A/N I don’t own any of this.
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“Kill Me!” Dumbledore yelled
“This--this one will! Just drink this…It’ll be over…all over!”
There was a flash of green light. Harry watched as Dumbledore rose in the air, hung there as if suspended and then fell over the wall of the Astronomy Tower. He closed his eyes on the image. He opened them and found himself in the Department of Mysteries standing over Hermione’s broken body.
“Please don’t be dead!” Harry pleaded.
“I am Harry; you killed me,” Hermione responded, opening her eyes but staring sightlessly ahead.
Harry started to tremble and again closed his eyes. He opened them and saw Ron lying dead in the passageway to the Chamber of Secrets. Ron’s dead body then stirred; lifting his head, he looked at Harry through the same sightless, lifeless eyes as Hermione had.
“Why did you bring us, Harry; why didn’t you leave us alone? You killed us.”
Images of Sirius falling through the veil, Bill being attacked, Ginny lying in the Chamber all begin to swirl in front of Harry.
Then Draco Malfoy was laughing at him. “Some savior you turned out to be, couldn’t even save the people you love. Ha! I knew I picked the winning side in all of this”
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Harry was lying in his bed, drenched in sweat. He stared straight ahead, trembling, and whispered, “It was only a dream, only a dream.” He looked over to see Ron still snoring away. He must not have called out during the dream.
He sat, shaking his head and trying to get the trembling to stop. He couldn’t believe the intensity of the dream. He hadn’t had a dream like that in over a year. He knew that it wasn’t a vision, since Ron was obviously in the bed across the room. It didn’t really make sense though; he hadn’t even dreamed like that right after Dumbledore had died.
He sat for several minutes trying work out what the dream meant. Finally, he decided that the answer was still out of reach so he quietly got up and dressed. The room was still dark, although the first bits of dawn sunlight were beginning to streak the floor. Harry figured that he was probably the only one up so he left the room to go and find some breakfast. Perhaps something to eat and some time to just sit in the study and think would help him.
He closed the door softly behind him as he walked out. He went slowly to the kitchen, still feeling groggy and disturbed about the dream. He walked toward the kitchen door and was surprised to hear voices behind it. Then the door opened and Hermione walked out, bumping into Harry as she did.
“Morning, Harry,” she said, taking a sip of coffee. She tried to look cheerful, but the dark circles under her eyes told Harry that she hadn’t slept well. She looked at him, moving the cup from in front of her face, her brow furrowed. She seemed to be debating with herself about something.
“Morning, Hermione. What is everyone doing up already?” Harry asked, attempting to sound normal. He didn’t really feel like talking about anything, and he knew that Hermione would not give him any space if she suspected something was wrong.
“Oh, I think it was a pretty difficult night, with Dumbledore’s will and all. Um…you want to take a walk?” she asked.
Harry looked around the room for a second but was unable to come up with a reasonable excuse not to so he nodded, and she led him out a side door into the main hall. They walked down the hall, past the staircase and the painting of Mrs. Black, which was quietly sleeping, towards a door at the back of the hall.
“Where are we going?” Harry asked; he had not even realized there was a door out of the back of the hallway.
“Into the garden,” she stated, opening the door and stepping out. Harry followed her and found himself in an immense garden. There was a large rectangular courtyard surrounded by tall hedges. On the left, there was a circular stone fountain with the figure of a wizard standing in the middle on a raised podium. He had his hands outstretched and water was shooting from the tips of two wands, one in each hand. A house-elf was kneeling next to him, looking admiringly up at the dignified wizard.
To the right was a small gazebo with ivy vines covering the walls and benches in a circle around it. The benches had elaborate carvings of wizards and house-elves in them; the wizards all looked dignified, and the house-elves all appeared to be groveling at their feet. A birdbath was off in the corner, and down the center of the garden was a path lined with weeping willow trees, leading to a small pond tucked just inside the hedge wall.
“What is this place?” Harry wondered aloud. This garden just didn’t match the rest of the house.
“This is the garden, like I said, although Mrs. Weasley has made some changes since we started coming here. The fountain used to be filled with some red liquid. I think it was supposed to be blood.”
