-Chapter 6-

Ginny awoke in the middle of the night to the sound of Hermione's screams echoing through her head. She gasped for air then looked over to Lennox who was still fast asleep then to the other bed where Willow's figure lay still. Ginny carefully got out of bed and lit the lamp by her bed. She locked her bedroom door before heading downstairs. She was headed to the door that led down to the kitchen when she noticed a faint orange glow coming from the door to the sitting room. She went in and saw Ron sitting in one of the chairs watching the dwindling fire.

"Hey big brother," Ginny said in almost a whisper as she walked towards the couch. "Can't sleep?" Ginny set the lamp on the coffee table and sat on the couch.

"I could if I wanted to but I'd rather look out. How about you?"

"I can't get Hermione out of my head. The only other time I heard something like that come from her was…"

"At Malfoy Manor." Ron grimaced.

"Yeah…I heard it in my sleep that time. That pendant charm thing…but this was nothing compared to that. Actually hearing it…fuck. I don't know what to do to get it out of my head."

"There might be some Calming Draught down in the kitchen."

"I need to be awake enough to make sure Lennox doesn't get up without me though. I think I'll just go down and make some warm milk. You want some?"

"No, thanks though. Make sure you come back in before you go to bed though so I know where you are."

"Will do." Ginny took the lamp down to the kitchen and started some milk simmering on the stove. Vincent came out of his small room when Ginny sat down at the table.

"You should let Vincent do that for you, Miss Weasley," the elf said as he looked at the pan on the stove.

"It's all right, thank you. And for the millionth time, you can call me Ginny."

"Is Master Potter upset with Vincent?" the elf asked as he straightened things up in the cupboards.

"No, why would he be?"

"Vincent did not protect his family or their friends. He should punish himself but Master Potter forbids it."

"You were unconscious and tied up; there was nothing you could do. Harry understands, he's not upset with you at all." Ginny stirred the milk and got a mug out of the cupboard. "You are a good house elf, Vincent. Harry and Luna have nothing but wonderful things to say about you."

"Thank you Ginny Weasley. Vincent appreciates your kindness."

"I'm done in here for now, you can have the rest of this warm milk if you like." Ginny set the pan back on the stove. "Have a good night, Vincent."

Ginny went back upstairs to the sitting room with Ron.

"This isn't over, is it?" Ginny asked Ron as she sipped her milk.

"I don't know. With Lucius looking at life in Azkaban it might be. However, if Draco gets out though then he'll probably just continue with whatever Lucius was planning. There...it is possible...for another war..."

"You-Know-Who can't come back again. Why try to build up the Death Eaters? What's the point?"

"Control. If pure-bloods can get control of the Ministry again then who the hell knows what can happen. I'm just glad that several of the original Death Eaters died in the war. I don't even want to think of what we would have to deal with if any of the Lestranges had survived. A bunch of sickos, that lot. I had to move a bunch of files right after I started working for the Ministry and looked through Bellatrix's husband and his brother's files. That Rabastan…I almost lost my lunch at some of the things he went his first round in Azkaban for. God those poor Muggle girls...I don't even...ugh." Ron shuddered.

"Sounds delightful," Ginny said. "Guess that means you and Harry will be working a lot."

"Yeah, it's going to be busy for a while. If we can keep a watch out for any suspicious activity and keep them all in Azkaban then things shouldn't escalate. But you know how things go with us, nothing is ever that simple."

"Why can't we just have normal quiet lives?" Ginny set down her empty mug. "It seems as though someone is always trying to kill us when we're all together."

"Dunno…just lucky I guess. We'll get through it though. At least this time no one has to go around looking for bloody horcruxes."

"Ugh, don't remind me." Ginny rolled her eyes. The room was silent aside from the crackling of the fire for a few minutes. "Hermione won't want Lennox around this, she told me so last year when we caught those thugs outside."

"You think she'll leave?"

"She'll want to."

"You going to go with her?"

"I…I don't know. Mum handled having all seven of us kids at home during the first war. Surely Hermione and I can handle Lennox."

"Surely." There was a silence for a while then Ron smiled. "That friend of yours, Willow…she uh…she seeing anyone?"

"That depends on why you want to know, Ronald."

"Well she's kinda cute. I liked talking to her at dinner." Ron continued smiling.

"So is this one of your conquests or do you really like her?"

"She's not like the girls I go after for a shag. She's really smart, you know? We talked about Quidditch and she talked about all the stuff she did in the states. I wasn't bored by any of it, either."

"As long as you are a gentleman then I have no problem if you want to keep talking to her. She saw a picture of you I had and she thinks you're cute."

"Thanks Gin. I promise, I'll be a perfect gentleman. You can kick my arse if I don't."

Ginny giggled and yawned. "I'm going to head back to bed. Try to get some sleep okay?"

"I will. Goodnight Gin."

Ginny made her way back up the stairs, she aimed her wand at the door. "Alohomora," she whispered. The door unlocked and Ginny stepped inside. The lamp illuminated the room and she smiled as she looked at the sleeping boy in her bed.

