Harry Potter: To Love Is To Live

by kb0

What if Ginny really got over Harry during his fourth year, and then he fell for her and found love while she was with someone else? Can he get her attention and convince her to be his girlfriend? What happens if he can't and she is the secret to helping?

11. Chapter 11

Chapter 11: Love

(A/N: Lots of parallel POV and action, bear with me, they do come together.)

Fri Dec 20 - continued

As Albus Dumbledore finished his Anti-Portkey spell, he was greatly surprised when he heard the loud sound of a lion's roar. The animal landed with its considerable weight on top of Lucius Malfoy's body, and its claws left the man's cloak in tatters, blood seeping through the gashes. Malfoy never had a chance to move because a lioness followed the lion's path and as she ran over him too, her claws ripped his body, allowing his entrails to spill out.

Dumbledore should not have been surprised to learn his two star pupils had managed to become Animagi, but he was. He was going to have to have a long talk with Minerva about withholding this kind of information from him. Still, he used the distraction to dispatch the two Death Eaters in front of him, and then he engaged a third who had recovered from the shock of seeing a lion in a house. He hoped the other Order members had kept their wits and used the distraction to their advantage.

Being outnumbered fifty to thirty was a bit of a problem. Fortunately, Remus' Area Concussion spell had helped greatly, but it also had not done as much damage to the Death Eaters as he had hoped. Dumbledore stunned and tied up his current opponent, and finding no one immediately in front of him, did another quick survey of the room. The Order was doing well and was now only slightly out numbered. They had been there for nearly two minutes and no Aurors had shown up yet. That was slightly worrying and he wondered if there were other wards on the house preventing them from joining the Order, but there was not much he could do about it right this second.

Deciding that strategically, he needed to ignore his own instructions and go help Harry, he turned back towards the door the lions had run through. He saw Sirius limping away from an all-but-dead Bellatrix Lestrange. The fact that Sirius was not with his godson yet boded ill. Dumbledore rushed to join the fight against Voldemort.

In his hurry to leave, Dumbledore did not see Antonin Dolohov drop Dedalus Diggle's limp form before shooting a cutting spell at the Headmaster, who was saved only because he was in motion. Nevertheless, Dumbledore paid for not following his own instructions when the spell grazed him, leaving him with a deep cut on his hip. The old man fell and watched a green Killing Curse go over his head. From the floor, he hit Dolohov with a Body Bind and also tied him up with magical ropes.

Pulling his robes back so he could see the damage, he did a minor healing spell on himself. That will have to do, he thought, at least until Poppy could do more for him. Struggling to his feet, he looked around and saw he had to take care of two more Death Eaters. Finishing the task, he then limped to the doorway the others had gone through.

Passing into what must have been a dining room at one time, Dumbledore saw very little of the furniture remained intact; the room itself was in shambles. Sirius was on the floor with a major injury, and Ginny appeared to be unconscious. Voldemort had two wands in his upraised hands and was laughing.

But what really gave him pause and stole his fighting spirit was seeing Harry Potter lying on his back on the floor with a burned spot on his chest. He did not seem to be breathing.

Albus Dumbledore closed his eyes and bent over trying to catch his breath, wondering if his heart would keep going.

---

Sirius saw Harry and Voldemort dueling, with Ginny helping out. A grin came over his face as he readied himself to join the fray; his broken right ankle courtesy of his cousin was not going to stop him.

Hoping to either hurt Voldemort badly or at least distract Him for Harry, Sirius raised his wand to cast a spell at Voldemort when suddenly, his lower right leg seemed to be on fire, before it felt like someone was trying to rip it off. Looking down, he saw a large black snake with its mouth firmly clamped over his right calf.

The first spell that came to mind was a Freezing spell. Sirius quickly froze the snake, but the stupid reptile was still attached to his leg and he needed to remove it. The idea of a Reducto came to mind, and that spell caused Nagini to explode into hundreds of snake ice cubes. Reaching down, he carefully pulled out two frozen fangs from his leg that were over an inch long apiece.

The good news was that the snake was now gone forever; the bad news was that Sirius could feel the venom making its way up his leg. Sirius grimly recalled that when Arthur Weasley had been attacked by the same snake last Christmas, the only reason he had survived was because Harry got help to him almost immediately. Knowing that the Anti-Apparition and Anti-Portkey wards would stay in place until the battle was decided, Sirius searched his memory frantically for anything that might help him out of his dire predicament.

Another of Remus' Muggle movies came to mind. He had no idea if it would work, but it was either that or cut his own leg off, just as Dumbledore had had to cut his own finger off. Sirius shot a few ropes around his leg just below the knee, then he stuck his wand under the rope and did a half twist. That hurt like hell, but after a few seconds, he did notice that the burning sensation from the venom was decreasing. So he grit his teeth and held his wand where he was, even if it left him defenseless.

Looking back up to see what was happening to the battle, he saw Voldemort try to summon Ginny. Sirius almost pulled his wand out, damn the consequences, when Harry attacked with part of the destroyed dinner table. Then he watched Harry summon Ginny to him instead of pressing the attack. Voldemort shot a Killing Curse, and Sirius was horrified to see Harry take the curse meant for Ginny.

He stood there in shock. His godson lay on the floor, a hole in his jumper, not moving a muscle. Harry was dead. Sirius did not want to believe it, but he could not deny the fact that Harry had definitely been hit by the Killing Curse. To add insult to injury, Voldemort began laughing, summoning Harry's wand as he did so. Using both wands, he cast "Crucio!" and two brown spells shot at Ginny.

That action snapped Ginny out of her paralysis. She dived out of the way and came up cursing Voldemort's ancestry while going on the offense. She did not bother with shields, Sirius could tell she had only one goal on her mind: kill Voldemort.

One more idea came to Sirius, it was not as good as the rope, but he could see Ginny was not going to make it without help. Pulling his wand out, he cast a Freezing spell on his leg, which hurt more than when the snake had bit him, but it would have to do for now.

With his wand free, Sirius cast a shield in front of Ginny. Because of the long distance, it took precious time getting there, but if she was paying attention, she could use it to her benefit.

Voldemort sent another Killing Curse at her and she had to dodge by diving out of the way. That pause in her attack was all the advantage Voldemort needed and with the extra time, he cast a more complex spell; one Sirius was unfamiliar with. Ginny's luck finally ran out; she crumpled as the spell hit her and did not get back up. Voldemort laughed again and raised both of his hands in triumph.

Sirius slumped to the floor in defeat.

---

Ginny felt herself be Summoned twice in about that many seconds. The second time it happened, she went towards Harry. That thrilled her because she had really wanted to be with him, she was scared to death right now. Yet, that also scared her because the analytical part of her mind knew that standing together made it more likely one of them would get hit with a spell. Their training sessions had proved that to her.

As she landed, she glanced at Harry to see an utterly frightened look on his face, not the confident fighting look he had started out with. Knowing she could not dwell on that, Ginny turned her attention back to Tom, and saw something she had never wanted to see: a green bolt of light coming towards her. She knew she would never get out of the way in time. That thought had barely ended when she felt herself be shoved to the side. Ginny stumbled, but kept on her feet. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw the green bolt hit her boyfriend.

Ginny was so shocked she did not even scream. All she could do was look at him and the hole in the middle of his chest. She vaguely registered that someone seemed to be laughing and watched blankly as Harry's wand flew towards Voldemort. When Ginny heard Voldemort shout "Crucio!", however, she knew it was meant for her, and she threw herself to the side, rolling and coming back up to face the monster who had killed her boyfriend.

"You bastard! I'm going to kill you myself!" With all of her power and might, she started throwing every spell in the book at the monster. She only needed one of them to connect; she was sure she could finish him and she would do so without any hesitation or second thoughts or guilt. Reducto's, Freezing charms, Fireball charms, Bludgeoning hexes, Cutting curses, they were all thrown at Tom and either were blocked, deflected, or missed; but she did not give up. She was going to see him dead even if it killed her.

A shield suddenly appeared in front of her. Ginny had no idea where it had come from; in fact, its appearance almost distracted her. Still, she did her best to use it to her advantage when she could. Then suddenly, Voldemort changed tactics and shouted, "Avada Kedavra!" and she had to dodge again. That gave her an idea and she hit him with a Foot Sticking charm just as he released some spell at her. There was no shield in this new position and the strange spell hit her full on and she fell to the floor.

Suddenly, she was in a familiar fight for her life, one she had experienced in her first year at Hogwarts, only this one was much stronger as it was cast on her instead of projected by an artifact. There was something attacking her mind and it was not Legilimency. It was draining her, exactly like what had happened in the Chamber. Her body no longer mattered, only her mind. Drawing on every bit of will power she had, she fought the draining force. She fought it because she knew that to give up was to die, but it was a losing battle. She felt her life slipping away.

---

Harry suddenly felt free. There was no more hurt, no more stress, in fact there was no more anything: no sight, no sound, no feeling. He just was. Yet, he knew he was not alone; there was comfort here.

