AN: No, your eyes are not deceiving you! This truly is an update! Astonishing, I know. I am just as surprised as you! That is, if anyone is still actually bothering to read this. Revising this story I have become inspired to work on it again. Although, I find the original story line I had planned a bit daunting, especially as at the moment I am working on two original pieces of fiction and a children's story for my niece and these take precedence. However, I find fanfic is a good way to work on my writing technique and it also comes in handy when I encounter a particularly frustrating part in my other works. Therefore, I have resolved to keep working on this story, although some major alterations may be made to the plot further along in the story. I'll just have to wait and see, I suppose.

Anyways… enough of my terrible rambling habit. You didn't click on this page to read a horribly long author's note!

Chapter Three:

He hadn't moved from his seat in front of the hearth for hours, the once roaring fire now consisting of a few dimly glowing embers. The heavy curtains were still drawn over the windows, letting only the weakest streams of light into the darkened flat. At one point, he could not remember when, he'd thrown the then empty bottle of firewhiskey at the wall, and its broken pieces lay scattered on the floor. With the fire burnt out, the air in the flat had quickly become cold, his breaths coming out in little puffs. But he couldn't feel it. He didn't feel anything anymore, couldn't feel anything. The one person he had loved, who he had given himself to wholly, who he trusted above any other, had broken him. When she had left all those months ago, he had cracked, nearly broken, but not quite. It was not until he saw her again tonight, so different yet exactly the same, that he had truly broken.

After the war was finally over, he had barely managed to hold himself together. His entire life, all he had ever known, was rejection, pain, loneliness, battle, and death. True, there existed the momentary bright spots where he felt glimpses of love, happiness, and safety, but they were fleeting and so very rare, it was easy to forget what they had felt like. But he knew exactly what rejection felt like. It was being unwanted by the only family he had left. He knew what pain felt like. It was watching those around him suffer, watching helplessly from his dreams while people were tortured and killed. He knew what loneliness felt like. It was knowing that he was the only who could save everything, or, if he failed, knowing that everything would die. He knew what battle felt like. It was more than throwing spells and dodging spells, it was being able to watch people fall around him and continue fighting, it was never knowing who he could trust. And he most certainly knew what death felt like. Death was the outcome of love. His parents had loved him, Sirius had loved him, Remus had loved him, and they were all dead. So many people who loved and were loved were dead. Death was all he knew.

But Ginny had dared him to hope that he could come to know something else. Ginny had softened his heart, taught him to believe that love didn't have to end in death, taught him to believe that love extends beyond death and can never be beaten. Ginny had brought him back from the brink of depression, his very own guardian angel. And what a beautiful angel she was. With Ginny's support, he had slowly begun to heal the lifetimes worth of wounds and by the time she was out of Hogwarts, Harry had felt new, born again in her love.

Then, she was gone. In a blink of an eye, his new and happy life had been ripped out from under him and he had come crashing down, hard. He knew it was his fault. He had been foolish enough to think that someone as perfect as Ginny could ever love someone as broken and damaged as himself. He had pushed her, pressured her before she was ready, and she had seen who he truly was, the little, orphaned, unwanted boy who lived under the stairs in a tiny cupboard. He had scared her away, and she had run without so much as goodbye scribbled on a spare bit of parchment.

Over the past year, he had tried to mend the cracks, and he thought he was finally beginning to make some real progress. Yes, he still broke down at the thought of her, still couldn't bear to speak her name, but he could smile without faking, could laugh and really mean it, could be happy and not feel like he was cheating. He knew he could never love another the way he had loved her, but that was all for the best. He didn't deserve to love anyone, because no one should ever have to love someone as damaged as himself.

But then she had shown up during a moment of weakness and practically spit in his face. Seeing her again broke open the wounds so fully that he knew they could never be mended. There she was, so beautiful, so perfect, looking at him with pity. Ginny had nearly taken his life from him when she'd left, and, now that she was back, she had taken the closest thing he had to family away because surely she would tell them how unworthy he was of their love, just as he was unworthy of hers.

He thought that a normal person should cry at this point, or at least feel the tears begin to well, but his eyes were unnaturally dry. But then, he supposed, when had he ever been normal.

