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Harry never felt himself change after the War, never felt his anger, his hatred creep up on him. The tears in Ginny’s eyes told him otherwise. That wretched sobbing, wailing in his ears, day and night for years on end. He couldn’t stand it.
“Will you quit!” he grabbed her hair and forced her to look at him, “You sound like a child!”
She wiped her eyes. A kind hand, Harry. She needs a kind hand. He let go of her hair and touched her back. That god-awful flinching.
“I’m sorry,” he whispered, a kind voice. But, did he mean it?
She stayed silent. It never used to be like this. She used to bounce back so easily. She never used to fear him. He never wanted to be feared.
“I love you,” he muttered, unsure if he meant that either.
“You’ve changed,” she responded after a moment of silence.
“The fuck is that supposed to mean!” he spat.
She sneered, ready to continue the fight. Why does she do this?
“You never used to be like this!”
“Like WHAT, Ginevra!”
That flinching again, heavy this time.
“It’s getting hard to hide the bruises, Harry,” she calmed slightly, or seemed to, “My family is suspicious. And so are Albus and James.”
She looked anywhere but him. He hates when she does that. Why won’t she just face him?
“LOOK AT ME!” he bellowed, “When have I given you bruises?”
“Many times.”
“Ha! You think I’d remember, for fuck’s sake, Gin.”
He heard tiny footsteps behind him.
“Mum? Dad?”
“James, Albus, back to bed, okay?” Ginny said with desperation.
“What are you afraid of?” Harry screamed, “ANSWER ME!”
Tiny hands tugged at his clothes. Why does his own child fill him with such fury? He felt his hand swing back heavily. More sobbing.
“YOU BASTARD!”
Hands were around his throat, and for just a moment, Harry thought he might die. Then, just as quickly, she was on the floor, clutching her bleeding and bruised face. He turned to Albus and James.
“Go to bed!” he spat.
James dragged the sobbing Albus away. Harry turned back to Ginny.
“Please,” she begged through her sobbing. God, that sobbing, “Harry...don’t...I’m...pregnant…”
The fury left his body all at once.
“What?” he asked, “Again?”
She nodded. Slowly, painfully. What the hell have you done?
“A girl,” Ginny stated.
And, Harry felt a spark of joy that he hadn’t felt since Albus was born.