Chapter 1 Memories, Anguish and the Talks.
I walked out of the bathroom in the sixth- year- girls' dormitory after I finished my shower. I had forgotten my clothes again, so I still had on my pajamas. I went over to my wardrobe to get my Muggle clothes on, so I could go to Hogsmeade in casual clothing, just to find that all of them where in shreds and "Reparo" would not work on them. Oh, how I hated my roommates! They were not like this last year and it was Malfoy and Tom's fault. It was Tom's fault, not Voldemort's, because Tom was the one I met in that diary. He possessed me and made me do all those horrible things.
Flashback
"Hey, Weasley, how's the Dark Lord? What's it been now, five years? That's such a long time not to talk to a friend, to pour out your heart and soul to him. Yeah, Weasley, I know what happened, father told me everything. How can you go on like this? I mean, somebody almost killed people, if you catch my drift," stated Malfoy.
"Leave her alone, Malfoy," growled Ron.
"Easy, Ron. Malfoy, do leave her alone. By the way, how's your dad, does he like prison?" said Harry with a smirk.
Hermione just looked too horrorstruck, that someone else besides my three best friends knew about what really happened in my first year, to say anything in my defense and I was trying hard not to cry.
"I don't have to do anything you two tell me to. Have you forgotten I am a Prefect? I should take points for that. In fact, I think I will; five points from Gryffindor because Weasley back talked, five from Potty for insulting my father and five from the Mudblood for living. And it's not like I'm lying, she almost killed a lot of Mudbloods and blood traitors in her first year, right?" drawled Malfoy
Harry hit Malfoy with a curse that I didn't hear, but Malfoy's damage was done. Everyone that was in hearing distance heard him. They all looked horrified and backed away from me. That wasn't the worst of it though; we were in Hogsmeade, so the town's people and the passers-by heard it too.
End Flashback
Flashback
"Harry –oh, Harry – I tried to tell you at b-breakfast, but I c-couldn't say it in front of Percy – it was me, Harry – but I – I s-swear I d-didn't mean to—R-Riddle made me, he t-took me over – and – how did you kill that – that thing? W-where's Riddle? The last thing I r-remember is him coming out of the diary—"
"It's all right," said Harry, holding up the diary, and showing me the fang hole, "Riddle's finished. Look! Him and the basilisk. C'mon, Ginny, let's get out of here—"
(A/N from Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, chapter 17, page 323 American version.)
End Flashback
"I might as well see if Hermione still has some of my clothes she borrowed last week," I said to myself. I went over to my bedside table and said, "Alohomora" I heard a click to let me know that it had unlocked from the sound of my voice. I opened the drawer and pulled my small compact that held an enlarged fragment of the mirror that Sirius gave to Harry in his fifth year. Harry had given a piece of the broken mirror to me Hermione and Ron the previous summer. I walked to my bed, sat down on it while drawing the curtains and placed an one way silencing charm on it. I opened the compact and said "Hermione". I had to say her name three times until she finally heard me and her face appeared in my mirror.
"Ginny, what's wrong? Is it Harry? Or is it your roommates again? What did they do now?" said Hermione in a rush.
"Hermione, relax, Harry didn't do anything, but something is wrong………. Can I come over there? I will explain when I get there. Please?" I said
"Yeah, sure, the password is Rose Red. Don't ask, I don't come up with the passwords, the Headmistress does," said Hermione, rolling her eyes.
"Thanks." I closed the mirror and said, "Finite Incantatem", ending the Silencing charm. I pulled back the hangings, jumped off the bed and started to collect my makeup kit, purse and money. I knew Hermione would let me finish getting ready for the day in her room. After I had all my things, I went up to my trunk, said, "Colloportus" to it, my bedside table and my wardrobe. I turned to the door, went down the stairs and into the common room.
I walked out of the common room, into the hall and to my left. I stopped in front of a picture of a phoenix, flying over a deep blue lake.
