I don't own anything in the Potterverse.
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To say that Harry was confused by Ginny’s response to his words would be the understatement of the year. He didn’t understand why she ran out of his room, why she had tears in her eyes, nor why she had blushed.
For Harry, the words wrapped up everything he felt for her: the love that had blossomed during the months since their breakup, and the longing he had to be with her, to stand with her to face the future. It didn’t matter to him what that future held as long as she was part of it. It meant that being with her, allowing himself to love her, was worth the risk of losing her in the war.
Months ago Abe had explained that Professor Dumbledore made a choice to not be in a relationship with a woman he loved because he wanted to protect her. He had decided that being with her was not worth the risk of having his heart broken if something happened to her. She had died while he was fighting Grindelwald.
Harry, after several long months of fighting it, had finally come to the realization that Ginny was indeed worth it. She was worth all the risks.
But she can’t know what that meant, can she? he wondered, his mind racing over the image of her running out of the room. His heart had plummeted into somewhere just below the floor, and he had no idea what he had done or what to do now.
Focusing his mind on Ginny, he instantly felt a well of emotion. The feelings, however, were jubilant, not upset or angry. This fact confused Harry even more. Ginny? He attempted to make contact with her. He could tell she was in her room now, her feelings of joy being replaced by a panicked feeling that Harry became concerned over.
Ginny, do you” His thought was cut off. He distinctly heard Ginny’s voice in his head.
Stay there! This statement was followed by another few seconds of frantic feelings. Suddenly, relief and happiness seemed to mix, and the joy that filled Ginny was greater than he could ever remember feeling in her before.
He kept up the link, focused on her, and felt her moving from the girls’ end of the tower to the boys’ end. He felt her rush up the steps and then she was just outside the door. The door burst open, and Ginny was in his arms. They hugged there for a few moments before she pulled away”reluctantly, it seemed to Harry. She handed him a small box wrapped in blue paper with a bow on top. It looked as if it had been opened before and then hastily rewrapped.
“Erm, Ginny, thanks?” Harry was bemused, but took the box and read the card. Happy Birthday, Harry. He was more confused than ever.
“Open it,” she urged.
Harry started unwrapping the present very carefully. He had still not quite got the hang of opening presents with the exuberance that the Weasleys always showed. Once the paper was cleared away, he found himself holding a small box. He lifted the lid and found a new watch. The band was leather, while the face was a deep violet. The housing was silver.
It was a beautiful watch, and Harry was highly appreciative, since his watch didn’t work, but he was still confused by all this. “Thanks, Ginny…um, can we finish what we were talking about?”
“Turn it over,” Ginny exclaimed excitedly.
He slowly turned the watch onto its face. There, etched into the silver back in a stylized script, were the words, You’re Worth It. Harry finally understood. He looked over at Ginny, a mixture of surprise and joy crossing his face.
“I heard you and Abe talking the night of your birthday. I had gotten you the watch, and I was going to surprise you with it before you went to bed. Then I heard what you said. I decided to magically engrave the watch that night,” Ginny explained as they moved to sit on Harry’s bed.
“Why didn’t you give it to me?”
“I needed you to tell me first,” Ginny confided, turning away from Harry for the first time. “I knew that if I told you that night, we probably would have gotten together, but you would have pushed me away again the next time something went wrong.”
Harry blushed, realizing that she was exactly right.
“So I decided to wait until you told me first. Until you made the first move.” She was smiling at him now, and Harry’s heart leapt.
They sat there for a few moments, just enjoying the feeling of being with each other. Harry had put his arm around Ginny holding her in a loose hug as they sat together. He slowly leaned towards her, nervously. Why am I nervous? We’ve kissed before, he thought.
Their lips met and it felt like something in each of them burst. Harry felt his heart rate increase dramatically and the heat build up in his cheeks. The intensity of the kiss was greater than any Harry had felt before. It was over much too quickly for his liking.
They broke apart, both attempting to catch their breath. “Wow,” was all Harry could say. Ginny nodded in agreement. Ron came bursting into the room as they started to get up.
“What in blazes is going on up here?” he bellowed. “Hermione and I have been waiting, then we see Ginny race back to her room and then back up here again. Now you two are just sitting up here?”
“Ron,” Hermione said, smacking his arm to get his attention. She pointed at Harry and Ginny’s interlaced fingers. Ron stared for a second and then recognition broke out on his face. “You two finally work it out?”
