, I can't do any of that. Mum's helping, but she's finding it really hard to cope with Fred's death.
I'm just putting everything to the back of my mind and trying to forget about it until I can find a private time and place to fall apart over it. My daughter seems to be the only way to forget about everything. She's a welcome distraction for the time being. Until I can break down without disturbing her or anyone else... well, I'll just have to cope.
I hope Ginny seemed a bit warmer towards the baby in this chapter, at least that was my intention. Virtual fairy cakes to all those who review!