August 9, 1998.
It was a nice Sunday of summer. Today was the day. Harry had to admit that he was nervous, he had no way of denying it, because from the moment he arrived at the Burrow that day he felt the nerves and the anxiety take over him. Although it was a strange feeling to him, it had never happened to him, neither in Quidditch matches nor when he fought in the War. Maybe it was the fact that he was going to face the truth with his girlfriend, or maybe it was the panic of not being supported by the rest, who knows.
Sundays were family days, because every Sunday all the Weasleys gathered for lunch and dinner as a family, although this was a special one, Charlie was on vacation at the Burrow during the week; but even more special, in two days it was the birthday of the youngest of the Weasleys, yes, Ginny was 17 years old. Although the whole family was going to meet again in a few days, it was always nice to spend Sundays together.
But for Harry, today was the day.
Flashback; May, 1998.
Ron, Hermione and Ginny were sitting on the couch at the Burrow talking about their plans since the war was finally over, Mrs. Weasley was in the kitchen preparing dinner, and Harry ... well, he was leaning back with his head in the legs of his girlfriend while he enjoyed that she caressed his hair, his eyes were closed but he listened to the conversation.
"... I'll go back to Hogwarts, I'd definitely like to finish my education." Hermione said.
'It was expected,' thought Harry. Especially because that same morning, Kingsley and McGonagall had gone to the Burrow to talk about their respective futures, although the four were offered the opportunity to attend Hogwarts, the alternative of entering the Ministry and being Aurors was only for Ron, Hermione and Harry.
"I don't know, it's obvious that mom won't let me join immediately to be an Auror, but the offer is too tempting." Ron said.
"And what will you do, Harry?" Ginny said.
Harry widened and opened his eyes, frowned a few moments as he thought about his answer. What should I say? Somehow, Harry knew the answer, but... What would his friends say? His girlfriend? Would they agree?
"I don't know."
That same day, Harry didn't stay for dinner at the Burrow, and with the excuse that he had promised Daisy to help her with 'something', he showed up at Potter Manor, the place that was home to Daisy and Harry Potter (and also Daisy's boyfriend, Matt Grayson). Her older sister had been living there since the first time she came back from France (she was around 15 and now she's 20), and with the help of the two elves of the family, Polly and Evy, she managed to restore the true essence of the home that had been for generations in the Potter Family. When he entered the mansion, he noticed that his sister's boyfriend, Matt, was not there, but the redhead was in the backyard, near the area of appearance that was in the mansion. Harry had a mission and was to prevent his sister from asking him what was happening to him, but he failed in that.
"What happened to you?" Daisy says, leaving the book aside.
"It's noth..."
"Don't tell me 'it's nothing', Potter, why don't you bring a few butterbeers, sit here and tell me what happened? That way we avoid all the commotion." The redhead said, pointing to the chair that was in front of her.
Without thinking twice, Harry went to the kitchen and out of the refrigerator took out two beers, then walked back to the small terrace in the backyard. He sat down in the chair and handed the soda to his sister.
"Now, what happened?" Daisy said, looking at Harry.
After a few minutes, and several sips of beer, Harry looked at Daisy.
"I'm... uh, troubled."
Daisy frowned.
"That explains your face, but what made you so?"
"Today McGonagall and Kingsley told us we could go back to Hogwarts ... or be Aurors."
The girl smiled at him.
"That's good." She said to her brother "But, what is bothering you?"
"I don't know what to do. What if I regret it? What will Ron and Hermione say if I decide to be an Auror? What will Ginny say?"
"Since when are you interested in what the 'rest' says about what you want to do, Harry?" Daisy said, frowning.
Harry said nothing, just looked at his sister.
"I understand that they are your best friends and your girlfriend... but they must understand that you are your own person, someone who has dreams, goals in this life, you have a second chance that you want to take advantage of as much as possible. At least, in my opinion, whatever you do, as long as you are happy, I will support your decision." She said, took Harry's hand and smiled affectionately.
"It's just that... for a long time, I thought I had a limited time... that I wasn't going to graduate or see Ginny again... and now that I can do what I want, I'm confused." Harry said "I don't want to regret it."
"Harry... we all have a limited time, even so, that doesn't prevent anyone from doing what you want. If your desire is to go to Hogwarts, be a normal teenager and all that, then go ahead. If your desire is to be an auror, and to finish with all this crappy war, go ahead. As long as you do it thinking about yourself and you're happy, that's what interests me. Be selfish. "
'Be selfish.' I definitely couldn't, he thought.
Harry finished his beer, watched the bottle for a few seconds.
"What will we eat?" Daisy raised an eyebrow and then laughed.
