“Harry...” she whispered lovingly in his ear. “Love…I know you’re awake.”
Ginny saw a smirk begin to form at the corners of his mouth and he slowly opened one eye.
“Am not,” he said, closing his eye again.
“So…” she began with a raised brow, “you’d rather sleep than to spend time with me?”
“Okay! …I’m awake!” Harry said, quickly opening both eyes and leaning up on his elbows.
He watched Ginny giggle, covering her mouth to hide her amusement as he narrowed his eyes at her.
“And what is it, exactly, that you find so funny?”
“Oh, nothing,” she said innocently. “I’m just admiring the fact that I have you wrapped around my little finger.” Harry scoffed as she held up her finger for further clarification.
“You, most certainly, do not have me wrapped.”
Ginny sat back on her heels and crossed her arms over her chest.
“Really?” she said with look of what she hoped was surprised anger. “Well… I believe that I still have some studying to do for my OWLs. I’d better get back to that or Professor McGonagall will have my arse.” Ginny began to get up as Harry reached out to stop her, pulling her back down onto her knees.
“Alright…fine. I’m wrapped or whipped or whatever it is that you want to call me,” he said as Ginny beamed at the long awaited response.
Harry let his hand cup her face as his thumb gently rubbed her cheek, slowly making its way over to caress the soft of her lips. He watched her lean her head into his hand and saw that radiant smile that he so desperately loved.
“…I wouldn’t quite call it wrapped though…I’d just say that I’m head over heels…mad about you.”
“Oh Harry,” Ginny breathed as she reached up to hold his hand against her cheek and kiss his thumb.
She moved her lips slowly across his hand, letting her feather light kisses brush against his skin and Harry bit his lip as a small moan escaped his throat. He shut his eyes tightly, willing his heart to find its soothing rhythm again, when he let a mischievous smile fill his features.
“Well, well…look who’s wrapped now.”
Ginny promptly stopped kissing his hand and sat perfectly still for a moment before turning to glare daggers at him.
Harry urgently tried to bite back his smile, but it wasn’t working. Instead, a hearty chortle rang through the air. It wasn’t long before she found it hard to control even her own laughter as she playfully swatted his arm.
“You’re a mean tease, you know that?” she asked as they both lay back down on the grass under the beech tree.
Harry curled his arms under his head and sighed contentedly as Ginny rested her head on his chest.
“Yeah…but you like me that way.”
She gave a small chuckle as her dainty fingers reached out to play with the edge of his robes.
“Harry?” Ginny hummed against him.
“Hmm?”
“No matter what happens…will we always remember this moment?” her voice dipped into a whisper.
His heart quickened again and he watched her head move up and down as his chest rose and fell.
Harry picked up her hand and kissed her fingertips, etching his “I love you’s” into her skin.
“Of course, Gin. This moment…and every moment that we have together.”
He’d just felt her smile against him as a loud crashing noise invaded the air, startling him.
“Gin, did you hear that?”
She didn’t answer his question, but she was saying something to him yet he couldn’t hear her.
“Gin, I can’t hear you. What did you say?”
Another hard crash; it was somewhere nearby, he just knew it.
“Harry,” he saw her mouth as she turned to look back at him.
Harry frowned at her, “Did you not hear me?”
He looked back into her eyes, thoroughly confused as to why neither of them could hear the other and then he found a familiar look of fear in her eyes. Suddenly, they weren’t lying under the beech tree any longer, but he was standing in the cold, outside of The Three Broomsticks and she was inside.
She was inside…banging against the window…screaming his name.
“HARRY!”
Her voice rang in his ears as reality came crashing all around him and then he knew.
“Ginny…” he said as his eyes shot open.
Harry pulled himself off the ground, wincing as sharp pains shot through his arms and chest but, as he looked up to see the building in front of him, all thoughts of his current state were no longer a concern.
It was still standing, but the blast seemed to have hit it hard from somewhere in the back and it was already beginning to crumble to the ground.
The fire was quickly starting to spread across the entire building and several people, from inside, came running out as the flames began to grow stronger.
Harry stood there for what seemed like hours on end, frozen in place and shifting his gaze back and forth between the door and the window where he’d seen Ginny sitting.
He couldn’t move for fear. He knew that if he moved, it would be over with; she’d be lying there, motionless, leaving him to face one of his worst fears. It all just had to be a nightmare.
