The little flower in life's garden III
For AJ, Happy Birthday! *hugs*
Ginny tried to look at her husband with a challenging expression, but the smile that was playing around the corners of her mouth betrayed her. Luna next to her only smirked.
Harry sighed, but as Ginny had expected, he bent down and picked up their four-year-old son James.
"We'll meet you at the restaurant?" The jet black haired man asked rather sheepishly.
Ginny only shook her head, giggling, and tightened her hand around little Albus' wrist.
Before leaving their house to meet with the platinum blonde witch in Muggle London, Harry had apparently made sure that James had put the present, which the little boy had made for his aunt Luna's birthday, into his backpack.
They had almost reached the nice little Italian restaurant when their son had stopped dead in his tracks, turned to his mother and - already being close to tears - whispered into her ear that the 'thunderbird' he had created was still sat on their kitchen table.
Since the whispered words word were not really whispered at all, Luna had naturally also heard the 'secret' conversation between mother and son.
Though being Luna, she of course would not have cared about getting a present, but since she knew that James had put so much effort into his work, she had casually mentioned that, "Jamie, dear, I'm sure your father will go back to the house with you to get whatever it is you have forgotten. Right, Harry?"
Harry had playfully glared at her.
"Yes, we'll meet the two of you there," Ginny answered with a smirk. "Just make sure to hurry, or we might start dinner without you."
This time Harry's eyes widened. He wasn't quite sure if his wife was joking; women - especially the ones 8 month pregnant - were as he had experienced very unpredictable whenever it came to food.
"Come on, Jamie, let's better hurry or Mummy will eat all our pizza," with that, he held onto his son and apparated away.
Both Luna and Ginny burst into laughter afterwards.
"The look on his face was priceless," Luna laughed, and picked up little Al, who had desperately asked to be picked up by Aunty Luna.
Ginny smiled and softly brushed her hand over her baby bump. "He deserves it, Lu. I told him three times to check the damn backpack."
Smirking, both women waited patiently until the light turned and they could cross the street.
"If he gets too heavy, I'll take him again," Ginny said casually, and gestured towards the two-year-old boy on the blonde's arm.
Luna shook her head and gave her a scolding look. "I'll cast a weightless charm on him before I'll let you carry Al in your condition."
"But -"
dreamy blue eyes rolled. "No buts, Gin. We don't want you or that little one get exhausted.
Ginny sighed, but nodded. She knew better than to argue with her friend, especially on her birthday. Besides, she was sort of right… The little on in her belly was indeed quite active these days - Ginny was sure that he or she was already practicing the one or other Quidditch move.
"Fine," she answered and stopped for a short moment on the street to feel yet another one of her baby's kicks before continuing to cross the street. "Though you know, he is actually old enough to walk on his - "
"GIN, WATCH OUT!"
Confused, Ginny turned her head and she froze, eyes wide with shock.
Everything was happening too fast and the last thing she saw was Luna, with Al still on her arm, jumping to the side. Then the car hit and everything blurred.
…x.X.x…
Groggily opening her brown eyes, Ginny blinked at the bright light that was blinding her.
Slowly, she lifted her head, moved her arms and pushed herself up in a sitting position.
Once her eyes had gotten used to the unusual brightness around her, she slowly started to look around to take in her surroundings.
She saw a couple of people passing - some talked to each other, smiling, laughing, others were simply waiting in a line.
Squinting, she started to recognize tables and chairs, lovely painted walls and a counter with cake, biscuits and fruits; the long line of people was apparently waiting in front of it to get coffee.
If the place and its people weren't so unnatural bright, Ginny might have said she was in one of these adorable little coffee shops that could be found all over in Muggle London.
Getting up in a straight position, the red haired witch reached out and tried to pat one of the passing people.
"Excuse me, Ma'am, would you mind telling me what's going – " she stopped mid-sentence, as her outstretched arm passed right through the elderly woman's shoulder; as if she was a ghost.
Panic rising inside of her, the young woman tried to speak and touch the others, but they simply kept on with what they were doing as if Ginny wasn't even there.
"They won't answer, my darling. They never do."
.
Beyond startled by the soft, but completely unexpected voice, Ginny jumped around - one hand protectively resting upon her belly.
She drew her wand, ready to defend herself.
But one her eyes fell upon the elderly woman, who held her hands up in a peace-offering gesture, Ginny paused.
