Three Months Earlier….
‘Now where did I put those boots?’ Ginny thought to herself as she looked frantically around her room, turning over her blankets and rummaging through her trunk.
She had been packing ever since she had gotten home from Hogwarts.
Well, she had been planning to pack ever since she had learned from Hermione on the way home from school that they were planning to leave to fight Voldemort after the wedding.
Without her.
But Ginny wasn’t about to let that happen. They weren’t leaving her behind, like they always did. She wasn’t going to have this be another time when she was left behind to worry while they went off to have a grand adventure. This time, she was going. She was going to do something important instead of staying behind at school. Like N.E.W.T.s even mattered when the people she loved could die at any second.
No, Ginny Weasley was not going to be the good little girl anymore.
Finally, finding her boots she smashed them into the top of her rucksack, quickly tying it closed before anything could come out. She took out her wand and pointed it at the bag, muttering the charm to magically shrink. It wasn’t as if the Ministry was going to persecute her for underage magic; they had a lot more to worry about.
She left her rucksack and wand on her desk, before standing in front of the mirror to fix her hair.
I look bloody terrible in gold, she thought, fixing her bridesmaid dress before heading towards the door.
As she opened it, she paused, deep in thought. If they believed that she’d let them leave her behind tomorrow, they were dead wrong. She’d sneak along if she had to. Persuade Hermione to help her. Whatever it took. She wasn’t letting Harry go that easily.
Especially since she knew that he definitely wanted to be with her. Every moment that Ginny’s mind was left to wander, which frankly wasn’t that often, she thought of him. And that kiss. That glorious kiss they had shared on his birthday. If he had felt half of what she had, there was no going back for either of them. No going back to being “just friends” without the awkwardness. No simple relationship could ever exist between them.
It was all or nothing.
*****
Walking down the aisle in the bright sunshine was something that Ginny had never experienced before. She kept her eyes focused on the altar ahead, not looking at anyone who might possibly be looking at her. Once she was up there, she was not aware of anything.
The ceremony passed by rather quickly for Ginny; it was just a blur in what had been the longest summer for her so far. It was probably because Ginny wasn’t exactly looking forward to the reception. It was then that she was going to tell Harry that she was going with them, no matter what. That she wasn’t staying behind. She watched Bill and Fleur dance and kept looking for Harry, but the fact that he was in disguise made it ten times harder.
Once all the ceremonial dances were over, a majority of the guests filtered onto the dance floor. Ginny danced with a few people and spent the whole time trying to pick out the Weasley imposter. She finally left the dance floor to get something to drink when he saw him sitting at a table removed from the dance floor.
She placed her drink down on a random table and began maneuvering through the crowd, purposefully dodging her Aunt Muriel. She couldn’t believe that the moment was finally here, the moment that she changed her life forever. She was going to stand up to Harry. Stop him from being the noble prat that he always to be. She was really going to go with them. The plan that had been hatching in her mind since the end of school was finally about to be executed. Ginny Weasley was going to join the famous Harry Potter on his journey to stop You-Know-Who. This was the moment that she finally let it be known that she was going to risk her life for the people she loved.
Her best friends right beside her.
She was within 10 metres of her target when all eyes, Ginny’s included, snapped toward the ghost-like Patronus that had appeared in the middle of the reception.
Ginny heard the words that the Patronus spoke but they didn’t sink in until much later. People began running in every direction. She saw Remus and Tonks leave the Burrow, running out of the tent and Disapparating along with the other guests.
Ginny then tried to focus on finding Harry. She knew that he would take this as an opportunity to start his journey without having to have the painful goodbyes, especially with her.
She snapped her head back and forth, looking through the chaos as she ran through the people trying to escape. The height of her golden heels slowed down her run as she saw the three of them, saying something she couldn’t hear.
No, was all she could think. Over and over again, the same word repeating endlessly in her mind as she sprinted in her heels. Fighting through the crowd, she was trying to make it to them before they could leave.
“Harry!” she screamed for what seemed like the thousandth time. “Ron! Hermione!” She waved her hands frantically, trying to get them to notice the frazzled redhead only a few metres away.
Ron and Harry grabbed Hermione’s hand and before she could say or do anything else to get their attention, there was a loud pop as they Disapparated away.
That was when all hell truly broke loose.
Everywhere she looked, Death Eaters and shady Ministry members came stalking toward the back of the Burrow. Ginny quickly ran towards the place where all her brothers, father, and mother had assembled, wands at the ready.
*****
Ginny felt the slap across her face rack her body but she only let her head move, and refused to let her tears fall.
“Come on, little girl, we both know that you know where they went and what they’re doing!” an unknown Death Eater screamed into her face.
“I…Don’t…Know,” Ginny enunciated, looking him straight in the eye.
“Oh, come on, you little bitch, you know something. What is their plan? To take down the Dark Lord?”
Ginny spat in his face.
“I will never tell you anything. I don’t betray my best friends.”
“But wasn’t one of them something a little more than that? Weren’t you and a certain Harry Potter a little more than ‘just friends’?”
“You don’t know what you’re talking about. Harry is like a brother to me.”
“Liar!”
“Stop!” Lucius Malfoy screamed just as the Death Eater had taken out his wand and pointed it at her.
The Death Eater sighed in frustration, rounding on Malfoy. “Why?”
“We got him,” Malfoy said, smirking in triumph.