It was sometime later, the only remnants of the fire now cold ash, that a knock echoed across his flat, startling him so much that he sprung to his feet, wand drawn in order to attack. It was a full minute before he realized where he was and what the noise had been. Embarrassed, though there was no one around to see him, he slipped his wand back into his pocket and stiffly walked to the door. Upon opening it, he was startled to find Arthur Weasley on the other side, a look of determination on his face that he had never seen before. He was so startled, in fact, that he didn't even attempt to stop Arthur from bursting through the door way and marching into the center of his flat, tromping snow in with his boot clad feet. Dazedly, he shut the door and turned to face the Weasley patriarch. He didn't think he had ever really been alone with the man, and, especially given the recent events, couldn't fathom what reason he would possibly have to call on him. Not even being able to form a coherent question, he simply waited in awkward silence for him to speak. He didn't have to wait long.

"I'll get straight to the point, Harry." Arthur stated, his voice firm.

"Please, do." He responded, still very much unsure about the other man's motives.

"Ginny's in St. Mungo's. We found her this morning in her room. Seems she fell and was knocked unconscious, and she had a slight case of hypothermia." Arthur paused and glanced in Harry's direction, hoping to gauge his reaction to the news, but Harry's face remained incredibly blank.

Harry himself could not suppress the instant worry that filled him at Arthur's tale, but he knew he shouldn't care about Ginny that way anymore, and so schooled his features to remain impassive. Surely, this was not the reason that brought Arthur to him. He was proved right as Arthur continued to speak.

"The healers were able to fix her physically, but they can't wake her up. Her magic won't let them." Arthur's voice cracked and he paused, taking a deep breath, trying to keep from crying. "She's dying, Harry. My baby girl is dying, and you're the only one who can save her."

Harry thought he must have heard him wrong. If Ginny really was dying, why on earth did Arthur think that he could save her? He was always poor at healing spells. But looking at the other man's face and seeing the tears falling down his cheeks, he knew that Arthur truly believed he was his daughter's only hope. Fear flooded him, as he didn't know what other emotion to feel. He backed away from Arthur, slowly shaking his head.

"You must be mistaken." Harry stuttered. "What could I possibly do to save Ginny?"

Arthur looked at him in disbelief, as if the answer should have been painfully obvious. "Don't you understand? She's dying because of you, Harry!" He ended with a shout, desperately trying to make the younger man grasp the situation. He quickly realized his mistake, however, as Harry leaned back into the wall, falling down to the floor, tears now freely falling from his green eyes. Arthur mentally beat himself for using such careless words. Harry already blamed himself for Ginny leaving, and now he thought he was killing her.

"Harry, I'm sorry. I didn't mean it that way." Arthur lowered his voice, walking over to kneel next to the broken boy, for he truly was just a boy in that moment. "It's not your fault that Ginny is dying, just like it wasn't your fault that she left."

At this, Harry looked at him and Arthur knew it would take much more convincing to make him realize that this was true. Sighing, he sat himself down beside Harry and leaned up against the wall. He let a few minutes slip by in silence, letting Harry collect himself and searching for the right words to say. He knew that this next conversation was crucial for not only the life of his daughter, but for the life of Harry as well.

"I know you have always blamed yourself for her leaving, Harry, but I have always known that wasn't true." Harry made to speak, but Arthur held up a hand. "Please, let me finish, Harry." He nodded and Arthur continued.

"Ginny loved you, Harry. She still loves you. There is nothing you could ever do that would turn her away from you. It was not your fault she ran away. It was her own insecurities that made her feel like she had no choice but to leave. We may never truly understand why she did what she did, but I never once thought it was you who drove her away. And now, she thinks she has lost your love forever. I wouldn't blame you if this were true. I know she broke your heart, and you most certainly wouldn't be unjustified. Whether this is true or not matters little, it only matters that Ginny believes it is true. I think seeing you, seeing how deeply she hurt you, combined with the loss of your love has taken away her will to live. I don't know if you still love my daughter or not, but I refuse to believe that there isn't some part of you that still cares about her. It is that part of you I am appealing to now. You are the only person who can reach her, bring her back from the edge, and give her a reason to live. Please, I am begging you, save my honeybee one last time." Arthur ended in a whisper, barley keeping his voice steady.

Harry had stopped crying during his speech, and looked at him with confused and lost eyes.

"I don't understand." Was all he said. Arthur looked at him.

"What don't you understand?"

