Post-Deathly Hallows
Summary: 3 years after the battle a dying Draco arrives at St. Mungo's where Ginny works with a map that can help produce a solidified memory of Tom Riddle. Ginny and Harry's love is tested as their lives are thrown into turmoil. H/G
Memories and DustGinny Weasley stood in front of a large mirror and took a good look at herself. She was wearing a deep forest green dress robes embroided with gold. Her curled blood red hair was let down and it reached the middle of her back. She had taken extra care with her appearance today, as it was a special day. Today was the day that she would be graduating from Hogwarts. She walked down the steps and was met by her entire family at the foot of the stairs. Bill dressed in his best dress robes with Fleur who now had a bump in her belly from their first child they were beaming up at her. Charlie stood next to them, ginning handsomely and to his mother's great dismay, alone. Percy stood next with his wife of 6 months Penelope Clearwater followed by George who looked somewhat bare without Fred by his side. Ginny felt a pang in her heart at the loss of Fred, she missed him terribly and she felt her eyes well up. But no she would not cry today. Fred wouldn't want her to cry today, it was a happy day today and Fred would want her to enjoy it. Her eyes moved on to follow Ron who was ginning at her and looking absolutely delighted with his arm around Hermione's shoulder. Then she saw her parents. Her father looked at her so proudly she thought his heart might burst and her mother's eyes were filled with tears probably with the thought of her baby girl all grown up. Apart from Fred there was only one other person missing, Harry.
She felt another pang at the thought of Harry. A year ago, after the battle Harry and her had called it quits with their relationship. Well actually he called it quits, she didn't really have a choice in the matter but she respected his decision. First of all because Ginny still had another year of school and second of all because Harry needed some space to find himself again and reflect over what had happened. Besides he had been asked to join the Aurors and he did, requesting that he be sent somewhere far away where he could escape from the world for a while and find himself again. They had kept in touch, still remaining good friends after their split. The occasional owl was sent here and there and birthday and Christmas gifts and cards. Though to her, their friendship seemed hollow and as if there was something missing. From Harry's last owl to her, he had informed her that he was coming back to England for good now that his posting in Scotland was up. He had told her that he would meet her at Hogwarts instead of meeting up at the Burrow like everyone else. She wondered how he'd look like and wondered if the one-year had changed him at all.
She was pulled from her thoughts by a loud sob from her mother and immediately found herself being engulfed by her mother. The rest of the Weasleys joined in forming the famous Weasley bear hug, with the new addition of Fleur, Penelope and Hermione. Ginny stood in the middle of the hug and felt all warm and tingly inside. This was her haven; this was what made her who she was.
"Right then" her father said cheerfully wiping a tear from his eye "let's get going shall we?" He produced a large key from his pocket and placed it on the table. "Come on everyone gather around, on the count of three, 1-2-3".
Ginny felt a tug behind her navel and she closed her eyes. Traveling by Portkey had never been a favorite thing of hers. She felt a tapping on her shoulder and opened her eyes to see Bill smiling at her fondly. She smiled sheepishly at him.
"You know Gin" he said sincerely "Today you have made me one of the proudest big brothers around and I know I haven't always been there when you were growing up but I do love you and I want to wish you all the happiness in the world"
"Thanks Bill" she said and hugged him tightly.
When she looked around she found herself in the great hall of Hogwarts. It was decorated lavishly with room for milling about and in front of a great stage were hundreds of chairs laid out for the graduates and their family.
At the back of the hall, where she stood with her family and other families of graduates, there was a large space and there were many people mingling and talking to each other. Different families were getting acquainted with families of their children. But Ginny had no friends; well she had people to call her friends but none to be her friends. They were all just people who she talked to and went to class with and ate with, she didn't share her feelings with them and get all sentimental and mushy. She mostly kept to herself, reading and studying and playing quidditch. Apart from Luna there really wasn't anyone else she was close to or even remotely close to. She missed her brother and Hermione and Harry. She really missed Harry, the way he smiled at her, his kisses, his hugs, his twinkling eyes but most of all she missed his love.
Ginny nearly jumped when she heard a bell ringing. Molly Weasley gently steered her daughter towards the front of the hall where the stage was.
"Come on dear" Molly said softly "it's time".
"Harry" Ginny said looking at her mother with questioning eyes "where's Harry?"
