Ginny woke hours later. She started in shock as she turned over and saw the Basilisk skeleton. She felt dirty; wanted a shower. She wondered how she was going to get out of here. Last time Fawkes had carried her and Harry out.
Thinking of Fawkes made Ginny think of Dumbledore. Where had he been for that last confrontation with Tom? Had he let them down again? She needed to get out of here, she wanted answers, but how?
"Dobby!" she called.
POP. "Harry Potter's Miss Wheezy, what are you doing down here? Us house elves don't even come down here," said Dobby, glancing fearfully around.
"Dobby, can you get me out of here, please?" asked Ginny.
Dobby nodded and disappeared with her. When Ginny looked around, she was back in Moaning Myrtle's toilets.
"Thanks Dobby. Are you and the house elves all okay?" she asked.
Dobby nodded. "Missy Luna come and took us with them to Hogsmeade. Some chose to stay. Sadly, we lost some house elves."
"I'm sorry, Dobby. Perhaps we can have a funeral for them, here at Hogwarts. We can ask Professor Dumbledore," said Ginny.
Dobby looked at her sadly. "Professor Dumbledore is no more. He passed, last night."
"Oh," said Ginny. "What's the time?"
"It is half past two in the morning, Missy Wheezy," smiled Dobby.
"Thanks for all your help, Dobby. I don't know what's going to happen with the castle, but I'm sure Sirius won't mind if you want to stay with us," offered Ginny.
Dobby's eyes widened and filled with tears. "You is be letting Dobby live with you while the castle is being repaired?"
Ginny nodded.
Dobby smiled happily. "Thank you, Harry Potter's Miss Wheezy. Dobby happily accepts."
Ginny smiled back. "Good, now...Hedwig?"
Hedwig flew around Ginny, nipping at her hair before landing on her shoulder. "I know, I'm going to see him right now. Dobby, where is Harry?"
Dobby stared at the beautiful owl, and Hedwig stared back. Together, they accepted the love they both had for Harry Potter. "Harry Potter, defeater of the terrible Dark Lord, is wakening in the hospital wing."
Hedwig immediately flew off. "Hey, you could wait for me?" called Ginny.
"Would Harry Potter's Miss Wheezy like Dobby to take her there?" asked Dobby.
"Thank you, Dobby, but I think I'll walk. I'm sure Hedwig would like some time with Harry," said an amused Ginny. "Oh, and Dobby, please call me Ginny."
Dobby bowed. "Yes, thank you, Harry Potter's Ginny." He disappeared.
Ginny chuckled. With Hedwig's protectiveness over Harry, and Dobby's devotion, life was sure to be interesting.
Harry stirred in the hospital wing. He glanced over, all the beds were full. Sirius and Emmy sat in chairs close by him, their hands linked. Where was Ginny?
Hedwig flew in to the hospital wing. Harry smiled as she flew around, before coming to sit on his bed. "Hey girl."
Hedwig hooted back to him. "I'm fine. I'll be up soon. Have you seen Ginny?"
Hedwig bobbed her head up and down, then hopped closer. Harry brought his hand up to stroke her soft plummage. "We did it, girl. We made it through. I couldn't have done it without you."
Hedwig hooted in agreement. Harry smiled at her. "I wish Hagrid was here." He paused to remember his friend.
Harry stroked her again. "So, I don't know what's going to happen now. Guess we'll go back to Grimmauld Place,make some plans. Maybe we'll go on a holiday, the three of us, what do you say? Somewhere tropical. You'd like the sun, wouldn't you?"
Hedwig hooted, waking Sirius up. "Hey, what...Hedwig? Harry, how are you feeling?" he asked.
Emmy stirred too. Harry shrugged. "I'm okay. Where's Gin?"
Emmy and Sirius sat up, stretching and yawning. "Dunno. She'll be around here somewhere. We'll go and look."
Harry struggled to sit up. A pain in his chest stopped him. He looked down to see yet another scar on his body. "That's where the Killing Curse struck you," said Sirius.
Harry sank back against the bed. The reality of what he'd done hit him. He looked to Sirius. "You know I had to, don't you?"
Sirius nodded sadly.
"Where's Ginny? I need Ginny," said Harry.
"Stay there. We'll find her," said Emmy, in a soothing voice. She took Sirius' hand and led him out.
Hedwig hooted, ruffling her feathers at him. "You're mad at me? I had to do it, Hedwig. There was no other way."
Hedwig hooted in disapproval and took to flight. "Hey, don't leave me. Hey, can you go find find Gin for me?" he called.
She dipped one of her wings. If Harry didn't know better, he'd think she was giving him the finger.
