It’s been over a year since You-know-who was defeated by the famous Harry potter. Since that night, no one has seen the hero. It was as if he had vanished from the face of the earth. No one knows where he is, or why he hasn’t come back. Everyday, I feel as though part of my soul dies. The last time I saw him was at Fleur and Bills wedding. Ron and Hermione travelled with him to track down the remaining Horcruxes the next day. They arrived back at the Burrow months later without Harry. He had commanded them to leave, just before Voldemort emerged. However, after the battle was over, Harry never came home. Some people saw from a distance when Harry killed Voldemort, but then chaos erupted and Harry just disappeared. Whenever I see a boy with messy black hair, my heart skips a beat. Maybe it’s Harry. But it never is. The whole family misses him, mum is still crying about it. But I have gone passed the stage of crying, I just feel numb and get on with life mechanically. All my tears have been spent. Even when I got my N.E.W.T results and found I done really well, I still felt sad. Not a day had passed that I haven’t thought about him. He has broken my heart, but I still love him. I always thought he would come back for me. He said to me once that he didn’t want me to get hurt and the only reason he had to break up with me was because of Voldemort. But now that Voldemort’s gone, I always figured that we would get back together again. Everyday, I still cling onto the thought that he will come back home. Ron and Hermione had also been hit hard when Harry failed to return home. They blamed themselves for leaving when Voldemort came.

At first, Auror’s scoured the country for him, but after a matter of months, they gave up and declared him dead. But many people had not given up hope. Ron and Hermione spent most of their time looking for him, searching everywhere. They even went to the Dursleys to ask of they had seen him, but they hadn’t. But I refuse to believe that he is dead. No, he is not dead. I am sure of that. I know, deep inside me, that he is not dead. But I miss him so much. The boy who saved my life in my first year. My brothers best friend. I got to know the real Harry, not ‘the chosen one’ or ‘The-boy-who-lived.’ The funny, sweet, brave man who I fell in love with. The only person that I have ever loved. Yeah, I dated other people before he finally noticed me in my fifth year, but they were just distractions, I never loved any of them. I was just fond of them.

Today I have nothing to do, so I’ve decided to go shopping in Muggle London to buy some new clothes. To take my mind off Harry, or at least try. It’s really hard to get some nice jeans in Diagon alley, so Hermione took me to Muggle London one day. It’s amusing how Muggles get on with their life without magic. Some of their clothes are really cool. My dad encourages me to use Muggle transport to get there, but I don’t feel like doing that today, I don’t have the patience. So instead I Apparate there. I remember Harry saying once that he hated Apparition, that he prefers brooms. Still, you get used to it. As I walk passed the blocks of flats to the shops I saw an adorable ginger cat wandering down the street. The cat walked up to me and started to rub against my legs. Gently I picked up the cat, scratching it behind the ear. Just then, I noticed the cat had a collar on it. On the collar, it said.

If Georgie gets lost, please return her to number 15 lion’s flats, London. A reward will be given.


I sighed. The owner must really miss her, it’s a really nice cat, I thought. I decided to bring it back; the flats were only just down the road. So I walked over to the flats and went in, still stroking the cat. I walked down the corridor.

11, 12, 13, 14, 15… found it! I knocked on the door, hoping that the owner was in. I looked at the cat, it was purring. I heard the door open and without looking up, I started to speak.

“Hi, I was just wond-” I stopped in mid-sentence when I looked at who was standing at the door. It was Harry. I almost dropped the cat in surprise. It was defiantly Harry, down to the messy black hair and emerald green eyes. I couldn’t believe it.

“Ginny!?” He stuttered, staring at me incredulously. I was unable to speak, my throat went dry and I felt numb. My legs and arms felt like jelly and I dropped the cat. Tears prickled in my eyes.

“Harry?” I said weakly. He nodded, his eyes bulging. I swallowed and tore my eyes away from him. It’s really him. He’s actually here. I can’t believe it! It’s like a dream. I didn’t know whether to scream at him or hug him. I felt utterly confused. Without warning, I burst into tears. A thousand questions ran through my mind. Harry ushered me into his flat, I was crying too much to stop him. He sat me down on the sofa and put him arm around me.

“Shhh, Ginny its okay, please stop crying.” Harry said softly.