Molly looked at her youngest daughter and smiled reassuringly "don't worry love he said he'll be here and he will. He's probably late".
Ginny nodded stiffly and walked up on stage. As head girl and valedictorian she took her place on stage beside the head boy and the rest of the teachers. She surveyed the throng of people that had turned up to support their kids. She felt a burst of pride as she spotted the large cluster of Weasleys gathered in a spot. They were all ginning at her and her brothers had either given her thumbs up or a 'rock on'. She smiled at this, then to her dismay she noticed that a certain green eyed dark haired boy was nowhere to be seen.
Professor McGonagal got to the podium on stage and welcomed everyone to the graduation evening and then swished her wand and immediately all the graduating students in the hall were wearing graduation gowns and top hats. McGonagal called out the names of the graduates and one by one they went up on stage to accept their NEWT graduation certificates. When Ginny's name was called her whole family stood up and her brothers let out wolf whistles and Bill even howled. Ginny giggled and beamed as she sat back at her place on the stage. When all the certificates had been given out McGonagal called for Ginny to give her speech as valedictorian. Ginny stepped up to the podium and scanned the crowd for Harry but he was nowhere to be seen. She took a deep breath and began. She had written out her speech on a piece of parchment and everyone was listening attentively.
"It has been a great honor to attend Hogwarts and it had provided me with seven years of great memories and some not so great memories" she said and she knew everyone was referring to the battle of the year before. "As valedictorian I am proud to have achieved so much from a school which has turned out so many great and honorable wizards and one day I wish to be like them. I"- She broke off as the she noticed the doors to the great hall open silently and walking towards her was Harry. Apparently no one had noticed that the great Harry Potter had arrived because the people in the audience were still looking up at her attentively. She cleared her throat "I am looking forward to seeing what the future holds" Her palms were sweating and she swallowed nervously. She looked up to see Harry smiling at her and giving her a thumbs up sign and then she felt suddenly happier. She continued her speech all the time looking into those warm green eyes, which gave her comfort. "And now I'd like to thank you all for coming to support your children and I wish my fellow graduates all the best for the future and may you all find the happiness that you deserve". Her family stood up and clapped, so did Harry. Her mother was tearing up again and sobbing into her father's shoulder. Arthur was patting Molly soothingly on the back.
After the ceremony the chairs in the great hall vanished and tables appeared and each family was allocated a table. There was a lavish graduation dinner and Ginny took in all the tables of families that were sitting around her. Her family's table seemed to be the largest. There were her five brothers plus her parents plus Harry plus Fleur, Penelope and Hermione. That made 12 people including her. Harry sat across from her at the table His eyes trained on her face. She had long ago taken off her graduation gowns and was now wearing her emerald green dress robes. She had minimal make up on but she didn't need any anyway, she was beautiful just the way she was. A little green eye shadow and some lip-gloss was all she had on but that was enough. She caught Harry's eye and they smiled at each other. They hadn't had much of a chance to talk only a short "hi". Her family had ambushed him as soon as the ceremony was over and everyone wanted to talk to him because no one had seen him in a year. Sure they had all talked to him but they had not physically seen him in a year.
Dinner was a noisy affair with her parents going off to speak to Luna's parents and all her brothers loudly discussing quidditch with Harry. Then Ron called to her softly.
"Gin everything alright?" he asked concernedly.
She nodded her head and smiled at him. Out of all her brothers she was the closest to Ron. They were the only ones who were at home together when all her brothers had gone off to Hogwarts and they had spent the most time together.
"Come on let's dance" he said and pulled her up from her chair.
She began to protest but he wouldn't hear anything of it. There was a medium sized dance floor in the middle of the hall and no one was dancing on it. She thought it would be a little strange to be the only one dancing. Ron left her at the edge of the dance floor and went to see the wizard that played the music. He came back moments later and took her hand. A nice mellow song blared from somewhere and Ron and her began to dance. It was such a loving gesture on her brother's part that she didn't have the heart to stop dancing with him. Everyone was looking at them now and some people even got up to join them on the dance floor. After Ron all her brothers wanted a turn with her.
She laughed as Charlie spun her around "guys, it's not like I'm getting married or something".
Charlie looked at her seriously and said, "well you'll never know".
After Charlie came Bill and then George and then Percy and then her father. Dancing with her father was one of the nicest feelings in the world. In her father's arms she felt like did when she was a girl. Safe and protected and she couldn't give a care in the world.