Then he had a thought with a familiar feel. "Harry, it's not time."

Where have I heard that before? It is familiar.

"Return Harry, you must return; return for the ones you love."

I know that voice. Yes, it is the voice I hear in my nightmares; it is the one that screams, "No, not Harry," just before the flash of green light -- Mum?

"Return to the ones you love Harry, my love protects you ..."

Harry's eyes fluttered open, though he still lay where he had fallen, while he tried to figure out what was going on. His first complete thought was, "Damn my chest hurts!" Glancing down he saw a hole in his clothes in the middle of his chest.

The second thing he noticed was a high-pitched evil laugh. Sitting up, he saw Voldemort with his hands raised in victory and what looked like his wand in the monster's hand. Turning his head slightly, Harry saw a pale Ginny lying motionless on the floor.

Ginny! No, not Ginny! What am I going to do with no wand? he thought. I could get one spell off wandlessly, but I can't fight that way. I need a weapon!

As the last word went through his mind, he remembered he had one and un-strapped the catch holding it in the sheath. Harry rose on one knee, pulling Gryffindor's knife out by the handle as he did so.

Unfortunately, that was also when Voldemort noticed him. "No, that's impossible!" Not one to take any chances, Voldemort shot a Reducto! at the boy.

Harry saw the spell coming as the knife left his hand. As he rolled to the right to try to avoid it, the spell hit his left knee and shattered it. Pain upon pain entered his world. Somehow, he managed to look up to see a glorious sight: the handle of the long and magically sharp knife buried up to the finger guard in Voldemort's chest.

Voldemort looked down as he felt something hit him. The jeweled handle was very familiar. He had spent over a year looking for this one treasure before he had found it in a secret hiding place in the old castle that used to belong to the Gryffindor family. That knife was now sticking out of him and twitching slightly to the beat of his heart. He looked up at the boy who was staring at him with both pain and elation.

"Say good-bye, Tom. That was the sixth and final Horcrux. I shall not mourn your passing."

Tom Riddle looked back down at the knife. How could they have found them all? Then he noticed that the knife had stopped twitching and he felt himself falling, though he never felt himself hit the floor.

Now that his destiny was over, Harry only had one thing on his mind: Ginny. He tried to crawl to her and gave a sharp cry from excruciating pain, as his knee would not allow the movement. He could summon his wand, or his girlfriend. To save time, he ignored his wand. Trying to block out the pain and the world around him, he went back to his magical center. Finding his magic, he willed it to his hands as he reached out towards Ginny. He was relieved when she began to move in his direction. When she reached him, he grabbed her and wrapped her in his arms. With his magic still flowing through him, Harry started searching for any sign that she was still alive; he thought that he could detect a heartbeat, but he could not find Ginny's essence.

Anger at what Voldemort had done and his love for Ginny removed all limits from Harry. The outside world faded away; only he and Ginny existed. Finally, he saw the problem and understood. There was a spell draining her, or had been as it had stopped working when the caster had died; but the damage had already been done. Ginny's magic had been removed, and with it her life force. She was alive only because her body had not stopped working yet, but it would surely fail as Wizard-kind was unable to live without their magic.

In his focused state, Harry only saw one thing to do, though he did not know if it would work. They had read about a procedure in Muggle Studies where a person could give some of his blood to another person who was low on blood to help them survive, as Muggles did not have Blood Replenishing potions. He wondered if he could do that with magic too. Deciding that if Ginny died, he did not want to live either, he started expanding his magic even more as he tried to push it to Ginny to give her at least the minimum amount to live. As far as Harry was concerned, she could have half of his magic and more. He sought to make that happen.

He continued to push magic at her and thought it was working, though it was hard to tell. When he began feeling drained and was not sure he could go on, he looked into her again and saw a small magical core in her. Hoping it was enough, he stopped pushing and the world went black.

---

When both Sirius and Albus heard Voldemort's laugh change to an incredulous, "No, that's impossible!", they both looked up to see Harry pull himself to a sitting position. Sirius had no thoughts at all; his brain seemed as frozen as his leg. Albus was sure he was going to have a stroke as his heart restarted, but at double the speed. Breathing was still difficult for the old man.

Then the most wonderful thing happened, Harry threw the knife and it embedded itself into Voldemort's chest; that Harry had been hit by a Reducto did not seem to faze the boy as he did not make any noise other than his body hitting the floor. The two men felt hope return as they heard Harry's voice again, then jubilation as they saw Tom Riddle fall over and remain motionless.

As Harry bowed his head after completing his ultimate task, Dumbledore took that time to drop the Anti-Portkey ward. He had barely finished that when he was surprised by Harry for the third time that night. He watched Harry wandlessly summon Ginny to him and engulf her in an embrace. That the girl still did not move on her own worried Albus greatly, as he feared what would happen to Harry if she died.

Hearing steps running up behind him, Albus turned and saw Molly Weasley run into the destroyed room. "Where's Harry? Did he do it?" Her wand was drawn and she looked ready to take on Voldemort herself.

Without thinking, he pointed to the other end of the room. "He's over there tending to Ginny." They all saw a bluish white aura suddenly appear around Harry, but only the two men understood what that meant.

"What?!" she screamed and Albus realised his mistake. Molly immediately started running for the teens before either of the two men could stop her. When she reached the young man and tried to touch him, the aura surrounding Harry sent a spike of energy towards the woman and she went flying backward to land in a crumpled heap.

Now more people started coming in, including Arthur Weasley. "Molly?" He was stunned to see her lying on the floor.

Even in his fatigue, Albus understood he needed to take control of the situation or others were likely to get hurt as Harry did not know what was happening. "Everyone," he called out in the strongest voice he could muster, which was barely above his normal volume, "do not attempt to touch Harry. His magic will protect him at all costs right now. Help the wounded, I've taken down the Anti-Portkey ward. Voldemort is dead." There was silence for several seconds before shouting broke out, shouts of joy and congratulations. Arthur rushed over to his wife, but did keep his distance from Harry.

Without warning, Harry's aura grew brighter and expanded, taking in Ginny so she too, began to glow. Many of the people stopped celebrating and wondered at this. What was Harry doing?

"Please, everyone help those that are wounded get to the Hogwarts hospital or to St. Mungo's. Please do not worry about Harry, he is busy and we can not interrupt him until he is done. Also, make sure the Aurors take custody of all the Death Eaters," Dumbledore instructed. Then grabbing a small piece of the splintered table, Dumbledore turned the piece of wood into a Portkey. "Here Sirius, take this." A few seconds after the man had taken it, he disappeared.

Despite the painful cramp in his left side and his shortness of breath, Dumbledore struggled to a standing position and turned to find Kingsley Shacklebolt there. "Kingsley, take charge please." The bald man nodded and turned to start directing people.

The old Professor slowly walked over to Arthur. "If you think you can restrain her, an Enervate will wake her; but you must not let her get near Harry or Ginny, or this will happen again."

"Ginny?! What's she doing here?" Arthur looked shocked and angry at Dumbledore when he heard that.

There were a couple of other questions about "Ginny" from behind him, from the Weasley boys, Dumbledore assumed, though he did not turn to look. "She came to help Harry fight. She would not leave him and he said she had to be here for him to win." None of the anger had left Arthur's face. "You may be angry at me if you wish Arthur, as ultimate responsibility for Order operations ends with me, but please understand that even if I had forbidden it, she would have come anyway. I have been surprised several times tonight by both of them with their power and abilities. Also, to be honest, even though I knew she planned to come, I have no idea how Harry got her here without anyone seeing her or triggering the Unbreakable Vows, but he did." That gave Ginny's father something to think about.

The two men looked at the teens and noticed that the aura was pulsating slightly now, but it was still very strong. Standing up and giving Harry a wide berth, Albus walked over to Tom Riddle, or what was left of him. The body had seemed to shrivel up on itself, like a mummified body after hundreds of years. Albus assumed that was because all the magic Tom had done to himself was now gone, but he supposed it really did not matter why. Reaching down he grabbed the handle of the long knife and pulled it out. After cleaning it with Tom's cloak, he very carefully put the knife under his belt and beneath his robes. Seeing the two wands on the floor, he Summoned them. Ginny's wand was also nearby, so he also Summoned it and placed it with the others in his pocket for safe keeping.

Turning back to Harry, Albus noted the pulsing was becoming more pronounced and that each pulse was of longer and longer duration. Assuming Harry survived, he was sure there would be a very interesting conversation with the boy on magical theory. Hoping he would have a need for it, the old man Summoned a broken chair leg and turned it into a Portkey. It was almost another minute before the pulsing stopped and the aura finally faded away. When it did, Harry fell over with Ginny sprawled on top of him.

