Child of Mine by Analyn100

Chapter Four: Family Ties

The sunlight streamed in through the curtains, bathing Harry Potter's face in unappreciated light. Squinting against the glare, he groped around for a pillow and pressed it to his face. He was by no means a lazy person, but at that moment he wanted nothing more than to forget about the reason why he was lying by himself on top of his covers at the late hour of 10 am. He groaned, rubbing the sleep out of his eyes as the night came back to him in a whirlwind of memories. Much as he loathed the curse, an obliviate spell would almost be welcome in his current state of mind. It was perhaps the only way to get the image of his drunken wife out of his head.

He stumbled his way through his morning routine and finally emerged from the bedroom, towel-drying his wet hair as he made his way downstairs. He was almost surprised to see his dad passed out of the couch in a most uncomfortable position.

He made his way into the kitchen, expecting to see evidence of the chaos from the night before, but it was all gone. He would have to thank his dad for the clean-up job later. He reached into the pantry and pulled out a container of oatmeal. He was pouring a large helping into a bowl and filling it with water when his dad sauntered into the kitchen to join him. His dad was wearing his casual robes, which were only slightly more presentable than the pajamas he had been out in the night before.

James watched his son heat up the oatmeal bowl with his wand, shaking his head in amusement as he searched the pantry for something more appetizing. Harry may have grown some skills in the cooking department to surprise Ginny with romantic candlelight dinners, but breakfast food he had never bothered to learn. Grabbing himself some bagels and orange juice, he sat down at the table, waiting for his son to join him. Said son, it appeared, was taking his time looking for something to put on his oatmeal. Or perhaps he was just stalling. He had after all looked in the same cupboard three times already.

James waited until Harry gave up the search and begrudgingly started eating his now soggy oatmeal. Apparently James had overestimated Harry's breakfast cooking skills, judging by the look of repulsion on his son's face as he forced himself to swallow the concoction.

"Two breakfasts in one morning," Harry joked in an attempt to break the silence. "Must be a record."

James said nothing, waiting for Harry to get around to the topic that they both knew needed to be addressed – as if they hadn't talked about it enough the night before.

"So…." Harry began, playing with his spoon in a most absent-minded and uncharacteristic manner. "I take it you told mum." He grimaced.

James gulped down his orange juice, licking his lips. "Yes. She knows, she left to visit Ginny." He regarded his son's careworn look and downcast eyes. He looked like he'd been through Hell and back, which wasn't really far from the truth. He wasn't even certain that Harry had slept much at all the night before. He, himself, had managed to get an amazing 2 hours after coming back over to check on his son at 8 am, fearful of what an angry and irate Harry could be getting up to in his state of mind. He had been pleasantly surprised to arrive to find the house quiet, a quick "point-me-spell" confirming that his son was indeed home and not out wrecking havoc on some foe – real or imagined.

"Have you thought about what you're going to tell Arthur?"

"It's not the 'what' it's the 'how' that's bothering me."

"I could go over first if you like, make sure there's no company. I'm sure I can come up with some false pretence for showing up."

"You're not going to be there when I tell him, are you?" Harry had sense of panic in the pit of his stomach. This was going to be hard enough without an audience.

James shook his head emphatically. "I'll summon you by protean charm when I'm about to leave. I just want to make sure there are no Weasley boys around who might overhear and rip your head off. I like my kids in one piece. We'll give it a couple of hours, I have no idea how early a riser Mr. Weasley is on his days off."

"Dad, it's after 10, I'm sure he's up by now." Harry just wanted to get this over with, waiting was the worst part. "Just because we were up until 6 am doesn't mean that he was."

"Yes but you need to wake up before talking to Arthur about this, it wouldn't do for you to loose your temper at him due to your lack of sleep."

"Dad…seriously? Sleepless nights are not new to me. I'll be fine. And I'd never argue with Ginny's family. Not after…" He cut his thoughts short. Then, just for something to do, he turned his back on his dad. He walked over to the sink and dumped the contents of his ruined oatmeal down the sink, refusing to meet his dad's sympathetic eyes.

