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SIYE Time:11:43 on 29th March 2024
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2000 Miles
By Fire

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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: 163891; Chapter Total: 6700







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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 XXIV: The Perfect Week


When Harry Potter awoke on the morning of the first of February 1999, he could scarcely believe that he wasn’t living a dream. He was lying in a soft bed, with clean sheets. His face was shaven and his hair was cut and he no longer felt hungry. He sat up in the bed, put his glasses on and looked around the room, searching for her. She was lying on the floor, a few feet from the bed in a bright yellow sleeping bag. Her long red hair was messed up and thrown all over the pillow. Harry watched her sleep. He could watch Ginny sleep for hours. He smiled as he remembered that she had saved him. He had always known that she loved him, but now he knew that he loved her more.

Ginny Weasley’s eyes flickered open. She knew it was late but she didn’t care. It was all over. She’d found all the hostages, but more importantly, she’d found Harry. She glanced up to the bed and noticed him smiling down at her.

“Hey,” she said, smiling back.

“Good morning,” he said.

“How long have you been awake,” she asked.

"A few minutes,” said Harry.

Ginny climbed out of the sleeping bag and crawled into the bed next to Harry. He kissed her gently and she snuggled up to him.

“I’ve missed you so much,” he said.

“I missed you too,” she said.

She looked up at him.

"A part of me thought I’d never see you again,” she said.

Harry put his hand to her cheek. Ginny covered it with her own.

“I love you,” he said.

“I love you too,” she replied.

Ginny’s eyes were stinging, and Harry saw that they were glistening. A small tear fell down her cheek and Harry wiped it away with his thumb.

“This is so silly,” said Ginny. “I’ve barely cried in six and a half months, and now I’ve cried twice in two days.”

“Maybe you’re just happy to see me,” said Harry.

“Maybe I am,” Ginny replied.

Harry grinned and kissed her again, this time longer and more passionate. Ginny found herself lost in Harry, but then remembered that she didn’t need a map to find her way out.


*+*+*+*



Later that day, Marion took Harry into Keswick to get some clothes. He was currently wearing some of Andy’s old jeans and an old shirt that were too big for him. Although, Harry was used to this and had told Marion so, she still insisted on taking him out to but new stuff. All Harry wanted to buy was a ring for Ginny.

“You’re a very lucky man, you know Harry,” Marion told him as they walked down past Ye Olde Friar’s chocolate shop.

“What do you mean?” asked Harry.

“To have a girl like Ginny,” said Marion. “Believe me. There are not many teenagers out there who would do what she did.”

“I know,” said Harry. “Most people say she’s the lucky one, to be the girlfriend of the Boy-Who-Lived and all, but I’m not much. Whenever she smiles at me, I know I’m the luckiest man in the world. But what’s best about Ginny is the fact that she loves me for who I am. Most girls want the famous Harry, but with Ginny I can be ‘Just Harry’, and that’s why she’s so special.”

“She didn’t tell us about you straight away, you know,” said Marion. “But she had good reason not too.”

“Why?” asked Harry.

“Well, as soon as my girls found out that she’d come from Hogwarts,” explained Marion. “She was bombarded with questions. ‘Do you know Harry Potter?’ ‘Are you in the same house as Harry Potter?’ ‘Is Harry Potter really good at quidditch?’ ‘Does Harry Potter really have a scar?’ Quite sensibly, I think, Ginny simply told us that you were nothing more than acquaintances.”

“When did she tell you?” asked Harry.

Marion smiled.

“It was almost Christmas before Andy, Amanda and Louise found out, and Joanne found out at school of course,” said Marion. “She never had to tell me.”

“What do you mean?” asked Harry.

“I guessed,” said Marion. “The first night she was here. I’m not as dense as my husband or the girls. I could tell from the way she always steered the subject away from you, but when she did have to say something about you, she spoke with such fondness in her voice that I knew there was something more there. You do understand why she didn’t say anything though, don’t you?”

“Not really,” said Harry.

“What you’ve got to remember,” said Marion. “Is that just over a day earlier, she’d been told that you were dead. Her whole world was torn apart. Then she’d run away from everything she knew, her school, her friends, her family, just in the hope that someone might be alive. Everything was upside down for her. The last thing that she needed was to be constantly reminded of what she thought she’d lost forever by having to tell all to the girls. She loves you, Harry. She loves you more than she loves anything else, and don’t ever forget that.”

“I won’t,” said Harry. “Thanks for telling me all of that. Will you help me find a ring for her?”

Marion nodded.

“Of course,” she said.


*+*+*+*



̶ 0;Ginny!” called Marion. “There’s someone at the door for you. He says his name is Adam.”

