Ch 12
Ginny took a week off school after that. Just about everybody did. The few that chose to stay were forced to go home after a couple of days because they kept having flashbacks and screaming their heads off every time they walked into the Great Hall.
Everybody remembered what happened in the other timeline, but it was rarely talked about. It was just too hard to find the appropriate words to voice complex issues like `last week I saw you die a painful death. But you're right here, eating your cereal.'
Harry took several months off school. Dumbledore mailed him a package full of schoolwork every week and steadfastly refused to tell anyone where he had gone. Most people had a theory about where he was. Some said he'd gone to St Mungo's for treatment. Others believed that he'd gotten on his broom for a `short fly to clear his head' and ended up in Canada. There were many, many rumours about his location, each one weirder than the last.
Strangely, not a single person suggested that he might have gone home to the Dursleys.
It made sense that he needed time off. Not only had he been hit by the killing curse, which everyone agreed was the worst experience possible, he also had to grieve for his parents again.
......................................................................................................................................
Ginny didn't see Harry until Christmas Eve. Draco Malfoy, who hated Ron in both timelines, was not going to let him get away without reading the speech. He'd been kind enough to provide a soapbox for Ron to stand on.
Ginny sat on a bench nearby watching him, dressed in a warm green parka with a faux fur lined hood and jeans. Luckily for Ron, it was snowing lightly, so no one wanted to stop and hear his speech.
Harry turned up when he was on page two. He sat silently next to her for a while, trying to think of something to say. There was so much to talk about that he couldn't think of any one thing. He offered her a `Bertie Botts Every Flavour Bean'.
"No thanks." She said. "Once I swallowed a whole handful of them. Chocolate, tomato, coconut and vinyl flavour. It put me off them for life."
He grimaced and they lapsed back into silence.
"Where've you been?" she asked, when Ron moved onto the fourth page. The speech got significantly worse. Malfoy had become more creative towards the end.
"Remus Lupin's house," he said. "I had to sleep locked in the attic once a month, but it was better than the Dursley's."
Hermione was standing next to Ron's soapbox, offering moral support and throwing snowballs at anyone with a camera. "Ron and Hermione." Harry said thoughtfully. "What's going on there? He's made a point of never talking about her when he writes."
"I'm not sure what the deal is. The official story is that they've gone back to being just friends while they try to figure things out. Hermione's scared that a relationship that worked in the other, Dark Lord free timeline won't work in this world and they'll ruin their friendship. But, having memories of being boyfriend and girlfriend make things awkward. Sometimes when they're not paying attention they'll do something coupleish, like holding hands or kissing goodnight. Everyone's taking bets on how long it will take for them to give up and be a couple again. My money's on at least a year. They're both very stubborn people. What about you and Draco Malfoy?"
"We discussed it, and we've decided not to date." He joked, spitting out a Brussels sprout flavoured bean.
"Very funny. Seriously, are you two friends or something now?"
"We're something. Not quite friends, not quite enemies. On one hand, I have memories of him as a great friend, but I also have five years of memories of him being a nasty prick. Its too confusing."
"Poor Ron just has two sets of memories of him being nasty. Altogether it makes ten years of bullying."
Silence descended again. Ginny hoped that they wouldn't have two many of these stop-and-start conversations. They were very uncomfortable. "I'm sorry about your parents." She said softly.
Ron had stopped reading the speech. Instead, he was screaming at Malfoy about something. This display was actually attracting more of a crowd than the speech did. A few people threw coins at Ron's feet.
"Now that I'm capable of thinking rationally again, I know that what happened was really for the best. And... did I ever tell you about the Mirror of Erised?"
"Ron did."
"Yeah, well, my greatest desire, according to the mirror, was to know my family. I suppose I got that. An extra fifteen years worth of memories of holidays and family dinners and trips to Quidditch matches. I still daydream about what-ifs though."
"I do too."
Ron resumed his speech, after a lot of threatening from Malfoy. "You know what I still don't get?" Harry asked, tossing his empty Bertie Botts packet into the bin.
"What?"
"Why you were the only one who knew that things had changed."
"I think I can explain that for you." Dumbledore said, sitting down on the bench beside them.
"Hello Professor Dumbledore." Ginny said politely.
"Good morning Miss Weasley. Do you wish to know why you could see what the others couldn't?"
"I am rather curious." She said. That was an understatement. She had driven herself to the edge of insanity trying to figure it out.
"You see my dear, you are one of the few people in this world that had absolutely nothing to gain by the change. Harry gained parents, Ron gained Hermione, Draco had back the loving father that Lucius Malfoy was before Voldemort corrupted his soul. Neville Longbottom gained sane parents. Hufflepuff got their heroic head of house back, and so on. You were the only one who wasn't blinded by the sudden improvement in the quality of life."
