Title: Neither Can Live While the Other Survives

Chapter: Prologue

Rating: PG-13 for premarital relations, death, and overall destruction

Genre: Action/Adventure/Drama

Main Character: Harry

Summary: A lot of things have happened to Harry since he graduated from Hogwarts. A mistake he made turned into be a blessing. Life is torn away from key players, and Voldemort is banished. But with the Death Eaters still at large, who can say that the world is still safe?

It was a beautiful night in autumn. Helplessness set in on Harry's heart. He sat in his Head Boy quarters, thinking about life and death. How was he supposed to kill Voldemort? It seemed hopeless. Just then, a memory came back to him. "Nothing is ever hopeless." The voice was soft, feminine, and safe. Sighing slightly, Harry got up to go walk around the halls of Hogwarts.

Though he was wandering aimlessly, his general direction was towards the kitchens. He turned a corner and saw a head of fire down the hall. "Hi, Ginny," he greeted quietly.

"Who's there?" She asked, looking around wildly.

It was then Harry realized that he still had his invisibility cloak on. Blushing madly, he took the cloak off. "I'm sorry, Gin. I forgot I had the cloak on." A lump formed in his throat. She was gorgeous.

Ginny had expected a walk to clear her head, not bring her directly to the one she couldn't stop thinking about. Her face felt hot. "'S alright."

"So…" He frantically searched for something to talk about. "Why are you up so late?" Sound like one of her brothers, real smooth, Scar Head, he thought to himself.

Ginny shrugged. "I don't know. I couldn't sleep."

Harry just nodded. He swallowed and took a deep breath. "Mind if I walk with you?" he asked hesitantly.

Why not? Ginny thought to herself. "Sure."

They strolled about the castle, with Harry discreetly leading back to his dormitory. When they stood before the painting of Uric the Oddball, the opening to the Head Boy's Dormitory, Harry took Ginny's hand. "Come in with me." He had no idea what possessed him to say that, but he could only think of one thing. He wanted Ginny Weasley.

Ginny's breath caught in her throat. She wasn't frightened, but she understood the enormity of what he'd just asked her. She found it hard to speak. Slowly, she nodded, and the two of them entered the dormitory.

Nine months later, they were paying for it. It was the day after Harry's graduation, and because of what he and Ginny had done, he was staying at Hogwarts for the next year until Ginny graduated. He was in the Hospital Wing as Ginny was giving birth to new life.

"Damn it, why didn't we think to use contraceptives?" she cried. Her breathing was labored and sweat was pouring off her.

"I thought I did," Harry replied as he held her hand. Oops. He felt Ginny's anger in how hard she squeezed his hand.

Afterwards, Ginny and Harry looked at their baby boy, and came to an agreement for the name. He was dubbed Sirius Arthur Potter. The staff had deemed it their responsibility to keep it a secret. Professor Dumbledore wrote to the Weasleys, saying that he wanted a secretary to lighten the load of Professor McGonagall, and that Ginny had volunteered. He even sent them her pay checks.

By the time the new year started, Harry was an apprentice for Defense against the Dark Arts, under Kingsley Shacklebolt, and Ginny had a nice nest egg for when she got home. The two of them had agreed to get married for Sirius' sake after Ginny graduated.

The day of graduation for Ginny was cloudy and rainy. It was held in the Great Hall because of the rain. Harry was sitting in the back row, and Sirius was being attended to by Madam Pomfrey. Harry expected to feel a surge of pride when Ginny stepped up to accept being Valedictorian, but he didn't. There was no feeling, other than mild apathy, and worry concerning her brothers and how they were going to beat him into next year. A small smile threatened to tug at the corner of his mouth as he thought of Sirius. Even if Harry didn't love Ginny completely, it didn't matter as long as Harry had Sirius. He gave in to the impulse to smile as the ceremony ended and Ginny headed over to him.

"Ready to tell the lot of them?" she asked nervously.

"As ready as I'll ever be," Harry admitted.

The sea of Weasley-red hair moved through the crowd to get to Ginny.

"Good job, Gin!" Ron yelled out.

"Three cheers for the little one," Fred and George joked.

"Congratulations!" Mrs. Weasley sniffed and dabbed a kerchief at her eyes. "I'm so proud of you."

Harry took a deep breath and looked at all of them. "Everyone, Ginny and I—"

"WHAT'S THAT!?" a loud voice shrieked. Everybody looked to the sky, and a gleaming green skull smiled evilly at them as a snake came out of its mouth. Pandemonium ensued. Death Eaters were everywhere.

This was it. The moment Harry had been training for. He searched out Voldemort, and sent him to the depths of the underworld with Godric Gryffindor's sword, and an incantation as old as magic itself. Voldemort was gone.

As the rest of the living were herded to the Hospital Wing, Harry was met by Professor Dumbledore.

He noticed the old man's eyes were clouded with grief and worry. "What's wrong, Professor Dumbledore?" Harry asked.

"Please, call me Albus. You no longer go to school here as a student," he requested.

Harry nodded. "What's wrong, Albus?" he repeated.

"Among the many casualties, there were three Weasleys. Percy, Charlie, and Ginny."

"Oh, no…" Harry moaned.

"Sadly, yes. Your son, Harry, has not stopped screaming since the Dark Mark has appeared in the sky. You should go see to him," Dumbledore advised.

"Yes, sir," Harry agreed. As he got closer to the Hospital Wing, he could hear it; the long, mournful cries. They weren't hysterical, but very sad. Harry broke out into a run. He saw Madame Pomfrey looking all flushed.

"I've tried doing everything. Changing his diaper, feeding him, singing him a lullaby; he just won't stop his crying!" she shouted hysterically. She pointed to the infant.

Harry walked over to him and picked him up. The boy was blue from yelling so much. "Hush, Siri. Daddy's here." He repeated it several times in a calm, soothing manner. After a good ten minutes of constant chanting, Sirius stopped crying.

"Mama."

"She's gone away, Siri. Mama's not coming back," Harry explained, though he knew Siri would never understand it.

"Mama?" He blinked up at Harry with owlish hazel eyes.

Harry shook his head at the boy. "She's not coming back, Siri. She's never coming back." He ran his hand through Sirius' dark brown hair, and he and his son cried.

The next morning, Harry and Siri left Hogwarts. Godric's Hollow belonged to him, now. Friends had rebuilt it after that fateful Halloween, and Harry moved back to it. After a good few weeks, it was transformed from an old, dusty house to a livable home.

Harry had never told anyone about the identity of Siri's mother. Though they asked, for Harry didn't keep Siri a secret anymore, he wouldn't budge. He would not have Ginny's memory tarnished in that way. 'Uncle' Ron and 'Aunt' Hermione never questioned their titles, primarily because they knew they'd be Siri's aunt and uncle, whoever the mother might have been.

Harry and Siri lived peacefully. Death Eaters were still at large, but they weren't causing problems. Little did Godric's Hollow know, that at that very moment, for the next three years, the Death Eaters were quiet because of internal conflict, and a plan to bring their lord back to life.

A/N: Ginny kept her pregnancy a secret through spells and potions when she was in public. Harry took care of Siri while Ginny had classes, and Harry never taught a class, Kingsley was just teaching him a variety of techniques of dueling, and Dumbledore taught Harry the incantation to banish Voldemort to the underworld. Yeah that wouldn't fit anywhere in the story.

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