Lunar Eclipse

Chapter Thirty One

Time jump (8 months pregnant)

*

Ginny rubbed at her chest, wincing at the burning sensation. She had woken up in the middle of the night to heartburn so bad that she could not physically remain lying down.

"Hey," Harry said, walking into the room to where Ginny was now sitting upright in the armchair, trying to rest her eyes. He spotted her hand over her chest, and frowned. "Are you okay?"

"Heartburn," she answered shortly, without opening her eyes. "This baby girl is going to have a head full of hair, that's for sure."

"Have you taken a potion for it yet?" Harry asked, eyes gleaming in concern. "If not, I can go grab you one."

"I took one when I woke up, and I can't have another one for six hours," Ginny groaned.

Suddenly, her stomach constricted, making her wince visibly and grasp at her swollen midsection. Harry was at her side within seconds, placing his hand atop of hers.

"What's wrong? Are you okay?" He asked, eyes wide at how tight and hard her stomach felt as it contracted. "Was that a contraction? Is it time?"

Ginny hissed, shaking her head and breathing through it.

"No," she breathed as it ended. "I've been having them since I woke up. They're just Braxton Hicks, nothing to worry about."

Harry frowned, brushing a lock of hair from her face.

"Well I had something planned for us today, but if you're not feeling up to it, we can do it some other time," he spoke softly, continuing to stroke her hair back continually.

"I'm fine," Ginny spoke, grabbing at the arms of the chair and hoisting herself up,arching her back and throwing her stomach out in front of her, before shoving off of the chair. The combination of moves looked so strange that Harry couldn't help but chuckle.

"Don't even start with me," Ginny warned without even turning around to face her husband. "Just tell me what we're doing today."

"But it's a surprise!" Harry protested. Ginny glared at him, but she knew that he wasn't going to budge. Planning surprises and pulling them off was something Harry always loved doing for her, and she didn't want to ruin it for him.

No matter how miserable she felt at the moment.

"Fine. What time are we going?" Ginny asked.

"We're supposed to be there for lunch, so probably in about an hour. Andromeda is coming to pick up the boys any time now- Teddy's apparently been begging to see them."

Ginny nodded her approval, before rubbing at her chest again.

"I'm going to go take a shower, and see if maybe that helps ease some of the pain in my back and chest," she told Harry.

"Alright. I'm going to get the boys ready and wait for Andromeda."

Ginny gave him a small smile and squeezed his shoulder lovingly, before padding up the stairs.

By the time she reached the top step, Ginny felt as though she had just run a marathon. Her skin was glistening with sweat, despite the cooling charms that were in place to keep the house a more reasonable temperature than the hot flash that was raging on outside. It was the 31st of August, and Ginny couldn't remember a time it had been this warm.

Shutting the bathroom door behind her, Ginny turned on the faucet, letting the showerhead run for a few moments as she stripped and stepped into the small stall, grateful that this bathroom didn't have the tub that she had to step over.