rumpelsnorcack

Title: Girls Are a Different Sort of Different
Word Count: 1,361
Summary: Conversations with her mother help Ginny through the important moments in her life.
Rating/Warnings: PG-13, mild language and sexual references
Pairings/Characters: Ginny, Molly, Ginny/Michael, Ginny/Dean, eventual Ginny/Harry
Author's Note: I’d like to thank the wonderful

lorelaisquared for cheering me through this and

whirl_gig for the best, most speediest beta job ever.

12. Pregnancy.

Years later, Ginny wondered what she had got herself into. She was sick all the time, and her bosses at the Harpies were beginning to comment on her lacklustre performance. It wasn’t her fault, Ginny thought grumpily, that she felt nauseous at every drop of the broom or sudden turn in midair. Well, if she was being fair, it was her fault – hers and Harry’s. But that was beside the point. The point was she was re-evaluating her life and quidditch, no matter how much she loved it, was no longer her primary focus. She roused herself as she heard a cheerful knock on the door, and smiled at her mother as she entered the small kitchen of the house she and Harry lived in.

‘Ginny, how are you doing?’

‘I’m great, Mum. How are you?’

Her mother ignored this. ‘You’re in all the papers again, did you know?’

‘Really? What have they made up this time?’

‘Oh, something about you losing your edge.’ Ginny rolled her eyes. This sort of comment was nothing new, but her mother carried on, ‘and there are rumours you’re giving up quidditch. Is that true?’

Ginny flushed bright red and mumbled something incoherent. Molly’s eyes widened.

‘It is true! Why, Ginny? This was your dream. What’s happened?’ She began bustling around the kitchen, which usually annoyed Ginny as if Molly was criticising her housekeeping, but today made her feel cherished by her mother again.

‘I don’t know, Mum,’ Ginny sighed. ‘I just don’t have the same passion for it anymore. It feels different somehow.’

Molly sat down at the table next to Ginny, holding a cup of tea and passing a fresh cup to Ginny. ‘Well, part of me isn’t sorry. I was always worried out of my mind when you were playing against some of those brutal teams. Ron’s Cannon’s make me shudder when I watch the way they mark you.’

Ginny sniggered at the memories. ‘Well, I was never worried, Mum. They aren’t good enough to catch me most of the time.’

‘But I remember the excitement in your voice and the sheer exuberance you had when you began playing, and I do wonder what happened to that girl, even if some of her exploits scared me to death.’

‘I grew up, Mum. I’ve just been thinking, and quidditch would never last forever anyway. It’s a young person’s sport, and I’m ...’

‘Still young!’ Molly bristled as she heard her youngest child suggest that she was getting old at the age of twenty three.

‘I know, Mum,’ Ginny laughed. ‘But I can’t pretend I have more than another four years’ quidditch in me at most. And if I’m not into it anymore, it’s time to give up – it’s not fair to me or the rest of the girls if I keep on while not able to give them one hundred percent.’

‘But what will you do?’

‘It’s OK, Mum. I already have another offer – it’s the reason why I began thinking about leaving.’

Molly, let out her breath in an irritated huff. ‘For Merlin’s sake, Ginny, why didn’t you just say so rather than let me fret?’

‘Well, you seemed to be enjoying the worry so I didn’t want to interfere.’ Ginny’s voice was warm and she squeezed her mother’s hand. ‘I’m thinking of getting in on the other side of the action.’

Her mother looked at her quizzically, and asked what she meant.

‘The Prophet has asked me to become their sports reporter. It’s perfect. I get to be around all my old haunts, and write about quidditch which I do still love, while not having to risk my neck on a broom.’ She grinned cheekily at her mother. ‘Besides, if I’m working for them, they’ll have to quit with the juicy gossip about me and Harry.’

Molly was now genuinely puzzled. ‘Ginny, why are you worried about risking your neck? I mean, I know it’s not to spare my poor old heart, and I know Harry is just as reckless as you so it’s not about him either ...’

‘You can’t tell, Mum? I knew Parvati must be lying when she said it makes you glow.’ She glanced sideways with a smirk on her face, and watched as her mother’s eyes widened, and she stammered out, ‘Are you ... are you saying you’re having a baby?’

Ginny nodded, a smile breaking onto her face as she saw the joy in Molly’s eyes.

‘Oh, my word! Oh, how wonderful. A baby! Oh, Ginny ...’ in between the exclamations Molly managed to get her arms around Ginny until Ginny squeaked out, ‘Mum, you’re squashing me,’ and she dropped her arms but carried on babbling at an incredible rate. ‘Oh, I must tell your father at once; he’ll be so pleased. What does Harry think? How far along are you? Have you thought about the birth? I had all of you right in my bedroom, it was so comfortable ... you should think about it. There’s nowhere like home.’

‘Mum, you’re babbling. It’s too soon to think about any of that; I only just found out myself. Of course Harry is over the moon – it’s what he’s always wanted, a family of his own.

Molly frowned as she listened to Ginny. ‘But he already has a family, we’re his family.’

Ginny sniggered. ‘I know that, Mum, and so does he. But you have to admit, there’s something about a baby ... I mean, I’m going to be a mother myself. It’s weird. It’s not something I ever seriously connected with me, you know? It was always your job to be the mother.’

Molly laughed. ‘It’s a wonderful job, Ginny, but I won’t deny that the first inkling you get that you’re going to be a mother is terrifying.’

‘How will I cope with a baby? I – I mean I’m thrilled, of course I am. This is something we’ve worked towards, Harry and I, ever since we got married ...’

‘That’s more information than I need, thank you dear.’

Ginny snorted. ‘You know what I mean. This was always in the plan, maybe not this soon but always the thought was out there. You know he’d never say it aloud, but Harry just always wanted kids, a life ... family, blood family of his own. But ...’

‘But now that it’s happened you’re scared.’ Molly nodded her understanding. ‘It’s understandable; this is a big change for you. But the one thing to remember is that you have a lot of people around you, and in Harry you have about the most dedicated family man I’ve ever come across, except maybe your father.’ She smiled as she thought of him.

Ginny smiled at her, nodding. Then she shrieked, ‘I’m having a baby!’ and threw her arms around her mother who laughed and hugged her back. ‘And I’m going to take up a great new job! How can life get any better than this?’

‘Oh, sweetheart. As soon as you hold that baby you’ll know how much better life can get.’

Seven months later, Molly’s words came flooding back to Ginny as she watched Harry cradling his newborn son, whispering, ‘Hello James.’ In this man, she knew, she had the most committed father she could wish for her child. With his help, and the depth of knowledge that her mother and father had, not to mention growing up with Fred and George, there was nothing wee James could throw at Ginny that she couldn’t handle.

James let out a squawk of protest at being alive, and Ginny watched as Harry jiggled the tiny child, comforting him. All the practise he’d had with Teddy Lupin as a baby had clearly paid off, and even though James was smaller and more fragile than Teddy had ever been when Harry knew him, he had all the confidence of someone who has been there before and knew what to do. Ginny smiled at her boys and drifted off to sleep in her own bed for the first time as a mother, confident in the knowledge that Harry was there and that her mother was just a floo call away.

Chapter Eleven
Chapter Thirteen