WARNING: Explicit sexual content.
Chapter 7:
Ginny sat in the window seat of the Gryffindor sixth year girl's dorm, and stared out at the rain pouring down outside. It was a miserable night.
She had lost the baby. Lost. That word was so misleading. It made her sound so careless. She had miscarried the baby. That word didn't sound harsh enough. The baby had died within her.
Wiping a tear away, she tried to focus her mind on the remedial classes she was taking to offset the time that she had spent in the Hospital Wing. It was rather exhausting, and left little room for anything else in her life at the moment, which was exactly what she had needed. She didn't want to think, didn't want to feel.
Her knees hugged to her chest, she laid her head down on top and tried to see if she could find Hagrid's hut through all of the rain and darkness. Nothing. Well, winter was quite officially over. April had come with a vengeance.
The worst part was, was that she had not known what she had wanted to do with the baby in the first place, but now that it was gone, she was devastated. And she felt so damn guilty about that.
Okay, Slughorn wanted five inches on the uses for erumpent horn, McGonagall wanted her to write a makeup test on turning mammals into different mammals, Sprout had decided that she was to take care of a plant that Ginny could not remember the name of for the life of her for the rest of the year, Trelawney… fuck it, Trelawney probably would not remember come morning herself.
School was not what she wanted to think about, but she had decided that it was her only way out. Her mum was already talking about Ginny coming home to live with them for the year, and possibly attending Beauxbaton's the next year. She had to prove just how well she could do, even with the miscarriage hanging over her head.
Running a hand through her hair, she encountered a particularly nasty knot near the elastic holding her hair back and she grimaced. Taking care of herself was taking a backseat to everything else, and seemed to be a little beyond her at this point.
Ellie, one of her roommates, trod carefully into the room, quite aware that Ginny was sitting there through the dinner hour alone. "You okay Ginny?"
"Yes, thank you." Ginny smiled remotely, politely, not turning her head from the window.
"Uh, fine then." Ellie grabbed her jumper, and left, checking back to see if the youngest Weasley had moved at all. Nope.
She was cold, which was strange as she was wearing so many layers. It had settled into her bones though, and nothing she could do would change that.
Her face felt so tight, so dry. She felt so guilty… and upset, and cold.
"Ginny?" A soft voice sounded from her doorway. George. He came about once a day.
"Hello." Again, that awful politeness that she could not seem to overcome, not that she really tried. Ginny sighed, she was irritating even herself at this point.
"So, you've been up and about for what, almost a month… have you even done anything besides school, and sleep? And… eat?" George eyed her, the slim curves more pronounced than he had ever seen her.
"That's nice." She still hadn't looked at him. George sighed and sat down beside her, tugging on one of her ankles playfully through the thick woolen sock.
"Gin, this is crazy. You can't spend the rest of your life hiding." He tried to stare at her, but Ginny refused to look away from the window. Silence.
"Have you even spoken to Blaise or Draco?"
Silence.
"They miss you. You seem to have perfected the invisibility act."
Silence.
"Padma misses you too."
Silence.
"The weird blonde chick even asked me about you."
Silence.
"Well, this has been lovely." George looked around the dorm room, "When do all of the sixteen year old girls come in and have a pillow fight? I've heard that that happens frequently."
Silence.
"Mum keeps owling me about you because I've disabled the floo connection at my apartment. Please owl her at some point, or she will show up, and start packing you up to leave."
Silence.
"Cripes, when you decide that you don't want to talk to anyone, you are fucking stubborn about it." George got up, and glared at her one last time before turning to leave.
"Goodnight." Again polite, again remote.
Deciding it was time to have a shower, Ginny made her way slowly to the communal washroom. Standing in front of the mirror, she barely recognized herself. Her face had taken on a pudgy, unhealthy look, the skin drawn and unnaturally pale. Her eyes were too bright, and she blinked rapidly, trying to dispel the incredible sadness there.
With the water beating down on her, Ginny leaned her head against the tiled wall, feeling incredibly exhausted, old beyond her years. Why did she feel like this? She could see herself pushing everyone away, but she couldn't stop herself. She honestly did not want anyone near her right now.
