Ginny Weasley was pacing anxiously in the waiting room of St Mungos Hospital. Her mind racing, she quickly sat herself down in an empty seat next to a witch whose head had been replaced by what looked like a giant orange. Taking a few breaths, she tried to relax. This is a good thing, this is a good thing, this is a good thing. She kept thinking this over and over in her mind until finally she was calm enough to think.

How could they do this to her at a time like this? It wasn’t as though she wasn’t happy for them, but she was already under so much stress at work, that she really couldn’t help but think about all she had to do even though she was caught up in the excitement of the moment. She felt worried though. What if something went wrong? How could she cope? She couldn’t bear to lose someone all over again. It would all just be too much.

All of a sudden she found herself on the verge of tears. Why? Why did he have to leave? I just can’t go on without him! I wish-

‘Ginny! Come on!’

She pulled herself together quickly and ran excitedly through the corridors, following Bill into an ordinary-looking room. As the room was in a hospital, the room featured a bed. The bed featured a tired-looking young woman, her brown hair, sticky with sweat, spread all over her pillow. And lying on the woman’s chest were two extremely small people, who were pink and covered in some sort of waxy liquid.

‘Twins! Oh Hermione, thank Merlin! Are you alright? How are you feeling? How are they? Have you named them? What… kind are they?’

Hermione looked up slowly at the young woman who’d just burst into her room. ‘Slow down, Ginny. I’m feeling a bit out of whack right now.’

‘Of course,’ Ginny said, willing to wait, but desperately waiting for an answer.

‘They’re boys, and the doctor said they’re probably going to have red hair,’ she said. ‘Just like their dad.’

She smiled at the man standing beside her bed. Ginny hadn’t seen him smile this much, or look so proud, since the Cannons had won the cup three years ago.

‘Wow. I’m an auntie- again,’ she said, thinking aloud. ‘That makes me feel so old.’

‘Yeah, Gin,’ Ron said, laughing. ‘You’re really getting on.’

Ginny smiled self-consciously. She knew she was pretty, and that the guys at work often stared. She knew she hadn’t even started aging. She was twenty-seven, but she still looked like a schoolgirl who was just mature beyond her years. Her long red hair, dead straight and almost all the way down her back caught more than its fair share of looks. Her eyes were brown, like Hermione’s, but she imagined her own were a lot less loving and warm than her friend’s.

And now Hermione had even more reason to love. She had children, and Ron, who worshipped the ground she walked on. What had Ginny done in the past three years? She’d found her way back home, and found a job. She worked so hard at that job that her friends often joked that she’d rather live at the office than at home. But what else could she do? While all her friends were out with their boyfriends and getting married, Ginny was alone.

She didn’t want to be alone. She wanted to be with him. But he’d left, with her promise that she’d wait for him. And so she’d waited. For three whole years she’d waited. And still he stayed away.

***

Hermione Granger had never felt so exhausted, and yet so exhilarated. She still couldn’t believe it. She was married, with children. Two perfect little boys. She hadn’t decided what to call them yet, but she had a lot of people who would be able to help her with that. Sam, maybe? Nick? Tom? Oh, not Tom. Definitely not.

She looked up at Ginny, who was excited, and looked happy for them. But their was a fault in her smile. Her eyes, brown, like her own, were so filled with sadness that Hermione could feel her heart torn in two. She knew that one sentence from Hermione could bring back the spark in Ginny’s life, could make her happy and complete once more. But there was always something to hold her back.

Hermione had a secret, something that only she knew, a secret given to her in the knowledge that she would never give it to anyone, especially Ginny. She wasn’t ready, he’d said. She was never ready. She’s ready! She’s been ready for years! She wanted to scream at him. But still she kept it inside, although she could see Ginny slowly breaking apart. Ginny was ready now. But Harry was still gone.

Just then, she heard something crash in the corridor outside her room, and she was torn between feeling excited and afraid. This was either something really good or really bad. She held her breath, noticing that everyone else in the room was also looking expectantly at the white door at the end of the room. Bill had his hand in his pocket where he kept his wand.

Very suddenly, two people with bright red hair burst into the room, holding brightly coloured packages before them like shields.

‘Do not shoot!’ one of them said loudly

‘Have mercy!’ the other shouted loudly, with the same voice. ‘We come bearing gifts!’

Hermione smiled broadly at the twins, thirty years old now, but still childish at heart. ‘Hi Fred, hi George.’

They dumped the presents on the floor and came over to the bed. Their eyebrows shot up when they noticed that there were two infants lying on the bed.

