Disappointment Chapter Twenty Five
Harry and Dobby got settled and Dobby asked him, "What do we do next Harry?"
"Well, I suggest we go out and find us something to eat. I don't know about you, but I'm starved. What say we go to the Leaky Cauldron and get us something?"
"If that is what you want, then let us go." and Dobby grabbed Harry's hand and whisked him off to Diagon Alley and then they walked to the Inn. It was not packed, but there were a number of people there and they cheered Harry when they saw him. Harry raised his hand to them for acknowledgment. They took a seat in the middle of the room, just to say to everyone 'thank you' for their support.
Tom walked to their table and took their order, but had something to say to him first, "Mr. Potter, my niece told me about you in school and I have to tell you that standing up to Dumbledore was a very brave thing. You see, most people believe he was the one who trained you to defeat the dark lord. Hannah told me you had nothing to do with him, until the end. No one else would have the nerve to say no to him.",
"Actually, he was the easiest part of my time in school, so far. We have managed to patch things up after we beat Tom, which was Voldemort's real name by the way. It seems all he wanted to do was tell me a few things about him so that I was prepared. Now, we can have a conversation without having to bring up Tom."
"Didn't need to know all that, but since you told me, how about Tom's special for dinner. Don't get the house special as it has been the same thing for three straight days. It's usually for those too drunk to care what they eat. My special is a nice juicy steak, smashed potatoes, corn, gravy and bread with a drink"
"Sounds great Tom, we'll have two, please."
"Sure thing. How are you Dobby, it's been awhile since I last saw you."
"I be fine sir, thank you. Harry Potter has treated me good."
"I was wondering why you were with Mr. Potter. How did you get away from Lucius?"
Dobby just nodded his head towards Harry, telling Tom what he needed to know. Tom was smiling a huge smile as he walked back towards the kitchen to order their food.
Harry talked with those around him who were either finished or still waiting for their food. He was happy to see it was just friendly chatter and not them asking him about the final battle. He even had a young girl come up and ask for his signature. He pulled out a ten pound note and signed it for her. She was giggling all the way back to her seat as she showed it to every one she passed.
Tom brought the food out once it was done and told Harry it was on him this time. He could pay for the next one. Harry shook his head in submission and thanked him. He would be sure to leave a healthy tip for him.
Harry and Dobby weren't bothered while they ate and they enjoyed the meal, and when they were done, he waved to them all and said "Good night everyone." and he received so many goodbyes it made his head spin. But it was the hug and kiss he got from the young girl he gave his signature to that was the best moment.
When they got back, they found Sirius and Tonks sitting there waiting for them. "Well, now, isn't this a pleasant surprise. How long have you been waiting?"
Tonks answered him, "Not long really, about fifteen minutes. I was supposed to be in session this morning, but they have canceled sessions for the time being due to the change in personal since you took away their leader. Must be around forty or fifty jobs vacated. Now they will be searching for replacements for the next two weeks and I will be without something to do until they reconvene. So, what to do?"
"Did I do that?" Harry laughed.
"Yes, you bloody well did you sot. So now you have to find me something to do, to keep me from going starkers of boredom."
"There's always Remus? He is free also and may be looking for something to do. Unless you don't want to do anything with him?"
"Put a sock in it Potter. I'll let you know when you can talk about relationships. But, just to let you know, we already have made plans, and no Sirius, I am not going to talk to you about them. I told dad and mum, and they are all that need to know."
"Hey, I wasn't going to say a word. Last I knew you were twenty six and able to take care of yourself. But I do need to warn you of Moony's overbite. It is quite contagious. Of course that only happens once a month and he usually likes to be alone when that happens, so you should be safe. However, you Harry are in need of some help if I am to understand you correctly" Why you need me to help you with this is beyond me, as I was always in trouble because of my wayward ways. Your mum was on to me constantly when we were in school. I was the exact opposite of you. Unless you want to become just like I was?"
"And if I do?"
"What the fuck are you saying Harry? Are you trying to tell us you want to become a womanizing man whore?" Tonks screamed.
"Well, maybe not that bad, Tonks, but he may be able to help me get over my fear of women. I know I'm alright around Hermione and Luna, but Ginny scares to magic out of me. How do I get passed that?"
"And you think my idiot cousin can help you with that? Why would you even think that? Do you see him sitting here with a woman in his arms? No, because no woman worth her weight would be found dead with him."
"Hey, I'm not that bad anymore. Why Amelia even talked civil with me in the ward. Minnie thanked me for the help I gave in the Ministry. I'm am to receive a letter from the Ministry for it as well. Of course they have to wait until they find a new Minister, but I'm in no hurry."
