Falling In Love With Ginny
The same little man that had presided at Dumbledore's funeral, Bill and Fleur's wedding, and most of the funerals for those killed at the Battle of Hogwarts had just finished saying "You may kiss the bride" to Ron for the first half of the double wedding ceremony.
After Ron kissed Hermione, they both stepped off the platform to take their places as best man and maid of honor; changing places with Harry and Ginny who's turn it was now to take their vows in the second half of the ceremony.
Harry had just stepped up onto the small raised platform along with Ginny and took her right hand in his left when the little man began with; "Love is a living thing that grows over time. In preparing for this ceremony; I learned that Harry and Ginny have known each other since he was eleven and she was ten; but they didn't fall in love until six years later. Now, nine years after meeting, they are here before all of you to pledge to continue that love as long as they both live."
As the man talked on, Harry thought, "That's not right; Ginny loved me from the day we met and I fell in love with her almost the same time even if I didn't realize it then. When was it that I first fell in love with Ginny?"
As the little man continued to talk of love, Harry's mind drifted back to that morning nine years ago when he had arrived at the Weasley house in that flying Ford Anglia. Ron, Fred, and George came to rescue him from his Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon who had locked him in his bedroom and put bars on his windows.
He was sitting at the table and Mrs. Weasley was bring breakfast when he first saw Ginny. She had come down the steps in her nightgown and when she saw Harry she gave a squeal, turned, and ran back up the stairs.
Ron said, "Ginny, my sister. She's been talking about you all summer."
No, that wasn't the first time he had seen her. Ron had talked about Ginny occasionally in school last year; and now Harry remembered he had seen Ginny for just a moment the year before. She had been standing with Mrs. Weasley at King's Cross station when he asked Mrs. Weasley how to get onto platform 9¾ to catch the Hogwarts Express. But, worried about missing the train, he hadn't paid attention to Ginny that day.
The next time Harry saw her was a few minutes later when they took his things up to Ron's room. As they reached the third floor landing Harry caught a glimpse of flaming red hair and sparkling brown eyes watching him from a partially closed doorway. As soon as he turned to look her way she backed into the room and closed the door.
Ron said, "You don't know how weird it is for her to be this shy. She never shuts up normally."
Ron continued heading up the stairs; but Harry stopped for a few seconds. At twelve years old, Harry had just begun to notice girls. Last year at school he, Ron, and some of the other guys in the dorm occasionally commented on how cute a girl in class might look if they weren't wearing the long Hogwarts robes most of the time.
But, no girl had ever given him more than a passing glance before. At home, his cousin Dudley made sure that no girl, or no boy for that matter, would even talk to Harry much less made a friendly gesture. In school, because of what happened to him as a baby when Lord Voldemort tried and failed to kill him; most of the girls and boys still looked at him as some type of hero that shouldn't be approached. Hermione was the only girl he really knew anything about; and she was more like a sister than a girl.
"Ginny looks kind of cute." he thought. "If she's as friendly as Ron, Fred, and George I'll have to get to know her better. He continued up the stairs to Ron's room.
Over the next week Harry didn't speak more than a few words to Ginny and she never spoke to him. Whenever Harry came into the room where Ginny was and he said "Hello" she would bump into something, knock something over, or spill something. Then she would turn bright red in the face and hurry from the room. Harry thought it all made her seem even more cute.
He wanted to get to know Ginny better; so he tried to follow her several times as she hurried away. He wanted to tell her she shouldn't be embarrassed when she was around him; but he could never seem to find where she disappeared to.
One day he went with the Weasley family to Diagon Alley to buy their school supplies and books for the new school year. In the book store the author Gilderoy Lockhart was signing books; and when he saw Harry, he pulled him up front to get their picture taken together.
Harry tried to avoid publicity. He didn't think he should be considered special for doing something he couldn't even remember; but Lockhart insisted on the picture and on giving Harry a full set of his books which were on the school's required list.
Harry was embarrassed by the whole episode. He knew the Weasleys didn't have a lot of money; and having plenty of money left to him by his parents, he gave Lockhart's pile of books to Ginny intending to buy his own books.
She turned red but managed not to run away.
That instant Draco Malfoy came from behind a shelf of books and said, "Bet you loved that, didn't you, Potter. Famous Harry Potter; can't even go into a bookshop without making the front page."
"Leave him alone, he didn't want all that." Ginny said. It was the first time she had said anything in front of Harry.
