Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters you may recognize from the wonderful world of Harry Potter; they belong to J.K.Rowling.


Chapter Four


Beautiful Trees



Ginny Weasley entered the apple orchard that was in full blossom. Apples were everywhere. She quickened up her pace once she was out of view from the crowd of people celebrating her brother’s engagement. She wished she could be out there to celebrate with the rest of them, but she didn’t think she could be happy enough.

She sat down gracefully under a tree that was full of red apples. The best feature of her house, in her opinion, was the apple orchard. It was beautiful, and took up three acres of land. Even though her house was small, the amount of apples, and apple pies that came from it was alarming. People down in the village swore it was magic.

‘What am I to do?’ Ginny thought aloud. How could she survive nine months of pregnancy? She had school to think of, and her future. But she just couldn’t get rid of her child. That would be cruel.

Ginny sighed and leaned against the tree that was casting shade around her small frame. She closed her eyes as she distantly heard Harry laugh loudly from the crowd of people who had no idea what was going on in her brain. Harry, what was he going to say about this? Ron had said that he wanted to talk to her about something. Did he already know?

She placed her hand on her stomach and sighed. The welcome back party seemed so long ago, yet it had only been a week ago, the day after Harry’s birthday. Oh, Harry was going to kill her. What was she going to do? Her seventeenth birthday was in four days. She would be going back to school in a few more weeks.

She sighed again and started to rub her stomach; nothing seemed to have happened to it yet, though it was a bit harder. The soft laughter in the background, and the wind rustling the leaves of the trees around her lulled Ginny into a peaceful sleep.

She awoke an hour later to dusk, when she heard the soft crunch of leaves. Someone was coming to her.

Ginny looked up to see the figure of Harry bend down under a tree branch and came to stand in front of her.

Rubbing the back of his head, he looked down at her. ‘Hey,’ he said.

‘Hello,’ Ginny said softly. She wasn’t sure what he knew, but she wasn’t going to be the one to bring the topic up.

‘Can I sit with you? I need to talk to you about last week,’ Harry said, still standing.

Ginny nodded; she didn’t trust herself to speak.

Harry sat down beside her under the tree, and looked down at his hands before looking over at Ginny. God, she was beautiful, he thought, as her hair blew in the wind.

‘Why did you leave earlier?’ Harry asked, looking concerned.

Ginny shrugged. ‘I don’t know, I suppose I just wanted to be alone. You know. I just needed some time by myself. Sorry to leave you alone with Draco,’ Ginny said, clutching her shoes.

‘Yeah, I understand that, and I didn’t mind staying with Draco. You sorta get used to him when you’ve lived with him for a year,’ Harry said, smiling as Ginny let out a choked laugh.

Ginny’s eyes watered, and Harry moved closer to her to pat her back. She stiffened.

‘Ginny, about last week, it was a mistake,’ Harry said looking down at his shoes and Ginny choked again. ‘I mean, after I found out, well, I’m sorry it happened.’

‘I’m so sorry Harry! I can’t believe it happened, I was being so careful,’ Ginny blurted out. She was now sobbing.

‘Ginny, what? What are you talking about?’ Harry asked, looking at her, concerned, moving closer to her and bringing her head closer to his chest.

‘I’m sorry I didn’t know it happened. I didn’t think it would happen the first time,’ Ginny trailed off, muttering words under her breath.

‘Ginny, calm down. You didn’t know it would happen. Neither did I; I’m not mad at you. Shh, shh,’ Harry said, rocking her back and forth.

Ginny looked up at him with wide eyes. ‘You’re not mad?’ she whispered.

‘No, why would I be? I’m sorry for just leaving you sitting out there on the stone steps after kissing you like that, and then barging into your room later, and well, what happened next,’ Harry said, still holding on to the crying form of Ginny.

Ginny pushed away from Harry. ‘You mean, you don’t know?’

‘Know what?’ Harry asked her, confused.

