|
2000 Miles | ||||||
|
Category: Post-OotP Characters:All Genres: Action/Adventure, Angst, Fluff, Tragedy, Drama Warnings: None Story is Complete Rating: R Reviews: 453 Summary: When Harry realises his need for Ginny he eventually finds a way to tell her how he feels, but their fairytale romance is interrupted by a battle with the Dark Lord, and Ginny is determined that she won't lose Harry and is prepared to go to any lengths to prevent it. H/G, R/Hr. Hitcount: Story Total: 164393; Chapter Total: 6346 |
Previous Next |
|
||||
|
O that ‘twere possible, After long grief and pain, To find the arms of my true- love Round me once again!… A shadow flits before me- Not thou, but like to thee. Ah God! that it were possible For one short hour to see The souls we loved, that they might tell us What and where they be. ~By Alfred, Lord Tennyson Chapter XXII: A Time for Family Through November, Ginny walked on as the days got shorter, colder and darker. With winter setting in, she was more anxious than ever to find the hostages and send them home for Christmas. Ginny was becoming more and more familiar with the countryside, knowing many parts like the back of her hand. She always felt worried when she saw people on the fells, heading up into the mists, ill equipped and vulnerable. But, Ginny knew she had a job to do. To save the magical people trapped below ground, away from prying muggle eyes. In November Ginny freed a further sixty-one hostages, bringing her total to two-hundred-and-eighteen, leaving sixty-nine people still out there. Although she had nearly completed her mission, Ginny couldn’t help but feel sorrow. When she first started there were two-hundred-and-eighty-seven people to find, but now with only sixty-nine left, there was much less chance of one of them being Harry. She knew that with every one she found, the chances of Harry being one of those left got slimmer and slimmer. Ginny tried not to let her hope die out, but some days it was just too hard. In seemingly no time at all, December arrived and with it came Ginny’s eighteenth birthday. She wasn’t expecting anything, as her family didn’t know she was alive (with the exception of Charlie of course), she hadn’t told Andy and Marion that it was her birthday, and everyone else who knew she was alive either didn’t know her, or didn’t know where to find her. Ginny’s birthday was a sad day for her. She wore the diamond trilogy necklace and the tanzanite bracelet, her gifts from Harry, everyday, but today the pendant particularly, was much more special. She was distracted as she went about the flat in early in the morning. All she could think about was her Harry. A sixteen-year-old Harry ran his fingers gently through Ginny’s hair. “Your hair is beautiful,” said Harry. “It’s red,” said Ginny, simply. “Well I happen to like it red,” said Harry, with a smile. “You do?” said Ginny. “Yeah,” whispered Harry, leaning towards her. Their lips were just centimetres apart when… “Ginny,” came Hermione’s voice from the staircase. “I was wondering if you could help me with something. Ginny stood up quickly, as red as a beetroot, disappointment flowing through her veins. -*- Harry held Ginny in his arms, just a week before he was due to leave. Ginny buried her face in his chest, weeping softly. “If I don’t come home, Ginny,” he began. “Just remember that I’ll always love you.” “You will come back, Harry,” said Ginny looking up at him. “You have to come back, for me.” “I don’t know if I can do it,” Harry sighed. Ginny squeezed his hand. “Yes you can,” said Ginny. “I know you can.” “How can you be so sure?” said Harry. “Because I know you,” she said. “And I know that you can win, because you have to win. You’ve never ever let anyone down before, and you won’t let us down now.” “I have let people down before,” said Harry. “I let Sirius down. It’s my fault that he died. I let Angelina and McGonagall down by fighting with Malfoy and getting thrown off the team. I let Cedric down in the triwizard tournament. I did nothing to defend him.” Harry looked away. Ginny stroked his cheek with her right hand. “It’s not your fault that Sirius died. You went to save him. As far as you knew he was in trouble and you risked everything to save him. Suppose that your dream had been true. You might have saved his life,” she said. “So don’t be so hard on yourself. You weren’t the only one who got thrown off the quidditch team. Fred and George did too, but it was for all the right reasons. You were defending my family and my mum, and I can’t thank you more for that. Yes, you went about it the wrong way, but you followed your heart. You may have let Angelina and McGonagall down, but you certainly didn’t let us Weasley’s down. And what could you have done to save Cedric? You told him to take the trophy with you, yes, but you didn’t know it would take you to Voldemort. How could you have