“Yeah, Harry finally made his move.” Ginny beamed.
Harry looked somewhat embarrassed by the “finally,” but decided to let it go. He was beyond happy to be holding hands with Ginny again. “Let’s go downstairs and eat.” He grabbed his new watch and put it on. He took the old one and placed it on the nightstand. Then, holding hands with Ginny, he walked out of the room with Ron and Hermione behind them. They just heard Ron from behind muttering something about “it’s about time”.
Yes it is, Harry mused, and the beast in his chest purred contentedly.
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Dinner that evening was a festive affair as three couples sat around and chatted merrily. Neville and Parvati, Ron and Hermione, and Harry and Ginny all enjoyed a glorious meal.
Ron and Hermione spent the evening alternately discussing the merits of pursuing elf rights and the latest new broom that was supposed to replace the Firebolt as the fastest broom in the world. Harry was amazed at how well they did that now. Ron would listen attentively and even make comments about the views Hermione had concerning S.P.E.W.”although he still referred to it as Spew.
She would listen attentively as Ron went on and on about this broom fact or how that could be the broom to put the Canons over the top. The ability of his bickering friends to be able to enjoy a conversation like this still made Harry marvel.
Ginny spent the evening trying not to giggle as Harry continually made comments in her head. By the end of the evening, it had gotten to be too much and she nearly lost herself in a fit of laughter when Harry thought something about Ernie and Lavender as they walked hand in hand out of the Great Hall.
“It wasn’t that funny,” Harry thought. She simply nodded, made eye contact with him and burst into laughter again. The rest at the table had no idea what was going on and stared wonderingly at Ginny, which made her laugh all the more.
Finally, dinner was over, and they all agreed that they needed to go to the Room of Requirement and deal with the locket. Neville walked Parvati back to Gryffindor Tower and met them on the seventh floor. They entered and once again the room had a round table for them all to sit at. Luna was the last to arrive and take her seat.
“So this was what you and Professor Dumbledore were after in the cave that night?” Ron asked.
“This is it. I’m still confused about all this though. Professor Dumbledore thought there might be something important in the box of Black family stuff, but if he knew that the locket was in the box, why did we go to the cave?” Harry questioned.
“Do you think Dumbledore knew the cave had a fake in it?” Ginny inquired.
“I don’t think so. If he did, then why go?” Harry responded. “Why go through all that?” He shuddered, remembering the potion he had fed to his old mentor.
“Professor Dumbledore must have thought there was another Horcrux there then,” Hermione interjected.
“Speaking of other Horcruxes,” Neville intoned, “do we know anything about the last one?” This was a subject that Harry had not really wanted to think about. He knew that once the last Horcrux was destroyed he would finally have to deal with Voldemort himself.
Hermione again began to speak. “Dumbledore thought it was either something from Ravenclaw or Gryffindor. The only relics of Gryffindor are the Sorting Hat and the sword. Well, the only known relics, at least. I haven’t found anything that has survived from Ravenclaw.”
“Could it be the hat or the sword?” Neville questioned.
Ron sat up in his chair. “It wouldn’t make much sense to use either of those. They are too well-known; too many people have handled them, right?”
“Well, the hat is handled a lot, but no one has touched the sword since the Chamber of Secrets,” Harry explained. Ginny lost some of the color in her face. “As far as I know, since then it has been sitting in the glass case in Dumbledore’s…I mean McGonagall’s office.”
“You could go and check it, Harry,” Neville announced.
“I don’t think it’s one, Neville, but I’ll go to McGonagall’s office tomorrow and see,” Harry replied.
“Luna,” Hermione said, “do you know anything about Ravenclaw?”
Luna seemed to be barely paying attention to the conversation, but sat up when she heard her name. She still held the dreamy expression, and her voice matched her look when she spoke. “Not really, there is a portrait of her in our common room but it doesn’t talk or anything.”
“Hey, could we get in and see the painting? Maybe we could get a clue from that?” Ron suggested.
Hermione looked doubtful. “We aren’t allowed into the other common rooms.”
“It hasn’t stopped us before.” Harry gave Hermione a knowing look.
“That’s true.” Hermione blushed. Harry knew the memory of trying to get into the Slytherin common room was not one that Hermione enjoyed.
“What if during Ravenclaw’s next Quidditch match we tried to get in? Luna could let us in, and the common room will be empty,” Ginny explained.