Ginny made her way slowly down the corridor as she headed to the third floor. She didn't know what to say to Harry. She wanted to fling her arms around him, and get away from everything and everyone, but she knew she couldn't; they wouldn't.
She was engrossed in her thoughts, and almost didn't hear the shallow rasps as she passed a classroom. She stopped to listen. There it was again. Spotting blood on the floor, she took her wand out and entered cautiously.
"Hello?"
She heard a faint knock on the door she had just opened. She peered around behind it and gasped. There was Professor Snape, gasping for breath. She hurriedly shut the door, kneeling beside him, careful to avoid the large puddle of blood. It looked like he had dragged himself in there.
She ran her wand over him, slowly, then almost desperately. "Epsikey. Episkey," she called.
His hand stilled her wand. "Too late," he said, in between breaths.
"No," said Ginny, waving her wand again. "Reparo. No, don't you die. You, Dumbledore. You owe Harry answers. If you die, Harry will somehow blame himself I won't let your deaths be on his conscience. Episkey."
Snape's hand rested on hers again. "Stop...no time...get me something..." He used his fallen wand to draw memories from his mind.
"Accio flask," said Ginny, in tears. She tried to hold it steady as Snape poured his memories into it. When he was done, he dropped his wand, placing his hand over hers to keep it steady as she fastened the lid.
"Seeing you...with him...was like reliving...Lily and James. Not ...as painful...this time," he rasped.
"Shut up. Help! I need help," cried Ginny. She cast her Patronus, stunned when a silver doe erupted from her wand.
"You love him...as I loved her...," said Snape, his eyes intense as he watched her doe Patronus race away gracefully.
Ginny sobbed, nodding her head. "Help. Please!" she yelled in desperation. She didn't want to be here for Snape's end, not alone.
"Say it," demanded Snape, his voice gurgling as his lungs filled with blood.
Ginny thought she heard the sounds of footsteps running down the hall. "We're in here!" she yelled.
"Say it," said Snape, his voice fainter as life left his body.
"I do. I love him, will love only him. For eternity," she told him.
Snape nodded in approval. "For always," he said, as he crossed from life to another.
Ginny put her head down and sobbed. She honestly didn't think she had any tears left in her, and she wondered if Snape even deserved her tears.
She stayed with him for minutes, trying to decide what to do. Finally, Professor Mcgonagall came, alerted by her Patronus. She glanced in horror at Snape. She could see Ginny was almost in shock. She gently told her to go find Harry. Ginny gladly left. When she came to the stairs, instict told her to go down, not up.
She walked into the Great Hall. A lot of wizards were there, seemingly agitated. Charlie, Bill, Hermione. Remus and Tonks, Sirius and Emmy. Harry.
"Where could she be?" asked Harry, desperately. His body ached and he needed answers, but he needed Ginny more.
It was Tonks that spotted her. "Ginny," she cried.
They all surrounded her, but she had eyes only for Harry. The others gave them some space. "Hey," said Harry, drawing his knuckles down his cheek."I've been worried."
"Me too," said Ginny.
He drew her into his arms. "You okay?" he asked, kissing the top of her head.
Ginny thought about it. "No. Not really."
Harry pulled back, his forehead meeting hers. "I know, me either. Listen, I'm going to stay at the castle a bit longer. Why don't you go back to Grimmauld Place, shower, rest. I'll be there soon."
Ginny nodded, glad to have a reprieve from discussing everything that had happened. "Okay," she said.
Harry frowned. This wasn't like Ginny. She turned to leave, but he pulled her back. "You sure you're okay?" he asked her.
"I wasn't the one who took the Killing curse," she said, pressing a flask into his hands before turning away. She walked over to Emmy. "Can I go home to Grimmauld Place?"
Emmy exchanged worried looks with Sirus and Harry. "Of course. Want some company?"
Ginny nodded.
"Think I'll come too," said Tonks. She shot Harry a comforting look. "We'll catch you lot later."
The three walked to the floo and went home.
"Gin, are you-" began Emmy.
"I need a shower. I'm filthy," said Ginny, as she went upstairs. Tonks and Emmy watched her go with worried eyes.
Harry watched Ginny leave with worried eyes. She was numb. He looked down at the flask she'd pressed into his hands. He opened it, showing it to Sirius and Remus.
"They look like memories. You'll need to view them in a Pensieve," said Sirius.
"Why would Gin give me memories?" asked Harry.
Sirius shrugged. "Dumbledore had a Pensieve in his office. Don't know if it's still there."
"Where was Dumbledore last night?" asked Harry.
