Disclaimer: If this was mine, I'd be awfully rich, and we would be happy for HHr happening.
A/N: My reply to the "You can't take my child" challenge by Natsky, you can find it here: http://talk.portkey.org/index.php?showtopic=26363&st=0 . I hope you'll like the story, and I feel I need to alert you, Ginny won't be particularly likable here. I don't think that's a problem, but anyhow, I told you beforehand, ok? lol. Now, on with the story…I'm sure many of you will hate Ginny even more after this chap, if you don't already.
Credit for the original plot of the story goes to AnasellaEmm, who wrote the story A Wonderful Caricature of Intimacy on fanfiction.net.
Fight for Custody
Chapter Two: Five Years Later
Harry Potter switched off the alarm, and slowly, sleepily, he got up. Today was a big day for his little girl, Beatrice Lily Potter, as she would start her pre-Hogwarts schooling.
For centuries, Wizarding families had taught their children at home before they were old enough to go to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, but lately someone had had the brilliant idea to open a centre for the little witches and wizards in the making, so that they would get professional schooling and be better prepared for the real school.
Being five years old, Beatrice, Bea in short, would be able to join the centre for the first time this year, and in the previous days she had been downright excited about it.
Harry smiled at the thought, while shaving, then he moved silently to the kitchen to get breakfast ready. His little princess would be up soon, and she was known to have quite an appetite in the morning.
--
He had just finished putting her pancakes on the plate when the five years old girl trudged into the kitchen.
"Morning" she yawned, and Harry looked at her fondly, mussing her hair.
"Morning to you, princess" he said, placing her cup of milk I front of her. "Do you like what's for breakfast today?"
The raven haired little girl nodded. "Yummy!" she squealed, tucking in. Harry couldn't help an hearty laugh. As he sipped his coffee, he watched her, with those green eyes just like his own, and felt a sudden rush of pride. At times, he still found it difficult to believe that he was a father, and had such a wonderful daughter, but that was the truth.
Glancing at his watch, Harry realized they had to move if they wanted to be on time.
"Munchkin, we need to get you ready for school. I'll take care of everything here later, you go get dressed, okay? I'm sure you don't want to be late your first day, after all"
Bea shook her head, smiling at him, and ran back to her room to get dressed. Harry helped her tie her shoes when she was done, then checked her appearance.
"You look pretty, dear" he complimented her, and she giggled at him.
He grinned back, and took her hand. Stepping inside the fireplace, he clearly called "Wizarding Pre-schooling Centre" and they were engulfed by the green flames of the Floo, landing not so graciously inside the courtyard of the structure few moments later.
Harry brushed the soot away from his and little Bea's clothes, and sighed.
"This is it, munchkin. You be a good girl, listen to your teacher and do not cause too much mischief, ok?" he lectured his daughter, who nodded happily.
"I will be the best girl, Daddy" she seriously said, taking her small bag with the few things required of her to bring, some parchment, a quill, and such.
Harry watched her join the crowd of the other kids, and felt like someone was watching him from inside the building. He looked up, but all the windows were empty.
"Must have imagined it" he shrugged, and was ready to go when someone approached him.
"Her first day, uh?"
He turned, and was faced with anyone else than Neville Longbottom.
"Nev! It's so good to see you! What you up to lately?"
"Nothing serious. The term is going to start in a couple weeks at Hogwarts, as you know, so I'm enjoying the last days of freedom" the former Gryffindor replied. Harry nodded, clapping him on the back. "I must admit I never expected you to become a Professor, but Herbology has always been your best subject after all, so I can't really say it's a shock"
Neville blushed, and nodded.
Harry then inquired, "So, I guess you're here to see your little kid to his first day too?"
Neville nodded. "Susan is giving him the last recommendations" Neville chuckled, motioning with his head to a far corner in the courtyard where Harry could recognize the former Hufflepuff san Bones talking to a kid, which was a spitting image of Neville if not for his hair, clearly coming from his mother.
"Well, I guess I'll see you around, Nev" Harry excused himself after some minutes' chat with his old friend, Apparating back home.
--
As he was enjoying his day off he had expressly asked for so that he would be able to accompany Beatrice on her first day, and settling the kitchen after breakfast, Harry heard an owl tapping on the window.
Letting the bird in, he wondered who had been writing to him. Harry soon groaned as he recognized Ginny's handwriting.
Harry,
I just wanted to let you know I'm married now,
with a charming man called Gregory Hopkins;
which means, me and him are going to file for
Beatrice's custody, as we can give her a whole
family, something you can't. Expect to hear from
the Ministry soon.
Harry was fuming. How dare she? For two years she had been gone from their lives, not even bothering to write to know how Beatrice was, and now she wanted full custody?
"You can't take my child, Ginevra" he muttered angrily, as memories assaulted him. He let them come with a sigh.
