Good morning and welcome back to your favourite best friends to lovers, right? ... Right?
I'm kidding! The lovebirds are back, and Ginny is starting to feel enormous(ly pregnant). The next chapter is about Christmas, which was fun to write in the middle of June, and the Weasley brothers will attempt to guess the baby's name.

I am also finishing up on writing my Dirty Dancing AU, The Silver Lining of Dirty Dancing and will start posting that soonish. If you want to vote on your preferred posting date for that, you can find the poll on tumblr (GinnyW-Potter). Poll runs until 8 July.

Though the threat had vanished and life was not more dangerous than it had been prior to their weekend in the safe house, Ginny couldn't help but feel as though the world around her had fundamentally changed. Everything still seemed the same but to her, it simply did not feel that way.

As much as Harry could pretend that everything was back to normal, she noticed that he was hardly out of reach when they were out together, and when she went out alone he always knew where she was. She would have complained about it, but she felt more at ease knowing Harry would come running if she needed him.

Sometime after the weekend, she received a file from Sirius.

Sirius:
On occasion I compose songs of my own. Used the weekend somewhat productively and wrote a little something for that little nugget - GGF (greatgodfather, in case you were wondering)

She looked towards the door but Harry was not back yet so she went ahead and listened to it on her own. She plucked her headphones off the table and popped them on. She opened the file.

Paddys_ 3

She closed her eyes as she listened. The piano music was lighthearted and soft with a playful note here and there. It was beautiful and she did not move until the song was done.

She opened her eyes and took her headphones off.

"Honey?"

She looked up and saw Harry had returned. "Come here." She held the headphones out.

Harry took them and looked at her to explain.

"Sirius sent me a lullaby he said he wrote for our daughter."

Harry put the headphones on and nodded. She clicked play and let him listen to the song. He stood with his arms crossed, staring off into the distance as he listened, his eyebrows furrowed lightly.

"Wow," he commented when the music ended. "It's so pretty."

She nodded in agreement. "I didn't expect this, but it's so sweet."

"Sirius used to hate playing the piano because his parents forced him to learn, but I think he has gotten back into it," Harry said. "He must really like you if he's sending lullabies."

"I think he's just trying to reaffirm his place as great godfather." She showed him the message.

Harry chuckled lightly. "Possibly."

"The song is called Paddy's Lullaby."

"Is it?" Harry asked as he leaned over to look. "His agency name is Padfoot, but as a toddler I could not say that so he was 'Paddy'."

"That's adorable," Ginny said. She caressed her belly. "Suppose he expects for her to call him Paddy too…" She looked back up at him.

He smiled and kissed her softly. "Do you want a lava cake too?"

"Is that even a question?" she replied.

He shook his head, walked to the freezer and took out a few lava cakes. He put them in the microwave. She walked up to him after she got up with a grunt.

As soon as the beep of the microwave went, Harry took them out and put them on two plates, offering her a fork before digging into his own.

He turned to her. "If you had to give up sex or lava cakes, what would you pick?"

Her eyes widened and she considered it for a moment, taking a bite to buy her time. "Don't ask questions you don't want to know the answer to." She grinned teasingly at him. "I suppose if it's only lava cakes, there would be enough substitutes that would do."

"Things like that are how I know that you truly love me," he teased.

She put down her fork and turned to her. "Oh, you meant sex with you?"

Harry pretended to have been wounded and fell to the floor. "That is beyond betrayal."

Chuckling she knelt down, and tried to sit on top of him.

"Careful there," he warned, steadying her. "Sex with who were you thinking about exactly?"

"I set myself up for that trap, didn't I?" she asked.

Harry's hands landed on her thighs casually. "I think you did." He raised an eyebrow.

"I was only kidding," she reassured him.

He scoffed at her. "You better." He glanced up at the counter. "So, usually I pull you off the floor, but now I'm under you… Give it to me straight; are we stuck?"

"No," she said lightly. "I can do it." She took a deep breath. "If you give me a minute."

"My lava cake is getting cold," Harry complained.

"And my back hurts," she responded.

He snorted at her. "You can't blame me for everything pregnancy."

"Of course I can."

She sat up and got up off him but sat on the ground. Harry stood and then pulled her up.

"Your daughter says thank you."

He pretended to be annoyed but his gaze softened. "Mhm," he hummed. "Sure thing."

"Harry?"

His head shot up immediately. He could tell something was off. She stood in the doorway to the bathroom, hair still soaking wet and barely dressed.

He got up off the couch and walked to her. "What's wrong?"

