Chapter LIII — Saying Goodbye
After they found Ginny's bra, Harry headed into the shower. He had spent a little extra time in the shower and when he had stepped into his room, Ginny was grinning at him.
"Did you enjoy yourself, Harry?" She asked, a knowing smile on her face.
"I just thought I should be extra clean." He replied simply.
Ginny grinned. "Uh-huh, whatever you say, Harry."
He blushed. "Minx."
The two of them headed downstairs and Harry left Ginny in the kitchen with Maddy before he locked himself in the study to use his mirror.
"Da."
He waited a few minutes before James' face appeared.
"Hey Harry, sorry I was in a meeting. What's going on?" James asked.
"Da, I need to ask you for something really huge and before you say no hear me out."
James sighed and glanced at his son in suspicion. "Okay, what did you do?"
Harry grinned. "Nothing, honest. Okay, well, I was wondering if I could take the car, corvette to be exact, and bring Ginny to that muggle amusement park for the day as her birthday present/first year anniversary present since I can't spend her actual birthday or our first year anniversary with her because she just told me that she's going to New York for three months and is leaving tonight and I won't see her until November and I think that this would be the perfect thing and not to mention fun and a good opportunity for us to spend time together before she goes and I know that Voldemort is out now but I don't think that he would look for me there and I think that —"
"Harry!" James interrupted.
"What?"
James grinned. "First of all, breathe. That was a long sentence. Second, yeah you can go. Keep the mirror on you at all times and before you go I want you to set up all of your elementals on guard duty and for protection. I want them to be watching for anything unusual. Don't be too late. And there's a good sized stash of muggle money in the safe. Take what you need; you can pay me back later."
Harry grinned. "Thanks Da, and I won't be. Ginny has to be home by seven so that she can spend the evening with her family."
"So why is she going to New York for three months?"
"It's a long and interesting story. I'll tell you later. See you Da."
He closed the mirror and quickly went about setting up his elementals like James had asked him to. He closed his eyes and levelled his breathing so that he could concentrate on what he was doing. He willed Koun the wolf elemental to guard his mind from penetrating forces. He willed Mogens the panther to guard Ginny. He willed Armand the lion and Aodh the phoenix to keep watch for anything dangerous and unusual. He willed Borvo the serpent and Candlearia the baby dragon to stay by his and Ginny's side the entire time. He willed Céleste the raven and Arn the eagle to be the messengers if anything bad happened. And he willed Marninella the shark to help Koun guard his mind.
Once he had all nine of his elementals in place, he carefully made sure that his control was tight on them before he placed the mirror in his pocket and took the keys to the corvette convertible off the study wall. He went to the safe next and took out quite a bit of muggle money for the day as he didn't know how much he would need. He planned to take Ginny on a great trip today. He left the study and headed into the kitchen to find Ginny. He was excited at the prospect of taking her out somewhere that he knew she had never been to before. And he was excited to take her somewhere other then the manor and Hogsmeade for a date. The idea of spending the entire day making her smile had its prospects as well; especially since they had spent a good portion of the morning involved in activities that made Harry need an extremely long cold shower. She had definitely tied his stomach in knots.
He wasn't sure what he was going to do without her for three whole months but at the moment he didn't want to think about that. He just wanted to think about how he was going to spend his last day with her until November. The thought of her leaving just made his heart ache so he pushed it aside and stepped into the kitchen. He grinned when he saw her sitting cross legged on a kitchen chair. Her hair was pulled back now in a French braid that hung down her back and she was smiling warmly at Maddy as she peeled potatoes over a large bowl from her seat at the table. She was chatting absently with Maddy and Mickey about her trip and how she was anxious to go but scared and little nervous at the same time. Harry just stood over in the doorway for a moment and watched her. She was so beautiful and he honestly didn't know what he was going to do without her for three whole months.
Mickey smiled at them from the kitchen. "Good morning, Harry. I is seeing that Miss Ginny managed to wake you up."
Harry grinned. "Yeah she did. I'm glad she did. Having fun, Gin?"
Ginny turned to smile at him. "Of course. I just thought that I would help out a bit while you were being all secretive."
He grinned. "Yeah, well I didn't want to bring it up until I was sure that I was allowed to take you there. Do you want to go?"
"Go where?" She asked, tilting her head as she glanced at him curiously. Her eyes were twinkling in amusement as she grinned at him.
He walked over to her and took the potatoes away before handing them to Maddy. Then he pulled her to her feet and kissed her softly. "Can't I surprise you?"
