Harry's POV
Ginny was starting to worry me. She stayed up late with Hermione and Lily 'planning,' and was always exhausted. Luna even found her passed out on the table one morning.
I figured she was stressed out a bit. It was October twentieth, and everyone was jumpy... especially my parents.
That night, I had just put Teddy to bed. As usual, Ron, Neville, Luna and James were already sleeping, as well as the mini-me (I call myself that).
Lily, Hermione, and Ginny were in the kitchen, chatting urgently about how it would go.
I walked down the stairs like I did every night to remind them to sleep. As soon as I entered the room, they went quiet.
"Yes?" Hermione sighed at me.
"You need to sleep," I said, putting on a stern expression.
"We NEED to plan this," said Ginny, "or it won't go right!"
"You've been doing this all week!" I argued. "Look at yourselves!"
I waved my hand at Ginny, who had dark circles under her eyes.
"I'm perfectly fine," Ginny insisted. "Really, Harry, we're just -"
"- going to faint from exhaustion!" I said angrily. "Seriously, you guys! You can get a few nights of rest once and awhile! You've gone over the plan every night now, I think you've got it! Admit it, you're tired!"
"I'm tired," Lily said exasperatedly, getting up. "And I'm going to bed. I need to talk to James anyway... G'night, guys." She left, yawning.
"Ginny, you need your sleep," I said, looking right into her eyes. "No offense, but you look horrible."
"I'm going too," Hermione said. "Night."
"G'night," Ginny and I said at once.
"I'm sorry," Ginny blurted. "I'm just trying to... I don't want anything to go wrong!"
"And nothing will," I assured her, pulling her up from her seat and hugging her. "Because you're brilliant," I whispered into her ear.
She shook her head and kissed my temple. "Let's just go... I am a bit tired."
"Really?" I asked sarcastically. "I would've never guessed."
*
"What d'you suppose your mother wanted to 'talk' to James about?"
Ginny sighed as she sat on the bed, fluffing her pillow out. I was already laying down, my hands behind my head.
"I don't know," I replied, giving my girlfriend a grin. "Why would you ask me that question?"
She snuggled into me, her head laying on my chest and her arms around me. I brought my hands down to hold her and stroke her hair while I kissed the top of her head.
"I don't know either," she murmured. Then she sighed. "I love you, Harry."
"I love you," I whispered.
And then we were asleep.
*
Ginny's POV
I woke up when the sun hit my eyes. Yawning and rubbing my eyes, I stretched as I sat up.
Harry wasn't there. I expected he was downstairs by the quiet talking I faintly heard.
I got up, pulled on shorts and a t-shirt, and brushed my hair.
On my way to the bathroom, I stopped short when I realized the voices I heard had been coming from James and Lily's room.
I knew I shouldn't have been Little-Miss-Eavesdropper, but their tones confused me. They both sounded agitated, or stressed. Especially Lily.
"Lils, we'll get through this," James insisted. "We'll be fine."
"Yes, but I'm afraid!" Lily whimpered. "What if this goes wrong? We'll all die!"
All? I wondered what she meant by 'all.'
"We won't," said James. "I'll protect you... I'll protect both of you, rather."
I swallowed. Something told me he wasn't referring to Harry.
I'd heard enough. I went on to the bathroom and splashed the water on my face, thinking.
'We'll all die...' 'I'll protect both of you, rather...'
I didn't hear Harry come in, and when he placed his hands on my waist, it made me jump.
"Did I scare you?" He grinned.
"A bit," I admitted, wrapping my arms around his neck and bringing my lips to his. He cupped his hand around my neck, and we stood there for awhile, kissing gently until he pulled away all too soon.
"What were you doing?" he asked.
"Washing," I replied.
"No, I mean listening outside my parents' door. That's not like you, Ginny."
"I... They sounded so scared," I said. "So I just... Lily's voice worried me, Harry. That's all."
I decided not to tell him about the odd thinks I'd heard.
"Do you think... Were they fighting?"
I shook my head. "No. Definitely not."
"Good." He gave me a small smile and kissed my forehead. I put my lips to his neck, kissing his skin lightly over and over. His fingers were lost in my hair, as were mine in his. I kissed along his jawline, searching for his lips...
"Sorry to interrupt, but I need the toilet."
We broke apart at James's voice. Now, the NORMAL James would have been grinning at us and cracking jokes, but he wasn't himself this morning. I knew it. His eyes were downcast, and empty, like he was thinking really hard about something.
Which was NOT like Mr. Prongs.
I forgot to be embarrassed and frowned at him, my voice full of concern. "Are you okay, James?"
"Fine," he said quietly. I glanced at Harry, who looked worried at his father's odd actions.
"If you're hungry, Lily's just gone to make breakfast," said James. Then he pulled a small grin onto his face. "Or go have your snogging session somewhere else."
"We're serious right now, Dad. Is everything alright?" Harry asked stubbornly.
James looked a bit taken aback. I didn't think Harry had ever called him dad before...
"Look, it's just stressful right now, okay?" James sighed. "It's getting closer. Lily's scared, so I'm stressed out, and as a contributing factor, she-" He cut himself off. "Never mind."
There was an odd silence, and I started to think no one was going to ever move again, so I grabbed Harry's hand and said, "Okay - okay fine. We'll be - uh - eating breakfast."
"Sure you will. But go on, go snog in a corner. You know you want to, Ginevra."
I felt my face glow red and pulled Harry out of the room with me.
"I need to change," Harry said.
"Okay," I replied, letting go of his hand. "I'll be downstairs."
He kissed me on the cheek and disappeared into our room. I went into the kitchen to find Lily, looking expressionless, silently flipping eggs on the stove.
"So what's up?" I asked suddenly, making her jump.
"Goodness, Ginny, you scared me!" she said, trying to put on the cheery act and completely FAILING. "What do you mean?"
"I mean what's up with you and James? He looks like a zombie. You... don't look like you AT ALL. What's going on? Don't give me all that BS about stress James did, you've been stressed for weeks now. I know what your stressed face is. What's the matter?"
Lily didn't talk, and for minutes, it was only me staring at her concernedly. She set the last plate on the table and turned to me. She didn't look me in the eyes. With a jolt I realized Lily was shaking.
Her words were whispered so quietly I didn't hear, and only registered that she'd said something by the tiny movement of her lips.
"Lily," I said quietly, my eyes boring into her, "if you don't want us to help you, just say so."
"It's not that!" she blurted suddenly.
And before I knew it, she had collapsed into a chair, her face buried in her hands, and her shoulders shaking, tiny sobs escaping her figure. "I - I - it's not - it's just - its just h-horrible t-timing!" she cried silently.
"What is?" I asked, coming over to her and putting my hand on her shoulder. When her only reply was a choked out sob, I added quietly, "You can tell me. I'll keep it a secret if you don't want anyone else to know. What's going on? I know you're scared -"
"I'm not scared!" she looked at me with her glassy and red eyes. "I'm pregnant!"
CLIFFHANGER. I'm so evil, I know.
Well, I'll have you know, in the real HP series Lily was pregnant with her second child before she died. I'm trying to stuck with the series best as I can :D
Like it? Hate it? Love it?
TELL MEH.
~Lily