He is dead, it's over. Repeating it over and over again seemed to make it more realistic to the young Harry James Potter. The war had ended only hours before and now, here he was, where the final battle took place. The bodies of those lost were gone, but their souls were still there. Harry could feel them there, as he sat in the great hall, he could feel Tonks and Remus smiling at him; he could picture Sirius and his parents patting his back and telling him what a good job he'd done; he could feel Dumbledore giving him a congratulatory smile, telling him what a good kid he was; but most clearly of all he could picture Fred. Out of them all, he'd known Fred the longest, and he could see the place where Fred was murdered. A silent tear slid down his cheek. Many were lost, too many to count, from both sides. But Harry knew that if he could take anyone back, it would be Fred. Fred was such a huge part of the family he called his own, and Harry felt he never got to say goodbye.
Harry sighed and put his head in his hands, he thought he would be so much happier now that the dark lord was defeated, but to be honest, he didn't feel different. All of the loses were catching up with him, and he wasn't quite sure he could handle it, "This is all my fault," he announced to himself aloud before banging his head on the table.
Harry moved silently from where he sat up to the common room. He wanted to talk to someone and was hoping Hermione or Ronald would be available, preferably Hermione, he didn't quite know how Ronald felt about losing his brother, what if he blamed Harry?
There was no need for a password, the fat lady opened for anyone these days, the war caught up with her too. Harry walked in and saw someone sobbing on the couch. He saw the flaming red hair and assumed it was Ronald, and tried to get out until he noticed it was Ginny, the love of his life.
"Gin?" Harry asked, just to be sure, as he moved closer to her shaking figure. She looked up at him with red puffy eyes and immediately looked away, ashamed of something. "What's wrong?" Harry asked her moving toward her, he went to touch her shoulder and she pulled away. He put his hand in his lap and looked at her again, "Is everything alright?" he asked, reiterating his previous question.
"Yes, every thing's fine," she said calmly, "Now if you'll excuse me, I have to talk to Hermione" she said with a smile as she walked up to the girl's dormitories. Harry sat there for a moment before sighing and taking a walk around the deserted school.
After he'd gone in almost every classroom and through every corridor he decided to see what the room of requirements would show him. But when he got up there, he wasn't alone.
"Cho?" he asked, seeing another girl sitting and crying. The room resembled a young girl's room, apparently that's what Cho wanted, her childhood bedroom.
"Oh hello Harry" she said patting the seat next to her, before attempting to dry her eyes. He sat next to her and she smiled, putting her hand on his leg, "I need to forget" she said before eagerly putting her lips to his. Harry was caught a bit off guard as Cho pushed him to the bed. He fell and wrapped his arms around her hips and she fell with him.
Harry woke up the next morning, naked with someone asleep next to him, he thought for a moment it was Ginny, she was the only one he wanted to have sex with. When he moved the sheets from the girls face, his mouth dropped open and he immediately jumped out of the bed. He'd just had sex with Cho Chang. He summoned his clothing and immediately ran out.
And now, here he was, five years later, finally returning so he could be the best man at his best friend's wedding. He was hoping the girl he loved most in the world wasn't the bridesmaid, but he was pretty sure she would be.
He'd been dreading this day, and now here he was, standing at the entrance to the place he called home all those years ago, "The Burrow". The outside still looked the same, just as beat up and worn as it always had. Harry walked to the front door, and cautiously knocked.
He saw the knob turn from the other side and a beautiful crimson haired girl opened it. "Hi Ginny" he said with a smile, he couldn't believe how beautiful she'd gotten. She'd always pretty, but damn, she's beautiful, he thought to himself.
Ginny looked at him, opened the door and walked away. Harry raised an eyebrow, he figured she would be mad, but not this mad.
He sighed and walked in, he was greeted by Ronald and Hermione. He hugged his friends and congratulated them on their recent engagement. He'd missed his friends and the Weasleys, but most of all he missed Ginny, and now she wasn't talking to him.