Ginny sat up from where she was lying next to Harry.

“Oh no,” she said. “Why the hell is he here? I thought I made myself perfectly clear.”

“What are you talking about?” asked Harry, looking slightly bewildered,

“I’ll explain in a minute,” she said, jumping up and throwing on some trousers and a t-shirt.

She headed out the door then turned around and hurried back.

“Come with me,” she said. “Wait in the hall and don’t come to the door, unless it sounds like I really need some help.”

Ginny grabbed his hand and pulled him out of the bedroom. He stopped in the hall, out of sight of the door, but Ginny continued and took over the conversation from Marion.

“Hi Gin,” Adam said.

Harry rolled his eyes knowing Ginny hated the shorter version of her name as much as the longer one.

“Listen, I wanted to talk to you about New Year,” he continued.

“There is nothing to talk about,” said Ginny coldly.

“I just wanted to know what your feelings about us were,” he continued. “And about where we stand.”

The colour drained from Harry’s face slightly.

“Us?” said Ginny. “There is no us, Adam, there never was. I didn’t like you at New Year and I certainly don’t like you now.”

Harry sniggered. This bloke doesn’t know what he’s getting himself into, he thought.

“But you kissed me,” said Adam desperately.

“No, Adam,” said Ginny. “You kissed me. I pushed you away. I told you that I have a fiancé, who, I might add, I love very much. There could never have been anything between us, alright?”

“But…” ;

“There is no but, Adam,” said Ginny, her voice getting slightly raised. “There is no us. I don’t like you. Stay out of my life.”

“Gin, I…”

“For God’s sake, Adam,” shouted Ginny. “Just go before I…”

Harry felt that Ginny was dangerously close to hexing Adam so he thought he had better intervene. He walked casually around the corner, put his left arm around Ginny’s waist and held out his right hand to Adam.

“Hi,” he said, jovially. “I’m Harry.”

Adam took his hand and shook it tentatively.

“Adam Maxwell,” he said.

“Well,” said Harry. “I’d love to stay and chat, but Ginny and I are going out in about half an hour, so we need to go and get ready.”

“Oh,” said Adam. “I’m…er…I’ m sorry to have bothered you.”

He turned and walked down the driveway, his face red as a beetroot.

“Nice meeting you!” Harry called after him, just before Ginny shut the door.

Ginny and Harry both started to laugh. She kissed Harry on his left cheek.

“I love you!” she said.

She kissed him on his right cheek.

“I love you!” she repeated.

She kissed his lips.

“I love you!” she said again.

Harry captured her lips and gave her a long, lingering kiss.

“Say it again,” he asked.

“I love you,” she said, more seductively this time.

“So what’s between you and this Adam person?” asked Harry.

Ginny sighed.

“Absolutely nothing,” she said. “Marion insisted that I went to a New Year’s party and her Aunt’s. They’re muggles, so they wouldn’t recognise me. So anyway, soon after we arrived Adam came over to me and started flirting. I tried to lose him. I kept dropping subtle hints, but honestly, he’s more stubborn than Ron and Hermione put together.”

Harry laughed.

“So anyway,” Ginny continued. “I got away from him for a while, bit he found me just before midnight sand dragged me into the conservatory to watch the fireworks, then he took me into a separate room and kissed me. I was so surprised that it was a couple of seconds before I pushed him away, but I had a major go at him, ran away and hid upstairs crying for the rest of the night.”

Harry put his arms around her and kissed the top of her head.

“I wasn’t going to cheat on you, Harry,” she said, firmly.

“I know,” said Harry. “And you know what, I think I love you even more.”

Ginny grinned.

“I was going to tell you,” she said. “I didn’t really want to spring it on you just yet but that wasn’t the way I wanted you to find out.”

“Don’t worry about it,” said Harry. “I could tell that nothing had happened, or at least that it wasn’t your fault.”

“Why are you so understanding?” Ginny asked.

Harry shrugged.

“I don’t know,” he said. “Understanding was never really taught by the Dursleys.”

“So,” said Ginny. “Where do you want to go?”

“Show me some of your favourite places,” said Harry.

“Ok,” said Ginny.


*+*+*+*


Harry and Ginny spent most of the day riding the bus from lake to lake as Ginny showed him all of the most beautiful places. They visited Grasmere, Rydal Water and White Moss Common. Ginny took Harry to see Ullswater and the Aira Force waterfall which Harry didn’t see much of the last time they were there. They went to Coniston, Elterwater and Wastwater. As well as Brother’s Water and the beautiful hamlet of Hartsop. They passed Thirlmere and Haweswater and finally, as sunset was approaching they arrived at Ginny’s favourite lake, Buttermere. After each getting an ice cream from the Buttermere Ayrshire’s shop they went for a stroll by the lake. It was cold outside- well, what do you expect for early February?- so Harry and Ginny were both wearing fleece jackets and warm hats. The lake was still, like a millpond, and looking up towards the summits of Red Pike and High Stile Ginny could see snow on the fellsides.