Please let it be a nightmare, Harry thought, shutting his eyes tightly and wishing to Merlin that it was only in his mind.
When he opened them again, the horrifying sight that had lain before him grew worse even still.
With his heart pounding in his ears, his body found its awakening as he snatched his wand from inside his robe aiming straight for the door, where the fire had now consumed the passageway.
“AGUAMENTI!!” Harry yelled as a powerful jet of water shot from the end of his wand, causing some of the fire to die down. It helped a little, but as long as he could get inside the building, that’s all that he was really concerned about.
“HARRY!” yelled Ron and Hermione as they both came running down the street.
He had just started for The Three Broomsticks when he heard his two friends call out for him.
“I have to…” he panted with fear. “She’s in there…I have to get her out…or…” another crash came down behind him. Harry was sure that if he didn’t get inside quick, the building would come crashing down at any moment.
“Who’s…in there…Harry?” Hermione said, gasping for breath, as they neared him.
“Ginny…she’s inside,” he said as he started to make his way back toward the building.
“Mate,” Ron reached out grabbing his arm. “She’s not in there…you’re just imagining things.”
“I AM NOT BLOODY IMAGINING THINGS!” he screamed, ripping his arm from Ron’s hold and bolting for the collapsing building.
Harry was out of reach and bursting into the building before either one of them could try to stop him again.
He shielded himself from the flames as he sent a few streams of water out haphazardly. Looking about the room, it appeared that everyone had managed to escape…except for one.
In the front left corner, near a shattered window, was a small red-haired figure lying amongst the rubble.
Harry swore that his heart stopped beating…that he died at that very moment. His nightmare had now become reality. Ginny’s small frame was pinned under a large beam that had fallen from the ceiling.
In his dream-like state, Harry rushed over to her unmoving body, levitating the heavy beam as he neared her and sending it crashing to the ground on the far side of the building.
When he neared her, he skidded to a halt and dropped to his knees beside her. Harry drew her limp body into his arms, brushing strands of auburn hair from her face.
As realization set in, he let out a heart wrenching scream; she was dead.
He moved her, almost as if to shake her awake, when her arm fell to the side. Harry watched her hand as it bent back on the ground, and he picked it up quickly, so afraid that he would break her.
He wrapped one arm behind her, holding her like a baby as his other hand began to gently stroke her hair.
“Gin. Gin, come on, love…come on….you can’t be... Please don’t be…,” he couldn’t say it. If he said it, it only made it true; he wouldn’t make it true. He only held her; rocked her back and forth, pressing his lips against her forehead.
Hermione and Ron finally made their way into the building as they continued to put out the rest of the fire. Once the smoke had cleared, they both stood there in shock at the sight before them.
Harry was sitting on the ground with Ginny in his arms, murmuring her name over and over again through his cries.
Ron froze, not wanting to believe what he was seeing, as Hermione rushed over to them.
“Harry,” she moaned. He continued rocking her and saying her name as if he hadn’t heard a word that Hermione had said.
“Harry,” she called again. “We have to move. The building is going to collapse any minute.”
“I think…I think she’s…” no…he wouldn’t do this; he wouldn’t speak it.
Hermione leaned in, listening to her chest. Her breathing was so shallow that she could barely tell if Ginny was breathing at all, but as she reached out to check her arm, Hermione found a weak pulse. At least it’s something, she thought.
“Harry, she’s not dead but she will be if we don’t move her. We need to get her to St. Mungo’s right away.” Harry stopped rocking when he finally realized what Hermione said.
“Wha-…what? You’re sure?” he was confused. Harry leaned down, placing his ear close to her nose to hear some sort of breathing at all.
His head shot up quickly and Hermione saw Harry’s eyes glistening with tears as he smiled, realizing that Ginny was still alive.
Another loud crash came as a beam fell not too far from them.
“Harry, we have to go. NOW!” He nodded, quickly lifting Ginny into his arms as the two of them dodged pieces of the crumbling building, trying to make their way to safety.
“Ron!” Hermione yelled as she drew closer to him. He wasn’t moving; he hadn’t since he saw Ginny lying still in Harry’s arms.
“Ron, she’s okay. We’ve got to get out of here.” Nothing; he was still staring at the space that they’d found Ginny in.
“RON!” she yelled again. Not knowing what to do or how to snap him out of it, she grabbed his face with both of her hands and kissed him hard.
Ron’s eyes widened with shock as his gaze found her face. Hermione’s eyes were closed and her breath was heavy against his skin.