James felt bad for even bringing it up. The unspoken words "Jaime's death" hung between them. Harry would be fine – or at least he would keep his temper in check. He wouldn't risk upsetting Ginny further, not with how precarious the situation was. He was smart enough to know that he was on thin ice, one small misstep and...Not wanting to contemplate the possible end of that sentence, James grabbed two spoons from the kitchen table and waved his wand over both them, applying the Protean charm. "Leave this spoon here, when it starts glowing then its safe to come over." He stowed the second one in his pocket and took his leave.

It was another 15 minutes before the spoon began to glow a violent shade of aqua. Feeling a knot tighten in his stomach, Harry apparated to the lane leading to the Burrow. He had come up this lane so many times in the past, but never before had he felt quite so nervous. The only other time he had felt even close to this level of nervousness was when he had come to ask for Ginny's hand. That had been a happy almost jittery type of nervous…this was just plain dread. He looked up to see his dad coming back down the lane. James tried to give his son a smile of reassurance, but it felt more like a grimace.

Harry just kept walking, hands stiffly in his pockets, his eyes firmly on the ground and averted from his dad's. Harry knocked on the door after a moment's hesitation.

Mrs. Weasley answered, still wearing her soiled cooking apron. "Harry, dear, won't you come in. You just missed your dad." She sounded pleasantly surprised to see him. Well that wouldn't last very long.

"Oh really? What a coincidence."

"Have a seat, I've got some nice breakfast biscuits that just came out of the oven. Help yourself."

"Actually, I need to talk to Arthur."

"Of course, dear." She sat him down in one of the chairs and sent several trays of food flying his way, the biscuits were just one of several dishes. "He's upstairs."

"Great, I'll just…"

"Don't be ridiculous, eat." She put a hand on his shoulder, forcing him to sit down, much to his annoyance. "I have so much food I don't know what to do with it. So, what's new?"

"Well, you see, it's Ginny. She's…she's pregnant."

He waited for the expected explosion of feminine shrieking, but what he got was shocked silence.

"I'm sorry? Did you say…?"

"Pregnant. Yes. We're expecting a baby girl. She's about two months along."

"A granddaughter?" It was Arthur's voice this time.

Harry looked up to see Arthur standing in the doorway. His parents-in-law were both giving him twisted looks of bewilderment that would have been comical at any other time.

"That's not… I was asking Ginny about the topic of children just last week. She didn't mention…"

"We were planning on making the announcement yesterday, but that didn't go according to plan." He looked up at his father-in-law. "We need to talk. Privately."

"Alright, out the shed we go. I'll take this." He loaded up a tray of biscuits and coffee and motioned for Harry to follow him, leaving a very confused Molly Weasely behind.

When they got to the shed, he put the tray down, somehow finding room on his cluttered workbench. He picked up a biscuit and coffee mug, "So what's my little girl done now?"

"Sorry? I don't follow..."

"Hormones, son. I'm assuming you're here to ask advice about a fight you two got into. Whatever she said, she probably didn't mean it. So let's hear it."

Here goes nothing. "It wasn't like that. It's...I'm afraid this is all my fault."

"Of course it is," Arthur gave him an overly-friendly slap on the back, grinning from ear to ear. "It takes two, it's always the husband's fault."

Harry felt himself blushing. "No, it's not that. Your daughter, I had to take her to the hospital last night."

Charlie Weasley made his way around the Burrow, whistling a tune the words of which he had long forgotten. He was just thinking about plans to utilize the muggle contraption that was currently slung over his shoulder, when he made his way to the front lane and of course his dad's favorite shed. He just had one more thing to pick up from his father. But the sound of raised voices stopped him in his tracks, the whistling stopping in mid-tune. He'd know that voice anywhere. It was the unmistakable sound of his one and only brother-in-law's voice

"-when I visited. My mother is with her at the hospital. I'm sure she will want to see you when she wakes up. Look, Arthur, I just want you to know that I…"

"I gave you my heart and soul! I trusted you to keep your word, that you would put her first and you…" Charlie winced. Only those in the gravest of trouble with his dad got THAT tone. It was the tone that made you wish he would yell at you

"I never meant to hurt her." Harry's voice was so soft, so unlike the powerful and confident man that Charlie had come to reluctantly respect that Charlie almost didn't believe it was him.

