AN: I wrote this FF thinking of this sentence of DH: "Harry found himself taking it out simply to stare at Ginny's name in the girls' dormitory, wondering whether the intensity with which he gazed at it might break into her sleep, that she would somehow know he was thinking about her, hoping that she was all right." I don't know if Neville repeated his 7th year of school, but I liked the idea.


A look on you

"Harry, tell me something that I don't know." It was a beautiful sunny day; Harry and Ginny were outside the Burrow near a small stream to enjoy those last days of their summer together. Ginny would be leaving for her last year of Hogwarts with Hermione in three days, and Harry would start his Auror training in a week.
"Such as?"
"I don't know. Everything," she replied. Harry thought for a moment then kissed her before he said;
"I used to look your name on the Marauder's Map," Ginny smiled.
"Really?"
"Yeah, and to my disappointment, you were hardly ever in the place where you should have been," He said with an accusatory tone.
"And where should I have been?" She asked. Without even realizing it, Harry hugged her to himself in a warm and protective embrace, before answering.
"In a safe place, Ginny."


Coming out from the tent, Harry sat on its edge, staring at the landscape covered with a thick blanket of snow. All he could see was a vast expanse of trees around him. Small snowflakes were still falling from the sky, covering the already completely whitewashed ground. The air was cold, as it had been the previous night and all other nights before, but he did not care. Because for him being in the biting air was a thousand times more bearable than hearing Hermione's constant stifled sobbings. Because every sob, did nothing but remind him that Ron had abandoned them.

It was the 21st of December and Christmas was just around the corner, but this year for him and Hermione there would be little to celebrate and to think, that in recent years, Harry had always loved that time of the year. After all, in a big and noisy family as the Weasley were easy not to hate it. He still remembered the fun in adorning the Christmas tree with the twins Fred and George, or in imitating the inevitable Celestina Warbeck or in teasing Phlegm. Harry smiled at that last memory.

He had always found that nickname funny, but he had never told it to Ginny, nor many other things like that. If only they had had a little more time to be together. Unable to resist, Harry took out the Marauder's Map and the wand from his jacket pocket.
"Lumos," he whispered, then opening the map he set off in search of the one person who, at that moment, was missing him even more than Ron. Focusing the wand's light on the female dormitory of Gryffindor, Harry started to locate Ginny's name. In the room, there were the names of three girls, but no trace of her name. Was it possible that she was still up?

Worried, Harry shifted his gaze to the Gryffindor Common Room. Maybe that day she had had so much to study, that she was still there, he thought. However, only two names were present in the Common Room, that of Neville and Seamus. The two boys seemed worried about something, running back and forth across the room, almost as if they were waiting for someone. And what if they were waiting for Ginny? Harry checked the time on the old clock, given to him by Molly for his 17th birthday; it was almost half past midnight. What was Ginny still doing around the castle at that hour? Wasn't it enough that she had been caught stealing the sword of Gryffindor?

With a growing agitation and racing heart, he began a feverish search for her in all the corridors, classrooms and Hogwarts's numerous secret passages. He looked in the Great Hall, the library, in the basement, but nothing. Come on Ginny, where the hell are you? Suddenly, he saw two dots moving along a corridor on the fourth floor. Breathing a huge sigh of relief, Harry located Ginny's name and that of... Michael? What on earth was she doing out at night with Michael Corner? Obviously, it was not the first time; Harry had seen her with someone else. Most of the time he had seen her with Neville and Luna. Sometimes he had also found her in Seamus' company, but this was the first time he had seen her together with Michael and moreover after the curfew hours. How long had Ginny been friends again with that "bad loser" of her first boyfriend?

Refocusing the attention on the name of Ginny, Harry realised that the two were moving too fast; this was not a usual night stroll. They were running away from someone. And it was just then he noticed a third name, not far from the two, chasing them. It was that of the Death Eaters, Acleto Carrow. How could he not have noticed it before? Unable to look away, Harry stared at Ginny's name, until finally; he saw it in the Common Room together with that of Seamus and Neville. His breathing returned to normal, as well as the beating of his heart.

Michael also seemed to get back unscathed to his Common Room. Harry checked, noticing him in Ravenclaw Tower with Luna. Their names were so close to each other, which Harry guessed that they were hugging, just like Ginny and Neville surely were. Because otherwise, it meant they were kissing, a thing that he excluded. If only he could be there instead of Neville. It was so frustrating not being able to be close to her. And what for? He and Hermione had spent the past few days discussing on where they could find the last Horcruxes or where Dumbledore could have hidden the Gryffindor's sword, but no matter how hard they tried, the reality was they had hit a dead end. He was so focused on watching the Marauder's Map to hadn't noticed the sudden presence of Hermione at his side.
"Harry go to get some rest. You have been on watch for days. I'll do it tonight. Oh… Were you checking if he had come back to the castle?" She asked, noticing the Map open in Harry's lap. Ever since they were left alone, he had been determined to avoid the subject of Ron, but in the rare times when it came out, they were never able to say his name, especially Hermione.

"No, I was not looking for him. Everything doesn't revolve around him, you know!" He answered dryly. Ok, maybe Harry did not give too much of himself away, but he also was suffering from the lack of someone. Someone he had not seen since the beginning of summer, but no one seemed to care. When was it going to be his turn to feel down? Hermione winced at the cruelty of those words. He soon realized that he had been too hard on his friend. "Sorry, I didn't mean it, but I just saw Ginny in danger and I..."
"Ginny in danger, but is she OK now?" Hermione asked immediately.
"Yes, she's fine now. She has just returned to the Common Room. Neville and Seamus are with her."

"But what was Ginny still doing around the castle?" Hermione asked.
"I don't know Hermione. How could I?" Harry answered sadly. It hated to admit not knowing it, but unfortunately, he did not. "I don't know anything about her for a long time," he said again, getting up from the ground.
"You know, I think perhaps you should have left her the map. I'm not saying that with the map, Ginny wouldn't have been in danger, but certainly own it would have helped her," She said wisely.
"Yes, maybe… Good Night Hermione," Harry muttered before returning inside the tent. How could she not understand? The truth was that that summer at the Burrow, the boy had thought several times about leaving her the map, but selfishly he had not had the courage to do it. After all, how could he give up the only object that allowed him to keep a watchful eye on the girl he was in love? Furthermore, as the days went by, watching Ginny on the map remained the only thing that still gave him the strength to go on. The only thing that still gave him the hope of a better future.


"Harry are you still with me?" That question broke Harry out of his memory. He opened his eyes, looking at her.
"Sorry, what were you saying?"
"I was asking you if you can give to me the Map at least for this year," she said. Harry smiled.
"And miss the opportunity to check if you are breaking the school's rules? Never!"
"How about your cloak?" She asked hopefully.
"No. I'm sorry, Ginny; but I would like that in your first trip to Hogsmeade you were there with me and not in detention with your partners in crime Neville and Luna." Ginny snorted while Harry burst out laughing in amusement.