He stood there in complete shock as she broke their kiss and her eyes fluttered open.
“Mione?” he stuttered, watching a brief smile play on her lips until she brought herself back to reality.
“Ron, we have to move. Ginny’s okay; Harry’s got her. But, if we don’t get out of here now, none of us will be okay.”
Hermione watched his expression grow serious and knew that he’d finally realized what was going on. He gave a short nod and grabbed her hand, pulling her out of the pub with Harry carrying Ginny just behind them.
Barreling out into the December air, the four of them fell to the ground.
“Did you see anyone else in there?” Hermione asked Harry between heavy breaths.
“I- I don’t think I saw anyone besides Ginny…” he said, still holding her body close to his.
“I’ll go back in and check,” Ron got up and started to head back toward the pub when the entire building suddenly came crashing to the ground.
“Ron,” Hermione cried, jumping up and pulling him back into her arms. Ron felt her body press against his as he hesitantly brought his strong arms around her waist, gripping her tightly.
“I’m okay, Mione…I’m all right,” he pulled away, looking into her eyes.
“I’ve got to get her to St. Mungo’s,” Ron heard Harry say as he stood up with Ginny in his arms.
“You go ahead. We’ll make sure that no one else here is injured and see if we can’t find someone who knows what happened.”
“We’ll meet you there in a few minutes,” Hermione added.
Harry looked at Ron, who’s face was now fixed with a very stern, determined look and nodded to them just before Disapparting both he and Ginny.
“I keep telling you, I’m fine,” he hissed as the nurse healed a few scratches on his chest.
“Mr. Potter, I don’t want to continue having to ask you to sit still. Please don’t make me force you to do as I say.”
“Shouldn’t you be more concerned about her than me? I told you I’m fi”Ow!” he clenched his jaw and turned away from the short woman.
“We have Healers taking care of her right now. I’m sure she’ll be all right in no time,” the nurse said as she examined his bruised arm.
“I only want to see her for a moment. Just a moment…” Harry said frustrated as he got up from the table he’d been sitting on.
“Sir…you have to stay in here…sir,” he brushed her off as she continued to call after him. “Do not make me call security, Mr. Potter.” Harry let out a strangled groan as she neared him.
“Merlin…can’t you just….UGH!” he screamed until his nerves got the better of him and he sent his fist colliding into the nearest wall, almost causing the woman to fall over in shock.
Harry flinched with pain as he pulled his hand out of the hole, revealing bloody knuckles.
“I told you I was fine. You…you couldn’t just leave it at that, could you?”
“Yeah, I can see how fine you are. You’ve got a badly fractured arm and now, your hand is probably in the same condition. Sit down, Mr. Potter. You won’t be going anywhere until you’ve been thoroughly checked out and healed.”
“I just…I just needed to see her. I need to know if she’s going to be okay,” he said with an ache in his voice as he slowly walked back to sit on the examination table.
“You’ll get to see her soon enough,” said the nurse as she shook her head at the condition of his hand and began muttering healing spells.
Twenty minutes later after Harry had finally let the nurse mend and bandage him, he stepped out into the hallway and made his way to where he now saw Ron, Hermione and Mr. and Mrs. Weasley waiting outside Ginny’s room.
“Oh dear,” he heard Mrs. Weasley cry.
“What did you do to your hand, mate? I don’t remember you injuring it,” Ron noticed.
Harry shook his head with embarrassment, “I decided to take out a bit of my anger on the wall. I think I may have scared the poor nurse,” he nodded in her direction as she walked briskly down the hallway to the nurses’ desk.
He chuckled lightly and then winced in pain as Hermione took his hand to look at the bandages.
“I’m sure the nurse is quite capable, Hermione. She seemed to know what she was doing,” Harry said with a friendly smile.
“No, I’m just…” she started until she heard Harry and Ron laugh lightly.
“You will never stop wanting to learn things, will you Mione?” Ron egged on, using her new nickname that he knew she was, secretly, quite fond of.
“Oh stop it, Ron,” Hermione swatted at his arm.
“How are you dear?” Mrs. Weasley asked as she stepped toward Harry.
“I’m fine, Mrs. Weasley. I promise,” he knew she might not believe him, but in all honesty, he could care less as to how he felt, at the moment.
“How’s Ginny?” Harry asked, looking around at everyone.
