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Where Do We Go From Here? | ||||
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Category: Post-DH/AB Characters:None Genres: Angst, Drama, General, Romance Warnings: None Story is Complete Rating: PG-13 Reviews: 19 Summary: Harry and Ginny's moments directly after the final battle, along with their reconciliation. A little bit of Ron and Hermione thrown in. Post-DH, Pre-Epilogue. HG / RHr. Hitcount: Story Total: 7847 Disclaimer: Harry Potter Publishing Rights © J.K.R. Note the opinions in this story are my own and in no way represent the owners of this site. This story subject to copyright law under transformative use. No compensation is made for this work. |
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Harry, Ron, and Hermione said their goodbyes to the portraits in the Headmaster’s Office before walking down the somewhat blasted staircase out past the broken gargoyle. Harry took pity on the poor thing, thinking Reparo, with a flick of his newly repaired wand. Like an old friend reunited with him once more, the wand worked with an ease Harry hadn’t felt with any of the other wands. He watched contently as the gargoyle completely fixed itself. The gargoyles’ eyes widened in thanks. Hermione smiled at him. “That was awfully nice of you, Harry.” Ron shrugged. “Where are we headed now? The Great Hall?” Harry’s bright green eyes looked over to his best mate. It was clear he wanted to head back to talk with his family. With a glance toward Hermione, he noticed she was looking at Ron sadly with a hand on his back. Harry felt overcome with immeasurable guilt for the loss of Fred; he knew he should go to see the Weasleys, particularly Ginny. He wanted to see her so badly, but he also knew that she may not exactly want to see him right now. Not to mention, the thought of being thrust into a throng of people was something he did not want to experience again so quickly. He hated being the center of attention generally, but after being sleep-deprived for the last 24 hours, technically 48 hours if you count the fact he had gotten practically no sleep tossing and turning at Bill and Fleur’s house the night before, he knew he would not do so well with the masses at the moment. He gave a pained look back to them. “Guys, I…” Ron just held up a hand with a small smile. “Say no more, Harry. We’ll make your excuses. We understand.” Hermione nodded and reached out to hug him. “Go get some sleep, Harry. Be sure to cast some protective spells around you though. We don’t know who might still be lurking in the castle. Promise?” He nodded to her as she let him go. He watched the two of them begin walking toward the Great Hall together, smiling at watching them finally together. He thought Ron would continue to be a prat, but he saw him offer Hermione his hand, which she took with a smile before leaning into his shoulder a bit. It was about time he got his act together. Harry threw his Invisibility Cloak over himself as he started his walk to Gryffindor Tower, somewhat hoping it was still there. He ended up holding a hand over his ribcage as he walked. Perhaps his injuries from the Killing Curse were more severe than he had thought; the adrenaline was running off and he could now feel a rather demanding dull ache in his chest, like broken ribs. He dodged a number of people in his effort to reach his destination. Thankful that the corridor to the Tower was deserted, he made his way up to the portrait of the Fat Lady, who was balling. He hesitantly slipped the Invisibility Cloak off of him and asked politely, “Is it alright if I come in?” She looked up in confusion before her eyes widened considerably at his presence. “Oh my goodness! Harry Potter! Of course, you’re welcome here dear! You go right on in!” And with that, she opened up the portrait hole for him. Harry went in hurriedly, trying to hide his blush as she continued rattling off about how great he was even after he was out of her sight. He wasn’t that great. He sure didn’t feel that great. Fred. Remus. Tonks. Snape. Dobby. Hedwig. Mad-Eye. And so many more. He shook his head before heading up as quickly as he could without hurting himself to the top level of the boys’ dorm, where the 7th years usually stayed. He was quite happy to notice that the level was still there and the damage to the entire common room and stairwell had been minimal. As soon as he entered the dorm, he immediately closed the door behind him, firing off every protection spell he could think of and a ward allowing only the Weasleys and Hermione to enter. He took a look around the room, and frowned slightly. There was a gaping hole in the ceiling, which must’ve been caused from some stray curse, and it let in the now abundant sunshine from the new morning. One of the beds was destroyed, but the other four were in tact. He knew that most of the 7th year guys had no longer even slept in here because they had all been in the Room of Requirement so he could pick whichever one he