"Lasagna. We'll wait for Matt, he had to finish a paperwork in the department." Daisy said, taking a sip of her beer.
Harry got up from his chair, but Daisy stopped him.
"Harry."
"Yes?"
"Sometimes, decisions like this define certain paths in our life. The same happens with people."
And without more, Daisy released him and she returned to his book, while Harry, pensive, entered the mansion, full of unknowns.
Harry had just come down the stairs, finding a very pleasant atmosphere, Percy, George, Hermione, Mr. Weasley and Ron were talking about the new products that were going to come out in the store, Bill, Daisy, Charlie and Matt were talking about a new pub magical that was going to open in London, while Fleur and Mrs. Weasley talked about the work of the blonde in Gringotts while they waited for whatever they were going to eat, be ready. But the boy didn't find his girlfriend anywhere. It was then, that he met Hermione's gaze, which indicated that Ginny was in her room. He murmured a 'thank you' and went up the stairs, in the direction of the girl's room.
When he arrived, he stopped and sighed, took all his courage and left all nervousness behind. There was no way back. He knocked on the door and a few seconds later, Ginny's voice appeared.
"Come in!" He heard, then Harry opened the door.
Upon entering, he saw that his girlfriend was sitting on her bed, watching the sunset landscape that gave the space of her window, she gestured to Harry to sit next to her, he sat next to her and put an arm behind her, hugging her and clinging to him.
"It's beautiful" Ginny said. Harry smiled and kissed the redhead's hair.
"No more than you." He said. He heard her laugh.
"I love when you get like that." She murmured.
They stayed like this for a long time, until everything was dark, their breathing was the only thing they heard, apart from the noise below.
"Harry... What's wrong?" She said.
"We have to talk." He said seriously.
Thanks to the moonlight, Harry could see Ginny's worried expression.
"You know I love you, right?"Harry said taking Ginny by surprise. "Being with you... is one of the best things that have happened to me, and there's nothing I want to change about it. You are one of the few things that I know for sure in my life... but regarding that, lately I've been confused because I don't know what to do with my future."
He paused and looked at his girlfriend, took her hands and began to caress them with the thumb of his hands.
"During these months I've been offered many things... playing Quidditch, going to Hogwarts, being an Auror, being a teacher... but I didn't know what to choose, I didn't want to regret it, so I decided to listen to what my heart wanted. I have a life ahead of me, one that you've always been a part of, just like your family... and that's when I decided."
Harry got out of bed to face the redhead, while Ginny came closer to the shore, sitting on the bed and her feet touching the wooden floor.
"What did you decide?" The girl asked him.
"I will be auror."
There was a silence in the room, Harry waiting for his girlfriend's reaction. There was a radical change in Ginny's expression, then she got up from the bed and stood behind Harry's back.
"I suppose you will go to Hogwarts with us... and after passing your NEWTS you will apply for auror, right?"
"No... I'll take Kingsley's offer."
"When the courses start?" She asks in a whisper.
"Next week. I would go for a few months" Harry said, with fear. This was not going as he had planned.
"Wasn't enough to have risked your life for years? Harry, let others do that work... please, come to Hogwarts with us, I know you won't regret it. So you can be with me... I..."
"Ginny... I'm sorry, but I can't. I can't go back there."
"Are you that selfish to make that decision alone? Do you care so little about what I think about it?" She said, hurt.
"Gin..."
"I don't want to hear your excuses, Harry!"
"What is the problem that once in my life I decide what I want to do?!"
Ginny turned to look at Harry, the moonlight only illuminated the chic, she watched the jet for a few moments.
"Well... if that's what you want..." Ginny said almost in a whisper "Then I'm sorry Harry, but... Us? It's over."
Everything stopped. He felt pain. His heart broke. Is that how she felt when he ended her relationship last year?
Harry watched her. He looked calm, but that more than anything was a lie to himself. I was devastated. At times like these, he wondered if it was really worth going back. He just nodded and left the room quickly, went down the stairs wishing not to run into any of the redheads or the brunette, crossed the room of the Burrow ignoring the screams of the rest. He left the house, looked at the landscape one last time and disappeared.
He felt like an idiot for believing he had a second chance in life. An idiot for a lot of things.
Having left the Burrow so quickly, he didn't hear the screams of Hermione or Ron, or Mrs. Weasley's questions, or how Ginny ran down the stairs in hopes of catching Harry... only to realize that she had arrived late.
After all, life continued.
Hey, this is a new project of mine... I know it's very little to offer to ya'll but I'm excited.
Hope you like it.
And yes, there's a lot of OC's, but this is mostly Harry centric (and Hinny pair).
Leave your review and lots of love.