“They haven’t told us anything yet,” Mr. Weasley said as he stepped behind Mrs. Weasley, wrapping his arm around her and squeezing her lightly.
“They won’t let us in to see her until the Healers have finished,” Mrs. Weasley added. “I just don’t understand what she was doing there. She owled me just the other day saying that they had their trip to Hogsmeade last Saturday.”
Harry frowned. In the midst of all that had happened, he’d forgotten about the fact that she was the only Hogwarts student in Hogsmeade today. He imagined that she’d probably learned of some of those hidden passageways on her own; after all, she wouldn’t have been able to leave the castle under any other circumstances.
“Did you two find anything out from those who were in the pub when the explosion hit?” Harry turned to ask Ron and Hermione.
“We asked a few people that said they didn’t see anything out of the ordinary. But there was one man who said he saw three strange looking men come in. He said Madam Rosmerta gave them a private room behind the bar,” Hermione explained.
“I don’t remember seeing anyone out of the ordinary, do you?” he asked Ron.
“No, I don’t mate. But, we asked Rosmerta and she said that she did give three men access to the back room. She said they wanted to have a bit of privacy for a meeting; nothing out of the normal, so she thought…other than the fact that they kept the hoods of their robes on.”
With a click of the door behind them, they all turned around to see two men and a young woman walk out of Ginny’s room. One of the men and the nurse nodded at them with sympathetic smiles as they continued to walk past them, while the other man remained behind.
“Mr. and Mrs. Weasley, I’m Frank Davidson, Miss Weasley’s Healer,” he said slowly. He was a tall man, very thin and lanky, Harry observed. He looked to be about the same age as Mrs. Weasley, but his hair was already turning gray, where her’s wasn’t.
“How is she, Mr. Davidson? Can we go in and see her now?” Mrs. Weasley said hurriedly.
“You can go in and sit with her in a moment, but first I’d like to speak with you,” the Healer began. “Please have a seat,” he said motioning to the nearby chairs.
“We’ve examined Miss Weasley and were able to heal all of the cuts and bruises that she came in with. We’ve also given her a potion and will continue to monitor the progress on her legs, from where the beam fell on her. It may take a little longer for them to heal than it will for the rest of her injuries, but in all, she’s doing well,” Mrs. Weasley let out a great sigh of relief and hugged Mr. Weasley with tear-filled eyes.
“There is one more thing though, ma’am…” Mr. Davidson said.
“Yes?” she sniffled as she turned back towards him.
“She hasn’t woken up yet, Mrs. Weasley. We gave her some Mandrake Restorative Draught, thinking that she might have been cursed, but she didn’t respond to it. After examining her further, we noticed that she had a large bruise on the back of her head. From what we can tell, it’s safe to assume that Mr. Potter found her lying on her back, is that correct?” the Healer asked Harry.
He was caught off guard for a moment, but answered quickly, “Er…yes. I found her lying face up with the beam covering her legs.”
“We’ve deduced that her head probably hit the ground with quite a hard blow after the beam fell on her, causing her unconsciousness.” Mrs. Weasley gasped with fear, covering her mouth to muffle her cries.
Confused and upset, Harry asked what seemed to be on all of their minds.
“Well, is there not something that you can do to make her wake up? How long will she continue to be like this?”
“There is nothing else that we can give her that will make her wake up from this state, which means that she could be unconscious for hours or days…or possibly longer. We’re not sure how long she’ll be like this. The only thing that we can all do now is wait.”
Harry huffed with rage and Mr. Davidson could see the fire in his eyes.
“Please calm down, Mr. Potter,” said the Healer. “I’d rather like to keep the rest of the walls in tact, if you don’t mind.” Harry’s cheeks flushed and took up the habit of pacing, instead.
“As I said,” Mr. Davidson continued. “She is still very weak, but you can go in and visit with her. It’ll do her good to hear your voices. We’ll continue to monitor her and notify you if there are any changes.” He gave the same nod and sympathetic smile, that Harry was sure had been well rehearsed after being a Healer for so many years.
“Please let me know if there is anything that you need,” he added just before walking away.
Almost an entire week had come and gone after that horrifying day. The whole Weasley family had been taking turns staying with Ginny; Mrs. Weasley more so than most of them. But, it was Harry who’d surprised them all. He had been there with her since the day he brought her in.
Mr. and Mrs. Weasley had both insisted that he Floo to the Burrow and get some rest, but he refused.