“W-Why d-didn’t y-you c-come b-back?” I said in between sobs. “I waited for you to come home but y-you didn’t.” Harry didn’t answer, but continued pat my back. Slowly, I calmed down and stopped crying. I turned to face him. “You didn’t answer my question. Why didn’t you come home?” Harry sighed and turned away from Ginny.

“When I defeated Voldemort, I changed. So many people died. I have killed people, I should be in Azkaban, but instead everyone is calling me a hero. I’m really grateful for all what your family has done for me, but I wanted to be on my own, to sort myself out. I didn’t know how long it would take.” Harry said, looking out the window.

“But we could have helped you!” I replied, my voice higher than usual.

“No.” Harry said, now turning to face me. “It’s something I needed to do it on my own.”

“Why, why couldn’t you tell us where you were? We thought we thought you were de-” I couldn’t say it.

“I thought many times to owl you, but I thought you would be getting on with your life. I thought it was best that I stayed away.” Harry said.

“Who would it be best for?” I spat. “Everyday, I think of you. Whenever anyone knocks on the door, I think it might be you, but it never is. Ron and Hermione are always out looking for you.”

“But Ginny, it’s not as easy as just ‘coming home.’ I need to sort myself out. I need to know myself before going back. I really don’t know whether I will ever be able to do that, but can’t face them until I have.” Harry said.

“So it doesn’t mean anything that we are worried, that we want you home and safe, it doesn’t matter to you that I lov-,” I said.

“Please Ginny, don’t say that.” Harry said quickly, cutting me off.

“Why not, it’s true and you know I do. Now I know that you don’t feel the same way!” I cried.

“That’s not true Ginny, you know its not!” Harry said.

“Then why are you hurting me like this!” I wailed.

“I never meant to hurt you.” Harry said quietly. “If things were different-”

“What do you mean different? Before you told me we couldn’t be together because of Voldemort, now he’s gone, what’s stopping you now?” I shouted.

“I told you, I need to sort myself out.” Harry replied. I looked into his eyes for the first time since coming into his flat. I realised that I no longer recognized him. The brightness in his green eyes was gone; his eyes were hard and almost emotionless. The man standing in front of me was like a stranger in Harry’s body.

“Then there’s no point of me being here is there,” I said quietly and I walked towards the door.

“Ginny, wait…” Harry said, grabbing my arm.

“What?” I snarled.

“I‘m sorry, I really am. But please promise me that you won’t tell anyone where I am.” Harry said.

I looked at Harry again and paused for a minute. “Okay, promise.” I said finally.

“Thank you.” Harry said, smiling weakly.

“Goodbye Harry.” I said.

“Goodbye Ginny” He replied, not taking his eyes off me. Then I left and walked back into the street and away from Harry. I couldn’t face going shopping and I went home, my head still spinning with thoughts of Harry and what he said. I knew I wouldn’t be able to break my promise to him, no matter how much I wanted to.

Back at the Burrow, people were bustling around. I didn’t want to see any of them, so I snuck up into my room and cried and cried and cried. It could have been hours, or even minutes when Hermione came into the room.

“What’s wrong?” She asked gently. I didn’t reply, but carried on crying until my pillow was drenched through. Hermione just stroked my back and hair, comforting me, knowing that trying to stop me crying, or trying to find out what was wrong when I was in that state, would be useless. Finally, the tears dried up, but the hurt remained. Once I calmed down, Hermione spoke again.

“What’s wrong?” She asked again softly. I didn’t know what to say, I had promised not to tell them. “Is it Harry?” he asked. I looked at her incredulously, had she read my mind? “Ginny, I know you miss him, but we are still trying to find him. We will never give up.” I nodded, not trusting myself to speak. I hugged my best friend tightly.

“I’m okay now. Thank you.” I said.

“What for?” She asked.

“For helping me so much. For always being there for me. I don’t know what I would do without you.” I said.

“Don’t worry about it Ginny.” Hermione smiled. “Now let’s go downstairs and have something to eat.” I smiled weakly at her and followed her downstairs. I hadn’t eaten anything apart from a piece of toast in the morning, so I was quite hungry. Thankfully, downstairs was not as crowded as it was earlier. Everyone had left apart from Ron, Hermione, mum and dad. No one questioned my red, puffy eyes. If I wanted to tell them, they would be there for me. One part of me wanted to tell them where Harry was, but I had promised I wouldn’t tell and every time I thought of telling them, the image of Harry appeared in my head. Even though the person no longer seemed to be the Harry I knew, I still couldn’t bring myself to break that promise from him. At least he’s not dead. I told myself. Nevertheless, the chance of him coming back seemed minuscule.

