A/N: A romance/hurt and comfort between Ginny and Harry. Hope you like - please favourite, follow and review x

Chapter One

The Battle of Hogwarts

It had been a long year. Every morning I'd wake up wishing yesterday was a dream only to find out it was nothing of the sort. I'd eat my breakfast in silence then go to my next lesson. In class I refused to work. The lessons these "teachers" portrayed to us taught us nothing. I would never endure the cruel punishments and violent language and I did what I could to fight back. I fought back in the D.A. with Neville and what was left of it because I knew he was fighting for us so we had to fight for him and all that was right. I know he loves me and I know I love him. I love him with all my heart and all my soul. I love him with everything I have, for he is everything I need.

It was towards the end of term when Neville came back from Aberforth's with a surprise for us all.

"Hey, listen up you lot!" Neville announced, "I brought you a surprise."

"Not more of Aberforth's cooking I hope. I'd be surprised if we could digest it!" said Seamus.

But it wasn't more food, it was, "Harry!" I whispered. His hair was shaggy and pointing in random directions, his eyes bright and fearless. He looked just as he always had but with a bit more blood and mud.

"Hi there," We looked into each other's eyes from across the room. Slowly I walked towards him, felt his fingers intertwine with mine and before I knew it I was in his arms again. All the pain, all the cruelty, all the anxiety and all the hurt was gone. It didn't matter anymore because we were together again.

My arms wrapped around her little, frail body and I wondered if she'd been eating properly. Her beautiful ginger hair was as soft as I'd remembered and I closed my eyes to feel her warmth against me. All the pain, all the fear and all the anger was gone. It didn't matter anymore because we were together again.

"Six months she hasn't see me, it's like I'm a Frankie First Year. I'm only her brother..." Ron said.

Ginny and I broke apart and turned to look at everyone else.

"She's got lots of them," said Seamus, "but only one Harry."

"Shut up, Seamus."

Ginny blushed and turned to Hermione.

I studied Neville's face. He'd grown old in the past six months but had gained a sparkle in his eyes.

"Right then," said Neville, "what's the plan, Harry?"

"Okay. There's something we need to find," I faltered, "something hidden here, in the castle. And it may help us defeat, You-Know-Who."

"Right, what is it?"

"We don't know."

"Where is it?" asked Neville.

"We don't know that, either," I confessed, "I realize it's not much to go on."

"That's nothing to go on," said Seamus.

"I think it has something to do with Ravenclaw," I proposed, "Um...it'll be small, easily concealed.

"Well, there's Rowena Ravenclaw's lost diadem," Luna suggested.

"Oh, bloody hell! Here we go!"

"Shush, Ron," Hermione whispered.

"Lost diadem of Ravenclaw?" Luna asked, "Hasn't anyone heard of it? It's quite famous."

"Yes. But Luna," said Cho, "it's lost for centuries now. There isn't a person alive today who's seen it."

"Excuse me, can someone tell me what a bloody diadem is?"

"Ron!" whispered Hermione a little louder this time. I couldn't help but chuckle.

"It's a sort of crown," Cho explained, "you know, like a tiara."

After that everything was really rushed. Voldemort started speaking in my head. I felt like kicking myself for letting him in then realised everyone could hear it. Soon we were all assembled to the Great Hall where I showed myself to Snape and all the other pupils and staff. McGonagall soon got rid of him but You-Know-Who started speaking again. He wanted me. I set off with Ron and Hermione; we had to find these horcruxes!

Time was speeding up and I was scared. I was scared of losing my first love to a heartless serpent of a man who sought to destroy him. Harry could've been anywhere and I was stuck not knowing if he was dead or alive. I couldn't do it anymore. It was time to fight. In the great hall there were hundreds of wizards and witches fighting. I could see my brothers and my parents, their ginger hair standing out a mile away. I felt myself being knocked to the ground.

"Oh look," snarled Bellatrix in a sarcastic baby voice, "Little Ginny Weasley. Decided to join the fight did we? Mummy and Daddy will be so proud! Or not. You are their only daughter and how badly they must've wanted you; they had six boys before you. Seven little Weasley children. Well, six when I'm done with you…"

I was so terrified. I should've stayed with my family; I didn't want to die; not because I was selfish but because it was true. My parents craved a daughter for years and there I was, sacrificing my life to Bellatrix Lestrange. And Harry! It would've killed him if I'd died, I was one of the few people he loved that was still living. What had I done? "Stupefy!" I yelled. Bellatrix fell to the ground but got up very quickly.

"Using our little stunning spells are we? Use your strength, if you have any." She cackled and it sounded awful.

"Crucio!" I said. Nothing seemed to be happening. "CRUCIO!" I yelled again, this time with meaning. Bellatrix fell to the floor screaming with pain. "SECTUMSEMPRA!" One I learnt from Harry. I was surprised that it worked. "CRUCIO!" I yelled again. Quickly, I ran away leaving her bleeding and screaming on the floor.

I was still running, trying to get away, when another one of Voldemort's icy cold threats echoed through the grounds.

"You have fought valiantly but in vain. I do not wish this. Every drop of magical blood spilled is a terrible waste. I therefore command my forces to retreat. In their absence, dispose of your dead with dignity. Harry Potter, I now speak directly to you. On this night, you have allowed your friends to die for you rather than face me yourself. There is no greater dishonour. Join me in the Forbidden Forest and confront your fate. If you do not do this I shall kill every last man, women and child who try to conceal you from me."

