A week had passed by and the hospital wing was now quieter with less patients. Many students were injured, including Ron and Hermione, in the surprise attack at Hogsmeade. Because of the attack, everyone in the castle was clearly very nervous and agitated.
Ron broke his arm and Hermione had minor bruises but fortunately, none of the injuries suffered were too serious. More fortunately, the professors were able to rescue all the students and escort them back to the castle. Dumbledore had temporarily put in curfews disallowing students from visiting Hogsmeade for now, until the investigation was complete.
Aria was in the hospital wing the entire week, recovering in a bed next to Harry’s because of her injured feet. She aggravated them and they became infected when in the heat of the moment, she chased after Harry in the passageway to make sure he was safe. She also had to help Ginny bring him back to the castle.
Ginny was spending all her time in the hospital wing, mostly by Harry’s bedside, anxiously waiting for him to recover. Madam Pomfrey had successfully extracted the ice off his body. He had recovered from most of his physical injuries but the impact from the direct hit may have caused some brain trauma, resulting in his current state of unconsciousness.
Ginny couldn’t pull herself away from Harry and was determined to stay with him. She insisted on being his personal caretaker, even though Madam Pomfrey strongly disagreed. It wasn’t until Dumbledore intervened that Madam Pomfrey backed off. Ginny was very stoic though, almost robot-like, as she helped him shave, wash his hair, and change his clothes in a very methodically manner. She wanted him to look his best and she was determined to continue this one-sided relationship.
Her strong demeanor surprised Ron and Hermione, who had expected her to be sobbing all day, because Hermione was crying uncontrollably when she discovered Harry’s condition. Ron was also completely devastated. But Ginny didn’t shed a tear. She was determined to stay strong for him and at the same time, trying to mask the agony from her heart, from the mixed messages of him saving her and him breaking up with her just before he was attacked.
Ginny may have fooled Ron and Hermione with her outer appearance but inside she was in great pain. She blamed herself for what happened to Harry. Trying very hard to numb her heartache, she was obsessed with making sure she remembered to wear his jacket and the butterfly pin that he gave her to the hospital everyday. Those were her only possessions that were his that could be worn. Wearing them gave her the illusion that he was still with her by her side, embracing her, and loving her.
“Everything is going to be okay. I know what I have to do,” she kept muttering to him reassuringly, just like that night at the church last year when she took care of him so he wouldn’t die from hypothermia.
It was a rainy night and Ginny continued to rest on Harry’s bedside, watching him attentively and holding his hand, with Dumbledore and McGonagall standing calmly next to her. Dumbledore gazed at him solemnly and gently rested his palm on his pale forehead. His palm was radiating a white glow that sparkled brightly.
“Harry, come on. Please wake up,” Ginny whispered softly as she kissed his cold hand, hoping Dumbledore would revive him. Ron and Hermione got out from their beds and watched anxiously, hoping for the best. Unfortunately, he shook his head somberly as the white glow fizzled out.
“Headmaster, how is Harry?” Hagrid asked hopefully as he entered the hospital wing and placed his heavy hand on Ginny’s shoulder. McGonagall gazed at Dumbledore eagerly.
Dumbledore took a deep breath and removed his spectacles. His eyes appeared very tired and they had lost their usual glitter. He walked tiredly to the window and gently closed it, because the rain was getting heavy.
“So many horrible things have happened to him… so young… but burdened with so much pain…” Dumbledore sighed solemnly, shaking his head.
Dumbledore gazed wearily at the ceiling, “The boy has lost his way. I could feel his sadness, despair, and hopelessness…the sense of emptiness inside him. He has lost his will to live…
In deep thought, he soberly walked back to Harry’s bedside and sat next to Ginny, “Let me tell all of you a story. It is a story about a little boy… I remember it like it was yesterday…
The room was as somber as ever. Dumbledore gazed at Harry hopelessly, sighed heavily and quietly began.
