Chapter 43

As if in slow motion, as Ginny turned, Harry watched as her face turned from triumph to shock to horror as she watched him appear behind her. He didn't have much time as the curse was coming swiftly towards him, barely a second but he tried with all his might. Opening his mouth he was just about to say the first word when he suddenly felt the cold feeling of the killing curse hitting his back.

Ginny couldn't believe it. It just couldn't be. Why oh why had he done it? Why had he stepped in front of the curse for her? They couldn't win this war without him and he knew that! Harry was the only one who could kill Voldemort and without that Voldemort would win this godforsaken war just like the last time! They didn't need her to win! They needed Harry!

Flashback./

It was late at night, the stars were shining bright as she looked up at the night sky. She had returned from Susan's hands after receiving injuries in the midst of battle. Her entire mid section was wrapped in bandages and so she was forced to wear a tank top and a pair of sweat pants. Her hair was up in a ponytail showing of the few scratches on her left cheek.

"You know you look amazing tonight." Came a soft voice that caused her to turn and see her lover standing behind her. Harry also had bandages covering his body, one on one of his upper arms and another around his chest.

"What happened to you?" She questioned while walking over and putting her hands on his covered chest.

"Um a slight misshape with a large cat of sorts, don't really know what it was but it was part of Voldemort's army and had really big and sharp claws." He answered as he wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her closer until her head was resting against his chest.

"Harry we have to make a promise." She whispered causing him to frown.

"What promise do you want me to make Gin?" He questioned softly.

"You have to promise me that you won't die, you wont take any spells meant for me and die." She whispered causing him to sigh.

"I can't promise that Ginny." He murmured but she shook her head.

"Promise me!" She shouted and for a moment Harry was silent.

"I promise Ginny?" He whispered as tears fell from her cheeks. Inside, deep inside she knew, she knew he would break that one promise.

End of Flashback./

"You promised!" She sobbed as she clutched at his body, face buried in his chest. "You promised to never do that, you promised never to block a curse meant for me! You promised never to leave me..."

Sobs racked her entire body as she cried on her lover's chest. Her entire mind was away from what was happening around her. It was only centred on Harry's dead body and she couldn't pull it away.

Lily felt her entire body freeze as she watched her son. So many questioned running through her mind yet all those questions came to a stop when she watched him turn and then disappear. For a moment she thought he was gone but he suddenly appeared behind Ginny and that's when she noticed the green curse making its way towards the red haired girl. In seconds Harry was hit by the curse and crumbled to the ground…de…NO!

Unknown to her she had screamed the last word of her thoughts as she ran to her son. Falling to his side she clutched at his hand as Ginny fell onto his chest sobbing hysterically.

Her own mind had gone blank as she thought about her son now lying dead on the ground. How could she let this happen! She was supposed to protect him, protect her baby yet here he lay dead on the ground after protecting the person he loved. How could a boy, a teenage boy, who's supposed to be selfish and rude and lazy, go and defend the life of the person he loved?

Without her noticing, James had fallen to his knees behind her and placed his hands on her shoulders as they shook violently. James face was void of all emotions, his entire body stiff as he looked down at his son.

"YOU KILLED MY SON YOU FUCKING BASTARD!"

The roar of anger caused many to turn and stare as Sirius aimed his wand at the laughing Death Eater. Within seconds the Death Eater was no longer laughing as his head was lying on the ground. That seemed to kick people out of their shock from the death of a teen. The staff hurried to gather the students and started to lead them towards Hogwarts yet some refused to go such as Demeter, Mia and Rose who had all run to their parents side. Yet James had turned his attention from his son to Sirius, eyes blank as what the man had said sank in.

Looking at the seen, Albus Dumbledore felt his heart break. For all the years he had know Harry, the boy had become like a grandson to him. He knew for a fact that Minerva felt the same and with a single glace at her face he saw the tears and the sadness in her eyes. Her shoulders were slumped yet shaking slightly.

...

Everything was white, well everything he saw past the deep fog. Not to mention one important fact. He was naked and in his old body. How that had happened he had no clue.

