Late January, 2003

Saturday night Ron finished up around the shop just before he was to meet up with Luna, Harry and Ginny. He wasn't sure annoyed him more: Ginny's erratic behavior, or Luna's insistence that he saw a future with her, and was somehow unnerved by that.

I like to eat. Therefore, I'd prefer to be with someone who likes to cook. That's it. There's nothing bigger behind it. We've been together for three bloody weeks; I'm certainly not thinking that far ahead.

After all, Ron had never been much for thinking ahead.

That would be mad. This is just a fun…he thought of her laughing in the firelight, and her bravery in the face of all that she'd been through. Nope, definitely don't love with her or anything. Just a crush and a fun distraction.

He flooed back to The Burrow to grab a change of clothes and wait for the others. Ginny's coat was hung over a kitchen chair and the door to her room was ajar. Great, she's early. Wonder if she'll freak out at me again today. He tiptoed across the landing, hoping that she wouldn't hear. Then he could just wait until Harry or Luna got there as a buffer. But as he passed her door, he heard muffled sobs.

Ron let out a long breath. No one else was home…should he check on her, or keep tiptoeing past? "Ugh," he muttered as he made up his mind. "Might as well risk my neck. She is my little sister."

So he tapped on her door a few times. "Ginny? Everything OK?"

Ginny jumped up from the bed, spilling photo albums and scrapbooks around herself with a little yelp. "Sorry, just cleaning some things out for mum…" She said as she began gathering things up, shoving them in a sack. When she turned around, she looked surprised to find Ron there. "What?!"

"You're upset. Mum's at Bill's all weekend, so I guess I'm stuck dealing with you."

With a mocking tone, she replied, "thanks, Ron. You're the best." Ginny pushed past him toward the bathroom. "Let's just get through dinner."

Ron grabbed her arm (her wand arm, mind you, he didn't want to get hexed). "Wait, Ginny…uh, is everything okay? Dinner was your idea, after all."

She glared at him and yanked her arm away. "I'm fine. I just need to wash my face." And she slammed the door in his face.

Ron ran up to his room to change, and when he came back down, the door was still closed. He knocked.

"Piss off, Ron."

"That's the thing, Ginny. We only have one bathroom. And I'm not going outside."

She flung the door open, tears still in her eyes. "Fine."

But when he stepped out of the bathroom, she was sitting on the landing, thumbing through an old scrapbook, still crying. He stood next to her and raised a hand to pat her on the back. Then lowered it. He wasn't a fool. Instead, he leaned in to look at the scrapbook.

On one page was a young – maybe twelve or thirteen-year-old – Ginny, sitting alone in the library, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear as she studied. On the next, she was sandwiched between the twins on the common room couch, a scowl on her face. They took turns poking at her sides. The picture next to that was from the same day, Ginny sitting a few seats away from Ron, Hermione and Harry at the Gryffindor table, looking slightly lost and forlorn.

She turned the page, as if she didn't notice him there. The next page showed Ginny and Luna, heads bent together in the Charms classroom, giggling while Flitwick shook his head. In another picture, Colin threw his arm over Ginny's shoulders while she shrank away a bit, then gave in and smiled for the camera.

"Luna took that one," Ginny said, acknowledging Ron's presence.

"You made this?"

"No, Colin did. He gave it to me Christmas my second year…everyone knew what happened my first year. No one would talk to me but Luna and Colin, and he thought it would cheer me up."

"Nice of him."

"Yeah, well, the whole second half is pictures of Harry." She ran her fingers over the picture of her and Colin. "He was so determined to be my friend, even though I was okay with just Luna." She sniffled again and turned the page. On this one, she sat in the Quidditch stands with Fred, who was waving his arms wildly. "He was explaining to me how to play. I let him think I didn't know so he wouldn't tell mum I'd been nicking his broom."

"So did the album cheer you up?"

"It did. And Colin ate lunch with me and talked to me in Transfiguration, and eventually I made more friends. He was a good guy." Tears shown in her eyes.

They sat quietly for a minute. "You miss him," Ron said, uncomfortable in the silence. "Is that what's been bugging you lately?"

