Author's Note: First of all, I want to apologize for my abysmal grammar in my first chapter. I will work harder on using proper grammar in the future. Second of all, I want to thank everyone who has reviewed the story, added the story to their favorites, or added me as a favorite author. Your support is incredible and inspiring. I was especially impressed to see that the responses started coming in very shortly after I posted the first chapter. So, thank you everyone! DFTBA

Disclaimer: I am not J. K. Rowling, so I do not own the Harry Potter characters.

The Second Time Around

Chapter 2:

Harry was walking towards her. This would be a conversation that would either end everything or start it all anew. Ginny wasn't sure she could survive if what they had ended, especially so soon after all the losses she had experienced in the past few years.

She was suddenly reminded of when they were first dating, and the sight of him heading towards her brought her inexplicable happiness and relief, despite the fear that clouded their lives. She had felt invincible. Ginny noticed her heartbeat had sped up, and she cursed herself for showing such noticeable signs merely for because of his presence.

Harry had that expression on his face; it meant that he was deep in thought and very determined. What would be said in this conversation would be very important to both of them, she realized. Another breakup would be devastating to both, even if they weren't together during the entire year. She knew instinctively that they would have to avoid each other. Their behavior towards each other at the Burrow over the previous summer had proven that. The awkwardness between them…the things left unsaid…and that had been while they had only broken up for safety reasons.

Harry was now about 30 feet away from her. "Ginny?" he asked quietly. She glanced at him, and then turned away. His green eyes were staring at her in an intense way, which could mean one of two things. She couldn't let herself get her hopes up. It would make her hurt so much more later.

He sat down a few feet away. A chaste difference. One that could mean that either he was afraid of what she was thinking, or he was about to say what she feared.

"Ginny?" he repeated. "Could you look at me, at least, please?" She could hear the urgency in his voice. It barely concealed hurt. She loved him enough to want to relieve that hurt.

Harry's black hair seemed more tousled and uncontrollable than usual. Scruff of a beard was on his cheeks and face, as if he hadn't been able to shave in a few days. There was a bruise on his left cheek and a small cut above his right eye. He looked like he had gotten a decent amount of sleep for the first time in days, or maybe even weeks. He looked completely vulnerable.

"We need to talk," he said.

"Did you find her, then?" Ginny whispered, "The veela or some Muggle-born whom you ran into while in hiding?"

Harry's eyes widened in surprise. "What are you talking about?"

"You're here to say good-bye, aren't you? You found someone else, right?" Ginny felt like she would burst with the pain. The low self-confidence she had suppressed and hidden all these years, trying to be tough for her six older brothers, was coming out all in a rush. She was stupid to think Harry would ever love her, ever want her back. The tears she always tried to hold back were slowly starting.

"No! That's not…I'm not…I don't want to say good-bye!" Harry said. He reached out and touched Ginny's face for a second. "Quite the opposite, actually."

Ginny sat shocked. While she sat motionless, Harry leaned in and kissed her. It was months worth of kissing, all wrapped in one. It was Harry, expressing every emotion he felt for her. She felt winded, like her breath had been stolen from her.

"Ginny, you know why I ended it, and it wasn't because I wanted to. It was so hard for me. That time I spent with you, it felt like something out of someone else's life. It was the first time I'd ever experienced that kind of happiness. It was better than finding out I'm a wizard, or the time I spent at Hogwarts, or even having friends for the first time. I think you were the only thing that kept me sane. And when I ended it…I felt like I had nothing to live for anymore. I convinced myself it was all for you. Everything was for you, to keep you safe. So I could live with it. But then in the Burrow…" Harry smiled wistfully, "You were right there. Everything had the reminder of you in it. And I wanted to take you back. I hated the awkwardness between us. When you kissed me, you reminded me of every single reason why I shouldn't have ended it. I had to try to stay away from you after. It was too much."

Harry grabbed her hand. "Every day that I wasn't with you, I missed you like crazy. And I was worried about you, there at Hogwarts, at the mercy of Snape and all those Death Eaters." Harry grinned sheepishly, like he was about to admit something embarrassing. "I used to stare at your dot on the Marauder's map every night."

"Really?" Ginny asked, feeling happiness surge through her. "You did?"

"I did," Harry said, "Ginny, when I was in the forest before, Voldemort was supposed to kill me. It's complicated. But the last thing I thought of…well…was you. What I'm trying to say is, I love you, Ginny. I love you, and I want to try again. That is…if you-"

Ginny leaned in and kissed him. Harry wrapped his arms around her and weaved his fingers through her long, red hair.

"Oi!" Ron had been walking down the hill towards the beech tree, and spotted his best friend and his sister. "What the hell is going on here?"

"Isn't it obvious, Ron?" Hermione said, catching up to him, with a huge smile on her face. "They're back together!"