"Ginny doesn't love me. That's why she left. She can't possibly be dying because she thinks I don't love her. It doesn't make sense." Harry said this so matter-of-factly that Arthurs heart nearly broke. What had this boy gone through to think Ginny had left him because she simply didn't love him anymore? The kind of love those to shared didn't just up and vanish one day. It was the kind of love that spanned lifetimes. How could Harry not know this?

"Why do you think she left, Harry?" Arthur simply asked. He couldn't help Harry if he didn't understand his reasoning.

"I'm too damaged, too broken. I wasn't good enough for her, even though I fooled myself into thinking I was. I'm not good enough for anyone let alone some as perfect as her. Yes, she may have thought she loved me at first, but she realized just how damaged I am, and it scared her, made her realize she could never love someone like me, only pity me. So she ran away. She's the one that doesn't love me anymore. And I know, especially after all this time, I shouldn't love her anymore. But, I do. I can't make it go away. I will never love anyone the way I love her. But she will never love me back. And that is nothing more than what I deserve." Harry sounded so resigned, so utterly and completely depressed. He was a man without hope, and no man should ever be without so precious a commodity.

Arthur felt his emotions go from sadness to frustration to happiness to anger and back again. Was this really what Harry thought? He shuddered, wondering how no one had seen the true depth of the toll life had taken on Harry Potter. He was the wizarding world's savior, their blessed hero, yet here he was, a completely broken man believing he was unworthy of love and happiness, when Arthur couldn't think of anyone more deserving. At the same time, however, he wanted to scream out in frustration. Ginny and Harry both thought they had lost the others love, both thought they weren't good enough for the other, when, in reality, they couldn't be more perfect for each other. Arthur was determined to make Harry understand this if it was the last thing he did on this earth.

"Harry, look at me." Harry's watery eyes slowly rose up to meet his. "I could never find someone more worthy of my daughter than you, Harry Potter. You have saved the world twice, and fought for her many times in between. You've lost and sacrificed more than most of us will ever know or could possibly understand. And simply for that, you deserve and have the love of every person who now lives freely and without fear because of you. But you deserve so much more than that. You deserve to be loved by someone who understands what you have suffered at the hands of Voldemort, and I can think of only one person who could understand you on such a level."

Harry looked at him in amazement. Arthur sadly wondered if this was the first time Harry was hearing this. He plowed one, sensing that he was finally getting through to the boy.

"Have you forgotten what happened to Ginny during her first year, your second? Now, Ginny has never confessed to me everything that happened, but I know the spirit of Tom Riddle left more than one dark scar on her soul and ripped away her innocence in the process. I know that she felt dirty and unworthy for a long time afterwards, and I also know that she has never gotten over those insecurities. But, I saw those insecurities begin to fade with every day she spent with you. Both of you have been hurt, but you heal each other, make the other one whole. I don't know exactly why she left, but I do know it was because of those scars, those insecurities given to her by the very man who has haunted you your whole life. You never lost her love, Harry. She loves you still, just as you love her. Do you understand?" He asked, still staring into Harry's eyes, searching for the answer to his question.

Slowly, very slowly, Harry nodded. Arthur could tell that Harry wasn't completely sure of what he had just said, but he was looking at the past from a new perspective. Harry had desperately latched onto the thin ray of hope that Ginny still loved him, and it was this hope Arthur saw shining in his emerald eyes.

"Then you have to make her understand this, Harry. If you don't, I fear we will loose her forever." Arthur implored.

It took only a moment, than Harry stood shakily to his feet, brushing the tears from his face before striding over and picking up his coat from the back of a chair. "We better be off, then." He said, gesturing for Arthur to lead the way.

Arthur smiled in relief, his face expressing his gratitude to Harry better than words ever could. Arthur knew that things were by no means fixed between Harry and Ginny, and it would take a considerable amount of time for things to return to anywhere close to normal. But he knew something important had happened here today. He believed in Harry, he believed in his daughter, he believed in their love for each other, and he had absolute faith that one day, some how some way, things would be right and well again; he only prayed he lived to see it.

0o0o0

Phew! That was one emotional rollercoaster of a chapter to write. I think I like to torture the characters a little too much! Let me know if the depression was too much or his thoughts didn't make sense, I always tend to second guess myself on these matters.

Also, this is probably the last chapter with a lot of Arthur Weasley in it, although I must say that I've grown quite found of him. He really ought to be given more credit!

As always, I was much too excited to post this than to really give it more than one or two look overs so apologies for any mistakes and please be kind and leave a review! Much thanks!