Blaise and Draco… well…. She tried not to think about them at all.
Tilting her head slightly to look out over the whole of the large bathroom, she noticed how incredibly quiet it as without her roommates.
Ginny stayed in the shower until she felt suspiciously like a drowned rat, before stepping out, and toweling herself off roughly. Combing through her hair, she winced as she pulled at the tangles almost savagely. Everything seemed to hurt.
Pulling on a pair of Charlie's hand-me-down pajamas, she tried to think about whether she had any homework that she hadn't done, but her mind drew a complete blank.
Her bed felt too big, too lonely, but it was almost as if she deserved that. Curling her legs close to her body in the fetal position, Ginny tried to ignore the tears that trailed down her cheeks.
--
Charlie walked across the dragon compound that he no longer had any true passion for. It felt very strange not to feel strongly about this place, but he felt like he had perhaps moved on.
Emily kept giving him these pitiful, pouting looks every time he saw her, and honestly, he was confused about the whole situation. Kieran had just managed to stay out of his way, since their last run-in had resulted in a black eye for the other man, and it was rather remarkable considering they were supposed to be partners.
It was time for a change, and strangely, he didn't feel as if leaving would be akin to him running away.
He had received an owl while he and Emily were still together, and at the time, he had not given it much attention, as he was happy and settled… but now?
As he walked home later that night, Charlie reflected on the state of his life. He did not really want to remain at the Romanian dragon reserve any longer, he had to admit. While still enjoying the dragons, he had become weary of the bureaucracy that infringed so heavily on what he did, and he also hated the idea of seeing Emily and Keiran together.
So far, they had seemed to make an effort to be sensitive to him, but he knew eventually they would be a fully-fledged couple, and he truly did not want to be around to see that. It was definitely time to make some changes in his life.
He slowly put together a dinner of beans on toast, which was about the extent of his cooking abilities, and sat down to read his post. His mum had sent another owl about Ginny, and while he was relieved to read about an update, it was still strange that he had not heard from his sister himself. His owls had all gone unanswered.
Pulling the envelope from his desk where he had stuffed it months earlier, he smiled at the familiar logo, it dragging him back to when he was eleven and had received his letter of acceptance to Hogwarts.
Charlie slipped the piece of parchment out, and smoothed it out on the table beside his mildly pathetic meal.
To Mr. Charles Weasley,
At the close of this school year, Professor Rubeus Hagrid will be retiring from his post teaching the Care of Magical Animals class at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. He has recommended you as a prospective replacement, citing your top marks in the relevant courses, as well as your experience with various creatures.
Please consider this an offer of employment, conditional on your completion of a short training period with Professor Hagrid starting at the end of June this year.
We require a response to this offer before May 30 in order to organize the next year's courses.
Regards,
M. McGonagall
Professor Minerva McGonagall
Acting Headmistress
Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry
He had never thought of returning to Hogwarts in such a capacity… or at all really.
What would it be like to be a Professor at his former school? Strange. But it would definitely be a change. He started smiling. This could be great, exactly what he was looking for. Deciding to go talk to the Director first thing the next day, he started making plans about moving back to England.
He then started writing a letter to send to Ginny, even though she had not written him in weeks.
Hi Ginbug,
I have received an interesting offer, which I wish I could tell you about, but I think I should wait until things are more set in stone. Needless to say, I might be moving back to England.
I hope you're well. Mum's been writing me pretty constantly, she's worried about you. You should probably owl her before she shows up at Hogwarts.
I know about the baby. I don't know what anyone else has said to you, but these things happen. No one is to blame. Please trust me on this.
The dragons here have a hard time conceiving, and more than half the time they will miscarry within a month. It's always difficult for the mothers, as well as the fathers, and you always feel their pain because they project it to their keepers.
I know right now you're rolling your eyes, and cursing out your insensitive brother for comparing you to a large lizard, but keep in mind that I am trying to make you feel better.
I will owl you when I have more information, but I do hope to hear from you before then.
Love, Charlie
P.S. If you don't write me back, I will contact Mum and mention just how much you miss home.
