Hermione
I didn't meet with Harry. I ended up taking Freddie to the doctors, since his fever didn't break at all. He has a case of strep, but he would start feeling better in a couple days. I had to take off work, since it's contagious. Lorelei was understanding as always, and stopped by more than once to check on him. He was sleeping pretty well, all things considering. I knew it was a risk going out, but this was my town, and I knew if they gave me a problem while in public the town would help me.
"How are you feeling Freddie?"
"Better." He said with a grin that reminded me so much of George.
"Wanna go for a walk?" I asked.
He yelled excitedly, jumping from the table and racing to get his shoes on. Grinning, I packed up a quick bag and grabbed the wagon I had bought a year before. Grabbing his hat, and a water bottle full of water, and Freddie's hand, we headed out for a day on the town. Slowly, we walked from the house to the nearby park. We stopped by Monty the Rooster, Freddie giggling as he ran around it for a moment, before running back to me and climbing into the wagon. I pulled it to Miss. Patties, where she came down while she took a smoke, to chat with us and Freddie animatedly talked about Monty and the ride here.
"He's such a sweetie." Miss Patty said with a smile.
"He really is." I responded, watching as Freddie ran up into Patty's studio and stood in the doorway to watch the older girls do their routines.
"We haven't seen them around for a couple days. I think they might have left." She whispered to me.
I smiled sadly. "You don't know them like I do. They'll stick around for awhile, until I force them to leave. I'm giving him time to make a choice, but the sands are quickly dwindling down."
Patty nodded her head in understanding. "We'll keep an eye out for them. If you need them taken care of, the whole town will deal with it."
"Thank you, Patty. Now, Freddie and I are off to get some lunch at Luke's, before we continue our walk." I grinned, squeezing Patty's hand before calling out to my son. "Let's go bother Luke, Freddie!"
"YAY!!!" He squealed, racing as quickly as he could down the stairs and launching himself into my arms. Catching him, I twirled him around and settled him on my hip. "Bye Patty!" He squealed, as she reached over and pinched his cheeks fondly.
"See you later, Fred. Bye Hermione. Call me later." She said, before walking back into her studio.
Grabbing the wagon handle, We headed to Luke's. The bell chimed above us, and I lugged the wagon through the door and towards a nearby table. Setting Freddie down into a seat, I grabbed his water bottle and handed it too him.
"What is that doing in here?" Luke huffed, as he came over and pointed at the wagon.
"It's Freddie's wagon." I responded.
"I know it's Freddie's wagon. What is it doing in here?" He asked again.
"I didn't want to leave it outside. You never know who's lurking around the corner." I responded, grinning up at him. "Besides, Lorelei said I could bring it in here."
Luke huffed, muttering something under his breath, before turning to Freddie. "How are you Freddie?" He asked, smiling softly.
"Great!" He cried, giving him a run down of what they had done so far that day.
I pulled Freddie's cap off, setting it in the wagon, before turning to Luke and waiting for Freddie to finish. When he did, I cut in. "Hey Luke, can I get a cup of coffee?" I asked.
"Of course. Do you want anything, Freddie?" He asked.
Freddie hummed for a moment, before nodding decisively. "Chocolate Milk, and fries." He grinned.
Luke turned towards me, raising a single eyebrow in confirmation. I nodded and smiled. "I'll take the coffee and a BLT please."
"Coming right up." Luke said with a smile.
"Thanks Luke." I called out as he turned and left. I turned back to Freddie, and grinned at him. "So, where do you want to go after this?"
"Auntie Lor!"
Nodding in understanding, I shot Lorelei a quick text and letting her know we would be around to visit after Luke's if that was alright. After getting the ok from her, Freddie and I played eye-spy. Rory came in not to long after Luke brought over our food. She sat down for a minute, stealing a couple of my fries and a quick sip from my coffee, before rushing back out the door to meet with Lane. Everything was going great, until it wasn't.
The bell chimed as the door opened. Fred was animatedly telling me about what he wanted to do with Auntie Lorelei. Only for a throat to clear beside us. I turned, and glared at the red head. "Can I help you?" I asked, keeping my tone polite but making it clear she wasn't welcomed.
"He's real." Ginny whispered, staring at my son with wide eyes.
"Yes, he's real." I hissed. "Freddie, will you go over to the counter and both Luke for a minute. Then we'll go bother Auntie Lor." I said, smiling at Fred. He nodded, scooting out of the seat and racing over behind the counter. I watched as Luke picked Teddy up, bouncing him gently. He glanced over here once, but stayed where he was. "What do you want?"
"Harry said he saw him, but I didn't think it was true." Ginny breathed, her arms crossing.
"Considering you had a front row seat to George and I's relationship, and then witnessed what he had said to me. Don't be so surprised, considering I didn't ask him to give me anything. I told him to make a choice, be a dad or don't. That's it." She turned to look at me, and her shocked expression morphed into one of shame. It was then that I realized the difference between Harry's expression when he saw him, and Ginny's. "You didn't tell Harry what George said, did you? That's why he's being so supportive to George, isn't it? You didn't tell him, because you know the second he finds out that you knew this whole time, how George treated me after the funeral, he wouldn't think twice about dropping your family."
Slowly the anger and resentment grew on Ginny's face. "I never would have saw him again, if I had told him."
"Well, he's gonna find out sooner or later. You'll just end up divorced instead of just broken up." I shrugged.
Her hand was flying before I could stop it. The loud smack echoing in the diner. Immediately, everyone in the diner stood and moved to surround us. Tom and Dean gripped Ginny's arms and hauled her outside, while Babette and Mori checked my cheek. I looked over at Freddie and spotted him crying into Luke's shoulder. I waved him over. The moment he was close enough, I scooped Fred into my arms and cuddled him close.
"I'm ok, Freddie. Mom's ok." I whispered, nodding reassuringly to the others that surrounded us. I watched Babette rush over to Patty's. I know the word will be out that Ginny had slapped me in a matter of moments. I wondered what Harry would do once word got back to him. What the town would do to her. I pushed those thoughts from my head, and pulled Freddie away from my shoulder to wipe his tears. "See, I'm ok."
"why did that mean lady do that?" He sniffled.
"Because she couldn't handle the truth of what she did to your uncle Harry and mommy." I whispered.
Nodding, Freddie sniffled and buried his hand back into my shoulder. Slowly, I gathered all of my things back into the wagon. Luke stayed near by, and declared he was driving us to Lorelei's. I didn't argue, since I knew Freddie was wearing down and would be asleep soon. Luke loaded up his green pick up truck, before driving us to Lorelei's house. Luke filled Lorelei in, while I settled Freddie into the play-pin Lorelei kept set up incase we came over. Once Freddie was down, I finally broke down and cried over the embarrassment and scene that Ginny had caused. I'm angry that she did it in public, but I'm also mad that she did it in front of Freddie. We stayed the night at Lorelei's, and the next day, when we made it back home, Harry was waiting in the yard for us.