An explanation for my absence is necessary, I believe. Said explanation can be found after this chapter. For now, I really hope you like said chapter...
Usual disclaimer applies
ooOXOoo
To my three trouble-makers: James, Al and Lily,
I'm sorry I left you a letter instead of telling these things to you face to face. I felt that I wouldn't be able to say these in front of you. I was afraid of your reactions, especially you, Lily. Please understand and bear with me for now.
There are a lot of things I wanted to tell you guys, things I wanted to do. I wanted to be able to pick you up in my arms and spin you around like when you were kids. To tell you how much you mean to me. To hug you for hours and hours. To ruffle your hair. I wanted to eat sweets from Honeydukes without your Mum knowing. To play and beat you at Two-a-Side Quidditch. Most of all, I wanted to tell you how much I love you. How much I'm proud of all of you.
There's so much I still haven't done, still want to do, but now I'm afraid I wouldn't be able to. The only thing I regret is that I didn't spend the time given to me in showing you every second, every minute of the day just how much you guys mean to me. I love you guys so much. You were the best things that happened to your Mum and me. We couldn't have been luckier.
James, treat Abigail with love and respect. Your wife is your number one supporter; no one can replace her. Cherish your family. Also, try not to teach baby Jonathan any pranks, okay?
Al, trust me on this: you're ready. Ask Elise the question already. Merlin knows you deserve this woman. You deserve happiness, son.
Lily, I want you to be happy too. I can see that Dylan is serious about you. If, in a few more years of course, he asks you to marry him, you already have my blessing. Just tell him that if he hurts you, I'll be paying him a visit.
I hope that even though you won't see me, even if I'm not physically there, you will still know that I love you. That I'm always watching over you.
Till we meet again, take care of each other and know that you will always be in my heart
Dad
ooOXOoo
To Ron and Hermione,
Hey guys. You know I'm not really the type to leave a letter like this, but I believe I owe it to you. I didn't want to tell you nothing and leave you hanging again when the time comes for me.
To say we've been through a fair share of joys and trials would be a terrible understatement. I have been through more than a fair share with you guys. We've been through laughter, tears, pains, arguments, celebrations and so many other things together. I owe the person I became to you guys. You've accepted me for who I am and not because I had fame I didn't want or need.
You helped me open up to others. Made me realize that I was not alone. Reminded me that there are people who care for me. You were willing to risk your lives for me and with me even if I never I asked you to. You were with me till the end. You've done so much for me, and I can't tell you how much it all means to me. You've been a big part of my life, of who I am.
Hermione, I just want to tell you that I now understand what you meant in the graveyard of Godric's Hollow. 'Living beyond death', I get that now. I admit I never accepted that until recently. It took a while for me to realize what it really meant. Nevertheless, I wouldn't have understood it without you. Thank you.
Ron, you've always been a brother to me even before I was with Ginny. Thank you for that. Thank you also for putting up with me when I was acting like a git. Thank you for being such a great friend. I owe a lot to you and your family. Thank you.
I will never forget all that you had done for me. I had a great adventure with you guys. Till we meet again.
Harry
ooOXOoo
To Teddy,
I guess you're pretty surprised about all that had happened. I can't blame you. I thought that by keeping this to myself, no one else would get hurt, no one would worry. You see, I've known what would happen to me for a few weeks now. I knew that it was inevitable, that my time was already up.
So I hope that you wouldn't grieve for so long. Help the others recover too. Let them know that I think I've lived a pretty good life. Don't let them become all depressed and melodramatic, especially Ginny, James, Al and Lily. I leave them all to you.
You know, as I watched you grow up into the great man you are now, I couldn't help but be proud. I know how hard it is without your parents. I used to ask why mine left me alone with my aunt and uncle. There were times when I would get so mad at them about it. I accused them of not thinking about how I would feel, how my life would be without the love that I needed from them. I blamed them for the treatment I received from the people who were supposed to treat me as part of their family.
Yet, I never saw this from you. Though it was natural for you to feel this way, to feel left out especially when you see your friends being cared for by their own parents, you had never complained. You understood the reasons and circumstances they had, even when you were just a kid. You immediately accepted it all: your situation, the way this might affect your childhood and your future, everything. Through it all, you showed great pride for your parents, and I'm sure they're proud of you as well. I know I am.
Thank you, Teddy, for the things you have done for my family. For taking on the task of being an older brother to those three. For taking care of them.