wanted. He picked the bed that probably would have been his, had he been there for his final year. It was the back one to the far right next to a window. There was a bit too much sunshine though so he turned his wand toward the gaping hole and the rocks below before saying calmly, “Reparo.” To his astonishment, all of the heavy blocks that had sunk to the floor of the dorm began to rectify themselves back into the ceiling, eliminating the invasive sunlight. His spells had never been that great before, even with his holly wand he was using once more. But then again, his soul hadn’t been completely free before and he was sure he felt more confident now than he had a year ago. Maybe magic grows as a person grows up too. He wanted nothing more than to fall down onto the bed and sleep, but he was covered in dirt, grime, blood, among many other things he was sure. He hesitantly called out, “Kreacher?” Kreacher appeared instantly before him, bowing low to the floor and grinning madly. “Master Harry calls Kreacher! How can Kreacher help the wizard that has saved us all?” Harry smiled slightly. He actually missed Kreacher; the elf had grown on him once they both had been kind towards one other. “Thank you, Kreacher, but I’m sure a lot of people owe their lives to you and the rest of the house elves. You all were magnificent.” Kreacher looked incredibly taken aback by his comments. “Kreacher wanted to help his Master.” Harry sighed. “Thank you. I’m sorry about Grimmauld Place too. We were followed back that day and could not return.” Kreacher appeared unconcerned. “Grimmauld Place has been sealed, Master Harry. No one can get in but Master and his friends.” Harry looked up in surprise. “What?” Kreacher looked up at him curiously, unsure with what Harry was so concerned about. “When an unknown person entered the house without Master’s invitation and when Master was not there, he was unceremoniously thrown out. Kreacher immediately sealed the house for only Master Harry, Ms. Granger, and Mr. Weasley. When Master did not return, Kreacher remained until Master would call him or he knew Master was in grave danger.” Harry was dumbfounded. “Thank you, Kreacher. Wow. That’s amazing.” Kreacher was again taken aback, but he moved on to the more pressing issue. “What can Kreacher do for Master Harry?” Harry shook himself out of his astonishment that Grimmauld Place was likely to still be standing and in one piece. “Oh, I was wondering if you could bring me something to change into, and perhaps a sandwich?” Kreacher bowed low to the floor. “It would be Kreacher’s honor.” Harry quickly found a towel and took the fastest shower he could without injuring himself worse. He noticed Kreacher had already laid out some comfy clothes for him in the bathroom, which he happily put on. He took the extra set of clean clothes Kreacher had brought for when he woke back up out into the room with him, as he yawned a bit. Kreacher was waiting with a feast for probably about five people. Harry smiled at him as he sat down on the bed he had chosen. “Thank you, Kreacher.” Kreacher nodded. “Master is most welcome. Does Master Harry need anything else?” Harry shook his head, taking a sandwich. He laid down on his back when his ribs hurt too much to sit up anymore. “No, not right now. You can stay here if you want, Kreacher, or you can go downstairs with the other house elves. You can even return home if you’d like, whatever you want. I’ll call you when I know more of what’s going on.” Kreacher didn’t say anything in response to his comments so he looked over to where Kreacher was standing, only to see him looking like he was about to cry. Harry was concerned. “What is it, Kreacher?” Kreacher looked over at him completely astonished, before hugging his legs. “Long live Master Harry Potter!” And before Harry could even figure out what was going on, the elf released him balling his eyes out before disapparating. Harry shook his head, still confused. He finished his sandwich, sampled a few other things, and then gulped down some pumpkin juice before thinking Evanesco with a flick of his wand. The food immediately disappeared. Harry immediately laid back down on the bed, but he couldn’t seem to get comfortable with his ribs. He carefully rolled around onto his stomach. He had a pillow, a bed, time to sleep, and no one coming to kill him, and yet, his mind still refused to let him sleep. It was funny how life could be so ironic sometimes. ------------------------ ---------------------------------------- -- Ginny felt horrible. She had sat with her mother, her father, Bill, Fleur, Charlie, Percy, and George–poor George. Her eyes seemed to well up with tears again on their own accord. She was never quite the teary type, but she had never felt so utterly lost and sad in her life. Not just for herself, of course, but for George. Her Mum and Dad. Ron, Percy, Hermione, and Harry for seeing it happen… Harry. Merlin, she wanted to see him, but he had disappeared. The last person she had seen him