A/N: I almost wasn't able to do this update as I accidentally closed the document after 24 hrs without saving... luckily I managed to recover it.
Ginny woke up early, Harry was asleep beside her. They had both tossed and turned a lot during the night. She laid on her back and looked down at her stomach as if she would suddenly look pregnant now that she knew she was. Her fingers slid across the skin below her belly button as she wondered what was going to happen. She imagined holding her baby for the first time, in some way to ease her anxiety, but the whole paternity question loomed over her imagined scenario like a dark cloud.
She looked over at Harry and sighed. She should be glad he was so supportive but maybe she would feel better if he was more upset. Maybe if he yelled at her, the guilt would stop eating away at her.
She wondered how her parents were going to react but they themselves weren't a stellar example of birth control. Either way, she knew she did not want to tell them until she knew for certain who the father was. She was sure Harry would agree in waiting to tell most people until they had more clarity.
Harry wasn't too surprised to find Ginny was already awake when he opened his eyes. He wondered if she slept much at all. His mind had not quieted much during the night, still too busy processing the news.
When Ginny saw he was awake, she turned around to face him. He kissed her softly.
"Morning," she mumbled.
"Good morning, Gin," he greeted her.
She smiled at him. Her hand came up and caressed his cheek, rubbing against the stubble. "Hey."
"Did you change your mind?" he asked with a compassionate look. Usually when Ginny made up her mind about something, she would not change it after, but this was no small choice to make. He wasn't surprised when she did not have to think long about her reply.
"No," she said with a small shake of her head.
"Good, so we're having a baby."
Ginny tucked into Harry, her face against his chest. He wrapped his arms around her and pulled her close.
"Are you scared?" Ginny asked softly.
"A little yeah," Harry said. It would change their lives as they knew it, but it hadn't completely sunk in yet.
"Me too."
"But we've got time to figure all this out, okay? And it's us, together, we're going to be fine," he reassured her.
"Can you hold me for five more minutes?" Ginny asked.
"Ten," Harry responded, his arms wrapped tighter around her. He was suddenly very aware there was a baby growing inside of her at this very moment. It felt unreal. "Fifteen minutes."
She shook her head. "I'll have to pee soon."
"Do you want me to go in with you or do you want to talk to him without me?" Harry asked as they came up to Dean's dorm. He noticed she was fidgeting but there wasn't much he could do to comfort her, they just had to get it over with.
"No, you have to come with me. I am sorry, I know it's a lot to ask," she added as their eyes met.
"It's fine," he assured her. He'd rather be in the room so he could speak to Dean and make sure they were on good terms.
With a deep breath, Ginny reached out and knocked on the door to Dean's dorm and popped her head in. "Is Seamus here?"
Dean shook his head.
"Do you have a minute?" Ginny asked carefully.
Dean looked up curiously when he saw Harry behind her. "Sure."
They both stepped inside. Harry closed the door and followed Ginny into the dorm.
"You better sit down for this one," Ginny said. A warning Harry hadn't gotten but she had been more nervous about telling him than she did Dean.
Dean looked somewhat spooked but he sat down on the couch. "Did he—?"
Ginny shook her head. "No, he already knew." She took a deep breath. "I'm pregnant."
"Oh. Oh. And you don't know…?" He looked at her wide-eyed.
"I don't." Ginny bit her lip. Dean looked between Harry and Ginny. "And I have decided to keep it so…"
"Right." Dean stared ahead for a moment and swallowed hard. A silence fell.
"Dean," Harry said, trying to take some pressure off him. He remembered his own feelings last night all too well. "If it's yours you can be as involved as you want. We're good friends, we can get along and co-parent. If not, then that's it."
"I am surprised you still call us good friends considering the circumstances," Dean said, his voice slightly shaky.
"Well, I've known about Ginny doing worse so…It was just an unfortunate matter of timing." It was a half-joke half-truth, but he wasn't sure if it was going to land well.
"Jesus, Harry," Ginny said, shooting a quick glance his way, her cheeks pink somewhere between anger and embarrassment. She looked back at Dean, waiting for him to speak.
"This whole situation is kind of strange. I'd hate for it to cause issues between you two, you have a great thing going...but if it is mine, I'd want to be involved, yeah." Dean took a deep breath.
Harry had expected as much from Dean considering his family history.
"Okay," Ginny nodded. "In about three weeks we can do a paternity test already. I suggest we check when everyone doesn't have exams and make an appointment. Results are in after about a week."
