At eight o’ clock that evening, the Hogwarts Express chugged into Platform Nine and Three-Quarters and drew to a stop. Harry stepped onto the platform and helped Ron with their luggage, eventually lowering the last trunk down and setting Hedwig’s cage carefully on top. He waited for Ron to say goodbye to Hermione before going over to her himself to receive a warm hug.
“’Bye, Hermione,” he said as she clung to him.
“Take care of yourself, Harry,” she replied.
“I’m sure Mrs Weasley will make sure of that for the moment,” said Harry.
Hermione laughed and pulled away.
“Owl me when you know what you’re going to do,” she said, reaching up on tiptoe and giving him a kiss on the cheek. “Actually, owl me anyway.”
She gave Ron one last kiss before disappearing through the barrier with her luggage. Ron was frowning slightly when he turned to Harry to suggest that they find Ginny and go through aswell. Harry had decided not to try to talk to Ginny until they were back at The Burrow, so they spent the entire car ride in silence. Apparently Mr Weasley was doing rather well at the Ministry since his promotion, as when he led them back to his ‘new find’, it turned out to be a green Ford Galaxy rather than an Anglia “ second-hand, but better nevertheless.
“I thought we’d give it a spin to avoid any of the faffing about with Floo Powder and the like,” said Mr Weasley, as they drove down the motorway at ninety-eight miles an hour. “I’ve almost mastered this middle pedal, look “”
“NO!” yelled Harry, before Mr Weasley had the chance to demonstrate the brake pedal with a heavy-goods lorry only metres behind him.
A few terrifying hours later they finally pulled into the drive of The Burrow, much to Harry’s relief, but even more to Ron’s and Ginny’s, who weren’t accustomed to cars at the best of times, let alone the white-knuckle ride that Mr Weasley had treated them to. As soon as they got inside, Ginny disappeared into her bedroom and shut the door behind her loudly, telling the entire household that they shouldn’t try to disturb her. Harry greeted Mrs Weasley and thanked her for the offer to stay with them until he found his feet.
“It’s a pleasure, Harry,” said Mrs Weasley kindly. “I’ve put you in Fred and George’s room again, since it’s free. Now you both sit down and I’ll fix you a quick cup of tea before we go.”
“Go where?” asked Ron, collapsing on the sofa next to Harry.
“Oh, well, Arthur and I are actually supposed to be at a party,” she told them. “One of his work friends is having a do “ we’ve been asked to so many this year! “ and since it’s the weekend we thought we’d go once you were home.”
Mrs Weasley looked terribly worried whilst she told them this, almost spilling Harry’s tea all over him due to the shakiness of her hands.
“Molly!” called Mr Weasley’s voice. “Are you ready, darling?”
“Will you three be okay?” she asked, putting a coaster under Ron’s mug. “We won’t go if you’re worried.”
“We’ll be fine, Mum,” said Ron, “Harry saved the world, remember?”
Mrs Weasley forced a smile and hugged them both before going to find her husband at the front door.
“I’m going to bed,” said Ron, finishing his tea and stretching as he stood up. “Coming?”
“Actually, I might just go and see if Ginny’s okay,” said Harry, knowing he would never be able to sleep if he didn’t at least try.
“Good luck with that,” said Ron, looking at Harry with a mixture of awe and scepticism before going up the stairs.
Harry sat on the sofa for a while longer, trying to psych himself up for the task ahead of him. In the car on the way from the station “ in-between grabbing the steering wheel several times to prevent Mr Weasley from going right at the roundabouts “ he had decided that he would try to tell Ginny his side of the story and that if she didn’t want to hear it, then he would just have to wait until she did, however long that might be.
He drained the last drops of tea from his mug and went to put it on the side in the kitchen. The invitation for the party was lying on the table as he went past: ‘You are invited to the Johnsons’ for champagne and nibbles on the 31st June: 8 till late.’