‘What ho? Two little kiddies? We were tricked, George. They were going to hide the second one from us!’ Fred was trying to look genuinely offended.

‘I agree brother. I wonder, perhaps, if this was a ruse to stop these twins from becoming the same as us in our joke-playing ways. Do these young pranksters happen to be of the male gender, dearest sister-in-law?’

‘Yes.’

Fred and George looked at each other quickly, and then looked back at Hermione, grinning broadly, their smiles almost evil. Hermione suddenly felt a wave of nausea, and anxiety, but she managed to smile.

She had a feeling that she’d just given birth to Hogwart’s next Fred and George.

---

First chapter done! Now all I have to do is write the second one.....

Let me know what you thought.

Luv ya,

chlo xoxo

Chapter Two
When Ginny woke that morning in early July, it was to the melodious screams and wails of her three month old nephews, Albie, who had been named after Professor Dumbledore, and Chris. They were growing up so quickly, it felt as though it had been days, not months, since she had first held them in her arms.

Ginny rolled out of bed, pulling on her dressing gown and slippers as she went out of the guest room, or her room, as it had been for the past three months, and towards the bathroom. She had moved in with Ron and Hermione to help with the boys and housework and making sure that there was always food in the house. It was hard to fit around her busy work schedule, but it was worth it, so she managed as well as she could.

She walked into the bathroom and turned on the tap, splashing the cool water onto her face, the flow of the water running through her fingers like sand in an hourglass. She felt more awake now.

Ginny heard Hermione’s exasperated, exhausted voice as she tried to quieten the still screaming children. She heard it as well as she had always heard it, but for one moment, she just stood and listened. And horribly, one moment later, she realised that for a second that she hadn’t cared, had wanted Hermione to suffer for having a family when she didn’t. When she couldn’t. Not until Harry came home.

Ginny had always wanted children. She’d gotten that from her mother, from growing up with so many brothers. She didn’t want as many children as her mother had- that would just to be too much. But she did want children. A proper family.

Ginny was pulled suddenly from her thoughts by a particularly loud shriek. She breathed deeply, blocking out the horrible thoughts of jealousy, and walked down the hall towards the kitchen.

Hermione was hysterical. Her hair was sticking out at all angles, yesterday’s mascara smeared across her eyes. She had some form of baby food all over her jumper, and she was practically in tears. She had Chris on one hip, bouncing him gently and coaxing him with a bottle of milk. Albie was in his rocker, which she was rocking with one foot.

She looked up at Ginny desperately as she walked in. ‘They just won’t stop crying. I’ve tried everything, Gin. And I’ve got that wedding to go to today. I thought I could take them, but I can’t when they’re like this.’ She collapsed onto a chair, exhausted and on the verge of a breakdown.

Ginny took Chris from her and put him in his rocker next to Albie. She took Hermione’s wand from the table and conjured two dummies, which she stuck into the boys’ mouths, and they started sucking happily.

Hermione looked like she was about to kiss her. ‘Thankyou. I seriously don’t know what I’d do without you, Gin.’

‘It’s nothing. You know I’ve always been happy to help out,’ she said. She looked down at the boys, who were smiling mischievously. ‘But I’ve got a feeling that they’re going to start crying again as soon as you get to the wedding. Whose is it, anyway?’

‘This guy at work is getting married to Padma Patil- which is great, because there’ll be some people I knew at school to talk to. And you’re right about the boys- it’s like they enjoy torturing me. I don’t know how Molly did it.’

‘Look Hermione, you go get ready. I’ll stay with the boys today.’

‘Are you serious, Gin?’ she asked. Ginny nodded. ‘Oh, thanks so much!’

Ginny watched as Hermione hurried down the hall to her bedroom. She made a cup of tea and grabbed a piece of parchment and a quill.

She started writing.

Cameron,
We’ve had a bit of a problem with the boys today, and Hermione’s got a thing to get to. I’m going to stay here with Albie and Chris. Can you tell everyone I’ve got a cold or something? I’ll be in tomorrow.

Thanks, and lots of love,
Ginny

She rolled up the parchment and sealed it with her wand. She whistled softly, and about thirty seconds later, a brown owl, speckled with white flew in through the open window and sat on the back of one of the kitchen chairs. Ginny tied the parchment to the owl’s leg, stroking her as she did so. Her name was Venus, and although the parchment had no address, she knew exactly where to go. She’d been there many times before.

As her owl soared out of the house, and disappeared into the heavy grey clouds, Ginny thought back to how she’d met Cameron.