All the people in the room now looked at Malfoy, a majority of them smiling. Everyone but the Weasley’s instantly turned toward the door, knocking things over as they went, laughing at their victory all the way. She couldn’t see past the living room that they were in, so she only heard the front door open and then slam shut. The Weasley family sat in dead silence, the only noise was their ragged breathing.
That was the first time that Ginny could remember her house ever being that quiet. She looked at the surrounding redheads, and she could tell that every one of them was thinking the same as her “ they were all furiously trying to find a way out of this nightmare.
Molly Weasley broke the silence.
“Do you really think they found them?” She sniffled as her husband went over to comfort her.
“Mum, they’re strong. Ron, Harry, Hermione, even if they were found, they would make it out. They have a lot more in them then you think. Let’s face it, Death Eaters are not exactly the smartest bunch, either,” Fred replied, trying to comfort his mum.
Ginny sat in her chair, still staring blankly as words of reassurance were passed between the family members. She was still dumbstruck; the last hour seemed to be unreal.
They had actually left her behind.
Ginny stood up, none of the others noticing as they tried to comfort their mother. She silently crept up the stairs and into her room, locking the door behind her. She slipped off her gold bridesmaid dress, putting on a pair of sweatpants. She stuck her head under her bed, reaching around and pulling out a cardboard box. Lifting off the lid, Ginny took out the green jumper, pushed it towards her nose and inhaled deeply.
She stood up, slipping the jumper over her head and hugging herself tight. A jumper of his was only a slight comfort. The smell of him barely lingered on it, the scent of her mother’s cooking and dust overtaking his. She walked over to her desk, taking the small rucksack and expanding it with her wand. She instantly began ripping things out of it. Shoes, pants, jumpers, and camping equipment went airborne as she hastily emptied the bag.
Halfway through the frantic rummaging, tears began running down her face. Tears that she had selflessly held in since Dumbledore’s funeral began pouring out. She fell back onto her bed, digging her head into the pillow, not even noticing the painful bruise that was already forming on her cheek. All the pain that she had been holding in came rushing out. The amazing birthday present she had given him had acted like a dam; it had kept back the pain she had held off in hope that she would never have to let him go.
She reached down, pulling the box onto the bed. She leafed through the items. Memories flooded back to her and the tears fell faster. She took out the locket he had bought for her one day in Hogsmeade. She unclasped it, reaching around the back of her neck to put it on. The silver chain held an ornate ‘G’ and she touched it gently.
She fell back onto her pillows. She roughly pushed the box off the bed, enjoying the noise of the contents hitting each other on the way down.
She cried herself to sleep, thoughts of her friends, especially Harry’s, safety flitting across her mind.
That was the night the dreams began.
*****
“It’s like this is another lifetime, isn’t it?” Harry said, simply, as he slowed to a stop at a traffic light.
The summer breeze was filtering through the windows of Harry’s new car, and Ginny’s hand was out the window as they drove. Her other hand was holding his as he turned to look at her.
They were both coming home from King’s Cross, Harry having picked Ginny up from the station, her trunk and other belongings were piled into the small backseat and boot.
“It seems like time is playing tricks on me. Only a year? A year since Voldemort has threatened anyone, a year since he died. It seems unreal, doesn’t it?”
Ginny nodded, staring at their clasped hands.
“Is something wrong, Gin?” Harry asked, concerned, as he pulled away from the traffic lights.
“No, it’s just really hard to believe. It seems like just last night you left to go hunt down Voldemort and left me crying in my room,” she answered, looking out the window as the scenery passed by.
“What?” Harry said, slightly taken aback by this confession.
“Nothing, it’s nothing, forget I said it,” she said quickly as Harry pulled into the long drive that led to the Burrow.
“No, Gin, I want to know,” he insisted as he parked the car then turned in his seat to look at her.
Ginny shrugged her shoulders, uncomfortably.
“Come on Ginny,” he said, reassuringly. He kissed her, gently, and said, “You can tell me anything.”
“It’s stupid really. It’s just that, the day of the wedding, you know how you left and everything…”
“Yes,” Harry said uneasily.
“Well, when you left without me, you see, I had been planning to sneak along with you guys and you left without me. It just hurt a lot more that way I guess. I told you it was nothing.”
“It wasn’t nothing. Why didn’t you tell me?”
“I figured, you know, once we did get back together that it would be pointless to make you more upset about leaving me behind. Seriously, I’m fine.”
“Why did you wait until then to let it all out?”
“Because, because that’s when I realized that I loved you,” she replied simply, looking straight into his green eyes.
“You love me? You love me?” he repeated.
“Yeah, I guess that wasn’t the best way to tell you that,” she said sheepishly, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear.
Harry leaned forward, capturing his mouth with hers, pushing her backwards onto her seat.
“You want to know a secret, Gin?” he whispered against her lips.
Ginny nodded.
“I’ve loved you since Dumbledore’s funeral.”
And he captured her mouth with his.
Ginny's Battle by MarauderWannabe
Chapter Notes: Sorry for the long wait, I decided to wait to find a beta before I continued with this story. I found one, sent it to her, and a week later voila! Special thanks go out to Pittsy aka Laura for helping me make this chapter better!
All JKR's.....sadly
Chapter Endnotes: So........what did you think? Just to clear up confusion, the last section was a DREAM, not a prophesized/foreshadowing thing. But you never know.......it could come true.....maybe....
Anyway, I would appreciate it when you review*subtle subtle*, leave a favorite quote/section of the story.
As always, criticism is welcome