AN:
Thanks to Imogen for the beta read and to Anne for convincing me to go with my
first instinct. Sorry about that last
cliffhanger, but I couldn't help it! I
couldn't give you everything at once! You would never come back for more! Now, I promised you angst with a pay off and we are almost there. So stick with me just a bit longer! Oh…and sorry for the ending of this chapter
as well…
Chapter 6
Ginny
had dropped Jimmy off at his first floor classroom as usual and headed up the
stairs to her own room. She hated that
her room was so far from Jimmy's, but at least he was in the same building as
she was, so she didn't really have to worry. Her own classroom had been decorated for Halloween by her students. She had found it quite humorous to see their
drawings of witches and ghosts, but kept it all to herself. She rummaged around in her desk for today's
lesson plans and began putting notes on the board for the students to follow
once they arrived.
By
8:30, the class was full of chatting students, busy handing in papers and
filling out lunch orders and the morning worksheets Ginny had assigned. The bell rang and the class settled
down. Emily Heart came up to Ginny's
desk to turn in an assignment that was past due, which Ginny had to give her a
late grade for. Before she left the
desk, Emily said something very interesting to Ginny.
"A
strange man was looking for you on Saturday."
Perplexed,
Ginny asked, "What do you mean?"
"Well,
we were at Clancy's and some guy had a picture of you and wanted to know where
you were."
Ginny
immediately became concerned. "Did he
tell you his name?"
"No,
but he didn't look very good. He had
long hair and looked kind of sick."
Feeling
the blood drain from her face, Ginny asked Emily to return to her set and prepare
for the morning spelling quiz. Who was
looking for her? Ginny couldn't think
of anyone who fit the description Emily had mentioned. Her thoughts turned to Jimmy on the ground
floor at the other end of the hall way….which seemed so far away from her right
this minute. If someone HAD found them, it would take her forever to get to
him. Please, let this not be what it
seems!
Not
wanting to concern the class, Ginny want on with the normal routine collecting
the morning work and readying the students for the spelling quiz. She had just finished giving out the last
word on the list when the phone buzzed over at her desk. As the students began turning in their
papers, Ginny answered her phone.
"Ms.
Williams, we have a situation down here I think you should be aware of," said
the receptionist.
"What's
wrong?"
"A
man came in here demanding to see you. When we asked him to make an appointment, he went charging off through
the school. We've alerted security
but…"
Ginny
didn't hear wait to hear the rest of the message. She dropped the phone and darted from the room, telling the class
to stay calm and she would be right back. She had to get to Jimmy before the man did. This had been her greatest fear for all these years and now it
was happening! Whoever it was that was
looking for her had found her and she didn't like the sound of this at
all. Images of Death Eaters filled her
head and she frantically ran down the stairs to Jimmy's classroom…please let
him be all right! Her heart was
racing in her chest as she skidded to a halt outside his classroom.
Throwing
open the door, Ginny called out to Jimmy who looked up at her wide-eyed. He was just fine, working on his assignment,
as he should be. Ginny spoke to his
teacher from the doorway, looking over her shoulder for the intruder.
"Mrs.
Davies, please, keep a close watch on Jimmy for a while."
"What's
going on?"
"I'll
explain later. But for now, please, lock
the door when I leave and do NOT let anyone in that you don't recognize !"
Ginny
shut the door and headed down the opposite end of the hallway and glanced
around the corner. Where was he? Who was he? How had he found her? What did
he want? Please…after all this
time….don't let it be a servant of Lord Voldemort!!
"Ginny!"
Hearing
her real name startled her into jerking around to face the intruder.
Oh
God…
Could
it really be…was it…no…it couldn't be…
"Harry?"
she heard her voice quiver out in an almost whisper.