‘Nothing,’ Ginny said, shaking her head, amazed. She was safe. Just nine months more, and then life…
Harry shook his head.

‘What do you mean, you’re sorry for kissing me?’ Ginny asked now realising what he had said.

Harry looked at his shoes before replying. ‘I’m sorry that I kissed you before I told you how I felt. But you just looked too beautiful sitting on the steps – I couldn’t help it,’ Harry said.

‘What do you mean? How you felt?’ Ginny asked. Her heart started to swell in her chest. She was having trouble breathing. Was he trying to take her back? Should she? After what had happened?

‘Ginny, I’m falling in love with you. I couldn’t stop thinking about you while I was…gone,’ Harry said, pausing before continuing, ‘It killed me when I couldn’t send letters to you, yet everyone else could. It made me realise that I needed you, and that even though it would have been selfish, and that’s why I didn’t do it, I wanted to get back together with you – even if Voldemort had to live. But then I thought how stupid that would be, and then he would probably come after you. Okay, now I’m just rambling,’ Harry said, still staring at his shoes.

Ginny didn’t know she had tears falling down her face, or that she was rubbing her stomach, but she did know that that was the most romantic thing anyone had ever said to her. She knew it was wrong after what had happened, but she couldn’t help it. This was the reason why she had fallen for The Boy Who Lived in the first place.

Ginny shifted her weight, and moved her hand to his chin. She slowly turned it upwards and sideways so he looked straight at her. He didn’t try to stop her, but he wouldn’t let his eyes meet hers.

‘I’m falling for you too,’ she whispered before bringing her lips to his.

Harry stayed still for a moment to register what was happening, before allowing the kiss to deepen.

When they parted it was for lack of air more than anything else. Ginny smiled, and Harry looked stunned but happy.

‘Don’t be sorry,’ Ginny whispered before bringing her lips to his again.

After parting again, Harry and Ginny just sat there in each other’s arms - Ginny thinking about her pregnancy and Harry thinking about how lucky he was.

About two hours later, the two of them were still sitting under the tree. However darkness had fallen and someone was calling for Harry.

‘Harry!’

Harry groaned, and got up from under the tree. Ginny seemed to have drifted off. She looked to so peaceful that he decided to leave her sitting there. He would come back later to get her.

‘Harry!’ someone yelled again.

Harry bent down to give Ginny a kiss on the forehead before walking out of the orchard and towards the voices.


~*~

A figure moved silently through the trees, making no noise. Years of living with his family, and a year at war taught him to move silently yet quickly.

Nearing the largest and most beautiful tree in the orchard, he slowed down into a slower pace. Kneeling beside the sleeping form of a girl he placed two bundles beside her. Then cast a Warming Spell on her, muttering something about some people’s foolishness.

With one last look at her, a kiss on her forehead, he left.

~*~

Ginny woke up later that evening – looking at her watch, she was shocked to find that she had been asleep for so long. She panicked slightly when Harry was not beside her. But then she remembered being kissed and him having to leave.

Ginny sat up and her hand fell on a sweater. She shivered slightly, realising that she was cold, and hungry. She picked up the sweater and put it on. She remembered Harry putting a Warming Charm on her before leaving, but the charm must have worn off – because she was now freezing.

She was about to get up when she saw the plate of food beside her. She looked at it closely, before eating it all.

I didn’t think Harry could be so sweet, Ginny thought.
She got up and started to walk towards The Burrow. There were a few lights on, and if she managed to be quite enough, she would get in safely. She did not want to be asked any questions.

She entered the house quietly and headed upstairs towards her bedroom. Once she reached her room, she took off her clothes and put on her pajamas before slipping into bed. As soon as her head touched the pillow, she was asleep. She hoped that she could sleep in late tomorrow.


~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~



AUTHOR'S NOTES

Many thanks to my beta reader shiiki!
Also, a big thank you to all my readers! =D

~Natasha
Leave a Review
You must login (register) to review.