The walked down the path in silence for a few moments. When they reached the pond, Hermione turned to Harry with a questioning look in her eyes. “So, what happened?” she asked.
“What happened to…Oh,” Harry replied, comprehension dawning on his face. He was still thinking about the dream and hadn’t realized that Hermione wanted to talk about Ginny.
“Harry, you both seemed so happy. Even after…the fight at Hogwarts you guys seemed all right. Then she tells me yesterday that you broke up with her. Why?” she asked, shaking her head.
Harry looked at his friend who always seemed to have all the answers; she seemed completely mystified by his actions. “To protect her, Hermione,” he stated flatly.
“WHAT?” she bellowed. This was not the response that Harry had anticipated. He expected understanding, calm, logical thought from Hermione. She had to see the reasonableness of his thinking. She, however, obviously had not seen this as reasonable in the least.
“You mean that this is supposed to be a noble act in order to save Ginny from some unknown future? Harry, didn’t you learn anything last year? Didn’t you see how miserable Tonks was, because Remus was trying to be noble? They lost a whole year because of that silly male nobility thing,” she said, waving her arms while she was making her point.
“Hermione, everyone I care about, everyone that I get close to, ends up dead.”
“No, they don’t. Stop feeling sorry for yourself and realize that everyone around is around because they care about you. They WANT to be around you. I want to be around you, and I will stand beside you to the end. So will Ron, and Remus, and everyone else in the Order. So will Ginny, if you let her.
“I know that; that is exactly why I can’t have her around. Voldemort will kill her, use her to get to me. He has already done it once, and I don’t know what I would do if she got hurt or …” He couldn’t even bring himself to say the word.
Hermione started to calm down a bit, and began again, this time in a softer voice. “Do you remember first year when I told you that you were a great wizard? I meant it then, and it’s true now. Harry, the safest place for any of us is at your side. Voldemort can use any of us to try to get to you. If it were Ron, do you think you could leave him and let him die, or Mrs. Weasley or me? Harry, you can’t be the hero and try to protect us all from the future. It will come whether we like it or not.”
“I just can’t think about what would happen if she died, Hermione.” Harry’s emotions were starting to get the better of him.
“We all die; the question is how we are going to face it. Sirius faced it the way that he wanted to, standing for what he believed in. Dumbledore faced it trying to protect his students. We’ve all faced death before, Harry, and we will do it again whether we are with you or not. Ginny wants to be with you, Harry, to stand by you and give you the support you need. If you don’t let her, you are going the weaker for it.”
“I am with her on this, mate,” Ron said, walking up to them.
“When did you get here?” Harry asked, surprised by Ron’s untimely arrival. The last thing Harry wanted was to have an angry older brother to contend with along with Hermione.
“Just a minute ago; I heard Hermione scream at you. I must admit, I was a bit confused since it wasn’t me she was yelling at. I came down to see what was going on,” Ron said, smiling at Hermione.
Hermione blushed, and stared intently at a duck that had just landed in the pond.
“I just can’t risk it guys. I know what you’re saying sounds true, but I just can’t help feeling that as long as she is with me she is a bigger target,” he said, resolve entering his voice, if not his mind.
He turned and started walking back to the house. He had made the right decision, hadn’t he? He was doing this for her, to keep her safe. He didn’t want to put her in danger. He thought again about the dream, and what Hermione had said about how he would react if any of the others had been in trouble. He would want to save them, and yet he was letting them come along and take part in this fight, so why not Ginny? She knew the risks that standing with him would bring.
He walked into the house and towards the library. He needed to think about this in private. Yesterday he’d been so sure that his decision to protect Ginny was the right one; now he was not at all certain. He entered the library and found that it was not as empty as he had hoped. Remus was standing by the fireplace, drinking a cup of orange juice and reading the Daily Prophet. Tonks was seated across the room, going over notes of some kind; she still had the long, flaming red hair. Alastor Moody and Aberforth Dumbledore were talking in the corner. Harry turned to leave, but was halted by Remus’s voice.