She pulled him into the bathroom and leaned against the counter. "She hasn't moved in a while, and I'm worried."

His hands came to her bump, and felt no kicks. "How long?"

She shook her head. "I don't know, I don't keep that close track of it, but too long. This has never happened before." She looked down at the bump. "Maybe it's nothing, maybe I'm overreacting."

"No." He kissed her forehead. "If you think something is off, then you're not overreacting."

Her eyes darted up to him filled with worry. "Maybe if she hears your voice…"

He knelt down in front of her. "Hey, my little cub. We are getting a little worried so if you could give us anything at all, that would be great. Just a small kick."

He felt nothing but he looked up at Ginny to see if she was feeling anything. She sighed and shook her head.

"I'll be right back." He walked to the fridge and took out a can of coke. He walked into the bathroom. "If she doesn't move soon after this, we'll go to the doctor."

Ginny took the can and opened it, immediately taking a few swigs. She pulled her shirt on.

"Come with me." He gently took her hand and guided her to the couch.

She sat down beside him, lifted her shirt up and stared down the bump. She drank more of her coke. "I think it's insane how much this worries me. We didn't even plan for her, yet she is…" She bit her lip and shook her head.

"She is our baby." He caressed her bump. "I know."

"Do you think something is wrong?" Ginny asked him.

He wiped her damp hair out of her face. "… I don't know," he answered honestly.

Ginny finished her can and set it down on the table. Harry paid close attention to his hand. The seconds ticked by. Her whole face was filled with worry.

"Oh, thank god," Ginny gasped several excruciating moments later. Her hand came to her belly. "You scared the crap out of me!"

"She's—?" He moved his hand and then he felt it too. "There she is."

Ginny slumped back on the couch, with her eyes closed and taking some deep breaths. "Great, now she's doing a whole football match."

"Do you still want to go to the doctor?" he asked her.

She opened her eyes again and met his. "No, I think we're okay."

He scooted closer to her and wrapped his arm around her. She tucked her head against his shoulder.

"I should get dressed," she said softly.

He shook his head. "Not yet."

"Okay." She leaned more into him.

He pulled her further into his arms and she got comfortable. His hand rested against her skin so he could feel the baby kick and put him at ease.

As the pregnancy progressed, Harry had suggested a maternity shoot near the end of November if the weather allowed. As the weather on the weekend looked rather good, they decided to do it that Saturday.

Ginny had disappeared into the bathroom over half an hour to go and he was starting to wonder if he needed to check on her, but then the door opened.

"Was the deposit a lot of money?" she asked.

He set his phone down. "Why?"

"The photos are going to be awful and… I don't want to waste money on this for ugly pictures. Even if we lose only the deposit, maybe it's still for the better."

"The pictures are going to be great," he told her.

"Harry, look at me. I am a fucking potato. It's not going to be nice."

This was just completely incorrect. She looked as beautiful as ever, and there was nothing she could do to ruin a picture. He was pretty sure she was incapable of that. "You're beautiful."

"I feel like shit." She stared up at the ceiling blinking rapidly.

Harry could tell she was about to cry. He quickly walked to her. "Maybe you feel like a potato, but if you are one, you are the prettiest potato that has ever been. You're going to be so happy you have those photos, I promise."

"I've already delayed too long now." She sniffled and quickly rubbed a hand under her eye. "So we'll be late, we are just wasting money and I'm going to look like this." She gestured towards herself, still in pyjamas, hair uncombed.

He understood what she meant, but they'd still be splendid photos. He let out a big sigh.

"I'm sorry."

He wrapped his arms around her and the bump. "No. I wanted to keep this a surprise but… the photographer is my mum. I can tell you she is doing it for free."

"Oh," she croaked.

"I just wanted you to have some beautiful pictures and my mum can probably nick some fancy camera from work they usually photograph corpses with."

This made Ginny snort.

"And then we can spend money on some nice prints instead and put them up on the wall." He rubbed her back. "If you really don't want to do this, we can just cancel and she'll understand. But… you are gorgeous and this is just a feeling. How about you get ready and we'll see if that makes you feel better? She'll forgive us if we're a few minutes late."

"Okay." She stood back up and looked up. "I'm sorry I ruined your surprise."

"It's not worth the stress it's giving you." He led her to the couch. "Why don't you sit down and I'll do your hair while you have some water and a snack?"

She smiled weakly. "How did you know I needed a snack?"

He neglected to reply and walked to the kitchen. He came back with some cookies and water.

"I can add a blotchy crying face to the list of things wrong," she muttered when he walked back out of the bathroom with the necessary hair tools.