...............

Ginny took Lennox to St. Mungo's the next morning while Ron took Willow around Diagon Alley. At the hospital Hermione recognized Lennox immediately but was still having a bit of trouble with Ginny. Hermione's parents took Lennox up to the tea room for lunch. Ginny sat on the bed facing Hermione and held her hands.

"I had this memory of us come to me this morning. It was summer and we were younger…in a bedroom. It was small. We were sitting on the bed and talking. I was incredibly nervous. Then you wrapped your arms around me and wouldn't let me look away from you. You told me that you weren't going anywhere and it was just us…then you kissed me. It felt so amazing…I felt like I never wanted that moment to end."

Ginny smiled. "That was our first kiss."

"How did it make you feel? When we kissed?"

"Like I'd never felt before. My heart started racing. I felt over the moon that my lips were finally touching yours because I'd wanted it for so long. At the same time…I was so scared...I'd never been so scared. I was scared it would end, scared you'd change your mind about having feelings for me. You didn't though…and it was then that I knew I loved you."

"…Love does wonderful things." The phrase echoed in Hermione's head. She slipped a hand around the back of Ginny's neck, pulled her in and kissed her. Ginny ran her fingers through Hermione's hair. Hermione pulled back and it felt like her head was swimming. Images poured through her head and it sounded like water was rushing passed her ears.

"Oh gods…Ginny…" Hermione pulled her in again and passionately kissed her.

"I knew you'd come back to me," Ginny whispered.

"Love does wonderful things," Hermione whispered back as a tear fell down her cheek. She slid one hand under Ginny's shirt.

"Uh, Hermione, we're in a hospital," Ginny said as she pulled away. "And your parents could come in any minute."

"I swear to you, the first couple of days we have free you and I are going to spend the entirety of it in a bed somewhere."

"I have no objections to that." Ginny smiled. She sat back up and held onto Hermione's hands.

"How was Lennox last night?"

"He missed you but he was good. I told him you were sick and he understood I think. Either that or he was just too tired to care. Bedtime went smoothly, he slept all night. He was excited when I told him we were going to come see you."

"When do you have to start up practice again?"

Ginny hadn't even though about that. For the first time in years Quidditch hadn't even crossed her mind when she thought about what she might have to do in the near future. She hadn't considered going back to the stadium. All she had in her mind were Hermione and Lennox.

"I…I don't know," Ginny said, sounding rather startled because of her revelation. "I honestly hadn't though about it. I…I just kind of planned to take care of you and Lennox."

Hermione ran her fingers through Ginny's hair. The redhead's eyes were staring off into space; she looked like she was miles away. She was snapped out of it by the warm feeling of Hermione's lips against hers.

"You're amazing, you know that?" Hermione said when their lips parted.

Ginny's mind raced as she peered into the brown eyes of her lover. She felt Hermione's fingers in her hair, she felt the hot breath escaping from the brunette's mouth pouring over her own lips, she felt a drop of salty water run down her cheek. She didn't want to go back to Quidditch. She didn't want to put on her uniform or get on a broom or chase around a ball.

"Marry me, Hermione," she said, almost in a whisper.

Hermione pulled away and looked at Ginny, puzzled. "We're getting married in September."

"I don't want to get married in September."

"Ginny you're not making any sense."

"Marry me now. Please Hermione…please," Ginny begged as tears streamed down her cheeks. She slid her fingers through Hermione's thick brown hair.

"I thought we talked about this already. There's too much to do. You've got to finish your Quidditch season and I have…things to work on."

"I don't want to play Quidditch anymore."

"Ginny, come on now. You love playing Quidditch, stop with that nonsense."

"I love you."

"And I love you. You know I'll be waiting for you at the end of the season, whenever that may be."

"I don't know! No one knows." Ginny stood up and started pacing the floor. Hermione knew this wasn't good. She knew those weren't 'I don't trust you' phrases. Ginny knew something. Hermione tried her best to get out of bed to stop Ginny from wearing a track in the floor from pacing but her muscles wouldn't let her.

"What's wrong Ginny?"

"I just want to get married! Is that too much to ask?"

"Ginny we don't need some ceremony or a piece of paper for me to be yours. I am yours. I always have been. Please just calm down and tell me what is happening!"

Ginny paced and talked to herself. Most of it Hermione couldn't understand. The scared brunette tried harder and harder to stand up to console her murmuring fiancée. She caught a few words and phrases, something about "them" gaining control and taking her away. She didn't know where it came from but something inside of her allowed her to spring out of bed and she stood in front of Ginny and held her close. Ginny buried her head into Hermione's shoulder.

"Please, Ginny…tell me. I'll marry you right now, I'll do whatever you want, please just tell me what's wrong!" Hermione begged into Ginny's ear. She started feeling weak and pulled them both to sitting on the bed.