I couldn't let Harry do this, I wouldn't allow it. I felt like screaming right there and then. This bloody Tom Riddle guy should never have been born!

"Ginny, dear," my mum whispered, "there's something you should know." She took me over to the centre of the great hall. All the Weasleys were crowded around George. He was crying his heart out holding onto something of the same size as himself. That's when I realised; Fred was dead.

"Fred…" Tears welled up in my eyes and I let them fall. "Fred!" I sank to the floor next to George and Charlie picked me up and cradled me like a baby. I screamed and howled and kicked Charlie who put me down. I thrashed about demanding to know who murdered my brother. Eventually I lay down beside him and hung onto his cold, hard body for what seemed like hours.

I stayed there, eyes closed, slow breathing, pretending I was dead too.

"No, NO!" Ron screamed flinging himself to the floor grabbing both me and Fred. He must've felt my heartbeat for he moved away from me saying, "Ginny, you're so pale I thought you were dead."

"I wish I was," I said my voice cracking.

After a while Fred's body was taken to a make-shift coffin. I was too shattered to go over and look. I'd done enough looking anyway so I just stayed with Ron. We sat there together, too exhausted to cry.

At that moment, I realised how much Ron meant to me. I'd always just seen him as being jealous of me. I didn't blame him really. I was the Weasley girl his parents craved and when I arrived they practically discarded Ron who was only one year old. I'd always wanted to be his friend but until Hogwarts, he didn't like me nearly as much as all my other brothers did.

"I'm so sorry." I croaked.

"What do you have to be sorry for?" he asked.

I looked into his eyes, blue like Dad's but red and puffy, and sighed, "I feel like you don't like me as much as our brothers because I was born while you were still so young," I explained, "I got all the attention when you didn't get your fair share mainly because I was the girl they'd craved for years. I desperately wanted to be your friend but until my third year at Hogwarts, you never seemed interested. I was just your annoying little sister."

Ron looked at the stone floor beneath him, "some of that is true. I was jealous of you from a young age, 'stealing my mummy and daddy!'" he chuckled, "but you were always so kind to me. I never thought you were annoying, well obviously you annoyed me sometimes 'cause we are siblings and well I guess our shouting matches are kind of ledgendary but I saw you for who you are. The whole 'didn't want to be friends' thing isn't entirely true. When we were little I found it weird to be friends with someone a whole year younger than me. But now, well, you are my friend even if we do attempt to kill each other occasionally."

I attempted to smile at Ron and he attempted to smile back at me but neither of them was believable. I knew how he felt. Life was falling to pieces before my eyes.

I asked, "Is this how Harry feels? I mean but worse? We feel like crap because of one family member dying. Harry has no family left; well except you and Hermione I guess but no real family."

"I don't know. I feel sorry for him. He's like a dead man with a live body."

I looked across at Ron and Ginny and a pang of guilt stabbed me in the chest. "I can't waste any more time, any more lives! I know what I have to do. Snape's memory told me; if Voldemort is going to die he needs to kill me first."

Hermione looked at me, took my hand and looked at me straight in the eyes. "Please, Harry, don't go!" A single tear trickled down her face.

"Kill the snake. We destroyed the other horcruxes so when you kill the snake, it's only him left to deal with." I took my best friend's hands in my own.

"Whatever happens, Harry, know that Ron and I are here and we love you. We're your family."

"I already know that," I said with an attempt at a smile. Tears ran down her cheeks as she embraced me in one last hug.

"Please, don't go," she whispered, "You're my best friend!"

"I have to. I've already left it long enough." And with that I turned around and headed for the Forbidden Forest.

Hermione just stared as Harry walked away. Slowly she sank to the ground and wrapped her arms around her knees. "Go." I told Ron, "She's hurting."

Ron kissed my forehead, "okay," and went over to Hermione. I watched as he slowly bent down to stroke her hair and whisper in her ear. Tears were now streaming down her cheeks. Ron picked her up like a baby and carried her over to a bench where they sat intertwined with each other. I missed Harry more than ever and he wasn't even dead yet. Mum sat down next to me and held my hand like she always did when I was little. For a while we watched Ron and Hermione in silence. I'd never seen Ron treat anything with such care. It was so beautiful how her head fit perfectly into his neck while he played with her long, curly hair. They seemed so in love. My brother leaned in to kiss her. It was a gentle yet passionate, lasting kiss. After a few seconds I felt like an intruder and turned back to my mother.

"They seem so right for each other," I said, "I've never seen Ron so-"

"Gentle?" Mum interrupted, "me neither. I think he really loves her. About time he told her too!"

"You noticed?" I asked.

"Of course I noticed! They can't take their eyes off of each other!" we shared a quiet giggle then looked back over at them. They were no longer locking lips, just rubbing their noses together repeating what looked like the same words to each other. My guess, which was probably right considering my talent at lip-reading, was 'I love you, I love you.'

A single tear trickled down my face.

"Ginny," my mother sighed, "It's Harry, isn't it? You miss him?"

I nod. "Not just Harry. Fred too; and the terrible thing is that Fred really is gone," my words started to wobble as a fresh set of hot tears reached the surface, "he's really, really gone. My big brother! Every time I look at George from now on…" I looked at George. He was all cried out, just sitting by a wall, expressionless, eyes empty. He looked lost without his twin. His twin who made everything funny and everything a laugh was gone forever. "Oh my God, this can't be happening."

"I know, sweetheart," my mum wrapped me up in the warmest of hugs, "I know."

"I love you, Mummy."

"I love you too, darling."