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“Hi there…”
Harry whipped his head around, drew out his wand and pointed it at the cloaked figure now standing by the back door of the Burrow.
“Harry!” Ginny exclaimed, looking scared, “...It’s only me”
He sank back down onto the kitchen chair, head in his hands as he placed his newly repaired wand back onto the kitchen table. The war had ended less than a day ago, which explained the morbid and downcast atmosphere that was consuming the Burrow.
Harry, Hermione, and all the remaining Weasleys had not yet managed to sit down all together, as Fred’s death continued to cast a melancholy shadow upon the whole house and its occupants.
“What are you doing up?” Ginny asked softly, her frightened expression melting into one of compassion and comfort.
He peered back up to see her looking straight at him, and Harry felt most of his fear and worry dissipate almost immediately, as he relaxed into what he hoped would be his first full and proper conversation with anyone since the war ended.
After defeating Voldemort, Harry had been whisked away by Ministry officials to discuss the events over the past year that had ultimately led to Riddle’s defeat the previous evening. Whilst Ginny, who had been slightly injured amongst the fighting, had spent the day at St. Mungo’s alongside Charlie, who was receiving treatment for a cutting charm that had been cursed onto his leg. Therefore, there had been little time for himself and Ginny to talk with each other after their year apart, so seeing her here next to him conjured up a sensation of which Harry could only describe as both of hope and warmth.
But just like that, reality kicked back in.
Anger. He felt anger.
“You left” Harry muttered quietly
“Harry, did you say something?” Ginny replied soothingly as she hopped herself up onto the kitchen counter, seeming confused at his sudden declaration after the moments of silence.
“You left the Room of Requirement” he continued, “It wasn’t safe for you Ginny”
He chanced a look up at her again and saw Ginny’s face moulding from the warm smile he loved, to an expression of hurt and annoyance
“I..” Ginny spoke slowly, “I..I can’t see why that would matter anymore. It’s over now, you know that” “
You were meant to go back in…” Harry felt his temper and voice rising, but Ginny just scoffed in disbelief and began playing with a loose thread situated at the bottom of her Weasley sweater.
“...You could’ve died Gin” he exclaimed, suddenly feeling pure anger bubble up inside of him. He could see that she seemed shocked at his outburst, as her eyes appeared to narrow and her jaw was now clenched tightly.
This wasn’t going to end well.
“What? Die? Just like you did” she yelled back
“That’s different and you know it” Harry snarled
“How is it different Harry...” shouted Ginny harshly, jumping down from the cabinet and stepping closer to the table where Harry was sitting, “...just tell me how it’s okay for you to die, but I can’t even fight in the army that I spent the past year training up to fight”
Harry, still staring directly at Ginny, felt his chest rising and falling rapidly. He had spent the past year on the Horcrux hunt enduring nightmares about losing her, nights in the tent where he imagined her locked up in the darkest, murkiest depths of the castle. Most strikingly of all, he remembered watching the green jet of light fly past her ear during her battle with Bellatrix in the Great Hall. He could’ve lost her then.
And it would’ve been your fault, he thought to himself
Harry opened his mouth to speak, “Ginny listen to me, I had to die, I-”
Unsurprisingly, Ginny cut him straight off. Moving closer towards him, she began “I spent a year going through hell from the Carrows, and the Slytherins too.” She paused for a moment, then lifted up her blouse to reveal a scar on the left side of her stomach, “tortured here” she said, as Harry could only stare in silence.
“Beaten here” she continued, pointing to a red mark snaking around her neck. “Dislocated shoulder, cut leg, broken arm, bruised ribs” she stated, subsequently pointing to the areas that she’d mentioned.
“I did NOT endure all of this Harry, only for you to then try and keep me locked up away like some delicate, porcelain doll”
Deep down Harry knew they’d be having this conversation sooner or later. Having spoken to Neville after their victory, he had gathered up an idea of what had been happening with the Carrows over at Hogwarts since September, and he knew that Ginny wasn’t the type of girl to sit on the sidelines and watch as the world moved around her. His mind flashed back to the argument Ginny and her mother had fought about outside the Room of Requirement. He remembered shaking his head at her, despite her desperate pleas to get involved in the fighting. The fighting that killed Lupin, Tonks and hundreds of others...
Fred. The war that killed her brother.
Harry could only gulp as he recalled the moment he saw Fred’s body laid out on the stone-cold floor of the Great Hall, hearing the screams of George, the wails of Molly, and the cries of Ginny as they all mourned the loss of their twin, son, and brother.
His eyes suddenly began to water as he thought back to the instant when his own body was brought back from the forest. What broke his heart the most was hearing her scream, hearing her cry in pain at the sight of his corpse, whilst knowing he was unable to do anything to stop it, to comfort her.
He was the one who caused her pain. Everyone’s pain. It was at this point Harry concluded he would only continue to be the source of her suffering for as long as he stayed around her. Blinking back the tears, Harry then proceeded to shout “If it meant keeping you SAFE, Gin..”, rising from his chair and moving closer to her.
“You. Didn’t. Even. Say. Goodbye to me” Ginny cried, punctuating each word as the tears began to race down her rosy cheeks.
After she’d spoken, the pair once again found themselves surrounded in silence, merely a few feet away from each other. After seeing the look on her face, Harry felt the beat of his heart slow, and the anger in his chest dissolved away. He immediately closed the distance between the two of them, wrapping his arms around her waist and squeezing her tight. He rested his chin on her shoulder as she buried her face into his bruised chest, neither wanting to let go of the other whilst salty tears slowly ran down both of their cheeks.
After what had seemed like an eternity, Ginny finally looked up into his eyes and asked,
“Is it going to get better, Harry?”
There was a moment where he was unsure of what to say. Things weren’t going to be easy, he knew that for sure.
“I hope so Gin, I really do”
He continued to hold her tight, unwilling to let her go. Harry looked up and carefully tucked the loose strands of copper hair behind her ear, then wiped away the remaining tears that were still resting on her glowing face.
She gave him a watery smile and replied,
“There’s time now, isn't there?’
And the answer to that, he thought, was yes. No more Voldemort threatening their day-to-day lives. No more prophecies. No more kill-or-be-killed situation hanging over him like a deadly shadow.
He steadied himself, took a deep breath and smiled back to her,
“We have all the time in the world”