Title: I Think We're Alone Now
Summary: Ginny Weasley is a twenty-one year old single mother. At the birthday party of her twin brothers, Fred and George, she runs into twenty-six year old Oliver Wood, who is now a professional Quidditch player. Romance and chaos (caused by the twins) ensues. (Fred and Katie Bell are married, George and Alicia are married, Harry and Hermione are married, and Ron is dating Luna.)
A/N: I don't own Harry Potter and this is my first HP fic, so please be kind.
Oliver Wood walked into the Burrow, the home of the Weasley family, or rather the home of Mr. and Mrs. Weasley. All their children had moved out. Charlie had married a Romanian girl named Maya and they lived in Romania. Bill had married Angelina Johnson, a shock to everyone who knew the couple but they were happy. Percy had married Penelope Clearwater and was sucking up to his father constantly because his father had been in the Order of the Phoenix before Voldemort's death. Fred had married Katie Bell, no surprise in the end. And George had married Alicia Spinnet. Ron was reportedly dating Luna Lovegood. Oliver had been shocked but then he talked to Harry who looked at him and said, "Well, it's high time he came to his senses." And all Oliver had heard from Harry and the Weasleys about Ginny was that she was still alive and she didn't live at home anymore.
It was Fred and George's twenty-forth birthday and their mum had insisted on giving them a big party. Oliver didn't see anyone he knew immediately. Then he walked into a young redheaded woman carrying a baby in her arms, knocking them over. Oliver gasped. "Oh I'm so sorry," he said bending over to help the woman up. He saw her face and immediately he knew that this was Ginny Weasley. Once he had her back on her feet he said, "Ginny?"
Ginny nodded. "It's me. Oliver Wood? What are you doing here?"
"Oh, your brothers invited me," he said. Damn, when had Ginny gotten to be so beautiful? She was so curvy and graceful, not like him.
She smiled. "That was nice of them. Would you like to see them?"
"Yes," he said. "Where are they?"
"They're in the backyard with Katie, Alicia, Ron, Harry, Hermione, Charlie, Maya, Bill, and Alicia. I was actually just heading out there."
"Well, then I'll join you."
As they walked out, Oliver said, "So is this one of your nieces?"
Ginny shook her head shyly. "This is my daughter, Calandra Rose Weasley. I'm not married. Her father is my former boss, but that's another story that I'm sure you don't need to hear."
Oliver nodded and followed her through the crowd of people out into the backyard. Fred rushed over to them and grabbed Oliver's hand. "Oliver, you old pal, how are you? It's simply smashing to see you."
George then came over. "Oliver, it's most delightful to see. How have you been?"
Oliver laughed. "I'm fine. Happy birthday to the both of you."
The twins smiled and thanked him. Then Harry came over. "Ginny, can I borrow Callie? Hermione and I are simply dying to spend some time with our favorite goddaughter."
Ginny handed her daughter over. "Just be careful with her and make sure that Lily and James are careful with her."
"Yes, Mum," Harry teased. "I'll treat her like she's my own daughter."
Lily and James were Harry and Hermione's three-year-old twins. Harry and Hermione had married the summer after seventh year and had been married for four years. Harry and Hermione also had a fourteen-month-old son named Sirius. Harry took his four-month-old goddaughter over to area where the other young children were playing. Oliver was calmly talking with Fred, George, Ginny, and Charlie about Quidditch when Charlie swore. "Shit! Why did he have to come?"
Everyone turned to see Michael Corner walk in. Oliver looked at Charlie. "What do you have against him?"
"He's Callie's father," Charlie said with pure rage in his eyes. "Right after Ginny and Colin Creevey broke up last year, he took Ginny to a pub, got her drunk and raped her. The result was Callie."
Fred walked up to Michael. "What are you doing here?" he snarled with pure hatred.
"I just wanted to wish my friends a happy birthday," Michael said innocently.
"You're no friend of mine," Fred hissed. "No friend of mine would get my sister drunk and rape her. No friend of mine would abandon my sister when the aforementioned incident left her pregnant. I hate you. If you don't remove yourself from my parents' backyard now, I will do it for you."
Michael stared at Fred. "Well, fine, I'll leave. But I want you to know that everything was just an accident. I didn't mean to sleep with your sister. It was just the alcohol. And I won't leave until Ginny tells me she wants me to leave."
