Harry Potter and the Power of Love
Disclaimer: Unfortunately, I own nothing of Harry Potter. All content is owned by JK Rowling, and I'm simply playing in her sandbox! All I own are my Original Characters, if there are any!
Summary: After Dumbledore's death, Harry breaks up with Ginny. He keeps having dreams about a certain dead professor and all that Harry finds out is that Ginny is important to him and to the war! This is an Alternate Universe, seventh year fic. Obviously, the Deathly Hallows are ignored!
**********Please Note This is My First Fanfiction! Reviews & Constructive Criticism Are Highly Appreciated!**********
Chapter One: Nightmares and Long Due Amends
Harry woke up again, the third time that night. The clock on his bedside table glowed 3:54 a.m. His dreams had been haunted again; he had seen Dumbledore smiling at him once again as he said, "There was nothing you could have done, Harry. My time here was done, I have gone on now to the next great adventure and have passed down to you everything you need to know. I have loved you as if you were my own grandson and in many ways you have made me proud, Harry, prouder than most grandfathers ever are but now, you must stop fretting over my death and must fulfill the prophecy, it's the only way that you will finally be able to live! Don't let my death be in vain, Harry, remember me for who I was and what I stood for! Remember, we always have the choice between doing what's easy and what's right. I know that you will make the right decision. Remember, Harry, your father, mother, Sirius and I are always watching you and we know that you will make use proud."
Harry had been having this dream, among others, may times a night since Dumbledore's death. The dreams were all about himself and Dumbledore. The most common one had them walking together in the Forbidden Forest. They had been discussing how to kill Voldemort, and all Dumbledore was willing to reveal was, "The answer lies with your love for Ginny." Immediately afterwards the dream would mysteriously end.
He wondered if, somehow, this was Dumbledore's spirit communicating from the dead. How else could the dreams be ending so conveniently, leaving Harry with very little additional information? It was such like Dumbledore to give him part of the answer and then let him sort out the rest for himself. Harry shook those thoughts from his head. He knew it was impossible for Dumbledore to come back. He wouldn't have stayed as a ghost, he would have gone on to wherever the next great adventure took place.
Crying softly, Harry rolled over and tried to return to sleep. As he lay there, tossing and turning, sleepless, he thought back on his sixth year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, he thought of his best friends; Ron, and Hermione, and his girlfriend, Ginny. Ex-girlfriend, he quickly remembered, as the tears returned to his eyes. He tried to stop himself from thinking about it but it was too late, his thoughts had already moved on to how he had broken up with her.
It had been on the day of Dumbledore's funeral; he had told Ginny they could no longer be together because he was afraid. She had laughed at him saying that the famous Harry Potter, the "Chosen One" was never afraid. Then her laughter died out so suddenly that Harry wondered if someone had cast a silencing charm; she had realized that Harry Potter was seriously afraid for her life if they continued to date. All he had told her was, "I have to keep you safe from Voldemort! If he knows about us, he will go after you. There is no safety with me."
She had been shocked and could barely utter, "But there is no safer place for me than beside you" as he slowly walked away struggling to control his own tears.
That night had been one of the worst for him; Ron had yelled him at him till he was senseless and then pounded him. He then whipped out his wand and with a levicorpus left him hanging from the ceiling by his ankles. Then came Hermione, she healed everything that Ron had done and then let down from the ceiling, but then she took Harry into an empty classroom and spent two hours verbally assaulting Harry as well. They thought he was stupid, and at that time he was inclined to agree. How could he have ditched Ginny, his first real girlfriend? However, it was Ginny's face that had nearly killed him. She was looking so distraught. And the worst thing was it was entirely his fault! He felt like drowning himself in the lake at Hogwarts if it would take away her pain! He knew then that wasn't the right course of action. It wouldn't solve anything, would in fact make it even worse, for them all. He was crucial to the whole war.
Damn Trelawney, if only she hadn't made that stupid prophecy. Then maybe, just maybe Harry could be a normal 16 year old wizard. But wait, he was Harry Potter, the Chosen Boy Who Lived! Nothing was going to be normal for him! How could it be?
In the three weeks since the beginning of summer, Ron had written once in the first week to let Harry know how much he hated him. Harry hadn't replied, feeling so ashamed with himself. He truly was drowning in guilt. How could he have been so stupid? He had also received one letter from Hermione, stating, "Ginny's been crying all the time and all she tells us is, 'I don't blame him.'" He hadn't replied to this either but felt really horrible, as usual. His only other post had been the Daily Prophet, which he didn't even bother reading. Just a quick glance and it too joined the junk he had been collecting in his trash can. But what did he expect after ruining his Ginny's life? His best friends were bound to hate him and he couldn't blame them for that. However, he was going to try his hardest to change that and he had a good idea how. Harry hoped that fixing his relationship with Ginny would be enough to fix his relationship with his two best friends... but what if Ginny no longer wanted him? He shook that thought away thinking that he would deal with it as it came, and hoped that it wouldn't be that way.
