Don't own Harry Potter. Too Bad.
Sorry it took so long to update. Been working A LOT. Thank you to everyone who reviewed on the last chapter. Hope you all like this one.
Chapter 7
Ron walked into the common room and stopped with a jolt. While he knew it would happen eventually, he didn't expect it. There, on the couch, was Harry kissing his sister. He had always been overprotective, but somehow the sight didn't bother him. He laughed and the two broke apart.
"Oh, Ron," Harry said with embarrassment dripping from his voice.
"Relax, Harry," Ron said smiling. He crossed his arms smugly.
"Oh brother," Ginny said with a slight laugh.
Hermione walked in and saw the two. She began smiling as well. "It was only a matter of time."
They all began laughing and Ron and Hermione sat down in the chairs. They made plans to double date on the next Hogsmeade weekend. Then, quickly, the topic changed to DA meetings. Harry had been learning new spells to teach them and he was impressed and proud with his fellow DA members at their progress. Malfoy had been a huge help as well, giving him countercurses. While he knew nothing in their lives made sense anymore, Malfoy's change to the light side was one of the craziest he had seen. However, he understood what Dumbledore meant when he said he had trusted people without doubt. Harry trusted Draco with no doubt of his loyalty.
Now April
"Potter!" Malfoy fell into step with Harry breathing heavily.
He laughed. "Malfoy."
"Ginny's been hurt," he said.
Harry stopped suddenly, as if boulders had been placed on his feet. He couldn't move. "Hurt?"
"She was hit in the head with a rouge bludger while she was practicing with Ron and some others. She in the hospital wing."
Harry barely heard the last bit as he was already running towards the hospital. When Malfoy said Ginny was hurt, Death Eaters had been his first thought. Though the heavy feeling in his chest had left when Draco said it was a buldger, he still had to be sure she was fine. He stopped at the foot of her bed with a wave of relief. She was smiling at him.
"Well, Harry, glad to know you care," she gave a little laugh.
"I bout had a heart attack when Malfoy told me," he muttered embarressed.
"Thought you would," she said comfortingly as he sat down on the bed next to her. He leaned down and kissed her.
He looked at her seriously. "Ginny, are you willing to risk your safety to be with me? I mean, my parents, Sirius, Luna, Neville...I can't let that happen to you."
She took his hand. "It won't happen to me, Harry. We've been dating since January and nothing's happened. I've learned loads from you and Malfoy in DA and the DADA teacher actually teaches. I can protect myself."
"I know you can," he muttered. "The Death Eaters have to know about you. Half the Slytherin's parents are Death Eaters! It's only a matter of time before Voldemort becomes tired of waiting and uses Ron, Hermione, or worse, you to get me to go after him. I can't let you risk that."
She glared at him. "What if I want to risk that, Harry? You're the only one who can defeat him and I'm not going to let you do it alone! I might not be able to do much, but be there for you is one thing I will do. Why aren't you off telling Ron and Hermione to stay away from you if that's what you're so worried about?"
He had nothing to say to that. "They're stubborn," was all he could think of.
"If you don't want to be with me anymore, Harry, than just say so. Don't make excuses." He heard the anger in her voice. "Get out."
He met her stare. "Ginny, it's not..."
"OUT!" She yelled at him.
He didn't risk it, but reluctantly stood and walked out of the room. That could've gone much better or much worse. Though breaking up with her hadn't been his intentions, maybe it would be for the best. Then why do I have a horrible pain in the pit of my stomach, he thought with a grimace.
For the next week, Ginny wouldn't look at him, not even at DA meetings and refused to accept Harry's help. He felt the stab of pain every time she ignored him. He just wanted to keep her safe. Couldn't she see that? He had tried to convince Ron and Hermione to keep their distance but they insisted that they had dealt with it since year one and wouldn't break tradition. Ron tried to make sense with Ginny, but she wouldn't listen to him either. Hermione had no luck.
June had begun and preparations for exams and graduation were being put into action. With so much studying, DA had been put on hold much to Harry's worry. He didn't want people to not practice their defenses. His scar had been hurting again. He knew it was not good.
Harry walked slowly and tiredly back to the Gryffinfor common room. He had spent his first free day in a week in the library looking up new spells for DA. He didn't expect what happened next. A large group of students rushed at him, knocking him around as they passed. Malfoy grabbed him and pulled him out of the way. Fear filled Malfoy's eyes.
"What's going on?"
"Death Eater's have attacked Hogwarts, Potter."