"Rose Red," I said to the painting. The phoenix let out a quivering note and the portrait opened to let me into the most beautiful common room I had ever seen. Everything was deep red and gold; there were two big squishy arm chairs by the fireplace and two sofas not far from them. There were two big tables on the opposite side of the room, with some books on one of them. I looked around the room again, for I heard a noise. On one of the sofas sat a boy about seventeen years old, with a book lying on the floor in front of him. That boy was Harry Potter and he was just waking up.
"Harry, what are you doing in here?" I exclaimed while my stomach did a little flip.
"I needed some help with my Potions essay and Hermione helped me to start it, but she had a headache so she went to bed and I stayed here to finish it. Wait, what are you doing in here? Are your roommates at it again?" asked Harry, his voice full of concern.
"Yeah," I said.
"What did they do now?" inquired Harry, his brow furrowed.
"When I went to get some Muggle cloths to wear today from my wardrobe, I found all of them shredded and "Reparo" would not fix them. So I mirrored Hermione and asked if I could come over here and get my clothes she borrowed last week," I said in a rush.
"Oh, you really should tell Professor McGonagall about this. They've messed with your stuff and they should get in trouble for it," said Harry with a heart-melting smile.
I nodded and walked toward a door labeled "Head Girl Hermione Granger", stretched out my hand, took the doorknob and let out a small yelp of pain; the door shocked me!
"Gin, you need a password to get into the Heads rooms," said Harry, chuckling.
I rolled my eyes, took out my compact and said, "Hermione?"
Hermione's face appeared in the mirror once more. "Ginny, where are you? Did something happen and you couldn't come?" she asked, anxiously, with her trademark 'ask as many questions you can without waiting for a reply'.
"Yes, Hermione, something did happen to keep me from coming into your room. Didn't you forget something like, oh, I don't know, like the password to your room?" I asked in exasperation, while Harry laughed in the background.
"Oh, sorry, Ginny, I'll come down and let you in." With that said, Hermione's face disappeared from the mirror and I heard footsteps on the stairs, announcing her arrival.
"Come on up, Ginny. Oh, Harry, did you fall asleep in the common room again? How is your Potions essay coming along?" asked Hermione, looking beadily at Harry.
"Hermione, I slept in here only once and that was because I didn't want to wake the rest of the guys with my nightmares," Harry pointed out, a little annoyed. "My Potions essay is almost finished, thanks again for the help. I'm going to go get ready for the day, see you guys at breakfast." With a wave of his hand, he was out the portrait hole.
"Come on, Ginny, I still need to shower and you look like you're freezing," said Hermione with a kind smile.
It was true, I was freezing; I only had on a pair of pajama bottoms and a tank top. So I followed her up the stairs and into her room.
Her room was huge. It was the same size as my dormitory and looked just as comfortable.
"Ginny, how are you holding up?" Hermione asked me once I was seated on her bed.
"I'm okay, it's not like I didn't expect my roommates not to do something like this to me. They think that I have been lying to them for all these years. But I haven't; I couldn't control what I was doing while Tom possessed me. It's not like I would Petrify someone on my own free will. I mean, you were in the ones that were Petrified and you're one of my closest friends. I would never do that to one of my friends, or anyone else for that matter," I stated.
"Ginny, that's not what I was talking about. What I meant was how you are holding up now that you and Harry are not going out anymore?" asked Hermione.
"Oh, Hermione, it is killing me. It has been almost two years since Sirius died and it has been six months since Harry defeated Voldemort. I know you told me to be patient and everything, but it's killing me. I want to be with him, but he hasn't shown any signs of wanting to get back together. Should I talk to him about it?" I said with an exasperated sigh, flopping on to my back.
"Harry has shown signs of wanting to get back with you, but I think he needs to come to terms with some things first." She held up her hand to silence me as I opened my mouth. "I know you haven't seen the signs; because, they aren't very obvious. It's little things he does, like when you are in the Great Hall eating, he will continually look at you out of the corner of his eye, or when we are in the Gryffindor common room doing homework or talking, he will look at you longingly. But I think he needs more time to register that he is now free to live his life the way he chooses. He is now a free man, so to speak. He has his own home and has just defeated the most evil wizard of our time. He needs to think of what he wants out of life and focus on himself; then he can focus on other people. I think he does need to hear from you that you still love him and that you want to be with him. You should tell him as soon as possible." She gave me an encouraging smile and she walked into the bathroom, closing the door behind her and leaving me to my thoughts.
