Disclaimer: Everything belongs to J.K.-- though I wish I could've thought of it first….
Summary: ONE SHOT. After Bill's wedding to Fleur, Harry is in the midst of packing up his things to go searching for Voldemort's horcruxes when he is cornered by Ginny. No one likes a noble Harry. Warning: Moderate Fluff & HBP Spoilers.
Walk Away
By Majestic Waters
"I'm going with you!" Harry looked up from his crouched position on the floor of Ron's bedroom, where he was packing his travel bag, and into the blazing eyes of Ginny Weasley. She was standing in the doorway, dressed in very pretty lilac dress robes. It was just after Bill's and Fleur's wedding reception, and she had yet to change. Harry quickly masked his surprise, and turned from her dismissively.
"We've already been through this, Ginny. You're not coming."
"No, you've already been through this, Harry. You've barely looked at me since you came back from the Dursley's! We need to talk about this!"
"There's nothing to talk about." Ginny flew at him, and bopped him on the back of the head with her fist. He threw his arms up over his head to prevent another attack, standing quickly.
"That's not fair!" she cried, furiously. "You won't even give me a chance!"
"I already told you," said Harry warily, determined not to get riled, and rubbing the back of his head. "I don't want you involved. As long as we're together, He'll find a way to use you against me. Can't you see that?"
"Harry, I'm already involved. Half my family's in the Order; it's not like he's going to ignore me just because we're not dating!"
"Exactly. And there'll be an even bigger chance of you getting hurt if you stay with me. I couldn't handle it if anything happened to you."
Ginny sneered in an eerie impression of Snape, which had a very unsettling effect on Harry. "Don't give me that, Harry. What about Ron and Hermione? They're not any less important to you than I am, are they? Aren't they going with you?"
Harry turned away once more to rummage through a drawer full of t-shirts. "That's different."
"How? And don't you dare say, 'it just is'!" The words had been on the tip of his tongue. Harry looked at her irritably.
"They wouldn't take no for an answer."
"And neither will I!"
"And besides!" said Harry angrily, savagely stuffing a t-shirt into his pack. "Ron and Hermione can take care of themselves! You never saw them get possessed by an evil diary!"
"Oh, low blow Harry…" said a voice from the door. Harry turned and saw Ron looking at him sympathetically. He didn't realize why until he stole a glance at Ginny: her face had gone completely white, and she was trembling with barely suppressed rage. Harry looked back in time to see Ron beat a hasty retreat.
"Ginny, listen—" he said quickly, but was interrupted by a blast of red light that barely missed his ear as he jumped out of the way. "Ginny, wait!"
"No, you wait!" she snarled, her wand pointed straight at his heart. "I am every bit as capable as my brother, maybe even more so, and you know it! So why won't you let me come? Is it because I'm a girl? No, because Hermione's going with you! There's as much chance of V-Voldemort using them against you as using me, and still you won't let me help! Why?"
"I… I don't know," mumbled Harry at last, falling back against the wardrobe.
"That's not good enough, Harry," she countered sharply.
"I can't explain it! It's just different with you, okay?" seeing that she was on the verge of trying to hex him again, he quickly amended, "I mean, Ron, Hermione and I… we've been together forever. We're practically an extension of each other… they're already in too deep. But you… don't you see, Ginny? It's not too late! You can get out! I mean, you can't abandon your family, but you can walk away from me! Plenty of boys like you! Boys who aren't number one on Voldemort's hit list…."
Ginny's iron-like grip on her wand faltered, and all at once, she was a crying crumpled heap on the floor. Alarmed, Harry knelt down and pulled her to him, rubbing her back awkwardly, trying his best to be comforting.
"Oh, Harry," she sobbed, hiding her face in the crook of his neck. "Only you could make me this miserable!" Harry pulled back from her slowly, and looked at her tear-streaked face, and her slowly reddening eyes, feeling equally as miserable.
"Ginny…"
"No, Harry!" she cried, angry again and hitting him. "Don't you get it? I can't just walk away! I- I've loved you since my first year at Hogwarts!" Harry stared at her, wide-eyed. "No, even before that! Don't you see? You're ingrained in every part of me! You're an extension of me! If you left me here… if you left me--!" She couldn't speak through her uncontrollable sobs, and Harry pulled her close again, stroking her silky hair. Finally after several minutes, she pulled back, looking him in the eye. "Just… answer me this, Harry. If our roles were reversed, would you let me run off to defeat the most powerful, unbalanced and evil wizard who ever lived, all by myself?"
"Ginny…"
"I'll follow you," said Ginny abruptly, hiccoughing and clutching wildly at his shoulders, as if he were about to disappear right then and there. "I know how to apparate—Hermione taught me. I'll follow you wherever you go, and haunt you in your dreams!" Unwillingly, Harry felt a surge of affection for the girl in his arms, and—once more, completely against his will—the corners of his lips twitched upwards.
"Remind me to throttle Hermione…" he deadpanned, gently leaning his forehead against hers. Ginny looked at him hopefully. He sighed heavily, his heart in his eyes. "I must be insane—"
He was cut off by a squeal from Ginny, who in her euphoria had tackled him flat onto his back. The wind was knocked out of him momentarily, but as he gasped for air he inhaled a scent that was pure Ginny—that rich, flowery smell that he loved so much—and he wondered suddenly how he could have possibly considered leaving her behind. This fiery… confident…beautiful… passionate… oh, there were so many adjectives to describe the wonderfulness that was Ginevra Weasley, he was beside himself!
"Er…." Harry and Ginny looked up quickly from their passionate embrace on the hardwood floor. Ron stood in the doorway, looking extremely uncomfortable, and was tugging on his shirt collar, staring fixedly at the lamp on his bedside table. Harry made to extricate himself quickly from his best friend's little sister, but Ginny held him pinned to the ground, demonstrating strength beyond anything Harry could have imagined. It was extremely embarrassing.
"Yes, Ronald?" inquired Ginny breezily, as if he had caught her reading a book instead of straddling his best mate. Only an underlying croakiness to her voice betrayed the fact that she had been desperately sobbing only moments before.
"Er… nevermind," Ron mumbled before darting quickly from the room.
"Right," Ginny hummed, smiling down at Harry, and lost in her dark eyes, Harry couldn't stop himself from saying:
"I'm going to marry you one day, Ginny Weasley." She grinned down at him happily, a mischievous little twinkle in her eyes.
"Let's just take it one step at a time, shall we…? But incidentally, I happen to think 'Nymphadora' is a perfectly lovely name for a baby girl!"
Harry's eyes bugged out of their sockets, and laughing delightedly, Ginny swooped down for another kiss. Harry was deeply comforted when he reminded himself how very much he loved this witch... and that he and Ginny were very coordinated people, so it would be physically impossible to produce a daughter quite as clumsy as Tonks....
FIN!
A/N: And they all lived happily ever after… well, except Voldemort of course! Just my version of what I think should happen at the beginning of the seventh book. Sorry about Ginny's violent mood swings (she's a red-head!), and the abrupt almost-marriage-proposal at the end—I just want it to happen so much in real life, "real life" meaning J.K.'s universe. Hope you enjoyed! Remember that reviewing is STRONGLY SUGGESTED!