He handed the letter off to his tawny owl, Mira, and gave her a treat as she pecked his finger affectionately.
Settling down for the evening with some paperwork that he needed to have done, he cheered himself with a glass of pumpkin juice in the mirror situated across the room.
In the reserve, rumours spread quickly, and by the time he had left the Director's office, having handed in a letter that nullified his employment contract, he got stopped at least twice on his way home by well-wishers and the curious.
Charlie honestly couldn't stop smiling. He kept imagining himself back at Hogwarts, and found that he was looking forward to this new opportunity. It was exciting.
--
Fred looked up from the store records as George came in, fresh back from another visit with their sister.
"How is she?" He asked, almost needlessly, as he could see from his brother's face that there was no change.
George shrugged and poured himself a cup of the coffee that was ice cold until he tapped it with his wand and muttered a quick warming spell.
"Liam just sent us the numbers for the Hogsmeade store, and it's looking pretty good." Fred decided talking about work might be helpful at this point.
"Yeah, I've been spending a lot of time up there, it's pretty popular, and not just with Hogwarts students, but with the locals too. I think we may want to expand to children's toys too, as the population up there seems to be exploding a little, a lot of children and families." George leaned over Fred to look at the figures, tapping his wand here and there to update them slightly for his brother.
"Sounds like a plan. Mara taught Muggle pre-school for awhile, she might have some ideas."
"Perfect." George picked up one of their new breed of pygmy puff, absent-mindedly stroking the soft fur, smiling as it purred at him.
Fred ruffled his short hair, glancing at George's own shoulder-length locks wistfully. Mara preferred his hair short, but it still felt weird to look so different from his twin. "Listen, let's head to the Leaky Cauldron for some lunch. I'm starving."
Settling themselves at an empty table, the Weasley twins looked around to see if there was anyone there that they knew. Lee Jordan had taken a part-time job to supplement his income from being a professional Quidditch commentator, but he did not appear to be there right at that moment.
"Did you hear Morin has transferred to the Canons? They might have a chance of actually winning a match this year, much to Ron's delight." Fred remarked brightly, digging into the huge plate of chips that were set in front of him.
"I still think Puddlemere is going to come out on top. I'm looking forward to the Worlds though… do you want to get tickets? We'll get some mates together, it should be fun."
"Maybe." Fred winced, "I'm not quite sure what's happening with the wedding. Mara keeps changing the date. I think I'm this close to talking her into just going away and eloping."
"Does that mean I don't have to wear dress robes?" George caught on to that idea with great relief in his eyes, "if so, I am fully behind that idea."
"If I have to wear dress robes, so do you, mate." Fred motioned to him with his fork, and from there, the conversation was lost as the two nineteen year old boys inhaled their food.
George swallowed the last bite, and then remembered something his Dad had mentioned last time he had seen him, "Hey Fred, did I tell you what Dad said?"
"If it's about a CD player, I am way ahead of you."
"No. He said there were some rumours floating around the Ministry about what Harry, Ron, and Hermione were up to. After that attack a few months ago, people have been getting bolder with speaking out. It's pretty incredible."
"I always thought they were a bunch of pussies."
"Wow, am I glad Padma wasn't there for that little comment."
"You're whipped."
"I'm okay with it." George grinned, before his face became solemn once again, "I'm honestly getting worried about the trio. They could barely sneak around Hogwarts, and yet they're supposed to save the world?"
"I know what you mean." Fred shook his head in commiseration, "Do you remember them in second year, sneaking around to the Restricted Section and all that, looking up Nicholas Flammel? And all they had was the invisibility cloak. It was lazy, that's what it was."
"Well, they were in their first year…"
"No excuse. Remember our first year?" They smiled identical smiles, reminiscing about that year that began it all at Hogwarts.
"Remember the seventh year girl's dorm?"
"Remember the Slytherin Quidditch team in second year?"
"Remember putting pink hair dye in Malfoy's shampoo?"
"I still don't feel bad about that, even considering his relationship with our baby sister. Actually, considering that relationship, I think we may have to do that again."