near had been Luna, but when she asked her about it, Luna merely shrugged and told her he was sorting out the riddle of the Flying Wignuts or something. She supposed she knew this meant he had gone off to be alone, but still. Ron and Hermione had disappeared too, but she had just seen them come back into the Great Hall and they were heading towards her and the family now. She gave a small smile at the sight of them holding hands. It was about time. She wondered if Harry had anything to do with that. Harry. Just then, she saw a very familiar, yet completely foreign sight. It was Kreacher…and he was smiling? “Kreacher?” The house elf turned and gave her a radiant smile. “Miss Weasley! Master Harry has done it, yes? Miss Weasley should be happy.” She smiled slightly at his words. Apparently, the house elf had warmed to Harry after all. “I am, Kreacher, but my brother is…” She couldn’t say it. It would make it too real. Kreacher seemed to understand. “Do not worry, Miss. Master Harry has said that all great losses are remembered if you choose to keep them alive.” She was astonished that the house elf seemed to know exactly what to say, especially since it was Harry’s words she craved to hear. She was just about to say thank you to the elf when he disapparated with a pop without so much as a goodbye. She was looking around curiously when Ron and Hermione came up to her. She looked up at them astonished. “Where’d Kreacher go? He was there and then he just disappeared!” Hermione sighed. “Harry probably called him. He hasn’t eaten anything since…well, we ate a small breakfast 24 hours ago, and he picked around at his food at the Hog’s Head yesterday around noon.” Ginny’s heart was pounding at his mere mention. When she had thought he had died, her heart had shattered. Now, to hear he was alive and probably doing something as trivial as eating or sleeping, it was more than she could take. “Where is he?” Ron looked over at his sister and could see how much she loved his best mate. It was the same look Harry had in his eyes every time he was off in his own world and had thought he and Hermione hadn’t been looking. “He didn’t want to come down here around all these people. You know how he is… He’s right though. Everyone would bombard him with questions he doesn’t want to answer. I could tell he wanted to come though.” Hermione nodded as Ron moved on to go talk to his crying mother. She turned her attention to Ginny. “He’s probably sleeping. He didn’t look so good, although he was able to fix the entire gargoyle structure in front of the Headmaster’s Office silently. Don’t ask me how he could do that after being so drained.” Ginny was surprised to hear this as well. She followed Hermione over to the family and hugs were given all around, along with information about Harry. Even George had turned his face toward Ron to hear what he had to say. Ron shrugged. “I’m not sure. He seemed alright, but he could have some injuries he didn’t mention to Hermione. She would have pulled him down here so fast…” Hermione punched him in his arm weakly. “At least I look out for his well-being, Ronald.” The group eventually tried to pull the family up to Gryffindor Tower to get cleaned up. George wouldn’t budge an inch for anyone and was still looking over towards where Fred’s body was, even though it had been covered up. It had taken Ginny sitting down in front of him with tears in her eyes before he would move. Ginny held her brother’s hand tightly as they walked up to Gryffindor Tower. She was crying quietly again. She didn’t know how to help him get past this. She let her mother hug her, and then her brothers, but something always seemed to be missing. The only pair of arms she really wanted were Harry’s. He had always been the only one who could make her feel better with one of his hugs. She got cleaned up at the insistence of her Mum and Fleur. She was now changed into a pair of pajama pants and a camisole she had taken from Lavender’s dorm room, after leaving a note. She sat on the windowsill by herself, looking down onto the grounds across into the Forbidden Forest, remembering things she never wanted to see again. She took a glance back at her family. Ron was sitting on an armchair with Hermione on his lap. They had both fallen asleep together that way. Her Mum and Dad were sitting with George and Percy on the couch, and all were whispering to each other and crying softly. Bill was holding Fleur as he sat with her between his legs in front of the fireplace, leaning against the armchair Charlie had somehow squeezed himself onto. Charlie had clearly dozed off, sprawled in the most uncomfortable way she had thought possible on the armchair. Bill and Fleur had their eyes closed, but she was unsure of whether or not they were sleeping yet. As she turned her attention outside once more, she sniffled and wiped her eyes, which had been crying still even though she hadn’t known it. Would anything feel ok again? ---------------------------- ---------------------------------- Harry