This song idea and couple was the inspiration for the entire serires.
It was given to me by
SpeedsOneAndOnly
Thank you for the BRILLINT inspiration for a fun random series.
And everyone feel free to PM or review requests and or ideas.
Or just to review to do it, because I love them and it makes me update more.
I am not JKR nor am I any member of The Starting Line Nor did I write this song
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STORY 1
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The Best Of Me
Song: The Best Of Me
By: The Starting Line
Couple: Harry Potter and Ginny Weasley
This specific story fits in the ATSR story line.
And takes place at the beginning of July,
After the final battle.
He is 17 and she is 16.
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Harry was leaning against a tree outside the burrow. The hard bark scratching against his back, through the thin white shirt he wore. His eyes were closed as he felt the light summer breeze play across his face and through his hair. He had purchased a mp3 player a few weeks back while visiting muggle London with Hermione. He had the headphones on and the volume up loud. It helped drown out all the overwhelming thoughts that were constantly rolling through his head. He sat there the beat pulsing through his head for a long time alone. He was content to sit think about how things were working out, and what was going to happen with his friends, and his family. Just happy that a future was even possible at all, let alone that it was shaping up to be a future that he was looking forward to.
He knew when Ginny had walked past him and sat beside him, leaning against the other side of the tree. Her familiar scent washed over him, making his head swim with thoughts of her. He stayed quiet and pondered the memories that spanned over the last few weeks and from their time together in his 6th year. He noticed when she reached over and cut off his music. It hadn't taken her long to figure out how to use the device, and she had quickly requested one of her own, which he gladly had supplied her with. He was happy to give her anything, as long as it meant that she was actually there, and was actually his. The thoughts in his head were still surreal sometimes.
They both sat there in silence for a few minutes, not really needing to say anything, just enjoying the fact that they were together, and nothing was trying to tear them apart. After a few minutes he reached up and pulled the headphones from his head, letting them rest around his neck. He rolled his head to the side so he could see her. He smiled at the sun shining through the leaves onto her face.
"Hey you." He said softly.
Ginny's chocolate brown eyes met his and she smiled serenely. "Hey yourself." She said simply.
It still amazed him that they needed so few words to say so much….she had apparently been thinking along the same lines. "You know…does it ever surprise you that we didn't outgrow this?" she asked.
Harry looked at her questioningly and left his head leaning against the tree. "What do you mean?" he asked her, it had never occurred to him in their time apart to not want to be with her.
Ginny chewed her lip as she thought of how to explain what she meant, she looked away from his emerald gaze simply because it was easier to think properly without getting lost in his eyes and just wanting to kiss him. "Well…I guess partly I mean me. The fact that I never outgrew having a crush on you…Is that weird? That I knew I loved you at 10 years old? But…mostly, I mean after you ended things, and you left. Shouldn't we have outgrown one another? Neither of us is the same as we were over a year ago." She said.
Harry looked at her profile for a long moment before turning his head and looking up at the sky. "Well, the first part, you being 10…I think that was a bit different than now. It was just a little girl crush, and it just so happened to grow into something more. I don't think you outgrew it because we kinda well, grew into it." He said uncertainly. "Does that make sense?" he asked her.
Ginny laughed and shook her head, "No…not really, but that wasn't the main point anyways." She said, glancing at him and grinning.
Harry laughed along with her and looked sideways at her, catching her glance and smiling in response. "Why would we have outgrown wanting to be with one another?" he asked her.
Ginny shrugged. "Like I said, so much happened, so much changed who you were, and who I am. I'm not that 5th year little girl that was stunned and elated to be dating you finally….and you're not that 6th year boy that was nervous, and confused, and happy to be with me."
"I might not be the same 16 year old I was then Gin…and I might not be nervous…well, most of the time, you give me plenty of reason to be nervous…I might not be confused anymore…but I am still happy to be with you…and I hope even if you're different that you're elated to be with me." He teased slightly.
Ginny laughed and slid closer to him, nudging his shoulder as they still leaned against the tree. "Of course I am…and you're avoiding the question." She pointed out.
Harry pulled up a few blades of grass and played with them as he thought. "I never thought of wanting anyone but you after I had you. It never even crossed my mind that it was possible to outgrow being with you." He said sincerely, making her smile.
"Not once? Not that whole time?" she asked, her voice betraying her by showing the slight lack of confidence.
"Nope…not once. I mean, it's not like I broke it off because I didn't want to be with you Gin. I thought I had to. I thought to keep you alive I had to let you go." He said, knowing she knew that, but also knowing that neither of them fully said any of it really.