Ignoring the increasing stitch in his side, Dumbledore quickly walked over to the pair before either of the elder Weasleys could get there. Grabbing one of their hands in each of his, he activated the Portkey. A couple of breaths later, he was in the middle of the Hospital Wing at Hogwarts with his two star students. He looked up at Poppy to tell her what had happened, when he felt like he had been stabbed in the chest himself. Albus reached for the spot that hurt and then fell over unconscious too.

---

Tue Dec 24

Harry slowly awoke, struggling to regain consciousness. When his eyes at last opened, he could see the weak sunlight streaming through the windows, so it was either near dawn or dusk. Other than the light level, everything else was blurry. Turning his head slightly, he thought the object to his right might be a table, or at least there normally was a table there when he was in the Hospital Wing, where he assumed he was. Reaching over, he found his glasses there, but in retrieving them, he knocked his wand off and it clattered to the floor. He heard a gasp from his left and then a, "Harry?" He knew that voice. Putting his glasses on, he asked, "Yes, Mrs. Weasley?"

"Oh Harry dear," Molly exclaimed as she engulfed him in a hug. "I'm so glad to see you're awake," she said into his shoulder as she continued to hold him for several more seconds before letting go. "How do you feel? Can I get you anything?"

"Some food would be good; I missed dinner last night."

His surrogate mother smiled at him. "I'm sure you are hungry dear, but that's because you've missed dinner for the last four evenings. It's Christmas Eve, Harry."

He was thunderstruck. I've been out for four days? Then another thought came to him, one more important than food. "How's Ginny? Where's Ginny?"

Her face fell at that. "She's here in the bed next to you Harry, on my other side." Molly scooted her chair back towards the foot of the beds while Harry propped himself up on his side. There he saw Ginny lying in the next bed as if asleep.

"Is she only sleeping? Has she woken up yet? Is she OK?" he fired off in rapid succession.

"No Harry, she hasn't woken up yet. Madam Pomfrey doesn't know what's wrong with her, other than magical exhaustion. You two are the only ones still here from the battle."

It was an effort, but Harry managed to sit up. He felt so weak. "I need to see her."

"She's right here where you can look, Harry, but you need to stay in your bed and rest. You're very weak as you were magically exhausted too."

"No," he contradicted her. "I need to get to her." He was starting to panic; he could not lose his Ginny! Struggling against his sheet and blankets, he managed to swing his legs out of bed before Molly could stop him. Rushing past the woman, he made it to Ginny's bed and sat down on it and he grabbed her hand. He felt something there, something that made the world right. He smiled and his panic left him.

Molly noted his smile. "What is it Harry?"

"She's still here," he told her.

"How do you know?" Molly wondered what he meant. There was no question that Ginny was on the bed in the room, so he must mean something else she reasoned.

"I can tell. Let me look closer." To Molly's surprise, he closed his eyes. Harry found his center for more focus. She was easy to find now. He felt her respond when he pushed on her essence. The response was a relaxed one. He sent a feeling of love and got one back. He was not sure how he could send love in a wave of magic, but he was sure that's what he had sent and received. Withdrawing, he opened his eyes. "She's resting and just needs a little more time. She'll wake up by tomorrow," he told her mother. "I have to lie back down, that was tiring." Without thinking, he lay down where he was, on Ginny's bed next to her. Before Molly could say anything, his eyes were closed and his breathing had slowed down.

She noticed he still held her daughter's hand, though the grip was very loose. Molly almost tried to move the boy back on her own, but he was now taller than her and she was not sure she could move him without magic.

"How'd he get over there?" Molly looked up to see Madam Pomfrey.

"He woke up and wanted to check on her. He did something and then told me she was resting and just needed a little more time before she woke up. Then he said he was tired and all but fell over right where he was. I was about to levitate him back."

The nurse came over and did a diagnostic spell on each of them. "No real change. Near as I can tell, they're both low on magic and only asleep, though neither appears to be magically exhausted anymore. Very strange. I'd say to just cover him with a blanket and leave him there. One of us will always be around and he's in no shape to be doing anything you wouldn't approve of," she said with a smile. "Since you're awake, I'm going to go get breakfast. When I return I'll sit here and let you go." Receiving a nod from Molly, the nurse walked out.

Picking up a blanket and putting it over Harry, Molly Weasley sat back down and contemplated what she was going to say and ask when a longer conversation was possible. It was slightly amusing that even though Albus and Sirius had been in the room for the last part of the battle, neither had seen all of it, as they had thought it was over when Harry had appeared dead, and they had stopped watching when Ginny had been hit with what they thought was a fatal spell.

She also found it interesting, though maddening, that no one knew what the aura around Harry was, other than to say it was his magic. That was not a satisfying answer to her. And while she wanted to know that, there were two more pressing questions. One, why was Ginny there? She did not find Albus' answer to Arthur on that, or as to how Ginny had got there, satisfying either. She could not come up with a good answer herself. Two, what had happened when Harry had the aura around him, and why had it extended to Ginny too? Though she had not seen it go around Ginny, Arthur had told her it had after she had been knocked out by the aura. Even if Ginny woke up right now, neither of them would be going anywhere for the next several days. She would have time to ask her questions.

Having been moved back to his bed a few minutes ago, Harry was eating a bowl of soup for what he assumed was lunch. He had recently awakened for the second time today, the first time being about four hours ago. When he finished eating, he handed the tray to Madam Pomfrey. After taking care of that, she started performing more diagnostic spells on him. When she was done, she handed him a Strengthening Potion and told him, "Bottoms up, Mr. Potter. With luck, you'll be out of here in a couple of days, and by the New Year for certain."

He groaned; he had never spent Christmas confined to the Hospital Wing and did not really want to do it now. As he handed the empty bottle back to her, his Potions teacher came in with a box full of phials. "Here you are, Poppy. Each is labeled and I even put a few more in than you requested."

"Thank you, Severus. Enjoy your holiday. I think these will last me until well after you return."

"You're welcome and Happy Christmas to you." He then noticed his student was awake. Turning to the boy, he took a step forward. "Mr. Potter ..." Harry was shocked; Snape never used "Mister" -- it was always just his last name. "I wanted to tell you -- thank you," the man seemed to struggle over the words, but they did come out, "for defeating the Dark Lord. I can not express how much I appreciate you doing that."

Harry was starting to wonder if this was the real Snape. He wondered even more at Snape's next words and was glad he was sitting in bed or he was sure he would have fallen over.

"I also want to apologize to you for some of the things I've done to you over the years. While I'm sure you will not appreciate my saying that much of it was to prepare you to face the Dark Lord, that was indeed my intent. For if you could handle me, I knew it would be easier for you to handle the Dark Lord."

Harry was not sure what to do, but somehow managed to say, "I, uh, I understand, and you're welcome." Snape would never be a friend, but Harry did appreciate the apology.

Snape nodded in acknowledgement. "I had not realised just how much the Dark Mark on my arm influenced me, but now that it is gone I can see many things in a different light." He turned and walked away, but as he reached the doors, he stopped and looked back at Harry. "And Mr. Potter, if you'll continue to apply yourself and have Miss Weasley coach you, you should do well enough on your Potions OWL to be in my NEWT class next year." He resumed his exit from the Infirmary and was soon gone from sight.

That was the most normal conversation Harry had ever had with the man. He began to wonder just what effect the Dark Mark really had on the Death Eaters. A few minutes later, Harry fell asleep sitting up against his headboard.

When Molly returned from lunch, she saw him that way and gently pulled his glasses off. Picking up her latest copy of Witch Weekly, which had arrived that morning, she saw that Harry had been voted the Most Eligible Bachelor. She was aghast they would do that, the boy was not even seventeen yet.

The next time Harry woke, he found Sirius sitting in the chair next to him; Mrs. Weasley was not there. A quick look showed Ginny had not moved, so he assumed that he had not missed her regaining consciousness. "How ya doing, kiddo?"

Harry looked at his godfather and smiled. "Fine. I'm doing really fine."

"Except for missing someone?" Sirius had not missed the quick glance.

Caught, Harry blushed slightly. "There is that, but she'll wake soon."

Sirius' eyebrows went up at that. "How can you know? Poppy isn't even sure what was wrong with you two."

"We were just tired and needed to rest. The fight was very exhausting magically."

That raised a question Sirius wanted to know about. "So Harry, what happened at the end? I saw you kill Voldemort by throwing the knife, then you wandlessly Summoned Ginny, before that aura came over you again. How did you Summon her and what happened with the aura?"

Harry was not sure just how much he wanted to talk about the last part, and decided to answer the first part of Sirius' question. "Once you understand the nature of magic, wandless magic is not all that hard. You do it, so you must understand too."

"What are you talking about? I can't do wandless magic Harry."

"You can too -- Padfoot."

Sirius rolled his eyes. "OK, technically you are correct; but I'm not talking about that and you know it. While I'm not totally certain, because you hid it well, I now think you've been doing spells wandlessly in our training sessions, haven't you?"