Well, thought Harry, at least if Ginny does kick me out, her parents won’t be here to witness it …
He climbed the stairs and stopped outside Ginny’s room, working up the courage to knock on the door. It was very silent inside, suggesting to Harry that she might already be in bed asleep like Ron, whose snores he could already hear faintly drifting down the stairs all the way from his attic bedroom. Harry clenched his teeth, raised his hand and knocked twice, half expecting no reply, but a few seconds later the door opened and there stood Ginny, who was partway through changing into her pyjamas.
She clearly hadn’t bothered to redo her hair since the train, because it was still in the same, now even messier ponytail as before. Harry, on the other hand, lifted his hand and rubbed his own hair without intending to, whilst staring speechlessly at the girl in front of him, who seemed to be waiting for him to say something. She was wearing a long, dark green t-shirt and holding a small pair of pale green shorts in her hand; apparently she had been just about to put them on when Harry had knocked on her door.
“Yes?” she asked after a few long moments.
“Er, can I come in?” said Harry, starting to think that this might have been a bad idea but determined to make the most of it now that he was there.
“I suppose,” said Ginny, and she stood aside to let him past, then closed the door behind him.
She went over to her window and reached up to pull the blind down, leaving Harry behind her, helplessly trying to focus as her t-shirt lifted a little and a tiny patch of black material was revealed for half a second.
“Look, Ginny,” he started, “I realise you’re mad at me “”
“Well noticed,” said Ginny under her breath.
“Will you just give me a chance?” said Harry, his voice rising so that she stopped and looked at him.
“Sorry,” he muttered, “I just want to say that the only reason for me not telling you everything was that I didn’t want to get you more involved than you already were; I was only trying to “”
“ “ to protect me, I know,” interuppted Ginny, glaring at him.
“Oh, don’t start that again!” said Harry, flaring up at her using the issue that always seemed to cause so much conflict in their relationship to make him feel even worse. “You know that I only did what I did for you! In fact, most things that I do are for you: you have no idea how much I wanted to talk to you about what I was going through, but I didn’t because I knew that it would put you in more danger; I destroyed the Horcruxes with only one thought in my mind “ not that it would free the world from terror, but that we would be able to share a future together in peace, with no bloody Prophecy threatening us and what we could have! I did it because I love you, Ginny, I love you! And if you want to hold it all against me then fine, I just thought I had a right to let you know my side of the story.”
Harry stared at her, breathing heavily. Ginny had that blazing look on her face that he always took to mean passion, but never knew whether it would be good or bad until she spoke. However, he never got the chance to hear her speak, as she took two steps towards him and kissed him deeply, her hands sliding up the back of his neck and into his hair. Somehow they ended up sitting on the edge of her bed, but Harry didn’t want it to stop “ he finally felt as if they understood each other completely, like they never really had before, and he didn’t want to let the moment go in the fear of losing it in all its confusing perfection. He pushed her back on the bed, never breaking away from the closeness of her body and the touch of her lips, until she put a hand on his cheek and pulled away.
They looked at each other, so close that they were almost sharing breath, and Harry saw a glimpse of surprised innocence in her eyes that he had never seen in them previously; but her expression was strong in its softness and told Harry that she trusted him.
“Gin?” he whispered.
She nodded, then reached out her arm and turned off the light.
When Harry put his glasses on the next morning, the first thing he saw was the blinding light of the sun that was beaming delightfully through the gap between blind and window frame. He moved his head to the side, out of the light, and looked down at the person lying next to him. At first, an overwhelming sense of peace washed over him as he watched a strand of hair that had fallen over her face flutter in the path of her breath, but then he remembered where he was and an unwelcome stab of panic struck him in the chest. He climbed out of bed as quietly as he could and picked up his clothes, but as he was about to leave Ginny stirred and her eyes blinked open.
“Morning,” she mumbled.
“Morning,” said Harry, “I didn’t mean to wake you, I just thought I should “ you know …”
Ginny smiled and rolled onto her back.
“Yeah, see you in a bit,” she said, swiping her hair out of her face.