Most days were okay; there were small signs that she wanted to wake up, that she was trying. But then, there were those days where she’d appear to be having fitful nightmares and her body would thrash about the bed. Harry could tell you exactly what he thought were bringing those on, but he dared not mention it to the others, with the exception of Ron and Hermione.
Today, though; today was one of the good days. There’d been several times where he’d see her start to smile or stretch out her fingers as if she was trying to reach for something. He knew that she was thinking about something because her eyes were moving furiously beneath her eyelids.
It was now well after noon as Harry stood, to the right of her bed, staring out the window, watching people pass up and down the street. Ron and Hermione, who were taking their round for visitation today, sat at a small table on the opposite side of the room.
They remained quiet for the most part, all of them in deep thought about one thing or another; Ron searching his copy of The Daily Prophet and Hermione flipping back and forth between her notes and a heavy textbook, no doubt trying to find some kind of potion or spell that would awaken Ginny.
Harry, though, found his mind drifting elsewhere.
“What are you staring after?” she asked him as she kept her eyes fixed on her Potions essay.
“Oh nothing,” Harry said, distractedly tearing his view away from the window to watch her. She let her quill scratch across the parchment as she steadily continued to write.
“Well…something’s obviously got your attention.”
“I was just thinking about how nice it would be to have a few good laps around the Quidditch pitch.”
“By all means, Harry, go ahead. Don’t let me keep you cooped up in here,” she teased.
“Nah…that’s okay,” he said as he crossed the common room to sit next to her on the plush sofa. “I’d much rather help you study for your OWLs.”
“Oh you would, would you? Didn’t you get enough of this last year, Harry?” Ginny pursed her lips at him as he moved her Charms and Transfiguration books to the floor.
“I don’t think I’d mind going through it again. After all, everyone needs help studying for their OWLs…even you Miss Weasley,” he said, reaching out to snatch her quill from her hand.
“Harry!” she scoffed. “I’d hardly say that taking my quill is a means of helping me study.”
“Of course it is; we’re going have a practical lesson in Defense Against the Dark Arts.”
“Somehow I don’t think that a wrestling match in the middle of the common room is qualified as a practical lesson,” Ginny chuckled at the blush that crept up on his cheeks. “Besides, Hermione would kill you if she found out you were trying to distract me again,” she said, trying to get her quill back.
“Come now, Hermione wouldn’t do anything to hurt me,” Harry said, not believing her.
“Oh…I’m afraid she would.”
“Enlighten me then, love. What could Hermione possibly do to me?”
She stopped reaching for her quill and crossed her arms over her chest, “She’d send me to the library and make you stay away. That’s exactly what she’d do.”
“Er…right,” Harry frowned. “Your quill, my lady,” he said, presenting it to her.
“How kind of you,” Ginny gave him an exasperated look as she took the quill from his hands, hearing him sigh in defeat.
She dipped the sharp tip into her ink again and was poised over her parchment, preparing to pick up from where she left off, when she caught sight of him from the corner of her eye. He was idly humming to himself as he picked the fuzz off of the sofa.
Ginny bit her lip out of nervous habit and quickly stood up, knocking all of the notes off of her lap and grabbed Harry’s hand, dragging him out of the portrait hole.
“Where are we going?” he asked thoroughly confused.
“Somewhere Hermione won’t find us,” she said stopping so abruptly that he collided right into her.
“Gin-”
“Shhh…” Ginny put a finger against his lips. “What Hermione doesn’t know won’t hurt her.”
Her lips met his in a kiss that he knew promised more and then just as quickly as she’d captured him, she tore her lips from his with a mischievous smile and continued pulling him down the hallway.
She would be surely be the death of him.
There was a terrible soreness and pain that seemed to run through her entire body. She never remembered, in her lifetime, ever feeling this way before.
Her mind desperately tried to form some sort of coherent thought as she made to open her eyes but, her body and mind refused to cooperate.
A million questions were running through her head: where am I, why can’t I open my eyes, what happened to me. Her surrounding questions didn’t stop until she heard a young man’s voice from a distant corner.
“URGH! This is just no use. The Daily Prophet just says the same thing, ‘Explosion at Three Broomsticks, No Suspects Yet’. What the bloody hell is wrong with these people?”
She heard something that sounded like a book closing and then a girl’s voice followed.
“Ron, it’ll be okay. We’ll figure something out, won’t we Harry?”
“Hmmm? ...Oh, er…yeah,” said a distracted voice. This one seemed closer to her than the other two.