He’d really been a blessing, although she hadn’t seen that at the time. He had been employed into her department at the Knights’, or wizard lawyers’ office. It was about a month after Harry left. He’d come up to her and introduced himself.

‘Hi, I’m Cameron Parker. As in nosey Parker- I think Cameron means nose. As in “the reason I can’t see past the end of my nose, Cameron, is because you’re standing right in front of me!”’

She’d laughed, and introduced herself. And ever since that day, she’d been his friend. Ginny had always felt like she’d known him, he was easy to talk to, and he always knew how to make her laugh. They’d become very close over the past few years. He’d always been caring and ready to listen when she needed to talk, and his arms were always open when she couldn’t help but cry. If it weren’t for Cameron, Ginny didn’t think she’d have made it through those first few months. She had a lot to thank him for. He was her protective older brother, and she loved him for it.

Just then, Venus flew back through the window, another piece of parchment attached to her leg. Ginny hurriedly opened it and smiled as she read the green ink on the page.

Ginny,
It’s not like I don’t trust you or anything, but I do worry for your sanity sometimes. Are you sure you’ll be okay with the boys all day? I know what a handful- no, make that an armful- twins can be. I’m going to stop by before work to check on you.

See you then.

Your ever nosey Cameron.

Ginny shook her head, still smiling into space. Rocking the twins with her foot, she picked up her wand and turned on the radio, suddenly ready for whatever the world could throw at her.

---

Disclaimer: none of it belongs to me. I'm only going to say it once, but continue thinking I'm JK if you wish.

c ya next chappie

luv ya lots,
chlo xoxo

Between The Lines Of Fear And Blame


Once Cameron had left, Ginny attempted to feed and dress the twins, which was always a difficult task. The twins had somehow figured out that “breakfast” meant “food fight”. Half of the food went into the twins, and half, as always, went all over Ginny and the kitchen. It was everywhere- on the floor, smeared on the table and cabinets, on Ginny’s dressing gown, on her face and in her hair. She handed them a bottle of milk each, which kept them occupied while she quickly cleaned up the kitchen.


Once they were done, Ginny washed and dried the bottles. She picked up the boys, who were covered in food, and carried them along the hallway to the bathroom, one on each of her hips. She’d always loved how children just seemed to fit there so perfectly.


She took off their messy pyjamas and put them in the sink to soak. She could come back and wash them properly later. She wet a face washer and cleaned the breakfast off their faces and hands before carrying them into their room.


For Ginny, dressing them had always been the hardest part of taking care of them. Because it seemed like whenever she picked up one, the other would become restless and start crying, as if from lack of attention. They seemed to know that she couldn’t dress them both at once. Trying hard to ignore Chris’ whimpering, she quickly dressed Albie and then laid him down and picked up Chris.


By the time they got back to the kitchen, it was eleven o’clock, and Hermione was ready to go. She was looking lovely, if not a little tired, in a beautiful pale blue dress.


‘Thanks again for doing this for me, Ginny,’ she said, giving her a quick hug. She kissed the boys on the foreheads. ‘I’ll be back around three, three-thirty, depending on how boring the reception is. See you then. Bye!’


She Apparated, leaving Ginny standing in the kitchen, staring at the closed, empty doorway.


By the time it was two o’clock, Ginny felt absolutely exhausted. She cleaned the kitchen at least five times, and changed the twins twice. She’d played peek-a-boo, read them stories, conjured more toys than she cared to think about, rocked them in both their rockers and her arms, taken them for a walk, fed them, given them milk, burped them, drawn pictures for them, and put them in front of the television her dad had given her a few years ago, but they always seemed to have this restless energy that no amount of activity could burn out of them.


Finally, Ginny got fed up. She picked them up, carried them down the hall, and put them into their beds. She turned off the light, and walked back to the kitchen, ignoring the noises they were making. Two minutes later, they were fast asleep.


Ginny collapsed onto the couch and breathed out heavily. It felt like days, not hours, since Hermione had left, and she realised why Hermione was so tired all the time when Ginny got home from work. She somehow worked her arm under the couch and pulled out a dusty envelope with her name on it in green ink, the seal already open.


It was a lot fatter than it had originally been, because it held much more than one letter’s contents. She held it in her lap, looking carefully at the tidy script on the front of the envelope that she’d read so often. As she pulled out the contents of the envelope, she paused to look at each one carefully. There were the poems, not beautifully written by any means, but always beautiful to her. The pages of lyrics, and the photographs which had helped her in a time when nothing else could. She reached up to her neck, and felt the coolness of the locket on her skin. She hadn’t taken her locket off in almost three years, ever since she’d been given it. These things were remnants of a past that Ginny couldn’t bear to think about anymore. The memories were numb, like they weren’t hers, like they were part of a story someone had told her long ago. That life wasn’t hers, but she was still living in it.