I hope I was able to make you feel always welcomed in our home. I hope that, along with your grandmother, I was able to show you that you are never alone. I hope I was able to be a good Godfather to you.
Give my regards to Victoire and my greetings to Charlotte on her 7th birthday. Take care of yourself, Teddy. Till we meet again.
Harry
ooOXOoo
To the best family there is,
Hello everyone. By the time you read this, I have already left the physical world. But don't worry, I enjoyed my life. It might be funny and weird for me to say this, but it was the best 49 years. This was because of you guys. You have been a great factor of it all.
Thank you for taking me in as your son and brother from the time I met Ron. I thank God that He placed me in that empty compartment. If I ended up somewhere else, I don't think I would have ended up as who I am now. I feel so lucky for being able to know you all. Thank you also for treating me as a normal kid, disregarding the fact that people might have thought that you were using me to gain attention.
Thank you for looking out for me, for giving me advices, for feeding me, for making sure that I am never alone, for treating me with love and kindness I did not deserve. Thank you.
I hope I was able to show everyone just how thankful I am for all the things you have done for me. I love you all.
Please take care of Ginny and the kids for me. Thanks a lot. Till we meet again.
Harry
ooOXOoo
To Ginny,
I love you. You know that, right? Somehow, I can never be too sure if I had shown you this fact to the best that I can, every second of each day. Even now, after more than 30 years that I've been with you, I still can't help but feel that all of this is a dream. That one day, you'll realize that I'm not who you want to be with. I can never tell you just how lucky I feel to have you in my arms.
I'm sorry it had to be this way, Gin. You know I never want to hurt you. I didn't want you to worry and panic that's why I didn't tell you when Healer Gabriella proclaimed my fate. To be honest, I was being stubborn about it. I didn't want to accept the fact that I was about to leave you again. Because that's how I saw it before. I thought my death was only another cruel event that life had decided to make me undergo. That fate had decided that I was not fit to continue experiencing the joy of being with the ones I love.
But my perception changed when I collapsed in my office in the Ministry. Though I'm deeply sorry for making you and the kids worry again, I can't say that I wasn't glad of what happened to me. Something happened to me, love. I was able to see my parents, Sirius, Remus and Tonks, Fred, Dumbledore and even Snape. After all these years, I was able to see them again, embrace them again, talk to them again.
The conversation I had with all of them that time was one I would never forget. Not in life, not in death. They explained to me all the things I didn't understand, corrected all my disbeliefs.
I want you to understand these things as well, Ginny. I don't want you to make the same mistakes I did.
This is not the end. Though by the time you read this letter I have left this physical world, please know that I am still with you, love. I won't leave you. That's what I promised, remember? I don't ever want to break that. I don't ever want to be far from you.
If the time comes that you want to be with someone else, I will accept it. As long as this guy loves you with all his heart, promises not to hurt you unlike how I have regrettably done for so many times, and gives you happiness that I can't give you anymore, I want you to move on. I want you to be happy, Gin. That's all I ever wanted. As long as you're happy, then I will be too. I don't want you to feel guilty or anything, love. Be happy. You deserve it more than anyone I know.
There's still so many things I want to tell you, but I will save it all till we meet again. Till we meet again, I will always watch over you. Till we meet again, I will always protect you. Till we meet again, I will always be with you. Till we meet again, I will continue wishing for your happiness. Till we meet again, I will always love you. I will never stop loving you, Ginny. You have been the best part of my life, the best part of who I am. Thank you. I love you.
Harry
.
ooOXOoo
.
A time to think was all she needed. Answers were all she longed for. The truth was the only thing she was after.
Through the millions and millions of unanswered questions echoing inside her head, one word rose high and loud above all others: escape.
With that thought and no destination planned nor cared to go to, she turned on the spot and Disapparated. She was sure she heard her family shout after her, but that was irrelevant right now. Nothing else was important. Nothing else mattered.
She felt her feet touch the ground and heard the crunches of dead leaves. Without even thinking about looking out for anyone or anything around her, she quickly lay down facing the autumn sky. It seems like she was in a forest right now. Which forest? She didn't know. She didn't care.
Her auburn hair danced around her face a little as the wind blew. Around her, fallen leaves shifted and rose a few inches above the ground. The sky overhead wasn't cloudy, yet it was a dark blue velvet with hints of orange stretching endlessly. Sunset or sunrise? Again, she didn't know. Again, she didn't care.
