Harry walked outside to the garden, leaving behind the bustling noise of the Burrow. Ron had somehow persuaded Hermione to play chess, and Fred and George, still visiting from their flat in Diagon Alley, were offering large amounts of boisterous advice as they watched. Charlie was involved in a long and quiet conversation with Mr. Weasley, and Ginny was helping Mrs. Weasley clean up after dinner. Harry had offered to help them, but Mrs. Weasley had told him to relax with his friends. Seeing as they were all otherwise engaged, Harry had decided to come outside and think things through some more, even though he felt like all he did these days was think about the days ahead.

The sun had gone down in a brilliant haze of red and orange and the stars were starting to dot the azure sky. Harry was surprised to see a gnome still rummaging about in the garden. He thought about spinning it over the fence for Mrs. Weasley, but decided he would just rather let the gnome have one peaceful night before it was tossed out. He felt the same way himself, which was why he had come outside. Tomorrow he would be leaving the Burrow with Ron and Hermione, starting out on a very different kind of journey than ever before.

Harry had sometimes wondered if the day would really come when they began their hunt for Voldemort's Horcruxes. A part of him still didn't believe that tomorrow he was going to Godric's Hollow, the place where his parents had been murdered. He didn't know what to expect, and he couldn't even begin to think of where they might end up next. Harry was of age now, though he didn't feel ready for it. But then, he had not felt ready for most of the things that had happened in his life.

With a sigh Harry sat down on a bench. He took off his glasses and rubbed his face. He was tired. He had been attacked at Privet Drive the night of his seventeenth birthday, and sometimes felt like he was still recovering. It had been a busy time at the Burrow since he had arrived safely a week ago. He had had little opportunity to rest as preparations were well under way for Bill and Fleur's wedding. But more than anything he felt the burden of his task weighing heavily on his shoulders, and sometimes he felt it would suffocate him. With so many people around, he had had very little opportunity to talk with Ron and Hermione about their coming journey. And the one person he really wanted to talk to about it he couldn't.

Harry put his glasses back on and laid down on the bench, stretching out his legs on the cold concrete. He looked up and absently started tracing out the different stars and planets they had studied in Astronomy. But his mind drifted to thoughts of Ginny, and he sighed again.

The first few days at the Burrow had been awkward between the two of them. They had slowly come to an unspoken understanding of the situation, however. They had almost gone back to the way they were before they had started going out, except when they accidentally touched, and Harry felt the equivalent of a small electric shock run through his body.

Bill and Fleur's wedding had been wonderful. Ginny had looked beautiful. It had been hard to keep his resolve to protect her by breaking up with her, but he had managed to keep his distance most of the night. He and Ginny had danced together during one slow song at the end of the night, and she had kissed him lightly on the lips before heading inside. Harry hadn't had a chance to really talk to her since that dance, and he wondered if that would be their last kiss.

His thoughts wandering, Harry didn't hear the footsteps coming toward his bench until they were quite close. He sat up quickly and leveled his wand before he even had a chance to make out who his visitor was.

"Harry!" gasped Ginny. "Put that down! It's just me!" She had taken a step backward, startled.

"Sorry," Harry mumbled, putting his wand away. He had been on edge since the attack on his birthday. He looked away, because he didn't know what to say. For a while it didn't seem like she did either, as she stood there in silence.

"Can we talk?" she finally asked.

Harry just nodded, a lump in his throat. The last time they had really talked, at Dumbledore's funeral, had been hard enough. Ginny sat down next to him and stared at her feet.

"So you're leaving tomorrow." It wasn't a question, but a statement. Again, Harry nodded. "When will you be back?"

He swallowed hard. He didn't know when he would be back, or even if he would be back. How could he tell her that? How he could tell her he might not see her ever again?

"I don't know," he said simply. Ginny seemed to think about that.

"You'll be back in time to go to King's Cross with us, right? For the Hogwarts Express?"

Harry felt worse. He hadn't told anyone except Ron and Hermione that he wasn't returning to school on September 1st. "Ginny, I'm not . . ." He couldn't say it and gave up.

Ginny looked up at him sharply. "You are going back to Hogwarts, right? Harry? Tell me you're going back."

He couldn't, and he knew it was written plainly across his face because Ginny sucked in a breath. "Harry! You can't leave Hogwarts! Why?"

Harry shrugged, miserable. "I'm sorry, Ginny. I can't really tell you why. There's just something I have to do, something important."

"It's still about Voldemort, isn't it?" She used the name without a flinch. "Harry, you're not really going after him, are you?

Again, Harry could not keep the answer off of his face. He thought Ginny might start crying, but her face hardened into an angry expression instead. "Harry James Potter. You are a seventeen-year-old wizard. You are a seventh year student at Hogwarts. You are the Quidditch captain." She sounded remarkably like her mother, and Harry hid a small smile. "It is not your job to find Voldemort! Leave that to the Aurors, and the Order. You should be at Hogwarts."