"You know, that actually makes sense." Ginny said.
"Of course it makes sense. I said it."
Ron completed his speech and climbed off his soapbox, glowing red with humiliation. Hermione put an arm around his shoulder and took him off for ice cream to cheer him up.
"I shall be off then." Dumbledore said. "I have people to buy socks for," he sighed wistfully.
"Wait." Ginny said. "One more thing. How did Snape teach potions and pretend to be Harry at the same time?"
"Why, that's easy. Peter Pettigrew, professor Snape and You-Know-Who were taking turns pretending to be Harry." With this explanation he tipped his pointy hat and disapparated.
"Its time for me to go too I suppose." Harry said sadly. "Remus is uh... busy tonight, so I have to go buy some pizza or something for dinner.
"Harry, why don't you come spend Christmas with us?" Ginny asked impulsively, knowing her mum wouldn't mind. "That way mum won't have to post you your Weasley sweater. Our family owl hates working at Christmas."
Harry smiled. "That would be great."
"Lets go then."
They rose to follow Ron and Hermione, but Harry stopped a few steps away from the bench. "Ginny." He said nervously.
"Yes?" she asked. It had begun to snow again, and tiny snowflakes had settled on her eyelashes and in her hair, making her shiver.
Harry leaned forward and briefly pressed his lips to hers. "Thanks for avenging my death."
"Anytime." She whispered.
They walked off hand in hand. "Is there life after death?" she asked him as they disappeared into the crowd.
"I'm not allowed to tell you." He said.
"Who won't let you tell? Someone from the afterlife?"
"I'm not allowed to tell you."
"Aha! There is an afterlife. If there wasn't you wouldn't be smiling like that."
"I'm smiling like that because you're so cute."
"Don't lie. There's an afterlife."
"Well, you didn't hear it from me, but..."
After they had disappeared from view, Colin Creevey (who had survived a snowballing from Hermione) emerged from the shadows and ran off to sell the romantic picture of Harry and Ginny in the snow to the first journalist he could find.
A/N So, that's the end. Dumbledore's explanation wouldn't make sense in the real world, but its perfectly logical if you compare it to his explanation that Harry survived because his mum loved him.
Ginny took a week off school after that. Just about everybody did. The few that chose to stay were forced to go home after a couple of days because they kept having flashbacks and screaming their heads off every time they walked into the Great Hall.
Everybody remembered what happened in the other timeline, but it was rarely talked about. It was just too hard to find the appropriate words to voice complex issues like `last week I saw you die a painful death. But you're right here, eating your cereal.'
Harry took several months off school. Dumbledore mailed him a package full of schoolwork every week and steadfastly refused to tell anyone where he had gone. Most people had a theory about where he was. Some said he'd gone to St Mungo's for treatment. Others believed that he'd gotten on his broom for a `short fly to clear his head' and ended up in Canada. There were many, many rumours about his location, each one weirder than the last.
Strangely, not a single person suggested that he might have gone home to the Dursleys.
It made sense that he needed time off. Not only had he been hit by the killing curse, which everyone agreed was the worst experience possible, he also had to grieve for his parents again.
......................................................................................................................................
Ginny didn't see Harry until Christmas Eve. Draco Malfoy, who hated Ron in both timelines, was not going to let him get away without reading the speech. He'd been kind enough to provide a soapbox for Ron to stand on.
Ginny sat on a bench nearby watching him, dressed in a warm green parka with a faux fur lined hood and jeans. Luckily for Ron, it was snowing lightly, so no one wanted to stop and hear his speech.
Harry turned up when he was on page two. He sat silently next to her for a while, trying to think of something to say. There was so much to talk about that he couldn't think of any one thing. He offered her a `Bertie Botts Every Flavour Bean'.
"No thanks." She said. "Once I swallowed a whole handful of them. Chocolate, tomato, coconut and vinyl flavour. It put me off them for life."
He grimaced and they lapsed back into silence.
"Where've you been?" she asked, when Ron moved onto the fourth page. The speech got significantly worse. Malfoy had become more creative towards the end.
"Remus Lupin's house," he said. "I had to sleep locked in the attic once a month, but it was better than the Dursley's."
Hermione was standing next to Ron's soapbox, offering moral support and throwing snowballs at anyone with a camera. "Ron and Hermione." Harry said thoughtfully. "What's going on there? He's made a point of never talking about her when he writes."