“One night not too long ago, I encountered a little boy with jet-black hair and bright green eyes… standing alone with his invisibility cloak… gazing at a very large mirror by himself…
"He didn’t understand what the mirror was doing but he noticed two people, a man and a woman, standing next to him, smiling and gazing lovingly back at him. He was so close to the mirror his nose was brushing against it…
“The boy didn’t know who they were until he recognized the woman’s bright green eyes and the man’s jet-black hair. He realized he had the same eyes and hair as them…
“He finally discovered his father and mother for the first time… after eleven years…
“In the reflection, they rested their hands tenderly on his shoulders…
“All the little boy wanted… was to hold their hands… to feel their love…
“So he reached for his shoulder, but sadly… there was nothing there…
“He was alone… standing alone…
“The little boy had this terrible feeling of sadness when he spotted the image of him and his parents together as a loving family…
“The image was everything that he ever wanted but he knew he was looking at the impossible…
“Other people would wish to see all the superficial things in the world…
“But all the little boy wanted was to have his father and mother… by his side…” Dumbledore continued despairingly as he held Harry’s hand.
Ron pulled his head down and bit his lip, trying to hold back his tears. He too could recall that night when his best friend woke him up and told him he saw his parents in the mirror.
“For an eleventh year old child to feel this way…
“The little boy felt… very lonely, like there was no one to love him and he had no one to love…
“Seeing him like this, I wished I could… give him back his father and mother…
“But I couldn’t…” Dumbledore wiped the corner of his eyes.
“Headmaster…” McGonagall whimpered shakily.
“I’m alright, Minerva,” Dumbledore grinned faintly. “Something fell into my eye, that’s all. Let me continue.”
“I asked the boy… to not dream about the past, and to move on, to be strong, be brave, and live…
“…and he did, and in the process, he found his beloved, a sweet and beautiful redhead that was just as courageous as him.” Dumbledore said, turning to Ginny and smiling at her proudly.
Dumbledore’s face then turned somber again, “The boy lost his way again when he thought he lost his love this past New Years…
“He blamed himself for what happened…
“He was afraid to fall in love with her because he believed that everyone he loved would always suffer a terrible fate…
“He did not want her to risk her life for him…
“But not only did the girl come back to him, she rekindled his spirits and managed to stop the boy’s downward spiral…
“I’ve seen him when he’s with this girl. He’s genuinely happy with her.
“But once again, the boy has lost his way. And this time I’m afraid it is much more serious because...”
Dumbledore paused and took another deep breath because his voice was weakening. He found himself unable to continue. Everyone stayed silent, trying to choke back tears, with Aria watching painfully from behind.
He gazed at Harry with his downcast eyes, brushing his jet-black hair tenderly, “Often times, it is the state of the human mind and the human spirit that will determine whether a person will get well…
“When there’s no will to live and fight back, it is virtually impossible to recover from any kind of illnesses…
“This is the time that he must not give up… he must fight back, be brave, and recover, but unfortunately…”
Everyone stared at Dumbledore bleakly in silence, desperately seeking for a ray of hope. However, it was the first time they saw him unable to continue his words. He too, fell silent. The ray of hope disappeared.
“Ginny, I know this has been a difficult ordeal for you, but I believe you’re the only one in this room who can help Harry find his way back, to rekindle his will to live. You’re the only one that can do this for him.”
Ginny could not reply because she was on the verge of tears. She sat motionless and continued to gaze at Harry, trying to control herself.
“Ginny, help me rewrite the story of the little boy. Let me turn it into a happy ending,” Dumbledore muttered tiredly.
Ron walked closer to Harry’s bedside, ”Sis, maybe these will help.”
He handed her the pair of doves that Ginny gave to Harry last Christmas. Dumbledore and McGonagall gazed at the doves attentively and nodded in agreement. They both remembered how important the doves were to the two of them.
Deeply moved by this, Hermione smiled and wrapped her arms around Ron affectionately.
“Love,” Hermione muttered and kissed him on the cheek. “Ron, you finally understand.”
She then gave Aria a frigid stare and continued, her voice suddenly in a very testy tone, ”Ginny loves Harry and Harry loves Ginny. Together, they defeated Voldemort’s dream curse last year with their love. It proves that their love is so strong, it will overcome anything or anyone that stand in their way.”
Dumbledore smiled faintly, nodding in agreement, and slowly headed to Aria’s bedside. McGonagall and Hagrid followed him.
“Professor Hannibal, thank you for looking after Harry and Ginny that day. Don’t blame yourself for all this. There’s no way you could have prevented this. It is well known our Harry rarely follows rules. I hope you get better soon,” McGonagall said gently.
“Aria, once you get better, I would like you to file a formal report of what took place in the passageway,” Dumbledore added.