Malfoy said, "Potter, you got yourself a girlfriend."
Ginny turned not just red, but deep scarlet. Harry saw her face and felt his own face get flushed.
At the time he thought it was because of his anger at Malfoy; but later when he looked back at what happened, he realized for the first time, it was because what Malfoy said was true.
He did have a girlfriend, Ginny; that was why Ginny wouldn't speak to him. She fancied him all this time and was afraid she'd say the wrong thing so she said nothing at all. As he thought of it he realized he wanted her as a girlfriend.
He remembered how often over the past few days he had seen her and thought how cute she was. He remembered how he had tried to follow her so he could talk to her. In an inexperienced twelve-year-old's way, he had been trying to get her as his girlfriend without knowing that was what he was doing.
It had embarrassed him that Malfoy noticed it before he did.
But he also knew he couldn't have Ginny as a girlfriend. First, she was Ron's sister and he knew how protective Ron felt about her. Harry thought Ron might not like it if Ron saw him kiss Ginny; and Harry did intend to kiss his girlfriend, if ever he ever got one, whoever she was.
Secondly, having her as his girlfriend would be dragging her into the dangerous things he had already dragged Ron and Hermione into. Every time he thought of how often in the past year he could have been responsible for the deaths of his best friends he realized he couldn't do that to anyone else; especially if it was a girl he liked; especially if it was Ron's sister.
The day after the incident in the store, Harry managed to corner Ginny in the sitting room and when she tried to get away he grabbed her by the hand and said, "Ginny, please don't run away. I want to tell you something; give me a minute, please. He didn't want her to continue the way she was; not talking to him and running away all the time. He wanted to let her know, even though he did fancy her, he couldn't have her as a girlfriend."
She stood still waiting until Harry said, "I want to thank you for what you said to Malfoy yesterday. You're right about me not wanting Lockhart to drag me in front of the camera. I just want everyone to treat me like a normal person; that means you to. I think you're very nice and I wish we could talk to each other like friends; like Ron and I do."
Ginny interrupted saying, "So, you just want me to be a friend like Ron."
"Yes," Harry said "and like Hermione. I don't know if Ron told you about her; you'll meet her on the train. She's really nice and very smart, you'll like her."
Tears came into Ginny's eyes and she said, "You really like Hermione; don't you?"
"Sure," Harry said "she's great."
"Okay Harry," Ginny said "we'll be friends; if that's what you want to be." She wiped her eyes and pulled away leaving Harry to wonder what he said to upset her so much when he just said he wanted to be her friend.
On the train, Harry had hoped Ginny would sit with him, Ron, and Hermione so he could sooth her hurt feelings. But he needed to tell Ron and Hermione that he had learned that the escaped prisoner Sirius Black coming after him and he didn't want to get Ginny involved. When he said he needed to talk privately; Ron crudely said, "Ginny get lost" and she left in a huff, her feeling hurt again.
Ginny was sorted into Gryffindor and though Harry saw her every day they rarely spoke more than hello to each other. As the year went on, Harry was glad he didn't ask Ginny to be his girlfriend. Again this year, he, Ron, and Hermione were in grave danger; and he thought Ginny would have certainly been involved if she were his girlfriend.
According to legend, there was a room somewhere in the school called The Chamber of Secrets. It had been built and sealed by Salazar Slytherin, one of the school's founders, who didn't think Muggle born students should be taught magic. Legend said Slytherin's heir would some day come and release the monster sealed inside to kill or drive out all Muggle born students.
Early in the year Mr. Filch's cat was attacked and petrified. Later, a first year Muggle born student name Colin Creevey was also petrified by what appeared to be the monster. All the students were scared; but Ginny seemed to take things harder than everyone else.
Harry was worried about Ginny since he never did straighten out things between them and he thought that might be part of why Ginny was so upset. When he mentioned this to Ron he said, "I'm sure it's not because of you Harry. Ginny is very fond of cats; and she sat next to the Creevey boy in Charms class. They studied together and she was probably closer to him than any of her other classmates."
They learned that the last time the chamber had been opened a girl was killed. Everyone thought it was only a matter of time before someone was killed this time.
Lockhart got permission to start a dueling class which Dumbledore thought might at least make students feel better; though he knew learning to duel wouldn't help against whatever this monster was.