She smiled up at her father and kissed him on the cheek "I love you daddy" she said.
Arthur smiled at her "I know princess and I love you as well". He twirled her out and she spun around closing her eyes at the wonderful calming effect dancing with her father had provided. With her eyes still closed she felt herself being drawn back in.
This time however something felt different. This was not her father; it didn't smell of her father. This person smelled familiar, like all those winter nights that she had spent cuddling Harry by the fire. This person smelled of wood spice cologne mixed with hot chocolate. She opened her eyes and leant back a little to look into the forest green eyes of Harry. His eyes looked different shades of green due to her dress robes that were being reflected in his irises. He smiled at her, a smile only reserved for her and wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her close while she circled her arms around his neck. Her cheek pressed against his chest she closed her eyes again and took in the moment. He pulled her in tighter. She had missed moments like these in the past year. There were times where she would zone out and imagine them only to snap out of her reverie seconds later to find that she had dreamed them up. But now she was at complete peace moving with Harry to the slow song that blared out. She felt secure in his arms and she was sure that even if the world was crumbling around her, she wouldn't notice.
"I can't keep up and I can't back down I've been losing so much time. Cause it's you and me and all other people and nothing to do, nothing to lose and it's you and me and me and all other people and I don't know why I can't keep my eyes off of you"
Ginny listened to the lyrics of the song while she and Harry moved together, shifting their weight from one foot to the other. Anyone watching wouldn't have called it dancing, more like swaying to the melody in each other's arms.
A few songs had come and gone and Ginny and Harry had remained on the dance floor throughout. Harry's glasses had become a little lopsided and his eyes were closed His breathing was slow and even and Ginny's eyes were closed as well. Molly Weasley and her husband sat at their table getting a good view of their daughter and Harry.
Molly looked on adoringly and nudged her husband "they were made for each other Arthur" she said. He nodded and glanced at Molly who was rummaging in her purse for her camera "got it!" she said in triumph and snapped up a couple of pictures of Harry and Ginny on the dance floor.
When the last song was played people got up and danced and by the time the song finished people had moved off the dance floor and Harry and Ginny were the only ones left moving without music. Harry opened his eyes and noticed that people were staring at them and smiled sheepishly. He gently pulled away from Ginny and she noticed what was happening and looked slightly uncomfortable. They then walked towards their table and Harry looked at Ron who had an eyebrow raised. Harry reddened and looked away.
After the graduation ceremony and dinner they had apprated back to the burrow and Harry found himself where he always found himself in the Burrow, in Ron's room. He had taken off his robes and changed into a pair of boxers and an old t-shirt. He had packed light because he was only staying the night and tomorrow he would be off. Back to Scotland to resume training and then he had another year to go before he would be able to return to England for good. He looked at himself in the mirror and tried in vain to neaten his hair a little. He knew he had to tell Ginny that he wouldn't be staying for a long time. She needed to know. He needed to tell her things. Something. Anything. He needed to talk to her, to tell her how he felt and why he had to leave again.
He still loved her; deep down underneath he knew that he would always love her. There was no doubt about that, she meant the world to him but he just couldn't bring himself to tell her. He couldn't be with her he was still messed up inside. He needed to know who he was, he needed some answers and he had hoped that by taking up the posting in Scotland he would rebuild himself again. Time healed all wounds and he knew that. It was just that it was taking much longer than he expected. He sighed and looked out the window, Ron and Hermione were sitting out in the garden on a picnic rug and they were huddled together and looking up at the stars. He smiled to himself, at least things were working out for them.
He padded his way bare footed to Ginny's room and stopped outside. He heard melodious humming coming from within. Her door was slightly ajar and through the crack he could see her. She was seated in front of her vanity mirror and taking out her earrings. She got up and twirled around the room and opened her large windows. Harry knocked on her door and upon hearing her "come in" he entered her domain.