Harry took a breath. Suddenly he knew what to say, because he wanted her to understand why he was doing this. "But it is my job, Ginny. I have to destroy Voldemort."

"Don't be ridiculous!" she snapped at him. "I know he's tried to kill you several times, but that doesn't mean - "

"Ginny." Harry interrupted her, firmly. "It's not something I want to do, exactly. It's something I have to do. Do you remember when we went to the Ministry of Magic?"

Ginny nodded, wide-eyed. How could any of them forget that night? But he had not talked about it much, since then.

"Voldemort lured me there so that he could hear a prophecy, a prophecy about me."

"But Neville broke the prophecy!" she exclaimed. "And anyway, fortune telling is a load of rubbish. Trelawney can't predict a thing, she's a batty old fraud."

"Trelawney has made two prophecies. I heard one of them during my third year, and it came true. The other was about me and Voldemort."

Ginny still looked skeptical. "About the Chosen One? Harry, you don't really - "

Harry was starting to get upset. He stood up and paced away from the bench. Why was she making this so much harder? When he had told Ron and Hermione, they had simply accepted it and supported him. Why was Ginny not listening to him, not supporting him? Abruptly he turned to face her, prepared to lay it out, no matter how much it hurt.

"Ginny, I heard the prophecy. Trewlawney made it to Dumbledore, before I was born. I am the one who has to vanquish Voldemort. I have a power he doesn't know. Neither of us can live while the other survives." Harry stopped to look at her. She looked pale and shocked, but he continued. "So you see, I have to go after Voldemort, before he comes after me, or the people I care about. I have to kill him, or he has to kill me. That's how it is now."

Ginny slowly shook her head as she brought her hands to her mouth. "No . . . no, Harry . . ."

"Yes," he said, holding her eyes. He saw tears starting to form, and felt his own eyes begin to prickle. He hadn't meant to hurt her; he hadn't planned on telling her at all until she came out to the garden. But deep down he knew she would appreciate knowing the truth more than not knowing - or worse, believing a lie. He knelt down in front of her, took her hands in his. "I'm sorry, Ginny. I really didn't want you to know. It's so awful I didn't want you to worry about it."

"Harry! I'm glad I know!" Ginny had an earnest expression on her face. "I would feel worse if I didn't know what you were doing, if I didn't understand why you were leaving. But what are you going to do?"

Harry opened his mouth, wanting to tell her about Voldemort's Horcruxes. But he knew he couldn't. She would be even more vulnerable if she knew. This was a secret he couldn't share, because it was far too dangerous for anyone to know. "Ginny, I'm so sorry, but I can't tell you - "

She began to protest but he kept talking.

" - because it would put you in danger. A lot of danger, Ginny. If you knew what I had to do, Voldemort could find out, and stop me. He could use you to get to me."

"You said that before, Harry," said Ginny, waving the comment away. "He could do that anyway - he already has and I'm not afraid. Please tell me, I want to help."

Harry smiled, amazed by her courage. "I'm sorry, but if he thought you knew anything, you - and your entire family - would be at risk. And if he learned anything from you - from anyone - the entire world would be in danger. It's that important."

"Ron and Hermione know." It was another statement, not a question. Harry nodded. "And they are going with you, aren't they? Why can't I - "

"No!" Harry stood up again, ran his hands through his hair. If he felt like he had already had this conversation with her, it was because he had, and he hadn't wanted to do it again. "I told you before, I need you to be safe. I don't know what I would do if something happened to you. I don't know if I could go on."

"And I'm just supposed to go back to Hogwarts and pretend like nothing is wrong?" she snapped in a bitter voice. "Pretend that nothing happened between us? Forget that you are trying to single-handedly take down the most evil wizard of our time?"

"Yes?" replied Harry, not knowing what else to say. He did know Ginny was about to blow up.

"Well, I can't do that!" She jumped up, her face red, and her voice rising. "I can't go to classes everyday not knowing where you are. I can't worry about homework when I'm worried about you. I can't play Quidditch wondering if you are dead or alive - "

Despite her anger, Harry hid another small smile. She was furious: her red hair was flying and she was flailing her arms at him. He knew that she was not mad at him, but at the horrible situation they were in. She wasn't yelling at him, but at the injustice of a world that sent him off chasing Horcruxes instead of to a final, happy year at Hogwarts.

"Do you think this is funny, Harry? Because it's not so don't you dare start laughing!" Ginny's voice had gone up another octave; Harry was sure the rest of her family could hear her inside the house. "It's the - the most - "

Not knowing what else to do to soothe her pain, Harry took her in his arms and kissed her.