A familiar and surprisingly calming feeling flowed from the mysterious women, along with the nagging thought that she had somewhere seen her before. The shoulder length, red hair that was streaked with grey, framed her slim, ivory covered face and the sparkling, almond shaped emerald eyes showed kindness and wisdom.
"Who are you?" Ginny asked, her voice trembling slightly.
She gave a soft smile, causing small, almost undetectable wrinkles to appear at the side of her eyes.
"I won't hurt you."
"Good to know, though that's not what I asked."
The elder red head chuckled. "Indeed not, though I thought reassuring you that I won't be a thread might come in handy as well. But why don't we sit down and I'll explain, hmm?"
Ginny was a little hesitant, but after a moment of consideration, and the soft and encouraging smile of the emerald eyed woman, she nodded and sat down on a nice, vintage chair with a white round table attached to it.
Before the red head sat down on the opposite side of the table, she walked to the counter, put two mugs of tea and two pieces of raspberry cake on a tablet which she carried to Ginny.
Sitting down, she shoved one of each over to the younger red haired witch.
Ginny stared at her in surprise.
"Chamomile tea and raspberry cake? These are my favorites. How did you know?"
She took a sip of her own steaming tea and smiled; the other people around them were still oblivious to them.
"I know a lot about you, Ginny."
"How do you know my name?"
Again, she chuckled. "If you don't mind, I'll answer that in asking something else."
She waited for Ginny's approval. The witch looked like she wanted to say something, but decided to keep quiet and indicated with a gesture of her hand that the elderly red head should go on.
"Do you remember what happened before you…" She searched for the right word, "woke up here?"
It wasn't a question Ginny had expected, but it caused her to think nonetheless. She took a moment to focus and search her mind. Then her eyes widened dramatically and she almost knocked over her tea.
"The - the car! It - it…" She was unable speak any further for her throat tightened.
The red-grey haired woman nodded sadly. "Yes, the car hit you."
All color drained from her face; pictures of Luna and Al rushed to her mind and she almost choked.
"Your friend, Luna, managed to get your son out of danger," she mentioned and for a moment Ginny wondered whether the Lady had read her min. But her emerald eyes looked at her reassuringly and she reached out and carefully covered Gin's hand with her own. "They both have a few cuts and small bruises, apart from that they're perfectly fine."
Ginny sighed in relief and nodded a couple of times, trying to get her emotions under control again.
Soon, she dropped her gaze and it fell on her belly. Again, panicky rose inside of her and her heart raced.
"What - what about me?" She finally whispered the question that she had dreaded knowing an answer to. "Am - am I …?"
The emerald eyed Lady smiled sadly.
"Dead?" She continued sympathetically.
Ginny only nodded, her hands shaking as she reached out to touch her belly.
Her opponent sighed.
"No. At least not yet."
Ginny real eased the breath she didn't remember she had been holding.
"Then…. What's happening to me?" she finally asked after having observed the ghostly people around the in the coffee shop.
The woman took a sip of tea once more.
"Has Harry ever told you about his… Well, encounter with the Avada Kedavra?"
Ginny nodded, they had spoken about that quite often in the years they had spent together. Sometimes seriously, sometimes in a very funny way.
But the younger one finally understood where the elder one wanted to go.
"So, I'm in the same place? Somewhere in between life and death?"
Emerald eyes sparkled and a relieved smile appeared on her face.
"I knew you would figure it out," she said and used her spoon to stir in her tea.
"But this place looks nothing like kings cross."
She chuckled. "It always depends. You connect something personal with this place here, don't you?"
Ginny nodded - she had only been a little girl then but her mother had taken her here for their first 'girls-day'.
"Besides, I'm not Professor Dumbledore either, am I?"
The young woman chuckled like she had when Harry had told her about that particular part of that story.
She now eyed the elderly woman closely. The flaming red hair, the small, now slightly wrinkled hands, the dark, emerald eyes and the kindness that was written into them… Suddenly it hit Ginny like a broomstick on her head and her brown eyes widened.
"You're Lily."
…x.X.x…
The witch smiled brightly now.
"I am. And I cannot thank you enough for giving Harry the love and family I never could."
Ginny, despite being still a little surprised, could see that the elderly woman had tears shimmering in her emerald eyes - Harry's eyes.
She reached out and squeezed her hand.
Lily Potter gave her a faint smile in return.
"I will always love him," Ginny said honestly.
