Second chance.

AN: To be honest, I'm not a twilight fan but some time ago I accidentally read a crossover of this genre and I have been hooked ever since. For unknown reasons I began writing this after a year of writers block. I know the theme is an overused one but I wanted to have a go at it anyway. I'm sad to say that while I have begun writing again, inspiracion only hits me rarely and I probably won't update my other stories for some time to come.

Betaed by: The life of a girl (Don't know what I would have done without her!)

Paring(s): Jacob/Harry, Past Harry/Ginny and cannon(mostly)

Warnings: Slash, Creature fic, Alpha/beta, mating cycle, possibly Mpreg, Fluff

Genre: Angst, Romance, Fantasy,

Disclaimer: I don't own anything.


Chapter 00) A True Mate.

It was a quiet and seemingly normal morning when Harry James Potter made his way to the small town's school called Forks High, where he had been attending as a senior for the last week. He didn't know it yet, but today would change his life forever.

He drove in his black convertible, steering his car into the school's parking lot, ignoring the students' many glances his way. Harry sighed. He hated that he was still his school's, and not to forget, the whole town's, newbie. And apparently he had this mysterious thing about him that the female population seemed to absolutely love.

When he exited his car, he pulled his backpack over his shoulder and walked towards the school's lockers. As he ignored those around him, suddenly something stirred inside him. It almost felt like he was compelled to look behind him and when Harry turned around, he paled.

He looked startled at the young Native American who stood leaned against a red truck talking to a gloomy looking girl around the same age. Anything else about the girl was ignored as Harry only had eyes for the tall young man by her side. Harry's heart beat faster and faster, as everything suddenly seemed absurdly insignificant, except the man on the other end of the school's parking lot.

Harry wanted nothing more than be held in those strong arms, curled against the stranger's hard body. Those arms would keep him safe. The thought was so absurd, yet felt scathingly right in his mind. He swallowed; his mouth feeling like a sponge. The wizard tore his eyes from his yet-to-be-mate and stared down at his shaking hands. He needed to get out of here. He couldn't deal with this. It was all too much. Too soon... Before he knew it he had turned around and had set off, running towards the forest.

Harry ran as fast as his feet could carry him, zigzagging between the tall trees. His heart beat steadily faster and faster as he tried to calm the storm roaring in his scarred soul. Everything around him was like fog as he came closer to the mountain cliff. He slowed down and finally came to a held when he stood at the edge, where he stared down at the dark sea below. His gaze locked onto the large waves that kept slamming against the sharp cliffs. His breathing was fast and uneven, and sweat was running down his bow. After a while, he let himself collapse onto a large stone close to the edge. He ended up sitting with his hands tangled up in his long hair with his head and arms leaning on his thighs.

He was panicking, that much he was aware of, and he felt so horribly alone. Feeling lonely wasn't a new feeling, having grown up that way but even so, right in this moment, the loneliness made it feel like needles were being jammed into his chest.

When he finally looked up from his lap, hollow green eyes staring at the once cloud free sky, he couldn't help but feel that it was mocking him.

With shaking hands, he reached up to pull at the silver chain that hang around his neck. His hands touched the old ring the chain held with unsure caresses as hopelessness filled his heart. Gone was the world around him and he was left alone and cold, until a soft familiar voice cut through his inner darkness.

"Harry..."

For a second despair filled him when he looked up into the transparent kind eyes of a beautiful redhead.

"Ginny?"

But as her name left his lips, all he felt was a crushing sorrow and an all consuming love. Feelings he knew all too well. She smiled a soft smile that took away his breath and made the old pain in his heart feel raw, but still he couldn't help but give a small grimace like smile back. For a while neither said anything, both drinking in the sight of the other.

It was sad eyes filled with love that took in the long red hair mixed with grey and white stripes, painted by time. He took in the wrinkles around her equally love filled brown eyes and the wrinkles around her cherry red lips all cursed by age and the millions of smiles that had brightened up his life for so many centuries. She was beautiful, and to him she only grew more so, the longer he looked at her.

He could have stared at her for hours and it still wouldn't have been enough. It never could. The sky he could see through her transparent form was a cruel reminder that she truly was dead. It reminded him that no matter how much he wished otherwise he could never hold her in his arms again, never feel her warmth against him, feel her lips against his.

"I have... I have found a true mate..." he whispered brokenly.

And suddenly she understood his panic and his fear. How she wished that she had the power to heal his crushed heart and scarred soul. But his newfound mate could, that she was certain of. Harry just had to accept his mate and get through his thick skull that it was alright for him to love again. She needed him to truly accept that just because he let go of the past, it didn't have to mean that it was forgotten. The past would always be a part of him, an important part. She knew that Harry would always love her, but that didn't mean he couldn't love another. It would take a lot of time and patience to get him to understand that, but if she used enough sweat, blood and tears, it could work, it just might.

"Oh, Harry."

Her voice was tender and her eyes were filled with compassionate tears, but underneath lay a flicker of frustration mixed with all her love.

"I'm so scared. So confused. I don't know what to do, Ginny."

"Be happy, my love. That is what you should do..." she replied with a sad smile.