In the first dueling lesson Harry was picked to go against Malfoy. Instead of just trying to disarm Harry as he was told to do; Malfoy produced a poisonous snake. When the snake went toward Justin Finch-Fletchley, Harry yelled to the snake not to hurt Justin.
The entire class panicked and Ron and Hermione grabbed Harry and hurried him back to the dorm. When he didn't understand what all the trouble was, they explained that he had yelled at the snake in Parseltongue, snake language, which was thought of as the sign of a dark wizard.
He didn't know why, but only Harry could hear the monster before each attack; and he would try to follow the sound to stop any attack. The next day, Justin was found petrified and because Harry was always near where an attack occurred, the other students thought he was the heir of Slytherin releasing the monster.
Harry, Ron, and Hermione thought Malfoy might be the heir of Slytherin because his family had all been in Slytherin House for hundreds of years and Malfoy was always saying that he hated Muggles, including Hermione who was Muggle born.
They mixed up Polyjuice Potion, a substance that would change them into the form of Malfoy's friends so they could question him and get him to admit it was him setting the monster loose. It required a hair from the person they wanted to change into; and unfortunately Hermione accidentally got cat hair instead.
She changed into a half cat half human and ended up in the hospital for weeks until the potion wore off. It was all for nothing; because Malfoy told Harry and Ron, who's transformation worked properly, that he was not the heir of Slytherin and didn't know who was.
While Hermione was still in the hospital Harry and Ron found a fifty year old diary that someone had thrown away. The name on the diary was Tom Marvolo Riddle. They knew the Chamber of Secrets had been opened fifty years ago and thought the diary might contain a clue; but there was no writing in the diary at all.
Hermione suggested the owner might have used invisible ink; but nothing they tried brought out any writing. Eventually Harry learned that if he wrote into the diary it would answer his questions and it told him that it was Hagrid that had opened the Chamber of Secrets fifty years ago. None of them could believe it was true so they said nothing about it.
When Ginny saw Harry with the diary, she was very upset; but said nothing. She hardly spoke to Harry all year until Valentine's Day. For Valentine's Day; Lockhart who taught Defense Against the Dark Arts, arranged for dwarfs dressed as Cupid to deliver valentines in public. He thought it would lighten the bad mood of everyone who feared being attacked by the monster. But most students were just embarrassed to have a personal, romantic, valentine delivered in front of all their friends.
Harry was no exception; and when a Cupid approached him in the hall he tried to run but couldn't escape. The valentine was a musical poem and the cupid sang it to Harry in the hall in front of a group of students that included Ginny and Malfoy.
His eyes are as green as a freshly pickled toad
His hair is a dark as a blackboard
I wish he was mine, he's really divine
The hero who conquered the Dark Lord
All the students laughed, and Harry faked laughter with them trying to hide that he was embarrassed by having all the others hear the valentine. In his mind however he was thinking, "Who would send me a valentine? Not Hermione; besides, she wouldn't strain so hard to rhyme and any poem she wrote would be at least an entire page. What other girl that likes me enough to write me a valentine?"
Malfoy immediately made fun of Harry and turned to Ginny saying, "I don't think your boyfriend liked your poem."
Ginny turned red, tears came to her eyes, and she ran away. Harry realized Malfoy was right again; Ginny had sent the poem and he insulted her in public by laughing. He would have to get her alone and apologize.
That night he saw her in the common room; walked over and said, "Ginny, I need to talk to you in private. Would you come out in the hall where we could talk, please?"
"Why should I," Ginny asked "you tell everything to Hermione and Ron anyway; why can't you just say what you want to here in front of them? Are you afraid what you want to say will embarrass you; because you certainly aren't afraid of embarrassing me in public."
Harry turned red in the face as he said, "Okay, it's private but I guess since I did embarrass you in public earlier, I can embarrass myself in public now. I'm sorry about laughing with everyone else when the cupid read your valentine. It was stupid of me. But I didn't do it because I didn't like the poem; or because it was you that sent it.
I just think a valentine is a personal thing between a girl and a boy. With what all the others are saying about me being the heir of Slytherin and sending my monster to kill Muggle born, I just couldn't take them laughing at me. Especially Malfoy, and all I could think of was if I laughed to they would forget the whole thing and leave me alone. I wouldn't have laughed if you just gave it to me here in the common room."
"So you don't mind being my friend in private?" she said as tears started coming to her eyes. "But you don't want anyone to know we're friends?"
