“I don’t want to go back to work,” Harry moaned. It was the Monday after the memorial and neither Harry nor Ginny wanted to open their eyes.
“Stop whining and go to work,” Ginny muttered, not bothering to open her eyes and get out of bed.
“But you don’t have to go,” Harry whined.
Ginny opened an eye and looked over at him. Chuckling slightly, she said, “You do realize how childish you sound, don’t you?”
Harry did realize it and laughed. He crossed his arms over his chest and pouted. “But mummy, I don’t wanna!” he cried in the most high-pitched childish voice he could muster.
With a great effort, Ginny sat up. Doing her best to imitate her mother, Ginny said, “Harry James Potter, don’t make me get out of bed and dress you myself.”
“Please?” Harry asked, giving his wife innocent puppy dog eyes.
Ginny grinned impishly. “Not now, Harry. You have to work, and I told Hermione I’d go to her house and keep her company today.”
“Fine,” Harry said, pouting. He laughed, before kissing Ginny and going to the bathroom to take a shower.
Ginny smiled and decided it was time to start getting ready for her day as well.
********************************************************************
“Morning, Hermione!” Ginny said brightly, pushing the door to the Weasley flat open an hour later.
“Hi, Gin!” Hermione exclaimed in excitement. She waved enthusiastically with one hand and held a broom in the other.
“What are you doing?” Ginny asked, eyeing the broom suspiciously.
Hermione laughed. “Ever since I found out I’m pregnant, I’ve had the urge to clean the house the Muggle way.” Ginny laughed. “I’m also craving a pepperoni pizza right about now, too.”
The younger witch gaped. Hermione always hated pizza. She constantly complained about how high in calories it was and how the oils clogged arteries.
“Are you trying to give your kid clogged arteries before it’s born yet?”
Hermione rolled her eyes. “It’s just a craving. I’m not actually going to eat it.”
“Whatever,” Ginny replied playfully. “Now hand me a broom or something. I’ll help you clean.”
Five minutes later, the two women found themselves at the sink, washing dishes the Muggle way. Hermione was swishing through the soapy water, while Ginny held the towel. After nearly a half an hour, with half of all of the dishes in Hermione’s kitchen, dirty or not, washed and dried, Hermione muttered, “Oh darn. My fingers are all wrinkled.”
From her pregnancy, a mood swing reared its ugly head as tears sprung in her eyes. Spotting this, Ginny quickly interfered.
“I’ll wash, Hermione. Don’t worry about the wrinkles. They’ll go away,” she said soothingly. So they switched. Ginny drained the water in the sink and replaced it with fresh soapy water. While scrubbing on a particularly stubborn saucer, she felt her wedding ring nearly fall off of her finger. She hesitated. She knew she should take it off, but something told her otherwise.
“You might want to take it off,” Hermione said, interrupting Ginny’s inward battle. “You don’t want it to fall off and go down the drain.”
The conflict within her was immediately resolved. She wouldn't be able to live with herself if she lost it, so she carefully slipped the ring from her finger and set it down on the counter beside the sink. Just as she began to resume the scrubbing of the dishes, her hands slipped. She watched blankly as the bowl fell to the ground and shattered.
“Ginny, what’s the matter?” Hermione asked, taking her friend by the shoulders.
Ginny stared in confusion at her soapy hands. “What-“
Before she could finish her question, her body went slack and she fell to the ground in a faint.
“Ginny!” Hermione screamed in shock. She instantaneously kneeled beside her and felt her forehead. Then, with a flick of her wand, levitated Ginny’s limp form to the couch and laid her there carefully. Ginny’s wedding ring was left forgotten on the counter, glittering innocently.
***************************************************************
Darkness pressed on every side.
Where am I?
Voices she didn’t recognize filled her ears.
“I got your owl. Harry’s on his way. What’s the matter?” a male’s voice asked.
A female voice responded. “I don’t know. She just collapsed.”
Who are they talking about? Then, a better question filled her head. Who am I?
She sifted through her mind. She couldn’t remember anything. Her mind was a dark void. Nothing was there. Two names suddenly came to her horribly blank mind.
Ginny.
Ginny- Is that her name?
McLaggen.
Who is that? Do they know her?
Confusion filled Ginny’s mind - that was her name, wasn’t it? It seemed to be. Her eyes fluttered open. She was lying on a couch in a comfortable-looking living room.
She heard the man speak again. “Maybe we should take her to St. Mungo’s.”
“Let’s just wait for her to wake up. I don’t think that moving her in this state is such a good idea,” the woman responded.
Just then, there was a crack and another man’s voice entered the conversation. “Where’s is she?” he asked urgently.
“In there,” the woman replied.
Ginny heard the swift sounds of footsteps come her way. She quickly shut her eyes and pretended to be asleep. She didn’t want to be attacked by questions she didn’t know the answers to by people she didn’t know.
She did her best not to flinch when the man’s hand touched her cheek. “I’ll wait with her until she wakes.”
“No,” the woman interrupted. “You’re needed at work- you, too, Ron. I’ll leave her a note in case she wakes and get an OB/GYN from St. Mungo’s to come and check her over.”
