THE HARDEST THING

First the usual disclaimer, these characters belong to a very creative young woman by the name of J.K. Rowling. I don't even lay claim to the idea because it's an old one on this site, just my version.

This story takes place shortly after the events of HBP. Harry and friends have tracked down the last of the Horcruxes and Harry has managed to stay true to his desire to remain apart from Ginny. Ron and Hermione have allowed their relationship to blossom. As this story opens Harry is standing at Dumbledore's gravesite wondering what to do next.

The tomb looked exactly as it did that day two months ago when its occupant was laid to rest. The months without him had taken a severe toll on the boy who stood there silently. He had done as the old wizard had asked; he had tracked down all of the remaining Horcruxes and destroyed them. Only one task remained and he had no clue how to begin that one. He knew that he had to do it alone though, he had always known that. He also knew that when it was over he would no longer be the boy who lived. He would either be a savior or the boy who died.

As he stood there thinking he suddenly felt like he was no longer alone.

"He was a good man, and I hated him for it."

Harry just stood there with his back turned to the familiar voice. He never thought he'd hear that voice again, and now that he had he didn't feel the way he thought he would.

"Take it easy Potter, I'm not here to fight. I don't even have my wand with me."

"If you didn't come to fight Draco, why did you come? Did you come to weep over the grave, or to desecrate it?" Harry's voice was firm and commanding, but did not betray an ounce of the hatred he was feeling. His mind instantly raced back to that faithful night in the tower when his mentor had died. He would never forget the look on Draco's face, he didn't want to be there. Harry remembered the hopeless expression that Draco wore as he struggled with his conscience about what he was trying to do.

"I deserve that. I guess I deserve a lot worse. I've been told that you were there in the tower that night. Snape told me that you saw the entire exchange between the old man and me. Part of me wishes you hadn't, but part of me is glad you did. I couldn't do it, and you know that."

Harry turned around and faced the boy he had hated for so long, and saw someone else. Oh it was Draco alright, but not the confident jerk he had known. The person who stood before him was almost unrecognizable. He had a gash on his right cheek that ran from the corner of his mouth all the way to his ear. His usually well kept blonde hair was unwashed and needed combing. His clothes were rags, and he was skeletally thin. But the biggest change in this young man was in his eyes, he was defeated. You can always tell the condition of a person's soul by looking into their eyes.

"What's the matter Draco, Voldemort didn't forgive your failure?" Harry asked bitterly.

"That's a stupid question Potter. The Dark Lord forgives nothing. He tortured me for over a month before I escaped. I've been hiding here, in the forest, ever since."

"If you've been hiding, go back to it. I don't need to fight you, you're already beaten."

"I told you already Potter I'm not here to fight. I know where you can find him, and I have something that should be returned to you."

Harry looked at him for a long time. Why would Draco come out of hiding to help him? Was this a trap?

"How do I know this isn't a trap? You could be sending me into the hands of dozens of death eaters instead of leading me to Voldemort. Why should I trust you?"

"I am leading you into the hands of dozens of Death Eaters. You don't really think he'll ever be alone do you? Not while you're still alive. He's scared of you Potter, he knows you're coming and he doesn't know what you're bringing with you. He knows about the rest of the prophesy. My father told me, and he's worried about this whole power the dark lord knows not thing. I can't just hand him to you, but I can get you close."

"What's the other thing you're talking about then?" Harry asked.

"When I escaped from him the first place I went was to my father's house. When your parents died my father went to your parents' house to see for himself if it was true. While he was there he found something that belonged to your mother." Draco stopped there and looked toward the lake. When he spoke again it was almost a whisper. "I remember when I was a child my father used to tell me what a great man The Dark Lord was, how he had tried to purify our race with his greatness. Then he would show me this." Draco reached into his pocket and took out a small emerald green crystal attached to a gold chain. "He would tell me about you and your parents. He hated them. He told me that he had never seen your mother not wearing this pendant and that I should always remember when I looked at it, how even the best laid out plans could fail." He took the pendant and tossed it to Harry who of course caught it easily.

