A forgotten past, a limitless future, and a world he knew nothing about. But she was an angel, a mystery to solve, and an adventure he planned to discover… HPxGW.
The Past He Forgot
Prologue
The battle raged on for days.
There were death eaters killing without remorse, members of the Order fighting with the Aurors, and helpless, innocent bystanders being murdered. Curses were thrown back and forth in an attempt to eliminate just one pawn on the other side. Anything helped, and casualties, while unfortunate, became necessary for one side to win the war. The dark wizards were more than willing to kill anyone and everyone who opposed them; Harry, however, had decided there was enough death surrounding the wizarding world, and those to die would only be the most deserving. Justice would serve itself.
The moment for everyone to choose a side had long passed; you were either with the Ministry or against it. Shades of gray were not acceptable. Now was the time for everyone to take action. If you were old enough to duel with your wand, you were out on the battlefield. Mothers tried to shelter their children, but the students who had been at Hogwarts when Headmaster Albus Dumbledore was killed were eager for revenge. Ravenclaws, Hufflepuffs, Gryffindors, and even a few Slytherins banded together to defeat those who followed the Dark Lord.
But the only death that truly mattered was his, the leader, the evil Lord Voldemort. It had been a long time coming- twenty years coming, if you counted the way Harry did; it was simply these past few years his search to kill his nemesis had become the number one priority for the entirety of the wizarding world. And it was quite literally a search.
After Albus Dumbledore was put into the ground, Harry Potter made his way out into the world with Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger at his heels to find the last four horcruxes. It was a harder feat than any of the trio anticipated and quite frankly, couldn't have happened without the help of Severus Snape. The very man whom Harry vowed to never speak to again- to kill on sight, had the circumstances ever allowed- had been the one to present clues and piece together evidence that the three friends found indisputably valuable.
It was all due to Hermione's curious determination that Severus had been accepted back into the Order. She'd taken a risk and gone to meet with him after deciphering a cryptic owl sent to her. A Prince had requested her presence for a meeting of two Phoenixes. Harry and Ron immediately declined the 'invitation' for her (or ignored a trap, as they thought of it), but the young woman needed a bit of closure on what had happened. She knew her potions master had been a double agent all those years, that Albus Dumbledore trusted him until (literally) his dying day, and understood that it was a great risk for him to contact anyone on the light side during such a time. Severus had as much to lose by contacting her as she would taking this audience, and to this day she has no regrets that she "risked her life" for the cause.
Following Severus into the highly public (yet slightly seedy) restaurant that night was Draco Malfoy, the evil git who had started this whole mess. (Now and then Hermione would remind herself that everything had started with Voldemort, and that this particular set of events she was dealing with had been encouraged by Lucius Malfoy, but hating Draco was more tangible for her and the others) Hermione's anger and Gryffindor pride had told her to run right then, but Severus's eyes pleaded with her to listen, please. Somewhat reluctantly, she had joined their table and listened as they spoke. Their tale was not one easily swallowed.
According to the older Slytherin, immediately prior to Professor Dumbledore's death, the wizard had been trying to redeem Draco for their own side. Although he knew about Draco's orders to kill him, Albus firmly maintained the belief that Draco was merely trying to preserve what little resemblance of a life he could, believing what so many people believed: that Lord Voldemort would rule the world one day and be a merciful lord to his followers. Severus had known all along what was happening between Draco and Albus; he knew about the attacks, the attempts at murder, the pain and confusion, the attempts at conversion, even the search for the horcruxes. According to him, the two wizards discussed everything at length. A plan was set in stone for how things would be handled. In case of this, in case of that. Hermione was impressed by the amount of thought the two had put into things, actually, and she found herself particularly fascinated by the story of what was to be done in a case such as up on the tower on That Night.
The war, she decided, must have taken more out of Severus Snape than she realized. When he began to speak of the night he'd been forced to murder his mentor and only friend, tears actually formed in his eyes. He said that Albus willingly gave his life for the cause, that the aged headmaster understood what needed to be done. Severus's role as a double agent had been far too valuable for the Order for him to show loyalties. What good was the headmaster's life if Severus lost Voldemort's favor? If it was between losing the life of the Slytherin double agent or the powerful Gryffindor wizard, well… the choice was obvious, as difficult as it had been.