"What does a guy have to do to get jeans around here?" He joked to himself but just like that a pair of jeans appeared. Blinking he shook his head before taking them and putting them on. As he did so the fog disappeared and he looked around.

The white had vanished to leave room for a place he knew all to well. The first Hogwarts, his future home. Well planned future home, or at least it was before he stepped infront of the killing curse. The only thing was, it looked cleaner and slightly rebuilt. Suddenly he noticed a stunted, whimpering child like form lying on the ground. He didn't know what it was yet inside he had a guest as to it.

"You know Harry, now I know why Ginny dates you." Came a female voice that Harry instantly recognized as Yuris.

"Um, really and what does she see in me?" He questioned while turning to see the time Elemental standing not far from him.

"You handsome, manly and those scars and tattoos, hum." She joked causing Harry to chuckle as he looked down.

It was true, he was manly, well used to be. His old body was tall, well muscled and tone. His back had a scare and he even had three scars, from claw marks, on his right uper arm and the left side of his chest. Still on his right arm he had a tribal tattoo.

"Tell you what when Mrs. Weasley found out about this she was not at all impressed." Harry commented causing Yuri to laugh softly.

"I bet she wouldn't have been. Probably got an earful for it as well." Yuri commented causing Harry to chuckle.

"You have no clue. I swear if she would have had her way I would have been grounded for life." Harry remarked causing Yuri to grin but then she looked around.

"Harry, do you know where we are?" Yuri asked as slightly confused as to their surroundings.

"Seems like we're in the old Hogwarts. It's a lot cleaner and." Harry answered.

"Still could be, you arn't dead you know." Yuri remarked. "You know the only one able to kill you for now is Voldemort and that's only because of the prophecies. That Death-Eater has just done something quite horrible, well not for us but for Tom Riddle. Anyway, the only thing the Death-Eater did was destroy the Horcrux."

"So it worked did it?" Harry asked and Yuri gave a nod of confirmation before pointing to the child like form lying on the ground.

"Yes it worked, the Horcrux inside you is right there and will disappear once you returned to your humain body. The only one you have left is Nagini." Yuri commented.

"So um, we know where in my property but how did we make it here and I don't remember it being this clean." Harry commented.

"It probably isn't. You see we arn't really at that place, it's just an image of it. This, Harry is limbo."

"Um, so what am I doing here?" Harry asked and when he turned to Yrui he noticed her nervous look. "Yuri what are you not telling me?"

At that question Yuri sighed before looking at Harry before answering him.

"When you return to the real world, your body is going to begin to change. It won't become your old body but some of your old scars will appear, your tattoo might even re-appear. This was all an effect of being hit with the Killing curse." Yuri murmured and for a moment Harry didn't know what to say. What could you say when somebody told you that some parts of your old body would be appearing on your, well, new body? Well he supposed he wouldn't mind the tattoo again but the scars. That would be hard to explain to his mother.

"Is there anything else?" he questioned.

"Well... Harry this has never happened before so I really don't know what will happen. Please be careful and when you're away from prying eyes check everything over to make sure it's okay and see what has appeared. We don't want anymore nasty shocks okay." Yuri stated and Harry gave a nod.

"Got it."

...

His shirt was wet. Was the first thought that popped into his mind but then others started to appear. Who was on him, because there was somebody definitely on him. Slowly he opened his eyes only to find his vision covered in deep red hair. The only red head he knew with that colour was Ginny. meaning that it was Ginny laying on top of him making his shirt wet. Well he couldn't really blame her for that fact, he had made her cry.

"You promised." She whispered causing him to blink. "You promised never to leave me."

"I would never leave you Gin." He murmured causing her entire body to tense and slowly she looked up until her amber eyes met his emerald.

For a moment they didn't move until she through her arms around him and cried into his shoulder.

"Harry James Potter you are a big bastard!" She screamed as he wrapped his arms around her waist and hugged her close.

"Um... if you say so." He grunted in agreement as not to upset you even more. "but, although I love your body pressed up against mine, and you're as light as a feather, I would rather get off the wet ground."

That of course caused Ginny to eep and jump up. Harry chuckled softly as she cleared her eyes of the tears that still lingered. Pushing himself up from the ground he was suddenly hit in the head causing him to turn and see Ron glaring at him.