Harry nodded. "A few here and there for the last three or four weeks. It's harder than with my wand, as a wand focuses your magic more easily, but there's nothing I can't do wandlessly if given the time and the ability to concentrate."

A shocked look overcame Sirius. "Seriously? Any spell, even the hard ones like a Patronus charm?"

"I don't see why not. Think of all the accidental magic little children do. It's possible for every wizard if they can learn to control it. Or is that your point, that most people can't learn that degree of control?"

"No clue Harry, this sounds more like something for Dumbledore or Flitwick. Tell me though, are you really feeling well?"

"I suppose I'm not totally all right as I still get tired easily, but otherwise I just wish things could go back to being normal."

A bark of laughter came out of Sirius. "Now that's a wish Harry, but I understand. Still, it will be a while before you find a new normalcy in your life."

"What do you mean by that?" he asked slowly and carefully.

Grinning, Sirius told him, "Because you're more of a celebrity now than you ever were. And," his smile became even bigger, "Molly tells me that according to Witch Weekly, you're now the Most Eligible Bachelor in the Wizarding world."

Harry groaned and slumped down in his bed and let out a sarcastic, "Brilliant, just brilliant."

"Of course it is, Harry," his godfather told him brightly. "Just think, all those girls throwing themselves all over you. You can have your pick."

"I don't need that. I've already made my choice," he informed the man.

"Oh ho! So you do have plans for Miss Weasley. Do I need to get Arthur to come visit you so you can make arrangements?" Sirius jested with him, though deep down, he thought Ginny would be a fabulous choice. Deciding to have a little bit of fun, he pulled out his wand and charmed Harry's blanket red with pink hearts.

That earned him a death glare. "Shut it, Sirius. I'm only sixteen, I've got plenty of time." He slammed his hand on top of the offending blanket, which turned green. "I'm tired. Bye, Sirius," he announced and turned over.

Sirius knew the boy was not really mad at him and it had been fun talking to him. Though he could not prove it, he was almost certain that Harry, and maybe Ginny, had been the reason for his pink robes at the beginning of the term. Though he had not pranked Harry much this term, he decided one now might help the boy's spirits. Pulling his wand back out, he barely whispered the spell to again turn Harry's blanket red with pink hearts. But to his surprise, it stayed green.

"Why is his blanket green instead of white?"

Sirius looked up to see Poppy looking at him accusingly, then he realised he still had his wand out. "I haven't a clue," he replied as he got up and walked away. He considered that it was a good thing Harry was almost grown and seventeen. With that kind of power at his disposal, he would be a trial for any parent, even Molly Weasley.

Harry lay there with his eyes closed, listening to Madam Pomfrey accuse Sirius for the blanket's new color, and he smiled. As he heard his godfather walk way, he relaxed his grip on the edge of the blanket and let himself fall back to sleep. Vague images of more pranks on his godfather roamed through his head as he drifted off.

Harry woke for the fourth time that day, though it was really turning into night now. After the dream he had just had, coupled with the conversation with Sirius, he realised he needed to do something, but it was going to be very hard while being stuck in the Hospital Wing. Still, with a little discreet help, he thought he could pull it off. Telling Mrs. Weasley he would be right back, he slowly made his way to the little bathroom attached to the Infirmary. Inside, he closed the lid on the toilet and sat down; he was not going to be able to stand the whole time. "Dobby," he called in a whisper, "come to me, I need your help."

The little elf popped in and Harry quickly put his hand over Dobby's mouth. "Ssh, not a sound". It was great that his godfather had an elf in service as that meant Dobby had to answer to him too, since Harry lived in the same household.

"Dobby, I need you to do something for me and it needs to be done quickly and discreetly. In my dorm room, you'll find a small red velvet bag in the front right corner at the bottom of my trunk. Bring it to me. Oh, and you'll need to whisper 'Ginny is the best' to the lock for the trunk to open. Be sure you lock it again when you're done." Dobby nodded and popped out.

Harry decided that since he was already in the bathroom, he should take care of his needs. Washing his hands afterwards, he looked in the mirror and saw something that surprised him. A quick look showed him a new scar. While not happy about it, he supposed it was a small price to pay to be alive. With a sigh, he sat back down and resumed waiting.

Almost three minutes later, Dobby came back and handed him the bag. "Very good Dobby, you're a great help!" The house-elf beamed. "Now go on back to where you were, and not a word to anyone about this please. They'll find out later." Dobby nodded and left; Harry flushed the toilet. Tucking the little bag under his pyjama bottom's waistband, and then making sure his top covered it, he returned to his bed. Molly Weasley seemed to be none the wiser to what he had just done.

---

Wed Dec 25

Harry saw light from the three quarter moon streaming through the window as he woke up once more. After retrieving his glasses, a glance at his watch showed him it was no longer Christmas Eve. Smiling at that, and feeling a bit stronger, he decided to make a few things happen.

Looking around, he finally saw Mrs. Weasley, who the nurse had let stay because it was the holidays, sleeping on a bed on the other side of Ginny. Grabbing his wand, he shot a Sleeping spell at her and then surrounded her bed with an Imperturbable charm to further ensure she would stay asleep. He put his wand back as he would not be in a hurry anymore. Then he got out of his bed and crawled onto Ginny's, lying on top of the covers, just in case someone else should come in. Next, he thought about what he wanted to do very carefully and sent a transformation spell at the bed across the Infirmary. He watched it turn into a medium-sized Christmas tree. A few more spells added ornaments and a dozen candles. That gave the room a soft warm glow. It was enough to see by, but he also hoped it was not enough to wake Mrs. Weasley when the sleeping spell wore off. Finally, he pulled out the little red bag. Digging a couple of fingers in, he found what he was searching for and hid it in the crease between the bed and his leg, away from Ginny.

With all the preparations complete, he reached down and touched Ginny's cheek. That wonderful feeling came back to him; the feeling that all was as it should be. Focusing on his magic, he sent a small pulse of magic into her as he watched her eyes. Eyes that suddenly popped open and found his looking down at her. She smiled at him and slowly stretched. She tried to move to join him in his half sitting position against the headboard and had trouble making her muscles move, so he reached down and helped pull her up so she could lay her head against his chest and shoulder. "Hi beautiful. It's good to see you again."

"Hi," she whispered back. He watched her swallow several times. "I need water."

"Oh right, sorry." He held out his hand and conjured a glass of water for her, which she greedily drank, sighing in satisfaction when she finished it. He Vanished the empty glass. Harry leaned forward to kiss her, but hesitated when he noticed his mouth tasted funny from just waking up. Sirius had showed him a small spell for occasions just like this. He put his fingers to his mouth and willed the spell. His mouth now felt clean and fresh. He loved magic like this. "Hold still and I'll help you with something," he told her. Putting his fingers to her lips, he did the spell again.

Ginny looked at him in surprise. "Hey, I like that spell. Where did you learn it?"

"It's a Breath Freshening spell that Sirius taught me. I think he mentioned that my father came up with it after a night of drinking. He wanted to make my mum think he hadn't been."

She giggled. "Did it work?"

Harry grinned. "He said it didn't, but it's still a useful spell for getting rid of morning breath."

"Hmm, let's find out," she suggested and lifted her lips to his. Harry bent down slightly to meet her in a kiss. After a few moments they broke apart and she commented, "Yes, it does work wonderfully. You taste slightly minty."

He laughed lightly. "So how are you feeling?"

"Surprisingly well, though I wouldn't mind another nap later. By the way, how did we get a Christmas tree in here?"

"I just transformed the bed over there before I woke you up. I thought we should have one for Christmas, that way the elves will have a place to put our presents."

"Presents? You make it sound like it's Christmas already."

"As of about half an hour ago, it is."

She thought he had to be teasing her, but he did not sound like it. "Seriously? It's Christmas already?"

"Yes, but don't worry about it. I just woke up yesterday morning and this is only my fifth time awake, so I've slept most of the day away too. I'm sorry I didn't have time to get you a present. I was going to do that when I went home after the term ended."

"That's OK, Harry, I haven't gotten you one either, and for the same reason. So we're even," she smiled.

He smiled back at her. "Well, then this is going to be easy." For some reason, he was not the slightest bit nervous; maybe that meant this was the right thing to do. "I've had a little something in my trunk for a few months that I'd like to give you. Your present to me can be accepting it."

"You make it too easy Harry; it doesn't seem fair."

"Oh, it will take a lot to accept it." He reached down and found the little present next to his leg. "Ginevra Molly Weasley," she looked at him strangely for using her full name, "because you make me feel complete and I can't imagine life without you, will you marry me?" He held up his mum's engagement ring in front of her. He noticed her eyes had widened and that she was not breathing. "Ginny?"

"Harry, are you serious?"

"Yes, Ginevra, I've never been more serious about anything in my life, not even the battle we just went through. This was my mum's, but if you don't like it, I'll be happy to buy you one that you do like. So, will you marry me?" He was growing concerned she had not answered.