Ginny let out a loud sob. "I can't help it…every time I do something like graduate or get married or—or- I just can't stop thinking. They didn't get to. Fred didn't get to, Colin didn't get to. Why should I? And then I get mad at Harry and you for not letting me help in the war…"

"We just wanted to keep you safe."

She snorted. "Yeah, safe. Safe to get Crucio'd and watch my friend get kidnapped and not know where my boyfriend or my brother or Hermione was for months on end."

"Technically he wasn't your boyfriend at the time."

She glared at him, her eyes red-rimmed. "Shove it, Ron. You know what I mean. And why did everyone want to keep me safe? And not Hermione or Colin or Dean…"

Ron sat down on the step next to her. "We were wrong, you know? We just did what we thought was best. You were underage…"

"But no one asked me. Everyone just made choices for me, like I was a child, to keep me safe, and you know what? I had to go along with it. And it didn't keep me safe. I mean, at the end of it all I was alive and uninjured, but I couldn't grieve, Ron. Harry needed me. Mum needed me. George, you, Hermione, Dean, even Bill."

Ron cleared his throat, which had a suspicious lump. "Ginny, you just had to say the word. We would have figured it out."

"For a long time I could do it. I could calm myself down and remind myself that, as bad as it is, it could be worse. I was tortured, but Luna was kidnapped. I was sad, but Mum was barely functioning. Harry…Harry died, Ron…"

"I'm aware." The lump was bigger and tears pressed at the backs of his eyes. He didn't dare close them. In moments like this, if he closed his eyes he'd see Harry's body, sprawled out at Voldemort's feet.

"And I miss Fred and Colin, but George and Dennis…they're worse off. Colin was one of my best friends, but Dennis was his brother. And Fred was my brother, but George was his twin…And sometimes this horrible person inside me comes out and wishes I had some kind of claim to grief…like I could be the one that people took care of and owled to check on. And I'm a terrible person…

Ron risked losing his hand and gingerly patted her on the back. "That's…messed up, Gin."

She didn't' seem to have heard him. "Even if Harry had died, everyone would have focused on you and Hermione." Ginny burst into fresh sobs.

Ron was frozen with panic. He considered finding his mum or Luna or someone.

Then Ginny said in a childlike voice, "Luna was the only one…"

"The only one what?"

"The only one who owled and cared asked me how I was doing. Everyone else ignored me or asked how you or Mum or Harry was."

"Oh."

"And then she left...her dad made her leave England and she couldn't even come back for my wedding. We wrote, but it wasn't the same. But when Luna came back, a little part of me hoped I'd get my chance to grieve. I didn't expect her to dote on me or anything, but Luna's always been my friend. I didn't have to share her. I could tell her my awful thoughts and horrible feelings and she'd just listen and offer some weird explanation, and the world would make sense again."

Ron tried again to swallow around the lump, but it was stuck. "I didn't mean to…" No other words would come.

"And do you know how much the past year sucked for me, Ron?" Ginny's sobbing had turned to a strange hybrid of sadness and anger. "First, I'm an alternate for the World Cup team. An alternate. I lost out to Luanne Schubert. She couldn't hit the hoop if it was up her arse. Then, we go to Bulgaria and I have to spend the whole time with the Bulgarian alternates, AKA, the Fleur Delecour-Weasley fan club. Apparently she's spent the past 9 years as some sort of mythical pin-up girl over there. Then, I get back here and find that you've quit your job and need to be coddled some more."

"In my defense, I never asked you to coddle me. Mum does it enough as it is."

"So then, Harry was all worried about you and missing you at work, and I had to hear him whine like a lovesick school girl."

"Not my fault he's questionable." Ron's tried to keep the annoyed edge out of his voice. His sister's problems weren't his fault.

"Then you start stealing my friend, writing her all the time and rescuing her and I find the two of you cuddled up on the couch on Christmas morning."

"Look," Ron said, standing up to go downstairs, "I'm sorry I 'stole' your friend. I didn't mean to. And you thought it was funny at the time, until you turned into some sort of lunatic."

Tears started bubbling in Ginny's eyes again. "I didn't know what was wrong with me, I was just so angry and upset, and thinking about everything made it worse. I spent days and days feeling like I could explode or sob at any moment. You were just the easiest person to be mad at until...until I figured it out."

"That you're pregnant?"