Finally, when sleep came to him, he fell into a restless slumber. There was no way he could turn his mind off. He just had too much to do. After tossing and turning in his bed for a little under four hours, Harry finally decided he was going to get up and out of bed as Uncle Vernon started screaming at him, "Boy, get down here, right now!" Vernon boomed while pounding down the stairs on his way past Harry's room.
Harry groaned and then slowly trudged down the stairs. "You called Uncle Vernon?"
"Today is your seventeenth birthday, is it not?"
"Yes Uncle Vernon." He actually knows when my birthday is, Harry thought?
"Excellent!" exclaimed Uncle Vernon, "Now you can leave our house for good! You have ten minutes to gather your stuff and leave." Harry was gone within two, never to return again, or so he had told his uncle and aunt before apparating. He had always known that as soon as his protection ended his uncle would kick him out and he didn't really want to stay, or even see them again. Therefore, he had his things ready, and just needed to collect them before twisting in mid air and vanishing with a loud "crack".
Harry thought for a few moments and then decided that he should go try to make amends. Today being his birthday, he was reasonably sure he had a higher chance of Ginny listening to him. He realized that he didn't know where the Weasleys were staying and as such arrived inside the Ministry of Magic and was walking down the hallway to speak with Mr. Weasley, his Ginny's dad. He had trouble finding Mr. Weasley's new office due to his promotion to Head of Magical Law Enforcement (MLE). As he entered the main office, the secretary behind the desk waved him into Mr. Weasley's personal office immediately.
"Hello, Harry. How has your birthday been? I've been expecting you to come here today."
"Good Morning, Mr. Weasley. I wish to speak with Ron, Hermione, and... Ginny." In his head he added my before Ginny, but wasn't going to say it out loud right now because Ginny wasn't really his.
"Of course Harry! Minevra asked me to hand this to you, it'll get you into headquarters where everyone is currently staying."
"Thank you, Mr. Weasley. I'll see you at dinner then." Harry left Mr. Weasley's office, and then read the small note that he had been given.
"The Headquarters of the Order of the Phoenix have been secured at Number 12 Grimmauld Place."
After reading the note, Harry burned it with it a quick, Incendio, and then disapparated.
Harry apparated into the kitchen of Number 12 Grimmuald Place, currently the headquarters of the Order of the Phoenix. Incidentally, Harry also owned it, but that didn't matter right now. He stumbled around blindly for a few minutes waiting for his eyes to adjust to the lack of light before walking up the stairs into the room that Hermione and Ginny had shared when they were last living here. The only person he found in the room was Ginny, exactly who he needed to talk to.
"Hello, Ginny," Harry spoke softly, not wanting to upset her.
"Oh, it's you Harry," She replied very bitterly, "Have you come to hurt me some more?"
"No, Ginny, in fact, I've come to apologize and to request that we get back together again." Harry replied incredibly softly and calmly, even though she was yelling at him.
She dropped her volume to match his and her tone lost some of its bitterness too as she said "Go on, Harry, I've been hoping that you would come."
"Ginny, I've been a prat. I didn't listen to my heart. As usual, I've listened to my head and made a terrible, terrible mistake. Without you, I'm nothing. I'm just a sad, broken-hearted Harry. I realize now that by pushing you away, I was losing my one true love; the only one who can help me destroy Voldemort's Horcruxes and defeat him, once and for all. As Dumbledore always used to tell me, I must be the one to stop Voldemort, and it can only be done with love. By pushing you, my love, away, I was ruining my chances of destroying him, while trying to keep you safe, thereby weakening the love between us. Ginny, I'm begging your forgiveness for being an idiot, and would be honored if we could continue our relationship the way it should have been."
"Harry, I completely understand. That is why I told Hermione that I didn't blame you. You thought you had my best interests in mind. But, um, next time let me decide, okay? Harry, I love you too and I really want us to continue our relationship. I'm happy that you came back to me. Please, Harry, don't ever leave me like that again. I don't know how I survived those last three weeks."
"Thank you, Ginny." It was all he could say before she pulled him to her and kissed him again. It was just as they had remembered, but somehow better. It spoke volumes of their love for each other and her forgiveness of him.
When they finally separated, she replied, "Your welcome." Then she quickly added, "Next time I won't be so forgiving!"
He answered, "There won't be a next time. From now on, you and I will remain together, forever."
She smiled at him, and said, "Oh, Harry, I love you so much. Do you have any idea how much I missed you?" She had tears in her eyes and flung herself into his lap for comfort.
"I love you too, and I couldn't bear to see you hurt." She just sat there for quite a while as he gently stroked her hair. Neither spoke, they were just so happy to be together.
