VIII.

Remember Me

Almost lost in her memories, with tears streaming down from beneath her closed eyelids, Ginny could scarcely form the words of the charm that Ron had taught her. Her lips moved as if of their own accord as she murmured desperately, over and over, "Etai Vilbo… Remember me! … Commemneo Ego… Remember me… Etai Vilbo, Commemneo Ego, remember me …"

Over and over again, she felt his lips moving sweetly over hers. Felt his hands warm on her face. Heard his voice as he spoke his short, intense goodbye. Watched him walking away from her…

Without opening her eyes, she leaned forward and pressed her lips and then her damp cheek against the back of his hand. She felt no response from him.

At that moment she knew, in the darkest corner of her mind, that she had failed.

Guilt, grief and despair overwhelmed all her senses. Softly, she began to sob, her shoulders heaving gently as her tears trickled over the skin on the back of his hand and soaked into the sheets.

She wasn't aware of time passing – she didn't know how long she had been crying when she heard, somewhere on the fringes of her consciousness, someone speaking her name.

"Ginny…?"

She assumed that it was Ron, come to lead her away from the scene of her failure. How was she going to face her family? She could scarcely bring herself to care. Nothing really mattered now. She had failed, and all hope was gone.

Slowly, with a heart that felt like a black lead weight in her chest, she raised her tear-stained face.

Harry was still looking at her, his expression unchang…

But suddenly her heart leapt into her throat. His expression…

There was a small furrow between his eyebrows which surely hadn't been there before. His eyes were fixed on her… really focusing, with no hint of vagueness…

She looked away to glance quickly around the room. Ron was nowhere in sight. Who had called her name…?

"Harry…?" She looked back into his face, her heart pounding painfully and her eyes searching, pleading… hoping against hope for a sign of recognition. "Harry, do you know who I am?"

His forehead creased, and for a long moment he just stared at her. Her heart contracted sharply, and sank bitterly in disappointment.

And then he spoke again.

"Ginny…"

For several seconds she could do nothing but stare. Her breath came in shallow gasps. He was back, he knew who she was, he was – going to touch her, oh dear God…

"You remembered…" he whispered, bringing one hand up to caress the side of her face.

Ginny closed her eyes and pressed her cheek into his palm.

"You did tell me," she said huskily, her eyes stinging with fresh tears, "Never to forget."

He smiled at her in a wondering sort of way, his green eyes bright with tenderness. "I know I did. I – I remember. Thanks to you. It was you, wasn't it? You who called me back?" His forehead creased again as he recalled. "For the longest time, there was just… nothingness… and then suddenly there was… something. A pull. And it got stronger and stronger. Everything was … moving. Colours swirled and came together. Pictures were forming. I knew who I was again. There were faces in my mind - people that I knew, things that they'd said… It was all starting to make sense again. But everything was still flying, still coming together, all of it centred around this... pull... which kept on dragging me closer and closer until suddenly… there was you… standing in front of me, exactly like you were on that last night… and the whole memory was there. That's when the swirling around me just stopped, because all the tiny fragments were back in place. I remember - everything. And it was you, wasn't it. You who called me back. You were that pull that I felt."

Ginny grinned and blushed slightly. "I - it wasn't really me. It was Ron who discovered the counter-Curse. He searched for two years before he found it… Harry, it's been awful - But you're back, you're really back, aren't you?"

Her eyes searched his, brimming with tears again, and with a tender smile he reached up and brushed them gently away with his fingertips. Then he dropped his hand and sat up to swing his legs over the side of the bed so that he was sitting beside her.

"Two years…" he mused quietly, sounding incredulous, "So much time, lost... That makes me nineteen, then. And you're eighteen - " He turned to look at her, then grinned. She felt giddy with joy at the sight. Harry's back, he's really back… It would take some getting used to, and she was going to relish every moment.

"You look just like I imagined you would," he told her, a little shyly as he put out his hand to stroke a fiery strand of hair back from her face. She couldn't bring herself to ask him what that meant, whether it was a good or a bad thing. At his touch, her throat seemed to have closed over entirely.

"Did you miss me, then, Ginny?" he asked quietly, when she refused to look at him.

Ginny was suddenly struck with the certain knowledge that she was dreaming. This was all too wonderful, and far too surreal to really be happening. So with the recklessness of someone who knows they will be waking up at any moment, she lifted her gaze and met his directly.

"When you kissed me that last night at Hogwarts – couldn't you tell what I was feeling? Wasn't it obvious? You must know that I love you… That I've always loved you… How can you ask me if I missed you? Harry, life without you is… I just can't…" She broke off as he placed a gentle finger against her lips, and the look in his eyes nearly stole her breath away.

"It's OK, Gin," he said softly, smiling in wonder, "That's all I needed to hear. That's all I'll ever need to hear. I love you too, you know. I don't know when I started exactly, but for weeks before that Curse was placed I nearly drove myself crazy trying to work up the courage to tell you how I was feeling. Crossing the room to talk to you that night was possibly the most terrifying thing I've ever done, confrontations with the Dark Lord included. But I don't regret it..."

Ginny found her voice. "No - neither do I," she whispered, and smiled up at him.

He smiled back, then stood up and offered her his hands. She took them unhesitatingly and he pulled her to her feet. Just for a moment he paused, as though unsure, then he pulled her closer still.

She entered his embrace without resistance, pressing her body against his and linking her hands trustingly around his neck.

There were no words as he lowered his mouth to hers, and they shared a long sweet kiss of joy and longing.

"Right." The voice from the doorway startled them both, and they leapt apart, both blushing guiltily.

Ron strode into the room, his arms crossed over his chest and his expression thunderous. "You, mate," he said darkly, addressing Harry from beneath lowered brows, "Have got a lot of explaining to do."

Just for a moment, Harry was genuinely worried by Ron's reaction.  Ginny was his baby sister, after all, and he had always been protective of her… Then he noticed a familiar twinkle dancing in his friend's eye.  His concern fell away and he grinned widely.

"Ron," he said simply, giving a nod of acknowledgement.

"Harry," Ron reciprocated, now trying to keep his own grin under control, "Good to have you back." He put out his hand and Harry shook it firmly. Neither of them was able to suppress the joy on their faces now, and the look they exchanged spoke all the words that would never be voiced aloud.

"Harry!" Hermione had entered the room only moments after Ron, followed closely by Sirius and all the Weasleys.  And suddenly Harry was surrounded by people shouting and crying, slapping him on the back and hugging him tightly in excitement.

He accepted their attention with enthusiasm and happiness, but his gaze was continually drawn back to where Ginny was standing, a little apart from her family, with a very tiny smile on her face.

He wanted very much to know what she was thinking.

Then she caught his eye, and her smile widened, illuminating her face and taking his breath away...

...And he realised he didn't have to wonder at all.

THE END.