The Burrow had never been as silent as it was in that moment. Ginny's mouth fell open and her eyes burned with tears and rage. "He told you? He told you? I don't care if Voldemort couldn't do it, I'm going to find him and murder him."

"What?" Ron panicked, the gears turning in his head. "No! No, Harry didn't tell me. Luna figured it out a few weeks ago."

Ginny visibly deflated, slumping down and leaning against the wall. "Oh. Of course she did. And of course she told you."

"Don't kill Harry. Please."

"Then should I pick you or Luna?" Ginny's face reddened again with anger.

"Neither?" Ron was a bit terrified of his sister in that moment. He searched the room for her wand, hoping to grab it before she started hexing. But Ginny's not stupid, she's got it on her somewhere. The floo roared to life below them and Ron felt a flood of relief. At least there will be a witness.

"Ron?" Luna's head appeared around the corner as she began climbing the stairs.

She stopped short when she saw the Weasley siblings on the landing. Ginny's eyes were red and her jaw was set, and Ron was cowering away from her.

"Oh," said Luna as she stared at them. She glanced back and forth, as if deciding whose side to pick, or who to comfort first.

Pick Ginny, pick Ginny, Ron thought desperately. Ginny probably wouldn't kill Luna. Probably. But she'd definitely kill him, and maybe Harry. Actually, Harry was surely on his way by now, and should be warned or something. No one likes an ambush.

Luna laid a hand on Ron's shoulder as she passed him, and kissed his cheek. "We'll be back!" she said cheerfully, and she slung her arm through Ginny's and led her into her bedroom. Ginny sent a dirty look back Ron's way.

Ron let go of the breath he was holding and leaned his head against the wall. There were only a few people in the world he was afraid of: his mum, Ginny, and Hermione were on that list. Only when they were angry, mind you. Through the thin walls, he could hear the murmur of voices. They didn't sound too angry. But still a little angry.

Ron crept down the stairs and pulled out his wand.

"My sister's bloody crazy, mate. Luna's calming her down, but you should get here soon. Wear one of those cricket cup things Dean mentioned." Then Ron send the patronus off to Harry at work.

Ron sat to eat a sandwich, and a few minutes later Harry stepped out of the floo, looking frazzled. "Hey, mate. I was on my way out anyway, so I came straight here. Is Ginny okay?"

"Yeah, she's up in her room with Luna...uh…I don't know how long they'll be."

Harry sat down and leaned his head in his hands. "What set her off this time?"

Ron wasn't quite sure how to broach the subject. "Well, I got here and she was already upset, looking at some old scrapbooks."

"She mentioned grabbing a few of those while she was here tonight."

"Well, you know how she gets if I'm around when she's upset"

Harry nodded and grabbed a corner of Ron's sandwich. "So did you say anything stupid to make it worse?"

"Well…I…" Ron reckoned he might as well come out with it. He took a deep breath. "I may have let it slip that Luna figured out about the baby."

"The baby?" Harry looked panicked. "What…baby?"

"She confirmed it mate. Then threatened to kill you, me and Luna. But Luna figured out weeks ago that she's pregnant." He looked at Harry and raised his eyebrows.

A grin spread over Harry's face. "Thank Merlin. I'm tired of keeping it a secret. She's just been so…."

"Crazy?"

"Unpredictable." Harry summoned himself a Butterbeer and opened it. "I want to be excited, but when I mention it, I never know what I'm going to get. And she refuses to talk about it. At. All. She won't even tell your mum."

"It? Is that what you're calling the baby?" Ron raised his own Butterbeer in Harry's direction. "Congratulations then, by the way."

Harry smiled. "Since your parents are still around, I'd love to name the baby after mine. James for a boy, Lily for a girl."

"But Ginny won't talk about it?"

"I think she's in denial. She has to report to the Harpies in two weeks and she's planning like she's going back to the team. The Healer said Professional Quidditch is too risky during a pregnancy, but Ginny hasn't even owled Gwenog."

"Well, Harry, I'm sorry you haven't noticed this yet, but you married a crazy person."

"Rich, coming from you."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

Harry raised an eyebrow and pointed to the rack in the hallway. Luna had hung her cloak there, and topped it with a Ravenclaw blue, McGonagall-style pointed hat. An animated bronze eagle swooped around the top, "caw-ing" occasionally.