After a few more seconds, he saw her slowly reach out to slip the ring he was holding over the fourth finger of her left hand. Harry sighed with relief and slid the ring in place. "Yes," she told him as the ring was in position, but she did not say anything more because she pulled his head down and started kissing him. "I can't believe you just did that, but for some reason I can't explain, I know it's the right thing to do. I don't think I would have said it last week, but you too, make me feel complete," she said.

He smiled at her. "Well, it's been a busy week and a lot of things have happened," he joked with her.

Her face suddenly became pensive. "Harry? What happened? Did we win?"

He leaned down and kissed her soundly. "You were magnificent, and yes, Tom is dead for good."

She hugged him tightly. "So what happened, Harry? When I saw you take the Killing Curse for me, I thought you were dead."

"Um no, not really, though I can only guess as to what happened."

A new voice cut into their conversation, "I'd love to hear what happened as well."

They both looked up in shock at being caught like this, though they were not technically doing anything wrong. The Headmaster walked over and sat down on Harry's bed. He was also wearing his dressing robe. "I was about to retire for the evening when I looked out my window and saw a Christmas tree where I hadn't seen one before." He pointed out the window and the teens saw the Headmaster's Tower off to the side. After a moment of silence, he prompted, "You were about to explain what happened at the end? I'm afraid I was so distraught at thinking you were dead, that I didn't pay attention to the situation for a period of time."

"Well," Harry slowly said, "I, uh ... it was like I was dead but I wasn't. Something told me I needed to return to my loved ones. It uh, sounded a lot like what little I've heard of my mum's voice. She also said her love protected me."

Dumbledore's eyes widened and one eyebrow went up. "I see. I'm not sure that explains it well enough though."

"I do have one more clue. I found it yesterday in the bathroom." Harry unbuttoned the top two buttons of his pyjama top and pulled the sides back. The others saw a lightning bolt-shaped scar in the middle of his chest; it matched the one on his forehead perfectly.

"Ah, I believe we can now know what the 'power he knows not' is." Harry looked at him quizzically. "You have resistance to Voldemort's Killing Curse, or at least that's how I'd explain it. I'd theorize you got the power when your mother sacrificed herself for you. So that explains that part. I'll guess that you, Ginny, then took up the fight by yourself?"

"Yes," she admitted. "I was so flaming mad from him killing Harry that I only had one thought on my mind."

"I completely understand, Ginny. But as I also saw you unconscious on the floor, I take it Tom got the better of you?"

"Yes," she answered sadly. "He hit me with a spell like the one the diary did in my first year. It tried to possess me and take my life, to give it to him, I assume."

"And then you woke up, I presume, Harry?"

"Yes sir. I saw Tom gloating over his victory and that Ginny was very still. He had my wand and the only weapon I could think of was my knife. Fortunately, I had planned on having it just in case I needed it."

"As you can see Harry, good planning solves many problems. Now, that point in the story is where I started paying attention again, and I understand everything except for three things. First, I saw you Summon Ginny to you without your wand. I'll assume that was because your shattered knee, which Poppy has expertly repaired, prevented you from going over to her. Was that summons planned or something akin to accidental magic because you wished it hard enough?"

"I did that on purpose sir."

Dumbledore sat up straighter at hearing that. "Would you explain how you did that then?"

"In practicing to become an Animagus, I found I could feel my magic. With some practice, I learned how to control it. Working with a wand is easier and faster because the wand helps me to focus the magic, but I don't really need a wand to do magic in general, at least if I'm not in a hurry and am able to focus on what I'm doing."

"Very interesting, Harry. I think we should talk more about this later. I'm thinking of writing a book on Magical Theory. Perhaps I should get you to help me write it as a co-author."

"Seriously?"

"Quite. Having both of our names on it should also ensure it's an instant best seller," he said with a chuckle. "Now, my second question. You produced another aura after bringing Ginny to yourself. Did you realise that and what happened during that time?"

Just as with Sirius, Harry was not sure how much of this he really wanted to discuss. He supposed a vague answer would be good enough. "No sir, I really have no recognition of when I produce my aura as you call it. I suppose that's when my world seems very focused or narrow, but I'm unaware of it."

"And what happened, Harry?"

"I could see that she was very injured from the spell, so I reversed it."

"Excuse me?" Dumbledore could not believe what he was hearing. He thought he knew the spell that had been used on Ginny. It was very Dark Magic and always fatal unless the caster was quickly killed. While Harry did kill Tom, he had not done so immediately and the boy had said he had reversed the spell, not just stopped it. "You did what?"

"Well, I essentially healed her. I'm not sure I can explain what I did; my magic just did the right thing because I did not want her to die." That was the truth, though maybe not the whole truth, but as much as Harry was going to tell.

"I see. I do hope we get to have several conversations about Magical Theory soon. My last question should be simpler." Even in the low candlelight, his eyes seemed to now have an extra twinkle. "Is that your mother's ring on Ginny's hand?"

Harry laughed at the question; he had been expecting something much harder. "Yes sir, I gave it to her only a few minutes before you got here. It's a little more than a year and a half before we can get married, but I thought I'd let her know how much she means to me now. And to prevent other boys from asking her out."

"As if I'd even give them the time of day," said Ginny, giggling.

The Headmaster chuckled at that as well. "Well, congratulations to both of you. I shall leave then as I really don't want to be here when Molly wakes up, and I must say that I'm quite surprised our conversation didn't wake her. Did you, uh, help with that, Harry?"

Harry reddened slightly. "Yes sir. Just a Sleeping spell and an Imperturbable charm to help with the sound. I'll take it off soon."

"Very good then," Dumbledore told them as he rose. "I look forward to our talks and to see what happens between the two of you. It should be most interesting."

"Sir?" asked Harry, confused.

"What happens with your connection. Aren't you aware of it?" Dumbledore looked at both of them and waited for an answer.

Harry glanced at Ginny who also had a puzzled expression. "I'm afraid I don't. Would you explain what you mean?" he asked.

"I'm not sure what's happening between you, but I can show you what I see. Continue holding hands for a moment." Dumbledore pulled out his wand and waved it in a circle and muttered a word. Darkness came over them as if they were in a closet. Dumbledore's voice cut through the blackness. "Look at your hands."

"Wow!"

"Look at that!"

There was a faint glow where their hands touched, which faded out near their wrists. Dumbledore spoke again. "Let go of each other." They did and the faint glow disappeared and the darkness was complete.

Dumbledore removed the darkness with a "Finite Incantatem". "My glasses helped me to see it in the first place," he explained, rising to his feet. "Good-night."

"Professor?" Harry called before the old man had taken a step. "Since Ginny will be seventeen before we start our last year, are there rooms for married students?"

Dumbledore chuckled at the question. "I wondered if you'd ask me that." Both students blushed slightly. "Yes there are, though they are seldom used. However, that may not be needed for you two."

Harry looked puzzled, but Ginny gasped, quickly understanding what the Headmaster meant. "You don't mean ... I mean, how can you know now?"

The Headmaster smiled at the girl. "I see you understand. If you both work hard and keep up your excellent marks, there's a good chance you both would be picked and so would have both rooms to yourselves, which also have private bathrooms."

Ginny looked at Harry in delight. "No slouching on your schoolwork next term or next year Harry."

"Hey!" he protested. "I have an Outstanding in every class right now except for Potions and History, and I have an Exceeds Expectations in those two."

"That's a good start, Harry, but I'll help you bring those two grades up, and you can help me with Muggle Studies. I want those rooms," she said with determination.

Dumbledore laughed at the two. "Work hard, but no promises right now. Good-night." The Headmaster finally left.

"Harry, I mean it." At that moment, he thought she sounded a lot like Hermione.

"Yes, Ginny," he said, knowing it was the only answer he could possibly give and not get himself hexed. She also sounded like her mother now that he thought about it.

"Very good, Harry. Now what do you think about what Dumbledore said about us?"

"I guess it would explain why you make me feel complete, though I have my own theory on it."

"Oh, explain then, but make it quick; I'm getting sleepy again."

"When I first brought you to me after I'd killed Tom, I couldn't find you."

"But you had me in your arms Harry."

"No Ginny, I mean I couldn't find your essence, what made you -- you. It made me very angry at Tom, as well as frightened at the thought that I had lost you. I'm guessing that's what triggered the aura Dumbledore mentioned. That seemed to give me a power boost or something because I then found you, or whatever fragment was left. I figured out he used the spell like the diary had, though I'm not sure how I knew that. I also figured out that what it had done was drain your magic. The Magical Theory books all say wizards can not live without their magic, so by taking your magic he was killing you."

"Wow, maybe I should read those books too, they sound interesting. So what did you do to me to keep me alive?"

"You remember the discussions about blood transfusions in Muggle Studies?" he asked her.

"Yes, it all sounds barbaric, but it does seem to work for them."

"Well, that's basically what I did for you," Harry explained, "except that I gave you some of my magic, apparently enough that you had the minimum amount to keep you alive and allow you to start to regenerate your own again. You had less magic than I did, so it took you longer to wake up."