Sirius and Remus looked shocked. "You didn't know? He died, from an old curse. You know that Horcrux ring. We reckon he slipped it on, and it activated a curse. Pomfrey reckons he's been slowly dying ever since."
"So he didn't even make it the final confrontation?" asked Harry. "Fuck! So who was supposed to kill old Snake face?"
"Any of us," said Sirius. "Did you hear, Nev took out Bellatrix AND her husband."
"Good on him," said Harry, knowing what that must have meant to Neville.
"Did you hear about the Weasleys?" asked Remus. Harry's grin faded at his solemn tone. He shook his head.
"They lost Molly and Ron. Ginny and I were there when it happened," said Remus.
"Fuck," sighed Harry. He thought of Ron, his first friend his own age. The fun times they'd had together, before all the other shit went down. He remembered Molly almost smothering him in food when he was at the Burrow. She was the closest he had ever had to a mother. He sighed again. "Poor Gin."
Professor Mcgonagall came over to them, with Neville. "Gentlemen, we've just discovered Professor Snape's body. It's in a classroom on the second floor, behind the door. He bled out. There was nothing Miss Weasley could do."
"Ginny? She was with him?" asked Harry. He looked down at the memories in the flask. "Professor Mcgonagall, may I go to Professor Dumbledore's office. I need to see if he has a Pensieve I can use."
Mcgonagall nodded. "Go ahead, Potter."
Harry came out of the Pensieve in a daze. It was like hearing a commentary of his life, from Snape's perspective. Snape, almost crying as he confessed he had heard most of the prophecy and told the Dark Lord. He then begged Dumbledore to get Lily and her boy to safety. Snape, asking Dumbledore if he was sure Sirius was the one to betray the Potter's location. Snape, worried about reports from Arabella Figg over the Muggles treatment of Harry.
Snape, hating him because he looked so much like his father. Snape, hating Neville because if he had been the Chosen One, his Lily would still be alive, happy, even if it was with James Potter.
Snape, being told the full prophecy by Dumbledore and that Harry would try and get it from the Department of Mysteries. He instructed Snape to let Voldemort know.
Snape, concerned about Harry's friendship with Ginny. Dumbledore assuring Snape that Ron and Hermione were watching Harry, that he would be the first to find out where Sirius was, what he and Harry planned to do.
Snape and Dumbledore pondering whether to Obliviate Harry and Ginny and their friendship, bringing him back to Ron and Hermuione, and thus, back under Dumbledore's control.
Snape, recalling his friendship with Lily from an early age. Snape, being teased by his father and Sirius at Hogwarts. Snape, snapping and calling his mother a Mudblood. Snape, staring desperately at Lily as she renounced their friendship once and for all.
Snape, tending to Dumbeldore's cursed hand. "The poison will spread fast. You will be lucky to last till Christmas. Why did you have to put it on? You must have known there would be some sort of curse on it," blasted Snape.
"Alas, I am an old fool who never learns. For a minute, I remembered my plans with Gellert and I just couldn't help myself," sighed Albus. He pulled his cloak back on, covering his blackened hand.
Snape, in the Great Hall, days earlier. Learning how Harry was the sacrificial lamb.
"Have you come to care for the boy?" asked Albus, almost amused.
"For him, no," said snape, shaking his head. He waved his wand. "EXPECTO PATRONUM!" A silver doe shot out of his wand, prancing around.
Dumbledore looked at him. "After all this time?" he asked.
"Always," said Snape.
"Always," murmured Harry, coming out of the Pensieve. "Snape was in love with my Mum?"
Sirius looked at him sadly and nodded. "Your Mum had eyes for no-one but your Dad, you don't need to worry about that."
Harry wandered away. Remus scooped up the memories, putting them back in the flask. He then returned the Pensieve back to Dumbledore's cupboard.
"Dumbledore knew. He knew everything. That fucking bastard!" said Harry. He looked around his office, feeling sick.
"I need to get out of here. I need to be with Gin," he mumbled. Suddenly he was tired, and it was all too much. The lies, the deceptions. For a moment, he wished Dumbledore was alive again, just so he could curse him.
"Of course, Harry. We'll take you there, go see what our witches have been up to," said Sirius, trying to lighten the mood. They stepped into the floo.
"Sounds good. By the way, did Gin mention that Tonks is pregnant," said Remus, appearing in Grimmauld Place.
"No! That's brilliant," said Sirius. Harry smiled and nodded. "Congratulations. Looks like you two have been busy while we've been back at school."
"I'm sorry we didn't wait for you and Gin to be there when we got married," said Sirius.
