A/N: HAPPY NEW YEAR!!! I HOPE 2006 BRINGS LOTS MORE LOVE B/T ALL THESE SHIPS LOL. Thanks for the lovely reviews…and now the chapter you've been waiting for…
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In Which the Boys Come Home
"Dear Ginny-We will be home sometime this week. I can't wait to see you…five and a half months is such a long time. I can't believe it's the first week of December and I will get to see you in a few days. We just have some business to finish up at the Ministry and Azkaban. We will all probably apparate in at different times so please let Harry know that so he can let us through. First thing that I am doing when I get back, besides a shower, is taking you hostage in the bedroom and holding you for days. See you soon…Love, Draco"
Ginny and Samantha were hugging and crying…Ron said he should be home within a day or two, followed by Fred and George and lastly Draco who was going to meet with his mother and discuss pressing charges against the Death Eater that killed Lucius Malfoy.
Harry had made changes to the wards to let his friends in before traveling to Little Whinging for the day. His aunt had written him saying his uncle was gravely ill and he should probably come visit at the Muggle hospital. Harry decided he probably should, more out of respect for his aunt then anything else. So he had left early in the morning with the intent of only being gone for a few hours.
It was just Hermione, Ginny, Samantha and Brian sitting on the floor watching Brian crawl around looking for a toy they would hide from him. Samantha and Ginny could only sit on the floor so long before their backs hurt so after a half hour of playing with Brian, Ginny decided to take her large stomach upstairs for a nap. Samantha climbed into the recliner and promptly fell asleep in front of the TV whilst Hermione walked into the kitchen with Brian crawling after her to fix him some lunch.
She had just finished securing Brian in his chair and was making him a bowl of rice cereal when Brian began laughing at something. Turning around, Hermione dropped the dish at the sight of Ron standing next to Brian, tickling his neck.
"RON!" Hermione launched herself at him and was enveloped in a strong hug. "It's so good to see you!" she pulled back and saw a scar running down the side of his face. "What happened to you?" she touched it and when he didn't flinch she ran her finger down the length of it, from his ear to his jaw.
"Some type of spell that I managed to duck from just in time. I figured I could match Harry now," he winked at her then let her go, rubbing Brian's head who just stared up at him, not knowing who this stranger was. "He's so big," Ron commented.
"Almost seven months old. Crawling all over. And you are too skinny, do you want something to eat? Samantha is napping in the living room," Hermione was going to be there for the look that would come across his face when he saw his six month pregnant wife walk in.
Ron sat down at the mention of food and leaned back on two legs of the chair.
"Food would be great, then I'll go wake up Samantha. How is everyone?"
"Fine. Ginny and Samantha are actually napping and Ginny was so glad to go back to St. Mungo's yesterday after being holed up here. How are you and everyone else?" Hermione slid a ham sandwich towards him then cleaned up the mess from the bowl she dropped. Quickly making another bowl she sat down and began to spoon feed Brian who was bouncing so violently she had to hold the chair with one hand and cast an Immovable Charm on his seat.
"Fred and George are finishing up paperwork and are coming home tomorrow…probably straight to The Burrow to eat something. Draco should be back soon. I saw his mother apparate over to the ministry earlier today. We all have our cuts and bruises but it's done and over with now," Ron took a long drink of butterbeer Hermione had set out and let out a long, happy sigh. He polished off another sandwich and as Hermione finished feeding Brian she heard tales about them sleeping in caves, Muggle barns and occasionally a trusted wizard or witches home.
Ron leaned back on two legs again watching her feed Brian when the swinging door to the kitchen opened.
"Hermione, do we have any Honeydukes candy?" Samantha didn't see Ron sitting in the corner but jumped when she heard him topple to the floor with his chair.
"Ron!" Samantha ran over as Hermione leaped up asking if he was ok. He looked stunned as he hoisted himself up, staring at Samantha.