And so the two gentlemen present at the table with Hermione had returned to Voldemort, telling him that Dumbledore was dead and they remained loyal to the cause. For a few months, Severus was able to gather more information while formulating a plan to make things right. She was told that she was the most naïve of the Order, still young with ideals about men being able to reform and come back to the light. He hadn't meant it as an insult, but it was far from a compliment; such a mentality was easy to play on, he scolded her, and she could easily find herself dead in the wrong hands. But none the less, he was grateful her Gryffindor beliefs and intelligence had managed to work in his favor. And now they could focus of what truly mattered: avenging Albus's death, righting the wizarding world, and defeating He Who Must Not Be Named.
The rest of the Order had not been so willing to accept Severus and Draco back into the fold. Only after both wizards (willingly) turned over their wands, several hours of interrogation under the influence of a (willingly administered) Veritasserum potion as a precaution, had the group been willing to hear the entire story. And Harry never liked spending time with the greasy git; he merely tolerated him for the key to killing Voldemort.
The actual task of killing the Dark Lord had been much more draining than anyone anticipated. Voldemort waited to make his appearance until after almost a full three days of battle. By then, Harry was weakened considerably and barely had the strength for a duel. He knew this needed to be done, however, and stupidly went into the fight, wand blazing about and shouting curses. He managed to disarm his opponent… before his arm was broken. It must have been a spell of some sort, everyone concluded, because according to witnesses there had been no physical contact. They threw curses back and forth at each other, Voldemort expertly blocking and Harry just barely managing to. It didn't even seem that Voldemort was sustaining any injuries, as opposed to Harry who was badly cut and beaten. He'd barely rested those past seventy-two hours, and now his reflexes were starting to slow… With every new dark spell, the young boy began to grow weaker and weaker. His courage was admirable; he proved himself to be a true hero in those hours. In the end, however, it would be his best friend Ron Weasley who made the final defeat of Lord Voldemort possible.
Like so many years before, Ron sacrificed himself. The redhead saw his best friend struggling to stay standing in his battle. He recalled the conversation that declared it as Harry's Battle, but in that moment, Ron didn't care. He rushed to Harry's side, or really, he rushed to stand adjacent to make Voldemort turn his back on his friend. He threw a curse at the evil being, barely striking him, but it proved to be enough of a distraction that Harry could forever banish the Dark Lord, casting the Avada Kedavra, and forever ridding the world of He Who Must Not Be Named.
But the cost, oh, it was great.
Ron Weasley died that night. His death was quick, and he was easily discarded by the dark lord, a quick death that barely took any energy to accomplish. As Voldemort cast the killing curse on the redhead, Harry searched deep inside himself to find the strength to cast his own curse on the evil wizard. Harry was devastated to watch the events unfold; Ron paid the ultimate price for his best friend. First his parents, now his best friend in the whole world… His first friend in the whole world… Harry would be lying if he said he didn't take pleasure in killing that thing that once terrorized his world.
Ron Weasley died that night. But his death was a noble one and not without plenty of remorse. He'd been brave to do what he did, and his entire family never felt so proud of him.
Harry Potter fainted after that battle, after casting the final curse that killed Lord Voldemort and successfully ending his reign for all eternity. Healers set to work immediately, healing his broke arm and mending the cuts and bruises. But there was no cure, magical or muggle, for the after effects of that night. Harry Potter didn't just lose his best friend that night.
Harry Potter lost his memory.
A/N: This will be a novel length Harry/Ginny romance story. I thought of this idea just randomly, and began writing the prologue. I shared it with a friend, CSebastiene, and she gladly accepted the role of beta. Some of the bits are a collaboration of her mind and mine, and I'm betting she'll be kicking my ass to update frequently. So everyone thank her, haha. Anyways, first chapter should be up soon. And if you're interested, there's a 'promotional' banner you can find here: img85.imageshack.us/img85/2955/tphfpromojp0.png