"I wish we could just sleep in the chairs instead of going back to school every night," Ron grumbled as he and Harry made their way down the long maze of hallways to the girls' room. "It makes me nervous to be away while they're here."
Harry opened his mouth to agree when the doctor he recognized as Hermione and Ginny's ran past them followed by several nurses. The boys froze and then began to run, silently praying that the doctor wasn't going to Hermione and Ginny's room. Breathing heavily, Ron and Harry came to a stop at the end of the corridor where they saw the end of a doctor's coat turn into the girls' room. The boys were rooted to the spot, neither one wanting to know what had happened but a cry of pain from the hospital room pulled them from their fears and they ran the rest of the way to the room.
They scanned the scene in front of them: Hermione was sitting up in her bed watching the doctor with wide eyes as he and the nurses helped a very pale Ginny back into bed. Ron went to Hermione as Harry hovered over Ginny's bed.
"What happened?" Harry demanded.
Doctor Wilson ignored him and spoke to Ginny, "Miss Weasley, I told you that you weren't well enough to get out of bed yet."
Ginny's face was contorted in pain but she spoke through gritted teeth, "I told you that I didn't want to stay in this bed any longer. I want to go back to school."
"The more you resist staying in bed and resting, the longer you have to stay at the hospital." Ginny opened her mouth to argue but Dr. Wilson beat her to it, "And if you continue to get out of bed, I have permission from your parents to use whatever magic I must to stop you."
Ginny narrowed her eyes and scrunched up her mouth, "Fine. I'll stay in bed, but how long until I can go back to school?"
"If you do what you're told then you might be able to leave in a couple of days. When you do go back, though, you are going to have to stay in the infirmary for a while."
Ginny pursed her lips but nodded her head and Dr. Wilson turned to face Hermione, "You, on the other hand, Miss Granger may return to school today but you will need to stay at least a couple more days in the infirmary there, as well. I've been informed that your nurse, a Madam Pomfrey I believe, is more than capable of caring for you. Is that alright with you?"
Hermione nodded happily, "Yes, sir."
"Just make sure you take it easy for a while, okay? I'll inform your headmaster and he can arrange for someone to escort you back."
The doctor left the room and Hermione gave Ron a delighted smile but she quickly turned to give Ginny a sympathetic frown, "I'm sorry, Ginny."
"Don't be. I'm glad you're well enough to go back and hopefully I'll be able to see you there in a couple of days."
Hermione gave a wry smile, "If you can manage to follow the doctor's orders."
"I don't think I have much of a choice. What am I going to do for two days? It's going to be awful dull just sitting in bed," Ginny scrunched her nose.
"Harry can catch you up on everything that's been happening at school and I'm sure you have questions about what happened at the Shrieking Shack."
Harry held his breath when Hermione brought him into the conversation and watched as Ginny flicked her gaze to him and then looked away just as fast. That glance told him he'd lost any hope of getting Ginny to believe him when he told her about what he'd been talking about with Cho, but he knew he had to try because he didn't know what he'd do if he didn't have Ginny anymore.
o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o
After Hermione said that she could talk to Harry to hear more about everything that had happened, Ginny had become lost in her own thoughts. She'd only managed to shoot a quick look at Harry's face and she saw that he looked as scared as she felt, although she couldn't figure out why. She knew why she felt the way she did. After she and Hermione had been left on their own yesterday Hermione had talked to her about the day she'd been taken.
"Do you remember everything that happened?" Hermione looked over at her from her bed.
"I remember someone putting their hand over my mouth and then we apparated but the next thing I remember was waking up on the floor of the Shrieking Shack," Ginny gave an involuntary shudder and sucked in a breath at the pain that spread through her body at the simple action.
"What about before that?"
Tears welled in Ginny's eyes as she looked at Hermione, "I had gone into a store to look around. That's where I started playing with those charms from your bracelet." Hermione nodded at her to continue. "I got bored looking at the clothes so I went to find you, and Ron, and Harry. When I got onto the sidewalk I could see that Harry was a few feet away talking to Cho and they both looked upset. I couldn't hear what they were saying but when I got closer Harry started yelling." Ginny looked down as the tears flooded her cheeks.