“Too many people, if we all try and go,” Harry responded. “I could go in and check it out. I could use the Invisibility Cloak.”
“Trying to leave us behind again,” Ginny stated, raising her eyebrow.
“Never again,” Harry replied with a grin. Ron rolled his eyes.
Luna, still seemingly barely in the conversation spoke up, “So, Harry, I’ll tell you the password in a couple of weeks from now, and you can get into the common room and look at the portrait. I don’t think it will show you much, but that’s fine.”
They all agreed that this was probably the best plan. The focus of the conversation shifted back to the locket. “So, do we do the same thing to destroy it?” Ginny questioned.
“I think so,” Harry answered. They all got up and moved behind Harry again. Harry drew out his wand and pointed it at the locket that was lying on the table. He raised his mental walls and then connected with all his friends.
Harry felt the power begin to course through him as each of his friends strengthened his own magical abilities. The feeling was the same as it had been when they destroyed the cup, but much more so now. There was a crackle like electricity as he thought the words to the incantation.
“Singulus Substantia!” A burst of gold light erupted from the end of his wand. The room was quickly flooded with an intense brilliant golden glow. The locket was lifted off the table in a sphere of magical energy. Bright white cracks formed along the edges, adding their light to the light already in the room. The locket hung there suspended briefly and then exploded into thousands of small pieces, all contained in the gold sphere.
Seconds ticked by as the remains of the magical energy in the room dissipated. Finally, the sphere dissolved and the shattered locket fell onto the table. The crackling electricity in the room faded and the light returned to normal.
Harry’s friends all stood panting behind him. Harry, feeling more drained then he could imagine, took a shaky step forward and collapsed. He was unconscious before he hit the floor.
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Harry seemed to be floating in darkness. He could hear voices around him, but try as he might, he simply could not focus on any of them. His mind was unable to focus on anything besides the floating sensation. He could feel his arms and legs, but they refused to move. He attempted to speak but nothing came out. It was the strangest sensation. Nothing hurt, he just floated in nothingness.
Harry, can you hear me? The voice sounded panicked, but Harry didn’t recognize it. He heard it again; this time he could tell it was a feminine voice but nothing further.
Wake up! Come on, Harry, wake up, mate. This voice was masculine, but he still didn’t know to whom it belonged. He wondered vaguely if he should just ignore the voices all together. The floating sensation was certainly very comfortable, and there didn’t seem to be any pressure on him to leave, or act, or save the world. He felt content floating in this black void.
More voices were added to Harry’s awareness, and he began to feel uneasy about his inability to respond. One voice in particular filled him with a sudden urgency to communicate. Again he attempted to vocalize a reply to the now frantic chorus of voices. Again, nothing happened. Harry grew more and more desperate. The void, which had been so comforting, now felt claustrophobic.
A new sensation began to build within Harry’s mind. He saw a pinprick of light, seemingly in the distance. He tried to move towards it but was unable to make his body work. The sensation in his mind began to grow stronger. A feeling of longing and concern washed over him. He now was desperate to move towards the small dot of white in the distance. The more he tried to move towards it, the greater the feeling of concern grew in his mind.
Then just as suddenly as it appeared, the small bit of white vanished. Harry could again hear clearly the voices in his mind that were calling to him. He could distinguish the voices of his friends. Ginny was urgent, Ron seemed scared, Hermione must have been crying, Neville was most certainly scared, and Luna had even lost her normal dreamy tone, as they all attempted to make Harry awaken.
Harry opened his eyes, the noise of his friends’ shouts ringing in his ears. “I’m all right,” he breathed. The voices instantly stopped. Harry saw Hermione break down as Ron grabbed her into a hug. Luna and Neville both seemed to breathe sighs of relief. Ginny pounced on Harry, hugging him fiercely, nearly lying on top of him. She was crying as well.
“How long was I out?” Harry whispered. He felt very drained.
“About five minutes,” Ron said through Hermione’s hair. “We didn’t want to move you until you woke up, but we were starting to get nervous.” Ron’s pale complexion announced that he and the others had moved well past nervous before Harry regained consciousness.
“We should take him to the Hospital Wing,” Neville declared. He moved to attempt to levitate Harry out of the room.
“No, Neville, I’m fine, really.” Harry waved his hand to stop him from trying the spell. He had no desire to spend the night under the care of Madam Pomfrey. “And besides, I don’t want to have to explain what happened.”