"That'll be gone in a minute, besides the tears bring out the golden flecks in your eyes," he joked. He took up the brush and began brushing her hair. "You do need to feed me a snack once in a while."

Her hand lifted with a half-eaten cookie. He took it from her with his teeth.

"Thanks." He finished brushing her hair out. "Braids? Loose waves? Just natural? Honestly, I love your hair when it's out."

"Maybe just a braid from the front then to keep it out of my eyes, and a ton of hairspray?" she suggested. "Kind of like a crown? Can you do that?"

He huffed. "What have I been training for if not this moment?"

"So you can do your daughter's hair?" she responded.

"That too."

With her hair done, she disappeared back into the bathroom to do her make-up and get dressed. He texted his mum to let her know they might run a bit late. It depended on how much time Ginny still took.

The door of the bathroom opened and he looked up. She was wearing dungarees she had just bought last week. She had just enough make-up on to accentuate her natural beauty and really managed to make her eyes pop with her eye shadow. The dungarees looked incredibly cute on her and he suddenly felt weak in the knees.

"Harry?"

He remained silent as she walked up to him. He ran his hand through his hair.

"Why are you blushing?"

He cocked his head. "Oh, I'm not," he said, with betraying hot cheeks. "You're the most beautiful."

"You're just saying that," she said dismissively.

"Gin," he started. "I can't blush on command. Genuine reaction."

She looked up at him for a long moment and then her face brightened. "You do like this," she noted.

He shrugged, keeping his eyes locked. "Yeah. I want to show you off to everyone. And I'll get to do exactly that because pictures are forever."

She pulled him down a bit and kissed him. "Let's leave then, we don't want to be late."

He chucked and kissed her back. "Yes, it would be terrible if I delayed us too much."

Photos taken, they returned to the Potter house. Ginny felt so glad they went through with the photoshoot and Lily had done a great job. She felt a little silly about her previous outburst but Harry did not dwell on it one bit.

"Thank you," she said as they rested on the couch.

Lily had gone into their office to load the photos up on the computer.

"Did you end up having fun?" he asked her.

She smiled at him. "I did."

"I am glad," he told her. "I'm sure the pictures will look great."

"I think your mum is in there doing some hefty photoshopping," she joked.

He nodded along. "On me, yes." He grinned at her.

"No, you looked very handsome posing," she told him. "It'll look perfect."

The door closed and James stepped in. "Hi, Ginny."

"I suppose you were in on the photographer scheme?" she asked him.

James walked further into the room. "Yes, she needed an accomplice to sneak one of the cameras out. I'm her partner in and out of crime, I had to."

"I suppose that's what you get for working with your wife," Ginny said. "Do you ever regret it?"

"Not a day," James said easily. "She's in the office?" He pointed towards the door of the office.

Harry nodded and James walked off and into the office.

"Mrs Potter."

Harry rolled his eyes.

"Ohh, are those the photos? Let me look!"

A moment later James walked back out. "I've been banished." He walked back and sat down on the other couch. "What I saw looked very promising."

"Thanks for trying," Ginny told him. "We appreciate it."

"Are you counting down yet?" James asked her.

She shrugged noncommittally. "I don't want to start too early, because I know I'll drive myself insane, but it's definitely starting to near. And she is starting to take up rather a lot of place."

"A lady asked the other day when she was due, and that it must be any day," Harry told his dad.

James grimaced. "Is the lady still alive?"

Ginny chuckled.

"She only barely managed to escape with her life," Harry replied with a grin. "No, uh, Ginny gave her a firm reply. Right, honey?"

"I don't see why it should be her business!" Ginny told them. "And she looked like one of those ladies who'll touch your bump without asking." She shook her head adamantly. "I don't need that. I figured I would set firm boundaries."

"Good on you," James told her.

Lily stepped outside a minute later. "These are not edited yet, just a quick selection I made, okay?"

"The pictures were even greater than I expected," she said. "Thank you, again. You're the best."

He grinned at her. "I dare say we make a cute couple." He kicked his shoes off and put them with Ginny's. He walked into the apartment.

"I think we do."

She held her arms open for him and he was quick to join her on the couch. She hugged him close.

"If she comes early, it could be less than a month before we bring her home," Ginny pointed out.

"I know we're as ready as we will be," Harry said. "But it doesn't feel that way. What if I mess up?"

"You won't." She kissed him. "If there is one thing I know, it's that."

He smiled at her and got comfortable on the couch. Something told him he should enjoy the quiet while it lasted. Things could be a whole lot noisier in a few months' time.