She smiled warmly at him. "I suppose."
"Good, okay, let's go."
He held her hand in his as he led her outside and around the back of the house to the huge garage where James kept his many cars. He led her around to the corvette convertible and opened the passenger door.
Ginny's mouth dropped open at the gesture. "You're going to drive? I mean … you can drive the muggle car?"
Harry laughed. "What? Don't you have any faith in me? Ron drove your dad's flying car when we were twelve. At least I have a license."
She laughed. "Okay, point taken. Are you really allowed to drive today?"
He nodded. "Yeah, that's what I was being all secretive about. I had to go ask Da's permission, so I called him through the mirror. He has given me his consent to not only drive but to take you to our final destination. He just made me put up my elementals for protection; just in case something happens, you know."
"Alright … so why are we driving there? I mean, why aren't we flying or using the floo?"
He grinned. "Because it's a muggle establishment. Now get in, we've got a bit of a drive as it's in England."
She nodded and climbed into the car. She put on her seatbelt and grinned at him. Harry put the key into the ignition and opened the garage door using the new garage door opener that James had installed only a few months ago. He backed out of the driveway and drove along the pathway around the house and over to the front gate. He muttered the current password to get through the gate (which was charmed like the portrait of the Fat Lady, where a password was needed to get through). The current password was Baby Moony (Tonks had suggested it as a joke and James had decided to use it); and then they made their way down the road.
Harry showed Ginny how to work the radio and she gleefully played around with all of the stations. She had never really heard muggle radio stations before. She stopped on a song that had a good beat and grinned.
"Hey! I know this song!" She began to sing happily and Harry could only grin. She had a really pretty voice, not amazing, but not bad either, just in the middle. He thought it was sweet that she was singing along with all of the words. He grinned as he listened:
"I'll tell you what I want, what I really really want. So tell me what you want, what you really really want. I wanna, I wanna, I wanna, I wanna, I wanna really really really wanna zigazig ha. If you wanna be my lover, you gotta get with my friends. Make it last forever, friendship never ends. If you wanna be my lover, you have got to give. Taking is too easy, but that's the way it is. What do you think about that? Now I know how you feel. Say you can handle my love, are you for real? I won't be hasty; I'll give you a try. But if you really bug me then I'll say goodbye."
Harry grinned. "How do you even know this song, Gin?"
"Come on? You don't know?"
He shook his head. "No, enlighten me?"
"Well, Baby Spice, or whatever her real name is, she's been dating the lead singer of the Weird Sisters for the last year or so. No, before you ask, she's not a witch. But I did hear some rumours about her being a squib. Anyway, since she's dating a member of the Weird Sisters, the Spice Girls' music has been on the WWN a lot lately. I like their music … it's catchy and fun." She explained.
"Interesting."
She laughed as another song came on. "Oh! I love this one too! I don't know who sings it, but I remember that Charlie always had it stuck in his head when he was younger. One of his girlfriends use to play it all the time. I love the first verse!" She reached over and turned the volume up and Harry could only grin at her as she began to sing along again. "I saw him dancin' there by the record machine. I knew he must have been about seventeen. The beat was goin' strong. Playin' my favourite song. And I could tell it wouldn't be long 'til he was with me, yeah me, singin' I love rock and roll. So put another dime in the jukebox baby. I love rock and roll, so come and take your time and dance with me!"
"Interesting mix, this station."
Ginny nodded as the song ended and another one came on. "This one sounds familiar too."
Harry grinned. "Now this one is a classic."
"What do you mean?" Ginny asked.
Harry grinned. "Just trust me on this one."
When the words started, it wasn't Ginny singing along:
"Won't go to hear them play a tango. I'd rather hear some blues or funky old soul. There's only one sure way to get me to go. Start playing old time rock and roll. Call me a relic, call me what you will. Say I'm old-fashioned; say I'm over the hill. Today's music ain't got the same soul. I like that old time rock and roll."
The songs continued in a random mix after that. Harry wasn't sure what the station was that she had found but they played everything from Cher to Celine Dion to Backstreet Boys to Mariah Carey to George Thorogood to Abba to Rush to AC/DC and Whitney Houston. Ginny was having a ball as she simply taught herself the words to the songs that she didn't know. Harry decided on the spot that he was going to get her a stereo and a collection of music for Christmas.
They didn't talk too much more during the drive, but when Harry pulled up in front of the parking gates to Alton Towers, Ginny gasped.
"Harry, what is this place?"