Ron huffed. "I'm not married to her! Just dating. You went and made it permanent with my sister."

Harry had to acquiesce to that one.

A few minutes later, the girls came downstairs. Ginny looked calmer, and chirped, "okay, let's go!" in Ron and Harry's direction. The boys shared a look.

"Shouldn't we talk about this?" Ron asked, raising his eyebrows at his sister.

She huffed. "Fine. I'm pregnant, and it makes me crazy. We're going to a muggle restaurant where I can eat two tons of pasta and no one will ask me or Harry for an autograph. I'm not mad at you or Luna, but we're not going to talk about anything else. That cover it?" Ginny crossed her arms, and Luna stroked her shoulder a few times.

"Just about," Ron replied, not willing to press the issue more, "which Muggle restaurant?"

Harry and Ginny shared a look. "The Italian one by Mungo's," Harry said. "We figured we'd apparate into the alley by the phone booth."

Luna and Ron nodded, and Luna went to don her cloak and hat.

"Muggle restaurant…" Ginny reminded her.

Luna looked up and down her outfit, puzzled. "What should I change?"

Ginny replied, "the hat. The cloak. Maybe the necklace…" Luna was wearing butterbeer corks.

Luna blinked a few times. "Why?"

Harry gave Ron a pointed look at the question.

Instead of arguing, Ginny transformed the cloak to a muggle overcoat, the hat into a stocking cap (as it had begun snowing again), and the butterbeer corks into pendants. "Better," she said, then looked to Ron and flicked her wand at his cloak as well. She and Harry already had muggle overcoats.

Ron double checked that Luna was wearing shoes.

Luna wrapped her arms around Ron's waist and apparated them to the alley, followed shortly by Harry and Ginny. Ron wrapped an arm around Luna's shoulders as they walked, trying to blend into Muggle London. Ginny and Harry led the way, holding hands and whispering.

Once they'd been seated at the restaurant, Ginny dug into the bread and olive oil. She seemed to forget that anyone else was sitting with her in the dimly lit dining room.

"Ginny," Ron stage-whispered across the table, "save some for the rest of us."

Harry's eyes widened and he shook his head a few times. Ginny fixed Ron in her gaze. The candle on the table reflected in her eyes, making them glow in a somewhat frightening way.

"Your funeral," Harry muttered, suddenly absorbed in his drink. Luna watched the siblings with mild interest, occasionally distracted by a passing muggles.

"Say it again, Ron," Ginny said, her voice low and even.

"I'm kidding," he said, panic rising as he stared across the table at her, wishing he'd sat across from Harry instead. "I'm kidding," he repeated.

"Not a good joke," she said, still staring at him. "You're lucky we're not at the Leaky. And that muggles look askance at tiny bats in your nose."

Ron swallowed hard.

"Why do they all keep talking into those little boxes?" Luna broke in, trying to change the subject. She gestured toward a woman at the next table, murmuring into a small electronic.

"Cell phones…like talking mirrors but not magical," Harry explained, happy for the distraction. So happy, in fact, that he explained cell phones and their various uses until the waiter came to take their orders.

Ron bit his tongue when Ginny ordered an appetizer and entrée, with no hint of sharing. As the waiter retreated to the kitchen, Harry avoided Ron's gaze, stealing glances at his wife as she shoveled down more bread. Luna stared at a man who had pulled out a tiny computer. She looked as if she were about to rise and interrogate him about it, so Ron put a hand on her leg, holding her there.

As if surprised to see everyone, Luna blinked at them a few times, then cocked her head to the side. "How far along are you, Ginny?"

Ron nudged her under the table and panic returned to Harry's eyes.

Ginny looked at Luna, and for a moment, Ron was sure she'd start hexing. Instead, her voice was quiet and unsure. "Ten weeks. I think. We're not really sure when.."

Luna thought for a moment. "So you're due at the end of August?"

"That's what the healer said. Things aren't always…regular…what with my training schedule, so they're not sure."

Ron didn't really want to know any more.

"When did you find out?" Luna asked. Harry seemed to relax a bit as Ginny willingly talked to Luna.

"Just after New Years. I was so tired all the time, so I went in. Surprise." A hint of a smile played at Ginny's mouth in spite of her sarcasm.