"Harry hastily said, "No, that's not true. I don't care if everyone knows we're friends; it's just that a valentine is between a boy and girl like I said before. Malfoy already called you my girlfriend back at Diagon Alley in August and now he did it again in front of all those people."
"So you're embarrassed by people thinking I'm your girlfriend?" she said. "Loads of people think Hermione is your girlfriend; are you embarrassed by that?"
Harry looked at Hermione and said, "I didn't know people think that; and it's not true. Hermione is no different to me than Ron; we're just friends.
Hermione, did you know people think you are my girlfriend?"
She answered, "Sure, it's been going on since last year when we started spending time together. Many of them whisper rumors that we're having sex and that I'm after you because you're famous. I personally don't care what they think; all our friends know that's not true."
Harry looked back at Ginny and said, "There's one reason why I don't want people to think of you as my girlfriend. It's bad enough they say terrible things about me; and now I know about Hermione to. I don't want them saying those things about you to.
Besides, with all the bad things happening this year; and how Ron and Hermione end up in danger with me; I don't want to put you in danger to. If they thought you were my girlfriend; people would also think you're involved in this Chamber of Secrets monster thing."
Ginny burst into tears and ran up to her room leaving all her books and work on the table.
"What did I say now?" Harry asked. "I thought I was being nice. I told her I want to protect her reputation and her life by not getting to close to her and she acts like I told her she's a hag or a crone or something."
Hermione said, "Harry, the problem is that Ginny wants to be your girlfriend; she doesn't care what people say about her any more than I do. And she doesn't understand about the danger; she doesn't know about what happened to us last year or this year. She doesn't know what might happen to her if she's with us as we investigate this Chamber of Secrets thing. All she knows is she wants you and you keep pushing her away."
"But you guys know why I'm doing it;" Harry said "I tried to tell her after that Diagon Alley incident and again now. What else can I do? I don't want to hurt her feelings; but I can't have her as a girlfriend where she might get physically hurt or even killed.
Hermione, you're a girl, maybe you could explain to her how it feels when people say things about you. And Ron, you're her brother, why don't you try to explain the danger and how she could be hurt."
"It won't work." Hermione said. "I told you she doesn't care about what people say or the danger; the only way you won't hurt her feelings is to be her boyfriend."
Ron spoke for the first time, "Harry, do you fancy Ginny? If all this Chamber of Secrets business wasn't happening would you want her as your girlfriend?"
Harry looked at Ron and said, "Yes, I thought about it when we were back at the Burrow. Ginny is cute and friendly, with everyone but me I mean. It seems everything I do makes her upset. But after thinking about it, I knew I can't have her or any other girlfriend without endangering their life; so I told her I just wanted to be friends. But if she's going to be so upset every time I try to tell her; I don't know what to do."
Ron said, "So you do fancy her but you're being noble and protecting her."
"Yes," Harry said "I guess you could say that. But I'm not doing it to be noble; I'm doing it because I like Ginny and don't want her to get hurt."
Over the next few days Ginny was so morose that Percy forced her to see Madam Pomfrey and take a dose of Pepper-up Potion. It made steam come out of her ears, and combined with her flaming red hair, it made her look like her head was on fire.
Harry thought it made her look more beautiful the anything he ever saw; and he couldn't take his eyes off her. It occurred to him that maybe he should tell Ginny he fancied her.
"After all," he said to himself "I'm entitled to have a girlfriend like all the other guys. It wouldn't be putting her in any more danger than she already was. Everyone in the school is in danger."
Then he realized it would. Being friends with him was more dangerous. The more he fancied Ginny; the more he knew he couldn't tell her and endanger her.
There had been no new attacks for several months and people were beginning to feel safe again. Then, one day Harry found his room torn apart and the diary gone. It had to be another Gryffindor because nobody else could have gotten into his room; but why would someone want to steal an old diary.
Then there was another attack, Hermione was petrified. Harry and Ron decided they had to ask Hagrid what he knew. They went to his house; but they never got to ask. The Minister of Magic showed up and said he had to take Hagrid to Azkaban because what happened fifty years ago was happening again and Hagrid had been blamed back then to.
As he was being taken away, Hagrid said, "Follow the spiders." But there were no spiders around to follow. Hermione was still petrified weeks later when Harry and Ron finally saw a couple of spiders headed toward the Forbidden Forest and followed them.