"They can do it that early?" Dean asked in surprise.
Harry had been surprised about that too. Talking about the practical side was easier than the intangible idea of 'having a baby'.
"Yep, they just draw blood from me, cheek swabs for you," Ginny confirmed.
"Okay, then that is the way to go I suppose," Dean agreed.
"If you change your mind, just say so. I know it is a lot to take in." Ginny took her leave, Harry following her after a nod to Dean.
Harry was surprised when Ginny took off as soon as they stepped into the hallway. Harry saw her run into the nearest restroom. He assumed she was throwing up.
Harry followed and waited outside the stall. "Gin?"
"I am fine!" Ginny replied before Harry could hear her throw up again.
Harry waited silently for her to come out. She came out looking rather pale. She rinsed her mouth and splashed cold water on her face.
"Guess I am winning girlfriend of the year over here," Ginny commented bitterly.
"Well, it beats hungover throwing-up-gin Gin," Harry replied. Drunk Ginny was a lot of fun, but hungover Ginny was grumpy and cursed a lot.
"Best friend Ginny had fewer qualms about throwing up in front of you," she said, rubbing her eyes.
"If we are going to raise a kid together, we're going to get into worse stuff," Harry commented. As soon as he said it, he knew it was the wrong thing to stay.
Ginny turned nearly green as she spun around and got back into the stall. She came back out a minute later.
"Sorry, that one was on me," he said as she rinsed her mouth again.
"You're the last person who should apologise here." She leaned her arms on the sink and looked at him. He could see the guilt she was feeling.
"Don't. Don't do that, please," Harry asked softly.
She looked back down, gritting her teeth.
"You don't need to punish yourself over this."
"I don't understand why you don't," she said, pushing off the sink and righting herself.
"I know you. You're a good person. You didn't cheat, you didn't lie. Doesn't mean everything is all fine and dandy. I am not angry at you and I'm not going to take out my frustrations on you." Harry held out his hand to her. "Let's go back to your dorm."
Harry helped Ginny go through the chapter she had planned to study the day before. He sat at her desk while she sat on her bed as he read from the syllabus. She made some notes.
"There you go, all caught up," Harry said, closing the laptop. He turned around to Ginny.
"Thanks." A silence fell between them. Ginny fiddled with her pen. "I could still have a miscarriage, it's still early."
Harry looked at her with worry. "Let's hope not." He knew it was not what she wanted but he understood what it implied, because it would solve a ton of problems.
"I think… I won't tell my parents until we're past the first trimester where the risk goes down… by then we should know who the father is. I don't want to tell them about Dean if I don't have to and I sincerely hope I won't." She looked at him. They both wanted this baby to be his, but that didn't make it true.
"Right." He nodded. "I guess that makes sense. We can wait and see," he said. "Either way you're giving your parents a grandchild."
She frowned. "They already have one."
"What?" He cocked his head. "Oh. Bill has a kid. I forgot."
"My mom is pretty upset she never sees Victoire ... she's worried she won't know enough English to understand us," she spoke.
"So you can soften the surprise by just telling her how much she's going to see the kid," Harry with a smile.
Ginny nodded. "Yeah, that will probably work."
Harry got onto the bed beside Ginny and dropped his head in her lap.
"You're in the right spot to talk some sense into this baby," Ginny said.
He looked up at her. "Their only offence is existing."
"Not really their fault, I guess," she said. "That's on me."
"Can try to talk some sense into your uterus, though." He smiled.
Ginny huffed with a dramatic tone. "Don't bother, I have been trying that for years. It never gets with the schedule… proven again." Her hand came to caress Harry's cheek.
"Are you sure sure about this baby?" Harry asked her.
Ginny looked a bit puzzled and did not immediately reply.
"Because I am about to get attached and once I make that mental shift, I don't think it can be undone," he said earnestly. "Once I shift into dad mode…"
She smiled softly. "I am sure. I think I made that shift almost immediately when I found out. So you can go on ahead and join me on the other side."
"In that case," he said. He turned his head and placed a hand on her belly before pressing a kiss to it through her shirt. "First kiss to baby delivered."
Ginny's hand came to cover his. "Damnit, your dad mode is adorable."
He chuckled and looked up at her. "My dad told me that he was like me, expecting to be single before my mum came along. Then he discovered he was a family man...He told me he thought I was the same," Harry told her.
"When did you have that conversation?" she asked with wonder.
