home, finally
After eight days, seven hours, and eighteen minutes, Ginny finally had her final check-up and was able to leave the hospital with her baby. Not that she had been counting...
Since Al was completely healthy and didn’t need to stay longer in the hospital, only a final examination was conducted for Ginny, after which Healer Wilson gave the all-clear.
“Everything looks good,” she assured Harry and Ginny. “Once you’re home, you should have strict bed rest for another week and only get up to use the bathroom. That will be enough strain for you. After that, if you feel up to it, you can start moving around a bit more, but please pay attention to your limits. In two weeks, you’ll have another check-up here at St. Mungo’s. For the next week, avoid climbing stairs or lifting anything heavier than Al, as the scar could reopen otherwise. In five weeks, you’ll have your final check-up. If everything looks good then, you can resume sexual activity. You could start earlier, but I recommend waiting the full five weeks. At the final check-up, we’ll also discuss when you can return to sports and Quidditch training.”
Ginny nodded at the healer’s words, and she and Harry thanked her before she left the room.
Smiling, Ginny looked at her husband. For the first time in a week, she felt genuinely good. The conversations with the mind-healer had helped, and even though she was still in pain and knew it would be part of her daily life for a while, she was excited to finally go home.
Slowly, she got up and, with Harry’s help, took one last shower at St. Mungo’s. Afterwards, she slipped into black sweatpants and one of Harry’s gray t-shirts. Even in Harry’s (for her) oversized shirt, she still looked like she was six months pregnant, but she couldn’t have cared less.
Grinning, she lifted Al out of his crib. “Ready to finally see your home?” she asked her sleeping son as she slowly headed toward the door.
Outside, Ron was waiting to take Harry’s bags so he could help Ginny walk. Together, they slowly made their way down the corridor until they reached the ward’s reception area. A few reporters had gathered, having heard that the Potters were finally leaving St. Mungo’s, and were all waiting for a photo of the newest Potter. Instinctively, Ginny held her son tighter to protect him (and especially his face) from the paparazzi. Harry’s arm also tightened around her waist as he helped her into the fireplace, closely followed by Ron.
A few seconds later, they were standing in the Potters’ living room, where their family was waiting for them.
“Welcome home, Ginny darling!” Molly greeted her daughter and carefully hugged her.
When the two parted, Harry guided his wife to the sofa to rest. Willingly, she sat down, still holding Al securely in her arms.
“Ron?” she then addressed her brother.
Ron, who had been chatting with Bill, turned to her. “What’s up?”
“Where’s Rosie?”
“I think she’s with Dad right now,” Ron replied. “Do you want Al to meet her?” he asked with amusement.
“What else?!”
“I’ll go get her. One moment,” Harry interjected and disappeared, only to return shortly after with his four-month-old goddaughter in his arms. He handed her to Ron, who sat down next to Ginny and positioned Rose so she could see her youngest cousin.
“Oh, just look at them,” Molly exclaimed in delight as she saw her two youngest grandchildren. Rose gazed at the newborn baby with wide eyes but didn’t react otherwise. Al, on the other hand, slept peacefully in his mother’s arms, undisturbed by the noise and people around him. “They’re exactly three months apart to the day,” Ginny’s mother remarked.
“And they’ll go to Hogwarts together,” Ginny added.
Ron grinned. “They’ll always have each other,” he said, shifting Rose from one arm to the other. “Rosie and Al.”
~
It was all starting to wear on her nerves. Not that it hadn’t before, but she was going crazy lying around all day, taking painpotions that weren’t strong enough to relieve her pain. It was driving her mad.
At the moment, she loved going to the bathroom because it was the only brief escape from lying down. Unfortunately, she was still in considerable pain when standing up, so she didn’t want to go to the bathroom too often. If only the bathroom had been far away from hers and Harry’s bedroom instead of just five steps away.
“Hey, Gin.” She hadn’t noticed him while she was in the bathroom, but there he was, sitting on their bed and smiling at her.
“What?” she asked, standing in the doorway to the bathroom, which was right next to the bedroom.
Harry’s smile didn’t falter. “Do you maybe want to go out to the garden, or at least to the living room? I can carry you downstairs if you want.” Another thing she hated; that she couldn’t go up or down stairs on her own or lift anything heavier than Al.
“No,” she replied curtly, still standing in the doorway.
“Then at least come and lie down.”
Ginny glared at him. “I’m tired of it, Harry! I’m tired of everyone telling me what I can and can’t do. It’s driving me crazy!”
“Gin, I understand that you’re frustrated—” he began.
“No, you don’t understand,” she interrupted him. “None of you do. Not you, not the healers, not my brothers, not my dad, and certainly not my mother. Good for her that she had such magnificent births and didn’t have to be sliced open like a piece of meat. And none of you had to lie still in bed for two weeks doing nothing. And none of you can even imagine the physical pain I have to deal with day after day.” Her voice grew louder toward the end. “You always say we’re in this together, but you’re not the one lying here. You can move around freely, you can spend time with James and do whatever you want with him without having to lie down. You can exercise, you can get on a broom and go flying. For heaven’s sake, you can go up and down the stairs by yourself!”
Harry sighed. “You know I would take it all on if I could.”
“Yeah, right,” she said sarcastically. “You’d just love to spend all day doing what I do. And you’d so love to take on the pain that’s tearing me apart. Give me a break.”
“Ginny!” Harry said warningly, his voice rising. “I would do anything to stop seeing you suffer like this, and you know it. I already feel guilty enough that all this happened because we had a child, because I got you pregnant, and I couldn’t really help you through the pregnancy and birth.”
Ginny scoffed. “Oh, poor you. You feel so bad? I’m so sorry for you!”
“That’s not fair, Ginny,” Harry shot back sharply. He, too, was standing by now.
“I can’t take it anymore!” she yelled, tears in her eyes. “I just can’t! I’m at my breaking point and I’m not even doing anything. Damn it, I just want to feel like myself again!”
Resigned, she collapsed onto the bed, ignoring the pain that shot through her abdomen. She buried her face in her hands and breathed heavily until she felt the mattress sink beside her and Harry’s hand stroking her back. She looked up and leaned her head against his chest, silent tears rolling down her cheeks.
“I can’t do this anymore,” she repeated quietly.
Harry let out a frustrated sigh. “Oh Gin, you know I’d make it easier for you if I could, but my hands are tied too.”
These words made Ginny look up at him with tear-filled eyes. “I’m sorry for what I said,” she replied. “It wasn’t fair. I know you’d do anything for me. And I know I need to be patient, but it’s so damn hard when I wake up every morning still in pain and knowing I’m not allowed to move.”
Harry pressed a kiss to her forehead. “Just four more days, Ginny. You can do it.”
They sat like that for a while until they heard soft baby noises from the bassinet. Al had woken up.
The redhead laughed quietly. “Al must be a deep sleeper if he didn’t wake up during our fight.”
Harry chuckled softly. “I hope he stays that way.”