“We should be out there right now, trying to find out who did this, who caused this explosion…who did this to my sister!” He was nearing a point of madness; his voice was rough and it coursed with ragged breaths as the first young man spoke again. “Could someone please remind me why we’re still sitting here, just waiting?”
“You two can go on if you like,” said the second young man, “but I’ve told you, I’m not going anywhere until I know that Ginny is doing better and that she’s going to be okay.”
“But-” said the tempered one until the girl interrupted him.
“We’ll find everything out in due time, I promise,” she spoke soothingly.
After that, hardly a sound was made with the exception of material rustling and a shifting of someone’s feet.
She continued, for what seemed like half an hour, trying to open her eyes and then, as if there’d never been a hesitance, her heavy eyes fluttered open, letting the bright sunlight overpower her senses, blinding her.
She furrowed her brow, squeezing her eyes shut quickly. Knowing what to expect this time, she slowly opened one eye at a time, letting herself adjust to the brightness.
As her vision cleared, she was able to make out three figures in the room with her. On the opposite side of the room there was one young man with ginger hair and a girl, who had bushy, brown hair. Once her vision focused, she noticed that the girl was running her fingers soothingly through his hair as she sat on the arm of his chair.
A flicker of something on the right caught her attention as she glanced over to the window to see a handsome young man with tangled raven locks and wire rimmed glasses. He was staring out the window, not really searching for anything but… just looking. The distracted one, she thought and smiled to herself, not really understanding why.
She looked around the room, trying to gather some kind of idea as to where she was. She was lying in a small, uncomfortable bed and the more she observed everything closely, the more it looked like a hospital room.
But why would I be in the hospital? I’m not ill.
Feeling very uneasy in her surroundings, she shifted in the bed somewhat, trying to sit up without alerting too much attention.
“Excuse me, sir?” her tired voice carried, addressing the gentleman by the window.
At first, she thought that he didn’t hear her, but she noticed his back stiffen and as if he didn’t believe he’d heard her voice, he turned his head slowly to face her with complete bewilderment.
After his much delayed reaction, he found his voice suddenly exclaiming her name, “Ginny!”
Before she could even prepare herself, he ran over to the bed, embracing her with fierceness.
“Ginny! Oh thank Merlin, we were so worried that you wouldn’t wake,” he gushed as he kissed the top of her head.
“How do you feel?” the bushy-haired girl asked as she and the tall, ginger-haired boy came bounding towards the bed.
“Bloody hell, sis. You had us worried to death,” he added. “Don’t you ever do that again!”
She drew her arms around her waist and looked at them with confusion, “I’m sorry, but I haven’t the slightest idea what you’re all on about and I certainly don’t appreciate you talking to me like that.” She scowled at the young man that had been referred to as Ron.
Looking over to the raven-haired young man, who was stroking her hair, she frowned, “Am I…do I know you lot?”
The three of them stopped all movement and glanced at each other apprehensively.
“Don’t be such a prat, Ginny. Stop yanking our chain,” the ginger-haired boy said nervously, receiving an elbow to the gut from the girl.
“I’m not yanking your chain,” she said with an indignant look. “I don’t have a clue as to who you all are or why, for that matter, you keep calling me Ginny.”
None of them could really do much more than stand there and gape at her. They certainly hadn’t expected this turn of events.
“It’s us, sweetie; your brother, Ron, and Harry and Hermione,” said the girl, pointing to each of them respectively, “your friends. And your name is Ginny Weasley; don’t you remember?”
“No,” Ginny said cautiously.
“What can you remember?”
Ginny sat quiet for a moment, trying to recall some memory, anything from the past few weeks, or months…or even years.
“Nothing; I can’t remember anything,” she said at last.
A look of terror steadily grew on Harry’s face as he realized that this could be worse than what they all had imagined.
“I’ll fetch the Healer at once,” Harry said, rushing out of the room.
There was something about him that felt sweet and warm…and familiar, Ginny thought as her eyes followed him out of the room. Whatever it was, she felt herself smiling a little and Hermione took notice.
“You’re sure that you don’t remember anything? You’re not pulling one over on us?” she asked.
“I promise you; I’m not joking. I don’t remember anything,” Ginny said as her temper began to rage. She drew her arms tighter around her body as if to shield herself from them.
