This chapter is dedicated to my bestest buddy: Envy of Emma! I love you!
“Harry, how did you…?” Hermione asked speechlessly.
“How did I what?” Harry asked.
“You know…err…figure that the numbing potion would the problem?” Ron finished Hermione’s thought.
“I told you, I just know…it’s like...it’s like-,“ Harry got cut off by screaming.
“GINNY!” Mrs. Weasley screeched, “OH MERLIN!”
Harry, Hermione, and Ron shot out of their seats and ran for Ginny’s room.
When they reached the door, Ron and Hermione didn’t hesitate to scamper inside. Harry, on the other hand, stopped himself. Deep in thought, he leaned his back against the wall next to the door.
He vaguely felt his body slide down the wall and sit on the floor. He needed to think. He needed to calm himself down somehow. Ginny was okay. They could be together. But wait-could they?
*********
“Harry? Harry, are you okay?” Hermione gently tapped Harry’s shoulder as she knelt down to sit with him.
His head snapped up suddenly toward her as if he’d forgotten where he was and that there were other people in the world. The look on his face was so puzzled that Hermione became even more worried than when she’d noticed he wasn’t in the room and then stepped out to find him on the ground with his face in his hands.
“Harry?!” she said more forcefully.
“I’m…I’m fine,” he stuttered.
Her face softened as she realized he was alright. But she wasn’t buying his excuse.
“Umm, yeah…Harry, you know me, right?”
He nodded.
“Okay, then you should know that I am not buying the act and I won’t stop badgering until you spill the explanation,” she said sweetly.
When he looked over at her, she blinked her eyes and widened her grin.
He sighed. “I can be with her now,” he told her.
She nodded and then spoke slowly. “Annnnnnnd?” She signaled him to continue because she couldn’t see the problem with this.
“Well, I already told you that I let it slip. All of it, not just about our stupid game to play with their minds, but all of it! I…I told her about us leaving and I told her that I wouldn’t be with her this year because we would be hunting horcruxes and Voldemort. I told her everything,” he whispered the last part.
Hermione finally understood the problem. Ginny would come. At least she would try to, being the stubborn Weasley that she was. Hermione sighed heavily.
She pulled Harry into a hug. “We won’t let her come. I promise Harry. I promise,” she whispered into his ear.
He held onto her tight. They sat like that for a small while. When they pulled away from each other, he was ready to move on and stop talking about the subject of leaving his life and leaving Ginny.
They got up and walked over to the seating area. They sat down and faced each other.
"So where is everyone?" Harry asked, looking around.
"Well," Hermione began, "everyone is still in Ginny's room. After about ten minutes, Ginny gave me a worried look. I knew she was worried about you. So I told everyone that I would give them some family time and then I came looking for you. She's really weak, Harry. I guess she put up such a fight to move some part of her body when she couldn't that her body and mind are worn out. They are going to keep her here for a week or two until she has all of her strength left."
She sighed and waited for a reply. When she didn't get one, she continued on a different subject. "Lupin left while you were in the room with Ginny earlier, by the way. I forgot to tell you. And Moody and pretty much everyone else that was here. They are still fixing up Grimauld. It's taking time. It's good of you to let them, you know Harry."
"Let them what?" he asked.
"Well, now that you are 17 and the house is officially yours, it's good of you to let Lupin and them take care of it and set it back up for the Order," she explained.
He nodded. "I don't want to keep it. And we need a place to go after we find each horcrux," he said. "And I know, by the way. I know Ginny was worried in there just now. She was worried that I wasn’t in there. She thought something happened to me and you weren't telling her. But when you left looking for me, she knew I was alright."
As Harry said this, Hermione gave him an odd look. "I still can't explain it. I can just hear her sometimes."
Harry instinctively grabbed his chest again as the image of her telling the Romilda Vane about his nonexistent tattoo.
A quiet, weak yell echoed quietly from Ginny's room and Harry shot up from his seat.
"Harry! Harry, get your arse in here now! Ginny's having a cow over something! She's says your hurt or something," Ron was terrified as he yelled at Harry.
Harry was so confused. But he put it aside and ran toward the room. He pushed Ron away gently and walked inside. Breathing heavily from fear, Harry stopped as soon as he entered and stared at where the bed was.
All of the Weasleys were surrounding the bed and he couldn't see Ginny. He could hear her weak and worried comments about him coming from her mouth. But then her screaming stopped and the family parted so that Ginny and Harry were face to face.
Harry slowly walked closer to her. His heart was pounding with hurt as he saw the tears in her eyes. When he got to her, he stared down at her for a moment.
"Harry...I thought...I thought...my heart hurt...you are," Ginny made no sense, as she whispered in shock and reached her hands out to Harry's face.
His head became foggy and he forgot all of his reasoning. He grabbed her hands with his own and knelt down beside her. He wiped at her tears softly and kissed her hand. They sat staring at each other for a few minutes more. Then he laid his head down on her stomach and together, they fell asleep.
**************
“Harry,” Ginny whispered as she tried to wake him up. “Harry, wake up. Everyone’s gone.”
Harry took a deep breath as if to show he was awake and he looked around the room. It was, indeed empty. His hand was pushed and he looked down at it. It was holding a single silver locket. He looked up at Ginny quizzically.
