Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter.
Author's Note: This is my fourth and final take on Harry and Ginny's reunion after the war that I've posted in the past few days. As I explained in my third take, the reason why I am writing four is because I can see this reunion going all of these ways. Please review this one, and if you check them all out, please let me know which one you would personally see happening.
At Journey's End
By: ChoCedric
As Harry climbed through the portrait hole and into the Gryffindor common room, he felt all the adrenaline that had been keeping him going for the past few hours melt away, leaving him feeling empty, hollow, and fatigued. It was over. The war was over, but not without a huge price. Many people had lost their lives, including people who Harry had known and loved dearly.
As he looked around the room, admiring the decor of the place he hadn't seen in a year, he remembered Fred and George sharing many a joke, and his heart clenched. Fred would never smile again, and Harry felt fully responsible. All the pain of the Weasley family was placed on his shoulders, and he wished he could have done something to prevent Fred's death from occurring. At least he died laughing, a little voice in his head told him. He died doing what he loved to do.
Then he remembered Remus and Tonks, and the picture of Teddy that Remus had been waving around. Another spasm of pain seized his heart as he thought of the little boy, a war orphan just like himself. I swear I will give him a good childhood, he vowed as he grieved for the two people who had taught him many lessons in life.
He even felt a twinge of sadness for Colin Creevy. Even though he had been a major annoyance, following Harry around and badgering him for an autograph, in the end he had shown himself to be a true lion at heart and had died bravely, fighting for what he believed in. Dear Colin, Harry thought, and felt horrible for Dennis. The two brothers were so close, and he wondered how Dennis would ever recover.
At that moment, the portrait hole opened, and Harry felt his heart swell as he saw the girl, the one girl, that he had been thinking about for months and months, the girl he'd wanted to keep safe with all his might. It was Ginny, his Ginny, and finally, after a long, long journey, he hoped to talk to her, to embrace her, to kiss her, to hold her ... Merlin, how he had longed for this moment, sitting on watch outside the tent. How much he had wanted Ginny to hold on those cold, lonely nights!
But now, she was here, and she came running over to him, her face streaked with dirt, blood, and tears, but in Harry's mind she'd never looked more radiant. She threw herself into Harry's arms, and for once, she succumbed to the sobs. Tears streamed down her face in rivers as she held on tightly to the man she loved.
Then, without warning, her fists began to beat on his chest, and she started screaming words through her tears. Harry didn't fight back; he knew he deserved her wrath for all he'd put her through. He tried to make out the litany of words she was screaming, and finally, when he did, he felt his heart break.
"You made me think you were dead, you made me think you were dead, you made me think you were dead!"
Harry let it go on until she became exhausted. Finally, her fists stopped pounding, and she collapsed to the ground, Harry falling with her. Then she just held him and sobbed, and tears of his own came down Harry's face as he realized the full extent of what Ginny had been through in the past year.
Eventually, her sobs subsided, and she looked up into Harry's face, staring into his emerald eyes. "Why?" she whispered brokenly. "Why did you let us all think you were dead?"
"It was the only way," Harry said softly, intertwining her fingers with his. "It was the only way Voldemort could be defeated."
"Please, explain," Ginny begged, and she stood up and led Harry over to the couch.
Harry sighed, knowing that he had to explain to her everything that had happened to him the past year. He had to fit the pieces of the puzzle together in Ginny's mind.
So, he did. He explained to her exactly what had happened since the Death Eaters had attacked Bill and Fleur's wedding. He explained the escapade into the Ministry, causing Ginny to gasp. He told of the endless months of camping, and then their capture and Hermione's torture. Ginny closed her eyes during this explanation, her face creased in pain.
But then, Harry told her of their escape, and his voice broke when he informed her of Dobby's bravery and his heartbreaking death. He then explained about their stay in Bill and Fleur's cottage, at which point Ginny said angrily, "I'll kill Bill! You were there the whole time, and he didn't tell me!"
Harry squeezed her hand gently, telling her that it might have compromised everyone's safety if Bill had spread the news. The story then continued, with the explanation of Gringotts and then Hogwarts.
After it was complete, Ginny looked at him, her eyes brimming with tears again. "Why do you think I can't take care of myself?" she said softly, staring dead-on into Harry's eyes. "Why do you think I can't fight like everyone else? Why did you want me to stay in the Room of Requirement when my whole family was fighting out there?"
Sighing, Harry offered the only answer, the only true answer, he could give her. "You know how you felt when you thought I was dead?" he whispered.
"Yeah," said Ginny, shuddering.
"Well," he said tenderly, "it's not that I don't think that you're a good fighter. It's just that ... if I lost you ... it would be like ... just like how you felt when you thought you'd lost me."
Ginny continued to stare at him, and Harry then saw the love in her eyes. She buried her face in Harry's shoulder, letting out a slow breath. "Oh." she said simply. "Oh."
After a minute of silence, she said, "What happened when you went out to the forest?"
So Harry told the last part of the story, the part in which he knew he'd have to die in order for Voldemort to be defeated.
"Why didn't you come and find me?" Ginny said very, very quietly. "Why did you think you had to do this alone?"
"Gin, if I had properly seen you, talked to you, I wouldn't have been able to go through with it," Harry admitted. "You were the one thing that kept me going the entire year, and Merlin ... I didn't want to leave you behind. When Voldemort ... when he pointed his wand at me, and I thought that was it ... my last thought ... my last memory ... was you."
"Oh, Harry," Ginny cried, starting to sob again. Harry held her tight, whispering, "I'm so sorry, Gin, I'm so very, very sorry."
When her bout of sobbing had stopped, she continued to lie in Harry's arms while he stroked her fiery red hair. He then told the last of the story, explaining how he'd had a choice of whether to come back or go on to the afterlife.
"And you came back," Ginny whispered, still hugging him. "Thank Merlin."
"I knew it was the right thing to do," Harry whispered back. After another moment he said, "I'm so sorry about Fred. I would have come over to comfort you, but ..."
"I know, Harry, I know," Ginny sighed. "You think it's your fault, and you couldn't face us at the time. I understand, Harry, but you need to understand in turn that Fred's death wasn't your fault. None of my family blames you, not even George, and I don't, either."
Harry looked at her with haunted eyes. "I know." he said, "but it's going to take me a while to get past it."
"I know, and we'll all help you get through it," Ginny promised lovingly. "I love you, Harry."
And those three words caused Harry's heart to begin the road to healing as he pulled Ginny even tighter against him. The wounds of the war were still fresh, but in time, they would mend as long as he had this girl close to him. As he placed a tender kiss on her forehead, he whispered, "I love you too, Gin. Always."