Ginny stayed quiet for a few minutes, and so did he, both of them remembering their separation from that time of their lives, being apart, being separated, and neither of them wanting to be. The breeze picked up a bit and Harry felt her lean against his shoulder, her fiery hair, falling over his shoulder as well as hers. He dropped the blades of grass and lifted a hand, toying with a strand of her hair instead.
"Tell me about it." She requested.
Harry's hand stilled though he kept hold of the hair that was wrapped around his fingers, he stared at the deep red against his skin. "Tell you about what?" he asked her.
"Tell me about when you were gone. I want to know about it." Ginny said softly.
Harry's voice faltered for a moment as he thought about it. "What parts do you want to know?" he asked her, willing to tell her anything she wanted to know. He knew he wanted to be with her, he was willing to share everything with her.
Ginny understood all of that from his answer. "Right now….tell me what you're thinking about right now…the parts of it that you're thinking about right now." She said, wanting him to tell her what he wanted to.
Harry let his eyes close again. "It felt…so alone." He told her truthfully, remembering.
"But Hermione was there, and Ron…you had one another." She said.
Harry shook his head, "Ron left for part of the time…but, even when he hadn't, and even with Hermione always by my side. It felt lonely. I knew that physically I wasn't alone. That even in the end I really wouldn't be, that other's would fight, even if it was just me and Hermione, I wouldn't fight alone. But inside, I felt alone." He said very quietly.
Ginny frowned at that and looked at him, studying the planes of his face while his eyes were closed. "But why?" she asked.
A small sigh left his lips. "Firstly, because I knew that while I wouldn't fight alone, I was alone in the fact that I did have to fight. I had to be the one to end it all. Dumbledore told me once, that it didn't have to be that way. That it was Voldemort and myself that would bring the prophecy to fruition." He said, and in that moment he was proud of her not wincing or anything at the name. He continued on, as she remained silent, though he did start twirling her hair again.
"Voldemort didn't have to go after me, but he did, and that started the prophecy. But I didn't have to fight back. I could have run. I could have joined him to avoid fighting him. I didn't have to try and defeat him. Not really… It wasn't mandatory, no one would have made me. But myself… And that meant that I absolutely DID have to fight. No one else could or would beat him. No one else HAD to do it. But because he and I had both silently agreed to see this prophecy fulfilled, I HAD to fight. I had to face him, and that was a very lonely feeling. To be the only one that absolutely had to do it." He said.
Ginny contemplated his words before carefully choosing her own. "But you didn't have to. No one would have blamed you. "
Harry left his eyes closed, focusing only on his thoughts and the feel of her hair running through his fingers. "I would have blamed me. I assumed….and I am pretty sure I assumed correctly….that he would go after the people I love to get to me. I couldn't let the people that had come to mean everything to me die. Not for me. Not anymore. I did have to fight. I couldn't sit aside and watch people that I loved and that loved me die…not anymore. I had to fight for my parents, for Sirius, for Dumbledore, for…for Cedric. And for the people alive, that I needed to keep living for Hermione and Neville, and Luna, for Ron and your family. I was fighting for Remus, and Tonks and the order and my friends. I had to fight for you…I had to fight for me…" he tried to explain.
"You know…he would have come for me anyways. Had they sent me back to school. Breaking up with me wouldn't have stopped that, he knew you were close to me, everyone in that school knew we dated. Everyone knew of your alliance with my family. We didn't have to break up." She pointed out.
Harry sighed and opened his eyes, he looked at his hand and then over at her. "I know that. I know that now…I wasn't really thinking completely clearly then. I was trying to do the right thing. I was NOT trying to hurt you." He said firmly before sighing deeply. "That, that was the other part of the being alone…I missed you, desperately. There were nights I would lay and look at the marauder's map and just stare at your name. I would think over and over of the stolen moments we had together. Of that small time, where you made me blissfully happy. Where I had you." He admitted.
Ginny bit her lip. "I thought of them too." She said, knowing that it would have taken a lot for him to tell her that.
"I felt empty, not knowing who you were with, or what was happening to you. Not knowing if you were falling in love with someone else, if you were moving on. Not knowing if you were happy, or if I had made you miserable. I promised Ron I would leave you alone, that I wanted you to move on. When inside I desperately didn't want you too, and it made me feel absolutely isolated, unable to even admit outloud how much I wanted you. It hurt…and...through all of it, I knew and know that by breaking up with you that I hurt you too. I never meant to hurt you Gin. I only wanted to keep you safe. I only wanted to do what was right. If I was gone, I wanted you safe, and secure, and to be allowed to move on if you wanted to. I never wanted to hurt you." He finished.