Oliver looked at Ginny and saw tears streaming down her face. "Michael, you didn't have a single drink that night. I remember. I drank both your drinks and my own. I was so drunk I didn't know what I was doing. Michael, just go away. I want you out of my life and out of Callie's. Michael, get the hell out of this yard and my life."
Michael walked back out of the yard and, to Oliver's shock; Ginny was practically clinging to him. He wrapped his arm around her and asked, "Are you all right?"
Tears were still pouring down her cheeks and she was shaking. "I hate him. I hate him," she kept repeating the three words over and over again.
Oliver led her over to a chair and helped her sit down. She looked up at him. "I guess you know the story of where I got my daughter from. I just wish he hadn't shown up here. I haven't seen him since I found out I was pregnant. I left my job at the Ministry and started working at Weasley's Wizard Wheezes for Fred and George. I live with Harry and Hermione now."
Oliver nodded. "Are you going to be okay?"
She shrugged. "I think so. It was just a very unwelcome shock."
Oliver nodded. "Well, if you don't mind, I'm going to talk to your brothers again."
She smiled. "Go ahead. I'm not keeping you here."
He got up and walked over to her brothers confused by her cryptic response. Then he saw Professor McGonagall go over to her and start talking to her. He spent much of the party watching Ginny out of the corner of his eye. She didn't seem to be having as much fun ever since Michael had shown up.
Around nine o'clock, Ginny was sitting on the couch talking to Professor McGonagall. "Ginny," her old Transfiguration mistress said. "Professor Dumbledore is looking for a new Charms teacher. I seem to recall that you have a great deal of talent with Charms and I was thinking you should apply for the position."
Ginny was shocked. "Me? Teach at Hogwarts? But I'm only twenty-one. Surely there are older and more qualified people around."
"It never hurts to try, Ginny," the professor said wisely. "Just try. If you aren't accepted for the position, it's nothing lost. And it is an amazing opportunity. Just think about it, and owl me when you decide."
Ginny nodded. "I will. I am interested in the position. I was just a little shocked that I was being considered. I have one last question. What about Callie? Did Professor Dumbledore say anything about that?"
Professor Dumbledore himself walked over just then. "You can bring her with you if you take the position. The rest of the staff would be more than happy to help take care of her. She is a dear little girl, very much like her mother and nothing at all like her father. And Ginny, if you want the job, it's yours."
Ginny smiled. "Thank you, professor."
"It is all my pleasure," he replied.
Mrs. Weasley had invited Oliver to stay for the night since it was so late and he eagerly accepted the invitation. "Oliver," Mrs. Weasley said. "You will be sleeping on the couch. I'm sorry but all of my children are staying here with their families."
"And you don't want to share a room with Ron," Ginny put in. "Luna went home hours ago because they had another stupid spat about heaven knows what and so Ron will spend the whole night trying to figure out how to resolve this spat. So, like me, you're stuck in the living room." She said the last sentence with a bit of bitterness directed at her mother.
Oliver gasped. He was going to be sharing the living room with Ginny. Mrs. Weasley turned to him. "Oliver, I should warn you. Callie will keep you from sleeping most of the night. Her mother is a rather heavy sleeper and she cries and cries when she wants to eat."
Oliver nodded. "It's all right. I'll catch up on my sleeping when I get home." He could have Apparated home now but he was tired and just wanted to lie down.
Oliver had been asleep for almost three hours when he woke up to the sound of a baby screaming. He opened his eyes slowly wondering where he was. Then he remembered he was in the Weasleys' living room and the baby was Ginny's daughter. As Mrs. Weasley had predicted, Ginny was not waking up. He debated whether or not he should wake her up. Then he looked at the crying baby and went over to the couch Ginny was sleeping on. He said, "Ginny, get up. Your daughter needs you." She didn't move. He kept trying, but she wouldn't wake up. Finally, he shook her and her eyes flew open. "Huh?" she mumbled. "What's the matter?"
"Your daughter needs you."
She nodded and walked over to the cradle Callie was sleeping in. She picked up her daughter and carried her back to the couch. "You can go back to sleep," she said. "And I should warn you, I feed her myself."