It had been so long since her beloved had been happy. To long. Over the years, since her death, she had hoped that he would allow himself to heal. But he had not. He had stayed behind, clinging to her memory, stuck in place like a broken record. And when their old world had gotten too much to bare, she had been thrilled that the goblins had helped Harry move to a parallel universe where magic, as they both knew it, had never existed. It was the perfect chance for him to move on and now was the perfect opportunity. He just had to reach out and take it. But would he?

"...That is what you need to do."

"But I can't... I can't go through that again. My heart still bleeds... It almost killed me losing you. I can't survive losing another."

He looked utterly hopeless and the sorrow in his voice felt suffocating.

"My love, I'm so sorry. I would never had left you if I have had a choice. You know that, don't you?"

"I know. I know..."

She let the small smile on her face spread, giving a twinkling glow to her eyes, before she spoke; "Please don't cry any more, my heart. And no more melodrama, you must have watched too much of that American soap." Her voice for once was sounding strong and without the taint of sadness.

Harry couldn't help but snort after giving her a look of disbelief that quickly dissolved into a roll of his eyes and a bemused shake of his head. Even in death, she would stay strong for him, her light always brightening up his world. He couldn't imagine how anyone could ever come close to comparing to that or even hope to try. Without her, there were no light, only the icy darkness that had kept him company in his loneliness over the many decades he had rejected comfort. He didn't need another's warmth, only hers, and he hated how that could very soon change.

"Will you tell me about her?" she asked at last, breaking the silence.

He looked away from her, almost like he was ashamed of looking her in the eyes, before he gave a small nod in reply.

"It's not a she... My mate... My mate is male."

"Why do you seem so conflicted? I know you're not a homophobe so that can't be the reason..?"

Harry still refused to look Ginny in the eyes and as more time went by, the more his cheeks flushed in embarrassment.

"He... He is..."

The words were almost stroked out and still he couldn't seem to finish the sentence. Ginny looked at him in amused wonder. It had been a long time since she had seen this part of him. It made her lips curl into a silly smile. He seemed so shy, insecure and unsure. So young. It was cute.

A thought suddenly struck her and her eyes widened in shocked realisation. She dumbly wondered why she had never realised it before, especially as it was so obvious, well, to anyone who knew her beloved's creature status. A fact that in their youth had been hush hush. Almost a taboo subject. Even after the war, their old world still hadn't learned from most of their mistakes. Magical creatures and everything seemingly dark was still discriminated against. Though luckily most of their ridiculous laws were replaced and with time most went with the saying, "Out of sight, out of mind." The last which had both bad and good consequences.

But all that didn't matter anymore. Their old world was far away and in the past, and this was Harry's world now. His future. She smiled. Though she might not be a part of his future, she still was a part of his past and that was strangely enough, alright with her. He had tried to protect her all those years and if she were honest she felt that it was time for someone to finally protect him. To really protect him. The war had broken both of them and so they have had to heal each other, protecting each other from the world around them. It saddened her to realise that she may not have been everything in a mate that Harry had needed. He probably hadn't even realised what he had needed either, but if her suspicion was right, so would her incapability as a mate also be true.

She pushed the heartbreaking thoughts away and ignored how much it hurt inside her. This wasn't about her, but about Harry. He needed her to be strong right now, so she would be. It brought a smile on her lips, when she thought about her other discovery.

"Oh! I know! Ha! This is almost too good to be true!"

The shit-eating grin breaking out on her face, only got bigger as a frown appeared on his.

"He is an alpha, isn't he?!" she asked with badly concealed glee.

His only response was a mean glare, an annoyed huff and his cheeks blushing an even deeper shade of red that slowly spread to the tip of his ears.

"I knew it! My lovely little Harry is a Beta."

"Oh, shut up, Ginny."

She had been right. It hurt. She wouldn't show it, but it still hurt. Instead of tears she would smile. Because even though it hurt, the knowledge that Harry had gotten a second chance of happiness was everything she wished for him.

"How did you realise that he was the Alpha?" she ended up asking, intrigued after a moment of silence.

He stood up and turned away from the edge, staring into the forest with a strange glint in his eyes.

"I needed him to protect me. Hold me. That is the instinct of a Beta, not an Alpha."

It made her wonder how neither of them had never noticed it before. They must truly have been broken. And for a fleeting moment, she couldn't help but wonder how their lives might have been if Harry had never been the thorn in the Dark Lord's side. She shook the thought away, as it didn't matter. It was the past and now was the future.

She turned her gaze towards the burning sunset and whispered;

"Goodbye, my love."

Her soft voice was carried by the wind to Harry's sensitive ears and he looked up into her kind eyes. Tears were running down his red cheeks as he whispered her parting words back. He watched in sorrow as she disappeared before his eyes.

Harry stood frozen at the cliff edge, his gaze still staring transfixed where her silhouette had been until the sun had left the sky and he was left in darkness. Only then did he begin his lonely walk home. His heart screaming inside him. All because he knew that he wouldn't call for her again. This had been their final goodbye.

TBC


AN: let me know what you think. :) Please let me know how to improve both my writing and plot. :)