"Oh, Harry dear, there's an owl message from a Miss Cho Chang," Mrs. Weasley said coming into the family room, where everyone else was. Hermione was the only one who'd seen Cho in the past five years, and that was three years ago.
Dear Harry,
I heard you were back and I thought now is as good a time as ever to congratulate you. Harry when you had sex with me, and then left me, I was relieved. I didn't want things to be awkward. Plus, I knew you liked the Weaslette, and I didn't want to intrude. Well anyways nine months after we had sex, I had a child, her name is Harmony and I think she should meet her father.
Love,
Cho xoxo!
Harry read over the letter three or four times, making sure he'd read. He looked over at Hermione, who'd known ahead of time, deciding that it was up to Harry to tell the other two. Harry gritted his teeth at the fact that Cho called Ginny the Weaslette. Hermione looked at him worriedly and somehow, he knew she knew.
Mrs. Weasley could see the worried look on Harry's face and asked the rest of the family to leave, Ronald, Hermione, and Ginny were the only ones who stayed. "Is everything alright?" Ginny asked staring longingly into Harry's eyes. He immediately shook his head and looked at the ground, he knew what he was about to say would break Ginny's heart, she'd hate him forever, and that was the last thing he wanted.
He looked at Hermione, and she nodded her head with a small smile on her face. He knew this meant he was going to have to tell Ronald and Ginny, as much as he didn't want to.
Harry cleared his throat and looked up, "Well, after the battle ended all those years ago, I went for a walk around the grounds and found Cho in the room of requirement, and well, we shagged," he said immediately looking away.
He chanced a look at Ginny, in time to see tears welling in her eyes. She viciously blinked them away and made a run for the door, "Ginny," Harry tried, he didn't want her to leave. It was her he had wanted to shag, not Cho, but he thought that chance was just shot to hell.
"Don't," Hermione whispered as Harry stood up to go chase Ginny, "she isn't going to want to talk to you yet. Go visit your child," she commanded rather harshly. She had known, but that doesn't mean she approved.
Hermione stomped after Ginny, but not before glaring viciously at Harry. "What was that about mate?" Ronald asked totally oblivious to the fact that his best friend just shattered his sister's heart, that was such a Ronald thing. Harry shrugged his shoulder, though he knew damn well why Ginny up and ran like that.
Harry sighed, "Don't worry about it, I've got it covered," Harry lied out his ass, watching Hermione's figure and the beautiful red head walk away without her.
"GINNY," Hermione called after leaving the house. Ginny stopped and turned, red faced, to look at Hermione to see what she wanted. As Hermione got closer, she could see Ginny was really upset. Hermione, unlike Ronald, knew how much Harry meant to Ginny and to hear the man she loves has a child with someone she hates.
Hermione smiled sympathetically and Ginny let all of her tears out. She cried and broke down to her knees, "We were supposed to be each others' firsts," she cried pounding the her fists on the ground. Hermione walked over to her, and put her hands on Ginny's shoulders and hugged her, shushing her and soothing out her hair.
"Gin, it's gonna be fine, love," she said hugging her best friend and kissing the side of her head, "I have a feeling everything is going to work out."
Harry moved toward the fireplace, "Cho Chang's" he announced before throwing floo powder and flooing to Cho's apartment. He stood outside her small apartment, with his hands in his pockets, before knocking on the door. He stood patiently, before the door swung open and Cho was on the phone with someone, a small child on her hip.
"Mommy" the little girl said, tugging at her mother's sleeve, and Cho quickly hung up the phone.
"Harry," was all she could say, she knew he was home, but she never thought that he would come. She wordlessly moved out of the way, "Come in" she said as he walked in and sat on the couch. They stared at one another for a moment, unsure of what to say, they were just quiet.
Harmony, their child, was now four years old, and she tugged at her mother's pant leg, "Whose that?" she asked pointing obnoxiously to a very quiet Harry.
Cho looked at Harry and then down at Harmony, "That's daddy" she said with a sly smile. Harry smiled nervously, the first thought to cross his mind was I know have no chance with Ginny. He knew that Cho would be after him, she always seemed to be, and he couldn't abandon her, it was his child. She was a very cute little girl, dark hair and eyes.
