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Seeking the Truth | ||||||
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Category: Post-OotP Characters:Harry/Ginny, Hermione Granger, Ron Weasley Genres: Drama, Fluff Warnings: Death, Sexual Situations Rating: PG-13 Reviews: 364 Summary: *** The author has been reminded via the e-mail address on file that this story is listed as incomplete and has not been updated since 2006 *** **March Dumbledore Silver Trinket Award winner for Best Drama and Best Romance** Ginny Weasley's excited about starting her first real job after finishing school, except for one small thing: she'll have to face Harry Potter for the first time in over a year. Ginny struggles to deal with feelings she thought she had long put behind her, and with figuring out what really happened between Harry and Ron to fuel Ron's sudden hatred of his ex-best mate. Ginny is forced to make the ultimate decision... true love or family loyalty. Hitcount: Story Total: 93847; Chapter Total: 4744 Awards: View Trophy Room |
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A/N This chapter is dedicated to Dennis for all of his help when my muse wasn’t there. Night After Attack on Hogsmeade Harry Potter sat in shock in the hospital wing. He had been taken away from the battle, and had just been informed that Ginny’s protection was probably the only reason why he was still alive. The shock of that was nothing compared to the shock of finding out that his last connection to his parents was gone; Remus had died protecting his former students. It was all too much for Harry. He lay down in bed and closed his eyes, trying to block out the rest of the world. He suddenly heard a familiar sob coming from a few beds down. He crept from his bed to see what the problem was. “Hermione, what’s wrong?” he asked as he sat down on the edge of her bed. “It’s awful,” she cried. “I guess you heard about Lupin. I can’t believe he’s gone; it’s like I’m an orphan all over again,” Harry said quietly. Hermione let out a choked sob. “Oh, Harry, I didn’t know! Here I am feeling sorry for myself, but at least I’m alive.” “You have every right to be upset. You’ve lost so much during the war,” Harry interrupted. “I still have my life, but they might as well have taken that too,” she whispered. “What did they do to you, Hermione?” “They’ve developed a new curse. The one they use on Muggles a lot.” She paused and closed her eyes. “One to make sure Muggle women can’t have children. Apparently, they’ve started using it on Muggle-born witches,” she whispered. Harry didn’t know what to say so he tightened his grip on Hermione’s shoulders and let her cry. “They’ll pay for what they’ve done,” he assured her. Hermione pulled out of Harry’s grasp and looked him in the eyes. “I’m going to end it with Ron. I love him too much. I know he’s always wanted a big family of his own, and he should be with someone who can give him that.” “Hermione, he loves you, he won’t care about this as long as you’re alive,” Harry tried to reason to her. “I know, which is why you’ll never tell him about this. He’ll never be truly happy without children of his own. He has to think I ended it because I don’t love him anymore.” “But you do love him,” Harry protested. “Which is why I’m doing all of this.” Hermione began to cry again. “I’m all alone in the world.” “No you’re not; you have me, your brother.” “Thank Merlin for small favors,” Hermione whispered. “Try to get some sleep, Hermione,” Harry said as he moved to get off her bed. Hermione reached out and grabbed his arm. “Don’t go. Stay here with me; I don’t want to be alone right now.” Harry nodded and settled down in bed beside her. He pulled her tightly in his arms and gently rubbed her back. Before long, they were both sound asleep. When Ginny woke up the next morning, she found that the spot next to her in bed was empty. She glanced at the clock and noticed that it was only nine o’clock, so she assumed that Harry couldn’t be too far away. She rolled out of bed and slipped on her dressing gown before heading into the kitchen. She was surprised when it wasn’t Harry she found sitting in the kitchen but Hermione. “Good morning,” Hermione said cheerfully. “Would you like a cup of coffee?” “Sure,” Ginny replied, sitting down at the table. “Where’s Harry?” Hermione handed Ginny a mug. “He’s at the Ministry. He needed to talk to Minister Bones about something.” Ginny saw this as an opportunity to question Hermione about Harry’s file. “Hermione, why did you reject me from seeing Harry’s file?” “I didn’t!” Hermione exclaimed. “I just told Harry I was going to. Giving you clearance to his file will give you clearance to mine as well; I couldn’t risk you telling Ron. But now you know anyway, so I have no objections to approving you if that’s what Harry wants.” “I just wish I knew what Harry wants,” Ginny said with a sigh. “Well, I can say with great confidence that Harry wants you in his life,” Hermione said gently. “He’s just not sure how to deal with that