Oliver wasn't quite sure what the last remark meant but then he saw her bare her left breast and hold her daughter level with it. Then the baby started sucking. Oliver started looking at the famous Weasley clock. This was too much for him. Ginny Weasley was a mother, a single mother. She looked at him. "I saw Professor Dumbledore talking to you earlier."
"Yeah," Oliver said, leaning his head on the pillows. "He heard that I was thinking about giving up professional Quidditch so I could have a more normal life and he was wondering if I was interested in teaching Arithmancy. Apparently, the old teacher left and he needs a new teacher before the new term starts in six weeks. He said he was offering you the position as the new Charms teacher."
She nodded. "Well, first he had McGonagall tell me it was open and I should apply for it but then he offered it to me. I'm going to accept it. It's better money that working at 3W and it'll be better for Callie. I feel like I've overstayed my welcome at Harry and Hermione's anyway, so this came along at the perfect time."
Oliver nodded. He was still uncomfortable looking at Ginny. He knew that it was perfectly natural for mothers to breastfeed their children but it was so hard to think of Ginny as anything other than Fred and George's sister. Thinking of her as someone's mother was so strange although Callie did have the traditional Weasley red hair.
Ginny was watching Oliver out of the corner of her eye. He had always been handsome when they were at Hogwarts and nothing in that department had changed recently. He still had dark hair and gorgeous eyes. He was still a long, skinny beanpole. She smiled; he was so uncomfortable with the idea of her breastfeeding Callie. She remembered once when Lily and James were about three months old; the Potters were at the Burrow for dinner and after dinner Hermione had been breastfeeding Lily. Ron had been so uncomfortable with it he left the room. Harry had seemed comfortable but Hermione told her that when the twins were born Harry had been anything but comfortable with the idea that his children got their food from their mother's breasts. After a few days though, he'd gotten used to it.
The pair sat in silence for a while. Finally, Oliver cleared his throat and asked, "How old is she?"
"Callie?" Ginny said. "She's almost four months old. She was born at the end of March, March 31 to be precise. She'll be four months old on Harry's birthday."
Oliver nodded. "She's so little. I have six younger sisters and none of them were that small when they were four months old."
"She was born over a month early," Ginny said, almost sadly. "She wasn't due until May 7 but she insisted on being born five weeks early. And she was so small when she was born, they weren't sure she'd make it. I was really scared when she was born. She was so small and her lungs weren't strong enough to support her." Ginny's eyes were filling with tears as she recalled the terror she felt when she was told her baby might not live. "It was so horrible. The mediwitches at St. Mungo's had her hooked up to these Muggle machines that they used for babies who are too small and they aren't ready to be born but yet they're born anyway."
Oliver walked over to the other couch and sat down next to her. He put his arm around her shoulder. "It's all right. She's alive now. You didn't lose her. It's okay. Shh, don't cry. Oh, sweetie, don't cry. It's all right. You have Callie now; she lived It's going to be all right."
Sweetie? Ginny thought. Since when does Oliver Wood call me sweetie? But she was grateful for him being there and trying to comfort her. She leaned her head on his shoulder. Callie seemed to be done and so she covered her breast back up and settled the baby in her arms so she could burp her.
Oliver looked at the baby. She was so adorable. She had soft red hair and green eyes. She didn't have freckles yet. He just wanted to take her in his arms and kiss her. He looked at Ginny. "Ginny, has anyone ever told you how much Callie looks like you?"
Ginny smiled. "The day she was born, Professor Dumbledore told me that she looked exactly like me and nothing at all like Michael Corner."
"He's right," Oliver said worriedly reaching out to stroke Callie's arm. To his shock, she grabbed his outstretched finger in her little fist and pulled his finger to her mouth. Then she started sucking on it.
Ginny smiled at him. "She likes you. She likes you a lot."
Oliver was shocked. "She does?"
"She does," Ginny affirmed. "She only sucks on your finger if she likes you. And she likes you very much if she decides to suck your finger this quickly."
Oliver smiled as Ginny leaned her head on his shoulder. A little later, he realized Ginny had fallen asleep as had Callie. He smiled and joined them in the lands of sleep. His last thought before he fell asleep was the daughter loves me; now I just need to get the mother to love me.
A/N: Well, please, please, please, no flames! I hope you like it. I'll update soon.