Aria smiled and nodded faintly.
“Ginny, I’ll tell Pomfrey to let you stay with Harry for as long as you need,” Dumbledore reassured her before both he and Hagrid left the hospital wing. McGonagall dimmed the lights and followed them out. Ron and Hermione went back to their beds.
“Harry, I love you,” Ginny wiped her reddened eyes and whispered in the dark, tenderly stroking his hair.
As she gently placed the doves on his chest and rested his hand on them, Ginny felt a draft coming towards her. She turned around and noticed the door of the hospital wing opened and closed. Aria’s bed was empty; she had disappeared.
Aria was trudging to her classroom; she wanted to head to her imaginary world to escape from the loving display of Ginny. She had to rush out of the hospital wing because she could no longer handle seeing her only love being loved so deeply by someone else. Her feet were still infected and in great pain but the physical pain was nothing compared to the torture in her heart from watching Ginny wearing Harry’s jacket, caring for him so intimately and displaying her love for him so freely in the hospital wing the entire week.
Aria instead had to keep all her love for him locked inside her heart. She could not pretend to not see Ginny with him because his bed was next to hers. She couldn’t have a private moment with him even at night because the hospital wing had been filled with patients, including Ron and Hermione. When she tried to speak to him with her telepathic powers this past week, he wasn’t responding to her, as if he had shut her out. She could feel his shattered spirits just like Dumbledore had described, but all she could do was gaze at his back that didn’t see her and to cry silently at night.
In fact, she could surely identify with Harry’s feelings of loss and despair. If anything, she could be the only one in the room other than Harry, who could truly understand what it felt like to have no one and no love. These hopeless feelings had followed her like a shadow all her life. She couldn’t even find a single thread of joy in her memories and her past, because they were just as empty as they had always been. After all, she had no one in her life to love, until Harry came along. Unfortunately, he didn’t love her, and her future to find true love looked just as bleak.
When she heard Dumbledore state that Ginny was the only one who could revive Harry, the excruciating pain in her heart was sharper than any stab wound because deep down, she realized Dumbledore was right. Harry’s heart did belong to Ginny, not her. Her heart was telling her that she had no choice but to finally be honest with herself, especially after seeing what happened in the passageway.
She remembered vividly what happened in the passageway. She saw with her own very eyes, that all Harry cared about when all hope was seemingly lost was Ginny and her well-being, and how he selflessly shielded her from harm at all costs. He would die for her without hesitation. In his final moments, she was still the only person in his mind. All he cared about was to hear her laugh, and he said all those silly things just to make her happy.
If only there was someone that loved her the same way he loved Ginny, she thought to herself despairingly. Unfortunately, she finally realized she was defeated. She could no longer deny it. Her efforts to win his love were fruitless in the end. She would be alone like she had always been. Her memory of this experience would once again be classified as a painful one.
After closing the door, she turned and saw her empty classroom clad with mirrors that were filled with her abandoned reflections. There was no one by her side. She thought Harry was by her side for a period of time, but ultimately it was only an illusion that she wanted to see. She remembered holding his hand and guiding him to one of the mirrors to her world, where they shared that very special night together.
Tears finally erupted out of her eyes; she was finally able to unleash her pain and express her sorrow, because she was finally alone. Her knees buckled before she reached the mirror to her hideout world. Lying helplessly on the ground, she was sobbing uncontrollably.
“Professor… It’s Ginny. Are you there?” she knocked and opened the door before Aria was able to gather herself. Ginny had followed her to the classroom.
“Professor, are you okay?” she quickly hurried over to her and helped her get up when she saw her crying on the ground. She gently guided her to a chair.
“It’s… my feet. I was just… crying because of the pain…” she lied, quickly wiping her tears.
“I came… I… just want… Thank you for saving me and Harry…” Ginny stuttered but her lips quickly froze. As soon as she uttered Harry’s name, her strong outer appearance that she had been able to maintain in front of Ron and Hermione began to unravel.
“You don’t have to thank me. Any… professor would have done exactly the same thing,” she replied tentatively.
Then she breathed deeply and forced herself to say, “The Headmaster is right. What’s important now… is for you to stay strong… for Harry.