fact.” “I wish I was as sure as you are,” Ginny said. “He can go from being completely angry to loving and then back to angry faster than anyone I know.” “That’s just Harry,” Hermione said. “He’s always been moody, and you seem to bring out his full range of emotions. I don’t think he’s ever cared for anyone the way he cares for you, and he’s not sure how to act.” “He said he was in love with me,” Ginny said softly. “But that he doesn’t know if he still is. He said he still loved me; he just isn’t sure if he’s still in love with me.” “Harry didn’t even realize he was in love with you for a long time; I practically had to spell it out for him. He doesn’t understand that these things don’t just go away.” Ginny smiled. “And how am I supposed to get him to realize that?” “Well for starters, do you love him?” Hermione asked. “Of course!” Ginny exclaimed. “I can’t seem to remember a time when I didn’t. Even after a year of not seeing him and wanting to be so mad at him, I knew I still care for him, and everything came crashing back when I saw him again. I was trying so hard to stay mad at him, but I couldn’t help how I was feeling.” “I know how you feel,” Hermione said. “I should apologize to you. If it weren’t for me, you and Harry probably would have been together all of this time. But I had to make Ron hate me; it was the only way to make him stay away. I just never thought he would think I was with Harry; I never thought he would hate him, too. I just didn’t think it all the way through.” “I could’ve blame you and be really mad at you, but I’m not going to,” Ginny said slowly. “This entire year I’ve been trying to be mad–mad at you, mad at Harry, mad at everyone who was moving on with their lives happily. It wasn’t good for me then, and it wouldn’t be good for me now. I need to put the past behind me and move on with my life. That’s what Harry and I are trying to do. I feel like I’ve learned so much from Harry these past few weeks; he’s really grown up. I’m sure it’s been because of your influence.” Hermione waved a hand in the air dismissively. “I didn’t do anything. After that first summer, I’ve barely been here at the same time as Harry, and then I was a pathetic mess. No, Harry’s growing up has been strictly because of whatever’s going on in his head.” “What do you mean?” Ginny asked. She saw an opportunity to finally discover exactly what had been going on with Harry and she wasn’t going to let appearing to be nosey get in her way. She would do anything to help him, but she couldn’t help him if she didn’t know what was going on. “Well, I, uh,” Hermione stuttered, “I mean, everything he has to deal with from the war, and his night terrors and such.” “Oh,” Ginny replied, not sure if she believed what Hermione said. “So, if Harry decides to let you see his file, are you prepared to handle it?” Hermione asked. Ginny slowly raised her eyes from her coffee to look at Hermione. “What do you mean?” she asked. It took everything in her power to restrain from lashing out at Hermione; if only Hermione hadn’t decided to start keeping secrets, none of this would have been an issue. Ginny had accepted Hermione’s apology, but that didn’t mean she had to accept her implications that she wouldn’t be there for Harry. Hermione looked nervous, sensing the tension that was slowly filling the room. “Well, you said it was going to be hard for you to keep my secret. Harry’s secrets are much bigger and much more important. No one can even know that you know about Harry’s condition; you’re already in danger for knowing about his terrors. Harry told me he told you about the threats on his life; it’s very likely that if people find out how important you are to him they’ll start threatening you as well. That’s one of the reasons why Harry didn’t try and fix things again once he got his life settled down. He thought that he wasn’t just the most powerful wizard alive, but the most dangerous as well.” Ginny’s heart began to race. She didn’t want to believe that Harry was really that dangerous; she couldn’t imagine what would make Harry think that way. “What condition does Harry have besides his terrors? And why does he think he’s dangerous?” Ginny asked quickly. Hermione shook her head. “I’ve told you much more than I should have already. It’s up to Harry and the Minister to decide if you get to know the rest.” Ginny sighed, resigning herself to the fact that Hermione wasn’t going to tell her anything else. “So I’ve been told, Hermione. So I’ve been told,” she said bitterly. “Maybe I could help him if someone would tell me what the bloody hell was going on,” she added under her breath. “So how have you really been this last year?” Hermione asked, obviously ready to change the subject. At first, Ginny was hesitant to reveal what had been going on in her life to someone who had been keeping so much from her, but she realized that being vengeful wouldn’t get them anywhere. “I’d say miserable is a fairly safe description,” Ginny said. “I didn’t handle Mum’s and Bill’s deaths very well, and