"Idiot." he muttered causing Harry to give him a sheepish look.

"Ho... how..." Came a whispered voice and Harry turned to see his mother looking at him, her eyes wide.

"Mum." He whispered before going over and giving her a gentle hug. "I'll explain everything later, for now you have to trust me because I can't explain everything right now. All you have to know at this point in time is that I'm alive, in health and many things will be revealed to you in the future. I just hope you and pops keep an open mind about what will be said." He whispered before letting her go and kissing her cheek. He gave a pat on the shoulder to his father before doing the same to Demeter. He gave a hug to Mia and Rose before he looked at his Headmistress who was looking at him in shock.

For a moment he looked at both Dumbledore and Minerva. He saw their shocked looks but gave them a nod before turning his attention to Sirius who was looking at him in shock as well. He gave him a reassuring smile before giving a nod to his Grims and disappearing. The Grims fallowed sute leaving everybody in shock.

...

Reapearinng Harry sighed as he sat down on the sofa. Looking around at their Headquarters Harry gave a soft sigh. Seconds after his arrival the others arrived. The moment Ginny spotted him she gave him a stern look.

"You Harry Potter are in so much trouble!" She shouted causing him to smile softly.

"Gin, I love you and you know I couldn't have survived if you died. We do got good news though." He whispered as he motioned her to come and sit with him. Instead of siting beside him she sat on his lap and cuddled to his chest.

"What's the good news?" Hermione asked as the others sat down.

"We only have one to go. Nagini." He answered causing the others to look at him in shock.

"How do you know?" Neville questioned.

"I spoke with Yuri in Limbo. I say the thing with my own eyes. It's gone and with it gone we are closer to our goal. But Yuri also told me something else. It's very well possible I gain some aspects from my old body, scars, possibly even the tattoo." He stated causing Ginny to look at him in shock.

"Mum's going to kill you." She whispered.

"She's not the only one, my mother will as well." He remarked causing Ginny to giggle and Harry to scold. "Dobby."

With a pop the little house elf appeared and Harry gave him a smile.

"Can you go gather all our belongings and bring them here please. Making sure to get everything." He stated and Dobby gave a nod before disappearing with a pop.

After a few minutes Dobby reappeared.

"Everything is in you'ses rooms Master Harry." Dobby stated and Harry gave him a smile.

"Thank you Dobby. Alright people, I think we all need showers and sleep. Get ready for tomorrow." Harry commented and everybody agreed.

Swiftly Harry and Ginny both made their way towards their own bedroom. Arriving they went into different task. One went to turn the shower on, the other went to get their close ready for the nights sleep. Once that was done they both climbed into the shower together and relaxed.

"You scared me Harry, scared me so much." Ginny whispered as she cuddled up to Harry who wrapped his arms around her waist and held her close.

"I'm sorry love. I didn't mean to scare you. All I thought when I saw that curse going towards you was that I couldn't lose you. You are my everything. Without you I can't live, I lose my power to and i just can't do that. I love you so much it hurts and I don't want that pain to leave because if it does that it means nothing is right in the world. I love you Ginny and I never want to stop loving you. I'd do anything to protect you against anything, even death itself." He whispered as he kissed her temple.

"I know Harry and I love you so much. You are the most amazing person I could ever love." Ginny murmured.

After that small conversation they finished washing before getting out and getting dressed. Climbing into their bed they curled up together. After Ginny had fallen asleep, Harry staid awake staring up at the ceiling of the bedroom. After a while he fell asleep, thoughts of the past filling his mind.

...

Amelia nervously looked out over the Great Hall as reporters spoke amongst themselves. It was the day after the battle had taken place and the Ministry had organized a press conference at Hogwarts, with the Headmasters permission. The other schools were still present at Hogwarts but most had noticed the absence of some of the Hogwarts and Nature students.

"We'll begin in five minutes." Came a soft voice at her right and she turned to see Arthur standing there a worried look on her face.

"Have they contacted you?" She questioned yet he shook his head causing her to sigh.