"If you still want to find him, and I hope you do, go to the old orphanage just east of London. I've been told he grew up there, now it's his headquarters. Good luck Potter, I hope everybody was right about you."

Draco turned and walked back into the forest.

Harry was confused. He finally knew where to find Voldemort, but didn't know where to go from there. There have only been two people he would have gone to for advice in a situation like this and they were both dead now; Dumbledore and Sirius. Well, if he couldn't talk to Dumbledore, he would just haft to find the next best thing.

Ron was exhausted. The Burrow was never a quiet place but lately it had been absolutely deafening. It was bad enough with Fleur running around the house trying to clean things after his mom and Ginny always crying about Harry. On top of that his father was coming and going at all hours on ministry business and it seemed like every member of the order thought this was their house and came and went as they pleased. It didn't bother Ron, but he was tired. He smiled to himself as he laid his head down on his pillow and realized that the house was absolutely silent. He should have known it was too good to be true because right after he had this thought there was a soft clicking noise at his window.

"What in the bloody hell is that noise?" He asked himself quietly as he got out of bed and went to investigate.

As he opened the window he looked down and saw Harry standing in the lawn. "Harry, what are you doing, trying to break my window or something?"

"Sorry Ron, it's a muggle thing. Listen come down here. I need to talk to you and I can't face Ginny right now."

"Alright then, wait for me in the garden I'll be down in a minute."

He hated it when Harry would do this sort of thing. He hated what he was doing to his little sister. He understood, but he still hated to see her cry herself to sleep every night.

"What is it Harry, is everything alright?"

"I had a visitor today." Harry replied. "It was Malfoy and he looked terrible. He escaped from Voldemort and has been hiding out in the Forbidden Forest."

"I don't believe it, Malfoy came to see you? Did you fight him?" Ron had always hated that spoiled brat. There was nothing he'd love to see more than Draco getting what he had coming to him.

"That's the thing Ron, he didn't come to fight. He told me where they took him after that night at Hogwarts." Harry then proceeded to tell Ron what he had learned that day concerning Malfoy's treatment at the hands of Voldemort.

"So the little prince finally got what he needed, an attitude adjustment." Ron said this more as a fact than a question. "And he told you where to find Vol…..Vol…..Voldemort?"

"Yes, he did. Now I just need to decide what to do next. Will you do me a favor Ron? Send an owl to Hermione and tell her to meet us here tomorrow night at around this time."
"Alright mate, but where are you going to go until then?"

"I need to talk to someone tomorrow morning; I'm hoping that he can help answer a few questions that I still have. In the meantime, alright if I get some sleep here? I'll be gone before anybody knows I was here." Naturally by anybody Harry meant Ginny.

"You know you can stay here anytime Harry, but mom will be absolutely furious if she finds out you were here and didn't stay for breakfast. Just don't mention it to her alright?"

Harry grinned, "Not a problem, let's get some sleep."

The next morning Harry woke up before the sun was up. He got dressed and crept down the stairs and almost made it out the door when he heard the sound of someone clearing their throat at the kitchen table.

"Good morning Harry." It was Ginny, the one person he had most hoped to avoid. "You didn't really think that I wouldn't know you were here did you?" She asked with a slightly angry tone to her voice.

"I guess that was too much to hope for wasn't it? How are you Ginny?" Harry asked sincerely. This was the moment he had been dreading for some time. He had somehow managed to avoid it this long, and he had too much to do to deal with it now. He intended to get out as soon as he could.

"Oh I'm just peachy Harry." She said with very obvious and deep sarcasm. "I've just spent the summer wondering if the only boy I ever really loved was going to get himself killed by the craziest bastard to ever walk the earth. On top of that my jerk of a brother won't tell me a thing about what you two and Hermione have been up to. You know that Hermione wouldn't lie to me though, so instead of lying to me, she just quit answering my letters. Let's just say that I've spent most of the summer sitting in my room, alone. How are you?" Again, the sarcasm was laid on so thick that Harry couldn't help but wince.