then losing you and Harry–.” Ginny’s voice trailed off. “It was a rough year all around.” “I’ve heard everyone in your family is well,” Hermione said. “Physically, yes,” Ginny replied. “Does this mean you talk to Tonks, too?” Hermione smiled. “We have her over when we’re both here; we go out to lunch when I’m working in town. She’s been keeping Harry and me sane for the most part.” Ginny inwardly laughed at the irony. Hermione had someone to keep her sane all this time, when it was Hermione’s actions that had been tearing her own family apart. She was tempted to walk away from Hermione right then and there, but she knew that being involved with Harry would mean being involved with Hermione. “Does she know?” Ginny asked. Hermione nodded. “Harry told her on one of those times when he got really drunk. I was furious with him, but at the same time it was nice to have someone else to talk to about everything.” “And all this time she never said anything,” Ginny mused. “That must have been hard for her.” “No harder than it will be for you,” Hermione said firmly, reminding Ginny of her promise. “I know,” Ginny said. “Good morning, ladies,” Harry interrupted, walking into the kitchen. “Morning,” Hermione said, kissing him on the cheek. “Take a seat; I know you didn’t eat anything before you ran out this morning.” It was hard for Ginny to accept Harry and Hermione’s level of intimacy without feeling jealous. If it hadn’t been for Hermione, she could have been the one who was there for Harry during his hard times. Harry grinned at her and sat down at the table beside Ginny and took her hand in his own. Ginny smiled and felt the tension begin to lift from the room. “Yes, Mum,” he said with a chuckle. “Oh, shut up,” Hermione said, laughing. “So how’d things go?” “Fine,” Harry said quickly, blushing slightly. Hermione looked at him curiously. “Well, I guess I’m going to go to work, start the process of transferring departments. Of course, that means that I’ll have to settle on a department to transfer into, but I think I’ll figure something out…” “Hermione, you’re rambling again,” Harry said with a chuckle. “Right, sorry,” Hermione said. “Well, Ginny, I’m so glad you came. It was wonderful to see you again.” Ginny stood up and pulled Hermione into a hug. It felt awkward at first, considering that Ginny still wanted to shake some sense into Hermione, but she soon fell into the familiarity of her once best friend. She realized that despite everything that occurred, she valued her friendship with Hermione way more than any grudge. “Oh, you too. I promise it won’t be another year before I see you again.” “I hope not. Maybe you’ll have to have a family day at the manor so I can come visit my pseudo-brother,” Hermione suggested. “That’d be brilliant,” Ginny gushed. “I’ll get to work on that as soon as possible.” Hermione pulled away from Ginny and headed out of the kitchen. She turned around, looked at Ginny, and smiled. “Bye.” “Bye,” Ginny called back. “I’ll see you soon, Hermione,” Harry added. Hermione smiled again and disappeared from the flat. Ginny walked over to where Harry was still sitting and wrapped her arms around his neck and leaned forward. “I take it that you slept well last night,” she whispered into his ear. “Very,” Harry said, his voice sounding slightly strangled. “No dreams?” she inquired. “Not exactly.” Harry stood up so he could wrap his arms around Ginny. “No bad dreams but,” he whispered like she had done before, “I dreamt about you.” Ginny felt her skin flush. “What did you dream about?” “Things that would be very inappropriate,” Harry responded before he placed a kiss on her neck. “Sounds intriguing,” Ginny replied, tilting her head so Harry had better access to her neck. “Well at least you didn’t have one of your reactions to it,” she whispered. Harry pulled away from her, blushing. “Actually, I did… Just not the same kind of reaction.” As the meaning of Harry’s words sunk in, Ginny’s eyes grew wide and her skin’s color started to match his own. “Oh!” “Don’t worry; I took care of everything before you could realize what had happened. I didn’t want you to feel awkward or uncomfortable,” Harry said quickly. Ginny flushed further. “For some reason, I don’t think I’ll find it all that awkward or uncomfortable…” her voice trailed off at the implication. Ginny couldn’t believe that the words had let her own mouth; she was sounding like a scarlet woman! It was now Harry’s eyes that grew wide. “What time do we have to be back at the manor?” he asked, his voice strained. Ginny smiled at him apologetically. “In about an hour. Actually, it would still be a bit later, but we need to make sure that we’re back before anyone else so that no one realizes we left together.” “I’m just going to go take a shower before we go,” Harry said. Ginny looked at him curiously. “You okay?” Feeling the need to explain himself, Harry spoke up again, “A cold shower.” “Right, well I’ll just make sure I have everything together,” Ginny said, fighting a giggle. “See you in a