“I climbed up there,” said Ginny pointing to the top of the mountain.

“How can you tell?” asked Harry.

“Because I know the landscape,” said Ginny. “You would too if you’d spent the best part of seven months walking across it.”

“True," said Harry.

“It’s so peaceful in winter,” said Ginny. “Especially up in the hills. The place is crawling with tourists in the summer.”

“You’re a tourist,” said Harry, with a grin.

“I’m pretty sure that I’ll have reached local status by now,” said Ginny. “I know this place as well as anyone.”

“I honestly don’t know how you did it,” said Harry.

"A lot of determination and willpower,” said Ginny. “I told myself that as long as people were alive in those hills I was not going to stop.”

“What made you come here in the first place?” asked Harry.

Ginny looked at him and smiled.

“You,” she said.

They reached a bench set a few metres above the path and sat down upon it. Harry wrapped his arms around Ginny and she moved closer to him.

“It’s nice to have someone to keep me warm,” said Harry.

“It must have been so hard for you,” said Ginny. “At least I had hot food and a bed to go back too. You must have had a lot of guts to survive that.”

“Not guts,” said Harry. “Just a single thought inside my head, just one thing that I knew I had to hold on for. You.”

Ginny looked up at him and he kissed her gently. Harry took a deep breath.

“I know I’ve already asked this question before,” he said. “But I want to do it properly. I love you, Ginny Weasley. I love you more than anything and I can’t even begin to imagine my life without you. You are my whole reason for living and I am willing to spend all of my life trying to make you just half as happy as you make me. You’re my world, Ginny. Will you marry me?”

Ginny’s chocolate eyes filled with tears. She climbed onto Harry’s lap, kissed him soundly on the lips and looked into his eyes.

“Yes, Harry Potter,” she said. “I will marry you.”

Harry grinned and kissed her. He pulled the ring out of his pocket and slid it onto her ring finger. Ginny looked at it.

“Oh, Harry!” she exclaimed. “It’s so beautiful.”

The ring was made from yellow gold, with a solitaire diamond set in rhodium, raised from the band, with two tiny emeralds set lower on either side of it. She kissed him again.

“You couldn’t make me any happier than what I am now,” said Ginny.


*+*+*+*



That night, Ginny abandoned the sleeping bag and she and Harry spent the remaining nights simply lying in each other’s company, revelling in their love. Before long, their last day in the Lake District approached and Ginny especially found this a very sad occasion.

“I’m going to miss this so much,” said Ginny to Marion that lunchtime.

“We’ll miss you, Ginny,” said the elder woman. “The girls look at you like a big sister, you know.”

Ginny smiled.

“Those three are the sisters I never had,” she said with a smile. “My emotions are split two ways, today. Part of me is o happy that I’m going home to my family, and yet part of me is so sad, because no matter what horrors I’ve seen here, and there have been a few, I’ve come to love this place, with all it’s beauty.”

“You’ll come back,” said Marion. “You won’t stay away forever. I think the hills will miss you too much.”

Ginny laughed.

“I must have been their most regular walker,” she said. “I’ll come an visit in the summer. I’ll bring Ron and Hermione with me, I’m sure you’ll like them.”

“Make sure you bring Harry back with you, too,” said Marion.

“I will,” said Ginny. “And you make sure you come to our wedding.”

“We wouldn’t miss it for the world,” said Marion. “You just tell us when you’ve set a date.”

“Of course," said Ginny.

She picked up the plate of sandwiches she’d been making and carried them through to the living room.










A/N Next chapter is the homecoming which I’m really looking forward to writing. Thank you to everyone who has reviewed. The next few chapters will see many loose ends tied up so keep reading. I’ve still not decided how far I’m going to carry on. I guess I’ll see what the response is like to the next few chapters. Anyway, please review, I love to know what you think, it really motivates me to write.

Just out of randomness, the Lake District Lakes are:

Windermere
Ullswater
Coniston Water
Elterwater
Grasmere
Rydal Water
Brother’s Water
Wast Water
Derwent Water
Bassenthwaite Lake
Buttermere
Thirlmere
Haweswater
Cru mmock Water
Esthwaite Water
Hayeswater
Loweswater
Ennerdale Water

Plus numerous tarns


BTW Does anyone understand the relevance of the Tennyson poem now?
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