"You're…you didn't tell me…Samantha!" Ron said haltingly, his face pale as she launched herself at him. He buried his face in her shoulder length brown hair and held her as she told him through her tears why she didn't tell him she was pregnant. When she pulled away to look up at him Hermione could see tears running down his face and Samantha stood up on her toes and kissed him. Hermione finished cleaning up Brian and saw her cousin take Ron's hand and place it on her stomach, keeping her hand over his.
"That's your son in there," Samantha whispered and Ron's eyes grew wide but his voice failed him as he moved his hand in a slow circle on her stomach. Samantha glanced at Hermione and silently asked if she should tell him about Ginny and Hermione shook her head slightly, pulling Brian up out of his seat.
"I'll go up and tell Ginny you're here," Hermione left them staring at each other in the kitchen, deposited Brian in a playpen her mother insisted on buying and ran two stairs at a time up to wake Ginny.
When Hermione woke up Ginny to tell her Ron was home she jumped up, used the bathroom and ran a brush through her hair, walking quickly towards the stairs. She could hear his voice mixed with Samantha's in the kitchen.
She stopped at the doorway and saw Samantha glance up at her, causing Ron to turn around. As he stood up his eyes caught her pregnant belly and he grabbed the table.
"Both of you?" he whispered and Ginny just smiled, biting her lip to stop from laughing aloud at the look of incredulity that swept across his face. She noticed the scar but didn't say anything as she walked over and hugged him.
"Both of us. Both of us are due on your birthday actually," Ginny said squeezing his shoulders.
"So, all you guys and probably our parents knew and no one told us?" Ron asked as he pulled a chair out for Ginny. Hermione threw some toys in with Brian who happily was munching on the corner of a book.
"Pretty much," Ginny said. "We knew you would worry. How is everyone?" she asked breathlessly, her eyes moving over his skinny frame.
"Good, actually." Ron proceeded to tell her what he had told Hermione and saw his sister's eyes light up when he said Draco should be home in a day or two. The four of them sat there for two hours talking, bringing him up to date on Ginny's training, the pregnancies and Brian when they heard the familiar pop of Harry apparating into the hallway. He appeared in the kitchen a moment later, immediately seeing Ron. No words were exchanged as Ron paused his story, stood up and walked around the table to Harry. For a second Harry's eyes swept over his best friend and before the girls new it they hugged then stepped back to appraise each other again. Harry noticed the scar right away.
"Always wanted to be like me, huh mate?" Harry chided, clasping him on the shoulder then moving to take Brian as Hermione handed her son to his father.
"I went out of my way to get this," Ron winked then turned to Samantha.
"I was hanging around to see Harry but I should really go see my parents then I need to go home and sleep…in my bed," Ron looked at everyone and Ginny could see he was so happy to be home.
"Sure. Go and get a home cooked meal…you deserve that at least," Harry nodded as he switched a squirming Brian to his other hip.
"How's your Uncle?" Ginny asked.
"Pretty sick with the flu and bronchitis so he will be in the hospital for awhile. He doesn't look too good," Harry said with no emotion in his voice.
Everyone was quiet for a moment. Then Ron broke the silence.
"Ill come by tomorrow, if I feel like getting out of bed," Ron hugged Samantha close and planted a kiss on the top of her head.
"Good to see you Ron," Harry said meeting his friends gaze and Ron smiled at him.
"Yeah, I'm done with these Death Eaters," Ron smiled at Ginny who was still sitting down.
"Wait until Draco sees you," he added and Ginny noticed how easily her fiancées name rolled off of Ron's lips and had so many questions about him. But she saw that Ron just wanted to go be with Samantha and she couldn't blame either one of them.
"He also told me to tell you to feel free to go to his flat anytime." Ginny nodded her heart racing as she realized she didn't have to stay here anymore.
A few minutes later Ron and Samantha had left, promising to be back tomorrow to catch up with Harry. Ginny said she was going to go pack to move back to Draco's and await his return.
Now she realized she was going to miss Grimmauld, not too very much, but enough to make her think about it. She loved being around Brian and watching him grow and learn to crawl. Her nieces had come over and were totally entranced by him, offering him toy after toy and bottle after bottle which he happily ignored while chewing on one of their shoes. She couldn't wait to get to Draco's flat though. She loved his bed, the feel of him around her and since it might be another day until he made it home, it would give her a chance to air it out and clean it up a bit. Go shopping…do all the things that she had been wanting to do since he left in the middle of May.