Both men agreed and Ginny heard all three of them walk from the room. She carefully peered over the side of the couch to see the three disappear with loud cracking sounds.
She stood and walked over to the kitchen. On the counter was a note. Curiosity gripped her as she read it.
Ginny,
You passed out so I’m going to St. Mungo’s to get a Healer to make sure you’re all right. Just lay down until I get back.
Hermione
So her name was Ginny. She sighed. That only left her with one unknown memory- the name McLaggen.
Her eyes scanned the counter and rested uncertainly on a shimmering gold ring. For a moment, she couldn’t look away. It held her attention, calling out to her. She tried to reach for it, trying to think of where she had seen it before. Before she got near enough to set it on her finger, a splitting headache stopped her in her tracks. McLaggen.
She immediately knew that she would have to find this person to find her lost memories. Urgency filled her and, ignoring the note, she ran from the flat without a backward glance.
********************************************************
“Ginny?” Hermione called, as she Apparated back home. She went to the couch in the living room and gasped when she saw it was vacated. She motioned for Madame Adamson who had come with her to take a seat. She went through all of the rooms, now panicking at Ginny’s absence. The house was empty, with the exception of the two Healers. The front door was unlocked and wide open
“Oh my god,” Hermione muttered into her hands. “Where did she go?”
Madame Adamson said nothing, but put a comforting hand on Hermione’s shoulder. “She probably just went home.”
Hermione shook her head, motioning toward the ring still lying on the counter. “She’d never leave without that.”
Without thinking, she left the Healer behind and Disapparated to the Ministry.
She flew through the bustling hall and into the lifts, impatiently jabbing at the button. When it clanged open, she burst into the Auror’s office and into Ron’s crowded cubicle.
“Ginny’s missing,” she gasped.
“What!”
“I got back home and the house was empty.”
”Are you sure she didn’t just go home?” Ron asked horrified.
“She left her ring on the counter.”
He paled. “I’ll get Harry.”
He stood so abruptly that Hermione started. Without another word, they both ran through the halls and into Harry’s office. He was already pacing his office, his brow furrowed.
“How is she?” he asked, the minute the two burst through the door.
“Harry, I’m so sorry!” Hermione cried. “I can’t find her.”
The colour immediately left his face. “Did you check our house?”
“No, but-“ she paused, and dropped the ring into his shaking hands.
“No,” he gasped, his whole body shaking. He disappeared with a loud crack. Ron and Hermione exchanged a worried glance before following him to his house. When they arrived, Harry was already panicked.
“GINNY!” he cried, his fists clenched. He hadn’t sounded so scared in a long time. He sunk onto the couch, his head hanging miserably and his hand loosely holding the golden ring. Silence reverberated off of the walls for several minutes, before Ron spoke. His voice was so quiet that it took a few moments for Harry to even realize he spoke.
“It’s your fault,” he said.
“What?” Hermione asked in shock.
“It’s his fault,” he repeated, jabbing an angry finger in Harry’s direction.
“What are you talking about?” Harry stammered wearily. His head was spinning, too much was happening at one time.
“Everything has gone wrong since you two got married,” he said, his voice growing louder.
“Ron, stop,” Harry groaned. He realized where Ron was going with this and he couldn’t believe it.
“DON’T TELL ME TO STOP!” Ron yelled. “EVER SINCE THE WEDDING THINGS HAVE GONE WRONG. SHE’S HAD HER HEART NEARLY BROKEN, DEMENTOR'S ATTACK AND NOW SHE’S MISSING.”
“Ron, stop it!” Hermione cried, shocked at his outburst.
“Don’t tell me to stop, Hermione. I’ve held my tongue because they are in love, but, destined or not, I’m putting my foot down,” he said, his voice now filled with quiet fury. He turned on Harry, his eyes flashing angrily. “Cormac McLaggen is after you, and you can’t even protect Ginny from him. She’s pregnant, and now she’s missing.”
Harry’s hand clenched around Ginny’s ring. “Don’t you dare blame me. I’ve tried so hard to protect her.” Hot tears ran down his face. “I’M GOING TO FIND HER. I WON’T LET HER GET HURT ANY MORE.”
Ron scoffed. “Yeah, right.”
Without another word, he Disapparated.
Hermione gasped. “Harry, I’m sorry. I don’t know what got into him.”
Harry nodded, his back to her. “Just go,” he said in a barely audible whisper.
She hesitated. “You know where to reach us if you need someone to talk to.”
He didn’t respond. He didn’t even look back when she left with a loud crack. When he was sure she had gone, he knelt on the ground, still clenching the ring. He didn’t know how long he was there. He just cried until he was dry and he couldn’t cry any more. When tears would no longer come, he just sat there, staring blankly at the ring and waiting. Waiting for what, he didn’t know because there was a feeling within him that told him Ginny wasn’t coming home tonight and perhaps- Harry choked at the thought- perhaps not ever.
A/N: AAAH! I know this chapter is confusing. Try not to bombard me with hate mail. Ron is being an overprotective angry older brother… I’ll update again as soon as this is up! Ch. 9 is already written. By the way, I made a banner for this fic. I posted it in my Author's info.