minute.” Much too soon for Ginny’s liking, she and Harry were back at the manor. They had escaped from reality for a few hours and it had been nothing but bliss, but now they were back to the worries and stresses of everyday life. Harry had given her a swift kiss on the lips before disappearing up to his room to unpack. Ginny was terrified, even after their heavenly day together, that when they would finally be allowed to be together in public, Harry wouldn’t want her anymore. She tried to shake the thought off her head as she headed up to her quarters. It was odd for Ginny to walk into her room and consider it home. The thought had taken her by surprise. She set down her bag and looked over the calendar of the team’s events. “Mail today,” Ginny said to herself. “Practice at two today, eight tomorrow. We could do a family day on Monday….” Ginny pulled out a quill and made a note on the calendar to see what Mr. Perry would think about having a family day. She looked at the calendar again and gasped. “Why didn’t I notice that the party is the night before Harry’s birthday?” Ginny couldn’t fathom how the date of the big Ministry kick off party had eluded her; it was a testament to how much she was working that she had forgotten about Harry’s birthday. Even last year when she was angry with him, she hadn’t forgotten. She would just have to find a time to go out and find a birthday present for him. And she would have to find a time to let the team in on the fact that Harry’s birthday was coming up. Ginny couldn’t help but groan with all the extra work that had just appeared. She now had one week and one day until the big Ministry party, one week and two days until Harry’s birthday, and one week and four days until their first Quidditch match. “Am I interrupting anything?” Harry asked, sticking his head into her room. Ginny smiled and gestured him to come in. “I was just thinking about your first match.” “A little over a week,” Harry added. “Isn’t Japan the first round?” “Honestly, isn’t Mason preparing you for your first match? This is the one opponent you all should have plenty of time to prepare for. What kind of a coach is he?” Ginny fumed. “You just don’t like him because he doesn’t like you,” Harry teased. “So?” “He’s a very good coach, he works us really hard. He’s got us prepared to handle anything, anytime,” Harry said. “Oh, I know you’re right. I just want to know what I did to him that was so wrong,” Ginny said. “I don’t know,” Harry said, shrugging his shoulders. “I’m just ready to stop practicing and start playing for real.” “Well, you do realize that you’ll still have practice after you start playing games, don’t you?” “Of course, but Mason can’t work us quite as hard when we’ve got games coming up. Next week is already scheduled to be light practice.” “Well, lucky you. Next week is going to be hell for me,” Ginny said dramatically. “Your uniforms should be here by Tuesday morning, a reporter from the Daily Prophet is coming to spend the day at the manor on Wednesday, the big kick off party for the team is Friday night… it’s just going to be a very long week.” “Hey, something just changed on your calendar,” Harry said, looking at the parchment on her desk. Ginny looked over his shoulder. “Mr. Perry thinks that having a family day would be a good idea; he says to have an early practice Monday and let the families come after lunch,” Ginny said with a sigh. “What’s wrong, I thought this was your idea,” Harry questioned. “It was Hermione’s, and I think it’s a brilliant idea, it’s just a lot more work for me. I need to write invitations to go out with the mail tonight. It’s just one more thing I have to do.” “Well, I guess I’ll go back downstairs and let you get to work,” Harry said sadly. “At least you’ll be much too busy to even think about me.” “Don’t worry, Harry. I could never be too busy to think about you,” Ginny assured him. “In fact, there has been many a night when you’ve distracted me from my work. I just keep looking at the calendar, trying to count the days until we can finally give a real relationship a go.” “Me too,” Harry said. He walked over to where she was and placed a gentle kiss on her lips. “I’ll see you later, I guess.” “Bye, Harry.” Ginny watched Harry walk out of her room. She had no idea how she was going to keep away from Harry now that they had spent a day together as a couple. She decided that she would just have to bury herself into her work and keep her mind occupied and off of Harry. But before she started, she decided to write her father a letter first. Dear Dad, Hello! I hope you are doing well. I’m doing better than usual. I’m extremely busy, but I’m still enjoying my work. How are things going with Ron? Have you seen any improvement in his attitude? I hope so. I guess this is where I should tell you my big news. Harry and I have buried the hatchet, so to speak. After lots of fighting and yelling, we’ve finally gotten everything (well, almost everything) out in the open. I went with him yesterday to see Hermione. She