Hermione came up to help her pack, asking her the usual pregnancy/health questions about how she was feeling and if
there was anything she could do. Ginny was thankful for everything they did and told her and Harry as he came in,
having just put Brian down for a quick nap. They both hugged her and made plans for her to come over for dinner with
Ron and Samantha the following night. Ginny accepted and moments later she too was gone from Grimmauld.
"Well," Harry said hugging Hermione. "Do you want to stay here or go back to the flat when everyone returns home?"
Hermione turned and looked at the bedroom around her then out the window.
"You know, I think I prefer our flat because it's ours. Maybe…someday when there are more kids…we can move somewhere bigger," she stood on her toes and kissed him. "Plus, I want to be there…it's ours…you know?"
Harry nodded and led her from the room, both of them having the same feeling that Ginny wouldn't be needing to use that room ever again.
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Just for a few minutes, Ginny opened the windows to Draco's flat…letting it air out. She had already gone out to the store and stocked up on food, butterbeer, pumpkin juice and had made a huge batch of her mother's Shepherd's Pie recipe. Now she was exhausted; it was close to nine at night and she had just a few more pages of reading to do on Magical Care of the Newborn Witch/Wizard then she could collapse on the bed. She could feel the baby, a girl as she thought, flipping around trying out new moves against her ribs. Ginny placed a hand on her stomach as she settled herself at Draco's desk, her book and parchment out ready for note taking.
She hummed along to a tune on the Wizarding Wireless as her quill moved across the parchment, trying to ignore the baby rolling around inside her, hitting every organ she had.
"Calm down in there you football player!" Ginny said aloud, lightly rapping her stomach. She was getting so uncomfortable with the baby moving, she stood up and decided to do some reading in bed. Turning off the lights and radio she made her way into Draco's bedroom, changing into one of Ron's t-shirts that fit perfectly over her stomach. Then she crawled under the covers and set up the pillows behind her back, spread out her book on a pile of pillows on her lap and found that if she reclined a bit, the baby settled down.
She sat there for twenty minutes, making notes in the margin of her book, actually playing close attention since she would be delivering her own child in a matter of months. It would be nice to know what will happen to her once she, the baby, is out on her own.
"Good lord, child…stop moving!" Ginny said aloud, underlining a particular paragraph in her book.
"Do you always talk to yourself?" a voice said from the doorway and Ginny screamed slamming her back against the headboard of the bed, her book flying to the floor.
"Draco!" Ginny's hands flew to her mouth as she sat there shaking from the scare he gave her. His hair was longer, hanging in his eyes and he was thin, but he was smiling as he walked towards her from the door. She made a move to get up and he put out a hand to stop her.
"You…you're early and you almost killed me!" Ginny said her hands still over her mouth not quite believing that he was sitting next to her, next to the pile of pillows that her book was on…the pile that was hiding her stomach. "Are you really here?" she reached over and touched his cheek and he grabbed her hand with his.
"I am really here. I'm done and everyone is back where they should be," he leaned over the pillows and kissed her softly on the lips and Ginny closed her eyes, savoring the sensation then she pulled back.
"How are you?" she asked her eyes raking over his unshaven face and his tired blue eyes.
"I'm doing wonderful now. How are you? You look…different," he cocked his head to the side as if trying to see if she did her hair different.
"Oh, I'm just…well…shove off the bed for a second," Ginny said nervously and he stood up watching her throw the pillows to the side and as she swung her legs over the bed and stood up his eyes immediately traveled down to her stomach and he froze, staring at her six and a half month pregnant stomach under Ron's shirt. With shaking hands, Ginny pulled the shirt over her stomach showing him how large she was.
"You…we…you're pregnant and didn't tell me?" he said hoarsely, reached out a hand then let it drop as if he was afraid to touch her.
"Six and a half months," Ginny whispered and leaned over to grab his hand and she pushed it against the underside where the baby was kicking. He looked up at her, his eyes huge as he felt the knocks and thumps against his hand.
