Okay, so I've been a bad person and not writing/updating. Shame on me, I'm sorry. But thank you for the reviews! And I promise to get my head back into the game, and the reviews have all been wonderful bits of encouragement.
Okay, think this through, get things out in the open. Ginny's mind ordered.
"What do normal people do when they're pregnant..?" Ginny wondered out loud, alone in her apartment and chatting to herself as she tried to follow her mind's order. At this point, Julio wondered out from wherever he had been hiding from who knows what to peer at her, casting little kitty judgment. Ignoring him, Ginny went over her list of options.
"There's Fleur and Bill, they don't stop having kids, but they'll turn me over to Mum and Dad…Charlie and Jana have done a good job with Marty, but they'll encourage me going and telling Harry and seeing Mum and Dad, George and Angelina, who knows what they'll do, probably make me practice with Freddie, and Percy and Audrey would just laugh in my face if I came to them, if they're capable of laughing…Ron and Hermione are hopefully infertile, their kid'll be so messed up it'll just eat and read, so it'll be obese and know every disease that'll bring."
Ginny looked at the many pictures she had on her mantelpiece to continue trying to figure this out. There was Luna and Rolf's wedding photo, but those two were off in some mountain range, testing the amount of poison in some new plant that only grew where mountain goats sleep. There was Nikki, Ginny's best friend from back in her world traveling days, who was still in Phoenix, now not only a tattoo artist, but the manager of the shop where Ginny had once worked and they both met.
There were plenty of pictures of her family, but they had already been voted off the possibility island. A picture of her and Collin, her best friend from school, someone who would be beyond useful in a situation like this. Despite getting star struck and self absorbed at times, he was the kind of person who could handle a crisis like no other. Most people didn't realize this since he was often left out of the equation from the Chamber of Secrets fiasco from her first year since he was one of the basilisks many victims.
"Way to get in the way of my life again, death." Ginny muttered angrily. It seemed every guy, whether it was best friends or fiancés fell into the cold clutches of death when they spent too much time around Ginny, including both Colin and the muggle she almost married from back when she was in Phoenix, her Sonny.
That did it, the tears started up again, and felt herself about to burst from the inside out, which would make a huge mess in her almost clean flat.
Then, there, there it was. The answer, the last photograph on the mantle held the images of the exact people she needed right then, without so much as a second thought, Ginny felt the familiar sensation of apparation.
She dropped herself onto the floor of the Leaky Cauldron, and without so much as a second glance, the bartender on duty pointed the red head upstairs, to where the people she was so desperately seeking were apparently located.
With a shaky knock, Ginny tried her best to not let it all out on the doorstep, which was in a hallway, but felt herself growing weaker by the second.
Finally, the door swung open, and a slightly confused but otherwise pleased wizard opened it.
"Dear, Ginny's here!" Neville cordially called to his no longer pregnant wife as he grinned at the unexpected guest. Almost instantly, Ginny's defenses gave in and she burst into tears, once again. "And her eyes are…sweating?" Neville couldn't remember the last time Ginny had actually cried, this was all a bit too bizarre.
Hannah Abbott-Longbottom came out of the back room, which was really the baby's room, with said baby on her shoulder, to put her maternal instincts to use on someone who could actually understand them.
"Oh, c'min, dear, move, Neville, let her on the couch. Honestly, it's like you've never seen a woman cry! I cried all the time when I was expecting Allison."
"Yeah, but you were pregnant! You were expected to cry. Ginny never cries."
"What? A woman has to be pregnant for it to be acceptable to cry? So, unless Ginny's pregnant, this behavior is totally unacceptable?"
"Please stop saying pregnant!" Ginny broke into their friendly banter, looking up from her hands for the first time since Hannah had positioned her on their plush couch.
A moment of realization hit the married couple, and they stared wide eyed, blindsided for a moment, before snapping back into action.
"I'm going to go make some tea." Neville announced, going towards the kitchen, "Some very strong tea for me."
"Ginny, you're not--are you? Oh, Merlin, you are!" Hannah breathed out, completely shocked.
"I don't know how this happened! Well, I do, but still!" Ginny answered, totally frazzled.
"Here," Hannah started, handing off the little baby to the redhead, "you hold her, she's just been changed, woke up for that, she won't even fuss, I'm going to go help my hopeless husband find the alcohol he wants to put in his tea. It's still hidden from the last time his Gran was over."
"But--"
"You'll be fine, Gin, you've held her countless times before." With that, Hannah followed the same path that her husband had just taken, leaving the baby in the arms of Ginny.
"Hi, Allie," Ginny muttered to the baby, who instead of sleeping like she usually did, stared at Ginny wide eyed and made spit bubbles. Only two months old, Allison Renee Longbottom had left the realm of pink thing and entered to world of being a pretty baby.
She was born with a head full of auburn hair, and despite it being so soft and wispy, it was still there. She currently had the same chubby cheeks that had plagued Neville all through his first years at Hogwarts, but they were working much better for her than they ever had for him, and she had almond shaped eyes that had turned the same shade of dark gray as Hannah's.
The baby was a very balanced mix of both parents, but Neville always claimed that she took more after him since he was named after her, since he was Alice's son, and she was Allison. His Gran laughed at that joke every time she heard it, and upon the birth of her great-granddaughter, she'd been over at their home to hear it quite a few times. The flowers shop the pair had been in charge of when Ginny returned was long since sold, now a magical cobblers that had virtually no business as magical people had no problem fixing their own shoes, as Hannah had flat-out refused to be a boring mum.
