Ginny came down the stairs, her eyes puffy and red, as she took a seat at the kitchen table next to Hermione.
As the tears began to pour again, Hermione patted her gently on the back and spoke in a soothing voice, encouraging her to calm down.
It took another few minutes for her to stop crying, but she kept sniffling as she tried to speak.
“He”I can’t”He doesn’t”understand…too hard…can’t do it…must leave,” Ginny managed through all the hiccups and sniffles she was now stuck with.
“Gin, you need to calm down. I can’t understand you,” Hermione said slowly.
Ginny closed her eyes and breathed deeply. Then she retold everything that had just happened with Harry.
Harry led her up to Ron’s bedroom, where he took a seat in an old rocking chair in the corner.
Ginny plopped herself onto the bed and stared at her hands, not knowing if she was supposed to talk first.
“There”There are some things I think you should know. Some things you need to understand,” Harry mumbled quietly.
Ginny glanced up at him, knowing how important eye contact was. And it wasn’t like she didn’t mind staring at those green eyes.
At this point, he looked up at her too.
“I have so much ahead of me. I have to destroy Voldemort…”
Ginny opened her mouth to speak, but Harry interrupted her.
“I have to do it alone, Ginny.”
She pursed her lips tightly together and looked back down at her hands. No one said anything for a few minutes.
“Harry…I know about everything. Ron and Hermione filled me in…I made them,” she said, her eyes already burning from holding back tears.
“Oh, well…”
“Harry, I want to help!” Ginny blurted out, “Ron and Hermione are going to help you, aren’t they? Why can’t I help you?”
“Ginny, there’s so many things you don’t understand,” he said slowly.
“I understand everything perfectly! What I don’t understand is why you are so desperate to cut me out of your life!”
“I’ve already explained this to you, Ginny! I thought you understood,” he said, frustration growing in his voice. He had never become angry with her before, but the subject was hard for him. This whole conversation was hard for him.
“Harry…don’t you understand? I don’t care if being with you puts me in danger. I want to be with you, I want to make you happy.”
“You already make me happy,” Harry replied, all the anger in his voice had gone. He had a blazing look in his eyes, similar to the one Ginny had given him in the Common Room last year.
“It’s not enough for me to just be friends with you, it’s”it’s too hard now. You’re going to go out there and fight everything, and I want to come.”
“We have to try, Ginny. We have to try and just be friends.” Harry had been planning this conversation in his head all day, and he didn’t understand why it suddenly hurt so much to say this to her. Was he making a mistake?
At this point, Ginny could no longer hold back her tears. She didn’t sob, a few tears just trickled down her cheek. Harry watched them as they formed in her eyes, as they made their way down her cheek, and as they dripped off her face.
“Everything will be okay, Ginny. I promise,” Harry said. He felt stronger now. He had to kill Voldemort. And he was going to do it for Ginny.
She nodded, realizing that she wasn’t going to win. She wanted to be strong, because she knew it would be the only way her and Harry would remain close. If she had to be friends with him to keep him in her life, then she would do it. She got up slowly, opened the door, and closed it behind her.
Harry sat there, rocking back and forth, wondering if he had done the right thing.
When Ginny was done, the tears had stopped and her breathing was normal again. She seemed to be much calmer.
Hermione looked at her carefully, afraid she might break down again. But she didn’t.
“You know what’s funny?” Ginny asked.
Hermione didn’t say anything.
“When Harry asked me to go have a talk, I thought he was going to say he wanted to get back together. But now that I think about it, deep down, I knew that’s never what he wanted. He’s Harry, after all, isn’t he? If fighting Death Eaters and finding Horcruxes is what makes him happy, then that will make me happy, too,” Ginny said courageously. She was surprised at how okay she was with all of this now.
Hermione stared blankly at her, before whispering, “Ginny, you don’t have to be so brave.”
********
It was dark outside by the time Harry had gotten up from the rocking chair and started to make his way down the stairs. He noticed the door to Ginny’s room was closed, and he was thankful she was probably sleeping. He hoped she was sleeping.
He made his way into the kitchen, walking over to a piece of bread he saw on the counter.
“Oh, hi, Harry. It’s just you,” a surprised voice said, as Harry leapt into the air.
“Hermione, you scared me,” Harry said, his heart still racing.
“Couldn’t sleep?” Hermione asked him, a glass of milk sitting in front of her on the kitchen table.
“I didn’t really try,” he said.
They both sat in silence for a minute or two, before he quietly asked, “Erm, Ginny…how is she?”
“She’s actually fine,” Hermione said, looking up at him.
A surprised look overtook his face, before he realized Hermione was watching him carefully. “That’s good. I’m glad to hear that.”
Hermione nodded her head, still staring at him.
If Ron wasn’t going to knock some sense into him, she was at least going to try.
“I think you’re making a mistake,” Hermione said bluntly.
“Yeah…” Harry said. He didn’t really know what to say.
“I mean it, Harry. In times like these, it’s important to be with the people you love,” she said, glancing over at the unusual clock mounted on the wall in the kitchen.
“The people I love are all dead,” Harry said solemnly. “Ginny and I barely went out. We weren’t together that long. I can’t love her,” he said, more to himself than to Hermione. “I don’t love her,” he replied again, after seeing the smirk on Hermione’s face.
“Harry, what is Voldemort’s weakness? His biggest weakness?”
“Well, I’d say he doesn’t have one…especially since he’s split his soul seven times,” Harry said sarcastically.
“Love, Harry. Love,” Hermione said, sounding slightly like Dumbledore.
“During desperate times, people do desperate things. I don’t want to be with Ginny because I know she’ll get hurt. I’m not desperate, and neither is she. If she’s okay with everything, why should I try and mess it all up again?” Harry explained.
Hermione got up from the table and poured the extra milk down the sink.
She turned around and looked at him before heading up the stairs to bed, and quietly said, “You don’t have to be so brave, you know.”
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Together We Can by free_hugs
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