Chapter 1 Memories

The day they carried Harry in on a stretcher, barely conscious, was the only day Ginny Weasley almost fainted on the job.

She had been training to become a Healer for a few years, before the war, and was doing well in her studies. The month before she graduated, her family got a rather terse note from Harry, Ron, and Hermione by owl. This was one of the very few they received. One the note were four words which made Ginny's hair stand on end still to this day.

He's coming. Be ready.

That's all it had said. There was no signature, but they all recognized Harry's small, untidy penmanship. Ginny dropped out of Healer's school the next day. She was going to war to be a nurse. Deputy nurse, that is, because the only other person willing to do it was entirely too old to deal with the stress.

So there she was. Standing on a battlefield in a huge tent, scads of young wounded men with strange symptoms surrounded her. They carried Harry in on a red stretcher. Ginny had a feeling it wasn't red this morning. Setting him gingerly on an empty bed, they backed away, looking at her expectedly. She jumped, and realized that she was supposed to be attending to him. She walked quickly over to his bed, looking him up and down, trying to gauge the damage.

This felt so strange to her. She hadn't seen him since Bill and Fleur's wedding. He, Ron, and Hermione took off, and refused to tell anyone where they were. They sent letters every week in the beginning. As the years wore on, they were lucky to get one every six months.

Ginny sighed. "Broken leg…broken wrist…sprained ankle…" she murmured to herself, as she checked his pulse to make sure he was still with her. The people that brought him in left quickly, no doubt to return to the battlefield to bring more wounded soldiers to her.

"Mmm…I'm fine…really, I have to go back—" he said, struggling against her arms, his eyes still closed.

"No, Harry. You're not fine. Stay there," she said, her voice much stronger and sure.

At her words, he froze. He knew that voice. "Gin?" he asked, opening his eyes.

"Harry." Ginny looked into the bright green pair of eyes that were full of anxiety and fear. "What hurts the most?"