They were led to the giant Acromantula spider Aragog who had been Hagrid's pet fifty years ago. Acromantulas can talk and Aragog told them the monster in the castle had killed a girl in a loo; but that Hagrid was innocent. Harry and Ron barely escaped when the other spiders attacked them.
Harry realized from Aragog's story that the girl that had been killed was Moaning Myrtle, the ghost that haunted the girl's loo. They decided to ask her what happened; but, since Hermione was attacked, no students were allowed to be without a teacher escort so they couldn't get away alone.
Then the worst happened, Professor McGonagall announced that Ginny had been attacked and taken by the monster into the Chamber of Secrets. The school was closing and all students were to be sent home.
Harry and Ron went to Professor Lockhart who was supposed to be trying to rescue Ginny and found that he was a fraud. He never did any of the things he claimed in his books. In fact he was a coward; and instead of trying to rescue Ginny, he was about to run away when Harry and Ron caught him.
They forced him to go with them to Moaning Myrtle's loo to save Ginny. With Myrtle's help, they found the entrance to the Chamber of Secrets and slid down a sort of chute into a cavern hundreds of feet below.
Once there, Lockhart tried to attack them and escape; but his spell backfired and the roof caved in trapping Ron and Lockhart on one side and Harry on the other. Harry decided to go on alone to save Ginny while Ron tried to clear an opening so they could get out.
In the Chamber of Secrets Harry found Ginny, barely alive, along with the diary and a very much alive Tom Riddle who looked as young as he had fifty years ago.
Riddle told Harry a story about the diary and how he had made it so he could someday finish what he started and couldn't finish fifty years ago; killing all the Muggle born in the school.
Harry tried to show a brave face by telling Riddle he had failed because nobody had been killed, just petrified. And by tomorrow Madam Pomfrey would have a potion to revive everyone.
Riddle said he didn't care about killing Muggles anymore; he was now interested in how Harry had live when Voldemort attacked him.
When Harry asked why Riddle cared about what happened between him and Voldemort; Riddle said that he was Voldemort. He had changed his name years ago before even finishing at Hogwarts. He went on to tell Harry he was draining the life from Ginny using her to bring himself back to life.
Harry knew Ginny wouldn't live much longer and that Riddle was getting stronger. If he was going to save Ginny he had to act now; but what could he do?
Riddle called the monster which was a Basilisk, a giant snake, and ordered it to kill Harry. As it came toward Harry he called for help. Dumbledore's Phoenix Fawkes arrived carrying the sorting hat. Fawkes peck and scratch out the giant snake's eyes so Harry could face the snake without being killed.
In the battle with the blinded snake Harry was hit several times by blows from the snake's tail which threw him against the walls of the chamber. Finally, just as he was bitten by the poisonous snake; Harry managed to kill it with a sword that magically appeared inside the sorting hat.
Harry knew he was dying from the snake's venom. As the room grew dim and blurry, Fawkes brought the diary to Harry and he realized the diary was the key. Even if he couldn't save himself; he could still save Ginny. If he could destroy the diary before Ginny died and Riddle was completely reformed; the transformation would stop. But he was too weak from the poison to act.
Fawkes landed by him and began to rub the wound with his beak and head. Riddle laughed and said, "You're dying Potter, even the bird knows it; look he's crying."
Suddenly Harry felt stronger; the room started to come back into focus. Harry and Riddle both remembered at the same time that Phoenix tears were an antidote to the Basilisk poison. Harry's wound started to heal; and as he felt stronger. As Riddle tried to stop Fawkes; Harry grabbed the poisonous fang that had broken off when the Basilisk had bitten him and stabbed it into the diary.
There was a scream, the diary began to bleed out all the ink that it had held invisible all these years and Tom Riddle exploded as the diary was destroyed. At the same time Ginny moaned; her life force was returning.
Harry was weak; but he knew Ginny was worse and needed him. He forced himself to stand. His head was spinning and the room still blurry; but he hurried as fast as he could, staggering over to where Ginny was beginning to move.
He ached all over from being battered by the snake tail and from being slammed into the walls. He thought back to one Quidditch practice last year right after they had discovered that it was Nicholas Flamel's Philosopher's Stone that was hidden in the castle. Instead of paying attention to practice he kept thinking of the stone.