looks brilliant. They had a rough start, but they seem to have gotten their acts together now. There’s so much more that I want to tell you, but this letter isn’t the way. That’s one reason why I’m writing now. There’s going to be a family day at the manor on Monday, and I’d love it if you could come. I want you to meet the team, and see where I work everyday. I hope you can make it! Normally mail only comes in or out of the house on Thursdays, but we’re going to open it up for replies to the invitations, so let me know. After everything that’s happened recently I’m dying to talk to you, and I really want you to talk to Harry, too. I’ll hopefully be seeing you very soon. Love always, Ginny After reading over her letter, Ginny nodded in approval and sealed it to be sent out with the rest of the mail later that night. She looked at the clock, recognizing that the rest of the team should have arrived by now and that they had practice in thirty minutes. She smiled in anticipation of seeing them all again, even though they had only been separated for a day. She ran down the stairs, and was not disappointed when she found everyone but Harry sitting in the living room. “It’s the Wee Weasley!” MJ exclaimed. “What have I told you about calling me that?” Ginny asked, laughing. “How was everyone’s day off?” “Good,” Wesley said. “Fine,” Jacob said. “Superb,” Tank said. “Excellent,” Jeff said. “Okay,” Dustin said. “Bloody brilliant,” MJ said. Ginny burst out laughing. “Well it sounds like you all enjoyed your day. Although I swear you lot rehearsed that. And I think I don’t want to know what made MJ’s day so brilliant. Or more importantly, who made it so brilliant.” “No one you know,” MJ assured her. “Good. Where’s Harry, by the way?” Ginny asked nonchalantly. “Outside, I think,” Tank replied. “Good. I want to let you all know that his birthday is the Saturday after the big kick off party. You don’t have to feel obligated to do anything for him, but I wanted to make you all aware of it,” Ginny informed them. “Thanks for letting us know,” Tank said. “I’ll definitely try to do something.” “By the way, did he say if he had a nice day off?” Ginny asked, trying to sound casual. “He said it was good,” Jacob replied. Ginny suddenly felt like everyone in the room was looking at her oddly. She couldn’t decide if it was just paranoia or if there was truth behind her feeling. “Well, I hope you all have a good practice. I have some big news tonight, so try and stay in one piece that long,” Ginny said, trying to get out of the situation before anyone started asking her questions about her day off. “Bye!” Ginny ran back up the stairs to her room and shut the door behind her. Pretending not to be involved with Harry is going to be harder than I thought. Later that night, Ginny gathered the team in the living room so she could distribute the mail like she always did. In fact, everything felt normal until she turned to hand Harry his letters. There were the normal two, and she easily recognized Tonks handwriting, but the handwriting on the second letter looked completely foreign to her. She quickly dismissed it as nothing other than her paranoia sneaking back up again and gave Harry his letters, careful not to make eye contact with him. She walked in front of the fireplace so she could see everyone clearly, and forced a big smile on her face. “Before you all get too distracted with your letters, I have an announcement to make,” Ginny said loudly. Everyone looked up from the letters they were holding and turned their attention to Ginny. “We’re listening,” MJ said, pretending to be bored. “Well, this Monday we have a slight change in plans,” Ginny began. “You all will have your morning practice as usual, but then after lunch you’re all allowed to invite up to three family members or good friends to come by and visit.” “Are you serious?” Jacob asked excitedly. “Chloe can come here on Monday?” “Yep,” Ginny said smiling. “You’ll all have the time between lunch and dinner to yourselves, then we’ll all dine together and then they’ll have to leave. But fortunately, you all get to bring dates to the party the following Friday so you’ll get to see them again soon.” Tank stood up and gave Ginny tight hug. “Thank you for doing this; you have no idea how much I cherish every minute I get to spend with Marissa these days.” “Not a problem,” Ginny said. “I have these invitations for you right now, and I need you to address them for me by the end of the night. They’ll go out with your normal letters. So just leave a stack here and if one of you would bring them up to me before you go to bed, I’d really appreciate it.” Ginny passed three of the invitations she made to everyone, fighting every urge to let her hand linger on Harry’s for more than the second than it should. Seeing her resolve to stay away from Harry starting to fail, Ginny headed back up the stairs to her bedroom. She had been working for a little over an hour in her room when there was a knock on her door. “Come in,” she called, fully