"Oh, it wasn't planned. How fun! Daddy always says that if a baby is a surprise, the fates surely wanted that child here for a purpose. Your baby will do great things!" Luna was quietly clapping her hands in glee.

Ginny gave her a genuine smile. "Thanks, Luna. That really means a lot."

The rest of dinner was quiet, but more relaxed. They chatted about Ministry gossip, WWW's new lines, and the latest issue of the Quibbler. During dessert, Luna asked Ginny about Quidditch. "What did Gwenog say when you told her?"

"I haven't yet," Ginny said around a mouthful of cannoli, "and we're not discussing it."

Harry closed his eyes briefly and looked as if he were counting to ten. Luna nodded.

As they made their way back to the alley by St. Mungo's, Ginny looked over to Ron. "You're staying at Grimmauld tonight, right? Mum and Dad aren't back until tomorrow."

Luna squeezed his hand and asked, "oh, where are your parents? Is this why there's no dinner tomorrow?"

"Yeah, they're staying with Victoire tonight while Bill and Fleur take a quick holiday. They'll be back Sunday night." He didn't really want to talk about why he was staying at Grimmauld.

"And Ron won't stay alone at the Burrow," chirped Ginny. Of course.

"It's creepy with no one there," he muttered. He didn't quite understand it, but he didn't want Luna thinking he was a coward, or afraid of being alone. Because he wasn't. Heck, he'd lived alone for a couple of years. It's just that the Burrow was different from his flat in London.

"I suppose when it's quiet and you're not used to it, it seems haunted by all that happened."

Ron and Ginny fell silent at Luna's words, and the four walked along lost in thought. As they passed St. Mungo's, Harry looked over at Luna. "You wanna stay, too? You can bunk with Ron or use Hermione's room if he snores too much. I could use someone else to run interference." He gestured to Ron and Ginny who were glaring at one another.

"Fun! Like a sleepover! Or like being back at Hogwarts, but with people who want me around!"

When they arrived at Grimmauld Place, Ginny set to making some tea, and the other three friends sat around the fire. Luna leaned her head on Ron's shoulder and looked to Harry. "So, Ginny seemed surprised that she was pregnant. I know it's rude to ask, but how did it happen?"

Ron thought about changing the subject, but he was equally curious. It was odd for witches and wizards to have accidental pregnancies, but he also knew that his parents had. Several times. And he'd never had the courage to ask them about it.

"Well, we use the spell, so I don't really know..." began Harry, oblivious to Ginny walking into the room behind him.

"Harry!" she chastized him, her voice hard. She set the teapot down on the table and put her hands on her hips, staring him down.

"Luna asked! I was just answering..."

Luna interrupted, "sorry, Ginny. I was curious. I realize it's not appropriate."

Ginny visibly deflated. "I'm sorry, I guess...I guess we can talk about it. I knew the spell wasn't always 100 percent—"

"It's not?!" asked Ron, his eyes widening.

Ginny shot him a dirty look, "—but it's a surprise when it happens to you."

Luna responded, "well, you have to mean it. The more a spell interferes with the roots of existence, the more it's susceptible to your feelings. Like, the Patronus hinges on your sense of joy and meaning, and the unforgiveables on your intent to hurt or control or kill, the contraceptive spell relies on your desire to not reproduce."

Ginny looked at her husband and narrowed her eyes. Harry stared back.

"You have to mean it, Harry," Ginny said coldly.

"I'm sorry! I didn't know, and you knew my feelings. If I'd known it depended on intent, I would have let you do it…" Harry stared at his teacup. "You didn't even know that, and you were raised with magic…"

"Of course, your parents probably didn't know either," Luna offered, as if the room hadn't fallen into awkward silence. "Although you'd think they'd have tried a different method after three or four children..." Ron nearly choked on his biscuit. She looked at him and patted his knee. "Don't worry Ron, I'm sure I'm using the right intent when I do the spell."

Harry disguised a chuckle with a sneeze, and Ginny was somewhere between horrified and amused.

"So anyway," Ginny continued, "it happened, and here we are."

"And we're not going to spend the rest of our lives blaming Harry, right?" asked Harry hopefully.

Ron snorted. "Good luck with that one." Ginny glared at him.