“Harry, just the young man we needed to talk to,” he said brightly. “Come in so we can discuss some details with you.”
Details, Harry thought. Details about what? He walked into the library toward Remus, steadily avoiding Tonks’s gaze.
“Harry, we need to talk about your training,” Remus continued more seriously. “Starting tomorrow, we want you to train six days a week. Sundays you will have time to recover, and with what Aberforth and Alastor have in mind, you are going to need it. During the summer, we will work in the morning, either indoors or in the garden, whichever works best. Once school starts, we will work during your off periods and in the evening. I know this will be a lot on you with N.E.W.T.s and all, but we need to make preparations.” His voice was steady and normal, but as he spoke, Harry could see the concern in his eyes.
“That’s all right, Professor; I need to be ready when I face Voldemort, the sooner the better. I also have some other things--things Professor Dumbledore gave to me before he…died,” Harry stated. His voice trailed off, but he knew that he had to start saying it. Dumbledore was dead, and he had to keep moving forward.
Remus’s concern grew as Harry spoke. “Okay, Harry, if you have something that Albus wanted you to do, then by all means we will allow you to do it. We will help in any way possible.” He looked over at Tonks, who, glanced up from her notes and finally rose out of her chair.
“Of course; we are ALL here to help you, Harry,” she said, giving him just a touch of a grin.
“Point taken, Tonks. I don’t know what to do about that just yet, but I am thinking it through,” Harry said, red starting to color his cheeks.
“Then that is really all we can ask,” she said, putting her arm around him, feeling that he had been sufficiently rebuked. She then scrunched up her face, and before his eyes the red hair disappeared and the spiky pink returned.
Remus looked between them with a bemused expression on his face. “Do I know what you two are talking about?”
“No,” Tonks said simply. “Don’t you need to tell Harry what the training is going to be?”
Remus was still confused, but pressed on nonetheless. “Right. Harry, we will be spending the mornings working on physical training: Dueling and some other spell work. In the afternoons, we want to work on Occlumency.”
“Wait a second; who is going to teach me?” Harry eyed his former professor nervously, remembering the sessions he’d had with Snape.
“That would be me, Mr. Potter,” Aberforth answered from across the room. “We will be spending about an hour each afternoon working on clearing and focusing your mind.”
“Why? Voldemort hasn’t tried to mess with my head in over a year.”
“There are other advantages to Occlumency that we will discuss later,” Aberforth said, turning and resuming his conversation with Moody.
“One other thing, Harry: Dumbledore wanted us to include your friends in the training. Ron, Hermione, Neville, Ginny and Luna are all going to take part. You will work with a different person each day, sparring with one of us while they fight at your side,” Remus stated. “Every sixth session you will train alone.”
“Okay, so when do we begin?” Harry asked, excited at the prospect of doing something proactive. He felt that the search for the Horcruxes was going all right, but he didn’t feel he was much help. Research was Hermione’s thing.
“We start tomorrow morning at nine. You will be training with Ron, so let him know. Now, why don’t you go and relax? You won’t be getting many more chances this summer.
Harry was just about to go when a thought occurred to him. “What about the restriction for underage magic. Ginny and Luna are not of age yet? Won’t they get in trouble for doing magic?”
“That will be”um”taken care off Harry.” Tonks stated with a grin. “As we speak Arthur is getting a Ministry waiver allowing them to use magic outside of school as long as they are under the direct supervision of a qualified witch or wizard. Professor Dumbledore was working on it.”
Harry smiled a small sad smile as the thought about how Dumbledore always seemed to have his bases covered. He turned a left to go and try and find a place to relax and think.
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The rest of the morning went by quietly. Harry found a place in the study to relax and practice emptying his mind. He practiced for an hour and finally nodded off. He slept peacefully until the creaking of the door woke him. He opened his eyes in time to a see the door close, but no one was there. They must have left, Harry thought. He got up and discovered that he was feeling hungry--really hungry--for the first time in weeks. He went to the kitchen to see if lunch was ready. He found Mrs. Weasley in an intense discussion with Hermione. Ron sat at the opposite end of the table happily eating a fish sandwich with chips. Harry sat beside him. “So, what are they talking about?”
