"There you are."

The voice made me jump. From the silence surrounding the black lake the sudden exclamation sounded thick and heavy, booming vociferously. I turned around, and there stood Ginny, still in last night's ragged clothes, but looking more beautiful than ever.

"Here I am," I replied rather lamely.

Ginny offered me a small smile then proceeded to stand next to me. She looked out at the lake, her expression entirely unreadable, and I felt grateful that she didn't feel like talking either.

"You missed breakfast," she said after a while.

"I'm not hungry," I lied.

Ginny nodded, though I knew she didn't believe me. The truth was I was starving. But how was I supposed to face all those people, all those people whose lives had changed because of me, who are now—at the very least—one family member short?

"Everyone's looking for me, I suppose?"

Nodding again, Ginny said, "Don't worry, I won't tell them where you are."

I smiled in gratitude, but as I did, my lips felt too tight, my mouth too dry. The calm black lake seemed to mock my racing thoughts. There were so many things I felt like I had to do, but I was clueless where to start. I took a deep breath.

"Ginny, I—"

"Don't," she commanded. "I don't want to hear 'I'm sorry' from anyone, especially you." She crossed her arms over her chest. "This was war…people died." Her voice was insufferably quiet over the last two words. She cleared her throat for strength. "Fred understood that, I think."

"How's—"

"He's fine. Well, as fine as he can be anyway." I was glad she knew who I was talking about; I didn't want to have to say his name. "We're all going to be fine, Harry."

At the sound of my name, I finally looked at her, really looked at her. She looked tired, and her eyes were slightly puffy from crying. Her cheeks were pale making the freckles on her nose appear stark. I couldn't believe what she had just said. Not yet anyway.

"It's okay if you don't believe me. I didn't expect you to." She continued to stare out across the lake, her eyes focused on the dawning horizon. I had to bite my tongue to stop from uttering the words she so didn't want to hear. It was selfish of me, I realized, to only want to say those words, but I knew an apology was not what she wanted.

"How did you know where to find me?" I finally asked, knowing the question was a stupid one. Of course she would think of coming here. We had shared many of our stolen moments here all those months ago. It felt like ages since then. Why did I suddenly feel so old?

Ginny gave me a critical blazing look that confirmed she remembered this spot as well.

"Harry," she said softly, before laying her head on my shoulder. I remembered how she had done the same thing to her mother not even seven hours ago. The weight felt welcomed, and it didn't bother me that I was now slightly off balance. The flowery scent of her hair was clouding my judgment and I wanted nothing more than to kiss her and tell her just how sorry I really was. For everything. For leaving her, for not being able to tell her what all I was doing while on the run, for the way her year at Hogwarts had been, for the loss of her brother, and so, so much more. But she didn't want to hear that. I thought about maybe telling her something else, the reason why I had thought of her before I died, something that would undoubtedly convey just how truly sorry I really was.

"Do you think they'll start lunch early?" I said instead, knowing that now wouldn't be the right time to tell her how I felt. It had to be perfect, after all.

Ginny smiled, lifting her head off my shoulder and extended her hand to me.

"Foy you? Of course they would."

I took her hand in mine, relishing in its warmth, never ever wanting to let it go again. And then I finally believed her.

In time everyone was going to be just fine.