lay as still as possible on the cozy bed, wishing for sleep to claim him from his dismal thoughts. However, every time he closed his eyes, he would see Fred’s face after he died, Remus and Tonks’ bodies, and Ginny hovering over that little girl before he took the longest walk of his life. He tried to remember the happier times, but every time he tried, those images would come racing back to the forefront. It wasn’t fair, but he couldn’t change anything that had happened. His guilt was eating at him. No matter how many times someone told him what happened wasn’t his fault, the guilt still crept back up within him. His parents. Cedric. Sirius. Dumbledore; well, now that he knew that had been planned, he didn’t feel so responsible. Snape. Harry’s guilt for not trying to understand Snape’s pain sooner ate at him. As much as he hated how Snape had treated him, his mother had liked him and saw the good within him even when Snape couldn’t see it in himself. Then, there was Dobby, giving his life for him and his friends. Hedwig for being so randomly innocent. Mad-Eye, who went to collect Harry knowing Voldemort was going to go straight for him. Fred, who had gone in such an unfair way. Remus and Tonks for leaving this world way too soon, and for leaving little Teddy Lupin too. Teddy. His godson. He made a brief note to himself to be the best damn godfather there ever was. If anyone was going to tell him stories about his parents, it was going to be him. There were still so many others dead out there that he didn’t even know about yet. He sighed deeply. He didn’t even want to think about the guilt he had for everything he had done to the people who were still alive. Ron and Hermione had gone through so much for him, and while he knew they didn’t regret it, he still felt bad they had to have done it in the first place. The Weasleys took him in and all he brought their family seemed to be pain and death. And Ginny…he knew she had to be angry with him. If not for up and leaving her without so much as a word of understanding, then most certainly for pretending to be dead without so much as a warning. The pain of her strangled cry at the sight of him dead would haunt him forever. He didn’t know how long he lay there, silently brooding about everything and aching for sleep. It wasn’t until something inside of him made him feel he was no longer alone did he bring himself out of his thoughts. His right hand gripped his wand tightly, out of habit, but then he inhaled a scent he never thought he’d smell again– flowers. His heart burst. “Gin, is that you?” He heard nothing in response. He immediately turned over and sat up to face the door. And there she was. She looked more beautiful than he had ever remembered her being. It didn’t matter that she had on pajama pants and a camisole or that her gorgeous chocolate brown eyes were blotchy and slightly red from crying. She was just standing in the doorway and staring at him like she couldn’t believe he was there. That’s when he remembered something she had said to him when they had been dating. She was sitting with him under a tree after having a bad day in classes, he had his arms around her, and she had looked up at him with her beautiful smile. She told him that his were the only arms that had ever made her feel better, as if the day had never happened. At the end of that thought, without saying anything, he hesitantly held open his arms to her. She immediately crossed the room and made it over onto his lap. Her hands were touching his chest and then, they wrapped around his back to pull him closer as her head buried into his neck. He immediately wrapped his arms around her tightly, and he could tell she was crying. He buried his face into her hair, inhaling the very smell he knew he would never tire of. “Shhh…don’t cry.” Ginny sniffled, but he heard her muffled voice reply back stubbornly, “I’m still mad at you.” He chuckled as much as he could without hurting his ribs any more than how they felt at the moment. He didn’t care though– not if he got to hold her. “I think I can live with that.” She sighed, and he felt her grip him tighter. “You’re really here.” He nodded against her shoulder, tightening his own hold around her tiny frame, if that was humanly possible. “There’s no place else I’d rather be.” He felt her loosen her hold so he reluctantly did the same. Her chocolate brown eyes were now looking into his green ones. He gently wiped some tears off of her face. If someone had told him she’d be in his arms again, he would have laughed. He would have kissed her right now, but he had no idea where they stood. She was surveying him quietly, looking so beautiful that all he could seem to do was stare at her. At that moment, he blurted out the only three words he wanted to say to her, something he should have told her a long time ago. “I love you.” His words made her tear up a bit again. She broke their eye contact for a moment to sniffle and compose herself before looking back at him again, that