Ron looked up, a little startled. “Oh, hi, Harry; didn’t see you there. They are discussing the wedding. Fleur and Mum have been working on it almost nonstop since the summer started. Hermione told me about it this morning. It is going to be at Beauxbatons in two weeks. I’m looking forward to it, never been to France before.” Ron started grinning. Harry suspected that his desire to go to France had more to do with the girls than the wedding.
“So, where is everyone?” Harry asked. He had never seen the house--or at least the kitchen--so empty, especially during lunchtime.
“This is it, mate; most everyone is at work or doing Order stuff. Fred and George popped by earlier but they went back to the shop. They are going to Hogsmeade tomorrow to start setting up the new store. Ginny is studying, been at it all day. She got an owl from the Wizarding Examinations Authority stating that she was to take her O.W.L.s (since they didn’t have them after Dumbledore’s funeral) during the week of August eleventh-- her birthday no less-- and she just freaked out. I think Hermione made out a study schedule for her, which means we won’t be seeing much of her,” Ron said.
Harry had just realized that Ron knew he had broken up with Ginny. He was surprised that Ron hadn’t tried to take his head off over it. “Ron, when did you know about Ginny and me?”
Ron gave Harry a serious look. “When Dumbledore died. I figured you would blame yourself and try to push her away, thinking that you would be protecting her. I was surprised that you waited as long as you did to do it, but I knew it was coming. I don’t agree with it, but it is your decision to make, and your heart is in the right place-- even if your head is a bit out of whack.” Ron then turned back to his sandwich.
Harry just gaped at his friend. Who had replaced his oblivious friend, who had the emotional range of a Flobberworm, with this person? He shook his head and was about to say something when Ron started again.
“What? I’m not allowed to be insightful or anything? I have lived with you for six years, mate; I know how you think.”
Ron finished speaking and reached for another sandwich as the kitchen door opened again. Ginny walked in, looked around and saw Harry. She seemed tired, but also had a determined look in her eye-- the same look she’d had when Harry had kissed her after the Quidditch match. She walked in and leaned down to speak in Harry’s ear. “Can we talk for a second?” she asked. Her breath in Harry’s ear and down his neck caused goose bumps to rise on his arms.
“Yeah,” he said and started to get up.
They walked back to the study where he had been napping before. Ginny stood in the middle of the room, which was quite warm; Harry actually started to sweat. He was not at all sure what he expected. Was she going to yell at him or tell him to just stay out of her life? He was ready, however, to accept the consequences, whatever they might be.
“Okay, Harry, here is the deal,” she started without preamble. “I have cared about you for a very long time. You think that breaking up with me is going to protect me, and I know that I won’t be able to convince you otherwise, so I accept it. I can accept not being your girlfriend, but we ARE going to remain friends. We ARE going to work together, play Quidditch together, and eventually defeat You-Know…V-Voldemort together. We all have a role to play in this war, and you not going to shut me out of your life.”
Harry stared at her, thinking about how beautiful she was, how amazing her determination to see him through all this was. “Okay, thanks, Gin,” he replied with a small grin.
“Good, now give me a hand will you? I need help with my Defense Against the Dark Arts notes. Did you hear I have to take O.W.L.s on my birthday?” she asked, softening her demeanor considerably.
“Yeah, sorry to hear that, but don’t worry, you will do outstanding,” Harry said, grinning. Ginny just rolled her eyes at the pun and walked over to where her books were already sitting on the desk.
They spent the rest of the day working, and by evening they felt as comfortable with each other as ever. As Harry went to bed, he was thinking about Ginny. Friends for now, maybe more later, he thought as he drifted off to the best night’s sleep he’d had in weeks.
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A/N I have to thank my Beta JenC, and prebetas Kerrbear, and Cableguysmom for there help. If not for them this story would be unreadable. Thanks ladies. We are now finished with introduction stuff so the story will start moving a faster now. As always reviews are greatly appreciated. I don’t know what you like or don’t like if you don’t let me know.