“We found it a couple summers ago at Grimauld Place. Lupin gave it to me a week or so ago. He said he’d found it when they started to re-safe the place. I wanted to give it to you as a late birthday present. But you know how things went this last week,” Ginny explained.
Harry smiled. “I’m sorry,” he said.
She nodded. “Let’s just forget about it for now, okay?” she whispered.
“But can I just…I just have one question,” Harry told her.
“Okay.”
“Why did you…why did you think I was hurt? Why did you think something was wrong?” Harry asked.
Ginny sighed. “Because I was hurt. My heart practically stopped beating. My chest hurt and my body became weak. Something in my head was telling me something was wrong. I don’t really know why or how, though,” she explained.
Harry nodded. “I’m going to go get something to eat. I’ll be right back, alright?” Harry asked.
When Ginny nodded, Harry got up and started to walk out.
“Harry,” Ginny stopped him as he reached the door.
He looked over at her. “Yeah?”
“I love you,” she told him quietly.
He smiled and walked out of the door.
************
“Do you love Ron?” Harry asked Hermione as he shoved a pumpkin pasty into his mouth.
They were, again, sitting in the seating area. Ron was getting tea downstairs in the cafeteria and the rest of the Weasleys were off at their normal activities.
Ron and Hermione had decided that, if they went home, they would just mosey around the burrow all day, so they’d decided to stay at St. Mungo’s for the rest of the day with Harry and Ginny. Harry wasn’t even asked if he wanted to leave. Everyone just assumed he would want to stay with Ginny because they’d fallen asleep together on the bed.
“Excuse me? Do I what?” Hermione asked, clearly shocked with his sudden question.
“Well, do you?”
Hermione glanced over at the stairs to see if Ron was anywhere close. When she saw that the coast was clear, she answered.
“Yes, if you must know. But I told him. And I know that he loves me, too. Even if he hasn’t said it yet,” Hermione explained. “Why do you ask?”
“I was just…I just wanted to know,” Harry said.
Right then Ron walked up the stairs carrying two cups. He walked over to Harry and Hermione and sat down. He handed one cup to Hermione.
“I didn’t ask for anything. What is it?” Hermione asked.
“I know you didn’t. But I also know that you have a small weakness for raspberry tea and they had it downstairs so I got you a cup,” he said matter-of-factly.
She looked at him, bewildered. “And how do you know this?” she asked.
“Because one time, a few summers back when we went to the Quidditch World Cup, you had about fifteen cups and then you told me: quote, ‘I have a small weakness for raspberry tea,’ end quote,” he said as he made his voice high to mimic her.
She smiled and they kissed. Harry pretended as if he was looking at a small old lady descend the staircase.
“Well, I’m going to go check on Gin,” Ron said.
He got up and walked into Ginny’s room. Harry and Hermione watched him go.
“You know, you could be eating with Ginny,” Hermione pointed out to Harry.
He sighed.
“She said she loved you,” Hermione whispered as she nodded her head up and down to show that she had figured out what he didn’t want to say.
“What? What makes you think that?” Harry tried to act innocent.
“Don’t make me have to tell you that I know you for the second time today!” Hermione exclaimed. “I’m not stupid, Harry. I can tell. You didn’t say it back, did you?”
“Harry, Ginny wants you,” Ron told them as he stuck his head out of the room.
Harry nodded. He was glad he didn’t have to answer Hermione’s last question. He got up to start walking over to the room.
And then he heard a scream again. This time it wasn’t weak or quiet and it wasn’t coming from a different room. It was loud and full of fear. And it was directly in his head.
He grabbed his head and began to shake back and forth trying to get the pain to decrease at least a small amount.
Hermione leapt forward and grabbed him.
“HARRY!” Hermione was screaming.
Then Harry realized what his head was screaming. It was screaming his name; it was screaming for help.
“Ginny,” he whispered through the screams inside his own ears. “Check…Ginny.”
“RONALD! CHECK GINNY!” Hermione screamed.
Ron ran into the room and saw nothing wrong with his little sister other than the fact that she was in a hospital bed
“SHE’S FINE,” Ron screeched.
And then the bawling stopped. Quickly, Harry ran toward Ginny’s room and bounded in. In the bed was Ginny, safe and sound. The screaming returned, this time muffled by weakness and Harry became determined to find it.
He apparated to Grimauld Place to find the house completely deserted. He searched all of the rooms and all he found was a ripped up picture of the Dursley’s house on Private Drive.
Without question, he knew where to go.
Within seconds, he was standing in front of the Dursley’s house where the Dark Mark looked down upon it. He rushed to the door and pushed it open. The house was a mess. On the counter was a picture of his parents out front of the zoo that Dudley was taken on his eleventh birthday.
He thought about the zoo hard and Apparated in front of the glass window where he had let a snake loose by accident.
Inside the cage now was Ginny hanging upside down. The shrieks in his head matched those of Ginny’s. He stared at her in shock before getting rid of the glass.
He quickly realized how stupid that choice had been. It was a trap. Shivers made their way down his spine as he heard the voice he loathed so deeply.
“Oh, Harry, you stupid boy, I knew you’d come for her.”
AN: Sorry it took so long to update. Finals suck! Anyways, hope you like it. Please Review!
Manda*