"OK, that all makes sense and also explains why I sensed you were all right even though I had thought you were dead. But what does that have to do with this feeling we have? Why are things different now?" she asked.

"The Magical Theory books all say our magic is unique to us, like a fingerprint. My theory is that since you had no magic, when I gave you my magic, you took on my magical fingerprint. So when my magic," he took her hand again and again felt the small feeling of rightness, "touches or connects with your magic, it recognizes the same fingerprint and everything just feels right, or complete."

"Oh, you mean like that e-lek-tricy stuff and completing a cir-cut we talked about in Muggle Studies?"

"I suppose that's a good analogy; at least I can't come up anything better. Not that I want her to know about this, but Hermione might have a better way to put it."

"Hmm, we might have to tell her and Ron anyway. They're going to wonder why we're always holding hands, because I like this feeling."

"Maybe. We'll see. I just want to get out of here and be normal again."

"That sounds nice, Harry. Let's talk about that in the morning. I'm ready to sleep again." She snuggled in closer to him and let his hand go so she could place it on his chest next to her face. That also let her look at her new ring in the dim candlelight. She was going to be Mrs. Harry Potter one day. Ginny closed her eyes and thought about that.

Harry guessed she was all right with sleeping in a partial sitting position. He was comfortable enough with it and he liked her with him anyway. Yes, he thought, I could get used to sleeping with her like this every night. With a wave of his hand, he removed the Imperturbable charm from around her mother and soon drifted off himself.

---

Albus Dumbledore slowly shuffled into his office. The last part of the walk from the Hospital Wing had worn him out again. Poppy had said he had to take it easy for a couple of weeks when she had released him two days ago, but he really had not expected to still be this weak after his heart attack. He amused himself with the thought of flying through the halls as Harry had done over the summer.

Another thought entered his mind, one much more sobering. At one hundred and forty seven years of age, (or was it one hundred and fifty seven? He could never remember), he had a will which had been prepared for quite some time; nevertheless, there were a few other things that ought to be taken care of now so they would be handled his way. That seemed a little more important as he considered a few friends he would never see again. For some reason, Alastor Moody and Hestia Jones had been particularly targeted. Remus Lupin and Nymphadora Tonks had also been hit very hard, but at least those two would recover eventually. He had also watched Dedalus Diggle die, and he had found out later that another Order member, Jonathan Herbert, had also not made it out alive. As sad as that was, he supposed most leaders would have called those a small loss in light of their victory over Voldemort; but then most leaders did not know those people and their families personally.

To get rid of those morbid thoughts, he got on with his tasks and called Frolly the house-elf. After he had sent her on an errand, he picked up his quill and some parchment to make a few lists, as well as to write a few instructions.

Frolly returned about ten minutes later with a number of boxes, several of them filled with potion phials. After the elf left, Dumbledore pulled out his wand and began pulling memories out of his head. Each memory went into a phial, which was corked and a single letter went onto it to categorize the memory. The little glass bottle was then put into the proper box. There was a box for Minerva, which contained not only memories from himself, but some from previous Headmasters that had been given to Dumbledore in this same manner. A smaller box had Ginny's name on it, which had some memories of her various family members Albus thought she would like to see. The final two boxes, and these were bigger than the first two, were marked "Harry (soon)" and "Harry (later)".

Completing that task, he slowly made his way over to his glass display case and pulled out a small slender item and also put it into the box. It would be nice victory present, and a small part of him was also curious to know how it would work for Harry.

Calling Frolly back, he had the elf pull a heavy item out of his cabinet and load it into the fifth and last box, as Poppy also told him not to do any heavy lifting. When that was done, Frolly took all the boxes way. Through a secret door, Albus slowly made his way to his chambers, where he took another potion before slipping into bed. His last conscious thought for the night was that he hoped he had time for those discussions with on Magical Theory with Harry.

---

"HARRY!"

Harry's eyes snapped opened at the sound of his name being yelled. Then he saw Mrs. Weasley sitting on the next bed over glaring at him in the dim early morning light.

Once he realised she was only upset with him and there was no danger, he tried to calm his racing heart. Looking down, he saw Ginny's eyes were open, but she had not moved. Chicken, he thought at her. "Good morning Mrs. Weasley."

"Harry, what are you doing in Ginny's bed?"

"Technically, I'm only on her bed, she's in it, Mrs. Weasley. I did that on purpose. And I'm here because it was easier for us to talk this way last night."

"She's awake?"

"I don't think she was a minute ago, but she is now," he said with a bit of teasing in his voice.

"Mum," Ginny complained, "I was having the most wonderful dream ..." but she never got to finish as her mother had rushed over and squeezed the air out of her in a hug. Harry barely managed to avoid being hit as the woman's arms went around her daughter, it had been close.

Molly let go and moved to the foot of their bed to talk to them, but then she saw Ginny's hand on Harry's chest and her eyes narrowed. "That looks like an engagement ring on your hand, young lady."

Ginny gave a dreamy smile. "Yes, it is. Harry asked me to marry him last night. It's a wonderful way to wake up, don't you think so, Mum?"

"Now Ginny, I know you two like each other, but you've only started dating and you're only fifteen!"

"Mrs. Weasley," Harry jumped in, "I know we've only been dating for about six months, but we've been friends for over five years, so we know quite a bit about one another. And after all we've been through together, we both know it's the right thing to do. But you don't have to worry about us rushing into things; we'll wait until Ginny is seventeen."

"But Harry, neither one of you will be out of school yet. That's not practical, not to mention unwise. I don't have a problem with the two of you getting married someday, but you're still so young."

"You're wrong, Mum," Ginny contradicted her. "Professor Dumbledore said it was possible for us to marry and finish our last year of school here. We do know it is right for us and there is no better choice for either of us."

Molly glared at her daughter for disagreeing with her, and Ginny quickly wilted and ducked her head, but when Molly fixed Harry with the same glare, Harry tranquilly returned her gaze. Molly looked into his eyes and saw calm resolve, and something more, something that appeared to stare right through her as if she was not there. Those were eyes that looked as if they were older than she was. She broke his gaze and turned to her daughter. "You stay right here, I'm going to go get your father to talk some sense into you." She stormed into the nurse's office to use the Floo.

"I can't believe you did that, Harry, you actually out-stared my mum; nobody out-stares Mum."

"I'm not sure what to say, except that after some of the things I've done, I have little fear of people, especially those whom I know wouldn't hurt me anyway. Why are you scared of your mum?"

"Harry, you just saw her temper."

"Sure, but all she did was look at you and yell a little." He thought of the Dursleys for the first time in a long time. "She doesn't raise her hand to hit you or her wand to hex you, so what's so fearsome?"

Ginny thought about that for a moment. "When you put it that way, it does seem like it's nothing to be frightened of. Well, not if you're not in trouble; but if you really did something wrong, she's like the fire of truth burning away the lies. That's scary."

"All right, I understand that I guess, but since I don't consider us to have done anything wrong, and we're not doing anything wrong now, then we have nothing to fear. Right?"

She twisted a little and gave him a quick kiss. "That's another reason I love you, Harry. You seem to have a way of looking at things the way they really are and working out what's important and what's not."

As they continued to sit waiting on her bed, they heard the sound of stomping feet coming from the nurse's office. Ginny felt better about it all now after hearing Harry's perspective.

Ginny saw her mother come back and she did not look as if she had lost any of her motherly concern. On the other hand, her father was carrying Christmas presents and merely looked sleepy. That was a good sign. She watched him deposit the presents under the tree with a few others that were already there.

Her dad came over and stood at the end of the bed her mum had slept in, standing next to his wife. "'Morning Ginny, Harry."

He sounded very normal. "'Morning, Dad."

"Good morning, Mr. Weasley." Harry stood; it seemed the proper thing to do. "Thanks for coming, you saved me a lot of trouble," Harry told him. Ginny stood too, though Harry had to help her up. He put his arm around her waist to help hold her up.

"I did?"

Harry felt he should get this out of the way first, and hope it would defuse the mini-crisis. "Yes sir. I wanted to come ask you for you for your blessing to marry Ginny. It has become clear to both of us that this is the right thing to do, though we both also know we'll need to wait until she's seventeen."

"Well, I thank you for being willing to wait until then, but perhaps we should discuss getting married when you're so young." The man continued to be calm, though perhaps the early hour and lack of caffeine contributed to that.

"Yes sir, I understand, but we are very sure of this. Ginny makes me feel complete and is the only person who can do that, so it seems only right to marry her."

"And Dad, Harry makes me feel complete too, and since he is the only person who can do that, I agree we should get married. Why wait when you've found the only person for you?"

"Ginny, you can't know that, you're only fifteen," her mother objected.

"Mum, when did you know Dad was the right man for you?" her daughter asked.

"I was seventeen, more than a year older than you are now," her mother answered defiantly.