"Harry, can we keep this quiet for some time?" Ginny asked him as they were walking back to the Burrow.
He looked strangely at her. He couldn't wait to shout to the world he was going to be a father, and she wanted to keep it hidden?
"Just till I get accustomed to the idea of being a mother" she explained, squeezing his hand with her own.
Harry sighed. He could more or less understand her point, although he didn't really agree with it.
"We will keep it secret as long as you want, Ginny" he said, a bit more snappishly than he meant.
However, considering she was already two months into the pregnancy, he didn't expect her to be able to keep it secret for long.
And yet, Ginny wasn't a stupid witch. She applied herself to Concealing Charms, and managed to keep the world in the dark for another four months. Then, her showing was too blatant to be able to cover it with charms, and she had to admit she was pregnant.
This, however, didn't improve her mood, which had become quite snappish. Harry had read it was normal while pregnant, so he didn't think much of it every time she lamented that she couldn't believe she was only eighteen and already looking as a whale.
He felt some anger rush through him when she would blame their child for her ruined looks, but managed to keep himself quiet.
The wedding had taken place when she was in her eighth month of pregnancy, and that was the moment Harry was nearer to lose his patience with her.
All the time after the ceremony she was muttering that she couldn't believe the most important day of her life had come, and she looked so ugly because of a child, and that she wasn't supposed to be a mother so young.
However, if Harry had been quiet, Molly couldn't restrain herself, and every time she heard her daughter mutter that nonsense, she would chastise her.
"Ginevra Molly Weasley" she would start, "how old do you think I was when I had Bill? And I don't think I'm unhappy, what do you say?"
Ginny rolled her eyes. "Mum, I'm not you nor I plan to have seven children" she retorted.
Harry clenched his fists as he recalled those moments. He had thought Ginny was the woman for him since they had hooked up in his sixth year at Hogwarts, even if the upcoming war had counselled him to break things off till the end of it.
But as memory after memory came back to him, he knew he couldn't have been more wrong.
"Here" Harry said, handing the bundle that was his and Ginny's daughter to his wife. "Hold her"
Ginny looked at him sceptically, then sighed, and outstretched her arms, taking the baby. It was more than obvious, though, that she wished she was anywhere else, but not there.
Harry frowned. "I thought you'd be happy to hold our daughter, Gin"
She glared at him. "Happy? Harry, I'm still young, I should be partying, having fun, especially after the war, which robbed us all of some of our more carefree years. Instead, now I'll have to watch after a child, and have responsibilities, something I'm not ready for yet"
Harry hoped what she was saying was somehow an after-effect of the intense pain of delivering their baby. He couldn't believe his wife would speak this way of their daughter, an innocent creature that had done nothing wrong to her.
And, he couldn't fathom someone not being happy to be a parent. He was over the moon about it, in fact.
If only Hermione was there to help him understand Ginny's feelings…he missed her terribly, it had been more than an year since he had seen her last, and seven months since he had found out she had left without even a word to him or Ron.
Harry sighed. The situation between him and Hermione hadn't changed much till that day. It was now more or less six years since they had last spoken to each other, and his letters kept coming back unopened. He wondered what had he done to upset her, but the fact Ron wasn't having much more luck in contacting their former best friend somewhat calmed him. At least, she wasn't ignoring only him.
He was sure Hermione would have loved Beatrice. And, he had a feeling Beatrice would have loved Hermione as well, if she had known her.
It was ironic, really, how Ginny despised the idea of being a mother, and did nothing to hide it, so even when they were still married it was mostly him who cared about the little girl, and Beatrice seemed to despise Ginny just as much. Harry chuckled as he realized in the three years Ginny had lived with them, Beatrice hadn't called her Mum ever.
"Dad, when is Ginny coming home?"
"Munchkin, don't call her Ginny. She's your mother, you should call her Mum, Mummy, Mama, whatever, but not with her first name" Harry chided, while stirring the soup he was preparing for dinner.
"Well, she doesn't act as my mother, so I won't call her that" Beatrice stubbornly said. Harry turned, and picked the three years old toddler in his arms.
"I'm sorry you feel this way about her, Bea" he said, kissing the top of her head, his heart going out to the little girl in his arms, who had never experienced motherly love because Ginny was too wrapped up in her looks, her social status, her partying with her silly friends who might not have made a whole brain even if you summed all their ones.
That was the night he confronted Ginny, once Bea was in bed, and they agreed to get a divorce.
"She bloody got almost one quarter of the money my parents left me, and I agreed as long as I could still care for my little girl, money has never meant much to me anyhow, and now she wants to take her from me too? No. Bloody. Way!" he shouted, slamming his fist on the table.
His green eyes darkened with anger, Harry stood up and went to his study, where he wrote a letter to someone he knew in the Ministry who could dig up information about the procedures for getting full custody of a child for him.
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