AAAAAAH!!!!! Last chapter!!!!! I keep having these nightmares. What if I've done it badly? What if they don't like it? I could get so much hate mail that it would crush me under its mighty weight!!!! But I have to post it or you guys would kill me anyway. Anyway, i can tell that no one's reading this by the way that your eyes are all somewhere down the page as you desperately try to finish, so i'll wrap it up now.
Enjoy the final instalment of this fic!!!!
Harry looked around his bedroom, his suitcase lying open, with clothes strewn across the floor and his bed, as if they had started walking to the suitcase, then changed their mind halfway. He could smell his dinner burning, but didn’t worry about it; he wasn’t hungry anyway.
He sighed and walked towards the kitchen, pulling his wand out; his food was well known for its ability to go up in flame.
After putting out his dinner, he walked back upstairs and started throwing shirts and jeans into the case, not caring what went in and what didn’t. He lifted up the loose floorboard and pulled out all of the magical equipment that he’d had to hide from Sara; his cauldron, potion ingredients, books, photo album, and his ever-faithful invisibility cloak. He went to his wardrobe and pulled out his robes and dress robes, then noticed his firebolt leaning against the door. Harry wondered whether he should take his broomstick with him, and decided that this time, he would have to leave it behind.
Seeing the time, Harry quickly finished packing and closed the suitcase. He changed into his pyjamas and got into bed, preparing himself for what was likely to be another sleepless night.
***
Hermione sat straight up in her chair, tense, acting like nothing was wrong. Harry was leaving today. If anyone noticed her anxious state, or forced laughter, they said nothing, and allowed her to continue on staring blankly out the window, wondering whether Harry was gone yet.
She thought of Ron, Harry’s best friend, and how upset he was going to be when he found out that Harry had left without saying goodbye.
Why had Harry told her all this? How was she going to explain to everyone that they might never see him again?
***
Ginny woke very late, and immediately jumped out of bed and ran into the kitchen, where she was surprised to find that Hedwig wasn’t waiting for her on the kitchen table, and that there was no letter to be found. Disappointed, she started making breakfast, wondering why Harry hadn’t sent her a letter today.
She was half-way through eating her breakfast, when she heard a quiet knock at the door, which caused Ginny to jump in alarm. She ran to the door, smoothing down her rebellious hair as she did so. She opened the door, and her heart sank; it was just one of the hotel staff.
With as much cheerfulness as she could muster, she said, “Good Morning.”
“Morning, miss,” the girl said nervously, looking slightly embarrassed at seeing a guest in her pyjamas. “I do hope I didn’t wake you.”
“No, just having breakfast.”
“Well, I’ve got a letter for you, miss,” she said, holding out an envelope with a shaking hand, as if Ginny was going to hit her over the head if she wasn’t careful.
“Oh, well thank you for bringing it up for me, Ella,” she said kindly, looking at the girl’s name badge.
“That’s all right, miss. Have a nice day.”
“You too,” Ginny said as she watched Ella curtsy and walk down the hall.
Ginny went back into her room and shut the door, wondering who on earth was sending her a letter by muggle post. She flipped it over and saw her name and the hotel’s address written on the front in green ink. Her heart soared; that was the same ink that Harry used. She ripped the envelope open, and found that there was only a single piece of parchment inside. She picked this up and started reading eagerly.
I miss you now
I miss your face
I can’t erase
I can’t replace it
I have to go
You know I’ve got to
So hard to stay
Too hard to leave you
I’ll probably be back some day
Until then this is all I have to say
Every memory of looking out the back door,
I had the photo album spread out on my bedroom floor
It’s hard to say
It’s time to say it
Goodbye, Goodbye
Every memory of walking out the front door
I found the photo of a girl that I was looking for
It’s hard to say
It’s time to say it
Goodbye, Goodbye
I’ll always wait for you
Promise me that you’ll wait for me too
Wait for me
Ginny gasped. She didn’t notice the tears streaming down her face, nor that her heart seemed to have stopped beating. He was leaving because of her; and she knew what she had to do, what she should have done before now. She grabbed her coat and apparated to Harry’s house, not caring that muggles were likely to see her, or that she was only wearing her pyjamas in the rain. She ran up the front steps, ignoring the curious looks she was getting from passers by. She knocked furiously on the front door and rang the bell, hoping desperately that he hadn’t left yet.
