Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter, any characters or places named in these stories. They belong to JK Rowling.
Potter sighted in Glasgow screams the Prophet. But it is no longer on the first page, or even the second. Ginny has nearly reached the end of the paper before she finds it. But she knows it won't be him. It never is.
No wizard has seen Harry Potter for 15 years now, even Ron and Hermione have no idea where he is. He is not officially dead yet; there are too many 'sightings' for the ministry to allow that to happen. The-boy-who-lived is nearly forgotten; a household name in the defeat of Voldemort 15 years ago, the wizarding world no longer thinks of him as a person, but as a name.
Ginny closed the paper and moved through to the kitchen. The large pictures on the walls waved at her. George and Angelina's wedding, Bill and Fleur's wedding and Ron and Hermione's wedding. Next to Ron at his wedding sat an empty chair. Left for Harry, or rather in memory of Harry; Ron had not known where to send the invite.
Ginny felt tears spring in her eyes at the thought of the one she had loved; now with no idea if he was alive.
Molly bustled into the kitchen, took one look at her daughter and knew what she was thinking. Sitting her down she attempted to distract Ginny, by talking of everything from Arthur's last failed attempt at de-gnoming to the fact Ron and Hermione's eldest was starting Hogwarts this year.
"Letter came yesterday, of course Hermione was ecstatic, and Ron thinks his eardrums will never be the same. Ginny dear are you listening?"
"What?"
"Come on now dear, you'll be late for work if you don't hurry."
Ginny left the house, nearly walking into the gate, before disappearing with a loud crack. Molly watched her go, shaking her head. her eyes fell on the prophet, open where Ginny had left it. Potter sighted…Molly shook her head, trying not to think of the surrogate son she lost.
Ginny arrived in St Mungo's with moments to spare. Changing quickly into her robes she prayed that Healer Pye was not in charge today; he would love an excuse to yell at her again.
"Weasley!" Ginny felt her heart sink; she would know those strident tones anywhere. Turning slowly towards Pye she froze. There, in the waiting room. A mass of untidy black hair, just like…
"You're very nearly late" healer Pye bellowed at her from somewhere to her left.
Ginny blinked and the hair was gone so quickly she could have imagined it. She struggled to tell herself she was dreaming it, and tried to pay attention to what was being yelled at her.
"Not good enough…Punctuality…Robes messy again…Pay attention…Smethwick."
Ginny took the parting shot to mean she was working with Smethwick today. Feeling glad that something was going right at least, she climbed the stairs to the third floor.
As if knowing the mood she was in, Smethwick set Ginny to dressing wounds. Under normal circumstances it was tedious and boring, but it allowed Ginny to think through everything in her mind; which today focused on Harry Potter. Over and over again.
Her last patient before lunch was simple. He woke up as she was putting on his new dressing, and Ginny found herself staring into a pair of startling green eyes. Her breath caught in her throat and she froze. Those eyes, she had stared into them so much in her fifth year; she would know them anywhere.
"Is everything ok?" Her patient was clearly worried.
Ginny nodded to reassure him, avoiding his eyes. Finishing the dressing she fled the room.
In the safety of the staff room she curled up on a sofa in the corner. She had to be imagining it. It was all because of that article in the paper this morning; now she was seeing things.
Ginny had training that night. Though she had refused a full time career with the Holyhead Harpies, she was still their reserve chaser and so trained with them three nights a week. Glad of something to take her mind off the day, she changed into her robes and started a warm up flight before the rest of the team arrived from the changing rooms.
That night was the worst training session she had ever had. The other fliers were worried about her, and by the end even the coach had noticed that something was up.
If Ginny had been disconcerted before the practice, by the end she was terrified. The stag that wandered out of the woods towards her was exactly like Harry's patronus, the light coming from the clubhouse reflected a lightening bolt off the goalposts.
The team kept quiet, she was clearly upset and they did not want to trouble her further. Leaving the pitch in a daze she barely made it home.
Tears dripping down her cheeks, she was greeted in the kitchen by the entire Weasley clan. George, Bill and Ron had brought their families round to celebrate the arrival of the Hogwarts letters. Knowing that she wanted nothing more than to be left alone, Ginny remained in the doorway just long enough for everyone to fall silent at her tear streaked face, before running from the room, to the safely of the attic.
The kitchen was silent. Molly's eyes met Hermione's in silent communication. Hermione left the room, climbing the stairs to the attic with increasing worry about what she would find and why.
Ginny was curled up in the corner, crying. Her head in her hands, Hermione had never seen anything so sad. Her ginger hair fell around her head, concealing her face, though nothing could hide the sobbing.
An hour later Hermione was even more worried than she had been before. She knew Ginny had been missing Harry, but he'd been gone for 15 years. Yes she hoped, but Ginny firmly believed he was coming back.
"Ginny, if he was coming back he would have done it by now. When has he ever kept you waiting before?"
Though she knew it was the truth, Ginny did not want to admit it. Every time she thought she wanted to let go, something came back to remind her that he was alive… had to be alive. His eyes, his hair, his scar; everything added up.
"He has to be coming back, he has to." She could hear the desperate pleading in her voice. Hermione knew she could not lie to Ginny. She could not tell her what she wanted to hear.
"Ginny, he's not coming back. It's been 15 years. You need to move on"
"NO"
Ginny collapsed onto the floor, shaking her head and sobbing.
And that's the first chapter. I'm writing this as I go so please review and let me know what you think. Thanks!