“What did happen?” Hermione spoke for the first time. Tear streaks were clearly visible on her cheeks. “You just collapsed and didn’t respond when we called to you. You were still breathing, and it looked like you may have tried to move a couple of times.” Hermione looked close to tears again.
Harry gingerly got to his feet, still feeling weak. He could tell that he was exhausted, magically and physically, but he could also feel himself getting some of his strength back. “I passed out. I could hear you guys yelling to me, and I did try and move, but I just couldn’t manage it.” He sat in a chair.
“Do you think it was the spell that did that?” Neville asked.
“It must have been, but I don’t understand it. I would think since I am sort of feeding off you all that it would be you that blacked out, not me.” Harry rested his head on the table. Ginny sat next to him, rubbing her hand on his back.
“Hey, we need to go. It’s almost curfew,” Ron announced. “Can you make it back to the tower?”
“I’m fine. Let’s get back before we get into trouble.”
They got up to leave, Harry leaning slightly on Ginny for support. He grinned down at her. She still looked pale and concerned, but there was an undeniable twinkle in her eyes. Harry leaned down closer. “So, do I get to see my cat this evening?”
The twinkle grew and Ginny simply nodded. They made their way quickly back to Gryffindor Tower. Luna said her good-byes and jogged towards her own tower.
Once inside, the group quickly dispersed. Neville, after asking Harry once more if he was okay, moved to the far corner of the common room to spend some time with Parvati. She looked somewhat put out with his lack of attention during the evening, but a quick kiss and smile from Neville and all seemed to be forgiven. Harry, Ginny, Ron and Hermione sat down to study. Harry forced himself to stay awake, wanting to talk with Ginny more after everyone had gone to bed.
After an hour or so, Ginny yawned loudly, stretched and announced she was off to bed. Harry walked with her over to the staircase and gave her a quick kiss before she went up.
Later? Harry thought, focusing his mind on her. She smiled and nodded but Harry didn’t hear anything in his head. She then turned and walked up the stairs.
Hermione must have gotten some hint from Ginny’s display of going to bed because she quickly put her books away, yawned loudly, stretched, and rose to leave as well.
Ron gave her kiss. “Night, Hermione, I love you.”
Harry did a double take as he heard the words come out of Ron’s mouth. He knew that Ron loved her”he must since they were getting married”but he was not used to hearing them.
Hermione smiled. “I love you too.” And she went up the stairs.
Ron sat back in his seat. “So, you really all right?”
“Feeling a little drained but otherwise I really am fine.” Harry looked at his watch and smiled, thinking about how it was a working watch and about the inscription on the back. “So, you off to bed as well?”
“Not just yet. I want to finish this Potions essay.” Ron leaned back over his parchment and began to scribble.
“Look at you, sitting there, working diligently,” Harry started, smirking. “Hermione would be so proud.” Ron said nothing but calmly reached over, crumpled up a piece of spare parchment and threw at Harry.
They both worked for another hour, while the common room slowly became deserted. Ron, putting the finishing touches on his essay, started to pack up. As he rose from the table, he turned to Harry. “You coming?”
“Not just yet; I want to look at my Defense notes before I go to bed. I think Scurlock may give us a quiz tomorrow.”
“Okay, see you in the morning. Oh, and erm, Harry, I’m glad you and Ginny are together,” he stammered, slapping Harry on the back. “Just don’t hurt her again.”
Harry smiled but noticed just the hint of a glare in Ron’s eyes that seemed to say he was only half joking. “I’ll do my best.” Ron went to bed.
Harry sat there working for another hour. He had actually done all the work he wanted to do, but Ginny had not made it downstairs yet and he wasn’t going to miss a chance to talk with her some more. He focused on her and knew she was awake and seemed to be enjoying herself, although he didn’t know what she was doing.
He sat back on the couch, grabbed his Transfiguration book and started to read. He didn’t realize he had dozed off until a warm presence came and curled up in his lap. He startled awake, noticed the little cat in his lap and leapt off the couch. The cat was tossed into the air but agilely landed on her feet on the floor.
Harry watched as the cat changed into Ginny, who was glaring at him. “What was that for?”
“Ginny, you can’t sit with me like that,” Harry answered, embarrassed. “What if Ron or Hermione or someone were to come down?”
Ginny’s glare softened and she must have noticed his embarrassment. “You never used to mind that, and besides, Ron doesn’t know about my coming down here and Hermione wouldn’t say anything.” She smiled mischievously, reached up to him and kissed him gently.