"I know," lily replied and blinked away the last remains of her tears, "that's why you need to go back."
Ginny's heart skipped a beat. "There's a way back?"
The elderly witch nodded. "They have taken you to the hospital. They've been working on you for quite some time, but you're not out of the woods yet. The final task that is ahead is something only you can decide."
The words slowly drained. Everything made sense now.
"That's why you're here, isn't it?" she asked, brown eyes looking at her 'mother-in-law' thankfully, "You're here to help me."
Lily smiled. "I'd say 'guide'... The others up here don't really like it when we interfere…" here she rolled her eyes. "But yes, I'm here to guide you how to make it back to your family. You have done so much to make my boy happy, so I don't care if I have to break a few rules to help you reunite."
Ginny smiled happily. Even in death, Lily cared about everyone.
'Thank you, Lily," she said, got up from her white chair and hugged the elderly witch tightly.
"You're welcome, my dear," Lily whispered and brushed a strand of hair back behind Ginny's ear. "Now, we don't have much time left, listen closely…"
...x.X.x…
"Mummy, wake up. Al is crying all the time."
"I'm not."
"Are too."
"Gin, please, please come back to me. You can do it. Open your eyes for me."
"Harry, her head is probably full of nargles."
"What are naggles?"
"Nargles, Al, they're, well…"
The first thing Ginny heard were several voices whispering somewhere next to her.
She was beyond relieved to her little Al's voice and she'd be always thankful that Luna had taken care of him.
Slowly, she then opened her eyes. At first, the light was as blindingly bright as earlier in the 'Coffee-shop', but soon, everything normalized and her attention was drawn to a pair of worried, emerald eyes that clearly belonged to her husband.
"Good riddance, Gin, we were so worried you wouldn't wake up," he whispered, his voice hoarse and the hands, which he used to cover her own, were shaking.
Still feeling slightly dizzy, Ginny flashed him a tired smile.
"You won't get rid of me that easily, Harry. I have a promise to keep."
If he was confused by her statement, the jet black haired man didn't show it.
He probably wouldn't have had the time to do so either, since both their sons pushed him aside to hug their mother on the hospital bed.
"We missed you, Mummy," they said simultaneously.
The witch moved her arms as best as she could and embraced both her sons.
"They were terribly worried about you, too. Especially since Al heard the sound of the crash…" Luna mumbled, obviously disappointed in herself that she hadn't been able to protect him from witnessing the scene.
"Luna, you have nothing to blame yourself for. I'm so happy you saved Al from getting hit," Ginny whispered, glanced at her thankfully and moved in order to grab her friend's hand.
The movement, however, sent a sharp pain through her lower abdomen and the young woman cringed.
"Easy there," Harry told her with a gentle smile. "You'll be sore for a couple of days due to the emergency C-Section they performed on you."
This statement caused her eyes to widen. But before she could ask her husband about her baby's health, he left the room only to appear moments later with a small, bundle wrapped in pink towels.
"She's strong and healthy," he whispered as he gently laid the infant down in her arms. "Merlin knows how you both survived that crash, though."
Amazed, Ginny stared down at her little girl, happy tears running down her cheeks. And amongst seeing her daughters emerald green eyes, she was immediately reminded of her conversation with her mother-in-law. She would have to tell her husband about that one time, she told herself.
"She's beautiful," Ginny whispered in awe.
Harry grinned and gave her a small kiss on the forehead. "Indeed she is, just like her mother."
"Indeed, she's perfect," Luna added, a huge smile on her face. "All there's left to do is to give her a proper name."
Ginny stared at her husband, surprised. "You haven't named her yet?"
He shook his head. "I wanted you to do that. I kinda told myself that the thought of naming your daughter would want you to wake up."
Ginny smiled. In a way it did.
Carefully, she brushed her thumb over the little girl's cheek and in doing so, Ginny already knew how she wanted to call her little girl.
"Lily," she said and looked at her husband with loving brown eyes. "I want to name her Lily."
Harry stared at her, tears in his eyes, and all he could do was nod.
Then, after a moment of consideration, Ginny glanced at her best friend and at her husband at the same time, before she glanced down at her little girl.
"Lily Luna Potter," she whispered softly, "in memory of the most caring, loving and protective witches known to the wizarding world."
Words: 2,665
Written for the '100 Ways to say I love you' Challenge: #94. You can do it
Written for 365 drabble day challenge at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry: #227. Infant