"We might want to think about pouring an impotence potion into his pumpkin juice, considering that same relationship."
"I concur. The randy bastard… him and that Zabini fellow."
"Well, Blaise is pretty nice, and he plays practical jokes on Padma that make me laugh."
"Get me pictures."
"Done."
--
Padma was determined. Bound and determined. Ginny's situation had thrown off her mission, but it was time to get back on track.
Padma was going to have sex.
There was no way she was leaving Hogwarts without remedying that little bit of membrane that separated her from being an ex-virgin. If she had to tie down George, it would get done. Actually, that wasn't a bad idea… it was kind of hot when she thought about it.
Fuck, now she was horny. There were only so many things her fingers could do. She had realized that very early on in her relationship with George.
Besides the time when Ginny had interrupted them to tell her that she was pregnant, she and George had only gotten once to the fully naked point, and that had been interrupted by a Ravenclaw first year banging on her door to ask her to come break up a fight that was happening between two third years. She still cursed that first year for that.
Borrowing a very slinky, very short dark red negligee from Lavender, Padma arranged herself across her bed, awaiting George's arrival. She was actually vaguely uncomfortable, and eagerly anticipating his arrival just so that she could move from the provocative pose.
"Padma?" Blaise's head appeared in the fireplace, and she yelped while trying to pull the pillow in front of her to hide the skimpy outfit. "Blaise!"
"Wow…. Is that how you spend your free time?" His eyes wide, he stepped through the fireplace to stand, staring down at her. "I need to make a note to drop in more often. I'm sure Ginny and Draco wouldn't mind… they'd actually probably egg me on."
"Blaise, get out." He could actually hear her teeth grinding as she spoke.
"Not yet, I wanted to talk to you about Ginny."
"Fine!" Knowing when she was beat, and that this was important, Padma twirled her finger to get him to turn away. He did so, smirking, as she climbed off the bed, and stomped to her bathroom to grab her large terrycloth robe.
Blaise made himself comfortable in the lounge chair beside the fire, noting all of the similarities to his own Head Boy room.
Stomping back into the room, Padma settled into the chair across from him, folding her arms across her chest, and glaring at him.
"Wow. You make a lot of noise." Was his only response.
She arched a dark eyebrow at him.
"Like an elephant." He expanded.
Sighing with irritation, Padma looked away briefly, bringing her temper under control, before turning back to him, "You wanted to talk?"
"I do." He nodded, and stared into the fire, not quite knowing where to start. "Ginny's cut herself off."
"I noticed." Padma's features softened, and she looked at his profile, trying to figure out how he was feeling.
"She's barely seen Draco or I, she hasn't said a word to either of us. I'm trying to give her space, but Padma, it's so hard." He turned to her, his navy blue eyes full of pain. "That was our baby too…"
She leaned forward, lightly placing a slim brown hand on his arm, "Blaise, people grieve in different ways… she's in pain."
"I know." Blaise stared at his fingers, willing himself to keep it together. Where was the Slytherin in him when he needed it? "But we need her too… And I'm sure she needs us."
"She does." Padma agreed readily, "But she needs to be the one to realize that. She hasn't even spoken to me… And George keeps visiting her, but again, nothing. It's not just you and Draco that she's freezing out."
"She looks so unhappy Padma, and it's killing me." He admitted in a low, hoarse voice, "She hasn't been playing Quidditch, I doubt she's really been outside. She's like a ghost, and that is not Ginny."
"I know. I'm worried, Blaise, I really am." She sat back, and curled her legs under her, pulling the robe over her knees, "But I'm also weary about saying, or doing the wrong thing, and pushing her farther away. I think that she needs more time."
"It's been over a month." He reminded her, looking over at her quickly, before looking away again.
"I know…" She sighed heavily, "I can't empathize with what she's going through though. You and Draco can, to a certain degree, but I've noticed even before this that she pulls in on herself when she's upset."
"Yeah, I know." Blaise ran a hand through his too-long hair, resolving again to cut it when possible. "I'm hurting, Draco's hurting, Ginny's hurting… it shouldn't be like this. It shouldn't hurt."