Oliver Wood had yelled at him several time to pay attention without success; so the twins started hitting the Bludgers at him so he would have to get his mind back on practice. He got hit six times before the lesson sunk in. The next day he had six deep purple bruises on his body and could hardly move.
Tomorrow would be worse than that he realized. He would be purple all over and lucky to be able to move at all. He hated to go to Madam Pomfrey because she already thought he was "delicate"; but he would have to get treatment tonight. That is if he and Ginny could get out of the Chamber of Secrets.
Had Ron been able to get enough of the rock fall cleared so they could get out? Maybe they were trapped and would still end up slowly starving to death. He couldn't let Ginny know what he was thinking; he would have to give her hope.
When he got to her he collapsed on the floor next to her. She slowly sat up and looked around as if she didn't know where she was or how she got here. She saw the Basilisk, then Harry's blood soaked robes, then the diary, she gasped and started to cry.
"Harry," she sobbed "I tried to tell you before but couldn't. It was me, but I didn't mean to, Riddle made me do it all; he took me over, he possessed me."
Again she looked at the snake and said, "How did you kill that thing; where is Riddle, all I can remember is him coming out of the diary?"
"It's all right," Harry answered her as he held up the diary and showed her the hole in it; "Riddle is dead, him and his snake. You're safe now; so let's get out of here."
Ginny kept crying. "I'll be expelled for what I did. I've wanted to come to Hogwarts since Bill first came and now I'll have to leave. I'll never see you again either."
Harry got to his knees, then pushed himself up into a standing position. He took Ginny's hands in his and as he helped her up he said, "No, you won't be expelled. I'll tell Dumbledore what happened; it wasn't your doing, it was Riddle's fault. He'll have to believe us."
Ginny threw her arms around his neck, almost knocking the both of them down again and before Harry could act she said, "I love you Harry; I've loved you since the first day I saw you." Then she kissed him. He didn't know what to do. He knew he didn't want to hurt her feelings at a time like this when things were dark enough already; so he let her kiss him for several seconds, until she broke it off.
Then he said, "Ron is waiting at the entrance; we better get going."
She took one step and wobbled as if she was too weak to stay up; so he put his arm around her waist and she put her hand on his shoulder as they began to walk. It took nearly a half an hour to get back to the rock fall; they had to stop and rest several times.
Ginny seemed to be getting stronger with time; her life force returning slowly while Harry got more tired both from walking and from supporting her. As they walked Harry thought about Ginny. His reason for not wanting her to be his girlfriend was to keep from dragging her into his troubles. Instead Voldemort got to her and he got dragged into her situation.
It seemed everyone he liked was automatically put in danger from just knowing him. Maybe it didn't matter if he let Ginny know he fancied her; if she's in danger anyway why shouldn't they be together as a couple?
When they reached the rock fall, Harry saw that Ron had managed to clear a small opening. He helped Ginny go through wiggling on her belly; then Fawkes followed her; then, with Ron helping by pulling on his arms, Harry squeezed through.
Ron asked, "Where did you find the bird?"
Harry just said, "It belongs to Dumbledore and it showed up on it's own to help. I'll tell you the whole story later."
They were back together; but they still had to figure out how to get back up to Moaning Myrtle's loo. The chute they had come down wouldn't allow them to climb up its slippery sides.
Harry asked, "Ginny, how did you get back up other times?"
Ron interrupted with, "Other times; what do you mean other times. Ginny were you down here before?"
She answered, "No, Riddle forced me to kill Hagrid's roosters, paint the messages on the walls, and open the entrance in the Myrtle's loo to let the monster out; but he never had me come down here until yesterday."
Ron said, "You did all those things? Why?"
Harry said, "I told you Ron, later when there's time. Right now our problem is getting out."
Ron's voice showed how scared he was as he asked, "Does that mean we're stuck down here? Harry, can't you send Dumbledore's bird with a message to come rescue us."
Harry said. "I don't know where Dumbledore is since he was removed as headmaster. Can Fawkes find him? How long will that take? We could be down here for days."
At the mention of his name, Fawkes came over by Harry, turned around, and began to wiggle his long tail feathers.
Ron said, "I think he wants you to grab his tail; but you're too heavy for him to fly you up the chute."
Harry smiled as he remembered what Dumbledore had told him about Fawkes. He said, "Fawkes isn't an ordinary bird; he a Phoenix. Phoenix can lift very heavy loads."
