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SIYE Time:18:25 on 28th March 2024
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Second Chances
By memasuzy

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Category: Post-DH/AB
Characters:Harry/Ginny
Genres: Romance
Warnings: Mild Language
Story is Complete
Rating: G
Reviews: 14
Summary: It had been three years since the demise of the most powerful Dark Wizard who ever lived . . . three years since he had last seen the fiery redhead who still occupied his thoughts and haunted his dreams.
Hitcount: Story Total: 5424



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.



Author's Notes:
It's been a while. I hope you enjoy this story as much as I enjoyed writing it.
Please take a moment to review and let me know what you think.

My thanks once again to my terrific Beta, Tom NotRiddle.

Happy Holidays!





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As he came down the steps of Gringotts his eyes gazed over Diagon Alley. It had been three years since he had last been here, three years since he and his friends had escaped from this building on the back of a blind dragon. Three years since the Final Battle, three years since the demise of the most powerful Dark Wizard who ever lived . . . three years since he had last seen the fiery redhead who still occupied his thoughts and haunted his dreams.

He thought back to the last time he had seen her; it was during that endless week filled with funerals, so many of them. The first was Colin Creevey’s, followed by Tonks and Remus Lupin, and finally — the most difficult of all — Fred Weasley. And he stood there, stoic through them all.

He promised Andromeda Tonks he would do everything he could to help her with his godson, Teddy Lupin. He offered his condolences to his surrogate family, the Weasleys. He watched helplessly as he witnessed their suffering. George was completely devastated by the loss of his twin, his partner, his best friend. It was as if a part of him had died as well.

He stood by her side as she mourned her fallen brother; a lost, desolate look replacing the blazing one he loved so much. He wanted to comfort her, to be there for her but he didn’t know what to do or say. Nothing he could think of seemed right. She told him it was enough knowing that he was there, but her eyes belied her words. There was something she was not telling him, words she couldn’t bring herself to say. They were not necessary; he understood. So when the funerals were over, he left — his friends, his family, her.

It was a cold, brisk afternoon in mid-December. He took a deep breath as he pulled his cloak tighter around himself. The note from the solicitor had arrived shortly before his twenty-first birthday. It was brought by Hermione’s screech owl, Lancelot, along with birthday greetings from herself and Ron and some treacle tart from Mrs. Weasley. The owl was their only means of communication as he had made every effort to ensure that no one knew where he was.

He tried to focus on his reasons for returning. The note stated that there were financial matters that would require his attention once he reached his twenty-first year. In addition to the accounts left to him by his parents and his godfather, the Potter family had a considerable estate. There were papers to be signed and funds to be transferred. Decisions had to be made regarding several holdings in the Muggle world as well.

He cared nothing about any of this and put it off as long as he possibly could. Now, however, with the holidays approaching the emptiness inside him loomed and a growing need rose within him. It was time to face his demons, to put the past behind him so he could move on with his life.

The Wizarding community had quickly rebuilt the busy hub. Every shop was festively decorated with wreaths and holly, lights, ornaments and bells that jingled when the doors opened. As he walked down the street he turned back to look at the bank. There were no visible scars of the break in he and his friends had orchestrated — the damage had long since been repaired.

He passed Madam Malkin’s and thought of Hermione as he strolled by Flourish and Blotts. He chuckled at the memory of the summer he had spent receiving free sundaes as he looked into the window of Florean Fortescue’s Ice Cream Parlour, now being run by his sons as he had been one of the earliest victims of the Second War.

As he turned back his gaze fell upon the joke shop and he found himself overwhelmed by sadness and remorse. He stood for a long time lost in the memories of the twins: the pranks they played on Ron, the way they would finish each other’s thoughts and the fun he had playing Quidditch with them during the summers he spent at The Burrow. He continued on down the road, unable to resist peeking in the window of Quality Quidditch Supplies to look at the latest racing broom designs. After debating the advisability of going in, he turned towards the door, and as he was paying little attention to his actions, immediately bumped into the person who had just emerged from the shop. He looked up.

“Ginny” She was as beautiful as he remembered.

“Harry? Is it really you?”

They stared into each others eyes for a moment before asking, simultaneously, “How are you?” A giggle, then, “Sorry”, “No, not at all”, “Please, you first”, they smiled at one another, both feeling a bit awkward. He waited, before she began again.

“How are you, Harry?”

“Fine, I’m fine” she raised her eyebrows, a knowing look on her face, “No really, I am. You?” she nodded as a small smile came across her lips. “What about your mum, how is she doing?”

“She still has her days but it has gotten better since Victoire was born.”

“Yeah, Ron mentioned that in one of his letters. He said she looks like Fleur.”

She answered with another of her beautiful smiles. “Little Teddy is quite fond of her,” she hesitated, “He has gotten so big, you really must see him while you are here.”

“Yeah — I should. Andromeda sends pictures of him, you know - through Hermione.” He wouldn’t meet her gaze. “In her last letter she mentioned George and Angelina got married — bit of a surprise, that?”