"I said, leave!" Arthur's words were punctured by a high-pitched whining sound. It was a power drill.

Charlie Weasley slipped behind the shed, watching as Harry Potter's slightly hunched form retreated from view and then disappeared from it entirely.

As Charlie Weasley stormed through the halls of the hospital, the staff and fellow visitors could not look more terrified of him even if he were to half transfigure himself a dragon's head. If that rat-bastard son of a monster had hurt his sister, there would be Hell to pay. He entered the Lift alone and attempted to calm his breathing, there would be no point in scaring his baby sister if this was all a misunderstanding. Husbands and wives fought all of the time, perhaps his dad hadn't let Harry finish. Perhaps there was more to this story than what it appeared to be – there had to be. He may not like his brother-in-law at all, but even he had to admit that Potter was devoted to her and protected her at all costs. It was for that reason alone that Potter was getting the benefit of the doubt. Forcing his face into what he hoped was a neutral expression, he stepped off of the Lift to Level Four and a sign reading "Maternity Ward".

"Maternity?" He stood gaping at the sign in disbelief, his feet automatically carrying him down the Hall until he stood silently outside the door to room 427. He traced his sister's name by the door, his mind running at a 100 miles a minute. She was pregnant? He had seen her just yesterday and she hadn't look pregnant at all. But the shock and confusion soon gave way to fury. He could feel the blood boiling in his veins, his heart racing as the implications began to sink in. Potter had hurt his sister – his pregnant sister!

Charlie slipped inside the room, standing just behind the drawn privacy curtain and sank into a chair, his head in his hands in attempt to calm his raging temper. Getting pregnant women worked up was never a good idea – he'd been around enough of them to know that.

"Charlie, you can come in." Ginny's rasping voice called out in resignation. "Come on, I know it's you." Warily, Charlie got to his feet, pushing the curtain aside. "I'm okay, Charlie." Ginny tried to offer him a smile of reassurance, but it fell short of her eyes. Her voice was raspy and her eyes were wet and bloodshot, her matted ginger hair hung precariously from her pony tail. She looked as far from fine as it was possible to be. His eyes darted from his sister to her mother-in-law sitting in the chair by her bed. "I think I'll go to the cafeteria for a few minutes." Lily excused herself to give the brother and sister some privacy.

"No, you're not." Charlie said as soon as the door closed behind Lily. It was a statement, not an argument.

"Okay, I'm not. I just don't want to talk about it." Charlie sighed, Potter could wait, his sister needed him right now. He sat down in the seat Lily had vacated beside her bed. "So you must be excited. Do you know if it's a boy or girl? Have you told Harry he's going to be a dad?" If the pregnancy was discovered at the hospital then that would make Harry's 'crime' that much less severe

The tears began in earnest, Ginny covered her face but couldn't muffle the sound of her sobbing. She shook her head as Charlie tried to pry her hands off of her face. "Ginny? Ginny, what's-" He stopped mid-sentence staring down at her arm. For the first time he saw the bruise above the wrist on her non-IV hand, the finger marks were impossible to miss.

"Harry knows!" Ginny's voice was hard. "He did this to me, the bastard." Her white-knuckled hands looked ready for a fight. Normally Charlie would be running to stop her from hexing something or someone, but Ginny didn't have the strength today and they both knew it. Her hands fell listlessly to her side. "I hate him," she whispered. "I hate him for doing…THIS to me!"

"No, you don't." Charlie stared at her, aghast, wondering what had come over her. "You love kids, you've always wanted to be a mother."

Ginny tried unsuccessfully to wipe away her tears. "I don't, Charlie. I don't want it."

Charlie reached over, caressing her cheek, wiping away the tears with his thumb. He was about to argue the point but thought better of it. Bringing up Jamie was a sure-fire way to get her upset. "If you're not ready for kids you should have told him."

"I did." Ginny's voice broke.