He put one arm around Ginny's waist; and said, "Ron, grab hold of my robes with one hand and hold Lockhart's with your other hand. Then Harry grabbed Fawkes' tail and a feeling of lightness spread over all of them. It was like they had turned into feathers.
Fawkes flew up the chute dragging them behind. In two minutes they were back in Myrtle's bathroom. Fawkes led them down the hall toward Professor McGonagall's office.
Harry knocked and opened the door to find not only Professor McGonagall, but Mr. and Mrs. Weasley and Dumbledore to.
Harry explained how they found the entrance to the Chamber of Secrets and went in to save Ginny but stopped there. He didn't want to make Ginny listen to the story of what happened; she was emotionally traumatized enough. Dumbledore seemed to understand and had Mr. and Mrs. Weasley take her to the hospital wing. Then Harry told the rest of the story.
Dumbledore ordered a feast be prepared to celebrate the monster being killed. After cleaning up Harry and Ron joined everyone in the great hall including Hermione and the others who had just/ been unpetrified by Madam Pomfrey's potion.
As they ate Harry told Ron and Hermione what happened in the Chamber of secrets; including things he hadn't told Dumbledore and McGonagall. But even as he told the story; he couldn't help thinking about Ginny. Everyone here was having a great time and she was alone in the hospital. She had been still crying the last time he saw her.
Finally he told Ron and Hermione he needed to speak to Dumbledore alone. He went up to Dumbledore and said, "Sir, would it be alright if I took some food and went to visit Ginny, she's probably hungry and I need to talk to her. I think she might need to talk to me to; we didn't get much time earlier."
Dumbledore said, "She might be sleeping; if so don't wake her but you can stay with her if you want."
Harry told Ron what he wanted to do and asked what Ginny's favorite foods might be. They filled a plate and Ron wanted to come along but Harry said, "I need to talk with her alone. You know how much I hurt her feeling all year and I need to put things right with her."
Ron replied, "Just remember she's my sister and she's only eleven years old. I know she fancies you; but she's too young to have a boyfriend and be snogging anyone, even if you are my friend."
Harry didn't answer; he covered the plate with a clean napkin and left.
When he got to the hospital wing, Madam Pomfrey came out of her room in a dressing gown and said, "Potter, are you hurt to?"
Harry answered, "I'm bruised up a bit; but that's not why I'm here. I came to see Ginny Weasley."
"She's sleeping;" Madam said "but since you're here let me give you a salve that can rub on your bruises. Go back to your dorm and rub it on; and by tomorrow they'll be healed."
"Professor Dumbledore gave me permission to stay if Ginny's asleep." he said.
"Fine," Madam said "But first, go behind that screen and rub the salve on. Then you can sit next to Miss Weasley's bed; but don't wake her."
Harry stripped down to his knickers and started rubbing the salve on. He was already one big purple lump and getting more stiff by the minute. He had to admit the salve started soothing him immediately. He should have been less proud and come to see Madam Pomfrey right after telling Dumbledore what happened.
When he finished he dressed and pulled a chair next to Ginny's bed. He took her hand in his and soon fell asleep leaning against the bed.
A five in the morning Ginny woke as the rising sun shone into the window on her face. Harry's hand was still holding hers and as soon as she realized it she started to cry.
From her office, Madam saw her move and came over, She said, "Don't wake him; he's been here all night just like that. I've never seen a boy so badly beaten up; but he insisted on staying with you. The salve I gave him is almost done working; all he needs is rest."
Ginny said, "I won't bother him." But, in his sleep, Harry heard the sound of her voice and opened his eyes.
He smiled at her and said, "Are you alright; I thought we needed to talk, but you needed rest even more."
Ginny smiled back and said, "You to, from what Madam Pomfrey told me."
Ginny turned to Madam Pomfrey and said, "I'm starved; I didn't eat anything since the day before yesterday. Madam, can we go to the great hall for breakfast? Harry, do you mind if we talk while we eat?"
Madam replied, "I'll have breakfast brought here. I would prefer to check you both before letting you go. You can eat and talk in private; then if I feel you're both okay I'll release you."
While waiting for the food to arrive Harry started with, "Ginny, I have to tell you something that I tried to say several time during the year but I seem to mess up each time.
Ginny, I fancy you, I really do, but I can't have you as a girlfriend; I can't have any girlfriend."
"Why," Ginny asked "I fancy you to; why can't we be together?"