She put the things back in the envelope, and then back under the couch. After a few minutes of simply lying there and staring at the ceiling, she stood and went to look for the Prophet which should have come that morning.


When she found it in the living room, she flicked through the pages until she found the horoscopes, which nobody ever read, and were right at the back of the paper. She skimmed through hers, which said something about being wary of those who offered her tea, and that pink was a good colour this week. It was nonsense, she knew that, but she wasn’t one to pass up a sign if it ever said that a homecoming was due.


She was about to put the paper down, when she noticed a box at the bottom of the page that hadn’t ever been there before. There was no heading, no explanation, no predictions, no pictures. Just a box, containing just two paragraphs of text.


Step one you say you need to talk

He walks you say sit down it’s just a talk

He smiles politely back at you

You stare politely right on through

Some sort of window to your right

As he goes left and you stay right

Between the lines of fear and blame

And you begin to wonder why you came

Where did I go wrong, I lost a friend

Somewhere along in the bitterness

And I would have stayed up with you all night

Had I known how to save a life

---

Ginny had never been in an internet café. She’d barely used a computer twice in her life, except for when her father had dragged her to a few courses. They were strange things, and she had no idea how Muggles could grow so used to using them almost every day of their lives. But these words in the paper- a poem, maybe? They were so strange, and mysterious, that she felt that she had to find out what they were. She intended to write to whoever wrote the horoscope page as soon as she did. She wanted to find out if these words were meant for her.


She asked a girl at a table nearby for help, explaining that she really had no idea how to use a computer. The girl agreed, even if she seemed to find Ginny’s lack of competence confusing. She came over and sat in front of the screen, as Ginny looked over her shoulder.


As the internet page opened, she watched with some familiarity as the girl came to the search engine that she’d learnt about at the course, and typed as much of the words as she could into the search bar. The girl moved the mouse with much more expertise than Ginny could have managed, and clicked the ‘search’ button. The screen went blank, before the results of the search materialised in front of her. All of the entries said something along the lines of ‘The Fray- How to Save a Life lyrics and download’.


‘Which one do you want?’ the girl asked, turning her head towards Ginny.


Ginny had a moment of panic. She had no idea, and didn’t want to look like an idiot. ‘Just go to the first one,’ she guessed.


When it opened, the page was full of moving advertisements. The colour, and different columns of text, confused her for a moment, before she saw a heading on the page. ‘How to Save a Life’. Below this, was the text from the paper, as well as four more paragraphs. They were song lyrics. And suddenly, Ginny felt so much more confused than before.

---

Hopefully it won't get rejected this time.... fingers crossed!!!


Many thanx to The Fray, for the loverly lyrics (great song, btw), and to all those who have read/reviewed the story thus far- I know it's not that interesting yet.


luv ya lots, and c ya next chappie


chlo xoxo

Chapter 4

Harry grumbled as he slipped into his tiny office, late as always, but much later than normal. A half-empty mug of cold coffee was sitting on his desk, on top of a pile of work he was meant to have done by last week. Newspapers were spread all over his chair, and there were about seven purple memos fluttering near the ceiling. He grabbed the cup of coffee and the old newspapers and went back out of his office, passing the nameplate on the door which always took him by surprise, even after almost three years. Cameron Parker.

He dumped the newspapers in a bin, and went into the bathroom. He tipped the coffee into the sink and rinsed it out. Placing it on the side of the sink, Harry looked up into the mirror. The person in the reflection didn’t look like him, wasn’t him. The sandy blonde hair, the smoky blue-grey eyes, the olive complexion, the piercing in the top bit of his ear. None of that was him. And yet somehow, it was. It was what he had become.

Harry had never intended to become Cameron Parker. But when he had left Ginny standing there on his street three years ago, he hadn’t thought that the pain of being separated from her would be so strong. He’d been okay for five years, hadn’t he? But the truth was, he’d really thought that Ginny was dead. But now, knowing that Ginny was there, probably miserable, and missing him as much as he did her, it was almost too much to bear.

So he had come up with a solution which allowed him to see her, to talk to her, to comfort her, without her ever knowing he was there. He’d be able to make sure that she was ok.

Harry had found a spell, which, if cast every day, would allow him to alter his appearance. He’d gotten a job in Ginny’s office, and befriended her. They’d become best friends, which was strange, because for Harry, they already were.