"So why is it a big deal that I figured it out who the right person is for me a year sooner? Would you willingly give up a year of being married to Dad?"

Her mother kept silent, but the answer was on her face as she looked at her husband with love. Her anger was gone now. "I -- I love you both, but I just want to make sure you don't make a big mistake, Ginny."

Harry exchanged glances with Ginny. He turned to her and put his other arm around her waist, and she held onto him. "There is no mistake..."

"...for us..." Ginny continued without a pause.

"...we know..."

"...what is right."

Harry started again, "It is only you..."

"...who makes me..."

"complete." They said in unison. Arthur and Molly looked at each other; it was like listening to the twins who completed each other's sentences, but these two had not grown up together.

Now Ginny was the one who spoke first, "I know that the world..."

"...is right when you're..."

"...with me," they completed in unison and put their foreheads together and closed their eyes. Arthur thought they were experiencing something only they could feel, then he realised they were. He and Molly could see what was happening between the Harry and Ginny -- there was a soft glow around both of them, similar to the aura he had seen during the battle, just not as big or as intense.

Arthur's trance was broken by the sound of the hospital door opening, and he turned to see Sirius, Ron, and Hermione come in. They all stopped walking when they took in the sight in front of them. "What the bloody hell are they doing?" Ron asked.

Harry and Ginny both turned to look at their friends and the glow went away. "We're holding each other, what does it look like we're doing?" Harry thought a dumb question deserved a dumb answer.

"That's not what he meant, Harry," Sirius told him. "You two were glowing. It wasn't much, but it was visible."

The young couple looked at each other and started laughing. "So much for not telling anyone," Ginny teased him.

"Yeah, what was that?" Hermione asked.

Harry shook his head and guessed that the Christmas presents were going to be waiting awhile longer. "Ah, just a minute Hermione, I'm still waiting on an answer to my question." He glanced over to Arthur.

Arthur looked at Molly who seemed to be at a loss for words. He looked back at Harry. "I, uh, I think I see what you mean Harry. You have our blessing, though I believe Molly would prefer you wait until you both finish school."

"Thanks Dad!" Ginny let go of Harry for a moment and hugged her dad, then her mother. Harry shook Arthur's hand, then gave Molly a hug and whispered, "Thank you."

Molly barely returned the hug she was still in shock at seeing her little girl displaying a magical connection like that.

A bark of laughter from Sirius made everyone turn to look at him. "Harry, I was just joking yesterday. I didn't expect you to take me seriously."

"But you're always serious," Harry told his godfather and smirked at the man.

"Ginny, really?" Hermione asked. When Ginny smiled and vigorously nodded her head up and down, the brunette ran to her friend and gave her a big hug.

"What? I know I'm missing something here. What's going on Harry?" Ron asked.

With a grin Harry told him, "You told me once you wouldn't mind having me for a brother. Would me being a brother-in-law be all right?"

Ron looked dumb-struck. "You mean you ... Uh, Ginny and ... Really?"

"Yes Ron, getting married is the right thing for us," his best friend assured him.

"So Harry, what was the glow? Is it like the aura Sirius told us about at the battle?" Hermione asked again.

"Honestly, all we can say is that it has something to do with our magic. I would guess the glow and auras are related, but even Dumbledore doesn't know."

"Harry, since you're answering questions, what happened at the battle? Why did your aura push me away and what did it do to Ginny?" Molly asked him. She appeared calmer to Harry, though still not totally happy.

"I'm sorry, Mrs. Weasley, but again no one knows. I don't know when I'm projecting my aura, or what my aura does to others, and I didn't know we were glowing until you told us. But to answer your last question, at the end, I was trying stop the spell Voldemort hit Ginny with and heal her."

"You can heal?" Hermione asked amazed.

He supposed an answer like the one he gave to Dumbledore would do. "Ah, not specifically. I was just telling my magic what needed to be done and it did it; I wanted to make her better so she wouldn't die and it did the right thing." It was not quite the truth, and not really a lie either, he thought; but it was the version he was going to tell.

"One more, Harry," the matriarch said. "With all the precautions, vows, and people all around, how did you get Ginny there?"

Harry grinned at her. "That was simple, really. I Disillusioned her and we walked slowly. That and the fact that everyone was so busy and not expecting an extra person made it easy to sneak her into the room. Then she just stood very still in the corner behind me until it was time to go. I took the Disillusionment spell off of her one second before we left. As for the Unbreakable Vows which would have been triggered if she'd heard anything, I got around that by making sure she couldn't hear or was standing in an area that didn't let her hear what was going on in the room. The only thing she heard was the Headmaster counting, which wasn't a problem."

Molly looked dumbstruck that he had done that, and Hermione was grinning from ear-to-ear. "That was excellent planning, Harry," his friend told him, "but I don't understand why she was there and we didn't get to go?"

Harry knew why she had asked the question. "I'm really sorry, Hermione, and you too, Ron, that you weren't included in the adventure. It would have been very hard to have included you in without all the special training Ginny and I had. And even if you'd had that, I'm reasonably sure you would have been told you couldn't go."

"You got that right," Sirius agreed. "You kids have to understand that that mission was extremely dangerous. No one except for Snape, whom the Death Eaters did not know was a spy, and Molly, who got there after the major fighting was done, left without any injuries. Even Dumbledore was injured. Harry would not have gone if it wasn't for the Prophecy, and Ginny wouldn't have gone if Harry hadn't blackmailed me."

"I never ..." Harry started.

"OK," Sirius interrupted, "maybe you didn't officially do it, but close enough."

Harry grinned at that. "Hermione, you can go on the next one, but I truly hope all my adventures are done with. I just want to be normal."

"Right Harry, you normal? Not likely, but if you want to try, you should start by opening presents," Ron told him.

"Sure, sounds good to me." Harry was tired of answering questions anyway. One thing caught his attention though, the two of them were the only ones still in pyjamas. Pausing to focus, he put a hand on Ginny's shoulder and transformed her top into a brown sweatshirt to match her eyes, and then touched her waistband and turned her bottoms into jeans. He did the same for himself, except that his sweatshirt was green to match his eyes. When he was done, everyone but Sirius and Ginny were staring at him. "What?"

"You can do wandless magic?" Hermione was incredulous.

Not being able to resist, Harry casually told her, "Sure, can't you?"

Ginny started laughing and the rest joined in. Hermione got embarrassed, but eventually smiled broadly.

Ron passed out the presents, while Harry and Ginny apologized. "Sorry everyone, we haven't had time for shopping."

"Nonsense," Molly replied, "you both have already given us the best present of all: no more Tom Riddle." There were lots of "Hear, hear's" tacked on.

There were the usual jumpers and sweets, all gladly received, but the most interesting gift was from Hermione. When Harry and Ginny opened their presents from her, they both found a book titled, Training to Be an Animagus. Harry looked at Ginny and smiled. She tried to smile back but a small giggle burst out of her instead.

"What's so funny?" Hermione asked. She was a bit hurt. "You told me you were having trouble, so I thought these might help."

"I'm sorry, Hermione," Ginny tried to be apologetic, but she still found the book humorous.

"Ginny, I think we're going need to explain better than that." He winked at her as he put his book down. He thought about what he needed and changed. Ginny changed a split second later.

"L-l-lions?" Ron stuttered.

"Very good, Ron," Sirius sarcastically congratulated him.

"Ginny?" her mother asked, and the lioness gave a small roar.

Harry changed back. "So sorry, Hermione, but we learned to change about three weeks ago. Professor McGonagall told us to keep it secret, but I guess we can register now that the war is over." Ginny pushed at him with her head, so he reached up and scratched the back of it behind her ears. She proceeded to give him a big sloppy lick up his cheek. "Oh gross, Ginny, cut it out," he admonished her.

She changed back too. "But Harry," she told him so sweetly, "you always like my kisses." He just glared at her. "Come on Harry, open your big present," she encouraged him as she also opened her last present.

Harry had one big present left. He ripped off the paper and opened the top. Inside, he saw two medium sized boxes and a small box on top as well as a note. He saw Ginny also reading a note that apparently came with her present, as well as a box of a number of little bottles of silvery stuff. Unfolding his letter, he saw Dumbledore's loopy writing.

Harry,

This is more of a Victory present than a Christmas present,
but think of it as you wish. I have a few possessions I'd like
you to have before I lose the chance to give them to you.
One box has memories and information that will help you in
the near future. The other is for knowledge you probably
won't need for a while, but will be very helpful to you eventually.
You might want to look at a few of the ones marked "F" in the
"soon" box today. The last little present is my congratulations
on a job well done.

A. Dumbledore

At the bottom of the sheet was a chart, where "F" was shown to stand for "Friends and Family".

He looked over at Ginny to see her staring at him. "So what is it, Harry?" Ron asked.

Opening one of the medium sized boxes, he saw a number of little phials with a silvery substance in them, like in Ginny's box. "It looks like a bunch of memories from Dumbledore," he explained.