"I never said you were absolutely no good, I said you were a womanizing man whore. They can be nice at times as well. Honestly Harry, your problem is, you let Ginny get under your skin. You say things that are dumb, and she knows you're not dumb, so it infuriates her. You make promises that you don't keep. You tell her you try to to get to know her then don't see her for weeks at a time. She is beginning to feel you do not want in a serious relationship with her or anybody else."
Harry was quiet for a bit, then opened up, "Maybe she's right. I have never felt this way about anyone and I don't know how to handle it. And now, since the fight, everything has changed inside me. I find it hard to not think about things and my magic is suffering because of it. Even my eyesight changed. I don't need these glasses any more, yet I find it hard to get rid of them. It's like they are a part of me that I don't want to lose. You know, like it is part of my identity, like my scar. Which by the way, if you notice, it is getting less obvious, like it's fading."
"Well, it served it's purpose and is not needed any more, so it's leaving you. I would think you want it gone, though." Sirius spoke out.
"I kind of got used to it, as it did make me stand out. How will people recognize now, if it goes away?"
Sirius picked up a poker from the fireplace and transfigured it to match Harry's scar at the tip, sort of like a branding iron, "Tell you what, why don't I just burn a new one on your forehead? Or, if you would rather, we could use some make up of Tonks to give you a fake one?"
Harry backed away from him and looked right to Tonks, who was laughing so hard she was doubled over. "What, you think that's funny? I think he was serious."
Sirius and Tonks slapped hands when Harry said that and then Sirius said, "Of course I'm Sirius, Who did you think I was? Tonks and I have been planning that for over a week now and didn't know if we would ever get the conversation going in the right direction. We must have thought of about a hundred different ways, but never thought it would be your scar that would do it."
Harry dropped down in a seat and said, "HaHa, very funny. You should have spent you're time on something else that was worth while. Now, if you could stop laughing for a minute, Tonks, do you know who they are going to put in place as Minister?"
It took a second to catch her breath then answered, "I put the suggestion in for Amelia, since she was the one who gathered all the Ministry workers to counter Voldemort. She even lead the attack, with Sirius' help. Poor Arthur was the first one hit, entering the hall, followed by Amelia and Sirius."
"How do you know all this? Were you there?"
"Of course I was there. Did you think I would let my boss fight and not be there to help. The trouble was, I got cut off from going to help you and was fighting someone else."
"Who did you end up fighting?"
"My Aunt Bella. Boy, talk about a tough old broad. She had me on the end of my rope a number of times, but I was able to fight back. Finally she did something really stupid. She asked me how my Beastiality was coming along. That was too much for me to bear, and I went into beserker mode. I kind of tore her up, if you know what I mean. That would have been the moment you and Voldemort set the barrier up to keep everyone out. Who did that really? Was it you or him?"
"It must have been him, as all I wanted to do was finish it. I already told everyone he was mine and for no one to interfere. After I threw him out of head, he was so weak, it was nothing for me to defend against his attack. Even his AK wasn't up to his usual intensity and was just strong enough to kill the Horcrux in my head. From there on, it was all me taking care of business."
Tonks straightened up after that and asked, "So, are we going to talk about the fight for the rest of the summer, or are we going to address your problem. It seems to me that your problem is, you don't know how to act around girls other than Hermione and Luna. Now why can you talk with those two so easily?"
"Because they are friends. I have been around them since the start of school. Of course Hermione is a year above me, but we got along great."
"So, you're not friends with Ginny, then?"
"Of course I'm friends with Ginny, but I want more than that from her."
"Still doesn't tell me why you can't talk to her if you're friends? It has to be more than that. Come on Harry, tell us what goes through your mind when you're around her that doesn't go through your mind when you're around Hermione and Luna?"
"That's just it, I don't know what to think when Ginny is around me. She scrambles my brain until I can't think straight."
"But why do you let her bother you like that?" Sirius asked.
"I DON'T KNOW!"
Tonks took Sirius to the side of the room farthest from Harry and whispered in his ear. He looked up shocked at her. "It's illegal?" he whispered back.
"I know it is, dummy, but we have to help him and we can't if we don't know whats troubling him."
"You're scaring me Tonksie. You're beginning to sound like James and me when we were at our worse. But I like how you think, so I say what they don't know won't hurt us."
"Good, now take Harry to the kitchen and get us something to drink, and I'll do what needs to be done."
"Hey Harry, how about helping me get us something to drink, while Tonksie figures out what is going on with you?" and he pulled Harry with him to the kitchen.
Once inside the kitchen, Harry stopped Sirius, "You didn't need me to get us something to drink, so what's going on?"
"Patience, Harry. She has a plan that will hopefully work. If it doesn't then it's back to the drawing board."