"It does sometimes though." Padma watched him intently, looking from him to the fire, and back, "From what I understand, life is not easy. It's the hard stuff that makes everything else seem so incredible."
"I knew you'd say something profound like that." He flashed a small grin at her, "I just… I want Ginny back. I want her to smile, to laugh, to seek Draco and I out, to talk to us, to spend evenings in my room chatting and doing schoolwork… and other things. I want normal."
"Who doesn't?" Padma asked, rhetorically, "Give it some more time… I'll talk to George and see what he thinks. I'll try to talk to her too. Maybe we should all be making a plan, get organized."
"Like a military campaign?"
"Something like that."
"So, tell me why the little nighty?" He leaned back to grin determinedly at her, "Big night?"
"Yes, well, it seems like you've effectively killed that for the evening." She replied, glancing down at her robe.
"Sorry about that."
"Well, don't do it again."
"I don't plan to."
They sat in silence, both contemplating the fire and life. This was the scene that George interrupted, stepping through the fire almost ten minutes later, "Hey Padma, sorry I'm la…. Blaise. Hi."
"Hey George."
"Any particular reason you're sitting in my girlfriend's bedroom?" He blinked at said girlfriend in bewilderment, "And what are you wearing Padma?"
"Clothing!" She glared at him, at the same time Blaise stood up with a smirk, "I just needed to talk to her, George. I'll see you later." He waved over his shoulder as he stepped into the fireplace.
George threw himself into the newly vacated chair, and stared at Padma, "What was that all about?"
"Ah, he wanted advice on Ginny."
"Makes sense…"
Padma was more determined than ever to change the subject to something that she had more control over. She glanced down at the robe again, fingering the sash with nervous fingers.
George was mildly startled by the sound of the robe hitting the ground, and looked up to see Padma wearing… well, not very much. His throat seized up as he took in how the light silky material barely hid her full breasts from his view, emphasizing her small waist, and the curve of her hips. He knew that she had lovely legs… but it was nice to be reminded yet again.
Gaining confidence from the look in George's eyes, Padma walked toward him slowly. "So, I had some plans for this evening." She mentioned conversationally.
"Uh huh…" His mouth dry, he couldn't fully concentrate on what she was saying as he watched the incredible things walking did to that little scrap of silk.
Padma smirked, and hiked up the already little skirt slightly, almost laughing at the sound of George's indrawn breath, and placed her knee up beside his legs on the chair. Holding onto the arm rests, she straddled him fully.
"See, now this was more along the lines of my plans for tonight." She spoke with that same conversational tone, well aware that George's attention was now totally focused on her lips.
Taking a hold of both of his larger hands, she placed them on her thighs. He flexed his fingers slightly, feeling the fabric, and warm skin beneath, and groaned out loud. "You're killing me."
"I hope so." She tugged on the leather thong holding his hair back, and threw it over her shoulder.
He watched it go, "You just threw it into the fire."
"I'm sorry, I'm sitting on your lap wearing very little, in my bedroom, intent on seducing you, and you're mourning the loss of your hair tie?"
"Good point." He leaned forward to capture her lips, one of his hands sliding up to cover her lower back, and pulling her into agonizingly close contact.
Padma moaned into his mouth, her hands finding the back of his neck to make sure he couldn't pull away, or anything silly like that. George obliged her happily, his other hand rubbing her thigh slightly, providing delicious friction between the silk and her skin.
As George explored her mouth thoroughly, Padma's hands attacked the front of his robes eagerly, undoing buttons so quickly there was some fear that they would pop right off. He curved his arm more fully around her, pressing his palm between her shoulder blades, the closeness making Padma's task even more difficult.
She paused as he grasped her full lower lip between his teeth, and pulled it gently into his mouth, sucking lightly and causing such incredible sensations to go through her. His fingers threaded into her hair, cupping her head, and tilting it for even greater access.
Padma's frantic fingers found his collar, and tugged it open, running her hands on the pale freckled skin that the fabric had hid. She quickly pulled the shirt from his slacks, tracing the lean muscles of his chest.