blazing look he loved so much about her. “I love you too, Harry.” That was enough for Harry. He lowered his lips down to hers and pulled her into a passionate kiss, not unlike what they had experienced on his 17th birthday at the Burrow. He felt her hands tighten around his back while he let his one hand tangle up into her silky red hair. The kiss went on and on until they both broke for air. They were both breathing heavily against the other for a moment until he heard her say, “I should punch you for that.” His lips twitched into a small smile as he rested his face against her neck. He pulled back to look at her pained. “Please don’t. I’m positive my ribs are broken.” Her mischievous expression immediately transformed to one very much like that of Mrs. Weasley. “WHAT?” He was immediately pushed down to lay on his back and his black t-shirt that Kreacher had brought him was suddenly pushed up over to the top of his chest. Ginny looked incredibly distressed and he felt her soft fingers run over his ribs, which from what he could see, were a deep shade of purple. He supposed he hadn’t looked that closely when he had been showering. Ginny waved her wand that she must’ve been carrying when she came in over him and instantly, he felt a warmth flow through his body and his pain eased. She looked at him disapprovingly. “That will ease the pain, but I’m afraid the only healing spell I know is Episkey and that won’t work with this. My Mum knows some.” Harry tentatively touched her fingers that rested on his ribs. He could see her staring at his chest and noticing not just the bruising of his ribs, but the multitude of other scars he had there; the new oval one from the locket, there was a deep scar that came down from his shoulder from the dragon, and there were a bunch of tiny scars from when he had been living with the Dursleys. When they had been dating, she hadn’t really noticed that much since he had been snogging her while she had been touching his chest. “It’s fine. Hermione knows how to fix them and when she drags Ron up here to check on me, I’ll have her do it.” She nodded, lowering his t-shirt in a much gentler fashion than when she had pulled it back. “It might be a while. She’s sleeping.” She paused with the hint of a smile. “With Ron.” Harry snickered, and Ginny felt his fingers tighten around her hand when that seemed to hurt him a bit. He was still smiling though. “What did your Mum say?” She shrugged. “Nothing really. I caught her smiling at them once. How’d it happen anyway? I was still expecting it to take longer.” Harry grinned at the memory. “House elves. It took house elves to make it happen.” Ginny was looking at him bewildered. “House elves?” He nodded. “Ron remembered the house elves in the middle of all the fighting and treated them like people for once so Hermione just attacked him in the Room of Requirement. I had to remind them we had a bit of work yet to do before they could be doing that.” Ginny was laughing now. To Harry, it was the best sound in the whole world. “Oh, Merlin. You have to show me that memory one day.” Her words caused him to think on the whole host of memories he had that she should know about his whole year. “I’ll show you any memory you like.” His serious tone made her finish laughing. She knew he was really saying that he would tell her anything she wanted to know. She did want to know, but at the same time, she didn’t. “Harry, we don’t have to talk about that now.” He sighed. “But we should. You’re the only other person I want to tell the full story. There are things I won’t share with the others.” His green eyes were staring into her brown ones deeply. She couldn’t look away if she tried. There was a certain power or confidence behind his eyes now that she hadn’t seen there before. She had always loved looking into his eyes. They were beyond expressive, and she could tell anything she wanted to know from them. Right now, she could see that he loved her, that he was planning on being completely honest with her about everything, and that he was hoping she’d let him. She knew if she did, however, that the tables would turn to her to tell him everything about her. She wasn’t sure if she had his strength to discuss all of the horrible things that had happened to her over the year. As if he could sense her problem, he ran his hand over her arms. “It helps to let it out. The only way to fix something is to bring it to the surface.” She nodded, and sat a bit more comfortably next to him. “Ok.” So, Harry talked. He told her everything. He told her about the prophecy, Dumbledore and the Horcruxes, breaking up with her, his summer, the wedding and their escape, Grimmauld Place, Kreacher, the Ministry, the locket, Ron’s departure, Godric’s Hollow, Ron’s return, meeting with Mr. Lovegood and the story of the Deathly Hallows, how he had gotten so angry he said the Taboo, how they were taken to Malfoy Manor, Peter’s life debt, their escape with Dobby, making a deal with a goblin and talking with Ollivander, breaking