When they walked back into the room, Harry wasn't expecting to see what he saw. There before him stood Ginny Weasley. "Tonks, why are you pretending to be Ginny?"
"I'm not Tonks Harry, it's really me, Ginny. She said you needed to talk to me, so here I am."
"Look, Tonks, this is no time for games."
"So, you still don't believe me, Harry. This I why we can't be around each other. We can't believe anything we say or do about each other. I knew it was a mistake to come here. Bye Harry." and she walked to the floo, ready to leave.
"Wait. If it is really you Gin, then please stay. If it is really you Tonks, then continue with your plan. Either way, I'm ready to get this started. "
"Then talk to me Harry." Ginny wanted to shout at him.
It began all too soon and Harry's mind became scrambled with thought as he tried to find the right words. Even if he found the right ones, he couldn't get them out as they got lost between his mind and his mouth. Sweat began to form on his brow.
Ginny saw this and decided it was time to act, "IMPERIOUS!" and Harry's face went blank. "Now Harry, I want you tell me exactly what you're thinking."
"Why am I having so much trouble talking to Ginny? Why can't I just tell her I love her? What is she doing to me?"
"Well, what do you want to tell her?"
"That I love her. That I can't see me with anyone else but her. That she brightens up my day when ever I see her walk into a room."
"Why are you finding this so hard to do, Harry?"
"Because I have never felt this way about anyone before. It confuses me when I try to think about something to say to her."
"Well then Harry, I want you to think about this for a minute, then when I wake you up, I want you to call her over the floo and ask to see her as soon as she is free of what she is doing."
"I can't. She doesn't want to see me, that was why I took that oath. I'll lose my magic if I get near her. I had to do it so I could go against Voldemort with my magic. Besides, something stopped me from ever being able to talk to her on even a friendly basis."
"How do you mean?" Tonks was getting interested in this new statement.
"Well, I would be fine with her, until we stated to talk, then my magic would begin to churn my stomach. It would then move up to my mind and fog everything up. I knew it wasn't right, but I also didn't know how to explain it. I would start to say something, then make an excuse to leave before saying it. Or better yet, something would come up and need me to leave. Tonks was biggest help there."
"Is this feeling still bothering you?"
"I don't know. I haven't been able to test it out. I Can't until Ginny tells me it is alright to talk to her."
"Alright then, I guess we will have to do the talking for you initially, to see if she is willing to talk with you. If she does, then it is up to you to straighten things out. Does that sound good to you Harry?"
"Yes Gin."
"Wait, if you think I am Ginny, then why can't you talk to me?"
"Because you aren't Ginny, are you? Only Ginny has that hold on me. If you were Ginny, I would have lost my magic long ago."
"Bloody hell kid, no wonder you are getting things done in the Ministry. Even when you're under a spell, you know things no one else does. Do you know who I really am?"
"Tonks, I would assume. I don't know many people who relish using the Polyjuice Potion. I guess I knew when I first saw you after leaving the kitchen. I didn't say anything because I really want to know what my problem is."
"Well Harry, I think Ginny will have a lot to do with your answer. I think it is time to see if she will talk to you. Since you're afraid of what your vow might do to you, I'll call her and see if she is willing to talk." and she went to the floo.
Harry and Sirius sat and watched as Tonks was in the floo for a long time before she came out. She turned to Harry and said, "She said she is willing to talk, but she will think about when and where. It is too soon after the end of the school year and she wants to enjoy some of the summer before you spoil it for her. She also said not to worry if it's not too soon. Like she said, she wants to enjoy her summer."
Harry knew it wasn't going to be easy for him and Ginny just proved his theory. Not that he was upset. In fact once he thought about it, he felt it was probably for the better. Now he could ask Tonks to repeat her performance as Ginny so he could get used to talking to her. Even though he knew who it truly was, just seeing Ginny there made it feel better. Tonks agreed to once week for her performance. She still had the Wizengamot to deal with during the day and some evenings.
Then Remus returned to the scene, and Tonks became even more scarce since He was taking her out to dinner as often as he could, trying to build on their own relationship. His salary from the school had built up his Banking and now he was getting to enjoy spending some of it.
Harry did have some visitors during the summer, like Draco, Neville and Ron. Ron was there mostly to tell him about the twins progression in their business. He finally got Harry to promise to visit them soon. Draco and Neville talked to him about their own progression in their relationships. This only made Harry more depressed than he already was.
To make up for this, he finally made his visit to Fred and Georges business and when he got there, he saw a young lady behind the counter filling the shelves with sacks and other things needed for her job as cashier. Harry approached and asked to see Fred or George.
"Who can I say is visiting? My name is Verity, by the way."