The word buzzed in his head. He ran to the nearest window and the truth hit him. On the ground below, teachers and Order members were battling Death Eaters. He looked to the side and saw fellow seventh years and some sixth years he recognized join the fight. He knew this was it. The final battle in which he was either killed or had to kill Voldemort. He knew he had to do the latter. He grabbed Malfoy by the robes.
"Find Ron, Hermione, and any other DA's you see. We're gonna fight. It's gonna end here. Tonight."
Malfoy heard the determination in his friend's voice. He nodded and fled to find the DA. Harry didn't wait to watch him, but pulled out his wand and ran to the nearest staircase. He joined the Order. None told him to run or hide, yet acknowledged him quickly and resumed battle.
Harry, being as skinny as he was, was fast and used it to his advantage that night. Dodging curses thrown at him, he managed to attack a few Death Eaters before his fellow DA members showed up, Hermione, Ron, Draco, and Ginny included. They formed a group and began a full fledged fight against any DE they saw. None stood a chance.
That was, until Harry saw Bellatrix Lestrange. Fury filled him. For Sirius, he thought and ran after her. Fueled by the need to avenge his godfather at last, Harry succeeded in knocking her off her feet, her wand flying feet away. He bound her and called an order member over to finish with her. As much as he hated the DE, he didn't want to kill anyone he didn't have to. His parents would not have wanted that on his conscious. He turned back to find his friends gone. Fear filled him. Sparks flew past him, but he didn't flinch. He turned looking for any sight of them. That when he saw it. The green smoke.
He ran at the Forbidden Forest at full speed. A horrible feeling settled in his stomach. He finally ran into a clearing and stopped. Ron and Hermione stood next to each other. They saw him and started yelling and pounding on an invisible wall. They seemed to be in an invisible box.
"Quite useful," he heard the hissing voice and knew.
He turned and faced the man accountable for his life's unhappiness. There, with his snake-like eyes, was Lord Voldemort. Harry's eyes shifted. Ginny was lying a few feet in front of Harry, motionless. He rushed to her side, keeping a view on the Dark Lord from the corner of his eye.
"Ginny?" He whispered. "Ginny, please." He took her hand in his.
She moved slightly and her eyes opened heavily. "Harry?" came a weak voice. "I'm sorry."
Harry shook his head. "Don't be." He felt a sharp pain in his back. Voldemort had shot a curse at him.
"It's just us," he hissed. "No Death Eaters, No Order memebers, none of your friends that can help. These three will watch you die. Much to my pleasure."
He shot a few more curses at Harry until he could feel nothing anymore. The pain was too excruciating to feel. Once again, his weakness to protect his friends was his downfall. And it would be theirs as well. He managed the strength to look at Ron and Hermione. Their hands were locked together and the two stood close enough to be apart of each other. He then looked at Ginny who's eyes instantly met his. A new feeling joined his pain.
He, Harry Potter, was in love with Ginny Weasley. At that point, that was all he felt. It overwhelmed the pain. She smiled weakly at him. Her lips began to move. I love you, Harry, they formed the words. That was all he needed. Someone loved him. He loved them back. It was the missing piece. He looked at his two best friends and felt the love he had for them. The love he had for Sirius, Neville, Luna, and the parents he never had the chance to meet, it all filled him to the point of bursting. His eyes once again met Ginny's. He saw it in her eyes. The eyes he knew he would once look into again. The pain was gone, pushed away by the love. Voldemort stared in shock as Harry stood and faced him without any difficulty. He quickly regained his composure.
"Stubborn boy, aren't you?" he sneered. "That's fine. I'll give your friend the show."
Voldemort pointed the wand at the Boy-Who-Lived. Harry felt nothing, not anger, not pain, not resentment, not sorrow, not pity. Nothing. Nothing, except the one thing he had always wanted, the one thing his enemy couldn't know. Love.
A soft glow surrounded the boy. He calmly raised his wand. "Expelliarmus!" He shouted, relaxed almost. The Dark Lord's wand flew from his hand. Stunned, the man stood in shock. Harry knew there was only one thing left. "AVADA KEDAVRA!"
It was as if the world was still and the only thing moving was the jet stream coming from the wand. A green stream with the glow around it as well slowly moved towards Voldemort. Finally, they green light hit it's target. With the most terrible sounding scream, what was left of the most evil wizard was destroyed.
Harry's soft glow dimmed until there was nothing left. Weak, Harry slowly fell to the ground and closed his eyes, exhausted.