known? There is no way of blocking the Avada Kedavra curse, and he was dead before you even had a chance to react. You’re a good man, Harry, and I know that you won’t let Voldemort win this time.” Harry kissed the top of her head. “What did I do to deserve you?” he asked quietly. “No, Harry,” said Ginny. “What did I do to deserve you?” She rested her head on his shoulder. Harry placed her forefinger under her chin and lifted her face so he could look into her eyes. “I will come home to you,” he said. “I’ll defeat Voldemort for you, because of you. You give me the confidence to believe that I could do anything, and the strength to enable me to do anything. I’m going to miss you so much. Long ago I told you that I’d walk two thousand miles so that we could be together, so that’s what I’ll do.” “Over mountains and around lakes,” added Ginny. “Just as long as you were there at the end of it all,” said Harry. “I’d do the same for you,” said Ginny. “Two thousand miles isn’t that far.” Harry smiled. “I love you,” he said. “I love you,” whispered Ginny. She raised her hands to s face and pulled his lips down to meet her own… Ginny shook herself mentally. “Two thousand miles,” she said quietly. “Over mountains. How true is that?” With fewer people still being held captive, it meant that they were more spread out, and areas were much more sparsely populated. Ginny found forty people in December, and ten of those on Christmas day itself. At seven o’clock on the morning of December twenty-fifth, Ginny was awoken by the excited voices of Joanne, Amanda and Louise all shouting about their present. Ginny, like Andy and Marion ambled into the living room rubbing sleep from their eyes in pursuit of the over-enthusiastic youngsters. Less than half-an-hour later, the floor was strewn with discarded wrapping paper. Ginny pulled out a small bag from under the tree and took out five gift wrapped packages. She gave one to each member of the family. For Joanne she had bought a muggle make-up kit, for Amamnda she had got a ‘make your own necklace’ kit and for Louise she had bought a ‘Barbie’ doll. She had found a pretty blue blouse for Marion and a fancy compass for Andy. The three girls leapt on Ginny, hugging her tightly and she received a thank-you each from the adults. Joanne bounded across the room with a package for Ginny. It was quite heavy, so she opened the parcel carefully. The first thing she saw was the back of a large photograph frame. She turned it over to see a picture of herself and Harry, holing each other tightly whilst gazing into each other’s eyes, occasionally kissing, but mostly smiling. It was the same picture that hung above the fireplace in the Gryffindor common room. She looked at Joanne wondering how on Earth she’d managed to get this picture without revealing anything. “I asked Colin Creevey if I could have a copy of all the pictures,” Joanne explained. “I told him that I wanted to put them in an album so that I could look at the people who were in the house before me, and the people who gave their lives to change the world.” She paused for a moment then added, “You can have the others if you want them.” Ginny was speechless. With the exception of the gifts she had received from Harry, this was the best present anyone had ever given her. She wanted as the picture Harry leaned in to kiss picture Ginny and she choked up. Tears which she had fought against for so long, rolled down her freckled cheeks. “I don’t know how to thank you for this,” she whispered. “You don’t have to,” said Joanne. Ginny smiled at the girl. “Are you staying home today, Ginny?” asked Louise. “No,” said Ginny. “I’m going out walking, but I won’t be out as long. One of the best presents I could get would be sending people home to their families today.” “We understand, Ginny,” said Marion. “Andy’s parents are coming over for Christmas lunch so it would perhaps be best if you weren’t here, what with them being wizards and all. We’ll have dinner at abut half past seven, after they’ve gone so make sure you’re home for that.” “I will,” said Ginny. Joanne flicked on the television. A pair of news reporters said in a very festive looking studio. They were showing footage of many people out drinking in the streets, or people sleeping rough. “For most,” said the woman. “Christmas is a joyous time, but there are people who will spend this Christmas alone and miserable. Remember, Christmas is a time for family, and showing our loved ones how much we care about them.” The clips changed to showing families sitting around tables groaning under the weight of food, laughing and enjoying themselves. Ginny stared at the television remembering all the Christmases she had spent at home, the happiest in her memory perhaps being the one she spent at Grimmauld Place when Sirius was alive, even though her Father had been injured she still had a