He squeezed her hand and said, "Ginny, you were almost killed yesterday because you like me. Ron and Hermione have almost been killed half a dozen times just because they're my friends. If other people knew we fancied each other it would be even more dangerous for you. Word would get to Voldemort and he would try to use you again to get to me."
She flinched when he said Voldemort; then interrupted him with, "You have it backwards; Tom Riddle possessed me first and it was you that was dragged into danger because you tried to save me. What happened yesterday had nothing to do with 'You Know Who' being after you."
Harry hesitated a few seconds before saying, "Ginny, I don't want to upset you anymore than you are; but Tom Riddle is Voldemort. Almost nobody knows that was his real name. He started calling himself Voldemort while he was still here at Hogwarts."
Tears came to her eyes and she sobbed, "You Know Who was possessing me. Why?"
Harry wiped the tears off her cheeks and said, "It didn't start with him; it was Lucius Malfoy that is responsible. Mr. Malfoy wants to stop your father from passing a stricter Muggle Protection Law; but he hasn't been able to.
He had Voldemort's diary and knew it contained instructions on how to open the Chamber of Secrets. Riddle almost got caught fifty years ago when he opened the chamber; but managed to blame it on Hagrid. Dumbledore thinks Riddle made it so sometime in the future; a student would find it and it would possess them to make them open the chamber again.
Mr. Malfoy knew the story and thought you to would get caught opening the chamber and get expelled. The scandal of Arthur Weasley's daughter killing muggles would get your father fired and kill his Muggle Protection Law."
"So why wasn't I caught?" Ginny asked. "And what did happen?"
"You told it your inner most feelings and that opened mind to it. That's why it was able to possess you." Harry said "But, you also wrote about me; about me surviving Voldemort's attack and his powers being destroyed. What ever Riddle did in that diary it was far darker and more dangerous than Mr. Malfoy knew. It was like the diary was alive and it was able to change its intended purpose. It no longer wanted to kill Muggles; it wanted to learn how I survived.
After you became afraid of what it was making you do and threw it away; I happened to be the person who found it. I asked the diary to tell me about the past and the previous opening of the chamber; but I never wrote about myself or my feelings so it couldn't possess me.
Then you came into my room and stole the diary back."
Ginny started to cry again and said, "I'm sorry I broke into your room Harry. When I saw you with the diary I was afraid you would learn what I wrote about my feelings for you. I would have been embarrassed worse than with the Valentine poem."
"You shouldn't be." Harry said "I told you I liked the valentine; but I was embarrassed by Malfoy and the others hearing something so private. I figured out you fancied me last summer back at the Burrow. In fact, if you remember the day I talked to you in the sitting room, I almost told you I fancy you to.
But you have to understand I can't be your boyfriend. If you were attacked and hurt or killed because Voldemort found out I fancy you; well, I couldn't live with that.
It's why Riddle took you into the Chamber of Secrets; he knew from what you wrote about me that I'd come to save you. He knew he couldn't possess me, and so couldn't force me to do anything. Also he couldn't hurt me while he was still in the diary. He had to come back; and as evil as he was, he knew he could do it by stealing you life force and making it his.
If I was fifteen minutes later you would have been dead. I would have been dead to if Fawkes hadn't arrived with the sword of Gryffindor and he if didn't blind the Basilisk so I could kill it and the diary to.
Riddle is gone; but Voldemort is going to try and kill me again. I don't know where or when; but I can't have you with me when that happens. I can't have the girl I fancy killed because of me.
We both may want the same thing, to be together; but what we want can't happen now. If some day Voldemort is killed; I promise you I'll come looking for you. Until then, we have to be just friends; that will have to be what we settle for now."
"I understand, but you won't have to come looking for me." she said "I'll be here at Hogwarts for the next six years; and after that I'll be close to wherever you are."
Harry got up and leaned over the bed and kissed Ginny. He knew they wouldn't kiss again for what he thought would be a long time; if ever again.
"Harry! Harry!" It was Ginny's voice. "Are you doing to say 'I do; or don't you want to marry me?"
Harry's mind came back to the present. The little man was looking at him as if waiting for something and what Ginny had just said echoed in his mind. "I do." he said. The little man said, "And do you Ginevra Weasley take…" Harry didn't here the rest, he knew Ginny would say "I do". He knew it since that day in the hospital nine years ago when they first admitted their love for each other.