Ginny met his eyes and smiled slightly. "I know that now. And I knew that then. It didn't keep it from hurting though." She said truthfully.
Harry frowned, not breaking the eye contact. "I know…I know it didn't, I'm sorry. If I could change anything…" he said slowly but she shook her head.
"I wouldn't want you to change it." She said.
He looked confused. "Why? Why wouldn't you change it?" he asked her.
"Because, you being gone, and me not knowing if you were coming back to me. And not knowing if you came back if you would even really want to come back to me. It made me different. And it made me who I was when you did come back." Ginny said thoughtfully.
"Explain." Harry said simply.
Ginny took a moment to compose her thoughts. "We still feel the same attraction, and desires for one another that we did when we dated before. But now, other feelings, they're different. They're…." she trailed off, not really completely confident in her words.
Harry let his hand fall from her hair and he took her hand in his, interlacing their fingers. "They're stronger now." He finished for her.
She sighed a very relieved sigh, which amused him slightly as he thought she would have been certain of that by now.
"Yes, they are. But, had you not broken up with me, and you left…I would have maintained this constant longing for my boyfriend, and a belief that you were my future and I wouldn't have been who you need me to be now. You being gone…and not just physically gone…but you being not mine…it changed me just like your time away changed you." She told him.
Harry looked at her. "Tell me about it." He said, repeating her words.
Ginny smiled slightly at the repetition, she decided to play along. "About what?" she asked.
Harry grinned and softly kissed her temple. "About when I was gone…and when I left you alone." He said, his voice muffled into her hair.
Ginny leaned her head against his lips and looked up at the bits of visible blue sky through the leaves. "I knew why you broke up with me. And I knew why you left. I didn't know what you were doing, but I knew you were fighting. And I was terrified…but we all were." She told him, still looking up.
Harry pulled his lips from her head and looked down at her face, he was so close he could count her freckles if he wanted to, he listened quietly.
"But, I was terrified for so much more. I was….stupidly…afraid that on some level, you broke up with me because when the war was over you would want to be free. I knew and know that you could pretty much pick any girl 15 and up and you could have her Harry. You're Harry Potter, the effing chosen one." She pointed out as if he didn't know.
"But I don't want them…I only want you." Harry reassured her and despite the fact that she knew that already, it still made her feel better on some subconscious level and she smiled a slight smile as she looked away from the sky and back to his face.
"I know that now. I worried then. But while you were gone. I realized that no matter what you wanted from your future, that I had still had to fight for mine…and you know, hoped not so secretly that it would include you… So I fought my own fight. I fought the parts of the battles that you couldn't. And it gave me a perspective on the war and the battles that you had, that I never really did. And all of that, meant that when I saw you that morning, after the battle. And you were broken, and hurt, and torn, and tired, and battle hardened, and wary, and…scared to even truly believe it was over. So was I. And that meant that I could understand, and that I could be what you needed. But…it also made you exactly what I needed too." She told him, her gaze not moving from his at all.
Harry lifted a hand and wiped it over her cheek, wiping away a stray tear that she hadn't even realized had fallen, he smiled softly. "You are exactly what I needed, then, and now." He told her. Ginny smiled and tilted her head forward, as he did, letting their foreheads rest against one another. "Before when we dated, you had the pieces of me that I could let you have, but now…Gin, you have everything. You have all the pieces… It doesn't matter that we're different, or that we grew up so much and so fast. It matters that you have the only piece of me that really matters. You completely have my heart." He told her.
Ginny let her lips barely brush against his. "Well, that's the very best part of you Harry James Potter." She said softly. "I'll never give you up. I love you." She told him, her voice quietly confident.
Harry spoke against her lips, not pulling back. "I will always give you the very best of me…and I will never ask you to give me up again. It's over. I'm yours, and I want you to be mine, more now than I ever have. You don't just grow out of love Gin. And I absolutely love you." He said softly.
She didn't let him say anymore as she crashed her lips more firmly to his, no more words were needed. In fact, all the words that had been spoken weren't really needed, but they made all the difference in the world to them both. None of their words had been spoken above a whisper, their entire conversation had been more hushed than the breeze. But the quiet words spoke loudly to both of them, and resonated deep within them as their lips moved in perfect sync with one another, both knowing that they would never give up, that neither of them ever had really given up the other, that from this moment, they would both give the other the very best of themselves.