He hadn't been in Ginny's room in a long time and it looked very much different to the last time he had seen it. Back when they were dating Ginny's room was a shade of baby pink and it had a floral border. Now everything was different. Her walls were painted different colors. One of them was painted a cream color and it had a painting of a castle that looked somewhat like Hogwarts. Another wall was black and another wall was a shade of pale gold and the other was a deep red. Her ceiling was painted an emerald green that matched his eyes uncannily. The room looked a little odd to Harry. He wondered why she had such mismatched colors. It wasn't like Ginny to be mismatched or uncoordinated with colors. The black wall was adorned with photographs. Photographs collected from the memories of her entire life. There were many of her and her family and he spotted a fair few of him and Ginny and smiled. Those were the good times. The wall that was painted a pale gold had a mural of a Hungarian Horntail on it, which moved and opened its mouth to give a silent roar. The Red wall had a painting of the Gryffindor lion on it. The emerald ceiling was the only wall that was untouched.
He suddenly realized that he had been looking around for a good ten minutes without saying anything to Ginny and she was looking at him rather curiously. She looked at him expectantly wondering why he had come to her room.
He cleared his throat "Ginny I came to tell you that I won't be staying long and I am leaving to go back to Scotland tomorrow morning".
She looked at him emotionlessly the sparkle previously held in her eyes had gone out. "Of course Harry I knew that would happen" she said a little stiffly.
"Look Gin I'm sorry but I can't stay. You know I can't stay" he replied a little annoyed at her lack of understanding.
"You never can Harry" she said bitterly.
"Look" Harry said a bit more forcefully than he intended. "I can't be here ok? I can't be around you. It hurts too much".
She looked at him coldly "it hurts too much?" she asked incredulously "and I suppose it doesn't hurt me at all".
"No Ginny" he said "that's not what I meant, I-I don't know ok. I don't know who I am anymore and I need to be away to find out to find myself. I need to rebuild my soul that has been shattered long the way".
She stared at him for a while then said bitterly "a shattered soul is better than a shattered heart" she said and then turned away from him.
"Ginny" he said pleadingly "please listen".
"Listen to what?" she snapped at him whipping around "listen to your pathetic excuses? Before when Voldermort was around you didn't want to be with me to keep me safe. Now that he's gone Harry what's your excuse huh?" He looked down at the floor unsure of what to say. "Harry I loved you" she said with all the pain she could muster "I still love you and I probably always will. I'm willing to give everything I have to make us work I just want you to give a little, to help me make this work".
Tears streamed down her face but her voice never wavered. Harry looked at her sadly then said, "I'm sorry Ginny, but I don't know if I have anything left to give".
He wanted to say some to tell her that he was sorry but she raised her hand to stop him "enough Harry, I don't want to hear anymore".
"But Ginny I"-
" I didn't thank you for coming tonight Harry and for the dance, so I wanted to say thanks because it means the world to me and I hope you take care of yourself in Scotland. Goodnight Harry" She said and then walked away from him and went out of her room leaving Harry standing there by himself.
That night when Ron was safely in bed and the lights were all turned off, Harry moved to the window where the pale moonlight seeped through. He looked out the window and was gazing out at the stars when his eyes caught the figure of Ginny sitting alone on Ron and Hermione's abandoned rug. She was crying and her body was shaking in the moonlight. Harry's heart ached and he longed to go out there and say something. Anything. But he didn't know what. He sadly wrenched himself away from the window and lay back in the cot that had been conjured up for him by Ron's bed.
The next morning Ginny woke up to the sun's rays shining on her face. The last thing she remembered was falling asleep on the rug on the hill that her house stood on and that was it. She didn't remember how she was back in her bed with her shoes off and the covers pulled up around her chin. She suddenly remembered that Harry was meant to be going back today and she hurriedly brushed her teeth and washed up.
By the time she went downstairs, her whole family had gathered outside to see Harry off. People were saying their goodbyes to him and he was about to apprated when she called out to him.
"HARRY WAIT" she yelled and pushed her way through the crowd of Weasleys. He looked at her puzzled "I'm so sorry Harry," she said and then flung her arms around him and sobbed. He stroked her hair gently and tried to soothe her.
Her family backed away slowly wanting to give them space "it's ok Gin" he said softly "I'll be back soon". She pulled away from him and then wiped her tears with her fingers.
"Keep in touch ok?" she asked with a teary smile. He looked at her and smiled "Always" he said and with a 'pop' he disapprated.
A/N: please review if I don't get at least 10-12 reviews I won't continue this story. Also brownie points to those that get title of the song right.
Next Chapter: A dying Draco tells Ginny about the map before he dies. A strange prophecy involving Ginny and Harry's deadly auror assignments.