The greatest man I never knew
Lived just down the hall
And everyday we said hello
But never touched at all
He was in his paper
I was in my room
How was I to know
He thought I
Hung the moon?
She watched as he stepped from the sixth year boys dorm and walked into the Gryffindor common room. She blushed slightly as his brilliant emerald eyes lit upon her and he headed her way.
"All right, Harry?" she asked with a slight grin as she avoided stumbling over her words.
"Hi, Gin." He replied, coming over to her side. "Say, Gin, I want to go down to Hogsmeade this weekend, but Ron and Hermione said they would rather stay here for some reason. I was wondering if you'd like to go with me?"
She couldn't believe her ears! Harry Potter was asking her, little Ginny Weasly, out! So what if it was only because he was being dumped by his friends and she was only a second choice. It was a start wasn't it?
She smiled up at Harry from where she sat before the fire and nodded. "Sure, Harry. I'd love to."
The greatest man I never knew
Came home late every night
He never had to much to say
Too much was on his mind
Oh, I never really knew him
And now it seems so sad
Everything he gave to us
Took all he had.
He climbed wearily through the portrait hole into the common room one bitter winter night well into his seventh year. It was nearly 3 in the morning, but she was sitting in front of the fire waiting up for him to come home. When he finally came in, it was her worried eyes that greeted his fatigued smile. He looked exhausted and half dead, but when she rushed to his side he still managed to smile up at her gratefully.
"Thanks, Gin." His voice was little more than a whisper as he allowed her to help him to the couch before he collapsed.
His eyes were closed, and she thought he was asleep, but when she started to walk away after covering him with a spare blanket, he reached up and grasped her arm. He stared into her eyes for a minute before he asked his question.
"Why, Gin?"
She shrugged. "I love you, Harry."
He smiled up at her again, some of the life returning to his eyes. She tried to walk away again, but he refused to release her.
"Marry me, Gin?"
She smiled down at him through the tears that threatened to burst down her face in a wild torrent. Sure, he was only seventeen. And maybe she was only sixteen. Ron would probably get royally stormed off and who's to say how their parents would react, but with the way their lives were headed...
She finally nodded her acceptance of his proposal and wrapped her slender arms around his neck and hugged him tight.
Then the days turned into years,
And the memories to black and white
He grew cold like an old winter wind
Blowing across my life
Harry slumped onto the tiny couch of the flat they shared. He was an Auror for the Ministry of Magic now and spent most of his time hunting after He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named with either no results or terrible battles. He bore the scars of his many struggles not proudly but because he didn't feel that he had a choice. A few strands of gray shot through his still wild black hair, despite his only being twenty-five.
She watched him silently as he sighed and leaned forward staring at his scarred and callused hands. She had heard from Ron that this time things hadn't gone so well. She somehow sensed that he was mourning those poor souls lost to You-Know-Who, but she just didn't know how to help him. He was so cold these days. So distant.
It wasn't like before at Hogwart's. Things weren't just difficult now. They had lived through difficult together. Things were beyond difficult. She sighed and pushed herself out of her chair, making her way to his side with some difficulty as she was a good six-months along now.
"Harry?" She asked softly, laying a hand against his muscular shoulder.
He looked up at her with eyes that cared, but didn't know how to show it anymore.
She smiled waterily at him and wrapped her arms around him. "I'm so sorry, Harry..."
The greatest words I never heard
I guess I'll never hear
The man I thought could never die
Has been dead almost a year
Oh, he was good at business
But there was business left to do
He never said he loved me
Guess he thought I knew.
She sat silently in the Gryffindor common room again for the first time in nearly twenty years. She stared at her thirty-seven year old hands and tried desperately not to think. She found suddenly that it wasn't something she could succeed at, especially with the wizard portrait of him looking down at her so sadly from above the mantelpiece. Slowly, twin trails of tears traced their way down her cheeks as she stared at the ground.
That quiescent tableau was what her older brother by almost a year discovered as he ducked his way into the room in search of her. He knew Hermione was close behind him and thought for a moment about just how much he truly wanted to let her deal with his sister. But, she was family, and though he was married to Hermione, which made her part of the family, he knew it just wasn't the same as flesh and blood.
"Gin?" He asked walking over and sitting down beside her so he could wrap an arm about her shoulders. "Oh, Gin... it'll be alright. You'll see. He.. He didn't die for nothing, Gin..."
She leaned into Ron's shoulder as he spoke, but didn't reply.
"I- I know that he wanted to beat You-Know-Who... and I'm terribly sorry that he won't be able to see Him finally ground under the heel of justice. But, Gin, you know that he had to do what he did. I know you know that."
"Ron... I miss him so much..."
"I miss him too, Gin. We all do. Everybody misses Harry, but remember, because of him, we're going to be able to beat You-Know-Who..."
Ginny suddenly reared back and glared at Ron with her fists clenched. "I don't care about Voldermort! I don't care about him! I cared about Harry, Ron! I loved Harry! And..and.." her voice trembled with tears, "and I need him, Ron..."
"Oh, Gin... I know you do..." Ron hugged her close, trying to comfort her.
At that moment, a tiny little boy of six with a wild shock of raven-black hair like his father and his mother's eyes burst into the room.
"Mommy! Unca Ron! I found 'em! I found 'em!" He crowed, completely ignoring what was going on in front of him.
Ginny sat up and smiled at her little boy and held out her arms. The boy ran to her and threw his arms around her to give her a hug.
"I love you, Mommy!" he yelped before racing off again.
"I know you do, Harry. I know you do." She whispered as he ran off. Then she turned to Ron. "He never said that, you know. Harry never did say that he loved me."
"You know he did, Ginny."
"Yeah." She replied with a nod. "Yeah, I did."
****
Seven years later, Voldermort was finally destroyed by a thirteen year old boy named Harry Potter. Maybe he was only the son of the Boy Who Lived, but he lived up to his father's legacy with a skill that would have made him proud of the son he never got to know.
****
Author's Note: Well, what do you think? No, it's not my first fanfiction. I've done others, but I must admit that it's my first HP fic... and the first I've ever posted on fanfiction.net... Well, read and review so I know what I can improve upon.
Disclaimers: Harry Potter is copyrighted 2000 by J.K. Rowling. All rights are reserved by her and Scholastic Press, cause they printed it. The song is The Greatest Man I Never Knew and it was recorded by Reba McEntire for the MCA album "For My Broken Heart" and it was written by Richard Leigh and Layng Martine Jr. It was produced by Tony Brown and Reba McEntire for Reba McEntire, Productions. Oh, it's copyrighted from 87-93 too... the bad spelling and grammar are my fault entirely. I wouldn't blame that on such lovely people. I think the idea is mine, but who knows.