expecting Harry to walk into her bedroom. She was surprised when it was Dustin’s voice she heard instead. “Here are everyone’s letters,” he said, offering her a bundle. “Thanks,” Ginny replied, trying to hide her disappointment. “Am I not the team member you were hoping for?” Dustin asked lightly. “Just not the one I was expecting,” Ginny answered honestly. “Well, sorry for the let down, but no one else wanted to do it,” he replied with a shrug. Ginny was starting to feel like Dustin was trying to bait her into admitting something about Harry. “No big deal. Well, I’ve got a lot work to do, so I’ll see you in the morning,” she said politely. “Night,” Dustin called, shooting her one last questioning look before heading out of her room. Ginny glanced at the large stack of letters. Surely one peek at who everyone was inviting wouldn’t be any kind of invasion of privacy… after all, they’d all be at the manor in a few days. She quickly thumbed through the deck, noting the names of wives aside the names she didn’t recognize. She was halfway through the stack when she came to Harry’s two invitations, addressed to Hermione and Tonks respectively. She was surprised to find a third letter in Harry’s handwriting, and even more surprised to see that it was addressed to her. She quickly opened the letter. Gin, I received something interesting in the mail tonight. I can’t really go into details right now, but know that it’s now more important than ever to make sure that we stay away from each other. I really need to talk to you, but I can’t think of a good excuse that won’t raise anyone’s suspicions. I think that we can talk on Monday, and that way we can get Hermione and Tonks’s opinions as well. I miss you more now than I did last year, even though you’re so close by. Counting the days… Harry Ginny took a deep breath to calm her nerves. Obviously, she wasn’t being paranoid when she had felt that something was odd about the letter Harry had received tonight. She felt even worse when she thought about how the manor’s mail system worked. Each player had submitted a confidential list of people to accept mail from that was kept at the Ministry. Then all letters that were sent by approved people went to the Ministry, and then from there they were forwarded to her every Thursday. She knew that the letters weren’t approved individually, but that all the people approved to send letters held a code that ensured they were sent to the proper location. Ginny took another deep breath as she tried to think of how to break it to Harry that this letter that was bothering him could have only come from someone connected with the team personally. Ginny set down the remaining letters, her hands shaking. She knew that attempting anymore work that night would be futile. She pulled a piece of ribbon from her desk and tied all of the letters together, not bothering to go through the remaining invitations. She took them to the owl that made her room its home every Thursday. “I’ll see you next week,” she called after the bird as she watched it fly out her window. Ginny closed the window tightly, as is the action would keep anymore bad things out of the manor. She changed into her nightgown and slipped into bed, despite the early hour. She only hoped that she’d actually be able to sleep now that her thoughts were plagued with fears…. Ginny rolled over in bed to reach out for Harry. She felt a strange sense of loss knowing he wasn’t there. She sighed and swung her legs over the edge of the bed, taking the time to yawn and stretch before she actually stood up. She found her dressing gown on the back of the chair and slipped it on, not bothering to tie the knot securely around her waist. She opened the door to her bedroom and leisurely strolled down the hall towards the delicious smells coming from the kitchen. She walked in and saw Harry sitting at the table, sipping on a cup of coffee, and reading the paper. He looked up when he heard her come in and smiled at her over his paper. “Good morning, dear,” he said brightly. “Sleep well?” Ginny nodded as she sat down beside him. “I hate waking up when you’ve already gotten out of bed.” Harry looked at her strangely when she said that but Ginny didn’t think anything of it. “What’s for breakfast?” she asked sleepily. Harry smiled broadly. “Hermione’s making her world famous bacon and eggs,” he informed her. Ginny frowned. “Why is Hermione in our house cooking for us?” Harry chuckled. “You’re so silly, Gin-gin.” “Why am I silly?” Ginny asked, not liking the direction the conversation was taking. “Because Hermione and I are married; we got married right out of school. How could you forget? You were at our wedding.” Ginny’s eyes grew wide. “But weren’t you in my bed last night? Didn’t we just sleep together?” “I swear, are you feeling all right?” Harry asked, rolling his eyes. When Ginny didn’t respond he continued, “Of course I slept with you last night; you’re my newest mistress.” “And Hermione doesn’t mind?” Ginny asked incredulously. “Why would she? She