Harry smiled as Harmony ran up to him, and jumped in his lap. He smiled down at the little girl, "Hey there beautiful" he said tweaking her nose.
"Sweetheart, can you go upstairs so mummy can talk to daddy?" Cho asked Harmony, the little girl nodded slightly and ran out of the room, presumably to hide around the corner and listen.
There was a brief silence before Harry said anything, "Long time" he muttered, staring at the pictures of his daughter on the wall. She was a cute little thing, he had to admit.
"Yes, yes it has. All those years ago I wanted so badly to kill you, Harry. I was so angry, you had sex with me and then you left me," she told him, as if he wasn't there.
"Honestly, would you have seen me again?" Harry asked rather rudely, cocking his eyebrow at her. She in turn rolled her eyes.
"That's not the point Harry Evans Potter," she told him.
He looked at her and rolled his eyes, "My middle name is James" he said rather livid. She knew nothing about him, she was just desperate back then, they both knew it, and the only reason she or he cared now was because there was a child involved.
"Oh right, of course, I'm sorry" she muttered before looking into his eyes again, "So when do you want to move in?" she asked putting out her date book. Harry's eyes dropped shot open and his jaw dropped.
"Move in?" he asked shocked as Cho nodded her head. "Cho, I'll help take care of Harmony, but I don't want to rush anything," he told her, shaking his head slightly.
"Oh, of course, I mean we should date first, and then get married, then you can move in, and we'll live happily ever after," she smiled, taking his hand.
He merely nodded before announcing, "I should go, the Weasley's are expecting me for dinner."
She smiled and nodded, "We'll come see you tomorrow," she said throwing floo into the fireplace, and urging Harry to go.
Harry smiled and walked out the door, shaking his head. He had a child, he'd just found out, and he was perpetually annoyed with the mother, no surprise there.
When Harry arrived it was dinner, but someone was missing. "Where's Ginny?" Harry asked looking at the family.
Hermione sighed, "Sit down, Harry," she said ignoring him, as Ronald clenched his fists and let out a low growl.
"Why do you care where Ginny is?" Ronald growled angrily.
Harry stood up angrily, "Sod off, Ronald," Harry said before storming outside.
Ginny stared longingly out at the pond, Hermione had just gone back inside rather urgently, so Ginny now sat alone on a cold, marble-colored rock. Staring out at the rippling mirror-like water, she brushed a ginger strand of hear from her face and sighed, watching as her reflection glowed in the moonlit water; she wanted so badly to go for a quick swim.
"I have no where else to be," she said shrugging, and staring at herself, before removing all of her clothes. She didn't have a bathing suit or towel, so she would have to make sure all her clothes were dry for her when she got back out.
She stepped into the water and shivered, it was chilly, but nothing she couldn't handle. She waded her way into the water, and let her hair out of the bun it was up in. As tears streamed down to her face, the thunder rolled in the distance.
She looked down at her reflection in the water, "I hate you," she whispered before splashing the area where her image was. Ginny sat in the water, her head was just above water, and the rain poured down, as did her tears. She was always so sure of herself, but these days, things were different. She loved Harry, Harry loved Cho, and Cho loved attention. Ginny sighed, and dunked her head under the water. She wanted to be beautiful, she wanted Harry's attention, but nothing was good enough.
She was crying over a boy who didn't care. She went under the water again, and when she resurfaced, she thought about going under and not coming back up. What if she just drowned here? Would anyone really notice, would he care? She was so in love with him and he wanted to get in someone else's pants. The tears streamed down again and Ginny suddenly heard a rustling in the nearby bushes.
She quickly wiped her eyes and covered her body the best she could with her arms. She looked around and saw no one, "Who's there?" she screamed into the darkness, anger and fear evident in her voice. She began to sob again and got out of the water, putting her clothes back on.