"A mother who owns a flower shop while her husband teaches? I don't think so! Far too dull for me, we Hufflepuff aren't dull. I have a keen business sense, I'll do just fine running the Leaky Cauldron!" she had argued to her husband, who'd never been able to refuse his wife, so naturally she got what she wanted. Luckily, she really did have a keen business sense and their business was flourishing.
"You should know now that you've already got your daddy wrapped around your very little finger," Ginny cooed to the baby, walking about the room and swaying her a bit. "Same as your mum. Do try and use this power for good, your daddy is a rather nice person."
Ginny let out a sigh as she continued pacing, Allie gurgling a bit, stopping the spit bubbles. "Look at me, Allie, I'm a complete mess! And your mum won't like hearing you being called by your short name, but I keep telling her, you're far too small to have such a big name. That's how I ended up as Ginny, Percy said it was ridiculous to call a little baby Ginevra. That's my full name, isn't it absolutely huge? And isn't it even more bizarre that Percy was the one to decide that? It is, trust me."
With a few more paces around the room, Ginny decided it was time to admit defeat. "All right, Hannah, you win." she called to the kitchen, "I'm not quite as scared about this whole p-word thing. Your daughter's convinced me."
"I knew you'd change your mind!" Hannah chirped, returning from the kitchen with two cups of tea. "And feel free to watch her as often as you need, even on weekend nights, if that'll help." the mum beamed.
Ginny gave Hannah the most sarcastic look a face could muster. "Gee, you're an amazing friend."
Mere hours later, Ginny found herself facing the perilous situation head on. Or, hat on.
I look good in hats, I should wear them on some occasion besides disguising myself. Ginny internally complimented herself.
With a knit hat pulled down so far it took over her ears, and a shapeless jacket, along with huge sunglasses that dominated her face, she didn't quite look like Ginny Weasley. Which was exactly what she needed right then, because Ginny Weasley was not the person to be.
Despite the break up being two whole days ago, some idiot (probably Ron) had leaked to the press that it was over with her and Harry. Luckily, the whole p-word thing was yet to be mentioned, but it was almost undoubtedly going to happen if she was recognized at St. Mungo's.
With a sigh of something that could have very well been remorse, she apparated over to the hospital. Alone. Minus the fetus-thingy that needed to be checked out.
With as much fake confidence as she could muster, Ginny in her new super stealth style went over to the receptionist on the floor that most resembled what Ginny needed.
"Yes?" the old woman asked, not looking up from the three quills that were scribbling about around her.
"I need to see a mediwitch. Or wizard, but preferably witch." Ginny stated, trying to get a peek at the apparently very important documents.
"What's the problem?" the receptionist asked, banishing the documents out of sight so as to keep Ginny's wandering eyes from getting them both in trouble.
"My uterus has been invaded."
"What?"
"I think I'm pregnant. I'm almost positive. I mean, the test was positive."
"Name?"
"Um, is this the name you'll call out when it's time for me to go get my lady bits poked at?"
"Well, yes…"
"If I tell you my real name, will you call out a fake one?"
"What?"
"I don't want everyone to know my real name, but I'll put it on any paperwork or whatever, but could you not call me by my name? I'd rather not everyone here know who I am…"
"Er, all right. Put your thumb on the top of this document, it'll take all your information if you hold it there long enough. What name should I call out?"
"Jennifer."
"Jennifer what?"
"I don't know, make something up. Be creative!"
Ginny gave what she thought was a dazzling grin to the receptionist, but the woman did not look the least bit won over as she handed over pages of important looking paper work. Placing her hands in the designated areas, Ginny watched with some horror as her fingerprints divulged some very personal, but apparently relevant information.
I certainly don't see how that's necessary… Ginny's mind grumbled as she looked over the information that she had just shared.
"Jennifer…Starfish?" the medical student called, looking a bit confused at her chart.
"Here! I mean, coming!" Ginny just about jumped out of her chair with nerves, making her fellow waiting room patrons look at her, much to Ginny's horror.
The student handed Ginny a paper robe that really wasn't what she would wear by choice, especially since St. Mungo's is notoriously cold, and was left to sit and wait for a healer to have the time to pop in and see her.
"Ah! Ms.--Starfish, no, wait, Weasley!" an older with iron colored hair and ridiculously blue eyes finally made her way into the tiny exam room, making Ginny jump off the table, only to have to climb back onto it, her face a bit red.
"Yeah, I kinda have to keep this whole thing under wraps." Ginny explained, wishing her doctor wouldn't read the paper work with such attention to detail.
"Understandable. Says here that you're single, but I read in the paper that you're with Harry Potter, right? The Boy Who Lived?" the healer asked, blinking at Ginny.
"We're sort of on a break, more of the reason that I'm trying to keep this under wraps, don't want the Daily Prophet telling everyone about the contents of my uterus." Ginny laughed nervously, wishing she'd been able to find a healer who didn't read about her in publications.
"Right, right, so before we get this exam started, have any questions for me?" the mediwitch asked, getting back into professional mode.
"Only one," Ginny started, solemnly, "will you respect me after this? Look me in the eye in the morning?"
"Feet up in the stirrups, Starfish."