knows I’m madly in love with her and have been for years. I just have needs I that have to be taken cared of,” Harry explained as if he were talking to a small child. Just then Hermione walked back into the room. “Harry, luv, I hope you didn’t let the bacon burn while I was in the loo,” she scolded. Ginny took one look at Hermione and her jaw dropped. “You’re pregnant!” she exclaimed. “Honestly, Ginny, where have you been?” Hermione said impatiently. “You know that Harry and I are going to have a baby!” Harry smiled proudly and stood up so he could wrap his arm around his wife. “Our kids are going to be beautiful, don’t you think?” Ginny looked at them, appalled at the thought. “What about me? What about us?” she whispered desperately. Harry and Hermione exchanged an amused look. “Silly girl,” Harry said with a chuckle, “I’m just using you to satisfy my manly urges and needs. That’s all you’re good for. What, did you think I loved you or something?” Seeing the horrified look on Ginny’s face, he laughed again. “Oh you did, how cute!” Ginny couldn’t take it anymore. She bolted from her seat and ran straight to the front door. She dashed out into the street, not caring that her robe was open or that her feet were bare. She saw a familiar flash of red hair on the other side of the street and hurried across, looking for comfort. “Ron!” she cried, wrapping her arms around him. “Oh, it was so awful in there!” Ginny was suddenly very aware of the fact that Ron wasn’t hugging her back. She released her grasp on him and stepped back so she could look at his face. She was surprised to see how angry he looked. “What’s wrong?” she asked. “You little slag!” Ron shouted. Ginny looked around at all of the people on the busy street. “Ron!” she hissed. “What are you talking about? And keep it down, people are staring!” Ron ignored her. “I knew I’d find you here. I knew you were lying when you said you were over Harry. How long have you been sleeping with him? How long have you been his mistress?” he yelled. “And you call yourself Hermione’s friend!” “Ron, shut up! People are staring!” Ginny exclaimed. Ron laughed, but it wasn’t his normal happy chuckle. There was something about this laugh that was decisively evil. “They’re not staring because I’m being loud, Ginny,” Ron said calmly. “They’re staring because you’re robe is open and you’re naked.” Ginny looked down in horror and saw that he was right. She quickly closed her dressing gown and tied it in a tight knot. “Why didn’t you tell me sooner?” she whispered, tears forming in her eyes. “So the whole world can see what a scarlet woman you are. Mum is very disappointed in you, Ginny. She can’t believe you’d betray your own brother like you have; taking up with his mortal enemy and all. How does it feel to know that you’ve lost everything now? Your family hates you as much as they hate him, and Harry will not want you anymore since he’s already had you. You’re all alone, Ginny. Harry doesn’t want you. Harry’s been in love with Hermione for ages now.” “You’re lying… you’re all lying to me!” Ginny cried. “Harry loves me, and as soon as the World Cup is over we’re going to be together! And there’s nothing you can do to stop us!” Ron didn’t reply; instead he pointed smugly to the no longer pregnant Hermione crossing the street towards them. “I have bad news,” Hermione said solemnly when she reached them. “Harry’s dead,” Ron said for her. “Well, yes,” Hermione said awkwardly. “How did you know?” Ron shrugged. “Simple. I told him if he ever came near my family again, I’d kill him. So after I found out what he and Ginny had been up to, I killed him.” Ginny slowly backed away from Ron and Hermione, shaking her head. “No, you couldn’t, you wouldn’t,” she whispered. “Actually, he did,” Hermione said simply. “This is entirely your fault, Ginny. Ron’s not to blame; you as good as killed Harry yourself. Everyone’s going to think so.” “No!” Ginny said, still backing away. “She’s right. Harry’s dead and it’s all your fault,” Ron confirmed. “No!” Ginny said, more forcefully this time. Ron and Hermione only looked at her condescendingly. “NO!” Ginny screamed. She took one more step backwards and tripped over something. She started to fall, but she never felt the ground. There was nothingness all around her, and she just kept falling, further and further…. Ginny sat up in her bed like someone had poked her back. She was out of breath and her nightgown, which was drenched with sweat, was clinging to her body. Her hands were trembling and her vision was blurry. “Only a nightmare,” she murmured to herself. “It was only a nightmare.” Her reassuring words did nothing to settle her pounding heart. She hadn’t had a nightmare since she had made up with Harry. Her mind was racing; her worries had shifted from losing her job to simply hoping that she and Harry both made it out of the World Cup alive. And that Harry would still want her when everything was over and done with. |
| Reviews 364 |
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