I walked over to Hermione's wardrobe and picked out a light green top that was mine and my favourite pair of stone washed blue jeans that I had bought from a Muggle shop at the end of the summer. I did my hair and was putting on a little make up when Hermione came out of the bathroom, fully dressed and ready for breakfast.
As Hermione and I walked into the Heads common room, Ron came out of his room followed by Harry at a slight distance. Ron did not look happy, but Harry had a mischievous look in his eyes.
"Good morning, boys. Harry when did you come back? I didn't hear you come in," I said with a smile.
"Who said it is good?" asked Ron bitterly, glaring at Harry.
"I came back about five minutes ago to wake up Ron," said Harry, answering my previous question.
"Is that what you were doing? I thought you might have been trying to kill me off or something. For crying out loud, you dumped a bucket of ICE COLD WATER on me. You could have just told me to get up," said Ron indignantly.
"I did tell you to get up, mate, you wouldn't listen. I even said Hermione wanted to meet you in a broom closet to snog in five minutes and you still wouldn't get up, you left me no choice," shrugged Harry with a mischievous grin.
"Good morning, sweetie." said a slightly red Hermione, giving Ron a quick kiss on the lips. Ron's face brightened and he gave her a quick hug.
"Morning 'Mione." he replied brightly. I just rolled my eyes.
I fell back from the group as Hermione gave Harry a small hug and a smile which he returned. Then Harry walked over to me, gave my arm a slight squeeze and asked,
"Gin, you are going to talk to Professor McGonagall after breakfast, aren't you?"
"Yes, Harry, I am," I knew I really wouldn't; I just said it to calm him down. "But first can we talk? Alone?" I asked timidly.
"Yeah, what about?" he questioned me.
"I'll tell you in a few minutes. Ron, Hermione, we'll see you in the Great Hall, okay?" I said, looking at Hermione with a look that said wish me luck, I'm going to tell him.
"Okay, see you later then," said Hermione as she pulled Ron down the hall towards the stairs and as I grabbed Harry's arm and dragged him the opposite direction, toward the Room of Requirement.
Once in front of the tapestry of Barnabas the Barmy, I told him to wait as I walked past it three times. I thought I needed a place to tell Harry that I still cared about him and that I wanted to be with him, without being disturbed. The third time I passed, a door appeared on the wall and I opened it, ushering him in.
When I closed the door, I heard a lock click and I turned around. The room looked like the common room, but it was smaller. In front of the fireplace was a sofa, in which Harry sat down on. "Ginny, what's up?" he asked with confusion in his beautiful emerald green eyes.
"Harry, I need to tell you something and I need you to listen to me without speaking until I am done, okay?"
"Okay," he shrugged.
"Harry, I still care about you and I still want to be with you and I thought that when the war was over you would ask me back, but you didn't. So now, I need to know if you still feel for me the same way you did last year, or you have moved on."
Harry looked at me and stood up. He closed the distance between us with one step, took me in his arms and said, "Gin, I thought that you wouldn't want me back after I had ended it between us last June so I just settled for being your friend; but I do want us to be so much more. I love you, Ginevra Molly Weasley."
He leaned down and kissed me. It was a kiss that sent shivers up and down my spin and made me weak at the knees. As we kissed, I felt Harry's arms tighten around my waist. He lifted me and took me to the sofa. He set me down, with him on top of me and kissed me more passionately. When the need for air became overwhelming, we broke apart.
"Harry James Potter, I love you too," I said.
In response to that, Harry kissed me again with more passion than the last kiss. We stayed on the sofa kissing for a long time after that. It could have been hours, but it wasn't.
When we finally broke apart again, Harry said, "Why don't we go down to breakfast? Then we can go to Hogsmeade and spend the day together. I've really missed you, Ginny." He gave me a swift kiss and opened the door.
We walked down the hall and into the Great Hall, holding hands.