He thought she had fallen asleep, as she hadn't spoken for almost twenty minutes, but she surprised him when she spoke softly, unsure if he was awake. "Harry, I got you a birthday present. Let me go and get it."
"You shouldn't have. You have already given me the best present I could ever get by taking me back." Still, he let go of her, and she got up to get his present.
Ginny went to her desk and rummaged around for a couple minutes before returning with a small wrapped package which she handed to Harry. She then sat back down in his lap contentedly.
He waited a few moments for her to get settled and then, at her urging, unwrapped the box. Inside was a small book. He looked at it closely and then noticed that the words "Remember our Love" were engraved on the cover. He opened it and found pictures of their life together including their first kiss. Even though they had gone out for only a month, it still had many pictures. Harry just looked at Ginny and she could see his gratitude. "Thank you, for the best birthday of my life," before pulling her close for another kiss. They pulled apart after breathing became difficult.
"Any time, Harry!" she said, as she resumed her position in his lap. He idly twirled some stray strands of her hair around his finger as she lay her head down on his chest. They both were smiling, together, reveling in each other's presence, and both fell asleep together, wrapped in each other's arms. It was the best sleep that either of them had had since they had broken up.
Harry was woken up by a loud cheering noise and then felt someone clapping him on the back. Harry stared blinking at him for a few minutes trying to understand why Ron was doing that and where he was. Comprehension dawned on him suddenly and he felt elated knowing he was holding Ginny in his arms and they were back together, the way it was meant to be. He felt oddly, relaxed, at peace with the world again. She came around slowly, and then stretched contentedly in his lap, giving him a big hug and then kissing him for a long while. When they had to stop for breath, they noticed that Ron and Hermione were also engaged in similar activities in the hallway. Harry grunted slightly to get their attention.
When they finally noticed him, Hermione flushed bright red, and Ron stared at Harry before bursting out laughing and explaining, "You were using the time well, so we decided to do the same!"
Harry just looked at him… and then asked them all, "Why have we all moved back into Headquarters?"
Hermione answered him, "If you'd read the Daily Prophet, you would know. Voldemort has decided to obliterate families like the Weasleys, so called blood-traitors, and it is no longer safe anywhere else."
Just as Harry was about to utter a retort, Mrs. Weasley walked in, "Ah, Harry, Arthur told me you were coming today. Well, it is your own house after all! And yes, I know all about your relationship with Ginny," she replied to his unasked question. "I expect you all down for lunch in half an hour," She said, with a small smile and walked off with the laundry.
"So, you wanted to talk to us, Harry?" Hermione was all business.
"Yeah, I wanted to tell you my plans for finding Horcruxes and stopping Voldemort."
"Wait," Ginny cut into the conversation, "You've spoken of Horcruxes to me before but never explained them at all. If you're going to tell me, tell me everything, please. I want to help you and as you said, you will need my help."
"Okay," began Harry "Horcruxes are very dark objects. Darker than most, and thought to be one of the most darkest objects known to wizard-kind. They help you stay immortal by taking a piece of your soul and sealing it inside a container of sorts. They make the wizard or witch incredibly unstable as cutting apart one's soul is very dangerous. In fact, it's dangerous to even make one of them. The thing with Voldemort is that he made six Horcruxes and thereby split his soul into 7 pieces! They are made by the act of supreme evil: killing another human being."
"Tom's diary!" exclaimed Ginny, shivering with fear and revulsion. Tears coming to her eyes.
Harry wrapped his arms around her tightly and squeezed her gently letting her know he was there, "Exactly, and Dumbledore told me that I have to destroy them with love and then destroy the seventh piece of Voldemort's soul with love as well. I plan on returning to Hogwarts in the fall, but after requesting permission from Professor McGonagall for all of us to leave the castle at any time and return as we can. I'm not sure that she will be willing. If she isn't we are going to have to leave and live on the run. Ginny, I know that it is not my place to ask you to do this but I know you are smart and hope you will agree with my request. Can you please do your sixth year course-work here over the summer and then join us in the fall for seventh year?" He held his breath, unsure of her response.
"Of course Harry!" She exclaimed, kind of breathless with his request! "I guess I'm just a little surprised that you would think I could handle it."
"Ginny, you are a truly amazing person and I know that if anyone can do it, I know you can!" Harry said, while giving her a hug and a small peck on her cheek. Harry continued their previous conversation, "Hermione, do you think we would be able to successfully live on the run?"
"I'm sure we can. In some of the books I was reading for some bedtime reading, I managed to find quite a few useful spells."
"Excellent," said Harry, "Ron, Ginny, Hermione, are you sure you guys want to come with me to do this?"
"Harry, we told you already, we're coming with you and there's nothing you can do about it." Ron said, with nods from Ginny and Hermione.
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