A/N: Please R&R! This is my first fic, so please be nice. Also, thanks to my wonderful beta reader who made One Last Goodbye much better!



Disclaimer: Nothing here belongs to me except the plot. It's all J.K. Rowling's.



The magical world was constantly being threatened by Lord Voldemort, always in danger. Nowhere to run, nowhere to hide. Nowhere that you could possibly be safe.



One of Ginny Weasley's best friends, her brother, and the love of her life were in more peril than anyone else in their world was. It didn’t help that the one she loved was virtually Voldemort’s only enemy, Harry Potter. For the past few years, Harry had been one of Voldemort’s only targets, and Ginny had been getting even more frightened for Harry as his struggle increased.



Harry’s danger had augmented so much in the past year, that he had felt the need to destroy Voldemort once and for all. Of course, Ginny wanted the Dark Lord gone. If only it wasn’t Harry trying to defy his powers, Ginny kept thinking. Since making the decision to do so, Harry had left Hogwarts, never to return. Harry was out searching for the remaining Horcurxes. In a letter he had written to her a few months ago, he reported there were only three left to destroy.



Every morning, Ginny imagined waking up and walking down the stairs into the common room, only to find Harry sitting in his favorite red chair next to the fire. Every day, Ginny pictured herself entering the Great Hall and sitting next to Harry, no questions asked. Every afternoon, Ginny could see herself flying beside Harry in the Quidditch Pitch. And every night, Ginny dreamed of being in Harry’s arms, and staying there forever.



But Ginny knew it would never happen. This year would have been Harry’s last year at Hogwarts, if he weren’t wandering around in the magical world. Ginny only had a single year left, in which Harry couldn’t possibly be there



If Harry would only come back, oh, how happy she’d be. More than anything, Ginny wished it could be. There were no words to describe it. Without him, Ginny’s heart was only a slow, sad metronome, ticking the lively song of her life. Tick. Tick. Tick.



It just didn’t fit.



If Harry were there, Ginny knew the metronome would speed up to the tempo of the music, and everything would sound better. Somehow, Ginny had a feeling that the metronome in her heart would stay the same speed for a while. She just hoped it would catch up with the speed of the song quickly.



Ginny tried everything to alleviate the pain she felt in her damaged heart. She tried to explain it to some of her friends, but no one understood. How could they? She read a few Muggle romance books to see what the characters did, but they all seemed too far-fetched. Ginny even attempted to record her feelings in a diary, but it didn’t last for long. It frightening to write in a diary, when she had been haunted by one merely four years ago.



Still, nothing helped.



In bed every night, Ginny would cry her eyes out until her pillow was soaked. Oh, how she missed him. It had only been a few months since she had last seen Harry, and yet she missed him more than she ever had before. She imagined what it would be like if she never got to see him again. Ginny could hardly bare the thought of it.



As usual, many boys of her age were interested in Ginny. Normally, she would have been excited to have so many people swooning over her, but not this year. Now, her heart belonged to someone, and she refused to give it to anybody else. Every time a boy would ask her out, it was the same thing.
***


“Hi, Ginny!” Colin Creevey called from across the Great Hall one Friday afternoon. Ginny immediately knew what was going to happen. She had known for quite some time that Colin fancied her. Tomorrow, they would be going to Hogsmeade, and Colin was clearly going to ask her to go with him.



“Hello, Colin,” Ginny replied, when he was closer.



“Ginny, I was just wondering,” he started in a rush, “if you wanted to go to Hogsmeade with me tomorrow?”



A tear came to Ginny’s eye. Harry never asked me to go to Hogsmeade with him, she found herself thinking. Maybe he would have if he’d been here this year.



With that thought, a tear streamed down her face, staining it like so many others had before it. “I’m sorry, Colin,” Ginny stammered between sniffles. “I…I…can’t…I....”



Ginny rushed out of the Great Hall, her hands covering her drenched face. She raced to her dormitory. Reaching her bed, she buried her head under a pile of pillows, whishing it would stop. Stop now. Stop forever.



Every time, it was the same. A wonderful boy would ask her the same thing, and she’d weep for hours and hours. Ginny desperately yearned for a change in herself. But she just couldn’t bring herself to say yes. Not with Harry out there. Ginny would wait for him. She always would.
***


It was nearing the Christmas holidays when Ginny received a letter from Harry. She was ecstatic when she saw a snowy white owl fly into the Great Hall at breakfast. Ginny immediately tossed the Daily Prophet that she had been reading and tore open the letter.



Ginny had been waiting for a letter from Harry for months now. He hadn’t written since the start of the school year. But when she finally read the letter, all of her excitement drained away and was replaced with disappointment.