He grinned. "An amusement park." He parked the car, glad that James had added enough special features that allowed them to travel a speed similar to the Knight Bus, except safer and less scary. Then they got out of the car. He held her hand in his as he led her over to the gates. He bought them both day passes before they made their way inside. It was already crowded with people and the lines for each ride were long but not bad.
"Blimey, what are they?" Ginny asked as she pointed up at some of the rides.
He laughed and pulled her close for a quick kiss. "Rides. You'll love them. Da took me here a few times when I was younger. Haven't been back in years but trust me."
He held her hand in his as they wound their way through the crowd of people and over to a huge Ferris wheel. He led her up the stairs and since there weren't a lot of people in line they quickly took a seat. Ginny kept glancing around in amazement, making Harry admit that his plan had been a good one. He slipped his arm around her.
"This ride is fun. I think that we should start off slow and then we'll enjoy some of the crazier rides since you've never been on anything like this before."
"What does it do?" She asked, her eyes alight with excitement.
"It just goes in a circle. You just sit here in this cart all snuggled close with me. But that's just a bonus."
She laughed and swatted him playfully on the arm. "Okay — hey it moved!"
He laughed as her grin widened when the Ferris wheel began to get going into its normal pace. "Yeah it does that."
"You can see the whole park from up here!" She exclaimed. "It's almost as good as riding a broom!"
"Nothing is as good as riding a broom." He replied, turning her head so that she was looking at him. "Besides, I can't do this on a broom, shame by the way." Then he kissed her softly.
She melted into the kiss, her hands fisting in the front of his shirt as they kissed. It was slow and sweet and it made her heart ache to think that she would be leaving this, leaving him, only later on that night. She snuggled closer, breaking the kiss and staying cuddled comfortably in his arms.
"I love you, Harry."
He smiled at her, placing a kiss on the top of her head. "I love you, too."
"Thanks for bringing me here."
He grinned. "No problem. Besides, the fun is only beginning."
Harry had definitely not been lying. After the Ferris wheel, he took her on a roller coaster called Nemesis that left their feet dangling in the air. She had screamed in laughter the entire the time and had then had proceeded to drag him off to every other ride in site. After a few hours of riding things like the Air, the Queen of Speed, the Corkscrew, the UG Swinger, the Towers, Oblivion, Submission, and Enterprise as well as many more; they decided that the heat was getting almost unbearable so they decided to head over to the water park.
Harry bought them both bathing suits, ignoring Ginny's protests, and they proceeded to explore the water rides such as the Master Blaster, the Tipping Bucket, the Lazy River, the Lagoona Bay, the Flume, Congo River Rapids, and the Ripsaw among other rides between the water park and the theme park itself. They were both drenched and laughing by the time that five o'clock rolled around. They went to the lockers that Harry had rented to change their clothes before they headed back to the car.
"Harry, this was the most fun that I've had in … well forever. Thanks."
He grinned. "My pleasure. I wanted to take you on date somewhere special; somewhere other then school and Hogsmeade. Happy early birthday and happy early anniversary"
She smiled and kissed him softly. "Thank you. It was the best one by far."
He grinned. "Well, I'll just have to top this one next year."
She laughed. "Good luck. But I had fun."
"Hey, the day's not over yet. I've got one more, maybe two more, surprises for you before I bring you back to the Burrow."
She smiled. "Oh yeah, and what's that?"
Harry grinned as they climbed into the car, tossing their bag of wet bathing suits in the trunk. "Dinner."
He took her to a muggle shop first. There, they both tried on more elegant clothing to wear. Ginny tried to protest when he insisted on buying her the purple halter top dress that she had tried on and fell in love with at first sight but he told her that it was all part of her birthday and anniversary presents and that she wasn't allowed to protest a gift. He bought her black heels that strapped up her ankles, ones that she had picked out to go with the dress. He wouldn't take no for an answer, but she had to admit that she hadn't been trying very hard.
Harry bought himself black dress pants and a white dress shirt to wear as well as some black dress shoes. They wore their new clothes out of the store, though Ginny insisted on stopping somewhere where she could fix her hair and face. They went to a muggle Italian restaurant for dinner. Ginny could only look at him in wonder as they were led by a waiter over to a secluded corner spot where candles sat on the table with a white tablecloth.
"It's beautiful, Harry."
He smiled. "So are you. You look amazing."
She blushed. "Thank you. You do too."
He grinned. "Well, what would you like to get?"
They ended up splitting a small fancy pizza to eat with their coke. Ginny smiled warmly at him as they ate.