into Gringotts, the goblin’s betrayal, their escape on a dragon, the realization about the last hidden Horcrux being at Hogwarts, sneaking in through the Hog’s Head, what happened in the Room of Requirement, Fred’s death, Snape’s murder, and then he sort of stopped. Ginny grew pale as she listened to him. She interjected only to ask him to clarify things, but not to judge. She knew what came next. Something happened, and he must’ve gone out to the Forbidden Forest alone. “What is it, Harry?” So, he mentioned about Snape and his memories– of both his mother and Dumbledore. Ginny’s face soon came to understand what he ultimately did. “You went out there INTENDING to die?” Harry nodded his head wearily, his face a sad mask. “Yes.” That’s when Ginny punched him. It was just in his arm, but it hurt. A lot. Harry groaned and rubbed his arm. She was glaring at him, waving her arms wildly. “You didn’t even SAY anything? You were just going to leave? How? I mean, why?” Harry reached out to her and tried to calm her some. “I saw you, Ginny. I saw you helping that little girl. Can’t seem to forget it, actually. I couldn’t stop because if I did…I’m not sure I could’ve kept going. I had to do it. I…I carried a Horcrux.” Ginny was still upset over it all, but she could tell by his eyes he meant every word. She sighed sadly and said as calmly as she could muster, “So, you just went out there and let him…” Harry frowned and looked away from her when her words seemed to fade off. “That was…the longest walk of my life. I really thought it was the end. I wasn’t angry. I knew you all would be safe, you especially. Remember, the snitch I got from Dumbledore?” She nodded so he continued, “Well, I told you about the message it said– ‘I open at the close?’” Again, she nodded. “It finally opened for you?” Harry nodded sadly, still remembering those moments as if they were still happening. “Yes. It was the second Deathly Hallow, the Resurrection Stone, just like we had thought.” Ginny looked up at him startled. “You mean…” Harry’s eyes really said it all when they once again met hers. “They...I mean, my parents, Sirius, and Remus…they all walked with me until…well, the moment. But it was odd, once it was over.” Ginny listened as he explained King’s Cross with Dumbledore and then Narcissa lying for him to get to Draco before continuing in earnest, “I had to pretend. There was no way to get away unscathed otherwise. I was surrounded with only Hagrid there. We both would have died. I knew Voldemort would be too arrogant and would leave himself vulnerable for me to act. I waited for the perfect moment, and Neville handed it to me. I used the Invisibility Cloak the first chance I got. Gin, it was horrible. If I ever hear you cry out like that again, I think I really would die.” Ginny was crying softly with her face in her hands, as his hands reached out to her, rubbing down her arms in comfort. Her voice was hollow with emotion. “That was awful, Harry. I had no idea what I was going to do. I have no idea who even held me back. I heard Hagrid yelling that you had disappeared, but I couldn’t get that picture out of my mind. I no longer cared. I fought Bellatrix because I really didn’t care anymore.” Harry managed to pull her hands away from her face, and he wiped her tears. He stared into her eyes with conviction. “If your Mum hadn’t got to Bellatrix first, I would have. I was already heading her way.” He let Ginny continue to cry softly into his chest as he ran his fingers through her hair to soothe her. When her tears had been reduced to sniffles, he told her, “You don’t have to tell me anything now, but I want you to know that I want to hear everything whenever you want to tell it.” Ginny shook her head. She may have thought she couldn’t talk about everything before, but somehow she could now. Maybe it was knowing what was really going on behind the scenes, maybe it was because there was no more threat of harm, or maybe because Harry was in front of her and his strength became hers. “I was so angry with you for what you did last year, leaving me out and leaving the way you did. I understand now about the trace and that no secret was too safe with Snape being the Headmaster, but it still made me feel left out, inadequate, unimportant, and…unloved. I knew after your birthday you still cared for me, but I still knew you were leaving and that was all I could focus on. Once we got to Hogwarts, Luna, Neville, and I were horrified by the changes being made. I felt reckless and we acted, in a big way. I overheard Snape talking about Gryffindor’s Sword loudly one afternoon and so we planned to steal it– I knew it was supposed to go to you after that visit for Dumbledore’s will. I suppose deep down there was always the fact that if we got it for you, you would have to come get it, and then you would have to come see me, but… Anyway, Snape caught us, and I was looking at him defiantly as he yelled at us, and he suddenly stopped while he stared at me. I had no idea why he stopped