Harry’s anxiety melted away and he enjoyed the kiss. They broke apart a few minutes later.
They sat on the couch in silence for a while, simply enjoying each other’s presence. Harry ran his fingers through her long flame-red hair, while Ginny leaned against his chest.
Harry finally broke the silence. “All those nights, I sat down here telling you things”you know, I should be mad at you for not telling me.” Harry gave a mock hurt look.
“I wanted to tell you, but Hermione wouldn’t let me. She said you’d get all mad and defensive about it. That you would’ve figured out what we were doing.”
“How did you guys do this? It took the Marauders years to get it,” Harry asked.
“They didn’t have Hermione to teach them. She wrote me about it during the summer. When she suggested it, we all jumped on the idea. Then, when Dumbledore said in his will to make sure we did everything we could to help you, it just seemed to confirm what we had already started.”
“You know, all those times she and Ron were in the garden, I thought they were snogging.” Harry grinned.
“They both knew you would, but they didn’t mind. In fact, I think they were happy to let you think that, knowing you wouldn’t go wandering out there on them. Of course, once they got together for real they did spend some time in the garden snogging, but they still spent most of their time working on becoming Animagi.”
“What about Neville and Luna?” Harry questioned.
“They worked on it when they would come to train with you, and then Hermione would give them homework to do.” Ginny was smirking.
“She really is like a younger version of McGonagall,” Harry mused
“She’d take that as a compliment.”
“That’s how it was intended, for the most part.” They both chuckled.
Harry snuggled down further into the couch as they continued to talk. “So you know all my deep dark secrets now. You knew how I felt about Macmillan, and how much I missed you. You know that I don’t know if I want to be an Auror anymore, you know about the…” Harry’s eyes suddenly widened in surprise. He had just remembered the night he told her about the prophecy. He shifted uneasily on the couch.
Ginny must have noticed his change in demeanor. She turned and saw the anguish in his face. “Yes, Harry, I know about the prophecy, and I don’t care. You have to destroy that evil, and that doesn’t make you a murderer. You are defending the ones you love from evil. That makes you a hero.”
Harry shifted again. He wasn’t sure if he agreed with that assessment. He didn’t like the idea of killing anyone. He had struggled with the idea that he had killed Bellatrix Lestrange, but was able to move past it somewhat with the thought that he didn’t mean to do it. Killing Voldemort would be a premeditated act. He still wasn’t sure he could pull that off.
Ginny looked into his eyes and kissed him gently on the cheek. “So what changed?”
“Pardon?” Harry was snapped out of his thoughts.
“You said during Christmas nothing had changed”that the reasons for breaking up with me were still valid. So what changed?”
Harry smiled and moved to get off the couch. “Wait here.” He ran up the stairs and was back inside of a minute. He was holding a small picture frame.
“This.” He held out the picture of his mother and father he had taken from their home. “This is a picture of my dad and mum just before I was born. I was looking at it and I realized that they knew that Voldemort was after them. They had somehow faced him three times and defied him on each occasion. They knew the danger and yet they loved each other enough to have a child. They decided that I was worth the risks. I decided that being with you, even for a little while, is better than not being with you at all.”
Ginny had tears in her eyes as she turned away from the picture. Harry’s heart soared as he leaned over and kissed her gently. Harry felt sure that Ginny was indeed worth it.
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They sat on the couch for another half hour, enjoying each other’s company. Harry about to call it a night when a flicker of light, outside on the grounds, caught his attention. It looked like torch light, and it was moving from the area around Hagrid’s shack towards the castle. A sense of foreboding overtook Harry as he watched the light move, rapidly, towards the front door.
He quickly told Ginny what he saw, and they both headed downstairs to see what was happening. When they arrived, they were shocked. Standing in the entrance way, was a snow-covered Hagrid, holding the limp form of Percy Weasley.
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A/N:Well they are now, officially, back together. By the way, you can thank Kerrbear for them not being together before now. She is the one the talked me out of getting them back together during the summer. I think she was spot on and it made for a much more interesting story. Let me know what you think.
Thanks as always go out to my prebetas Kerrbear and Cableguysmom. My betas Ginny Guerra and JenC both did a wonderful job on this one as well. Thanks for taking such good care of me ladies.
Up next, more on Percy and Moody starts casting unforgivables again.