"I'm not sure what the deal is. The official story is that they've gone back to being just friends while they try to figure things out. Hermione's scared that a relationship that worked in the other, Dark Lord free timeline won't work in this world and they'll ruin their friendship. But, having memories of being boyfriend and girlfriend make things awkward. Sometimes when they're not paying attention they'll do something coupleish, like holding hands or kissing goodnight. Everyone's taking bets on how long it will take for them to give up and be a couple again. My money's on at least a year. They're both very stubborn people. What about you and Draco Malfoy?"
"We discussed it, and we've decided not to date." He joked, spitting out a Brussels sprout flavoured bean.
"Very funny. Seriously, are you two friends or something now?"
"We're something. Not quite friends, not quite enemies. On one hand, I have memories of him as a great friend, but I also have five years of memories of him being a nasty prick. Its too confusing."
"Poor Ron just has two sets of memories of him being nasty. Altogether it makes ten years of bullying."
Silence descended again. Ginny hoped that they wouldn't have two many of these stop-and-start conversations. They were very uncomfortable. "I'm sorry about your parents." She said softly.
Ron had stopped reading the speech. Instead, he was screaming at Malfoy about something. This display was actually attracting more of a crowd than the speech did. A few people threw coins at Ron's feet.
"Now that I'm capable of thinking rationally again, I know that what happened was really for the best. And... did I ever tell you about the Mirror of Erised?"
"Ron did."
"Yeah, well, my greatest desire, according to the mirror, was to know my family. I suppose I got that. An extra fifteen years worth of memories of holidays and family dinners and trips to Quidditch matches. I still daydream about what-ifs though."
"I do too."
Ron resumed his speech, after a lot of threatening from Malfoy. "You know what I still don't get?" Harry asked, tossing his empty Bertie Botts packet into the bin.
"What?"
"Why you were the only one who knew that things had changed."
"I think I can explain that for you." Dumbledore said, sitting down on the bench beside them.
"Hello Professor Dumbledore." Ginny said politely.
"Good morning Miss Weasley. Do you wish to know why you could see what the others couldn't?"
"I am rather curious." She said. That was an understatement. She had driven herself to the edge of insanity trying to figure it out.
"You see my dear, you are one of the few people in this world that had absolutely nothing to gain by the change. Harry gained parents, Ron gained Hermione, Draco had back the loving father that Lucius Malfoy was before Voldemort corrupted his soul. Neville Longbottom gained sane parents. Hufflepuff got their heroic head of house back, and so on. You were the only one who wasn't blinded by the sudden improvement in the quality of life."
"You know, that actually makes sense." Ginny said.
"Of course it makes sense. I said it."
Ron completed his speech and climbed off his soapbox, glowing red with humiliation. Hermione put an arm around his shoulder and took him off for ice cream to cheer him up.
"I shall be off then." Dumbledore said. "I have people to buy socks for," he sighed wistfully.
"Wait." Ginny said. "One more thing. How did Snape teach potions and pretend to be Harry at the same time?"
"Why, that's easy. Peter Pettigrew, professor Snape and You-Know-Who were taking turns pretending to be Harry." With this explanation he tipped his pointy hat and disapparated.
"Its time for me to go too I suppose." Harry said sadly. "Remus is uh... busy tonight, so I have to go buy some pizza or something for dinner.
"Harry, why don't you come spend Christmas with us?" Ginny asked impulsively, knowing her mum wouldn't mind. "That way mum won't have to post you your Weasley sweater. Our family owl hates working at Christmas."
Harry smiled. "That would be great."
"Lets go then."
They rose to follow Ron and Hermione, but Harry stopped a few steps away from the bench. "Ginny." He said nervously.
"Yes?" she asked. It had begun to snow again, and tiny snowflakes had settled on her eyelashes and in her hair, making her shiver.
Harry leaned forward and briefly pressed his lips to hers. "Thanks for avenging my death."
"Anytime." She whispered.
They walked off hand in hand. "Is there life after death?" she asked him as they disappeared into the crowd.
"I'm not allowed to tell you." He said.
"Who won't let you tell? Someone from the afterlife?"
"I'm not allowed to tell you."
"Aha! There is an afterlife. If there wasn't you wouldn't be smiling like that."
"I'm smiling like that because you're so cute."
"Don't lie. There's an afterlife."
"Well, you didn't hear it from me, but..."
After they had disappeared from view, Colin Creevey (who had survived a snowballing from Hermione) emerged from the shadows and ran off to sell the romantic picture of Harry and Ginny in the snow to the first journalist he could find.
A/N So, that's the end. Dumbledore's explanation wouldn't make sense in the real world, but its perfectly logical if you compare it to his explanation that Harry survived because his mum loved him.