"It's okay," said Harry, distractedly. He looked upstairs, sure that's where Ginny was. "I'm going up."
Sirius and Remus watched him go. Emmy and Tonks came out of the kitchen. "How is he?" asked Tonks, her arms around Remus' waist.
"I think they've both got a lot of recovering to do," said Remus.
"They'll get through it, together," said Sirius.
"I hope so. Merlin, they're only fifteen, sixteen," sighed Emmy. "Too young to go through so much."
"We'll be there to help them," said Remus.
The other three nodded.
Harry slipped upstairs. Ginny was asleep, on her bed. She barely stirred as Harry slipped into bed beside her, spooning her. "Harry?" she asked, sleepily.
"Yeah, go back to sleep," he murmured. He didn't want to talk, just hold her.
He woke hours later. Ginny was still fast asleep. He went to the loo, then decided to go downstairs, see what had been happening since he'd left Hogwarts. He went down the stairs, stopping on the bottom step when he heard his name.
"-Harry had a piece of Voldemort in him this whole time." That was Sirius.
Harry felt dirty, just as he had when he had overheard Snape and Dumbledore talking about it.
"Damn, I can't believe it," said Remus.
Harry sank to sit on the bottom step, still listening.
"Well, that explains the scar hurting from time to time. They had a connection," said Emmy.
"So that's why he did it, why he went to face Voldemort?" asked Tonks.
"It was the only way to destroy him. Voldemort himself had to kill the last Horcrux, which made Voldemort himself mortal. Only then could he be killed," explained Sirius.
"How could he do that?" asked Tonks.
For you and Remus, Harry wanted to shout. For your unborn child. For Ginny, so she had a chance to go on, have a life. For Sirius, to have a chance at a life with Emmy.
"Have you heard when any of the funerals will be?" asked Emmy.
Harry felt sick as he thought about the dead. They had died because of him. It was all his fault.
"Merlin, can you believe tomorrow is Christmas Eve," said Emmy.
Harry remembered last Christmas, and how happy he was, how much fun they'd had. He didn't deserve to celebrate Christmas, with them, or anyone. He stood and went back upstairs.
Ginny woke slowly. She glanced over to the other side of the bed, but it was empty. She checked the time, nearly eight in the morning. She showered and dressed, her stomach rumbling. Her head was clearer now. Finally she headed downstairs, looking forward to some breakfast and the chance to finally talk to Harry about everything.
She found Sirius and Emmy in the lounge. "Good morning, what are you-Merlin, did you do that?"
Sirius shook his head. "No, it wasn't us."
Ginny took in the stunning Christmas tree, all decorated. She looked back at Sirius and Emmy. "Then who?" She gestured to the tree, and the presents under it.
"Harry," said Emmy. It was then Ginny noticed she was crying.
"Here," said Sirius, handing her a note. "He left this for you."\
Ginny was stunned. Harry-gone? She opened the note, almost dropping the surprise he'd left in there.
iDear Gin. I'm sorry. I have to get away, deal with it all, process it, and its better to do it by myself. Tell Sirius and Emmy I'm sorry too. I know they know the truth about the last Horcrux. Ask them to tell you. Just-don't hate me, Gin. I couldn't bear for you to hate me.
I don't know where I'm going, but I can promise you this. I will be back for you, one day. So my Christmas gift to you is this ring, a promise ring.
I love you Ginny Weasley. That love will guide me home.
Yours Always, Harryi/.
"He's gone," whispered Ginny. "He left."
"What? Why?" asked Sirius, shocked.
Ginny shook her head. "I don't know. He mentioned the last Horcrux, but I don't understand. What does that have to do with Harry leaving?" asked Ginny.
"Fuck," sighed Sirius.
"Sirius?" asked Ginny. "He's gone." She started to cry.
Sirius came over to her and hugged her. He had tears in his eyes too.
POP "Dobby has come to stay, just as Harry Potter's Ginny has asked. Is Harry Potter here too?" asked Dobby hopefully.
Emmy shook her head, tears in her eyes as well. "Sorry Dobby. It seems Harry has left.
Dobby put down his little suitacase. He walked over to Ginny and Sirius "Is true? Harry Potter is gone?"
Sirius nodded, while Ginny cried in his arms. Dobby cried too, his arms hugging Ginny and Sirius' legs. From her perch, Hedwig hooted sadly. Harry had forbidden her from following him.
Emmy watched them all. If only Harry knew how much he was hurting the ones who loved him, maybe he wouldn't have left at all.
It wasn't looking like a Happy Christmas at Grimmauld Place this year, after all.