Harry sighed. "When you came along for dinner. He told me to be honest with you about my feelings for you, but I assumed that would scare you off… He told me I had time to figure it all out, though. Little did he know…" He sat up. "That's why I couldn't look you in your eyes after. I knew you were pretty serious but my dad really… made me realise how serious I was myself."
"Well, as serious goes, baby kind of does it." She met his eyes. "Very permanent allegedly."
Harry hummed. "So I've heard."
"You're hovering," Ginny said, looking up from her laptop.
Harry pushed off the doorframe and walked to her. "I know." He pulled out the chair beside her and sat down. He rested his elbows on the table and looked at her. He sighed. "Can I be honest?"
"Preferably," she replied, leaning against the back of the chair, waiting for him to speak.
"I am worried..." he started. "That you're going to pull away from me."
Her brows knitted together. "For any particular reason?"
"To safeguard yourself? That you will try to anticipate my feelings and break things off before I could."
She nodded quietly. "But it would be more than protecting me now, wouldn't it?" She met his eyes.
Harry's hands folded together. "Sure." His eyes dropped to the table. "I just wish I could make you believe that I won't leave but I also know that's pretty much an empty promise."
She reached out and threaded her fingers through his hair. "So many things could happen."
"How about this? I promise if I ever have a doubt or things change, I will tell you honestly, so you don't have to worry about me quietly pulling away," he tried.
She thought about it for a moment. "I guess that could work." She smiled. "It's not like I was planning on, you know... breaking up with you or anything, yet. You're right that could happen at some point though."
Harry kissed her cheek. "I know. You can't break up with me though, ever." He kissed her lips.
"To phase fifteen?" she asked, her face mere millimetres away from his. Her eyes searched his.
"To phase twenty, I am going to invent new ones," he replied.
She chuckled. "Let me know when you've come up with those," she replied.
"You know what worries me?" Harry said a few days later.
Ginny pushed up on her elbows. "What?"
"If the baby is Dean's, people wouldn't see me as their 'real' dad. It's not like that baby would look even remotely like me, it wouldn't be passable as my kid."
Ginny sat up further and came to him. "Yeah, I know that." Her hands folded in her lap. "But you'll always be their dad, too."
Harry looked at her. "You think so?"
"Absolutely. I'll make it so. Don't think I'll hesitate to kick their ass if people mess up."
He smiled. "Right, of course you would."
Ginny's phone rang and she picked it up. Harry waited for her to be done with her phone call.
She chatted for a moment and put down her phone. "That was the doctor's office with my blood results. My hormone levels are where they should be, and I should just continue taking vitamins."
"Good." His hand came to her stomach. "Grow well, baby. We promise we'll have our shit together by the time you arrive."
Ginny laughed and looked up at him. "I am so glad I have you. I would have hated to do this with any other boyfriend."
"I'm glad too," he replied. He smiled. "I wouldn't have trusted most of your boyfriends with a kid."
Ginny nodded. "Yeah, I think that's fair." Her hand came to her stomach too. "If it is your kid …"
"It'll be the palest kid ever? I should invest in sunscreen?"
"This is why I love you. Yes, the kid would be so pale. I meant to say I hope it's got a lot of your personality," Ginny told him softly.
"Aw, Ginny. You can't be saying stuff like that, I will cry." He put an arm around her. "I hope they have all your pretty freckles."
She smiled. "High chance of that. It's the size of a baked bean today."
"That'll ruin dinner. It's going to look like a hundred babies now," Harry complained with a smile.
"We can make it a game, though. Eat the food the baby is compared to," Ginny suggested.
"That's funny the first few months I'm sure, I think once it passes the melon size, it'll get boring fast. Your baby is baby-sized today, it's coming out."
"It's crazy that something that's so small right now, can become a whole baby in a few months," Ginny mused.
"It's a little crazy," he agreed. "What's crazier is that someone put you in charge of growing it!"
Ginny gasped. "Excuse me! I am going to be an excellent baby-grower, I'll prove it to you and you'll have to eat your words!"
Harry grinned. "They don't call it baby-grower, I believe, but what do I know?"
Ginny chuckled and kissed his cheek. "I love you."
"I know." He smiled at her.
"And?"
Harry blinked blankly. "What?"
"Harry…"
His eyes lit up. "Oh… right right. I love you, little nugget in there."
Ginny nodded, admitting defeat.
"I love you too, my dear Gin," Harry said, taking her chin and kissing her. "A lot more than I thought I could love a person."
Ginny pulled Harry into her arms. "You're such a dork." She kissed his forehead softly.