wonderful time. She missed her family. She missed them all so much. She clutched the photograph of herself and Harry. “I’m going to go and get ready,” she said. Ginny stood and left the room. Andy and Marion watched her go. “That poor, poor girl,” said Marion sadly. “She must miss her family so much.” “That’s understandable,” said Andy. “She’s been through a lot these past few months, but this is most likely to be the hardest time for her. Are you still planning on asking her to come to your Aunt’s New Year party?” “Yes,” said Marion. “I think it will do her good to get her away from the hills for a while. She’s done nothing else since July. Besides, it might take her mind of Harry.” “Yeah,” said Andy. “For all of five minutes.” Marion smiled sadly. “That Harry Potter is one lucky man,” said Andy. “I just hope she finds him,” said Marion. “So do I,” said Andy. A week later, Andy, Marion, Joanne, Amanda, Louise and Ginny crammed into the car and set off for Marion’s Aunt Lynda’s party. Ginny had agreed to go, but only after she found out that Marion was muggle-born, so no one there would have a clue who she was. Even so, she had decided to use a false name, just in case any one at the arty spoke about her afterwards and a passing wizard overheard. It wouldn’t do for a supposedly dead teenager to be meeting muggles at parties. Ginny found the night rather boring. She introduced herself to anyone who spoke to her as Ginny Potter. She told herself it was just to get used to the name, but deep down in her heart she felt that it would be the only time she ever got to use the name. It was ten minutes to midnight, and Ginny had spent the last two hours being chatted up by a nineteen-year-old called Adam Maxwell. She’d tried to let him down gently, but the guy just wouldn’t take a hint. After finally getting away from Adam, Ginny had sat down on a sofa with a glass of orange juice. She could see through the window some men in the garden setting up the fireworks and wondered briefly if Fred and George were doing the same thing with their own brand. It was five minutes to midnight. The ever-persistent Adam had found Ginny once again. “Come and watch the fireworks, Gin,” he said. Ginny groaned. She hated it when people called her Gin. Harry never did. Nevertheless, she allowed herself to be dragged into the conservatory to watch the show. It was thirty seconds to midnight. The man on the television was getting all flustered and the clock in the corner of the screen. “Ten!” everyone in the room chorused (except Ginny). “Nine..! Eight..! Seven..! Six..! Five..! Four..! Three..! Two..! One..! HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!” The fireworks started going off outside and on the television. People were shaking hands with one another, hugging and kissing. Adam took Ginny’s hand and turned her to face him. “Come with me,” he said. He dragged her into the back room where it was quiet. “I really like you, Ginny,” he said when she turned to look at him. “Listen, Adam, I…” But she was silenced by Adam’s lips pressing against hers. Momentarily paralysed with shock, it was a few seconds before she pushed him away. “What…” he began, but Ginny cut him off. “How dare you?” hissed Ginny. “I told you earlier that I wasn’t interested in you.” “But I thought…” “You thought wrong,” shouted Ginny. “Look. I am engaged, as in going to be married to a man I love very much.” “Gin I…” “Just leave me alone,” she said, running from the room. She ran through the house until she found the stairs up to the attic. They were in darkness so obviously no one was likely to find their way up there. Ginny sat down sideways on the bottom step and brought her knees up to her face and she sat and wept. That was where Marion found her two hours later when it was time for them to leave. In the following two weeks, Ginny found twenty-eight of the remaining twenty-nine hostages. It was now six months since she had begun her quest and it was almost finished. Whenever she thought that there was only one left, a panic rose inside her. It won’t be Harry. It can’t be Harry. I won’t believe that it’s Harry. Her thoughts continued in this vein for some as she strove to find the one remaining prisoner… A/N What do you think? I think I might have given away the story at some point in this chapter, but then again I may not. Has anyone spotted the meaning of the two thousand miles yet? You might want to keep note of how long Ginny has been walking. The significance is mentioned early on in the story but I’ll leave you to find it. Am I evil? Maybe, maybe not. Depends on whether Harry’s alive or not, doesn’t it? Well I’m not telling you, not yet anyway. I know I left it on a bit of a cliffie, but the next few chapters should be well worth the wait, but I’m not giving anything away. Review please you wonderful people. |
| Reviews 453 |
Previous Next
|