Hermione felt awful for putting Ginny through this but she needed to know everything that Ginny had heard, "Go on, Ginny."
Wiping her face on her sheets, Ginny looked up and told Hermione the rest, "He said that he wasn't in love with me and that he couldn't stand the sight of me. That's when I turned and ran into that alley. I should have known that Harry would never be able to love me the way that I love him."
Hermione couldn't stand it anymore, "Ginny, that's not everything that happened! Harry didn't say those things."
Ginny gave a sad roll of her eyes, "Hermione, you weren't even there. You didn't hear anything he said."
"You're right, I didn't. But Lavender and Seamus did. After Harry had run after you they told me and Ron what had happened. You're right when you say that Harry said those things but it wasn't in the way you think it was."
Hermione watched as the faintest glimmer of hope sparked to life in Ginny's eyes but the other girl tamped it down just as fast as it had appeared, "How could he have meant them any other way, Hermione?"
"Lavender and Seamus said that while Harry was waiting for the rest of us, Cho came up to him and started asking him why he was ignoring her and if he was trying to make her jealous by dating you. That's when Harry lost his temper and asked her what she wanted him to say. That's when he said the things you heard but Seamus and Lavender said that he must have realized he was shouting because he lowered his voice and said that he'd never say those things, because he loved you," Hermione took a deep breath after saying so much and waited for Ginny's reaction.
Ginny's mind was racing. She wanted so badly to believe what Hermione was saying but a part of her was still stuck on the thought that Harry had meant what he'd said, that he really wasn't in love with her. "I don't know, Hermione, maybe…" But she didn't get a chance to finish her sentence because Hermione let out a great huff of annoyance.
"Oh, would you stop being so stubborn! Harry is in love with you. Don't believe me? Let me give you some examples. The first one you already know, that's when Harry burst into our room this Summer and told me he was in love with you. Then there's the fact that whenever someone mentioned you dating Michael Corner or Dean or any boy at all Harry would get so angry he'd have to leave the room. Or the times that he would just stare at you when you weren't looking with this ridiculous, happy look on his face. Or that he'd turn bright red whenever you touched his arm or accidentally bumped into him. And that was all before you started dating. Now he just smiles all the time and doesn't take his eyes off of you whenever you're in the same room. Not to mention the fact that he sobbed his eyes out when you were missing or that he grabbed the doctor's wrist to stop him from examining you because you cried in pain. I've never seen a doctor look so shocked in all of my life. I've got more examples, do you want to hear them? Harry is in love with you, just give him a chance to talk to you." Hermione leaned back against her pillows, thoroughly exhausted.
Ginny's heart was beating so fast it took her breath away and against her better judgment she started to hope, "Alright, I'll talk to him. But if you're wrong I'll never speak to you again."
Hermione let out a very unladylike snort, "We both know that's not true."
This made Ginny laugh for the first time in what felt like forever and Hermione soon joined in. The mood in the room was much lighter and the girls talked about when they'd be able to get out of the hospital and hoped it would be sooner rather than later. By the next day, Ginny had had enough of being stuck in bed and knew that if she was going to convince the doctor to let her go back to school then she had to show him she was just fine. She pulled back the sheets on her bed and very slowly inched her way to the edge.
"Ginny, what are you doing!" Hermione hissed.
"I'm...getting...out...of...bed," Ginny spoke in between breaths. The pain coursing through her body was almost unbearable.
"Get back into bed before you hurt yourself," Hermione's eyes had gone wide with worry as she saw the pain that was etched into Ginny's face.
"I have to...prove that...I...can take care...of myself...or the doctor...won't let me...leave," As she gritted out her answer to Hermione, Ginny placed her feet on the floor and pushed herself off her bed. She'd barely put any weight on her legs before they gave out on her and she slammed into the floor.
"Ginny!" She heard Hermione's frantic call but she couldn't answer. All of the breath had left her body and all that was left was the pain flowing through every inch of her. Before she could try to speak again Dr. Wilson was there with a flurry of nurses behind him. They picked Ginny up and placed her back in bed. That's when Harry's voice came from next to her and caused her to suddenly become very nervous so she focused instead on what the doctor was saying to her and Hermione, who suggested that Ginny talk to Harry about school and the Shrieking Shack to keep herself busy for the next couple of days.