"They haven't contact anybody to my knowledge, not even Sirius and Remus. It's having a really horrible effect on the Potters and Molly, most of our son's and our only daughter are gone god knows were and I haven't been able to tell her anything." Arthur muttered causing Amelia to grimace.

"Well we best get started." Amelia sighed and Arthur gave a nod before watching her approach the podium.

She was just about to arrive when suddenly she spotted him. Harry Potter, walking towards them. He was well dressed in a pair of black dress pants a emerald green shirt and a pair of black dragon hid boots.

"Amelia. Arthur." He greeted respectfully.

"Harry what are you doing here?" She whispered shocked.

"I have come to see if I can be of service. We heard about the press conference you had formed and thought that, as I know more about the situation as you, that I could perhaps speak to the reporters." Harry commented causing Amelia to relax slightly.

"You wouldn't mind, I mean." "I don't Amelia. It would be fine." He stated.

"Then I will announce you Harry." She stated and with a nod to Arthur she made her way to the podium.

"Their fine Arthur." He whispered and Arthur gave him a soft smile. "We'll be at Grimmauld place three days after the end of the school year. I'm sure you all will already be there."

"Yes. We await your arrival shall I tell the others?" He asked and Harry gave a nod of agreement.

"Reporters, although I know that you all have many questions I would like you all to hold them as an account of what happened yesterday night will be told to you by the person who had been there through out the event. Harry Potter has agreed to speak to you all." Amelia announced and with that Amelia turned to Harry who approached the podium.

"Good day everybody. I will be accepting question at the end of the tale. I understand that it will be a nervous one so please sit and try to relax." He stated before beginning with the Triwizard Tournament.

When he arrived at the main part of the story who took a slight break and a sip of water before continuing.

"When we touched the Goblet of Fire, I felt a jolt of magic and swiftly pulled by brother away from it. What happened next was not expected." He lied. "Voldemort appeared along with many of his Death Eaters. From that moment on I knew that we had to get out of there. Of course Miss Delacour was with us and we knew we couldn't run back in the maze. In a hoice I used my Fire Elemental to put the maze a blaze while covering both Fleur and Demeter to protect them."

That small piece of information caused many reporters to murmured but Harry continued until finally he finished.

"Now then, questions?"

"Mister Potter, you never attended Hogwarts, you were said to be a squib how is it then that you can perform magic?"

"Simple question not so simple answer. In actuality I was never a squib, I just didn't perform magic. As I was already attending Nature Academy at the time I wouldn't have been accepted into Hogwarts." He answered.

"Yet baby's normally do a lot of magic what about you?"

"I suppose I never performed any."

"Mister Potter, yesterday evening somebody stated that you were hurt with the killing curse yet you are still alive. Can you answer how you did that?"

Harry sighed as the question was asked. He knew it would have been and he knew he had to lie about this one question.

"I have no idea how it happened so I'm afraid I can't answer you're question."

"With You-know-who's return what will be done to defend the magical world?"

"Ah a question, not for me but the for the Head of the Department of Magical enforcement. But I am sure that all Aurors are getting extra training and more finance will be given to that department. Are there any other question that I could answer?" He questioned and when nobody answered he gave a nod.

"Then I shall give you to Madam Bones who, will be able to answer all your remaining questions."

With that Harry turned around and left the podium as soon as he did Amelia took his place. Making his way towards the Head of Gryffindor he gave her a reassuring smile that caused her to smile shakily back.

"You had us all scared yesterday Harry." She whispered.

"Trust me I know, got chewed out I did. How is everybody?" He questioned.

"Afraid, well those who hadn't known of are travels. You're parents are freaking out. Sirius is drinking again. Molly is panicked for her children and those who travelled, are slightly worried." She answered and he gave a nod.

"I'll pop Sirius out of that soon enough. Ry to do you best for now though. We're slightly packed with meetings at the moment." Harry announced causing Minerva to frown in his direction yet Harry shook his head. "Grim Reapers."

"When we'll you be arriving at Headquarters?" She questioned.

"Three days after the end of the school year. Sadly I have to be off. Meeting with an ally in ten minutes." With that Harry disappeared leaving Minerva alone.