She sat soaked on a rock, dreaming of Harry when she felt someone cover her mouth. "Don't say anything?" she heard a harsh voice whisper to her.
She turned to see who it was, but they jerked her head to the side again. She froze, stopped breathing, "Breathe," the voice said a bit more sweetly. Ginny let out a ragged breath, and the person swept her off her feet, cradling her in their arms.
A few minutes later, she was put down in her favorite tree house. It was almost a mile away from the burrow and she thought she was the only one who knew about this place. The person disappeared and hid up on the loft as Ginny laid below, shivering.
"I used to follow you here. When you'd get upset and run from the table, I'd follow. And then when you were here, I'd just watch you," the voice said, a smile in their voice.
Ginny froze, this person was legally stalking her; who was it? Who could it be? Ginny's breathing sped up a bit, and her chest rose a fell quickly and she searched the empty tree house.
"I know you probably think I'm a stalker, right?" they said watching her nod her head in agreement, "Well if you consider the fact that I'm crazy about you, I know your family and friends, and I sometimes think I know more about you than you do about yourself," they laughed.
"C-Can I know who you are?" she asked, now a bit afraid, and inching closer to the door.
The voice laughed a little, "I think it's better if you guess."
Ginny sighed heavily, "Fine, but I get five questions first," she stated, showing this person there was no denying her of that. "First, are you male or female?"
"Male."
"Do I know you as well as you know me?"
"I should hope so, I've been around for a while."
"Do I know you love me?"
"Well, yes, I just told you, but besides that I've never told you."
"Have I loved you?"
"At one point in time. You only have one more question," they told her.
"Why did you bring me here?" she asked him, as if it were all she really meant to ask.
"Because you once said that this was your sanctuary and I wanted to take you here to tell you I love you. Now, who do you think I am?" the voice asked; it was a commanding voice, one that she couldn't really place, but she knew she had to have heard.
Ginny thought for a moment, and cleared the throat before finally getting a light bulb moment, she knew, "Harry?" she asked knowing full well she was right.
And out of the shadows came the man she loved, "Harry Potter, you stupid prick," she said running at him and slapping hard across the face. "You made me despise myself, I wanted so bad to kill you. But unfortunately I love you as much, if not more than I hate you. You're with Cho now, she had your child, you're like htat Harry. You'll love anyone whose willing to love you, I hate that about you," she growled pacing back and forth in the small tree house.
He looked up at her, looking extremely guilty, and he smiled a little. "What the bloody hell are you smiling about?"
He tried to hide the smile on his face as he looked at her, "What makes you think Cho is the one I want?" he asked her, a smirk gracing his features.
She glared daggers at him, "Well she did have your fucking child -" she started, but her breath caught when she looked at his face. He was looking at her like she was the most beautiful thing in the world. "What?!" she growled.
He looked at her and smiled, "You know it's true, the most beautiful girls tend to be daft," he said as he moved toward her and trapped her against the back of the couch, put his arms on either side of her.
Ginny, being as stubborn as she was, wasn't about to back down that easily. She wasn't going down without a fight, and that was what she had to do. She had to fight him off, she couldn't let him get her again. He tried before, but she wasn't going to let things get as far as they did, then.
"I'm happy, Harry. Do you fucking her me? I'm happy. I don't need you here!" she screamed as tears flooded her eyes and she turned to face away. "LEAVE ME BE!"
He looked at her and smiled, "You know you want me, I want you too," he said stalking over to her. "Ginny, I love you more than anything, I know you know it. It's okay that you can't say it, I know that you were happy, but I can make you happier," he said smiling at her.
Ginny could no longer hold in her tears, "I loved you, dammit," she began as the tears fell freely down her porcelain cheeks, "You were everything to me, do you know what it's like to find out that the man you've loved for over a decade has a child with the one woman who got to take his virginity." Ginny was angry and Harry could see that, but he wasn't about to give up. He loved Ginny, he wouldn't give up this time.
There was a long silence where the two looked at one another. "Are you a virgin, Gin?" Harry asked her, putting his head down in shame.