"Say hello to your daughter, Draco," Ginny said and wasn't prepared for the reaction she got from him.
He slowly lowered himself to his knees, his face level with her belly. Ginny sat back on the bed and he moved his hand towards the top of her stomach, moving forward between her legs that she couldn't close when she sat down anymore.
"Ginny…I should've…oh, sweet Merlin," he gasped then lowered his head to kiss her stomach and Ginny could see he was crying. She ran a hand through his longer than normal hair and he wrapped his arms around her, resting his cheek on the top of her stomach-- his shoulders shaking as he sobbed into her stomach, holding her tightly. It was the first time she had ever seen him cry and she just ran her hands over his head and around his shoulders, kissing the top of his head.
"It's alright…we're alright. Samantha and I didn't say anything because we knew it would worry you all."
"Samantha?" he said huskily and Ginny gave him a quick summary of both pregnancies, feeling his arms relax a bit as he brought his emotions under control. She could feel the baby running a foot or hand along the top of her stomach and knew Draco could feel it against his cheek, but he didn't move. He was strangely quiet and Ginny just let her hands rub his shoulders, feeling bone beneath them as he shifted his head.
"This has to be the biggest shock of my entire life," he finally said in a normal voice, turning his head and propping his chin on her stomach so she had to look down at him.
"I didn't mean it to be. I didn't even know until after you had left on graduation day," and she proceeded to explain about the wand and "accidentally" finding out she was pregnant.
"I wanted so much to tell you. I was so pissed off when I couldn't leave Grimmauld and normally I would have taken it and dealt with it but the hormones got the best of me. I'm just glad it's over and I didn't have to tell you while you were still out there. Your mum made me promise to tell you if you weren't back by the first of December…and when we found out you were coming back close to that date, I figured a few extra days of not telling you wouldn't hurt."
"I just wish I could have been there through you not feeling well, to support you…," he began still staring up at her.
Ginny shook her head and smiled, "After what I went through, be glad you weren't. Poor Harry had to deal with it but he took it in stride. I was a mess…ask your mother, she saw me a few times…but I feel great now…unless she kicks me there…," Ginny pushed on a spot near her hip and Draco pulled away, grabbing the hem of her shirt and pushing it up so he could see her stomach. Ginny pulled her shirt all the way up and he ran a hand over her smooth skin, still unblemished by stretch marks or anything else pregnancy brings.
She felt his hands move lightly in a circle around her stomach and was amazed at the strong feeling it invoked in her.
She could already see he was entranced by the whole prospect that there was a baby in there even if he couldn't
express that thought. Then just not having him touch her for over six months made her body scream out to him and as if
he sensed it he rested his hands on her thighs. She blinked slowly as his hands rubbed up and down her thighs.
"Can we still-," he started and was interrupted by a quick nod from Ginny who was already backing up onto the bed. He pulled the t-shirt over her head and laid down next to her, his lips seeking hers and his hands helped hers with his sweatshirt and jeans. And it was like the night they conceived their daughter, hands moving each other into position, this time Ginny on top and it was with the same muscle screaming release that they came, loudly, together.
He lowered her gently to her side, feeling how hard her stomach was and she assured him that it was normal…they talked for a bit hitting upon many topics from sending away his father's killer for life to how hot it was in Egypt when he was there, to the due date for the baby. He had actually chuckled when she said she and Samantha were due on Ron's birthday and he had hit the nail on the head when he said how much Ron's ego would inflate if that happened. It made Ginny wonder just how much they got to know each other after spending six months together with limited forms of entertainment. Just hearing them say each other's first names aloud made her happy in the thought that maybe they might like each other just a little bit.
As the hours wore on, they didn't move except for Ginny to get up and use the bathroom…twice. Draco received a smack as he made a smart comment about girls going to the bathroom in pairs and after they settled down, him spooning her, arms wrapped securely around her, Ginny drifted off in to a blissful sleep, feeling the baby finally settle as Draco placed his hand over her belly button and they all slept in well past breakfast time.