Harry grinned at her and opened the door, creeping up to the bathroom and praying that Ron wouldn’t catch him on the way. Once he had showered, he went down to the kitchen and began to make breakfast for them all, for some reason thinking that it would make him feel less guilty about what had happened.
“I hope you’re making some for me,” said Ron, as he got to the bottom of the stairs and went to peer over Harry’s shoulder.
“Yeah, this one’s for you,” said Harry, praying that Ron hadn’t seen him jump and handing him a plate of bacon and eggs, trying to read his expression.
As they started to eat their breakfast, Harry stole glances at Ron, who appeared to be concentrating very hard on chewing.
“Good morning, boys,” chirped Ginny, entering the kitchen with a smile on her face, her long hair turned auburn in its wetness.
“There’s some breakfast for you on the hob,” said Harry, trying to keep his voice level so as not to make Ron suspicious.
“Thanks, Harry,” said Ginny, ruffling his hair and sitting down next to him with her plate.
They sat in silence for a while until Ron got up to make a cup of tea. Harry saw Ginny looking at him out of the corner of his eye and glanced up at her. She flicked her eyes to Ron and back pointedly, then bit her lip, waiting for an answer. Harry shrugged to say that he wasn’t sure what Ron knew and Ginny let out a nervous laugh.
“Sleep well?” asked Ron, as he handed them both mugs of tea.
Harry’s stomach lurched at this unexpected question and he reminded himself not to underestimate Ron’s power of surprise in the future.
“Yes, thanks,” said Ginny brightly.
“Harry?”
“Erm, yes, fine thanks,” stuttered Harry.
“Yeah, me too,” said Ron, “I was done in. I think it’s Hermione “ she wears me out with all her incessant nagging.”
Harry forced a smile and looked at Ginny, whose eyebrows were raised. He held back a laugh of complete relief at the fact that Ron seemed to be blissfully unaware of anything that might have changed overnight.
“S’pose I should get dressed,” mumbled Ron, and he slouched up the stairs out of sight.
Harry looked at Ginny and her face lit up.
“Bet you’re pleased,” she said.
“You’re not?” asked Harry.
“Well, think about it, Harry,” she said, smirking, “for me this would have meant a chance to creep out my brother, whereas for you it was a possible punch on the nose, and, however weak my poor older brother happens to be, I think you would have been worse off.”
They spent the rest of the day playing a three-player Quidditch game with Harry against Ron and Ginny, trying to get goals into some hoops that Ron had charmed to hover in the air. Although Harry was agile and a better flyer than the other two, he still found it difficult, as Ginny’s Chaser skills had improved vastly over the last few years and whenever Harry tried to shoot a goal, Ron would be there defending it.
“I believe that’s another ten points for us, Potter!” called Ginny, as she threw the Quaffle into Harry’s goal while Ron distracted him.
“Shut up, Weasley,” replied Harry.
“If I didn’t know better,” said Ginny, hovering a few metres away from him, “I’d say you were afraid I was a better flier than you.”
“Oh, don’t worry,” said Harry, “that’s not the case.”
Ginny giggled and swooped towards him, leaning over from her broom and planting a quick kiss on his lips before returning to the ground.
“Come on, Ron,” she called, “let’s quit while we still have a chance.”
Harry and Ron landed on the grass and Ginny went inside to get them some ice cream, appearing a few minutes later with three large bowls. The afternoon whiled away happily with broom races (whoever was using Harry’s Firebolt won every time) and generally enjoying each other’s company, occasionally growing less vocal and more physical in Harry and Ginny’s case, causing Ron to get out a quill and some parchment and start a letter to Hermione.
That evening after dinner, Harry pulled Ginny out into the garden. He led her down to the two apple trees by the pond and they sat down together in the dark.
“Any reason for coming out here?” asked Ginny, propping herself up on her elbows.
“I reckon we’re less likely to be walked in on if we’re outside,” muttered Harry.
Ginny giggled, then they both fell silent. After a several minutes, she spoke.