Dear Ginny,


I hope you’re all right. Ron, Hermione, and I are fine. No sign of Voldemort yet. Hope to see you soon.


Love,


Harry





Ginny read over the note several times. She wasn’t quite sure how to feel. Harry had at least taken the time to write to her, and he was all right. On the other hand, he had written only two measly lines. Was that really all he had to say to her? Ginny had thought that he cared about her more than that.



Not knowing exactly what to think, Ginny’s apathetic eyes filled with tears of confusion. Blinking them back, she stuffed Harry’s letter into the inside pocket of her robes.



Ginny stared down at the eggs and bacon that sat on her glimmering plate. No longer could Ginny see the glint of light on her golden dish. She had lost her appetite, so the cuisine that had once looked so delicious now seemed tasteless. Ginny couldn’t explain her sudden lack of feeling. All she knew was, she hated it.
***


The Gryffindor Common Room was as noisy and hectic as usual. Ginny had a lot of studying to do for all of her new O.W.L. classes, but she was having trouble concentrating because of all the racket.



Books held across her chest, Ginny left the crowded common room and headed for the tapestry of Barnabas the Barmy as he taught trolls ballet. Once she arrived, she walked past the bare wall across the tapestry thinking, “I need a quiet place to study.” Where bricks had been only a few seconds ago was a door. Ginny silently entered the mysterious room.



Inside was a large desk with quills, parchment, and bottle of ink. The walls were lined with shelves filled with thick books. All was quiet. Perfect.



When Ginny finally finished her studying, she took a good look around the room. It looked so much different from it had for the D.A. meetings back in her fourth year. Ginny strolled around the Room of Requirement, clearly remembering a particularly exciting D.A. meeting.



Ginny was working on her Patronus charm. She was so close to completing it, but couldn’t quite get it right. Harry was circling the room, checking how everyone was doing. For a moment, Ginny stopped practicing the spell to watch Cho Chang try to cast it. She was so nervous that she was having trouble doing it. Ginny snickered under her breath.



When Harry finally came around to her, Ginny wasn’t the littlest bit nervous. Although she hadn’t mastered the spell yet, she knew she was close, and that Harry would help her to finish it.



“All right, Ginny. Let’s see it,” he said.



Ginny quietly clearer her throat and held her wand out. Thinking of the happiest memory she could think of (when she had first met Harry), she called, “Expecto Patronum!” To her surprise, a shimmering, silver light flowed out of her wand for a few seconds.



“You’re getting close! Try again, and make sure you think of something very happy. That’s what threw me off the first time I tried it,” instructed Harry.



Loudly and clearly, Ginny exclaimed the incantation. She thought carefully of when Harry had rescued her from Tom Riddle in the Chamber of Secrets. If he hadn’t come to save her, she wouldn’t even be here, learning a new spell. That was as happy as she could think of.



This time, a semi-transparent, silvery swan emerged from Ginny’s wand. It seemed to float around the room. Ginny smiled as the swan pranced around Harry and Ginny happily. She had done it!



After Ginny had practiced and completed the spell several more times, the meeting was over. Before heading back to the common room and off to bed, Ginny stopped to talk to Harry. A few other students were still in the room, including Cho and Hermione, but Ginny knew they wouldn’t be listening on their conversation.



“Thanks for a great lesson, Harry,” Ginny said.



“Anytime, Ginny. You did really well today. Great job!” Harry replied, tidying up the room.



“I can’t wait for the next lesson. These are so much better than Umbridge’s stupid reading classes,” Ginny complimented. “Well, I’ll see you around.”



Harry bid her good-bye as Ginny headed out of the Room of Requirement. It had been the best D.A. meeting yet.



Hermione later reported to Ginny that once the pair of them had left, Harry had kissed Cho. All the excitement that Ginny had gotten from the meeting now disappeared. Why couldn’t it have been her? She knew that Harry had fancied Cho for some time now, but did he really have to go and kiss her?



Looking back, tears welled up in Ginny’s eyes. Where had she gone wrong? Sure, Harry had kissed her, but Cho’s kiss was his first. It was different. Although she knew she couldn’t go back in time, this fact left a small hole in Ginny’s heart. There was no way to mend it, Ginny knew, unless Harry was to return to her.


***


Despite all the bad memories, Ginny went on with her life, and her heart continued to beat. As slow and sad as it was, it kept going, as did Ginny.



Eventually, the metronome controlling her heart would speed up to the present tempo, and the redhead would be back in the real world. For now, Ginny waited for Harry to come back to her.



All Ginny really wanted, though, was just one last goodbye.