"Mine too," Ginny chimed in. "He said they were of my family here at Hogwarts."

"That's interesting," Hermione remarked, "but what good are they without a Pensieve? Pensieves are hard to come by and are terribly expensive."

On a hunch, Harry pulled out the boxes on top and smiled when he saw a large item at the bottom of the big box. He pulled it out and set the large stone basin on the floor for everyone to see. "Apparently, the Headmaster thought of that too, Hermione." The girl was speechless.

"Let's try one out," Ginny suggested and grabbed one of hers.

"OK," Harry agreed. "There's an instruction sheet in here I should look at, but I know you need to dump that into the bowl." While she did that, he scanned the sheet. A moment later, he pulled out his wand and tapped the basin. The group watched a picture of the Great Hall come out of top and project itself for their viewing. It was a Sorting Cermony.

Nearly halfway through it, Molly Weasley gasped. "I can't believe this." Arthur Weasley started chuckling.

"What Mum?" Ginny asked.

They watched the next new student, a redheaded girl, be called by Professor McGonagall, "Prewitt, Molly." She went to Gryffindor, and a few minutes later a redheaded boy was called, "Weasley, Arthur," who also went into Gryffindor. They all were amazed.

When that ended, Harry suggested, "One of mine?"

Ginny put the memory back into the bottle and into her box. "I guess we should mark these and index them."

"That is a good idea, Ginny," Hermione agreed, "especially for any that are for knowledge, or so you can come back and watch favorites later." Harry dumped one in and started it.

The scene was again in the Great Hall, and the Headmaster was eating fried chicken that day, as that was on the plate that was being projected. As a fork entered the scene, so did little white flakes that looked a lot like snow. A bark of laughter suddenly came from Sirius. "I remember this day." A very broad smile stayed on his face.

The picture changed as the Headmaster looked up and across the Hall. Snowflakes were descending lazily all over the large room from the rafters. From there, his vision moved first to the Gryffindor table, and then to four Gryffindor boys that appeared to be in their sixth or seventh year. "Those are the Marauders, right?" Harry asked quietly.

"Yes," Sirius told him, though he really need not have answered, as one of the boys could have easily passed for Harry. "And the girl next to him is your mother, Harry." They continued watching the snow fall for a few moments while all the students started laughing and pointing. Suddenly, large amounts of snow fell out of the rafters and onto the tables, as if someone had shoveled a snow drift off. With that much snow suddenly available, the inevitable happened: someone made a snowball and threw it. For the next five minutes or so, they all watched a combination snowball-food fight. When it ended, everyone was laughing. With a smile on his face, Harry put the memory up, but he also did not get any more out.

"More?" Ron asked.

"Later," Harry replied. He realised these could be a two edged sword, and he wanted a bit more privacy to watch them. Perhaps just him, Ginny, and his godfather -- his immediate family, at least until he knew what was in here.

Grabbing the small narrow box, Harry opened it to find a wand. Curious, he picked it up and gave it a wave and a large number red sparks came out the end. On a lark, he handed the wand to Ginny and told her, "Give it a wave and see what happens." She gave it a good wave and also got a large number of red sparks.

"Why does that wand work so well for her?" Hermione asked.

Harry did not answer, but instead handed Ginny his wand to try. She also got a large number of red sparks from it. Before Hermione could ask another question, he suggested, "Why don't you try your normal wand and see what happens now?"

Ginny gave him a strange look, but pulled hers out and gave it a wave too. Now only a few red sparks came out. "What happened? I got a much better response in Mr. Ollivander's shoppe."

"Keep and use the trophy, Ginny," Harry told her, but did not say anything more, not even when Hermione asked him.

They all continued on with Christmas morning; it was a wonderful time for family, both immediate and extended.

As lunch time approached, Arthur left through the nurse's Floo and Molly started conjuring tables and chairs. "What are you doing, Mum?" Ginny asked.

"Setting up for Christmas dinner, dear. I made arrangements with Professor Dumbledore yesterday to have dinner here. The castle elves will be bringing it soon." She seemed to sigh as she created the twelfth chair. "I can't believe I'm not making it this year but since we can't be at home, being together is the best we can do."

Her husband came back in and told her, "Four more are coming the long way. I'll go get the last one." He left the Hospital Wing through the double doors.

"What does he mean 'the long way'?" Ron asked.

"They aren't cleared for the Floo, dear, so they're having to Apparate to the gates and then fly to the castle," the matriarch explained. "Boys, would you please move those two beds over? I think we need a little more room around the table."

As Harry and Ron moved a few of the hospital beds over, the elves started popping in with trays of food. Molly, Ginny, and Hermione helped relieve the little creatures of their burdens and thanked them for their help. Just as Molly was satisfied everything was in place, the double doors opened and the five missing Weasley brothers and Mr. Weasley all walked in.

The second oldest son was there too, and Ginny ran to him with open arms. "Charlie, I'm glad you could make it again."

"Well, sis, it is Christmas. I'll be here for a couple of days before I have to go," the dragon handler told her. "So how is my famous sister doing?"

Ginny blushed and let him go. "Fine, I'm ready to go home but they won't let me."

Everyone laughed. "If that's anything like Harry's fine," Ron spoke up, "you'll be here for a least another week." Everyone laughed harder.

"Let's eat," Molly called and everyone started taking a seat. Arthur took one end of the table and Molly took the other. Harry and Ginny sat beside each other as did Ron and Hermione. The rest of the brothers and Sirius took the first seat they could find.

As conversations started with the food being passed around, Harry noticed no one was antagonistic towards Percy, but he was not quite as warmly included either. He shook his head and wondered how long it would take before Percy was completely accepted again.

It was not long until Ginny reached to grab her goblet for a drink with her left hand. When she did, she heard an, "Oh ho! Ginny! I gave you those great quills for letters, and while you have written me, you seem to have left out the most important piece of news," Bill accused her. Those in the know started smiling.

"What?" Charlie asked.

"Look dear brother," George pointed at Ginny's left hand.

"Yes, we're about to get a black-haired Weasley," Fred finished.

"How did that happen, do you suppose?"

"Perhaps more importantly, when did that happen?"

"Yes, Ginny," Bill jumped back in, "when did this happen?" He looked at her very accusingly.

She smiled at him then looked at her other brothers before answering. "This morning. Would you like me to write you a letter about my best Christmas gift?"

"But Ginny," Bill started and because he was the oldest felt like he had to say, "you're only fifteen." Her mum looked very pleased at the point being made.

"That's true, Bill," Harry told him, "but there's nothing that says I can't make my reservation early and then wait for a year and a half for the wonderful event."

Bill looked gobsmacked, while Charlie started chuckling. Percy's mouth twitched slightly, while the twins joined everyone else in a full out laugh. "No ... I suppose not, Harry," Bill finally got out. He studied the young hero for a moment as if judging him before he smiled warmly. "More mashed potatoes, Harry?"

The sun was going down and the sky was coloured with multiple shades of reds and purples. Ginny was looking out the window when Harry came up behind her and wrapped his arms around her. "Whatcha thinking about, Ginny?"

"Getting out of here. I want to go to the Burrow; I miss it. Madam Pomfrey said we can't go until tomorrow."

"How about first thing in the morning?"

"That sounds good because I'm enjoying feeling you hold me right now." She gave him a light laugh. "Your arms feel so good, I like all the weight lifting you've done." He laughed at her. "I'm serious Harry, don't stop." He agreed to keep working out. "So what are you thinking about?" she asked.

"I'm just imagining you with black hair."

"Why? I thought you liked my hair."

"I do," he told her, "but what if we have a daughter that looks like you but has my hair?"

"That's a fun thought. What if we have a boy that looks like you but has red hair?"

"That could be interesting too."

"Can we have several of each?" she asked hopefully.

He laughed, "As many as you like."

"You're OK with a big family? I know you didn't grow up in one."

"I know, but the only place I've ever been completely happy is when I'm with your family," he told her.

"Thank you, Harry." She twisted around in his arms to hug and kiss him.

Arthur and Molly stood and looked at the young couple from across the room. "They look happy together," he pointed out.

"They do, don't they? Oh look, Arthur," she quietly said, "they're starting to glow again."

"I know I'm not in Dumbledore's league, but I do believe that indicates something specific."

"Like how the feel about each other?"

"Yes, or maybe how much they love each other. They only seem to do that when they lose themselves in each other. Maybe we should let them get married sooner."

"No Arthur, absolutely not. A year and a half from now is soon enough."

Arthur was not going to argue now that he had gotten Molly to that point, but he wondered if Harry could convince his wife if he really tried. But whatever Harry did, Arthur was sure Harry would find happiness with Ginny.

---

(A/N: This was the original end to my story. However, my pre-beta GinnyMarie, talked me into an epilogue. Therefore, you get one more chapter to see how the famous couple deals with their new situation, a few family moments, and how they start off the rest of their life.)