“Harry?”
“Mm?”
“I can’t stop thinking about last night.”
“Me neither,” whispered Harry.
He looked over at her and saw that the moonlight that was falling through the trees was illuminating her face a pale white, her brown eyes turned black with glints of silver in the interrupted darkness. He leaned over and kissed her, running a hand down her long hair, onto her shoulder and round her back. When they broke apart he was left looking at her, their faces close.
All that I am
All that I ever was
Is here in your perfect eyes, they’re all I can see
“What am I going to do next year without you?” he whispered.
“We’ll be fine,” she said. “We got through this year, didn’t we? And there are many more years to come.”
I don’t know where
Confused about how as well
Just know that these things will never change for us at all
“Can’t wait,” said Harry, and the gap between them closed once more.
If I lay here
If I just lay here
Would you lie with me and just forget the world?
Harry Potter approached the grave with slow, heavy steps, and with the same feeling of anticipation and sadness in his heart that had been there when he had first visited this sombre place all those years ago. He stood before the simple gravestone and stared at the names engraved upon it, before noticing the bunch of rather withered lilies at its base. He knelt down, took out his wand and watched as the flowers were replenished to their former glory, all beauty and life lost regained in an instant.
Loving parents and dear friends, Harry read, the tide of fear and grief crashing down upon him, as it did so often, when he reminded himself that it could happen again, as terrible as before, with as much death and pain and sorrow as the last time. It could be him and Ginny lying there, beside his parents.
He felt a hand on his shoulder and looked up to see her standing over him, shadowed in the pale autumn sunlight.
“I thought I might find you here,” she muttered.
Harry smiled weakly and looked back to the gravestone before him.
“Do you ever feel as if … time is repeating itself?” he asked.
“Not exactly,” she said, squeezing his shoulder. “We’re safe this time; all of that is in the past.”
Harry nodded slowly, still thinking about his parents and their short life, and how similar it had been to his.
“You’ll never forget them,” whispered Ginny. “This is your chance to live the life that was cut short for them.”
“If time is on our side, unlike it was for them,” muttered Harry.
There was a long silence as they both gazed at the engraving on the stone, which told them that it was twenty years to the day since Lily and James Potter had been killed.
“Come on, Harry,” said Ginny, breaking the silence, “let’s go home.”
He got up and they walked together through the graveyard as the sun set behind the trees. When they reached their home on the other side of the village, Harry collapsed onto the crimson sofa and rubbed the faint scar on his forehead.
“Drink?” called Ginny from the kitchen.
“Something strong,” replied Harry, closing his eyes.
He heard her come into the room a few minutes later and took the cold glass when he felt it pushed into his hand. A fiery sensation travelled down his throat and into his body as he sipped at the drink, and the troubles in his mind softly drifted away into the darkness between thoughts. Ginny sat down beside him and kissed his lips as he lowered the glass from them, and he tasted the same strong liquid in her mouth as he did in his.
“I found that newspaper article the other day,” muttered Harry, finally opening his eyes, “you know, about the Horcruxes.”
Ginny didn’t say anything but Harry could see her continue to look at him out of the corner of his eye. After a moment, she spoke.
“That seems like so long ago,” she whispered. “That was the same day we first “”
“Yeah …”
Ginny put her glass on the floor and lay down, resting her head on his lap.
“You shouldn’t be here tonight, Harry,” she muttered, “it’s unlucky.”
“You try and stop me,” said Harry, running his hand along the ridge of her body.
Ginny giggled, then turned over so that she could look up at him.
“Tomorrow, we start a new life,” she whispered.
We'll do it all
Everything
On our own
We don't need
Anything
Or anyone
If I lay here
If I just lay here
Would you lie with me and just forget the world?
A/N: Hope you enjoyed that. I did, it brightened up my Christmas holidays! If you didn't know by now (although how you could have missed it, I'm not sure), the song was Chasing Cars by Snow Patrol. And it absolutely rules.