"Ron…Ron says this isn't going to stop. The Death Eaters…they're trying to rebuild. They want control. There could be another war. I want to marry you because I love you and because I don't know that there will be a September for us to do so."

"Is he sure?"

"There were attacks last month, surely you knew that." Ginny played with the silver ring on her finger.

"I knew of them but I didn't know everything." Hermione put her hands on Ginny's.

"I know that we don't need a ceremony or a piece of paper saying we're in love…but I want it. I've wanted so long to be able to say you're my wife. Please Hermione, I am begging you." Ginny turned to Hermione and looked deep into her eyes. "Please."

Hermione took a deep breath. "No."

Ginny's look of longing turned into anger. "What?"

"September ninth."

"What?"

"You heard me."

"Why?"

"I refuse to do something like this because of fear."

"I want this because I love you, Hermione."

"So you aren't afraid of anything? You're not afraid that I'll leave or that I'll be taken by Death Eaters or anything else? If you can look me in the eye and convincingly tell me that you want to get married only because you love me then I will do it. I will find someone to come in here today and we will get married."

Ginny didn't speak.

"I thought so."

"Will you leave?" Ginny whispered.

"No."

Hermione's parents came back with Lennox and they spent the afternoon discussing wedding details. Ginny scribbled furiously on parchment while Hermione talked about flowers and colors. The redhead was shocked to learn that Hermione already had her dress when Ginny hadn't even considered what she was going to wear.

"So…is this casual attire?" Ginny joked.

"Not hardly Miss Weasley," Hermione said sternly. "You will not show up at our wedding in jeans and a Harpies t-shirt."

"Well what did you have in mind, Miss Granger?"

"It's up to you but it will be appropriate. Dress or suit, doesn't matter to me."

"Really Hermione, it'd be easier if you picked it out. I honestly have no idea."

"No, I can't do that. I can't see you in your dress robes before the wedding, everyone knows that." Hermione flipped through a wedding magazine that her mother found in the tea room.

"What? Are you seriously going to make us spend the night apart and not see each other all day the day of and all that nonsense?"

"Yep. You'll stay at the Burrow."

"And you'll be where?"

"At the Lovegood House with Harry, Luna and the twins," Hermione lied. The house would be finished and she would be moved in by then. "Harry is certain the rebuild will be finished by then and so it works out perfectly."

Ginny let out a frustrated sigh. "I just hope the idiots that are going to build across the river can keep it down for one day if they aren't done with whatever is going on over there."

"Oh?" Hermione spoke, trying to pretend like she had no idea what was going on.

"Dad says that Amos Diggory sold that land to some family and they're going to build a house."

Hermione just smiled and continued looking through the magazine.

"I'm sure they'll be finished by the time the wedding comes around," Hermione said. "I heard Amos say at work it was a rather nice family that bought the place. He said they wanted to get away from the city, raise their kids somewhere quieter."

"Wish I could have bought it. Wouldn't that have been wonderful, 'Mione? Our kids growing up the same place I did…not that there's anything wrong with where you grew up, of course." Ginny smiled at her future in-laws.

"Maybe someday, love. In the mean time we'll keep our eyes open and see if something like that comes up."

"Have you two thought about your honeymoon at all?" Mrs. Granger asked.

Ginny smirked a bit. She'd thought about it but nothing further than the hotel room. "Not extensively, no. What do you think, 'Mione?"

"I think somewhere with a beach and palm trees would be fun."

"What about Mexico?" Hermione's father suggested. "I had a client who went to Cancun and even in winter he said the weather is spectacular."

"I thought that was a place for drunken American uni students to go for their holidays," Ginny said bluntly.

"They wouldn't be there in September," Hermione said. "They'll have started their term by then."

"I don't know. Willow talked about going there once before she came to England and it just doesn't seem like the kind of place I want to go whether or not they are there."

"What about Hawaii then?" Hermione's mother said. "We went there for a second honeymoon of sorts a few years ago, it's quite lovely. We did an all-inclusive package that allowed us to go all over the islands. Even with all of the traveling around it was very relaxing. There are spas and resorts all around."

"There's a Wizarding travel agency in Diagon Alley, I'll ask them."

"Oh…well Ginny…my husband and I were going to have it all planned as our wedding gift to the two of you."

Hermione looked up from the magazine in her lap. "Mum you don't have to do that. It's too much, really."

"Nonsense. You know that your father and I decided a long time ago that when you married," she cleared her throat almost disapprovingly, "no matter who it was," she glanced at Ginny, "that the honeymoon would be our gift to you."

"Mrs. Granger it really is too much," Ginny murmured. If stopping Quidditch wasn't enough to get her future mother-in-law to like her wasn't enough she wasn't sure what was.

"You two just decide where you want to go and we'll take care of the rest."

Both young women nodded at the elder Grangers. Lennox started getting restless and after a small argument with Hermione's mother Ginny took him back to Grimmauld Place for the night with the agreement that the Grangers would take him for the rest of the weekend.