Ginny held his gaze and let the implications sink in. "Oh God…tell me he didn't." He waited, gave his sister a chance to explain, to defend her husband but she offered none. "Ginny?"

"I told him but he didn't listen! He didn't care."

"He forced himself on you?" Charlie whispered, hoping he was wrong. A perverted son of a bitch Potter may be, but even he knew how to treat a lady.

"I didn't want a baby, but he did. That was all that mattered. He wants to replace…I just, I can't, Charlie. I can't take this."

Charlie reached an arm out to her, drawing her into his embrace. Hot tears rolled down his shirt as he rocked his baby sister in his arms. Potter was going to pay.

As Harry Potter opened the hospital room door for his parents-in-law, he was expecting to meet the disapproving glare of his mother. What he got, was his wife sobbing in the arms of her brother. Harry kept his face passive, cringing inwardly at the sight. He'd have to give his dad a piece of his mind – obviously he hadn't searched the Burrow properly before summoning him. There was no other explanation for Charlie's knowledge of Ginny's hospitalization.

"Harry's here," Charlie whispered in her ear. "Do want him to stay?"

Ginny shook her head against her brother's shoulder.

Throwing caution to the wind, Harry walked around to the other side of the bed. He was about to take hold of a hand draped around her brother's neck, but stopped himself when he saw the hand-print bruise encompassing most of her lower arm. He settled for putting a hand on her back. He rubbed gentle circles just beneath her shoulders. That always helped. "Ginny?"

"Go away!"

"Ginny, look at me, please."

Without taking her arms off of Charlie's shoulder, she turned to face him. He had been hoping that the detox had done her some good, that rest and a morning of reflection with his mother would have made her see reason. One look into those hollow brown eyes told him otherwise.

"I know you're mad at me, I get it. You have every right to be…."

"Potter!" Charlie's voice growled from above him. "You heard the lady."

Harry looked around, noticing not one set of sympathetic eyes, not even on the face of his own mother who was now standing next to Mrs. Weasley, a breakfast tray in hand.

"I'll be back in a couple of days, Ginny." It pained him to think about it, but in the next few hours they were going to take her to psych. It would be a full 72 hours of cooling down and thinking things over. Perhaps it would do them both a bit of good, some time to clear the air as it were. "I love you."

Ginny's glare never wavered. With one last kiss to her cheek, Harry got up and left the room.

Harry left the hospital amid stares and whispers, which he promptly ignored. The only staring person he cared about was the one boring holes into his head. He could feel Charlie's breath on his neck, making Harry realize he had broken the most important rule of combat: never show your back to the enemy.

Harry quickened his pace, determined to put some distance between himself and Charlie. He had to get away from him before a fight broke out. It wasn't that he was afraid of Charlie, not in the least. He hadn't been in a duel for years but he could still beat the shit out of anyone, and that was the problem. For once he didn't want to beat the shit out of anyone, especially not in an area surrounded by babies and pregnant women. There was no worse place for a duel of any kind. He had to keep a cool head and for that he had to get away, far away.

Harry hurried ahead to the Lift as it closed and slipped in just in time to leave Charlie behind, fuming. Harry breathed a loud sigh of relief, leaning back against the railing behind him. Disaster avoided.

Harry stepped out of the Lift the moment it opened and practically ran towards the apparition point. He was almost there when he felt something graze his shoulder. Harry recognized the impact of a weak wandless spell in heartbeat. He turned around just as fast to find Charlie Weasley's fist inches from his face. In one swift motion, he grabbed the arm in a bone crushing grip.

"Not now!" Harry hissed as medics with a levitated gurney made their way around them. "We'll talk later!"

"I don't think so!" With his free wand hand, Charlie pointed his wand at his shirt. "Portus!"

The shirt sleeve that Harry was clutching began to glow blue. Harry felt a tug at the navel and swore as he disappeared.

The next thing Harry knew was a blinding pain in his head. He slowly opened his eyes to find Charlie standing over him and his face on top of an overturned table and an obnoxiously loud and familiar voice.

"Blood traitors! How dare you defile the noble house of Black!"

Harry groaned….of all the stupid, idiotic... He had been port-keyed to the Headquarters…again.