“I swear Ginny, if you’re just doing this to get Harry’s attention, I’ll kill you before Mum even has time to Floo here,” Ron shouted, turning an unpleasant shade of maroon.
“I’ve told you what I do know and I’ve told you that I don’t appreciate you yelling at me, regardless of whether you are actually my brother or not. I don’t remember anything and I’m tired of you two asking me questions. I want to see a nurse or a Healer.” She was now beyond angry and being in this unfamiliar place, with people that she couldn’t remember, was making her more frightened.
“Ginny,” Hermione said reaching out to touch her shoulder, “It’s okay. The Healer will be in here shortly. Harry went to fetch him.”
“Don’t touch me,” Ginny jerked away as Hermione neared her. “Please…just leave me alone.”
“Look, Gin. We didn’t mean to make you upset, we just wanted to help you remember-” Ron tried to inch his way closer to her when Ginny jumped out of the bed and ran to the spot, next to the window, where Harry had been standing.
“Leave me alone!” she yelled at him. “I want the nurse!”
Hermione and Ron edged over to her slowly, little by little but instead of reassuring her, as they were trying to, they made her feel more crowded and caged.
Ginny, now in such a terrible state, backed against the wall and slid down, crying.
“I …want the…nurse.”
“They’re coming dearest,” Hermione said softly.
“NURSE! NURSE!” Ginny continued to shout. She only stopped when she heard his voice again as he came bursting through the door.
“She woke up just minutes ago…” Harry was saying as he walked into the room, accompanied by Healer Davidson and a nurse.
When he heard her screaming and saw her huddled on the floor, fear gripped his heart, making him feel as if he was burning from the inside.
Ginny could only see him through tear-filled eyes as he hurried toward her and dropping to his knees. He looked back up at Ron and Hermione before speaking directly to her.
“What’s going on?”
“We just tried to help her…we thought she was joking,” Ron admitted.
“She sort of flew off the broomstick when Ron kept insisting that she was only acting,” Hermione told him.
Harry looked over to Ron, scowling at him and then suddenly reached out and swiftly hit him on the leg.
“You insensitive git! What’s the matter with you? Are you that daft?” he asked angrily before turning his attention back to Ginny, who was now crying into her hands.
Ron started to snap back when Hermione elbowed him in the rib.
“Miss…” Harry said tentatively. She stopped crying but kept her hands over her face.
He heard her sniffle slightly and tried again, “Ginny?” There was no more sniffling now. “Gin?” he said with extreme caution and then he saw the brown flecks of her eyes begin to peak over her fingertips.
“It’s going to be all right; I promise,” he said soothingly as he watched her eyes search his. “You can trust us…you can trust me.”
She frowned slightly but didn’t say anything.
“Do you trust me?” Harry said gently.
Ginny looked on the verge of crying but he saw her swallow and slowly nod her head.
Harry stood up and reached out a kind hand to her. With but little hesitation, Ginny stretched her hand forward to take his, allowing him to gently pull her up from the floor. As he did, she stumbled slightly and he caught her around the waist, just as she began to fall.
She reached out with both hands, clutching onto his shoulders for support. It took Ginny a moment to regain her strength but she finally managed to as her gaze met his emerald green eyes. She had only seen him smile briefly before now, but as she stood there, practically in his arms, she found herself getting lost in him as a beautiful smile shown across his features.
“Ahem,” Mr. Davidson cleared his throat. “Let’s get her back over to the bed, Mr. Potter.”
Harry shook himself from the reverie of having Ginny in his arms again and simply nodded.
“Let’s get you back to bed, okay?” he said helping her walk back and climb into the hospital bed.
After Harry helped her settle in and pulled the covers over her silky, white legs, he began to step away from the bed to give the Healer as much room as he needed, but she quickly reached out and grabbed his hand, tugging him closer to her.
Harry looked down at her hand as it grasped his. He was utterly surprised that she was even showing him this kind of attention. He thought she would’ve run away from him, like she had with Ron and Hermione; but, as he’d studied her earlier, he swore he’d seen a bit of the old Ginny still hidden in her chocolate brown eyes.
His head lifted slowly until he could see her face; if Harry remembered that look correctly, he thought that she was asking him to stay. Edging back to her side, he let a sincere and loving smile form on his lips as he gently squeezed her hand. He hoped that somewhere in her mind, she’d remember him…and how much he loved her.
A/N: Reviews are total love people. Do me a favor and drop me a line to let me know what you think about the story so far! Thanks::love::