That was how Ginny became painfully aware of Harry standing next to her. She couldn't force herself to look at him yet so she watched as a nurse came in to do a final check of Hermione. She held back a laugh when Dr. Wilson came back to help Hermione into a wheelchair and she saw Ron hovering nearby with an anxious look on his face. And he thinks I'm like Mum.
"Alright, Hermione, we'll just bring you to another room and I was told a Professor Lupin will be here soon to escort you back to school," Dr. Wilson began pushing Hermione into the hallway.
"I'll see you soon, Ginny. And listen to the doctor!" Ginny didn't think that Hermione would ever be able to stop giving advice but she didn't mind, she knew it came from a good place.
There was a heavy silence in the room after the door clicked shut. A few seconds passed and Ginny couldn't take it anymore, "Harry—"
"Ginny—" Harry spoke at the same time. They both looked at each other and Harry gestured for her to talk.
Ginny took a silent breath and decided that if Harry really didn't want to be with her then she was going to give him the opportunity to say so. In her heart, Ginny knew that she'd never move on but she still needed to know. "Harry, if you don't want to be with me please just say so." Steeling herself, Ginny looked up at Harry's face.
His eyes had gone wide and he was shaking his head, "No, Ginny, please that's not true." Before Ginny could say anything, the words just poured from Harry's mouth. "Ginny, I'm so sorry about everything that happened. I was just standing on the sidewalk waiting for you guys to finish in the stores and Cho came up to me and started asking why I was ignoring her and she just wouldn't leave me alone. I guess I lost my temper because I started yelling and then when I realized I was I stopped and then Cho got a weird look on her face. And when I turned around you were standing there and then you ran away. I followed you but I got there too late because I only found your wand. When we got back to school, Dumbledore took your wand and knew who had taken you and it's all my fault, Ginny, I'm so sorry! But I didn't mean those things you heard, I was telling Cho that I would never say those things because I love you." Harry finished speaking, his chest rising and falling rapidly as he tried to get his breath back.
Ginny had never heard Harry say so much at one time before but she couldn't focus on that when her heart was beating so fast and tears were forming in her eyes. Harry had never lied to Ginny before and she could see it in his face and his eyes that he wasn't lying now. Lifting her gaze until she looked Harry straight in the eyes, Ginny smiled, "Good. Because I love you too."
o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o
Harry didn't say anything, he just stood there not daring to believe what he'd just heard. Ginny had said she loved him. After everything that had happened and everything that she had been through, Ginny still loved him.
"Harry?"
Snapping out of his thoughts, Harry realized he'd been staring at Ginny with a look of pure disbelief. She had a look of concern in her eyes and he almost laughed out loud. She had been taken by Death Eaters, tortured, and was now in a hospital bed and she was worried about him. He did the only thing he could think of and kissed her soundly on the lips. He nearly burst with happiness when she kissed him back and he started to wrap his arms around her when he heard her gasp. Harry jumped back, wanting to kick himself for trying to hug her when she was in so much pain.
"Ginny, are you alright!?" He felt sick to his stomach at the pained expression on her face.
"I'm okay, just a little sore still." Once the pain had passed, Ginny grabbed Harry's hand, "I'm sorry I didn't give you a chance to explain before I ran. I just saw you with Cho and I know how much you liked her and when I heard what you said...Well, I just ran."
Harry had never been very good with words but he had to try with everything he had to make Ginny understand, "Ginny, something I've figured out since I realized I was in love with you was how little Cho meant to me. I never felt for her even a little of what I feel for you." Harry tried to gauge Ginny's reaction to his words but the only thing that happened was that the tears that had been brimming in her eyes since they'd started talking began to spill over. Why did girls always have to cry?
"Ginny?"
"I feel the same way about you, Harry," Ginny swiped at her eyes.
Hoping to make her smile again, Harry tried Ginny's tactic of making a joke to lighten the mood, "Good, because if you didn't I'd have to get into more fights and I think I've lost us enough house points this year." Ginny laughed through her tears and threw her arms around Harry. The pain in her body was agonizing but she didn't care.