"Hello Verity, just tell them it's their business partner, if you will."
"I don't know of any business partner, so I will need your name."
Harry was about to answer her when he heard his name called out, "Harry, about time you made it over here to see us. Verity, I would like you to meet Harry Potter, our business manager. And what ever you do, don't go crazy over him." George replied.
Verity looked back at Harry, with a tear in her eye, "I'm sorry for not recognizing you, and thank you for what you did." and that was all she said.
"Believe me when I say, it was more for me, than for everyone else. I just wanted to get out of there alive." and he joined George behind the counter and walked with him back to where Fred and Lee were. Fred and Lee saw Harry and jumped to greet him.
They all sat down and began to talk. Lee didn't have much to say, but the twins did. They told him about the hard time Ginny was having. She tried to enjoy herself, but it just wasn't happening. They also told him that she wanted Harry to sweat for a time before they talked, but it was taking it's toll on her as well. This made Harry feel bad, since it was him hurting her again, but Fred saw this and corrected him, "Listen mate, she is doing this to herself, but I think I may know of a way to get her out of it. Wait here, while I go make a call." and Fred left for their floo.
When he returned, it was with Ginny at his side. Ginny saw Harry and turned to leave when Fred grabbed her arm and pulled her into the room. He got her to sit down and then he took Lee and George out of the room and left Harry and Ginny alone.
Harry knew he couldn't start the conversation and Ginny didn't want to start one, so there was a long silence. Finally Ginny got tired of the wait, "Well, aren't you going to say anything?"
He was afraid of his first words so he just said, "Do you want me to say something?"
"What kind of a stupid question is that? Of course I want you to say something. Isn't it you who wanted to talk to me?"
"Yes, but you never said to me you wanted to hear what I had to say. It had been over a month since Tonks asked you and I didn't know if you really wanted to talk to me or not."
"Oh, that damn bloody vow. You stupid idiot, why did you ever make that. It could have killed you."
"No, it wouldn't have killed me, but it would have taken my magic and then Voldemort would have killed me."
"Same bloody thing isn't it? Now why did you make it?"
"The truth is, you were messing up my thinking, filling my head with thoughts. This was disturbing my type of magic. I needed that if I had any hope of beating him. The only way I saw to make sure I had it was by threatening to lose it somehow, thus making my resolve much harder. I saw where you were starting to get upset with my reaction around certain people and when you began to tell me to stick up for myself, I saw where you were concerned about me. I used that as a focal point for my vow. You have to know I knew nothing about relationships or how to start one, continue one and how to build on one. I was alone for six years and for five years I was treated like a slave. There was no love in my life. Now before you go off on me and saying what about Hermione and Luna, You have to know I love them, but it was not like I wanted to run off and marry one of them."
"Are you telling me you want to run off and marry me then?"
"Yes, NO? I don't really know what I want from you. Do you see what you do to me. I can't say anything right. I only upset you when I do say something. I'm sorry, I knew it would turn out like this." and Harry stood up to leave, when Ginny did like Fred did to her and grab Harry's wrist and had him to sit back down.
"Can I say something now?"
"I wish you would, because I can't."
"OK. Now to begin with, we have both been idiots about this whole thing. I didn't understand you and you couldn't talk to me. You're right, I was upset at you for not standing up for yourself, but it was Luna that showed me what you were doing to Dumbledore. She also told me that Snape didn't do anything to you or try to do anything. She showed me where he wanted to ask you about someone and that was all. Dumbledore wanted to control you for his own purposes. He became frustrated and concerned when you continued to refuse his attempts. She also showed me where you tried to see me when you said you would, but your magic concerned you more so you looked for ways to miss our meetings. Your explanation confirms what she told me."
"So, now where do we stand?"
"I don't know, you tell me?"
"What would you say if I told you I like you, a lot?"
"I would say that was a good start, as I like you too."
"Then I would say I would like to start over again and maybe even ask if you would go out with me for a date?"
"I would say that sounds good."
"OK then, Ginny Weasley, will you go out on a date with me?"
"I would love to Harry Potter." and that started it all for Harry and Ginny's relationship, up until they got married several years later.
A/N: Well, I hope I calmed a few of you down somewhat. Harry and Ginny finally got together and stayed that way until they married. I tried to keep the angst going for as long as I could to keep the story interesting. As you all know I make it difficult in most of my stories for Harry and Ginny to get together and this was the worst. I used the problems you showed in your reviews to build on my story and make it harder to take.
To make up for this one by creating a lighter one, with a full family for Harry and a better off Weasley family. I believe it will be called the Adventures of Harry and Dobby. Be looking for it on you local bookshelf in the near future. As always, Ollie the Keeper.