until he grabbed something sticking out of my pocket. He looked at it for a minute or so before telling us to have detention with Hagrid.” Harry was looking at her painfully. “What did he grab?” Ginny looked over at him, smiling faintly. “A picture of you and me. At the Burrow, by our tree. It was a favorite. Now, after hearing about Snape and your Mum, well, I suppose if you looked at it quickly, you probably wouldn’t have been able to tell the difference between us and your parents.” Harry gave her a smile. “Maybe he saw my Mum in you. My Mum never backed down from him in any of the memories I saw. The only real difference is the eyes and…” He paused looking her over in a way that made her blush slightly, “the freckles.” Ginny forced herself not to blush. It took a lot of work. She continued with her story as she looked away from him, “Well, the Sword was taken away and the Carrows made things even worse for everyone. I have no idea how many times the Cruciatus curse was used on me; not for too long, just enough to make me pained and weak. We eventually stopped rebelling as much in hopes that things would get better, but they didn’t. I went home for the Christmas holidays, hoping by some wild chance you would come by. I go home and find instead that RON had deserted you. I don’t think he’ll ever want to see me that angry again. I suppose I knew you were ok, but it wasn’t enough, Harry. Then, Ron disappeared one day. We had no idea how, no idea why, and no idea where. Soon after, I went back to Hogwarts. Things had escalated in a bad way so not only were there random punishments and curses being thrown around, but girls were being treated rather…ummm, poorly. Particularly me. Neville followed me everywhere so I was never alone. Luna was always with us too, but she was lucky because her quirkiness didn’t make her such a huge target.” When she risked a glance back at Harry, the gleam of anger in his eyes would have made her cower quite quickly had it been directed at her. She put her hands gently down on his shoulders before he started combing the castles for any pure-blooded creep most likely from Slytherin. “Harry, look at me. Nothing happened. I promise. Just a lot of lewd comments and threats. You know, stuff about getting with Harry’s girl and all that.” Harry looked incensed. “Who?” Ginny looked away from him. “It’s not important now. I think since nothing worse occurred, it was all a front just to create fear. You know that I’m more than capable of defending myself. And so does any male in our age group.” Harry was not appeased, but he knew she would never give the information up, especially when he was looking like he would make sure all of them were in St. Mungos for weeks. He sighed in aggravation. “And then I caused problems for your family and after Easter Break, you stayed home.” Ginny frowned. “We don’t blame you, Harry. You need to stop blaming yourself for everything. But yes, I stayed home. We went to Auntie Muriel’s. Can’t tell you what a joy that was. Mum kept me up-to-date with my studies though, proper studies. Then, I heard you were at Bill and Fleur’s. Mum and Dad wouldn’t let me come see you, no matter how much I pleaded with them. Every way out of the house was sealed off. It wasn’t until word reached us about Hogwarts that I was able to get out of the house and well…here we are.” They were both silent for a bit until Harry sat up suddenly and was staring into her beautiful brown eyes. “I’m sorry…for everything.” She smiled slightly. “I know.” Harry pushed some of her hair back behind her ears and ran his fingers through it before continuing, “I meant what I said earlier.” Ginny looked into his eyes curiously. They had talked about a lot of things over the past hour. “What’s that?” He wrapped his arms around her pulling her into a hug before whispering into her ear, “I love you.” Ginny took a deep breath before pulling her head up so she could look into his green eyes once more. “I love you too, but you have to lay down with those ribs of yours.” He groaned, but this time he pulled her down with him so she was lying comfortably on his chest. “I love you more." She sighed into his chest, feeling more comfortable and relaxed than she had in a long time. “No you don’t.” She waited a few seconds, before asking, “Harry?” He moved his arm over her back gently a few times. “Hmmm?” Her hand lying on his chest reached out to touch his free hand resting on his stomach. “Promise me that’s all we’ll ever fight about from now on.” Harry played with her fingers near his stomach before tightening his hold on her and kissing her forehead. He smiled to himself, knowing that without exactly saying it, the two of them would never be parted again. “Deal.” They laid there in silence together. Harry, rubbing her back gently or playing with her silky red hair, and Ginny, playing with his fingers or running her fingers up and down his stomach softly. It wasn’t long before the both of them fell into a deep sleep, more restful and relaxing