For the next three weeks, I kept my promise to Harry that I wouldn’t tell anyone. No one knew. I spent more and more time in my room, unable to look people in the eyes anymore. I felt so alone, the promise eating away at me like acid. Many nights, I cried myself to sleep, although, that was not unusual, over the year I had spent many nights crying myself to sleep, always hoping that the next night Harry would come. Hermione was getting suspicious of me. I had never, ever kept any secrets from Hermione. I always told her everything. Even about the crush I had on Harry in my first year even though I didn’t know her that well. I couldn’t even look her in the eye, in fear that she would be able to see through me like an x-ray. But after yet another long night I couldn’t take it anymore, I had to tell her. If I didn’t, I wasn’t sure how long it would be before I crack up and end up spilling it out to everyone in one go. Or even, end up having to share a ward with Neville’s mum and dad. No, I would have to tell her. After breakfast, I was all set to tell her.

“Hermione, I have something I need to tell you.” I said as I heard a knock at the door.

“Ok, one minute, I’ll get the door.” She replied, as she walked towards the door. I stood at the bottom of the stairs, trying to think how I would tell her. I was brought out of my thoughts when I heard a high-pitched scream come from the door. I looked and saw that Hermione was standing; staring outside her face was pallid. Ron then came running down the stairs and towards Hermione. When he looked outside, his jaw dropped and he went as pale as Hermione. Feeling confused, I rushed over to the door as well and saw whom the two of them were staring at. Harry was standing at the door.

Finally, Ron found his voice again. “Harry, is that you?” He croaked. Harry nodded.

“Hi Ron, Hermione. Ginny” Harry said calmly. I was in shock. After everything he said, he had actually come. When I saw him in his apartment, he seemed so dead set about coming home, so what changed his mind? I kept those questions in my mind as I went on staring at Harry.

“I’ve done a lot of thinking over the year, I thought it would be best to stay away and let you get on with your life but I changed my mind.” Harry said to them. Both Ron and Hermione both seemed too shocked to talk. I cleared my through and spoke.

“Would you like to come in?” I said, my voice shaking uncontrollably. Harry smiled briefly and walked in. I pulled Hermione and Ron out of their trances and they walked in.

“Harry, it’s so good to see you!” Hermione said finally, although sounding as though she had a head cold.

“It’s great to see you too,” Harry replied, obviously relieved that Hermione had started to speak again.

“You had us all worried; we didn’t know where you were.” Ron said, looking intently at him.

“I’m sorry about that, but I thought it was best. I needed to sort myself out.” Harry said.

“And did you?” I asked, desperately trying to keep my voice even but failing miserably.

“Well, sort of, but I figured I should come back to my family.” Harry replied.

“We missed you.” Hermione said and then she ran towards him and hugged him tightly. So tightly, I was afraid she was going to suffocate him. Harry hugged her back and smiled. When Hermione eventually let go of him, she had tears running down her face. Then Ron strode over to him and slapped him on the back saying.

“It’s bloody great that you’re back mate.” Ron said.

“It’s great to be back.” Harry said, smiling.

“Mum will be back soon, she’ll be thrilled.” Ron said, smiling back.

“Harry, can I have a word?” I said.

“Yeah, sure.” He replied and we walked away from Ron and Hermione.

“You came back. Why?” I asked, tilting my head.

“Well you made me realise that you lot are here to help me and I shouldn’t try to push you away. I am so sorry. ” He said.

“I didn’t tell anyone where you were, or that I had seen you.” I said.

“Thank you. When I saw you the other week, it made me remember something.” Harry said quietly.

“What?” I asked, tipping my head to the side.

“That I love you.” He said softly. My heart skipped a beat. The words I dreamed him of him saying for so long. I felt as if I was floating. I looked into his vibrant green eyes and I could see the old Harry I knew, from Hogwarts. The brave, fun loving man I loved and always did was back. The spark was back, his eyes as green as a freshly pickled toad.

“I love you too,” I whispered. Tears were budding in my eyes. Then I couldn’t take it any longer and I flung my arms around him. It felt so nice to have his body close to me again. For the first time in ages, I felt happy. I knew that it would take a while to trust him totally again, but I was quite confident it would work. As I held him close, all my problems seemed to melt away. Everything was better again. Harry had come home.