“Harry is very lucky… to have you in his life…” Aria continued painfully, and then quickly corrected herself. “You two are very lucky… to have each other. Both of you…
“Harry loves you very much…”
Those very words were knifing Aria savagely in the heart. She took another deep breath, trying to sniff back her tears and suppress the anguish caused by her own very words.
For some reason, hearing Harry’s name felt like nails scratching on the chalkboard for Ginny. It appeared that all the pent-up tears she didn’t shed the entire week exploded out of her eyes this very moment.
“Professor, Harry… doesn’t love me… he loves… someone else…” Ginny sobbed.
Aria was stunned by what Ginny had just said.
“Yes, there’s someone else! He was going to break up with me the day we were attacked! I knew it! I couldn’t tell Ron, Hermione, or anybody about this because I don’t want them to hate him, especially now…
“I was in the hospital the entire time with him because I love him too much… I know I have to let go but I can’t… I can’t stop myself from loving him… And he has no one else to care for him…
“I can’t cry in the hospital in front of Ron and Hermione! I have to control myself! I can’t let them know that Harry is going to leave me for someone else because my brother will kill him…
“But all this is killing me…
“I was anxiously waiting for the girl to show up at the hospital to know who she is. I thought she was bound to show up now after what happened to Harry… But she never did…”
Aria winced after having heard this.
Ginny continued blasting as her tears were rushing out of her eyes, “How can she not show up after what happened?”
“Hermione thinks I can save him with love like the last time! How can I do that when he doesn’t even love me anymore?”
Ginny’s frustrated voice was getting louder and louder. She sounded as if she was sick and tired of all the talk about love having all these magical abilities because she felt powerless to help him. At this point, she wished that if only she could pick up her wand and blast the demon that was haunting Harry; it would be so much easier.
“Ginny, you have to calm down. Please sit down,” Aria got up hesitantly and guided her to the chair.
“Professor, please tell me what to do! Please…” she pleaded helplessly and slammed her fists repeatedly against the desk. “Please… Tell me something I can do to save him…”
“Ginny, listen to me! LISTEN TO ME!” Aria kneeled down and grabbed her fists to stop her from hurting herself.
“PROFESSOR…” Ginny cried out helplessly as she sobbed and wrapped her arms around her, not realizing that the other girl was none other than Aria. Aria tentatively rested her hands on Ginny’s back to comfort her as she clenched her teeth tightly, trying very hard to keep her own cries silent.
The room was silent except for Ginny’s muffled cries. Aria’s mind was going crazy. She couldn’t pretend to like her anymore. After all, Ginny was the one obstacle between her and Harry. But after spotting Ginny’s hairpin, Aria finally realized what she had to do to set things right, for Harry’s sake.
“Ginny, go get some sleep. You must be exhausted,” Aria finally whimpered weakly.
Rubbing her eyes and clearing her hair off her face, she nodded and slowly pulled away.
“Thanks, Professor. I’m sorry. I… needed to get that out of me…” Ginny sighed and marched tiredly to the door.
The pain in Aria’s heart was unbearable, having just comforted the girl who was in love with the same boy as her. Aria managed a faint smile at Ginny when she turned back to look at her before leaving the room. Physically drained, she collapsed into the chair Ginny was just in and buried her painful face with her hands; she couldn’t move or talk anymore. She knew she didn’t deserve her gratitude, after what she did to her. After all, if it were not for her, none of this would have happened. If Harry had not been busy debating with Ginny about their relationship in the passageway, he would have seen the dark figure and be able to defend himself.
Aria finally realized that she had to do the right thing, for Harry’s sake. After everything that had happened, she could no longer lie to herself. Her heart finally told her that he never loved her. Despite this, she was determined to help him come back, because she loved him too much. After seeing Ginny and her hairpin, she understood what she had to do to rekindle his will to live.
She pulled out her wand and trudged wearily to the chalkboard. With her entire body shivering coldly, she waved her wand and words slowly flashed on the board:
Your back is all I see.
I journey by your side,
Our shadows forever apart.
“This experience will once again be a painful memory of my past…” she whimpered despairingly as she closed her teary eyes.
“Goodbye… Harry Potter. I’m sorry.”
“I finally get to talk to you alone, PROFESSOR HANNIBAL!” a cold voice suddenly rushed nastily across the room. Startled, Aria dropped her wand and turned around to see Hermione standing by the doorway, staring viciously at her.