"I was saving myself for you, prat!" she said throwing her hands in the air in frustration. "Not like that's going to happen," she mumbled to herself, unaware that he could hear her.
"I want that chance," Harry said quietly.
Ginny looked up at him and couldn't speak, "Why?" she asked him, wiping the tears from her eyes.
"Because I love you," he answered simply.
Ginny froze, and Harry took this opportunity to walk to her and see how she'd react. "You said you wanted your first place to be in your sanctuary, with someone who loved you as much as you love them. Well I love you more than you love me, can you settle for that?" he asked her, putting his hand under her chin and lifted her head so he could look in her eyes. "Let me show you how much I love you," he asked rather shyly.
She looked at him, and for a moment she said nothing. She then let her eyes rest on his, and she leaned in, and whispered, "It's about time you offered again." Ginny smirked, seeing the surprise on Harry's face and she walked him to the bed she'd made years ago.
She sat down and Harry followed suit, sititng beside her. She looked at him, love and adoration in her eyes, and he leaned in and let his lips brush hers. Their kiss was soft at first, but then gave it all the passion of the last decade into the kiss. She let out a soft moan against his lips, and he put his hand on her hip, slowly moving it up her shirt, and rubbing her stomach. She wrapped her left leg around him, bringing him as close as possible. He smiled into the kiss and she pulled away to pull his tee shirt over his head. She let her fingers slide down his chiseled body, sending shivers down his spine.
"I haven't had sex with anyone since Cho," he whispered into her ear, gently biting it as he pulled away. "You're the only one I really ever wanted," he told her, kissing her neck and undoing each button of her blouse, kissing the newly seen skin. Ginny thrust her body up as he peeled her blouse off, as he touched her skin, he felt like this is who he wanted to be, the man with Ginevra Molly Weasley.
Ginny unbuttoned and unzipped Harry pants and put her hands in his boxers. She let her hand graze him and he jolted a little. She laughed as he let out a surprised moan.
"What's wrong, Potter?" she asked curiously, "Afraid I might make you hot?" she giggled.
Harry grabbed her and flipped her, "You know you already do that," he said in a low, husky voice.
Ginny brought his face to her, and used her hands and legs to free Harry of the pants he wore and free herself from the skirt. So, there they were Ginny clad in her knickers and Harry in his briefs. It was then that they chose to look at one another, really look at the other. "You're beautiful," they whispered to one another.
Once they started kissing again, Harry and Ginny got really into it. Harry reached his hand in Ginny knickers and let his hand run lightly over her folds. She let out a throaty moan and almost jumped out of her skin when he put a finger up into her. In turn, she took hold of his erect member and ran her hand over it. They both sighed in content and looked at one another.
"Now Harry, please," she whispered almost breathless and peeled his briefs off. He kissed her lightly and pulled her knickers off. He hovered over her opening and kissed her lightly.
"It's going to hurt," he whispered and she nodded. He knew this was her first time, and he wanted it to be perfect. He slowly and gently pushed into her and elicited a few tears from the beautiful red head. He kissed her tears away and rested for a moment, "Tell me when I can move," he told her. He hated seeing in her pain. A few moments later, she nodded her head, and he moved inside her. Ginny clung to his back, digging her nails into him and followed his rhythmic pace.
"Oh, Harry," she said wrapping her legs around him, pulling him in deeper, and moaning throatily.
"Gin," he whispered in her ear, and kissed her forehead. She looked at him and smile, giving him a kiss on the nose. Ginny began to feel her walls contract around Harry's member and he too came. For a moment they laid there for a moment, still connected.
"Marry me, Ginny?" Harry asked looking her in the eye.
Ginny smiled and looked him, "What's wrong, Potter? Think you got me pregnant?" she asked him, with a sly smirk.
"You are a Weasley," he laughed, "soon to be a Potter," he smiled. She leaned up and kissed him soundly.
Their once triangle of love had turned these two to one another. And, although Harry didn't love Cho, she'd always be in his heart. In a way, she was the preparation for Ginny.