Her
legs started to falter under her weight. She couldn't really focus on anything but the figure of the man moving
towards her. It was Harry…messy black
hair…bright green eyes…it was Harry, moving towards her, arms
outstretched. He raced up to her and
she could hear her breath catching in her voice as she said again, "Harry?" Her hand reached out to touch him, to prove
he was real. He took her hand in his
and she felt dizzy from the touch. Stopping her fall, Harry caught her in his arms.
Neither
spoke for a second. They just looked
into each other's eyes, taking in the reality that they were together and this
wasn't a dream. Harry was holding Ginny
very closely now, and he whispered her name in his familiar voice.
"Ginny…"
Feeling
the tears starting to fall down her cheek, Ginny wrapped her arms around his
neck and he tightened his grip on her waist. They clung onto each other tightly, both unable to stop the tears, until
a voice interrupted them.
"Ms.
Williams, do you know this man?"
It
was the Principal and he didn't look pleased. As Ginny loosened her hold on
Harry and slid from his embrace she noticed two security officers next to the
Principal.
"I'm
so sorry, Mr. Cook," she began, not knowing how she was able to even stand let
alone talk. "Yes, I know this man. He's…" She had to do this carefully as she didn't
want to embarrass Harry or herself in front of everyone. Could she call him her boyfriend? No, that sounds childish. Should she say fiancée? No, she wasn't sure if Harry still thought
of her that way. "He's a very dear
friend I haven't seen in quite some time." Signaling to the officers she said, "Really, there is no cause for alarm
right now. Everything…" she looked at
Harry, "everything's just fine."
He
smiled at her and caught her hand in his again.
From
the corner of her eye, Ginny noticed the Principal telling the guards that they
could leave, but he still looked furious. "Ms. Williams, a word please?"
Not
wanting to be separated from Harry but knowing she would have to talk to her
boss about this, she asked one of the other teachers to please show him to the
teachers lounge while she talked to Mr. Cook alone. Harry didn't want to be separated either, but he understood that
he had caused Ginny some trouble and she needed to clear the air. Ginny watched as he disappeared around the corner
and then turned her focus to Mr. Cook.
"What
the hell is going on?"
"Please
I can explain."
"We
don't allow mad man to go running through the halls of our schools here Ms.
Williams!"
"I
know, and I'm sorry it's just that…" she was having a hard time
concentrating. "I haven't seen that man
in over seven years…and he is a huge part of my life…and I never thought I
would see him again...and…" she stammered.
"Just
tell me this isn't going to happen again."
"No,
it won't. But…well…I don't think I can
go back to class right now." Certainly
not! There would be absolutely no way
she would make it through another minute without talking to Harry let alone a
full day of classes!
"What
do you mean?"
"I
mean…I'm going to have to go! I…I…I
can't concentrate. I will be of no use
to my class like this. I simply MUST
go!"
Mr.
Cook was livid at this statement. "You
can't just leave. The day has just
started!"
"I
know, but I'm sorry!" She covered her
mouth with her hands. "I'm sorry, I
just can't think clearly. I have to
go."
Mr.
Cook threw up his hands at her and started in on a long lecture that Ginny just
didn't want to listen to. Contemplating
the options of listening to her boss criticize her or just telling him the
truth, Ginny decided on the latter. Interrupting him she said, "Mr. Cook, please calm down! What you don't realize here is that that man
in there is Jimmy's father!"
Mr.
Cook stopped his ranting and looked at her in varying degrees of realization
and understanding. He nodded slowly at
her. "And that is why you need the day
off."
"Yes…in
fact…I might need several days off. This is totally unexpected."
"Gwen…I'm
not saying that I approve of this, but I do understand. I'll let this go this time, but please tell
me now if you have another surprise in store."
Ginny
wondered how he would react if she Apparated right at that moment, but decided
against going into that part of her life. Before she left for the lounge, the Principal said in a kinder tone of
voice than he had been using, Gwen, would you like me to go and get Jimmy?"
"No…give
me a chance to talk with him myself. Just tell him and all the other students and teachers that the crisis is
over and to go back to class as normal."