"- the most awful thing - "

He kissed her again, not caring that he had broken up with her. He wanted to stop her from giving voice to the horrible feelings in her heart, the same feelings he felt but had finally started to accept. Hearing them would only make it harder for him to leave. And he might not ever kiss her again so he had to kiss her now.

"- awful thing in the entire world - "

She finally kissed him back. After a long time, they breathlessly broke apart, and Harry held her against his chest. He felt her shoulders start to shake and knew she had finally given in to her tears. He felt his own eyes glisten again and this time didn't care. This was going to be their farewell, and he felt his heart breaking for it.

Harry did not know how long they stood there, holding each other in the garden. Soon they heard someone walking down the path, and Harry knew it was a mark of their sadness that they did not even break apart.

Ron and Hermione appeared in the darkness. Looking over Ginny's head, Harry gave them a wan smile. Then he noticed them holding hands and raised his eyebrows.

Ron gave a nervous cough, and Ginny finally pulled away from Harry. She wiped her eyes and looked at Ron and Hermione. "Hi," she whispered, then cleared her throat. "What are you doing out here?" She sounded stronger, because Harry knew she hated showing any weakness in front of her brothers.

Ron looked uncomfortable, so Hermione spoke instead. "We sort of heard you inside, so we thought we'd see if everything was all right." She looked sadly at Harry and Ginny, as if she knew what they had been talking about.

"Yes, we're fine," said Ginny, then sighed and turned toward them. "Well, no. I can't believe you're leaving. I can't believe you're not coming back to Hogwarts." Ron hung his head and Harry saw Ginny's lower lip begin to tremble. "And I can't believe I'm not going with you." Suddenly she threw herself at Ron and hugged him fiercely.

Ron awkwardly patted his sister's back. Harry heard Hermione sniffle, so he went to her side and put his arm around her shoulder. He glanced at Ron, feeling even more miserable than before; Ron looked almost as bad as he felt. Together the four of them stood in the darkness, not talking, simply enveloped in their sorrow.

"C'mon," Ron finally said with a sniffle of his own. Ginny pulled away, nodding. "Let's go inside."

"Okay," she replied. "You guys go, we'll be right behind you."

Hermione gave Harry's hand a squeeze, and walked over to Ron, still sniffling. Ron put his arm around her, and Harry thought about how right they looked together.

"Don't be long," said Ron. "Or Mum will send Fred and George out to check on you, and you don't want them walking up on you, trust me."

Harry imagined his friends were blushing. "Thanks for the warning," he said in a knowing voice, and Ginny laughed. "We'll be right there."

Hermione gave Ginny another sad smile and walked away with Ron. Harry saw her rest her head on Ron's shoulder as they walked. He couldn't be happier for them, despite how horrible he felt at the moment.

"Are you okay?" asked Ginny. She sat down on the bench again, and Harry looked down at her in surprise. She was asking him if he was okay? She was really amazing sometimes.

"I'm fine," he said, sitting next to her. "Are you okay? Ginny, I'm so sorry, I - "

"Harry, you don't have to say anything." Ginny put a finger to his lips. "I told you at Hogwarts that I understood, and I do. I know you have to do this, I've always known. I just didn't really believe any of it until tonight."

Harry felt even worse than he had at Dumbledore's funeral. Breaking up once had been hard enough. But instead of walking away, this time he wrapped his arms around Ginny.

"I am going to miss you so much," she whispered as he held her.

"I'm going to miss you too."

"Be careful, Harry. You can do this." Ginny had a suddenly fierce look in her bright brown eyes. "You have to come back. I'm not really saying goodbye."

Harry closed his eyes, his heart swelling with emotion. Ginny understood, and she believed in him. She wasn't going to give up on him. He had to succeed, and survive, just so he could come back to her. Opening his eyes, he found that Ginny was still staring at him. He had to say something.

"I'll come back," he said. "I promise." It wasn't what he wanted to say but it was all he could manage over the lump in his throat.

"I'm holding you to that promise, Harry." She touched his face with her hands, and lightly kissed him one last time before standing up. "Come on, let's go inside before the twins ambush us." Ginny started up the path, rubbing her hands up and down her arms to keep warm.

With a sigh, Harry stood up. "I love you," he whispered softly to her back.

As if she had heard him, Ginny stopped and turned around. She smiled, and waited for him to catch up to her. Taking each other's hands, they walked back to the Burrow together in silence, but they did not say goodbye.

* * *

A/N: This is the second of several short scenes from Book Seven that I am working on. I know this moment has been written countless times, but I was rather inspired -I hope you enjoy my take on it! It is also part of the series The Seventh Summer. This is a set of three stories set in the summer before Harry's seventh year. The first story, The Boy Who Left, takes place at Privet Drive on Harry's seventeenth birthday. This story is set approximately one week later, and the series concludes with Harry's visit to Godric's Hollow.

Thanks again to my beta, ginnyweasley718, and to J.K. Rowling for her amazing magical world.