“No, not really, they are good together you know; she really helped him cope with loosing Fred. They understand each other in a way no one else ever could.” As sadness covered her features as she looked into his eyes, then quickly turned away. After a deep breath, she continued, “And Percy is quite different since he met Audrey — not as stiff if you can image that.”

“It is difficult to fathom. Things are better then, between him and your dad, I mean?”

“Yeah, still a bit strained at times but they are working at it.”

He nodded “Charlie still training dragons?” She nodded back at him, both of them biting their lower lips, “And you’re quite the Quidditch star.”

”Ron told you.”

“No, actually, I’ve been following your career in Quidditch Weekly. I’m quite proud of you.” Her eyes shifted as she seemed to have found something extremely interesting to gaze at on the ground.

He hesitated, trying desperately to find the words for what he wanted to say next, what he knew he had to say, but all he found was a huge lump in his throat. He fought to push it back, taking deep breaths in hopes that the words would find their way out.

“I heard you’re getting married” His eyes fixed on hers as she looked up at him.

She didn’t answer at first, nor did she meet his gaze, “No.” She cleared her throat. "Not any more. It’s been called off.”

He stared at her in confusion, not knowing what to say next. He had been prepared to tell her he was happy for her, no matter what it cost him to say the words, but he had not expected this.

“Why would he do that?” He wanted to tell her that only a fool would walk away from a girl like her, but he had been that fool — he had walked away three years ago never intending to turn back.

“It was me — not him.” His expression begged her to explain further. “He deserved better.”

“Better than you? I doubt that!”

“He deserved to be first choice,” she sighed in exasperation, “If you are going to spend the rest of your life with someone, shouldn’t it be someone whose world revolves around you, someone who feels as if you are their reason for living — their very sustenance? Someone who loves you more than anything else on Earth?”

He stepped closer to her, unable to remove his eyes from her now hard gaze. “You must have loved him — you were going to marry him.”

“Of course I loved him, but I was never in love with him. He's a very decent bloke. He deserves to be with a girl who considers him the love of her life rather than one who is trying to forget someone else . . .,” she trailed off.

He gently touched her elbow as he stared solemnly into her sad chocolate eyes, “Who are you trying to forget, Ginny?”

“The love of my life,” she whispered never taking her eyes from his, the words catching in her throat.

“I never meant to hurt you.”

She inhaled deeply, “Why did you leave me? You never even bothered to explain. Ron and Hermione barely ever heard from you — why, Harry, why?”

He closed his eyes tightly as he spoke, “Because I couldn’t bear to see your pain anymore. Every time I looked at you, I saw the sadness in your eyes and knew that I was the one who put it there.”

“What are you talking about? You never made me sad — except when you left me. But you are good at that aren’t you — leaving me?”

He shook his head as he ran his hand through his hair. “It’s not like that. I didn’t want to leave you again. I wanted to stay; I wanted us to have a future together. I just could not stand to see the hurt look on your face anymore, knowing you blamed me. He was gone and it was my fault and there was nothing — NOTHING — I could do to fix it.”

“Fred? When did I ever say I blamed you for Fred’s death?”

“You didn’t. You didn’t have to — your eyes said it all — every time you looked at me.”

She was staring at him, not believing what she was hearing. She shook her head at him. “I never blamed you for Fred’s death. He died fighting Voldemort, the same as Remus and Tonks and all the others. They wouldn’t have had it any other way. We were all willing to sacrifice ourselves for the greater good — yes, Harry, even me! Of course you and my parents did everything in your power to prevent me from fighting.”

“I couldn’t bear the thought of anything happening to you. You were all that mattered in the end. Somehow I knew that no matter how it turned out, it would all be worth it if you were alright. If you could go on and make your dreams come true.”

“YOU were my dream!”

“And you were mine.” He waited for his words to sink in. “That night when I went into the forest, you were the last thing I thought of, your face was the last thing I saw before he hit me with the Killing Curse.”

“You died. Just like Fred. I saw Hagrid carry you out of the forest and lay your body next to Tom’s feet.” She shuddered as she wrapped her arms tightly around herself and looked up at him with that same desolate look she had worn at the funeral. “You were dead.”

As the impact of her words hit him, a tear trickled down his face. “You never blamed me, did you?”

“No”

He buried his face in his hands. “What have I done?” She shook her head as she stared at him, still not comprehending. “The way you looked at me just now, that was the way you kept looking me at the funeral — as if you wished it had been me instead of him.”

She stared into space, looking at something far away. “Every time I looked at you, all I could think was that it could have been you too, that I could have been burying you along with my brother. I kept seeing you lying on the ground as I ran out of the Castle.” Tears were streaming down her fast unabashed, “You died, damn you, you died!” she cried out as she pounded on his chest with her fist. “You died.”

As she broke down, he wrapped her in his arms. “I am so very sorry.” She buried her face into his chest, crying against him as he rocked her, soothing her as he placed soft kisses on top of her head. “Please forgive me, my love. Please, give me a second chance.”
Reviews 14
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