"Harry, this was the most wonderful day. It was fun and intense and sweet and romantic. I'm never going to forget it."
Harry reached across the table and entwined their hands. "Don't. Don't talk like you're saying goodbye. It's not goodbye. You'll be back in a few months and in the meantime we can write to each other. You can tell me all about your adventures and I can fill you in on how Uncle Moony deals with Tonks getting ready to have a baby and how Uncle Sirius fairs as DADA teacher."
She laughed. "I'm going to miss everyone so much. But I'm so excited to go away at the same time. I'm going to miss you the most."
He brought their joined hands to his lips. "Ditto. But you'll have Hedwig to keep you company and … well, hey, I'm a phoenix, right? I can flash places pretty quickly. We can always decide on a time and place and I can be there in an instant."
She nodded. "I thought about that. But the problem is that I don't know how much free time I'm really going to have. I mean, I'm going there to learn more about my powers and more about myself and I'm supposed to do all of this in three months time. And then there's the time difference …"
He nodded. "I understand. It was just a suggestion and if it doesn't happen, well I'll see you in November then. I'll be waiting with open arms for you when you come back."
She grinned, tears in her eyes. "You are too wonderful for words, you know that? Most guys would … it's just that they would … I love you."
He smiled. "I love you too. Come on; let's get the bill and head over to the Burrow. I'm sure that you're family is anxiously awaiting to say goodbye to you as well."
Ginny nodded and excused herself to go to the ladies' room. She stood in front of the mirror, trying to make herself look more presentable and to work on not crying. She had no idea how she was going to say goodbye to everyone with a smile on her face. She took a few deep breaths before she made her way back to the table. Harry had already paid the bill, making her determined to get him a really amazing Christmas present, especially because she didn't have muggle money and there was nothing that she could do about it. They walked hand in hand back to the car. Neither of them said much on the drive to the Burrow. It was five to seven when Harry pulled into the driveway.
Ginny turned to smile at him. "Will you come in with me?"
Harry nodded. "Of course."
She smiled. "Will you do me a favour?"
"Anything," he whispered as he leaned over the gears to kiss her softly.
"Will you use that handy little mirror of yours to ask Remus, Tonks, Sirius, Lexy, and James to come over here as well? I'd like to say goodbye to them before I go."
He nodded. "Sure."
He pulled out the mirror and quickly did as she asked before he followed her into the Burrow, hand in hand.
"Ginevra, where did you get that dress?" Molly asked, as she looked her daughter up and down with suspicion when they walked through the front door.
Ginny gestured for Harry to go into the common room before she turned to her mother. "Harry bought it for me before we went out to dinner." Before Molly could protest, she quickly explained all about her day and how wonderful it had been.
Molly sighed. "I already know how wonderful Harry is. Alright, I understand, Ginny. Why don't you go upstairs and pack any last minute things and change your clothes? Bill or Charlie will bring everything down for you afterwards."
She nodded and made her way upstairs. She changed out of the dress and hung it in her closet before she decided to bring it with her to New York. She didn't know what she was going to need to be honest. She changed into blue jeans and a black tank top that read: Princess of Mayhem. It had been a gift at the beginning of the summer from Fred and George. She stepped into her shoes and re-braided her hair in one thick braid down her back. Then she began to double check around her room. But even as she looked, she knew that she hadn't forgotten anything.
She turned at the tapping sound at her window and smiled as she let Hedwig in. "Hey girl, do you really want to come with me to America?"
Hedwig hooted and nipped at Ginny's fingers affectionately.
"Alright then, thanks for coming. I'll have you and Midnight for company." As if on cue, the sleek black cat, who was no longer a kitten but still acted like one at times, jumped up onto Ginny's bed. "There you are." She rubbed her behind the ears and sighed. She was ready to go. She placed Midnight and Hedwig in their appropriate cages, wondering when Harry had found the time to send Hedwig's cage along in the first place. And then she headed downstairs, ready to say her goodbyes.
She stepped into the common room, surprised to see that everyone had gathered quite quickly. Bill and Charlie were standing by the fireplace talking; Fred and George were talking to Harry and Ron on the chesterfield; her parents were sitting on another sofa holding hands; and James, Sirius, Remus, Lexy, and Tonks had arrived and were seated around the room.
"Hello everyone."
Molly smiled. "Hi honey, are you all ready to go?"
Ginny nodded. "Yeah Mum. Everything's packed and ready. It's all at the end of my bed."