Pulling back from George, Padma's glare was at odds with her swollen red lips, "Are you going to touch me at all, or do I have to do everything?"
He chuckled lightly, his hands obligingly finding her waist, and moving up slowly to cup her breasts, smiling as her nipples immediately pebbled under his palms. She sighed, and arched her back as he rolled the tight buds between his fingers.
Padma shifted her hips impatiently, feeling such an incredible ache there, hearing George's answering groan and the stiffness that rested against her thigh. There was way too many layers of clothing between them.
With that in mind, George lifted Padma off, and stood up, his lips barely leaving hers, nibbling the sides of her lips and tasting her. She backed up to her bed, pulling him with her, until her knees hit the edge of her mattress.
Pushing her onto the soft bed, George waited long moments just to pull of his clothing, his eyes never leaving her form, taking in how she made her way to the middle of the bed, and lay waiting for him.
Her nighty flirted tantalizingly with the tops of her thighs, just high enough that he could see she really didn't wear anything underneath.
George immediately covered her with his larger body, her curves hitting her in all the right places, feeling perfect against him. His lips found the side of her neck, sucking urgently on the sensitive pulse point just below her ear that he knew drove her wild.
Padma moved against him, writhing in a way that made him lose his concentration completely, until he caught her hands above her head and held them there, not allowing her to move against him. She moaned, trying desperately to break away, but he held firm, allowing his mouth and lips to feast on her neck and shoulders, leaving marks that he really couldn't bring himself to care about.
He held onto her wrists with one hand, and slid his other hand up her thigh, and under the little skirt, stroking the wetness that he found there.
Padma could barely breath, she hadn't imagined the assault on her senses that George seemed to revel in. His fingers were moving against her, causing her hips to arch off the bed, wanting more.
Nudging the straps of her nighty aside, he followed the fall of the fabric to explore her clavicle, his hand tracing a circle around her nipple. It took a few more moments for Padma to realize that he was no longer holding her arms, and she then threaded her fingers through his hair, holding him close as his lips followed his fingers to her breasts, suckling gently on the rosy tips.
Padma was moaning, and bucking against him uncontrollably as he inserted one finger in her. His thumb played with her clit gently as he felt her clench around his finger.
Reaching out, she grabbed her wand from the bedside table, and quickly cast a contraception spell, almost out of her mind from what George was doing to her. Padma then pulled his head back to hers. Moving her hips slightly, she wrapped her legs around his hips and pulled him close.
"I want you." She whispered into his ear as she moved against him. George groaned, and rested his forehead against hers, staring at her as he moved into position. "Are you sure?"
He hovered just above her, the tip of his hardness just touching her, and she bucked her hips up so violently, that his head sank into her. Groaning again, he slowly pushed inside, feeling the incredible tightness and warmth, his body straining to keep himself under control.
Feeling muscles stretching that had never been used, Padma stared into George's eyes as she felt him slowly break through the barrier, a sharp burst of pain making her cry out momentarily, and he paused to kiss her again before continuing.
"I love you." He whispered huskily as her completely joined their two bodies together. Padma moaned in response as he started to move. It was uncomfortable at first, but it was feeling better and better. Her hips were moving against his, creating delicious friction between their two bodies.
"I love you." He repeated over and over again into her ear. She could only nod in response as she held on.
Author's Note: Ah, there was something about writing that between George and Padma that really threw me… first, I haven't written smut in awhile (so sorry about that, I will try to remedy that soon…) and I don't know, I don't think I've really written anything that detailed except for Ginny/Draco/Blaise. I hope you enjoyed though!
I put that conversation in between Padma and Blaise for a reason, so try not to flame me about how Ginny's acting…. There will definitely be a lot of Blaise and Draco (who I realize did not appear once in this chapter) in the next chapter.
There is still a lot to go in this story. I do have it all planned out, and very few things have changed since I wrote that summary during writing "Complicate You". I list the major plot points, and right now, there are 41 for "Catch You", and I am only up to number 12.
Thank you again for reading, and hopefully reviewing to tell me what you think.
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