Harry pulled out a chair from the dinner table and sat down. "Ginny, I'm sorry. I don't know what else to say. I don't want to hurt you, but more than that I don't want you to get hurt because of me. We've had this discussion already and I thought you understood. Right now is not the time for this, when everything is over I want to try again if you'll have me but not now." He tried to sound strong and confident but instead it sounded more like a question than a statement. He knew he had made the right decision, but he didn't know how much longer he could sit here with her and remain strong.

"I've been thinking about that day at Professor Dumbledore's funeral all summer. The more I think about the reason you broke up with me the more I'm convinced of one thing Harry, you're not telling me the truth. It just doesn't make sense. You said we couldn't be together because Voldemort would use me against you, do you really think that he doesn't know about us? We made spectacles of ourselves for half of the year last year with Malfoy and all of the other Slytherin's there to see it. If Voldemort doesn't know about us then he isn't half the wizard everybody is making him out to be. If using me to get to you is his plan, what makes you think this will stop him? It just doesn't make sense. Now Harry you're honest with me right now, right here, or it's over and I'm moving on. I can't do this, I deserve better."

All Harry could think of was one word, why? Why did she have to do this to him now, when he's closer than he has ever been to finding Voldemort and ending this whole stupid mess? As he sat there thinking about what she said, he realized that he was becoming angry. He didn't need this.

"Why are you doing this to me Ginny? In case you haven't noticed I'm kind of busy right now. What do you think I've been doing with Ron and Hermione all summer learning how to crochet? I've put my life on the line for the whole world several times and all I get is people questioning my decisions every time I make one and now you're going to join them."

"Oh here we go again with the poor Harry routine. Here's a news flash for you, I'm involved with this thing too. This isn't something that just affects you, this is my life too. I think I have a right to know. I'm sorry if it inconveniences the great Harry Potter for him to talk to a lowly person like me but either you answer the question or leave and don't come back. I mean it Harry." The volume level of the conversation slowly rose until they were basically shouting at each other.

"Fine, you want the truth well here's the truth." Harry was shouting now too. "The truth is I love you. I've never felt this way about anyone before. All I ever think about is you. What are you doing? Where are you? I think about the way you smell. I think about the way your hair flows down your back as you walk. I think about your smile and your laugh and your temper. And the whole time that I'm thinking about this I know that we can't be together until this whole thing with Voldemort is over. I need to concentrate on what I'm doing. How can I do that if I'm spending the time with you that I want to? And another thing, you are the single most stubborn person that I've ever met. If we're together when I go to do this, you'll talk me into taking you with me. If you got hurt during this thing I couldn't deal with that." At this point Harry stopped shouting and started talking at almost a whisper while he was on the verge of tears. "When a person is fighting they have to have something to fight for. My parents are dead. The only family that I have left hates me. You're all I've got. I can't lose you Ginny. If you really do love me, you'll wait for me."

Ginny looked at Harry with tears in her eyes. She slowly walked over to him and wrapped her arms around him in a hug. Harry returned the embrace and kissed her on the head before turning around and walking out the door.

When he closed the door his mind was going a mile a minute. Just as he was thinking he was going to break down and go back inside he noticed Arthur sitting in a chair against the house.

"Good morning Harry."

"Good morning Sir."

"I couldn't help but overhear the two of you. I decided to stay out here and let you finish. Are you alright?"

"I will be Sir."

"Good. I don't know what it is you're doing Harry and I'm not foolish enough to attempt to pursuade you into telling me. I know that whatever it is it must be dangerous though. I want to thank you for not involving Ginny. I know that the two of you have grown to be more than friends and I approve Harry. If you need anything please remember that I am at your disposal day or night."

"I will Sir. Thank you."