Back
to normal…her life would never be the same again, so what was normal? Normal was living in fear, hiding the truth,
pretending to be someone she wasn't, and being alone. But Harry was just in the other room, now. How would things change? She entered the lounge and looked at him.
He
was pacing the room, waiting. As she
entered, he bounded up to her full of nervous energy. "I'm so sorry about that Gin, but they were going to make me
wait! They wanted me to make an
appointment to meet with you sometime next week! How could I wait another second when I have been looking for you
for three months and longing to see you for all these years? I couldn't wait! I HAD to see you! Is
everything all right? Are you fired
now? Did I ruin everything?"
Laughing
at his ramblings, Ginny shook her head no. "Harry, I'll be fine, don't worry about all this. But just tell me how…I mean…how…" She looked
up at him with so many questions, not knowing where to start.
"Your
letter. I followed the clues in the
letter."
"I
gathered as much, but if you're here then…well…if you're here…."
He
stepped closer to her. "It's all over,
Gin. He can never hurt anyone again."
Fighting
back tears, Harry wrapped his arms around her tentatively. Ginny sobbed quietly into his shoulder.
"It's
all over," he said again, gently rubbing her back and caressing her hair.
Slowly,
she pulled away from him, afraid to meet his eyes for fear of what she was
about to say and how he would take it. "If you read my letter, then you know about…about…."
Harry
nodded, swallowing hard. "Yes, I know
about him."
Ginny
looked perplexed. "How did you know he
was a boy?"
He
smiled, "I looked you up in a class year book at the library before I came
here. He was in there, too."
"Oh,"
she didn't look up at him.
After
a beat he said, "Ginny…I'm so sorry…"
"No,
don't be sorry!" she said quickly. "He's the best thing that's ever happened to me, really! I couldn't be with you all these years, but
at least I had…I had a part of you that was only mine."
"But
you were alone…"
"I
wasn't alone…" She realized it as she said it. "I had Jimmy. You were the one
that was alone, Harry."
Their
eyes met and were locked into a gaze. Neither moved for nearly a minute, but it seemed and eternity. Ginny wanted to reach out and kiss him, but
she didn't know if Harry wanted that just yet? Harry must have been reading her thoughts because just as she was about
to break the stare, he leaned over and kissed her every so gently on the lips. She gasped at the familiar feel of his lips
on hers. The kiss was very chaste and
almost innocent, but Ginny didn't mind. Harry was here…and he was kissing her!
As
the kiss ended, they both took a deep breath and moved apart slightly. "Harry, we need to talk. And I mean really talk."
"I
know…" His voice sounded almost
disappointed. What was wrong?
"Why
don't we go to my place for a while and…" her hands nervously fidgeted in front
of her. "Well…we'll talk there."
"Gin,
should we…er…you know…do you want to...er…is Jimmy here?"
She
let out a sigh. "Yes, he is, but I
think we need to talk alone first." Was
that it? Had Harry just come for Jimmy
and didn't really want a relationship now with Ginny? That kiss had been so intense…but it wasn't the fully passionate
one she had anticipated. Maybe things
weren't what she hoped for?
"You're
right. We should have some time alone
first," he said.
"I'll
tell you what, at my home I have an extensive collection of pictures of Jimmy
all kept nicely in a big photo album. They are Muggle photos, but I think you'll enjoy them."
Nodding,
Harry opened the door for her, "Shall we go, then?"
Ginny
led the way up to her room to get her bag and out to her car in the parking
lot. Harry suggested that they could
just Apparate, but Ginny wanted to give him the grand tour. She didn't know how to tell him that it had
been so long since she had used real magic that she was afraid to try it in
front of him. A short drive later, they
were at Ginny's apartment. Inviting him
in, Ginny sighed heavily to herself.
Please,
let this all work out! Let him like
what he sees! Let him want to stay with
me! I don't think I can bear it if he were to ever leave me again!