than either of them had had in a long time. ----------------------------- ---------------------------------------- ---- Hermione rolled her eyes. “Honestly, Ronald. Harry has the Marauder’s Map with him, remember? He used to watch Ginny all the time. It’s not in my bag.” Ron gave her a stern look. “Well, he’s got to be in the Tower. Where else would he have gone off too? He wouldn’t have left the castle without telling us. I’ll check upstairs.” Hermione stopped him, looking around the room. “Where’s Ginny?” Ron stopped when Hermione pulled on his shirt. He looked frustrated that she was asking him such a question when they were talking about Harry. “What do you mean where’s Gin– oh.” Hermione gave Ron an appraised look. That was quicker than most of the other times she had tried to get him to pick up a hint. “We’ve been sleeping down here for more than a few hours. Everyone is asleep except for your Mum and Dad, who are most decidedly distracted as they should be. She could’ve easily slipped away to go see him.” Ron frowned. “That’s inappropriate.” Hermione looked at him as if he were nothing more than a hypocrite. “And just what were you and I doing?” Ron’s ears started turning red. “Well, that’s just…I mean, wait.” Hermione waved her hand dismissively at him. “Oh, give it up Ron. She’s a big girl, and Harry is a great guy.” Ron frowned. “That may be, but…” He shook his head. “We should still go check on him, Hermione.” Hermione raised her eyebrows with the hint of a smile. “Check on him, you say? Or do you really mean check on THEM, Mr. Overprotective Big Brother?” Ron growled at her for being right about everything. “A little bit of both. How’s that for honesty?” Hermione laughed, and it seemed to break him from his slightly irritated state. He reached out and grabbed her arm gently, guiding her toward the boys’ stairwell. “Come on. It’ll just be a quick check.” Hermione followed him and both of them were stopped by Mrs. Weasley, who shot up out of her seat, instantly alert. “And where do you think you two are going?” Ron gulped. Hermione answered for them. “We’re just going to check on Harry, Mrs. Weasley. We’ll be right back.” Mrs. Weasley looked at them shocked that she seemingly had forgotten to check on Harry herself. “He is upstairs then? I have to go check on him. Has he eaten anything? Does he have any injuries? Is he ok?” Ron, knowing Ginny was probably going to be upstairs as well and he did not wish to get her into trouble, tried to stop his Mum. “Ummm, Mum we can handle it. Hermione was going to check and see if he has any injuries to attend to. I’m sure he’ll come downstairs when he wakes up.” Mrs. Weasley shooed him out of the way. “No, no, no. I will see my 7th surrogate son if you please. Now, where is he? Top floor most likely, hmmm? To get away from all the madness?” Ron and Hermione shot each other panicked looks before following Mrs. Weasley, each trying in earnest to let her know that they could take care of checking on him. She looked at them sternly before pushing open the 7th year dorm and whispering quietly to them before she turned around, “Now, be quiet! He could be sleeping!” However, she noticed they were no longer listening to her and were looking beyond her with what appeared to be smiles on their faces. Mrs. Weasley automatically turned to look, and what she saw made her heart swell. Harry was lying on the far back bed in clean pajamas and looked to be alright, but her daughter was lying on his chest also in her pajamas. Her red hair was flowing around the two of them, but what struck Mrs. Weasley was their faces. They looked completely relaxed and at peace together. She almost felt like she was intruding. That was when she realized her baby girl had grown up. She had seen glimpses of it all year, but in that moment, she knew Ginny was a grown woman who obviously had already given her heart to someone, someone they all knew and loved. She had, of course, noticed this between the two of them before, but now, it was clear that this was more than just dating like it had been a year ago. Her baby girl was in love. Mrs. Weasley had already known that Harry loved her daughter, but finally seeing them together really put it to rites. She turned slowly to her youngest son and the girl she had always known he would fall for. “Shoo. Let them sleep. Let’s go.” Ron looked shocked at his mother’s behavior. She had never let any of her children be alone like that before. His question was full of wonder and surprise. “Let them sleep?” Mrs. Weasley nodded sternly. “That’s what I said, didn’t I? Off you both go then." Hermione was giggling and winked at Mrs. Weasley before dragging a confused and slightly angered Ron back down the stairwell. Mrs. Weasley turned one more time to look back at her daughter and without too much presumption, her future son-in-law, with a sigh before closing the door behind her. She finally had something to smile about again. |
| Reviews 19 |
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