Arthur nodded and stood up. "We're um; we're still waiting for four people. I thought that you would want Colin, Demelza, Luna, and Hermione to be here as well."
Ginny smiled. "I would. Thanks Daddy." She walked over to him to hug him close. She breathed in his scent; aftershave, mints, and chocolate. He always smelt the same. She kissed his cheek. "I'm going to miss you."
Arthur nodded as he kissed her forehead. "I know the feeling, Princess." He kissed her cheeks and hugged her again before Ginny moved to take a seat in her favourite arm chair by the fire.
"You've only got about half an hour Gin," Charlie replied.
Ginny's head shot up. "Half an hour, but that would only make it nine o'clock. Bill said the portkey left at midnight."
Charlie shrugged. "Mistake Hon, it was supposed to be midnight. Problem with the Department of Magical Transportation and your portkey time has been moved a bit earlier."
Ginny nodded and looked into the fire. She wasn't sure if she was more anxious by those words or more nervous.
James grinned at her from across the room. "Alright, sorry to interrupt all of this here, but I've still never been told why you're going to America for three months in the first place?"
Sirius nodded. "Yeah, I know? Win the lottery or something, Gorgeous?"
Ginny laughed. "No. Well, you see I —"
She was interrupted by a sound in the hallway and she squealed in delight when Colin, Demelza, Luna, and Hermione walked in. She hurried forward to hug them all tightly.
"What's going on, Gin?" Colin asked. "I was told that I better come over and say goodbye? Are you going somewhere?"
Demelza nodded. "I know, we're really confused by this."
Ginny nodded. "Yeah, why don't you guys sit down and I'll explain everything." Once everyone was seated, she sighed. She wasn't sure exactly where to start. "Alright, so as you all know that I'm leaving in about half an hour by an international portkey to go to New York for three months. I'm going to be in training there with a woman named Emma Stanton. You see, I'm an empath. I have the ability to extract or feel emotions I guess. But I don't know much about it and I don't know really what I'm capable of. But I do know that I need to go there and learn not only about my powers but about myself as well. The only thing that I do know about my powers is that empaths tend to be extremely smart. As Colin, Dee, and Luna probably remember from my report card at the end of the term, I managed to achieve Outstanding Double Plus in every single one of my classes."
Hermione gasped. "Oh my! Ginny, did you really?"
Ginny laughed. "Yes, I did. Dumbledore says that I even managed to bypass you, that had to be a miracle considering Ron always states that you're the brightest witch of our age." Hermione blushed and Ginny smiled before continuing. "Bill and Charlie have told me a little about what possible abilities I may have, but until I start learning I have no way of knowing just what I can do. This is really important to me and even while I'm really happy and excited to be going. I'm going to miss you all so much."
Bill smiled at her. "Firefly, everything's going to be great. We're going to miss you too but it's not the end of the world."
Charlie nodded. "Yeah, come on brat, it'll be peaceful without you."
"Charles Fabian Weasley!" Molly exclaimed.
Charlie winced. "Geesh Mum, I was only joking. Of course I'll miss you, Shortstop."
Ginny smiled. "I know, Charlie. I just wish Percy could be here as well."
Fred shuddered. "You actually want that foul-mouthed, toad-faced, stupid fu-"
"FREDERICK GIDEON WEASLEY, DON'T YOU DARE FINISH THAT SENTENCE! HOW DARE YOU TALK ABOUT YOUR BROTHER THAT WAY!" Molly exclaimed angrily.
George shrugged. "He was only telling the truth, Mum."
"Molly, leave it be." Arthur replied calmly as he reached for his wife's hand. "Well, Ginny, are you ready to go?"
She nodded. "Yeah." She walked over to Hermione, Colin, Luna and Demelza first, hugging them goodbye and promising to write. She then slowly made her way around the room: Remus and Tonks, making sure to tell Tonks to take good care of herself because she couldn't wait to see that baby; Sirius and Lexy, making sure to tell Sirius that he had to do at least one good prank on Snape — she earned a loud 'here, here' from the twins at that one; James, to take care of Harry; Ron, Fred, George, Bill, and Charlie about how she would write to them; and then Harry. She gave him an extra hug and kissed him softly before she turned to her parents. Tears rolled down her mum's face as she hugged her tight and clung to her father a second longer, kissing them both goodbye and then she took the portkey from Bill — an envelope with the name Emma on it — and keeping her hand on her trunk and the cages of Hedwig and Midnight, she felt the tug at her naval and disappeared into the night.