When he got back to his office, Harry grabbed the memos and started to sort through them. Three notices about his work being late, two from clients, asking when they would be able to have their trials, one inviting him to a birthday party. The last one was from the office of the Daily Prophet. It simply said, ‘She wrote back to me. She asked if they were meant for her. She also included this:’

Harry looked in the little envelope and pulled out another piece of paper with two paragraphs of text on it. And as he read it, a smile crossed his face.

Let him know that you know best
‘Cause after all you do know best
Try to slip past his defence
Without granting innocence
Lay down a list of what is wrong
The things you told him all along
And pray to God he hears you
And pray to God he hears you

Where did I go wrong, I lost a friend
Somewhere along in the bitterness
And I would have stayed up with you all night
Had I known how to save a life

***

It was nearing sunset when Ginny found herself walking across the grounds of Hogwarts. She had received an owl this morning, containing another verse of the song, and she had needed time to think.

As he begins to raise his voice
You lower yours and grant him one last choice
Drive until you lose the road
Or break with the ones you’ve followed
He will do one of two things
He will admit to everything
Or he’ll say he’s just not the same
And you’ll begin to wonder why you came

The trees cast long shadows across the ground, and the lake was beautiful, parts of it sparkling in the orange light, and the rest as dark as night. The sun showed between the different towers of the castle as it set on the other side. She tried to imagine what was happening inside the thick walls. Was it the same as when she’d been at school? Memories flashed through her mind suddenly, ones she hadn’t thought about for years. Sitting in history of magic, staring absentmindedly out the window, letting the monotonous voice of Professor Binns wash over her. Sneaking out at midnight, going to Hogsmeade with friends, kissing Micheal, kissing Dean, kissing Harry, riding the Thestrals to the Ministry with Harry, being rescued from Riddle by Harry, sitting by the lake with Harry, walking in the forest with Harry.

Harry, Harry, Harry. This whole place was a constant reminder of Harry. As she passed by the grass next to the lake, she felt a horrible pang as she remembered Professor Dumbledore’s funeral. She could still feel the hurt, and yet the acceptance, that she’d felt that day.

Without even thinking about it, Ginny’s feet had led her around the same path she had taken with Harry so many times, so many years ago. She found herself walking the invisible path that only she and Harry knew, into the deepest part of the forest, where they had found their special place. The trees passed by quickly, all the same, but each one familiar. She saw the willow, where they’d sat for hours, simply talking and holding hands, and the pond beside it, where they’d once swum by moonlight in each other’s arms. This clearing was their place, exactly as it had been, and was filled with more memories than the rest of the grounds put together.

She must have sat there for hours under the willow tree that day, although at the time, it felt like no time passed at all. It was pitch black by the time she realised that it was time to leave, the moon her only source of light. A storm was coming, thunder rumbling somewhere close by, and a strong wind was howling. She couldn’t see the lightning through the thick canopy of leaves. She pulled out her wand and lit it, casting a small beam of light in front of her. Suddenly everything seemed so unfamiliar. She ran one way, then the next, trying to get her bearings. Hearing the tremendous crack of thunder immediately above her, she panicked. She chose a path and began to run down it, the wind whipping branches around, and knocking her into unseen thorn bushes. She could feel blood running down her face, legs and arms, but it could have easily been rain.

Soaked to the skin, and lost in the complete darkness of the forest, Ginny ran. Shivering, with goose bumps on her arms, she felt totally alone, and afraid. The wind blew through the trees like a hurricane, so hard and fast that trees bent so far they snapped, and it was all she could hear as she crashed into trees in the darkness. Her wand had stood no chance. It had long since blown away.

She was crying in desperation, yelling out even though she knew no one could hear. As she ran past a small tree, she heard an enormous creak about ten metres away, and suddenly the sky opened up, lit up like fireworks, as a huge tree fell towards her. The roots ripped from the ground, and she ran hard, but couldn’t move. She couldn’t get away, and she looked back just in time to see a massive, thick branch fall on her from behind.

She was knocked to the ground, and lay there, pinned to the spot by a weight she knew she could never lift. The rain fell, and she closed her eyes, trying to block out this nightmare, this reality that she couldn’t bear to face anymore.

Where did I go wrong, I lost a friend
Somewhere along in the bitterness
And I would have stayed up with you all night
Had I known how to save a life

---

did that make everything heaps clearer? i hope so. i think heaps of you were a bit confused. thanx to the fray for the lyrics and thanx to you guys for reading! hope you're liking it.

luv ya lots,
chlo