Growing Pains

Chapter Two

"Shh, it's okay," Harry soothed, rubbing circles on Ginny's back with one hand, his other hand holding her hair as she kneeled over the toilet.

"Are you sure you don't want to go to the doctor?" Harry asked, checking his watch. "It's barely nine in the morning and you've thrown up three times."

"I'm fine. I'm sure something just didn't sit right from last night's dinner. I thought something tasted a bit weird with the fish. I'll be okay, you can go to work. I'm feeling better now. Really."

She sat up and wiped her mouth with a square of toilet paper. She placed her hand on Harry's forearm and nodded.

"I'm okay," she assured him.

"Okay... but if you need anything, let me know okay?"

"Will do. I love you," she leaned in and pecked Harry on the cheek, and he wrapped her in a warm embrace.

"Love you too. I'll see you tonight," Harry stood up and grabbed his briefcase off of the counter. As soon as he was gone, Ginny stood up and rinsed her toothbrush and began to brush her teeth. There was no reason she couldn't make practice today. She just had a rough start to her morning. She felt fine now!

The Hollyhead Harpies were all about attendance, and so far, Ginny hadn't missed a single day of practice, including that time where she accidentally ate a candy from her brothers' joke shop. It made her break out in hives and welts in places that were not visible to others. Places that made it highly uncomfortable to sit on a broom (Ron and George received pretty nasty bat-bogey hexes after that).

Ginny began singing to herself as she got dressed in her robes and stockings. She couldn't believe she had ever gotten sick- she felt perfectly fine now! Amazing even!

She was on her way out the door when she remembered Harry said he was going to come home early for lunch. He would be wondering where she was.

She walked back to the kitchen and began fumbling around in the drawer for something to write with. She finally found a quill and some ink, and began to scratch out a note for Harry.

Felt fine. Went to practice. Back by 14:00. Love you!

She placed the note on the table where Harry would see it, waved her wand at it to make sure it stayed on the table (the cats liked to mess everything up), and headed out the door once again.

A few moments later, she had apparated to the practice arena where the Harpies held practice every day.

"Hey Gin!" She heard someone call.

"Morning Ginny!"

"Hey girl!"

"Morning Gin!" Her teammates greeted her as she made her way to the broom cupboard.

As she reached the shed, she began to feel queasy again. She crouched down, hoping the feeling would go away if she let her body settle down for a moment.

"Ginny, you okay?" Gwendolyn asked, walking up from behind her.

"Yeah, I'm good. I thought I dropped something is all," Ginny replied. If anyone knew she was sick, they would make her go home, and she was not about to let a little nausea cause her to miss practice.

"Okay..." Gwendolyn didn't sound convinced, but if she was going to say anything else, it was interrupted by the shrill tweet of a whistle.

"PLAYERS ON THE FIELD IN TWO!" Their coach yelled, and Ginny began fumbling with the lock on the cabinet her Firebolt was kept in. It was a birthday gift from Harry. The wood was a burnt orange/ reddish color, and reflected the light when polished perfectly- just like Ginny kept it.

Only minutes later, Ginny was soaring through the air, the quaffle clutched close to her chest as she approached Wilda who was playing keeper for the day.

Suddenly, another wave of nausea hit her again. She half-heartedly threw the quaffle, and Wilda caught it with no problem.

"Ginny!" She called, but Ginny was already racing toward the ground. The moment her feet met the turf, she ran to the sideline and threw up into the trashcan.

Ginny was panting as she finished. One hand was clutching the garbage bin, the other holding her hair back. Another was rubbing small circles on her back... wait.

Ginny whipped around to face Gwenog, the Captain of the Holyhead's.

"Are you okay?" She asked her teammate softly.

"I'm fine. Must have just been a little motion sickness. Or maybe I caught a bug or something. I've been feeling like this for a few days now, I'm fine."

"Are you sure you're okay?" Gwenog asked.

"Yeah, I'm positive. Let's stop delaying practice or everyone will be super pissed at me," Ginny tried to walk away, but a strong hand caught her by the chest.

"Ginny, is there anything you want to tell us?" Gwenog asked. Wilda, Gwendolyn and Glynnis were now standing right behind Gwenog, smiles on their face.

"Uh, no..." Ginny replied.

"You're sure you're not... pregnant?" Wilda whispered with a giggle.

"Of course not, Harry and I always use..." she flashed back to the time a few weeks ago in the show.

"Shit," she whispered.

Her teammates all beamed at her, coming in closer to hug her.

"Wait, don't start celebrating yet, and definitely don't tell anyone. ESPECIALLY Harry or coach. We don't even know if I'm pregnant yet," Ginny commanded in a hushed voice. Her friends all looked at each other, and then did the zipping motion on their mouths.

"Our lips are sealed. This will be our little secret," Gwenog giggled.

There was nothing to keep a secret, Ginny thought.

She couldn't be pregnant... could she?