If she were being honest with herself, she felt uncertain, even scared, now that she was alone with nothing but her confusing thoughts to accompany her. She felt a little regret for leaving the comfort of the known, of the familiar. Right now, there were so many things that she was unsure of, so many things she needed to clarify. She didn't want to face any of these, yet she knew had to. It seemed as if this was the only thing she was entirely sure of right now.
So many things had happened so fast that it seemed like everything was a dream. Everything passed by in a blur that her mind felt numb of it all. Ironically, she felt so tired yet she could not sleep. The cacophony in her head prevented her from any peaceful rest.
Was it all a lie? Did he really love me? If he could lie about something this big, does that mean that he was deceiving me about other things, small or big? What other things had he lied to me about? What other secrets did he keep from me? These questions were only a part of the ones still buzzing around her mind. She didn't know how to answer any of them. Without him here, her trust, her love, her entire world seemed to crumble under the weight of her doubts.
She crossed her arms on top of her eyes and felt herself so weak and tired. She felt her eyes moisten and her breath catch. She didn't care anymore if someone saw her like this. No longer was her carefully-kept facade in place. It had slipped, tumbled down the moment he di--.
She stopped herself from thinking it. The finality of it all choked her, disabled her from breathing. Was this the end? Will she ever get the answers she desperately needed?
She sighed. Even to her it sounded helpless. This made her laugh, short and humorless. Pitiful, she thought coldly, I'm so pitiful.
She stayed that way for quite a while. She kept her arms across her eyes as if they would shield her from the world, from reality.
She was quite content on staying this way until she felt the soft patter of rain drops on her face and arms. She debated on whether or not she still cared if she got soaked, but, with a sigh, she got up and walked towards the shade of a large tree nearby. She sat down on its roots and hugged her legs close to her chest.
When she felt warmer, she leaned her head back against the tree's bark and rested more comfortably. She felt like a child playing outside, getting caught by the rain and finding shelter and safety in nature. She felt the soft ground with her hands and managed a small smile.
Picking up a stone, she decided to act a little more childishly to take her mind of off things. She threw the stone to nowhere in particular and was surprised to find herself giggling a little as it hit another tree.
Mad, she tsked herself. Barking mad.
But she couldn't care less. Throwing these stones reminded her a little of her time with the Holyhead Harpies and the Gryffindor team.
She stopped her reverie when she noticed that almost every memory had him, one way or another. She placed her head on her knees and embraced her legs closer to herself, fighting off the uninvited memories that suddenly flooded in.
She was concentrating on not thinking, a task obviously easier said than done, when she heard it. Sounds of soft footsteps from a few yards away.
She quickly withdrew her wand, standing up to defend herself from whatever or whoever was there watching her in the shadows. She didn't even notice the stone she was still holding tightly in her left hand.
She waited silently as the figure made its way around a tree. What she saw made her heart stop. It was impossible. She must've been dreaming. There was no way.
But there he was, a few yards away from her, smiling sadly. The familiar features of his face made her heart ache, made her arms long to embrace him, made her legs want to run to him. But she didn't. She couldn't. How could she?
"Ginny," he breathed.
This can't be happening, she all but screamed to herself. I must be dreaming. I must've fallen asleep. Or maybe I'm hallucinating. Cracked. Barking mad.
Through her internal struggle, he watched her. He stood silently, never taking his eyes off her. After a while, he chuckled a little.
This made her snap out of it. She glared at him, willing herself to wake up from this cruel dream. Already, she could feel tears in the corners of her eyes; feel the urge to believe that this was real. That he really was here.
As if he could read her mind, he smiled sadly to her once again and said, "You're not dreaming, love,"
"Don't call me that!" she shouted, tightening the grip on her wand. If this wasn't a dream – not that she believed what the man had said - then this person in front of her was a fake, someone who drank Polyjuice Potion. There was no way that the real Harry Potter was here.
ooOXOoo
Ahh... such a cliff-hanger, eh? He he... Well, I hope you liked it... though I said before that this would be the last chapter, things didn't really go according to plan... so...
Okay! I'm sorry this took so long! TT_TT I wasn't really able to write, not because I was busy with school stuff; I was... procrastinating... TT_TT I'm sorry!
Anyways, I'm honestly working on the real final chapter. Pray that I would not be lazy anymore. TT_TT
And to all those who waited, thank you, I'm sorry and I hope you were satisfied with this. :)