She turned around and looked down the street, squinting through the rain at a figure with dark hair standing next to what looked like a large purple bus. She started running, her heart soaring. The man turned his head towards her, and it didn’t seem to surprise him that there was a dripping wet girl running towards him, going so fast that she was knocking people off their feet.
After what seemed like an eternity, she reached him. He stepped down off the bus and looked deep into her eyes. “You came.”
“Why, Harry?”
“I’ve got to, Gin. You have to have time to settle in to your life again, including introducing yourself to your family, who, by the way, think you are dead.”
He spoke to her as if he didn’t know her, and yet his gaze said more than he ever could. He thinks I hate him. She grabbed his hand and looked into his hurt eyes, “Please, Harry.”
“I’ll miss you, Gin,” he said stiffly, pulling his hand from her grip and climbing up the stairs of the bus.
This was her last chance. “I love you, Harry.”
He stopped, mid-step, then slowly turned around to face her. “Seriously?”
“Seriously.”
He leapt off the bus, wrapped his arms around her, and kissed her. He abandoned all pretence, merely concentrating on this one moment. Ginny heard the first wolf-whistle and blushed, before she too was swept away by the kiss. After a manner of minutes, she felt him pull away, and she reluctantly let go, slowly opening her eyes.
But when she looked up, both Harry and the bus were gone.
***
Ginny sat down on the top stair of Harry’s house, tears still streaming down her face and her breath coming out as loud gasps. She shut her eyes, shutting out all that had happened, and blocking out the pain. When she opened them again, she saw a flash of white in the corner of her eye.
She turned her head so quickly she cricked her neck. Tucked half-way under the door was an envelope. On the front, written in the green ink that so reminded her of Harry’s eyes, was one word. Ginny.
She carefully opened the envelope, holding her breath. Inside was a single photograph, slightly creased in places, as if it had been hastily folded several times. There were patches on the picture that looked like someone had been crying over it, but the tears had long since dried.
Ginny looked at the two people in the picture, smiling obliviously, unaware of the series of events that would shake up their lives in just a few months time. She saw the younger version of herself, her brilliant red hair blowing in the breeze and laughing, and asked herself why everything had turned out so wrong. She saw the man she loved, and wondered whether he knew that he would one day leave the girl sitting beside him. Before she knew it, she felt a lump in her throat, and tears dripping down her face and onto the picture, mingling with Harry’s.
But after a few minutes, she began to wonder why she was crying at all. Harry loves me. He waited for me for so many years. So why was she sad? She loved Harry, didn’t she? She understood why he was gone. And she would willingly wait until the end of forever for him to come back again. And I will wait. Forever.
She turned the picture over, and spotted something she hadn’t noticed before. Because like on the other photographs, Harry had written something on the back. Ginny knew what it would say before she read it, and so decided not to. She turned the photo back over, humming the tune of a favourite song. The two people in the photograph smiled at her, and she smiled back, her eyes sparkling like the diamonds around her neck.
Goodbye, Goodbye
And its going......going.....GONE!!! Finished!! Elvis has left the building!! Photographs is finally over!!! I think I'm going to cry........
OK, guys, what did you think?????? But before you go mad reviewing, I need to thank a couple of people. Firstly, thankyou SO much to all you guys who have read this story!!! I'd especially like to thank fairyville, who was the first to review this story, and has reviewed every chapter since (i think), and hel, for being SUCH a supportive friend.....*cough cough*.
So thanks everyone for reviewing because i can't mention you all here no matter how much i want to (but you all know who you are), and also to (the ever fabulous) Nickelback, for unknowingly providing me with both the basis and inspiration for this story.
If any of you are particularly interested in reading more of my stuff, I've got a Fred/Hermione story going, and I am about to post a one-shot about Harry and Hermione (not particularly good, btw)
So, once again, I thank you all a lot for reading this (I hope I didn't disappoint you all too much), and I hope to see you all again in the future (theoretically, of course).
chlo
xoxo
Goodbye, Goodbye
PS-just before you guys start using lots of capital letters and exclamation marks at me (i have received quite a lot of these reviews) i just want you to know that this wasn'y meant to be a typical love story, where they always end up together (although they probably will, later). Just a thought. Luv ya